Underearth/Book 2/Chapter 13

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"Urah ha ha ha... Behold my *true* power!" Asriel boomed as he appeared once again.

Asriel no longer sported legs. He was simply an entity of multiple separate parts. A head, a torso, and arms. The torso section featured a massive heart-shaped structure at the base, a sphere holding immense soular energy situated just above, and two spikes coming out of the top, at two and ten o'clock. From the spikes came wings of light.

When he'd finished speaking, Asriel brought up his arms, firing multiple light-missiles at Frisk. The missiles arced away before all coming down right on top of him. Each and every single one stung like fire when they hit.

*No... No...! I can't die now... Not when I'm... so... close...* Frisk thought while being cremated by the missiles.

Next thing Frisk knew, he was opening his eyes, sucking in air.

"I can feel it... Every time you die, your grip on this world slips away. Every time you die, your friends forget you a little more. Your life will end here, in a world where no one remembers you..."

Asriel fired more missiles at Frisk, and the same events as before happened.

"Still, you're hanging on...? That's fine. In a few moments, you'll forget everything, too. That attitude will serve you well in your next life!"

Frisk was once again vaporized by the missiles that Asriel fired. Frisk then once again found himself still trapped by Asriel.

"Ura ha ha..." Asriel roared. "Still!? Come on... Show me what good your DETERMINATION is now!"

Frisk remained there, trapped by whatever magic Asriel had cast. No matter how much he struggled, he could not break free from Asriel's magic.

*This is it...* Frisk soon thought, closing his eyes. *There is no escape...*

Just as Frisk was to consign himself to oblivion, he felt something inside himself. Opening his eyes again, he felt something drawing him to Asriel. No, drawing him to something within Asriel's SOUL.

Something was pushing him to continue the fight.

*What's the point?* Frisk asked this something.

*Joy!* The something answered back, but in the voices of Undyne, Alphys, Papyrus, Sans, Toriel, Asgore, but most predominantly, a feminine voice he'd never heard before.

Though he couldn't explain it, this single word filled Frisk with hope. Though he didn't know how, Frisk reached out to Asriel's SOUL and called out to his friends. They were in there; he could feel it. Then, within the depths of Asriel's SOUL, something resonated!

Next thing Frisk knew, Asriel was gone. No, he was within Asriel's SOUL. A million Monsters were gathered around, watching him.

"Sans! Papyrus!" he called out to the crowd. "Asgore! Toriel!" Frisk felt himself being pulled passed the crowd. "Undyne! Alphys!"

Soon, the pulling sensation stopped, and Frisk found himself in a clearing from the crowd. Looking around, Frisk spotted Papyrus and Sans; a strange white gaseous film obscuring their heads.

"Sans! Papyrus!" He shouted with glee.

The two skeletons weren't so keen to share his enthusiasm.

"Hey, are you guys alright?" He asked.

"I MUST CAPTURE A HUMAN!" Papyrus said.

"Papyrus, what are you saying? You don't need to capture me."

"Just give up. I did." Sans said.

"Sans, nobody's giving up. Trust me, it's not as great as it sounds."

The two skeletons both raised their hands towards Frisk. Bones then began erupting from the ground, rapidly approaching him.

*They... they don't remember me!* Frisk thought, slipping back into despair. *No! They remember me! I've just got to make them remember!*

"Hey Sans, why couldn't the skeleton go to the prom." Frisk said. Pausing, Frisk then finished the joke. "Because he had no-body to go with!"

Sans seemed to love the joke; Papyrus however seemed to hate it.

"Papyrus!" Frisk then said. "Could you make me some spaghetti sometime?"

Papyrus seemed to by trying to hide his enthusiasm at preforming this task.

"Sans! I don't know about you, but I could use a break. Wanna come with?"

Sans nodded his head solemnly. He then laid down and stopped fighting. Papyrus, also, stopped fighting and turned around to chew Sans out. While they both did this, the gaseous film that obscured their heads slowly vanished. They both then stopped what they were doing and looked up at Frisk.

