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Seven human souls. That’s how much they had needed. Or at least the equivalent.
Six. That’s how many they had collected through the thirty long years since Prince Asriel’s death.
And yet the barrier still broke after the arrival of the seventh. Or was it eighth? Well, that depended on if one counted the adopted brother of Asriel, Chara. It seemed that it was forgotten in time as the perceived war with humanity went on. It was in this time that each of the newer incarnations of the Attributes came about. It was said that there were seven, although no one was sure what they all were until Frisk came about. It was learned slowly, and only with the deaths of the Fallen Humans.
Patience.
Bravery.
Integrity.
Perseverance.
Kindness.
Justice.
And finally, Determination.
Each Fallen Human’s SOUL had been collected by Asgore, but only one could wield them and every monster SOUL in order to break the Barrier. Only those who remembered Flowey could really remember anything about the wielder, and Frisk was no stranger to this reality. Neither was Sans. A few others, including Alphys and Asgore, remembered Flowey, too. Papyrus remembered him a little, although no one forgot the look of complete betrayal that would cross Papyrus’ face whenever Flowey was mentioned, and people learned to not really mention Flowey anymore.
Not that Flowey ever popped up. Ever since the Barrier was broken, Flowey went AWOL, and only Frisk seemed to know anything about it. She didn’t like to, though, sadness always crossing her form whenever Flowey was mentioned.
Of course, since the Barrier was broken, a lot of things changed. Even though there was a lot of joy in the fact that Monsters could finally go to the surface again, there was a lot of sorrow, too. The Amalgamates finally returned home to their families… their multiple original families. Alphys still had to atone for keeping everyone in the dark for so long, but she tried her best. Frisk was now Ambassador for Monsters to humanity, and she was extremely nervous.
So nervous, in fact, that she refused to come out of her room in Toriel’s home in the Ruins for about a week after the Barrier was broken.
Sans was decided by lot to get her out. Toriel had tried everything she could, but Frisk still refused to leave. He went up to her door and knocked twice, saying, “knock knock.”
Frisk’s voice came from inside, saying, “Who’s there?”
“wish.”
“Wish who?”
“wish you’d come out, kid. everyone’s worried about ya.” No laughter. Sans suspected as much. It wasn’t meant as a joke, anyway. He sat with his back to the door, much like he would when he’d visit Toriel before the Barrier broke. “look, kid, everyone’s worried about you. even papyrus is worried, and when my little bro starts worrying, i start worrying even more.” He paused, and when Frisk didn’t speak, he said, “is this about the resets? you planning on doing one?”
Frisk sighed from the other side. “No. I promised no more resets after the last Neutral run, remember? I’d do a Pacifist run, and I’d never reset again.”
“i remember that. just checking. can’t be too careful.” Another pause. “so what’s buggin’ ya, kid?”
Frisk sighed before opening the door, making Sans fall backward into the room. He looked up at her, eyelights meeting a saddened upside-down face that looked down at him. He quickly got up before she closed the door and went to her bed, sitting down. She sighed deeply.
“It’s this whole Ambassador thing. I… I’m scared. I’ve never seen what happens after everyone sees the sun for the first time; I’ve always reset then. I… I don’t know what’s going to happen next.”
Sans nodded, his usual grin falling for the first time in Frisk’s memory. He’d never not smiled before in all the time Frisk knew him. To her, this was extremely worrying. He stood in front of her, shoulders slumped and mittened hands in his hoodie pockets.
“look, i ain’t gonna say it’s gonna be easy; i mean, you’re ambassador to a species that’s been trapped under a mountain for longer than most of us have lived. it’s gonna be hard. really hard.”
“What if I’m not the right one to be Ambassador?” she suddenly asked, covering her face with a pillow as she threw herself belly-down on the bed. “What if I end up making things worse for everyone?”
Sans looked at her with surprise. “frisk, what do you mean? of course you’re the right choice to be ambassador! you know monsterkind like the back of your hand, and you know humanity the same way. you’re the only one of all of us to safely bridge the gap.”
Frisk sniffled. “Sans, you don’t understand. Humanity’s awful. I understand why Chara hated it so much.” She looked up, eyes red and slightly puffy. “Do you know the legend of this mountain?”
Sans shrugged. “eh, not really.”
“Whoever goes up Mount Ebott never returns. That’s all we ever know, so we’re told never to go up there. But I did.” She buried her face in her pillow again. “I don’t want to go back to humanity. I don’t want to go back to how I lived before. Never.”
Sans looked down at Frisk with concern in his sockets and took a mittened hand out of his pocket, gently laying it on Frisk’s back. “frisk… that’s not going to happen. you’ve got all of us, remember? we can help you out!”
Frisk shook her head violently. “You don’t even know what I’ve been through! You don’t know what they did to me!” Her shirt shifted, revealing scars that had never healed, despite the various healing items in the Underground – although Sans had a feeling these scars weren’t from her time in the Underground.
“what the hell….” he muttered as he saw them. “kid… what did they do to you…”
Frisk looked down and realized what was showing and quickly hid it. “It’s… it’s nothing…”
Sans looked the most serious he ever did in that moment, smile and eyelights gone, as he said, “kid, that’s not nothing…” A horrible realization came over him. “you were abused on the surface. that’s why… that’s why you were so violent in your first few runs.”
Frisk nodded shamefully, tears spilling out of her eyes and onto her pillow, making it soaked in tears. Sans rubbed a hand over her back softly, eyelights back and full of understanding.
“frisk… i… oh my god…”
“I know… I’m awful… I’m… I’m a demon…”
Sans’ eyelights snapped to attention at that self-depreciatory comment. “no, you aren’t. trust me, i know demons, and you most certainly aren’t one. trust me, frisk. if i ever met a real demon…” His eyelights disappeared, and his voice changed a little, something she only heard twice in this run: “T h e y w o u l d h a v e a b a d t i m e.”
Frisk looked up to Sans, eyes filled with fear and somewhat comfort – and confusion. “Sans…?”
Sans’ eyelights came back, and a small smile returned to his face. His voice returned to normal as he said, “look, frisk, whatever those humans did to you, they did out of their own corrupted souls. you didn’t deserve any of it. trust me.”
Frisk sniffled again, and Sans got her a tissue box, and she took one, blowing her nose hard. She gave a “Thank you” before Sans offered his arms in a hug. She took it, a bunch of loud fart noises filling the room, and the two burst into laughter.
“woopiee cushion hug!” he exclaimed through his laughter, and they held each other in laughter and mirth, a smile finally gracing Frisk’s face. “hehehe… glad to see you’re smiling again.” He pulled away briefly, looking back at her with a smile but his eyesockets serious as before. “seriously, though, frisk, we’re going to make sure you’re never hurt like that again. if they try it… well… let’s just say i’m the judge here in the underground for a reason.”
Frisk smiled, wiping a few leftover tears from her eyes. “Thanks, Sans. I… I…”
He smiled brightly, the smile reaching his eyes. “come on, kid. papyrus wanted to see you after you finally got out of your room. everyone’s over at our house waiting on me to get back with ya.”
Frisk smiled and nodded, saying, “Just let me freshen up… I’m not exactly ready to see everyone else right now.”
Sans nodded. “take your time, kid. i’m rooting for ya.” He got up and left the room, saying, “just come out when you’re ready. i’ve got a shortcut we can use.”
He shut the door behind him, and a few minutes passed before Frisk came out in fresh clothes and a small smile on her face. “I’m ready.”
He smiled brightly. “all right, kid. let’s go.”
They walked down the hall to the dead end before ending up in front of Sans and Papyrus’ house. Sans held his hand out, and Frisk took it, a fart noise emitting in the air as they giggled, lessening the stress between them before Sans knocked on the door, saying, “knock knock.”
“Who’s there?” a motherly voice came from inside, and a groan came from someone else inside.
“lettuce.”
“Lettuce who?”
“lettuce in! it’s cold out here!”
Laughter emitted from both sides before the door opened, revealing Toriel on the other side while Papyrus was nearly yelling from the kitchen as he made spaghetti with Undyne, who was stifling laughter with Alphys, who was also in the kitchen with them.
“SAAANSSSS!” Papyrus yelled from the kitchen. “WHY MUST YOU?!”
“because i like to tickle people’s funny bones,” Sans replied, earning a giggle from everyone except Papyrus, who gave another loud groan.
Sans and Frisk went inside, and Frisk saw Mettaton sitting on the couch in box form, a smile on his computerized interface.
