The Only Reset
Chapter 7: Spears of Prejudice
*(That last taunt probably wasn't helpful.)
Yeah, but I enjoyed it anyway.
*(You sure you jumped off at the right spot? It feels like we've been falling for over a year.)
Not exactly, but I should have enough feather fall to make any needed course corrections. I'd rather not be knocked unconscious and suffer a concussion.
I focus to create a parachute-like plane around myself and increase my air resistance enough to slow down a bit. Shifting the plane around gives me a limited steering ability, which I use to maneuver myself over the small bed of flowers below. The spell dampens some of my fall speed, and the flowers absorb the rest.
I have a soft-ish landing on the flowerbed. As I get up, I see piles and piles of garbage, meaning I landed in either the dump, a major political rally, or a warehouse filled with fanfiction.
I haven't been surrounded by this much garbage since, well, I guess since the last time I went to work at the embassy.
*(At least it's relatively clean for a dump.)
I notice a peculiar pile of papers overfilling a box discarded nearby.
Huh, must be from one of the monsters if it hasn't disintegrated away from the water. What's written on here?
I take a closer look at the documents, but recoil in disgust after reading a title.
Ew.
*(What'd you find?)
Someone's old fanction.
*(Okay, so it's not a 'clean' dump.)
Looks like several drafts of the same chapter. How much time did this guy spend writing and discarding sections of his story?
*(Too much, it seems.)
Ignoring the garbage piles and other trash, I head to the SAVE star sitting on a platform further in the dump.
*(Partaking in useless fanfiction fills you with determination.)
Beyond the star and around the corner, I encounter a training dummy sitting in the middle of the path to the exit of the dump. I carefully approach the stuffed body on a stick.
*(Maybe it won't attack if you don't ignore it this time.)
It's worth finding out.
I concentrate the full force of my physical body into hitting the dummy.
*(You hit the dummy lightly.)
*(You don't feel like you learned anything.)
It didn't even react. Weird.
As I turn to leave, the dummy becomes animate and starts shouting.
"FOOL!"
That was a rather delayed response.
"You think you can hurt ME?"
"I can, actually."
"I am a ghost that lives inside of a DUMMY."
*(Hey, so am I.)
Quiet, you.
"My cousin used to live inside a DUMMY too. Until… YOU CAME ALONG!"
Now he just lives in a stuffed body target.
"When you talked to them, they thought they were in for a nice chat…"
*(Many have made that same mistake.)
"But the things you SAID…!"
"I literally just asked how you were."
Far from placating the ghost dummy, my clarification only seemed to enrage it further.
"Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE! Your words spooked them right out of their dummy!"
There's no pleasing this guy. Last time, I ran away from the dummy, and Mad Dummy said he was heartbroken because I didn't TALK to him.
"HUMAN! I'll scare your SOUL out of your body!"
"It actually comes out on its own during a FIGHT; you don't need to scare—"
"Shut up! Shut up! SHUT UP!"
Mad Dummy has had enough and finally begins the FIGHT.
*(Mad Dummy blocks the way!)
ACT→Check
*(MAD DUMMY – 30 ATK Yes DEF)
*(Because it's a ghost, physical attacks will fail.)
Wait, how much defense?
*("Yes.")
That doesn't—
"Foolish. Foolish! FOOLISH!"
Mad dummy orders his minions to launch squiggly balls of magic at me. Despite surrounding me, I dodge their slow, clumsy attacks easily. A few of the missed shots hit Mad Dummy.
"OWWWW, you DUMMIES! Watch where you're aiming your MAGIC attacks!"
Mad Dummy suddenly realizes his slip of the—er, rather, the way he misspoke.
"Hey! You! Forget I said anything about MAGIC!"
Right. I don't think we should rely on Napstablook randomly showing up to save us.
*(You have an alternative idea in mind?)
I believe so. I can't perfectly recreate the circumstances that caused this last time, but…
MAGIC→Normal→Yellow
I absorb some of the ambient magic in the area to charge a small bolt of yellow magic and launch it at the crazed dummy. It lands a direct hit.
