Undertale - Corrupted File.exe 44

    Frisk groaned quietly in the blackness of their mind, their form the way it was supposed to be. They gave a grunt as they rolled onto their stomach, not wanting to move, but knew that they must. A pair of slim arms came around them, helping them to their feet. “Dearie…?” a tired female voice asked.

    The human looked up to see Muffet blinking tiredly at them. “Are you all right?” They nodded slowly, as she fully stood, a look of relief coming to her face. “That’s good to hear,” she said as they looked around in the darkness, unable to make anything out of it. They frowned. Were they in the Abyss…?

    Frisk couldn’t remember things clearly in the moment. They remembered…fighting…the dragon, and then…everything else was blurry and hard to put together. “Frisk?” several familiar voices called. They gasped, and looked up, staring. Muffet giggled, stepping back as a smile split across their face.

    Up ahead, were the others: the brothers, Undyne, Alphys, and the King and Queen. The child gave a loud squeal, and ran for them. They crashed into Sans, hugging him, and then into Alphys, before darting around, trying to somehow hug them all at once, much to their amusement, but Frisk just couldn’t decide! They were all here!

    Sans grabbed them by the scruff of their sweater as they darted past him again, and raised them into the air, chuckling as their legs kept moving. “Easy there, buddy. Slow down. I got a better idea.” They slowly came to a stop, dangling in his grasp, before slowly looking up.

    The skeleton was smiling, and then glanced up. “Asgore, Tori…” He used his blue magic, bringing Frisk into Toriel’s arms. She smiled, nuzzling them as Asgore came close, a rumble of affection escaping him as he did so. “Undyne, Papyrus, try to squeeze your way in somewhere.”

    Undyne frowned. “Wait, we’re doing this group—” She gave a grunt as Asgore grabbed her and yanked her over. She sighed. “Fine.” Then, she reluctantly consented, turning it into an odd three way sandwich hug, before Papyrus found a spot on the opposite side of Undyne, with Frisk giggling

    Alphys looked around nervously, unsure of what she was supposed to do, until she gasped as Sans lifted her up, and then placed her on Undyne and Asgore’s shoulders so that she could get into the embrace, while he teleported, getting onto his brother’s shoulders, and managing to get a hand on Frisk, who giggled, enjoyed the odd, but workable group embrace.

    Muffet watched, smiling, putting her right hands on her hip. It was a sweet interaction, and she enjoyed seeing life come back into the poor child. She paused, looking around, swearing she could have seen…but there was no one. She shook her head, glancing back to the child, who was giggling as they turned in the hold they were in, reaching and grabbing at each of the monsters.

    There were gentle murmurs, nuzzles, and firm embraces to assure the child that they had made it. Things would be better eventually…right…? The embrace seemed to last forever, and while it lasted quite some time, it couldn’t have ever been enough for the child.

    Sans sighed, eyes closed, but the smile remaining all the same. “Hey Kid…” he mumbled as he felt them grab at his hand, snuggling into it. He chuckled. “Kid…” He breathed out. “I know you won’t like me saying this but…you have to wake up.”

    They paused, staring at him in confusion. “Time to wake up…”

    He started to sound distant. “Wake up, kiddo.”

    “Wake up!”

    Frisk jerked up with a gasp, a hand instantly going to their head. They gritted their teeth, taking a few shaky breaths, before looking around. They had been covered in a blanket, but they only focused on the nearest surroundings. The rest of the room could wait since their head was pounding…

    They took note of the extra blanket that had been placed under them, but that the ‘bed’ was otherwise made of metal. They scooted to the edge, and then slipped down. The drop didn’t surprise them, but the landing caught them off guard. Cold jolted through their feet, and their sense of balance was off in more ways than one.

    With a soft gasp, they fell with a grunt. Surprise, and stunned confusion was racing through their mind, and they clutched their head, waiting for the pain to subside. Finally, the child rolled over onto hands and knees. All right, if they could just get up and try again…they brought their hands down, and that was when it clicked in their mind that things weren’t quite right.

    Uncertain murmurs were faintly heard in Frisk’s mind. The child rested on their knees, slowly raising their hands, staring wide-eyed at the gaping holes in their palms. They hesitantly took one hand, stroking the rim of the hole, sticking their fingers through one palm, staring, stunned.

    That wasn’t right…They clenched their hands, before reeling back to realize they didn’t have two, but rather, four. The clamor in their mind was starting to get louder, memories coming into place. Frisk fell back again, yelping softly at the very uncomfortable landing. They turned, noticing the twitching tail. They scrambled, ending up under what had become their bed.

    They finally noticed the white-furred feet, and then realized why they had felt so cold once they had touched the ground. While furred, the pads of the feet were not, and were sensitive to the cold floor. As they jerked their head back, they felt something else, and they raised their hands to feel something behind their ears.

