Chapter 21
Reality Check
Those words Vail said bounced around in Frisk's skull as easily as sound echoed within the empty caves.
"It should've been you," he said.
"It should've been you." Every syllable spoken with pure sincerity.
"It should've been you." Every syllable spoken with pure disgust.
For the most part of an hour, Vail had both hounded them and messed with their head; however, it was those four words that struck Frisk the most.
The worst part about that accusation was… the thought had crossed their mind once, almost like Vail had played part-time fortune teller.
If Frisk had the chance to trade their life for Asriel's, would they? Could they?
Half of them thought so. That side of their heart felt they could live a life of solitude knowing that they had given someone else their future back. They could sleep easy on a night knowing they had done a great deed, and had brought happiness to others at the cost of their own.
The other side of their heart, however, felt that it could not give up the surface. Asriel sacrificed his own future to give the entire Underground theirs.
Just thinking about it brought an ironic smile to Frisk's face. The exact same dilemma must have swam through his mind as the two of them stood face to face at the end.
And then there was that one time from two weeks ago.
That one night Frisk jerked awake at the whistling sound of heavy gale. Regardless of the blanket of moon and stars, the world was restless that night. Trees and bushes danced outside the walls, rustling loud enough for them to hear. Through bleary vision and heavy eyelids, Frisk turned over and groaned upon reading three in the morning on the clock. They sat up in bed, the sheets rolled of their shoulders; there was an arid dryness in their mouth that stretched to their chapped lips.
Frisk crept out of bed, tiptoed into the hallway and felt their way to the kitchen. They had just about adjusted to the darkness by the time they got themself a glass of water.
Moving into their new home took faster than expected. They estimated – considering that monsters had just returned to a world run by humans – to be properly housed within months, maybe even years, but managed to secure in cosy place in mere days. Asgore and Toriel had just about finished unpacking, having moved their valuables out from the Underground. Asgore's possessions were easier to move than Toriel's since he resided closer to the exit than she did.
Sans and Papyrus had the same luck, finding another place in a nearby town. The skeleton brothers' new home was an exact replica of their old one in Snowdin, down to its snow-covered roof, almost like they picked up their previous house and plopped in down in the first vacant plot they found.
Undyne and Alphys took a tad bit longer, but found their new home close to the sea. Their moving in experience was the shortest out of all of them since all of Undyne's possessions perished in the fire, sparing an extra pair of hands in which to help her girlfriend move from the lab.
Nobody had any idea how Mettaton managed to snag a mansion, or that multi-million dollar showbiz contract, or that other multi-million dollar showbiz contract that came with another mansion in the Philippines.
The rest of the inhabitants were just as mixed as they were unique. Some moved out; some were still waiting for openings in the market; some were in the process of moving out; and some were still comfortable in the Underground.
Everything changed. Everyone changed a little; all except Sans. There was an air about him that had not adjusted to the surface, almost like he was still living with a rocky roof over his head. He was still lazy, yet taking jobs wherever he could find them; he had ample opportunities to try new activities, yet stuck to what he did best; the entire monster kingdom was free, yet he did not seem to care very much, as if it were all for naught.
As if it could all be taken away in an instant.
As if he were waiting for something.
Frisk sipped their water before they set it down on their bedside table and climbed back into bed; the sheets held trace amounts of their warmth. As they sat there, they recalled the Underground, and the friends they made, and the victories they gained, and the one they left behind.
If only they had a second chance. A way to make things right. Better. For everyone.
Of course, there was something they had not yet tried…
Resetting.
They imagined it: starting their adventure with a clean slate. Meeting everyone – Flowey, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Monster Kid, Undyne, Alphys, Mettaton, Asgore – all over again. Journeying through the Underground, from the ruins all the way to the castle. Battling and befriending all who opposed them.
Describing the power to start again was complicated, like having access to a great big rewind button; except is wasn't a button, more some kind of sensation that felt its way through time.
