"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Past speech"
"other"
Chara will admit, she didn't expect much from the soldier. Understandable since her first experience with him was in a vision that showed him slaughter over a dozen black clad humans and merciless execute a wounded man that was no threat to him. So it's understandable that her first impression was that he was a psychotic murderer. That thought was then later reinforced when the unnamed soldier appeared with a gun; an actual gun, in the Underground!
So imagine Chara's surprise, when he starts to pet, and nuzzle two strange looking creatures - creatures that are definitely not found on the Overworld. So here she is, watching a possible psycho playing around with what must be monsters, she doesn't have the best view of them after all.
"Spitball? Sparkie? Is that really you?"
The voice that comes from the soldier is, again, unexpected. Chara imagined a grizzled veteran with a hoarse voice that would put the king on a sick day to shame, but instead she hears someone who can't be over 20, maybe closer to her age. Odd, considering how many she's seen him kill. Although, it's possible that the person she saw in the vision wasn't actually him. Soldiers, from what she remembers at least, tend to wear the same uniform and gear. That doesn't explain the blood however, but then again, he's a soldier, soldiers kill.
Especially humans soldiers.
The still unnamed soldier stops playing with his pets for a few seconds to pick up something from Chara's flowery grave. Chara, not able to get a good view, takes a few steps closer to see what he's holding. A sudden chill goes down Chara ghostly spine once she spots it.
A pipe wrench. The same pipe wrench from the vision. The once red tool meant for fixing and disassembly now spots numerous dents and splotches of blood, along with some other green substance that covers some of the soldiers uniform and armor.
One of the creatures climbs over his shoulder, giving her a good view of it. The thing is, well hard to describe. With three long claw-like appendages coming from the end of it's beetle like body. Said appendages surround a 'tube' for lack of a better word. Chara can only guess that's it some type of mouth, or maybe an eye since she can't see anything else on it that looks like eyes.
The other creature, this one green, slithers its way around the soldier's arm. A large lipless mouth full of large pointed teeth greet Chara. Again, no eyes are visible. It's body splits into three large tentacles around the back, which its currently using to latch onto the soldiers forearm. The creature, looks in her direction before it starts to hiss. The blue one follows along by producing some rattling noise in her direction. Sparks of electricity, or something similar to, bend around it's three appendages.
They've spotted her.
'That should be impossible though. No one but frisk can see me.'
The noise must have alerted the soldier, because he instantly turns around and trained his rife on her. Again, this only adds to Chara confusion. In all of her time in the Underground, the only person to have ever seen her was Frisk, and that's only because it's her DETERMINATION that allows her to exist. So it should be impossible for him to see her unless…
She has to get answers, and he's the only one who has them. That means questioning
'Well, I guess introduction are in order. Too bad it had to happen so soon.'
So with a winning smile, Chara introduces herself.
"Greetings, I'm Chara."
'Honestly, after everything I've been through, this is probably the best I've could of asked for.'
While Shpehard wasn't expecting a red eyed civie to greet him, it isn't the worst case scenario. Much better than being greeted by Black Ops, aliens, or some other abomination from beyond
The civie, Chara, seems to be a bit young. Probably around 17, maybe 18. A large lime green sweater with a single white horizontal line is the second thing Shephard notices; the first being the eyes of course. Brown shoulder length hair, and a necklace with a heart shaped locket attached to it hangs from her neck is the next thing he spots. Large black pants and black shoes cover the lower half of her body. The last detail that he notices, is her extremely pale skin. Her face is almost completely white, with the only color coming from her natural blush, her lips, and her red eyes.
'Just like the aliens.'
So all in all, not the strangest thing. Other then the skin and eyes, she seems pretty normal. Now knowing this, Adrian lowers his M4. As if they sense their master's intent, Sparky and Spitball both immediately stop their rattling and hissing, instead opting to simply stare at the girl in front of them.
"Nice to meet you Chara, I'm Corporal Shephard of the US Marine Corp, HECU. Hey, you wouldn't know a way out of this place would ya? Preferable back to the surface?"
Chara, simply stares at him with confusion dotting visible in her eyes, before she blinks said confusion away and with a sudden glare, answers.
"Well, Adrian, I do happen to know the way out, but your going to have to tell me how you got here in the first place."
This causes Shephard to pause, as he contemplates his response. Telling her that he just came from a top secret government facility that got overrun by interdimensional aliens wouldn't be the best idea. Even in the off chance that she did believe him, then that just puts her life, along with any family, in danger from the US government. He rather not put someone else's life in jeopardy. But then what does he tell her? There's no entry point beyond the large hole above the flowerbed, so he would have to make up a lie based around that.
