Chapter Text
Kris was having a weird dream. Someone was speaking and the world was foggy and multicolored. The world melted in front of them, and Kris melted with it. A heart floated through the aether, before hovering around them. They reached out to grab it, but every time it slipped out of reach. It flew into the distance.
"You're not the one..." a whispering voice emerged from the aether and dissipated just as quickly. Suddenly, a new voice came out of the fog. Someone who sounded oddly familiar...
"Kris! Wake up!" Kris's mother Toriel shouted, shaking their arm. Kris put up the barest amount of resistance but predictably, it led to yet more shaking.
"If you don't get up soon, we'll be late for school. Come on!" Toriel said, before opening the blinds. Rays of orange moonlight flooded the room. Kris mumbled loudly, before pushing their blankets to the side.
"I'll wait for you downstairs." Toriel said, but right as she left the room, she poked her head through the doorframe. She had a stern look on her goat face. Her teal sweater was illuminated by the moonlight.
"Don't be late." She narrowed her eyes at Kris, and left. Kris didn't respond. They rolled out of bed and got dressed. A purple and cobalt striped sweater, and a pair of teal pants. They scrutinized themself in the mirror for a second, before grabbing a comb. They corrected their snarled blue hair, and joined their mother downstairs. She was sitting on the couch, scrolling through her phone.
"Ready to go?" She asked, reaching for her keys. Kris nodded. The two got into their little blue car, and drove to the other side of town. Kris leaned their head against the window of the car. They felt the vibration of the car travel into their head. The bright blue leaves of the teal-barked trees whisked together to become a blur. The rhythm almost made them want to fall asleep, but then the car abruptly stopped in the school's parking lot. Kris and Toriel stepped out.
"I'm going to be out tonight. Are you fine with walking home?" Toriel asked, locking the car's doors.
"Yup." Kris responded, already standing in front of the main door to the school.
"Alright. Love you." Toriel said, opening the door.
"Love you too, Mom." Kris and Toriel separated in the hallway. I should have eaten something. Kris thought, feeling their stomach grumble. The hallways were barren, and orange moonlight shined through the tall windows of the school. They heard muffled chatter inside Ms Alphys' classroom, their homeroom. Kris had always thought it was odd that there were only four teachers in the whole town who all taught the same subjects. Setting that thought aside, they walked in to see that everyone had organized into their friend groups. Noelle was the only one sitting alone, in the corner of the room on her own. She was wearing her sister's grey coat, all beat up and torn. Lancer sat at his table, moody as ever while Susie tried to spark a conversation with him. Upon noticing Kris looking at her, Noelle glared and turned her head away. Kris made a mental note not to do that. I do want to be able to walk home today, after all, they thought. Kris sat down at their table, right between Lancer and Susie. Lancer turned to the side, and kept his head low as always. His dark blue hoodie cast a shadow over his round face. Susie shined her usual bright smile at Kris. Her hair was purple, straight and orderly. She was wearing a floral-patterned shirt and white shorts. That, combined with her golden eyes made her the shiniest thing in the classroom.
"Hi Kris!" Susie said enthusiastically. They responded with only a shy little wave. But Susie was determined to start a conversation.
"How's it going?" Susie asked, moving aggressively into Kris' field of view. She was perhaps a bit too close for comfort.
"It's g-going fine..." Kris felt their face get hot. Susie was about to say something, but the school bell rang. Susie sat back down with a huff, and Ms. Alphys entered the room. She cleared her throat, and stood in front of the whiteboard. She was wearing a white lab coat and black shoes. She adjusted her glasses.
"Good morning class. Today we will be starting work on the essay about the book we read last week in class." Alphys' professional tone was contrasted by the sound of groaning emitted by at least half the classroom. Susie leaned over to Kris.
"This is like...the third one this month..." She whispered, unloading the contents of her backpack. Kris pulled out a pencil and some paper from their desk. Alphys' dug around in her desk, and made a dissatisfied noise.
"I need someone to go to the supply closet to get some markers. It appears they have gone missing." Alphys said. Noelle made a noise which Kris could almost construe as chuckling. Susie's hand had already shot up. She was grinning and almost hopping out of her seat.
