Louds in Pun-derland

by That One God At Home

One camping trip gone wrong and here they are. Who would've thought that Mt. Ebott is actually in Michigan and it so happens to be in Grand Venture State Park? Well, now they're lost below the mountain and they're getting out of it, no matter what. I don't own the image. It's just an edited version of a pre-existing image.

1. Ruins Part 1

Note, all mobs are in their final form, even the ones that don't have a final variant. I'm making some up but not drawing them since my drawing skills are as bad as a kindergartener, no joke. Disclaimer: I own nothing except my OC and the made-up final variant creature.

WARNING: three chapters are written already. After the third chapter is posted, updates will be very slow due to the normally sophisticated, detailed and deep way of writing this as well as working on Loudest Missions for the Loudest Squad. The plan is to write 3 chapters for Loudest Missions then write 1 chapter for this fanfic right here so yeah.

We all know the Louds, mostly because of it's latest generation so by proxy, I don't have to go on an explanation on who they are and what they look so that means I can get to the current situation at hand.

The eleven Loud kids woke up to find Lenington, the all-purpose man in child's skin, letting out a surge of fire at one corner."Don't ask." he says.

Lenington is an 11 years old boy as he appears. He wore a classic businessman's attire and a respirator looking exactly like the one a certain anime supervillain used, purely for fashion."How did we get here?" Lori asks as she looks at the dark pathway right beside them."Aw, these golden flowers saved us from the fall. Thank you, flowers."

"Strange that Ranunculus, street name: Buttercups, is present here and in an obviously organized pattern." Lisa inquisitively looks at a buttercup that she plucked."Lenington, get us out of here." Lori ordered casually."See, that's a problem. You're all becoming reliant on me." Lenington refuses, frustration dripping from his tone. The Louds all went into a dissonance of sound comprised primarily of phrases of refusion."Name one time." "YEAH!"

Lenington raised all five fingers before pointing a finger at his thumb but didn't get to speak."Alright, nevermind. Let's just..." Lori trailed off in her sentence when she saw the darkness that covers the path, nearly everyone felt put off at the thought of venturing into the known, especially if it's dark. Then the sound of tiny feet crawling across stone sounded, Leni's reaction was instantaneous "AAAAAHHHHH, SPIDERS!" she brought out a can of bug spray and sprayed it everywhere, covering the room in it. Everyone went into a coughing spree except Lenington, who just turns on his respirator and repeatedly flares his arms to emit a small, white shockwave that repelled the gas away from him."Lenington, stop! You're making it worse!" they all said in unison as the gas drifted to their direction. They heard some squeaking and the small footsteps stop."Oh thank goodness, it's gone." Leni said behind her gas mask."No signal down here!" said Lori, as she paces around the room trying to find even a single bar of signal. The siblings all tried too but found nothing, Lenington didn't bring his phone.

"How about we shout as loud as we can? Someone might hear us scream and come to save us." Lana suggested, starting to get desperate."I highly doubt that the walls allow enough resonance for the resulting echo to reach the very top of this hole." deadpanned Lisa."Well, maybe we can try climbing it?" Luna suggested while scratching her head and leaning a palm towards the earthen walls. Lenington dugged his fingers to the walls and tested if it will hold. It didn't even over any resistance.

"Come on, let's just go down that path." Lori urges, trying and failing to put up a brave front. Her knees betrays her tone. They pushed Lenington to the front of them. The latter male dodged out of their grasping hands."Uh-uh, we're all going at the same time, to test your independence in the best and grandest possible way: by finding the exit without powers except for the power of co-operation and our legs."

The Louds all groaned at this and obliged. Lenington has joined the clump of humans. He sighed inwardly as the ones on his left and right, who were Lola and Luan, clutched to his arms. They walked down the dark path which in reality wasn't actually as dark as they made out to be. It was like they can only see a certain range into it before it gets dark and as they go forward, they can see more ahead. The trek was quite and that put them at ease. The trek itself was short as only a few seconds of walking and they found a doorway already. Wait...

"Why is there a doorway underground?" Lana asks before gasping as if realising something."Do you guys think that we came across a lost city with ghosts?"

Lori scoffed at that notion, "Ghosts? Yeah right, most of them are at Lenington's castle. Why don't you throw in some skeletons while you're at it?"

At that precise moment, they heard a faint, ghostly sound echo through, "Ouuu."

The eleven Louds screamed in fright. Maybe there were ghosts down here. Then they remembered that Lenington was here and calmed down. Lisa, after having gotten a grip of herself, observed the doorway.

The doorway comprised of pillars to the side connected at the top by an arc with some kind of symbol on it."Hm, intriguing. These pillars resemble the common pillars of the Ionic order but I can't make out anything with that symbol. Perhaps the idea of a dead city, maybe still alive, isn't so farfetched after all. Oooh, this discovery just might my time here worthwhile." she monologues while rubbing her chin. Lana gave Lori an 'I told you so' look while the latter rolls her eyes and pinches the bridge of her nose. They stood for a while in silence.

Lynn was the one to break the silence, "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's move it!" she said impatiently, they all approved and entered.

Once they entered, a composition of music usually found in old games but had a modern feel to it started playing. This either made them move to the tune, smile in appreciation, both or in Lisa's case, wonder in where the heck it's coming from.

Play ost Your Best Friend

In the new room, everything was covered in darkness. The ground, ceiling, walls, everything! The only thing that wasn't covered in dark was another doorway looking exactly like the one they just passed through and a grassy spot in the middle with light shining down upon it like a natural spotlight.

And on this patch was another golden flower, slightly bigger than the ones they landed on. The flower drooped to face the ground completely, as if depressed.

"Aah, fow-er." cooed Lily.

Lenington and the other Louds, minus Lori, all had their own ways of admiring the flower and it's stance. Lucy felt inspired and wished she had her notebook, Lola gushed at how pretty it would look on her, Lisa took note of it's unusual size, the remaining all voiced their appreciation. Lori, on the other hand, was in a no-nonsense mode."Well if it doesn't talk, then I literally don't care."

"Well then you're in luck!" a peppy, high-pitched but mature voice called out.

Hearing the voice made the others recoil or the more reserved ones tilt their heads in confusion or in Lenington's case, amusement."W-who said that?!" Lori said, her voice quivering slightly."Over here!" said...the flower? As it held it's...head...up?"Howdy!' it said in a cheerful manner with a cheerful smile. Lenington saw through it though, under that smile was a malevolent creature that will not hesitate to kill them. Ha! He'll let it have it's fun and lowered his guard."Hello. Name's Lenington. Care to say yours?"

"I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower." the flowey...flower named Flowey introduces himself with an undying happy tone."How are you all doing?" he ask, smile unwavering as he bounces to the beat of the music like a character in an old cartoon. If the jaws of the Louds were to get any more slack-jawed, they would surely just fall off and tumble into some godforsaken place. Everyone except Lenington were face-faulting. Their eyes were all wide and their pupils have shrunked to point of oblivion out of shock. Their brains were still in the process of processing whether was this all real or did Lenington just cooked up a bad dish? Impossible!

Through the complicated process of slapping and pinching themselves, they've come to terms that this was no food-poisoning-induced hallucination. They all kept some sort of calm despite facing the oddity that is Flowey. Everyone but two. Lenington was to be expected since he's seen more in his unnaturally long life and the other is also to be expected but highly uncalled for and exaggerated.

Lisa began showing signs of insanity. Her eyes began twitching, her mouth slowly creaks upwards, forming a small smile and an equally small giggle escaped her. Heh...hehehe...hehehe hehehe...HAHAHAHAHA! HUHAHAHAHA! WUHA! HAHAHAHA!" Lisa continues to laugh hysterically, eyes looking into two separate directions, hair pointing and curling everywhere, turning into essentially what can only be described as a jungle.

As they look into the genius, their reaction was light-speed."Uh oh, she's gone insane!" Lana pointed out."Lay her on the ground, now!" Lori ordered in her usual dictator voice. Everyone was quick to do so. The 11 original siblings guided their broken sister to the ground as gently as possible. Faces of great concern were etched over the ten sisters and one brother as they watched the living embodiment of calm and generally uncaring that is Lisa devolve into a bumbling idiot.

