Phew. You managed to handle that pretty well. Resolving the custody case was a huge relief on your shoulders.
…You feel sorry for anyone who had to battle these in a span of years. If not decades.
Jonah looked at you with a smile. You asked if there’s something on your face.
“Oh, no. It’s… how do I put this? The way you carry yourself is different compared to the last time we met.”
A lot happened in the past weeks.
“I can imagine,” he said. “Actually, no. I can’t.”
Huh?
“I’ve heard about Crimson Keepers before. I know they exist, but I don’t know much else about them. They seem to keep their pre-elected jobs.”
“But stories say they always come out of the exam as a different person. For better, or for worse.”
Lowering his voice, he asked: “Is it true that you can die in the Trial?”
You squinted. A lawyer trying to fish for hot intel? How unprofessional.
“H-hey, I’m not looking for tabloid material.”
Can you tell him about your mad adventure in the Crimson Hall? Nah. Not a good idea. You now understand why the Magi were so secretive.
So you told him that it’s a ridiculously tough exam that makes you question your life choices.
Jonah nodded slowly.
You also added that death is only an issue if the applicant screws up super, super bad. Like crashing your car into the wall at full speed. Without seatbelts. That will kill anyone.
Jonah chuckled at your example. “I see. Well, I guess he’s not as merciless as I thought.”
Who?
“Judge Thyme.”
Ah. You tell him that Papyrus coined the best nickname: Tsunderjudge.
“Soon-der wha?”
‘Tsundere’. It's a term for a person who’s cold on the outside, warm in the inside. So, add ‘Judge’ and you get ‘Tsunderjudge’.
Insert awkward staring moment here.
“S-sorry,” he said. “I find the Dreemurr’s fire display more believable than him being, uh, whatever term you used.”
That’s fine. You bet that he won’t show the soft side to anyone but those closest to him.
Jonah’s phone rang. He answered it.
“Yes Miss Wan-- Caraway? …Oh. Alright. See you soon.” The call ended there.
What happened?
“Oh, nothing bad. Just that your sister was caught breaking some hospital rules. Did the doctor say you could leave your ward?”
You showed Jonah the ‘OK’ sign. You’re free to take a walk as long there’s a trusted adult.
“I better escort you to your sister’s then.”
Cenna’s ward was situated far away from the monster crew. Hmm, it’s going to be a long way back.
When you reached her bed, you walked into a scene right out of an anime: and angry nurse and an apologetic patient.
“Miss Caraway! You can’t just get up and run without permission! What if you rip open your wound?”
“Sorry, Loris. But, ol’ Mez was the one who arranged the meeting.”
“My word…” The nurse groaned. “He can be hardcore for all he wants, but he can’t force his bad habits onto you.”
“Now you understand why I get soooo mad at him sometimes.”
You waved and said ‘hi?’. Yes, with a question mark at the end. It’s a necessary interruption.
Cenna beamed at your presence. “Yo, Frisky! Thanks for bringing them here, Mister Mackenzie. At least I won’t be bored out of my mind.”
“No problem,” he said. “I’ll let you two catch up. Tomorrow, I’ll come back to finalize the papers.”
And there he went.
With a warm smile, the nurse greeted you. “Hello there! Stretching your legs?”
Yup!
“My, my, you’re so much cuter in person.”
The command ‘FLIRT’ flashed by your mental faculties, but you dunked it in the trash.
You have a position to maintain now. No random hits on middle-aged nurses please. And definitely not the doctors too!
* * *
It’s after a second examination. This time, you managed to convince the doctor to take Cenna out for a walk. Or a ride rather, since she’s on a wheelchair.
“Dayum, Frisky. Did you roll a nat 20 on your Charisma check or something?”
Maybe. Besides, the staff trust you to call for help if anything happens.
“I bet the perks of being a Crimson Keeper helped ya back there.”
Is it really such a big deal?
“Ahuh. You can say thanks to the Judge before Mez for that. After the Great Ebott Razing, he made the Magus Association public. Official. Government sanctioned.”
Oh? What was his name?
“James Aran Pashowar. A real good guy. I heard from Lucy that he first unlocked his Mark from a freak workplace accident.”
Workplace accident…?
Wait, he had a REAL JOB before becoming a Supreme Judge?!
“Ahuh. He was an architect. The Spire? His handiwork.”
Whoa. That’s quite a career leap.
