Three figures quickly resolved through the thick trees: Asgore, anxiously standing next to Undyne, who was in the middle of taking notes from Carol, who, aside from her usual cold demeanor and a fresh bruise on her neck, seemed okay. Her voice became clearer as Susie and Noelle ran past the foliage: "...got up, but they already smashed through the window and ran off." Her eyes turned from the busted in door on her side to Asgore, who had just raised his hand. "No, I didn't see who it was. Yes, I'm fine. I know the protocol."
Two monsters ran out from behind the treeline. "Mom? MOM!!" Noelle let go of Susie's hand, feeling her knees buckling as she ran up to Carol.
She held onto her mother's hand, who seemed shocked at the idea that her daughter would care this much. Noelle looked over her, eyes darting between the purple bruise on her pale skin, and a heavy rubber puck in her hands. "A-Are you okay?"
"Noelle. I'm fine. I told you to stay at the—" Noelle's head snapped to the opened door, seeing the carnage within. "Noelle! NO!" Ignoring her mother, almost by instinct, she pushed past Asgore and Undyne and ran inside, tripping over herself, with Carol quickly limping after her.
Noelle made it to the couch in the middle of the room before freezing, unable to look away, having to lean onto the white cushion just to avoid falling. Across the whole room lay the broken remnants of various objects. CD cases split in half, posters and dark wallpaper torn to shreds, as if an animal had dug its teeth into their flesh and pulled as hard as their jaws would permit. The trail of carnage led up to the second floor, but Noelle didn't see it. Noelle didn't see the posters, or the broken disks, or the photos crumbled after being smashed out of their frames.
She stepped towards the table, deep gashes marking the wood where it was hit over and over again, hard enough to splinter it. The light around her vision began to dim. She fell to her knees, eyes watering as she picked up a piece of polished auburn wood, which lay among a field of metal and plastic. Shattered into a thousand pieces, she could barely recognize the guitar. The world around her began to spin.
Susie tried to follow them inside, but Asgore stepped in front of the lizard, laying his hand on her shoulder with a stern look. Before she could say anything, before she could even process what she saw inside, a bundle of blue feathers clung onto her hand and pulled her back, dragging her back to the road with a surprising amount of force.
"Shit— Berdly, let go! Noelle's—" Berdly looked back at her, eyes frozen in horror. "I-I think I saw Kris. Somebody thrashed their place, too, a-and—" She stopped resisting his pull. Noelle was with her mother now, and for better or worse, she would protect her. Susie ran with him past the gates and turned left. Past the trees. Past the open door.
