The Hotlands
The road across the Hotlands was dusty and winding. Frisk crossed a wooden bridge and looked down, then wished she hadn't – a mile below was a lake of red hot molten rock. On a small island, in the middle of the lake, was one of the thermoelectric generators, chugging and pumping and emitting steam. Frisk wiped sweat from her forehead and rubbed her eyes. The heat haze was making everything look blurry.
Further along the way, guards 01 and 02 were blocking the elevator. They chased Frisk half-heartedly, then gave up when 02's armor made him overheat.
Frisk outran them easily. When she looked over her shoulder, she saw that both of them had taken off their armor and were trying desperately not to stare at each other. She smiled to herself and continued across the red wasteland.
Alphys' laboratory was the only landmark. It towered over Frisk, brilliant white, several storeys high.
The door wasn't locked, so Frisk strolled in. The air conditioning was blissful.
She made her way to Alphys' workstation. She knew the location of each camera and considered sneaking up on Alphys by staying out of sight. No: Alphys was shy and anxious, she wouldn't like that. She waited for Alphys to come to greet her.
Frisk was struck with a pang of guilt as Alphys walked up to her. She remembered looking through that camera after murdering Undyne… seeing Alphys pawing at the screen, her face contorted with grief. Watching as Alphys sobbing into her keyboard. The knowledge that Alphys would commit suicide rather than live in a timeline where Undyne was dead.
Alphys.. I inflicted so much pain that you chose to end your life, thought Frisk.
Something of her guilt must have shown on her face. It made Alphys even more awkward than usual.
"H-h-hiya! I'm Dr. Alphys. I'm Asgore's royal scientist! Ummm..."
Frisk respectfully shook Alphys' yellow paw. Then her eye was drawn to Alphys' workstation, where three screens were displaying the views from Alphys' surveillance cameras. Frisk could see herself from no less than seven different angles.
Alphys started blushing.
"Erm.. since you stepped out of the Ruins, I've.. um.. been observing your journey through my console. Your fights.. your friendships. Everything!"
"Even my fight with Undyne..?"
"Yes! You were incredible! D-don't worry, she's ok. It was nice of you to give her some water. Ehehehe.. last week, Undyne was complaining that she wanted a real challenge, that there was no-one strong enough to fight her.. um.. so she got what she wanted!"
Alphys' blush was becoming rosier and rosier. It was spreading across her nose.
"Watching someone on a screen really makes you root for them. S-so, ahh, now I want to help you!"
"I don't really need anything. I just wanted to meet you!" said Frisk.
Alphys was painfully shy now. Her whole face was red. "Y-y-you wanted to meet me?! Ooh..! Umm.. um…"
Frisk affirmed that she liked and admired Alphys. Alphys was too tongue-tied to say anything.
"How about watching some anime together?" suggested Frisk, "Or showing me your collection of figurines?"
Alphys put on a few episodes of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie and they watched it together. They shared some bright pink ice cream. Eventually, Frisk fell asleep in Alphys' lap.
Alphys prepared a lunch of instant ramen for both of them. She cleverly used a pair of wooden sticks to grasp the noodles and lift them to her mouth. Frisk had never used them before, and she gave up after a few tries. Alphys carefully picked up a few strands of noodles and held them to Frisk's mouth. Frisk slurped the noodles, flecking them both with droplets of soup. The taste was unlike anything she had ever eaten before, and absolutely delicious. Frisk recalled one timeline where she'd found ramen before, and tried to eat it dry, but that hadn't gone well..
Luckily, Alphys seemed charmed rather than disgusted by Frisk's messy eating. She dipped her chopsticks into the pot and offered another mouthful of noodles to Frisk.
Frisk was surprised that Alphys could look so calm and motherly. Alphys was awkward and nervous in most social situations, but when she was doing something she knew and liked, her mind settled into calm focus. Frisk had seen it several times before, when Alphys was writing a program on her computer or building robot parts.
Flirt? Why not?
She wriggled into Alphys' lap and allowed Alphys to feed her.
After lunch, they discussed Frisk's plans to travel to the Core.
"Using my knowledge, I can easily guide you through the Hotlands. I know a way to Asgore's castle, no problem!"
"You know everything, Dr Alphys!"
"Well, actually, umm, there's just a tiny issue. A long time ago, I made a robot named Mettaton. Originally, I built him to be an entertainment robot. Uh, you know, like a robotic TV star or something. But he's got some.. Anti.. anti-human combat features? A-anyway, I think it might be safer if you stay here until I.. ah.. deactivate his anti-human devices."
"I can take him", said Frisk.
An idea formed in her mind. Should she do it? Yes!
"I'm a Magical Girl in training. We go to school to learn how to fight robots and.. stuff."
