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The sun peeks through the window in the Holiday manor. Carol was, as usual, already up at this hour. It was a habit she developed in the military; she was used to waking precisely at 6 am every morning of every day, even after the long nights she and her family would spend with the Dreemurs. Like most mornings she would spend the first five minutes waiting for her husband to bring her breakfast in bed. At exactly 6:06 am Rudy entered their bedroom.
“You’re late.” Carol said with a cold tone.
“Sorry honey I had trouble with the eggs. I had to remake them”
“You know I’m a busy woman, Rudy. I hope you won’t waste any more of my time.”
Just like that Rudy who in the past might’ve tried his chance with a little kiss, stopped talking and handed her breakfast. Carol, now with some peace and quiet, started planning out her day.
She had many municipal duties to take care of. Road maintenance, the townhall meeting, making appearances at the school and church, but outside of the usual there was also… the shelter. When she first came into office, it was completely abandoned. Nobody was ever sure why it was built, leading to rumors spreading about it being built in preparation for some apocalypse. It was largely thought of in the same vein as ghost stories though. To everyone but Mayor Holiday. She believed it was important to prepare for whatever it is her predecessors feared. And so using her military experience, she rebuilt it alongside her other duties. Part of this reconstruction was a tunnel connecting her home to the shelter, as well as a strange pizza restaurant she happened to be the owner of.
Ice-e’s P”e”zza, she always thought it was a clever name.“Be a team player there’s no “i” in p”E”zza! It's the kind of business mentality she stands by. Once a respectable local chain, its doors were first opened in 1997 bringing joy and piping hot pe”E”ces of p”E”zza. It was an initial success for Carol, who was able to eventually build new restaurants all around the region, making Ice-es ' beautiful face a mainstay. This would cement her as a success story among Hometown residents, leading to her being elected as Mayor many years after. Unfortunately for the businesswoman, the 2008 recession would be brutal for the humble restaurant chain. Desperate to keep it afloat, Carol Holiday would turn to a nefarious drug cartel known as “The Fonts” for “help”.
It was in this context that Carol walked into Ice-e’s that day, checking up on a mostly dead restaurant which only serves to launder drug money. She looks around the place, wishing it was filled with paying customers and hard working employees loyal to the Ice-e’s brand. A glance at the clock revealed the time to be 6:34. Alphys is late for her shift. She sighs, lamenting how little control she has over her own restaurant. Regardless, the storage room needed its routine checkup. Seeing as that dweeb didn’t make it in time, Carol decides to go do it herself.
Carol walked down the stairs to the Ice-e’s basement filled with annoyance at her employee’s incompetence. Still, it was a good opportunity to see if she had been doing her job properly. She swore if she saw a single can of tomato sauce misplaced… Well she couldn’t fire her. But she would make her pay a visit to the “Ice-e’s fun room”. Walking through the shelves of Parmajohn che”E”ese and pepperonie sticks, she checked off every item on her checklist as she walked along. She then sauntered over to the fridge to check on their fr”E”sh produce. Broccoli, grapefruit, turnips, zucchinis. Everything essential to a classic Ice-e’s p”E”zza. With a nod, she checks off another item, but doesn’t immediately close the lid. She enjoys the cold breeze emanating from the machine. It’s why her AC is always at a steady -1 degrees celsius. Her quiet meditation is suddenly stopped however when at the corner of her eye, she spots something dark moving around. Afraid of rats daring to nest in her pristine family friendly pizza diner, she slams the refrigerator shut and gives a frigid glance in the direction of the potential intruder. Her face softens at the sight of the door standing tall in front of her. Part of her bunker renovations, the intimidating gateway made of reinforced steel looms over her with an uncharacteristically menacing allure. She certainly doesn’t remember feeling like this the first time she saw it complete. Suddenly, once again moving in her peripheral vision, she spots what she now sees as some strange smoke. It’s noticeably darker than the already dark room she’s in, and it doesn’t stop growing. The rat quickly becomes the least of her worries as she’s faced with a possibly hazardous substance leaking from her tunnel, into her restaurant, and possibly even breaching her home. With furious footsteps she walks over to the door to investigate, unlocking the massive door and pulling it with all her strength. Smoke begins to spill out from the inside, but never flooding the room. It looks as though it dissipates quick enough, but Carol wasn’t taking her chances. With the door only a quarter of the way open, she peeks inside. That’s strange, it’s completely dark. She swore she installed the lights just last week, why aren’t they working? Fearing this is the work of a saboteur, she quickly reaches for one of her conveniently placed work katanas. She begins to walk into the darkness, Holiday family ninja style, when suddenly the door behind her slams shut.