Lenington just watches with embarrassment exuding from his posture, kneeling on the ground on all fours, looking down the ground."Why must I be in charge of the safety of such narrow-minded individual? Why, me, why?" Lenington laments to himself, voice barely a whisper."Hey, aren't you going to help your sibling? I assume you're siblings since all of you have resemblances to each other." Flowey asks, his cheerful attitude gone and was replaced by confusion that Lenington can definitely say is genuine.

"They're siblings, not me. I'm the one in charge of their safety and safety only. And no, I'm not worried for her. That's just her overreacting. I mean, you try being someone who relies on science and knowledge to the point it became they're life and see something as outlandish as a talking and sentient plant." Lenington replied."Makes sense." Flowey said with a shrug with his leaves on his stem.

Back with the ten sister and one brother, Lincoln faces Lori."Honestly, I thought you'd be freaking out. Doesn't that go against anything you've ever believed before? I mean, you don't really act calm when you are proven wrong at something."

Lori replies in a calm manner."That's what it looks like on the outside. But rest assured that my mind is literally in a lot of chaos right now. Actually, I feel like curling up and crying like a baby, since I just found out that everything I knew is a lie and everything that I have been thought about nature is burning to the ground without actually sparking, kinda like spontaneous combustion. But the side of me that believes in magic is so happy right now, a unicorn picked her up and rode off into space, screaming at the top her lungs at the thought of magic being actually real. So all in all, the happiness and anger balanced everything out, preventing me from freaking out. Not sure how that works but it works and it works wonders." she replies, apparently feeling the need to be verbose due to the loss of the original verbose sibling.

With the mysterious behaviour of Lori now solved, they returned to looking back at Lisa with worry. Speaking of Lisa, she didn't even looked like she calmed down a little. In fact, she looked more insane than before, a fact that was previously thought to be impossible.

Meanwhile, Lenington and Flowey looked at the scene unfolding with a metaphorical anime sweat drop by the back of their head. Flowey speaks up, "Hey, is she gonna be alright?!"

Lisa herself answers, "WHY YES, MRS. FLOWER! NOTHING IS WRONG! NOPE, THE NUMBER OF PROBLEMS WE HAVE IS DIDDLY SQUAT! AND WHO KNOWS?! MAYBE PRINCESS BELLE WILL COME VISIT AND WE CAN ALL HAVE A NICE CUP OF TEA USING TALKING TEACUPS!" and after that, she resumes laughing some more to the point of shedding tears. Flowey was not happy for being referred to as a lady but didn't say anything.

Everyone and I mean EVERYONE cringed some more at this. They really hated it when someone was acting like this. Especially Lenington, it was basically downright insulting his teachings to Lisa about open-mindedness. Granted, she started opening up to things science couldn't explain like angels and demons but this is just ri-donk-ulous.

Unable to hold in his anger and indignation, Lenington walks up to Lisa and held a firm grip at Lisa's shoulders."Lisa, snap out of it. I saw Tabby hanging out with another boy. So I need you to whip me up something extra radioactive. I need a smart enough person for this one so I can dump the two of them in that batch." The 10 sane Loud kids looked at Lenington with a look that said 'I'm sorry for that'. Flowey just looks on with confusion. Lisa's maniacal laughters died down, being replaced with sobs.

"But how are we...going to get out...of here? Are we all going to survive? Is there even...an exit here?" Lisa asks pausing in between sobs."If there is an entrance here, then there is definitely an exit. And if no such exit exists, I'll make one, perfectly balanced, as all things should be. We're going to survive since I'm on your side. If i wasn't, then survival rate is absolute zero." Lenington replies. Hearing the words of someone who she genuinely enjoys hanging out with, she nods and stand up.

Everyone else gave some reassuring gestures and their own words with the same amount of compassion and confidence."I'm alright now. Just a slight momentary lapse in my mind." Lisa confidently stated."Heh, slight?"

"Okay, fine. A complete mental breakdown. Everything that I stood for was just burned to ashes after seeing a talking flower but I swear it won't happen again." Lisa smiles, no hint of stoicism."But I must request of all of you to refrain from ever mentioning what just happened here, ever."

Everyone shared a hug, Lenington shrugged and joined the group hug. She felt at ease now. She felt in control of herself again, which is always a pleasant feeling after losing control. Now that she's back, Lisa swears in the name of Albert Einstein, she'll use everything she learned to help everyone to get out. With everyone helping together, nothing can stop them or so help her!

"Oh, and guys?" Lenington called out. The 11 siblings looked at him, "Tabby and I were never a thing. It was a logical ruse to get you out of my love life."

The girls all groaned in frustration at this. Leni had already made a shirt with a cruise ship named S.S TabbyTon and it was actually all for nothing.

Meanwhile, in a reclusive lord's bedroom, the mentioned lord suddenly gulped in fear as he writes fanfictions.

Back underground, "Feeling better?" Flowey asks, the little plant regaining his radiant disposition back like nothing happened. As the hug broke up, the genius allowed a grateful smile to crack, "Very much so."

"That's a good thing to hear! Um..." The flower took a look of thinking."Hey uh, not to be rude or anything, but you guys aren't from here, aren't you?" Flowey asks."No, not really. These kids decided it was a great idea to wander around. The fruit is in the form of being chased by a bear and falling down here." Lenington explains, arms crossed. The kids in question sheepishly nodded and confirmed it.

"Good golly, are you for real? Then that means all of you are humans?" "Well, yeah. What else do you think we are?" Lincoln rhetorically asks but didn't expect an answer, much less an answer of the type that he's about to hear."Why, monsters of course!" chirped the plant.

"MONSTERS ARE REAL?!" shouted the Louds minus Lenington, who felt an eyebrow twitch."Yeah, I mean, what did you think I was? Down here in the Underground, is the Kingdom of Monsters! We don't work the same way like you humans, there are many things you have to learn to fit in and most of all, stay alive."

"But how do you propose we learn everything in time?" Lenington asks, holding up a hand from his cross of hands. The others nodded with uncertainty on their faces. Flowey smirked internally at the Louds' waiting looks. Look at them, waiting to be fed good food, only to find out it was poisoned. Golly, they were just as naive as that man-child that thinks he's so high and mighty, if not more...scratch that, no one was as naive as that dunderheard. Though, he was uncertain of that one with the mask. He couldn't read him with him wearing it.

He snapped out of his musing back into reality. Of course, he can't expect a trap to work as intended if the target can still run. A few more correct choices of words and the fun can finally begin, huhu."Well, it seems like it's your super lucky day." chirped the flower, still bobbing up and down like a child."Because lil ol' me will be your teacher for today. And today's lesson is proper etiquette of a monster."

"Really, you'd teach us?" the twins said while hugging each other."Why wouldn't I? Isn't that what friends do?"

Everyone cheered at this, all in their own way. Lenington was cheering for a completely different reason."Yes, that's right. Into the gulley hole of the monster that is me, you little weed."

Lincoln though seems to be having his joy a bit...forced, if you will. Something doesn't quite feel right with this situation and more importantly, Flowey. Since he didn't get why he was feeling this way, he shrugged it off.

A pair of leaves sprouted from Flowey's stem and rubbed them together like an evil mastermind, practically beaming at the group in front of him."Alright, let's get into the very basics of this subject! Now, all of you may feel weird but that is because it's your first time so it's all gonna be okay. Ready? Here we go!"

The dots that were Flowey's eyes suddenly gave an odd flash of light and a weird feeling washed over the siblings. Everyone felt as if something from within their bodies was converging to a singular point per sibling. After a while, the energy felt as if it was jumping out of their chests. The feeling disappeared and after shaking their heads, they looked ahead and realised that it wasn't just a mere feeling.

In front of respective chests, floated a glowing heart, as big as their fists. A strange energy emanated from them that...for some reason felt just right.

