A little disclaimer: This chapter contains some… queer elements. But not too many. Just thought I'd recommend taking this with a grain of salt in case it's not your thing.
Also, happy five years of bringing joy and nostalgia to our hearts, UNDERTALE. You will always have a special place in the video game genre, and I dedicate this chapter to you. Disclaimer over.
"You want us to tell you what we've been through, down to every single detail?" Sonic queried the skeleton named Sans in annoyance.
"If it's to know what exactly the hell is going on," Dante replied, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Rifts, as far as I know, were popping up all over my town and dumping some kind of alien junk down onto the streets. At least I think it was."
"I don't think it was anything even I could predict with my future vision," Shulk added.
"It would be very helpful if you could fill in on the details of your most recent adventure," Robin pointed out. "The clothes you guys are wearing really seem to give it away." Alchemo walked up to the fighters waiting for the SuperChargers to return, and he cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses.
"Hi there," the young cadet greeted, his tail twitching in anticipation. "My name's Alchemo. I'm one of the most recent recruits, and I sorta came here willingly. I… wow, this is hard to explain it to all you guys here. Can you help me out, Hat Kid? Hat Kid…?" The alien girl was just as nervous as the young cadet was, looking at all these people in the same room to the point where it's making her feel claustrophobic.
"Uh… wow," Hat Kid chuckled, licking her dry lips as she quietly counted every face near the transporter with her fingers. "There's a lot of you guys, isn't there? Four or five people: I can understand. But like… (one, two, three, four…) I don't even know how to make any friends with nineteen different faces here. Everything's just flying past me so fast. It's like doing homework a day before it's due. I… I gotta get back to my ship. This situation is pretty stressful for some reason. I'm sorry." The alien girl stepped inside the same platform she arrived in, setting her mind back on the ship she traveled through.
"Hey, kid," Cloud reasoned. "It's not gonna work like how you're used to. Trust me: I've tested it. And so did Link, Min Min, and everyone else." Hat Kid was teleported out of the room anyway… only to reappear seconds after she left. The alien child was confused as to why she was suddenly taken here when she knew where she needed to go. Even the Smashers that were appointed as Skylanders became fully aware of the situation.
"What the…?" Hat Kid asked, having just been ejected out of the transporter. This was the likes of which had never happened before, at least not until recently. The young alien took deep, calm breaths, making sure everyone was distancing themselves from her as she thought about her ship again. She was teleported from the room… only to appear back in the same spot she stood in.
"Why can't I go back?" Hat Kid asked as she was picked up by Banjo.
"We were asking the same questions too," Link answered as best as he could. "After all the fighters eventually got our little pellets to work again, they found out they can't leave Arcus."
"We don't know how severe it is, or how long the effect upon our transporter can last, and everyone else is crowded back at the Smash Fortress waiting for you guys to come back," Robin added, drumming his fingers against the hardcover of his Thunder Tome. "They're all getting nervous, and… apparently, Sherry's trying to fix the current technology that can get anyone across the planet."
"Sozo and Hakai have mysteriously vanished, and we don't know where they could be," Shulk pointed out. "Last we heard from them, they seemed to leave with Cirrus, so we hope those three dragons are still here in Arcus."
"Okay, slow down!" Bowser interrupted, halting the long-winded explanation of what they missed out in the World of Trophies. "There's just so much stuff going on, and you guys are all telling us that all these certain things happened."
"After all, you suggested we should tell you what exactly happened the entire time we've been over there," Fox advised, the brow muscles over his right eye raising in question. "Well, we can't exactly tell the story without getting everyone involved. All our friends need to know the full details." Sans took a deep breath through his nasal cavity and sighed through his teeth, fully aware of how to handle the situation.
"Alright, if you guys want to give out the full story to your pals, be my guest," Sans answered. "Thankfully, I know a shortcut to your place because... who even needs walking to get around?"
"A shortcut?" Kazooie asked, interested in what the skeleton wearing a hoodie just said. "Where?"
"Right through this magical door that just popped up beside me for no explained reason," Sans responded. Just when everyone was least expecting it, a wooden door that looked like it would lead into a bedroom filled with flames appeared next to Sans's right completely out of nowhere. This led to a jumble of confusion among the large party, even through the likes of Mewtwo and Shulk. They didn't exactly manage to see that one coming, so they were completely befuddled by their expectations.
"Follow me, but watch your step," Sans told the Smashers, opening the door. The fire was flowing underneath the door, fading into a room of complete darkness. The skeleton walked through the door, his mind clear on the destination the fighters wanted to get to. In curiosity on how exactly that random door would work, Shulk and Mewtwo went in first. Link, Robin, Min Min, Cloud, and Dante followed in before the SuperChargers tagged along with Alchemo and Hat Kid. Soon, everyone was in the dark room, unable to see their own hands as the door magically closed behind them.
"Just follow the sound of my voice and try not to fall on your face," Sans warned the fighters. "If you'd like, you can hold hands." It was only a few steps, but everyone remained huddled together despite the space being completely wide. There were no walls or even a ceiling, meaning everyone here had plenty of room to move around.
"I think your destination's right over… here," Sans replied, pushing open something that let in the light. The Smashers all squeezed through with their new non-fighter companions, trying to get out one at a time. They soon recognized they went through an exact copy of the door they found in Arcus before ending up in front of the Smash Fortress, its shadow stretching across the bridge to its front door.
"I… What… Is this real?" Pit asked, trying to fathom what happened. "How did we get here?"
"This door's what I like to call one of my many methods of shortcuts," Sans explained, snapping his boney fingers and making the door behind them disappear instantly. "I only use it when I'm going to other places, and when I'm taking one or more people. I have my own natural ability of teleportation, but it's only useful for covering shorter distances, so I use that door to actually get somewhere farther away."
"Interesting…" Sonic replied, knocking on the wooden doors in front of them. "Hey, is anyone living here? We've come back from our trip." The famous mustached plumber who peeked outside the creaking door was Mario himself, who began to show signs of relief when he saw all these fighters in front of him.
"Mamma mia!" Mario spoke in relief, running over to the Skylanders and hugging Sonic and Min Min. "I'm-a so happy to see you all again! We were all worried sick that you wouldn't come back after the portals were disconnected!"
"Heh heh… Good to see you too, buddy," Sonic chuckled, patting Mario on the back. The red plumber broke apart the hug, pulling one of the double doors's handles until it was wide enough for everyone outside to come in.
"Thank you for your hospitality," Cloud Strife commented as he walked inside.
"No problem-a," Mario replied, letting each of the fighters walk in. "We made sure everyone's stuff is taken here, including yours. So I guess you didn't need to worry about packing…" The red plumber soon recognized the alien girl as she was about to walk in. He then recognized the peculiar blue creature with the straight horns and the skeleton about Mario's height, his curiosity rising as a result.
"Hey… Hat Kid?" Mario asked Hat Kid. "Who exactly are these two behind me?" The alien girl could feel the introversion creeping up behind her back as she knew she was about to enter into that huge mansion again, only this time she knew to expect a whole crowd living here. When that red plumber asked her about the two strangers, she tried her best to hide the nervousness with the answer to his question.
"They're… Sans and Alchemo," Hat Kid replied, her eyes glancing over to the side opposite of Mario. "They just decided to tag along and… help everyone get back to their worlds… including me."
"It's okay," Sans reassured Mario while remaining in his usual laid-back tone. "We're with 'em. Now why don't ya let us through so some friends of yours could explain what happened?"
"Alright, if you-a say so," Mario replied, letting the young cadet and the short skeleton through into the Smash Fortress. As soon as everyone was inside, the red plumber shut the doors. The light leaked through the windows, shining down upon the carpeted floor and giving out the feeling of comfort due to how much space there was.
"Nice place you got here," Sans discussed, keeping those hands of his in his hoodie's pockets as the team walked towards that large room on their right with the dining tables. "What do you think it is?"
"Some of us call it the Smash Fortress," Robin discussed, getting a bit more social with the skeleton. "Others refer to it as the Smash Mansion since it looks so large and impressive." Hat Kid seemed to be the only one on the team who was starting to feel more like a shrinking violet as she and the people around her went over to the tables, which were filled with all the other fighters sitting in chairs and discussing the current situation.
"Does anybody here have any good ideas on what's going on?" Marth asked at one of the tables in front of Captain Falcon, Duck Hunt, and Wii Fit Trainer. "I can't use the transporter to get back to my kingdom. I don't know why that is."
"Why are you asking us?" the Wii Fit Trainer questioned. "Some of us were born here."
"I know I'm not," Captain Falcon addressed, slightly raising his hand. Zero Suit Samus, Lucario, Richter, PAC-MAN, and Sheik were conversing in another table, having the exact same questions.
"Have you guys even asked the other fighters?" Sheik touched on, rubbing her brow with her bandaged fingers. "Joker keeps mentioning something that's screwing with his cognition abilities, and he can't explain it."
"I asked Mega Man on the matter," Richter pointed out, shrugging as a sign he didn't know either. "He said he has no comment."
"Ganondorf won't even tackle the situation because he's completely lost," Lucario stated.
"I know the only person who made the most sense here was Palutena," Zero Suit Samus mentioned, crossing her legs as she rested them on the table. "She recently talked with Pit, and he said they were somewhere in a world where a unique kind of magic was messing with our portal network. Even then, the aftermath of all those holes ripping in the sky must have done something cuz I can't go back."
"None of us can, Zero," Richter replied, trying to push those boots of hers off the table. "And please don't do that. It's kinda rude for a lady your age…" At the entrance of the massive throne room, the Smashers that were just at the front door heard the sound of some people coming downstairs. They were none other than Isabelle and Steve - the former having been washed up till the blood soaking her golden fur was cleaned out before resting, and the latter having recovered from his three-day period to heal from the inflicting trauma of what he endured back in Minecraft.
"Oh my… what's going on?" Isabelle yawned, having just awoken from her beauty slumber and dressed in a pastel-blue polka dot nightgown as she held Steve's blocky hands to prevent him from falling down the stairs. Mario, Shulk, Min Min, Sonic, Banjo & Kazooie, Dante - they all noticed the two figures having just woken up only now to the complete confusion over everyone.
"Apparently, everyone can't return to their worlds through the Legacy's transporter for the time being," Shulk sighed. "We don't know how severe it is, or if we'll ever go back, so we're pretty much just stuck here. Say: I know you've been sleeping for quite a while. Do you mind getting changed? Including all of you guys that have recently been in this Skylands realm?"
"That was kinda what we were about to do," Fox told the Hom, moving his current position to the stairs. "Hey, Alchemo. Hat Kid. Sans. Make yourselves at home for the time being. Perhaps the young Skylander could give an analysis on whatever just happened. He looks smart enough to tell us what just happened." Clementine, Ridley, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Sonic, Fox, Pit, Kirby, Mewtwo, and Banjo & Kazooie all walked past Isabelle and Steve to head upstairs and get dressed.
"Oh! Steve! You're up!" Kazooie squawked, flapping her wings in relief that their blocky friend was perfectly alright, especially after what happened with Uryutaluch, the Forgotten Gatekeeper. Steve hardly said anything, but even without any emotions whatsoever he felt content for having a nice rest.
"Hey, real quick: do you remember anything about what happened in your world? Anything at all?" The blocky character scratched his head, his mind spinning around in his head as he tried to remember what exactly happened. Banjo and Kazooie can hardly read what exactly he was thinking right now, but they knew Steve was trying his hardest to recall that traumatic event. They expressed sighs of relief to realize he was alright.
"It's okay," Banjo reassured, patting the blocky character's back. "If you don't remember, that's fine. Kazooie and I are gonna get dressed right now. Why don't you stick around here for a while?" The Breegull slipped her armored head into Banjo's backpack as the bear went upstairs to change from his monk-like outfit alongside all of the other Smashers that have been chosen as SuperChargers.
"Hey… little blue guy?" Sans asked the young cadet as he was about to enter the throne room.
"Um, pardon me, but my name's actually Alchemo," the young cadet corrected, positioning his glasses so they didn't fall off his face.
"Sorry, kid," Sans apologized. "Didn't really recognize you. Since you probably know about what just happened, why don't you go up to these people?"
"I'll stay over here for a while," Hat Kid pointed out, scooting closer to the walls away from the crowded throne room. "With my lack of social skills that haven't really improved at all, I'm just going to sit here and just… wait until either my courage comes back or I can go back to my ship." The alien girl sat down near one of the pillars supporting the massive dome roof, pulling down her hat over her face to hide herself from any strangers around here. Alchemo recognized the faces of all these different fighters, and a small number of all these characters approached Mario, Min Min, Shulk, Cloud, Dante, Link, and Robin.
"Shulk! Cloud! All of you guys!" Roy laughed, the red-haired warrior hugging the fighters that didn't return to the Smash Fortress. "I'm so relieved you're all back!" The people who were with Roy were Dark Samus, Incineroar, Snake, and Pappy.
"We're glad you're all here waiting for us," Link replied.
"Look: I actually have something important to tell you guys, and it probably has to do with that portal problem of yours," Alchemo pointed out. "So do you think I can fill you guys in on all those pesky details to the best of my ability?"
"Sure, we don't mind," Snake responded, his hands on his hips. "As long as we know the reason why we can't go back." Alchemo followed behind Dark Samus, the yellow eyes in her visors glancing down upon such a strange-looking specimen. Snake and Roy walked up to the Phazon warrior, staying by her side as the voices in the throne room quieted down. As for Pappy, she followed behind the young cadet, her inquisitiveness rising as Alchemo cleared his throat and caught the attention of most of the fighters now living in the Smash Fortress.
"Hi, everyone," Alchemo greeted, showing a weak smile at all these faces looking at him suspiciously. "I'm Alchemo. I know how many of you are wondering how exactly did this happen? Well, thanks to my glasses, I can tell you the whole premise of what happened since I'm obviously the nerdy type, right?" His forehead began to sweat as he made that assumption that someone was going to laugh, but the Smashers were all silent.
"Oh, ha ha," Sans spoke with sarcasm, keeping his hands in his hoodie's pockets. "Pretty 'humerus' if I do say so myself." The skeleton laughed to himself after making that terrible pun, calming down as the fighters were hardly amused at all.
"Get on with the story!" Wario called out to the young cadet.
"Okay, okay," Alchemo advised before any complaining took place. "Where to begin… oh yeah. Months ago, when I was just a new recruit in the Skylander Academy-"
"Months ago?" Terry asked. "Some of us were in our worlds for a few days, but to the rest of us it was a few hours ago!"
"Time is somehow different in other worlds, meaning it's fast for most of you but slow for others," Palutena cleared up. "Don't ask me. I just know the rules."
"Alright, where was I…?" Alchemo continued with the story. "Anyways, I was assigned by Master Eon to go with Stealth Elf and Eruptor into the Falling Forest since Kaos had found the last remnant of the Darkness that was sealed centuries ago, having grown stronger to escape with the Doom Raiders. Now, a short-looking beanbag and a tall man stole that vile so they could summon a jester they call Jevil." Sans's face lit up in surprise when he heard that name, almost like he knew it existed before. However, he decided to dismiss that thought and keep Alchemo talking, even if it meant going down to all these details. Dante picked up the look of bolting out of the skeleton's blue, learning that maybe Sans might know something about this.
"After the two fled, Kaos and the Doom Raiders found Jevil and took him in," Alchemo went on. "I followed the team over to the Outlands and…"
Kirby was the first one to emerge out of his room after just a few minutes, having just taken off his crown and gloves. He still had that tiny Rift Engine in his stubby hands, which was glowing with the violet aura of the Magic Element. He made his way over to Sonic the Hedgehog, who was fully undressed from his SuperCharger outfit and instead wearing nothing but his signature white gloves and shoes with socks.
"Oh hey, you're finally out," Sonic noted. "I'm just waiting for the rest of you guys to finish changing. And it looks like you guys are finally out, huh?" By that last sentence, the blue hedgehog saw Banjo & Kazooie, Inkling, Bowser, DK, Mewtwo, Ridley, Pit, and Fox all emerged from their rooms at the same time by a few-seconds difference, every single one of them looking as how they appeared before they entered Skylands.
