Nightmares And Besties
I'm sorry this took so long, guys! This is my longest chapter yet at over eleven thousand words and holds a lot of foreshadowing for future chapters, so it was hard to write. Then my computer broke, so I had to write the remainder of my chapter via tablet and smartphone.
I'd also like to thank DarkFoxKit for the idea on MK's older sister Emily's little T-rex arms and MNLFangirl and Stallionwolf for all their help.
I hope all of you enjoy!
Trigger warning for graphic violence in the scene ahead.
...
The human stood there, her brown hair shining gold under a spotlight. She was smiling at first, talking to someone he couldn't see.
But for some reason, he felt dread overcome him.
The human's expression then became frustrated. Her mouth opened, but he couldn't hear what she was saying, or see who she was talking to. Her eyes then widened, her expression turning to disbelief. She opened her mouth, pleading with someone.
Strange lights flashed around her. She tried to dodge. He still couldn't hear what she was saying, but he knew she was afraid. He tried to rush to help her, to defend her from whatever was terrorizing her.
But for some reason he couldn't get close, couldn't get to her.
A bolt of light hit her leg. She let out a soundless scream as she fell, the light burning a gaping hole in her leg. The skin around it was burned black, white bone showing through the hole.
He wanted to scream. But he couldn't. He couldn't move to save her.
He couldn't do anything.
She struggled to get up but couldn't in time as another bolt of light headed straight for her chest. She was sent flying back at the sheer impact.
Somehow he was in front of her now. He tried to rush forward and heal her, tried to beg her to hold on, but he couldn't move. He couldn't speak.
Glassy brown eyes stared at him accusingly as she crumpled to the ground like a puppet whose strings had been cut, her chest blown apart. Her bright red soul began floating out of her body.
He could finally move, stretching a hand towards the beautiful glow of her soul.
But it wasn't his hand, but someone else's, slender and white gloved, almost looking human.
But before he, or whoever this was, could reach the soul, the room turned pitch black.
The human's soul floated, the only thing visible in the blackness. It cracked down the middle, the essence of her spirit then shattering.
He screamed. He thought he heard someone else, a girl, screaming too.
The last thing he saw before everything faded away was a golden star appearing from the blackness.
...
Papyrus gasped as he jolted to a sitting position. He looked around frantically.
He was in his room, in his racecar bed, his blankets thrown into a pile on the floor.
He was home.
"It was all a bad dream." he tried to reassure himself, his voice sounding strangely loud in the silence of his room even though he was speaking quietly. His soul pounded in his skull as he tried to calm down.
He quietly got up and left the room. He had to check on his brother and the human, just in case.
Sans's door was closed, magic flowing under it as normal, locking all but Sans and himself out. He very quietly opened it.
Sans was sleeping peacefully, his arms wrapped around a ball of blankets. He was snoring softly and twitching occasionally, but seemed content. Papyrus quietly shut the door, not wanting to wake him, then crept downstairs to check on the human.
Like Sans, she was peacefully asleep, curled up on the couch under the warm quilt he had given her, her breathing soft and even with the occasional tiny little snore.
She was safe and alive.
But just to be sure, he Checked her.
The Human
HP 20/20
AT: 10
DF: 10
Your friend. She feels safe here.
He sighed in relief. She was completely fine.
He returned to his room, grabbing the blankets he had knocked to the floor and carefully making his bed, the task soothing him a little. But he knew he wouldn't be sleeping the rest of the night, not with that terrible dream.
He picked up the hoodie he had started making for Sans as well as his sewing supplies and returned to the living room, wanting to stay by his friend. He perched on the couch beside her, careful not to sit on her feet and looked to her again before turning the TV on to one of Mettaton's late night movies, keeping it on mute so it wouldn't wake the human, pulling the hoodie onto his lap and threading the needle.
He carefully began stitching a defensive rune into the inside of one of the pockets, remembering the day Asgore had taught him to do it. He had been just a young teenager at the time and had been extremely worried about his brother's HP, which had dropped after their father had fallen into the void, though it had been much better than it was now. He had been struggling to do it while sitting on a park bench when Asgore had spotted him. Noticing his frustration, the king had approached him and kindly asked him if he needed help. When Papyrus explained what he was doing to Asgore, Asgore had smiled and sat down next to him, patiently showing him how to stitch the rune and then how to activate it, taking the time out of his day just to help Papyrus.
King Asgore was one of the kindest people he had ever met. He was always helping others; coming to schools to give lessons, greeting shopkeepers and purchasing their wares to bring attention to them, being Santa for the children at Gyftmas and offering everyone he met a kind word and help to those who needed it. His throne room was always unlocked for visitors and a pot of tea was always ready for anyone who wanted to talk.
So how could Asgore be capable of killing innocent people like Flowey had clearly implied?
Papyrus wasn't completely clueless; he knew Asgore had killed Yellow Soul, but, though Papyrus didn't like it, it had had been purely to save Undyne and the monsters in Snowdin, so Papyrus understood that. But seven coffins hidden in a basement and an order out to kill his gentle human friend, who hadn't harmed a soul?
How could Asgore, who was even by Papyrus' standards a big fluffy pushover, be able to look at an innocent person and take their life?
Flowey had to have misunderstood!
But Undyne had also told Papyrus that his friend's soul had to be taken to free everyone, until the moment that she realized the human was truly a good person.
Maybe the king was so desperate to free everyone that...
Papyrus didn't even realize that he was shaking or that the human was stirring until she spoke.
...
Frisk woke, feeling like the couch was vibrating. She opened her eyes, seeing Papyrus sitting at the edge of the couch, right by her feet.
The skeleton had switched out his battle body for a cozy looking red sweater and black lounge pants. The TV was on some strange movie with a robot that looked like a box on a wheel and Papyrus had a blue hoodie on his lap and a sewing needle in his hand, but he was paying no attention to either of these things. Instead he was staring ahead blankly like he was deep in thought, and he was shaking.
She sat up, looking at him in concern. Chara, who was sitting next to her, did as well. "Papyrus?"
He jumped at the sound of her voice before turning to her. "OH! I'M SORRY I WOKE YOU, HUMAN!"
"It's fine. Are you okay?" she asked, very worried. Chara frowned in worry as well. The ghost tried to put a hand on his shoulder but it went right through him. He shivered a bit but didn't seem to notice it otherwise.
He smiled, though it didn't reach his sockets. "OF COURSE, MY FRIEND! THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS ALWAYS ALL RIGHT!"
Frisk arched an eyebrow as she scooted closer. "Want to tell me something with a little less bull crap?" She then was slightly worried she had hurt him.
He did jolt in surprise but almost seemed to feel better when she asked this. He moved closer. "I had a little bit of a bad dream." he admitted softly. He then smiled again, but Frisk could tell it was faked. "But don't worry, human! The Great Papyrus is not bothered by something as insignificant as a nightmare!"
Frisk frowned, not believing him. "It's okay not to always be okay. Do you want to talk about it?"
Again he looked at her in surprise but then shook his head.
"Are you sure?"
"To be honest, human, I'd rather forget about it. Can we just...enjoy each other's company for a little while?" he asked very softly.
She backed down immediately. "Of course. I'm sorry for pushing."
"Don't be sorry, human! You were just being a caring friend." he reassured her.
She felt a little better at this. "What would you like to do?"
