A somewhat nervous smile came across June's face. Indeed, there were more besides Pete that had been put down through the order of the grief stricken Asgore. "Its a long story.. I'll tell ya later, yeah?" She gently booped Austin's beak. "S'makin' me think a fair bit, actually.."

June traced the rim of her hat and gave her own salute to Asgore; the same that the Royal Guard would give. Her honorary badge shimmered while reflecting some stray light, perhaps right on time. "Then that'll be that, a'suppose.." Her southern accent was now returning since the tension had died down now. "I cannae be out'ere holdin' everyone's hands." June gave Asgore a smirk, a playful one, yes, but also one of forewarning. "The rest is up t'you. Make it count."

Following the no doubt swift elimination of the rogue artificial intelligence J.O.H.N. had become, Papyrus had returned safe and sound. June gave him a nod. "Goes w'out sayin' I reckon." That nod, was followed by a wink. "Yeah. Y'better drink up all a'that milk then. Make ya'bones big'n strong-like." As if they weren't strong enough already given what Papyrus has experienced in his life.

"In a bit. A'got jus' one thing left t'do." June nodded to Austin, signalling for him to fly of his own accord for the moment to speak to Papyrus. While that was happening, June turned her attention to Undyne and wandered over to the captain. "Y'done did some risky stuff back there, pardner." June began, adopting a jovial tone with some stern inspiration. "Really, I ain't met anyone else like the two'a us." From her holster, June brought out the absolute gaudiest piece of work to ever grace the underground. Along with the clashing neon colours, it was obviously plastic, honestly it was just a water bottle with a trigger. "But I ain't sayin yer gettin off scott free~!"

It was a toy squirt gun.

With giddy childish laughter, June aimed to simply spray Undyne in the face with it for fun. After that was done, June left the silly kid's toy in Undyne's hands. "... Y-y-y'Keep it. 'Kay?" Making an audible snort, she whispered back to Undyne. "Shuddup, I ain't cryin, y'hear? Some'a the water splashed back at me." That was, of course anything but the truth, and Undyne would easily be able to figure that out. June took a deep breath before tipping her hat. "Seeya'round, punk."

June walked on, signalling to Papyrus and Austin that she was ready to get going. She held out one arm so that Austin could once again hop onto her shoulder.

"Of course I'm serious! I wouldn't ever say it otherwise. You know that better than anyone ever could~!" She didn't place the blame on every single monster; t'was only two out of all of them that had wronged her. In almost any other scenario she might have been overtaken by grief and rage. This was certainly not one of those times, not by the longest of long shots. "We can all sort this out. Just not now, and not here."

After Austin had actually agreed to her conditions, June flashed a grin. "Now that's the heart I was looking for." The canisters deactivated and fell down, barely anything more than pointless junk. Everything seemed fine, even with J.O.H.N. acting up. At least for a moment. As it turned out the internal fail-safe coding and software that now allowed the mechanical beast to act on its own whims had other less than desired plans to put into motion. For an effectively perfect AI it sure was a fair bit more wet behind the ears than the internal liquid coolant supply would imply.

During this encounter, time and time again Undyne stood her spiritual ground, throwing herself forward for the sake others; even in the face of this rogue AI that was very readily about to tear through everyone. Even so, she did not immediately move to obliterate it in the defense of either herself or someone else-- because while she was saving many people with what she did-- there was no doubt in June's mind that Undyne knew there was one more. One more person to be saved.


'Come on.. He's in that stone, and in that machine. Where would he put it? If I was Austin where would I.. Thats it!' For a moment, June had a flashback. While she wasn't corporeal she could feel a very light and different warmth coming from J.O.H.N, a reason as to why she trusted it and recognized that it was friendly. 'The heart!' It was because of Austin the entire time. He  was exactly where he should be, where he always would be, spiritually, in that which he created. "What that button does doesn't matter, because he won't be in that metal death trap by the time anyone gets the chance to push it!" Now, the force of June's soul had properly overlayed with that of the skeletal steed's mystical bones. It was magic at the core, yes, but now it was more than that. Far more. There was a chance it could become a great weapon against the anti-magic shield due to the fact that it was now being energized by the power of Justice. Without even a sound of any kind needing to be made by either the rider nor their steed, the two blitzed forward.

