The silent whirring of the elevator's hum echoed as Frisk and Chara took the elevator all the way to the second floor before it stopped abruptly, the doors opening back into the heated environment. Stepping out, Frisk and Chara would take in more of the magma-crested cityscape around them as magma falls dripped between walkways and over other iron building structures, soon pooling around them before continuing to flow down towards the bottom of the chasm.
Frisk inhaled, taking in the hot air to her lungs as she stepped forward, Chara following close behind as there seemed to be a gathering of monsters nearby at what looked like a sentry station, a large gathering of monsters around it holding... hot dogs?
"What the..." Frisk quietly asked to herself as she stepped forward, soon a small volcano-shaped monster with four legs bursting out of the crowd, scampering about with a hotdog sitting in its open top.
"Uwwaa~! So meaty~!" The monster said as it scampered off.
"?" Frisk mumbled to herself as she squeezed between the monsters to see what was going on.
Of course it was Sans.
"Sans!" Frisk said, running up to the counter.
"ey kiddo." Sans said, winking. "so what brings ya here? still on that quest?"
"I should be asking you that!" Frisk said. "Why are you all the way out here?"
"told ya before, i got multiple stations around the place." Sans commented, shrugging. "figured i could also make a couple more g on the side by sellin' some water sausages. ya want one? it's only 30g."
"The hell are water sausages?" Chara asked. "Does he mean hot dogs?"
"Uh... sure..." Frisk said, taking 30G out of her small currency satchel and putting it on the counter as Sans passed her the hot dog. "Hey... quick question... how'd you know Undyne would stop for you at that sentry station back down below?"
"what, down near the entrance?" Sans asked. "aw, well that's my favorite nappin' spot. i knew if i was takin' a snooze cruise down there when you ran by that Undyne would have to stop to yell at me."
Frisk sweat-dropped, putting her hot dog in her bag. "And... uh..."
"somethin' on your mind kiddo?" Sans asked.
"Would you mind alerting the guard something's going on around here?" Frisk asked. "I just encountered another corruption incident on the floor below an-"
"already on that kiddo." Sans said. "once the guard gets readings about that stuff they're usually not far behind on investigating."
"Alright..." Frisk said, waving goodbye. "Good luck with your... whatever this is."
"thanks kiddo." Sans replied as another monster approached for a hot dog. Frisk started walking off further into the streets of the subterranean city, walking underneath the magma overpasses as she continued onwards. The sounds of bubbling magma echoed from below as several other monsters passed by, seemingly paying Frisk no mind as she walked along.
Soon enough her phone vibrated, catching her attention as she pulled it out of her pocket. "Hm?" Curious, she'd see she had a notification on the Undernet app, so she'd tap it and open it up as she looked inside it.
Coolskeleton95 posted an update:
*ARE WE POSTING HOT PICS? HERE IS A PIC OF ME AND MY COOL FRIEND
It's a picture of Papyrus in front of a mirror with muscular arms flexing while he wears sunglasses. The biceps are also wearing sunglasses.
Frisk smiled a bit, hitting the like button as she continued walking before another update came.
ALPHYS posted an update:
*LOL, Coolskeleton95! ...that's a joke, right?
Coolskeleton95 posted an update:
*THE ONLY JOKE HERE IS HOW STRONG MY MUSCLES ARE.
Chara seemed to snort a bit as she rolled her eyes at the status updates as Frisk continued walking. "Alright, should be a shorter distance to the next elevator compared to the first floor."
"Where is it?" Frisk asked.
Chara indicated to the tube that went up to the larger metal floor above. "Just off there. We're making good time so we should reach it within a half-hour."
"Alright." Frisk said, before her phone rang again. Pulling it out she'd see it's Alphys.
"Hello?" She answered.
"Just noticed your position in Floor two right now." Alphys said. "There's a back route that I can get you on that'll take you straight to the next elevator from here, just follow my instructions!"
"Alright..." Frisk spoke, cautious. "So... where do I go?"
