Bombs, Puzzles, and Spiders

Teri's POV

"Okay, I'm back!" Alphys informed, her voice buzzing through the receiver.

"Hey, Alphys," Kat greeted. "We're in a really dark room."

"A-another one, huh?" She asked. "Don't worry! M-my hacking skills have got things covered!" Teri flinched as light filled the room, revealing the familiar orange terrain with a few random objects scattered about. "Are you serious?" Alphys grunted. Teri cocked her head.

"OHHHHHH YESSS!" Teri flinched as Mettaton's voice echoed through the room. She glanced up to see the robot peering at them through a window. He was sitting behind a desk wearing a fabulous red tuxedo. Well, it looked fabulous to Teri. Above him, was a huge yellow sign that read: MTT NEWS. "GOOD EVENING, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES! THIS IS METTATON, REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS! AN INTERESTING SITUATION HAS ARISEN IN EASTERN HOTLAND! FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDENTS…" Mettaton paused to glance at Poppy. "INCLUDING A NEW ONE IT SEEMS, ARE OUT THERE, REPORTING LIVE! BRAVE CORRESPONDENTS! PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY TO REPORT! OUR TEN WONDERFUL VIEWERS ARE WAITING FOR YOU!"

"How extra is this guy?" Poppy muttered, resting her hand on her forehead.

"Very," Teri admitted, looking around the room.

"Are you actually going along with this?" Poppy exclaimed, her eyes wide.

"It's usually the only way out of these things," Ray replied with a shrug. He let out a gasp, rushing toward an orange ball. "Is that a basketball?!"

"BASKETBALL'S A BLAST, ISN'T IT, DARLING?" Mettaton replied. "TOO BAD YOU CAN'T PLAY WITH THESE BALLS. THEY'RE MTT-BRAND FASHION BASKETBALLS. FOR WEARING, NOT PLAYING. YOU CAN'T GET RICH AND FAMOUS LIKE MOI WITHOUT BEAUTIFYING A FEW ORBS."

"What's the point of basketballs you can't play with?" Ray grunted, standing up again. "And why does he call everyone darling?" Teri shrugged, looking at the other objects strewn across the floor. Other than the basketball there was a plush dog, a movie case, a video game case, a glass of water, and a present. Teri knelt in front of the movie case.

"OH NO! THAT MOVIE SCRIPT!" Mettaton exclaimed, his hands resting on the sides of his head. "HOW'D THAT GET THERE? IT'S A SUPER-JUICY SNEAK PREVIEW OF MY LATEST GUARANTEED-NOT-TO-BOMB FILM: METTATON THE MOVIE TWENTY SEVEN…" He made twenty seven movies about himself?! "STARRING METTATON! I'VE HEARD THAT LIKE THE OTHER FILMS... IT CONSISTS MOSTLY OF A SINGLE FOUR-HOUR SHOT OF ROSE PETALS SHOWERING ON MY RECLINING BODY."

"Sounds hot," Poppy muttered, nudging Teri's shoulder. Teri let out a grunt.

"OOH! BUT THAT'S! NOT CONFIRMED! YOU WOULDN'T-" Mettaton broke off to cough. "SPOIL MY MOVIE FOR EVERYONE WITH A PROMOTIONAL STORY, WOULD YOU?"

"Oh no!" Teri exclaimed, backing away from the movie case. "I-I wouldn't do that… sorry!"

"PHEW! THAT WAS CLOSE! YOU ALMOST GAVE ME A BUNCH OF FREE ADVERTISEMENT!"

"Oh my god, just pick one!" Poppy exclaimed, marching towards the video game case. "How about this?"

"OOH LA LA! THIS VIDEO GAME YOU FOUND... IS DYNAMITE! THOUGH I DON'T MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN IT UNTIL THREE-FOURTHS IN." Wait what? "BUT I LIKE THAT. APPEARING FROM THE HEAVENS LIKE MANNA, SLAKING THE AUDIENCE'S HUNGER FOR GORGEOUS ROBOTS... OOH! THAT'S METTATON!"

Poppy snickered to herself. "You do have the hunger, don't you?" she asked, nudging Teri's shoulder.

"Um… more importantly…" Ray took a step toward them. "Our lives actually are a video game?!" he exclaimed.

"You know, that would explain everything since we… fell underground," Clover added. Like why we keep hearing music all the time...

"Guys, he's just saying that to freak us out," Poppy insisted, grabbing the game case. "We don't know what's in this thing. Why should we believe him?"

