Chapter Text
A sudden wind blows into the dimly-lit cavern. The brown-haired child, knife in their hand, stares down at her, a cold expression in their red eyes. She glares right back, despite the goo leaking from her body. “Damn it… So even with THAT power…It wasn’t enough?”
The demon has a smirk on their face.
And Undyne laughs , a horrible, raspy sound, even for her own standards. The fallen child looks confused.
“If you…”
A choking sound erupts from her throat as she tries to speak again.
“If you think that I’m gonna give up hope, you’re wrong. Cause I’ve…got my friends behind me.”
The spear in her hand dissolves into cyan sparkles.
“Alphys told me-” She coughs again, dust spilling out onto her armor. Undyne promptly ignores it. “-that she would watch me fight you.”
The human- no, demon is quiet, their red eyes a stark contrast to the rocky area around them.
She forces the lump of dust in her throat back down again and continues “And if anything went wrong, she would... evacuate everyone.”
Undyne forces herself to grin at the demon of a child. “By now she's called Asgore and told him to absorb the 6 human SOULs.” They look slightly annoyed.
“And with that power…” Pointing at them, she yells “This world will live on...!”
White goo splashes onto the demon’s shoes. They look disgusted and try to shake it off. Undyne knows she’s melting. The ground’s coming closer and closer by the second. Somehow, it doesn’t hurt at all. There’s just a numb feeling spreading all over her.
Alphy...good luck. You can do this. she thinks. I love you. I’ll see you again someday.
Then she dies.
…
…
………
…………..
The silence stretches on. The demon has left, their footsteps echoing through the empty caves of Waterfall.
Shouldn’t she be dead?
DETERMINATION, she knows, she has too much of. Alphys said that too much was deadly.
So why isn’t she dead?
Undyne tries to move her limbs.
*Nothing happens.
Damn it.
A loud anime opening cuts through the silence. Miraculously, the call goes through. Must be all the goo.
“Undyne!” screams Alphys. “Are you there? Please, please, please, talk to me!”
She tries to respond.
*Nothing, again. But you seem to have moved a little.
“UNDYNE!” Alphys yells. “I’m coming, I saw you on the monitor! D-don’t worry, I can fix you up, I-I can-” She hangs up.
It feels like an eternity.
...
Alphy, where are you?
Suddenly, she’s aware of a sudden feeling, like someone’s scraping their claws against her (now-nonexistent) scales.
“Undyne...hang on!” Alphys exclaims, her voice sounding strained and exhausted.
The atmosphere shifts, becoming drier and hotter. Claws clack on metal, and a wooshing noise is heard. Alphys must have entered an elevator or something.
Undyne tries to speak, tell Alphys to look out for the demon. She can’t let them follow her and slaughter even more of the population. She ignores the burning in what’s left of her throat.
“...phy...don....le…”
“Undyne?!” she squeaks. “No, no, don’t say anything, save your energy! I’m getting you to where everyone is, t-there are some monsters with healing magic!”
Alphys’s voice is soothing. Even though she can hardly hear anything, her voice is so clear amidst the haze in her mind.
She feels more and more tired by the second. But she’s always been a fighter, so Undyne forces herself to stay awake. For Alphys.
Don’t sleep. Don’t sleep, don’t sleep, don’t-
-and she opens her eyes.
Undyne’s staring down at the demon. Weirdly enough, they look so much different. Same attire, but an entirely different look in their eyes, one of burning hopes and dreams. They look so much more healthy too, and Undyne wonders what really happened to drive this child to mindless slaughter.
“I guess. You two. Can come on in.” her voice grinds out, the complete opposite of what she wants to say.
Papyrus is there (precious, precious, pure, kind Papyrus who no-one in the world deserved) too, it turns out, and he follows the human in, a smile on his face. How can he even go a meter near them ?
The human glances up at Undyne. They grin at her, a toothy one not much unlike her own.
“Undyne!”
Alphys?
“Undyne, wake up!”
It sounds like she’s crying.
“
Undyne!
