Damn. It's been what, a year since I last updated? That's way to long to go without an update. The only excuse I can give you is that 2017 was a hard year for me. I'll gloss over the details, just know that a lot happened. Some bad family problems, Hurricane Irma (I live in Florida, for those unaware), more family problems, catching the flu, and preparing to move into a new house. I can't promise to be more consistent with my updates. What with moving and all. But I'm going to try at least. Now without farther delay. here's the chapter you all been waiting over a year for.
CH.6
Because I'm not popular, I'll get a traveling companion!
"S-so, um. Where d-do we go f-from here?"
Tomoko asked Napstablook while she stood in the middle of the other half of the room. Now that her fight with him was over, she could clearly study the section past the narrow bit. Although there was nothing impressive about the room itself. She does note that there are 2 different doorways. Thus, making her a bit unsure which way to go.
"well, the doorway to the left goes further into the ruins. while the one in front of us leads to the spider bake sale." Napstablook answered her question.
"S-spider... Bake sale?" She asked. A little perplexed by what a spider bake sale is. (What. Do they sale spider themed goods or something?')
'yea... it's ran by all the spiders here in the ruins. they do it to raise money. though i don't know what they are raising that money for." He explained to her. She meanwhile was already jumping to conclusions about it.
'Spiders!? Like, monster spiders? Are they like the other monsters here? Will they attack me like all the other here do? What do they use to make their pastries? What if they use other monsters as ingredients in them? What if they want to use me as an ingredient in them? Wait. Calm down. From the way Napstablook was talking about them, he doesn't seem that worried. But then again, he is a ghost. It isn't like they could hurt him. But he also said they sale their goods to raise money. Which to me would mean they get along with the other monsters here well. But there is still the fact that I'm a human. They might attack me like the other monsters here do-' "Tomoko?"
Tomoko snapped out of her thoughts by Napstablook calling her name. She looked over to him before inquiring what he wants. "Um. Yes?"
"nothing... it's just that you've been standing there for a while now just staring vacantly into space and i was getting worried. sorry if i was bothering you..." He told her as he looked off to the side sheepishly.
"No no. I-it's okay. Um, can I a-ask a question?"
"go ahead..."
"Are the s-spiders at the spider bake sale... D-dangerous?"
'no... there harmless. they just want money for whatever it is they are raising it for. i don't think they even could hurt you." His answer relaxed Tomoko a bit. Now glad that there is no real risk to visiting them. Which brought up her next question...
"U-um. Is it o-okay if you, um, g-go with me t-to visit them?" She asked. Even with Napstablook words confirming that nothing dangerous was in there, she still didn't want to take the risk. Besides, maybe him being a ghost means he has a different idea of what's dangerous and what's not.
"sure... after all, you did say you would hang out with me. right?" He replied as he floated up beside her.
"O-oh yea. I did, didn't I. S-so, let's go... Heheh." And with that, they both walked (or floated in Napstablooks case) over to the doorway in front of them.
The room they walked into was small and rather unimpressive. Just a square with a sign in the middle and some spider webs on the walls. There weren't even any giant monster spiders like Tomoko first thought ('Maybe we walked in while they were out?'). She walked over to the sign to read its content. Hoping it had a clue about where the spiders are.
[Spider Bake Sale. All proceeds go to real spiders.]
A bit disappointed that it didn't have the information she wanted, she turned to Napstablook to ask if they came at a wrong time. That was until she took a glimpse at the spider webs and noticed something. She went to take a closer look at them. And sure enough, there were spiders crawling on them. To her surprise, they looked no different from the spiders she would find on the surface. After studying the webs more, she noticed that there were gold coins like the ones she had collected down here. ('Seriously? They leave their money out in the open like that? That's just begging for some asshole to come along and steal it').
Still unsure that these where the spiders Napstablook was talking about, she turns to him for confirmation. "A-are these the spiders?".
"yea... just drop the listed amount of gold coins on the web and they'll give you some of their baked goods." After getting that these were in fact the spiders he was talking about, she looks back at the webs to see what he was talking about when he said, "listed amount".
Sure enough, after taking a closer look, she could read what looks like a price written onto the web itself in thicker spider silk.
[7 G for 1 donut.]
After digging through her pockets to find all the gold she had. ('I really should have put them all in the same pocket.'), she came to realize that she only had 4 G ('Guess that means no donut for me then...'). She looked at the spiders sadly as her stomach growled. Now realizing how hungry she was.
Suddenly, Napstablook floated up beside her with 3 coins sitting on an extension of his body that she guessed was his hand. "here... you seem hungry. and with how little hp your soul has, you'll need all the health you could get. which reminds me. you should eat that monster candy while we wait for the food to arrive."
She blushed heavily as they both dropped the money onto the web. She watched as the spiders collected the coins and tied them securely to the web with their silk. They then began to retreat into a hole in the wall connected to their web. Presumably where they keep their baked goods.
As she waits for the donut to come, she began to think back to her battle with Napstablook. Specifically, about how she ended it. 'I still can't believe I actually did that. Just straight up asked someone if they would like to hang out with me. But more than that. I can't believe how... Easy it was. Well, it wasn't that easy. It took a HUGE chunk of my mental stamina to do that. But still, all it took was a few nice words, and now I have friend traveling with me. Was it always that simple? That all I had to do to get people to spend time with me, was to just walk up and ask?'
While she ponders this, she fished the monster candy out of her pocket and opened it up. Putting the piece in her mouth while she put the wrapper back into her pocket. She again took note of its "Non-licorice" flavor before swallowing it. She once again felt a pleasant feeling surge through her body as she did so, now knowing that what it was doing was healing her. Most of her aches, pains, and fatigue went away. Granted, she still hurt in some places, but she felt better all the same. Hopefully the donut would improve on that.
