Undyne threw a spear in my direction, and I caught it easily. Was that even supposed to be an attack? My soul was green now, with me still suspended in the air. Whatever was that supposed to mean? Fighting on a bridge was dangerous business, but I could honestly give less of a crap. Irritated, I kicked her, and yet she didn't budge an inch. I hissed in frustration. Something spear-like was flashing out her right eye, but I could care less. Why was she back? Why was she alive? Why wasn't she dust yet?

Chara was already with me, ready to help out with my senses. I gave her permission to do so. "Block the arrows with the spear." Chara instructed inside my head. "Be careful, they can come from all directions."

"You mean, in one direction." I growled. There were just a couple, coming down on me from above. Amused, I moved to block them.

Only to suddenly have a full array of arrows come down at me from all sides. Panicked, I moved to stop those first, completely forgetting the ones above me. They hit me in the head. Grimacing, I tried to deflect the rest of them, but they were relentless and totally unpredictable. The attack left me at low health. Trying to think, I picked out an apple and bit into it. I would have to keep the Snowman Pieces for later. This fight was like nothing I had ever seen before. Here was a real challenge, something actually strong enough to oppose me.

"I see what you mean now!" I exclaimed proudly, tossing the apple core behind me.

I could almost see Chara rolling her eyes. "You haven't even seen her other attacks yet."

With a raise of an arm, more arrows were sent at me. This time, they only came from the sides, but they were much faster than the previous bunch. Fortunately, I didn't get hit once. I was getting used to the new attack style, and becoming better at recognizing the patterns. "Ha! See that?"

"There's more." Chara warned.

The wind was howling. I gave Undyne another kick to the head. She barely flinched. She sent more arrows at me, but they were slow as turtles, which was really saying something about that shop owner from a while ago. At first, I had thought they would be easy, but the sheer amounts of them coming from all sides in little bunchy clumps was a bit overwhelming. A few got me in the leg. I grimaced, but held on.

Undyne was the Undying now, sure, but she still couldn't be that hard. It wasn't anything I couldn't handle. Undyne swiped her spear over my soul, and for a moment I wondered if she had hurt me. Thankfully, it had only changed the color of my soul from green back to red. I could deal with that.

I kicked her again, and tried putting more force into it. She quivered slightly this time, and I knew that despite all the armor she was wearing, I was still doing a great job. Suddenly, spears surrounded me from all sides. Then each of them took their turns trying to aim at me. It was easy, but I wasn't watching where I was going. I ended up running my face into a couple of them.

It was okay! It was okay. I was fine. I still had enough health to last the next attack, surely. Swinging my leg, I brought it up to Undyne's face. She shook again, but quickly picked herself back up. Fat spears were now coming up from below. They came at a quick pace, but were huge and clumsy and only shot in one direction. Even still, one still scratched me on the arm.

Alright, it was time. Growling in defeat, I bit into another crabby apple. I was honestly feeling pretty crabby myself.

The next attack came so quick, I wasn't even prepared. I had been so focused on regaining my health that I hadn't noticed my soul was back to green. I tried to block the arrows, but accidentally used my hand instead of the spear, causing more unnecessary health loss. Frick.

The whole time, Chara helped out as best she could. She was obviously unsettled, but there was nothing more that she could do. This was my battle, not hers. More kicks, more fidgeting, and then a whole steady stream of fast arrows coming from above. I moved to block them, but got momentarily distracted when one came in from the side. I moved to block that one, but didn't move fast enough to return to the stream coming from above. In result, I got a few more hits in the head. Ouch.

I was already weakened, even though I just ate. Growling in annoyance, I swung my leg at full force. But my anger threw off my aim, and I hit her torso instead. Crap, I missed the head.

Chara paused for a moment, thinking. "Careful, the next attack is backwards."

"Backwards?!" I exclaimed, not understanding how the arrows could go backwards. But the attack was already coming. At first, it seemed normal enough. But then suddenly, the arrows were yellow. Just as I turned to block them, they suddenly sailed over my head to attack on the opposite side. Mouth gaping in surprise, I didn't watch myself well enough. More yellow arrows came down on me. Fighting to keep myself alive, I tried to find a pattern. But with all those things sailing over my head…

After that, I was completely drained. I had no choice but to bring my jaw up to another apple. This time, I noticed when she swiped her spear over my soul.

