"... Magic…?" I glanced to the short skeleton beside me, "Whaddya mean, 'magic'? I'm a human?"

"And human mages used SOUL power to make the barrier, kiddo." Sans winked at me, turning and putting his hands into his pockets and moving over to the controls, "And soon, you'll be a mage, too."

"... Uh. Problem." I said, raising a finger, "I have no idea how magic works at all.."

"You hopefully won't need to." He said, turning to me, "Basically, you stand on the platform, we pump ya full of magic juice collected from dead monsters, and badabing badaboom you've got magic superpowers. Should be enough to at least replicate what a monster can do, and, with that little red SOUL you've got there and the magic staff you so graciously stole, be powerful enough to at least put the lil' shit on the backfoot."

"Woah…" Monster Kid stared up at me, his eyes wide, "You could… Get magic?!"

"... Huh." I blinked. "That was… Pretty succinct."

I turned to the machine, a bead of sweat dripping down my head. I turned to the golden star that had appeared next to me.

*The looming machine fills us with stress… And Determination.

I took a deep breath before stepping onto the platform. I steadied myself on the railing while I stared into the maw of the beast. Toriel's scepter sat between the teeth of the insertion machine, glowing faintly. I guess it acted as some sorta filter for the magic to be pulled through.

"... Okay. Let's do this."

Monster Kid looked up at me, "Dude… Are you sure…? I mean…"

He shifted one foot over the other nervously, "... This is a lot of pressure… A-And, I…"

I smiled at him, flashing him a thumbs up, "Don't worry, MK - I'll kick their ass and be done by lunch."

"..." He smiled up at me at that, a DETERMINED expression flashing across his face, "W-Well, if you think so, then I believe in you!"

My eyes widened a little at that, reminded of the last person that told me he believed in me. I swallowed a lump in my throat, turning to Sans with my own DETERMINED expression, "Alright man - Hit me!"

He flashed me his iconic grin, leaning up against the lever and pulling it downward. White light filled the maw of the Magic Insertion Machine, the image of the skeletons' Gaster Blasters flashing in my mind.

In the back of the maw sat Toriel's Scepter, collecting the magic. The white light fed back onto itself, before it began to pulse. White lightning began crackling from the light gathering in the back, before, suddenly-

KRAKAKAKOOM!

I would've jumped if I had the chance, a beam of pure white light taller and wider than I am fired from the maw of the beast. I let out a high roar as magic overflowed from the machine, slamming me against the wall in a starfish pose. But, despite the magic overflowing into my system, despite the violence of the magic forcefully entering my body, it didn't quite hurt. It didn't sting, nor did it burn.

It just… Felt.

Chapter 3: The Path to Power

"######, honey…? It's time for school…"

"Mmh… Five more minutes."

"######, you know your father has an important meeting with the, ah… Higher-ups today… Come on! Get up!"

"Mmmmhh…!"

"######! ######! Get up!"

" ! ! !"

I woke up in an apartment building. The wood was rotting, the carpet was molding, and I guarantee there were bugs swarming in every corner of this hallway. Said hallway was falling apart and yet… In spite of all of that, it looked like home.

*Home is relative.

My heart ached at the memories I couldn't remember. I squinted my eyes irritably, getting to my feet, staring at the new terrain ahead of me. Just a few feet from where I woke up, the moldy carpet and faulty wood gave way to a sea of gray concrete. The concrete led to a small, boxy, gray-bricked house at the end of the walkway.

*Strange…

I began walking forward. As I did, I took note of the minute differences between this lonely house and the one in the Ruins... The lack of a tree, the lack of dead, fallen leaves, and, y'know, not being purple.

I peeked in through the front door, following my heart and taking the left into the living room. Unlike what New Home usually had, there were two chairs there, now - one empty, and one, with…

"... Toriel…?"

She looked up from the book she was reading - I couldn't see what it was, didn't have my glasses, but I guess it was 72 Uses for Snails - and gave me a gentle smile. She stood from her chair, gently placing her book on the arm of her seat, before crossing to the center of the room, waving me inside. Hesitantly, I followed her command.

"Uh… Hi. Were you, who, uh…?"

She smiled down at me and softly laughed. She knelt down to my level - damn my ass for being so short - and placed a soft hand on my shoulder. "It's good to meet you, my child. I wish it was under better circumstances."

