Chapter 2: Corridor
The two humans and Toriel went through two simple puzzles before they got to the third room. In the room, there was a wooden dummy by the doorway. Toriel told Markus and Frisk, "My children, when you encounter a monster, you will get into a [FIGHT]. To simulate one of these fights, I want you to try talking with this dummy." Markus and Frisk just gave her deadpan faces before confronting the dummy, with their souls appearing on their chests as they did so. Frisk said in exasperation, "Hello Mr. Dummy, how are you doing today?" Markus just pointed two finger guns at the dummy and said, "Hey, how's it going beautiful?" Frisk, while there eyes were still closed, visibly cringed at their fellow human flirting with a dummy. Toriel on the other hand just told them, "Well done my children, let's keep going."
As Toriel went into the next room, Frisk turned to Markus and said, "Markus, I've only known you for about 30 minutes or less, but I'm starting to question your sanity." Markus just shrugged and said, "If I'm insane, then your also crazy for having me as your friend." Frisk tilted their head in confusion and asked, "Wait, we're friends?"
Markus just looked at them with a friendly grin and said, "Yup! Us humans gotta stick together right? Since your the only human I've seen down here so far, that makes us friends!" He then ran towards the next room, while Frisk just stared at his back in a daze. "Friends huh? I guess I'd like that." they said to themselves. "Frisk, hurry and get your butt over here!" Markus yelled at them from the doorway. Frisk just grinned at the boy and said, "Coming!" The young teen ran into the next room.
The group of boy, unknown, and goat woman went through the Ruins at a calm place. Toriel taught them about some of the puzzles, and stepped in when monsters tried to attack them. Though most of the monsters just left them alone or greeted them kindly, reminding Markus once again that this was no longer a video game, but real life, with these monsters being real living beings.
As they were walking, Markus saw three Froggits, and they seemed to be a family by the way the two older Froggits were taking care of the little one. The little Froggit noticed him looking at them and waved towards the human boy, with Markus happily waving back. This made Frisk, Toriel, and the Froggit's parents smile at the wholesome scene. They humans and goat monster then continued on their journey.
After another puzzle, the three went into a long corridor with a pillar at the end. Toriel turned towards the young teens and said, "Children, I need you two to stay here for a while. Do not go on without me, understood?" The two humans just nodded. They saw Toriel walk forward for a few seconds, and when they blinked, she disappeared.
Markus just stood there in shock before saying in exasperation, "Welp, I'm gonna keep going." Frisk wanted to stop the boy and tell him they should wait for a bit but just sighed at his behavior and followed him to the end of the corridor. When they got to the end, they both blinked, and Toriel literally appeared in the blink of an eye. They both didn't care as much about it anymore, since they already saw some really crazy shit in the underground, so they just assumed this place's inhabitants must also be pretty weird. "Good job my children! That was actually a test to see your independence. You both did very well. This time though, I actually want you to stay here. I will give you both phones so you can call me if you have need of me." Toriel handed Markus and Frisk a cell phone which, in the boy's opinion, was very old fashioned. Frisk took the phone and put it in their pocket.
After Toriel left, Mark and Frisk both sat down in the corridor to get to know more about each other. When Frisk asked Mark about where he came from, he answered with, "Well, I came from an orphanage. I was told that my mom died when I was born and my dad-" He cut himself off before saying with a hint of sadness in his tone, "My dad killed himself after giving me away." Frisk looked at their new friend in shock before saying in a regretful panic, "Markus, I'm sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable! I didn't mean to make you feel bad!" Markus just shook his head at their new friend and said, "It's fine Frisk, don't be worried. While I never actually got to know my parents, I know they would have wanted me to be happy. Sitting around and being a depressed edgelord would just be hurting their memory. Besides, I have something to always remember them by, this necklace!"
As he finished his sentence, Markus pulled out the ruby necklace of his late mother from his hoodie. Frisk looked at the gem in awe. It was truly beautiful, and you could tell it was well taken care of by the shine it gave off in the Ruin's light. "Wow Mark, it really is beautiful. Your dad gave it to you?" The young man smiled at their friend and said, "Yeah, you're right! Actually, it was originally my mom's but my dad gave it to me. Anyway, enough about me, what about you? Where did you come from?"
As he asked this, Frisk's eyes squinted even more. Their face grew a expression that showed sadness, anger, and regret. Markus, who noticed that they didn't look well, said in a comforting voice, "Frisk, if you don't want to say anything, you don't have to. Some people have things that they aren't yet ready to announce to others. I understand that since we just met you won't completely trust me, but just know that you can talk to me about anything you need to." Frisk shook their head and said, "Markus, I'm sorry about this. I want to tell you, but I still feel a bit uncomfortable about it." Markus shook their head and said, "It's fine. Anyways, wanna keep going?" Frisk nodded, albeit less enthusiastic.