"Ooh, so pretty and shiny." Leni muses as she looks at the small green heart in front of her with starry eyes. She touches it gently and as soon as she makes contact with it, feels warmth all over her and felt giddy.

"What in the world is THAT?" Lynn asks to nobody in particular as she holds her hands below her own orange heart. When she squeezed it, it sent a shiver down her spine, followed by a warm feeling of bravery and pride.

"Those little hearts that are floating in front of you?" asked Flowey, to which everyone nodded, even Lenington who was also genuinely confused at this."Well, those hearts are your SOULs, the very culmination of your very beings."

That very fact sent wonders and mystification into the hearts of the Louds, even Lenington as he can sense the truth in that. One, however, found herself more taken aback and not in the other Louds' way."Hold on, are you telling me that these small and glowing, not to mention very cartoony shapes that represents the center of the circulatory system represents all about us? Our minds, our personality, our health and how well our bodies work, actually depend on a tiny magic SOUL?" slowly stated Lisa, disbelief spread by her face, her purple heart resting above her palm."Geez, you really like to say simple stuff in a more complex way, talk about a show-off. But answering your question, yes, yes it is." Flowey answered, annoyance as clear as day .

The little scientist looked at the little thing with wide eyes. This can't be, this can't be real life. It can't be, she didn't want to believe it. This was basically saying that MAGIC, the very thing science explains was not real, not only actually exists but has always been there since the existence of the first life-forms that came to be since the beginning of time itself. Just the thought such malarkey stung her tongue, literally if it came from her mouth. She can already feel the overwhelming urge to refute such hooey to this little weed, but seeing that he and the floating object in her hands exists, which that fact alone insulted the very thing she stood for. She opened her mouth to hurl statements of denial like a mothereffing gatling gun.

But then she felt the gaze of their guardian, Lenington, bore right through her skull. Then she remembered just who he was. So she settled with, "Suuuure, why not?" she drew out the syllable. Despite this, she expected that this is only the beginning of her visions of the world crumbling. She sets the sight of a god in the flesh as her goal if she wants it to completely be shattered.

"Hm, something seems to be wrong with mine, if that's the case." Lucy drawled out, jabbing a thumb at her yellow heart. Everyone looks at her with confusion noticeable in their faces so she continues, "The fact that I have one is insulting enough but the fact that it's shining as bright as that cursed ball of flame and gas is just adding salt to the injury. Shouldn't it be dark and decaying?" she turns to her soul again, "Come on, die and rot already." The soul only briefly brightened as if to insult her wishes, it worked and Lucy sulks.

"I really wished mine was pink. But sapphire blue is a color worthy of royalty so I'll accept it." Lola haughtily stated as she stairs at her dark blue SOUL, all the while waving her hair around.

"Well I like mine just the way it is." Lana pokes and prods her orange SOUL, sending shivers down her spine, the shivers a dog feels after being pet in their good spot, if you will."Best of all, it's close to being dirt-colored!" she added, looking at her SOUL with sparkly eyes.

"Man, this is so freaky and also the coolest thing I've ever seen, right behind Mick Swagger, of course." Luna says in an adoring and smooth tone while twirling her SOUL between her fingers before throwing it up and catching it as gently as possible. This also sends adrenaline coursing through her, pumping her up!" Man, i really wish I had my axe right now, I feel the need to make some killer notes at the moment."

Flowey didn't know what kind of axe Luna was referring to and assumed it as the tool slash weapon one and gulped, believing that this Mick Swagger fellow was an axe user who uses magic to enhance his attacks.

"As long as it came from the heart, you're all good to go. Ahahahaha!" Luan laughs, somewhat emptily as she stares into the endless dark shade of blue her own SOUL has, which somewhat creeps the jeepers out of the others.

"Well, at least mine blends with my shirt." Lori commented. She quickly noted that three of her siblings had the same color of SOULs, particularly Lily, Lincoln and Lenington. Despite the age and size difference between the two mentioned siblings and one guardian, their SOULs were all the same sizes, no marginal difference whatsoever. The youngest child pointed at her vibrant red SOUL, then to Lincoln's then finally to Lenington's while cooing all the while. This made Lori a bit envious of this but thought no further of it. Lily looks at the eldest sister with a giggle, "Yes, Lily. I noticed you three are all triplets in colors. Makes me kind of jealous." Lori says the last sentence with a hint of annoyance and an eye-roll.

Lincoln didn't say anything about his SOUL color. Of course, being Lincoln, he would've preferred having the color orange for his own heart. I mean, come on! He wears an orange polo t-shirt every hecking day! But he'll say! There was something about that red hue the physical embodiment of his very existence that inspires admiration within him. It felt like with it, he can never be stopped and the intensity made it feel like he can come back even from death itself. He was always determined, like when he puts those plans with ridiculously long names into action, but the determination was never THIS intense. Well, that is if you counted desperately hoping that they would survive the impact of their fall by sheer dumb luck or divine intervention but you get the point.

Another thing that he picked up is that was the outlines of each cores they all had. His sisters all had a very faint crimson outline that resembles the black outline those old cartoon characters had, except the outlines in his sisters' SOULs were barely even noticeable, but he was sure it was there. His own resonated with those outlines. His own, however, pulsed a faint color whenever it glowed it's crimson hue, cycling between the color of the oldest to youngest in a wave-like pattern, all glowing equally as weak as each other, being nearly completely eclipsed by the crimson part of the glow. Lincoln shooked his head, a metaphorical clanging sounding off as he does so, doing so because he was desperate for answers. Were they related somehow?...

Wait, that sounded something like Luan would say. He meant, were the SOULs' color related to something? He felt like so.

Then he noticed everyone, looking in the general direction of Lenington with horror in their faces. Even Flowey was sweating, if that was even possible, with a thoroughly unnerved expression as he looks at the fancy boy. He looks to his only brother and saw the reason and his eyes widened and began to sweat and his mouth and throat dried.

Play Castlevania Dawn of Sorrow OST: Dark Clouds

Red, blue and yellow orbs encased either by black mist or fire started flying out of Lenington's chest and into his red SOUL which started glowing more intense by the second before flashing brightly and its glow started dimming into nothing. Now, the red SOUL was ignited by fire and had a dark core that had veins pulsing coming from it and enwreathing the cartoonish heart. Lenington cupped the soul with his hands and let out a bass tone and throaty laugh with a sinister feel to it. And frankly, the others' trust they had for Lenington lessened before remembering just who he was. Flowey looked unnerved and stressed. He cleared his throat and spoke again.

End OST. Play Your Best Friend again.

"Hey, um...are we still doing this?" the little plant asks, eyes, that he apparently has, looking somewhere else. The siblings looked to Lenington for their answer. Lenington, feeling all eyes were on him, answered "Yes we are."

And Flowey's cheerful demeanour returned, his smile back full force."Great! Now, like I said. Your SOULs start off weak if you never have won in deadly combat, as you can see with your HP."

Lincoln and Lenington's minds wandered to various RPG and fighting games, but since this wasn't a video game, they had to ask."HP?" Lincoln started off before he motions for Lenington to continue.

"Are we talking HP as in our life force or are we talking Horse Power?" Lenington continued, Luan laughs at the second interpretation of HP but Lenington gave her a look that said 'Shut it!'. Flowey's smile grew a bit more with a bounce, "Both are very accurate way of saying HP, but I'm going to go with the first option."

Now, everyone wondered what was going on. All of them knew diddly squat about video games, except for Lori, who had distant memories of playing video games herself but that was not enough for her to properly catch on."If you look above your heads, you'll see yellow bars and some numbers." Flowey pointed to above their heads. The Louds did so and saw a yellow bar and some numbers, indeed. Has that always been there? They also saw some letters in the same font as the numbers, letters that formed their names. All in all, it showed their names, the yellow bar and 20/20, which is their current HP and maximum HP, respectively. Except for Lenington, who had 50/50 instead of 20/20."I see someone came prepared for the trip through the Underground."

Lucy was once again disheartened at the offensive, to her at least, color of yellow that was their HP bar."Yellow again. Does the Sisters of Fate hate me so? Why must they torture me like so?" she mumbles to herself as she kneels on all fours. Everyone was quite creeped out and confounded at the same time at her knowledge of other unseen entities out there, though Lenington was whooping in the inside.

