She imagines it, candidly; the single thing that’s been getting her through her long days in bed. The sight of Clover making themselves at home in her little wooden hut, living out their life as a child should. That would have been something worth celebrating.
From A Cause for Celebration by DiamondDeputy (EllaMayLowell), a one-shot I enjoyed a lot :] and I had to draw something about it, of course
I took a couple of interior design ideas from FuryOfFaeful, her version of Martlet's house is awesome.
I think I've made enough art for this "Clover lives, grows up, and marries while remaining Underground" series that I suppose it's now officially an AU of sorts.
Like many people who’ve played through Undertale’s Pacifist route, I have my own fair share of thoughts on what happens to all the characters after the credits roll. And because I’m feeling in a sentimental mood, I wanted to write them all down in one place. So I thought I’d go through each of the main characters and talk through where I see them ending up. Some of these have been partially shaped by other takes, or even fics, that resonated with me. Others are purely my own interpretation. This isn’t a fic or anything super comprehensive. Just me splurging out my thoughts onto a page to get ‘em out of my head after all this time.
Also a few side notes before we start:
-This is NOT referring to Souless Pacifist. That’s an interesting thing to think about but, frankly, I’d like to actually be happy today.
-I’m mostly leaving Deltarune out of this because’s it’s a seperate canon, it’s not finished and frankly, I have NO IDEA where that story is going.
-This all purely my conjecture based on my interpretation of the story and characters and what I’d like to think happens next. Nothing more.
Frisk
Frisk accepted Toriel’s offer to stay with her and they settled down in a house in the town, Ebott, not far from the mountain of the same name. Originally the pair just had a small place to themselves, but in a couple of years, they moved into a much larger house. Since Frisk was spending so much time with all their friends, Toriel decided they might as well all have a room there, and nearly all of them sleep over there pretty frequently. By this point, they’re almost as much one big family as they are friends.
They also accepted the position of Ambassador of monsters, but didn’t really step into that role for a few years. The position requird a lot of knowledge that makes for a rather unfair responsibility to put on someone so young. Plus, most human world leaders would likely turn their nose up at negotiating with a child. Though Asgore’s role as king was now greatly reduced, and Toriel had long since renounced her position as queen, they stepped back into a more pronounced diplomatic role while Frisk was still learning. As a young adult, Frisk took on more and more responsibilities, finally flourishing in the role of ambassador.
Shortly after the monsters leave the surface, they were recognised as having gone missing previously, which raised questions about where they came from before the Underground. They have only ever shared the full story with Toriel, and later Asgore, and they still don’t like to talk about it much. But between Toriel acquiring full custody, and Frisk finally opening up to at least one person about it all, they’ve made a ton of progress moving past whatever their old life was like. And they seem content to focus on their new life for now.
Frisk never found themselves in a position where they needed to muster up the Determination to SAVE or LOAD. They decided that this ending was one worth keeping, and left it as it was. One time, many years later, they tried to muster up the concentration to make a SAVE point just in case...and found they couldn’t. Perhaps whatever external influence had given them that power had left them. Maybe it went off to find something new to occupy its time...Anyway, with the burden of that power gone, Frisk is now free to devote themselves to their new life fully, and maybe that’s ok.
While Frisk’s efforts do not single handedly rebuild bridges between humans and monsters (as such a task is far too big for one person) they do make a world of difference in establishing peace between the two during their career.
Toriel
Toriel finally fulfilled her dream of becoming a teacher when she opened a school for monster children. A couple of years later, she expanded to welcome humans as well, the first school to teach both human and monster children, leading others to follow. As headmistress she is very well-liked by her students. While there are a handful of jokes about how scary she can be when she’s angry, she is generally considered a caring figure to her students and a practical overseer of the school.
She is still very good friends with Sans, and since both the brothers are already spending a lot of time with Frisk, she gets plenty of opportunities to trade jokes with him whenever the two show up to visit. She has also begun to practice cooking with Papyrus and Undyne. Papyrus is actually getting a bit better, and Undyne...well, Toriel appreciates her enthusiasm, even if she usually has to make time to clean up pretty thoroughly after a lesson.
Stepping into a teaching role also led Toriel back into her aptitude for magic, something she had only used for essentials for a long time. She began studying and researching the topic extensively, not just to better instruct her students, but for out of a long dormant intellectual curiousity. She has been an invaluable source of consultation for Alphys on multiple research papers as a result.
Nor is Alphys the only one. While Toriel was once afriad to face her subjects after hiding away from them for so long, she finds herself a welcome presence of her community, even amongst humans. She ultimately ends up meeting many of the monsters Frisk met on their own journey and befriending them in her own right, be it lunches out with Dogamy and Dogaressa, or tea and sewing sessions with Muffet. Having such a social life is a little strange for someone who was alone in those ruins for so long, yet it feels oddly right.
Toriel still remembers her lost children and she still misses them greatly. But settling down into a new life on the surface, fulfilling dreams she never thought she would and being part of a family again after all these years has helped her find contentment.
Papyrus
Papyrus is still comfortably living with Sans on the surface. The early adjustment period was quite hard for him. As happy as he was to finally be out and able to meet new people, his dreams of joining the Royal Guard had still been throughly dashed. Nonetheless, Undyne was still happy both to train him, in both magic and cooking. And this gave Papyrus time to think. He loved training with Undyne, and the feeling of improving himself and getting stronger. But he never wanted to use that power to hurt anyone. It was Undyne who suggested he try training other people in turn.
Taking his friend’s advice, Papyrus opened a fitness gym, where humans and monsters could hone their bodies and/or magic in a safe, fun environment. And he quickly proved himself a surprisingly empathetic and supportive instructor, as well as being a unexpectedly strong and well-versed one. Maybe Undyne wasn’t kidding when she told Frisk how tough he was while training him. He’s still certainly an eccentric trainer of course. In particular, he has made a habit of offering his homemade spaghetti to anyone who seems to be getting tired while workig out. It certainly works. The offer alone is generally enough to make them hastily insist they’re fine to keep going another few sets!
Papyrus and Sans both maintain an exceptionally close friendship with Frisk, and have sleepovers with them at least once a week, often more. He tends to be quite fussy over Frisk whenever they’re over, keen to insist they are well cared for, sometimes a lttle too zealously, often chiding Sans to help more whenever Frisk is their guest. However, Toriel is all to happy to leave her child in the brothers’ care, and at this point they’re basically a mix of uncles and big brothers to them.
Papyrus is quick to notice that one of his friends never left the Underground, and still makes time to visit him whenever he can. He’s not sure why this one monster is so loathe to leave the mountain, but he’s still keen to make them feel a little less alone regardless.
Papyrus once wanted nothing more than for people to like him. Now, with a fulfilling job and plenty of friends, more people like him than ever. But more than that, he can now say he likes himself plenty as well.
Sans
Of all Frisk’s friends, Sans might just have had the hardest and longest adjustment period to living on the surface. At least to those who knew him. Sure, he was mostly still his lazy, good-natured self, everybody’s carefree pal. But those who knew him best, Papyrus especially, could see that the smile didn’t always reach his eyes. And every now and then, he would spend the day laying in bed. He’d joke that he was over-rested from too much napping, so now he had to nap EVEN MORE. But neither Papyrus, nor Toriel, nor Frisk were convinced.
The truth was that Sans hadn’t forgotten how trapped he’d once felt. Putting the pieces together and guessing (rightly) that the world around him was looping, was a bitter pill to swallow. And the painful thought that nothing he did would matter was not an easy one to forget. He was still happy to be a good friend to Toriel and a good brother to Papyrus, but he couldn’t fully convince himself that he wasn’t just going to wake up one day back in his room in Snowdin. And as happy as he was to have Frisk over, there was always the awkwardness of something that was being left unsaid.
Eventually Sans finally gave in and asked Frisk one day if they were going to reset. But Frisk, not sounding terribly surprised that Sans knew this, said they weren’t. That they were sticking with this. As much as Sans wanted to believe them, it seemed too good to be true. Then the days turned into weeks, and the weeks into months, months into years, and still no reset. And somewhere along the way, Sans started to believe a little. Those listless days in bed started to grow less frequent, his smile seemed a little wider and more genuine. And he seemed warmer to Frisk than ever. He even became quite protective of them. Whenever any narrow minded human had any intentions of harming the Ambassador, they would quickly find themselves caught in a cage of bones. What was once a promise to look after the kid for Tori’s sake, was now a personal vow to look after a true friend who’d helped him out of a very dark place, and keep them safe.
