Entrapped Soul Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Meet The Gang

Later that day, Undyne and Sirus returned to Cantor Village. Everything had quieted back down to normal by now, except for the fact that the monster citizens were now more hesitant of Sirus than they were before. Sirus groaned.

“Great….I see I made one heck of an impression.~”

Undyne merely chuckled and nodded in response. Sirus looked around, eventually catching sight of a hot dog stand. Sans was running the stand.

“Who’s that over there?....running the hot dog stand?”, Sirus asked. “Oh yeah...Sans. Papyrus’s deadbeat brother. I guess we could start by introducing you to him.”, Undyne replied, heading over to Sans.

“hey, undyne. was wondering when you’d get back.”, Sans said in greeting. Sirus cleared his throat. ‘oh, you must be that troublemaker undyne beat up earlier. guess she gave you a hard boot.’, Sans continued, the same unstoppable grin on his face. “Sans, I-...................oh my god.”, Sirus started, but then realized the awful pun he had just made.

“Please tell me he’s not always like this.”

“i’m just getting warmed up. can i interest you in a byte to eat?”, Sans continued. Sirus grinded the ends of his hands against his metal carapace, growling.

“heh.”

“If you could stop making puns for five seconds?!.........thank you. Look, I want to apologize for what I did earlier. I charged in with my own misled presumptions. I think there’s a chance I was totally wrong about everything, and I want to be given a chance to find out the truth for myself. I can help around here in the meantime, and-”, Sirus started, before Sans interrupted him.

“buddy. pal. don’t worry about it. nobody died from all of this. my brother papyrus has a certain belief. he figures that anyone can be a good person, if they really try. sure, i was mad at first, but then i started thinking. if he’s so willing to turn his ways around, i should turn the other cheek. no hard feelings. put er’ there, buddy.”, Sans replied, sticking out a hand. Sirus put out a hand to shake Sans’s hand……...and immediately recieved a jolt.Sirus stammered and backed away.

“hehe. joy buzzers. i swear, this is my new favorite thing.”

Sirus’s eye changed color to a golden yellow, and he put his arms together, shaking with a quiet, barely contained rage. “Happy place….happy place….happy place..”, he thought to himself for a few moments. Undyne chuckled. Once Sirus calmed down, and his eye returned back to it’s normal green glow, he replied, “Is this your job? You make bad jokes, prank people and sell hot dogs?” Sans replied, “yep, basically. and boy is it tiring. I think i might take a break soon.”

“Ugh…..Undyne, I don’t suppose you could go and introduce me to the others? I think i’m going to blow a head gasket if I stick around here.”, Sirus said, turning to Undyne. “Sure thing. I bet Papyrus is with Toriel and the others.”, she replied, heading further into the village. Sirus followed after her.

On the way to Toriel’s place, however, another monster ran over to them. It looked to be a juvenile, seeing as how he was wearing a striped shirt, and had no arms. The Monster Kid looked at Sirus, curious.

“Hey, Undyne. Is this that robot you fought earlier? He looks kinda cool!”, he said, in an eager tone.

“Sure is. Hopefully, he won’t go starting anything anymore.”, Undyne replied.

“Ugh. I promise i’m not gonna do anything bad ever again, alright?”, Sirus answered back. “And kid, I didn’t even show Undyne the best that I could do. I had come here with everything I need to beat up the bad guys.”, he continued, finding it hard to not gloat just a little. The Monster Kid’s eyes lit up.

“That sounds AWESOME! You gotta show me sometime!”, the Kid replied. “Heh. Maybe sometime I will, kid.”, Sirus replied.

“Alright, alright, that’s enough, you two. We’re here.”, Undyne replied as they approached Toriel’s house. The Monster Kid nodded and ran off, momentarily tripping and falling flat on his face, before pulling himself back up and running off, the same cheerful look on his face.

Sirus and Undyne headed into Toriel’s house, heading straight to the dining room, where Frisk and Papyrus were.

“Hey, Papyrus.”, Undyne said in greeting. “HELLO, UNDYNE. I SEE YOU HAVE BROUGHT YOUR FORMER FOE WITH YOU.”, the battle-armor wearing skeleton known as Papyrus replied, in his usual, full-volumed tone of voice. “Yeah...great…...Frisk, I just wanted to say that i’m really sorry about earlier. I had no idea what it was really like….”, Sirus said. Frisk looked at Sirus and walked over to him. “H...hey…..no hard feelings, right?”, he continued, extending a hand to her. She smiled a little bit and shook his hand. “It’s alright….I forgive you..”

