* Undyne wakes up in her bed, confused but still angry at Papyrus.

Dude just turn his soul green

Undyne: (facepalm) Why didn't I think of that?! It's too late now, though... thanks anyway, punk...

Wow! Thirty whole seconds of thinking! That's a new record!

Undyne: Yeah, I guess I do act too fast and think too little...

SOMEONE WHO'S TRYING TO HELP MONSTERKIND!!! DON'T HURT HIM!! Just try and TALK to him at least!

Undyne: Considering how he acted, I think he wants anything BUT to see me...

* Claire blinks awake in the guest room, bandages on her wounds. She looks confused.

Claire: How'd I get here...? (notices Pumpkin and clings onto him) Thank god...

I LOVE THEM ALREADY THEY'RE SO 'DURABLE!

Claire: (smiles cutely, flattered) Thanks!

Hehehehehehehe, we have more where that came from. WE HAVE THE ACTUAL PEOPLE.

Claire: Cool!! :3

Cool. I dunno why but I was imagining you as Napstablook. Except you don't know who that is, so you? They're a ghost.

Claire: A... ghost...? (eyes light up) Hah! I knew they were real! Nami owes me five bucks! (realizes the askers don't know who that is) Uh, Nami is one of my friends. From the surface. She doesn't believe in ghosts. She owes me five bucks if I ever see her again! Hah!

SH SH SH SHHHHHH, PRETEND YOU'RE NOT A HUMAN—

Claire: (snickers) Little too late for that. They know I'm a human...

*Proceeds to break many tables and chairs* ...Hi, nice to meet ya!

Claire: Nice to meetchu too! >w< (moves her ankle) Ow...

Oh nu!

Claire: I'm alright... I've broken it before...

(hiss) Injuries. I WILL HEAL YOU!! *fixes up a cast on their ankle* There you go! *hugs*

Claire: It's already feeling a bit better. Thanks a million! (hugs back)

We could go fetch Toriel, the Ruins caretaker, if you want. She has way better healing abilities than us and she makes really good pie.

Claire: Pie is good! And, uh, was she the fuzzy one? I felt a fuzzy hand on my arm when the monsters found me.

Kitty help can I hug them they're so sad it's breaking me ;-;

Me: Go right ahead uwu

Claire: (hugs asker) It's alright. I'll be okay.

Oh you poor child. Did you not know of the legend? Every child that climbs Mt. Ebott disappears, never to be seen again. Do you know where your friends are? They should've fallen right where you are if they fell down with you.

Claire: I know the legend. We lost a bet to a boy in my class. Nami, Ani and Viola didn't fall with me. One of them tried to catch me, but I already fell... I heard them screaming and crying, then I think they ran away... (looks down, hugging Pumpkin)

Oh... that's dark... how old is this kid anyway?

Claire: I'm 12... and it's okay... Pumpkin and my friends help me.

Man, I love ya already

Claire: Aww, you're so sweet ^^

Of course you would do that

Me: (shrugs) :P

The one you saw in the picture

YES, LUMIERE. HE ACTUALLY DOES HAVE A LUMIERE COSTUME. LOOK FOR THAT!

Claire: So that fire monster is named Grillby. Good to know! Thanks!

*smoking a joint* Nah man, I'm just high off my assssss

Claire: (takes joint and blows it out) Bad! No drugs in the house!

(.)(.) fUCK—

OHHHH A MOVING PLUSHIE. THAT'S SO CUUUTE.

Claire: Pumpkin does move sometimes. My mom was really superstitious and thought he was possessed, and she kept trying to throw him away behind my back. But I always got him back, either by digging through her dresser, or my dad always took him back and gave him back to me... (smiles at fond memories of her parents) ...but as long as I keep him, I don't care. He reminds me of my cat, Ginger, who died a long time ago...

OH GOD IT'S POSSESSED! *throws holy water on Pumpkin* THE POWER OF CHRIST COMPELS YOU!

* The water rolls right off, like a duck's feathers. THAT IS NOT NORMAL.

Claire: (laughs, got splashed a bit) Hey!

I'm guessing that means you're a clarity soul? Does the surface know about souls? We could also help you unlock your powers if you haven't before. (I have a headcanon that all the fallen children had powers, ex. Ben had a green magic shield)

(That's amazing omg, totally stealing that)
(now I have to write headcanon powers fo soul traits)

Claire: I haven't heard anything about powers, but I know that my soul is Decency, since it's lavender... my science teacher told me that... he knows more about souls than I do.

Yo claire do you know what Friskriel is... my favourite ship is Frisk x Asriel

Claire: I don't know who Asriel is... but I know Frisk! They went climbed the mountain and went missing a few months ago! Aren't they dead, though...?

