Vlad and Frisk wandered around Snowdin, mostly enjoying the view. Frisk seemed to be enjoying themselves, and Vlad just leisurely followed behind them, however, the duo still could not relax completely. Knowing that the risk of Chara coming back was still a problem, Frisk was on their toes the entire time they were near Vlad. Vlad couldn't help but wonder how much control he really had over Chara, and tried to distance himself from everyone they came across. He was feeling bored and alone, but didn't want to risk hurting anyone.
"What are we going to do? You can't keep going like this forever, can you?" Frisk signed. The duo had stopped right outside of Snowdin to recollect on the events that have passed, and to rest before any more encounters.
"I don't know, pal. Heh. Been hanging around Sans too much." He could hear a voice in his head say That comedian. He assumed it was Chara, so he ignored it. "I don't know how to fix this, but I would rather it be me than you who has to fight it." Vlad lied back into the snow. It was oddly warm, and he could tell he was exhausted. His body ached all over, and he struggled to keep his eyes open.
"Vlad? Are you okay?" Frisk looked slightly concerned. Vlad just let out a small laugh.
"Yeah, I'm just tired. Hey, think you could get Sans for me? I'm going to take a bit of a nap while you go play with Papyrus. Just in case, I want him to keep Chara from getting out of control while I'm asleep."
There was a rustling coming from the trees beside them. Sans stepped out from behind with that big skeleton grin of his. "You called? Hope I didn't rattle your bones to much by showing up so suddenly."
Frisk smiled and held in a laugh. Vlad grinned. "That pun sure did tickle my funny bone. But you sure have a Skele-ton of explaining to do on how you can get around so quickly for such a lazy bag-o-bones." Sans and Frisk both burst out laughing. Inside his head, he could audibly hear Chara screaming.
"Geez, buddy, you sure know how to tickle my rib cage. So, you were hoping to take a quick nap, huh. I can relate. My brother sure does keep people going. I can barely get a wink of sleep with him always rattling on about me not doing my job." Sans sat down next to Vlad in the snow.
"Wait, do you do your job?" Frisk signed. It had Vlad curious as well. They both looked at him.
"Sure, but don't tell Paps. It's too much fun to watch it get under his skin." Vlad smiled and Frisk laughed. "Anyway, you go ahead and have fun, kiddo. Me and Vlad here are gonna kick back for a few. Wake us when you're done."
Vlad was in a bright white room, struggling to get his bearings. When he finally was comfortable with the intensity of light, he noticed a corner shrouded by shadows. He could faintly hear a laugh coming from the corner, so he made his way towards it. As he got closer, he could make out the form of a child.
By the time he realized who it was, it was too late. The shadows spread around him, all light gone from sight except for the red glow coming off of Chara. "So, Vlad… having fun? I've been sitting back, letting you make friends with these fools."
"Why? If you could take control so easily, why not just do it?" Vlad, after having Chara's presence with him for a while now, was less intimidated by the monster who was before him. "I mean, if you wanted everyone dead, couldn't you have just taken over my body and killed them by now?"
"Oh, sure I could have." Chara laughed. It sent a chill up Vlad's spine. "At first I thought, this idiot is trying to resist me. Fine, we'll see how he likes it when I kill all of his pathetic little friends. But, as I sat in here, exploring the depths of your mind, body, and soul, I discovered something. Something much more interesting then these fools."
"What could you possibly found inside of me that is so special? I'm just an ordinary human with no defining traits." Vlad shook his head and turned around. He was about to walk away from the specter, but was caught off guard by the lack of ground to walk on. He stumbled slightly, regaining his balance. As he could see, there was barely anywhere to go, and definitely nowhere to get away from Chara.
"I think you know what it is. It's the same reason those humans framed you back on the surface. Or had you forgotten about that?" This struck a nerve with Vlad.
He turned back around and grabbed Chara. He pulled them face to face with him, and he had the look of a man ready to kill someone. "How do you know about that?!"
"I told you, I have been going through your mind. There is nothing you know that I don't." They just continued to smile.
Vlad struggled to get control of his emotions for a minute, then finally let out a sigh. He let Chara go. "So, how much do you know about my life from before?"
"I know that you were never allowed in public schools growing up, that you got married but could never seem to have any children, were constantly harassed by the government… and that you murdered your wife." They started laughing. Vlad flew into a rage. He grabbed Chara by the head and slammed it against the floor.
"I did NOT kill my wife. I would never have hurt her!" Chara's head spun around under Vlad's hand. He let go and jumped back slightly.
"I never said you did. All this time, you thought you really were being framed for her death… But the reality is, you weren't framed. You really did kill her." Chara moved closer and closer to Vlad, who was backing away as they moved toward him.
"What are you saying?" He stopped at the edge of the platform he was standing on, Chara pressing their forehead against Vlad's. "How could I have killed her without hurting her?"
