Everyone was throwing snowballs at each other. They'd moved up to a large patch of snow shaped like a mountain and surrounded by trees. They were on separate sides.
Brayden threw a snowball at Cody (which he blocked with his frying pan) so Clover was out for revenge. Faye was trying to get Melody to chill out (snow pun definitely and always intended). Frisk stood next to Brayden, proudly. He tried to ignore them.
Percy had wandered off. He was sitting underneath a snow-covered tree, covering his face with his book.
"YEAH!" Brayden taunted, putting his arm around Faye. "YOU GUYS ARE THE LOSER TEAM!"
"This ain't fair!" Clover protested. "You have gloves!"
"And you're wearing more clothes!" Brayden retorted. He gazed at Percy under the tree. "HEY! NERD BOY! COME JOIN US!"
"No thanks." Percy replied, focusing on his book.
"Come on, nerd boy, it'll be fun!" Brayden encouraged.
That's something Brayden found odd about Percy. He didn't really like… being with the group, aside from Melody. Yet even Melody was eager to get involved. But not Percy. He stayed with his books.
"If Percy doesn't want to join in, don't make him, Brayden." Melody told him. She gave Percy a faint glance.
"Yeah, besides, you've got your gloves," Clover pointed out. "We've got more clothes but y'all have those. Our hands are gonna freeze to death." She adjusted her hat. "We're still gonna win, though."
"Good luck, guys!" Cody gave Brayden's team a friendly wave.
"Teamwork!" Frisk cheered, grinning at Brayden.
Brayden bared his teeth. He did not like the idea of being teammates with Frisk. But they weren't going to move.
"NO MORE TALKING! LET'S DO THIS!" He picked up snowballs and started throwing them at the 'enemy'. He threw snowballs at Clover, almost knocking her down.
"Not bad," Clover told them, wiping snow off her cowboy hat. "Sorry, Faye." She chuckled one at Faye.
Faye sighed as the snowball hit her. "Okay…"
Brayden, meanwhile, was throwing snowballs at everyone he could. Cody had a fry pan, so he could deflect them. Frisk joined in, aiming at Clover. Brayden had to admit, it was pretty funny how Melody shrieked every time she got hit.
"YEAH! YOU GUYS CAN'T STOP US!" Brayden yelled, throwing more snowballs.
"Augh!" Melody shrieked, shaking snow out of her tutu. "I hate this!"
"You're just sad 'cause you can't beat us!" Brayden teased, blowing a raspberry.
"Yeah!" Frisk agreed.
"Not yet, pardner," Clover retorted, folding her arms. "We're not all out."
"Uh oh…" Cody bit his lip.
Clover covered her hands in her yellow bandanna and scooped up some snow. She threw it at Brayden and Frisk.
"Watch out!" Frisk cried.
Naturally, Frisk dodged, but Brayden was splattered in the cold stuff. He ended up falling over and getting covered in more. He looked like a snowman again.
"Nice work!" Melody told Clover, giving her a high-five.
Brayden wasn't quite as happy. He brushed all the snow off and stormed over to Clover. She was right. This wasn't finished yet.
"Screw snowballs!" he yelled, cracking his knuckles. "LET'S WRESTLE!"
"You want me to wrestle you?" Clover asked, staring at him. "You sure about that, pardner?"
"YEAH!" Brayden challenged. "Or are you a coward?!"
"Fine, then." Clover replied, squeezing liquid snow out of her bandanna. She tied it around her neck and approached Brayden. "Let's go."
Frisk raised their brow. "I don't think this will go well…"
Cody nodded in agreement.
Brayden grinned to himself. He raced towards Clover and tried to tackle her. She ended up pinning him to the ground and sitting on him like a couch.
"I WAS TAKING IT EASY ON YOU!" Brayden whined.
"Whatever helps ya sleep at night, pardner," Clover deadpanned.
She stood up and offered him her hand. He glared at her and stood up, brushing the snow off.
"It wasn't fair." Brayden grumbled. His cheeks burned bright red.
Thank god Dad wasn't watching, he thought. He'd kill me...
"According to my calculations, it was in fact fair," Percy commented.
Brayden glared at him. "YOU WEREN'T EVEN WATCHING, NERD BOY!"
Percy backed away.
"Alrighty, calm down now," Clover spoke, waving her hands. She offered her hand to Brayden. "C'mon, we'll shake it off. Sign of peace. You did well."
"NO WAY!" Brayden shouted, turning away. He would never submit like that! He wasn't a coward.
"Brayden…" Frisk reached out.
"Don't touch me," he growled at them.
