nightelf37: I never thought the day would come where my excuse for inactivity would come from a computer crash like many other fanfic authors before me, but it has. Thankfully, Dropbox saved my data, so I can still write.

There are so few fanfics of Iji, and I understand that. It's relatively short, and the story's rather straightforward. However, there're a few things in particular that struck me; after watching jacksepticeye's Let's Play of Undertale (and later watching Mangaminx and Russ Money's LPs of them), I saw that both main characters are essentially two different extremes of pacifists: one canonically avoids using violence at any cost, and the other's idea of pacifism only extends to "don't kill them personally".

And I thought, after seeing a few other fics where somebody else falls into the Underground instead of the Human Child (note: I know what their name is, but I ain't telling), what if I had Iji enter the Underground and meet the monsters? How will they deal with Iji's brand of pacifism? How will she react to them? Well, I can't promise they'll be that much different, as this is just a writing experiment.

As the title suggests, I will be doing the pacifist route, and Iji here will have done the same in her own game. Go play it, search for "iji remar games", then come back. As a result, there will be spoilers on Iji, but I'll try not to for Undertale.

Disclaimer: Iji belongs to Daniel Remar, and Undertale belongs to Toby Fox.

Now, without further ado, may I represent…

A Different Kind of Pacifist


After bracing her fall, which had been barely broken by a bed of yellow flowers, Iji got to her feet, and looked around. Up from where she came was the only source of light in this area, and it was barely a trickle. The place where she fell down was oval-shaped, and the only other means of exit was a passageway. Upon later inspection, she would notice the stone was… strangely clean cut, no little bumps or cracks across its surface to be felt. So they are here. Or were, at least. This fall was no accident; Iji meant to come here. She heard the legends regarding the monsters in Mt. Ebott, and she went anyway.

Iji still wore the same green shirt, black long shorts, and black shoes from when she first woke after the Tasen's Alpha Strike, and kept her long brown hair loose, though it was properly brushed now. The Nanofield that had been…installed onto her still surrounded her body even now. The only thing that was new was a customized holster for her trusty weapon; her Nanogun, which she never let out of her sight and/or off her person, as she had promised her brother Dan. So she wouldn't have to keep on holding it, her new holster was designed to hold her Nanogun on her back, sturdy enough to lock it there when she doesn't need it, and loose enough so she can pull it out at a moment's notice.

Even though she was technically a cyborg now, she still needed food like every other human, so she also had a satchel filled with all sorts of long-lasting food so she won't go hungry, two canteens with water (in case she loses one or feels the need to share), a couple of pills for purifying water if she were to find a stream or spring deep in the mountain, a flashlight, and all other kinds of supplies. It paid to be prepared.

With a path open to her, Iji walked down the 'hallway'. Before long, she came across a pillar. There was no mistaking it. The cleverly cut and rounded edges, the complex design, it was most certainly a pillar of some sort. She felt next to the pillar and noticed empty space, and if she looked closely enough, she could see light.

It seemed to be an entryway. Wary of what might be ahead, Iji un-holstered her Nanogun, and crossed it. Unlike the facility in which she fought the Tasen and Komato in, there was no Nano, so she would have to be very conservative with her ammunition. Defense won't be an issue; her Nanofield protects from all forms of physical and projectile attacks; the only thing that can penetrate it are Nanoweapons, and those things don't exist underground. Still, who knows what these monsters have up their sleeve?

Up ahead was another beam of light above, shining down on a single golden flower, with a white androecium, six yellow petals, and a green stem, its roots digging through the stone. Intending to walk past the flower entirely, she noticed the outline of another room ahead. She concluded that this must be some sort of… cave, leading deeper into the underground.

And then she noticed something move. She turned to the flower…and saw it smiling at her, complete with mouth and eyes. Is this a monster?

"Howdy!" it greeted. Iji reeled back in mild shock. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower! Hmm…" It smiled. "You're new to the Underground, arent'cha? "

So that's what they call it here. "I guess you can say that, um, Flowey."

"Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little old me will have to do. Ready?" Iji simply nodded. "Here we go!"

There was a soft, rapid clicking noise as the flower pointed one of its petals at Iji's heart. She looked down to see… a red heart-shape glowing straight through her shirt. Iji found herself blushing a bit, hoping it wasn't revealing anything else; she didn't know the flower's gender, and even though she wasn't that well-endowed—

"See that heart?" Flowey continued to speak. "That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being! You SOUL starts weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."

"What's LV stand for?" Level, just like my Nanofield?

"Why, LOVE, of course!"

Oh.

"You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, while I can see you already have quite a bit of LOVE, I'll share some with you!"

Um, thank—wait, what? I already got LOVE? And for some reason, I don't think he just means love. Dan…

Flowey winked at her, sticking its tongue at her happily, then suddenly shook slightly, releasing white.. pollen? Iji wasn't quite sure what it was. It seemed to have a white aura and floated around, as if it had a mind of its own. "Down here, LOVE is shared through… little white… "friendliness pellets". Are you ready?"

A nagging thought in Iji's mind warned her of the possibility that this could very well be a trap and that she probably shouldn't take this at face value.

"Move around! Get as many as you can!"

While she never encountered an traitorous individuals (for all she knew, Flowey really was a nice monster), she played it safe and—as the "friendliness pellets" started moving closer, playfully floating around—dodged them all with ease, where they dispersed upon impact with the walls behind her. If they were really friendly, they'd be patient with her.