*Plink*
*0 DMG*
"OW! Hey!"
I didn't put much power into my attack though.
*(Really? This is the second opponent for which your strategy is 'irritate my way to victory'.)
I'm just doing what I do best. ;)
I continue pelting Mad Dummy with tiny bursts of yellow magic. The constant barrage makes the already mad ghost even more crazed.
"Stop it! Stop it! STOP IT!"
"Make me!" I taunt.
"Unbelievable. Unbelievable! UNBELIEVABLE! Here I am trying to teach you a valuable lesson, and you repay me by hitting me with harmless projectiles!"
"How will tearing my SOUL from my body teach me—"
"Despicable. Despicable! DESPICABLE! You're the worst person I've ever met! I've NEVER been more mad!"
The mad dummy becomes livid. Livid Dummy.
"Guooooohhhh! My mannequin levels are going OFF THE CHARTS!"
But it's not a mannequin. Mannequins are way creepier than some haunted floating target dummy.
Soon, the monster's anger reaches the critical point. Its rage pauses, and it freezes in midair.
"…? This… This feeling…? Eureka. Eureka! EUREKA!"
The dummy is suddenly very excited.
"Human, that moment of unbridled emotion allowed me to finally fuse with my body!"
*(I can relate. Sometimes I have moments of unbridled emotion that allow me to fuse with other people's bodies.)
I don't think that punching people counts as fusing.
*(My fist fused with their face. It counts.)
"I'm fully corporeal now! My lifelong dream is realized!"
*(Would it still count as a "lifelong" dream if you're not alive?)
"In return, I guess I won't stomp you. How's that sound?"
"Sounds like a plan. Go have fun now."
"Thanks!"
*(YOU WON!)
*(You won 0 XP and 0 gold.)
After the FIGHT, Glad Dummy floats off to his post in Undyne's yard. As he leaves, I notice Napstablook hovering nearby.
"Hey, Napstablook. Fancy seeing you here."
"Oh, hi, Frisk, was it? I was just, uh, passing through. I see you've met dummy. I'm glad you three got along."
"We got along about as well as any other monster we've met in the Underground."
"Oh, good… or maybe… not? Anyway… I'm going to head home now… Oh… umm… feel free to 'come with' if you want… but no pressure… I understand if you're busy… It's fine… No worries… Just thought I'd offer…"
*(Damn, does he have to be so pushy about it?)
I know, right? He might as well be holding a gun to my head!
I follow the ghost north. The area ahead splits in five directions.
"Hey… my house is up here… in case you want to see… or in case… you don't…"
Before following Napstablook to his house, I touch the save star in front of myself in the center of the room.
*(You feel a calming tranquility. You're filled with determination.)
Feeling recharged, I head up the center path to Napstablook's house and knock on the door. The timid ghost answers the door.
"Oh… you really came…"
"…you invited me."
"Sorry, I… wasn't expecting that."
"It's okay, I've had even more short-sighted plans myself before."
I follow the ghost into his house and up the stairs to his room. It's a sparse layout with a fridge/freezer, a T.V., a desktop computer on a table, and a series of music disks in cases laying across the floor in the corner.
"It's not much, but make yourself at home."
I look at his fridge questioningly.
"Why do monsters have refrigerators? Magic food doesn't spoil."
"Oh… it's just where we keep food when we're not eating it. It's not actually plugged in. Are you hungry? I can get you something to eat…"
Napstablook looks through the fridge and pulls out a sandwich on a plate. Not wanting to be rude, I accept his offer and take the plate.
*(You attempt to pick up the sandwich to bite into it, but you phase right through it.)
If it's a ghost sandwich, how does it stay on the plate?
*(Maybe it's a ghost plate too?)
Then how does it stay on the shelf in the fridge?
*(Ghost fridge?)
How does the fridge stay on the floor then?
*(…Ghost floor?)
Then how am I standing on it right now?!
*(…I don't have all the answers, Frisk.)
