After a quick phone call from Toriel for leaving the room, Frisk approached the next star to save their location. "Playfully crinkling in the leaves, it fills you with determination." Said Chara.

"Shut up." It came out as more of a sigh than as actual words.

"Never." Replied Chara.

"C'mon guys, don't fight." Said Frisk.

"Sorry, but fighting's what I do best." Said Chara.

"Yeah, no kidding." Said Nemo drily. The ghost human and the taller human glared at each other.

"Guys!" Said Frisk worriedly. Nemo and Chara both let out a huff before looking away from each other.

"So, what now?" Asked Nemo.

"Candy?" Suggested Frisk as they pointed at the room with the monster candy.

"Candy." Agreed Nemo as the duo made their way towards the room, only to be stopped by a Whimsun. Nemo looked at the small monster before looking at the four buttons. He decided to start with "Act" and "Check". He blinked, and suddenly words appeared next to the monster. "WHIMSUN - ATK 5 DEF 0 - This monster is too sensitive to fight." It said.

"What the…?" Asked Nemo in confusion.

"I'm sorry…" Said Whimsun as a circle of large butterflies appeared around them.

When the butterflies vanished, Frisk used "Mercy" and "Spare". The Whimsun then flew away.

"You won! You earned 0 EXP and 0 Gold." Said Chara

"Huh…" Said Nemo. "So… candy?"

"Candy." Agreed Frisk. The duo entered the room and approached the candy bowl. They each took a piece of candy. They then doubled back and started making their way towards the other pathway. Just as they reached the entrance to the hall, they were stopped by being pulled into another Fight.

"Froggit hops close." Said Chara as a Froggit approached them.

Nemo's first action was to use "Check", which caused the words to appear again.. "FROGGIT - ATK 4 DEF 5 - Life is difficult for this enemy." It said.

"Ribbit, ribbit." Said the Froggit. It then bounced at them, but the humans dodged.

"Froggit doesn't seem to know why it's here." Said Chara.

Frisk decided to use "Compliment". "Hi there, you look nice today." Said Frisk cheerfully.

"Froggit didn't understand what you said, but it was flattered anyway." Said Chara.

The Froggit blushed deeply. "Ribbit..." It said before leaping at them again, but was easily dodged.

"Froggit seems reluctant to fight you." Said Chara. Nemo took advantage of that and spared the Froggit. "You won! You earned 0 EXP and 2 gold." Said Chara. Nemo walked over and picked up the 2 coins that the Froggit dropped before putting them in his pocket. The trio went to the next room and stopped. Nemo remembered this room. He took a few steps back before running and jumping over the trap. Frisk followed suit. They almost didn't make it, landing too close to the edge, causing part of the trap to give out and open behind them. Frisk let out a startled cry and flail their arms, but Nemo managed to grab them and pull them away before they fell.

"Thanks." They said.

"No problem." Said Nemo as he turned and continued walking. They entered the next room and just as they passed through the doorway, they heard their phone ring. Nemo pulled it out. "Hello?" He asked.

"Hello? This is Toriel." Said Toriel. "For no reason in particular… which do you prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch? Wait. Do not tell me. Is it butterscotch?"

Nemo was quiet for a moment. "I can't wait to try your cinnamon butterscotch pie Toriel." He said softly.

"Huh? How did you-?" Nemo hung up on her.

"Let's go." Said Nemo as he approached the first rock. After pushing it to the pressure plate, the phone rang again. Nemo picked it up and put it to his ear.

"My child, how did you know I was planning on making a pie with both cinnamon and butterscotch?" Asked Toriel.

"Call it a gut instinct. I guess you could say guessing was easy as pie." Said Nemo.

The sound of laughter could be heard from the other side of the phone. "That was clever my child, did your gut also tell you that I had a penchant for puns?"

"Perhaps." Said Nemo as he and Frisk continued walking. They stopped when they reached the area with multiple trap holes. "Look, this is fun and all, but I need to go." He said as he hung up on her. He put the phone in his pocket, and then on his first try, walked through the puzzle. Frisk managed to, quite literally, follow in his footsteps and clear the puzzle with ease. The trio reached the set of three rock puzzles. Together Frisk and Nemo started moving the first two into place. As Nemo moved his rock, his soul manifested as he was pulled into a fight.

