Rebels and Rides

Hey guys! Long chapter for you this time! I hope you enjoy!

...

Buying food in this new Dark World was turning out to be an...interesting... experience.

Especially when you were buying from two robots named Cap'n and K_K who hadn't communicated about the prices beforehand.

Cap'n, who kept calling Frisk Queen's minion despite Frisk saying she didn't work for her, wanted to sell the "Ultra seedy" CD bagels for a whopping four hundred, but when Frisk talked to K_K, he was selling them for the much lower price of eighty dark dollars.

"K_K, no! It's 400! 400!" Cap'n scolded.

"Got it." K_K said cheerfully. He turned to Frisk. "Want to buy 400 bagels? Only 80."

"Heck, yeah!" Susie cheered and Tina giggled.

"Susie, heroes don't take advantage of people." Ralsei scolded.

"Plus, we'd never be able to carry that many." Frisk reminded her. "We'll take eight, please." she then requested to K_K, wanting some for now and some for healing later.

"Sorry, I can only give you six." he said apologetically.

"What?! Don't you have four hundred?" Cap'n asked.

"I have 406."

"Then why can't you sell more?!" Cap'n protested.

"What if someone wants 400 bagels?"

"Six is fine then. Thanks." Frisk told them, not wanting to make them argue. K_K happily handed them over and took the money she gave him. Cap'n looked annoyed.

Frisk handed her companions their bagels. Tina looked at her treat curiously, and bit into it. Much to everyone's surprise, it played a little song.

"It plays music! That's so cool!" Tina cheered. She looked up at Frisk, noticing Frisk wasn't eating. "Try one, Frisk!"

Frisk had wanted to save hers for emergencies, but now that everyone was looking at her, she knew they'd worry if she didn't eat. She nodded with a smile, grabbing one and taking a bite, smiling as she listened to the song play. It had a reflective inside, and now she was worried she was eating an actual CD, but Dark World food hadn't hurt her yet, and it did taste good, so it didn't bother her too much.

As they ate, Frisk overheard two Plugboys having a conversation. "I heard there's a rebel team resisting Queen, but so far all I found are overpriced bagels." one complained. "Bagels, doughnuts... Why is it round dough is always so overpriced?"

"The hole is expensive!" K_K piped up. Frisk had no idea if he was being sarcastic or not.

"Cuisine is so unrefined out here in the (memory) sticks." the other Plugboy, dressed meticulously in a suit, sighed. "I wish the way to the city wasn't blocked. I'm not a country boy!"

"It looks like we'll have to find a way around then. But which way?" Frisk asked her companions.

Susie shrugged. "Dunno. Just pick a direction."

Frisk nodded and decided to try the east first, then after seeing the path ahead had more of those stupid square bullets raining down, the group decided to head north to see if they could sneak around. Unfortunately, it was a dead end, with a monster that looked like a computer arrow wearing a fancy suit standing near the edge overlooking the city. He looked a bit lost, so Frisk approached him. "Hello. Everything okay?" she asked.

"Well, I could use a bit of help." the man admitted. "I'm the Hacker. I'm going after the blue checksmarks. I'm missing three, but I think they're in Cyber Field. If you could find them for me, I'll join your [City]. You just look like the kind of folks who have a [Cool City]. And I'll lend you my skills. You're the legendary heroes, aren't you?"

"Yes, we are." Ralsei said with a smile. "Don't worry, sir! We'll find your checkmarks, and we'd be happy to have you join our team!"

"Ralsei, we don't even know the guy!" Susie hissed as they walked away. "Plus, he has hands and feet, he can look for his own dumb checkmarks!"

Frisk glanced at the Hacker. His face was earnest, and he wasn't setting off warning signals or anything, so she agreed with Ralsei on this one. "I think he's okay. Plus, he said he's a hacker. If we're going to defeat Queen, we might need someone with hacking skills. And we're going through this weird field anyway, it probably won't hurt to look for checkmarks, and if we sense anything's off, we can just abort the quest."

Tina nodded with a grin. "It's like a scavenger hunt! It'll be fun."

Susie sighed. "Okay, okay, I guess you have a point." she said, though not without a smile at Tina's enthusiasm.

After leaving the Hacker, they reluctantly went through the path of the falling bullets, and managed to time it so they didn't get hurt, and came upon another set of two paths, one with more bullets and one without, so they of course decided to go with the one without.

They immediately got pounced on by more Tasques, but Tina's cooing over them and Ralsei's soft voice immediately had the cats purring and putty in their hands. Frisk even got to pet one, and it was surprisingly soft.

Maybe once they fully made their home in the Dark World, she could see if she could adopt one of them for Tina. Tina had always wanted a kitty or a puppy(and secretly Frisk always had too), but she couldn't afford to care for one, so she had never been able to make it happen. But with having a new safe home, enough food, and some money, this might be a dream she could finally make happen.

