"No, please, you don't understand! I'll explain everything, just please let us out of here!"
The situation was humiliating, to say the least. Frisk never thought he would have to beg to anyone with such desperation before – but all standards he had were thrown away when they locked him and MK up in one of the dirty cells of the prison. The human grabbed the bars, pleading to be listened, but no one was willing to do so.
Leonard had an extremely displeased look – it was clear he never thought Frisk would attempt to do something as running away with one of their vehicles, which was made clear when they found the keys in his pocket. Eileen, in turn, became furious when she discovered he had the key that she kept in her belongings. Heather just shook her head, sad, before walking away. The others went with her, not seeming to mind, with the exception of Chris, who looked shocked at Frisk and MK.
"I can't... I... why?", he said, having trouble collecting his thoughts.
Frisk looked down ashamed, feeling something he couldn't actually describe. Maybe he wasn't too fond of Eileen and couldn't care less about what she thought of him, but... Leonard had invited him to join the group, at least for a while. They had trusted him, to some degree. Chris took his time to teach the human self defense. Frisk knew what he did – he knew that stealing one of the vans was a despicable act – but up until that point he had managed to justify it to himself. It was all for the reset. To make things better for everyone.
But thinking he let Chris and Leonard down hurt him in a way he didn't think it was possible.
The human watched as Chris slowly turned around and walked away, too.
The only person who was there was Eileen. Her face showed a lot of emotions: angst, disgust, despise... Frisk knew she would have the strongest reaction. In a way, he was glad the others showed up soon after she had him cornered in the room. If they hadn't, the human wasn't sure he would even be alive.
He didn't like the idea, but she was the only one there. She was his only chance – as slim as it was.
"Eileen, please.", Frisk pleaded. "Please hear me out. I know this looks bad, but I swear... I swear I can explain it..."
He was glad to notice his voice didn't have that desperate tone from before. Eileen looked at him for sometime, as if deciding which bad name was more fitting to him. She seemed to be having a hard time with that.
"We have nothing to talk about.", she simply said.
And then, she left. MK and Frisk were alone in that dark, tiny cell, with no one to hear them. No one to save them.
"We messed up.", said the yellow monster, who was sat by the corner of the cell, clearly having given up.
And Frisk could do nothing but sit by his side, defeated.
"I knew this wasn't a good plan, man.", continued MK, rubbing salt on the wound. "I should have talked you out of it."
"You know I wouldn't listen and just carry on with it anyway, right?"
Frisk didn't mean to sound annoyed – he didn't want to fight or argue with the reptilian monster as things were bad enough as they were – but he couldn't help it. Fortunately, they ignored it.
"Yeah, you're right.", they said, slowly. "Screw your determination. It always leaves us between a rock and a hard place."
The human let out a long sigh. He was tired of always taking the blame. He was tired of feeling guilty all the time, of feeling like garbage. Nonetheless, up until that point he had always managed to soldier through all that to seek his objectives, but perhaps that wouldn't be the case anymore. This last situation burnt out all the hope he once had.
He felt hollow.
"Hey, uh... I'm sorry.", apologized MK, embarrassed. "I blame everything in you, but you're the only one who actually comes up with the plans, so... yeah, I'm just mad. Don't mind me."
"I just... I...", stuttered Frisk, shaking his head. "I don't know what to do anymore."
"I wish Sans was here. He'd know what to do."
A long and hurting silence fell upon them as those words were said. Frisk looked at MK, who looked back, and the human knew they both were thinking the same thing. It was the first time one of them had said Sans' name out loud ever since Papyrus had left them the month before. That old wound inside Frisk's heart began hurting again – proving, better than ever, it hadn't quite healed.
"There's no use thinking that.", the human replied, breaking eye contact with MK. "Sans is gone. He can't help us. We're by ourselves."
"Don't you miss him? And Papyrus?", said MK, ignoring him. Their voice tone was bittersweet, like they were reminding memories that were long lost. "I mean... they made things seem easier than they actually were. Now, every day feels like we have to walk through hell."
Frisk felt something stuck in his throat – a feeling he was getting too used to for his own sake.
"Of course I miss them.", he said, every word a struggle to come out. "That's why I want to reset, too. I want to bring Sans back. I want Papyrus to be happy."
As for the taller skeleton, Frisk had no idea of what had become of them. They had left the human and MK after a heated argument a couple days after Sans died. Perhaps they were out there, surviving day after day. Perhaps they had turned into dust, like their brother.
Most likely, Frisk would never know.
"Um... Frisk?", called MK.
"Yeah?"
It was clear MK wanted to ask a question, but whatever it was, he was taking too long to speak out. Frisk looked at him, expectantly, until he shook his head dismissively.
"Nevermind."
Frisk would normally ask what was going through the monster's mind, but he was feeling so broken inside he didn't find the strength to do so. Part of him decided to let it drop because it was afraid that whatever they had to say could break him apart even more.
The eerie atmosphere of the dark cell filled him with sorrow.
"Don't worry, it's not a cell. But it doesn't mean it won't ever be."
Sleeping in a prison cell definitely wasn't comfortable.
Not that Frisk's night would have been much better if he was sleeping in an actual bed. His mind was assaulted by all kinds of night terrors he couldn't quite make out – flashing lights of red, blue and white; formless beings that surrounded him, talking in loud, unintelligible whispers. Were they monsters? Were they humans? Or were they something else entirely?