'...No. It can't be! The reason for my unpopularity couldn't be something as simple as that. Napstablook was a lonely guy that just really wanted to have someone, anyone to talk to. If I tried that on anyone from my school, they would most likely just laugh, or sneer, or just give me a weird look and walk away like the bitches and assholes they are! Monster society is probably just different from human society is all. I shouldn't be thinking the ways they treat each other here is in anyway like how people treat each other on the surface.' After thinking of an excuse for why what she did with Napstablook wouldn't work back home, Tomoko looked down to see that the spiders have come back carrying the donut she just paid for. It looked rather tasty. It was a light brown color and covered in chocolate and sprinkles. It also had little black spots spread all over it ('Maybe some kind of special ingredient?').
She carefully picked up the donut and took a bite. It tasted incredibly delicious! Though it did have a bit of crunchiness in it ('Maybe it's that special ingredient.'). As she swallowed it, she once again felt a pleasant wave pass through her body as the rest of her aches disappeared.
"does it taste good?" Napstablook asked as they walked (and floated) out of the room.
"Y-yah! It's p-pretty good. It also m-made me feel better." Tomoko said between bites. Now feeling more comfortable with Napstablooks presence.
Once they exited the spider bake sale room, they went over to the other doorway. The one that Napstablook said went further into the ruins. Tomoko finishing the last of her donut as they go. The next room they walked into didn't have much in it that was noteworthy. It was rectangular and stretches to the right. A path of lighter lavender stone stretched forward from the doorway they came from before making a sharp right turn. A sign was planted in the ground in front of the turn. And 3 froggits stood at the path's left as it went through the room.
Curious about what the sign says, Tomoko walked down the path towards it with napstablook by her side. She licked the remainder of the donut from her fingers as she approached. 'Maybe it's a hint to some hidden puzzle in here? This room seems a bit suspiciously large for it to have nothing but a sign and 3... What were those things called again? Froggits?'
[Did you miss it? Spider Bake sale down and to the right. Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!]
'Oh. Just advertisement for the- Wait...' Tomoko paused from licking what was left of the donut from her fingers. Her pinky planted in her mouth as she leaned forward to reread the sign. 'Made... By spiders, for spiders... Of spiders...'
She stood there for a while. Pinky still in her mouth. Going over what the sign just said. Finally, she removed the finger from her mouth, some of the glaze and chocolate still clinging to it. She looked at it very closely. Inspecting it.
"tomoko... is something wrong?" Napstablook asked. Feeling concerned for his new friend after noticing her sudden change after reading the sign.
Said teen meanwhile was looking intently at her pinky. It was then that she noticed something. She didn't see it at first do to it blending in with the dark color of the chocolate, but now that she was paying attention to it she could see it. On the smudge of chocolate on her pinky finger, was what looked like a spider's leg.
As she stared at it, her eyes slowly morphed into spirals. Her face began to pale before turning a shade of green. Her body started shaking. And a nauseating feeling started to rise from her stomach.
"tomoko?" Napstablook called out to her again as he notices that her complexion started to worsen. He was now feeling quite worried about her.
"URK!" suddenly with a jerk. Tomoko's cheeks inflated as her stomach began upheaving its content. She quickly started to look around rapidly, before placing her eyes on the upper left corner of the room. She quickly sprinted towards it. Slamming her hands against the wall stop herself as well as support her as she bent down. The sudden action caused the 3 froggits in the room to look at her. Curious about what the human was doing suddenly. Napstablook meanwhile looked on from where he was. Worried about what was wrong with his friend. Until finally...
"BEGULEH!" Tomoko Violently vomited in the corner. Both the sound of it and the view of it falling from between her legs made that very clear to everyone in the room. The 3 froggits opened their eyes wide in shock at the sight while Napstablook watched Tomoko with a look that was between disgust and concern. The 3 froggits, deciding to avoid the apparently ill human, quickly making their way towards the doorway on the far-right side of the room. Napstablook meanwhile was slowly floating towards Tomoko until he was right beside her. Ready to help her in whatever way he can once she's... Finished.
"Uuuuuggghhhhhh." Tomoko groaned. Finally finished regurgitating her stomach content. She stepped away from the wall. Wobbling a bit as she did so. Napstablook was quick to offer her support using 2 extended portion of his body that could be called "arms".
"tomoko! are you okay?" The ghost asked her in worry. What caused her to become so ill like this? Was it something in the donut?
"I'm... I'm f-fine, now." Tomoko mumbled as she staggers a bit. Still looking a bit green.
After waiting a while for her to regain her Barings, the 2 slowly started walking back to the path. Ready to leave the room like the 3 froggits that were here before. Just as they were about to leave, they both were startled by a ringing noise coming from Tomoko's pocket. She groggily fishes the guilty device out. And stares at it in exasperation.
'Of all the times you could call me... I DON'T want to deal with this right now!' Despite that thought. Tomoko answered the phone. Already aggravated when she hears Toriels voice.
"Hello?"
"Yes!?" The irate teen responded. Letting her exasperation seep into her voice.
"Oh my! Did I call at a bad time? Is something wrong?" Toriel asked. Quickly noting the tone in the teen's voice.
Realizing what she said, or specifically, how she said it. Tomoko began to backpaddle. "Eh, no. It's not. I just, um." ('What should I tell her? I can't tell her what just happened. Not only will she'll realize that I left, but she will also rush towards me and start babying me again.') The teen began to think. "I-I just have... A b-bit of a tummy ache is all." ('Well, it isn't exactly a lie.')
"Oh. Is it bad? Do you need me come back to you right now? I believe I have some medicine for something like that around my home." Toriel responded. Concern notable in her voice. This was exactly what Tomoko was trying to avoid!
"W-wait! No. It's n-not that bad. It's k-kind of already passing right now. Y-you don't need to hurry yourself back h-here for my sake. S-so, um. What was it y-you called me f-for?" Tomoko told her. Hoping to calm her down and change the subject.
"Oh. Well, if you insist. I will leave it alone for now. I mainly called to tell you that I just realized it has been a while since I have cleaned up. I was not expecting to have company so soon. There are probably a lot of things lying about here and there. You can pick them up, but do not carry more than you need. Someday you might see something you really like. You will want to leave room in your pockets for that." She told Tomoko. Deciding to let her ailment go. For now.
