It's been about a week since we last saw Ben and Frisk. In that week, the two of them became very close. Ever since their beat down, Cash and JT have left Ben and Frisk alone, as well as any other kids they would bully. We currently see Ben in his last class, waiting for the bell to ring.
Ben: 'When will the bell ring?' He sighs as he looks out the window, still listening to the lesson. 'I'm glad nothing has happened recently, but it's still boring.' Ben is pulled out of his thoughts when he hears his teacher call his name.
Teacher: "Mister Tennyson. Could you show us how to solve this equation?" He points at an equation that would be difficult for a 6th grader.
Ben then gets up and walks over to the chalkboard. He grabs a piece of chalk and answers the question quickly. He then begins to walk back to his chair.
Teacher: "Correct, now let's explain how Ben came to this conclusion." He begins to go into an in-depth explanation on how Ben solved the problem. Ben continues to look out the window, watching as birds fly by. Eventually, the bell rings and the kids start packing their stuff.
Teacher: "And that's all. You have no homework, so enjoy your weekend. But remember, we'll be going over this Monday." As he says this, Ben quickly walks out of the classroom.
Ben: 'Finally. That was more boring than usual.' His phone pings and he checks it. It's a text from Frisk.
Frisk: [Hey Ben. Where are you right now?]
Ben: [I'm on my way to the entrance of the school. I'll be there soon.]
Frisk: [Ok. See you soon.😘]
Ben chuckles with a light blush dusting his face. He puts his phone away before continuing to walk to the front entrance. He still doesn't understand why she constantly flirts with him. He believes she either likes him, or just wants to tease him. He eventually makes it to the entrance of the school, however, he doesn't see Frisk anywhere.
Ben: 'Where is she?' He looks around. 'She's not usually late.'
He suddenly feels a presence behind him. He turns around and sees Frisk attempting to sneak up on him from behind a bush. As soon as Ben looks at her, she freezes in place before pouting.
Frisk: "How do you always know?" She crosses her arms, a pout still on her face.
Ben: "I've fought people trying to kill me. So it's not hard to tell if someone's trying to sneak up on me."
Frisk: "I guess that makes sense." She grumbles before grabbing Ben's hand and beginning to walk away. "Come on. Let's go!"
Ben: "Okay, okay!" He quickly starts walking next to her. "You know, you don't have to hold my hand all the time."
Frisk: "I know. I just like to. Of course, we can stop if you get too nervous~." She sticks out her tongue in a teasing manner.
Ben just rolls his eyes and continues to walk with Frisk, the two of them holding hands. After a while, the both of them arrive at Ben's house. They both go inside, where they are immediately greeted by Rex.
Ben: "Hey there Rex." He pets Rex's head and scratches his chin while Rex tries to lick his face.
Eventually, Rex turns his attention to Frisk. He starts to lick her face, which makes Frisk giggle uncontrollably.
Frisk: "Hey! Quit that!" She says between giggles. Eventually, Rex stops his assault and walks back into the living room, Ben and Frisk following suit.
Frisk: "So, what do we do now, Ben?"
Ben: "I'm going to make some food for us." He starts walking into the kitchen. "What would you like?"
Frisk: "A PB&J please!" She says excitedly.
Ben begins to make Frisk and himself each a PB&J. Rex watches and quietly begs for some. When Ben's done making the sandwiches, he lets Rex lick the peanut butter off of the butter knife before putting it away in the sink. He then gives Frisk her PB&J, who gladly takes it.
Frisk: "Thanks!" She begins eating the PB&J with a happy expression. "It's really good!" She says, her mouth still full.
Ben chuckles before beginning to eat his sandwich too. When they are both finished, they begin to sit on the couch.
Frisk: "Wanna play some games?" She says, holding up a controller.
Ben: "Sure." He turns on the console and grabs a controller. "What do you want to play?"
Frisk: "Smash Bros!" She says excitedly. "I swear, I will beat you this time!"
Ben: "Are you sure? Because I remember you've said that before."
Frisk: "This time, it's true!" They both pick their mains. Ben's being Mario's and Frisk's being Captain Falcon.