I thought I would've been prepared for the next attack, but I clearly wasn't. The spears' pattern was so bluntly obvious, yet it was impossible to dodge. The spun around me in a circle, leaving a few holes here and there for me to pop through. After passing that ring, a new one would come to surround me again. Taking too long would result in all of them hitting me at once. I was able to avoid the first ring, but the next one spun in the other direction, and I lost my coordination.

I got hit, again and again and again. So much that by the time the attack ended, I felt like I was at the end of my life strings. I was going to have to take a Snowman Piece now, whether I liked it or not. I crunched on one, its coldness filling up my mouth.

Even after that, I didn't feel completely well. The same attack was sent at me again, as if Undyne had figured out just how terrible I was at it. Trying to keep my eyes on the spears, I made my way through; getting bumped into, scratched, and sometimes pierced. By the end of that, I was left in the same state as the last attack. Growling in annoyance, I ate another Snowman Piece.

The next attack was back to yellow arrows. This time I watched them carefully, and made notes to myself on how they flew over my head. By the time it changed back to normal arrows, I felt unused to it. And then it was back to yellow arrows again, and I found myself struggling not to get damaged.

At the end, I wasn't much feeling very well. I only had two items left, and one of them was a useless crabby apple. In the end, I decided I didn't need to eat. After all, Undyne was looking pretty weak herself, despite holding onto that stupid grin of her's. She wasn't eating anything to boost her health, so why did I need to?

"Don't be stupid." Chara growled. "If you need health, then take it."

I narrowed my eyes, but finally decided to listen. I munched into another apple, not wanting to waste my last good resort. With the apple core tossed aside, Undyne returned to sending arrows at me. Now there was a combination of yellow and normal arrows, and I kept finding my priorities shift from one type to another. I would be deflecting them head on for one moment, and then watching them sail over my head in the next.

I didn't get that attack at all. It didn't make sense! How in the world was I supposed to block all those arrows? Normal and yellow ones just did not go together. Undyne must've been cheating somehow. The attack was BS!

Chara was giving me an unamused expression. "You need to watch them more carefully."

"I am!"

"Not enough."

Frustrated, I gave another kick to Undyne's chestplate. It rattled against my shoes. Seeming annoyed, she sent more of the combined arrow attacks at me. She knew my weakness, and now she was trying to use it to her advantage.

I couldn't let her do that. I was going to have to try harder, and figure out the works. Narrowing my eyes, I suddenly felt my eyesight sharpen. Was Chara helping me? I then noticed the pattern almost immediately. Behind every normal arrow was a yellow one, so all I had to do was block the first one and then turn around to deflect the yellow one from behind. Simple!

There were a few close calls with me not turning fast enough, but eventually, the attack was over. Trying to see if I could knock Undyne off her feet, I aimed to kick her in the legs. She wobbled slightly from the impact, but didn't kneel over. She raised her spear and I waited for more yellow arrows, only to find that the next ones were extremely slow!

Chara helped me again. Putting more focus into my mind, I was able to foretell which arrows would arrive closer to me first. Then I would strike those before moving on to the next ones. We had good teamwork. I blocked every single one. Then I resumed to kicking Undyne in the head.

Frustrated, Undyne swiped her spear over my soul. It was red again. Now, we were back to spears. They still arrived in circles around me, but instead of shrinking, they just shot inwards and back out again before fading away. So basically, all I had to do was get out of their shooting range, and then focus on the next circle.

This proved to be very hard once the spears started moving ridiculously fast. I could barely see the circle of spears forming before they would fade away again to have a new circle take its place. Each time I dodged, the pride would be immediately erased due to the focus being trained onto a new circle of attacks. Soon, it was so fast I didn't even know which way to dodge anymore. There were so many of them that it jumbled my whole mind up.

In the end, I was left panting with scratches all over my arms and legs. I could feel a bruise forming on my ankle, and there was a huge bump forming on my cheek. It was gross. I had always been fast enough to avoid getting pierced, but apparently not quick enough to avoid every single one from barely catching up to me.

I had no choice. I was going to have to eat the last health resort.

Reluctantly, I brought the Snowman Piece up to my mouth. It was cold. I felt the magic work its way through my body. Most of the damage dealt from Undyne began to fade away, though a few still remained. It was annoying.