"Um, okay. I'll keep note of that." And after that last exchange, Toriel hung up.
'What was that about? Sounds like some sort of hint in a video game.' Tomoko thought as she and Napstablook made their way out of the room.
Tomoko was quite irritable by the time they made it to the next room. Not only did she found herself to be even more hungry after her stomach calmed down, but it turned out that she also got some vomit on her hoodie as well.
'As if the giant piss stain on my crotch wasn't embarrassing enough. Now I have a puke stain on my chest as well! Toriel better have a washing machine at her house. Or at least a new pair of clothes I could barrow.' The teen thought irritably as she and her ghost companion walk into the next room.
Speaking of said companion. Napstablook quietly floated behind Tomoko when they made their way into the room. He was silent since the incident in the last room. Believing it best to not say a word as he watched Tomoko's aggravation grew as she recovered from her mystery illness. He understood why of course. Considering the state she is in now combined with the fact she was probably hungry after losing her lunch like that. He just saw fit to be quiet as to not irritate her more.
Back to Tomoko, she began to study the new room they were in. The room was long and rectangular. Like the last room. Unlike the last room however there were 6 darkened and sagging sections of floor right up against the walls, 3 on each side of the room. However only the very middle part of each of them was cracked. ('Great... More of those cracked floor "puzzles".') To confirm her fears, there were 3 chutes along the right wall in between the darkened patches of floor. Though they were wider than the chute in the past. At the end of the room was a doorway blocked by moving spikes. And to her left, a small manuscript.
'Alright... Let's read what useless hint it has and get this over with.' Tomoko thought as she walked over to read the manuscript.
[There is just one switch.]
"Huh. Well that should make this simpler." Tomoko said as Napstablook floated up beside her. Reading the clue himself.
"so... we should split up and look for the switch. right?" Napstablook suggested.
"Y-yea. I guess. Wait. Shouldn't you a-already know where the switch is. I mean. Y-you've been through here b-before. Right?" Tomoko question as she looks towards Napstablook.
"not really... though i have been through here before, i usually just pass through everything. i'm a ghost, remember?" He explained.
"O-oh. Yea. Right... S-sorry, I forgot about th-that..." The teen responded sheepishly.
"it's okay... you're not the first." And with that, the two split up to see which breakable floor had the switch underneath it.
Tomoko walked up to one of the spots in the corner of the room. " *Sigh* Here goes nothin-" "gaaahhh!" *CRASH*
Tomoko immediately looked behind her after hearing the scream. Noticing a hole in the middle dark spot at the wall of the room behind her. 'Was that... Napstablook?'
Quickly running over to it, she peers down into it only to see nothing "N-napstablook?" She called out into it. Only to hear nothing in return. Deciding there wasn't much else she could do, she steeled her nerves and hesitantly jumps into the hole.
"GAAAAHHHH!" She screamed before landing in a pile of red leaves. Now finding out that if she properly prepares for it, the whole ordeal wasn't really that bad. Or she was getting used to it...
Putting that aside, she gets up and looks around. Only to look down and find Napstablook lying right next to her.
"Um, Napstablook?" She called to him. hoping he would respond. ('He's a ghost. That fall really shouldn't hurt him. Right?')
"i fell down the hole... now i can't get up... go on without me..." The downed ghost told her in a somber, weak tone of voice.
"Um. C-can't you just, um, fly? Y-you're a ghost after all. Right?" She asked him.
Beat.
"oh yea... right... i forgot about that." And with those words, he floated up. "it's like i said earlier. you're not the first to forget about my abilities... i'll go look in the other holes now."
Napstablook then floated up and back to the floor above. Tomoko meanwhile walked to the staircase that should go back up to one of the chutes.
'How did he even break a hole in the floor in the first place? I thought he floated all the time.' She thought as she climbed the stairs. Thinking about a mystery that would probably never be solved.
Once she made it back up, she then started to think about which hole she should start with. She decided to go with the one she was planning on going on first. After preparing herself again, she jumped on the cracked part and it instantly collapsed underneath her. She held her tongue as she fell. Deciding to have at least some dignity as she fell this time. Once again, she landed in a pile of red leaves. ('Seriously. Where are they coming from!?') As she gets up however, she sees 3 things that are looking straight towards her. Monsters.
"Uh oh..." She mutters as her soul comes out and the battle box makes its reappearance.
[Migosp crawled up close!]
As she gets up, she studies each of the monsters to see what she is up against. Two of them were moldsmals. However, it was the one in the middle that caught her attention the most.
Assuming its name is migosp judging from the message. It was a short brown bug-like monster. It had an oval shaped body that stood on short legs and had arms with pincer-like hands at the end. Two antennae came out of its head. It's brows where pressed forward in an angry expression. And its mouth was contorted into a toothy scowl with two insect-like mandibles at the corners. Overall, it seemed angry about something.
[MIGOSP - ATK 7 DEF 5 *It seems evil, but it's just with the wrong crowd...]
"Uhhhh, NAPSTABLOOK?" She calls out. hoping her friend can hear her.
But, nobody came. Now knowing she must fight on her own (again), she gets herself ready to dodge the soon to come attacks.
"FILTHY SINGLE MINDER!" *Sniff* "REALLY FILTHY!" The migosp shouted as he raises his arms dramatically in the air. A swarm of flying cockroaches materialize from behind him and flew out as he did so. ('Ugh. Cockroaches...')
The cockroaches flew straight towards the walls of the battle box, crawled along them until they were on either side of her, then jumped off and flew towards her. The moldsmals meanwhile were shooting the zigzagging slime balls that she was more familiar with. Tomoko jumped away when the cockroaches flew at her. Only to land in the path of a slime ball that hit her in the leg. Putting it and her chest in pain as her soul cracks and flashes. Thankfully, she quickly recovered. And managed to dodge the others slime balls that fallowed. She also noted that the cockroaches don't fly through the center of the battle box for some reason. Only around the left and right side. She decided not to question it though. As it only made them easier to dodge. As it wasn't that easy to do to begin with due to the room's small size. Eventually, the assault stopped.
