No Matter What - A HC + other MCYT'S Undertale fic.

Puzzles galore!

Scar tapped his boot in the snow, his face souring. "You're so lazy! You were napping all night!"

Cub stuffed his hands into his long coat, his easy smile unfaltering. "I believe that's called 'sleeping,' you should really try it sometime."

The Vex waved his hand, turning away from his brother. "Excuses, excuses!"

Cub coughed in his fist loudly, getting Scar's attention. Oh, right, those humans from before were there.

Scar struck a dramatic pose, letting his sunglasses shine in the false light. "Oh ho! So the humans arrive! In order to stop you... my brother and I have created some puzzles!"

Scar swaggered closer, his steps leaving behind deep footprints. "I'm sure you'll find this one... quite shocking!"

He pulled the red-headed boy in close, wrapping him in one arm. "For you see, this is the incredible, amazing... invisible electricity maze!!!"

Scar jumped away, spinning on his heel for dramatic effect.

"When you touch the walls of this maze," He presented a small teal ball, the smooth orb shimmered in the dim lighting. "This orb will administer a hearty ZAP!!"

He leaned in, a bright smile gracing him as he did. "Sound like fun? I promise you, the amount of fun you will probably have... will actually be quite low, I believe."

Scar pushed the kids forward. The girl looked excited and the boy not so much. He failed to notice the orb still resting in his other hand. "Ready? Proceed!"

The girl ran ahead, straight through the middle of the maze. The orb flashed, but it wasn't her who got electrocuted.

No, instead, it was him! The orb was still in his possession! Cursed thing! Scar slam dunked it on the ground, grumbling under his breath.

Scar shook his fist, not unlike the cartoon villains he'd seen in storybooks. "You may have beat that puzzle, but the next one will be much more challenging!"

Scar ran a hand through his chared hair. Oh, it'll take ages to fix this! He just got it perfect!

-

Ice cream? In a freezing place like this?

Gem handed off a few G coins to the salesman, handing a cone to Fwhip as they walked.

Gotta admit, it was really good. The dried fruit and nuts were healthy and filling, but man, were they starting to taste awful.

Cub hovered a ways off, leaning against a tree. His smile was wide, and ice blue eyes almost glowed as the duo passed him.

The path went two ways. In one, it went a bit further and stopped by a pair of outposts. The other, it continued on.

One thing nice about having ice cream in the cold is that it didn't melt as you ate it. It kept its shape and didn't turn into a sticky, gooey mess.

Scar blocked their path, his hair and bits of clothing still smelling strongly of ash and soot.

Wait, wasn't Cub just back there a moment ago? How did he...?

"You two! I hope you're ready for-!" Scar stopped in his tracks, his smile freezing to a shocked (heh) one. The thing he was staring at?

A slip of paper on the ground, stained with dirt and melted snow.

"Cubbb! Where's the puzzle?!" He whirled on his brother, who looked unaffected.

"What do you mean? It's right there!" Cub extended his arm, gesturing to the slip of paper. He patted Scar's shoulder. "Trust me, there's no way they can get past this one!"

Fwhip picked it up, wondering how in the world this thing could count as a puzzle, and-

He doubled over laughing. Gem stood next to him, leaning over his shoulder and barely containing her snickers either.

"A word search...?! He finally gasped out, taking deep breaths to stop his giggles.

"ThAT didn't do anything!" Scar's voice pitched comedically, his head snapping over to his brother.

Cub shrugged innocently. "Woops. I knew I should've used today's crossword instead."

Scar was appalled. "WHAT?! CROSSWORD!? I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT!!! In my opinion, Junior Jumble is easily the hardest!!"

Cub grinned, neither of their attention on the two kids in front of him. Naw, he wanted to egg Scar on. "C'mon man, that baby word scramble?!"

Scar's irritation reached a fever pitch. "UN–BELIEVABLE!!" He finally acknowledged the two kids still there. "Humans! Settle this dispute!"

Fwhip tapped Gem's shoulder, leaning in close to whisper something to her. A devious grin grew as they both nodded.

"Junior Jumble!"
"Crossword!"

Scar jumped around, his excitement palpable. "HA! HA! YES! The boy agrees with me! He must be very intelligent, if he finds Jumble so difficult!!"

Scar ran off, laughed heartily over his accomplishment.

Cub patted Fwhip on the back, a genuine smile on his face. "Nice job appealing to Scar like that. It means a lot to him."

-

Fwhip picked at the frozen pasta, the fork doing nothing to free it from the icey prison. The microwave couldn't help, there wasn't anywhere to plug it in.

A shame, what a waste of perfectly good pasta.

Gem wandered off further down the path, not noticing Fwhip's pause. Sure, it was cold, but everything here was so pretty, too!

What was that word Shelby taught her? Pop- *Pogonip? Was that it?

She kicked at the snow, watching it flurry up before cascading back down.

Her shoe clunked into something metal, and a click sounded off in the near distance. Did she accidentally solve a puzzle? Alright then.

Where was Fwhip? Wasn't he supposed to be right there? Or did she go too far?

Gem didn't like the thought of being apart from him. The girl increased her pace, footsteps thumping hard in the thick snow.

An axe blocked her path, the weapon belonging to a short, stocky Dog Hybrid. At his side was another canine, both wearing light chainmail armor.

Guards. Those had to be Royal Guardsmen.

And she was in a lot of trouble.
______

*Pogonip (noun) a dense winter fog containing frozen particles that is formed in deep mountain valleys in the Western U.S.