Alice in Undertale
By Lolitafreak88
Chapter 15 All the Best People Are…
Finally gathering her bearings, and realizing the umbrella she had brought with her had disappeared in the fall, Alice sat up and looked around cautiously. She noticed there was a large waterfall falling into some sort of levee and that the water level was high enough to go up to slightly above Alice's knees. There were also unsightly piles of garbage in the distance and some small stone steps above the water. Due to the circumstances she could at least consider the positive fact that she was away from Undyne and had time to catch her breath. What was most concerning was that the dream she just had was mind-boggling. Not only was it so drastically different from the others, but she had seen a mysterious and adorable goat boy who seemed to know Chara. Alice knew she had to gather as much information and potential clues as she could from that dream. First and foremost was that Chara was in that dream and that it all took place in the Ruins.
"Now I know Chara has left the Ruins by now and he never mentioned any sort of acquaintance like that goat… could that have been a glimpse into his past? But why would that appear in my dream…?" Alice asked herself baffled.
It does seem as though he fell in very much like I did but was it really the same rabbit hole? For some reason, Alice didn't think Chara had entered the Underground the same way she had. Probably because it seemed as though Chara came from the future if Alice had arrived here from a century ago. It was true that he guided her through the rabbit hole but… for some reason it didn't seem plausible for him to have used the rabbit hole on his first time entering the Underground. Plus Toriel had told her about Mt. Ebott and even if Alice had never heard about it or seen it for herself, it's existence had evidence from the monsters to support it and was the only way into the Underground according to them. So Chara fell into the Ruins by Mt. Ebott… wait. Something occurred to Alice too that Chara first arrived at the Underground some time before Alice got here through time travel and possibly before the other human souls were collected. That lead into the main question of who the goat boy was?
"If only I could ask Toriel… she would certainly know who he was." Alice said a bit bitterly.
He seemed very friendly and greeted Chara kindly. Yet if Chara had been the same back then as he was now… then there was an unfortunate implication that the goat boy was dead by now. But why was he in the Ruins and considering he was a goat like Toriel, did that entail some kind of connection? He did seem like he could've been her son or cousin but why wouldn't she have mentioned him? Alice had to wonder about that part significantly as he couldn't have been one of the children Toriel had mentioned having come and gone as he wasn't human… wait. "Hmm… did someone else live here at one point? Although I feel in this isolated place, Toriel is not one to have company… did she have someone special in her life?" Alice recalled saying that back in Toriel's house when she had found the third room in the hallway that had "Room under renovations" upon the door. The White Rabbit of DETERMINATION had even confirmed with a nod that Toriel did have someone special in her life.
"...! Oh my goodness… t-then… that really is her son…" Alice suddenly gasped and put a hand to her mouth as her eyes widened to dish plates.
Through this theory, Chara had fallen into the Underground some time before Alice arrived and had been greeted by the Toriel's son. Alice was sure that Toriel had probably been in the ruins at the time because Toriel distinctly recalled recent Underground history and had seen six human children meet their ends. Even further, the goat boy had arrived at the spot much like how Toriel had said she came by that area often to see if human children had fallen down. There were also three rooms in the house's hallway. The first of which probably had been where Chara stayed in since it had been offered to Alice as well and had furnishings a human child would like. The second was Toriel's room and third one was the mysterious room under renovations. What if that third room had been the goat boy's? Then that would've meant Toriel truly did have a son and he was no longer around for some reason. How tragic… Alice thought with a deep regret in her heart. She couldn't imagine how hard that must've been for Toriel, especially once she started losing human children who fell into the Underground as well. Alice realized she had definitely figured out something that would be important but she still didn't know his name, his whereabouts, and of course what became of Chara after he was found by the goat boy.
"Well I suppose that's enough intellectual thinking for now. Oh… I do hope this water isn't slimy or anything." Alice wished to herself as she finally got up and braced herself for wading through the water.
