*It's the end.

The headlights were drawing closer and closer, and with each second, the further his sibling drew back into the bushes.

He climbed further down the tree, seating himself on one of the lower branches, and tried to lean over to get a better look at the approaching vehicle. It was a black van, from what he could see, with two hard-to-see figures running alongside it.

They were getting closer and closer and he was sure that they were just going to drive by the tree and do whatever it was they were going to do, but—

"Over there?"

He blanched, face going pale, and squeaked as he saw the headlights turning towards the tree. His sibling called out to him, reached out their hand, yelling his name to try and grab his attention but it was too late. Those people had seen him, and maybe even his sibling too, and they were coming straight for him.

The people running by the vehicle were fast and desperate. They were holding something small in their hands, but he couldn't tell what it was just from where he was sitting.

The vehicle parked underneath the tree and there were faint cries of "Get them!" and "There's another one higher up!" and "I'll get the van ready!" He felt his stomach twist as three other people hopped out of the van, two leaving towards the back to open the trunk and the third joining the other two starting to climb the tree.

"C'mon!" his sibling urged, and this time, he took their hand and let them pull him higher up the tree. He stumbled, losing his footing on one of the branches and nearly falling back, but then his sibling used their other hand to grip the back of his sweater and pull him up the rest of the way until they were both poorly-concealed in the bushes. His sibling gave him a pointed look, pressing their index finger to their pursed lips, and he gulped before nodding.

The people below were whisper-yelling to each other, two trying to climb the tree while the third not busy with the trunk was shining a flashlight up into the leaves. His sibling cursed under their breath, trying to use their arms to cover their faces, and then yanked on his collar to drag him backwards.

"We'll have to make a run for it," they said urgently, glancing behind them to make sure there was no one who could catch them from behind.

He gulped, but nodded, and his sibling grasped his hand tightly before shuffling towards the edge of the branch and hopping off.

"Hey!" a voice yelled, but neither of them were listening.

The two grabbed onto each other as they ran, looking up at the fence that separated them from the safety of their home. He ran forward, sliding against the fence and letting his sibling climb on him. They hesitated, gulping, but nodded once and used him as leverage to lean onto the fence. They pressed their weight against the edge, nearly making it over, but then something crashed into them from behind and would've sent them falling forward if it were not for the thick arms behind wrapped around their waist.

They panicked, kicking their legs back and managing to send their captor falling behind when they elbowed their stomach. They heard a grunt, followed by a thud, and they panted as they frantically darted around. Their brother was nowhere to be seen, void from his previous spot against the fence.

Then they heard a call of their name followed by a scream, and they looked ahead to see their brother fighting and struggling in the arms of two large people dressed in cloaks, and the two were running towards the van and shouting something but all that was filling their ears was white noise and they couldn't see anything but red.

"NO NO NO DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HIM."

The captor they had originally knocked over was back on their feet, and tackled them to the ground with a sudden force. They choked as their back harshly collided with the ground, coughing in an attempt to catch their breath, and then they were rendered helpless as a pair of gloved hands pressed into their neck and blocked their airways. They spluttered, gripping onto their captor's wrists and doing anything they could to get them away—kicking, scratching, spitting, punching—but their captor quickly overpowered them and soon the world went dark just as a terrified shriek met their ears.

Mettaton let out a slow, anxious breath. "Is this it?" he asked softly, looking at the building with a worried gaze. He couldn't see anything from the outside, and the fog that surrounded the dark, bleary building and the police tape lined across it made him gulp.

"Yeah," Sans replied quietly, and stepped out of the car. The others followed, and one by one they hesitantly approached the building.

Alphys took a deep breath, fumbling with the hem of her shirt as her shoulders shook. "T-this, um... it l-looks like something out of a horror movie..."

Undyne took her girlfriend's hand firmly and gave her a determined gaze. "Whatever tries to hurt you," she declared, "I'll fight it."

"YOU CAN'T FIGHT A GHOST, UNDYNE!" Papyrus shouted, and Mettaton grabbed him by the arm and shushed him. Papyrus looked at the others apologetically, and bowed his head. "If you could fight a ghost, however, I'd be glad to assist!" he said, his voice lower but still not as quiet as it could be—but they figured it was best for now.

"How are we supposed to get in?" Mettaton asked, tugging on the door, and frowning. "It's locked. And there's police tape everywhere."

