Frisk shuddered and backed away from the towering amalgamate that had appeared in front of them. It had a body like a fish's, only – instead of scales – it was comprised of a thick, slimy, and grey dripping substance. A bulging arm extended out of the upper half of the body, and the neck and shoulders was a writhing mass of mold. The head of the amalgamate was a giant black mouth with rows of sharp teeth. Every once in a while, eyes appeared on the surface of the head and rolled around, as if searching for the location of its prey.
All Frisk had to protect themselves with was a worn dagger in their hand.
As the amalgamate shambled towards them, they looked around, searching for a path to escape. Alphys' true laboratory was a much scarier place than they could have ever imagined. From reading the various notes that Alphys had left around in displays on the wall, they had guessed that all of these amalgamates were the results of her injecting fallen monsters with Determination. It had been a horrible thing to do, and if they could escape this place, they would have to confront Alphys about it. But, for now, survival was their top priority.
The amalgamate opened its head-mouth as it neared Frisk, revealing a row of black teeth covered in mold and slime. Frisk spun around and dashed down the hall that they had come from. The room was dark, and they could barely see where they were going. When they neared an intersection, they turned – and bumped into another body.
Chara stumbled back upon being struck by Frisk, nearly crashing into the wall. An angry frown came over Chara's face.
"Sorry!" Frisk said.
They pointed towards the amalgamate that was shambling towards them, and Chara's eyes followed their gaze. Almost immediately, the frown on Chara's face disappeared and was replaced with a look of pure fright. With widening eyes, Chara backed away from the approaching monster. Frisk raised their dagger in self-defence, but refrained from pointing its sharp edge at the amalgamate. Even though the creature was hideous, they still didn't want to hurt it. If there was a way to resolve this confrontation peacefully, then they would take it.
The amalgamate's mouth opened again. Thick grey saliva dripped from its teeth and onto the floor.
"Attack it, Frisk! Kill it!" Chara yelled.
Frisk glanced at Chara, who returned another one of their cold, vicious stares. The amalgamate was coming closer. It raised its bulging arm and made a motion resembling a flex.
"Wait," Frisk said, and they put down their dagger. Chara glared at them as if they had gone crazy.
On a closer inspection, the amalgamate looked rather similar to several other monsters that Frisk had seen before. The most obvious similarity was the arm, which resembled the arm of Aaron, a flexing-obsessed seahorse that they had encountered back in the waterfall cave. Looking closely at the body, they saw an uncanny resemblance to the tail of Shyren, and the mold-covered head was just like Moldbygg from the waterfall as well.
Frisk tucked the dagger away. They straightened their back, cleared their throat, and began to hum a tune that they remembered Shyren singing. Instantly, the amalgamate stopped its advance.
It seemed to be listening intently, and, for a moment, the head closed its mouth. Confused, Chara glanced back and forth between Frisk and the monster, as if wondering about which one of them was crazier.
When Frisk had finished humming the melody, the body had ceased moving, but the arm and the head still looked like they were active. Frisk took a step towards the creature and then pulled up the sleeve of their sweater, exposing their arm. Remembering how they had engaged in a flexing match with Aaron, they turned to the amalgamate and made a flex as well. As they expected, the monster's bulging arm flexed in response. There was only the head left, which was still salivating and looked ready to crunch down on them at any moment.
"Frisk! What are you doing...?" Chara said, a dumbfounded expression on their face.
"Just watch."
Frisk stretched out their arms, as if they were about to give it a hug. The amalgamate's head began to gnash its teeth. But, instead of walking towards the amalgamate, Frisk took a step back, arms still outstretched. A second later, the mouth-face of the amalgamate stopped salivating. Every part of its mashed-together body appeared pacified. Its eyes opened again, and there was a calm look in them now. Slowly, the Amalgamate began to turn around. Then, it started to slither back down the hall, disappearing eventually into the pit that was in the next room.
"What was that?" Chara demanded.
"That monster was just a mixture of three other monsters that I met a while ago," Frisk responded, smiling. "I knew that I didn't really have to fight it. All of them wanted something, and I showed it to them, so they became happy again."
Chara rolled their eyes and turned their nose up, appearing indignant. "Figures. Even in a hellhole like this, you're willing to find ways to avoid fighting. You're forever the same, Frisk."
"Well, it's much better than killing them, right...?"
Chara folded their arms and turned away.
Having learned about the plight of the first human that had fallen into the underground and of the king's deceased son, Asriel, Frisk had begun to understand better the nature of their situation. Everyone in the monster world was waiting for them, the seventh human, to be slain by Asgore so that Asgore could use the human souls that they had collected to take down the barrier. The monsters at the capital didn't reveal the name of the first human, but Frisk had an inkling that it was Chara.
They had dreamt, during their stay in Toriel's home and after falling down onto another bed of flowers at the waterfall, that they had become Chara. They had heard the king's voice telling them to stay determined, as well as the voice of a much younger boy greeting them, helping them up, and taking them into the king's castle...
