Undertale: Aleph Null

Blue Stop Signs

Approaching Snowdin, my LOVE is as high as it can get now, and the forest rustling has fallen silent. Leaving only one more left to kill. I have no time to spend playing along through all of Papyrus' puzzles, especially after having to do the ones that Azriel always did for me, walking through until Papyrus leaves. Watching Sans keep silent throughout until Papyrus talks to him, never missing a beat by a fraction on his cues. Papyrus still being oblivious to any of the circumstances at hand; I've been through this all so many times before, although now it's like I'm seeing it all through a whole new light.

I finally get to the bridge before Snowdin, stopping so Papyrus can shout from the other side. "HUMAN! THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!"

*** * ***

I once again wait for Papyrus to run off, looking over my shoulder to see Azriel sink into the ground in a hurry as I do, before continuing past the silent Sans into Snowdin. I go to the shop first, steal 758 gold, taking the Manly bandana, Tough Glove, and a few Cinnamon Buns for later, leaving everything else to burn with the note I set on fire. I drop everything except for the Manly Bandana in the box, taking out the Toy Knife. I put the Toy Knife in my pocket as I tie the Bandana around my head, continuing into the ghost town.

"Yo, everyone ran away and hid somewhere. Man, adults can be so dumb sometimes, haha... don't they know we've got Undyne to protect us!?" Or maybe they're smart enough to know that isn't for long. It's strange that no one told him that they were going or brought him with them, but it doesn't really matter. Either way, there's no point in killing him now, the moments proceeding Undyne's death are too fun to not allow occur, no matter how many times I see it.

"Well, see you later, monster kid. I have some work to do." I just realized that with all the time I spent down here, I've never once wondered what his name was. Oh well, not like it'll change what he becomes in the end: an insignificant pile of dust blowing in the wind.

I leave the monster kid to himself, too caught up in his daydreaming to notice the sound of the shop collapsing. After he was out of sight, I held my hands close to my chest, setting them ablaze and feeling myself warm up. I pass by Sans and Papyrus' house not soon after, noticing how easy it would be for me to burn down the entire town, but deciding against it, I don't need to do that, and I'd rather keep my fire for warmth or attacks.

I use a few of the trees as fire practice, barely able to hit any of them from too far away. Though now it has some explanation with the wind blowing it off course, I've always been more of a close-range fighter anyway. But I can't really complain too much, with the added practice from the random monsters with using my magic, whenever I get close to an enemy I can gather a big source of energy and expand it all at once, frying any Snowdrake or Icecap in an instant, them not even knowing what hit them. It takes a second to gather and takes a sizable chunk out of the limited magical potential I have now, but if things go down the same road as before, that won't be a problem for long.

*** * ***

I walk steadily into the raging winds where Papyrus stands, cutting off the fire in my hands as I get close, taking the Toy Knife out of my pocket and sticking it up my sleeve handle first, making sure to keep my arms at the right angle so it doesn't fall out.

"HALT, HUMAN!" Blaw, blaw, blaw, something-something "SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP YOU ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW! BUT WORRY NOT! I, PAPYRUS... WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR! I WILL TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND!!!" I started walking up to him, my arms now extended out a little bit above me, both so the knife stays up, as well as to make him further think I'm going in for a hug. "I SEE YOU ARE APPROACHING. ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE? WOWIE!! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING!! I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!"

I was only a few feet away from him, looking up as he started to kneel in for a hug, not even noticing as I dropped my hands down, letting the Toy Knife fall directly into my right hand. Papyrus had his eyes closed and started closing his arms for an embrace as I jumped up in front of him, cutting right through his 'battle body' with an upward diagonal slash.

"W- WELL, THAT'S NOT WHAT I EXPECTED..." His body quickly turned to dust, leaving only his head lying in the snow. Then he started to speak again. "BUT... ST... STILL! I BELIEVE IN YOU! YOU CAN DO A LITTLE BETTER! EVEN IF YOU DON'T-" His speech was interrupted by an inferno erupting from my palm put inches away from his eye sockets, incinerating his skull before he could spout another word. I stared down as I saw a familiar glow, bright enough to pierce through the surrounding snow. My expectations were correct, his SOUL just sat there, floating strong even after the host's head incinerated.

I didn't hesitate to grab it, almost surprised by just how much power he actually had. My body felt stronger, a lot more of an increase that with Toriel. I got the ability to make bones of all shapes shoot up from the ground with only my thoughts, and as well as being able to turn the bones blue, but with nothing but the surrounding area to test on now, I will have to see if I can turn enemies blue as well. I felt my magical potential basically double, and this was only the beginning of what I could be capable of if this pattern continues the way it has been. I put away my knife and started to warm myself again as I headed towards Waterfall.

*** * ***

"Yo! Are you Sneaking out to see her, too? Awesome... she's the coolest right!? I wanna be just like her when I grow up... Hey, don't tell my parents I'm here. Ha ha." He caught me off guard but seemed too caught up in his daydreaming again to see the fire I quickly extinguished.

"Don't worry, I won't." I'm coming for you Undyne, and your spears too.