They closed their eyes and saw what could only be described as the button: a visual representation that they could comprehend. The reset button, hovering in the void of black. All they had to do was reach out, press it, and boom; instead of waking up in their bed, they would awaken on another bed – a one made of golden flowers; and embark on their adventure all over again.
Was it really that easy? Because it sounded too easy to be true.
Ideas floated amongst the sea of blackness: things they could do differently; the changes they could make; the other things they could say and do given they now had a second chance.
Find a way to save Asriel?
Heck, if they could really do this whenever they wanted, then what was stopping them from doing something… drastically different? If their determination would bring them back again and again, then what were the consequences? Was there really a downside to all this as long as they could, at any time, wipe it all away with one press of a button?
They reached for the reset button, then stopped.
A horrible feeling chewed them up inside, telling them that this was wrong. The feeling manifested itself into an imaginary pair of eyes, watching their every move, waiting for them to act, and ready to judge all their actions.
By doing this, they would be erasing this outcome where the Underground was set free. Did that mean that everything that had happened from the beginning until now was synthetic? That nothing mattered? That they fought against a god and saved existence itself just so they could take it all back with the press of a button? Their victory tasted a lot bitterer just thinking about it.
Not to mention, this was the exact same power that consumed Flowey, and practically destroyed him – turned him into a thing of nightmares. A soulless creature lost control and caused massive pain, misery, and death in the Underground. How much worse could it be if a human being got corrupted by that power?
If Frisk pushed that reset button, would they be taking the first step to becoming Flowey? Into becoming the real monster he had become? Into becoming the very thing they sought to stop?
Frisk opened their eyes. They did not see the gloomy, rocky cave of the Underground, but the tidy, warm interior of their bedroom. The reset button was gone, yet remained faintly visible in their retina.
And what did Frisk do next?
They lay down, pulled the sheets over their shoulders, and went back to sleep.
They woke up the next day when they could have woken up to a new adventure. Ate their breakfast when they could have practiced talking to the dummy. Went to school when they could have went to Toriel's home. Had lunch when they could have been solving Papyrus's puzzles. They came home and did homework and played for a bit and watched some TV, and yet the alternative of what would have happened had they reset lingered in their mind.
Every night, the thought crossed them.
And every night, they chose to rest their head on their pillow.
Frisk sighed. It was pointless pondering about what ifs and what could have been. What mattered now was that they were trapped under Black Ice Mountain, being hunted by a monster who deeply despised reality, for a reason they had yet to figure out.
Pushing his words to the back of their mind, Frisk moved forward, down the only stretch of tunnel from the room with the giant, shattered mirror. Ever since that near-hypnotise experience, since destroying the illusion of a perfect ending, Vail had remained strangely absent for the past fifteen minutes. That guy sure was angry though, mad that Frisk chose reality over his deluded version of contentment.
The tunnel went on and on, left and right, up and down with no deviating route to choose from. Like it or not, they were still trapped within the web of complexity that Vail had planned and created over the course of many years. If they were to escape, the only way was to beat Vail at his own game. Somehow.
The further down the rabbit hole they went, the darker it got. The clusters of gleaming rocks above began to decline in their numbers, dimming the once bright passageways. The tunnel walls got more decrepit with jagged cracks and littering with loose debris.
As they turned the next corner, Frisk found an abandoned mine cart dead ahead, lying dormant on an old track. It was the old fashioned half barrel on four iron wheels with a handbrake and a light on the front. It was stationed at the foot of a slope.
Looking down the drop, it continued a short ways down before being blocked off by a haphazard fence of wooden planks. Frisk headed down and inspected it closer, finding the timbers to have worn over time. The nails holding it together looked badly degraded; sawdust and rust being the only things keeping it standing.
They took a peek through the gaps. The tunnel and the track continued down for roughly twenty metres before disappearing into darkness.
Frisk tested the timbers. A little shaky, but holding up strong despite the weakening over time. The wall refused to fall no matter how much force they applied. It would require something much stronger in order to knock it down.
That was when the mine cart came back into play. How cool would it be to ride in one of those Indiana Jones style?