Ben: "Then let's go!" They both start playing.
=============================================================================================
Timeskip: 1 Hour Later
Ben: "And that's game!" He uses Mario's ultimate, taking out Captain Falcon. "What does that make the count? 8 to 0?" He states confidently.
Frisk: "No fair!" She starts pouting again. "How are you so good at this!?"
Ben: "Actually, I think you're just bad at this." Frisk responds by playfully hitting him on the arm. "Okay! Sorry!" He laughs as Frisk stops hitting him.
Frisk: "Hey, I have an idea."
Ben: "What is it?" He says, suspicious of her.
Frisk: "Let's go climb Mt. Ebott!" This surprises Ben.
Ben: "What? Why would you want to do that?"
Frisk: "I want to see what the view is like from up there. I heard it's really nice, especially at sunset."
Ben: "I guess it should be fine." He gets up from the couch. "Let me just get my jacket. You can wait at the door."
Frisk: "Okay!" She walks over to the door and waits for Ben. When he does return he's wearing his favorite hoodie.
Ben: "You ready to go Frisk?" He says as he ties his shoes.
Frisk: "Mhm! Come on! Let's go!" She says impatiently.
Ben: "I'm coming, I'm coming." He finishes tying his shoes and goes outside with Frisk and sets Mt. Ebbot. "You sure you're up for this?"
Frisk: "More than sure!" She smiles excitedly before grabbing Ben's hand. She then starts walking with Ben following close beside her.
=============================================================================================
Timeskip: Near the Top of the Mountain
We see Ben has effortlessly managed to climb up the mountain. He is barely even tired. The same couldn't be said about Frisk. She shakily manages to reaches the top and falls to the ground, completely out of breath. Ben goes over to help her up.
Ben: "Starting to have second thoughts about this?" He says while pulling Frisk up to her feet.
Frisk: "N-never!" She stands for a second to collect her breath before moving over to the massive hole in the top of the mountain. "Look at this."
Ben looks over and sees the massive hole. He squints and sees something bright yellow at the bottom of it.
Ben: "There appears to be something at the bottom." Frisk suddenly gasps before turning to Ben.
Frisk: "Let's go down there!"
Ben: "What!?" He quickly snaps his head in her direction. "Are you crazy!?"
Frisk: "Come on, don't tell me you're not curious whether the legends are true or not." She leans in closer to his face. "I know you are."
Ben sighs before taking his phone out.
Ben: "Fine, but I'm telling my parents about this before we go down there. That way, they won't think we just disappeared." He dials a number in his phone. Eventually, someone answers.
Sandra: "Hello? Is something wrong Ben?"
Ben: "No, but I wanted to ask you something."
Sandra: "What is it?"
Ben: "Well, me and Frisk want to find out if the legends of Mt. Ebbot are true, so we were planning on going into the mountains to find out. Is that okay?"
There's a long pause. This stresses Ben out. Eventually, his mom sighs before responding.
Sandra: "Yes it's fine. But if it turns out the legends aren't true, you come right back, understood?" She said in a worried tone.
Ben: "I understand. And don't worry, I'll make sure Frisk stays out of trouble."
Sandra: "I know, sweetie. Be careful."
Ben: "I will. By mom."
Sandra: "Bye sweetie." They both hang up the phone.
Frisk: "So?~ Are we going down, or what?" She says with a cheeky smile.
Ben: "Yeah we are. Just give me a minute." He twists the dial on his Omnitrix before getting to Stinkfly. He then presses down on the faceplate, engulfing himself into a green light.
Frisk: "Cool." She says with stars in her eyes. She then climbs on Stinkfly's back. "Well what are you waiting for? Let's go!"
Stinkfly: "Yeah, yeah. I heard you." He flies off the ground before slowly flying down the hole.
As he flies down, he looks around at the inside of the hole. He observes just how deep the cavern goes. If someone were to fall in, they would certainly die on impact. He also notices three large marble pillars, vines wrapped around them, that surround the patch of yellow at the bottom. He eventually reaches to the bottom, landing next to a small patch of golden flowers.
Stinkfly: "Wow. That's beautiful."
