Undertale

Chapter 30: Last Goodbye

(Warning: The length of this chapter is excessive. thirty is just an excessive number. twenty-nine, now that's fine, but thirty...)

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

I woke up in the antechamber just before The End, lying in the shaft of light. My friends stood around me. "Oh! You are awake!" Toriel exclaimed. "Thank goodness!"
"W-we were so worried...!" said Alphys. "It felt like you were out forever!"
I... I hadn't dreamed all that, had I?
"Yeah! Any longer and I would have freaked out!" Undyne agreed. "Tell us next time you decide to take a nap, okay!?"
"yeah. you made papyrus cry like a baby."
"WHAT!! I DIDN'T CRY!!! I DON'T CRY!! I JUST... CAUGHT SOMETHING IN MY EYE."
"what did you catch?"
"TEARS!!!"
I laughed. "Now, now," said Asgore, "The important part is that Frisk is all right. Here, Frisk. Why not drink some tea? It'll make you feel better."
"Thanks, Asgore."
"Errr... how about we give Frisk space, first?" Toriel suggested. "Frisk must be very exhausted. Though, from what, I am not certain. Frisk... we do not remember exactly what happened. There was a flower... and then, everything went white. But now the barrier is gone." It wasn't a dream! "When you are ready, we will all return to the surface. It seems the door to the east will lead us there now. But before then... perhaps you might want to take a walk? You can say goodbye to all of your wonderful friends. Do as you wish. We will all wait for you here."
"Uh... well... sure. I guess I'll do that." But then I whispered, "Hey, Sans!" I figured that maybe he would remember what happened.
"oh, hey. what's up, frisk? we were just talking about you. apparently you asked to call tori 'mom' right after meeting her?"
"What? No, that was a... a mistake."
"Well, it was not right after. It took a couple minutes," said Toriel.
"frisk... i gotta tell ya. that's, uh, not the best way to get to know someone."
"IT'S NOT???"
"Papyrus, we've been over this," said Undyne.
"WHATEVER, MOM!!!"
"Don't talk back to me like that! Go to your room, Papyrus!" Undyne joked.
"OKAY, UNDYNE."
"Wait! Don't actually go to your room!!"
"I'M GETTING MIXED MESSAGES HERE!!!"
"Frisk, how about you go look around before we all go?" Toriel suggested. "Seeing how many friends you've made here... I am almost certain you must have made some more."
I walked away from them, through the Throne Room, through through the Judgement Hall, Asgore's house, and New Home, back through the Core, until I reached the MTT resort.
I glanced at the fountain. 'Royal Memorial Fountain: Built in 201X, Mettaton added last week.'
I had a sudden revelation. I have no idea how I could possibly have known this, but somehow I knew; the statue that used to stand on this fountain was the one in Waterfall! The one that I'd given an umbrella, which made it play that beautiful song. The statue... the statue was of Asriel. This was supposed to be a memorial fountain for the Prince of Monsters! I lost a bit of respect for Mettaton; Mettaton was fun, but he could not displace Asriel. I sighed. It wouldn't matter anymore; all the monsters were leaving. Asriel's statue would stay in Waterfall, playing its song for no one but Asriel himself, because all the monsters had gone free...

"Umm, are you guys on your way out?" asked the dragon on the phone. "Guess I'll catch up with you later..."
"Good news! The elevator started working again!" said the cat-like monster. "But now it's been so busy, we still haven't gotten the chance to ride it."
"As a slime, I'm overjoyed," said the slime.
"The surface world... really! Maybe I'll be able to go two feet without running into a puzzle," remarked a nearby monster.
"So we're free, huh?" said Burgerpants. "Mettaton told us as much. Then he told me, 'don't think that means you're getting out of work early'."
"Oh, I'm sorry Burgerpants." Now that I had grown to like Mettaton, it actually surprised me that he treated his employees so badly. If he cared so much about his fans, why didn't he care about Burgerpants? Burgerpants smiled weakly. "Ah, my boss. I love that guy."
I guess it was impossible to dislike Mettaton now that he was no longer a rectangle.
Burgerpants' smile now looked forced. "And by the way, I mean that I hate him so, so much."
I laughed apologetically. "Don't worry, Burgerpants, I'm sure it won't be long before someone on the surface replaces you"
"So we're free now. Does that mean my double-date is cancelled...?"
"Maybe..."
"I know, it wasn't really a... a date. Here's a trick, little buddy: Lie to yourself all the time. It makes you feel better."
"Not after a while, it doesn't. Do you know Dr. Alphys? She can tell you how good it is to be honest after a while."
"In that case, don't tell anyone this, Little Buddy (because they'll make fun of me), but I... I feel like I played a hand in everyone getting free somehow. Even if it was just working this awful job... I think I did something! I don't know if it's true, but I'll believe it anyway."
"Well, you sold me the Glamburgers that got me past Mettaton, and if I hadn't done that, I may not have gotten this far."
Burgerpants smiled. "Little buddy! There's a brand new world out there waiting for us. I'm sure with my (ahem) qualifications, it won't be long before I'm a famous movie star... Or, maybe I'll just end up flipping burgers again. But it's as I say! Nowhere to go but up! Literally, in this case!"
"Bye, Burgerpants!"
"Sorry— the resort's shutting down," said the monster that looked like it was made of origami paper. "But I think you'll find it's still great to pass through!"

