Warning: Some dark, depressing imagery is in this chapter.
Waterfall - Part 3
Frisk's feet felt like they were burning while her leg muscles ached from the pulls. In her backpack were a filled bottle and a talking flower who, thankfully, wasn't too stubborn this time. She had far exceeded her usual limit. Sweat ran down brows and cheeks, and she had begun panting.
Yet, Frisk kept running. The terror gripping her overwhelmed any sense of pain or discomfort.
All she could think right now was hoping that MK had listened to her and wasn't trailing behind. So much of the rushed goodbye was a blur in her memory. Yet she still remembered almost every word spoken. And the start of the overwhelming fear that still gripped.
"I can feel him!" Flowey had said, on the verge of sweating. "I can feel his sensation growing closer and closer! Oh, gods! He's coming!"
"Yo, who's coming?!" MK had asked with worry. "I thought you said that no one is after you?!"
"We lied kid!" Frisk had answered, panicking. "And I don't fucking know why we did! But we lied!"
"Oh… god!" Flowey wailed.
"F-Frisk?" MK asked, nervous. "What is-?"
"It's… it's Mickey!" Frisk answered sadly. "Mickey's coming for us!"
"Wait, what?!" MK had exclaimed. "Mickey's after you?! Why?! And how do you know that? How can you sense him?!"
"I don't know, I don't know!" Flowey exclaimed with panic. "I can just feel him!"
"I should have never let you come with us!" Frisk told them. "I'm so sorry kid, but it was a stupid, stupid mistake and I don't fucking know why I even considered it!"
"What are you talking about?" MK asked.
Frisk remembered not knowing how to answer that.
"Gah, she's right!" Flowey said desperately, sounding more focused now. "Right now, you just run back to Snowdin before anyone sees you! It's for your own good!"
"Wha- no!" MK protested. "I'm coming with you!"
"This is Mickey, you idiot!" Flowey exclaimed. "If he sees you with us, he'll-!"
"I don't care!" MK said bravely. "I won't-"
"Go home!" Frisk almost yelled with desperation. "Please! Just go home and be with your mom and sister right now, I beg you! Don't be so frigging stubborn! Just… just forget we ever existed!"
Frisk didn't think she would ever forget the face that MK made next. Their expression, their eyes, almost hurt her to see. So she turned around, facing her back to them.
"I'm sorry, kid," Frisk said. "It's got nothing to do with you. You're a nice kid and… it was nice knowing you."
With that, she and Flowey ran away, leaving MK standing alone.
"Will I ever see you two again?!" they called after them.
"If you're lucky, you won't!" Flowey called back. "Ever!"
Those words and scenario repeated in her mind over and over again.
Yet the thoughts didn't get easier.
"I can still feel him, keep going!" Flowey encouraged.
"What… the fuck… do you think… I'm doing?!" Frisk said, panting after almost every word.
"Not good enough!" Flowey said, anxiously.
"You try this shit!" Frisk exclaimed.
"At least you now know how I've been feeling this past trek and a half, heh?"
"Just shut… the fuck… up… and help me navigate… at the very least!" Frisk exclaimed. "Gah… sorry!"
The road kept going and going, through a cavernous hallway that seemed like it never deviated. Then trees started appearing, more foliage, and the hallway stretched open. Before either of them realized it, they were running through an open field with patches of blue trees to the sides.
"Wait, wait, wait, get off the road!" Flowey said urgently.
"Where to?!" Frisk asked, panicking. "Where to?!"
"Erm… down here!" Flowey said.
He quickly pointed towards a small slope leading to a small forest of bluish pine trees. Frisk didn't hesitate as she jumped towards that slope.
"Oh, fuuuuuuuuuck!" Frisk exclaimed as she slid down on her back.
Rocks and branches covered the slide, causing heaving bruises and painful cuts across her flesh and body. Eventually, she fell face-first onto dry ground.
The ground was warm, dry and soft. She touched it with her palm, feeling the smooth texture. Then she grasped it, feeling the rough dirt and small grass slide between her fingers. For a few moments, she didn't move. Everything seemed so much calmer now. Her pained exhaustion faded and was replaced by calm tranquillity. She wanted to stay on the ground there for a long while.
After a moment, Flowey brought her back to reality.
"Are you ok?!" Flowey whispered.
"Yeah, I'll live," Frisk answered.
"Good, now get up," Flowey said. "We're not out of the woods just yet. No pun intended."
"Heh, alright."
