Chapter Text
Martlet felt her way through the dark halls.
She would have expected the laboratory of THE royal scientist to not feel so… abandoned.
Nonetheless she persevered, and walked further into the depths of the lab.
It was almost maze-like in its construction, long hallways going this way and that and sometimes intersecting.
Martlet wanted this to be a quick journey, but she kept getting lost.
She passed by many rooms, one with beds, one with flowers and mirrors, and one with a large intimidating machine.
Nonetheless, none of it was what she was looking for.
==
“Thank you again for letting me stay here, Asgore.”
“But of course, it's the least I can do for you.”
Martlet had to get down on her knees in order to avoid bumping in the ceiling. As one can imagine, it wasn’t very comfortable.
Asgore opened the door to the guest room, inside was a dusty gray room with some basic amenities, a desk, a set of drawers, a closet, and a bed. It was painted a dull gray like the rest of Asgore’s house, and by extension, the rest of New Home. The only thing breaking up the immense gray of the guest room was a painting of some red orb.
“I stored some basic amenities in the drawers, a mirror, hygiene products, just things like that. OH! And regarding your house, I will organize a construction team to perform some renovations so it can better accommodate your new stature.”
Martlet walked into the room, observing it. It was cramped but for now it would suit her needs.
“Is there anything else you need for now” Asgore asked politely
“Uh… no, not for now.”
“Well, you have had a very… eventful day. I think it would be best for you to have some rest. There are some things I would like to discuss with you, but those can wait for now.”
“Well.. alright. Um t-thank you, Asgore.” Martlet replied in an almost drained sounding voice.
“No, Martlet… Thank you, for everything.” With that, Asgore gently closed the door behind him.
==
Undyne stood outside of the judgment hall, smoking a pack of fish sticks. She wasn’t one to smoke, but she just needed to process everything that had just happened that day. The murders, the panic, and their savior.
She heard the elevator beside her ding, and the doors opened.
Royal Guards 01 and 02 emerged from the elevator carrying a stretcher with a large cloth on top of it, so as to hide the gruesome results of Martlet’s powers.
“Captain Undyne, ma’am.” said 02 as he passed by.
“One second, could you two pause for a moment.” Undyne ordered the guards.
Without question, 01 and 02 stopped walking and stood in place. Undyne hesitantly walked forward, almost as if she was going to regret what she was about to do, and lifted up the cloth.
Undyne felt herself gag upon viewing the corpse. It had numerous scarring across the whole body, there was a large amount of damage around the neck, and it smelled awful. Despite its unpleasant aura, there was a reason why Undyne wanted to see the body, she looked angrily down at the corpse, and spit on it. Undyne put the cloth back down.
“Back to your duty.” she ordered.
The guards went back to transferring the body to the crypt at the far end of Asgore’s castle, while Undyne went back to smoking. Suddenly the elevator next to her dinged again. She wasn’t expecting anyone else to be passing through here. Before she could come up with her own theories on who was in the elevator, Alphys stepped out.
“Oh hey Alphys, I wasn’t expecting to see you around here.” Undyne exclaimed as she put out the fish stick.
“Y-yeah I just wanted to uh… um… see her… IF THATS OK OF COURSE!” Alphys gave a pained smile.
Unydne could tell something was wrong with Alphys. “Ok, what's bothering you?”
“NOTHING! NOTHING! E-E-EVERYTHING IS FINE!”
“Alphys, I know what's bothering you.”
Alphys gulped and thought to herself, did Martlet already tell them everything?!
Unydne kneeled down and placed her hand on Alphys’s shoulder.
“You are still shaken up by the murders aren’t you?”
Alphys shakingly responded, “Uh… YEAH yeah… I’m really just… u-uh.”
Unydne embraced Alphys, “It's ok. You don’t need to say anything. We are all shaken up about everything.”
Alphys’s guilt only grew. While she was disturbed by the mass murders, they weren’t what was bothering her the most. Here she was getting up close and personal with her crush, all because she lied about her true feelings. She admittedly enjoyed being this close to Undyne, and that made her feel like dirt.
“Alphys? What are you doing here?”
Undyne and Alphys turned around to see Asgore walking towards them.
“U-uh Hello A-asgore I was hoping to see… uh… her…” Alphys gave a pained smile towards Asgore.
“Well… I did just put her to bed. Poor thing could use a rest.”
“Um… Uh… well I’m not mad at her, I-I j-just want to… ask uh… some q-questions..”