With cover story in the making, Adrian answers.
"I fell. My unit and I were patrolling around the area when we found this large opening. We passed it, paying it no mind, when I fell in. Since I was in the back, no one heard me fall, nor did I have time to radio for help."
'The lack of intel really makes lying a pain in the ass. That should satisfy her for now. Hopefully.'
Chara, with her lips curl upwards, tilts her head and continue to speak.
"Really? Because I do recall seeing you appear out of bright green ball of energy. It could be my imagination, but I think the monsters on your shoulder and the burnt up tulips tell me otherwise."
'Well shit.'
Now with that plan gone awry, Shephard tries to quickly think of an excuse. Not that he can. Determination, and adrenaline from Black Mesa, are the only things keeping him upright. It's been nothing but non-stop fighting for two days. His brain is essential on auto pilot.
Seeing that she's obviously stunned the soldier, Chara starts to balance herself on the soles of her feet and speaks up once again. Interrupting any thoughts going through his head.
"Well Shephard, it seems I've caught you with your pants down. Now, maybe this time, you tell me what actually happened."
Her eyes, once a bright red, are now simply devoid of all color, as if the void had replaced them.
Now on edge, Adrian brings up his M4. Not facing her, but still in her general direction. She definitely not a civie. The goop seeping out of her eye sockets, and the almost casual tone show that very clearly. But that just raises more questions, like what is she. Chara doesn't even seem bothered by the gun aimed in her direction, nor the two aliens on his shoulders. So what does he do now?
"I'm waiting Shephard."
With nothing else to fall back on, Adrian does the only thing his sleep deprived mind can think of. Tell her the truth. Or at least, some of it, not like he'll get in trouble for it, he's most likely a wanted man anyways since he did witness what happened at Black Mesa.
"I fell into a portal after killing some aliens and saving the world."
Silence. It's as if time just decided to suddenly stop. It it went on like this for what felt like an eternity; even Sparkie, who always loves to make a ruckus was silent. Chara simply stared at him with her lack of real eyes. Then finally, Chara eyes reverse back to her original state before she starts to chuckle. Before long the chuckle evolves into full blown laughter. After a few seconds of laughing however, she simply smiles at Shephard, before speaking up.
"You know what, that not the weirdest thing I've heard. Doesn't mean I believe you however."
"Well that's what happened."
Chara doesn't look convinced. Sighing, Chara simply lets it go.
"Okay then Shepha-"
Adrian interrupts her.
"So what are you?"
Smiling, Chara replies with the sauveiness of a politician.
"What do you mean?"
Adjusting his grip on the M4, Adrian repeats his earlier question.
"What are you? You're not human, because last time I checked, humans don't leak goop out of their eyes. So unless I've been missing out on some new fashion trend, I think I can safely assume your not human."
The girl smiles grow even larger.
"My, aren't you the observant one. Well, to answer your question, I'm a ghost, held together by the DETERMINATION of ones SOUL. That Soul, being you of course."
If there is one thing that Sans knows about the Underground and the power of Frisk Resets, it's that things never change. No matter how many times the kid reset, their always be some form of pattern to follow. Frisk would wake up in the Ruins, run into Toriel, make it out of the Ruins and come through Snowdin, and go through the rest of the Underground. Sure Frisk might try to deviate from the normal path once in a while, but she'll always find her way to Judgement Hall. The only difference is the kill count she racks up on her journey. When that happens, Sans and her would fight, and she would win, no matter how many times her SOUL is destroyed.
So imagine when, instead of finding himself in Judgement Hall, about to face off against the demon child, he finds himself laying down on his bed at home. Now this is new. The only explanation for him being back here that he can think of, is that Frisk was able Reset.
Now that should be impossible. The only time Frisk can Reset is when she reaches the Barrier, never has she been able to Reset before that. If she could, she would have done it along time ago, but alas, she never has.
Getting up from his bed, Sans heads downstairs to the noise of his brother, Papyrus, burning pasta; a noise that never gets old, even after all this time. If there is one thing that Sans will always look forwards to, it's his brother.
Even if she cuts him down.
Not wanting to dwell on that particular thought, Sans enter the kitchen.
"Sup bro"
Sans and Papyrus are quite literally polar opposites. Sans is short, standing at a little over 5 feet, while his brother towers at an impressive 7,1. Sans is considered lazy, Papyrus on the other hand is considered motivated, energetic, but irresponsible- although Sans feels like that last one is unfair.