The human child headed back up. They went to grab the cart by the edge when they stopped, thinking back to their train ride a mere hour-and-a-half ago. Could they really subject themselves to another ride into the unknown? For all they knew, the cart probably could lean sideways on them, or clear giant holes in the bottom of the island.
Pushing these thoughts beside Vail's piercing words, they planted a foot at the bottom and pushed themself over and into the mine cart. A few pebbles of rock and coal mingled at the bottom along with mounds of black dust that clung to their boots.
Frisk grabbed hold on the handbrake, feeling a second thought creep in like this was a bad idea. The tunnel ahead was sealed off for a reason.
They pulled on the handle and disengaged the brake. As the stiff wheels lurched forward, the lone light spurred to life, flicking at every wheel rotation. Slowly, the cart crawled those five feet forward, the calm before the big dipper. Frisk began to pick up speed the moment the front wheels then hit the drop; the lamp went to full blast, illuminating the way ahead.
They ducked down and braced themself as they charged toward the barricade. As the mine cart crashed through, the rider felt only the slightest tremor through the cold steel.
The tunnel ahead stretched out for ten metres. Gems shone white. Trickles of water glistened silver. The track began to deviate through a twist of tracks as the walls closed in around them. Sparks flew upwards from the corroded tracks; moments of ear-scraping scratching against loud rumbling. The grinding of wheels broken by the regular click-click of the links.
The tracks went on for what seemed like an eternity, the route showing no signs of ending. Miles covered within minutes.
He returned.
"So, I was thinking…" Frisk suddenly turned around to find Vail sat, with his arms folded, on the back edge. He appeared an apparition in the swaying luminescence. "I've got just the perfect additions to make this ride more interesting. A couple of water slides, one where you hit the shallow water and it all shoots up at the sides – I don't know what that's called. Maybe a corkscrew or a loop-de-loop – how about a cork-de-loop. I'm sure nobody's ever thought of that"
Just the suggestion made Frisk's stomach perform a cork-de-loop; they had barely gotten over the crazy ride through the Shattered Zone. They did not want to even think about rollercoasters for at least a year.
Vail snapped his fingers at a sudden though. "Oh, how about some imaginary bad guys chasing after you on other mine carts?" he said. "That would be exciting, with a little added neon for effect. A camera at the big dipper to take the souvenir picture – free of charge, of course – and…"
He stopped midsentence. The pleasantries dropped from his features. "Oh, wait. That's right." He finally made eye-contact with the human child, and it was not the friendly kind either. "You don't like fantasy, apparently. You prefer reality." He leaned in closer, digging his stare deeper while punctuating ever word he said next. "Uneventful, predictable, disappointing, boring reality."
In the next dip of light, Vail became one with the shadows and vanished.
"By the way, since you're not using this…" Vail's voice drew the human to the front. Now he saw beside the lamp, pointing nonchalantly at the handbrake. "Can I have it?"
In the single second that follow, Frisk responded with a confused murmur.
Taking their silence for a yes, Vail said, "Thanks," grabbed the handbrake with one hand, then ripped it out as effortlessly as yanking off a plaster, giving out a brief, metallic snap. He held the handle above his head; the components that made up the inside dangled out the fresh opening. Vail tossed the handle over Frisk's head only to catch it on the other side of the cart like there were two of them playing catch. "Have fun…" this Vail said as his grin returned. His glance shifted to the route ahead. "And you might want to duck."
Frisk pulled away from Vail and caught the low hanging rock just in time to drop beneath it, keeping their head firmly attached to their neck. Finding their footing again, they did not bother turning to see if he was still there, because he wasn't.
They glanced down at the stump that was once the trusty handbrake, the solitary component capable of halting this half-a-ton bathtub of pure steel, gone. The tunnel continued to appear from the darker as the cart showed no signs of slowing down.
Frisk gripped the sides as tightly as they could. Runaway cart! The walls zoomed past like sharp blades, ready the slice them up if they tried to jump out.