Asgore looked down and scratched his chin. He looked back at Alphys and gave her an answer. “Well… if she's still awake I suppose it couldn't hurt.”
==
Martlet stared blankly at the gray ceiling.
She couldn't bring herself to fall asleep, how could she?
So much had happened in just a few hours, she could barely keep a train of thought. Her mind constantly jumped from topic to topic.
Only the sound of the door slowly creaking open was able to break her out of her trance.
“Hello, Martlet. Is this a bad time?”
“N-no…”
“Well, You have a visitor.” Asgore fully opened the door to reveal Alphys nervously standing like a deer caught in headlights.
The sight of Alphys immediately made Martlet snap out of her trace, as she fully adjusted her attention to the small little reptilian.
Alphys remembered seeing Martlet on the broadcast, but seeing her in person really helped her grasp the full effect of the transformation. It only scared her further.
“Well Alphys, what did you wish to discuss with Martlet?”
“Um… I-I was kinda hoping we.. the t-two of us discuss it alone…”
“Alright then. I’ll just be right outside the door if either of you need me.” With that Asgore slowly closed the door.
Alphys and Martlet awkwardly stared at each other for a moment, but Alphys eventually spoke up first.
“Soooooo… hey.”
“Hey…” Martlet responded in a neutral tone.
“I just wanna say I’m… not… m-mad at you… uh… y-yeah.”
“Ok…”
It was painful. Alphys wasn’t really the social type, and trying to ask her the question she desperately wanted answers to felt like actual torment.
“Is that all…?”
“NO no… I-I just wanted to know… um.. Uh heh… phew… it's… it’s awfully hot in here...”
Martlet was starting to become annoyed towards Alphys.
Ever since that fateful day when Martlet entered the belly of the beast, she had lost most of her respect towards the royal scientist.
“S-Snowy…”
She still didn’t fully understand what she saw that day…
“Sn.. Snowy…?”
What she did know was that that thing still shows up in her nightmares.
“SNOWY!”
“Alphys we both know what you are talking about so just spit it out already.” Martlet growled and turned to face Alphys
Internally, Martlet was shocked by how assertive she acted, but she was tired of Alphys’s nonsense.
Alphys was caught off guard by Martlet raising her voice, and decided it would be best to follow her command.
“U-uh… Uh… YEAH yeah… Soooooo what exactly d-did you… uh… um… f-find…?”
Martlet’s tone started to become much more aggressive.
“You already know what I found Alphys…”
Alphys could feel a knot form in her stomach.
“What did you do Alphys?” Martlet began to stand up, eyeing Alphys
Alphys could feel a dark aura around Martlet as she began to approach. Her bright yellow eyes, which contrasted harshly with her black feathers, slowly narrowed. Alphys felt as if the mere stare of Martlet was cutting through her soul.
“What have you done?” Martlet’s voice had changed, it sounded almost demonic.
Alphys was completely paralyzed in fear, as she watched the titan of a monster that was Martlet walk towards her.
“Answer me Alphys.”
It felt like the entire room was slowly becoming covered in darkness, Alphys had never been so afraid in her life. Not even witnessing all of her subjects melt into one another could compare to the sheer primal fear Alphys felt across every inch of her body.
Martlet stared down towards Alphys, like an owl spotting its prey in the moonlight. “ANSWER ME!”
“I-I…”
“I RUINED THEIR LIVES! I-I I RUINED THEM I-I!”
Alphys broke down into tears, fell to her knees, and began to sob loudly. Upon seeing Alphys breakdown in such a way, it was like a lever was flipped in Martlet’s head. The dark aura around her faded, and she looked down at Alphys crying.
She was the reason Alphys was crying.
She had struck so much fear into Alphys that she had caused her to go into a meltdown.
Martlet didn’t know what had overcome her. How her annoyance with Alphys had somehow transformed into such furiousness, she couldn't say. She did know one thing however…
It made her feel terrible.
She might've had a grudge against Alphys, but this was too far.
She didn’t want to make her feel this way.
She didn’t want anyone to feel this way.
Martlet said the only thing she could say…
“I-I’m sorry…” She quivered.
Alphys continued to wail, as if she didn’t even hear Martlet (She might not have) “I-I'VE HURT THEM, I’VE… I’VE… I’VE HURT SO MANY PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!”
Martlet briefly forgot about the things she had seen in the lab, she just wanted Alphys to stop crying.
She didn’t know what the right thing to do in this scenario was, but she went with her gut and did what she thought the best option was.
