ChronoTale

Cook On, Undyne!

Crono, Lucca and Chara approached a giant lab.
Crono looked up at it.
"So, I guess this is where we go next?" He looked at Lucca.
"I don't know, don't ask me, you've been down here longer than I have!" She looked at him.
"I haven't been to Hotland, yet!"
Chara looked at Crono.
"Yes, this is where you wanna go." They said.
"Alright." He stepped in and then Lucca and Chara followed.
"It's...kinda dark." Lucca said.
"Yeah." Crono said.
The three of them walked.
"You know, I hope Xander's alright. I know he kinda betrayed me, but he still seemed like a cool guy kind of."
"Don't worry, I had it set to stun so it only knocked him out." Lucca said. "...I think."
Crono side-glanced her.
"Welp, if one monster had to go, I actually kinda don't mind that it was him." Chara said.
"I thought you loved monsters and didn't want any of them to be killed." Crono looked towards Chara.
"Yes, I do but he's one of the only ones I actually really couldn't give two shits about." They said.
"He wasn't THAT bad." Crono said.
"Eh." Chara shrugged.
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure it was on stun." Lucca said.
They all eventually got to the center of the room when the lights suddenly turned on and a yellow lizard wearing a white lab coat and glasses came out. She was talking to herself when she noticed Crono and Lucca standing there. She stopped talking and stared at them.
"Oh. Oh my God! I-I didn't expect you so soon! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all messy and I still have to-!" She stopped panicking and shook her head then looked at Lucca "H-Hey, wait a second, since when are there...two humans??" She raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, this is my friend Lucca."
Lucca waved.
"You know, I've seen this lab before, but I don't remember this lizard at all." Chara said, looking at Crono, thinking to themselves.
"Oh, well h-hiya! I'm Dr.Alphys. I'm Asgore's royal scientist!"
Crono looked back up at Alphys.
Just then a dark pink dragon monster came out of the same door Alphys had previously came out of. They had dark brown hair, yellow scleras with dark green eyes, and they were wearing  a pink T-Shirt that said "MTT" on it in pink and black letters and purple sweat pants. They were eating what appeared to be a chocolate cupcake. They looked over at Crono and Lucca.
"Oh, uh. Hello. I didn't know you'd be here so soon." They then said, eating the rest of the cupcake.
"Y-Yeah, I know right." Alphys said, nervously. "This is Raine, by the way. A close friend of mine." Alphys then said, turning to Crono and Lucca.
"Wait....there's two of you?" Raine then said, pointing at Crono and then at Lucca.
"Yeah! This is my friend, Lucca!" Crono then said to Raine. Lucca waved at Raine.
"Hello there." She said.
"I don't remember them either." Chara then said to Crono. "Must've come after I died."
"Oh, well. Hi Lucca. This is certainly a surprise." Raine then said, throwing the wrapper to their cupcake away, and then looking back over at the two humans.
"Y-Yeah, but I'm sure we can still make things work out!" Alphys then said.
Lucca raised an eyebrow at Alphys.
"Hopefully! I'd like to just make it out alive!" Crono chuckled.
"Wait, you mean you don't want to fight us? Either of you?" Lucca then said, asking Alphys and Raine.
"Oh no! I-I'm not one of the 'bad guys'! N-Neither of us are! Actually, since you-" Alphys pointed at Crono, "-stepped out of the RUINS, I've, um...been 'observing' your journey through my console. Your fights...your friendships...everything!" Alphys kinda blushed.
"Now that's kind of weird." Lucca spoke up.
"Well, it's always nice to find out you've been being stalked." Crono said, sarcastically.
"N-now now, don't think of it as that!" Alphys said.
"Yeah?" Crono said, crossing his arms.
"You see, Raine and I were originally going to stop you, but...watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them. So, uh, now we want to help you! Using my knowledge, and Raine's expertise, we can easily guide you through Hotland! I know a way right to Asgore's castle, no problem!" She said, enthusiastically.
"Oh, really? Because that would actually be kinda convenient. Almost too convenient." Crono said.
"Are we really going to go through this again? We just got rid of Xander." Chara said. "Besides, I know the way through his castle."
"Well, um. Actually there is a tiny issue." Alphys then said, nervously.
"It never is straight forward, is it?" Crono said.
"Of course not, dude. What'd you expect?" Lucca looked at Crono.
"Anyway, what's the issue?" Crono looked at Alphys.
"Well, you see. A long time ago, I made a robot named Mettaton."
"Oh! I heard about him. Like, once I think?" Crono said.
"Yeah, I'm sure you have! He's so fabulous!" Raine then began to info dump all about Mettaton. " Alphys built him to be an entertainment robot. He's the underground's number one star! You know, like a robotic TV star! And-" Alphys then chuckled and patted Raine on the shoulder. "It's okay, Raine!" She smiled. "Don't want to get too ahead of ourselves here."
"Oh, right! Sorry, my bad!" Raine nervously smiled.
Alphys then continued, "But, uh, yes! Mettaton. You see, recently I decided to make him more useful. You know, just some small practical adjustments. Like, um. Anti....anti-human combat features?" Alphys grew nervous.
"Ah, I see." Crono said.
"Well, you did decide to remove said features when you at least saw Crono coming, right?" Lucca adjusted her glasses as she asked this. Her other hand was on her hip.
"Of c-course! ...though, u-unfortunately I made a teensy mistake when doing so."
"Oh no, what is it." Crono said.
"That would be..?" Lucca raised an eyebrow.
"Now he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood?" Alphys gave this really nervous smile and shrugged.
"Alphys, oh my god I haven't even know you for 10 minutes and I'm already saying 'oh my god, ALPHYS.'" Crono face palmed.
Alphys nervously laughed.
"Well, you're dead, Crono. If Undyne didn't kill you, Mettaton will." Chara spoke up.
"Now, now. I'm sure it isn't that bad." Lucca said.
"What do you mean, he's an unstoppable killing machine out for human blood, Lucca!!" Crono said.
"I mean, as long as we don't run into him it shouldn't be bad?" Alphys shrugged.
"Don't say that, you'll jinx it!" Crono said.
They all suddenly heard a bang.
"Hey, did you hear that?" Alphys asked.
"Alphys, I swear to god if that's him." Crono started.
They heard another bang. And then another.
"Oh no-" Alphys said.
Suddenly, this grey, rectangular shaped robot that had a single leg with a wheel at the bottom and yellow and red lights on the front with four singular dials at the bottom came crashing through the wall.
"OOOHHH YESS!!!" He said.
Crono, Lucca and Chara all stumbled back.
"WELCOME, BEAUTIES...TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!!!"
"There he is!" Raine then said.
"Wait, WHAT-" Crono said, looking around.
"Well, that was unexpected." Lucca said.
"To be fair, Raine DID say he was a robotic TV star, I didn't expect anything less." Chara said.
"I MEAN YEAH BUT-"
"OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW!" Mettaton said, enthusiastically. "EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND FOR OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT!"
Mettaton clapped his hands.
"Wait, who? me?" Crono pointed at himself.
"Of course! Your friend can play, too if she'd like." He pointed at Lucca.
Lucca squinted at him.
"Or not! It's up to her." He chuckled.
"Okay, but what am I even doing?" Crono squinted at him.
"Never played before, gorgeous? No problem! It's simple! There's only one rule." Mettaton held up his hand that wasn't holding a microphone to make the number one.
"Which is..?" Crono raised an eyebrow.
"Answer correctly! ....or you die!!!!"
"Oh, lovely, sounds like fun." Crono said.
"Oop! There's the human hunting portion of his programming!" Chara said. "I was beginning to doubt Alphys!"
Lucca crossed her arms.
The lights suddenly dimmed and a single spotlight lit up on Crono.
"Let's start with an easy one!" Mettaton said.
