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Spider Dance Remixed (Contest Entry)

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They were just getting out of a bake sale. …A very expensive one, way way out of their price range. Frisk was munching away at a spider donut, one that had been picked up long long ago. All the way back in the Ruins. God did he miss the ruins. …And Goat Mom. Sometimes he wished he never left her…


‘Will you stop thinking about mom?’ cried out a child’s voice. Frisk smiled. Had he been anyone else, he would have been terrified to hear such a voice. But Frisk was Frisk, and he knew exactly whom that irritable voice belonged to. …Chara.


As if in direct response to his very thoughts, a ghastly apparition appeared in front of him, still wearing that green and yellow striped jumper of his, arms crossed together…as per usual.


‘Oh come on. You know I can’t control my thoughts.’

‘Well will you at least try to think of something else? I can hear everything you think out of that naive brain of yours you know?’

‘Alright, alright. Just calm down, okay? Temper remember?’


Chara proceeded to huff, and turn himself around. But rather than return to the recesses of Frisk’s mind, his ghostly apparition stuck around, almost as if he refused to go away. Frisk could only sigh and press on, rubbing powder off his blue and purple-striped shirt. Chara moved with him, feet on the ground unlike most apparitions Frisk knew, still trying to appear agitated. Seeing this though just made Frisk chuckle a bit. Despite it all, Chara was still just a kid. And he had kinda grown on Frisk actually.


…Hopefully he didn’t hear that.


Continuing to munch on the donut, Frisk walked on, the red rock that defined the smouldering Hotlands beginning to grow darker and darker. Already a regular when it comes to dark places though, Frisk persisted in his greedy consumption of the morsel of spider goodness. Oddly, the spidery treat didn’t faze him like it used to. He seemed to had gotten used to the taste of spiders. Actually he kind of liked it…For some reason, it tasted a bit like sweet powdery chicken. But then again, didn’t everything meaty?


‘Not everything meaty tastes like chicken you know.’ said Chara, slight put off by Frisk’s unusual liking for the spider donut.

‘I know…it’s just a nice thought to have.’

‘I suppose,’ Chara turned away, sighing. ‘But it’s still wrong.’

‘Doesn’t mean I can’t choose to have it.’

‘…Your funeral I guess.’


They pressed on, the cave walls getting darker and darker…and purpler too. Chara’s eyes flicked around, something stirring deep inside of him…a memory of some kind. From long ago. But not that long ago. Of something dark, and gruesome.
But before he could focus on this flickering memory some more, his eyes caught the last remains of Frisk’s donuts disappearing into his mouth. That pig…


‘…You sure finished that off fast.’

Frisk stopped, eyes flaring with indignation. ‘Hey! I was low on energy from all those Hotland guys. Especially those vulkins… And you know what happens-low on energy means a really hungry me.’

‘Hey, not arguing with that,’ Chara’s slight frown proceeded to grow into a larger one. ‘Just don’t choke, I don’t need us wasting any more time out here. We’ve died quite a few times now. I don’t want the next one to be on a fricking choking hazard just because you can’t slow down.’

Frisk raised his arm up to his back and laughed, embarrassed and abashed. ‘Okay okay,’ his mouth grew into a metaphoric three metre smirk, as he whispered under his breath. ’…Didn’t see you tell me to slow down when I was having that chocolate.’

‘I HEARD THAT!’ Frisk laughed as Chara, red-faced attempted to punch Frisk left right and centre. …To no avail. Whatsoever.

‘It’s so easy to wind you up.’

‘Argh! Can you NOT?! Anyway, …where are we?’

‘Yeah. Actually, where the hell are we?’

Both their pair of eyes panned around, still a bit dismayed by his seemingly foreign surroundings. They seemed to be in a cave of some sort, glistening with purple dew. Little holes peppered the walls, almost as if little creepy crawlies moved in and out, and had little cozy nests…to move in and out. In the far distance there seemed to be more purple, and more purple…and spider webs. Lots and lots of spider webs.


