"Maybe if I'm lucky, there'll be some air conditioning in the CORE," Ginger remarked, a bit tired of the intense heat.

-ALPHYS posted a picture

*dinner with the girlfriend ;)

It was a photo of an oddly familiar-looking figurine of a human...with cat ears and a tail, situated beside a bowl of noodles.

COMMENTS

DefinitelyNotAHuman: "Dinner"? Alphys, it's five in the morning. I think that qualifies as breakfast...Unless you're nocturnal, that is.

-ALPHYS: wat rly? OMG YOUR RIGHT I STAYED UP ALL NIGHT LOL IM SUCH A DOPE XDDD

- -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Not a bad picture, though.

- - -thx ^. ^

-COOLSKELETON95 posted a picture.

*ARE WE POSTING HOT "PICS?" HERE IS ME AND MY COOL FRIEND

She took a look at his post, then snorted.

It was a photo of Papyrus himself, flexing in front of the mirror and wearing shades as though he was Aaron...which he might as well have been, had the obviously fake biceps pasted onto his arms been more well edited. And the biceps themselves ALSO had shades on them. The more she looked at it, the funnier the picture got, and she found herself bursting out in a fit of laughter. It was too much.

"Hey, what's up, huh? What's so funny?"

The human looked up from her cellphone to see that another monster was trying to peer over her shoulder to see the image. An odd-looking fellow; he had a bright, mischievous smile and a coiled, almost ropelike body, ending in two large feet. It appeared as though his head had been set ablaze, and it looked very much charred beneath the orange flames spewing from it.

"Oh, uh, this. Check it out."

"Yo, dude! Is that COOLSKELETON95'S post!? I dig that guy! He's hilarious!"

-ALPHYS updated status

*lol, COOLSKELETON95! ...that's a joke, right?

-COOLSKELETON95 updated status

*THE ONLY JOKE HERE, IS HOW STRONG MY MUSCLES ARE.

"Ha...You know, half the time, I don't even think he tries to be, he's that good at what he does."

"Dude, seriously?" he asked, getting right up into her face.

"Uh...Yeah?"

Despite not being able to see the monster's eyes, she could tell that he realized something as he stared right at her from an inch away.

"...Wait. You look kinda weird, you know?"

"Uh..."

"Yo, wait. The guards around here said something about...Are you the-"

"Looks like ya got me, huh?"

"The human! Duuuuude, I can't believe I didn't see this earlier."

The monster fired up an attack; the bullets were similar in structure and concept to the ones Papyrus had used in his battle; rising and falling projectiles, and in between them were orange magic attacks in the shape of flames.

Orange...

So that meant she had to move through the bullets as they passed by instead of just jumping over the white ones. She did as so, but somehow managed to get clipped on her last jump by one of the white rope bullets, hissing in pain after it made contact.

"Ha! Hot enough for ya, human!?" he mocked.

"Urgh...You need to CHILL out!" Ginger retorted, still hissing at the newly forming burn mark on her arm.

"CHILL OUT?! What do you think you are? A Snowdrake?"

"Well, I actually think it'd be pretty ICE to be one, don't you?"

"UGH! Ice puns! My number one PET PEEVE! You've gotta be kidding me!"

"Oh, stop givin' me the COLD shoulder, pal."

"Aw, naw, this ain't worth it! Let someone else try to take your SOUL, this'll drive me nuts!"

"Come on. Don't be such a SNOWFLAKE."

"AAAAAUUUUUUURRRRRRGH!"

In a huff, the rope monster bounced away, appalled by the human's tasteless, let alone cold sense of humor.

"Heh...Snowflake...Well...I guess that's one method of defense."

Ginger continued down the westward path, but didn't get very far before her phone beeped again.

-NABSTABLOOK22 has sent you a friend request. Accept the request?

*Accept
*Reject

"'Ey, Napstablook!"

She was about to accept the request, but the popup disappeared before she could tap the icon.

"Huh...?"

Strange...It was almost as though the request rejected itself. Sadly strange...Oh, well. Maybe he'd try again another time and then she'd get the chance.

Ginger approached another pair of conveyer belts, each going in an opposite direction. There appeared to be a series of switches lining the one to her right; the one leading away from her and continuing to the next part of the path.