“Darling! You finally got out!” he exclaimed as he saw Frisk come in, and got up to approach Frisk for a hug, which she accepted with a smile. “We were all getting worried that things weren’t going fabulously for you!”
Frisk giggled, saying, “I… I think I’ll be okay now, Mettaton, thank you.”
Mettaton pulled away, striking a dramatic pose before saying, “Anytime, darling!”
Frisk couldn’t help but smile.
Papyrus came out of the kitchen, leaving Undyne to finish cooking – hopefully not burning the kitchen now that Alphys was in there with her to be impulse control.
“ACTUALLY, SANS AND I WERE WONDERING IF YOU COULD STAY THE NIGHT WITH US. EVERYONE ELSE WILL BE, SO IT WOULD BE PERFECT IF YOU COULD! ASGORE’S CLONE SAID THAT IT WAS OKAY IF YOU WANTED TO COME!”
Toriel chuckled, saying, “For the fifth time, my name is Toriel, Papyrus.”
Papyrus looked positively embarrassed, saying, “SORRY, YOUR MAJESTY.”
Toriel smiled kindly. “It’s okay, Papyrus. Well, my child? Would you like to spend the night with them?”
Frisk looked at Sans, then Papyrus, then nodded with a smile. “I’d love to, Mom!”
Toriel smiled brightly, blushing at Frisk calling her Mom, and everyone else smiled brightly, as well.
“Then it is settled. Should we go back home momentarily so you can pack?” she asked the human child.
“don’t worry ‘bout it, tori. i can get it,” Sans volunteered, blinking in and out a couple times, bringing a bag with Frisk’s clothes. “see?”
Toriel sighed, but smiled sadly. “Thank you, Sans.” She then turned to Frisk. “Be good, my child, okay?”
Frisk nodded, and the goat Boss Monster and the human child hugged before Toriel went out the door and left the house.
Undyne called from the kitchen, “Spaghetti’s ready, punks!”
Everyone lined up to get some spaghetti, and Frisk had to admit that it wasn’t too bad. Better than the spaghetti Papyrus had her try on their “date” at any rate. She smiled as she listened to all the monsters present talk about their various plans for the surface world, each of them smiling brightly as they talked about how things were going with calming everyone down about going to the surface for the first time. Everyone was a little apprehensive after so long of living underground, but all trusted Frisk to help them out. Frisk only gave a concerned look to Sans before he gave her a big grin and a joke to help calm her nerves.
When it came time for bed, everyone set out their sleeping bags (or, in Mettaton’s case, found an outlet to plug into) and lay down. Alphys and Undyne stuck together, Mettaton stuck close to the TV, Sans and Frisk stayed on the couch, and Papyrus (somehow) brought his bed downstairs and put it near the stairs (Sans had made a parking pun, to which Papyrus groaned loudly as everyone else giggled). Everyone slept soundly, especially once Frisk made sure that the knife and locket were safe and by her side.
Later that night, a mysterious figure came in and looked around, making sure everyone was sleeping. It approached Frisk and saw the locket and knife held close to her. It held up a replacement, obviously fakes that would provide as much protection to the human child as the bandage and stick she fell down with. The figure carefully took and replaced the items, and was almost at the door when Sans moved in his sleep from a nightmare, waking Frisk up. She looked at Sans, then noticed the figure at the door – with the locket and knife in its hands.
“Stop right there! Come back!” she called out, waking everyone up.
She got up quickly, chasing after the figure as everyone woke up and realized what was going on. They joined her in the chase, Papyrus summoning bones and Undyne summoning spears. The figure ducked into a secret laboratory in the back of the house and to a machine previously hidden by a blanket, which was now unceremoniously dumped on the floor. A light emanated from the large orb in the middle, and Sans and Papyrus tried to turn the figure’s SOUL blue. It did, but the figure let go of their items, and they only smiled back at Frisk, a smile similar to Flowey’s sadistic smile.
“Sorry it had to be this way, partner,” they said before getting through the orb, forcing Sans and Papyrus to let go as it went out of range.
The group could only stare in wonder as Undyne asked, “Who was that?”
Frisk recognized them well.
“His name’s Chara,” she said.
“Wait, like, the first Fallen Human?” Alphys asked, shocked.
“Yeah. Why would he want my items, though? It doesn’t make sense. Chara’s supposed to be dead…”
Sans looked at the machine, unable to speak for a bit, and Papyrus asked, “Sans? What’s going on? This is your lab, after all.”
“this machine… i was trying to use it to find dad,” he explained. “but… looks like it doesn’t quite work like that…” He went up the machine and ran some diagnostics, then took a step back in shock. “looks like this does go into a different dimension… just not the one i was hoping i’d find… and the one where the guy came from.”
“So this punk’s from a different world?” Undyne asked.
“seems so.”
“Then let’s go and kick his butt! Frisk can’t just go to the surface without protection!”
Sans shook his head. “it’s not that simple. that world is very similar to ours, to the point where there’s an alternate version of every one of us there, too. if one of us meets our doppelganger… well… really bad stuff could happen.”
“Then I should go and get it back,” Frisk said, as if the answer was obvious.
“What?! Punk, you could get killed! Who knows what that other world is like?!” Undyne asked with incredulity.
“cause she’s the least likely person to meet her doppelganger there, undyne,” Sans replied, coming to Frisk’s defense. “besides, it’s her weapon and armor that’s been stolen. she’s the best person to go and look. and in any case, she’s survived everyone here! she’ll survive in that world.”
Frisk couldn’t help but smile at Sans’ confidence in her.
Papyrus nodded in agreement. “IF THE HUMAN CAN GET PAST THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND YOU, UNDYNE, THEN I BELIEVE THAT THEY CAN GET PAST ANYTHING! NYEH HEH HEH!”
Undyne laughed a little, but sighed afterwards in defeat. “Ugh… you’re right, guys. But we can’t just let Frisk go unprotected! What if whatever’s there REALLY tries to kill her? They’ve got nothing to protect them!”
Sans thought about it before saying, “ya know, i bet we could find something around here to help them out.”
They went back to the living room and found the Temmie Armor among some of Frisk’s other things that a Temmie had dropped off earlier that day, saying mysteriously that Frisk might need them eventually. Oh, how right it was… Sans made a note to talk to them sometime and see if they would talk.
An argument broke out about what weapon she could use, since she had sold all her old weapons to the Temmies, but Undyne won out with her spear.
After equipping the armor and spear, Frisk was given some Cinnamon Bunnies to fill her Inventory so she could heal if she needed. They all went back to the machine, and Sans said, “i only have enough power to keep this machine running for three days – and i suspect that’s when tori will try to kill me, anyway, for losing ya. just so ya know, kid.”
Frisk nodded. “I understand, Sans. Thanks.”
Everyone wished Frisk luck, and she walked through. Right after, though, a very familiar yellow flower popped up, pulling itself out of the ground (somehow) and hurling itself through the orb, as well.
“what the hell was that…” Sans asked, his eyelights disappearing in confusion.
On the other side of the portal, Frisk dropped through and landed in a courtyard in front of a building with a beautiful entrance, almost like a palace – but not quite like one. She took stock of herself and smiled when she saw that she was still human, although the Temmie Armor and Burnt Pan were now just clothing similar to armor and a pan charm on a bracelet, respectively. She was just glad she was still human. She took stock of herself, now noticing a backpack on her back in place of her pockets from her usual Menu Screen.
Just then, she was knocked forward again, a cat having run into her.
“Hey, ever heard of moving?!” a very familiar voice saying in indignation.
“F-Flowey?” Frisk asked, looking at the cat that ran into her. The cat was wearing a collar with six-petaled yellow flowers all over it, and the face was very similar to Flowey’s ordinary face.
“Yeah. Why’re you looking at me that way?” he asked.
“Y-you’re a cat,” Frisk replied, pointing at Flowey.
Flowey strutted (as best as he could without having walked for years) up to a glass surface and saw his reflection, startling at its sight.
“S-so I am. Okay… so you’re here to get some stuff back, right?” He turned around to face Frisk, somewhat content that she was still human, as well.
“Yeah. A Chara came through that,” she started to explain, pointing to where they first went through, “and stole the Heart-Shaped Locket and the Worn Dagger. I’m here to get them back.”
Flowey nodded, sighing, “At least you don’t know it as the Locket and the Real Knife. Trust me, you don’t wanna know how that timeline ends.”
