Chapter 27: Red
Well, this sucked.
Here I was, trying to get away from the Captain of the Royal Guard, and I run into some other monster.
Her red cloak and hood left her face in shadows, but I thought a saw pink hair. The back of the hood curled up at the tip, and there was a red ribbon with a blue gem over a black wrap, holding the cloak in place.
She was just standing there, as if waiting for my first move.
Okay, so what to do?
Well, I didn't want to fight her, so let's try the diplomatic approach.
"Hey," I greeted. "So, funny meeting someone like you out here, huh? My name is Chara, what's yours?"
My opponent seemed stunned. "...Huh? Um, Red."
So, she's not prepared for a friendly chat? Okay, let's keep going in this direction.
But before I could make my next move, I felt the presence of magic. And just in time, as I had to back away to avoid fast projectiles. It seemed as if bolts, like the ones fired from crossbows, were shot out of nowhere.
Magic like that... okay, she's clearly one of the stronger monsters out there. But... how strong? That was just taste. Powerful, but not hard to dodge, yet.
But as the attack finished, I turned back to... Red, was it? She a tugging nervously at her ribbon. Maybe I wouldn't have to find out how strong she was, if I pacify her.
"Okay, okay... You- Uh, how has your day been?" I asked, trying to hide any tension I had.
"H-hey! Knock that off!" Red countered. Then a pair of buzzsaw-like chakram blades appeared from behind her, and I had to slip between them.
Red began to poke something out from below her cloak, drawing shapes in the dirt. She really didn't seem into the battle.
"Hey, maybe we got off on the wrong foot. Why don't we just put away the magic, and sit down and talk," I told her. I even dispelled my fireball, to show that I was not a threat. "I could tell you some stories, about my time down here, some friends I know-"
"Are you listening to me!?" Red shouted back. More crossbow bolts, this time, firing in crosses.
"Hey, hey! I don't want to fight!" I finally admitted. I could tell she was just working herself up, so if I could help her calm down-
Her face dropped further in the shadowed hood, silent for a moment, before looking back up, straight at me. "...What's with you? Just, straight-up, trying to strike up a friendly conversation? In the middle of battle?"
"Well, I kind of don't-"
"Who...? What kind of... ...You know what? No. If you don't WANT to fight..."
Suddenly, Red's cloak opened up as a rapier was pointed right at me! On the outfit beneath, a black dress with tall, white, heeled boots, was the Deltarune emblem.
I also finally got a good look at her face, and... she was wearing a mask? Her pink hair was in a swirl above her face, and I think there were little things poking up under her hood. Ears, perhaps?
"...I'll have to make you," she finished.
She's a member of the Royal Guard, isn't she? I thought. ...And she clearly takes her job seriously.
She readied her blade, and I could feel a great tension. Not the normal tension, but a tension in the air, of magic forming.
I stepped back, as Red swung her sword, and a rush of wind sped through. And in the next second, the ground erupted as a line of cutting magic split us apart, before fading.
OKAY! What the... That was new! I've never seen magic quite like that.
"You think I haven't heard of you already?" Red exclaimed.
"Uh, I guess that doesn't surprise me," I replied.
Suddenly, something flew in and began bouncing around the battlefield, as Red made some of her magic slashes. She split the area into three columns, as I was left together with the bouncing object, which I found to be...
A GRENADE!?
It exploded, the magic walls created by Red's magic sword holding in the flames, but I still had to defend myself. I managed to use my flame magic to weaken the flames, but the force of the explosion still hit me, knocking me onto my butt.
Okay, someone needs to calm down.
"'A new world has been opened up for us!'" Red quoted. "'I've never been so excited!' 'Bark, bark. Arf, arf!'"
Did she just... bark at me? Is she a dog monster? I thought, just as she unleashed the toughest rain of bolt fire yet. She clearly wasn't holding back anymore.
The air started to smell of... pomegranates...? As her eyes squinted. "Wh-what a bunch of nonsense! YOU'RE nonsense!"
She made another slash with her sword, separating us, as more chakram appeared, flying towards and around me and through the slice barrier with ease. It was difficult to watch them cut through the barrier, I actually got knicked a couple times.
