a golden cage is still a cage... (FINISHED)

Chapter 12- The End?

Fell whimpered as he sat up. Everything ached. It'd been something he expected, but that didn't mean he was happy about it. He glanced down at Swap (who was still asleep,) blushing softly, before a sudden crash from downstairs snapped him from his thoughts. What the...who was that...what time was it? He turned on his phone. 1:34 AM. Then something caught his eye. He had 35 missed calls from Ink, 4 from his Alphys, and 20 from his Grillby. He didn't even know any of them had his number. That couldn't have been good, though...Suddenly, a voice sounded from downstairs. A voice he knew all too well. "SANS! YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT! GET DOWN HERE!" Swap jolted awake, glancing at the doorway, then at Fell, who'd started shaking. Only one person still called him Sans...how was he here? Why was he here? Is this what all of the missed calls had been about? What had he done? Where was Ink? Had he hurt someone? A million questions rushed through his head, none of which had time to be answered, as footsteps began to stomp up the stairs. Fell jumped up, look at Swap, before darting out of the room, and into the hallway. Edge stood across from him, a wide grin spread across his face as the room around them faded into black, and their souls, HP, LV, and EXP appeared above them.

Fell
HP: 1/1
EXP: 135
LV: 57
*the easiest enemy.

Edge
HP: 999999/999999
EXP: 999999999999
LV: 9999999999999999999
*what did he do...?

Suddenly, it clicked. The calls. The LV. Why he was here. Edge had killed everyone. Everyone in Underfell, to make himself indestructible. With nobody there to stop him, he re-opened the portal. He came back to get Fell. And, from the look on his face...he'd be the next number on his LV. Fell opened his mouth to say something, but had no time to even start his sentance. A dull 'thuck' sounded in his ears, and he slowly looked down. A red bone was sticking out of his ribcage. The last thing he saw, was Swap running towards him...

LEVEL UP!

Fell gasped as he sat up. He looked around, and saw...nothing? Just white. No floors. No ceiling. Nothing. "where am I...?" he spoke to himself, not expecting anyone to answer, but... "you are nowhere. Right now, you are in a place where nothing exists." Fell looked around. There was nobody here. "but that makes no sense. If nothing exists, how are we here?" there was a soft chuckle, coming from nowhere, but it sounded like it was everywhere. "we are not. We are nothing. We are the nothing that exists here. Look down at yourself. All that exists is your consciousness, and your voice." Fell looked down. They were right. He wasn't there. His arms, his legs, his body, it was all gone. "how do I get out of here...? Why am I here..?" the voice tutted "you ask too many questions. Nothing exists, so neither do the answers. You cannot escape here. You will be nothing, for as long as nothing exists." this guy really didn't make any sense. But something he said, Fell did understand. That he would never get out. He wo never see Swap again, or Blue, or even snow. Just endless, white, nothingness. "liar!! I will get out. I'll go back, and I'll stop being nothing, and that'll show you!" Fell yelled after a moment of silence. There was laughter from the voice, clearly amused by the other's struggle "how cute. You really think, that you can escape a place that is nothing? It's illogical, that simply doesn't make sense." Fell was getting sick of this. "you don't make sense! Nothing you say does! I will get out! I will!" Fell began to repeat that over and over again, the voice only laughing harder each time he did. Maybe he was going insane. Maybe he'd already lost it. But deep down, even where nothing existed, he felt like there was a way out. There had to be. This wasn't the end. And the more he hoped, and the more he held onto his last scrap of dreams, the more the hope grew. And as his hope grew, the voice stopped laughing. His soul, as small, and broken as it was, started to glow. And with every word, every repeat of that simple phrase, 'I will', it glowed brighter. And brighter. And-

Fell sat up. He was in bed. He looked down at himself. He was there. He looked at Swap. He was still asleep. He started to tear up, going to wake the other, before something stopped him. A sudden crash from downstairs snapped him from his thoughts. What the...who was that...what time was it? He turned on his phone. 1:34 AM. Then something caught his eye. He had 35 missed calls from Ink, 4 from his Alphys, and 20 from his Grillby. He didn't even know any of them had his number. That couldn't have been good, though...Suddenly, a voice sounded from downstairs. A voice he knew all too well. "SANS! YOU USELESS PIECE OF SHIT! GET DOWN HERE!" Swap jolted awake, glancing at the doorway, then at Fell, who'd started shaking. Only one person still called him Sans...how was he here? Why was he here? Is this what all of the missed calls had been about? What had he done? Where was Ink? Had he hurt someone? A million questions rushed through his head, none of which had time to be answered, as footsteps began to stomp up the stairs. Fell looked at Swap. They both carefully got up, darting to the door, and into the hallway. Fell held onto Swap's arm as they faced Edge, who was standing across from them in the hallway. They looked at eachother, then at Edge, as the room faded away, and their souls, HP, LV, and EXP appeared above them.

Fell
HP: 1/1
EXP: 135
LV: 57
*this has happened before.

Swap
HP: 15/15
EXP: 0
LV: 0
*why is he here...?

Edge
HP: 999999/999999
EXP: 999999999999
LV: 9999999999999999999
*he killed everyone.

Edge cackled, preparing a bone in both hands and sending them towards the two. They braced themselves, closing their eyes and turning away as Fell held onto Swap tighter. But it never hit them. A telltale 'ding' sounded in their ears, and they looked up. All their souls were blue. And in front of them...stood Ink. And Blue. The room faded back into vision, and Edge began to try and wriggle his way out of Ink's magic. Each time he moved, it chipped off his HP. Only Fell seemed to have noticed, but he couldn't say anything. All he could do was watch, ignoring Ink's explanation as to why Edge was there, and what he'd done. He already knew. He tried to speak, but all he could get out as Ink let go of them, was "Edge, sto-" as his little brother dusted in front of him. The room fell silent. They all turned to look at Fell, who had a blank look on his face. The blank look turned into a weak smile, as he said tiredly "don't look at me, I'm not tidying it up."

~epilogue~
Fell grumbled as he heard two high pitched voices, and felt something heavy being dropped on the bed. He pushed whatever it was off with his leg, chuckling quietly when it squealed, and sitting up. He looked over the edge of the bed, seeing Calbri and Algrey lying in a heap on the ground. They were twins, the result of too much alcohol and cheap condoms. Swap was already standing, sleepily pushing the two much loved mistakes out of the room, telling them to go downstairs and get breakfast. Fell smiled up at him drowsily as he lay back down, and Swap smiled back. He wrapped his arms around the little skeleton, kissing his forehead as they both said in accidental unison: "I love you..." before breaking into a fit of laughter

A/N: OOOOOHHHHH MY GOD. THIS IS IT. I FINISHED THE BOOK. THIS IS WHAT THE WHOLE THING HAS BEEN LEADING UP TO, AND I'VE NEVER BEEN HAPPIER WITH ANYTHING IN MY LIFE. THIS IS, AS OF RIGHT NOW, MY PROUDEST ACHIEVEMENT, AND I CAN'T THANK ALL OF YOU ENOUGH FOR JOINING ME AND SUPPORTING ME FOR THE DURATION OF THIS BOOK. TO ALL OF YOU, EVERY SINGLE PERSON WHO GAVE THIS STORY A TRY, EVEN IF YOU AREN'T HERE READING THIS CHAPTER NOW, FROM THE BOTTOM IF MY HEART, THANK YOU. I LOVE EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU.

WORD COUNT: 1467