Moments later, the three stood outside of a living structure in the form of some sort of fish. Sure enough, there stood Papyrus.
"HELLO THERE, KIDS!" He exclaimed. "NICE TO SEE YOU!"
"Papyrus, we're all older than you!" Steven laughed.
"WELL, NEVERTHELESS… HERE!" He thrusted a dog treat into Steven's hand. "GIVE THIS TO UNDYNE! SHE LOVES THESE!"
"Um, Papyrus?" Asriel started. "This is a d-"
"A WONDERFUL GIFT, I KNOW!" Papyrus finished, striking a pose. Steven laughed.
"C'mon, let's go," he said, looking down at the small skeleton. Papyrus turned to the door, knocking. Seconds later, the tall gladiator from before stood, armorless, her eyes lighting up at the sight of Papyrus.
"Hey, papyrus!" She said. "Are you ready for your special, super private, one-on-one youth training?"
"GREETINGS, UNDYNE! AND YES, I VERY MUCH AM! I EVEN GOT MY FRIENDS TO COME HERE!" He stepped aside, beaming at his clever idea. The three stood, speechless.
"H-humans…" Undyne commented to no one in particular. Taking a deep breath, Asriel was the first to speak.
"Hello! I- uh- I'm here, too…" he said in a small voice.
"Oh! Prince Asriel!" She said, baffled. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Queen Toriel were in the Ruins!"
"We wer- I was," he said, catching himself. "But me and my friends are making out way up to the surface now!" He smiled, proud.
"Your friends…?" Undyne towered over the two humans.
"H-hi!" Steven said. "I'm Steven, Steven Universe! And this is my friend, Connie! We've… kind of met already, if you want to count our encounter in the Waterfall."
"Wait," Undyne said. "There were three humans in the Waterfall… there are only to of you."
"Actually, I would be the third person…" Asriel said in a small voice. Undyne's eyes widened.
"O-oh… why don't… you four… come in?" She asked, gritting her teeth."
The group walked inside, observing Undyne's house. "So, where do we begin, Papyrus?" She asked.
"BEFORE WE START, MY FRIEND WOULD LIKE TO GIVE YOU SOMETHING!" Papyrus exclaimed. "THEY BROUGHT IT COMPLETELY ON THEIR OWN! ISN'T THAT RIGHT, STEVEN?"
"Uh, yeah!" Steven agreed, handing Undyne the bone wrapped in blue ribbon. She took if from him, pretending to enjoy it.
"Wow, for me? Human, you're… so thoughtful," she said, dryly. "I'll put it with all the others." Walking over to the far side of the room, she opened a drawer with at least 20 more versions of the dog treat. Connie slapped her palm to her face as Undyne dropped the gift in with the others.
"So, back to what I was saying-"
"WOOPSY DOOPSY! I JUST REMEMBERED! I HAVE TO… UM… GO TO THE BATHROOM!" he exclaimed. "YOU FOUR HAVE FUN!" With that, he ran to Undyne's window and jumped out of it. Steven broke down laughing while Connie sighed once more.
"So, now that he's gone, we can get down to some real business," Undyne said.
"What type of business?" Asriel asked.
"Soul business," Undyne growled, looking at Steven and Connie.
"I-I'm not fully human…" Steven said, putting his hands up.
"A-and I'm his friend!" Connie jabbed a thumb over to Asriel, who smiled nervously.
"Not that kind!" Undyne said, laughing. Steven and Connie stood, scared.
"Th-then what kind?" Asriel asked in a small voice.
"About the Barrier… maybe you guys can stay here until there are more humans whose souls we can steal." Undyne smiled a bit, her face going hot.
"You-you're… sparing us?" Steven asked. Undyne shrugged.
"I don't know, it just… doesn't feel right to take your souls. You know, you're lucky you're Asriel's friends," she said, "or else you would've been dead right now. So, why don't you guys just… stay?"
"We can't!" Steven argued. "We appreciate your offer, but… we have our own homes and families. We can't stay here."
"My mom and dad must be terrified!" Connie choked, the thoughts flooding her head.
"The Gems are probably searching the whole world for us…" Steven looked away quickly.
"I, uh… kinda live here. So I'm fine…" Asriel trailed off.
"Well then, if you two are so upset, you won't mind me TAKING YOUR SOULS ANYWAY!" Undyne's sympathetic look morphed into one of anger as she summoned a water spear from thin air. As if on cue, Papyrus stuck his head through the broken window.
"AW, MAN!" He said. "I WAS REALLY HOPING YOU GUYS COULD BE FRIENDS! I GUESS I WAS WRONG… UNDYNE JUST ISN'T UP FOR THE CHALLENGE!" Papyrus shrugged sadly and disappeared once more. Undyne glared at the empty space.
"Isn't up for the challenge?!" She growled. "YES I AM! LISTEN UP, HUMANS- WE'RE GONNA BE SUCH GOOD FRIENDS, YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO THINK OF ANYONE BUT ME!" She picked up the entire refrigerator, holding it over her head.
"Why did you pick up the fridge?" Connie asked anxiously.
"BECAUSE I CAN!" She yelled.
"She's really scaring me," Asriel whispered to the two humans.
"Scared? SCARED?!" Undyne asked, shocking Asriel.
"Wait, you heard me-"
"MY APOLOGIES!" She yelled. "Here, take a seat, and I'll get you a drink!"