The cart exited the stretch of cramped tunnel, revealing that getting on it in the first place might not have been the best idea after all. The bending tracks ahead, built atop a matchstick framework of timbers, did not appear too stable. All of it surrounded by an infrastructure of cranes, scaffolds, ladders and walkways. This section of mine may have been abandoned even before the civil war started. The entire light in the area held a faint blue tint.
Holding on for their life, the cart rocketed across the tracks, moving so fast that it threatened to roll straight off. Frisk ducked and dodged under, over, and through the mining equipment. The supports groaned and wobbled under their weight. At tight turns, the inside wheels lifted off the tracks.
Their surroundings zoomed past before Frisk could catch a chance to focus on them. Cranes tied to slabs of rock, pickaxes scattered beside pockmarked walls; work seemingly left unfinished like everyone stopped what they were doing all of a sudden.
The moaning of the unstable supports began to be broken up by the snaps of weak timbers. Nails cracking out of place. The tracks wobbled, but were able to not topple.
The cart hit a small summit at top speed, hoping off the track momentarily. The jolt of the landing threw the lone passenger down, face-first into the recess of soot at the bottommost recesses. The stuff latched on to their face, getting into their eyes and zipping up their mouth. Frisk immediately started coughing. Their eyelids slammed shut.
They clambered upright, struggling as the car continued to jiggle against them. They hacked away while rubbing at their eyes, only making them sorer.
Through pain and tears, they managed to force their eyelids to open. And just in time.
The end of the line. Dead ahead.
The metal buffer stop – a metal rectangle on six legs – was so rusty that did not look strong enough to halt a passing thought, let alone a speeding cart. And two metres beyond that stood a wall of jagged spikes, all aimed in their direction. The lamp in front highlighted the sharpness in those edges and the gems that consisted them.
It was like a death trap straight out of a cartoon.
Frisk only had seconds to react. There was no thinking, just action. At the last moment, they swung their arms into the air, stretching them as high as they could.
The cart crashed through the stopper, turning it into dust particles. The force of the impact flipped it off the tracks and into the spikes. Seven of the razor sharp tips pierced the steel with ear-splitting slicing, shredding it into scrap metal in the blink of an eye.
No-one could survive a crash like that.
Which was a good thing Frisk was not on it.
A few feet back from where the stopper once stood, Frisk dangled above the ground, swinging forward and back, holding on to a dull hook of one of the many cranes that made up the stretch of cave. They witnessed the crash, not wanting to think of the outcome had they still been on it.
Letting go of the hook, Frisk dropped to the ground, making sure to bend their knees on landing.
They rubbed away at their face some more, attempting to shift the soot off. As they rubbed with their gloves and arms, it made it spread around. No matter how much they rubbed, more of the black ash multiplied. After minutes, they had managed to clear enough off their eyes to stop them from watering.
They searched around for another route, finding nothing at first. Climbing up a nearby ladder revealed another tunnel to take.
There was no telling where they were or how far through the tunnels they were at this point. Without a map, without directions, they were walking in the dark.
They treaded down this new stretch of cave, waiting to come across another elaborate trap, waiting for Vail to mock them with his smug, superior, perfect face again.
Minutes later, they heard the unmistakable sound of dripping water.
Drip… drip… drip… drip…
Another trick of the mind?
Eventually, they located the source. In a worn crevice, a small puddle formed. A crack above leaked a continuous drop of water every two seconds.
Frisk approached with caution, remembering what happened the last time they drank water in this place. The human accidentally rubbed their eye, returning that horrible, raw ache into it.
They knelt down, removed their gloves, and dipped their hands into the water. It was as cold as ice. They splashed it into their face and rubbed, dripped black water down their chin. The feeling of cold water was both a blessing and a curse rolled into one. The liberation of clear water cleaning their eyes out felt fantastic, but also bitingly painful. The air attacked the wet skin with the sharpness of knives. They quickly dried them with their scarf.
The next step: was it safe to drink?