Regrettably the water turned out to be fairly cold and Alice shivered after she dipped herself into the water. Her skirt even insisted on floating over the water so Alice had to push it down the best she could. Hoping to reach dry land and perhaps a fireplace soon, she continued walking through the water and passed by the garbage pile to find there were no brands she recognized. Knowing that trying to pick something out from the garbage pile would probably lead to nowhere, she merely continued onto the next area. She soon noticed that the waterfall here seemed to be flowing from the ceiling of the cavern and that occasionally a piece of trash would flow through and fall into the bottomless abyss below. This endless cycle of worthless garbage filled Alice with some sort of determination, she wasn't quite sure why. To the credit of this rather unappealing place, it was making Alice very curious about where it was located and where the path would lead. As she entered the next area, she noticed some rather familiar pieces of trash this time. T.V's that looked like the one from the skeleton brothers house, a lone bicycle with an old-fashioned horn that honked a song of despair, a beat-up desktop computer like the one Papyrus had, and most curiously a strange box that seemed to have a cooling interior like the machine in the kitchens of the homes she visited thus far (She was beginning to regret not asking what it was). Inside the cooling device she found what appeared to be some sort of food bars, freeze-dried and apparently marked 'Astronaut Food'.
"What on earth is an astronaut?" Alice asked.
It sounded so nonsensical she was surprised she hadn't come up with the word herself. The wrapper showed what appeared to be some kind of sterile white traveling device shaped like a castle spire with wings flying through a night sky. Perhaps some sort of flying machine user then, she unconfidently offered to herself. The last thing she found was a strange case that appeared to hold some kind of product. The cover showed a very beautiful, artistic image and the back seemed to contain information about a rather flowery plot much like a book would. Even more bizarrely was the fact there were desperate claw marks all over it, as if someone tried to pry the case open forcefully. Maybe this is related to the T.V, Alice suggested. She understood that it was relatively useless to her now so Alice turned to the last thing standing in the water and was surprised.
"Is that… the training dummy from the Ruins?" Alice inquired as she approached.
Besides a slightly darker bronzed shade from what she remembered the last dummy having, it certainly was a training dummy. What was odd about this was that it looked like it was in mint condition and didn't seem like it belonged in this junkyard. Alice had no intentions of beating it up so she simply stared into its eyes for a moment. Nothing seemed to happen in particular and Alice was a bit relieved that it wasn't some sort of trap or trick. Although, for some reason, it made Alice feel a bit lonelier than she had been in quite some time. Carrying on her way through the water, she decided to try to call Papyrus with her phone (Fortunately kept dry in Alice's apron pocket) but there was no response.
"Oh bother… this truly means I'm all alone… and who would ever think to look for me here in a junkyard? … Well I mean I suppose that whoever-" Alice was debating her situation when suddenly she heard a strange noise.
It sounded like a dramatic instrument being played in a way as though to reveal something shocking. As Alice turned around she suddenly took notice of a drastic change within the dummy. It was now completely bronze and wore a very human expression. Two severe-looking eyes with nothing but anger in them had opened up with accompanying eyebrows. Alice's first reaction was confusion but then she began to feel quite nervous when she realized that this dummy looked very aggressive and she was all alone. The dummy shook briefly in barely controlled rage before it dived into the water and made Alice wrap herself up in her arms in an attempt at a defensive position. Yet the Dummy emerged quite quickly behind Alice, floating menacingly in the air and leaving a shadow upon the water. That's when Alice heard it speak to her,
"Hahaha… Too intimidated to fight me, huh!? I am a ghost that lives inside a DUMMY."
It sounded rather grouchy and like an old man which actually served to cheer Alice up a little about this situation. Had it sounded anything like Flowey or Chara or an upset Sans and she would've been petrified. Still she was surprised to learn that ghosts could live inside objects and essentially possess them in the Underground. Napstablook had done no such thing but it seemed as though even he could potentially take over an inanimate object and give it life. It's actually a rather versatile ability if you think about it, Alice's approval echoed in her head. Although that was figured out, Alice wasn't sure why he was glaring at her with such intensity or why he was seemingly trying to challenge her. She needed to defend herself and fast.
"W-well it's not so much that I was intimidated Mr. Dummy, but I just don't believe in needless violence. Um… so what-"
"My cousin used to live in a DUMMY, too. Until… YOU CAME ALONG!" The dummy interrupted Alice with a bellowing statement.
"I-I beg your pardon?" Alice asked genuinely flabbergasted.
