Chapter 5
I proceeded down the path and decided to stop at the storage box by the area right before I'd see Papyrus again. And when I looked inside, I frowned at how the only thing in there was a slightly beat-up pair of gloves, ones that looked ready to fall apart. And Chara looked at them with sadness in her eyes.
"Those belonged to the owner of the orange soul... he tried to look tough so that he wouldn't get into fights, but he always ran away from his foes when they attacked him... didn't really do much when he was eventually captured by Undyne with her special attack and she then took him to Asgore... he was the one who got captured the earliest of the 6," Chara said sadly.
"And what was his name?" I asked.
"Why do you keep asking me about their names? It's not like they'll be able to be saved, anyways," Chara frowned.
"Because... well, you know how the story goes that a monster can absorb a human soul? I was thinking that maybe, the souls that aren't used on you or Asriel to retain your forms would be able to be given to some monsters we meet on our journey down here," I said, Chara smirking at that.
"Ah, I get you. You want to give them a second chance as opposed to them going to the afterlife once the barrier breaks," Chara said.
"That's the idea... but I want to see who would be most deserving of each of the souls. I'm not about to give them to anyone I see, just those that I can trust on this singular run," I smiled.
"Heh, well, there are a few that are obvious candidates," Chara said.
"Sure, I could just have them be the main group that I befriend, but where would the fun be in that?" I smirked, Chara looking at me in confusion as I saw that the duo of skeletons were still a bit away from me as we continued to walk forward. "I'm thinking I could give them to some of the lesser-known monsters, so long as they were nice to me," I said, Chara smirking at that.
"Okay, I know I've got to see how that goes... just know that it may be a bit difficult to convince Asriel about this plan, even after you calm him down at his most powerful," Chara said, me nodding at that.
"I'm aware. But I've been through this adventure numerous times before, so I'm sure that I can get everything in one run... besides, how in the hell would I be expected to fight Omega Flowey's form?" I said, Chara shrugging at that just as we arrived at the skeleton duo.
"SO, ANYWAYS, AS I WAS TALKING TO UNDYNE..." Papyrus said as I then threw a snowball at the skinny skeleton, getting his attention at me and looking shocked before looking at Sans, then me, and continuing until they did their little dizzy animation and then turned around. "SANS! OH MY GOD! IS THAT... A HUMAN?!" Papyrus asked excitedly as I simply chuckled. They then looked at me and I then simply nodded.
"Yep... I'm a human alright," I said with a smile as Papyrus then looked super excited.
"OH MY GOD! SANS, I DID IT! UNDYNE WILL... I'M GONNA... I'LL BE SO.. POPULAR! POPULAR! ! POPULARRR! ! ! ! !" Papyrus exclaimed in pure joy, which brought a smile to my face at how cute he was being. "AHEM... HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THROUGH THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL STOP YOU! I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU. YOU WILL BE DELIVERED UNTO THE CAPITAL! THEN... THEN!... I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT... IN ANY CASE! CONTINUE, ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus sneered happily as he ran off ahead of me and Sans smirked at me.
"welp, i think that went well. don't sweat it, little lady. i'll keep an eyesocket out for ya," Sans smiled as he then went after Papyrus before then vanishing a bit down the path. I then looked at Chara and smiled.
"You still haven't told me the guy's name," I smirked, Chara nodding at that.
"His name was Karat, pronounced kay-rut," Chara said, me nodding at that as I noticed there were a couple of monsters nearby in the form of Snowy the Snowdrake and Icecap, but they weren't in earshot yet.
"Speaking of name pronunciations... do you say your name as Care-uh? Or Char-uh?" I asked, Chara smirking at that.
"You have no idea how many people have asked me that very question. It's the first one, obviously. Like you said, it's a play on Character," Chara smirked at me as Snowy then approached me and looked happy before he then looked at me a bit closer.
