//-------------------------------------------------------// DETERMINATION -by Valence Electron- //-------------------------------------------------------// //-------------------------------------------------------// Broken Chains //-------------------------------------------------------// Broken Chains The throne room was abuzz with chatter, crying, and sheer joy. The barrier, the one thing keeping monsters sealed underground and away from humanity, had finally been shattered after eons of waiting. All the monsters were ecstatic, they couldn't wait one bit! To finally see the outside world was something many had only dreamed of. Frisk, however, had seen it. He had come from it. He was a human, however, not just any human. He had been the one to shatter the barrier. Asriel had actually done the deed, but Frisk was the one who was able to SAVE Asriel. After all this time, Frisk was able to pour emotion into a tormented, soulless goat kid who had died a horrible death at the hands of humans. His kind, the kind he never wants to associate with again but knew he would have to. Now he understands the hatred Chara, Asriel's adopted sister who had also died as a result of the horrible tragedy, harbored towards all humanity. It was originally his parents he had run away from. They were abusive and had tortured Frisk for years. He ran away in the middle of the night and jumped into the crater of Mt. Ebott in an attempt to commit suicide. It ended up being the best decision of his life. After all, he had made tons of new friends. He even had a loving family, even if the parents... weren't on the best of terms. He wouldn't have it any other way, though. "Frisk sweetie, are you coming over to hear your father's speech?" a soft, cute voice cooed. It was Toriel, the Queen of the Monsters and Frisk's new mother. She was a goat with very soft fur and a slender build. She stood about 6'2'' and wore a purple robe with a Delta Rune Emblem on it, the sign of the Royal Monsters. She loved Frisk so much, and the two were planning on living with each other. "Oh! Sorry, mom! I was just thinking about... nevermind." Frisk had to remember to keep his promise to Asriel. Never tell Toriel or Asgore he was still "alive". "Is something the matter son?" "No... uh... Just hungry I guess." "Don't be nervous Frisk, I will take very good care of you. I love you so much, my little hero." Toriel scooped Frisk up and nuzzled him, who returned the gesture. "I love you too Mom!" They held the hug for a while before she set Frisk down in the Golden Flowers. "Now, I made a Cinnamon-Butterscotch Pie for the ceremony. If you're hungry, then dig in! Just make sure you save some for the others!" she giggled. "Yes! You make THE BEST pies on the planet." Frisk licked his lips hungrily. "Awww... I'm flattered." Toriel beamed a huge smile and rubbed his hair. "Now let's go to that snack table. That's where I put it." Toriel took Frisk's hand and they walked towards the huge line of monsters getting food. "I just hope Papyrus's spaghetti gets eaten. He stayed up all night making it!" Frisk said with a worried expression. "Yes... other than the fact he barely cooks the noodles and can't season a tomato to save his life, it's not TOO bad." Toriel gave a weak smile. "Well, we know who's fault it is!" Frisk chuckled. "Yes, indeed my child." "UNDYNE'S!" they said together, now bursting with laughter. *** After grabbing their food, Toriel and Frisk walked over to the seating area. Toriel quickly finished her Spider Eclair Muffet had made and went over to the stage area. "Wish me luck Frisk! Your father wanted me to give a speech as well. I'm actually quite nervous, this is the first time I've spoken publicly in a LONG time" "You can do it, Mom! Stay Determined!" Frisk pumped a fist in the air. "Awww... Thank you, Frisk! That's why I love you so much! You're so kind, no matter what circumstances." "And it's monsters like you that drive me to be that way." Frisk kissed on the nose. *squeal* "You're just so cute! I could