Half-Tale: The Fallen
Characters are not mine. Half-Life and Adrian Shephard belong to Valve Corporation, and Undertale and Chara Dreemurr belong to Toby Fox. Please support the official releases.
Chapter 2 – The RUINS
Try not to be so cold all the time. Really helps.
"Oh. My. God. Who is that. Why is he here? Is that the same guy from my dream? The one who killed the other guy? On the Surface? I thought that was a dream! He can't be here. When I was asking about some kind of change, I didn't mean this!"
Chara's mind was racing a thousand miles per hour, trying to comprehend the possibility of someone other than Frisk showing up in the Underground. To date, ever since Frisk fell, Chara has been tethered to them for what seemed like forever. There have been no deviations at all whatsoever.
This slightly worried Chara, but this was what she was technically asking for. Some kind of change in the system that would break her out of the constant monotony of the cycle Frisk had created. But she wasn't very sure yet of this. Not even mentioning her general hatred of humanity, the guy simply looked like he couldn't be trusted.
She was so enraptured in this line of self-questioning, that she didn't realise she was staring at him blanky. He had asked her a question, and yet this went unanswered. This slightly concerned the gasmask-wearing man.
Adrian simply continued to stare at her, awaiting a response from the apparition. He began scrutinising her appearance; she was wearing a green and light-yellow striped sweater, black thigh-high socks, short, brown pants, and laced boots that rid up halfway to her knee. She also seemed slightly younger than him, somewhere in her early twenties or so. The young woman also had short, brown hair, down to her neck, her eyes emanating a crimson red. Her cheeks also resonated a bright, yet soft, pink, as if it was a permanent feature on her face.
They remained there in something of a gridlock for what seemed like an eternity. This allowed him some time to question her state of being internally. "Huh… okay, she doesn't look like she wants to kill me. That's a good start, I think. She's kind of… see-through, though. Why is that?"
This was the first question he wanted to ask her, and he was just about to, before the young woman sparked the conversation first.
"Y-you're… You are human, right?" Chara finally spoke up for the first time with a voice of utter bewilderment. "Please… tell me you're human."
Chara couldn't believe her own words. 'Please, tell me you're human'? Such words should be completely unspeakable to her. But these are extraordinary times; she hadn't seen another person that wasn't Frisk in such a long time, not counting her 'dream'. So, she believed herself to reserve the right.
Chara, in tandem, scrutinised the man in the military gear's appearance unconsciously. The man wore a variety of clothing, each of them being layered with each other. He had a green bullet-resistant, Chara assumed, helmet with a black gas mask to contrast with it, both being separate parts. He also had a white camo outfit underneath his green tactical vest. She couldn't tell anything of his actual, facial, appearance, however, but he was quite tall.
"Huh. Strange," Adrian tilted his head in confusion once again. That was a weird question to ask, especially with the hint of desperation he felt in her voice. However, he wasn't going to not answer. "Yeah… Yeah, I'm human. Who are you? And why are you… eh, so translucent?"
Adrian felt like this was an appropriate line of questioning. He's faced it all, pretty much, back in Black Mesa, but this was new. At least she wasn't trying to kill him, he supposed, just like everything else back in the horrid facility. And if she did try something, he still had his weapons… though he wasn't sure if that would even work if his theory was right.
"Uhm…"
The young woman slapped herself. This was a human. She hates humans. Especially if they're anything like Frisk and what they displayed in their numerous Genocide runs, or the humans that killed Asriel. Not to mention him looking very familiar to the person she saw ruthlessly bash another soldier for whatever reason. And even though she knew that he might have had his reasons, it was still disgusting, senseless, cruelty.
If the person right in front of her was that person, then there's no telling what he's capable of. He could very realistically be worse than Frisk in every conceivable way. But, just like his capabilities, there is also no way of telling whether any of that is true yet. It's just her preconceived notion.
Of which, from what she's witnessed so far, hasn't been disproven yet.
However, if she was going to be tethered to this person for a while, then she might as well give it a try to dissuade him from killing anyone. She straightened herself up and began hovering a few feet from the ground. Adrian, who's been holding a slightly bewildered expression during this time, remained speechless during this.
