It was only a few minutes later that the Monsters and Gems were in the Crystal Gems' Beach House, located just outside the Gems' home of Beach City. Most of the Monsters and Gems were now eating Hot Pockets and donuts, silently chowing down on whatever food they could procure from the Steven's fridge. The exceptions were the food-hating Pearl and the skelebros, who couldn't eat food thanks to their lack of stomachs. Oh, also Napstablook and Mettaton. Ghosts and robots don't eat very much food, as a general rule.
Other than despising human food, there was a second reason Pearl wasn't enjoying a meal with the others, that being that she was fuming in her room. She was furious, humiliated, and confused. She simply didn't understand why Garnet was being so trusting, even after these mysterious newcomers had poofed her with hardly a bit of provocation. She sat atop one of the multiple pillars of water that made up her individual room in the Gem Temple, trying her best to calm down, but failing. These monsters had appeared out of nowhere, bringing a literal mountain with them. All the gem technology on earth had malfunctioned when they did so, and they'd even confessed to having warred with humans in the past, and yet here they were, in the middle of Beach City, capable at any time of turning on them and dealing tremendous damage to the humans AND the Gems.
Their leader was apparently capable of poofing her in one hit, so if the others were anywhere near that power level, and if the Gems didn't have the chance to fuse, then fighting all ten of them would be certain defeat. Presuming that was their intention, every Gem on earth save Peridot and Lapis could be shattered in a matter of seconds, minutes at the most. After a disaster like that, there would be no recovery. But evidently Garnet had been put off by Pearl's attitude, though, and now it seemed like she was completely ignoring her.
Pearl sighed. She was worried. And that was exactly why she couldn't keep hiding. If the monsters attacked, they needed Alexandrite as quickly as possible, and that meant she had to be out there with the rest of them. She steeled herself and left her room.
Garnet, meanwhile, was not nearly as complacent as Pearl thought she was. Though she appeared absorbed in the food she was eating, in reality, she had a watchful eye on all ten of the newcomers, watching for the slightest hint of aggression. Unlike Amethyst, she hadn't once turned her back to them once, and she was under no illusion that she had a reason to trust them. Unfortunately, she couldn't back down on this either. She was the leader of the Crystal Gems, and she couldn't allow Pearl's insubordination to be immediately accepted. It was already clear that Amethyst was tugging on the reigns of her leadership, and Garnet didn't want anything to give her any more reason to rebel. She wasn't very verbose, of course, but sheer experience had proven that the combined wisdom and intelligence of Sapphire and Ruby was exactly what the Crystal Gems needed.
Unfortunately, she wasn't sure of that herself at the moment. She was worried about Pearl. Fortunately, though, she didn't have to worry much longer, as Pearl stepped out of her room, putting on a weak smile.
"Hi. I'm back."
"Nice to see you."
"Yeah."
Frisk nodded to her, the look on their face neutral, but friendly. They had mastered the art of showing their intentions in their facial features, but never giving away their emotions. Emotions were a weakness. They were a symbol. They couldn't be weak, not ever. They were unbreakable, physically and mentally. They weren't a rock, they were the individual atoms that held that rock together, impermeable and indestructible. So they didn't smile, and they didn't frown. They didn't laugh, and they didn't cry. They just stood, never moving and never seeming to struggle or resist, yet always putting their all into everything they did. They never hurt anyone, yet they always won fights. They never took hits, but they never seemed to dodge. They just survived, they soldiered through. They were the incarnation of mercy, of peace, of pacifism. And because of that, they didn't smile.
They just looked.
Pearl was slightly disconcerted with the stare, but awkwardly staggers over to Garnet and sat by her, wrapping her arm around the larger gem's shoulder. She hoped that the monsters didn't know about fusion, and therefore didn't recognize the proximity as a threat. The monsters obviously didn't.
ASGORE sipped almost daintily from a teacup full of coffee as he looked at Pearl. It took him almost exactly ten seconds from the moment he caught sight of her to suddenly choke on his drink, snorting coffee out of his nose.
"My lord! You're the gem I attacked earlier! Thank god you're alright, I heard that you regenerated, but I could hardly believe it! I am so sorry!"
"It's alright."
"Y-yeah. It's OK, I guess. You may have tried to kill me, but I'm fine now, so-"
"Oh, no! You misunderstood my intentions. This trident of mine is built with the intention of defeating any opponent in one strike, but is supposed to be incapable of killing them. I suppose that it caused you to... regenerate? Is that the term?"
