Is this how our story will end...

With the fallen child leaving friends?

"heya. is anyone there...? well, i'll just leave a message..."

"so... it's been a while. the queen returned, and is now ruling over the underground. she's instated a new policy... all the humans who fall here will not be treated as enemies... but as friends. it's probably for the best, anyway. all the human souls that fell down here just seem to have... disappeared. i tried calling all their phones, but they wouldn't even let me leave a voice message. this is the only one that's worked so far. this is the stick kid's phone, right? heh. rumours are saying everyone died except one human, and that one human managed to escape. i guess that must be you, kid... whoever you are."

"so yeah, people are pretty heartbroken over the king, and while things are, well... looking grim for our freedom, the queen's trying her best not to let us give up hope. so, uh, hey... if we're not giving up down here... don't give up wherever you are, ok? who knows how long it will take... but we will get out of here."

"SANS! WHO ARE YOU TALKING TO?"

"oh, nobody."

"WHAT?! NOBODY?! CAN I TALK TO THEM TOO?!"

"here, knock yourself out."

"WAIT A SECOND... I RECOGNIZE THIS NUMBER! IT'S THE HUMAN THAT DOESN'T TALK! OR IS IT THAT OTHER ONE WITH THE RIBBON? ISN'T HER NAME PERCY OR SOMETHING?"

"nope, it's the human that doesn't talk."

"... WHAT'S THEIR NAME AGAIN?"

"they don't talk, they never told us."

"OH RIGHT. ATTENTION, HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... AM NOW CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD! IT'S EVERYTHING I'VE EVER DREAMED OF... EXCEPT, INSTEAD OF FIGHTING, WE JUST WATER FLOWERS. SO THAT'S EVER-SO-SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT. AND, WE'RE HELPING DR. ALPHYS WITH HER RESEARCH! SHE'S GONNA FIND A WAY TO GET US OUT OF HERE. UNDYNE IS HELPING HER TOO! THOUGH, TO BE HONEST, HER METHOD OF HELPING... SEEMS KIND OF... EXPLOSION-INDUCING. BUT I THINK ALPHYS LIKES HAVING HER AROUND. UH OH!"

"Hey! What are you up to, punk? Ngahhh!"

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE PHONE."

"Hey! Who's in charge here?"

"ME."

"Oh... yeah, that's right! I quit my job as leader of the Royal Guard. Actually, since we won't be fighting anymore... the Royal Guard totally disbanded. There's, uh, only one member now."

"BUT HE'S EXTREMELY GOOD."

"Yeah! He is! C'mere!"

"PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON."

"Anyways, now I'm working as Alphy's lab assistant. We're gonna find a way out of this dump once and for all! Oh, yeah, and I'm a gym teacher at the queen's new school. Did you know I can bench-press seven children? Awesome, right? I bet I could totally bench press you and all your friends!

"... Hey. I'm sorry about what happened with ASGORE... and your friends. You were just doing what you had to. It's not your fault he... ah, darn it. I miss the big guy. I bet you miss your friends. Thinking about it, so do I... come on, Undyne! Snap out of it!

"Uh, I guess I'll tell you how Alphys is doing. Well, she's the same as ever. Maybe a little more reclusive than normal. Seems like something's really bothering her... but she can get through it! I'm there supporting her! That's what friends are for, right?!

"... hey, wherever you are... I hope it's better than here. It took a lot of sacrifice for you to get there... so, wherever you are... you have to try to be happy, okay?! I know what happened to your friends, but you have to try to stay positive... for our sakes! We'll feel better knowing our trouble was worth it. We're still all with you! Everyone is! Even the queen!

"... HEY! WAIT a second! TORIEL! TORIEL! Do you wanna...? ... heh, she says she's busy."

"BUT IF SHE KNEW WHO WE WERE TALKING TO..."

"we wouldn't get the phone back for at least a few hours."

"WE HAVE THE MERCY TO SPARE YOU FROM HER!"

"But call back anytime, okay?! She'd love to talk!"

"oh, whoops. this thing's almost outta batteries. so, hate to cut this short, but... be seeing you, ok, buddy?"

"BYE BYE FOR NOW!"

"See ya, punk!"

Frisk gazed into the distance. They were sitting on a cliff, staring at the sky. It was bright orange and pink. Frisk could see a silhouette of a city and the sun's reflection on the sea. It was beautiful, Frisk wouldn't lie.

