Chapter seven: Waterfall part II
"The power to take their souls, this is the power that the humans feared." Chara read aloud, looking at another sign explaining the legend between humans and monsters.
"So that's why they're trapped Underground." Ruby guessed.
"Hiiiiii~" A sing-songy voice cheered as Ruby walked down a hallway with water on each side. She looked over to see an onion looking octopus like thing with adorable grey eyes.
"Awww! You're so adorable!" Ruby squeed when she saw the monster.
"Gee thank you!" The aquatic monster cheered. "I'm Onionsan!" He greeted, extending a tentacle for ruby to shake.
"Hi Onionsan!" Ruby smiled, shaking the long limb. "I'm Ruby!"
"Hiya Ruby!" He smiled. "You're visiting Waterfall, huh? It's great here, huh? You love it here, huh?" He urged, hoping that Ruby was enjoying her visit.
"Yep." Ruby smiled, giving the monster a thumbs-up. There was something about this monster that made her uncomfortable, but she wasn't going to show it.
"Yeah! Me too! It's my big favorite!" he beamed, with a huge smile spread across his face. "Even though the water's getting so shallow here. I have to sit down all the time." He sighed. Ruby looked in the water, and he was right. She could see the rocks at the bottom of the water. It looks like it could go up to her shoulders at most.
"Aw, that's too bad Onionsan. I wish I could do something." She empathized, looking the monster in the eyes. Onionsan met her gaze and smiled.
"That's okay. Besides, this beats moving to the city, and living in a crowded aquarium."
"An aquarium? Isn't that almost degrading?" Ruby asked.
"Right!" Onionsan agreed. "But all my friends did." He stated, glancing to the side awkwardly. "And the aquarium's full anyways, so even if I wanted to..." Ruby felt like she was in a very awkward situation. She didn't know what to say or do, so she kept walking and listened. "That's okay though, y'hear! Undyne's gonna fix everything, y'hear!" Ruby jolted. Did that monster just say, Undyne? Oh god... "I'm gonna get out of here and live in the ocean y'hear!" Onionsan rambled on. Thankfully Ruby made it to the end of the room. "Hey... there... that there's the end of the room. I'll see you around. Have a good time in Waterfalllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll." He gurgled as he sank back into the water. Not knowing what the heck just happened, Ruby kept walking.
She was thrown quickly into combat not long after entering the next room. The monster that appeared slightly resembled a mermaid. According to the ACT button, her name is Shyren. Seeing the option to hum, Ruby did so, humming her favorite song, Shine. Shyren started humming with her and music notes attacked Ruby. She dodged them and spared the monster. After the encounter ended, Ruby walked over to a sign.
"The northern room hides a great treasure." Chara narrated. "No worries, I know the solution to this puzzle. But we'll get back to it, let's head right for now."
Ruby walks down the hallway to see another sign.
"This power has no counter. Indeed, a human cannot steal a monster's soul." Ruby reads. Oh! This is a continuation of those other signs, isn't it?"
"Yeah. It is…" Chara stated.
"When a monster dies its soul disappears and incredible power would be needed to take the soul of a living monster." Ruby walks to the next sign. However, there is one exception. The soul of a special species called a "Boss monster." A boss monster's soul is strong enough to persist after death, if only for a brief moment. A human could absorb a boss monster's soul, but this has never happened and now it never will."
"Ominous." Chara commented. They sounded kind of scared. Ruby shuddered and made her way back to the northern room, which has a piano. "Here's what you do…"
"Hey it worked!" Ruby cheered as the door in the wall opened.
"See? I told you I knew what I was doing."
"You screwed up about ten times." Ruby teased, walking into the room.
"Hey, it's been almost eighty years cut me some slack!"
"Okay okay." Ruby stopped when she saw an orb on the table. She went to grab it but…
"You're carrying too many dogs." The orb said. Confused, Ruby reached into her pocket and found something soft and… breathing? She pulled out the dog and it jumped out of her arms, knocking her to the ground. The little dog jumped onto the table with the artifact, and absorbed it… somehow? Then it floated away?