Hey, what about your bio Mom and Dad? Cenna said only people who inherit the family magic can keep the special name. But, you remembered that Dad got all the wrong skills.
Cenna corrected you with a cool fingergun pose. “Bzzt! Wrong skills for combat only, to be specific. Papa was a support Vanquisher: the dude behind the DEMON busting tools.”
So how did he pass the combat-side down?
“With the help of books and battle-savvy friends. Then I had the rest of the skills drilled into me at school. It’s not that he knew zilch. He had all the theories. Just sucked at physical combat.”
“Mind you, I don’t plan on taking it to the grave. Lucy helped me compile everything. If you didn’t wanna continue the tradition, I’d pass it to the Magus Association. Let ‘em decide who to teach.”
What if you do?
“Then, you decide. Keep it to yourself, or make it open source. Up to ya.”
Tough choice…
“Hey, you could always pick up Mama’s side.” Cenna wrote a bunch of strokes in the air. “Crunch them numbers and draw those blueprints. The world can never have enough science.”
With your terribad math?! No way!
“Oi oi oi, where did all that ‘determination’ go?” she teased. “If you’re serious, you could always ask Lucy or Goopdoc to drill that stuff into your brain.”
Yeah, but you’d like to keep your options open. At the moment, everything seemed to point towards the path of law and diplomacy.
Speaking of past careers, what about the Tsunderjudge? He’s quite a mystery. Not much data about him online either. What was his normal job before he became a badass?
“Wrong question there, Frisky.” She waved her finger. “You should have asked: ‘Did the badass ever get a normal job?’ The answer is both yes and no.”
How so?
“Would you believe me if I told you that he was once a part-time bartender? Not only that. He was an eSports champ! He participated in international competitions for some ultra-hard VR shooter game. But under a different identity. Good luck trying to get him to confess.”
Challenge accepted! He’s gonna be the benchmark for your Charisma dice rolls.
“Hah! That’s the spirit. I gotta warn ya though: he’s got mad resist against speech skills.”
You expected nothing less.
Still, it made you curious. Maybe Cenna can tell you more? You thus asked if he aspired to be a pro-gamer.
“Nawh. Unsustainable, he said. Like all sports, you can’t really keep up past your mid-twenties. That’s how he ended up in an accountancy course. The War of the Red Victory happened in the middle of his studies, so he never finished his cert.”
…The thought of Tsunderjudge as an accountant sent chills down your spine. No fraud or unbalanced numbers will ever escape his prying eyes.
Along the way you wheelchaired past a corridor lined with a host of extra beds. There were many patients on them, both young and old.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
“Huh, that’s the burn department.” Cenna commented. “We’re not going there?”
Nope. The monsters were placed in a separate ward, reserved for their kind.
“Mez is being tight on security, as usual.”
No kidding. The skelly lady also confiscated everyone’s belongings, phones included. For safety, she said. Don’t want funny characters to steal anything during treatment after all.
“Heh. No wonder the chatroom’s so dead.”
“Speaking of security…” your sister groaned out loud. “I can’t believe I shared Linda my phone number! What was I thinking?”
She did?!
“Yeaaaaah don’t ask me how, Frisky. Just. Don’t. It’s like, some weird phenomenon from the other end of the multiverse.”
You chuckled. Maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea. It’s always better to make new friends than to keep old enemies.
Hmm… there’s the matter with your ex-schoolmates. You didn’t make any contact with them since you left the Underground. A reunion is going to be awkward.
“When in doubt, tell them you hit your cute lil’ head too hard. That ain’t a lie there!”
Heh. You thought of the same.
* * *
After a long walk, the two of you arrived at Undyne’s ward.
Cenna couldn’t stop laughing. “Ahaha my goodness! S-sorry Captain, but. Hahahahaha! You’re as red as a lobster!”
That said it all. Undyne, the most epic suplexing badass of Mount Ebott, had become a half-baked fish wearing an oxygen mask.
Your lips curled weird.
“Aw c’mon! Cut me a break,” Undyne grumbled. She’s not happy about her predicament either.
Okay, okay. How did the redness happen? Is it serious?
“Nah, punk. I’m fine. The doc said that I’m just having the fish-scale version of a delayed sunburn. Give it a few days and it’ll flake off on its own.”
“I did expose myself to some pretty intense heat. They counted me lucky that I didn’t get the second or third degree stuff.”