Darn.
"Sorry… I don't know how it works either…"
"Don't worry about it. I'll look it up later."
"Anyway, after a great meal, I like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage… It's a family tradition… Do you want… to join me?"
What does he mean by "feel like garbage?"
*(Ponder the mysteries of the universe.)
"Sure, why not?"
Napstablook and I sprawl ourselves out on the floor. After a few moments, my mind expands, and I connect to the magical ley lines flowing through the planet. The vastness of the cosmos is made manifest around me as I lay there, adrift in the great, empty beyond. This terrestrial connection sends me spinning through space at 1,000 miles per hour, around one star of billions, and—
"Okay, that's enough of that. Getting a bit too existential for my tastes."
I sit up, thank Napstablook for inviting me over, and depart his house.
*(Should we visit the Blook family snail farm?)
Last time I was there, I encouraged a snail so hard it burst into flames.
*(So… yes?)
No.
Instead, I turn back to the south where I came. I notice the sign off to my left.
*North: Blook Acres
East: Hotland
?: Temmie Village
As I head east, I ponder the sign.
It doesn't say what's south or west of here?
*(I guess they ran out of room on the sign.)
But they still had room to put in no direction towards Temmie Village?
*(They relocate their 'village' every few weeks. The sign's just so you're not caught off guard by a stray.)
As if the warning could prepare anyone for a Temmie.
*(Speaking of the west, why didn't we just jump over the gap to the west rather than going through the lower swamps?)
That would've hurt the bird's feelings.
On my way east, I make a stop at Gerson's shop and head inside. The old tortoise greets me kindly.
"Welcome to my shop! Why don't you stop in and buy something? I'm having a 'buy one, get one' sale today!"
"Hey, Gerson. I think you have that 'sale' every day though."
"Sure do, but you're be surprised how interested it makes our leader of the Royal Guard! Wah ha ha!"
"What's with that crazy fish lady anyway?"
"Undyne? She's a local hero around here."
"You have a really loose definition of 'hero'."
"Through grit and determination alone, she fought her way to the top of the Royal Guard."
"So rank is earned by rite of combat? Savage." I smile, "I like it."
Gerson awkwardly clears his throat, "Actually, she just came through here asking about someone who looked just like you…"
"I'll be sure to warn my doppelgänger then."
"I'd watch your back, kid. And buy some items… It might just save your hide! Wah ha ha!"
"Interesting sales pitch. In any case, I'll take a pair of cloudy glasses."
"How'd you know I'm selling such a strange object?"
"I guess the quality of your merchandise is so great that advertising spread through word of mouth."
"Well, someone's been spreading lies, 'cause all the stuff I sell is junk!"
"Well, I might need some of that junk for later."
As Gerson heads searches under his counter for the Glasses, Chara asks, *(You need it to beat Undyne?)
Not really, I just need a copy for later so we can—
Gerson interrupts my thoughts when he gets back up with the glasses and says, "You know, Undyne's really come a long way since she was a little urchin."
Now she's a big urchin.
"I used to be a hero myself, back in the old days. 'Gerson, the Hammer of Justice'!"
"And how'd you earn that title?"
"I used a gavel."
"Ah."
The tortoise reminisces, "When she was younger, Undyne would follow me around to watch me beat up bad guys…"
"Wait, what bad guys?"
"Exactly! I whooped 'em all so much they never came back!"
"I see."
"Sometimes Undyne would even try to help! Though, most of the time, the folks she attacked weren't bad guys. It'd be the mailman or something like that."
"She hasn't changed much then."
"Anyhoo, I appreciated it! Wah ha ha ha!"
He appreciated Undyne attacking mailmen?
*(I think he means he appreciated her attempts to help.)
Wanting to avoid certain more sensitive subjects, I pay for the glasses and bid Gerson farewell before continuing on my way down the winding, mushroom-illuminated passage to the east. On my way to the fungal path, I catch sight of a very strange-looking monster, even by monster standards. The creature resembles a cat with long, black human hair on its head and floppy dog ears in addition to its pointy cat ears. The rest of its body has the appearance of a white cat wearing a striped shirt. Before I can react, the creature spots me and vibrates up to me in an instant. A 'FIGHT' begins, or at least it tries to.
