Your body hits the cold, damp bridge, crumpling forward on the wood.

You don't stop there, though.

You continue falling, leaving your body behind. You turn around and watch as your adversary takes a knee. You watch as she examines your corpse.

Then, you break.

The sound echoes in your ears as your soul falls to pieces once again. The world around you turns as dark and empty as you feel inside.

"Stay Determined!" You are told.

You drift to a stop. You feel as if your hands are still in the air above you, as if you could drag yourself back to your body. You were so close this time.

The darkness is illuminated as you are faced with a familiar option.

Continue or Reset?

You feel an overwhelming urge to rub the eyes you currently don't possess with the hands you also currently don't possess. You are unbelievably tired.

This is the only option you have left. This is the only ending you haven't seen. You need to stay determined.

You've never been good at fighting.

The darkness illuminates again. You would blink, if you had eyes right now.

The message is ironically congratulatory. "Congratulations! You have been killed by Undyne the Undying 100 times! Would you like to see a special cutscene?"

You are being presented a third option. This is new.

New is nice.

Yes or no?

…

You choose yes.

Undyne huffed, her eye focused intently on the body in the blood-stained striped jumper. It remained, unmoving under her watchful gaze. She tossed another spear in its direction, and it connected without protest, piercing deep into the body's flesh before disappearing. It was over, they were dead.

Undyne approached the body cautiously. Gently prodding it with a spear, she searched for any sign of a soul lingering within. Yet, curiously, nothing seemed to remain. Undyne carefully flipped the body over, thinking that perhaps, by some strange phenomenon, the soul had gotten trapped underneath. She immediately regretted her decision once she saw the kid's face.

The child's expression remained unchanged from the battle. It still sported an unnatural grin that made Undyne's stomach twist. It's eyes still seemed to be lit with frightening determination, as if it would jump up and continue the battle at any second.

"If it wasn't for the fact that your body hasn't turned to dust yet, I would hardly believe you were a human." Undyne muttered. She turned away to fix her eye on something else. Brave as she was, the kid's body was just plain unsettling.

She supported herself with a spear as a wave of exhausted relief passed through her. She became aware of just how hard her heart was beating. It echoed in her ears and seemed to spread through the empty caverns of Waterfall; her heart and the hearts of many others, those living and those avenged.

She glanced in the direction of Hotland. Alphys had been watching her battle, and Undyne had no doubt she would be coming to meet her. She decided, perhaps, that she would go meet her halfway. It seemed like a good excuse to get away from the seemingly prying eyes of the dead child.

All it took was one step for her to realize something was wrong. Her body responded sluggishly. Against her will, she fell to her knees with an echoing thump, the boards painfully breaking her fall. She slouched over, her body getting harder to move, her hands grasping the wooden bridge boards in an attempt to push herself upright. She felt sick, her body seeming to become heavier and heavier. She turned her head to the side, her body relenting to its fate and lying down on the cold bridge, as her mind struggled to keep above the sea of darkness flooding her consciousness. A wave of nausea overcame her as she began to black out. The last thing she heard before fading to darkness was a disheartened cry from Alphys.

"Ugg, Alphys. It won't stop staring at me." Mettaton shifted the body in his arms, trying to get the child's face to look away from him. Somehow, it still turned back, seeming to grin broader at his disgust. "Little creep." He muttered.

"S-sorry Mettaton." Alphys stuttered, her voice weary. "We're almost back at the lab, so you won't have to hold it much longer."

Mettaton glanced at her struggling behind. His square screen flickered between a few different colors and patterns, as if his body couldn't find an expression to match his emotion. "Alphys, darling, I could carry her if you want. It might be easier."

Alphys sighed, this wasn't the first time he had made this offer. "For the last time, I'm fine!" She covered her mouth apologetically; she hadn't meant to snap at him like that.

Mettaton's screen displayed three red dots on its yellow background, and he made a short beeping sound. The body in his hands had, by some means, turned toward Alphys now, the dead eyes seeming to stare at her condescendingly, and its fixed grin making it look like it was enjoying the show.

Alphys lowered her head. "I can do this, I have to."

Mettaton watched as she stumbled forward, the weight on her back continuing to drag her down. He sighed in a quiet, non-dramatic way. Watching her made him feel tired, even though he was almost fully charged. Still, she had taken her burden, and she refused to let anyone else bear it. He stopped at the water cooler and poured her and her companion a couple cups, which Alphys took gratefully.

He turned and continued to roll on slowly, watching the Lab rise up on the horizon. It truly wasn't much farther now.

The body in his arms continued to stare up at him. "Come on," he grumbled. "I know it's hard to tear your eyes away from me, but I'd prefer it if you could put your attention elsewhere."

Alphys collapsed on the Lab floor. Mettaton was forced to drag her out from under the heavy, melting body she had fought so hard to carry. He took her under his arm and began to carry her towards the nearby escalator. "What did I tell you?" he tutted quietly, more to himself than to Alphys. "You've utterly worn yourself out, darling. You should have just let me do the heavy lifting."

Before he could begin riding the escalator, Alphys began squirming in his grip. "Un… dyne." she whispered hoarsely, too tired to tell who she was fighting against.

"All right, all right! Just stop wriggling. I'm going to drop you at this rate!"

"Sorry." she whispered, her body falling limp once again.

Mettaton wheeled back over to the goopy form that had not moved an inch from where he had left it. He stared at it, stunned for a moment. Mettaton had not yet gotten a proper look at Undyne's decayed body, and the sheer mess of it made him feel uncomfortably ill. Mettaton wrapped his arm around her as best he could, her dripping form constantly feeling like it was slipping from his grasp. He suddenly felt a rush of gratitude toward Alphys for carrying her earlier.

In the shadows, he could see a bit of light reflecting in the dead child's eyes. Mettaton had left the body on the floor a short distance away, in an unlit part of the room. Still, it seemed to be watching him once again, studying his actions with an air of amusement. He glared back at it defiantly. "Are you enjoying the show?" He spat viciously, turning away with a huff.

He rode up the escalator in silence, trying his best to hold tight to Undyne who, despite still being unconscious, never seemed to stop moving. At the top, he approached the bed, suddenly faced with a dilemma. He needed to flip the switch to unfold the bed, but both of his arms were occupied. Fearing he'd be unable to pick up Undyne again if he put her down, he instead carefully set Alphys on the floor. As soon as the bed had unfolded, he tore back the covers and heaved the unstable mass onto it.

He stood for a moment to regain his bearings. Looking between the bed and Alphys, he realized he had yet another problem. Undyne's melted body had spread out to cover the whole mattress.

"Uff, now where is she going to sleep?" he grumbled to himself. Upon seemingly hearing his words, Undyne's body seemed to shrink in on itself, becoming more self contained on the far side of the bed.

Mettaton stared in disbelief. Throwing his arms in the air in exasperated surrender, he returned to Alphys and carried her to the bed as well. Alphys, upon seeing what remained of her friend lying safely at her side, finally closed her eyes and began to snore.

Mettaton sighed in relief. He wheeled himself into a nearby corner and folded in his wheel and arms and attempted to enter sleep mode. Alphys' snores were, perhaps, a bit louder than he would have liked, but it was far better than sleeping downstairs under a watchful gaze.

Author's Note: Woo! It's been *checks calendar*... Three?! Years?! Since I posted a Fic! Wow, well I'm happy to be back at it! I'm sure I'm not the only one who's had this idea for a Fic, but I hope you enjoy my take on it! I don't have any sort of update schedule, but the next chapters should be up pretty quickly.