"So, we're like, totally free now, huh?" said Bratty.
"Yeah, like, totally free," Catty agreed.
"Like... cool."
"Yeah, like, cool."
"Like, millennia of being imprisoned finally over?"
"Yeah, that's like pretty chill I guess."
They couldn't even comprehend. "You know, I'm a human."
Bratty's eyes were wide. "Oh, oops, really? Uh, well, when we said, um... we were hyped for the destruction of humanity... we were just, like, joking, you know?"
"Did we say that?" Catty wondered.
"Probably? It's, like, practically our catchphrase," said Bratty with a laugh.
Catty's eyes widened. "Really? I thought our catchphrase was... B-B-Bratty's the best, C-C-Catty's the coolest!"
"Um, no?" said Bratty, still laughing. "We've like literally NEVER said that."
"I think she just did," I said.
"CAN it be though!? CAN it be!?" Catty asked, laughing herself.
"What do you think you're future's going to be like?" I asked.
"Hmm, now that we're gonna be free..." Bratty began,
"OMG we can finally fulfill our DREAM of having a pet cat!" Catty cried.
"But Catty, you are a cat."
"That's, like, your dream, Catty," said Bratty, laughing again.
"But Bratty... I don't wanna have a dream without YOU in it!"
"Awww," I couldn't help saying.
"Aww... Catty..."
"And, in my dream, YOU clean up after the cat!"
I sighed.
"Catty!!!" They were both laughing again.
"Do you like cats?" I asked Bratty.
"Me? Yeah, I LOVE cats!" both girls said in unison. "They're, like, SO..."
"...cute!!!" Catty cried.
"...tasty!!" Bratty finished.
Everyone paused. "Bratty, NOOOO!!!" Catty moaned.
"I'm just kidding!!" said Bratty as they both laughed. "Kind of." I took that to mean that she'd like to eat a cat, but she never would. "Anyway, when was the last time you even SAW a cat around here?"
I pointed at Catty.
"Oh!! JUST the other day!" said Catty. "There was this cute little white cat walking around... It was, like, SOOOOOO clueless looking. I pet it for like an hour!!"
"............ Catty."
"Yeah, Bratty?"
"I think that was, like... a dog."
"DOGS ARE JUST FIRM CATS!!!!"
That definitely wasn't true, but whatever. "Bye, girls. Nice talking to you." Or at least, listening to their conversation.
"Like, later and stuff!"

I saw the Nice Cream Guy standing at the bottom of the staircase leading to the resort. "I'm so excited to sell Nice Cream on the surface!" he said. "If all humans are like you, I think it'll be a modest success!"
"Humans love ice cream," I assured him.
"Undyne told us that the Royal Guard is being disbanded," said one of the guardsmen. "Like, bummer... Guess we'll have to get used to Love and Peace." The other Royal Guard seemed happy.

I went to the elevator and rode it to Left Floor 1. I walked to the river. "Tra la la. Care for a ride?" the River Person asked.
"Yes, please."
"Where will we go today?"
"Waterfall."
"Tra la la. Did you ever hear the old song coming from the sea?"
The River Person was the same as always.
"Come again some time. Tra la la."
"Thank you."

I went to see Gerson in his shop. "Wa ha ha! I knew you could do it!"
I smiled. "So..." I said with a sly smile. "Why do you call Asgore King Fluffybuns?"
"Okay, okay! I remember it clearly now. It was the monthly address at the castle, and the queen was giving her part on current events. After finishing her update, she moved to pass the microphone to the king. However, she didn't realize the microphone was still n her hands when she said: 'Your turn, Fluffybuns'. The audience burst into laughter. Realizing what she had said, she started laughing too."
You got to love Toriel. She knew how to laugh at herself.
"After a few moments, the king held up his arms. The crowd grew silent. He leaned towards the microphone, expression... stern. 'Dear citizens. Thank you for coming here today. I... King Fluffybuns...' And the rest is history."
I burst out laughing, myself. "That's hilarious. Is Asgore a goat?"
"Eh? Goat? Actually that reminds me. Toriel once wore a flower-patterned muu-muu... Folks kept saying 'nice muu-muu' to her, but she kept thinking they were calling her a cow. So she never wore it again. What was the question again?"
"Is Asgore a goat?"
"Oh. Right. ASGORE. He's a real interesting type of monster. The strongest type of all. We call 'em Boss Monsters. When they have an offspring, the SOUL power of the parents flows into the child... causing the child to grow as the parents age. But ASGORE doesn't have a child, so he's been stuck at the same age... and probably will be forever."
So that was why Asgore looked so young! Asgore had to be as old as Gerson, if not older! He had been King of the Monsters when the war happened, and at least a few decades had passed since he lost his son; enough to collect the souls of six humans who had fallen into the Underground by chance. He must be really old. I thought about the First Human that fell, Chara. She wasn't Asgore's biological child, but did she collect Asgore's soul power as well? "What if the child is a human?"
"Huh? What if the child is a human...? What? Nah. That wouldn't work. So if ASGORE's your father, he'll definitely outlive you."
"So Toriel was Asgore's wife, right?"
"Oh yeah! Of course. Toriel was queen, and Asgore was the king. It was tragic when she left, since everyone knew she was really the brains behind the throne... But it was also just a teensy, teensy bit relieving, you know? Those two were really insufferable together... nuzzling noses, bein' all cute 'n cuddly in public... embarrassing their children..."
I felt so bad for Asgore. They had been so close, but Toriel had left him because he declared war, and ever since, had the opinion that he was a bad person. He definitely wasn't a bad person. He just made a reckless mistake that caused everyone a lot of pain. Maybe... maybe he and Toriel would get back together now, but I sort of doubted it. Toriel seemed to like Sans.
"They were so sweet it made me SICK," said Gerson. "Thank god those days are over!"
"So... I've made friends with Undyne."
"Undyne. She's really come a long way since she was a little urchin. I used to be a hero myself, back in the old days. Gerson, the Hammer of Justice." Oh, just as Undyne was the Spear of Justice. "When she was younger, Undyne would follow me around, to watch me beat up bad guys... Sometimes she'd even try to help!" Just like Monster Kid. "Though, most of the time the folks she attacked weren't bad guys. It'd be the mailman or something like that." I sort of laughed. Th
at sounded just like Undyne. "Anyhoo, I appreciated it! Wah ha ha ha!!!"
"Bye, Gerson."
"Be careful out there, kid!"

