Cobwebs
Frisk bounded down the trail. It was slightly thicker than the ones they usually traveled, but not by much. Frisk opened their mouth to talk but instead gasped in surprise and stopped. A rope in a spiral pattern with shoes and fire for a head appeared before them. Pyrope bounded toward them!
"Pyrope- Attack 29, Defense 14. HP 120. This monster is never hot enough."
"Hot enough for ya?" Pyrope cackled. A tall white barrier followed by many others slid toward them. A ball of orange wall made to look like fire cut it in half.
"How- is this even possible?" Flowey yelped.
Frisk set their gaze. "I'm jumping through it."
"WHAT?!"
Frisk tensed and leaped. The orange attack failed to injure them. Flowey stopped screaming and looked about in surprise as Frisk jumped through each hole. Orange was a very sharp contrast to white so they could see it clearly enough to jump through it. The attacks stopped. Pyrope bounced up and down.
"What can we do?" Flowey inquired. "We don't have any fire!"
Frisk hesitated and thought for a moment. "Hmm…" They glanced behind them. Vulkin was standing about. The hot dog was gone. "Vulkin! Pyrope needs your healing fire!"
Vulkin perked up and strolled toward them. "Healing!" it cooed. Fire erupted from its crater, spattering Pyrope in flaming lava. The creature cackled in glee and spun around under the lava like a child in the rain.
Frisk ducked their head and darted away from the two monsters. They stumbled across a diverging path. The only thing it led to was an island holding an apron. "Oh! What's this?"
"An apron," Flowey replied.
"Stained Apron. Defense 11. Heals 1 HP every other turn."
"Oh!" Frisk gasped. "It heals me!" They tied the strap around their neck and behind their waist. Frisk giggled and spun around in a circle. "What do you think?" They took off the backpack and held Flowey out at arm's length.
"It looks pretty good!" Flowey complimented. "And it's useful. But we should keep going. You're doing very well."
Frisk beamed and trotted down the path. This led to a conveyor belt and three buttons. A forcefield was on the other side. Flowey thought for a moment. "Hmm… I think we need to press all three buttons."
"Okay! Let's do it!" They jumped onto the conveyor belt. Flowey tapped all three buttons so that Frisk wasn't in danger of falling off. The forcefield died. Unfortunately, when they got to the next area, they were stopped. Nothing physically blocked their way. They were just presented with a very complex arrangement of small islands filled with vents. Some had only one vent while two had four vents. All but the one at the top and the vents at the very button had a button in the center of their island. When a button was pressed, the vent direction was switched.
It took them a while to complete.
Eventually, the two got to the other side. By the time the puzzle was complete, the young human and flower companion had dried off almost completely.
A little golden sparkle was near the trail leading away from the puzzle. A thick wall bordered it with a tiny little hole in it. On a table was a safe that held a little slice of cheese.
"Knowing that one day the mouse will find a way to hack into the computerized safe and get the cheese, it fills you with determination."
"Well, little mouse, I hope that you get that cheese!" Frisk continued on.
"What is it with mice and cheese around the underground?" Flowey thought aloud.
Frisk shrugged. "There are mice everywhere, I suppose."
"Hey! You! Stop!" Frisk jumped and spun around. Two guards in heavy armor approached them. Those were the two guards near the elevator!
The rabbit stated, "We've received an anonymous tip about a human in a striped shirt. And so we… were going to… escort you to someplace safe." His eyes narrowed. The one in the spiked helmet glanced at the bunny. "Huh? Yeah, they do match that description… actually, are you the human?"
Frisk nodded, "I am a human and I do wear a striped shirt. So probably yes."
"Damn. Well, we're probably going to have to kill you, now."
Frisk's soul appeared before their body. Frisk took out their burnt pan.
"Royal Guard 01- Attack 30, Defense 20. HP 150. Royal Guard member with shining, polished armor."
"Royal Guard 02- Attack 30, Defense 20. HP 150. Royal Guard member with stuffy armor."