More than once he woke up jolting up, his forehead dripping with cold sweat. He never remembered what he had been dreaming – the only things the nightmares left were the cold sensation in his palms and the burning feeling in his stomach.
When the light of day began pouring throw the prison bars, Frisk gave up on sleeping and just sat by the corner of the cell, looking at the illuminated spots the sun marked on the ground. Soon, he realized he was hungry, and remembered his backpack. He knew there was some food stored in there, but of course the group of humans confiscated everything when they threw Frisk and MK on that cell – which included their rations.
The reptilian monster eventually woke up too, and sat by the corner opposite to the human. The funniest thing was that Frisk didn't even notice when they did that.
The two didn't exchange a word. There was nothing to be said.
Eventually, another feeling decided to join the hunger and the misery: boredom. Frisk grew restless – the lack of things to do in that cell was agonizing. Every second spent there could have been a second to be used to travel back to Mt. Ebott. They were wasting precious time.
That was the reason why, when Frisk heard approaching steps, he stood up and went forth, grabbing the prison bars with both his hands, eager to see who it was. He didn't care he probably looked desperate and ridiculous – there was no reason for him to hold on to his pride anymore.
The person that showed up was a woman Frisk remembered to have voted for going to Ebott the day before. An expression of indifference marked her face, and she was holding something – two cans.
The human was about to ask about it when she threw the cans at him. He managed to catch one, but the other fell to the ground with a loud noise, rolling. Frisk took a good look at the label – canned peaches. But...
"Thanks.", he said, his voice thin. "But how are we supposed to open this?"
"Not my problem.", she said, shaking her head before turning around and walking away.
Frisk wanted to shout, but that wouldn't have been worth anything. Instead, he simply picked the other can from the ground and placed them on top of the cell's hardened bed. MK stood up and walked next to him.
"So... what are we gonna do?", they asked.
"Can't you summon one of those spears?", asked Frisk in return.
MK shook his head, demotivated.
"That's a bit too overpower, dude. It'd just blow the cans up."
Impatient, Frisk grabbed one of the cans and attempted to force the lid open with his bare hands. It didn't work.
They ended up using one of the metal edges from the corner of the bed to open the cans – a long, tiresome process that produced small cuts through Frisk's fingers. It also made a lot of noise, and the human was surprised no one showed up to check it out.
The information on the labels told them the peaches were still good, but they tasted awful nonetheless. Perhaps that was what canned peaches tasted like? As he helped MK to eat, Frisk noticed he had never actually eaten fresh peaches before. He hoped they were better than the ones they were currently eating.
MK burped as Frisk tossed the last can at the corner of the cell.
"Man, I hate canned food.", he said. "It's one of the few things I can never eat by myself."
"Eh, I don't mind helping.", stated Frisk, shrugging. "But I bet you'd like canned food if Eileen was the one feeding you..."
MK bumped into the human's shoulder in a playful way.
"Shut up. And you're not feeding me, you're helping me to eat."
"What's the difference?"
"Babies are fed. I'm not a baby."
"That's open for interpretation, really."
"C'mon, dude, I'm only, like, two years younger than you! I can handle myself most of the time just fine."
Frisk knew too well that was true – both him and MK had gone through horrors no one their age should. That war had hardened them, and in some aspects made them mature earlier than normal time.
It didn't mean only bad things had happened, though. Through the past months, Frisk began to see MK as a brother of sorts – not a younger one, that needed to be protected, but an equal. Someone he could rely on as much as they could rely on him. It was a comforting thought, even though the human didn't know if the monster felt the same about him.
The peaches might have tasted bad, but at least they were fed, which made them feel a little better. They passed the time by making small talk and silly jokes. Even the silences were no longer tense and awkward, but companionable.
They didn't know what time of the day it was, although the sun was still pouring through the bars, when they heard yet another set of footsteps approaching. This time, however, Frisk didn't bother standing up, and just kept sat by MK's side – even when he noticed who the person was.
For a long moment, she stood there staring at them, next to the bars, not saying a word. Frisk fought the temptation of asking if she thought she was in a zoo, and they were the main attraction.
"Why?", finally asked Eileen.
MK's breath quickened – and again, not because of anxiety or fear. Frisk looked down to conceal the smug that momentarily appeared on his face.
"Why what?", he questioned back, pretending he didn't know exactly what the girl wanted to know.
She didn't seem to be in mood for those little games, as she stomped on the floor, impatient.
"You stole our cars keys. Why?", she repeated.
No longer with the silly smile on his face, he looked up, staring Eileen in the eyes. And, of course, she looked back, just as determined. Frisk gave a dry laugh.
"To go back to Mt. Ebott.", he answered.
He felt MK's stare on him – they weren't expecting the human to actually respond sincerely to the question. Eileen, however, gave a long, tired sigh, passing her hand on her curly hair.
"What's up with Ebott anyway?", she asked.
Frisk bit his lip, divided between dismissing the girl or telling the truth. If he chose the former, he'd probably diss a bad joke that would render him and MK some bad laughs later. But there was something in her voice – a genuine tone of curiosity behind the heavy layers of despise – that made him decide for the latter.
"There's something there... something that could stop this war.", he said.
Eileen shook her head, thinking.
"There's no weapon there.", she said. "Don't try this bullshit on me, I know you lied yesterday..."
"Yes, I did."
"...but there's something else in there, right? Something that would convince you that stealing our vehicles was a good idea."
