Just Cause
An Undertale Fanfiction
Chapter 13: Mutual Protection
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Looking For a Bad Time
Chapter 2: What The Killer Gave Up
Chapter 3: A Dangerous Path
Chapter 4: Fatal Mistakes
Chapter 5: Surrendered Memories
Chapter 6: Revenge?
Chapter 7: The Person I Was
Chapter 8: Leaving Hope Behind
Chapter 9: Seeking the Source
Chapter 10: Uncertain Friendship
Chapter 11: Dating WTF?!
Chapter 12: I Don't Know How to Feel
Chapter 13: Mutual Protection (You are here)
Chapter 14: Spear of Torment
Chapter 15: Saved by Fire
Chapter 16: Welcome to the Show
Chapter 17: Nostalgia
Chapter 18: The Only Two I Thought I Had
Chapter 1: Looking For a Bad Time
Chapter 2: What The Killer Gave Up
Chapter 3: A Dangerous Path
Chapter 4: Fatal Mistakes
Chapter 5: Surrendered Memories
Chapter 6: Revenge?
Chapter 7: The Person I Was
Chapter 8: Leaving Hope Behind
Chapter 9: Seeking the Source
Chapter 10: Uncertain Friendship
Chapter 11: Dating WTF?!
Chapter 12: I Don't Know How to Feel
Chapter 13: Mutual Protection (You are here)
Chapter 14: Spear of Torment
Chapter 15: Saved by Fire
Chapter 16: Welcome to the Show
Chapter 17: Nostalgia
Chapter 18: The Only Two I Thought I Had
Author’s note: When I first started this fanfic, I was planning to depict the game mechanics as accurately as possible. I still plan to keep it pretty true to the game, but I got tired of letting myself get stalled by technical questions like, “Can you run from a Woshua?” So for the sake actually making progress on this story, I’m gonna take a bit of creative license.
As one dark, wet corridor faded into a dim procession of others like it, and one heart-pounding battle was followed by half a dozen more, the electric stab of fear slowly faded to a tense, resigned dread.
The possibility of attack still lurked in every corner, and Frisk had died three times since Papyrus had last called them, but the fights were starting to shift from panicked confusion into reassuringly predictable patterns.
The Aarons were easy enough, once Frisk learned to flex at them. The Woshuas had been a problem; they used the same green attacks the Vegetoids did, and after several failed attempts to talk them down without touching their friendliness pellets, the child had resorted to fleeing from them.
Undyne had been a constant, albeit mostly distant threat, but at least she didn’t seem that smart, judging by the fact that she’d chosen to knock the bridge out from under them rather than take their soul while they were cornered.
And in the midst of it all, Papyrus, Sans, Gerson, and the monster child had provided a series of much-needed reprieves from the lonely hostility of this harsh new world.
Frisk still wasn’t sure they could trust a kid who idolized Undyne and rhapsodized about humans getting beat up, but at least they could be in Frisk’s presence and speak with them for more than a few sentences without attacking. A meager comfort, but a comfort nonetheless, and there was almost always a friendly voice available on the other end of the phone.
Faint lights in the darkness, small handholds on a cliff. As long as they had that much to hold onto, they could stay determined.
A new echo flower came into view, and Frisk softly padded up to it, wondering whose whispered hopes this one would speak. Part of their heart tugged away from the plant, afraid to hear yet another prayer for the freedom that only their death could grant, but curiosity pulled them relentlessly forward, until they were close enough for their nearness to draw a whisper from the bloom.
“Behind you.”
NO.
An icy rock plunged into their gut, and Frisk spun with a gasp as the harsh, rhythmic clank of an inexorable approach rang behind them. Adrenaline screamed through their pounding heart and quivering limbs, and the knowledge that they could come back to life was powerless against the fear that fogged their mind.
Undyne was here, and death wasn’t the only way to make a person suffer.
“Seven.”
The monster’s stern voice was heavy with meaning, and her one visible eye burned like a coal of deadly fervor. “Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king… king Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god.”
King Asg-… NO.
The world froze, the stony cavern around them fading as the monster’s promises of a shattered barrier and revenge blurred into a half-heard drone.
Asgore. The person Toriel warned me about. The one who wants to kill me.
He’s their KING.
Their throat closed, their lungs screamed in strangled silence, and their heartbeat struck like hammer blows pounding the gravity of the revelation into their soul.
