Long ago, two races ruled over the Earth: Humans and Monsters. One day, a war broke out between the two races and after a long series of battle, the humans were victorious. The greatest of their magicians sealed the monsters to the Underground with a magic barrier. However, this barrier is not a perfect barrier.
Whoever enters Mt. Ebott... never comes back...
Oh, my head...
...
CHAPTER ONE: THE RUINS
The headache did not wear off so easily. The fall was long and dramatic, and the girl was sure she would die... but she did not.
"Flowers? Yellow flowers?" The girl was surprised what saved her from painful death. The small field of golden flowers, strong enough to stop death from even the greatest fall.
The girl picked up her handbag and opened it to check her belongings. She was not sure if something broke during the fall...
Camera? Check. Diary? Check. Necklace? Unharmed. Good work, Max.
Maxine Caulfield felt a lot of feels going through her body when she touched the necklace with three bullets and carefully put it on her neck. A rememberance on her best friend, Chloe Elizabeth Price. A punk girl with a lovely heart, which life was full of sadness... and happiness at the same time. But her end was painful... both to Chloe and Max. A bullet ended the bond of these two souls, stronger than the strongest material ever existing. Maybe even stronger...
Thank you, Chloe. I won't forget. Never.
Satisfied her belongings are safe and without a scratch as the owner herself, Max decided to explore the cave she fell into. On the first look, Max found there is no way to climb back - no vines or climbable rocks. Also, the light was secured not only by the torches on the three pillars supporting the rocks above Max's head.
It's little dark here... here comes...
Max took her smartphone, turning on a flashlight on the cover. The way before her was a lot clearer than a few whiles ago.
Although there was no way up, there was a way for Max to get out. A small corridor leading to the great arched doorway was the only solution here.
Alright. Here goes nothing...
Max grabbed all her courage and ventured into the corridor. The darkness of the cave scared the little nerd, but the determination to see the sunlight again and, the greatest source of her will, to see Chloe Price again, kept her going. She crossed the archway carefully, trying not to bring it out by a simple touch.
...
When Max entered the next room, a big cone of light enlightened the whole place, like the nature sought it that way. It looked both scary and beautiful at the same time. It was so inspiring with the small green grassy field that forced Max to take out her polaroid...
It is so tempting it would be a sin not to take a shot... Quickly, a statement of her former teacher, Mark Jefferson, ran through her head like a bullet - ALWAYS TAKE A SHOT.
Max aimed the camera on the cone with the fiend, seeing another archway in the distance. She did not take care about it for a moment and aimed a perfect picture in her occular, she pushed the button...
And a polaroid picture came off the machine. Max smiled as she picked the photo and looked on it...
A flower? I would swear there was none a few moments ago... What the fuck?
By looking on the photo she made, Max saw a strange yellow flower appeared from nowhere in the grass. It was standing like a common flower, well for that difference it had a face...
HOWDY!
"What the fuck?!" Max said, scared to the bone. She saw a lot of weird and frightening things in her life in Arcadia Bay, but a talking flower?
She looked on the flower, which was looking on the nerd all the time. All what Max could release from her was: "Hi..."
The flower replied with a quiet, neat voice: "Howdy, I am Flowey. Flowey the Flower!"
Max stepped a little closer to Flowey, thinking that this type of creature is surely harmless, but something else hurt her mind...
The flower just stood unfazed or untouched. "Hmm, you're new to the underground, arent'tcha?" Flowey's voice was a little questioning here, not if interrogating.
"Yeah, something like that." Max replied carefully to the talking plant, trying to sit to talk to it "on the same level".
Flowey has smirked his right eye. "Golly, you must be so confused!"
"Not at all." The girl nerd tried to hide her confusion behind a stone face. Succesfully. The flower was shocked.
"Heh, that is not what I have expected... But still, someone has to teach you how the things goes down here. Ready?" Flowey's voice darkened a little which scared Max a little.
But she did refuse to surrender to fear. "Just cut to the chase, plant."
Maybe Max should have thought before she said this - an impassable circle of strange bullets surrounded her. Flowey's face suddenly changed into a dark one with a maniacal tone.
YOU IDIOT.
IN THIS WORLD, IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!
WHO WOULD LET PASS AN OPPORTUNITY LIKE THIS?!
A while of a forced, kinda confusing and embarrasing silence. Flowey's sadistic voice casted it away.
DIE!
And as the flower's speech ended, the bullet circle closed more and more to the frightened Max, looking on the dark-faced Flowey. It's maniac-style laugher mixed with madness and dark sounded all over the hall, causing panic in Time Warrior's head. The thought of swift death mentioned Chloe both in her heart and brain... painful way, it was...
Do it already... At least I'll be with Chloe the quick way.
But the death was not delievered. As soon as the deadly bullets touched Max, they perished into the air, leaving no scratch or bloody wound on the young nerd.
What the- What?
Maxine was both scared and confused. So was Flowey. Never, as he remembers, never his bullets did not KILL it's target. No disperse, no unharm... only blood, violence, EXECUTION. But now... nothing.
W... WHAT THE HELL?! THIS IS... confusing-
The flower was not given a chance to finish his loud thought. Out of nowhere, a fireball charged towards Flowey, firing him long in the distance in the dark... dark.
NEAH!
This was Flowey's last... whin. But there was no proof the weed was rooted out for good. Max knew that flower will come back in time.
But who cast that fire? It could not come just from thin air...
