#i haven’t rendered anything like this in soooooo long | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

stevenbasic · 5 years

Photo

Just under four years ago…

I should not be here I should not be here I should not be here

I feel terrible, I feel awful. I feel like a weak man, a scummy boss and a terrible husband. I’ve got a bottle of expensive wine in my hands, I’m in wrinkled khakis, and I have no delusions as to why I’m standing outside the door to her townhouse in the rain. Rina - a young, single mom, a townie who’s never left the state - has got a good thing going: me, her employer, a respected physician, wrapped around her little finger. All she has to do is shoot me texts like the one from a couple of hours ago:

Mommys still so fullllll

...and she knows I’m helpless.

We’ve been in this, this affair, for about six weeks. Thursdays are our time, ‘our night’; I’d told my wife Sheryl that I was giving a lecture series to the local Lions’ Club at the senior center. And earlier today, Rina had trapped me in an exam room, confronted me about our last weekly tryst, how I’d lost control of myself after taking my first taste of...

God, stop it. I can’t keep standing here. What if somebody sees me? And...I’m getting soaked.

My heart races in a dark, secret thrill, and then leaps when she answers the door in a soft, white robe and a pleased, self-satisfied smile.

“Hi baby, you’re early…” she gloats, pulling her robe taut around her waist to protect against the wet evening chill - or maybe to show off the size of her swollen bosom, “I’m not even dressed yet…”

“Oh, uh..do you want me to give you a m-”

Rina is a tall enough girl and she’s strong. Before I can even finish, she’s grabbed me by the tie, pulled me inside, and kicked the door closed. “H-hey..!” I begin, laughing, but fall lockstep behind her as she leads me - still by the leash of my necktie, into the condo. My eyes have fallen to her broad, swinging hips in front of me. Her short robe just barely covers her figure-skater’s big, muscular rear.

“I got the wine you like…” I offer weakly.

After a few paces in, just at the entry to her living room, she spins to me and pulls me to her with my tie. The lights throughout the condo are down low. “Put it down,” she directs me, and I see her eyes flash with a thrill of victory for just a second before we’re locked in a kiss.

“Mmph!” I start to melt already as I’m blindly dropping the bottle, forgotten, onto a side table. My hands then immediately fall to her waist, and I’ve pulled her hips against mine. My god the ass on her...

“Mmmmmm….” she purrs through the kiss, after indulging me with the press of her body into mine, “someone’s excited for tonight…”

“I...I..” I start to stammer, already ashamed at what she knows I’m imagining, “I can’t stay long...:” My lips are insistent, back on hers. She starts to chuckle.

“Oh, really..?” she coos, breaking our kiss, playing with the knot on my tie for the moment, undoing it, “that’s too bad...the baby is at my mom’s place...”

I know she’d dropped her infant daughter off soon after work. We’re alone.

Undone, the tie’s pulled from around my neck. “I’d sent her with plenty, enough to get through ‘til the morning…”

I’d seen it before, the countless packets of breastmilk in Rina’s freezer.

”...so the only one I have to take care of tonight…” she continued, pressing her firm, swollen chest suggestively into mine, “...is you.”

I moan, I utter something. I give away my arousal. Holy shit what does this girl have planned for me?? Though more than ten years her senior, I feel like a little boy with her tonight. I’d never...never faced a night with this sort of...promise.

She’s getting me out of my clothes. She’s unbuttoned my shirt, she’s undone my belt and pants…

...and she’s on her knees on the hardwood floor.

She has me in her mouth in a moment. She knows I’m at my weakest, that my inhibitions disappear, when my oversized cock fills itself with precious blood, robbing it from my brain. She sucks on me, half-engorged in the warmth of her mouth, and soon I feel myself growing down into her throat.

A gag from her, and a chuckle as she draws me out. I’m too big.

“Will you do that for me?” she asks, worshipfully rubbing my thick, outrageous length against her soft cheek, doe eyes looking up into mine, “Will you let me take care of you tonight?”

“Oh god…” I answer, as I feel my legs tremble. The sensation is overwhelming; a member this size, when erect, is like a disability. I’m rendered helpless by the intensity of the pleasure. My eyes are glued to her hand, her small feminine hand wrapped around my huge cock. In comparison, it looks delicate, where my manhood is monstrous. But, delicate as they may be, she shows me that her hands hold power as she stands and pulls me, by my brutish, eager shaft, along with her as she steps backwards, smiling mischievously into my eyes.

The fact that I’m being led around by my cock is not lost on me.

And so, gently yanking me by the root, my pants still around my ankles, she slowly leads me to her couch, sitting me on its low arm, facing her. She drops my dick, leaving it to hover wildly up into the space between us, and continues to undress me. I watch - her standing now head-and-shoulders above me - as she unbuttons, slides me out of, and then discards my rain-spattered shirt. As she crouches to remove my shoes, peel my socks from my feet, she takes a moment to smile wordlessly up at me. I step, with her help, from my puddled khakis and when she stands again I am completely naked.

She giggles as I come again face-to-face with her big, robed breasts. Deeply, deeply, deeply I understand just how weak I am, as I stare at her, as I feel myself falling under her spell. We’ve been together only a handful of times but she has such power over me, and she’s come to know it...and how to use it.

“You’re quiet today, hm?” she asks, as she twists at the waist, slowly, showing her womanly body off to me, “Is there...anything wrong, baby? Anything you need? Anything I can do?”

She understands I have misgivings, guilt and apprehension about our affair, that I’m in a constant struggle. She knows, she knows how tortured I am, and that this is just tightening the screws. But that I’m already speechless, giving not even an attempt at a response...to her this is full proof of my acquiescence.

“I think I need to spoil you,” she says as, slowly, she opens her robe.

“Oh jesus, Rina,” is all I can answer, watching as her body, in full-cut panties and a big white bra, comes into view. She’s fit, so fit, with a taut waist and trim torso that just magnifies how large her breasts are. On purpose or not, she’s positioned herself perfectly under an overhead recessed can, whose light and play of shadows add even more drama in the otherwise darkened room.

"I’m so sorry,” she apologizes, as she lets me stare at her, holding her robe open wide and pulling her shoulders back, “I'm wearing my mom panties...my mom bra." Her bra is a big, white industrial thing, with thick straps, thick silky cups. Designed to be functional and give good coverage...to a woman three cup sizes smaller. But it’s feminine, girlish in its own way and has a generous allowance for her soft, creamy cleavage to bubble out, invite attention.”Nothing fits right anymore…”

And she’s got my attention. I’m already breathing heavy, staring into her tits, even in the semi-darkness gaping at the swollen veins and taut skin of a bosom full, seeming ready to burst.

“It’s so hard,” she explains, half-complaining, “to find cute stuff when you’re nursing. When you’re this big everything has to be so practical.”

“Uhhh…” I grunt, not even pretending to keep conversation.

“And…being this full, I barely fit in it. Even my big mom-bra doesn’t fit me right…with its big cups, its big straps…” The sound of the rain outside has faded away as my attention is focused now entirely on her.

“But you don't mind, do you..? You like this look. You like the ‘mom-look’..."

She giggles at my bewilderment and approaches me, holding her robe open wider, stepping in until my nose, mouth, cheeks settle onto her cleavage. I moan, feeling the warmth of her breasts, their silky skin, getting a waft of her light, floral perfume. She then, with a gentle sigh, closes her robe over me, wrapping my head into her chest.

“There you go…” she finally coos, both hands behind my head squeezing my face deeper between her firm breasts, “now, you just make yourself comfortable.” My vision is all but gone, everything dark. My world is suddenly centered in her chest. The overwhelming scents fill me - her perfume intermingled with sweetly salty sweat and...something more earthy. As I pull it into my lungs, I hear her giggle. I swear she’s so swollen that I can feel her breasts on my ears. She’s never been this big.

“How is it in there?” she giggles again, down at me, as both her arms are now wrapped around me, “Nice and warm?” The sound of her voice is being both drowned out, muffled by her breasts about my head, and amplified, reverberating through her chest. When I groan in response, I’m sure she feels it more than hears it. “How do I smell? Hm? Do you smell my bra? My milk?”

Oh my god that’s what it is, the earthiness. It’s the scent of her milk.

“I tell you baby I haven’t pumped all day,” Rina says, hugging me more firmly into her bosom as I breathe the air from her soft, fragrant skin, “I’ve been saving up for this, saving up for you.” She cups her shoulders around me, enveloping me further. “Do you like how big they are now?”

With a moan, a soft sigh, I begin to tentatively kiss what I can, the smooth skin between her tits.

“Ooo I feel that!” she lauds, wrapping her robe more tightly about us, “I like it…” I feel her kiss the top of my head, then rest her chin upon it. “Do you hear them?” she asks,”Do you hear them going to work? Making all this milk for my baby?” All I can hear is her voice and, below that, her heartbeat through her breasts. I’m imagining every pump, every beat, is filling her chest up more and more. “Mommy’s chest has been getting soooooo big for my baby boy.”

I know her kid is a girl….is she talking about...?

My hands have found themselves on her waist, fading their way back on her hips. She’s in perfect shape, more muscular than any woman I’ve been with.

“You like my mom body?” she asks, as my hands roam into the twin swells of her magnificent, hugely solid ass. She’s muscular, a former figure skater who still finds time for the gym and the ice, “Nice and soft, hm?”

My arms now fully around her hips, she lets me marvel at just how much of her there is. “Feel how big I’m gettin’ back there? I know that’s how you like it. I’ve been lifting so much, lifting so many weights for you? Mama’s getting big and strong.”

My breath catches. Into her breasts I gasp and whine.

“Ohhh what’s that?” she laughs, squeezing her tits around my face with her arms, “What just happened?” I’m tensing, I can feel it, my ungainly cock now fully erect, standing between us, pressed into her thighs.

Her voice drops, but in the dark intimacy of her bosom it’s thunder.

“That turns you on, doesn’t it?” she says knowingly, the moment becoming more and more intimate by the second, “When I call myself ‘mama’?”