Aside from that, Sans is much the same as ever. He can still be found at Grillby’s new venue most days, he’s still a frequent visitor at Frisk and Toriel’s house and he’s even become surprisingly good friends with Alphys. Turns out the lovable lazy skeleton is a little more of a dork than he lets on, and he doesn’t mind lazing around binge watching Alphys’ latest shows or joining her to play a video game. Plus it’s one more way he can shirk off the last thing Papyrus told him to do. Occasonally, Alphys can weedle some surprisingly profound scientific knowledge out of him during their time together. But he usually complains that recalling that is too much work, nor has he ever talked about where he learned it.
It took a lot of time, and a lot of work for Sans to really feel at home on the surface. But now Sans is probably the most content, and the most alive he’s felt in years.
Undyne
With the Royal Guard disbanded, Undyne found herself on the surface but out of a job. Sure, being out of the Underground was fun and all, but for someone so dedicated to her training, it was a little hard to find something to fill in the time. Then one day, as she and Alphys were watching yet another anime she had an idea. The show in question featured a martial arts tournament, where people could put their skills to the test in competition. A place to fight where nobody could get hurt (mostly). ‘Man’, she thought to herself. ‘If only humans had something like THAT!’
Except, hold on...they do.
Undyne signed up for classes in karate and the rest was history. She ultimately took classes in tons of different martial arts, and, when she was ready, she began entering local wrestling tournaments. Over the years, she carved out a fearsome career in professional wrestling. Under the alias of the ‘Legendary Hero’ (a name originally born out of a sponsorship deal with MTT that ended up sticking) she had plenty of wins under her belt. She has now has no shortage of fans, humans and monster alike, and helped encourage other monsters to enter professional sports fields, changing the industry drastically.
Outside of her matches, Undyne still makes plenty of time for her friends. Papyrus’ gym tends to be her training venue of choice (when she first showed up Papyrus wasn’t sure whether to cry of joy or reinforce every piece of equipment ASAP), and will still spar with Papyrus and Frisk whenever she has time. Sometimes she’ll volunteer to do a training course at Toriel’s school. When she does the students are half in awe, and half dreading how throughly she’ll put them through their paces. This also led her to interact more with Toriel on her personal level, and while making small talk with the fabled ‘lost queen of the Underground’ (as well as her mentor’s ex) was decidedly awkward, the two eventually became friends, and even have cooking lessons together. Plus, she and Alphys still make time to visit Asgore whenever they can.
Speaking of Alphys, their relationship has also progressed since the Barrier broke. They started dating in earnest once the dust had cleared and monsters were established on the surface and eventually moved in together. They remain firmly supportive of each others’ work, with Alphys never missing one of her girlfriend’s matches. Undyne has also helped Alphys to better come out of her shell. They started going to conventions together, meeting new people along the way.
A couple of years down the line the two made the step to get married. When they did, Undyne asked Asgore to walk her down the aisle. Eventually, the necesarry arrangements were made for them to have a kid together, and, with their new daughter, the three now live together happily. They’re also still delighted to have Frisk over whenever, and effectively became their cool aunts.
Undyne may not have become the legendary warrior who struck down the last human for the sake of all monsters. But what she now is still pretty legendary as far as she’s concerned.
Alphys
Much like Undyne, Alphys too had to find a new path in life after losing her job as Royal Scientist. Not that she really minded. That was a part of her life she was more than happy to leave behind. Her first major concern was helping each of the Amalgamates get settled back in with their families, since she naturally felt responsible for them. She had steeled herself to expect the worst from their relatives, and some definitely took the truth worse than others. But mostly she was surprised by how many were just happy to get their loved ones back. Some even thanked her for it.
This left Alphys deep in thought for a long while, unsure what to think after finding some closure to the events that her haunted her for years. She eventually sought out professional therapy. After a while, it led her to accept that, even if her past experiments had caused unexpected harm, they’d done some good as well. And there was no reason she couldn’t learn from her mistakes, and use her talents to help people. Soon she set to work in her little lab in her and Undyne’s home. Across the later years, Alphys made a variety of inventions that combined human advancements in science, with the unique magic of monsters, to help improve the quality of life for both. Using helpful devices like the Dimensional Box as a starting point, her creations helped improve the lives of humans and monsters across the world. But she had two important caveats. She would accept no governmental or (especially) military funding. The profits from these devices were more than enough for her and Undyne to live comfortably, and she didn’t want to be back in a position of being obligated to do research she knew was wrong. And no experiment that involved directly experimenting on human or monster bodies in any way. All of this has helped Alphys feel more fulfilled than ever. Where before she felt cursed to ruin everything she touched, and that her craft had only resulted in what she considered evil, now she was helping all kinds of people. And it means a great deal to her to this day.
Outside of that, she has a pretty comfortable life. She still loves to unwind with a good anime, and has even begun dipping her toes into the communal side of fandom. Whether that be online communities, or even going to conventions (Undyne is always happy to join in on a cosplay) and all sorts of things Alphys never dreamt she would have the nerve to do. But throughout it all, Undyne has remained her rock, always able to cheer her up on her bad days, and encourage her on her good ones. Between this, striking up a friendship with Sans, and getting to spend time with Asgore in a non professional context, Alphys has more friends now than she ever thought possible. But as much as she loves her daughter, as much as she values her friends, or as much as she joins everyone in spending time at Frisk and Toriel’s house, it’s still sometimes nice to take time to herself to unwind and rewatch Mew Mew Kissy Cuitie...even if Season Two still sucks.
Asgore
Asgore’s road to making a new life on the surface was...complicated to say the least. For one thing, he was incredibly busy right from the off. Most of the diplomacy needed to make peace with humanity once monsters were reintroduced to the world naturallly fell to him. And many monsters who had settled down in Ebott still came to him for help with numerous small matters.Still, Asgore appreciated the distraction. Outside of that, Asgore mostly kept to himself, in a small house with a garden for him to tend to.
Asgore was all too happy to help monsters re-integrate into surface life, but truthfully, he still didn’t really feel he himself deserved to do the same. He tended to avoid contact with people unless they came looking for him, still believing he didn’t deserve to enjoy a peaceful life with the blood he had on his hands. And yet, to his surprise, people still wanted to come to him. His subjects still valued his advice, and applauded his efforts to negotiate with human world leaders. Alphys and Undyne still visited him whenever they could.
And most of all, Frisk still seemed to want to talk to him. Asgore had convinced himself that Frisk would never want to see him again. After all, he’d try to kill them. Besides, seeing Frisk meant seeing Toriel, and he could hardly bear to look her in the face. Yet still, Frisk would ask Toriel to bring them round to visit after school, to which she eventually, if somewhat reluctantly, relented. He would spend the day making them tea, playing with them, working the gardens with them, or just being a confidant to the child. After everything he’d done, this human child still wanted him to be a part of their life. And not just them, but countless monsters. It was more than Asgore felt he deserved.
It was a few months after the first of these days looking after them that Frisk called Asgore ‘Dad’ for the first time. He nearly burst into tears on the spot.
Shortly after the immediate aftermath of the Barrier’s destruction had died down, Asgore made quiet, private arrangements to find the relatives of the six fallen humans. He thought it best to deal with the matter on his own terms and take full responsibility, lest it make life harder for monsters trying to live alongside humans. Their reactions...varied. For some, it had happened so long ago that none of their immediate families were alive, and their descendants were just relieved to have closure. Others were angrier and more hostile. But all of them eventually recieved some form of resolution and support. It wasn’t an easy task, but one Asgore thought was important to do.
...Asgore even tried to find out about who Chara’s family might have been. But he turned up no results. He’d been afraid that might happen.
Asgore is still mostly quite withdrawn in his social life, but outside of his role as king, he still has his fair share of friends. While his old friend Rudy fell down a long time ago, he still checks in on his daughter whenever he can. He still sees Gerson on occasion as well, who is always keen to swap old stories. He now happily embraces his role as Frisk’s father figure and has them over most weekends and the odd weekday. And of course, plenty of his subjects still respect him enough to ask for his help with their problems, and he’ll always sit them down with a hot cup of tea to hear their troubles.