The only dummy Alice had encountered was the one Toriel had introduced to her in the lesson about being a Pacifist. Alice had no idea that such a simple act and encounter would be brought up again in this sort of fashion so she began going over what happened in that instance. She didn't recall anything happening to the dummy while and after she had spoken to it, granted Toriel had taken her along quite quickly into the next room after she was done.
"When you talked to them, they thought they were in for a nice chat… But the things you SAID…! Horrible. Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE!" The dummy accused Alice.
"Wait just a moment, all I said towards the dummy was my what my name was and how it was a pleasure to meet their acquaintance. I even asked them for their name. How could that have possibly been perceived as horrible?" Alice asked, slightly offended at what was becoming a false accusation.
"Well it was horrible! You spooked them right out of their dummy you foolish human."
"Humph, how do I know you aren't making all this up just so you can have an excuse to attack me? For I know I didn't do or say anything that could possibly offend them that much. I even have a witness!" Alice shouted combatively.
"My friend came to me distraught and shaken at your cruel words! How can you be so MINDLESS?!" The dummy bellowed.
"Cruel words indeed! Well I'm sorry but I haven't the time nor the patience to defend myself against such baseless accusations!" Alice cried, slamming the water with her fist to emphasize her annoyance with the dummy.
"Well if you can't defend yourself, that'll make things much easier! HUMAN! I'll scare your SOUL right out of your body!" The dummy declared as it flashed red and shook once more.
Alice realized another battle was about to begin and identified the dummy as Mad Dummy. What an insult to the concept of being 'Mad', Alice thought as her Wonderland had a lot of delightfully mad people. Granted this was a ghost she was dealing with so she could afford to go a bit more offensive than she had in previous battles. Furthermore she was very angry at this Mad Dummy so she was prepared to make it pay. Physical attacks wouldn't work but perhaps some DETERMINATION would for this battle. For the most part though, Alice wanted to let Mad Dummy make the first move to see how they fought.
"Futile. Futile! FUTILE!" The Mad Dummy yelled.
To Alice's surprise, little figures that appeared to be mini dummies (That looked a lot more peaceful than Mad Dummy) appeared from thin air and flung what seemed to be magical balls of yarn at her. Alice dodged them easily enough but soon noticed that some had been conjured behind her. Alice barely managed to fling herself out of the way, splashing water about and heard a strange sound of impact. Recovering from the water, she looked to see Mad Dummy with an expression of anguish upon his face. She wasn't sure why he was doing this until he spoke up,
"OWWWW, you DUMMIES! Watch where you're aiming your MAGIC attacks! … Hey! You! Forget I said anything about MAGIC!"
Trying to play it cool, the Mad Dummy had rather naively revealed a very useful weakness to Alice that she realized would be crucial to defeating him. The mini dummies attacks could also harm Mad Dummy as much as they could harm her. That confirms I could purposely lead them to hit him and that my own MAGIC should do the trick, Alice thought with a cheerful smile. Alice wasn't sure what to do in the meantime though as Mad Dummy was far from the type to be up for conversation. She was fine with this though there were others who weren't happy with this.
"I'll defeat you and take your SOUL! I'll use your SOUL to cross the barrier!" Mad Dummy envisioned as he bossed around his bullets.
"And you wouldn't even try to find a way to break the barrier for the other monsters to roam free? How selfish!" Alice scolded as she was able to evade and redirect several of Mad Dummy's bullets into hitting himself.
"Oh be quiet and lemme finish my DREAMS! I'll stand in the window of a fancy store, THEN EVERYTHING I WANT WILL BE MINE!" Mad Dummy insulted Alice as he started moving to and fro mid-air in a subtly evasive manner.
Alice unfortunately wasn't as fortunate with the next barrage of attacks as a few did hit her this time. The water was beginning to really slow her down which made Alice wonder if she should try zoning Mad Dummy away from her or have a construct fight in her place. She was still able to land Mad Dummy's attacks against him but she wouldn't be able to keep it up like this for much longer. He was hopping mad and proving a worthy opponent.
"Is that what your cousin would've wanted?" Alice asked him rather honestly.