Frisk shivered. “I believe ya, Flowey. So, first things first, figure out where Chara is and convince him to give it back.”
“Uh, Frisk? Are you out of your mind? Not everyone is a Pacifist like you are!” Flowey was a bit exasperated. “Look, your pacifism may have saved the Underground, but it might not work here! I’m not saying to get some LOVE, but I’m saying to be careful! And I’m going to stop talking now because it’s apparent that cats aren’t supposed to talk in this world.”
Frisk nodded and picked Flowey up, and he only grumped without a word as she held him in her arms.
“I wonder what this world is…” Frisk muttered as she walked in, amazed at the main foyer. It looked a lot like the Last Corridor in the palace where Asgore lived.
“Wow… looks a lot like home…” Flowey muttered, making sure only Frisk could hear him.
Suddenly, a bell rang, and Frisk ran to the side of the hall to avoid the mass of students going through. Every one of them seemed somewhat familiar… like they were human versions of the Monsters she met during her time Underground.
And if that was true…
“All my friends are here, too…” she said softly.
“Well… since it seems like everyone else is here, too… it wouldn’t be too far off to say that…” Flowey agreed.
Suddenly, Frisk could hear someone say, “What did you do?!” It sounded like Chara.
She quickly ran through the crowd, letting Flowey go, and finding a boy who had straight, brown hair, a green-and-yellow striped shirt, blue shorts, and red converse towering over a girl who was a little chubby, wearing a yellow shirt and black jeggings, yellow tennis shoes, green eyes, and messy blond hair.
The girl was saying, “W-well, I f-f-found them on the g-ground, and I-I quickly t-took them to P-Principal Asgore and V-Vice-Principal T-Toriel.”
“You should know not to mess with things that don’t belong to you,” the boy said dangerously.
The girl muttered, “T-they don’t b-belong to you, e-either…”
“What did you say?!” the boy said, slamming a hand right by her head on a locker, and the girl slid down, saying,
“N-nothing…”
“That’s what I thought.”
Frisk couldn’t stand by anymore. “How dare you speak to her that way?” she said, sounding more confident than she felt.
The boy turned to her, revealing that he had red eyes, which were now trained on Frisk’s own brown. “What did you say to me?”
Frisk took a step forward as Chara took one towards her. “I said, how dare you speak to her that way!”
Chara was taken back by Frisk’s actions, but then smiled, his cool returning. “You must be new here.” He booped Frisk on the tip of her nose, and she only blinked, her expression still determined. “I can say whatever I want to say to whoever I want to say it to, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it.”
He walked away, a swagger to his step. Frisk only looked his way for a few moments before turning back to the girl. “You okay?” she asked, holding a hand out to help the girl up.
“Y-yes,” the girl replied, taking the hand and getting up with Frisk’s help. “T-thank you for s-standing up to C-Chara. N-not a lot of p-people will do t-that.”
“Well, I do that,” Frisk said with a smile. “I’m Frisk! What’s yours?”
The girl looked down, saying softly, “Alphys. I-I’m Alphys.”
“Nice to meet you, Alphys!”
Alphys then noticed Flowey and said, “Is this your cat? He’s so cute!”
Flowey protested at first, but then purred slightly when Alphys found just the right spot to scratch.
“Uh, yeah, he is,” Frisk said, going along with it. Flowey didn’t protest. “His name’s Flowey.”
“Aw, what a cute name! Uh, you might want to hide him in your backpack; pets aren’t allowed in school.”
“O-oh! I’m sorry,” Frisk said, taking off her backpack and opening it, making room in the Cinnamon Bunnies for the cat to climb in.
“Oh, i-it’s okay. I do it for s-some of my p-pets, too,” Alphys said, bringing forward a backpack that had been laying at her side the whole time and opening it, Frisk recognizing this world’s form of the Amalgamates in it, giggling.
“Well, cool. Uh, where can I find the principal and vice-principal?” Frisk asked, remembering schools from the human world before she fell underground (how long had it been since that time? Frisk had lost track).
“O-oh! That’s r-right, you’re n-new!” Alphys said, quickly closing her backpack and slinging it onto her back. “O-offices are r-right down that h-hallway at the e-end!”
Frisk closed her backpack enough to hide Flowey, but not so much that he’d suffocate, and put it back on her back. “Thanks, Alphys! I hope I see you soon!”
Alphys smiled. “Y-you’re welcome! I-it’s the least I can do after what you did for me!”
The two girls went off in different directions, Frisk to the offices and Alphys to her class. When Frisk went to the offices, she knocked on the door, and a kind, familiar voice called out, “Come in, my child!”
Frisk went inside and had to keep herself from running up and hugging the woman behind the desk. It was clearly Vice-Principal Toriel, and in this world, she wore a modest purple flowery dress, and her white hair hung down gracefully. She looked like a queen, and her purple eyes were as kind as her Monster counterpart.
“What can I help you with, my child?” she asked, hands folded in front of her on her desk as she leaned forward.
“Uh, yeah, where’s the lost-and-found? Has anyone turned in a gold heart-shaped locket? Or a charm that looks like a knife?” Frisk asked, remembering that her Burnt Pan turned into a charm around her wrist.
“Ah, yes, there has, actually, but that is given to our Fall Fling Ambassador,” Toriel said, a sad smile on her face. “How it ended up somewhere other than here, I do not know,” she mused, gesturing to a glass case where a heart-shaped locket, a knife charm bracelet, and a tiara with the Delta Rune resided, along with a king’s crown with the Delta Rune.
“Fall Fling Ambassador?” Frisk asked, curious.
“Yes! The Fall Fling is something we have every fall, and the students vote on the Ambassador each year.” She gestured to a line of pictures on the wall of various students sporting the locket, the charm bracelet, and either the tiara or the crown, depending on whether they were male or female. The last two years, Chara seemed to be the one to win, his face becoming more and more power-crazed each year. He reminded Frisk of what Sans would refer to as a megalomaniac. Toriel pulled Frisk out of her thoughts, saying, “The dance is in three days.”
“Oh. Is it too late to sign up for the race?” Frisk asked, realizing that the dance was the same day as the portal closed.
“No, it isn’t! I believe you have to find Papyrus, our Fall Fling Activities Director, to sign up. I believe he’s setting up for the dance in the gymnasium,” Toriel said, smiling kindly. “Is there anything else?”
Frisk shook her head. “Nope! Thank you so much!”
“Have a wonderful day, and be good, my child!”
Frisk went out the door and sighed, holding back the urge to run in again and hug her, the words pulling at Frisk’s heartstrings.
Flowey pawed at her from her backpack, and Frisk found an abandoned hallway to talk to him in. She pulled off her backpack and slightly opened it. “What is it, Flowey?”
“Frisk, we’re here to get the locket and knife back, not run in some silly contest!” Flowey protested. “Must you try to make friends with everyone?”
“Flowey, that contest is our only way to get them back,” she explained. “Besides, we only get one chance. No resets. We’ve got to make this one count. Come on, we’ve gotta go find Papyrus.”
Flowey nodded begrudgingly, going back into Frisk’s backpack, and Frisk closed it up again, this time looking for the gym to find whatever human form Papyrus had. She hoped she would at least somewhat recognize him.
She soon found the gym, and a very high-energy young man was going around, hanging up decorations and making sure everything was perfect. He had platinum-blonde hair, orange eyes, and wore something very similar to Papyrus’ “battle body” back in Frisk’s world, boots and all. The only thing missing were the red gloves, but he didn’t seem to need them right now.
He noticed Frisk come in and said, “HELLO, NEW PERSON! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! WHAT CAN I HELP YOU WITH?”
“Hi! I was actually looking for you!” Frisk said happily, and could hear Flowey’s groan from her backpack. “You’re the Fall Fling Activities Director, right?”
“YEP! ALTHOUGH I PREFER TO REFER TO MYSELF AS A MASTER PARTY-PLANNER! NYEH HEH HEH!” he replied, making a dramatic pose that nearly rivaled Mettaton’s back in Frisk’s world. “WHY DO YOU ASK? YOU AREN’T HERE TO SIGN UP TO RUN FOR FALL FORMAL AMBASSADOR, ARE YOU? BECAUSE CHARA ALWAYS WINS.”
Frisk nodded, filled with determination. “I am, actually. I aim to change things up a bit around here, Papyrus.”