Suddenly, it’s less dark, she can see herself clearly even if everything around her looks like an endless void. She looks different, her pantsuit had turned into samurai armor and her trusty blade looked magical. She stood in shock for a few minutes until a strange cat appeared. It’s horrible grin and heterochromatic eyes was the only thing that felt real. It started moving away, she followed, then for what seemed like miles she followed the cat through strange unsettling locations, all empty and lifeless. Finally they reached what seemed like a normal office. She opened the door and suddenly the cat jumped on the lap of a mysterious man, his back hunched over his small monitor.
“☟︎☜︎🕯︎💧︎ ⚐︎☠︎☜︎ ❄︎✌︎🏱︎ ☟︎☜︎🕯︎💧︎ ☞︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ ⚐︎☠︎☜︎ ❄︎✌︎🏱︎ ⚐︎☟︎ 💣︎✡︎ ☝︎⚐︎👎︎”
“Huh… hello?”
The man, realising he’s no longer alone, straightens his back and turns his computer chair at a speed he clearly practiced to maximise dramatic tension.
“GREETINGS”
“IT APPEARS YOU ARE LOST”
“What are you doing in MY tunnel?!”
With the corner of his eye the man tabs out of his fortknight game to his cool and mysterious animated wallpaper. He takes off his headphones and tries to look as serious as possible.
“I WAS NOT AWARE THAT THIS SHELTER WAS YOUR PROPERTY"
“I APOLOGISE FOR THE INCONVENIENCE”
“You will have to leave Mr…”
“DR. WING DING GASTER”
“Well “doctor” Gaster this shelter is my property and under the law it is my right to remove you from here by force.”
She raises her katana. Without thinking, it begins to glow with ice magic
“PLEASE LET US NOT MAKE THIS A VIOLENT CONFRONTATION"
“I CANNOT LIVE IN MANY PLACES THIS SHELTER IS THE ONLY PLACE SUITABLE FOR ME”
“BUT I AM A GENEROUS MAN AND I HAVE SOMETHING TO OFFER YOU IN EXCHANGE OF MY TENANTSHIP”
Gaster opens his hand in front of Carol showing her what appears to be a small monster, gray and emotionless, dancing.
“PRETTY COOL RIGHT? AND THAT’S NOT ITS ONLY MOVE”
The monochrome creature starts doing the default dance from fortknight.
Carol is dumbfounded
“What.”
“Is that?”
The small thing starts doing the charleston
It’s going faster and faster. Eventually it gets to a speed so ludicrous you couldn’t tell it was dancing. After about a minute of being enamored by his creation Gaster replied.
“MY APOLOGIES, I GOT DISTRACTED. WHAT WAS IT YOU SAID?”
“What was that?”
“OH, HAHA, YES.”
“THESE ARE GONERS. ARTIFICIAL LIFE, CREATED BY COPYING WHAT ALREADY EXISTS.”
“ISN’T IT ☞︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎✋︎☠︎☝︎ SWEET?”
Carol is feeling a mix of curiosity, disgust and pure confusion.
“What would I get from this?”
“OH YES OF COURSE, OF COURSE, PAYMENT.”
“YOU SEE GONERS ARE VERY, VERY”
He snaps his fingers suddenly the little gasterling went to get his creator a glass of mountain dew baja blast™
“OBEDIANT”
He downs his glass in one sip, burping impolitely.
“I’M SURE A SMART BUSINESS WOMAN LIKE YOU COULD SEE HOW AN ARMY OF WORKERS WHO DON’T NEED TO EAT, DRINK AND WON’T ASK FOR A SALARY COULD HELP YOUR”
“P”E”ZZA PLACE.”
Gaster makes a contract appear from the hole in his hand
“IF YOU LET ME LIVE IN THIS SHELTER I WILL GIVE YOU ACCESS TO MY GONERS. OF COURSE I EXPECT TO RECEIVE DIVIDENDS FROM THE LUDICROUS PROFITS YOU WILL MAKE OFF OF THEM.”
“BUT I HOPE YOU WILL FIND THIS PARTNERSHIP MUTUALLY BENEFICIAL.”