Turning around, the younger yet taller, skeleton turns to greet his brother, completely ignoring the burning spaghetti and meatballs.
"GOOD MORNING SLEEPY HEAD! I DECIDED TO MAKE US SOME BREAKFAST SINCE YOU WEREN'T WAKING UP!"
While some would cringe at the intense volume of Papyrus voice, Sans simply takes it in strides. He's lived with him for his entire life and then some with the Resets. Maybe once upon a time he would have been annoyed at his brother constant yelling, the Resets have taught him to cherish his time with Papyrus, because in all honesty, it's the only constant in his life keeping him going.
"Thanks bro. Hey, has anything new popped up concerning your goal of becoming Captain of the Royal Guard?
Sans didn't need to ask that. Again, the resets have allowed him to 'predict' the future in a sense. Despite the fact that she changed the time in which she reset, he knows for a fact that Frisk will still enter the Underground. He knows that she'll eventually end up murdering everyone, and he knows that Papyrus will simply be tasked with patrolling Snowdin like usual.
"ACTUALLY, THEIR IS! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAVE BEEN TASKED WITH GUARDING THE ENTRYWAY TO THE DUMP. UNDYNE SAID THAT THERE BEEN POSSIBLE REPORTS OF A NEW MONSTER!"
Now this is new. Now normally, finding a new species of Monster is not unheard of. There are plenty of Monster down in the Underground. So while most have been documented, there are still some that haven't been properly reported. There mostly small, insect-like monsters, nothing sentient. So hearing that there has been sightings of a new Monster, while rare, isn't unheard of. It also could be an animal since it is in the Dump, a place where some small critters tend to get in from.
That was before the Reset, before Frisk, and subsequently Sans, have seen every single Monster of Monsterkind. So, combined with the fact that this has never happened before, Sans it starting to worry. Not once in Frisk rampage through the Underground did something like this ever happen. So already, two new things that have previously never happened before, suddenly happen.
"Oh, really? What does it look like?"
"NO ONE KNOWS. JUST SOME STRANGE NOISES, BUT I'M SURE WHATEVER IT IS, I'LL FIND IT, BEFRIEND IT, AND REPORT IT IN! THAN, UNDYNE WILL SEE HOW BRAVE I AM AND PROMOTE ME TO CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD. ONCE THAT DONE, EVERYONE WILL LOVE ME AND WANT TO BE MY FRIEND!"
"I'm sure they will Paps. Anyways, I kinda have to get to my post. Don't want to be late for work."
Papyrus jaw is simply hanging loose.
"YOUR GOING TO WORK EARLY? BUT YOU NEVER GO EARLY."
"Well, don't want to be skulling around now? Eh Paps?"
Papyrus, as if unable to speak, simply stares at his older brother. Seeing this, Sans turns around and heads for the living room.
"Welp, I'm heading out. Can't dillydally now."
Stumped out of his stupor, Papyrus quickly speaks up before Sans can leave.
"WAIT! DO YOU WANT SOME SPAGHETTI BEFORE YOU GO?"
A quick glance to the raging inferno that is said spaghetti gives Sans his answer.
"No thanks. I had a burger before I went to sleep. However, I would appreciate it if you could pass me the ketchup."
Still in a state of shock, Papyrus gives the bottle of ketchup to Sans before turning around to deal with the fire hazard that his breakfast has become.
Walking into the living room, Sans continues out the door, not before glancing at the calendar. Not for any particular reason of course as, again, the Resets keep the date the same. At least in the Underground.
The bottle of ketchup fall onto the ground, spilling its contents all over the floor and his slippers. But Sans pays that no minds.
For his attention is only on the calendar.
'That wasn't like that before.'
The stone hallway didn't lead far. In fact, Shephard only had to walk a few feet before he came upon the next room. Like the last one, it was quite spacious, with enough room to comfortably fit two Abrams tanks side by side. However that's were the similarities ended, as this room has no stone columns or flowerbed. Instead it has a single patch of grass in the middle of the room with a large flower growing out of it. Finally on the other side is a doorway with a fountain.
With Chara by his side Shephard continues to walk forward, sweeping the room for any possible hostiles, while also thinking back to what Chara said earlier.
The Underground, home of Monsterkind. Described by Chara as friendly, abiet powerful with the use of magic, - a concept that Shephard still has trouble believing. Apparently they've been trapped here after a war with the humans on the surface. Chara has also given him his current location. Good news, he still on Earth, in fact, he still in the US. Virgina to be exact, underneath Mt. Ebott in the Appalachians. Bad news, the Monsters need seven Souls to get break out of a magical barrier that keeps them all down here. And one more has just happen to teleport onto their front yard.
