Toby Fox owns Undertale and all associated characters.
"Here, human! I have cooked a plate of gourmet spaghetti for you! With this, you'll be feeling better in no time! Nyeh-heh-heh!"
Frisk smiled at Papyrus from his cocoon of blankets, wriggling an arm out so that he could reach the plate the tall skeleton placed on the coffee table before him. The last he remembered, Papyrus's cooking skills had evolved to edible, though they were still short of tasty. But the skeleton had been so excited to see Frisk again, the boy certainly couldn't turn him down.
"It was very brave of you to come and visit me like this!" Papyrus enthused, taking a seat on the couch next to Frisk. "Do not worry! I, the great Papyrus, will not allow my lazybones brother to affect my dear friend anymore than he already has!"
The skeleton brothers' house was an exact replica of their old home in Snowdin. Down to the last tiny detail, thanks to Papyrus's dedication to such things. It was still a bit of a mystery why they had set it up like this; most Mosters had built or bought new homes, not wanting to be reminded of the years spent in the Underground.
You still okay there? Chara asked as Frisk grabbed the provided fork and began to twirl the pasta around it. He could feel her presence at the forefront of his mind, ready to take over should he slip away or lose control.
I think so. He replied.
Don't push yourself, you only woke up a couple days ago. Chara admonished.
Yes, Mom.
Frisk grinned triumphantly at Chara's image's face, brought the fork to his mouth, and took a quick bite.
It was his turn to be shocked. It was.. good. Maybe not the best he'd ever eaten, but it was tasty, and he could honestly look forward to the next bite.
"Well, Frisk? Is it not the most amazing thing you've ever eaten?"
Frisk gave an enthusiastic nod and proceeded to devour the rest of the plate like it was his last meal. Once again, the Monster food proved useful. He felt much better after eating Papyrus's dish.
"Wowie! You were so enthusiastic! I knew you must have missed my cooking while you were sleeping. Fret not, the great Papyrus will make you all the pasta you could ever wish for and more!"
"Watch out, he means it."
Frisk looked up to see Sans descending the stairs, dressed as always in his blue hoodie. He grinned down at Frisk.
"Good to see you up and about, buddy. You feelin' better?"
"Mmm-hmm!" Frisk gave a thumbs up then retracted his arm back into his blanket nest.
"Heh, really not a fan of the cold, are you? Lucky for you, when you came through Snowdin, you had Papyrus's puzzles to help break the ice."
"Sans, I want no involvement in your terrible puns!"
"Really? I thought you were spine with it, but I cold be wrong, tibia honest."
Frisk laughed, distracting Papyrus before he could continue berating his brother. Then, the door burst open, and Undyne ran in, a panicked expression on her face.
"Undyne! What a-"
The fish lady ran right past Papyrus, and grabbed Sans, lifting him up till he was at face level with her.
"Sans! You've got to help me, I don't know what to do!" Her eye focussed on Frisk and she released one hand's grip on the front of Sans's hoodie to wave at him.
"Frisk, is that you? Great, you helped last time, you can help me again, right? Come on, guys, I really need your help!"
"Whoa, slow down now." Sans raised his hands in a placating gesture. "How about you put me down, and we can all go sit on the couch while you tell us what the problem is, okay?"
Undyne stared at him for a moment, then let go of him, dropping him to the ground.
"Alright, alright. But hurry it up, this is important!"
"Papyrus, why don't you go fetch more of your spaghetti for our guest?" Sans called, sauntering over to the couch despite Undyne's frenzied attempts to get him to hurry up.
"No trout she fishes to talk to us as soon as possible, but she might need something to calm her down first."
"Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Sans." Undyne grumbled. "I can still kick your ass!"
Papyrus was already standing.
"Brother, despite your terrible puns, you are absolutely correct! One plate of Papyrus's calming spaghetti coming right up!"
With that the tall skeleton dashed into the kitchen. Undyne opened her mouth to speak but Sans, who had now seated himself beside the curious and slightly worried Frisk, raised a hand.
"Spaghetti first, then talk."
"Sans, there's no time for-"
"Is someone dying?"
Undyne hesitated.