"She's floating. Okay. She's floating. She can fly. She's see-through and she can fly. And she's human." For Adrian, this seems like this should be nothing new to him. With what he's experienced, this should be nothing more than a weird occurrence. But he couldn't help but stand there, bewildered. "You're… You are…"
"I'm floating!" Chara managed a smirk. It was easier than normal. For now, to her, it would be pointless to hold a cold demeanour, especially in these circumstances. So, for the present time, she will discard her personal reservations against humankind for the sake of the monsters. "That's right. If you couldn't tell, I'm a ghost. It's why I look translucent."
She held out her hand. "Chara. Chara Dreemurr. But you can just call me Chara if you want."
Adrian extended his hand in tandem to shake hers, but it went straight through. He couldn't believe it; she literally just told him that she was a ghost, and he still went for the handshake. That nap he took must've taken him out more seriously than he initially thought.
"Seriously? How'd you fall for that, ya moron?" Chara pretended to flick his head as she floated herself upside down. "All that lead from those bullets must be getting to your head."
"I must be going nuts. A ghost, huh? That's new," Adrian caught himself before he said anything about Black Mesa.
"Well, you better lock in, champ, 'cause I won't be the only one you see," Chara reoriented herself in the correct direction and folded her arms. "Anyways, what's your name, partner?"
"Ain't your partner, pal," Adrian folded his arms to mimic Chara, almost in a teasing manner. After talking with this Chara for a little bit, he's begun to trust her a little more. Just a bit. So, he doesn't have many quarrels of telling her his name. "…Adrian. Corporal Adrian Shephard, at your service."
"A corporal, huh?" Chara returned to the ground and saluted Adrian before laughing. "Hehehe. Alright, 'Corporal Shephard'. What brings you to these parts of the Underground?"
"…I fell."
"…no shit, Corporal," Chara snickered. She pointed up into the massive, gaping, bright hole above them. "It's not like there's a massive opening above us that led down here. Oh no. Not at all, genius. What I meant was… why are you here? Any specific purpose? Reasons? C'mon, spill!"
"Now that…" Adrian went quiet for a second, dusting himself off from the pollen that acted as a sort of aura from the flowers. He contemplated telling her but decided against it. It wouldn't be such a great idea spilling everything: Black Mesa, the G-Man, his actual reason of being here, etcetera. At least, for the time being anyways. "…is something I can't tell you, I'm afraid."
Chara's curiosity only sparked because of that. If it was simple, then he likely would have told her. She tilted her head in confusion, pouting a little. Surely the actual reason couldn't be so bad, right? No. It can always be so bad. It can be worse than bad. But for some reason, Chara didn't feel any hostility coming from the man. For now, anyways.
In any case, she had more questions.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean? Come on, don't be so stingy, partner! Don't tell me you're down here," Chara paused, floating in front of Adrian, with a serious expression. "…to kill anyone, are you? That wouldn't be so kind of you."
"If I can avoid it, sure. If I can't, I do what I must, missy," Adrian simply responded, noticing a short, dark corridor out in the corner of his eye. At the end of the path laid a large, purple, grandiose-looking door. "I figure that's the exit, hm?"
"Don't call me missy, Corporal! Hey! Are you even listening to me?"
"Yeah yeah, I'm listenin'," Adrian said absentmindedly. He turned and took one step towards the pathway and began walking. He adjusted his gasmask, making sure it was tight and secure. Tiny strands of his blonde hair seeped out of the helmet, of which he hadn't seemed to notice yet.
"C'mon!" Chara floated over Adrian's head. "What's with the gasmask? And helmet? Hope you realise there aren't any toxic fumes down here in the Underground. Just take 'em off, I wanna see what'cha look like! Don't tell me you've got some scar you're hiding. No one will care! Maybe?"
"…Nah." Adrian gave a simple, yet precise answer without stopping. He doesn't take off his helmet and mask often anyways. At least, ever since the incident started. It's helped him feel safe, ironically enough. "I… uh, like gas masks. Nothing wrong with that."
Chara has pretty much had it with Adrian at this point. She has been suppressing her feelings of hatred up to this point, putting up a little masquerade to prevent any potential hostility. However, she was already tired of these simple, plain, answers. So, she did what anyone would do. Chara zoomed in front of Adrian, who was just about to take a step on the pathway and stared at him with a fierce expression plastered on her face.
