The next area had a save point and, strangely, a table with a plate of spaghetti and another table with an unplugged microwave. There was a note next to the spaghetti that Chara read while Frisk saved. It said, HUMAN!! PLEASE ENJOY THIS SPAGHETTI. (LITTLE DO YOU KNOW, THIS SPAGHETTI IS A TRAP DESIGNED TO ENTICE YOU!!! YOU'LL BE SO BUSY EATING IT THAT YOU WON'T REALIZE THAT YOU AREN'T PROGRESSING!! THOROUGHLY JAPED AGAIN BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!!!) NYEH-HEH-HEH, PAPYRUS
Chara giggled to her self at how silly Papyrus was as she floated over to the plate of spaghetti and saw that, because it was so cold, it was frozen to the table. She looked at the microwave next and saw that all the buttons were labelled spaghetti.
Frisk finished saving and started walking towards the next area. "Um, hey Frisk." Chara said as they entered a larger area of the forest. "Have you thought about at least trying to solve the puzzles? If you need a hint, I might be able to help, I've always been good with puzzles."
"I don't have time to be wasting on some puzzles Chara." Frisk said harshly as she entered a FIGHT with two Icecaps and a Jerry monster, a monster that was generally disliked by everyone. After killing the three monsters, Frisk moved towards a pair of pine trees.
"Frisk, do you hate monsters?" Chara asked timidly.
Frisk paused for a few moments, before turning to look at Chara and said, "What if I do? Does it really matter?"
Chara was unsure of what to say. After a few minutes of silence between them, Frisk turned around and started digging through the snow between the trees until she uncovered a button. Strangely, it was being pushed down by vines. Frisk stood up and walked towards the area's exit. Chara noticed that there were holes in the ground, looking into one she saw that they had spikes inside them.
After killing two more royal guardsmen, a male and female dog couple, both with heavy axes, Frisk and Chara continued to the next area. This area had a puzzle with two O's on the ground and a button. But, Chara saw that just like in the previous area, the spikes that were supposed to be blocking the way were already retracted into the ground. The next puzzle in the area was much the same, but had all of the O's arranged to look similar to Papyrus' head.
"I wonder who's been solving all of the puzzles ahead of us." Chara thought out loud. "Do you think it's Papyrus?"
"No, and it's not Sans either." Frisk replied. "It's probably Flowey, which would explain the vines from earlier."
Chara remembered the evil grin on Flowey's face and shivered. Looking behind them she thought she saw something golden disappear into the ground, but decided it was just her mind playing tricks on her.
In the next area, Sans and Papyrus were standing next to a rectangular machine. Between them and the girls was what looked like a large grey and white checker board and a small bridge connecting the two cliffs that separated Frisk and Chara from the board.
"HEY! IT'S THE HUMAN!" Papyrus said after noticing Frisk. "YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS PUZZLE! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT..."
Before Papyrus could finish his sentence Frisk quickly walked halfway across the checker board.
After a brief pause upon realizing Frisk didn't wait for his puzzle explanation Papyrus said, "...ARE YOU SERIOUS?"
Turning to his shorter brother he said, "SANS!!! HELP!!! THEY KEEP WALKING THROUGH MY PUZZLES! THEY'RE SUPPOSED TO LET ME EXPLAIN THEM. THEN THREATEN AND BAFFLE THEM WITH DANGEROUS JAPES."
"well, maybe they don't like japes." Sans said with a grin on his face.
"EVERYONE LIKES JAPES!!!"
"what about undyne? she hates puzzles?"
"SHE HATES PUZZLES. BUT SHE LOVES JAPES."
"that makes sense."
Turning to look at Frisk again Papyrus asked, "HUMAN!! WHAT DO YOU THINK!? PUZZLES OR JAPES?"
Frisk said nothing as she stood in the middle of the board.
"...OKAY, THIS IS NORMALLY THE PART, WHERE YOU AGREE OR DISAGREE." Papyrus said anxiously. "AND DEPENDING ON YOUR ANSWER, WE SAY SOMETHING GREAT IN RESPONSE."
Frisk stayed silent as Papyrus began to look a little desperate.
"HERE, WHY DON'T YOU DO THIS PUZZLE YOURSELF." he said as he left a piece of paper next to the machine before walking further into the forest.
"hey... puzzles might be fun. if you try them." Sans said to Frisk as she walked toward him.
While Sans spoke to Frisk, Chara curiously looked at the paper Papyrus had left. Unfortunately it was completely illegible chicken-scratch.