Carol takes a moment to reflect. This is an opportunity for Icee’s to once again become a major brand, she wouldn't have to deal with those bony crooks anymore. The contract overall, it was generous, he wasn’t asking for much, she would get the lion's share of profits, it was a deal too good to refuse. She signed the contract.
“EXCELLENT. TRULY EXCELLENT.”
“I LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH YOU”
Since that deal, business had been… better. She was no longer at risk of bankruptcy thanks to the new free labor she had acquired from Dr Gaster but her situation was still precarious. She struggled to attract customers. Her marketing game was unique, and the common folk weren’t open to her vision for the future of p”e”zza dining. She was also still dependent on that rotten crew of skeletons to keep her chain afloat. Without the money laundering from the fonts her wannabe business empire would crash and burn, a fact that Carol’s ego couldn’t take for much longer.
After yet another day of satisfying the bellies of a few regulars, it was time to close up shop. They complimented Carol on the improved service times and cleanliness, wondering what changed in the small establishment. This was a question that was more seriously held by Alphys, who was still the only one to take orders and actually serve the food. She hadn’t seen her new coworkers in the kitchen yet, just some pale grey hands handing her the pies from behind the door. She was ordered not to take a look at them. Something about getting distracted from the people that really matter: paying customers. Still, as the week stretched on, she only grew more curious. So when she saw Carol come in at the end of the day to check up on her performance, she decided to interrogate her, stumbling through her words as she always does.
“B-by the way, M-Mrs. Holiday… I’ve been wondering about the uh… New employees I haven’t seen yet!”
“I already told you to pay them no mind. You should be focused on your station and nothing else.”
“Y-yes I understand that! But I couldn’t help but wonder… W-where did you find so many new people so fast in this town? I mean I don’t doubt your business s-smarts or whatever but-”
“It’s none of your business. You’re here to take orders, serve food, and nothing else. Be grateful you don’t have to work the kitchen anymore. Now go home. I am not paying you overtime.”
Defeated, Alphys walked out of the diner. She should’ve pushed back more, she thought. She began to imagine all the ways she could’ve won in a battle of tongues. Regardless, she was the one moping all the way to her apartment, while her boss was focused on taking Ice-e’s one step further.
After closing up shop Carol made one more trip to the shelter. This one had a purpose, it was going to be about the fonts.
“We meet again”
To her surprise he wasn’t alone, Gaster seemed to be enjoying a game of Uno with many heterochromatically colored eyed cats including a large fat one with a pointed tail.
“CARE TO JOIN OUR GAME?”
At closer inspection this uno deck was not typical, all the cards were different hues of gray which she could barely distinguish
“I have far more pertinent things to do”
One of the small ones tried to cheat by peeking over to see the deck of the large cat, after noticing this, the fat cat promptly ate the cheater in an instant. This made all the other cats leave out of fright, essentially ending the game.
“Hoochie Mama! Who’s this MILF!?”
The sleazy fatcat lets out a piercing laugh, eyeing the uncomfortable monster up and down.
“MIKE. WHAT THE ☞︎🕆︎👍︎😐︎! YOU CAN’T TALK TO WOMEN LIKE THAT! WE TALKED ABOUT THIS!”
Mike keeps laughing even after being reprimanded by his superior. Dr. Gaster, annoyed by his antics, slaps him with a newspaper lying on the table next to the uno cards. The cat suddenly vanishes as soon as contact is made, allowing the man to properly speak with his guest.
“APOLOGIES FOR MY ASSOCIATE. HE’S NOT KNOWN FOR HIS GOOD MANNERS.”
“WHAT WAS IT YOU WANTED TO DISCUSS?”
Carol composes herself after being subjected to such insolence. She had no time to victimize herself, she needed to get straight to business.
“Yes. I simply wanted to negotiate the possibility of furthering the usage of these…”
“GONERS?”
“Yes those. They have done plenty as free laborers in my diner, though I still have greater ambitions for them still.”
“WHATEVER IT IS YOU NEED THEM TO DO, THEY WILL DO IT WITHOUT A SECOND THOUGHT. WHAT IS IT YOU HAD IN MIND?”
A silence stretched on for a few seconds as Carol thought over how to tactfully disclose her plans. Even if he seemed to be a man of questionable morality, she didn’t know how far he’d be willing to go.