Alphys stared at her. "You ARE! You are, aren't you?! Yes, I knew it, when you fought Undyne. You have magical powers! OH! OH! I KNEW IT! Robot-fighting Magical Girls are real!" She lifted Frisk up and spun her around.
"I want to meet Mettaton! Dr Alphys, will you introduce me?"
Alphys was really excited. She logged in to her console and called up Mettaton. Mettaton's rectangular form came into view through the screen. He was wearing a red suit.
"THIS HAD BETTER BE IMPORTANT, ALPHYS, I HAVE TO BE READY TO PRESENT MY QUIZ SHOW IN TEN MINUTES..!"
"Look Mettaton! Look at this human! It's actually a Magical Girl!" Alphys was hopping up and down with excitement.
"OH MY! IF I WASN'T ON TV, I COULD COME RIGHT OVER AND EXTERMINATE IT!"
"It would be a shame to exterminate me without a live TV audience", said Frisk. "I challenge you to a showdown on the main stage of the Core."
"OHHHH YES! THAT'S A BRILLIANT IDEA! I'LL BOOK YOU IN FOR OUR MIDDAY SHOW TOMORROW, GORGEOUS!"
One of Mettaton's assistants tapped him on the shoulder. "OH IT'S TIME FOR MY SHOW. TOODLES!"
"A-are you sure this is a good idea?" Alphys asked.
"Yeah! With you helping me, we'll succeed for sure. We're a team, right?"
"Oh! OH! I know! Let me give you my p-phone number. T-then… m-maybe… When you need help, I could… I… I.."
Frisk hugged her. It was too much for Alphys.
"Y-you hugged me! Now we're officially friends! Ehehehe! Heheh… Heh… …" Alphys wriggled free. "I have to go to the bathroom-!" she cried as she ran away.
NIGHT
Frisk checked into the MTT Resort Hotel. Both the room and the bed were enormous. She especially liked the red bedsheets. An extravagant ornament turned out to be a giant bottle of perfume: 'Eau de Rectangle'. The picture above the bed was Mettaton in a dress, singing to the moon.
She took a luxurious shower in the en-suite bathroom, blow-dried her hair until it was smooth and sleek, and wrapped herself in the fluffy MTT-Brand dressing gown. It made her feel glamorous. Among the hotel complimentary soaps and shampoo bottles, she found a tiny tub of MTT-Brand Anime Powder. She brushed some lightly onto her face. Beautiful!
She stepped out onto the balcony. The natural light was fading, and the neon lights of the MTT resort were starting to come on.
Chara, where are you? Chara, I want to see you.
She tried to ignore her impatience and just enjoy the view. But she couldn't.
Everyone's so predictable here. I know exactly what to say, or exactly what to do. And I know exactly what response I'll get. I know what to do to save them. But Chara's different. He's someone I've never met before. I'm filled with hope and optimism.
In that moment, Frisk felt the world had forgiven her. She was on her way to making things better. Everyone around her would become happy.
Come out, Chara. I want to tell you how I feel. I want to share my happiness with you.
She looked behind her, but Chara didn't appear. Waiting was annoying her.
Come on Chara! Seeing you is the highlight of my day. Don't make me wait any longer.
The sky was dark. A bright pink billboard had lit up. An animated Mettaton was doing pirouettes in the center. Frisk turned away, irritated.
Frisk felt Chara awaken within her, but still he did not appear. He was.. very self-satisfied.
How do I get him out?
Chara was enjoying this.
Finally he materialised behind Frisk, holding her across her shoulders.
"You missed me. I could feel it"
Frisk wanted to hit him. Instead, she turned around and squeezed him.
"This bed is huge!" exclaimed Chara. "It's big enough for three Asgores." He wriggled under the covers until he was just a moving lump, and started crawling up and down the bed. Frisk pounced on him a few times and decided to get in herself to catch him.
"Gotcha!" she cried as she cornered and hugged him. But Chara wriggled too much, and they fell out of the side of the bed in a breathless heap. The carpet was so soft that neither of them were hurt. Frisk pinned Chara down by the wrists while he pretended to struggle. He relaxed. "You got me. Now what?"
"What do you want to do?"
"Let's explore! This room is amazing."
Frisk started opening the cupboards and found an immense store of pillows. She started to pull them all out. Somewhere on her left, Chara called to her, "I found the mini-bar!"
They started to get into mischief. First, they built a pillow-house, but that turned into a pillow fight. That had to stop when one of the pillows burst.
Then they turned on the TV, and the first thing they saw was Mettaton dancing. So nothing would do except pretend the bed was a stage, and they were dancing on it. Chara was singing into the stick as if it were a microphone. Frisk was playing air guitar to accompany him.