"Team attack!" The bunny guard announced.
"Yeah," the quiet, dragon guard agreed.
With Flowey's aid, Frisk jumped about to dodge the white stars that attacked. Flowey's vines wrapped about their hand and deflected one of them.
Frisk glanced between the two. The bunny glanced at his friend almost constantly. They recognized that look. Dogerressa gave Dogamy that same look when they battled Frisk. They hesitated and, with a bright smile, washed off a piece of the quiet guard's armor. Its cooling dirt began to wash away.
"Getting… warmer…" the dragon guard huffed.
"Give us your soul already!" the bunny guard demanded. Frisk and Flowey dodged the stars again. This time, the quiet one looked a bit more uncomfortable. Sweat helped wash away more the dirt.
"Can't… take it… any longer. Getting… too… hot!" The dragon guard took off the chest plate of his armor. Flowey stared at him, and then Frisk, in confusion. The bunny guard started to look nervous.
Frisk leaned toward the bunny guard and got on their tip-toes. "You should be honest with your feelings."
"Wh-what?" The bunny asked. This time, when they attacked, the bunny guard's attacks twirled in odd directions.
Frisk more easily dodged these attacks as it was really only one guard attacking.
Finally, the bunny guard lowered his weapon. "D-dude. I can't- I can't take this anymore! 02. I… I really like you, man. I mean… more than just partners. The way you fight… the way you talk… the way you seem to read my mind when we fight. I love doing team attacks with you. I love standing here… with you. 02… I want to stay like this forever." The second royal guard stared at him for a few moments. The bunny guard stammered, "Uh- uh- I mean, uh… just, uh kidding, right? Yeah! I was just–"
"01."
"Yeah?"
"Do you… want to get some Starfaits… after this?"
"Yeah, dude! Of course!"
The guards gazed at each other happily.
Frisk took a step back. "I won't bother you any longer."
"Oh, yeah! Well, bye little human!" The first guard waved. The second guard picked up the heated armor and walked with the bunny guard.
"How'd you know they'd do that?" Flowey prompted.
"They… well, the bunny guard, 01, looked really happy with him," Frisk replied. "And he looked more to 02 than us- almost like Dogerressa and Dogamy. So, I put two-and-two together."
"You are good with people."
"Thanks!"
Soon enough, Frisk and Flowey's trail led into yet another dark place. Rather, it was a normal trail until something blinked above them and removed all light.
Briiing. Bri- "Hello? This is Frisk."
"Frisk. The lights are off," Dr. Alphys stated. "I'm turning them on."
The lights turned on. Cameras glinted about the walls and ceiling. Frisk squeaked, "Dr. Alphys?"
"…" Click.
"Oh no." Flowey shut his eyes. Mettaton, somewhere close by, was sitting in an office. His voice flowed through a receiver. "OH YES! GOOD EVENING BEAUTIES AND GENTLE BEAUTIES! THIS IS METTATON REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS! AN INTERESTING SITUATION HAS ARISEN IN HOTLAND! FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDANT IS OUT THERE, REPORTING LIVE! BRAVE CORRESPONDANT! PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NOTEWORTHY TO REPORT!"
Frisk looked about. "Um…?"
"There's a basketball, a dog, a present, a cup of water, a script, and a video game. …try the video game. People love games, right? It's in the right corner, near the edge," Flowey instructed.
Frisk walked forward. Eventually, they found the black disk case. Upon picking it up, they were rewarded with Mettaton's voice. "OH! THIS VIDEO GAME YOU'VE FOUND… IT'S DYNAMITE! THOUGH I DON'T MAKE AN APPEARANCE UNTIL THREE-FOURTHS IN. BUT THAT'S ALRIGHT! I COME IN AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, LIKE A HEAVEN-SENT CREATURE IN A TERRIBLE CRISIS! REPORT IT?"
Frisk nodded. "Er- yes."