"Okay, look, Corporal. The Underground is an extremely dangerous place riddled with various monsters that, depending on how you ACT, will literally kill you. They're out for blood. Your blood. You're new; you don't know anything about this place yet. And that's where I come in; I'll give you directions and an idea of how the world works down here. Fortunately, I'm free for the next…" Chara pulled down one of her sweater sleeves and looks at her wrist, watch-less. "…Bazillion years, so be grateful that I'm willing to help you, damn it! Especially since I'm trying so hard to-." She cut herself off.
Adrian was stunned at this display of confidence from the young ghost woman. He could tell she was completely and utterly serious about her proposition. As much as he'd like to be alone throughout his journey, she was right; he doesn't want to be caught like deer in headlights, especially in a place like this.
So, after a little deliberation, he reached his conclusion. There was nothing clearer, to him, than his answer. He nodded. "…Okay, Chara. Thank you. I'll take you up on your offer."
A very slight blush could be seen planted on Chara's face, making her already permanent blush even more prominent, but she wrote it off as nothing. "Hmph! Good, 'cause we're going to be stuck with each other for a while. Now that I'm tethered to you and all, Corporal!"
"Yeah yeah, I ge-," Adrian paused midway through his sentence. Did she just say what he thought she said? "Sorry, you're what? Tethered to me? …Meaning you're connected to me?"
"Mhm, keep up!" Chara smirked, floating above Adrian. She was also upside down. "You're the second person I've been tethered to. My… last… one…"
…She went completely silent, her dead eyes becoming even more dead than they already were. Chara floated in mid-air, completely unresponsive as if she was having some sort of vision or something akin to one.
"What the…?" Adrian tilted his head in confusion. Something about Chara's previous tethered partner elicited this kind of reaction from her. Perhaps a memory? In any case, he took mental note of his current circumstances. Apparently, he's now tethered to a ghost, who will be essentially giving him a tour of this Underground. And that the last person that fell, Chara's last fallen tether, did something to her. "I'm going to have to write about this down later."
The gasmask-wearing man crossed his arms. He knew he couldn't physically interact with her, but he could do something to wake her up.
He clapped his hands and shouted. "Hey hey! Chara! You doing okay?! Wakey wakey, eggs and… bakey?" He also tried snapping his fingers. "Didn't you promise me that you'd show me the ropes of this place? C'mon, don't blank out now!"
"Wah?" Chara snapped out of her impromptu daze, her dead-grey eyes returning to a regular shaded grey. She sighed and rubbed her temples, as if she had a migraine. The true reason why was clear to all but Adrian. "I can hear you just fine! Damn. Yeah, I'll be okay."
She pointed her thumb behind her, which pointed towards the pathway Adrian was on. "You were on the right track with the pathway. Come on, I don't really like being here for too long. Brings back… memories."
"Memories, hm? Whatever that's about, I'll have to be careful about bringing up. It's making me curious, though…" Adrian nodded and took another step towards the massive door but remembered something very crucial. Something, or someone, that the G-man told him he would be allowed to bring along with him, but it was nowhere in clear sight. "Hang on, Chara. I'm missing something."
"Oh yeah? And what's that?" Chara crossed her arms and puffed her cheeks, floating in place. "Didn't I just say I didn't like being here for very lo-…"
A sudden THUMP! Interrupted her sentence.
Something landed on the golden flowers, creating a small puff of pollen.
Chara couldn't believe what she just heard. Again. To her, this was the strangest day she's had since she initially fell into the Underground herself as the first fallen. Not only did this guy, Corporal Adrian Shephard, fall in place of Frisk, but another person too? None of it was making any sense. She quickly floated over to the area of impact and recoiled in shock. "Who the hell?"
"Spore!" Adrian quickly ran over to the golden flowers and picked it up, smiling underneath his gasmask. He patted his head and placed it on his shoulder. "Man, am I glad to see you. Didn't think he would-." He quickly stopped himself before he said anything else.
"Huh? What's with the…" Chara paused. The creature's appearance and mere presence verified her suspicions. This Adrian Shephard was the exact same person she watched brutally kill another soldier back up on the Surface. A slightly frightened and bewildered expression could be seen on her face. "Y-you… You're the…"
"Huh? I'm what?" Adrian turned his head to Chara and tilted it in slight confusion. He turned towards Spore and chuckled a little. He supposed that he should tell her about the alien creature on his shoulder. "Ah, sorry for the no introductions. This is Spore, an alien. He's been travelling with me for… a while."