Frisk snorted. So Eileen was really perceptive. She sensed there was more to the situation than it seemed – but would she be ready if she discovered the truth behind the human's actions?
"There is.", he said, slowly. "Have you ever heard of time travel?"
Frisk didn't even see Eileen turning around and walking away, leaving him and MK alone once more. The latter was scandalized.
"'Have you ever heard of time travel before'!?", he repeated. "Wow, way to start an explanation, Frisk! Whatever chance we got of freeing ourselves is gone!"
Strangely enough, the human couldn't care less about the situation.
"She'd have done the same if I started a slow, patient explanation.", Frisk stated. "I just skipped all that and went straight to business. It's no use trying to explain resets and timelines for her. For any of them, actually."
MK just kept staring at Frisk, still astonished by the human's attitude.
"I... ugh, I wish I knew how your mind works.", they grunted, frustrated. "I see your point, but still..."
They didn't complete the thought – and to be fair the human didn't know what to think of himself either. He kept looking at the light spot the sun was marking on the floor of the cell. It had moved throughout the day, indicating they had been confined in there for quite some time. He wondered if the group would kill them when they left to go after Undyne, or if they would just forget them there. In the last scenario, Frisk imagined for how long he'd be able to keep his sanity.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. There was something wrong with him, and that prison cell certainly wasn't helping.
The day was sunny, but Frisk's whole body was soaked.
What had happened? He was by a river. The water seemed so fresh and nice, it was running fast and it was beautiful. He just wanted to enter for a little while, that's all.
He coughed. His throat felt a little funny. Maybe mommy would know what to do. She always did.
But where's mommy?
He called. He walked alongside the river. She was right by his side a moment ago.
Did she leave him?
Then, he heard something coming from the river. Splashes and gasps from someone.
Oh, there was mommy! But what was she doing? Was she playing?
He called. His throat hurt and he was tired, he didn't want to be in that place anymore. He wanted to go home.
But then he felt something weird. Right in the heart, and he felt another sensation in his throat, that got bigger and bigger and bigger until he was crying. What was happening?
Why wasn't mommy getting out of the water? Didn't she like him anymore?
The splashes stopped.
Mommy had somewhere else to go.
Frisk jolted up awake, gasping for air. Sweat covered his face and made his clothes feel stuck to his body. Prison cells definitely weren't good for a nice, healthy night of sleep.
He blinked several times in an attempt to make the drowsiness go away, and noticed MK was not only awake, but also standing up. They looked at the human with a fearful expression, and for a moment Frisk feared he had been screaming during his sleep.
"Did it wake you up too?", asked MK, going to the bars and glancing nervously to the other side – even though all there was to see were the dark corridors.
Frisk slowly stood up, walking towards the monster.
"What woke me..?"
As if answering his question, there was a loud "boom" sound, and the whole building shook violently. Frisk retreated as small pieces of concrete fell over his head and shoulders.
MK looked at him, and the human could hear their erratic breath. Actually, his own breath was erratic too. He felt a weird pressure on the pit of his stomach. That situation... it felt familiar, and not in a good way.
Then, they heard a hiss that grew in intensity, until it culminated in yet another explosion that shook the building once more. Frisk feared the roof would collapse over them, but fortunately the prison stood its ground. When the dust settled down, the human began hearing – for better or worse – those sounds he knew too well to simply mistaken.
Gunshots. Magic attacks. Screams.
"Monsters are here!?", exclaimed MK, his voice thinner than usual.
Almost in an hypnotic state, Frisk grabbed the bars and shook them. He didn't know exactly what he intended to obtain doing that, but he knew he needed to get out of that cell. The sounds of furious battle not only were hearable from the outside, but they also echoed through the corridors – which meant the fight was partially taking place inside the prison.
But then, another sound joined it – too low at the beginning, but becoming gradually distinguishable. When Frisk noticed what it was – it was too late for him to tell MK to hide.
Quickly approaching footsteps.
Before he could do anything, the person showed up. It was Eileen. Frisk and MK just kept staring at her as she fumbled her pockets intensively until she finally found a key. She clumsily fit it into the cell's lock, leaving the human confused. Was she going to set them free? But why?
However, when Eileen finally managed to unlock the cell, she pushed its door so hard it clashed against the bars, and Frisk knew something was wrong. She immediately entered the cell in large steps towards MK's direction, who just looked at her dumbfounded until she pushed him, making him almost trip and fall.
"Hey!", exclaimed Frisk.
But the human froze in place as she drew her handgun out of her pocket and pressed it against MK's forehead. The monster gasped in fear, his eyes fixed on the barrel right above his eyes.
"Did you call them!?", she screamed, but MK didn't respond. "Was it you!? ANSWER ME!"
"N... no! Please, I..!", the reptilian monster closed his eyes, panic taking over.
"THEN HOW ARE THEY HERE!?"
"I... I don't know, I-I swear!", replied MK, desperation clear in his voice.
Eileen didn't look stable. She was shocked and scared, that much was certain. Frisk had to act before she could do anything regrettable.
"Hey, leave him alone!", he said, his voice loud and clear. "We don't have anything to do with..."
The girl simply changed her target, pressing her gun to Frisk's forehead instead. The human gulped.
"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't have anything to do with this!", she commanded.
Having a gun pressed against the forehead was unsettling to say the least, but Frisk took a deep breath and looked straight into Eileen's eyes. Even though it was dark, he could still see them – and the fear they were showing.
