"Hello travelers, how can I help you?" Asked the sweet store owner.
"Could we have..." Said Nemo. "That bandana and a bisicle?" The rabbit monster handed over the items, and Nemo paid for them.
"So, welcome to Snowdin!" Said the monster sweetly. "I can't remember the last time I saw a fresh face around here, much less two. Where did you come from? The capital?"
"Ruins, actually." Said Nemo.
"Hey, be careful what you say." Said Chara.
"You don't look like a tourist. Are you here by yourself?" Asked the story owner.
Nemo decided to switch gears. "What's there to do here?" He asked.
"You want to know what to do here in Snowdin? Grillby's has food, and the library has information… If you're tired, you can take a nap at the in. It's right next door - my sister runs it. And if you're bored, you can sit outside and watch those wacky skeletons do their thing. There's two of 'em… brothers, I think. They just showed up one day and… asserted themselves. The town has gotten a lot more interesting since then."
"Huh… so this town has a history?" Asked Nemo.
"Can I go outside?" Asked Frisk.
"Huh? Sure, just don't go too far. This place seems peaceful enough though." Said Nemo. Frisk hugged Nemo before going out the door with Chara trailing behind. Nemo watched them go with a smile.
"Gotta say, your little… sibling(?) is quite interesting." Said the shop owner.
"Sibling? Er… well, I wouldn't call Frisk my sibling, it's more like we're…" Nemo trailed off, not sure what their relationship could be described as. Frisk had their memories, so if they'd known him prior to the fall, they would've at least come clean in the revelation of their memories.
"Uh huh…" Said the store owner with a knowing smile.
"That aside, back to my question from earlier, what's this town's history?" Asked Nemo.
"Well, think back to your history class…" Said the shop owner. "A long time ago, monsters lived in the Ruins back there in the forest. Long story short, we all decided to leave the ruins and head to the end of the caverns. Along the way, some fuzzy folk decided they liked the cold and set up camp in Snowdin. Wait… you mentioned that you came from the Ruins, but how? That door's been locked for ages, only ghosts and burrowing monsters should be able to come and go now."
"We unlocked the door. I think it locked back behind us though." Said Nemo.
"I see…" Said the rabbit.
"So how's your life in Snowdin been treating you?" Asked Nemo, switching gears again.
"Life here is the same as usual. A little claustrophobic… but… we all know deep down that freedom is coming, don't we? As long as we got that hope, we can grit our teeth and face the same struggles, day after day… that's life, ain't it." Replied the monster with a small smile.
"I see… well, I guess I better go catch up to Frisk before they get into trouble." Said Nemo as he left.
"Bye now Come again sometime!" Said the rabbit.
"Frisk?" Called Nemo as he looked around. He saw Frisk talking to the Monster Kid. He smiled as he walked over to them. "Having fun?" He asked.
"Yeah!" Said Frisk happily.
"Well, you just keep having fun then, I'll take care of exploring." Said Nemo.
"Ok!" Said Frisk happily as they went back to talking to the young monster. Nemo explored Snowdin, talking to the locals to see if he could learn anything interesting about the Underground. After checking the most northern part of town and getting to experience the "wrong number song" Nemo decided to check one last place before meeting Papyrus.
"Li...brarby?" Asked Nemo as he squinted his eyes at the sign, unsure if he read that right. He shrugged and entered the building.
"Welcome to the library." Said a monster that kinda reminded Nemo of Alphys. "Yes, we know. The sign is misspelled." Nemo snickered as he went around and started checking out all the books.
He started with a red book that appeared to be a school report about funerals. "Monster funerals, technically speaking, are cool as heck. When monsters get old and kick the bucket, they turn into dust. At funerals, we take that dust and spread it on that person's favorite thing. Then their essence will live on in that thing… Uhhh, am I at the page minimum yet? I'm kinda sick of writing this." As amusing as the ending was, Nemo had to admit that the part about monster funerals was interesting.