Papyrus thought for a moment. Then his eyes lit up as he had an idea.
...
After raiding the fridge for Nice Cream(though half of Frisk's serving went into her bag rather than in her when she thought Papyrus wasn't looking), they played Truth Or Dare. So far, Papyrus had dared Frisk to walk from the stairs to the kitchen without stepping on the floor(she fell and Chara laughed), Frisk had dared Papyrus to make a hat out of toilet paper and wear it for the rest of the game(she was pretty impressed by the intricate three corner hat he had made) and Papyrus then dared her to draw a mustache on Sans while he slept. She playfully glared at him but went with him to do it. He opened Sans's door for her and watched as she crept into the room and very carefully and softly drew the mustache on Sans, careful not to wake him, then tiptoed back out to Papyrus. Chara was laughing the whole time.
"He's going to kill me." she sighed as they made their way back downstairs.
"NONSENSE! FOR ONE THING, MY LAZYBONES BROTHER COULD SLEEP THROUGH AN EARTHQUAKE. AND SECOND, HE LOVES PRANKS! HE KEEPS PULLING THE "WHOOPIE CUSHION ON THE SEAT" PRANK AT ME AT GRILLBY'S."
"Typical Sans." Chara said with a laugh.
"Oh, I see how it is! You're using me to try to get him back." she teased.
"NYEH HEH HEH! THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS ALWAYS BEEN EXCELLENT AT JAPES!" Papyrus told with a huge grin. He sat down on the living room floor and Frisk sat next to him. "IT'S YOUR TURN, HUMAN!"
"Okay Papyrus, truth or dare?"
"EH, I'LL TAKE A WALK ON THE MILD SIDE AND DO TRUTH THIS TIME." Papyrus said.
Frisk giggled at the pun. "All right then. So tell me Papyrus, did you deliberately sabotage your own electricity puzzle by stepping in the mud to help me?"
Papyrus averted his gaze. "WHY WOULD THE GREAT PAPYRUS PLAY UNFAIR ON ANY OF HIS PUZZLES?"
She fixed him with a stare that said she wasn't falling for any of his bull crap. "Papyrus..."
"...YES." he admitted. "THAT PUZZLE HURT. AND THOUGH I DID TURN IT DOWN AFTER I GOT ZAPPED, I WAS WORRIED IT STILL MIGHT HURT, AND YOU LOOKED SCARED...AND...EVEN IF MY METHODS WEREN'T CONDUCTIVE TO CAPTURING YOU...I JUST COULDN'T HURT YOU, HUMAN!"
Frisk hugged him. "Thank you. You know, this makes me like you even more. Even when we weren't friends, you were looking out for me."
He was happy to hug her back, a slight blush on his face at the compliment. "WELL, THE GREAT PAPYRUS DOES STRIVE TO BE COMFORTING AND PLEASANT."
She smiled at him. "And he succeeds at it."
"Flirting again, Frisk?"
"Shut up, it was a genuine compliment."
He blushed a bit more and almost looked bashful. "THANK YOU, HUMAN. SO, TRUTH OR DARE?"
"Eh, I'll go with Truth too."
"WHAT DID YOU THINK OF ME WHEN WE FIRST MET? BE HONEST."
"She was in looove with you."
She laughed sheepishly, ignoring Chara. "Well, when we first met, before we had talked or anything, I was kind of scared of you." she admitted softly. He started to look worried. "It wasn't anything you did wrong. Heck, you didn't even know I was there. Sans had just told me that you were a human-hunting fanatic, then had me hide behind that weirdly shaped lamp when he saw you coming, so I had no clue what was going to happen. Of course, when I actually met you and got to know you, I realized how sweet you were."
"You're still flirting."
"Am not!"
Papyrus smiles at this, feeling a little better. "I'M GLAD YOU FEEL SAFE AROUND ME, HUMAN." He then looked a little embarrassed. "SO THAT WAS YOU BEHIND THE LAMP? I THOUGHT SANS WAS TRYING TO TRICK ME INTO HAVING ANOTHER PAINT BOMB EXPLODE IN MY FACE AGAIN. I WALKED AROUND WITH A PINK SKULL FOR DAYS AFTER THAT..."
Frisk giggled. "I remember you saying that he kept pranking you with it."
Papyrus nodded. 'HE ALSO PAINTED IT TO LOOK LIKE A HUMAN AND STUCK IT IN OUR GARAGE FOR ME TO FIND. WHEN I SAW IT IN THE DARK, i THOUGHT IT WAS A HUMAN AND CALLED UP UNDYNE...SHE WAS NOT TOO HAPPY ABOUT BEING WOKEN UP AT THREE IN THE MORNING FOR A PRANK."
"I can imagine."
"BUT I GOT REVENGE ON SANS BY SWITCHING OUT ALL HIS CLOTHES FOR A PINK CLOWN COSTUME AND HE HAD TO WEAR IT TO WORK FOR THE WHOLE ENTIRE DAY! NYEH HEH HEH!"
Frisk burst out laughing. "That's awesome!"
Chara giggled as well. "I would PAY to see a picture of that!"
And she got her wish without even having to pay for it as Papyrus triumphantly pulled out his phone and showed Frisk a picture of a slightly embarrassed but smiling Sans in a light pink clown costume with darker pink spots, which made both Frisk and Chara laugh even harder, though Papyrus could only hear Frisk. He joined them in laughter though they did try to calm down after a few minutes so they wouldn't wake up Sans.
Once they settled down enough, Frisk asked, "Papyrus, truth or dare?"
"TRUTH."
"Hmm..." she tried to think of what she most wanted to ask him. Then she remembered something. "That special attack that that annoying dog stole, what was it? I'm really curious."
Papyrus grinned widely at this question. "I DID FINALLY GET MY BONE BACK FROM THE ANNOYING DOG! LET'S GO OUTSIDE SO I CAN SHOW YOU!"
...
Papyrus gave Frisk one of Sans's jackets and a pair of mittens to wear and happily lead her outside into their backyard, turning on the porch light as he did and also planting some glowing blue bones into the ground to give them some additional light. He looked around for the Annoying Dog just in case, then sighed in relief when he saw the troublesome canine wasn't there. "GET YOURSELF READY, HUMAN!" He summoned a bone and tossed it straight up into the air before concentrating, closing his sockets. A bright light surrounded the bone and a shape formed around it.
It was another dragon skull very similar to the one Sans had, though was slightly bigger and its eyes glowed orange in the darkness as it caught the bone in its massive mouth. It turned to Papyrus like it was awaiting orders.
"Whoa! I didn't know Papyrus knew how to summon Gaster Blasters too!" Chara asked. Frisk was about to ask her what the heck that was when Papyrus started speaking again.
"HYPERION, I'D LIKE YOU TO MEET THE HUMAN. NOW BE NICE. DON'T BE MEAN TO HER LIKE YOU WERE TO FLOWEY." Papyrus told it gently but sternly.
Hyperion turned towards Frisk, its glowing eyes meeting hers. Then it suddenly dropped the bone and charged at her.
"STOP!" Papyrus ordered but was ignored. He ran to stop the skull but it was faster.
Unable to dodge in time, Frisk braced herself to be blasted in the face like Sans's skull thing had done to Flowey.
But she had nothing to fear.
The blaster stopped right in front of her and opened its mouth, but instead of a blast, a glowing tongue shot out and licked her right in the face, much like a dog would. Seeing she was scared, it then nuzzled her and playfully nudged her, panting happily.