"I can do it Ms. Alphys!"
"Can you take Kris with? Given that they were almost late to class..." Alphys stared at Kris for a second, before they stood up. Kris and Susie left the room, and Susie practically jumped down the hallway.
"God, finally! Last thing I want to do right now is that essay. Right, Kris?" Susie said with a characteristic smile.
"Y-yeah...I'm not excited for it either." Kris said in a quiet voice. They felt very nervous, both about the upcoming work and being alone with Susie. They tugged at the frayed edges of their sleeves.
"Which way is the supply closet again?" Susie asked, looking down the fork in the hallway. Kris pointed to the path straight to the left. Susie skipped to the end of the hallway and stood at the door. How can someone even have this much energy? Kris thought, slowly making their way there. The door was tall and imposing, a different style to every other door in the school. It was white with gold fixtures, a design which made Kris question the architect.
"I've always wondered why it looks like that..." Susie commented as she struggled to open the door.
"Hey Kris, could you help me out?" Kris grabbed the door handle with Susie, and together they wrenched it open. The other door ominously opened without them even touching it. The hallway began to fill with light. The two stepped back.
"Hey, Kris, is it me or...is it really bright in there?" Susie said, partially shielding her eyes. Kris noticed that the longer they looked, the brighter the light became. Kris stepped back even further.
"C'mon, Kris. It's just a closet..." Susie said, although she wasn't entirely sure herself. Kris gave a hesitant look.
"I-I don't know Susie..." Kris said, now slightly afraid of the blindingly white light.
"If you don't want to, then I'll...how about we both just go in at once?" Susie asked, reaching out her hand to Kris. Kris very reluctantly took it, and the two walked in. The fear of the unknown overpowered the fear of awkwardness. The room was less bright when they passed through the doorframe, but still an abyss of pure light.
"Looks like the janitor must have put in one of those prank lightbulbs...ha ha...the ones that make an entire room...look...like...this..." Susie's attempt to lighten the situation failed, even to herself. The pair looked around, seeing only shelves with boxes and old papers.
"Kris? What's wrong?" Susie turned and asked Kris in a worried voice. Kris then noticed that they were still gripping Susie's hand tightly. They pulled back in an instant, and shied away from Susie's eye contact.
"There's nothing to be afraid of, it's all just old papers in here." Susie said, trying to comfort them.
"Let's go find a lightswitch. Unscrewing the prank lightbulb can be the janitor's problem." Susie walked further into the light, passing by all the shelves.
"That's...weird. I can't find a switch anywhere. Guess it's further in." Kris joined Susie in walking even deeper into the closet. The doorframe was slowly shrinking into the distance as they kept going.
"Kinda big for a closet...why haven't we gotten to the back wall?" Susie asked. Kris just shrugged and continued. Susie suddenly stopped.
"I think this closet needs to be closed for repair. Ms. Alphys can get her markers from somewhere else. Let's just leave. I'll do the talking with her. I don't want you to get in trouble. God knows you're already on her list for almost being late." Susie said, turning around and approaching the door. Just as they got to the door, it abruptly slammed shut.
"Huh..?" Susie said, rushing over. Kris stood right behind her, gaining a dawning feeling of dread.
"Hey! This isn't funny! Noelle? Did you lock us in here! Hey!" Susie shouted, pounding loudly on the door. Despite the size of the room, Kris felt claustrophobic.
"Look Noelle, I'm sorry about throwing away that empty bottle of maple syrup! I didn't know you like to eat the bottle afterwards!" Kris raised an eyebrow, but the confusion became fear when the floor started to shake. Susie backed up, knocking into Kris. She swiveled around.
"Kris...what's going on?" She said, fearfully. Kris couldn't answer. The floor tiles began to disappear, falling into an infinite void. The two students stood back to back on the final tile, until his began to wobble.
"The floor! It's-" Susie was cut off by the floor falling away entirely. They began to scream. The wind swept around them as they fell farther and farther. The two classmates began a very long fall into pure white light. The last thing Kris saw was a terrified Susie reaching out to them with a purple claw outstretched.