I should have realized. Sans said he was supposed to capture me. The royal guards and Papyrus tried. Of course it would have been their king who told them to do it.
But people talked about the king like he was so nice. He didn’t sound like someone who would tell people to kill a kid.
Unless…
The weight of their stigma fell heavy on their shoulders, and their head and gaze slumped beneath its weight. Unless the kid is human. His kindness isn’t for people like me.
The cavern around them seemed to grow larger, the enormity of the world’s hostility swelling to devour every hiding place and scrap of futile hope.
“Understand, human?”
Undyne’s stern, frigid voice cut through their thoughts, and they nodded numbly, trembling as they absorbed the enormity of the revelation.
The king of the Underground wanted them dead, and there was nowhere they could go where people wouldn’t be trying to fulfill his command.
“This is your only chance at redemption,” Undyne continued, her golden eye burning a hole in the child’s reeling mind. “Give up your soul… or I’ll tear it from your body.”
Give up my soul? Is that even possible? What happens if a person doesn’t have a soul? If I could somehow take it out and give it to her, would I die? Go into a coma? Become a zombie?
Their mouth opened to ask the questions, but their opponent was already moving. The monster’s tall body dropped into a tense battle stance, her hands braced to support the gleaming magic spear that materialized between them.
A few quick, wary steps shore off a chunk of the precious distance between them, and Frisk’s heart silently screamed as it flung itself against their ribs, as if desperate to escape from their cornered, trembling body.
Undyne made another swift forward rush, and Frisk’s chest hummed with the familiar feeling of their soul being pulled into the open, exposed to the monster’s imminent assault. Their feet shifted in the ballet shoes they’d found earlier, and the hard-toed footwear that had made them feel so dangerous an hour ago suddenly seemed hopelessly inadequate against the solid metal armor that was thundering toward them.
Undyne was almost upon them, the walls closed around them like restraining hands, and the water’s distant murmur was joined by the ominous whisper of the nearby grass.
“Undyne!!!”
Shock jolted through Frisk’s body in a sharp, jarring burst, ripping the breath from their lungs as a familiar yellow shape suddenly sprang between them and the approaching spear.
Oh, no. No, NO! The monster kid is in her way, she’s gonna get mad and kill them...
“I’ll help you fight!!!”
Oh no, they’re gonna get mad and kill ME.
The child was spinning in circles now, glancing giddily from Undyne to the human and back. “YO!!!!” they yelled, youthful glee ringing in their voice as they bounced slightly, their joy too great to be restrained to a single spot. “You did it!!! Undyne is RIGHT in front of you!!! You’ve got front row seats to her fight!!!”
Dead silence descended on the battlefield, broken only by the shuffling of scaled feet on stone as the child glanced between the human and their would-be executioner. Both opponents stared at their cheerful spectator with mute incredulity, until reality finally began to sink in, and it occurred to the young monster to start asking the important questions.
“...Wait. Who’s she fighting???”
A few quick, irritable steps later, Undyne’s armored hand had clamped firmly onto the child’s cheek, causing their eye to squeeze shut in discomfort as she speed-marched away, dragging the smaller monster behind her.
No, stop! “Wait!” Frisk cried, fear of drawing attention to themselves warring with terror for the other child. “Don’t hurt them! Please!”
If Undyne heard them over the young reptile’s pleas for her not to tell their parents, she gave no sign of it. Frisk started creeping forward, strung painfully between the urge to give chase and protect the other child, and their instincts’ screamed command to put as much distance between themselves and their hunter as possible.
The path ahead of them forked, a side trail of crystals they hadn’t noticed before twinkling into view, and Frisk paused, straining their ears in search of the two vanished monsters.
It was no good. Undyne’s footsteps had fallen silent, and the hint of what might have been her voice was all but drowned out by the cry of the echo flower behind them.
For a moment, the young human paused, debating which path to take. The tunnel’s acoustics gave no sign of which way their tormentor had gone, but at least there were no cries of pain to suggest that she was hurting the smaller monster.
Maybe they’re right. Maybe she wouldn’t hurt an innocent person.
I guess I can stop worrying about protecting monsters from her.
But I’m not an innocent person. I killed those Vegetoids earlier, and I beat up a few people to make them go away.