"You're going to want to take a right here at the next intersection." Alphys said as Frisk walked up to it. Frisk would hit the right and soon started walking through the rocky back alley behind the buildings, the heat of the magma rising up and making these back routes even hotter than normal. Soon enough Frisk would come to two separate conveyor belts, both moving in opposite directions as they whirred away. Along the back wall near the conveyor belt moving away from Frisk were three separate switches embedded into the wall, all three having cabling running up and over to what appeared to be an electric gate, blocking access through.
"Alright, there should be a set of switches and a gate there, right?" Alphys asked over speakerphone.
"Yes." Frisk merely responded.
"Excellent! We're on the same page then." Alphys said. "Now, those switches are on a collective timer. Once you throw the first one, you'll need to activate the other two within thirty seconds to shut down that electric gate."
"Wait, couldn't you-"
"Shut it down myself?" Alphys finished. "That's a good thought Frisk, but sadly these kinds of gates are off my power grid mainframe, meaning I can't touch this."
"Alright." Frisk said, taking a deep breath before stepping onto the conveyor. The sudden movement forward nearly threw her off but she soon stabilized herself, throwing the first switch.
"Alright, that's one!" Alphys said over speakerphone. "The auto-shutdown's started, throw those other two switches!"
Frisk narrowed her eyes through her goggles as she soon reached out and threw the second switch. She tensed up as she reached for the third switch...
...and slammed it down.
The crackling of the electric barrier would soon fizzle out as Frisk tripped off the conveyor belt on the other side, face-planting onto the rocky ground.
16/40 - 15/40
"...ow." Frisk said, getting to her feet and coughing a bit. "Well... it's down."
"Alright, you'll be going through a blind spot for a moment, so I'm going to lose visual on you, but ahead is another steam vent puzzle." Alphys said. "...I'm sure you'll be able to solve it without my help!"
"Okay." Frisk said. "Again, thanks for your help!"
"No problem, I'll talk again in a bit!" Alphys said as she disconnected from the call. Frisk continued across the rocky back corridor until she heard the loud clanking of gears, giant cogs churning and magma bubbling through pipes as steam was rising up through more vents on several pillars in front of Frisk, a large conveyor belt wrapping around from the other side and connecting to the rocky path. Large green metal struts between the lower parts of the pillars.
Frisk would look around at the area. "...sooo..."
"You're gonna need the vents." Chara said, re-materializing. "Should be simple enough."
Frisk nodded, stepping onto the first vent and launching herself to the first pillar, landing on the center of it... and feeling the center of the pillar slide down slightly. The pillar started to vibrate slightly as the entire pillar shifted and rotated a complete 180 degrees, making the next directions of the next vents in the complete opposite facings of their original orientation.
"Oooooooh, it's a rotating vent puzzle!" Chara said. "This oughta be fun!"
"A-alright..." Frisk said, reorienting herself. "Let's see..." Frisk said, taking the south vent and launching herself to the next pillar, landing on the switch that could cause the vents to rotate yet again. "Okay, so if I go to the left... that'll mess the rotation up if I do that... then what if... ah!"
Frisk would take the vent downwards onto the bottom two pillars, thankfully no rotation switches resting on them so she could easily then head left onto the next one, then launch herself up to the next rotating pillar, setting herself as the pillar rotated once again. "Alright, just gotta... wait." She said to herself, staring at the last pillar. If I launch myself over there now, I'll land on the switch and have the pillar facing away from where I need to go..."
She stood there for a moment, hearing the steam whooshing and the churning of the giant metal gears around her... when suddenly she got a brainwave.
"That's it!" She said, soon turning around and leaping back to the other pillar from the vent. "So if I hit this switch again..." She said, launching back to the pillar she was just on. The switch would rotate the pillars again. "That'll set the vent facing away from the path, so when I launch over..." She said, soon stepping ahead and launching to the final pillar, landing on the switch and causing the last pillar to rotate back towards the pathway. "Just as I thought!"
The sound of slow clapping came from Chara as she rematerialized next to Frisk. "See? Didn't even need my help for this one." She said. "Alright, now that that's over, we shouldn't be too far from the elevator. C'mon."