"Um…" Faye spoke up quietly. "How about… we build a snowman?"
She eyed a small, clear patch of snow, next to the wall of the cavern. Perfect for snowman-building.
"That sounds like fun!" Frisk beamed.
"Yeah!" Cody clapped.
"AWESOME!" Brayden flexed. "But the snowman has to look like me!"
"Uh, no, it does not." Melody retorted, folding her arms. "This is a team effort, Brayden."
"I don't mind." Faye mumbled quietly, going red.
"Are you guys wearing gloves?" Brayden asked, poking his tongue out.
Clover took off her bandanna. "I've got the next best thing."
"Sis, you're gonna get a cold with that around your neck..." Cody made a face.
"Worth it," Clover shrugged.
Soon, the snow man was in process, everyone sharing Clover's bandanna.
"Yeah, put more snow on that side." Clover observed the snowman. Melody did that, nodding in approval.
"Faye and I will get some sticks and things to put on the snowman," Cody said. He looked at Faye. "Well, if you want to, Faye."
She nodded. The two kids headed off to do such a thing, smiling at each other.
… until they encountered a monster. Clover and Frisk ran off to rescue them. That left just Melody and Brayden fixing the snowman. (And Percy, but he was hiding near the trees.)
"I hope you're not too upset about losing that little fight," Melody commented. "Also, you're using too much snow."
"I'm not upset!" Brayden snapped. "It's just some dumb fight!"
He removed some of the snow.
"Oh, Brayden, you're always upset about fights," Melody sighed. "Don't worry about your dad, okay?"
"AM NOT!" Brayden shouted. "I'M NOT UPSET! And aren't you the one always thinking about your parents?!"
He punched the snowman's base. It cracked. The snow crumbled all over the place.
"Brayden!" Melody complained, snow all over her tutu. "Now we have to start all over again! And I just cleaned this!"
"WHO CARES?" Brayden asked, standing up. He wished he was home. And he wished he had the same dad as his sisters and not his stupid dad. He wished Frisk would piss off. And he wished Melody would shut up.
"I do," Melody mumbled. She brushed the snow off her tutu. She gazed at the ice in the distance. Their friends were fighting a collection of monsters.
"You worry me, Brayden," she sighed. "I don't want you to get hurt."
She looked at Brayden, who was making a little pile of snow. He still looked angry. Usually he could get over things quickly, but there were some topics he was a little more… sensitive about.
He didn't respond to her comment. Instead, he continued to play with the snow.
Melody sighed deeply. "About Frisk…"
"Don't bring them up," Brayden growled.
"What did they do, Brayden?" Melody asked. "You're being so dramatic."
"Yeah, well you're always dramatic!" Brayden got in her face.
"Brayden," Melody grabbed his shoulder. "Is it because of Faye?"
Percy looked up from his notebook from his spot behind the tree.
Brayden looked away. "Uhh! Well! I'm not telling you!"
Before Melody could retort, the others returned. They helped to finish the snowman. Brayden stopped being so grumpy and started helping a bit more.
"This is gonna be the biggest snowman ever!" he cheered.
The group did make the snowman quite big. Everyone pitched in (aside from Percy), one way or another. Frisk drew a face on the snowman and a heart on the center. It had sticks for arms and rocks as eyes and a mouth and nose.
"Oh, it has a SOUL," Faye observed the heart. "That's really pretty."
"I think we all did really good!" Cody commented cheerfully.
"Great job guys!" Frisk beamed.
"All thanks to me!" Brayden grinned proudly.
Melody rolled her eyes.
"Want me to knock you over again?" Clover asked Brayden.
"Noooo!" Brayden grumbled.
Faye smiled at her friend. He returned it. Man, her smile made him feel giddy...
The kids found Sans and Papyrus and an electricity maze. The puzzle was easy, since Papyrus covered it in his footprints and gave away the answer. Melody wanted to say something, but everyone else shushed her.
Brayden didn't care too much. He didn't like puzzles. So he just raced across the whole thing. Sans seemed thankful the kids were playing along. He spoke to a few more of them while Brayden raced ahead.
"Ice-cream!" Brayden yelled when he arrived at the next area.
It was two large split areas, connected by a tiny bridge. One area had a large, flat icy area that was turned into a golf-like game. There was a rocky wall surrounding both areas. Paths led off from the second large area.
Brayden rushed up to an ice-cream - Nice Cream, I should say - vendor, grinning. The vendor looked sad about something.
"I don't understand why these aren't selling..." the vendor sighed. "This is the perfect weather for-"
"GIMME AN ICE-CREAM!" Brayden slammed his fist on the vendor's desk.
