#on the other hand - I expect that Ralsei still cares very deeply for them and he's gotta come to terms with them letting him down so badly

[patchwork-crow-writes]

94 - At Cross Purposes

...I want you to know that I'm not mad at you, okay?

...I'm not.

As I see you stand before me, your eyes looking anywhere except the space I occupy, I suppose that you must have a reason for doing what you've done. And it must be a very, very good reason, to have risked the threat of the Roaring in your very own home.

I don't doubt that for an instant, my light. But it doesn't change the fact that you completely disregarded everything I warned you about not a day earlier. And I'm not going to lie - that fact pains me to my very soul.

It hurts because I thought that you, of all people, would at least have said something to me about your intentions... that you would have at least had the courtesy to let me know that you had heard me, and that you had understood me.

I need you, my dear - I need you to remember that your choices. Do. Matter. Okay? I meant it when I said that to you, I did. But with those choices must also come responsibility. Would you have been ready to face the consequences, had the worst happened? Would you have had the strength, the will, to accept your role in that mistake?

I want to say I believe that you could, but... I honestly don't know. It is only thanks to dumb luck that we do not have to deal with those problems right now... but next time you decide to be so reckless, we might not be so fortunate.

Never forget - you're a hero now, whether you like it or not. It's time for you to start acting like one.

______________________________

The Dark Menagerie No. 94

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[fireflysummers]

Delta Rune: Addendum

People have asked me if my opinions have shifted at all in light of Toby Fox’s FAQ.

The answer is yes and no. 

Also, I’ve gotten a fair amount of...unasked for feedback on my other post, which was mostly just my own musings and opinion? So I might as well just kinda...address a bunch of things here, based on a couple observations over the last 48 hours.

What People Didn’t Like (And Why)

The Repetition of Plot Elements from Undertale in the Dark World

This one’s pretty common, and very justified given that, when the demo first launched, we had no idea that it was a demo. For all we knew, it was some kind of finished product. 

Although I didn’t want to believe that this is the case, it’s not uncommon for creators to accidentally fall into a sophomore slump of sorts, where under the pressure of measuring up to their freshman fame, they end up creating something dull and uninspired. 

Despite that, there wasn’t any level of self-awareness that indicated that the Dark World was supposed to be a cheaper version of Undertale. And then it ended by falling into the “it was just a dream” trope (not entirely, but close enough), which is one of my least favorite tropes, so I was just turned off altogether. 

The Battle System

I didn’t really enjoy the new combat system (that’s definitely a personal thing though...turn-based jrpg games have always been a struggle for me, and I straight up don’t have the time for the strategy that it often takes). That aside, Fox himself admits that the system is rough and really unbalanced.  

Also, I get the sense that he wants to bring home that theme of your choices mean nothing, but isn’t exactly sure how to do that yet, which explains a lot of the issues with ACTing in the demo.

Even after he gets it fixed up, I’m not sure I’m really going to enjoy the battle system, although I do commend him for his creativity and the attempt to integrate Undertale’s bullet hell into a turn-based game style.

Underdeveloped Characters

This one I can forgive almost entirely, by nature of it being a demo rather than a finished piece of work. I can relax my criticism of the Dark World NPCs as a result.

That said, I still failed to really feel anything other than aww...cute a couple of times (usually as Ralsei)

Oh, that and a shit ton of existential horror at Undyne and Alphys not knowing each other, the world being generally indifferent to whatever made Susie the way she is, and that everybody is turning a blind eye or actively punishing Asgore for some unknown crime. 

But I’ll talk about that a bit more in the next section.

The Vague Relation to Undertale and the Re-Use of Characters

Okay so like. I understand that Toby Fox insists that it’s Not Undertale.

Except that like.

I don’t buy that for a second.

Like, it’s Not Undertale only in the sense that it’s not related to the pacifist ending, but doesn’t disqualify it from being a follow-up to the genocide run (and therefore a direct sequel of sorts). 

That aside, if it truly was Not Undertale, then he wouldn’t have named it Delta Rune, brought Gaster into it, and drawn visual and flavor text metaphors to the original game. It’s related, it might be an AU, but that doesn’t make the OOC meanness of the familiar faces easy to swallow.