Frisk nodded, as she soon found herself coming back out from between the buildings, soon heading up a set of stairs towards an upper walkway. After a few stumbles she'd be walking along an upper route, the whooshing of the steam from the vents and the churning of gears within the area echoing off the rocky walls.
The human would then feel her phone vibrating as she was walking along the upper pathway. Curious, she'd pull out her phone and check her messages on UnderNet.
ALPHYS posted an update:
*OMG? ppl think Mew Mew 2 is better than Mew Mew 1? lol thats a joke right.
Frisk was about to ask what Alphys meant before someone else on the chatroom responded.
RubyHood posted an update:
*i don't see whats wrong with MMKC2. i personally liked it
Uh oh.
ALPHYS posted an update:
*omg... DONT YOU REALIZE IT RUINS MEW MEWS ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC
RubyHood posted an update:
*i fail to see how it 'ruins' her as a character
ALPHYS posted an update:
*My Mew Mew 2 Review:
*Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 is neither Kissy nor Cutie. It's trash. 0 stars.
RubyHood posted an update:
*you take those words back you bitch
"Hoooooo boy." Chara said, rolling her eyes. "We got an otaku fight."
"Though, given the context of this anime, wouldn't it be a catfight?" Frisk asked.
"..." Chara was silent for a moment before she snorted a laugh. "Goddamnit I wish I thought of that!"
ALPHYS posted an update:
*i will NOT. how can you even like 2?
RubyHood posted an update:
*look, the fight scenes in 2 were NEEDED, otherwise the show just DRAGGED on forever.
ALPHYS posted an update:
*NO NO NO NO YOU DONT UNDERSTAND, ITS NOT MEANT TO BE A FIGHTING ANIME, THAT COMPLETELY UNDERMINES WHO MEW MEW IS AS A CHARACTER
RubyHood posted an update:
*then WHAT is the point of having Mew Mew as a magical girl if she doesn't get to use her powers?
ALPHYS posted an update:
*you wouldn't understand. the entire point of the first season was for her to learn how to cope with her powers in a normal setting! THAT'S THE POINT OF IT!
RubyHood posted an update:
*it feels like a complete waste of a character! she needed conflict to come and accept her powers! why else would they introduce ruff ruff?
ALPHYS posted an update:
*but she's completely shoehorned in! she's just meant to be a self-insert of one of the writers just because THEY couldn't get their own show greenlit!
RubyHood posted an update:
*okay, maybe ruff ruff is a biiiiit too shoehorned in, but mew mew needed a foil to her character! she needs someone that represents her inner turmoil and demons! her shortcomings and her insecurities!
ALPHYS posted an update:
*YOURE JUST USING THAT AS AN EXCUSE FOR SHITTY WRITING!
RubyHood posted an update:
*YOU'RE THE ONE BEING BLINDED BY THE ROSE-TINTED NOSTALGIA GLASSES! WHY NOT OPEN UP YOUR NOSTRILS AND TAKE A WHIFF OF THAT GODDAMN SEQUEL QUALITY!
Frisk was actually finding it hard to hold back her giggles as Chara merely rolled her eyes. "My god... once an otaku, always an otaku."
"Yeah..." Frisk said, letting out a snort. "I should probably break this up." She said, typing into the chat feature.
FRISKYBITS posted an update:
*Hey, I know this situation's a bit of a heated debate in the chatroom right now, but... maybe let things lie and agree to disagree?
RubyHood posted an update:
*Agree to disagree?
ALPHYS posted an update:
*...?
FRISKYBITS posted an update:
*It's clear enough that both of you have some pretty strong opinions on this anime, but it doesn't seem like one Is going to convince the other that their opinion is the 'right' one. You've both made some very good arguments for both your cases, but it's clear enough that you aren't convincing one another by then throwing petty insults at each other, right?
RubyHood posted an update:
*...you raise a very good point.
ALPHYS posted an update:
*...yeah, in retrospect i think we did take it too far...
FRISKYBITS posted an update:
*See? Not all arguments need to be so angry and violent.
Frisk was about to wait for the next response to pop up from either Red or Alphys when something caught her attention.
