"it's a beautiful day. the birds are singing, the flowers are blooming, on days like this-"
"Kids like me should be burning in hell."
Sans tilted his head up slightly, enough for anyone looking at him like a normal person to see a shadow of his head and a blue glow where one of his eyes used to be. "glad to know you know you're slowly learning your lesson," he grinned widely. "took you long enough to get here this time." And the battle began.
Frisk's lips were pressed into a thin line as their soul was called out for the battle. They still remembered what it used to look like before Chara took control and tortured them, killing their friends over and over again. They needed to get Chara out as soon as possible, and they had hoped Sans would help; he was the first old friend that they could meet without Chara taking over and slaughtering.
They stared at their soul, seeing the fractures that were barely mended.
Sans eyes darkened as he pulled up their stats. "who did you kill more this time kid?"
They checked their own stats, not really sure what he was talking about. They had only been…
LV 21
HP 91/102
AT 50
DF 15
…oh. They'd never gotten past LV 19 before, perhaps…
"who did you kill?"
They don't reply (because they don't know the answer), and when they look up, they're no longer Frisk. Their eyes glow red, and a cruel grin lights their face.
"LET'S PLAY THE GAME, SHALL WE?"
A burning sensation filled Frisk's throat as they looked at the pile of dust that used to be Sans.
"Isn't it fun?" Chara laughed in their shared head.
Tears filled Frisk's eyes.
"I can torture you like this," Chara grinned, a corporal form almost emerging in front of Frisk. Their hand caressed Frisk's cheek.
A tear drop trickled across their face.
"I can make you hurt," Chara forced Frisk's head up, the Real Knife in her hands.
The tear drop splashed into the dust.
"Let's continue."
Frisk went back to their last save point instead, and Chara was screeching at them all the while.
"what are you doing kid?"
"…"
"you beat me already."
"…"
"you could have gotten your goal."
"…"
"you were just two people away from killing the entire underground."
"..."
"i actually wanted a break."
"…"
"say something."
"Its a beautiful day, isn't it?"
It was Sans' turn to fall silent.
"I really should be burning in hell."
The battle began.
Sans didn't want to know why Frisk's LV was rising even without actually battling anyone. There wasn't exactly many more monsters to kill in the Underground left. Just… him… and King Asgore…. Where did they keep getting the EXP from?
The battle felt different, like they weren't trying. They didn't dodge his attacks, they willingly took the hits, not attempting to dodge at all. They didn't fight much. It was like they weren't even trying.
Before the next battle, the moment Sans knew the timeline had went back a little, he went forward, to where he estimated the SAVE point to be.
The human was no where to be seen.
The next reset was a pacifist run. Well… What seemed to be a pacifist run.
By the time they reached the Judgement Hall, Sans pulled up their stats.
LV 15
HP 57/76
AT 38
DF 13
He glared at them, but it wasn't LV16 yet, so battling them would go against the rules laid down. He let them pass reluctantly, sending more than a few sharp words at them.
Frisk's eyes lit up at Toriel's offer, but they couldn't hurt the people they now considered family more than they already had. They forced out a reply.
"I have places to go."
As Toriel walked away after casting a sad look at them, they ducked into one of the many crevices in the mountain and sobbed. They punched the side of the cave, breaking off rock and causing their knuckles to bleed.
'PING!'
Frisk pulled up their stats again.
LV 16
HP 54/78
AT 40
DF 13
They sighed.
"You… don't remember?" Undyne asked. "You don't remember the other times we've come back onto surface?"
Toriel shook her head.
"It doesn't end well. It never ends well," Undyne informed her, desperation tinged in her tone. "Whether Frisk stays or not, it doesn't end well. Someone needs to stay nearby them. Someone. Anyone. They need it."
Undyne blinked back tears. "I don't want to see them die again…"
They couldn't they couldn't they couldn't they couldn't they couldn't they couldn't they couldn't.
Frisk's finger hovered over the call button. Toriel's number had been dialled in.
…
…
Their finger slipped, and slammed against the call button. In a burst of fear and shock, they dropped the phone.
The phone rang.
And rang.
And rang.
But no one answered.
Frisk collected their phone and ended the call, sobbing under their bed as their parents screamed at each other in the living area.
Undyne and Alphys had been visiting them.
"Frisk?" Undyne called.
Her voice echoed through the home. They both swore that Frisk was supposed to be there though, so they went up to their room. Alphys knocked on the door.
"Fri- isk?"
Still no answer.
Undyne pushed open the door, and screamed.
Frisk gasped a little as they drew the Sharp Blade over their forearm. Droplets of red liquid escaped from the cut. The pain was refreshing, thrilling, exhilarating.
'PING!' Oh look. Their stats upgraded again.
