wreck-it ralph au-nanigans

[lovetheme]

"Undertale" has been the talk of Game Central Station for a variety of different reasons, lately.

Oh, yes, the kids certainly did seem to have become thoroughly taken with the game already--it's only been plugged in for a few days, but nearby cabinets within view could readily report the piles of quarters it was already raking in. Chatter of "amazing music" and "cute characters" and "retro graphics" and "multiple endings"--it's been an instant hit.

But the days had ticked by, and the Undertale portal had remained inactive, and other questions started cropping up. Word had it the leading hero of the game was a kid in a striped shirt, but so far that was...still pretty much all that most people knew, about the game's characters. Because none of them had emerged to visit Game Central Station yet--and that was peculiar, to say the very least. What was going on in there? Were they shy, some wondered? Are they too good for us, others grumbled? A consensus had yet to be reached, but with every passing day the curiosity grew. And finally, talk of sending over an "ambassador" had started to form too.

Lucas still isn't entirely sure just how he'd managed to be picked for this, exactly. He doesn't think he's very outgoing nor particularly diplomatic, which seem like more ambassador-ish traits to have. But between the collection of fellow kid protagonists that had gotten together to decide this in the first place, they'd discussed "fellow striped-shirts" and how "people keep saying it's like the Mother series" and "Lucas ought to have more experience with this anyway" and things like that.

And now here Lucas is, entering Undertale's portal entrance for the evening. Instead of a train, he finds himself needing to step into an elevator for transport. Then, after a long wait, the elevator stops and opens and Lucas finds himself...on a pale path, surrounded by pale buildings and silence. Hm.

Hesitation, just long enough to glance back to the closed elevator door behind him, and then Lucas starts forward down the path. It's a pretty long one. So long, and quiet and empty, that Lucas begins to wonder if he did something wrong and has ended up somewhere he shouldn't be in the game--but then the path opens up to an equally pale house surrounded by leaves up ahead, and warm music begins to filter in softly, and that's a bit of a relief. Lucas pauses, blinking down at a yellow shining star-shaped something suspended in front of him here. Trying to examine it closer... "Lucas; LV ?; ???:??; New Home; Save/Return". Oh...Lucas backs away from the star-something--a save point, that must be what it is--and looks around uncertainly, trying to figure out what to do next. Still no sign of any characters, but...well, it's worth a shot, right?

"...Hello?" His voice feels a lot louder in such an empty place.

Comments

[lovetheme]

That...is not the reaction Lucas had been hoping for, all things considered. The king looks pretty unhappy to see him, and those words...no, those don't make any more sense than anything else has here, either. Asgore turns away, but Lucas remains standing immobile in the Throne Room's entrance, his face falling.

"--Y-Yes, we didn't really send any word, since--since nobody was coming out, to say anything. I'm the first one to come in here. But I--wait..." Asgore begins moving away, and Lucas steps forward a bit, frowning. 'What they must do'? He doesn't know, he's pretty sure--not in the slightest. "What do you mean? I'm...I'm not sure I understand. ...Are you the king of this place?" It's pretty obvious that the guy likely is, of course, but still...it never hurts to check. (And maybe stall a little bit, too--)

[dustless]

Hope flares in his chest before fading just as rapidly. A peace with humans was something he would vastly prefer than war and murder. But whoever this "we" the child speaks of...even if they mean well, the kingdom will not stand for that. Not so close to the end. Not when hope is here. And...

"You do not know."

They likely wouldn't have expected monsters, anyway.

"My people have been trapped under this mountain for millennia. Your kind feared us for our magic and our ability to take SOULS. The war they fought against us was brutal. Countless monsters turned to dust."

Asgore does not want to tell this story. He has too many times before. But it's clear this child has never heard it.

"They sealed us in with a barrier. It cannot be broken by us alone. Seven human SOULS will save my people."

If this child got to him, then perhaps...there was more ability hidden here than with the rest.

"Six have been gathered. It has been a long time since the last was taken." His head bows. "If you truly wish to leave...you must go past me. And I," here his words waver, just a little "will fight for all of monsterkind to take from you what I must."

Asgore moves away towards the door behind his throne.

"If...you are ready...come meet me beyond this room."

[lovetheme]

Lucas doesn't know, indeed. Nobody in Game Central Station could be sure just what the storyline of "Undertale" actually was--since nobody had come out of the game to tell them before, people had been left to wonder and assume instead, try to puzzle out the commentary they could eavesdrop from players at adjacent cabinets. And so this is all entirely new information to Lucas--information that he hadn't been expecting to hear at all, so soon into his visit.