"Yeah?" Crono asked.
"What's the prize for answering correctly?" He looked at Crono.
"Uhhh-"
"Oh! By the way, darling, you're timed!"
"AH UH- WHAT ARE THE CHOICES??"
"A. MONEY! B. MERCY! C. NEW CAR! OR D. MORE QUESTIONS~?"
"Well. UH?? I'D ASSUME MERCY SINCE YOU SAID-"
He was suddenly cut off by Mettaton who proceeded to zap him with his finger.
"WRONG!" He said.
Crono yelped.
"Crono-!" Lucca said.
"WELP. RIP." Chara said.
Alphys made this distressed look.
"Oh dear."  Raine then said.
"OW. I ONLY ASSUMED THAT SINCE YOU SAID 'ANSWER CORRECTLY OR YOU DIE.'" Crono said.
"You're right! I did say that! Anyway, next question! Your friend can answer this one if she'd like!" Mettaton said.
The spotlight suddenly moved to Lucca.
"Oh, um." Lucca looked at Mettaton.
Chara looked at Crono, who was dusting himself off.
"OKAY! WHAT'S THE KING'S FULL NAME? A. LORD FLUFFYBUNS! B. FUZZY PUSHOVER! C. ASGORE DREEMURR! OR D. DR. FRIENDSHIP~!"
"Oh, gosh um-" Lucca squinted as if she had heard it and was trying to remember.
Crono looked over, as he's only heard the king's full name only a million and one times. He wasn't sure if Lucca had heard it, though.
Chara glanced at Raine. They saw that they were trying to subtly catch Lucca's attention by pointing at Alphys who was actually giving away the answer with her hands.
"Hey, Crono-" Chara nudged Crono.
"What?" Crono looked at Chara. They were pointing at Alphys.
"Ohh." Crono saw Alphys and Raine, who were both desperately tryna get Lucca's attention.
"If I recall correctly...wasn't his name...Asgore Dreemurr? I remember someone mentioning an Asgore Dreemurr around when I first got here."
"Correct! What a terrific answer!"
"I thought so!" Lucca said, proudly of herself.
"Anyway, back to you, darling!" Mettaton looked at Crono and the spotlight went back to him.
"Huh?" Crono looked at him.
"That's enough about you lot! Let's talk about me!"
"But, we weren't even-" Crono started but was interrupted by Mettaton.
"What are robots made of~? A. HOPES & DREAMS. B. METAL & MAGIC. C. SNIPS & SNAILS. OR D. SUGAR & SPICE."
"Uhh.." Crono glanced up at Alphys with his eyes and saw she was forming "B" with her hands.
"...B?" He hesitantly said.
"...TOO EASY FOR YOU, HUH?" He said, enthusiastically.
"oHTHANKGOD-" Crono said in one breath.
Mettaton then turned back to Lucca and the spotlight was back on her. She looked at Mettaton. She was almost fascinated by him, to be honest, so she didn't mind that he was including her in this.
"HERE'S ANOTHER EASY ONE!"
He cleared his throat. Then inhaled.
"TWO TRAINS, TRAIN A AND TRAIN B, SIMULTANEOUSLY DEPART STATIONS A AND B. STATIONS A AND B ARE 252.5 MILES AWAY FROM EACH OTHER. TRAIN A IS MOVING AT 124.7 MPH AT STATION B AND TRAIN B IS MOVING AT 253.5 MPH TOWARDS STATION A. IF BOTH TRAINS DEPARTED AT 10:00AM, AND IT IS NOW 10:08, HOW MUCH LONGER UNTIL BOTH TRAINS PASS EACH OTHER~?
A. 31.054 MINUETS. B. 16.232 MINUETS. C. 32.049 MINUETS. OR D. 32.058 MINUETS."
Lucca blinked then squinted as she started thinking about it.
Crono looked slightly unnerved. He knew Lucca was smart but it still gave him anxiety that she was on a timer.
"What kind of freakin' question is THAT, this isn't school." Chara said, crossing their arms.
"Okay! D. 32.058 minutes roughly." Lucca finally said.
"...CORRECT! I'M ASTOUNDED, FOLKS!" Mettaton then said.
Crono let out a sigh of relief.
"He could get better questions." Chara then said.
"The worst part is I don't think she's noticed Alphys slipping her the answers and I don't know how to tell her without alerting Mettaton." He whispered to Chara. "Too bad you can't tell her."
"Hm. Yeah." Chara said.
The spotlight suddenly switched back to Crono.
"Don't 'count' on your victory!" He said, rolling next to Crono.
"Oh yeah?" Crono asked.
"Yep! How many flies are in this jar?" Mettaton held up a jar full of flies.
"A. 54. B. 53. C. 55 OR D. 52"
"Umm-" Crono side-glanced Alphys who was making an "A" motion with her hands.
"Uh, A?" Crono said.
"You are right, darling! You're so lucky today!"
"That's debatable."
The spotlight, once again, went back to Lucca.
"To be honest, I'm lowkey surprised she's giving you the right answers." Chara said to Crono.
"I mean, she did say she wanted to help us." Crono whispered back to them.
"Yeah, but...what if she doesn't know the answers herself?"
"I mean, it IS her robot's quiz show." He shrugged.
"Yeah, I guess." Chara said.
"Let's play a memory game!" Mettaton said.
Crono looked over.
"What monster is THIS~?"
He showed a picture of what appeared to be a Frog's face.
"A. FROGGIT. B. WHIMSUN. C. MOLDSMAL. D. METTATON."
"Oh hey, that's a froggit." Crono said.
"Yeah, you should know, YOU TRIED TO KILL ONE." Chara said.
"That was a long time ago!" Crono said.
"THAT WAS LIKE, SEVERAL HOURS AGO."
"Still a long time ago!"
"Oh, I remember seeing one of those guys back in the RUINS...isn't it a-" Lucca suddenly noticed Alphys and Raine trying desperately to get her attention. Alphys was making a "D" with her hands.
She squinted and looked at Mettaton.
"...D? How-"
"OH, I'M SO FLATTERED YOU REMEMBERED!" The picture revealed itself to actually be Mettaton but he was wearing a shirt with a Froggit on it.
"Oh." Lucca adjusted her glasses.
The spotlight shifted to Crono again. He looked at Mettaton.
"I have a special question for you, honey!" Mettaton said.
"Oh yeah?"
"Would you smooch a ghost~!? A. HECK YEAH! B.HECK YEAH~! C. HECK! YEAH! OR D. HECK. YEAH."
"What even-"
"Would you smooch a Blooky, more like, am I right?" Chara chuckled.
"Uhhh, sure. Heck yeah." Crono shrugged.
"Great answer! I love it!" Mettaton said and went back over to Lucca when the spotlight went onto her again.
"LET ME GIVE YOU A SIMPLE ONE.
HOW MANY LETTERS ARE IN THE NAME METTATON~?"
He showed a gif-like image that just kept adding n's to the end of his name. The gif-like image also had answers who's numbers would also increase every time an n was rapidly added.
"Oh." Lucca squinted at the image.
Crono looked at Alphys who was forming a "C" with her hands at Lucca.
"Okay, but how does SHE even know that?" Chara asked.
"I have no idea, to be honest." Crono said.
Lucca looked at Mettaton.
"C." She simply said, without even glancing at Alphys.
"RIGHT-IO LITTLE PURPLE-HAIRED ONE! GOSH, YOUR LUCK IS HIGH TODAY!" Mettaton said, enthusiastically.
"oKAY BUT HOW DOES SHE KNOW THAT." Chara said.
"I have no idea." Crono said.
The spotlight returned to Crono.
"TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS~! IN THE DATING SIMULATION GAME 'MEW MEW KISSY CUTIE' WHAT IS MEW MEW'S FAVORITE FO-"
"OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM!! IN THE 4TH CHAPTER WHEN EVERYONE GOES TO THE BEACH! SHE BUYS ICE CREAM FOR ALL OF HER FRIENDS, BUT IT'S SNAIL FLAVORED AND SHE'S THE ONLY ONE WHO LIKES IT!! IT'S ACTUALLY ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY POWERFUL MEssage about friendship and...." Alphys quickly grew quiet once she realized she had broken in.
Crono, Lucca, Mettaton, Raine and Chara were all staring at her.
Mettaton finally broke the silence.
"Alphys, Alphys, Alphys. You aren't...helping our contestants, are you~?"
Alphys grew nervous and shook her head.
"N-NO, I JUST—"
"OOOOHH, YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME~! I'LL ASK A QUESTION YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO!
WHO DOES DR.ALPHYS HAVE A CRUSH ON~?
A. UNDYNE. B. ASGORE. C. THE HUMAN. OR D. DON'T KNOW."
"N-NO! JUST IGNORE HIM, HE DOESN'T KNOW WHAT HE'S TALKING ABOUT-!" Alphys sounded desperate.
"Uhh." Crono looked around then looked at Lucca.
Lucca shrugged.
"Now, Mettaton. L-Let's not go there-" Raine started.
"Aw, c'mon darling! If she wants to be involved so badly, I know they must know the answer to THIS question!" Mettaton said, enthusiastically.
Crono then looked at Chara.
Chara looked like they were thinking.
"Didn't Undyne mention Alphys before?" Chara looked at him.
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean she has a crush on her."
"The only lead ya got, though."
Crono thought then looked at Mettaton.
"Undyne?"
Alphys immediately grew red and she hid her face in her hands.
"See Alphys! Even the human figured it out! Yes, it's true. She scribbles her name in her notes! She doodles pictures of her in her notebook! She even names programming materials after her! Oh, and she writes fanfics of them sharing a domestic life together~! Probability of crush: 101%. Margin of error: 1%."
"Aww." Crono kinda smiled.
Raine patted Alphys on the shoulder.
Lucca walked back over to Crono and Chara.
"Well, Well, Well. with Dr.Alphys helping you...the show has no dramatic tension! We can't go on like this! But. BUT! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE! MORE BLOODSHED!! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS! TOODLES~!" And with that, he turned into a rocket and left the scene and all the lights went back to normal.
Everything fell silent for a moment. Until Alphys broke the silence.
"Well, that was certainly something." She said.
"Uh, yeah."
"He actually wasn't supposed to ask that last question so-" She nervously smiled.
"I'd imagine so." Crono said.
"Yeah, I tried to get him to, uh. Not go there, but." Raine said, kinda nervously.
"Um, anyway, hey! Let me get your phone number! Th-then if you need help, I could call you-" Alphys turned to Crono.
"You have a phone?" Lucca raised her eyebrow.
"Wait, how does she know about phones but you don't-" Chara sounded confused.
"Uh kinda- remember when Papyrus called me when we were running from Undyne?" Crono said and pulled it out and handed it to Alphys.
Alphys kinda blushed when he mentioned Undyne but took his phone.
"Oh, right." Lucca then said.
"Wh-where'd you get this phone?? It's super ancient. It doesn't even have texting!"
"Come again?" Crono squinted.
"Am I going to have to fucken teach you how to text or will Alphys." Chara looked up at Crono.
"This a new form of communication, I assume." Lucca adjusted her glasses.
"At least Lucca is trying to grasp it!!" Chara said.
"W-wait a second, please!" Alphys proceeded to retreat to the back of the lab. They heard some drilling and various other tools go off and then a couple minutes later she came back over.
"Here! I upgraded it for you! It can do texting, items, it's got a cool key chain..I even signed you up for the underground's number 1 social media network! Now we're all officially friends!" She nervously laughed. Crono and Lucca looked at each other.
Chara looked at Alphys.
"Um, I have to go to the bathroom! Raine, you take them through Hotland, right?" Alphys looked at Raine.
"You can count on me!" Raine said.
"Call or text me if you need me, and ESPECIALLY if Mettaton tries anything! Now, if you'll excuse me!" She hurried over to a door that was labeled as her bathroom and went in.
"Well. I guess that's our cue to head on out." Crono said.
"Yep! I got this! Follow me!" Raine said as they headed out.
Crono, Lucca and Chara followed when Crono suddenly stopped.
"Aw crap-" he said.
"What's the matter, Crono?" Lucca looked at him.
"Yeah, what's up." Chara looked at him, as well.
Raine looked back at Crono when he spoke up.
"What's the matter? Something wrong?"
"I completely forgot amongst the chaos of everything that Papyrus wanted me to hang out!"
"Oh, I mean. Is it that important?" Lucca raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, if we stick around too long, Mettaton may catch up to us." Chara said.
"I know, but I still kinda feel bad that I haven't been able to go back to his place in Snowdin to do that 'hangout' I promised him and this is the least I could do to make it up to him."
"Hey! Papyrus is a good friend of mine!" Raine spoke up. "I'm sure he'd understand if you were a lil late, y'know?"
"You heard Raine, I haven't met him myself, but he sounds cool enough that I know he'd understand that you're sorta in a situation right now." Lucca said.
"He's always been on the more chill side. I don't think I've ever seen him genuinely mad before. Sure, he gets annoyed with Sans a lot, but I've never seen him MAD mad." Chara said.
"No, I have to do this. He's genuinely a cool dude. It's the least I can do to make it up to him." Crono said.
"Okay then, but what about Alphys? What're you going to tell her?" Lucca asked.
Raine looked off to the side, kinda nervous, but then looked back over to Crono.
"Well then, here. L-Let me take you there then?" Raine walked back over. "I can call Alphys and let her know."
"You'd do that for us?" Crono asked Raine.
"Sure." They shrugged. "Excuse me for a moment." Raine stepped outside of the lab for a moment to call Alphys and let her know.
"Okayyy, so." Chara looked at Crono. "Are we really going all the way back to Snowdin just to hang out with Papyrus?"
"Oh no!" Crono said. "He actually wants us to meet him at Undyne's place."
"Undyne??" Chara then said.
"What about Undyne's place?" Lucca raised an eyebrow.
"Oh, Papyrus wants us to meet him at Undyne's place to hang out." Crono said, looking at Lucca.
"Crono, I don't know how to explain to you how awful that idea sounds." Lucca said.
"Yeah, I thought you hated Undyne." Chara said.
"Yeah, but like I said before, this is the least I can do to make it up to him." Crono said.
"What if she tries to kill you?" Lucca then asked.
"That's a risk I'm willing to take I guess." Crono said. "Besides, something tells me that she won't try to while Papyrus is there."
"Well, let's just hope you're right." Lucca then said.
"And if not, well. At least you still have your SAVE points!" Chara then said.
Raine then walked back inside, closing the door behind themself.
"Well! I talked to Alphys." Raine clapped their hands together, once, as they continued to speak, "Turns out she's having some, um. 'Technical difficulties' anyway, so she's up for us to have a distraction while she works those out. As for Mettaton, she thinks he's more than likely distracted by his TV show to worry about us for now. Doesn't mean he won't try something, so I advise we be as quick as possible."
"Okay! That's actually very convenient, but I'll take it!" Crono said.
"Yes, very convenient, indeed." Lucca said, mostly to herself.
"Shall we get going then?" Chara then asked Crono.
"I suppose so-" Crono started, while walking back through the front door of the lab where they had originally came from.
The rest followed him.
"Oh, by the way, if you're worried with having to walk all the way back to Papyrus' place, I do know of a quicker solution." Raine said, approaching a boat that was to the left of Alphys' lab.
"Ta-Dah!" They said.
"A boat? Oh! A boat!" Crono said.