He moved onto a blue book. "While monsters are mostly made of magic, human beings are mostly made of water. Humans, with their physical forms, are far stronger than us. But they will never know the joy of expressing themselves through magic. They'll never get a bullet-pattern birthday card…"
Next was the yellow book, which was just some weird, unfinished book. Nemo put it back and moved on to an orange book. "Because they are made of magic, monsters' bodies are attuned to their SOUL. If a monster doesn't want to fight, its defenses will weaken. And the crueler the intentions of our enemies, the more their attacks will hurt us. Therefore, if a being with a powerful SOUL struck with the desire to kill… Um, let's end the chapter here…" Nemo grimaced at that as the memory of Papyrus's head being removed flashed into his mind.
He shook the thoughts away before moving on to a pale green book. ""MONSTER HISTORY PART 4". Fearing the humans no longer, we moved out of our old city, HOME. We braved harsh cold, damp swampland, and searing heat… Until we reached what we now call our capital. "NEW HOME." Again, our King is really bad at names...?" Nemo had to admit that this was partially silly. Asgore's terrible naming sense was painfully apparent throughout all of the underground. Nemo stopped as memories of Asgore's final moments passed through his mind. He suppressed a shudder before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. He then closed the book and put it back on the shelf. After a quick (and meaningless) conversation with the other monsters in the Librarby, Nemo exited the building and went to find Frisk. They were still chatting up a storm with the Monster Kid. Nemo wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about. When he looked over at Chara though, he could tell that they were bored. Nemo shook his head with a smile as he approached them. "Hey, Frisk." Called Nemo. This caused Frisk to direct their attention towards Nemo.
"Yeah?" They asked.
"Let's get going, the Great Papyrus is waiting for us." Said Nemo.
"Ugh, finally!" Exclaimed Chara.
"Alright, by Kid!" Said Frisk as they waved to the Monster Kid.
"Later dude!" He replied happily.
"Looks like you two had fun." Said Nemo.
"Yeah! We talked a whole lot." Said Frisk.
"Yeah? What about?" Asked Nemo.
"Mostly Undyne." Said Frisk.
"Preeetty sure he has an obsession." Said Chara.
"Thank you for your lovely and completely unhelpful input, Chara." Said Nemo with fake sweetness. Chara simply stuck out their tongue. The group continued to walk/float as their vision became limited by fog. They stopped when they saw the silhouette of Papyrus.
"HUMANS." Said Papyrus. "ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS. SOMEHOW, I FEEL LIKE YOU'RE OLD FRIENDS. EVEN THOUGH I'VE NEVER ACTUALLY MET YOU BEFORE!" Nemo did his best not to react to that. "I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY I FEEL THIS WAY… DID I MEET YOU ONLINE?" This earned a chuckle from Nemo as Papyrus managed to remove the tension he was feeling with that single line. "I HAVE MANY 'SOCIAL MEDIA CONNECTIONS.' IT'S HARD TO KEEP TRACK OF THEM ALL. JUST A DOZEN MORE, AND… I'LL FINALLY REACH DOUBLE DIGITS!"
"Unless his friend count is in the negative, that math does not add up." Thought Nemo.
"...HEY, WAIT A SECOND! YOU CAN'T BE MY FRIENDS YOU ARE HUMANS! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU ALMOST TRICKED ME INTO NOT DEFEATING YOU! WHOOPSIE DOOPSIE!" Suddenly the fog cleared away and the trio could see Papyrus standing in front of them.
"Frisk." Said Nemo. "Let me handle this one."
"Try not to kill him." Said Chara with a smirk.
"Like you can talk." Said Nemo as Frisk stepped back. His soul manifested and the battle began. Nemo checked Papyrus. "PAPYRUS- ATK: 20 DEF: 20. Likes to say: 'Nyeh heh heh'." Read the words.
"NYEH HEH HEH!" Laughed Papyrus as he sent three normal bones flying past Nemo's head.
"Let's do this." Said Nemo as he cracked his knuckles. He charged at Papyrus and punched him, while being sure to hold back to avoid dusting him immediately. Frisk looked worried for a moment, but was relieved to see that Papyrus was alright.
"SO YOU'RE SERIOUS…" He said. "THEN, LET'S SEE IF YOU CAN HANDLE MY FABLED 'BLUE ATTACK'!" Nemo stood absolutely still as a series of blue bones flew at him at different speeds. A moment after they passed, Nemo's soul turned blue as he felt his weight double. He jumped over a small bone that came at him from across the ground. "YOU'RE BLUE NOW, THAT'S MY ATTACK!" Declared Papyrus. "NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"
Nemo grinned as he punched Papyrus again. "BEHOLD!" More bones came at Nemo, and he was able to jump over all of them. As he cleared the last one, he gave Papyrus a solid kick.
