Undyne laughed. "Go on, pull the other leg, it does a jig."

Alices made a face. "I'm not kidding, and you know it, Undyne. You remember our history lessons. A monster with the power of just one human soul has unmatched power, and one with the power needed to break the barrier has that of a god."

Undyne blinked slowly, staring at her in shock, now, her smile fading. "I thought... I thought it was just... you know, said to make it sound worse than it is. To make them scared of us."

Alices shook her head. "Undyne, do you even know what you look like?"

Undyne's hand went to her hair, then to her clothes. "A bit different, yeah."

Alices took out her phone, opened the camera app, and switched the camera so that it showed Undyne.

Undyne grabbed it, staring at her face, touching the marks along her cheeks, then around her bright green eye, its colour standing out amongst the yellow.

Her fingers started to shake.

Now she understood. She stared at the image for a while longer, then looked back at Alices, who was watching her intently.

"Undyne," she said, before Undyne could get a word out. "Do..." She hesitated, lowering the phone and shutting the screen off, her eyes darkening. "Do y-you want... re-revenge?"

The question startled her, almost as much as her own face had. She searched her friend's face, her mind going over that deceptively simple question.

If one looked at her objectively, Undyne should have already gone to the surface with this new power, spears in hand and laughter to the wind, ready for any human who was stupid enough to cross her path, a path that wouldn't end until the whole surface was free of them all. And truly, there was a small part of her that yearned for her to do just that, still - especially when she thought of Papyrus.

But that part was indeed small, now, so small that it shocked her. She placed a hand on her chest, closing her eye, and Alices watched her, her gestures bemusing her. They were so... calm, and introverted.

"No," she whispered finally, sounding surprised. "I don't want revenge."

Alices watched her closer. Inwardly, she was truly surprised to hear this. For the entire time that she'd known Undyne, all she ever talked about was storming the surface with Asgore and putting the humans in their place.

But then, that same monster had, after gaining the power to single-handedly do that, decided to sit and just... wait for her. Just sit and wait for her.

"I want..." Undyne said, startling Alices out of her reverie. Undyne's eye was open and narrowed, and on her. "I want..." She then bit her lip, her expression falling to one of panic. Her eye then widened, and she shook her head. "I..."

I want Papyrus back, she thought. I want everything to go back to the way things were. I want to be Captain and live in Waterfall and hang out with Papyrus and sans, or train the Dogs, or watch documentaries and eat ice cream with Alices...

I want... I want this to stop. I don't want anyone else to ever have to face this ever again. I want... I want to learn how to do that. I want to learn how to actually lead...

She looked at Alices, who was waiting patiently for her to answer, despite how pale and nervous she looked. She was always so patient, so kind, so... so...

I want her...

Gently, as if hearing her thought, Alices reached forward and took one of her hands between her own. Undyne closed her eye, her teeth sinking down harder into her lip, and the sting of pain helped her focus.

"Undyne," Alices then said. "I-I know I'm n-not... Papyrus..."

Undyne opened her eye; Alices's expression had fallen, as had her gaze.

"B-but I'm still your friend. I-I'm here t-to help... if you n-need me... or even w-want me..."

I do want you, Undyne thought, her hand grabbing onto one of Alices's tight.

"Th-there are things... I n-need to tell you..." Alices continued, her expression falling further. "Things that... m-may change how you see me... but if you still w-want my help... you have it. J-just tell me wh-what you need, what you want."

Undyne hesitated for a moment. She had no idea what Alices was referring to, but she could tell it was bad.

However, right now, at this moment, it could wait. Because now, suddenly, Undyne knew what she wanted.

"Alices," she said softly, and Alices looked up at her. "I... I think I want peace."

Alices blinked at her, her eyebrows going up, but she nodded, so she went on.

"I think we should go to the surface," she said, her voice growing stronger the longer she spoke. "A small group first, maybe just you and me, and just... test the waters. Approach the humans, see who we're up against. For all we know, they could have forgotten all about us. I don't want them to freak out, because they could see it as a reason to attack us, and I don't want them to attack any of us."

Alices nodded, her eyes focused and her grip on her hand firm. It was so comforting, that gesture, and it made Undyne feel even stronger, something she never thought could be possible, especially now.

"So many of us have already died," she said regretfully, her voice breaking. "The last thing I want is more of that. If I'm the one that's gotta lead, then I'll do it. But I'm gonna do it my way - the right way."

Alices smiled faintly at that, the gesture so genuine that Undyne swallowed, hard, her hand twitching between hers.

Alices blinked, thinking that she'd inadvertently insulted her, and she blushed, but she said, "I... I believe in you, Undyne."

Undyne stared at her, unaware until that very moment just how much she needed to hear that. She knew Asgore trusted her, and that he believed her to be strong enough to do this, but it was very different to hear Alices say it.

Impulsively, she pulled Alices to her and hugged her again tight, gritting her teeth and shutting her eye, trying to clamp down on the sudden influx of tears that crashed into her.

Alices closed her eyes, feeling Undyne shaking. "It's okay," she blurted out softly. "I'm y-your friend. You-you don't need to h-hold it in."