'Asfaloth' as Papyrus would affectionately name, knelt forward, allowing June to swiftly dismount as honed in on J.O.H.N. It was a good thing this machine was built like a giant, June would be very easily able to slide under it and so she did. Twirling the Shield Pistol she made two small shots, both into the ground behind and in front of her that would prevent J.OH.N from toppling down onto her while she looked for the appropriate window to where she very much believed Austin was being stored in, it was a good thing that she was well versed in anatomy, especially that of farm animals and their evolutionary relatives. The abdominal cavity that housed the emergency shut-down was nothing but an afterthought. With Austin's extraction, she wouldn't be against this stupid machine being blown apart!

Soon, June found exactly what she was looking for. The panels that hid the warmth of her brother's spirit from the outside world. She holstered the Shield Pistol and quickly looked through her rotation of weapons... Nothing in here would be able to help without causing too much damage. So what else did she have...? About 18 birds worth of tiny screwdrivers! "ED UNITS ONE TO FIFTEEN, DISTRACT JOHN" She began to command, and the birds complied, doing their best to block John's vision, land on the very top of him, pull on the upper panels, and be general nuisances. "ED UNITS SIXTEEN, and SEVENTEEN, TO ME, HELP ME TEAR OPEN THE CHEST PANEL AND EXTRACT AUSTIN'S PARTITION." There was but one final command that needed to be given as the two requested units flew to June and began their task. "ED UNIT EIGHTEEN, FIND THE MOST TECHNICALLY INCLINED MONSTERS HERE--" The drilling from the 16th and 17th began, June was right on the money, the stone was embedded into a lovingly crafted circuit-board, attached to an audio transmitting device. "AND GET THEM TO UPGRADE YOU, YOU'LL NEED SOME EXTRA PARTS, 14 BY 14 CENTIMETERS AND A COMPATIBLE DOCKING BAY." Of which she had, her own audio transmitting and recording device. June scrambled to get it out of her belt for the the incoming E.D. unit to take.

"Critters? Puttin' 'em down?"

A crackle of Soul energy whipped around June as she dropped to her knees, stunned to hear her own brother draw that conclusion so readily when his own sister, the one that was actually killed, happened to be right in front of him. Did he not think to ask how she felt? Yes, she was betrayed but this was not justice. It was vengeance.

"J-jus one of em.. Sentient? But... But They all are..."

June shuddered as Austin began his attack on Sans. Why was he doing that? The J.O.H.N. unit recorded her story, what about the one Papyrus told? Wouldn't Austin understand it too? Wanting to run away from this nightmare, she closed her eyes tightly, tears leaking out, only to spark harmlessly off of her under the strain of Soul energy coming from her. Gripping the dirt in front of her, frantically shaking her head, muttering 'no' rapidly as the sparks increased to a point of near blinding brightness before immediately fizzling out, June's form looking a lot less vibrant except for two parts. Her sheriff badge, and her honorary Royal Guard badge. Those two items were ablaze with an intensity no word or mortal feeling could hope to describe.

"They cry."

Her voice became cool and serious. Her southern accent became muted under her intense clarity.

"They laugh."

Slowly, she rose to her feet, head held down slightly.

"They bicker."

Her fists clenched, the saturation returned to her visage brighter than ever before.

"They love."

Raising up from the ground, her eyes were closed.

"Most importantly out of all that, they have brothers and sisters, some are mothers, fathers, wives or husbands..."

Her eyes shot open, and with them there was an expression on her face that spoke enough and it said; 'this was going to stop.'

"They have families too, and I won't let you break any of them apart in my name! Stop right now or you'll just be a machine with my brother's brain and NONE OF HIS HEART!" That shout commanded silence in this chamber, the strength of her Soul demanded she was listened to by all present, even those below in the depths. "So if you're gonna be like that with those Ed units, I'll TAKE THEM BY FORCE!" She flicked the device behind her ear to begin communicating with the scout birds again. "A.M.S.J.F.R-CC MASTER CONTROL OVERRIDE! PERMANENT USER LOCK; JUNIE CALLAHAN!" The lights in the E.D units glimmered a few different colours, their internal neons changed from silver to yellow, signifying the change in chain of command to June alone. This was the code only to be used in the harshest of emergencies, when June needed everything she could get. This was one such situation. She was overwhelmed with a pressure she could not put into words. She didn't feel safe. Not because of the Monsters, but her own brother. Somewhere deep within she hoped he would get the picture.