"Are the humans attacking? Did The Defiler come back?"
Undyne gritted her fangs.
"No…"
"Then it can wait for spaghetti."
Undyne gave a huff, then walked to the other side of couch and sat down on the other side of Frisk. The boy could feel her vibrating next to him, and he hoped that Papyrus would come back quickly before she exploded.
I wonder what's up with her? Chara wondered.
Fortunately, the tall skeleton was prompt, and very soon a wide-eyed Frisk was watching Undyne scarf down the last of the food.
I've never seen anyone eat so fast before. He murmured in awe.
No kidding. Chara grinned. I think I've worked out what this is about… there's only one thing that makes her move that fast.
What is it?
How bout we let her tell you?
"Feeling better now, Undyne?" Sans asked nonchalantly.
"Sure, whatever. Will you help me now?" Undyne groused.
"Whatever troubles you, we, as your friends, are more than happy to help you with it!" Papyrus crowed, striking up a heroic pose. Frisk just gave a thumbs up.
"Alright, nerds, here's the situation…"
"Are you ready, my child?" Toriel asked.
Frisk stood with his mother just outside Papyrus's pub and it's old-western saloon doors. The boy viewed it with slight trepidation. He really had no idea what was waiting for him inside.
Well, that was not entirely true. He knew that his friends and family had set up a birthday party for him. He just wasn't really sure what that meant. His birthday had never been a big deal to him.
Everyone paying so much attention to him... he liked it, but it also made him feel a little self-conscious. He looked up at his mother, and her loving smile filled him with Determination.
Come on, Frisk. You don't want to keep everyone waiting, do you?
The boy took a deep breath, then nodded. At his confirmation, Toriel reached down and grasped his hand, then led him into The Great Papyrus.
The place was empty, Papyrus had closed it up for the day to free up space for the celebration. Most of the smaller tables had been moved to the far side, with one large table set up in the middle of the room.
Before Frisk could focus on the contents of the table, most of his friends leapt up from behind the bar, distracting him; partly at his request, only those closest to him had been invited, he was already overwhelmed by all this as it was.
There was Papyrus, of course, once again dressed in his "cool dude" outfit, and yelling "Surprise!" even though he knew full well that Frisk knew about the party.
There was Sans, casually leaning against the bar and drinking deep from a ketchup bottle. He gave the boy a lazy thumbs up and a broad wink.
Undyne was cheering at him, with Alphys balanced precariously on her shoulders. The smaller Monster looked like she was barely able to keep from grabbing onto Undyne's fins in an effort to keep her balance, and her legs were wrapped so tightly around the fish-woman's neck, Frisk was surprised she could still breathe.
Mettaton, it appeared, had attached a couple of fireworks to his shoulders and he let them off, both of them flying to the ceiling and exploding into a brightly coloured display. At Frisk's happy laugh, the glamourous robot grinned widely before posing dramatically.
At Chara's request, Kid was there too. After hearing how the boy had been a friend to her when she needed it most, Frisk had been more than willing to accommodate. The armless Monster had apparently taken a cue from Undyne and Alphys, for he sat astride Asgore's shoulders.
He didn't seem nearly as worried as Alphys was, though; he was even bouncing himself up and down as he waved his head back and forth at Frisk. Asgore didn't seem to mind, in fact, he had a giant goofy grin across his features.
"Happy Birthday, Frisk!" they all called out. Even Chara joined in, though her image looked a little embarrassed about doing so. Frisk had never felt so loved and accepted as he did in that moment. He clung to his mother's hand and gave a big smile to his friends… his family.
Undyne leapt over the bar, a terrified squeak emitting from the reptile atop her shoulders at the unexpected move. The warrior raised her arms to be in reach of Alphys, and she grabbed onto them to keep from falling.
"Well, what are we waiting for, punk? This is your big day, let's celebrate it!" Undyne winked at Frisk, and the boy had to stifle a giggle and gave a conspiratorial wink back. He couldn't wait for Undyne to put their plan into action.
"Undyne's right!" Papyrus exclaimed, following his former mentor's example and hopping over the bar with ease. "Let the party commence!"
