Bound Together: Part 28

They hadn't realized it. But was the perfect time to head out as there was a festival scheduled for that night. Habriel and the family went over to a TV placed right outside the town, showing MTT news.

"The reports just came in!" The robot gasped. "Undyne and the Royal Guard have just apprehended the famed criminal Iredox. Who will be taken into custody of King Asgore and will be presented a fair trial!"

"What?! Really?!" Toriel gasped. Frisk and Chara cheered. "That's great! They got him!"

"They actually did it..." Habriel started crying tears of joy.

"And there's going to be a festival tonight!" Chara exclaimed, listening to the robot's voice. "Awesome!"

"We knew they were gonna announce it." a familiar voice said. They turned and saw Halustreg standing behind them. "The camera's were still rolling and we got to see Undyne do it with the Royal Guard alongside a bunch of other monsters. The official reports were just released to the news." He scratched the back of his head. "Meaning that they just finished the paper work." The monster took off his mask, revealing a genuine smile. "Its good to see ya alright, scum!"

"What? Really?" Habriel asked, puzzled and surprised by the pleasant comment and tone of the underwhelming adversary.

"Of course!" Halustreg said. "You're my rival and the reason why I dedicate myself to training to get stronger. You're no use to me dead!"

"Aww, you do care!" Habriel laughed.

"Shut up!" The goat monster blushed.

Frisk and Chara looked at each other, then to Habriel, and snickered innocently at Halustreg's expression. Toriel wanted to do so as well, but held it in and knew better.

Habriel put on a devilish smile as he saw Toriel struggle to hold it in. "What's the matter?" Habriel asked. "Did I get your..."

"Don't finish that thought, scum!" Halustreg growled.

"Goat?" Habriel snickered.

Toriel hid her face, snickering audibly. "H-Habriel, really?" She laughed between her fingers from her son's pun. Halustreg definitely didn't appreciate the boy's play on words, especially in this interaction.
"Don't worry, Halustreg, we're keeping your 'adversary' healthy and fit for you," She chuckled.

Halustreg just muttered something no one could make out. Habriel took it a step further. "What's the matter?" Habriel asked. "Cat goat your tongue?"

The goat warrior clenched his fists and grimaced from the second pun. This boy was just too much.

Toriel couldn't hold it at all. She clenched her stomach in tears, snorting.

"Enough!" Halustreg yelled angrily, which surprised the family. "I'm tired of your puns, scum!" He announced aloud.

"Alright, alright." Habriel chuckled, easing the tension. "I'll quit it."

"Thanks..." Halustreg sighed, hiding his face in the palm of his hand.

"Let's not get things too heate-oh crap..." Habriel caught himself. He almost made another pun by accident. Halustreg groaned.

"Alright, well enjoy the festival, scum." Halustreg turned around. "And if you don't sign up for the fighting tournament, I'll kill you."

"There's a tournament?" Habriel asked.

"Yeah, its scheduled to be the last thing we do tonight." Halustreg said. "Fighters from all over the Underground are coming to sign up, including me. Which is why I would be steaming mad if you didn't sign up..."

"Ooooh! I wanna sign up!" Frisk cheered and did a silly little dance, jumping up and down in anticipation. "Sign me up!"

"Count me in." Chara said, smiling. "I'm actually curious to see how I'd do in this body."

"And I will sign up." Habriel said. "All just for you." He bowed to the goat ninja.

Toriel seemed concerned over Frisk and Chara, but was okay with Habriel joining in. He was old enough, and definitely skilled.
"Really?" Halustreg seemed confused. "Oh. That was easy."

"Yeah, to be honest. I can actually take advantage of that, right now." Habriel said. "I need the training."

"What about you, Flowey?" Frisk asked.

"Meh, I'm not feeling it," the flower responded. "I've wanted to stop fighting people and that can include this competition. Count me out. I'll watch you guys, though," He noted.