The burst from above was far less detrimental to June, since she was not a Monster, which allowed her to react just that bit faster. Though most were sent into the lava, a large chunk of a skeletal blaster threatened to land on the group of monsters. June was having none of that. "Everybody get down!" Quick as a flash, she drew an oddly speckled rifle, turning a few dials quickly as she got into a proper firing position, shooting intense laser-point rush of pressurized air above the group which expanded upon physical contact with something., hopefully either neutralizing the threat completely by changing its trajectory or give enough time for someone else to handle it, for there were more important things to do. Seeing the ball of blasters crash down and roll towards the edge and Sans nowhere nearby struck June with a nasty realization. He was in that ball. "All Ed units, stop that ball of skulls from falling over the edge, GO!" As if they were all fired out of a machinegun the flock of scout-birds bolted after their target, whipping around behind it, each putting all of the force they could muster into helping it stay upon the platform, steam wildly expelling from each of them as they did their duty.

While June was busy, Undyne had gotten back up, missing an arm as a result of her crazy actions. Now, she was doing something even crazier. "Y-you're kidding..!" On instinct, she too began running towards the two of them. She made it pretty far, her pace quickened as she heard what Undyne was saying, bringing out the Shield Pistol in exchange for the Storm Rifle. However, well before she could get right up to them, Undyne stopped her.

"No, don't..."

Even after Undyne released her, she couldn't bring herself to move. She was too late, a failure. Just like with Peter, she was too late... Or she would've been, if she was alone. Perhaps she just needed a nudge to get a better shot? If nobody stepped up to the plate, the Shield Pistol would be fired, creating a thin barrier barrier between Undyne and the charging Austin... However, if she was assisted in getting a better vantage point, the barrier would be much much thicker.

---

((A/N: Permission has been granted from admin/storyteller to take control of the E.D units .))

Silently, June tied the light blue ribbon around the crown of her prized hat and properly readjusted it. She took a long but quiet breath to center herself, something she sorely needed to be doing right now after near enough re-living her tragic end. One that had been caught in a string of ends. One of many that could have been completely avoided with enough foresight from a self-proclaimed king.

Though steadied, her stance on things would not be made any better as the J.O.H.N unit had once again been triggered to relay a series of audio messages. June's heart sank at the confirmation of her earlier fear. Her note was never found nor seen, and where it went, nobody knew. Mention of her friends worsened her condition. The condition of her family was harrowing enough, but what did her other friends think? How did they cope? How did Peter's family and his other friends cope?

June would likely never know if they were doing anything close to okay, and it rightfully infuriated her. Actions deemed so small and inconsequential by Asgore were far more sprawling than he was willing to admit. It was not small to the innocent people slain by or in the name of the wielder of the Scarlet Trident, no doubt left that way due to the stain of blood, both literally and metaphorically, be it drenched in because of the innocent or otherwise.

For a moment, June was almost lost in her own little world, she heard everything that was being played through the J.O.H.N unit, but she also rather intensely felt it. Asgore and those loyal to him had been the cause of such suffering to many more than just June, in her mind it was because of them that try as Monsterkind might to break the barrier and reach the surface, they were not worthy to leave. Not if they believed in a method that caused the same amount of pain. Especially not if they allowed the notion of 'the ends justify the means' to cloud what could be honest and kind hearts.

By no means however, did she believe humanity was perfect. Locking away an entire species within the dank depths below purely due to a lack of understanding sickened her. Had those very Humans still been alive June knew for a fact that she would without hesitation beat the ever loving shit out of them.

Yet they were not.

Now, not a single Human from then existed. That era of humanity was long gone. Everyone on the surface was simply unaware and manipulated to believe everything was fine as a result. They were not the same Humans that sealed Monsterkind. They were as much victims of a heartless cruel few as the Monsters that remained.