"Moldsmal and Moldsmal block the way." Said Chara.

"Y'know, it'd be nice if you could say something actually helpful." Said Nemo.

"Why would I need to? You can just spare them right now." Said Chara.

"Oh." Said Nemo as he quickly used Mercy. The Moldsmals walked away.

"You won! You earned 0 EXP and 0 gold." Said Chara. Nemo sighed as he finished pushing his rock. The three of them then moved to the final, and sentient, rock.

Nemo crouched down and prepared to push it. " "WHOA there, pardner! Who said you could push me around?" Asked the rock.

"Sorry, but could you move over to that pressure plate?" Asked Nemo. "We need it to be pushed down so we can leave."

"HMM? So you're ASKIN' me to move over?" Asked the rock.

"Please?" Asked Frisk.

"Okay, just for you, pumpkin." Said the rock as it moved to the pressure plate. Once the spikes were down, the trio made their way over, but just as they reached the bridge, the rock moved, and the spikes came back up.

Nemo sighed in frustration. "We need you to stay on the plate long enough for us to cross." He said.

"Alright, alright." Said the rock as it went back to the plate. The humans then crossed the bridge and went to the next room. This room was the one with the third save star as well as the cheese and mouse hole. Frisk approached the star and placed their hand on it.

"Knowing the mouse might one day leave its hole and get the cheese…" Said Chara. "It fills you with determination." Nemo sighed and rolled his eyes.

"C'mon, let's get through the next room." He said as he resumed walking. The duo walked into the next room, stopping at the sight of Napstablook. Nemo sighed again before crouching down in front of the fake sleeping ghost. "Alright you, wakey wakey." He said as he pushed the ghost. The humans' souls manifested, causing the Fight to start.

"Here comes Napstablook." Said Chara. Frisk decided to go first and use Check. "Napstablook: ATK: 10 DEF: 10 This monster doesn't seem to have a sense of humor."

"Really, Chara?" Asked Nemo drily.

"Oh, I'm real funny." Said Napstablook.

"I-." Said Nemo, but then paused. "Wait, what?"

"Did they just-?" Asked Chara, but was cut off as tears started flying at the group.

"Why are you dodging!?" Asked Nemo as they all jumped out of the way.

"I may be incorporeal, but magic can still hurt me!" Shouted Chara. The tears stopped, and it was Nemo's turn. He pressed the Act button and looked at his options. Check had already been done, so that wouldn't help, neither would Threat. Flirt was a definite no, leaving one option: Cheer. Nemo looked at Napstablook and smiled, giving him a thumbs up, doing his best to keep his internal cringing from becoming external.

"Heh…" Said Napstablook as he simply floated there.

"Napstablook looks just a little bit better." Said Chara. Then it was Frisk's turn. "Ooh, use Flirt." They said.

"No, do not." Said Nemo.

Frisk settled on Cheer. "Which vegetable should you never invite on a boat?" They asked. "A leak!"

This earned a snicker from Nemo. "Heh heh…" Said Napstablook as he summoned weird tears that followed the duo. They managed to avoid his attack.

"Cheering seems to have improved Napstablook's mood again." Said Chara. Nemo decided to use Cheer, but before he could do anything, Chara spoke up. "Napstablook wants to show you something."

"Let me try…" They said. Their tears floated upwards, forming a hat. "I call it Dapperblook… do you like it?"

"Nice." Said Nemo. Frisk smiled and gave two thumbs up.

"Ah gee…" Said Napstablook."I usually come to the Ruins because there's nobody around… but today I met somebody nice… oh, I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way." The ghost vanished, clearing their way.

"Well… that was eventful…" Said Nemo.

"You know… you could have just used your magic to blow them away. I did tell you that magic affects ghosts." Said Chara.

