Wholehearted Half-Souls

Chapter 14: Proceed (Part 1)

Papyrus' sunglasses bounce up and down as his limbs fly back and forth. "WHEN THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA TOLD ME I COULD WORK THERE, I WAS SURPRISED!"

Asgore takes a sip of tea, and places relish onto a hot dog. "And why is that, Papyrus?"

"BECAUSE IT MEANS THEY HAVE STANDARDS," the skelebro barks. 

Asgore chuckles and takes a bite out of the hot dog. "I am intrigued. What exactly are their standards?"

Papyrus nods. "THEY ARE HIGH ENOUGH TO REALIZE THEY NEED A CHEF LIKE ME!"

Asgore takes a second bite, looks suspiciously at the hot dog, but then swallows and smiles sheepishly at Papyrus. "They taste delicious. Thank you for cooking for us."

Asriel walks up and sits next to Toriel and Frisk, grabbing a burger. He smiles at Toriel and says, "Sorry we're late, mom! I got side-tracked."

Toriel breathes out sips from her teacup on her lap. "I forgive you, my child."

Susie takes a bite from her own burger and swallows it with a mighty gulp. "Dang, that's good. Been too long since I've had a good steamed ham."

After Susie takes a second bite, she catches an object from the corner of her eye. A secretary bird is walking directly towards her line of sight, wearing a police officer uniform. It's Sterling. She suddenly gets up from the blanket, and Toriel spins around to face her. "Susie, my dear, where are you headed?"

"I left something at the orphanage shelter; be back soon," she explains. 

Toriel raises an eyebrow, then slowly turns around. Frisk talks to his mother to distract her while keeping an eye on his purple monster friend. Susie walks up to the officer quickly and speaks in a hushed voice. "Sergeant Sterling, yeah? I heard about you from Frisk and Azzy."

Sterling nods and holds a sketch in front of her. "I have some questions for you. What do you make of this sketch?"

Susie snatches the paper. Her face goes from a calm violet complexion to harsh crimson in an instant. The face on the paper is human, with his hair flowing long and his mouth lacking any expression. Susie shoves it back into Sterling's hand and places her hands into her pockets. "It's Kris."

Sterling moves her head up and down. "Kris? Is this Kris a friend of yours?"

Susie glares at Sterling, and her teeth clench. "You're joking. Don't ever assume that again."

Sterling nods again. "My apologies. He must have hurt you badly at one point, yes?"

Susie lowers her head and growls. Sterling places the sketch back in her pocket and sinks her hands behind her back. "In any event, you should be aware that we suspect a 'Kris' in the area as the one who attacked Asriel Dreemurr many weeks ago. However, we are not sure which Kris yet. When the time allows, we desire to complete a full background check and see if he's the one who hurt your friend."

Susie turns around to return to the picnic, but Sterling suddenly grabs onto Susie's arm, and she turns her around. The purple monster glares. "What's the deal, lady? You arresting me or something?"

Sterling shakes her head quickly. "Not at all. I need your attention for one more thing; it's very important."

Sterling releases Susie, and she relents. "Sure, shoot."

"This person is most likely armed and dangerous. Also, I have my own reason to suspect that he may be changing his appearance. Please be careful," the officer advises. 

Susie lowers her head and turns around to walk away. "Way ahead of ya."

Susie clenches her fists as she returns to the picnic. The waft of steam from the succulent patties rolls around the park as the group of sits on the picnic blanket feast. Most of the attendees are on their second or third serving of food, but Susie hasn't touched her plate aside from the one bite she had. She walks back over from the edge of the park, her mouth watering as she takes a seat.

"Man, I gotta catch up to the rest of you guys," Susie quips. 

After another moment, Frisk glances at Susie out of the corners of his eye, saying, "Don't get upset; I need to ask you something, and you need to keep your voice down."

Susie finishes off her burger as they walk away from the group. "Heh, I'm awfully popular today. But it's cool, now that I've had my food."

"Explain yourself," Frisk commands. "What was Sergeant Sterling talking to you about?"

Susie holds up a hand to Frisk's ear and whispers. "The police lady suspects Kris is changing his appearance to keep the fuzz off him."

Frisk's pupils tingle, and he leans in closer toward Susie. "How do they know that?"

Susie shakes her head and shrugs. "They saw someone strange a few days ago that looked like Kris. But he wasn't wearing his normal green and yellow shirt. Either a red jacket with a black t-shirt or a black jacket with a red t-shirt."

Frisk slowly places his hand onto the earth below and rubs his hand into the dirt quickly and rapidly. After a few seconds, he releases his dirtied hand from the ground. "Did you tell Mom anything?"

"No, why would I?" Susie questions. 

Frisk nods and smiles slightly. "I'm sorry for my paranoia. I'm just glad I'm glad I can trust you."

Susie nods and chuckles. "Loose lips sink ships, my dude."

Frisk turns away slightly and stares at his hand. "I also need to tell you something else."

"What's that?" Susie asks.

He rubs his hand in the dirt and briefly clenches his fist. "Now that Azzy's getting stronger and things are getting direr in the town, I think I'm ready to take the next step in capturing Kris and turning him in."

Susie smirks. "That's what I like to hear."

Frisk looks over at his brother and clicks his tongue. "But despite that, I won't be combative like you. I hope you remember that."

Susie narrows her eyes, gets up from the blanket, and begins shuffling towards the trees. She looks left and right, gritting her teeth. "C'mon, let's walk more."