I went to see if the Temmies had anything to say, which I doubted, but they actually did. "woa... tem hear news... VERY GOODS!!!" said the first Temmie. The second Temmie said the same thing.
"yaYA!!! tems can go free!!" said the third Temmie.
"A pleasing development, no?" said Bob.
"woa... if tems can go on surface, can see, LOT OF CUTES HUNAN!!!" said the Temmie in front of the shop. It was so weird that Temmies thought humans were as cute as they were...
"everyones go free... BUT TEM!!!" said the Temmie that was watching the egg. "TEM NOT LEAV!!! TEM WATCH EG!!!"
"Bring the egg with you, Temmie," I said. I hoped her friends would drag her out. I didn't want her to be stuck down here forever. After all, the egg was hard-boiled and would never hatch.
"tem will be happy fambily," said Temmie.
The mushroom was dancing. "Mushroom dance... mushroom dance... whatever could it mean? It symbolizes my unbridled happiness. The government told me they are willing to transplant me outside! Why didn't you smile at my dance? It almost feels a little rude..."
"Uh... sorry, I don't smile often..."
The Temmie in the wall was waiting for someone to let her out. I wish I knew how.
"tem bak from cool leg!" said the Temmie shopkeeper, who was now wearing a black graduation hat (she actually said 'cool leg'). "tem learn MANY THINs!!! yayA!!!"
"That's great, Temmie!" I said, though she still didn't know how to speak English... "Uh... I've still got some Dog Residue. You want it?"
"WOA! u gota... DogResidus!!! hnnn... i gota have dat DogResidus, but i gota pay for gradskool. hnnnn...!!! tem always wanna DogResidus!"
She bought some of my Dog Residue, but eventually I was down to the last one. "No, Temmie, this is the last one..."
"b...but... p!!!!!!!!!!!!"
"No... sorry."
Suddenly, she started speaking perfect English. "Is this a joke? Are you having a chuckle? Ha ha, very funny. I'm the one with a degree!"
This was so hilarious that I had to give it to her. "Well, I suppose I won't need it on the surface. You're the only one who wants it, anyway. Here you go."

I walked past Onionsan's grotto. "I've been wondering when we're all gonna go free," it said. "S-since... if we did... How would I ever know? Well, I'll keep my tentacles out for you! Y'hear! As soon as I know I'll be the first to tell you! Y'hear!" Oh, Onionsan...
I found Woshua in the garbage dump. "Don't drag your dirty feet in here. I just cleaned this trash!"
"That makes no sense, Woshua."
"The surface intimidates me. The entire outer layer of the earth is made of dirt."
"First ghosts, are real, now anime's real... all my nightmares are true," said Aaron, winking.

As I was wandering around, I found Shyren with Lemon Bread. Lemon Bread must have been Shyren's sister that Mettaton mentioned in his diaries, who translated for Shyren before she "fell down". Shyren didn't say anything... Shyren couldn't actually speak, but the Amalgamate did. As in battle, her voice sounded like a thousand voices speaking at once.
"It's good to be with my sister again.
It's good to be with my sister again.
It's good to be with my sister again.
It's good to be with my sister again.
It's good to be with my sister again.
It's good to be with my sister again.
It's good to be with my sister again.
It's good to be with my sister again."
"Awww..."

I went to see Napstablook at his house. Next to Napstablook, in front of the his own house, was Mettaton. I was so happy he remembered his cousin! "oh.................. mettaton............ i'm a huge fan............ oh, hi human...." Napstablook only just noticed I was there. "i'll never forget when you cheered me on when i was pretending to sleep... no one had ever had so much faith in my fake sleep.... uh............ also.......... this is awkward... but what's... your name? everyone seems to know it now, except me......"
Everyone knew my name? Their SOULs must have heard it when I told Asriel, because after all, they were all there. That made sense. But that meant... Napstablook...
"seems like i've been missing out lately. i was just sitting at home listening to tunes. there was a flash of light outside my window. i saw the snails on the farm disappear. then i heard a knock at the door. the flash of light wanted to come in... i closed the blinds... now everybody knows your name except for me."
Somehow, Napstablook was the only monster—even including the snails—the only monster whose SOUL hadn't been absorbed by Asriel. How on earth had that happened? "My name is Frisk."
"'frisk...' okay, i won't forget it."
"There you are, Frisk-darling!" said Mettaton. "Feast your eyes! Dr. Alphys completed my wonderful new body."
"It... looks the same as it did during our fight," I said. "Still great, though. Oh, wait—it has enhanced battery power now, doesn't it?"
"Oooh! And did you hear? The barrier's OPEN! I can't wait to see the sun... the greatest spotlight of all!!"
Because the sun would shine on Mettaton and only Mettaton.
"Oh, yes, I suppose I should thank you, too, darling. Before fighting you, I had... forgotten how fun it was to preform with others. So I've been searching for HOT TALENTS to fill up my upcoming troupe. So far, Shyren's agreed to be my back-up singer. And Bl... Napstablook, here, will be my sound mixer! The three of us preforming together... It really feels overdue, doesn't it?"
I couldn't believe it! He was finally following up on the promise he made in his first diary. He was actually going to preform with Shyren and Napstablook! "Yeah, it does. That's great, Mettaton!"
"Frisk, darling. Can you help me with something?" Mettaton asked. "What kind of merchandise do you think humans would want to buy...? I've thought of a few ideas so far. Buttons (with my face), stickers (with my face), CDs (with my face), posters (with my face), T-shirts (with my face), underwear (with my face)... and plush dolls of Toriel... but, you know, with my face instead of hers. So what do you think?"
A yes or no prompt was not provided. Well, he hadn't changed that much. "I couldn't imagine your face on Toriel, Mettaton. Make plush dolls of everyone else, too. Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Asgore, Alphys... yourself... and not underwear, okay? That's going a little far."
"Fabulous! I completely agree."