As Frisk took all of this in, eyes open with wonder, Chara flicked left and left, left and right, worry perspiring from his face, mind and body. If he could chew his fingers and leave fingernails on the stony ground he would have. Instead, he settled for sucking his thumb profusely. And sucked it hardly, almost choking on the damn appendage when he saw Frisk at a glowing SAVE state, saving. Right on the edge of the stony platform. That led to god knows what. …And probably spiders too.


Just like the last run.


Chara ran straight to Frisk, fear…and maybe excitement in his eyes. ‘You might want to hurry up with that.’

Frisk waved him off with a free hand, the other planted firmly on the SAVE state. ‘Yeah yeah, in a minute.’

Chara sighed, impatient as always. ‘Still don’t see how you can fill up on determination over this.’

‘…I just do, okay? I mean, don’t you find this place absolutely amazing?’ replied Frisk, eyes ablaze with awe, …his left hand still on the yellow SAVE state diamond.

Chara eyes glanced to and fro, breath already leaving him as another sigh. ‘Sure sure, why not…but you know, whenever there’s a SAVE state, there’s always…something big…usually something we have to fight.’ His voice was now laced with a hardened wariness.

Frisk just looked at Chara, unsure if Chara really needed to be that…cautious  ‘okaay…’ His hand finally left the SAVE state. ‘DONE. Boy that feels good. But hey, sometimes these little yellow things are just there. Don’t think too much about it.’

Chara’s unease just grew. ‘Still…you might want to watch out; you never know when someone might want to sneak up on you…’

Frisk proceeded to laugh out loud. ’what? Don’t be ridiculous Chara. Haven’t you always told me to not be such a “crybaby”? I mean, we literally just got out of a bake sale. Who’s gonna sneak up on us? The…spiders…’ And it was only then did both Frisk and Chara start to notice the crawling little specks coming towards them from all over the place. From the walls, the cave roof, the spider webs in the far distance. The countless amount of arachnids coming for them.  


…The Spiders.


Chara sighed. ‘Nice going .’

‘Oh. I forgot this one.’ Frisk’s eyes were open with an evergrowing sense of “oh crap”. And deja vu.

Chara just sighed again, secretly glad the spiders would pass right through his ghostly state. ‘I didn’t.’

Frisk stared at the spiders. So did Chara. Momentarily of course.

Frisk then turned his head to Chara. ‘Run?’

Chara gulped. ‘RUN.’


Frisk bolted, right through the terrain of spiders, desperate to make it through the wave of spindly creatures, the spiders right underneath Frisk’s feet just barely able to slip away and avoid becoming part of next week’s squash banquet. Which was reassuring to the young wannabe Pacifist.


Frisk kept pushing on, closer and closer to the end, Chara right alongside him, hoping that Frisk wouldn’t run out of steam before he got to the end. But then he remembered. And grew cold.


There were spider webs up ahead.


Before he could even tell Frisk to slow down, he was ground to a stop, as Frisk was caught in a spider’s long, spindly web. That was also and obviously immensely sticky.
God did Chara hate spiders.


Frisk tried and tried to get out of the spider web, attempting to fling his arms and legs up and be free of the web’s grasp. But try as he might, it was all in vain.


But that never stopped him before.


As he continued, Chara, previously caught up in Frisk’s feeble attempts of breaking free of the web, began to hear a faint little tune. A sweet, quick, dazzling 8-bit song that almost compelled Chara to start dancing on the spot. But he pondered the obvious question. Where in the Underground was that music coming from? And why did it sound like a remix of a remix. Not complaining though.