"No need to be so rude," Melody snorted, appearing behind him.
"And who said you could be first?" Clover agreed, barging in.
Frisk came over, holding some GOLD. "Nice-cream for everyone!"
"Ice-cream?" Cody asked, nearing the group.
In the end, everyone was eating ice-cream… Nice Cream, whatever you want to call it. Brayden finished his first, of course, then wanted to try out the golf. And so did everyone else. It went well… or did it?
"Ahhhh!" Brayden slipped on the ice, falling on his face.
"I don't like this." Clover grumbled, eyeing the snowball.
Melody seemed more focused on the ice-skating. She was having a great time, dancing around.
"Hmm…" Frisk kicked the snowball. "Let me try." Somehow, the snowball didn't get stuck anywhere. The ball got in the hole, and a red flag appeared.
Percy read the flag, "Bravery. Justice. Integrity. Kindness. Perseverance. Patience. Using these, you were able to win at 'Ball Game'." He adjusted his glasses. "These appear to be in colours… our SOUL colours."
"What?" Brayden raced over. "What SOUL am I?!"
Percy had already written down all the SOUL colours and notes. He'd been taking notes about SOULs in general, of course.
"Bravery." he answered, adjusting his glasses.
"Heck yeah!" Brayden punched the air.
"Recklessness fits better," Melody commented, shaking her head.
"I bet yours is being a pain in the butt!" Brayden snapped at her.
Percy frowned. "It doesn't say what trait the red soul is. Aside from 'ball game', whatever that means."
Frisk shrugged. "Ball game might mean something special."
"Ooh, what's my soul trait?" Cody came over.
After everyone found out their trait, they found the skele-bros again, nearby a wall of rock. In front of them on a patch of snow was a crossword.
Sans and Papyrus got into argument and asked the kids if junior jumble or crosswords were harder.
"Both succkkkkk," Brayden answered.
"I prefer adult's 'junior jumble'," Percy answered. "Crosswords are too easy."
"Um…" Cody stared at Papyrus. He grinned. "Junior jumble!"
"Junior jumble…" Faye murmured.
"Crosswords," Melody answered. "I'm not a puzzle fan and crosswords are easier."
"Whatever, junior jumble." Clover said, shrugging.
"Junior jumble!" Frisk jumped in.
"Also, I already solved it," Percy spoke up.
He handed the sheet of paper to Papyrus.
"WOWIE!" Papyrus observed the puzzle, grinning. "THAT WAS TOO EASY FOR YOU AS WELL…? WELL, WORRY NOT, HUMANS! THE UPCOMING PUZZLES WILL LEAVE YOU ALL IN A DISPUTE! NYEH HEH HEH!" He raced off, cackling.
"thanks for saying 'junior jumble' just to appease my brother." Sans told the kids, winking.
"Nah, it was just my opinion," Brayden beamed. "Now, can we go already?"
"whoa, you really need to slow down, kid," Sans chuckled, eyeing him. "trust me, asgore's not gonna come after you. you've got plenty of time."
"He's not gonna come after us?!" Brayden asked. He put his fist in his palm. "Then we'll go after him!"
He wasn't going to let that king stand in the way of going home! No one was going to stop him - or his friends. Everyone was gonna go home, and he was going to make sure of that.
Sans almost looked amused. "good luck with that, kid."
The kids proceeded. The group was intrigued to learn Papyrus made spaghetti and wanted to try it, but it was frozen, and apparently was a trap.
Percy figured it out without reading the note Papyrus had left. Brayden was kind of disappointed, since he liked spaghetti.
The next area was a large field of snow with little balls of snow covering it. There was a rocky cliff above a blocked pathway. The pathway the kids needed to proceed.
"Wait, I heard there's a shortcut around here," Frisk spoke up. They moved to a point in the snow, pressing a button. The spikes vanished.
Everyone cheered.
"You're really amazing, Frisk!" Cody told them.
"Yeah…" Faye blushed.
"I bet I could've solved that," Brayden huffed.
"Really," Melody deadpanned.
"Yes," Brayden crossed his arms. "I bet-"
Suddenly, the kids encountered Lesser Dog. It was a large, white, fluffy pomeranian wearing armour. It was wielding a sword and shield. Its shield had the emblem from the RUINS on it. Its tongue was sticking out.
"Here, boy!" Frisk waved their stick around. The Lesser Dog looked hypnotised by it.
"Wait!" Faye squeaked. "I wanna pet it!" She frowned. "Well, if that's okay with you..."
