The Fun Gang was walking around in the city of Tenna. After escaping the traps of the TV head and saving Undyne and Toriel, they all were searching for Darkners that had also enough of Tenna and try to inspire a rebellion, similar to what Lancer did against his father.
The adults were taking care of the western town in the desert and the south part of the great city. The Fun Gang were walking and talking in the northern part.
Kris was a bit surprised that their mother had trusted them and their friends enough to go alone. But the goat woman had recognized how Kris was able to navigate trough Tenna´s death traps and fight enemies peacefully and accepted their independence. She even gave them the piece of cloth draped around her shoulders, replacing the one Tenna tore from Kris´ shoulder. The blue human stroke the soft cloth and smiled slightly. They were happy that the adventure here might have amounted to something after all.
At least they were… until the soul started to follow patches of dandelions growing from the concrete and blooming vines, snaking their way around the walls of houses and other buildings.
The group found a back alley, whose walls were made of several small houses. Kris´ body walked towards one with flowers drawn on the door and started fumbling with Fenggens house key.
"Uhm… Kris? Mind if we ask what you´re doing?" Susie asked with visible confusion.
"Yeah, you uh… kinda stopped asking people and lead us to this place? I mean, we´re not questioning your decisions…" Ralsei began.
"We kinda are?", Susie interrupted.
"Okay yes we are. We just want to make sure you are not doing that you will later regret."
The soul stopped fumbling for the keys.
"When I was alone in the signal tower, I encountered someone who would like to help us against Tenna. At least she said she would free everyone. And she is as sick of him as the rest of us, being trapped by him in a literal trash zone, under a bunch of toxic gas."
"Wait, Tenna did what? Jeeze can this guy get any lower? Well if some darkner is completely alone and literally living in the trash, then I guess we don't have any other choice than helping her, being heroes and stuff."
While Susie tried to wave the thing of in a nonchalant way, she seemed visibly troubled by the stuff Kris has said.
Ralsei opened the mouth, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by a click.
Kris had finally found the key and opened the door. The soul directed them into the building. Susie and Ralsei followed.
The interior was dark and smelled of rotting plants, the only light coming from the windows. At least after Ralsei drew the curtains aside. The room was wide and filled to the brim with a wide variety of house plants, that had become withered a long time ago. The left side of this place was furnished like a living room, while the right side was designated for the kitchen area.
On the back wall were three doors, one of which Susie entered. Ralsei looked around in the kitchen area. The soul guided Kris into the living room part.
Fallen leaves crunched under the young knight's boots as they looked around and examined the furniture. There was a sofa and a couple of chairs placed in front of a TV, not dissimilar to their living room. However, the screen of the television had been smashed and shards of glass had fallen from the frame. The remote lay in front of it, looking heavily damaged and worn out, especially the button depicting 6. Kris still tried turning on the device out of curiosity, but (of course) it didn't work. Since Kris didn't find anything else interesting, they marched towards Ralsei in the kitchen. Said prince was a little green in the face.
"H-hey Kris, couldn't find anything interesting. But feel free to search anyway. Just... be warned, the contents of the fridge and other cupboards aren´t exactly fresh anymore."
Kris nodded at him, but the soul still wanted to look around here as well.
Just like Ralsei said, the fridge and cupboards were basically filled with a mold/algae hyperorganism. The stench made Kris nearly vomit on the spot. The only reason they didn´t was because their body was to stuff for that because of the control of the soul. On the fridge itself there was also a calendar full of appointments and flowers and heart stickers. Tough it seemed it hasn´t been used for a long time, since the calendar was outdated for some years.
The Kris still took a closer look.
Most appointments were something work-related. But one thing caught Kris' attention. A note on the sixth day of the month of January.
`Replenishing for the antidote from Tala´
Tala… that is the phone related shopkeeper, who should actually be close by. I wonder if the two of them knew each other on a personal level. At least Fengg got some antidote from her that would be needed for dissolving the gas, Kris tought.
Besides that interesting ordeal there was only one other thing that peaked the souls curiosity. A broken mug on the floor. When Kris reassembled some of the shards they got the text:
LIVE
LOVE
LAUGH
The blue human remembered that their father used to have one like these. Whatever happened to it? Toriel certainly didn't keep it, but it also wasn´t anywhere seen in Asgores flower shop. Did Asriel took it away for college? The coffee mug definitely disappeared when the happy times ended in the home.
Kris entered one of the doors. It lead to the bathroom. Shockingly enough, it appeared like a normal bathroom. It was even free of wilted plants. And useful and/or interesting stuff.
The second door was only a small storage room with cleaning supplies. However, after searching a bit throughout the stuff, they might have found something useful. It was a bag with a sticker that said Plant Medicine Variation H.
It was empty.
Kris took the empty bag, deciding that it may be useful later, and walked towards the room Susie has entered some minutes ago. It was a bedroom. Susie stood in front of a huge wardrobe.