*(IT'S TEMMI—)
No.
*(What?)
MERCY→NOPE
I walk straight past the Temmie, ignoring it completely.
*(Wait, but, Frisk—)
No. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. I am not dealing with that.
*(But it's rated 'TEM out of TEM' and has 'TEM ATK' and 'TEM DEF'!)
No. I've had my fill of surreal mind-screws for the day, thank you very much.
*(But it wants to 'petz u'!)
Looking behind myself, I see that the Temmie has already fallen victim to its own short attention span and forgotten about me as it chases after a stray butterfly.
It seems fine to me.
*(Aw…)
There will be time for shenanigans/hijinks later. Right now, we have an over-zealous guard captain to beat.
*(Fine. YOU WON, I guess. You gain 0 XP and 0 gold.)
My journey through the remainder of the cave is uneventful, though I do opt to use a small candlelight spell in favor of touching the lanterns dotted throughout or wandering through the dark blindly. Doing so also allows me to take a left at the following darkened junction, avoiding the dead-end where Undyne had previously cornered me.
Before long, I reach a narrow plank bridge crossing a large, deep expanse below.
Here's the bridge.
*(You have zero room to dodge here. It won't matter how mad Undyne is; you can't avoid her point-blank without falling off.)
I have a plan for that.
I start to cross the bridge as calmly as I can. Shortly after I pass the halfway point, I hear the not-so-subtle pounding of Undyne behind me. I sigh and stop where I am without turning around. I know Undyne won't just attack me right away when my back is turned. The side, maybe, but not the back.
"Nowhere to run now," Undyne growls as she slowly approaches me.
"You're right, but you still shouldn't fight me here."
"Why not?"
"Because," I elaborate as I turn to face her and point to the camera pointing at the bridge, "this area is under video surveillance."
Undyne stops short. I'm sure that realization is dawning on her face as I continue, "That means whoever watches these camera feeds will have a front row seat to you skewering a small child alive if you attack me here. I'm not sure your reputation as 'hero' will survive video evidence of that level."
The last part was a cover; I knew the real implication was that Alphys would see Undyne impale a helpless child. She's already worried that she might be too intimidating for him to approach, and adding the image of her murdering in cold blood probably wouldn't improve her odds.
Undyne stalls. She would, of course, kill me without hesitation if she believed it would help her people, but that doesn't mean she'd be proud of it. She certainly wouldn't want her crush to see it. Still though, she has a strong sense of duty.
"I'm not letting you get away."
"You don't have to. We'll FIGHT at the entrance to Hotland, out of sight from everyone."
After all, I wouldn't want to embarrass you that much on camera.
Rather than answering, Undyne just backs up from me before turning and striding away. I follow suit.
*(That was low.)
All's fair in love and war, even if it means combining the two.
I continue past the bridge. Ahead of me, there is a narrow, rocky plateau leading to a cave that enters Hotland. Just before the cave sits a SAVE star, which I touch mostly out of habit. Standing on a rocky pillar above me is Undyne.
"Undyne! How completely predictable to see you!"
"Seven. Seven human souls, and King ASGORE will become a god. Six. That's how many we have collected thus far. Understand?"
"Basic arithmetic? Yeah, I understand that."
"Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed."
"As if. Asgore could barely bring himself to kill six people. You really think he'll be able to live with being responsible for twelve billion deaths?"
"Twelve billi—?! Never mind! First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people."
"Oh boy!" I sit down cross-legged to listen to the epic tale.
"It all started, long ago…"
I look on expectantly.
"…No, you know what? SCREW IT! WHY SHOULD I TELL YOU THAT STORY WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!?"
"You forgot the speech, didn't you?" I deadpan.
"What?! No! I just—NGAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! Forget it!"
