A Maelstrom's Tale
Chapter 15: An Emotional Pursuit

After what would be five minutes of running through the snowy pathway, Naruto had finally reached the outskirts of Snowdin and was just about to enter Waterfall before slowing down slightly to a jogging pace.

"Okay, I'm about to reach Waterfall. Hopefully I can catch up to Frisk and find out why she's doing all this then stop her from taking any more lives. Thinking of her repeatedly killing Toriel-obaasan and the others makes me feel rather ill," said Naruto in discomfort "Time for less thinking and more moving.

Having gone through Waterfall several times back in his home dimension, Naruto knew exactly where he needed to go albeit wasn't too sure that he could rely on the River Person for transportation due to Frisk's actions being likely to have terrified all of the monsters by now but a part of him hopes that some would be able to listen to him like Sans did.

Having gone through Waterfall many times back in his dimension, Naruto quickly made his way through the areas at a steady pace, it also helped that a majority of the puzzles had already been solved by Frisk which could help him catch up to her. However, he continues to come upon heaps of dusts, telling him that she had been through here and hasn't stopped killing the innocent monsters much to his growing aggravation.

Upon arriving at the wooden docks, Naruto discovered an issue…the raft used to cross the river to the other sides is missing. No doubt due to Frisk having used it earlier before he showed up.

"With the raft on the other side, I'll need to find another way to cross…," Naruto looked at the pitch-black murky water before him thoughtfully, suddenly he snapped his fingers as an idea came into mind "When you can't find a way then you just have to make one!" he stretched out an arm as the glyph on it glowed in preparation "Grando!" he conjured a dagger made of ice which flew forward and splashed into the water before forming a block of ice. Naruto jumped onto the ice block and stomped on it a few times to see that it was holding steady "Guess all those video games I've been playing are coming in handy right now,"

Continuing to conjure more ice daggers to create blocks for stepping stones, Naruto made his way across to the other side of the water. Unknown to him, the stalker from before had witnessed his actions and was no less shocked to see what he had done.

"He can use magic; how could this be? Humans shouldn't be capable of doing so! Would he be able to…no, it can't be. She has shown to be more than capable, I'll just have to go according to the plan," said the stalker before sinking back into the ground.

After reaching over to the other side, Naruto continued onwards through the rainy section of the area and reaching the long wooden bridges till he came upon the end which had been cut off courtesy of Undyne.

"I forgot about this part, now to figure a way to get down there without breaking any bones…," Naruto muttered lowly, the grimoire floated up before him with the chain magically extending before opening up to flip through the pages then stopping at a page for him to read through "Okay…this one should help,"

Naruto stepped close to the edge as he channeled his energy towards his back "Volaticus!" the glyph on his back glowed before conjuring a pair of purple birdlike wings from it. After testing them out by flapping them,

Naruto leaned over the edge and went into a freefall before spreading his wings to begin his gradual descent to the bottom. He began to hear the sound of rushing water and soon arrived at the garbage dump, landing on the ground safely with the wings disappearing before continuing on his way.

Passing through the crossroads, Naruto glanced in the direction of Napstablook's home with worry "I'm hoping against hope that he's doing okay…," his thoughts were disrupted as he heard the sound of rapid footsteps that grew louder until he finally saw who it was.

"MK?" asked Naruto in shock.

Monster Kid turned to Naruto and gasped in fear, taking several steps back "A-Another human? Are we being invaded? This is super bad!"

The blonde tried to calm the monster down "Whoa whoa, easy there. I'm not anyone bad,"

"I don't believe you, I bet you and the other human are working together! Well, you can forget it, Undyne will kick both your butts like the awesome knight she is!" said Monster Kid in defiance.

Hearing this filled Naruto with dread "Are you saying that Undyne is fighting Frisk right now?"

"That's right, she's totally gonna kick her butt! Too bad I won't be there to-Hey, where are you going?"

