A Chorus of SOULS
The atmosphere within the True Lab was thickened with emotions that were far from optimal considering the situation. Outside, above, loose within the Underground was a threat unlike anything the monsters had ever seen. It was essentially a time of extreme panic for the evacuees, and a sense of dread, fear, hopelessness, and impending doom made it a living nightmare for all those gathered there in what was essentially the last remaining safe haven in the Underground.
The monsters gathered there were able to slightly distract themselves from the unpleasant situation by interacting with the strange Amalgamates that had dwelled within the True Lab for some time. The large amount of new arrivals had forced Dr. Alphys and the other monsters to tame and make peace with the strange monster fusions. It wasn't much, but it was a small source of hope at the very least.
This had taken up an hour or two of their time, but now, near one of the walls of the True Lab, paced a certain monster, muttering to herself as her whole body trembled due to a mixture of emotions. The anxiousness and fear of resolving the Amalgamate situation had faded from her heart, and had now been replaced by sorrow and despair. However, the only one who paid her any mind was a certain, innocent, wide eyed young monster. The armless lizard monster's name was Mallakai, although he most certainly prefered the nickname of MK.
"Miss Alphys?" MK asked the troubled scientist as he approached her, "Are you okay? Are we all gonna be okay?"
Dr. Alphys didn't reply, she only continued to pace up and down, continuing to mutter to herself.
"No. . .no hope. . .no dreams. . .no nothing. . .we all lose. . ." Dr. Alphys spoke to herself in a broken, haunted tone.
MK gulped, but he continued, "He-hey. . . it can't be all bad. . . I'm sure the King will stop the human, right?"
Dr. Alphys suddenly stumbled and put a hand against the wall to keep herself from falling. Her breathing became heavy and labored as she continued to ramble, "They're gone. All of them. Everyone. . . Everyone in Hotland. . .Metaton. . .all his fans. . .U-U-Undyne. . . " Tears began to drip down from behind her glasses and run down her face.
MK eyes widened when Dr. Alphys began to turn a pale ghostly white.
"I can't. . ." Dr. Alphys said in a shaky whisper, "I just can't. . .there's nothing. . . Everyone. . .Everything. . .It's all over. . ."
"Miss Alphys, no!" MK cried out in desperation, "Don't give up! There's still hope! You brought all of us here to be safe! We'll be okay! Someone will stop the human! I know it!"
The weeping doctor just let out a sob as her claws slid against the wall as her body fell down to the ground.
"NO!" MK cried out as he ran forward, but he was too late to stop Dr. Alphys' body from hitting the ground. Horrified, MK ran through the lab shouting, "Help! Help! Dr. Alphys Fell Down!"
MK didn't see the doctor's body collapse into a pile of dust.
Some distance away, in a place just as secret and secure, seven canisters lay safe and secured. One of them was empty, while the other six each contained a glowing human SOUL, each one a different color.
Suddenly, squeezing through the cracks, came a small golden petaled flower. "Heh. So this is where the old fool hid them. Under the Barrier Room. Of course. Good thing I paid attention during Chara's Neutral Route," the flower remarked, letting out a nervous chuckle before fear and concern returned to his face.
Flowey stood before the six human SOULs, looking at each of them desperately as he gulped and said, "Alright. . .you guys. . .look. You gotta help me. You gotta stop Chara. . . yes, yes, I know that I was on board with her plans at first. . .but. . ."
A look of genuine worry appeared on Flowey's face, and he continued, "But now. . .she's going to far. . . she's. . .she's gonna. . ."
Flowey trembled and blurted out, "She's scares me now, okay! I just want her to stop. . . .and heh-heh-hey! You probably would want her to stop too, right?"
Flowey put on a big, nervous smile and said, "I mean, you know that killing is wrong, right? You know how dying feels, so you probably would want to stop it from happening to anyone else, right? Why else did ya rebel against me in Chara's first play through?"
Flowey then conjured circles of "Friendliness Pellets" around each of the six canisters and said, "So, yeah, I'm gonna set ya all free, then you can help stop Chara and no one else has to die! You'd all like that, right?"
Flowey laughed nervously, then nodded. "Yeah. . .so. . ."
CRASH!
The Pellets closed in and shattered the six canisters, causing the six SOULs to float upwards upon their release. The SOULs hovered there for a moment, and then with a flash of light, they disappeared.
". . . . WHAT!?" Flowey shrieked, "No! Noooo! Come back!"
Flowey wailed loudly for a bit, then shook his head and said, "Why. . .why is this happening to me!" Then sniffled and said, "I gotta go warn that old fool."
Light shone down through the Barrier, illuminating the Throne Room as the King of the Underground sat on his throne, eyes closed in silent contemplation.