She pushed herself up to her feet and immediately snuck into the nearest bush. She sat still for a while, as Flowey adjusted himself in her bag. She could see the road through the trees, not far in the distance, as it curved down to just above her level. There was no sound, once again.
"How's the… sensation?" Frisk asked in her normal speaking volume.
"On the bright side, it's easier to move my limbs again," Flowey said.
"No, I meant the sensation with… Mickey," Frisk said.
"Oh, well it's gotten smaller," Flowey answered.
"That's good, right?" Frisk asked.
"Eh, it's better, but not perfect," Flowey said. "I can still feel him, although more faintly. Not to mention, I can't sense his warriors who may have gone ahead of him. Y'know what? I'm gonna go scout ahead. You stay here. If they spot me, I'll give you as much a head start as I can."
"No, I'm coming with you," Frisk stated. "We've stuck together so far, haven't we?"
"True that," Flowey said. "Well. It's your funeral. Or not. Since they won't kill ya."
With that, he slithered out of the backpack. Frisk tailed after him, slowly and carefully, until Flowey reached a fallen log. He raised a vine, signalling her to stop. Frisk crouched back down on her knees. Flowey slithered a few more steps until he was practically huddled up to the log. Then he rose his head and spied from the top.
Frisk couldn't see much from her spot, on the account of all the foliage and thick branches.
"What do you see?" she whispered.
"Just grass, mud, a hill and an empty road," Flowey answered.
They waited for a few more moments, during which Flowey didn't move an inch. Frisk was almost paranoid that he was "sleeping" again.
"See anyone?" Frisk asked.
"Not yet," Flowey answered without looking away.
"Could we have missed them?" Frisk suggested.
"Maybe," Flowey said. "But… Nah. I'm sure I would've noticed, in that case."
Frisk rested her back by a tree, let herself slowly slide down into a seating position, her arm resting on one knee. She looked at Flowey, who was staring very intently at the road.
"God, sorry about before, Flowey," Frisk began. "Didn't mean to antagonise you like that."
"Huh?" Flowey asked.
"When I was running, I mean," Frisk clarified.
"Bah, that's alright," Flowey said. "Barely paid heed to it."
"Heh, good to know," Frisk said, relieved. "It's just that when I'm scared out of my mind, I-"
"Shhh!" Flowey whispered intensely.
Frisk quickly lowered her head. Nothing appeared to be different. No strange shadows or noises. Nothing. Still, Frisk took Flowey's word.
Suddenly, the flower shook mildly as if struck by a chill. But he kept looking.
Frisk mostly didn't want to know what or who he was seeing. Unfortunately, the deadly curious part of her did, so almost reluctantly, Frisk slowly crept a bit closer, head and body bowed down.
Once there was no more thick foliage in the way, she saw them. On the road, walking slowly and looking around keenly, were two familiar dark armoured and hooded warriors. One tall and skinny with a green, impish tail. The other of humongous size, carrying a large coffin-shaped container in her back. Both wore similar metallic masks with demonic smiles.
"Umbla and Vissie," Flowey said. "Should have guessed he'd send these two maniacs ahead."
Despite everything that she had gone through so far, and despite having seen these two before in Snowdin, Frisk felt a massive surge of incompressible dread. Only now did it fully dawn on her the extent of her danger. These fully armoured, literal monsters were after her. They wanted to take her and drag her to someplace unknown and perform on her whatever horrible things they had planned. Not once in her life did Frisk imagine this possibility. Not even in nightmares.
Before she knew it, her breathing was getting more and more intense, and a massive twist had formed in her stomach.
"Frisk?" Flowey asked with concern.
Frisk quickly jumped back into cover, grasping her chest as she tried to lessen her rapid breaths. It felt like the whole world was caving in on her now, shrinking rapidly and squeezing all air from her. Eventually, she found it hard to care about being discreet anymore as parts of her mind refused to accept this new reality.
"Woah, are you alright?" Flowey said to her.
"This isn't real!" Frisk whispered anxiously. "Oh god! I can't breathe! This isn't happening!"
"Frisk… " Flowey said, his voice sounding both anxious and sympathetic. "Just… just listen to me. Breathe in… and out."
Frisk stared at him, thinking he was making fun of her. But she saw no sign of jest in his eyes, no hints of mischievous motives.
So, still unsure, she tried to follow his advice. She breathed in and out, following his pattern. It proved to be very difficult. At first.