Papyrus looked a little pensive, and said, “I SWEAR I’VE SEEN YOU AROUND BEFORE… DO YOU HAVE A TWIN WHO LIVES IN THE CITY AND HAS A PET CAT?”
Frisk tried to hide her surprise that Papyrus might know her doppelganger. “Probably… although if I did, we were probably separated at birth, heh.”
“WELL, IN ANY CASE, HERE’S THE SIGN-UP SHEET!” Papyrus announced, pulling it out of a very well-organized binder and holding it out for her along with a pen. Frisk took both, writing her name down. Her handwriting was a little wobbly – after all, how long had it been since she had to write anything other than ‘leg’ or ‘arm’ during her fights with Mettaton? – but it passed, and she held it out for Papyrus, who took it back and read it over. “FRISK, HUH? WELL, WELCOME TO EBOTT HIGH! GOOD LUCK IN THE RACE, THOUGH… CHARA NEVER LOSES – ANYTHING.”
Just then, someone came in, carrying in a case of Starfaits. “Where do you want these, Papyrus?” the person said, looking a bit like Burgerpants, albeit having brown skin instead of fur but otherwise looking like his usual self.
Mettaton walked in behind him. There was no mistaking it was Mettaton – he was actually, in his EX form, more humanoid than any other monster, so it was no surprise that he looked the most like his form in Frisk’s world. His human form even had a normal tan, and his eyes were as pink as some parts of his robotic EX body were in Frisk’s world.
“Hello, beauties and gentlebeauties!” he said, another person filming him as he entered, boom mic and all. “How goes the preparations for the dance?”
“HI, METTATON! BURGERPANTS, JUST PUT THE STARFAITS ON THE TABLE OVER THERE, AND THEY’RE GOING GREAT, METTATON!” Papyrus chimed, his smile bright on his face as he greeted Mettaton.
Mettaton noticed Frisk and said, “Well, well, well, what do we have here? A new student! What’s your name, darling?”
“Frisk,” Frisk replied, a mile bright on her face as she greeted Mettaton.
“FRISK HERE JUST SIGNED UP FOR THE RACE TO BECOME FALL FLING AMBASSADOR!” Papyrus explained to Mettaton.
Mettaton’s face fell. “Darling, I don’t know what you know, but that is a very bad idea. Even I don’t try against Chara. He’s always won,” he said solemnly, every emotion he let out overdramatized, but Frisk understood that it was all genuine.
“What’s so bad about Chara? I’m not afraid of him,” Frisk said with a look of determination.
“He’s the person here at school who knows the most about how to get his way,” Mettaton explained. “No one dares stand up to him or face his wrath.”
“I stood up to him for Alphys earlier, and he hasn’t done anything to me,” Frisk said with confidence.
“Alphys?! Ugh, I was hoping not to hear her name at all…” Mettaton sulked.
“Why? What happened?” Frisk asked, confused.
“I… I simply do not wish to speak of it!” Mettaton only said, placing a hand between her and him, posing dramatically as he did so. The pose only lasted a moment before he settled to a somewhat normal stance. “But I digress. Chara probably only met you, and he’s let you off with a warning. This is you basically going to war with him, darling. Uh, Papyrus? Can you explain?”
Papyrus nodded, drawing two faces on balloons – Frisk’s on a blue balloon and Chara’s on a red balloon. “AT FIRST, CHARA WILL ACT FRIENDLY TO YOU, SAYING SOMETHING TO THE EXTENT OF, ‘I LOOK FORWARD TO SOME FRIENDLY COMPETITION!’ ‘OH, THAT’S SO NICE!’” He acted out the balloons as each “person” spoke. “AND THEN…” he turned the Chara balloon around, and Frisk saw that it had a pin in it – one that popped the Frisk balloon, “THE STABBING OF BACKS COMMENCES. IT’S NOT PRETTY.”
“Well, I’m not going to let a bully win! I’m going to find a way to win this competition fair and square!” Frisk promised, filled with determination.
“Well, I wish you luck, darling!” Mettaton said, patting Frisk’s head before dramatically posing his way out the door (somehow).
Papyrus looked back to Frisk and said, “I WISH YOU LUCK TOO, FRISK. YOU’LL NEED IT AGAINST CHARA. NOW, IF YOU’LL EXCUSE ME, I MUST GET BACK TO MY PREPARATIONS FOR THE DANCE! NYEH HEH HEH!”
Frisk waved goodbye as Papyrus went off, and she left the gym with a smile on her face.
Chara entered not long after, looking around and scoffing as Papyrus kept decorating. “Oh my god, are you serious?! This many streamers? And this is way too many balloons!” He looked up and noticed Papyrus had spelled his name on the ceiling. “And you even spelled your own name on the ceiling!” He walked over to the table and said, “Starfaits? This is practically my coronation, not a glam rock concert! Ugh!”
Papyrus approached Chara meekly. “WELL, MAYBE NOT YOUR CORONATION THIS YEAR, CHARA.”
Chara looked at Papyrus with a sneer. “What are you talking about? Of course it’s mine! I’m running unopposed!”
“NOT ANYMORE, YOU AREN’T!” Papyrus said, holding out the sign-up sheet for Chara to see. “SOMEONE ELSE SIGNED EARLIER!”
Chara looked at the sheet, and an eye twitched. “Frisk, eh? I’ll have to wish her good luck in the competition!” he said with a false innocence, walking nonchalantly out the double doors of the gym.
Papyrus felt truly bad for Frisk in that moment.
“Well, it looks like this place isn’t too different from the Surface,” she mentioned to Flowey. “I just need to find a place to sleep tonight. I mean, we don’t exactly have a lot of G, and I’m not sure that it’d be accepted here anyway.”
She soon walked down a hallway, reaching a dead end. She turned around –
And Chara was standing at the end of the hall, a smirk on his face.
“I should’ve recognized your face earlier, Frisk. Hard to forget the girl who saved the Underground about a thousand times,” he said, and Flowey found a way to open the backpack zippers and peek over Frisk’s shoulder.
“What do you want, Chara? Why did you take my weapon and armor?” Frisk asked.
“Frisk, Frisk, Frisk…” he tutted, approaching her, stopping right in front of her, dangerously close. Frisk took a step back, but Chara only stepped forward again, until Frisk’s back was to the wall, with Chara trapping her there. “Do you know what happens when you bring an Attribute Relic in an alternate world?” Frisk looked confused, and Chara laughed. “Should’ve realized you wouldn’t know. In any case, I’ll win this little competition, and you will see my true power. You will learn, Frisk.”
“You’ll be the one to lose, Chara!” Flowey said boldly. “Frisk has more determination than you realize!”
Chara’s attention turned to Flowey, and he chuckled. “And I’d hate for something to happen to your furry, flowery friend.” He pulled away, saying, “I always get my way, you’ll see. We’ll see whose determination is stronger soon.”
He then walked away, and Frisk took a shaky breath.
“You okay, Frisk?” Flowey asked Frisk, concern in his voice.
“I think so, Flowey. Come on, we’ve got to do research. It’s been a while since I’ve been in a school, so I need to figure out how to gain support to become Ambassador,” Frisk replied. “And the best place to do that is the library!”
They went around the school and found the library, but not before Frisk’s stomach growled. She looked in her bag and, to her dismay, saw that the Cinnamon Bunnies were already eaten by Flowey.
“What? I was hungry!” he said.
Frisk sighed. “That’s all right… I’ll just go to the cafeteria. It should be lunchtime, anyway.”
Frisk soon found the cafeteria, and was delighted to see that this world’s equivalent of the bunny shop owner was the lunch lady here. She got her meal and quickly found an empty table to sit at, and was soon joined by Alphys.
“H-hey, Frisk!” she said, smiling as she joined Frisk. Alphys had a meal of soda and instant noodles (no surprise to Frisk). “G-good to s-see you again!”
“Hey, Alphys! Good to see you, too!” Frisk said.
“S-so how’s it g-going? You d-didn’t run into C-Chara anymore, d-did you?”
“Once, but… I’m running for Fall Fling Ambassador!”
Alphys’ face turned pale. “T-that’s not good, F-Frisk. To d-do that, you’d have t-to get the support of a l-lot of people: the Jocks, t-the Preps, the Nerds, the B-Band Geeks, the Fandom G-Geeks, everyone.” She gestured to different tables, some of which Frisk could almost recognize various people from her own world.
“Why is everyone divided up this way?” she asked, not remembering this in her old school.