The phone rang.

"Hello?"

"H-hey! It's...Doc..."

Alphys yawned from the other end of the line.

"Tired, Al'?"

"A little..."

The raptor tried to be chipper, but she couldn't hide the fact that she was drained from being up all night, doing Glaux knows what.

"Uh, about this puzzle right here. It's kinda...um...timing-based. You see those switches over there?"

"Plain as day."

"Well, basically, what you gotta do i-is flip all three of them within three seconds. B-but trust me; it's not as hard as it sounds, as long as you time everything right!"

"Lemme give it a go."

She stretched her legs out to prepare them; this puzzle would requite speed and precision.

Then, she bolted across the conveyer belt, letting her finger swipe over each of the three switches as she passed them. With the speed of the conveyer belt paired with the switches being triggered, she was on the other side in no time flat, and the electric barrier that blocked off the rest of the path ahead dissipated in an instant.

"How was that, Alphys?"

"W-wow, that was great! I-if we keep it up, we'll be to..." She yawned again. "...New Home in no time...!"

"Uh, how 'bout you take a break, bud? I know, weird thing to say, but it honestly sounds like you haven't slept a wink."

"U-uh, heh...You sure you won't need any help w-while I'm MIA?"

"If you think I'll end up in a jam, I'll just sorta take things slowly for a while. I should be fine, granted Mettaton doesn't decide to show his rectangular rear end again...Er, no offense to your work, of course, Doctor. You ARE the one who built him."

"Yeah, n-none taken. Uh...I'm gonna go get a bit of shut-eye. See you in an hour, o-or two, maybe."

"Rest easy."

She was gone again.

"Alright, let's see just what we have..."

The next puzzle made itself visible.

"...Here...Oh. Oh, dear Glaux..."

She wasn't going to be getting out of THIS one that easily. It was a steam vent puzzle, but there were buttons involved, as well as multiple arrows per vent.

"...Well, time to ask the Undernet."

After a good five minutes of figuring out the camera controls on the cellphone, she snapped a quick photo of the layout before her and posted.

-DefinitelyNotAHuman posted a picture.

*Um, puzzle help, anyone? Don't want to rush in blindly; it looks a little confusing.

COMMENTS

BrattyNOTCATTY: oh GAWD NO isn't this the one with all the pressure plates with the arrows and stuff?

-CattyNOTBRATTY: yeah u still remember that? its been like what 5 years?

- -BrattyNOTCATTY: they still haunt me it took me forever to get to the lab that day

- - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Sounds like a tricky one. Know anyone who might be of assistance?

- - - -BrattyNOTBCTTY: idk ask joe

- - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Who's Joe?

- - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: Joe mama

- - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: ...Was that supposed to be a joke?

- - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Because it was hilarious.

- - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: LOOOOOLLLLL GOTCHA XD

- - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: but jokes aside maybe u shoud ask alphys

- - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: She's offline; napping, I think. Don't tell her I told you, but I suspect she stayed up all night.

- - - - - - - - - -CattyNOTBRATTY: oh wow. like, girl needs 2 get a life amirite?

- - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: ya like we never see her in person anymore

- - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Wait, you two knew her personally?

- - - - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: totally. used to live on our street when we were younger.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -CattyNOTBRATTY: ya she's like sort of a big sister to us. you meet her or something?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Passed through her lab yesterday evening; she's been guiding me through Hotland. Big help. ^. ^

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: By the way, is this supposed to be a face? (^. ^)

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: um duh? what did you think it was? a pizza roll?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: No; just confirming to be sure. Can you make other expressions besides the happy one?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -CattyNOTBRATTY: heres a [link] u can copy and paste these emoticons if u want

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Emoticons? Is that what they're called? Wow...There are so many!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: omg ur such a n00b

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Guys, go easy on me. I'm new to this whole Undernet thing; I lived under a rock, remember?

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: sorry but its true

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: but b careful out there i hear theres a human wandering around hotland

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -CattyNOTBRATTY: ya keep an eye out 4 it

StrongFish91: Wanna hear MY idea for a puzzle? Picture a conveyer belt loop lined with basketball hoops; the belt keeps getting faster and faster until it makes you sick, and you need to puke in all four hoops in four seconds in order to get off!

