A couple months had passed since Frisk and Sans had made themselves at home once more in the Underground. Life had been fairly peaceful for the two, despite the ever-growing pressure from the council.

Frisk, true to her word had not once returned to the surface, not willing to put herself in harm's way. Sans had been reluctant to leave her side, but had relented to his wife's wishes and returned to the surface every other day under the pretense of searching for the serial killer, although the murders had become few and far between, much to the council's delight. However, the humans were still rallying, becoming more persistent in their demands for monsters to return Underground or in the worst case scenario kill them all together. Most had slowly returned to their old ways, keeping below the surface, no longer willing to have any contact with the hate mongering people above.

The King and Queen had been relaying messages of peace across all forms of media, hoping that they could be seen not for what they looked like, but for who they were.  The pair had taken to frequent meetings aboveground followed by an entourage of their most trusted guards: Undyne, Papyrus, and Sans were the select few chosen for such events, each powerful in their own respective rights. Papyrus and Undyne were strictly for protection only, whereas Sans would fill the role of protector and temporary ambassador since he had gone to many meetings prior with Frisk. Needless to say, the presence of two skeletons, a fish, and two goats had been a bit unnerving at first since the civilians had become accustomed to Frisk, even though now that she was part monster herself she still took time to present herself in a humanly manner before she was confined to the Underground.

Undyne and Papyrus remained stoic and impassive, sobering up from playful enthusiasm on their excursions. They portrayed themselves as the skilled and fierce warriors they had trained to be, acting every bit as cold and tough their job demanded. Sans, however, remained silent during meetings, not seeing any point in cracking wise in front of a room full of people that mentally fantasized their heads on a pike. No, he wasn't fooled by their fake smiles that weren't reflected in their cold, calculating eyes, nor their attempts at small pleasantries. These people were nothing more than a farce, using the monsters until they could no longer give, til they were no longer useful, and after that...

Well, they just had to hope that it never came to that.

It was days like this that he found himself growing weary with the world. The monsters had done nothing to warrant such brutality, yet at every turn they were hunted, beaten, oppressed. Sans relaxed against the corner of the room, silently observing the overly dressed officials as they spoke of the latest attack with forced sympathy, none of them truly caring what happened to the monsters. It came to no surprise that hatred had taken root in their hearts, and was slowly spreading to his own as well.

Already had Undyne and Papyrus succumbed to hatred, no longer willing to converse with anyone outside of their race, for what good would it do? No, they were quite content with silently observing the humans before them, ready to attack or defend should the need arise. Papyrus held a small bone in his bony grasp, silently twirling it somewhat anxiously, whereas Undyne stood stiffly, spear at her side and piercing golden eyes trained on the mayor himself.

He wasn't much of a threat, the round, portly man that dabbed at his greasy face while 'listening' to their grievances was no threat. The mayor kept up his sickeningly sweet smile revealing his obviously fake teeth as he gave insincere condolences. Sans knew it was only a formailty, his words insincere by the shifting of his eyes and the hand subconsciously fiddling with one of the many gold rings on his beefy hands. He was nothing more than a bald, money hungry tycoon that cared little for coexisting, if he even cared at all.

The King gave a small sigh and fixed the man with a stern glare, "With all due respect, We should focus on the topic at hand. While you may be sincere in your words-"

Sans struggled to hold back a distrusting snort.

"-that doesn't solve the underlying issue. Our people are still being beaten, robbed, defiled.." He growled out the last word, overcome with anger and despair.

The Queen piped up from beside him, "We do not wish harm on anyone, yet it is us who are enduring such injustices. Our kind have committed no crimes other than existing, and yet we are treated with hatred and malice."

Undyne bared her teeth for a moment as she glared angrily at the wall. Papyrus held far better, but the angry glint in his eye lights told it all.

"We ask to exist peacefully. We have stated time and time again that we bare no ill will towards your people. How much more bloodshed must we endure before the humans accept us? Before we lose all hope? Tell me, David, how are we to coexist when we are segregated, hunted, and extorted?" She leveled an intensely emotional stare towards the mayor.

He seemed taken aback by her direct question and he quickly cleared his throat, averting his eyes elsewhere, "Ebbot City has always been human oriented. Your sudden appearance has.. unsettled.. the residents. Rest assured we are doing everything in our power to crack down on these injustices to your kind."

Sans having had enough of the same excuses finally chimed in, although he suppressed his anger, calming his voice into seeming nonchalant, "Then why have attacks tripled in the last two months?"

The mayor turned dull brown eyes to the previously silent skeleton, "That, er.. We are trying to crack down on violence of any kind whether it be from our citizens or the monster community.."

"With all due respect, trying is not good enough. Us monsters have been fairly silent on recent events so as not to breed hostility, but we cannot keep allowing these acts of violence to continue. The citizens should be held to higher standards."

The mayor visibly bristled at his words, "Oh? And what of the violence against humans? Surely you all are aware of the missing people, and how odd it is that it only started once monsters resurfaced.." He clipped icily, leveling a hateful glare.

Sans growled lowly making David cower slightly, "So now you would cast blame on us? And what evidence do you have to back up these claims?"

Sans was ready to rip into the cowardly man, but a raised hand from Asgore silenced him.

The King let out a puff of smoke that passed his lips, anger almost palpable in the stunned silence, "We are most certainly aware of the disappearances, and we have taken precautions to ensure that monsters are not permitted in the city past the allotted time of ten o'clock. We have looked over the pictures of the crime scenes and while it could have been done by a monster, there is nothing remotely damning one of our kind. In fact, the same damage found at the sites could be done by any human. Your accusations are baseless and are little more than slander to our name."

The Queen slid a furry paw over her mate's, silently offering her support. She kept her gaze trained on the little man before them before offering her two cents on the matter.

"As it stands, our people are not allowed in the city past the specified time and are shipped back to us before curfew. It is highly unlikely that a monster could be out and about attacking humans when they are rounded up and dumped at the border. And while we are on that subject, the monsters that are sent home, if they do not come home earlier in the day, are beaten savagely. We have had medics stationed at the gates to tend to their wounds so that they do not die upon their trek back to the mountain. So tell me, David, how could these monsters truly pose a threat if they are injured so severely that there is no chance they could even attempt to cross the border back into Ebbot City?"

David gulped and cleared his throat after taking in everything that had been said, "You are right in that the violence has gotten out of hand, and be rest assured that we are working on making it safer for our races to coexist. It is odd though, that ever since the revelation of your kind humans have been disappearing."

Undyne bristled and Papyrus had to hold onto her arm roughly to prevent her from smashing the stupid human through the wall. The human guards reacted as well, clutching their guns threateningly. Papyrus held his ground against the disgruntled humans and kept the fish in line.

Sans was having a hard time keeping himself calm and collected. Bony hands balled to fists at his sides, but he kept his mouth firmly shut. A few moments of tension passed before the mayor spoke once more.

"Violence will not stand whether it be from us," David sent a glare towards Sans, "Or from you."

At that Sans took a step forward only to have Papyrus level him with a harsh glare. Although he could sympathize with his elder brother at the mayor's obvious bait, they needed to be professional about this. It would not do to make their reputation any worse.

Another council member spoke up from the silence. An aging woman with dirty blonde hair and overly done makeup cast her gaze to the Queen and gave her a warm smile, "In regards to this meeting I think we should adjourn for the day. Tensions are far too high at the moment and it would do well to discuss this at a later date."

The monsters nodded their acceptance and rose to leave. As they filled out of the room, they could feel the stares following their every move. They all were truly unnerved at the blatant disrespect and lack of progress. This would not be the last of the council, that was for sure.