Flowey frowned pensively as a result. "Hey buddy, you missed them. Let's try again, okay?"

"Sorry." As it dispersed more "friendliness pellets", Iji wondered how she should test these pellets out as she put the Nanogun to it holster. If these were really harmful, it would be best to determine how much damage they could inflict, which means she has to expose a body part to catch one. And given the nature of the attacks, she can't tell if they could pass through the Nanofield or not. She then elected to expose her pinky finger of the hand she used to hold up her Nanogun, if it hurt that much, she could at least still fight.

The pellets approached her once more and she evaded them like before, this time extending her hand so that her pinky could touch one of them. Unfortunately, she missed, and Flowey looked really angry.

"Is this a joke?" it asked impatiently. "Are you braindead? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLETS!"

Iji was shocked. What?! Bullets?! So Flowey means to harm me!

Flowey was also shocked, but for a different reason and attempted a verbal backspace. "Uhh… friendliness pellets."

But it was too late. Iji dodged the next wave of bullets, and Flowey then dropped the cheerful facade, showing a gruesome face of pure malice.

"You know what's going on here, don't you? You just wanted to see me suffer."

"No," Iji replied as she took out her Nanogun. She still wouldn't kill it, just hope she can scare it away. "Your tricks may work on a naive child, but I'm no such person."

Flowey's response to that was to conjure a column of "friendliness pellets" around Iji, completely closing her off. "DIE." It then let off a maniacal laugh, showing its sharp teeth, as the bullets closed in.

Iji prepared to run. There was no time to test if the bullets would go through her Nanofield or not, and there was no way to test how much damage she would take. She could only hope and do what she has often done in the face of the aliens that had tried to kill her long ago; run through the barrage and weather it.

Just then, a figure burst through the doorway and Flowey's bullets instantly disappeared, leaving it confused. The large… beast swung its hand, a fireball escaping from its paws and hitting Flowey, knocking it out of sight. Once that was done, Iji took a good look at the one who helped her, but kept her Nanogun in hand. She learned her lesson with the Komato; Dan thought they were the good guys who can kill the Tasen for them, but they turned out to be far worse.

The new stranger's head resembled that of a white-furred Nubian goat, with droopy ears and short horns. They had a pair of visible fangs and long eyelashes (Iji can safely assume this was a female). Her irises have a slight red tint. Her body was anthropomorphic, with paws at the end of her limbs, and she wore a long blue robe that displayed a smooth-edged upside-down triangle containing an orb between two wings and three triangles beneath it, the bottom middle triangle being inverted. She stood at least two feet taller than Iji, and that was saying something as Iji was fairly tall, even compared to most men: 6 feet, 3 inches. (1)

"What a terrible creature, torturing such a poor innocent youth," she said in a motherly voice.

Youth? I'm 20, though some think I look younger. Iji aimed her Nanogun at the stranger; she can't take risks at this point, not after Flowey.

The stranger seemed to notice the woman's hostility and raised her arms in a gesture of peace. "Do not be afraid, my child." Her tone remained steady. "I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through this place every day to see if anyone has fallen down. You are the first human to come here in a long time."

First in a long time? That means there's more!

"Come! I will guide you through the catacombs." With that, Toriel put her arms down, slowly turned away, and then walked toward the doorway she came in and crossed it to another room.

After reading her tone, Iji could sense no malice in it, no evil intent, and Toriel even left herself vulnerable if Iji were to decide to shoot her in the back. A sign of trust, perhaps? Iji decided to stand down, but kept holding onto her Nanogun just in case. She then followed Toriel, and found her standing in the center. She didn't notice that her SOUL stopped glowing at this point.


The room they were now in was lined with vibrantly dark purple brick. Red leaves were spread across the cave. The ground itself was akin to some kind of purple grass, but the way her shoes crunched against the plant seemed to signal it wasn't alive. Two sets of lavender concrete stairs wrapped up the walls and arrived at a platform several feet high. Up at the platform was a sign hung above a doorway, the next room barely visible. The air felt cold and dry inside the Ruins, and despite being underground, the area was fairly lit despite the lack of candles or other obvious methods of illumination. Another feat monsters can do, perhaps?

If Toriel was showing her kindness, it's fair that she show it too. "My name's Iji," she introduced herself and extended her hand.

The monster took the hand and shook it in return, and Iji could feel it was very fuzzy and warm. The two then ascended the right-hand steps, Toriel leading the way. The monster had to pick up her robe as she walked, causing her to slow down as she focused on each step. Iji patiently waited behind her as the two eventually entered the next room.

The new room had the same purple bricks, an unknown light source keeping the room lit. A closed, stone door sat on the opposite side of the room while a worn path stood in between. Six stone switches, in two rows of three, sat to the right and a golden switch hung by the door. Toriel walked the the center of the room.

"Welcome to your new home, innocent one," said the monster.

New home? Sorry, Toriel, but I don't plan on staying. But Iji said nothing, so as not to be rude.

"Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins. The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them."

Iji nodded, then turned to look at the sign on the far left. It was amazing that their written language was English. "Only the fearless may proceed," it said. "Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road." She then turned her eyes to the switches, and noticed that two of them, the ones in the middle were on a lighter section than the other four. Is this the "middle road"? Iji proceeded to step on the four switches, then walked to the golden switch on the door and flicked it up.