"Alright, well we got a while until its time for the tournament." Habriel said. "Let's see what else they got..." the family made their way in and both Frisk and Toriel got very excited. They saw Sans on a stage doing a stand-up routine.

They all ran up into the crowd to listen to his routine. They caught Sans saying,
"yeah, well i told him: fighting grillby is like fighting fire with fire."


Toriel was already giggling and Habriel chuckled quietly. Frisk and Chara sat down. Waiting for the next one.

Sans noticed them as they settled down in the audience and winked at them.
"so two fishermen are out in the ocean on their boat and it suddenly springs a leak. one freaks, and asks the other why he's not panicking. the other says, 'i don't sea the problem.'"

Chara hid a chuckle and Frisk giggled to themselves. Habriel smiled, as he heard that one before. Toriel snorted quietly.

Sans allowed the audience to chuckle a bit before continuing into his next jokes. He smiled his usual smile.
"one time, a guy berated me because i didn't know what "armageddon" meant.  said to him, 'so what if i don't know what 'armageddon' means? it's not the end of the world!'"

Habriel and Toriel both laughed at that one. It was pretty good. Chara rolled her eyes and Frisk giggled again. Sans gave a light chuckle. "so i was actually trying to test my luck with the ladies the other day. there's this one monster i gave her a little smile and a nod and i actually got some signals. so I walked up to her and asked 'do you wanna date?'" Sans proceeded to pull out a piece of dried fruit and waved it around for the audience to see.

They all laughed heartily at the fruit joke. "He's amazing," Frisk said to their siblings, wiping away a tear.

"and now's time for the specialty." Sans announced. "this is the part where i ask if any member in the audience wants to get involved. they come up here and crack a few jokes themselves." He looked around the audience. "so...any takers?"

"Hmm..." Frisk tried to think of one really hard. Chara looked around the crowd to see if there was anyone willing to tell a joke. Toriel waited.

"how 'bout you, tori?" Sans said, extending his hand. "i know you got a few good ones..."

"Oh, Sans," Toriel chuckled, blushing and shying away. "I'm not sure I can think of one at the moment."

"Come one, mom..." Habriel insisted. "Whadya got to lose?" Frisk tried pulling Toriel's arm in order to get he woman to stand up. Their feet kept sliding across the ground.

"U-um okay, children," She stood, patting Frisk on the head. "I'll try."
She strode over and climbed the stairs, standing up beside Sans.
'Okay... think...'

"you know tori, there's just this one burning question i have running in my head..." he said.

"Oh, yes, Sans?" She responded, looking at the grinning skeleton.

"what horse never comes out during the day?" Sans asked. Toriel smiled, she knew this one.

"A night mare, silly." she giggled.

Frisk and Chara laughed a bit at that one.
"Oh, Sans," She chuckled.

"so i heard you tried to catch a fog earlier." Sans said.

"yeah, i mist." Toriel giggled.

"Hey, Sans, what happens to a tree when you embarrass it?" She asked, smirking.
"What, tori?" He asked, amused.
"It turns into redwood!"

Everyone laughed loudly. "You know, Sans..." Toriel sighed. "Sometimes I miss my ex-husband."

"really?" Sans asked.

"But my aim is getting better!" She chirped.

The crowd hooted and hollered with laughter. "thanks tori," Sans thanked her and the crowd applauded. She exited the stage and rejoined her children in the seating. "anyone else up to tell some jokes?"

"you know what, hey tori. Just one more question..." Sans said. The goat woman turned around. "as you can tell, i've had no luck so far with this joke..." he scratched the back of his head, chuckling to himself. "but do you wanna?" he pulled out the bag with the dried fruit again.

She chuckled. "Wait, really?" She asked. He nodded, blushing a little bit.
"Alright, sure, Sans," She smiled.

"heh..." he scratched the back of his head as the audience cheered for them in excitement.

"Wow..." Habriel chuckled. "He's got guts, I'll give him that..."