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: No conveyer belt necessary. The only thing it takes to make me sick is your face. XD

- -StrongFish91: Wait...That's YOU!? You friggin' pulled a Sans!?

- - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Maybe.

- - - -StrongFish91: Oh, SO MANY people are gonna be fooled by that username. You must think you're REEEAAALLY clever.

- - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Well, if YOU'RE so smart, why don't you explain this puzzle to me?

- - - - - -StrongFish91: Well, why can't you do it for yourself? Or do you have sod for brains?

- - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: It's better than having COD for brains. Now stop being a pain in my BASS and let MINNOW how this thing works.

- - - - - - - -StrongFish91: That's it. I'm out. Get Sans to help you if you wanna pull that shit.

definitelynotsans: ey kid. puzzle dilemma?

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: Yeah, sort of. Any advice on this one?

- -definitelynotsans: west, south, south, west, north, south, north, north, west. there's your answer.

- - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Wow...Thanks for that! :D

- - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Oh, since you're here, mind if I tell you something that happened?

- - - -definitelynotsans: all ears

- - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: This rope guy tried to fight me, and I gave him the Snowdrake treatment. He hated the ice puns so much he gave up and fled.

- - - - - -definitelynotsans: that's hilarious

- - - - - - -COOLSKELETON95: YOU TWO ARE AS BAD AS MY BROTHER.

- - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Alan.

- - - - - - - - -COOLSKELETON95: WHAT HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT THAT MOVIE ONLY ME DID YOU FIND ANOTHER COPY?!

- - - - - - - - -COOLSKELETON95: IT'S FUNNIER THAN THE PUNS AT LEAST.

- - - - - - - - - -definitelynotsans: whos alan?

- - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Alan-swer your question the next time I see Joe.

- - - - - - - - - - - -definitelynotsans: who's joe?

- - - - - - - - - - - -definitelynotsans: wait

- - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Joe Mama

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -definitelynotsans: kid why

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Because I can.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -COOLSKELETON95: THIS IS TERRIBLE, I'M LEAVING.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -definitelynotsans: where did you even learn that?

"Okay..." the human mumbled to herself as she followed the directions Sans had given her for the puzzle. It turned out that she had to go back to a previous vent in order to get the arrows pointing in the right direction, so she was glad that the skeleton had given her clear directions. It wasn't long until she was on the next part of the road.

"Excellent," Ginger huffed, a bit dizzy from all the high-flying through the air that the steam vent ride had caused. "Oh, boy...I gotta sit down or something."

When she moved her shaky legs again, she found that her entire outfit was not only hot, but now felt sticky and soaking wet; whether the unpleasant moisture came from her own perspiration, the humidity of the hot steam vents or a combination of the two, however, she didn't know.

And, frankly, she didn't want to.

The sooner she got out of Hotland, the better.

Another Save Point sat up ahead, next to yet another mouse hole. The accompanying table that would usually have a wedge of cheese on it was now burdened with a heavy, advanced-looking safe, with a shatter-proof glass window providing her vision inside. Ginger took a quick peek; the cheese was inside it.

It seemed like someone had a few extra precautionary measures to protect their cheese from the pesky rodent.

Ginger's stomach growled again; she would have considered trying to lure the mouse out and using one of her arrowheads to insure it a painless death before she ate it, but the more she though about it, and the more she noticed just how tiny the mouse hole was, the less she wanted to hunt it. Even if it wasn't magic food, how much would that tiny little mouse do for her human stomach? Not much, she realized, so she gave up on the idea and pulled her phone out again to fiddle around with.

-DefinitelyNotAHuman updated status

*Anyone ever find movies at the dump? Found a really good one there recently; I have no idea why any human would have thrown it away.

COMMENTS

CattyNOTBRATTY: i think alphys does that sometimes. she usually posts stuff about it

-BrattyNOTCATTY: yeah its usually like about this weird catgirl or something like that

- -CattyNOTBRATTY: BRATTY!

- - -BrattyNOTCATTY: OOPS SORRY NO OFFENSE I PROMISE

- - -BrattyNOTCATTY: but like what was the movie about, DefinitelyNotAHuman?

- - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: It's about an island full of dinosaurs, and the humans go on sort of a rescue mission for two others there.

- - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: The story's solid, but the best part is the imagery. It looks real, the dinosaurs are awesome, and SO MANY people get eaten! XD

- - - - -CattyNOTBRATTY: oh god it sounds gory o_O

- - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: idk sounds cool to me B-) do u think alphys would like it?

- - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Only one way to find out. I'll ask her the next chance I get.

- - - - - - - -CattyNOTBRATTY: nO D:

- - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: yes.

- - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Alphys actually looks kinda like my favorite dinosaur, you know? Except less brute and more cute. :3

- - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: lol yeah she's short n fuzzy ^. ^ sometimes i forget she's the older one XD

- - - - - - - - - - -CattyNOTBRATTY: u think she's CUTE, huh? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Well, yeah. For the same reasons as Bratty. :)

- - - - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: catty stop i don't think its like that -._-

- - - - - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: That emoticon is awesome; it could mean so many things. I think I'll use it. XD

- - - - - - - - - - - - - -BrattyNOTCATTY: NOW LOOK WHAT YOUVE DONE CATTY D:

COOLSKELETON95: ME AND A COOL FRIEND OF MINE SAW THAT MOVIE TOO! WHO DO YOU THINK THREW AWAY THE SECOND COPY?

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: Dude...It's me, Papyrus.

- -COOLSKELETON95: WHAT IS THAT REALLY YOU! I WOULD NEVER HAVE GUESSED! YOU HAVE SUCH A MISLEADING USERNAME.

- -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Hey, I've gotta keep people off my tail somehow. How'd your outdoor meal with Captain Yells-a-lot go?

- - -COOLSKELETON95: SPLENDID! UNDYNE THOUGHT THE SPAGHETTI I MADE WAS PERFECT! THAT IS UNTIL I TOLD HER WHO GAVE ME THE TIPS FOR IT...

- - -COOLSKELETON95: AND THEN SHE SAID IT WAS MEDIOCRE AND THAT I SHOULDN'T TAKE YOUR COOKING ADVICE.

- - -COOLSKELETON95: AND WE HAD TO CUT IT SHORT, SINCE ALL OF HER WINTER WEAR WAS BURNED IN HER HOUSEFIRE AND SHE GOT TOO COLD.

- - -COOLSKELETON95: ALSO SANS SHOWED UP WITH HIS TROMBONE BEFORE WE WENT IN. THE SONG HE PLAYED WAS...ODDLY CATCHY?

- - -COOLSKELETON95: IT WAS AT LEAST BETTER THAN HIS USUAL INCIDENTAL THEME.

- - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: XD I might've put that idea in his head, I think. How'd the song go?

- - - - -COOLSKELETON95: LET ME ASK UNDYNE. SHES BETTER AT READING MUSIC THAN I AM

- - - - -COOLSKELETON95: SHE SAID THE NOTES WENT: G-A-C-A-E E D, G-A-B-G-D D C-B-A, G-A-C-A-C D B-A-G-G-D C

- - - - -COOLSKELETON95: IT'D PROBABLY BE EASIER TO READ AS SHEET MUSIC

- - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Huh...That IS sorta catchy. I wonder why wrote it?

- - - - - - -COOLSKELETON95: SANS SAID HE FOUND THE SONG ON A CD FROM THE DUMP LIKE YOU DID THE MOVIE. HUMANS ARE SO WASTEFUL!

- - - - - - -COOLSKELETON95: EXCEPT FOR YOU. :D

- - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Tell me about it.

- - - - - - - - -COOLSKELETON95: MAYBE SHE'D LIKE THE MOVIE BETTER THAN THE SPAGHETTI. I'LL GO ASK HER! :D

definitelynotsans: the looks on their faces were priceless

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: I can imagine. XD

- -COOLSKELETON95: HOW DO YOU KNOW ABOUT WHAT MY BROTHER DID, YOU TERRIBLE TROLL?

- -COOLSKELETON95: WAIT A MINUTE...IF DEFINITELYNOTAHUMAN IS THE HUMAN...THEN WHAT DOES THAT MAKE DEFINITELYNOTSANS?

- -COOLSKELETON95: OH. MY. GOD.

