The first time you had thrown a punch was back when you were ten, a year older than Frisk was currently. Unlike Frisk, you hadn't matured as far yet, and acted your age while Frisk seemed to act much, much older. At ten, a teen, maybe about fifteen or so, standing a couple feet above you, suddenly started to pick on you. To this day, you don't remember what he started to yell at you about, either because it was something stupid enough to forget, or scarring enough you blocked it out. As soon as he laughed, about to turn away with his friends, you snapped. You barreled into his gut, threw him down, straddled his chest, and let loose on his face. You had been ten, but that didn't mean your tiny anger fueled fists didn't hurt him any less. His friend threw you off him and they all ran. You took the tooth you knocked out of his jaw as a trophy and put it in a special box on your dresser. You're sure you still have it somewhere around the house…
The second time you threw a punch was less of a mindless blur of anger, and more of a calculated fight. After your first fight you strayed from violence of any kind, but this fight… You couldn't hide from this one.
You were thirteen when Frisk was born, and when you first saw a monster.
She was a big, red faced girl. Her arms were more muscular than any of the other kids. She was popular, knowing how to box, being able to throw the majority of the boys over her shoulders, tall and rectangular... She was so… different that the kids who were so used to one version of "female" were awestruck with her. To you, at first, she was amazing. The brunette had become your role model. Yet...After school one day, having to stay after to collect notes from your science teacher because you had been absent the day before, you stepped out to see your so called "role model" towering over a crying coffee colored girl. The scene looked to you like your idol was helping the girl up.
When she kicked her, you realized, with a sickening feeling, the opposite.
This person, who looked so amazing and was so strong, was bullying someone right before you. You called her out, and in fear of being caught, she ran. Of course, not before telling you to meet her after school the next day.
The news of a fight spread quickly, and the day passed just so. When you trudged out to the back of the school, shaking in your shoes, something came over you when you saw the coffee colored girl. She stood among the crowd of cheering students and with a big gulp of air, she flashed her best smile your way. She had a bruise forming on her cheek, and one that went under the collar of her shirt, but the big smile that split her face made your heart warm. She looked...safe, happy, and about to cry.
You… had made that happen.
You had saved her from having to speak out against the school's popular. You had made sure she wouldn't be hit again. You could feel the kindness from her across the ring of students, and it gave you the confidence you needed to turn and stare down your idol.
You went home with your first broken nose and a black eye.. But a second trophy to add to your box, and a new feeling in your chest that encouraged you. When you looked down onto the newborn's crib, you told them that you'd protect them, and make them smile like you had done with that student. Frisk, just born, couldn't respond, and just made gurgly baby noises as they wrapped their pudgy tiny hand around your finger.
That day, you promised to never let anyone make that smile disappear.
But also, you promised that you'd only fight monsters, and never let anyone go unnoticed. You'd fight the odds, no matter how much they were against you, because you'd never, ever, let the kindness in your heart, that the thirteen year old student, unbeknowingly, gave you, disappear.
So, as you stared down the fight-ready Undyne before you, loud music thundering in your ears along with your own heart beat, only one thing came to mind: how were you going to not fight her?
Undyne wasn't a monster. She had taken the monster kid out of trouble every time he found himself between you, Frisk, and her, and all the residents of the underground always praised her for being their hero.
You were going to, for now, and for Frisk's sake, ignore the fact that she had killed you and hunted you both down. If you let that slide, again only for now, she wasn't someone who deserved to get their ass kicked.
So, how were you going to beat her, without fighting?
You felt a poke in your side and you jumped, surprised to see a free floating spear gently bumping into you. You blink, batting it away.
"What're you-" Undyne groans. "Take it!" You stare up at her, since she had yet to jump down from her pedestal. You can still make out the glare on her face, though.
"But...I have a bat." You hold up the weapon. She raises an unimpressed brow and then jumps down. You throw yourself back, bat at ready, but no music is matching the beat of your pounding heart nor can you see your green soul floating in front of you.