Frisk extended a hand towards Chara. Somehow, the first human had come back, and they were now attached to each other. They didn't understand why, or how – but, knowing how much Chara had suffered, they wanted to offer their help. Even if Chara couldn't see eye to eye with them on anything, they still wanted for them to be able to work together. They wanted Chara to be happy.
"Come on," Frisk said. "Let's keep going."
Chara looked up at them, still frowning. "You want me to take your hand?"
"Why not? I'll feel safer going through here if you walk by my side."
"Ha. I don't think anyone's ever said before that they feel safer standing next to me."
Nevertheless, Chara took Frisk's hand. "You're a complete wimp, Frisk."
"That's all right."
Together, they walked back into the room that Frisk had been in before, where they had first encountered that amalgamate. There was a large pit in the middle of this room, and hovering about it was a massive metal device shaped like a monster's skull. To Frisk, the device looked rather disturbing, but Chara smiled when they saw it.
"Alphys knows how to design a good looking robot," Chara said with a grin. "I wonder what she used it for?"
"We might find out soon."
Frisk looked around. There was a path directly forward that the amalgamate had been blocking before, but they could also turn right and head into another room. They decided to go there first.
To their surprise, the inside of that room looked like a rather cozy lounge. There were shelves holding several tapes and a large television in between them.
An odd expression came over Chara's face as soon as they saw the tapes. They appeared somewhat ambivalent between smiling and scowling. Chara let go of Frisk's hand and walked towards the shelves, where they picked out several of the tapes. Then, they moved in front of the television's VCR, where – for a while – they stood silently with the tapes in their arms.
"What's wrong?" Frisk asked.
Chara dipped their chin and stared at the VCR in front of them. Instead of responding to Frisk, they knelt towards the floor and inserted one of the tapes into the machine. Then, they turned on the television.
The tape began to play audio, but nothing was shown on the screen.
"Okay, Chara, are you ready?" It was a familiar voice. "Do your creepy face! AHHHHH! Hee hee hee! Oh! Wait! I had the lens cap on…what!? You're not gonna do it again…? Come on, quit tricking me! Haha!"
Wordlessly, Chara took out the current tape and put in another one. This time, an image began to play on the screen. It showed two children, each dressed in a green sweater with a yellow stripe. They were standing in a garden, surrounded by tall yellow flowers. One of the children was a little goat, and he began to speak.
"Howdy, Chara! Smile for the camera! Ha, this time I got YOU! I left the cap on…ON PURPOSE! Now you're smiling for noooo reason! Hee hee hee! What? Oh, yeah. I remember. When we tried to make butterscotch pie for Dad, right? The recipe asked for cups of butter…but we accidentally put in buttercups instead. Yeah! Those flowers got him really sick. I felt so bad. We made Mom really upset. I should have laughed it off, like you did…um, anyway, where are you going with this? Huh? Turn off the camera…? Okay."
Frisk stepped into the room to stand behind Chara. In each of the tapes, the goat child's – Asriel's – voice was shrill and loud, but Chara always spoke too quietly for the recording to pick up what they had been saying.
Chara didn't turn around, and continued to put in another tape.
"I…I don't like this idea, Chara. Wh…what? N-no, I'm not…big kids don't cry. Yeah, you're right. No! I'd never doubt you, Chara...never! Y… yeah! We'll be strong! We'll free everyone. I'll go get the flowers."
The expression on Chara's face had changed, again. Now, they looked almost somber. They knelt down again, this time very slowly, and put in one more tape. The television revealed Chara, the child, lying on the bed with a deathly sick expression on their face.
"Chara...can you hear me?" Toriel's voice. "We want you to wake up…"
"Chara! You have to stay determined!" A deeper, older man's voice. "You can't give up…you are the future of humans and monsters…"
"Psst…Chara…please…wake up…I don't like this plan anymore." Asriel's voice again. "I… I...no, I said…I said I'd never doubt you. Six, right? We just have to get six…and we'll do it together, right?"
The tape finished.
Chara didn't stand up. They remained kneeling on the ground as they took it out from the VCR. Frisk remained frozen, unsure of what to do or say. None of the monsters at the capital had said anything about this.
They were starting to understand what had really happened.
"Frisk," Chara said at last, their tone soft and choked, "Leave me. I want to stay here for a while."
"Chara..."
"Leave me alone, Frisk," Chara said, turning around to glare at them. Tears were beginning to form in Chara's eyes.
Frisk didn't know what they could do. This was unlike anything they had ever dealt with before – anything that they had fixed just by being kind, or empathic, or by doing a good deed. They could only nod and turn away, for Chara's sake.
"Do what you have to do here," Chara said as Frisk began to leave the room. "Then, find me again...at the waterfall, where all the little pond bridges are."
"All right."
Chara turned to face them. "Stay safe, okay?"
Frisk nodded.