However, the businessman's words come back to Shephard head.
"The task, should you choose to accept it, is to bring to us six items of high value to my employers,"
'So that why the bastard sent me here, to retrieve the SOUL's.'
Shephard can't help but scoff at the idea. A dimension hopping businessman sends a soldier to retrieve six SOUL's with the help of two aliens, and now a ghost by his sides.
'What a time to be alive.' Shephard thought sarcastically.
Out of the corner of his eye, Adrian spots movement near the center of the room. Quickly, he orients himself and trains his rife where his he last saw some activity. Only to be met with the same flower he spotted earlier. It seems the movement that spooked him was actually the flower turning in his direction, showing it that it is indeed not a normal flower. A large, almost cartoonish, face greets the lone HECU soldier.
Then, to make the situation even weirder, the thing speaks.
"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!
Shephard has seen a lot of things throughout his time at Black Mesa. Alien Invasions, alternate dimensions, large mechanical robots, a large worm that shot a fucking laser out of it's eye, a teleporting businessman, and a barn sized alien that shot radiation. So, he's like to think that nothing else can really surprise him. Ghost? The businessman is essentially a ghost in Adrian's book since he seems to be the only person to see him. SOUL's? He might not be a religious man but hey, he didn't believe in aliens and alternate dimensions before Black Mesa.
But a god damn talking flower? That's just a whole new level of insanity.
'This is it, I've gone insane. After all of Black Mesa, of the LSD trip that was Xen, and after all of the fighting, my mind has finally been broken.'
"Golly, you must be new around here. Guess it's up to lil ole me to show you the ropes. Are you ready?"
Shephard, still in a state of disbelief, doesn't answer.
"Let's go!"
A sudden itch forms in Shephard's chest.
Looking down, he can see that a large, red, cartoonish heart is hovering right in front of him. In fact, it looks like the same heart that the businessman had shown him. However with some slight differences. For one, it's a darker shade of red, almost crimson. Another difference is its size. While the one from before was about the size of his hand, this one is about ten percent bigger.
Confused, Shephard looks back at Flowey only to find him staring directly at the heart. Even Chara seems entranced by the thing.
The oversized flower then abruptly laughs a joyful laugh, before it starts to transform into something more sinister. To go along with this sudden shift in tone, Flowey's face starts to distort itself, becoming something that can only be described as demonic. Like Chara earlier, a black goop drips out of its mouth and eyes, giving the impression that it's crying. Then, it finally stops, bringing silence upon the group.
The thing smiles.
"Oh, it's been so long since something new and exciting has happened around here. And that SOUL! So much DETERMINATION, EXP, and LOVE. Golly, not even Frisk ever got to LV 26! I bet you don't even know what's actually going on down here.
Shephard, points his M4 right at the things demonic face, ready to end it's existence at a moments notice.
The thing suddenly frowns and continues on with it's monologue, ignoring the rife trained at it.
"In fact, with a SOUL like that… hoho. The possibilities! "
Out of nowhere, large flower pellets surround the lone soldier. Completely blocking his line of sight from the demonic flower.
"I don't know who you are mister gas mask, but if there's one thing I do know…
It smiles
"It's killed or be killed!"
But before the flower can proceed, Sparkie - who has been hidden in Adrian's backpack for the entire duration - emerges and, with a sudden spark of electricity emitting from its claws, proceeds to fire a ball of super heated plasma Flowey. Staggering Flowey, and causing him to retreat underground. The pellets disappear, giving Shephard the time to breath.
After thanking his alien friend, Adrian turn to the ghost besides him.
"What the hell was that?!"
Chara turns and stares at him for a second, before replying.
"One of the monsters you'll find in the Underground."
" I thought you said they were friendly?!" Shephard responds.
The girl shrugs, "I said most were friendly, not all. They do want your SOUL after all."
Sighing, the unsung hero of Black Mesa, simply shakes his head.
"Next time, give me a heads up so, you know, I don't get fucking sliced open."
The girl giggles.
"No promises."
Shephard continues to glare at her before, once again, sighing.
"Where to next?"
"Just keep going forward from here. There are some puzzles and monsters up ahead, but I'll guide you through them." Chara says, smiling.
The two then proceed out of the room, and into the ruins.
Unaware of the two emerald eyes watching them from the shadows.
IT's DONE!
Longer than any other chapter I've done, and that will be a recurring theme for my new chapters. Anyways, special thanks to EvilToTheCore13 for agreeing to exchange reviews.
See you in the next chapter