LV 18
HP 51/88
AT 44
DF 14
Hearing footsteps, they quickly wrapped their Bandage over their wound and pulled their sweater sleeve down. They closed down their stats. They deposited the Sharp Blade into the box and closed it just as the door open.
A blazing blue eye met their eyes, and they had to restrain themselves from flinching. "so kid, when you gonna reset?"
Frisk was dangling by a noose; a rope around their neck and the other end of the rope firmly looped around a blade of the ceiling fan.
"Frisk!"
Undyne pulled out a spear and cut off the rope, rushing forward to catch Frisk in her arms. She quickly placed them gently on the ground and felt for a pulse.
There was none.
Alphys conducted CPR on them, while Undyne checked for a pulse again.
There was none.
She screamed and cried and sobbed and begged. Frisk couldn't be dead! They just couldn't!
No one replied.
Both of them sobbed into each other's arms.
Frisk shook their head, facing the ground. "Not going to."
A blue bone smashed the ground in front of them, startling them and causing them to look up at Sans.
"the truth kid."
"Its the truth!"
Sans' eyes went completely and dangerously black. "the truth. or you're in for a bad time."
Their soul was called out for a battle.
Frisk didn't need to pull up Sans' stats to know them.
HP 1/1
AT 1
DF 1
Yet he was much more powerful than his unassuming stats.
They knew they didn't stand a chance. (Not unless Chara came out but that was bad and worse than having to go through a Bad Time.)
They felt their sins crawling on their back.
Undyne and Toriel entered the room to blue and white bones flying everywhere and a fractured red soul barely escaping the attacks.
"STOP!" Undyne screamed.
But no one stopped, Frisk more out of necessity not to get killed.
A blue spear barely missed Sans and he froze.
"Good," Toriel smiled threateningly, baring her fangs at Sans. "Let's solve this in a more diplomatic way, shall we?"
The battle ended.
While Toriel and Undyne were diplomatically talking (read: threatening) Sans, Frisk slipped away, unnoticed. They couldn't look at Toriel or Undyne or anyone else in the eye, not even Sans. They couldn't bare to, not when they killed those monster friends of theirs over and over, without showing mercy. They didn't deserve the niceness and kindness everyone showed them. They didn't deserve it. They deserved to BUrn iN HeLL.
"Toriel," Undyne nudged the monster queen, to no avail. "Toriel. Toriel. TORIEL!"
Toriel froze.
"Frisk is gone!"
They wouldn't let their friends suffer because of them, so they would do it far far away, where they wouldn't be likely to be found. Not until it was too late, but hopefully never.
Underground. It made sense. They could even throw themselves into the magma in Hotlands so their body would burn to ashes and never be found. Their friends would only believe them missing, not dead. It would be better for everyone. Chara would be taken care of. There would be no more threat of resetting.
They would burn in the magma. They wouldn't be in hell, but they would be pretty close.
To the Hotlands it was.
Undyne was panicking. Toriel was wide-eyed, blinking, and looking around desperately for the kid. Sans scoffed. They wouldn't be looking for them if they knew what the kid had done.
FRISK WAS A MURDERER BUT HE WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO SAW IT.
Why couldn't anyone else see it?
…Right.
Damn the kid and their Resets.
Frisk sat precariously on the edge of one of the cliffs in Hotland, the Sharp Blade in hand. They rolled up their sleeve and undid the Bandage, dropping it. They watched apathetically as it burned in the magma. They used the Sharp Blade, slicing through their skin and watching as the red liquid blossomed out of the cuts (like flower petals). They did it again. And again. And again.
When their arm felt numb from pain and blood loss, they pocketed the Sharp Blade. They pulled down their sweater sleeve.
Frisk wondered what they should write, if they should write anything. Eventually, they decided against it, crushing the Paper Wad they brought and throwing it into the magma along with the Blunt Pencil.
They watched that both burn in the magma. Then, they turned such that their back was facing the cliff edge, and leaned backwards.
They stopped for a moment, wondering if what they were going to do next would work. They shrugged mentally. Couldn't hurt to try.
Frisk called for help.
…
But no one came.
A self-depreciating smile on their face, Frisk leaned back, and fell.
From a distance, Toriel screamed.
Alphys had been doing research (read: watching anime) in her lab when she received a call from Undyne.
"Ye- yes?"
"ALPHYS. NO TIME TO EXPLAIN. USE THE CAMERAS, FIND FRISK."
Phone still on, Alphys quickly ran her cameras to watch for Frisk, listening to Toriel, Undyne and Sans' voices through the phone. They were having an argument…?
A spot of blue and purple caught her eye.
"I see them. I thi- ink they're going to Ho- Hotlands?"
Alphys could almost hear Undyne's relief. "Thanks!"
The phone call ended.