"Huh? Yeah, I guess that'll avenge my cousin. What was their name again?" Mad Dummy replied nonchalantly as he started getting cotton everywhere.
This time the pattern of the mini-dummies attacks changed as they themselves became the projectiles and flew at Alice in a row. Alice, still trying her best not to get wet, leapt out of the path of them before having to once again dodge MAGIC ball projectiles. It's clear he's trying to trick me and make his attacks unpredictable, Alice concluded as she felt satisfied upon hearing the impact sound.
"Whatever. Whatever! WHATEVER! Foolish. Foolish! FOOLISH! Futile. Futile! FUTILE!" Mad Dummy started shrieking and screaming furiously as the endless barrage seemed to continue.
Alice couldn't handle trying to dodge in the water anymore, most of her stamina drained in that regard, so she quickly ducked behind a pile of garbage to figure out what she should do next. She decided that her DETERMINATION would be the only way of truly stopping and defeating Mad Dummy at this point.
"The first step towards defeating someone who is mad is to be mad yourself..." Alice said to herself as she focused on creating a new being of DETERMINATION.
Mad Dummy was looking for where Alice was to properly direct his bullets but then noticed something golden beginning to take shape on the water. It appeared to be a fairly big rabbit or hare with a shirt, coat, collar and bowtie, pants, fluff of hair, and big shoes. All of it was distinctly golden and he appeared to be holding a teacup and saucer that he sipped tea from. It was certainly a very gallant creature but Mad Dummy only saw it as an obstacle to his dreams coming true.
"Pitiful. Pitiful! PITIFUL! Stay out of my way rabbit! The human is mine!" Mad Dummy angrily ordered.
Sending forth bullets at the strange creature, Mad Dummy was shocked to see the hare easily dodge the bullets with natural agility and easily lead the bullets towards where he levitated. The hare was even able to hold onto the golden tea cup and saucer and drink whatever was inside without spilling a drop. Mad Dummy took the blows and was quickly wearing thin with his patience.
"HEY GUYS! Dummies. Dummies! DUMMIES! Remember how I said NOT to shoot at me? Well… FAILURES! YOU'RE FIRED! YOU'RE ALL BEING REPLACED!" Mad Dummy roared as it's body trembled furiously.
"Looks like the March Hare is as persistent as ever." Alice said to herself with a smile as she watched the mini-dummies look shocked at the announcement but disappear in accordance to Mad Dummy's command.
The March Hare had been a somewhat brash and abrupt character in Wonderland and also a bit rude which made him the perfect character to tango with the Mad Dummy. His hare agility and unique qualities were clearly proving to be effective though Alice had to wonder what Mad Dummy was intent on using as a replacement. For the moment though I do have an advantage, Alice thought proudly. Mad Dummy cackled with an unnerving loss of sanity present in his voice.
"Hahaha. Hahaha! HAHAHA! Now you'll see my true power: Relying on people that aren't garbage!" Mad Dummy asserted himself.
Mechanical whirrs began to fill the room and Alice looked around nervously to make sure she wasn't in for a sneak attack. As for the March Hare, it quickly realized things were about to get more serious. Discarding his tea cup and saucer, he summoned a mallet of DETERMINATION and looked around warily for any signs of danger. Mad Dummy made the first move.
"DUMMY BOTS! MAGIC MISSILE!"
Several robotic-looking mini-dummies appeared and this time fired projectiles that looked remarkably similar to the device portrayed on the Astronaut Food wrapping paper. They even appeared to be following March Hare whenever he moved out of the way. Fortunately it was only for a short amount of time as they launched past him when they couldn't seem to track him down anymore. Alice was relieved that she had made the choice to switch places with the March Hare in time because she knew she could never outrun those missiles in the constricting water.
"DUMMY BOTS! TRY AGAIN! DUMMY BOTS! You're awful?" Mad Dummy's further attempts at attacking weren't paying off as well as he had hoped.
March Hare was simply too fast and too easily able to leap out of the way of the missiles long enough before their trajectory was automatically set. Not to mention March Hare could also use his hammer to knock certain missiles away should they get too close. Mad Dummy appeared to not be taking it very well as he glared into a mirror, then turned to March Hare with the same expression. Alice wondered if he knew that she had gone into hiding since he was currently consumed with the idea of keeping the March Hare from being the one to claim the human's SOUL. However his next words seemed to indicate he was getting serious,
"DUMMY BOTS! FINAL ATTACK!"