*flies in somehow* Here, lemme restore your HP with some magic. *restores HP* Okay, lemme give you the run-down. The one that carried you here is Toriel, queen of the monsters and is going to act like you're her child. You also might have heard of Dr. Gaster, he's pretty kewl, Alphys is a dinosaur who's usually nervous and is the Royal Scientist, then Asgore, king of monsters, he's a huge fluffy pushover. You're in the underground, I promise it's not hell, and do you know what soul you are? Like Perseverance, which is my soul, kindness, determination, Justice, Patience, Bravery, stuff like that. Don't fret child. Also, like me, there are askers that usually go around helping or killing or asking random questions, like the ones that patched up your wounds. *uses a wipe to get some dried mud off Pumpkin's fur*

Claire: Heh, thanks for the patch-up and cleaning Pumpkin... I heard the names "Gaster" and "Alphys" a few times while the monsters were checking me over, but nobody else... I think there were four people there?

* The door creaks open. Claire turns to look at it, hugging Pumpkin tightly.

Toriel: My child? Are you awake? (notices Claire sitting up) Oh thank goodness you're alright! Looks like Dr. Gaster and the askers did a good job of healing your injuries. My name is Toriel.

Claire: (smiles shyly) Oh, are you one of the fuzzy ones that the asker people told me about?

Toriel: (smiles and nods) Yes. I am a Boss Monster. The other fuzzy monster who found you was my husband, Asgore. He was worried about you, as were our friends, Dr. Alphys and Dr. Gaster. They're scientists.

Claire: Was Dr. Gaster the skeleton one? I felt a bony hand on my chest when someone was checking for my heartbeat, and I heard that skeletons were named after fonts from history books back home.

Toriel: (sits on the bed and nods) Dr. Gaster and his two sons, Sans and Papyrus, are all skeletons. They're all very kind and intelligent, I'm sure you'll love them. We have two other humans down here with us, too.

Claire: (curious) Other humans? What are their names?

Toriel: Frisk and Chara, both my adopted children. Frisk is non-binary while Chara is female.

Claire: (eyes light up, ecstatic) I heard about when Frisk went missing!! We went to the same school on the surface! Frisk is alive?!

Toriel: Alive and healthy, my child! They're currently in the Ruins with almost everyone else, looking for something. Once they get back, you can see them again.

Claire: (relieved sigh) Everyone thought they were dead... and I thought you were gonna kill me too, at first...

Toriel: Ohoho, far from it! I always love having a bigger family. You may stay with us if you wish. We can set up a room for you.

Claire: (smiles) I would love that, Mrs. Toriel.

* Gaster, Asgore, and Alphys are still looking around in the Ruins, following a set of footprints.

Alphys: These look like bootprints...

Gaster: They do.. Papyrus could have been down here. I haven't seen him since this morning.

Asgore: (looking around, trying to catch a glimpse of any movement)

Gaster: (sighs and stops) The trail stops here. Dead end. Fuck.

Alphys: We tried, at least.

Gaster: That we did, Dr. Alphys... that we did. Let's go home. I'll text the others to let them know.

WELL YOU MAKE ME UNCOMFORTABLE! LET CLARITY HAVE HER DOLL!

Alphys: That thing is scary!

Gaster: Alphys, quit being a coward. It's literally just a stuffed animal. It's not going to stab you if you turn your back.

Asgore: (cocks head) So Clarity is her name? We'll have to introduce ourselves when we get back home.

GOAT MOM AND DADSTER TO THE RESCUE

Dadster is here this gon be cute
* a feeling of dread washes over you as you realize kitty os probably gonna make this edgy as fuck soon

Me: owo;;;;;;;

Asgore: Gaster and Tori are both wonderful parents.

Gaster: Don't leave yourself out of that list, you're a wonderful father.

Asgore: (smiles) Thank you, Dr. Gaster. I really do appreciate it ^^

Now we just need to get Alphys to leave >w>
(deep breath)
HEY ALPHYS, UNDYNE NEEDS YOU!

Alphys: Sh-she does?! (nyoom) Meet you guys back at home!!

Asgore: Bye, Dr. Alphys! (chuckles) You couldn't get her to run faster if you tried.

Gaster: Yeah... (looks to the side) *alphys no don't abandon me here i'm going to feel all awkward*

Gaster: *suddenly mute* MUSDLCVAU

Gaster: What? I was startled! Considering it's been months since Frisk fell down, we weren't really expecting another human...

Asgore: We certainly weren't. I don't blame him for being so shocked. Imagine walking through the halls of your school with a few classmates, then all of a sudden seeing an injured dog in another room. Wouldn't you be surprised?

Gaster: (nods, rubbing the back of his head, still embarrassed for losing his voice like that)

Asgore: Anyway, we should be heading back, shouldn't we?