eat you up, sweetie!" "Stop it. You're making me blush..." Frisk said, cheeks a deep red. "Tori! You ready to blow this Nice Cream stand?" Asgore called from the stage. He was an even taller goat with full body armor and a long golden beard. Two huge horns protruded from the top of his skull, and in between them lay a large crown. "Asgore! How many times do I have to tell you! We aren't married anymore, so stop calling me Tori! My name is Toriel!" *whimper* "Can you be nice to me for one day... I mean... We're finally leaving this infernal prison." Asgore had a depressed look in his eye. "Well... it may have been a prison to some. I for one made a very nice use of my time down here! All you did was stand around waiting for innocent children to come so you could BRUTALLY MURDER THEM!" Toriel snapped, something she rarely did. She stormed up onto the stage, where she sat on her throne that had been placed there by Asgore. She buried her paws in her face. *sigh* "There is no arguing with your mother Frisk. It's always been this way, even before your siblings' deaths. I just wish there was a way to show her I'm sorry." "Dad." Frisk hugged Asgore. "All you have to do is ACT. It's what got me throughout the entire Underground. ACT and show MERCY." "You're right Frisk. I'm sure it's just a matter of time. Something's bound to happen." "Stay Determined Dad, and good luck out there." "Thank you, son. I love you very much." "I love you too Dad. *** Frisk walked over to the front row of the seating area. "Psst. Hey, punk! Saved ya a chair!" Undnye whispered. She was a blue bipedal fish with a long, red ponytail and a black tank-top. Her one eye was missing and covered with an eyepatch. She patted a comfortable-looking chair between her and Sans, a short skeleton with a blue jacket, shorts, and slippers. Alphys was on the other side of Undyne. She was a short yellow lizard with spines ejecting from the back of her head. She wore a clean, white lab coat and glasses. "I-I'm so excited. I can't wait to finally be out of this place. I can finally buy my own anime and not dig around for it in the garbage!" Alphys prodded her claws together. "I KNOW! I CAN'T WAIT FOR ALL THE NEW STUFF WE'RE GONNA LEARN ABOUT HUMANS!" Undyne shouted loudly, but every monster was used to her doing that and didn't even flinch. "Heh heh... yeah..." Alphys darted her eyes back and forth. "welp, while you two love birds are doing that i'm gonna see if they got good grub." Sans chuckled. "Sans... Alway got food on the mind." Undyne smirked. "hey, a skeleton's got to get his calcium. otherwise, we'd be BONE thin!" Sans winked. Alphys chuckled. "Pretty good for a guy with no funny bone." Undyne dropped. Alphys was now openly laughing. "hey, you sayin' my puns are BRITTLE? don't give me a BONE pick with you." Now everyone in the surrounding area was laughing. Toriel could be heard rolling around on the stage bawling her eyes out and guffawing like a maniac. "SANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNS!" a shrill screech could be heard from the food stand. It belonged to Papyrus. "WHY DOES EVERYONE THINKS HIS PUNS ARE FUNNY!!! HE DOESN'T EVEN USE ORIGINAL MATERIAL!!!" "woah. calm down bro before you rattle yourself you numbSKULL." *ba dum crash* Papyrus's wail of anger was drowned out by the entire room exploding in laughter. "Wow Sans..." Frisk chuckled. "Your puns are so bad they're actually quite humerus." "aw shucks... you beat me to it kiddo." *** "Hello! Monsters of the Underground! As you all know, we gather today to celebrate the BREAKING... OF THE BARRIER!" Asgore didn't even finish his sentence before the entire room erupted with cheering. "Now, Tori...el and I have talked and we have decided how we are going to go about exiting..." He paused. "However, first I would like to thank Frisk, the newest member of our family, for coming down here and doing something that hadn't been done for eons. Frisk, come up here." Asgore picked up Frisk and put him on his burly shoulder. "This