The amount of betrayal I was feeling towards Ms. Hop was nowhere near the amount of fear I had towards the face of the enemy. The one monster that Toriel trusted with my life had not only backstabbed me, but gave me up as if I was nothing but a pass to stop her life from being taken away.
I couldn't scream. My voice rendered itself useless from petrified horror as one of the men held me down for their boss who took striding steps closer to me. His monstrous black furry hand gripped my face, his razor claws sank into my cheeks as my blood painted the tips of his fingers.
The goat monster laughed, his goons joining in. "I'm assuming you already know my name, but lets keep this formal, shall we? I am King Asgore former ruler of the Underground and leader of most powerful mafia that goes by the name Infernum."
I tried to turn my head away from his hideous complexion but his hand only gripped my head harder. I shut my eyes in pain as the pressure against my skull formed into a headache.
"I can see why my wife wanted to protect you, you're just as weak as the children that she failed to save." Asgore gripped my head even harder.
Chara snapped at Asgore's comment and took control long enough to make me spit onto Asgore's face as I silently cursed Chara for sealing our fate.
He wiped the spit from his face and snarled. "Oh (y/n) dear, of course a dame like you would do something like that," His yellow eyes stared me down in pure rag, suffocating the room with his anger. "Woman like you always act like you're big shots. It's a shame you'll never get to feel the power of being a man of my kind of authority."
I was losing my vision as Asgore squeezed my temples harder, I could hear a faint cracking in my skull.
"I would love to continue our little chat but i've wasted enough on taking your soul. Don't take this wrong way, i'll put your soul to good use; more than your pitiful life would have."
I heard a loud crack in the right side of my skull, my body went limp as I fell to the ground. I could still hear my head splitting open but the noise was louder than the first time. I suddenly realized that the sound of cracking was actually my flat's door busting down. Shards of wood landed on my motionless body as I tried to look where the commotion was taking place. My one unfocused eye tried to make out the silhouettes standing in the midst of a murder scene, but the deep blue suits was a dead give away.
I heard yelling and gunshots as a familiar voice stood out from the chaos. Tears of joy and blood rolled down my impaired face as I felt those unmistakable bony hands lift me up and quickly rushed down the stairs and out into the frozen city air. The sound of bullets screamed from behind us; there was someone on our trail.
"you can't knock off me that easily trouble boy!"
Sans pulled out his revolver and fired at the monster aiming at us through the top window. The sharp shooter brutally lost as Sans effortlessly put three bullets into the man's chest, causing him to fall from the two story building and splatter onto the pavement, the smell of gunpowder and blood was in the air. We heard yelling and shouting as more and more of Infernum's and Venatores' men began filling the streets and surrounding each other with blood from every gunshot.
Sans ran to the nearest car and ducked behind it for shelter as a wave of bullets shattered its windows and tore through the metal. He sets me down at the far end of the trunk and fires his gun from behind the hood of the car. I tried calling to Sans but my head throbbed from the overwhelming adrenaline knowing that death was imminent.
"hang in there doll, help is on its way."
Right on cue, a car quickly pulled up in front of us with Papyrus in the passenger seat yelling through the car window to get Sans' attention.
"HURRY AND GET IN, I'LL COVER FOR YOU!" Papyrus jumps out of the passenger side as he fired a tommy gun at Infernum's men that were now ducking for cover.
Sans scoops me up and rushes me to the back seat and takes Papyrus' place and looks through the passenger window that was opened a crack.
"stay safe little bro."
"Oh please, as if I need such luck!" Papyrus smiles and turns to the blood bath as the driver steps on the gas.
I could hear distant laughing coming from Papyrus as we took a sharp corner and causing me to slide to the other side of the car and hit my head against the window. I open my mouth to curse the driver for their careless driving but as soon as I made eye contact through the rear view mirror I was met with a sharp yellow toothed grin.
"Heya sister! Glad to see that Asgore hasn't bashed you up to the point of unrecognizable!"
"Undyne!?" I was left dumbfounded.
"The one and only!" She replies.
I was confused. Why would Undyne, the chief of Snowdin City Police be part of the mafia? Undyne's reckless driving got worse as we swerve around another corner and began to speed up.
"Bad news guys, we're being followed!" Undyne looks through the side mirror.