I groan into her, grunting her name, but in shamed disbelief of myself. How am I letting myself do this??

“Why is that? Hm, baby?” she presses, “You like the idea that I’m a mom? A mommy? You like the idea that I have a baby, a baby I grew in this body?” Though she’s speaking in questions, her voice is strong with the confidence of a woman who knows her audience, has the keys to the dark lockboxes of my mind. How does she have me so figured out?? “A baby I protect and care for with this body? That I feed with this body?”

Again I whine, I whimper, wordless. She has her answers already.

She chuckles, breasts jiggling against my face. “You had a little bit, didn’t you? Last time? Hm?” she asks, holding me close, pressing my nose and face into the soft, firm bulge of her left tit. “You had a little suck, didn’t you? A taste, when we were fucking?”

Meekly I kiss her breast, its ripe, silky swell.

“And you’ve been thinking about it ever since, haven’t you?” she probes, as I submissively mouth her inner breast, “You can’t get it out of your head, what it was like. You want me to be your mommy, don’t you? You want me to treat you like I do my own baby…”

I go completely still. She’s struck at something so primal that I shudder in fear for what’s coming next.

She feels me react.

“Oh you like that idea, do you? You want me to be your mommy...” She is speaking slowly, deliberately.

At that she opens her robe, steps back. I’m quivering in the newly fresh air, speechless, looking up at her, waiting for what she’ll do next.

“Well, you’re going to get your wish. I'm going to be your mommy tonight,” she says, her crooked smile regarding me, “We’re going to do some role playing. I’m going to be the mommy, and you’re going to be the tiny..little...baby.”

I begin to mouth my weak, false protests. We can’t...I shouldn’t...

“Shh shh shh...it's okay...no one needs to know. The girls at the office don’t need to know. Wifey doesn't need to know…” she instructs.

She smiles wider.

“It’ll be our..little...secret…”

==========================

>>Audio of Rina’s Dialogue<<<

==========================

Another collaborative piece, with great input from my co-authors and of course the magnificent dialogue at the end read to us by the ethereal GoddessByNight. Think she should do more Rina for us?

Her Patreon is here

#Growing Into the Job #goddessbynight

382 notes · View notes

standingmanintheshadow · 4 years

Text

The Gambler

Chapter 5: The Loud Escape

(I hope you enjoy the chapter)

Walking into Human Resources, the first thing that stuck out to Elijah was that the entrance to Human Resource was a bathroom, but with all the things he has seen, this wasn’t the weirdest. Shrugging it off, he walked through the bathroom with a sense of dread on his mind. Elijah continued walking through the large bathroom until he saw a large hole in the bathroom wall leading into another room. “Why are we even trying Magic Man, there’s a ton of them, and one and a half of us, even with your powers, we have no chance to escape,” Scout said in a defeated tone.

“Look, you may have given up already, but I didn’t, so we’re going to continue whether you want to or not unless you want me to cut the stitches connecting you to me and just leave you here if that’s what you want?” Elijah said with a somewhat threatening tone.

Scout immediately perked up at what Elijah said. “WHAT? Are you crazy? I was just dramatic, asshole,” she said with returning vigor. “Hehe, good, I would like the company; it can be boring wandering around abandoned warehouses controlled by sentient puppets trying to kill me,” he said sarcastically and continued walking.

Elijah slowly crept through the large hole and saw another large window connected to a hallway. Slowly approaching the hallway, they both saw what it looked like a rat eating a person in some form of a body bag. Elijah shuddered with disgust and looked down the hallway and what greeted him made him want to throw up. Down the hall was an uncountable number of people in body bags and hung up on hooks like meat. It didn’t help that the hallway was also covered in a deep mist. But the worst part of it all was the disgusting smell, which Elijah could easily distinguish from others as it was the smell of death. The smell got worse as Elijah walked forwards towards the bodies. Wanting to protect his nose from the smell, he dropped the cigarette in his mouth and covered his nose with the shirt under his jacket.

“What is this place? I’ve never been in here before,” she said before continuing “are these hosts?” she asked rhetorically as she looked at the bodies on the hooks. Elijah continued walking through this miserable place when he saw another window containing more rats, which seemed to have puppet parts stitched to them. The rats were eating a human hand, desperately fighting for it like it would be their last meal. Walking away from the window, Elijah kept moving through the hooked people without saying a peep. “Host, are you alright?” Scout asked since she noticed his silence.

“Scout, do you think I’m alright?! I’m in a room filled to the brim with people that are most likely dead on hooks like their pieces of meat. Now tell me, do you think I’m Alright?!” Elijah yelled out without care if anyone hears him. Scout looked at Elijah with an empathetic look before turning away in silence. “I’m sorry, Scout, I didn’t mean to take out my anger on you,” he said with regret in his voice. “It’s alright, host, we just need to get out of this hellhole and fast,” she said, gaining a quick nod from Elijah as he began walking again through the mist. Coming to the room still covered in fog, they both could barely see anything except a door that was touch activated. When Elijah got to the door, and Scout put her hand on it to open it, the screen turned red and said, “level 1 clearance required.”

“This door won’t open; I need a green security pin. It’s like the one I wore on my shirt. But I don’t have it, so we’re fucked, unless we can find one somewhere in here,” Scout said as Elijah looked at the bodies that surrounded them. “We don’t have time to find a fucking pin; I think I know a way to get through this door,” he said as he started stretching his right leg out. “How in the hell are supposed to get through this metal door?” she asked as she wondered how he would accomplish this feat. “Just watch me” was the only words Elijah said before violently kicking down the metal door off of its hinges. Elijah stretched out his right leg again before walking through the now opened door.

“How in the hell did you do that?” she asked, completely baffled at the strength he has shown. “Well, I work out a lot, that’s all,” he said as he began scratching the back of his neck. “Your hiding something from me, something other than the regeneration and the fancy card tricks,” Scout said as she gave Elijah a look that could be described as annoyed. “How about this? I’ll tell you everything when we escape and go out for lunch,” he said. Scout just signed and nodded; Elijah gave a small smile in return and continued through the newly opened door.

The door itself was connected to a room that was circular in design, but other than that. The room was empty in terms of furniture. But the only saving grace was that there was an employee elevator that didn’t seem to need any pins, unlike the last door. Elijah pressed the button next to the entrance to call the elevator; there was an awkward silence between the two as they waited for the elevator to come. When the awkwardness started to become unbearable, a musical tune played, followed by the elevator door opening up. Elijah walked into the elevator and pressed the only button in the elevator, and in response, the elevator closed and started going up slowly.

“If you’re serious about this whole escape plan thing, then the only way out of here is through a hole that was created by the fire. but here’s the fun part, it’s way back in Mortimer’s section, and to get there, we have to go through the Soundstage, which is where all the puppets are, so I hope you have enough cards to fight them all or are a fast runner” she said. “Hmmm well, I don’t want to fight all of them if I can help it soooooo; I guess I can sacrifice my pride and run away instead,” he joked, which Scout did not appreciate. “How can you still joke around when we can be killed at any time?!” Scout yelled at him, clearly displeased.

“Okay, okay, I’ll stop. Damn, I was just trying to have some fun, fun killer,” Elijah said with a pout. Scout shook her head at his behavior and started to talk again, “Hey, I have a question,” she said, gaining Elijah’s attention. “Shoot” was all he said back. “Well, you’re from the host world. Is it a good place?” she asked, paying full attention to Elijah for an answer. “Well, it’s better than this place and more well lit, so yeah, it’s a better place than this dump,” he said as Scout’s eyes seemed to light up with excitement.

“I knew it! I’ve seen the host world, you know; before my first orientation, I found a television in the basement with working cable. I didn’t know how long I was watching it before Riley caught me. Cop dramas, bake-offs, nightly news, it blew my mind; ever since then, I never fit in here. That’s when I stopped rhyming. I just couldn’t anymore,” she said, then stopping to take a breath before continuing.

“If we survive, I was wondering if I would fit out there in your world; I know I’m a puppet, but do you think it’s possible?” she asked as she stopped talking to let Elijah say his piece. “Well, considering what crazy things I have seen out there, I’m pretty sure you would fit right in,” Elijah said as Scout’s eyes seemed to light up more with joy by the second. “Wow, thank you. I don’t know if I believe you, but it’s nice of you to say,” Scout said as the musical tune that played before started playing again, and soon the elevator door opened.

“It would seem that this is our stop,” Elijah replied, “it would seem so,” Scout replied. Walking through the elevator door, they were both greeted by familiar darkness. Elijah hit Scout on the head to turn on her light. When Scout light was turned on, the darkness surrounding them was pushed away by the light and shown a room filled with crates and cabinets. Elijah slowly walked through the small maze of cabinets and small chests when he heard a familiar voice start talking on the loudspeakers above them.

“Attention Handeemen of every shape, a defective puppet named Scout and her host has escaped. They have corrupted my data and rendered my test incomplete, so you must hunt them down now and halt their retreat. Rip out their eyes, eat their guts, burn their skin, throw them in the trash, OR I’LL FUCKING KILL YOU ALL!” Riley yelled out over the speakers making Elijahs ears hurt from the sheer volume.

“Damn, If she plans to make me deaf, then it’s fucking working,” Elijah half-joked as he covered his right ear in pain. “That’s Riley for ya,” Scout said. “She’s a very mean woman,” Elijah responded as the pain in his ears started to subside. “yeah, you don’t know the half of it,” Scout replied.

After the pain in his ears went away, he started looking for a way to get out of the room and started walking through the darkness. He kept walking until he pumped into a table with a rather large jack in the box on top of it that seemed to have skeleton hands holding it. Above the jack in the box was another series of writing that Elijah couldn’t understand. “That’s Mortimer’s handwriting. It says, “mind if I join in on the fun,” Scout said in a scared voice at the mention of Mortimer. “It’s about time he gets off of his lazy ass and does something. If he’s supposed to be the head honcho around here, then how come we haven’t heard from him sooner?” Elijah said, rather insulted by the lack of attention from Mortimer. He looked at the jack in the box and started to turn the handle slowly. After a minute of turning, the top of the box opened by a small bit. “I think you broke it,” Scout said, and right after, she said. A few seconds after she spoke, a replica of Mortimer’s head suddenly popped out of the jack in the box, scaring both of them.