"H-HUMAN?!" Papyrus said.

"Hey."

Frisk felt himself being pulled away, being moved back through the crowd. Papyrus ran over to the edge of the clearing and shouted "WE'RE ROOTING FOR YOU, HUMAN!!!"

Speeding across the crowd, Frisk soon found himself in another clearing. Looking around this one, he saw both Asgore and Toriel. Their heads were also obscured by a gaseous film.

"Asgore! Toriel!" he shouted.

The two simply stood there. Suddenly, they both brought up their hands, which were engulfed in flames, and launched fire at Frisk.

*Not you guys, too.* Frisk thought, dodging the fire.

"Asgore, Toriel. I don't want to fight you. Please." he said.

Both of their determined poses wavered slightly.

"Can't we settle this over some tea and pie?" Frisk then asked.

It seemed to have worked. Though they held their flaming hands up for just a bit longer, they soon lowered them, the gaseous film obscuring their heads dissipating as well.

They both then fell to their knees as Frisk was whisked away by an unknown pull once again.

It wasn't long before Frisk came to another clearing. This one, unlike the two before, only housed one Monster. Undyne. She, too, under the veil of the film.

"Undyne!" Frisk called to her.

Undyne responded by summoning a spear and throwing it at Frisk, who moved out of the way of the trajectory.

Once the spear landed, Frisk pulled it out of the ground and charged Undyne, slamming right into her while yelling "NGAHHHHHH!!!!!"

The shock of the impact knocked Undyne right to the floor. When she looked up at Frisk, he just gave her a big smile, like the kind Undyne liked to do.

As she witnessed this, the film began to fade. Frisk threw aside the spear as he felt himself being pulled to the last person. Alphys.

Sooner than Frisk thought, he arrived at the clearing where Alphys was. She was simply sitting on the ground, her head also obscured by the film. When Frisk stopped moving, Alphys simply raised her head, then lowered it back down, perhaps lower than it was before he'd arrived.

Frisk simply looked at Alphys, trying to determine a way to remove the film.

"You hate me, don't you...?" Alphys said.

Frisk wasn't expecting to be asked a question, let alone that one.

"N—" Frisk started to say, but he stopped himself when he remembered that he'd told Alphys to tell the truth, no matter how painful. "I... I used to... But then you told me what you did down in that lab and... I realized my mistake. You were going through something so painful, and you felt that you needed to lie to help others feel better."

Alphys shifted where she sat.

"I just want you to know that I'll always be willing to help you through whatever troubles you." Frisk said, walking over to Alphys and placing a hand on her shoulder.

Alphys looked up, the film was fading. Frisk could see that her eyes were red.

Before he could say anything else, Frisk felt himself being pulled away. The world around him then faded, and the next time he opened his eyes, Frisk found himself immobilized in front of Asriel once again.

Even from here, outside Asriel's SOUL, Frisk could feel the support of his friends. Yet there was still something else that drew him to Asriel's SOUL. Someone within who still needed to be SAVED. But who...?

...

Suddenly, Frisk realized who it was. Though he'd only heard their name spoken so very few times, he knew they were in there. Upon realizing, he felt something within himself connect with them. As soon as he felt this connection, memories flooded into his head.

Memories of a long fall, of great pain, then of great joy. Once the memories faded, Frisk could feel Asriel. He then called out to him.

"Wh... what did you do...?" Asriel said, distraught. "What's this feeling...? What's happening to me?" Asriel then regained the fire in his eyes. "No! NO! I don't need *ANYONE*!"

Frisk felt the restraint set upon his body break. Seizing hold of this opportunity, Frisk approached Asriel.

"STOP IT! Get away from me! Do you hear me!? I'll tear you apart!"

Frisk set down a hand on Asriel's great head.

"... Chara... Do you know why I'm doing this...? Why I keep fighting to keep you around...? I'm doing this... because you're special, Chara."

Frisk didn't know why, but tears began seeping from his eyes.