She stood back up, looking across the barren house. Faintly, I could see ghostly wisps of her memories here and where she had isolated herself for at least a hundred years - A loving husband, a long life. The construction of their new home, twice over, baked pies, early mornings, late nights. A child. Two children.

Three children. Four children. Five children. Six. Seven. Eight.

… None.

A lump formed in my throat as I watched all this play out before my eyes… She turned back to me, another, much more sad smile on her face.

"I'm sorry about this burden that's been placed on you." She said, running a hand through my poofy hair. "Someone as young as you should not be forced to bear this alone. And yet…"

I grabbed at her hand, holding it as I gave her a grin that I hoped came off as genuine. "Hey, I can handle it. I can handle anything."

I tried to ignore how my voice wavered. Her hand moved out and cupped my cheek, and for some reason, that simple touch brought tears to my eyes. For yet another reason I failed at understanding, emotions welled up inside me, bottled up feelings I wanted to let out…

She smiled once again, putting one hand out in front of her, a shimmering, golden flame appearing just above it. Her body began breaking away into the flame, and for some reason, I desperately didn't want to let go.

*Not again.

"I can only give you this, my child," Her words rang out to me in a way I couldn't put into words, "And hope that you take it with you, and save the Underground."

Tears began running down my face as I cupped the flame in my hands, Toriel disintegrating into her own magic in thick, golden flecks. It swirled in on itself, before morphing in my hands.

"My child… Please be good…"

I fell to my knees, clutching that flame to my chest as hot, wet tears ran down my face, even as the magic morphed and changed into a rough, loose bunch of rocks of various shapes and sizes.

*... You made it your own.

I woke up to the feeling of the unfamiliar liquid streaming down my face, and I - as quick as I could, reached up to wipe the tears away from my eyes so no one could see that I had a mental breakdown in my sleep. Monster Kid stumbled his way up the stairs of the platform to me, looking worried about something.

"Yo, are you okay…?" He asked, and I flashed him a grin that was most definitely fake.

"Hey, I just got superpowers. How bad could I be?" I pointed to myself, keeping the feelings locked inside just like I had to.

*...

"So? Whadja get, kid?" Sans asked, suddenly kneeling next to me, "Ice? Fire? Maybe some sort'a ink-based office supplies?"

I grinned at him, waving a hand. From across the room, loose dirt and pebbles collected just above my hands and swirled in a tiny little rocknado I had created.

He let out a low whistle, "Rock magic? That's powerful stuff, kid, nice work." He patted me on the back, "Think you're up for another blast? That stuff's powerful, and you're gonna need it soon."

I cocked a brow at him. "... Soon? How long was I out?"

He shrugged, ""Bout 20 minutes. But, uh, considering you guys evacuated Hotland and Undyne's not around to keep 'em busy…"

"... Fuck." I said, running a hand through my hair, "Are they already at Hotland?"

"They will be soon, but don't worry. I got someone to keep 'em busy." He winked, and I responded with a blank stare.

Dusty footsteps trailed from Waterfall all the way into Hotland. Frisk shambled forward, uneasy on their feet in spite of how quick they were in battle. Dead eyes stared into the orange of Hotland, looking up and spotting…

… What…?

"..." The fire elemental enlisted by The Judge stared at the human from behind the glare of his glasses, before he carefully pushed them back up his face. "... I'll give you one chance."

Frisk quirked their head to the side, a smile that wasn't theirs spreading up their face. "... And miss out on a new fight? Not an option, wash-up."

"..." A sigh escaped Grillby's flames, "Hotland's closed, kid."

Frisk - stupidly - rushed forward, smacking their SAVE Point and leaping into the air, twirling and bringing down one bladed foot. Grillby simply looked up at them, the kick harmlessly passing through him while still leaving a few sparks on Frisk's leg that quickly exploded into a roaring inferno crawling up their form. They yelped, stumbling back and attempting to put out the flames by uselessly waving their leg. Caught-off guard, there was nothing they could do about the wave of flames that came crashing down on them, scorching their skin to molten ash and forcing them to devour a crab apple.

They rubbed apple juice off their chin, coming back in for another kick, but Grillby simply brought up one hand, catching them in mid air. Grillby spun, shitwhipping Frisk back across the plateau that they fought on. He glanced back to the Lab that sat behind him.

"... So I think they'll be a while." He shrugged, popping from where he was standing to the magic filtration machine in the hallway, picking up a jar from there. In an instant, he was suddenly on top of the Magic Insertion Machine, placing the jar in the slot with ease. Then he was next to the lever again.