"Yeah," Kat agreed, pointing at the game case. "Look at how bland this cover is, it looks like something Sans would make."

"And what kind of title is 'Undertale?'" Frisk asked, pointing at it. The tale of the Underground?

"Hey, don't knock it til' you try it," Ray replied, taking the game case. "We'll report this one!"

"ATTENTION, VIEWERS! OUR CORRESPONDENTS HAVE FOUND... A VIDEO GAME! THIS ACTION-PACKED GAME IS GUARANTEED TO BLOW YOU AWAY! STRANGE ENEMIES! STRANGE ALLIES! ATTRACTIVE ROBOTS!" Yeah, that does summarize our journey so far. "FEATURING UP TO SIX ARBITRARY DIALOGUE CHOICES AT ONCE! CORRESPONDENTS! LET'S LOOK INSIDE THE CASE!" Ray popped the case open, jumping back with a gasp.

"THOSE RED CYLINDERS WITH BURNING FUSES... OH NO! THIS GAME LITERALLY IS DYNAMITE! I GUESS THEY WERE RIGHT ALL ALONG! VIDEO-GAMES DO CAUSE VIOLENCE!"

"No they don't! Clover shouted, narrowing his eyes.

"OR AT LEAST, THIS ONE'S ABOUT TO. BUT DON'T GET TOO EXCITED! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THE REST OF THE ROOM YET!" The set Mettaton was in split into pieces and fell to the ground as Mettaton floated over them. Teri's eyes were wide as she looked around the room. "OH MY! IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IN THIS AREA IS ACTUALLY A BOMB! THAT PRESENT'S A BOMB." A fuse poked out of the now open present. "THAT BASKETBALL'S A BOMB." A fuse appeared on it. "EVEN MY WORDS ARE!" Teri jumped back as something rained from the sky, exploding on the ground. Clover let out a squeal. "BRAVE CORRESPONDENTS, IF YOU DON'T DEFUSE ALL OF THE BOMBS…" Mettaton floated up toward a huge pink bomb, with a fuse drooping on top and a timer plastered on it. "THIS BIG BOMB WILL BLOW YOU TO SMITHEREENS IN TWO MINUTES! THEN YOU WON'T BE REPORTING 'LIVE' ANY LONGER!"

"Oh my god!" Poppy gasped, jerking back.

"HOW TERRIBLE! HOW DISTURBING! OUR NINE VIEWERS ARE GOING TO LOVE WATCHING THIS! GOOD LUCK, DARLINGS!" Mettaton floated away.

"This guy's brain is a bag full of cats!" Poppy exclaimed before a ringing sound filled the room. Frisk pulled out the phone.

"D-don't worry! I installed a bomb-defusing program on your phone! Use the 'defuse' option when the bomb is in the defuse zone! N-now, go get 'em!"

"I'll do that," Frisk informed, hanging up on Alphys. "The rest of you, gather the bombs." The group nodded before splitting to go separate ways. Frisk made their way toward the dog bomb, which was now sleeping on the ground. Teri twriled through some lasers toward the game case. She twirled back out to see Poppy sliding across a conveyor belt, grabbing the Mettaton movie script. Teri ran to her side. Both of them stopped in front of Frisk. Teri immediately turned and reached toward the glass of water, which floated away. She looked around, her heart pounding.

"Get back here you stupid glass of water!" Teri yowled, lunging at the glass of water. Her fingers slipped off it. "And turn off this stupid music!" Teri let out a grunt before rushing to the top part of the area, lunging at the basket bomb.

She pulled it into her chest, stumbling toward Frisk. They grabbed it with a gasp. Putting it on the ground, Frisk pointed the phone at it. Seconds later, the fuse was unlit. Frisk kicked the bomb away and it rolled beside the others. So far the dog, the basket bomb, the movie, the game, and the present had been defused.

"Great job!" Alphys exclaimed through the phone. "Head for the center! I'm using, uh, EM fields to trap the glass of water there!" Frisk nodded, sprinting toward the glass of water and pointing the phone at it. The fuse shrivelled up and fell.

"WELL DONE, DARLINGS!" Mettaton exclaimed, floating in front of them. "YOU'VE DEACTIVATED ALL OF THE BOMBS! IF YOU DIDN'T DEACTIVATE THEM, THE BIG BOMB WOULD HAVE EXPLODED IN TWO MINUTES. NOW IT WON'T EXPLODE IN TWO MINUTES! INSTEAD IT'll EXPLODE IN TWO SECONDS!" Clover and Kat jumped back, squealing while Frisk and Ray let out tiny cries. "GOODBYE, DARLINGS!" Teri rolled her eyes.

