Undyne now walked down a hall that was the only pathway that she had. Her neck cracked as anticipation lined her being. The challenge she had just faced felt like nothing but a warmup, she was eager to see what kind of test the world had decided to throw at her… More accurately one she had just thrown herself into for the sake of it. Undyne was not one to back down from a possible challenge whether it be real or not it was just the idea. The lights within the path had started to get dimmer and dimmer the more she stepped. A buildup of an eerie feeling crawled along the hall and screeched out towards Undyne as if the very building was trying to test her will. Undyne simply glared back at the darkness as if imposing herself against it to scare it away as if that was possible, and surprisingly it somewhat was. Eventually Undyne had still ended up in pitch black besides a singular beam of light peeking out towards her within the bleak bluesteel hall. For a moment she just stood there, her head rotating around and looking somewhat confused as if she had expected something to happen by now.
Just when Undyne had thought she had been duped or something of that sort and an unfortunate letdown would happen to her as if she had fallen just into a trap laid out before her. Once more she was suddenly hit by a large sucking force like a breach in a space station as the air rushed out. She was suddenly rushed into the previously closed off end with a smidgen of light coming through it that had now opened up the water guiding her through it. After some more tossing and turning and ensuing Undyne had finally found herself coming to a relieved stop once more. She blinked several times about to see where she was now, but before she did she would see somebody that was standing or rather floating right in front of her within the water.
There was a man before her that showed some similarity to herself, humanoid being mixed with fishy features although somewhat less noticeable than her. They seemed very old with a large beard and long hair with a color that matched the ocean. Their eyes are firm and unexpressive with a long experience of life, perhaps not the greatest kind. The brows of the man furrowed at Undyne and their hands tightly gripped onto a trident they held by their side. They exuded much more presence than that creature from before, Undyne could only assume he to be the one behind this all, which was irregular with the usual scheme of the rule of three in trials. Undyne was about to speak on that, but the man did first.
Fellow seadweller, I see you are braver than most, stronger too even. And that is why you have received the call of Atlantis. As the king of Atlantis, if you wish to enter the world of our people you must fight for it. It is hard to trust any, for many outsiders' hearts are filled with greed, but only those of the most proper of wills can even think of having the dimliest chance to pass this hall. There is no greater security than I for this place. If you are true to how you seem, raise your spear once more. The apparent king spoke with a daring tone, forceful and offputting. It would be something to scare away anyone who didn't have the proper scruples or even a faux representation of them.
Of course, this is Undyne we are talking about. She started to float away from him, but then she would stop. Her hand gripped tightly onto her spear as a ferocious grin lit up her face. She was more than capable of battling him, eager even.
And within the next instant two blurs appeared in the ocean as the water whipped around destroying the structure around them, whatever unknown ancient material this was anyway. After this blur spear could be seen clashing against the trident. Undyne and the Atlantean clashing blows already locked in with each other.
"You know that's not how you use a spear right?" The man would comment on her approach. Undyne simply spoke back in her pumped up tone. "I fight however I want. And it's not like I wanna kill you, gramps!" The man simply gave a chuckle at Undyne's demeanor. "You're more childish than I would've thought."
The man suddenly slid his trident to the tip of her spear and pushed against it, launching it away and floating within the oceanic plane. Undyne, now open, had been pierced through the chest with the trident, the man flicked it causing Undyne to fly off and crash into a wall within the spacious room of odd shape. Undyne suddenly let out a surprised gasp as she felt the energy suddenly rush out of her body and the water around her stained red.
"You should try to kill me, because that's exactly what I will do to you. The way this works only one of us shall leave Ms." The man would say, there was no sense of coldness or harshness in his tone, just a simple fact.
Undyne felt her energy begin returning to her, and she suddenly pulled herself back together with a guttural shout of power as a response, shaking the area by force of will. Suddenly from her position she jumped off of the structure below her and towards that of the Atlantean like a bullet, now only adorned with her bare fists. A trident whizzed right towards her head flickering faster than a beam of light. Right before it had touched her Undyne had rolled off to the side, her own showing of capability. And within the next instance Undyne had reached them cracking her skull against his chin, at this speed it was a rattling blow knocking his head backwards.
"You want to go to the death?! Then to death you'll go!" Undyne seemed to speak hysterically, although hiding something within herself. She put on her faux will and reigned it as true, just for him. Her fists punching at him in an endless barrage taking advantage of her initial stun to hit every weak point on his body both conceptual and physical stopping him from even fighting back, only growing stronger with each blow.
The man attempted a surprise attack by manipulating his trident through a nonsensical will to stab right into the back of Undyne. Undyne had suddenly paused in the middle of her flurry of punches and pointed a finger into the air as a spear appeared and caught the trident by its prong. Undyne looked at the man smugly as if she had predicted his action. "It seems like you're the challenger here." Undyne said pleased
The man grunted and used the small moment given by Undyne's pride to give her a clean hook blood dripped from her mouth, but she did not seem deterred by a smidgen, and the same for the ruler. Undyne reciprocated his blow instinctually decking him right in the face as they both launched away from each other a slight distance.
"You've got such vigor for having three holes in your chest" he pronounced
"And you're" Undyne was about to say something until she had a sudden realization, the man was completely unscathed, the only thing that had changed about him was that he seemed to have aged even further, at quite the rapid pace indeed. "You're old!"
The man had suddenly and oddly shut his mouth giving off no more words to Undyne, the only thing that spoke was their fists. Going too and fro across the sea blow for blow with the prime determinant here seeming to be will. And after some time…
The man now seeming to have aged to the point of being skin and bone threw a blow to the face of Undyne. Undyne took a swift dodge to the right of it, huffing and uppercutting the man. His whole body followed the motion of the punch and slamming against the sea floor. No longer was a man but now a decayed corpse with only bone in its remnants. Undyne's face turned up into a frown. She looked at the now apparently dead monster with regret, but she would not reject the wishes of a fellowman. She stood astute like a soldier and placed a fist on her heart as if to make an honor to the now fallen.
"So you've done it huh? Now this is all yours. Bring us back shall you, Queen." The skeleton somehow spoke despite the inherent inability for that to be possible, but right after it dissipated to dust. It washed away within the waters. The remaining soul was already cracked and starting to deteriorate as it approached Undyne, pressing right against her as it seemed it barely had any more strength and dissipated. Undyne blinked several times in confusion.
"HUH?! Don't just leave me with that you damn…"
The walls around her suddenly faded away, the walls were no more and all that was left was her sight of Atlantis once more. Instead of the vibrant and grand highly advanced city she had seen when she arrived here, it was now a derelict and destroyed place of greatness that once was. Her eyes widened with shock, as a wave of realization came over her.
'So all of that… None of it was real?" Undyne questioned herself aloud. Though another voice spoke back. "Well, some of it. Queen Undyne, now shall you lead this fallen kingdom to its glory once more? With your aid… Atlantis can rise again."