After walking through the snow of Snowdin, we then started to feel the tension in the air as the sound of the large branch snapping into bits happened, then we heard a spare set of footprints behind us, but we turned around and... well, everyone else saw nothing, but I saw the sight of a skeleton that was teleporting from that placement to another location, me following the trail and seeing it was leading to the top of one of the trees, me then looking up to the top of it and proceeding to grab a handful of snow and hurl it as best as I could to the top of the tree. And the skeleton then grabbed it with telekinesis and sent it to fall on top of Martlet's head, her looking around in confusion after.
"How did snow hit me on the head?" she asked in confusion as we then finally got to the poorly made gate and... our feet felt super heavy, even Martlet's! We couldn't move an inch as we heard the sound of footsteps from behind us.
"Humans... don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand," said the deep voice of Sans, me and Mary being concerned as we also saw Martlet was shaking her head. I then held out my hand in a fist, which Sans looked at with confusion.
"I know the trick, bub. Whoopee cushion in the hand. Gimme a fist-bump instead," I smiled, him then shrugging and doing so, me gawking at how I felt a shock happen from doing so, which Mary giggled at.
"hehehe. you fell for plan b. joy buzzer on the bony finger," Sans snickered, me smacking my face at that. "heya, name's sans the skeleton. you two are humans, right?" he asked, Mary smiling at him.
"Uh, yes, we are," she said. I could tell she was hiding her concern behind that smile, however.
"heh, yeah, that's a laugh. now, see, i'm supposed to be lookin' out for humans. but i honestly don't feel up to capturing you two... my brother, papyrus, on the other hand? he's a human hunting fana-" Sans was ABOUT to finish... but then?
"AAAAAGHHHH! HHHEEEEEEEEELLLLLLPPPPP! ! !" we heard the voice of a very loud skeleton shout from the far east, me gasping at that.
"Papyrus!" I shouted out loud as I ran as fast as I could towards the direction to the east, me then seeing the sight first before anyone else. Flowey had injected something into Papyrus, which made me shocked. An empty vial laid on the ground and I saw that Flowey had managed to drop about three more empty vials!
"NO NO NO!" I shouted in fear as I then grabbed Papyrus and he looked to be... he was barely able to move.
"What's going on?! What happened?!" Sans asked with his normal voice, Papyrus looking up at Sans, him having a small smile with tears in his eyes.
"I... WAS TRICKED... HE SAID... IT WOULD MAKE ME STRONGER... I FEEL SO WEAK..." Papyrus said as best as he could... and then? His bony skin started to feel soft!
"OH NO HE DOESN'T!" I shouted as I let out my soul and tried to do something, anything, to try and save the nicest character in the game!... But color me purple as I saw that, out of nowhere, when my soul directly touched the melting Papyrus, it managed to absorb some kind of pure liquid of rainbow-colored energy! And after this happened, Papyrus stopped melting, got back to normal, and gasped awake.
"NYEH HEH! I HAVE BEEN HEALED!" Papyrus shouted with new rejuvenation as he stood high and proud, which he then looked down at me and gawked. "O-OH MY GOD! WAS I... DID YOU HELP ME?" he asked, me nodding at him. "ARE YOU... ARE YOU A HUMAN?" he asked.
"Yes, I am," I smirked.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE IT! A HUMAN, WILLING TO HELP THE GREAT PAPYRUS DURING HIS DARKEST HOUR! HOWEVER! WE CANNOT REST ON OUR LAURELS!" Papyrus said as he pointed to the east, me looking there and wondering what was going on. "THAT NO-GOOD WEED CLAIMED HE ALSO WAS GOING TO GIVE THAT DESTRUCTIVE POISON TO THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE ROYAL GUARD! WE NEED TO FIND THEM AND RESCUE THEM BEFORE THEY START SWEATING TO DEATH! COME, TO VICTORY! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEH!" Papyrus sneered, which made Martlet gasp.