"Go for it!" Frisk told her.
So she did. Its neck grew in length.
"What in tarnation?" Clover asked, her eyes widening. Percy slipped behind Melody, who gave him a nervous glance.
"Can I pet it too?" Cody asked, looking eager.
The dog was wagging its pomer-granite dogger at the children; it was a FIGHT, after all. One was blue; the other white.
Great, Brayden groaned. Gotta stay still.
Then Cody, Faye and the Frisk pet the dog. Its neck grew very long.
"MY TURN!" Brayden pet the dog. Its neck grew. He made a kawaii face. "So soft…" He realized he made a kawaii face. "UH I DIDN'T MEAN TO DO THAT!"
"You can't help it sometimes," Frisk shrugged at him.
A few more turns later and the dog was pretty much a giraffe. Even Clover was getting involved now. Percy was hiding behind Melody, horrified at the dog's pure girth.
Finally, the dog-petting session was over. The spikes had been cleared, so the kids could continue. They crossed a bridge, then came to an area surrounded by rocks. Two hooded dogs wielding axes approached them.
"Cool axes!" Brayden's eyes widened. "Can I have 'em?"
"You with two axes would be more dangerous than any monster down here…" Melody grumbled.
The dogs thought the kids smelled weird, so they got into a fight. Frisk threw their stick, playing fetch with the dogs. Somehow, that was enough to calm them down.
After that nonsense, the kids followed an icy path and found a simple X's and O's puzzle on the snow.
More puzzles? Brayden groaned.
"I know how to solve these," Percy said. He walked over a blue X, turning it into a red O. "To solve this puzzle, all the X's must be turned into O's. Then you have to push the button."
He was about to say something more, but he was interrupted by Papyrus.
"WHAT!?" Papyrus asked, eyeing them with surprise. "HOW DID YOU AVOID MY TRAP?!"
"It was stuck to the table." Melody told him.
"But, um, I'm sure it would've been delicious!" Cody added, grinning. "Let's cook together sometime!"
"YES, SMALL GREEN HUMAN, WE SHOULD!" Papyrus agreed, looking happy. He shook it off. "I MEAN! NO! I CANNOT AFFORD TO ASSOCIATE WITH YOU CHILDREN! I MUST CAPTURE YOU AND BLOCK YOUR WAY WITH PUZZLES!"
"SCREW PUZZLES!" Brayden yelled. He stormed over to the spikes and shook his fist at the skeleton. "Dude! Let's just fight!"
"YOU ARE SO EAGER TO FIGHT, LITTLE ORANGE HUMAN!" Papyrus chuckled.
"I'M NOT LITTLE!" Brayden shook his little fists.
"BUT!" Papyrus wagged a finger. "WE SHOULDN'T FIGHT YET! ALTHOUGH I APPRECIATE YOUR EAGERNESS, YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO PASS ME! AND, WELL…" He paused for a moment. "I ASSURE YOU THE NEXT PUZZLES WILL SURELY STUMP YOU! THEY WILL READILY PREPARE YOU FOR THE BATTLE AGAINST ME, WHICH, ACTUALLY WON'T PREPARE YOU AT ALL…" He frowned. "OH WELL! THEY'LL STOP YOU ANYWAY! HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH NYEH!" He ran off.
"Aw, c'monnnnn!" Brayden complained, glaring at the snow. The spikes disappeared. It seemed Percy completed the puzzle.
"We'll fight him pardner, don'tcha worry." Clover told Brayden, flicking his shoulder. "These puzzles are gettin' old."
"Whatever, cowgirl." Brayden said, crossing his arms.
The kids proceeded, coming to another field of snow. On that field was another X's and O's puzzle, then the path. It was blocked by a wall of spikes. Papyrus was standing next to the puzzle, looking annoyed about something. Trees were behind him.
"MY BROTHER STARTED A SOCK COLLECTION RECENTLY," Papyrus told the kids. "HOW SADDENING… SOMETIMES I WONDER WHAT HE WOULD DO… WITHOUT SUCH A COOL GUY TAKING CARE OF HIM? NYEH HEH HEH!"
"I wish my brother would take care of me for once," Melody groaned, crinkling her nose.
Brayden loved his sisters and all, but they could be painfully annoying. Sometimes he wished they didn't take care of him. And… sometimes, Brayden wished he had their dad instead of his own, even though he passed away. His own father was as good as dead.
