The souls in us all. Aphmau x SkyMedia x Undertale

REWRITE Chapter 7. Why are you still here?

Obligatory authors note uhhhh this title is more accurate to this note than the chapter, why are you all still here I'm literally a senior in high school and haven't updated this rewrite since freshman year wtf why are yall still here

anyway i've fallen out of Aphmau as a series but thought it'd be fun to try and write another chapter just for funzies so here you go i guess

With the neighborhood rallied behind us, there was really only one thing we could do now. Try and figure out a plan to get to Mt. Ebbot. It was evident that we were going to be stopped, that much was certain. But since neither me, Shelby, or Red could do anything about that, we were out of luck.

Another thing I was informed of was that we weren't going to get any help going to the underground either from anyone down there. All the souls and monsters were essentially trapped down there, because if they got out the government would probably just attack them on sight. So no getting help from anyone. Which sucks, because some of the other souls have way better abilities for sneaking into the mountain. 

Teleporting was also off the table. As a soul of INTEGRITY, I could, hypothetically, teleport. It's a skill I share with the soul of PATIENCE. However, it's been such a long time since I had done that, I'm not even sure I could teleport myself without losing a few limbs, let alone the entire neighborhood plus Red and Shelby.

Red and Shelby didn't have many useful abilities either. Shelby's abilities, while amazing, were really only used for helping people. Healing, RESETing, and occasionally magic blasts weren't of much help to get through to the mountain. Red's abilities were mostly just about killing people, but his possession skill could be useful. 

"Maybe we could disguise ourselves as a tour group!" Laurence proposed. "Say that we're looking to explore this cool location, and then hurry to the top of the mountain!"

Dante shook his head. "The mountain is on lockdown. They aren't allowing any tourists in or out. They'd probably just assume the worst, especially with our group size."

"Not to mention, after Red and I broke out to get here, we did run into the government a few times." Shelby gestured to herself and Red. "They have a way to detect if someone is using soul magic, and they won't let Red and I get away again."

I frowned, and crossed my arms. "So we're trying to get a group of maybe 9ish people into a highly militarized location all while carrying 2, maybe 3 if you count me, convicts. This is not going to work."

"Why don't we try at night?" Zane pointed out. "It'll be easier to get in that way!"

"Yeah, but we need a way to get in, no matter when it is that we go." Lucinda pointed out. "Judging from what they showed on the news, the entire area around the mountain is guarded."

Garroth grinned. "Then let's just barge through a place they don't have well guarded! No point sneaking in if we can't!"

Red nodded in agreement. "Yeah! Show them what's coming!"

"Yes but then we'll ALL be labeled as convicts." Travis said bluntly. "Listen, I support beating someone up just as much as anyone else here, but they have something we don't."

Garroth glared at Travis. "And what's that? We have magic swords and armor. We're way cooler than them!"

Travis sighed and rubbed his temple. "Guns, Garroth. They have guns."

"Oh. That is a good point."

We were getting nowhere. An hour had passed, and we were still nowhere near to some sort of functional plan. "There's got to be somewhere that they aren't securing as tightly as the other places, right? Maybe some kind of forest?"

Shelby placed her hand on her chin at my suggestion. "Well... there is a small forest at the base of Mt. Ebbot. But I don't know for sure how we would get there."

"We could just... drive there, Shelbs." Red pointed out. "I'm pretty sure at least one of the people here can drive, and there's a road that leads right to it. It's a public road too. The government will be watching it, but it's not the end of the world. We can just hide under blankets or something." 

"I can drive you guys there. But I'll just need the directions." Laurence said, holding up his car keys. 

Red smirked. "Oh I can get you those. Easy peasy."

And thus, we all crammed into Laurence's giant van. I grabbed two large blankets from my car, and we hid Red and Shelby underneath them. Red had imputed the address into Laurence's phone, and we were off and running. 

None of us really knew what to say, until Lucinda nudged my arm. "So... Aphmau. What's it like in the Underground?" She asked. "I heard something about the INTEGRITY souls and something about them going berserk because you're not there... what was that all about?"

"Ah right, Waterfall. It's been a while since I've thought about it." I admitted. "Well... the way the Underground works is that it's sectioned off into different parts. The Ruins, Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, the Castle Town, and then finally, the Barrier. Each area is run by a certain soul type. Waterfall, the area I run, is inhabited mostly by the souls of INTEGRITY. "

Lucinda listened intensely as I talked. I could tell she was mentally taking notes. "So how do you decide who runs these areas?"

Shelby poked her little head out from beneath her blanket. "Asgore determines it." She said. "He's the king of the Underground, and he determines who gets to be in charge of each area. They've got to have a strong soul, and be kind to both humans and monsters." With that, she hid back underneath her blanket.

"I see... So why are the Integrity souls going berserk?" Lucinda eventually asked. 

I frowned. "Probably because I'm not down there. They probably don't have a new leader yet, so they might just not have any order. But I don't know for sure. I guess the best way is to see it for myself."

The car ride continued, with a brief bout of silence in between Lucinda's questions. Eventually, the questions continued. "So what kind of stuff do you do in the Underground? Not just as a leader, but just as a person. Is there stuff to do, or...?"

"Things have probably changed since I was last down there, but let me think." I thought about it for a while. I hadn't thought about it for a long time. "I remember we raced snails, played games, trained our soul powers... We had a monster choir for a long time, I remember I loved watching them perform."

Lucinda's eyes sparkled. "That sounds really interesting!"

Laurence looked back at us through the mirror. "Hey guys, you might wanna quiet down for a second. We're getting near Mt. Ebbot." He warned.

Sure enough, the mountain came into view. It looked so familiar, seeing it again. But what was new was the fencing and guards stationed around the base. It used to be a national park if I recall right. I think I went there with my friends before... that was how I fell in if I remember right.

"We're taking the road off to the left." Red said, his voice slightly muted by the blanket. "Be careful."

Laurence nodded. "I will." 

And so, we drove closer and closer to the mountain.