And the mask?
“They’re worried that the hot smoke might damage my lungs. So, I gotta breathe in these special gasses for 24 hours.”
Cenna said: “Geez, monsters get the healing part easy. Humans have a much, much harder time with all the infections and whatnot. Real painful. Real slow.”
You agree.
“Huh, really?” Undyne mused out loud. “Alphys would love this info. We do need to build a hospital back in town.”
The fish sighed, wistful. “I wish she’s by my side now. Didn’t hear anything from her since yesterday.”
And then there was that flare of intense irritation. The bed is vibrating together with her.
“Not to mention it’s so goshdarn BORING without my phone! I can’t even tell what time it is!!! What kind of stupid precaution is that????”
“Eh? You didn’t call your girlfriend?” exclaimed Cenna. “You should have had the time right after you stepped out of that place.”
Undyne shook her head. “NO!!! That lady skelly took all of our stuff right away! We had a chopper lift us straight to the hospital! Gaaaah!”
“Where’s everyone else?” asked Cenna. You could hear the alarm in her voice.
The Captain turned somber. “It’s more or less the monster version of an ICU. I know I flipped out, but I appreciated the urgency. The only non-critical patients were me, the punk, Gerson, and that Garamond guy. Everyone else got floored.”
You told your sister that the Magi brought in a number space-tech looking metal pods. Lady Lucidia did the levitation transport.
“Shit…” she muttered. “That ain’t stellar news. No wonder the glambot told me to take it easy.”
You’re glad that Mettaton had stayed back in the real world. Otherwise, he might end up with more than just a busted mecha.
“I'm sure they’re all fine,” Undyne noted, “We’re a strong bunch!”
* * *
Alphys, Doctor Gaster, and Napstablook arrived at the hospital lobby.
She ran straight to you and tried to talk, but she’s out of breath.
Breathe, Alphys. Breathe.
Cenna tilted her head. “Should we call for some assistance?”
“I-I’m fine.” Alphys wheezed. “I just… you know…”
You noticed the security staff checking the contents of a cardboard box.
The scaly scientist ran back. “Oh! Please be careful with Mettaton’s body!”
So that’s where it went. That also explains why he was a pink ghost this morning. Not that he’d let anyone in public see him in that state, oh no. He’s actually quite shy about it.
You messaged Mettaton to let him know what happened.
That was probably a bad idea. He zoomed straight to his mecha and popped out of the box.
One moment of quelling frightened security guards later…
…and Mettaton returned to the public eye in classic box form.
“My beeeeeautiful body~~~~!” he said. “Spic and span, in tip-top shape!”
Blookie began to cry. “…Oooh… You’re okay!……… Everything was so scary……… I thought…… I thought………”
“I’m so, so sorry to worry you, my dearest cousin.” His bendy arms hugged the ghost.
“…Thanks Mettaton… I’m glad…”
Yep. Those are tears of relief and joy.
“Daww,” said Cenna. “That’s sweet.”
Doctor Gaster approached you. “Child of Mercy--”
‘Frisk’ will do.
“Alright. Frisk. Do you know where the King and Queen are located? Grillby?
Papyrus? Sans? Are they alright?”
You frowned. They’re still undergoing intensive treatment.
“Egads!”
The hands of the skeleparents began to examine you.
“Ah… parents will always be parents,” said Gaster. “They wonder if you’re injured.”
Physically fine. But tired. It’s almost lunch and you had yet to feel hungry.
Cenna poked you. “Well Frisky, you did have some fries just two hours ago.”
Good point.
You led the visitors to Undyne’s ward.
Alphys almost cried when she saw the lobster-red. “Ohmygosh, what happened to you? D-does it hurt???”
Her strong girlfriend soothed her. “It’s just a bad sunburn. I’m fine, Al. What about you?”
“I’m. I’m just. Well. A ball of anxiety and happiness.”
“What about the town?”
“W-we dispelled the fog! And closed a weird gate of spacetime nature, I think? H-here! I think this will explain everything.”
Everyone huddled around Alphys’ tablet. In it, was a live recording of what transpired in town.
So THAT is where those huge hands came from! Can Goopdoc use any more of that ‘handy’ magic?”
“It’s not as useful as it looks,” he explained. “They’re not autonomous. With every extra hand summoned, I must juggle my conscious attention between them. I can only multitask so much.”