"This place just keeps getting weirder…" Ruby whispered. She stood up and dusted herself off before she continued her way through the caverns.
She grabs an umbrella, hearing the sound of rain in the next room. When she walked in there however, she was surprised to see a familiar face.
"Yo! You got an umbrella?"
"Uh, yeah."
"Awesome! Can I tag along? I can't carry an umbrella."
"Sure, come on over Monster Kid."
The armless monster walked out of the small cave he was taking shelter in and hid under Ruby's umbrella.
"Great! Thanks! Let's go!" He cheered excitedly. Ruby nodded and they began their walk through the cavern.
"So…" Ruby begins, trying to break the silence. "Why do you like Undyne so much?"
"Man, Undyne is the coolest! She beats up all the bad guys, and never loses! If I was a human, I would wet the bed every night knowing she was gonna beat me up, ha ha."
"Mm hmm…" Ruby replied, starting to regret their conversation. She guessed Monster Kid must have noticed something was off, because he changed the subject. "So… one time at school we had a project where we had to look after some flowers. The king- we had to call him "Mr. Dreemurr"- Volunteered to donate his flowers. He wound up coming to school and teaching the class about responsibility and stuff. That got me thinking… YO! How cool would it be if Undyne came to school? She could beat up all the teachers!" Then the excitement on his face fell as he realized something. "Um… maybe she wouldn't beat up the teachers. She's too cool to ever hurt an innocent person."
Ruby hesitated before responding to her new friend. "Yeah… innocent person."
"You okay?" Ruby just nods.
"Whoa! Yo, check this out!" Monster kid calls from up ahead. Ruby runs over to him and looks to where he's looking.
"Whoa… it's beautiful." Ruby gushes in awe.
"That's king Asgore's castle. The king of all monsters."
"Wow…" They just stood there and stared at it for a few moments before they once again resumed their walk. There is another umbrella cubby, so Ruby returns the umbrella she took from earlier. There was a ledge at the end of the room. Monster Kid was standing there, looking kind of perplexed.
"Yo! This ledge is too steep for us to climb. Yo, you wanna see Undyne right?"
"Um…"
"Here." Monster kid kneeled down to help her up. "Climb on my shoulders, I'll boost you up."
"Are you sure? I can help you up and figure something out."
"No, go ahead, it's fine."
"Okay… if you… say so." She climbed up onto his head and stepped on the platform.
"Yo, go on ahead! I'll find another way, I always do." He winked at her and walked away. He tripped but got himself back up before running off.
The next room was dark. Ruby saw another "save point", but decided to read a sign first.
"The humans, afraid of our power, declared war on us. They attacked suddenly and without mercy. The only ones on our side were the Faunus.
"The serene sound of a distant music box fills you with determination." Chara stated. Ruby groaned at them.
"It may have been a while, but I so did not miss that narration."
"Deal with it. You're stuck with me."
Ruby ignored the voice and walked over to the next sign.
"In the end, it could hardly be called a war. United, the humans were too powerful, and the monsters, even with the assistance of Faunus, were too weak. Not a single soul was taken, and countless lives were lost."
The next part of the room was a long and twisted bridge. Ruby took a few steps, only to be surrounded with lights, which then shot up like spikes.
"Uh oh…" Ruby thought to herself.
"NYAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH! DIE YOU LITTLE BRAT!" A voice called from down below. That voice definitely sounded like Undyne. Ruby activated her semblance and quickly ran around the bridge. She almost fell off a few times, but she eventually found a long, wide platform, which she ran across, avoiding more and more spears as they shot up faster and faster. Exhausted, she reached a dead end. With no other option, she turned back, only to be face to face with the armoured monster. "This is the end of the line kid." The monster threatened. "Face death like a woman!"
"Not today!" Ruby retorted. She pulled out her scythe and sliced the bridge, falling. She could hear Undyne screaming in frustration, then, nothing.
"It sounds like it came from over here…" A voice that is completely unfamiliar to Ruby called out. She tried to open her eyes and look, but she couldn't. It was all white. "Oh! You've fallen down, haven't you? Are you okay? Here, get up… what is your name? ... Chara, huh? That's a nice name. My name is A…"
Ruby woke up quickly. She was holding her head in pain and confusion. "Ugh… what was that?"