"HEY! YOUR HIGHNESS! GET UP!"
Asgore gasped and stood up quickly, stepping away from his throne as he looked around in search of the source of the voice.
"BEHIND YOU!"
Asgore turned around.
"DOWN HERE, GENIUS!"
Asgore looked down at Flowey, and raised an eyebrow at the talking flower, "How curious. What a strange creature."
"Please! You've got to do something!" Flowey cried out tearfully, "She's on her way here right now! You've gotta stop her! Don't let her leave the Underground!"
Asgore stared down at Flowey in confusion, "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand. Who are you talking about?"
Flowey sobbed hard and said, "A horrible, genocidal maniac is on her way here! You've gotta figure out some way to beat her or at least defend yourself or we're all doomed!"
The King looked down at the crying flower in sympathy and said, "Now, now; please calm down. Getting upset like this won't do you any good. Whoever this monster is, I'm sure I can handle them." Then he smiled and said gently, "Now, little flower, tell me about this. . . .whoever this is."
Flowey continued to sob and said, "No. . .you don't understand. She's-." Flowey gasped and his eyes widened in fear at the sight of something coming up behind the King; and he quickly ducked down into the field of yellow flowers surrounding the throne.
"Curious. . ." Asgore muttered, "I've never seen a plant. . .cry before."
Asgore then felt a presence behind him, and he turned around to see the young, expressionless human standing there.
"Hm? Oh, you must be the one the flower just warned me about," he said, then he put on his best smile and said, "Howdy. What kind of monster are you? Sorry, I cannot tell. Well, we can always-."
Asgore was cut off when the human whipped out a Real Knife and wielded it in a threatening manner.
The King was surprised for a brief moment, but kept smiling and said, "Now, now, there's no need to fight. Why not settle this over a nice cup of tea?"
The child sprang forward and slashed Asgore across the chest, the knife cutting in deep and the damage, greatly enhanced by her high LOVE, forcing him down onto his knees.
Eyes wide in shock, Asgore gasped out, "Ugh. . .Why? . . You. . ."
Hidden within the golden flowers, Flowey felt panic grip his entire being as he watched the scene play out. "Okay, okay, I can make this work! I just gotta make sure she still wants me around. . .But wait, I can't let Chara take his SOUL! She won't need anyone if she does!" he thought frantically, and he quickly conjured up two rings of Pellets, the first one to tear Asgore to dust, and the second to shatter the Boss Monster's SOUL.
The human staggered back in response to this, but then she scowled hatefully when Flowey popped up amid Asgore's dust and SOUL fragments.
"See! I never betrayed you!" Flowey cried out, smiling hard and doing his best to look innocent, "It was all a trick, see! I was waiting to kill him for you! After all, it's me! Your best friend! I'm helpful! I can be useful to you! I promise I won't get in your way! I can help! I can. . .I can. . ."
"Call for help."
Flowey's eyes widened as he stared up the human's face. The girl was grinding her teeth in a vicious, enraged snarl.
"Call for help," she repeated, "I dare you. Call for help."
Flowey sobbed and said, "Wh-why? Why are you doing this-?"
"I said," the child said fiercely, "Call. For. Help. Cry out. As loud as you can."
Flowey cringed and trembled in fear, "I'm sorry! I'm so sorry!"
"Call for your mommy and daddy," she said with a straight face, "As loud as you can. Do it. Now."
Flowey nearly hyperventilated as he looked up at the knife wielding girl. He wailed out tearfully, "Help me! HELP ME! Mommy! Daddy! Help me! Somebody help!"
"That's right," she nodded, smiling again, "But nobody came."
The girl raised her Real Knife high for several killing blows.
"P-P-Please don't kill me!" Flowey wailed, "Please, please-."
CHING!
The human girl was thrown backwards, and Flowey opened his eyes to see the six human SOULs orbiting around him. He blinked once, the sudden whiplash in mood leaving him stunned for a moment. Then he smiled and laughed like someone intoxicated, "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! YES! YES! Did you really think this new plan of yours would work, Chara! I told you that I was the god of this world, and you're hopeless! Now I've got the human- wait, what are they doing?"
Flowey and the human watched as the six SOULs floated up into the air above them. Then they broke out of their circle and separated, floating in a staggered line. Then a loud wind began to howl, and dust blew into the Throne Room and twirled around each of the human SOULs. Six swirling, glowing tornados of dust hovered in mid air, and the howling wind became a tremendous roar that echoed throughout the room. Then, with a final flash of light, six monsters that were not alive a moment ago fell to the ground.
The first of the six to get up shouted, "THE GREAT PAPYRUS LIVES! NYEH-HEH-HEH!"