Flowey was still as cheerful. But that was on the outside, but on the inside, he was groaning at the weirdo in front of him, "Why must I have the weird ones? Keep it up, my man. It won't be for long." was his thoughts before he continued the lesson.

"Yes, those are your HP, a way of measuring your life force within yourselves, the higher it is, the higher your life force. If an attack lands on you, HP is deducted from your bar, how much is deducted, you ask? Well, that depends on your endurance and how strong your opponent is." Flowey's smile turned downwards."If your HP reaches zero, oh dear. Let's try to avoid that from happening."

Flowey's frown and words sent shivers down their backs. It didn't take them a minute to understand what he meant by your HP reaching zero. Death awaits with it's scythe ready to harvest and they are now well aware of it. Ooh boy, things just got real for the Louds.

Their flower of a teacher was quick to brush off the grim atmosphere though."But don't worry! As I said earlier, your SOULs do start of weak, as any newly born living should be, but they can grow big and strong, like any life should be. How? By gaining LV."

Lynn groaned loudly in annoyance, "More acronyms? This sounds like another boring tutorial from Lisa about a board game about economy and government." she ignored the mentioned Loud's protests about something very complicated about the board game in question and how they are very accurate with the real thing." So what do you think that means?"

This was a question Flowey himself was about to answer like a teacher from kindergarten but saw Leni bouncing on the spot while waving her hand high up, like a student from kindergarten."Uh, yes?"

"It's LOVE, right? I have to be right about THIS one." Leni answers, her siblings minus Lenington groaning or rolling their eyes at such absurd answer but was surprised by Flowey's next words. He blinked before speaking, "Uh, yeah. That's actually correct, no better answer than that. Yes! LV does stand for LOVE." Flowey was doing an internal spit-take while the Louds had their jaws hanging but quickly shook them out of it."Oh joy!" Leni rejoices while Lenington pats her on the back and gave her a thumbs-up.

"And, because all of you are my friends, I'll even share some LOVE with you." The talking flower winks with a tongue, that he apparently has, (Sure, why not?). Lenington gagged and ran to a corner, his SOUL following him. He disappeared into the darkness before the sound of him taking off his respirator and the sound of someone hurling their insides rang through. Lenington went back after with his respirator on again, SOUL just in front of him, "Woah, there. I know we're friends but I don't swing by that way." Lenington said. Lincoln and his older sister were confused for a while before getting what he meant and shivering in disgust. Flowey was annoyed at this and frowned in annoyance, "Hey, not in that sense! I meant that I'll...wait, your right. I worded that one wrong, hm...there's no better way to say it but I'll just show you."

While the others smiled at the help that was about to be given, Lincoln couldn't quite get that itching feeling in his nose away, no matter how hard he scratched it. It felt good but it didn't stop, he swore he broke the skin but didn't draw blood at the intense scratching session he just had. But it wasn't only him, Lily also felt unsure by this. Lenington was rubbing his hands together like an evil mastermind. Lincoln felt as if something within him was telling him to not trust the flower in front of him. He didn't see any of his sisters doing it, same with their guardian. Now feeling quite uncomfortable on his spot, he decided to focus on Flowey, who made small white seeds, no bigger than apple seeds, appear out of thin air, gently spinning on an invisible axis.

"Down here, LOVE is shared through little, white...'friendliness pellets'.All you have to do is stand still and catch them. I even made enough for each of you." there were, in total, 12 pellets that surrounded Flowey. Everyone stood expectantly, except for him, Lily and Lenington. Lily whimpers quietly, Lenington tensed up, a hand behind him, as if he's ready for something. While he just sat there quietly, it seems it wasn't only him that suspected something as that snake-like whispering grew stronger. Not only that, but something seemed to well up inside of his SOUL. As it got stronger, the message became clearer and clearer, until he heard it as clear as the light of day. Lily also hid herself in Lenington's arms. Lenington was close to revealing what he hid behind him, but it was giving off a glint. The message told Lincoln, 'He cannot be trusted, same goes for those pellets.'He gasps in realization and looked at the approaching pellets then to his sisters' SOULs who are oblivious to the danger. Nerves fired up and his brain sent a single command to his entire body, which he immediately followed. He wasn't the only one who acted, Lenington also did. He threw five knives at seeds that headed for him and his siblings. Lincoln pushed all of his sisters out of the pellets' way, making them fall on their behinds in the process. The knives grew closer and closer.

The girls grunted in pain and the sudden change in weight. Lynn glared at her brother, "Stinkoln! What is wrong with you, you-"

What should have normally happened was that each of them would be shocked into kneeling. But when Lincoln pushed them all out of the pellets' way, he's now the sole receiver of them. All of them thought for a second that he was just taking all to himself, that he was a greedy pig when the next scene proved them all wrong. The 'friendliness pellets' collided with their brother's SOUL and with the knives. The boy was pushed back with a cry in response to the excruciating pain he just felt, the knives destroyed the pellets and sailed through the air like they weren't even there, eventually passing into the darkness before colliding harmlessly with a wall. As soon as the cries of pain reached their ears, their overprotective sister mode that plagued Lincoln turned on to overdrive.

Stop playing Your Best Friend. Play You Idiot.

"LINCOLN!" they didn't pay any attention to the change in music and instead circled around their fallen brethren. To the girls' shock and horror, their brother's HP only had 1 left, the yellow bar became mostly blood red, with a tiny sliver of yellow left. Lincoln looked positively horrible, bloody cuts all over his body and his clothes were in tatters. His small SOUL was vibrating and looked ready to split and shatter any time now.

Lenington merely stayed silent, unmoving, which the siblings didn't notice. The bloody and beaten boy coughed, spitting out blood and let out a groan of pain, simply coughing caused him so much pain."Damn, this hurts." apparently, Lenington's crass language has rubbed off on Lincoln. His voice was merely a whisper.

"Come on, Linc. Stay with us!" Lynn called out, never had she thought she she'd be so close to crying and the thought of her brother dying would send her over the edge.

"Lay him down, he shouldn't move too much or it will his bleeding will worsen!" Lisa ordered, her stoic facade was getting close to breaking due to all the stress.

As everyone fretted with the boy, Lenington stood motionless, waiting for the correct moment to strike. The monster's smile never left, but the sweetness in it was."Golly, looks like your brother and bodyguard are smarter than all of you ladies combined. I guess this disproves the notion of 'Girls are smarter than boys.' now, does it? But it seems to have came with a cost." The flower chuckles, a mocking tone present in his voice.

Lori turned to the little weed, her face contorted with rage."What in the world is wrong with you? You said you would help us, not kill us!" shouted the eldest.

Lenington chuckled, bringing the attention of everyone to him. Flowey was genuinely confused, did he not care that the ones he's supposed to be guarding was dying? Did he not care that this was his life about to come to an end?"How stupid can you girls get? Has no one ever told you to never trust strangers? Well, we live in a place with a low crime rate, virtually nonexistent. But that only shows you guys aren't ready to tussle with the big league." Lenington said, also gaining a mocking tone that made Flowey smile."Well, aren't you a smart cookie?" he was genuinely happy to have met a rational and smart person, he was really getting tired with dealing weirdos that he call monsters but did Lenington know how to deal with true monsters?

Flowey brings his petalled head down, hiding it with the shadows."He's right. Golly! I'm thankful that there is at least someone who knows how the world works. It's kind of embarrassing, don't you think? Here is a like what, 10 years old child?" "Actually, I'm 11." "11 years old child, knowing more things about how the world truly works than an adult! You ladies are a bunch of idiots!" Flowey chuckles darkly, his voice that was once high-pitch and childish changed abruptly to a demonic version of his former voice when he uttered the last word of his sentence.