"That liquid... it can't be..." Martlet gawked as I saw her get the stare. The thousand-yard stare. And I knew why. She worked for Alphys, so she saw the Amalgamates when she got the serum for a last resort situation. I grabbed onto her wing and had us rush ahead, us needing to avoid any interactions with the other monsters in Snowdin in the process because of the fact we needed to find and rescue the other members of the guard. And our first target was Doggo, who was in his station and had a vial that was emptied on the counter... I looked inside and gawked at how he was huddled on the ground and laying down for a sleep, me then going to him and speaking to him.
"Hey, poochy? You doing okay?" I asked, him growling after. "I want to help you... please, just accept my help. I need to get that gunk out of you," I said, him still growling as I then got my soul to touch his now-melting body... and after, Doggo then yiped out loud as the liquid entered my soul and he then jumped off the ground.
"WHOA! What kind of miracle drug is that?! I felt like I was gonna die, and then I'm all awake now!" Doggo shouted in shock before then looking at me. "Ah... a human? Move, I need to know what kinda soul did that," he said, me then moving my body and my soul as well, him then gawking. "A-A... Knowledge?! I didn't think they were even real! Well, I thank you for saving me!" he smiled with his tail wagging.
"Unfortunately, we don't have time to celebrate, Doggo," Martlet said, which made him look at her in shock.
"Martlet?!"
"The same person who injected you with that vial plans to do the exact same to all of the other Royal Guard members! We need to stop him! He almost killed you and Papyrus with that stuff!" Martlet said... and then I gasped as I saw something come from the ground... a needle with Determination liquid along with a vine! I immediately thought of shooting justice and, shockingly, I shot a Big Shot right at the vial, which also hit the vines and resulted in Flowey yiping in burrowing away after, which Martlet looked at her feet and gasped as she stepped away from the puddle of rainbow at her feet.
"You... You saved my life!" she gawked.
"Why would he target you, Martlet?" Mary asked.
"Because... I know what that stuff is... Determination Extract... I didn't know he had access to that stuff... unless... oh god... I know what he is, now! We need to stop him before he hurts anyone else! And I need to make a call immediately!" Martlet said as she then got on her own cell phone and made a call, her then speaking.
"Hello? Yes, yes, I know it's been a while. Listen, Doctor, I need you to go down to the secret place. No, I need you to! Determination is being stolen from there! You need to destroy all the vials before he steals anymore!" Martlet said. And after that? Alphys's voice was heard in my head...
"OH NO OH NO OH NO! I NEED TO GET DOWN THERE, AND FAST!" I heard her voice, me getting a headache as we then found Lesser Dog, him being next to Flowey and looking at him with his extendable neck, with the flower just about to get a vial to him, but I was NOT going to chase him down again!
"SANS! HELP ME!" I shouted, him nodding as he then grabbed the flower from afar with telekinesis, which made Flowey stop in place RIGHT before he could inject Lesser Dog with the vial! I then rushed to Flowey and immediately searching his person... and I saw that the vials were all hidden in the roots he had underground, me needing to unbury his body from the dirt and grab every single vial he had, him still having 19 of them! I destroyed all of them with Big Shots and then proceeded to use my soul to suck up the Determination Extract before then placing Flowey back in the dirt and frowning at him, as he was aware of all of this.
"If you EVER do something like this again, I'm not only going to tell everyone to avoid you like the plague, but I'm ALSO going to tell EVERYONE your deepest, darkest secret! GOT IT, FLOWEY?!" I growled, him then whimpering before Sans then let him go and Flowey screamed like a baby and fled underground as fast as he could.
"U-Um... what just happened? I'm so confused..." said the voice of Snowy, him looking at me and our group.
"We had to stop a madman from trying to kill all the Royal Guard," I said with seriousness.
"I never thought that a flower would be so evil... how can a flower even be alive, anyways? All monsters have a soul, but when I tried to send it out, it didn't work," Doggo said, me gulping at that. But I had to think of how to say it... but surprisingly, Martlet spoke up.
"I don't know if it has any correlation, but when I used to work with Doctor Alphys, I saw some things that shouldn't be mentioned... flowers and Determination were one of those things," Martlet said.