Composing themselves, Elijah walked towards the jack in the box and noticed a pin with a fourth of Mortimer’s face on it stuck on the replicas hat. “That must be one of the pins I was talking about, but it seems incomplete,” Scout said as she started speaking again. “And why is Mortimer helping us? That makes no fucking sense,” Scout said as Elijah was deep in thought. “I don’t know what he is planning, but it doesn’t feel right. It’s like some game to him,” Elijah said as he put the pin onto Scout and began walking away from the jack in a box.

Elijah continued looking for a way out of the room. His search was not long when he found a door that needed the pin to be unlocked. Before scout could open the door, they both heard a new cartoonish voice that had bloodlust hidden within it coming from behind them. “You...you are the ones that killed my brother’s Crinkle and Bubbles, they were the only thing I had in this world, and now that I found you, I’m going to torture the two of you nice and slow!” the new puppet said without a rhyme.”

Elijah turned around and faced the puppet; he saw that this one had a more clownish look, as it had a colorful bowtie and clown nose attached to its face. Elijah looked at the clown puppet with an unamused look. He responded to the puppets threat by quickly pulling out a card that turned into a Colt 1911 pistol and shot the host in the head. The gun’s sound echoed throughout the warehouse as the clown puppet slowly fell to the ground dead, laying in its pool of blood. “That was anti-climatic,” Scout said, gaining no response from Elijah.

Walking back to the door, Scout quickly unlocked it, and they continued through the door to face the unknown, But the only thing that greeted them was a small hallway that led to another door. Elijah faced the machine that opened the door behind them and swiftly smashed it with the butt of his pistol, preventing anyone from sneaking up from behind them. “Great thinking host; since you fired that gun, everyone is going to be coming after us, but the door you just broke should give us the time we need to escape,” Scout said as Elijah continued walking down the hallway. Getting closer to the door in front of them, the machine that opened it was covered in blood; Elijah saw that Scout started recoiling from the machine. “Ew! What is that? Is that like blood? No, no, no, I have a thing about blood; it’s like a phobia. I get sick even the thought,” she said as she started to gag.

Elijah’s head started throbbing as Scout continued psyching herself into touching the screen covered in blood. Elijah blinked a few times to get the pain to go away, but on the fifth try, he opened his eyes and discovered that he was much closer to the screen before. He looked around and saw that he could see his body and quickly realized that he was in Scout’s body, controlling her. Turning back around, he tapped the bloody screen, and then the door suddenly opened up in response. Still, in Scout’s body, he began to get the same head pains, and before he knew it, he was back in his body. Scout turned around to Elijah, clearly shocked and mad at the same time.

“What the?... Either I’m going crazy, or you were just in my head; how in the hell did you?... Shit, our psychic link must be going haywire. Stay out of my head!” Scout shouted at Elijah. “Okay, okay, I’ll try not to, but it just kinda happened, so don’t blame me. Blame Mortimer for his dollar-store magic not working properly,” Elijah said as Scout gave him a confused look as she didn’t know what a dollar store was. “Use any excuse you like, just stay out of my head!” she yelled again, standing her ground on the issue. Elijah quickly nodded at her request, and when she gave him a content look, he walked through the door ahead and into the next room.

The room ahead was by far the biggest in the warehouse; as Elijah walked through the larger room, they could see various posters of the show’s main cast and even some of the show’s minor characters. When they were done looking around, they both turned their attention to a sizeable lit-up sign that said “Main Stage.” “I guess that’s where we have to go?” he asked. “Yup… but looks like we need the all of the parts to this pin to get through, and good luck kicking through that; it’s thicker than the other doors, so there is no way for you to get through,” she said as Elijah chuckled and walked forward to the larger door.

Elijah put his ear to the door and started softly knocking on it. “What the hell are you doing host, do you know how idiotic you look right now?” Scout said. “This door is indeed too thick to kick through, but I’m not going to do that, I got a better plan, but when this door is opened, we have to book it out of here, okay?” he explained as Scout just sighed. “It better be a good plan,” she said. “Oh, it will; you just have to trust me,” he responded, which Scout gave a quick nod; Elijah then continued with his plan.

Elijah reached into his pocket and pulled out five playing cards, which began to mold together, formed a brick of C4 with a detonator attached to it, stuck it onto the door, and quickly retreated behind some crates were nearby. He then grabbed another card that turned into a detonator and promptly pressed the button. When he pressed the button, both of them could only hear the roaring boom of the explosion as the bomb’s power utterly eviscerating the door. Seconds past after the bomb went off, and Elijah came out behind the crates and was ecstatic at his work, while Scout looked like she was scared shitless. “You asshole, you could of at least told me to cover my ears. And now since you made a shit ton of noise, everyone knows where we are!” she yelled as they both could hear distant yelling coming from where they first entered. “We should get going,” Elijah said as he began to sprint through the blown doors of the main stage.

Running through the main stage as fast as possible, he saw only an empty stage with a table with no chairs near it. Jumping up on the stage, he could see another door that had an exit sign on top of it. Opening the door and rushing through it, Elijah continued running through hallways that seemed like a maze. He kept running and running until he came into a room that had two doors going that both had the same symbols that Scout was able to read before. “Scout, where do I go?” Elijah asked quickly, not wanting to waste time. “Go through the right door,” she said as Elijah started running through the right one. After running through the door, he was able to see another door that had an exit sign; in front of the door was yet another machine that needed turning. Both Scout and Elijah quickly grabbed the handles and started turning the levers at a fast pace. When they began turning the levers, a large door began to close in front of them and getting closer to closing with every turn of the levers.

Elijah looked up from the machine and saw across the long hallway in front of them a large group of sockpuppets with Riley leading the charge. “There, Scout and her host, they’re trying to escape, don’t let them!” Riley yelled out as the group of sock puppets started running towards Scout and Elijah with the intent to kill. “Scout, we need to double time it now,” Elijah said in a panic. They both increased their efforts in turning the levers, which started to close the door way faster than before. With the increased effort, they managed to close the massive door seconds before the group of sockpuppets could get through the door.

Scout and Elijah both released a collective sigh of relief when the door was closed. Beyond the door, they both could hear the voice of Riley screaming to the other sockpuppets to open the door. “I told you it was a good plan,” Elijah said while letting out a chuckle. “Good plan, my ass, we almost got killed,” Scout said, trying to hide a smile but failing. “Well, we’re still alive, so that’s all that counts,” he replied. “Yeah, your right,” she said, giving up trying to hide her smile and let out a big toothy grin. “We should go,” Elijah said quietly, which he gained a nod from Scout.

Walking through the door behind them, all that was keeping the both of them inside this hellish place was a long hallway, which at the end of the hallway, they could see a bright light that meant that they were almost outside. Elijah walked down the hallway as Scout was looking at the bright light in wonder.

When Elijah finally exited the warehouse through the hole, he saw that they were in the empty parking lot of the Handeemen studio. Elijah felt the cold autumn air hit him as the sun’s warmth shined on him, bringing him warmth. He took a deep breath and exhaled, slowly enjoying the outside air for a few minutes. “It’s not like I imagined,” Elijah heard Scout say as she looked at the trees that surrounded the parking lot. “What do you mean?” Elijah asked. “It’s far more beautiful than I could ever imagine,” she said as she began to tear up.

“Are you crying?” he asked.“I’m not crying; my eyes are just watery,” she said as she pretended to act tough as tears continued to flow from her eyes. Elijah brought Scout to his chest and let her cry on it while he patted her back for comfort. “Shhhhh, it’s going to be alright,” he said, trying to reassure her while her tough act quickly broke and started bawling on his chest, making his shirt and jacket damp.

Scout continued crying for a couple of minutes until she stopped and pulled away from Elijah. “Thank you; I needed that,” she said as her voice was trembling from the recent cry. “Hey, that’s what teammates are for,” he said as Scout sniffled and wiped her eyes. In a quick move, Scout hugged Elijah’s chest again as she began to speak, “You’re the best person I’ve ever known, and I’m happy to call you my friend.” “Now your gonna make me cry, Scout,” Elijah half-joked. “Now come on, we have to get to my car so that we can get away from this hellhole,” he added as he began walking across the parking lot and was soon back on the street. Elijah kept walking when they were on the road while Scout observed everything from Squirrels climbing the trees to leaves flowing in the wind. When they finally reached the spot where Elijah’s car broke down, Elijah noticed that his car was not there anymore. “Wheres your car Magic Man?” Scout asked. “Well, as you see, it’s gone; either Mortimer and Riley got rid of it, or it was towed away by a towing agency,” he explained as Scout gave him a worried look. “So, what’s the plan now?” she asked.

“We just have to walk.”

#hello puppets scout #fanfiction #mortimer handee #riley ruckus #the gambler #hello puppets #hello puppets au

2 notes · View notes

stainedglassthreads · 7 years

Text

Triad: Chapter 17

Triad

Arc 3: Waterfall

Part 1

Pacifist

The human quietly but quickly walked through the tunnels.

They noticed… a small sentry station. With snow somehow on the roof. And that short skeleton reclining on the chair in it.

They stared at him for several seconds. He grinned at them. “what? haven’t you seen a guy work two jobs before?” His eyes lit up. “fortunately, two jobs mean twice as many legally-required breaks. i’m going to grillby’s. wanna come?”

The human shook their head, and continued walking.

“...alrighty then.”

To Sans, the human was… odd. He still had that feeling he should be wary around them, however they had yet to actually kill anyone, or do anything suspicious other than ignore every monster who did not actively fight them.

In truth, they seemed less malevolent and more indifferent.