"HEY! You there!"
Frisk froze up as she whirled around, soon seeing the two approaching figures, both clad in full-suits of iron armor and nearly towering over her. One seemed to have part of its helmet in the shape of rabbit ears and the other one seemed to have its helmet elongated a bit like a dragon snout.
"Well this doesn't seem good..." Chara spoke, glancing to Frisk. "Just act natural, maybe they'll think you're a weird monster."
Frisk swallowed as the two guards approached her.
"Y-yes sirs?" Frisk asked.
"We've, like, received an anonymous tip about a human wearing a striped sweater." The one with the rabbit ears said. "They told us they were wandering around Hotland right now... I know, sounds scary, huh?"
"Y-yeah... it does sound scary..." Frisk spoke, swallowing a bit.
"Like, you definitely seem scared of the news." The rabbit guard kept speaking. "Well, just stay chill. We'll bring you someplace safe, OK?"
"A-alright..." Frisk said, soon following silently behind the two before the dragon started muttering something.
"... Huh? What is it, bro?" The rabbit spoke, causing Frisk to halt in her tracks as the dragon started muttering something again.
"The sweater she's got around her waist?" The rabbit said, causing Frisk's blood to run cold. "... like, what about it?"
'Ohnoohnoohnoohnoohnoohno...' Frisk silently screamed to herself, pocketing her phone and trying to untie the sweater around her waist.
"Hey wait a second..."
Frisk's panic spiked she desperately tried to-
"Bro..." The rabbit monster spoke. "Are you thinkin'... what I'm thinkin'?"
The dragon merely nodded, pulling out his sword. Frisk swallowed.
"Bummer. This is, like... mega embarrassing." The rabbit said, drawing his sword. "We, like, actually totally have to kill you and stuff."
"C-can't we just-"
The battle sequence started up immediately.
The Royal Guards attacked!
Frisk swallowed; this was possibly the worst case scenario she could've gotten herself stuck in! With both Alphys and Red stuck in the middle of their conversation, she couldn't call for any backup to try and diffuse this situation!
"Crapcrapcrap..." Frisk muttered to herself. "What do I do?"
Swallowing, she'd move to ACT and select *Check.
*RG01 - HP 300 ATK 100 DEF 100
*Royal guard member with shining, polished armor.
*RG02 - HP 300 ATK 100 DEF 100
*Royal guard member with stuffy armor. Seems like it's slightly dirty...?
Stuffy armor? Frisk's mind started racing as soon the Guards were on the move.
"Like, team attack!" The rabbit one yelled.
"...team attack." The dragon one said.
Soon with a swing of the swords several star-shaped bullets would fly right at Frisk, looking to damage her. The human rolled to the side out of the way as she got back to her feet, just in time for her options to come back up.
"Hey..." Chara whispered, indicating to the second Royal Guard. "Is that... sweat coming of its armor?"
Frisk would notice, seeing that among the dirt... there was sweat coming from the corners of the armor!
"He seems like he's sweating up a storm in that thing..." Chara said. "Maybe if you clean off that dirt, you might be able to get him to overheat and pass out like with what happened with Undyne earlier!"
Frisk nodded, moving her hand to the ACT menu to measure her options before selecting *RG02.
*Check *Clean Armor
*Whisper
She was initially confused by the whisper command, but shook her head and refocused, selecting *Clean as she ran up to RG02.
"?!" The second guard exclaimed through a breath as Frisk began rubbing the dirt off the dragon monster's armor.
"Hey! Like, what are you doing?!" The first guard said as he swung his sword down as Frisk leapt back, the dragon's armor now fully polished.
The second barrage of attacks began as Frisk now noticed the glowing green chestplate icon in the center of the field. Frisk would keep out of harms way as her Soul swept over the icon.
-ding-
-ding-
-ding-
The guards attacks ended as Frisk returned to her neutral stance, now noticing the sweat cascading from 02's armor.
"...can't... take it..." The dragon monster coughed out. "Armor... too... HOT!"
"Eh?" The rabbit one said before the dragon guard stripped out of his armor, revealing the muscular abs underneath, catching both Frisk and the other guard by surprise.