'Okay. I'll deal with the moldsmals first since I know how to pacify them. After that I'll figure out how to calm down this "migosp".' Settling on a plan of action, she began to wiggle her hips side to side rhythmically. 'It worked before. Hopefully it'll work this time too.'
To her relief, the moldsmal on the left started to wiggle in sync with her.
[You wiggle your hips. Moldsmal wiggles back. What a meaningful conversation!]
'Yes! it's working!' She thought as she continued to wiggle. Blushing red as she still found it embarrassing for some reason.
Eventually, the other moldsmal started wiggling to. It was at this time that Napstablook came in through the wall. His sudden appearance startled Tomoko. Almost making her lose her rhythm. She recovered however.
"tomoko... i heard you called and began to- what are you doing?" Napstablook said. Now taking notice of Tomoko's actions.
'So, he DID hear me. What took him so long though?' "Um. I-I'm in the middle of a b-battle right now." Tomoko told him. Still shaking her hips.
"a battle?" Napstablook looked around to see the battle box, her soul, and 3 monsters in front of her. Including the 2 that were wiggling in sync with his friend.
Upon seeing what they are. He looked back to Tomoko with a... Blue blush on his face?
"tomoko! i-i didn't take you for the type of person to be that forward with people. much less two..." He said to her with a look on his face that looked like he just walked in on something inappropriate.
'Forward? What is he...' "W-what are you talking about?" She asked him as her shaking hips slowed down.
"you do know what that means, well, to them..." He says as he motions to the moldsmals. "right?"
"...W-what?" She responds as her wiggling slows to a stop. What was she saying to them by doing that?
"well. um, you see. that's how they..." He pauses to choose his words. "...court each other."
"Court?" She asks.
"you know... flirt?"
Beat.
For a moment, Tomoko just stood there to let it sink in. Until finally it hits her. She was flirting with slime monsters. Her pupils began to dilate, her face turns blood red, and mouth hung wide open.
'I-I was... Flirting with them. the whole time...' She thought before looking at the 2 monsters in front of her. 'Why are both shaking!? Are they into that sort of thing? Actually, the less I think about it the better...'
Suddenly. The 2 moldsmals started to move their way over to her. Wiggling the whole way. Until they were both right up against her legs.
"H-h-h-hay... I-I think th-there is a b-bit of a m-misunderstanding here. Heh heh..." Tomoko tells them sheepishly as she looks down at the two gelatin-like monsters. Suddenly both moldsmals spit up a gold coin each at her feet. Before they both turn around and head towards the stairway out of the room. Right before leaving, one of the moldsmals stops at the doorway, (presumably) looks her way, and makes one last wiggle at her before leaving the room. Her newfound knowledge on what that meant made her blush heavily and feel like throwing up again.
The migosp meanwhile. Who was watching the spectacle the whole time in confusion. Looked at her and... Smiled?
"Hiya~" He says to her in a jolly, friendly voice.
Tomoko was taken aback by this. Not being sure on exactly how to handle it. She looks over to Napstablook in hopes of him having some advice on this monster.
"that's just a migosp... they're only really dangerous when they're with others. but by themselves, their actually pretty friendly." He tells her.
"Mm, cha cha cha!" Suddenly, the migosp started dancing. Seeming to not have a single care in the world.
Once he was finished, he walked up to Tomoko and held out a pincer with 4 gold coins on it.
"Here ya go! Sorry about that. I really got to stop hanging out with those guys. I tend to get like that when I'm around them." He says in a friendly tone. Tomoko takes the money hesitantly.
"U-um. Thank you..." She thanked the migosp awkwardly.
[YOU WON! You earned 0 EXP and 6 gold.]
The battle box disappeared, and her soul returned to her body. The migosp did a polite bow and turned around towards the staircase. humming a catchy tune to himself.
"Glad that's over." Tomoko said as she bent down to collect the 2 coins the moldsmals left before making her way towards the staircase herself with Napstablook in tow... Before slipping and falling on the trail the moldsmals left. Napstablook rushing to her aid in response.
Tomoko rubbed her head as she slid out of the chute that returned her to the above floor. Napstablook fallowing close behind. Her head still throbbed a bit form banging against the floor in the room before. Napstablook floated up beside her and offered something to her.
"W-what's this for?" She asked as she took the object from his "hand". It was a faded and slightly tethered red ribbon.
"i found it lying on the ground in the room we just came from... is it not your?" He asked.
"No. Why would I have an old ribbon?" Tomoko replied as she examined the ribbon.
"oh... sorry. i thought you dropped it or something during your last battle." Napstablook said solemnly.
[Faded Ribbon. Armor DEF 3 *If you're cuter, monsters won't hit you as hard.]
"Huh?" Tomoko was taken by surprise from the sudden appearance of the mystery message. Especially over something as mundane as an old ribbon.
"what is it? did i say something or..." Napstablook said. Thinking Tomoko was startled by him.
"N-no no. It's nothing." She told him as she began to think about what the message just said.
'Why would the message appear for something like a ribbon? And would wearing it really do much against monsters? Then again, Toriel did say that mercy was a virtue here. And some, well, all the monsters (sans Flowey) did spare me after talking with them for a bit. So maybe making myself cuter would protect me a bit.' After thinking about it for a bit, Tomoko decided to tie the ribbon into her hair. Napstablook watched her, curious about what she was doing.
"W-well. What d-do you think?" Tomoko asked him nervously. The ribbon now tied into a small bow on the side of her head.
"it looks nice i guess... but why? didn't you say it wasn't yours?" Napstablook responded with a question of his own.
"W-well. I thought th-that monsters won't a-att-tack me if I-I was c-cuter l-looking." ('Oh God... That actually sounds a lot dumber when I actually say it out loud.') "Besides. I-it's just an old r-ribbon. Right?" She says to him as her anxiety increases.