"I bet you three gold it won't happen," Teri muttered to Poppy, who remained at her side.

"I'll take that bet," Poppy replied with a smirk. The air was still, with no one saying a word until Mettaton spoke up.

"AH. IT SEEMS THE BOMB ISN'T GOING OFF."

Frisk answered the ringing phone. "That's b-because," Alphys's shaking voice answered. "While you were monologuing... I...! I f... fix... Um... I ch-change…"

"OH NO. YOU DEACTIVATED THE BOMB WITH YOUR HACKING SKILLS."

Teri smirked at Poppy, holding her hand out. Poppy rolled her eyes as she grabbed three pieces of gold and put them in Teri's hand.

"Yeah! That's what I did!" Alphys exclaimed.

"CURSES! IT SEEMS I'VE BEEN FOILED AGAIN! CURSE YOU, HUMANS! CURSE YOU, DR. ALPHYS, FOR HELPING SO MUCH! BUT I DON'T CURSE MY EIGHT WONDERFUL VIEWERS FOR TUNING IN! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS!" Mettaton floated away.

"W-wow... W-we really showed him, huh?"

"Heck yeah we did!" Ray exclaimed, jumping. "That dumb robot can't lay a finger on us!"

"Well I wouldn't call him dumb…" Teri cut in with a shrug. "But yeah. We sure showed him." The others nodded.

"H-hey, I know I was kind of weird at first…" Alphys hesitated. "But I really think I'm getting more... Uh, more... M-more confident about guiding you! S-so don't worry about that b-big d-dumb robot... I-I'll protect you from him! A-and if it really c-came down to it, we could just t-turn… Um, nevermind. Later!" Alphys hung up before anyone could question her.

"Turn what?" Kat asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Turn him off maybe?" Clover suggested with a shrug.

"Yeah…" Poppy cut in, putting her finger on her chin. "He is a robot after all. He's gotta have some kind of battery… or maybe a switch to turn him off."

Ray took a step forward. "Or we could just dump some water on him."

"What?! NO!" Teri exclaimed, her heart pounding. "That would kill him!"

"He's just a machine, Teri," Poppy grunted.

"Maybe," Frisk finally spoke up. "But Teri has a point. We shouldn't kill him. Even if he is 'just a machine,' he's just as living as the other monsters." Kat and Teri nodded. "Now let's go." The group nodded as they trailed after Frisk.

Ray's POV

Ray followed Frisk down an oddly purple hallway, slipping his gloves on and off.

"Welcome to our parlor dearies," a silky voice called. Ray turned to see a woman standing behind a counter. Her skin was purple, she had five blank eyes and six arms. "Interested in some spider pastries? All proceeds go to real spiders." Ray leaped back, arms shaking against his sides.

"What is that thing?!" Ray murmured to Teri, pointing at the creepy woman.

"A spider lady I'd guess," Teri replied with a shrug. "Honestly, nothing surprises me here anymore."

"Same," Poppy muttered, nodding.

"How much are your pastries, m'am?" Clover asked, leaning on the counter.

"Nine thousand nine hundred ninety nine gold for either a donut or some cider," the spider lady informed, pointing at some spider webs beside the stand.

"Ha, no thanks!" Ray exclaimed, waving and turning away.

"Yeah, that's way too much," Teri agreed with a nod.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," a shaking voice called. Ray turned to see a cat-like creature holding a donut in one hand.

"You actually bought one of those gross things?!" Ray exclaimed, his face green.

"I… I… I didn't want to, but that girl… even though I told her no, she… she kept staring at me in this creepy way and licking her lips." Ray stiffened, his eyes widening. "Now I'm outta cash."

"What a creep!" Ray exclaimed, sticking out his tongue. "Let's get outta here." Frisk took the lead again, nodding to Ray. The others followed. A ringing sound filled the air, and Frisk answered the phone.

"Hi, Alphys here! This room is like the room we saw before. There are two puzzles to the north and south… You'll have to solve them both to proceed…

"Great," Ray muttered, crossing his arms. "More puzzles."

"A-also…" Alphys continued. "I'd like to say! I don't really… like giving away puzzle solutions but if you need help, just call me, ok? Actually wait, I have an idea! Let's be friends on Undernet! Then you can just ping me when you need help!"

"Um Alphys…" Kat spoke up, cautiously. "We're already friends on Undernet. You… you signed us up."