Gaster: (nods quickly) Of course, Your Majesty.

* The two head towards the exit of the Ruins, Gaster feeling proud of himself for staying so calm.

* Meanwhile, back at home, Papyrus is sitting at a table, typing on his laptop. He looks up.

Papyrus: (voice is flat, but still polite) Hm? Oh. Sorry, I was busy. (closes laptop and looks up at the askers, propping his head in his hand)

*says sternly*
Papyrus, put Undyne down right now and calm down.

Papyrus: (chuckles) You're a little late there, human.

IC: *tries taking Undyne down with her magic* PAPYRUS STOP! *throat starts hurting because she has barely yelled before*

Papyrus: (worried, stands up quickly) Woah woah woah! It's okay, human. It's over now. No need to get worked up. (hugs them gently) Your throat sounds sore. Maybe I should get you some water...

* He sounds almost like Toriel, and fetches a glass of water for the asker with his magic, handing it to them gently.

Papyrus: There you go. Sit down and rest. (remembers saying that to Undyne when she was sick a few weeks back) ... (looks down, feeling bad for his actions outside)

Paps... don't cry... *tries hugging him, only to hug his leg*

Papyrus: (chuckles a bit sadly, stands them up and hugs them) I'm alright, human. I'm always alright.

* That's not true and he knows it.

*appears in one of the corners and dumps water on Undyne* ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME. I ASKED FOR ONE FUCKING THING AND YOU FUCKING IGNORED ME AND FUCKING NEARLY GOT YOURSELF FUCKING KILLED. NOW FUCKING PAPYRUS FEELS BETRAYED BY HIS FUCKING BROTHER AND IS FUCKING GOING TO SHATTER. DON'T BE IMPULSIVE AND THINK FOR MORE THAN 30 SECONDS!! *slaps her* NOW PAPYRUS IS GOING TO FEEL LIKE NONE OF HIS FRIENDS TRUST HIM ANYMORE AND HE IS NEVER GOING TO BE THE FUCKING SAME. SO FUCKING DON'T DO THAT AGAIN. MORAL OF THE STORY, ALWAYS LISTEN TO DRAGONS, THEY ARE SMARTER THAN FISH. *slaps her again and then disappears into the shadows*

Undyne: (shivering from the cold water and rubbing her cheek where Dragon slapped her) Ow! I get it, I get it!! I was a fucking idiot and it's my fault I nearly died and now Papyrus is never going to trust me or even his own brother ever again! But that's Sans' fault for telling me in the first place!

* Papyrus overhears the entire shouting conversation from downstairs.

* Thoughts sting at him about how badly he hurt Undyne, Chara, and Frisk in the past — his best friend, his girlfriend, and his second-best friend — but his thoughts mainly circulate about how Sans had broken his promise, fucking backstabbed his brother and told his secret to the group after swearing not to tell anyone.

* A bit of shade falls over Papyrus' eyes as he silently goes back to his laptop, typing slower this time and not looking at the askers.

* Nobody is happy with this.

*waits for him to finish and goes on once he leaves*

* It's a while before he finally stands up and walks out the door, throwing on his jacket and pulling up his hood to go out on patrol, shrugging at the thought of anyone trying to stop him, knowing he could just shake them off.

* You sit quietly in his chair and check his laptop's files. Lots of cryptic names written in Wingdings, titled things like "soul notes", "dt experiments", "blueprints", and "true lab map", and one titled in what seems to be simple Russian. Jesus, how many languages does this guy speak?

* You check his internet history. Apparently he hasn't figured out incognito mode yet, nor how to clear his history, and you can see a bunch of SOUL theories, scientific articles, determination studies, and more scientific matter in his history, plus two websites with Japanese names and a recipe page. He's still a chef at heart.

(A/N: Lead you to believe something else there now didn't I)

* When you click the first Japanese site, it's just a dictionary connected to an English translator, with the phrase "Don't talk to anyone you don't know" written in. The second one is song lyrics. Weird history this guy has.

* You notice a blue USB stick laying on the kitchen counter, labeled "PAPYRUS NOTES" in Gaster's handwriting.

* He's been translating and reading his son's notes. Possibly even helping him with them.

* He's known the whole time.

* Ambrosia is roughly tugging Sans along, while Winter and Ginger stay in step behind her. Winter looks unhappy, while her sisters are all business. They left Grillby and the two teens behind, all three still unconscious on the ground, sitting against a wall.

*watches from the shadows* *says softly under her breath* Them again? *eyes flash* One wrong move and they're gonna be dragon's dinner.

* Ginger is the only one who notices, shuffling her sister ahead and signalling for Winter to speed up.

*grabs Winter from behind and pulls her behind a tree* nope not escaping me

* Winter is walking so far behind her sisters that Ginger and Ambrosia don't even notice her being pulled around a corner. She looks confused.