They quickly came upon a chest, and Frisk opened it, receiving their first blue checkmark and a GlowWrist. Seeing that the only armor Susie had was Tina's drawing, Frisk gave it to her.

Susie grinned a bit. "Heh, cool bracelet. Thanks, Frisk." After detangling it, she put it on her wrist.

"Now we all have friendship bracelets from Frisk!" Ralsei said with a grin, holding up his wrist to show off his Dice Brace as Tina happily showed off her own GlowWrist.

"You're such a dork, Ralsei." Susie said, though Frisk caught her smiling when Susie thought her back was turned.

This path too, despite being much longer than the first, also led to nowhere, so they headed back. After Frisk and Tina helped a Tasque out of a door they had gotten stuck in, they got through the next path of bullets without an incident, and came to another fork in the road. The north path was blocked by a forcefield, so they headed east, and ended up literally crashing into two pink and purple monsters with arrows for ears wearing what looked like hospital gowns who looked ill and attacked almost deliriously, saying strange things as they did. Thankfully, Frisk had taken care of Tina enough times when she was sick to know exactly what to do, and with the help of Susie's first aid kit, the group took care of their sick enemies. Soon the two were better and moved on their way happily.

As they entered the next room, they spotted another spelling puzzle on the ground, and Susie groaned. "Wait, is this another puzzle?" She turned to Frisk. 'You do it."

"You really hate puzzles, don't you?" Frisk sighed.

"Yep."

Frisk glanced to the puzzle. "It says, "Agree 2 All. I hope this isn't one of Queen's crazy tricks. Should I even do this?"

"I don't think we have a choice if we want the forcefield to go down." Ralsei sighed.

"We COULD just break it!" Susie grinned.

"Susie, we'd get into huge trouble!" Ralsei objected.

"I'll just do the puzzle." Frisk sighed. "Hopefully I don't regret this." She walked across the puzzle, solving it easily, and a screen with a piece of paper and a checkmark appeared and disappeared before being replaced with Queen's face.

"You Typed: Agree 2 All" Queen's voice said triumphantly. "Thank You For Agreeing 2 This Peon Release Form" She laughed. "Now You Are All Legally My Minions. And I Can Use Your Likeness For Funny Statues"

Susie stated the obvious. "What if we just... don't do what you say?"

"In That Case I Would Be Forced To..." Frisk tensed, but the face on the screen just pouted. "Use Another Guy Probably"

Susie blinked. "Uh. Better get started on that then."

"Okay But I'm Still Going To Use Your Likeness" Queen said with a grin before there was a distant thud.

"Okay, that went better than expected." Frisk sighed with relief.

When they went back, they found that the laser blocking the north path had dropped, and arrows were showing them where to go. The next room had several teacup rides, and not knowing which to pick, Frisk just chose to do them one at a time.

One led to a puzzle with an utter nonsense word. Susie laughed. "Imagine if that's missing the one letter you need to solve it."

"That would suck." Frisk admitted. "Might as well try it though." She hopped on the puzzle. It took a couple tries, but she managed to solve it, and was rewarded with their second blue checkmark.

They took the teacups down, then went to check out the others. The next one led them to a treasure chest that got them their final blue checkmark, and then when they talked to K_K, they realized they should have talked to him first, as he kindly told them the last ride was the right one. At least being butt lost had helped them solve their checkmark quest though.

Upon riding up it, they ran into a square grey robot standing on a rocket powered board, who, without saying one word, trapped them on the cliff and attacked them with glowing squares, making Tina scream and all of them have to run to dodge them. Once the robot had finally ran out of ammunition, Susie glared at them. "Hey, what the hell?!"

They backed away, only to fall off their board. "D-Dead end...!" they cried out in a male voice as Susie walked menacingly towards them. Frisk kept Tina behind her just in case they lashed out again.

"Alright, what's the deal, twerp!" Susie growled.

"Who's a twerp!? The name's Sweet!" the guy said angrily.

"Oh, like "suite?" Ralsei asked.

"Oh, like... sweets?" Susie asked at the same time.

"Don't tell me you haven't heard of the Sweet Cap'n Cakes?!"

"Um, doesn't ring a bell..." Ralsei admitted.

"We just got here. Sorry." Frisk said awkwardly.

"G-Guess our act's still a bit underground..." Sweet admitted, then posed, doing a little dance. "Sweet Cap'n Cakes! Not only are we Cyber Field's BEST musical trio... We're also the last resistance against the big bad Queen and all her crew!"

"Oh, thank god! We need help!" Frisk told him.

"What?! We're not joining Queen, dude! We're resisting YOU!"

"But we're not WITH Queen!" Frisk protested.

"Yeah! We're fighting Queen too!" Susie agreed.

"Nuh-uh-uh! Cap'n saw you help her kidnap some girl!" Sweet said firmly. "Hey! Hey, Cap!"

Cap'n flew down to join them. "We won't let anyone lay a finger on madamoizels... Except us!"