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Kris had expected the floor to catch up with their face eventually, and then nothingness eternal. The last thing they expected was to wake up on the floor of a dirty alleyway. They shambled up against a wall, and looked around. Seemed like they were surrounded by buildings in a backalley. The walls were grimy, covered in the marks of old graffiti and advertisements. The backalley itself was filled with black garbage bags and litter, and at least one beat-up car without tires. The sky above was a strange blue color, with white fluff floating through it. Confused, Kris looked up to see a huge yellow orb in the sky. What? Where's the moon? What is THAT thing? Questions ran like a river through Kris' poor head, but they were stopped by a voice.
"Kris!" They heard someone shout. Suddenly, they were knocked over. A purple blur had attached itself to Kris.
"S-Susie?" Kris said, trying to stand back up. They tried to stop themself from blushing, but it was no use.
"Kris! Oh my god, I thought you were dead! I've spent like 5 minutes looking for you!" Susie said, releasing Kris from the hug.
"A bit quick to think I'm dead, don't y-you think?" Kris responded.
"I know...I know..." Susie trailed off as she looked around. The two darkners treated their surroundings with confusion.
"So...uh...where are we?" She asked, scratching the back of her head.
"I-I have no idea..." Kris trailed off, before suddenly noticing something. Susie's shirt and shorts were replaced with a dark purple bodysuit with thick armored plates over it. She was also wearing metal boots, and her usual pink skin tone had become a strange shade of freckled purple. Her eyes were now a more intense yellow, rather than the soft shade of lemon Kris was used to.
"Susie...what are you wearing? " They asked, looking Susie up and down but not for too long. Her eyes widened.
"Same could be said for you!" She pointed. Kris looked down to see that they were wearing green robes with a hat and a yellow scarf. They couldn't see it, but felt that they were just wearing regular pants underneath.
"Let's get out onto the street...maybe we're just in the city or something...yeah...and someone changed our clothes and skin color!" Susie's denial was thick enough to cut with a knife. The pair stepped out onto the street and saw a great city in the distance. Light poured from the buildings in every color. Holographic advertisements floated through the air advertising "BIG SHOT COLA" and "LITTLE SPONGE INSURANCE". They were in what seemed like an abandoned town on the outskirts, and they could just barely see farmland far to the left. It looked like Hometown in a way, but everything was strange. The streets of the town were barren, save for a few busted-up cars and piles of broken glass.
"I...uh...don't think we're in the city, Kris..." Susie noticed, speaking in a falling voice.
"Yeah, me either. " Kris responded. The two heard a noise. They spun around to see a large silhouette on top of a nearby building. Susie suddenly pulled out a large sword. It glinted in the evening light, shimmering brilliantly.
"Where d-did you even get that?" Kris asked, stepping back.
"I don't know! It just appears when I reach behind my back!" Susie replied, gesturing wildly. Kris grabbed behind their back, but found only more robe. Something like a large, white, two-dimensional spade flew towards Kris. It looked like it had popped right off a playing card.
"Kris! Out of the way!" Susie yelled, but Kris was too slow. Kris was knocked to the floor with a yell, and everything hurt. Susie whipped around towards the source of the spade.
"Hey! Show yourself! You can't just hurt my friend and run away!" Susie pulled Kris back onto their feet, and guarded them with her sword. Kris suddenly felt a strange compulsion. They put their hands together, and bowed their head. The pain instantly went away, and a soft green light radiated from their hands before disappearing.
"What was that?" Susie asked.
"I h-have no idea! The idea j-just came to me and...I guess I can do m-magic?" Kris said. Another spade whizzed past, almost grazing Susie's face.
"Run!" Susie shouted, wielding her sword. The two began to run, and white projectiles rained down from the rooftops. Kris clumsily sprinted, almost tripping over their robes on several occasions. They stuffed the robes up into their hands, and ran as fast as possible. Susie tried to bat the spades back, but to no avail. She stumbled to avoid them, almost falling over. The large figure jumped across roofs at great speed. Every time the figure landed, it made a loud boom. Kris and Susie ducked and weaved through the hail of bullets, but they started to hear a noise from the rooftops. The hulking figure was loudly gasping for breath and firing less spades. The bullets stopped, and the figure hunched over on the roof, panting and coughing.