"Oh, yeah," Undyne said, leaning down and inspecting the tape with an oddly curious look. "I guess that would be kinda illegal without the police—wait a second." She stopped, straightening her back and taking a few steps back. Her good eye twinkled with something exciting, and she let out a loud roar. "I AM THE POLICE! I CAN DO WHATEVER I WANT!"

Then she quite literally kicked down the door, releasing a loud cry of, "NGAAAAHHHH!"

A multitude of lights danced by them, and they squinted uncomfortably when the brightness began to burn and spring more tears to the corners of their eyes. The colored lights moved from shining against the ceiling to wailing and circling around the room drastically, and Chara hadn't moved from their position one bit. If anything, their laughing only became louder and the smudge pouring from their eyes and mouth only increased and was staining their clothes and dripping against the ground.

They could hear voices, and harsh memories were coming to mind, and then there was something touching their body and they jolted, trying to break away from the cold feeling. But it persisted, pressing harder, and when Frisk looked beside them they saw a small figure made of pure teal light, indents in the flame that was like light to form eyes and a mouth. The figure was giving them a hard stare, and then it dissipated and the teal light started screaming and darting across the room again, bouncing off the walls and crashing into the floor over and over like a bouncy ball.

The lights were people. Children, rather, and Frisk's eyes widened at the realization.

"Chara!" they screamed, trying to get their attention, but Chara was already far too deep in what they were doing. Frisk sniffled, trying to scream again, but the buzzing in their ears was getting stronger and the feeling of hands all across their body was too much to handle and the world was fading into black, slowly, so slowly.

Then the lights stopped, and when Frisk managed to lift their head, there were six glowing lights in the form of flaming colored hearts floating around them. And they were closing in, inch by inch.

Chara was still laughing and laughing, and Frisk's eyes widened as the lights began to practically suffocate and press against them, digging into their skin and pressing themselves against them as if to get inside them and possess them or however it was they were supposed to do it and Frisk was crying, screaming, yelling for their mom, for Toriel, and they just wanted to home.

Their vision went white.

"W-wait, what's... what's going on!?"

The sudden terrified gasp snapped them out of their daze, and their eyes shot open just in time to see their brother being thrown into the center of a giant black circle, his body almost light and lifeless as it fell on the ground and didn't move. Their eyes went wide, chest heaving with each breath, and they tried to shout but their throat was dry and throbbing, and their head was spinning with the movements they made to struggle against whoever was holding them.

Where were they? What was happening? Where was Mom and Dad?

There was distant crying and they gulped, feeling the hands on them getting rougher as their captor twisted their arms and tossed them in the circle right beside their brother. They gasped, jumping up and struggling with the sudden weakness that overtook them as they trudged forward on their forearms to his side. He was barely conscious, breathing heavily, his hair soaked in what looked like blood but they weren't sure from what. Panic swelled in their chest and a lump formed in their throat as their hands trembled on his body, and they shook him, trying to get him to wake up.

Then someone was pulling them apart and they screamed, the noise ripping from their throat hoarsely, and the cloaked figure holding their brother had a knife in their hands and they were struggling in their captor's grip, crying and yelling at their brother. They shouted, telling him to please wake up so they could go home, but he wasn't paying attention and his head rolled on his shoulders as he was pulled into a part of the circle, and placed on his back.

They were played on the opposite side of him, being held down by their captor by their throat and legs. "LET HIM GO!" A sob. "PLEASE...!"

Then the one holding their brother lifted the knife and dug it into his stomach.

"STOP STOP NO NO NO STOP PLEASE—"

There was a squelching sound, followed by a ear-shattering scream. A flash of red eyes, followed by a growl.

The door clattered to the ground with a loud thud, and the others jumped from their position behind the determined Undyne. She was still screaming, running into the building with all her might, and Alphys rushed after her nervously.

Inside the building wasn't like anything they expected.

There was Frisk, tied to a chair and motionless, their head hanging forward and their eyes glowing bright white behind their bangs. In front of them was a large black circle, slowly filling with red mist and black tar, and there was someone standing and laughing in the middle of it. None of them could see who it was, and their figure was faint, but they were small and their eyes were red and they looked so familiar but none of them could place a finger on it.

"FRISK!" Papyrus shouted, charging forward immediately, but then he stopped as if something had blocked him and he fell back on the ground. He jumped back up immediately, however, and pressed his hands against the air in confusion.

Undyne frowned and walked up to him, lifting her hands to try and figure out what he was getting at, and once her hands touched an invisible wall, her eyes widened and she whirled around to the others. "It's like a force field!" she called, and banged her fists against it automatically. "Frisk! Dude, can you hear us!?"