”
She snaps open her eyes. A yellow blur is taking up most of her vision, and what she can see of the room she’s in seems to be some sort of tent, with items scattered everywhere.
“Al...phy?” she croaks. The face in front of hers comes into focus. Alphys is looking at her, tears pooling in her eyes. She’s beautiful, despite the grime and tears on her face. “Undyne…” she whispers, and throws her arms around her. “What happened?” she asks, pulling away from the hug.
Alphys's overjoyous expression shifts to an upset one. “You...uhm...died. To the human. A-and, I found you, and you were still alive, somehow, and I-I brought you back here, and your body just...regenerated on its own.”
“But you said too much DETERMINATION would kill you?”
“I-I don’t know why. Now that I think about it, maybe I should run some tests on your SOUL, let me just get the- right...we’re not in my lab.” Alphys looks away, crossing her arms.
Undyne pulls Alphys into a hug, pushing down her fears into that convenient fishbowl at the back of her mind.. “I’m here Alphy. That’s what that matters, right?” She sniffles into her shoulder. “Y-yeah.”
The human. says a small part of her mind. What happened to them?
“The human!” yells Undyne, causing Alphys to yelp and look around frantically. “THE HUMAN!” she repeats. “Where the fuck are they? I’m gonna beat the shit out of them! There’s no-one to defend the Underground, I’m going to-”
“Undyne.” says Alphys, in a dead-serious tone.
“Yeah?! Where the fuck are they now?”
“They’re fighting against Mettaton.”
“What the fuck?”
Him? Of all people to stand in their way, him? The world’s most self-absorbed idiot? Undyne scoffs, remembering the time he had laid down on her piano and ate grapes. But then again, he had always been proud of himself and the Underground. Maybe he was finally doing something not-stupid.
“They’ve been fighting for six hours.” Alphys says in a small voice. “A-according to the last message I got from him, he’s running low on power, but, um, the human’s health is low and they don’t have anything to heal themself with.”
“When did he send that message?” asks Undyne, jumping up. “Tell me where he is, I’ll give him backup! I’m gonna kill the human!”
The lizard-monster stares at the ground. “Um.”
“Alphy, it’s okay, you can tell me. I’ll go kill the human for you.”
For a moment, Undyne thinks she won’t say anything, but then she cowers into a small ball and whispers “An hour ago. I’m so worried.” She breaks out into tears. “Alphy!” Undyne exclaims, pulling Alphys into an embrace. “”It’s-it’s okay, tell me where they’re fighting, I’ll check on them-” Alphys shakes her head frantically. “No, no, no, Undyne, you’re still hurt! And you’ll die again!”
Pleading eyes look up at her.
There’s only one way to end this, whether I live to see it or not.
“I won’t. I’m gonna kill that sorry excuse for a child. And I’m going to save your friend, no matter how annoying he is.” Undyne says confidently, walking out the door of the small tent.
Alphys watches her leave, claws gripping the sleeves of her lab coat out of anxiety.
“Uh, wait, where are they?” Undyne asks, sticking her head back in.
“CORE.” she squeaks.
“Thanks, Alphy! By the way, you’re cute today!”
Alphys collapses in a heap on the floor, out of both nervousness and embarrassment.
-
Undyne adjusts her armor as she strides down the hallways of the CORE. She was lucky that her armor melted together with her and reformed as well.
A spear shimmers into existence in her hand.
“Here I come, motherfucker.” she growls, charging straight through the door.
*Stage lights are blaring. The scent of iron wafts though the air. reads the battle GUI.
Strangely enough, the GUI - it’s changed, and Undyne can see her own battle options at the bottom of her vision, together with her health. To her surprise, she can see Mettaton’s health bar and options as well. He’s critically low, and Undyne thanks the stars that she brought healing items. There’s also an orange bar labelled TP at the left.
“HEY!” Undyne roars. “Look over here, fuckers!”
Both demon and robot (She could hardly recognize him in that... unique form) look over at her.
“Undyne!” gasps Mettaton. “You’re-”
He just barely dodges a slash at his midriff from the demon.