Everyone began crowding out to where Toriel and Frisk stood, and the Boss Monster lifted Frisk up so that he could sit atop her shoulders, and he playfully wrapped his hands around her horns like he was behind the steering wheel of a vehicle.
"What do you wish to start with, Frisk?" She asked, gesturing to the table. "There's cake and presents, and I believe Mettaton has a performance prepared..."
"Oh, you'll want to save that one, darling." Mettaton spoke up, one hand on his hip and a smug look on his face. "Save the best for last, am I right?"
Frisk giggled. If everything went according to plan, that was exactly what they'd be doing.
Well, Frisk? Chara prompted.
Frisk looked over to the table. There was a small pile of presents stacked there, as well as a fairly large, white cake with two candles in it, one shaped like a one, the other as a three, signifying his new age. He knew for a fact that Toriel and Asgore had been up all night making it, though no-one had actually told him what kind of cake it was.
"Cake." He said firmly. Kid, not to far away and only slightly higher than him, let out a laugh.
"Yo, that's a great idea, Frisk! Hey, watch this!"
With that, the boy hurled himself backwards off of Asgore's shoulders. Before Frisk could even let out a yelp of surprise however, the boy was surrounded in a blue aura, then gently lowered to the ground.
"You should be more careful!" Papyrus chided. "If I, the great Papyrus, had not been here, you could have hurt yourself!" He patted the child on the head.
"Fortunately, I am always prepared for any troubles! Just be more careful, alright?"
Kid nodded vigorously, and Frisk could practically see the stars in the boy's eyes as Papyrus walked away.
Asgore, now free of his burden and assured that his charge was alright, went to the table and began cutting the cake. The Monsters lined up, each one grabbing a plate, and they were quickly all tearing into their food.
The cake was butterscotch and cinnamon. Frisk really shouldn't have been surprised, but it was very interesting noting the differences it had to the pie. Even though Toriel had sat down, he had yet to leave his mother's shoulders, and ate his more than generous slice of cake from his vantage point. He really felt like the king of the world from up here, a feeling that was only accentuated since Undyne had finally let the hapless lizard down.
After cake, Asgore gathered up the presents while Frisk finally clambered down from his mother's shoulders. The other Monsters circled around the boy while he took a moment to gaze wide-eyed at the amount of gifts before him. Honestly, he didn't really care what was in them, just the fact that he was on the receiving end of all this was more than enough for him. With that in mind, he didn't even look at the presents before selecting them, simply choosing one at random, then reading the name.
The first gift was from Mettaton, and the boy giggled to see a small, plushie made into the likeness of the glamourous robot. He gave a big smile and a thumbs up to the star, and Mettaton gave an over-exaggerated wink back at him.
"Now you'll always have me with you, even if I can't be there in person, darling." The dramatic robot blew Frisk a kiss.
"It's true, Frisk!" Papyrus supplied. "I have four of them at home!"
There was a wave of laughter from around the room, and Frisk reached for the next gift. This one was from Asgore, and it looked far different from the others, even from the outside.
Frisk quickly realized why however, as he unwrapped it to reveal a Bonsai tree, along with a small instruction pamphlet on how to take care of the miniaturized tree. He immediately put it down and ran over to Asgore, giving the Monster as big a hug as he could manage.
"If you ever need assistance with it, I would be more than happy to help you, Frisk."
The boy nodded enthusiastically, and after giving one more squeeze, he returned to his seat to resume his present picking.
Kid got him a pair of very comfortable high-quality shoes that Frisk immediately replaced his own with, and Undyne provided a swiss army knife. While Toriel checked the utility tool to make sure there weren't any miniature nunchucks or battleaxes hidden in it, Frisk unwrapped Alphys's gift. It was a box series of a variety of different anime, apparently the lizard had been unable to make up her mind on which one to get him. After promising her that he would watch through them with her soon, he moved on to Sans' gift.
When he unwrapped the plain brown packing paper, he was greeted with a cardboard box with the words "Pet Rock Assembly Kit" scrawled on it in red marker. The boy couldn't help a giggle when the contents were revealed as an assortment of rocks and four different colored markers.
"Trust me, these things make great pets. Plus they don't make so much of a mess."