"We don't know what is going on. We're just as confused as you are."
Frisk spoke slowly and with a surprising calming tone of voice. Eileen kept staring at him, her expression difficult to read, when suddenly she withdrew her gun and pointed it at the ground, sighing and shaking her head. For a moment, no one spoke anything, and the only sounds were those of the battle that was happening in that instant.
"Follow me.", she said, breaking the silence and exiting the cell, disappearing beyond the corridor.
Frisk looked at MK, blinking in confusion, while the monster looked back at him, astonished. Had they heard that right?
Before they could decide on that matter, Eileen ran back to the cell, hitting the grip of the handgun on the bars, producing a piercing metallic sound. It seemed she was serious about that.
"Why are you still here!?", she asked, impatient. "Come with me before I change my mind and shoot you two right here, right now!"
It sounded more like an empty treat, but neither Frisk nor MK were willing to take the risk. They ran after her until they finally got out of the cells' division. Frisk gasped in surprise as they entered the entrance corridor. The front door and the wall around it had been destroyed, and part of the roof had collapsed. The gunshots sounded louder, and Frisk could hear familiar voices shouting orders over them, although he couldn't exactly make out what they were saying.
However, that wasn't the place Eileen wanted to take them. After a brief moment in which she stared at the debris in confusion, she recomposed and opened the door to a set of stairs that would lead them to the upper floors. Frisk didn't like the idea of going up in a building that could collapse at any given moment, but he felt he had to follow the girl – partially because of plain curiosity, and partially because she held a gun and looked dangerous with it. It would be best not to go against her, for the moment.
"Where are you taking us?", asked Frisk, speaking loudly because of the noises around them.
Eileen kept running ahead of them, going up set of stairs after set of stairs, and showed no signs of having heard the human's question.
"Can you at least tell us where we're going?", Frisk tried again after a while.
Once again, he didn't get a response, but they had reached the floor Eileen wanted to go – the last one. She burst out through the door and bolted across the corridor. Frisk and MK struggled to keep up with her pace.
Suddenly, as they were about to turn around a corner, something showed up in front of them. Eileen stopped in her tracks while Frisk did the same right behind her, and MK bumped into him.
At first, Frisk thought it was gigantic pile of feathers, but he quickly noticed it had eyes – a monster, no doubt about it. It seemed kind of cute until it opened its "mouth" – in reality, the feathers moved to form a hole beneath the eyes – and discharged an energy beam that hit the wall next to Eileen, leaving a black mark on it. Frisk was immediately reminded of that weird skull Sans had summoned months prior.
The girl turned around, tripping on her own feet, and Frisk and MK did the same. The corridor flashed white every time the creature launched that beam, and one time it almost hit him – only missing by inches. Soon enough, he heard gunshots being fired, and running, he looked back to see Eileen shooting back with her gun towards the monster. She didn't hit, but it forced the monster to retreat to protect themselves.
Frisk pressed his back against the wall as soon as he turned the corner. MK appeared shortly after, panting, and Eileen stopped next to them, putting her hands on her knees, shaking. The yellow monster carefully approached her.
"Uh... you alright?", he asked.
"What?", she asked, looking up, and it was the first word she directed at either of them that didn't have an aggressive tone behind it. "Yeah, yeah... I'm fine."
She stood up once again and unloaded the magazine from her gun, holding it close to her face. After some seconds, she made a frustrated sigh with her mouth.
"Six bullets.", she said to Frisk and MK, loading the clip back. "It's my last mag and I'll have to make it count. You!", she directed to MK. "You can shoot magic, right?"
"Y-yes!", replied MK, his voice failing for a bit.
"Then use it.", she grunted through her teeth. "Don't expect me to save you from them."
"Yessir!", nervously yelled MK in an automatic state. "Uh... ma'am..?"
"Good. Let's go.", she said, beginning to run once again.
"Whoa, wait..!", called Frisk, watching her distance herself. "Where..!?"
"Leave your questions for later.", said MK, running after her. "Wherever she's taking us, it seems to be important!"
That much Frisk had already deduced from her past actions. But what could have motivated Eileen – who had always been so suspicious of him and MK – to not only go unlock their prison cell, but also lead them anywhere? There was only one way to find out: to keep following her. And so, Frisk joined the girl and the yellow monster on the run.
They turned some more corners – the precise directions Eileen took showed she knew the inside of the building like the palm of her hand. Frisk, however, knew that he wouldn't be able to find the way back alone. Not easily, anyway. Finally, Eileen slowed down until she came into a halt in front of a door. She opened it, and the two boys followed her into the room.
Although the human didn't know for sure, he reckoned it was some sort of operation room – the type he had seen in some old action movies before. Big communication machines were against the walls both on the left and right side of the room – and they seemed a little outdated for modern standards, which made Frisk wonder if they were even working at all when the war started. The only wall that wasn't covered by those machines was the one opposite to the entrance, which had a big, open window. The sounds of buzzing magic and gunshots were louder there, and the room flashed with multicolored lights that seeped in because of them.
Frisk didn't resist the temptation to go towards the window and take a peek outside. Just looking to the ground from above immediately made him feel a little faint – they were really high. Unidentified shadows moved down there, either shooting spells or bullets. They seemed separated by a distance, and the human couldn't really count how many monsters there were, but it was clear the people from Leonard's group were in disadvantage. He felt a squeeze in his heart as he came into that realization.