There was no way for the child to know until they had tested it.
Braving the sub-zero waters with their numb hands, Frisk cupped a reserved amount. They brought it to their mouth and took a tiny sip. This puddle of water may have stood still for longer than they had been alive, yet it was clean and chilled.
As the liquid passed down into their stomach, they sat back and waited, wondering how this stuff will affect them.
They waited, expecting their head to go light and their vision to go blurry. They thought they felt their stomach churn or their head feel strange, but it never escalated further than that. It must have been figments of their imagination. Their body expected to feel bad so it decided to mimic the initial feelings of discomfort.
After more minutes wasted, nothing had happened. Did that mean that the water was safe to consume? Maybe.
Frisk slipped their rucksack off their shoulders and retrieved the empty flask. They unscrewed the top and submerged the nozzle, making sure to not get any on their hands for a third time. The last of the air bubbles diminished after a few seconds. The flask now weighed heavy; the water inside to the brim. Frisk took another sip and still did not feel any effects.
Then, from out the corner of their eye, Frisk realised that someone else was there. At first, they thought that it was the guy who had been tailing them since the beginning, until they realised that it was someone else entirely. They snapped their head around, finding a second monster beside the first. Both monsters gazed at the human with vacant eyes.
The one on the right had a metal, blue vice for a head, over a doll-like body with a pink skirt. Two googly eyes hovered above the vice, which acted as their mouth. A pink ribbon was tied to the rotating handle on top.
The monster on the left was literally a rainbow between two floating clouds. They had two beady, black eyes and a mouth in the centre of the multi-coloured arch.
Frisk stood there quietly for a moment, then greeted the two with a simple 'Hi.'
"What a funny looking critter," the rainbow said to the other, ignoring the human's sparse introduction. Without tearing his gaze away, he asked, "What do you suppose it is, Versa?"
The monster at Rainbow's side – Versa the vice – tilted her top-heavy head; it looked like it was going to disconnect with her body, yet seemed to bend the rules of physics being atop her stuffed body. "I honestly have no idea, Roy," she replied, "but they look friendly to me. Do you think they want to be our friend?"
There was no mystery behind it. These two were clearly in the land where dreams come true. Frisk wondered what the two were seeing right now, trapped in their fantasy land, their perfect world. Perhaps endless green fields full of bunnies, which the pair will have named in various rabbit-related names: Sir Hoppington the First; Mister fuzzy-Tail: Carrot Extraordinaire; Sir Hoppington the Second: Return of the Hop; Benny Bunny; Harry Hopper; Sir Hoppington the Fourth: A New Hop; and Roger.
The rainbow monster, Roy G. Biv – middle name Giovani –, nodded what would pass as his head. "Yes, yes, everyone wants to be our friend. They want our friendship to be just as swell as ours are."
"Oh, Roy, you're such a good friend," Versa said, smiling her crushing lips.
"Not as good a friend as you are."
Frisk remained in place, neither moving nor talking in the slightest. They were unsure whether their attempts at making peace were genuine or a front to some sinister ulterior motive. Vail did warn them that their so-called friends would break them until there was nothing left to break.
Speak of the devil. From the shadows between the two bestest of pals, the komodo dragon returned.
"Do you understand what it means to be alone? To be truly alone?" Vail asked, addressing Frisk. "Chances are you already do – from the way you smashed my mirror, in all." He sensed that he had strayed from the topic's direction. "But that's beside the point. These monsters have never once known what it was like to have a friend – someone they can lean on. As the saying goes: Birds of a feather flock together, and now these friendless monsters now have each other." He gestured to the two hypnotised friends. "I made these guys happy. I offered to make you happy as well, and you spat in my face. So now, I'll return the favour."
Vail clapped his hands together twice. His loud clapping was made louder in the empty caves. He address those to his sides. "Roy! Versa! It's so great to see you again," he spoke like an overly friendly actor on a children's show.
Versa and Roy span and grinned to their widest upon spotting Vail – an odd way to react to the one keeping them captive.