"Help YOU?! Why would I do that, when your journey to your homes, is ending this very moment!?" the flower spat out, chuckling with sadistic glee. His voice turned normal here, "Though, heartless I may be, doesn't mean that I can't keep a promise. You see, I promised to teach you all a lesson. I'm gonna wrap it up by teaching you all the one golden rule of this world. And that rule... I'm sure, Lenington knows it?" he turns to the boy in question, who was makes a thinking pose, then points upwards, signalling he figured it out."It's kill or be killed."

"Yes, my star pupil!" Flowey's already demonic voice became even more demonic and distorted. The sisters would have huddled together closer if it weren't for the fact that it was technically impossible at this point were they were already smushing their faces together. Their fear-filled shaking intensified though, the twins and Lily even beginning to tear up as in everyone's, except for one, eyes, Flowey was the very embodiment of fear. Despite this, they never broke up the protective shield that was for their wounded brethren, who also wants to do the same thing. Lenington snapped his fingers, making the Loud siblings fall asleep, which confused the demonic buttercup, and brandished his knives on his left hand and brought his right hand to the left side of his chest. Fire started to gather before he flared his hand to his side.

As he did that, a sword with a massive coiled blade set aflames appeared in it. The base of the blade was thrice as wide as an adult's arm. As the blade coiled upwards to make the rest of itself, it got narrower and narrower until it ended to a point perfect for stabbing. The blade was longer than an adult by half more. The guard was a cross, the handle being long enough for fuve hands and the pommel being a ring.

"Kill or be killed indeed. Now die for me!" Lenington cried out before throwing the knives at Flowey, who made a demonic "eep!" and sank into the ground like a ghost before resurfacing at different spot, frowning."Damn it! I didn't expect him to be a magician!" he thought before ducking under a bolt of sunset-yellow lightning twice as tall as an adult. Then he had to warp away from a two-handed swing of that sword that resulted in a miniature inferno to surge forward.

He reappeared far from Lenington and sent five bursts of five bullets at him in a shotgun-like pattern. Lenington clutched the handle with both hands and went into a simple stance. The sword was pointed diagonally upwards to his right and the blade produced a shapeless extension of itself made out of flames. It now looked like the blade was covered in a cloak of flames that doubled in size and width.

As the bullets grew closer and traveled faster towards him, Lenington performed a wombo combo consisting of a downward diagonal slash from both sides and an upward diagonal slash from both sides, with each swing having a trail of fire with it, and swinging the sword in a straight line upwards, sending a wall of fireballs at him.

Flowey warped away again, avoiding all harm."Tch! That warp of his is getting real annoying. Although..."

Lenington dismisses his sword and snapped his fingers again, confusing but putting a sense of delight in him."Finally stopped struggling, I see? Come to accept your fate?"

The siblings started to wake up and woke up to the surrounding having embers dotting the room. Then they remembered Flowey. That name sent shivers up their spine just thinking about it. Then they noticed that they were still alive, for they were certain that he would have killed them already. And Lenington was just standing menacingly while looking at Flowey with a bored look. Flowey interpreted this look as shock instead of being deemed as an unworthy opponent, unfit of even lifting a weapon against him and needing only bare hands to be put down.

Suddenly, they saw a spark by the doorway and Flowey was flung towards them all the way to the other side of the room behind them, having been hit by something.

Stop playing You Idiot.

The Louds all stared at Flowey, who was blacking in and out."Right on time. And not a moment too late." was what went in Lenington's mind. He had sense the arrival of this individual that threw that fireball at the weed. All that was saving Flowey from his attacks was his warping and it got annoying."Damn it. She's here. I really should get a grip of my bloodlust and pay more attention to the time." berated Flowey to himself. That hag always comes at the exact same time to visit that patch of buttercups everyday for fallen humans. He should have jumped them when he had the chance. He hisses at them with a forked tongue, sending some last bits of fear. That satisfied him for now as he let a gleefully sadistic smile make it's way to his face before sinking back down to the ground.

The Louds all blinked, completely synchronised and still shivering from being this close to knocking on Death's door. They had already stepped on his doormat, after all. They looked to where Flowey was before he was catapulted in hopes of finding the cause of the disappearance of the deadly weed and found it quickly but wished they didn't, not knowing their brave bodyguard had a hand in it.

By the other doorway across them, stood a figure that was covered in black, except for a lone furry right hand still glowing with flames from throwing a ball at the weed god. The figure was tall, they could tell since the doorway was JUST enough for the height of the silhouette, it had to be nine or so tall. The grand stature of the creature also had a pair of horns on it's head and two crimson eyes glinting menacingly at the spot of that dastardly terrible menace before it was flung across the room.

The siblings gulped. If the earlier situation was like sunbathing in the peak of summer but instead of using sunscreen, you used cooking oil instead, this situation they now find themselves in was like being thrown at the hecking SUN! Actually, that was Luan's thought. The others thought more along the lines of 'Oh fudge' or 'Oh boy'. One thing they were sure about was that they did NOT like this one bit. If they can be flat-lined by fricking flower, then they didn't want to face the horrors of something bigger.

Or something that can shoot fireballs, that was also scary.

The creature's arm lost it's flames and lowered itself. Suddenly, it's neck craned to the group, making the huddled Louds flinch. The creature approaches them. They tensed strongly when they heard it inhale and readied themselves for whatever it was going to say.

"Oh my, what a miserable creature, to hurt poor and innocent youths."

They were stunned and didn't expect for that set of words, most of them. Lenington looked like he expected it. Then it walked into the light and it's, or more accurately, her appearance was revealed.

Play Fallen Down

They didn't know whether to trust the music or not. This one seems fitting for meeting a kind, sentient but not human creature. They already trusted Flowey's song and words and look where it got them.

The best way to describe the 'monster' is to say that she looks like a humanoid goat woman. She had a cute pair of horns on her head that seems to be appropriate for a young goat, below them is a pair of long and floppy ears comparable to the likes of a beagle's. She didn't possess the row of sharp teeth that everyone expected her to have, save for a pair of fang-like...thing on her mouth. Her eyes were red but didn't possess the malicious glint they had but instead had a caring and gentle feel to them that can only be found in a mother caring for her child. She was barehanded, of which resemble mittens in shape, and barefooted with a somewhat big feet for her proportion. All of this made them want to pet her, but the encounter with Flowey stopped them, fearing that she can also do the same to them. The monster wears a purple robe that reaches just above her ankles and has white sleeves. On it's front was the blurred symbol from earlier, only this time, it can be perfectly seen. The details was three triangles, the center one being upside-down. A circle with angel wings was above the trio of shapes.

This kind of monster was not something they weren't expecting to see. Instead, they expected something more monstrous. They really did not know if they should trust her or not. The monster gave them a warm smile, their guards lowered but were merely confused."Are you all alright?" she asks in a soft and kind tone.

But the memories of the words of the other monster still ringing through their minds, as well as what he had just done, quickly put the siblings on high alert. The sisters all have a hive-mind mentality that only activated when one feels strongly on something they can all agree or disagree , and this is one of those 'something' that they can all disagree on that will activate the mentality.

The more forceful sisters stood in front of Lincoln, ready to attack while the more gentle sisters shielded the boy. Except for Lily, who felt something tug on her heart, as if it was telling her something. She may not understand much but she can understand things that came from the heart, and this tugging is something she can clearly understand. It was her SOUL, telling her that this lady monster was to be trusted. She couldn't tell what's going on with Lenington as he has a mask. Back with Lily, she tries telling her stronger sisters to stand down, by trying to push them away and babbling words in her own way to let the cute lady monster through."Stay back, Lily. We don't know if she can be trusted. Not after that little traitor from earlier." Lori tells her littlest sister, while gently pushing her back with her foot without taking her eyes off the goat lady.

"Lady, I'm a senior black belt martial artist. Don't come any closer, if you know what's good for you." Lynn threateningly ordered while assuming the pose of a tiger. Outgunned or not, she'll fight for her family's safety even if it means her death.

Seeing the hostility of the siblings saddens her. To nearly lose a sibling due to a fellow monster, she can understand the reason behind such stances. Her smile turns into a frown but quickly changed back, only more patient and understanding than last time."I understand why you'd take such hostile positions but I can assure you all that I mean no harm. I just want to help."