The fighters ran down the stairs, meeting up at the throne room while Alchemo repeated word for word on what just happened hours prior.
"Is Alchemo still going on with his story?" Kazooie asked in a quiet voice.
"Unfortunately," Dante softly yawned, feeling completely bored out from the young cadet's history lesson. "I'm getting kinda bored. What do ya say we ditch this boring lecture like dropping outta school?" The Devil Hunter left the throne room with the Smashers that were chosen as Skylanders, sitting at the bottom of the stairs.
"So… looks like Alchemo's keeping the others busy, and Sans seems to be interested in the whole thing. Like, REALLY interested. Almost like he knows one of the guys before," Dante commented. "Anyways, you guys wanna hear what Cloud, Link, and I have been through?"
"Heck yeah!" Pit laughed. The Devil Hunter let out a soft but intimidating chuckle as he reached into his red coat and pulled out some kind of glowing-blue stone. A spiral-like shape was carved into its glimmering cut, along with three letters in a language similar to the Earth Citrine's language located below it.
"The Air Topaz!" Fox McCloud exclaimed, with Sonic, Banjo, and Kazooie recognizing that Dante found another powerful stone. "Where did you find it!?"
"Well, gather round as I tell you where exactly we found this stone, as well as where we found Sans," Dante replied, making sure everyone was seated beside him. "Now then, this is the story of a place I like to call... Undertale."
A day ago…
Cloud Strife was in the middle of an empty field, which was filled with jagged rocks and gray tufts of grass scattered throughout. The 1st-class SOLDIER gripped the handle of his weapon, the very Buster Sword his friend gave him. He could visualize himself on a battleground filled with so many monsters and enemies he faced, longing for the days of fighting after many months of hardly experiencing any of it.
The 1st-class SOLDIER dashed around the battlefield, slashing his sword across the air and attacking his imaginary monsters. He kept his cyan eyes open, feeling the wind blow through his spiky, golden hair. A tall and muscular man with darkened skin and a dirty brown vest watched Cloud fight out here where there's no enemies in sight. His right hand was replaced with a minigun, and he bore a hi-top fade hairstyle and a thick beard.
"Hey, Cloud!" the man called out to the 1st-class SOLDIER, by which Cloud stood in a pose where he guarded himself with that heavy sword. "What do you think you're doing out here?" Cloud sighed as he put away his weapon, glancing back at the tall man that had quite the muscular build.
"I was just practicing in the open, Barret," Cloud answered, placing his hands on his hips.
"Cloud, there's been no monsters in sight. Months after we've saved a bunch of people from dying of Geostigma," Barret corrected, sitting down on the edge that was dipping into the rocky field several feet away from Cloud.
"I guess so, but then again… who knows when another attack might occur?" Cloud pointed out, becoming very clear to Barret Wallace that something was going on in the head of his comrade.
"It's about us, ain't it?" Barret asked, able to tell when exactly Cloud was feeling something. Cloud sighed as he only had Arcus in mind, glancing down at the tiny pouch by his waist to acknowledge the white pellet that could take him back whenever he was in the roughs.
"It's just… it feels like I've been gone from this world for so long I don't know what to think anymore," the 1st-class SOLDIER answered without giving away the existence of the world he lived in for twenty years to one of his close allies. "There aren't even any monsters around here. When I made that promise to Aerith, I wanted to show her the real me and have people accept me for who I am. I guess we all get to that point. What am I even saying? I don't miss the enemies we used to fight, but I don't want anybody getting hurt either. I feel… pretty empty."
"Aw, don't get the wrong idea. Besides, we all appreciate your help in rebuilding the Planet," Barret told him, standing back up. "Without you, we might not even be here."
"Yeah. And I guess I don't know what I'd do without you either," Cloud noted, his eyes gazing over to the sword on his own back.
"Hey, don't sweat it!" Barret chuckled, walking over to Cloud and patting him on the back. "By the way, Marlene's birthday is coming up, and Tifa's helping prepare the decorations for the party."
"Ah, so your childhood friend's daughter is starting to grow fast, isn't she?" Cloud replied. "Yeah, I'll see what I can do."
"That's my man!" Barret patted Cloud's back with a smile on his face, making Cloud feel a little better about himself. "Now come on. Cait's trying to bake some treats for everyone." As the 1st-class SOLDIER and his friend walked away from the field, they suddenly heard the sound of cracking only a few feet away from them, splitting open into some kind of rift. More sounds could be heard around Cloud and Barret, all of them in different pitches and sounds that suggested something bad was about to happen… and it had nothing to do with the Lifestream.
"Barret… go get help," Cloud told his teammate, pulling out his Buster Sword as Rifts left and right opened up.
"Don't tell me you're gonna hold that off alone!" Barret objected, watching the vortexes stretch open and somehow eat small chunks of the ground.
"I'll hold it off for as long as I can," Cloud assured Barret Wallace. "Just make it quick." Barret nodded, running into the thin fog to get their friends. The 1st-class SOLDIER took deep breaths as he aimed his sword at the Rifts tugging on the land around him, oblivious to the ground underneath him about to give way.
Cloud Strife slowly looked down and saw bright cracks underneath him, spreading across the ground. The ex-mercenary knew what this meant, and he dashed straight ahead as the spot he was standing in gave way into a glowing abyss. Cloud sprinted as fast as he could, using his mako-infused abilities to look like he was gliding over the rocky field while it crumbled underneath him.
He reached into his pouch to pull out the white pellet, attempting to squeeze it in order to get back to the World of Trophies. As bad luck would have it, the pellet had no effect. Cloud slipped the pellet back into the pouch, instantly stopping as he saw another Rift open up in front of him. The vortexes grew larger by the second, and the 1st-class SOLDIER soon realized there wasn't going to be much ground left.
"Get me outta here…!" Cloud spoke with his teeth kept shut, pulling out an orb out of some kind of Materia to transport himself to safety. The Materia floated into the air with a multitude of colors, but instead of warping Cloud somewhere safe… it backfired.
The Materia exploded into a burst of energy that launched Cloud backward, sending him to tumble into a Rift behind him. The 1st-class SOLDIER cried in fear as he watched the only way up to the sky get smaller, even if the Rift in question was growing larger.
Link was riding across Hyrule Field on Epona's back, feeling the wind blow across his locks of hair. The Champion of Hyrule had his horse gallop across the grassy meadow that stretched out for acres, not a single care in the world as he rode to a nearby Bokoblin camp so he could raid it for whatever prized loots were there.
The Bokoblin at the small watchtower instantly detected Link riding in, quickly attempting to sound an alarm with its horns before it was shot in the head. The Champion of Hyrule tugged on Epona's reins, shushing the precious mare as he got off her saddle. The Bokoblins that did see their comrade's fading body fall off the watchtower turned towards Link, surrounding him with clubs and spears.
The Champion of Hyrule, confident that quantity didn't matter over quality, unsheathed his Master Sword and unleashed a powerful spin attack. The blade gleamed a bright blue as it cut through the Bokoblins around him. Link soon recognized there were more Bokoblins that were emerging from a skull-shaped rock filled with explosive barrels. Link drew his bow and fired a flaming arrow into the hollow rock, ducking close to the ground as the remaining Bokoblins were all burned into ashes by a fast explosion.
Epona neighed in fright upon what happened as Link killed all the Bokoblins in the camp. The Master Sword lost its bluish glow, and the Champion of Hyrule put the weapon back in its sheath and walked over to his horse.
"Easy, girl. Easy…" Link hushed, stroking her muzzle and calming her down as his fingers caressed through her mane. Epona gave out a soft whinny, having calmed down as Link entered the hollow skull-rock to take whatever loot he could find. He came out carrying various rupees and powerful weapons, and he glanced over to see a pig that was cooked over a campfire in a spitroast method.
Some time later, Link was eating some of the cooked meat while sitting on the edge of a hill that dipped down into the lower parts of Hyrule Field, and Epona was grazing on the grass behind him. The Champion of Hyrule breathed in the fresh air blowing from his left, his sapphire-blue eyes staring out to the towering purple mountains that he could see were far away, probably almost stretching out to the borders of Hyrule.
He stared out into the landscape, never wanting anything to change around here. It seems as though he's enjoying the rest of his days playing out in the wild, hunting animals to cook and eat, visiting villages and completing a bunch of quests, and overall having a fun time. Link soon laid out on the grass, watching the clouds roll on by and relaxing in general.
But then… it happened.
Thunder began to erupt around the Champion of Hyrule, and the clouds above him were growing darker by the minute. Epona neighed in fear, galloping away as the ground underneath Link began to crack underneath him. Link quickly got up and pulled his Master Sword and Hylian Shield, ready to attack whatever was ready to emerge from the ground.
Without thinking twice, Link yelled as he ran forward and stabbed his sword into the ground, thinking he killed whatever vicious creature was trying to get out. This situation only got worse as the crack split wide open, and Link soon fell into the crack and was transported to somewhere unknown.
The Champion of Hyrule opened up his eyes, lying on a dusty cobblestone road as the scent of the place for eternal damnation stung his nostrils with a horrific odor. Link picked up his weapon and got up, trying to figure out his current surroundings. The last thing he remembered was falling through a Rift that crumbled underneath him, and soon he ended up here. But what kind of world was this…?
The Champion of Hyrule looked around the place, which seemed abandoned and concealed by darkened clouds behind a starry sky. The only thing that seemed to clash with the hellish ambience were several Rifts placed in random locations, dropping off strange furnitures, food, and trash across the streets.
"What… are those things?" Link asked, looking up at the exact same Rift he fell into just several feet above him. The Hylian stepped away from the Rift, keeping his guard up for anything that would attack him. Link soon heard the sound of a man falling above him, and he looked up to see Cloud Strife himself falling from the sky.
The Hylian instantly put the weapon back in his sheath, running over to a certain spot so Cloud landed in his arms. The 1st-class SOLDIER groaned upon the pain poking his back after the impact, glancing over to the individual that had just saved him from going splat upon the pavement.
"...Link?" Cloud asked as he recognized who caught him from certain death. The Champion of Hyrule's pupils dilated and his cheeks were tinted a bit red, and he let go of Cloud as a result.
"Cloud!? What are you doing here?!" Link asked, surprised that the 1st-class SOLDIER appeared in the exact same location he ended up in.
"I should ask you the same question," Cloud replied, looking up to the sky to see all the Rifts that are growing in the sky. "What do you suppose are these things?"
"I don't know," Link replied, just as confused as Cloud is. "But whatever these vortexes are, we better get out of here." The 1st-class SOLDIER took out his pellet and squeezed it twice, his face showing signs of worry as he soon realized no matter how many times he squeezed it, nothing happened. He wasn't being transported to Arcus, he wasn't leaving this world, nothing.
"Hey, Link," Cloud told the Champion of Hyrule while slipping the pellet in his pouch again. "Test your pellet. Now." The Hylian did as he was told, squeezing his own white pellet with no effect.
"Mine's not working," Link replied.
"Dammit…" Cloud growled under his breath. "Well, I guess we might have to find out what this place is and survive- Hey, wait! Where are you going?" The ex-mercenary soon recognized that Link was running off behind his back, heading towards another part of that supposedly-abandoned town.
"I hear some monsters over there!" Link told Cloud, ready to get into trouble without knowing it. "Come on!" The ex-mercenary soon realized that the Champion of Hyrule was going to get himself killed, and he didn't know if his own skills would be useful in battle after quite a while.
"Wait up! Don't go over there without me!" Cloud called out to the Hylian, drawing his weapon and dashing into Link's direction. In another part of town, Dante himself was having a blast killing off an army of demons invading his town, acting like he hardly gives any care to the enormous vortexes opening up around him. He hacked and slashed through every demon in sight, by which most were centered around the Seven Deadly Sins. While he gunned down the Hell Lusts and Wraths, Link ran into the middle of the fight just to instantly recognize the Devil Hunter.
"Dante!" Link called out to the half-demon, ducking his head as he avoided a swing from a Hell Pride and followed up with a stab in the creature's head by using his Master Sword.
"Elf boy…?" Dante asked, leaving a Hell Envy to impale his head with its scythe. The Champion of Hyrule shrieked in fright, but the Devil Hunter embraced the mortal wound as though it was nothing.
"It's fine," Dante reassured the frightened Hylian, stabbing the same Hell Envy with his sword, the Rebellion. "This happens to me a lot. I can't necessarily die as easily- what do you think you're doing?"
"Helping out!" Link answered, tossing a remote bomb at a small swarm of demons and detonating it with his Sheikah Slate. The Hylian ducked from the blue explosion, much to Dante's surprise. "You look like you could use a hand!"
"...Fair enough," Dante assured himself. The Devil Hunter drew his other gun, aiming at the 7 Hells on his side of the area while Link sliced through his targets with a blade that gleamed with a bluish glow. Cloud Strife ran into the fight just in time, dodging a powerful attack from a Hell Sloth before following up with an uppercut swing from his Buster Sword.
"Link!? What are you doing here! You're gonna get yourself killed!" Cloud told the Hylian, swinging his sword across to cut through lines of demons with less accuracy than what he performed before.
"Hey, what's with the party pooper mood?" Dante asked as he thrusted his Rebellion sword into the head of a Hell Lust. "Link's enjoying it here."
"But that's the problem!" Cloud objected, worried about Link's safety as he saw more demons surrounding the trio. "Recently, he's getting so caught up in acting first, thinking later that he's throwing himself into danger! Not to mention he's mortal, so he can't survive against most injuries like you and I."
"Eh, I've got a bunch of friends, and some are mortal too," Dante backed up, jumping high into the air and drilling downward with his blade. "Besides, with the way you're handling yourself in a fight, you probably can't catch up to us."
"Of course I can catch up to you!" the 1st-class SOLDIER tried to prove, performing Cross Slash upon some Hell Envies. "I've been practicing for a few months now. Trust me. I know when there's a fight we can't win alone." Dante landed beside Cloud, aiming Ebony and Ivory at the demons around them while Link behaved more solo and acted like a separate, one-man team.
"Alone?" Dante asked as his back was against the ex-mercenary's. "So you can spend some quality time with your boyfriend?" Cloud's cheeks blushed at the mere mention of someone unknown that even the Devil Hunter wouldn't mention by name, dismissing it as a supposedly impossible outcome that was moreover played as a joke.
"Have I forgot to mention the weird vortexes opening up all over the place?" Cloud asked, charging his Limit Break. The Devil Hunter looked up into the sky, suddenly realizing he was fighting some demons to the point where he ignored the real threat as nothing more than a distant memory: the massive Rifts all over the Residential Area.
"Oh yeah… They just kinda showed up while I went out to clear some demons for another bounty," Dante told the 1st-class SOLDIER, slicing off the head of a nearby Hell Gluttony. "I figured we'd take care of our little problem once we're done here."
"But this is a serious debate!" Cloud groaned, using Finishing Touch on the 7 Hells that pounced at him. "We can't use the pellets to get back, I'm thrown into a world that's probably yours, my own skills are much shittier here than back on the Planet, and have you noticed how Link's behaving lately?" The ex-mercenary began to worry that Link was becoming more overconfident in every fight he squeezed himself into, charging up a bombastic arrow that exploded upon being fired by his bow. The Champion of Hyrule then reached into his pockets and threw out his trusty boomerang, which blew with a powerful gust of wind and rammed into the horde of demons.
"Yeah… Now that you mention it, Link's kinda hogging most of my kills," Dante replied. "Hey, at least he's clearing out these little buggers…" The ex-mercenary gasped as he saw a Hell Lust ready to strike Link from behind, and he quickly rushed into the Hylian's rescue and unleashed a powerful slash. The Hell Lust was killed, and Link glanced over to see it was Cloud who saved him.
"I told you: you can't keep running off like that and putting yourself in danger!" Cloud tried telling Link. "You were almost killed because of it!"