The reason for MK's question out of confusion would be because Naruto went past him and was running as fast as he could towards where the young monster was talking about in hopes to reach there in time.

"Gotta hurry over there and stop all this!" Naruto called upon his Determination to enhance his speed, unaware that the glowing aura in his left eye has been flickering like a dying flame as of late. Tearing across the pathways as fast as he could, Naruto reached the place where he and Frisk had officially 'fought' Undyne and was greeted with a scene he was hoping not to see

"…no…no…it couldn't be…," Naruto muttered in disbelief and denial, before him was a pile of dust along with a blue glowing spear which only meant one thing "…Undyne…oh my god, she really killed you…,"

He collapsed on his knees, barely fighting back the tears as they flowed down his cheeks and splashed to the floor, his hands clenched into fists as a budding feeling of anger and rage began to grow.

"Just what is your reason for killing them, huh? What sin did they commit against you, huh?! Toriel welcomed you to her home, Sans had bore no animosity, Papyrus was as kind as can be and would never hurt a fly just for kicks…," Naruto rose to his feet, teeth gritting and feelings bubbling from within and about to burst wide open "They did nothing wrong…THEY DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG! JUST WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM HUH?! TELL ME!"

Panting from his outcry, Naruto took some time to calm himself down and try to work out his next move. He can't afford to lose control of his emotions right now or it will end up doing more harm than good.

"Okay, the best thing I can do right now is meet up with Alphys. No doubt she has seen what had happen and trying to help everyone along with Sans. Just hoping that she won't fear me,"

With that said, Naruto began his silent trek towards the Lab. He needn't bother looking around to know that there was a severe reduction in the population of monsters and knew the very cause. No doubt that Frisk will use the power of RESET the very moment she kills Asgore which puts him in a deadline, he may not know the reason why he was transported here but he definitely doesn't like being here at all…all this death and for what? Something tells him that he won't like the reason once he finally confronts Frisk.

Finally arriving at the Lab, Naruto opened the door and stepped inside, finding the room to be in darkness save for the lit screen which was displaying the Lab's doorway which told Naruto that Alphys saw him coming and went to hide.

"Alphys, please come out. I need to speak to you!" Naruto called out but received no response and so tried again "I'm not an enemy of the monsters, I'm here to help you guys!"

Meanwhile in a hidden room, Alphys was observing Naruto with trepidation as he continued to call for her. She had been working on the evacuation of all the monsters she could contact in order to save what's left from the genocide of the human although she kept getting the feeling that this wasn't the first time she had done this…almost like a blurry dream of sorts.

Alphys snapped back into focus to see that the human was still calling out to her, she was rather hesitant to show herself due to the actions of the first human especially when she killed Undyne which was what triggered her to begin the evacuation.

"I-I don't know if I should meet him, he could kill me like the other human but…," Alphys recalled when she observed Naruto besides the first human and saw how depressed he became whenever he saw the ashes, then she witnessed how vocal he became when he came upon Undyne 's ashes and spear "…Sans did say that this one's different, I just h-hope that I'm not making a mistake,"

Pushing a button to make a wall panel slide open, Alphys timidly stepped out and shyly called out to the spiky haired human "Um…h-hello there,"

Naruto turned to see Alphys and let out a sigh of relief "Thank goodness you're here, I was worried that Frisk would have gotten to you,"

"I was moving the remaining monsters to the Underground Lab so as to protect them," Alphys explained.

"But wouldn't that mean they would see…them?" asked Naruto.

Alphys flinched from the inquiry and spoke slowly "I know, but if it is to save everyone then I'm willing to reveal the hidden truth to them. Sans told me that you are a different kind of human compared to the first one,"

Naruto nodded in affirmation "Yeah, from a different dimension altogether,"

"An alternate dimension? Tell me more!" said Alphys excitedly, the scientist part of her taking the driver seat "Are things similar or different between the dimensions?"