"That's what they all say. Only difference is you used bigger words." Lana sneers, going on all fours like a mother dog ready to defend it's pups."Buttercups over there gave us cups of butter that was actually poison! But seriously, you're not getting any closer without getting through us!" Luan snarled, chuckling a bit at the pun she made while the others face-palmed without letting their guards down.

The creature's face turned to concern, not for herself though. Instead, she let out a barely audible gasp at the sight of the HP number of the one in the middle, the boy. She needed and wanted to help him, but not before gaining the trust of the angry siblings."I assure you, I don't want to hurt any of you. I just want to help, I can see that one of you is injured, I can heal him if you would let me pass."

No one is convinced by the woman's words, except for two."You are not laying a finger on my dearest sibling! Stand back!" Lisa harshly snarled as she brings out a laser gun appropriate for her size and aims it at the goat lady. The latter flinches, her eyes got cloudy and she suddenly loses grip of reality, as if reminiscing a distant past, confusing everyone. She shakes her head out and gets her head out of the clouds, putting the sisters on high alert again.

"You heard them. Come any closer, and we'll bring the pain train coming to you." Lori said menacingly, as she takes the pose of a snake.

While this was happening, Lincoln focused all his remaining strength and commanded it to focus on the current situation. Looking at the monster lady in front, another feeling welled up within SOUL, likely telling him something. The feeling got stronger and the message got clearer.

"Trust her. Trust her."

The voice chanted over and over for a few seconds before stopping. So he focused his strength on another thing."Guys, let's give her a chance. Everyone deserves a chance." Lincoln held his head up weakly as he managed to speak up. The sisters minus Lily looked at him as if he was insane, despite proving to be insane themselves at times. And the looks they have now, that too."Are you crazy?! Have you already forgotten our encounter with that dirty brother killer?" Lola voiced out.

Meanwhile, in another alternate universe, an androgynous human child sneezed before moving on another homicidal rampage.

Back with the previous universe, "No one wants you to get hurt any further." or something else along that line was hurled around.

"We all know that, guys." Lenington finally spoken."This probably sounds weird, or not with the current monster situation, but my gut tells me to trust her, like it told me with Flowey. Or actually, I saw through his ruse the moment I heard that voice but it did told me later about his pellets, so yeah. And look at that, looks like Lily trusts her too."

True to his words, Lily beckons for the goat monster to do her business. The sisters looked at each other, doubt strongly present within their eyes. But seeing their brother's condition, Lily's actions and Lenington's confident form, they nodded to each other to let the monster have her chance. Lenington nodded to the monster and the sisters begrudgingly made way for her, never lowering their guard. The ones holding Lincoln laid him on the ground. Everyone kept a focus on the monster that would put an eagle's to shame, though the monster only smiled at them in thanks.

She kneeled to Lincoln's level with a tender smile. She held her hands and flames gathered and the siblings tensed. But seeing Lenington doing the same, they backed down. The goat lady slightly gaped at this specific action but shrugged it off as there was a more important situation at hand that needs to be dealt with.

Everyone got confused when the the monster's orange flames and Lenington's blue flames turned green, even more so when they didn't burn and caused more pain when they touched his chest and SOUL. Instead, the boy felt a warm and pleasant feeling spread over him, akin to fluffly Shih Tzu puppies crawling and laying on top of him like a blanket or more similarly Lenington's blanket. His wounds were now closing while his SOUL was growing brighter and brighter until it was as vibrant as ever. His HP bar regained more yellow and the numbers rise until they were all at maximum capacity.

Once this happened, the two healers doused their flames and stood back. Lincoln looked at his body and found it as if Flowey's attacks never happened, save for his tattered clothes. He bounced to his feet, not an ounce of pain was shown or felt. Actually, he felt even better than waking up on the good side of the bed. Of course, this warranted an immediate glomping from his sisters, something he expected.

"Big bro!" cried the twins as they hugged as high as they can, which was to his waist. He ruffles their hair in response with a chuckle.

"Linky bro, are you alright?" Leni asks, forgetting her verbal tic for now as hugs him close to her chest."Em' poine." was Lincoln's answer.

Lisa analyses her brother's body, leaving no inch unturned."Phew. The injuries have all been regenerated, not a single trace of blood. Incredible! How did you two do such fine work?"

"Magic." Lenington answered while waving and wiggling his fingers, releasing sparkles that Lola tried to catch but they disappeared before she can do so. Lisa just shrugs as she remembers an important thing.

"All of us were so worried." Luna sheds a tear after that sentence and moved to give her brother a bear hug but was held back by Lenington.

"We all thought we lost you." Lynn said and moved to give her brother a love punch to the shoulder but was stopped by Lenington. Lincoln just chuckled at the overprotectiveness of their bodyguard when he's around him. Lenington ruffled his hair, "Good to have you back."

Lincoln's brows furrowed in annoyance and opened his mouth, "Why didn't you do your thing when you had the chance?" he asks."Little turd will just do it again. No 'thank you' for yours truly?" Lenington answered, Lincoln just punched his arm, of course, getting no reaction whatsoever to it. After that exchange, the sisters once again bombarded Lincoln with questions pertaining to his health.

"Guys, guys. I'm fine, really. I'm glad that little weed didn't hurt any of you." said Lincoln, having a small shiver at the thought of the flower's sadism and ruthlessness, and that smile. He's sure he's gonna be the stuff he'll be seeing in his nightmares if he isn't sleeping in the same room as Lenington."We sure are lucky to have Lenington to save us, and by...err..."

He trailed off, not knowing what to call the lady in front of him. Wait, Lori's in front of him. He meant the monster lady in front of him, can he even call her a monster? Was that a title or the actual proper way to refer to her people? Nevermind that, he still had to thank her. So he shakes off of the hug he's been in and curtly bowed to her, "Thank you for saving us, Miss. I don't know what would have happened if you didn't arrive."

The monster looked flustered at the bow but shaked it off quickly, "Oh, so polite. And it's quite alright. I just don't want to see children get hurt, especially by such despicable monster just to satisfy their lust for blood." the monster's face frowned at the last part. She smiled again and addressed the elephant in the room, "But do tell me, young ones, what are your names?"

Lincoln slapped his forehead at such stupidity of not even introducing himself to this saviour, "My name's Lincoln, ma'am. Lincoln Loud." he then turned to his siblings."And they are my siblings."

The monster's eyes widened in surprise before letting out a weak chuckle, "Oh dear, ALL of them?"

"Yep, the Louds are one big happy family. And i wouldn't trade them for the world." The monster made an 'OoO' face and nodded slowly."From oldest to youngest, the one with a light blue top is Lori."

"Uh, hello." Lori greeted shyly with a bow.

"Anyway, next is Leni, the fashionist of the family." Lenington points to Leni, who waves cutely.

"We have Luna, our musician that likes loud music." "What's cookin', good lookin'?"

The monster holds in a laugh at the punny introduction."That one who is always smiling and has braces is Luan, a comedian-in-training."

"Hey, I'll have you know I'm a fun-fledged comedian, already. Anyway, your laugh is my business, Funny Business Luan, at your service." Luan extends a hand for a shake, which the goat lady accepts.

"Next, we have Lynn, an athlete with the worst attitude." Lynn punches Lenington at that introduction, but ends up hurting herself in the process, earning a small laugh from the goat lady. Lynn weakly holds up a hand as a greeting, still reeling from punching something akin to a brick wall.

"Then we have me, Lenington. With me on your side, you're guaranteed to live." Lenington bragged, technically stating a true statement.

"Next we have Lincoln, the lazy slob but also tactician." "His plans fail most of the time though." Lynn added, while her sisters snickered."Laugh all you want, it's not like you can do better." The sisters stopped.

Lenington walked over to Lucy, "Over here, Ms. Doom and Gloom Lucy. She'll deny she has emotions but it's all an act." "Greetings, hopefully this isn't the last time we meet each other."