They gazed at their phone in their hand. They had listened to the whole voice message, and yet didn't feel like talking to anyone. They continued staring at the phone. They felt uneasy. And almost... hopeless. Despite everything, they were still alive. They had survived something seven times more powerful than them. They'd survived Asgore when everyone else fell.

Frisk felt sick. They thought about their friends. A memory flashed in front of their eyes...

"Uh... hi," Faye greeted quietly, smiling at Frisk. They were walking on a grey path. At the end was a grey gate with a weird symbol on it. The other kids were yelling and arguing in the background. "I didn't say it before, but... thanks for saving me. It was really nice of you." Frisk nodded. They faced the grey gate. "Um... I kinda like that you don't talk. I mean, I'm usually the quiet one... but, um, now I'm not alone!" She gave the child a small smile. "You don't have to if you don't want to... but do you want to be friends?"

The child looked thoughtful for a moment. They smiled and nodded.

Frisk glanced at their hand. Why didn't they reset? They just felt... empty. The end didn't matter to them anymore. It always happened like this. People died no matter what.

There was no happy ending, even here...

The eighth human, suddenly, gave Brayden a big hug. He wasn't always a hug fan. But he could make an exception this one time. He let the eighth human hug him. They were pretty nice after all. They were many things.

Brayden laughed good-naturedly this time. "Thanks. Hey," He stared at them. "I'm sorry 'bout all that stuff before. You're not that bad. You saved me a hundred million times."

Yet Frisk couldn't help enjoying themself sometimes. They got attached to people. They fell in love. And they wanted to protect others too.

Melody hadn't felt like this for a long time. She had been so worried and upset for the whole journey. What if they would never escape? What would happen to her friends? It took all the energy she had to keep herself upright. But not just here, but on the surface too. It was hard to be the honest one. Melody realized that life was worth living if there were moments like this. The eighth human smiled at her. She found herself smiling back. They knew more than anyone how to make a scene.

Frisk came here for a reason. A reason just for themself. Yet, they didn't want the journey to be so solitary...

"Chara is the one who has something horrible planned for this timeline, not the nameless one," Percy pointed out. "The nameless one is here to stop them." He had a small smile on his face. "Their friendship proved that to me."

Frisk's blush grew.

And they didn't want to say goodbye so soon. Not when all their friends meant to much to them.

"I'm... I'm so sorry..." Cody sobbed, his hands wet. "I don't know what's getting into me."

The eighth human gently squeezed his shoulder. They had a kind smile on their face.

"Thanks," Cody replied, smiling back. "You're a great friend."

Frisk had to do something. They couldn't sit here and cry.

There had to be a happy ending... somewhere.

Frisk nodded, shrugging. Clover grinned at them.

"So you'll do it?" she asked.

Frisk nodded, confirming their answer. Yet on the inside, they felt guilty again. They were straight up lying about all of this. No one was going to the surface ever again.

Clover patted their shoulder.

"Thanks, kiddo," she said. "You're the best." She put her arm around their shoulder. "Now we've got a world to save."

Frisk walked back into the Underground. Flowey appeared before them.

"Back so soon?" he asked. Frisk ignored him. They walked past him and held out their hand. Two options appeared:

RESET ... CONTINUE

"Hee hee hee," Flowey giggled. "I knew you wouldn't be able to resist that drive for long." He paused, then suddenly held up a weak vine. "Wait, kid."

Frisk looked at him.

"... do you really wanna reset?" he asked. "I mean, sure, your human friends are dead, but they're dead in every other timeline. How about you live up to that cowgirl's promise and go to the surface, get seven souls - maybe their souls if you can find them - and shatter the Barrier? Then, you can live a happy life on the surface with your monster friends! There'll be no trouble with the player - you'll just get to live peacefully at last. That's what you want, right?"

Frisk paused. They did like that idea. They had always wanted a peaceful ending with their monster friends. Most of the time, because of the player, Frisk had only got that ending for, at most, a few months. And then it was all gone again.

But here... it could last forever.

"What's not to LOVE, kid?" Flowey asked, appearing in front of them. "Resetting will only make you happy - and that's in no way guaranteed. If you continue... you can bring everyone home at last. You'll make them all happy - and that is guaranteed." His smile darkened. "Forget your plan, kid. It probably won't even work. Just stick to the good old-fashioned happy ending for monsters. Your human friends will live on in memory. Don't cry. Just continue."

Frisk held their hand over the CONTINUE option, trembling.

"Everyone will be so grateful," Flowey grinned. "Trust me."

Frisk turned around and gave Flowey a sad smile.

And, suddenly, with no comment, they RESET.