Suddenly, a tall figure slowly entered the scene, making no noise during the walk towards Maxine. It looked like worried, because it was shaking a little. When the figure entered a light cone, it was revealed as a lady goat in purple and white robes with a strange angelic crest on the chest. Her white fur with cute and kind brown eyes advised Max not to be afraid... but she was cautious too, because the mad flower shown her not to trust ANYTHING in this underground cave.
"What a horrible creature, torturing such an innocent living being..." The goat lady said, looking in the direction Flowey was fired away. Then she turned her gaze to Max, smiling to see her.
"Oh, hello there, my child." The lady said kindly to the nerd, looking happily. She nervously moved her fluffly fingers.
Max scratched her arm, feeling little nervous in front of the lady. She saw really weird things, but this... a talking goat...
You're only high, Max. Stay calm...
Maxine stepped a little closer towards the lady, making a small bow to honor her. "Hi, lady..."
"I am Toriel, caretaker of the RUINS. What... What's your name, little human?" Truly, Max was hella short compared to Toriel, but not that much. She reached out her right hand to Toriel, wanting to shake her hand as a polite manner.
"Hi, Toriel. I am Max, nice to meet you." The nerd released from her shaking throat, fearing what could come next. If this flower wants to kill things...
The goat lady was surprised by the human's reaction and ankwardly shook Maxine's small hand. Max felt comforted when her hand got swallowed by Toriel's fluffy hand. She felt the touch was a little tickling. She could not hold her amused laugh from the unintentional tickle.
"Hehe, that tickles." Max stated with a smile on her face, slowly taking her hand back.
Toriel smiled back, putting her hands together like a caring mother. "Max, nice name. I usually look down here if someone hasn't fallen down here, and it seems you did." The lady sounded really worried and caring, she surely wanted to keep Max safe.
"Don't worry, I will lead you out of the Ruins. Follow me." As Toriel finished her sentence, she left into the next archway, but enlightened more than the previous one.
I should not be so trusty, but she looks fine. And... kind. Let's go.
And Max slowly followed the goat lady, looking carefully on the arch, watching if it won't fall down on her head. A reminescence of bucket full of paint and a wet coat flashed in Max's head and quickly disappeared as she crossed another entrance...
...
The blinding light of the hallway surprised Max Caulfield. First a talking flower with murdery instincts, a harmless goat lady ACTing like a mother and now... a sunlight underground?
Is air full of coccaine or grass? This is scientific bullshit, as Brooke would say it.
Max stepped into the corridor slowly, afraid of any traps hidden in the purple-colored stone floor. She felt weird, like she was on the wild drug trip, smoking mariuhana all the way. But she did not feel her head being in pain or her eyesight being anyhow blurred.
Not only the floor, but the walls were also painted in lighter purple, which gave the place both intimidating and pleasing atmosphere. The hall was long and it's other end, in the opposite direction from Maxine, was formed of a set of two staircases, leading to a huge entrance, similiar to a castle gate. Toriel was standing next to the door, with her hands put together, waiting on the girl to come.
Looking through all that distance on Toriel and the entrance, Max got kissed by a muse again. Remembering how much she loves to take photos, she took her camera out of her bag again, going closer to the goat lady. Kneeling near to one of the pillars standing next to the stairs, she aimed with the small, handy machine on the kind monster lady.
"W... what are you doing, Max, my child?" Toriel asked, scared of the camera in Max's hands. She was afraid that the girl is going to "kill" her. It wouldn't be the first try on Toriel, nor the last one. But striking her down, in her most vunreable moment... only the most malevolent living beings would be evil enough to do it.
"Don't worry, Toriel. It's for keeping good memories." Max's reply ended with pushing the button on a camera, releasing a blinding white light towards Toriel.
The goat lady was too far to get anyhow blinded, but the blink scared her out. She jumped a bit, hitting accidentaly the wall behind her. What she expected was a shot into her body, turning her into a pile of dust...
But in her own surprise, a polaroid came from the machine, showing Toriel standing at the door, with the stairways and a bed of red leaves under her. Max took the shot and shook with it a little to clear it out. Then, the nerd came to the lady, smiling cutely and handing her the shot. "
"Sorry for frightening you, lady. I should have warned you." Maxine neatly told Toriel, still smiling, trying to calm her down.
The goat lady smiled back, taking the photo and quickly standing up, returning to her previous pose. "No, that's perfectly okay, my dear Max. I am only... easily catched off-guard by things I do not recognize or know."
Toriel then looked on the shot, which gave her a wide smile and her cuteness level was only raised. "That's really nice photo, Max. You're as good as... as..."
She shut the sentence in half to keep the bad memories out of her head. On... HIM.
"Come, my child." The lady called Max into another hall, quickly rushing into the archway.
Before Max could follow Toriel further into the Ruins, a strange light captured her interest.
On a bed of red leaves, the strange light was floating, like it was waiting. The young nerd's curiousity only raised, as she was closing to the strange light more and more.
Wowzer... That light is so powerful... I can feel it's power glowing from it.
Max, more curious than careful, touched slowly the fading light and suddenly, a set of scenes blitzed before her eyes. It was too fast to see it, but Maxine recognized a very familiar voice sounding...
"You're my hero, Max. I'll always love you..." Then, a gun shot filled Max's ears, giving the girl an unbelieveable pain...
"CHLOE!" Maxine shouted, awakening on a floor right before the same light.
What the fuck was that? And what does it mean?
The nerd did not want to think about it right now of the much scare the vision gave her. Seeing Chloe Price dying... that was too much.
But what did not Max know was, that the new power was filling her veins. Not blood, not super strength or kryptonite...
The power has it's name and in the Underworld, it's nearly a miracle.
It is called...
DETERMINATION.
...