"Wait... so that flower is alive without a soul?" Lesser Dog spoke, which was the least surprising thing thus far. And Sans finally had calmed his senses down, which I could see just from looking at him. The aura that surrounded his body when he was holding Flowey in place had FINALLY subsided.
"I didn't ever think it'd be possible... Alphys told me those experiments were all failures... so if this flower is alive, then obviously one of them was not a failure..." Martlet said with concern on her face.
"I have an idea..." Mary said with shyness. "Maybe, that flower ended up getting alive... because it had memories of someone who died near it? And, without a soul, he started to try anything to feel emotion?" And her question did make Sans close his eyes and for Papyrus to speak up.
"I... I HAD NO IDEA. FLOWERY WAS ALWAYS SO NICE WHENEVER HE SPOKE TO ME. GIVING ME ADVICE, ENCOURAGEMENT, EVEN HELPING ME WIN A GAME OF CARDS," Papyrus said with concern, but with his usual pep.
"Well, regardless, after giving that threat to that little weed, I doubt he'll be bothering anyone else... so... if you two are humans... what do we do, then?" Lesser Dog asked.
"Well, if it weren't for mister Scarlet, you'd be turning into a puddle," Martlet said, which made Lesser Dog confused.
"How do you know that?" he asked.
"Because it was about to happen to Papyrus, who had four vials of Determination extract from the human souls injected into him," I frowned, which the group nodded at.
"So this liquid stuff on the snow here... it's dangerous to monsters, then?" asked the voice of Ice Cap, who was hiding behind a tree from my outburst.
"Very much so. We need to take it and store it somewhere, so it doesn't get inside anyone," I said, which we then got our answer from Sans pulling out three empty ketchup bottles and scooping the Determination into the bottles before then screwing the caps back on.
"SINCE WHEN DO YOU DO ANYTHING, SANS?" Papyrus asked his brother.
"since that flower almost took away the most important thing in the world to me," Sans said with his eyes closed, a single tear going down his left eye. "thanks for the help, kid... if you need me, i'll be at the honeydew casino. i need to unwind after all that... and find a place to hide this stuff," Sans said, him then walking down the path to the south, where it would lead to Dogamy and Dogaressa.
"Before he took that stuff, I got the scent... I smell that there's a bit of it to the east, stashed near the area I like to build snowdogs at. We need to find them. I don't think he'll try that stunt again, but we need to get rid of those stashes, just in case," Lesser Dog said, me nodding at him as we then started our trek again... but not before I was given a hint as to where to find an item from one of the 6 souls.
"I heard that there's a prize for winning five games of Durak at the Honeydew Casino. If you go down the path, the casino is directly east of Lesser Dog's station. It's built into the wall," Ice Cap said, me smiling and nodding at that. Good thing I'd managed to play a game that had the Russian version of War, or else I'd be having a tough time at that game.
"I wish I could join ya, but I promised to go chill out with my buds," Snowdrake said, me giggling at that. "HAHA! I finally did it! I knew I was funny!" Snowy smiled as he then went to the area in question, me going through the snow and for Papyrus to actually be by my side. And why was that? Mainly to help give a tour of where we went and to assist in dealing with any monsters who saw me and Mary. As for Chara?
"Who would've known that that flower was... um... n-nevermind... I shouldn't say anything," Chara said, me holding her hand and her looking at me with a sigh. "Thanks... you know, right?..." I simply nodded. "Please, don't tell anyone? Only if he does this shit again, promise." I crossed my heart once again. "Thanks."
I then went with the group to the area, though we did need to get past Dogamy and Dogaressa, who immediately sniffed me and Mary out as being humans.
"Good job, Lesser Dog and Papyrus, on finding these humans," Dogamy said, but Lesser Dog spoke up.
"They are VIPs, not to be captured," Lesser Dog spoke.
"w-why? they're humans, yet you're not going to do your job?" Dogaressa asked with shyness.
"THEY SAVED OUR LIVES! IF NOT FOR THEM, WE WOULD BE DEAD!" Papyrus said, which made me blush and for Martlet to smile.
"I... I see... how did they save you?" Dogamy asked.