“...Thanks. I intend to stick around here for quite a while, so if you need help with anything, let me know.”, Sirus replied, a bit more relieved now. “INDEED. IT IS ALL WATER UNDER THE BRIDGE NOW. ANYBODY CAN DO THE RIGHT THING, IF THEY TRY.”, Papyrus piped in. “....that’s right. I’ve always just wanted to do the right thing. So I hope that won’t be too hard for me.”, Sirus answered.

Suddenly, someone cleared her throat. Sirus turned to the entrance to the kitchen to see Toriel standing there, arms crossed. Frisk walked over to her.

“Hmph…..and I suppose you’re the one who caused all that trouble.”, Toriel said in a smug, less than pleased tone. Sirus sighed, and replied, “Yes, ma’am…..yes, I am. And i’m firstly here to apologize. I was a fool with my own misconceptions. I understand that I have a lot to learn from you and the others. I’m sorry. I almost hurt Frisk, on top of all of this. I didn’t mean to hurt innocent creatures, I had thought that….sigh...I just hope that you can find it in your heart to forgive me….and….if not….that you’ll at least give me the chance to prove myself.”.

Toriel closed her eyes, deep in thought, considering Sirus’s choice of words in his apology. After a few moments, she replied, “Very well. If the others are okay with you being here, then I won’t complain, if you’re sincere about this. My name is Toriel.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Toriel. I am Sirus.”, Sirus replied. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS PROUD TO MAKE YOUR ACQUAINTANCE.”, Papyrus piped in. “Papyrus, would you go and find Asgore? May as well not leave him out of this…..I suppose.”, Toriel retorted. Papyrus nodded and headed outside.

“Hey, Toriel. Do you think Asgore would mind if we went to go pay Alphys a visit when this is over?”, Undyne added. “Why would Sirus want to go and see her?”, Toriel replied. “Ah, well….you see. Undyne told me a few things about Alphys on the way here.”, Sirus explained, “I happen to think myself just as much a scientist as a fighter. I have to admit, the idea of a monster who actually has an interest in intelligent pursuits such as science intrigues me greatly. I’m sure we could learn quite a lot from each other.”.

“Oh. I see. That makes sense, I suppose.”, Toriel replied as Papyrus came back with Asgore. He seemed rather taken aback at first.

“I’ve seen your kind before. The humans used a few of you back in the war.”, Asgore said. Sirus sighed and nodded. “That is true. As a matter of fact, it was the war that made me attack the village in the first place. Terribly sorry about all of this. I’ve made a big mistake, and if it wasn’t for Frisk, things could have gotten ugly. I owe you an apology, and I owe Frisk thanks for convincing Undyne to spare my life. I hope I can make up for my transgressions, both in the past and now.”

“It is a different time now, than it was back then...er…”, Asgore started. “Sirus, sir…..Asgore, right?”, Sirus said, filling in the blanks. “Yes. Times have changed, Sirus. The time for war is over. Forever, we hope. I’m certain you’ll come to realize this in time.”, Asgore continued.

“I’m glad to see that you’re so understanding about this. I won’t let you down. If there’s anything I can ever do to help, i’d likely be willing to lend a hand.”, Sirus replied.

“I’ll keep that in mind, Sirus. Glad to have you.”

“Hey, Asgore.”, Undyne said, “You don’t mind if me and Sirus go and pay Alphys a visit, do you?”

“I don’t see why not, Undyne. It’s fine with me.”, Asgore replied. Undyne smiled a wide smile. “Come on, chrome-dome.”, she continued, grabbing Sirus by the arm, and dragging him down into the basement.

Undyne barged in, in a hurry, catching Alphys off guard and making her back up and yell in surprise.

“Ahhh!....U...Undyne..w...what are you doing here?!”, She replied, quivering. Although perhaps not out of fear. “....Damnit, Undyne…..I get that you’re excited, but that wasn’t really neccessary, was it?............”, Sirus replied, turning to Alphys.

“W...who is this?......I….I haven’t seen a robot like that, since ever…”, Alphys said, looking Sirus over.

“Ah, well….i’m sure that’s no big surprise. There’s only a very small number of robots of my type that were ever made…..very costly, you understand. The name is Sirus. Undyne’s told me so much about you. I understand that you were the Royal Scientist for Asgore at one point?”, Sirus replied. Alphys paused, blushing just a little bit.

“W..w...well...y...yes….at one point…..I...eh...heh…..yes. Not anymore. I-i’m just a scientist now.”, Alphys replied.