Sans got up soon after and stood close to his brother, smiling as he said, "bro. . .i. . .i've been dying to see you again. . ."
Toriel put a hand on her chest, breathing heavily as she gasped out, "What? How am I. . . alive?"
Asgore caught his breath as he knelt down. Then got up off of his knee and looked over at Toriel, longing and regret evident in his eyes. "Tori. . . You're here? Wha- what did that. . .thing do to you?"
Undyne's eye immediately focused on the human, and she said viciously, "Heh. . . well, kill me once, shame on you. Kill me twice. . .shame on me. But you ain't gonna kill me a thir-."
"UNDYNE!"
Undyne was suddenly tackled in a hug by a sobbing Dr. Alphys. Undyne was stunned by a minute and simply stood still as the scientist sobbed hysterically as she clung to her. Eventually, Undyne cracked a smile and returned the embrace, gently patting Dr. Alphys on the back.
The human tightened her grip on the Real Knife and said with frustration, "How are they all alive?"
Then, as if there hadn't been enough surprises at this point, six small human figures appeared above the six resurrected monsters.
"AHHHHHH! GHOSTS!" Papyrus shouted in a panic, clinging to Sans in fear. Sans just slung an arm around his brother, a calm smile on his face.
Toriel was awestruck as she beheld the ghosts of the six human children. "Oh. . .my poor children. . ." she said sorrowfully.
"What the Hell is going on here!?" Undyne shouted as she stared up at the cowboy hat wearing ghost floating above her.
The ghost that floated over Undyne smiled and said, "You were right, Flowey. We can't allow that girl to keep up her dang crazy killin' spree, and we sure as shootin' ain't gonna allow her to keep it up."
He then looked down at Undyne and said, "Undyne, with yer dedication to being a hero, yer devotion to being a Royal Guard and fighting fer what's right, and yer strong desire to to destroy the Barrier and free all the monsters who were wrongly locked away, makes yer worthy a SOUL brimming with Justice."
Dr. Alphys suddenly got pushed away from Undyne as the yellow SOUL glowed brightly from within the warrior's chest. Undyne looked down at it in shock and said, "What? I've got a human SOUL in me now? But. . I. . .?!"
"I git it," the ghost said with an understanding smile, "You don't like humans, and you've got every reason to. But Ah'm sure you'll change yer mind once you meet more of them."
The glasses wearing ghost girl smiled and said, "Indeed. Now, Papyrus, with your love of puzzles and refusal to give up on the malevolent human in spite of everything she did, makes you worthy of a SOUL that bears the trait of Perseverance."
The purple soul glowed brightly from within Papyrus' chest, and the tall skeleton smiled and laughed, "NYEH-HEH-HEH! THAT TICKLES!"
The apron wearing ghost girl smiled warmly and said, "Toriel, you are such a loving and caring mother. You would always take in and care for whatever human child fell into the Underground for as long as you could, and you did everything you could to keep us safe. Even though we all ended up leaving you, what happened to us afterwards wasn't your fault. You did the best you could. You even sacrificed your life to try and stop the killer from leaving the Ruins. So, you truly deserve a SOUL with the trait of Kindness."
Troiel's eyes went wide as she stared down at the green SOUL that shone from within her chest.
The ghost girl with the ribbon in her hair looked down at the King and said, "Asgore, the way you decided to simply sit and wait all alone in this castle for the humans you needed to break the Barrier to fall into the Underground; instead of just absorbing one SOUL and going out to take more by force. . . makes you a perfect fit for a SOUL with the trait of Patience."
Asgore nodded slowly, amazement on his face as the light blue SOUL showed itself in his chest.
The spirit of the boy smiled and threw some punches, the bandana on his head flowing in a nonexistent breeze as he said, "Dr. Alphys! Your decision to help everyone evacuate into the True Lab, even if it meant revealing the secret of how you accidentally created the Amalgamates, means that you deserve a SOUL with the trait of Bravery."
Dr. Alphys shrunk back as the orange SOUL glowed brightly inside her, and she stammered out, "B-b-but. . .I. . .I'm n-not brave. . .I'm so s-s-scared. . ."
"Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared," the young martial artist said, "Bravery is acting even though you're afraid. Even if it means risking something."
The sixth ghost, a girl in a ballet dress, performed a graceful pirouette and said, "And Sans, the only one capable of judging the heartless murderer due to his knowledge of Levels Of ViolencE and Execution Points. The one who was able to stay on the straight and narrow road in spite of all the times Flowey had RESET the timeline on him, is a clear shoe in for a SOUL that bears the trait of Integrity."
Sans simply nodded as the dark blue SOUL shine from within him.