"Mister Vail," Roy cried.
"You came back," Versa said.
"Of course I came back," Vail responded with a tap on his snout. "I never forget my pals."
Roy was unable to contain his excitement. "We missed you a whole bunch."
"And I have missed you both as well. It's great to see you again."
"Are you here to take us on another adventure?" Versa started asking. "To meet new friends and – oh wait!" Without looking, she pointed back at Frisk. "We've met a new friend just now."
Vail turned to Frisk and frown, wrinkling his face at them. "Are you sure about that, guys?" he said with suspicion. "Be careful, this one doesn't look friendly."
Simultaneously, Roy and Versa looked at the human.
Roy's eyes, which looked upon the stranger with hopeful adoration a minute ago, suddenly widened with horror. "What… what happened to them? V-Vail, what's wrong with them?"
Versa's look bore an equal amount of terror.
"I don't know," Vail responded, feigning fear. There was clear satisfaction behind the mask of emotion he wore. "Were its eyes always glowing red like that? Did it always have such black, inky skin? And what's with that creepy smile?"
Frisk was taken aback by how much their attitudes shifted under Vail's venomous words.
Versa glanced and pointed down. "What's that in its hand, Mister Vail?"
Frisk followed her gaze, finding the flask they held. It glistened with both its metallic body and slick coat of water.
All of a sudden, Vail started shouting. "A knife! It has a knife! It means to hurt you!"
The two monster erupted into full-blown panic, screaming and slowing backing away from the demonic figure before them, ready to bring pain and suffering to their happy, perfect lives.
Vail yelled, "Kill it! Kill it before it kills you and all your friends!" And he turned and made his exit, walking into the shadows.
With him gone, the fears of the monsters manifested into anger, which they were going to train on Frisk. Frisk held their hands out and attempted to calm the two monsters down; however, this had the reverse effect, making them more frightened, angrier.
Roy's shot forward, acting first. "Eat this, evil creature!" From his clouds, a spectrum of light shot toward Frisk.
Frisk dove to the left before they could taste a rainbow. The missed beam struck a wall several feet behind them, blasting a small crater the size of a watermelon.
They glanced back at their bag, which had not moved from its spot beside the rippling puddle one metre away. The glint of the ice-picks caught their eye. Anything to defend themself against their attack.
As Frisk turned to reach for them, Versa saw their intent – or a much darker version of what that intent entailed. "Not so fast!" She raised her arm high above her head and brought it down.
Frisk's cold-bitten hands extended for the bag when they heard a rumbling sound from above. They caught a rectangle of ceiling as it plunged down on them. Frisk pushed away from the bag just in time to avoid getting crushed into a messy pancake. The rectangle hit the ground, rock smashing against rock like teeth biting, forming a brand new support beam within the cave. It separated the child from their rucksack.
The lips on Versa's face formed a grin. "Don't look so crushed, you cockroach!"
She stretched her hands apart and brought them together with a muffled tap. A two-by-two-foot sections of wall to the left and right of Frisk closed in. Like a vice. Frisk leapt forward, feeling the mighty slam vibrate up the backs of their heels.
Another shot of splintered light from Versa's colourful friend broke a new hole in the new, horizontal pillar after Frisk rolled to the right, out of its path.
Unarmed and defenceless, Frisk had only the full water bottle as their means of fighting back. It was dead weight unless they figured out a way to use it to their advantage. Perhaps these monsters were thirsty? They could ask if Versa and Roy wanted a drink, then make a sneaky exit as the two shared the bottle. Pour it on the ground and ask the pair to be patient for two hours while it turned to ice, then ask if they would be so kind as to slip on it? If all else failed, the least the flask could do was give one of them a mighty headache.
Frisk attempted to plead with the pair, to no avail. Roy and Versa were too deep in their panicked attacked to listen. They had no idea how they were going to get out of this one.
"Keep your distance," Roy said, charging up another assault. "Don't let it get close!"
