"Something about this place feels... sad." Peter stated over the sound of a nearby waterfall. "Meloncholy, even."
Chara shrugged. "I never came here much. I mostly stayed at Home."
Peter waded through the falling water, careful to avoid the rocks. The whole area was eerie, the only noise the falling of water and rustling of grass. Peter was actually walking through this grass, when suddenly Chara jerked her head up.
"Peter! Get down!" She hissed as his spider-sense went off.
He ducked, and hearing voices a bit beyond him, went to look at the ledge above him. He was shocked to see Papyrus talking with an imposing figure in a full suit of armor. Straining his ears, he caught some of the conversation.
"H... HI, UNDYNE! I'M HERE WITH MY DAILY REPORT..." Papyrus was saying. "UHHH... REGARDING THAT HUMAN I CALLED YOU ABOUT EARLIER..."
The figure in armor said something softly which Peter couldn't catch.
"... HUH? DID I FIGHT THEM? Y-YES! OF COURSE I DID! I FOUGHT THEM VALIANTLY!"
The figure spoke again. The whispers of words seemed a bit annoyed.
"... WHAT? DID I CAPTURE THEM?" Papyrus stuttered. Peter reflected that he had never heard the skeleton sound so nervous. "W-W-WELL... NO."
The figure grunted something angrily, and Papyrus flinched.
"I TRIED VERY HARD, UNDYNE! BUT IN THE END... I FAILED."
The figure spoke again, softer this time. Papyrus relaxed slightly. But only a little.
"... W-WHAT? YOU'RE GOING TO TAKE THE HUMAN'S SOUL YOURSELF... BUT UNDYNE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DESTROY THEM! YOU SEE..." Papyrus faltered, worry etched on his skull. "YOU SEE..."
The figure turned to him, and seemed to glare through it's helmet. Papyrus backed away, speechless. Finally, he replied, "... I UNDERSTAND. I'LL HELP YOU IN ANY WAY I CAN." He stumbled away, clearly both terrified and concerned.
"I knew he didn't have the spine to help us properly." Chara groaned. She then started chuckling at her own joke.
"Can you blame him?" Peter replied. "He's clearly scared of-"
He froze as the armored figure suddenly spun towards where he was and began to advance, clutching a glowing blue spear at the ready. They looked intently for a moment, before stepping backwards into the night.
Peter waited for a few seconds, then cautiously moved out of the patch of grass. A noise from behind him caused him to leap backwards, only to find the armless monster kid from earlier staring at him excitedly.
"Yo... did you see the way she was staring at you...?" He asked. "That... was AWESOME! I'm SOOOO jealous!"
Peter shrugged. "Not sure you should be, kid. I think she wants to kill me."
"PFFT," The kid laughed. "She only kills humans, you dork! Now c'mon, let's go watch her beat up some bad guys!" He ran forward, tripping on to his face, then picked himself up and ran off.
"That's what I'm afraid of." Peter stated. Sighing, he walked on.
"A feeling of dread hangs over you..." Chara spoke, eyes fraught with concern. "Still, you stay determined."
"That was more serious than your normal ones." Peter noted, for once grateful for her pondering on determination. He did actually feel more determined now.
"This is no laughing matter." Chara replied. "What if you die?"
"I thought you didn't care."
Chara twisted one of her bobbed locks. "What happens to me if you die? I'm as concerned for my own well being as for yours."
"Thanks."
As Peter came to the next room, he spotted a sign, which stated that four bridge seeds could align to form a bridge. Noticing a sizable hole over water, he set down four nearby seed to form a bridge across. Entering the next room, he was suddenly ambushed by a strange horse-merman. A mer-horse? He couldn't tell.
"That's Aaron." Chara noted, rolling her eyes. "Loves to flex and has a lot of HP."
"Health points?" Peter asked.
Chara rolled her eyes again. "Horsepower."
"Check all you want ;)." Said Aaron with a wink, flexing and sweating bullets. Literally.
Peter raised an eyebrow as he landed on his feet. "Bro, you want a flex off? I don't think you'll win this one." He struck a pose highlighting his own musculature. Chara smacked her forehead as Aaron lit up.
"Dudebro dude, check it ;)!" He winked and flexed twice as hard, sending a rain of sweat bullets.
"This is gross, he's literally sweating bullets." Chara said.
"Double check, dude!" Peter flexed again, upside down! Aaron's eyes widened.