"That's not the point, Cap'n!" Sweet protested.

"It's like half the point. Sixty percent? Fifty five..." Cap'n argued.

Sweet threw up his hands. "We're rebels, not players!"

"We're rebels that play." Cap'n grinned.

"We don't play! We don't play!"

"That's it! K_K! Get over here!" Cap'n yelled. K'K, who was even taller than Frisk thought, leapt from somewhere above, landing gracefully. "K_K, are we players!?"

K_K blinked in innocent confusion. "I'm a CD player." He danced and played a cheerful tune.

"You got it all wrong! We didn't help her kidnap Noelle! We've been trying to get Noelle free the whole time! She's our friend from school!" Frisk protested.

Tina peeked out from behind her. "Yeah, Queen's really mean! She kidnapped Noelle and wants to take off her face and replace it with a robot one, and then she tried to make us join her, and when we said no..." Tears fell down Tina's cheeks and Frisk hugged her close. "She said she'd make Frisk, Ralsei, and Susie perish!"

"Tine, it's gonna be okay. I told you, she's not gonna defeat us." Frisk soothed, then remembered the robots that had been about to attack them and looked at the gang of rebels, only to notice their expressions had softened as the three finally realized the group had been on their side all along.

"Cap'n, are you SURE you saw them helping Queen kidnap that girl?" Sweet asked his friend.

Cap'n looked thoughtful for a moment, then shook his head. "I guess they DID look kinda shocked..." he admitted.

K_K came over to them. "Aww, we didn't mean to make you cry! Don't worry, we'll help you against Queen!" he said kindly, making Tina look up at him with teary eyes.

"Aww, I feel awful. Made a little madamoizel cry." Cap'n sighed.

"...Sorry." Sweet apologized, though he still looked a bit uncertain.

"It's okay. We're glad people are looking out for Noelle down here." Frisk said with a smile. Ralsei nodded happily, and while Susie grumbled a bit, she gave a nod of acceptance too as Tina wiped away her tears and started to smile.

"...So now that we're all starting over with a clean slate, I'm Sweet." Sweet said, and Frisk held out her hand to shake.

"The ladies call me Cap'n." Cap'n said with a grin.

K_K bounced excitedly. "I'm K_K!"

"It's nice to meet you. I'm Frisk." Frisk told them.

"I'm Tina!" Tina said happily.

"Susie, and if you attack us again, I WILL bite your face off." Susie threatened.

Ralsei gave her a stern look. "Susie!"

"What?"

He shook his head before smiling at the three rebels. "Greetings, I'm Ralsei."

Cap'n grinned. "Now that we're all acquainted and you four are on the good side..."

"You mean the side we were ALREADY on?" Susie asked, rolling her eyes.

"Just let it go, Susie." Ralsei whispered.

"Let's ronday-voo at our Junk Shop." Cap'n said with a grin, ignoring Susie.

Sweet nodded. "We jammed the door, but we'll kick it open!"

"Alright everyone, let's go!" Cap'n ordered, and with that, he and Sweet jumped on top of their rocket powered DJ desk, K_K jumped on top of them, and they hovered away.

Frisk sighed with relief. "Everyone okay?" The rest of her group nodded. "What do you guys think? Should we go to their shop?"

"Yeah, they seem nice! They might be able to help us get Noelle back." Ralsei said.

"Yeah!" Tina agreed.

"Sure, whatever. Maybe we can talk them into giving us free stuff since they unfairly attacked us." Susie said with a feral grin. Ralsei shook his head at this.

With that decided, they headed south and slid down the large cliff. Sweet, Cap'n, and K_K swooped down to join them, but unlike the other times this had happened, they simply waved, smiled, and played cheerful music before heading off again.

They headed east again, crossing a conveyer belt that gave them a wonderful view of the city. Just as they reached the middle, fireworks exploded overhead.

"Look, Frisk! It's us!" Tina gasped in awe, pointing up at the brightly colored firework likenesses of all their faces, Frisk's in pink, Susie's in purple, Ralsei's in blue, and Tina's in bright red, as they shot across the sky.

"Looks like Queen used our likenesses after all." Frisk said, though watching Tina's eyes sparkle as she watched the fireworks, she found herself not minding.

...

After they arrived back at the entrance of the path to the city, they might a slight detour to give Hacker his checkmarks, and he was thrilled, agreeing to come live in their city, and hinting that they'd meet again in Queen's mansion. After that he showed them the power of the blue checkmarks, which shot more of the fireworks shaped like them against the backdrop of the city, which was a beautiful sight. Tina adored the fireworks, and Frisk was almost glad she accidentally signed the peon release form. Almost.

Though this feeling went away when the group got to the rebels' shop and she learned some of the crap Queen was pulling.

"So Queen literally made music against the law?!" Frisk asked in horror as she and Ralsei listened to the story of the three rebels while Susie was browsing the wares with Tina.