And she wants to take my soul, for the person Toriel told me not to give my soul to.
I have to get out of here.
The chaos in their mind finally settled into certainty, and they turned to the right, padding cautiously up the trail of glittering crystals.
There was no point in retreading ground they’d already covered. All they could do was try new paths, and hope they could find an exit before Undyne found them.
~*~*~*~
I never thought hearing a magic dinosaur walk behind me would be such a relief.
The anxious “Yo,” the quick patter of clumsy feet, and the increasingly familiar thud of a faceplant made Frisk’s heart feel like an anvil had been lifted off of it. Despite the lingering weight of dread, a small smile shone through the shadows on their face as the young monster scampered into view, puffing from the run.
Then Frisk saw the look on the other child’s face, and that weight returned with cruel force, plunging their stomach into the unforgiving stone beneath them.
They’re afraid of me. Whatever Undyne told them, it made them scared of me.
Now they’ll hate me, too.
The scaled youth was inching toward them now, their uneasy gait contrasting painfully with their usual exuberant rush. Frisk watched silently, fighting the urge to turn and flee from the lonely disappointment that was surely coming.
The slow footsteps came to a halt, and the small monster hesitated, glancing to the side before returning their attention fully to Frisk. “Yo, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but… I wanna ask you something.”
Reluctant hope rose in Frisk’s heart, and they blinked quickly, fighting back the tears that were rising behind their eyes. “Yeah?” Maybe… if they learn a bit more about me, will they realize we’re not enemies?
Their companion’s feet shuffled against the stone, tracing small, awkward patterns before coming to a halt. “Man, I’ve never had to ask anyone this before… Um… yo… you’re human, right? Haha…”
The uncomfortable laugh seemed linger, like a ghost trapped in air that hung thick with a terrible truth: to be human was a crime worthy of death, and Frisk had already been convicted.
There was no point denying it. The human’s head dipped slightly, their face flattening into a series of grim, emotionless lines as they struck the silent nail into the coffin of one of the few friendships they had.
“Man! I knew it!”
Surprise jolted through Frisk, and once again, their battered spirit dared to rise. “You did?” They knew, and they still-
“…Well, I know it now, I mean.”
Oh.
“Undyne told me, um, ‘stay away from that human.’ So, like ummm… I guess that makes us enemies or something.”
Frisk’s flat, stoic mask shattered into a wounded flinch. Stupid, stupid, I should have known…
“But I kinda stink at that, haha.”
Does that mean they aren’t going to kill me?
“Yo, say something mean so I can hate you? Please?”
“Oh. Uh…” Should I? I don’t want them to hate me. But will they hate me for not saying something mean? I don’t know what to do. “You, um… you fall on your face a lot?” It looks painful. I should ask if they’re okay.
For a moment, silence hovered in the damp, cold air, its blank stillness echoed in the monster’s wide-eyed face. “Huh…?”
Frisk shrank away a few inches. “Uh… Was that bad? Did I screw up?”
The small monster shook their head incredulously. “Yo, that’s your idea of something mean? My sister says that to me ALL THE TIME!” They shuffled, a small burst of nervous laughter breaking from their chest. “Guess I have to do it, haha.”
A deep breath seemed to steel them, then they stared at their human companion with an expression that looked like an attempt to glare gone pitiably wrong. “Yo, I… I hate your guts.”
For a moment, Frisk expected to feel hurt.
And perhaps they would have, if their companion-turned-enemy-wannabe had sounded even remotely like they meant it.
As it was, the words hung in the air like an awkward ghost before fading away with their tail between their legs, leaving embarrassed silence and unexpectedly unbruised feelings in their wake.
“Man, I…” The magic dinosaur’s tail curled like a humiliated banana, and they glanced away. “I’m such a turd. I’m… I’m gonna go home now.”
Is home in the same direction I’m going? …I guess not.
An all-too-familiar tug of loneliness pulled at Frisk’s heart as the other child slowly backed away, turned around, then quickened their pace.
As expected, the yellow youth tripped – it seemed like they couldn’t break into a run without first introducing their face to the stone.
But then they tried to catch themselves, and it all went horribly wrong.
A sharp cry pierced the air, slicing through Frisk’s soul like an electric knife of fear, and even as the slipping monster caught the ledge, the human was already starting forward.