It could easily interpreted as “unsettling and OOC to show the player that their expectations will be subverted and that there is something Seriously Wrong with this world,” and a lot of people have interpreted it that way! I’m on the fence there myself, but you gotta understand that not everybody shares that interpretation.

For others, including myself to some extent, the message was: 

In the absence of dire circumstances, the characters that you were led to believe cared deeply about each other and you, are indifferent, apathetic, and  downright mean.

I mean, even if Kris on their own is a total dick? That doesn’t justify the way that the other characters treat each other. 

And that lack of warmth in the story was felt like a gut-punch to a small number of people.

On top of that, the weird twist ending didn’t do much to subvert that message. It gave no sense of whether or not the entire thing indicated a fundamentally sick world, or disprove that sense of they only cared about you and others out of a mutual need.

And if you can put yourself in that mindset, you can understand how that could be painful.

What People Didn’t Like About Me (And Others) Not Liking It

You’re Complaining Because it’s Not Undertale

No, I’m complaining because it’s Too Much Undertale. Because my personal prerogative is that Undertale is perfect the way it is and any additional content would only detract value from the original.

I was sincerely hoping for a totally new game, with maybe cameos or nods to Undertale, because I didn’t want to risk that horrible sequel syndrome. 

And while we, as fans, can opt to ignore horrible sequels (see: the entirety of the Harry Potter fandom), at the same time...sometimes you can’t unsee what you’ve seen. Sometimes sequels are enough to mar your affections and feelings for characters, especially because it comes from The Voice of God Dog.

You’re Can’t Complain that Things are OOC When It’s an AU!

-rubs forehead-

Look. I don’t know if you know this, but I adore AUs. Not every AU, of course, but I loved the concept and how the community came together to create some kind of semi-cohesive multiverse.

I mean, I literally drew over 100 different AUs:  SET 1 || SET 2 || SET 3 || SET 4 || SET 5 || SET 6 || SET 7 || SET 8 ||

But there’s a difference between fandom AUs and canon AUs--namely in that fandom AUs can be as out of character as they want, because it’s a fan creation.

There are multiple series that play with that multiverse theory as well, within their own canons, starting with the entire body of Osamu Tezuka, but also including the works of CLAMP (most notably XxxHolic and Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles), Adventure Time, the Final Fantasy series, and so on.

And the key to making an effective multiverse? The thing that makes it work? 

Keeping the characters in-character. There has to be that kind of consistency, otherwise it doesn’t function on a narrative level. You’re just reusing character designs and assigning new personalities, because you’re too lazy to design new characters.

Or worse, you’re baiting in previous players on a sense of nostalgia which is a trick I do not appreciate. 

You Shouldn’t Rely on Fictional Works to Aid Your Mental Health

Screw you. 

Everybody has Real Issues in their lives. Sometimes we need a hand from something or somebody else to keep moving.

Fine, But There’s No Reason To Be Publicly Upset by DR

It’s okay to dislike additional material, for whatever reason, so long as you’re not attacking others for liking it. It’s okay to be upset by something, even if it’s not rational, and you don’t need to force others to like what you like, nor should you feel guilty that somebody else doesn’t ‘get it.’ 

Will You Play Chapter 2?

I will purchase it to support Toby Fox on his endeavors. 

But you gotta understand, I straight up don’t play video games most of the time. Don’t have the time or the energy.

I only played Undertale after I’d had the whole thing spoiled to me, and knew it was worth the investment of my time. I should’ve waited on this one too, but I was too eager, and instead lost 4-5 hours of critical time for my graduate coursework (which definitely contributed to my annoyance).

TL;DR

You guys realize it’s okay for people to dislike deltarune? It’s okay for them to have been hurt by the characterization in deltarune? And people don’t have to write an essay in order to hold those opinions?

And that you don’t have to aggressively convert people to it like you’re some kind of church missionaries?

-sighs- At any rate, beginning to feel a bit more optimistic overall, and after that interview I can feel Toby Fox’s enthusiasm (he had something cool and he couldn’t wait to show it off!!), and I can get excited for him and others, even if as a whole the entire game experience fell flat.

Some day, I might even warm up to the game well enough to draw some stuff some time. I’ve got some fun ideas and theories, but still refuse to be hopeful that it’ll actually shape up. 