I went back to the River Person, who took me to Snowdin. The dog-boat ran across the water as they said, "Tra la la. Hmm... I should have worn a few million more pairs of pants today."
I spoke to the rocks sitting in front of the house. "Seems like this is the beginning of a brand-new, boundless world," said the mustached rock. "Wah-ha! This adventurous spirit! I'm like a kid again!"
'Wah-ha'? I wondered if the rock knew Gerson.
"And my children are like... double-children," said the rock. I snorted.
"Now we can play Monsters and Humans with REAL humans!" said one of the little rocks.
"Hmm... when humans play Monsters and Humans... Do they just call it Humans and Humans?" said the other little rock. I snorted.
The wolf that had been throwing ice into the river to power the Core was no longer doing so. "Ice Wolf no longer has to throw ice," he said. "Ice Wolf can take a break to buy some pants now. Ice Wolf thinking of changing their name to Jimmy Hotpants." I laughed.
I went back to the library. "Welcome to the library," said the librarian. I noticed she looked a little like Alphys, but green, and without a tail. "This is the last day we'll be open, so make as much noise as you want."
"Oh my, there's so much news to report, I don't know where to begin," said one of the newspaper monsters. "How about his headline... 'Monsters Go Free From the Underground.' Nah, that doesn't have enough pizazz... How about 'Top 10 monsters you won't believe got freed from the Underground?'"
"I'm pretty sure all the monsters can believe it," I said.
"This will be our newspaper's last issue," said the other monster. "Why don't we just put a big 'THE END' on the front and call it a day?"
"The greatest struggle of my life is over..." said the newspaper Loox. "I just solved today's Junior Jumble."
I laughed.
Outside the library were all the dogs in Snowdin, including Endogeny the Amalgamate! "Having an amorphous, shambling family member is great," said Doggo. "They're always moving, so I can see them 100-percent of the time!"
"All of our parents have been combined into one horrible being," said Dogaressa, the female married dog. "That's okay, though. It really 'brought our families together'."
I laughed.
"Hmm, now that our parents are the same entitiy..." the male married dog, Dogamy, said, "does that mean I'm married to my sister?"
"No," I said quickly.
"Wait, we're dogs, so that stuff's normal."
I groaned. Greater Dog farted. Endogeny... also farted.

I passed Sans and Papyrus's house. I forgot to go into Sans' room! I entered and unlocked the door to his room. It was completely dark. I was walking forward, but I didn't seem to be advancing a single step. Terrified, I ran faster. I was going to be stuck in this abyss forever...
The light turned on. I was on a treadmill. "HEY, SANS, HAVE YOU SEEN MY... OH, HELLO. YOU AREN'T SANS."
"Papyrus! Sans is still waiting at The End!"
"WAIT A SECOND. WHY WERE YOU USING A TREADMILL IN THE DARK? IS SANS PRANKING YOU ACROSS TIME AND SPACE?"
"I guess so." There was a note on the treadmill: "the truth is that you got owned, nerd........."
"I HATE IT WHEN HE DOES THAT! HOW IMMATURE CAN YOU GET? ALSO, HAVE YOU SEEN MY ACTION FIGURES? WAIT! I KNOW WHERE TO LOOK!!! IN MY COLLECTION! NYEH HEH HE!!! SOMETIMES, I'M A GENIUS. ALL THE TIME."
He left. I rolled my eyes and began to look around. The room didn't have much in it, and it was messy. It was even smaller than Papyrus's. There was a self-sustaining tornado of trash (including a plate of Papyrus's spaghetti) in the corner of the room. On a worn mattress, the sheets were bunched up in a weird, creasy ball. In the opposite corner of the room was Sans' dirty sock pile. Sc... scandalous...? Also on the floor was a thank-you letter addressed to Santa. Sans' desk had nothing but a lamp on it. There was no lightbulb; a flashlight was stuck in the bulb socket. It was out of batteries. I opened Sans' desk drawer. Clothes and trombones were shoved in haphazardly. There was also a silver key. I put it on my keychain. I figured I knew what the key unlocked. I left the house and went behind it, where there was a small shed similar to Papyrus's. I unlocked it.
I was in a very small room with a purple tiled floor and light blue walls. On one end of it was a very strange machine behind a curtain. It seemed to be broken. On a counter beside it was a pile of blueprints. I couldn't read the symbols they were written in... or maybe it was just the handwriting. Looked like they related to the strange machine. I looked in the drawers underneath the counter. In one was some kind of badge. In the other was a photo album. There were photos of Sans with a lot of people I didn't recognize... and, one photo of me standing with Sans and all my friends. He looks happy. I didn't remember it being taken.
I left Sans' workshop and thought about all the very strange things that seemed to surround him. What was that machine? I suddenly remembered the quantum physics book inside the joke book in his house, and the joke book inside that, and the quantum physics book inside that... of course! Sans must be a quantum physicist of some kind! That was how he knew about the different timelines!