"What a cute little boat." Lucca then said, approaching it.
"Oh yes! This guy has been here for the longest time! They're always offering rides to people!" Chara said to Crono.
The person on the boat looked at them.
"Tra la la, I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman...? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?"
Crono looked at Chara then back at the riverperson.
"Oh, so you'd take us to our destination?" Crono then said.
"Of course!" Riverperson said.
"Oh, okay. Will it cost anything?"
"It will cost nothing but a good time in my little boat."
"Fair enough."
The four of them hopped in and set off.
It was silent for several moments. Then the riverperson spoke up.
"Tra la la. Did you hear the old song coming from the sea?"
"Wait, what old song?" Crono looked over.
Lucca raised an eyebrow, as did Chara.
The riverperson didn't answer him, but kept rowing the boat.
Crono went to repeat his question but decided it wasn't worth it.
After a few more moments, Raine spoke up to break the silence.
"You know, I don't usually go to Snowdin often on account of how darn cold it is all the time. So, it'll surely be interesting."
"Oh, I don't think you'll have to worry about that, Raine! Papyrus is having us meet him at Undyne's place to hang out!" Crono said.
"Much to the rest of our dismay." Lucca said.
Raine's eyes widened.
"I know, I know. I'm not her biggest fan either, but it's for Papyrus, alright?" Crono said.
"Just saying, better have those SAVE files ready, buddy." Chara chuckled.
"Undyne? As in, the Undyne. Of the Royal Guard?" Raine then asked.
"I wouldn't know any other Undyne." Crono said.
"You don't know how many times Papyrus has tried to get me and her to get along but we just. Do not." Raine then said.
"Sounds like she's going to have more than one unwanted surprise in a few moments then." Lucca then said.
They all eventually made it back to Waterfall. They all climbed out.
"Come again sometime, tra la la." Riverperson said in a sing-songy voice.
"I'm sure we'll have to to get back to Hotland, so." Crono said.
The four of them found themselves outside Gerson's shop.
"Oh, isn't this that old Turtle's place?" Crono said.
"Gerson? Yeah, which actually reminds me, you didn't use any of those apples or teas for Undyne's battle. You could have saved your butt by using 'em. You're just lucky Lucca happened to show up or you would have had a harder time." Chara said.
"Hey, in the heat of the moment, I didn't actually remember them." Crono said.
"What was that?" Lucca looked at him.
"Oh, nothing, just Chara and I talking." Crono said, smiling nervously. He was still nervous she was just thinking he was crazy.
"Ah." Lucca looked around. "So we doing this hangout or what?"
"Um, yes! Only problem is I don't exactly know where Undyne lives."
"Call and ask Papyrus?" Lucca asked.
"I'm sure he'd know." Chara said.
Crono got out his phone and dialed Papyrus' number.
After a couple seconds he picked up.
"Hey!" Papyrus said, enthusiastically.
"Um, hey! Where, uh, does Undyne live exactly? Right now I'm outside Gerson's shop in Waterfall and I thought I'd drop by for that hangout you offered."
"Oh! You're near her house! That's to the left then the left-upwards! Lupwards!"
"Excuse me, what-"
"All the other directions go to the wrong house. North: ghost house, east, where you're currently at: turtle house. South: trash house."
"Umm, thanks? I guess?"
"Sure! No problem! See you soon!" He hung up.
Crono then proceeded to hang up and put the phone back.
"Know where to go now?"
"In a round about way, yeah. Basically it's next to Napstablook's house."
Raine glanced over at Crono.
"Oohh." Chara said.
"Who's house?" Lucca raised an eyebrow.
"Napstablook. They're a ghost monster." Crono said.
"You've met Bl- err, Napstablook?" Raine then asked.
"Yeah! They're really chill! I liked them a lot." Crono said.
"They are. How about we just chill at their place instead? I'm sure they'd enjoy the company-" Raine said.
"After we hang out with Papyrus!" Crono said and headed towards where Papyrus told him to go.
Everyone else followed.
"But we have to go back to Hotland after we hang out with Paps." Raine then said as they followed him.
"Then we can come back later." Crono then said.
Crono then peeked around the corner of the pathway that was to the left of the way that led to Napstablook's house. He saw Papyrus standing outside the door to a house that looked like a fish. There was a dummy sitting outside that was none other than Mad Dummy. She was looking as annoyed as ever, especially when she spotted Crono and just gave him an annoyed huff.
Crono approached Papyrus. The rest followed.
Papyrus saw them.
"Oho! The human arrives! And he has brought...a friend!!?" He looked at Lucca.
"Oh! Yeah, this, uh. This is my friend." Crono gestured towards Lucca. "Her name is Lucca."
Lucca waved at Papyrus.
"Hello! Any friend of the human's is a friend of mine!"
"Wait did he..never tell you his name?" Lucca kinda chuckled and raised an eyebrow.
"Who? The human? No! I just call him human!!"
"I guess the opportunity to tell him my name never presented itself...in fact, I think the only one who knows my name down here is Xander." Crono said.
"And me. I know your name." Chara said.
"Well, yeah, obviously."
"Well." Lucca chuckled more. "His name's Crono."
"Oh!! Crono?? Splendid!! Crono!!" Papyrus said.
"I also know your name from overhearing Lucca say it." Raine butted into the conversation.
"Well, yeah-" Crono said.
Papyrus gasped when he saw Raine.
"Ohh!! Raine!! Hello! I wasn't expecting you, but here you are!" Papyrus said, cheerfully.
"Heh, yeah. Just...hanging out with Crono and Lucca." Raine said, nervously smiling.
"That's so cool! Cuz now ALL of my besties get to hang out at once!!" Papyrus said, enthusiastically. "Are you ready to hang out with Undyne!? I have a plan to make you two great friends, Crono! Lucca can join you if you'd like! Maybe she'd wanna be Undyne's friend, too!"
Crono and Lucca looked at each other.
"Yeahhh, I'm sure it will be fantastic." Raine then said, thinking about all of the previous failed attempts with Undyne and themself.
"So, we going through with this?" Lucca looked at Crono.
"Yuup. We've came this far." Crono said.
"Okay. Stand behind me!" Papyrus then said.
Crono and Lucca stood behind him. Chara stood next to Crono.
Raine crossed their arms.
"Oh! Psst, make sure to give her this! She loves these!" Papyrus handed Crono a bone that was wrapped up in wrapping paper.
Crono took it and raised an eyebrow.
"Umm, okay?" He said.
"She does?" Lucca looked at Papyrus.
"Yes!" He turned back around and knocked on the door.
After a moment, Undyne answered the door. She wasn't wearing her armor this time, but had a black tank top on with red boots with a single yellow stripe on the top and had her hair up in a ponytail.
"Hi, Papyrus! Ready for your extra-private, one-on-one training?" She said to him, smiling all confidently.
"Well, she certainly recovered quickly." Chara said.
"You bet I am! And I brought a few friends!" He stepped to the side.
"Well, as long as it's not......" she suddenly trailed off when she saw who his friends were.
"Oh no." Chara kinda smirked.
Crono gave her a nervous smile and a little wave.
Lucca just crossed her arms.
Raine kind of rolled their eyes.
Undyne slowly gained this squinty glare at Crono and Lucca then after a few seconds, she forced this smile but you could clearly tell she was still glaring at the two.
"Why don't. You lot. Come in?" She said, tryna sound happy, but any one with common sense could tell she was not happy. She turned around and went inside, Papyrus then followed.
"I hope this wasn't a bad idea." Lucca said.
"Yeah, she's still clearly angry with you both." Chara said.
"I'm sure it's fine." Crono said then went inside. Chara then followed.
Lucca sighed then went inside, as well.
"I can't believe I'm going along with this." Raine said to themself and then went inside as well.
Papyrus was the last to go inside and he shut the door behind himself.