"Well now." Chara commented, floating down next to Frisk. "That was the last thing I was expecting to get out of this battle."
"Uhhhhh..." Frisk said, before being elbowed by her Soul spirit companion.
"And if body language is everything, I don't think he was expecting it either." Chara said, indicating to the now slightly flustered RG01.
Frisk swallowed as she thought. Why would he be flustered like that? Unless...
...an idea came to her.
ACT - *Whisper - RG01
"You don't need to hide how you feel." Frisk whispered to RG01. "Let him know your true feelings."
"EHHHHHMM..." RG01 stammered as the next attack wave commenced... or really, half-attack wave, as RG01's lack of focus was causing his attacks to fly off track so far that he would be benefiting himself not to attack at all.
"He's definitely not got the battle on the mind, heh." Chara commented as soon RG01 dropped his weapon.
"I-I can't do this anymore! Not like this!" RG01 called out, catching everyone else off guard as he turned to RG02. "Like, 02! I like... LIKE like you. The way you fight, the way you're so reserved... we've made great partners for so long in the guard... I don't wanna lose ya fighting a kid like this!"
"..." RG02 seemed to stay silent.
"...uh, wow." Chara spoke. "We're discovering some things today aren't we?"
"Chara!" Frisk whispered before RG01 spoke again.
"Uhhh, I mean..." He started stumbling. "Ha! Uh, gotcha bud!"
"...01." RG02 spoke.
"Y-yeah?" The rabbit responded.
"...do you... wanna go get some Nice Cream after this?"
"L-like, sure!" RG01 responded as the two guards left.
*YOU WON!
*You gained 0 EXP, 250 Exp. Points, and 0 G.
Frisk sighed as she shoved her stick back into her pack, starting to walk off again towards the next elevator through he back alleys before coming to a back gate separating the areas. Looking around at her surroundings, she couldn't see anywhere else she could go right now to try and reach the elevator at the other side, so she'd step through the gate as she'd soon find herself wandering in the dark once more, only the glow of the lavafalls barely illuminating the area.
Frisk would then feel her pocket buzzing as she pulled out her phone again, Alphys' voice coming through.
"Another dark area?" Alphys said, looking over her controls behind the scenes. "I should have access to that sector, just give me a moment..."
The glaring lights came on... for Frisk to find she was windowed in a news report with a full set in front of her.
"...are you kidding me?" Alphys said in disbelief.
"OOOOOOHHHH YEEESSSSSSS!" The familiar voice of Mettaton rang out as he appeared in front of the set, now dressed with a sharp red suit over his metallic frame. "GOOOOOOOOD EVENING LADIES AND GENTLEMEN! THIS IS METTATON, COMING AT YOU LIVE TONIGHT FOR THE UNDERGROUND'S NUMNBER ONE SOURCE IN TRUSTED MATERIAL IN ANY AND ALL THINGS ABOUT ME, MTT NEWS!"
"...really?" Chara deadpanned.
"WE HAVE A BREAKING REPORT COMING OUT FROM THE RESIDENTIAL FLOOR OF EASTERN HOTLAND! FORTUNATELY WE HAVE A COORESPONDENT LIVE ON THE SCENE READY TO INVESTIGATE!" Mettaton exclaimed. "BRAVE COORESPONDANT, PLEASE FIND THE DISTURBANCE IN THIS AREA FOR WHAT TO REPORT! OUR TEN VIEWERS ARE WAITING IN ANTICIPATION!"
Frisk sighed, soon looking around the small area while the set followed in front of the viewing area, as if she was actually being filmed. She'd soon look around the area; it wasn't too big, only holding what appeared to be 5 separate items and a dog. Confused, Frisk would approach the sleeping dog.
"WHAT A SENSATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR A STORY!" Mettaton rang out. "I CAN SEE THE HEADLINE NOW: "A DOG EXISTS SOMEWHERE." FRANKLY, I'M BLOWN AWAY."
Frisk would look at the 'window' of the broadcast screen and shrug. "I think this is it?"