    The memories and some of the murmurs explained it to Frisk. Ear fins…They tried to get up, only for something to collide into them, and send them down. They clutched their head, and felt it; the base of the white horns that adorned their head. They couldn’t see their dual colored eyes that snapped open.

    Frisk crawled back out of their spot, voices becoming clearer as they shakily stood, their balance at first off, but as a voice became clear, it began to feel…oddly natural. They could hear Alphys, and soon enough, other murmurs. Frisk whined, confused. They remembered most of what happened, but…they didn’t fully understand what it was. They were…fused…

    As the others became clearer in their head, the anomalies in their form didn’t feel alien. They felt natural, as if they had been there in the first place, instead of becoming new additions to their form within the last twenty four hours.

    Their voices soothed and assured, though they seemed to have slightly panicked edges as well. It seemed all of them were just as alarmed at the situation, and while all were present, Frisk could sense that they were dominant mentally. While all of them understood the situation, they were still confused as to how it all worked. Everything down in the Abyss had been reflex and instinct, and now that they had a moment to think…it was all so strange.

    “Kid…you’re already up?” came Gerson’s voice as he entered the room.

    Frisk turned, just intending to nod, but then they clutched their head and throat as some of the others tried to reply on instinct, and their own voice was cut off. The unintentional clash of thoughts pounded in their skull, and they whimpered from the pain.

    The turtle swiftly approached, kneeling, and gently grabbing the human’s shoulders. “Easy, Frisk, you’re all right,” he said, drawing them close. Frisk shut their eyes tight, fully clutching their head. Slowly, everything settled as the others quieted, and now the only throbbing seemed to be at the base of their horns.

    Eventually, they opened their dual-colored eyes again. Gerson was gently petting their head, and on an unknown instinct, they leaned into it, happiest when his hand neared the horns, making the slight throbbing go away. “There we go, how you feeling now, Neck-Warmer?” Gerson asked gently.

    “F—go—gr—” They clutched their head again as others automatically tried to speak at the same time, with obvious conflicts. After everything died down again, Frisk settled on a thumb’s up.

    “Yeah…you’re staying in bed.” With a grunt, the turtle easily scooped them up, and got them back up where they had been originally. “How about we get you something to eat? What would you like?”

    “Spaghetti.” Frisk blinked rapidly in surprise. The word had been out before they even knew what had happened. Inwardly, Frisk started to hear quiet bickering over the choice. Frisk whined, clutching their head as they shook it, trying to find some peace.

    Finally, a firmer voice rose above them all, and quieted the others, letting Frisk decide. The child breathed out shakily, and then looked up, and clarified that it was what they wanted. They wouldn’t mind that after going so long on just food from Grillby’s and Muffet’s.

     “All right, I’ll see what I can do, Kid. You just stay put, all right? That walking calculator wants to run some scans on you still to figure out what’s what…this whole…thing hasn’t exactly happened before.” The child nodded slowly in understanding as they looked down at their most obvious differences.

    They started to take in more of their surroundings at this point, knowing where they were in Alphys’s lab. They spotted the empty chair that Grillby had been using. Strange equipment that they had never seen before, yet oddly, knew the names to. Then, they saw the other occupant, and they jumped with an alarmed shriek, their lower arms wrapping around themselves as they stared in a panic.

    Gerson instantly grabbed them so that they didn’t fall or somehow hurt themselves. “Easy,” he soothed. “It’s all right—she’s okay—she’s okay, she’s fine,” he managed. “Her form is stable, she isn’t going to crumble on us, all right?” Gerson wasn’t sure how this fusion worked, and had to assume he was only talking to one, though in reality, all of the souls within heard him clearly.

    It was Muffet that had unintentionally taking the reins out of alarm when she saw her body, but gentle coaxing from Toriel and Papyrus helped her ease up, and Frisk returned to control. Her body was all right…it would be fine…

    It wasn’t too long before Gerson had somehow managed to get them what they asked for. Frisk took the fork, quickly taking a bite, a hum of delight following, and it didn’t take long for a voice to make itself known in their mind. ‘See? I told you this would be the best for the human after everything they’ve been through!’

    ‘Guess you’re right, Pap,’ came Sans’s voice. Though we should think about how we’re going to…spaghetti out of this little mess.

    Frisk dropped their fork, clutching their head at the loud protest, yelping softly.

    ‘Sans!’ Toriel scolded. ‘Let’s not rile him now. It seems we can cause Frisk discomfort. We need to be careful, for their sake.’

    ‘Her highness has a point,’ Muffet managed quietly. ‘It can’t be easy having us…all in their…head…’

    ’Though one can’t imagine why,’ came a slightly teasing remark from Asgore.

    ‘Oh, come on, don’t look at me,’ Undyne grumbled.

