Dungeons and Darkners

Part 1: Prologue

If the children in the room could ask one thing, "where?" was not the only valid question any of them could pick, even if it was almost all of the time the first one to pop into anyone's head in these kinds of situations. "When?" could've sufficed as well. Same with "how?" or "why?". You could even sneak in a few "what?" in there as well if you were curious enough.

But if any of the three children would've asked each other "who?" at this moment in time, they would undoubtedly get the most surprising, yet confusing answers, for, besides their sweater, t-shirt or hoodie uncannily sharing the same exact pattern and colour scheme, that is a blue and pink stripe, you could barely guess the children had any connection in the first place.

The youngest one of them was just practically a toddler and unmistakably Asian, with a large, curious smile on her face of a naive and lighthearted kid and wore a long-sleeved t-shirt with the aforementioned pattern. She had darkish skin, long, fluffy brown hair that seemed to not care about being one bit clean and incredibly thick eyebrows. She sat near the centre of the strange room like she was a young leader of the other two.

To her left was a young boy, the only boy in the room. He was slightly older than the girl in the centre, yet still clearly a kid who looked to be around the age of ten. His face was clearly nordic and seemed to express immense shyness, and his skin was unusually yellow. He wore a wool sweater with strangely enough the same pattern as the last girl and had a bowl haircut, an indicator of someone who lived in a mostly fine and polite household.

And opposite the young boy stood the last one of the small group. It was an older girl of a mixed-race, part Hispanic and part Asian, and with long dark hair that complemented her brownish skin. She was in fact barely a kid like the other two, being in her late teens and much closer to being an adult. Her clothing consisted of dirty, torn blue jeans, black boots and a hoodie with the exact same colour scheme as the last two. From her expression, she seemed to indicate confusion, yet intrigue, in a way like she wasn't sure what was happening but had accepted the situation as is.

In short, besides the aforementioned matching outfits, they all looked like complete, unrelated strangers at first glance. But as the trio would soon realize, that despite being from completely different ethnicity and backgrounds, they were all very close in a cosmic sense of things. In fact, they were perhaps, unknowingly, more close to each other than any family member from their own worlds.

At the moment, the three children found themselves standing alone together in a strange room that gave out no sound or stir. In front of the trio stood the only object in the room, and it was what they could only tell was a circular table. Or was it square-shaped? Or triangular? Strangely enough, despite all of them standing straight in front of it, no-one could tell what shape it was for certain. Not because it was formed or built weird, but because it seemed to break any natural laws at will. From one perspective, they were just a few feet apart and could whisper easily to one another, and if they weren't looking at it, their arms could reach the end of the table without much difficulty. But somehow, if you put almost all of your focus and thoughts on just the table it seemed to stretch, and stretch to the point it was much, much larger than the room they were in.

Whatever was up with it, the trio of kids found themselves somehow unable to care for its strangeness. They all gave some thoughts to it, but none of them was particularly bothered by it as if this cosmic table was just the most average thing in the world.

As they all pondered their strange situation, the younger girl gave out a small cough for attention and the other two stopped with all their ponderings and theory crafting and turned to her. The boy watched her nervously, while the older girl watched in excitement as the little one began to speak.

"Heroes," the young girl began, sounding as authoritative as she could for what was pretty much a toddler. "You've been brought here for a good reason, for you are now the heroes of an epic quest. A quest for magic and light and dark. Now, before we begin."

She picked up a few dozen dices from her pockets and threw them onto the table.

"Roll your classes!" she said excitedly.

"Wait, roll our classes?" the older girl said and grinned in confusion. "No offence, but I don't think that is how it works?"

"Umm does here," the young, Asian girl said shily.

"Alright kiddo," the older one began, trying as hard as she could to sound nice. "It's nice that you are trying your own things here, but the rules say that we aren't supposed to pick our classes randomly like that. We pick a class and race and then we roll our stats on a bunch of, y'know, bonus stuff."

Out of the three of them, the boy seemed to be the first to have the sense that something was the matter.