"And I told you: I can defend myself just fine." Link responded, stabbing another demon behind him with the Master Sword. "I've got bombs, rope, lamp oil, bows, arrows, boomerangs, swords, clubs, shields… I've got the brains and skills I need to survive!"
"But don't you feel like you're becoming too over-confident?" Cloud asked, holding Link's shoulders while looking at him straight in the face. "I know you're in possession of the Triforce of Courage, but I'm beginning to worry about you. I'm beginning to worry you might be developing some kind of foolhardiness or even rashness. Dante may be half-demon, but you're obviously mortal like me."
"Don't be stupid, Cloud!" Link replied, pushing Cloud away so he could attack behind himself with the Master Sword. "If it's help Dante wants, it's help Dante gets! At least I know how to fight monsters in the wild by experiencing it myself so I'm not some kind of rusty slowpoke."
"Rusty slowpoke?" Cloud questioned, dodging a flying arrow from the Champion of Hyrule so he could hit a demon that was behind the ex-mercenary. While the two blond-haired swordsmen were busy quarreling, Dante was still busy attacking the 7 Hells that targeted him, and all three of them soon felt the ground rumble underneath them. The surviving demons recognized the cracks and fissures below the trio as a bad omen from the light, and they all fled into the shadows in the hopes their enemies would meet a fate worse than eternal damnation.
"Uh, I don't mean to butt into your bickering, but you might wanna hold onto something!" Dante told Link and Cloud as each one of them put away their weapons, jumping high into the air faster than the speed of sound and scaling one of the buildings around them. Cloud Strife held on tight to Link's hand and gripped on tight to a nearby stop sign. The Champion of Hyrule's foot slipped upon the stone, and he was hanging onto his friend's hand for dear life as he dangled over a swirling vortex.
Cloud tried pulling him up as the Rift grew bigger and stretched across the cobblestone street, with Dante watching up above them in worry. The Devil Hunter leaped across the buildings before dashing straight down to the blond-haired swordsmen, by which the gravitational pull of the Rift was making Cloud lose his grip on the stop sign. Dante quickly reached over and grabbed Cloud's hand as a last-minute save.
"Don't worry, boys! I got ya!" Dante told Link and Cloud, trying to pull them both up. However, the ground underneath them gave way, and the Devil Hunter, the Champion of Hyrule, and the 1st-class SOLDIER were all falling into the Rift below them. Next thing they knew, they were falling several feet into the air before landing in an ocean of water beneath them.
The three fighters were completely submerged in the water, several feet between the surface and a coral reef. Dante and Cloud survived the landing, but Link was completely knocked out after being denied the air he needed to keep himself conscious underneath the surface. The 1st-class SOLDIER grabbed the Hylian's waist, swimming up to the surface with the Devil Hunter. Both Cloud and Dante gasped for breath upon reemergence, treading the water as they tried to figure out where they were.
"Link? Link! Wake up, please!" Cloud encouraged, forcing the Champion of Hyrule to cough out some of the salty sea water in his lungs just to show his two companions that he was alive, but barely.
"Oh, thank the Planet," Cloud sighed with relief as he spat against the small waves crashing into his face. "Dante! Is there a shore nearby?"
"Of course there is!" Dante coughed, pointing over to a beach just meters away from them. It was hard to distinguish the individuals scattered across the beach since the trio could hardly recognize the faces, but they were people nonetheless. Cloud dragged Link along as he held on tight to Dante's belt, the Devil Hunter swimming close to the shore as he tried calling for any lifeguard to help the unconscious Hylian and his other friend.
As Dante and Cloud swam closer to the beach with Link in their arms, they were lucky that a lifeguard that was blue in color discovered them in desperate need of help. The 1st-class SOLDIER and the Devil Hunter decided not to judge someone based on the color of their skin as they were glad that the lifeguard climbed off their chair and ran straight into the water at top speed. The lifeguard swam faster than Cloud and Dante could manage. As they got closer, the conscience swordsmen would soon discover that the lifeguard was different in appearance than how they interpreted.
The lifeguard was a feminine, fish-like creature that had deep blue scales covering her entire body, bearing red-and-blue fins on where her ears should be. She had sharp, yellow teeth and a yellow eye with red eye shadow, and there was a black eyepatch covering her left eye. The piscine monster was wearing a red bikini, with gills on the sides of her ribcage and webbed feet and hands.
She grabbed onto Link, Cloud, and Dante, swimming to shore as fast as a race car by kicking her feet. It only took a minute to get to the shore, and the fish lady plopped a coughing Dante and Cloud on the shore. Link was limp and cold in Cloud's arms, but his heart was still pounding in his chest. The 1st-class SOLDIER and the Devil Hunter looked at their surroundings, noticing how peculiar it was for humans to be relaxing alongside a bunch of monsters, which ranged from anthropomorphic animals to supernatural creatures like ghosts and sirens, but mostly anthropomorphic animals.
"Are you okay?" The fish lady asked, not having lost any breath from her rescue quest.
"Yeah, we're alright," Dante told her as he cleared his throat of the ocean's salty taste. "Cloud, are you fine?"
"Kinda…" Cloud replied, holding Link close to himself. "Link's swallowed too much seawater. Can you help him, please?" The fish lady took the Champion of Hyrule from the ex-mercenary's hands and laid Link out onto the sand.
"Okay, everyone! Stand clear!" the fish lady told the humans and monsters. "01! 02! Get me one of those air ventilators and my phone!" Two bodybuilder monsters wearing red swim trunks, with one a dragon and the other a rabbit, ran over to the chair where the fish lady was sitting. She placed her hands on Link's chest, performing compressions that were strong enough to keep the Hylian's heart pumping regularly and helping him cough out some of the water. The dragon and rabbit bodybuilders came back with a smartphone and an oxygen tank with a mask.
"Alright, 02. Place the mask on his mouth." the piscine ordered the dragon monster that helped her. The dragon bodybuilder placed the clear mask on Link's mouth, and the fish lady continued to thrust her hands down on his chest once the ventilator was secured. Link began to cough for air through the oxygen mask, throwing up the seawater as he pushed the dragon bodybuilder's hand off the ventilator he was going to tear off.
"I… um… Undyne?" the rabbit bodybuilder told the fish lady, handing her the phone she was going to use. "You said you wanted this, so…" The piscine monster, now referred to as Undyne, grabbed the phone from his hand and dialed a number on her phone while Cloud limped to an unconscious Link.
"Hey, Alphys?" Undyne asked on the phone. "Yeah, I've rescued three humans from drowning, and they all look like those historical figures you've told me about. One of 'em even looks like an elf, and he's completely passed out unlike the other two. I'm taking them over to our place. Keep the door open for us, alright? See ya soon. Love ya. Bye." Undyne hung up on the call, picking up Dante and keeping his arm on her shoulders. She was just about to pick up Link before Cloud did it for her.
"...Thank you," Cloud expressed his gratitude to her. "Do you mind telling us your name?"
"Undyne," the one-eyed fish lady replied with a soft smile on her face. "You suckers are coming home with me. Alphys and I are gonna get you two and your little elf friend something to patch up with. You must've swallowed a lotta ocean water. 01, 02. You're in charge of protecting this beach." The dragon and rabbit bodybuilders nodded as Undyne walked away from the beach with the Devil Hunter by her side, with Cloud following her as he carried Link. Three of the onlookers that had witnessed these three swordfighters almost drowning watched as they went with the fish lady with the eyepatch.
One was just a human child with a blank expression and straight brown hair with bangs, wearing a blue shirt with purple stripes, blue pants, and brown shoes. The two monsters they seem to be friends with were skeletons, with one taller than the other. The shorter one of the two was wearing a blue hoodie, a white t-shirt, and salmon-pink slippers, supposedly to authenticate his easygoing and lazy attitude. The other skeleton was towering over the other two by about a feet, sporting a toothy grin and vertical slits for eyes. He was wearing some kind of armor over a black-colored skeletal structure that didn't match his white skull, which consisted of the following: a white chest plate with some gold trim, coquelicot gloves and boots (with the former also having a flaxen trim), blue briefs held up by a shiny aureate belt, and an orange-red cape wrapped around his neck to look more like a scarf.
"Sans, did you see that?" the taller skeleton asked the shorter skeleton in an excited and flamboyant tone.
"Every minute of it," the shorter skeleton replied in a chill tone, looking up at the taller skeleton. "Now that I think about it, something seems off-putting about those guys… Maybe it's the way they're dressed." The human child glanced over to the ocean, getting the sense that those three came through that huge vortex over the sea. They tugged on the shorter skeleton's hoodie, alerting him of what they wanted to say.
"What is it, kid?" Sans asked. A black textbox appeared in front of the child, displaying what they were saying since they didn't naturally have a voice and they spoke differently from all the other characters.
The textbox read, *You tell Sans about the strange vortex that's lingering over the ocean, slowly but surely disappearing by the second. You suspect those three men somehow fell from that rift, and maybe you and them should pay these humans a visit.
"Heh. Great idea, kid," Sans replied as though he had an ordinary conversation with the human child before looking over to the tall skeleton. "Hey, Papyrus. Wanna visit Undyne's place as usual?" The tall skeleton's face lit up with excitement as a result of hearing Sans's request.
"Of course! I, the Great Papyrus, never miss a dull day without hanging out with my best friends!" Papyrus declared with a cocky and brash attitude. "I'm coming, Undyne!" The skeleton ran off, leaving the human child and Sans at the beach.
"So… you thinking what I'm thinking?" Sans asked the human child, well informed about the fading Rift in front of the horizon that both the humans and monsters somehow didn't notice. The human child glanced back at Sans, nodding their head in determination. They were going to find out about these three mysterious humanoids along with Papyrus, one way or another.
"Do you think Link's gonna be okay?" Cloud asked a strange, yellow dinosaur creature half his height that was wearing a white lab coat and round glasses.
"I hope so…" the dinosaur replied, trying her best to approach the conversation normally. "Thank God Undyne managed to get most of the water out of his lungs. Now that I come to think about it, I kinda noticed you and your friend in the other room… You guys look like some of those anime characters, don't you?"
"Anime characters?" Cloud questioned.
"You know, handsome boys fighting with swords and having crazy hairstyles… those anime characters," the scientist corrected, trying to break the ice by starting a more lighthearted conversation as her cheeks blushed from embarrassment. "I'm just saying you guys kinda remind me of them. It's… kinda exciting, to be honest. Um… I'll be back in just a minute." The dinosaur-like monster left the room, leaving Cloud alone with Link. The Champion of Hyrule was resting on top of the bed sheets, groaning as he held his throbbing head.
"Finally," Cloud sighed with relief, sitting on the edge of the bed. "Took long enough for you to wake up."
"Mmm… Cloud…" Link groaned, trying to get back up before the 1st-class SOLDIER placed a hand on the Hylian's chest.
"You almost drowned back there," Cloud pointed out. "The lady that helped us, Undyne. She took us to her place. Alphys helped patch us up. You need to stay put, at least for a little while."
"But I feel perfectly normal," Link replied, pushing his friend's hand away. "I can take care of myself just fine."
"You were entering dangerous territory without a partner," Cloud explained. "You almost got yourself killed."
"Why are you worrying so much about me dying?" Link asked, opening his eyes a bit and slowly sitting up on the bed. "We're trophies. We can be resurrected after defeat. It's practically limitless."
"I doubt that last sentence actually has anything that holds true," Cloud objected. "I mean, there has to be a limit to how many times we can die and come back. You have to learn that actions have consequences, and… I'm trying as hard as I can to protect those close to me, including you."
"Hey, Cloud. Relax," Link reassured, placing his hand on Cloud's hand. "These past few months, I've been learning how to fend for myself in the wild, and my own weapons do all the work for me." The 1st-class SOLDIER backed his hand away from Link the moment the Hylian said that.
"See? I knew you were becoming foolish from overconfidence," Cloud sighed, not knowing what to believe anymore. "You rely on your tools so much you don't even know the limitations of how far these abilities can go. When I fight, I let the energy of the planet and my mako guide me, but I learned how to control myself and back off from an unavoidable danger. I learned how to open my mind… and to just let out all my years of emotional baggage instead of just piling it up until it becomes a mess. Maybe you might wanna release it through something more than just… running into danger without thinking? I don't even know what I'm saying at this point. I'm still kinda angry that you ran off to fight a swarm of demons that can kill any mortal in sight. You're not like Dante." Alphys unknowingly walked into the conversation, bringing a tray of piping-hot bowls of instant noodles.
"Um… I knew you guys might have been hungry after almost drowning back at that beach, so I tried whipping you up something and… these are all Undyne and I have until we head to the grocery store again. Sorry…" Alphys explained, unaware of the situation Cloud and Link were in.
"Well, I can be Dante if I wanted to," Link replied in a bit angrier tone, his cheeks blushing a bit.
"He's a half-demon. You won't survive a day in his world," Cloud groaned, trying his damn hardest to approach the situation as calmly as possible. "You really are making this difficult, huh?"
"Well, maybe if you weren't much of a slowpoke than when you were before," Link backed up, acting defensive.
"Are you calling me lazy?" Cloud questioned, he and Link not bothering to notice the monster scientist.
"...Uh, should I just leave things as it is?" Alphys asked herself, setting two of the instant noodle bowls near a stand next to the TV. "I'm not the best at relationships, so… Here's your food. You can watch some anime if you want. Except for Kissy-Kissy Mew Mew." Alphys left the room as the two fighters kept arguing about how Link's was becoming more and more presumptuous these past few days from his time spending it in an alternate Hyrule, knowing that whatever rabbit hole they're in she's not the right person for the job.
"I must say, I'm impressed with how fast your body healed," Undyne told Dante as he was sitting on the couch in the small but comfortable living room, admiring some of the scars on his head and neck disappearing faster than she anticipated. "Most humans don't even survive these kinds of casualties unless they're determined like me." Undyne was now dressed in a pair of blue pants and a black tank top with some red boots.
"Well that, and some… demonic energy coming from an ancient father," Dante corrected, rubbing his neck. "I kinda admire a chick like you saving us like that. You've got quite the guts."
"Hey: all the benefits of being a fish monster!" Undyne chuckled, displaying her hand to show the webbed skin between each finger before elbowing the Devil Hunter. "I always appreciate dorks with hearts of gold."
"Yeah, and maybe I could see our friendship as… growing in some way" Dante replied, crossing his legs as he reclined on the coffee table in front of him. "Maybe we can start right now, in case you wanna give me your number and we can hang out."
"Of course I'm glad to have another friend," Undyne chuckled. "Though I don't think we might wanna start with the number yet in case you feel like… dating. You see, I'm already with someone else, if that's your whole shtick."
"Someone else, huh?" Dante asked with a bit of disappointment that he couldn't woo a fish lady. To answer his question, Undyne pointed towards the entrance to the living room, her gaze averted straight at Alphys who had just brought the bowl of instant noodles for the Devil Hunter. She was blushing mad at the face when the fish lady mentioned the two monsters were in some kind of special relationship.
"Undyne…? W-W-Why did you remind our new houseguest that we're… um... you know…?" Alphys stammered, placing the instant noodles on the coffee table and pushing Dante's legs as she darted her eyes back and forth between her sweetheart and the Devil Hunter.
"No no… it's fine, it's fine," Dante reassured as he knew the two monsters have been together in a domestic relationship for quite some time. "I don't necessarily mind you two being an item. Kinda cute, actually." Alphys bowed her head in awkwardness, her face a deep crimson.
"So… anyways," Dante continued like normal. "Mind telling me your name?"
"Oh, yes! Yes," Alphys responded, clearing her throat. "My name is Alphys. I'm pretty much the Royal Scientist here… or at least I was before everyone... kinda disbanded to live upon the surface. You see, it's been months ever since all the monsters that have been trapped underground were freed from the barrier keeping us in Mt. Ebott. All thanks to one special human."
"Oh really?" Dante spoke with curiosity. "Who's the kid that rescued you?" A knock on the door could be heard, just beyond that living room.
"Coming!" Alphys called out, racing to the door as fast as she could. Dante and Undyne followed after her as she went to answer it, opening the door for Sans, Papyrus, and the human child.