A mix of rowed mini-dummies and magic missiles were hurled at March Hare who did have to spend considerable effort dodging each attack seamlessly while still leading them on to strike Mad Dummy. It did take two hits from the missiles but also was able to redirect a good number of magic missiles to Mad Dummy. It even whammed it's mallet against Mad Dummy's head after the missiles had hit, sending Mad Dummy plummeting into the water with a momentous splash. Mad Dummy quickly rose up, sopping wet and with an expression of disbelief.
"(N… No way!) (These guys are even WORSE than the other guys!) Who cares. Who cares! WHO CARES! I DON'T NEED FRIENDS! I'VE GOT KNIVES!" Mad Dummy flipped out and conjured a knife from thin air.
After throwing the knife towards March Hare, the March Hare simply hit it aside with his mallet leaving Mad Dummy incredibly still. Alice couldn't help but feel glad that Mad Dummy was brought down to such a stunned, vulnerable level. It was poetic justice for how he had accused Alice of being this horrible person who scared his cousin when she knew there was no reason for her to have scared his cousin and that he was only after her SOUL. Out of the many victories she had down here, Alice felt as though this would go down as among the most personally satisfying ones. She even decided to speak up from behind her hiding place.
"Well it looks like all of your attacks are fairly unreliable." Alice said a bit boastfully.
"You… WERE HIDING THE WHOLE TIME?! Unbelievable. Unbelievable! UNBELIEVABLE! You're lucky I'm out of knives little girl and out of useless dummies! EITHER WAY I CAN'T HURT YOU AND YOU CAN ONLY MERELY HURT ME WITH THAT STUPID HARE! I DOUBT IT'LL STICK AROUND AS LONG AS I CAN! YOU'LL BE STUCK FIGHTING ME… Forever. Forever! FOREVER!" Mad Dummy absolutely lost his marbles and each part of his body moved separately in violent rhythm.
He then cackled and howled with a menacing and delusional laughter. It was the kind of laughter that would sadly fit right in with Wonderland and made Alice wonder if she should regulate her imagination a bit to keep the madness from ever going this far. That's when something extraordinary happened. Droplets of a very familiar substance began to rain down on Mad Dummy, impact sounds meaning that they were hurting him. He grumbled and the pieces of his body regrouped to form Mad Dummy once more.
"Wh… what the heck is this!? Ergh! Acid rain!? Oh, FORGET IT! I'm outta here!" Mad Dummy complained before he left with a strange accompanying sound.
March Hare bowed and disappeared once Mad Dummy's threat was finally gone and Alice emerged from her hiding place formally to see what was responsible. The relief of Mad Dummy disappearing for good wasn't as much as the relief that was quickly building up inside of her. She was on bated breath and as soon as she saw the culprit, she realized her hunch had been absolutely correct. She gasped and her eyes began to water with tears of joy as she put her hands to her mouth. The sight of Napstablook, descending gently down to her level was breathtaking on a whole different level. The proof that it was him and not anybody else was what he said,
"... sorry, i interrupted you, didn't i? as soon as i came over, your friend immediately left… oh no… you guys looked like you were having fun…"
"... N-Napstablook… h-he wasn't really my friend… a-and… oh Napstablook it's you! It's really you!" Alice couldn't hide her overwhelming relief and joy at finally reuniting with him and ran over to hug him.
Granted with him being a ghost, the most she could do was pretend to wrap her arms around him but it still felt like the necessary thing to do. Napstablook was honestly surprised and even appeared to blush slightly at this display of emotion. It had been so long since someone was this joyful and happy to see him that they were crying.
"oh no… don't cry alice… i just wanted to say hi… i'm sorry i didn't respect your time though…" He apologized very humbly.
"Ngh… Napstablook… t-there's so much I have to tell you… I-I've been wanting to say 'thank you' to you for the longest time… wahh…. you saved me… if i-it weren't for you telling me about Waterfall… about what I could find in the Underground… I-I wouldn't be here right now… thank you… uuu..." Alice lowered all sense of guard and honestly stated her true appreciation for the ghost with sobs throughout.
