So I asked myself a couple of questions. The main one being, "what if Frisk fell trying to save Monster Kid?" And I tried to answer it for myself, seeing where things would go from there. It took months to answer it in full and figure out how it would resolve, but now I have the answers, and here I am.
I really should've waited to start this. I really wanted to finish Hardtale and A Fallen Gem before doing this, or another idea bouncing in my brain that I haven't started. Unfortunately for me, I just got all the answers last night, and really didn't want to wait to give this a start. And I mean really. I wrote most of this out in one, over an hour long sitting (I've made some edits today, but that's it). I'm never able to do that. Especially at one in the morning. But I digress.
Anyway, this isn't going to be super long. Probably about three chapters long, with the same event ending all three (and the third having a super short sorta epilogue thing after it). By sticking to that rule, I've made this chapter the shortest. That's alright. I plan on getting quite a bit farther in A Fallen Gem and probably Hardtale as well before updating this, so I hope you don't mind a wait. I need to focus on those first. And I'm an exhausted college student on summer break, and I need to rest. But trust me, I have the basics all written out on my phone just so I don't forget anything, so I'll come back to this.
A final confrontation with Undyne was nearing. It was almost that time.
Frisk had been travelling through Waterfall for some time now. They'd encountered Undyne several times, and each time just barely got away. She'd made her speech, and her promise to take their soul for the good of monsterkind. Frisk had done the same song and dance before, so they knew that Undyne would soon face them in battle, too. And after that, they would leave Waterfall. It was a shame, really. They always liked it here, and always wished it would last longer.
Fortunately, they hadn't had to travel through alone. A Monster Kid, whose name they didn't know, had followed them most of the way. Perhaps that had been part of why they had enjoyed this place so much. The company was nice, and the Monster Kid told lots of stories about Undyne, their school, and just about anything they thought about. It was a pleasant break from going it alone, and the Monster Kid was quite friendly. They always missed them after leaving Waterfall.
Now Frisk found themself on a quiet bridge. They knew how this went. Monster Kid would talk to them one last time before they fought Undyne. And sure enough, they could hear footsteps behind them. They twisted themself around and saw it was indeed the Monster Kid walking towards them. They stopped and waited for them to catch up.
"Yo!" Monster Kid greeted them, plastering a smile on their face. They approached slowly, for once not in a hurry. "I know I'm not supposed to be here, but..." The facade dropped and their smile faded as they looked away. "I want to ask you something. I..." They laughed, at an unusual loss for words. "Man, I've never had to ask anyone this before...um..." They laughed again. "You're...you're human, right?"
Frisk nodded, frowning. This question was no surprise, and hadn't been for a long time now. Once, they'd been worried that would mean Monster Kid wouldn't be their friend anymore. But it always worked out. The kid didn't have a mean bone in their body.
At the confirmation, Monster Kid drooped. "Haha, man, I knew it! Well, uh..." They frowned. "I know it now, I mean... Undyne told me, 'stay away from that human'. So, like...uh..." They looked at Frisk again, their frown getting bigger. "I guess that makes us enemies or something. But I..." They sighed. "I kinda stink at that. So, uh...yo, say something mean so I can hate you?"
They shook their head. They could never say anything mean to Monster Kid, not in any of their resets. It made them feel bad just thinking about it. Sure the kid was clumsy, and could get on your nerves if you didn't have a lot of patience, but they were really sweet and meant well. They really, truly liked the kid. They'd never be able to bring themself to do it.
"So I have to do it?" Monster Kid bit their lip, trying to think of something to say. Once they thought of something, they spoke again, but flinched as they did so. It was always hard for them, too. "Here goes nothing... Yo, I...I hate your guts." They stared at Frisk, watching to see how they'd react.
They didn't. They just felt even worse about it.
"Man, I'm such a turd..." Monster Kid muttered. "I'm gonna...I'm gonna go home now."
They turned around and began walking away, their tail dragging along the bridge's planks. They went slowly at first, but determined to get out of there before either could feel worse, they sped up. This was a mistake. It always was. Monster Kid tripped, and began falling of the edge of the bridge. They barely held on by the skin of their teeth.