It seemed not, for Frisk hadn't moved an inch since they arrived.

"Shit!" Undyne yelled, kicking her foot against the force field. "Someone call Toriel! Tell her Frisk is here!"

Mettaton nodded and pulled out his phone, but once he did, it was suddenly encrusted with a black tar and it hardened automatically, rendering it useless. And when he dropped it to the ground in alarm the tar melted into a black mess on the floor, and he stared in horror and confusion at the leftovers.

"What... what the hell!?" he cried, jumping away from the black mess and stumbling into Sans, whose phone was in a similar state. "I'll bet it's that thing at the circle!" he declared, pointing towards said figure who was still laughing. "Is that what's doing all this to Frisk!?"

"I-I don't even know wh-what's happening!" Alphys stammered, looking like she was about to cry.

Sans thought for a moment, and then gave her a startled glance. "Oh my God," he whispered, gripping onto her shoulder. "The ritual."

"W-What?"

"The ritual!" he repeated louder, over the loud wind and laughing that the figure in the circle was causing. "The one to summon Gaster! I'll bet that's what this is!"

"Oh no..." Alphys whispered shakily, and now she really was crying. "W-What do we do!? How d-do we stop it!?"

Sans opened his mouth to reply, but then he looked back at Frisk who was shaking now, and he bit his lip. "I... don't know."

The restraints on their arms were suddenly missing, as if they had never been there in the first place. Frisk looked down at their wrists in confusion, and then back up to see the endless white space surrounding them. There were six children standing in a circle around them, each of their clothing bathed in the colors of the lights from before.

The teal one, who had appeared to Frisk earlier, gave them a soft smile. They had a ribbon in their bright orange hair, and their dress was a pale blue. Frisk glanced down at their metal leg that peeked out beneath the dress, and then traveled their gaze back up to the teal child's eyes.

The orange one was shorter, and their skin and hair were very dark. Their eyes were a milky green, and their tank top was colored orange. Atop their hands was a pair of pink boxing gloves. They gave Frisk a rough grin, but they were turned a bit crooked, as if they couldn't see them but knew where they were.

The blue one looked much calmer compared to their counterpart, and seemed to be the tallest and oldest of the six. Their skin was dark but dotted with white spots (the faint word vitiligo appeared in the back of Frisk's mind), their dark brown hair was pulled up into a messy bun, and they were dressed in an old blue ballerina outfit. They gave Frisk a patient smile, waving with the hand that was missing 2 fingers.

The purple child looked anxious, and was even sweating. They had very pale skin, short black hair, and they were dressed in a calm purple and black suit. They tried to hide their face behind their black notebook, sneaking peaks at Frisk every other second as if expecting the worse.

The green one was very pretty. They were almost as tall as the blue one, if not just an inch or two shorter. They had long blonde hair and pretty green eyes, and freckles were dusted across their face and arms and complimented their tanned skin nicely. They were wearing a stained apron atop a shoulder-cut pale green shirt. They held a small piece of paper in their single arm.

Then, finally, the yellow one. They were by far the youngest of the six. Their dark eyes were glassy and their skin was sunkissed, and they were very, very small. Frisk figured they couldn't be older than six, maybe even five. They were dressed in a cowboy outfit that almost looked like a generic Halloween costume, and the faded yellow star on their vest read Sheriff in small letters. Their dirty blonde hair was covered by an old, ragged cowboy hat, and they tilted their head downwards as if they were ashamed.

The blue child was the first to speak. "You survived," they said, looking practically amazed. "Even after everything we tried to do to bring you with us... you made it."

Frisk blinked, feeling like their voice was familiar. Then it hit them. The voices and the lights and the presences surrounding them when their parents were doing the scary thing with the black circle and ended up taking away the life they knew. It was them. The six children. And it was like Chara said—they were supposed to be the seventh.

"But how?" the orange one scoffed, crossing their arms. "We tried everything..."

"It's... not fair," the purple child mumbled, shaking in their boots. "You got to live and we... we're stuck d-down here."

Frisk gulped, a sudden weight of guilt dropping on their shoulders. "I..." they whispered, fingers trembling as they balled their hands into fists. "I'm s-so sorry. I-I... I didn't know...I would've... h-helped—"

"Please don't be sorry," the green one said quickly, taking a step forward, clenching the ends of their apron nervously. "You got to live. That's a good thing! One less victory for those that took us."