Napstablook, who always wore a somewhat open mouth and wide eyed expression, looked at her with notable surprise. He never thought he had any sort of influence on anyone like this. He had such a simple life with friends moving on and him pursuing his dreams and keeping things running in good order while trying to be a nice ghost to all he met. To see that he was being shown so much gratitude from Alice, who was one of the most interesting and nicest people he ever met felt like an incredible birthday gift. He wasn't one to relish in pride and attention upon doing something nice for someone so he just nervously laughed and tried to help Alice stop crying.
"well... i know you wanted to find out more about where i came from so… i just told you what i knew about waterfall. you were so curious after all…" Napstablook replied gently.
"... Y-yes… but it was that description that gave me the courage to change my fate… t-to… do so many amazing things… I'll always remember that Napstablook." Alice said as she wiped her tears away.
"... what amazing things did you see alice?" Napstablook asked thoughtfully.
Granted Alice truly was happy but Napstablook wasn't really sure about seeing someone else, especially a friend, crying when he was the one who usually cried. Alice seemed to understand this as she gathered her composure and began to recount her journey. Every single moment, from the Ruins to Waterfall was told with great passion, joy, and spirit from Alice. Napstablook was delighted, shocked, worried, amazed, and dazzled all in one after hearing the story of Alice's adventures Underground. All the new friends she made, all the new discoveries she found, and how far her DETERMINATION had taken her made him feel honored to have known her and helped her. Granted he was now aware that she was being hunted down which made him very worried but he also felt so inspired by her stories. it'd make great music, he thought.
"you... really are special alice… i'm so happy everything has turned out alright for you here… i wasn't sure if you'd like waterfall that much…" Napstablook admitted.
"I do truly like it Napstablook but… I do also want to see you all be free. All these experiences… these memories… they are wonderful but I know that more is waiting out there for all of you and that's why I'm going to break the barrier." Alice said as her resolve couldn't be broken anymore.
"that... sounds like a lovely thought alice… um… you know… i'm going to head home now… you're free to "come with" if you want… but no pressure… i understand if you're busy… it's-"
"Oh I would simply love that Napstablook! I am soaking wet and could definitely appreciate some nice, warm hospitality." Alice interrupted what would likely be a shy tirade of statements to show great excitement at the idea.
"...oh… are you sure…? i thought i'd just offer the idea but if you say so… i'd love having you over alice…" Napstablook confessed with a rare smile.
With that Napstablook floated over to where an easily accessible ledge above water level was and Alice followed after him. Relieved to finally be out of the water, she quickly started squeezing the water out of her clothes and tried to dry off the best way she could at the moment. After several moments of these antics, she followed after Napstablook into a new area and she finally realized she was back on track towards exploring Waterfall. She saw three separate paths, a small lake, and Napstablook floating in the air much like a buoy on the sea. Alice already felt a spark of great curiousity on seeing these three separate paths but she decided that she needed warmth and food most so she waited for Napstablook's response. He was floating in front of the middle path and seemed eager in his own unique Napstablook way.
"Hey… my house is up here… in case you want to see… or in case… you don't…" Napstablook spoke softly to Alice.
"Well I definitely would appreciate seeing it so thank you Napstablook." Alice curtsied politely as she gave her thanks.
Sure enough, Napstablook floated down the path and there was a calming tranquility in the area. It certainly helped Alice recover any lost DETERMINATION and made her feel safe and sound from Undyne or any danger that the Underground seemed to possess. Dashing after Napstablook, Alice was once again surprised by the discovery she made. There were two houses as opposed to one and they were of a very abnormal shape standing side by side. If Alice had to be honest, they were shaped like a ghost leaning over though both were facing in opposite directions. The left one was blue and appeared to be dark inside while the one on the right was a delicate pink and had the lights on. Going by logic, Napstablook's house was more than likely the pink one. But when she tried opening the door, she realized it was locked.
"Eh…? Oh… so then the house on the left must be Napstablook's. But why leave the lights off?" Alice asked curiously and slightly embarrassed at having made such a simple mistake.