Because I am made of salt. 

[inbarfink]

Alrighty, here’s all of my Deltarune theories

1. Deltarune’s central theme\moral question will be something a long the lines of “The free will to do bad things versus the safety of not having the bad choices”. To put it in videogame terms (as Undertale was more concerned with meta-commentary about videogames than real-world implications) “Should a game give you the option to do the evil thing even though you should totally do the good thing?”. The world of Deltarune is... safer than Undertale’s, at least that’s how it looks like. You literally can’t do a Genocide run, you *have* to end your adventure in the Dark World as a ‘Hero’, you have to be good - no matter what you want. It’s safer, since there’s no chance of a Genocide-Timeline, but it’s... oppresively suffocating when you know you have no other option - and kinda creepy to think about the fact that even if you WANT to be a horrible human being, everyone is ignorant to it and thinks you’re a great hero anyway. The world of Deltarune is a world where *nobody* has a choice; the player is railroaded, Kris is controlled against their will, Ralsei argues we *have* to be heroes because of a prophecy, the Darkners were created for a ‘purpose’ so their Free Will might be kinda fucked. The “Pacifist” Ending to the Dark World segment feels like a rushed parody of an Undertale Pacifist Run, complete with going back and talking with all the monsters you befriended. But it feels... deeply unsatisfying because this “Happy Ending” was not caused by your hard choices, but because you just... did as you’re told. Plus, Kris and friends have caused no REAL change in the Dark World the way Frisk changed everything to the Monsters living in the Underground. Sure, there’s a new ruler in Card Kingdom - but the Darkners are still living hidden from Lightners without much hope of having “purpose” again. Meanwhile, in the Light World, the Monsters have lives that... fairly happy and safe - but not quite as happy as they could be in the Undertale True Pacifist Ending. There’s less relationships, less self-improvement, less people-choosing-who-they-want-to-be. No free will robs you of satisfaction and reaching your fullest potential, but on the other hand... is it worth it if it means someone (*eyes the Player*) will use that free will to do evil? Yeah, the Light World is not quite as happy as the True Pacfist Ending - but it is not the only ending Undertale has.

2. There are two main antagonist-forces in the story: The Angel’s Paradise, that force the Delta Warriors are destined to banish and whatever you wanna call the Queen and the Knight and ect. The Angel’s Paradise is responsible for ridding this word of choices, probably for that sort of ‘greater good’ of preventing people from making bad choices (Although, to be thematic, the Angel’s Paradise is also robbed of choice in some way). The Knight and the Queen and company wish to bring choices INTO this world, but like... in a bad way. By destroying and remaking it or something. They would be a metaphor for a frustrated-denied-Genocide-player. But they would also be potrayed sympathetically somewhat because, as mentioned - not having choices sucks.

3. Since the Angel seems to be the center of the religion of Hometown, I think Deltarune will be upping the JPRGness game of Undertale by having Kris literally fight against the God-Figure of their parent’s religion to restore free will to the universe.

4. The Angel’s Religion in the Light World would be very open about the fact that it’s all about personal choices being less important than safety. That’s why Toriel is so religious, valuing safety over freedom was always kinda her thing.

5. I do, at the very least, believe Toby Fox’s claims this is not a direct sequal to Undertale and it doesn’t effect the ending of Undertale that you got in any way. I espacially buy that last part. It’s VERY important to Undertale’s themes that all endings are equally “canon” and whatever one is real depends on the player’s choices and nothing else. I don’t think Toby wants to make either True Pacifist or Genocide or Post-Genocide Pacifist into the “Real Ending”. That hardly means it has to be a totally unrelated AU, however. My money right now is that we’re looking at a stealth prequal. The World of Deltarune is one without choices, by banishing the “Angel’s Paradise” and\or letting the Queen and the Knight destroy and remake the world - they create the world of Undertale, one where there are choices. Although the characters are fearful about existing their safe, railroaded world, they are hopeful this new world would be even better with choices. Although the ending is the “same”, it’s context would be different depending on what you did in Undertale. If you ended with True Pacifist ending, you have proven the hopes the Deltarune people had for the new world correct. If you did a Genocide run, then the Deltarune people just look like dupes and overidealistic fools and you have accidently proven the Angel’s Paradise totally correct about how nobody can be trusted with choices and you’re no better than the Queen whooops. 