"Wait, so they're actually going to go on a date?" Frisk asked, sitting beside Chara and Habriel.
"Whoa. Who knew?" Flowey said.

"Wow..." Chara muttered. Everyone watched as Toriel returned to her children, slightly blushing.

"Looks like someone's giving Frisk a run for their money." Habriel chuckled.

"Huh? What do you mean?" She asked Habriel, not understanding.

Toriel suddenly remembered a time during one of their dinners together when Habriel first started learning magic. "Oh!" she gasped and started snickering. "Now I remember that night..." She began to describe the night as she remembered it.

*************************************************************************************************************

"I'm honestly surprised you let me call you mom on such short notice.." Habriel said.

"Oh fear not, child." Toriel said. "I'm used to it, now. In fact, let me tell you about the time when I first gave Frisk their phone."

"Oh no..." Frisk cringed with their fork in their hand.

"Not two minutes after I left, they called me mom over the phone." Toriel giggled. "And then they decided to be a little ladies man on the next call..."

"They didn't!" Habriel choked on his food.

"Mooom!" Frisk groaned.

"Oh did you think I forgot young child?" Toriel smirked. "I embarrassed you once and I can do it again!"
****************************************************************
Its been a long time since that night. But Toriel remembered clearly when she was reminded of it.

"They decided to call me up and I guess practice... flirting?" She giggled as Frisk groaned even more.
"Come on, Mom!"

"Better watch out, Frisk." Habriel teased. "Sans might beat you to it." Frisk hid their face inside of their shirt. Groaning out of embarrassment.

"He's not beating me to anything!" They groaned through their shirt at him. "They can date! Good for them! I hope they're happy!" Chara snickered.

Habriel laughed in response. "Aww.. I'm only teasing." He said as he hugged them. They pouted in response. "Come on, give your big brother a hug...please?" They looked up and saw he put on a look a sad puppy would give.

They grunted and hugged him begrudgingly. Toriel and Chara chuckled.
"Wait... 'ladies man?' What gender are you, Frisk?" Flowey asked before he was interrupted. Sans announced the end of his segment.

"Oh, I'm both." Frisk said.

"Ladies man is just a saying." Habriel said. "Kind of like a nickname, a quip or a joke. There's no gender neutral version of that one. So, mom probably just used the normal one."

"Yeah." Frisk said. "I'm what's called a herma...herma..." Frisk struggled to remember the word.

"Hermaphrodite?" Habriel asked.

"Yeah, that's it!" Frisk said.

"Oh. Sorry, I didn't know," Flowey said quickly. "When's that fighting competition going to start? You two said you were going to participate."

"Halustreg said that was the last thing scheduled tonight." Habriel said. "We can probably find a schedule with the times, or we can ask someone."

Toriel had gotten up and talked with another monster for a bit, returning with a paper listing the events.
"Here's the festival's order of events," She said as she sat back down with her children.
"The fighting competition is last. Next, there's a hot dog eating contest, then potato sack races..."

"And after that..." she said. "A card game competition."

"What card game?" Habriel asked.

"Something to do with trading cards." Toriel said. "It does however, involve characters in that book we're reading."

"Maybe you should participate, then, Habriel," Chara pointed out. "Sounds fun."
"We'll just have to wait a while, then," Habriel responded, looking again at the schedule.

"Look!" Frisk said. "Napstablook is setting up a snail race course right after this!"

"Looks like Mettaton's gonna have a mini concert before the tournament." Habriel said.

"Oh my," Toriel chuckled, shaking her head at the prospects of a mini live concert for the robot.
"This will be a large production, then," She sighed. "Do you want to watch it or do something else while we wait?" She asked the kids.

"Doesn't matter." Habriel shrugged. Chara nodded in agreement.

"Let's go to the races!" Frisk said.

Toriel laughed and followed them. They were eager to see which snail would win this time; Frisk hadn't seen a snail race in forever.