guy... no... this hero! He single-handedly broke it! He broke the barrier! Give him a round of applause!" All the monsters in the Underground started clapping and cheering. "THAT'S MY FRIEND UP THERE!" "great job kid." "Congratz dude!" Undyne threw a spear up and it exploded, causing a few fireworks. "G-great job Frisk." Toriel walked over and kissed Frisk. Asgore looked at her, but she turned and refused, however, Mettaton wanted otherwise. "COME ON DREEMURRS, WE WANT SOME ROMANCE! IT'S GOOD FOR THE RATINGS!" An attractive robot voice called out. Influnced by their idol, a few monsters started faintly whispering something. It quickly spread and by the time it was auidable, the entire crowd was murmuring. It was quiet at first, but then it grew stronger. ...ss ...ss ...ss ...iss ...iss ...iss Kiss! Kiss! Kiss! KISS! KISS! KISS! "Ugh... Fine." moaned Toriel. Asgore then suddenly grabbed Toriel and pulled her into a big kiss. "Awww..." Everyone sighed. Frisk jumped down and smiled. "He did it. Dad ACTed..." he whispered to himself. The kiss lasted a minute, and Toriel grew infatuated. When they finally broke it, however, she merely shrugged it off. There was no denying that she liked it though, and nobody bought her act. "It's been a long time Toriel. I remember when we used to..." "Save it Dreemurr, I was doing it for them. Aren't we at my part now?" Toriel cut him off. "Oh! Yes! Sorry." Asgore sighed. "Just... remembering old times..." "...Thank you, though..." Toriel gave a weak smile, but it was quickly taken down. She walked to the speaking stand. "Oh, Tori... please come back to me. I just want to be with you again..." Asgore sagged, a single tear dripping down the side of his luscious golden beard." *** "So here is how this is going to work. We've planned out a strategic wave disperse. Asgore and I have decided that along with the two of us, we are going need Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and lastly, Frisk for a scout mission. We are going to go out and see what our immediate surroundings are. In the meantime, Mettaton is in charge of keeping everyone at least in the Capital. If you need to go back to the RUINS, Snowdin, Waterfall, or Hotland for any reason, please ask Mettaton. If we aren't back in a week, then please come out and try to find us. We hope that won't happen, though. We're so close monsters! We're almost free! And it's all thanks to Frisk! Our hero!" The crowd erupted once more. Frisk, however, tuned it all out. Throughout the entire ceremony, they had been praising him. Only him. It wasn't just him who shattered the barrier, though. How would Frisk explain it to a group of beings that were in Asriel when he used the souls? Also, he had to keep his promise to Asriel, no matter what. It was his last request: Take care of mom and dad for me. Don't tell them I'm still alive, it would only hurt them more. "...ey Frisk. Frisk!" Toriel said. "You sure are tired, passing out on my shoulder like that." "Wh-how did I get up here?" "Simple, child. I put you up there while you were staring into oblivion. You weren't responding to anyone, so I took the liberty of picking you up and carrying you so we could get a move on." Toriel rubbed Frisk's hair again. "Where are we going?" Frisk questioned. "top of this incline that leads out of the underground. i'd get vertigo from the steepness but i don't have the nerve." "SANS! COME ON!" Papyrus stamped his foot. "ok bro. sorry i rattled your bones." "YOU KNOW WHAT... I'M JUST GOING TO IGNORE YOU! STOP. TELLING. BAD. JOKES!" "come on man, i'm just trying to have a good time. you know, enjoy being free 'n stuff." "I JUST... SANS..." "papyrus... is something wrong?..." "I... IT'S OUR FATHER... HE... HE USED TO MAKE THOSE JOKES..." At this point, everyone stopped moving. The brothers walked toward each other, and Papyrus bent down to reach Sans's eye level. "bro... i know how much both of us got shaken up by his... 