“Fascinating. A monster that goes for intellectual pursuits! It seems that my mind is opening to new possibilities every few minutes around here. My kind also has a keen interest in technological and scientific pursuits. What kind of work have you been doing, down here, Alphys?”, Sirus continued.

“O...oh….w..well….nothing too special, really!.....j...just a few small medical experiments, here and..there. A scientifically-minded robot? Maybe sometime we could work together on something...hehe….eh…...heh……………………..uh..”, Alphys replied, sheepishly.

“Sure! Sounds good to me, so long as Asgore and Toriel will let me. Come now, there must be SOMETHING interesting you’re doing, Doctor.”, Sirus answered.

“Nothing, really. Just work on a medical solvent. That, and keeping tabs on Flowey…...eep!”, Alphys said. She then covered her mouth, not meaning to mention Flowey.

“....Flowey?.......Who’s Flowey?”, Sirus replied. Alphys gulped.

“..um…..a dangerous monster that I had to lock up down here for our own safety!...heh...heh….y...you probably...w...wouldn’t w...w...want to meet him.”, she continued. Sirus gave his entire body a shake, as a way of saying no.
“Actually, I would like to see him. If you have him contained, he shouldn’t be a threat, which means I have nothing to fear in talking to him.”, Sirus replied.

“.......I…...I……….o…..o...okay….okay, i’ll let you in….just don’t touch anything, alright? Seriously.”, Alphys answered. Sirus nodded. “Of course. Just gonna introduce myself.”, he answered. Alphys took out her keycard and opened the door to the rest of the labs. Sirus headed through, and explored the lab for a while, eventually finding the observation room for Flowey’s chamber.

He was rather surprised to just see a flower in a pot. With a face, no less. He turned on the intercom, a bit surprised. “Uh….h...hello? Flowey?”, Sirus spoke into the intercom. Flowey answered back. “Oh, hi! Yep, that’s me. Flowey. Flowey, the Flower. I don’t recognize you. Who are you?”, the flower answered back.

“<Ugh…..this is unreal…>I’m Sirus. I’m a robotic mage. I guess i’m new to this place.”, Sirus replied.

“Good to see you, friend!”, Flowey said, in a cheery tone. “Could I ask you a favor?”, Flowey continued. Sirus nodded. “I need you….to get me out of here. Please! It’s unbearable in here. Alphys is just torturing me, now!”, he continued, pleading. Sirus paused for a moment, deep in thought.

“I….I don’t know, Flowey. Alphys seems to be awfully worried about what might happen if you were to get out. I’d hate to make enemies with her right off the bat.”, he replied, eventually. Flowey became angry at this, but managed to keep his normal facial facade up. “And you’re just going to let that weak little medicine-toting lizard dictate what I can do with my life?! C’mon...please! This isn’t fair, what she’s doing to me!”, Flowey replied.

“I can’t just let you out of there. Alphys is bound to notice….and that’s if I even decided to actually do so. I have to admit, I don’t see why Alphys is so concerned about a flower…..look, let me look into this. I don’t want to do anything about being absolutely sure of myself.”, Sirus answered.

“W-what?!....She’ll just tell you a pack of lies! You…..you……….heh….hehehe…….alright. Alright. You win. But once you understand what she’s really like, you’ll come to see things my way.”, Flowey replied, smiling his usual, disturbingly cheery smile. Sirus didn’t answer, and left the observation room, taking a few moments to look over the rest of the labs. Or at least, the parts he could get access to. There was another area of the lab that was locked with another keycard.

When he had finished, he returned to the office, where Alphys was. Undyne had already left.

“Alright, Doctor Alphys. I’m done in there. But I have questions for you. Starting with that flower. What’s the story with Flowey?”, Sirus asked. That particular question seemed to unnerve her. “U-uh...w...w...well, he’s just...I mean….I don’t t-think you should listen to him!...He really likes to tell lies!...I...I..um…”, Alphys replied, starting to sweat. “Alphys, you’re not answering me. What’s the deal with Flowey? Why is he locked up? What are you hiding from me, doctor?”, Sirus replied, crossing his arms.

“Uh, w-well, I….I...uh, why would you be so interested in him? It’s just a flower, after all!”, Alphys answered, embarrassed thoroughly. “I don’t like this, Doctor Alphys. Seems to me like you’re not even treating him properly. Alphys, you can’t be utterly clueless about Flowey if you have him locked up.”, Sirus continued, beginning to not trust the doctor.

