Undertale 2.0

[Chapter 1] Episode 5: With great power...

It has been a few weeks since the accident, it was on the news but due to some strange glitch in the camera located at the crosswalk where the incident happened the person who was responsible for stopping that truck was never found. The people present that day didn't remember what happened exactly, saying that they thought the bus just stopped too hard, saving the little girl. The media has put this story on lockdown as they have little to no evidence of what happened, seeming like someone or perhaps someTHING was responsible for this.

The buzzing noise of people chatting filled the mall as the gang entered, looking around in awe. "Wow... This place is HUGE! " Asriel exclaimed as he pulled on his long floppy ears, and he was correct, the mall that was previously there closed down, so they decided to remodel it and make it bigger than before. "Pshh... So what? This place can be just as boring as the shop down the stree- OH MY GOSH IS THAT A COLD-DEVIATION STORE?!" Chara said, running over to the shop, already separating from the group. Frisk with a slight sigh made their way with them to make sure that they didn't cause any trouble, letting the others know that they would catch up with them soon.

Once Frisk made their way inside the store Chara went in, a loud silence washed over Aether and Asriel as they just stood there, but it wasn't long until Aether turned over to Asriel looking up at him, asking, " So... What do you want to check out first? " The question made Asriel jump a bit, as he tried to think of a place to go, he couldn't help but show a slightly awkward smile while scratching his cheek, and just like that, almost as if a light bulb appeared over his head, he got an idea. "Uhh- Oh, I know! How about that nice cream place everyone's talking about? They say it's very tasty. " He offered with a big smile on his face. Aether liked the idea so they started to make their way over to the nice cream shop; as they did Asriel's face was that of pure bliss. 'Great! Part one of the plan worked. We knew Chara loved that store so that's why Frisk and I decided to go in through that entrance, and they took the bait, great job us!' Asriel thought while giving himself an imaginary pat on the back; all he needed was to get that nice cream and then make his move. Sounds easy enough, at least he hoped it was. As Asriel turned where Aether was, he saw that he had stopped and was looking inside the window of a store. As the tall goat monster made his way over to see what made Aether stop in his tracks, he made a mental note. Aether snapped back into reality as he looked up at Asriel. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to stay behind," he said, moving his head to the right a bit. Asriel told him to not worry about it, as they continued to make their way to the nice cream place.

Once they had their nice cream, the two of them decided to sit down on a bench nearby. "So, how are you dealing with your new powers? Can you control them a bit?" Asriel asked, taking a lick from his nice cream and looking down at Aether. He hummed while in thought, looking for the proper response. "Well the training is helping a bit, as I do feel a little bit more in control, but it's hard to explain... I'm just... worried that something bad will happen like with the bus," he said, looking at the ground. Asriel gently bumped his arm to get his attention, "Hey, the important thing is that you're trying, you aren't going to get the hang of this overnight. You can do this, I believe in you. I'll be next to you every step of the way."

Asriel gave him a kind smile and Aether returned a small one, silence once again rose between them as Asriel was mentally preparing himself for what he was going to do. "Hey Aether... you know how the prom is coming soon? Well, I was wondering... would you..." As if the universe was playing a prank on Asriel, his question was interrupted by Chara and Frisk running over to them. "Guys, check out all this cool stuff I bought!" Chara said, opening a bag from that Cold-Deviation store they went to.'Dangit! So close!'  Asriel said to himself as he let out a low grumbling sound. Frisk gave Asriel a silent "Sorry!" as they raised their shoulders a little bit. As Chara was showing what they bought, Aether frowned. He had the feeling that someone was watching him, while also having this weird static sound rumbling in his ear, and that was when he saw him. In his peripheral he saw the man from before, just standing there, staring. Aether's heart sank as he quickly turned his head to look at him, but he was already gone. "Aether... Is everything alright? You have been acting different ever since what happened a couple of weeks ago." Frisk asked, walking over to him. Aether quickly turned to look at Frisk and shook his head a bit. "Oh... I'm fine, I just... thought I recognized someone from our school, that's all." Aether lied to not make his friends worried, Asriel was looking at him with a slightly serious expression before turning to the other side, Asriel didn't know what was going on, but all he needed to know was that it was putting his friend in a bad place, and that was the only reason he needed to be there for him, no matter what, as he did with all his friends and family.

"Well, I'm beat, are you guys ready to go home?" Chara asked, putting a hand on their hip. "Yes, I think it has been enough for one day," Aether said, as he stood up with his nice cream still in his hand. "Oh- uh, you guys go on ahead, I'll catch up with you all once I'm done with something." The goat monster said. Chara shrugged as the three of them started to make their way over to the exit, blurting out how hungry they were, followed by Frisk saying how they were always hungry. Asriel couldn't help but smile as the trio walked away.

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Later that evening as the sun was almost setting, Aether was in his room reading a book when Eliza knocked at the door. "You can come in!" he said as his older sister came in holding a small black box and a white envelope with [ Aether ] written on the front of it. He put his book down and made his way over to his sister. "What is that?" he asked, looking at what she was holding. "I don't know, Asriel came by and told me that he wanted to give you this, alongside this note." She gave Aether the box and envelope while using her hand to put a part of her short black hair behind her left ear, then gave Aether a smug look. "Looks like someone has an admirer." Chuckling as Aether gently hit her on the arm. "Anyway, I'll let you open your stuff... Oh! And dinner is almost ready, okay?" She closed the door behind her with a [click]. Aether sat on his bed and opened the small box, his eyes opened in surprise as the sun rays entered through his bedroom window, giving everything a warm orange hue. It was a small necklace in the shape of a white star. He then turned over to the letter and gently opened it, unfolding it as he began to read. 

[ Hey! it's me Asriel if your sister didn't tell you already. Anyway, I just wanted to give you this. I saw you staring at it back at the mall and decided to get it for you since you don't really ask for anything. I know you are going through some weird stuff, but you know that Frisk, Chara and I are always here for you if you ever need help. Also, hope you like the necklace! Azzy. ] 

Aether sat there, looking at the letter as the light bounced from his silver eyes, making them look like two pools of mercury. He didn't know this feeling, it felt horrible, but at the same time warm. His mouth forming a smile, he placed the note aside and grabbed the necklace as it glimmered thanks to the sunlight, putting it close to his chest.

"... Thank you... "