Frisk: "Yeah." There's a long pause.
Stinkfly: "Can you please get off of me now?"
Frisk: "Oh, right." She gets off of Stinkfly. "Sorry."
Stinkfly: "It's alright." He presses the badge on his forehead, transforming back into Ben.
Frisk: "What now?"
Ben looks around and notices a path across from the patch of flowers.
Ben: "There." He points to the path, making Frisk look at it. "If any monsters do live in this mountain, they're bound to be that way." He fiddles with the Omnitrix and it beeps. "There, now the safety protocol won't activate unless absolutely necessary."
Frisk: "Then let's get going." She grabs his hand and begins to walk down the path.
Ben grips his hand a little tighter around hers, keeping his guard up for whatever may show up. After the short path, they see a green patch of grass to their left a singular flower growing in it. You and Frisk carefully approach the flower. However, once you get close, it's eyes open and it introduces itself.
Flowey: "Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the Flower!" He says with a seemingly happy face.
Both Ben and Frisk are quite shocked. However, Ben is a bit less shocked. He's dealt with a case of intelligent plant life before, but that thing back at the camp didn't actually speak with a mouth, so it was still a bit shocking.
Flowey notices this shock and chuckles before continuing.
Flowey: "Hmmm...You're new to the UNDERGROUND, aren' tcha?"
Ben: "Uh, yeah. We just came down the hole back there." He says, pointing behind himself.
Flowey: "Golly, you must be so confused. Someone ought to teach you how things how things work around here!" He chuckles again, which doesn't sit right with Ben. "I guess little old me will have to do. You ready? Here we go!"
Suddenly, the entire environment, including their bodies, turn black and white. Two hearts also appear over both Frisk and Ben's chests. Frisk's is red, and Ben's is half orange and half yellow, split down at the middle. They also appear to be trapped in a small area, outlined in a white box.
Frisk: "Woah! W-what is that!?" She attempts to touch it, but Ben stops her.
Ben: "What's going on Flowey? What are these things?" He gestures to the hearts hovering in front of their chests.
Flowey: "Those are your souls. The very culminations of your beings!" This shocks both Ben and Frisk greatly. "Your SOUL starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV."
Frisk: "So like a video game." She quietly mutters to herself.
Ben: "What is LV? I mean, what does it stand for?"
Flowey: "It stands for LOVE." This sounds suspicious to Ben, but he's not sure why. "You want some LOVE, don't you? Don't worry, I'll share some with you!" He winks, sticking his tongue out.
Suddenly, small white pellets suddenly appear. Ben instinctively gets in front of Frisk.
Flowey: "Down here, LOVE is shared through....little white....'friendliness pellets'." This REALLY doesn't sound right to Ben. "Are you ready? Move around!" He shoots the pellets at the two, however they move very slowly. "Catch as many as you can!"
Ben picks up Frisk and jumps away from the path of the pellets. Frisk blushes a bit from being picked up. Flowey gets a slightly irritated face.
Flowey: "Hey buddy, you missed them. Let's try again, okay?" He summons more pellets and shoots them at Ben. Ben jumps out of the way of the pellets again. This makes Flowey even madder. "Is this a joke? Are you braindead? RUN! INTO! THE! BULLETS!!! I mean 'friendliness pellets'."
He sends more, this time quicker than before. Ben dodges them, but he is too late to notice another bullet that Flowey sent in the direction he would dodge. He moves his body so he is hit instead of Frisk. When the bullet makes contact with him, he feels a white hot pain shoot throughout his body. The sudden pain is so intense, it almost makes him collapse. His body feels weaker and the Omnitrix is quietly beeping, just loud enough for him and Frisk to hear.
Frisk: "Ben!" She holds his face, a worried look on hers. "Are you okay!?"
Ben: "Yeah. I'm...okay. "He says between deep breaths.
Flowey: "You thought you could trick me?" Both Ben and Frisk look at Flowey, and what they see creeps them out.