"PHEW. THAT'S A GOOD GASTER BLASTER!" Papyrus praised Hyperion as he approached them. Hyperion was now flying happy circles around Frisk.
"Gaster Blaster?" Frisk asked as she reached out and petted the happy blaster, who nuzzled her hand.
"OUR DAD CREATED THEM AND TAUGHT SANS HOW TO AS WELL, AND SANS TAUGHT ME. DAD SAID THAT THEY'RE SEMI-SENTIENT MANIFESTATIONS OF OUR MAGIC."
"So that's why he's so sweet." Frisk said with a smile.
Chara nodded. "Those guys are total marshmallows when they're not in battle. Sans and I used to play fetch with his Gaster Blaster." Frisk caught a few flashes of memories of Chara and a laughing young Sans throwing a bone for the very dragon skull she had seen with Sans.
"HE MUST REALLY LIKE YOU. HE LIKES SANS, EVEN THOUGH HE ALSO LIKES TO ANNOY HIM, AND HE DOES LIKE UNDYNE, BUT I'VE NEVER SEEN HIM BE THIS AFFECTIONATE THIS QUICK WITH SOMEONE NEW." Papyrus admitted. "AND I CAN'T GET HIM TO BE NICE TO FLOWEY."
"I don't blame him." Frisk muttered.
"Neither do I." Chara agreed. "Papyrus, you really need to listen to your blaster."
"DON'T WORRY, HUMAN! I KNOW YOU AND FLOWEY GOT OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT BUT HE IS REALLY SORRY. HE JUST HAS A LOT OF TROUBLE SHOWING ANY POSITIVE FEELINGS." Papyrus explained. Both Frisk and Hyperion showed the same look of "But I still don't trust him." so Papyrus decided not to push any further. Flowey had hurt the human and scared his brother, so Papyrus understood that it would probably take a long while for either of them to trust him and that Flowey would need to earn their trust himself.
Hyperion flew around Frisk again and nuzzled her, then nudged her a little too hard and knocked her into Papyrus, nearly making him fall on the ground as he caught her.
"HYPERION, BE GENTLE WITH THE HUMAN! YOU DON'T WANT TO HURT HER!" Papyrus told his Gaster Blaster as he helped Frisk up. Hyperion made an apologetic whirring noise at the last part but still seemed to be mighty pleased with himself.
They played with Hyperion for a little bit, then Frisk started to shiver from the cold. Papyrus wrapped an arm around her and led her towards the house, Hyperion floating behind them.
Suddenly Hyperion started to growl loudly at a bush by the house, moving between it and Frisk protectively. It opened its mouth and suddenly blasted the bush with a huge beam of light, making both Papyrus and Frisk jump.
"Hyperion, what's wrong?" Papyrus asked softly. His blaster just growled at the bush. Making Frisk stay back, Papyrus checked behind and under it.
Nothing.
Looking around and seeing absolutely nothing amiss, Papyrus shrugged it off, and praised Hyperion for protecting the human from whatever the scary thing was before leading the two of them inside.
After they went inside, a grumbling Flowey appeared a short distance from the house, nursing his scorched petals. It looked like he wasn't getting any more information on the human tonight. Not until Papyrus recalled that dumb blaster.
...
Once inside, Papyrus recalled Hyperion back to where he came from. It took a lot of energy to keep a Blaster in the real world for long, plus Hyperion loved to knock breakable things off shelves on purpose and eat Sans's socks, which caused Sans to call the blaster a "psychotic asshole cat."
He also asked Frisk not to tell Sans he had sworn after he told her about this. She giggled and agreed, then told him he could even say "Fuck," if he wanted and that she'd never tell.
He didn't, but he liked her even more for this.
They settled on the couch and Papyrus put on one of Mettaton's movies for Frisk. She enjoyed it, but the early hour soon caught up to her. Her eyes began sliding shut and she started leaning against Papyrus. After a few minutes, she realized what she was doing and apologized and started to sit up.
He put an arm around her to show her that she could stay there. "DO NOT WORRY, HUMAN! I DON'T MIND IF YOU SLEEP ON MY SHOULDER! SKELETONS ARE KNOWN TO BE VERY CUDDLY CREATURES!"
She relaxed at this and leaned back against him with a soft thanks, falling asleep after only a few seconds with a soft smile on her face.
Papyrus smiled softly at how peaceful she looked and relaxed into the couch, keeping an arm around the human. He hadn't thought he would be able to sleep at all, but the human felt nice and warm like a hot water bottle and...
"Zzzzzzz..."
...
It was around 6:30 when Sans woke up, a little early for him, but eh, he could sleep more later at his post. He looked at himself in the mirror and saw the sharpie mustache. He chuckled. Unbeknownst to the human and Papyrus, he had heard them and pretended to sleep, letting the human draw it on him. Neither of the two had been exactly quiet after all, but he decided to throw them a bone and let them think they'd gotten away with it.
Plus, he'd get them back. He was the master of pranks, after all.
He headed downstairs for breakfast and caught sight of the human and Papyrus. They had fallen asleep on the couch together, with Papyrus's arm around the human and her head on his chest.
It was so cute he grabbed his phone and snapped a photo to send to Alphys and Undyne. He then smirked and grabbed the marker Frisk had used and drew mustaches as well as goofy glasses on both of them, so softly they didn't didn't even stir. He then got in front of them and took a photo of the three of them. This would be perfect for his Undernet account.
He chuckled as he went into the kitchen. He swore he heard a familiar giggle, but when he looked behind him, the human and Papyrus were still fast asleep and no one else was around.
And the giggle sounded like Chara.
For a split second, he thought he saw her, sitting beside the human and his brother and smiling, that beautiful smile that appeared whenever he made her laugh. He gasped and rubbed his eyes.
When he looked again, she wasn't there. An ache filled his soul.
Chara's dead. She's not coming back. You need to freaking accept that. he thought to himself as he poured a mug of ketchup, adding a tiny bit of vodka. Maybe this would make him stop seeing things that weren't there.
Papyrus woke a few minutes later, and so did the human.
The resulting "SANS!" from Papyrus and the human's giggles when they caught sight of his prank drove some of the pain from his soul, enough to let him smile again.
...
After Papyrus scolded his brother(though it was playful with no real anger), the three of them cleaned up and Papyrus made waffles while Frisk set the table for him and Sans napped like the lazybones he was.
It wasn't long before it was ready, and Papyrus set plates of golden brown waffles in front of Sans and Frisk. Frisk took a careful taste, wondering if it would taste like his spaghetti had.
Her eyes widened.
It was delicious, fluffy and soft with a hint of cinnamon. And like the spaghetti, it had a warm, magical tingle, perking her up and making her feel better.
"Papyrus, this is the best thing I've ever had in my life." Frisk told him as she devoured her first waffle, though the second went immediately into her bag when she thought Sans and Papyrus weren't looking so she could give it to Tina when she got home. Her little sister would absolutely love it, and it would be good to have healing food around.
She smiled at the collection of food in her bag. She had meals for Tina for several days if rationed properly, as well as a good amount of gold that might be worth a lot on the surface.
Now she just needed to figure out if she could make her plan work so she could give Tina, and her monster friends, a much better life.