"What are you doing?" Susie shouted, drawing her sword. The figure suddenly lost it's balance and stumbled off the building. It hit the ground with a loud meaty thump, crashing into a pile of garbage bags and creating a dust cloud. Susie and Kris rushed over, weapons ready. Kris found their hands glowing with red light, raising them towards the figure. It was a large man in a filthy dark blue suit. He had an almond shaped head which was pointed at the top. He was wearing a white paper crown, or rather it was duct taped to the back of his neck. His eyes were hidden behind black goggles of some sort. He had thick blue hands with multiple rings on every finger. His shoes were scuffed beyond belief, and almost in tatters. Kris gazed at the figure and had a strange thought. Why does he look like a fat version of Lancer? Remembering that their mother taught them not to be so rude, they elected to ignore that thought.
"Why were you chasing us? Who are you?" Susie said. The figure grunted and rolled side to side, trying to pull itself up. Eventually he got up and brushed himself off, coughing again.
"The name is King, kid. Mister King to you." He spoke in a deep voice, yet slightly nervously. Susie raised an eyebrow,
"Are you an actual king..?" She asked.
"No! Of course not, kid. The king here is Mr. Spamton! Mister Spamton J. Spamton. He's...uh... my boss." King spoke proudly, or at least he tried.
"Is that the guy with the huge nose and the funky glasses?" Susie asked, pointing to a nearby floating advertisement which had been knocked out of the sky and was fizzling on the ground. King growled.
"THAT'S MY BOSS YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT! BUT...I mean...yeah. That's him..." King roared, but trailed off at the end as he studied the advertisement.
"Did h-he send you out here?" Kris asked, slowly putting their hands to their sides. Susie kept her sword out.
"Jeez, you kids and your questions. But...uh yeah. Yeah. He sent me out here to catch you...uh...something with dark...DARKNERS! Yeah, that's it. Youse guys are darkners." Susie nodded to Kris as if to say get ready, but Kris shook their head.
"So...you gonna catch us?" Susie asked, readying herself. King shook his head.
"No. I'll be honest kids, I'm tired. I'll just tell my boss you guys...uh...got away. Yeah." King said, scratching the back of his head.
"So...same time tomorrow?" King asked.
"Uh, no?" Susie responded, but King was already gone.
"W-where did he go?" Kris asked. Susie made her sword disappear.
"No clue." Susie said, sitting down. Kris joined her.
"A-are you ok?" Kris asked. Susie thought for a second.
"If I said yes, I'd be lying. What is going on? Who is King? Why did he attack us? Why did he call us darkners? Where are we? Who is Spamton? Why do I have a magic sword?" Susie said, running out of breath.
"This is r-really weird. It's like a dream but...I can't t-think of any dreams I've had where I can get actually hurt..." Kris said. Susie laughed a bit.
"What do you say we find a way out of here?" She asked. Kris nodded.
"S-sounds like a good idea. Ms. Alphys was mad at me for almost being late, imagine how mad she'll be w-when we come back with magic powers." Kris said.
"Maybe we should go back to where we came from. Maybe that...portal...thingy has some other side that we popped out of." Susie said, standing up. Kris stood up too, but saw something emerging from the nearby shadows.
"S-Susie? There's something over there..." Kris pointed. Susie drew her sword and stepped back with Kris.
"Boy, is this the land of dark mysterious figures or what. Who are you?" Susie asked, moving away two steps for every step the figure took.
"I can answer all your questions." The figure said, emerging from the shadows. It was a dark green cloaked figure. The cloak was dirty and torn, and the face of the figure was hidden by a hood. It reminded Susie of Lancer, if only for a second.
"For a price, that is." The cloaked one stepped closer.
"And what would that be..?" Susie asked, retreating slowly with Kris. Suddenly, a large knife emerged from the figure's cloak, held by a black furry paw on a short arm. The blade glinted in the light of the evening sun. Kris was uneasy, and felt magic dance across their fingertips.
"ALL THE MONEY IN YOUR WALLETS, RIGHT NOW!"