Frisk shook his head at the skeleton, then grabbed Papyrus's gift. The taller skeleton was all but bouncing up and down with excitement when he saw Frisk begin opening the present.
When Frisk opened the box that the wrapping paper hid, he froze. He could barely believe what he saw. Slowly, his hand reached into the box and brushed against the soft red fabric within.
It was Papyrus's scarf.
"Human." Papyrus said, continuing even though Frisk didn't look up. "You were gone for a long time, and though I, the great Papyrus, always knew you would return, I missed you. So! In order to ward off the influences of my brother, and to increase your inherent coolness, I have gifted you with- Ooof!"
Frisk crashed into Papyrus, nearly knocking the skeleton over. His arms wrapped around Papyrus's rib cage almost as hard as his fingers clutched the scarf.
"Thank you." The boy whispered into Papyrus's earhole.
"Anything for my cool friend!" Papyrus enthused, returning the embrace. Slowly, Frisk let go of Papyrus, then wrapped the scarf about his neck. It was a little long, but he didn't care.
I'm never taking this off.
Good for you.
Only one present remained, and Frisk carried it back to where he had been sitting with Toriel. It was her present to him, and upon opening it, he found it was a collection of books he had told her he enjoyed what felt like years ago now. He smiled at her, and gave her a warm hug of his own.
"Wait a minute." Asgore said.
Frisk turned to see him dramatically patting at his clothes, appearing to have forgotten something.
"I could have sworn I had a… here it is!"
He pulled an envelope from some hidden pocket and passed it over to Frisk.
"Asgore." Toriel chided. "You forgot that present?"
"I'm sorry, dear." The former king chuckled. "It must have slipped my mind."
Both of them were grinning, and it wasn't hard for Frisk to figure out that they had scripted this. But he was curious to see what was inside the envelope, so he focussed on that, using the swiss army knife to open it.
There was a folded up piece of paper inside. The boy unfolded it, and began reading it. His eyes widened. Chara chuckled.
And this is my gift to you. She said. Do you know how hard it was to set this up without letting you know what was going on? Fortunately, we got everything done while you were gone, I just had to give the parents the idea of showing it off at your party.
The majority of the document was legal terms that Frisk didn't really understand, but he got the conclusion well enough. He looked at the front of the envelope and really focussed on it for the first time. It said Frisk, he'd figured that much when Asgore had handed it to him. But that wasn't all it said.
Frisk Dreemurr.
From what he had made of the document, he had been adopted… by Toriel. He raised disbelieving eyes to her. She was wearing a small smile and looking at him with pure motherly love.
"My son." She whispered.
Emotions overwhelmed Frisk and he threw himself at Toriel laughing and crying into her purple sweater. She embraced him, while he repeated "Mom" over and over again like a prayer.
Finally, he untangled himself from her and wiped his eyes dry.
"Is now okay?" Papyrus stage-whispered to Sans as the boy turned to face the group again.
"Yeah, should be alright."
"GROUP HUG!" Papyrus all but shrieked, and Frisk immediately found himself surrounded by his friends, all of them laughing and cheering him on.
When the hug finally ended, Mettaton clapped his hands to get everyone's attention.
"Alright darlings, I think it's time for a birthday tradition with a bit of a twist." He turned to Papyrus.
"Papyrus, darling, is everything set up for us?"
"Oh, yes Mettaton! Follow me everybody, we're going to the roof!"
The rest of the party goers looked at each other in confusion, but one could not easily deny Papyrus's enthusiasm, so they followed after the bubbly Skeleton, with Mettaton bringing up the rear.
Papyrus led them to a secluded corner on the far side of his pub, and pulled on a length of string attached to a hatch in the roof. It opened, and a ladder lowered itself from it. Once it touched the floor, Papyrus climbed quickly up it. The others followed, albeit a bit hesitantly.
I wonder what those two have in store for us? Chara mused idly.
Frisk shrugged. This had already far been better than he could have ever hoped. He was beginning to see why the kids he had known before had made such a big deal about how important birthday parties were.
Fortunately, it still wasn't snowing, and soon everyone was huddled together on top of the roof. Mettaton took up a position on the far end of the roof, then faced his audience.
