In the opposite corner, Frisk slept peacefully under their sheets. The sound of Asriel's awakening failed to deter them one bit.
After everything this human child had been through, having survived one monster kingdom underground and a second one in the sky, they probably deserved to sleep until they were forty. Frisk might often wish under a shooting star that they would wake up one night and be just that. All they have to do is wait for about thirty years...
What dreams awaited someone such as them? What boiled within the imagination of an odd child who flirted with their own mother, dated a skeleton, befriended a fish warrior, and made a former soulless flower their brother?
Gosh, such a glorious day. Frisk stood in a great wide park of luscious green grass, heavenly blue sky, and double rainbows. The sun was shining and the flowers were blooming.
All their friends and family were there, frolicking across the meadows, enjoying picnics and afternoon siestas on their towels. Smiles and laughs were everywhere, rampant. Not a tear or a frown for miles around. There was Aaron, winking away, showing off his muscles. A few giddy giggles followed wherever he hovered. A single ice cube lay motionless and semi-frozen nearby. Frisk recognised it as Ice cap. Still looking good without his hat. Even Endogeny was there, wagging their tail along with the rest of their doggy brethren.
Wait, what was Frisk doing here again? How did they get there? More importantly, why were they there?
Directly in front of them all, a stage had been set up. A fancy one, cordoned with metal railings. Ten feet above ground. Giant, iron girders supported stage lights. The black backdrop sported the initials: MTT.
Oh, right, now they remember. Today was the first day of Mettaton's world tour, and what better place to start than near Mount Ebott, the place that started the legend.
While Frisk was drawn by the alluring shine of the microphone in the centre, Whimsun fluttered past, as free as a butterfly and just as apprehensive. Nevertheless, there was the semblance of a smile on his face.
Frisk smiled, waved, and said, "Hello, Whimsun. What's—" Before anything else could come out, two little hands slapped their mouth shut.
What was that? What were those sounds that seeped from between their lips? Frisk was still, mouth remained covered as they feared what else could come out of them. Feeling brave, they pulled their hands away by a couple of centimetres.
Their lips parted. "Did I—?" Frisk covered their mouth again, then uncovered it slowly. "Say… words?"
A feeling that the human child could not describe rose inside their chest. "I can… I can talk," Frisk said. Frisk, for the first time in their life, said something in quotations. The feeling they recognised as excitement; it swelled within their heart and soul, making the two bounce at the same time as the child did. "I can talk. I can say words." And those said words got louder and louder. "I can talk! I can speak!"
Over there stood their family. Asgore, Toriel and Asriel were together, smiling and watching with bright, accepting pupils from between the growing crowds.
Frisk rushed over, waving wildly. "Guys, check it out. I can talk. I can talk!" they bellowed before them. Their family, clearly taken aback, gasped with happy surprise. "I know! It's amazing, right? I can finally talk! I can talk I can talk I can talk!"
To which, Asriel punched both fists into the air and cheered in a high voice, "Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh."
Toriel clasped her hands together and added, "Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah."
Asgore proclaimed, "Oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh."
The corners of Frisk's lips drooped a shade. "Uh… guys?" Their head cocked to the side in puzzlement, yet their family continued to beam away from their fuzzy cheeks. "What're those sounds you're making?"
Asriel, still smiling, place his hand on his sibling's shoulder and assured them in a confident manner, "Uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh uh."
Asgore turned to his wife, "Oh oh oh oh," he said, "oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh."
And Toriel returned with a shrug. "Ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah—" she caressed her husband on the shoulder "—ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah ah."
From Mom to Dad, Dad to Asriel, Asriel back to Dad, and then Dad back to Mom, Frisk switched between the faces of their family as they bleated away to one another, understanding each other perfectly, leaving them out in the cold. "W-what's wrong with you guys?" The human's apparent worry not only failed to wipe the smirks off their muzzles, but also the strides of their conversations. On and on, they bleated, and Frisk could not understand them. "Say something. Speak to me. Please."
"AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK!"
The rattle of a loud, abrasive cackle nearly made Frisk nearly jump out their skin. They swung around to find Papyrus and Sans approaching, both just as vibrant as ever as they passed between Vegetoid and Pyrope.
"AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK," Papyrus chimed in. One gloved hand went high and the other stayed low as they struck one of the many self-absorbed poses from his repertoire.
"P-Papyrus?" they murmured. "Sans…?"
And Sans, always smiling and always dressed in that same blue jacket under every and all climates, joked, "Eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur." He winked. "Eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur eur."
A rim-shot sounded from nowhere; two drums followed by a cymbal.
"AK AK AK AK AK AK!" The taller skeleton angrily stomped his feet, while retaining his toothy grin. "AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK AK!"
"Oh, no…" Frisk murmured, feeling sweat drops on their forehead. They found Undyne and Alphys walking up, hand in hand. "Oh, no… You guys too…?"
Alphys went, "Ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei."
And Undyne went, "Huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh huh."
"No… No."
The crowds had swelled, however, a full two metres in diameter around the human remained empty. All eyes faced the stage. It blared to life in a spectacle of light and confetti, and Mettaton himself strutted on out to the undivided attention of his adoring fans.
With mic in hand, "Beep beep click boop beep click boop boop beep!" he announced to all the beauties.
As the crowd went wild and began to dance, Frisk did the opposite and fell to their knees. Head became both heavy and light at the same time. Breath turned short and shallow. Little fingers gripped at the packed grass.
Their eyes slammed shut. "No. No."
The voices got louder.
"Ah ah ah ah ah – eur eur eur eur eur – click click boop beep – huh huh huh huh huh huh – AK AK AK AK AK AK – uh uh uh uh uh uh uh – ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei ei – oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh oh!"
"No! NO!"
Louder.
"AK AK AK – oh oh oh oh – uh uh uh uh uh – eur eur eur eur – beep boop click boop beep – ah ah ah ah – huh huh huh huh – ei ei ei ei ei ei ei – oh oh oh – ei ei – AK AK AK – eur eur eur – ah ah ah – click beep beep – uh uh uh – ei ei ei!"
Alone in a sea of smiles, Frisk reached up toward the sky and cried out at the top of their lungs… because they were the only one who could:
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