"Exactly. What was that? Did you just decide "hey! I know! Instead of being murdered, I'll just fall to my death! That will be a greater way to GIVE THEM MY SOUL"?!" Chara scolded. Ruby winced.
"Can you please keep it down? I used way too much energy. I can only handle short bursts of speed at a time. But that wasn't what I meant by "What was that". There was a voice in my head, it belonged to a boy, I believe. He said your name."
Chara gasped.
"Hey, Ruby, did he say his name?"
"All I got was "My name is A…""
"Asriel…" Chara whispered. They sounded like they were about to start crying.
"Is this the same Asriel you mentioned in the ruins?"
"Uh-huh. He was like a brother to me. He was murdered by humans soon after I died."
"I'm so sorry."
"Don't be. I'll see him again soon. When you leave the underground, I'll stay here in the mountains, while you get to go home to your family. But it's okay, because Asriel will be here with me."
"Alright… if you're really okay…"
"Just drop it Ruby. Can we get moving? Is reeks down here."
"It really does." Ruby gags, pulling her cape over her nose. "Where are we?"
"My guess, the dump."
"Gross." Ruby groaned, standing up. She stumbled, but quickly unfolded Crescent Rose and leaned on it. "When I get home, I am doing a full maintenance check on this damn thing."
"You made it?"
"Yeah."
"Neat. I guess you went to signal before Beacon then."
"Yeah, I did. Though I loved going to Beacon, I can't help but wonder how different my life would be if I stayed at Signal."
"There are some questions there are just no answers for."
The two walk to a platform in the middle of the watery dump. There's a save point on it.
"The waterfall seems to be flowing from the ceiling of the cavern. Occasionally, a piece of trash will flow through and fall into the bottomless abyss below. Viewing this endless cycle of worthless garbage fills you with determination."
"I gotta admit; that was a good one."
"Thanks, I try."
"Hey, check it out." Ruby pointed at a training dummy amidst all the trash. Not wanting to hit it, she stared at it, and then walked away.
"HAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA! To intimidated to fight me, huh?! I am a ghost that lives inside a dummy! My cousin used to live inside a dummy too, until YOU came along!"
"Me?" Ruby asks in confusion. 'Who is his cousin? When did we meet? Wait…' "Do you mean that dummy in the ruins? What did I do wrong?"
"When you talked to them, they were in for a nice chat! But the things you SAID! Horrible! Shocking! UNBELIEVABLE! It spooked them right out of their dummy!"
"All I asked was if it was a nice day."
"LIAR! Human! I will spook the soul RIGHT OUT OF YOUR BODY!"
"Can we just talk about this?" Ruby pleaded as her soul flashed in front of her.
"NO! Futile, futile, FUTILE!" Mad Dummy deployed a bunch of mini dummies, which shot cotton at her. She dodged the cotton balls, and they hit Mad Dummy. "OW! You dummies! Watch where you're aiming your magic attacks!" He scolded. Suddenly, he stopped and looked away awkwardly. Ruby guessed he said something wrong. "Hey! You! forget I said anything about magic! I'll defeat you and take your soul!"
"Try me, you dummy!" Ruby stuck her tongue out at the dummy, making him even angrier.
"Why you little-" Mad Dummy scoffs, deploying more mini dummies. Again, Ruby makes them aim at the dummy. This made Mad Dummy Hopping Mad. "I'll take your soul and use it to cross the barrier!" Ruby then again dodges the attacks. Though she started doing it more gracefully, which made Mad Dummy even madder. He started hopping around, trying to keep Ruby from aiming at him. "I'll stand in the window of a fancy store!"
"Wait, what?"
"Nothing! Die!" He attacked her once again. Ruby didn't get hit, but she couldn't get Mad Dummy to get hit either. "Everything I could ever want will be mine! All I need is to get to the surface!" Ruby took his continued monologue as an opportunity. He attacked her, but he left himself vulnerable when he boasted, so Ruby stood in front of him, and quickly moved when the dummies attacked. He seemed kind of unfazed at this point. "Huh… I guess that will avenge my cousin."