"Here we have Lana, the handy girl. Give her something to fix and have no fear to get dirty is the way to her heart. She'll care for any animal she gets her hands on." Lenington ruffled Lana's hair through her red cap, which she leans in to."Uh, hi." Lana said shyly, never thought I'd hear Lana and shy in the same sentence.

"Here we have Lola, a very skilled pageant queen with the biggest attitude you'll probably get to see. Please keep in mind to put a lock in your diary or anything that contains embarrassing information so as to avoid her tattler's syndrome."

"The pleasure is all yours, I'm sure. And hey! I'm not a tattler anymore." Lola greeted before turning to Lenington and socking him in the groin, but ended up hurting herself, gaining a cringe of pity and pain from the goat monster.

"Four years old plus astigmatism plus green-loving plus knowledge-obsessed means little genius Lisa."

"Top o' the morning to ya, madam." Lisa greeted in an uncharacteristically cheerful manner before returning to a stance of stoicism with a smile."And of course, Lily." Lenington holds Lily up to the goat lady."She certainly takes after you and your fashion choice." The goat monster commented while cooing at how cute the little tot is in her suit."Poo-poo." Lily giggled at the praise despite not understanding most of what she just said.

"And that makes twelve of us." Lincoln smiled and noticed the expressions of the ten other sisters while looking on them."Come over, guys. She's cool." he called."Coo'" Lily babbled, trying to imitate her brother as if to agree.

They looked at each other briefly and walked to join their brothers, sister and saviour slowly as if hesitating, if the singular sweat that was sliding down their faces was any sign. Being the leader means to lead in an action or to lead a group to success or a place, so Lori speaks first."Uh, hello again. I want to say, and speaking for my sisters as well, we are glad for your help, and yours too, Lenington. Thank you, you two." she said in a cordial tone and extends a hand albeit a little hesitant. Lenington did a two-fingered salute at this. Lori stiffened a little at the firm but gentle grip and shook it with her larger paw, she felt very relaxed though at the comfy feeling of her fur and the gaze of the monster's smile.

"So, who are you exactly, lady?" Lola said with barely hidden suspicion. She, along with Lynn, squinted their eyes at her. They weren't ready to just trust her. It had already nearly costed them big time.

"Oh! How silly of me. I am TORIEl, caretaker of the RUINS. I come here everyday to see if a human has fallen down, which hasn't happened in quite some time already." she chuckles a bit, quite strained and weak to be honest."Though I must say, this is the first time I find multiple humans at once, much less twelve of them, and nearly all siblings as well."

Having heard of the rumors of the six children having disappeared by a mountain, something clicked within the minds of Lincoln and Lisa. The former Loud leans to the latter and whispers, "You think she's talking about the six missing kids?" "Possibly." she whispers back.

The idea of asking Toriel about the six humans cross her mind but holds it for the moment and decides to ask an entirely different question."So is it safe to say that you have knowledge of this region?" she asks.

A little bit of surprise passed through Toriel's face upon hearing the toddler's wide vocabulary but she understood it perfectly and payed it no mind."Indeed, I can safely guide all of you through the catacombs. It doesn't sit well leaving children to fend for themselves. Though, it is your decision to take up my offer." the last sentence was spoken with a bit of uncertainty, as if begging that it be picked up and the offer accepted.

The Loud kids looked at each other and got the signal."Um, excuse us for a moment." said Lori. Then she unnecessarily commanded, "GROUP HUDDLE!" which they did just that.

Lenington was left with Toriel, who looks at him confusingly."Are you not going to join them in coming to a decision?"

Lenington first sits with his legs crossed then he answers with a bored but serious tone."I am merely going with them simply because their parents entrusted me with their safety. I will offer guidance, support and protection when the need arises and opinions if they ever ask for it. I'm used to being excluded by them and I am no longer bothered by it. I enjoy being alone just as much as I enjoy being with others."

Toriel seems quite disturbed by the fact that an adult has given a child the responsibility of keeping their children safe, even the ones older than the protector himself. Shouldn't it be the other way around? As if her thoughts were heard, Lenington added "I understand your concern for my well-being. After all, it's not everyday that a child is tasked with such large responsibility. You'll just have to take my word for it that I'm more than capable of defending myself and them. These eyes and body have experienced more than one of such age should have seen and experienced."

Toriel was surprised, genuinely so and speechless even. Taking a closer look at Lenington, why does he wear something that obscures his vision or does it? Then she noticed the stance of a weary and aged soul. That's not right. Either he has seen too much for his age or that's not his exact age. After all, humans were capable of changing their forms with magic. If he's hiding his true age, he must have incompleted it as his deep, baritone voice was not changed to carry a more youthful pitch and tone to it.

With the huddled Louds, Lori was hard-pressed to make a decision. Her siblings had made immature but valid statements, some had voiced out their suspicions towards Toriel. This was no decision to be made lightly. While Lenington was tasked with their safety, she still felt and would feel responsible for the safety of her siblings and herself and this decision would decide the fate of said safety. On one hand, they were asking her to put their fate in a complete stranger. A nice stranger but still a stranger that they had only known for a few minutes, a stranger who could very well be hiding something or had an ulterior motive like Flowey.

On the other hand, without Toriel, they would be like a bunch of lost souls left to wander the Underground, without knowing where the exit is, could be or if there even is one. Where will they find food, water or a shelter? What if all the other monsters were like Flowey or worse than him? Lori's face gained a little more paleness. Without Toriel, Flowey may sneak a few pellets past Lenington to their way, potentially killing them and then it would be all her fault! Then she and her siblings wouldn't be able to achieve their dreams, she wouldn't be able to accomplish her dream of being the CEO of a company, never marry Bobby and settle down with their would-be kids!

Lori slaps herself back to reality. Now's not the time to be having a panic attack. Okay, now that she had weighed all the pros and cons of the situation, she took a deep intake of air, exhaled and voiced her decision.

"Then it's official. We accept your help, Miss Toriel."

"Oh, so polite. But Toriel would suffice when calling me." giggled Toriel, making Lori blush a little."Now, come along."

And with that, she turned and walked past the archway. Not wanting to be left behind, the Louds and sole Baldwin boy quickly followed. Lincoln, Lily and Lenington turned back to the patch of grass where Flowey had been before they were along by the sisters.

Play Ruins

They were all astounded by the sight and music that had met them, the simple melody of the piano bringing peace to their mind and body. The room was illuminated by an unseen but much appreciated light that left virtually no shadow in existence. Cracks in the purple columns were apparent but it seems to have no effect on how well they do their job. Vines can be seen snaking along the aged walls, Leni's face cringed at the bad combination of color that was purple and green. Taking away the green, it seems like purple was the only color used for the walls, with nature taking the initiative on placing more decorative ornaments.

"Though I have no problem with looking at an endless sea of purple, they could have at least used even one other color. Perhaps a royal family once lived here? Having purple on something was a sign of wealth."

Lola beamed at the possibility. After all, she looked up to them if her attire was any indication. The siblings carried on and arrived at two sets of stairs leading to the same floor with another archway with Toriel waiting with the smile of an ever-loving mother."Come along, now." she passes the archway.

Between the stairs was a pile of dead leaves with a crimson hue. Lincoln, Lenington, Lily and Lana felt attracted to it. Lana because she loved rolling in nature, more so than mud because of the satisfying way the leaves slowly flutter downward when she jumps into the piles, the crunches they made and of course, how they feel on her skin. Lincoln and Lily because they felt it resonate with their SOUL and Lenington for the same reason and another being because it reminded him of something in the past. Something nostalgic."Guys, can we literally stay on track here? We don't have much time to waste." Lori calls out, much to the disappointment of Lana.

Lincoln patted her on the head and as he does that, he notices something gently hovering above the leaves. A twinkling yellow star that gives a mysterious but comforting glow.

Lincoln pointed to it, "Guys, look."

His sisters turned to where he was pointing and approach it still being cautious. Lenington was already at arm's reach with it, somehow observing it through his headpiece. The eyes of those without anything covering it reflected the star, twinkling like cartoon characters who are awestruck and they were indeed awestruck.

