Annoyances
This story takes place in a joke Undertale AU.
Vice is begrudgingly leading a stranger through the Underground to its odd destination. He unfortunately runs into Tomo, who has an unusual request for him.
Author's Notes
Rai is someone else's OC that has no profile as of right now. This work was meant to be longer but I left it unfinished.
The clanking of metal plates reverberated throughout the hot tunnels of the deep underground. A tall, armored figure with a glowing blue spear in hand led a smaller, unarmored one. Unbeknownst to the former, a ghostly third figure was following them as well.
Vice kept up a quick pace, expecting Kaz to keep itself from falling behind. He wanted to cross this next area quickly and be over and done with it. Frustrated, he stomped the way to their destination quicker than he meant.
"All we've gotta do is get through this next part of the city. Then I don't hafta babysit ya anymore," Vice spat.
In response to Vice, Rai rattled off a list of insults that only Kaz could hear.
"Now, hopefully, we won't run into that snot-haired—" Vice stopped, suddenly surprised when he realized they’d reached a balcony overlooking the city. Walls of flowers and ivy draped off the stone and scattered along the ground, the entire area swathed in a gentle blue light.
As if right on cue, a dashing form with iconic, bright green hair descended a set of nearby stairs. The virus was decorated from head to toe in eye-catching garments, most notably a frilly pink dress hanging from their shoulders. Vice was visibly awestruck, earning himself a questioning side-eye from Kaz and Rai.
"If it isn't my least favorite, ironclad, thorn in my side!" Tomo called across the balcony.
The scraping of the demon's armor was heard as he physically shook himself from his stupor, his face immediately scrunching into a scowl.
"You've gotta be kidding— Couldn't you have done this any other day?"
"Well, since it's such an inconvenience to you..." Tomo pondered, looking to the side and pretending to reconsider. "No. Today's perfect."
Vice's tail whipped around in annoyance, the tight grip on his spear making its energy crackle.
"Look, just— me an' shortstack here only wanna waltz on through real quick, then you can do whatever it is you're doin', alright?" he pleaded, gesturing to the stranger behind him.
Tomo's lighthearted demeanor faded as they closed the distance between themself and the group. "You'd know better than anyone else that I've got a lot to rehearse. Why should I put it on hold—” they jabbed a finger to Vice's chest plate” —for you?" Tomo scoffed. "I mean, at least try to convince me."
A silence fell over the two viruses as they glared intently at one another, unmoving, waiting to see who would break first.
A frustrated growl eventually made its way out of Vice's chest.
"Please," he gritted through sharp teeth.
At that, a loud laugh escaped from Tomo, catching the group off guard. They feigned the act of catching their breath, turning their back to the demon. "It's still no, but it's awful nice of you to think I would've changed my mind."
"Who knew Vice was so unbelievably bad at this?" Rai giggled to Kaz.
Meanwhile, Vice was still reeling from Tomo's sudden taunting, his mind being slow to retort.
"What? Come on! What's it gotta take for you to gimmie a break here?"
Tomo stopped to think, really think this time. Maybe they were being too harsh — Vice was reasonable, but troubling a harmless stranger? That wouldn't look good on their image.
"You know what you could do?" they mused, turning to face the bounty hunter once more. "What I'm rehearsing for is a dance. Maybe you two could help."
Vice let out a drawn-out groan.
Tomo continued. "'Shortstack' over there I'm confident will do fine in one of the other roles, but I'm playing the role of the follower in this dance, and I need a good lead. I'm sure you can see where this is going?"
Vice couldn't help himself. His temper flared, and he turned away from the other viruses, shouting a barrage of curses to the open air in front of him. The only thing that made him turn around was that he didn't miss the implication that Tomo thought him a "good lead," the comment having struck something within him.
He stabbed his spear into the ground by his feet, leaving it in place as he marched toward Tomo. A devilish sneer stretched across Vice’s face as he roughly grabbed the other virus by the hand.
“Alright, pretty boy. Let’s dance.”