Toriel watched patiently as the door shook and wobbled, slowly being pulled upwards. She then nodded to Iji and the two headed to the next room.


The scent of fresh water hit Iji like a pile of bricks, and she could see the crystal clear liquid flowing through the long hallway, bridges built over it for crossing. A convenient path was worn away in the slightly livelier grass. Vines hung from the purple, brick walls and a sign hung on the wall. Another picketed sign was struck in the ground in front of them.

"To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches," Toriel explained. "Do not worry, I have labelled the ones you need to flip." She then walked ahead and allowed Iji to explore. The first thing the Human Anomaly approached was the sign, which read, "Press [Z] to read signs!"

Weird. Some of the logbooks Dan hacked and the Tasen had said similar things. I never really got them. She then saw another sign further on the wall, which read, Stay on the path.

She then walked across the bridge to meet up with Toriel, only to the notice the switches on her left. Toriel did say to trigger them, and the one immediately available had arrows painted onto the bricks pointing to the switch. Iji walked closer to see there was writing on the wall.

Please press this switch. -Toriel.

What humans fell down here before me? Kids? This worried Iji, if Toriel really had this ready ahead of time for every human that fell. Shrugging, she flipped that switch, and Toriel, who was standing on a second bridge on the path, walked on, stopping at the end of the room, which was blocked by two metal tiles filled with spikes. There were two more switches, and only one of them was similarly marked lke the previous one.

After walking over and flipping the obvious answer, after finding out that the other switch doesn't even work, Toriel clapped her paws together as the spikes receded. "Splendid! I am proud of you, little one."

Iji felt a bit degraded. She didn't take pride in her height, but it was a bit intimidating to see others taller than her. All the Tasen, all the Komato, and now Toriel. But she ignored it as she followed the monster to the next room.

There were no small rivers running through it, but it did curve to the left. The same purple brick lined the room, and the pathway on the ground seemed rather average. The only thing that made this room unique was an oddly shaped dummy in the center of the room on a dead end of the pathway.

This sight told Iji one thing; she was expected to fight. But she won't do that. Surely the monsters were different from the Komato and Tasen. Surely there was another way to handle them. And since they likely don't have Nanofields, she can't employ her usual tricks on taking them down without killing them herself, and she was sure the monsters were smarter and wouldn't kill each other trying to kill her.

"As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you," Toriel said with a trace of hesitation. "You will need to be prepared for this situation. However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a Monster, you will enter a Fight." Iji was confused with the emphasis on that word. "When you are in a Fight, strike up a friendly conversation." This confused Iji. "Stall for time. I will come and resolve the conflict." Toriel then motioned to the dummy. "Practice talking to the dummy."

For some reason, Iji felt a little relieved. So there is a way to 'defeat' the monsters non-violently. But stalling for Toriel? She'd rather hope she could stop them on her own. Many times before, when she wished to talk to somebody to stop fighting, they either refused to listen, or were the ones to talk to her first with negotiations already in mind, like Vateilika and Ansaksie. Hopefully, the monsters would be more open-minded.

Iji approached the dummy, but wasn't sure how to begin. Her mind kept drawing up blanks, and eventually, she turned to Toriel for tips. "Do you need some ideas for conversation topics?" Toriel tilted her head slightly, her hands cupped together. Iji rubbed her nape awkwardly in response as she also put away her Nanogun; she could still kick enemies anyway, so she wasn't completely defenseless. Toriel raised a finger to her chin as she thought over it. "Well… I often start with a simple 'how do you do'. You could ask about their favorite books, Oh! Jokes can be useful for 'breaking the ice'." She suddenly looked as if she was struck with inspiration. "Listen to this one, What did this the Skeleton tile his roof with?"

Incidentally, Iji had heard this joke shortly before entering the Underground and knew the answer. "Shin-gles?"

Toriel smiled. "Absolutely correct! I'm sure you'll do fine."

"If you say so." Iji then glanced at the Dummy once again, taking Toriel's tips to heart as she walked up. She then noticed a slight glow coming from her chest, and once she looked down, she noticed that her SOUL was glowing red again through her shirt. Was this a Fight like Toriel said? Turning to face the dummy again, she mentally prepared herself.

Perhaps this time, she can stop a battle without simply storming past the enemy to reach the leader.

"Hello?" She attempted to sound half normal, but she worried if she got to into talking to a dummy, she might be accused of being insane. Which she probably already was, if Mia's ribbons were anything to go by. Even after seeing that one Komato logbook that stated the truth, she still clung on to the ribbons. And there was her view of pacifism, too, but hopefully she can be an actual one in spirit this time.

Naturally, the dummy did not respond, but Iji saw Toriel grinning out of the corner of her eye, and she felt her own heart warm. It felt… nice.

"Such a good child," She heard Toriel whisper softly to herself as she motioned for them to move to the next room. Iji felt her own smile lessen ever so slightly as she followed behind the monster. It was a little irritating, to be honest, but for all she knew, maybe monsters had longer lifespans and she really was a child in Toriel's eyes.


The next room was covered in the same purple bricks as before. And Toriel stood in the middle. "There is a puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can solve it." As she looked around, perhaps checking for monsters, Iji analyzed the pattern on the floor. Somehow, it seemed to be important. After a while, the two traversed a small, thinner hallway at the end of the room that connected to… another purple bricked room. Vines continued to etch up the bricks, occasionally breaking up the constant barrage of violet with the contrasting green. The only thing noticeable in this room was the odd shape of the twisting and turning pathway.