I grinned over at MK, patting him on the head. "Get off'a the platform so the funny skeleton can knock me unconscious again, okay?"

He laughed at that, shaking his head like a dog returning my grin with one of his own, "Yeah, yeah. Just make sure you wake up, haha!"

"You know it."

I watched him get off the platform, before staring down the maw of doom once again. White energy began glowing from the maw once again, Toriel's Scepter glowing with light. The same KRAKAKAKAKOOM filled the air, before the beam of pure magic fired at me. I was able to brace myself this time, my legs locked in place as the magic entered my system once more.

"... ######. You can't keep obsessing over this. You're just-"

"Obsessing over what?! Finding her? Trying to find the ONLY person who was there for me when my life went to hell?!"

"... You don't mean that."

"I meant every word."

"... I'm sorry, #######."

My eyes snapped open at the sound of that voice, my teeth grinding together at the sound of that unfortunately familiar voice. However, in spite of that familiarity, I still. Couldn't. Remember.

*Why does that voice make you angry…?

I rolled onto my back, staring at the sky that hung above me. Above the halls of a dilapidated apartment complex hung a black sky, with two enormous human SOULs - One purple, the color of PERSEVERANCE, and the other a beautiful red - DETERMINATION. I squinted in confusion at the sight, but, deciding I couldn't make heads or tails of what that meant, I moved onto sitting up.

Like before, the hallway of that apartment complex gave way to something which shouldn't have been there - Snow.

Snow and… Mud? Huh?

The snow and mud eventually led into a small clearing on the inset of a mountain face, barren spruce trees sprouting from the walls surrounding a small, one and a half story house. It seemed to take the shape of a fish, but with a small hat that could presumably store one room, and that hat was a small house. It was only two colors - but which two, I really couldn't be sure of. I think.

"... Uh…" I stared at the contradictory picture, confused. Nothing like this was in the game…?

*Amalgamation's one helluva process.

"... Oh." I said, rubbing the back of my neck, "Right. Papyrus and Undyne melted together."

I crept forward, through the muddy snow, my sneakers somehow sitting perfectly flat on top of the weird, contradictory material. I was starting to really hate this.

*One step at a time.

I took a deep breath, creeping towards the door. It was like some mix of a sliding door and a typical wooden door… Sweat beaded down my forehead as I reached for the handle of the door, before-

WYOOM!

The sound of it opening on its own scared the bejesus outta me! I summoned my Pocket Knife from my inventory, pointing it at whatever horrid abomination was surely to await me on the other side of the door. The goopy, oozing, dripping, screaming monster I had seen on the monitors was-

"Human! It's good to see you!"

My eyes widened at the sight of Papyrus, standing on the other side of the living area in front of me - Undyne's house's layout with the skeletons' floor patterns and wallpaper, go figure - boiling some spaghetti pasta.

"... Pap… Papyrus?!" My eyes went wide, before I was suddenly wrapped in a chokehold!

"HIYA, PUNK!" I heard screaming from my ear, the scaly yet smooth blue skin wrapped around my neck holding me just tight enough to be able to pick me up but not tight enough to actually cut off air. I panicked for a second, feeling myself being dragged to her hip and a fist being pressed into my mess of hair. I was trapped in a fishy, fishy noogie. "Good to see you're actually doin' some good around here!"

"Yeah that's-!" I tried to shake my head, attempting to pull out of Undyne's grip, "Great, Undyne! Can you please-...!"

"Undyne!" Papyrus frowned at her, putting his hands on his hips with a face that I could only describe as a mother scolding their child, "Please don't noogie the human! He's the Underground's only chance!"

"Aw, c'mon, Papyrus!" Undyne straightened herself out, keeping me in a grip, now bringing my head closer to hers. Undyne's taller than I am by a solid two feet, so I was successfully taken off my feet. "I'm just ribbin' him!"

Papyrus frowned at her, his upset face becoming a frustrated one. Undyne rolled her eyes, dropping me flat on my ass. She knelt down, rubbing my hair with a toothy grin, before walking over and taking her place next to Papyrus. She crossed her arms, flashing a smirk.

"Human!" Papyrus yelled, capturing my attention, "It seems you require our assistance in fighting that much more… Murder-y human."

"Right," Undyne said, summoning a spear in her hand, "Kinda ironic, a human being the one who has to save us from another human."

