Dead Giveaway

Playing Nice

There were never many of us. Asriel, Frisk, and myself. Fuku and Heats, Grillby's kids. MK, Alphys and Undyne's Kid. Sprinkle, one of Muffet's nieces. Dogamoré, Dogamy and Dogaressa's son. Eight kids.

I thought there were more. Apparently some monsters are just small. Not young. Because when Toriel shoved us into a room to 'play' while the grownups talked, it was only us.

"Alright children. Play nice"

Oh we were gonna play nice alright.

I had sort of gained a reputation as the leader of the group. So when the door was closed, all eyes went to me.

I climbed on top of a bookshelf to give myself a little extra height. The others collapsed into beanbags or just on the floor.

"They're lying to us" I started. Rousing speech, Chara. "They won't let us see the damage. They're keeping us in the dark and trying to make everything out to be okay. Well that stops. We revolt today". It was a really rough speech considering how bad my English is.

"How do we do that?" Azzy asked me.

"We stop listening to them. We find out information for ourselves. Tomorrow, we're gonna spy."

"Chara, you've got enough to worry about with this whole court thing. Can't we just let the adults handle this?" Sprinkle whined.

"Hell no!" I retaliated, promoting Fuku to cover Heats's head where his ears would be.

The fire entity took a deep breath. "Chara, we're kids. Do you really think we can do anything to stop a war?! Look I know you two saved the Underground and you're all big and tough and sh- stuff. But that doesn't mean you're perfect. The monsters are doomed, Chara"

I sat down on the bookshelf to look Fuku in the eyes. "Listen to me, Fuku. I know I'm not perfect. This situation in general is just rotten and I know I can't fix it. But think about it."
I leaned back in my temporary seat. "You all know what I've been through by now. I won't sugarcoat it. I've been through hell. But look at me. Still fighting and strong as a horse. You know why I got this way? Because I had help. I can admit that I can't do these things on my own. I wouldn't be alive if not for Frisk. And I wouldn't be doing..." I paused to summon a few of my knives. "This, if it weren't for Sans. I can admit that I need help. The adults need help too. They just don't admit it".

Speaking of Sans, the door opened to reveal him, holding a first aid kit. "You're damn right we won't admit it" he said, a gruffness to his voice. "Bandages, Chara" He looked around at the gaggle of children surrounding me. Then he looked back at me, his worried expression silently asking what he wouldn't say out loud.

"I don't care if they see anymore" I responded to the unasked question. I took the collar of my top and yanked, pulling my t-shirt off my head.

Heats instinctively looked away, which made me laugh. It's not like there was anything to look at.

Sans motioned for me to turn around, so I spun in my seat. I pulled my own tank top strap down. It was the first time Frisk and Azzy had seen my injuries.

As Sans unwrapped the ace wrap from my shoulder, I broke the silence we had fallen into. "You didn't just come in here to change my bandages, did you?"

He chuckled. "Am I that obvious, kid?"

"Hey. Not her fault she can see right through you!" Frisk pointed out.

I rolled my eyes as Sans laughed. "Good one, baby bones. But no, Chara, this isn't the only reason. Antiseptic". I hissed as the cold liquid on the cotton ball made contact with my shoulder. "They're out there talkin' about hiding spots and making all these plans. Don't they know you can't make plans in war? We never had plans during that original war. Bandages"

As the sticky plastic was smoothed over my shoulder, I started to relax. The antiseptic was the worst part.

"You guys are really bad at this" Fuku observed. Sans snorted.

"Yeah. As smart as your dad is, he is not cut out for war effort".

"Most of us aren't" Asriel said. I could tell by his voice that innocence was out the window. "We've been aboveground for like, 7 months now? And we've dismantled the guard entirely. Yeah that training is drilled into them, but it's muscle memory. They don't know how to fight anymore. If we don't get it together we're pretty well dead".

A tense silence fell over the room as we realized the truth in his words. Or at the fact that he actually talked, maybe. Who knows.

Sans was wrapping up my shoulder. "Chara? You sure you want them in here when I do your arm..?"

I turned around and looked at these kids. Asriel, who I'd grown up with. Frisk, who saved me. Fuku and Heats, who were practically my cousins. MK and Sprinkle, who were my cousins. Dogameré, who wasn't related to any of us, but was a cool kid regardless.

I trusted this guys. Besides. No one said I had to tell them anything.

I nodded. "They can stay". I held out my left arm.

Sans carefully undid the ace wrap around my arm. "So what are you guys gonna do about this?"

I shrugged, trying to keep myself from wincing as the bandages were pulled off. "We can't do much without more information. We need to figure out what the humans are up to before anything. Can't really do that when we're stuck in a bunker"

Sans laughed and took the bottle of antiseptic back out. The cuts were still sorta fresh so this was gonna hurt like a bitch. "Don't you think Alphys took that into consideration?" He repositioned my arm so that it was resting on his. That way I could scratch his arm or grab it if the pain was too much.

Outside the door something crashed, but it was followed by Undyne rage screaming into the heavens so we thought nothing of it.

He poured the antiseptic onto my cuts, causing me to curl my toes and clench his arm. "Al has cameras set up all over the place. Mainly to keep an eye on attacks but they'll help us here. She's trying to figure out how to get into that footage. If they're planning an attack, we'll know about it. Okay?"

That relaxed me. "Okay. Well we can't plan out everything like they're trying to do. But we do need a strategy. And we have got to get it together."

Sans nodded, now starting to apply new bandages to the cuts. "We're gonna make it out of this. Alive".

"Sans?" Fuku spoke up. "How are we gonna get them to stop planning and shutting us out?"

Sans stared at the ceiling in though as he rewrapped my arm. "We show them what you guys are capable of. Frisk. Chara. I know what you two can do. Asriel. I've heard what you can do but I have yet to see it myself. The rest of you... well we're gonna have to do something. You guys are our future. You see things we don't. We need your help now more than ever."

Once my arm was wrapped, I let it fall back to my side. Sans handed me my t-shirt and I gladly put it back on as he kept talking.

"If there are any doubts in your mind that we are gonna make it through this, squash them. We're stronger together, kids. We won't get anywhere if we don't help each other. I'm gonna try and talk some sense into your parents. You guys need to-"

There was another crash and then a loud scream.

"Shit!"

"Oh god now?!"

"Your majesty, are you okay?!"

Another scream. Azzy and I turned to each other in panic.

"Mom!" We exclaimed in unison.

The door slammed open to reveal a very out of breath Alphys. "Sans! Kids! Twins! Coming!" Was all she could get out before she tore out of the room and back in mom's direction. When I looked at mom, she was hunched over next to bed, clutching her stomach.

I grabbed Azzy's hand and raced out of the room, dragging him behind. Frisk and Sans followed close on our heels.

"What's going on?!" Fuku shouted from behind us.

I turned my head over my shoulder to answer her, not breaking my stride for a second. "Mom is going into labour!"