"What..?", he began to ask, turning around to face Eileen, when the girl threw something heavy on him.
He caught it, letting out a huff as he did so. It took him a while to realize what it was – his backpack, no mistaking it. But that only left Frisk more confused. Was Eileen returning his things? Why was she doing such a thing?
He looked up, eager for answers, and jumped in his spot. She was pointing a gun at him.
No, wait... she wasn't pointing it at him – she was actually holding the barrel, and the part pointing towards him was the grip. She was offering him to take it.
Hesitant, he reached out and grabbed the gun – and it felt familiar in his hands, which was both comforting and unsettling at the same time. He didn't even had to look to know that was the pistol he had taken from a certain cabin in the woods more than three months before, and had been keeping with him ever since.
Holding the bag in one hand and the gun in the other, he looked to the ground as millions of questions popped in his head. That was an unexpected turn of events. Eileen was planning something, but what?
"I don't understand...", he said, looking up to face the girl.
In the future, Frisk would remember Eileen because of her determined, fierce expression. That time, however, he only saw pain and tiredness – the look of someone who had lived through unimaginable horrors. Even though she was about Frisk's age, she looked a lot older because of that. The human wondered if the same applied to him.
"I thought... earlier, that you were bullshitting us.", she explained, walking to another side of the room. "Because if you were telling the truth, this doesn't make any sense. A weapon? In Mt. Ebott? This is too much for me to believe in just like that, but..."
She hesitated for a moment, as if analyzing if what she had said was sinking in.
"But somehow...", she continued. "I think... no, I feel you're telling the truth. There really is something in Mt. Ebott, right? Even if you don't want to tell me what it is, I just... I can't shake this feeling."
Frisk was speechless. It turned out Eileen was even more perceptive than what she had initially let on. He was taken by a sudden desire of explaining everything – she deserved that much. However, he held himself back. No explanation was needed – telling anymore than what was necessary would only leave doubt in her. And doubt would be their worst enemy at that moment.
She then put her hand in her pocket and picked something up, shaking it in the air. Frisk's heart leaped – it was a bunch of keys he remembered all too well to simply forget.
"You needed a vehicle, right?", she said, the corners of her mouth forming a smirk. "Let's go get it."
The human couldn't help but smile back. When he thought everything had been lost, a ray of hope shone on him once more. Perhaps, that time it would actually stay to permanently fuel him with determination.
However, they were not out of danger yet. And that was proven by the door breaking down with a loud noise, startling the three in the room. Whatever broke it did it with such force it took some pieces of the concrete around the door, lifting a high amount of dust.
The creature that stepped inside was unlike anything Frisk remembered from the Underground. In few words, one could describe them as a moving statue – a humanoid figure, though more square-shaped. Nonetheless, their rough form didn't stop them from moving slickly – in fact, they were approaching the two humans and the reptilian monster with surprising speed. They didn't have a mouth, but they did have two small dots in their "head" that glowed with an eerie green light.
Eileen was the first to snap out of it, pulling her gun upwards and shooting. The loud noise from the gunshots left Frisk briefly disoriented for a moment, before he pointed his own pistol and shot a couple times himself. The girl handled shooting a lot better than Frisk did – she targeted the monster's head and seemed to be actually hitting all her shots, whereas Frisk only managed to hit random parts of the creature's body. Unfortunately, either way was just as ineffective – the bullets craved into the monster, but didn't seem to do any damage, much less stop them from approaching. Even MK's magic was useless against it: he attempted to help by summoning his magic spears, but they simply shattered when hitting their target.
Frisk barely had any time to react when the monster flailed their arms around, dodging the attack just in time. However, while Eileen and MK managed to get out of the way just fine, the human lost his balance and fell to the ground. The creature, noticing it, chose him to be their next target.
As they approached with slow but decisive steps, Frisk backed himself into a corner of the room, using it as support to stand up. He could hear MK shouting and attacking the monster with their magical spears, but the creature didn't even flinch.
Suddenly, the sounds of rhythmic, successive gunshots – like those that came from machine guns – filled the room, and the monster finally stopped, taken by surprise. Frisk took the chance to escape from them, joining MK and Eileen on the other side of the room. Panting, the human noticed the back of the creature was pockmarked with gunshots before they turned around to face who had attacked them.
"Hey, ugly!", called Chris, targeting the monster with his submachine gun. "Why don't you bully someone your size?"
"Chris..!", exclaimed Eileen.
The stone monster then charged at the man, showing how agile it actually was. One successful punch from them surely meant instant death, but Chris was quicker, and rolled to the side. Kneeled from a safe distance, he began shooting the creature again. That seemed to slightly slow them down, but they still approached him with dangerous speed.
Frisk didn't know exactly what motivated him to begin shooting the monster as well – but something in his heart told him he needed to help Chris, even if it would put his own life in danger in the process. They noticed they were being hit by more than one direction and stopped, confused.
"Damn, this thing is a bullet sponge!", mumbled Eileen, positioning herself by Frisk's side.
"Doesn't matter.", replied Frisk between a shot and another. "We'll keep on fighting."
Eileen seemed to like the idea.
"Now you're talking.", she said, pointing her gun and placing yet another successful shot at the monster's head.
And so, the real battle began.