"Dude, seriously good. But I wont loose. ;)." He winked again, flexing even harder. Peter was getting used to his attacks by this point, though, so it was easier to pose and land his next flex off a wall. Aaron attempted to flex harder to match, and ended up flexing himself out of the fight.
Peter blinked twice as the world returned to color. "Man, in this environment, that was a workout. Let's hope I don't bump into him again."
"I definitely hope so." Chara scoffed. "Boys."
The next puzzle was tougher, but Peter soon figure out how to get the bridge seeds aligned properly, and was about to set off again when his phone rang. Eager to see if Toriel was calling him, he looked and instead saw that it was Papyrus.
"Be careful." Chara warned.
Peter answered. "Hey Papyrus! What's up?"
"HELLO HUMAN PETER!" Papyrus replied. "YOU FORGOT TO GIVE ME YOUR NUMBER, SO I DIALED EVERY NUMBER SEQUENTIALLY UNTIL I GOT YOURS!"
He chuckled a bit on the other end before Peter asked him why he was calling.
"OH," He paused. "UM, WHAT ARE YOU WEARING? I'M... ASKING FOR A FRIEND. SHE THOUGHT SHE SAW YOU WEARING SOME TATTERED RED AND BLUE TIGHTS. IS THAT TRUE?"
"Lie." Chara suggested immediately.
"What for? It's not like I don't stand out like a sore thumb." Peter replied. "Yes Papyrus, that is what I am wearing."
"GOT IT! WINK WINK! HAVE A NICE DAY!" The phone hung up with a click.
"We still know that Undyne is gonna find me no matter what I'm wearing." Peter stated as he kept walking. "No use in lying."
"Still, you can't just-" Chara sighed. "You've gotta be more careful, that's all."
Peter suddenly stumbled into a small turtle with a pail for a shell.
"That's Woshua." Chara spoke, her face lighting up a bit. "They're a humble germophobe seeking to cleanse the whole world."
"Wosh your eyes and teeth." Woshua said, spilling water pellets everywhere.
"Well, I am a bit muddied up from the whole Dog thing earlier." Peter admitted. "The ol suit could use a clean! How bout it, Woshua?"
Woshua hopped about excitedly. "Green means clean." They told him.
Peter was confused, until a green pellet hit him without warning. Somehow, he felt better instead of hurt. What's more, his suit was now like new.
"Oh yeah, green bullets heal you." Chara noted. "Did I not say that?"
Peter sighed. "Yeah, you didn't mention it. Thanks for the wash, Woshua! May I pass?"
The monster nodded happily, and the FIGHT ended. Peter realized that he was in a room filled with glittering rocks. A nearby sign stated that monsters wish on these rocks like stars, and some nearby Echo Flowers confirmed it.
"Wow." Peter said sadly, listening to a few of them. "These monsters want to return to the surface so badly. Those ones couldn't have been that old..."
"Why do you think I despise humanity?" Chara crossed her arms. "They trapped monsters down here. They've been trapped for CENTURIES."
Finding a passage through the wall, Peter walked through. "Didn't the monsters start the war?"
"Humans started the war." She spoke bitterly. "They were afraid of that which they could not understand."
Peter nodded. "I've heard that before."
He continued to walk in silence, across a dock and a raft over the water. Once on the other side, his spider-sense went off. Turning to look, he saw Undyne, spear in hand and aimed right at him.
"RUN!" Chara screamed.
Peter ran, spears flying behind him, as Undyne chased him across the dock. A few managed to graze him, but he escaped into some grass. Not to be deterred, Undyne ran in after him, thrust her arm out, and caught-
The monster kid. Who had the biggest grin on her face. Looking slightly sheepish, Undyne put him down and stalked off.
"That was close." Chara shivered as Peter walked out of the grass.
"Too close." Peter agreed.
Monster kid ran out, jumping up and down. "Yo... did you see that!? Undyne just... TOUCHED ME!" He ran about in circles. "I am NEVER washing my face ever again...! Man, are you unlucky. If you were standing just a little bit to the left...! Yo, don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again!"
"Man, Parker luck for the win." Peter noted with no small irony as Monster Kid ran off. "I hope we never see her again."
"Unlikely." Chara noted.
Peter walked on, and was surprised to see Sans in the next room next to a telescope.
"What is he doing here?" Asked Chara.