Of course, spending time with Frisk meant spending time with Toriel, which was...awkward. Toriel was still understandably angry over everything, but they wordlessly agreed that, both for Frisk’s safe and their diplomatic roles, it was important they try to get along. But it was plain to all that there was a lot going unsaid. It was Alphys who eventually convinced them to sit down and talk through everything that happened. Lay all their cards on the table, everything they’d felt, and gone through since that day. Not a pleasant prospect for either but, remembering how forgiving and merciful Frisk had been to the both of them, both chose to follow their example. These talks were long, and difficult, but ultimately cathartic for both parties. It didn’t magically fix everything, far from it, but with their newfound understanding, the two gradually found themselves able to spend time together comfortably, which was especially important as Asgore became a bigger part of Frisk’s life. As a final olive branch, Toriel offered Asgore a job as gardener at her school. Deeply touched by this expression of trust, Asgore accepted.
Between spending time together at the school and co-parenting Frisk, Asgore and Toriel began to build the first steps of a new friendship. It was undoutbtedly a tentative one given what they’d been through, but genuine all the same. And, several years later, by which time Frisk was already almost an adult, they began to remember why they’d once fallen in love in the first place. Of course, neither had forgotten why they had seperated either and so they knew better than to ‘get back together’ officially. But over the course of several ‘not-dates’, they slowly started to build...something. It wasn’t what they’d had before, but it was something new. They’re still slowly working at it, ignoring any comments about how ‘everyone else can see it’. For now, they’re both content to see where this goes. They’re still Frisk’s parents whatever happens.
Asgore is still the gardener at Toriel’s school, where he is well liked by the students. Being around children is a pleasant reminder of happy times for Asgore, and his hedgework and carefully nurtured flowerbeds are a source of pride for the school. Deep down, Asgore still has bad days where he feels he doesn’t deserve any part of this new life. But each day, it gets just a little bit easier to believe it.
Mettaton
Mettaton’s stardom in the Underground carried through into his surface life. His performances are still widely watched by monster from all over. Winning over the brand new, enormous demographic of humans is a tough task, but it’s a challenge Mettaton was willing to take on. And he did eventually make his way into the mainstream, developing a lengthy career in both film and music, with human and monster fans alike. Because of this, unlike many of the others, Mettaton chose not to settle down in Ebott, but he still made sure to keep on eye on his friends who did.
Eventually, Mettaton saw the efforts his friends were making, as ambassadors, inventors, diplomats and the like, to make life better for monsters, and he began to wonder if he could do more with his fame. After this period of SOUL searching, Mettaton began using his platform to advocate for unity between humans and monsters, and taking roles in movies with human and monster casts and crews. The day he fought Frisk in the Underground taught Mettaton the positive impact he had the potential to make on his fans through his art. And he’s more committed to that than ever.
Naturally, such a busy career often keeps him on the move, but he will occasionally make time to make a low profile visit to Ebott (or a high profile one if he feels like it). When he does, Napstablook and Alphys are always his first ports of call, and there’s generally a day out shopping with Frisk on the agenda at some point (anything to get them out of that tacky striped shirt). As part of her research, Alphys has sought his advice on how to build more mechanical bodies for those who want or need them, and, touched by her efforts, he’s happy to share his experience when she’s coming up with new designs.
It’s odd really. Despite being more famous than ever, Mettaton has found that’s not actually why he’s so happy with himself right now.
Flowey
Even as all the other monsters chose to go up and live their lives on the surface, Flowey alone, stayed behind. Much like he once told Frisk, he simply couldn’t bring himself to leave the Underground. Maybe he didn’t feel he deserved it after all he’d done. Maybe this self imposed exile was his idea of punishment. Maybe he just didn’t want to re-open his parents’ centruies-old wounds of grief. Maybe it was all of those reasons. Whatever his logic, he stayed. Occasionally, he would get visits from either Frisk or Papyrus, neither of whom had forgotten him and both resolved to keep him company. Frisk always made sure to let him know that Asgore and Toriel were both doing fine.
Every time either of them visited, they asked Flowey to come with them. Every time, Flowey said no.
He never regressed to the state he’d been in before he met Frisk. Just because he turned back into a flower and lost his SOUL again didn’t mean he’d forgotten what these experiences had taught him. But becoming the person he once was, even for a moment, just made it even harder to believe he’d ever really be accepted out there after everything he’d done and everyone he’d hurt.
Left to his own devices, Flowey was true to his word and spent most of his time taking care of the flowers. Flowey’s magic had always allowed him to manipulate plant life, but now he was using it to nurture the various plants of the Underground. Slowly, he learned to use his magic not to kill, but to give life. Under his care, the various areas of the Underground became some of the most famous sites of natual beauty on Earth. Now that the Underground is easy and safe to reach, people come from miles around to see the plants that now grow there. There are rumours of some guardian who has grown the Underground into what it is today, but no one has ever seen him.
Over the next few years as he tended to the kingdom alone, Flowey came to realise something. For so long, he’d thought that all he could do was destroy. That was the only thing left to do after countless time loops had numbed him to everything else. Yet here he was, using his powers to heal, to grow, to make the Underground he’d once terrorised so much more beautiful. Is it possible, then that he could do the same on the surface? It is then, and only then, that Flowey agrees to go with Frisk outside the mountain.
Even after this experience, Flowey’s life is not smooth sailing. He never recovers his SOUL to restore his original form. As a result, his capacity to feel emotions and empathy is not entirely as it once was. But there are plenty of factors other than his SOUL-essness that made Flowey into who he became, and there are parts of himself he can still work on, SOUL or no SOUL. Flowey is still very dry and reserved in his deameanor, but he’s not willfully cruel like he once was. He still struggles to say the right thing at times, but he’s learning. He’s been able to rekindle his friendship with Papyrus. The two were implied to be much closer friends in earlier time loops, and Flowey hopes that he’ll be able to make something new in pace of what he once reset away.
Asgore and Toriel are happy to meet another of Frisk’s friends, but he’s reluctant to tell them the full story of who he once was. Maybe someday he’ll tell them. But for now, he’s just glad to see that they’re happy. And while he pretends it doesn’t matter to him as he’s not that person anymore, he’ll still constantly hound Frisk for details once Asgore and Toriel start spending more time together. That said, there is one person who Flowey still struggles to get on with. Sans may not remember anything that happened in the previous resets, but he at least guesses who the other person was besides Frisk, who had that power. While he puts on a friendly air for Frisk and Papyrus’ sake, he never trusts Flowey entirely, and their exchanges tend to be pretty terse and snarky when their mutual friends aren’t around.
Flowey may never have the life he once had back. But he seems to be on the way to making something new in its place.
Chara
This will be the shortest, because not much needs to be said. Even if Frisk never even knew they were there, observing Frisk on their journey through the Underground gave Chara a lot of time to think. For a long time, their life had given them no reason but to believe the worst of humanity. Their ‘plan’ was just as much a revenge quest against the people who once hurt them as it was a bid to save the monsters they loved. And their last memory was being held back, betrayed, in a sense, by their brother as the humans took everything from them yet again. Suffice to say, when a strong source of Determination awoke them from death, they had little reason to see any worth in humans, or monsters, or the world in general. Perhaps, in another time, they might have met someone else who validated those dark thoughts. Someone who made the wrong choices, who led Chara themselves to the worst possible conclusion...
And yet, that’s not what happened. What they saw instead was a child who only offered mercy to a kingdom that wanted them dead. They saw a child with the power over time itself who used that power to help people. They saw their family find healing and redemption through the actions of this stranger. They saw their sibling find himself again, and make his peace with their own departure. In watching so many monsters find their catharsis through Frisk’s actions, Chara found a degree of catharsis themselves.
Maybe they were wrong. Maybe humans weren’t as bad as they thought. Maybe power wasn’t everything. Maybe the future of humans and monsters their father once spoke of still existed.
Finally able to let go of their anger, Chara is free for the first time. And with the source of Determination leaving after the credits roll, there’s nothing to keep them bound to this world anymore. After all, what do ghosts do in all those old stories when their unfinished business is resolved? With everything finally settled and no Determination to anchor them anymore, Chara is able to pass on peacefully, at long last, safe in the knowledge that their friends will be fine without them....
And that concludes my Undertale Post Pacifist headcanons for all the major characters. I hope it was an enjoyable read. I think it’s safe to say this game made a huge impact on a ton of people who played it, and their reactions are all very personal. As such, I know full well that these are just my projections and interpretations of what happens after the ending. But I think the fact that this game left enough of an impression that I wrote this much says something about its quality. I’m so sorry these are all so sappy. But I’m not as funny as Toby Fox, I’m afriad.
Also, good lord, I didn’t mean this to be so long. If you somehow read the whole of this mess then thanks. It’s nice to think at least someone enjoys the crazed ramblings I call my blog.
will the IF comic end when the monsters reach the surface or will we get to see some of their adventures when they meet the humans? it'd be really sad for this to end like the original game, as it was really hard to let go there (Toby did a great work lol) here in IF, we have a much deeper lore, we get to know a lot more about the characters, and we even grew to like the very "playable character" it'd be a lot harder to let go here. I know it will at some point, but will it be there or...?
