Author's Note: Well, this got popular. Thank you for the positive reviews. I hope this chapter meets your expectations. I might change this chapter around a little later.

The goat woman had left before Batman began to venture into the ruins, urged forward by a desire to continue. The dark purple stone was oddly calming, and the air was cool and fresher than he'd expected from a cave.

One thing Batman noticed was that the ruins were full of strange creatures. Large frogs, mobile masses of slime, and odd creatures that each seemed to be comprised mainly of a large eyeball were scattered around the area. He avoided them easily enough when he walked through the rooms themselves. He continued through the ruins, but turned back, feeling as if he were being watched. He thought he saw the tip of a petal quickly sink into the ground every time he did so, and realized that Flowey was watching him. He'd have to keep that in mind.

Despite the fact that both the flower and the goat woman had seen him, none of the other creatures seemed to be aware of his existence in the ruins as he moved through the rooms. The buttons at the entrance of the ruins remained depressed, and the door was left open. For some reason or another, this odd security system was left unarmed.

Seeing no other way forward, he entered, cautiously.

Upon entering, he found himself face to face with one of the frog creatures, which promptly pulled his soul out of his body. Despite his stealth, there simply was no way to avoid entering the doorway.
But unlike the flower, which had attacked him, it seemed to be waiting for him to act.
"Ribbit..." it said. It seemed quite surprised to see him.
He sidestepped the frog and left, and his soul returned to him. He blinked. That was far too easy. He glanced back and saw that the frog was not pursuing him. He was confused.

He looked at the Froggit. Froggit noticed and looked at him. He blinked. Froggit seemed satisfied with this and hopped away, leaving a confused, but determined Batman behind it.

Batman was still wary of the creatures, but spent significantly less care in trying to hide himself from Froggits, which were every bit as hostile as rocks on a beach.
The ruins were quite linear, and it wasn't long before he found the training dummy. It seemed completely untouched. He stared at it, wondering why there would be a training dummy in the ruins. Though unused, the dummy had no dust on it, and its oblong head was featureless beyond the stitches in its burlap. He wondered why it was there, when it got there, and if anyone intended to use it.

The dummy flew away.

Perhaps it was not the strangest thing that had happened that day, but it was certainly unexpected. He tried to see where it was flying, but it had flown beyond his range of vision.

In a moment, he deemed it unimportant and moved on.

After a room of spikes that were spaced far enough apart from each other to step between, and pressed into the floor when any pressure was applied to them, he found a long corridor that lead to another room.

In front of that corridor was the goat woman.

Toriel gave up looking for the human a while ago. They had disappeared immediately after she had saved them, and evaded her notice since. She only saw them for a moment, and saw nothing more than their soul and two white slits behind which she assumed were their eyes.
She dearly hoped that they would find their way to her home safely. She wondered if they were frightened, and if they would like some pie. She longed to comfort them and reassure them that they would be safe... Perhaps this one would not want to leave the Ruins. If they had fled from her presence, would they wish to venture further in the Underground?

She had left many of the puzzles unset, deeming that the human should not attempt them without her guidance. They must have been scared and alone... Perhaps they had ventured further into the ruins... What if they'd inadvertently hurt someone? What if someone hurt them?
Even if they weren't hurt, perhaps some comfort would be welcome. Some pie, perhaps. They might benefit from a cell phone...

She decided that she would wait for them in front of the long corridor. They wouldn't need to face the empty hall alone.
He did come, and she finally got a look at him. He was tall for a human, only half a foot shorter than she was, though the pointed horn-like protrusions on his head partly made up for the difference. Had she not seen his soul earlier, he might have passed for a monster the way he stood, with his cape closed around him and his face obscured. He didn't look nearly as frightened as she'd imagined.

"I am Toriel, keeper of the Ruins," she said, her hands clasped together in front of her, "I apologize that I couldn't find you sooner..." She would have healed his wounds, but it appeared that he had none.

By now, Batman had ruled out the involvement of Poison Ivy, and likewise any of the villains he'd known. Not only did nearly all of them lack the means and motivation to cause something like this, but the few psychics and illusionists who could have possibly conjured this lacked the imagination of something so deviated from their usual modus operandi. Doctor Destiny, for example, would be hard pressed to replicate the cool air, or the echo of footsteps on stone, while any illusion or hallucination the Scarecrow touched would most certainly be tainted by an induced and enforced sense of fear and terror. But his mind was clear, and his surroundings as real as he.