Then she saw how he looked at her intently, his eyes focused on nothing but hers. His expression was surprisingly calm and gentle, and just looking at him made her feel easy.
"... in… and out…" Flowey repeated.
Frisk followed suit as best she could. It was strange, seeing him act and look like this. But she didn't care. She was just thankful someone was.
After a few moments, Frisk's fear lessened a bit. It wasn't gone entirely, but at least she managed to control her breathing again.
"Better now?" Flowey asked calmly.
Frisk swallowed and nodded quickly.
"A bit," Frisk answered, surprised. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it," Flowey answered.
With that, he looked away, attempting to spy on the duo hunting them nearby.
Frisk stared at him, not knowing what to think about what he just did. This was without a doubt one of the last things she expected him to do. It was like he was, once again, replaced with the same entity that tried to cheer her up in the snowy forest. Now, it looked like it was entirely gone, and the other Flowey had returned. But after a moment, Frisk shrugged it off and went to spy from her cover as well.
The large one, Umbla, was standing still and looking around, clueless and bored. Meanwhile, Vissie was down on all fours, examining the road up close like a curious dog. Frisk wouldn't have been surprised if she started to sniff.
Seeing the skinny imp-like entity and the hulking brute again returned a bit more fright, but Frisk stayed brave as she gulped.
Eventually, Vissie stopped in her tracks and looked up towards her giant companion.
"Hey, Umbla?" Vissie began. "You're usually the monster type expert. Do any plant monsters have humanoid feet?"
"Rarely," Umbla simply said.
"Does that include small ones?" Vissie pried.
"None of the small ones," Umbla explained.
"Alright," Vissie said thoughtfully. "Then it seems we're in a bit of a snag."
"Hmm?" Umbla muttered.
"Boss said there was one human and possibly a little flower monster," Vissie pointed out. "Now either we're dealing with a little mutant, or reality is fucking up for the umpteenth time. Or I'm just hallucinating again. Either way, check this out."
Umbla stomped forward, leaving large hoof prints in the muds until she was towering over the skinny goblin monster.
"Can you see that too?" Vissie asked. "With your fat, unbroken eyes?"
She guided her finger across the ground.
"Look," she began. "Two sets of footprints. Both humanoid, both pretty recent. And both heading to this large patch of jungle shit and foliage over there, but each in a different route. This one goes straight down that cliff, while the other goes the long way around. Now Umbla. What do your fat eyes say about that?"
"Another set of footprints?" Flowey whispered. "That's… odd."
Frisk felt parts of her panic attack return for a moment at that thought. Someone else was with them? Who could it be? And why? Is it someone from the town? Is it… Gaster?
"Hmm, it definitely ain't human," Umbla said. "Too clawed. Too reptilian."
Once she heard that, a very uncomfortable suggestion struck Frisk.
"No!" she whispered. "Don't tell me it's-"
"Yo, sup guys," MK whispered nearby.
Frisk couldn't believe her ears, and from the look of it, neither did Flowey. But once they turned around, they saw the familiar kid hiding by bushes nearby, with the same excited smile on their snout.
"MK?!" Frisk whispered with surprise. "What the fuck are you doing here?! I told you to go home!"
"Are you a complete and utter moron, kid?!" Flowey asked with bafflement. "How many times do we have to warn you?!"
"I'm not… leaving," MK whispered.
"You stubborn little… ugh!" Flowey said. "And here I was, thinking Frisk was the dumb one."
"I don't wanna go home!" MK argued. "This is my chance, and I'm not gonna waste it! My other mom could still be out here, and I wanna-!"
"Wait," Frisk interrupted with realization. "Is that the actual reason you're-?"
"Shhh!" Flowey whispered intensely.
MK ducked their head down, while Frisk pressed her back against her cover. MK then slowly snuck up to them, while they all listened intently to their pursuers.
The dragon masked drake, Eldur, appeared now from the road.
"Got anything?" Eldur asked the other two.
"Hmpf, nothing yet," Umbla said impatiently.
"All signs point to the humie being in those woods down there," Vissie said. "It'll show itself sooner or later. They always do."
Eldur nodded subtly then walked a few steps up the hill on the other side to get a better look.
"Yo, this is exciting!" MK whispered, smiling. "What did you two do to piss Mickey off? Heh, "you two do to?". That's fun to say!"
"Kid, this isn't a freaking game!" Flowey whispered with annoyance.
"Calm down," MK said. "I can be discreet. I promise."
Meanwhile, Eldur sighed tiredly and placed his hands on his hips.