6. Undertale tells us the original meaning of the Delta Rune symbol has been lost to time. I’m guessing that although the Underground interpeted as a prophecy of freedom - this was all just conjecture and coincidence on their part. The real meaning will be revealed in Delta Rune, it’s probably the Delta Warriors banishing the Angel’s Paradise (IE, the Undertale World’s creation myth, basically). Question is, why is one of the triangles upside down?

7. Not only do I think Sans might be originally from the Deltarune timeline (and aware of it), I think he might be a Darkner. Implications that Sans might not be originally from neither the Underground or the Surface, and that he might not be a proper Monster - are well-documented in the Undertale fandom (”You must really want to go home. Hey, I know the feeling, buddo.” “look. i gave up trying to go back a long time ago. and getting to the surface doesn't really appeal anymore, either.” The fact that he bleeds, can dodge attack and we don’t ACTUALLY see him turn to dust.) I just never took them super-seriously cause none of the purposed “solutions” made sense to me. Sans as a Darkner, though? Darkners are not originally from the Underground, Lancer’s dialouge implies they can bleed, and we don’t know what happens when *they* die. Not to mention, they can perfectly dodge attacks if they’re ‘On Guard’. ALSO, the most consistent difference between Monsters and Darkners? Monsters have Black-and-White dialouge icons, Darkners have them in full-color. But Sans (and Papyrus) have black-and-white faces. Darkners or Monsters, THEIR PROFILES WOULD LOOK THE SAME. That’s the sort of Hidden-in-Plain-Sight twist Toby Fox is into. Papyrus is almost certainly a Monster, he turns to dust when you kill him and everything. So that would mean Papyrus and Sans are not brothers by blood or something like that. Maybe Sans adopted that little Monster Skeleton Child as his “brother” to keep his Lightner disguise intact and ended up really honestly caring for the guy as his true bro.

8. Speaking of Papyrus? Something is very much up with him being one of the only Undertale Monsters you don’t get to meet. I support the speculation that he might have a radically different personality in that timeline, but also... Sans only mentions hanging out with his “Little Brother”, he never mentioned a name. Could it be that Sans’ brother is not Papyrus? At least not yet? I mean, we still don’t know where Gaster fits into this timeline.

9. I’m betting that Deltarune Asriel is... secretly a jerk. Mostly because: A. Ralsei is an obvious Flowey-Analogue and he’s as sweet as they come so what does that makes of the analoge for Flowey’s sweet alterego. B. Everyone is just so fucking praiseful of the guy some other shoe’s gotta drop C. Deltarune has some real ‘Monkey’s Paw’ vibes in regards to what people wanted out of Undertale 2 (Dark World = Just Undertale Again with Some Terms Switched and Upgraded Gameplay, Light World = Hanging Out with the Post-Pacifist Happy Ending Characters) it only make sense Toby Fox would want to fuck with our desire to see Asriel alive by making him such a radically different (and asshole) person. Kris’ gloomy and antisocial personality might be a result of being bullied by their big brother while nobody notices and assumes Asriel is Just Such a Nice Big Bro and Great and Hot. I’d be bitter too. They could have, like, a sequence that plays on our expecations of Asriel from Undertale. Where at first he comes in and seem as nice and sweet as that other Asriel and the player buys into it too (even though Kris was in a position where he would have recognized it as non-sincere) only for it to be NOOOPE he’s a jerk actually! Why did you fall for his trap Kris you’re the one person who knows how he REALLY is it’s almost like you’re mind-controlled or something? Thankfully, since Asriel was last in town, Kris aquired a new mean purple friend who likes eating faces and doesn’t like mean family members.