"HOW HIGH CAN YOU JUMP?" Asked Papyrus with a smile. Seven more bones, all cleared. Nemo struck again. "YEAH! DON'T MAKE ME USE MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Declared the skeleton.
"Nemo behind you!" Shouted Frisk.
"That's right!" Thought Nemo as bones came at him from behind. He was able to jump over and duck under them as need be. He spun and kicked Papyrus.
"I CAN ALMOST TASTE MY FUTURE POPULARITY!" Said the skeleton. Nemo jumped three white bones and let a blue pass right through him. He then jumped a speedy small bone.
After taking another strike, Papyrus said, "PAPYRUS: HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"
More bones that Nemo evaded before landing another strike. "PAPYRUS: UNPARALLELED SPAGHETTORE!" Nemo let Papyrus continue to rant as they duo went back and forth exchanging blows. Nemo was able to avoid most attacks, but Papyrus would still tag him on occasion. Fortunately his high L.O.V.E meant that it was gonna take a lot more to put Nemo out of condition. He didn't even need to use items to heal, despite all the hits he'd taken.
"SOMEONE LIKE YOU IS RARE…" Said Papyrus. Nemo dodged his attacks before striking back. "I DON'T THINK THEY'LL LET YOU GO." Nemo didn't remember hearing that the last time they fought. The surprise threw him off long enough for a few bones to tag him.
"AFTER YOU'RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY." Said Papyrus. Nemo dodged and struck. "URGH… WHO CARES!? GIVE UP!"
"Papyrus…" Thought Nemo. His eyes narrowed as he stood his ground. The bones charged at him, he reared his arm back, and smashed through one, then reared his other arm back, and smashed the second. He then smashed through the rest.
"NO WAY!" Exclaimed Papyrus.
"Papyrus!" Said Nemo as he pointed at the tall skeleton. "No more playing around! Let's settle this, hit me with your special attack!"
"HUMAN…" Said Papyrus.
"No more calling us 'human'." Said Nemo. He pointed at Frisk. "They are Frisk, my little sibling that I've promised to protect." He pointed at himself. "And you can call me Nemo! I'm the human who is going to beat you!"
Papyrus was still for a moment before his face donned a determined grin. "VERY WELL, NEMO! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! SHALL ANSWER YOUR WISH WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!"
"Great!" Said Nemo. His eyes then wandered downward. He pointed down near Papyrus's leg. "You uh… might wanna get your attack back first though." He said. Papyrus looked down and saw a familiar dog chewing on a bone.
"WHAT THE HECK!" Said Papyrus. "THAT'S MY SPECIAL ATTACK! HEY! YOU STUPID DOG! DO YOU HEAR ME!? STOP MUNCHING ON THAT BONE!" The dog then began to drag the bone away. "HEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING! COME BACK HERE WITH MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus was quiet for a moment as the dog vanished with his special attack, earning a snicker from Nemo. "OH WELL.. I'LL JUST USE A REALLY COOL REGULAR ATTACK."
"Bring it on!" Said Nemo as he got into a fighting stance.
The skeleton sighed. "HERE'S AN ABSOLUTELY NORMAL ATTACK." He said before unleashing his attack. Nemo blazed through it. Just as he was reaching the storm of bones followed by the plus sized bone, he crouched down and leapt with everything he had, clearing it in one leap.
He looked over to see Papyrus panting while still smiling. "WELL…! IT'S CLEAR… YOU CAN'T! ...DEFEAT ME! YEAH! I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS! THEREFORE, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU PITY! I WILL SPARE YOU HUMANS! NOW'S YOUR CHANCE TO ACCEPT MY MERCY." He said. Nemo looked over his shoulder to see Frisk smiling at him while Chara floated next to them. He then looked back at Papyrus who had his hand extended and a smile on his face.
"That was fun, Papyrus." Said Nemo as he reached out to meet the skeleton's hand.
Page 48 End