Pondering this, I continued walking around Snowdin. "Looks like I don't have to worry about cracking jokes anymore," said the mouse in the green scarf.
"Yeah, because you're not in a crisis," I said brightly.
"I was going to say a joke here, but I really don't have one," said the mouse.
"Oh? We're free?" said the orange monster with the horns. "Finally... I'll be able to stop smiling."
What?
"I heard Dr. Alphys told the king and queen the awful things she'd done," said the bear outside Grillby's. "The king felt so bad that he didn't know, he gave her a big hug. Then the queen fired her. Now we don't have a Royal Scientist anymore... Thaaaaaat's politics!"
I smiled weakly. At least no one really needed a Royal Scientist now that the barrier was gone, but I hoped no one was really mad at Dr. Alphys. She didn't really deserve it.
I went into Grillby's. The dog finally won a game of poker against itself.
The fish monster at the bar said, "In the end, I never caught any girls on my fishing line. So kid, take it from me... Don't try to catch hot people with a fishing rod."
I laughed. "I won't." I'm not that stupid... Somewhere, I heard a whinny of dismay.
"Wow, a brand new world..." said the duck monster. "I might not get to translate for Grillby anymore... which is fine, since I was actually just making up what he was saying."
But then Grillby actually spoke. "............... good job."
"Hey! People won't have to move in from the city anymore!" said the monster standing at the bar. "Seems like we won't have to lose our local culture... except we're all moving out of here, huh. Oh well. Guess it can't be all punk-peaches and punk-cream."
"Bring your local culture with you to the surface," I said.
"Soon, I'll be able to try some human food..." said the monster with the big teeth. "And then I guess I'll have to try a human bathroom, too."
"I w-wonder if the o-overworld h-has h-hot guys..." said the intoxicated bunny. "A-and neat d-drinks... Oooooooh, I'm ready!"

Outside, the bear under the Christmas tree was saying, "It'll be nice to show humans our presents-under-the-tree tradition. They'll probably be weirded out by it." I decided not to say that humans already knew about it.
"Yo!!! What's up!?"
"Oh, hello, Monster Kid."
"I've been kinda, doing some thinking... Maybe Undyne... isn't actually as cool as we thought. She's just kinda... mean."
"What? Undyne? No, not anymore! She's awesome! She—"
"But YO!!! I found out about someone WAYYY cooler!!!"
"Really? Who?"
"Nyeh heh heh!!!"
I burst out laughing. "YES!"

"That kid over there told me that it's weird that I have a pet bunny," said the bunny that was walking a bunny. "First there'd be nothing weird about it. It's cute! Second... What? It's normal to walk your younger brother on a leash, right?"
"Uh..." I just slowly walked away.
"Uhh..." the older bunny standing nearby agreed. "Is anyone else weirded out by those giant shambling amalgamates, or...?" Oh, now she was worried about the amalgamates, not the bunny walking a bunny.

I walked into the Snowdin shop to talk to the purple bunny shopkeeper. "Hello. Care to chat?"
"So... what happened?"
"I mean, it happened to you, right? There was a strange flash of light... Then I felt my body being pulled into... something. Then, suddenly, everything was back to normal. I heard that it was all 'cause a human came through here. A human... I can hardly believe it!"
She must not know a human when she saw one.
"Well if they decide to stop in, I'll be sure to give them a hero's welcome."
"Uh... thanks. Uh... I'm—"
"Didja hear?" she asked, sounding just like Onionsan. "The Ruins have been opened up, and get this... They were opened from the inside. Apparently the Queen had been staying inside there for God knows how long. Pretty unbelievable, huh?"
So the Ruins were open. I could go back. "What do you think you'll do on the surface?" I asked.
"Well, I suppose I'll move my store to the overworld... haven't planned much more than that, I'm afraid."
"Okay. Bye."
"Bye now! Come again sometime!"

I walked through the forest, talking to all the monsters I saw. "Maybe someone on the surface will pay attention to me," said the Ice Cap that stood among all the snow poffs. "There're so many people, someone has to, right!?"
"Everyone's leaving, eh?" said Gyftrot, the reindeer-like monster that had been decorated. "Good riddance! Maybe I'll finally get some peace and quiet."
Really? It wanted to stay here? Oh well...
"We're all free?" the dog-like monster with the horns asked. "Okay, okay... I'll stop lounging around. Does that dog know? ...it probably doesn't, does it...?"
I had no idea why this creature was so concerned with the stupid dog that played cards against itself...
"Heh... I guess we'll have to go to the surface," said Chilldrake. "There are woods there we can live in, right?" He paused. "I'm worried about getting older... I'll stop being a teen. No! I refuse! I'll just invent new numbers, like twenty-teen!"
I laughed.
"Ha! After all this time, you're still thinking about my hat!" said the Ice Cap with the green hat.
I sighed. "No..."
"...please?"
Another Ice Cap said, "I know how to set myself apart now! An ear piercing!"
"Uh... Ice Cap? You don't have ears."
"Wait."

Next to the still-frozen spaghetti, there was a different note from Papyrus: 'SEEING AS THIS SPAGHETTI IS STILL HERE SOMEHOW... I HEREBY DONATE IT TO THE PUBLIC. IT'S LIKE A PLAYGROUND FOR YOUR MOUTH! NYEH-HEH-HEH, PAPYRUS.'
The spaghetti was lukewarm now. It seemed like something tried eating it and just... gave up.

"Ahh, I can feel that piece of me has been well taken care of," said the snowman.
"You know, the barrier's gone now. All the monsters can go home."
"Hmm...? The barrier's opened up? Hmm... then, if it's not to omuch to ask... could you take that piece of me to the surface? I would really appreciate it."
"Sure."
"Thank you."