"Sup, girls?" Sans greeted.
"Oh! Sans! Papyrus! We were just expecting you and the human to show up! Come on in," Alphys replied, letting their three guests into the house.
"Hey, Paps!" Undyne welcomed, patting the tall skeleton on the back. "How are things going with your life?"
"Why, never better!" Papyrus answered happily. "I saved up the money I needed to drive the car of my dreams, Asgore trimmed a hedge in the shape of my skull, I got more followers on my UnderNet account and finally got past that record of twelve followers away from a double digit count. I've got my life figured out (aside from having my dreams of joining the Royal Guard fade away), and now I'm just waiting on Sans to pursue HIS life goal.. whatever it is."
"Yeah, I'm kinda workin' on that," Sans replied. "We witnessed the whole incident going on at the beach, and we figured we would follow you here. So… I'm kinda curious about your name… half-demon. You're a half-demon, right?"
"Yep, and it's Dante," the Devil Hunter introduced, shaking Sans's boney hand. When he did, everyone could hear that something between the skeleton and the Devil Hunter broke wind, placing the whole room in dead silence. Papyrus planted his hand on his face in annoyance as he knew Sans brought along that whoopie cushion of his.
"The old whoopie-cushion-in-the-hand trick," Sans laughed, pulling his hand away from Dante. "That never gets old." The Devil Hunter chuckled a bit on that joke played on him, aware there was no one that actually cut the cheese.
"You're a peculiar type, aren't you?" Dante asked.
"Yeah, we get that a lot," Sans answered, slipping his hand back into his pocket. "I guess you could say Papyrus and I are literally 'boneheads.'" Papyrus cringed at that awful pun that short skeleton made, and Dante chuckled a bit from it.
"That's a good one," Dante replied.
"Sans, I swear to God I'll turn you into bone meal one day..." Papyrus growled through his teeth, getting rather irritated from those puns his brother was making but not intentionally meaning any harm.
"Hey take it easy, Papyrus," Sans spoke with that grin always on his face. "I'm clearly a 'Sans-ation' for these people to have around." Papyrus groaned at that joke, clearly despising them down to his ribcage even if Sans was just messing with him. "Anyways, we were wondering about the other two survivors you brought along."
"Oh! If you want to have a talk with them, they're just straight ahead in the room on your left," Alphys replied. "However, they seem to be bitter about something. Something having to do on having too much courage or something…? The details were vague, and I hardly know any relationship skills." The human child volunteered to help patch up the relationship, and they walked off while leaving the adults alone.
"Whelp. The human kid's off to do something relationship-related, no doubt," Sans told the Devil Hunter with a hunch. "Wanna head to Grillby's with me? Everyone will know where I went in case I disappear."
"Yeah, sure, I guess," Dante answered. "You guys seem like a peaceful folk around here, and I don't know how long it would take until we can head back to Arcus. Before I was thrown into this place, I couldn't teleport myself into that world. Hope it's fixed soon."
"Hm… interesting," Sans added, opening the door. "Hey, Paps. The white-haired dude with the red coat and I are gonna go out for the night. You ladies take care of him." The skeleton and the Devil Hunter left outside and shut the door, and Papyrus was left alone with Alphys and Undyne.
"So… anything you wanna do, Papyrus?" Undyne asked the tall skeleton.
"Well, since my brother is probably going to give our new guest a tour around our town, I have decided I would dedicate this whole day to us watching a new episode of Mettaton's Show! The next episode should be airing in just a few minutes!" Alphys and Undyne exchanged glances, knowing their skeleton friend was still an innocent child despite his age and height.
"Sure. Why not?" Undyne answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I mean, I know I don't have much to do today, so maybe we can spend some time together watching a little TV."
"Nyeh heh heh! Splendid, splendid! I'll go get things set up for our binge-watching hours! I'll call you two when I'm ready!" Papyrus laughed, hugging the fish lady before rushing off to the living room.
"Is my bro gone?" Sans asked, surprising Alphys and Undyne greatly. The two monsters recognized the skeleton appeared behind them instantly without even opening the door.
"Yeah, he's in the living room," Alphys responded, calming herself down as she tried to forget how the lazy skeleton even got into the house. "Why do you need him away from our conversation?"
"I've been kinda meaning to tell you girls something," Sans explained. "The white-haired guy named Dante told me about how he and the human guests you're keeping in your house were just warped here by some kind of vortex at the beach. It vanished, but I have a major suspicion that it might pop up again and bring forth some kind of magic that can mess up our world's own portal network. Alphys, you've got the brains to build something that can detect that exact magic. Just send out some kind of machine to pick up that exact surge of energy and call me when you get the results."
"Well, I did pick up something an hour ago through my drone," Alphys noted, taking out a long piece of paper filled with readings that resembled a seismograph. "It's from a magic detector I'm testing downstairs, and it might have collected a powerful surge of energy from that rift. Either that, or it could be a big coincidence-"
"Just make it happen, k?" Sans requested, reading through the seismograph. "And if Papyrus asks what's going on… just tell him you're inventing a laser gun-sword or something. Anyways, I better get going. Dante's waiting for me outside. See ya." Sans opened the door again and left the house, and he didn't vanish for no explained reason this time.
"Undyne! Alphys!" Papyrus called out to the two monsters from the living room. "Mettaton's Show is about to start!"
"Yeah, we'll be there, Papyrus!" Undyne replied, holding Alphys's shoulders before getting down on one knee to make eye contact with her.
"Relax. You can do this…" Undyne assured a nervous Alphys before kissing her on the nose and walking off to the living room, leaving the shorter monster blushing hard in the face from that sign of affection. She soon calmed herself, straightening her coat as she went downstairs to do the request for Sans.
The human child snuck into the bedroom where Cloud and Link were arguing, sneaking in while the two didn't notice.
"Why aren't you answering my question?" Cloud asked, more frustrated than normal. "It seems like you're completely dancing around it when I need to know what's going on inside your head."
"I don't need any help from you!" Link objected. "I'm the Hero of Hyrule! I've been protecting my homeworld from monsters lurking in the darkness! Isn't that a redeeming quality?"
"But not with recklessness to where you injure yourself and lack complete understanding that you need to retreat if the odds are against you!" Cloud groaned, tugging on his own spiky hair in frustration. "I don't understand how you can be so impulsive! Your weapons cannot protect you from everything. Just tell me what's with this ridiculous amount of courage! Please…" The child cleared their throat at the opportunity to chat, halting the argument and alerting Link and Cloud about them.
*You introduce yourself to the two men, pardoning your sudden interruption, the textbox in front of the child said.
"Um… hi there, little girl... or boy," Link greeted. "What are you doing here?" The child sat down on a beanbag next to the TV in the room, simply staring at the two adults before they continued talking in a strange method of communication, almost like a director was telling them how to say their lines in a play. However, Cloud and Link didn't seem to notice and treated it like normal dialogue.
*You tell them that your name is Frisk, the textbox continued. *You explain that something is bothering them, and you need to know what it is. Cloud sighed as he backed away from Link, not knowing what he needed to do in order to keep this relationship with his friend.
"I don't know, really," Cloud confessed. "There's just something Link's not telling me after all these months he was away from me. I want to find out what it is, but… he's just becoming rather stubborn to tell me. Over these past few days, he's grown rather exaggerated, like he's throwing himself into more and more danger…" Frisk scratched their own head, wanting to hear more about this situation.
*You then ask the elf-like humanoid about his side of the story, Frisk's textbox continued reading. *Perhaps he might want to reveal something you're interested in hearing. But you remember you aren't exactly a therapist. Link felt rather guilty about something he was hiding, and he knew sooner or later he would have to tell Cloud something about himself. He wanted to go slow and steady, shed off some of those emotions he can't exactly describe, but they were hard to recognize.
"...Alright, Cloud," Link sighed deeply, moving his knees close to his chest. "I'm sorry for getting myself into trouble. I've been thinking about some things while you were away. I never really knew how too much courage can be a bad thing. You're a good friend, and… I don't think my life would be complete without you in it."
"Yeah, I guess so," Cloud sighed, rubbing the back of his head. "From now on, no running into danger without a set plan. Your recklessness is enough trouble as it is."
"Understood," Link nodded, the blush in his face fading away and calming himself down. "So… Frisk, right? Any idea what we can do around this town? Outside of waiting until we can use our portals again?"
"Perhaps we can follow that kid around and see what we can do," Cloud replied, being a little calmer about the situation. "They've already helped us reconcile with each other for the time being. I guess we should return the favor. Thanks, Frisk." The human child smiled, glad they did a job well done. They got up from the beanbag, waiting for Cloud Strife to help pull Link off the bed. The Champion of Hyrule got back up on his feet, straightening his blue tunic.
*You tell Link and Cloud that the first destination you'll be taking them to is a roller rink near the center of town, the textbox described. Frisk ran out of the room, encouraging the ex-mercenary and the Hylian to follow after them.
In the middle of the day, Sans was just resting near a street lamp on the right side of a small street. He waited for Dante to show up, who zipped in as fast as Sonic.
"Any idea what we're doing here?" Dante asked.
"Oh, nothing much," Sans replied. "We're gonna be eatin' at Grillby's for the time being. Have a walk around town. Enjoy a lotta laughs. Usual stuff in my routine." The Devil Hunter looked to the other side of the street and saw a small bakery shop decorated with different shades of neon pink and assorted pastries displayed at the window. At the glass door, a sign read, "Spiders in: WE'RE OPEN."
"What do you suppose that place is?" Dante asked.
"Muffet's Spider Bakery," Sans answered. "Ever since we were freed from the underground, Muffet and Grillby started their own careers of selling stuff to eat for humans and monsters. They coincidentally moved in on the same street, and they've been competing for dominance over it ever since. Grillby's still got the best food in town, in my opinion. Personally, I get nauseous from eating too much sweets. You're welcome to eat at that arachnid's place though. I'm not stopping you, but… be careful about the treats you pick. Some might contain spiders in them."
"Eh, I think I'm good," the Devil Hunter noted. "Grillby's it is." The skeleton walked down the sidewalk and opened the door right next to him, the bell jingling as he let Dante walk inside. There were a bunch of dog-related monsters sitting with some humans, and some kind of humanoid figure engulfed in orange flames and dressed in bartender clothes and round glasses was cleaning up the bar table. Sans climbed up onto one of the stools, and the Son of Sparda took a seat on the skeleton's right.
"Hm… judging by the menu they hung up on the wall, it doesn't look like they've got any pizza," Dante pondered. "Not that I'm complaining. It's just that pizza with all kinds of toppings is my favorite… alongside some strawberry sundae. I'll take a good-fashioned burger any day."
"Now we're talking," Sans chuckled, patting Dante on the back. "Hey, Grillby. Get us a double order of burg, on the house." The skeleton was talking to the fire elemental bartender, who was cleaning up a glass with a fresh cloth. Grillby simply did as was requested and got to work on the stoves behind himself.
"Pretty silent type, huh?" Dante asked.
"Yeah… Unlike most of the monsters here, he's learned how to take orders from customers and get them done," Sans answered. "The best part is: he's been memorizing the faces of every customer who's come in here more than once. I'm his favorite, Oh, the grub's done." Grillby placed the orders in front of Sans and Dante, each one containing a juicy burger the size of the average human's hand and served with a side of fries and two bottles of ketchup and mustard. The Devil Hunter lifted off the top bun of his burger, analyzing the produce over the cheesy patty and bacon strips and admiring how the meat was cooked to perfection.
"Eh, great. Got some pickles ruining my burger. Oh well…" Dante picked out the pickle slices in his burger, setting them on the side of the plate that wasn't touching the fries. When Dante was done clearing his burger of the accursed pickles, Dante looked over to his left to see Sans wave his left hand over his burger gently. The bun was glowing with the mixed colors of yellow and cyan, and the skeleton was soon picking the pickles out with some method of psychokinesis.
The skeleton then placed the bun back on his burger and lifted it up to his mouth, where his grinning teeth opened and he was about to take a bite out of it using his incisor fangs. Before he could even eat his meal, he glanced over at Dante, who watched the whole procedure of Sans using a strange method to pick out the pickles.
"What was that thing you were doing?" Dante asked. "The telekinesis and stuff?"
"Oh, that?" Sans replied, aware of what the half-demon was talking about. "Here in this world, monsters are physically made out of magic, meaning we can use magic skills and turn into dust upon death. Anything monsters consume is automatically turned into energy to fuel our magic, so we don't retain any food inside us. For Papyrus and I, we're both skeletons, and we know how to use gravity to our advantage. We're pretty much the only skeletons here in this entire world. Nothing much to it."
"And as for me, I'm the only one out of these monsters who can actually teleport around and… feel something beating within my SOUL. Like it's… determination," Sans continued, setting his burger down on the plate. "And that's… kinda coming from someone who knows what Papyrus can do. Anyways, you got powers like mine?"
"I actually kinda do," Dante noted, picking up his burger. "I can use telekinesis, so that counts. Right? I kill demons too." The Devil Hunter bit into his meal, tasting the greasy juices flowing into his mouth as he wiped his face of the oily texture.
"This tastes… so damn good," Dante talked with his mouth full. "Normally, I'm not a big fan of these, but I must say: these kinds of burgers impress me."
"Yep," Sans replied after wiping his teeth of the grease, taking the bottle of ketchup while he set the burger down on his plate. "Told ya Grillby knows how to make a good burger." The skeleton began to chug down the ketchup bottle, and Dante glanced at him with confusion.
"...Do you always drink condiments from a bottle?" the Devil Hunter asked.
"Depends if there's no food to eat," Sans replied. "Even then, I'm trying to be healthy by eating some fruit. So ketchup counts, right?" The Devil Hunter finished up his meal, patting his stomach as he felt satisfied. Sans was pretty much done with his meal too, and the only thing they left behind on their plates were the pickles they didn't want.
"Anywhere else you wanna go for today?" Dante asked.
"Well, I don't have much on my agenda, so we can head to that bowling alley downtown," Sans replied, hopping off his stool. "Maybe knock over a couple pins, or we can head over to Mettaton's new club and do some stand-up comedy."
"Nice…" Dante chuckled, walking out of Grillby's with the skeleton as the bartender cleaned up the bar table. "Perhaps we can use that time at the bowling alley to practice some jokes."
"Yep. I guess you could say my entertainment is really 'humerus,'" Sans chuckled. "Ah, this is gonna be a lotta fun hanging out with you."
"Yeah, I sure hope Link and Cloud are doing fine without us," Dante added. "They might probably be hanging out at the beach or something…"
As the day seemed to go by, Frisk managed to take Link and Cloud to the roller rink they mentioned in the hopes the two swordfighters would bond over their differences and just relax in this world until they get back home. The 1st-class SOLDIER was sitting on a bench and getting his rented roller skates on, glancing over to the Champion of Hyrule as he waited patiently at the register counter. He requested a cat-like monster who had his right arm amputated for the skates that were his foot size, and he paid for it with just a few Rupees he took along. The cat didn't recognize these foreign jewels as cash and denied the offer, but Frisk walked up to the counter and paid for the Champion of Hyrule.
Link sat down next to Cloud, taking off his boots and tying the roller skates to his feet. As the 1st-class SOLDIER stepped into the rink and waited for Link to come out, the Champion of Hyrule held on tight to the edge of the rink as he balanced himself and slowly moved out to the wooden floor. Cloud quickly grabbed Link's arms as the Hylian was about to slip and fall, helping him keep a straight posture on those tiny plastic wheels below his feet.
The Hylian glanced up at the ex-mercenary keeping him balanced, feeling his legs move in sync with the human's while they moved around the rink. Some of the humans and monsters were biding their own time in the rink, and Cloud moved past them as he kept his hands on Link. The Champion of Hyrule was starting to get the hang of skating around, and he looked up at the ex-mercenary helping him with thanks. Frisk watched the two swordfighters skate in the roller rink from the sidelines, a smile on their face.