"Oh...h-hey guys..." Napstablook said to the family. "Its uh...been a while..."

"Hey, Napstablook! I can't wait to watch this snail race!" Frisk said enthusiastically, smiling as they greeted the pale ghost. "Oh, yeah! Habriel's never seen one before."

"Snail race?" Habriel asked. "Strange to choose them out of all animals..."

"There are many snails down here, a surplus," Chara reminded him. "He just came up with an awesome sort of sport for 'em. It's entertaining." Napstablook smiled.
"T-thank you," He said.

"Oh okay." Habriel said. "Never thought of it that way."

"I-it'll start in a moment," Napstablook said, hurrying along and getting each snail on the track area he set up previously for the festival event.
They all saw Halustreg come over to look at the snails.

He leaned over a fence watching the snails get ready. "Looks like mom's not the only one with a snail fascination." Habriel said.

Halustreg caught their eyes. "Wrong, scum! I have pledged to win in every event in which you participate!" He announced across the fence. Napstablook looked from the goat warrior to the family and began to sweat.

"Oh, I was just planning to watch..." Habriel said.

"Why, scared I'll win?" Halustreg asked.

"You know I wasn't born yesterday, right?" Habriel rolled his eyes. "I'm still just gonna watch."

Halustreg huffed and puffed out his chest in indignation at Habriel's statement and continued to watch until the race began. Someone handed Napstablook a megaphone, since he was so quiet.
"Alright, everyone, w-welcome to the grand snail race," He announced, smiling a bit.

"Now we'll be taking any volunteers for this race." The ghost said. "Any takers?"

"I'll join!" Frisk said happily.

"G-good." Napstablook said. "Anyone else?"

"Sure," Chara joined, walking over next to Frisk behind their snail. "Alright, we still have a few more slots for other opponents," Napstablook announced to the crowd that gathered to watch. "Anyone else like to join?"
Halustreg decided against participating since his nemesis was not going to do so either.

"I'll give it a try." A voice said. Everyone turned and saw Monster Kid approaching.

"Hey!" Frisk greeted the monster excitedly. Monster Kid ran up next to them and smiled.
"Hey, Frisk!"

"Yo, its been a while!" Kid exclaimed. "How ya been?" He gave a wide grin.

"Pretty good," They answered, excited to see Kid again. "How have you been? It's been a while, hasn't it?" They said.

"Yeah, everything's been great!" Kid said. "Ever since I stood up to Undyne, I've been the coolest kid in this town."

"That's great!" Frisk said. Napstablook announced that these three would be the ones competing in the snail race; each got a snail and the rest of them were removed from the track.

A menu appeared in front of all three of them. It said 'Press Z to encourage'.

"Go!" Napstablook yelled, and the race was on. Because of a previous time, Frisk paced themself as they encouraged their snail, trying not to hurt it but maintain a good pace. Chara did the same. Monster Kid encouraged his snail wildly, overloading it.

Out of nowhere, the snail that monster kid was encouraging exploded. The the racers stared blankly at the spectacular scene. Habriel's jaw dropped along with Toriel.

Frisk and Chara flinched when it happened. Monster Kid's expression drooped.
"You just encouraged him too much," Napstablook said with a sad tone and face. "I'm sorry. You're out of the race."

The little monster had no idea what to say. He held his head down and slowly walked away.

"Aww..." Napstablook wore a sullen expression as the kid walked away from the tournament.
"Kid, wait, it's okay!" Frisk called to him. "I did that the first time I did the snail race, too!"

"Is it okay if I stay and watch?" The kid asked.

"Yeah!" Frisk answered, focusing back on the race. "Of course," Chara said, gesturing for him to return by their side. Napstablook nodded, smiling.

The kid smiled and cheered Frisk on.

"Let's hope Frisk doesn't explode..." Habriel said.