CLANK. The horrible sound of metal footsteps rang from the other end of the tunnel, and the harsh gleam of a golden eye shone through cold armor. Frisk jolted to a halt, every instinct screaming at them to flee, or to curl into an appeasingly submissive ball that they knew all to well couldn’t protect them.
Undyne was coming. The monster child was falling. It was all coming apart.
There’s still a chance, their determination whispered. While she’s saving the other kid, I can get away.
But then Undyne froze.
The little monster slid a bit further down, wailing in terror, and Frisk’s limbs and heart screamed for somebody to move.
She isn’t saving the kid. Why isn’t she grabbing the kid?!
The magic warrior sank into a wary pose, the golden gleam of her eye darting from Frisk to the slowly slipping child and back, and the glimmer of an unthinkable possibility sparked into existence in their mind.
Is she… afraid of me?
For an instant, the concept seemed ludicrous.
Then the echoes of the library book and the records of the war whispered through Frisk’s memory, and their pulse quickened.
She really IS scared of me. Even though she’s big and wearing armor, my soul is more powerful than hers. I could probably kill her if I wanted to.
“Wh-what are you standing around for?”
The frantic cry jolted Frisk back to the present, and their breath caught sharply as their companion’s claws scraped against the rock, losing a few precious inches. Terror shone like a distress flare in the small reptile’s eyes, and their voice rose to a scream as one of their feet slipped loose. “GET OVER HERE, DUDE!”
I have to risk it.
A trembling footstep brought them a couple feet closer to the tense, glowering warrior, then froze as her stance ducked slightly, like a cornered, wary animal threatening to spring.
Don’t panic, don’t panic – the monster kid said Undyne was too cool to hurt an innocent person, and stopping me would be killing an innocent monster, so she’ll at least wait until I’m done that, right?
Another foot forward, then a few more. The other child was right at their feet, and despite the screaming of their nerves, Frisk forced themselves to take their eyes off of Undyne as they gripped the ledge and reached for the young reptile.
To their infinite relief, the guardswoman stayed where she was as Frisk’s hand closed around the smaller monster’s head spike, clutching it desperately and pulling as hard as they could.
The yellow child rose with startling ease, and Frisk almost tumbled backward in surprise. They’re so light! But they’re as tall as I am – even Dash was never this light, and he was smaller me.
The monster kid scrambled to their feet, staring at Frisk in wide-eyed, awestruck shock. For a moment, two magic beings and a human stood in a silent row, the two on either end of the trio watching each other warily while the one in the center glanced between them.
Then the newly rescued child turned toward their idol, and with a voice that trembled with nervous defiance, they chose a side. “Y… y… yo… dude… If… If y-you wanna hurt my friend… You’re gonna have to get through me, first.”
Oh, no. Oh, NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. She’ll kill them. They just disobeyed her right in front of her, and now she’s going to… to… back away?!
Mute silence fell across Frisk’s mind, and they watched in stunned bafflement as Undyne first backed away, then turned and abruptly stormed off.
She actually backed down? Is the monster kid that powerful? Or… Their mind darted back to some of the movies they’d watched, in which adult characters refused to hurt a child. Or does even someone as scary as Undyne not want to hurt a child, as long as the child is a monster?
The backs of their eyes began to burn, and they struggled to force the feeling down. I wish I was like that… a child people don’t want to hurt…
As the ominous armored footsteps fell silent, the yellow youth turned to their newfound friend, their body and voice quivering slightly with adrenaline-soaked nervousness. “She’s gone,” they observed, as oblivious as ever to Frisk’s pain. “Yo, you really saved my skin. Guess being enemies was just a nice thought, haha. We’ll just have to be friends instead.”
Friends. Friends who stood by each other? Friends who betrayed each other, or seemed to and then turned out not to have? Friends who wanted to be enemies, but gave up on it? Friends who made life a little easier by talking on the phone?
Friendship is complicated. But it’s better than being enemies. “I’d like that. Um…” Does that mean you’ll come with me, and Undyne will stop hunting me, and I won’t be alone anymore?
The young monster shifted uncomfortably. “Man, I should REALLY go home… I bet my parents are worried sick about me!”
Oh.