As she tried opening the blue door, she found that it opened perfectly easily. Inside was Napstablook… wearing some sort of head accessory that looked rather modern (At least in terms of the Underground as opposed to Alice's time) standing by a computer on a desk. There was also a T.V, another big cooling machine with two doors, cobwebs (That had a very familiar bake sale advertisement on it), and three devices lined up against the wall that looked as though they played music. Napstablook had been facing the computer but quickly sensed Alice's presence and turned to her.
"oh... you really came… th-thank you for coming… sorry there isn't much to see… make yourself at home…" Napstablook murmured.
"Well I think this is a rather…. quaint home Napstablook. Though I have to confess I have two questions that may seem trivial but are relatively important in my opinion." Alice prepared Napstablook for some questions she was intent on asking.
"i'll answer them to the best of my ability…" Napstablook said.
"What are you wearing and what is the name of that device? I've seen it before but I never have had the chance to find out it's name…" She was pointing to the cooling device in question as she spoke.
"Oh… that's ok… i'm wearing headphones… they play music and sound at a more definite volume… but you have to plug them into a slot to use them… and that's a refrigerator…" Napstablook replied sweetly.
"Ah, a refrigerator… thank you. Now, as you were saying?" Alice asked as she looked at the refrigerator with a newfound respect.
"are you hungry…? i could get you something to eat…" Napstablook then proceeded to fly over to the refrigerator and pulled out something from it without opening the door.
Alice was wondering what he had gotten for her and looked as Napstablook offered her what looked like a translucent sandwich. Doesn't really look like something edible, Alice thought a bit sheepishly. She didn't want to hurt Napstablook's feelings though so she merely stated,
"Well that's quite alright Napstablook... I do have some food of my own that I can eat and save you some trouble but thank you for offering me this sandwich… what is it called?"
"a ghost sandwich… and i see…" Napstablook sighed and put the sandwich back into the refrigerator.
Sensing an oncoming awkwardness, Alice pulled out the second Nice Cream she had bought earlier from Waterfall and started to eat it. To her delight the flavor was a very pleasant Neapolitan flavor. As she was eating, Napstablook watched her and wondered if he should tell Alice something. He surely wasn't that confident in keeping guests entertained and a bit nervous but he did want to do something special for Alice. As Alice was almost finished with her Nice Cream, he summoned the confidence to speak his mind.
"after a great meal i like to lie on the ground and feel like garbage… it's a family tradition… do you want… to join me alice…?" He asked.
"A family tradition to feel like garbage? Somehow that sounds rather questionable but I suppose there's no harm in trying." Alice confessed as she finished up her Nice Cream and threw the wrapper away.
The wrapper this time around had said 'Is this as sweet as you?' Alice, now feeling much dryer and almost completely dry altogether, set herself comfortably on the ground and laid down as Napstablook lay beside her. The floor was surprisingly comfortable for being merely made of wood. Alice wasn't sure what Napstablook wanted to do next so she waited for further instruction.
"here we go… you'll lie down as long as you don't move. so... only move around when you want to get up, i guess." Napstablook's instructions were surprisingly simple.
"Very well… are we allowed to talk during this or no?" Alice inquired.
"... i wouldn't recommend it… a-at least it's always better when it's quiet…" Napstablook stammered.
"I understand." Alice said as she began to feel quite rested.
After a while… something extraordinary happened. It was as if the room around her was shifting and morphing into some new incredible sight. She saw stars, blackness, lights, all of which appeared to be limitless possibilities. She wondered if this was the outer space she had read about in science books. The real question though was how was this appearing before her and Napstablook? Was it some sort of special magical state of mind? Or maybe she was just so relaxed it was bringing to life an equally relaxing image. Either way, Alice was simply dazzled and looked around peacefully for several more minutes until she decided she had enough. She got up to her feet, dispelling the strange image of outer space almost instantly, and spoke gently to Napstablook.
"Thanks for sharing that with me Napstablook. That was truly astounding. I never have seen outer space before… and most humans in my time haven't even seen it from such close proximity." She giggled a little to herself at the thought.
"... really? … that's really nice to know… you're going to be famous…" Napstablook said, floating upward.