Sans rolls down the window and takes out the tommy gun that was in the front seat and faces the back as he fires at the driver who swerved away from the bullets. They fire back as I ducked behind from the windows as bullets whizz through the back windshield.
"where's our damn backup, undyne!?" Sans angrily shouts as he sits back to reload.
"Papyrus told me they'll be almost here you mouthy fuck!" Undyne shouts, passing back Sans' tone of aggression.
The second car was getting closer onto the Undyne's side, she pulls out her handgun and tosses it to me.
"Take it and aim for the driver!" Undyne instructs.
"What!?!" My panicked state was the complete opposite what Chara was going through.
About time we have a decent weapon!
Without warning, my arms go limp and Chara takes control, grabbing the gun and fires. Chara successfully took down the back seat drivers despite how bad my vision was after Asgore had crushed my head with his bare hands.
"Not bad (y/n)!" Undyne cheers.
Chara hadn't killed them but had shot one in the shoulder and the other in the arm. My hands were shaking by the fact that I had just shot not one, but two living beings. I drop the gun and duck back down out of sight.
What are you doing!? We got to stop the driver before they—
Not a moment too soon I hear Sans yell in pain. He quickly takes cover back in his seat gripping his arm that was dripping with fresh blood.
"that damn cat driving next to us just shot me!" Sans hisses.
I peek through the window and see the driver smirking that he had shot the Venatores' leader. I felt something that I haven't felt since I was attacked in the ruins by that Froggit: the intent to kill. I pick up the gun and loaded it, aiming once more at the speeding car that was now driving dangerously close. The driver fires again but instead aims for Undyne. I shoot again, and again, and again, whispering' die' for every bullet I fired. The driver was distracted by my sloppy aim as Undyne takes her chance and rams into the side of his car. He loses control and crashes into the sidewalk as the second car from behind was being bombarded by our back up that was almost too late for our rescue.
I turn around from the back seat and watched as the second car crashes now surrounded and then showered with bullets through every window at every angle.
We make it safely to the front gates of the guarded mansion that I left not so long ago when I had lunch with Sans in his small filthy room. Undyne drives to the front where others were waiting for us. The car stops and is suddenly surrounded by monsters in the same blue suits Sans and Undyne wore as they tried to make themselves useful in any way they could. They help Sans and I out of the car, but Sans shook off the help and made his way towards me.
"i'm impressed what you did back there (y/n) doll." Sans says as he carefully caressed my wounded head. "we've got some great medics here that'll fix you right up."
"But what about your arm?" I point to his blood soaked sleeve that was still dripping.
"i'll be fine, don't you worry your pretty little head." He chuckles.
"Haha, you're killing me." I say sarcastically, but I couldn't help but let a smile slip through.
A few more cars were at the front gates waiting to be let in as they slowly drove on the long gravel driveway. The cars were in such a bad state; there were countless bullet holes on every side along with others driving with flat tires. Papyrus steps out untouched just how I last saw him minus the blood splatters on his shirt and face.
"hey good to see ya in one piece papyrus!" Sans walks over to him hugging his shot arm close to his side.
"Sans we need to talk, in private, now." There was a mixture of fear and concern in Papyrus' tone.
Before I could ask what was going on, Undyne drags me up the entrance stairs and through the tall doors that lead to a large marbled floor opening with long twin staircases on either side and a giant crystal chandelier that hung above. I wanted to admire the details from what eye sight I have left but Undyne kept her pace as we silently went to the third floor, turned down a long hallway and finally stopped at a random door. Undyne checked the room for intruders and fortunately found none.
"Undyne, what am I going to do?"
"What do you mean?" She looks up from checking under the bed.
"I mean, my landlady kind of gave me up to Asgore and his men are most likely looking for me..." I didn't know how to continue as I tried not to cry in front of her. "...I just have nowhere to go..."
"You stay with us, sister!" Undyne smiles.
"R-really?" I wipe a tear away.
"Yeah, you don't have much of a choice anyway. If we fixed you up and sent you on your merry way, Infernum would be on the hunt for you once more."
"I guess you're right." I sigh.
My head felt dizzy from standing as I made my way to the edge of the bed where Undyne was.
"It's not as bad it seems, (y/n). We all aren't cold blooded killers, most of us are just monsters that have family trapped on the other side of Hotland that we want to see again..."