“Oh, okay, I…” Their parents sound like Toriel. “I guess you’re right. If they care about you, then they won’t want to have to worry about you being d-dead…”
Dead like… no, don’t think about it, don’t cry. You have to be around people, don’t think about it and cry…
As the burning pressure in the backs of their eyes began to break through their struggling resolve, their lonely disappointment was mixed with relief at the sight of the other child beginning to walk away. I don’t want to be alone again, but I can’t let them see me cry.
The young monster said something, but it went almost unheard in the blurred roar of emotion that was pounding through the human’s head. Before they could ask about it, the other youth scampered away, somehow managing to avoid a faceplant for once in their accident-prone life.
Within seconds, the small yellow beacon of light was swallowed by the dark, twisting tunnels, and Frisk was alone.
The hiss of water whispered through the passage ahead of them, and with a deep, shuddering breath, the child stepped toward it.
They’d keep on going, no matter what… just like always. They’d dry their eyes, regain their composure, and then keep moving forward and hope that Undyne was too cool to kill a person who’d saved a monster child.
As one dark, wet corridor faded into a dim procession of others like it, and one heart-pounding battle was followed by half a dozen more, the electric stab of fear slowly faded to a tense, resigned dread.
The possibility of attack still lurked in every corner, and Frisk had died three times since Papyrus had last called them, but the fights were starting to shift from panicked confusion into reassuringly predictable patterns.
The Aarons were easy enough, once Frisk learned to flex at them. The Woshuas had been a problem; they used the same green attacks the Vegetoids did, and after several failed attempts to talk them down without touching their friendliness pellets, the child had resorted to fleeing from them.
Undyne had been a constant, albeit mostly distant threat, but at least she didn’t seem that smart, judging by the fact that she’d chosen to knock the bridge out from under them rather than take their soul while they were cornered.
And in the midst of it all, Papyrus, Sans, Gerson, and the monster child had provided a series of much-needed reprieves from the lonely hostility of this harsh new world.
Frisk still wasn’t sure they could trust a kid who idolized Undyne and rhapsodized about humans getting beat up, but at least they could be in Frisk’s presence and speak with them for more than a few sentences without attacking. A meager comfort, but a comfort nonetheless, and there was almost always a friendly voice available on the other end of the phone.
Faint lights in the darkness, small handholds on a cliff. As long as they had that much to hold onto, they could stay determined.
A new echo flower came into view, and Frisk softly padded up to it, wondering whose whispered hopes this one would speak. Part of their heart tugged away from the plant, afraid to hear yet another prayer for the freedom that only their death could grant, but curiosity pulled them relentlessly forward, until they were close enough for their nearness to draw a whisper from the bloom.
“Behind you.”
NO.
An icy rock plunged into their gut, and Frisk spun with a gasp as the harsh, rhythmic clank of an inexorable approach rang behind them. Adrenaline screamed through their pounding heart and quivering limbs, and the knowledge that they could come back to life was powerless against the fear that fogged their mind.
Undyne was here, and death wasn’t the only way to make a person suffer.
“Seven.”
The monster’s stern voice was heavy with meaning, and her one visible eye burned like a coal of deadly fervor. “Seven human souls. With the power of seven human souls, our king… king Asgore Dreemurr… will become a god.”
King Asg-… NO.
The world froze, the stony cavern around them fading as the monster’s promises of a shattered barrier and revenge blurred into a half-heard drone.
Asgore. The person Toriel warned me about. The one who wants to kill me.
He’s their KING.
Their throat closed, their lungs screamed in strangled silence, and their heartbeat struck like hammer blows pounding the gravity of the revelation into their soul.
I should have realized. Sans said he was supposed to capture me. The royal guards and Papyrus tried. Of course it would have been their king who told them to do it.
But people talked about the king like he was so nice. He didn’t sound like someone who would tell people to kill a kid.
Unless…
The weight of their stigma fell heavy on their shoulders, and their head and gaze slumped beneath its weight. Unless the kid is human. His kindness isn’t for people like me.
The cavern around them seemed to grow larger, the enormity of the world’s hostility swelling to devour every hiding place and scrap of futile hope.
“Understand, human?”
Undyne’s stern, frigid voice cut through their thoughts, and they nodded numbly, trembling as they absorbed the enormity of the revelation.
The king of the Underground wanted them dead, and there was nowhere they could go where people wouldn’t be trying to fulfill his command.
“This is your only chance at redemption,” Undyne continued, her golden eye burning a hole in the child’s reeling mind. “Give up your soul… or I’ll tear it from your body.”