I can't fully answer due to spoilers, but I can say this: even when the main story ends, that doesn't mean I'll stop making Inverted Fate content. While I will be working on other projects, I still have some ideas for this world and may eventually do a sorta "after story" type project. Kinda just waiting to see what happens with Deltarune's development, 'cause there are some ideas I like from DR but wanna see how the game takes form.
My submission for @undertalesecretsanta UTSS 2019! This is for @fmgufa77, who requested a cute image of my favourite Undertale family. I hope you like it!
The feeling of the sun on your face fills you with DETERMINATION.
Mount Ebott had been a place long since abandoned by humanity. Every single human who lived in the nearby city knew of the place, and of the legends that surrounded it. Not one person who ascended the mountain has ever returned. Those of the more skeptical mindset might have claimed that the mountain was unstable, or dangerous, or populated with feral carnivores. Those who remembered the old legends would tell you that it was a curse, placed on the mountains by the monsters before humanity sealed them away forever. Regardless of the true reason, nobody who had the intention of coming back ever climbed Mount Ebott.
So it was very peculiar to see groups of people traveling down the mountainside paths. Even more so that these people were not human.
Indeed, if one were to look more closely, they’d see that the groups consisted of bipedal dog people, sentient flames garbed in tasteful clothing, ghostly creatures with meek expressions, and other such impossible lifeforms. And at the head of this pilgrimage was the strangest creature of them all: a small human child, no older than ten.
The child’s name was Frisk, and they seemed quite happy to be making the long descent down from the peak of Ebott with this group of strange creatures. The smiled, and constantly stopped the group to point out things of interest along the path. Under normal circumstances, Frisk might not have seemed that extraordinary. They wore plain jean pants and a plain striped shirt. Their hair was messy but simple, and on their face was adorned a fresh bandage. In one hand they held a simple stick, likely picked up on the mountainside, and would use it as a baton, or an extension of their limbs, or a toy to play fetch with, if one of the dogs began to get restless. But it was not the child’s humanity that made them special. Rather it was their determination, the way they survived impossible fights and formed friendships with those who once despised their kind.
Frisk was, indeed, a special child. The monsters who followed behind them thought so, too.
Leading the pack with Frisk was the former Queen of the monsters herself, Lady Toriel. Despite the simplicity of her plain purple robes she carried herself with a sense of calm dignity, carefully pushing the lower branches of shorter trees out of the way so they wouldn’t get caught on her horns. Keeping a respectful distance behind them was her ex-husband, the King of all monsters himself, Asgore Dreemurr. He was certainly quite the intimidating force, larger than even the Queen with long, pointed horns and garbed in shining bronze armour and a rich purple cloak. But despite that he held himself with a soft kindness, stopping to indulge Frisk’s every observation and asking silly questions just to hear the long forgotten sound of a child’s laughter. It was these three that paved the way down the mountain, making sure nothing would impede any of the monsters’ march.
There were more monsters that were a part of this scouting party: the skeleton brothers Sans and Papyrus, bickering playfully about the pronunciation of a particular plant’s name, as well as the former Royal Guard Captain Undyne, a merwoman, who was admiring the ramblings of the dinosaur doctor, Alphys. The group had all been Frisk’s enemies at some point, japing and attacking and manipulating them as they crossed the Underground, but each one of them had come to care for the small child in their own ways. Whenever Frisk turned to look at the Monsters following behind them, they felt a warmth in their chest, and wondered if this was what it was like to have a family.
“HUMAN- ER, FRISK,” Papyrus, the taller skeleton brother, suddenly called out. They all knew the child’s name now, but old habits died hard, “THE SUN IS RUNNING AWAY FROM US. HAVE WE DONE SOMETHING TO OFFEND IT? SANS, HAVE YOU BEEN CHASING AWAY THE SUN WITH YOUR AWFUL PUNS?”
Frisk might have answered – they normally weren’t a big talker, but they’d grown comfortable enough around the monsters that they didn’t mind it now – but they were beaten to the punch by Dr. Alphys, “Actually, Papyrus, the sun sets every single night! See, the Earth is actually a sphere – well, ellipsoid, but that’s not important – and it’s simultaneously revolving around the sun and spinning on it’s axis! We make one full lap around the sun every year, and every day one side of the planet faces towards the sun, and one faces away. So the sun’s not running away from us. The Earth is just spinning us away from it, and that’s why we get night time! And in around twelve hours, the Earth will spin us so we’re facing towards the sun, so it’ll look like it’s rising up somewhere over in that direction!” Alphys pointed East, in the opposite direction of the sunset.
“WOWIE! THAT WAS VERY EDUCATIONAL! IT’S NICE TO KNOW THAT WE’RE ON SUCH A HARD-WORKING PLANET, SPINNING US SO FAST EVERY SINGLE DAY!” Papyrus nodded, approving of the planet’s rotation.
“If you ask me,” The merwoman, former Guard Captain Undyne, called out to them as she walked casually next to Alphys, “The planet’s not spinning fast enough! Twelve whole hours just to spin us around to the sun? I could spin us faster than that!”
“Uh, well,” A combination of dating advice from Frisk and facing her deepest fears had given Alphys a much needed shot of confidence from when the human had first met her, but she was obviously still uneasy about correcting or offending Undyne, “If it spun too much faster, we’d actually all be thrown off into space. I think. Um, Sans knows more about it than I do.”
Sans was keeping a casual walking pace, hands in his pockets, grinning that same joker grin he’d greeted Frisk with back in the forests of Snowdin. Unlike Papyrus, who was incredibly expressive, his face didn’t seem to move at all as he responded, “eh, that sounds like a lot of math, alphys. seems like too much work to calculate something that wont even happen.”
“Really?” Nobody, not even Toriel, should have been surprised by San’s laziness at this point, but Alphys seemed genuinely befuddled, “You used to love that kind of stuff! Theoretical calculations about space and physics and planetary movement...”
Undyne patted Alphys on the shoulder, looking confused and a little concerned, “You’re talking about Sans, right? The same guy who slept through sentry orientation and let me call him by the wrong last name for two years because he was too lazy to correct me?”
“I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE YOU LET HER DO THAT!” Papyrus stamped his foot, a gesture Frisk had seen him perform in the Underground when something frustrated him – usually his brother, “SHE WAS SO EMBARRASSED WHEN I FINALLY TOLD HER!”
“yeah, i can understand why that would make you...”
Papyrus seemed to realize what was coming, “SANS, PLEASE DON’T-”
“...femur-ous.”
“ARG!” Papyrus, once again, stamped his foot, “WHY ARE YOU LIKE THIS? THAT WASN’T EVEN A LITTLE CLEVER!”
“Now, now, Papyrus,” The once Queen gently scolded from her spot next to Frisk. She had that smile on her face, the one she had when she talked about snail facts or teased Frisk for eating too fast, so the child had to hide their smile as the Queen continued, “There’s no need to get bone-t out of shape!”
“UN. BE. LIEVABLE!” The skeleton shouted, throwing his hands up in exasperation. But Frisk could see the way his mouth twitched as he struggled not to smile. Papyrus had never made any secret of his desire for friendship, and now he had a whole cabal of friends to spend time with.
Papyrus seems a lot happier now.
Frisk nodded, then giggled a little.
“ARG! YOU TWO ARE CORRUPTING THE POOR HUMAN!” With that, the taller skeleton raced up and scooped the child into his arms, which only made Frisk giggle more, “DON’T WORRY, FRISK! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL PROTECT YOU FROM THOSE HORRIBLE PUNS!”
“HEY!” Undyne was the only person who could even get close to Papyrus in volume, and she showed that off proudly as she raced forward and plucked her little punk friend out of Papyrus’ grasp, “If anyone’s gonna be carrying this little rascal, it’ll be ME!”
Of course, this prompted Papyrus to try to grab Frisk back, and a playful bout of tug-of-war began between the fish woman and her skeleton pupil. It was only when Frisk caught sight of Toriel clenching her fiery fists did they realize that maybe this wasn’t the best idea.
Fortunately, that was when Asgore, who had been mostly silent the entire walk down, decided to reach over and gently pull Frisk away from the two bickering guards, who didn’t resist at all as he whisked Frisk away from them and set them down on the ground, his large claws delicate and careful. This didn’t make Toriel any happier, so Frisk thanked him with a smile and a soft boop on the nose, then ran ahead of the group past a nearby thicket of bushes.