"Hey umm… what's going on?" he asked nervously.

"But I like it better when it's like this" the young girl said, clearly not noticing the boy or his concern.

"Alright, you might prefer it like this but some of us like it better when we follow the rules ok?" the older girl said, trying to sound as gently as she could to someone much younger than her.

"No seriously," the boy said, starting to sound scared. "Who are you people and w-where am I?"

"Hey, can you relax boy?" the older girl said, giving him some finally needed attention. "We are trying to start a role-playing game here or something."

"More specifically," the young girl began. "We're playing Dungeons and Darkners."

"Dungeons and Darkners?" the older girl said and chuckled. "Don't you mean-"

"It's a version I made myself," the young one said. "I've played it a lot before."

"Oh, so it's homebrew or whatever," the older girl said. "Sorry, don't really know the exact term for it. Anyway, why didn't you tell us at the start?"

"But I did though," the younger one replied. "I am sure I did."

"Nah I'm pretty sure you didn't," the older one replied.

"Umm, why am I here?" the boy asked. "And where is… here?"

The older girl sighed.

"Alright can you stop joking now?" she said to the boy. "No offence, but you're kinda getting annoying."

"I'm serious," the boy said, starting to sound frustrated. "I'm not joking."

"Wait, you seriously don't remember?" the older girl asked and chuckled.

"Umm do you?" the boy asked.

"Of course I do," the older girl said with confidence. "Why wouldn't I? I came here from…"

Complete silence filled the room as the older girl abruptly stopped in her words and stared at the boy, looking utterly baffled.

"Uhh wow," the older girl began. "That's uhh...

She turned towards the younger girl in the centre, clearly feeling some sort of anxiety.

"Uhh kiddo?" she asked, sounding almost as nervous as the boy. "Little help, please? Misses… umm, whatever your name is?"

"Frisk," the girl answered. "I am Frisk Kikyama."

The older girl stared at her like she just suddenly grew a second mouth.

"Uhhh…" she began

"Wait, did you just say your name was Frisk?" the boy asked, sounding as shocked as the older girl. "But that's my name. Frisk Bergman"

"Oh cool," the younger girl, that is Frisk Kikiyama, said cheerfully. "I've never met someone with the same name as me. We should be besties."

"Uhh, I hate to make it sound weirder," the older girl said. "But Frisk is also my nickname."

"Ooohhh, two people sharing my name," Kikiyama said.

"Wait, so we are all three called Frisk in this room?" the boy, Bergman, said in shock. "That… that can't be a coincidence."

"Yeah this is like super weird," the older girl said. "Then there is our outfits. Like I'm not sure you guys have noticed but we are all literally sharing the same colour scheme and pallet. Down to the exact stripes."

With that said, the other two Frisks stared down at their clothes and immediately looked up, the young girl, Kikiyama, looking excited while the boy, Bergman, looked confused and anxious.

"Woah, matching outfits," Frisk Kikiyama said.

"Oh god," Frisk Bergman said and put his hand on his chest. "What is happening here?"

"This feels seriously messed up," the older girl said, on the verge of panicking.

"Hey, hey, no need to be so scared you two," Frisk Kikiyama and smiled. "Why won't we just play some roleplaying games to pass the time?"

"How are you so calm about this," the older one asked her. "You're like 6. You should be freaking out. Wait a minute. Are you even human? Oh god am I finally dead for good? Is this some sort of test?"

"No, it's just a dream silly," Kikiyama said. "Isn't it obvious."

The older girl looked at her for a good moment as she seemed to take in what she said. After a few seconds, she sighed in relief.

"Oh, OHHH that explains so much," she said and smiled. "Of course it's so simple. I'm dreaming."

"You're dreaming?" Bergman asked. "Umm, I am pretty sure I am the one dreaming, and you're just fake."

"Are you calling me fake?" the older girl asked and chuckled. "Huh, didn't know my subconscious was such an arse."

"Who are you calling arse?" Bergman called back.