Give up my soul? Is that even possible? What happens if a person doesn’t have a soul? If I could somehow take it out and give it to her, would I die? Go into a coma? Become a zombie?
Their mouth opened to ask the questions, but their opponent was already moving. The monster’s tall body dropped into a tense battle stance, her hands braced to support the gleaming magic spear that materialized between them.
A few quick, wary steps shore off a chunk of the precious distance between them, and Frisk’s heart silently screamed as it flung itself against their ribs, as if desperate to escape from their cornered, trembling body.
Undyne made another swift forward rush, and Frisk’s chest hummed with the familiar feeling of their soul being pulled into the open, exposed to the monster’s imminent assault. Their feet shifted in the ballet shoes they’d found earlier, and the hard-toed footwear that had made them feel so dangerous an hour ago suddenly seemed hopelessly inadequate against the solid metal armor that was thundering toward them.
Undyne was almost upon them, the walls closed around them like restraining hands, and the water’s distant murmur was joined by the ominous whisper of the nearby grass.
“Undyne!!!”
Shock jolted through Frisk’s body in a sharp, jarring burst, ripping the breath from their lungs as a familiar yellow shape suddenly sprang between them and the approaching spear.
Oh, no. No, NO! The monster kid is in her way, she’s gonna get mad and kill them...
“I’ll help you fight!!!”
Oh no, they’re gonna get mad and kill ME.
The child was spinning in circles now, glancing giddily from Undyne to the human and back. “YO!!!!” they yelled, youthful glee ringing in their voice as they bounced slightly, their joy too great to be restrained to a single spot. “You did it!!! Undyne is RIGHT in front of you!!! You’ve got front row seats to her fight!!!”
Dead silence descended on the battlefield, broken only by the shuffling of scaled feet on stone as the child glanced between the human and their would-be executioner. Both opponents stared at their cheerful spectator with mute incredulity, until reality finally began to sink in, and it occurred to the young monster to start asking the important questions.
“...Wait. Who’s she fighting???”
A few quick, irritable steps later, Undyne’s armored hand had clamped firmly onto the child’s cheek, causing their eye to squeeze shut in discomfort as she speed-marched away, dragging the smaller monster behind her.
No, stop! “Wait!” Frisk cried, fear of drawing attention to themselves warring with terror for the other child. “Don’t hurt them! Please!”
If Undyne heard them over the young reptile’s pleas for her not to tell their parents, she gave no sign of it. Frisk started creeping forward, strung painfully between the urge to give chase and protect the other child, and their instincts’ screamed command to put as much distance between themselves and their hunter as possible.
The path ahead of them forked, a side trail of crystals they hadn’t noticed before twinkling into view, and Frisk paused, straining their ears in search of the two vanished monsters.
It was no good. Undyne’s footsteps had fallen silent, and the hint of what might have been her voice was all but drowned out by the cry of the echo flower behind them.
For a moment, the young human paused, debating which path to take. The tunnel’s acoustics gave no sign of which way their tormentor had gone, but at least there were no cries of pain to suggest that she was hurting the smaller monster.
Maybe they’re right. Maybe she wouldn’t hurt an innocent person.
I guess I can stop worrying about protecting monsters from her.
But I’m not an innocent person. I killed those Vegetoids earlier, and I beat up a few people to make them go away.
And she wants to take my soul, for the person Toriel told me not to give my soul to.
I have to get out of here.
The chaos in their mind finally settled into certainty, and they turned to the right, padding cautiously up the trail of glittering crystals.
There was no point in retreading ground they’d already covered. All they could do was try new paths, and hope they could find an exit before Undyne found them.
~*~*~*~
I never thought hearing a magic dinosaur walk behind me would be such a relief.
The anxious “Yo,” the quick patter of clumsy feet, and the increasingly familiar thud of a faceplant made Frisk’s heart feel like an anvil had been lifted off of it. Despite the lingering weight of dread, a small smile shone through the shadows on their face as the young monster scampered into view, puffing from the run.
Then Frisk saw the look on the other child’s face, and that weight returned with cruel force, plunging their stomach into the unforgiving stone beneath them.
They’re afraid of me. Whatever Undyne told them, it made them scared of me.
Now they’ll hate me, too.