Flowey was all giddy as he bobbed his head and said, "Oh, yes. . .I've spent so much time watching these fools, hearing all their lines, experimenting with their reactions. . .over and over and over. It all makes perfect sense." Flowey then begun cackling with glee and smirked at the living, murderous human. "Alright, now you're in for it! Once again, it's kill or be killed!" Flowey face grew into a massive psychotic grin, "And everyone here wants to kill YOU!"
The girl stood undaunted by the small army of monsters and spirits that stood before her. She waved the Real Knife at them all and said, "This doesn't change anything. This is just another challenge for me to defeat."
(*You realize how utterly alone you are.)
"It doesn't matter what you do. You can't stop me. . ."
(*Your sins are still crawling down your back.)
". . .Because I never give up. . ."
(*You are forever trapped on this dark road you decided to take.)
". . .and I am filled with Determin-"
(*And I refuse to follow along with it for another second!)
Something suddenly burst right out of the girl's chest. It was the exact same size and shape of a SOUL, however, it appeared to be empty. It was more of a red outline of a SOUL, and it merely floated in front of the child for a moment. Then, the child let out a shocked gasp as glowing energy of some kind began flowing out of her and into the empty SOUL. The crowd watched in amazement and wonder as the SOUL was quickly filled up until it became whole, glowing bright red in color. Then, with a flash, the SOUL turned into the ghost of brown haired girl wearing a green and yellow striped shirt and brown pants.
Sans nodded and said jovially, "well, ain't she quite the chara-cter."
Tears sprang to Toriel's eyes as she beheld the spirit. "Oh, Chara. . .my poor daughter. . ."
As Toriel wept, Asgore merely hung his head in shame and said, "Chara, my dear. . .Over and over I had wished things did not turn out this way. . .Forgive me. . .for failing you."
Chara looked sadly upon her two adoptive parents, then she turned her gaze upon the gobsmacked Flowey on the ground at the front of the group.
Flowey stared up at the spirit with his mouth hanging open, horrified realization arising in his mind. Then he looked past the ghost and over at the out-of-breath, still very much alive girl and said, "You. . . never were Chara at all, weren't you?"
The girl caught her breath, and she said bitterly, "My name. . . is FRISK!"
Chara appeared to ignore Frisk as she floated close to Flowey. She smiled at him and said, ". . .your strong will to live. . .to go on. . .to still exist in this world even if it meant being all alone and unable to feel or give love. . .makes you worthy of a SOUL with the seventh trait. The trait of. . .Determination."
Chara's spirit turned back into a SOUL, and it flew right into Flowey. The moment it made contact, there was a huge blast of white light that temporarily blinded everyone. When the light faded, where Flowey once stood there was now a young Boss Monster dressed in the same type and color of clothing as Chara had been in. The Boss Monster took several deep breaths and slowly opened and closed his fists.
". . .Finally. . ." he said softly, untold amounts of relief in his voice, "I was so tired of being a flower."
He then slowly turned around to face the group standing behind him, and all the monsters stared at him with incredulous looks on their faces (with the exception of Papyrus, who just looked a little confused).
"Howdy. . ." the young monster said with a nervous smile, "Mom. . . Dad. . . It's me. . . Asriel Dreemurr. . ."
There was a loud thud as Asgore fell to his knees. His eyes were wide as saucers as he beheld his long dead son. "How?" he gasped out, "How are you-? I saw you. . .into dust. . . Why were you a flower?"
Asriel frowned and looked down at his feet. "It was an. . .accident? I guess? Dr. Alphys injected a flower with Determination. She didn't know that some of my dust was still on it. . ."
Dr. Alphys' expression changed from shock to pure horror. She slapped her palms onto her face and said, "Oh. . .my god!"
Asgore mind reeled as it it tried to process this revelation. The idea that Determination could resurrect monsters out just their dust was mind boggling. However, he forced the thought to the back of his mind and asked his son, "But. . .why didn't you tell us? We could've helped you. We would've done anything at all to make things right!"
Asriel decided to save all the gruesome details about SAVING and LOADING and RESETTING for another time, and instead gave a shorter yet just as truthful version. "When I came back as a flower, I was SOULless. . ." he said, still unable to look anyone else in the eye, "So. . . I lacked the power to feel love. I wouldn't be able to feel anything from you or Mom or anybody, and I wasn't able to show love to anyone else either. Other people didn't matter to me anymore. I was more interested in. . .hurting people instead. I hated everyone. I couldn't bear to be around other people, so I-."
It was at this moment that Toriel had decided she'd had enough. She ran as fast as she could to her son and threw her arms around him, cutting off his sorrowful confessions and hugging him for all she was worth.
"Never again!" Toriel wailed through her tears, "I'll never let you suffer like that again. Ever."