"... Well on second thought I have no idea if I would be famous over such a simple fact. It's also rather trivial at the moment… um what kind of shows do you like to watch on your T.V?" Alice asked as she turned her attentions to the T.V.
"there is one show i like to watch on it… sometimes…" Napstablook looked away a bit awkwardly.
"Is it related to MTT by any chance?" Alice asked as she recalled seeing that acronym when she and Papyrus were watching his T.V.
"why... yes. how did you know alice…?" Napstablook asked very surprised.
"One of my friends has a T.V and it seems that whatever he was watching was sponsored by this MTT. Do you know what it stands for?"
"... METTATON… but i don't really want to talk about it right now…" Napstablook confessed in a somewhat more somber tone even for him.
"METTATON? Hmm… well if you insist I won't pressure you about it but thank you for answering me." Alice, respecting Napstablook's company more than finding information, did cease her questioning at his request.
"sure…"
Alice was starting to think about who this Mettaton could be. Napstablook had said 'it' so the gender was ambiguous for the moment and to be honest Mettaton sounded like a really strange name. They appeared to be very famous and a strong source of television in the Underground but were they someone that held any importance towards Alice? Although given that they could easily use television to spread propaganda about me it's probably better I meet them in person so I can explain things, Alice decided. Alice was also slightly worried by how Napstablook's mood seemed to grow more severe at mentioning Mettaton. It was very probable that he knew Mettaton in some way although he didn't seem to hate Mettaton entirely. Nonetheless, it seemed Mettaton was a topic Napstablook was uncomfortable with. Trying to find something else to talk about, she looked towards the computer and saw that on the screen appeared to be some sort of page related to music and sharing music. There were things to click 'play' on and different song titles. Turning to the three devices laid out in a row against the wall, Alice decided to ask Napstablook,
"Say Napstablook… what exactly are those three devices you have there?"
"... these are cd players… i mix tapes of my own with them… i don't know if they are any good though… you are welcome to listen alice." Napstablook replied with slightly more spirit.
"Hmm… 'Ghouliday Music'... Sans would find great delight in these titles." Alice said as she played the first one.
To her shock a rather spooky and even scary tune began to play that sounded like something wailing in an unnerving fashion. She quickly shut it off in fright, even though she knew it was slightly rude.
"aww... the lyrics would've been so much fun to sing along to…" Napstablook pointed out.
"Err… I just prefer songs that have a bit more… of a melody?" Alice defended her hastiness rather lamely even to herself.
Seeing 'Spookwave' as the next CD, Alice turned it on. It was still fairly creepy but the melody was actually quite solid and decent to listen to compared to the simple howling of 'Ghouliday Music'.
"dang... that ambience… it's like my whole body is being spooked…" Napstablook commented.
"Why would you produce music that scares even yourself?" Alice asked confused.
"well... it creates a state of mind… and it's fun to do for certain people who are into that sort of thing…" Napstablook blushed again as he seemed that he hadn't realized that irony until Alice brought it up to him.
The final CD was entitled 'Spooktunes' but when she played it… she was stunned to find it was basically the same as 'Spookwave' but with a different tone and pitch. Clearly Napstablook is still developing his musical mixing style, she thought a bit perplexed by the whole thing. Still she was grateful that Napstablook had shared his music with her as a dear friend so that made this awkwardness all the more worth it.
"oh… a classic spooktune… they don't make songs like this anymore…" Napstablook stated.
"Well that's probably because your musical tastes are forever tied to the classics." Alice suggested.
"heh... that's a nice way to put it… you know some people call my music mad…"
Alice knew exactly what to say in response to that. The perfect way to show her appreciation and thanks at being reunited with her great friend. A quote she hoped to mark as hers forever someday. She knew she couldn't stay with Napstablook forever so it was important to cherish these moments in the Underground to let the monsters she cared about know exactly what she was feeling. As soon as she left Napstablook… she would be on the hunt again and it was important to stay positive about this situation and remember his company as a source of strength. So looking at him and pretending to put her hands on his shoulders, she spoke with a honest joy,
"Don't worry Napstablook, even if you were completely mad in your musical tastes, there's a secret I have to tell you. All the best people are."
Besides dummies that is, she thought playfully.
To Be Continued...