“You see, for many years my business has been entangled with a… “syndicate”. It has allowed my corporation to stay afloat, but now that we are seeing profits once again, it is becoming a nuisance. Still I don’t see how I can break away from them. P”e”zzas aren’t as profitable as the illegal narcotics they traffic. So I came here to ask you how you think I can make Ice-e’s more lucrative.”
“AH YES. YOU ARE REFERRING TO THE FONTS YES?”
“What? How do you know? Are you involved with them?”
“WOAH WOAH JUST BECAUSE I’M A SKELETON DOESN’T MEAN I’M A PART OF THEM. THAT IS SO INSENSITIVE. OH MY GOD.”
“Oh. Sorry. I apologise for my prejudice.”
“THE FONT NAME IS CULTURAL. IT DOESN’T MEAN I’M IN A GANG. BE BETTER”
Another stretch of silence, this time of shame.
“ANYWAYS. ON THE SUBJECT OF YOUR ENTERPRISE.”
Gaster stays pensive for a few seconds on how he can help his new associate , but before he can say his idea, Mike reappears suddenly.
“Why don’t you just sell drugs like them? HEHAHEHAHEHA!”
“MIKE. I DON’T THINK SHE’D WANT TO DO SOMETHING SO ILLEGAL. YOU CAN’T JUST SUGGEST THAT LIKE IT’S OBVIOUS.”
“Let’s do it.”
Gaster turns around to face Carol, jaw gaping from the shock of what he just heard.
“Let’s sell and make drugs under my restaurants.”
“WHAT DRUGS?!”
“All of them! HEHAHEHAHEHA”
“I like your attitude Micheal”
“You’re not so bad yourself, mamacita!”
They both started laughing. Gaster was still in shock.
“Dum dee dum”
Asgore was in the bathroom, finishing up before going to work. All that was left to do was say goodbye to his lovely wife and his beautiful kids.
“See you later Tori”
He went in for a kiss. Toriel, loving as always, gave him a goodbye peck on the lips. It was as essential to their morning routine as eating breakfast together.
“See you after school kids!”
As he bid his teenage son and his young child farewell, Asriel told his father goodbye
Kris stayed silent, but Asgore knew their smile was their way of telling him “you’re the coolest dad ever”. He was so lucky.
Asgore's job as police chief was usually uneventful, but today was going to be more interesting. He had something he wanted to investigate. It was unusual to do something that Carol hadn’t ordered him to do but the story he heard from that concerned employee piqued his curiosity. Overnight the store had gotten dozens of new employees, all of whom have their address listed as the same empty apartment block Carol built a few years ago. To make matters worse, all their names appear on very few government databases. At a glance, it becomes clear that something here was wrong; those weren’t normal citizens. He started writing a report on the suspicious activity going on with Icee’s p”e”zza.
On his desk were documents detailing all these occurrences. Apart from details which could be found in public records, the rest came directly from Alphys. Pictures and descriptions given to him through strangely affectionate text messages. This wasn’t usually how one gives testimony, but Asgore felt obligated after she desperately insisted this be the case. Regardless, it was a good way to modernize the town’s police department, he thought. The photos were printed as were the chat logs, detailing the secrecy surrounding its new employees and displaying their pale grey hands. None of this was clicking for Asgore though. He knew Carol was the owner of the place, yet he couldn’t bring himself to think she’d do anything shady. More than anything, he began to worry for her. Maybe she’s getting blackmailed, or sabotaged by some jealous restaurant owner. He’s been conducting this investigation behind her back, but he thinks he should probably contact her before finishing the report. Even if she doesn’t expose the culprit, he trusts her to give him something more to go off of. With a hint of doubt he takes his phone and dials Carol's number.
“Howdy C! Just wanted to ask you a question. Hope you aren’t too busy.”
“No I am not. Go ahead Asgore, ask me anything.”
“Oh! Well it’s nothing really… Just a few things about your business I’ve been thinking about!”
Her heart sank, this was bad. She couldn’t let him know anything. She takes a breath to regain her cool.
“What about it?”
“Well as you know, recently Icee’s has gotten a lot of new employees. I took a look at their ids and I’ve noticed a lot of them seem… forged. ”
“Why are you asking me about this?”
“Well you see your employee Alphys…”
Alphys. That good-for-nothing little… she was going to be fired for this. After everything Carol had done for her, this is the thanks she gets? No matter. That yellow freak is as weird as she is pathetic. This is advantageous if anything else.
“Don’t mind her Asgore. She’s a bit of a lunatic you know. I wouldn’t trust her with giving accurate testimony.”