Asriel stood frozen as a feeling began to move through his very being. Then, when Asgore strode over and enveloped both him and Toriel in a larger hug, and the feeling got even stronger, it occured to Asriel what it was. Tears, not of fear, but of joy, welled up in Asriel's eyes, and he leaned into the double hug and said, "M-mom . . . Dad. . .I l-love you. . ."
A cry of rage reminded all those present that Frisk was still in the room, and the genocidal girl had lunged forward to slash at the oblivious Dreemurr family with her Real Knife. However, the Dreemurrs all turned just in time to see Frisk change direction from forwards to sideways. Frisk slammed into the left wall and slid down to the ground, grimacing in pain as she glared at Sans, who's left eye and new SOUL were glowing dark blue as he held his left hand out.
"wow, kid," Sans said casually, "you must really wanna burn in hell."
As Frisk got to her feet, she saw that now every single monster and spirit in the room was looking at her with various mixtures of disgust, rage, and loathing (except for Papyrus, who was simply shaking his head in shame). However, none of this bothered Frisk in the slightest. Twirling the Real Knife in her hand, she chuckled lightly and said, "Don't any of you dummies get it? Actually, yeah, I can see why most of you wouldn't understand. . .but Sans? Asriel? You both know how this is gonna end."
Frisk's smile grew when she saw the look of utter despair on Asriel's face. The girl stepped forward and said, "That's right. Even with all you together, you can't stop me. Nothing can stop someone who both never gives up and also is able to try again and again and again for as long as they have to."
"The Hell are you even talking about!?" Undyne shouted, her desire to rip Frisk to shreds obvious to everyone present, "Can't you even see how hopelessly outnumbered you are right now? You can't win!"
Dr. Alphys nodded, "Yeah. . .T-Technically. . .it's impossible for you to b-b-beat all of us. . ." She then stood up just a bit straighter and said, "No. ..it truly is impossible to beat us! You're gonna lose!"
Frisk opened her mouth to reply, but then closed it and nodded slowly, "Yeah. . .I think you're right, actually." Frisk then shrugged, "Fine then. I see my mistake. I'll just go back and kill Flowey earlier when I had to chance."
LOAD FAILED
The look of absolute horror on Frisk's face was unlike anything the monsters and spirits had ever seen.
"Wh-wha-?" Frisk stammered out.
LOAD FAILED
"What happened to my save file?!"
LOAD FAILED
LOAD FAILED
LOAD FAILED
"FINE! I'll just-!"
RESET FAILED
RESET FAILED
"NO!"
RESET FAILED RESET FAILED RESET FAILED RESET FAILED RESET FAILED RESET FAILED RESET FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED LOAD FAILED
"WHY CAN'T I RESET?!" Frisk shrieked.
There was a brief flash, and Chara's spirit reappeared, hovering over the Dreemurr family.
"You can't LOAD or RESET without DETERMINATION. So I simply took it from you," Chara said in a cold, harsh tone.
Frisk was shaking with rage as she glared at Chara, "You. . .you. . ."
"Oh, and speaking of things that you don't deserve," Chara remarked, and she held her right hand out.
The Locket that Frisk was wearing under her shirt became undone and flew off, zipping right into Chara's hand. Chara held it tightly, and it transformed into the Heart Locket. She then dropped it straight down, and it floated over to Asriel and fastened itself around his neck.
"That should protect you a little bit," Chara said with a smile.
"Chara. . ." Asriel said with a smile filled with hope.
Frisk waved her Real Knife and shouted, "It doesn't matter! All I have to do is kill Asriel and take back my DETERMINATION, and I can RESET all of this!"
Chara turned to the group and said, "This is our chance to beat her once and for all. Is everyone ready?"
The spirits of the other six children all nodded and disappeared back into their chosen monsters with a flash.
Undyne pulled out her spear.
Dr. Alphys whipped out her lazer remote.
Papyrus wielded a bone quarterstaff.
Toriel and Asgore stepped protectively in front of Asriel and wielded their flames and trident respectively.
Chara nodded gravely and said, "I'm not sure if it's even possible for Frisk to get back her DETERMINATION by killing me and Asriel, but it's better to be safe than sorry. Protect Asriel at all costs, and give Frisk her reward for all of those murders!" Chara then disappeared back into Asriel.
Raising her spear high, Undyne shouted, "ATAAAAAAAAAACK!"
Predictably, Undyne's spears were the first attack to reach Frisk. The girl grabbed one of the spears and swiftly used it to deflect the rest of the spears that flew right at her. A glowing purple bone came down at Frisk's head, but she blocked that with her Real Knife and glared up at Papyrus.
"I BELIEVED IN YOU!" Papyrus shouted in a mixture of betrayal and anguish.