"Y-Yo, help! I tripped!" they yelled.
Frisk ran after them. Ignoring Undyne, who had just shown up at the other side of the bridge, they skidded to a stop where Monster Kid was and reached down to help. They swiped their hand out to grab them, and missed.
Monster Kid would be fine. They always were.
But they weren't so sure. Monster Kid was slipping down faster than usual, and they were having a hard time reaching. Pushing themself forward to cover more distance, Frisk reached out to grab them again. Again, they missed. This was getting worse by the second. One more time, they reached.
They lost their balance. Unable to steady themself and move back, they fell. They fell down, fell past Monster Kid, fell towards the ground below.
Eventually, they hit the ground. And they hit it hard. Before they even landed, they knew they weren't getting up from that. Encouragement from a far off memory, a memory that wasn't theirs, echoed in their ears. Their soul appeared outside their body. It glowed, and prepared itself to break.
Load the save file. Load the save file.
Monster Kid turned their head to see what happened and screamed. Between the movement and the shock of what just happened, they couldn't hold on anymore. They fell, fell off the bridge and towards the ground below.
The soul glowed brighter, and Monster Kid screamed louder. They closed their eyes and kept screaming. They barely even knew what was happening. They fell to the soul before it could break, before Frisk could load, and then the soul disappeared. Purely by accident, they'd absorbed it. They screamed louder. Another voice in their thoughts screamed with them.
They didn't notice, but Undyne, swearing under her breath, jumped off the bridge and caught them before they hit the earth, before they died as well.
It was all happening so fast. Monster Kid's body glowed as it adjusted to the human soul. They could feel it changing. Memories flashed in their mind, not their own, but Frisk's, memories of signs telling about monsters that absorbed human souls. Words echoed in their thoughts. A monster with a human soul...a horrible beast with unfathomable power. An image flooded their imagination of a horrible, unsettling creature.
No! two thoughts screamed in unison. Neither wanted anything like that, they didn't want to change at all.
And so it was. When Monster Kid stopped glowing, they looked almost the same. Their tail was longer, and the spikes along their back were bigger, but the only other change was in their clothes. Their striped sweater, formerly yellow and brown, was now blue and pink, and with only two stripes now. (Thankfully, it still didn't have arm holes, that would have been awkward.) They were now wearing black tights, too, and ballet shoes just like the ones Frisk had had equipped. They were blue and covered in white hearts of various sizes, like polka dots. It was a relief, or would be when they realized what happened. Rather than becoming some horrifying monster, they'd mostly stayed the same through sheer force of will.
Through determination.
Monster Kid had no idea what was going on, or what had just happened. They hadn't even noticed absorbing Frisk's soul, or that they were now safe in Undyne's arms. It had all been a huge strain on them, on their body and their soul. They kept screaming as they struggled to catch up with it all. Something in their thoughts echoed them. There was a line of thought in their mind completely separate from their own, and out of their control. It freaked them out. The thoughts freaked out, too. Both screamed.
"Whoa, kid, are you okay?" Undyne asked. She scanned them for injuries or anything of the like. Honestly, she was panicking herself. Few living monsters had ever been around for a soul being absorbed or to deal with it, and she was no exception. She had no idea what to do, or say, or how to react.
She was ignored.
"What's going on?" Monster Kid asked, their voice high-pitched from fear. "What happened?"
This isn't supposed to happen! the line of thought yelled. This isn't ever supposed to happen what do I do now?
"How do you know this isn't supposed to happen?" they demanded out loud. "Why do you know, what's going on?"
I can't let this happen I have to fix this! Can I still reset? I have to reset! the line of thought panicked.
"What's a reset?" Monster Kid screamed.
"Kid?" Undyne shook them a little, trying to snap them out of it. It didn't work. "Are you okay?"
Reset! the line of thought told itself.
And everything disappeared.
It's really funny, you know. I've been plotting for this for months. But I've only just realized this is essentially what happens in Underswap, right? Frisk dies, and Monster Kid absorbs their soul. I got a real kick out of it when I put it together. But if you don't know already, there's something you really should know now.
This isn't Underswap.