Chapter 8: A New Wish
"You can use any weapons to defeat me," Stephen said to his little sister and motioned with his hands to show a variety of weapons that she wasn't sure she wanted to know how he got them, although she had a pretty good idea. "You can try any one of them."
The ten-year-old lifted her head. "No," she said firmly. "I'm not going to be like you."
"You always wanted to be like me, Frisk," he said, giving her a smile, but it was a cold smile, unlike the one she always remembered him to have. "Remember? Wanting to be just like your big brother when you grew up?"
Tears sprang into her eyes. Yes, she had wanted to be just like him because she had looked up to him. When she was struggling with schoolwork, he was there to help her work out the problems and help her better understand them. When she had been bullied, he stepped in to give the bullies a firm talking to and he had even taught her basketball as he was on the basketball team and she had a desire to play basketball like him, to join the girls' basketball team when she got older. He was like the heroes of many video games and stories they had both played and read together.
"You do remember, don't you, little monkey?"
That nickname. His special nickname for her because she loved to climb trees or pretend she was swinging from vines like a monkey. Frisk felt her tears run down her face before she looked up, seeing her brother watching her and she wiped at her face. "I do remember," she said. "That was before you disappeared."
"It can be just like old times again, little sister, if you don't want to fight," Stephen said, his voice coaxing. "We can both leave here and you'll have me there as your big brother once more. After all, you wished for me to come home, didn't you?"
"How did you know?" She asked as she hadn't told anyone her wish.
Stephen gestured to Gaster. "He showed me," he said. "You didn't think I miss my little sister's tenth birthday, did you?"
Frisk bit her lip. "But you did," she said. "Because you weren't there."
"Ah, but you can fix that, little sister," he said, holding out a hand. "We can leave together and go home. That is what you want, isn't it? To return home to Mom and Dad? They'll be happy to see me now."
She glanced around at the monsters, who looked very pensive and Sans looked at her sadly, but he stepped closer, placing a hand on her shoulder. "It's your choice, kiddo," he said softly.
Her choice. The young girl felt resolve fill her. She chose to free the monsters and she was going to do that because it was the right thing to do. She glared at her brother. "No," she said. "Mom and Dad won't be happy to see the monster you've become."
He looked at her. "Such harsh words," he said. "You never liked harsh words."
"That was before you changed," she said, getting angrier. "Why did you leave us? Why did you leave me? You promised you'd never leave your little sister or our family! So why did you?"
Stephen smiled. "Because my eyes got opened after the day I was injured," he said.
Frisk looked confused. "What?" She asked.
"Mom and Dad didn't tell you?" He asked before chuckling. "I was in basketball practice when I crashed into the bleachers when I wasn't looking. Got a pretty good concussion after that."
She was stunned and listened as he continued. "I was given painkillers, but they were very strong, and as a result, I couldn't play for a while," he said. "Upset, I walked up to Mt. Ebbot and fell into here, the Underground. The magic here…it filled me and I grew stronger and was healed, but…it was so wonderful that I wanted more and the painkillers made me more susceptible to the magic, which I drank up and became stronger than any of the monsters down here."
The ten-year-old shook her head, understanding the full concept of what her brother was saying. "You abused the medicine given to you to help," she said sadly.
"Oh, it helped, Frisk. It helped me become the Master of the Underground, but there are three monsters missing. Two actually, as one of the missing ones is a human like us and to rule all the Underground, I need them as my prisoners and servants."
He looked at her. "You can help me, little sister," he said. "If you show me where they are, then we can go home together."
She fell into thought. To free them all, she'd have to fight her brother and defeat him. For her brother and her to go home, she'd have to betray her friends. She suddenly remembered something Stephen had told her. She had asked why most of a person's friends didn't stick around if their friend was being hurt and he had told her because they had betrayed their 'friend' by deciding not to be there for them and he had told her to never betray her friends. If she stuck with them, they'd be with her all the way and would remember her if she ever needed help, because she had proven to be a true friend.
A true friend.
Frisk had gained friends in these friendly monsters, who had helped her and kept her safe when Stephen had been searching for her and they were no doubt keeping him from finding Asriel, Chara, and Muffet. She shook her head. No, she couldn't betray them. She wouldn't betray them.
She glared up at her brother. "The Stephen that was my older brother wouldn't hurt anyone nor would he encourage me to betray my friends," she said. "You're not my brother. You've become a monster and I won't let you hurt these kind people anymore."