Frisk grunted as she continued to block Undyne's attacks with the spear in her opposite hand. She then swung the spear at Papyrus, but the skeleton simply pushed off with the bone in his hands, creating some distance between the two. Frisk dropped the spear and was about to dash forward at the skeleton with the intention of slicing off his head, but she was stopped by a blast of orange electricity that nearly knocked her down.
Frisk turned to see Dr. Alphys sending out lightning bolts from her cellphone. The scientist had a slightly nervous expression on her face, and she breathing heavily as she launched her attacks. With a laugh, Frisk ran forward with her own weapon at the ready, only to be cut off by Toriel's flames. The former Queen had circled around the child while she had fended off Undyne's attacks, while the King marched over to Frisk and called forth his trident, which glowed bright blue.
"This is for my people!" Asgore declared as his eyes flashed with the same color.
"Our people," Toriel added as she launched fire at Frisk.
Frisk was forced to dodge Toriel's flames while also pausing to avoid the damaging swings of Asgore's blue attacks. This was a nearly impossible pursuit, and the trident inevitably struck her while she was moving, making a few dents in Frisk's high HP and knocking her down to the ground. Frisk slammed the ground hard, stuffed the Snowman Piece into her mouth, and promptly got back up onto her feet. She ran at Asgore shouting, "I'll kill you in one hit!"
Several bones and spears were thrown at Frisk, damaging her and tripping her up. Frisk turned to see Undyne leaping through the air to come down hard on her, forcing Frisk to retreat away from Asgore to avoid a downward stab from the Captain of the Royal Guard.
Frisk turned fast to see a nervously sweating Dr. Alphys, and she promptly charged towards the timid scientist. Dr. Alphys was frozen in fear, but those fears were unfounded as several spears struck Frisk, knocking her down to her knees. Alphys promptly ran off, zapping Frisk with her remote as she retreated. Then Asgore quickly closed the distance enough to slam Frisk across the room with his trident. Frisk screamed out as flames and spears rained down upon her, leaving her clothing scorched and full of holes.
Toriel was the closest to Frisk as she unleashed a final gush of flames onto her, looking right through the human as she proceeded to burn her to crisp. Frisk gasped out in agony before falling flat on her face, the Real Knife still in her hand as she lay there. Then, Frisk SOUL appeared, trembled a bit, and then split in two.
Toriel closed her eyes a sighed in relief. "It's over," she said.
"But I refuse."
Toriel's eyes snapped open just in time to see Frisk SOUL repair itself and then go back into its body. With full HP once again, Frisk then sprang up and pounced towards Toriel, brandishing the Real Knife for the kill.
The cries of horror emitted by Asgore, Dr. Alphys, and Asriel were all drowned out by the sound of a Gaster Blaster's beam completely enveloping the human and tearing her SOUL in half.
Everyone turned to see Sans calmly standing nearby with his right arm raised.
"what?" he said as his Gaster Blaster continued to fire, "i'm not that lazy."
"But I refuse."
Everyone looked back again to see Frisk's SOUL repair itself again, and for her body to stand back up and regenerate.
"What the Hell!?" Undyne shouted in disbelief, "Is this kid some kind of demon?"
Frisk staggered forward, smirking as she raised the Real Knife and said, "I'm. . . the Angel. . . .from the Prophecy. Just like the plaques in Waterfall said. The Underground will go empty, because the Angel of Death will kill all the monsters!"
A fire ball struck Frisk across the face, and she quickly recovered to see that the one who had cast it was none other than Asriel.
"NO! I don't believe that!" he challenged, "That's not what the prophecy means. The Underground Angel is supposed to set us free!"
Frisk glared hatefully at the young Boss Monster and said, "Even when you're not a flower, you're still the most annoying thing in the Underground!"
". . .I wanted to kill everyone as Flowey . . .because I didn't have a SOUL," Asriel said with a frown, "What's your excuse!?"
Frisk gripped her Real Knife even tighter, and Asgore and Toriel positioned themselves between her and their son.
Toriel looked gravely at the murderous child and said, "If we cannot defeat this human right here and now, it will be the end."
Asgore frowned and nodded, "Then we will just have to keep fighting until she is defeated."
"B-but she's unkillable!" Dr. Alphys shouted fearfully.
Asriel stood nervously behind his parents, staring at Frisk and thinking. As he was deep in thought, the voice of Chara spoke to him.
"FIGHTING her does seem impossible . . . but maybe. . . with what little power you have left. . . you can do something else. . ."
And then, Chara revealed the answer to him.
"Frisk."
The child looked over to Asriel, shocked to see that he had pushed his way in between his parents, and was smiling at her.
"Despite everything, it's still you."
Frisk stared back at him in confusion, "Huh? What are you-?"