"Oh…" Alphys's voice shook. "Right… You… you've been reading my posts this whole time?!"

"Yeah," Ray replied with a nod.

"Well! I hope! You agree with me! About Mew Mew two." Alphys hung up before anyone could respond. Frisk lead the group through the steam vents to the north. It took them much longer to solve this puzzle but eventually, they did and went to solve the puzzle to the south. They made their way down a conveyor belt, stopping to stand through the blue lasers.

"Why aren't we asking for help, again?" Ray grunted, resting his hand on his forehead.

"Because it feels better it we can do it on our own," Teri replied, with a shrug.

"Besides, it's kinda fun," Kat added. Frisk skidded to a halt as a ringing filled the air. They answered the phone.

"Hey! This um, doesn't have anything to do with guiding you… but... " Alphys fell silent. "Uhh, hey, would you want to watch a human TV show together? Sometime?"

"Sure, what show?" Kat asked, leaning toward the phone.

"Um… M-Mew Mew Kissy Cutie…"

"YES!" Teri exclaimed, grabbing the phone and gazing at it with bright eyes. "That sounds amazing!" Seriously?

"R-really?! It's so good! It's um, my favourite show! It's all about this human girl named Mew Mew who has cat ears which humans don't have s-so she's all sensitive about them…" Alphys continued to ramble at the speed of a supersonic jet, to the point where all her words all blended together. Ray rolled his eyes, tuning it out. When the call finally ended, the group continued south to complete the last puzzle. Then they finally went onward. The doors opened dramatically as always, leading them to the next room. Frisk paused before continuing. The next room was much darker, with cobwebs littered on the ground. Ray stuck his tongue out.

"Why are there so many stupid webs?!" Ray exclaimed, pulling an arm into his chest.

Poppy rolled her eyes. "Spiders live here, duh."

"U-um ewwww."

An eerie laughter filled the room, sending a shiver down Ray's spine. "Did you hear what they just said?" He gritted his teeth. The group kept walking as the voice continued. "They said a group of humans would come through. I heard that they hate spiders!"

"Heck yeah I do!" Ray exclaimed, slamming his fists together. "Come at me you little creeps!" Poppy facepalmed.

"I heard that they love to stomp on them. I heard that they like to tear their legs off." Frisk made their way into a spider web, pushing their way onward. Ray froze in place.

"Do we really have to walk through that?" Ray asked, pointing at the webs.

"If you want to get home, yes," Poppy replied, gesturing him forward with her head. Ray let out a groan. He stepped into the webbing, cringing the whole way.

"I heard…" A figure emerged from a web above. "That they're awfully stingy with their money." She giggled to herself. Ray eyes were wide as he looked around. Spiders surrounded them at every angle, crawling through the web with their creepy little legs and empty eyes. "You think your taste is too refined for our pastries, don't you, dearies? I disagree with that notion. I think your taste... Is exactly what this next batch needs!" Ray's soul appeared before him. He struggled in the cobwebs, mewling to himself.

"Go away you creep!" Ray exclaimed, struggling to raise his fists.

"Don't look so blue my dearies." The spider lady poured her teacups onto the webs, causing a purple colour to travel through them before reaching Ray's soul. He squirmed as the purple colour engulfed his soul. "I think purple is a much better look on you," she giggled.

"Mine was already purple to begin with," Poppy grunted, rolling her eyes.

"No one asked for your opinion, dearie," the spider lady chuckled, putting her hand over her mouth. Her eyes locked onto Ray, who froze on the spot. "Why so pale? You should be proud. Proud you're going to make a delicious cake!" Ray let out a cry.

"SPIDERS!" he gasped. A whole battalion of them was crawling through the web, inching closer and closer. Ray threw his upper body to the side, away from the first one. Teeth sank into his cheek. Ray jerked away, letting out a yowl of pain. He wiped the blood away, jerking out of the way of more spiders crawling toward him.

"They're everywhere!" Teri gasped, ducking away from a spider.

"Let us go!" Clover exclaimed, struggling in the web.

"Let you go?" the spider lady echoed with a giggle. "Don't be silly. Your souls are going to make every spider very happy." Ray shook within the cobwebs, his eyes wide as another bunch of spiders approached him, their black, empty pits of eyes staring into his own. Jerking back, Ray let out what sounded like a cry.

"Get away from me!" Ray exclaimed, raising his fist.