"Will it though?" Ruby asked. The Mad Dummy looked at her in shock and (surprise surprise) anger.
"What do you know? You did that to him! Shut up and just DIE ALREADY!"
Bomber dummies were on either side of Ruby, leaving a small gap for her to squeeze between. More cotton shooting dummies showed up and Ruby yet again had them shoot at Mad Dummy.
"What was their name again…?" Mad Dummy mumbled to himself.
"Wait… You don't even know their NAME?" Ruby asked in disbelief. This got the dummy annoyed.
"Shut up! This doesn't involve you!"
"I'm feeling pretty involved."
"Well you're not, so could you kindly just DIE?" he attacked Ruby, who was bombarded with bomber dummies. Cotton dummies were firing at her, and she narrowly missed getting hit. They also missed Mad Dummy. "Whatever! Whatever! WHATEVER!" more bomber dummies, more cotton dummies, direct hit on behalf of the Mad Dummy. Ruby wasn't paying attention, and got hit by a cotton ball, which hurt a lot more than they look.
"Ugh…" Ruby groaned, checking her scroll. "25%... ouch." (5hp)
"Pitiful! Pitiful! PITIFUL! You got hit once and you're already down?"
"Hey, you may be incorporeal, but I'm not!"
"Whatever! If damaging you is this easy, KILLING you should be no sweat!"
Ruby stood up to dodge the next line of bomber dummies, but she wasn't able to aim the cotton dummies properly. She was in too much pain.
"Foolish, foolish, FOOLISH!"
"Will you just shut up already! It's hard to concentrate with your constant bitching!" Ruby screams before gasping and covering her mouth. "Sorry, I didn't mean that!" Mad Dummy didn't listen, he was busy bombarding the poor girl with bomber dummies. The cotton dummies appeared, and this time Ruby could aim them at their boss. This seems to push him over the edge.
"HEY GUYS!" He bellowed, causing all of the dummies to surround Ruby. Ruby was prepared for the worst, but it didn't occur. "Dummies, dummies, DUMMIES! Remember how I said not to shoot at me? Well… FAILURES! YOU'RE ALL FIRED! YOU'RE ALL BEING REPLACED! Hahahahahaha! Now, human, you can witness my true power! Not relying on total idiots!" Ruby looked around the room. The sounds of robots were present. She focused on the water, noticing that small robot dummies were emerging from under the water, while the discarded dummies sunk their way back down. "Like them? I made them from discarded parts of a robot that fell down here. It kind of resembled a human girl. Creepy right?"
"Penny…" Ruby whispered, tears forming in her eyes.
"I don't know what this "Penny" is, but it doesn't matter! Dummy-bots, MAGIC MISSILE!"
The dummy-bots morphed into homing missiles. They appeared to be attracted to Ruby's aura, so she started running in circles to lead the missiles around until they ran out of energy and drifted off. Luckily, there were some that hit Mad Dummy as well.
"Dirty bots! TRY AGAIN!"
Ruby was taken by surprise at all of the missiles aiming at her. She wasn't able to avoid them, and she got hit by half of them. She was in a lot of pain, so she decided to eat a cinnamon bunny.
"Dummy-bots! You're awful?"
"You aren't doing much either…" Ruby muttered to herself. Mad Dummy fired loads of missiles at her. Ruby was able to focus and aim the missiles at the dummy.
"Dummy-bots! Final attack!"
"Uh oh…" Ruby muttered, looking around at all of the dummies around her. There were the bomber dummies from earlier, with the occasional dummy-bot, which is difficult to dodge when avoiding bomber dummies that are surrounding you. she managed to get one to hit him, but she was bombarded by so many more, that she was in too much pain afterwards to deal with it.
