Undertale: Tales from the Dreemurr Family

Power Play

FIREBALLS RACED FROM ASRIEL'S EXTENDED HAND. Undyne, however, proved fast and light on her feet, dodging every flaming sphere aimed at her.

The full-blown battle of Team Dreemurr (Asriel and Aria) vs. Undyne was the fish lady's idea of a "simple training exercise." And to think that Undyne could hold her own against two Boss Monsters!

Thankfully, Aria was on Undyne's blind spot - her left side (she'd lost her left eye in battle against a human) - and readying a fireball, primed to explode upon impact. Asriel called down his Shocker Breaker as Undyne launched three spears in succession. A rainbow lightning bolt struck just in front of him, blocking the projectiles, just as Aria launched the fireball.

It blew up when it hit the captain of the royal guard.

"Nice job, Ari!" Asriel called.

"Thanks Bro!" Aria couldn't hide her smile - but it quickly evaporated when a spear stuck itself in the ground just inches in front of her.

"FUHUHUHUHU!" Undyne's unmistakable laugh echoed around the battleground - which was essentially her backyard. "You punks thought that a single fireball would do me in!? You should know that I'm determined!"

Asriel knew that Undyne could withstand, and even harness, the power of Determination to become a stronger form of herself. Only activated when someone struck her down, in that form, she was known as Undyne the Undying. He had never fought "The Undying," and, frankly, he hoped he never had to. He'd heard that The Undying was more powerful than even Asgore... and was not even close to softhearted.

Then again, Asriel thought, since when was Undyne ever soft?

His thoughts on Undyne the Undying were abruptly cut short when a spear narrowly missed him.

"Get your head in the game, Your Highness!" Undyne bellowed. Because of her constant screaming at everyone, she had the way of making titles of respect sound like an insult. Even then, Asriel knew she cared. Knew that, every time she called him "punk," "loser," or the ever-infamous nickname (given to him from his constant yelping when Undyne threw one of her spears at him) "Asriel Screamer," she was showing her caring side.

Or maybe she just liked calling everyone "punk."

Undyne charged Asriel, screaming "NAAAAAGGGHH!!" He raised his Chaos Saber and blocked the spear she was about to slice him with. Even eight years later, Asriel didn't like using Chaos Saber, Chaos Buster, Star Blazing, or Shocker Breaker. He felt that they were just reminders of his period as the God of Hyperdeath. The reason that he had retained those spells was due to the half of Chara's SOUL that he carried.

He knew that, unlike Frisk, he couldn't go back. Couldn't reset. He'd lost that power when he released the SOULs he had absorbed - six human SOULs, and countless monster SOULs. He'd released them to destroy the Barrier.

Focus, Asriel chided himself. Do you wanna end up skewered?

He and Undyne clashed their weapons repeatedly, with neither side giving in. The occasional fireball would streak by, courtesy of Aria. As soon as Undyne was distant enough, he called upon Shocker Breaker. The electrical bolt struck Undyne hard... except Undyne caught it on her spear and redirected it toward Asriel. The pain was immediate.

So that's what that feels like, Asriel thought. No wonder no one wants to get zapped by that.

Even then, he was down, but not out. Undyne was about fifteen feet away, ready to throw a spear. He knew that he could  dodge that easily. Knew that Undyne would never make an actual attempt on his life. He was the prince, and he knew that anyone who made an attempt on his life would be guilty of attempted assassination and, in her case, treason.