"Guess we'll have to track them and possibly ransack through the forest," Eldur said.
"Oh, I got a better idea," Vissie said mischievously.
The goblin lady looked up at Umbla intently, and you could almost sense the malicious aura between them.
"Ey, Umbla?" Vissie began. "I think it's time. Bring out… The Shredder."
Frisk did not like the sound of that. And neither did Flowey.
"You sure this is a good moment for it?" Eldur asked with concern.
"It might be the best moment for it!" Vissie exclaimed. "Now Umbla, what do you say, you fat fuck? Ready to unleash it?!"
Umbla chuckled in agreement.
The fat monster reached for something on her belt, something resembling a switch of some kind. Suddenly, the large coffin-shaped box on her back fell right off and onto the ground with a heavy thud. Umble then kicked the coffin, and the top opened up. Finally, Umbla reached in with her large hands and pulled the large object out of it. It was a heavy thing, and the fat boar-minotaur lady seemed to have problems lifting it at first. Once she succeeded to get the hang of it, the lady proceeded to aim it towards the forest, and now Frisk could finally see what this object was.
She stared at it in shock, mouth practically agape.
"Ho… ly… fuck…" Frisk blurted out.
It was a minigun. Umbla held a large, metallic minigun with a dragon head decoration covering a large, intimidating barrel inside open jaws.
"Why, what's out there?" MK asked, walking slowly up to her.
"Get down kid," Frisk whispered.
Umbla began revving up the gun, and it sounded like a loud motor.
"What is that noise?" MK asked curiously, their head poking out.
"Get down!" Frisk exclaimed.
It was too late. The first burst of shots came shooting, shredding several rocks in the way like paper. Before even thinking of doing it, Frisk jumped at the kid, embraced them, and pulled them into the ground. Before she noticed, Flowey quickly covered them with extended vines.
What followed was something aking to the gods themselves raining destruction upon them. Dozens of leaves and branches fell rapidly like a snowstorm onto their embraced bodies, and the thundering noise was almost deafening. Trees and branches fell in rows and rocks and the ground was torn asunder.
Frisk could no longer comprehend what was happening. Not the deafening thunder, nor the countless lead bullets passing right above their bodies. This couldn't be happening. Her mind refused to accept it.
But suddenly, it stopped. The chaos was gone, as quick as a candle being blotted out.
"Why are you stopping, Umbla?!" Vissie called out to her ally.
"Ugh… stupid… surface machine!" the fat monster boomed with annoyance inside her mask.
Flowey's vines dissipated around MK and Frisk, and she could see his face again. He looked shocked like this was something he had never experienced before.
"Alright!" Vissie said, sounding excited. "It's my turn to test out my new toy! Alright, humie. Say hello to Mister and Miss' Boomstick-!"
"What the fuck are you halfwits doing?!" called out an awfully familiar Irish accented voice in the distance.
Frisk almost froze in her place. Same with Flowey. They both recognized that voice all too well.
"I had Umbla use our new gift, boss!" Vissie said excitedly. "Holy crap, this shit is the shit!"
"I know what it is!" Mickey said, sounding incredibly annoyed. "What other fucking thing down here creates such a loud fucking noise?! That was a rhetorical question! By god, didn't you read my fucking email?! We're hunting a live human! A live human. That means living! We have no use for an indescribable, bullet-ridden carcass of one, so why the fuck did you just use The Shredder without my permission?!"
"God, why the fuck do these maniacs have a freaking minigun in the first place?!" Frisk whispered.
"...ow," MK quietly wailed under her.
Frisk felt a grip in her chest as she turned to look at them. Mud and fallen branches covered his face, which was bleeding and seemed utterly devoid of any joy.
"MK?" Frisk asked.
"It… hurts…" MK said feebly.
Frisk nervously looked down at the rest of their body and had to stop herself from gasping.
Not only was their striped shirt torn and covered in blood and bruises, but their tail, which was tucked between their legs in their fall, had almost snapped in two like a twig. A small piece of bone was protruding, and blood was seeping alongside it, turning into dust.
"Oh… god…" Frisk muttered, almost on the verge of tears.
"Oh no…" Flowey said, saddened as well.
MK looked like they couldn't fathom their surroundings anymore. They almost seemed on the verge of fainting.
"Flowey!" Frisk asked desperately. "What do I do, what do I do?! Please tell me you got something! Anything!"
"Err…" Flowey began.