In the middle of the woods, beside the cardboard sentry station, I found Snowdrake and his family. "Mom might have to share her mind with other people now, but she's still my mom," said Snowdrake. "And that's 'cool'! 'Cause, uhh, we're made of ice and stuff. WHAT!?!? It's a JOKE!! LAUGH at it!!"
What was funny was his reaction, not the pun.
"The doctah. She brought my wife back from the dead," said Snowdrake's father. "My son. He seems happy again. Our family. It's biggah than evah. Now that my wife. Is combined. With 16 othah people."
"Sn...ow...y..." the Amalgamate sputtered. I realized she was addressing her son. I smiled.
I walked back past the Conveniently-Shaped Lamp, back to the bridge where I first met Sans, and back into the Ruins.
I never thought I'd be back. Back in Toriel's cream-colored home, which didn't seem to have changed. Even the Butterscotch Pie was still on the counter, though more of it was gone and there were dog prints in it. I ate the piece I had with me, carried all this time (though I had eaten it when I fought Asgore, going back in time afterwards meant I still had it). It was as delicious as ever. I decided to call Toriel. There was a written message: 'Dear Frisk, Sans and Alphys are teaching me how to text. I am learning so much. For example: Do you know what a 'smiley' is? Please look at this: ]:)' It was a smiley with horns! Toriel's horns! 'Now turn your head to the left. It is a picture of me smiling at you! Can you see it? L-O-L! (that stands for Lots of Laughter). Sincerely, Toriel. (That's all for now. Maybe in the next room, you will receive another.)'
I went back into the room that Toriel had made for me and lay down in the bed. It felt strange to lie in the bed. It felt entirely too small for me now. I lay there for a moment, before getting up to go into Toriel's room. Earlier, I identified her bed as bigger than a twin-sized bed. But now, I realized it was actually one size bigger than a double. I went back into the hall and looked in the mirror beside the closed-up room that had been Asgore's. Still just you, Frisk.
I walked out of Toriel's old home, back into the violet stone walls of the Ruins. Back past all the puzzles I had first solved. Toriel sent me another message. 'Dear Frisk. How are you? You have been wandering around for quite some time now. I hope you are not getting into trouble. Only kidding. L-O-L! Sincerly, Toriel. PS—do not get into trouble.' Oh, Toriel.
I had only walked a few paces more when she texted again. 'Excuse me, I did not mean to write 'sincerly'. I meant to say, 'sincerely'. It is difficult to use this with large hands. Perhaps I should ask Sans to transcribe for me.' I continued walking, past all the pillar puzzles. I couldn't believe I was back here. Then I got yet another text: 'Sans will be typing from now on.'

I walked into the room with the three Froggits in it. "Did you ever find this room's fourth frog?" one of them asked. I distantly remembered it being concerned about there possibly being four frogs in the room. Curiously, I looked around, and noticed a tiny, ant-sized frog hiding in a crack in the wall! It waved at me.
"Say... now that your journey's over, maybe you'll have time to listen to me," said another (normal-sized) frog. "You've really matured, haven't you?"
I walked past the patch of leaves where I first found Napstablook, past the first mousehole with the cheese... and got another text: 'hey frisk. it's torrrrrieelll. i just baked 10000000 pies. do you want any? make sure to brush your teeth before crossing the street, frisk.'
'I will, SANS!!!!' I texted back.
I walked all the way back. Past the rocks with the pressure plates, past the puzzle where I fell through the floor and saw the path in the leaves... I came to the room with the leaf piles where the Froggit had told me about sparing monsters. "Excuse me, human. You seem like you have grown into a thoughtful and conscientious person. Whether that was from my advice or not... I'm quite proud. Ribbit."
I walked into the room with the monster candy and took one; only one. I needed some monster candy.
I got another text. This time it was actually from Toriel. 'I did not say any of that.' I walked through the long hallway where she had hidden behind the pillar. At the end of it, 'Greetings. This is Sans. I love my brother very much.'
Then another: 'help i'm being slandered.'
I rolled my eyes.
I walked through the bed of spikes (which popped down under my feet), and past the training dummy... 'This is Sans. Frisk, did you know that I like to 'get owned'?' I wasn't sure who was typing anymore. 'I also think Toriel is very good and fhfjkefeaufsisf... Excuse me.'
That was Toriel, I think.
Past the hallway with the switches, past the first puzzle... I was at the entrance to the ruins, with the two staircases. I couldn't believe it.
Toriel sent me a message titled "Cat Video". Inside, she meticulously described a video she saw of a small, white animal. There was no link or attachment to watch it. I figured that the video was probably of the Annoying Dog, not a cat.
I walked out of the ruins and past the patch of grass where I saw Flowey for the first time.
Another text: 'Fwd: send this 2 some1 u care about... or a skeleton will rattle his bones at u.'
And then I was back. I was back where I started. I stared at the golden flowers that I had fallen on. This is where it all began. The memory of my adventure washed over me.
I thought I saw someone out of the corner of my eye, but I wasn't sure who. I turned around, but there was no one there.
That was it. Now to walk all the way back.

As I was walking back, I got more texts: 'Dear Frisk, Thought you might enjoy this ]:). It's ASCII art of a snail.' What?
'Dear Frisk, Undyne and Papyrus want to cook something together with me. Sans is telling me they are excellent chefs. I am excited ]:) Maybe if you are lucky, you can have some!'
'Dear Frisk, If Sans and I started a band, do you know what we could call it? "Dreemurr" and "Femur". L-O-L!' But Toriel was Asgore's ex, so was she still a Dreemurr? 'PS— that is only a joke. Do NOT refer to me as Dreemurr.' I knew it.
'Dear Frisk, Undyne is very strong. Papyrus made a bet with her that she could not lift everyone here up. She could. The only trouble is that she did not know how to put everyone down.' Uh oh.
'Dear Frisk, Alphys is telling me many interesting facts about the human world. Quite a few of them are wrong, though. Frisk, you did not tell her anything funny, did you? ]:)'
'Dear Frisk, I heard that using the computer for too long is bad for you. However, I have not seen you use the computer at all. You must be very healthy! How nice.'
'Dear Frisk, I think I may have to turn off the phone for now. Your friends are all very lovely people! I think I will spend this time getting to know them better. Be good, alright? Sincerely, Toriel.'
Finally. I had only just gotten to the forest.

Eventually, I reached the River Person, who brought me to Hotland. "Tra la la. Somewhere, it's Saturday, so be careful."