Undyne's was pouring out her emotions about how much this place means to her, she's fighting against Asgore and his mafia the Infernum want to remain trapped so that they can gain control of the Underground so Asgore can rule his own little world.
Venatores are different, they want freedom, they want to leave this place and resurface with the humans and live in a world that isn't as corrupted as much as theirs.
* * *
Papyrus waited in his study as he paced around impatiently, it was taking too long to fix a simple bullet wound that didn't involve such a complicated procedure; he was bone after all. Papyrus' pacing came to an end as Sans walked in with his left humerus bandaged and wearing a clean white shirt.
"Took them long enough to treat you." Papyrus grumbles.
"hey, i lost quite a lot of blood back there."
Papyrus refrains himself from starting a pointless argument and sits down at his desk. Sans sits across from him and pulls out his lighter.
"Please, not in here." Papyrus gestures to the cigar Sans had taken out.
He scowls at him and puts away the lighter and cigar and leans into the cushioned chair.
"so, what was so important that we have to talk in secret?"
"I think you know perfectly well why," Papyrus was not in the mood for Sans' laid back demeanor. "Infernum came to Snowdin territory to look for (y/n) specifically—you know they'll do anything to get her soul. Don't think for a second that they can't find someone close to us to use as a ransom or worse, against us."
The room grew quiet as Papyrus kept his eyes on Sans who refused to speak. Papyrus slumps in his seat and sighs.
"Sans, I know what you're thinking—"
"what am i thinking, papyrus?" Sans voice was dripping with sarcasm. "am i thinking about how he is unstable and what he might do when living in an unhealthy environment, or am i thinking about how you want us to put our trust in him when he is definitely not the same person he use to be?"
"Calm down Sans! You know we don't have a choice!" Papyrus stood up from his chair and slammed his hands into the desk.
The two brothers stared into each others vacant eye sockets for a minute as they held back their writhing emotions of frustration towards one another. Sans slowly stood up and fixed his bandage.
"fine. lets go get him."
"Glad to hear you agree with me for once." Papyrus adds.
"...let's just hurry back before we get into more trouble."
* * *
I woke up from a long nap with my head throbbing from the painkillers that had worn off. Undyne was able to get some doctors to patch up my eye and bandage my head. They said the damage wasn't too severe but they insisted that I stay in bed for a while. I pop another painkiller into my mouth with a gulp of water and doze off in hopes it would take my mind off the situation i'm currently stuck in. A part of me wished this was a dream and that I would wake up in my flat the next morning ready to help Ms. Hop and Will at the bakery, but here I am staring at a bedroom ceiling inside Sans' mansion recovering from a partially cracked skull injury.
The painkillers finally kicked in as I got up from the bed and looked around the rather large room. It looked like a fancy master suite with a spacious bathroom and walk in closet that happened to have some of my clothes, specifically the clothes I got wet in at Waterfall. Earlier today Papyrus insisted that he would dry off my other clothes and give them back to me but it looked like he never got the time to clean them after the unexpected visit from Infernum and the devil himself.
I felt my clothes to see if they had naturally dried but there was no surprise that they were still very damp and cold so I was stuck wearing the bloodied clothes I had on for now. I walk over to the dresser in hopes that there was something I could wear that didn't smell of iron and gunpowder. I pulled out towels, bed sheets, rags and to my luck I found a large wrinkled white buttoned shirt.
It must have gotten mixed up with the sheets.
I absently nod to Chara's comment as I change out of my clothes and put on the oversized buttoned shirt that stopped at my knees. I roll up the sleeves and looked through the closet mirror. Despite my bandaged face, the shirt looked nice like a nightgown on me. The only monster big enough to wear a dress shirt this big would have to be either Papyrus or Sans or maybe it just belongs to some other bigger monster that works here.
I got distracted by how ridiculous I looked with the oversized shirt and didn't notice a dark blue light coming from behind me. The glowing soon became apparent as it lit up the whole closet.
"Where is this light coming from?" I say to myself.
I searched for the strange light source and noticed that it was coming from my damp coat that I got wet at Waterfall. I searched through the pockets and found the handkerchief where I had put the dust of the old tutu and ballet shoes. I unwrapped it and the dust wasn't there but was replaced with a dark blue colored soul. It was the size of my palm as it floated in place, it's intense glowing settled as it rested in my hand.
I knew it! I'm not alone! That tutu and ballet shoes we found in the cave was a lost soul, (y/n)!