Frisk kept their pace well but Chara's snail was gaining ground. Frisk increased the amount of cheers they yelled to their snail, which began to sweat and speed up. It was neck-and-neck, and Frisk's snail won.
"We have a winner!" Napstablook announced through the megaphone, and gave Frisk their prize.

"Way to go, Frisk." Habriel said as he approached them. He looked at Chara and Kid. "I think you all did great out there."

"Don't worry, Monster Kid," Napstablook tried to reassure the monster. "If you feel like practicing, you can come by my snail farm sometime."

"Thanks." Monster Kid said. "I'll come by sometime." The family moved on, heading over to the hot dog eating competition. Kid went alongside them.

They sat down on the wooden benches set up before the competition table. The contestants arrived one by one; Undyne proudly waltzed up to one of the chairs on one side of the table. Alphys was off to the side cheering for her. Sans walked on next to her and sat down casually. Then Halustreg arrived and sat in the third seat.

"Sans and Undyne?" Habriel thought aloud. "Now this is gonna be intresting..."

Halustreg laughed loudly and pounded the table with his fists, ready for the competition to start. A very exhausted Burgerpants brought out the plates of hot dogs for each person.

"It's kind of funny." Habriel muttered. "I thought he only wanted to compete with me..."

"This isn't for the reason you think, scum," Halustreg laughed heartily. "This is to bolster my strength for when we compete in the fighting competition!"

"You'll get full and you'll go through a crash..." Habriel chuckled. "But hey, you do you."

"I will!" Halustreg announced. Undyne and Sans stared at the two, dumbfounded. They had never met the goat monster.

"Hey, who's this weirdo?" Undyne whispered, leaning over to Sans. Sans shrugged in response.
"Alright, darlings! Are you ready to begin?" Mettaton asked them over a microphone.

"One special rule, per request by a special guest who will soon be introduced." Mettaton giggled. "The losers are not only disqualified, but will also have to eat a bowl of spaghetti, mage by none other than..." The skeleton barged out from behind the curtains.

"ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" the skeleton announced proudly. "I DO HOPE YOU ALL LOSE SO YOU CAN TRY MY COOKING!"

Habriel chuckled from the benches.

Toriel and the other children chuckled as well. "So, my darlings, you may start... NOW~!" Mettaton yelled.
Immediately, Undyne and Halustreg began stuffing their faces with hot dogs as fast as they could muster. As comic relief, Sans laid a napkin on his lap and squirted mustard on his first dog, eating it at his leisure. Monsters in the crowd began to laugh.

While Undyne and Halustreg glared at each other, filling their mouths with hot dogs, Sans started balancing the others on the top of his head.

Frisk and Chara were practically crying while watching him, they were laughing so hard. Flowey chuckled watching him, too. Through a mouthful of hot dogs, Halustreg managed to say towards Sans, "Come on and challenge us!"

"alright...." Sans said. "weiner takes all...."

"Wait, how can he do that... He's a skeleton," Habriel murmured to the others beside him. Sans winked at the crowd. He stuffed the hot dogs into his rib cage at light speed.

Every hot dog quickly disappeared, Sans dabbed his chin with the napkin, leaned back and smiled at Undyne and Halustreg.

Both monsters stared at him in awe and disbelief before speeding up in their hot pursuit of second place. Frisk and Chara cheered for Sans and his quick victory.

"Small guy, big appetite." Habriel chuckled.

"He didn't really eat them," Toriel whispered, leaning over to Habriel. "He just put them in his jacket," She snickered, watching the small skeleton sit and watch the other contestants struggle against each other. Papyrus's face brightened.
"LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE'S GOING TO TRY THIS SPAGHETTI," The tall skeleton announced triumphantly.

Habriel chuckled quietly to himself. Enjoying the fact that Halustreg was gonna have to eat Papyrus' spaghetti, all thanks to Toriel's new boyfriend.

