* THE CAGE.

after ch3 and ch4 i have a theory on what the deal is with kris and the knight. and until more information is put forth or i come up with a different theory, i think this is how i'll be handling it on my blog:

there are two roaring knights. one is kris. they have made every dark world thus far — every dark world has had the same tint to it. including the tv world. since we know dark worlds change based on the person making them, and how susie's was different than all the ones before, we know that kris has to be making them. or at the very least someone who has a very similar mindset/goal to kris.

the first one could've been made at any time, but we also know alphys mentioned that kris was a late to school, despite their mother driving them there. i imagine they backed away because they might not have wanted the soul to go in there and seal it up, but was forced to go with susie.

the second one could've been made around the time we were unconscious in class  — we were also late that day, if i recall correctly. i imagine it had to have been made before class, though, as the internet outage seems to have been caused by the dark world.

we saw the third one, and while i don't have a timeline down i'm sure you can fit the fourth one in there somewhere.

kris is working with the second knight, the one we see in game. when you hold your breath in ch3, kris smiles. the knight never instakills kris. i think any fighting the knight is doing against kris is towards the soul in particular. — and it's my belief that this second knight, the one we fight against, is dess.

something clearly happened to dess that made her go missing. i imagine she's been in the bunker/dark world this whole time. when kris makes a fountain she travels there to do the roaring knight business. while i am unsure of their exact motives, or what exactly happened to her, it seems important to both of them. we know kris is the demon-summoning type, so i won't go as far as to say they're doing this with fully good intentions, but i don't think kris necessarily wants the world to be destroyed given how protective they seem of noelle.

whatever they're planning, they're in cahoots and kris is covering for her. and they really don't want me to know about it. all i know is that kris seems to make the dark worlds, then dess shows up in them and starts doing stuff. it's clear that kris was trying to get the two remaining password symbols into the bunker (undyne for the badge, who was drawn into the dark world by kris slashing their mom's tires and tricking her into calling the police. and toriel for the deltarune symbol). and kris doesn't want me to see the codes to open the bunker. so they HAVE to be working together.

📺⭐🟥⭕ " That was sloppy-- You know we're doing this... LIVE right? We can't edit this stuff out! Fine, just-- block it off! I can't risk-- KRIS!! "

For once, thankfully, the tv man was pacing as he talked, which meant half way through his turn he spotted the familiar teen over his shoulder, leaped about 5 feet into the air, and landed with a big, shaky smile.

" Haha! Where's your friends, Kris? Are they enjoying the show? Need more seltzer in the dressing rooms? Just stopping by for a little one-on-one with your old pal? "

His hands behind his back fidget and wring. Despite the very... wide grin he keeps permanent on his face, it wasn't hard to see that Tenna was noticeably more tense when with Kris alone. For some reason. But, then he sees them... make a noise into their hand. His antennae scrunch up. " ... Huh? "

Is it a joke? Is it a... teenager thing? His mind searches rapidly to make sense of the odd behavior-- then. It clicks. " Oh! You're trying to have a " rap sesh' " with me! No, I understand, Kris!! " A backwards cap drops between his antennas. " I too am familiar with the MMTV (monster music television)! "

you join in with tenna for a while, occasionally dropping a few dope rhymes to go along with the flow. honestly, this would make for great television. too bad you're not on the air right now. still, at least you had fun. that's all that really matters, right?

if kris can distract the soul away from the original point, it really doesn't matter what they do. they know that it wants to go seal the fountain alongside susie and ralsei, but the show needs to go on for a little while longer. until undyne (hopefully) stumbles into the dark world, if all goes as planned.

it really is lucky that the soul isn't privy to all their internal thoughts.

as the rap sesh wraps up, you strike a pose. somehow, when you weren't paying attention, you also got adorned with a backwards cap of your own.

the draconic monster trails after kris happily enough as they wander around town , poking around ... sort of , uh . looming over townsfolk and somehow wordlessly engaging everyone they run into for conversation . ( seriously , they never even say much . people just , kinda ... see them approach , and seem stricken with the urge to bear their soul . )

if susie's at all perturbed , she never lets on . it's just how they are , right ? she's coming around to all their quirks and oddities . as they enter the hospital , the monster slopes to lean against the nearby wall , watching as kris messes with the piano . a roll of her eyes .

you plink one of the keys once more before stepping back from the instrument.

*‬ slam your hands down. / ❤︎‬ ask if susie wants to try.