- - -definitelynotsans: aight imma head out

- - - -COOLSKELETON95: SAAAANS! THAT'S IT! YOU'RE BEING BLOCKED FOR A WEEK! X(

StrongFish91: I should have known you gave him the idea. ):-[ What were you trying to accomplish with that weird song?

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- -StrongFish91: I don't like that face...

- - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: I do. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- - - -StrongFish91: STOP.

- - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Never. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

"Heh...Man...Technology is amazing, isn't it?"

Why hadn't she considered using Undernet earlier on? She probably could have asked Papyrus some more about it when she first went to the skeleton residence...Then again, she didn't have anything to USE it on back then; that was quite a while before she first met Alphys in person and got her phone upgraded.

Oh, well. Best not to dwell on petty things, the human decided.

She swiped her foot through the Save Point.

*Hotland-Bad Opinion Zone

*File Saved

"...'Bad Opinion Zone'?"

That was an...odd name for a Save Point, it seemed. Come to think of it, where did all of these Save Points get their names, anyway? They were all oddly specific; Mouse Hole, Undyne Arena, Magma Chamber, the list went on. But 'Bad Opinion Zone' topped her chart. Someone had to have actually named these Save Points. But who...?

"...Flowey, maybe?"

It made sense; the floral hagspawn claimed that he once had the very same power she did, and only lost it when his own DETERMINATION was overridden by Ginger's when she first fell into the mountain. It got her thinking; how long did it take for Flowey to realize that she'd stolen his powers? When she first fell onto the bed of flowers, she'd been knocked out for a bit. But for how long? How many times had he Reset the timeline? And, come to think of it, did his power only apply to the people of the Underground, or the entire world? Or even the entire UNIVERSE? It was scary to think what he could have done in the erased timelines. Had he overridden everyone's memories on the surface world as well? The Pure Ones' memories? All of the humans? How many times? How long, from Flowey's perspective, had the entire plain of existence been stuck in a loop of Resets?

And how was it that until her fall, he was the ONLY one who could remember the timelines.

...I guess it's a good thing nobody else remembers any of it, Ginger decided. Knowing him, Glaux knows what he's done.

Where did he even COME FROM? He was a sentient flower, and she was fairly sure he didn't qualify as a MONSTER. How did a flower gain consciousness? And what made him so horrible? And what did Sans know about him? Maybe she would get more answers to this as she continued to unfurl the Underground's collection of mysteries.

She stood up and continued down the path; the arid heat was finally starting to dry off her damp outfit. The only sounds that could be heard were the ambiance of the steam rising out from the pipes lining the walkway and the rhythmic beat of her footsteps against the dusty ground.

It was funny...Her footsteps seemed as though to be echoing throughout the open space a bit. And they sounded...metallic?

Something's not right...

She slowed some, quieting her feet. The sound of metal boots came clear and loud.

Undyne? No, that's impossible. But then...

"Hey, you! Stop right there!"

A somewhat familiar voice came from behind. She turned to face it...

And there stood the two Royal Guard members she'd seen outside Alphys' lab, the hare and the dragon.

"...Say, didn't we see you go into the lab, kid?" the dragon monster asked, knowing he saw that face earlier.

"U-uh...Maybe?" she affirmed, pretending to scratch her back as she reached in for her bow, knowing she could be in trouble. "...Why?"

"We've, like, received an anonymous tip about a human in the area," the hare answered. "Guy said it was wearing a striped shirt, and it's wandering around Hotland right now."

Her heartrate accelerated, and more sweat beaded on her forehead.

"...Yeah...I know...It does sound scary, doesn't it?" the dragon noticed.

"Just stay chill, lil' dudette," the rabbit reassured. "We're gonna bring you someplace safe until this blows over. Just follow us and you'll-"

"Wait, dude..."

The dragon held his arm out in front of his fellow soldier.

"What's up?"

He motioned for him to turn away from the human with him.

"Dude, what's goin' on?" the hare monster rasped.

"Ook-lay at the irt-shay..."

"What?"

"Look at the shirt."

"...What about it?"

He took a quick glance back at the monster in question. The shirt she was wearing...Striped. And now that he looked closer...

She didn't look much like a monster at ALL.