"true... and i guess that does make a bit of sense when you say it like that." He replied as he gave it more thought.
'Well, it's nice to know someone else thinks this idea works.' Tomoko thought with relief before returning to the task at hand. "I'll t-try looking over there this time." She said as she pointed to a spot at another corner of the room.
"okay…" Napstablook nodded in understanding as he floated over to a spot at a different corner of the room. Tomoko walked over to the spot she pointed at. Stepping on it with much less hesitation then she did on the damaged floor tiles before and falling through it without uttering more than a sigh. It was honestly becoming more of a chore at this point. After getting up from the leaf pile she looked around to see if she can find a switch. No luck there. However, she did find what looked like an oversized carrot stuck in the ground.
'What's a carrot doing her? And a giant one at that. Did someone plant it here?' A rumble from her stomach reminded her of how hungry she is. '…Well, it's better than nothing. And hopefully whoever left it here wouldn't mind me taking it. I'm pretty sure they would understand if they knew the circumstances.'
She walked over to the carrot and began to pull it out of the ground. It was well rooted in there. Either that or it was just heavy. Suddenly it came out with a pop. Causing Tomoko to fall backwards onto the ground. When she looks back at the carrot, she was startled by what she sees. On the carrot, which was still half way into the ground, was what looked like the face of a grinning jack-o-lantern. The carrot then jumped out of the ground and began to float in the air. Its leaves atop its head waving around in a creepy manner. It was here that Tomoko realized that the carrot was actually a monster. Her soul and the battle box appearing shortly after.
[Vegetoid came out of the earth!]
"…Here we go." Tomoko groaned in resignation as she got up and prepared herself for the battle to come. 'These monsters just keep getting weirder.'
[VEGETOID – ATK 6 DEF 6 *Serving Size: 1 Monster. Not monitored by the USDA.]
'What? Am I supposed to… Eat it?' She was hungry. But eating a monster? That was a bit morbid even for her.
"Farmed locally, very locally." The vegetoid said as its leaves start waving more violently as various vegetables started shooting out of them. Tomoko Jumped out of the way of the first vegetable, an ear of corn, to fly towards her ('Ha! This is easy.'). Just as she was going to jump out of the way of the next vegetable, a tomato, however, she was suddenly struck in the back by a painful force. Her soul flashed and cracked from the impact, telling her it was a bullet ('It can shoot bullets from behind me? That's not fair!'). The attack staggered her, resulting in the tomato nailing her in the face. Causing her more damage to her soul, as well as costing her what dignity she had left. It was when she barely rolled out of the way of a cucumber and watched it fly behind her did she realized what actually happened. The cucumber bounced off the wall of the battle box and started to fly back towards her. Forcing her to dodge it a second time and watch as it bounced of the opposite wall, though thankfully flying off in a different direction this time. She then looked around the battle box to see an unusual sight. All the vegetables shot out by the vegetoid were pinballing around her. Bouncing off the walls of the battle box when they collided with them ('Okay, maybe this won't be easy.'). She was forced back to her senses by another ear of corn flying at her followed by other vegetables. Forcing her to dodge the vegie onslaught non-stop (Not an easy task due to her face still being covered in tomato.). Thankfully, the vegetoid's attack ending not long after with all the vegetables disappearing and Tomoko succeeded in avoiding any more damage despite her impaired eyesight. Giving her a moment to think things through and clean her face.
'Okay. He's probably mad about me trying to eat him. So maybe if I apologize about it, all will be forgiven. I mean, it worked with the froggit.'
Having thought up a plan of action, she carefully approached the vegetoid to apologize for her mistake. "H-hay… Sorry a-about pulling you out of th-the ground like that. I-I was just-"
"Plants can't talk dummy!" The vegetoid interrupted her as it began to shoot more vegetables at her.
"Wha? B-but you just-" Tomoko couldn't finish her reply as the vegetables started to fly at her again.
Having a better idea what to expect this time, the teen didn't have as much problems dodging the vegetables this time. She was getting exhausted though.
*Pant* 'I need to finish this fast. All this fighting in the Ruins while on an empty stomach is tiring me out. Hell, I don't think I've ever did this much physical activity in a single day in my life!' *GROWN* Suddenly, Tomoko keeled over clutching her stomach as a loud growl escaped from it. The hunger pains starting to zap away what little energy she had left. "Ugh. I'm sooooooo hungry!"
"Hungry you say?"
[You grabbed your stomach. Vegetoid offers a healthy meal.]
Tomoko quickly looked up to the vegetoid. Realizing it herd her plea. She backed away slightly, afraid of what it has in store.
"Well then. Eat your greens." The vegetoid started up its attack again. Tomoko did her best to dodge the third assault from the vegetable monster. However due to her growing exhaustion and hunger, she was far more lethargic in her movements. She barely dodged some vegetables. Some even succeeding in hitting her limbs. Causing her soul to ache in pain as her body burned with exhaustion and hunger pains. The smell of steamed vegetables not helping the latter at all. Finally, in the middle of the attack, Tomoko fell to her knees as she clutched her stomach. Too hungry and tired to continue moving. It was here that the vegetoid summoned a vegetable that is different from the others before. It looked like a carrot. But it was completely green and gave off a similarly green glow. It fired the strange vegetable straight at her. Tomoko, who was too tired to move out of the way of the attack. Simply closed her eyes and braced for impact. However, instead of more pain like she was expecting, the green carrot bounced off when it collided with her and landed on the floor before her. She stared at it confused, before hesitantly reaching out and touching it. When it didn't hurt her on contact, she carefully picked it up. It felt like a normal carrot in her hands. Unsure about what to do about it, she looked back up to the vegetoid. Who seemed to be goading her to do something with it from the way it looked at her.
'Does he want me to… Eat it?'
She was quite confused about this. Why was it trying to feed her all of a sudden? It only made her more hesitant to eat it. An idea that was already unappealing to her Considering how it looked ('I already don't like most vegetables. Why would I eat a glowing, magical one?'). However, a loud rumble from her stomach silenced her protests.
