No One is Happy with This (Undertale)

66 ~ Burnt

After your first success with the staff Gaster gave you, Undyne goes super-ultimate-training mode on you. She puts you through a super hard training regime, and makes you stick to it. She pushes you harder than ever before.

But after an entire week, all you can manage are a few red fizzling sparks. You ask Gaster about it, and...

He just shrugs. "I really don't know anything about this stuff; my guess is only a bit more educated than yours. I'm sure you can figure it out, though." So you just keep trying.

October comes, and with it, Halloween. In addition to all the candy you get, you learn Gaster can do some pretty freaky stuff, like go from slightly-eccentric-but-normal-Gaster to a full-on being of the Void, Soulless black eyesockets accompanied by a gaping crevice across his face of a smile and black ooze that bubbles and broils for a body. Needless to say, despite the rather cheery decorations Papyrus put up, the Gaster household earns more screams than any other house in Ebott town. At least, until Papyrus sees all the traumatized children and won't let Gaster answer the door anymore.

Only a few days after the candy gathering holiday, you get a new result from you attempted Magic usage.

But it's not a good one.

You and Undyne are at the park, training. You're bundled up against the November chill, and Undyne is wearing her usual tank top and jeans. She "refuses to show weakness in the face of nature" or something like that. You don't really understand why she'd put herself through that chilly suffering when she doesn't have to, but hey, it's Undyne.

Regardless. The pair of you are standing opposite each other. Undyne is holding a spear, and you've got your staff.

"Come on!" Undyne shouts to you. "You can do it! Hit me! This time you'll do it for sure!"

She continues shouting encouragement. You focus, reach deep inside yourself. Gaster's assured you that, living in this monster populated area, the air is completely saturated with Magic, and you should never run out of your borrowed scraps. It just takes effort to pull at it, draw it through you.

A moment or two of concentration, and a soft red flicker, the color of Determination, jumps at the runes carved into the staff. The sparks are edged in all manner of other colors. Gaster hypothesized that this is because it is borrowed Magic, Magic that was made by other monsters, so even though you've made it your own, it still retains a touch of the color from the creator.

On seeing the sparks, Undyne let's out a triumphant cheer. "Yeah!! That's it!! Keep it up! NNNYAAAAAAAGGGHHHH!!"

She proceeds to suplex a park bench.

You screw up your face in concentration and pull harder at the Magic.

You can feel it, pulsing in your chest.

Grab it. Pull it. Wrap it around you. Guide it along your arms. Through your palms. Across your fingertips.

Pulsing power, slipping from your hands into the staff.

It's strong. Very strong.

Suddenly, the staff is alight with a deep red glow, and with a sort of ZZZZWWWHHHHSSHHHH noise, you feel a sudden burst of Magic tear through the wooden stick. It's powerful, so powerful, positively burning with power.