And that was a VERY SUSPICIOUS amount of sweat trailing down the side of her head; heat alone wasn't enough to do that.

"...Didn't he say specifically that the shirt was-"

"White and orange," the dragon confirmed.

"...Bro...Are you...thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"

No more words had to be exchanged between the two guards. They stood there, motionless for a few moments, before turning back to face the person in the striped shirt. They looked at each other again, just to confirm one last time, and then looked back down at the person they'd nearly evacuated.

"...Bummer," the hare uttered. "This is, like...mega embarrassing."

"What's mega embarrassing?" Ginger asked curtly, knowing that they knew, and she held fast onto her bow, her fingers grasping a few arrows along with it.

"Well...that we didn't notice sooner," the dragon replied.

"Darn...We, like, actually totally have to kill you, and stuff."

And that was when both of them drew their silver cutlasses.

To counter them, the human fully extracted her bow and arrows, readying one for fire.

"I'm warning you guys," she said to them, backing away down the path as they approached. "I know the Captain of the Royal Guard herself, and if you don't back off, you'll have to answer to THAT ONE. She's the one who let me get this far, so take her orders."

"Like we're gonna believe that," the dragon retorted.

"Yeah. What do you think we are, dumb or somethin'? Like, team attack, dude!"

They fired up a dual magic attack; a bombard of bullets, shaped like stars and carrots respectively, and they waved their weapons in sync to guide the missiles.

"Hey...Not bad, fellas," the human told them as she slid around the attacks. "But how about THIS!?"

She fired one of her arrows, and it whizzed right past the dragon's head.

"YO, WHAT GIVES!?" the hare exclaimed. "You done coulda dusted my homie right there!"

"I INTENDED to miss! I just want you two to step off! So take a hint, huh!?"

"Look...Human..." the dragon said to her. "...We don't, like, WANT to chop your head off, but...like...it's our duty. Just...think of it this way. Your seventh SOUL...It's the last one we need to break the Barrier, so I guess...consider it, like, a heroic sacrifice...or something."

"It's not a heroic sacrifice if I don't warrant it. And I don't want to kill either of you, either. I get that you think you're doin' your job, but just trust me; if you kill me, it won't do anything good. Even Undyne of all people agrees with me on this. If I die, there are people will be devastated. You don't want that. In fact, I'm on my way to meet the king right now and see if we can find another way."

They sent another barrage of missiles her way; one of the carrots clipped her on the arm, and she held the spot after their attack.

"There IS no other way. Sorry, human, but there just isn't!"

"Then maybe we can kill the next human to come down here! Undyne said that, too!" she almost screamed, firing another arrow.

This time, it embedded itself into the hare's shoulder plate, and he staggered back with a loud exclamation.

"Nonlethal strike!" the human reassured them both.

"Dude...!"

The dragon monster tensed at the sight of his fellow guard being struck by the arrow, and came to his aid. The twin barrage ceased, and the two guards tore their attention away from their opponent. Ginger saw her opportunity to flee, and she didn't hesitate to take it.

"Bro...Oh, man, she gotcha good, huh?"

"H-heh...Good thing we got armor, eh?"

The rabbit reached up and pulled the arrow tip out of his armor. It was red with his own blood, and he hissed as it was extracted.

"Agh...Not exactly a magic bullet, eh, dude?" he remarked, thankful that it was only a flesh wound.

"Well, that was what the training was for, am I right?"

"Psh. Yeah...So...like...I wanted to ask you somethin'? Just a thought, is all..."

"'Sup?"

"Like..." the hare hesitated. "When this is over, do you wanna, like...I-I dunno, get ice cream, or somethin' like that? It's ah...*phew*..."

He tried to wipe the sweat from his brow, forgetting for a moment that his helmet blocked the attempt.

"It's hot out here, so I thought, like, why not?"

"Yeah, sure, dude," the dragon shrugged.

"Wait, really?"

"Totally. Like...what's the issue?"

"Oh, ah, nothing. Nothin', bro, just kinda shaken up by that, I guess, heh. Humans are, like...unpredictable. Speakin' of which, let's get back to-"

"HEY!"

The human was gone.

"Oh, man...Undyne is gonna kill us when she finds out about this..." the hare moped.