Chara was barely keeping up with the number of surprises that she's had to face so far today, and she knew that it was only to get weirder. First, she has a supposed 'dream' that brought her all the way to the Surface, she sees its carnage, and now one of the people she saw there is now taking Frisk's place as the eighth fallen human.
…And aliens. She was speechless. But right now, Adrian wasn't showing any of what he showed back on the Surface, so she figured she didn't have anything to worry about. Especially if what she thought before when she was having that 'dream' was right. Chara decided to just go along with it for now. "I… Okay, Corporal. You know what? Sure. This is probably the least weird thing that's happened to me today. Let's just get going."
Adrian shrugged, smirking behind his gasmask. "No arguments from me here."
They reached the grand, purple door. It was a little crumbled down and covered in a flurry of vines. However, none of them were obstructing the entranceway. Adrian looked slightly disappointed. "Aw, from back over yonder, the door looked a lot more… grand."
Chara floated besides him, inspecting the décor. It has seen better days; she knows from experience. She reminisced a little, not having the chance to as of late due to Frisk's affinity for speed-running through the entire area. "Reason why they call this place the RUINS. It's all… Ruiny."
Without saying anything, Adrian continued forward, with Chara floating there right beside him, into the deep, dark, unknown. For Adrian, at least. Everything that's happened so far is something he promised himself to write down in his Journal. With the constant state of alertness he had to be in during Black Mesa, he hadn't been able to take a minute to write anything down since he left for the facility.
It seemed like this place, the Underground, would be a nice place to collect his thoughts, Adrian believes.
Chara, in the meantime, had been collecting her thoughts for the first time since Frisk's initial pacifist runs. She enjoyed this semblance of downtime, even though she had to put up with another human, though it hasn't been so bad so far.
They saw something up ahead.
Chara smiled to Adrian, tilting her head as she knew what was about to happen. This happens every single run without fail or any deviation, but this was going to be at least a little different seeing as Frisk wasn't here.
Adrian noticed her eyes lying on him. "What're you staring at me for?"
"And three… two… one…" She pointed up ahead.
"Howdy! I'm Flowey! Flowey the Flower!"
Chara, Adrian, and Spore, after a short interlude, had come upon a room with a bright light shining upon a single, secluded spot, a small field of grass covering the entirety of that spotlight, surrounded by smooth stone. As they approached the middle of the room, their goal being another door not dissimilar to the one they had just entered, a yellow flower popped up from the ground and began speaking.
"Huh. A… talking flower," Adrian stood there with his head slightly tilted to the left in confusion. It was hard to see what his facial expression was, naturally due to the gas mask covering his face, but if anyone was able to, it would be one of curiosity.
He's seen a lot more creatures a thousand times weirder than a talking flower, his most recent enemy coming to mind first and foremost, but something about a talking flower sort of disoriented him a little. He seemed so… cartoonishly monster-like. Not anything like the hyper-realistic aliens that he was used to dealing with.
Chara picked up on this and chuckled. "Mhm. A talking flower." She floated beside Adrian for a while before dissipating and reappearing behind Flowey. "Gonna do you a favour and warn you; be careful with this one. Asri- I mean, eh, Flowey isn't really someone you want to mess around with."
Adrian, who was looking down at Flowey, briefly turned his gaze upwards toward Chara. "Uh, why do I have to be careful around him?"
Flowey's expression transformed to one of smugness to a questioning one. "…Who are you talking to?"
"I'm invisible to everyone but you, genius. Remember, I'm dead." Chara smiled smugly. "Try not to talk to me when other people are around. It'll make you seem crazy."
Adrian was about to reply with some snarky remark but caught himself before he made the same exact mistake again. She was right, unfortunately. "Sorry, sorry… No one. Go ahead, Flowey."
"Hey, I'm not just no one!"
Flowey ignored Adrian's random comment and continued, his countenance returning to a smug one. "Hmm… you're a little older than what I'm normally used to handing out help to. Welp, it doesn't matter! You're new to the Underground, aren'tcha? Golly, you must be so confused."
"He's got that right on target." Adrian nodded hesitantly. Something about this flower emitted a flurry of warning signs, setting off a bunch of alarms within himself. He already knew to be on guard, Chara already warned him of the flower, but this only served as further verification.