Mettaton's newly-established hotel resort on the surface was decorated with a golden exterior with flags that sparkled with glitter. There was a plaza in front of the hotel with a running fountain embellished with the bust of a cubic robot with a single wheel and gloved hands. Exotic flowers remained on the sides of the road, and up in flashing neon lights was a big "M".
Sans was on a small, empty stage in front of a crowd sitting in round dining tables, telling bad jokes as he held a microphone on a stand. Dante got a front row for the performance, and he clapped and laughed for the skeleton's bad puns while the rest of the monster crowd remained silent. One seemed to even throw a tomato at Sans, but he would just play it off for laughs.
When the sun began to set, Cloud Strife and Link were taken to a nearby amusement park by Frisk. They soon treated themselves to the featured games, such as throwing darts at the balloons. Because of their past experience with marksmanship, the blond-haired Smashers hit all the balloons they could get with their limited darts, and they got a large plush canary and wolf from the prize selection.
The swordsmen and the human child later grabbed some corn dogs to eat at one of the fast food stands (which were paid from Frisk's borrowed cash), with Cloud laughing as Link tried eating the corn dog while trying to carry that large plush wolf. The 1st-class SOLDIER finished up his corn dog before grabbing Link's plush just so the Hylian could finish his snack. Link wiped his mouth of the mustard, smiling at his friend as he held Frisk's hand.
At the bowling alley, Sans took his bowling ball, which was blue in color, and rolled it across the lane. Dante watched as the skeleton's ball rolled near the edge of the lane. Just as it was about to fall off the lane, Sans closed his eyes before opening them quickly. Instead of white dots for pupils, the sockets were completely black, but his left eye was larger and had an iris that flickered through the colors of cyan and yellow.
The bowling ball was pushed back onto the lane by some cyan-colored telekinesis, rolling straight into the pins and knocking them out in a single strike. Dante congratulated Sans on nailing that strike, and he grabbed a gray bowling ball to show the skeleton what he can do. As the pins were rearranged again, the Devil Hunter grabbed a number of bowling balls that matched the number of each lane and zipped through each one, throwing a bowling ball into each lane without stopping. In just a few seconds, Dante had managed to roll all those bowling balls he had in the alley, but they simply rolled off and missed the pins without knocking a single one over. Dante felt stupid that he should have remembered he was going to miss those pins anyway, but Sans patted him on the back, amazed by the half-demon's otherworldly skills.
Night fell over the horizon, revealing a blanket of stars spread across a blackened sky. Sans was leading Dante up a lonely hill at the top of a mountain, which was decorated with Christmas lights despite this world being late summer. To the right of the house was a toolshed. To the left were two mailboxes, one of which was filled to the brim with unread junk mail.
"I had a pretty awesome day today," the Devil Hunter spoke, satisfied with the time he got to spend in this world. "Thanks for showing me around, Sans."
"Hey, don't sweat it," Sans replied, knocking on the door of the house. "Best part is you get to spend the night with me and my lil' bro Papyrus. He's always glad to have more friends, and I'm kinda proud of him." The door was swung open, and Papyrus was eagerly waiting for Sans to come home with his new best friend.
"Sans!" Papyrus greeted, standing tall and welcoming for his brother and his friend. "I was wondering when you were going to arrive. Come in! Come, come! I've just finished preparing a wonderful meal I'm sure your human friend can enjoy!" Papyrus left the door open and let Sans walk inside with Dante, ready to have some dinner after a long day.
"I know the place isn't much, but it's what we skelebros like to call home," Papyrus continued as the Devil Hunter closed the door before taking a seat near a table in the center of the living room. The taller skeleton was in the kitchen and taking a pot off the stove, ready to serve Dante and Sans their dinner.
"Thanks for your hospitality," Dante told Papyrus as he opened the lid and took a plate to fill it. "I'm just kinda here to sleep for the night. No hard feelings."
"Oh, it's okay!" Papyrus added with a smile on his face, serving Sans with a plate of spaghetti and meatballs. "We both like having guests sleep in our house for the night, whether on sleepovers or on dates! Now then… with eyes as hungry as your stomach, I've made the perfect dish to suit your needs. Some of the Great Papyrus's homemade spaghetti! Nyeh heh heh!" Papyrus placed a full plate of spaghetti in front of the Devil Hunter.
"At least try the dish and tell me what you think," Papyrus continued, so eager to see the reaction of another new guest taste his culinary dish that he didn't notice Sans politely pushing away his meal. Dante twirled the spaghetti in his fork and took a bite out of it, his expression changing as he began to taste the noodles. The taste was indescribable, like a mix of sour candy mixed with moldy cheese. The Devil Hunter's face scrunched up from the taste, feeling like he was going to throw up. He quickly spat it back on his plate, wanting to get the horrid taste out of his mouth.
"Um…" Dante tried to speak, realizing he spat out that disgusting meal in front of the cook. "Don't worry! It… It tastes so good I think I'd like to eat it again!" The Devil Hunter shoved some of the pasta into his mouth in the hopes Papyrus would take the fib, swallowing it without chewing and gagging at the taste.
"You hate it. I can tell," Papyrus sighed in guilt, having already seen through the lie. "That was my brother's first reaction when I started cooking spaghetti from Undyne's lessons. It's taken me five years to notice. I'm never gonna be the greatest chef."
"Aw, don't say that," Sans encouraged, patting Papyrus's back to cheer him up. "You may not be Grillby, but I know you're the greatest chef in my heart. I've said it once, and I'll say it again: if you want to accomplish your dreams, all it takes is some practice and you can do anything." Papyrus glanced down at his brother, sighing as though he knew something else.
"And what kind of practice have YOU done?" Papyrus asked, aware of his brother's laziness. "You say these words of enlightening confidence to me when you don't even move your finger most of the time. How can I accomplish anything if you don't give me a good example?" Sans fell silent on that argument, trying to come up with the best excuse he can on the situation. Dante watched with anticipation, wondering what kind of dynamic these brothers have between each other.
"C'mon, Paps," Dante told Papyrus as he tried lightening the mood. "Give your brother a break. He's been working himself down to the 'bone.'" The smaller skeleton burst out in laughter over that lame pun, irritating Papyrus by that joke.
"It's not funny!" Papyrus growled, his skull red from irritation. "You know how much I despise these kinds of jokes!"
"Oh, we're sorry," Sans chuckled, entertained by those lame puns. "We would be glad to tell you another pun, but I don't think we have the 'guts.' At least for me." Papyrus groaned again, not once liking these kinds of puns.
"Hoo boy, we're on a roll," Dante laughed. "Hey Paps. 'Leaf' him alone. He's 'bushed.'" Sans burst out in laughter from that awful joke, leaving his taller brother in fumes.
"I thought you were another houseguest that didn't blare out these kinds of jokes!" Papyrus wept, his cartoon-ish eyes with pupils exposed as comically large streams of tears flowed down his face. "First Toriel, now this!"
"Aw don't cry, Papyrus," Sans replied, rubbing his brother's head. "I was just about to show Dante my 'trom-bone' solo." Papyrus, now rather angry about having to listen to two idiots laugh at each other's lame puns, left the dinner table with a pot still full of spaghetti.
"Ugh! I'm going up to my room!" Papyrus snapped, storming up the stairs to his room. "As for you, Sans, I'm expecting you to put more 'backbone' into your work. NYEH-HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH-HEH!... Heh." The taller skeleton shut the door to his room, with Sans and Dante giggling at the puns they exchanged.
"'Leaf him alone…'" Sans muttered, trying to suppress his laughter. "That was a good one."
"Thanks," the Devil Hunter replied with a smile. "Y'know I love having you around to blare out these lame puns. It might actually help me while I'm hunting some demons… once I can actually get back home through the portal network."
"Huntin' down demons," Sans replied, resting his lower jaw on his hand. "Sounds rather interesting. I would attack a buncha demons if I could, but… I'm just too lazy right now."
"I see. Well anyway, I've fought a pretty unique demon with a name I'm sure you'll recognize… if you're into human history. His name's Marx, and I guess the puns you can make with that name are self-explanatory." Sans snickered at the thought, aware of what Dante was saying.
"Yeah, it's gettin' kinda late," Sans yawned, getting off his chair. "You can sleep on the couch for the night, if you want to. I'll still be up. I'm more of a night owl."
"Thanks, pal," Dante responded, pushing away his unfinished meal and heading towards a couch in front of a TV to lie down. As the Devil Hunter relaxed on the couch and exhaled deeply in satisfaction, Sans glanced up at his bedroom door, which was marked with "Keep Out" signs. The skeleton looked back on his plate, which was untouched. The skeleton wearing the blue hoodie sat down in his chair, pulling the plate close to himself. He took a fork and ate some of Papyrus's spaghetti, trying to combat the taste before he was actually enjoying the flavor.
At least he knew Papyrus made something edible, even if there were those that couldn't taste the good within the bad.
Hours later, into the night, Dante heard a thumping sound near him. The Devil Hunter was curious about what could be making that noise at this time of night. He groaned as he sat up, trying to drown out the noise just to get some sleep.
"The hell…?" Dante asked, recognizing that the sound came from upstairs. In front of Sans's room. The Son of Sparda suddenly figured out it was Sans himself, still wearing those casual clothes and slamming his bedroom door again and again.
"Sans?" Dante quietly asked, climbing up the stairs. "What are you doing outside your room in the middle of the night?"
"Where is it…?" Sans mumbled, opening and closing his door again and again. Dark circles made their home under Sans's eye sockets, and he didn't seem to stop doing this repetitive action. By the time the Devil Hunter got up to the second floor, Papyrus exited his bedroom door while he was dressed in striped pajamas.
"Nyeh…?" Papyrus asked, still as annoyed by what Sans was trying to do.
"Sans?" Dante asked, tapping the short skeleton's shoulder. Sans swatted the Devil Hunter's hand away while giving him a glare which lacked the white pupils that prevented him from looking uncanny. The smaller skeleton opened and shut his door repeatedly once more.
"Papyrus?" Dante asked. "What's wrong with him?"
"I don't know!" Papyrus replied. "He explains this door takes him across time and space to another world he keeps mentioning, but… I've never seen him this worked up about it. Sans, please calm down!" The hooded skeleton didn't listen and slammed his door much harder, his left eye flickering with the colors of cyan and yellow but not going into full effect yet.
"Sans, listen to us," Dante tried to reason, attempting to pull Sans away to calm him down. "You can tell us what's wrong, but you need to-" Before Dante could say another word, he felt something heavy on his chest. There was nothing tightening on him, but his breath felt weaker by the minute. He soon saw a projection of what was supposedly the shape of his heart, which was glowing with the aura of a deep blue. The Devil Hunter was thrown across the second floor, flying past Papyrus and hitting the wall near the stairs. Dante could only watch as Sans slammed his boney hands on the door, cussing under his breath and stepping away to spawn something in thin air. It looked like the appearance of a draconic skull with horns, with eyes of yellow and blue flickering just like Sans's left eye.
"Work, you ungrateful piece of-" Sans growled as the floating draconic skull opened its jaws, ready to fire a powerful laser at his room's door.
"SANS!" Papyrus exclaimed, interrupting Sans before he finished his sentence. The tall skeleton hugged his brother, holding him close to his chest. Sans's left eye flickered into black as the skull beside him faded into dust, and the smaller skeleton relaxed into his brother's hug. He didn't try to resist as beads of tears began to build up in his eyes, dripping from his face as he left the open door untouched. Dante got up from his spot to look at what was inside Sans's room, and even if the lights were off the room looked like a dump.
A small tornado of random junk was swirling around near the door, containing crumpled-up papers and dirty clothes. Cardboard boxes were stacked next to each other, and there was also a stained mattress with unused sheets. It was anything but that other world, as Papyrus put it. Sans opened up his eyes, revealing those pupils of white once more as he looked up the skeleton brother trying to calm him down.
"...Papyrus?" Sans asked, looking at the two men that were sleeping under the same roof. "I'm… sorry I acted like this. I just… need to take a walk."
"Sans, you always need to take a walk," Papyrus pointed out. "I'm… worried about you. You were acting weird, and now my suspicions might have been confirmed." Sans lifted up his hand, coating his door in cyan and yellow. The door vanished without a trace, seemingly teleported elsewhere.
"You're probably right," Sans replied, placing his hands in his hoodie's pockets. "I just need to relax. Yeah, that's it. I'll be back soon, k?" The whole house went dark for a moment, and Sans was gone just as Papyrus and Dante tried to learn what exactly happened.
"He's never been like this…" Papyrus sighed, getting back up to his feet. "Days ago, he was far more concerned about entering his room than normal. He would do it every night when he thought I was still asleep. I've never seen him this upset before. Perhaps you should follow him. Maybe even take him to your world. Just… something to help him fix whatever problem there is…"
The Devil Hunter was just outside the house he was sleeping in, running downhill while he looked for Sans in the very early dawn that was still dark.
"Sans? Sans!" Dante called out, looking high and low as far as his enhanced vision could perceive. The half-demon then found the short skeleton sitting on a rock near the road, looking out to the stars that were twinkling way up high. Sans didn't move a muscle as he gazed above the lights in the town.
"Dante… When you said you can't go back to your world now, do you really mean it?" Sans asked, aware that the Devil Hunter was next to him.
"I mean, I think so," Dante answered. "When I tested that pellet they gave me before I left to kill some demons in my town, it had no effect. Either it was a dud or something more serious is going on. What does this have to do with your door anyway?" Sans sighed as he looked back at the half-demon before staring up at the sky once more.
"The night is always my favorite time of the day," Sans explained, pretending to ignore the question the Devil Hunter asked. "Do you ever look up at the stars and wonder what life is like on other planets? How does every constellation tell a story about the world you live in? Is there really someone greater than we can imagine who created us just so we can live meaningless lives?" The skeleton got off the rock he was sitting on, walking down the hill with Dante trailing behind him.
"...You don't have to ask me," Sans noted before the Devil Hunter said anything. "I know what you're going to say. You're wondering why I got so angry over my own bedroom door. Whenever I enter that place… it's like I'm in another world. A world only I can see unless I allow others to give in to the darkness. Is it true? That something involving your portal network is affecting mine?"
"I don't know," Dante replied. "I don't necessarily know the ins and outs of my own, and my damn pellet's probably busted. Have you tried recalibrating that door?" Sans glanced at Dante, knowing full well that this exact bedroom door was a serious topic that was no laughing matter. His silence alone was enough to shut the Devil Hunter up as he moved to another topic.
"I don't know if you already know, but… I've been thinking a bit about alternate universes," Sans continued. "A collection of timelines organized into different worlds where one outcome leads to another. I, myself, have never seen these worlds or even have the abilities to access them, but I know they exist. I know of a world where Papyrus and I swapped personalities. I know of a world where all monsters have become crueler versions of themselves. I know of a world where all monsters were banished to space instead of underground. I know of worlds that present me as some kind of god, worlds where roles have been shifted, worlds where monsters go insane after having been locked underground for so long and resort to eating human flesh… worlds of cannibalistic monsters… worlds where we have all become mutants. Freaks. Amalgamations. Heartless beasts…" Sans's white pupils flickered with a sign of trauma from the thoughts he conjured in his head, aware that a majority of these worlds are, in fact, real… or only theoretical.
"Oh, geez," Dante replied. "I have no idea why you would say that. It's like you know everything is meaningless…"
"That door… it calls to me every night," Sans went on. "It beckons me to fix something that isn't there. It wants me to stay, like I was born in a world that lives in the dark. And through that door, I would be taken back into that dark. Papyrus told you, didn't he? Yeah, my little bro already knows I'm pretty weird, but what he doesn't know is what I've been through in searching for answers."
"To what?" Dante asked, still filled with so many questions.
"That's the point. I don't know," Sans continued, those dark circles hiding some kind of meaning in them. "I met someone there, and their friend went completely bonkers ages ago after encountering a strange someone. It wasn't their Knight, and it wasn't their Queen either. It was someone I seemed to recognize and at the same time... don't.