Lifted from her internal thoughts by Papyrus; June responded immediately to his notion of an apology. "No." She began sternly. "Y'aint done nothin' what's needin' an apology. I refuse t'let ya or any'n else lump yerselves with them there cowards." The Skeleton made it clear he understood her feelings, but she couldn't let that slip past her, refusing adamantly to let anyone blame themselves for actions that weren't theirs. It was not a thing Justice could ignore.

Raising a curious eyebrow at Papyrus' offer, June readjusted her hat again. "If'n you'd like. Don' feel pressured."

It brought June a great solace to hear of someone so genuinely speak of their mother and the love that was shared between them in a bond unbreakable. June's own mother never spoke ill of Monsterkind either. Probably due to a lack of knowledge as to their existence; but she also never made up fibs or dumb childish stories about them to scare June; she was a grounded woman without a single lying bone in her body that treated everyone with respect, family or not. Really, June almost made a joke along the lines of 'ya sure we aint got the same Ma?' but out of respect she remained silent.

At the mere mention of schoolyard bullies, subtle or otherwise, June exhaled sharply from her nose and scowled slightly. "Rotten punks..." The motherly wisdom that stuck with Papyrus wasn't all too dissimilar to the way June's mother taught her-- Papyrus was right, to innately love was to be immeasurably brave. To innately loathe was to be obscenely cowardly. "Sounds like a mighty fine lady, an' she raised a right good pair o' lads, m'sure." June nodded

...

Sadly for the both of them; it was another tale of woe.

Within seconds, June's hands were fists, white knuckled and sparking with rage. Near enough choked by an air of devastation and hearing about such heartless freaks made June's throat burn with the reflex to expel baneful words, to slander them so honestly that wherever their departed spirit was they would feel the sins they have committed come back to haunt them. Yet, out of respect for Papyrus, she remained silent, biting her bottom lip shut as tears began to trail down her face. Tears born from seething hatred for the evil of the world along with pained sorrow for those that said evil tore apart.

Monster and Human. They cried together.

June would breathe slowly, scrunching the neck of her shirt tightly as she made a bid to keep paying attention. It would be disrespectful to the memory of Papyrus' mother to tag out as much as she might forgive it in all of her kindness. After the loss of many innocent lives came the results; broken families, saddened friends and in the worst case; paths of vengeance. An inescapable carnage that would always follow regardless of any regrets.

Tragedy did not stop there however. Though with an earnest effort to solve the problem without inflicting the same pain; a freak accident occurred. A father perished as well, before the very eyes of the same brother that was to witness the death of their mother. June followed Papyrus' eyes to the Core and instinctively she recoiled away from it a good few paces, still remaining within her force-field. The one reliable source of power around here that she needed for the J.O.H.N unit to function at a proper capacity swallowed its creator?! If that wasn't enough to unnerve the girl, Sans had first fought with everything he had to keep his mother alive and then he wrecked himself trying to bring his father back from nothingness when others abandoned him? How could they? Did they not understand what he was going through?

Her gaze flicked back to Papyrus and went between him and the J.O.H.N unit, where June found herself silently praying that he could absorb just enough energy to no longer be under the disgusting claws of the lethality settings. Thankfully her prayers were answered mere moments later and no Monster had interfered with that, which effectively ensured everyone's safety. Perhaps she had some kind of guardian angel?

Had things gone differently she would already be home, and that was obvious; she could have simply left with Pete after finding him. June saw no need to retort to Papyrus' assessment and simply thought on the pointless heartlessness of those that created the barrier and those that allowed their anger to boil into hatred so vast that they would go so far as to kill to get satisfaction. There was something interesting in what Papyrus said however. Did Austin use that particular stone? An inventor always hypothetically or metaphorically put a piece of themselves in what they created, and Austin was no different... It wouldn't surprise June to find out if he did so literally as well if he deemed it necessary.

June gave Papyrus' offer recognition by tipping her hat as she wiped away the now easing tears, it was certainly something that needed to be thought over properly. Regrettably this was the worst time or place to be doing that. Regardless, here she was. So think she did, over everything the two had shared. One thing stood out.

Sans. She had heard that name a few times before... Training her gaze back on the gathered group. Noticing her recorder-reciever had thankfully kept going with a file continuously updated from each fully operational and not destroyed E.D unit that she could review at a better time, she could look among the crowd without worry for the Skeleton in question; and Papyrus effectively lead her straight to him. There was something that Skeleton needed to hear.