10. As for the OTHER Goatson, I don’t think Ralsei is like... secretly sinister or deciving Kris and Susie - but I also don’t think his worldview is as sweet and correct and right all the time. His issue is more... naivete, and being just a bit too comfortable with a lack of choice. (He honestly doesn’t seem to realize why Susie isn’t really into “Well, the prophecy says you’re a chosen one so you MUST be a hero and act nice and stuff). Although he means well, I think more will be called into question about his worldview other than the Pacifism. I am also... kinda expecting the twist that he might not be the Prince from the Dark. Again, not because he lied, but because he was... mistaken. (In the Legend of the Deltarune speia tone thing, the Monster and Human clearly look like Susie and Kris - but the Prince of the Dark only looks like Ralsei because he is wearing a cloak, which is not his default outfit. I feel like this might be relevant). He wanted it to be true cause then he’d get to go on an adventure and be a hero and have friends - so he just convinced himself it’s true. Would he be so okay with following prophecies when he finds out that, like, Lancer or whatever is who’s REALLY supposed to be a hero and friends with Susie and Kris?

11. Also that part about Darkners being made with a ‘purpose’, to ‘serve’ the Lightners... it REALLY creeps me out. Ralsei says Lancer feels good inside about being friends with Kris and Susie because he’s ‘fulfilling his purpose’... Is it possible that maybe all Darkners are just... a little too suggestible to friendship from Lightners? Like the friendship with Lancer seems pretty honest, but maybe all the ‘friendships’ we made with the Darkners we spared had less to do with us just being nice and more about us accidently overriding their free will??? Scary to think about, but it fits with the theme of Restrained for the Greater Good versus Free and Evil. It could also explain the King of Spades’ reaction to Lancer saying the Lightners are his friends, as far as the Spade King knew this was more Mind Control than actual friendship. Maybe the Spade King doesn’t think there’s any way to solve that dilemma but destory all the Lightners so that the Darkners won’t have to worry about that ‘purpose’ shit anymore? He thinks it might be the only way his people could have free will? (Also there’s a real theme here about rejecting railroading by becoming a villain; Spade King being a self-professed ‘Bad Guy’, Susie rejecting the role of the Hero to also become a Bad Guy, probably Kris at the end)

12. As for the ‘purpose’ for which Darkners were created. Well, to be meta, I think they were created to be NPCs for RPGames... sorta. I don’t think the game is gonna use the term outright, but they’ll word it like the Darkners were created to play villains and secondary roles in epic-fantasy-stories Lightners made happen inside their realm. That’s why the Dark World follows RPG Logic closer than the Underground (you can sell items in shops, for example), and why all the Darkners are themed after things like Chess and Checkers and Card Games and Plushies. They were made to be playthings, games. 

I think that’s it for my predictions to what’s gonna happen next in Deltarune, stay tuned to literally none of them being true in any way.

[minigenos]

Visitor, Part 1

Part 1 (you are here) ― Part 2

Ralsei manages to find a way into the human world and spends the day with Kris.

Note: Italicized Kris is the real deal Kris. Unitalicized Kris is the player-controlled Kris.

“Kris! Wake up and get downstairs dear! You've got company!”

Toriel's voice cut through the house and into Kris' room, but it wasn't enough to wake the teen. It was the weekend and he wanted to sleep.

“Kris? Are you up yet?”

He let out a small groan of annoyance and curled up under his blankets. Let her wake up the entire town for all he cared. Kris would wake up when he was good and ready.

Which, to his own surprise, was right now.

His body jolted a couple times before launching itself out of bed. Kris quickly stood up, dumbfounded as to why he would do such a thing, and moved to the center of his room. And promptly did... absolutely nothing.

Wait a second... he thought to himself. This feels... The teen tried to move his arms, but nothing happened. The same was so with his legs.

His body felt different. But familiar.

All too familiar.

It was just like before. Kris, the real Kris, had become a spectator within his own body. Whatever took control of him on that fateful day had regained control. But how? It shouldn't have been possible, not by a long shot. He had removed his soul and...

With what little control he still had, Kris turned his head just enough to check on the birdcage where his soul should be.

But it wasn't there.

SHIT, the teen swore to himself. He had no idea who could have done such a thing or how, considering the rattling of the cage would have easily woken him up, but things were what they were right now, and he was merely along for the ride.

Until he was the one back in control.

With the real Kris having no further say over what his own body did, Kris stood still where he was for over ten minutes without moving a muscle.

If you're going to take over my body at least do something with it, he snarkily commented, hoping whatever was in control could hear him. It didn't seem to have any effect.

Great.

Just great.

He couldn't even badmouth his captor.