    ‘W—well, he has a point… Alphys managed. You can be…loud sometimes…

    Frisk blinked, silently listening to them. It was…strange. All the voices were right in their head, they could sense them all, but…one was quiet, and seemingly not present to the others. Frisk frowned, tilting their head in confusion, and then quietly continued eating as the others mentally retreated from the forefront of their mind.

    However, they paused as they sensed their health. They always knew how much they could handle, but, it was different now. There wasn’t twenty health like there used to be. No, Frisk felt they could take more damage than that. They focused, frowning. Was that…fifty health? No, not just fifty.

    It seemed Papyrus picked up on the difference and the odd anomaly in their health. After all, he always knew the exact amount of health an enemy had at any point in battle. ‘Wait…wowie! Frisk, your health has doubled—but…why would…oh.’ There was a pause, quiet murmurs, and an agreement. ‘It looks like we all contributed some health to you, except uh…why do you have fifty and a half health points? How did you manage that?’

    There was a quiet pause, and then, Papyrus seemed to realize. ‘Sans.’

    What?

    This half a point…only you could have contributed it.

    Ehh…possibly.

    Sans, what good is half a health point?

    I dunno, maybe one day we’ll survive by half a health point?

    It’d be the same as having a full health point, Sans.

    Frisk drew a hand to their face, trying to shut them out of their mind as they continued talking. They had…more health. Frisk felt slightly relieved. It meant if they were ever in danger again, they could defend themselves.

    They finished their meal, and as Gerson took the plate away, Frisk laid down, sleep swiftly claiming them back. It seemed it’d be a while longer before they could be up and about.

    When Frisk became aware again, they knew they weren’t awake, for they were resting in Toriel’s lap. They looked up, before reaching for her. She smiled, leaning forward, allowing them to pet her muzzle, comically crossing her eyes, knowing it would get a little giggle out of them.

    Slowly, Frisk reluctantly worked themselves out of Toriel’s grasp, looking around, smiling a little as they saw the others, but once again, they noticed that one of the souls hadn’t appeared. Briefly, they hugged the others, even Muffet, who wasn’t exactly a part of the group, and had been on the outskirts of it, lost in her thoughts.

    Once Frisk had given out their affection, they turned to them all, and said they were going to wander off for a bit. There were protests, but Toriel rose. “Let them go, all right? They hadn’t exactly had a private moment for a bit, as we don’t know how to back down…and we gave them quite a few headaches for that small amount of time they were up.”

    “Heh…” Sans shrugged helplessly. “Sorry about that, Kid. I’ll try not to rile my brother…” He pulled them close, and muttered softly in their ear. “But you might as well be telling me not to breathe.” They pointed out that he didn’t need to. Sans snickered. “There you go.”

    After persuading them all, Frisk picked a random direction, and darted off, seeking out the last soul that was now residing within them. The last one was hiding, but Frisk had a good feeling that he’d show himself if they went alone.

    Sure enough, Frisk sensed as if they had walked into a room. Slowly, a door formed behind them, and a room, a hidden cavern, perhaps, formed around them. It was…oddly familiar, as if they had been there before. They heard familiar broken warbles, as Gaster finally formed before them, and then spoke clearly. “Well, there you are child. I had figured you would come looking for me soon enough.”

    Frisk nodded, folding their arms as they leaned back against the wall, feeling comfortable that the others wouldn’t stumble upon them. They questioned why he was hiding away from the others.

    He leaned forward, his body seeming to alter from a perfect form, to a horrible melting state, and back, and it uneased Frisk slightly. “It is best that they do not find out I’m here. It’s hard to keep your secrets in your mind.” Frisk opened their red eyes in alarm, realizing he had a point. This was a mental plane…if they thought it…the others would hear it.

    Frisk pointed out they’d likely find him eventually. Then, they came forward, and held out a hand. “Hmm?” Gaster asked. “A deal?” He folded his hands, thinking over the human’s words. “Hmm, you hide me…and I hide you, you say?” Frisk nodded. “Ah, I see. You can hide me deep away, and in return, I hide…those little secrets you’re thinking of right now.” They gave a shakier nod. “Right, I’ll hide everything of Asriel, but that…other special secret…” He leaned close.

    “Don’t you think you should just come out and say it?”

    Their reply was that he was not one to talk.

    “Guilty as charged.”

    With that, Gaster reached out, and took their hand. “Very well, that’s a deal. You give me a place to hide, and I promise they’ll never stumble upon that little secret of yours that you’re so scared of them knowing.”

    With that, he rose, and began to vanish, along with everything else, and soon, Frisk found themselves alone. They took a shaky breath, and started to head back, hoping, dreaming, and praying that their secret stayed away from their family. They couldn’t ever know. They wouldn’t ever understand.