But the king is deadly serious in demeanor. It's not a joke, or really even a test; this is a script, Lucas slowly finds himself realizing. A boss's script, no less--he can feel that distinction too, somehow. But the king is also reacting to him being here, which means that the king isn't just a basic AI either, same as the monsters from before. They could all tell he didn't belong, but they'd been--confused. As if they were expecting somebody else to be there, and something else to happen. As if...they don't know, that--

--But that can't be--

"...Ah." The king finishes speaking, and that's all Lucas can muster for a moment. He can practically feel himself paling a little bit, frozen in the throne room entrance. The guy's moving to a doorway know, talking of fighting and souls, and Lucas doesn't know what to do. Nobody had ever warned him about something like this. This sort of thing is--unheard of, really, and yet...

"I-I'm sorry. But I...I can't..." If you die outside your game, you die for real! It's a frequent announcement in Game Central Station for a reason. A deeply apprehensive feeling settles somewhere in the pit of Lucas's code. "I'm not sure if this is right. ...Could you--" Is it even possible, this far into the evident prelude of a boss fight? It is in some games, if the fight is going to be hard enough. Maybe... "Could you wait, for a bit?" It sounds much less brave and sensible out loud than it had in his head.

[dustless]

"You are not ready. That is alright. I am not ready, either."

Asgore does not look back at the face he has to kill, but he does stop to reply before going any further.

"I will be at the barrier no matter how long you take. And you may take as long as you like. Nothing is too small. Take a walk, read a book. Prepare yourself." His voice is gentle.

With that, he heads to his final destination, cloak lightly swishing over the ground.

[lovetheme]

Ah, so it does still work here. And that's an immense relief. Some games give the player a warning about a big fight ahead, and a chance to backtrack and prepare beforehand--and, evidently, it's the case here too. Lucas is very grateful for that, about now; and he exhales, drawing a step back as he stares at the great cloaked figure departing down the hall up ahead.

"...Thank you. I'll do that."

Geez. Oh, geez...

Lucas takes another step backwards, two steps--and then he's out of the Throne Room and its yellow flowers (if they were a bit taller they'd almost be like sunflowers, something in the back of his head muses). His breath is tight in his chest as his apprehension begins to mount higher, though--what is going on in this game, anyway? Did he do something wrong, in arriving here? Maybe he did...maybe....starting back down the hallway, Lucas breaks into a run (imagine a B button in your head and hold it down), grubby sneakers clacking strangely on polished floor as he sprints his way into the golden corridor.

He hasn't felt this unsettled in awhile. Maybe even a little bit scared, if he were being honest with himself. Lucas is fairly confident in his own fighting ability, sure; he's as strong as his last player's save lets him be, outside his game, and today he'd been on his way to New Pork City before the arcade had closed. A relatively high level to be, pretty high stats and plenty of PK skills at hand. But a boss fight is still a boss fight, all the same, and Lucas has no idea if he's even equipped for the kind of battles this game might have. And if everybody in here doesn't even think it's a game...

That's the most unsettling thought of them all, actually. Ah, he's...he's really not prepared for this. He should find that elevator and head back. Tell everyone what's going on, and find out what to do...and why does this golden hallway have to be so long?

[dustless]

'Thank you.' How painful to hear. Asgore hopes the child does not come back for a long time. In deepest SOUL, he hopes another takes that life before he can--but that's a terrible thought.

The hall is still empty. (Distantly, a skeleton wakes up in a cold sweat and doesn't know why.) As is the house at the end of it, mostly; Lucas will be able to hear monsters shuffling around out of sight, but none of them step forward to continue telling the story. Perhaps they've figured out that ASGORE already explained. Perhaps their code is what's telling them that it's unnecessary, now. Not that they realize that.

New Home is silent except for his footsteps. At first.

Before he can make it to the elevator, he'll catch a distant echo of another pair of feet racing around, apparently in the pitch blackness over the edge of the path.

[lovetheme]

Lucas honestly isn't sure whether the new emptiness on his way back is reassuring or just more unsettling. Those monster NPCs must be hiding from him now, he supposes, though he's not quite sure why--whether it's fear or something else. He really hopes he hasn't broken anything. That'd be a terrible thing to do to a game barely plugged in for a few days, accidental or not...

He's in the house and out, guiltily stepping over the chain again, and it's back to the pale path and the pale buildings, and silence. And the elevator up ahead, with any luck at all. But, even as a twinge of relief filters through at that thought...Lucas still manages to pick up the sound of steps tapping separately from his own. It's impossible to miss, with how quiet the area is otherwise--and, despite being deeply reluctant to stop moving at this point, Lucas pauses anyway. Blinks around...but the path is empty both ahead and behind. Though the sound seems to be coming from--the side...?