After another couple of minutes Kris finally turned and moved to a silver four-pointed star that sat between the cage and his bed. A light brush against it activated the save point, bringing up his personal information screen. Kris, LV 1, 00:00:00. There was no save file, and oddly enough no capacity to save. He would have liked to have known who was in control this time, but it seemed like it would stay a mystery for right now.

With saving being an impossible task, Kris closed the screen and proceeded out of his room. He made a quick trip over to Toriel's room and attempted to open the door, but to no avail. Nothing else seemed to interest the teen, so he finally made his way downstairs.

Toriel's voice carried through the living room and kitchen to where the teen stood at the bottom of the stairs.

“Were you the friend Kris had told me about? He didn't say too much, so I wasn't sure.”

Kris couldn't hear what the other person was saying. He moved closer to get a better eavesdropping vantage point.

“Oh, did you just move here then? I hadn't heard of anybody new in town; this place is pretty small after all... Ah, you're just visiting? How wonderful!”

Whomever the other person was had such a mild voice Kris still had trouble hearing them despite being nearly flush against the wall that separated the two rooms. Welp, that only left one option – he would just have to head into the living room and see who this mysterious visitor was.

Without wasting a second Kris finally made his appearance, and froze once he saw the all-too-familiar figure sitting in the chair across from his mom.

“Oh, there you are,” Toriel said. “I called for you over ten minutes ago. What were you doing up there?”

Kris rolled his eyes at his mom's comment. For a brief second the teen was glad he didn't have any control over his body right now.

“Anyways, I was having quite a nice conversation with Ralsei here. I didn't know you had made more friends.” She seemed extremely proud of that fact to the point where she almost forgot to ask how they had met. Almost.

“By the way, how did you two meet?” Toriel asked with a warm smile on her face.

There was no weaseling out of the question. Kris would have to think of something, and fast.

“Asriel's sports meet,” the teen said without batting an eye. Ralsei nodded when Toriel looked over to him, making the lie all the more believable.

“Oh, that's wonderful!” she said with a small clap of her hands. “Well, I don't want to keep you two here, especially on such a nice day, so how about this,” Toriel grabbed her purse and fished around in it until she pulled out her wallet. The monster held out a $20 bill towards Kris. “Why don't you two go into town and have lunch? My treat.”

Kris nodded and shoved the money into his pocket, bringing his riches all the way up to $22.

“I don't want to keep you two any longer than I already have,” Toriel said as she sat back down in her chair. “Just come back before curfew. I'll see you later dear.” She waved the pair goodbye as Kris guided Ralsei out and closed the door behind them.

Now that his mom was out of the way, the teen turned towards the Darkner.

“Hi again!” Ralsei said before Kris could get a word out. “Can you believe it? I'm- I'm just so excited! I can't believe I'm standing here, in the Lightner's world, right now! I know it wasn't that long ago, but...” Kris could see underneath the shadows that obscured the monster's face that he was smiling sheepishly, like a puppy awaiting praise. “...did you miss me?”

Almost immediately Kris wrapped his arms around the prince, embracing him in a hug. The response was far more than what Ralsei had expected, causing him to blush deeply.

“Really? You missed me that much?”he asked while trying his best to hold back tears. “You really are a great friend, you know that?”

With their reintroduction over, Kris finally had an opening to ask how the Darkner had managed to find a way into his world.

“It wasn't too difficult,” Ralsei replied. “Some monsters traced your steps back all the way to where you first arrived in our world, and found trace amounts of energy from the portal that brought you to us. It wasn't too difficult to reverse-engineer the portal. I was able to do most of it myself...” he trailed off, a mix of pride and embarrassment on his face.

Kris couldn't help but be impressed at the monster's feat, and said as much, which caused a huge smile to spread across the monster's face.

“Really? You think so? I'm so glad!” He paused for a few seconds before continuing. “Um, but the portal won't last too long. If you want to go somewhere we'll have to go now. I can't get stuck on this side when it closes you see. Just lead the way and I'll follow.”

Without giving too much mind as to the limitations and stipulations of Ralsei's portal, Kris led the monster south towards the diner.

“Oh heeeyyy!” Catty waved at the two as she walked up. “I, like, totally didn't know you knew anyone outside of town Kris! Your friend is totally cute!”

“Thank you very much,” Ralsei replied.