"Come'ere!" She commands and immediately you hurry over to her. You were dreadfully confused at what was going on. This was so different compared to the first time you two fought.
She snaps her fingers and the spear from before floats over to her. She snatches it from the air and then pushes it against your chest. You violently flinch, you breath stuttering out. You didn't want a spear or Undyne near your chest any time soon.
The woman then grabs your bat and throws it somewhere over her shoulder.
"Hey! I need that!" She snorts, rolling her eyes.
"You'll only need it if you survive me." She give a shark toothed smirk. "And that's low chance. Plus I'm only giving you this spear to give you a fair chance. That bat looked like you fished it from the garbage." You purse your lips and avoid her stare.
You take the spear in your first, feeling it warm under your touch. It pulsates once, like a heart beating, and then it goes still and you take your place far from Undyne.
"No funny business, right?" You ask, eyes still on the glowing blue spear in your hand. "Like, you're not going to make this disappear or something mid-battle?"
"Hah!" She barks, obviously mad that you'd ever propose such a thing. Her ear fins flapped violently. "Who do you think I am?!"
"Someone trying to murder my little sibling and me." You respond immediately. You sigh at your own words. You weren't trying to annoy her, you remind yourself, you were trying to not fight her.
Undyne holds her spear out and you match the stance.
"En Garde!"
You soul tugs at your chest, slipping out into view as music begins to fill your ears. Once again, when Undyne catches the sight of your floating heart, she grimaces.
"You have to face danger head on or you won't last a second against me!" She laughs as she swings her arm, creating more spears in the air that come flying at you.
You're thankful for the weapon in your hands, even though it was a bit harder to handle than the baseball bat. It was balanced, and quite powerful. Sometimes if you swung it in just the right way it would cause the other spears to bounce off just with the force of the air behind it. Other times you had to dodge a spear that slipped past because, in comparison, it was much thinner than the baseball bat.
You roll out of the way of Undyne as she swings her weapon down on you, only getting a millisecond to throw your guard up as a couple of spears came flying.
"I don't want to fight you!" You yell over the music. It's loud and feels like it's echoing in your chest.
"For years we've dreamed of a happy ending!" She doesn't yell. Or, her voice is the usual loud volume and she doesn't raise it. You can hear her perfectly fine, even though you also know the music is much louder than her. "And now sunlight is just within our reach!"
She flashes a menacing smile as she thrusts her spear, aiming for your head, that you duck and spin out of the way of. You forgo making your own strike and instead make distance between you both.
"I won't let you snatch it away from us!"
That's when you notice that the flying spears have disappeared. Undyne was focusing on closing the space between the two of you instead of firing.
So, how were you going to beat her, without fighting?
As soon as your own thoughts come back to you, you spin around Undyne's spear and bolt.
How were you so slow? Of course the only way to not fight someone was to not fight them.
The pathway that you had sent Frisk across before the fight broke out was warming as you ran across it.
"Don't run from me!" A spear flies past your head and you soul lurches around you to face Undyne. You give her a sly grin as you fake lunging at her, which she moves to block, only for you to turn around and start sprinting away again. "H-HEY!"
Continuing down the path you quickly notice a gigantic, scrolling sign on the cave wall to your left. You try to make out the large, blearily red moving letters as you ran, but it ended up give you a headache.
"Come back here you little punk!" A metal glove catches the back of your shirt and you breath skips as the collar constricts your throat. You stumble back, too off balance to deflect that spear that flies and slices into your waist. You rip yourself from the grip only to hear your cellphone go off. She pauses and you both make awkward eye contact. She then sneers but waves for you to get it.
You nervously laugh as you answer.
"HEY! WHAT'S UP!?" You pull the phone a little ways from your ear.
"P-Papyrus?" You ask, eyes ghosting back to the impatient, foot tapping, armed woman behind you.
"I WAS JUST THINKING…" You hear the excitement bubbling in his voice. "YOU, ME, LITTLE HUMAN, AND UNDYNE SHOULD ALL HANG OUT SOMETIME!"
"Oh, really?"