She readies her spear and tosses a sandwich at him. He eats it without complaint.
Undyne throws a volley of spears at the demon. They dodge nimbly, running close to make the kill. They slice at her armor, and Undyne prepares for the blow.
MISS flashes across her sight.
The knife glances harmlessly off her armor, and the demon stops, evident confusion in their eyes.
Mettaton takes the opportunity and shoots missiles at them. They manage to dodge most of them, but they take a shot straight to the stomach. To Undyne’s discomfort, red liquid leaks from the wound. Usually attacks don’t do anything to your physical body…but Mettaton’s using physical attacks against them.
“How dare you.” says the demon, their voice like the knife they used to slice down everyone. They don’t seem affected, despite the gaping wound visible through their tattered sweater.
Instinctively, Undyne steps closer to Mettaton, whose health had replenished, and the two stand back to back, weapons aimed at the demon. It’s kind of sad, Undyne thinks, that the first time they would get along would be against a megalomaniac child.
They cackle. “You fools. Do you really think teaming up will allow you to kill me?”
“Maybe.” replies Mettaton, a nonchalant tone in his voice. The demon hisses “Arrogant as always.”
“I think you’re the arrogant one!” Undyne retorts.
The fallen child growls at them and grips their knife. “You’re going to die. ”
*A song plays in the background. A theme fit for a hero- no, two heroes.
Undyne defends, holding her spear like the shields in her Green SOUL mode. The TP bar goes up. Weird. Mettaton copies her, the cannon on his right hand switching to a sword. The TP bar rises again.
Knives slice across the battle box, and Undyne evades every one thrown at her.
The human growls again and goes in for another hit. The MAGIC button on the battle options is glowing, and Undyne turns to her companion. “Use your magic!”
He nods, pressing the button. “Spectral Lightning?” he murmurs, a slightly sad look in his eyes. It’s weird that a robot has a ghost attack, but Undyne ignores it and yells “Cast it!”
“Don’t rush me!” screeches Mettaton, but he casts the spell anyway. The TP bar goes back down again. Seems like the bar measures energy for casting spells. Undyne wonders why she hasn’t seen it in ordinary battles.
Transparent pink lightning bolts shoot at the human, who’s so taken aback by the ghostly attack that they get hit by the first few. Their HP is dangerously low. Good.
The fallen child looks even more enraged, and they reluctantly hold up their knife to DEFEND.
*The demon’s blood drips on the ground.
Undyne checks her MAGIC option. Enough TP for the Spear Rush spell. She casts it, as Mettaton defends, raising the bar again.
Spears fly across the battle box, but the human dodges them all. They grin as their health restores itself a little. She’s reminded of a similar smile, one from a child not corrupted by murder.
“Just die already!” exclaims Mettaton out of frustration.
The human gives them both a smirk. Undyne watches them, ready for any tricks they’re going to pull.
Then they turn heel and run out the back door. “What the hell!” Undyne screams, running after. Mettaton follows her, fiddling with something on his arm. “There it is!” He flies right past her, his boots expelling jets of flame. “Rocket boots and wings?! I want that shit...” she mutters.
They pursue the human down the corridor, but they’re surprisingly fast, somehow even evading Mettaton. They run into the elevator and the doors slam shut just as he gets there, vines wrapping around the door. “Fucking hell!” he shrieks, stomping his foot. “I thought that this was family-friendly?” Undyne jokes. He looks at her, surprise in his pink eyes, and smiles a little. “Darling, the second they got that knife was the second this show stopped being family-friendly.”
-
The duo make it back to the hidden elevator. The doors close, and Mettaton leans against the wall, sinking onto the floor. “I’m so tired.” he groans. Undyne snickers. “No shit, you know you’ve been fighting for like seven hours?”
“That long? My circuits must be absolutely overloaded.”
Both of them fall silent. Unlike all the other times they talked, this silence isn’t uncomfortable. It must have been the fight that made her realise why he wasn’t as much of a jerk as she had thought.