"Yes. It is. Heh."
Pearl didn't believe him. But it reassured her at least somewhat that if Garnet and Amethyst believed him, that meant they weren't harboring someone they knew was a killer.
Sans suddenly got to his feet, coughing loudly to get everyone's attention.
"hey, uh, hey! could everybody listen up for a second!"
ASGORE silenced the monsters with a gesture as Garnet motioned for the Gems too to remain quiet.
"What is it, Sans?"
"ok, first off, that ain't gonna work. i'm gonna need you guys to be quiet, alright? i'm gonna tell my story, and the second somebody peeps, i'm outta here, get me?"
Steven almost replied, but quieted himself moments before he did.
"good. alright, so somethin' i said before, and somethin' i figure none'a you have forgotten is this; all this is my fault. so, it's a long story, and goes way back. asgore, tori, you guys remember a fella named w. d. gaster? nope? i didn't think so. that's 'cause he never existed. long story short, he was the royal scientist before alphie came around, and he was a genius. i worked for him for a while. now, like i said, this was a real smart cookie, and everybody was impressed by his work. flabbergastered, even."
Steven and Amethyst chuckled and everyone else groaned. But no one spoke.
"so gast did a lotta good work, but he always wanted more. he wanted to be the greatest explorer of all time. he wanted to be the one to do something that no one ever had before, and that no one would be able to figure out for a thousand years after he did it. and he finally figured it out. he was gonna be the person to prove multiverse theory and travel to another universe, another timeline, an au, whatever you want to call it. so he started buildin' this machine, and he figured it'd be great. just a little box lookin' doodad, nothin' special. he called it the SWAP."
Sans chuckled ironically.
"he never did quite figure out how appropriate that name was. not until it was too late, anyway. this crazy bastard wasn't about to stop when that box of his didn't work. he decided it needed more power, and so he built the CORE. the whole damn thing, just to power this machine. it was crazy. i was helpin' him out the whole time, but i kept thinkin', man, this guy's crazy. and he was. he hooked up the whole CORE to this little box, stepped into it, flipped the switch, and nothin' happened. so he kept working, more and more, until he built another machine. this one... actually went to an alternate universe. it was called the VOID. problem is, it was empty, and he didn't want an empty universe. he figured that maybe if he could get dark matter from the void, that it'd be enough to power that box. that stupid, stupid box. he went in, and didn't come out. in fact, he didn't come out so hard that he somehow... just ceased to exist. i was there when it happened. that's why i remember, but... no one else did. i walked outside his lab and all of a sudden, nobody remembered him. it was like he never existed. i dunno how it works. i've studied a lot of physics, quantum mechanics, temporal theories, and everything i can find on multiverse theory, but i never figured it out. heh heh heh. well, anyway, i figured that it was that box's fault. so i kicked it. with lasers."
Frisk cringed inside. Alphys cringed outside.
"yeah, so, uh, it started actin' up, and i tried to keep the sucker cooled, but recently, frisk and i... well, i didn't do my job too well. it booted up and apparently... we're in... another timeline now? i dunno how it didn't work for gast, and yet it worked for us, but it did. and now..."
Sans' smile faltered a bit. He was searching for words.
"well, in other words... we're not just somewhere else on earth. we're in another universe entirely. in other words... we're not leaving."
Most of the humans, monsters, and Gems arrayed there gasped, as Pearl almost fainted, although she was incapable of doing so. Mettaton's reaction, however, was a bit less neutral in mood.
He got to his feet, slamming his fist furiously on the table, cracking it.
"What are you talking about, Sans!?"
"welp, that's my cue. told ya i was leavin' when ya talked."
"You had better leave!"
Mettaton leaped at Sans, swinging a kick in the skeleton's direction. Sans didn't even shrug as he disappeared into thin air.
Mettaton landed on one hand and one leg, absolutely livid.
"That pathetic, worthless, useless, DISGUSTING skeleton! How dare he!? How dare he!? Now we're separated from the rest of monster-kind, who are trapped alone without any of their leaders! ANY of them! On top of that, if we can't get back, I'll never see my adoring fans again, and they'll never see me! Fuku, Burgerpants, the dummies, even Muffet! We're separated forever! This is ABSURD!"
Alphys was trembling.
"C-c-calm down, M-mettaton! There was n-nothing he could have done! And d-don't worry, w-we'll fix the m-machine and get back home, n-no problem!"