Things had soon taken quite a turn and June's eyes widened in shock upon seeing (and partially hearing) what Papyrus was doing. 'THAT DANG BONEHEAD WHAT'RE THE FINGER LICKIN, HECKIN' SNAKE GULCH ROAST CHICKEN--' June shook her head. This was insanity. It wasn't his fight or a fight that was altogether necessary, yet there he was; willingly taking the risk to be branded a traitor by the two that had the power to weave whatever unholy lie they wanted just to be in the best light possible. It well and truly put June on edge just thinking about how, if Asgore so desired should he be feeling oh so high and mighty... He could destroy Papyrus' life in seconds. An honest life that deserved nothing of the sort.

An audible and goofy clunk brought her attention to an E.D unit that had all of a sudden made its way back. June never ordered such a thing and with some quick mental gymnastics she deduced something was fishy. She always commanded the E.D units as a group rather than individuals. Eyes narrowed on it, she looked about the area to count her tiny scout buddies and she also checked the hand radar since she knew one was destroyed earlier...

There was an extra signal. '... That musta' been what tha' guy was doin' back there...' June smirked. Thought he was clever did he? Sneaky? More like an amateur that had no idea who they were dealing with! 'Mkay. Lets see what you're tryn'a do, then.' Over her shoulder she looked to the J.O.H.N unit. "John. Release all'o my weapon canisters t' the space b'side me. Furtha'more, be aware'a suspicious activity with the incomin' Ed unit." but in reference to the earlier conversation that was not what she addressed it as after that command was obeyed. She equipped herself with said canisters in a manner that suited her-- an upgraded superbelt backpack combo. She simply hoped she wouldn't end up needing anything in it except for one weapon. "An' hey. Austin...? I know yer a smart cookie. Whatev'r bag o' tricks ya' got in there can handle a lil' more'n people give ya credit for. But ah... Keep yer wits about, y'hear?" Her smirk turned into a heartfelt smile. "I love ya."

When all was said and done, she grabbed at the force-field that she created and shattered it. Anger and hatred was banished from her psyche as she trudged forward with a different purpose. It would be obvious to even the most dim or antsy of Monsters that this Human was not here to hurt.

No, she was here to gain closure for a fair few, but Justice for all. Today however, she was much more than a vessel for what coloured her soul so brightly... She was a sister, a daughter, a fighter, a friend and a Human.

June scoffed at the gathered monsters and their internal bickering and yanked out the two weapons that were requested through the given compartment that opened, but she also took an extra weapon from within there that she saw, either the fifth or the eighth, as this compartment of the J.O.H.N unit worked a bit like a gun barrel. Thematically appropriate, which she greatly appreciated, feeling a swell of pride. Swiftly she stored the weapons along her belt that had been materialized as part of her projected form.

While their companion started revving up; the silhouette that obscured June's features slowly flaked off of her, first around instances of where skin would be easily seen-- her face, forearm and hands most notably. Soon after that, her clothing followed. June was revealed to be a somewhat tall Human right now, a young adult or teenager. Although her true age was probably far more than what it seemed to be physically, or at least it could have been.

June's skin was tanned with freckles across her face and forearms, her hair a very fierce and intimidating reddish orange, as well as a little bit unruly and curly aside from the portion tied up in a ponytail. She wore a dull grey undershirt with rolled up sleeves and a dull brown leather vest, dark blue denim trousers and black cowgirl boots that had rose-gold spurs; she also had a very cool ten gallon hat that looked like it had seen better days. It was still loved and cared for, though. It slanted oddly for a second, but she adjusted it immediately. Last but not least, a goofy novel sheriff's badge on her lapel that glittered into existence, as well as another badge.

An honorary Royal Guard badge

She scowled at it, spitting off to the side at the sight of it, but she didn't yank it off and throw it, she was too proud. Besides, once upon a time it actually meant something to her. She wore it from when it was given to her up until she died, after all. Two people in particular would know that with complete certainty. June also took a small device from the J.O.H.N unit's back, said device had two components, one of which June placed behind one of her ears, she kept the other part on her person clipped onto the side of her belt. For a moment, everything seemed to jam, like an improperly handled gun. All Monsters but two just froze. June on the other hand wasn't as restricted. So she just rolled her eyes while she simply watched, and waited. The phenomenon passed. She got that guy in the strange white armor to keep them distracted for a moment, and it seemed to go perfectly.