'Well, it's not like I have anything else to eat around here (Except for some monster candy.). And the message seemed to say it's healthy. Screw it, I'm hungry!' Listening to her stomach rather than her better judgment, Tomoko began to eat the carrot Much to the vegetoid's delight. If its cackling and smiling at the sight of Tomoko eating its carrot is any indication 'Ugh. What is his problem? Is this his fetish or something? Freak!'
To her surprise, not only did the carrot tasted good (for a vegetable, at least.), but it made her feel a bit better like the other food she has eaten here as well. Granted, it wasn't much. But did helped the pain a little bit.
Finally having the strength to stand up (abet weakly.). She slow walked to the vegetoid to thank it. Hoping she appeased it. "U-um. Thank y-you… For-"
"I told you! Plants can't talk dummy!"
'Um, aren't you talking right now? You know what, never mind. The sooner I solve this room's puzzle, the better.' She thought with annoyance at the undergrounds increasing weirdness.
That aside, the vegetoid floated up to her and with one of its leaves, pulled 4 gold coins from the bush on its head and gave them to Tomoko.
[YOU WON! You got 0 EXP and 4 gold.]
The battle box disappeared and her soul returned to her body. The vegetoid floated over to the hole it came from and planted itself back in there. While waiting to regain her strength, A familiar specter suddenly floated through the wall and greeted Tomoko.
"Napstablook!" Tomoko said upon seeing him. Surprised but happy to see a friendly face. "W-what is it? Did you find the s-switch?"
"yes… i'm here to guide you to it. are you alright?" He told her while also showing concern for her current state.
"Yea. J-just got in a fight with another monster is all." She told him sheepishly. "Let's l-leave here and go to it. I'm tired o-of this place."
And the two of them made their way to the stairway out of the chamber. Tomoko making sure to give the planted vegetoid a wide berth.
As she slid out of the chute, Tomoko thought back to her fight with the vegetoid. 'I'm surprised that guy's attacks didn't do as much damage as I thought it would. The message did say that it's attack was 6 after all. My soul didn't look that cracked. Maybe this ribbon does increase my defense.'
As she contemplated this, Napstablook led her to the spot in the upper middle part of the room.
"just step on this one. The room with the switch is below it…"
After preparing herself for a bit, she stepped on the dark spot on the floor.
'Please let this be the last time I need to do this…'
The floor gave way beneath her. As she fell, she just shut her eyes and scrunched her face in discomfort. Waiting for the ordeal to be over. Finally, she landed in a pile of red leaves. She quickly got up and cleaned herself up a bit before looking around the room. Spotting Napstablook floating down from above.
"it's over here…" He floated over to a golden switch on the wall. Pointing at it with his "arm".
"T-this is it? Why didn't y-you pull it w-when you found it?" she asked as she walked up to it.
"sorry… i just thought that you would want to do it."
"Do what?"
"complete the puzzle…" He answered.
'Why would anyone want to go through this hell!?' She thought but didn't say. Not wanting to scare away her new friend.
After that, she finally pulled the switch. A loud clanking noise sounded from above. Quickly running up the stairway to the upper room, she almost went flying out of the chute at speed she was going. Napstablook fallowing close behind. She looks to the doorway that was blocked by the spike trap to find that the spikes have sunken into the ground. Opening the path.
"Finally!" She shouted with glee. Glad to leave the room she came to hate.
She ran towards the doorway. Disregarding everything else around her as she did so. Napstablook fallowing quickly behind her in worry.
"tomoko wait! y-you're going to hurt yourself running like-" Napstablook's interrupted his own sentence when Tomoko, who was too busy paying attention to what Napstablook was trying to tell her, crashed into something at the doorway.
"-that…" Napstablook finished his sentence as he floated up beside a fallen Tomoko. She meanwhile looked up to see what it was that she collided with.
"You rude little snipe!"
Standing before her was a monster with a red round body. A single large eye with a toothy mouth underneath made up a face that covered the entire front half of it. A pair of small legs came out from underneath it while a pair of arms with small hands came from its sides. Finally, a pair of devil-like horns came out of the top of it.
In all honesty, it was the most generic rpg monster looking monster she has encountered so far.
As the battle box appeared and her soul came out, she also noticed that there were two other monsters beside it. on its left was a vegetoid, and on its right, a migosp.
[Loox and co. decided to pick on you!]
As she got up, she examined the "loox". Hoping the messages will give her some useful advice.
[LOOX – ATK 6 DEF 6 *Don't pick on him. Family name: Eyewalker.]
'Okay, don't pick on him, Got it. But why would I do that in the first place though? These monsters will fight me over anything and I have no means of fighting back.' She thought as she looked the loox over once more.
"Please don't pick on me." The loox said in a somewhat high-pitched, gravelly voice. Suddenly, chains of transparent magical bubbles shot out of its eyes and traveled out in wavy, worm-like motions around the battle box. When they flew out, they circled around and flew back in. Tomoko ducked and weaved to avoid them while Napstablook let them pass through him harmlessly.
"Contains vitamin A." "OBAY THE OVERMIND!" The vegetoid and the migosp shouted as they to join the fray. Cockroaches flew out from behind the migosp and along the walls while the vegetoid fires carrots as if they were missiles straight at Tomoko and Napstablook. The awkward teen was having an incredibly hard time dodging the bullets while Napstablook barely moved. Relying on his ghostly intangibility to avoid harm.
'Holy shit! Can't you guys lighten up a bit!?' Tomoko thought as she ducked and weaved frantically around the bullets. Even getting hit a few times despite her efforts. Until she tripped over her own feet and fell to the floor. She quickly looked up to see several carrots flying straight at her. Having no way of dodging them, she just put her arms up and braced for impact. Only for it to never come. They were intercepted by acidic tears that dissolved them away. She looked to the side to see Napstablook.
"i thought you could use some help…" he told her as she got up.