"But it was their parents!" the orange one protested, pointing at Frisk and giving the green one a dirty glare. "They probably knew all along what was happening, and yet they did NOTHING!"

"Stop!" the teal one gasped, cutting their arm through the air like a sickle and frowning in disappointment. They shifted their weight to their other leg and sighed. "Fighting like this is going to solve nothing. We all know why we're here."

The six children turned to stare at Frisk, and the latter blinked in confusion.

"...We do?" they mumbled softly, folding their hands behind their back and scratching at their wrists. Even if the ropes weren't there, they could feel the faint sensation of it rubbing against their skin.

"The laughing child wants us to bring back their brother," the blue one said, looking away guiltily. "They are... promising us freedom if we help."

"How can they know how to free us?" the orange child scoffed, but bit their tongue when the blue child held up their hand to silence them.

"But we cannot bring back their brother with just us. We have too little," the blue child continued, glancing up at Frisk nervously and then back down. "We need your help."

"I..." Frisk coughed into their fist, their throat suddenly going dry in anticipation. "But wasn't I supposed to be...?"

"The vessel, yes... but, to be a vessel, only the body is needed." The blue one swallowed, anxiously picking at their fingers and clasping their hands together in front of their chest. "We'll need the added power of your soul to help bring back the laughing child's brother."

"Chara..." Frisk whispered. Their legs suddenly felt weak. This had been Chara's plan all along. They were never Frisk's friend, they were never actually being nice to them through their own volition. And yet, despite everything, it was like it was all their fault. They owed it to the six children for living, didn't they?

The blue child held out their hand, a frantic look on their face. They turned, glancing over at the yellow child and observing the nervous smile twitching at the corners of their mouth. "There isn't much time," the blue one whispered, narrowing their eyes. "We must hurry before he comes."

"Who's 'he'?" Frisk couldn't help but ask.

All six children stiffened automatically. And, simultaneously, they answered,

"Gaster."

The white of the area was beginning to darken, black tar spilling over invisible cracks and flooding the floor. It made their feet all stick the ground, rendering their legs useless as they struggled. None of them could move their bodies, and Frisk's breath caught in their throat as they tugged at their skin, feeling like if they pulled any harder they would rip it off, and then they looked up at the blue child to see them desperately reaching out for them.

"Take my hand!" they exclaimed.

So Frisk did, and the tar was all but suffocated all seven.

The next time they opened their eyes, they were standing. And the room was empty.

All that was left was them, the black circle, and the large goop of black tar hovering over them. It towered, moving and gurgling with each passing second, and they let their red eyes scan over it curiously.

The monstrosity began to speak, even though they couldn't see a mouth, and what looked like hands were protruding from its gurgling body and were moving, but they didn't understand. They simply stared as the black tar leaked from its body and curled up on the ground, snaking along the surface until it reached their feet. They looked down, absentmindedly kicking it away with their sneakers, and glared up at the monstrosity above them.

"I don't understand," they whispered casually, a sly grin forming on their face, only for it to disappear as soon as they turned around. They ignored the rest of the monster's cries and outbursts as they walked outside, and even though the wind was blowing and snow was falling, they didn't feel any chill at all. The door slammed shut behind them, and they looked down at their hands.

They were transparent.

They blinked in surprise, eyes going wide, and looked all around their body only to discover that, in fact, the rest of them was see-through as well. They idly wondered if they should go back inside and ask the monster for answers, but then they decided against it, and simply chose to lean against the outside wall of the building. They slid down the wall, plopping in the snow even though their presence didn't even make a dent in it, and pulled their knees to their chest.

Out of the corner of their eye, they thought they saw their brother calling out for them. But when they turned, there was no one there.

The realization hit them like a bullet.

Their brother was tossed in the black circle, and then they were right after. Then... then those people killed him. They stabbed him. After that, well... they didn't really know what else happened after that. They assumed they died soon after, too, but there weren't any visible marks on their skin. Maybe causes of death didn't show up on ghosts after they were dead. It was their inner spirit, or soul, and one's inner spirit would probably be their best image.

They swallowed heavily, and in a split second, rushed back into the building and stumbled on their own feet. The gurgling monster was gone, and they weren't sure if it was ever real in the first place, and they crawled over towards the black circle, panting and gasping even though they didn't know if ghosts needed to breathe. They slapped the ground with their palms, making a frustrated whine in the back of their throat, and felt warm tears fall over their face and patter on the ground.

They never got to get back home.