"Despite everything, it's still you," Asriel repeated, still smiling at her.
"No. . . no, it's not! You're wrong," Frisk hissed.
"Despite everything, it's still you."
"Sh-shut-up!" Frisk shouted back.
"You don't have to see everything," Asriel said, "You don't have to do everything. All you need to do is find your happy ending. You don't have to keep doing this."
"I physically can't go back!" Frisk argued bitterly, "Why do you think I'm even doing this? I have no choice!"
"You do now," Asriel said gently, "Chara and I. . .we get it. I think we're the only one who do get it. Maybe Sans too. . . The point is. . .you can end this. I know it's been so long and so much has happened. I know there's a lot that can't be undone anymore, but you can still make a choice. From what Chara told me. . .you can still win this. You can be. . .free."
Frisk bit her lip so hard it was a wonder that it didn't bleed. Her narrow, squinting eyes seemed to close even tighter. Then, she raised the Real Knife, and brought it down hard.
Alphys let out a gasp as she and everyone else looked in in disbelief as Frisk stabbed herself with her own weapon. Frisk fell forward and landed onto the Real Knife, and her SOUL appeared one final time, and then truly and finally shattered to pieces.
In the next instant, Frisk's ghostly spirit reappeared, sobbing quietly and rubbing her face.
"I'm. . .so. . .sorry. . ." the ghost wept.
"Okay! What the Hell just happened!?" Undyne shouted irately.
Chara's spirit reappeared out of Asriel, and she said, "When Frisk fell into the Underground, and landed on my grave, her SOUL somehow conjured up my spirit to assist her. As I gave her hints and advice, I could feel this. . . . other presence within her. A demonic entity, disconnected from what was going on in this world, and yet strongly influencing her actions, corrupting both her and myself with EXP and LOVE."
"the anomaly. . ." Sans mused thoughtfully.
Chara nodded and continued, "If Frisk had killed Asriel, or Flowey at the time, I'm sure that I would've fully turned into a demon myself. But these events were able to weaken the entity's control, and Frisk was finally able to break free of it."
Undyne looked unconvinced by this, and she said with a scowl, "Oh, sure. So the kid was just possessed the whole time! Let's all forgive her for her killing spree and be the best of friends! NOT! She's not blameless in all of this, and I refuse to treat her like she's the big victim."
Frisk's ghost sniffled and stopped rubbing her face to look up at Undyne and the other monsters. She nodded and said, "You're right, Undyne. I wasn't strong enough to fight against the influence. I allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of gaining EXP and LOVE. I don't deserve forgiveness. I deserve to be hated for what I've done."
Asriel looked at Frisk with sorrow in his eyes, and he said, "Frisk. . .you and I both had things go horribly wrong for us. Things we didn't want or plan for. Things we couldn't control. Whether it be getting controlled by something that doesn't value the lives of this world, or being reborn without a SOUL to feel love and compassion with. It both caused us to do so much evil. I guess I can understand everyone else not forgiving you, but I just have to forgive you, Frisk. I know what it feels like. Believe me, I do."
Frisk stared at Asriel in silence for a moment, then she said softly, "Asriel. . .I. . . " Frisk then suddenly became a bit bolder and said with certainty, "I'm gonna make things right."
Frisk cupped her ghostly hands, and the broken fragments of her SOUL reappeared in them. "If it really does take the SOUL of every monster in the Underground to equal one human SOUL. . . then I can use the pieces of my SOUL to bring all the monsters I've killed back to life!"
Frisk lowered her head, and she began to float up off of the ground. The pieces of her SOUL began to break apart into tiny specks, and as these sparkling specks floated out of her hands, each one suddenly burst into a fully formed monster SOUL. The newly created SOULs flew out of Frisk's hands and out of the castle, off to the Underground to reform the scattered dust of the slain monsters.
After several awe inspiring seconds of this, Frisk floated back down and looked at all the amazed monsters. Frisk nodded and said, "It's done. Everyone's alive again. And since I didn't kill the monsters Alphys evacuated into the True Lab, I had enough SOUL power to not only make sure everyone's bodies were put back together, but to also unfuse and give individual SOULS to the Amalgamates. They're all fixed now."
Dr. Alphys' jaw dropped.
Frisk smiled a bit, but it faded as quickly as it came as she said, "Even still, it doesn't excuse what I did. It's not up to me if any of you are willing to forgive, but that's okay. As long as I was able to make things right and fix the damage I caused, that's all that matters. I can rest easy, now that everyone is okay."
Frisk's spirit then appeared very, very tired, and she said, "I guess I've made a pretty lousy impression for humanity. . .and many humans can be nasty and selfish and cruel. . .but even more can be kind and understanding. I guess Chara and I were unlucky enough to be brought up around the bad ones. But after you break the Barrier, you can seek out the good ones. You can make a future where humans and monsters cna live together, especially now that seven of you have human SOULs inside you. With them guiding you, I know you can do it."
