Wirt held his breath as he fought to hold still. Even Greg, for once, froze in place, with the frog clutched around his torso tightly.
Undyne moved closer. The grass rustled as she approached. Wirt held his breath as he waited for the inevitable.
He jumped when the hand reached down, and for a moment, he dared not look. He only did when he heard the hand reach back down and something hit the ground.
Wirt opened his eyes and looked around frantically. It wasn't until he heard the rustling grass and hard armor footsteps drift away did he feel safe enough to run out of the patch of grass.
Greg followed right behind him, looking somewhat confused but no worse for wear. The frog followed. Someone else followed.
"Yo, did you see that?!"
It was a monster kid. Wirt recognized him somewhat from Snowdin. It looked something like a dinosaur, only just taller than Greg because of a few spikes that ran along its back.
"Undyne just…TOUCHED ME!" They exclaimed. "I'm never gonna wash my face again!"
"Congratulations!" said Greg.
The frog ribbited in agreement.
"Man, were you unlucky," said the monster kid. "If you guys were standing just a LITTLE BIT to the left…yo, don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again!"
The monster kid ran off, faster than little legs could take them. They toppled over and fell, colliding face first onto the hard ground. They were back up before Wirt could even try to help.
"I like his resolve," said Greg.
The frog ribbited again.
The panic faded. Wirt refocused. Undyne wasn't like Papyrus. They would have to get away from her fast. And Papyrus…
"Come on, Greg. We're leaving."
"Do you think we should call Papyrus?" Greg asked.
"No! You saw him; he just sold us out!"
"I guess you're right," Greg sighed. "And he even went on a date with you…"
"That was not a date! I don't even think he knows what a date is!" Wirt said.
"Better to have loved and lost than to never love at all," said Greg. "That's what the old people say!"
It was not worth arguing with Greg. He walked forward, and tuned out the sounds of Greg chattering.
He shouldn't have trusted anyone.
It was the Cat who first discovered that Beatrice was missing. It was Frisk who decided to look for her. The Cat did most of the searching, mostly because he was faster and because he could rely on smell.
The Cat stopped by a building, more shack than house. The lights were still on. Voices were still audible through the glass. Frisk knocked and opened the door.
"Close that door, child! I'll catch by death with this night air!"
Frisk jumped and scrambled to follow the instructions. The Cat barely had time to slide in. Their heart was lodged in their throat even before they were caught in the trap.
"Welcome home, child…" The voice was old and raspy, with a saccharine tone to it that Frisk recognized all too well.
Frisk's Soul seized. They could only watch as the Cat untangled himself from the web of yarn and launched himself towards the speaker. They met Beatrice's eyes, and saw all the hurt and guilt though they couldn't quite tell who it was directed at. They watched as Beatrice flew away, behind them towards the window.
The room filled with dust and screams, and they panicked.
*RESET
"Yo! You got an umbrella?"
It was that monster kid again. They were crouched under the cliff, waiting out the rain. Wirt fought the urge to scowl, and avoided looking their way. There were umbrellas not even ten feet away, why wouldn't they grab one?
Then Wirt realized. The monster kid did not have arms. A sinking feeling of guilt filled his stomach.
"Wanna come with?" Greg asked.
"Sure!"
"Hey, Wirt, can you take Doctor Cucumber so we have room?"
"Oh, sure…" Wirt was too upset by the revelation to really think about it.
The frog hopped to under his umbrella.
Their party became four.
"So, this one time, we had a school project where we had to take care of a flower," said the Monster Kid. "The king—we had to call him 'Mr. Dreemurr'—"
Wirt tried to tune them out. He had no idea what he was going to do next. Undyne was going to find them, or there'd be some other threat that tried to kill them. And they would have to make it past the barrier.
Papyrus said that the king was a good guy. Papyrus also thought wearing clothes was a sign of affection.
They would have to find a way to get past Undyne. That was what Wirt needed to figure out next. There was no way she would give up the fight like Papyrus or Toriel. They might actually fight back against her. The only weapon worth its weight that they had found were a pair of ballet slippers, but if it was what separated them from dying and going home again…
Something tugged at his heart, or Soul, or whatever organ was in his chest now. It tightened.
Tree roots. Something about tree roots. Tree roots covering his entire body and fusing into his skin—
The world flashed red, then yellow.
Wirt snapped back to attention. What was that?
"So, this one time, we had a school project where we had to take care of a flower. The king—we had to call him 'Mr. Dreemurr'—"
"Didn't you already finish that story?" Wirt asked.
The monster kid and Greg stared back at him.
"I haven't heard it yet!" said Greg.
"What?" Wirt asked.
Wirt looked around. They weren't in the same area they were a second ago. But they had been in that area, just before Wirt got lost in his thoughts.
He looked down at the frog. The frog stopped his hopping long enough to stand up and shrug at him.
The Underground was weird, Wirt decided.
They were back at the campsite. Beatrice was not with them. The cat was still asleep. There was no LOVE in their Soul, they realized, and they clung to it like a lifeline.
"It's been a long time since I've seen a Soul User in these woods…"
The voice was old and raspy, with a malevolent tone to it that Frisk recognized all too well. Frisk looked up to the source, and saw a monster. "Tell me, how did you end up over the garden wall?"
"Behind you."
Wirt tensed up at the Echo Flower's message. The sound of metal footsteps grows closer.
"Don't tell me she's right behind us," said Wirt.
"Okay," said Greg.
"Seven," said Undyne. "Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king, King Asgore Dreemurr, will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the Barrier. He will finally take the surface back from humanity, and give them back the suffering and pain we have endured. I suppose…he will have a use for two."
Wirt turned in time to see a flash of blue magic form into a solid spear. He closed his eyes as Undyne charged towards them.
"YO! UNDYNE! I'LL HELP YOU FIGHT!"
The monster kid rushed out from the reeds. They stood between them, looking back and forth until they settle on Wirt and Greg.
"Hey! You did it! You got front stage views to Undyne's fight!"
Wirt is sure the look he gave the monster kid is what gave the whole situation away.
"…wait. Who's she fighting?" The monster kid asked.
Undyne moved first, surprisingly not to fight. Her spear vanished as she grabbed the monster kid's spikes, a gesture that looks no more painful than grabbing someone by the ear. She walked away, the monster kid dragged behind her.
"That was too close," said Wirt. "We're not going to be able to outrun her forever."
"I guess," said Greg. His attention was on what Undyne had been saying.
Seven human souls, and the monsters would go free.