"Don't hurt them!" Kat gasped, squirming what felt like miles ahead of Ray. "They're just spiders!" Just spiders?! Ray jerked his body in every direction as the spiders approached him. Still he remained in place. The spiders crawled over him, sinking their teeth into his trembling skin. His breath, all ragged and short came out in broken sobs. Tears formed in Ray's eyes.

"STOP! PLEASE STOP!" Ray sobbed, gritting his teeth. He cringed as a donut slammed into his head.

"Ray, calm down!" Poppy exclaimed, squirming to his side. She jerked to the side to avoid a spider. "You have to focus! Stop jerking in random directions and focus on dodging the spiders as they approach!" Glancing at the others, Ray noticed them ducking and slipping side to side to avoid the spiders, which crawled past them. Ray bit his lip, gazing at the spiders ahead. He moved side to side, forcing them to pass him by without a bite. Ray ducked out of the way of the flying donuts. The spider lady continued her ramblings as Ray began dodging the attacks correctly.

"With that money, the spider clans can finally be reunited."

"Reunited?" Kat asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You haven't heard? Spiders have been trapped in the Ruins for generations!" she explained, flinging some boomerangs across the web. Ray ducked under it, gasping as it grazed his hair. "Even if they go under the door, Snowdin's fatal cold is impassable alone but with the money from your souls, we'll be able to rent them a heated limo… Oh, how rude of me!" she gasped suddenly. "I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet. It's breakfast time, isn't it? Have fun everyone." Ray moved side by side, almost in a rhythm as the lines of spiders approached him. Ray shivered as something hairy brushed his cheek. However, he had no time to dread on it as a huge figure crawled into view with four stubby legs, huge teeth and, soulless eyes. Ray screamed, struggling in the webbing that still held him in place. Everyone did the same. The pet inched closer and closer, drool dripping from its teeth. Tears flooded Ray's eyes.

"Hold on!" Clover's voice called from afar. A slicing sound pierced the air, like a knife cutting through string. Ray glanced up to see Clover, free from the webbing. He ran around on the top, slicing away the webbing with his toy gun before rushing toward Ray. With a fierce swipe of the gun, Ray was free. "There's a way up!" Clover called, pointing up at a web slanted against the wall like a rope ladder. "We can climb out!" Ray nodded before dashing after him. Lunging at the wall of web, Ray pulled himself up as high as he could go, scrambling to find footholds through his pounding heart and ragged breathing. Around him, his friends pulled themselves to safety, shaking like leaves in a tornado. Finally, they stopped at the very top. The huge creature stood far below, snarling through a river of slobber.

"Is everyone okay?" Frisk gasped, gripping their heart.

"Yeah, totally," Ray grunted, crossing his arms.

"Don't think you've escaped me, dearies," cooed the silky voice. Ray gasped to see the spider lady, crawling toward them.

"Quick, eat this!" Frisk exclaimed, shoving something in Ray's face. "You're the most wounded of us!" Ray took the food and shoved it in his mouth without even stopping to realize what it was. From the shape of it though, Ray guessed it was a donut. The spider lady stopped in front of them.

"Huh? Where did you get that…? Did you steal it?!" The spider's five eyes narrowed at Ray, making him recoil. "Oh my pet it's time to show them what we do with thieves." Ray flung his arms around Teri.

"We aren't thieves!" Teri gasped, wrapping her arms around Ray. "Frisk bought that donut, honest!" A spider crawled toward the spider lady, a piece of paper lodged in its teeth. She squinted at the paper.

"Huh? A telegram from the spiders in the Ruins?" She squinted harder before her eyes widened. "What?! They're saying that they saw you and… you helped donate to their cause!" She glanced back at the group. "Oh my, this has all been a big misunderstanding. I thought you were people who hate spiders." I do, and after today, I hate them even more. Even Ray wasn't stupid enough to say THAT out loud. "The person who asked me for that soul… They must've meant a DIFFERENT group of humans. Sorry for all the trouble." She giggled out of nowhere. "I'll make it up to you. You can come back here any time… and, for no charge at all… I'll wrap you up and let you play with my pet." Ray let out a mewl, pressing his back against the wall. The others recoiled as well. The spider giggled. "Just kidding. I'll spare you now."

"Oh thank goodness," Ray sighed, gripping his pounding heart. The group's souls disappeared as they made their way down the web and out of the corridor. Ray still shook as he followed them.

"Hey…" Everyone glanced at him. "Can we… um… take a break? That fight was really exhausting."

"Sure," Frisk replied with a shrug. Ray let out a sigh of relief, leaning against the wall as he fell to the ground. The others followed his lead.