I talked to monsters in Hotland. "Oh... Freedoms. Feels... so spicy," said Vulkin.
"Haha, ha ha ha. If we leave, no one will really ever know!" said Pyrope.
"That you set the magma on fire?"
"Haha, ha ha ha. Wonder if any humans would wanna be my friend. PSYYYYCHE! That'd NEVER happen!"
"So we're all gonna go free...? Does that mean I don't get to go to work?" the fox monster with sunglasses asked eagerly.
"The barrier's opened up, so we don't have to go to work today," said the green bull monster outside one of the puzzles. "I mean, sure, we're free, but it's the little things, y'know?"
"Today, we all started as co-workes... Who knows what we'll be tomorrow?" the black fire monster mused.
"Hey, did you hear? The barrier's opened up!" said the purple monster with the skateboard. "Now school has to be cancelled, right!?"
"There will be lots of places to loiter on the surface, I bet," said the green fire schoolgirl.
"I... I'm thinking of going to the surface..." Tsundereplane began.
"Oh, that's great! See you there!"
"Eeeeeh? You're going to go there too? Idiot... quit following me!"
"Oh, well, I'll leave you alone then."
Tsundereplane's attitude suddenly changed. "A-ah... H-human... You're leaving? I have... something to say to you. Admittedly, I may have had limerent feelings for you before."
"Wh-what?"
"However, upon examining my own actions, I now realize... I did not love you. I was merely infatuated with the concept of love. The idea of romance, the concept of sharing affection with another. Through these desires, I built a false concept of you in my head. Such a relationship would not have ended well. In closing, I believe it is better that I chose to say nothing." Well, I was a human and she was an airplane. "Y... y-you i-idiot," she finished. Oh, great, why did Tsundereplane have to remind me of Flowey?!
"I've been thinking about getting a sick skateboard," said one of the boys that had been raving about Mettaton.
"On the surface we'll be able to watch all kinds of TV..." said the other one. "But, I bet none of those shows are as good as Mettaton's!"
I found Muffet in her parlor. "Bonjour, dearie~ I just finished tallying up all of our donations! We've finally raised enough to rescue all the spiders inside of the Ruins. And we'll also be able to afford...! A brand new bakery! And four pairs of stylish heels for every spider! And a spider baseball field! I've already got the baseball donuts ready. Thank you so much, dearie! It's all because of you (your money)."
"Oh... you're welcome, Muffet!"
Outside Muffet's parlor, still standing next to Mettaton's show poster, was the lion monster I saw earlier. It was now wearing Mettaton's dress, which looked much better on it than it did on Mettaon's box body. The lion was smiling contentedly. "Mettaton...! He recognized my voice from when I called in, and... he... he gave me his dress!" Mettaton earned a little of my respect back. It was nice to know he really had a heart. "I'm so...! Ha ha ha!" the lion cried.