"(Oh man… these guys are even worse than the last ones…) Who cares? Who cares? WHO CARES?! I don't need friends! I've got KNIVES!" He pulls out a knife and throws it at Ruby, who, caught by surprise, narrowly dodged it. "I'm… all out of knives. BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER! YOU CAN'T HURT ME AND I CAN'T HURT YOU! YOU'LL BE STUCK FIGHTING ME FOREVER! AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Suddenly it started raining, but only on him. "What the heck? Ergh! Acid rain! Oh, FORGET IT! I'm out of here." The mad dummy shuffled away and Ruby was left to see who her saviour was.
"Napstablook?" Yes, indeed the one who saved our dear heroine was none other than Blooky himself.
"Hi Ruby… I'm sorry, I interrupted you, didn't I? as soon as I came over, your friend immediately left. Oh no… you guys looked like you were having fun. Oh no… I just wanted to say hi… Oh no…"
"Blooky, it's okay. You saved my life!"
"I did?" The ghost sounded happy, though Ruby may have been mistaken.
"Yeah. That ghost-possessed-training-dummy attacked me. Thank you Blooky."
"Uh, you're welcome, I guess. Hey, my house is up ahead if you wanna go check it out… if you're not too busy?"
"Sure, I'll come with. No problem." Ruby smiled, stepping out of the waist-deep puddle she was standing in.
On the way to Napstablook's house was a save point, so Ruby decided that this was probably a good time to save.
"You feel a calming tranquility. You're filled with determination!"
"Oh! They thus speaketh! Where were you during the fight?"
"I thought you would appreciate concentration while fighting that thing!"
"You didn't even ask if I was okay! What kind of a friend are you?"
"One who knows when a good time to keep quiet is at least I didn't call a monster that is ATTACKING ME WITH BOMBS out for acting all "bitchy"!"
"Uh… if you're done arguing with yourself Ruby… my house is this way… though it could wait for you to finish arguing with the voice in your head…"
"No, it's fine Blooky I just- Wait, you can hear them?"
"Yeah. They're a ghost, why wouldn't I be able to hear them?"
"Never mind, let's go…"
"This is my house…"
"Wow, it's… nice. Definitely not what I expected."
"Thanks…" Napstablook blushed. Ruby smiled and looked around.
"What's with all the sound equipment Blooky? Are you into music?"
"yeah… I create my own music. I have a few samples over there if you want to listen. They were creepy and distorted, which led to Ruby not listening for very long.
"They're really… you!" She plastered a fake smile on her face, trying to find something nice to say.
"I liked them." Chara chipped in. Napstablook smiled.
"Thank you both. I have a family tradition of lying on the ground and feeling like garbage, wanna join?"
"Uh… sure." Ruby smiled as she walked beside Napstablook and lied down on the floor. Miraculously, the entire room transitioned into a galaxy. "Whoa!" Ruby sat up, holding her head.
"Are you okay…?" Napstablook asked in concern.
"Yeah, just… dizzy…" She pulled out a water bottle and drank from it. Feeling much better, she stood up. "Sorry Blooky, I gotta go."
"That's okay… bye Ruby! Bye Chara!"
"Bye Napstablook!"
"I need to talk to you…" Ruby began her lecture while they left their friend's house. "Did you know he was coming?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You seem to have known he was coming. I was surprised he could hear you, but you weren't."
"Okay… I might have left you during the fight to go get him…"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"I thought the big tough huntress would have been ashamed of being rescued by a monster!"
"Are you kidding? I was thankful for him showing up! And what's that supposed to mean" are you saying that just because I'm a huntress, I refuse any help from anyone? Or do you think that I'm racist? I'll have you have a Faunus on my team! I treat her like family!"
"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. Though you did really good for a fight you couldn't win."
"Thanks, I guess… Hey look, a shop!"
Ruby walked up to the mouth of a small cave. Inside was an elderly turtle and a delta rune symbol.
"Whoa there young lady! I got some neat junk for sale."
"Hello sir! What do you have for sale here at your establishment?"
"Bahaha! No need to be so formal, girly! Name's Gertrand! Nice to meet ya!"
"Ah, sorry Gertrand." Ruby replied awkwardly, rubbing the back of her head. "What do you have for sale?"