Almost as if the heavens heard his little question, a large shadow appeared into existence, looming over the small purple-striped shirted boy and his colourful yet ghostly friend. It grew larger and larger. Frisk by that point had stopped attempting to flee, focusing all his attention on this familiar, spidery shadow. It grew even larger than before, larger and larger, until it was right in front of them. And no longer was it a shadow, but a six-armed lady with light purple skin, a short reddish frilly dress and long lanky legs that rivalled Mettaton’s in their beauty. Frisk still sat in awe, while Chara only sighed.


It was that damn Muffet.

‘Ahuhuhuhu…what do we have here? Hmmm?’


She crept closer, her spindly little arms twirling about, her hands carrying an assortment of teapots and cups, and various baked goods. ‘It would seem a human has crept into my abode. Hmmm? I heard about you, you know? They told me that you were coming.’ she flashed her arms around. In response all the spiders that illuminated the cavern halls waved their little appendages. ‘Scared, aren’t you? I heard a lot about you. I heard how you hate spiders, how you love to stomp on them, tear off their legs-why you were almost doing that very thing in here, weren’t you?’


She crept even closer, her face directly against Frisk’s, little black hairs brushing off against his sweat-ridden skin. ‘…I heard you were awfully stingy with your money. Why you didn’t even make a single purchase. Don’t you realise how much we need for our heated limo? To get out of this these ruins, where we’ve been trapped for generations?


She took her head back, smiling, and sniggering with an ironic kind of pleasure. ‘Ahuhuhuhu…you think your taste is too refined for our pastries, don't you, deary? Ahuhuhu... I disagree with that notion. Very much so. In fact,’ Muffet raised her hands, as her Spider Dance transcended into a full, orchestral blast.  ‘I think your taste... Is exactly what this next batch needs!’


At those words, the background, and indeed mostly everyone in the caver became a striking contrast of black and white. The spider web underneath Frisk’s feet transformed into a strikingly dark shade of purple, as his soul appeared into play, its usual red now suddenly a lovely shade of purple as well. Frisk gulped…and then realised. Yes, yes. It was all coming back to him.


‘I remember now! We faced her last run!’


Chara, still right at Frisk’s side, just sighed at Frisk very late realisation. ‘…You’re an idiot.’



The battle went ahead. By this stage long used to the swing of things, Frisk stood there, arms out, mercying the hell out of Muffet. Muffet just chuckled…and sent her spiders out. Moving to the left, then two lines to the right, then another two to the left, and all the spiders had been avoided. Except one, which gave Frisk a little nudge before crawling away in a huff. Still, one’s manageable.


For around three or so turns, things continued as planned. Spiders sent here and there, a masterful dodge to and fro. But by around the fifth turn, Frisk was already slightly tired, a few cheeky spiders him a few HP here and there. And pretty hungry too. Muffet was concerned.


‘Oh, you seem pretty hungry. Here…let me feed you. Try not to die now. I would rather you alive when I make you into a delicious cake!’


Before Frisk-and Chara to a lesser extent-could even gag at the very imagery of Muffet’s little line, Powdery donuts began bouncing onto the rear of the web, croissants flying about at the centre, boomaranging to and fro. To and fro. Wafting with the scent of delicious baked goods. Such was their velocity that Frisk just couldn’t keep up and-


His soul shattered.



…They were back at the SAVE diamond, spiders already beginning to crawl towards them. Chara was not pleased.


‘What did you do that for? Now we have to go through all that again!’

Frisk, a bit flustered but otherwise calm, just waved his hands around. ‘Calm down. It was only our first death here.’

‘…Well try and not die to her damn confectionaries,’ was Chara’s eventual reply.


They ran towards the spiders…again. Saw a shadow that would become Muffet…again. And listened to her spiel about how heartless and stingy they were…again. And before they knew it, they were back into battling the damn yet lovely spider girl.


This time around her spiders and croissants were a bit manageable for Frisk. By the time they got up to where they had died last, Frisk had more than double his health left, and was feeling that little bit prouder.


…Then came the pet.


