Chapter Text
For the first time in miles, I spotted a car. It was merging onto the parkway. My eyes locked onto it immediately. Blue, rounded roof… yeah, exactly what I had been hoping for. I looked at Noelle, at the car, back at her. My fist connected with her shoulder.
“Blue punchbuggy, no punchbacks!” I grinned.
“Fahaha, Susie! Not so hard!” Noelle blushed.
Kris snickered from the third row.
“You just need to ‘git gud,’ Noelle,” Berdly sneered.
We’d been in the car a while. Toriel’s SUV was pretty cramped already. It would be worse once we picked up Asriel from college. I wasn’t expecting Kris to invite me to pick him up. Or to invite Noelle and Berdly. I’m glad they did, though.
“I’m excited to see Asriel again, aren’t you, Kris?” Toriel asked.
“Yeah,” they said. They kicked the back of my seat. “I think you’ll like him.”
“Heh, okay,” I said.
“Argh! This boss is— is losing to me ,” Berdly shouted.
“Keep tellin’ yourself that,” I responded.
“Ah, shit,” Toriel muttered. I always forget she curses. Not that I mind it, of course. I saw her flip on the turn signal to pull over.
“Hey Berdly, looks like you beat the car, too!” I looked back at him and smirked. The look on his face was priceless. God, he thinks he’s such a good gamer. I could beat whatever boss he’s at with my eyes closed. Berdly groaned.
“What's wrong with the car?” Kris asked.
“It says it's overheating.”
The car came to a stop and I looked around. The punchbuggy had passed us already, and there were no other cars in sight. The land around us was nothing but barren fields. We're gonna be here a while, aren't we? I watched Toriel dial some number, I guess a tow truck. The call didn't go through.
“Do any of you know anything about cars?” she asked.
“Nah,” I said.
“No, sorry…” Noelle murmured.
Kris shook their head.
“Nope!” Berdly responded. Toriel got out of the car and opened the hood.
“I suppose we should just wait for someone else to come, haha…” she mumbled as she opened the hood. I got out of the car, sat on the ground, and stared. There has to be something else we can do, right..? Noelle sat by my right and leaned her head on my shoulder. I tried to control my tail. Kris and Berdly sat to my left. We were silent for a minute or two.
“Wait! Kris! I have an idea.” I walked a couple yards from the car. “Come over here.” They followed me.
“That weirdo we met in the cyber world. With the funny glasses. Wasn't he like… a car salesman or something?”
“Yeah… I thought you didn't want Noelle to know the dark worlds were real, though.”
“I'd rather her find out than be stuck here for hours.” I looked over my shoulder and saw Noelle giving me a curious look. “What about your mom, Kris? You alright with her knowing?”
“...I guess.” They sounded concerned.
“You sure dude?”
“Yeah, it’s alright.”
“Sick. Are you explaining or am I?”
“You can.”
“Okay,” I responded. “Hey everyone! Get over here!” Noelle and Berdly stood up, but Toriel was still staring at the engine. The look on her face suggested that she had no clue what she was looking at. “You too, Ms. Dreemurr!” She picked up her head and began walking towards me. I looked at Kris. They nodded.
“So, you three had some weird dreams recently, right? Ms. Dreemurr, I assume you saw some purple cliffs or something, and I know Noelle and Berdly were in a future city.”
“How do you know? I don't remember telling you,” Toriel questioned.
“Because it wasn't a dream. It was real. It's a place called the dark world,” I explained.
Noelle blushed sweetly. “Wait, so that time on that ferris wheel—”
“All real. Anyways, I think someone there might know how to work on cars. And I can open a portal there pretty easy.” Berdly stood open-mouthed.
“What!?” Noelle exclaimed. Her blush deepened.
Toriel looked stern. “I don't believe you. I must've just sleep talked. That's how you know.”
“Hey, don't be mad! At least it’s funny!” Berdly added.
“She's serious,” Kris said. The others turned their heads to look at them. Kris reached into their pocket and pulled out their knife. “Show them.”
“Here goes,” I responded. They put their knife in my outstretched hand. I focused my will into it and thrust it into the ground. Darkness spewed out. I shut my eyes. When I opened them I saw the most barren dark world yet. A purple plain with soft hills stretched out seemingly forever. The only notable thing I saw in the landscape was a vague building in the distance.
“Can anyone help me?” a gruff voice asked.
I turned around. Standing there was a centaur-like darkner, but with Toriel's car instead of a horse's body. Her torso was connected to the hood. Her face was simple: diamond shaped sunglasses, a grill for a mouth and nose, and rearview mirrors where her ears should've been. She coughed. Toriel was staring at her in shock.
“Yeah, I know a guy. We just gotta wait for him to show,” I responded.
“I thought the whole point of this was that we DIDN'T have to wait!?” Berdly shouted.
“He won't be—”
“Susie! I sensed a new fountain! Are you all okay?” God, how does Ralsei always appear out of nowhere like that? He was wearing those glasses, the ones we got from that scammer. I ran up to him & yanked them off his face.
“Hey! Get out here!” I exclaimed. He popped into existence where his glasses were a second ago and I found myself holding him by the collar of his suit. I dropped him to the ground.
“[Genuine Watches!] IT, KID!!” Yeah, I guess I shouldn't've dropped him. “WHAT DO YOU [knead] ME FOR?”
“You like cars, right?” I asked. His eyes lit up.
“YOUER GONNA [buy! buy! buy!]!?”
“No!!” I buried my face in my hands.
“Excuse me, mister?” Noelle asked. She walked over so quietly I didn't even notice. “Our car is broken. Can you fix it?” Spamton smiled even more than he was already. Ralsei shot me an odd look.
“OF [coarse]! IS THAT H3R BACK THERE?” I turned to look. Toriel was talking to her, but I couldn't quite hear what they were saying. Spamton ran over.
“HEY! IS YOUR [family car] [broken dreams]?”
“Um, yes… She says her name is Esyuvii,” Toriel said cautiously. I guess she was creeped out by Spamton. Don't blame her.
“You can call me Essie,” Esyuvii grumbled. Spamton placed his hand near Essie's hood.
“[&$%#], YOU'RE WARM! WHERE'S THAT [clown around town]?” The Jevilstail popped off of Ralsei & the rest of Jevil reformed from it.
“YOU RANG, RANG?” Ralsei sighed.
“CAN YOU TELEPORT US ALL TO MY [new location!] in [Castle Funk]?”
“I THINK WE SHOULD MAKE A DEAL, DEAL!” He floated above Spamton, clearly enjoying himself.
“WH4T!?” Spamton snapped.
Jevil lowered his voice. “I want that Lancercookie, Lancercookie.”
“What are you [talk about a steal!] about?” Spamton replied. He tried to sound casual.
“You're a worse liar than I remember, remember,” Jevil grinned.
“F1NE.” Spamton reached into his pocket and handed over the cookie. Jevil popped it in his mouth and teleported everyone to Castle Town.