After playing with Bratty and Catty for a while, Woona made her way north of the MTT Hotel towards the Core. A path led further north, but two shadowy figures were visible just at the edge of vision for a moment before vanishing. Woona had turned her phone to be in constant contact with Alphys so she could steer her through the Core, so the good doctor was able to respond right away.
"Huh?" Alphys asked, confused. "Who are they? N-nobody else is s-supposed to be here..."
"We'll figure that out when I meet and befriend them!" Woona proclaimed happily.
Don't get too overconfident, Chara chided. Just because you've successfully befriended every monster you've met doesn't mean you'll continue to do so.
Woona blew Chara a raspberry, then continued northward. The building she entered was pure machine and lights on the inside, nearly overwhelming her with the sudden change from natural stone that the entire rest of the underground had been. She froze, taking in her surroundings. Once she stopped focusing on the shining metal walls and the flashing multi-colored lights, she noticed an elevator directly in front of her, and paths to the north to either side of the elevator.
"The elevator will take you straight to the top of the Core," Alphys instructed.
Smiling, relieved she wouldn't spend too long in the Core, Woona walked up to the elevator...only to find that it was presently out of order. "It's not working!" she told Alphys.
"Huh?" Alphys asked. "That doesn't make sense...well, the right path should lead you where you need to go."
"Okay," Woona replied nervously, taking the right path. "Umm...it leads to a drop off into a huge pit of fire..."
"What?" Alphys could be heard tapping frantically on her keyboard. "S-someone's rearranged the chambers of the Core! T-this could be bad. My directions of what room leads to what won't work..."
"Can you still help me get through each room?" Woona asked hopefully.
"S-sure!" Alphys replied readily. "There's only so much that can be done to change the rooms themselves."
"Then I should be safe," Woona proclaimed with far more confidence than she actually felt. Cautiously, she backtracked and took the left path.
As soon as she entered the long corridor, she was confronted by one of the shadowy figures, revealing itself to be a strange sort of floating clown as it popped out of its hat, FIGHT lines appearing around it and Woona. The text above its health display named it a Madjick.
Woona braced herself, glancing between the monster and the two orbs that floated to either side of it, dripping with glittering magic. Realizing she couldn't get anywhere if she was terrified like she was, she took a deep breath and cleared her mind, ignoring the Madjick as she focused on a happy, calming memory...the scent of Papy's pasghetti.
Don't remind me, Chara grumbled. It may agree with your taste buds, but certainly not mine.
Woona managed to smile, feeling much calmer as she swayed back and forth, evading the cross-shaped magic projectiles that launched from the Madjick's orbs. Woona opened her mouth to try and speak to the Madjick, but it interrupted her with a magical-sounding chatter, seeming satisfied. With that, the FIGHT lines vanished, as did the Madjick, leaving only 60 gold behind. Glad she'd managed to make a friend, she pocketed it.
"A-are you okay, Woona?" Alphys stammered out.
"I'm okay," Woona replied. "It...wasn't as bad as I thought..."
"Why are there so many monsters there?" Alphys asked, confused. "The Core's designed to function completely unmanned."
"Let's just...keep moving," Woona suggested, moving forward.
Beyond, an electrical barrier blocked the path. A switch stood on the wall right beside it.
"You need to throw the switch to deactivate the barrier," Alphys explained. "But that will activate the lasers. Records say the order should be Orange, Orange, Blue, so if you move through the first two and stop for the third, you should be fine."
"You said only so much could be changed about inside the rooms," Woona pointed out. "Could that have been changed?"
"...you're right," Alphys replied after a time. "That's a setting that can be customized. I guess you'll just have to be careful. Let Blue lasers pass over you, and move through Orange."
Nodding, Woona threw the switch. The barrier dropped, and the lasers moved forward, Blue, Blue, Orange. Woona stayed still for the first two and rushed through the third.
"It's a good thing you thought of that," Alphys praised. "If you'd just taken my advice..."
"I'd have taken a little laser damage, and shortcut out of the way," Woona interrupted. "You're working from your data, and someone's gone out of their way to make it wrong. Not your fault."
"Well, while you move on, I'm going to try and get the right data," Alphys insisted.
Nodding, Woona crossed the bridge. To the right was a crossroads, the two paths leading north and east. "Which way do we go now?" Woona asked worriedly.
"Umm..." Alphys began. "My data says right, but the data was wrong...but if someone's trying to make us second guess the data, it's right..."
I could scout ahead, Chara offered. I can move independent of you to a certain extent.
Smiling, Woona sat down, putting her magical energy into Chara to let him project forward. He quickly returned. "That was fast."
North leads to a dead end room guarded by a monster called Knight Knight, Chara explained. Which means we go east.
In the chamber to the right, a long bridge led through numerous lasers. "Okay," Alphys began. "I can turn these off for you...except someone's changed the access codes! I...I can't-"
"Alphys!" Woona interrupted. "Breathe. Take your time. There are no lasers where I am."
"R-right..." Alphys replied. "L-let's see what else I can access..." The sound of rapid typing carried over the phones. "I can turn off power to the entire node. That will shut off the lasers."
For how long? Chara asked.
"...okay, I just checked the screen, and I see Chara raised a good point," Alphys answered. "So keep your ears open. Most of the lasers are blue, so if I tell you to freeze, do so, and move when I say."
"Alright," Woona replied. "Player 1 start!"
Chuckling, Alphys made a few key taps. "Start moving...now!"