"HUMANS!" Papyrus yelled. He frowned. "HOW DO I SAY THIS… YOU WERE TAKING A LONG TIME TO ARRIVE, SO… I DECIDED TO IMPROVE THIS PUZZLE… BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE. UNFORTUNATELY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND. NOW THE SOLUTION IS DIFFERENT! AND, AS USUAL, MY LAZY BROTHER IS NOWHERE AROUND. I SUPPOSE WHAT I AM SAYING IS…" His scarf blew back in the wind. "WORRY NOT, HUMANS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL SOLVE THIS CONUNDRUM! THEN WE CAN ALL PROCEED!" He went back to normal. "MEANWHILE, TRY TO SOLVE THIS PUZZLE YOURSELVES. I'LL TRY NOT TO GIVE AWAY THE ANSWER!"
"Okay," Percy looked determined, flashing his glasses. "To solve this puzzle, we need to-"
"Here!" Frisk flicked a switch, deactivating a puzzle.
"Oh." Percy said, sounding dead inside. "Nevermind."
"How'd you know that was there?" Clover asked them.
"I've heard things," Frisk shrugged.
What's their deal… Brayden glowered at them.
Sans and Papyrus stopped the kids with a tile puzzle, which ended up malfunctioning. Well, before Percy pointed that fact out. The kids continued, stumbling across a bunch of broken snowdogs.
After that was another X's and O's puzzle. Percy, being the puzzle-whizz, had it already figured it out. The gang built another snowman in a snowy cave underneath the puzzle, next to snow… skeletons of Sans and Papyrus.
"YEAH!" Brayden cheered when it was done. He stared at the others. "We'll call it Brayden Junior!"
"Absolutely not," Melody grumbled.
After that puzzle was done, the kids wandered through a whole area full of trees. Snow fell on Frisk's head; they looked like they were wearing a hat. After that was an area heading downwards, leading into a rocky area with some caves and creepy people. They met Sans and encountered Gyftrot, a cranky monster who was tormented by teens and decorated like a Christmas tree.
The kids helped undecorate them and Clover promised Gyftrot she'd bring them justice. The kids also found a crystallic and cool-looking tunnel with a door that refused to open. There were also some squeaky mushrooms around it.
The kids left that spooky cave place and followed the main path. They stumbled across a bunch of snow poffs on a flat, snowy surface. Oh, the kids also encountered the Greater Dog.
Frisk held out their stick again. The dog got excited and chased after it. Everyone began petting the dog. It ended up falling asleep on them.
"GET IT OFF ME!" Brayden complained. He was covered in dog fur.
"So cute…" Faye closed her eyes. "Can we keep it?"
"We've already got one with us." Clover replied, pointing at Brayden.
"Hey!" Brayden grumbled.
The kids spared the dog and continued. They came to a long, wooden bridge. It led to Snowdin Town. Sans and Papyrus were standing on the other side. The kids walked across the bridge and stared at the skele-bros.
"HUMANS!" Papyrus greeted. "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!"
A bunch of deadly weapons appeared around the kids, like blades, jets of fire, cannons and a little, white, fluffy dog.
"They can be dangerous after all." Melody mumbled.
Clover was making a face. Frisk titled their head. Brayden was pretty surprised, since nothing so far had been actually dangerous. But at the same time, happy. It was good to face a real challenge.
"WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!" Papyrus exclaimed. "CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!"
"Oh no." Percy commented. "We'll probably die."
"ARE YOU READY?" Papyrus asked. He smirked. " BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!"
Everyone braced themselves. Brayden gave Faye a thumbs up and a grin, hoping it would make her feel less freaked out. She blushed. But nothing happened.
"well?" Sans asked. "what's the holdup?"
"HOLDUP!?" Papyrus asked incredulously. "WHAT HOLDUP!?" He seemed hesitant. "I'M… I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!"
But still, nothing happened.
"Are you gonna do it or what?!" Brayden asked, staring at the skeleton.
"kid's got a point," Sans agreed. "that, uh, doesn't look very activated, bro."
"WELL!" Papyrus protested. "THIS CHALLENGE! IT SEEMS… MAYBE… TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMANS WITH!" He made a more… heroic expression. "YEAH! WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I'M A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS…"
Brayden tuned out. These skeletons spoke way too much. He stared at Faye who looked very relieved.
"Hey, Faye," he whispered. She stared at him. "It's not so bad, right? You look pretty happy."
"Um, I guess…" Faye whispered back. She smiled. "Thanks… again." He just gave her a thumbs-up in response.
The skeletons were gone, and the bridge was safe.
"Come on you two," Melody interrupted them. "Frisk's showing us a town."
"AWESOME!" Brayden yelled, rushing off. And so the kids arrived at Snowdin.