Flowey: "You idiots. In this world, it's kill or be killed." He summons a large circle of white pellets around the two of them. "DIE!" The circle starts to close as Flowey maniacally laughs. Ben holds Frisk close and prepares to use the Omnitrix as the circle closes in. However, before he can, the pellets disappear just before they make contact with him or Frisk. In fact, Ben feels better, as if he wasn't hit to begin with. Flowey has a confused look on his face.
Suddenly, a small fireball is launched at Flowey, blasting him into a nearby wall. Then, a tall goat lady in a black robe, an odd symbol resting on the front, walks in front of the two.
???: "What a terrible creature, torturing such young , innocent children."
Toriel: "I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins. I pass through her every day to see if anyone has fallen down." She kneels in front of Ben and Frisk. "What are your names, children?" She says in a quiet and calm demeanor.
Ben: "My name is Ben, and her name is Frisk. It's nice to meet you and Toriel. Thanks for helping us." This gets a giggle from Toriel.
Toriel: "Just Toriel is fine, Benjamin. Now, I must get you two somewhere safe. You two are the first humans to fall down here in a long time." She stands up. "Come children. I will guide you through the catacombs." The environment turns back to normal, which allows you to see that Toriel's robe is actually purple. The souls on their chests also disappear. She starts walking away, Ben following close behind, still holding Frisk.
Frisk: "Hey Ben~" Ben looks down at her. "Could you please put me down?~ Unless, of course, you really want to hold me this much~" This makes a dust of blush to appear on his face.
Ben: "Why do you feel the need to tease me like this?"
Frisk: "Because you look so cute when you're flustered~" She gently caresses his face, making Ben blush a bit more.
Ben: "All right, I'm putting you down now." Ben puts Frisk down, eliciting a giggle from Frisk, as they continue to follow Toriel. After a short while, you reach two short sets of stairs in front of a doorway, which has a small window on each side of it. There are a pile of leaves in the middle of the stairways.
Ben & Frisk: "Cool/Woah." They say simultaneously, admiring the beauty of the room.
Toriel: "Follow me, children." She says at the top of the stairs. "We must keep moving forward."
Ben and Frisk quickly follow her through the doorway. When they get to the next room, they see a large door, several pressure plates on the floor, and a yellow lever next to the door.
Toriel: "Allow me to educate you two in the operation of the Ruins." Toriel walks over the second and fourth row of pressure plates. Toriel then flips the switch on the wall, opening the door. "The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them." She walks into the next room.
Frisk: "She's nice." She says with a bright smile.
Ben: "Yeah." He walks over to a wall with writing on it. "'Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.'" He reads aloud. "Oh, that's the clue to the puzzle. It is a bit obvious though."
Frisk: "Yeah, that's true." She grabs Ben's hand again. "Come on. We don't want to keep Toriel waiting."
Ben just nods and the both of them walk into the next room. When they go in, they see Toriel standing there, waiting for them.
Toriel: "To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches. Do not worry, I have labeled the ones that need flipped." She walks to her left, beckoning Ben and Frisk to follow, which they do. She stops in front of a small bridge. "The first switch is over on the wall."
Both Ben and Frisk look to their left, and they see a lever with some writing next to it. They both walk over to it and Frisk pulls the lever down. They walk back to Toriel, who walks over to the next area. She stands in front of a doorway, which has spikes at the base of it. To the left are two levers. One of them is labeled, the other is not.
Toriel: "Go on. Press the switch on the left."
Instead of both of them, only Ben walks over to the lever and pulls it down. He hears a metallic sound and looks over at the doorway. The spikes are gone. He then walks back over to Frisk and Toriel.
Toriel: "Splendid! I am proud of you, little one. Let us move to the next room." She starts walking into the next room, Ben and Frisk following close behind.
When they enter the room, they see what looks like a training dummy near the next doorway.
Toriel: "As humans living in the UNDERGROUND, monsters may attack you. You will need to be prepared for this situation."
Ben: 'I'm more than fine, but I guess some advice from an actual monster could be helpful.' He says to himself. 'Plus, Frisk could use some help.'
Toriel: "However, worry not! The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, you will enter a FIGHT. In order to stop the fight, strike up a friendly conversation. Stall for time. I will come to resolve the conflict." She gestures to the dummy. "Now, practice talking to the dummy."
