Small Differences - Chapter 3 (OLD)

	"Alright, let's get this over with." Kris stumbles to his feet. "We'll get more chalk, mosey back to class, and then, Kris..." Susie turns to the human. "YOU'LL do our project. How's that sound?" Kris decides not to answer out of survival instinct. "Why so quiet all the sudden? I wasn't actually going to bite your face off, freak." Kris starts walking past Susie and towards the hallway intersection at a brisk pace. "It's not like it would have mattered. You're going to do it either way." she calls behind him. Kris ignores her and walks towards the supply closet, but Susie rushes past him. Kris catches up to Susie at the supply closet. "Well, here's the closet. Too bad...We were just starting to have fun." Kris quickly opens the door, but something isn't right. The closet is unusually dark. It's as if the darkness is cutting deep, yet deeper into the hallway. Kris suddenly has this horrible sinking feeling in his stomach. "...Hey, Kris, is it just me, or...is it REALLY dark in there?" Susie says with a slightly shaky voice. Like someone watching a train wreck, Kris can't seem to look away. "What's the holdup, Kris? You gonna go in or what?"

	"*Go ahead. There's nothing to be afraid of in there. Just make sure that Susie follows you in."

	Kris swallows the saliva in his mouth. Kris tries to say something, but can't find the right words. "Uh..." "Fine!" Susie snaps. "If you're gonna be a WIMP, then I'll..." Susie's words begin to trail off into nothing as she stares into the dark supply closet for what feels like minutes. "We'll both go in at the same time!!" Kris quickly nods his head as and and Susie both reluctantly enter the supply closet.

...

	There are several scattered pieces of paper littered across the floor. "See?" Susie's voice almost cracks. "Why are you so scared? There's nothing but old papers...Let's try to find a lightswitch." Kris tries to find a lightswitch against the walls but comes up with nothing. "Kris, what are you doing back there? Help me find a damn switch!" she barks. Kris slowly follows her deeper into the supply closet. "Urgh...I can't find it. Guess it's farther in..." They both walk deeper and deeper into the darkness. Susie's pace falters until she stops dead in her tracks. She turns around to look at Kris. "Uh...kinda big for a closet, huh...? You'd think we'd have reached the end by now..." Kris can only reply with a small shrug. Susie turns back around and begins walking even deeper into the darkness. The human follows until she suddenly stops, clenching her fists. "Hey, Kris. I think this closet's...uh...broken. There aren't any walls." She smiles at if she's confident, but her body language tells him otherwise. "Well, we've worked hard enough. If Alphys wants chalk so bad, she can get it herself. Let's split." Kris turns a full 180 degrees and begins his trek back to the closet door, with Susie following suit.

	Just as the duo makes it to the doorway, it slams shut with a loud metallic clang, which was odd considering that it was a wooden door. Kris freezes in place. "Wh-what the...!?" Susie stammers. She bolts for the door and slams her fist on the wall. "Hey, this isn't funny! LET US OUT! LET US...-" The floor begins to tremble and shudder. Susie steps back. "The floor, it's-" The floor drops out beneath them. The last thing Kris hears before blacking out is a loud gasp and a dull thud.

...

...

...

...

	Kris regains consciousness and slowly opens his eyes. He feels cold, and he's lying on something hard and slightly sandy. The air is stale and stagnant. Kris sits up and look at his surroundings. There's nothing but a pitch black void, and a stone path in front of him. The human brings himself to his feet. However, he notices that he feels much heavier than he did before. when his foot hits the ground, it makes a metallic clank. That's when Kris finally notices that his green and yellow-striped sweater and black pants are gone. Kris examines himself, finding that he appears to be wearing...armor? There is a tattered red cloth draped across his right shoulder. It's soft to the touch. The only thing to do is move forward, it seems. Kris walks along the path laid before him and notices that there's a bright white light to his left. By second nature, he reaches out, and...

	[File saved.]