"He spouted out random nonsense and told us that this world… isn't what you think it is. It's merely a collection of codes and bots programmed to think and behave like sentient beings through a collection of timelines, and I was forever cursed with this knowledge. And you are I: we're a part of it. But that's ridiculous… right? Nothing more than the lies of a nihilistic nonbeliever who only wants to watch our worlds burn. The beliefs he would go through to force others into twisted games of death just to know what it's like. The stories he would tell of… them. The ones deciding our fates, casting us in completely impossible scenarios that stray from what was intended of our original endings. The ones beyond our control as they play with us like toys. The ones we'll never meet, forever trapped in a loop of resetting, until eventually… the world you know is discarded and forgotten for all eternity."
"Wow… that is pretty deep," Dante replied, unable to object on that full statement. "And here I thought you were just the dumb, wisecracking skeleton everybody loves."
"...I still am," Sans continued, shrugging off all he said like it was nothing. "I just have a lot going on inside my head. Besides, who would actually believe that stuff? Hell if I know." The morning sun began to slowly rise, bringing forth a new shining day. Sans continued walking with Dante as he recognized the half-demon was filled with so many questions. The Devil Hunter wanted the refusal to believe in what he was told. He didn't know what he would do if the mere thought of his whole life being a lie was entirely true and contradicts all that he went through, even the trauma he got from losing his mother.
"Anyways, wanna head over to Grillby's again?" Sans asked, trying to lighten the mood after figuring out that the Devil Hunter had a lot on his mind. "They've got a breakfast specialty; 30% off on all foods."
"Yeah, sure… I'd like that," Dante answered. "Though I wonder: do they have any pizza?"
"I'm not sure," Sans added, with both he and Dante walking along the sidewalk at the bottom of the hill. "Maybe Grillby has a menu on pizza. I'll have to ask him later if he-" The small skeleton's eyes suddenly widened in fright, his white pupils vanishing as nothing but black eye sockets remained. Sans clenched the front of his chest as he knelt down in pain, his monster heart beating fast as he could feel a burst of magic circulate inside him.
"Sans? Sans, are you alright!?" Dante asked, concerned about the health of Sans as he picked up the skeleton back onto his feet.
"Th… Thanks, pal," Sans panted as the white pupils faded back into his eyes as he caught his breath and the magic inside him subsided and calmed down. "It was like a burst of energy was… flowing through my veins…" A phone began to vibrate in the skeleton's pocket, calling as if someone wanted him to answer. Sans pushed himself away from the Devil Hunter and picked up his cellphone, wondering who was calling him.
"Sans?" Alphys's voice asked through the phone. "Sans, are you here?"
"Yeah, I'm here," Sans answered.
"Well, do you know about the magic detector you wanted me to use earlier?" Alphys continued through the phone. "I, um… managed to pick up a powerful burst of magic. Come quick!" The call ended, and Sans put the phone back in his pocket.
"Let's go," Sans spoke, snapping his fingers. Just at that moment, the bedroom door that vanished in front of the short skeleton's room instantly appeared behind Dante in a way that not even his demonic powers were able to predict.
"What the-?" Dante asked as Sans walked up to the door. "How did that thing get here? I thought you-"
"Got a unique inventory that lets me keep whatever's important," Sans replied, twisting the knob and unleashing those harmless flames to reveal nothing but darkness inside. The Devil Hunter looked behind the door frame, finding out that the back appeared normal like any other door left out in the open.
"Pretty neat," Dante complimented, following Sans into this strange place. The door shut behind the two as they were now wandering in the dark just straight ahead.
"So how do you know where you're going?" Dante asked, trying to keep close to the mysterious short skeleton.
"I trust my 'gut' instincts," Sans replied with a stifled laugh, making yet another pun as he tried to hide the humor from that response. The Son of Sparda chuckled at that joke, loving it as much as Sans does. The skeleton stopped walking and placed his hand on a knob, opening the door into the light. The two were in some kind of basement, filled with lab equipment and computer screens. Alphys herself was rapping her fingers patiently on her desk, with Undyne watching the recorded feedback next to her.
"Nyah, there's my favorite gentlemen!" Undyne called out, letting her girlfriend Alphys know that their two friends had arrived seemingly out of nowhere. "Welcome, welcome! Alphys has been anxious for the past few seconds to tell you some important information." Sans walked over to Alphys, who adjusted her position into a more comfortable one in her working chair.
"Hey, Alphys," Sans greeted. "Got any information?"
"Why, of course!" Alphys replied, handing the skeleton another seismograph sheet. "Try comparing the two seismograph papers together. I think the most recent one is much bigger." Sans took out the sheet he took with him and compared the two readings, realizing the one Alphys gave him now was far bigger than the one yesterday.
"Can you explain to me why that's the case?" Sans asked. Alphys typed away on her computer, playing the feedback recorded earlier. On the feedback, a humongous, draconic creature with ten heads flew across a large mountain, flying straight across.
"According to this footage," Alphys explained, "a strange monster never before seen in neither human nor monster history just entered this world, carrying a powerful kind of magic that supposedly landed on Mt. Ebott and sank deep underground. I'm gonna need you two to go down there and collect some evidence so we can keep studying this kind of magic. The readings are unlike any I've ever seen..." Sans glanced up at the playback of the recording, analyzing ten figures attacking those heads, with their faces too hard to notice even at the highest resolution.
"Hey, when did this footage occur?" Dante asked.
"About a few seconds ago," Alphys answered.
"...I felt a burst of energy inside me during that time," Sans pointed out, remembering the painful experience he witnessed like a heart attack. "I don't think it was pure coincidence at all." Alphys turned her chair around, stroking her chin in thought.
"Hm… you do have a good point," Alphys responded. "Perhaps once you get down to Mount Ebott, you can get the answers as to why."
"Alright, we'll do it," Sans answered, thinking about that door of his with no second thoughts. "And we're gonna make this quick."
"Please do," Undyne told the Devil Hunter and the skeleton, her arms crossed over her chest. "We don't know how severe that magic is gonna affect our own abilities." The room went dark for a brief moment, and both Sans and Dante were gone.
"How are we gonna tell Papyrus about this?" Undyne asked.
"I don't know. You're the one answering most of these questions," Alphys replied with a look of worry on her face. "My suspicions are Papyrus might soon figure this out. He's not a child anymore, and soon he might learn the truth about everything…"
The warm sunlight glistened over Cloud's face as he slept in a silky and comfortable bed. The ex-mercenary was dressed in a pair of shorts and a white tank-top, rubbing his eyes and stretching as he slowly woke up without hesitation. The faint smell of cinnamon and butterscotch tingled his nostrils, helping him become curious on what exactly was cooking outside of that room.
Cloud Strife walked down the stairs, still dressed in his sleepwear, to figure out what exactly was that delicious smell. There, he found Link up and early, dressed in his Champion's Tunic and a white apron as he took out of the stove oven something that looked kinda like a pumpkin pie but smelled completely different.
"Link…?" Cloud asked, watching the Champion of Hyrule close the oven and place a freshly-baked pie on a small round table. Sitting next to the table were Frisk and a goat-like monster with small horns, white fur, and a purple robe with a winged emblem imprinted upon her bosom.
"Wonderful job, Link!" the goat-like monster praised Link, who was cutting up the pie and serving it on small plates. "A perfect butterscotch-cinnamon pie, and no lumps in sight!"
"Thanks, Toriel," Link thanked, taking off his apron and sitting down with the goat monster and Frisk to eat his own culinary dessert. Toriel took a bite out of her slice, giggling as she tasted the creamy filling within the pie.
"I'm kind of curious as to ask, and I hope you don't mind: how are you such an amazing chef?" Toriel asked. "You seasoned this whole thing perfectly!"
"I kinda don't want to brag, but… I've been spending most of my days out in the wild. The secret is to test the smells and tastes of whatever you cook." Toriel laughed at the fact that Hylian was a grown man living in the wild, but she knew Link was a great chef regardless of where he got his skills. Cloud watched the conversation at the bottom of the stairs, a smile on his face as he watched Link interact with these kinds of people. Link soon noticed his friend just eavesdropping on the talk over breakfast.
"Oh! Cloud," Link noted. "Come over here and eat with us. We saved you a seat."
"Nah, I'm not really hungry," Cloud replied, scratching the back of his neck with a bit of bashfulness.
"Come on~!" Link called out, encouraging the 1st-class SOLDIER to eat with them.
"Eh, okay," Cloud chuckled, walking over to the round table and pulling up his seat. Link placed a slice of pie in front of him, and he admired just how good it looked. He heard that the Hylian had some cooking knowledge, but the way this slice of pie appeared was enough for Cloud to pick up the message. He took a piece from his plate and put it into his mouth, and the flavors just exploded in his mouth.
"Link… this is phenomenal," Cloud replied. "I mean, this is the best dish I've ever tasted. Nice work."
"Thanks," Link answered with a cheeky smile on his face. "It's been a while since someone's complimented me…"
"Aw, how cute…" Toriel replied with a smile on her face, finishing up her slice of pie. "Well, I'm going to prepare Frisk's supplies. It's their first day, and it only takes a few minutes to walk to the school. Now you better finish that meal, child. We'll be leaving in just ten minutes." Toriel walked away from the round table to prepare the child for school, leaving Frisk alone with the two houseguests. Frisk sighed with something on their mind, glad they at least got the job done.
*You tell Cloud and Link that you did a good job in helping them reconcile, Frisk's textbox read. *You ask them how they are feeling after the make-up.
"Oh, we're feeling fine, thanks for asking," Cloud replied. "...I guess we could all pitch in to help Link not get too confident or something…" Frisk finished up their pie, their expression still blank but still bearing that look of some deeper meaning.
*You address it's finally time for the thing you want to get out of your chest, the black textbox read for every word of dialogue spoken by Frisk. *You act nervous at first, but you point out that you can see how many lives these two swordfighters have. Link and Cloud glanced at each other, rather interested in learning more and at the same time… rather scared.
"How many lives?" Link asked. "You mean you were right when there was a… limit to how many times we can die?"
"I don't know," Cloud answered. "This kid could be bluffing. There's no way this can possibly be true…" Frisk took a deep breath as they lifted their hands up, and a textbox instantly appeared in front of them. The blond-haired fighters were surprised to find an entire menu of stats displayed on it, ranging from health points to level experience and an inventory stacked with various foods.
"Oh my…" Cloud Strife pointed out, feeling the semi-solid texture of the black box. "I've never seen an inventory like this before…"
"Me neither…" Link replied, feeling his hand pass through the floating box.
*You tell the two swordfighters that everyone has a menu like this and can check the stats of any individual they encounter, but you are the only one that can interact with yours, Frisk's textbox read once more. *You have had no memory of when or how you obtained this ability, by you know of the ones who use it to their advantage. The ones playing the game right now. The ones who built this world and programs all our actions. You're the only one who knows about this… and it fills you with FEAR. But that's for another time...
"Hey! If we really aren't as immortal as we thought then tell us… how many stocks do we have left?" Link asked, the first one starting to become more self-aware about Frisk's ideologies. Frisk tapped the "*check" button on their menu, reading the statistics of her friends.
*You tell Link he's got 6 more lives, whereas Cloud has 8 lives, Frisk replied. *You suggested they should be more careful in their fights. Otherwise, when they run out of stocks, their bodies will eventually crumble… into dust.
Link felt conflicted about this, worrying he might not be as immortal as he thought. It might have probably been a lie, and the mere silence was enough for the Champion of Hyrule to get the memo. But Frisk said so themselves: they can check the stats of anyone with just a fancy-looking menu that is otherwise only accessible to some god-like deities that may or may not exist.
Cloud noticed that there were supposed to be four buttons, but one of them was missing. The buttons available were FIGHT, MERCY, and CONTINUE.
"Hey, Frisk," Cloud pointed out. "What's that gap between those buttons?" Frisk was fully aware of the gap, looking up at the ex-mercenary in order to answer as best as they could.
*You say there used to be a RESET button here. The most powerful button anyone can have, Frisk's textbox explained. It can erase memories, take you back to a moment where you missed something important as long as you saved… and restart everything you've worked up to. By resetting, you can manipulate the roles of any character you encounter… dictating them like a god. You didn't want this kind of power. You didn't want to manipulate your world at a whim. You just wanted to be a normal human child living with a foster goat mother, but… curiosity and ignorance driven by determination can lead to situations unimaginable. Frisk rested their elbows on the table, content with the life they've got. Link and Cloud Strife stared at the empty gap that resided in the menu, picking up the message the human child was trying to explain.
"I guess we're not so different, you and I," Link sighed, pushing away the pie he made. "We both use our own powers to an advantage, but I guess we let it dictate our way of thinking to the point where it expands beyond our limitations. You might have probably recovered from it at such a young age, but…" The Champion of Hyrule hung his head low, feeling rather dishonored about himself.
"Hey, Link?" Cloud told Link, placing his hand over the Hylian's. "It's not your fault. You just kinda lost your sense of way. Like I mentioned before: I'll be happy to help you use more than just those fancy skills of yours."
"Thanks, Cloud…" Link replied, feeling a little better about himself.
"My child!" Toriel called out to Frisk. "I've got your things packed up. We're gonna be walking to school now, so I hope you're ready." Frisk got off from their seat, waving goodbye to the two fighters as they ran over to Toriel, hugging her dress.
"Oh! You're quite affectionate today, aren't you?" Toriel asked, chuckling as she slipped the backpack over the child's shoulders. "Hey, Link? Thanks for that wonderful pie. And Cloud? You might wanna get dressed. Asgore's here for his gardening shift and he's currently trimming the hedges near the house. See you~!" Toriel left the house with Frisk, closing the door behind them.
"Alright, I'm gonna get dressed in my uniform," Cloud Strife told Link as he walked away from the dinner table.
"Okay," Link replied. "I'll be talking to this Asgore eye outside." As Cloud went upstairs, Link quickly wolfed down his slice of pie and went outside Toriel's house. The Hylian took a quick glance at Toriel walking down the street with her loving human child, accompanied by an armless reptilian monster that was yellow in color and had what appeared to be bruises under their eyes.
Link glanced over to the fence on his right, having just taken notice of the monster trimming the small hedges with a pair of shears. He was a goat-like monster just like Toriel, bearing a bulky body and some curved horns to accommodate his golden mane-beard. He was wearing a white Aloha shirt with pink flowers and a pair of blue denim shorts with some sandals.
"Um… hi there," Link greeted. "Your name's Asgore, right? Asgore Dreemurr?" The goat monster stopped trimming for a brief moment to glance over at Link with a kind and modest smile on his face.
"That's correct," Asgore answered in a kind and gruff voice, brushing off some of the overgrown twigs that were trimmed off the small hedges. "It seems like only a few humans in this world still know my name, even after thousands of years."
"Thousands of years?" Link asked. "How is that possible?"
"Well… I am technically a Boss Monster. The highest authority one has over a race of monsters," Asgore explained.
"Authority? You mean like a king?" Link questioned, just curious on what kind of species Asgore is.
"I guess you can say that," Asgore chuckled. "It's been a while ever since I actually took the throne and ruled in a monarchy-based government. Even though I'm technically royalty, I tend to spend these days doing the one thing I enjoy the most. Gardening. Toriel these days has been paying me extra to tend to her plants, but I guess that's from a sign of forgiveness after we… got divorced."
"Divorced? You mean Toriel and you were…?"
"Married? Of course. We ruled over the monsters during our time underground. A child was born between us. A pure bundle of joy. The underground was filled with hope and determination. The second time this happened, a human child fell below the surface as was brought into our family. Now they're not the same human you've probably encountered in your time here, just to avoid any confusion. The one you seem to recognize is serving as the ambassador to keep the peace between humans and monsters."
"Anyways, after we lost them to the humans one night… I was enraged. Filled with grief. Sickened by my declaration of war, Toriel left me. I was foolish back then. To this day, I still wonder if things had been any different. If I took Toriel's advice to absorb that child's SOUL, travel to the surface, and use the SOULs I've gathered to destroy the barrier keeping us trapped below that mountain…" Over to the Hylian's left was a large mountain far off in the distance past Frisk's and Toriel's neighborhood, obscured by a few clouds rolling by.