And directly into a squadron of armed soldiers.
There were only five humans that were a part of this squadron; a woman, two identical looking men, a dark-haired man with a scowl, and an older man with enough decoration on his chest to let even Frisk know he was in charge. It was the old man that Frisk had run into, crashing headfirst into his leg and falling down on the ground.
The older man was kneeling next to Frisk in an instant, “Are you okay, kiddo? What are you doing so far from Ebott City?”
“Umm...” Was Frisk’s thoughtful and eloquent response.
“My Child!” Called Toriel, and her voice caused Frisk to stiffen in fear. Not from their new mother-figure, no, but because this was an army man. What would he do when he saw the monsters? Unfortunately, there wasn’t time to come up with anything, because Toriel was already crossing the underbrush, “Frisk, my child, please do not run off like that! You-”
The scowling man reacted immediately to the monsters’ presence, pushing both Frisk and the older man behind him as he pointed his gun at Toriel. Then Undyne responded, glowing blue spears twirling around her as she leapt in to protect her once Queen. Tensions ran high as the other three soldiers immediately readied their weapons. This was going badly.
Everyone is reacting to you being trouble.
Right. Frisk’s safety was why everyone was so panicked. That meant Frisk was the only one who could stop this. They broke free of the older man’s hold and ran straight into the center of the battle, hands outstretched in a universal ‘Stop!’ motion. “Everyone! Please! We don’t have to fight!”
“THE HUMAN IS RIGHT!” Papyrus also ran into the center of the fray. Bones had grown up from the ground between Frisk and the humans... and Frisk and the monsters. It seemed Papyrus was taking no risks with his young friend’s safety. “WE SHOULDN’T BE FIGHTING EACH OTHER AT ALL! UNDYNE, HAVE YOU LEARNED NOTHING?”
Undyne scowled, but the spears behind her all disappeared. She stood up straight, still on guard, but no longer openly hostile. The older man walked to the side of the soldiers, visible in their peripheral, and made a gesture Frisk didn’t understand that caused them all to lower their guns... all but the scowling man.
“Sir, you’re not seriously about to trust these monsters are you?” The scowling man pointed his gun over Frisk’s head, directly at the biggest threat: Asgore. “I grew up in this area: I know the legends. Nobody who climbs Mount Ebott ever returns for a reason. These... things must have eaten them or something!”
“Eaten?” Toriel looked vaguely disturbed by the suggestion, covering her mouth with one hand. It occurred to Frisk that Toriel had likely found and knew all of the souls Asgore had collected over the years. To suggest that she would have eaten them must have been horrible for her.
The older man looked sternly at the scowling man, “Mister Price,” He called, his tone loud and serious, “Are you disobeying a direct order from your superior?”
Mr. Price looked up at the old man once, then back at his rifle, then finally lowered the weapon. He was most certainly not pleased about it, but the danger had passed for the moment.
“I apologize for my subordinate,” The older man spoke clearly, professionally. He walked to where Frisk and Papyrus were hunkered down between the two parties and knelled next to Frisk, fully aware of both humans and monsters watching him with cautious eyes. He extended a friendly hand out, “My name is Hubert Galeforce. I’m a General of the military. What’s your name, kiddo?”
Frisk looked the man dead in the eye, took his hand, and said as calmly as they could, “Frisk.”
General Galeforce looks at you with tired eyes. It seems like he hasn’t slept in a while.
Now that they got a good look at him, the General had heavy bags under his eyes. He was smiling kindly, but it felt like Asgore’s smile when they’d first met him: a mask, hiding a painful burden from the rest of the world. His shoulders were hunched and stiff, and his uniform, now that Frisk was getting a better look at it, was disheveled. They wondered when the last time the man slept was, but politely refrained from asking about it.
“And these monsters haven’t hurt you at all?” He asked, not impolitely.
“No way! They’re my friends!” Frisk slipped away from his grasp to go run at their new mother-figure full force, leaping into her arms and laughing as she caught them and spun them around. When Toriel released Frisk, the human child continued to hold onto her hand as they spoke, gaining confidence from the unbridled affection that Toriel radiated in their presence, “When I fell into the Underground, I got pretty scared. But my friends helped me find my way out! Miss Toriel baked me a pie, and Papyrus played fun games with me, and Undyne tried to teach me how to cook, and Alphys took me to the garbage dump!” That last one earned the dinosaur a funny look from Toriel. The Alphys of the past might have tried to come up with excuses or explanations, or perhaps have fleed from the situation entirely, but Alphys merely blushed and averted her eyes.
You decide not to mention how most of these actives came after they all tried to kill you.
Frisk held their tongue. That was not important.
“I see..” The General stroked his beard in thought, “This sounds like quite the story. Why don’t you all come with me back to our camp? We can provide you with food and lodging for the night.”
“That would be most generous of you,” Asgore spoke out at last, his deep voice surprisingly soft against the dusk winds, “I am Asgore, King of the monsters, and this is my... ex-wife, Toriel, and Frisk, our ambassador between monster and humankind.”
The General took a shivering breath when Asgore approached; anybody would be intimidated, with a ten-foot tall goat man standing over him. But he extended his hand, keeping his voice neutral and his tone polite, “A pleasure to meet you,” Once he had released Asgore’s claw, he turned to Frisk, and Frisk felt Toriel’s paw clench their hand tighter, “Ambassador?”
“T-that’s right,” Frisk squeezed Toriel’s paw and stepped forward, “It’s my job to make sure the monsters are treated right. I’m going to protect them!”
The thought of protecting your friends fills you with DETERMINATION.
File Saved.
The soldiers still looked uneasy, but with the exception of Mr. Price, none of them were openly hostile. General Galeforce looked openly impressed by Frisk’s gall.
“Well, you’ve certainly got your priorites straight,” The General waved for the monsters to follow him, “Our camp is about an hour’s walk this way. We’ll make sure you’re all comfortable before we... discuss the situation.”
---------------------
Initially, the walk back to camp was tense. The monsters, Undyne in particular, were on the defensive, prepared to attack the second they needed to. The soldiers were no less anxious, not a single one of them holstering their weapons. Mr. Price in particular kept glaring back at the monsters with pure contempt. Frisk made sure to stay in sight of all of the soldiers, just to be certain they wouldn’t change their minds and gun down the mostly defenseless monsters.
Attitudes changed when the sun finally set along the horizon. The stars started appearing, one by one, and Frisk could hear gasps of amazement as monsters saw the stars for the first time in their lives. Alphys pointed out constellations to Papyrus, and one of the twins got excited and started sharing the stories behind said constellations.
“...and that one is called Centaurus. See there, that’s the human-shaped head,” Alphys traced her finger in the sky. With a touch of her electricity magic, a picture began forming in the air, a glowing yellow form that connected the dots in the sky to complete the picture, “and that’s the horse-like body.”
The twin Konrad, who had begun walking with them to better tell the stories, jumped in, “There are a lot of centaurs in history, so nobody’s 100 percent certain which centaur it’s supposed to honour, but most historians are pretty sure its Chiron, the ancient teacher of heroes. According to legend, he lived at the base of a mountain and learned the arts of healing, archery, and song from the gods, which he passed on to the young humans who came to him for tutelage.”
“So humans don’t think all monsters are evil?” Undyne asked, “’Cause that’s kind of what we were always taught.”
“I, um, I think a lot of it was lost to history,” Konrad rubbed the back of his neck. Slowly he was growing more comfortable around the monsters, but Undyne was intimidating even among her peers. Frisk couldn’t blame him for being scared. “We certainly have plenty of legends about evil monsters.”
“But monsters aren’t evil!” Frisk objected insistently, “They’re nicer than any humans I’ve ever met!”
“..Must not know a lot of humans...” Mr. Price is muttering under his breath.
Frisk cast a glare ahead of them at the man, who quickly turned to look ahead when he realized the child was staring at him. What was his problem?
“There were atrocities on both sides of the battle, little one,” Asgore told them gravely. When they’d first met Asgore, the old goat looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders, and sometimes the lasting damage of that weight still showed on his face, “There’s no such thing as a good war.”
“Though you can be the better person, with a little effort.” Toriel responded coldly. Asgore winced; at Frisk’s request, Toriel was trying not to start any fights, but it seemed she still couldn’t help herself at points. Toriel sighed and pet Frisk’s head when the child looked up at her in disappointment, but she didn’t apologize. Comforting Asgore fell to Undyne and Alphys, who each took a place at his side and gently consoled him.