A curious Chara was about to ask her about her plan, and Frisk was about to tell her when they were cut off by Papyrus's cell phone buzzing as he recieved a text. He checked it, then grinned widely. "UNDYNE AND I HAVE OUR COOKING LESSON THIS MORNING! YOU SHOULD COME, HUMAN! IT'S THE PERFECT OPPORTUNITY FOR YOU AND HER TO BECOME GREAT FRIENDS!" Papyrus told Frisk.
"Papyrus, she still hates me. She's not going to want me there." Frisk pointed out.
"HUMAN, UNDYNE DOESN'T HATE YOU! SHE KNOWS YOU'RE GOOD NOW." Papyrus reassured her. 'AND ONCE SHE SEES WHAT A GREAT FRIEND YOU ARE, SHE'LL LOVE YOU. I PROMISE." Frisk still seemed doubtful, so Papyrus took both her small hands into his. "It will be okay. She won't hurt you, and I have a plan to make the two of you great friends."
"I think it'll work." Chara told her.
Frisk thought it over. Undyne HAD saved her from the river after all and let her go. Though she was still a little afraid Undyne would turn her into a pin cushion, maybe it could work out. And for the plan forming in her mind to work, she needed Undyne to like or at least tolerate her, and to make sure Undyne wouldn't harm Tina.
"All right. I'll do it." she told Papyrus, filled with Determination.
Papyrus grinned widely.
...
On the way to Undyne's, Papyrus and Frisk stopped at the clothing store as Frisk's clothing was too ripped to keep her warm and probably only one more tear away from an indecent exposure charge. Emily greeted them warmly and helped them pick out things. Frisk was careful and frugal, but wanted to spoil her sister a little and picked out some outfits for Tina that she knew her little sister would love, along with underwear and socks for both of them.
When it came to herself, Frisk was more cheap and chose an ugly florescent yellow shirt covered in purple stripes, mostly because it was on the clearance rack for 1G.
"Eww. Girl, you don't want that. Puke yellow is SO not your color, and stripes are totally for kids. I should know. That's my dorky little brother's favorite thing to wear." Emily said as soon as she saw the shirt. "I can't believe Mom's still trying to sell that."
"Hey! Stripes are a classic style for all ages!" Chara protested, pointing to her own striped shirt. "But she has a point. Frisk, that shirt is hideous."
"It's not THAT bad." Frisk said, blushing in embarrassment. She had to agree that it was hideous, but it was cheap and it looked warm.
"You actually like that?" Emily asked, knowing Frisk actually didn't.
"Um..."
"Thought so. Here, try this. It's on sale too, and you rock blue." She pulled out a blue T-shirt with the same symbol that had been on Toriel's dress emblazoned on it in purple; a circle with wings hovering above three triangles.
"I like it. What's that symbol mean though?" Frisk asked as Emily handed her the shirt.
"That's the Delta Rune. The symbol of the monster kingdom." Emily explained. "It's supposed to represent this prophecy where an angel comes to either free everyone or kill everyone, depending on the interpretation. Personally, I think it's stupid and prophecies are a load of bull, but the symbol looks cool."
Frisk noticed that Chara looked upset about something while Emily told this story, but whenever she mentally asked, Chara shook her head, indicating that she didn't want to talk about it.
"It does look cool." Frisk agreed and Emily grinned before picking out a pair of black capris and a soft black cotton jacket for her, sending her to the fitting room to try everything on.
They fit well, though were kind of baggy, and were the softest, warmest clothes she had ever had in her life.
"Girl, that looks great on you." Emily said approvingly when Frisk came out.
"Yeah, you look like a true monster.' Chara told her, and Frisk knew that for Chara, it was the ultimate compliment.
Papyrus poked his head out from where he was examining jacket linings. "THAT LOOKS WONDERFUL ON YOU, HUMAN!"
Frisk froze for a second at his slip, her eyes widening.
Emily just chuckled. "Chill. I already knew. Xander told me. He can't exactly keep a secret, plus other monsters have mentioned that there's a human around, and you're the only new face here. And I don't care if you're human or a two headed alien. You saved my brother, so you're cool with me."
Frisk sighed in relief.
Emily gave her a reassuring smile. "Cheer up, girl. Everyone in Snowdin likes you and no one wants you dead, promise. You don't have to be scared." She handed Frisk a trash bag for her to toss her old clothing into as there was no saving it. "You can wear those new clothes out."
Frisk thanked her gratefully and looked around the store some more, wanting to pick out some gifts for Sans and Papyrus. She saw some fun novelty socks and picked them out for Sans, remembering Papyrus telling her that Sans collected them. She then went hunting for something Papyrus might like.
After a few minutes of searching the T-shirts, her eyes lit up. This would be perfect! But it needed a little something...
"Hey, Emily, do you have a fabric marker I could borrow?"
...
After Papyrus and Frisk had purchased everything they needed, thanked Emily for all her help, and said goodbye, they left the store, and Papyrus took Frisk to the Snowdin Dimensional Box. He explained to her how it worked and helped her get into the system so she could store her items and pick them up from the Dimensional Box located in New Home before she left. Frisk's eyes were wide. She had only ever heard of this in science fiction. She couldn't believe that you could actually create a pocket dimension in real life that you could pull up just by entering a special code into a weird box.
"I thought Asriel was putting me on when he first mentioned those." Chara admitted as Frisk loaded her bags into the box. "Magic's an amazing thing."
Frisk mentally agreed with Chara as she held out her last bag to Papyrus. "This one's for you and Sans."
Papyrus's eyes lit up as he took the bag and peeked inside. "YOU GOT US PRESENTS?! THANK YOU, HUMAN!" He bounced excitedly, looking like a kid on Christmas morning. "CAN I OPEN MINE NOW?"
Frisk nodded happily. "Yours is the big one. I got Sans some of those goofy novelty socks that don't match because you said he collected them."
'HE'LL LOVE THAT. AND LEAVE ONE ON THE FLOOR AND SWITCH THEM OUT EVERY WEEK, WHICH HE THINKS I DON'T NOTICE." Papyrus said with a soft laugh and took out his messily wrapped package. Frisk hadn't been able to find wrapping paper in the store, so she had simply bought a newspaper and wrapped Papyrus's gift in the puzzle section and Sans's in the comics.
Papyrus carefully unwrapped it, trying not to tear the newspaper, and gasped happily at what he saw.
Frisk had found a Super-Man T-shirt, bright blue with the large red S. Like he did with his own clothing, she had improved it with red fabric marker, and the shirt now read Super Papyrus.
Papyrus's sockets shone with happiness and he scooped Frisk up in his arms, hugging her tightly and twirling her around. "I LOVE IT!"
Frisk grinned and hugged him back happily. Chara slipped behind Papyrus and made exaggerated kissy faces at Frisk, making her laugh.
...
The two arrived at Undyne's house a little while later. Frisk took a deep breath, rather nervous.
"HERE, GIVE HER THIS! SHE LOVES THESE!" Papyrus told her, pulling a golden bone with a red ribbon tied around it in a bow. She nodded and took it, her hand shaking a little.
Chara saw this. "It's gonna be okay, Frisk.'
Papyrus noticed as well and lowered his voice. "Don't be scared, human. I have a plan." Papyrus told her quietly. "And I'd never let anything happen to you. Do you trust me?"
"Yes." she told him, and she meant it.
