"W-where am I?" Frisk said after snapping back to reality.

  Doper held her in his arms as he climbed the endless stairs of the tower.

  "Took you long enough," Doper said. "I was starting to get bored."

  "W-what happened?" Frisk asked weakly.

  "You don't remember? That thing choked you until you lost consciousness."

  "How did you manage to defeat it? That thing was like a freaking titan."

  "I— used your sword."

  "My sword? How did that help at all?"

  "I don't know— but when you were binding it with your Bane, you did something to it."

  "What do you mean?"

  "It killed that thing in one blow."

  "Wait, actually?"

  "Surprisingly, yeah."

  "So you got the blood then. Cool."

  "Not exactly— it kinda turned into ash."

  "Are you freaking serious—? Why are we even taking the stairs? Don't we have dragons?"

  "They're too weak to fly this high. I've been climbing for like 21 hours."

  "I've been unconscious for 21 hours!?"

  "You took quite the hit back there."

  "Shut up— yeah, but still, where are we heading?"

  "I think the blood was a metaphor for something— and it's probably in this tower."

  "What makes you so sure?"

  "Lucky guess…?"

  Frisk stared at Doper in disbelief.

  A Few Hours Later

  They finally reached the top of the tower.

  A vast chamber awaited them — empty except for a single red, glowing orb floating at its center.

  "Hey, wake up. We're here," Doper said, lightly slapping Frisk's cheek.

  "Huh?" she muttered, still groaning. "Oh yeah, I'm awake."

  "Great. I was getting bored of carrying you," Doper said before dropping her onto the stone floor.

  "Ouch! Didn't your mom teach you to treat women nicely?"

  "That was 4,000 years ago. I obviously forgot."

  "Haha— funny, you jer—"

  "I'll go get the blood so we can get back to the town."

  Doper walked toward the orb.

  The moment his fingers touched it, a blood-red dome erupted outward, sealing him inside and leaving Frisk outside.

  "What the fuck!?" Frisk shouted. "Doper! Hey— can you hear me!?"

  Inside the dome, Doper looked around in confusion.

  "What the fuck is this…" he muttered.

  "Doper, wasn't it?" a strange voice echoed.

  "Who is that?!" Doper shouted.

  That sound… it's familiar, he thought.

  "Hi," a figure declared from behind him.

  "What are you…" Doper asked slowly as he turned.

  "Oh? You don't know me? What a shame. I thought I was pretty popular."

  "I said— who are you?" Doper said aggressively, drawing his weapon.

  "You don't joke around, do you?" the figure said casually.

  "I am— Curse."

  Doper began to sweat. "What do you want from me…?"

  "Oh, I don't want anything from you. In fact, I'm going to let you leave in a moment— right after I make some things clear."

  Doper exhaled slowly. "Speak," he muttered.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  "I want you to know that I don't hate you at all. In fact, we're kind of… similar."

  "Don't you dare compare me to you," Doper snapped.

  "Whether you like it or not, you can't avoid it. Anyway, you should know that the only way to kill me is by reviving my brother, Bless— and you should be the first to know that reviving a god… is impossible."

  "You think I'm a fool?" Doper yelled. "You're trying to force me to back down. There's something stopping you from killing me right now and right here— now speak."

  Curse smirked.

  "You're clever, huh? I'll reward you for that."

  He leaned closer.

  "The Law protects you both," Curse whispered.

  The dome shattered instantly and dissolved into nothing.

  "Doper, are you okay?!" Frisk shouted as she rushed to him.

  "Y—yeah…" Doper muttered, staring at his hand.

  The orb was now resting in his palm.

  Later That Day

  "Did we really have to take the stairs back down? I can't feel anything from the waist down!" Frisk complained.

  "Welp, did you see another way down?" Doper replied.

  They exited the tower— only to find their dragons gone.

  "Did they just fly away?" Frisk asked.

  "I don't think so," Doper said quietly, pointing toward a dark patch in the distance.

  Blood.

  "Holy fuck," Frisk whispered.

  Not far away stood a humanoid figure.

  "Is that a—?" Frisk began.

  "Funguy," Doper answered. "Let's just get this over with."

  They dashed toward it at full speed— only to freeze as a demibeast lunged from nowhere, devouring the Funguy whole before vanishing.

  They stared at the empty ground.

  "What the fuck was that…" they both muttered.

  "Hi."

  The voice came from behind them.

  They turned sharply.

  A little girl stood there.

  "Kid— you scared us," Frisk said in relief.

  "Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to. My name's Betty," the girl said with a small smirk.

  "Oh, hi Betty. I'm Frisk— this is Doper. What are you doing here exactly?"

  "Oh, I live here on this island."

  "Where are your parents?"

  "Oh, I don't know— but I have Benny here for company."

  She made a subtle gesture with her hand.

  The same demidog that devoured the Funguy materialized beside her.

  "Say hi, Benny."

  Doper and Frisk froze.

  "He doesn't talk much," Betty added casually.

  Frisk stared at the dog… then at the girl.

  "D—did you just do that?" she asked.

  "Do what?" Betty replied innocently.

  "Summon that thing…"

  "Oh. Yeah, I guess?"

  "It's not the time for this. We need to find a way back to the town," Doper said.

  "Yeah, right," Frisk agreed.

  "Where's that ‘town’?" Betty asked. "I might be able to help."

  "A little over in that direction," Doper said, pointing north.

  "Okay, I have just the thing."

  She formed another hand sign.

  A demibat materialized.

  "Cool," Frisk said, slightly surprised.

  "I guess we should go now," Doper said.

  The three of them climbed onto the demibat.

  "You guys ready?" Betty asked.

  "Yeah," they replied.

  "Alright then," she said, patting the demibat’s head.

  "Let's go, Benny."

  And then—