However, in the middle of their walk, just as Toriel bypassed it, Iji noticed a… frog in the middle of the pathway. Only its two front feet were visible, with three black dots on its chest. Between its two front feet was what appeared to be some small creature with a rounded mouth and eyes that excessively blink. It was bigger than any frog she's seen before, being as wide as Toriel's leg.

The frog was glaring at Iji, but its closed eyes left that to being just an assumption. She caught the faint glow of her chest out of the bottom of her vision, and she knew she was in another Fight. Remembering Toriel's advice, she decided to negotiate. "Hello?" she greeted. It continued to approach her. Being nice never really worked out for Iji, so she took out her Nanogun and aimed it straight at the frog. Only as a threat, but nothing more. If that fails, she can stomp on the floor close to it.

The frog didn't quite seem to understand, but from what she could tell, the threat worked, and it started to back away. Toriel then turned around, wondering what was keeping Iji, saw the frog, and then crossed her arms, glaring at the hopping beast. More then ever, Toriel's taller stature presented itself to Iji, and the frog away from the two, Toriel's glare then transferred to Iji.

The Human Anomaly understood the monster's disapproval and put the Nanogun away as her SOUL faded. "Sorry, Toriel. I swear I won't kill anyone," she promised. "Just a threat, nothing more. I promise."

Toriel's glare then softened and the two continued walking, but not before Iji took note of the sign on her left. The western room is the eastern room's blueprint. Eventually, the two reached the "eastern room", which was filled with water, and the only way through to the next room was a wooden bridge…that was filled with spike tiles.

"This is the puzzle, but…" Toriel trailed off.

Iji felt that Toriel was about to treat her like a child again and cut her off. "Toriel, I think I can handle this." Walking past the monster, and extending an arm to stop her from trying to stop her. With the pattern of the previous room in mind, Iji walked towards the spikes. Even if they weren't to recede, her Nanofield would protect her. Luckily for her, the pattern she memorized helped, and not once did her feet get stabbed. After seeing her make it past the spike tiles, Toriel immediately followed, walking in the same pattern.

"I guess I'm just too overprotective for my own good, Iji," the monster apologized.

"I'm guessing the other humans that came here before were all children, right?"

"Yes. They were."

With that, the two proceeded to the next room…which was more like a long, nigh-endless hallway. The end could just barely be seen, and the path swerved back and forth towards the other side of the room.

"You have done excellently thus far," congratulated Toriel as they walked. "However… I have a request to ask of you."

"What is it, Toriel?"

"I have to prepare my house for your arrival, and I don't think taking you there and leaving you there would—"

"I get it. You can't trust me with your home yet." (3)

"But I know you won't be content with just staying in one place, so…" She stopped at a pillar near the end of the room and Iji did the same. "I'd like to ask you to stay near here for a few minutes before following me and exploring the Underground. But please take your time. I trust you're independent enough?"

"Trust me, I am." Ever since I got my Nanogun…

"Thank you, Iji." She then offered an old cellphone that took the shape of an odd, square, black device with a small screen on the front with several buttons and numbers. There was even a cute keychain with a little red heart attached to the phone. "If you have a need for anything, just call. Be good, alright?"

Once Iji nodded in response, Toriel left the room. After waiting a while, Iji tried out the features and saw that the buttons lit up in green, and that the phone's menu (also in green) revealed a lot of features normal phones don't have, like Checking info on encountered monsters, being a "hammerspace" storage device (but she's keeping the Nanogun where she can feel it, despite its weight), checking her Health (which seemed to be separate from her Nanofield's Health) and stats, but no texting, just calling.

Iji also noticed something when checking her "status"; she had quite a bit of LV already, as Flowey had claimed; LV 10. Her HP was 56. AT (attack), 28 (?). DF (defense), 12 (?). EXP: 1337 NEXT: 363. Armor: Unknown (apparently, it doesn't have a name for her Nanofield). Weapon: Unknown. GOLD: 0. So it doesn't identify my Nanogun. Then again, it likely doesn't know what that is. And the numbers in parentheses are meant to be extra from my equipment. Now how will I get Gold around here? Perhaps I should call. (2)

Changing to the call feature, Iji located Toriel's number and dialed it. After ringing for several seconds, she heard a click as Toriel picked up. "Hello? This is Toriel."

"Hi, Toriel. I'd like to know how one earns Gold around here."

"Oh, well, that's easy. In a Fight, when you manage to get the monsters to spare you, either from acting in certain way or by…weakening them," Iji could sense the distaste in Toriel's tone upon saying that. "they will usually impart you with some Gold upon leaving. I guess I forgot to tell you this earlier back at the dummy. Is there anything else?"

"Perhaps you could tell me more about yourself." It's was nice engaging in small talk without the pressure of fighting around them (like her conversations with Dan, and the two alien races) or the pressure of survival (like with the other few surviving humans (and Tasen) after the war). Besides, she needs to know everything there is about the monsters. Maybe they could even help in rebuilding with the humans.

"You want to know more about me? Well, I am afraid there is not much to say. I am just a silly little lady who worries too much!" And with that the call ended.