“W-well, I don’t know h-how things are where y-you come from, b-but… here, the only thing t-that unites us all i-is that we know t-that Chara will rule the s-school until we g-graduate,” Alphys explained solemnly.
Frisk looked at Alphys solemnly. “I promise, Alphys, I will do everything in my power to do just that,” she said, her face filling with determination.
Alphys looked at her, saying, “Y-you will?”
Frisk nodded. “Absolutely.”
Alphys smiled meekly. “G-good luck.”
“Thanks.”
Frisk went back to the library after lunch, first going on the computers and starting her research there while Flowey worked on finding the right books and staying out of sight. Unbeknownst to her, Chara had sent in an Aaron and an Astigmatism (or at least their human counterparts) to take embarrassing pictures of her.
Once night fell, the library closed, and Frisk looked around the library for Flowey. She found him in an area used as a casual reading area, and had lined a few beanbags up to make a bed with the wall as the headboard.
“Figured we might as well stay here rather than look somewhere else to sleep,” he explained.
“Thank you so much, Flowey! You didn’t have to do that.”
“Eh, well, I may not be Asriel anymore, but we can at least try to be friends, right?”
Frisk smiled at Flowey’s hopeful face. “Of course, Flowey. Thank you. Oh, check out what I found while I was looking for you,” she said, taking out a book that she had found. “It’s a yearbook. Basically, it’s a photo album of the school in years past. Or at least, one of them. There’s a yearbook for every year. I took the ones from the past 2 years.”
“Let’s see ‘em!” Flowey said enthusiastically as Frisk sat down on a beanbag and Flowey turned on a desklamp he had brought over.
Frisk and Flowey looked through and found a picture of a group of friends from a year before. “Look, there’s Papyrus, Alphys, Mettaton… and those must be Sans and Undyne!” she said, pointing to each respective person. Sans was mostly the same as ever, slightly chubby and wearing the same clothes that he wore in the Underground, with the same platinum-blonde hair as Papyrus, and with ice-blue eyes. Undyne was yellow-eyed, and wore the same casual clothes she did in Frisk’s world, and her hair was just as red. Her blue skin was not there (go figures), but she did wear blue terry-cloth wristbands and headband to make up for it.
“Wow… it looks like they were all once friends,” Frisk noticed. “I wonder what happened to them…”
“Eh, don’t worry about Smiley Trashbag and the others. Right now we need to sleep before we figure out how to get you to be Fall Fling Ambassador,” Flowey pointed out, curling up in a nearby chair.
Frisk looked at the picture again, and couldn’t help but feel bad. What had happened to them? she wondered before curling up on the beanbags and taking a nearby blanket and covering herself, going straight to sleep.
The next day, Frisk was walking with Flowey in her backpack to the cafeteria for breakfast, and was suddenly pulled aside into a room.
“What the-?!?” Frisk cried out before a silly pair of glasses was put on her face. She looked through and saw a guy who looked a lot like… “Sans?”
“okay, we gotta get you into a disguise quickly…” he said, Mettaton somehow appearing by his side without the usual puff of smoke or dramatic entrance. Seemed like even the diva knew when to not be dramatic.
“Sans, darling, that isn’t going to work,” he pointed out to the shorter human, taking a yellow scarf and putting it around Frisk’s neck. “That should work nicely.”
Just then, Papyrus and Alphys came in, Papyrus carrying the shorter girl in. “H-hey, Frisk, Sans, Mettaton! D-did you guys s-see the v-video?” Alphys asked hurriedly as Papyrus put her down. She seemed to say Mettaton’s name with… contempt? Frisk was further confused.
“What video?” Frisk asked. “I woke up less than an hour ago.”
Everyone looked at each other, and Mettaton sighed. “Looks like the disguise won’t work anyway… Papyrus, can you tell Alphys to put on the video for Frisk?”
“METTATON, I BELIEVE THAT ALPHYS IS PERFECTLY CAPABLE OF HEARING YOU!” Papyrus said in an innocent tone (and Frisk had no doubt that he really didn’t know about whatever was between Mettaton and Alphys).
Alphys was already at work, though, her laptop covered in anime stickers opened, and a video pulled up on YouTube. “H-here it is…”
It showed the pictures that Aaron and Astigmatism had taken the day before, and Chara’s voice sounded over it. “Frisk is wanting to be your Fall Fling Ambassador. But do we really want an Ambassador so… embarrassing?”
Frisk hid her face in her arms. “But this was only in the library yesterday…” she said from her arms.
“Come on, darling, we can help you get past this! You can easily get a celebrity endorsement – from me!” Mettaton said dramatically.
Alphys scoffed. “N-no, what she n-needs is make p-people forget about this v-video! You’ll o-only make it w-worse, Mettaton!”
Frisk’s head popped up, listening in.
“NOW, NOW, ALPHYS, I DON’T THINK THAT’S THE WAY TO GO ABOUT TALKING TO METTATON…”
“oh, what would you know about talking, papyrus?!”
“OH, YOU’RE ONE TO TALK! YOU NEVER TELL ME ANYTHING, AND I’M YOUR BROTHER!”
Frisk stood up in her seat, saying, “Enough!” and quieting everyone down with the outburst. “Come on, you guys! Your fighting isn’t going to help anyone!” Flowey came out of her backpack, handing her the yearbook they were looking at the night before. She turned to the page with them all together and said, “You guys were friends once, good friends. But something happened. I think that something was Chara.”
Sans chuckled. “you can blame chara all you like, but it doesn’t change that my bro won’t answer any of my texts, phone calls, anything! he never talks to me anymore, either!”
“OH, DON’T YOU START, SANS! YOU NEVER ANSWER MY QUESTIONS ABOUT ANYTHING, EVEN WHEN I’M ONLY TRYING TO HELP YOU!”
Alphys butted in, “Uh, S-Sans? Didn’t y-you change your p-phone number?”
“what? no! i never did! why would you say that?”
“Well I-I was talking to C-Chara once, a w-while ago, and he s-said you changed y-your number, s-so he g-gave it to me. B-but you haven’t b-been answering a-anyone’s texts or phone c-calls except Mettaton, f-for some reason!”
“are you kidding me? you never answered my texts, only saying, ‘i don’t know who you are, but you better leave me alone, i own mace,” Sans retorted.
“B-but I only s-sent those to y-your old number, s-since you lost y-your phone and…” Realization popped up on both of their faces. “You n-never lost your p-phone, did you?”
“no! alphys, i’m so sorry!” The two shared a hug.
“WAIT, THAT MEANS… YOU HADN’T BEEN TRYING TO AVOID ME, SANS?”
“no, bro! paps, i’m so sorry!”
The two skelebros shared a hug, and Frisk couldn’t help but smile. She then turned to Mettaton. “So what happened between you and Alphys?”
“Hmph! Alphys had invited me to what she originally said was a small event, and I gladly accepted, since we were friends. Two days before the event, though, she sent me an email, saying it was bigger than they originally thought, and would accept me as a performer! So of course I went in with only my best, and she got mad at me!” Mettaton explained.
Alphys then said, “I-I never sent y-you any email.”
The same realization came over their faces, and they hugged each other, apologizing profusely.
Frisk couldn’t help the kind smile that spread her face, and Flowey shared it.
Sans cleared his throat, saying, “well, in any case, we’ve got to help frisk here win the competition! and i know just who to call on.”
“NOT UNDYNE…”
“yep. undyne.”
“What happened between you and Undyne, Papyrus?” Frisk asked.
“SHE ALWAYS SAYS SHE WANTS TO COME AND HELP ME SET UP FOR EVENTS AND HELP ME TRAIN, BUT THEN SHE’D FLAKE OUT ON ME! I ALWAYS END UP SETTING UP ALONE!”
“Wow… you know, this might end up being another misunderstanding like with everyone else here,” Frisk pointed out.
“yeah… you just gotta talk to her, bro. c’mon, i know where she is.”
Out on the turf, Undyne was practicing soccer, scoring goals from various points on the field. Sans, Undyne, Mettaton, and Frisk all sat on the bleachers, watching as Papyrus went to Undyne, and the two talked. After a few moments, Undyne noogied Papyrus, and Sans smiled brightly.
“they made up!”
Undyne and Papyrus walked back, smiling brightly.
“IT TURNS OUT SOMEONE WAS SENDING UNDYNE FALSE EMAILS,” Papyrus said, putting an emphasis on “someone”.