The adrenaline pumping into Frisk's blood made all his confusion go away, and he felt strangely aware of his surroundings. Somehow, he, Eileen, MK and Chris worked in perfect cohesion, and they didn't need to shout or instruct each other for most of the part for when to attack and when to wait. Meanwhile, the stone monster didn't seem to be much damaged, but they were getting tired. Slowly.
Something in Chris was different that time around. Their expression was devoid of the usual warm and quirkiness it usually had. The way they positioned themselves wasn't open and friendly, but menacing. Frisk remembered hearing he was an ex-military – and any doubts he had if that was true or not vanished from the moment he saw them in battle.
They were doing fine. The monster was advancing towards Frisk and Chris, who were by the room's door. Eileen was close to the window, and MK was nearby the wall opposite to her.
Suddenly, the creature changed its course.
Quickly turning around, they ran towards Eileen, ready to attack her. Chris gasped and a panic sensation filled Frisk's chest.
The girl was agile and threw herself to the side, dodging the monster, but they didn't have anytime to breathe with relief – the monster had chosen Eileen as their next target, and didn't seem willing to change it. From the ground, she pointed her gun and attempted to shoot. Nothing happened.
She had run out of ammunition.
The creature grabbed Eileen's neck with their stone hands, lifting her from the ground. She struggled, attempting to kick it, but to no avail – the monster was far too strong. Frisk paralyzed – even though every cell in his body screamed for him to do something, he simply watched as the monster began lifting Eileen's body towards the open window.
"Eileen!", yelled Chris, pulling the trigger from his weapon. It clicked.
He was out of ammo, too.
"NO!", he screamed, throwing his weapon to the ground.
The following moments seemed to pass in slow motion. Chris ran towards the stone monster, holding no firearm or weapon of any sort, as the creature was almost passing the girl's body to the other side of the window, ready to drop it.
Chris threw himself with his full weight to the monster, grabbing them by their waist. With the sudden charge, they dropped Eileen, who fell safely inside the room.
But they didn't stop – the creature lost balance and fell from the window. And Chris was still holding them on when that happened.
Time began flowing normally again, but it took Frisk some seconds for what just had happened to actually sink in. He looked at Eileen, who looked back. And then, both their expressions turned into horrified ones. The girl immediately stood up and ran to the window, looking down.
"CHRIS!", she screamed.
Frisk and MK ran and joined her, looking down. Even though the battle outside had not stopped, and magic attacks and gunshots zapped everywhere, the human instantly noticed the mass of broken stone right below their window. And under it, he could see an arm – but it wasn't moving. It was limp. Lifeless.
Frisk felt all the temperature drain from his face and his hands. Eileen clenched her fists and beat the window's edge in a display of frustration. Or was it despair?
"Dammit, Chris...", she said in a low tone, shaking her head.
The human felt weird. He had only known Chris for two days, but realizing they were dead felt like trusting a knife into his stomach. It was like losing something that could have been saved in the first place. Most of all, it made a very unpleasant memory surface. He embraced himself and let out a shaky sigh.
"Are you... alright?", he heard MK say, softly.
Frisk turned around to discover the reptilian monster had directed the question not to him, but to Eileen. They looked worriedly at her, who was with her back turned to the human. She placed her hand in her face, making a movement Frisk interpreted as wiping a tear before she spoke.
"Yeah, I'm... I'm fine, I just...", she said, her voice cracking a bit. "Nevermind."
She was clearly on the verge of tears, but she was holding back. Even in the current situation, she was too tough to cry – at least in front of Frisk and MK. Instead, she simply cleared her throat, glancing at Frisk behind her shoulder.
"We still...", she began, stopping for a moment. "You still need to get out of here.", she corrected.
She had a determined look, but Frisk knew it was being difficult for her to keep carrying on. If he was feeling for Chris' demise, he could only imagine how Eileen was taking it, considering she knew him for far longer than the human did.
Nevertheless, they needed to keep going. So Frisk nodded, wearing his backpack while the three got out of the room.
Magic zapped. Gunshots fired. It was maddening – and even if Frisk was purely focused on the objective ahead, those sounds never really passed unnoticed by his mind. It was a constant reminder that death was waiting just around the next corner.
They reached the stairs and began going down. Frisk thought about the vans – they were in the courtyard, very vulnerable to attack. Were they even functional? No – he couldn't think like that. He needed to hold on to the hope they'd make it. Hope was all that was left.
Finally, the three reached the ground floor, entering the destroyed corridor. Running around the debris, they went outside, where the battle was happening in full force. Frisk saw shadows running somewhere in the distance by the corner of his eye, but they were too occupied shooting either with firearms or with magic to bother with the three teenagers that had appeared on the scene. That didn't mean they were immune against crossfire, though.
"Keep your head down.", said Eileen, crouching, and Frisk and MK did so.
They sneaked by the prison wall, moving swiftly towards the corner of the building. Eileen guided the way, followed closely by MK. Frisk was on the end of the line, looking back from time to time to make sure they hadn't been spotted. So far, nobody had noticed them.
They stopped by the corner. Eileen took a peek and then made a movement for both Frisk and MK to approach. She pointed at something in the distance – two shadows in the dark that in the moment meant true happiness.
"There they are.", she said, looking at the human. "The vans. One of them will be your way out of here."
She then picked the bunch of keys from her pocket and handed it to Frisk. He nodded and pocketed it himself. She turned around to look at the vans once more.
"On my signal...", she began. "You two run and get a van. Get the hell out of here and don't stop until you've made a safe distance from here. Understood?"