Tired out from all their play, Frisk called room service; they shared a steak in the shape of Mettaton's face with a side of pumpkin rings. They raided the mini-bar, enjoying the myriad of tiny drinks and strange flavors. They ate all the Nice Creams, Popato Chisps, and a bag of monster candy.
"What's this one?" asked Frisk.
"That's Spider Cider. My parents never let me have it because it contains alcohol."
"Is it strong?" said Frisk, who had never drank alcohol before and didn't understand what the numbers meant.
"Only one way to find out", said Chara, levering the cap off with a teaspoon.
Frisk retreated to the bed, thoroughly worn out. She checked her cellphone. Well past midnight.
"Try this", said Chara, bringing the bottle of Spider Cider to Frisk. "It's good."
Frisk took a sip, enjoying the new and complex flavors.
Fizzy. Sweet. Fruity.
Crisp.
Slightly tart.
Refreshing.
She tried another swallow. It was delicious. Warming. She offered it back to Chara, but he signaled that she could finish it.
Chara got into the enormous bed and cuddled up to Frisk. He turned out the lights. The room was dimly lit by the psychedelic glow from the resort, outside the window. That and Chara's luminous red eyes. Chara drew Frisk to him. He was holding her very tightly. Their cheeks, their chests, bellies, hips were pressed together. Their legs were all tangled up. Frisk enjoyed the closeness, but Chara was starting to grip her so tight it was hard to breathe.
Frisk wriggled. "Chara, that's too tight. Can you be a bit more gentle?"
Chara relaxed his grip a little. "This SOUL.. it wants to get close to you. I'm so happy when I'm with you. But somehow, even when I hug you, I'm not quite satisfied. It's not.. quite.. enough."
He looked like he didn't know how to express what he was feeling.
Frisk comforted him gently.
She closed her eyes, concentrating on the feelings that were flowing through her. Undeniably, there was some magnetism that pulled her to Chara. At the end of each day, she wanted to see him. With each night, this feeling seemed to grow. It's a mirror, she realized. That's my SOUL, my own feelings being turned towards myself. The SOUL and the body want to become one.
"Chara, I'm curious. Why did you ask for my SOUL? Why did you want it?"
"You know how it feels, when everything is gone and you're alone. Emptiness is very cold and painful. But with your SOUL inside me, I feel… whole."
"I feel the same", she whispered, "I like it when we're together. It feels good."
Frisk felt Chara move back a little, and his fingers brushed her hair away from her face. Then she felt his lips brush her cheek. He kissed her cheek softly, but Frisk could feel his body trembling as she held him.
"What's wrong Chara? You're shaking."
"Frisk.. I like you. I really like you. And it's more than platonic."
Frisk couldn't think of anything to say, but she leaned forward to kiss Chara on his cheek. Instead, Chara kissed her on her mouth.
She pulled away, surprised. She could feel Chara's heart beating hard and fast, right next to her own.
"You didn't like it?" asked Chara.
"I.. I've never done that before", gasped Frisk.
Chara moved away from Frisk and lay on his back. He closed his eyes. He was completely silent for several minutes.
I liked it, thought Frisk. It was just so unexpected.
"Here, let me try again", she said, shuffling up beside Chara and leaning over him. She was so nervous! But she slowly brought her mouth to Chara's to slowly, tenderly, kiss him. His lips were so soft and warm. She leaned back a little to study his expression.
"No.. come back.." Chara pleaded.
He reached out and his hand brushed her cheek.
Frisk kissed him again, and this time, she couldn't stop. Here was the feeling of wholeness. But at the same time, an incredible hunger opened up inside her. She was really surprised at what she wanted to do to Chara: to feel the contours of his face, to explore the inside of his mouth with her tongue.. to touch him inside his clothes. Slowly, she traced his cheekbone with her finger, and then the underside of his chin.
They were still kissing when Frisk noticed the light change. She sat up. Outside the window, the resort lights were turning off. "It must nearly be morning", she said sadly.
"I'll be here tomorrow night. I mean, tonight. As it's technically today."
"I wish this night could last a bit longer", said Frisk wistfully.
"We still have some time. Frisk…."
"Tell me..?"
"I want to go up to the surface with you. I want us to be together forever."
Together forever. That sounded perfect.
They fell asleep in each other's arms, their heads sharing a single pillow.
Peace, Mongrel xx
Writer's note:
If you're reading this for the cute and fluffy Frisk x Chara stuff, this is the last chapter for you.
Does not apply to selfawarenessandirony, who wrote: "0/10 needs more angst" - you can keep reading. I hope you enjoy.
Anyone else who's reading this, please let me know what you think.