"Unless you make a song she likes." K_K piped up.

Cap'n sighed. "But the only JUNK she enjoys..."

"Are reverse diss-tracks, where the vocalist puts themselves down and praises Queen." Sweet continued.

"Or noise music." Cap'n added.

"But even if Queenie tries to put a limiter on us... You can't STOP! THE! MUSIC!" Sweet yelled.

"Hear that?! We'll just go underground!" Cap'n said triumphantly as K_K happily played a track of noise music, though it was indeed noise.

"That's why we made this junk shop!" Sweet told them.

"We'll fund our musical rebellion!" Cap'n cheered.

"Can we make noise music, too?" K_K asked adorably.

"Good for you guys. Art should never be blocked." Frisk said. "Sounds like Queen's just a controlling dickwad."

"Frisk! Language!" Ralsei scolded.

"Well, she deserved to be called that!"

"Actually... Queen wasn't always so... harsh." Sweet put in quietly.

"No, she WAS!" Cap'n retorted. "She just got WORSE somehow!"

"It wasn't until that Dark Fountain showed up..." Sweet continued. Frisk and Ralsei exchanged a worried look.

"That she started going into overdrive." Cap'n said.

Sweet shook his head. "Knight" this, "Knight" that, "Fountain" that..."

"Like, what does that Knight even have going for it that I don't!? C'mon!" Cap'n complained.

"But like I said, she wasn't ALWAYS so bad. She used to give me sweets. For being so sweet!" Sweet told them.

Cap'n stared at him in shock. "H... huh!? I never got candy!"

"You kept calling her a "hot mama," Cap." Sweet pointed out.

"Yeah!? Is that wrong!? She looks like a mom and tends to overheat! K_K, help me out here!"

"K_K! What do you think?" Sweet called.

"Huh? Me?" K_K asked, turning from watching Susie and Tina. "...I like candy."

"Yeah, you're right, K_K! We gotta focus on what's important!" Sweet said supportively.

Cap'n nodded. "If the band fights, we'll get outta tune!"

"Anyone have any lemon drops?" K_K asked, pretty much ignoring the conversation until Sweet pulled out his requested treat and gave it to the happy robot.

"So, this Knight guy, do you know who they are? Because this is the second time they've done something like this. The last ruler they talked to went completely insane too." Frisk asked.

Sweet shook his head. "Sorry. From what I know, they only talked to Queen in private."

Ralsei's eyes widened. "We have to find them before they..."

Just then something roared in their ears. Ralsei screamed and fell off his chair and onto the floor, and Frisk whirled around, reaching for her sword, only to see that it was Susie, grinning and holding a multi-bladed grey axe with a cord attached to it.

"Hey, guys, check this baby out! It's automated, so it can do a dozen swings in a single second and it's got four times the attack power of my old one! Isn't it the most awesome thing you ever saw?" She then realized Ralsei was on the ground. "Hey, what are you doing down there, dork?"

"Trying to let my eardrums recover and my heart resume beating." Ralsei groaned as Frisk helped him up. "Susie, did you HAVE to turn on that thing so close to our heads without warning? You scared the heck out of us!"

"Sorry." Susie said sheepishly. "I just wanted to show you guys how cool this thing is! Plus, hey, now we know it's got the intimidation factor down!"

"Just remember to charge it by plugging it into the wall." Sweet told them.

"You should get it, Susie." Frisk said supportively.

"You know what? I'm going to!" Susie said with a grin, and with that she did, though she managed to weedle a "fellow rebels" discount out of K_K. They then said goodbye to Sweet, K_K, and Cap'n before heading out.

Susie happily equipped her new axe and put her old one in Tina's armory. Frisk ended up exchanging her old wooden sword too for one Susie said had better attack power, a silvery one with blue accents that Frisk also found especially beautiful. She reminded herself to return her sister's pencil when they got back to the Light World though.

Frisk just hoped this would truly prepare them for the next time they encountered Queen, or the mysterious Knight. What the rebels had said gave her a lot to think about.

...

They entered the next room and went up a conveyor belt, where they were ambushed by a Werewire, Tasque, and Virovirokun. The combination of Ralsei and Tina's soft voices and gentle care had both the Tasque and Virovirokun instantly putty in their hands while Susie and Frisk freed the Werewire from its wiry prison, and a very happy virus, purring computer kitty, and relieved Plugboy trotted away happily.

Frisk ended up leading them down the wrong path, as she had no clue where she was going and neither did anyone else, but this wrong turn got them an item called a TensionBit that a check from Ralsei revealed reduced the cooldown time of spells.

They dealt with another smorgasbord of enemies much the same way they had the first group, then in the next room had to run like headless chickens away from a bunch of Virovirokun that were shooting arrows at them. Thankfully, while Ralsei and Susie ended up getting clipped by arrows, no one was seriously hurt and they got a ReviveMint out of the chaos and managed to lower the forcefield blocking them from the next teacup ride.