"Your hair smells nice...", mumbled MK, looking hypnotized by the girl.
"Thanks, I washed it yest... wait, what?"
"Uh..."
"Did you..?"
Frisk slapped MK on the back of his head, and the monster let out a loud "ouch", turning around to glance an annoyed look at the human.
"Hey man, was that really necessary!?"
"Yes.", replied Frisk, harshly. "Yes, it was. We gotta focus!"
BOOM!
A wave of heat passed through the three, and it came from their front. Frisk looked and felt his heart sink. The vans – they were on fire. The human's instincts told him it was okay – it was a small fire, they could put it out if they acted quickly.
And then the second explosion happened, accompanied by yet another wave of heat. Small pieces of the vehicles were scattered around it, while most of it was being consumed by the flames that reached alarming heights.
"You gotta be kidding me.", was the only thing Frisk managed to say.
"Shit!", exclaimed Eileen, standing up. "Shit!", she repeated, walking in circles and passing her hands through her hair. It was the first time Frisk saw her freaking out.
She then stopped and looked at the two, her eyes filled with the light that only appeared when someone remembered something important.
"There's another one!", she said. "It's on the back of the building!"
Frisk sighed, uncomfortable. He was glad their chances were not yet finished, but he refused to become optimistic. It seemed every time he did so things turned against him.
"Do you think it's still there?", he asked.
"I don't know, but it's our only chance!", she replied, and there was a note of desperation in her voice. "We gotta try it!"
"Wait... if it's on the back of the building...", began MK. "It means we'll have to get through the crossfire. What are the odds of we making it alive?"
MK did have a point – and luck hadn't been really on their side lately. Up until that point, the human had been risking everything for uncertain results, but he wondered if that wouldn't be his doom in a not-so-distant future.
He took a while to notice Eileen was staring angrily at both of them.
"So what!?", she yelled. "That didn't stop you from trying to steal our vehicles yesterday, and that didn't stop us from fighting that thing up there! And I bet you went through a lot in this war!"
Her voice cracked on various spots, and Frisk felt the weight those words carried behind them. They almost made him fall to his knees, unable to keep up with it, but he stood his ground.
"So don't you dare give up now!", she continued. "Chris... he didn't... he didn't sacrifice himself so you would give up! So don't. You. Dare!"
Mentioning Chris felt like a punch in the gut. Their death had been so surreal – partially because Frisk thought they were one of these people that could never die, that no matter how dangerous the situation became, they would make it through with a smile. Kind of like Sans was, before they too found their demise.
"maybe we can have a party afterwards, heh. But now, we need to get out of this place. what do you think?"
That time, the memory of the shorter skeleton, however, wasn't a painful one, like a stab in the chest. Sans was always telling them to go forward, to keep moving. If Frisk had any respect for them, he had to take his chances, no matter how low they were.
And he was filled with determination.
The three exchanged looks, and Frisk felt there was some kind of mutual agreement between them. Before the human knew it, they were running at full speed around the building.
The battle sounds got unbearably loud. Frisk could feel the heat from the offensive magic the monsters threw around, and the air smelled like smoke, gunpowder, and something else – maybe blood, maybe dust, maybe something even worse than those. It wasn't anything new to the human when it came to that war, but that didn't mean he was used to it. It was impossible to get used to it.
"GET DOWN!"
The human instinctively threw himself to the ground as he felt something flying over his head and hitting the prison. It exploded, making fragments of bricks fall over his back. After some seconds, he stood up, spotting MK a few feet away, having trouble to stand. He ran to the monster and helped them get up.
"C'mon, quick!", Frisk heard Eileen call them a little bit ahead – her voice muffled by the zapping sounds around them.
And they ran, and ran, and ran. They never seemed to get tired – there was so much adrenaline in their bloods they could run for days. They dodged spells, threw themselves to the ground when they heard gunshots and assumed a crouched stance from time to time. Soon enough, dirt, dust and sweat covered all the unprotected inches from Frisk's skin, and the same applied to Eileen and MK.
Frisk had never felt so scared in his entire life – but his determination was as strong as ever. He felt a gunshot pass by close, making him temporarily deaf by one ear. A magic spell exploded right by his side, somehow making him go even faster. He was in such overdrive he could lose a limb right there and he probably wouldn't notice until things had calmed down.
Somehow, they made it. Frisk could feel the air a little more pure, and the sounds of battle grew more distant. Eileen ran in front of them, leading them to their objective, and she wasn't slowing her pace. They weren't safe – they would never truly be.
They found themselves in a more isolated area, even though it technically was still inside the facility. The prison building could still be seen, but it was distant enough so they wouldn't be noticed. And as they left the heated battle behind, it was unlikely that would happen.
Frisk's attention was drawn to the vehicle in front of him. Unlike the other two that were destroyed, that wasn't a minivan, but more like a pickup truck. The human walked around it, analyzing. The truck had seen some tough times, as evidenced by some dents on its bodywork and a smashed light, but it looked usable despite all that.
"Are you gonna just keep looking or will you two go already?"
Eileen sounded impatient and worried, and there were a lot more emotions hearable in her voice, but Frisk couldn't pin each one of them out. He looked at the girl – the girl that, when they met, was a potential threat and then became an unexpected ally. He wanted to say something – anything – to thank her for giving him that chance, but the words were getting stuck in his throat.
"Thank you.", he managed to say, simplistically. "For everything."