Papyrus gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. "Stand behind me." he instructed. She complied and he knocked on the door.
Undyne answered immediately. "Hey, Papyrus! Ready for your extra private, one on one training?"
"YOU BET I AM! AND I BROUGHT A FRIEND!" Papyrus said cheerfully, returning to his normal loud voice. He moved aside to show her Frisk.
Undyne stepped forward to greet her. "Hi, I don't think we've..." She paused as she recognized Frisk, and the three of them stared at each other awkwardly.
Undyne clenched her teeth and managed to force some politeness into her voice. "Why don't. You two. Come in?"
Papyrus smiled reassuringly to Frisk and guided her through the door as Undyne led them back inside. "HERE, UNDYNE! MY FRIEND BROUGHT A GIFT FOR YOU! ON HER OWN!" Frisk looked to Papyrus uncertainly, but handed the bone to him and he gave it to Undyne.
"Uh...thanks." Undyne said as she took it and it was clear she wasn't buying it. "I'll um, put it with the others." She walked over to her kitchen counter and opened the bottom drawer, where Frisk could see there was a bunch of red-ribboned golden bones, all identical to the one Frisk had just "given" her.
Papyrus gave Frisk an apologetic look when Undyne's back was turned, then gave Undyne his megawatt smile when she turned back to them.
"So are we ready to start?" Undyne asked, trying to smile but clenching her teeth so hard that Frisk thought they might break.
"WHOOPSY DOOPSY! I JUST REMEMBERED! I HAVE TO GO TO THE BATHROOM!" Papyrus suddenly said, making both Frisk and Undyne give him a confused look. He gave Frisk's hand a quick squeeze, then ran across the room and dived out the window, crashing through the glass and sumersaulting away. Frisk could only stare at the window in shock.
"Oookay..." Chara said, weirded out.
Undyne stared at the window as well, but looked more annoyed than shocked. She then glared at Frisk.
Frisk swallowed, her throat dry. "Hi. I'm..."
'So why are YOU here?" Undyne demanded, yet again ignoring Frisk's attempt to introduce herself.
Her glare was burning through Frisk's skull. Frisk felt the walls closing in on her. It was hard to breathe. She wanted so badly to run out the door, to get away from Undyne, but she was afraid to turn her back. And she had promised Chara and Papyrus that she'd try. She swallowed again, hard enough that she thought Undyne could hear it. "I...I wanted to thank you for saving me, and..."
"Wait..I get it. You think I"m going to be friends with you, huh?" Undyne demanded, looking at Frisk like she thought she was the scum of the earth.
Chara looked down sadly, and Frisk felt her temper rise a little. What had she even done to deserve Undyne being a total dick to her? Even if Undyne HAD saved her, she still had tried to kill her first. "Well, I was hoping we could at least TRY for Papyrus's sake..."
"Really?! How delightful! I accept! Let us frolic in the fields of friendship!" Undyne said sarcastically. "NOT! Look, I can put up with you living, and I might have saved you, but you're still the enemy of everyone's hopes and dreams! If you weren't my houseguest, I'd beat you up right now! I will NEVER be your friend! Now get out of my house!"
Before Frisk could leave, or even say anything, Papyrus stuck his head through the window. "DANG. WHAT A SHAME. I THOUGHT UNDYNE COULD BE FRIENDS WITH YOU, BUT I GUESS...I OVERESTIMATED HER. SHE'S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE!" He gave Frisk a quick wink when Undyne couldn't see.
Frisk was now worried, but Chara grinned. "Papyrus, you're a freaking genius!"
"Chara, what's going on?"
"Just wait. Three, two..."
Undyne's eye widened in shock and outrage. "What?! Challenge?! Papyrus, wait a second!" She went to the window, but Papyrus had already left. "Darn it...He thinks I can't be friends with you. Fuhuhu, what a joke!" Undyne said with a loud laugh. "I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day!"
"Well, you might want to start by NOT calling her a wimpy loser..." Chara said, rolling her eyes.
"I'll show him! Listen up, human! We're not just going to be friends. We're going to be BESTIES. I'll make you like me so much...you won't be able to think of anyone else! Fuhuhuhuhu, it's the PERFECT REVENGE!"
"Tell me about it." Frisk muttered to Chara. "Well, she changed her tune quickly."
"She's super competitive." Chara explained.
"You don't say."
Undyne's voice then turned painfully pleasant. "Why don't you have a seat?"
"And she says I'M the saccharine one..." Frisk muttered to Chara. She glanced to the window where Papyrus had left.
Undyne noticed. "I can't believe he leapt through the window like that." She then grinned. "Normally he NAILS the landing!"
Frisk looked to her in surprise. "He's done that before?!"
She then was worried Undyne would be pissed at her for asking questions, but the fish woman just grinned again, a real one, not the fake sweet smile. "Of course! What, you don't practice the awesome window escape just in case there's a fire or bad guys bomb the building?"
"Or if she's cooking. Trust me. That'll get you both the fire AND the explosion." Chara told Frisk with a laugh.
Frisk laughed too. "I'd probably break every bone in my body." she said as she sat down at Undyne's neon orange table.
"Well, you ARE wimpy." Undyne agreed with a laugh. "Well, since we're besties now, it's up to me to toughen you up! But first...Here, I'll get you something to drink."
Frisk thanked her, the coil of tension inside her unknotting slightly. She looked around as she managed to relax a little.
Undyne's kitchen was fairly large but cozy. Her floor was yellow and blue tiled and a grand piano rested nearby.
"Undyne loves to play the piano. She's really freaking good. She used to give Asriel and I lessons." Chara told her. Little flashes of Asriel sitting next to Undyne on the piano bench while they played a beautiful sounding duet filled Frisk's mind, making her smile.
Undyne glanced at her and saw her staring at the piano. "One time, Alphys's...uh, friend? Came over here. All he did was lie seductively on the piano...and fed himself grapes. I don't really like that guy. But I admire his lifestyle."
Frisk giggled at the story, then looked curious. "Who's Alphys? Papyrus mentioned their name once."
"You don't know about her?! She's only the Royal Scientist and the coolest, smartest monster in the Underground!" Undyne told her, her eye lighting up as she spoke of this girl. She pointed at a photograph hanging on her wall. "That's her."
Frisk looked at the photograph. A grinning Undyne had her arm around a yellow lizard woman in a white lab coat. The lizard woman, who Frisk now knew was Alphys, was smiling at the camera shyly and blushing a little. The photograph had writing at the bottom but Frisk couldn't read it from where she was at.
Chara floated closer to take a look. "It says, "Anime Night with my bestie!"
"She seems cool. I'd love to meet her." Frisk told Undyne.
"You should! She's great!" Undyne told her with a smile as she opened the fridge. Steam escaped as she did and Frisk could feel hot air.
"Um, Undyne, I think your fridge is burning." Frisk told her.
"Relax, punk, it's fine. I hate cold food, so Alphys made me a fridge that heats up food instead." Undyne explained. "Hot fridge, the world's greatest invention!"
Frisk thought Undyne was missing the point of a fridge, but didn't comment. Instead, she glanced over at a giant sword. "Hey, that's so cool! Did Alphys make that too?"
Undyne grinned as she set a bottle on the counter. "Yeah! It's a replica of a sword from one of her human history novels. Humans suck, but their history...kind of rules. Case in point, this giant sword. Historically, humans wielded swords up to ten times their size. Right?"