They went on like this for some time before the General stopped them, “We’re here.”
The encampment wasn’t anything special. Green tents were sprouted up in neat rows, meant to be collapsed in an instant. The soldiers that hung around were obviously waiting for orders, but as the monsters filed through each one stiffened and stood at attention, obviously unsettled. Frisk would stare back at every human they caught and put the ‘creepy expressionless child’ moniker to good use.
They reached an area near the end of the camp where there was clear space. Hubert nodded back at the King, “I’ll have my men begin setting up tents for your people to stay in for the night. If any of your people would be willing to help, that would-”
Before he could finish Undyne whistled loudly, and the Royal Guard of Snowdin, consisting primarily of bipedal canines, came bounding up to her. Their former Captain called out loudly, “ALRIGHT YOU DOGS! SHOW THESE HUMANS HOW THE ROYAL GUARD SETS UP CAMP!”
The dogs howled simultaneously before bounding forward, grabbing tents as they ran to set them up. Some of the soldiers, including Konrad and his twin, exchanged glances before joining them reluctantly.
General Galeforce watched them for a moment before deciding that they probably wouldn’t kill each other if he left them alone, so he beckoned for Frisk and their companions to follow him. Frisk did, along with Toriel, Asgore, Alphys, Papyrus, and Undyne. Sans was probably around somewhere, but had probably decided this entire thing was too much work for him and disappeared. He might have been sleeping somewhere, or he might be pranking some poor, unsuspecting human. Either way, he probably wouldn’t cause too much trouble. That required energy he didn’t have.
They ended up in what might have been a strategical planning tent. A cot in the corner suggested someone might have been sleeping there, once. The monsters gathered around the table, with Galeforce at once side, Toriel and Asgore at the other, and Frisk standing between them. They were a little too short to be able to see over the edge of the table, so Mr. Price grabbed a wooden stool and set it down at the monsters’ side of the table before joining the General on his side. For a moment, nobody spoke a word.
Then the General inhaled deeply, “Thank you all for joining me. It’s an honour to have you here.”
“The honour is ours, General,” Asgore bowed his head respectfully. With the formalities out of the way, the conversation could truly begin.
“I hope you all understand how delicate the situation is,” General Galeforce spoke with grave intensity, the same kind Asgore talked with as he and Frisk walked to the final battle, “Monsters are a lost memory for most humans, the subject of legends. I didn’t even think monsters existed until I saw you for myself.”
“I understand,” Asgore nodded, “Our reemergence will certainly cause quite a stir.”
“...as such, I feel it is best to keep your existence quiet until my superiors can discuss the ramifications of your presence.”
Frisk frowned. That was a lot of big words, but they understood enough of them to understand the situation. “Does that mean you’re trapping us here?”
“Not forever,” The General promised, and he looked so apologetic Frisk almost wanted to forgive him. Almost. “But we need you to stay here until we can sort out the legal procedures involved. We’ll need to get into contact with the Mayor of Ebott City, the Governor, the Senate... there’s a lot involved in inducting such a large group of people into society, and we have to make sure to make a good impression on the public. We can’t risk any incidents, and the public can get pretty rowdy when they’re scared.”
Asgore nodded sagely, knowing from experience that what the General was saying was true.
“So what?!” Undyne pounded the table with her fists, “We’re supposed to just sit around and wait for you all to decide if we get to live on the surface or not?”
“We don’t want to keep you prisoner-” The General tried to explain, but got cut off by Undyne.
“So why are you keeping us prisoner?! Haven’t we suffered enough?!”
Alphys pulled on Undyne’s arm. She whispered something unintelligible in the fish woman’s ear, causing her to calm down, if only by a little.
Alphys is whispering nervous predictions about the Humans’ reactions. They mostly involve the weapons we passed on the way in.
Well, wasn’t that a pleasant thought?
“But Mister Galeforce, how long will all of this take?” Frisk asked.
General Galeforce, in turn, sighed, “I honestly don’t know, kiddo. It could be weeks before we get everything in place for a meeting.”
Weeks?
Traveling the Underground had felt like it had taken days, but that was mostly because of the constant deaths and resets. They’d actually been underground for less than 48 hours. It took them that long to do the impossible, why would it take so long for some humans to sit down and talk? Sure, if it weren’t so important, Frisk might understand the delay. But this was literally the future of humans and monsters. They couldn’t push a few things back for something as serious as this?
“Not good enough,” Frisk decided. They were the link between humans and monsters; it was their job to push for things like this, “These monsters spent literal centuries in the Underground! Most of them hadn’t even seen the sun before today! I won’t let them be trapped in another prison because of politics!”
Toriel gently pushed Frisk down into their stool. Apparently, they’d stood up on top of it without thinking.
“The punk’s right!” Undyne, as always, spoke her mind loudly and proudly, “You can’t expect us to wait around for some human to tell us we can’t live here!”
“Now, Undyne, don’t act rashly,” Asgore scolded, “We don’t want to fight the humans. We want to live in peace with them. And this is the best way to figure out how to do that.”
Mr. Price made a disbelieving tutting sound with his mouth. The General took a moment to glare at him, but other than that nobody really reacted to his presence.
“I understand that you all must be frustrated,” The General replied coolly, “But you have to understand, these things take time. Nothing like this has ever happened before, and we need to make sure this transition is safe not just for humanity, but for monsterkind as well. I, for one, don’t want to see any wars anytime soon.”
Toriel, much to Frisk’s surprise, was the one to respond, “I agree. We don’t need to rush into anymore conflicts.”
“So, what, we just lie down and take whatever they give us?!” Undyne growled at the former Queen. The Captain of the Royal Guard had never been one for patience, and what little she had was certainly being tested now. “And what will we do if they decide we’re too dangerous to keep around?! Just roll over and die?!”
“I won’t let-” The General tried to interject, but was interrupted by Asgore.
“Undyne, I understand your frustrations, but we need to be reasonable. Peace is our best option at the moment.”
“And what happened to you old man?!” The fish woman scowled and gripped the edge of the table so tightly her fingers started to create dents, “You always went on about ‘The Good of Monsterkind’, and now you’re just rolling over for these humans?!”
“I, uh, I think we should...” Alphys’ voice was shaky, but she tried her best to speak aloud, “We should probably... focus on improving the monster opinion on humans... I mean, a lot of them are pretty hostile to humankind-”
“I am doing what is best for the whole of monsterkind, Undyne,” Assured Asgore, as though Alphys hadn’t spoken at all.
“That seems sensible,” Agreed the General, eyeing the bickering monsters but not furthering their discussion, “Humans are afraid, too. An outreach program would be a good first step-”
“You’re doing what makes YOU feel good Asgore!” Undyne practically screeched, once again stamping the table with her hands. This time, she did it hard enough to break it, though she hardly seemed to care, “You’re not thinking about your people! You’re thinking about how bad you feel about that kid!” It was unknown which kid Undyne was referring to (Though you have a pretty good feeling you know), but her words cut Asgore deeply, and Frisk noticed Mr. Price tense up again. “But it’s not fair to them,” Undyne pointed out at the monsters, who had finished pitching tents and were making themselves at home for the night, “That your guilt means they have to be pushed around by some bossy, jerkish, evil little-”
“THAT’S ENOUGH UNDYNE!”
Frisk jumped. Papyrus had been silent throughout the negotiations so far, but his loud voice cut down any conversation that was happening around him. Why he hadn’t interfered earlier Frisk could only speculate, but his eyes sparkled with a righteous fury. The tall skeleton was very rarely angry; Frisk didn’t think they’d seem him get more than annoyed in any of their runs through the Underground. But now he glared at Undyne fiercely enough that she calmed down, if only out of shock.
“WE ARE ALL TIRED AND FRUSTRATED, BUT CALLING ALL HUMANS EVIL IS TOO FAR!” He stared at her, perhaps expecting her to retort, then continued when she didn’t, “I KNOW HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THEM. I KNOW HUMANS ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR SEALING US UNDERGROUND IN THE FIRST PLACE! BUT YOU CAN’T JUDGE THESE NEW PEOPLE BASED ON WHAT THEIR ANCESTORS DID!
“DOESN’T EVERYONE DESERVE A SECOND CHANCE?”
Papyrus’ rant might have continued, but the General suddenly called out, “Enough.” His voice wasn’t particularly loud or angry, but something about the tone made everybody stop. He sounded strange, like every ounce of his being was being used to say that word. He had adjusted his hat so the rim hid his eyes.
