VOXISTALE: Novel Edition

Chapter 82

Undyne's walk home wasn't a very eventful one, although she did wish it hadn't started raining. She didn't have an umbrella, and as much as she, a fish monster, enjoyed water . . . it didn't feel too great on a cold, mildly miserable night.

Luckily, she was able to get a ride in a taxi for the rest of the way back home. The driver was a seedy old man with about ten teeth total, and the entire car reeked of smoke. Disgusting, to be sure, but she could deal with it. Better to hold her breath for five minutes than shivering to death while walking for twenty.

Not a lot of fish monsters were left, especially after the Fallen Down plague had swept through the underground all those years ago . . . it was the reason she no longer had a father and a brother. When one really thought about it, all the branches of monsters were pretty endangered at this point. The goat monsters, skeleton monsters . . . then there were the elementals. Only the fire elementals were left. In her youth, she'd read a lot of books about the history of monsters. How powerful their empire had once been. Millions of monsters spread out across a continent. Now they were only a few thousand at best.

She paid the cab when they arrived at the house she shared with Alphys (though the scientist typically stayed at the lab when in town). Undyne made her way inside, letting out a deep sigh as she slipped her leather jacket off and hung it up on a coat rack nearby, then made her way into the kitchen, opening the fridge.

While monster food was great for healing injuries and curing diseases with their magical properties, some human food tasted better, and could actually fill a stomach in one sitting. Before coming to the surface, the only human food she'd ever had was some ramen noodles from Alphys, though she wouldn't say where she'd gotten it.

Then there was some human stuff that tasted absolutely terrible, but it made her feel . . . better. Gave her some kind of a buzz. Made her numb. She had arrested a lot of humans who drank the stuff, but they didn't regulate it.

Inside the fridge sat a twelve pack, which Undyne promptly snatched a can of beer from, popping it open and taking a drink. It still tasted terrible, but already she could feel her muscles relax ever so slightly.

Beer in-hand, Undyne marched into the living room and sat down on a recliner, letting out another sigh. Maybe Alphys was right about that whole vigilante thing, but . . . maybe the world could use a little more vigilantes when the law enforcement became too corrupt.

Of course, there were obvious obstacles stopping her from putting on an all-black outfit and rushing off into the night to stop crimes as an animal-themed alter ego. Not only would she have a lack of resources, resources that were available to her now at the police station, but she could actually spend time behind bars if she was caught. That part was really stupid- why should she have to face hard time because she actually wanted to help clean up the streets and stop crime in Voxis?

. . . No, she knew the reason. Laws and regulations and all that boring crap . . . or was it because people hated her, being a monster. Plenty of humans got away with vigilantism, so why not her? The moment she'd become a police officer, it had been decided for her that her career would be dead-end. Just a source of day after day of depressing thoughts. Orion, she wanted to quit, she had to quit. Hell, this job had forced her to start drinking this nasty, unhealthy crap just to feel relaxed. Picking up the remote and taking another sip, she turned the TV on, being greeted with a message that made her spit her drink out.

"Attention residents of Voxis City," a man spoke, with blonde hair, glasses, and a rather thick mustache, his eyes staring at the camera with a complete lack of life. His voice was stern, but Undyne was more focused on what he was saying than his tone. "The monsters that invaded our city have finally done as we all knew they would. Asgore, the Monster King, has declared war on all of humankind, and has killed our standing mayor when he refused to grant Asgore his seat during a hostile takeover attempt. Humans, barricade your homes, stay inside, and wait for further instructions. As of now, Voxis City is under martial law. Acting against our police force will result in your immediate death. Tune into station 47.7 for further instructions. This message will repeat."