Though sometimes… it seemed less like they were truly indifferent and more like they wanted to convince everyone that they were indifferent…

...Perhaps not just everyone, but also themself?

Nevertheless. They hadn’t given Sans a reason to act yet, so he wouldn’t.

The human came across a waterfall, spotting rocks cascading down along with the water from above. They stepped into the water, and let out a short sigh when they saw it only came to their knees. They quickly jogged through the river, keeping a careful eye on the rocks to ensure that one did not fall on them.

The human entered a very gloomy area of the tunnels. While crossing through a particularly wild patch of grass, the feeling of being watched halted them, chills and shudders danced up and down their spine. They slowly turned, and identified… someone.

Someone on the top of a ledge, in heavy metallic armor. Partially in shadow. Watching them.

An imposing knight.

The human felt their heartbeat speed up. They slowly covered their mouth, trying to quiet their rapid breathing.

A familiar figure entered. That tall skeleton.

“H… HI, UNDYNE! I’M HERE FOR MY DAILY REPORT… UH, REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER… HUH? DID I FIGHT THEM? Y-YES! OF COURSE I DID! I FOUGHT THEM VALIANTLY! ...WHAT? DID I CAPTURE THEM…? W-WELL… NO. I TRIED VERY HARD, BUT IN THE END… I FAILED. ...W-WHAT? YOU’RE GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN’S SOUL YOURSELF… BUT UNDYNE, YOU DON’T H-HAVE TO DESTROY THEM! YOU SEE-- YOU SEE…”

The knight turned towards the skeleton, effectively cutting him off.

“...I UNDERSTAND,” the skeleton sighed. “I’LL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN.” He quickly left.

The human slowly let out a pent up breath. The knight’s head snapped to attention, zeroing in on the patch of grass in which the human hid.

The knight held their left hand up, a shining cyan spear coalescing around it.

A long moment slid past. The knight glanced off into the distance, after Papyrus.

Finally the knight thrust their spear into the ground and it vanished into shimmering sparks. They backed up and faded into the gloomy shadows.

The human decided that they could most certainly admire someone who managed to hold a conversation without speaking a single audible word.

The feelings they were feeling right now… Upon seeing someone terrifying and menacing. Someone silent and imposing. Someone who radiated power. Fear?

...No.

They thought that the knight was really unspeakably unbelievably COOL.

They were split by two opposing feelings. The desire to stay alive, and the desire to attempt to see that really cool knight again.

They stepped out of the grass, only for a small yellow reptilian child to dash out after them and immediately begin bouncing up and down excitedly.

“Yo… Did ya see the way she was starin’ at ya…?” the monster kid asked. “That… was AWESOME!”

The human agreed.

This Monster Kid had good tastes.

“I’m SOOOOOO jealous!” Monster Kid huffed. “What’d ya do ta get her attention?”

The human told Monster Kid if he came with them he’d be sure to get the knight’s attention, too.

Monster Kid gaped. “Y-ya really think so!?” He beamed. “L-let’s go then!”

The human nodded.

Then they remembered. They couldn’t get distracted, couldn’t stop, couldn’t get sidetracked.

They had a goal to accomplish. They needed to see it through.

…

...They didn’t have to get sidetracked.

They didn’t have to waste time. The knight would be looking for them. The human doubted that they could simply leave Waterfall without seeing the knight again at least one more time.

That should be enough to satisfy Monster Kid, and themself.

Having a frie-- someone to walk with and talk with… It filled them with determination.

They could feel something tightening in their chest. They ignored it, and began walking again. Monster Kid bounded ahead, and the human followed after him, to find him waiting by a river, a bud of some kind dangling precariously from his mouth.

The human quirked an eye at the sight.

Monster Kid spat the bud into the water. It drifted for a few moments, before taking root and blooming, its petals spreading and stiffening. “Yo, it’s real annoying how the Bridge Seeds keep getting swept away! I mean I like puzzles as much as the next monster, but dude, it gets kinda boring right?”

The human nodded, understandably. Monster Kid grabbed a second bud, while the human grabbed a third. Soon enough, a bridge had been formed, which the two children crossed.

...Before coming across another room with a similar puzzle. With two beings doing it at once, however, and with Monster Kid already knowing the solution, it was solved rather quickly though.

Before they could exit the room, however, the ringing of a phone began to echo through the caverns. Monster Kid jumped slightly as the human answered it, before scooting in close to them to listen in.

“HELLO!” It was that taller skeleton, Pa--...The taller skeleton. The human inquired how he had gotten their number. “IT WAS EASY!!! I JUST DIALED EVERY NUMBER SEQUENTIALLY UNTIL I GO YOURS!!! NYEH HEH HEH!!”

The human had to admit that he was persistent.

“SO… WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?”

Monster Kid raised an eyebrow.

The human made a request that the skeleton repeat that. They were fairly certain that they had not heard what he had said.

“WHAT ARE YOU WEARING?”

Monster Kid snorted with laughter.

The human ignored that, and considered hanging up.

“I’M… ASKING FOR A FRIEND. SHE THOUGHT SHE SAW YOU WEARING A STRIPED SWEATER. IS THAT TRUE?”

The human told the skeleton that they were wearing clothes.

“BUT… THAT DOESN’T ANSWER MY QUESTION!?”

The human told him that it did.

“...OKAY! GOT IT! HAVE A NICE DAY!”

There was a click as the skeleton hung up.

They entered another small passage. A plaque on the wall declared it to be the ‘Wishing Room’. Scattered throughout it were beautiful luminescent flowers, petals and stems softly radiating cyan blue light. The petals seemed to grow in a way that created a cup. It bathed the entire area in an eerie and haunting light. The human felt a genuine smile creeping up on their face…

Monster Kid looked around. “Oh, this place!” He grinned. “I like it here. Monsters share their wishes, and it… Not sure how to describe it, but dude, it’s like so encouraging seeing what drives us all! The hopes and dreams of the Underground…”

The human approached one luminescent bloom, and nudged at it with their shoe. The echo flower began to sway back and forth, sounds that had once been captured within it exiting as if pushed out by the motion. The words were discernible, but the voice that had spoken them was long since been warped and rendered unrecognizable. It might as well have been the echo flower itself speaking.

A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky… If you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true. Now, all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling…

The rocking movement ceased, and the flower went silent.

Monster Kid skipped over to another flower, a little farther along the corridor. “This one’s one of my favorites!” he hollered, before kicking it.

Thousands of people wishing together can’t be wrong! The king will prove that.

It fell silent.

“Undyne’s always talking about how there’s power in wishes and beliefs and intention! That’s how humans are so strong!” Monster Kid said. “Humans use determination to force the world to match their desires! She’s going ta use her determination ta do the same thing, and when the King gets the Souls we need, so is he!”

The human stared at Monster Kid. They moved over towards two other echo flowers.

C’mon, sis! Make a wish!

I wish my sister and I will see the real stars someday…

The human contemplated the echo flowers. Monster Kid dashed down to look at the final one in the room, while the human began to make their way towards the next chamber. The echo flowers had reminded them of their own dream…

They had a goal. They… didn’t mind Monster Kid. But they couldn’t let him deter them.

The next corridor. Lit by the eerie blue light of the starlike shards in the walls and ceiling were a series of ancient metal plaques…

The human drew closer to one, squinting as they read it.

“The War of Humans and Monsters.”

Something in their chest tightened. Their eyes drifted to the next plaque.

“Why did the humans attack? Indeed, it seemed that they had nothing to fear. Humans are unbelievably strong. Indeed, it would take the Soul of nearly every monster just to equal the power of a human Soul.”

They felt sick… They weren’t sure why they were still reading.

“But humans have one weakness. Ironically, it is the strength of their Soul. Its power allows it to persist outside the human body, even after death.”

They knew all this.

“If a monster defeats a human, they can take its Soul. A monster with a human Soul… a horrible beast with unfathomable power.”

...

The last plaque. Most wouldn’t notice it unless they looked closer, but it was newer than the others. They stared at the familiar carving upon it with horrified fascination until they felt their stomach lurch.

They made it to the edge of the dock they were standing on, before they started dry heaving. It didn’t take very long for Monster Kid to catch up with them.

“Yo, you alright?” he asked.

The human tried to dismiss him.

“I-if you need help, I think Old Man Gerson’s not too far of--”

The human told Monster Kid they were fine. They just wanted to be alone right now.

“...But you’ll miss seeing Undy--”

Please. Go. Away.

Monster Kid didn’t speak again, but the human did hear his retreating footsteps. They weren’t all that concerned at the moment, they were sick to their stomach.

They wanted to pry those stupid plaques off the wall.

When they felt better, the human stood up, and tried to put Monster Kid out of their mind. He was just a distraction, after all…

Just a silly… distraction…

They quickly made their way into the next corridor of the caverns. It was very dark and gloomy, difficult to see. There was still a dock underneath their feet, echoes of lapping water below. They walked forwards, fixing their gaze on the darkness ahead of them--

Suddenly there was a blazing cyan spear shaft quivering inches from their nose, causing them to instinctively stop and back up.

They didn’t need to look to know Undyne was here, and out for blood.

Coolness aside, they were certain she would not hesitate to kill them. They were suddenly thankful that Monster Kid was not there.

The human began to run, a spray of cyan spears chasing them.

Fortunately, they were very good at dodging.

Right, skid left, jump, land and duck. Speed up, run faster, stop.

They misjudged their balance, tripped, and thrust out their arms. They caught themself while falling, but a spear still impaled their left wrist.

They got up, shoved their arm into their sweater, and kept running.

They tried to ignore the pain in their wrist. Another trio of spears got too close to them, and they instinctively held up their arm to block them. One nailed their left elbow.

They kept running.

Their stamina was running low… They needed to end this chase, quickly.

They briefly entertained the idea of jumping off the dock and hiding underwater. They could hold their breath for a surprisingly long time, for being a human.