He took a quick glance at Chara, who was floating horizontally just above Flowey, as if she was laying down. She even crossed her legs, relaxing in midair.
Adrian internally facepalmed. He didn't know for sure if he wanted to trust Chara fully yet, and he was certain that she felt the same way about him, seeing his… militaristic appearance. He couldn't be too careful, especially with his experience in what happened during Black Mesa, but as long as she continues to help him, then he figured they would get along just fine. Maybe as friends. He could be hopeful.
"Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! I guess little ol' me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!"
"Never thought I'd be taught anything by a flower, let alone talk to one." Adrian readjusted his gas mask once again, making sure it was still tightly on. Even though it seems like it would obstruct his view massively, it hasn't. Not really. As he checked his filter, he felt something liberated from him. Something crucial.
He patted his chest. It definitely came from there.
"Hey, Corporal. Look in front of you."
Adrian did as instructed came face to face with something very strange to him. A pure, red, half striped heart-shaped manifestation had seemingly escaped from his being. Being more curious than anything, he went to touch it. In response, it pulsated a little.
"Try not to freak out too much. Flowey over here's about to explain what that is," Chara yawned in boredom. She's aware of pretty much everything Flowey was going to say, since she's heard him follow that metaphorical script a thousand times. She didn't have to warn Adrian, he probably would have figured it out by himself, but she felt like being helpful.
Adrian was far from freaked out. He was intrigued by… whatever this was. Something just outright left his body. At first glance, he assumed that it was just his heart, but it was very obviously far too different than what an actual heart looked like. Not to mention there being a pink-ish diagonal line following the middle, which also mystified him.
"See that heart? That is your SOUL, the very culmination of your being!" the Flower explained. "Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."
"Woah!" Chara floated back over to Adrian and stared at his soul. She's seen Frisk's soul a thousand times, but this one felt different. Stronger. More defiant. It also had a neat stripe she hasn't seen before in Frisk's nor her own soul, when she still had one.
For some reason, she also couldn't sense his LV, like she normally would be able to with Frisk, but she sensed little malice from him. But his soul was still different. "Your soul feels… strong. What have you been through, Corporal? Can't even sense your LV."
"You have no idea," Adrian thought, wanting to say it out loud. But he knew better. So, he just opted for nodding mysteriously at Chara, who shrugged in confusion at this gesture. "I don't really want to let her know about what I've been through. Something tells me that she'd really not like it. Not to mention literally everything else that happened to me."
Unconsciously, Adrian spoke in response to Chara. "What the hell's an LV?"
"I'm glad you asked, big guy! Why, LOVE, of course!"
"Whoops."
"Nice going," Chara stuck her tongue out playfully. "You need to start remembering that I am… INCORPOREAL! A GHOST! No one can see me… other than a few people, I suppose. But they don't count. I think. Or maybe they do."
"What the hell is she talking about?" Adrian thought, wishing she would quit her teasing, but it wasn't like he could tell her that. Not right now, anyways. "Okay, okay. Sure, Flowey. What exactly is this 'LOVE' thing?"
Flowey looked slightly shocked that a follow-up question was asked in response, as if he didn't have an answer prepared for it. "Uhm… well, you see… LOVE is exactly what you would think it is!"
"That doesn't answer my question. Not even close."
"Down here, LOVE is shared through little… white… friendliness pellets."
"Something tells me that's not how things work around here."
"Don't worry, I'll share some with you! Are you ready? Move around! Get as many as you can!"
Flowey winked, a little white twinkle coming from the winked eye. A flurry of small, white pellets manifested before the flower, before shooting towards Adrian at a decently quick velocity. It wasn't too fast where it was unavoidable for Adrian, however.
The gasmask wearing man, deciding to test his luck, shifted his limbs in a way where he only barely missed the little pellets. As they weren't extremely fast, this was easily possible, even with his limited mobility and semi-limited sight. For him, carrying Spore on his shoulder was becoming more of a hinderance than he thought.
He picked it up from his shoulder and set it down, beckoning it to wait by the exit door. The alien creature did so, with Flowey not even recognising its existence. Or, at least, he was trying to, as he focused on Adrian.
"Hey buddy, you missed them," Flowey said, his initial smug expression contorting to one of slight annoyance. "Let's try again, okay?"