The scaled youth was inching toward them now, their uneasy gait contrasting painfully with their usual exuberant rush. Frisk watched silently, fighting the urge to turn and flee from the lonely disappointment that was surely coming.
The slow footsteps came to a halt, and the small monster hesitated, glancing to the side before returning their attention fully to Frisk. “Yo, I know I’m not supposed to be here, but… I wanna ask you something.”
Reluctant hope rose in Frisk’s heart, and they blinked quickly, fighting back the tears that were rising behind their eyes. “Yeah?” Maybe… if they learn a bit more about me, will they realize we’re not enemies?
Their companion’s feet shuffled against the stone, tracing small, awkward patterns before coming to a halt. “Man, I’ve never had to ask anyone this before… Um… yo… you’re human, right? Haha…”
The uncomfortable laugh seemed linger, like a ghost trapped in air that hung thick with a terrible truth: to be human was a crime worthy of death, and Frisk had already been convicted.
There was no point denying it. The human’s head dipped slightly, their face flattening into a series of grim, emotionless lines as they struck the silent nail into the coffin of one of the few friendships they had.
“Man! I knew it!”
Surprise jolted through Frisk, and once again, their battered spirit dared to rise. “You did?” They knew, and they still-
“…Well, I know it now, I mean.”
Oh.
“Undyne told me, um, ‘stay away from that human.’ So, like ummm… I guess that makes us enemies or something.”
Frisk’s flat, stoic mask shattered into a wounded flinch. Stupid, stupid, I should have known…
“But I kinda stink at that, haha.”
Does that mean they aren’t going to kill me?
“Yo, say something mean so I can hate you? Please?”
“Oh. Uh…” Should I? I don’t want them to hate me. But will they hate me for not saying something mean? I don’t know what to do. “You, um… you fall on your face a lot?” It looks painful. I should ask if they’re okay.
For a moment, silence hovered in the damp, cold air, its blank stillness echoed in the monster’s wide-eyed face. “Huh…?”
Frisk shrank away a few inches. “Uh… Was that bad? Did I screw up?”
The small monster shook their head incredulously. “Yo, that’s your idea of something mean? My sister says that to me ALL THE TIME!” They shuffled, a small burst of nervous laughter breaking from their chest. “Guess I have to do it, haha.”
A deep breath seemed to steel them, then they stared at their human companion with an expression that looked like an attempt to glare gone pitiably wrong. “Yo, I… I hate your guts.”
For a moment, Frisk expected to feel hurt.
And perhaps they would have, if their companion-turned-enemy-wannabe had sounded even remotely like they meant it.
As it was, the words hung in the air like an awkward ghost before fading away with their tail between their legs, leaving embarrassed silence and unexpectedly unbruised feelings in their wake.
“Man, I…” The magic dinosaur’s tail curled like a humiliated banana, and they glanced away. “I’m such a turd. I’m… I’m gonna go home now.”
Is home in the same direction I’m going? …I guess not.
An all-too-familiar tug of loneliness pulled at Frisk’s heart as the other child slowly backed away, turned around, then quickened their pace.
As expected, the yellow youth tripped – it seemed like they couldn’t break into a run without first introducing their face to the stone.
But then they tried to catch themselves, and it all went horribly wrong.
A sharp cry pierced the air, slicing through Frisk’s soul like an electric knife of fear, and even as the slipping monster caught the ledge, the human was already starting forward.
CLANK. The horrible sound of metal footsteps rang from the other end of the tunnel, and the harsh gleam of a golden eye shone through cold armor. Frisk jolted to a halt, every instinct screaming at them to flee, or to curl into an appeasingly submissive ball that they knew all to well couldn’t protect them.
Undyne was coming. The monster child was falling. It was all coming apart.
There’s still a chance, their determination whispered. While she’s saving the other kid, I can get away.
But then Undyne froze.
The little monster slid a bit further down, wailing in terror, and Frisk’s limbs and heart screamed for somebody to move.
She isn’t saving the kid. Why isn’t she grabbing the kid?!
The magic warrior sank into a wary pose, the golden gleam of her eye darting from Frisk to the slowly slipping child and back, and the glimmer of an unthinkable possibility sparked into existence in their mind.
Is she… afraid of me?
For an instant, the concept seemed ludicrous.
Then the echoes of the library book and the records of the war whispered through Frisk’s memory, and their pulse quickened.