"What about food!" Frisk suggested. "Monster food can heal, right?! Please tell me you got some!"
"It… it can," Flowey said. "But I don't have any. I'm really sorry."
"Ugh, fuck!" Frisk whispered in frustration. "There's gotta be something right?! Maybe… erm…"
Then, amid her desperation, Frisk remembered something.
"The… the water," Frisk said urgently. "The water from the lake. Can it heal people? Like food?"
"I… I think so," Flowey answered. "But for wounds this plentiful-"
"Bring it!" Frisk whispered urgently. "T-the bottle from my backpack. Hurry!"
Flowey wasted no time reaching for it and Frisk then practically tore it from his vines. Then she placed the bottle over MK's mouth.
"Frisk…?" MK replied, looking up at her. "Is that you…?"
"Yes," Frisk answered. "Now drink."
She placed it into their mouth, feeding them like a caretaker feeding milk to a young cub. MK drank the whole bottle in one gulp. Once it was clear there was no drop left, Frisk placed their head slowly down on the ground.
Please work, she thought. Please work.
Just as her hope for good things happening was fading, the kid's wound began to slowly, but visibly, dissipate in front of her.
"Yes!" Frisk whispered in relief.
The pieces of their broken tailbone tangled together like creepy bone knots. Their flesh wounds shrunk into nothingness and a little bit of colour returned to their body. It was like watching video footage in reverse.
"This is supposed to happen like this, right?" Frisk asked with worry.
"Normally," Flowey said. "They're just a small kid, so I didn't expect the water to be so effective. Kinda surprised. Maybe this lake just has some stronger magic in it? Or maybe it's just this kid's incredible energy."
"What do you mean?" Frisk asked.
"Healing doesn't usually work that well with monsters," Flowey explained. "Compared to humans who just have to eat or drink for the healing to work, for monsters it's way more unpredictable. While healing, their bodies have to simultaneously use and drain their own energy. Hence why Old Gyftrot in the forest didn't heal when we gave him a whole bottle of booze. His body was simply too old. Not to mention, his leg wound had been festering for hours at that point, so even if he was still young-"
Flowey had become so distracted by his exposition that he seemed to almost have forgotten about the warriors looking for them, so he was mildly spooked when another familiar voice spoke up and immediately shut his mouth.
"Erm, boss?" called out a youthful and nervous male voice.
Flowey and Frisk spied over the fallen tree to see who had appeared. It was Simon, the recruit with the bug-eyed mask. Currently, the young warrior was trying to speak to Mickey, who was still arguing with Vissie after all this time.
"Not now, Simon," Mickey said without turning towards him.
"Well, sorry for wanting to make things interesting!" Vissie argued, sounding annoyed.
"Oh for the love of…!" Mickey exclaimed.
He looked over at Umbla, who still struggled with the gun, and then he looked at Eldur, who stood by himself.
"Don't look at me," Eldur said. "I was against their idea in the first place."
"S-sorry boss," Simon apologized. "But… I… I think I found something important."
Finally, Mickey turned to face him.
"What?" he asked unenthusiastically.
Simon then handed him some object that took Frisk a moment to notice was a phone. A type that looked strangely similar to hers.
Mickey looked at it and then he practically snatched it from Simon's arms and began to examine it immediately.
That was when Frisk saw it clearer, and it finally hit her. Frisk quickly checked her pants pockets with worry. The pockets not holding her knife were empty. That confirmed it. This was her phone.
"Well I'll be," Mickey said. "Sorry for doubting you, rookie. This… this is actually pretty damn useful. Thanks for that."
"Shit," Frisk muttered. "Can't believe I… I must've dropped it during the run."
"Sorry about that, Frisk," Flowey said. "But please don't go out there and risk your life for it."
"Of course not," Frisk said. "It's just a phone. Still, it really sucks. I have some valuables in there, things I wanna show but… whatever."
She gave out a sigh of annoyance.
She watched Mickey pick something up from his endless pocket. A small square object resembling a USB stick he then placed under the phone. The object stuck to the underside magnetically.
"Erm, excuse me questioning, boss," Simon began. "But… what is that?"
"Just a little tool from Digi," Mickey explained. "Lets me override the security, and thus, the password."
"Of course he has a tool like that," Frisk whispered, annoyed.
After a few seconds, the phone lit up and played the short opening jingle.
"Alright, guys," Mickey began. "I'm gonna go take a moment as I run through this girl's stuff. See if I can gather anything useful. Meanwhile, you guys just… keep watch for now. And remember the memo. If it moves, you strike. Unless it's just a branch or something. Even then. Don't take any chances."