But, he has Roman and Helvetica now. They could ‘handle’ the rest.
For that next-level punnage, the left arm raised for a high-five. You answered it with glee.
The right arm meanwhile planted her own palm to Doctor Gaster’s face.
“Bad puns aside… you’re right. I should cooperate with the friends in me. Not overpower them as I had done for so long.”
* * *
You had to go back to Cenna’s ward for both your lunches and more examinations. The doctors checked up on you too. Might as well.
Health status: all green!
Alphys, Mettaton, and Napstablook stayed with Undyne while Doctor Gaster followed you. That man didn’t want to be an awkward lamppost.
…And also, Cenna’s SOUL became an interesting study of his. He’s been examining it for a long time, both in bird and non-bird form.
He wanted to do some experiments, but you had received another alert from Mettaton.
Mom, Dad, and Grillby arrived in Undyne’s ward!
Once Cenna was back on her wheelchair, it’s time to hurry. Dang. You’re getting quite a workout today. And you’re supposed to be resting.
At least now you had Doctor Gaster’s help: his floating hands did the pushing work for you.
Upon arrival, you noticed Lady Lucidia’s presence. She’s beautiful and stately, though she hid her skeleton identity behind a human-like porcelain mask.
Now that she’s up close, you noticed that her long, luxurious hair outright defies gravity. The ends of the massive curls point upwards. Combined with her elegant fashion choice, it gave the impression that she’s always floating.
Undyne was out of bed too.
“Oh, you’re here.” said Lady Lucidia. “Right on time.”
That’s good. Is everyone okay?
“They’re stable. The worst had passed.”
You heard Mom groan from her bed. You rushed to her side.
“Frisk…?” she muttered.
Yes, Mom. You’re here. How does she feel?
Mom squeezed her eyes. “…Like a terrible hangover… Oh, the nausea. It’s sickening.”
Dad begin to stir. Everyone shifted their attention to him.
“Asgore?” asked Alphys.
“Oh dear…” he replied. “Golly. That. Was quite a ‘blast’ from the past.”
Mom chuckled. “Haha… we made a ‘big bang’ alright. Real explosive ‘fire works’.”
Puns?! Now?!?
Alphys tapped her claws together. “I think it’s good news? They’re well enough to crack jokes.”
Guess so…
Lady Lucidia commented: “A lively sense of humour is indeed a good sign. King Asgore and Queen Toriel had experienced great trauma on their Psychia.”
She then asked, “Do you know why monsters are weak to killing intent?”
You don’t actually. You hoped to find a more concrete answer from your older friends. They shrugged back.
“Dunno,” said Undyne. “I never thought much about it.”
“I had read about this weakness in our records,” Alphys added. “But none explained the details in a scientific manner.”
Everyone turned their heads towards Doctor Gaster: the man who should know all the details.
Except, he too shook and shrugged. “I’m afraid the knowledge I have pales compared to the Surface. Lady Lucidia, would you kindly enlighten us?”
Uh. Are you supposed to believe that? The man got shattered across space and time, for goodness sake!
Nevertheless… you kept your opinions to yourself. The conversation resumed.
Lucidia explained: “A monster is made up of magic-based substrate: Dust. Our very lifeforce is what holds our bodies together. In other words, we are the physical manifestations of our Psychia.”
Le gasp. If that’s the case, monsters are practically walking SOULS. That’s why you had 20 HP while some monsters had… tens of thousands?
“Accurate.” Lady Lucidia seemed flustered for a second. “I-I mean, yes. You’re right. Humans have miniscule lifeforce in comparison. However, they’re insulated by organic matter. Their Psychia too has much better defenses because of their Determination. Among the magic-kind, only Boss Monsters have similar levels. Enough to make a Psychia linger after death.”
“And that is also the root of the issue: Determination has the unique property of disrupting a monster’s structural integrity. When projected as an ‘aura’, it easily overpowers the afflicted monster’s will. This is what makes humans ‘strong’ in your lorebooks.”
Showing Mom and Dad, she continued onward to the next part of her report.
“While King Asgore and Queen Toriel’s true bodies suffered no physical damage, their Psychia still reeled from the experience of ‘death’. My treatment thus concentrated on stabilizing the resulting physiological shock.”
“This concludes my explanation.” She ended the whole thing with a graceful curtsey.