"Hey! Who said you could come inside!?" Undyne then said to Raine but quickly gathered herself and let out a deep breath. "No, you're a house guest. It's fine." Undyne said to herself.
"I feel so welcomed." Raine said, sarcastically.
"Well! Hey, Undyne! My friends brought a gift for you! On their own!" Papyrus then said, quickly changing the subject.
"Uhh-" Crono handed Undyne the gift Papyrus told him to give her.
Undyne snatched it from him and looked it over then unwrapped it.
"Uh. Thanks. I'll, um. Put it with the others."
She went over to a drawer, opened it and dropped it in then closed it.
She turned to Papyrus. "So, are we ready to start?"
"WHOOPSY DOOPSY! I JUST REMEMBERED! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!! YOU FOUR HAVE FUN!!!"
"Wait-!" Crono started.
Papyrus threw himself out Undyne's window, then got up and ran around the corner.
Crono looked around awkwardly then looked at Undyne. Lucca looked at Undyne, as well.
"This could go south-" Chara started.
"Well, there goes the only one keeping me sane here." Raine then said, casually.
"Hey, what about u-" Crono started but was promptly cut off by Undyne.
"So why are YOU two here? Especially YOU." Undyne aggressively poked Crono in the chest.
"OoF-" Crono stumbled back and held his chest and kinda squinted at her.
"Gonna rub your victory in my face?? To humiliate me even further?? IS THAT IT?"
"Well-" Crono started.
"I would if I was him." Raine then said, kind of chuckling.
"Will you shut up, Raine! Just because I don't like humans or your little robot friend, you think it's just fine to be so bitter towards me! Well guess what?? I'm NOT going to give in and be friends with your little h-!" Undyne suddenly stopped. "Wait. I get it. Haha! Oh my god!" She then looked at Crono. "You think I'm gonna be friends with you, right??"
"Now, I don't know about friends but. We could take it slow, one step at a time." Crono said, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'm pretty sure our feelings towards each other are pretty mutual as it stands right now." Lucca added.
"You guys are RUINING IT, she's going to KILL YOU NOW THAT PAPYRUS IS GONE!" Chara said.
"Really now?? How delightful! Let's do it! Let's all...frolick in the fields of friendship!" Undyne gave them this big, open mouth smile, as if she was mocking them both.
"Actually, I said-"
Crono was suddenly cut off by Undyne.
"NOT!" She shouted, revealing that she was just, in fact, mocking them.
Crono squinted at her.
"Why would I EVER wanna be friends with YOU!?" Undyne said, aggressively. "If you weren't my house guest, I'd beat you up RIGHT NOW!! YOU'RE THE ENEMY OF EVERYONE'S HOPES AND DREAMS! I WILL NEVER BE YOUR FRIEND! NOW GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Undyne pointed towards her door while she glared at them both.
"Well, this went badly. Better than I expected, but badly, mostly on an emotional level." Chara said.
"Well, maybe I don't wanna be your friend, either!" Crono said.
"Crono, let's just go, I don't think it's worth going at anymore-" Lucca looked at him.
"Good! I didn't want to be your friend in the first place! You're just a filthy human!" Undyne shouted.
"Aaand that's why it never works out for Undyne and I." Raine then said. "C'mon guys, let's get the hell out of here!" Raine then turned towards the door.
"Dang!" A voice suddenly came from the window.
Everyone stopped and looked towards it. It was Papyrus.
"What a shame..!" He continued. "I thought you could make friends with each other...but I guess I overestimated you guys. You're just not up to the challenge." He suddenly smiled and dipped out.
"Challenge??! What!?" Undyne said.
"Challenge??" Crono repeated.
"Papyrus, wait-!" Undyne ran to the window and looked out and looked around. She came back in fully and turned around. "Dang-it!" She glared up at both Crono and Lucca.
"He thinks I can't be friends with you!? Fuhuhu! What a joke!"
"He thinks I can't be friends with you either-!" Crono kinda squinted.
"I mean, you can't be friends with me, but I! I can be friends with you-! I'll show him-! I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day!"
"Hey, excuse me." Crono got this offended look.
Lucca smirked.
"Hah!" Chara said.
"Listen up, human! We're just not going to be friends! We're all going to be besties!" Undyne gave both of them this smirky-glare.
"Besties!? Besties!" Crono said. He was determined to prove Papyrus wrong just as much as Undyne was.
"I'll make you like me so much, you won't be able to think of anyone else!!" Undyne shouted.
"NOT IF I MAKE YOU LIKE ME FIRST!" Crono shouted back.
"Um, isn't that a little too extreme?" Lucca said.
"Wow, well. At least they're somewhat bonding?" Chara said, knowing Lucca couldn't hear them and Crono was too busy shouting back at Undyne to hear, but continued to ask anyway.
"Fuhuhu! This'll be the perfect revenge!!" Undyne said. She then went over to her kitchen table and pulled out three seats. "Why don't you guys have a seat?" She then smiled.
"Of course, best friend!" Crono smiled and went over to one of the seats and sat down. Chara stood beside him. Lucca then sat in the chair next to Crono.
"Now this should be interesting to witness, I'll admit." Raine said, putting a hand on their hip.
"Hey you! Pink dinosaur! Get over here and have a seat, too! You're still a house guest." Undyne then said to Raine.
"1, I'm a dragon and 2, you know my name but whatever." Raine rolled their eyes and then went over and sat down.
"Yeah, whatever, anyway, humans suck, but their history kinda rules, you know? Case in point: this giant sword!" Undyne pointed at a sword she had hanging up on her wall next to the table.
Crono and Lucca looked at it then looked back at Undyne.
"Of course human history rules, Undyne. So does their culture." Raine said. "And not to mention, their music."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean humans themselves still don't suck." Undyne said to Raine. She then looked back over at Crono
"Your sword you carry around, human?" She pointed at Crono. "Kinda is proof of this. But it isn't nearly as large as some of the other ones I've heard about. You see, historically, humans wielded swords up to 10x their size, right?" She looked at them.
"Well, that's not entirely true. My Kat-" Crono started but was immediately cut off by Undyne.
"Pffft! You liar! I've literally READ Alphys' human history book collection! I know all about your giant swords, your colossal alien-fighting robots! Your supernatural princesses! Heh, there's no way you're gonna fool me!!"
Crono made this confused look, as did Lucca.
"What kind of history books did she have you read??" Crono said.
"Only the most accurate of them all!"
Crono looked at Raine and they gave him a hand-wave like "ehh".
"Uhh, okay. You keep believing that, then." Crono then said.
"I will!"
"If human history was more like that, I'd probably be more inclined to have stayed on the surface." Chara said.
"I mean, there's a giant creature in the Earth's core waiting to abrupt in about 999 years to destroy the Earth, does that count for anything?" Lucca suddenly said.
"Fhuhuhu!" Undyne playfully smacked her back as she laughed. "You're so funny!"
Lucca made this annoyed look.
"Um, anyway, you gonna show us around your house, perhaps? I'd like to get to know you a little better, friend!" Crono smiled.
"Sure thing, bestie!" Undyne smiled back.
Crono got up and went over to her and Chara followed.
Lucca watched.
Undyne looked at Lucca and prompted her to come over, as well.
"Come on! You're my friend, too! Don't be shy!" She smiled.
Lucca awkwardly got up and went over.
Raine watched them.
"What would you guys like to know about first?" She said.
"What about your piano?" Crono looked at the piano and put a hand on it.
"Well, I got it from Alphys. One time, her, uh. Friend? Came over here. All he did, though, was lie seductively on the piano...and fed himself grapes."
"You know, I've only been around Mettaton for about 15 minutes or so and I am 100% sure that was him." Crono said.
"Agreed." Lucca said.
"Absolutely." Chara added.