That was the most dizzying experience on the planet, as they had to jump from teacup ride to teacup ride, spinning, collecting arrows, and very nearly avoiding getting crushed as they barely made it to the other side. Tina was shaking and walking unsteadily and Frisk felt like she was going to hurl. Poor Ralsei actually did and Frisk tried to comfort him as best she could despite the fact that she could barely stand up. Susie ended up just picking up all three of them and carrying them until they got their bearings.

They ended up standing in front of a building with Queen's face painted on the side. Having no other way to go, Susie set Frisk, Tina, and Ralsei down and they walked inside, ending up getting met with roller coaster cars that had their own faces on them. Well, one car had Frisk's face on one end and Tina's on the other with a note stuck to it that said, "I Only Had Three Cars Sorry." in a fancy script.

"What the hell are these things?" Susie asked, giving the cars an odd look.

"I don't know, but maybe if we ride them, they'll take us to the fountain." Ralsei suggested.

"Or they'll take us right to Queen." Frisk put in.

"Either way, we're going to have to deal with that lady anyway, and this is literally the only way to go. Let's just get in." Susie said, hopping into her own Susie themed car as Ralsei got in his. Knowing there was no other option, Frisk helped Tina into the Frisk and Tina car.

They rode down the track, and there was nothing for a moment, and Frisk foolishly hoped they would get away without having to deal with Queen again, but just as she was starting to relax, Queen flew down in her rocket chair.

"Enough You Foolish Children." she said, though it was while smiling. "I Have Been Merciful To You Thus Far But Now Is Time For: Your Unwillful Imprisonment (Capture). Drop The Capturing Capsules."

She dropped them, and Frisk frantically tried to figure out how to dodge, but didn't even have to, as all three missed completely.

"...err, you missed." Ralsei said awkwardly.

"That Was Not A Miss It Was A Tactical Calibration." Queen grinned.

"...so, uh, are you gonna try it again?" Susie asked.

Queen laughed. "No I Only Have Like 4 Cages" She paused for a moment. "OK Wait. I Have A Small Plot Twist For You. Come Forward My.. Peon."

With that, Noelle came up on beautiful white sled with a crown on top. She looked anxious but tried to smile. "U... um... s-sorry. I just couldn't say no."

Susie's eyes bugged out. "Noelle!?"

"H... hi, Susie. Umm, how are you?" Noelle asked nervously. Ralsei, Tina, and Frisk, left out of the greeting, glanced at each other.

Susie blinked. "Umm, okay, I guess?"

"Your... um... roller coaster is, um... I like it!" Noelle told her.

Susie smiled awkwardly. "Uhh... yours too?"

"Th... thanks!" Noelle replied, blushing. Susie kept smiling, glancing to Frisk and Ralsei, obviously asking for help on how to deal with this awkward social situation.

Queen held up a hand. "Okay This Isn't Working. Bring In The Next Guy."

With that, Noelle's coaster and Noelle herself went flying, thankfully caught by a Swatchling Queen quickly signalled, as Berdly's car landed on the track. "Fear not, my beloved Noelle!" Berdly crowed with that derpy grin on his face. "This valiant warrior of brave intelligence will be your knight in glow in the dark armor!"

"Berdly!? You asked BERDLY to be on your team!?" Susie asked Queen in shock.

"I Did Not Ask Him I Did Not Ask Him I Did Not Ask Him" Queen whispered, just loud enough so that they could hear her while Berdly couldn't.

Berdly gave them a smug grin. "That's LORD Berdly to you simpletons! And soon... SUPER Lord Berdly!"

"... the hell does that mean?" Susie asked as Frisk rolled her eyes at Berdly's egotism.

"I Have No Damn Clue Just Go With It." Queen whispered.

"You see, thanks to our WONDROUS Queen..." Berdly continued. "WE... will soon RULE the WORLD! And turn this Land of Fools... into a Smartopia. A true Scientocracy, where the Geniuses of the world can bathe freely in pools of fresh fruit and ambrosia, no longer held back by protozoans like YOU! And the key to that? Is US. Noelle and I. Our power... The Light Nerd's" power..."

"You mean... "Lightners?" Ralsei asked as Frisk rolled her eyes at Berdly's egotism.

Berdly rolled his eyes at Ralsei. "Um, NO. Queen said "Light Nerds."

Queen laughed. "I Actually Did"

Ralsei glared. "Berdly, Queen's just manipulating you!"

"Heh... that's what she SAID you'd say to me!"

Queen laughed again. "I Actually Did"

"Ralsei's right! Queen would say anything to get you to join her side!" Frisk told Berdly. "If you care about Noelle, why would you join someone who kidnapped and scared her?!"

Berdly hesitated for a second, then glanced at Queen, then he grinned again, though it was more falsely this time as she could tell he was doing his best to either ignore this statement or keep his true feelings from Queen. "I must admit, I feel pity for you, Frisk. Unlike Susie, I saw some potential in you." he told Frisk.

