Fire.
In school, they explained it as a chemical reaction of sorts. All it required was fuel and oxygen to cause combustion.
Fire.
It’s also the symbol of the Dreemurrs: the power of her adoptive father. It brings warmth. Cooked meals. Lighting a beacon of hope for the citizens.
But that’s just the positive side. Uncontrolled, it becomes a source of relentless destruction.
Sheer, suffocating heat.
Undyne became acquainted with that concept a little too well. After all, bad fire had once consumed her home. It pretty much lived there for ages before finally running out fuel.
Now, she’s in the middle of a different kind of ‘fire’. It’s one that had build up over the years, just waiting for one unfortunate spark to set all hell loose.
It’s bad enough that Papyrus got lost in the past. Everyone heard him talk, but no one could reach him.
Slaps, shakes, not even a pinprick on the humerus brought him back.
Why not just smash the machine? Or take off the visor? The goopy doctor would never let that happen. Argued that a premature halt to the experiment could end up in a life-threatening backfire.
The terror of the Persona played out on screen. Mezil’s Thyme’s nickname was as dark as the foe he faced.
‘The Vampire of Time’. ‘Not human’.
Those terms, what do they mean in the grand scope of things?
How does any part of this vision help them deal with Gungnir?
Why put Papyrus through these trials?
Then, things went bad.
The screams.
The flames.
When Papyrus collapsed on the floor, it set off a figurative ignition.
A chaos of concern took off like a blazing inferno. In response, Doctor Gaster tried to administer medical magic.
That’s when bad became worse, and everything spiralled downhill.
Sans put all his might into his telekinesis and slammed the goopy doctor straight into the screen. The resulting force caused the entire installation to crash right on top of the victim.
The Mini-Mettaton had enough autonomy to unplug itself from the mainframe and flee from danger. It leapt straight into Alphys’ apron pockets, the safest place in this building. Undyne herself will make sure that’s the case.
The Captain’s first instincts were to protect the royal couple, their child, the Magus guest, and her scaly lover. Evacuated them out of the house pronto.
“Sans!” Frisk cried out. Both Toriel and Asgore held the kid back by the shoulders.
“No, my child,” said the mother. “It’s too dangerous!”
Asgore added, “I- I wholeheartedly agree with your mother.”
So did Undyne. She had seen those two Seers fight before. If things devolved to that level, it’s time to kiss the old Snowdin home goodbye.
“What the fuck, Sans!” Undyne yelled.
He ignored her, ripping off Papyrus’ visor as if it’s a curse to be erased. Proceeded to turn his brother’s SOUL blue, carrying him on his back despite the huge mismatch of size between the brothers.
Undyne noticed something’s off. The Sans she knew would have teleported away on the first opportunity. Why would he take the slow, roundabout, and laborious method of a piggyback ride?
Why?
Being a liquid entity, Gaster’s body flowed out from under the mess. He’s back to his usual form in no time.
“Gaster!” Asgore yelled from afar. “Are you alright?!”
“I am fine, Your Majesty!” He reassured, “Please leave this wayward soul to me.”
Sans hurried his way out of the house, but his mentor conjured two Gasterblasters to block their escape.
“Undyne,” said Sans. “I need to get Papyrus far away from that man. The further, the better.”
The doctor responded: “Don’t be a fool, Sans Serif! Your brother needs immediate attention from a medical professional. I’m the only one here with the expertise to properly examine him!”
He shot the sternest of glares. “Yeah, and who kept pushing Paps forward instead of telling him to stop?! It’s because of you he’s in this state! Alphys can handle the med stuff.”
“As brilliant as Doctor Alphys is, she does not have the required experience to assess Seer related injuries!”
“Then I’ll hand him over to Cenna,” Sans replied. “They have a Chronographer there. A really good one. I trust her more than you.”
In deep urgency, Gaster pled his case to the woman in charge. “Captain Undyne, I humbly apologize for the mishap. However, I implore you to let me examine Papyrus. The Magi may have the facilities but time is not on our side!”
Why the concern over time? Sans can teleport. Not to mention he could use all those shortcuts to get anywhere he wants.
Unless…
Undyne had yet to put her finger on the exact nature of their predicament, but the oddities began to click into place.
She recalled the one time when she managed to corner Sans in his own home.
Sans. Cornered.
Was he simply too lazy to get out of wrath’s way?
Then Sans offered to visit his parents. Asked Papyrus to drop him off at the mad scientist’s cell.