"ATTENTION, VIEWERS! OUR CORRESPONDENT HAS FOUND... A DOG!" Mettaton announced, before clicking a button and playing a studio audience 'awwwww' track. "THAT'S RIGHT, FOLKS! IT'S THE FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE YEAR! LOOK AT ITS LITTLE EARS, TINY PAWS, FLUFFY TAIL... ...WAIT A SECOND. THAT'S NOT A TAIL! THAT'S... A FUSE!"
Frisk's eyes widened as she saw the dog's tail ignite in a small spark as the flame started slowly trickling down the tip of the tail. "Wait, what?!" She yelled.
"THAT'S RIGHT... THAT DOG... IS A BOMB! BUT DON'T PANIC! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THE REST OF THE ROOM YET!" Mettaton announced as the news set broke away and lit up the rest of the room, showing the several other objects in the room; a glass of water, a present box, a game case, a basketball, and what appeared to be a script, several of which appeared to have large, comical black-ball styled bombs poking out of them with lit fuses.
"MY MY MY, IT SEEMS WE'RE IN FOR A MASSIVE BLAST OF A NEWS REPORT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Mettaton stated. "IT SEEMS LIKE EVERYTHING IN THIS ROOM IS ACTUALLY A BOMB! THAT BASKETBALL'S A BOMB! THAT PRESENT'S A BOMB! EVEN MY WORDS ARE-" At that moment Mettaton violently detonated into several metallic chunks as they fell to the floor, catching Frisk off guard and baffling the bajeezus out of Chara... until the robot flew down from out of sight. "SPECIAL EFFECTS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I'M NOT ACTUALLY DEAD!"
Chara rolled her eyes as Mettaton turned to Frisk.
"BRAVE CORRESPONDANT!" Mettaton said. "IT SEEMS YOU'VE NOW BECOME THE HEAD OF THE MTT CERTIFIED BOMB SQUAD! IF YOU DON'T DEFUSE THESE BOMBS WITHIN TWO MINUTES..." He'd then pull out a remote and hit a button on it, soon a massive pink-colored bomb dropping down from the ceiling and landing on the platform to the north of their location. "THIS MTT-BRANDED MEGABOMBOMB WILL DETONATE AND BLAST YOU TO ITTY BITTY BITS AND PIECES! THEN YOU WON'T BE REPORTING 'LIVE' ANY LONGER!"
Frisk swallowed.
"...he can't be fucking serious can he?" Chara said. "Blowing up a bomb of that size and caliber here is gonna completely collapse the floor!"
"OH, THE DRAMATIC TENSION AND DISTURBING IMPLICATIONS! OUR NINE VIEWERS ARE GOING TO ENJOY WATCHING THIS! GOOOOOOOOD LUCK, DARLING!" Mettaton said before launching off away from Frisk.
"Hey, w-wait!" Frisk yelled before the bombs started moving throughout the area. "Oh nononononono..."
-bzzzzz- bzzzzz-
Alphys. Frisk wasted no time grabbing her phone.
"A-Alphys?! What do I do?!" She exclaimed.
"Don't worry, I've got a handle on the situation!" Alphys responded. "There's an automatic defuser app I installed on your phone! Just open up the "SHUTOUT" app and point it at the bombs!"
Frisk frantically nodded as she ran up to the dog, quickly opening up the app and taking aim at it before firing off at the dog, causing it to yip as its tail went out.
*You gained 0 Exp. Points!
"That's one!" Chara said. "Get moving, there's still five other ones!"
"Right!" Frisk said, soon taking off up the conveyor belt to the other platform as she soon ran into the basketball bouncing around on the upper platform. Grabbing her phone and aiming, she'd fire... and miss. Her hands trembling slightly, she'd take another shot...
...and the basketball was defused!
*You gained 0 Exp. Points!
Frisk would move quickly as she almost started bouncing between the rest of the bombs, defusing them left and right before finally it came down to the glass of water... which for some reason was being extremely agile as it dashed across the room through the air. Frisk was starting to struggle trying to take aim and open fire on the glass of water.