He launched more rainbows. Before Frisk jumped to the left, Versa pointed at where they would land and the ceiling above with her mitten hands. The moment Frisk landed, Versa threw her hands together like simulating the jaws of an alligator.
The ground under Frisk's feet reverberated before shooting up, carrying them with it. They dropped onto one knee, feeling all their inners stretch to their lowest regions. There was no time to look, but the sound of a second grinding noise above told them that they weren't safe. They kicked forward on one leg, throwing themself as far forward as they could. As the ends of the pillars met, Frisk was suddenly jerked back, smacking their head against rock.
Frisk dangled high. The coat pulled tight on their body; budging up to their chin; riding up their underarms. They squirmed and kicked to no avail, finding out that the back of their coat was caught in the clamp.
"I've got it! It's trapped!" Versa rapidly pointed at them while shooting quick glances at her friend. "Kill it quickly before it escapes!"
From the tense, stern look on Roy's friendly face, he was dead set on finishing this fight. Frisk struggled briefly; tried to wriggle either themself or their coat free; reach with their free hand for the zip buried beneath the folds; but there was no time. The charge in Roy's clouds reached their highest and out launched the rainbow that would put an end to what both he and Versa saw as an entity of pure evil.
Frisk did not think. They reacted purely with what was at hand – in their hand. Somehow, through everything, they had managed to keep a tight hold on the flask. The rainbow arched toward them, ready to turn them into black ash. They pulled their left hand back and let the flask fly, throwing it in the incoming trajectory.
The rainbow and the flask collided in mid-air. The shiny metal exploded like a grenade, all the contents escaped outwards in a watery detonation while the metal itself disintegrated into nothing.
Both Versa and Roy were struck with water, most of it in their faces. The two reeled back, blinking rapidly and looking disorientated and dazed as it dripped down them.
Frisk continued their struggle to escape their snagged coat, trying to make the most out of the time they bought with that stunt. After Versa and Roy regained their bearings, Frisk knew they would be back on the offensive.
Versa's stumbling stopped as she wiped life-giving H2O out from her eyes. "Where…? How…?" she muttered.
Frisk paused their struggling upon hearing her say that. Versa looked at her hands, then to her surroundings. There was something different in her stare. An alertness – what made a gaze look natural – had found its way into hers as she took in harsh, cold walls of her environment.
"What just happened? Where am I?" she questioned. Her tone was similar to Kenny's in the time before he got frozen. "Where did everything go? And why am I all wet?"
Roy Giovani Biv looked over at his best friend as if she were a stranger. The encapsulated look in his beads for eyes were gone, as if he were awake from an absurdly long nap.
"Wait, do I know you?" he asked while pointing at her. "I feel like I've known you from somewhere, but I don't know if that was real or not."
"Wait, what were we doing before?" Versa continued her questions. "I remember seeing something scary, and…" Finally, her wandering gaze found its way to the human child dangling from one of the columns only she herself could create on a whim. She was no longer looking through them, but at them. "Oh, my gosh!"
She stretched her hands out and parted them, dismissing all the columns just as quickly as how she conjured them. The snare holding Frisk in place released the moment it opened, dropping them suddenly. They hit the ground on the balls of their feet and the palms of their hands. The pillars retreated into the walls, aligning perfectly with the formations as if they never existed.
Versa rushed up to Frisk. "Did I hurt you? I thought you were some terrifying abomination back there. I'm sorry."
Frisk rose and breathed a relaxing sigh. They ensured Versa that all was forgiven; they were still standing tall, uncrushed and non-fragmented.
Roy floated over. "Good to see that we haven't damaged your colourful disposition," he said. "Can you help refresh our memories? Where are we and how did we get here?"
Frisk explained that they were on Ice Island, in the mines under Black Ice Mountain. They included their run-ins with Vail and how he almost hypnotised them just as he did with these two.
Roy blinked several times; the human's story resurfaced memories. "Wait, I think I'm starting to remember. I went into the island – this island – on a dare. I ran into that monster – Vail. He said I was going to make a great friend."