I had never heard Chara so happy before until now, she was bursting with excitement and determination. I joined in on her excitement on the fact there could be other souls out there that are still alive.
Wait, wait, stop what you're doing—listen
I stood there silently waiting to hear something.
Ah! I hear it, the soul is saying something!
"I don't hear anything." I say.
Chara shushed me as she intently listened to the blue soul.
...She's cold and scared...she wants to know where she is...
I looked down at the fragile soul that was shaking and trying to float away.
"No! Don't go, I won't hurt you!"
The blue soul must've heard me as it stopped and floated back to me as I gently cupped my hands around the shivering soul. Being trapped in a wet coat pocket had made the soul ice cold as I gently held it close to my chest to warm it up.
...Bath...
"What?"
She says she wants a bath.
I run to the bathroom and turned on the sink and plugged it. The sink was filled with warm water as I lowered my hand into the sink. The soul jumped in making a tiny splash. I giggled at the soul's playful demeanor as it floated from one end of the sink to the other. It eventually got out and floated to the edge of the faucet and bounced to get my attention.
"What's she saying?"
...She wants you to watch her do water ballet...
I beamed with enthusiasm at how cute the soul was acting and that she wanted me to watch her do water ballet for me. I watched as the soul jumped from the end of the faucet, using it as a diving board and twirled as she landed into the water. I started clapping once the soul had resurfaced as it made a bowing motion.
The little blue soul felt better as I dried her off with a rag and took her to my bed. She had regained her strength and began to flutter around me like a butterfly. The way the blue light danced around the room was mesmerizing. I could hear faint laughter coming from the soul along with incoherent whispers.
"What's your name little blue?" I smiled as I waited for Chara to translate for me.
...She's says her name is Bella but her stage name is 'Bella Dancerella'.
I laughed at how cute that Bella Had given herself a stage name.
"Hello Bella, my name is (y/n) and the soul that you're talking to that's trapped in me is Chara."
Bella made a floating motion as if she was waving and I waved back. She explored the room as I watched her from the bed, she truly was a child as she examined the opened dresser of sheets and blankets that I had scattered when I was looking for something to where. She eventually lost interest and floated back to the bed looking a little down. Her faint whispering came back and floated over to my hands.
"Did she say something?" I ask Chara.
Chara stayed silent and only mumbled.
"Come on, just tell me." I pry.
She—she wants to know where her parents are...
I could feel my heart breaking, the poor girl doesn't remember how she got here. I didn't how I was suppose to tell Bella that she has been dead for a very long time.
"Well, Bella—the thing is..." I hesitate, not knowing how to continue.
What (y/n) is trying to say is that you're dead and trapped here in this mountain with us and can never go back home.
"Chara!" I scold.
What? It's true, you can't lie to a child.
"But you can't just tell a child the flat out truth in such a sad and horrible way!"
That's because it is sad and horrible, I suppose you can do better explaining to her why she's dead!?
I look over to Bella who was no longer her bouncy fluttery self anymore, she was laying on the edge of the bed motionless as a tiny puddle was forming around herself. She was crying.
"Bella? Are you okay?" I move closer and picked up the sobbing soul.
I cradled her in my arms and tried calming her down and an idea suddenly came to mind.
"Why don't you dance for me Bella Dancerella?" I hoped that using her nickname would comfort her.
The puddle of tears in my hand stopped forming as she floated to my ear, her whispering becoming clear as day.
"I would love to dance for you!" Her voice was small and gentle, she sounded as if she was only five years old.
She fluttered to the middle of the bedroom and began twirling and leaping, her light illuminated the room as she danced around the room. Her dance soon ended in the palm of my hand with a final twirl and shortly after, she bowed.
"That was amazing, Bella! You must've worked very hard practicing that dance." I smile.
The soul nodded vigorously and did a little twirl in response.
"You should show me another—"
My sentence was cut off by some voices coming down the hallway that were undoubtedly Sans and Papyrus. I panicked as their voices grew closer to my room and told Bella to quickly hide under the bed. I tiptoed to the door and tried making out what they were saying. It was hard to tell what they were talking about but I slowly realized that they were talking to a third person that hasn't said a word.
"no, no, we can't put you here near her!" Sans argued.
There was a moment of silence as I heard rustling and faint muttering coming from the third acquaintance before Papyrus jumped into the conversation.