'Oh yea! I forgot that Napstablook was here. Heh, I actually have a party member to help me out. Maybe he knows what to do to calm these guys down. Or even fight them for me!'
"Th-thanks. Um. C-could you help me f-fight these guys? I'm k-kinda defenseless here." She asks him as she continues to dodge attacks.
"i don't know about fighting them. i'm not much of a fighter…" He says as he looks to the side sheepishly. "but i can help you spare them. vegetoids just want to feed other people their vegetables. and looxs just don't want to be picked on is all…"
'Not what I was hoping for. But it'll do. And I knew that carrot monster had some kind of fetish! Wait.'
"B-but why is it so angry at me? The l-loox I mean. I didn't d-do anything to it!" She asks him as the monster's attack finishes.
"maybe because you ran into it? he probably thinks you did it on purpose..."
"B-but I didn't. It was a-an accident!"
"then explain it to him. i'm sure he will understand."
After talking with Napstablook, she approaches the loox. Hoping that the specter's idea will work.
"What an eyesore." *sniff* "And an nosesore too! Good god you stink." Tomoko flinched at the insult. Crying a little as his companions laughed at it. But Tomoko Tried her best to ignore that and think of a way to word her apology.
"I-I'm s-so-sorry for b-bumping into y-you. I-it was a-an acci-cident." She Tells the loox as she looks down at her shoes. Her face red with small tears in her eyes from the loox's earlier insult.
"So, you weren't trying to knock me over or something like that?" He asks her.
"N-no. I was j-just in a rush."
"she means it. she just wasn't looking were she was going is all…" Napstablook said in Tomoko's defense. Floating up beside her.
[You apologize to the Loox. He forgives you.]
"Ah. So, your somebody who gets it then." The loox said as he looks to Tomoko. "I guess I can let you off the hook this one time."
He walks up to her and gives her 5 gold.
"Here. Consider it compensation for attacking you like that." He looks to the 2 monsters behind him. "You're on your own with them though." He then turns around and walks off. Leaving Tomoko and Napstablook to deal with the other monsters.
"see? he did understand…" Napstablook said to Tomoko. Who still looked rather flustered.
"Heh heh. I guess you're r-right." Replied the more awkward then usual teen.
"IN UNISON, NOW!" "Fresh morning taste."
The 2 other monsters suddenly shouted as they continued their attack. The vegetoid fired bouncing vegetables. While the migosp summoned a swarm of flies like the froggit that she fought some time ago. It caught her a bit off guard at first. But she manages to make it through the attack thanks to her dodging and Napstablook's acid tears.
'I know exactly what to do with him.' "Oh, I-I'm so h-hungry! If o-only I had s-something to eat!" Tomoko Faked. Patting her stomach dramatically. Granted, it wasn't that much of an act. She was still pretty hungry after her last fight with a vegetoid. But she decided to play it up to convince the one she was fighting now.
[You pat your stomach. Vegetoid offers a healthy meal.]
"Eat your greens." The vegetoid said as it fires carrots at her while the migosp goes back to unleashing cockroaches. Tomoko sticks to the middle of the battle box to avoid the roaches and steps side to side to dodge the carrots, Napstablook using his acid tears to take out some of them, until the glowing green one appeared. She reaches out and catches it as it flies by. She then eats it as vegetoid watches. Grinning in delight.
'Yea. Enjoy the sight while it lasts, pervert!' she thinks bitterly as she eats the carrot. Enjoying the healing feeling it sent through her body more than the taste.
The vegetoid, now satisfied about feeding someone. Floats up to Tomoko and gives her 4 gold before turning around and floating away to somewhere else. Meanwhile, the migosp's scowl turns into a grin. Suddenly much friendlier now that the 2 other monsters are gone.
"Swing your arms, baby!" the migosp said as he began to dance around.
[Migosp doesn't have a care in the world.]
He then walked towards her with a spring in his step and 4 gold in its pincers.
"So sorry about laughing at you like that. I become the biggest jerk when I hang out with them. I gotta do something about that." He tells her as he gives her the gold.
[YOU WON! You got 0 EXP and 13 gold.]
The battle box disappears and her soul returns to her body. The migosp walks past her. Looking quite happy with himself. Tomoko then pocketed all her gold. Surprised by just how much she has made.
'I'm going to be rich at this rate!' She thought as she counted her gold coins. 23 in total.
Her and Napstablook then made their way into the new room. Being careful not to crash into another monster this time. It was L shaped. Bending to the right. There were 3 white pillars spaced about it with a strange, mushroom shaped device beside each one. One blue, one yellow, one red. On the wall on her left was a stone manuscript with a chute beside it.
'Another chute? Sigh… Not another falling puzzle.' Her exasperated thought was followed by an audible groan. 'Might as well read what this rooms hint is.'
She walked over to the manuscript on the wall to read its contents.
[The far door is not an exit. It simply marks a rotation in perspective.]
"what is that supposed to mean?" She asks to no one in particular. Non-the less, she received a reply.
"maybe it's a clue for the puzzle?" Napstablook tried to answer.
'Well, of course it's that. why else would it be here?' Tomoko turned around and looked the room over once more. She noticed that although the other doorway in the room had the grating for a spike trap, the spikes were retracted. 'Where are the spikes? Did someone solve the puzzle before me? No. All the other puzzles I did wouldn't have been active if that was the case. Unless they reset automatically or something and this one just didn't have enough time to reset yet. Maybe that means I'm so good at this that I'm solving them faster than they can all reset! But the only other person that went through here before me was Toriel and she should already know how all these puzzles work, while I was stuck in that last room for who knows how long. So maybe this one is broken or under maintenance or something? Or maybe this is the first puzzle meant to kill me and if I walk onto it without disarming it then it will-' "tomoko?"
She was distracted from her musing by Napstablook prodding her. Starting to get a bit worried by how long she was looking off into the distance.
"W-what is it?" She asks him.
"just wondering if you were okay is all…" He says with a hint of concern.