Once I made it back to the Throne Room, before going in, I walked down the hallway to the right of it, and down the staircase into the dungeon.
All the coffins were open, and empty. The coffin with the red heart, the one that said 'Chara' on it, was still empty. I hadn't noticed before, but it had something like... mummy wrappings at the bottom of it.
I went through the Throne Room to the chamber before the barrier, where I found all my friends waiting for me.
"So..." I looked at Sans and Toriel. "What was with the texts?"
"Hello, Frisk. Alphys updated my phone. I am having a lot of fun with the 'texting' feature. Sans, 'check out' this one!
"oh man, tori... that's brutal."
"Was that a pun?"
"I CAN'T BELIEVE THE QUEEN HAS RETURNED... AND ALSO THAT SHE'S A HUGE DORK!!! YOU TWO ARE TWO FEET AWAY FROM EACH OTHER!! WHY ARE YOU TEXTING!!!"
"Worry not, Papyrus. We are texting for a good reason."
"WHY IS THAT?"
"well." Sans winked. "'cause we're huge dorks."
"Sans, please do not say that. You are not a dork. You are more of a bonehead!"
"HAHAHA, WOW! THOSE PUNS ARE EVEN LESS FUNNY COMING FROM HER!"
"then why are you smiling?"
"IT'S A PITY SMILE!!!"
"Frisk, do not feel left out," said Toriel. "I have been writing messages to you as well!"
"I know..."
"You still have my phone number after all this time."
"Yeah. I do. But..." I turned to Sans. "Sans, what was with—"
"hey, frisk, what's with that weird expression?"
"Sorry, I just... don't smile often."
"frisk, tori was telling me how she made b'scotch pie for you."
"Oh, I should bake it for everyone sometime!"
"O-oh, that sounds really good," said Alphys. Asgore smiled hopefully.
"COOKING??? CAN I HELP?" Papyrus asked.
"Wait a second!!!" Undyne interjected. "Can I help too!?"
"Certainly!" said Toriel brightly. "It would be fun to cook together."
"On second thought, maybe I'll o-order a pizza," Alphys muttered.
"Sans..."
"sorry... I don't have time to talk, frisk. I'm supposed to be working right now."
"BUT YOU'RE NOT WORKING!!!"
"i know, and its taking all my concentration," said Sans with a wink.
"SO, ASGORE..." Papyrus said, "HOW ABOUT MAKING ME A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD?"
"Well, Papyrus, now that the war is over... we might not need the Royal Guard anymore," said Asgore.
Papyrus's eyes seemed to pop out of his head.
"WHAT!? THEN WHAT WAS THE POINT OF THE HUMAN'S QUEST!?"
Papyrus thought that I went on my quest just for him?
"FRISK JOURNEYED ALL THAT WAY... AND I'M STILL NOT A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!? TRULY, THIS IS THE WORST POSSIBLE ENDING."
"Papyrus!"
"IT SEEMS LIKE YOU REALLY BOTCHED YOUR QUEST, FRISK. BUT, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS... WILL ALWAYS BE YOUR FRIEND!!!"
"Thanks, Papyrus—"
"no matter how hard you try to get rid of him," said Sans.
"HEY! THAT'S TRUE."
"So, Alphys," Undyne cut in, changing the subject. "What do you want to do now that we're all free? We have the whole world to explore now."
"W-well, of course I'm going to go out and... Um... No, I should be honest!!" Alphys grinned. "I'm gonna stay inside and watch anime like a total loser!"
"THAT'S THE SPIRIT!" said Papyrus. "EVERYONE!!! A CELEBRATION!!! TO BEING LOSERS!!"
"Heh. Papyrus has the right idea," said Undyne.
"We're losers with big hearts, right Undyne?" I said.
Undyne nodded. "Losing to Frisk is the best thing to ever happen to me."
"Really?" It definitely hadn't seemed so in the moment. Maybe that's one of the things you find out later.
"So I'm glad that we..." Undyne broke off. Asgore looked like he was about to say something. "Huh? What is it, Asgore?"
"Um... what's an... anime?"
"Oh My God?" Alphys said. "Frisk. Please. Help me explain what anime is to Asgore."
"Uh..."
"Y-you see, it's like a cartoon, but..."
"Japanese. And with swords," I added, realizing that monsters probably didn't know what Japan was.
"So it's like a cartoon... but with swords?" Asgore repeated "Golly! That sounds neato! Where is this? Where can I see the Anime?"
"H-hold on, uh... I think I have some on my phone," said Alphys. "Here, l-look at this!"
"Alphys, what's that? That's not anime," I said, peering over her phone.
"Oh... that's... um... that's the wrong... uh, nevermind."
"Golly. Were those two robots..." Asgore began.
"...kissing?" Undyne finished.
"Boy! Technology sure is something, isn't it?"
"Eheheh... yeah! It sure is!" said Alphys.
"FRISK, WHY DON'T YOU GO FOR A WALK?" said Papyrus.
"frisk, why don't you fly? it's faster."
"YEAH, FRISK, WHY DON'T YOU FLY?"
"Hmm... flying sounds a little dangerous," said Toriel.
"But Frisk can't fly," said Alphys.
"Not with that attitude!" said Undyne.
"Psst... F-Frisk," said Alphys. "Um, you've gotta tell me. D... do you think Asgore and Toriel are...? Uh, ever gonna get back together?"
"Honestly, probably not," I said. "I'd sort of like them to, but Toriel seems to like Sans."
"...yeah, that's what I thought. A woman can dream, though, right? And write fanfiction. A LOT of fanfiction!" she paused. "On second thought, maybe I won't write a fanfic of real people," said Alphys. "I mean, isn't real life already the greatest fanfiction of all?"
"Ha, if you look at it that way..."
"Uh, don't tell anyone I said that. Cause I'm gonna post it online!"
"Ha!"
"Hey, Alphys! Alphys!" said Undyne insistently, "do you think we could watch something with fighting next? Oh, and then... Something... with princesses!? Or FIGHTING princesses!?"
I laughed.
"I-I'll see if I can manage to find any like that, Undyne," said Alphys.
"Yayyyyy!" Undyne cheered.
"I sure am excited to finally use the human internet," said Alphys. "I bet they have all sorts of things Undyne and I can watch!"
"Oh man!!!" Undyne exclaimed. "We're gonna be able to watch anime online!?" She was so different from when I first met her, when she was mysterious and threatening...
"Of course, Undyne! What do you think we've been fighting for all along?" Alphys was different too. She was obviously so much happier.
I laughed.
"yeah, what do you... whoops."
"Sans?"
"Jinx! I knew you were gonna make that joke!" Alphys cried.
"WAIT, ALPHYS, I DIDN'T KNOW YOU KNEW SANS," said Papyrus.
"Well... I..."
Sans winked. "doesn't everybody?"
"Who the hell is Sans?" Toriel asked jokingly.
I stared at her. "Toriel? Did you just say..."
"Who the heck is Sans?"
"TORIEL!?!?!" Alphys shouted.
I walked up to Asgore. "Howdy, Frisk," he said. Asriel/Flowey must have gotten his habit of saying that from him. "Sorry about almost trying to take your SOUL," he said honestly. "I feel very bad about it."
"You shouldn't. You were just doing what you thought you needed to do."
Asgore smiled. "I hope we can still be pals."
"Hey, don't worry about it, ASGORE," said Undyne. "I think everybody's tried to kill Frisk at least once."
"Oh... I see! In that case, I'm not sorry, Frisk."
"No," I said. "Alphys and Sans didn't try to kill me, or Papyrus or Toriel either, really... that's everyone else who's here."
"ASGORE! That's not what I meant!" said Undyne.
"Frisk! I just realized!" Asgore said suddenly. "Now that we aren't fighting each other... I can finally ask you... 'Would you like a cup of tea?'"
"Oh... okay."
"Would you like a cup of tea?"
"Sure."
"Oh! Well! Actually, the cup I had is cold now. So you shouldn't have it. But, I am so happy you said yes. As soon as I can, I will make some more for you. Then we can be great pals."
"Okay, Asgore."
"Oh, Frisk, if you're not busy... On nice days, you should go walk around and have a good time. That's important."
"Okay, Asgore," I repeated. "It's time to go..."
I walked through the archway where the barrier had been was a little patch of light, with a tiny green patch of grass in the middle, exactly like the one where I had first seen Flowey. Behind that was a purple archway with the Delta Rune on it. Considering that the barrier had been here, I wondered who had built this archway and when. I looked up at the Delta Rune. Asriel was the Angel that had Seen the Surface. Asriel had been to the surface, and he had freed all the monsters from their imprisonment. He had looked like an angel for a moment, too, though that wasn't exactly his best moment.
My friends would follow me out of the Underground. I was ready to leave.