"Let's see 'ere! I got glasses, a notebook, sea tea, and crab apples. The tea and apples heal, the notebook is a weapon, and the glasses are armour."
"I'll take two crab apples and a sea tea."
"Here ya go kid!" Gertrand smiles, handing Ruby the items. "That'll be 68g." Ruby handed the old man the money and looked at the delta rune behind him.
"What is that emblem behind you Gertrand?"
"Eh? You don't know what that is? That's the delta rune, the emblem of our kingdom. The emblem, of monsters. Great name right? It's like I always say: Ol' king Fluffybuns can't name for beans!" The old turtle just began laughing to himself.
"Ol' king… what?"
"Oh, That's a great story… I can't remember it, but it's a great story. Anyways, back to the symbol. It predates history. Though the original meaning is lost to time, all we know is the triangles symbolize the three races, and the wings represent… something else. Most people say it's the angel from the prophesy. Legend has it that an angel who has seen the surface will descend from above and grant us freedom. Lately, people have been taking a bleaker outlook… Calling the winged circle angel "Death". A harbinger of destruction trying to "free" us from this mortal realm. In my opinion, when I see that winged circle, I just think it looks neat! Wahaha!"
"What about the king?"
"King Fluffybuns? He's a friendly, happy-go-lucky kind of guy. If you keep walking around, you'll probably meet him at some point. He loves to walk around and talk to people."
"And Undyne? What can you tell me about her?"
"Huh? Undyne? Yeah, she's a local hero around here. Through grit and determination alone, she's already at the head of the royal guard. Actually, she just came through here asking for someone who looked just like you." He stated, scanning her head to toe. "I'd watch your back kid, and buy some items, it might just save your life."
"Thank you sir- sorry, Gertrand. I'll keep that in mind."
"Good luck girly! What's yer name anywho?"
"Ruby."
"Good luck Ruby! Be sure to come back if you're still alive!"
Ruby waved good bye to the elderly turtle and made her way to a sign. It appeared to be a continuation of the story from before.
"Hurt, beaten, and fearful for our lives we surrendered to the humans. Seven of their greatest huntsman combined their most powerful dust to create a magical barrier and seal us underground, while the Faunus were seized and dragged off. Anything can enter the barrier, but only someone with a powerful soul can leave. There is only one way to reverse the spell. If a huge power, equivalent to that of seven human souls, attacks the barrier, it will be destroyed." Ruby read. "Wow… that's kind of cool. But at the same time, sad. That was when monsters were thrown in here, and Faunus were sent to Menagerie so they wouldn't cause trouble. The war between humans and Faunus, and humans and monsters, were the same war."
"Yeah. Faunus fought alongside monsters because the monsters were treated the same way Faunus were."
"Yeah…" Ruby walked through a short stream to the next sign. "But this cursed place has no entrances or exits. There is no way a human could come here. We will remain trapped here forever." Ruby started chuckling at that. She felt horrible, but she did.
"What is WRONG with you?"
"Sorry Chara. It's just- It's just ironic that they say that, and a human is reading the sign."
"You are the most horrible person alive."
"You'd think differently if you ever saw my sister just when you ask her to open a pickle jar."
"Wha- What about the people responsible for destroying your school, or killing your friend?"
"Chara, I think it's best if you stop talking."
"Right… sorry."
"Whoa…" Ruby gasps as she views the next area for the first time. "It's so pretty…"
"Ah, this area. I must warn you… if you value your brain cells, avoid Temmie at all costs."
"Avoid what at all costs?"
"HoI!" A strange cat… dog… thing… smiled at Ruby.
"That. That's Temmie."
"Aw… she's so cute! Hi there Temmie!"
"HoI! I'm tEmMiE! NiCe MeEt YoU, yaya?"
"Yes. It is nice to meet you too." Ruby smiles, before being thrown in battle.
"Are you hungry Temmie?" Ruby asks, pulling out a nice cream from her pocket.
"No! TeMmIe OnLy EaT tEm FlAkE!"
"Sorry… uh…" Ruby trailed off, looking at the other options. She sees flex as an option, so she starts flexing her muscles.