"yea. I'm f-fine." She tells him as she walks forward. Going to one of the devices right beside the pillars. It was when she was near them that she realized that they were actually an odd switch. Although she investigated the object, she didn't dare touch it. Afraid of triggering something undesirable. She then walked over to the other doorway. The teen stopped before the grating that held the spikes. Debating about whether to cross it or not. She carefully moved her foot over it to test it. Ready to quickly pull it back in case the spikes suddenly shot up.
"what are you doing?" Napstablook asks as he watches Tomoko's attempt to cross the grating.
"I'm t-testing it to make sure the spikes don't shoot u-up while I'm standing on it." She answered as she attempts to put her weight on it.
"you shouldn't really worry about it because they aren't built to do that. they are meant to be a deterrent. not a killing device..." Napstablook told her.
Sure enough, the spikes refused to shoot up even when she put weight on it. With a quick motion, she dashed across the grate to the other side. The spikes not showing slightest hint that they were going to shoot up.
"see? it may just be there for the puzzle is all." The specter said as he floated up beside her.
"Yea. I-I guess you're right. Heh heh." Tomoko said while blushing. Feeling rather embarrassed about doing something that probably looked ridiculous to an inhabitant of the underground.
Putting that behind her, she and Napstablook walked into the next room and was surprised by what she sees.
"…What?"
The next room was identical to the room before. The only difference was that the stone manuscript and the chute was missing. As she walked farther into the room, she started to notice more differences. On the wall to her right past the bend, there was a new stone manuscript. As well, the spike trap in front of the exiting doorway was active instead of deactivated like in the past room. She walked up to the new manuscript to red its contents.
[If you can read this, press the blue switch.]
'Well, that's suspiciously straightforward.' Tomoko thought as she read the hint, or more like answer, to the puzzle.
She walks to the pillar that had the blue switch, which was the one closest to the rooms entrance and behind the bend in the room. Once she arrived at the switch, she stood over it and inspected it. Not believing the answer to be as straightforward as the manuscript made it out to be.
'There's got to be something up with this puzzle. I mean, is it even a puzzle if it straight up tells me the answer? I bet this is going to trigger something when I activate it. Probably involve dropping me into a chamber below if that chute in the other room is anything to go by. I just got to be ready to jump out of the way if something happens.' While Tomoko stood before the switch. Contemplating about whether to activate it or not. Napstablook floated up beside her.
"aren't you going to use it?" He asks.
"Oh. U-um, yea." Tomoko response before reaching for the switch carefully. Immediately after pressing it, she jumped back to avoid whatever trap it may have sprung. Instead however, she heard a clicking noise in the distance. With no sign of a trap in sight.
"…I g-guess I was w-worried over nothing." The awkward teen said after making sure there was no surprises.
"what did you thought was going to happen?" Napstablook said as Tomoko began to walk back to the exit with him beside her.
"O-oh, it's nothing! Just th-thought something was going to-" "Hay look! It's a pair of losers!" After Tomoko and Napstablook walked past the bend, a voice distracted them from their conversation.
"huh?" Tomoko looked in the direction the voice came from to see 2 looxs approaching them from the direction of the exit. Suddenly, the battle box appeared and her soul came out. Signifying a fight is about to begin.
"Sigh. Here we go again…" Tomoko said as her and Napstablook prepared for another battle.
"Holy cow does the scrawny one reeks!" One of the loox commented. Making Tomoko blush and lower her head in shame.
"Please let this day end…" Tomoko complained after walking into a room with a fork in it. Napstablook fallowing close behind. She was starving, exhausted to the point of collapse, and stinks to high heaven. To say that she was miserable would be the understatement of the century.
'Those weren't even puzzles! It was just fallowing a set of instruction! Who designed them, Toriel?'
It wasn't that the puzzles were difficult. They were actually insultingly easy. It was that they were tedious. After the first one, she had to do it again 2 more times in rooms identical to the first 2. That, and the fact that monsters that attacked them 5 or 6 six times all throughout. What little energy she had left was drained from her from those fight. She was pretty sure that if another monster attacked them right now, she would just lay down and let them have their way with her.
'At least that's all over now. So… What does This room have to offer?'
She looks around the room she was in. It was a long straight hallway with a third path branching off at a right angle to the rest of the hallway in the middle going to the left. Giving the room a T shape. Rows of green vines go across the path in front of the doorways at opposite ends of the hallway. She and Napstablook crossing over one of them without really paying attention as they entered the room. The third path going to the left had a pile of red leaves covering the floor in the middle of it. As they stopped at the junction between the 3 paths, Napstablook turned to Tomoko to say something.
"well, it looks like this is where we go our separate ways..." He tells her much to her shock.
"Wh-what!? Why? I-I thought we were t-traveling companions!" She said in disbelief. Not wanting her only means of protection to leave her.
"it was nice traveling with you while it lasted. but i really want to go home now…" He told her. Looking quite sad about his decision.
"B-but the monsters! How c-could I handle myself without you? Look at m-me. I can't fend f-for myself in this s-state!" She pleads to him in an attempt to get him to stay a bit longer.
"it's okay… we are close to the Ruin's city. they have rules against fighting within it. your friend will most likely be found there to. you'll be alright…" He tells her to reassure her.
"o-okay…" She says in defeat.
"i really need to be going now. but if it makes you feel any better, if you plan on exploring farther into the underground, we'll probably meet again someday..." Napstablook tells her as he floats off. "bye, tomoko. good luck finding your friend…"
And with that, Napstablook floated through a wall and disappeared. Leaving Tomoko alone once more. She just stood there for a while. Contemplating what she should do next. After a while of choosing which path she should go down, she gathered what little energy she has left and walked down the hall to the doorway on the opposite side. Determined to get this day over with by finding Toriel and ask her about getting a filling meal, a soft bed, and a warm bath.
*Sniff*
…Especially a bath.
Sorry if it was a bit lackluster for chapter that took over a year to make. Let's all pray that the next one doesn't take nearly as long.