They thought back to the tree. What a stupid mistake. If only they hadn't stayed up late. If only they hadn't suggested they go to the tree.

It was all their fault. They got him killed.

"Asriel..." Their cry was muffled in the fabric of their shirt, and they bit down to keep from crying out too loud.

It was too late, anyway.

"Frisk is waking up!"

At Undyne's sudden shout, the others rushed towards the very edge of the force field, practically pushing against it as if it would help any. Sure enough, Frisk was shifting in their place on the chair, and the glowing in their eyes had stopped. The figure in the circle had stopped laughing, and instead they were standing silently, watching Frisk, waiting for something.

Then a multitude of colors ripped out from Frisk's mouth like a scream, and voices flooded the space until there was no other sound except for the screeches and cries. On the tails of the lights were a black stain, and the black stain was rising, rising, rising, until it completely concealed the lights into nothing and made them fall onto the ground in hard, black clumps.

Frisk fell lifelessly, toppling the chair over, and their hands went limp as if they were dead.

The figure in the circle dropped their arms, and there was a resounded gasp. "GASTER!" they screamed, and the voice was so familiar, but who was it? As soon as they charged out of the circle and towards one of the fallen black lights, the others received their answer.

Alphys was the first to speak up. "Ch... Chara?"

Red eyes whirled around to meet her gaze, and then Chara gritted their teeth. "Go AWAY!" They swiped their hand through the air, and suddenly they were all being pushed far, far back into the wall, and they couldn't move. They were rooted to the wall like superglue was holding them down, and they struggled against the invisible restraints.

Chara ran up to Frisk, practically ripping away the restraints binding them and pulling them from the chair. "Asriel..." they called over and over, shaking Frisk back and forth desperately, forcefully opening their eyes in search of something, anything. But nothing was happening, and Chara's face was starting to grow red from what looked like frustration, and they let out a terrifying scream, eyes going black and veins across their skin flooding red. They were glowing, eyes electrifying and hair blowing comically as they screamed and raged at the ceiling, kicking at the ground and scratching at their skin. They stomped against the floor wildly, their shouts and cries getting more and more breathy as they continued, and after a good two minutes of screaming, they collapsed to the ground in a curled ball and their screams were replaced with breathless, hoarse sobs.

The frozen black substance covering the lights began to shake and the black was cracking, letting the light pour through one by one, and then suddenly the black was melted away, some even shattering into millions of pieces and exploding midair. The lights rose collectively, swirling around one another and teleporting to the black circle, each in six of the seven spots lined up around it.

Chara blinked, eyes wide, and they desperately rose to their feet and dragged Frisk along until they were lying in the middle of the circle. And then they stepped back, hands clenched at their sides. Their shoulders were shaking.

Something started to come from Frisk's mouth. It was bright, and red, and it left their body like it was a scattered mist. Frisk's body went completely limp, their face pale and head rolling to the side as the red mist collided together into a heart shape and teleported to the seventh and final spot.

Then Chara whispered something. It was hard to make out exactly what, but it sounded like something along the lines of, "Please."

Frisk blinked at the figure across from them. It was a boy, wearing a striped shirt that looked similar to Chara's. He looked a lot like Toriel, even having the same smile as her. He looked very familiar, and Frisk was sure they had seen him before, and when their mind flickered back to the boy's voice that saved them from the black tar on that fateful day, they decided to suck in their fear and give the boy a thankful smile.

The boy's own smile drooped ever so slightly, almost unnoticeable, and then he whispered, "This is wrong."

Chara's breathing was heavy, their legs barely able to keep them up, and they watched as the lights glowed and sparkled and yes, it was working, and soon Asriel would be back and they could watch the stars together again and draw together again and finally be happy and take back the childhood that was oh so wrongly taken from them.

Asriel was somewhere deep in the otherworld, hidden deep in that strange black circle and stuck in the clutches of Gaster, but no, everything was fine and they had offered the seven souls in exchange for their brother's and it was all going to be alright—

"I'm right here, Chara."

They blinked, eyes going wide. "Asriel?"

Frisk's body. He was speaking from their mouth, even though the rest of their body was lifeless, he used Frisk's eyes to look at them, and then he smiled.

"Oh my God," Chara whispered, legs giving out as they crumpled to the ground, and they completely ignored everything else as they dragged themself towards him, towards their brother, and then they sobbed over him. "Asriel... Asriel, I'm so sorry. Please, I just—"

"Stop," Asriel said, and his voice—Frisk's voice—sounded strained. "This isn't right. This isn't what I want."