She knelt down and embraced Alphys.
Alphys flinched upon feeling Martlet’s hug, but she felt too weak to fight back. She continued to sob into Martlet’s wings.
“I… I-Im sorry… I… You… You didn’t deserve that…” Martlet spoke as softly as she could to Alphys.
Alphys definitely heard her this time but the crying only continued. Martlet didn’t know what to feel at that moment.
There was a knocking at the door, but before Martlet or Alphys could answer it, the door was already opened by Asgore
“Is everything alright I- Alphys! Are you alright!?”
Alphys looked up at Asgore, still being held by Martlet.
“Um… Y-YEAH these are tears of… j-joy! I-I’m just so… happy with h-how M-Martlet saved us all…”
Martlet felt somewhat disappointed that Alphys didn’t come clean to the king in that moment, but she was even more disappointed in herself for the little stunt she pulled.
“Oh… Well, Yes of course! We are all grateful for the massive service Martlet has done for our kind!” Asgore responded in a much more chipper tone.
“YES YES! And uh… now that I have those feelings out I… I feel it is time to go heh…” Alphys sputtered out.
Alphys was released from Martlet’s grasp, and she stumbled her way to the doorway.
“Alphys?” Martlet spoke softly.
Alphys flinched when Martlet spoke to her, fearing another outburst. “Y-yes… M-martlet…?”
“Y-your… uh… Your secret is safe with me…” Martlet tried to speak as calmly as she could to try and comfort Alphys.
Alphys seemed genuinely confused at that moment.
“Um… uh… Yeah… t-thanks.” And she rushed out the door past Asgore.
“Well, I’m glad you two seem to be getting along…” Asgore said with warmth in his voice.
Martlet didn’t have the heart to tell Asgore the truth behind everything.
“Yep, getting along just fine.” She uttered with a pained smile as she gave Asgore a thumbs-up.
Asgore chucked then spoke. “Well, I’m glad to hear that. Goodnight Martlet.”
Asgore closed the door one final time and left Martlet alone with her thoughts.
Martlet led out a heavy sigh and sat down onto the bed, her face smothered in her wings.
What even was that?
How did it even happen?
It almost felt involuntary, like something just activated in her mind causing her to become whatever that was…
Who even was she anymore?
She didn’t feel like herself at that moment.
She could have hurt Alphys.
What if this happens again?
What if this happens again and she… hurts someone?
How did she become this… thing?
Martlet lifted her head out of her wings, across from her was a drawer.
Martlet got up and went through the drawer coming across a handheld Mirror.
She held it up to her face.
She held it up to… a face.
The face looking back didn’t feel like hers.
It wasn’t her.
Suddenly she got her answer.
It was this stupid body.
It was that damn blue serum.
That's what transformed her into this… thing.
All this power and for what? It was wasted on someone as scatterbrained as her.
As lazy as her
As clueless as her
As dumb as her
As lousy as her
As much as an idiot as her
She didn’t want this power.
She didn’t deserve this power.
“You don’t deserve this power.”
All she wanted was to protect monsterkind, and this was her reward?
A dangerous body that didn’t feel like her own?
Small tears began to form in the corners in her eyes.
She wanted to go back.
Back to how everything was before.
Back to how she was before.
She was desperate to get back to how she was, even if only by a little bit.
She reached down into the drawer and pulled out a pair of scissors.
She began to cut her hair down to how it used to be.
After piles of hair hit the floor, she had managed to cut her hair to look… somewhat like her old self.
Of course, her old self didn’t have hair that glowed bright blue.
Next was her talons. Before, she would always make sure to trim her talons down to about an inch in length.
Now, her talons had grown wildly out of control, to about six to seven inches long. They had to go.
Using a file from the drawer, she took her time filing each of her talons down to about an inch in length.
It wasn’t perfect, but the combined effect of her shortened hair and talons managed to make her feel a little more comfortable.
But not by much, mind you her body was still radically different from her normal self.
As an example, in bed her legs hung over the edge of the bed, and the blanket couldn't even cover her entire body.
It bothered her to no end, yet despite that, and her raging self-hatred she managed to fall asleep.
==
All was still in Asgore’s home. Martlet had fallen into a deep sleep, While Asgore snored loudly from the other room. Due to their slumber neither of them heard the floorboards creak as Flowey burrowed beneath them. He emerged in the guest room, it was the first time he had gotten close to Martlet after her dramatic transformation. She looked just as deadly up close. After taking a good look at Martlet, Flowey began to address an old “Friend.”