"Huh," Iji wondered to herself. "I guess she's a bit shy."

Next, she accessed the storage device, which made the phone vibrate slightly in her hand and glow green. Suddenly, the screen had a small, floating ball that left the phone and appeared to be a separate entity entirely. From what Iji could deduce, the ball was glowing and looked to be made of thick green glass, but the inside seemed to be some sort of strange liquid that moved and flowed around inside of its glass bubble.

Testing it out, Iji reached into her satchel, took out a can of beans, and and tapped it lightly against the glass bubble. Surprisingly, the bubble indented slightly where she had tapped. Curious, she tried to poke the bubble with her pinky finger, but it bent around it as if it were a balloon.

Iji placed the can of beans inside the glass storage, the bubble surrounding the food item in the liquid, but leaving it in its own air bubble. She curiously returned the glass bubble with her phone, and the can disappeared along with it. She accessed the storage again and the bubble appeared once more, still with the can. Iji then reached for the can, and the glass bubble bent around her hand and eventually released the can as soon as her hand made it to the item. She took out the can, closed the storage feature, then examined the can for any changes. Seeing none, but knowing too much caution can lead to paranoia, she returned the can to the storage, then inserted one of her canteens as well before putting it away.

After messing with the options a little more, Iji considered using her Nanofield to hack it, but decided against it; she didn't want to break the phone Toriel gave her. Besides, it probably wouldn't work. Putting the phone in her pocket, Iji walked through the doorway and deeper into the Underground.


As Iji stepped into the next room, the purple brick becoming rather grating on her eyes, she noticed two pathways in which she could go down. The closest one to her was a doorway that seemed to lead to a dead end, from what she could gather. The second path was a long hallway that turned out of sight within several feet. A rather large amount of leaves were piled together in several different bunches scattered across the room. The dried scent of oak coated the room.

She also spotted two Monsters, one a frog and the other a strange ghost bug talking to each other in the center of the hallway. Her Cell Phone identified them as a Froggit and a Whimsun respectively.

There was no need to get involved with them right now, so she made for the seemingly dead end room…and confirmed that it was indeed a dead end. There were two small puddles on each side of the room, and a ivory pedestal stuck in the center that seemed to be growing up from the very earth itself. On top of the pedestal was a large bowl with a sign next to it.

Take One

Aware it may be a trap, Iji swiped one and made a dash out of the room. Unfortunately for her, her dash instantly alerted the Froggit and Whimsun from earlier and they approached her. And then Iji's SOUL began to glow and she knew she was in a Fight against them, not that she would. Compared to the aliens that had tried to kill her over and over, these monsters seemed to be very weak, and would probably be threatening to a child.

"You don't want to fight me," Iji warned as she took out her Nanogun.

"…I am… Just a Whimsun," the…Whimsun said before eyeing the Froggit behind it, then it floated away slightly. "… You're a human… Sorry…" It then released a several white moths that proceeded to circle Iji. The Froggit 'summoned' little flies from its mouth that flew in random patterns towards her. The moths seemed to just remain there, not approaching, but with the flies approaching, dodging would be hard, assuming they could get through her Nanofield.

A Froggit's fly that made contact with her proved that they can, as the moderate pain she felt as it dissipated upon touching her can attest to. These monsters are something else! What kind of attacks are these? They couldn't be…magic, could they? She proceeded to dodge the rest after that, which was hard since back then she just marched through them (excluding explosives like rockets and other stronger Nanoweapons), regaining lost armor and health through dropped Nano, but that wasn't an option here. She'd have to find some other way.

As soon as the flies vanished, the moths did too. This was probably their attacks concluding for whatever reason. Iji took the chance to act. Aiming her Nanogun to the ceiling, praying it wasn't fragile or that there may be another monster up there, and fired a "shotgun" round.

The Nano-bullets that came out all hit the ceiling, and the gun had let loose a loud bang, startling both monsters. "Don't make me ask again, please," Iji pleaded. Immediately, the Whimsun immediately flew off, and the Froggit hopped after it. The Human Anomaly then sighed in relief before noticing the two coins they presumably dropped. This must be the Gold the phone was talking about. She picked them up, then pocketed them and put away her Nanogun before ruminating on what the Whimsun said.

She understood why being a human warranted being attacked. According to the legend, humans had locked away the monsters underground for eternity. This would understandably make those born and trapped here develop racism towards humans and consider them all evil. Remembering why she came here, she trudged on.

As Iji walked down the connecting hallway to the next area, she saw the floor ahead of her was cracked, and there were two vents presumably for those who may fall through. With the help of her Nanofield enhancements, she jumped over the cracks. Thankfully, the ceiling was high enough to allow for such a jump.

She decided to check the vents just in case there were more of these later on. They blew a chilling fresh air and were about Toriel's size. Inside the vents were ledges on the side, perfect for climbing.

She saw a row of spikes ahead in the next room, along with a rock and a weighted switch in the middle of the room. Too easy. She also took note of the sign to her left, which read, Three out of four grey rocks recommend you push them. While a little confused, she made for the rock before a ringing sound came with a vibration in her pocket. It was from the phone Toriel gave her. Iji promptly answered it.

"Hello. This is Toriel. For no reason in particular… which do you prefer? Cinnamon, or butterscotch?"