"Yeah, that's him." Undyne said. "Robot guy with a flamboyant attitude and is extremely self-absorbed who is also their friend." Undyne pointed at Raine.
"Uh yeah, sounds like him." Crono said.
Raine rolled their eyes.
"Yeah. Not a fan of him, but I admire his lifestyle." She then said.
"Wouldn't say that if you knew more about him." Raine mumbled to themself.
Undyne then continued, "But! What else do you wanna know about?"
Crono looked around.
"What's your room like?"
"You wanna see it?" She asked.
"Sure." Crono said.
"Too bad! No nerds allowed!!"
Lucca adjusted her glasses.
"Me? A nerd?" Crono said.
"You're not a nerd, you're a massive dork." Chara said.
"None! ...well. Maybe some nerds." Undyne promptly thought about Alphys and how she'd have her over and they'd hang in her room.
Crono looked around some more. He glanced in her sink and saw she had a teacup that was in the shape of a fish. He then looked at her oven and glanced it over.
"That oven is some top-of-the-line MTT thing."
"MTT? What does that even mean, I've seen and heard that abbreviation throughout the-" It suddenly hit Crono.
"What?" Lucca looked at him.
"Ohhhhhh. It's short for Mettaton, isn't it?" Crono said.
"Yeah, you numb-skull, I picked that up when we first met the guy." Chara said.
"It's his brand, yeah!" Raine then explained. "It's high quality stuff, honestly."
"Regardless, though, if it's top-of-line or not, as much as technology advances...nothing beats home-cooked with fire magic." Undyne then said.
"Do you even have fire magic, Undyne?" Crono asked.
"You can say that again." Lucca said in agreement with Undyne, as she smiled.
"Nope! But that doesn't invalidate my point!" Undyne smiled.
Crono looked around more then went over to her silverware drawer. He opened it and he and Chara looked in it.
"Looks like there's forks, spoons, knives...tiny swords?? Tiny Axes?? Tiny spears?? Even tiny nunchucks. Wow." Chara looked up at Crono.
"Well, then." He closed the drawer then looked around more.
"You know, I hate cold food. Upsets my teeth, so you know what Alphys did for me? She fixed up my fridge so it heats food up, instead! Hot fridge! World's greatest invention!" Undyne chuckled.
"Wow, I'll have to ask her about that later." Lucca said.
"I feel like you and Alphys would get along." Crono looked at Lucca. "You both like sciencey stuff and inventing things."
"Alphys is incredibly smart! She truly is one of a kind!" Undyne said.
"As much as it pains me to agree with you, you'd have to be right about that, Undyne. Alphys truly is one-of-a-kind. And as much as she may not believe it, she's incredibly smart and talented." Raine spoke up.
"So is Lucca!" Crono said as he went over to the window.
"Of course I am. Sometimes I amaze myself!" She chuckled.
"I still can't believe Papyrus leapt out the window like that." Crono said.
"Yeah. He normally NAILS the landing." Undyne said.
Crono and Lucca looked back at her.
"So, he DIDN'T land on his feet? Wow." Chara said.
"So! Anyway, that's everything in my house, time for you two to be seated again!" Undyne said, smiling.
Both Crono and Lucca sat where they were before. Chara stood next to Crono again.
"Comfortable?" Undyne asked once they both were seated.
"Uh, yeah. Decently enough." Crono nodded.
Lucca nodded, as well.
"And what if I said no." Raine said.
"Then I'd say that's tough for you." Undyne said then looked back at Crono and Lucca. "I'll get you something to drink!" Undyne headed to the fridge and took some drinks and set them out on the counter. "All set, what would you like?" She smiled at them.
"Uhhh, let me see what you-" Crono started to get up.
Undyne immediately glared and THREW a spear at the table, breaking it in half. Crono froze and stared at Undyne.
Lucca's eyes widened and she looked at Undyne.
"Oh dear." Chara said.
"Hey!! Don't get up!! You're the guest!! Sit down and ENJOY yourself!!!" Undyne yelled.
Raine fake coughed and mumbled something under their breath.
Undyne side-glanced them.
Meanwhile, Crono sloooowly sat back down without taking his eyes off Undyne.
Undyne quickly stood upright again and cleared her throat. "Umm, why not just point to what the lot of you want?" She smiled, nervously. "You can use the spear!"
Crono looked at the spear then took it and looked towards the stuff that was laid out on the counter.
"Umm, what's that?" He pointed towards a yellow canister that was sat to the far left of the counter.
"Oh, soda?"
"I think some soda would be SO-da refreshing right about now, don't you think, Lucca?" Crono laughed at his own joke.
Chara sharply inhaled then exhaled as they put a hand over their face and sighed.
"Crono, I s2g." They then said.
"Ha! Soda pun. Funny." Raine giggled.
Lucca squinted but then widened her eyes once she got it. "Oh my god, Crono." She playfully smacked him.
"Haha! That's funny, but despite your haha funny humor, I don't think you'd want any. That's fine! I think soda's gross, too! It rots your teeth, it rots your mind, it rots your fighting spirit!!!" Undyne said.
"Wait, if you hate it, then why do you have it?" Lucca looked at her.
Undyne suddenly looked to the side and got this small smile. "No reason!" She said.
"Lemme guess. Alphys?" Raine raised an eyebrow.
"That's none of your business, Raine!" Undyne said, annoyed by them.
"WAIT IF UNDYNE'S FRIDGE IS A 'HOT FRIDGE' WHY DOES SHE HAVE SODA IN IT???" Chara asked and looked at Crono.
"Good question! Wish I knew the answer." Crono said.
"Huh?" Undyne looked at Crono.
"Oh, nothing. Just thinking." He said.
"Alright!"
"Hm." Crono thought then looked at the next object that was sat on the counter. "What about that?" He pointed at it.
"Oh, that's hot chocolate!"
"Oh, that sounds good, actually. Don't you think, Lucca?" Crono looked at Lucca.
"Yeah, that could be good." She said.
"Oh, wait. Actually, I just remembered. That container's empty." Undyne said.
"Oh, shame." Crono said.
"What coulda been." Chara said.
"I stopped getting it because it was such a hassle. Asgore kept getting marshmallows stuck in his beard!" Undyne chuckled.
"Then why do you have the empty container then?" Raine then asked.
"Because...!" Undyne let out an annoyed huff.
"Well then. What about what's next to that?" Crono pointed at the next object.
"Oh, that's tea!" Undyne said, smiling.
"I've never really had tea before." Crono said.
"You coulda if ya woulda used your SEA TEAS!!" Chara looked at him.
"It's pretty good." Lucca said.
"Yeah, it's not bad at all." Raine said.
"Well, why not give it a try!" Undyne said, heading over to the tea box and took out a few teabags.
"Oh, okay." Crono said, as he put the spear down.
"You know, tea reminds me of my dad." Chara said. "He liked tea a lot."
"Ah yeah?" Crono looked at Chara.
"Yeah, his favorite was golden flower tea." Chara gave this soft smile.
"Ahh. I bet it was good?" Crono said.
"It was." They looked up at him.
Undyne finished putting the teapot full of water on to boil. She looked back over at Crono and Lucca.
"It's going to take a while for the water to boil."
"Oh, what do you want to do in the mean-"
The teapot started to whistle.
"Okay, it's all done!" Undyne said and turned to the pot.
"Oh." Crono said.
Undyne tipped some tea into four separate cups and poured some sugar into each and stirred them. She took three  over to Crono, Lucca and Raine and set them next to each of them.
"Here we are." She smiled.
She then went back over, grabbed her cup and sat acrossed from them.
Lucca grabbed her cup. Crono grabbed his, as well and went to drink some.
Raine took theirs and looked into it.
"Careful, it's hot." Undyne looked at Crono and said.
Crono looked at her and slowly set the cup back down.