Frisk shook her head. "I don't think that's possible..."
"Pfft...You liar! I've READ Alphys's human history book collection! I know all about your giant swords...your colossal alien fighting robots...your supernatural princesses...Hah! There's no way you're going to fool me!"
"She doesn't need to. I think Alphys already did." Chara muttered. Frisk just kept her mouth shut.
Undyne finished setting up the drinks. "All set. What would you like?"
Frisk glanced over but couldn't quite see what it was that she had. She started to get up to take a closer look.
Suddenly Undyne glared at her and threw a spear at Frisk at lightning speeds. Frisk screamed and fell backwards, tipping her chair and hitting her head on the floor with a nasty bump.
"Damnit." she heard Undyne mutter and then Undyne charged around the table and reached Frisk before Frisk could get to her feet.
Frisk scrambled under the table as Undyne had her trapped in a corner and she couldn't run to the door or dive out the window like she wanted. In an effort to shield herself, she pushed her upside down chair between her and Undyne. "Stay away from me!" she cried out, trying to sound brave, but her voice came out shaky. Her mind raced as she tried to think of a way to escape. If Undyne attacked her, maybe she could push the chair at her, knock her down, then run.
But Undyne didn't attack. Instead she held her hands up, proving she wasn't armed. "Geez, punk, calm down! I'm not going to hurt you!"
"You just threw a spear at me again!"
"Yeah, so you could point to the drink you wanted! You're the guest, you're not supposed to get up and get it yourself!" Undyne explained matter-of-factly.
Frisk looked at her disbelievingly. "And you threw it instead of just passing it to me why?"
"Because just passing it to you is BORING! Throwing it is infinitely more awesome! Granted, I probably should have warned you first...Sorry about that. I got a little...overzealous."
"She's not lying. I remember once she brought cookies to the palace. She tossed them to me and Asriel like frisbees. Asriel and I crashed into each other trying to catch them and they flew through the window and broke it. Mom was not happy." Chara told her. "Also, never challenge her to a snowball fight like Asriel did. She threw a pile of snow on him that was bigger than he was."
Frisk felt a little better at this, though she had to hide a laugh at Chara's stories and the resulting images. "Eh, I guess it's fine as long as it's your table and not my head the spear cracked open." she joked weakly as she crawled out from under the table and got up, righting her chair and sitting down again.
Undyne grinned at her. "Now grab that spear and point to what you want!"
Frisk carefully picked up the spear and looked over the drink options. She pointed the spear at a bottle with a yellow colored liquid, unable to read the label from where she was sitting. "What's that yellow stuff?"
"That's soda. I know, I think it's gross too, but Alphys loves it." Undyne put the soda back in the fridge and Frisk had the feeling she wasn't getting any.
"What about the stuff in the green cylinder?"
"That's hot chocolate. Do you..." Undyne then paused a second. "Wait...Wait...I just remembered...That container's empty. I stopped getting it because it was a hassle...Asgore kept getting the marshmallows in his beard." Undyne explained with a laugh.
Chara laughed too. "That sounds like Dad. Undyne used to keep it for us anyway since it was Asriel and I's favorite, even though she thought it was gross when I made my Chara Special."
"Dare I ask what was in the Chara Special?"
"Extra chocolate syrup, whipped cream, marshmallows, marshmallow fluff, chocolate shavings, jelly beans, and more chocolate syrup."
"Jeez, Chara, that gives me caviities just thinking about it..." Frisk turned her attention back to Undyne, realizing she probably looked like her head was in the clouds. "I'll try the stuff in the boxes then."
"Tea, huh?" Undyne asked and Frisk nodded. "I've got golden flower and mint."
Frisk smirked a little, thinking of a certain yellow flower who was probably watching. It would be fun to freak him out a little. "I'd love some golden flower tea, please!" she said cheerfully and a bit loudly.
Undyne seemed pleased with this answer. "Coming right up." She had the tea ready surprisingly quickly and set it in front of Frisk.
Frisk thanked her and took a sip to annoy Flowey if he was watching, only to regret it as the hot tea burned the roof of her mouth. Still, it was pretty good.
Undyne laughed. "Careful, it's hot. But you got guts. I'm impressed. It's pretty good, right? Nothing but the best for my ABSOLUTELY PRECIOUS FRIEND!" She then sobered up a bit. "Hey...it's actually pretty strange that you chose THAT tea. Golden flower tea...That's Asgore's favorite kind. You're not much like him, but you two do have one thing in common. You're both TOTAL weenies!" She paused for a second. "...Sort of."
She let out a soft sigh. "Y'know, I was a pretty hot-headed kid, just like you."
"I'm not really that hotheaded, am I?" Frisk blurted out.
"Yes." Chara told her bluntly.
"Duh. You literally yelled in my face that I was a fucking sadist. That takes guts." Undyne answered, of course not hearing Chara.
"Or stupidity." Frisk said with a laugh. "I couldn't run my legs, so I decided to run my mouth instead."
Undyne shrugged, but she was smiling. "I've been there. Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight Asgore. Emphasis on TRIED. I couldn't land a single blow on him. And of course, the whole time, he refused to fight back! I was so humilated...Afterwards, he apologized and said something goofy. "Excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?" I said yes, and from then on, he trained me. And then one day during practice, I finally knocked him down. I felt..bad. But he was beaming. I had never seen someone more proud to get their butt kicked!" She grinned widely at this. "So anyway, long story short, he kept training me, and now I'm the head of the Royal Guard. So now I'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight. Like, um, Papyrus."
She tapped her fingers on the table. "But, um, to be honest...I don't know if I can ever let Papyrus into the Royal Guard."
"What?! Why not? Papyrus is REALLY freaking good!" Frisk told her. "He's strong, he's brave, he's smart...so why isn't he already in the Royal Guard?"
"This doesn't have anything to do with his skill. I'm not saying Papyrus is weak; he's actually really freaking tough. Hell, if he would use the full capicity of his power, he'd probably be promoted to my second in command if he didn't take my job." Undyne admitted. "But...he's...he's just too innocent and nice! I mean, look, he was SUPPOSED to capture you. And he ended up being FRIENDS with you instead!"
"What's wrong with him being nice and checking to see if someone's actually a threat before killing them?" Frisk asked, a little angry for her friend's sake.
"It's not just you. Papyrus tries to be friends with and see the good side in everyone, regardless of whether they actually have a good side or not." Undyne told her. "Papyrus refuses to kill. He won't even use fatal attacks on training dummies. But if there's a real battle, he would need to be able to kill if he had to. And I know him. He won't. If I sent him into battle...he'd get ripped into little smiling shreds."
"But..."
"Look, punk, I know you want to help Papyrus, but if he goes out there on the battlefield, there's going to be a time when he's forced to either kill or be killed. And knowing Papyrus, it would be the second. There are people who won't accept his mercy. I'm just glad you weren't one of them." Undyne sighed and tapped her fingers on the table. "And if he was forced to kill...it would break his heart. LV's not fun, kid. I don't want to put him through that."
"Have you tried talking to him about it?" Frisk asked softly. "Have you let him know what it would take so he could decide for himself whether he truly wants this or not?"
She sighed. "No. I don't want to hurt him. That's why I started teaching him to cook, you know. So, um, maybe he could something else with his life."