And then, we were back to the original circle spears attack. Growling, I tried my best to avoid them. I had to. I had just used my last health item, so more damage I earned now would be irreparable. I tried to focus, but failed. My rage towards Undyne was so strong, it blocked my common sense, and I ended up ramming into more than a fair share of spears just from stupidity. So much for not getting more hurt.

It was fine. Undyne looked just as worn down as me, and yet I had to use food items to get this far. I could survive her attacks. I could do it! If she could do it, then I would do it too. I would outlast her, until she was nothing but dust.

Rage fueling me, I struck her again. This time, she actually hunched over slightly. I could feel pride gleaming inside me. It wouldn't be long now!

Now I would just have to survive more of her stupid attacks. Seething, I watched the spears aim at me. Just as they started to move towards me, I would dodge out of the way at the last second. It proved effective until the spears started overlapping, like they were predicting where I would head next to avoid the spear before it. I got hit again. This was bad.

But I was so close! I could feel it. I just had to last a little longer, right? I tried to kick Undyne hard, but my weak state was also bringing down my ferocity. This time, Undyne barely flinched. She grinned in triumph, like she knew she was winning. More fat spears were sent from underneath me, and I moved around warily. Despite the obvious patterns, I got scratched up again.

I was panting for breath. The scratches were back, throbbing and annoying. I couldn't last much longer, that much was for sure. I was done for; a goner. How much more could I take before I fell? Two direct hits- no, maybe three at most. I couldn't take it. Undyne was much too hard, like Chara had warned, but I still had to try.

A kick to the chest was a bad idea, so I just stuck with the face kicks. Just moving my leg wore me out. Undyne looked irritated, yet excited all the same. I knew, I couldn't lose to her. Not when I was so close!

The second circle attack was back. I tried my best to focus. But the anger towards Undyne and her skills, the pain I could feel from all my scratches and bruises, the feeling I was getting from knowing that I would fail from a monster as weak as her… it was too much.

By the end, I was left in a small shivering mess. I could barely move or feel my arms. I was so weak, I couldn't even get up to give Undyne a kick in the shin. I tried to look Undyne in the eye, but her gaze was more determined, leaving me to shrink in on myself. I had failed. I was going to die.

I felt panicky. Was this my fate? To suffer in this place, to have to deal with these terrible monsters, just to die from the hands of one? Was I going to die in this horrible place, with my corpse rotting at the bottom of this endless abyss? Was I going to die from someone as weak as Undyne? Was I going to die?

It wasn't even the food problem, really. It was me. If only I knew every attack and how to avoid them, then I wouldn't even need the magic food in the first place. I wasn't a dodging master.

...but I knew someone that was. It was time to bring out the final move.

"Chara." I whispered under my breath. The answer was so simple.

"What?" She responded, irritated. Apparently, she was as equally upset about the situation as I was.

"Take control."

Her reaction was immediate. I could practically see her eyes widening in surprise, even though she was only in my head. "What?"

"Take control." I repeated. "I won't make it, you and I both know it. But you can make it, I'm sure of it. Remember that time with the ghost?" I could remember it perfectly. How she avoided all the attacks like they were child's play.

"Of course." She whispered. "But are you sure about this?"

"Yes. You're better at it, and you know the attacks. I need you now. You won't fail me now, of all times, right?"

A brief moment of hesitation. Then finally, "Right. Ok."

Suddenly, I could feel myself getting pushed out. My limbs were suddenly moving on their own, probably Chara taking over. The only thing I could move were my eyes, and I stared at myself in amazement. I was now standing tall, seeming unhurt and undefeatable, despite all the obvious signs of injury. How was Chara doing it?

Undyne looked just as surprised. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but didn't say anything about it.

With moves as quick as lightning, I suddenly felt myself lurch forward. Successive kicks were dealt to Undyne's torso, and every hit sent her one step back. When the attack finally stopped, I landed lightly on the bridge. I felt as graceful as a feather, as quick as a cheetah. But I knew it wasn't me.

It was Chara.

Seeming infuriated at my comeback, Undyne screeched and raised her arm. It was the first spear circles attack. I waited to see how Chara would do, and it far exceeded my expectations. I could feel myself swiftly moving along, and I could feel the predictions that Chara was making in her own head. All the attacks suddenly seemed so easy, and my eyes trailed over the spears in amazement as Chara avoided every single one. I felt united; strong and powerful and fast. I was undefeatable when Chara was with me.