"Well for starters, the Frisk of my dimension are friends when we first fell to the Underground, we went through a lot but never killed a single monster even though they came after our SOULs. In the long run, we were able to shatter the barrier and free the monsters. Things were bumpy in the beginning but the humans were able to get along with them," Naruto explained.

"Astounding, so what am I doing now?"

"You're currently a teacher at my new high school and Undyne is in charge of gym too,"

"I see…it must be nice," said Alphys with a sad smile, she wished something like that could happen here but it's highly unlikely with so many monsters having been killed and all.

Naruto took note of her sad expression and sympathize "It's okay, everything will be alright. But I need to ask where Frisk is right now,"

"Why?"

"Cause I'm going to stop her, this genocide has to be brought to an end,"

"What? But she'll kill you too!"

"Don't worry, I'm stronger than I look and trained in actual combat. No doubt, Frisk will be going after Asgore," said Naruto seriously "And then use the power of RESET to do this over again,"

"Even so…," Alphys was hesitant, recalling that Sans told her over the phone that he doesn't want Naruto to get involved.

"Please Alphys, let me help you guys. Like I told Sans; this may not be my timeline but I won't just sit by and watch you all suffer. Let me help,"

The timid scientist looked into his eyes and saw that he was not going to change his mind in confronting the human no matter how much she tries to refuse "Undyne would have liked him if she was still alive," she let out a sigh of resignation "Okay, I was keeping track of her and she's currently at the CORE. I'll guide you through to reach her,"

Naruto smiled happily "Thanks Alphys, I won't let you down!"

"*Sigh* I hope so, I'll keep in contact through your phone as I guide you through the shortest routes in the CORE,"

"Thanks again, you won't regret it!" Naruto informed Alphys of his phone contact and prepared to set out when she called out to him.

"Wait, there's something I'd like to give to you," Alphys went to the computer and typed something down then a disc slid out of the console when she placed into a strong casing and held out to Naruto "I want you to take this,"

Naruto took the case with a look of confusion "What is it?"

"It's something I was working on before all this happened, now I don't have it in me to continue anymore. So, I'm hoping that my counterpart in your dimension will be able to finish what I had started,"

Realizing what she really meant, Naruto gave a silent nod and started walking towards the exit but not before saying something "Don't tell Sans about me, no doubt he would try to stop me," then he left the lab.

Alphys stood there alone in the darkness with the monitor lighting up the place dimly, torn between informing Sans of Naruto's actions or remaining silent. So many things are happening one after another. To Alphys, this has been nothing but a very long nightmare which she can't seem to wake up from and wanted badly to do so. Somewhere deep inside, she hopes that this human will be able to save them from this genocide.

This is Hussbek online with the latest chapter, Naruto chose to ignore Sans's demand to go into hiding while he goes to stop Frisk. The blonde otherworlder traverses Waterfall with great ease thanks to his past experience with the place and having learnt magic in the form of Glyphs while he was being stalked by someone. He comes across Monster Kid and was alarmed to learn that Undyne was fighting Frisk before rushing off to confront them but he arrived too late to come across the Knightess's ashes and spear, filling him with anguish at being unable to save her and becoming enraged at Frisk's senseless actions. With a heavy heart, Naruto heads over to Hotland and meets with Alphys at the lab who was hesitant at first but decided to help guide him quickly through the CORE to confront Frisk and stop her once and for all whilst handing him a disc which she no longer has the heart to finish but hopes that her counterpart would pick up where she left. Naruto now heads out to stop the genocide before Frisk uses the power of RESET to do this all over again.

Sorry about the short chapter, but considering that Naruto has gone through the Underground several times and knows magic plus Frisk is ahead of him and solving the puzzles which allows him to catch up. As you can see, experiencing the opposite of everything he had done in his dimension is putting a lot of stress on Naruto, and it doesn't help that something from his past is adding up to it. The next chapter would mark the end of the Genocide Arc and many revelations will be brought into the open. So, like always, read and review.

This is Hussbek from Ghana.

Signing out and staying alive.