As Frisk began to slowly fade away, she gave a smile and said, "Don't kill. . . and don't be killed. . ."
And then she was gone.
"It's only fair," Chara remarked as Asgore placed Frisk's body into Chara's empty coffin, "I suppose I was the closest to her, after all."
Asgore placed the lid back onto the coffin and nodded somberly, "Yes, I suppose so. . ." He then took a deep breath and let it out. "So. . ." he said, "This is it. I had scarcely imagine it would play out like this, but at any rate, the day has finally come. Seven human SOULs."
Asriel shuddered, anticipation running through his body. He could feel Chara's presence, and it filled him with DETERMINATION. "I'm ready," he said.
Seven monsters with human SOULs inside of them all stood before the Barrier.
Undyne called forth a yellow spear.
Papyrus wielded a long purple bone.
Toriel's hands were aflame with green fire.
Asgore wielded a light blue trident.
Dr. Alphys' cellphone crackled with orange electricity.
Sans' Gaster Blaster floated nearby Sans as his eye glowed dark blue.
Asriel stood breathing heavily as Chara's SOUL glowed red inside of him.
"NOW!" Asgore shouted.
Undyne threw her spear.
Papyrus flung his bone.
Toriel threw a fire ball.
Asgore thrust forth his trident.
Dr. Alphys fired a lightning bolt.
Sans' Gaster Blaster fired.
Asriel just stood in place, memories he had wished for so long that he could just forget resurfacing like a flood. One such memory came to him, and as he was surrounded so closed by the power of the other SOULs, he found the DETERMINATION within him to muster up power he never knew he had, and he raised his arms and called out, "Shocker Breaker!"
A massive thunderbolt came down and stuck the Barrier, cracking it and splitting it apart like an egg.
Everyone ceased their attacks and looked ahead of them in disbelief.
"The barrier was destroyed," Chara said slowly, completely in awe.
Silence.
"SO THAT'S IT THEN, RIGHT?" Papyrus piped up, "IS IT TIME FOR THE HAPPY ENDING?"
With a flash, the spirits of the six children reappeared.
The girl in glasses smiled and said, "Not an ending. A beginning. For all of us."
"That's right," said the boy wearing the bandana, "Seeing as your old SOULs don't seem to be coming back, it looks like we'll all be sticking around for the rest of your natural lives."
The young ballet dancer giggled and said, "Looks like you haven't seen the last of us just yet!"
The boy in the cowboy hat gave a curt nod and said, "Uh-huh. It ain't fair that we all got cut down so quickly. So it's only fair we get at least a lifetime's worth of experience on this Earth before biting the dust- uh, pun not intended."
The boy gave Undyne a nervous look, but the Captain of the Guard shrugged it off and said, "Fufufufu, it's fine. If I'm gonna have to be around humans and get along with them, having one tag along with me all the time is probably a good thing. It'll help me accept that some humans are alright."
The ribbon wearing girl smiled and nodded, "Good Undyne. Baby steps."
The girl in the apron looked optimistic as she said, "It'll work out. The humans of today will love all of you. Humans love things that are strange, different, or a little weird. They'll be a few hiccups, but it'll all work out eventually."
"I CANNOT WAIT ANYMORE! THE HUMANS MUST MEET THE GREAT PAPYRUS RIGHT NOW!"
As Papyrus ran off through the exit with the ghost girl with the glasses in tow, Sans chuckled and said, "oh boy. i better make sure he stays out of trouble." He then proceeded to walk in the opposite direction in typical Sans fashion.
". . .are you taking a shortcut or something?" the tutu wearing ghost asked.
The rest of the ghosts, except for Chara, all returned into their new homes. Undyne picked up Alphys and carried her out through the exit, and Asgore and Toriel stood on either side of Asriel.
Toriel stared at Asgore with an icy glare and said, "We have a lot to discuss, don't we?"
Asgore hung his head in shame and nodded.
Toriel sighed and said, "I must admit, I made a few selfish decisions and horrible mistakes of my own. . . but I suppose we can discuss those later."
Asgore lifted his head, a glimmer of hope in his eyes.
"But for now . . ." Toriel said, and she managed a small smile as she took Asriel's right hand.
Asgore smiled back and took Asriel's left hand.
Asriel smiled at both of his parents, and at Chara's spirit floating above him.
Chara smiled back as well, and it wasn't a smile to hide some deep seated pain or trauma, but a true, honest, sincere smile of joy, peace, and belonging.
The Dreemur family finally stepped out into the Sun.