Being confined to our cells was a cruel and unusual punishment. Fight broke out often at lunch, resulting in our time being cut even shorter. The warden didn't punish the inmates who fought; the angry prisoners were punishment enough. Everyone was tense and going stir crazy. To let it out, they yelled all night, catcalling and insulting each other. Death threats floated around like balloons. Some prisoners had taken up the hobby of shanking any one who got close enough. At this rate, some one was going to crack soon.

No one spoke to Undyne, Alphis, or I but that doesn't mean we weren't bother by the noise and our lack of sleep. Undyne was cranky and took to yelling at me. Alphis slept in and barely talked at all. I didn't defend myself against Undyne because she was angry enough to crack my skull at the moment. I just tuned her out when she started to yell, a skill I had practiced often around Chara.

We were four weeks into the punishment and no one had talked. Undyne was starting to get really agitated. I don't think it was the lock up that was causing her distress though. She has confined our meal times to three minutes exactly. The lines were long but fortunately most of the prisoners were afraid of her and let us pass. As soon as we sat, she watched the clock and had Alphis watch the door. At the last second of our three minutes, she dragged us out of the cafeteria, whether we had finished or not. I was starving.

This morning, after breakfast, I was watching her march back and forth across our small stone cell. Alphis was on her cot with her back turned, not speaking to either of us. I huffed at the both of them and crossed my arms across my chest. "You got a problem punk!" Undyne yelled at me, full volume. I knew by now she wasn't going to hurt me as long as I didn't push her to far.

Undyne was rubbing her eye, the one with the eye patch, furiously. Her skin seemed red. "Well!" she demanded, putting her hands on her hips. I gasped. Her skin around the eye patch was red and swollen. I noticed some liquid leaking out from under the patch. It was tears.

"What?" Undyne demanded, cross.

"Undyne...your eye, do you feel it?" She raised an eyebrow and touched the uncovered eye. I shook my head. "No, the other one." She touched it and pulled back, the liquid covering her fingertips.

Cursing, Undyne turned to Alphis, "Alphis, what's wrong with my eye?" Undyne didn't sound scared. I couldn't tell what she was feeling because of the way she held her composure with anger.

Alphis rolled over and her eyes widened. "Oh, Undyne! Why is it acting up again? Do you feel any pain," she pulled Undyne closer to examine it. "How long has it been like this?"

"It was red yesterday but not like this," I said, hoping off my bed. Even though it was the bottom bunk, it was pretty high up, or I was short.

"No one asked you punk," Undyne said but she sounded grateful for the input.

"Can I see underneath?" Alphis gently asked.

"No," Undyne crossed her arms.

"Please," Alphis pleaded.

"No."

Alphis looked to me for help. I crossed over to the cell bars and called a guard. He grudgingly walked over and snapped, "What?"

I pointed to Undyne. "She needs to see a doctor. My..." I almost said friend. "Her eye is leaking."

I expected to have to explain but apparently the guard knew what I was talking about. He grunted and snapped his fingers. Three other guards walked over. One pulled out a pair of handcuffs.

Undyne hissed at him and curled her fists for a fight. "Undyne please," I pleaded with her.

She scowled but unclenched her hands. Without resisting, she let the guard cuff her but as she passed me she said, "You're in trouble when I get back pet." I swallowed hard, hoping it wasn't physical punishment. In spite of fear, I knew I did the right thing.

When Undyne was well down the aisle, I turned on Alphis. "Okay, spill," I ordered.

Alphis looked unsure. "Frisk please."

I shook my head, determined to know the truth. Alphis wrung her hands. "I promise not to tell," I assured her.

She looked at me for a while. Then, sighing, she jumped onto her bed and began. "Undyne is pretty tough, as you definitely noticed. But she has a soft spot f...for gentle people, like me and Papyrus."

"Papyrus?" I didn't mean to interrupt.

Alphis nodded. "He's her other best friend," Alphis answered without any hint of resentment. In fact, she smiled when she said his name. "A few months ago, they got into a fight. Pap wanted her to talk to some lawyer he had brought but Undyne said he was a liar. Th...that he had lied when he promised Pap that he could help her. It was s...so stupid," she was starting to mumble. I sat down besides her so I could hear her better. She seemed shocked but pleased that I trusted her enough to sit by her. "But they started to fight and it got pretty loud. When Papyrus left, he...he was really upset. Word gets around fast and his brother found out. G' attacked Undyne..." she spat out his name.

"G?" I interrupted.