Sighing, I stand back up and ready myself for combat. Undyne discards her helmet and points an armored gauntlet at me.
"YOU! You're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! Alphys's history books made me think humans were cool with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen."
"It's actually more just giant flowers and robotic swordsmen."
"BUT YOU? You're just a coward!"
"Discretion is the better part of valor, Undyne."
"You use cheap tricks and slander to get away from me!"
"Yeah, 'cause it's easy, and it avoids a lot of damage."
"And! And!"
Undyne then appears downcast as she says, "…and something's been bothering me, too. The whole time I was chasing after you… I felt something… Strange."
"I don't suppose it would be genuine remorse for hunting down a small child?"
"The echoes of something warm, something…"
What's warm and echoes?
*(A volcanic mountain range?)
Really loud fire?
*(A hot bat?)
Something like "I miss being friends with you."
*(Aww…)
Wait for it…
"BUT THAT'S RIDICULOUS!"
There it is. Never sentimental for long.
"I WOULD NEVER GET CHUMMY WITH A COWARD LIKE YOU!"
*(Yet she gets busy with a weenie like Alphys.)
Just because he's a weenie doesn't mean he's a coward, Chara.
"You! You must have been mind-controlling me!"
*(Mind contr—? That's ridiculous!)
No, no, she's right; I totally have mind control powers. That's why I let her throw deadly spears at me while I ran away, because I was in complete control of her mind and decided not to stop her from trying to kill me.
What? Have you been using that to make me fall for you?
No, I just used my manly charms!
*(At age ten?)
Well, I don't know what the heck else you see in me if not my body. Fame? Security? Access to an unlimited supply of snark?
*(Technically, the only reason I got together with you, literally, was for your body, also literally.)
I knew it!
*(Hey! It's not like I had a choice in the matter!)
Oh, well isn't that just oh-so convenient?!
"Manipulating people to make them like you… What a Grade-A FREAK!"
Eh, she's got me there. That is my entire job as an ambassador.
"Now enough! For everyone's hopes! For everyone's dreams!"
*(For her blind bigotry and job security…)
"And for my own freaking dignity!"
I scoff and mutter, "Right, 'dignity'."
"I, UNDYNE, will strike you down!"
I step up to Undyne in challenge.
"That's it then! No more running away! HERE I COME!"
Undyne jumps down from her perch on the rock formation with her spear pointed directly at me. The attack itself deals no damage, but synergizing green magic supercharges the gravity effect of its blue magic and locks me in place upon striking me.
"En guard!"
*(Undyne attacks!)
ACT→Undyne→Check
*(AT 50 DF 20)
*(The heroine that NEVER gives up, even when it's good for her)
"As long as you're GREEN you CAN'T ESCAPE! Unless you learn to face danger head-on, you won't last a SECOND against ME!".
Undyne tosses a spear underhand for me to catch. I do so and use it to block her incoming strikes. Perhaps intentionally, her first volley is child's play.
*(Smells like sushi.)
MERCY→Spare
"Not bad! Then how about THIS?!"
Undyne begins her actual barrage of attacks from multiple sides. While I can't move from where I'm standing, I am able to rotate in order to block the attacks. Considering how often I've trained with Undyne in the "past", blocking her attacks here is easy.
*(Undyne flashes a menacing smile.)
MERCY→Spare
"For years, we've dreamed of a happy ending…"
Undyne sends attacks at my left and right sides. I have to quickly pivot around to block them all.
*(Behind you!)
Chara senses the final missile approaching from behind and warns me. I barely manage to block it in time.
Close call. Thanks.
*(Watching your back is my job.)
What about when you're watching my front?
*(I do that in my free time.)
*(Smells like fish wrapped in seaweed.)
MERCY→Spare
"And now, sunlight is just within our reach!"
My opponent's next volley comes at me from all for directions, but each strike is visible from the direction of the last. The final part of the attack is a focused assault on my front. If not for the gravity magic holding me in place, I'm sure it would've pushed me back slightly.