"i'm thinking about getting into the telescope business." Sans tapped the telescope next to him. "it's normally 50000G to use this premium telescope... but since i know you..." He winked. "you can use it for free."
"There's a trick here." Chara crossed her arms as Peter looked into the telescope.
"All I can see is red?" Peter spoke, surprised.
"aren't satisfied?" Sans asked with feigned shock. "don't worry. i'll give you a full refund." He winked.
"What's the joke?" Peter asked. Chara was doubled over laughing.
"YOUR EYE! HE STAINED IT RED!" She howled with laughter.
"Ha ha, very funny." Peter groaned, walking off and wiping his face. "The guy could give Loki a run for his prank money."
Papyrus called again, so Peter answered.
"SO, REMEMBER THE FRIEND I TOLD YOU ABOUT EARLIER?" Papyrus asked. "HER OPINION OF YOU IS VERY... MURDERY."
"No kidding."
"I KNEW YOU KNEW THAT! AND BECAUSE YOU KNEW THAT... I TOLD HER WHAT YOU TOLD ME YOUR WERE WEARING! BECAUSE I KNEW, OF COURSE... AFTER SUCH A SUSPICIOUS QUESTION... YOU WOULD OBVIOUSLY CHANGE YOUR CLOTHING!"
"Right... I did that..."
"HAH! YOU ARE SUCH A SMART COOKIE! THIS WAY YOU'RE SAFE AND I DIDN'T LIE! NO BETRAYAL ANYWHERE! BEING FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE IS EASY!"
"You could have changed your clothes." Chara scolded as Papyrus hung up.
"Look around, it's not like a tutu is hiding behind a waterfall!"
"Would you wear it?"
Peter threw his hands up. "MAYBE!?"
Suddenly, the rushing of water was interrupted by splashing, and a tentacled Onion-looking monster poked its head out. Peter and Chara jumped.
"Hey... there..." It said. "Noticed you were... here... I'm Onionsan! Onionsan, y'hear!"
Peter nodded warily. "Hi... I'm, uh, Spiderman, and my invisible associate is Chara."
"Not funny."
"You're visiting Waterfall, huh!" Onionsan continued. "It's great here, huh! You love it, huh! Yeah! Me too! It's my Big Favorite."
"Really?" Peter asked, still a bit perturbed.
"Yeah." Onionsan followed him. "Even though, the water's getting so shallow here... I, have to sit down all the time, but... He-hey! That's OK! It beats moving to the city! And living in a crowded aquarium! Like all my friends did!"
Peter paused. "Do you miss them? You seem like you haven't hung out much."
Onionsan shrugged. "The aquarium's full, a-anyway, so, even if I wanted to, I..." It popped it's head up. "That's okay though, y'hear! Undyne's gonna fix everything, y'hear! I'm gonna get out of here and live in the ocean! Y'hear!"
Peter slumped his shoulders. "I suppose so."
"Hey... there..." Onionsan bonked into the far wall. "That's the end of this room. I'll see you around! Have a good time! In Waterfalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll..."
Chara rubbed her eyes. "I doubt dog knows what that is."
"Did you just say-" Peter was suddenly pulled into a FIGHT with a fish-headed monster.
"Aww, Shyren!" Chara exclaimed happily.
"Who?"
"She's tone deaf, poor thing." Chara replied. "She's too ashamed to sing her deadly song."
Shyren hummed faintly, but Peter thought it sounded pretty good, so he began to hum along. Shyren spun around, and began to sing along with him. Getting the groove, He began to hum louder. Suddenly, monsters began to crowd around.
"Peter! Sing something!" Chara urged.
"I don't know what!?" Peter yelled.
"MAKE SOMETHING UP!"
Noticing a nearby umbrella stand gave him an idea. He grabbed one and cleared his throat.
"I'm singing in the rain! Just singing in the rain! What a glorious feeling, I'm happy again!"
Shyren hummed along to the tune, getting louder and more confident, as Peter picked up a dance routine.
"Let the stormy clouds chase, everyone from the place, come on with the rain! I've a smile on my face!"
Suddenly, and impromptu concert sprung up! Monster cheered him on, Sans was selling tickets made of toliet paper, Shyren was belting out the tune like a pro as Peter danced with the umbrella and sang his heart out. Finally, with a final, soaring note, Peter finished. Shyren let out a triumphant note, and both bowed to the crowd. Shyren left, and the other monsters soon filed out, leaving Peter and Chara alone in the room.