"But this lying's just going to hurt him more. I may not have known Papyrus as long as you have, but I know he absolutely hates being lied to. And he's smart; I wouldn't be surprised if he already suspects, but either wants to prove himself to you or doesn't want to hurt you either." Frisk told her. "Please...just tell him the truth. This isn't helping him. He's been training so hard and if this isn't..." Frisk froze as she had an idea. "Wait. I've got an idea. I know how Papyrus can be in the Royal Guard, and not have to deal with active combat!"
Undyne looked like she wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or intrigued by what this persistent person in front of her was saying. "What is it?"
"Papyrus has been teaching me how to defend myself. I think it's the only reason I lasted against you as long as I did." Frisk confessed. "He's a really good teacher and he's helped me a lot. He would be a great trainer for the Royal Guard, and he told me how much he enjoyed training me and thought that maybe he could talk to you and ask if he could help you train the new recruits."
"Frisk, that's genius!" Chara told her.
Frisk grinned at this. "And that way, you don't have to worry, but he can do something he's really great at and that will help everyone!"
"You know...That's an awesome idea, human!" Undyne agreed with a huge grin. "I never thought about that! I'll talk to him about becoming a Royal Trainer when he shows up for his cooking lesson." She got up, then froze. "The one he was supposed to be having right now!" She stared at the broken window, but upon seeing no sign of Papyrus, she turned back to Frisk, her eye blazing. "Well, if he's not going to have it, YOU'LL have to have it for him!" She leapt into the air and onto her kitchen counter and slid across it, knocking everything onto the ground with a loud crash. She then faced Frisk, hands on her hips with a rather scary grin. "That's right! NOTHING has brought Papyrus and I closer than cooking! Which means if I give you his lesson, we'll become closer than you can ever imagine! Fuhuhu! Afraid?! We're going to be best friends!"
Frisk watched her nervously. "Chara, should I be scared?"
"Probably. She'll probably set something on fire. Or set everything on fire..."
Before Frisk could even respond, Undyne leapt from the counter onto table and uncermoniously scooped Frisk up by the head, dragging the younger girl to the counter.
"Ow! Hey!"
Undyne just ignored her as she plopped her down by the counter. "Let's start with the sauce!" She stomped on the floor so hard that the overhead cupboards opened and vegetables dropped neatly onto the counter.
Frisk stared incredulously. "How'd she...?"
"It's Undyne. Are you surprised?"
"Frankly, no."
"Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy!" Undyne ordered. "Now! Pound them to dust with your fists!"
Frisk took a deep breath and pretended the vegetables were Flowey and her parents. She slammed her fist down hard, but her aim still sucked and she hit the side of a tomato, sending it flying off the counter.
Undyne grinned widely. "Yeah! Yeah! Our hearts are uniting against these healthy ingredients! NOW IT'S MY TURN! NGAHH!" With a single punch, she pulverized every vegetable, covering both her and Frisk in vegetable paste.
Frisk was impressed. "Think she can teach me that?"
"Ask her. She'd be happy to." Chara told her, watching the "cooking lesson" in amusement. "Also...you got a little something...everywhere." She gestured to her face.
"Uhh...we'll scrape that into a bowl later. But for NOW!" She kicked the stove, which made a pan drop from an overhead cupboard. "We add the noodles! Homemade noodles are the best!" She then grinned. 'But I just buy store brand! They're the cheapest!"
Frisk laughed. "Me too!"
Undyne gave her a huge and genuine smile before throwing her a box of noodles. "Now drop them into the pot like they're all crooks!"
Frisk ripped open the box, and getting into the spirit of the game and wanting to impress Undyne a little, threw the noodles into the pot as hard as she could. The box slipped out of her hands and plopped into the pot as well. 'Oops..."
"YEAH! I'M INTO IT!" Undyne cheered her on. "now it's time to stir the pasta! And the general rule is the more you stir it, the better it is! Ready? Let's do it!"
"Shouldn't we put water in it first?"
"Hey, who's the teacher, you or me? Stir that pasta, punk!" Undyne ordered. Frisk obeyed and started stirring. "Stir harder!" Frisk stirred rapidly. "Harder!" Frisk went full speed, pasta nearly flying out the pan. "HARDER!"
"I'm a wimpy little human, how fast do you expect me to stir?!"
Undyne pushed her aside. "Ugh, let me do it!" She summoned a spear and started smashing it into the pot.
"Undyne, um, you're destroying your pot." Frisk pointed out.
"That's how it learns fear!"
"Okay, now I am scared." Frisk muttered telepathically to Chara.
"Just wait until she turns on the heat." Chara said, letting out an evil laugh.
"You're both nuts."
"And you're sane?"
"Okay, I'll concede that I'm probably not."
Undyne laughed. "That's the stuff! Alright, now for the final step: TURN UP THE HEAT! Let the stovetop symbolize your passion! Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire! Ready? Don't hold anything back!"
Frisk, not wanting her whole body to be turned into burning fire, turned the stove up to the exact right temperature.
"Hotter!"
"But..."
"Ugh, just let me do it!" Undyne gently pushed Frisk aside again and blasted the heat, laughing manically.
Frisk tried to stop her as she saw the flames grow almost to the ceiling. "Undyne, no! You're gonna start a..." The giant fire on the stove exploded. "FIRRREEE!"
"Told you." Chara didn't seem all too concerned. Either that, or she was used to it.
Undyne didn't seem to care either. "Man, no wonder Papyrus sucks at cooking."
"Firefirefirefire!" Frisk tried to get water from the sink to put it out but somehow it burst into flames too.
"What's next? Scrapbooking? Friendship bracelets?"
"Oh god, where's the fire extinguisher?!" Frisk ran around like a maniac, looking for the fire extinguisher.
"Ah, who am I kidding? I really screwed this up, didn't I?"
There was no fire extinguisher in sight and Frisk gave up on trying to put out the raging inferno Undyne's house had turned into. "Undyne, it's okay, but we gotta get out of here! The house is on fire!" She grabbed Undyne's arm and tried to pull her out, but Undyne didn't budge, so Frisk tried, and failed miserably, to pick Undyne up, resulting only in Undyne looking at her in surprise.
Undyne then laughed. "Calm down, punk, it's just a little fire. Thanks for attempting to rescue me, but I got this." She gently scooped Frisk up and tucked her under her arm, grabbed a safe that was sitting behind the counter, pulled her picture of her and Alphys off the wall, and rushed them out of the house.
...
Undyne gently set Frisk down outside the burning house. Frisk was still rather shaken, but Undyne was unruffled. "Well, that was fun! We'll have to hang out again sometime." She glanced over at the burning wreckage of her house. "Just not here. I'll stay with Papyrus for a few days."
"What about your..."
Undyne waved it off. "Don't worry about the house. The shell's fireproof and so is the sword and the fridge Alphys made me. I just need to wait for the fire to die down and I've been meaning to redecorate the inside anyway." She gave Frisk a smile. "...You know, at first I was annoyed by your stupid saccharine shtick. But now that I actually got to know you...I realize that it wasn't an act at all. You've got guts, and you've got courage, and most importantly, you're loyal as hell. You... remind me of some friends I once had." There was a little sadness in Undyne's eyes as she said this and Frisk knew she was probably thinking of Chara and Asriel.
"I know now that you're not just some wimpy loser." Undyne continued. Then she grinned. "You're a wimpy loser with a big heart!"