"You mean...IF she finds out about this...Eh? EH?"

"Heh...If. Yeah, that works."

"Whatever...I'm fried. Let's go do that ice cream thing."

"Ha...Sure, dude! Haha!"

...

"Ha...Phew...Close one, there. Heh...I can't believe they didn't realize until now that I was a human. Like, WHAT? Aren't you supposed to KNOW what your target looks like?"

At least it'd turned out alright; nobody had died, and that was most important to her. Sure, the hare might have to get that flesh wound healed up, but if that was all she had to resort to, she was glad of it.

Monsters were so good to each other down here, it almost worried her. Was this what got them stuck down here in the first place? The fact that most of them were such pushovers? Being kindness and goodness, their greatest strength also appeared to be their own weakness.

It seemed to be the same case with humans and DETERMINATION, so she'd read before.

"It's crazy, she just disappeared like that...Knew I shoulda toughed it out."

"Ah, chill. You did good out there, bro."

Uh-oh.

They were coming her way from around the corner. There was no place to hide on the open path; it was just flat dirt. If they ran into her again, she'd have to engage in battle AGAIN. What was she going to do?! There were no buildings, no stands, no rocks, no...

Rocks.

She remembered something Papyrus had once said.

"A FIRST, I THOUGHT YOU WERE A ROCK, YOU WERE SO STILL, BUT WHEN I DREW NEARER, IT DID INDEED TURN OUT TO BE A DOZING HUMAN HIDING BENEATH A CLOAK!"

That's it!

She snapped her fingers at the idea, then swiftly dug her cloak out of her pack, flung it over herself, then huddled down on the side of the path in a ball, motionless.

"You don't think it had the same idea we did, do ya?"

"...What? The ice cream? I dunno...Guess we'll have to find out."

"Uh...Do you think we should ask Undyne if all that stuff she said was true? About her makin' a bunch o' friends down here?"

"Worth a shot...But...If the answer's no, isn't that gonna blow our cover...?"

"Good point. Maybe we could sorta dance around the question?"

"...That might work out...Uh...Do you...remember that rock being there before...?"

"Eh, no. Maybe it's supposed to be a decoration, or somethin'..."

The passing conversation faded into oblivion, as did the clanging metal footsteps of the guards. When she thought it was safe, she peeked out from under her hood to see if they were gone, and she just barely saw what looked like a grey and white cottontail disappearing around the next corner.

She was in the clear.

"Hah...That worked! I knew this thing would come in handy!"

And that was when her phone dinged with a status update.

-NiceCreamOfficial updated status

*Now in Hotland! Products on sale for just 12G! Get them while they're cold!

COMMENTS

DefinitelyNotAHuman: You're right on time. I think two hungry customers are coming your way right now.

-NiceCreamOfficial: Thanks for the heads up! Have a super-duper day! :D

- -DefinitelyNotAHuman: That should totally be your slogan or something. ;)

- - -NiceCreamOfficial: I'll consider it! Thanks for the suggestion!

StrongFish91: Ugh...Ice cream? I hate that stuff. It's so sweet, it makes me sick.

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: I swear, you wouldn't know good taste if it you punched you right where your nose should be.

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: Hm...Maybe I should change my username to "GoodTaste." XD

- -StrongFish91: Oh, you just HAD to bring THAT up, did you? ):-[

- -StrongFish91: Now, this chilly pink stuff Alphys makes me? That's good. It's like, I dunno, shaved ice or something. Less sweet and a lot more refreshing.

- - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: I thought you said you hated cold food...\:-|

- - - -StrongFish91: I'm willing to make exceptions, you know!

- - - - -NiceCreamOfficial: Do you think adding shaved ice to the list to the menu would increase revenue?

- - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Hey, it's worth a shot! Who knows? You might even get a purchase from StupidFish91 if you do. :)

- - - - - - -StrongFish91: I SAW THAT! D-:(

- - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: You were supposed to. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- - - - - - - - -StrongFish91: NOOOOOOOO NOT AGAIN

- - - - - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Yep. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

-ALPHYS updated status

*OMG? ppl think Mew Mew 2 is better than Mew Mew 1? LOLLLLL that's a joke, right...