Seeing the J.O.H.N unit power up caused June to smirk, as if she heard something from the device she took. "Yeehaw! That'll teach 'em!" Seeing the E.M.N fire was a fine sight, now she could see it with her own two hazel eyes for once instead of oddly perceiving it as a floating source of near unrivaled power. Seeing the Monsters struggle and squirm didn't bring June any joy whatsoever, but if they persisted in messing with her freedom, she was certainly going to bite back at them. Without a moment to lose as the Monsters regained themselves, June turned her attention to the J.O.H.N unit and accessed the appropriate panel, tapping at a few buttons really quickly as if it was basic instinct at this point before closing the panel securely.

Then, she heard a voice. Austin's voice, her hero-- a true hero-- her eldest brother. Her breathing became slightly heavy as she listened to the message. She panicked slightly. "H-he didn't see the note? They didn't see... No, it was in my room. I-I left it on my desk... I heard Pete's voice out there.. I had to save him, he was so scared--" June shook her head. Too many variables to process at the moment. To think, she could have been home long long ago...

But they ruined it. Undyne and Asgore ruined it all!

June growled, pulling out one of her guns. It was a short and weird looking gun. It kind of looked like an iron for sorting out clothes, it had a funny looking wide barrel that folded outwards to become slightly wider as it charged up. "None'a them are gettin' close to us! Ya hear, none'a y'all!" June fired the gun at the ground, and from it came a secondary force-field. This one was special, it felt different, as it did not drain any magic... So what did it defend against? Only time would tell. June holstered the first gun as the tall bone-man approached, hand over one of the other holsters instead. Understandably, she was apprehensive of him despite his genuine show of concern, it reminded her of something else she had grown fond of... Too bad it was another reason she hated being here, why she hated Asgore even more than anyone here could ever hope to fathom.

"Yeah. I'm June. Who's askin'?" She said with her pouty-scowl still very present. Acting very curt with the tall skeleton was partly a defense mechanism but mostly an after effect of absolute burning anger. She narrowed her eyes as Papyrus glanced over to J.O.H.N, on edge that he, some random monster spoke lightly of her family's concern. "Ah yeah? Well they wouldn't'a bloody needed to if THOSE TWO HADN'T UP AND KILLED ME INSTEAD!!" June would glow slightly at the exclamation, a slight bit of pressure wafted forward from her, trying to push Papyrus back, but not with any intent to harm him, just make him step back. She wasn't angry at him, after all.

Even so, he spoke further. "SEEMS UNFORGIVABLE? YA DAMN PEABRAINED NINNY ARE YA JOKING?!" Another pulse waved forward in the same manner, but depending on how the first affected Papyrus it would either be a slight nudge or a proper push like the first. Too enraged to talk for a good moment, she let Papyrus finish speaking. He wanted to know her story? Why she came here? Fine. She could oblige. "Ohohoooo. Izzat it, pard'ner? Well, then ya got three options. Ask that overgrown tuna that's LARPIng dungeons and dragons, heck, maybe ask yer beloved king! If he's any kinda king like anyone damn well said said he was, then he wouldn't hide what he did to me or the others!" Was she talking about the other fallen Humans? It seemed rather likely. Maybe they were stored in the same place? "Yer second option... Is make 'em back off. Tell 'em all to stop sneakin' around back there with their plans. Nobody comes near us. Y'all let John here charge up, and I'll consider tellin'." June's hand was now closer to her belt, but she didn't make any moves to draw from it just yet. "Or the third option that ya best not be triggerin'. Take yer pick."

"Hmph." June glanced in Toriel's direction, she heard what the gentle woman said, and scowled at Asgore just as she did. So she was his wife, and then cut him off? Good. If Asgore suffered even slightly because of that, then it brought June great joy. Their hatred of Asgore's past transgressions was united, June could feel it. It fueled her Justice. However, leaving the Core, and the side of the J.O.H.N unit was something June would not do, she could not comply. "I laid out ma' terms. So y'all best follow 'em."