She glanced him a weird look – like the face of forced patience someone makes when explaining something to a small child.
"Don't mention it.", she said. "Just do your thing, and try not to die in the way, please."
The human nodded nervously. That was the closest from a goodbye they were going to get from each other, so he decided to go directly to business and took the keys from his pocket, beginning to try to fit them in the car's lock. It was hard to do so in the dark, but he tested each key, his heart increasingly beating faster when a key didn't fit and he'd go to the next. Alongside that, he began feeling chills in his back – a weird kind of apprehension that left him more and more unsettled.
Like there was something behind him.
"FRISK, WATCH OUT!"
The human quickly turned around. Something was not right.
The first thing he saw was a figure that strongly resembled a human right in front of him, with humanoid arms and legs – but their head was that of an octopus, complete with a disgusting looking mouth that had mini tentacles coming out from it. To top it off, they were covered with a thick and smelly slime that had a greenish tone.
Frisk's instincts told him to back off, but as the car was right behind him, he found himself stuck between the monster and the vehicle. He froze in fear, unable to move, and the creature took this chance to knock Frisk down to his side and hold him to the ground by his torso.
The human kicked and squirmed to break free, to no avail. He heard shocked screams from Eileen and MK, and the sounds of MK's spears attacking the monster – and although they seemed to be hurt by it, they didn't let go their grasp on Frisk. Their face was inches from his, and a primal terror installed within his heart when they opened their mouth to let its tentacles begin to wrap around his throat, squeezing it.
Soon enough, he couldn't breathe anymore – and the squeeze was just getting tighter. The sounds of screams began to feel more distant. He had seconds until he'd lose his conscience.
But somehow, almost in an automatic way, he managed to pick up the handgun inside his pocket. He had even forgotten he had put it there instead of his backpack, like he usually did. Black spots were forming in his vision, getting larger and larger, when he sticked the pistol barrel inside the monster's mouth.
He could feel his last second of conscience fading away when he pulled the trigger.
There was a loud bang, and everything stopped. Dust and slime fell all over him, and he coughed, being able to breathe again, gasping desperately for air. His vision began to clarify, and he noticed his whole body was trembling. He felt like someone had thrown him into cold water and then brought him back – leaving him confused and wondering what had actually happened. He saw MK and Eileen standing next to him, glancing down, worried.
As soon as he felt his legs again, he clumsily stood up. He felt the slime against his skin and attempted to clean it off – but it was far too much for him to clean without a towel. He noticed the dust and began to panic, not being able to avoid the vocalizations to come out from his mouth, his voice sounding a lot thinner than usual.
"Frisk...", he heard MK say in a soothing tone.
The human stumbled towards the truck, leaning against it, taking deep breaths. Eileen and MK just watched from a safe distance. Frisk lost track of time, but he didn't care. His mind was insanely filled with billions of thoughts and his heart swirled with different emotions. Eventually, his breath got steadier and he calmed himself down a bit. The reptilian monster carefully approached.
"Hey... dude...", he called softly. "You okay?"
The human didn't really feel okay, but he nodded slowly in agreement, not looking MK in the eyes. He then bended down to pick the keys up from the ground, and began trying to fit one of them in the lock again. The yellow monster made a weird sound with their mouth, like they were surprised Frisk was actually doing that, but the human didn't care.
The last key fitted. The human turned it around and opened the car's door, leaving it wide open – but didn't make any motion to enter. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, the moment that just happened beginning to sink in.
"You'll be fine."
To Frisk's surprise, the person who said that was Eileen, with a sympathetic tone in her voice, of all things. Frisk looked at her and their eyes met – and Frisk noticed she actually understood what was going on with him in that moment, in a way not even MK, being closer to him, could. It made him remember the reason they had gone through the trouble of getting to that vehicle again.
"Come with us.", he said, his voice hoarse, but clear. "You deserve to know the truth... to know what really is in Mt. Ebott. I'll explain everything."
The girl didn't look surprised by the request – in fact, she seemed rather conflicted about it. She wanted to go, but something was holding her back. After some seconds, she shook her head.
"No. Not without my father. Or the others.", she said firmly. "They need me, and I need them. No – I feel... whatever is in Mt. Ebott is for you, Frisk. So go there. Do what you think it's right."
Frisk actually expected that answer, so he simply nodded. Of course – how could he explain Eileen about everything that was motivating him to go back to Mt. Ebott, the dark secret of the mountain nobody knew of? The resets? The timelines? That was his world. And Eileen... she was too busy trying to survive. Their paths in that world were as different as night and day.
He glanced a look at MK, who had a determined expression.
"Let's go, MK.", he said.
The reptilian monster nodded and entered the car, sitting on the passenger seat. Frisk went after him, sitting on the driver seat and closing the door. He put the key on the ignition and grabbed the wheel for a moment. That was it. They did it.
He looked at Eileen, who was still outside. They looked each other in the eyes, and although no words were spoken, they both understood.
An agreement had been reached. The girl turned around and ran back to the battle, and as her footsteps grew more distant, an introspective silence filled the place – tainted only by the fight sounds nearby the prison building.
Frisk then turned the ignition. The car lit up.
"Uh...", MK sounded nervous. "You sure you know how to drive this thing?"
Frisk changed the gear stick, trying to remember all the information about transmission changing he had learned by watching television and movies during his life.
"No."
He stepped on the accelerator.