With that, he sat down by a nearby rock as he examined the contents in Frisk's phone.
Meanwhile, Frisk sat down behind her new cover and let herself slowly slump down.
Sorry about that, Ian, she thought. Guess you'll have to get me a new one. Or steal one, rather.
"Now what?" Frisk asked Flowey. "Should we move?"
"Not yet," Flowey said. "Trying to find the perfect opening. Ugh. Their eyes are swarming this place, and they don't seem interested in giving up. Not to mention, I still haven't found any trace of Willy yet, and I really don't want to deal with that weirdo."
Trying to ignore the increasing dread, Frisk looked back down at the resting kid, seeing their wounds slowly heal. Their tailbone seemed to be growing backwards into their body. If Frisk didn't know any better, she would've assumed it was very painful.
She realized then that MK couldn't have broken it from Umbla's gun. Nothing heavy fell on top of them, or at least nothing heavy enough to break bones and none of the dozens of bullets seemed to have hit them.
But then, Frisk realized something awful. She remembered now, that when she grabbed the kid and jumped into cover… she was on top.
"Oh… god no…" Frisk muttered. "I… I did this…"
"Huh?" Flowey asked and turned to look at her.
"Their tail," Frisk explained. "I… I think I broke it in the fall. My weight must've… crushed it."
"Oh…" Flowey said. "Yeah, that…"
"Oh god, all of this is my fault," Frisk said.
"Don't blame yourself," Flowey said, sounding almost sympathetic. "You didn't know this was going to happen."
"It's not just their tail," Frisk added. "But all of what happened to them. It's because of me."
"C'mon, Frisk," Flowey said. "Are you a fat crazy lady that fired a machine gun over our heads?"
"You… you know what I meant," Frisk replied. "I brought them along with us. I encouraged them. I-"
"Don't!" Flowey said sternly.
He sighed as he looked down at MK.
"I'm partly to blame as well," Flowey added. "You were just being nice to them. I guess we just didn't comprehend the situation fully, eh?"
Frisk looked at the kid for a moment more, seeing them close their eyes. They breathed calmly now.
"Alright then," Frisk said and nodded, hiding the tears forming in her eyes.
Frisk had sat back down while she spent the last few moments looking at MK's slow recovery. She pondered a lot in the wait. Occasionally, she looked down at her knife and considered.
"Holy shit," Mickey suddenly said in the distance.
Hearing him talk again after a long moment of silence, Frisk almost instinctively backed further into the tree stump. To make it worse, he sounded utterly delighted.
Then Mickey began to chuckle.
"Simon, come look at this!" he said.
He made that order more like a friend making a suggestion rather than a boss ordering an employee.
Frisk snuck a curious peek from her cover. He was still holding her phone and was now scrolling through it.
"Look," Mickey said to Simon, who was looking over his shoulder. "Look at all these pictures.
"Is… is that girl who we're looking for?" Simon asked.
"Fits the description, so it must be," Mickey said. "But god. Doesn't she frigging remind you of someone?"
"Erm… who?"
Mickey chuckled with amusement, which somehow managed to sound eerie.
"Can't you see?!" he asked Simon. "She's fucking Dora! Dora the explorer! Only older! See the freaking resemblance?! Haha, holy shit! It's so freaking uncanny!"
"Dora?" Simon asked. "Who's Dora The Explorer? Is that someone we know?"
Mickey looked up at his young warrior and stared for a good few seconds.
"Seriously?!" Mickey exclaimed. "You seriously haven't heard of Dora the fucking Explorer?! Y'know? That human cartoon show with the little Mexican girl, the blue monkey and talking backpack?! Nothing?!"
"Err, s-sorry boss, but no," Simon said anxiously. "Doesn't ring a bell."
"Oh my lord," Mickey muttered. "The other hunters I would have expected, but you Simon? God, hate to sound like an old man, but you 22nd-century kids are so uncultured."
He chuckled and casually threw Frisk's phone at him without looking. Simon caught it a bit clumsily, almost dropping it.
"Anyway, go get me the horn speaker," Mickey said. "I wanna make an announcement."
"R-right on," Simon said and bowed courteously.
Frisk quickly ducked her head back into cover.
"Ok, we got Mickey, of course," Flowey said. "Then we got Vissie, Umbla, Eldur and that new guy. Now that makes four, five with the newbie. Gods. Just where the heck is Willy?"