While Ben is just confused at this, Frisk doesn't hesitate and walks over to the dummy. Ben follows quickly behind. As soon as the two of them get close, a battle commences, changing the environment and making their souls appear again. However, instead of just a battle, you have four options in front of you. FIGHT, ACT, ITEM, and MERCY.
Ben: "Wow, this really is like a video game." He turns to Frisk. "What do you think we should do."
Frisk: "Let's pick ACT." She presses the ACT button, making two options appear in front of you two. CHECK, and TALK.
Ben: "Let's pick CHECK first. I'm curious what it might say about the dummy." He picks CHECK, making a new set of text to appear. "'DUMMY - ATK 0, DEF 0. A cotton heart and a button eye. You are the apple of my eye.' Huh, poetry."
After that, a text bubble appears over the dummy, but it doesn't say anything. Then, new text appears, which reads 'The dummy looks like it's about to fall over'.
Frisk: "Okay, now let's pick TALK." She presses ACT, then TALK. "Hey there mister dummy. How are you?" It doesn't speak back, and now new text appears. "'It doesn't seem much for conversation. Toriel seems happy with you.' I guess that means we did good then." She smiles.
* YOU WON!
* You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.
The area turns back to normal again.
Toriel: Ah, very good! You are very good." She says with a smile before leaving to the next room.
Ben: "That was so weird." He scratches his head. "Will we have to do that every time?"
Frisk: "I guess, but we just have to get used to it." Both Frisk and Ben walk into the next room.
Toriel: "There is another puzzle in this room. I wonder if you can solve it?" Ben and Frisk start following Toriel into the next area, but a monster appears and starts a fight.
Ben: "'Froggit attacks you!"' Frisk picks ACT, then CHECK. "'FROGGIT - ATK 4, DEF 5. Life is difficult for this enemy.' I wonder why?"
Before the Froggit can attack, Toriel shows up and glares at it. Froggit then starts leaving, staring at the ground in shame.
* YOU WON!
* You earned 0 XP and 0 gold.
As soon as the environment turns back to normal, Ben and Frisk start following Toriel again. Ben and Frisk read a sign as they walk by. 'The western room is the eastern room's blueprint.' The three of them soon reach a room where the floor is completely covered in spikes. There's also water surrounding the floor.
Toriel: "This is the puzzle, but..." she pauses for a moment. "Here. Take my hand for a moment. Make sure to hold the other's hand as well." She says, holding her hand out.
Ben grabs her hand, which is really soft, and then grab Frisk's. She starts guiding Ben and Frisk through the spikes. As she walks through, the spikes disappear. Eventually, the three of them reach the end of the room.
Toriel: "Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now."
Ben: 'Yeah, that's one way to put it.' He says to himself.
The three of them walk into the next room, which is really long. They all continue to walk through the room before reaching the end. There is a white pillar, wrapped in vines, adjacent to the next doorway.
Toriel: "Now, I need you to trust me, children." She takes a deep breath. "I have some business I need to take care of, so you two need to stay here for a while. It's safer here than going out on your own."
Ben: "But how will we contact you?" He takes out his cellphone. "Our phones don't work down here." Toriel thinks for a moment, before her eyes shine with an idea.
Toriel: "I have an idea." She takes out two old and clunky phones and gives them to Ben and Frisk. "If you have a need for anything, just call me, okay?"
Frisk: "We will, Ms Toriel." She hugs Toriel, who slowly returns it, before they break it. "Bye Ms Toriel." She waves at her.
Ben notices a look in Toriel's eyes. One of guilt and sadness. However, Toriel smiles happily and waves back.
Toriel: "Bye children! Stay safe!" She leaves in a hurry.
Ben: 'There's something else going on here. Why does she looks so guilty?' He sighs. 'We might find out at some point.'
Frisk: "Come on Ben!" She says, sitting at the base of the pillar. "Let's sit together and wait for Toriel to get back!"
Ben just shrugs and sits next to Frisk. She suddenly grabs his arm and hugs it. Ben just lets this happen and just continues to think.
That's the end of the chapter. See you in the next one!