*(Undyne thinks of her friends and pounds the ground with her fists.)
MERCY→Spare
"I won't let you snatch it away from us!"
Undyne's attacks are getting much faster now. If not for Chara's warnings of "left", "right", and "rear", I'd have been hit several times.
Blocking would be much easier if I could see this FIGHT from above.
*(At least you have me to help with it.)
*(Undyne thinks of her enemies and pounds the ground with her fists.)
MERCY→Spare
"NGAHHH! Enough warming up!"
I have only milliseconds between each strike to block now. After a large volley, Undyne refocuses the magic she was using to saturate my SOUL into a single spear and lobs it at me. The attack in unblockable with the spear she gave me, but I'm able to move again now that her magic is no longer holding me in place. I quickly step back to avoid the spear.
*(Undyne suplexes a huge boulder, just because she can.)
Now's my chance!
MERCY→Run
While Undyne is distracted with her boulder feat, I quickly run off past her. I'm already several yards away by the time she rights herself again.
"What? HEY! Get back here!"
"Nothanksmaybelaterbye!"
I make it about a third of the way to Hotland before she gets close enough to strike me with another overcharged gravity spell and hold me in place once more. More blocking ensues.
"You won't get away from me this time!"
*(Undyne attacks! Again!)
MERCY→Spare
"Honestly, I'm doing you a favor…"
Due to having to refocus her magic since I fled earlier, Undyne isn't able to make the next attack quite as intense as last time. The projectiles come at me from both the front and behind, so I turn to the side between strikes to see.
*(Undyne towers threateningly.)
MERCY→Spare
"No human has EVER made it past ASGORE!"
The onslaught now mixes in slower moving attacks to distract from the fast hits that follow from other directions. I recognize this tactic and swiftly turn to block the incoming strikes.
*(Undyne draws her finger across her neck.)
MERCY→Spare
"Killing you now is an act of mercy!"
"You have a really warped perception of 'mercy'."
On the following assault, Undyne sends slow moving attacks combined with fast moving from the same direction so that they hit me in rapid succession. Were it not for the gravity spell holding me in place, I'm certain several of the hits would have pushed me back from their sheer force.
*(Undyne flashes a menacing smile.)
MERCY→Spare
"So STOP being so damn resilient!"
More attacks, even faster, come from every direction. I block most of them, but a few manage to slip by. The burst of fire is punctuated with a final spear after Undyne releases the hold on my SOUL once more.
*(Undyne points heroically towards the sky.)
"Sky"?
*(Well, ceiling, but it's in the same direction anyway.)
Fair enough.
I look up at where Undyne is pointing and ask, "What's that thing you're pointing at?"
"What?"
Undyne briefly looks up towards the ceiling in confusion. Meanwhile…
MERCY→Flee
*(You might as well have told her someone wrote, 'gullible' on the ceiling.)
If it works, it works.
As I make my second escape from Undyne, I pass by a sentry post manned by Sans. He is, of course, napping on the job. Undyne sees this as well and actually pauses her chase in astonishment at Sans's laziness until she realizes that I'm still escaping. The warrior 'fish' decides to save yelling at Sans for later. I'm nearing the "Welcome to Hotland" sign when Undyne catches up again.
"You've escaped me for the LAST time!"
*(Undyne attacks. This is getting old…)
MERCY→Spare
"Alphys told me humans were determined…"
The barrage that follows consists of more attacks alternating between my left and right sides. The attack finishes off with a spear charged with yellow magic that causes it to rotate around me at the last second and try to strike from behind. It's only thanks to the fact that her strikes are again slower from releasing me earlier that I can avoid them.
*(Undyne flips her spear impatiently.)
MERCY→Spare
"I see now what she meant by that!"
Far more spears fly towards me, several charged with more yellow energy. It's extremely unnerving to intentionally put my back to the attacks that change vectors, but I manage to control myself and block them.
*(Undyne holds her fist in front of herself and shakes her head.)
MERCY→Spare
"But I'm determined, too!"