Just as the flower did before, it manifested several pellets and shot them towards Adrian. This time, however, they were noticeably faster. Adrian knew with absolute certainty that these pellets were going to hurt should he let them.
Adrian put more effort into dodging, physically moving his body, if only slightly, to dodge the oncoming pellets. He even caught one with his hands, feeling it in his gloved fingers before crushing the manifestation into a fine, dusty mist. "Hey buddy, you missed me."
"Corporal, don't tell me you're provoking him!" Chara faked a gasp before smiling. She's seen Flowey mess with people, a lot of people, in fact, but nothing was ever directed at him specifically until now. To her, it was quite the humorous spectacle.
Flowey had trouble maintaining the same façade he held earlier as he could barely contain his rage. "Is this a joke? Are you braindead? That gasmask cutting off circulation to your head? RUN. INTO. THE. BULLE-… Friendliness pellets!"
One final time, this time in larger quantities, a storm of the bullets manifested behind Flowey. They came in hordes, with each set being launched directly at Adrian at breakneck speeds. This time, it looked like dodging, at least for the most part, wasn't an option.
Adrian reached to his side and pulled out a combat knife. With each pellet that approached him, he was able to slice them in half with the same muddy grace he had back in Black Mesa, though to be truthful, he felt a tad sluggish.
It didn't matter to him. A few pellets managed to breach his defences and impact him, yet narrowly avoid his soul. Luckily, they hit his PCV vest, though he wasn't sure how much he'd be able to take at this point.
So, he did what he did best.
Dodge.
Grab.
Crush.
Sidestep.
Roll.
Slash.
It became a rhythm. A rhythm he was so accustomed to putting himself under during times of duress, especially during Black Mesa. It's what kept him alive throughout all of his tribulations. He engulfs himself in the fight, leaving no time to contemplate any outside forces.
However.
"Nice moves, Corp. Keep at it and you might survive."
"Damn."
He was still susceptible to his concentration being broken. Although he should be, he wasn't; it's something that he hasn't been able to break during his numerous combat encounters elsewhere. This carelessness may cost him.
The second gap between his concentration break and him possibly regaining it gave Flowey enough time to land several pellets on his body and a single hit on his soul. It hurt him far more there than it did anywhere else for some reason.
"Armour. Compromised."
"G-GAH!"
He briefly pulled his gas mask up to his nose to spit out some blood before pulling it back down. That hurt.
Adrian briefly shot a glare towards Chara. She couldn't see his countenance, but she noticed it all the same. "Sorry. Geez."
This caught Adrian off-guard enough for Flowey to summon a number of thick and thorny vines from the stony floor, bursting forth to restrict Adrian's limbs. He was suspended in mid-air. "What is this? Get the hell off of me!"
"You know what's going on here, right soldier? I know I do."
Flowey's face turned from one of annoyance to wrathful as his smile, in tandem, contorted into one of aggression and mania.
"I don't give a shit. About you nor your pellets."
"You really don't know what's going on, hm? Well, let me spell it out for you," Flowey's voice went from heartwarming to a shrill shriek; it resonates throughout the room. "Your LV. Hee…hee. I can feel its power. Never have I seen ANYONE with such a powerful SOUL as you. You surely have been busy, haven'tcha?"
"I need to break out of this."
"Down here, it's KILL OR BE KILLED!"
"Grim."
Chara was watching the fight with great anticipation. As much as she should dislike Adrian, she couldn't help but feel worried for the gasmask-wearing man. Just a little, at least. She flew over to Adrian and beckoned to him. "Don't tell me you're giving up now. We haven't even made it out the RUINS yet."
Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have even told Frisk this back during the initial runs. But these are extraordinary times. She continued talking to him, a smug expression plastered on her face. "Aren't you forgetting someone? Or something?"
…
"SPORE!"
"There you go," Chara floated backwards to continue spectating. It's not like she could influence the fight otherwise.
The little green alien creature that has been accompanying Adrian awoke from its temporary slumber near the exit to the room and began charging an electric blast, the outward appearance of the alien transforming into a bluer colour. In seconds, it sped towards the malevolent flower and discharged an electric shock.
It was a direct hit.
"AGH! What are you?!" Flowey turned to face the creature, who gained some distance between them.
In response, Flowey's tendrils weakened in strength dramatically, giving Adrian the chance to retrieve his knife and slash the vines off of him. He wouldn't make the same mistake twice. He managed to land, rolling to his feet.