“For a second I was totally confused when they said they were looking for your house! I thought they had confused you with Asriel or something. Guess that was my bad, haha!”

She really doesn't know when to keep her mouth shut, Kris commented into the void as he watched on, powerless to say or do anything of substance.

“Anyhow, don't be such strangers!” the cat monster said as Kris and Ralsei continued onward.

Once they were far enough away the Darkner moved until he was next to the teen and walking in sync with him. “You have quite some characters here,” the monster commented with a small smile. His face seemed to be a combination of happiness, sadness, and even a tinge of nostalgia. Unable to give any sort of response, Kris continued leading the way until the pair had finally reached the diner.

To their luck, the breakfast rush had long since died down and only one other patron was seated inside. The pair quickly claimed a booth that sat against the western side of the establishment.

“Hey kid. Who's your friend here?” their waitress asked as she pulled a pen out of her apron.

“I'm just visiting,” Ralsei replied with a disarming smile.

“Heh, alright then. Do you know what you want, or do ya need more time to think it over?”

Kris didn't need much time. “One hot chocolate please, with everything on it,” he said, returning the unopened menu to the edge of the table. The waitress nodded and scribbled it down on the note pad.

“One deluxe hot cocoa,” she said before turning her attention towards Ralsei. “And you?”

“Oh that sounds good! I'll take the same!” the Darkner said in a chipper tune as he followed suit with his menu.

“Aiight, it'll be just a couple minutes then, huns,” the monster replied as she picked up the menus and walked back behind the counter.

Now that the pair had a few minutes to kill before their drinks were ready, Kris could take the opportunity to ask Ralsei some questions. The teen looked over to his friend, who had his nose and hands pressed up against the window like a five year old.

“Wow. It's so bright here.” He commented with a bit of childish wonder. “I wish I could take a little bit of this back home with me, haha.”

“Hey Ralsei,” Kris said, quickly snapping the Darkner out of his own thoughts.

“Oh? What is it?” the monster replied as he tore his eyes from the sights outside.

“How are... you?” he asked with a small pause.

“Me? I'm fine,” Ralsei answered. “Actually, I've been thinking of ways to bring monsters back into town since, well, you know. Lancer suggested we have a party to make the town look like a more desirable place to live. He even offered to help bake a cake for it.” He let out a small chuckle before continuing. “He, ah, tried to make a cake out of worms. Maybe needless to say, it didn't turn out very well.”

That last bit was pretty good, Kris had to admit.

“So the party is officially on hold until the kitchen is habitable again,” the Darkner finished with a sheepish smile.

“Here you go huns,” the waitress said as she placed Kris and Ralsei's order down in front of them. Two ceramic mugs filled to the brim with hot chocolate, with a heaping portion of whipped topping, chocolate sauce, and even small chocolate shavings on top. “Careful you two; don't burn yourselves,” she added while placing a pair of straws down on the table for them to use.

“Thank you! It smells delicious!” Ralsei beamed as he carefully dragged his mug closer.

“Thanks,” Kris added while grabbing one of the straws.

Ralsei watched Kris remove the straw from its packaging and place it inside his mug, then quickly followed suit with his own straw.

“You should really wait-” Kris' warning was quickly cut off by a small yelp of shock and pain as Ralsei learned the hard way why he should have waited a few minutes before taking the first sip.

“Oh that's hot!” the Darkner said as he held a hand to his mouth.

“I tried to warn you...” the teen said as he swirled the topping of his own drink in circles. Not surprisingly, Ralsei began to parrot his actions and slowly stirred the mug's contents as he switched between glancing outside and back to Kris.

Once their drinks had cooled down enough to actually be drinkable, Kris gulped down a sizable portion of his share as he waited for Ralsei to finish chugging what was left in his own mug. Despite his slightly scalded mouth, the Darkner had managed to down everything in one go.

“HAAH! That was delicious!” the monster exclaimed as he placed the mug back down with the softest thump possible. “I wish we had this where I live! I bet everybody would love it!”

With Ralsei somewhat sated by his drink, the teen took the opportunity to ask him one more question.

“So, why are you here?”

“What do you mean?”

“You went through all that effort to get here and act like it's no big feat just to see me?”