The node went dark, the lasers shutting off. Woona immediately raced across the narrow bridge, trying to make it to the other side before the power came back on.
"Freeze!" Alphys yelled out.
Woona screeched to a halt just before the power came back on, and she found herself engulfed in Blue lasers. She held perfectly still until Alphys barked out, "Move!" The power cut out, and she raced ahead again. This time she managed to make it all the way to the other side, racing up the path to the north.
Woona found herself at a four way intersection, with new paths leading east, west, and north. "So...where to now?" Woona asked hopefully.
"I...I don't know," Alphys replied. "This doesn't look anything like my map..."
"We'll figure this out," Woona reassured Alphys.
"Y...you're sure?"
"Absolutely!" Woona insisted, her hoof to the SOULSTONE as she filled her voice with DETERMINATION she didn't quite feel.
Catty
barrier
I... Just can't think of any good puns. Other Sans, help please.
It's getting closer!!! The final fight with Asgore!!! We just need to get through the fight with Metaton and then the extra story missions with Alphys, and then We'll be on our way!!!
I'm actually wondering why you haven't done RED yet, that would've been entertaining.
Then again, RED is fanmade, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised.
Luna and Alphys got through this with laser precision.
7204979
Wow, coming up on 1000 likes with this one.
7204979
Seems Luna managed to ........sway the situation with Madjick
I see some.........foreshadowing on Luna's future.
Guess the Core is now too........amazing for Luna.
Seems Alphys will had to........power through the situation.
Yeah, not as good as Other Sans. :P
You know, I would hate to be in a situation like Woona's and not have the kind of support Chara and Alphys are giving on the fly. It would be a dark, lonely road to travel, even if she did get to see Uncle Sans and Papy every now and then. I don't think many other creatures in that world have the kind of friends she does. Is there a stat called Luck in Undertale? Because I think Woona's is maxed out.
Okay, just how much DETERMINATION she has now?
7205112 You used punny jokes! It's not very effective... and this is the wrong franchise.
Would Knight Knight happen to be related to Moon Moon?
Lasers~
Nicely written man, nicely written! :D
Heheehe, loving how this is going, very awesome~
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
Will this story be True Pacifist?
7205112 I guess chara is right, on point.
Ok, I'm so playing death by glamour when the fight against mettaton happens.Hope is not avoided by some talking.
what could it mean?
7204979 Guess Woona... believed in Madjick.
Guess there wasn't a... lasier way to go through.
Good thing Woona didn't go north, otherwise she would have gone... Knight Knight.
Guess someone wanted to change the... core mechanics here.
7205368 Welp, I don't think it's genocide. Oh well, too bad.
7205078, 7205112, 7205408, 7205510
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7205564 There there, I bet you're just feeling bonely.
Although, tibia honest your expression is quite humerus.
Did I tickle your funny bone, or do you not have the guts to take it?
I'm working myself to the bone on these puns. Do you have enough backbone to take a skele-ton of them? Come on, throw me a bone here. Think I can become a boneafide comedian?
welcome to pun central.
we have dogs, hot dogs, and fluffy dogs.
we also have the rave hall.
You're doing great, Woona! Keep it up!
7205078
7205112
7205510
7205599
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ACK! THE PUNS! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!
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7205510 I love you for those puns
7204994 It's not fake, it's just not her own.
!!!PLOT HOLE ALERT!!! !!!PLOT HOLE ALERT!!! Woona didn't befriend the Knight Knight. This means she fails her second biggest goal of befriending every monster in the underground! Her first goal being to get the family back together.
7206246
...yet.
7205599 I don't think he take mulch more of this.
7205885 don't be a bone head, join in the fun. Or you'll have a really bad time.
7206246
Does Knight Knight remind anyone else of Shovel Knight?
7205601 Yeah, we're... raving Woonatics.
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7206327 Have I got a bone to pick with you...
7205510 If she didn't go north, well... things would really go south for her.
7207342 *ba dum tss*
7206646
"Where the hell is Sans from?"
What an essay. And what a good question.
I feel like this part of the game loses something when it doesn't have MTT successfully chipping away at Alphys's aura of infallibility. For me, Alphys asking why I didn't trust her when I went the wrong way was a great moment in the story.
Still, that wouldn't have fit with the story you're trying to tell, so I'll just have to live with it.
Green light , red light , extreme edition
7206253 Ahhh, I see now.
7206484 I don't really know Shovel Knight other than the name and that it's a game(?). I just rhymed by accident...huh.
Yea! Another chapter, written very well as usual.
7205112 Never said I was. I'm not ashamed tibia thrown a bone every now and then.
Looks like one former crazy dude... Charas about Woona.
He's really acquiring some Character. (yeah, even I nearly cringed at that one)
Woon will we see Knight Knight, and might this Knight be related to another called Good Good?
Please don't feel hotheaded, Papyrus. Elsewise, I might make an omelette on you and it will be eggcellently done.
...Your abysmally short chapter robs me of DeTemmienation...
7214132 To wait for the next chapter.
:3
7213745 These puns I swear
7213745 WOW
THOOSE PUNS SURE ARE HUMEROUS
THEY REALY DO TICKLE MY FUNNY BONE
SUCH RIB TICKLERS
7588184
Did you help write the "Sans and Papyrus Rap" I've seen on YouTube, or are you just a fan of it? Or do you just like skeleton puns? You seem to have a skele-ton of them.