“Hey Clover, It's been a while. Look, I know we have had our differences, but I think we can both agree neither of us like this outcome. I was GOING to undo it, but it looks like absorbing your soul has put your little friend here in charge of the timeline. I’ve been watching Martlet all day and she seems to be acting normal, so I’m gonna go out on a limb and say you have zero control right now. Golly! I don’t even know if you can hear me right now!”
They could.
“Point is, I’m going to get you out of there, and put things back to the way they should be. I mean come on this timeline sucks!”
Flowey’s voice lowered in pitch and his face became distorted, almost looking like a skull.
“The only fun part has been watching Martlet’s self-image crumble into nothing! She’s right ya know, she doesn’t deserve such power!”
Flowey cleared his throat and his voice and face went back to normal.
“Alright enough stalling, lets fix things once and for all!”
Flowey summoned several of his trademark friendliness pellets above Martlet, and then sent them all crashing down into Martlet’s body…!
…only for every single one to bounce off her into the floor.
“WHA- Ok ok ok, I see. Gotta go with ol’ reliable!”
Flowey summoned a thorny vine out of the ground, and plunged it straight towards Martlet!
The resulting cracking sound made Flowey cringe.
By virtue of being a plant, Flowey had no bones. However, the feeling of having the vine snap in two was the closest he could feel to breaking a bone.
Flowey was numb to any form of pain at this point, so he was more enraged than anything.
Flowey summoned more vines and wrapped them around Martlet’s head, intending to snap her neck. No matter how much Flowey pulled, her head wouldn't budge.
“WHY WON’T YOU DIE!!!” Flowey hissed loudly, a little too loudly.
In all his rage, Flowey forgot to avoid waking Martlet up, and didn’t remember until he saw her eye slowly open…
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH” Flowey shrieked like a little girl!
He immediately retreated back underground. No matter how much he didn’t want to admit it, Martlet in this form genuinely terrified him.
Martlet sat up in bed, still half asleep. She assumed the screeching sound was just part of a dream, and she went back to sleep.
Under the floorboards, Flowey sat and thought about his current predicament. Killing Martlet wasn’t an option anymore, and he had lost the safety net of saving and loading. If he were to die, it would be permanent!
He needed a new plan… and he needed it now!
==
Eventually, Martlet found what she was looking for.
Before her, lay several fridges.
Martlet approached the nearest one and opened it.
Inside were various syringes filled with some kind of pink liquid.
All except one…
In the very back of the fringe was a different kind of syringe. Its placement in the back of the fridge was almost hiding it from view, but it still caught Martlet’s eye
Very carefully, she pulled the syringe out of the refrigerator, and inspected it.
Unlike the other syringes, which were a bright pink, This one had a dark blue color to it.
Martlet couldn’t quite explain it, but she had a feeling that this serum had to be what she needed.
She had heard about the royal scientist performing experiments to make monsters stronger, strong enough to break the barrier.
If she were to encounter a human in her time as the guard, well… she just hoped Chujin was wrong. If he wasn’t, then hopefully this serum could help her protect herself, and everyone.
She stashed the serum away in her pocket, she was about to leave when she heard strange sounds coming from the opposite end of the room.
What Martlet saw horrified her.
Across the room, a strange white mass had appeared. It was constantly shifting, as its body was composed of ripples in a pond. Part of its upper body moved to face Martlet. Martlet soon realized it was a face, or multiple faces. Several black holes in its head resembled eyes and mouths. It looked as though it had multiple faces converging into one another.
Martlet felt cold, so cold. She was paralyzed out of fear from the sight of this… thing.
And then it began to speak…
“S-snow…y…?”
Martlet began to back up slowly, she wasn’t sure what it wanted but she had a feeling it wanted to hurt her.
“Sn… Snowy….?!”
“SNOWY!!!!!”
The thing lunged towards Martlet with large arm-like appendages reaching towards her.
Martlet began to sprint back towards the elevator. Her mind was racing, her heart was pounding, her thoughts consisted of pure primal fear as the screeching of that thing echoed through the halls.
She felt like she was running for an eternity, but at least she had managed to out run that thing, even if she could still hear it.
The elevator was eventually in Martlet’s sights, and that thing had stopped its screeching. Martlet scrambled to get inside, and frantically pushed the up button. The thing said one last thing, but the elevator doors had already closed. Martlet didn’t hear it.
“S… S-Snowy…. d-don’t… leave me…a-again…” Ms. Drake sighed sorrowfully.