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And ONLY to drop him off. Papyrus didn’t actually stay for the family reunion. He announced, in all his innocence, that they’re getting some much needed quality time.
If Sans wanted to meet his parents alone, why must he rope his little brother to play taxi? Can’t he just go there himself?
Was it all really just to make Papyrus happy?
Undyne clenched her jaws, struggling with the difficult decision.
What should she do?
Who should she believe?
She summoned her spear and walked back into the house.
Instead of destroying the Gasterblasters… she joined them.
Sans frowned. No, he’s growling at her. The light in his eyes went out too.
“You too?” he muttered.
“Look,” said Undyne. Tried her best to be firm yet calm. “I don’t like this guy either. Gaster should have stopped Papyrus before the whole mess happened. But he’s got a point. If Paps is in critical condition, we need to stabilize him first.”
Sans summoned a ring of bones with the full intent of barraging his way out.
The Captain raised her weapon in alarm. It’s been a long, long time she had seen Sans so blinded by rage.
“Do. Not.” She warned with a narrow glare. “I care about your brother as much as you do, Sans. You know it. You know everything.”
“Please, trust me.”
Was it wise to ask for trust from a man who trusted nobody?
Still nothing. Undyne gritted her teeth. It’s hard to tell what’s going on in Sans’ mind on a normal day. In a tensed situation? It’s a lot worse.
She told herself to think like Frisk: what act would douse the flames of irrational anger?
“I’ll stay with you,” said Undyne. “If Gaster tries to do anything funny, you have the right to yank Paps out of the way. And I’ll help you escape. Okay?”
In her mind, Undyne crossed her fingers and hoped to fate that he would take the wisest route.
Sans answered: “Tell that man to get rid of the blasters first. Clear the entrance.”
His tone of voice still chilled her to the literal bone. At least it’s a positive development. She signalled to the worried family members to step aside. It’s more important for Sans to feel safe.
The Captain noticed Toriel more or less had a steel-grip on the kid. It’s very subtle, but it’s there. She’s so worried that they’re determined to rush headlong into danger.
It’s time to address Gaster: “Disarm yourself. That’s an order.”
“A fair compromise.” Gaster replied. With a wave of his hand, the magic vanished. “Thank you very much, Captain Undyne.”
“I got my eye on you, doc. No tricks.”
Undyne helped Sans lay Papyrus down on the ground. His sockets were open, plus there were some specks of residual magic. What does this mean? She doesn’t know.
Gaster began his examination, explaining the issues and the required procedures as he worked. It’s more or less a formal audio report. The flood of technical details turned into mush in her brain. They’re empty labels to her.
Apparently he's been affected by something called a ‘Seer’s Seal’?
At the very least, as long Sans sat still in his spot, she knew that the doctor’s telling the truth.
Doctor Gaster began writing down tiny hand glyphs around Papyrus’ right socket. Connected it to a nearby set of grams.
“Can’t the Queen’s healing magic fix him up?” asked Undyne.
The doctor answered, “Treating wounds is easy. Ensuring that they heal right is the difficult, yet crucial part.”
He then placed his hand over Papyrus’ chest to pull up his SOUL. The doctor’s hand trembled over the plain, white essence.
“It’s gone,” he said.
Undyne blinked. “What’s gone?”
“…That certainly explains his change of behaviour. Or rather, the lack of it.”
More cryptic messages. “Old man, you’re talking hands. Except in English.”
Gaster shook his head. “P-please disregard my rambling.”
He began applying the precise, programmed Codes. It’s so foreign compared to the freeform, instinctive ways she’s familiar with.
Monsters express themselves with magic. Tossed them around like smiles and words. On the other hand, this procedure seemed almost unnatural: a methodological construct that made more sense in a machine.
Anxiety twisted a tight cord in her heart. If she’s getting worked up, what more of Sans?
“Is he going to live?” she asked.
“Of course,” Gaster answered. “To our fortune, his injuries aren't life threatening. Not a single fracture either. However, I must make sure Papyrus doesn’t lose even the most minute percent of his potential.”
“Have you done this before?”
He glanced at Sans. “Yes. A few times. When the elder brother was a child. H-his control wasn’t the best back then.”
His claims of experience weren’t baseless.
At long last, it’s done. Doctor Gaster ran his hand over the patient’s face to close his sockets. Then, he slid backwards to give space.
“I have done what I can. Papyrus is stable, but he needs to recover in a proper facility. He’s fine in physical terms. Though, I cannot say anything about his mental state. We won’t know until he wakes up.”