Iji thought about this for a few seconds, then answered, "Cinnamon." Honestly, she was fine with either, but she decided to choose one to make it easier. It was also dependent on what kind of food item Toriel would be making with it.

"Oh, I see. Thank you very much." And with that the call ended.

Iji barely put the phone away and took no more than two steps before the phone rang again

"Hello. This is Toriel. You do not dislike butterscotch, do you? I know what your preference is, but… would you turn up your nose if you found it on your plate?"

"Um, no. I like butterscotch, too."

"Right, right, I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way." And the call ended once more.

Putting the phone away, and hoping Toriel wouldn't call again so soon a third time, she pushed the rock towards the switch with her legs and the spikes receded. She could easily jump over the measly line of them, but figured that solving puzzle would pass the time and buy some more of it for Toriel to prepare her home.

The call also made Iji wonder what monsters ate. Even though butterscotch and cinnamon were mentioned, they probably had different diets. Good thing she packed her satchel with plenty of supplies.

She encountered another Whimsun, but it fled before she could get a word in edgewise. Her SOUL barely had any time to glow before fading again.


The next room featured a pit with several holes scattered across the room, as well as a nearby vent like before. Why were there holes already… Is it a puzzle? Or perhaps some other monsters had fallen in by accident? And then she noticed her SOUL glowing, after which she stood up, looked around, and found that another monster has 'run' into her.

Two, actually. And they looked like green Jell-O. Using her Phone, Iji identified them as Moldsmal. "Stereotypical: Curvaceously attractive, but no brains…" What? Is the phone saying they're bimbos? Thankfully, she noticed their attacks, which consisted of several small pellets. Some approached her in a zigzag pattern, and others went straight before 'exploding' into smaller pellets.

Iji was starting to learn to dodge more, though she still took some hits. Wasn't much, though, if her phone's info on her health was any indication. Right now, she still had 50 HP out of the 56 she started with. Once their attacked stopped for now, Iji used her Phone to Check what she can do with them. The two options she had were "Imitate" and "Flirt". That's weird. How do you flirt with a blob monster?

As she was doing this, she had assumed a partial akimbo position, with one hand holding the phone and the other on her waist. The Moldsmals came a little closer and made a short wiggle in an attempt to imitate her. Puzzled, she shifted her weight from one leg to the other. The two Moldsmals attempted to imitate this as well. She repeated the process, feeling weirder as she did, and the monsters began to wiggle like ocean waves, plus a slight darkening on its front. Wait…

Iji checked the phone again, which now read, "You wiggle your hips. Moldsmal wiggles back. What a meaningful conversation!" She blushed as soon as she finished reading. Did I just…flirt with them? she couldn't ruminate further on that as the Moldsmals attacked again, still wiggling. After enduring that, Iji hoped they could understand spoken words.

"Look, this is going nowhere. May I leave now?"

The Moldsmals stopped wiggling for a moment, and then, without another sound from them, they slowly began crawling backwards, leaving each one gold coin and a pair of slime trails behind. Iji reluctantly picked up the gold, wiped them on her pants, and shoved them in her pockets.

Now for the puzzle. The pit full of holes looked very hazardous, but surely there was a "safe" path, if this was also a puzzle. Iji took a step forward, but it turned out to be the wrong one and she fell through, landing on a patch of leaves right below. The fall wasn't really that far, to be honest.

As she got up, she saw that there were leaves all over the room, except for a part of it that made it look like a path. There was also a sign. Please don't step on the leaves, it read. Wait, so does the clear path down represent the safe path above? Only one way to find out.

Iji made for the vent on the other end of the room, was relieved that she could fit, and climbed up until she found the exit. Remembering the 'path' set on the floor below, Iji followed it and made it safely to the other side.

Still, she wondered passing monsters constantly ruined puzzles for Toriel. It seemed like there was no obvious fix to a puzzle that had the ground caving in on itself, but since there was magic around here, maybe she could fix it easy.

Before she completely left the room, she ran into three more Moldsmals. She knew what to do with them, and left three gold pieces richer.


The next room had three rocks in it with three switches. It was like the previous one with that sign, just a little bit more rocks involved. There was a small river running through the end of the room, and a bridge running across to the doorway covered with spike tiles.

Iji decided to bypass the puzzle for once, approaching the spikes, and stepping on top of them. Her Nanofield prevented them from piercing her feet, but it still felt uncomfortable to step on them. Still, she trudged through and made it to the other side easy. While she could've easily jumped over them, she felt like needing a reminder that she still has her Nanofield and that it still worked, if only not against monster attacks.

A pair of Froggits 'blocked' the way, but this time Iji decided to use compliments to get them to spare her (and impart her with some Gold).

She was now in a small hallway with a mouse hole and a table with some cheese. And it smelled terrible! Iji pinched her nose as she walked right past it. Thankfully, there were no puzzles here. Even with her Nanofield, she's still vulnerable to aromas.

The smell of the previous room followed her to the next room, but at least the smell of oak reduced its effect…though the mixture left much to be desired. She saw a literal ghost in the doorway, though instead of being an incorporeal human shape, it was more like the simpler "bed sheet" variety. The ghost was laying down on a pile of leaves, its eyes closed shut. However, when she approached it, the ghost suddenly opened its mouth.

"zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz… zzzzzzzzzzzzzz… zzzzzzzzzzz… (are they gone yet) zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz…" The ghost was saying 'z' out loud repeatedly, pretending to sleep.