Crawling onto the purple web, its grand appearance heralded by the nearby spider with the great big signpost, its claws pressed onto the web, moving it and teetering it dangerously out of line…no pun intended…maybe…


Muffet could only laugh. ‘Ahuhuhuhu, how rude of me! I almost forget to introduce you to my pet! And oh my, what’s this,’ she pointed to an imaginary watch on one of her other wrists, ‘it’s breakfast time, isn’t it? Well have fun, you two. Ahuhuhuhu.’


Both Frisk and Chara only had a few seconds to scorn the arrival of the pet spider before its dizzying reversal of spider webs and gravity sent the two of them right back to their SAVE diamond.


They stood there for a moment, fists clenched. Especially Chara’s.


‘…God I hate that pet of hers…’


Eventually they ran right back to Muffet, and right back to the battle. And eventually, right back to her pet. Again. And again. And again. ….And again.


By their seventh RELOAD or so, they were pretty frustrated, to say the least.


Especially Chara.


‘God damn it I hate that pet spider!’


They even forcefully skipped Muffet’s spiel, even more than the merciful slight skip she seemed to give herself after every subsequent RELOAD.


‘We have kinda heard all of that though, so…can we get on with the battle?’  said Frisk, rather and unusually impatiently.

Muffet huffed, and was left speechless for a moment…and rather offended. ‘…You’re a bit of a rude one aren’t you? Fine, don’t listen. I can still work with this. Yes, you’ll still make for a fine dessert!’


And they were right back in yet another battle with the undisputed queen of spiders, and in another dodging exercise with the spiders, who were also dancing away to Spider Dance, as it blasted away in the background.


And Chara had finally had enough.


‘Look, can’t we just kill her already? Like last time? I’m just so sick of this!’

Frisk, still in the middle of dodging, …and a natural Pacifist, didn’t want to have any of this. ‘Concentrating…’

‘Argh! I’ve had it with this lady though! Let me take control for a bit.’

Frisk sighed, and shook his head. ‘No no, we can’t do that. Remember, I’m the dodger, you’re the attacker. And I don’t want to attack anyone on this run. Not after last time…’

‘But we’ve been at this for so long! I never thought she would be this difficult second time around, but turns out she is! And it just makes me so angry! What’s the point of even sparing monsters like her?

Frisk, used to Chara’s wrath, was shaken. He did not want to hear a single word more. ‘Stop. With that.’

Chara looked at Frisk, whose eyes were unusually dead-set serious and sighed, before looking down. ‘I’m sorry. It’s just so demoralising. Seeing you, seeing us die so many times to her. And that infernal pet! Argh! Even though I’m technically already dead, it still pisses me off to see us die, and die again. And each time reminds me of…something much darker. Much more shameful.’

Frisk looked back at Chara…while dodging some more donuts and spiders…and the odd cheeky boomeranging croissant. And offered a reassuring smile. ‘Look, I know you’re annoyed. I am too. But I don’t want to kill anyone on this run. And I don’t think you want to do that either. We’re doing this True Pacifist style. Till the end. You know what that means. …So please, stick by me. …I can’t do this alone.’

Chara sighed. ‘Yeah, yeah. I get ya,’ his frown turned into a smile, ‘But thanks…it’s nice to know that. Heh, you would be permanently dead without me.’

Frisk grinned. ‘Yeah, I would probably be stuck back in Snowdin if it wasn’t for you.’

Chara’s smiled continued…then became frown again. ‘…Muffet’s still annoying though.’

Frisk grinned even more, while dodging yet another wave of spiders. ‘Couldn’t agree more.’


They both shared a moment of laughter.


…Even though she’s secretly as marvellous as hell.


Yet another wave of spiders, and Frisk just couldn’t help but chuckle with Chara, who was still slightly gloomy. But smiling.


It was then that Frisk had a momentary moment of reflection, eyes foggy with a sheen of nostalgia, yet tragedy. A tear came to his eye. ‘Maybe after this run, I can hang it all up…and be able to look at Goat Mom in the eyes again.’