"You're a human! You're the last key to our freedom!" Red said as another run of crossing bolts came at me. "Y-you can be as much of a sweetheart as you want, but it's not going to change anything!"
"Sweetheart"? Who the heck is she calling "sweetheart"? I'm a good person, but not that good. Really, she just wasn't letting me get a word in.
Red pulled her blade back, and I could feel the rush of wind again. And with a single swing, while the magic barriers didn't come up again, a pattern of magic slices cut open the ground around me, sending dandelion seeds all over the place. She repeated the attack several times, leaving the ground in shambles. It was difficult to dodge, but I thought I succeeded in evading each attack.
...Until I looked at the big gash on my arm. Well, f***.
But looking at Red, I could see the grip on her rapier trembling. What was going on with her?
"It's not even just anyone that comes your way, is it?" Red said, as she sent forth TWO grenades, again combined with slashes erecting magic barriers. But this time, I knew better, so I slipped to a segment where, when the grenades exploded, their bursts would be trapped behind the barriers, with me safe on the other side.
"Are you so obsessed with befriending everyone you meet, ...that you'll throw your life on the line just to do it!?" Red asked angrily.
"Hang on, I'm doing this for Frisk's sake!" I counter. "She needs my help!"
"Why even bother? You're... you're just going to get yourself killed!"
I stopped, as I took that in. Why was I helping Frisk? What did I get out of it...?
I shook my head. "It's not about me," I told her.
"And all those monsters you befriended? Won't it break their hearts if you're gone?" Red said, as she rushed in to make a slash. But I made a quick play, and summoned one of my Blaster, using it to bite and grab the blade, holding it in place. Red shook her sword free, jumped back, and make a magic slash on the ground, which I narrowly avoided.
"So what? Should I hurt them instead? They aren't exactly ignoring me!"
"What's wrong with you...? A-and why won't you fight back!?" Red shouted as she tugged on her ribbon furiously. "WHY WON'T YOU FIGHT!?"
She made a series of slashes at me, but I used my Blue Soul magic to jump back and high out of her reach.
"Why... Won't... You... Fight... BACK!?"
And Red's final assault began, as she sent both chakram and bolts at me, forcing me to continue using my Blue magic. And she followed that up with her patterned slashes once more, this time even slicing the air, cutting me up and forcing me on the ground for her to erect magic barriers, limiting my space as more bolts bombarded me...
...As she prepared one final strike, one I had no room to avoid...
And then fell to the ground, exhausted and defeated.
"I... I HATE this!" she shouted. "I hate this SO MUCH!"
I caught my breath, and slowly approached the monster girl. "Hey, are you okay...? What's wrong?"
Red was silent, and then... she took off her mask. She had the face of a doll, mimicking a combination of a human girl and a dog. Her eyes and mouth were human, with a small dog snout. Her hood came off, revealing her pink her and floppy dog ears.
"You're a doll...?" I replied. "No, you must be a ghost monster. This is your chosen body, isn't it?"
"Do you remember the Canine Unit?" Red asked. "If you passed through Snowdin, you must have."
"You mean Dogoo? Dogamy and Dogaressa? Those guys?"
"Yeah, they're... they're the only family I have. And, when I heard talking about you, it..." Red took a deep breath. "...It scared me."
"Scared you? What did you think they'd abandon you?"
"After all of the things they said about you... Well, they were so... POSITIVE. They all considered you a friend. But the thing is, not a single human has ever made it past Asgore. After he redeclared war on humankind... six fallen humans were reduced to six Souls. And I felt you would be no different."
"So... you're afraid that I'd try to make you my friend?" I asked.
"If you were kind to me, only to be killed by our king... I... I don't know what I'd do."
I sighed, and sat by the monster. "You know, I've already disappeared, for reasons that were my fault, but also out of my control. And... I've lost people I cared about. It's hard. I get that. But... life will go on, so you go along with it."
"But I... I can't! I can't handle that! I... I did my best to shut you out. I REFUSED to like you. And you just wouldn't let that happen!"
