Undertale: War of Souls

Chapter Twelve: Dinner Time

MK had known that taking such a detour would render him late, but he hadn't registered how slowly he'd been walking home since he'd left the lab. So much time was wasted, time that was spent making dinner. But, on the bright side, he'd made it back home, even if it was with Ritzy practically holding his hand.

         "Found the twerp!" The older monster hollered out to her family as she swung the door wide open, allowing herself and MK to slide inside before the younger sibling went and shut it.

         "Ritzy, be nice to your brother," their mother chided, earning an amused snort from the older of the two.

         "It's okay. We're coming to eat now!" MK called back, only to then trot up to the dining room with Ritzy leading the way.

         As expected, dinner was set up, both parents waiting at the table for their two kids to join them. However, as MK took his seat, Lucy couldn't help but notice the look of disappointment in his dad's eyes, though poor MK didn't even note such a thing. He was simply too focused on getting ready to eat.

         "...How was today's appointment, Martie? I take it Doctor Alphys is still working hard?" The question popped up about right when Lucy had expected it, the human simply standing by as MK tossed some food into the air and caught it effortlessly with his mouth.

         '...I'll never get over that.'

         "What? It's fun!" The young monster then giggled at Lucy's reaction, only to then look up as his father cleared his throat to get his attention. "...Oh! Miss Alphys! Yeah, everything went good. She's still building the stuff she needs to do that extraction, but I think she said she's using pre-eh... eh..."

         'Pre-existing.'

        "-pre-existing equipment! Yeah! Because she's extracted stuff before, and this is gonna be the same, but much bigger, and she's gotta make sure we're safe and stuff." MK simply swung his feet back and forth in his seat, the monster once again tossing up a piece of food with his mouth before catching it again.

        "That's good to hear, right honey?" It was the mother's turn to speak up this time, the monster looking towards her husband with a warm yet cautious look in her eyes. It was almost as if she was warning him to not go overboard, to not get upset in case something went wrong. Lucy knew that look almost too well; it was unfortunate that MK couldn't see the same.

         Hearing his wife speak, the father paused before nodding, his gaze hopeful yet somehow disappointed all the same. "Of course. This is excellent news. Alphys is a brilliant Royal Scientist. I'm sure she'll succeed. But, how long do you think this will take?"

         "Huh?" The smaller monster looked back up towards his dad again, clearly confused by the question proposed. "How long will what take?"

         "How long will it take till she's able to extract that human?" Ah yes. The human factor, something that Lucy knew had been on his and honestly everyone's minds from the start. It had been on her mind too, though not as much these days. She'd grown used to her companion, and it seemed the same could be said for him given his reaction.

         Looking up from his meal, the young monster paused, only to then hum as he gave it some thought. "I dunno. Maybe a few months? I dunno how long science takes, but I know it can take a while since she's gotta make sure it's safe and all that. What do you think Lucy?"

         The soul then took a moment to search for her own answer, but unfortunately the annoyed gaze MK- no, she- received wasn't very helpful. '...I agree. It'll probably be a while. They don't want to kill you or shatter me, or else you'll be stuck down here.'