"... No..." Asriel then said. "That's not *just* it. I... I... I'm doing this because I care about you, Chara! I care about you more than anybody else! I'm not ready for this to end. I'm not ready for you to leave. I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you again..."

Frisk suddenly felt himself get forced back away from Asriel.

"So, please..." Asriel continued. "*Stop* doing this... AND JUST LET ME WIN!!!"

Asriel brought his hands together, forming a massive ball of light between them, then fired the energy at Frisk.

As soon as the energy hit him, his entire body felt as though it were facing the sun, slowly getting closer and closer. Each passing second, Frisk felt himself get closer and closer to death. Each passing second brought more and more pain, but Frisk pushed through. He had to.

Eventually, the energy stopped flowing, and Asriel brought his arms down. Tears began flowing from his eyes.

"Chara..." he said. "I'm so alone, Chara... I'm so afraid, Chara... Chara, I... I..."

As he spoke, Asriel's body shrunk smaller and smaller, slowly regaining the features he had before. Soon enough, Frisk found that he was looking at a Monster around his size wearing a sweater the same color as the jacket he wore, even featuring stripes of the same color as the one on his jacket. Asriel was mopping his eyes with his sleeves, as they were now flowing like rivers.

"I'm so sorry." he said through the tears. "I always was a crybaby, wasn't I, Chara?"

Asriel then went quiet for a minute, looking up at Frisk.

"... I know." he said slowly. "You're not actually Chara, are you? Chara's been gone for a long time... Um... what... What *is* your name?"

"It's Frisk. Frisk Anendotos."

"That's... a nice name."

Asriel went silent for a second more.

"Frisk..." he soon said. "I haven't felt like this for a long time. As a flower, I was soulless. I lacked the power to love other people. However, with everyone's SOULs inside me... I not only have my own compassion back... But I can feel every other Monster's as well. They all care about each other so much. And... they care about you too, Frisk... I wish I could tell you how everyone feels about you. Papyrus... Sans... Undyne... Alphys... ... Toriel. Monsters are weird. Even though they barely know you... It feels like they all really love you. Haha."

Asriel went silent once more. During this moment of silence, Frisk stepped a little closer.

"Frisk... I... I understand if you can't forgive me. I understand if you hate me. I acted so strange and horrible. I hurt you. I hurt so many people. Friends, family, bystanders... There's no excuse for what I've done."

Frisk didn't speak. He simply ran over and hugged Asriel.

"Wh... what?" Asriel said, surprised by the sudden Human now hugging him. "... Frisk come on. You're... You're gonna make me cry again."

Frisk continued hugging Asriel until he finally hugged back.

"Asriel... All that matters is that you realize you made a mistake. From there, all you have to do is your best." Frisk said, releasing Asriel.

"Yeah... You're right. Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts beating as one. They're all burning with the same desire. With everyone's power... With everyone's determination... It's time for Monsters... To finally go free."

Asriel began floating up into the air, massive amounts of energy emanating from him, all collecting into a single ball of energy just above him. Soon enough, the ball of energy exploded outward, engulfing everything in a blinding light.

Not long after, the light faded, and Asriel fell back down to the ground.

"Frisk..." he said, looking down at the ground. "I have to go now. Without the power of everyone's SOULs... I can't keep maintaining this form. In a little while... I'll turn back into a flower. I'll stop being 'myself'. I'll stop being able to feel love again. So... Frisk. It's best if you just forget about me, okay? Just go be with the people who love you."

Frisk approached Asriel again and gave him a hug.

*Ha... ha...* Frisk heard from within himself. *I don't want to let go...*

Like all things, however, it too came to an end.

"Frisk... You're... You're going to do a great job, okay? No matter what you do. Everyone will be there for you, okay? Well... my time's running out. Goodbye."

Asriel began walking away but stopped after taking a few steps.

"By the way... Frisk" he said, turning back to face Frisk. "... take care of mom and dad for me, okay?"

Frisk nodded. With that, Asriel finished walking away, fading away in specks of light. He himself then found that his eyes were closed.

"Frisk! This is all just a bad dream...! Please, wake up...!"