With a bow, he offered: “Would you allow me to escort you through the shortcuts?”
Undyne had a nagging feeling that Sans won’t be able to be the taxi-person.
Doubt the blue guy wanted to be anywhere near the doctor now anyway. Taking that into account, she said: “I think we better walk home on our own. To clear our heads at least.”
They did just that. At first, Sans insisted on carrying his brother. Sooner than later, however, fatigue weighed down on his back like blocks of lead.
Toriel offered to help her joke buddy, but he turned it down. Tossed a pun to make her feel better too.
Undyne huffed and pretty much plucked the unconscious Papyrus off Sans’ back.
He didn’t argue or fight.
This was something she had done since her youth. Sometimes little Paps would play too hard, trip over a bunch of rocks, and get a sprain. It’ll then be up to either the bone brother or fish sister-figure to carry the tyke home for treatment.
Undyne hoped that Papyrus would wake up exactly the same: filled with sparkling naivete. A lovable glory hog, too innocent for this world.
Otherwise, she wouldn’t know how Sans would ever cope.
If she must be honest, she wouldn’t know how to cope either.
They arrived at the Throne Room. It’s one of the more frequented places in the Underground due to Asgore’s gardening habits.
There’s a spot of charred land smack dab in the middle of the field of gold.
Alphys gasped at the destruction. “W-what happened here?”
The king stared down on the earth, downcast. “I… I tried to destroy the flowers. I thought it would be best to prevent another tragedy. Toriel and Frisk stopped me before I made another foolish error.”
“Hey Asgore. I’m glad they stopped you.” Undyne couldn’t believe she’s saying those words; she just couldn’t stand to see anyone frown any more.
“Because,” she continued, “I’ve been thinking. Maybe we’ll find a way to give these flowers a proper use. Like, medicine? We’ve already made tea out of them. Something other than housing dead people.”
Frisk smiled and gave her a huge thumbs up, saying, “That’s the spirit.”
“Yeah! Determination, punk!”
Cenna hesitated to wade through the Cheaters of Death. For a good reason too: they’re associated with DEMONS, the very entities she’s trained to fight.
“Uh, there ain’t any other way around this?” she asked.
“Nope,” Frisk answered.
“Aww shucks. I should have asked the doc to warp me out. Maybe I’ll turn back and--.”
A distinct bubble of light enveloped the Magus. She was then hurled all the way towards the old Barrier entrance.
Every single person in the room locked their attentions on Sans. He chuckled in his usual goofy manner.
“Are you freaking serious?!” If Undyne wasn’t carrying Papyrus, she might have bonked his skull.
Frisk objected too, “Humans are not that tough!”
“Nah, she’ll be fine,” Sans answered. “Just giving her a much needed ‘air-lift’.”
Cenna yelled from the other end. “That’s an awesome ride, assassino! Thank ya lots!”
Here comes that wink. “See? Our daredevil’s best friend is fond of ‘high-flying’ travel. That garden toss ain’t nothing to hoot. Bet they do a fair number of skydiving as a hobby.”
On one hand, Undyne was glad he still had the mood to joke.
On the other hand, she’s not sure if it’s an opportunistic farce.
“You sound like you have experience with this,” she commented.
There was a long stream of uncomfortable ‘hehs’, complete with nervous sweating.
Cenna hollered once more. This time it’s a message. “Hey, Captain Grillby’s waiting for ya at the entrance!”
Grillby? The ex-Captain manned the helm while Undyne checked out Doctor Gaster’s contraption. Why would he come all the way over here?
Sure enough, the man of fire stood there in full armour. He removed his helmet and bowed to the entourage. The presence of an unconscious Papyrus stirred concern.
“…Did something happen…?”
Sans interjected before anyone could explain. “He’s just bone tired, Grillbs. What’s up?”
“…A group of humans tried to sneak into the Underground… Police considered this as trespassing… so we’re holding them at the town hall… They brought digging tools… Said they’re looking for the six missing children…”
Something Papyrus’ had said then struck a troubled chord.
“I FEEL LIKE WE DON’T HAVE MUCH TIME LEFT.”
At first, Undyne thought he expressed it out of sheer impatience.
But, what if he sensed an omen from the future?
Did he realise this might happen? One could never tell with him.
The full ramifications reared their ugly head. Everyone knew that if the Gungnir unearthed those remains, monsterkind’s name will be forever tainted.