"ATTENTION, VIEWERS! OUR CORRESPONDENT HAS FOUND… A VIDEO GAME!" Mettaton announced. Frisk narrowed their eyes. Was that sarcasm in his voice? Could robots be sarcastic? "THIS ACTION PACKED GAME IS SURE TO BLOW YOU AWAY! STRANGE ENEMIES. STRANGE ALLIES. ATTRACTIVE ROBOTS! FEATURING UP TO SIX ARBITRARY DIALOGUE CHOICES AT ONCE! CORRESPONDENT! LET'S LOOK INSIDE THE CASE!"
Frisk opened it. It was literally dynamite. Frisk could only stare at it in disbelief.
"THOSE RED CYLINDERS WITH BURNING FUSES… OH NO! THIS GAME REALLY IS DYNAMITE! I GUESS THEY WERE RIGHT! VIDEO GAMES DO CAUSE VIOLENCE! OR, AT LEAST, THIS ONE'S ABOUT TO. BUT DON'T GET TOO EXCITED. YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEE THE FULL PICTURE!"
Mettaton flew in. Suddenly, fuses appeared out of every item in the area.
"OH MY! IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IN THIS AREA IS ACTUALLY A BOMB! THAT DOG'S A BOMB!" The dog's tail burst into flames. "THAT BASKETBALL'S A BOMB!" A fuse popped out of the top of it. "THAT PRESENT IS A BOMB! THAT SCRIPT IS A BOMB! THAT GLASS OF WATER IS EVEN A BOMB! HOW DID THAT EVEN HAPPEN?! BRAVE CORRESPONDENT! IF YOU DON'T DEFUSE ALL OF THE BOMBS WITHIN TWO MINUTES, THIS LARGE BOMB WILL GO OFF AND YOU WON'T BE REPORTING LIVE ANY LONGER!" The large bomb commented upon was near the wall at the very northern end of the area. It indeed was large, being much bigger than Frisk. "HOW HORRIBLE! HOW DISTURBING! WELL, GOOD LUCK!" Mettaton vanished again.
Briii- "Hello? This is Frisk."
Dr. Alphys spoke, "I installed a bomb defuser on your phone. Point it at the bomb and press the button at the right time." Click.
Frisk raced about the room. The dog was very easily subdued. All they had to do was hold out one finger and command: "Sit!" Frisk pointed their phone at the dog and pressed a button labeled 'defuse' on the back. The basketball, which bounced about the area, wasn't as easy to catch. Even when they pounced on it and entered the fight, it struggled about them. The script and present weren't too difficult. The game stayed relatively easy. The hardest was the water. The reason for this wasn't because it was difficult to diffuse. It was difficult to catch. Finally, by the twenty second mark, Flowey batted it out of the air.
"WELL DONE, DARLING!" Mettaton yelled as the water-bomb was diffused. "YOU'VE DIFFUSED ALL OF THE BOMBS. NOW, INSTEAD OF GOING OFF IN TWO MINUTES, IT'LL GO OFF IN TWO SECONDS!" Mettaton zipped up higher in the air, cackling and watching the terrified human and flower. Frisk nearly put their hands over their eyes. However, they stopped themselves. They straightened themselves out and glared straight up at Mettaton, lips curled back and nose wrinkled in a determined look of defiance. Mettaton stopped cackling. "OH! NOT SO WIMPY AFTER ALL, BRAVE CORRESPONDENT?"
"If I die now, Mettaton, I'm not going down crying!" Frisk stated.
Flowey peeked his head out of the backpack. "Why didn't it go off?"
Mettaton waved his hand. "OH, THE DRAMA! THE ACTION! WE CAN'T HAVE OUR CORRESPONDENT DYING, RIGHT WHEN THEY SHOW THEIR BRAVEST HEART! NO! THE SHOW MUST GO ON! TUNE IN NEXT TIME, MY WONDERFUL VIEWERS, FOR MORE ACTION! MORE DRAMA! MORE SUSPENCE! TOODLES!" The robot turned and flew off.
Flowey looked at Frisk. "You… you really stood up to him like that?"