She really IS scared of me. Even though she’s big and wearing armor, my soul is more powerful than hers. I could probably kill her if I wanted to.
“Wh-what are you standing around for?”
The frantic cry jolted Frisk back to the present, and their breath caught sharply as their companion’s claws scraped against the rock, losing a few precious inches. Terror shone like a distress flare in the small reptile’s eyes, and their voice rose to a scream as one of their feet slipped loose. “GET OVER HERE, DUDE!”
I have to risk it.
A trembling footstep brought them a couple feet closer to the tense, glowering warrior, then froze as her stance ducked slightly, like a cornered, wary animal threatening to spring.
Don’t panic, don’t panic – the monster kid said Undyne was too cool to hurt an innocent person, and stopping me would be killing an innocent monster, so she’ll at least wait until I’m done that, right?
Another foot forward, then a few more. The other child was right at their feet, and despite the screaming of their nerves, Frisk forced themselves to take their eyes off of Undyne as they gripped the ledge and reached for the young reptile.
To their infinite relief, the guardswoman stayed where she was as Frisk’s hand closed around the smaller monster’s head spike, clutching it desperately and pulling as hard as they could.
The yellow child rose with startling ease, and Frisk almost tumbled backward in surprise. They’re so light! But they’re as tall as I am – even Dash was never this light, and he was smaller me.
The monster kid scrambled to their feet, staring at Frisk in wide-eyed, awestruck shock. For a moment, two magic beings and a human stood in a silent row, the two on either end of the trio watching each other warily while the one in the center glanced between them.
Then the newly rescued child turned toward their idol, and with a voice that trembled with nervous defiance, they chose a side. “Y… y… yo… dude… If… If y-you wanna hurt my friend… You’re gonna have to get through me, first.”
Oh, no. Oh, NO NO NO NO NO NO NO. She’ll kill them. They just disobeyed her right in front of her, and now she’s going to… to… back away?!
Mute silence fell across Frisk’s mind, and they watched in stunned bafflement as Undyne first backed away, then turned and abruptly stormed off.
She actually backed down? Is the monster kid that powerful? Or… Their mind darted back to some of the movies they’d watched, in which adult characters refused to hurt a child. Or does even someone as scary as Undyne not want to hurt a child, as long as the child is a monster?
The backs of their eyes began to burn, and they struggled to force the feeling down. I wish I was like that… a child people don’t want to hurt…
As the ominous armored footsteps fell silent, the yellow youth turned to their newfound friend, their body and voice quivering slightly with adrenaline-soaked nervousness. “She’s gone,” they observed, as oblivious as ever to Frisk’s pain. “Yo, you really saved my skin. Guess being enemies was just a nice thought, haha. We’ll just have to be friends instead.”
Friends. Friends who stood by each other? Friends who betrayed each other, or seemed to and then turned out not to have? Friends who wanted to be enemies, but gave up on it? Friends who made life a little easier by talking on the phone?
Friendship is complicated. But it’s better than being enemies. “I’d like that. Um…” Does that mean you’ll come with me, and Undyne will stop hunting me, and I won’t be alone anymore?
The young monster shifted uncomfortably. “Man, I should REALLY go home… I bet my parents are worried sick about me!”
Oh.
“Oh, okay, I…” Their parents sound like Toriel. “I guess you’re right. If they care about you, then they won’t want to have to worry about you being d-dead…”
Dead like… no, don’t think about it, don’t cry. You have to be around people, don’t think about it and cry…
As the burning pressure in the backs of their eyes began to break through their struggling resolve, their lonely disappointment was mixed with relief at the sight of the other child beginning to walk away. I don’t want to be alone again, but I can’t let them see me cry.
The young monster said something, but it went almost unheard in the blurred roar of emotion that was pounding through the human’s head. Before they could ask about it, the other youth scampered away, somehow managing to avoid a faceplant for once in their accident-prone life.
Within seconds, the small yellow beacon of light was swallowed by the dark, twisting tunnels, and Frisk was alone.
The hiss of water whispered through the passage ahead of them, and with a deep, shuddering breath, the child stepped toward it.
They’d keep on going, no matter what… just like always. They’d dry their eyes, regain their composure, and then keep moving forward and hope that Undyne was too cool to kill a person who’d saved a monster child.
Author's note:
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