“Well she was very insistent on..,
“Don’t mind her ramblings. You have better things to do as police chief.”
He took a sigh
“You’re right. She is quite intense. She keeps following me and Undyne around while we are on duty. It is quite strange. I shouldn’t take her seriously”
How easy he was to crack. It was almost too easy. How could someone this pure be the head of the police department? A part of her knew he was playing some game with her. Yet that other part leaned into the receiver.
“Besides, Fluffybuns. Would you really take the word of some washed up college graduate over that of a good friend?”
Those last two words stirred something inside of Asgore. He knew they were close. Very close. He tried not to let that matter though. In terms of this interrogation, this just meant there was nothing more to say.
“You sure know how to pull at my heartstrings…” His voice lowered at those words. It’s as though Carol’s magnetic pull affected him through telephone cables. He knew he needed to wrap it up, fast.
“...But yes! You’re Right! Thank you for clearing my worries away, C! I’ll see you around!”
He hung up. He feared she would be good at deflecting his questions. What he didn’t count on though was leaving him this breathless.
Carol was in city hall, the grin on her face fading as the dial tone rang continuously. The big fuzzball was good at playing the fool, but she knew he was persistent. Him being anywhere close to finding out her secret meant he had to be dealt with. Her first thought was to fire him, it was in her power after all, but that would be too suspicious. To do so would necessitate a really good reason. One that wouldn't bring unwanted attention to her business. Alternatively, she could simply find something that would distract Asgore. A case so hard to crack it would swallow him up and make him lose sight of everything. Have him go insane enough over it, she might even find that reason to fire him. Issue is, it’s one thing to scheme, and another to act. And she knew she needed to act, before the jolly police chief undoes everything she built up.
The next day, back at the Holiday mansion, December wakes up late into the day. She checks her phone for the time. It’s 1:32 in the afternoon. She spent the night with Azzy again. Right next to her was the fluffy boy himself, used up joints scattered on the floor next to the bed.
“Azzy…”
She mumbles to her boyfriend trying to wake him up. She knows how upset Toriel gets when her sweet boy doesn’t come home for breakfast.
“It’s late as shit dude. You gotta wake up. Your mom’s probably pissed.”
Asriel grumbles waking up from his slumber. Despite being seen as the golden child of the Dreemurs, he lets loose whenever she’s around. Right now, he couldn’t care less what his mom would think.
“Just a little more… We stayed up so late. She can wait.”
“Azzy you say that but I know full well you’re gonna call me with tears in your eyes later from Toriel scolding you. It’s better if you get there in fifteen minutes than an hour.”
With those words, he rolls off the bed with a grunt knowing full well her read is accurate. He heads to the bathroom, knowing Dess will follow suit. The two of them get ready for the day, Azzy going straight for the toilet while Dess brushes her teeth.
“So you’re still on for the forest hangout later today right?”
Dess spits out the toothpaste in her mouth as soon as she hears his question.
“Fuck yeah! You know I love it when we go there. I’d never miss another classic forest adventure”
“Ok good. Kris has been bothering me about it all week. They kept asking if you were gonna go and complaining that it’s been so long since the last one. Honestly, I’m a little jealous of how much attention you get.”
“The kid just loves a good time. Not my fault you’re the embodiment of a boring goody two-shoes”
“Hey! We literally just slept together.”
“Yeah? Well that’s cause you’re my goody two-shoes”
Asriel rolls his eyes at her corny comment, hiding a slight blush on his cheeks. He gets up from the toilet and walks over to the sink where Dess was now washing her face. He gives her a peck on the cheek as he begins to wash his hands. They put on some clothes and Asriel got ready to leave. In the living room, before the door Noelle was laying on the couch playing on her gamebeast 3d, without laying an eye off the console she strikes a greeting.
“Hi Azzy! What were you two doing last night?”
“Oh you know…”
“It was REALLY loud! I think it even woke up dad.”
Dess and Asriel both take a look at each other, both embarrassed, trying to improvise a white lie for little Elly and also thanking the holy Angel that the only one that got woken up was Rudy. After a long second Dess answers.
“Oh you know we were watching… movies.”
“What kinda movies?”
“Scary movies…”
“But I love scary stuff! Why didn’t you invite me!”
“Those movies were too scary for you sis, I’ll show you when you’re older.”
“Not fair!”
“Hey it be like that sometimes; worlds messed up Elly.”