The next area had an empty sentry station and a large pile of snow, as well as another save point. After saving Frisk got into several more FIGHTs. However in the last one, she got cornered by the monsters bullets and her soul took a hit, opening a small gash on her right leg.
"Frisk! Are you alright?" Chara asked alarmed as blood started running down Frisk's leg, staining the snow red. Chara knew Frisk wasn't the greatest person, but she still didn't like seeing people get hurt, whether human or monster.
"I'm fine Chara, just leave me alone." Frisk said flatly as she opened her menu and ate one of the monster candies, restoring her HP to full and closing the wound.
"I'm sorry." Chara said, looking down. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay."
Frisk sighed and walked into the next area with Chara close behind her.
Still, all the FIGHTs she's been in and she's only taken damage twice. Chara thought as she and Frisk entered the new area. She must be really good at dodging, as if she knows everybody's attack patterns.
The new area had a large patch of ice with several X's placed randomly on a large patch of ice, and another button. It was clear to Chara that the objective was to slide onto all the X's and then slide onto the button to continue, but the puzzle had already been solved, as the bridge at the end was already extended.
Frisk wordlessly slid across the ice toward the bridge. She and Chara moved into the next area, where Frisk fought and killed three more monsters, including a very large, heavily armored royal guardsman. The next area had a very long rope bridge, below which one could see the rest of Snowdin forest stretching out as far as the eye could see, as well as an enormous frozen lake, and at the end of the bridge stood the two skeleton brothers.
"HUMAN!" Papyrus said in his usual excited voice. "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE! BEHOLD! THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR!"
Papyrus pressed a button on a remote he had in his hand. Chara's jaw dropped as below the bridge a cannon, a large spear, and a flamethrower appeared. Above the bridge appeared a spiky ball on a chain, another large spear, and for some reason a small white dog that looked confused but happy nonetheless. Chara had no idea how Frisk was supposed to get past this unscathed.
"WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!!!" Papyrus said with gusto. "CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE! EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN! ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!! ARE YOU READY!? BECAUSE! I! AM! ABOUT! TO DO IT!"
Everyone held their breath as they waited for Papyrus to activate the puzzle. But, after a few seconds nothing happened.
Finally, Sans broke the silence and said, "well? what's the holdup?"
"HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP?" Papyrus said. "I'M... I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!"
After several more seconds passed, still nothing happened.
"that, uh, doesn't look very activated."
"WELL!!! ...THEY'RE PROBABLY GOING TO WALK THROUGH IT, AND IT WON'T BE ANY FUN AT ALL."
"hmmm... so this human thing was a bust, huh?"
"WELL. I MEAN. I'M EXCITED TO CAPTURE THEM. SO I'LL BECOME A FAMOUS ROYAL GUARDSMAN!!! BUT ALL THE TIME I PUT INTO THESE PUZZLES... IT'S KIND OF LIKE THROWING A BIRTHDAY PARTY..."
"without traps and fire?" Sans finished with a wink.
"EXACTLY!! IT'S POINTLESS!!! MAYBE YOU WERE RIGHT TO BE LAZY ABOUT PUZZLES."
"me? right about something? really?"
After giving it some thought Papyrus said, "YEAH!! WHAT AM I SAYING! YOU'RE STILL COMPLETELY WRONG! I JUST HAVE THE WRONG AUDIENCE! THINK ABOUT HOW MUCH FUN UNDYNE WOULD HAVE HERE! FLAMES, VIOLENCE. IT'S RIGHT UP HER ALLEY!"
Looking at Frisk he said, "SO I WON'T WASTE THIS PUZZLE ON YOU! I JUST HAVE TO APPRECIATE THE FRIEND I ALREADY HAVE!!!
Papyrus pressed the button on the remote again and the puzzle retracted back into its hidden compartments.
"PHEW. A VALUABLE LIFE LESSON!!! NYEH HEH HEH!!!" Papyrus said before running off toward Snowdin Town.
As Frisk and Chara finished crossing the bridge Sans stepped in front of them and said, "hmmm... guess we didn't need your help to have a good time after all."
After a brief pause he continued, "say, i've been thinking. seems like you're gonna fight my brother pretty soon. here's some friendly advice."
As Sans closed his eyes he said, "if you keep going the way you are now..."
Sans opened his eyes and Chara saw that the small white dots that were his pupils were completely gone, leaving nothing but two dark bottomless pits.
"...you're gonna have a bad time." he finished in an ice cold voice.
Chara felt a chill go down her spine, Sans' smile hadn't faltered a single time. As she blinked her red eyes, he disappeared into thin air.
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