But just then, they saw a patch of grass before them, within reach. They put on a burst of speed, practically pouncing on it, and then collapsed within it. They covered their nose and mouth with their good hand in an attempt to mask their gasps for air.

They listened closely for any sort of sound. They didn’t have to listen hard for the sound of heavy boots smashing the tall grass, approaching them.

They held their breath and bit their tongue.

They couldn’t look, so they shut their eyes.

…

The boots stomped away.

What?

The human cautiously crawled out of the grass… Only for Monster Kid to trip over them.

First that skeleton. Now this child. It must be some kind of running gag.

Monster Kid seemed surprised at seeing the human again. “Yo! You’re…” His surprise shifted to worry when he saw the human’s arm. “...Do ya--you… want me ta go away again?” He sighed. “The other kids say I’m too… annoying. And too obsessed. I… Dude, I get it if you want me ta go, I--”

The human told him they did not think that he was annoying. They had just been upset at the time.

“...You don’t look much better now.”

They had tripped. They felt better. They asked if he had seen Undyne.

Monster Kid’s face lit up, and he began to excitedly paddle his feet. “It was so amazing! Undyne, she just reached right inta the grass, and she TOUCHED ME!! I’m never washing my face again!” He tilted his head slightly. “Ya were in the grass too, right? Just think, if ya had been a little bit closer ta me…” A grin split his face. “Man, are ya unlucky! But don’t worry, yo, I’m sure we’ll see her again if we keep going!”

The human nodded. If they kept going together, they were sure seeing her was an inevitability.

The human and Monster Kid moved on to the next corridor.

...A familiar skeleton was in the next chamber, a telescope next to him.

The skeleton grinned at the two children. “i’m thinking of getting into the telescope business. it’s normally 50000G to u--”

The human began walking away.

“Hey-- where’re ya going?” Monster Kid called after them.

The human stopped, and looked back.

“..Yo, I’m not sure where you’re from… but around here it’s not that nice ta walk away from people talking to ya!” He responded, looking slightly confused.

The human informed Monster Kid that they definitely didn’t have that much money. So there wasn’t really a point to sticking around.

“well, i got some good news then, kiddo,” the skeleton informed them. “‘cause i was just about to tell you that since I know ya, you can use it for free.”

The human informed the skeleton in response that they could see the stars perfectly fine from the ground. It wasn’t like they were hundreds of lightyears away like on the surface. They were at best a couple dozen feet up.

Monster Kid frowned. “Aw. I wanted ta see them.”

“hey, what’s your name?” the skeleton asked.

“and i’m sans, sans the skeleton. welp, now we know eachother. wanna take a look through this telescope?”

Monster Kid’s eyes lit up, and he very nearly pushed S-- the skeleton to the side to peer through it.

“Wh--!? It’s all red?” Monster Kid stepped back from the telescope. “I couldn’t see anything!” There was a red spot around one of his eyes.

The skeleton chuckled. “here, kid. have a refund.”

Monster Kid thought for a moment, before looking mildly insulted. “...C’mon, dude, let’s go!”

The two kids then left. They entered a marsh. The mud was black, and the water winding around the muddy islets was almost luminescent, a bright cyan.

The human walked over to one of the echo flowers blooming nearby, and nudged it.

So? Don’t you have any wishes to make?

...Hmm, just one, but… It’s kind of stupid.

The kinds began walking again. Only, for thirty seconds later, a phone to begin ringing. The human picked it up.

“HELLO! THIS IS PAPYRUS!!!”

The human moved their ear a good distance from the speaker.

“REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED YOU ABOUT CLOTHES? WELL, THE FRIEND WHO WANTED TO KNOW… HER OPINION OF YOU IS VERY… MURDERY.”

The human deflated ever so slightly.

Monster Kid frowned at the human.

“BUT I BET YOU KNEW THAT ALREADY! AND BECAUSE YOU KNEW THAT, I TOLD HER WHAT YOU WERE WEARING! CLOTHES! BECAUSE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DID SOME FAST THINKING AND REALIZED! CLOTHES CAN LOOK LIKE A LOT OF THINGS! SO JUST BECAUSE SHE SEES SOMEONE WEARING CLOTHES SHE MIGHT REALIZE IT DOESN’T MEAN IT’S YOU! NYEH HEH HEH!”

The skeleton hung up.

The human thought briefly.

“...Yo, who do ya think that friend he was talking about is?” Monster Kid asked. “Because… you’re my friend, and I don’t think people murdering my friends is cool.”

The human blinked. Then said they didn’t know.

Monster Kid puffed up his chest. “Well! If we meet them, I’ll show them just what I think about people not liking my friends!”

The human nodded, and continued on. Soon they came across another echo flower.

Don’t say that! Come on, I promise I won’t laugh!

The two kids walked onwards. Only a few moments later they saw one of the ancient plaques.

The human immediately sped up.

“Hey-- what’s wrong?”

The human explained that the plaques made them uncomfortable.

Monster Kid looked confused. “Well… Why? It’s just ancient history, dude. All that stuff happened a long time ago.”

...It didn’t quite feel like that to the human.

Monster Kid frowned. But did not say anything more on the subject.

The next area they came to… Was a passageway of muddy, marshy land blocked off on both sides by water. A pale tentacle rose up from the water.

Monster Kid’s eyes widened. “D-dude… Do ya think we can move a bit faster here?”

The human was unsure why, however they still did so.

As the two kids continued walking, another tentacle rose up.

The human asked if some kind of kraken monster was about to attack them or something.

Monster Kid glanced away, nervously. “Ummm… Not… not quite…”

The tentacles sank back beneath the murky depths… And something different arose from the dark waters, something that made the human begin to understand why Monster Kid wished to move on from here.

“Hey… there… noticed you were… here…” the… thing seemed to purr, before suddenly shouting out gleefully “I’m Onionsan! Onionsan, y’hear!”

Nope.

The human grabbed Monster Kid’s sweater and began running.

The thing easily seemed to keep up pace with them, carrying on with its one-sided conversation. Fortunately, the human was very, very skilled at zoning out.

Just a few minutes later the thing seemed to give up and sink back into the murky depths. The two kids stopped, and caught their breath. Monster Kid grinned in relief. “Th-that wasn’t… As bad as it could’ve been!”

In the next room, there were more of the plaques. The human immediately positioned themself so Monster Kid was between them and the plaques.

“...I know that history class can be boring at school, I’ve hoped for Undyne ta come ta school and beat up the teachers more than once ta make things more interesting… But, are you sure you’re alright?” he asked.

The human paused a few seconds.

They were alright. It was just that the plaques remind them of a few bad memories, that they didn’t wish to be reminded of.

But it was okay. He was right. It was old history.

Monster Kid glanced at the human, then the plaques, then the human. “You…” He frowned. “...Nothing.”

The human asked what was on his mind. Monster Kid simply shook his head.

In the next chamber, there was a statue. Water continuously dripped down onto it, and it had apparently been eroded by this for some time. The human frowned at the water, before rushing into the next room.

Monster Kid was left behind. “Yo, what’re ya--!?”

The human dashed back into the room, carrying an umbrella, and placed it on the statue.

A music box began chiming, somewhere within it.

The human closed their eyes, listening to the music.

...It had been a while since they had heard it.

“Whoah. It does that?”

The human explained it was a lullaby their sibling had used to like.

Monster Kid grinned. “They’ve got a good taste in music.”

The two walked back into the next room, the music box still echoing throughout the cavern. Monster Kid saw where the human had gotten the umbrella from-- an entire trash can full of them, a sign propped up next to it asking everyone to take one.

The human immediately went towards the trash can, and took out a second umbrella. They explained that this was technically not taking more than the allotted one, because they had took one but Monster Kid had not.

Monster Kid grinned. “Awesome! Let’s go!”

An infinite amount of water seemed to cascade from high above. In certain locations, sheets of water poured from the leaking ceiling, while in others it was only mere drops, eternally dripping onto the grey-blue floor, forming puddles. All the water formed a relentless patter against the fabric of their umbrella.

“...So what was your brother like?” Monster Kid asked.

The human thought for a few moments.

They explained how… Well. He hadn’t always been their brother. But they didn’t want to imagine it any other way.

They’d really like to see him again.

Monster Kid hummed in thought. “I have a sister… or had,” he said. “...Haven’t seen her in a while. So now my dad’s obsessed with my safety.” He scowled. “He doesn’t want me joining the Royal Guard or hanging around Undyne, because it’s ‘too dangerous’. So I need ta sneak out.”

The human remarked that their parents used to be overprotective… But right now they’re technically allowed to go wherever they want.

Monster Kid grinned again. “Yo, you’re lucky! Wish I had that freedom.”

The human informed him he may not like what he has to do to get it.

They stepped out into a massive area of the cavern. In the distance was visible a large conglomerate of buildings, reminiscent of a castle. Glimmering crystalline shards twinkled like stars at night, framing it. Monster Kid rushed around and stopped, staring at it.

The human commented that they used to live there.

“Oh, in New Home?” Monster Kid asked. “Sweet! The view of it from here’s my favorite in Waterfall…”

The human agreed it looked nice from here.

They continued onwards, back into an area where the cavern narrowed and became smaller, until their progress was impeded by a ledge. The human placed the umbrella back in a garbage can similar to the one it had come from originally, then turned to examine the ledge.

“...Yo… I’ve got an idea!” Monster Kid spoke. “Climb onto my shoulders! Don’t worry about me. I’ll find a way, I always do!”

The human did so. They watched Monster Kid dash off, back the way they had come.

The human turned back around, facing the path ahead.

The path soon led onto another bridge. Unlike the last one, where there was water to either side, the human saw nothing but a dark abyss below…

The human felt their heartbeat increase. They began moving faster, try to squish their emotions down beneath detachment again.

Unfortunately for them, it was too late. They had opened up their Soul again to another… Connected with a friend. And going back would be very difficult.

They started crossing the bridge, slowly, hesitantly… Only for a small cyan puddle of light to form on the wooden boards.

And then there were two.

Three.

Eleven.