"Mmmm, Nah, I'm pretty sure I'm the one who's dreaming," Kikiyama said.

"Oh great," the older girl said sarcastically. "There's two of you."

"Wait," Bergman began with a hint of realization. "What if none of us is real. Oh god."

He put his hand on his chest again and seemed to be sweating.

"Uhh kiddo?" the older girl asked, no longer sounding as cocky as she noticed the boys growing anxiety.

"Oh god, what if I'm just someone else's dream?" he asked himself. "What if all my memories are fake? What if-"

"Hey, hey calm down," the older girl said. "Look, maybe we are all right and this is some sort of shared dream or something."

"Yeah, I've read about that before," Kikiyama said. "There are a bunch of interesting books about it in fact. You see, the idea of dreams and how they function is actually a very debated subject among scientists and magicians and such. Some think it's merely a figment of the brain going to sleep or rebooting while others, mostly mystics and mages, believe its us tapping into the cosmos and the realm between realms."

Bergman and the older girl Frisk stared the young-looking girl in shock as if she suddenly turned into a completely different person after that insight.

"What the…" Bergman gasped.

"Wait, are you a six-year-old or a thirty-six-year-old?" the older girl asked.

"I dunno," Kikiyama said and shrugged. "Don't even remember what I just said."

The older girl stared at her for a while before shrugging.

"Alright, whatever the case," she began. "I think the best thing we should do is find out why we are here. If there is reason that is."

"Umm, aren't we waiting for someone?" Kikiyama said curiously.

"Really?" the older girl said. "How would you know?"

The young girl shrugged.

"I dunno," she answered.

"W-waiting for whom?" the boy asked nervously.

"Dunno," Kikiyama said. "I just know we are waiting for someone."

"Do you have like anything we can base it on or…?" the older girl pried.

"Mmm, all I know is that they maybe don't exist after all," Kikiyama said.

"Ok, then what are we doing here?" Bergman asked.

"I've told you," Kikiyama answered. "We are waiting for someone."

"But… you just said that they might not exist after all," Bergman said in confusion.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean that we can't wait for them," Kikiyama said.

"Hang on, are you saying we are possibly waiting for a person that doesn't exist?" the older girl asked. "How does that even work?"

"I dunno," Kikiyama said.

The older Frisk gave out a short sigh.

"Whatever," she said. "This is a dream so I don't know why I'm even questioning this."

"Ok, but what are we supposed to do until that person, who may or may not exist, appears?" Bergman asked.

"Great question," Kikiyama said. "And the answer is…"

She suddenly pulled a large, cardboard box with the Deltarune symbol on it.

"Dungeons and Darkners!" she exclaimed.

"Uhh, you had that underneath this… strange table thing all this time?" the older girl asked.

"Yeah, I brought it with me," Kikiyama answered.

"I-into the dream," Bergman asked. "Is that even possible?"

"Dunno, but I did," Kikiyama said and smiled.

"Wait, didn't you just say before that you made this game on your own?" Bergman asked, sounding confused like usual. "Then why is it in like, a box? Did you make the box as well."

"Dunno, I always felt like it was in a box," she answered. "Or at least that's how I always imagined it."

"So it's not homebrewed or whatever then?" the older girl asked.

"Hmm, I guess not, maybe?" Kikiyama answered. "I dunno this is all weird to me."

"You can say that again," the older girl said. "Anyway, I guess we are playing. So you're the DM?"

"Uhh, what is a 'DM'?" Kikiyama asked genuinely.

The older girl looked at her as if she just grew a third mouth.

"Wait, have you ever played a game like this before?" the older girl asked.

"Mmm, not properly no," she answered. "I always just made up my own rules. And I was always alone, never with friends so this is new to me."

"Soooo, you were just playing like with toys?" the older girl began. "But wait. In that case, how are you going to explain the rules to… umm… the boy over there."

"You know I have a name," Bergman muttered.

"I was expecting you to explain it," Kikiyama said. "Since you, y'know, seem to know these games better than me."