"I know." Said Nemo as he turned to look at them. "But, I didn't want to." Chara stared for a moment before looking away with a huff. "Anywho, let's keep going." Said Nemo. That's when he noticed the fork in the road and remembered what each one led to. He contemplated for a moment.

"What's wrong?" Asked Frisk.

"Deciding whether or not I want to go to the spider bake sale." Explained Nemo as he made a grossed out face. "I don't want to eat spiders, that's gross."

"I could think of worse things." Said Chara. Nemo decided that he was probably better off not asking.

"We have to go to the bake sale, that's how we get Muffet to spare us, remember?" Said Frisk.

"I know, I know…" Said Nemo. He sighed. "Alright, let's go get some spider snacks."

The trio entered the Spider Bake sale. Nemo looked down at the wooden sign. "All proceeds go to real spiders…" He muttered. He reached into his pocket, only to find that he only had two gold. "That… is problematic." He said.

"Maybe we can double back later when we have seven gold?" Suggested Frisk.

"Sure." Said Nemo. The two exited the sale, and their souls manifested as a Vegetoid confronted them.

Frisk checked the monster. "Vegetoid ATK: 6 DEF: 6. Serving size: 1 monster. Not monitored by the U.S.D.A." Said Chara.

"What does that even mea-HEEN!" Said Nemo as he jumped out of the way of Vegetoid's flying veggies.

"Vegetoid's here for your health." Said Chara.

Nemo gave them a flat look before checking his Act options. Check was done already, and he didn't trust Devour and Dinner, so he decided to go for Talk. "Uh, hi?" He said.

"Plants can't talk dummy." Said the Vegetoid.

"Hold up." Said Nemo as he took a moment to register what that monster said. But before he could question further, he and Frisk had to scatter to avoid being pummeled by produce.

It was Frisk's turn. They selected Dinner, before patting their stomach. "You pat your stomach, Vegetoid offers a healthy meal." Said Chara.

"Eat your greens." Said the Vegetoid as more produce came flying. The trio noticed a vegetable made of green magic flying around, but they failed to catch it. They managed to dodge most of the normal attacks, but a tomato smacked Frisk over the head. The trio noticed a green vegetable flying around, but they failed to catch it. The Vegetoid cackled softly. Nemo decided to try patting his stomach. "Eat your greens." This time it was a rain of carrots. Frisk noticed one of them was made of green magic. They managed to grab it, restoring some of their Hp. The Vegetoid cackled some more before Frisk Spared them.

"You won! You earned 0 EXP and 4 gold." Said Chara. Nemo sighed as he grabbed the money before walking over and trying to rub some of the tomato juice out of Frisk's hair. As he was doing so, he heard their phone ring.

Nemo pulled the device out. "Hello?" Asked Toriel. "I just realized that it has been a while since I have cleaned up. I was not expecting to have company so soon. There are probably a lot of things lying about here and there, you can pick them up, but do not carry more than you need. Someday you might see something you really like. You will want to leave room in your pockets for that." Thephone then clicked as she hung up.

"Ugh, the deja vu is real." Said Nemo. "Kinda spooky to be honest."

"This is our third time hearing it." Said Chara. Nemo contemplated that for a moment before giving them a side eyed glare. Suddenly his and Frisk's souls manifested as a Moldsmal and a Misgosp approached them. Nemo looked down and pressed Act, before seeing two names, Misgop's which was normal, and Moldsmal's which was normal.

"Uh…" He said as he pointed at them.

"Yellow names means they can be Spared." Said Frisk.

"Oh." Said Nemo as he used Spare, causing the Moldsmal to walk away.

"Swing your arms baby." Said the Misgop as he simply danced.

"Misgop doesn't have a care in the world." Explained Chara as Frisk Spared them. "You won! You earned 0 EXP and 2 gold." Nemo picked up the coins.

"That makes eight." He said as he started making his way back to the bake sale. He paused when he noticed something moving in the corner of his eye. "We're being followed."

"It's Flowey." Explained Chara.

"Annoying little…" Nemo muttered before he went into the bakesale. He returned moments later, donut in hand. The duo then continued their trek.

Page 42 End