Spears suddenly exploded from the bridge, narrowly missing the human.

The moment that the spears faded the human was off and running, heart bursting in their chest like it was trying to break out and fly away.

It was a maze of bridges. Narrow, too narrow. They couldn’t run too fast or they’d fall off. They couldn’t run too slow, or the magical spears would impale them.

Dead end. Backtrack. Dodge.

Their breath was coming too fast. They were hyperventilating.

They tripped, and dug their fingertips into the boards of the bridge, saving themselves from careening off into the inky blackness.

A split second later, a spear rocketed up through their shoulder like a pointy geyser. The human nearly let out an injured yelp, but bit back down on it. They slowly stood up, before letting out a pained moan when another spear shot through their foot.

They needed to re-evaluate their list of people they found ‘cool’.

They began to run again, but they were slowing. They couldn’t keep this up. They were going to be caught soon.

They felt lost. They couldn’t tell which of the bridges led to the end of this terrifying bridge complex. Who even built bridges this way?

They kept running, their Soul giving an excited flutter once they were racing across a large platformlike section of the bridge, the area after that being a single path with no other bridges branching off of it. Could this be it? Could the labyrinth of bridges finally be approaching an en--

Nope. Yet another dead end.

They whirled around, intending to make a made dash back to the platform. However before they got five feet the boards began to tremble from the vibrations of something heavy approaching. The human froze.

From the surrounding darkness, the knight strode into the human’s field of vision.

Undyne.

The human sucked in a breath, and began racing towards her as fast as they could, trying to use their speed and small size to get past her--

A barricade of spears materialized in front of them. They stopped short of crashing into them, only for the pain in their foot to flare up. They flailed their arms, trying to maintain their balance, before falling back into the darkness.

The darkness.

They passed out.

...

It sounds like it came from over here…

Oh! You’ve fallen down, haven’t you…

Are you okay?

Here, get up…

…

Chara, huh?

That’s a nice name.

My name is--

...

...As… ri… el…?

The human opened their eyes, sitting up. They looked around.

...There was a waterfall filled with murky, muddy looking water to their left. The floor was covered entirely by about six inches or so of water, and yet the water was muddy and murky enough to render the ground unable to be seen at all. Soggy wooden boards occasionally rose up from the waters, like a half-constructed bridge.

The human seemed to be lying on… golden flowers. They felt a wave of deja vu wash over them.

When they looked to their right, they almost expected to see him…

...Instead, they were alone.

They looked down at the bed of golden flowers. They felt… loneliness, welling up in their Soul.

...That was okay. They were almost to New Home. They just… just had to stay Determined, and continue on for a little while longer.

They got up, wading through the filthy water. Occasionally, piles of garbage would form islands amidst the muck.

As they proceeded, the water soaked into their sneakers and socks, causing the cloth to cling to their calves. It was chilling their skin. They wanted to go a bit faster, so they could avoid catching a cold… But their foot was still paining them, and they were exhausted after all that running, and falling from a great height…

They were basically stuck at a rather slow speed for now.

They came across a cooler full of Astronaut Food. Normally they frowned upon the stuff… But, well, they hadn’t eaten in a few hours, so they sifted through the packages for a few seconds.

...No chocolate flavored ones.

Such a pity.

Astronaut Food wasn’t even a real food anyways. If there was no chocolate flavor, then there was absolutely no redeeming factor and no reason to eat it.

They sloshed onwards, focusing on getting out of this filthy dump.

An orange dummy with an enraged expression suddenly leaped in front of them. That was… unexpected.

“Hahaha…” the dummy cackled. “It’s just like you to run away. I am a ghost that lives inside a dummy. My cousin used to live inside a dummy, too. Until… YOU CAME ALONG!”

The human put their hands over their ears. They were not really in the mood for this at the moment.

“When you talked to them, you thought they would be in for a nice chat… But the things you SAID…! Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE!”

...Oh. Was this dummy talking about the one they had talked to with M-- T--

...Mom?

...Probably.

...They tried to remember what, exactly, they had said. They were fairly certain that all they had said was ‘Greetings’. To absolutely no response.

“It spooked them right out of their dummy!”

...The human was beginning to wonder how reliable of a source of information this particular dummy was.

“HUMAN! I’ll scare you Soul out of your body!”

They were also pretty sure that that wasn’t how it worked.

Mad Dummy darkened from orange to red, before the world darkened and their Soul reappeared.

“Futile. Futile. FUTILE!” Mad Dummy hissed, What appeared to be miniature dummies began to appear around the human, and fired… cotton balls? The human sloshed through the water, dodging from side to side. Fortunately, they weren’t going too fast… yet.

While dodging to the left, some cotton balls that had come at them from behind sailed past them and whacked Mad Dummy, instead.

Mad Dummy began hopping about, shrieking. “OWWWWW, you DUMMIES!! Watch where you’re aiming your magic attacks!”

...Hm.

The human didn’t want to actually kill any monsters… However they were also really not in the mood or physical condition to be fighting and wanted to get this over with.

Mad Dummy suddenly glared at the human. “...Hey! You! Forget I said anything about magic!!” A twisted grin split its face. “I’ll defeat you, and take your Soul!”

As the mini dummies began to reappear around them, the human waded through the filthy water to get closer to Mad Dummy. A few more stray cotton balls smacked into its head again. The larger dummy hissed with rage and exasperation, and began leaping about in an effort to dodge any more stray cotton balls. As it landed each time, water splashed and the human became progressively more and more drenched.

No one was happy with this.

“I’ll stand in the window of a fancy story!” Mad Dummy hissed.

The human had to pause for a few seconds to process that statement, when two cotton balls smacked into their left wrist and back. They quickly ducked down immersing their injured hand in the filthy but cooling water and allowing the other cotton balls to hit the Mad Dummy.

Mad Dummy fidgeted with angry energy. “THEN EVERYTHING I WANT WILL BE MINE!”

The human stood up, whipping out their sodden arm and sleeve from the water and splashing the cotton balls flying towards them with water. Several flopped into the liquid on the ground and promptly dissipated.

“Huh? Yeah, I guess that’ll avenge my cousin.”

The human decided that Mad Dummy was not only mad in the angry sense, but also in the insane sense.

Its furious leaping became even more energetic and erratic, bouncing about all over the garbage-strewn cavern. Cotton balls flew absolutely everywhere. In a desperate attempt to escape unscathed, the human took a deep breath and ducked underwater.

It was futile. A spray of cotton balls exploded across their back.

This wasn’t helping, and the human couldn’t really hold their breath for very long anyways. They burst out from the water, covering their ears to blot out Mad Dummy’s echoing screams and gibberish.

It was practically a tornado of cotton at this point. The human made an attempt to stagger away from the rampaging dummy.

At this point it was just shrieking ‘foolish’ over and over again.

The human was starting to regret being picking about that Astronaut Food.

Finally, it splashed down near the human and contracted in towards itself, its face scrunched up in a portrait of wrath. “HEY GUYS!” it howled. The mini dummies popped up out of the water in a circle around their leader and the human. Mad Dummy snarled ferally at them. “Dummies. Dummies! DUMMIES! Remember how I said NOT to shoot at me!? Well…” The cloth monster began flailing and writhing wildly, the human lifting up their arms to try and block the water being splashed at them now. “FAILURES! YOU’RE FIRED! YOU’RE ALL BEING REPLACED!!!”

The mini dummies slowly and without comment sank back into the water, vanishing completely. As they did so, Mad Dummy began trembling and cackling maniacally. “Now you’ll see my true power: relying on people that aren’t garbage!” it taunted the human between bouts of deranged laughter.

The human backed up as a malevolent mechanical whirring echoed about the room, rising steadily in volume.

“DUMMY BOTS! MAGIC MISSILE!”

Several robotic mini dummies popped up around the human, before transforming into small rockets and closing in on the human. The human moved as quickly as they could through the water, trying to dodge, only for the rockets to chase them.

The human’s breathing hitched, and instinct took over. They jumped to Mad Dummy, grabbed the monster, and whirled around. They knew for a fact it was impossible for a monster to be killed by its own magic, so this should be alright.

Mad Dummy twitched and twisted and writhed to escape their grip, even going so far as to bite their hands, but they only let go when the dummy bots were too close for it to manage to dodge. They frantically splashed away from it as he screamed. They could not tell if it was from agony or anger or both. “DUMMY BOTS! YOU ARE THE ABSOLUTE WORST!!!”

Mad Dummy gave the human a death glare, spasming and ranting. “Who cares. Who cares! WHO CARES!? I DON’T NEED FRIENDS!!!” Mad Dummy suddenly held up a glinting blade. “I’VE GOT KNIVES!!!”

Mad Dummy lunged at the human, stabbing downwards.

The human kicked Mad Dummy, sending it falling backwards into the water and snatched up his knife, smiling.

It was definitely not their own. However they could certainly work with this.

They raised up the knife, glaring at Mad Dummy, daring him to attack again as they prepared to deflect. They were not in any shape at all to continue fighting… However, they felt a little energy return.

Mad Dummy stared blankly at them. “I’m… out of knives…”

The human felt their Soul flutter. Maybe this battle was finally nearing an end!

Mad Dummy immediately began flailing and spasming again. “BUT IT DOESN’T MATTER!!! YOU CAN’T HURT ME AND I CAN’T HURT YOU! YOU’LL BE STUCK FIGHTING ME…” It paused, a smirk visible upon its face. “Forever.” It began twitching and fidgeting again. “Forever!” It was convulsing once more. “FOREVER!!!” It dissolved into a fit of even more raucous and deranged laughter.

The human groaned, gripping tightly to their new knife with one hand and covering an ear with another.

Suddenly, tear-shaped magic bullets began dripping down upon Mad Dummy from above.

Mad Dummy paused, looking up with a combination of irritation and confusion writ upon its face. “Wh… What the heck is this!?” Its expression shifted to pain and frustration. “Ergh! Acid rain!? Oh, FORGET IT!!! I’m outta here!”