"Maybe he didn't show up?" Frisk suggested.
"Doubtful," Flowey answered. "Willy is Mickey's right hand for a reason. He wouldn't turn down an important hunt like this. Nah. He must be hiding. Or using his illusionary tricks."
"Mmm…" MK muttered quietly.
Their wounds were mostly faded by now, being relegated to a single-digit number. Their tail had almost fully healed, with the only sign of the protruding bone being a dry wound. They attempted to sit back up, which seemed to fail.
Frisk wasted no time heading towards them.
"Woah, Woah, kid," she said. "Take it easy. You were incredibly hurt."
She helped them sit back up.
"Frisk?" they asked as they looked up at her. "What happened? All I remember was this noise. And the pain."
"Long story," Frisk answered. "Can you walk?"
"B… barely," they replied.
The booming sound from a loudspeaker ripped their focus from each other.
"Little Dora?!" Mickey said into a speaker.
The voice echoed through the forest, across the cavern and the distant sparkling ceiling.
"Come on out, Little Dora!" Mickey exclaimed with a mocking tone. "We know you're in there! Somewhere! No use faking!"
"Who-who's he talking about?" MK asked. "Who is Dora?"
"Think he means me," Frisk said. "No clue about the "Dora" thing. No one calls me that."
"I would just like to say that as a kid, I was a huge fan of your show!" Mickey continued, sounding like he was on the verge of laughing. "Every day after school, I turned to cartoons whenever I had the… tv privileges! Your show wasn't always the first thing I looked forward to, to be frank, heh! But it was there! Usually on time! And for what it was I really enjoyed it! The talking monkey was always my favourite, and it's sad to see you're apparently not on good terms after all these years! As for the movie?! Eh, it was fine! Could live without it!"
"What the frick is he talking about, Frisk?" Flowey asked. "You're an actor or something?"
"I don't fucking know what this asshole is going on about," Frisk said anxiously. "Never heard about any Dora."
"Now, Hermana!" Mickey continued. "That's what you say, right? Heh! Anyway, sorry for the jokes! I'm sure you're already lost and confused and probably have been for days, or however long you've been down here! Completely inappropriate on my part, sorry! This whole new world you found is probably scary and unreal! Talking animals?! Giant, literal monsters?! I truly understand if you mistrust everything and everyone you see and meet! But as hard as it is for you to believe, I don't want to hurt you! Those two who did fire at you did so without my permission, and they are not representative of our group! Trust me, Umbla and Vissie shall be both reprimanded for it!"
"Heh, good one boss!" Vissie said. "Wait! You don't actually mean that, right?!"
"W-why is he after you, Frisk?" MK asked curiously.
"Long story," Frisk answered.
Mickey walked closer towards the trees and crouched down on one knee.
"Francisca?!" he asked in the loudspeaker. "That's your name, isn't it?"
Frisk felt as if her body ceased working. Even though Frisk knew he must've learned her name from her phone, hearing him call her that still made her shiver.
"You have a lot of photos on your device here!" Mickey continued, in what sounded like a sympathetic voice. "Lots of people in there! Memories?! Family?! Seems, from what I've gathered, you have something to go back to, right?"
Those words with what sounded like a faux sympathy in his voice, made her feel a growing irritation. Maybe that was his intention?
"Scrolling through this!" Mickey continued. "It's clear you still got something! Most who come down here never do! But I can help you, ok?! Whatever stories you heard of me, whatever inhabitants have told you, most of it is fake! And those that aren't, were entirely justifiable from our perspective! I can help you, Francisca! I can bring you home! Back to Ebbot! To your family! All you need to do… is come forward! And leave the rest to us! To me!"
Frisk did not do anything. She found his offer tempting. She began considering it even. Just as long as Flowey and MK would never be a part of it.
Then she looked down at Flowey and saw his expression. His look of utter disapproval. He knew what she was thinking, and she knew what he was thinking. At once her temptations ceased as rationality kicked in. Why would the townsfolk even lie? How did she know Mickey wasn't the one lying to her?
Frisk clenched her fists. She wanted to scream at Mickey. Tell him to "fuck off" for trying to use her like this. He knew nothing about her, or her so-called "family". All he knew were snippets. Brief images with no context.
Some of the hunters began to grow agitated, unsure. Umbla sat down, staring with bored silence at nothing, and Eldur puffed with tiredness.
"I don't think the girl's in there anymore, boss," Vissie said with doubt. "She probably left halfway through your long-winded monologue."