"Hey, don't talk about her like that!" Frisk yelled as Tina and Ralsei glared at Berdly.

Berdly just ignored them. "Join our side, and I might let you scrub our royal toilet!"

"How about NO?" Frisk said angrily.

Berdly shook his head in mock sympathy. "Ah, Frisk. I suppose I knew you never would amount to much."

Frisk flinched, the words she had heard not just now, but so many times from people around her, from teachers and her classmates, even from her own parents, cutting her to the core. She never noticed the look of guilt coming across Berdly's face as he realized he went too far.

Susie growled, her eyes flashing yellow. "Hey! How DARE you say that to her?! I TOLD you to leave her alone! Queen's gonna need a wet-dry vac to mop you off the tracks now!" She started to get out of her car. Berdly looked terrified now and looked to Queen as if for protection, but Queen had headphones in and was ignoring him.

"Susie, don't!" Frisk cried out as Ralsei grabbed Susie's arm.

"Susie, we're in a moving car!" the goat boy told her frantically, then turned to Berdly as Susie reluctantly sat back down. "But she's right, that was uncalled for!" Ralsei told him angrily.

Tina nodded, the little girl crossing her arms and peeking out from behind Frisk. "You were mean! You say sorry to Frisk!"

"Guys, settle down." Frisk told them, regaining her composure, not wanting Berdly to see her vulnerable. "He's obviously lashing out because he doesn't want to admit he was tricked by Queen."

Berdly glared at her, looking defensive, like he knew she was right. "Well! If you're all so dead-set on proving your inferiority..." He held out his hand and a green and yellow halberd materialized in it, which he swung forward menacingly. "Allow me to assist you!"

"Assist THIS!" Susie growled, slamming her car hard into Berdly's. Frisk was surprised that Ralsei followed suit, but slammed her own car into Berdly's car too as he drove into their lane, not wanting him to get close to Tina with his weapon.

"Frisk, I get why you're getting in my way! You're jealous, aren't you!?" Berdly asked with a smirk. He flapped his wings, sending a multitude of small tornados at them, though Frisk noticed, as she and the others ducked and dodged to get out of the way, that he was trying not to hit Tina. At least that was one point in the asshole's favor.

Still, she and her team slammed their cars into his car, trying to force him to stop attacking. Berdly's car was dented now, but he just kept up his dumb smirk. "Frisk, you're tired of being the class No. 3, gazing distantly at Noelle and I's fruited figures..."

"Wow, I'm number 3 in class? Cool!" Frisk said with a smile, both feeling proud she got her grades up and to annoy him.

"What, you'd be happy about THAT rather than actually working hard and getting some of THESE?" Berdly asked, throwing bullets shaped like papers with an A+ on them at the group.

"Yeah, I like not getting bullets in my face." Frisk snarked, checking on Tina, who thankfully hadn't been hit. Ralsei had been hit though and Frisk tossed him a CD bagel to heal his wounds.

"You know what I mean! Rather than ever STUDYING, you'd enlist SUSIE to take us down! Frisk... you are truly depraved. Playing in the mud with the class hellion." Berdly yelled, clearly flustered by her remarks. He shot several blasts of wind infused with magic, as well as some small raindrop bullets that arced in as the group dodged his blasts.

Frisk was hit and hurt, but didn't care as she glared at him. "Okay, you just insulted one of my best friends, so I'm not going to feel guilty about it when I call you a idiot. This has NOTHING to do with grades! I don't give a f- frick about my position in class! It means nothing to me besides me wanting to pass high school! Welcome to the real world, Berdly, there's more to life than grades and being the class "brain." We're trying to stop you because you allied yourself with someone who kidnapped the girl you claim to be your friend and are attacking us. And Susie has far more smarts than you ever will! She literally saved a world from disaster, saved me from an evil tyrant that was trying to kill us, and saved a bunch of monsters from being mind-controlled because she's great with mechanics and knew how to break the wires." Frisk took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Stop trying to tear people down. You might think it makes you look smarter in comparison, but it DOESN'T. You know nothing about us. Nothing." She was so busy glaring at Berdly that she missed Susie's smile at her friend's defense.

"I won't sink to this petty argument with you, Frisk." Berdly told her, though she noticed he seemed shaken by her statement. He shot more report card bullets at them. Already injured, Frisk was hit again, but stayed strong and shielded Tina from some that came too close.

"Frisk!" Susie cried, then glared at Berdly, slamming into his car while Ralsei used Heal Prayer on Frisk.

Susie had struck hard and in just the right place, and Berdly's car started smoking. "Huh? My car is breaking?" he gasped before quickly regaining his composure. "Fools! This is Smart Smoke! It means my car is getting stronger!"

"No, moron, it means if you don't get your butt out of it in a few minutes that the engine is going to catch fire." Susie told him, annoyed. "And with Queen's crappy design jobs, I'd say you'll only have a few bumps more before your car is toast, so I'd suggest you quit attacking us, apologize to Frisk, and get the hell out of here."