And then, he did what he did best. He quickly retrieved his M1911 from his right-side's vest pocket and began shooting warning shots, the bullets striking directly to the left and right of Flowey respectively. He planned to finish the job and plant a bullet right between the eyes of the flower.
"ADRIAN, WAIT, STOP!"
Chara quickly sped over to Adrian and tried to push his gun away from him, forgetting that she was a ghost.
However, something did happen, even if it was the most minor thing in the entire world. Upon 'contact', Adrian's gun moved very slightly to the right, barely missing Flowey's head. Neither Chara nor Adrian knew if this was a result of her intervention or an instinctual reaction.
Neither also cared at the moment.
"Eek!"
Flowey ran away.
"Adrian! For fuck's sake, do you remember what I told you?!" Chara, for the first time to Adrian, was angry. Immensely so. "You almost killed him. Why? I thought you said that you were going to avoid it if possible. You didn't have to shoot him; he was already beaten!"
"He attacked me first! I said whenever possible, I wouldn't resort to violence. But Flowey obviously made that impossible. He could have killed me there if it weren't for Spore, God damn it!" Adrian retorted, placing his pistol back in its proper receptacle. "I won't just let anyone kill me. Why would I let him?!"
"Because down here, there's always a different fucking way!" Chara shouted at him once again. She couldn't bear the thought of a human killing a monster. Not anymore, not after she's seen it a thousand times, and an opportunity is brought up where she wouldn't have to anymore. "I don't know what you've been through, but there's always another way to pacify your opponent without killing them. Can you understand that, or has all that lead really gotten to your skull?"
"I-"
"Oh my, what a commotion!"
Suddenly, a very tall female anthropomorphic goat donning a long, purple robe with white sleeves and a distinctive symbol on the chest opened the exit door in a hurry, showing signs of immense worry and panic.
Adrian's first instinct was to retrieve his pistol due to the adrenaline rush still coursing through his veins, but something about the monster felt… non-hostile, safe even. He suppressed his instincts and calmed himself down. He looked to Chara, who folded her arms and looked away, 'hmph'-ing.
"Not the greatest start to our friendship. Damn."
He supposed that he'll try and talk to her later and calm her down. For now, he had more pressing matters.
…like who this goat-like person was.
"I don't suppose you heard all of that, did ya?"
"It was hard not to, even with all my distance away. What exactly happened here?"
"…A flower attacked me."
"…I see. Come, then. It may not be safe here still," the goat-woman said, walking over to Adrian. She towered over him with a distinctive height difference, causing Adrian to back up a little and nod his head up. "The RUINS is filled with traps and puzzles from long ago; I'm certain someone of your age would be able to easily traverse it, but it's better to be safe than sorry, hm?"
Adrian nodded in response, puffing out a sigh of relief. He was glad to meet someone corporeal and nice, unlike a certain rude ghost. He did have several questions he wanted to have answered before he moved on towards his goal, but there was one that stuck out to him right now.
"Before I blindly follow you into who-knows-what, I never caught your name…?"
"Apologies, human. I am TORIEL, Caretaker of the RUINS."
A/N
First things first, POVs. If you're confused, I'm going to clear it up right here. This chapter specifically was very obviously both Chara and Adrian adjacent. They both had their thoughts and feelings highlighted, but this will not always be the case. Sometimes I'll focus on Adrian for whatever reason, other times I'll focus on Chara. Most of the time it'll be how I did it here. But keep a lookout.
Initially when I was writing this, on Flowey's section, I had Spore do nothing at all. It keeps slipping my mind as an actual character and I even almost wrote him out of the story because of it to save myself some trouble, but I decided against it. I was going to write him back in anyways eventually (no spoilers) for a very important part of the story, but I decided this was better.
That's about all I wanted to cover. I don't have any specific update times; last time I did, it did a number on me. But that doesn't mean I'll be infrequent. Stay tuned!
TL;DR – POV's are weird. Take note on cues for focuses. Spore was almost written out, but I decided against it.
Ah yeah, also, FF comment system.
ghostlalalala123 - "You should upload it on Ao3, it definitely gets more views."
Answer - I've got this uploaded on Ao3 as well! I'm under the same name on there as I am on here.
Thank you, and I'll see you in the next chapter!