"Oh, she isn't gone," Mickey said with confidence. "I can still sense her soul in there. It shines pure red and is filled with incredible determination. In fact, there are two souls in there. The other is of a monster."
Frisk felt her bones and muscles freeze in place. Terror crawled up her spine and rooted her to the spot. She looked at Flowey, who appeared just as disconcerted. She turned to MK, still lying on the ground, who looked on the verge of a freakout.
"W… what's he going to do?" they asked nervously.
"Kid?" Flowey asked. "Can you run?"
"I… I think so," they answered.
"I… found you!" Mickey said deviously into the speaker.
Frisk felt her adrenaline kick and was about to start running when Flowey grabbed her by the knee.
"Don't listen to him!" Flowey whispered. "He's bluffing! He has no clue where we are!"
He turned towards MK again.
"You think or can you?" he asked him.
"I… I think I can?" MK answered, unsure.
"I see you hiding there!" Mickey said with sadistic glee. "You can come out now… Francisca! I promise! I'm not gonna hurt you!"
Frisk noticed her panic attack returning as her breaths became chaotic.
"Don't, Frisk!" Flowey whispered. "He doesn't know where you are! He's just trying to make you lose your cool!"
He turned to MK again.
"In a moment," he began. "You will run. Or we will carry you. Understand?"
MK nodded, sweat pouring down their cheeks.
Mickey walked a few steps closer towards the trees and threw the speaker onto the ground.
Frisk and Flowey looked at each other nervously. They nodded at each other Then Frisk looked at MK with the same look. Without a word, all three knew what to do next.
"Ready?" Flowey asked.
Frisk and MK nodded.
"On my word," Flowey added and gulped with anxiety.
Mickey crept closer and closer, while his warriors prepared. Umbla raised her minigun, Vissie took out two knives, Eldur conjured up a sword, and Simon raised a spear.
Mickey picked out a stick-like object from his small pouch. Then stopped, just a few feet away from the trio.
"Got ya," he said gleefully.
"NOW!" Flowey exclaimed.
Before anyone had a chance to react, Flowey suddenly expanded his vines and slapped Mickey in the face, almost forcing his mask off.
"Gah!" Mickey exclaimed. "What the-!"
"Go!" Flowey exclaimed. "Let's go, LET'S GO!"
He quickly lept into the open backpack and Frisk spent no time as she grabbed MK into her arms. Then she fled further through the blue woods, the dizzy primate and his now battle-ready warriors growing further behind them.
"Gah!" Mickey cried out behind them. "You little… ugh! HUNTERS! LET'S ROLL!"
The sounds of weapons sheathing, magic conjuring and madly excited laughter, Frisk, Flowey and MK heard behind them in the distance, loud and clear.
Author's note:
Turns out, I'm kinda terrible at breaking down chapters.
To those who read this chapter much earlier, you might notice that it has gotten a bit bigger now. By about half the original size. Well, the reason being, is that while working on the next one(which I have completed the first draft for while writing this, btw) I realized that it was way too big. Like larger than necessary. That was also when I noticed that this chapter was far too short and that I could've given it a much better cliffhanger ending. So here it is. An extended version of the old chapter with some changes here and there, mostly spelling. Speaking off, I might add some quick fixes here and there in the future, if I notice anything I feel unsatisfying. Which... I probably will.
Anyway, the next chapter is gonna come out pretty soon. I don't have much to say about this one, turns out. You might notice that the landscape of The Waterfall area from the main game has changed somewhat drastically, and yeah, I kinda did that because I thought it would fit better. I just imagine it being another part of Waterfall that was never shown in-game.
Another thing is that I think this is the chapter where I'd say Frisk is finally starting to realize the dangers of her recklessness. She can't be killed due to her reset powers, sure. But that doesn't mean that fixing things automatically makes them better for everyone. She has to use her power more responsibly, think about the consequences or butterfly effect of her changes. Of course, what happened to MK is obviously not related to Resets, considering Frisk still thinks saving Clare and putting a bandage on her relationship with her sister was the right thing, despite putting herself and everyone she now comes across in serious danger. But that's something that comes up much clearer in the future, I promise.
Anyway, I'm babbling far too much. The next chapter, which will be out this week, is one I've been looking forward to for a long time. It's so tempting to spoil, but you, my lovely readers, will just have to way. Until then, I'm happy you're sticking through and I'm excited to hear your opinions and theories in the future. :)