"N-No, it's okay," Chara insisted, giving him a shaky smile. "It's going to be okay, alright? I'm bringing us back, it'll all be okay I promise!"

"Chara, please. Stop. Don't do this." Asriel closed his—Frisk's—eyes and his lip trembled. "Please. This... it's not good. You're hurting everyone."

"Asriel, listen to me, it's all going to be alright I'm finally going to make things better, okay?"

"THIS ISN'T BETTER." Asriel's sudden shout made Chara flinch, and they gave him a startled look, hands balling into fists over Asriel's—Frisk's—chest. "I..." he said slowly, and then warm tears spilled over his cheeks and he gave Chara the most broken look they ever saw, and they knew they were crying too. "This is WORSE, Chara. This... isn't what's right for anyone."

Chara opened their mouth to protest, but Asriel cut them off.

"Don't. Don't say anything and LISTEN to me."

Chara closed their eyes, holding a hand over their mouth and nodding as they sniffled, not bothering to wipe away their tears.

"Don't give away another person's life just to save someone who's already gone," Asriel said softly, shaking his head and biting his quivering lip. "If you do this, you'll KILL Frisk. You'll destroy them. You'll send their soul and the rest's down in the otherworld, and trust me, it's not really the best place to be. It's awful. It's somewhere that nobody deserves to end up."

Chara lowered themself until their face was pressing against Asriel's chest, and even though it was Frisk's body, it was like they could feel Asriel inside and they silently sobbed onto him.

"Don't go through all this trouble for my sake. I'm already gone." He even dared to smile through his tears. "But you managed to stick around. Funny, huh?"

Chara shook their head violently. "I don't wanna be alone anymore." Their voice was muffled by his sweater, and they felt like screaming and crying and hurting something or someone to just get rid of this disgusting feeling.

"Then come with me."

Chara blinked, opening their eyes and lifting their head. "...What?"

"Cross over, I guess, to put it simpler terms." His eyes were soft. "Then we can play together all we want. We can watch the stars forever. Except... I don't think you'll be able to get your manageable hair and cool car."

Chara laughed, despite themself, and wiped their nose with their sleeve and their eyes with the back of their hands.

"...Alright," they whispered, and lifted their hands only to lower them, sending the souls crashing back to the ground. "Sounds like a plan."

"The deal is off."

"Oh? What kind of compensation are you going to give me for putting me through all this trouble?"

"Ha. I don't care. Take whatever you want."

"Quite bold for someone like you."

"I suppose. Oh well. I'll be going now."

"Of course. Have fun in the otherworld, child."

"Like hell I'm going there."

"Ohoho... whatever you say."

Buzzing met Frisk's ears once they opened their eyes. There were faces hovering over them, some worried and some terrified and some crying.

They were in their room, lying on their bed, and before they could comprehend anything Toriel was suddenly hugging them, followed by the rest of their friends. They blinked, eyes blank and expression emotionless as they made no move to reciprocate her hug.

"Oh, my child! You're alright!" she gasped, running her hands along their face and kissing their forehead.

Alright? Of course they were. But there was something churning inside them, something uncomfortable. It felt wet. They didn't like it, but they couldn't show their disgust on their face. They couldn't say anything. They couldn't feel anything.

"Give 'em some space, Tori."

"Oh, yes, of course... I'm sure they must be..."

"You okay, kid?"

"They don't look so well. A bit pale."

"Their eyes look weird too. Like... darker than normal."

"Yeah, there's black in it now."

"MAYBE A SIDE EFFECT OR SOMETHING!"

"Whoa, hey, kid, you alright?"

Frisk soaked in the questions and concerns of their friends, and looked up at all their curious faces. They stared for a long, hard moment, feeling something itching underneath their skin and they just wanted to scratch and scratch until it was gone.

Then they gave a slow, patient smile.

"Yes. I'm just fine."

JESUS CHRIST IM FINALLY DONE

UGH

opening ending? opening ending. i wonder what's wrong with frisk :000

sequel? probably not. i think you can decide what happens next.

thank you all for giving this a chance and sticking with it to the end! it really means a lot! i enjoyed writing it very much, even if it wasn't meant to turn into this disaster.

until next time.

(EDIT:

omg i thought i would be easier to tell but basically what happened was that chara called off the deal with gaster and in compensation for them gettig his hopes up and drawing him so close, he was allowed to take whatever he wanted as payment.

so he took frisk)