Lucas stares over at the distant buildings standing in blackness. It--just looks like background scenery...and he walks up to the very edge of the path uncertainly, just to make sure. But no--coming up against the side, his shoes press against what seems to be an invisible wall, and he can't step further. Not without trying really hard. To keep the player from wandering off or falling off, of course. Those steps, though--they're definitely coming from here...Lucas's earlier alarm clashes against that in-grained inquisitive code, again, and it's a tense fight between the two. ...But his code wins out, in the end, and Lucas tries to lean forward, peer harder into the blackness.

"Hello?" What could even be over there, if it's an off-limit area? Maybe something even worse than a boss. But there's no way of knowing unless... "Um. ...What are you doing down there?"

[dustless]

The footsteps stop abruptly.

Undertale's popularity has already gotten a few players all the way to the endings, and several had watched their friends and gave hints to find secrets.

Frisk is pretty sure they know every voice in the game. But this one? This one is different. It reminds them of a player--or rather, an actual human. And nobody's ever up there except for end-game, either.

They keep pressed against the stone, just in case. "Hiding," they reply. "What are you doing up there?"

[lovetheme]

The footsteps stop, and for a brief moment Lucas wonders if he managed to scare the mystery person away--but then a voice does speak up, from...somewhere down there. A kid's voice, he's pretty sure. Which is still quite confusing, but...progress, all the same. Lucas pauses, and leans over the edge of the path until he can feel his face pressing against the invisible wall. It still doesn't really give. And he can't see anything down there at all--at least, not from this angle...

But the person asked a question, either way. Lucas frowns. "Well, this is the path. I--I was on my way back, since...but wait, why are you hiding?" More frightened NPCs? Another pause, as he casts out for something else reassuring to say. That feels like the best way to go, here. If the stranger's friendly... "My name's Lucas. What's yours?"

[dustless]

They can barely catch a glimpse of his hair. It reminds them of Asgore a little bit.

Back? Back where? They open their mouth to ask before his next words interrupt that thought.

"Lucas?" Surprise colors their voice--that is definitely not name they've heard of. "I'm..." not sure if they can tell him. The monsters aren't supposed to know until endgame, after all. "That's a secret."

[lovetheme]

"A secret?" Well, that...doesn't help a lot. Still unable to see much of anything down there, Lucas draws back a step with a sigh, staring at the pale background buildings in the distance instead. "...Well, okay then. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. But I'm--"

Ah, would this person even know how to answer this? Especially with how everybody else around here has answered so far...Lucas doesn't expect much different here. But he supposes he might as well try one more time, and he pushes past the pause.

"I'm looking for the hero of this game. Somebody called Undyne? But I don't know where they are..."

i consistently think i've already replied here when i haven't gdi

[dustless]

Frisk goes silent again, making sure they heard that right. The hero of this game.

"Undyne's...a boss, actually. Not a Boss Monster, just a boss. You know what that means?" They can't keep a thread of hope from their voice. They don't even know if they want to.

They might not be as alone in this as they'd thought. Well, Flowey seemed to know, but he tried to kill them or tried to entirely avoid them, no exceptions, so that didn't matter.

grips your shoulder IT'S OK, ur tags makes the wait worth it hehe c:

[lovetheme]

Oh. Well, this is different--and certainly not the response Lucas had been half-expecting. From what little Frisk might be able to glimpse of him, Lucas perks up himself, drawing close to the path's edge again.

"A boss? Oh--yes, of course I know what that means. They're the bigger challenges in a game, aren't they?" 'Boss Monster' is unfamiliar, but the general idea seems to be the same. And now there's a thread of hope in his voice to match Frisk's too. After everyone else's reactions, hearing somebody finally use such normal terms is more relieving than it probably should be.

But hm, that being said...Undyne is a boss character, then? Lucas audibly pauses himself, then, considering this.

"...I'd asked somebody in that--house, up ahead from here? And they said there was only one hero in this game, named Undyne. But I guess...bosses can also be heroes too. I must have asked wrong..." Well, he certainly feels rather silly now. Maybe that's what he's been doing wrong this entire time. At this point he's almost leaning against the invisible barrier like he might have an actual wall, heartened and quite curious now. "What I mean, I guess, is I'm looking for the main character? Of the game. Because, I'm one too...and I wanted to meet them, today. If they're around?"

wow i have the most garbage sense of time in the world

[dustless]

Immediately, Frisk starts scrambling up the stone. It seems sheer from the edge above, but they've been running around stealthily for quite some time now. They know the tricks that even the players wouldn't ever have a chance to figure out.

"You know!" they exclaim when they pop over the wall. And then they stop and stare, because...look at this. Another human character--that isn't Chara. An unusually strong rush of shyness overtakes them, just for a second, and their voice goes back to its usual level of quiet.