"Man Kris, can you believe someone owning a wardrobe this big? Especially filled with nothing but lovey dovey clothing and other girly stuff."
"The owner probably needs a lot of clothes for different performances." Kris looked around in the bedroom. "Besides… the room seems rather barren."
Susie looked towards them and then at the rest of the room. Besides the wardrobe and a bed, there was indeed nothing here. Nothing that showed personal accomplishments.
"You´re right. It is pretty empty. Which is pretty weird, right? I mean, you would think with many people here being film stars and having to compete with each other, there would be some trophy's here."
Susie turned to leave the room.
"Welp that means nothing is here. Did you have any luck finding something."
Kris nodded and told Susie of their findings.
"The telephone lady? Well I guess it won´t hurt going to her. We are also a bit low on healing items, so we should fill up."
And so the Fun Gang left the house and wandered trough the streets. The team reached a tiny, purple shop house. The name was written in elegant red letters on the front:
Tala Phun´s Shop: You call, we answer
The trio entered. They were greeted by an interior that almost looked like a secretary office. If it weren´t for all the shelves and packets full of all sorts of ordered items. The shopowner herself sat behind a table, busy with some paper work.
Tala Phun was a Darkner whose origins as a telephone could be clearly seen, but was also influenced by the TV/cartoon elements of her surroundings.
Her head was similar to that of a plug boy from the cyber world, but instead of pink horns, she possessed curly black hair. Her body was covered in a simple dark blouse with a with skirt that had black polka dots on them. Her neck, arms and legs were the twirly cables of an old fashioned telephone. They ended in simple cartoon gloves and black high heels.
Tala locked up from her paper work and greeted the Fun Gang with a small smile.
"Greetings travelers, what can I do to you? I´ve heard you are starting an uprising against Tenna himself. While I fear for you safety, I wish you the best of luck in defeating him. If anyone can topple the Rook, it is you three. I will support you from the confines of my shop."
"Thank you Mrs. Phun. While we are here to buy some healing items, our leader Kris has some other business to discuss with you."
The phone darkner raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
While Susie and Ralsei looked around what kind of stuff would be best fitted for the upcoming battles, Kris pulled the empty medicine bag from their inventory.
"What a strange thing for you to request. It… wait, it´s almost like… Lightner please tell me were you got that!"
Kris told her.
"So you have encountered Fengg. I thought she was… Fengg was always in need for these. The chemical waste of the science channel was always leaking in the romance channel. While they weren't lethal for most darkners, there were corrosive towards plants. My poor little flower, she had to constantly work in an environment hazardous for her health. I always thought she died in a work related incident. Even if I heard rumors. Of how she… but the Fengg I know would never…"
Tala looked down in uncertainty.
"And yet she…"
Kris cleared their throat. This drew Tala's attention back to them. She stopped her ramblings.
"Oh right. Very well. If you really are in contact with her, please take this and give her my best regards.
*You got full bag of Plant medicine Variation H
Some hours later…
It was a tedious task of mixing an antidote from the medicine. Susie had to threaten the chemist darkner, that held her captive during her time in the science channel, until it told the team how to create a possible solution. And even then, Kris needed several retries in mixing it right.
But at last they were successful and now they were walking with a bottle full of antidote trough the empty halls of the romance channel, Susie and Ralsei alongside them.
The both of them looked very uncomfortable, the dead surrounding giving monster and darkner a heavy feeling in their respective gut.
Kris was honestly not faring any better, but they didn't posses the freedom to show their discomfort.
At least for now?
The trio reached the chasm Fenggen was trapped in. The soul directed Kris towards a save point close by and saved. Then they threw the bottle on the ground.
The silence of the dead romance channel was shattered just like the glass of the bottle.
The green liquid spilled all over the ground, releasing a gas with a hissing sound that mixed with the purple gas already present, slowly but surely dissolving it.
When the air was free of any toxin, vines crept up the edge of the chasm. Yellow flower bloomed on them. A girly laughter filled the air.
"Uh Kris…" Susie began, when she was interrupted. A huge flower grew from the deep hole, its bloom a wide and flat platform. Fenggen stood on top of it. She hold her hand over her laughing mouth before jumping off the flower platform in front of the heroes.
"DA BIST DU JA! AND YOU HAVE HELPED ME KRIS! DANKE. VIELEN, VIELEN DANK. OH AND YOU´RE NOT ALLEINE. DU BROUGHT YOUR KLEINE FRIENDS WITH YOU. HALLO FRIENDS!"
Fenggen waved her hand wildly, giving Susie and Ralsei an incredibly wide grin.
Susie didn´t even try to hide her WTF-expression, while Ralsei tried to remain polite.
"Hello! It´s nice to meet you. We are glad to have freed you from this place. Right Susie?"