"Ha! Go ahead, "bump" me, you bumpbarians! I'll show you bumper cars is a game of INTELLECT, not skill!"

"Actually, it's..." Susie started, but Berdly just shot more wind gusts and raindrop bullets at them, which they managed to dodge with only minimal injuries. Susie then glared at him. "Okay, your funeral. C'mon guys." She slammed into Berdly's car, and so did Ralsei, Frisk, and Tina.

And like Susie predicted, Berdly's car immediately stalled, even more smoke coming from it. "W-what...? My coaster, it's..." he stammered. "Wh... What!? That's not fair! M... My Queen... Save me...!" And with that, his car exploded and Berdly flew out of it, thankfully unharmed, and off the tracks.

"In A Minute Dear." Queen, who Frisk had nearly forgotten about, said casually before turning to the group. "Hello Everyone I Have Some News Updates." The group looked warily at her. "You See... This "Roller", "Coaster" It's Not Actually... "Finished", Yet."

"WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!?" Susie yelled, baring her teeth as Frisk held Tina protectively.

"Pain." was all Queen said, laughing that annoying laugh before she flew up, and the gang screamed as the cars fell from the tracks. Frisk grabbed hold of Tina and leapt free of the car, shielding her as they all landed in a trash pile.

It took a minute for them to get their bearings and scramble upwards. "L... Looks like this pile of trash saved us." Susie said shakily. 'You guys alright?"

"Yeah. You okay, Tine?" Frisk asked and Tina nodded shakily. "Ralsei?"

"I'm fine." Ralsei reassured her.

"Okay, let's get out of this dump." Susie said and Ralsei jumped down while Frisk helped Tina scramble down. Susie ended up leaping higher and standing on top of a wheel, grinning and striking a pose. "Haha, who's king of the trash pile now!?" she grinned, then started laughing. Frisk chuckled at her friend's goofiness, and then the wheel under Susie slipped, sending Susie falling to the ground. She managed to land in a crouch, but by her wince, it was obvious she had landed hard.

Frisk gasped as she ran over, Ralsei and Tina right behind her. "Susie, you okay?!"

"O... Ow...!" Susie groaned.

"Susie, are you all right?" Ralsei asked worriedly.

Susie managed to get to her feet, though Frisk could tell by her face she was in pain. "...Heh, it's nothing." she grinned. "I just..."

She then lost her footing and Frisk rushed to catch her, lowering her to the ground. "O... Ow."

"Sure you don't want me to look?" Ralsei asked.

"L-look at what? I'm fine!" Susie protested.

"No, you're not, Susie, you're hurt!" Frisk told her. "Please, let Ralsei look or let me get a CD bagel for you."

"Yeah, Susie, I don't want you to be hurt." Tina said with tears in her eyes.

Susie sighed. "All right, all right, if it will keep you dorks from worrying so much..."

Ralsei gave her a reassuring look as he got closer, checking her over. He then wrapped his arms around her, bright light shining from his hands. Susie's eyes widened at the unexpected "hug" and she leapt to her feet, baring her teeth.

"WOAH HEY WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU-" she yelled before green magic poured from Ralsei.

"Feel better?" Ralsei asked with a smile.

"FEEL BETTER!? AFTER YOU JUST CAME UP AND-" Susie growled before holding out her arms, realizing she was standing fine and not hurt anymore. Frisk saw her cheeks turn red right before she turned away. "Umm... doesn't feel WORSE, I guess." She paused. "How do you do that anyway? That... healing... thingy."

"Oh, healing magic? It's simple, Susie. Anyone can do it." Ralsei said cheerfully. He winked. "...I could even teach you, if you're interested."

Susie smirked. "Heh, ask me again when it's, like, blood explosion magic." Frisk knew she was indeed interested though, and it was proven true when Susie paused yet again, rubbing the back of her neck with a sheepish grin. "But, um, if you WANTED, I guess I could learn it. Then you wouldn't, y'know, have to annoy me with it anymore."

Ralsei smiled. "Sure, Susie. Next time we have a break."

Susie smiled at this, then turned to Frisk, looking worried. "Hey, Frisk, you okay?"

"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine. I didn't fall that hard." Frisk assured her.

"Well, yeah, that too, but I didn't mean that type of okay." Susie said softly. "I meant... Frisk, y'know Berdly's just a jerk, right? None of that stuff he said to you was true."

"Oh that? It didn't bother me." Frisk said with a laugh that sounded fake even to her own ears. Ralsei, Susie, and Tina all looked to one another, worried.

Susie sighed. "That's bull, Frisk, and you know it. I saw your face. We all did. Look, you know you're worth a lot, right? And you ARE smart, hell, you're one of the brightest people I know."