“So Papyrus tells me you’re running for Fall Fling Ambassador, right, punk?” Undyne asked, just the way she was in the Underground.
“That’s right,” Frisk said.
“Well, I don’t support just anyone for Fall Fling Ambassador, so I’ll give ya a challenge. See those goals on the soccer field? That one’s mine, the other’s yours. The first to score five goals wins!” Frisk nodded, filled with determination, and Undyne smirked before kicking a ball into her goal. “One – zip!” she called out.
The next half-hour was filled with Frisk attempting to score goals and Undyne beating her every time. At first, everyone on the stands cheered for Frisk, but once it got to Undyne’s final goal, the only one with even a small banner was Mettaton.
Frisk breathed hard. “I… puff… lost…” She panicked for a moment. She had no chance for reset. This was her one chance and she blew it.
“That was a good game!” Undyne said. “You’ve got my vote, punk!”
Frisk looked at Undyne with confusion. “But… you… won…” she managed to say between breaths, and Undyne placed a hand on her shoulder to help her calm down.
“Yeah, you lost, but I was telling the truth when I said I don’t support just anyone for Fall Fling Ambassador. You showed you had heart, determination, and you were a good sport. That’s more than enough reason to be on your team.”
Frisk beamed, but then her face fell. “I still have to convince the rest of the school, though…”
Mettaton said, “Well, we simply need to make them forget the video!”
“But how do you do that, MTT?” Undyne asked.
“By showcasing her better talents, of course!” Mettaton said, “And I know just how to do it!” He took out a strange chestplate-like thing that sported the Delta Rune. “Remember freshman year when I sold these? It was a fabulous way to showcase school pride!” He gave a shaky laugh. “I haven’t sold any since…”
“I THINK WE’RE ON THE RIGHT TRACK, METTATON! WE JUST NEED ONE MORE THING…”
Later, at the cafeteria, everyone positioned themselves like Mettaton had helped them figure out (being the showman really helped them all in this case). After the signal, they tapped out the rhythm, and Flowey pushed a button on a speaker, playing a tune Mettaton had made a bit ago, and everyone in their group began to sing,
HEY, HEY, EVERYBODY
WE'VE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY
WE MAY SEEM AS DIFFERENT
AS THE NIGHT IS FROM DAY
BUT YOU LOOK A LITTLE DEEPER AND YOU WILL SEE
THAT I'M JUST LIKE YOU AND YOU'RE JUST LIKE ME
YEAH!
HEY, HEY, EVERYBODY
WE'RE HERE TO SHOUT
THAT THE MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP
IS WHAT IT'S ALL ABOUT
YEAH, WE THOUGHT WE WERE DIFFERENT
AS THE NIGHT IS FROM THE DAY
UNTIL OUR FRIEND FRISK
HELPED US SEE ANOTHER WAY
SO GET UP, GET DOWN
IF YOU'RE GONNA COME AROUND
WE CAN WORK TOGETHER
HELPING FRISK WIN THE CROWN
SO GET UP, GET DOWN
'CAUSE IT'S GONNA MAKE A SOUND
IF WE WORK TOGETHER
HELPING FRISK WIN THE CROWN!
[PAPYRUS]
HEY, HEY, HANDS UP NOW
WE'RE SENDING A MESSAGE TO THE CROWD
HANDS WAVE UP, THEN COME DOWN
WE PARTY TOGETHER ALL AROUND
[METTATON]
GENEROUS, HONESTY
[SANS]
LAUGHTER, KINDNESS, LOYALTY
[ALPHYS]
FRISK HELPED US EACH TO SEE
[UNDYNE]
ALL THAT WE CAN BE!
[EVERYONE]
SO GET UP, GET DOWN
IF YOU'RE GONNA COME AROUND
WE CAN WORK TOGETHER
HELPING FRISK WIN THE CROWN
SO GET UP, GET DOWN
'CAUSE IT'S GONNA MAKE A SOUND
IF WE WORK TOGETHER
HELPING FRISK WIN THE CROWN!
[FRISK]
I'M GONNA BE MYSELF
NO MATTER WHAT I DO
AND IF WE'RE DIFFERENT, YEAH
I WANT YOU TO BE TRUE TO YOU
IF YOU FOLLOW ME WE'LL PUT OUR DIFFERENCES ASIDE
WE'LL STICK TOGETHER AND START WORKING ON THAT SCHOOL PRIDE!
[EVERYONE]
JUMP UP, MAKE A SOUND (HEY!)
STOMP YOUR HOOVES, TURN AROUND
START NOW, MAKE A CHANGE
GONNA COME AROUND
JUMP UP, MAKE A SOUND (HEY!)
STOMP YOUR FEET, TURN AROUND
MOUNT EBBOT MONSTERS
HELP HER WIN THE CROWN!
JUMP UP, MAKE A SOUND (HEY!)
STOMP YOUR FEET, TURN AROUND
START NOW, MAKE A CHANGE
GONNA COME AROUND
JUMP UP, MAKE A SOUND (HEY!)
STOMP YOUR FEET, TURN AROUND
MOUNT EBOTT MONSTERS
HELP HER WIN THE CROWN!
During the song, they worked on choreography that Mettaton had taught them earlier, and everyone loved it! By the end of lunch, everyone was wearing a breastplate, and Mettaton was simply gushing as they made their way to the cafeteria after school.
“Oh, doesn’t everybody look simply fabulous?” he asked. “The breastplates were a success! And we got Frisk the publicity she needs! I don’t think anything can – Oh dear heavens, what happened?!”
They all walked into the gym, and it was completely trashed! Papyrus sunk to his knees.
“NYOO HOO HOO…. AND I WORKED SO HARD ON THIS….”
Sans patted his brother’s shoulder, saying, “come on, let’s go find principal asgore. he can help us out.”
“Here he comes now!” Undyne said, pointing out the large figure of Principal Asgore up ahead. He wore a purple suit with the Delta Rune on the right breast pocket in gold, and was practically instantly recognizable, even to Frisk.
Suddenly, Chara ran up to him. “Principal Asgore, something terrible has happened!” He led the principal to the gym, and said, “Why would Frisk do something like this?!”
“What makes you think that Frisk did this?” Asgore asked, kindly but firmly.
“Because I have proof!” Chara said, pulling out two pictures and showing them to Asgore.
Sans looked at Chara with distrust, and looked in a nearby trashcan, where he saw a picture of Frisk playing soccer with Undyne and a cutout of her figure in the ruined gymnasium. He took them out just as Asgore said, “Well, this is pretty incriminating. Frisk? What do you have to say for yourself?”
Frisk stammered, unable to say anything, so Sans spoke instead. “principal asgore, i just found these in the trash. it seems like someone is trying to frame frisk for this crime when she didn’t commit it at all.”
Asgore looked over what Sans found, and said, “I see… in light of this new information, Frisk is still eligible to run for Fall Formal Ambassador, and this investigation will continue. However, because of the damage done to the gymnasium, the dance will have to be postponed for a few days for cleanup and set-up.” He then left the group to go into his office.
Chara sneered at Frisk. “Good luck getting that gym fixed up fast, Frisk… admit, even your determination won’t save you this time.” He then walked off, too, looking smug, and Sans looked ready to fight him on a moment’s notice if not for Papyrus holding him back. Flowey glowered at Chara, and Frisk could almost hear him mutter about betrayal and such.
“SANS, THERE’S NOTHING WE CAN DO ABOUT CHARA…” Papyrus said, then looked over the gym and sighed. “I JUST WISH THERE WAS A WAY TO GET THIS ALL CLEANED UP AND DONE WITHIN A FEW HOURS.”
Frisk looked where Chara had walked away to, then to the mess in the gym, thinking hard. She had to get it all done fast – the machine had to be turned off tomorrow! An idea then popped into her head.
“What if we all work together? If we all work to get this place cleaned up and set up, we should get it done quicker than if Papyrus worked alone!” she suggested.
Undyne smiled and said, “Now you’re thinking, punk! Let’s do this! NYAHHHH!”
She put her hand in the middle, and Papyrus added one with a “NYEH HEH HEH!” Sans added one with a “okay,” while Alphys put one in, saying, “L-let’s do this!” Mettaton added his with an “Oooh yessss!”
They all then looked to Frisk, who added hers in with a smile, and they pumped them into the middle once before breaking it, going off to different areas to clean up trash and fix what was broken. As they kept going, more and more students came in and began helping out, as well, making the process much faster. Mettaton took over setting up the stage for the DJ and for his small performance for the dance, and after the stage was set, Mettaton helped the rest of the students make the gym its own entity and still compliment the stage.