Frisk turned back to Flowey with a smile. "Of course. It's good to be nice. But being nice doesn't equal being wimpy. You have to stand up for yourself sometimes, even if the situation looks bad. Well, let's go. I wonder what we have next."
Their very long trail ended in the elevator "L-2". This led to the third, and last, left elevator. Frisk and Flowey both looked about in interest. Cogs and smooth walls surrounded them. They passed up a spider bakesale was led not by a spider, but a spider humanoid bigger than Frisk. Although they attempted to stop, the price of 9999g per donut and per cider stopped them.
This time, they came to another maze of vents. Luckily, they didn't have to press any buttons. All they needed to do was go to the north and south rooms, which both held the shooter puzzles. Upon going north, Flowey stated, "Alright. Activate the game. Now, go left. No, wait, right! Okay, up. Down? No, no. Try going left." After a very frustrating minute or so, they were able to shoot down the opposing ship. After crossing the maze again, they got to a much easier puzzle. "Okay. Left. Down. Left. Left. Up. Right. Up. Right. Left. Left. Right. Now go up. Right. There! Shoot! Oh, thank God that was quick. Let's get a move on!"
The very next room was the right. So, they went there. The door opened, reveal a black and purple accented room. A yellow glimmer was just before the door.
"The smell of cobwebs permeates the vicinity. It fills you with determination."
Flowey and Frisk entered the door on their right.
Spiderwebs filled the room. Many spiders hung from the ceiling. Upon walking under one, it giggled, "Ahuhuhuhuhu… did you hear what they just said?" It retreated.
This prompted the second to continue, "They said a human in a striped shirt will come through." It, too, climbed up.
The third continued, "I hear they hate spiders."
Frisk had to step through cobwebs to move any further.
"I hear they love to stomp on them."
As they moved, cobwebs clung more insistently. Some even grew up to attach to them.
"I heard that they liked to tear their legs off."
Finally, Frisk's movements slowed until the cobwebs stopped their ability to struggle entirely. Flowey attempted to stretch away from the cobwebs but ended up getting tangled as well.
"I heard…" Spiders crept down from all sides. The spider-humanoid monster was lifted down on a cobweb. "…that they're awfully stingy with their money. Ahuhuhuhuhu… you think your taste is too refined for our pastries, don't you, dearie? Ahuhuhuhu… I disagree with that notion. I think your taste… is exactly what this next batch needs!" Muffet giggled and stepped on the cobweb filled area Frisk and Flowey were trapped within. Frisk's soul appeared before them.
"Muffet- Attack 38.8, Defense 18.8. HP 1250. If she invites you to her parlor, excuse yourself."
"Don't look so blue, dearie~" Muffet raised two hands and tipped the teapots she held. On two hands, she held knives. Two held teapots. One held a gun and the other a teacup. Purple washed over the cobwebs beneath them. The purple liquid immediately spread through out the spider web and onto Frisk. Their soul turned purple. They were completely trapped in the web.
"Why are you struggling? You should be proud…" Spiders climbed the webs around them. Frisk managed to squirm about the web to avoid the spiders.
"Proud you'll make a delicious cake!~" A spider next to Muffet held up a sign with a spider on it.
Spiders climbed about them. When one hit Frisk, it bit into them. Their soul cracked. Frisk recoiled with a hiss of pain. Once the spiders stop charging at them, Frisk continued to struggle. "Let us go, please!"
"Let you go? Oh no, dearie~!" The spider next to Muffet held up a picture of a spider and a donut. "Your soul is going to make every spider very happy." This time, spiders attack them, yes. But donuts were flung at them as well! Well, they could either be donuts or donut-shaped circles thrown at them.