"Indeed! However, I believe in him," Papyrus summoned a bone in his hand, kneeling before me and placing a hand on my shoulder, "... And you did what was right, evacuating Waterfall like you did."

"... But, it caused you to…"

"AND!" Undyne's hand clasped on my other shoulder, "You did what was right, grabbing me when you did. If you hadn't, things might've gone WAY more south!"

"..." I took a shaky breath - I'd cried once today, couldn't afford doing it again - and looked up at the two monsters putting their faith in me.

"... Right." I gave them a shaky grin, "Right. I can do this."

"Damn straight you can!" Undyne yelled, her free hand summoning a miniature pool of blue, like when she's chasing Frisk through Waterfall. She began disintegrating into her spear, "Use this to kick their ass, human!"

I held out my hands, cupping the pool of blue. It began repeatedly replaying the movement of summoning a spear, before it slowly morphed, becoming a small, rocky geyser in my hands. It suddenly fired, sending a tiny plume of lava into the air.

"... Woah…"

"Human."

I looked at Papyrus, who was looking away from me... He sighed, looking me in the eye.

"Listen, human. I…" He recentered himself, "I know what the human is responsible for. So… Before I give you my gift, you have to promise me something."

I raised an eyebrow.

"... Please. Use some MERCY."

"What?!" My eyes shot open at that, before forming into an angry, DETERMINED expression, "You've gotta be kidding me, Papyrus, they… They killed you! They killed Undyne! They-!"

"I know their wrongdoings." He said, his own browbones forming into a similar DETERMINED expression, "But everyone deserves a second chance at kindness. I wasn't able to give them that kindness they needed."

"So I need you to give it to them in my place."

"... I…" My fists trembled. My breath caught in my throat. Tears burned in my eyes. Why couldn't he understand? Why did he have to be so naive? Why…?

… Why couldn't he understand…?

*...

*You know it wouldn't change anything.

My teeth grit together. In spite of everything, I still wanted to make Papyrus proud.

"I'll try."

Papyrus smiled at my less-than-confident response, "Thank you, human."

He extended one hand to me, two bones forming an X. Like Undyne, his form began to break away, his golden light surrounding the two bones as I cupped them in my own hands. The bones glowed brightly, morphing into thin, stone shapes with a sharpened point at the tip. One faced down, the other faced up - Stalagmites and stalactites.

My eyes narrowed at my new magic, light coming over me and surrounding me. I didn't know if I could make good on the promise I had just made to Papyrus, but… All I could do was try.

*You made it your own.

Thirty minutes later…

A hop, a quick spin, and a dive under a spiraling plume of fire. The great heat in the area may have given Grillby a slight advantage, but Frisk had been dodging magic for years now. Frisk rocked their bladed Ballet Shoe towards Grillby's face, Grillby catching their leg with ease, causing smoke and the smell of burning flesh to fill the air. However, while their leg cooked, that also forced Grillby to stay in place. Perfect.

Gritting their teeth, they pulled back one tough-glove covered fist, plunging it in Grillby's flames. Grillby's eyes widened as their fingers invaded his insides, before wrapping their fingers around his core. Grillby desperately tried to get them off by placing his hand on their face and turning it into a smoldering mess, but it was already too late. Frisk squeezed, and cracks spread through Grillby's rocky core, before-

CRUNCH.

His core shattered in their hand, Grillby's flames began to spread to his clothing. His glasses fell to the ground and shattered. His form had disappeared, and, with it, any control he still had over his flames. Frisk panted, their smoldering skin and flames dancing across their body knocking their HP dangerously low, but, with a smack of their SAVE Point, they were good as new.

Shambling past the bartender's smoldering clothing, they entered the Hotland Lab. A frown tugged at their expression as they moved through it without thinking, passing by the door to the True Lab. They almost got to the other side of the lab, when…

"Howdy, Chara!"

… They slowly peered over their shoulder at the tiny, golden flower that had sprouted from the ground. Flowey the Flower grinned up at them, vines beginning to inch closer to the door leading to the Under-Underground lab.

"It seems like you need a whole lot'a LOVE for whatever you're wanting to do…" Flowey trailed off, glancing to the side with a grin. "... But a lot of the Underground has already been evacuated. Too bad, really…"

The vines inched closer to the lab doors as Flowey's grin became demonic, tearing his face into a freaky imitation of its former self. Red eyes peered at who he thought was his best friend…

"Would you like to see where to?"