‘She’s not your mom you know,’ huffed Chara.

Another tear came to Frisk’s eye, as he turned to Chara. ‘…After what she did for me she might as well be. But you’re kinda right.’ Frisk smiled a small, yet genuinely reassuring smile. ‘She’s not my mom…she’s ours.’

A tear came to Chara’s own eye. Then another. And another. ‘…You little crybaby.’

Frisk smiled, playfully. ‘Then why are you tearing up?’




Meanwhile Muffet, in the midst of throwing all her donuts and croissants and stray spiders that didn’t want to fight the mean little boy, gawked at Frisk, talking away into thin air. Nothing but bemusement entered her mind. ‘Strange, I could have sworn that kid was a silent type. He does seem to like talking to himself a lot too…I wonder if he’s one of those “interesting” guys…Hmmmmmmmmm?’



It was nearing the 10th turn or so. The pet’s second arrival was imminent for lunchtime or whatever time Muffet fancied to make up. And Frisk was dangerously low on health. And Chara was dangerously low on patience. They were nearing the limits of their determination.


And Chara was pretty much ripping the hair out of his hair.

‘Come on, come on! There has to be a way! There has to be!’


It was then that he decided to finally check Muffet’s information.  And it was then that he remembered what Muffet’s favourite profession was. What she wrongly claimed the two of them were…at least Frisk anyway…


And realised what they should have been doing all along.


‘Hey Frisk!’

Frisk turned around, body instinctively able by now to dodge the flurry and onslaught of baked goods and soon to be baked spiders. ‘I’m in the middle of somethi-’

‘Listen! I have a better idea. You know how she’s a businesswoman right? …So what if we showed her our goods?’

Before Frisk could question the double meaning of his idea, Chara corrected himself. ‘Baked Goods! You know, spider donuts, spider cider. The fricking ruins for Christ’s sake!’

‘Oh!’ Frisk’s eyes sparked in sudden realisation…then cringed as a another, more embarrassing realisation hit him. ‘Ummm…I sort of ate all of that…’

Chara proceeded to shout and sigh at the same time-despite how impossible that may seem. ‘You pig! …well I’m all out of ideas.’


With all hope seemingly lost, and Muffet’s herald spider about to herald the second coming of the pet, Frisk and Chara knelt their heads, Chara briefly catching the crumbs still nestled around Frisk’s mouth as he did so. …Wait…


Wait!


‘Frisk! The crumbs!’

Frisk’s ears shot up, and his mind had the greatest “eureka” moment ever possible. ‘Oh! Right!’


Right as the herald spider held up the crudely drawn picture of the pet on its make-shift signpost, Frisk stood straighter than he had ever straightened before, looked Muffet directly in the eye and cried, ‘HEY MUFFET!’


So surprising was Frisk’s sudden outburst that Muffet and all her spiders, even her approaching pet spider stopped right in their tracks. Even the music itself stopped, moments away from yet another loop. A moment of awkward silence passed, before Muffet cleared her throat and asked, ‘Yes deary? What reason have you for disturbing our little performance…and your wonderful transformation into one of my lovely little cakes?

Frisk pointed to his mouth. ‘Look here! Crumbs! Can’t you see it? Can’t you smell it? Well? Come here if you want proof!’

Dismayed for a moment by such an unusual request, Muffet moved closer to the small human, until she was at nose’s length, and sniffed graciously. Her eyes lit up in shocking revelation. ‘Oh my…it can’t be…that’s…that’s-’

‘One of your trademark spider donuts…which I enjoyed quite a bit actually. But anyway, it should be obvious now that I bought your wares. Not so stingy now, am I?’

Muffet pulled back, shocked and bewildered and embarrassed all at the same time. Her cheeks blushed with a striking shade of violet. ‘Oh my…well I can’t eat you up, now can I?’