When the impossible was eliminated, what remains is the truth. And the truth was, he was talking to a tall goat woman named Toriel in Ruins filled with Froggits and Whimsuns and Moldsmals.

"It's not your fault," he replied, "I was hoping to avoid detection, but that seems to be both impractical and unnecessary." He reached for a batarang, a usual precaution, on the off-chance that Toriel would attack him or he would otherwise be ambushed, but was met with the reality that his utility belt was still absent.
Toriel noticed the movement, but didn't mention it. "The monsters here are quite peaceful, and don't mean any harm. A peaceful conversation usually satisfies them."
Batman "hmm"ed noncommittally. Talking to frogs wasn't high on his list of potentially useful things to do. "Is there any way out of the Ruins?" he asked. He'd yet to find any clues on how he got there or where his equipment was, but he would find little here, and had to move forward.

Toriel looked saddened by his question."...Yes, there is... But is it really necessary to leave? I know you must want to return to the surface, but that's simply not possible... I have an unused room at my home, books..."

Batman watched her carefully. He wasn't entirely sure why she was trying to persuade him to stay, but he could see by the way she shifted her big fluffy hands, how she was refraining from averting her gaze, and the faint and fading hope in her eyes and he stood resolutely, that this wasn't the first time she tried to keep someone there. And that the outcomes of her previous failures were hard for her to think about. "I can't stay here," he told her, shaking his head, "I have responsibilities. Please tell me how to leave."

Toriel sighed. This human was not a child, and maybe, just maybe, he would be able to protect himself. ...Even if he could not, she was unlikely to convince him to stay. She hoped that this time would be different, that she would be able to protect someone. She pulled out a cell phone and a bag of coins from her pockets, as the human watched her, as if expecting her to draw a weapon. "...If you must leave... at least take these... Call me once in a while..." emI want to know you're still alive.../em "...It gets quite lonely in the Ruins... You may need the gold to buy things in the Underground. I noticed you don't have any. ...I'll lead you to the exit. Please, follow me." She turned to leave, making sure the human followed her.

Batman considered refusing, but saw nothing to gain from denying the lonely monster and followed her through the rest of the Ruins, across puzzles, past a view of an abandoned city, into what he assumed what her house, down to its basement, and up another long corridor leading to a large door.

"Beyond this door lies the rest of the Underground. ...Are you sure I cannot have you stay? No human has left the Underground... ASGORE kills them all." Toriel's tone was bitter when she mentioned his name, but unless Batman was mistaken, he'd heard a hint of wistfulness in her voice as well.

"Don't worry about me. He wouldn't be the first to try to kill me."

Toriel seemed slightly taken aback by this comment. "In that case..." she said, "Take this, you might need it." She took out a wrapped bar of chocolate and placed it in the human's hand. Batman only raised his eyebrow as he took it. "And please," added Toriel, "Don't hurt anyone..."

Batman opened the door and stepped outside. As he walked through the final dark corridor of the Ruins, the air grew colder. His surroundings lightened steadily until he reached another dark room with another sunlit patch of grass. And predictably, the sunlit patch held the same yellow flower that attacked him at the beginning of his journey.

"Howdy!" it said, "It seems you've made it. Gee, you sure are boring. You didn't fight anyone, and you're big and scary enough for Toriel to not protect you." The flower sneered. "But I bet that once you get out there, once you find monsters who will do anything to steal your soul, you'll kill them with your own two hands. You won't be able to walk away from fights forever. In this world, it's kill or be killed."

"If that's the case," Batman retorted, "You would be dead already." He headed towards the final door, leaving Flowey to ponder his words in his wake.
He opened the door and left the Ruins. Snow fell around him, and trees loomed far above. The cavernous expanse stretched around him, enormous compared to the Ruins. The path in front of him beckoned him onward and filled him with determination.

Author's note: Yeah, sorry, Batman doesn't do much in the Ruins. But if you think this is the last you'll see of Toriel, you're forgetting some important parts of the story. Some of the discerning of you will have at least a few question regarding consistency and continuity. I assure you, they will be answered. But not here. That'd just spoil it. Up next is Sans, and the parts I've really been looking forward to.
I'm honestly surprised by all the positive feedback. Really, this story's shaping up to be my most popular one. Thank you for all the encouragement. I'd make a comment about determination, but I think Batman's got enough for the both of us.

-Edited as well

-EDITED AGAIN BECAUSE HTML