The spider held up a picture of a cupcake. "Oh, how rude of me. I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet~! It's breakfast time isn't it? Have fun you two~!" The spider web began to shake violently and fall down. Frisk and Flowey were nearly thrown from the place they hung. Although that would have been fine thirty seconds ago, now it was not. A great monster in the shape of a cake roared at them, baring giant sharp teeth. It climbed up on the web too small for it with eight, sharp legs. Frisk scrambled to climb up the web. Unfortunately, climbing wasn't their strong suit. It was made harder as different spiders raced down to meet the cupcake monster and attempt to throw them off. Flowey's vines wrapped about Frisk and the web to keep them stabilized as they climbed.
Finally, the cupcake monster stopped tearing the web down and sat down. The spider beside Muffet held a sign with a spider and a donut on it. "The person who told us about you…" Spiders raced around them along with donuts. The donuts were not soft. Upon hitting Frisk, the donuts cracked their soul further.
"…they offered us a lot for your soul." The spider held up a sign with a spider on it. This time, only spiders raced about the web. Flowey made sure that Frisk stayed stabilized and dodged the incoming attacks.
"They had such a sweet smile and… ahuhu~" The spider held up a sign with a spider and a donut on it. The attack came true; indeed spiders and donuts attacked them. However, at the end, a croissant whipped through the air and came back like a boomerang.
"It's strange, but I swear I saw them in the shadows… changing shape?" The spider held up a sign with a croissant on it. This attack was easier, yet slightly more difficult. The croissants were slow, but came back. So, Frisk had to constantly change their place to avoid getting hit.
The spider held up a sign with a cupcake on it. "Oh, it's lunch time isn't it? And I forgot to feed my pet~!" The web shuttered and the cupcake monster attacked again. Spiders raced down the trembling web to join the cupcake.
"That is the shortest morning I've ever had," Flowey stated.
Once the cupcake was sitting on the ground, quite complacent, Muffet went on "With that money, the spider clans can finally be reunited." The spider held up a sign with a spider on it. The spiders that attacked next were somehow much faster and much harder to dodge.
Once the attack ended, the spider held up a sign with two donuts on it. Muffet went on, "You haven't heard? Spiders have been trapped in the Ruins for generations!" Donuts were flung at them two at a time.
Once the attack was over, and Frisk was wheezing for breath, Muffet went on, "And even if the spiders could fit under the door, Snowdin's fatal cold would kill them!" The small spider held up a sign with two croissants on it. Frisk sighed in relief at the easier attack and dodged this with ease. They hardly even needed Flowey's help for that one.
"But with the money from your soul, we'll afford a heated limo~!" The spider held up a sign with two spiders. Two spiders; that was too many spiders. Those that could catch Frisk bit them. Their soul cracked further.
"And with all the leftovers…? We could have a vacation~! Or even build a spider baseball field!" The spider held up a sign with a spider, a donut, and a croissant on it. Frisk took a deep breath and pulled out the bag Papyrus had given them. It was already cool. So, the healing effects of the spaghetti was limited. They ate part of it. It healed most of the cracks in their soul.
"But enough of that. It's time for dinner, isn't it? Ahuhuhu~!" The spider held up a sign with a cupcake on it. Flowey sighed in exasperation.
The web shuttered as the cupcake grabbed the web again. Frisk yelped and bounced from place to place and scrambled to keep going higher. Every once in a while, Flowey would move them out of the way or drag them up. Eventually, the cupcake got bored again and lay down.
"You're still alive? Ahuhuhu~! Oh, my pet, it looks like it's time for desert~!" A spider raced up to Muffet with a piece of paper. She sheathed a dagger and picked up the paper. "Huh? A telegram from the Ruins? Oh! You don't hate spiders! You've treated our cousins well. Oh my. I thought you were someone who hated spiders. Never mind, then. You're free to go~! If you want, you can come back any time and I'll wrap you up so you play with my pet again- free of charge! Ahuhuhu~ Just kidding! You can go, now." The spider webs fell away from Frisk and Flowey.
"Thank you!" Frisk waved and left.
Frisk, limping as they were trying to bring feeling back into their legs, left the spider's den and appeared in a purple-bricked hallway. Flowey shook some clinging cobwebs away. "Let's agree to never do that again."
Frisk nodded. "Agreed."