That cliche line makes Noelle sigh in defeat, she silently accepts the unfair discrimination caused by her young age. During that exchange, Asriel got closer to the door and put on his jacket.
“Hey, see you in the forest later!”
He left.
“You’re going to the forest! Can me and Kris come!?”
“Of course. But you have to be a big girl ok?”
Noelle nodded with the bravery and vigor of a soldier
“Promise me you’ll be brave ok? You can’t always run to me when you’re scared sis.”
“I promise!”
“Good”
She gently hugged her little sister.
“Cmon let's go eat something, I’m starving.”
As Dess waited for the night she practiced her music. She always had a passion for writing and playing songs, her singing wasn’t half bad either. It’s the only reason her mom even mildly tolerated her punk lifestyle, being a prodigy will let you get away with stuff. She felt for Noelle, she had no special treatment. Even though she was so bright and so full of passion, her interests didn’t have respectability, so she had to get good grades and go to church and do track and field. Poor Elly, she thought. She started to lose inspiration, so Dess went outside to calm down. She took her hockey stick to start hitting Fire’e, a dumb cardboard abomination she made with Kris. He’s supposed to hate Ice’e and is trying to bring down the restaurant so they would hit it with the hockey stick to save Ice’es. Kris loved doing it so much she kept it hung on the tree even if it was meant to be a one time thing. She has to admit, the kid had a point, sometimes it feels good to just hit stuff. As she kept striking at the prizeless pinata her mind slowly wandered off, her most primal instincts kicked in and her strikes increased in power. The cardboard that had turned wavy and rotten after having survived many rain days, started to break off. The strength of her hits kept increasing, every strike quenching her thirst for action. Finally after one massive blow, Fire’e had been slain.
“*pant *pant Take that bitch!”
She then put his rotting corpse in the garbage.
The night eventually came and the four of them met up. As soon as they saw Dess, Kris went into her arms.
“Hey! What’s gotten into you Kris? Are you excited or what?!”
Kris shows a big toothy smile
“Yeah”
Asriel tried to make their sibling more excited
“You’re a big kid now, this is gonna be our most intense forest adventure yet!
“Hey don’t get them too pumped, they might start jumping around.”
Dess dropped Kris on the ground
“Are we all ready gang?”
Everyone said yes.
The forest was usually uneventful. Kris loved playing swords with the sticks and howling like a wolf and Noelle liked to pretend there were demons in the trees. Dess and Asriel liked it because they could babysit and date at the same time. Today however, Dess wanted to surprise the kids, they were older now and she wanted to show them her moms secret.
“Hey Elly did you know mom has a bunker?”
“A what!?”
“Yeah isn’t it just pizza stuff? Lame…”
Kris was right, it wasn’t really that cool. But Dess wanted to spice up the journey and make it a little bit more mystical.
“I’ve heard from my friends at school that there's demons inside!”
Kris started laughing, Noelle tried to pretend that didn’t scare her. She tried to calm herself.
“But Dess can you even go inside?”
“Yeah I got the code, it’s 1225, just like the burglar alarm.”
Noelle was shaking. Kris started laughing even harder.
Sure eventually she would just go in and show them the shelter and give them some Ice’e cre’e’m but it was fun to pretend there was something spooky on the way there, Asriel agreed, this would just be a little adventure and they would get a sweet treat at the end. They started walking towards the shelter. As they approached Noelle got more and more scared but nothing threatening was actually happening. As the walk kept going, the forest got louder and louder and the sounds were more and more ominous. Suddenly, a large tree made a crack, and a large branch fell close to the group. Noelle started crying.
“Hey Azzy can you just bring her home? She’s really scared.”
“Yeah you’re right that’s a good idea.”
“Do you want to go home Noelle? Here take my jacket to wipe your tears.”
“*sniff thanks *sniff Azzy.”
“Let's go.”
As the two left off Dess took a look at Kris
“Do you still want to go?”
“Yes. Yes I’m ok!”
“Haha, you little freak, I knew you’d say that”
Dess patted Kris on the head, they proudly smile
“You’re really cool Dess.”
“I know”
The two kept walking, eventually they were almost there. The strange noises kept disturbing their walk and Dess, who usually would say strong, saw something that actually scared her. It was black, not just black, it looked like real black, the absorption of all the light along with bright pink and yellow. What the hell was that? It walked away so fast… it just brushed her leg
“Kris! Kris run away!”