"No! FlEx No CuTe!" Temmie runs away sadly, but Ruby is encountered by some sort of super built mermaid horse.
"I saw you flexing, wanna have a contest?" Aaron asks, flexing and winking at Ruby. Ruby scoffs.
"Sure!" Ruby agrees, forcing a smile on her face. You could tell she was annoyed. "You… first!"
Aaron flexes as hard as he can and winds up flexing himself out of the room, ending the encounter.
"I have no idea what just happened, but hey! He's gone!" ruby sighs as she touches the mushroom in front of her. The path lit up, and she followed it to a few more mushrooms, up until she finished revealing the path. As soon as the path was revealed, she walked her way around and followed it to the next room. The crystals in the ground were flashing, and then everything went dark. "I believe this puzzle is time sensitive."
"Gee… I wonder what tipped you off…" Chara replied sarcastically. Ruby rolled her eyes and touched the lamp. The crystals lit up. Taking an opportunity, Ruby activated her semblance and navigated the room.
"That was easier than I thought it would be."
"Because you keep cheating and running through the puzzles. There will be times where you just can't run through your problems."
"Relax, will ya? I'll be fine."
"Are you though? You must be exhausted. It's been two days since you got any half-way decent sleep."
"Has it really been that long since I left the ruins? It feels like shorter."
"Call Papyrus. Have Sans come and get you. You need sleep."
"Okay fine, I will! After I finish navigating Waterfall!"
"Am I interrupting something?" A voice spoke in the darkness. Ruby quickly turned around and spotted Undyne standing there awkwardly. "Too bad… I had a cool and dramatic entrance planned, and it was gonna be so epic! Oh well!" The warrior summoned her spear and aimed it at Ruby, prepared to finish off the young huntress before she could proceed any further. "Ahem… Seven… Seven human souls! With the power of these souls our king, King Asgore Dreemurr, will become a god. With that power, Asgore can finally shatter the barrier. With that power… we can finally go home. Understand, human? This is your only chance at redemption. Give up your soul, or I'll tear it from your body!"
"Wait! Don't you understand? Down here is safer! Out there, there are Grimm destroying villages and killing people every single day. There are no Grimm down here. There are no lives taken just for feeling fear. I know being stuck underground, without sunlight or moonlight, is depressing, and isolated, but at least your safe! Any Grimm that may have been down here were wiped out decades ago. I have two friends who-"
"I'll ask you this one more time human. Die willingly, or be killed in bloody murder?" Undyne interrupts, not listening to Ruby's rant.
"I'm sorry, my answer is no." Ruby replies, reaching for crescent rose and extending it into it's scythe form.
"Then you have no chance. Die human!" Undyne screams, about to throw a spear at Ruby until…
"Yo! Undyne! I'll help you fight!" Monster Kid cried out, running between the two. Undyne managed to stop only mere inches away from MK's face. The child seemed unfazed by his near death experience and looked at Ruby. "Yo! You did it! You managed to get front row seats to Undyne's fight! Uh…" He trailed off, glancing around the area. "Who's she fighting, anyways?"
Undyne sighs and grabs Monster Kid by his cheek. "Come on kid, we need to talk."
"H-Hey! You aren't gonna tell my parents are you?"
Ruby shakes off the encounter and backtracks until she finds a path going north. The path was a stream of water filled with echo flowers. Ruby could hear the echoes of a conversation coming from the bright blue plants. There is another sign with more of the story from before on it.
"However, there is a prophesy. The angel, the one who has seen the surface, they will return, and the underground will go empty."
"Ominous."
"Yeah… it gave me chills."
"That may be the bridge right over there." Chara giggles.
"Bridge? What bridge?" Ruby asked, looking over to her right. Sure enough, there was a bridge there. "Oh. That bridge." Chara was laughing her ass off, while Ruby just rolled her eyes and walked over to the bridge. She crossed it slowly because it didn't look really all that stable. Thankfully it was, because that could have been bad.
"Yo!" Ruby jumped at the sudden voice, thankful that it was only monster kid.
"Hey Monster Kid!"
"Yo, I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I just gotta know the truth. Are you a human?"