"Shoot! I can't hit it!" Frisk said, before Alphys buzzed in.
"Let me help!" She said over the phone as soon an electromagnetic field started buzzing as it snagged the glass of water. "Got it! Defuse, quick!"
"Right!" Frisk said, taking aim and opening fire on the glass of water...
...and defusing it.
Frisk let out a large sigh in relief. "Oh thank goodness..." She breathed, collapsing to her knees and panting. Though her relaxation was soon short lived as she started hearing a slow clap as Mettaton descended from above, floating on his thruster.
"WELL DONE DARLING!" Mettaon spoke. "YOU'VE MANAGED TO DEFUSE ALL THESE BOMBS WITHIN THE ALLOTED TIMEFRAME! BECAUSE OF YOUR EFFORTS, THE MTT-BRAND MEGABOMBOMB WILL NO LONGER DEATONATE IN TWO MINUTES!"
Frisk sighed in relief. "Can I ple-"
"INSTEAD, IT WILL EXPLODE WITHIN TWO SECONDS! GOODBYE DARLING!"
Frisk gasped in a state of panic, throwing herself to the ground and covering her head as she waited... and waited...
...but the explosion never came. Frisk, confused, now looking up from her dive spot
"...OH FOR THE LOVE OF-" Mettaton spoke. "NOW WHAT?"
The main screen of the bomb would fizzle out before having the text flash on screen 'NICE TOY, NERDS'.
"Y'know, maybe you should've used a bomb firewall whose password wasn't just more ego stroking for yourself." Alphys said over the PA into the area. "I figured it was only a matter of time before I cracked the code."
"CURSES! I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN YOU WOULD INTERFERE AGAIN IN MY EFFORTS TO OBTAIN THAT SOUL!" Mettaton exclaimed. "CURSE YOU DR. ALPHYS! CURSE YOU HUMAN-WHOSE-NAME-I DO-NOT-REMEMBER! BUT I DON'T CURSE MY EIGHT WONDERFUL VIEWERS FOR TUNING IN! UNTIL NEXT TIME DARLINGS!" He said, soon taking off to the next floor.
"Phew..." Alphys breathed. "Hey, you alright?"
"Y-yeah..." Frisk said. "Hey, thanks... but... why didn't you tell me you were going to defuse the big one?"
"I didn't want to make you worry about whether or not I'd succeed or not." Alphys said. "Even then, I didn't want to take any chances, so I hacked in and shut down it's primary ignitor so it couldn't blow. Even if it wanted to."
Frisk sighed in relief. "Well... thank you."
"No problem! I promised to help, didn't I?" Alphys stated. "And I wouldn't worry for now, I don't think Mettaton's gonna show up for as while after being humiliated like that. If he does though, we might have to revert to more... drastic measures."
Frisk swallowed.
"Oh, nonono! Not like that!" Alphys said. "Like I said, I wouldn't worry about it! Just keep going, you're almost to the Core!"
Frisk nodded as the contact cut out, the human starting her walk to the last leg towards the elevator, Chara soon rematerialized.
"...is it just me, or did that seem a little... TOO coincidental?" Chara noted as the two walked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean... it seems like this entire thing was a setup." Chara said. "Mettaton decided to ambush you into a dangerous scenario, only for Alphys to then decide to the come and save you from certain peril in a very specific way, like hacking that bomb? Doesn't that seem just a BIT suspicious?"
"...huh." Frisk said. "Well when you put it like that..."
"I'd keep my eyes open. I'm starting to think our benefactor may not be as trustworthy as she's letting on..." Chara said as the two started to approach the next elevator... before the ground in front of the two started glitching out again.
"Oh no..." Chara said. "Not again..."
Frisk swallowed as the corrupted area soon spawned in a serpent-like being with bulbous eyes, staring down Frisk and Chara...
The battle sequence started abruptly once again.
*C$CCCCCCCCCC$CCCCCCCCCC$CCCCCCCCCCCCCCC$CCCCCCCCC
Frisk held tight to her stick as she stared down the serpent-like creature before her, her nerves flaring up but filled with the Determination welling within her Soul.
