VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 40

Asgore made his way quickly to his room, yanking the mattress of his bed up to reveal a stack of folders hidden beneath; folders he'd taken from Obatech Industries days ago, before his hospitalization. This could very well cost him his job, but they held the papers for almost any and all underground construction within Voxis. One of his last weapons against the Messiah he could think of. Satisfied that his intel was still safe and sound, Asgore hurriedly made to water his plants before returning outside, locking the house behind him.

"Welcome back," Frisk gave Asgore a small smile as he climbed into the passenger's seat, adjusting it a bit so it would be more comfortable.

"I assume you know the basics?" he asked, buckling in for the ride.

"Yeah, I know what to do," Frisk nodded. "I just haven't gotten to really practice doing it. When I was driving earlier, it was so awkward. I almost bumped into at least three mailboxes."

"That's fine, my child," Asgore chuckled. "When I was first learning how to drive one of these, I ran into a hedge that I'd spent two weeks trimming. It requires practice to master."

Frisk did as she'd done with Sans earlier, putting the truck into reverse and slowly turning out of the driveway onto the street after making sure no cars were coming. "You're a natural," Asgore commented as they pulled onto the road, and Frisk shifted into drive, picking up a little speed as she went.

"You really think so?" Frisk asked, swallowing. She was nervous, but not nearly as nervous as she'd been during her first two lessons. She was extra careful not to go over the speed limit, which pleased Asgore.

"You know the way to Muffet's, don't you? After all, it's close to Grillby's," Asgore stated.

"Yeah, I've gone a few times. Not like Grillby's, but . . . yeah," Frisk nodded.

The drive over there wasn't intense, and it wasn't hard. She quickly got the hang of things. Stopping where she needed to, waiting for her turn at the intersection, keeping to the speed limit, and listening to little tips Asgore gave her, and he continued to encourage and congratulate her along the way, filling her with pride. In no time at all, they'd arrived at Muffet's parking lot, which was empty aside from a beat-up old white van, which they parked across from. She was over the line at an angle, but Asgore was satisfied nonetheless. "That was wonderful, my child. I'm proud of you," he ruffled her hair fondly, filling her with inexplicable joy she didn't usually feel.

"Thanks, dad," she smiled. Asgore unbuckled, eyeing the light-up sign that Muffet had purchased recently.

"I hope you two are hungry. I've been eating nothing but hospital food lately. I could go for some pastries," he said, licking his lips. Frisk and Terrence, having both eaten burgers earlier along with a lot of fries, weren't looking forward to it nearly as much as Asgore . . . but they wanted to at least humor him.

"Me neither," Frisk patted her stomach, a forced smile curling it's way onto her lips. Oh well, Muffet's food was delicious without spiders as an ingredient anyways, so that would make it easier.

They entered the restaurant to find several men attached to the ceiling in a mass of webs, all wriggling and staring in fear at the spider monster below them, who had all six arms crossed.

The group stopped, staring at the scene as the door closed behind them. "Are we . . . interrupting something?" Asgore asked, making the spider monster turn around in surprise.

"Oh, not at all, dearie~! I was just dealing with some wannabe criminals. What can I get for you?"

It was a bit awkward to sit down at a restaurant with people literally hanging from the ceiling, but Muffet didn't even glance at the supposed criminals as she took the orders; one donut for Frisk, one donut for Terrence, and a box of donuts for Asgore . . . normally, anyone and everyone would be repelled by a restaurant with spiders crawling around, but Muffet's spider friends were quite polite and cleanly, so she hadn't been put out of business by it. The quality of the food helped too, of course.

"So erm," Asgore stared up at the men who were still struggling. "Muffet, you're not planning on . . . eating them, are you?" At this, the men began struggling harder, crying out in fear through their webbed mouths.

Muffet let out a pleasant laugh, "As tempting as it is, that would be bad for business. I called the police about an hour ago, so . . . these men might be here until tomorrow morning."

"Is the VCPD busy?" Asgore frowned, to which Muffet shrugged as she handed their order to a small team of spiders that took it and scuttled off to the kitchen.

"Ever since the attack on you, the police have been . . ." she paused, appearing a little annoyed at the thought. "Negligent to its monster citizens." She finished, making Asgore's frown deepen.

"And these men took advantage of that fact, I presume?" he guessed, his frown growing.

Muffet nodded, "Some people have begun to catch on," she confirmed, but then winked with three of her eyes. "but I've been alright; as you can see, I can handle them quite nicely. I do worry about the other monsters in Voxis sometimes, though . . ."

Asgore shook his head, looking down at the table for a moment. "Even without any more attacks, the divide still becomes greater," he mumbled, closing his eyes, deep in thought.

Terrence opened his mouth to offer words of support, but Frisk beat him to it, "Let's not worry about it for now," she said, grabbing her dad's hand. "You're out of the hospital, and we're about to enjoy a yummy meal. Let's take a break from the other stuff, just for the rest of tonight."

"That may be for the best," Asgore slowly nodded with a sad smile; enjoying a meal with Frisk and Terrence sounded much more appealing than worrying about what he couldn't change . . . for now. He still intended to get back to working toward uncovering the secrets of the Messiah as soon as possible, of course.

"Hey, so, Rian mentioned it earlier, but . . ." Terrence piped up, looking toward Frisk with a grin. "You know, Homecoming is coming up and all that jazz . . ."

"Yeah?" Frisk asked as Asgore pretended to not pay attention for their sake, staring in great interest at a dead fly on the floor that was quickly scooped up by a lone spider scuttling by, joyous of its new meal free of charge.

"Well . . . you know, I was thinking that maybe you and I could . . ." Terrence cleared his throat, "go together. As a couple." Frisk beamed at the offer; she'd been waiting for him to ask ever since they'd left Grillby's earlier, and now she felt incredibly happy, cheeks warming up.

"Terrence . . ." she placed her hand on his. "I'd love to."

They shared a long moment of staring at one another, red in the face, before Asgore cleared his throat. "You two are undeniably adorable."

"Daaaad," Frisk groaned, blushing even harder as Muffet came over with their meals, smiling brightly, her five eyes blinking in unison.

"You guys eat free tonight. You deserve it, Asgore."

"How kind of you!" Asgore smiled widely in gratitude, unable to tear his eyes away from the donuts, which looked absolutely mouthwatering. He'd been eating nothing but mushy applesauce and tasteless beans for so long . . .

"My pleasure," Muffet blinked again, giving a polite nod before leaning forward and whispering to the king; "When you become Mayor, I expect less rent."

Frisk was proud of Muffet; she'd come a long way. When they'd first met, Muffet had beaten Frisk within an inch of her life using various pastries to try and get her to pay 9999 gold for a donut. And now . . . she had her own restaurant on the surface, and had really made something of herself, and all the other spiders from the Underground.

The night ended with the pastries being eaten, and everyone returning home. It had been a long day, and the three were eager to get to sleep. The future looked just a little brighter, even with the dark cloud of the Messiah hanging overhead.