"Yes. Yes Monster Kid, I am a human."
"I thought so… Undyne told me to… stay away from you. so, I guess that makes us enemies or something…"
"We don't have to be!" Ruby spoke up. Monster Kid shook his head.
"Sorry, Ruby. But if Undyne says I can't talk to you, then I can't talk to you… but I kind of stink at trash talk. Say something mean so I can hate you!"
"I'm sorry. I can't do that."
"What? Come on, so I have to do it? Man… here it goes. I… I hate your guts!" He yelled, though it was obvious he didn't mean it. "Man… I'm such a turd. I'm gonna go home now…" Monster kid turned to leave, but tripped and fell over the side, catching the bridge side with his teeth. "W-w-wait! Help! I tripped!" He cried, though he was muffled by the wood in his mouth. Undyne was standing there, ready to attack, but Ruby didn't care. She quickly ran forward and grabbed MK and pulled him up.
"It's okay, you're okay… you're safe."
Without another word, Monster Kid placed himself between Ruby and Undyne. Though she was wearing a helmet, you could tell that Undyne was not happy.
"Y… y… yo… dude… If… you wanna... hurt my friend, you'll have to get through me first!"
Undyne stood there for a moment, stunned. Then she proceeded to slowly back away and leave.
"Yo… You really saved my hide Ruby. I guess no matter what we do, we're just not meant to be enemies. How about we just be friends instead?"
"Sure. That sounds great MK!" Ruby smiled. Monster Kid looked excided.
"Ooh! Is that my super cool BFF nickname? Man, how can I top that? How about… Rubes?"
"I like it." Ruby chuckles. Monster kid does too until he recoils in shock.
"Darn it, what's the time!" He cries, checking the time on his watch (Which is fixated to his tail). "Jeez! That late? Sorry Rubes, I gotta get going or my mom is gonna kill me!"
"Bye MK!" Ruby waves at the monster, then continues her way.
"Uh oh…"
""Uh oh"? What do you mean "Uh oh"?"
"Seven… Seven Human souls and Asgore will become a god. Six. That's how many we have collected thus far. Understand?" A voice asks from above.
"Oh, that "Uh oh…"" Ruby muttered. "Uh, hi Undyne! What's up? Anything new? Is that a new helmet?" Ruby asked cheekily. This made the warrior angry.
"Oh, you think you're being…" Undyne throws a spear at her, nearly missing her to emphasize the last word. "cute?"
"Lady, I'm adorable!"
"Shut up and let me have my heroic speech."
"Proceed. No one's stopping you."
"Ugh! Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed. First, however, for it is customary for those who have made it thus far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people… it all started, long ago… No, you know what? SCREW IT! You have been a right royal pain in my ass since the moment you stepped foot in Waterfall, so why in the entire world of Remnant should I tell you that story, WHEN YOU'RE ABOUT TO DIE!? NGYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" she screamed, ripping off her helmet and throwing it away, revealing her face. Undyne is a fish monster with an eye patch worn on her left eye and scars on her gills. She seems more… mundane than one would expect, but still intimidating. "You! You're standing in the way of everyone's hopes and dreams! Alphys' history books made me think humans are cool, with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen…"
"Wait, their what?"
"BUT YOU? You're just a coward hiding from me behind that kid, just so you could run away again. And let's not forget the wimpy goody-two-shoes schtick. Ooh! I'm making such a difference by hugging random strangers! You wanna know what would be more valuable to everybody?"
"Does it involve death?"
"IF YOU WERE DEAD! That's right human. You're very existence is a crime. Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom. Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts pounding together. Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment. But we're not nervous at all. When everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose. Now human. Let us end this right here, right now. I'll show you how determined monsters can be! Step forward, when you're ready."
Ruby looked behind her to see a save point had appeared. She walked over to it and touched it.
"The wind is howling, you're filled with determination."
"Okay, let's take on Undyne."
"NO! Ruby, you're too tired. Call Papyrus, and you can take on Undyne when you're well rested."
"No… I'm… fine…" Ruby replied groggily before falling over and slipping into unconsciousness.