'accident', but does it... do bone jokes really hurt you that much?..." "IT'S JUST... EVERY TIME YOU MAKE A JOKE... IT FLOODS ME WITH MEMORIES THAT I'VE TRIED TO FORGET. I KNOW HE'S GONE... AND WE'LL NEVER SEE HIM AGAIN... BUT YOU'RE NOT GIVING ME THE TIME TO RECOVER. YOU SEEM TO ALWAYS BE CAREFREE, NEVER UPSET, NEVER SCARED... LIKE YOU HAD GOTTEN OVER IT SO QUICKLY." At this point, Papyrus started crying and hugging Sans. "i... why didn't you ever tell me you felt this way..." "BECAUSE... I WANTED TO BE GREAT. I WANTED TO BE STRONG... FOR HIM. I WANTED... TO GET OVER HIS DEATH AND AVENGE HIM BY JOINING THE ROYAL GUARD. I THOUGHT IF I COULD JOIN... THEN I WOULD BE WORTH SOMETHING TO HIM..." At this point, Undyne walked over to Papyrus, who was now slumped over with Sans still holding him. "Hey... Papyrus... I think you're awesome just the way you are. You've worked your butt off to capture humans for Asgore..." Suddenly she turned her head in mid-sentence and winced when she saw where a loud *thump* had originated from. "Ow... Tori..." Asgore whimpered after Toriel flame punched him in the arm. Toriel had a snarl on her face. Frisk sighed. "Um... sorry. Anyway... the point is you are very special Papyrus. You're very strong and have a lot of good attacks. The reason you never got into the Royal Guard, though, is because you're... just too nice. But that's what we love about you. You have an amazing... heart... or whatever skeletons have. You care about everyone and try your hardest to help everywhere. You always look to the bright side and put a smile on everyone's faces. We all love ya you big sacka bones, now comere!" At this point, Undyne jumped on top of Papyrus and started noogying him. "AH! PLEASE DON'T NOOGIE THE SKELETON!" Sans walked over and hugged him as well. "i love you too bro." "AWWW... THANKS, YOU TWO. REALLY, THOUGH, YOU THINK THAT ABOUT ME UNDYNE?" "100%. You're the best Papyrus! And NO ONE can change that!" Undyne stamped her foot and jumped. She landed and grabbed Alphys. "Oh my god! What are you doi... AGH!" Alphys was cut off by Undyne jumping back and setting her down next to Papyrus. Alphys was blushing. She then proceeded to do the same with Toriel, Frisk, and even Asgore. "Oh my! Watch the robe Undyne!" Toriel bleated. "Here we go again..." Frisk remembered back to their "date" and was used to being picked up by Undyne. Asgore wasn't. "Wait... HOW ARE YOU EVEN ABLE TO... AGHHH!" Undyne didn't even struggle with completely lifting Asgore off the ground. They landed next to Papyrus and she set him down next to her other victims. "Wow... I remember when you weren't even able to hurt me..." Asgore reminisced. "Times change, huh?" Then, she turned to the rest of the group with a wicked grin on her face. "NOW! HUG THE SKELETON! LET'S GIVE PAPYRUS SOME LOVE!" Undyne stamped her foot and then dove at Papyrus, tackling him and clamping his body in a bear hug. Everyone agreed and further piled on top of the poor skeleton. "AGHH... WATCH THE RIBS..." "Hey, team! Say 'Surface'!" Alphys held up her camera. "SURFACE!" *snap* Then Alphys typed on her phone furiously. omg so close to surface! wish us luck monsters! "Last post on the Underweb... gonna miss you, buddy. I bet the humans have even better networks with even MORE bandwidth!" Alphys squealed in excitement as everyone released the hug. Papyrus was gasping for breath. "CAN'T... BREATHE..." "heh... but we don't have lungs bro." "AWWW... SANS... WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU." "have more pasta to use for spaghetti?" "OKAY... THAT WAS KIND OF FUNNY." "Come on guys! Let's go! The surface awaits!" Undyne shouted. "NYEH HEH HEH! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL LEAD THIS CHARGE TO GLORY!" "Go get 'em tiger!" Undyne cheered on the enthusiastic skeleton. "knock 'em dead bro." "Go Papyrus!" Frisk, Toriel, and Alphys cried. "Lead us to greatness!" Asgore finished the enthusiasm train. And so two goats, two skeletons, one fish, one lizard, and one human began their ascent up the long dark hallway to the light shining from above. To the surface.