The creature grabbed her with force, she started to be dragged on the ground towards the shelter. She started screaming and kicking, but nothing happened. Kris was also grabbed by the demon and they were pulled towards the shelter.
“Where…”
“Where am I?”
“Hello...? Anyone...?”
“Is... is anybody out there...?”
“Someone!? Anyone!? Can anyone hear me!?”
“It's dark.”
“It's so dark here.”
“Someone, anyone, if you can hear me…”
“Say something... please…”
“HEHAHEHAHEHEHAHEHA”
“Oh I haven’t had this much fun in years!!”
“Who are you? What happened?!”
“Look at your hand woman!.”
Her hand which was once soft with fur is now of the same harsh black that scared her. Theres a hole running through her palm the only source of light in the room.
“What… Did… You… Do?!”
She lunges, a blade spawns from her hands.
Mike wraps her with his tail.
“Whooooooooo. Calm down baby. I just gave you a sick makeover.”
“I hate you! I’m gonna kill you!”
Dess screamed with power she’d never thought she had. Still she couldn’t break free. Mike kept laughing at her and it made her even angrier. During this battle, Carol barges through the door
“Where is my daughter?!”
Despite her new appearance, a mother will always remember her daughter's voice and she had no time to react to her strange new form.
“You! Get off her!”
The three were in a standoff, no one moved. Suddenly, someone else appeared.
“HEY HEY YOU THREE STOP FIGHTING!”
Mike still ultimately had to listen to Gaster, he pays him after all. He let Dess go.
“December, how are you?”
She started puking strange black goop.
“What did you do to my daughter!?”
“Oh you know, injecting her with nightmare fuel made her the manifestation of her most violent desires, also might’ve made her the prophesied knight that'll end the world HEHAHEHAHEHAHEHA.”
Gaster was in shock. Slowly, he went back to his computer and silently deleted the slide on AWESOMEPROPHECY.PP that said, THE KNIGHT WILL TROUSLE HIS BONES NYEHEHE.
“Oh yeah and she can’t live in daylight anymore HEHAHEHAHEHA”
“My daughter… You!”
“Hey you said you needed to distract that Assgore guy with a tough case?! I got lucky, found one in 30 minutes! HEHAHEHAHEHAHEHAHEHA.”
“Mom, you know this guy?! What the hell?! Did you let this happen?!”
“I’ll explain later, just give me a minute.”
This entire time, Kris had been left unattended, they were sobbing and terrified. Carol looked down at Kris and asked them.
“Kris, you can’t tell anyone about this.”
“I’ll need you to do some work for me, are you strong enough for that?”
“*sniff *sniff Is Dess okay?”
“Yes. Yes she’s okay. If you help me she’ll stay okay. If you don’t, I can’t guarantee anything.”
“No one can know about this. Will you help me keep a secret?”
“Yes. *sniff”
“You promise?”
“I promise!”
Tears rolled down their cheeks.
Years in the future
Toriel was peacufully watching the news while Kris was away, she was home alone. It was pretty lonely admittedly. Ever since December went missing Asgore had gotten more and more aggressive and after he got fired from the force… well all the issues that already existed bubbled back stronger than ever. She couldn't take it anymore and they went their separate ways. The news report was dreadful. It was about the opioid crisis that had gotten much worse in the region in the last few years. The footage almost made her faint. It was unbelievably graphic for midday saturday news, showing a rosey-cheeked human that looked just like her child but paler and with straighter hair on the ground seemingly dead from an overdose. She closed the tv, the footage made her queasy. How horrible what these drugs are doing to people! What kind of horrible crooks would do such a thing?
Kris and Dess were hanging out in the shelter doing shockingly normal teenage things for supernatural drug dealers.
“Yo Kris what you playing on your phone?”
“Clash of card kings”
“Yo sick. Whats your deck?”
“Frog cycle”
“Oh dude I hate playing that! You're an asshole player dude.”
“Don’t hate the player hate the game bro”
“Huhhh stop with that corny shit”
Carol oppened the door without knocking.
“Kris. I don’t care what you’re doing. You’ve got an important job to do.”
Dess turned into a ball and casually escaped the room.
“*Yawn arlight what is it?”
Carol winces. That insolent brat.
“The fonts have been getting more aggressive lately. They are threatening my business. I need you to send them a warning.”
Kris tilted their head slightly to look at their boss.
“What kind of warning?”
“One of their members, Baby Bones. I need him dead.”