The human collapsed back into the water in relief as Mad Dummy leaped away.

A ghost drifted in. The human squinted at them. Did they know this monster?

...Did they see them in the Ruins?

“sorry, i interrupted you, didn’t i?” the ghost spoke in a low, hushed tone. “as soon as i came over, your friend immediately left… oh no, you guys looked like you were having fun…”

The human was a bit too dazed and tired at the moment to respond. Their adrenaline from the fight had left them, and right now they were tired, in pain, sore, and shivering.

“oh no… i just wanted to say hi… oh no…………………….”

The ghost flickered, uncertainly. “well... i’m going to head home now…” The ghost looked over the human again, seeming to notice the bad shape they were in. “oh… umm… feel free to ‘come with’ if you want… but no pressure... i understand if you’re busy… it’s fine… n--”

The human cut them off, telling them that they were not busy and were grateful. The ghost seemed surprised. “um... then… come by? it’s just up ahead…” And they floated off in that direction.

The human slogged through the water for a few steps until they finally set foot on dry ground once more. They quickly sat down, and removed their shoes, socks, and sweater. Under their sweater they found that they had on a grey t-shirt.

They set to work pouring the water out that had entered their shoes, and trying trying to squeeze all the water they could out of their sweater and socks. Several minutes later, they decided they had gotten all the water out that they could. They slipped their feet back into their shoes, bundled their sweater and socks back up with their newfound knife tucked inside the bundle, and stood up, carrying that clothing and following the ghost.

In the next chamber they saw the ghost had been waiting for them. “oh hey… my house is up here… in case you want to see… or in case… you don’t…” the ghost trailed off and began floating away. The human followed it.

Up ahead, there were two houses. The human tried the doors on both, and found that the one on the right was locked. The one on the left was open. They entered to find a rather pathetic and austere looking house. The ghost had headphones on now, and was in the corner, peering at a computer.

The human placed the bundle of clothes on the ground next to the door, and stepped further inside. The ghost seemed to notice them. “oh... you really came… sorry, i… wasn’t expecting that…” The ghost glanced around at the interior of the house. ...There were definitely spiderwebs in one corner. “...it’s not much, but make yourself at home…”

The human nodded, slipping out of their shoes, before locking eyes with something.

A refrigerator.

They really needed food.

They immediately strode across the creaking wooden boards to the fridge, gripping at the handle.

“oh… are you hungry… i can get you something to eat…”

The human nodded, taking a few steps back as the ghost solemnly hovered towards the fridge. The ghost then turned back to the human, clutching something. It was difficult to tell how they managed this, as the ghost had no visible limbs.

“this is a ghost sandwich…” they intoned. “Do you want to try it…”

The human nodded again, reaching for the sandwich. The ghost handed it to the… Only for the sandwich to phase through their hands, fall to the floor, and phase right through the floorboards.

The human felt their stomach groan in disappointment.

“oh... nevermind…” the ghost whispered, fading slightly. The human thought for a moment they would phase through the floorboards as well.

An awkward moment passed. The human felt a wave of dizziness pass over them, and they swayed on their feet. The ghost seemed to notice this. “after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage… it’s a family tradition…” the ghost paused, as if they were considering something. Then, they cautiously asked: “do you want… to join me...”

The human thought over the offer, and nodded their head. As they did so, the room spun slightly.

“okay... follow my lead…” the ghost instructed, drifting to the center of the bare floor. The human retrieved their bundled-up sweater and slowly followed them, lowering themself to the floor as the ghost hovered parallel to it. The human took out the knife, noting the blade had gotten stuck within a solitary sock, effectively sheathing it. They clutched the handle of the knife tightly, and laid their head down on the sweater, using it as a pillow. Sleep took them quickly.

...

They dreamed they were in their flowerbed once more. Hundreds of golden flowers, each recognizable as belonging to the same species but with minute yet unique differences. The human could feel wings on their back. They reached up to their chest, and gripped the locket dangling there.

They had a knife, even if it was not their own. An acceptable substitute. But unfortunately, there was no temporary replacement for the locket.

A flicker of distress twitched across their mind, manifesting in the dream in the form of a breeze that ruffled the petals of the golden flower. The human squinted with annoyance, glancing in the direction of the breeze. They quickly found the source, and it was just what they expected.

A small Soul, brightly shining and fluttering with fear and distress.

The human fell upon it, closing their hands around it.

They told it to go back to sleep.

What is happening?

Where am I?

I want to go home.

The human told the Soul that is was distracting them, making things more difficult. They could fix everything, but not with the Soul getting in their way.

But who are you?

They were better than the Soul. The Soul was a damn dirty hypocrite and the human was not. That was all that mattered.

I didn’t… It wasn’t my…

Enough. The human squeezed their hands tightly around the Soul until the light signalling for help calmed down. Dark red, near black, liquid spattered the ground, fizzing and hissing. The human felt their hands start to sting.

The human let out a sigh, allowing themself to drift into blissful unconsciousness.

...

The human rolled over onto their side, stretching their limbs and back. They heard something pop. They felt somewhat better after sleeping, despite their now sore back. Their mind was certainly clearer and they were less dizzy, although the hunger was now manifesting as a continuous ache in their stomach. The slowly stood up, and they noticed the ghost in the corner on his computer. The ghost turned, noticing the human.

“oh… you’re up…” the ghost observed. “you were asleep for a few hours… i didn’t want to wake you, in case you wanted to sleep more… maybe i should’ve, you might’ve had somewhere to go… sorry…”

The human shook their head. It was alright. They needed the sleep.

The ghost almost seemed to smile. “well… thank you. that was nice... thank you…”

The human moved over to the bundle of clothing on the floor, checking it. It seemed that most of the water had dried while they had slept… Although it and their hair were both slightly damp now. They removed their knife from the sock, putting on the sweater, socks, and shoes once more, and clutching at the knife tightly.

They bid the ghost farewell, and left.

The human left the vicinity of the ghost’s house… And almost immediately after they left, they saw something that they desperately needed.

A shop. That would definitely have food. They made a beeline in it… And squinted at the shopkeeper. An old turtle.

...He seemed vaguely familiar, but they had no idea what his name was.

“Whoah there! I’ve got some neat junk for sale,” the turtle said, a somewhat crazed smile on his face.

The human demanded food. Preferably chocolate. Chocolate was their priority, however they would also take anything at this point.

The turtle let out a loud laugh. “I’ve got some crab apples, 25 gold!”

The human placed a small pile of gold on the counter, and requested as many crab apples as that would get them. For that, they were given four crab apples.

The human grabbed the apples, stuffing three into their pockets and biting into the fourth. It tasted salty, and juice dribbled down their chin.

While eating, they inquired about what the symbol behind him actually meant. They had seen it and heard its name before, but were unsure about what it was.

“That emblem actually predates written history,” the turtle mused. “The original meaning has been lost to time… All we know is that the triangles symbolize us monsters below, and the winged circle symbolizes…” The turtle squinted, smirking. It seemed to be in a knowing fashion. “Somethin’ else.”

What?

“Most people say it’s the ‘angel’, from the prophecy,” the turtle continued.

Prophecy?

“Oh yeah… The prophecy,” the turtle hummed. “Legend has it, an ‘angel’ who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom.” The knowing squint returned. “Lately, people have been taking a bleaker outlook… Callin’ that winged circle the ‘Angel of Death’. A harbinger of destruction, waitin’ to ‘free us’ from this mortal realm.”

The human felt something jerk in their chest, and flutter anxiously. They pushed it back down again, rather roughly. Don’t you dare.

The human told the turtle that that was never going to happen. Not in this universe.

The turtle threw back his head. “WAHAHAHA!” He refocused. “Well. It’s just a neat little image.”

The human finished the first crabapple, dropping the core on the ground and taking out a second. Another question came to mind.

The turtle’s eyebrows perked up. “Undyne? Yeah, she’s a local hero around here. Through grit and determination alone, she fought her way to the top of the Royal Guard.” The turtle paused, eying the human. “Actually, she just came through here asking about someone who looked just like you…”

The human felt a chill go up their spine.

“I’d watch your back, kid,” the turtle hummed.

The human decided it might just be time to start moving again. They quickly walked out of the store, munching on their crab apples.

“Be careful out there kid!” the turtle called after them.

The human found that their path led into darkness once more. Flowing waterfalls intersected with the way ahead, and the human sighed slightly in annoyance as there was no way to proceed if they did not wade through them.

And they had just gotten their clothes dry.

In the distance, just off the path they could see the soft cyan glow of echo flowers, wobbling gently back and forth, and filing the cavern with the soft murmur of whispers over the soft murmur of water.

The path shrunk to a trail, winding through another marsh of rich black mud, the way they had to go lit by a dim, luminescent grass.

They followed the path until it vanished, the grass clustered in a ring around a blue and white mushroom. They nudged the mushroom with their shoe, causing it to light up, and causing a second trail of grass to light up as well, illuminating how to proceed.

This was how they advanced across the marsh, until light from the grass began to fade, and the darkness closed in around them.

The reached out their hands, wandering blindly across the maze of the marsh, hoping they wouldn’t fall into an area where the mud would suck them in, or slip into a deep pool of water.

Eventually they saw something, a cyan light. Not especially bright, but it was like a beacon in the blackness. The human carefully strode towards it. They tapped it, and words rustled out from the depths of its petals.

Behind you.

The human whirled around. A slight glint in the darkness, and a second brilliant cyan light illuminated the room, as well as the spear’s wielder.

Undyne was here.

She approached, slowly, spear at the ready. The human drew their knife, before realizing they were unsure what, exactly, they intended to do with it.

They didn’t intend to kill or injure any monsters.

However they were not going to die.

There had to be a way to achieve both.

An almost memory niggled at the back of their mind. Something… familiar.

Their mind was racing so quickly they almost did not realize Undyne had begun to speak.