"Hiya! What kind of monster are you, miss?" he asked with a very adorable voice, despite his intimidating face.
"Well... depends on what kind of term you use when you mean monster... and even then, I'm not a monster like some humans are," I said, the snowy kid gasping at that.
"Y-You're a human?" he asked, me nodding at that. "B-But... sorry, but, though it was 'ice' to meet you, I unfortunately have to put you in the deep freeze," the kid said as he pulled my soul out of my body and I smirked and laughed at his jokes to make him more pacified, the kid being a bit surprised before a smile form on his beak. "You thought that was funny? YES! Dad was wrong! I can be good at jokes!" the kid smiled widely as I then put my soul back in my body and the kid smirked at me.
"My name's Indie. What's yours, kid?" I smiled at him.
"My name's Snowy. Snowy Snowdrake... so why are you going through the Underground, miss human?" the kid asked me.
"I'm trying to find out how to get the heck out of this place while also finding a way to free you guys from this prison... preferably without a single casualty to both humanity and monster kind," I said, Snowy smirking at that.
"Wow! That sounds so cool! I'd ici-kill to see that happen!" Snowy said, me actually laughing for real whenever he told those two jokes, just because of how he said them with such a serious, yet happy mood!
"Oh dear.. haha! You keep doing good at those jokes, Snowy. You're sure to melt the competition with those puns," I smirked, the kid actually smirking at my bad joke.
"Haha, yeah, that's a new one. I should right that down! Melt the competition, huh? Hehe, I'll see you later, miss Indie!" Snowy smiled as he then ran ahead of me happily, me having a funny feeling he might encounter Papyrus on the way.
"That kid is so happy... I just feel bad about what happened to his mom," I said, Chara looking at me with a smile.
"You mean that one Amalgamate, right?" she asked, me nodding at that as we ventured on and we came across Doggo's stand, which I decided to stop beforehand.
"I just want her and the others to have an even better happy ending, but I don't know how," I admitted.
"Neither do I... maybe you-know-who may have an answer," Chara said, me nodding at that. She was referring to Gaster, of course. If anyone would know about Determination, it'd have to be him. And the exact moment I stepped in front of Doggo's stand, he immediately came out from it and started looking around with his tiny, shifty eyes.
"Huh? Did somethin' move? I can't see nothin' if it doesn't move," the dog said, me smirking as I then moved closer to him and the dog immeidately sent my soul from my body and looked at it... and when he did, he looked a bit shocked, something that he never was like unless you pet him first. "Huh?... That soul... why is it so mysterious?... Roogh... maybe it'd be wise to not fight you," the dog said as he then had my soul enter my body again soon after.
"Really? Well that's no fun, is it?" I frowned at him.
"Peh, I may be a member of the Royal Guard, but I ain't stupid. I know when to choose my fights and I'm not fighting anything with nothing but hidden everything," the dog said, me smirking at that.
"Well, I can assure you that I'm nice and I don't want to hurt anyone... besides, not even I know how high or low my unknown stats are, so I don't want to risk it by harming anyone," I admitted, the dog looking at me in confusion, even as I moved while I spoke.
"So what's your name, miss?" Doggo asked.
"Indie Gamma. And yours?" I smirked.
"Doggo's the name... you should probably be on the lookout for the other members of the Royal Guard. Almost all of us know how to use blue attacks, so be careful, alright?" the dog said, me nodding at that.
"Got it, be wary of blue attacks," I said as Doggo then hid behind the counter once again and I heard some lighter sounds before I then saw a bit of smoke come from the stand as I left down the path to encounter Sans.
"heya, how's it goin', indie?" Sans smirked at me.
"It's going okay... Doggo didn't even attempt to fight me because of my hidden stats," I said, Sans nodding at that.
"yep, i thought that'd happen... most monsters down here aren't used to hidden stats," Sans admitted to me. "anyways, you know how blue attacks work, right?"
"Yes, I'm aware how they and orange and green attacks work," I smirked.