"I'm...I'm the main character, here, sort of. Undyne's the monsters' hero, though, 'cause they don't know what a main character is."

omg...im so glad tbh also PREVIOUS SUBJECT LINE STILL APPLIES :V

[lovetheme]

A sound of movement and scrabbling crops up, from below, and Lucas jumps in some surprise, flinching away from the invisible wall just in time. A kid pops over the edge of the walkway, very promptly--a kid wearing a shirt with stripes, and even before they speak up Lucas is almost certain who they must be.

But the words confirm it, and his own demeanor brightens even more. Lucas smiles, staring back in turn--though he's a bit less in wonder, and a lot more plainly relieved to see them at all.

"Oh--you are? You are..." The relief is in his voice too, and he trails forward again. "Gee, I'm--I'm really glad that I found you! I've been looking, for a little while now. I thought--I thought maybe I'd broken something, since..."

The fellow kid's words properly sink in now, belatedly, and his smile fades marginally. "...Yeah, they didn't--they didn't know why I was here at all. Do they not know the arcade's been closed for awhile already...?" His voice trails off, bemused and more than a little concerned, but other thoughts catch up to him. Lucas steps up to the edge, offering a hand to Frisk--albeit a bit uncertainly, suddenly unsure of the invisible wall's status now. "Um, but also, do you...need help getting up? From there...?"

OTL

[dustless]

"'M fine," they say, swinging a leg over the wall, then the other, until they're perched on it properly. "Are you okay? Did you get fought by anybody?" they continue hastily, abruptly leaning forward to look at him closer. They don't know how to *CHECK in the overworld.

"Didn't--didn't know there was a way out of Undertale, or into it. I can't really go around to look where the monsters could see me, though. You didn't break anything," they reassure him quietly. "They...nobody...they think the game's real. Everybody, I think, or just about. 'Cept me."

Re: OTL

[lovetheme]

"Fought by anybody? Oh, no, I didn't...almost everyone just sort of--hid away." And indeed, Lucas looks perfectly intact and unscathed upon any closer sort of inspection. Now that the notion's brought up, though, he pauses and rubs one of his arms a bit. "Though, I actually...almost got into a fight with a boss, I think. A king? He was a little ways off from here...but, I think I managed to put that off."

He sounds audibly relieved about this, too. Fighting had never been part of the plan, here--but apparently he'd scraped closer to genuine danger than he'd actually realized, as Frisk's explanation sinks in. Even if he'd suspected it already, Lucas's eyes still widen at the words.

"But wait...so they really do? They all think it's--not a game?" He draws forward a bit, glancing around uncertainly and voice hushing. "...I don't think I've ever heard of something like that? But that doesn't make sense...why's it only just you, do you know?" Lucas pauses, looking back down the long empty path he'd come now. "There's definitely ways in and out, yes...every game has them. Should have them? I got here through an, elevator--that one over there?"

[dustless]

"Asgore. Yeah. He's the final boss, almost. He won't fight you unless you go back, even if you wait for a long time. And..."

They lean forward and hush too, even though they know they don't need to. Lucas already triggered the New Home speech.

"...he won't remember next time. Nobody does. Every new player, every reset, everyone forgets everything again. Even Sans, and he--he's programmed to know more than everyone else," Frisk whispers. Ironically, he'd been their best hope after their first No Mercy run, saying what he did, seemingly talking to the players and dropping hints.

They circle around until they're standing beside him. "I don't know...why. I was...starting...to wonder. If it was normal."

[lovetheme]

They don't even remember--memory wipes with every reset? The notion brings a chill, somehow. But with circumstances like that, the concept is slowly beginning to make a little sense too...bizarre, mildly frightening sense.

"That's--yeah. That's...definitely not normal, I don't think. I'm pretty sure? My game's been plugged in for about ten years now, but...never seen a game where the people in it don't--know."

Unbidden, he tries to imagine himself being the only one knowing it's just a game in his own game--while everyone else, all his friends, kept playing out the script like a real thing, unaware, and he doesn't even know how to leave. It's an unsettling enough thought that he quickly pushes it out of his head again--but he can't help a visible wince of sympathy, all the same.

Now that they're standing right beside him, Lucas offers a very light and tentative sort of shoulder pat. "...Must've been...something else, being the only one to know." His voice has dropped almost to a mumble by now, but after a moment he steadies it a bit. "Everybody in the arcade's been wondering about it, actually--why nobody was coming out of here. Lots of people thought maybe you guys were shy? Or, um, too good for us...since your game's been doing really well." Lucas shakes his head quickly. "But I never thought that. Our games are sort of alike, though, so they decided to send me in to visit. See how things are going. But I guess--things are actually going...not very well, huh?"