"Time is ticking! You have ten seconds, darlings!" Mettaton announced gleefully, making Undyne and Halustreg panic and hurry themselves up. All the monsters counted down the seconds together loudly.
"Time's up! Let's see how you did!" Mettaton said, strolling over to the table. His eyes widened, seeing that Sans was the only one who finished all his dogs.

"Well well...." Mettaton said. "Welly well welly well well. It seems you both get to have some spaghetti, I hope you're ready..."

"NYEHEHE!" Papyrus laughed, slamming the bowls in front of them. "I HOPE YOU BOTH ENJOY! I MADE IT WITH AN EXTRA SPECIAL SECRET INGREDIENT...."

"Being?" Halustreg asked.

"MORE NOODLES AND LOVE!" Papyrus said.

"You eat first," Undyne ordered Halustreg. He shook his head. "No, you," He responded. Sans chuckled.

Habriel got up. "Hey Halustreg!" he called out. "They say carb-loading helps!"

"Shut up!" Halustreg blushed.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Habriel smiled. "Was that joke in...."

"oh god, he's gonna do it!" Sans chuckled.

"Don't..." Halustreg growled.

"...poor taste?" Habriel asked.

Halustreg pounded the table with his fists again, and this time, the table collapsed out from under him, sending him, the hot dog plates, and the spaghetti to the ground. Mettaton leaped backwards quickly, saying "Oh my!"

Habriel ran off before the monster could do anything.

Toriel told the children to stay there as she looked for Habriel. They agreed. Undyne and Alphys retreated together towards Frisk, Chara, and Flowey, slightly intimidated by Halustreg, who was still over at the collapsed table.
Mettaton was backing away from the goat warrior, chuckling nervously. "Darling, that's no way to handle things..." He muttered.

Habriel ended up at Grillby's. He leaned his back against the wall outside, chuckling to himself.

Toriel finally found and caught up with him, huffing. "My child, I don't think this was necessary," She breathed and they both chuckled. "Though he does overreact."
Halustreg brushed himself off and Undyne helped pick up the debris from the shattered plates and the table splinters.

"Better to be safe than sorry." Habriel shrugged, smiling at her.

"Let's head back before the next event starts," She said, putting an arm around him as they headed back towards the festivities.
Meanwhile, a bunch of monsters were avoiding Halustreg.

They caught up with the rest of the family. They were on their way to the potato sack race.

"Ugh. Wish I didn't have to sit all of these out," Flowey muttered, watching some monsters slipping into potato sacks. "I'm going," Chara told them, and joined the other participants in a row, getting on her own sack.
Habriel and Toriel arrived in time to see them all lined up ready for the race to commence.

Frisk sat down with Habriel and Toriel. Watching as Chara slipped into a potato sack. Getting ready for the race.

She gave them a thumbs up before the race began.
"Alright, everybody! Ready? Set? GO!" Undyne yelled, and the assortment of monsters and human started leaping forward clumsily yet enthusiastically in their sacks.

Everyone encouraged Chara as she soon got ahead of every monster. The others could never keep up. The human was young and had a lot more energy than them.

She was cheering as she hopped ahead of the rest, until she stumbled and fell.
"Nooo!" Frisk yelled, watching her fall. She quickly got to her feet again, staying in the lead.

Chara managed to cross the finish line and get first place. The family got up and all cheered for her.

She sat on the ground and pulled the sack off her legs, handing it in. The monsters behind her all eventually crossed the finish line as well. She was congratulated by many people. Chara went back to her family.
"That was pretty fun," She said.

"Now onto the card game." Habriel got excited.

Toriel pulled out the itinerary. "Where's that being held?" She looked down the list of events.

"Inside Grillby's." Habriel said, pointing out the map. "Any of you gonna play, too?"

Chara raised her hand. "Sure, let's do it."
"I'm not going to repeat what I did last time," Frisk laughed.
"I'll watch, children," Toriel said.

"Thought you could run, scum?" Halustreg said from behind. "I'll learn this card game and finally defeat you!"