"Think this is another one of those things?" Frisk asked.
Chara nodded. "Defninitely. One's a coincidence, two's a pattern." She said, rolling her shoulders. "Need another power boost like last time?"
Frisk shook her head. "Only use that as a last resort. The last time you did that it felt like my whole body was on fire."
Chara nodded, floating back as Frisk selected the *Check option under ACT.
*CCCCCCCCCC - HP 1700 ATK 66 DEF 66
*It won't listen to MERCY.
"Another one of those things... same stats and everything." Chara said. "This is definitely that goop asshole's work."
Frisk would dodge the immediate oncoming symbol projectiles before hovering her hand over FIGHT-
-KRAK-
The human gasped out in shock as her wrist was gripped by the tail of the being, static sounds coming out of it's mouth as it tried to yank Frisk's hand away from FIGHT. The human struggled against the force of the creature before quickly jerking her hand out of the grasp, backing up as the timing bar came up.
Dead center.
Frisk swung fast at the tail, a bold '162' appearing as the piece of the tail was sliced off from the force she had swung her stick. The tail part splattered onto the ground, flopping and sputtering like a beached fish trying to find water. The human felt uneasy before another appendage shot out and gripped her neck, slowly trying to pull her in towards a gleaming maw filled with razor sharp teeth. Frisk swallowed, beating on the appendage to let her go as she squirmed and gasped for air, writing in the pressure clamping down around her throat...
She'd soon wrench the tentacle free, gasping for air to rush into her lungs as she coughed and hacked from her throat's soreness, squeezing her eyes shut. She'd reach forward and hit the FIGHT button, but her current lack of vision from trying to recover her breath was throwing her off...
Way off to the side, nowhere near the center.
The creature dodged from the wide slash as Frisk's vision slowly recovered to see that it was making another lunge for her, rows upon rows of sharpened unseen dagger-like teeth lining its maw. Frisk would dodge to the side right as the razor teeth slashed by, barely nicking the skin of her arm.
15/40 - 13/40
Frisk clutched her bleeding arm, cursing to herself as she quickly dove into her bag and grabbed the second Astronaut Food Chara had picked up from the dump way earlier.
13/40 - 34/40
Right as she finished downing the snack she dodged to the side of more of those indecipherable symbols spewed out by the creature. Frisk tightened her grip, feeling the Determination starting to well inside her again as she selected the FIGHT option.
Dead center.
A sharp '579' appeared as the serpent-like creature writhed and wriggled in pain, before roaring and lunging at Frisk, it's massive maw ready to shred her into tiny, bloody pieces. Frisk barely dodged to the side as the maw chomped down on the ground, right next to her, it getting stuck in the ground.
"Frisk, now!" Chara said. "If we strike its eyes, that may be enough to drive this thing off!"
"A-are you sure?" Frisk spoke.
"It's the only shot we've got!" Chara said.
Frisk swallowed, selecting FIGHT.
Dead center.
'1403'
The serpent writhed and wriggled as it completely struggled to comprehend the fatal damage it took before it screeched and collapsed underneath it's own weight, dissolving into particles that soon dissipated into nothingness as the corruption disappeared from the path ahead...
*YOU WON!
*You gained 0 EXP, 1000 Exp. Points and 0 G.
Frisk sighed in relief as the way finally opened up once again, Chara floating by her side.
"Hey, nice one out there!" Chara said, lightly punching Frisk in the shoulder. "Didn't even need my help this time!"
Frisk rubbed her pained shoulder. "Thanks, I guess..." She said. "I really hope that's the last we see of those... things..." She shuddered.
"Let's hope so." Chara said, crossing her arms. "The upper district should be the safest one of the three considering it's mostly recreational demeanor compared to the other floors. The more ventilated atmosphere up there probably helps a bit too."
"I hope so..." Frisk coughed. "Even with this light dressing Alphys suggested I do, I still feel like I'm sweating buckets."
"We'll be fine." Chara said. "Trust me."
Frisk sighed, walking to the elevator and hitting the up button.
"I do, and sometimes that worries me."
CHAPTER 8 FIN