"It's not that hot! Just drink it already!!"
"Oh, okay-" Crono said and looked at the steaming cup of tea.
"Tell me how hot it is." Lucca said.
Crono slowly took a drink. His eyes immediately widened as it was actually, indeed, burning. But other than that, he did think it was pretty good. He slowly swallowed the drink he took. It felt like it burned his throat all the way down.
"It's...it's actually pretty hot." Crono gave Lucca this slight pained expression.
"Oh." Lucca looked at Crono then at her tea.
"It's pretty good, though right?" Undyne smiled.
"Yeah, not too bad." Crono said.
Lucca took a sip and she nodded in agreement.
Raine then took a sip, careful not to burn themself.
"Nothing but the best for my absolute precious friends!!" She gave them a big smile.
"Of course, bestie." Crono smiled back.
A moment of silenced passed. Then Undyne spoke up, breaking it.
"Hey, you know it's kinda strange you chose THAT tea." Undyne said, looking at Crono.
Chara glanced at Crono's cup of tea.
"You know, that kinda smells like..-"
"Golden Flower tea." Undyne said.
"Yeah..." Chara said, looking at Undyne. "I knew I recognized that smell."
"Well, I mean, it's the only kind of tea you had?" Crono raised an eyebrow as he took another drink. It was much cooler now than a few moments ago.
Lucca was already half finished with hers.
Raine was just finishing up.
"It was Asgore's favorite kind."
"He's got good taste." Lucca said.
Chara grew silent.
"Actually, now that I think about it. You kinda remind me of him." Undyne said.
"Who me?" Crono asked.
"Yeah. You're both total weenies!!!" She laughed.
Crono squinted at her.
"...er. Sort of." She then said after a moment.
Raine looked over at Undyne and raised an eyebrow.
Crono looked at her as he took another sip.
Lucca was just about finished with her tea, by this time.
Chara looked at Undyne.
"Y'know. I was a pretty hotheaded kid." Undyne said after another moment.
"How so?" Crono asked.
"Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight ASGORE. Emphasis on tried. I couldn't land a single hit on him. And worse, the whole time, he refused to FIGHT BACK. I was SO humiliated. But afterwards, he apologized and said something kinda goofy...he said 'excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?' I said yes and from then on, he trained me until one day, during practice, I finally managed to knock him down. I felt...bad. But he was beaming! I had never seen someone so proud to get their butt kicked, y'know? Anyway, long story short, he kept training me and now I'm head of the Royal Guard! So I'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight!"
"Like Papyrus?" Crono raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah! But, uh. To be honest...I...I don't know if I can ever let Papyrus into the Royal Guard." She sounded resigned.
"Oh dear." Crono said.
"Don't tell him I said that!" Undyne then quickly said.
"I assume this is something he badly wanted?" Lucca asked.
"Pretty much." Crono said.
"Ohh."
"So, how come you don't think he can make the Guard?" Raine then asked. "Do you think he's too weak? Can't fend for himself?" They sounded a bit bitter.
"No, actually. Not at all, he's actually pretty fricken tough! It's just that...he's just too innocent and nice!! I mean, look, he was supposed to capture the human, but he ended up being friends with him instead! I could NEVER send him into battle! He'd get ripped to little smiling shreds!"
"You mean, like how you were supposed to take my SOUL but ended up being my friend as well?" Crono said under his breath.
Chara smirked as they heard exactly what he said.
"What was that??" Undyne glared at him.
"Oh, nothing! Friend." Crono smiled.
Lucca looked at Crono and raised an eyebrow.
Undyne squinted at Crono then continued to talk.
"Anyway, that's actually part of why I started teaching him how to cook, you know? So he can do something else with his life."
"Ah, I see." Crono went to take another sip of tea but noticed his cup was now empty.
"Oh! I'm sorry, I was talking for so long, you're out of tea, aren't you?" Undyne said, smiling nervously.
"I ran out of tea a while ago." Lucca said.
"Yeah, same." Raine said.
"Here, I'll get you some more." Undyne stood up and grabbed their cups and went back over to the stove. She set their cups down then kinda stared at the teapot.
"...something wrong, Undyne?" Lucca asked.
"...wait a second...Papyrus...his cooking lesson...he was supposed to have that right now!!! And if he's not here to have it...." Undyne turned to Crono and pointed at him. "You'll have to have it for him!!"
She jumped up on the counter and knocked the drinks, including the teapot and their teacups, off onto the floor.
"Oh no, Crono, no offensive to him, but he can't cook for shit." Lucca said.
"Hey-!" Crono looked at Lucca.
"Hah!" Chara laughed.
"It isn't about how good or bad the cooking is!! Nothing has brought Papyrus and I closer than just cooking in general! Which means if I give you his lesson...we'll become closer than either of you could imagine!!"
"NOT IF I BECOME CLOSER TO YOU FIRST!" Crono stood up and said.
"Oh dear." Lucca said.
"Fuhuhu! We'll be besties!!" She jumped over, picked up Crono by the back of his bandanna and brought him over to the counter and dropped him. Chara got dragged over.
"WATCH IT-" They yelled.
Lucca stood up and looked over at them.
"Let's start with the sauce!!" Undyne said as she pounded on the counter which caused some various vegetables, mostly tomatoes and even a single banana, to fall onto the counter.
"What-" Crono squinted.
Lucca raised an eyebrow.
"Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy! Now! Pound them to dust with your fists!!" Undyne yelled.
"This should be interesting." Chara said.
Raine kinda stood up and looked over at the lot of them.
Crono looked at the vegetables and single fruit and made two fists with his hands. He screamed and squashed the tomatoes, carrots and banana. He didn't really crush the onions or potatoes, though. He actually hurt his hand a bit tryna crush those. But he was feeling too confident to notice the pain.
"Yeah! Yeah!! I'm into it! Our hearts are uniting against these healthy ingredients!" Undyne said proudly. "Now it's my turn! NGAHHH!" She absolutely CRUSHED the vegetables, including the potatoes and onions. They went all over the walls and counter and floor, and even on their shirts and face.
Crono shut one eye and looked at Undyne.
"Uhh, we'll just scrape this into a bowl, later." Undyne said "but for now!" Undyne stomped onto the ground and down fell a pan of water and a box of noodles. "We add the noodles!"
Lucca suddenly realized what they were making and went over to them.
"Homemade noodles are the best, but since I'm really cheap, I just buy the store brand!" She laughed.
"Fair enough." Crono said as he finished wiping his shirt and face off with a towel that was hung on Undyne's stove handle.
"Put them in!" Undyne then shouted, fiercely.
Crono went to grab the box but Lucca grabbed it first and tore the box open and aggressively threw the noodles into the pot then screamed, similarly to Undyne's "NGAHHH!"
"Oh damn! You got the right idea!" Undyne looked at Lucca.
"She's enthusiastic when it comes to pasta." Crono said.
"I like it!" Undyne said, enthusiastically. "Alright, now it's time to stir the pasta! As a general rule of thumb, the more you stir the BETTER IT GETS!" Undyne said.
"Seems logical." Chara said.
"Ready? Let's stir it!" Undyne said.
Crono grabbed the spoon and started to stir.
"Stir harder!" Undyne shouted.
Crono stirred more.
"NOT HARD ENOUGH, MAN! KEEP STIRRING!!" Lucca then shouted.
Crono stirred more.
"HARDER!!" Both Undyne and Lucca yelled.
"YOU'RE NOT PLEASING THE LADIES, MY DUDE." Chara shouted.
Crono started to break a sweat as he stirred more.
"HARDER!!!!!" Undyne shouted.
He tried stirring more.
"UGH, LET ME DO IT!" Lucca grabbed the spoon away from him and pushed him aside. She began stirring it an unholy speed.