"I'm not sure whether to feel complimented or insulted by that." Frisk said, though she was smiling. "Does she always call her friends wimpy losers?" she telepathically asked Chara.
Chara nodded with a laugh. "Or dorks."
"Eh, take it as a compliment." Undyne told her. She then got serious. "Look, human, it seems that you and Asgore are fated to fight. But knowing him, he doesn't want to. Talk to him. I'm sure you can persuade him to let you go home. If you even want to." She let out a sigh. "I know I'm not the first person you'd trust with this type of thing, but I can tell things aren''t going so well for you on the surface. Sans said some things...and I can tell just by looking at you, now that I'm not lying to myself." The last line was soft, like an unspoken apology.
Frisk stiffened a bit. She didn't know Sans knew as she had only fully told Papyrus what was happening, and she hadn't wanted Undyne to know. She knew the chances of Undyne or any of the monsters separating her from her sister, the thing she feared most about their home life being known, were next to nil as the monsters were not only extremely kind, but couldn't take Tina away from her even if they wanted to as they were trapped, but she still had no idea what Undyne would do with the information. For all she knew, Undyne could strike now that she saw Frisk was vulnerable.
"Undyne doesn't think like that." Chara reassured her, hearing Frisk's thoughts. "She's not going to hurt you. She'll help you. And none of the monsters would EVER separate you from Tina."
"Calm down." Undyne said in a surprisingly soft voice. "I'm not going to hurt you and you don't have to be afraid. And don't be upset at Sans; he was just trying to help. We...We had a friend who went through the same thing. What I'm trying to say is that you don't have to go back. You can live down here and Asgore will turn a blind eye to it."
Frisk shook her head. "I need to go back. My little sister is up there, and I love her more than anything in the world. I'm not leaving her alone. I've already been gone too long." Again fear and guilt filled her. While she had been training and making friends, Tina had been all alone for nearly six days. Frisk felt like the world's worst sister. What if...
"Hey! Hey, it's okay. Calm down." Undyne's voice snapped her out of her panic. "Just talk to Asgore. I know he's huge and seems scary, but he's a total fluffball. Tell him what's going on. I'm sure he'll let you go get your sister. He might even adopt you both himself like he adopted Chara."
Frisk for a second thought this might be a joke. She looked up into Undyne's eye, but there was nothing but honesty and compassion. She looked like the Undyne from Chara's memories.
"Really? He won't hurt her?" Frisk asked softly.
"He won't hurt her. He has a heart, kid. I know Asgore; he's not going to want to harm an innocent person if he has a choice. We'll just wait for a mean human to fall and take their soul instead." Undyne then gave a feral grin. "Hey, maybe you can push your parents down into the Underground."
Frisk was tempted by that for a moment, then felt guilty for it. She didn't want to be a murderer. She was quiet for a second, then spoke softly. "I hate them, but they don't deserve to die. They never beat us or anything. They're just..."
"Neglectful dicks?"
Frisk let out a soft, sad laugh. "Yeah."
"Doesn't mean that what they're doing isn't awful as hell." Undyne muttered though didn't push it any further.
Frisk quickly switched the subject, not wanting to get into her home life any further with someone she still didn't know that well. "Maybe I can help in another way though. Maybe there's a way to break the barrier from the outside, like a counter spell or a failsafe or something." Her eyes lit up as she finally spilled her plan now that she knew nobody would hurt Tina.
Undyne looked startled for a second, then grinned widely. "That's crazy genius! You're really willing to do that?!"
Frisk nodded with a determined expression. She was focused on Undyne and didn't see Chara open her mouth like she was about to say something and then close it again. "I can't guarantee if it will work or not, but I can at least try. I don't know squat about magic, but I can do research or bring stuff back and forth or whatever you guys need me to. I want to help. I want to free everyone."
"Then what are you waiting for?! Go tell Asgore your idea, bring that little sister of yours down here, and we'll all work together and destroy the hell out of the barrier!" Undyne cheered.
Frisk nodded, filled with determination. "I'll do it!"
"YEAH!" Undyne fist pumped the air before calming down a bit. "Now, when you get to Hotland, go see Alphys. Her lab's right past Hotland's entrance. It's huge and you can't miss it. I'll call her and tell her what you're doing, and she'll help you get to the Capitol, and I'll also tell the rest of the Royal Guard that you're with us so they won't attack you."
"Thanks."
"No problem. If you need anything, just call me at..." Undyne checked her pockets, then frowned. "Oops..."
"What's wrong?"
"I left my phone in the house, and it's not fireproof." Undyne gave a sheepish smile. "Just call Papyrus. I'll be right nearby."
Frisk nodded, thanked Undyne, and said goodbye. As she headed towards Hotland, she couldn't stop smiling. It had been worth it. It had all been worth it. Papyrus and Chara had been right. She had made a friend out of an enemy, and King Asgore would come around. She and Tina would have a family; a real loving family like the kind she read about in storybooks, and if she worked hard and figured something out, her family and friends could be free!
She picked up the pace. If she hurried, she could have her beloved baby sister back in her arms by tonight.
...
Chara grinned and gave Frisk a thumbs up when Frisk smiled to her and followed her friend as she raced through the rest of Waterfall, but when Frisk wasn't looking, she frowned and looked away.
Frisk didn't know what Chara knew; that leaving wouldn't be that easy.
In the beginning, Chara hadn't told her what it would take to get through the barrier because she feared the other girl, desperate to get back to her sister, would start killing monsters. The truth was that when she first teamed up with Frisk, it had had been more to keep an eye on her and to make sure Frisk didn't hurt anyone than to help Frisk herself.
But Frisk had been kind and caring, had fallen in love with monsters the way Chara herself had. Frisk had quickly done what no human had and become Chara's friend, her soul sister. Frisk just being herself made Chara love her and want to protect her.
And she knew telling Frisk the truth would break her trust and her heart, knowing someone she saw as a friend had lied to her by omission. Had lied to her about so much.
Chara opened her mouth, wanting to tell Frisk everything, but she couldn't. She just couldn't, seeing Frisk so damn happy.
She would figure out something.
She had been trying to think of a solution to get them out of here ever since joining Frisk and had a few ideas. Her soul and Frisk's seemed to be tied together in a way never seen before, so maybe her soul and Frisk's together could be powerful enough to let Frisk leave. Or maybe Chara herself, even though she could feel that her soul wasn't very strong, could be the seventh soul to break the barrier. She didn't know if her power would be enough, but if it could...she could finish what she started and break the barrier, and Frisk would live.
She would do whatever it took to make sure no one else she loved died because of her.
Even if it meant the destruction of her own soul.
...
And this concludes the Waterfall arc! If anyone's wondering why Undyne didn't fight Frisk in the burning house, it's because it didn't feel like it fit in this story. For one, Undyne told Frisk earlier that she wouldn't hurt her, and going back on her word is something Undyne wouldn't do as a hero. Second, Frisk techinically never defeated her in battle here, so Undyne wouldn't feel she needed to regain her lost pride. Third, Frisk's defense of and loyalty to Papyrus as well as her valiant but fruitless attempt to "save" Undyne from the fire caused her to respect and like Frisk, similar to what the fake hit would have done.
For those who've been wanting more of Tina, she'll be in the next chapter. :)
Thank you for reading and please leave a comment and let me know what you think!