"He's Pap's brother, the most dangerous inmate in the entire state. Mostly likely the most dangerous monster to exist really." She sighed. "Anyways, they started fighting. There was blood everywhere and Undyne..." she started to shiver and I put an arm around her, leaning my head on hers. I felt bad now. "He pinned her down," her voice barely audible, "and took her eye out." Alphis wiped away tear. "There was nothing I could do but good old Undyne just got up and took care of me. I should have stopped him," she hid her face.

"No," I murmured, giving her a squeeze. "If he's as dangerous as you say...girls like you and I aren't fighters. It would have been worse. You could have been hurt and that would have devastated Undyne more than any physical harm ever could." I gave her another squeeze then slipped into my 'bed' for some sleep. However, I kept thinking about Undyne and got less than an hour of rest.

I woke up groggy and kept my eyes closed to the harsh glare of the prison lights. Focusing on my other senses instead, I took deep breaths and listened to the sound of the prison. Something was off. I smelled cigarette smoke and no one was supposed to have cigarettes. I also heard the sound of wheezing. I knew it had to be coming from my cell if I was able to hear it over the noise of the pent in prisoners.

I rolled over and looked at Alphis. She was on her cot, eyes closed but not asleep. I saw her chest rise and fall rapidly. I hopped off mine and crossed over to her. "Hey, Alphis? You okay?" I put a hand on her shoulder but she didn't move. "C'mon Alphis, open your eyes," I pleaded. I noticed she was clutching her chest. Her face had paled and her lips were slightly tinted blue. Alphis started to cough, hard. It was if she couldn't stop. I could hear her wheezing in-between coughs. Immediately, I guessed what was happening.

"Guard!" I called, running to the bars, "Guard!" The same on came grumbling over. "She's having an asthma attack! She needs a doctor, now!"

I thought since I had already called Undyne out of here, he would have been suspicious. He wasn't though. He just asked, "Can she walk?" I shook my head. He called out an order for a gurney then grouchily walked away.

I went back to Alphis and put my hands on her shoulders. "Hold on, they're gonna get you out of here. Okay? Just breathe. I got you." She grabbed my wrist, still breathing hard and coughing. "I'm here." She tried to speak but couldn't.

Within a minute, a gurney had arrived for her. A guard backed me against a wall so I couldn't try to escape while they loaded Alphis onto the gurney and wheeled out of here. "Aren't you just a good Samaritan?" he mocked before stepping out of my cell.

I laid back down on my cot but now I really couldn't sleep.

For hours I laid still until in my 'bed', not moving for anything. I stared at the metal underneath of Undyne's cot, thinking. How could Alphis be so shy as to risk her life like that? I was just relieved I woke up before it got any worse. She could have died. Now I was really determined to help Alphis get that key.

I heard the cell door roll open and I jumped up to see Undyne stomp in. She didn't look happy, in fact, she was furious. "Stupid doctors..." she was muttering. Her mood definitely didn't improve when she saw Alphis's cot empty. "Where is Alphis?" Undyne growled at me.

"She had an asthma attack," I murmured, expecting her to lash out.

Undyne didn't hit me and when I looked up, her skin had turned light blue and her face was filled with panic. Slowly, she sat down on Alphis's cot and put her face in her hands. "How bad?" she asked, her voice muffled.

"Bad," I answered meekly.

She looked up at me, a single tear stained her face. I felt terrible seeing her pain. I padded over to her and curled up next to her. I didn't want any of the prisoners to see her weakness. "She's going to be okay Undyne," I nudged her shoulder.

"You think...punk?"

"I know," the dinner bell went off, "Let's eat."

She rubbed her face one more time and jumped of the cot. Throwing a heavily muscled arm over my shoulders, she said, "I like you pet." She gave me a genuine smile and I returned it. We walked out like that and went into the cafeteria.

We got our food and sat at the table. Undyne wasn't as upset but she was still worried. She pushed her food around the plate, barely eating. She didn't watch the clock or the door.

One second the room was noisy and raucous and the next, most people were barely whispering. Undyne's head snapped up and we both scanned the hall for the source of alarm. We found him easily. He was walking past everyone in line for food. They all let him go without complaint. No one even dared to glare. The skeleton picked up a tray then looked over at Undyne and I. Her face was flushed with anger, her teeth exposed threateningly, but I also felt a little fear.

I looked back to the large skeleton. He was staring strait at me. I could barely meet his 'eyes'. One was glowing orange and the other was out. He had cracks running down and above his sockets. A cruel smirk was plastered over his face, a cigarette hanging out of his teeth.

"G'," Undyne hissed. Abruptly, she stood up and marched towards the door. I followed suit, not so dramatically.

"You're not going to stay?" his dark, velvety voice echoed through the hall, laughing. Undyne flipped him off right before she made it through the door. I followed her out but could hear him laughing behind us.