Confused, Iji decided on what to do. Maybe it would be a little rude, but perhaps jumping over it would be fine. After backing up a bit, she ran towards the sleeping ghost and leaped straight over. As soon as she landed however, her SOUL began to glow; somehow, that action provoked it to Fight her.

Turning around, she saw that the ghost had got up, was only a foot shorter than her, and their eyes consisted of two black circles painted where the eyes would be and a big white dot on top of each of those. Iji immediately Checked them with her phone. "Napstablook. This monster doesn't seem to have a sense of humor." What?

"oh, i'm REAL funny," the ghost said before shedding a shower of tears from their eyes straight at her direction. Even as she dodged them, upon landing on the floor, they crept along the walls before going in front of Napstablook, then going straight for her again. The tears hurt like an open would being treated with disinfectant. Even though she likely can't get wounded anymore with her Nanofield, she still remembers it from long ago.

After a while, the attack stopped, and it made Iji wonder how to appease the Napstablook. Or was it just Napstablook? She checked her phone for advice on what to do. The suggestions were "Flirt", "Threat", and "Cheer". They looked really sad, so Iji decided to cheer them up.

"Hey, Napstablook?" She still felt awkward talking with opponents trying to kill her. "I think you need some work, but I'm sure you'll be a great comedian someday."

"Heh…" a faint smile was visible for a moment on Napstablook's little mouth. And then they let off a sigh that turned into mist that swirled until some words were formed in the air. "REALLY NOT FEELING UP TO IT RIGHT NOW. SORRY," was what they spelled.

Iji decided to continue cheering them up. She felt really good doing this, being able to negotiate successfully. Thinking of a good joke appropriate for them, she asked, "Hey, Napstablook. Where do ghosts buy their food?"

"where?"

"At the ghost-ery store!" Iji said with an awkward smile.

"Heh… heh…" Cheering seemed to have improved Napstablook's mood again, though they seemed to cry again. Thankfully, these tears were easier to dodge and weren't as "intense" as the previous attack. Then they said, "c-can I show you something…?" Napstablook asked timidly.

"Um, sure," answered Iji.

"let me try…" A lot of tears started pouring out from their eyes, but instead of raining down on Iji, they defied gravity and moved upwards. When they reached Napstablook's head, they began forming something that looked solid (or as solid as Napstablook was). It wasn't long before a nice top hat had materialized to decorate the ghost. "i call it 'dapper blook'. do you like it…" Napstablook looked at Iji with eager eyes, awaiting their response.

Iji had to admit it was a pretty neat trick. "I think it looks nice."

"oh gee…"

Oh no, did I say something wrong?

"i usually come to the RUINS because there's nobody around... but today i met somebody nice... ... oh, I'm rambling again. I'm sorry for fighting you. It's just that you're a human."

Before Iji could get a word in edgewise, Napstablook vanished into thin air, and it made her sad again. And more determined to do what she needed to do. She wouldn't mind seeing them again. She reached into her pocket for the candy she swiped a couple rooms ago, and as she unwrapped it and popped it into her mouth, she checked her phone again and checked her stats. Her HP has gone down significantly.

At first, the candy tasted rather nice. It was a little chewy, rather sweet. But then she felt a slimy feeling down her throat as she chewed. And then it hit her: it tasted like a snail! She remembered having escargot once a long time ago, and it made her grimace upon eating it. But she decided to give it a chance and kept on chewing until it was completely consumed.

She nearly gagged after that, scraping her tongue with her teeth to get the taste off. Upon glancing at her phone again, she saw that her HP seemed to be closer now to her maximum. Hold on. Did that candy restore my health? Man, this is feeling more like those RPG games. But this isn't a game, it's reality.

Shrugging, she continued walking forward.


The next room she went to was a dead end. It was just a small room, only containing two spider webs and a sign.

Spider Bake Sale. All proceeds go to real spiders, said the sign.

Odd. Then again, that's probably the norm here. Iji approached the webs and saw signs that depicted a product and a price. Spider Donut for 7G. Spider Cider for 18G. For some reason, Iji decided to make a purchase, spending for a Spider Donut, which she was given by some spiders, then placed it in her phone's storage. Maybe there was someone who can be appeased with them. She didn't know why, but then again, she's done other obtuse things back when she first got her Nanogun without much sense into them in order to acquire certain bonuses, including the seemingly worthless yet powerful "Banana Gun" option.

Upon returning to the room where she met Napstablook, she noticed the other way out to her right. She went there, and saw a somewhat larger room with a row of three Froggits. they didn't seem to want to fight her, so she walked right past them. She also noted that the sign that was in the room just advertised the Spider Bake Sale she just went to.

The next room featured a sign to the left that read There is just one switch, six vents, six holes leading down, and a spike "roadblock". While she could get past the spikes easy, there was no telling what she might miss inside the holes. And so she made her way to the first one in sight…and naturally fell down, and onto a patch of red leaves. There was also some kind of root vegetable near the vent linking to the above floor. Picking up a nearby stick, she stood up, approached the plant, not sure if it might actually be a monster, and made to prod it. Before she could, the root surfaced…and revealed it had a face, and also revealed that it was a monster!