“...Seven,” Undyne spoke, her voice a low and rough growl. One had to be listening closely to discern her words. It was unnerving and intimidating, giving the impression she was like a feral beast inches away from attacking. “Seven human Souls. With the power of seven human Souls, our king… King Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god…” Undyne paused. “With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier.” The human could hear the smile and the admiration in her voice, the growl lessening somewhat. “He will finally take the surface back from humanity…” The growl returned, intensified with bitterness and anger. “And give them back the suffering and pain we have endured.”

The knight pointed her spear at the them. “Understand, human? This is your only chance at redemption.”

The human informed Undyne she was incorrect. They did not need redemption. They weren’t like the other stupid, hypocritical humans.

“The fact that your species continues to exist is a crime,” Undyne retorted, annoyance at being interrupted creeping into her voice. “Surrender your Soul, or I will tear it from your body!”

Neither event would occur. The human had several goals, that required a Soul to be in their possession. Giving it to Undyne would be counter-intuitive.

Undyne prepared herself to charge the human. The human raised their knife, preparing to dodge.

A familiar monster barrelled out of a patch of grass off to the side. “WAIT!” Monster Kid looked at both Undyne, and the human. His face lit up upon seeing them. “Dude! I’ve been looking all over for you! Sorry I couldn’t catch up earlier!” He glanced back at Undyne, before turning back to the human. “And Undyne’s right here too, yo! This is amazing! We get front row seats ta see her fight!” A massive grin split his face, as he glanced around again. A note of confusion crossed it. “...Yo… who’s she fighting…? Where’s the human?”

The human explained in a hurried fashion that they may or may not, in fact, be the human.

Monster Kid gaped at them. “...Dude!?”

The human repeated their statement.

“But… you…”

Undyne apparently decided to take advantage of Monster Kid’s confusion by grabbing his sweater and dragging him along. He scrabbled to keep up, not seeming to realize who it was dragging him, in his state of shock.

They managed to walk back down the path when Undyne and Monster Kid left, noticing a branching trail off of it that had previously somehow went unseen. They followed the broad trail of soft luminescent grass, and entered a rather beautiful area.

Echo flowers blossomed everywhere in the dim passageway, while strange spheres of golden light drifted through the air.

They thought about Monster Kid.

...hmm… if I say my wish… You promise you won’t laugh at me?

He had genuinely thought they were a monster. Had seemed so… betrayed and shocked when they revealed otherwise.

Of course I won’t laugh!

He had never seen a human before, but was unsurprised when he found out, they remembered.

Monster Kid had been eager to befriend them, as another monster. And yes, humans were very dangerous to monsters, and were nowhere near as good as monsters but… But…

...They were happy others disliked humans. There were good reasons to. But now…

Someday, I’d like to climb this mountain we’re all buried under.

Having a friend had been nice.

But Monster Kid hadn’t been anything like him.

...Now they were lonely.

Standing under the sky, looking at the world all around…

...Monster Kid had been betrayed by their revelation that they were human. But they had not intended to hurt him before they had told him so, and them revealing their species changed their intentions in no way, shape, or form.

...Examining their feelings…

That’s my wish.

They were hurt by the idea that Monster Kid might think differently of them, now that he knew they were human.

Hey, you said you wouldn’t laugh at it!

They felt…

Sorry, it’s just funny…

They wanted to prove Undyne wrong.

They wanted to prove Monster Kid wrong.

That’s my wish, too…

They were going to break the Barrier.

They were going to find Asriel.

They noticed a plaque ahead of them.

“However, there is a prophecy. The Angel... The One Who Has Seen the Surface… They will return. And the Underground will go empty.”

...They had seen the surface.

They had been gone and returned.

...They decided that they still intended to empty the Underground. They just needed to figure out exactly how.

They found that Determination was welling up in their Soul.

The path took them next across a bridge. The bottom was far down, but visible, this time, and that gave the human some sense of relief.

They heard a familiar voice echo out across the chasm.

“Yo!”

They turned to see Monster Kid. A wave of deja vu washed over them, accompanied by slight nausea.

“Y… you’re really a human?” Monster Kid asked them, confusion and apprehension evident on his face. He hesitantly approached them. The aforementioned human frowned.

They confirmed this statement.

...Perhaps they should have said that before.

...Perhaps they should reintroduce themself now.

They smiled, trying to look reassuring. “Greetings,” they spoke. “My name is Chara.”

“I-I’m, ah…” Monster Kid had seemed as though he wanted to respond, but trialed off. He looked down at the planks making up the bridge. “...I’m not supposed to be here, I know, but… I need to ask you something.” There was an awkward pause. Monster Kid looked up, wearing a nervous grin. “Man, I’ve never had to ask anyone this before…”

“What is it?” The human, Chara, asked.

“Yo… you’re the human, right?” Monster Kid stalled.

“I am,” Chara confirmed.

Monster Kid laughed nervously. “Haha. Man! I knew it!” His grin faded. “I mean… you told me... “ His gaze fell to the planks again. “...Undyne told me to stay away from you.”

Chara smiled drily. “...I…” They paused, wondering, how they could word their thoughts. Before they found a satisfactory was to do so, however, Monster Kid continued speaking.

“I-guess-that-makes-us-enemies-or-something,” Monster Kid spoke quickly.

Chara responded, not even thinking. “Humans-- humans are… Humans are violent, disgusting, and you have good reason to hate them.” they paused, inhaling. “However, I am not like that. Do not associate me with them.”

Monster Kid closed his eyes. “C-can you please… Say something mean so I can hate you?”

Chara’s eyes widened. “Absolutely not.”

Monster Kid gave them a tortured look. “So I have to do it? Uh…” He thought. “Here goes nothing… I… I hate your guts.”

“Ridiculous,” Chara said without missing a beat.

Monster Kid’s expression fell further. It warped into something that could be desperately trying to pass for a grin. “You’re right…” It stopped trying. “Man, I’m… I’m such a turd…”

Chara was unsure what to say. They had never been particularly good at cheering others up.

That had always been him.

“I’m… Going to go home now…” Monster Kid muttered. Chara nodded, sullenly.

...Maybe that was better. Maybe he would’ve been just a distraction.

They thought a few moments.

...He would not have been. He made them… made them feel determined.

Even if he was not exactly like Asriel, Asriel set a rather high bar.

And it was not as if Monster Kid was the only one there on the bridge who disliked humanity. Chara could most certainly understand. Even if they were sure their hate was a bit more… personal.

They decided to speak up. “Wai--”

Monster Kid, surprised by the sudden noise, tripped, slipping off the bridge. He just barely avoided falling by chomping onto the bridge with his mouth. He let out a distressed noise.

Chara immediately grabbed him by his sweater, trying to haul him up. Their grip slipped slightly when they realized Undyne had arrived, and was standing in very close proximity to them.

But they couldn’t run, because they were still holding Monster Kid, he was still off-balanced.

Out of the corner of their eye, they could see her approaching.

They finished hauling Monster Kid up, placing their hands on his shoulders to steady him.

They could hear her boots on the bridge, still approaching.

A half-second passed and Monster Kid pushed past his friend, standing between them and Undyne. Chara tugged at his sweater, trying to signal to him that they should get behind them. He ignored them.

“H… hey… Yo, Un-undyne!” Monster Kid got out, trying to puff up his chest to look intimidating. “If… If you want to hurt my friend, you need to get through me!”

“Do not be foolish, I--” Chara began.

“No! I…” He let out a huff of air. “Just… Just back off dude!”

Undyne observed the two kids, before turning and leaving.

Monster Kid immediately faced Chara, tears glittering at the corners of his eyes. “D-dude--”

“Do not be foolish!” Chara repeated. “Humans, regretfully, are superior to monsters in terms of fighting. This is not something I would normally celebrate, however this is one of the few situations in which it may prove useful, as it allows me to be more likely to survive Undyne’s wrath than y--”

“No. Yo, be quiet for a bit I-- I need to say this!” Monster Kid yelled.

Chara shut up, while Monster Kid inhaled. “...Dude, I’m so sorry I… I’m sorry I thought we couldn’t be friends! I mean… You seemed really really c-cool before, even if I didn’t know what kinda monster you were, you just… I don’t have a lot of friends, and I thought since you were new I could show you around and help you out and show off and you’d think I was cool and we could be friends, and I thought we were and…” The tears began to stream down his face. “A-a-and I wanted to be friends b-but we’re told… Humans are crazy dangerous! Like first lesson in Monster School! The humans killed the king’s royal children! A-and, and the Yellow human was a long time ago but they killed so many monsters because none of the monsters knew just how dangerous humans could be, and they were as bad but Orange and Blue killed monsters too and everyone knows how--”

Chara was unsure what to say. They opened their arms hesitantly, and Monster Kid collapsed into their sweater, sobbing.

“I’m… I’m sorry… Y-you didn’t kill me before, I dunno why I thought you’d be not my friend anymore but… But I just remembered all that and I got scared and confused and…”

“...I know,” Chara muttered. “I suppose we’re… we’re friends. Friends… forgive each other.”

They stayed there like that, until Monster Kid eventually stopped crying.

“H-hey… Dude, I never told ya my name, did I?” Monster Kid tried to grin. “I’m Py!”

“It is nice to meet you, Py,” Chara responded.

“I should… I should go home…” Py sighed. “My parents are gonna be worried sick about me!”

“Wait,” Chara said. Py looked at them curiously.

Chara thought a few moments. “...I am going to go to New Home. To see the King, and to find a way to destroy the Barrier. Tomorrow… Would you like to join me?”

Py’s face lit up, before the expression faltered slightly. “I, uh… I gotta ask my parent first…”

Chara nodded. “...It would be nice… if you could, that is,” they spoke, trailing off.

Py smiled. “It would. I’ll ask.” He turned around and ran off, not slipping this time.

Chara closed their eyes. Having someone they knew was a friend, for the first time since they returned…

It filled them with Determination.

#undertale #triad #triad-pacifist #pacifist-run #paci-runner #monster kid #undyne #waterfall

5 notes · View notes