Another attack with a series of yellow spears at the end. I get hit a few times when the yellows change direction.
*(Undyne grabs a boulder to suplex, but then she thinks better of it and puts it back down.)
MERCY→Spare
"Determined to end this RIGHT NOW!"
More yellow attacks, more speed, more blocking.
*(Undyne hovers menacingly.)
MERCY→Spare
"… RIGHT NOW!"
Some strikes combine a yellow spear from one direction with a blue spear from the opposite launched at the same time. The impact is almost as strong as the combined fast and slowed attacks from earlier.
*(Smells like angry fish.)
MERCY→Spare
"… RIGHT… … … NOW!"
No fancy spears this time, but they're moving much faster now. Chara calls out where the next hit comes from relative to where I'm facing.
*(Rear, left, rear, front, front, left, rear, right, right, right.)
I manage to block all the strike with quick movements and Chara's callouts.
Phew. Thanks.
*(Thank me when you're alive after the FIGHT.)
*(Undyne is hyperventilating.)
MERCY→Spare
"Ha… Ha…"
I'm getting really tired, but the adrenaline keeps me going for now. Undyne appears to be slowing as well. The next attacks come from two opposite directions, but most of the ones from behind are yellow, so I don't move much to block.
*(Undyne's eye is twitching involuntarily.)
MERCY→Spare
"NGAHHH! DIE ALREADY, YOU LITTLE BRAT!"
Her final attack is entirely yellow spears coming from all sides finished off with another quick spear throw after releasing her hold on my SOUL.
*(Undyne is smashing spears on the ground.)
MERCY→Flee
I begin my third escape attempt from the captain of the Royal Guard. As my pursuer and I pass the middle of the "Welcome to Hotland" sign, my phone rings. I stop to answer it. Undyne also politely stops chasing me while I have my conversation.
"Hello?"
"HEY! WHAT'S UP?!"
"Oh, hi, Papyrus!"
"I WAS JUST THINKING YOU, UNDYNE, AND I SHOULD ALL HANG OUT SOMETIME! I THINK YOU WOULD MAKE GREAT PALS! LET'S MEET UP AT HER HOUSE!"
"Sounds like a plan. I'll meet up with you later."
After the phone call ends, I give Undyne the go ahead to resume chasing, and I dart off to the final bridge before Hotland. She manages to catch up to me a few times, but she is too exhausted to use her magic to hold me in place, so I just run away from battle immediately each time. As we cross the bridge, Undyne's movements become noticeably slower. The closer to Hotland and consequently hotter it gets, the more she lags behind. She struggles to keep going until she collapses onto the bridge, baking in her armor. On the other side of the bridge is a water cooler. I go over to fill two paper cups with water and then head back to Undyne on the bridge.
"Charging after an opponent into unfavorable terrain is a bad idea, Undyne. You still have much to learn."
Undyne either refuses or is unable to answer me and continues to lie on the ground.
I pour one cup of water on the defeated monster's head and let her drink the other. She slowly gets back up and stares at me.
"Do you think this makes us friends?"
"No, but it does make us not enemies. We'll talk later. For now, go, while you still have some dignity left."
The fish monster turns away and stalks off.
*(I think you bruised her ego.)
Eh, she'll be fine. Undyne was never really the type to wallow in self-pity.
I turn back and head into Hotland proper this time. Fighting Undyne was tough. I hope that hanging out with her isn't so intense.
Unfortunately, I know better than to believe that.
Author's note: I hope the miscellaneous stories helped with the wait. Been a while, hasn't it? Well, one broken computer later, the chapter is finally ready. I actually had most of this already written in April, but I didn't like how the Undyne fight was glossed over, so I decided to expand on it. Was it worth it? Heck if I know.
On another note, I've found a more consistent time to write after doing payroll at work (shhh), unless something unexpected makes it takes longer. Bit-by-bit, it's still being written.
The next chapter will probably be shorter, as it's just hanging out with Undyne. I doubt I'll spend four months researching that fight.