The General’s eyes are wet. He looks like he’s about to cry.
Frisk gulped, then nervously asked, “Mister Galeforce?”
“We... will continue this discussion tomorrow. Rupert, make sure everyone is settled in for the night.”
Mr. Price spoke up from his position behind Galeforce, sounding gentler than he’d ever sounded before, “Sir...”
“Goodnight, Mr. Price,” And with that the General walked out, his pace quick. For a moment the entire party just stood around the table in silence.
“...what the heck just happened?” Undyne asked. She seemed to have shocked out of her anger by Papyrus and the General’s actions.
“I DIDN’T OFFEND HIM OR ANYTHING, DID I?” Papyrus clasped his hands together, “I DON’T THINK I DID ANYTHING RUDE...”
“Y-you’re fine, Papyrus,” Alphys assured him, though she also looked quite confused, “That was unexpected, though.”
“It was a little rude,” Toriel said, though her tone was not unkind. She, like everyone else, seemed nervous by the sudden change of the General’s behavior, “I didn’t expect him to be the kind of person who would walk out of an important meeting like this.”
“Oi, go easy on the old man,” Rupert Price finally spoke out. For the first time he wasn’t openly hostile to the Monsters, but he looked tired all of a sudden. “It’s been a hard week on all of us... I don’t know if I should be telling ya this, but...” Something changed in Rupert’s expression. His face was still stone hard, but a crack allowed a little bit of grief to shine through, “...the old man just lost his son.”
Some gasps flew over the table. Toriel’s hands immediately went to her mouth, and Frisk could only imagine the terrible memories that were swirling in her head. Asgore’s eyes began to water, though the old goat managed to keep himself composed. Everyone else seemed shocked into silence. A momentary hush fell over the room. Frisk’s chest felt tight with both their own pity and a regret that they knew didn’t belong to them.
To break the tension, Frisk said aloud, “I’m... so sorry.” More silence fell over the group, so after a brief pause, Frisk asked, “What was he like?”
“Aw man, Charles was great,” Rupert seemed to smile, though there was a sadness to it Frisk didn’t quite understand. Maybe they had to know this Charles, “From what ‘e told me, kid grew up without a family of his own. Didn’t ‘ave anywhere to go during his first ‘oliday leave, so the General invited ‘im to come to his ‘ome, and they’ve been tight ever since. Never signed any papers or nothin’, but... we all knew.”
This story stirs memories in the back of your mind.
And it wasn’t just Frisk who was thinking of a certain someone else. Toriel sighed and looked off to one side, “I understand how he feels. That poor man.”
“To have to deal with a situation as large as this one while going through the loss of a child,” Asgore’s sympathy was plain, on his face and in his voice, “I wouldn’t wish it on anybody.”
Frisk’s stomach churned uncomfortably. Toriel and Asgore had two children before them – their son Asriel, who was theirs by blood, and... Chara, the first human to fall into the Underground. Thinking about the previous Royal Children made Frisk uncomfortable for more reasons than the obvious.
Because Asriel wasn’t dead anymore. He was a flower, a soulless unfeeling husk trapped in the Underground with nothing but his memories. The horrid thing had tormented Frisk the first time they’d awoken after falling, and had manipulated Papyrus into luring everyone to King Asgore’s castle so he could absorb their souls and obtain his true from as the prince of the Underground. Frisk felt bad for him, in both forms. He’s probably a flower again, by now. Plagued by memories of love that he can no longer feel. If he’d have let them, Frisk would have gladly brought him up to the surface with the rest of their family. But at this point, there was nothing more Frisk could do. Not without going back to before they were born to save the young prince, which was currently impossible.
As for Chara...
Let’s not go down that route.
“Oh, I remember Chara’s first holiday with us,” Asgore smiled nostalgically, staring at nothing in particular on the ceiling. “Humans had changed the name of the Winter Holiday, but we still had so many of the same traditions...”
“Chara taught me how to make hot chocolate,” Toriel recalled. Frisk realized that this was the kindest she had sounded when talking to or about Asgore in the entirety of time they’d known her, “We also baked cookies. Humans have come up with so many interesting recipes since we’ve been gone! I believe my personal favourite was the gingerbread.”
“And then Asriel kept sneaking into the kitchen to take them!” Asgore recalled, and laughed. Toriel laughed with him, for once, and feelings of unease welled in Frisk’s gut. It was hard to tell where they came from.
While the Boss Monsters regaled their subjects with tales of lost youth, Frisk quietly snuck out of the tent. It wasn’t that they felt unwanted, per say – more like they were out of place. Out of their depth. Chara and Asriel brought up so many confusing feelings within Frisk, and hearing Toriel and Asgore talk about them only made the confusion worse.
Mom is going to worry if you take off without telling her.
“What Mom doesn’t know won’t hurt her,” Frisk mumbled, then walked into the newly defined monster section of the camp. A bunch of new tents, more than Frisk could count, had been raised up. Younger monsters and families were settling in for the night, washing up for bed or preparing dinners with fire magic. Some monsters were still running around, putting up new tents or transporting goods from place to place. They recognized quite a number of faces: Mettaton and Napstablook were in one of the larger tents, talking with Shyren. Hopefully Mettaton had finally opened up to his family. Monster Kid and their mom and dad were gathered outside around a fire, staring up at the stars. In one corner, Muffet and her spiders were selling spider goods at a ‘special’ discount. Frisk probably couldn’t afford any, but would stop by to drop off a few G anyways.
Most monsters seemed happy just to be on the surface. Frisk wondered how long that would last when they realized they couldn’t leave this camp.
The human child sighed, and took a deep breath. It was time to tell them.
The homey smells of the camp fill you with DETERMINATION.
File saved.
“Everyone!” Frisk called. They climbed on top of a stump so that the crowd of Monsters could see them, “I need to tell you something!”
Monsters from all over stopped their cooking, their carrying, their selling. Mettaton and his ghostly family left their tent to watch them. Kid cheered and jumped up and down, which Frisk supposed was their version of waving a greeting at them. Frisk waved back, then steeled themselves. All eyes were on them: they had to get this right. They paused, breath, and remembered Toriel’s smile as she led them carefully across a room full of traps. That helped them relax.
“Okay, so we just spoke to the General!” Frisk announced. Out of their peripheral, they could see Undyne, Papyrus, and Alphys exiting the tent, followed by Asgore and Toriel. They gulped but continued, “For now, the plan is to stay here until we can meet with the people in charge of the country to discuss making monsters legal citizens! Until then...” This would be the hard part, “...we can’t leave.”
Frisk had expected the uproar, but perhaps hadn’t been entirely prepared for the sheer intensity of it. Despite being familiar with everyone, Frisk couldn’t make out any recognizable voices; rather, it was like all of monsterkind had temporarily combined to let out one single, unanimous roar of discontent. They made the mistake of looking down at the faces of the Monsters closest to them, and found an equal mix of anger, sadness, and fear in each and every one.
The thing about monsters was that they didn’t just express themselves physically. Magic came as naturally to them as breathing did to humans, so they often cast dangerous spells without even thinking about it, or even realizing it in some cases. Frisk could recall instances in the Underground where monsters that hadn’t even been aware that Frisk was human caused them to reset simply by being too aggressively friendly. So Frisk once again found themselves bouncing to dodge the magical attacks that came flying at them.
Fortunately, that didn’t last very long. Toriel came to stand behind them the instant she saw they were in trouble. Her eyes bore a hole into every monster she passed, and her malicious intent radiated so clearly that monsters nearby immediately stopped what they were doing to give her space. By the time she’d come to stand behind Frisk, the danger had mostly passed, but her call of “SILENCE!” Still brought every single monster to a grinding halt.
Man, Frisk’s new Mom was the coolest.
“I get you’re all frustrated. I am too,” Frisk confided. The monsters all stared at them in silence, with sad, hopeful eyes. In the background, several soldiers gathered at the edge of the crowd: Rupert Price, Konrad and his twin, several others Frisk had seen on the way in. This was Frisk’s moment. They couldn’t screw this up.
“You are the future of Monsters and Humans...”
They were DETERMINED.
“But we’ve already come so far! After the war, you all banded together to survive in the Underground! You built a home, braved the horrible cold, the dark swampland, the scorching heat, and created a brand new kingdom from scratch! For generations, you’ve all held on, become stronger. You’ve created hope for yourselves, and when I fell down into the Underground, you all shared that hope with me! You took care of me, you guided me! And when the time came, it was because of you all that the Barrier was broken!