Iji's SOUL glowed, and she knew the Fight has already begun. As always, she used her phone to Check the monster. "Vegetoid. Serving Size: 1 Monster. Not monitored by the USDA." USDA? But this isn't—

"Part Of A Complete Breakfast" it said before spinning rapidly, sending out numerous vegetable shapes. Iji figured these were harmful, and evaded them as much as she could.

As soon as the attack ended, Iji asked, "Could we please talk for a bit?"

"Plants Can't Talk Dummy" was its response before continuing its attack, sending out another wave of vegetable shapes.

A grumble came from Iji's stomach and she clutched onto it. "Uhh… I need to eat soon. Must hurry to Toriel's."

The Vegetoid seemed to listen and said, "Eat Your Greens" before sending this time a wave of carrots from above. Iji dodged these, but failed to do the same for the one that looked green instead of white. Thankfully for her, instead of inflicting pain, it seemed to take it away, if only a little. After that, it burrowed deep underground, but not before ejecting four gold coins for her. After Iji picked them up, she went for the vent and got back up to where she fell.

The next hole she went to contained a faded red ribbon. For a second, Iji worried if she was hallucinating again, but upon closer inspection, she saw that the ribbon was real. She decided to pick it up, and store it in her phone.

The third hole contained a switch, which Iji flipped, after which she heard a noise pertaining to spikes receding from the floor. The fourth contained…Napstablook.

"What are you doing here?"

"i fell down a hole…" they replied. "now i cant get up… go on without me… wait, ghosts can fly, can't they… oh well…" And then they disappeared.

"Bye…"

The fifth hole had nothing to offer, and the sixth had another Vegetoid waiting, which she quickly took care of and left with four more Gold coins. Now that she has finished exploring the holes, she made to go past the now-lowered spikes and into the next room. Unfortunately, two monsters got in the way and her SOUL glowed to mark the Fight she was now in.

The first was bug-like like the Whimsun, bearing two antennae at the top of its head, bipedal, had two sharp fingers, bore two back lines on its underbelly, and had an oddly-shaped mouth. The second was a biped with two horns on the top of his head, a large eye on his face, and teeth under his eye.

Iji immediately Checked the first one. "Loox. Don't pick on him. Family name: Eyewalker." She chuckled a bit, remembering a movie she watched before involving laser blades and telekinetic-type powers.

"Quit staring at me," Loox said.

"FILTHY SINGLE MINDER…," said the other monster.

Their attacks consisted of several cockroach-shaped entities flying either side of Iji and several small "sphere-worms" emerging from one of those sides. She evaded as best she could, but she got his twice, once by the worms, and once by the roaches. Both didn't hurt that much.

Now knowing how to spare Loox, Iji decided to deal with him first. "I'm not gonna pick on you, I promise." She did her best to sound sincere.

"Finally someone gets it!" he said with a sigh of relief.

The other monster, however, was still looking intimidating. "LEGION! WE ARE LEGION"

Their attacks continued, but this time, Loox's attacks were simply spheres that began to bounce around the room, somehow defying physics as they always headed back to her.

Once they stopped, Iji called out to Loox. "Since I won't pick on you, why not do the same?"

Loox's response was surprisingly fast. "…Sure thing!" He then lay down some coins before running off.

Once that happened, the other monster's disposition immediately changed to a happier one. "Nothin' like alone time!" And it proceeded to bounce in place, smiling while moving their arms in a wave-like motion, losing all interest in harming Iji.

Wanting to figure out its name, she Checked it. "Migosp. It seems evil, but it's just with the wrong crowd..." So that explains it.

"Bein' me is the best!" Migosp continued to say as it continued dancing.

"Err, hi? Migosp?" Iji tried to get its attention.

"Hiya~" it greeted in a friendly manner, still dancing.

Curious, but grateful that it won't be attacking anymore, Iji said, "You look like a pretty good dancer, but I really have to go now."

"Okie-dokie! Take this, then! Chaaa, chaaa, chaaa!" With a rhythmic swing of its arms, Migosp threw a bunch of coins at Iji, and she caught them. After that, she went for Loox's reward and stored them too before waving goodbye to the monster.

Now that that was over with, she continued on. It would be rude to keep Toriel waiting.


nightelf37: And that's it for now. I didn't want to write that confusing puzzle with the perspective and the switches, so I stopped here. Up next: Iji makes it to Toriel's house, the two eventually have their battle, Iji meets Flowey again, and she encounters two certain skeletons.

Apart from the fact that I'm using a different character, one major factor in some changes in dialog is that unlike the Human Child, Iji is an adult, and thus would think a lot more rationally. And given that there's so little characterization in Iji (compared to Undertale), I decided to take on a few liberties.

(1) I used this ( fav . me / d9m5cs6) as a height reference.

(2) I chose LV 10 for Iji to represent the number of sectors she traverses in her game, and the Velocithor V2-10, the best non-secret weapon she can possibly get. While technically a pacifist, this only extends to her shooting the enemy herself or kicking stuff at them, so she can lead a lot of Tasen and Komato to their deaths with various actions. I didn't want the value to be very high, and we obviously don't know how much Undertale-style EXP Tasen and Komato 'give'.

(3) Originally, I was going to have Iji and Toriel continue to walk together and then the latter would leave the former at home, but I thought that Toriel live alone and probably wouldn't entrust its safety to a complete stranger, and I didn't want to discuss the issue of where exactly Toriel got her groceries in the Ruins, so I decided to follow canon a bit more.

Finally back! See ya on Third!