"You had BETTER, if he ever wants to be anywhere near any of us again. Because I refuse to look at his ugly face unless we're back home."
"A-a-alright."
At this, everyone split up into different groups, each going their separate ways. Pearl, Garnet, and Amethyst left the kitchen together, heading into Garnet's room. TORIEL, Papyrus, and ASGORE slipped out the back, heading to the beach, as Alphys moved out onto the front porch, hounded by Mettaton, and followed by Napstablook, who was trying to calm his cousin down. Undyne and Iram both stepped outside, jumping up to the roof and observing the area.
Frisk and Steven, meanwhile, stayed in the kitchen. Steven smiled somewhat shyly at Frisk.
"Hey. That was crazy, huh?"
Frisk agreed. They said that Mettaton wasn't usually like that.
"I hope not. He seemed really angry."
Frisk nodded. They said that Mettaton really cared about the Underground and the people in it, more than anyone. They also hinted that he might have had a romantic involvement with someone back home.
"Gosh, I know what that's like. Or, I don't, but I can relate."
Frisk asked Steven what he thought they should do.
"Well, I guess you're gonna have to live here in Beach City! I mean, if Pearl isn't right. You guys don't want to hurt anybody, right?"
Frisk nodded and said that none of them wanted to hurt anyone. Except Mettaton, he kinda wanted to hurt Sans. But they were also sure that Mettaton would calm down soon.
"Well, that's good. Who are you people."
Frisk smiled. Once, two races ruled over earth. HUMANS and MONSTERS...
Meanwhile, Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet deliberated.
"See? This proves what I was saying! They can't even control themselves."
"I mean, Pearl, technically I would have been just as mad if I had found out I could never go back to Earth or see any of you again."
"She's right, Pearl."
"Well, I wouldn't! Because I've got self-control! They don't! They're insane!"
"Insanity and temporary anger aren't the same thing."
"The first thing they EVER did when they saw us was poof me!"
"That is true."
"Exactly!"
"No, the first thing they tried to do was have a civilized conversation. The first thing you did was draw your weapon on them. And the king gave you full warning."
"Yes, and I gave him ample warning! They can't just DO that!"
"Did you seriously think they would just come with us without any reason other than that we don't trust them?"
"Yes!"
"Seriously, Pearl? Would you have come with them if you'd stepped out of your room into that mountain of theirs?"
"No. But I wouldn't have attacked them."
"True enough. Perhaps they weren't entirely in the right. But neither were you."
"Can you at least chill out some? Because they've only done their best to be friendly so far."
"Indeed. We don't ask that you drop your guard, or even that you trust them. We just ask that you keep doing what you have been doing. Don't be hostile."
"... Fine."
"Thank you."
Iram and Undyne were on the roof, talking.
"So, what do you think, 'Dyne?"
"I think I'm thanking any god I can think of that this many of us were together when this happened."
"No kidding, actually. I mean, if you'd gotten separated from Alphys..."
"Don't go there, Iram."
"Alright. Hey, what do you see out there?"
"The same thing you do? I mean, houses. Sand. A mountain. A statue. Ocean. More ocean. Even more ocean."
"Wait, a statue?"
"Hah. See, that's your problem, Iram. You never look up."
Iram did so.
"Whoah! That's crazy. I guess this is why you're still the leader and I'm the subordinate, right?"
"I can't tell if you're salty about me being your boss or serious because you're surprised you didn't see the statue."
"Eh. Both. But really, what do we do?"
"You mean... out here?"
"Yeah. I mean, come on! We're in another bloody universe! We've got no obvious way to get back, and we're trapped with a bunch of people who don't seem to like us all that much. See, this is bad. And so I figure the last two members of the Royal Guard have gotta figure something out so we don't all die, eh?"
"First off, Papyrus exists. Second, I'm sure Alphys can fix that "damn box." Third, you're right. We need a plan. And I think we're probably thinking of the same thing, right?"
"Kick some ass to prove a point?"
"Heck yeah."
They looked down at Alphys, Mettaton, and Napstablook who were arguing loudly as they walked off down the beach. Meanwhile, a ways away, but approaching quickly, was a humanoid shape walking toward the Beach House, whistling.
It came closer... it came closer... she came closer. Stepping up the stairs leading to the house, she caught a glimpse of the two figures on top of the roof.
"Hello?"
She scrambled up the wall, using a few cracks and a windowsill to get onto the roof. The hilt of her sword flashed as she got onto the building.
"Who are you two?"