"Fuck," Undyne answered, her voice breaking. She buried her face into Alices's shoulder and suddenly felt something like a dam break within her, and she sobbed, hunching over not just from their height difference, but also from suddenly feeling so weary, so heavy.

To her surprise, Alices not only held her up, but held her close, rubbing her back slowly, and that did it for her; she broke down, right then and there.

There had been a few times that, as friends, they'd had to comfort each other like this. But then again, there was nothing like this, nothing as horrible as this felt. All at once, they both felt it, and it felt awful.

"I miss him," Undyne sobbed out. "I already miss him. I keep thinking that I can't wait to tell him everything, but he's gone! They're all gone! Everyone I ever loved in Snowdin and Waterfall, Alice!"

The nickname slipped out, but she was too upset to take it back or care, and Alices just assumed it was a stumble from her tears.

"If I go back - and I have to go back - it's knowing that I failed them all! I failed them, when I spent so many years promising I never would!"

"I under-understand," Alices whispered, holding her as close as she could, also the only thing keeping her on her feet.

"He was so gentle, Alice!" Undyne cried, her voice breaking. "Papyrus was so strong, but dammit, he trusted everyone! He was so stupid! But he was so smart, too! I failed him, just sitting there, waiting for him, getting mad at him that he was late for the stupid cooking lesson, and he was already dead!"

Alices nodded, her eyes closing, trying hard to keep herself from crying, but failing. sans had been the one to tell her that Papyrus had been killed. His voice, sounding so hollow over the phone, relayed what he had found out - too late - to her. Apparently, he'd had no idea that Papyrus was going to face the human on his own, and did it behind his back, without even telling him, instead telling him he was on his way to see Undyne.

Then, when Undyne texted him asking him where his brother was, he understood.

And found only his dust left behind.

Papyrus truly wanted the human to change, to be his friend, so much, that he hadn't fought back. Both Undyne and sans knew that. And that human had taken full advantage of that kindness and had murdered him without hesitation.

"I want peace; you have no idea how much!" Undyne went on, her voice choked. "For Papyrus, and for everyone! I don't want anyone else to feel like this, like I do, right now! Asgore... he thinks I can do this, he thinks I can use this power to do good, but I'm afraid... I'm afraid... I can't... Alice, I can't do this alone..."

Undyne would later be mortified that she not only said what she said, but that she had said it all at once and in such a state. But Alices didn't make her feel that way; if anything, she made her feel like she wasn't exploding all over her shoulder with tears and angst, and that this was something they always did.

"Undyne," Alices said gently, her voice wavering a little but her arms still strong and steady. "You can do this. And, I promise you, if you need me, I'll always be beside you, and you'll never be alone. Ever."

She was amazed that she hadn't stuttered, but then, she was also confident in what she said.

"I need you," Undyne blurted out, holding onto her tighter. "I need you so much."

"Then you have me," Alices answered right away, with no hesitation.

She paused, her eye snapping open, then, Asgore's words suddenly coming back to her mind: "And you won't be alone. I can already think of at least one other person in my employ who would be more than happy to help you and be at your side."

Alices. He was talking about Alices.

"You have no idea how much that means to me," Undyne admitted, her eye closing again, her voice softening. "No idea."

"I-I know what it's like to be alone and afraid," Alices said, her voice barely above a whisper. "To be f-faced with circumstances beyond your control, and forced to deal with it... all alone..."

She paused, then said, her voice stronger, "Therefore, I won't let that happen to you, Undyne."

Undyne just held onto her for a moment, overwhelmed. The pain she heard in Alices's voice was so real, one she'd heard before but had never been told what it meant, and she knew her friend was being honest in her empathy. She suddenly wondered if that was what Alices meant when she said she had things to tell Undyne, things she wouldn't like.

Were the two related?

"Thank you," she murmured instead, deciding that, right now, she didn't care. "Thank you so much. I... I lo--"

She bit her lip, hard, her eye flaring open again when she realised what she had almost said.

Alices nodded, oblivious. "Thank you, Undyne," she replied. "I... I hope I prove worthy of your trust."

Undyne found that such an odd thing to say, so odd that it rendered her speechless, but it didn't matter. They both took the moment of silence to calm down as best as they could.

It took a while, but once they were both calmer, they broke apart, though Undyne still kept hold of one of Alices's hand in her own. Alices didn't let go, either, finding it just as comforting.

"So, the surface," Undyne then said, looking over to the newly-revealed slope just near them.

Alices followed her gaze and nodded, her other hand going to her chest and fumbling with the front of her labcoat.

"Should we... should we try it? Right now?"

Alices found herself nodding slowly. She did think that, right now, it was the most logical step. Letting anyone else go right now, when they had no idea what they faced, wasn't practical, and with Undyne the way she was, now, Alices knew she couldn't possibly be safer.

"Yes," she then added, once she realised that Undyne hadn't seen her gesture.

Undyne tightened her hold on Alices's hand, reaching up with the other to dry her face, before trying to smile as wide as she could.

"Okay, nerd," she said softly. "Let's do this."

And together, still holding hands, they made their way up the slope.