"Whatever floats your goat." Habriel said.

The goat monster looked as if his veins would burst on sight, but he calmed down and they went inside the establishment to play the card game. The family and others followed them inside.

On their way over, a journal fell out of Chara's pocket. She opened it and started reading it. It belonged to the girl. What was in the journal was fascinating. She decided she was gonna read it instead of playing.

She sat with her family reading rather than joined the players for the card game.
"I found this in the girl's pocket," She said to her mother. "I've been reading it. It's weird..."

"What do you mean?" Toriel asked. They read the journal together.

'Entry 1: Father has come up with a decent plan to kill the boy and take his soul. He's gonna try to demonize him around the monsters. It's a better plan than he thinks. It makes them do our dirty work while we earn their trust. Making the first step MUCH easier.'

"First step of what?" Toriel asked out loud, reading in the pages more.
"This sounds bad," Chara whispered, trying to keep from getting the other monsters' attention. "Whatever they were planning... we have to be careful... they may still be trying that plan..."

'Entry 2: Its been a while. Father failed to retrieve the soul and attain the trust of the monsters. A shame, but not over all damning. We just have to anger them enough to march out to the surface. It'll be more difficult and we won't be able to gather as many of them due to possible carnage than if they were to trust us. However, we can still find ways around that problem. Perhaps we can force-breed some of them so we have more souls. Father will return later to retrieve the soul at least. We can then put the boy to good use, then.'

"But what use were they talking about...?" Chara murmured, turning the page to the next entry the girl had written. She and Toriel continued to read it.

'Entry 3: Father's dead, I'm sure. I have a couple plans. When I go down there. I'll find the boy and pretend to not know be in over my head. It'll make him feel guilty and lower his guard. Giving me an opportunity. But before that, I managed to track down his lover. I'll send her in to kill him. I'll send her through where the barrier was. Should she fail, then its back to my original plan. So far, we'll see if the girl is willing to cooperate or not. For her sake, she better.'

The card game was about half way through. Frisk was watching, aware that the others were reading the journal. They just didn't want to think about it now.
"So... they were going to send... Marion in after him?" Chara looked at Toriel, who nodded slowly.

'Entry 4: Dumb bitch got herself killed. Back to the first plan. That boy has to be in the company of numerous monsters. Perhaps I can do a ritual while I'm down there. Make the boy one of those things I've seen back at the Cathedral. He should prove useful after all. He did manage to kill my father. That is no small feat.'

The card game was coming to a close. Frisk watched; Halustreg was obviously doing extremely poorly, even while he was repeatedly told the directions of the game. He just couldn't wrap his mind around the rules and constantly broke them or made bad decisions.

"That's it." Chara said. "Mom? What do you think of all this? Should we show Habriel?"

"Mmm... I'm worried how he'll receive this... especially about how they tried to use Marion... but he should definitely know."

"I'll leave it up to you." Chara said as she handed the journal over to Toriel. Habriel had just beaten Halustreg in the card game. The goat monster was red with fury and steam seemed to have come out of his ears. Habriel smiled and offered a hand for the monster to shake. Toriel sat there, with the journal in her hands. What decision will she make?

Toriel sat with the journal for a moment, studying the pages. She looked back up to Habriel.
"He has every right to know what they had planned for him behind his back," She decided, and stood up as Habriel shook Halustreg's begrudging hand.
"Habriel, Chara found something that you should probably see," She said.

"Really?" Habriel asked as he got up. "What is it?"

She held out the journal for him to take and look at.
"Chara found it in the girl's pocket. It's a journal she kept while she was alive."

Habriel widened his eyes and looked down at the journal after Toriel handed it to him. He stood there, reading the journal. Toriel couldn't see his eyes, the shadows were hiding them. However, after a few minutes. She saw the hand holding the journal begin to shake.

"They were going to use Marion, but she refused..." Chara stated quietly as he read the pages.