“Well, yeah. You were kind of the first friend I ever had. I just... couldn't say goodbye like that.” Ralsei's face flushed slightly.

Well, at least it's impossible for him to lie to me with a straight face, Kris thought to himself.

Satisfied with Ralsei's answer, Kris continued.

“What about Susie? Did you try to see if she was home?”

“Of course!” the prince replied before shaking his head slightly. “...but when I asked where she lived the monsters said she wasn't home. So I figured it was just going to be us for today.

“But that's ok! I'm having lots of fun just being here with you!” he quickly interjected before Kris could get a word in.

“Here's your check, hun,” the waitress said as she placed the slip face-down next to the teen. $5.50 for the two hot chocolates. Kris quickly made change to pay for their drinks and leave a $2.50 tip. He figured it would probably be best to leave a decent tip lest word make its way back to Toriel – this was a small town after all.

With their drinks done and paid for the pair left the diner and almost immediately turned in different directions. Ralsei, curious about the unusual mascots in front of the store next to the diner, began walking to his left when a hand quickly grabbed his shoulder.

Oh god no! Kris cursed. The last thing he wanted to do was have a run-in with Burger Pants while Ralsei was with him. Thankfully the being in control of his body seemed to think in a similar vein and gently dragged the prince all the way across the street. Well thank god for small favors, he added with a snarky roll of his eyes.

On a positive note, the pair had narrowly avoided one very embarrassing conversation. However, they were now directly in front of Sans' shop, and Kris couldn't stop the prince from going inside.

“Have you been in here before? This place looks neat!” Ralsei said as his scarf wrapped around the door handle like a human's hand. The teen had no option but to follow the monster's lead.

The inside the shop was... surprisingly spacious, with neatly-stocked shelves along every row. Kris couldn't help but feel the place was almost too big, considering how small it looked from the outside. A faint chipper and almost goofy-sounding tune was playing over the speakers, just loud enough to be heard without annoying the customers.

Kris really didn't like the tune.

“I'm gonna go look around really quick!” Ralsei said before dashing off to the opposite end of the store. He seemed to be drawn to the candy section and was quickly mesmerized by all the colorful packaging hanging from the rows of bars.

“heya kiddo,” a familiar voice said from behind the cash register. It was Sans, who was leaning back in his chair as he completed the newspaper's crossword puzzle. “wasn't expecting to see ya here so early. who's yer new friend over there?” The skeleton nudged his head towards the Darkner, who still seemed to be absorbed in the sugary oasis.

“That's Ralsei,” Kris replied. “He's a friend.”

“oh hey, that's neat,” Sans said as he finally moved to sit upright. “yaknow i was just about to take my break and come ask ya if you were ready to baby sit my little bro for me, but since it seems you're busy we'll just have to schedule it for another day.”

Even though Kris didn't have any control over his body, he could still tell that the individual in charge took Sans' words like a punch to the gut. Why was this guy's brother so damn important?

“Hey Kris, could you get me this please?” Ralsei asked, breaking up the one-sided conversation between Sans and the teen. He slapped a bag of gummy worms on the counter using his scarf like a hand again.

His pleading puppy dog eyes and smile were literally impossible to say no to.

“Yeah, sure,” Kris agreed with a small dejected sigh. He pulled out a dollar from his pocket and-

“that'll be two bucks kid.”

WHAT?! Two dollars for that small bag of candy? Sans was running a damn racket in here! Kris looked the skeleton dead in the eyes as he pulled out another dollar and handed the money over.

“thank ya kindly,” he said while lazily stowing the bills into the cash register.

As expensive as the candy might have been, the teen couldn't feel bad about it for too long. Ralsei seemed super happy to have them, excited even.

“I didn't know you had worms like these!” the prince beamed as he followed Kris to the door. “Lancer will be so excited to see this! I can't wait to show him! I wonder if I can use these instead of our worms to make a cake... hmmm...”

While Ralsei was busy with his own thoughts Kris took a moment to look back at Sans, who had reassumed his previous position of leaning back in his chair as he started on the newspaper's Sudoku. The skeleton looked up from his work for a split second to stare at the teen dead in the eyes again before returning to his work.

God I hate that shit-eating grin, Kris muttered into the void as the shop's door closed behind the pair.