Mettaton certainly had an eye for fabulousness.
After the whole thing was done, it was only 5:00 PM, and Principal Asgore and Vice-Principal Toriel walked in, amazed at the transformation.
“The gym looks amazing! The dance is back on for tomorrow night!” she announced, everyone cheering at the news.
Asgore interrupted with his booming voice: “That means that you all must leave and get rested up and ready for the dance!”
Toriel called out before everyone started walking out, “Don’t forget to cast your vote for Fall Formal Ambassador!”
She held a ballot box at the entrance, and everyone put in their vote, and told Frisk as they walked out some form or another of, “You’ve got my vote, Frisk!”
Frisk was proud, and her determination gave way to happiness for the accomplishment.
“How about you stay with me tonight, darling?” Mettaton suggested, interrupting Frisk’s thoughts.
“Uh, like we’re letting her in your house, Mettaton!” Undyne said. “She should stay with Alphys or me! At least we’re actually girls!”
Mettaton looked hurt, saying, “Well, I never! You know I don’t take advantage of people I let stay with me! I mean, how many times has Alphys stayed with me and nothing happened?”
Alphys nodded, saying, “Besides, I’m sure he can find Frisk something to wear for the dance tomorrow!”
Frisk blushed slightly. “I… well… I don’t have anything to wear anyway…”
Mettaton beamed. “Then it’s settled! Frisk will stay with me tonight! I can get everyone here something fabulous tonight! We can all get to my house before the dance to get ready!”
Everyone agreed to do so.
“eh, i’m too lazy to do my own outfit for the dance, anyway,” Sans said, earning a slap on the back of the head from Papyrus and a small lecture.
The next day, the group gathered at Mettaton’s house, and he practically (fabulously) threw the outfits at each person in the group, and everyone took turns changing into each of their outfits.
Sans had a suit that was light blue and yellow, reminding Frisk slightly of what might have been in a different timeline…
Her thoughts were ripped from her mind with the appearance of Papyrus in an orange suit with his signature scarf repurposed as a tie. She couldn’t help but smile and giggle at the sight.
Undyne was next, and contrary to what was normally done for her gender, she wore a dark blue suit, and Frisk noticed that the shades of each outfit were nearly identical to one of the human SOULs back home.
Alphys had a sparkly green dress, and it reminded Frisk of her black dress back home. She somehow still pulled it off, the dress bringing out her eyes, and she could swear she could hear Undyne let out a small squeak at the sight.
Mettaton then put on his outfit (one of a few, he assured them, due to his performance in the dance) – a purple suit covered in just the right amount of sparkle. It got just the right amount of oohs and ahs from those present before he pushed Frisk into the bathroom with a dress and shoes with Flowey still in her arms.
Frisk quickly changed, but as she looked at her reflection in the mirror, her self-doubt coming back up.
“Wow, Frisk… you really look like an Ambassador…” Flowey noted genuinely.
“Thanks, Flowey, but…” she looked at her reflection, and she could almost see Flowey’s reflection become his form in the Underground and her own reflection turn into what she would have been in another time – what she almost was when she first came to the Underground. “I don’t think I can.”
“Frisk… you’ve survived so much, you’ve faced me – twice – in different forms!” Flowey said, a paw resting on her arm and their reflections coming back to normal – for this world. “Although… you might want to tell them the truth. They’re your friends, even in this world.”
Frisk looked at her reflection and sighed. “You’re right… but… will they believe me? Could they believe that in our world, they’re skeletons, a fish-person, a dinosaur girl, and a robot? Could they believe that, to me, they were my closest friends – or in another timeline, fearsome adversaries – well, except for Papyrus, of course, but we both know what he’s like,” she added with a small giggle that fell quickly.
“Frisk… you just have to take that chance,” Flowey encouraged. “Besides… you were able to save me as Asriel… you can do anything.”
Frisk looked at Flowey and gave a sad smile. “Okay, Flowey. Thank you so much.” She picked him up and said, “Well… I still can’t believe you don’t have a soul. You care so much… you haven’t even tried to kill anyone since we arrived.”
“Oh, I came close, you should know,” he hinted, rolling his eyes.
Frisk took a breath and opened the bathroom door, everyone falling in from the sudden loss of a door to lean on to listen in.
“WHAT’S GOING ON, FRISK? WE WERE GETTING WORRIED!” Papyrus said, his worry and everyone else’s worry clear on their faces.
Frisk took a shaky breath. “Well… I…”
“you’re an ambassador in another world, too… and you came here because something was stolen, and we’re all different kinds of monsters back in your world, but we’re all still friends, and you have this power called determination that allows you to keep going even though you don’t really know how,” Sans suggested, and Frisk’s jaw dropped.
“H… how did you know?” she asked, dropping Flowey.
“eh, knew something was up when you arrived, so i did some research and readings on where you arrived and… ah… maybe i ended up seeing an alternate version of myself that was watching. he’s waiting for ya to return, frisk,” he explained. “took a bit of a scare, both of us, when we saw each other. it’s cool, though.”
“Wait, so… what’s with the cat?” Undyne asked.
Flowey spoke up. “I’m Flowey. Back home, I’m a soulless flower that tried to destroy everything. Frisk here stopped that.”
“THE KITTY CAN TALK!” Papyrus exclaimed, blushing and his hands cupping his cheeks in excitement.
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. Heh, great to see that Papyrus doesn’t change here, either. Hey, Smiley Trashbag,” he said to Sans.
“great to see you too, weed,” Sans returned, looking less than happy to see him.
“In any case… you look absolutely fabulous, darling!” Mettaton complimented Frisk. “That red is perfectly standing out, but compliments you just right!”
Frisk giggled a little. “Thanks, Mettaton. Heh… funny how we all have these specific colors…”
“whaddya mean, kid?” Sans asked.
“Well… back in my world, there was seven colors for human SOULs: red, orange, yellow, green, cyan, blue, and purple, each with their own Attribute that humans had. Monsters had all of them, but humans had a much higher concentration of one of them. For me, it’s Determination, so my SOUL is red. There’s also Bravery for orange, Justice for yellow, Kindness for green, Patience for cyan, Integrity for blue, and Perseverance for purple. I saw all of them in my time in the Underground, through the resets,” Frisk explained.
“whoa… that’s a lot to take in, kid,” Sans pointed out after a moment of silence as everyone took everything in.
Suddenly, Papyrus interrupted the moment, holding up his phone and saying, “GUYS, THE DANCE STARTS IN FIFTEEN MINUTES! WE GOTTA GET OVER THERE IF METTATON IS TO BE READY FOR HIS GIG!”
Everyone quickly dove into the limousine that Mettaton had rented for them all, giving Flowey a flowery collar and pin on the way and helping Alphys and Frisk with their makeup.
By the time they got to the dance, they all were ready to have a good time.
It was halfway through the night, and Frisk kept an eye on the time (with Papyrus’ help, of course) so she could return home before the machine was turned off. All too soon, Toriel was standing on the stage, tapping the microphone to grab everyone’s attention.
“First, I’d like to say that I am very proud of what everyone has done for this gymnasium. It looks absolutely amazing!” she said first, gaining a cheer from the crowd. She stopped it with, “And now is the time when we announce our Fall Formal Ambassador!” Asgore handed her an envelope, and she opened it, saying, “And our Fall Formal Ambassador is… Frisk!”
Frisk smiled brightly, nearly running to the stage, and Mettaton launching her the rest of the way, and she landed with a dramatic pose to rival those she used in her battle against Mettaton back in her world. She then approached Toriel, smiling as she was given the locket and the charm, having unequipped the Temmie Armor and Undyne’s Spear earlier. She smiled as she felt… complete again.
Suddenly, she noticed Chara in the back in a red suit, holding Flowey in one arm and a sneer on his face as he winked at Frisk before running out the door. Frisk called out, “Flowey!” before running offstage and running after Chara with Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and Mettaton in tow.
Chara was holding Flowey in one arm, a sledgehammer in his other hand. He let Flowey go, and Flowey ran over to Frisk, who hugged him as tight as was comfortable to him before letting him go, standing up and looking at Chara with a look of determination.