"See, they were about to be injected with a uh... a type of poison. It's harmless to humans, but if a monster is injected with it, then it makes them start to melt into a puddle. And the one to do so was a soulless bastard that wanted to get on my bad side, so he could steal my soul," I said, which the duo then sniffed me further on my chest before the fur on Dogamy's back went up.
"Knowledge soul? Now I see why... a soul such as that could be able to get past the barrier on its own... equal to the strengths of three human souls combined," he said with a whimper.
"Don't worry, I'm not dangerous, I just want to try and get to Asgore so I can suggest an alternate method to freeing the monsters," I smiled.
"alternate method?... please explain..." Dogaressa whined.
"Me taking the other human souls to destroy the barrier, before then allowing them to go to the afterlife. But if we did that, we get rid of the plan to kill all the humans on the surface. They don't even remember the war between humans and monsters, and to them, monsters are just a fairy tale." My words made the dogs confused before I then petted them.
"Thanks... we needed that..." Dogamy smiled.
"Wouldn't it be easier if you pet each other?" Mary asked, the duo then gasping before then doing so, them smiling happily as their tails wagged.
"Amazing! Thank you for opening our eyes, young children! Here, take some money. Both for that, and for saving Lesser Dog and Papyrus," Dogamy smiled.
"Don't forget me, I also was about to melt," Doggo said, the dogs then dispersing forward as Lesser Dog then led our group to the stash in question, me then snatching all the different vials and storing them in my bag. I might need them for later.
"Only one of them was emptied, so I worry someone else might need assistance," LD said, me gulping before I felt a large amount of Determination, me looking to the east and gawking at how I saw the sight of a certain kitsune who was laying on the ground, obviously feeling pain.
"Ceroba!" Martlet shouted as we rushed to her, the old fox looking at us with a weariness in her eyes.
"Mart...let?... How long has it... b-been?" Ceroba asked, me seeing she had a puncture in her arm.
"Don't worry, miss, I'll get that gunk out of you," I said as I was about to send my soul out, but she spoke up.
"No... don't... I wish to be with my daughter..." she said, me frowning at that, and Martlet to stammer.
"Is that what she would've wanted?" I asked, Ceroba to give me a glare at me saying that. "Would she be happy to learn that her mother would rather take the coward's way out instead of live life to the fullest?" Ceroba growled at me before she winced, and she had her body begin to melt.
"I don't care... she's dead... I'd rather see her again..." Ceroba said, which Martlet then delivered one of the biggest bombs ever.
"Kanako isn't dead," Martlet said, Ceroba gasping at that. "She's still at Alphys's lab... I... I'm sorry but... I was told to never speak of it..." Martlet said with a waver in her voice.
"She's... alive?... Are you sure?" Ceroba asked.
"I'll explain, but only after you allow Scarlet to absorb the stuff in your system. Otherwise, you'll end up just like her." Ceroba looked confused at that, but didn't resist to me absorbing the Determination with my soul, me then feeling weird myself. I felt... almost as if I felt a bit heavier. Not by much, maybe half a pound, but it was noticeable.
"Explain... how is my darling still alive?... And why team up with more humans?" Ceroba asked in annoyance.
"Everyone else, you'll need to not hear this," Martlet said as she then did something shocking. She cast some bizarre spell and, afterwards, I found that everyone was trapped in time!... Everyone, except for Martlet, Ceroba, and me, that is. But I faked that I was trapped as best as I could. "Okay... see, the different test subjects who had fallen down... the Determination that was injected into them... unlike humans, monsters can't handle that high an amount of the stuff unless they've trained in their body strength. So, the test subjects... melted... but were still alive," Martlet said, Ceroba gasping at that. "Most of the monsters melted into each other, which is what Alphys called Amalgamation. The only one who didn't do so is her own self down there... the one who was given the Integrity serum... Kanako was able to retain her form, though she's also partially severed from reality... she can form and unform herself out of nowhere and has no memory of who she used to be... the only way I could think of how to help her... it has to be a one-two plan. We need to get back the blue soul and have Scarlet absorb the excess Determination, while the blue soul extracts the Integrity substance," Martlet said, which Ceroba looked to be hurt... but then, her eyes started to produce tears and a blubbery smile appeared.