Moving into the next room, Markus and Frisk went through the doorway on the left and took a few candies from a candy bowl. They felt a strange sense of guilt and disgust at themselves when it fell over.
When they walked down the corridor, they were greeted by a group of two Moldsmal who tried to attack them.
While Frisk had a bit of trouble with them, Markus didn't even break a sweat as he effortlessly dodged their magic. As he sidestepped away from another magic attack, Markus said to the left Moldsmal, "Hey buddy, me and my friend would like if you could please stop trying to attack us and let us pass!" The Moldsmall just wiggled.
Markus then realized the problem before facepalming and saying, "You don't understand me, do you?" The Moldsmal just wiggled again before shooting some more magic at him.
Jumping to the side, Markus tried to remember the options in the game. After a bit of thinking, Markus decided. He turned his head towards Frisk and said, "Hey Frisk, follow my lead." Frisk was confused, but they just nodded in response.
Markus took a deep breath, put his hands on his hips, and started to wiggle at the slime in a suggestive way. Frisk, while still confused, followed their lead. They did this for a few seconds before both of the Moldsmal wiggled back at them and left.
Frisk wiped a small bit of sweat on their forehead before saying to Markus, "Man, I'm glad that's over. Hey, how did you know that would work?" Mark's response was, "Well, I realized that the slimes were wiggling before they attacked us, and they weren't doing it out of random because they were minding their own buisness before trying to fight us. Because of that, I came to the conclusion that they must have been communicating with us or each other by the wiggling since they had no mouthes."
Frisk's face scrunched up in suspicion before saying, "You got all that just from the slimes wiggling? That's sounds really farfetched. Are you sure you didn't know anything."
Markus just scratched the back of their head nervously when he heard them say that and said, "Hehehe, I guess I was just lucky?" Frisk narrowed their eyes at Mark's response before they continued going down the corridor.
Mark let out a sigh of relief before wiping away the small amount of sweat that was building on his forehead with his hand. "That was way too close," he whispered to himself.
While he made it look like he didn't know what he was doing, in reality, Mark actually just got that from a fan theory in his old world. "Thankfully, Frisk took the bait and didn't ask any more questions." he thought. "I'll have to be more careful when I'm using my knowledge from the games."
After that encounter, Markus and Frisk walked into the next room. They walked forward onto a dark patch of ground and, to their suprise, fell down through the floor. Markus and Frisk rubbed their butts for a bit before looking at the two doorways in front of them. After debating for a bit, they chose the right doorway, which led them up some steps. When they got to the top, they went through to see they were on the opposite side of the corridor. Markus said, "Okay, that was weird. Anyway, next room?" Frisk nodded before they walked down the corridor again.
Entering it, the phone in Frisk's pocket vibrated. Frisk got out the phone and Toriel's voice came out of the other end.
"Hello? This is Toriel," she said. "For no reason in particular, which one do you two prefer? Cinnamon, or butterscotch?"
Before they could say anything, Toriel said, "Wait, do not tell me. Is it Butterscotch?" Markus and Frisk both answered with a suprised, "Yes!"
Toriel chuckled. "Hee hee hee. I had a feeling. Alright my children, goodbye!" The phone hung up.
When Markus and Frisk walked a few more steps, the phone rang again. Frisk answered and heard Toriel's voice again.
"Hello? This is Toriel," she said. "You both do not dislike Cinnamon, do you? I know what your preference is but-" She cut herself off. "Would you turn up your nose if you foundit on your plate?"
Markus said, "No, I'm fine with cinnamon. It's pretty good, even though I like Butterscotch more. You feel the same way, right Frisk?" Frisk agreed.
Toriel chuckled softly before saying, "Right, right, I understand. Thank you for being patient, by the way."
"No problem," Markus said. "We're happy to let you know more about us." Toriel then hung up the phone.
Frisk turned to their new friend and asked, "Hey, why do you think. she asked us those questions?"
Markus shook their head in mock disappointment. "Frisk, Frisk, Frisk. It seems I'm going to have to teach you about the wonderful world of degeneration."
Frisk looked at them with a confused expression before saying, "What do you mean by that?"
Mark's mouth became a devious grin as he asked, "Frisk, have you ever heard the phrase, getting Ara Ara'd?"
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
Persin
Persin Yup, your boy is back, and he's gonna start uploading chapters. You see, the brain juices haven't been flowing lately while I was working on my other stories, so I decided to get back to one of the first. I think I'll upload to around the end of the Ruins before taking a small break. Also, don't be excited, I didn't stockpile chapters. Sorry.
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