"Hmm… I think that's a story for another time. Frisk is calling. You'd better get back to them." Chara moved back and pushed Vlad over the edge of the platform. Vlad let out a short scream and grabbed on to the platform. "Oh, come on. Don't fight it. It's time to wake up!" Chara kicked his hand off of the ledge and sent them plummeting to the darkness below.
Vlad awoke, sweating, with the snow around him completely melted. Frisk was standing over him, and Sans was laying against a tree. Papyrus was standing behind Frisk, a worried look on his face. "ARE YOU OKAY, TALL HUMAN?" Vlad gave him a strange look.
"I have a name, you know. If you insist on calling me tall human, then I'm gonna start calling you The Great Spaghetti." Vlad heard Sans chuckle. Frisk was grinning, and Papyrus' face lit up.
"WOWIE! SUCH A FITTING NICK NAME FOR ONE SUCH AS MYSELF! AND GIVEN TO ME BY MY FRIEND THE TALL HUMAN! I AM SO HONORED!" Vlad just smiled and shook his head.
Vlad stood up and swept the grass and dirt off of his clothes. Although the snow had melted, there wasn't a drop of water on him anywhere. "Are you two done?" Frisk nodded. "Then, we should get going. I'm sure your… wait, do you have a family, Frisk?" Frisk grabbed Papyrus' hand. "No, I mean a human family." Frisk stopped for a second, tears forming. They shook their head no. "Huh. Well, I guess that makes two of us then." Frisk looked up in surprise, their tears stopping.
"What happened to your family?" They signed. Vlad sighed. He picked Frisk up and carried them on his shoulders.
"You really wanna know? It's a long story. It may take a while to tell." Frisk kept signing yes over and over in front of his face. "Okay, okay. Calm down." Vlad laughed slightly. He remembered being a kid and getting that excited about things. It… was a rare occasion. He held out his hand to Papyrus. "It was nice to meet you, The Great Spaghetti." Frisk held in a laugh. "We're going to be on our way. But, we'll definitely come back to see you again some time."
Papyrus grabbed Vlad's hand and shook it. "INDEED YOU WILL! I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU AND FRISK OVER FOR SPAGHETTI AGAIN. DO NOT BE STRANGERS YOU TWO!"
"Okay, but maybe next time I can make the spaghetti. Or at the very least, I can help." Frisk was nodding as hard as they could without being noticeable, but Vlad could tell. Frisk was obviously not a huge fan of Papyrus' spaghetti, but he still tried it. "Heh. You're a good kid. Stay that way." Vlad high fived Frisk. The two of them waved good bye to Sans and Papyrus as the ventured out of Snowdin and made their way to Waterfall.
It was a pretty peaceful walk through Waterfall, but after a while, Frisk and Vlad felt confused. "Why does everything seem different this time?" Frisk signed.
"I don't know, but I can feel it, too. It's as if... Waterfall is a completely different place then before." Vlad walked forward and stepped into a patch of grass spread across the path before them. "I don't like this." Out of nowhere, a blue spear flew towards Vlad. He managed to roll out of the way before it hit him. He heard clanking metal on the ledge above him, and saw three more spears moving towards him. "Frisk... You may wanna just go on ahead." He grabbed the spear in the middle of the three and blocked the other two.
"Okay, but be careful with Undyne. She can be a bit... intense." Frisk quickly and quietly made their way through the grass, continuing on the path.
Vlad waited until frisk was out of sight, then stopped. "Okay, you damn fish. Get down here and fight me like a true warrior would. Or are you too scared I will win?" For a few seconds, it was silent, then the sounds of metal clanking together got faster and louder. In front of Vlad, a person in a suit of armor crashed into the ground, cracking the rocks beneath them. "So, you're Undyne? You don't look so tough." Vlad was obviously lying, but wanted to buy time for Frisk. There was no way they would be able to survive down here without their saves and resets, so Vlad didn't want to risk them fighting someone so dangerous.
"Two humans? This is great! Now, Asgore will DEFINITELY make it through the barrier!" Undyne laughed, and grabbed a spear out of thin air. Vlad tightened his grip on the spear he had obtained earlier. Undyne charged at Vlad, and the room went black. Suddenly, his soul was showing. This isn't how he wanted to fight, but it seemed like it was this, or let Frisk and himself get captured. So, he went along with it. "You mocked me, and now it seems like you want to run. So, let's see how you handle this!" Undyne swung her spear, and Vlad's soul became a more solid green, and the red thorns disappeared. "Now, there's no way you can run."
"Good. I didn't plan to. Let's just do this and stop talking." Vlad was sweating. He didn't know if it was from the temperature change, or from the anticipation of fighting with Undyne, but he wasn't going to give up, no matter what.