The attack was already over, and we hadn't earned a single extra scratch. I could feel pride boiling deep inside me. This was the power that Chara had been trying to show me. The power of teamwork, and how with the two of us combined, we were impossible to beat. I knew it now, I could feel it. With her controlling me, I was strong and cool. I should've done this sooner. It felt amazing.

I could feel Chara's smile in my head. She took a few steps forward, and I could feel my own grin stretching out on my face. It was Chara's grin though, not mine, but I figured I would've done the same if she were not in my place.

I felt my leg move up one last time to deal a fat kick to Undyne stomach, and it was suddenly over. Undyne lurched from the impact before shaking and bending over on her knees. She clenched her spear tightly, trying to hold herself up, but having a hard time doing so. She looked like she was in pain, but it was only fair that she had to experience what I went through.

"Damn it…" She growled angrily, a hand over her chest. "So even that power… it wasn't enough...?"

I commanded Chara to give my mouth control back, and she obliged. "It's nothing compared to our teamwork." I said. Chara didn't give me any sharp looks, because she knew. She knew that no matter what I said to Undyne now, the words would die with her. "It's over, Undyne."

The fish lady shivered in place for a few moments, looking tired and beaten. "Heh…" She smiled a little, and I frowned in response. "Heheheh…" Suddenly, she picked herself up, grinning from fin to fin. "If you… If you think I'm gonna give up hope, you're wrong. 'Cause I've… got my friends behind me." She took deep ragged breaths, as if talking was enough to wear her out. "Alphys told me that she would watch me fight you… and if anything went wrong, she would… evacuate everyone." She gave me a steely grin. "By now, she's called Asgore and told him to absorb the human soul. And with that power…"

She continued to grin sadistically, her form slowly… melting? It was like her body was losing her shape, as she slowly morphed into what looked like a mucky puddle. Even the spear itself was becoming deformed, even though it wasn't part of her. Her next words were broken apart and scattered everywhere, but I still managed to understand them. "This world will live on…!" She held on for a few more seconds, trying keep herself together. But a moment later, her remains faded to dust.

I blinked at the scene, awed. My soul returned to my form; the end of the battle. I waited as Chara slowly seeped out of my form, and I felt my control coming back to me. Suddenly, the pain was back, and I fell onto my knees, shaking.

"You okay?" Chara asked, worried. She was floating next to me.

"I've…" I raised my arms in triumph. "I've never felt better! W-we beat her! We beat Undyne! Haha! Ha..." I felt my arms slowly droop, and I winced. "Anyway, who's Alphys? And what did she mean by Asgore taking the... souls?"

"The soul belongs to another child that the monsters killed." Chara answered, to which I shivered some more. "But that's not the point. Right now, you're hurt. We need to get your health back."

"Then let's keep going."

Chara frowned skeptically. "Or we could go back."

Did she mean go back for the Crab Apples? That was so far away! "Why would we do that? We've come so far. So the only way is forwards!" I picked myself up and slowly started limping forwards. Chara looked worried, but kept up with me as I moved on, step by step.

The wind had died down now. We were finally off the damn bridge, and then there was another bridge. Rolling my eyes, I crossed that one and reached a huge cave entrance. It was rocky and tall, the tips of the cave top pointing up into sharp stalagmites. It looked dangerous and threatening, like it was warning me of an ominous upcoming event. But I knew, nothing could be more dangerous than what I had just faced and defeated. I approached it slowly, trying to see into the darkness. Nothing.

Determination. I felt a little better after that.

So I headed in. At first, I couldn't see much, but then my eyes slowly adjusted. Just when I noticed the river flowing from below, I stopped. There was a figure not too far ahead. It hadn't been there a few moments ago. It was too big to be insignificant, and too shapely to be a rock. So what was it? A monster?

I narrowed my eyes when the figure moved. So it was definitely alive. "Who's there?" I called. My words echoed around the cavern.

The figure shifted slightly. Then from the shadows, a boy with a cowboy hat appeared. He looked like a professional, eyes hard and hat tilted at the perfect angle. Pointing his gun in my direction, he scowled. "Justice, in service."

What? She beat Undyne on her FIRST TRY? Even I am slightly disappointed. (Why must you be so awesome at this, Chara?!)

...And thus, the long awaited Cowboy finally makes his appearance. (It's about time!)