Chapter 7

They had to stop halfway through for a break. Piper’s feet were starting to hurt, and Undyne needed to use the bathroom. They'd gone to her neighbor’s house so she didn't have to piss behind a rock. The little ghost Napstablook had invited her in, but Piper said she was fine and stood outside.

The human leaned against the side of the house, carving a stick with her knife. It felt good using it again, even under such tame circumstances. She hummed softly as wood shavings fell to the ground.

“Howdy!” chirped a cheerful voice.

She looked around, but saw no one around. Not even that weird horse-fish guy who kept flexing like nobody's business.

“Down here, miss!”

She looked down and saw a buttercup with a smiley face. She raised an eyebrow at it, pointing her stick at it. “Ya talked, flower?”

“Yup! I'm Flowey the flower! You must be new to the Underground!”

“Eh. Whatcha want?” She went back to carving. “I got more important stuff to do than chit-chat with plants.”

“You're going the wrong way, you know. This isn't the way to the castle.”

Piper paused and looked at him. “Oh?”

Flowey nodded. “Undyne’s going take you straight to the king, and he's going kill you and take your SOUL.”

“Really now?”

“Yeah! You gotta run! Or get rid of-”

“Cut the crap.”

The flower stopped and looked up at her. “What… ?”

She frowned at him. “Cut the crap, weed-boy. Ya think I'm some naïve idiot who thinks the world is wonderful?”

He flinched back. “I-I… I thought humans were…”

“Were what? Idiots?” She knelt down in front of him, her eyes narrowed. She pointed her knife at his face, keeping it dangerously close. “How many humans have you tried that line on?”

He sneered at her. “You're a smart one… no human really ever saw through that from the get-go…”

“Hm. That's ‘cuz ya use it on kids, don't ya? Kids like Frisk?”

“I… you know Frisk?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know.” She prodded him with the knife. “Scram, weed-boy. I'm ain't gonna sit here and humor ya. I got places to be.”

Flowey growled. “You’ll regret this, human.”

“I doubt it.” She prodded him again. “I said scram.”

He hissed, ducking into the dirt and out of sight. She waited a few minutes to see if he'd gone before getting back up and continuing where she'd left off.

The front door opened, and Undyne and Napstablook stepped out. “Thanks for letting me use yer bathroom, Blooky!”

“No problem… be sure to stop by anytime… I made a new remix…”

“Aw, neat! I'll come back by.” She looked over at Piper and noticed her frown. “You okay, Piper?”

“Yeah. Lets go.” Piper pushed herself off the side of the house. “it was nice meeting you, Napstablook.”

“You seem very nice… take care…”

She nodded and let Undyne lead the way. The fish monster was still a bit worried about her sudden change in behavior. Once they were away from Naptsablook’s house, she stopped her human friend. “Yo, dude… somethin’s up with ya…”

Piper sighed. “Ya ever hear of a talkin’ flower?”

“What, you mean an Echo Flower?”

“No. This one was yellow, and it actually talks. Like, makes its own sentences and crap.”

Undyne frowned and shook her head. “No… I haven't heard anything like that… did you see something like that?”

She sighed. “Yeah… I think it's dangerous… it was all cheerful and creepy…”

“How do you know it's evil, then?”

She shrugged. “… call it a hunch.” She started walking again. “We gotta keep going. No time to lose.”

The monster nodded, following after her until she caught up. “We need to head down this way” she said as she gestured towards another tunnel. “Once we get to Hotland, we’ll need to stop by Alphys’s lab.”

“Who’s Alphys?”

“She’s the royal scientist. I think you’d like her. It’s hard not to.”