"Oh, uh," the older girl said, seeming blown back by that comment. "Y-yeah I am totally an expert in role-playing-games."

Bergman looked at her suspiciously.

"You've, uh, never played an RPG before have you?" he asked her.

"Pfft, of course, I have," the older girl said and smiled awkwardly. "Plenty of times."

The other two stared at her in doubt.

"Fine, I've played like once," the older girl confessed. "For about 10 minutes. 5 minutes. Ok, it was for 1 minute. Alright, fine I've barely played an RPG. I just… know some things about them in passing alright?"

"So none of us in here have played one before?" Bergman asked. "Uh, should we even play then?"

"Why not?" Kikiyama said and smiled. "I do know some things about role-playing games and miss… umm, older Frisk over there knows some things as well."

Kikiyama turned towards the older one with curiosity in her face.

"Umm, should I call you something else or…?" she asked.

"Just call me Francisca," older Frisk said. "That's my actual name. Well, it's Francisca Ezperansa Montgommero if you wanna be hardcore, but Francisca is just fine."

"Alright, Francisca, nice to meet you," Kikiyama said and smiled cheerfully.

"God, tiny Asian me is so cute," the older Frisk, or rather Francisca, muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Bergman asked her.

"Oh nothing," Francisca lied. "Nothing at all."

She turned to the young girl, seemingly flustered.

"So I'm guessing we're just making up the rules as we go?" she asked and turned to Bergman. "You in kid?"

The boy became thoughtful for a short while.

"Why not," he said.

"Ok, then, let's start!" Kikiyama exclaimed. "Let's go to an adventure!"

With that, she began to tear open the large box.

The trio stood there in embarrassing silence for a while as the unpacking turned to be unfortunately difficult for a small girl with tiny hands and a body literally smaller than the box itself.

"Uhh, little help please?" she finally asked after an awkward silence.

"Oh, sure thing," Francisca answered.

"Umm ok I guess," Bergman said.

Author's note:

So this is a short crossover fic I've had brewing in my mind a bit. (Although, if my definition of short includes what might be the entire Darkworld part of Deltarune Chapter 1 from start to finish, plus a few bonus touches here and there, I might have to work on my vocabulary a bit)
It came about when I was thinking one day about how many artists and writers have such wide interpretation of what should be in most fiction be the most basic character. The main protagonist. Unlike most named protagonists in any fiction, Frisk themselves has no true interpretation in their backstory or even character, which might come across in many cases as a negative, but in my opinion, is a brilliant part of Undertale, a game which I personally feel a big theme is "interpretation."
Frisk can practically be anyone or anything. They could be a boy, a girl or even genderless. They could be young, a teen or a 70-year-old Asian midget. So with this enigma of a protagonist, there is obviously room for interpretation and speculation, and what would be greater speculation but a crossover? (Yeah, that sounded better in my head)

So in non-canonical special of The Shattering AU, Frisk meets Frisk and Frisk in this crossover between my Francisca, Katelynnthegs Frisk "Bambi" Kikiyama, and Killb94s Frisk "Emmet" Bergman. I picked these two because they are two of my favorite fan artists from the-cursed-land-that-no-mortal-shall-dare-wander-lest-they-lose-all-hope-for-mankind, AKA Deviantart. Ok, one of them is a favorite artist of mine. The other one I hat- uhh, I mean lightly tolerate- I mean greatly tolerate. I'm gonna leave you guessing which one that is. (hint, their username starts with a K)

And why the premise of them playing an RPG in general? Well it's based on this lovely art by Katelynntheg katelynntheg/art/ut-and-dr-The-Two-Storytellers-796849543

Speaking of, here are the Frisks in question:

Frisk "Bambi" Kikiyama
katelynntheg/art/Lookit-This-Tiny-Tiny-Chibi-Child-800510880

Frisk "Emmet" Bergman
killb94/art/The-Bergmans-811107324

There is no art of my Francisca unfortunately (god, it feels creepy to refer to her as "my Francisca") but I would love to see some art of her.