"*Hey, you there?"
"Yeah...Where the hell did you go?"
"*Hey now, I never left...By the way...If you see one of these lights like this one, touch them. They will heal any injuries you might have, and they're....useful to me. Useful as in if something really bad were to happen, they'll come into use and it'll be like that nondescript bad thing never happened. We'll end up right back at the last one you used."
"What are these? Where the hell are we? How do you know all this?"
"*....All I can say is that I've....been here before. You'll know what this place is eventually. You'll be meeting a new friend very soon. For now, let's keep walking."

	The light feels...comforting and warm. Kris can feel the dull pain in his chest and the rugburn from falling face first onto the floor this morning fade away. Kris keeps moving forward. An unexpectedly cold breeze rushes past him, delivering a shiver that runs down Kris' spine. Kris comes across a wall with a tall, fleshy object with a bulbous tip resting on the top. He examines it as closely as he can.

	"*There's nothing special about that thing. Keep moving."

	Kris doesn't break his sight away from the object for a brief moment, but finally looks forward and places one foot in front of the other. As he passes the object, it makes a startling chirp and begins moving erratically. The human jumps and quickly looks at the object only to find that it is joined by a second, un-moving object of the same appearance. Kris decides to name it because he can only expect to see quite a few of them in this place. "Wobbly...things? Wobbly things. Yeah, that works." Kris looks at the wall only to notice a small oozing black hole staring back at him. Kris examines it closely, but he can't see anything in there. Kris decides to keep moving and expects a second chirp to come from the other wobbly thing. The second wobbly thing chirps and begins to flail as he passes it. Kris briefly stops as he hears heavy footsteps in the distance, but continues forward. The human passes by two other oozing wall holes with what looks like graffiti composed of an eye. More chirping, flailing wobbly things pass him as he makes his way forward. At the end of the path lies the edge of a cliff, and a steep stone slide to Kris' right. As he approaches it, he catches what looks like a shadow creeping in the corner of his eye, but it's gone before it enters his center vision. Kris approaches the slide and almost uses it to get to lower ground, but hesitates.

	"*Hey, if you're scared, I can take over your body for a sec and slide down there myself."
	"Uh...no thanks, I think I got it."
	"*Just let me know if you change your mind. I still remember our agreement, and I'm not one to break promises."

	The teenage human gets into position and pushes himself forward, sending him down onto more of the same stone ground. Kris makes a perfect landing, but that doesn't stop his legs from being slightly shaky.

	"*Nice landing. I think you'll be alright down here."

	Kris keeps moving, but notices a small stone island in an ocean of pitch black void containing what looks like a giant living, breathing dust bunny. Kris can't help but stare at it for a moment before continuing onward. Alas, there is a fork in the road. Kris opts to go to the path on his right and comes across a small plateau with another wall. There is a giant dust bunny on top of the wall, as well as two more of those chirping, flailing wobbly things. Examination of the wall reveals an oozing hole with something shiny and glowing inside. Kris reaches in and yanks it out. It looks like a piece of something larger. A shard, if you will. Kris pockets the shard and heads back to the fork in the road to take the other path. The human passes another wall with more eye graffiti, but this time the eyes are oozing with a mysterious black liquid like the many wall holes. Kris keeps walking only notice a string of stone islands all containing the same chirping wobbly things from before, but these ones are colored black, and glow an intimidating shade of red. Before Kris can walk any further, the soul stops him.

	"*Hey Kris, wait! Those black ones...They're not very friendly."
	"What do you mean by that?"
	"*They're going to launch three little projectiles at you, kinda like a monster does when they fight with magic. However, these projectiles are quite slow. If you just run as fast as you can, you should be fine. Don't hesitate or you might trip yourself up. If you get hit by these things though...All I can say is that it'll hurt like hell you you might fall off the edge."

	Kris walks a few feet backwards to get a running start, stretching his legs and bending his knees. Dust kicks up as he makes a mad dash for cover. As he passes each black wobbly thing, they chirp and launch three basketball sized projectiles. The speed of Kris' sprint outpaces every single one and allows him to reach safety in a matter of seconds. Kris slows down as he spots another light that the soul had mentioned before. He reaches out, and...

	[File saved.]
	Kris can feel the light bathe his skin in its warm glow.

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