Winter: (tries to sound irritated, not good at it) What do you want?

Awwww Winter, sweetie, it's okay. I know it's not my place to forgive you, but I do. We know what will happen if Papyrus makes those hybrids, and we know it's gonna be bad, but it seems that you're doing this because you're desperate.

Winter: (surprised at the asker's gentleness) ... (voice is quiet) I really am desperate. I need money to support my sisters and to buy food. I'm the oldest one, so they depend on me, but Ambrosia, the youngest, is usually the one in charge because she has the personality for it. I'm the one who needs to provide for them. Even if their morals are twisted, I still love them, and they always tell me how much they appreciate my hard work...

Winter: Papyrus pays us all good money to help him with his work in any way possible, which explains both why he's always broke and why I stuck with the plan... my resume isn't the greatest, so I can't get a job. I don't know how Paps— er, Boss— even pays us, considering he isn't getting paid for his patrols. He's probably working a night shift at Grillby's or something, considering he never sleeps... but Ambrosia isn't happy about him not forking over this term's pay. Heh... thank you so much for listening to me... (bows her head gratefully, her long white hair getting in her face)

Winter: And about the hybrids... there are multiple kinds. Papyrus told me once that one of his motivations for this, aside from breaking the Barrier, was to see if he could replicate the experiments of a Royal Scientist from centuries ago, before any of us were even born, to a more successful extent. Me and my sisters were cryogenically preserved experiments, a different sort of hybrid. Human bodies, and animal ears and tails. (signals over to Ginger and Ambrosia) Ginger's a red fox hybrid, Ambrosia's a cream rabbit hybrid, and I'm an albino savannah cat hybrid, which is why my skin is so pale in comparison to them.

* She moves her hair a little bit to reveal two cute, catlike ears poking out from her hair, a christmas-coloured bow on her left one.

(A/N: Once my computer is fixed, I promise I'll show you what those three look like! Also yes I just pulled a neko on you, would I really be me if I didn't?)

Winter: (smiles a bit, looking at her feet) Nobody ever really listens to me like this... it means a lot... (looks up, smiling brighter this time) Thanks.

DO YOU— WHERE DO YOU STICK THE NEEDLE IN?!

HOW DO YOJ TRANQUILIZE FIRE WHERE DOES THE NEEDLE GO?????????????

Ambrosia: He has a neck, you know. What else would be holding up his stupid head? (rolls eyes, unimpressed)

Sans: (narrows eyes, not happy with her calling his boyfriend stupid)

*holding a nuke that's about x3 bigger than her* YOU HURT SANS, I'LL BLOW THIS NUKE UP, AND I'LL ONLY PROTECT MY FRIENDS AND WINTER!!! DO YOU FUCKING HEAR ME?!

Ambrosia: You'll destroy everything in the Underground with that thing, plus blow the mountain to bits and kill hundreds of humans. Don't want that, do ya? (keeps tugging Sans along)

Sans: Thanks for the attempt, kid... (looks down)

So are you gonna take care of him

I mean the business

Ambrosia: Of course. Boss hasn't been holding up his pay grade lately. Gotta get our money some way.

Sans: (speaks up) Taking me hostage isn't going to get anything from him!

Ambrosia: Oh really? So do we have to snatch that little edgy human of yours too?

Sans: (angry at the thought of them hurting Chara because of him, eye glows red) Don't you fucking touch her.

Ambrosia: That's what I thought. Now shut up and come with us.

* She pulls the group outside the Ruins, leaning against the door and calling Papyrus' cell.

Papyrus: (mood had improved from being alone for a while) Hello, is the Great Papyrus! How may I help you?

* He sounds like his perky self. Ambrosia speaks flatly.

Ambrosia: Meet me outside the Ruins, Boss. We need to talk.

Sans: (suddenly shouts, trying to shake his wrists free from Ginger's grasp) PAPYRUS DON'T TRUST HER—

* Ginger claps a hand over his mouth and binds his hands with duct tape she had in her satchel. Papyrus sounds alarmed.

Papyrus: SANS?!?!

Ginger: (holds a knife held against his throat)

Sans: (stays silent, breathing heavily)

Ambrosia: Ruins door. Now. (aggressively hangs up) Now let's see how long he takes to show up.

* Meanwhile, Papyrus has a solid assumption about the situation, and heads back to the house to get a certain something. After grabbing it, he slips it into his pocket and treads through the snow towards the Ruins, appearing both angry and calm at the same time.

Papyrus: (mumbles to himself) Ambrosia, you fucking sack of shit, you've gone too far. Nobody brings my brother into this. Nobody. Even if he betrayed me, you are not fucking hurting him. Not until I'm dust.