The dark prince gave the monster a slight elbow nudge. Susie blinked, before she snapped out of her expression. "Uh yeah, sure. Sorry if I was rude… you just… don´t look like what I was expecting."
"OH?" Fenggen tilted her head. Then she moved towards Susie, stopping directly towards her and tiptoed to look directly into the dragon girls eyes. Susie bend slightly backwards as Fenggens right eye stared directly into her. Her yellow rose was gnashing its teeth. "SAG MIR… WHAT DID YOU EXPECT?"
"Uhm… uh…" Susie stammered. She was sweating nervously. "I was expecting someone who couldn't aid us against Tenna, since he got you trapped and stuff. But I guess you look… cool?"
Fenggen stared into Susie for six solid seconds, her expression and position unchanging. Then she turned around with a giggle, the skirt of her ball gown twirling around wildly.
"HIHIHAHAHA! COOL? I´M CERTAINLY KALT ENOUGH TO HELP YOU AGAINST TENNA. I CANT WAIT TO TEAR DER BASTARD APART, TEAR THE ROOK DOWN AND ALLES WITH HIM!"
Ralsei, a bit freaked out, said: "That sounds a bit violent. We don't do that kind of stuff… wait. You want to tear apart everything?!"
"OF COURSE." Fenggen proclaimed. Everyone took a step back.
"I AM FREE OF THE HIGH WALL DOWN THERE." The plant darkner looked into the chasm. "BUT THE HOHEN WÄNDE REACH MUCH HIGHER, REACH BEYOND WHAT WE CAN PERCEIVE. ARE ENCAPSULATING THIS WELT LIKE A PRISON CELL."
"Listen… I don´t care of your weird ramblings, but if you want to destroy the world in some weird ass vendetta for what Tenna did to you, then-"
"OH BUT THE WAHRE WAHRHEIT IS SO MUCH MORE KOMPLEX. BUT IN THE END NIEMAND UNDERTANDS. RIGHT KRIS?"
Fenggen turned towards the blue human, but they have already drawn out their sword. Susie and Ralsei followed their leaders example and stood by their side, their stance battle ready.
Fenggen smiled. But the rose turned blue.
"So you… OH I GET IT." The plant darkner looked up towards the dark heavens, her now red rose hissing and baring its fangs. "DU WANT TO PLAY THE FALSCHEN HELDEN. SUIT YOURSELF THEN. BEFORE ALLE SHALL BE FREED… I FREE KRIS FROM DEINE HOHEN WÄNDE. AND IF I HAVE TO TEAR THEM DOWN ONE MILLION TIMES! HIHIHAHAHA!"
Fenggen spread her arms. The whole room shook as roots and plants spread across it. Old mechanism were turned and activated by vines. The Fun Gang heard the rippling of water in the distance. Then a massive vine shot out of the ground and grabbed the whole Trio. It threw them all towards a boarded up tunnel.
Human, Monster and Darkner crashed trough the wooden boards and fell on something soft. They got up and found themselves on a huge lily pad, floating down a flooded tunnel. Bio luminescent plants filled the air with also glowing pollen, revealing the place to be an abandoned tunnel of love. The cracked walls were covered in fainted paintings of hearts and love scenes. They became overgrown by thorny vines.
"LETS SEE HOW WELL DU FAIRE AGAINST THIS!", Fenggens voice echoed from the dark. The plant material of the lily pad formed glowing vines that ensnared then legs of the heroes. They struggled to move. And the effect was not only affecting everyone on a physical level. The soul flowed locked in place in the air, its usual red turned green. It couldn't move when thorny vines shot towards them. But before the attacks could reach the glowing heart, Kris felt… something.
The cloth Toriel had gifted them, as a sign that she accepted Kris´ independence and responsibility as a leader, was becoming warm. It reacted with Fenggens magic!
An energy shield formed around the soul. It managed to move it around and block all the vines. A massive vine curled around the soul and pulled itself together, tried to crush the green heart. But the warmth of the cloth strengthen and a whole sphere made up of energy protected the soul.
"WAS ZUR… WHERE… WHERE DID YOU GET THAT? WHEN AND WHERE AND WIE DID YOU OBTAIN A SHADOW MANTLE?
…
WELL, UNGLÜCKLICHERWEISE FOR DICH, I KNOW HOW ITS MAGIC WORKS."
The glowing vines around the heroes ankles and the green glow of the soul vanished. And alongside it the shield. The now red soul had to actively dodge the vine stabs and slashes.
Susie and Kris were cutting some plant arms that were shooting towards them in pieces. Ralsei tried to jump aside any attacks.
"HI HI HI! IF DU WANT TO PLAY HART…" Another lily pad appeared from the watery depths in front of the Fun Gang. A vine lowered itself from the dark ceiling and gently put Fenggen atop the floating platform. "…THEN I JUST HAVE TO PLAY HÄRTER. HIHIHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"