"He's right Sans, we can't change the fact that the lab is next door to (y/n)."
"then how about we move her to a different room."
Sans' and Papyrus' bickering continued for a minute but the silent encounter put it to an end with a loud clap trying to get their attention. The two went quiet as rustling and muttering replaced the tension.
"you swear on your grave you won't lay a finger on her." Sans demanded.
The mute must've agreed as a sigh of relief was heard both from Sans and Papyrus.
"Thank you Dr., we appreciate your cooperation." The room next door was being unlocked as a creaking door was heard. "Let me show you where you'll be staying..."
I moved my ear from the door and shifted to the wall that lead to next door. It was impossible to make out what anyone was saying as the three of them moved around on the other side. The conversation had ended as Sans and Papyrus quietly left the room and walked away, leaving the so called 'Dr.' in his room next to mine.
Who do you think they were talking to?
"I'm not sure, but it sounded like Sans and Papyrus don't want them near me."
Are we in danger then?
"...I don't think so."
I grew silent once more as a pair of footsteps returned in the hallway moving straight towards my room. Without a second to lose I dash to my bed and pulled the covers over me and pretended to sleep. I heard the door opening as the footsteps moved closer to the edge of the bed, my heart was pounding. The fear in me soon dissipated after hearing the familiar voice of Sans.
"so beautiful." He whispered.
My face began to burn a bright red as I felt his hand move my hair away from my face and gently stroke my cheek. The moment ended painfully too soon as he sighs and leaves the room, silently closing the door. I laid still for a few minutes before sitting up from my bed, my face was still flushed red as the rest of me began to heat up with embarrassment.
Oh my God, are you serious!? Chara was disgusted towards my emotions.
"So what if i'm blushing, it doesn't mean I like him!" I tried to sound uninterested but my face said otherwise.
Bella must've heard Chara and I bickering and came out from underneath the bed and floated over to me.
Bella is asking if you like that scary monster that came into the room.
"Did she really say that or are you lying to me." I demanded.
Bella nodded to let me know that Chara was telling the truth as the two of them waited for an answer.
Come on (y/n), spill the tea. Do you like Sans or not? She spoke in a teasing tone.
"I—" I looked over at Bella. "...I guess so..."
Haha! So pathetic!
Bella suddenly began to shake in a tense rapid movement, her whispering sounding louder than normal.
Alright i'll stop, are you happy now?
Chara was talking to Bella who was successfully making Chara very frustrated.
No! I'm not not going to apologize! Her yelling was starting to give me a headache.
"Chara you're a teenager fighting with a five year old, just drop whatever you two are fighting about!"
Hell no, she wants me to apologize for calling you pathetic! Why would I apologize for something that's true!?
Bella began to move about in a jumping motion as her glowing stature fluctuated to different tones of blue.
"I know she said something to you so...spill the tea."
Ugh! I'm tired of being your translator! Chara groaned. She said it's not pathetic for someone to love another person—her mom always used to tell her that.
Bella's heartfelt words spoke to me as I motioned her to come closer. I cupped her in my hands and gave her a kiss and thanked her. She appreciated the kind gesture and rubbed against my cheek in return. I loved how honest she was with her feelings.
I decided to let Bella sleep with me, I watched as her intense glowing dimmed to a soft night light. She rested on the pillow next to me as I watched her, noticing that her soul was breathing like how a chest rises and falls when sleeping.
I was beginning to drift off to sleep but there was a distant sound of something scratching in the walls that was coming from the other room that the mysterious Dr. was in. I carefully got out of bed and put my ear against the wall. There was nothing at first but the scratching sound soon continued; it sounded like someone was writing.
Without thinking, I tapped on the wall and the scratching stopped. There was nothing at first but the Dr. on the other side echoed back with a single knock as well. Excitement rushed through me as I knocked twice and got the exact response. At this point I felt I was playing a game as I started to make the knocks in different patterns. My knuckles were starting to hurt after awhile from playing The Echo game with the mysterious Dr.
"Hey, um—I don't know if you can hear me but i'm going to go to bed now. I enjoyed our little game...knock twice if you heard me."
I waited for a response and was glad to hear the two knocks in return. I told the mysterious Dr. goodnight as I made it back to my bed. The scratching noise soon started again but I was too tired to care and quickly drifted to sleep.