"Alright, darlings. I took some time to look at how birthday parties work up here on the surface, and apparently, there is always a song sung."
"But! The traditional song is soo mundane, so I thought I would… liven it up a bit."
Music began to blare from Mettaton's speakers, and Frisk recognised it as the same music that had played when he had fought him live on TV in the Underground.
What followed was perhaps the most amazing rendition of Happy Birthday that Frisk had ever seen. Mettaton posed, did high heel kicks, and somehow managed to sing the song in a manner that fit both his own personal style, and the music he was singing along to.
When the song ended, fireworks fired into the air, and Frisk looked up to see his name written in the sky for a few moments before fading away.
Papyrus was the first one to start clapping, and Frisk quickly joined him, followed by the other Monsters. Mettaton bowed deeply in response.
"Thank you, darlings." he practically purred. "You've been a fantastic audience. Now why don't we head back down and-"
"Wait." Undyne spoke up and stepped forwards, gently pulling Alphys with her. Frisk's eyes widened, and a grin spread across his features.
Undyne jerked her head to the side, and Mettaton raised an eyebrow but complied with the not-so-subtle message and moved out of the way.
"U-Undyne? What…"
The fish-lady let go of Alphys, then took a couple more steps before turning to face her.
Undyne shot a quick glance at Frisk, who nodded excitedly and gave her a double thumbs up. At that, she gave a small grin revealing her yellow fangs and squared her shoulders.
"Alphys." She said, with uncharacteristic quietness and with maybe a hint of nervousness in her voice. "We've been dating for nearly a year now, and I've uh… I've liked you for a lot longer than that. You've been the most important thing in my life for a while now."
Alphys was blushing heavily, and Undyne took a step forward.
"You're the smartest, most adorable little nerd I've ever met, and I love you to pieces. I can't imagine not having you by my side. So I wanted to ask…"
She fell to one knee and pulled a small box from behind her back, flipping it open with her thumb. Inside, resting on a red velvet cushion, was a small, simple silver ring.
With pink cat ears on the top.
"Will you marry me?" She finished.
There was a collective gasp from the watchers and Alphys had covered her mouth with her hands, staring fixedly at the ring. Frisk watched in anticipation as the seconds ticked by, and Alphys still hadn't made a move. Just as Undyne was starting to look nervous, Alphys squealed and tackled the fish-woman, knocking her backwards onto the roof. Fortunately, Undyne was able to keep her grip on the box, so the ring did not go flying.
"Yes yes yes!" Alphys cried. "I didn't think… I mean, I hoped…"
Undyne set the box down then pulled herself to her feet, her arms wrapped around Alphys.
"You little nerd!" She mock-yelled, nuzzling the reptile's snout. "You had me worried for a second there! Don't scare me like that!"
"S-sorry! I just- I didn't-"
Undyne began swinging her new fiancee around, effectively drowning out her rambling.
"Hah! You're all mine now! You lost your last chance to back out, there's no turning back now!"
Frisk ran up and grabbed the box and Undyne set Alphys down, both of them laughing in delight. He tugged at Undyne's sleeve and presented her with the box.
"Huh? Wha- Oh right." Undyne took the small ring from inside the box, then took Alphys's smaller hand and slid the ring onto her finger, then knelt down and raised that hand to her lips.
"Mine." She growled possessively.
Alphys blushed again, then the two were quickly joined by the other Monsters crowding in to congratulate the two. Frisk slipped away from them, and went over to where Sans was watching the proceedings.
"Hey, kiddo. Looks like your idea worked. And to think, just a couple days ago, Undyne crashed into my house for advice on how to propose to Alphys. You're quite the matchmaker, aren't you?"
Frisk grinned widely at him.
"Heh. You're something else, aren't you, kid?"
Sans reached out and ruffled the boy's hair, earning a delighted squeak. It had taken a long time to get up to this point, but finally, everyone was happy. Frisk Dreemurr could stand with his family, and he would face the future. He was no longer alone.
Authors Note: The Epilogue and a VERY IMPORTANT MESSAGE will go up on Monday. See you then!