As mentioned before, some updates to DOFP will be fiction with just a sketch or two…and this is one of those times!

–Dogs of Future Past–

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Frisk, Flowey and Greatest Dog’s shortcut takes them to the garbage dump in Waterfall, where they run into some familiar faces!

Frisk wasn’t thinking too hard on where they needed to shortcut to…just that they needed to get out of the lab as quickly as possible. Unfortunately for them, the shortcut opening dropped them into one of the hardest places to forget: the garbage dump.



The dog leapt out of the shortcut only to land face-first into a pile of soggy trash. It remained stuck with its nose in an empty bottle of syrup before finally backing out of the pile and shaking off the excess garbage.

I thought you said next shortcut we were going someplace useful! Flowey growled.

Greatest Dog, on the other hand, seemed absolutely thrilled about being surrounded by garbage…as dogs often were. “This is the most useful! Look at all this stuff! We’re sure to find the scientist here!”

Flowey remained unconvinced. Seriously?

Frisk took control of the dog again, taking a bit more time to examine their surroundings. It seemed like this place had changed very little between the past and their last explorations through it. “I don’t get it…we didn’t see Dr. Gaster at all inside the lab. But everyone was still working there like normal. This has to be the right time.”

Maybe he was just out to see the sights or visit a friend! Greatest Dog suggested.

I never got the impression he was a ‘see the sights’ kinda monster… Flowey said. Although truth be told, none of them had strong impressions to go off of either way.

“But if he’s not in the lab…then it’s worth it to check out other parts of the underground while we’re here. He has to be somewhere down here.”

Working off of that pragmatism, the dog set off into the garbage dump, Frisk still in control. Maybe the scientist was here to scour for parts? On the one hand, it’d make sense, there was so much old technology down here still available for use…but on the other hand, wouldn’t he send a younger assistant to look for things while he was in the lab doing the important work? The more Frisk thought about it, the more it felt like something here just wasn’t adding up.

And being in the state they were now, they couldn’t hide those thoughts from Flowey or Greatest Dog, either. If he’s supposed to be here but he’s not…then what are we missing?

It was difficult to sniff out anything in the garbage dump with so many competing smells, but they still knew where they were going. Frisk edged the dog to a halt as they rounded a particularly large mountain of trash…what if that angry dummy was still around here? When did they first become a dummy, anyway? They really didn’t want to deal with trying to negotiate with that weird dummy in this state. They took a quick scan of the passage ahead, but it appeared to be empty.

Unfortunately, they didn’t quite notice that someone else was exploring the trash piles with them until it was too late.

“Oh my gooooooood!”

A pair of big purple paws suddenly scooped the dog right out of the ankle-deep water and nearly squeezed the air out of them. All three got rattled by the surprise hug, although it didn’t take too long to figure out who had grabbed them…

“Bratty, come look at this ADORABLE CAT I found!”

The gator monster slid down a pile of mattresses from above, dressed in the most hideous mismatched accessories a person could find, and came to a stop beside her bestie.

“I think that’s a dog, Catty.”

“Dog, cat, same difference, Bratty! Let’s keep it!”

“Let’s eat it!”

Flowey took control of the dog long enough to shoot Bratty a death glare. “Yeah, just try it.”

Of course, neither of the girls heard much more than disgruntled barking from the dog, and erupted into laughter. “Oh my god, no, Bratty!”

“Fine, but I’m gonna pet it for the next six hours! Lookit its dumb little face!”

“No, I’m gonna pet it for the next seven hours!”

Bratty reached down and began scratching the dog behind its ear. Flowey, still in control, just glowered even more. “This is such a waste of time. If we don’t get moving soon I’m gonna bite her hand off.”

Greatest Dog seemed more than thrilled at the prospect of pets, though. NO! We can’t leave during pets! Pets are the BEST!

All that was interrupted by the arrival of a third monster: a familiar yellow, reptilian monster. All three recognized Alphys right away, although she did look a whole lot younger, happier and healthier…and she was dressed in the same kinds of garish clothes as Bratty and Catty. Alphys’ arms were full of old DVD and VHS cases, and at least a couple of waterlogged magazines. The covers depicted what looked like Japanese and Korean pop stars in outlandish makeup and wild hair, although some of the titles were long washed out.

“Hey, guys! I think this series is still in good condition, plus I was looking through these magazines and I think there’s some good ideas for my friend, you know, he was talking about that show we watched together and I think he might like…” She trailed off as she realized that Bratty and Catty were doting over the dog. “Oh! You found a new friend!”

Frisk took control again as Alphys approached…it was hard not to be taken aback by her appearance here, considering the state that they had last left her in. Even in just her tone of voice, she seemed a lot more…worry-free now. Everything seemed to be off the rails from what they’d expected and their original plan as it was. They were suddenly struck with a thought…whenever they got back, would it really be like no time passed at all in the present? Would Alphys and Sans and everyone still be okay? What if time was moving differently for them in different save files? Suddenly they weren’t so sure on much of it.

But Frisk still had to try and communicate. “Alphys…can you understand us?”

Alphys lack of answer to them served as answer enough. She did set down her pile of trash-turned-treasures to give the dog another ear scratch, though.

“It’s a cat, and I’m gonna keep it!”

“It’s a dog, and we’re gonna keep it!”

Alphys smiled down at the dog, but couldn’t help noticing that the dog wasn’t giving back the usual dumb-panting-dog smile of a dog being pet. If anything, it just looked really anxious. Alphys’ expression softened, and she managed to take the dog out of Catty’s tight grasp.

“Aww, look at him, he seems a little stressed out. Is something bothering you, little guy?”

“Oh my gosh Alphys, you’re so good with dogs!”

“You’re gonna be a crazy dog lady with like twenty dogs someday, Alphys!”

Frisk weighed over their options…without being able to talk directly, they couldn’t very well explain their mission or ask any of the three if they knew where Gaster was. If they tried to demonstrate some of their abilities here now, (most of which Frisk could only guess they were capable of,) that might just cause more questions than give them answers. It seemed like their only option was to keep on the hunt for him…and yet, Frisk felt terribly awkward leaving Alphys like this, knowing what was in all their futures. Wasn’t there something they could do?

Greatest Dog, however, did have something to say. “Doctor! I know you’ll just be trying your best. I’m sorry things don’t go right. But remember, it doesn’t mean that you’re bad! I still know you are good.”

Despite it all, Alphys didn’t understand any of the dogs’ barkings. It wasn’t clear if those barks got across any of Greatest Dog’s meaning to her, but they at least seemed to leave an impression. She smiled at them, and carefully set them back down on the ground. It seemed like Alphys was most content to send them on their way. Bratty and Catty both looked disappointed at the loss of their fuzzy friend.

“Aww, man! I was gonna name it Trash Dog!”

“I was gonna name it Garbage Pooch!”

“I think maybe he’s got his own important things he’s looking for, too. We should let him go find them,” Alphys said.

The dog shook itself out, and with Frisk still in control, took the opportunity to head for the dump exit. They stopped briefly, just long enough to give Alphys another hopeful glance. They had to believe that things would turn out okay, for all of their sakes.

Alphys waved, and then stooped back down to pick up the goodies she’d found. She shot a joking glance towards her two younger friends. “Well it’s a good thing I let him go, otherwise you would’ve compromised with a name like Sir Garbagedog Trashpooch!”

The echoes of the three friends’ howling laughter carried up with the dog as they exited the dump and ran towards the dwellings of Waterfall.