“Well well well… looks like your determination got you far, Frisk… but now we have reached the absolute,” Chara said, sledgehammer in both hands and standing in front of the flat plane that housed where Frisk used as the doorway between worlds. “Give me the locket and knife… or I destroy your only way home.”
Frisk looked at him with shock, but only looked back at her friends in this world – her friends – before looking back to Chara, her face like it was during her trip through so many resets, so many timelines – DETERMINATION.
“No.”
“No?” Chara looked shocked.
“My world can live without these Attribute Relics, but I cannot allow you to harm this world with these,” Frisk explained.
Chara smiled a creepy smile, one that made Flowey shiver – was this reminding him of his long-dead brother? Frisk wondered – and dropped the sledgehammer in a place where he couldn’t be hurt. “All right… you win…” he said before two hands tore away the locket and knife from Frisk.
It became a game of keep-away, with Frisk and her friends keeping the locket from Chara and his cronies, which ultimately ended with Chara grabbing the knife charm and locket.
“Finally… ultimate power, all mine…” he said, chuckling darkly as he put on the locket and knife charm, which turned to the Real Knife, and he was surrounded in red and black magic before emerging as something Frisk could only slightly remember – The Demon Who Comes When You Call Its Name. It looked very similar to Chara, but his eyes were black and melting, and his smile was melting, as well. His cheeks were perpetually pink, but not of embarrassment – it seemed to only be natural.
“Finally… I have the ultimate power of this world… DETERMINATION…” he said in a twisted voice that echoed from a nightmare – or an alternate timeline – or something.
He turned his knife to the entrance of the school and gave a single swing from top to bottom, a red glow emanating from the Knife, reminding Frisk of one of her past timelines with a shudder down her spine. The glow hit the school, making the entire area where it hit crumble to dust and fly off on the wind.
He then turned to the group, to Frisk, and said, “You see, Frisk? I don’t want to rule this high school – I don’t want to rule anything! I want to watch the world burn. I have all this power… and you. Have. NOTHING.”
Every one of Frisk’s friends stepped in front of her, looking ready for a fight (even Alphys – even if she looked a little timid), and Undyne called out, “She has us!”
Chara laughed, saying, “Then you ALL will turn to dust – like your world, Frisk!”
He then aimed the Knife at the group, swinging at them in a top-to-bottom motion, and they all huddled together, the five other than Frisk clasping hands without realizing, and the Knife hit – but took no effect. When the dust cleared, a slight rainbow glow was protecting the group, and they all looked up and noticed, smiling a little at each other as they did, and a realization popped in Frisk’s head.
“You may have the magic of my world, but you cannot wield it! Your power is corrupted, but our magic is true!” she called out as each of the group was lifted into the air with this magic, and each glowed their colors as they seemed to transform into pseudo-Monster forms. Frisk called out Attributes as each transformed:
“Bravery!”
Papyrus’ scarf-tie turned to a true cape-scarf like his counterpart, and he seemed to grow taller as his face grew more lean, his skull becoming darkened with what his Monster alternate self looked like. Somehow, it didn’t look gaunt; rather, it looked more lively than even his usual self.
“Integrity!”
Undyne’s suit now matched her body, and her ears became longer and fish-like as her right eye became bright yellow – her left became black and seemed to have a spear coming out of it. She looked ready for battle – complete with a heart that appeared over her suit, which now looked a little like armor.
“Kindness!”
Alphys’ hair became more spiked, and her hands became somewhat like claws. She still looked slightly awkward, but now she looked more comfortable with herself, as well. She smiled and looked to Frisk like she did when the Barrier finally broke.
“Perseverance!”
Mettaton’s skin took on more of a metallic sheen, lines appearing where his plates were in his robotic counterpart’s body. He gave a huge smile, as if on the stage, and let out an “Oohh yess!” in a voice that reminded Frisk of their battle in his EX form.
“Patience! Justice!”
Sans’ head elongated slightly to the sides, and his eyes grew dark with white pinpricks for pupils, although at points they grew dark, or his right eye would be dark and his left would glow yellow and blue where his iris would be. His smile stayed, and seemed to not be able to fall now.
“And DETERMINATION!”
Frisk’s transformation was far less noticeable than her friends’, but she could feel it happening, nonetheless. A red heart – her SOUL – appeared in front of her, and her appearance was like that of a wise mage.
“Uncorrupted, untainted, our SOULs beat as one! These Attributes make us what we are, and together, they’re what make us Humans and Monsters! They bring about the power of peace – and friendship!” she finished as the pseudo-Monsters circled her like the Human SOULs when she fought Omega Flowey.
Their powers seemed to combine into one, and a seven-striped rainbow shot towards Chara.
Chara held the Knife in front of him, trying to protect himself, crying out, “NO! That’s impossible!”
The rainbow magic hit him, and a bright light filled the courtyard before dying down, the pseudo-monsters and Frisk landing lightly on the ground. The first thing they noticed after they hugged each other in relief and victory was a giant hole in the ground where Chara was. Frisk walked over to the hole, her friends coming with her to protect her if necessary, and she saw Chara’s smoking form at the bottom, the locket and knife by his form, not on him at all.
“And that is why you fail, Chara,” Frisk called to him. “And that is why you will be alone.”
Chara looked up, looking truly contrite, saying just loud enough for Frisk to hear, “But… I don’t know anything about friendship… or anything like that. I… how can I learn?”
Frisk offered a hand, which Chara took, taking the locket and charm with him, the Knife having turned back into the charm when Chara was turned back to his ordinary form. She pulled him out, then gestured to her friends. “I’m sure they will teach you.”
Papyrus smiled brightly, saying, “NYEH HEH HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL GLADLY BE YOUR TUTOR IN THE WAYS OF FRIENDSHIP!”
Everyone in the group shared his statement, even if Sans looked somewhat pensive about the offer. Chara looked toward them, looking hopeful, then looking down in shame.
“What I did… it was wrong… I thought I was above consequences…”
Frisk looked at him sadly, then placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder, whispering, “No one is above consequences… not even those with the power to RESET. You just learn to… live with them, and try to get the best preferable consequences… for you and everyone around you.”
Chara looked at her with guilt in his eyes, but he really was sorry, she could tell. “Okay, Frisk. I’ll remember that.”
Toriel then approached them, and Chara gave her the locket and charm. She said, “Indeed, no one is above consequences… and there will be consequences for tonight’s events, Chara,” to which Chara looked to the side in shame, but nodded his head. Toriel then turned to Frisk, once again putting the locket and charm on Frisk, saying, “A true leader knows and accepts the consequences of their actions and acts accordingly, and they do not lead with fear, but rather by inspiring those they lead to become better people working towards a common goal.”
It was a few moments before anyone spoke, and Sans cleared his throat, saying, “uh, frisk… i was hoping you could stay for… maybe… one more dance? before you go back? there’s enough time, i checked.”
Frisk looked towards everyone around, then back to Sans, smiling. “Sure.”
It was fifteen minutes later before Frisk and Flowey were able to get back to the opening between worlds, waving a goodbye to everyone there.
“PLEASE VISIT AGAIN SOON, FRISK!” Papyrus called out, smile on his skeletal face.
“Yes, please, darling, we’d love if you would come again,” Mettaton added.
“We’ll miss you,” Alphys said, blush on her face.
“Hope you can come back for another round of soccer, punk!” Undyne challenged, to which Frisk gave a giggle.
Sans smiled, saying, “we’re rooting for ya, kid. good luck as ambassador in your world!”
Frisk smiled in turn, saying, “Goodbye, everyone! I’ll miss you all!”
She then walked through the portal, where everyone was waiting in anticipation. Papyrus and Alphys couldn’t hold back their hugs as Frisk came back, holding Flowey in a flowery pot. She was still in her red dress from the dance, and the Worn Dagger and Heart-Shaped Locket were in her hand and around her neck respectively. She had to be careful to not hit anyone with the Dagger.
“You were in there for so long… what happened?” Alphys asked.
Frisk giggled, putting Flowey down so she could safely stash away the Dagger. “A lot, Alphys. I doubt you’d know anything about it.”
Everyone shared hugs, and when Frisk hugged Sans, she asked, “So did your alternate self really meet you?”
“yeah. it was kinda trippy, to be honest, but i won’t complain. he was pretty nice,” Sans replied. “we should talk more about it sometime.”
“Definitely.”
Frisk wasn’t sure what would happen in the future, but she knew one thing for sure: she was ready for it. She had her friends behind her, her experiences with her, and felt like she could take on anything.