Frisk looked at the ground, feeling that even though Susie believed it that it wasn't true. All her poor grades, the thievery, and the words of so many teachers saying she was "slow" and "troublesome" and wouldn't amount to anything flashed through her mind. Berdly may have been the last to say those words, but he was far from the only.

"Frisk..." Ralsei whispered, pulling her into a hug. "Susie's right. You're smart, and a great leader, and an amazing friend! You're amazing!"

"Yeah, you're the best big sister ever!" Tina told her, hugging her legs.

Susie stood there for a moment, then sighed. "I don't normally do the whole "hugging" thing, that's your and Ralsei's job, but... here. Just this once." She went behind Frisk, wrapping her arms around her, and Ralsei and Tina too. "Look, even if you don't believe it yet, you're worth a hell of a lot, Frisk. You're sharp as a tack, too freaking nice to everyone, can read people so well it's kind of scary, and like Ralsei said, you're a hell of an awesome friend. And anyone who can't see that is either deluded or a f- freaking liar."

Frisk smiled, blinking away tears at how wonderful her friends were. "T-Thanks, guys. And you know you're great too, right?"

"You've told us that a few times before." Ralsei told her with a smile.

"A few? More like a few dozen." Susie teased. "Not to mention you tore Berdly a new a- Butthole! after he insulted me. But this isn't about us, it's about you. I'll say it again, you're awesome, and if you don't believe us... We'll keep telling you again and again until you get it through your thick skull that it's the truth."

Frisk chuckled and nodded, her heart feeling a lot lighter. "T-Thanks."

"And if anyone says any crap like that to you again, you tell me and I'll beat the hell out of them." Susie promised.

"I'll beat them up too!" Tina agreed, putting her tiny hands on her hips.

"Might want to get a little bigger before you do that, squirt." Susie chuckled. She smiled gently at Frisk. "Feeling better?"

"Yeah, a lot. Thanks." Frisk reassured her.

With much lighter hearts, they continued through the dump, Susie stealing an eggplant that looked like a trashbag and Ralsei telling her she shouldn't take garbage food. To that, Susie retorted that he couldn't tell her what to do and stuffed the whole thing in her mouth. Frisk just laughed. She was so glad she had those two dorks in her life now.

And then when they entered the next room, they came upon a fork in the path, one road leading north, and the other east. They stood there for a moment, trying to figure out which way would be best, but there was no way to tell.

"... Frisk, it seems like... it might be advantageous if we split up." Ralsei said reluctantly.

"I wanna go with Frisk!" Tina said immediately, hugging Frisk close.

"Looks like I'm stuck with your furry butt then, Ralsei." Susie told him, though had a small smile. She then turned to Frisk, looking a bit worried. "Hey, are you two going to be okay by yourselves?"

While Frisk didn't really want to split up, she knew it was the best option. Plus, it might reassure Ralsei and Susie that she was strong and could handle herself, and that they didn't have to worry about her all the time, plus she wanted to keep Tina close to her so she knew her little sister was all right, even though she knew Tina could handle(and was actually pretty good at) monster encounters. She smiled. "We'll be fine. We've got each other after all!" She wrapped her arm around her little sister, and Tina beamed up at her.

Susie smiled. "All right. Now, c'mon, Ralsei! You can teach me about your healing magic thing along the way."

Ralsei still looked a bit worried, but he nodded with a smile and let Susie grab his arm. "See you later, Frisk!"

Frisk and Tina waved goodbye and Frisk took Tina's hand, leading her down the east path. Tina's eyes were wide with awe as she looked at around at all the bright signs and lights, and Frisk waved one last time as she saw Susie and Ralsei pass through the other side of the Welcome To The City sign.

"Frisk! Frisk! Look at the kitty sign!" Tina said happily, pointing to the giant sign with the moving pictures of cat faces.

Frisk grinned. "I see it! It's really cool!" she told her as she Saved at the Save Point underneath it, letting the warm magic wash over her and Tina.

She missed her fluffy boy and mean girl already, but being with her little sister, seeing Tina's happiness as she took in the sights of the first city she had ever been to...

It filled her with Determination.

...

I hope you guys liked the chapter! For those curious about why I got rid of the Sweet Cap'n Cakes battle, after some debate, I felt it didn't make sense in my narrative. First, Susie and Ralsei can already act without the player's commands, so it wasn't necessary. And little Tina was there too, and as the rebels are nice guys, I couldn't see them attacking once they saw there was a little girl there, one who was getting upset and was genuinely terrified of Queen.

Also, if you can't tell, I love K_K. :D

I hope no one's pissed at me about what happened with Berdly. While he only said what he did in canon, Frisk is worse at hiding her emotions than Kris is, and due to her past, his words struck differently than he meant to. He just wanted to impress Queen and make their "enemies" mad, not inflict severe emotional pain. I hope I was able to show that well enough!

Please review and let me know what you think! And if you have any questions or suggestions, feel free to let me know, either in the review or in a PM! Thank you all so much for reading!