"You mean this one?" Link asked, pointing towards that mountain. Asgore knew what the Hylian was talking about and softly nodded his head.
"Do you mean Mt. Ebott?" Asgore acknowledged. "If you and your friends want to visit that place, you can do so if you want. It's not like there's much there anyway, but you can learn about how we used to live there…" Asgore resumed his work, and Cloud Strife exited Toriel's house in his usual uniform.
"Cloud!" Link recognized. "Glad to see you finally got dressed."
"Alright, the pellets still aren't working, and it doesn't look like we can leave this world anytime soon," Cloud explained, tossing the Hylian his pellet even if it wasn't functioning. Link caught the pellet, placing it in one of his pouches.
"Anything you wanna do today?" Cloud asked.
"Well… I was wondering if we should go over to Mt. Ebott," Link suggested. "Asgore said this place was where all these monsters once lived. Maybe we should check it out?"
"I guess so," Cloud replied. "Maybe it might give us an explanation as to why there are two intelligent races living on the same planet."
"Bye, Asgore!" Link called out as he walked down the concrete sidewalk leading straight to the mountain. Asgore waved at the two swordsmen as they went off to Mt. Ebott, unaware of the magic released by the Hydra that flew overhead prior to all this.
Link and Cloud Strife climbed up a pathway to the middle of the large mountain, gazing down into a humongous pit leading straight down into the dark world below. It seemed to go on for meters and meters until eventually… the only light they could see below was a mere sparkle.
"Should have brought some rope…" Cloud sighed, scratching that spiky hair of his. "Should we wait up for Dante? We haven't seen him since yesterday."
"I'm sure he'll be fine, since he's half-demon and all," Link replied, taking out his glider to use. "Well… looks like the only option is to use my glider to get a soft landing. Wanna hold on?" Cloud Strife glanced down at the abyss again, which seemed to get darker as time went on. The ex-mercenary held on tight to the Champion of Hyrule from behind, clinging for dear life as the Hylian jumped into the pit with him.
The blond-haired swordsmen watched as the light shining above them began to shrink, and the ground was easier to identify. When the two got close to the ground, Link pulled out his glider. Cloud let go of the Hylian and landed in petals of gold, feeling the quiet wind tickle his skin. The Smashers recognized they were in a bed of golden flowers, nourishing themselves with the only sunlight in this entire place.
"Wow… even in the darkness, I can see clearly," Link pointed out, mesmerized by the ocean of golden flowers that stretched out across the purple ruins just straight ahead.
"We're just here to learn about how these monsters lived, right?" Cloud asked, looking around the place. "Do we just journey straight ahead?"
"I guess so, since I see no other way around these ruins," Link replied, his habit of running ahead kicking in as he dashed straight for the open ruins.
"Hey, Link!" Cloud called out, dashing through the field of golden flowers. "Wait up!" While the two disappeared into the ruins, one of the flowers began to move, though it wasn't from the soft winds. It literally moved with signs of sentience, sporting six golden petals and a friendly face on a white head, and it looked exactly similar to the one encountered in the Worlds of Light and Darkness.
"Hm… new humans? After a thousand resets?" the flower asked, curious about their strange placement. "Perhaps I can pay them a little visit…" The flower sank back into the ground, following them through the decaying ruins.
The fighters journeyed across the darkened ruins up the crumbling stairs, seeing that there used to be a puzzle that involved stepping on buttons. There were leaves that crinkled below their feet wherever they stepped, and water trickled down the cracks in the walls. All in all, the place was entirely quiet and empty.
"Hm… looks like this place wasn't so heavy on the defenses," Cloud noted, analyzing a pathway where a bunch of spikes used to be. "Well… maybe a few exceptions." The ex-mercenary tossed a small rock across the pathway, watching as the spikes quickly rose out before sinking back into the holes.
"Whelp… looks like we're gonna have to run across," Link told the 1st-class SOLDIER.
"Agreed," Cloud replied, holding Link's hand. The two Smashers dashed as fast as they could, running across the pathway before they got impaled by the spikes. They made it safely across without figuring out the safe route to the other side. Nonetheless, they continued through the ruins and made it to an abandoned household shortly after.
There was no door already, granting the two free access into the place. What they found instead was nothing but floorboards and no light in sight, with the exception of a stairway leading down to their exit. As they checked where the living room, the kitchen, the hallway, and the two rooms adjacent to it, they discovered that whatever furniture was around was completely gone.
"Interesting… looks like the rooms here were made for some guests," Cloud pointed out.
"Hey, wait," Link replied, noticing the markings that could be seen past the dust. "These markings show that… the size of the furniture is exactly like how Toriel arranged the guest room."
"Now that you mention it, I can kinda see it," Cloud replied, aware of what the Hylian was talking about. "Look. You can even see the same placements."
"I guess this used to be Toriel's home after all," Link noted. "Asgore told me he and Toriel were once together, but… now they're not anymore. Cloud... do you think the same might happen to us?" Cloud Strife knew that the Hylian was trying to tell him about the divorce between the Dreemurr family, and he hugged Link with a clear sign of intimacy.
"I hope not…" Cloud answered, knowing their friendship is stronger than anything. Link accepted the hug willingly, and after another minute of searching they made their way into the basement. They basically made their way out of the ruins and were heading straight towards the exit, but there was just one thing in front of them: a golden flower on an empty patch of ground.
"A flower blooming in the only fertile ground around here?" Cloud asked, looking at the flower with careful analysis. The face on the flower began to emerge, blinking with a friendly smile.
"Howdy!" the flower greeted. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!" Link soon began to remember the hell he had been through with some of his teammates in Gallia and Draxia. He remembered the devilish smile that creature sported, and how it attacked them in his Omega form. The Champion of Hyrule pointed his sword at the flower, but Cloud Strife lowered his weapon.
"Woah, take it easy," Flowey advised with caution, giving Link a strange look. "It's as if you've seen a ghost. One that kinda looks like me…" Link slowly put the Master Sword back in his blade, but his hand was still kept on the handle just in case.
"Um… What are you talking about?" Link pointed out through a question of his own. "You mean you don't remember attacking us? How you unleashed that Rathalos? How you destroyed an abandoned town in your Omega form?"
"Remember what?" Flowey asked. "I legit don't know what you're talking about. Honest. I don't even know what a Rathalos is or who… you two are. In all those resets of meeting that same human child, I had been waiting for them and Chara to return."
"Chara?" Cloud questioned. "Who are they?"
"Why… they're my best friend, of course!" Flowey replied with a wink and a smile while sticking his tongue out. "Through multiple resets, I could hear them calling out to me. Waiting to be released through determination… after we failed our plan. But that pathetic human brat you guys call Frisk destroyed that button of theirs so they could no longer start over and play through the game again and again."
"We just want to know why you can't remember us," Link interrogated. "Now answer us this: do you remember anything about Arcus? Arcadia? The Worlds of Light and Darkness?" Flowey bowed down to the ground, having no clear memory of what exactly happened.
"I clearly don't remember," Flowey confessed. "The only world I know that works is this one. If you've had some roughs with me - at least an alternate version of me that isn't even a perfect duplicate - just know I put those actions far behind me… You're free to explore the underground, if you'd like. It's not like there's much after all the monsters left and I'm forever stuck here without a single reset."
"...How would we know you wouldn't kill us when you've got the chance?" Link asked.
"Because… you've got quite a power that exceeds even the determination of this world," Flowey replied. "I can feel it. From both of you. In fact… months ago, I found a strange prize that was taken to the dump, and I couldn't let it go to waste. But maybe after you continue that tour of yours you can get that prize. Shouldn't take any effort at all. Nobody's even here to stop you." Flowey sank back into the ground, letting the two swordfighters go on their way.
"How do you know we can trust this plant?" Link asked.
"Good question," Cloud answered. "We're still going to keep our guards up regardless." The ex-mercenary walked through the exit, and Link ran up to him as they stepped onto a path of snow. All around the Smashers were trees with barren branches, and the snow reached up to their ankles. Ahead of the two was a large gate with bars too wide to stop anyone. They made their way into an abandoned neighborhood, where there were signs that anthropomorphic dogs and other cuddly monsters used to live here from the litter, and the windows were blinded completely. At the main road to the small town, the Champion of Hyrule glanced over to a sign greeting any traveling visitors.
"'Welcome to Snowdin,'" Link read the painted letters out loud. The population count was painted over to show the number "zero," perhaps as yet another way to show that anyone who once lived in this town left the underground like it was a prison of sorts. Within the town, Cloud Strife and Link noticed an empty slot of land just out in the snowy open, aware that there used to be some kind of house on the property.
"Interesting…" Cloud noted, walking around the empty property as the snow crinkled underneath his boots. It's like the whole house was literally taken from its spot." The ex-mercenary then stepped on something that wasn't snow. He looked down below his foot to see a crumpled-up sheet of paper just lying in the snow, soaking itself in the frozen blanket of white. Cloud took the paper out, carefully unfolding it without tearing it. The colors were watered out and mixing into each other as they ran, but he could recognize that there were three figures on the paper, their faces abstracted. There were also letters written above the figures, by which he could interpret it reading as "Don't forget."
"Cloud! There's a waterfall area just up ahead!" Link called out to him. Cloud gently folded the paper and placed it in his pocket before running east towards the Champion of Hyrule.
The sound of running water echoed right around them, with an ice-cold river glimmering with a deep cyan the same color as Cloud's eyes. Mushrooms and moss were scattered around in patches, and lily-like flowers with bioluminescent petals bloomed all over the place.
"Hello?" Link called out in the empty landscape, hearing his own voice echo across the waterfall area. The Hylian's voice could be heard calling from the flowers, which picked up his sound and repeated what he said. Cloud knelt down to analyze the flower, admiring how they behaved exactly like an echo. He whistled a single note to test the flowers out, and they repeated that whistled note across the waterfall.
"This is pretty fascinating," Cloud noted. "I've never seen flowers like these before. I just wish Aerith was still alive. She would have loved to hear my voice through them…" The 1st-class SOLDIER still felt guilty over the friend he lost, and Link could feel the sorrow coming from his friend. The Champion of Hyrule knelt down close to Cloud Strife, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm sure her voice still carries on through these flowers," Link assured, his voice also filled with sorrow intended to comfort his friend. "If she's listening right now… I could see her smiling back at you." The Hylian's other hand wiped the tear falling from Cloud's eye, and the ex-mercenary gently moved it to his own cheek for affection.
"Thanks, pal," Cloud told Link, accepting Link's kind words before he got back up onto his feet. "But I guess what's in the past is in the past. That flower's got something we've probably been looking for, and I don't know if these pellets still work. Link? Is yours functional?" Link took the pellet, giving it a quick squeeze.
"Nope," the Hylian replied. "It's still not responding. Besides, we can worry about that prize later and head to the next location. I'm curious to see the rest of the underground."
Link and Cloud traveled across a rocky chasm that was filled with an ocean of lava, the temperature as hot as an oven and the air was thick with smoky fumes. There were multiple pathways leading across the area, and in front of them was some kind of massive laboratory with its metallic slide door already pried open. The fighters walked into the lab, noticing that the lights were shut off.
"Looks like this was Alphys's place before she moved out," Cloud Strife figured, analyzing the wires sticking out of the sockets of where various electronics were once attached. There was a huge tear in the wall, but it was rather dark to notice. A scuffling sound could be heard within the crack, and Cloud listened to the sound of footsteps echoing deep inside.
"Cloud?" Link asked. "Is there something wrong?"
"Nothing," Cloud answered. "Let's just go." As the two went to the other side of the lab and traveled to their next destination, a pair of eyes that glimmered like sapphires peered out from the darkness within that tear in the wall.
"The Air Topaz is close," the voice told himself. "It won't be long, Mephiles."
It had been a while, but in the end the two made it to the end of their tour of the underground by traversing an abandoned hotel first and the hallways of the castle second. Unlike everything else within the underground that was seemingly cleaned up, the last corridor Link and Cloud Strife arrived in seemed unchanged despite having no furniture. A thin blanket of dust bunnies were crowded near the Greek pillars that were lined up in two straight rows near the stretching walls, and the white light that shone through the windows was tinted with a golden hue.
"Looks like this is the end of our trip," Link reminded, seeing the exit just up ahead. "It was kinda interesting to see how the monsters of this world used to live here… and I guess I can thank you for opening up my mind."
"It's still going to be difficult to change that attitude of yours, but I can guarantee you that you will change for the better. You will still be the Hero of Hyrule your universe speaks of… just not as over-confident." The two Smashers walked down the hall, stopping as Flowey emerged from the yellow marble floor right in front of them.
"That was fun, huh?" Flowey told them. "Just a simple tour around the old world of the monsters to give you a sense of imagination. But I guess it's time to say goodbye. Out there, past the golden flower bed in the next room, is a door to the surface world. But I guess I should give you what you guys deserve. At least I think you do. Judging by the way gusts of wind blew around it and it reeked of an ancient power, I'd figured I would give it to you two." A small cluster of thorny vines emerged in front of Flowey, blossoming to reveal a glimmering flash of blue. The gem itself was cut into a cubic shape, marked with a swirl shape and three letters in that same language as was on the Earth Citrine.
"Is that…?" Cloud asked.
"The Air Topaz! I forgot we were looking for those kinds of jewels!" Link exclaimed, feeling like he was an idiot for not noticing sooner.
"Is that what this jewel was called?" Flowey questioned, taking a good look at the gemstone. "I couldn't really tell because the writing carved into this gem is… unlike any language I've ever seen. I didn't really know what to do with this considering there's nothing here in this world… or any other. I'm kinda curious about what you speak of, and I hope one day our paths can cross again." The Champion of Hyrule was just about to take the Air Topaz after Flowey was offering it to them as a tribute, but something happened instead.
The flower put on a malicious smile, his eyes narrowing into empty sockets and a demonic grin stretching across his face. Cloud's eyes widened in the fear that the flower was going to betray them, and he knew just what to do to help Link avoid any more danger.
"Link! Look out!" Cloud exclaimed, pushing the Hylian to the floor as the vines retreated into the ground with the Air Topaz and Flowey lashed a powerful vine out that looked like it was aiming at the two fighters.
However, Flowey was not aiming for them at all.
The flower saw a figure in the shadows at the entrance to the corridor, aware they were attempting to shoot his new friends with a golden bow graced with jewels and ivory. As a reaction, Flowey shot his vine out at the hidden intruder. Before the vine could hit the figure, he put away his bow and jumped out of the shadows, running across the flower's large vine. Link and Cloud got up to see the appearance of the attacker.
The man had short black hair with defined cheekbones and cocoa-colored skin, wearing a blue cape with golden markings and a small laurel crown. He wore leather boots and chest armor, shooting daggers made out of ice at the vine he was running on. Flowey shrieked like a cat, unleashing more vines at the stranger. The strange person stopped instantly, slamming his foot into the ground and unleashing a single wave of water to trap the vines.
Link grabbed his Master Sword and cut straight through the ice, with Cloud jumping out from behind him to unleash a Blade Beam at the stranger.
"Who are you!?" Cloud interrogated, pointing his Buster Sword at the prince-like figure in a powerful stance as Flowey's vines retreated back into the floor. "Who are you, and what do you think you're doing here!?" The stranger laughed, shaking his head.
"Not even the most famous warriors in the multiverse know my name, don't they?" the prince asked in a heavily-accented tone. "I am Kirst the Triumphant, the Prince of Ice and a loyal servant of Eternia herself!" The prince's narrow eyes widened, exposing a pair of green irises in front of bloodshot eyes to prove a connection between him and Mephiles.
"Eternia? Who's she?" Flowey asked, still not letting go of the fact this person just attacked him.
"We don't know either," Cloud Strife answered. "We've been hearing only a few subtle hints about her…"
"Enough talk!" Kirst exclaimed, pointing his bow at the three fighters. "I have come here to bring my master your heads, and to make use of that flower with you! He possesses the very jewel I was tasked to look for."
"You can pry it from us first!" Link snarled, guarding himself with the Hylian Shield as he pointed his Master Sword at the Prince of Ice.