"All this time... I thought I'd killed her... she's not dead... all the hurt I've caused... I'm... I'm so happy to hear this..." Ceroba said with tears, me then proving I wasn't trapped as I walked forward and gave Ceroba a hug, her being surprised at first... before she hugged me tighter with tears in her eyes.
"Shh, shh, it's okay, fox girl. Just let it all out," I smiled, her crying even louder as the stopped time finally ended, which the others were surprised at, but none more so than Chara and Mary.
"What the?! What just happened?" Chara asked in confusion.
"Did you... were we stopped in time? Like how Gaster did that to me?" Mary asked, which made the ears of Ceroba perk up at that name.
"Pardon me... did you say you know of Doctor Gaster?" she asked, which Mary nodded at.
"He's the one who killed me... back when I first fell down here," Mary said shyly, which Ceroba, Papyrus, and Doggo looked at her in shock.
"What?!" Ceroba asked in shock.
"Um... yeah... my soul is one of Knowledge... when I touched an item that was favorited by Mary, it ended up reviving not only her body and mind, but also her soul..." I said, Papyrus then checking it out and him gawking at it.
"AMAZING! A HUMAN WHO NOT ONLY CAN SAVE THE GREAT PAPYRUS, BUT ALSO REVIVE THE DEAD! I MUST PROCEED TO SNOWDIN POSTHASTE AND PREPARE A SPAGHETTI FEAST FOR YOU!" Papyrus smiled as he then rushed ahead, me smiling at that.
"He's definitely a lucky one... if not for his loud mannerisms, he might not have made it," Chara said with a frown. We then proceeded to go through the freshly-opened path made by Papyrus solving his own puzzle, us then going through and me hearing the music already. It sounded a lot like it were from the cantina from Undertale Yellow, almost. Specifically, the one that was run by Dina during Happy Hour, which made me smile. We then, finally, went to the source and, afterwards, we saw that there were a couple of monsters outside of the place that I recognized as being Mooch and Ace, which made me surprised, but not as much as seeing that they kept their outfits even to this day.
"Oh? Hello, how are... things... today?" Mooch asked us in confusion before then recognizing that myself and Mary looked WAY too familiar to her. "Ace... Ace, we have an issue... I think?" Mooch asked, Ace then looking to us and him giving us a glare.
"Hmm... two humans, huh?" he asked, me nodding. "State yer business."
"I was hoping to come in, do some sightseeing, and also see if I could get in on the big Durak tournament," I smiled, that making Mooch smirk.
"A human who knows how to play Durak? Hah! I'd love to see that!" she smiled, me frowning at her.
"Well, that wasn't very nice," Mary frowned at her.
"You may enter, but only if misses Ceroba and Martlet join you. We got our eyes on you," Ace said, me smirking at him.
"I'm a pacifist by trade, much like Clover before me," I said, that making Mooch look confused before her eyes went wide, me going inside before she could speak, me then seeing around to find out... the whole place was actually heated on the inside and it had a lot of sights, as it WAS built into the giant wall that led to the secret room where Glyde could be found at.
"Well, this place looks super fun! Look at all the fun machines! And all the monsters! It's like a casino and a hotel at the same time!" Mary smiled in excitedness.
"Just stick close to me, we're here to win the Durak game and possibly get supplies, not to mess around," I said, her nodding after as Chara giggled.
"Well, you may not be, but I can't be seen. I'm gonna go and play with my own trickery," the fallen child giggled, me shaking my head as she rushed off and I then heard a voice.
"We still have two spots left for the great Durak tournament! Winner of 5 games wins the grand prize, the bandana of bravery!" said the voice of none other than El Bailador, which was a great sight to see him being on the PA systems. I then went to the sign up and signed my name on it, followed by Mary, me smirking at her.
"I know how to play as well, so let's have fun competing," she said, me nodding as we then got ready for a fun time... I just had to hope that a certain flower listened to my threat well.