Well, Alphys was back in action, it seemed. Far sooner that the human had anticipated, too; hadn't it only been forty-five minutes? Maybe she was too anxious about leaving her unsupervised for too long, and was afraid something might happen while she was out...Admittedly an understandable concern, seeing what had almost happened with the two Royal Guardsmen.

-ALPHYS updated status

*omg...DON'T THEY GET IT RUINS Mew Mew's ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC

If only she knew exactly what the Royal Scientist was talking about...One of those cartoons that Papyrus claimed that she watched, maybe?

Wouldn't susprise me, she surmised as she slid her cloak off and tucked it back into her pack.

-ALPHYS updated status

*My Mew Mew 2 Review: Mew Mew Kissy Cutie 2 Is Neither Kissy Nor Cutie. It's Trash. 0/5 stars

-DefinitelyNotAHuman updated status

*Are we posting movie reviews? Here's mine: Jurassic Park III is gory, action-packed and has amazing visual effects. It's High-Quality Trash. 5/5 stars.

COMMENTS

ALPHYS: eek sounds like a bloodbath o_O

-DefinitelyNotAHuman: That's what I love about it. Wanna watch it sometime?

- -ALPHYS: idk sounds too grahpic 4 me

- - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: What if I told you it had Velociraptors? ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- - - -ALPHYS: o gawd why the lenny face why X(

- - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: That's what it's called, eh? Well, in that case, the Lenny Face is my favorite emoticon. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

- - - - - -ALPHYS: DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHAT IT MEANS

- - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: In my book, it means a lot of things. ( ͡^ ͜ʖ ͡°)

- - - - - - -DefinitelyNotAHuman: Ha! I made it wink!

- - - - - - - -ALPHYS: OH NO THAT MAKES IT WORSE

- - - - - - - -ALPHYS: oopswait how's the humnan doing

-ALPHYS updated status

*Top 10 Shows That Make You Forget To Do Your Frickin Job

She...doesn't know it's me?

"...Guess I should've said something about that," Ginger muttered to herself, remembering that she'd changed the username Alphys had started her off with to something more vague. "...I'll have to sort that one out eventually."

The path up ahead lead into yet another dark room; black as pitch, just like the last time she faced the likes of...

The phone rang; Alphys, hopefully.

"Hello?"

"Hey! I-I'm back!"

"You weren't gone for very long...Sure you recharged enough?"

"J-just took a bit of a catnap; couldn't fall sleep. But I-I'm fine, I promise; no worries!"

"Well...You do sound better."

"Heh...Uh...I-is it dark over there?"

"How'd you guess? You got a couple cameras in here, too?"

"Uh, n-no, actually. I just...I-I'm looking over the c-control panel for Hotland's power grid, and...A-according to the readings, th-there are no lights on where you're at."

"Do you actually have all of the power information for Hotland right at your clawtips? I'm not cryin' fowl; just impressed by the thought."

"Uh, w-well...Yeah!"

"Dang...You keep surpassing my expectations with all this, Alphy. Keep it up."

"M-me? Impress you? Ah, heh...I-I thought it was just vice-versa. Hee hee...Well, anyway, d-don't worry about the dark! My hacking skills have got this covered!"

Just like last time, Alphys had the lights come on.

And just like last time, a certain someone had set up another stage beforehand.

"...Are you serious?"

"Not again..."

"OHHHHH, YES INDEED!"

A.N: I didn't think it was possible to rickroll people on this site. It seems I've proven myself wrong. XD

Don't have much to say this time around. Sorry this one was a little on the short/filler/uneventful side, but if I tried to incorporate the news scene in this chapter, it would have gone way over the mark. Hey, at least we got the Royal Guards' battle! It doesn't exactly go the way it does in the games, because... Well, what on earth is gonna give Ginger the idea to clean off the guards' armor with her concern of getting sliced to bits? At least it still has the same sorta vibes, I guess. :)

And I wanted to include Ginger being enlightened through internet culture, because I liked the concept.

Also, more memes. XD

Hey, since we were on the topic of the internet, do me a favor, everyone, and follow these instructions when you next get the chance:

-Go to YouTube
-Search "Death by Lenny."
-Thank me later.

That's all. See you guys next time. ( ͡^ ͜ʖ ͡°)