I picked one of the few dandelions that weren't destroyed in the fight. "I didn't even want to fight," I told her. "And all of the other monsters... my... friend, Frisk, the other human I'm traveling with. I'm trying to show her a better way than fighting. Like I said before, it's not about me. I just want her to be happy."
"So... this is all for a friend?" Red asked.
I nodded. "We got separated. Right now, I just want to find her."
"I... I'm sorry... I... kind of forced you into that fight, didn't I?"
"You wouldn't be the first. But you were upset. And sometimes... you need a friend to help out," I told her. "That's what friends are for, to help you out when you need it most."
"Is that... so..."
"You are a ghost in a doll, right?" I asked for clarification.
Red nodded.
"I can tell you care about the Canine Unit, if your chosen body is meant to mimic a dog. I care a lot about my friends, too. And sometimes, they're the ones that hurt me the most, sometimes on purpose, mostly on accident. Friendship can be a bumpy road. But it's one worth following. So, can we be friends?"
Red was silent, but then said, "Yeah, friends-"
"THERE YOU ARE!" a voice shouted behind us.
Both of us jumped up and spun around.
...Of all the rotten luck.
Standing on top of the cliffs behind us... was Undyne. "Of all the places you could have gone, it had to be right here!" the captain complained. "Now, human, no more running!"
Author's Note: Surprise! It's Red! (And Undyne afterward...)
So, let's start with the inclusion of Red. Clearly, Red is an Undertale OC. But, she is not MY OC. She was created by and belongs to Taxiderby, who created a fangame around the character, Undertale RED (which the battle in this chapter is based around). They have publically given permission for anyone to use Red in fanart and fanfics, so long as they get proper credit.
I think Red was very popular way back when, so much so that when I was first planning the whole story, I wanted to add Red myself, especially to give my own take on some of the things I liked seeing in other fanfic's using Red. But over time, I feel that popularity has faded, especially with the fanbase's shift to Deltarune.
Still, I planned this for a long time, and didn't want to change it, even last minute, unless Taxiderby had changed their mind about her use. But also, I want to know how many people are feeling a blast to the past seeing Red again.
Moving on, let's talk about Red's monster type. At first, Red had no defined monster type, but after many requests, it seems he gave her a monster type. She is a ghost possessing a doll, similar to the Mad Dummy, but has no relation to him and Blooky's family. However, before this was implemented, I had seen someone write Red to be a dog, like the Canine Unit, since she clearly has a connection with them. That is what I wanted to go for, but now it's not the official design...
...So, I decided to meet it in the middle: a doll designed like a dog girl.
I also changed the start and end of the event, based on the specific location. In the fangame, Frisk found herself lost in the dandelion field... from the Core. Yeah, somehow, she left the Core, and found herself in a field.
Well, if I wanted to mix in Red's fight into this story, I needed a better place. And what better place than Waterfall. Not only does it fit perfectly with my wanting to do something different with Undyne, but I felt the open field would fit best being next to Waterfall. And if you're wondering about the Clearing from the last book, with isn't the same place, nor is it very close. But both are in / by Waterfall.
Oh, and I can't forget how I had to redefine her magic, especially how her sword slashes work. I'm not writing in the bullet bounding box, so I needed to find a good way to explain it. As well as her opening target splitter move, which I always thought must've been darts (or arrows), since they are targets being split apart.
So, next chapter, showdown with Undyne!
So, Taxiderby's credit request for using his OC in fanfiction is to simply link back to the Undertale RED fangame, and this is where I would do this. But here's the problem: I crosspost all of my stories across four different sites. Two of those sites, Fanfic and Wattpad (if you're reading this message, then clearly, you must be reading on one of these sites)... well, these sites hate added links of any kind, and they won't function.
So, instead, I'm going to have to ask you to instead Google "Undertale Red" (or use whatever search engine you use), or search up this chapter (Undertale Fallen Determination: Book 2, Chapter 27) on my DeviantArt "Cobalt-Gemini", or my Archive of Our Own "CobaltGemini", where links do work, as I actually added a couple different links related to the character Red.