Everyone uttered a long ‘oooh’ in unison, complete with a slow nod… all at the same time.
“W-what about Grillby?” Alphys motioned her hand to his bed.
“Oh, that poor knight. Has he ever experienced true combat before?”
Doctor Gaster replied: “No. Yes. Not quite. I…”
Then he went silent. He’s not confused. More… guilty? Remorseful?
Undyne shrugged. “Other than training and some cheeky swindling monsters, I don’t think so? Frisk was our first real threat in ages, and that says something.”
Was that ‘threat’ supposed to be ‘wimpy overblown panic’ or ‘walking dust-generating machine’? Both happened, Undyne.
“Hey, I dunno anything about YOU going crazy!” she exclaimed. “Of course I mean this timeline. The ‘wimpy overblown panic’ one.”
Okay, noted.
You noticed that Lady Lucidia squeezed her gloved hands together.
“I see…” she said, “Sir Grillenn defended me against the Gungnir force. Admirable, more so for his first true battle.”
Mettaton got excited. “Oh YES! I caught the tail end of that skirmish! A spectacle of a lifetime, I’d say! …And hope. Such exciting battles are too gruelling for repeat rehearsals.”
Lucidia nodded to him. “He joined your rescue efforts soon after, with nary a moment to rest. Then, there was the Limit Break without the assistance of a power armour.”
“In a nutshell: Sir Grillen had overextended himself in both realms. He was at the brink of a total exhaustion. I’m thankful that the Intensive Recovery Pod restored his vitals to a hundred percent.”
…So, Grillby burned himself out. Pun not intended. It doesn’t look like he’ll wake up soon.
Your ears then picked an abrupt door entry. You turned around expecting to see Papyrus.
…Except, it was the Tsunderjudge.
You and Cenna tilted your heads. He looks vivid yet exhausted at the same time. His hair is pretty damp too.
Fresh from the shower?
“Ahuh, Frisky,” Cenna agreed. “Fresh from the shower. That means he just woke up. What time did you sleep, old man?”
In all his tsuntsun, Mezil huffed at the question. “Not important.”
“That means 11 in the morning.”
“Judge Caraway, this is not the time for guessing games.”
“Har? You’re not here for a visitation?”
“No.”
That’s right. There’s always this sense of purpose in the old man’s actions. You thus ran up to him and asked what he’s up to now.
“To settle unfinished business,” he said.
A squad from the armed forces marched into the room upon that declaration. They lined up behind the Tsunderjudge, guns at the ready.
A cold sweat rolled off the side of your forehead. The severity made you realize that the demeanor of the man you fought in the Crimson Hall still existed.
His ‘intensity’ never changed or wavered. It had just been deflected toward different matters.
“Monsters of Ebott. The coroner in the case of the missing Six Children has discovered new information. The following suspects will therefore be arrested and detained for further investigation:”
“King Asgore Dreemurr. Doctor Wendell Dominic Gaster. Grillbz Grillenn. And Doctor Alphys.”
Everyone was shocked over the last two names. If he stopped at Goopdoc, you wouldn’t even get half the reaction.
Oh no. With that statement, the first person who would flip out is--
“WHAT?!? We risked our LIVES and this is how you repay us?!”
Yes. As you thought, the most outraged would be Undyne.
Mezil responded: “Worry not, everyone will continue to receive the best medical care us Magi can offer. However, none may leave this ward.”
That almost exploded into a magic battle. You had to jump in to calm down your fish friend.
“Whoa whoa whoa Captain!” said Cenna. “It’s all SOP. Standard operating procedure. It ain’t a personal insult or betrayal or antagonizing or whatever. Mez just blows at his delivery. As usual.”
Besides, having soldiers around will protect the monsters from reckless humans too.
Dad pushed himself up to sit in his bed. Undyne ignored the sting of her burns and helped him.
“Captain…” he said with a weak smile. “…Let the good man do his job. This was bound to happen sooner or later anyway. It’s long overdue.”
After some deep, extremely audible breaths… she cooled herself. “Fine. I trust you guys. But if they try to do anything funny, I’m gonna rain them a new one!”
Another small crisis averted. But it’s not over yet. In fact, it’s only now beginning.
With the sternest of stern glares, the Tsunderjudge ordered: “Crimson Keeper Frisk, follow me. Bring Judge Caraway along with you.”
Gulp. Monday is not even done and you’re already in hot water.