Versa picked up where Roy left off. "Yeah… yeah, and he forced me into these mines. I found these… these fountains. I was so thirsty that I drank from them."
Roy shot Versa a wide stare. "Me too! The water had some kind of effect on me and I saw what the others were seeing, and then…" He faced upwards, beady eyes open but empty. "I was before this giant mirror. He showed me a world where everyone wanted to be my friend… I've never had a real friend before."
Frisk frowned upon hearing the fate that had befallen him and almost happened to them. The story was the same, but with Roy as the main character.
Versa nodded slowly at the other's side of the story, clearly drawing parallels to her own.
"I didn't want to go at first, but when I was gazing into that fantasy land, it was like I was being pulled into it," she said. "I couldn't resist. I touched the glass and… everything up until now was like a dream."
Roy shook his entire body. "Okay, so, we know how we got here, but what do we do now?"
Frisk told them loud and clear: escape.
Both monsters agreed and decided to accompany the human. They had a better chance of getting out of this place if they stuck together.
After retrieving their backpack, Frisk's adventure continued, now with companions. Together, all three travelled together down the tunnels.
More questions dribbled from Roy's and Versa's mouths, wanting to know more about their situation and about Frisk themself. Frisk told the truth about everything. The discovery that they were a human did not shake them much, if anything, only made them surer that they would escape Vail's grasp.
All of a sudden, after more minutes of walking, the sounds of marching feet and shifting metal came from the corner ahead, made tinny in the echo of the hollow maze.
They stopped. Frisk's heart sank as they recognised the mixture of noises straight away. The same given out by the members of the Monster Military.
Vail rounded the corner, followed by the twenty sturdy souls sent in to investigate a long time ago, marching in two lines of ten. The armour on every soldier was strangely immaculate; their weapons looked as sharp as the day of manufacture. Vail looked so out-of-place at the front; a sharply-dressed, suave gentlemen being tailed by silver soldiers.
"Company," – Vail slammed his leather shoes to a stop – "halt!"
The monsters of the military stopped in perfect unison.
"Soldiers," Vail lectured the troops like a drill sergeant, "you are the best of the best. The finest, most decorated unit in the whole of the Monster Military." He paced back and forth; one hand behind his back, the other in front and gesturing his point across. "You have faced down challenges that would make the Emperor himself cry himself to sleep. You have taken on the absolute worst of the worst, the best of the worst, the worst of the best, and the best of the best – oh wait, you guys are the best of the best. Forget I said that last part. But now, your greatest threat advances upon you, and threatens to destroy everything you've fought for." He waved his hand at the petite human, the rainbow, and the vice almost like he was being comical. "Gaze upon them now, but do not fear them."
He gave the troops a few moments to absorb their opponents. For all Frisk knew, they could be the biggest monstrosities to the soldiers.
Vail shouted, "Will you let them win?"
"Sir, no, sir," the troops responded just as loud.
"Will you give up?"
"Sir, no, sir!"
"Will you destroy them?"
The troops raised their weapons and boomed, "Sir, yes, sir!"
"Will you annihilate them?"
"Sir, yes, sir!"
"Will you kiss them?"
"Sir, yes, s—!" The troops' boisterous bellowing dropped into a collection of mumbling.
Vail chuckled a bubbly chuckle. "Think fast, fellas…" He raised he free hand above his head. "For honour; for your people; for your Empire;" – Vail sliced the air with his open palm – "CHARGE!"
Roaring their battle cries, all twenty monsters rushed forward. Through the blur of rushing silver metal, Vail vanished.
Versa's tiny arms stretched into the air. "Wait, we're not dangerous," she shouted as loud as she could. "You're being controlled! You've got to snap out of it!"
Her words were ignored as the soldiers drew their crushing advance closer.
"Hey, uh, kid," Roy said, sounding nervous. "Don't suppose you got a plan, huh?" A bead of sweat down his brow refracted the light that shone from him.
Frisk gave him a curt smile.
That depended on whether any of them had any water.