Chapter Text
Susie sat up slowly, a groan escaping her lips. The fall into the Dark World really shouldn't even hurt that much anymore, yet somehow it still did. She blinked, looking for Kris; they really shouldn't have been far away from her, but she couldn't see them through all the flowers surrounding her.
Wait. Flowers? There were no flowers in the Dark World. Matter of fact, the only Dark World plants she'd ever seen were the trees and grass in Lancer's original home; Castle Town didn't have a single plant to be seen. All this felt too weird for her. She needed answers.
A cough from a few feet away caught her attention. Kris stood up, dusting flower petals off their body. Susie walked over to them. They looked dazed and confused, like they were just thrown into a place they knew nothing about. She shook them by the shoulder, with no response.
Well, looked like she was out of options. She reached her hand back and slapped them across the face.
"God fucking damn it Kris, where the fuck are we?!" Kris finally turned their head to look at her. Their eyes, that typical softly-glowing red color, glared upwards to meet hers through their bangs. They shrugged. "You don't know. Great, neither do I." She looked around the field of flowers. It was enclosed except for a pathway to their right. Kris saw it the same time she did and started walking towards it, beckoning for her to follow. She did, because of course she did, she always did. Kris was the leader, and her friend; she'd follow them to the ends of the earth if they asked.
Ugh, that was so sappy, she almost sounded like Ralsei.
The pair turned and walked through the doorway, Susie almost slamming into Kris' back when they suddenly paused. She sidestepped them to see what made them stop, and in a small patch of grass was a single golden flower. It looked like the ones in the previous room, kind of, but its stem was taller, its petals more pristine.
Also, it had a face. And a voice, apparently. One it clearly wasn't shy about using.
"Howdy! I'm Flowey, Flowey the Flower," it vocalized through its seed-rimmed mouth. Its voice was high, like Lancer's, only five times more annoying. It dripped with sweetness that was probably fake. To be frank, it sounded like what corn syrup tasted like.
Not that she'd ever had straight corn syrup. No, that would be weird, obviously.
Susie glanced to Kris out of the corner of her eye, doing her best to convey her suspicion - and annoyance - in a single stare. Despite their face portraying perfect neutrality, as they tended to do, their eyes' response to her was guarded and uneasy. Good, they were on the same page, then. Something was up.
"You're new to the underground, aren't cha?" Flowey preened, eyes gleaming with the same mischief Susie often found reflecting in her own eyes. Now, though, the only emotions flashing behind her irises were frustration and bewilderment. Were they not in the Dark World? She'd seen her own skin, and it seemed to be the muted pink that the Dark World framed it as, not its typical scaled lavender. Just to be sure, she snuck another glance in Kris' direction, and, sure enough, their soft cyan skin was stark proof of where they were. Maybe this flower was high or something.
"Golly," Now who the hell says 'golly'? "you must be so confused. Somebody oughta show you how things work around here. I guess little old me will have to do." In a flash of light, their souls were visible, hovering in front of their bodies. Susie's was a crisp white, an upside-down heart just like all monster souls. Its outline was a soft purple color, not unlike her complexion in the Light World. Kris' ever-familiar red soul floated in front of them both, glowing a prominent crimson. Strangely enough, whatever spell Flowey was casting didn't seem to affect him, since she wasn't able to see his soul.
"See those hearts? Those are your souls, the very culmination of your beings." Kris' expression fell into a bored smirk, and Susie mimicked it. Both were amused at the flower's confidence and finesse, but they knew inside and out how a soul works. He clearly didn't have the right crowd in front of him. "A soul starts off weak, but can grow strong-"
"Alright, cut the bullshit," Susie spat, tired of the exposition dump. At least when Ralsei did it, it wasn't stuff they already knew. This, now this was insufferable. "What do you really want, freak?" She gave the flower her most intimidating of glares; the same one that worked so well on every classmate of hers - other than Kris, that is, but they were very rarely creeped out. Usually the one doing the creeping, now that she thought about it. Flowey flinched back slightly before slipping back into his flawless facade of false confidence.
"Well, all I was trying to accomplish was helping a stranger, but if you're offering," His smirk grew as he suddenly fired a cluster of bullets towards Kris's soul. They ducked and rolled, the Dark World having heightened their already-sharp reflexes dramatically. When they stood back up, they had only suffered a single blow, manifesting as a nasty gash across their upper right arm. Odd, the Dark World usually didn't present injuries like that. Maybe they really were someplace else. Regardless, Susie drew her axe, baring her teeth at their attacker.
"What in the hell was that?! You could have killed them!" She took a breath, calming her composure into a cool cockiness. "Get lost, man, before I get the pleasure of scattering your dust to the wind." Her voice sliced through the air, a low growl in the back of her throat.
Her threat must have been at least partially successful in scaring him, because he glowered back before barking out a short "You'll regret this," and sinking away through the ground. Susie exhaled and placed her axe across her back before turning to Kris, gently grabbing their wrist to get a better look at their wound. She raised her eyes to meet theirs.
"You alright, Kris?" They nodded, still slightly tense. Despite the fact that their arm was still bleeding, the laceration didn't really appear that deep. Taking a breath and trusting that they'd speak up if they started bleeding out, she released their hand and gestured to where the flower just was.
"That was seriously fucking weird. Like, yeah, he was a creep, but more than that. The Underground? The hell was he talking about?" She knew she was swearing more than even she was known for, but quite honestly, she didn't give a damn. Kris cocked their head, confusion swarming their expression. After a minute, they blinked and shrugged, turning on their heel to continue past the abandoned patch of grass. Susie stared after them for a second before falling into step behind them. They'd figure it out eventually.
Now to find the dark fountain, and their ticket back home, before any more flowers try to take them out.