She clicked her fingers. Instantaneously the background and mostly everyone in the room returned to their original, wonderfully coloured selves. The purple spider web receded back to its previously white shine, and Frisk’s soul became its lovely, determined shade of red, before disappearing from view.


Muffet whistled, and her spiders began retreating back into the walls, and into their own little webs. ‘I also take it you’re not the kind who hurts spiders either? Now that I think about it, you seem way too nice. Too…Pacifist.’


Eventually Muffet herself began her retreat, or rather her ascension back into the higher webbed planes of the cavern, joined by her wondrous yet highly annoying pet. ‘Be sure to come back for some more…and introduce me to your imaginary friend when you get the chance!’


Frisk and Chara were left alone, in the now lonely purple dewed cave. Silent for a moment, with the exception of Frisk’s strenuous panting. They had done it. They had actually freaking done it. Ah, sweet relief.




…But…

…There was still more...'

…There was still-


‘Pfft. Imaginary friend, my ass. I’ll show her...'

Surprised by Chara’s admission, but not surprised by the ferocity behind it, Frisk sighed. ‘Chara, anger! Remember?’

Chara’s anger subsided, replaced by slight embarrassment. And sheepishness. ‘Oh, right.’ He turned towards the distance…where the Core awaited them. ‘Guess Mettaton’s next.’

Frisk nodded slowly, nervous at the thought of another battle.

‘Yeah…Mettaton thought…that one was a rather interesting fight.’ said Chara, smiling.

Frisk’s furrowed his eyebrows. ‘Can we try not to blow off his arms and legs though?’

‘…Can’t make any promises,’ replied Chara, grinning.

‘Hey!’


They ran together, towards the exit, towards the Core…towards their destiny.


…Maybe they can make this run the final one. And make everything right.


Frisk looked back, towards the spider web where a battle underscored by Spider Dance happened not even five minutes ago. And smiled.


Damn was that a intense battle.


…And damn was that a very classy, very, VERY troublesome spider girl.

So this is my contest entry. A special little entry (actually it's not that little, but it's definitely deserving of a good read) for a wonderful Muffet themed contest. And it's my interpretation of the Muffet fight. 

Intrigued?
Then check it out. 
Muffet would be very delighted if you did. Wink/Razz 
© 2016 - 2024 BirdSomething
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IsabelaPowers's avatar
I must admit, I had no idea who Frisk and Chara were.  Had to look that up.  But I read the story anyway, figuring that I'd get what was going on as I went along.  Turns out, I would have understood better if I knew who Frisk and Chara were.  ^^;

Nevertheless, it was a good story.  Had me intrigued from the start.  Though, that might have just been my burning curiosity to find out what in the world this story was about, which is still a really good thing.  You want to intrigue your readers to the point of reading your entire story without realizing that they did.  And I totally did.  ^^  It was certainly a really cute story, albeit a bit odd.  And I got a good feel of Frisk and Chara from the start.  Much of that had to do with the dialogue.  Dialogue was well done; not awkward or choppy at all.  And Ms. Muffet was definitely creepy.  So was the spider doughnut.  My fear of spiders might have something to do with that, though. 

Strange but cute, and very easy to read.  Nicely done. 

Just one point I would like to address: the ellipsis, or the "...".  I think that in your future writing, you may want to limit your use of the ellipsis.  In the narrative, it makes an awkward break in the sentence that can be a bit confusing at times.  Also, you don't want to end narratives with ellipsis.  Bad juju.  ^^  In dialogue it's fine; as the reader, we understand it's a pause in conversation.  It's also understandable, and interpreted as a pause,  during the characters thoughts, which you usually want to italicize to avoid confusion.  For example:

"You're such a... a dork!"  --> Dialogue

Fred paused, blinking his eyes in confusion.   --> Narrative

Did she... did she just call me a dork?  --> Character's thoughts.

Nevertheless, nicely done.  And good luck on the contest!