He glared back. "So you chose monsters over your family?" He asked.
"No. I chose friends over a monster," she said firmly. "I wish Mom and Dad could see the monster you've become."
Stephen let out a laugh that was nothing like the laughter she remembered him to have. "That will never happen," he said, his hands starting to glow.
Gaster, however, heard Frisk's wish and drew himself up a little straighter, using his power to make a window in time appear in front of Stephen, who looked at it to see his parents looking at him in shock and horror. He jumped in shock and looked horrified before glaring at Gaster, who smiled a little before he swayed, his power nearly completely drained. Frisk looked at her brother. "You won't get away with what you've done," she said.
He glared at her. "But you can't send me to jail, little sister," he said. "The human authorities have no jurisdiction down here."
"No, but that can be changed," said a new voice as Muffet appeared with Chara and Asriel behind her. And with them was Twister, the small Gaster Blaster Sans had given Frisk as a gift. Frisk smiled at that and the three newcomers smiled at her.
"You didn't betray us or our family," said Asriel.
"Are you really gonna get us free?" Chara asked.
The ten-year-old nodded. "I promised I would and I'm not going back on that promise. My big brother taught me to never back out of a promise," she said.
She then turned to Stephen. "But this boy is not the older brother I remember," she said. "He's nothing like him."
Stephen glared at her and raised his hands, but she slipped something on her hands and raised them. A shimmering green shield appeared around the monsters and two human girls while the young man who had been ruling them so cruelly attacked, but his attacks couldn't get past the shield. Undyne smiled at seeing Frisk using her gift to help them all.
The battle surprisingly didn't last long as Stephen collapsed and tried to weakly get back up, but couldn't. Seeing this, Frisk lowered the shield and went up to the young man that had once been her older brother and she saw he was breathing raggedly. Toriel, also seeing this, stepped forward and pulled Frisk to her. "I'm afraid it's too late to save him, Frisk," she said softly.
The child nodded understandingly, seeing Stephen's body go still before a bright light suddenly flashed and his body was gone. Not only that, the barrier was also gone, as if it was never there. "Where's the barrier?" Frisk asked.
"Stephen was the barrier," Asgore explained, holding out a paw to remove the energy-draining chains from his friends and fellow monsters. "We didn't realize it right away, but he used some of his new magic to reinforce the barrier, but when he did, it drained him as the magic was connected to him."
"Too much magic drain and he wouldn't make it," Sans explained.
The ten-year-old sighed. "So, my brother really is gone," she said softly.
A pair of orange arms wrapped around her. "I'm so sorry, Frisk," said Papyrus.
She returned the hug. "It's okay," she said softly, a small tear escaping her eyes. "There was nothing else to be done."
The others nodded sadly. "Do you think he's facing justice wherever he is?" Asriel asked softly.
"No doubt," Grillby said quietly.
"And we're free of him," Chara said, but it was more of a sad revelation as she looked up at Frisk, who sighed.
"I don't know what I'm going to tell Mom and Dad," she said sadly. "But…they need to know."
"I wonder if they did know about his injury," Undyne said. "But…maybe didn't know that it was becoming worse with his abusing the medicine he had been given."
Frisk nodded before Papyrus set her down and she motioned them all to follow her. "Come on," she said. "I'll take you all to my house."
"On the surface?" Toriel asked hopefully.
The young girl nodded and smiled. "We've got a really big house," she said. "Plenty of room for you guys too."
Mettaton picked her up now and hugged her. "Frisk, you've helped us cling to our precious hope to one day be free and have shown us mercy," he said. "If your parents are just like you, then they've raised a wonderful daughter."
"And make us want to meet them," Asgore said. "To thank them, because their little girl saved us all."
Frisk nodded, but then looked sad, thinking about her brother. "I'm sorry for all this," she said.
"Hey, it's not your fault, Frisk," said Sans. "It's no one's fault. And we'll reassure your parents of that too."
"Yes," said Gaster. "For now, let's get our little heroine back home."
So, Frisk has beaten her brother, whose head injury and pain medication caused him to be mentally unwell. That does happen sometimes, sad to say.
Next chapter: Frisk's parents meet the monsters of the Underground. Will they accept them? Stay tuned to find out. :)
And please leave a review, but no flames!
GoldGuardian2418