"That's the stuff!! BUT I THINK IT NEEDS MORE SPEARS!!" Undyne said and summoned some spears down and they hit the pot, beating it up.
"YEAHH!! Undyne yelled. "THAT'S THE STUFF!!"
"THE POT IS DESTROYED-!" Crono said.
"IT'S FINE. NOW FOR THE FINAL STEP: TURN UP THE HEAT!" She smiled. "Let the stovetop symbolize your passion! Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire! Ready? Don't hold anything back!!"
Crono turned the oven up to high.
"No, hotter!!" Undyne yelled.
Crono then proceeded to turn the stove up higher.
"Hm, out of curiosity, I do wonder if Alphys has fixed her supposed technical issues out yet and she's just waiting for us to return." Chara said, sort of to themself, knowing Crono was too distracted to hear them.
"HOTTER, DAMMIT!!!" Undyne yelled.
"Any hotter and this damn place will be burned to the ground." Raine sorta said, also knowing everybody was too distracted to hear them.
"HERE, LET ME GET THIS-" Lucca rubbed her hands together and then aimed and fired some fire balls at the stovetop.
"WAIT, THAT'S TOO-" Undyne started but then the house proceeded to go up in flames. Everything was scorched.
"Oops-" Lucca looked at Undyne.
"Well then." Chara said.
"Just like that." Raine said, looking over.
"Ah." Undyne then said. "Man, no wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking!" Undyne kinda chuckled.
"Um, Undyne-" Crono started.
"So what do you wanna do next? Friendship bracelets? Scrapbooking?" Undyne interrupted him.
"Undyne-" Crono then repeated.
Undyne got quiet.
"Your-" Crono started again.
"Oh, who am I kidding." Undyne then said. "I really screwed up, didn't I?"
"No, I was just going to say your house is-" Crono tried speaking again.
Undyne sighed. "I can't force you to like me, human. Some people just don't get along with each other. I understand if that's how you two feel about me."
"Well, to tell you the truth, I-" Crono started but was interrupted by Undyne.
"But hey, you know what? If we can't be friends, that's okay. You know why?"
"Why?" Crono asked, raising an eyebrow.
Lucca raised an eyebrow, as well.
"Because...if we're not friends, it means I can destroy you without regret!!" Undyne suddenly yelled.
Undyne suddenly grabbed her spear and pinned Crono against a scorched wall.
"HeY-" Crono said.
"Crono-!" Lucca said, alarmingly.
"AH DEAR." Chara said.
"Uh, hey now." Raine stood up all the way.
"I've been defeated. My house is in shambles. I even failed to befriend you..!" Undyne said, solemnly. "That's it." She looked up at him. "I don't care if you're my guest anymore. One final rematch!! ALL out on both sides!!" She yelled. "It's the only way to regain my lost pride!!!" She yelled louder. "NOW COME ON! HIT ME WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT!! NGAHHHH!" She let go of him and stepped back, glaring at him.
Crono, now back on his feet, looked at Undyne who was letting him take the first hit. He glared towards her and grabbed his Katana and readied it to swing at her...but. Something was off. He realized that all his anger, saltiness and bitterness from a couple hours ago towards her were just....completely gone now.
"Crono-?" Chara spoke up.
"What're you doing, Crono?" Lucca asked.
Raine raised an eyebrow at Crono.
Crono clenched the handle of his Katana and then looked down and sighed. He looked back up at her and instead just knocked her in the side with the handle. "That!" He yelled, as he knew deep down he didn't actually wanna hurt her anymore. He realized that she was only trying to do what was best for her people before. He put his Katana back and backed up and crossed his arms.
That only caused Undyne to stumbled back.
"What." Undyne said.
Chara squinted.
"What was that?" Lucca looked at Crono.
Undyne looked at Crono. "That's the best you can manage? Even attacking at full force?"
"No, I just realized you aren't as bad as I had originally thought, admittedly." Crono said. "You thought you were doing what was best for your kind and I admire that."
Lucca looked at Undyne.
"Anyway, my point being, I don't want to hurt you anymore." Crono said.
Undyne stared at him for a moment then kinda laughed. "Heh, you know what?" She stood up straight and dropped her spear on the ground. "I don't actually want to hurt you, either. Or your friend for that matter."
"Wow, really? But-" Crono started.
"At first, I hated your stupid saccharine schtick, but...the way you hit me right now...it...it reminded me of someone I used to train with. Now I know you aren't just some wimpy loser."
"Yeah, you bet I'm not." Crono said, putting his hands on his hips.
"You're a wimpy loser with a big heart!" Undyne gave him this toothy smile. "...just like him." She looked off to the side a bit."
"Hey-!" Crono said.
Lucca chuckled. "You better believe it, Undyne!"
"Hah!" Chara snickered.
"Listen, human. It seems that you and Asgore are fated to fight. But knowing him, he probably doesn't want to. Talk to him. I'm sure you can persuade him to go home. Eventually, some mean human will fall down here and I'll take their SOUL instead. That makes sense, right? Fuhuhu."
"Yeah, that seems fair enough." Crono said.
"Yeah." Lucca agreed.
"Did you mean: every other human in existence?" Chara said.
"Oh! And if you do hurt Asgore, I'll take the human souls, cross the barrier and beat the HELL out of you!" She got this really angry look and stared Crono dead in the eyes.
Crono got this nervous smile. "Noted!" He simply said.
Chara snickered.
Undyne then immediately went back to giving him this big, toothy grin. "That's what friends are for, right?"
"Uh, suree..." Crono looked off to the side with his eyes.
Lucca chuckled. "Seems about right!"
Undyne chuckled. "Now let's get the hell out of this flaming house!" She went towards the door and opened it. Crono, Lucca, Raine and Chara all went out then Undyne followed behind them and shut the door behind herself.
"Well, that was fun, huh?" Undyne looked at Crono and Lucca.
"Admittedly, yeah." Lucca said.
"Minus the couple heart attacks I had, but yeah." Crono said.
"It was...interesting. To say the least." Raine said, crossing their arms.
"It was absolute chaos and I'm sure Alphys is possibly stressing over the fact we aren't back in Hotland right about now." Chara said.
"We'll have to hang out again, sometime!" Undyne said, chuckling. "But, uh. Somewhere else, I guess."
"Ah, yeah. Sorry about your house, Undyne." Lucca said, looking off to the side. "Got a little too carried away."
"We all were, kid! No hard feelings." Undyne patted her head. "In the meantime, I guess I'll go hang with Papyrus. So if you need me, drop by Snowdin, okay!?"
"Sure." Crono said.
"OH! And if you ever need help, just give Papyrus a ring, okay? Since we will be together, I'll be able to talk, too! Well, see ya later, punk!" Undyne dashed off.
"Well, despite being really chaotic, somewhat overwhelming and burning down Undyne's house, I'd say this was a success." Crono looked at Lucca and Chara.
"We actually made friends with her, something I admittedly didn't see coming, so yeah. I'd agree." Lucca said.
"It certainly was surprising." Chara said.
"Maybe for you guys, but me personally? I'm still on the fence." Raine said, walking towards where they had come from.
The rest followed.
"Do you think...Papyrus planned this, by the way? Like, he saw you guys fighting so he purposely said you wouldn't be 'up for the challenge' to force you guys to bond and actually see the good in each other? You know, like reverse psychology." Lucca looked at Crono.
"Perhaps. We'd better get back to Alphys, though. She's probably wondering where we are." Crono said.
"Probably?? She's probably stressed!" Chara said.
"Yeah." Crono said and headed back towards where the Riverperson was.
They all followed.
Crono couldn't believe he actually made friends with the very same person who wanted to violently rip his soul from his body. He then thought about Alphys and Mettaton and what Hotland was gonna be like and if Mettaton would actually try and violently kill him. A lot of things were buzzing through his head, to say the least.