"O-ok…" the three murmured in unison.
Undyne set a variety of different options on the counter in front of them. "Go ahead and pick one!" She said, a little too enthusiastic.
"Alright," Asriel said, standing up- but before his feet even touched the floor, Undyne hurled a spear right at the table, missing the three by inches. They all shouted in surprise.
"DON'T STAND UP! You're a guest!" Undyne beamed. "Here, just… use the spear to pick a drink!"
Nervously, Connie picked up the spear and pointed it at the tea. "I chose the tea."
"I'll take… heh, is that sugar?" Steven asked.
"Sugar? You want sugar as a drink?" Undyne narrowed her eyes. "Steven, the sugar is for the tea… do I look like some kind of ice cream woman to you? Is that it? Do ice cream women walk around on the surface with spears and fighting spirit?! Are their themes PRELUDES TO DEATH?IS THAT IT, STEVEN UNIVERSE?!"
"Uh, yes?" Steven asked, nervous.
"Oh, really? That's awesome!" Undyne smiled, and Asriel picked up the spear. Swiftly, he pointed to the tea.
"I- I'll go with them," Asriel said.
"Alrighty!" Undyne started making the tea. "It'll take a moment for the water to boil." The four sat in an awkward silence for a while as the tea cooked. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Undyne turned to the three. "Here's your tea!"
"Thank you," Steven said, taking a cup.
"What kind is it?" Connie asked, as Asriel took a sip. He quickly swallowed it.
"HOT!" He said, instinctively, putting the cup down.
"Yeah, heat will burn your mouth, by the way," Undyne said. "Oh, and that's Golden Flower Tea. Asgore used to drink it with me all the time. That's why I made it- we're such great friends, maybe drinking the same beverage will make us great friends!"
"PLEASE! IT'S HOT! HELP!" Asriel shouted.
"Here!" Connie pulled out a Nice Cream, and Asriel put it on his tongue.
"Tanks for da ice," he sighed.
"Well, now… where were we?" Undyne said, as if nothing had ever happened.
"Dat Teven and Connie aren't staying in da Underground cause dey'd miss deir families," Asriel said, dryly.
"Uh, yeah, that was about it…" Connie said, not daring to take a sip of the Golden Flower Tea.
"Um, Asriel, is your mouth OK?" Steven asked, concerned.
"No," he answered, sadly.
"That's twice in two nights you've been burned by food!" Connie couldn't help but laugh.
"When was the first time?" Undyne asked, intrigued.
"Papyrus's spaghetti," Steven replied. Undyne gasped.
"Papyrus's cooking lesson!" She exclaimed. "I completely forgot! Wait a second… he brought you here. Cooking brought that little skeleton and I closer together… and since he's not here to have it… YOU'LL HAVE TO HAVE IT FOR HIM!" Undyne wrapped her arms around the three kids, jumping into the air and landing on the counter. "LET'S GET COOKING!"
Swiftly, she pulled out an assortment of different ingredients, as well as some cooking utensils. She set a tomato in front of each child "NOW BEAT THAT TOMATO LIKE IT'S YOU WORST ENEMY!"
Reluctantly, Asriel started patting the tomato. Undyne's eyes narrowed. "YOU AREN'T DOING IT RIGHT!" She scooped up the ingredients and pounded them into a mush. "We'll… scrape that int a pot later. STEVEN! TURN THAT STOVE ON!"
Quickly, Steven put it on 'Low'. "HIGHER!" Undyne shouted, and he set it to 'Medium'. "COME ON, UNIVERSE, THAT'S NOT HOT ENOUGH!"
"But this next one had a bad word on it!" Steven argued. Undyne glared at him, and, reluctantly, he set the stove to 'Fire from Hell'. Suddenly, the pot burst into flames, and the house caught on fire.
"Oh gosh, I'll go get the fire extinguisher!" Connie said, coming back minutes later with a fire extinguisher. However, before she could use it, it caught on fire.
"Ah! MY FUR!" Asriel shouted, as the flames licked his fur. In one swift motion, Undyne grabbed all three children and leaped out the door, just as the kitchen exploded, leaving the house a fiery mess.
"HA HA HA! SAFE AGAIN! IF YOUR FACE, HELL!" Undyne shouted behind her.
"P-please let's n-never do that again…" moaned Asriel sofly.
"I… oh jeez, who am I kidding?" Undyne hung her head. "Look, I'm sorry- I thought I could make you like me, but, I guess… friendships don't work that way. That's not how Asgore and I bonded. Hell, that's not even how Papyrus and I became friends!"
"Can you please stop using the H-word?" Steven asked.
"Sure, but let me finish- I'm sorry I hurt you guys… I guess there really are challenges I'm not up for. Even the easy ones- surely it couldn't have been that hard to become friends with you two losers if the prince did."
"Hey!" Connie exclaimed, and Undyne laughed.
"Don't worry," she started. "You may be losers, but… you have a lot of heart. Hold on to that- don't let anyone take that. Down here in the Underground, DETERMINATION is a very powerful thing. And I may not be able to force your friendship, but… maybe we can still be friends?"
"Of course!" Steven said, smiling. Undyne's eyes lit up, and she took out a small strip of paper, writing something on it.
"H-here, take this… it's my number. If you need me or little Papyrus for any reason, just call us up!" Undyne beamed, waving as the three walked off.
"Bye, Undyne!" They called, as their journey started up once more.