“You’ve made great progress in just two days! Don’t feel discouraged. So what if the Humans don’t accept you yet? You’ll show them how wonderful and loving you all really are, and they’ll fall head over heels for you, just like I did! So just hold on a little longer! We’ll make our place in the world. Everyone! STAY DETERMINED!”
“STAY DETERMINED!” Called back the monsters. Whether or not the remembered the significance of the cry, the meaning it held to Frisk in particular, they remembered that during the final battle, Frisk had held on to their DETERMINATION to save them. It invigorated them, the way it invigorated Frisk when they’d faced off against Asriel. They cried out and cheered excitedly, and Toriel’s arms encircled Frisk from behind to hoist the child up.
You can feel the hopes and dreams of all the monsters on your shoulders. It fills you with DETERMINATION.
File Saved.
---------------------
Rupert took a shuttering breath. He took a quick glance around, making sure nobody was watching, then took the recording device out of his pocket. It had captured everything; dialogue, video, photo evidence. Everything he would need to prove to the world that the monsters were back. The General would be furious if he found out, everybody would.
Charles would be, too.
Rupert shook his head. He couldn’t be thinking about that.
The monsters were dangerous. They’d proven that time and time again the past. Hell, they’d proven it with every poor human who had disappeared underneath Mount Ebott since they’d been sealed. They were horrible child-killers, and he couldn’t let them roam free. At least, not without giving the world a proper heads up.
There were select communication devices in the camp that could be connected to the internet, for the sake of communicating with family or important officials. Obtaining one wasn’t terribly difficult. Once he got his hands on it, Rupert punched up a social media site and began to download every video, every picture, every bit of audio he’d managed to collect. By the time his last piece of evidence was uploaded, comments had already started flooding into the first piece. Rupert logged out, set the device for a complete reset, and returned it.
He could get in so much trouble for this. He could probably be arrested for this, but Rupert didn’t care.
Those monsters were never going to hurt anyone ever again.
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Sooo... seeing as Christmas is literally tomorrow, it might take a little longer for the next chapter to come out. Hope you all understand!
Also, screw Sans' stupid jacket. Colouring it gave me way more trouble than it should have.
And here’s an interesting factoid that was cut from the final version of the chapter: Galeforce wasn't originally on Ebott looking for the Monsters, or investigating the eruption. Sure, Mount Ebott erupted weirdly coloured smoke, but the city is far away enough that it wasn't exactly a high priority. He was on the Mountain because he knew humans who went there didn't come back, and, well, Henry's been missing for a little over a day now...
Monsters are obviously not human. Not only do they look non-human, but they also have very different bodies and abilities, and see no problem in calling themselves “monsters”. Inconveniently, the very term “monster” connotes something scary that ought to be killed or avoided. (Assuming Mt. Ebott is in the United States, one wonders if humans would suggest the word “Teratoan-American?’) Knowing this, people who haven’t personally encountered monsters before might be easily manipulated into hating them.
Perpetual Armament
Monsters can also produce large amounts of magical bullets at whim. While it’s possible for monsters to direct bullets away from targets (e.g., Toriel) or reduce the amount of damage they do (e.g., Asgore and Papyrus), the very fact monsters emit magical bullets as an everyday occurrence of self-expression would put them into conflict with humans. In most cases, humans can drastically reduce other humans’ killing power by disarming them, but there’s nothing to disarm for monsters. Thus, some humans might consider monsters perpetually armed, and therefore incorrigibly dangerous. Furthermore, while monsters can surely be taught to avoid emitting bullets around humans, or in areas with high human density, depending on when monsters gain the power to emit bullets, their children may be too young to properly control them. Thus, humans may feel threatened even around monster children. Even if, somehow, monsters found a technology that would safely block accidental bullet emission around humans, or every child had great self-control, humans may still feel uneasy. After all, some monsters (e.g., Asgore) are physically imposing, have sharp horns, claws, teeth, or other so-called natural weapons, or are outright made of fire (e.g., Grillby).
Laws
There’s also the long history of humans equating “human” with “person”. Humans often get over their natural reluctance to kill sentient beings or their own kind by describing other humans are beasts, vermin, or monsters. Since humans can dehumanize their own kind, they could easily dehumanize monsters. Worse, humans could characterize monsters as not only non-equivalent or inferior to humans, but inherently evil. Some monsters could be loosely described as “demons”, such as the bulky devil-like one in the MTT Resort. Moreover, the fact Asgore is an imposing, horned, goatlike, fire-associated being with a trident who rule(s)/ruled an underground realm parallels the Devil of Christianity, so more religious humans may consider all monsters suspect by association.
As humans often equate “person” with “human”, it might be hard for people to give monsters legal protections, since laws are made with the assumption only humans can be legal persons. Until some law is made to protect monsters, even if only a stopgap law (like legally classifying them as great apes, if the territory around Mt. Ebott has strong great ape welfare laws), humans could kill monsters freely. However, even a stopgap law that prevents torture and experimentation would have many loopholes. If monsters were not considered legally equivalent to humans, humans could reject monsters from service or jobs, and monsters would have no legal recourse. Even if protected from experimentation and torture, humans could still exploit monsters. (e.g., underpaying them in bad jobs) That humans can stomach being cruel to intelligent animals (e.g., dogs), but also compassionate towards other humans suggest humans might care less about unethical treatment towards monsters than towards humans.
Ease of Murder
As the movie Independence Day shows, teaming up against a non-human entity can unite humanity behind a shared cause. The human brain is hardwired to love whatever one’s own tribe (or team) does, and hate whatever the other tribe (or team) does. A shrewd (and evil) politician could present monsters as a threat to humanity as a ploy to unite a large voting base and gain power, regardless of whether they actually believe monsters are a threat. Once riled, humans may love to hate monsters. Any conversations to the contrary can easily be shut down with, “They are obviously not humans.”
It would also be easier to kill monsters than humans, both in psychology and strength. More unhinged humans who would love to get away with murder might find it socially feasible, or at least less worthy of punishment, to kill monsters. Monsters which cannot talk, such as Moldsmal, would be psychologically easy to kill. Other monsters, such as Whimsuns, would have such low stats and poor defensive abilities it would be physically easy to kill them, even for someone with no LOVE.
Furthermore, monsters are vulnerable to hateful intent, to the point a child with a notebook can (under the right circumstances) beat a super-strong monster. Anyone who starts with a great hatred for monsters could kill even strong monsters with ease. Due to psychological hardening (of LOVE and in general), stat increases from gaining LOVE, and the stat-increase effects of using actual weapons to fight, any human that kills a monster would find it easier and easier to kill more. Eventually, such humans would find it easy to kill even monsters that look more similar to human beings. (e.g., Undyne or Mettaton)
Monster-murderers would also find it easy to get away with murder. Monsters don’t leave behind bodies when they die, only dust. It would be difficult to do forensics on a murder scene to figure out murder patterns. Worse, if monsters only leave a small pile of dust, then even if it’s as heavy as a big sack of flour it would be much easier to transport and hide than a human corpse. If monster dust is like normal dust and not, say, mud, any dust on a murderer’s body would be easy to clean with some water or hand sanitizer in a few seconds. Unlike blood, which is harder to explain, if monster dust is white or grey one could easily excuse it as road dust (when an area has white soil), flour, or white soot.
Transport
Larger monsters might have trouble fitting in standard cars, public buses, trains, subway vehicles, and especially cramped airplanes. (see Undertale Character Heights Part 2) Large enough monsters would only be able to safely drive or even fit inside the biggest vans, customized vans, or in convertibles with the roof down. Even if they can fit, differing proportions mean they may be unable to use standard seatbelts, putting them at risk of both car crashes. (and unavoidable seatbelt ticketing) While extra-big monsters would probably face physical inconveniences and disapproving looks on crowded public transit, extra-small monsters (e.g., Whimsuns, Froggits and slimes) might be inadvertently stepped or sat on in crowded conditions.
Monsters that aren’t proportionately similar enough to a “standard” human may be banned from most airplanes entirely, both for logistical packing reasons and their own safety in case of a crash. Very big monsters (e.g., Onionsan) would find it impossible to use any but the most specialized transit, such as trains formerly used to transport circus elephants. Overall, many monsters would differ so much from human standards that they would be in danger when using cars, be functionally banned from travel, or forced to use specialty monster transit. If less human-proportioned monsters have no compatible cars and are functionally banned from public transit, it would be difficult to leave town quickly in case of anti-monster riots or, worse, roaming murderers.
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Related Reading
The Perks of Monsters Being Literally Not Human
Undertale Character Heights