“I don’t r-really know where, b-b-but when we left the Underground with Frisk, s-she had him with her. In that flower pot...Sirus, I have to insist you stay away from Flowey. He’s very dangerous. I-I mean, we TRIED to put up with him at first. Frisk really wanted to have him stay with us. But, he has a bit of an...um...attitude. But then, one day, he started threatening the others. i-I  think he was serious.”, Alphys stammered. Sirus listened intently, thinking for a few moments before coming up with an answer.

“So, you put Flowey in there, out of fear for everyone’s safety? Is that it?”, Sirus replied. Alphys nodded. “I find that rather odd. When I talked to Flowey, he seemed more upset than angry. Upset that you were keeping him locked up like that. Regardless, if that’s actually the case, then I suppose you did the right thing.”, he continued. “Uh...r..right!....I….I hope….”, Alphys replied.

“Something about all of this doesn’t quite add up, though. I’m going to have to talk to Frisk about what happened, sometime.”, Sirus said. “Good luck with that…..s..she h-hardly ever r-r-really opens up to anyone, especially a stranger!”, Alphys replied. “She made friends with you guys, didn’t she?”, Sirus answered.

“O...oh..w….w..well….yes, b-but…”, Alphys started, before Sirus cut her off. “Then it’s settled. This conversation is on hold for now, but not over by any means. I’ll get back in touch with you when i’ve come to a full understanding of what’s going on here. Farewell for now, Doctor Alphys.”, he replied, heading for the door leading back upstairs.

Doctor Alphys watched Sirus leave, then sat down in the office chair, putting a hand up to her forehead, sighing. “.......I should have told him….”, she thought to herself. Back upstairs, all the others were waiting.

“So, how’d things go with Alphys?”, Undyne asked. “It was very interesting. I’m glad to have met her. Although I have even more questions now than I did before. If it’s alright with all of you, i’d like to stay here for now. My curiosity is peaked, and I don’t want to leave without having all of my questions answered, either through direct answer or experiencing it myself.”, Sirus replied.

“hey, not a problem, buddy.”, Sans replied. The others nodded in agreement. “Frisk, could I talk with you for a moment?”, Sirus continued. Frisk quietly nodded and walked over. “You’ve looked monsters right in the eyes, and not only did you not hurt them, but you made friends with them?....How?.....I still can’t figure this one out. How’d you do it?”, he asked. Papyrus opened his mouth to say something, but Undyne stopped him.

Frisk paused for a moment, a little bit intimidated by how blunt and direct the question was. After a moment, she spoke up. “They’re not bad people….deep down. They just want to be able to live life….s...sometimes, just being a kind person works…..it came naturally.”, she responded, not looking Sirus in the eye.

“...Fascinating.”, Sirus replied. “I never thought of it like this. You’ve really opened my eye to new possibilities.” Frisk smiled just a little bit at hearing this. “.....Could you tell me about Flowey?...”, he continued. The smile disappeared from Frisk’s face rather quickly upon Sirus asking the next question.

“...Frisk? I understand if it’s hard to talk about it. I just….I just have to know…….Frisk?”

“I’m sorry. I gotta go.”, Frisk replied coldly, finishing getting ready to go to school. “I’m sorry about this, Sirus. She’s not normally like this.”, Toriel said, trying to make up for Frisk’s hesitance to speak about her flower friend. “It’s alright, Toriel…..I guess I was hoping for too much. We can talk later, alright, Frisk?”, Sirus answered. Frisk nodded.

“Farewell, my child.  Have fun in school.”, Toriel said to Frisk. Frisk walked over and gave Toriel a hug before leaving.

“.....Child?...........Toriel…….h...how does that work? I mean, no offense, but..”, Sirus started. “A reasonable question. I guess Frisk isn’t really my child…..but i’ve done what I can to look after Frisk ever since she fell into the Underground. I’ve come to see her as one of my own.”, Toriel explained.

“oh….oh my. Toriel, that’s…..heh. I guess she’s in good hands, then. This is rather enlightening. Although now, I feel even more guilty. Although I guess I shouldn’t, seeing as how it’s all water under the bridge now.”, Sirus replied. Toriel smiled and nodded. “Is there anything I could do to help around here while I wait?”, he continued.

“I think Papyrus could use an assistant to help with his cooking lessons!”, Undyne replied. “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES NOT NEED A PUPIL TO MENTOR!..............THEN AGAIN……….ON THE OTHER HAND…..I AM ALWAYS WILLING TO ASSIST ANOTHER FELLOW SPAGHETTOIRE!”, Papyrus responded, sporting his usual skeletal grin.

“Hehehe….alright, Papyrus. You got me. Let’s hop to it, then.”, Sirus said with a laugh.