Lenington felt drawn to it while curiosity got the better of Lincoln and Lily. Before they could even realise it, the hands of the trio were in the star itself. And when they made contact with it, it flashed it's yellow hue like a small flash of a camera. Though nothing really happened with their physical bodies, the SOULs within them shuddered together.

Though Lenington was unperturbed by it since he's already resisted attacks against his very soul itself, the same couldn't be said for the ones who didn't touch the star. They were greatly startled by this and chattered and scolded them in worry. Lenington was unaffected, Lily looked down in guilt and before Lincoln could apologise, he heard it again. The very same voice he heard when warning him of Flowey's pellets and Toriel.

"The shadow of the Ruins looms above you. You are filled with Determination."

Seems like he wasn't the only one who heard them as Lily looked around, searching for the disembodied voice and Lenington perked up when he heard it."Huh?! What?!" he yelped as he abruptly turns his head around, doing the same thing Lily did. He thought, "Am I going coco-loco already?"

"GUYS!" the sisters screamed."Nanda?!/What?! Poo?" Lenington, Lincoln and Lily impulsively replied in surprise.

"You dudes alright? You three look like you looked into Lucy's crystal ball and saw something you like." Luna's analogy insulted a bit because she's into the more depressing side.

Lenington didn't really care if they branded him as going insane or laugh at him. He only tells truth, nothing more, nothing less."We more or less heard a voice in our heads. The very same that warned us of Flowey's true motive and Toriel's true intention." "Ey-yah." Lily babbles in agreement.

Contrary to what he expected, no laughter or snarky comments about going nuts was heard. Instead, the nine girls just stared at them with a confused but still concerned look. Lisa was the first to break the silence, "Like how you often say it, nani?"

Lenington brought a finger to where his lips would be but Lincoln beats him to it."Well, just a few seconds after touching the star, we heard a voice say something in our heads. None of you heard it?"

The sisters looked at each other then back to the triplets-by-SOUL."You guys sure that it wasn't one of us you heard?" Luan asks.

"Nuh-uh!" "No. It was definitely not a girl's voice. More masculine and is well in the bass and has a ghastly tone to it." Lenington clarified.

Lori, taking the role as a caring leader, puts a hand to the two boys' shoulder."Bros, little sis, did Flowey got your head good?"

Lincoln and Lenington gently remove the hand and swatted it away respectively, Lincoln was thankful for the concern while it was practically base instinct for Lenington to feel annoyed for the understandable but ultimately unneeded concern. Lincoln had one fact that ultimately debunked Lori's theory, "No, that can't be it either. I heard that voice just before I pushed you all away. It told me that Flowey was an enemy of ours."

Lisa tapped her chin in thought, trying to get a semblance of a rational explanation out of this situation. A daunting task considering that she had almost no information of the place that houses inhabitants that defied the very laws of reality. Of course, she was as determined to get some sense into this mess as she was as chocoholic."If I had more information regarding this...this world and it's physics, I could give a somewhat proper explanation but I think this conundrum could be much easier to be solved by our occult-inclined sibling." she motioned for Lucy, who nodded.

"A presence tethered to this regions could be inhabiting you three, one that joined you when we entered this realm, just as Great Grandma Harriet's ghost can only talk to me when I'm at home instead of following me around. If everyone here can use magic like Flowey and Toriel, it should be able to follow you through the entire Underground." explains Lucy then she paces a bit with both hands gently clasping her head as if trying desperately to understand something."I just can't understand why it didn't pick me over you and Lily. I could understand Lenington since it's basically his job to interact with the occult. I am clearly more inclined to communicate with the spirits and if it wanted a mind that's easy to access, it could have picked Leni."

"Heeey!" Leni interjected, frowning due to indignation."I'm not an easy girl. I have totes the complicated tastes." she flicks her fingers across her pale blonde locks to swoosh it around.

"Leni, you literally fell in love with a replica of a robber." countered Lola in a deadpan tone.

The ditzy fashionista giggles at that memory, "Hihihihi, he was so handsome." she swoons and fell to her back.

Lucy ignores the banter behind her and continued."You must have something that the spirit likes that made it bound with your soul. Tell me, what else has it told you?"

Lenington parroted what the voice had said when they touched the star.

Lola shivers in her shoes, "Brr. Determination. That word gives me the shivers for some reason."

"I'm pretty sure that's what this whole place is doing and trying to do." Lori said while massaging her forehead, not because of stress but because she's getting wesry. Too much weirdness were suddenly happening too fast to be normal."I can only imagine how this place can get any weirder."

As soon as she finishes those words, a large, black panel popped into existence above the star and freaking out the siblings. Lenington was more amused as he let out an "Oooooh."

They didn't have time to wonder what it was as that question was already answered by the appearance of a white keyboard on their level and words appeared on the panel.

Please insert the name of your grouped SAVE file.

"SAVE file?" mimicked Luan. Lori slammed her face into her hands and muttered into them."I was just being sarcastic."

The girls didn't know what it means but Lenington and Lincoln being the video game junkies that they are, they immediately know what it meant. Lenington and Lincoln looked at each other and nodded.

The sisters watched as the two inputted a name. Lincoln types in "LOUD" and let's Lenington put in the remaining portion.

LOUDWIN

Is this name correct?

Lenington turned to them with a proud stance, hands crossed on his chest which slightly leaned forward and asked, "Sooo, how is it?"

The sisters looked and felt genuinely lost. Was this how Leni felt when she didn't understand something?"Huh?" was all their response.

"Save files are the savior of players who play games for a long period of time. It came into existence a short period of time after the birth of the very first video game. Save files are essentially data logs that you'd find Lisa using. Let's say for example, Lisa has made some undesirable changes to a file containing list of information. She can simply access a collection of files that shows all the changes in the contents of that file, starting from the very first word, to the halfway point and to the current point. She can access those files to do something to them. That's what a save file essentially is, only it's meant for video games. Capeesh?" Lenington explains in a strangely sophisticated but still understandable way as if it was a day-to-day thing.

It took a minute to fully digest the information fed to them as it came in mass quantities but ultimately, they got it. Lisa rubs her forehead in exasperation, "And now the properties of the decomposers of brain cells is being implemented to appear in real life. Is it too much to ask for a little bit of sense?" she mutters loudly in the sense of the word.

"Just enter the name and be done with it. If we wait too much, our furry guide will be worried and a worried mother can turn into a hairy situation. Ahahahaha! Get it?" Luan joked, getting groans, facepalms, a raspberry from Lily and a shrug from Lenington.

Lincoln rolls his eyes at the pun and pressed the Enter button. The keyboard immediately vanished and a ping was heard to signify the success of the process.

LOUDWIN – Ruins Entrance

LV1 – 0:21

File saved successfully!

And with those words, the panel disappeared. Just then, another panel appeared in front of Lenington.

Team LOUDWIN

️Characters

"Score!" cheered Lenington before the panel disappears with a dismissing wave from him."What the what? What was that?" Lynn asked, her sisters sharing the same line of thought and feeling the same freaked out feeling she has. Lincoln had an inkling of an idea though.

"That was the team menu. I merely tried to will one into existence and it worked. We're going to look more into it later. For now, let's not keep our guide waiting." Lenington answered before going departing to meet up with Toriel.

Compared to what the Louds had already gone through, this barely fazed them, and they just shrugged it off. Whoever is sending those panels to them have to do better than that to weird them out now. The weirdness of panels now no longer had any effect on them. But then once the minds of the Louds wondered to the thought of what other creatures existed within this walls, a sense of slight dread filled them. Lenington instead felt excitement well up within him at the thought of encountering possibly strong monsters.

But along this thought of dread, a feeling of unity began to fill them as they thought that whatever was out there, they'll deal with together. The Louds even held their hands together as they collectively ascended the stairs and passed the entrance which Toriel and Lenington had gone through. It was a small gesture, but it held a very deep and soothing meaning for the usually chaotic bunch.

Dream or not-dream, they were in this together. And none would be left behind.

This thought what was truly feeling them with Determination.

Please tell me what you think by posting a review. I would really appreciate it. Flames will be merely absorbed and nullified.