"good, i don't have to explain it. man, i just love doing absolutely nothing," Sans smirked at me widely and I giggled.
"I can imagine. And I know not to even lay a hand on anyone down here, just so we're clear. I have a funny feeling that my stats are much higher than I'd like them to be, since I can't actually see them for myself, so I'm going to tread with caution when going on my merry way down here," I said happily.
"only those with unknown stats themselves can sense others with unknown stats... you should test it out if ya see my pops again," Sans said, me nodding at that.
"I just might do that," I smiled at him as I then went down the path a bit more until I saw Papyrus, Sans being right next to him as I expected. "Dammit, I really want to teleport," I groaned in annoyance. And I then threw a snowball at Papyrus to get him to look at me, the skeleton gasping at that and looking at me with what looked like a glare.
"WOULD YOU STOP PELTING ME WITH SNOW, HUMAN?" Papyrus groaned, me smirking at that.
"Hey, it got your attention, didn't it?" I smiled.
"HMPH! HUMAN, THIS IS YOUR FIRST PUZZLE. THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE! YOU MUST ATTEMPT TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE MAZE WITHOUT TOUCHING THE INVISIBLE WALLS. AND IF YOU DO TOUCH THE WALLS, YOU WILL FIND IT QUITE... SHOCKING!" Papyrus smirked widely as I then simply grabbed some snow and tossed it up and down in my hand. "AHEM... YOU WILL GET SHOCKED WITH A POTENT AMOUNT OF ELECTRICITY, ALL DELIVERED THROUGH THIS ORB HERE. GO AHEAD AND TRY IT," Papyrus said, me smirking as I then simply walked forward and immediately touched the wall, which shocked Papyrus. I then simply moved my way through the maze, the shocks happening to Papyrus the whole way until I got to the end, him looking a bit dazed from the shocks.
"Ooogh... THAT STUNG..." Papyrus groaned as I then simply grabbed the orb he had and tossed it down the nearby cliff.
"You gotta do a bit better to catch this slippery human, Great Papyrus," I smirked at him, that making the skeleton jump off the ground and regain his composure immediately.
"BUT OF COURSE! YOU MAY HAVE MADE IT PAST THIS PUZZLE, BUT YOU WILL NEVER MAKE IT PAST THE NEXT ONE... FOR IT HAS BEEN DESIGNED BY MY BROTHER, SANS! YOU WILL SURELY BE CONFOUNDED! I KNOW I SURE AM! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus sneered as he then ran off into the distance and Sans smiled at me.
"hey, you want to know exactly what your values are in those stats of yours, lady?" Sans asked, me smirking at that.
"Yes, I really would," I smirked at him.
"alright... your LV is 1, you have 0 EXP... yet your HP and DEF are... well, how do i put this delicately... they're amounts are unable to be determined... it's almost as if they are worth infiinity," Sans said, me gasping at that.
"A-And... what about ATK?" I asked, me smacking my face at how I said it with capital letters and in abbreviations when I really wanted to say 'attack'.
"that's the thing... your attack is worth exactly 1 point. you're wearing those gloves on you. and once you put them on, you gained 5 ATK. so that means that you actually have -4 ATK as a standard... almost as if it'd be impossible for you to inflict damage without outside assistance," Sans said, me gawking at that and looking at Chara.
"So I'm basically un-killable and I'm super weak with physical attacks? Gonna say, I was both not expecting that and totally expecting it at the same time... mostly because I was always a pacifist," I admitted as Chara then nodded at me.
"So it'd be wise for you to keep some kind of attack item on you when needed, but only if you need to protect yourself against someone of immense power," Chara said, me sighing as I had a feeling I knew who she meant, in case this were an AU universe.
"I know who you mean... thanks for telling me, Sans," I said as I then went down the path to the right and proceeded to the next area, hoping to come across some more answers about what I'd have to encounter in this adventure.