Alphys thought for a bit, before deciding to head down to the Hotlands to meet up with Undyne and Frisk, whatever they were doing.
It seemed urgent anyway. She hesitated for a moment, then called Papyrus too.
Instinctively, Sans shoots out gravity magic and catches the kid there. He doesn't know why he does that. He knows and he knows that the kid deserves to die a fucking painful death, and burning in magma is certainly a fucking painful death, but he still catches the kid from falling anyway.
He reasons with himself that its just so that Toriel won't get pissed at him for not trying.
He doesn't believe it.
…
He can't seem to magic the kid up. He could hold them there and stop them from falling but he couldn't magic them up.
Whoops?
Frisk is falling, and they've summoned their soul out so they can watch it fall and burn.
They're falling. (The rushing of the wind feels great.)
And falling. (They can hear the bubbling of the magma.)
And falling. (The heat is causing their back to sweat.)
And-
They've stopped.
Frisk opens their eyes to see their soul glowing blue.
Of all the people to find them and catch them.
Fan-fucking-tastic.
"What are you waiting for?!" Undyne screamed, "Pull them up!"
"i… can't!" Sans gasped, left eye blazing a grave-ity blue. "need more… magic!"
A voice screamed from within the ravine. "Please…. STOP doing this, AND JUST LET ME DIEEE…"
(hehe deja vu can be a bitch, can't it?)
"NO!" Undyne screamed back. "NO! I REFUSE to let you just DIE like THAT!"
Quiet sobs echoed up the ravine. "Please…. just… just please let go…"
The clanging of bones alerted everyone to a new presence (or two).
"WHAT IS GOING ON?"
"pap… help me get the human up."
"OF COURSE SANS."
There's a feeling that getting saved from the brink of death feels like, especially if you want to die. Its heartbreaking, soul wrenching, tiring, draining, and oh-so unsatisfying.
Frisk purposefully grabbed their soul, clenching their nails into the substance.
If. Only. They. Could. Tear. Their. Soul. Into. Pieces. Using. Their. Nails.
They gripped their soul harder. They wanted to die - nothing new - but they'd made plans. Everything was going to work perfectly, it all just had a teensy little bit too much of, you know, people trying to stop them?
If soul magics worked the same way they thought it did, then Sans' and Papyrus' integrity magics would only work if they still had a soul. Therefore, destroying their own soul would ensure that magic could not be used on them. They would be soulless, but their body would burn in the magma soon anyway.
They pulled out the Sharp Blade. It was a blade, not a knife, but it would work. They couldn't stab, but they could slice.
So, they used the Sharp Blade, and sliced deep into their soul.
"MY MAGIC IS SLIPPING."
"What do you mean?!" Undyne growled.
"he's not wrong undyne. its like their soul became more slippery, and we can't grab on as well as we'd like."
Undyne frowned, deep in thought. "That's not right… it should only happen if-"
Alphys' eyes snapped open from her thoughts. "If their soul is dying!"
(It was a testament as to how worried they all were that Alphys didn't stutter a single time.)
Frisk grinned. Their soul (and therefore their body) was still being lifted, but if their theory was right, it wouldn't last much longer. The Determination magic that was so unique, that separated monsters from humans, was bleeding out of their soul, red soul magic dripping into the magma below. They watched in interest as little flecks of different coloured soul magic bled out as well (orange, yellow, green, light blue, dark blue and purple - Bravery, Justice, Kindness, Patience, Integrity and Perseverance).
It was beautiful.
Perfect to be the last thing they would ever see.
(What happens if a human loses all their Determination? No- What happens if anyone's soul was drained of their magics?)
"if anyone else uses integrity magic, now's a good time to help…"
"MY BROTHER IS RIGHT. IF YOU USE INTEGRITY MAGIC, PLEASE HELP US PULL THE HUMAN UP BEFORE THEY FALL DOWN COMPLETELY."
Sans grumbled under his breath. "both literally and metaphorically."
No one else was able to use the dark blue magic.
"…wonderful."
"If we drag them into a battle, does that mean…." Undyne pondered out loud.
Alphys' eyes lit up. "Perfect! Turn them green, Undyne! Then they can't move!"
"once we get them out of course," Sans glared, beads of sweat dotting his forehead.
The two girls smiled sheepishly at the straining skeletons.
Frisk closed their eyes.
Their soul went limp, drained of any substance.
The Integrity magic could find no magic to hold on to.
Frisk's body fell into the magma and bUrNeD.
Frisk awoke to their last save point; the one outside Alphys' lab not five minutes before their attempt at their life, and sobbed.
Word Count: 2742 word
(A/N: "Write that chapter that you've put off for half a year," I told myself. My friends told me, "Undertale is a great game." I played Undertale. Then... this happened. Whoops. Hehe? Uh... Imma go now. BYE! -Summer)