DETERMINATION

A Doctor's Visit.

Japan was in chaos. Turns out, Undyne really wasn't lying about streaming the fight to police and heroes alike. The video of your fight caused widespread panic throughout all of Japan, and even heroes outside of Japan have expressed their worry regarding this new villain. You.

They could all see that Undyne was an incredibly powerful hero. To see her defeated was a shock to the whole world. And obviously, All for One saw it, too. But strangely enough, he didn't seem to make any moves towards trying to find you. It seems that he has decided to leave you to your own devices for a while.

Shigaraki, surprisingly, kept his word and didn't tell All for One that you were here, likely due to Kurogiri's intervention. Meaning, you had a place to lay low for a while and figure out what the hell that black stuff was.

Speaking of, you currently had that red heart, which you decided to call your 'SOUL', out. The black substance had progressed further, covering even more of it than before.

"What the hell is this stuff...?" You grumbled to yourself, poking at your SOUL with a pencil, provoking the black substance to fight back.

Flowey was sitting in a pot, observing the whole ordeal with unsual silence. "Still have no idea, huh?" Flowey asked, using one of his vines to poke the SOUL too. The black substance seemed a lot more aggressive now, striking back against Flowey's vine, causing Flowey to hiss and pull it back.

You raised an eyebrow in interest. "Hmm... it appears to be a lot more active when something living is touching it. As if it's trying to spread further, further than just my SOUL." You said, writing down the possible theory in a notepad you got from Kurogiri.

Speaking of, you decided against telling Kurogiri and Shigaraki about the substance, not because you didn't trust them with the information, it's just that you saw no reason for them to know about it. Their knowledge of your power is already minimal, they wouldn't understand anything even if you tried to tell them.

"So, this stuff's alive?" Flowey asked, a lot more intrigued now.

"I wouldn't say 'alive'... more 'semi-sentient'. It clearly possesses the ability to protect itself, but it seems to lack any further intelligence besides protecting itself and spreading itself further." You explained, it could hardly be called alive.

"So, what? Is it some sort of parasite? Is it feeding off of your DETERMINATION?" Flowey asked, a scowl on his face as he looked at the honestly a little disgusting, black substance.

"I don't think so. I think I'd feel it if it were trying to do that. It seems generally... benign, for now. Hell, it seems that this stuff is what gave me the boost I needed to fight Undyne. But I still want to know what it is and if it's potentially harmful to me. Regardless of how useful it may be." You said, not knowing that someone was listening. That someone was watching.

A strange, black blob was in the upper corner of the room. Similar, but different in appearance to the substance aroind my SOUL. The blob quickly disappeared by going back into the wall before I even noticed that it was there.

Flowey nodded at my words. "Probably for the best. If it IS harmful, we need to find a way to get rid of it. But how do we find out what it is? It's been a few days of you poking at it, and we're still not any closer to real answers." Flowey said, clearly annoyed by the situation, and frankly, you couldn't blame him. You were starting to get a bit annoyed by it, too.