“Hey. Metta.” she says. He laughs. “Is that really the nickname you have for me, darling?” Undyne shrugs in response. “Anyway,” she continues, “What was with you having a ghost attack?” He freezes up. “Uh.”
For once, the charismatic actor doesn’t have lines to read from a script.
Mettaton takes a deep breath and runs his hand through his hair. “Do you know who Bl- Napstablook is?”
Undyne nods, not understanding why he’d bring up the reclusive ghost. “Yeah, he’s my neighbor.”
“Do you remember their cousin?”
“Which one?”
“The...one who disappeared.”
She nods again. “The pink one, Happstablook, right?”
“Yes.” There’s no trace of the dramatic, overzealous star in his voice. It sounds more…raw, and there’s an echoey quality to it.
It’s familiar. So familiar. “You’re them. You act just like them!” she realises. “You’re obsessed with the color pink, you dreamed of being famous - well, you are now - and your magical attacks were centered around electricity!”
“I disappeared, remember? And Blooky was so sad…” He looks at her, shame in his eyes. “I left them all alone, all because I was a selfish prick .”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay!” (Why was she comforting everyone today?) She scoots closer and cautiously wraps her arms around him. He makes a small noise of surprise but doesn’t protest.
-
The two stagger into the clearing that’s the middle of the temporary home/campsite of the evacuees. At some point during their walk, Mettaton’s leg gave way, and Undyne had had to help him back.
Monster Kid gasps at the sight of them and exclaims “I’ll get Alphys!” They scutter off, yelling their sister’s name.
The other monsters notice them as well. At first it’s quiet as the two stand in the middle of the clearing, Mettaton’s arm slung over Undyne’s shoulder. Then the cheering starts. Undyne grins, and Mettaton smiles weakly.
Alphys shuffles out of one of the many tents. “Oh my gosh!” She hurries over, beckoning for them to follow.
Inside the tent that seems to be alphys's temporary lab, Mettaton collapses against the wall. Alphys looks at him with concern. “How’s your leg?”
“Absolutely demolished, darling. Please help me.” Alphys nods and gives him a once-over. “I have a second one here, gimme a second-” She roots under the table and pulls out a new robotic leg. Taking out a screwdriver, she attaches the limb in place of the broken one.
“There.” she says. “I think it’s best if you switch to one of your other forms now.”
Mettaton makes a noise of assent and flips a switch on his left arm. One transformation later, he’s sitting on the table as a less deadly, more pink version of his NEO form. Much better for a performance , Undyne thinks.
Alphys turns to Undyne and asks “A-are you okay?” She grins lopsidedly. “ ‘Course I am, Alphy. Might need some food, but I’m fine.” They stare at each other. She can’t help but admire the scales on her face. They’re small and some glimmer golden instead of yellow.
Stunning.
“Kiss, kiss, kiss.” chants Mettaton quietly.
Undyne glares at him and looks back at Alphys, who whispers “N-not unless you want to.”
She wants to kiss me?
“You want to kiss me?” Undyne finds herself saying.
Alphys blushes and looks away.
Out of pure impulse, Undyne grabs the sides of Alphys's face and pulls her in for a deep kiss. Mettaton whoops in the background. “So early into the fic, too!” he exclaims.
It’s like she’s jumping on clouds, holding Alphys's claw, a giant anime sword in her other hand, peaceful piano music playing while fluffy white dogs fly everywhere.
When they finally break apart, Alphys's face is flushed, and Undyne is sure hers is too. “Not bad for a first time, huh?”
“N-not bad at all.” Alphys replies, a sweet smile on her face, happy tears threatening to spill from her eyes.
Mettaton smirks at them. “I always knew you two were perfect for each other.”
Suddenly, a beeping sounds from alphys's coat pocket. She pulls out her phone and squints at the screen.
“What is it?” asks Undyne, looking as well.
The human is in the Judgement Hall, grinning devilishly at Sans, who has a grin of his own, only a more lazy one.
“Oh no.” Alphys whispers, the color draining from her face.