"I THINK YOU WOULD MAKE GREAT PALS! LET'S MEET UP AT HER HOUSE LATER!"
"Um, Papyrus I don't think-"
"I HAVE TO GO COOK NOW, YOU KNOW, BECAUSE I AM THE GREATEST CHEF! NYEHEHEH!" The phone clicks as the skeleton hangs up on you. You take your time putting the phone back into your bag. You then throw eyes to Undyne, who's raising a brow in question. You smile, nod, and then start running again.
The pathway under your feet, which had been blue or purple while in Waterfall was steadily shifting into bright oranges stones and dirt. The path brightens in front of you.
As you pass through a wall of thick heat that immediately creates sweat on your brow, something clasps around your wrist and yanks, the spear goes flying from your hand.
You shriek in pain as your body is flung to the ground. You hear the clattering of metal behind you as dust erupts around your face.
Then, there is silence. You grimace, trying to pull yourself off of the dusty ground, but your wrist is still trapped in a painful hold.
"Armor...so...hot…" You turn your head, making sure not to rub yourself too much into the ground so you don't inhale the orange, fine dirt. "But I can't….Give up…" Undyne is next to you, collapsed on the ground. It seemed that she had grabbed you and accidentally pulled you down with her when she fell. She wasn't getting up or letting go, though.
"Mhmn." You turn your head, once more, finally spotting a familiar and heart melting sight. Your little Frisk is stand in front of you, leaning down as they held a paper cup full water out towards you. You laugh, reaching your untrapped hand up to wipe at the sweat and dirt caked on your face.
"Hey Frisk," You say quietly, trying to give them a winner's smile. They return it as they shift over to help uncurl Undyne's bruising grip from your wrist. You then take the cup of water Frisk hands you.
You hesitate just as it meets your lips.
Your eyes find the fish out of water.
You sigh as you crouch down and hold the cup out, tipping it with satisfaction.
As soon as the water pours over the woman's face her eyes start to pry themselves open. As she slowly comes to, you give a look to Frisk. The kid, understanding, comes closer to help you pull the armed clad woman to her feet. Blearily she looks around, then down to you and the cup in hand, and even further down to the always smiling Frisk. Silently, with a look of confusion, she turns and leaves.
Frisk grabs your eyes with quick waves of their hands.
"I'm glad you're okay," They sign. You smile even though you know, for a fact you really aren't.
"I'm happy that you are too. I told you I'd be fine."
You reach out to pet your siblings head but the movement of your dominant hand sends a bolt of painful electricity up your arm.
Your wrist ripples in red-hot, burning pain when you shift it even the slightest bit. A ring of thick finger shaped bruises had already started to darken.
You hide the pain with a forced smile and the quick switch of hands as you ruffle Frisks hair.
Moving around the kid, you quickly find the glowing blue spear you had dropped earlier. Trying to pick the spear back up in that hand is fruitless, as it only causes more pain. You decide to wield it with your non-dominant hand, choosing to have some kind of defense, even a weak one, over nothing at all.
For some reason, the food you ate from your bag would not help the pain. Though, it seemed to help the monsters you had fed in experiment, and it even helped Frisk, but for some reason it didn't help you. It could be because you were not a monster that used magic, so the magic infused food, as Frisk explained all the way back in Snowdin, would not help you. Yet, how come it healed your very human little sibling?
Either way, your dominant hand was out of commission.
You wipe away the sweat beading down on your forehead with your arm, along with any dirt that was stuck, taking one last glance to where the red haired fish in suffocating armor had slipped away. Frisk was beaming, having not noticed your wound on your side or wrist yet, seeming content that you both had helped Undyne.
You were still a bit annoyed. You'd never like to just trust someone after one meet up, and this "someone" had killed you, and heavily messed with Frisk. You had heard nothing good about her but from monsters that praised her for attacking human children, and Frisk, who had already gone through this whole story and had seen however Undyne had changed.
So, unless Undyne comes out and saves Frisk's life multiple times, and yours, and has a sense of humor, you were pretty set on never crossing her path ever again.