"That's what I plan to do, silent protagonist… or that's what I would call you if you didn't have the ability to speak up," Kirst replied, hinting that the Hylian before couldn't talk, or at the very least speak in grunts and yells. "So it's a three-on-one match, isn't it? Me… versus a traitor of his silence, a traitor of his organization, and a traitor of his motto. 'Kill or be killed'… isn't that what you were talking about prior to their arrival, flower? Mephiles told me all about you three…"
"HEY! For your information, I was gonna kill these morons before they grabbed that topaz! But now that you got here… well, I guess I can side with them and dispose of YOU first." Flowey confessed in an angry tone, his face reverting back into its demonic appearance as he spat out a rapid barrage of pellet-shaped bullets.
"Kill us first…?" Link asked in confusion as the fight began.
The Prince of Ice spread open his arms, creating two icy blades in his gloved hands. He danced around the bullets, deflecting each one that flew in his way. Link aimed his bow at Kirst, but the attacker drew his first, shooting an icy arrow that flew straight at its mark. The Hylian quickly dodged the arrow before it hit him, grabbing his Master Sword and dashing straight ahead while he and Cloud completely forgot about what Flowey intended on doing.
"While we're here, let me tell you a story about how I found Eternia," Kirst the Triumphant spoke, dodging Link's forward dash and Cloud's Cross Slash. Flowey emerged from behind the Prince of Ice and slapped Kirst from behind, knocking him into one of the pillars. The servant of Eternia quickly got back up on his feet, shooting an icy arrow that honed in on Cloud.
"I wasn't always dressed in such glamorous clothing," the Prince of Ice lamented, firing more arrows to hone in on the three faster than the speed of sound. "I was of the peasantry class, worse than you three." Flowey ducked beneath the ground, Link used his Sheikah Slate to erect an ice pillar in front of him to block the arrows, and Cloud danced around the flying arrows as they curved around to hit him. The arrows missed their targets, but as they all landed they transformed the ground into ice. The Prince of Ice skated across the frozen floor, dodging more of Flowey's vines emerging out of the pillars.
"I was only taught work and labor, never getting a break to rest," Kirst went on, blocking Link's thrust with his icy blades. "The common folk suffered under the intense desert weather and poor economy!" The Prince of Ice kicked Link forward before turning around and blocking Cloud's Climhazzard attack with his golden bow. The Champion of Hyrule hit one of the pillars with great force, groaning as he fell to the floor and tried to keep himself conscious enough to continue fighting.
"Despite putting our lives on the line, our masters only spent the money we made for them to bask in worthless luxuries while we were conquered and enslaved by neighboring kingdoms," the prince continued, jumping high into the air and launching a rain of spears down on the floor. "I was sure I would end up like one of my people… until Mephiles came." Cloud Strife grabbed Kirst's neck, slamming him onto the floor before thrusting his blade downward.
"He told me of a future where he would rebuild my society into a greater one, and all I had to do was use the gift of ice to conquer worlds in his name. Since then, I had kept my promise in his allegiance!" the prince dragged on, scratching Cloud's chest harshly with arctic claws. The 1st-class SOLDIER was knocked straight into the wall, with Flowey emerging from the floor next to him.
"Golly! How are you still alive?" Flowey asked as the ex-mercenary clenched his chest, trying to hold on as he got up. "Any normal human that faces him might end up dead with his speed and strength."
"I know… Link, hold on! I'm coming!" Cloud Strife called out to the Hylian, who was blocking Kirst's arrows with his practically indestructible shield. The 1st-class SOLDIER dashed straight after the Prince of Ice, his thick blade cutting through Kirst's chest. Regardless, as Cloud got up to Link's side and Flowey aimed some of his vines at the Prince of Ice like he was an octopus, Kirst the Triumphant still got up.
"And all those who defy Eternia's promise shall suffer the consequences!" Kirst finished, getting ready to fire a bombardment of flying ice spears that would kill all three of them.
Just then, before any of the spears could hit Kirst, a white bone hit the Prince of Ice straight at his forehead at top speed. Link, Cloud, and Flowey were soon drenched in a weak wave of water, unaware of what just happened.
"Heya, boys," Sans's voice called out to them from behind the trio. The two Smashers and the flower soon discovered the Devil Hunter himself allied with the short skeleton, having just arrived at the fight at the end of the hall.
"Dante?" Link asked. "How did you get here?"
"Went the same route all these monsters left through on the mountain," Dante replied. "And we got here as fast as we could from this loveable guy next to me…"
"Well, if it isn't Smiley Trashbag," Flowey replied, aware of Sans being in the situation.
"Good to see ya too, pal," Sans noted, his unfaltered expression revealing he knows about the flower. "How are those resets of your handling ever since I left with the other monsters?"
"Much better," Flowey replied, sporting a toothy grin and an evil scowl as he glanced over at Kirst the Triumphant. The Prince of Ice got back onto his feet, his cocoa skin and raven-black hair stained with red that was dripping from his head.
"You two Smashers might wanna sit this one out," Sans encouraged, taking a step forward. "The rest of us can deal with him. You've been plenty of help for now."
"How did you know we were Smashers?" Cloud asked, surprised when the skeleton found out who he and Link were.
"Don't know either," Dante confessed, drawing his blade at a charging Kirst while Flowey pulled out more tentacle-like vines. "From what I remember, I never told him about you guys… I think." Kirst drew his blades, stabbing them through Dante's chest. The Devil Hunter simply shrugged it off, knocking the Prince of Ice backwards with a powerful punch.
The servant of Eternia rolled back, cutting through the vines about to strike him. Flowey emerged below his feet, a devilish grin on his face as vines wrapped around Kirst's legs and suplexed him onto the floor. Sans himself walked straight ahead, slamming his salmon-pink sandal and creating a stack of bones beneath Kirst. The Prince of Ice jumped up, the tip of his foot scraping the ends of the bones and generating a purple mist.
Kirst the Triumphant set his eyes on Sans, attempting to cut him down with his dual blades. The skeleton simply danced around the slashes, dancing around the attacks at every opportunity.
"What?" Sans asked. "You think I'm just gonna stand there and take it?" The skeleton's eye sockets went dark as his left eye began to glow, grabbing Kirst's heart with that blue psychokinesis of his. Sans flung Kirst across the corridor, to which Dante pulled out his guns and fired at the Prince of Ice.
Sans slammed Kirst into the wall near the entrance, where a bunch of bones behind the prince were just about to emerge. The Prince of Ice fought against the telekinesis and dived straight for Dante, sending spears coming after the Devil Hunter's way. Dante used his sword Rebellion to cut through every individual spear, letting the ice fragments fall around him with no impact. The Devil Hunter slashed with rapid jabs, cutting through Kirst's chest as he tried avoiding the bones and vines quickly flying past him.
"Finally helping us, huh?" Sans asked Flowey.
"Shut up! I'm only doing this just so I could get rid of this guy! He's starting to get on my nerves!" Flowey replied, shaking his petals and unleashing a small cloud of pollen. The pollen grew a bed of golden flowers, those of which spat out a powerful gunfire of white pellets. Kirst was getting attacked left and right, trying to handle three powerful fighters at once while Cloud and Link sat on the sidelines, amazed by the abilities through which they never imagined before.
The Prince of Ice was trying to survive as best as he could, being forced to deal with Dante's powerful marksmanship, Flowey's vicious vines and pellets, and Sans's fast and extremely dangerous stacks of bones that inflicted poisonous damage on him. However, through the wish of conquest he made, Kirst the Triumphant pulled through.
"ENOUGH OF THIS!" Kirst snarled, sending a pair of spears to impale Dante and pin him down on the floor. Temporarily disabling the Devil Hunter, Kirst went after Sans and Flowey before he would finish his work on Link and Cloud Strife. The Prince of Ice slammed his feet onto the ground, creating an icy pillar that froze Flowey's vines again and left him open. The flower was kicked in the face by Kirst as more of his vines were cut down by those chilling blades, and now Sans was left alone to fight with this intruder.
"He needs our help!" Link exclaimed, not wanting to stand around any longer. "Sans! We're going to help you!" Sans's left eye flashed cyan and yellow, grabbing Link's heart and pushing him back into Cloud's spot.
"Don't worry about it," Sans reminded the Champion of Hyrule, dodging Kirst's slashes. "You two stay right here. It'll be over before you know it." The short skeleton knew of the rain of icy arrows coming his way, and he clasped over his chest. A white, upside-down heart flashed on his white t-shirt, and he pulled out a bone that he used as a baseball bat. He whacked the arrows left and right, some crashing through the windows and others hitting Kirst.
Sweat was dripping from Sans's skull while he continued dodging the Prince of Ice's powerful attacks, clued-up about the situation he was in. At any moment, he would get tired and let that malicious attacker kill him. He needed to keep fighting as he erected out pillars of bones that flew past Kirst. Eventually, Sans was left open for Kirst to slash him at the chest.
"Sans!" Dante cried out to the skeleton for fear he may have been brutally murdered, trying to pull the icy spears pinning him down. Cloud and Link stared in fright while Flowey gazed at the unfortunate outcome. Sans tumbled close to the ground, the white pupils in his eyes sockets trembling as he looked down at his chest, seeing a stain of red on his clothes.
"Aw man…" Sans sighed, glancing over to his right and seeing that Kirst the Triumphant had managed to strike a plastic ketchup bottle hidden underneath the skeleton's shirt, and it was knocked out from the impact.
"That was my favorite brand of ketchup," Sans continued, getting back onto his feet. Much to Kirst's unlucky scenario, the white pupils in Sans's sockets vanished once more, and a flickering iris of cyan and yellow flashed on his left. Sans threw up his left hand, spawning a small group of those floating draconic heads behind him. The heads opened fire on Kirst, shooting white lasers and forcing him to run away from their line of sight.
Pillars of large, rounded bones were erected right in front of the Prince of Ice, dancing around the floor, walls, and ceiling as his heart began to glow blue from Sans's powers and he was flung around the room. The other four fighters watched as Sans did most of the dirty work, throwing Kirst across the cavernous yellow halls while not even moving another step.
Cyan bones were lodged into the invader's back and chest, hurting like hell every time he got up and moved around. The gravity was shifting him close to the floor, then the ceiling, then the walls, and every single time he was hit by such powerful attacks.
This power is unlike any I have ever seen, Kirst thought while he tried to attack as long as he was still standing. Even with only half of his abilities, he's such a formidable force. I wonder if he earned those traits from his creator… Sans could read the expressions of his attacker and pretty much read his thoughts, his left eye flickering as he continued to attack despite the notion he would tire himself out.
Kirst's heart was grabbed by the cyan and yellow psychokinesis, slammed rapidly across the room while Link, Cloud, Dante, and Flowey watched in complete awe over the lazy skeleton's raw abilities that are not meant to be messed with. The Prince of Ice, his cocoa skin and cheekbone cuts now wounded and bruised with black and blue, was slammed onto the floor. As the servant of Eternia slowly got up, he could hear the sound of multiple draconic heads surrounding him and just about ready to fire from the snap of Sans's finger.
"Alright, pal. I've got a question for you," Sans interrogated, his white pupils looking with anticipation at the corrupted attacker with a grin that he is one that won't hold back his power. "I'm thinking of a number between one and one hundred. What is it?" Kirst's green and bloodshot eyes gazed in fear at the floating skulls that were just about to kill him where he stood, knowing there was no way out of this.
"Um… twenty-five?" Kirst nervously asked, trying to come up with a good answer.
"Wrong," Sans retorted, his eye sockets going completely dark as he snapped his boney fingers, signaling his blasters to fire upon Kirst the Triumphant. The white lasers had completely engulfed the Prince of Ice by the time Dante dislodged the spears pinning him down and Flowey shook off his wounds. The four fighters got behind Sans as they watched a silhouette of Kirst get burned alive by the lasers, screaming a demonic screech as Sans watched with blackened sockets of uncanniness.
By the time Sans knew that Kirst was dead, the draconic skulls stopped firing and faded into dust. All that was left on the floor of the final corridor was a pile of ashes that were laid out in the shape of a wild-haired woman with slanted eyes that depicted insanity. Dante, Flowey, Link, and Cloud could do nothing but simply stare like idiots as they had to take in the chaos they witnessed.
"Whelp, I'm starvin'," Sans told the four fighters he looked back on, the white pupils in his sockets returning as though that attack never happened. "Who's in the mood for some hot dogs? Or nice cream. I've heard the chocolate-dipped ones with the almonds are the best this time of year…" Cloud Strife and Link were too entranced by what just occurred right in front of their eyes, and they went over to the ash pile to analyze what remained of Kirst the Triumphant.
"Jesus Christ. Even that's a pretty dark way of going out like that," Dante pointed out, knowing what Sans did. "I love it."
"Thanks, pal," Sans noted. "To be fair, this guy was anything but human. Wonder what he was doing here to begin with…"
"He said something about taking the Air Topaz that Flowey was going to give to us," Link explained. "The flower said he somehow found it here and would let us take it so he could backstab us later."
"Is that so?" Sans asked, glancing at a nervous Flowey.
"Uh… mm… well, y'see… the thing is…" Flowey tried explaining, his flowery head sweating as he tried to come up with a good response.
"You don't have to say anything," Sans noted. "Just fork over the gemstone you're keeping from these two." Flowey sighed in annoyance as he bowed his head and the small vines containing the glowing-blue jewel emerged right in front of him.
"Anything else I can do to repay you guys?" Flowey asked in an irritated tone as Cloud Strife took the jewel from the small flower.
"Yeah. There are a few things you can do to repay," Cloud replied, sticking the Air Topaz in his pouch. Link soon recognized something at the corner of his eye, and it was at the center of the hallway.
"What's that?" Link asked, pointing at some kind of white vortex that just showed up out of nowhere in front of the pile of ashes.
"I think it must be that magic source Alphys was referring to," Sans explained. "Maybe we should go test it and see where it leads us."
"But… we gotta get back to Arcus," Cloud Strife reminded Sans. "We want to make sure everyone's okay and hope this portal network is fixed."
"Then be my guest," Sans told them, shrugging and pretending like nothing's on his mind. "This world is where I was born, and I've got nothing to live for. But if you wanna go through that rift without me, then be my guest. The surface doesn't really appeal to me here… and I guess I could say the same for this flower."
"...Hey, why don't you two come join us?" Dante asked, gently hitting Sans's shoulder bone. "We always love seeing new faces here, and I'm sure Papyrus wouldn't mind you leaving for a while as long as you send some cards to him." Sans looked back at the exit out of the corridor, and he looked forward to seeing Link and Cloud just up ahead near the rift.
"Eh, it's worth a shot," Sans answered, accepting the Devil Hunter's request. "I won't mind a vacation from this world for a while. As for this flower… he's coming with us. Don't want him killing anyone while I'm gone." Flowey growled as the short skeleton stroked his petals, snapping his teeth like a piranha just to make Sans back off.
"Fine… But let's not speak of this in every reset again," Flowey replied, letting himself get uprooted by Sans. The fibrous roots stuck out beneath the sentient flower as the skeleton held him like a baby goat. When Dante and Sans walked past Link and Cloud Strife with Flowey on their team, they disappeared into the white vortex. Link glanced at Cloud, knowing of what he wanted to say despite feeling nervous.
"Um, Cloud? During these past few hours we've been stuck in this world, I just kinda wanted to say I… enjoyed hanging out with you," Link told Cloud, trying to hide the small blush in his cheeks. Maybe when we're taking a break from our jobs in our respective worlds, we can do this again sometime. If you'd like…" The Champion of Hyrule looked away, waiting for a response from the ex-mercenary.
"Sure. Why not?" the 1st-class SOLDIER replied, his easygoing attitude staying relatively the same. "I mean, I'm fine with you hanging out with me. Might help us get to know each other a little better. And… I thank you for not being so foolhardy."
"And I guess you managed to use those skills like you previously did," Link replied, holding Cloud's hand as a sign of friendship. A small blush glowed on Cloud's cheeks, walking with the Champion of Hyrule through the white rift.