Habriel took a deep breath as he closed the journal. "I knew I could count on her. There's no way she would have let anyone use her." He looked down at the ring. "She really did love me..."

"But... they've clearly been preparing to do something involving you, special," Chara groaned.
"We better be careful and keep a keen eye on both entrances to the underground. We're not done with those idiots yet."

"Yeah..." Habriel said, closing the journal and putting it in his pocket.

"Heh, maybe we can spring Halustreg on them," Frisk suggested, chuckling a little.
"Nah, he's too weak. It'd take many more years of training for him to be on your, level, Habriel."

Habriel nodded his head. "Now's time for Mettaton's concert.

"Mmm... I don't know if I feel like watching that," Chara laughed. "We've seen enough of him otherwise, honestly. What do you all wanna do?" She asked.
"Whatever you guys want is fine," Frisk answered.

"Oh, really darling?" A metallic voice called from behind. "And here I had something special planned."

"Really?" Habriel asked. "What was it."

"I had a TV set up in Iredox's cell to show the concert." Mettaton said. "And I was gonna put you on stage, after you write whatever you want about him."

"Really~?" Habriel gave a devilish smile.

"Weelll, we don't want him breaking out of his cell and uh... coming after him again," Toriel stated quickly, getting Mettaton's attention and understanding.

"He'll try to break out no matter what we do." Habriel said. "I might as well have a bit of fun."

"Have something in mind?" Mettaton asked.

"A poem to be specific." Habriel chuckled darkly. "I already have the message."

"You really are a vulgarian, aren't you?" Seraph asked from behind. "I love it."

"Alright, darling, you can do this whenever you like! The show's about to start," Mettaton stated, leading Habriel onto a makeshift stage out in the open surrounded by cameras. He handed the boy a microphone, making sure it worked.

The rest of the family sat in the bleachers and saw Habriel get on stage. Sans walked up to Toriel and sat next to her.

"sup, tori." He said.

"Greetings, Sans." She smiled as they started holding hands. They looked over at Habriel who was given a microphone.

"Hey everyone!" Habriel said as the monsters cheered for him. "I know you were all expects Mettaton to host his concert tonight. You'll get that, don't worry." He waved a hand as an attempt to ease any possible tension. "But he wanted to give me some time on the stage. I'm pretty sure you all know who I am." He turned towards the audience and started whispering into the microphone. "With what's happened yesterday, how can you not know?" A couple monsters chuckled in response. "Now I wanna take the time to thank someone for making this all possible. Because if he wasn't such a deplorable being. This wouldn't have happened." Habriel looked up at the cameras. "I wanna thank you, Iredox! I know you're watching this as I speak. I can smell you from here..."

Toriel feared that Iredox would spiral into an uncontrollable rampage, escape, and kill them all. Frisk, Chara, and Flowey remained by her side throughout all the events that night, including this. They all watched, feeling the same way without telling one another.

"But you know what, Iredox?" Habriel said. "I think we had a bit of a rocky start. I think we should get to know each other a little better. So, from the bottom of my heart. I have this poem in my head, that I wanna share with you. It's not the best poem. But if you pay attention, I think you'll get the message." Habriel cleared his throat as he started reciting the poem.

"Gotta be careful in the Underground.
Ongoing danger all around.

Forging friendships and rivalries, all underfoot.
Understand, this is all due to my neglect.
Cute and cuddly monsters that are just misunderstood.
Killing them would just make you lose all my respect.

You think you got this in the bag?
Only because of all your years of training.
Understand, I've been training with Undyne, but I shouldn't brag.
Really, all this time, you've only been entertaining.
So confident, with this annoying need to nag.
Everywhere you go, I hear people complaining.
Little do you know, this is all a drag.
For the last time, I'll be the one remaining." Habriel waved at the crowd. "Enjoy Mettaton's show everyone!" He said as he put down the microphone.

The crowd applauded Habriel's cold poetry loudly; they all remembered what Iredox had done to him.