The Indieverse

Chapter 25: The Aftermath

Frisk's eyes widened in surprise.

"I feel so.. powerful," she said, almost to herself. "And it's not tainted by Chara, too. How?"

"You and Monika are connected," said Bendy. "As one of you grows stronger, the other goes weaker. Can you reset?"

Frisk waved her hand, and the familiar menu popped up once again, its two options still there.

"But if you reset," asked the Player in realization, "Won't you lose all this power?"

"Think about all the absolute carnage we went through to get here," Bendy replied. "Here's the way to fix it. Frisk is the key."

She nodded. "I'll do it. Of course I'll do it."

Everyone suddenly realized that this was the last they were going to be seeing each other.

"Well!" said Freddy, puffing out his chest in ridiculous manner. "It's been fun, leading you all..."

"OH COME ON," replied the Neighbor. "You? The leader? All you ever did was stand at the back and throw your microphone."

Freddy's eyes widened. "You're not in rapt worship of me anymore, Mr. Peterson?" he asked with a tinge of humor in his voice.

"Nope." the mustached man replied. "I'd like to think that I've grown."

Meanwhile, a few feet away, Bendy's and Mama looked at each other warily.

Finally, Mama stepped forward. "You know what, Bendy?" she said. "I don't really think that you're a complete piece of trash anymore."

Bendy winked. "Right back at ya, Mama. I'd shake hands, but..." He looked down at her limbless form. "I'm too cool for that."

Meanwhile, Frisk was kneeling down in the grass and whispering something into Six's ear. It seemed to be calming the raincoat child. She nodded silently in response to the whispered conversation.

Across the meadow, Baldi and Cuphead were laughing together like they were old friends, the teacher holding the cup on his shoulder in a piggyback. "And I shot you like a hundred times!" Cuphead laughed, slapping Baldi's back. "And you tried to murder me!"

Sans simply stood off to the side, enjoying the sight.

The Player walked up next to him. "You saved us all," he said quietly. "They'd all be dead if it wasn't for you."

Sans looked at him side-eyed, still grinning. "Whelp. That's the one bail you guys get. Don't expect it again. I'm way too much of a lazybones."

The Player stifled a groan. "I'm just glad you came, man."

"Skeleton."

"Whatever."

The heroes gathered around in a circle for one last time.

"But wait," said Baldi. "Will we be able to remember everything that happened?"

Frisk looked thoughtful. "I don't know. This has never been done before. Everybody always seemed to remember at least a little when I reset. Maybe you guys will remember everything. Who knows?"

Everyone looked satisfied by this answer, at least for now.

"Are we all ready?" Frisk asked.

Nine heads nodded back.

Frisk pulled up the menu, Her hand over the "Reset" button, turning it yellow in anticipation.

She pressed it, and the game closed.

It had been a week. The Player was still reeling over everything that had happened on that fateful night.

Every time he played FNAF, Freddy always seemed to be smiling as he jumpscared the unfortunate night guard. Every time he played Hello Neighbor, Mr. Peterson always seemed to wink before he inevitability caught his prey. Every time he played Baldi's Basics, Baldi's smile was permanently fixed on his face as he chased the Player.

Every time he played one of his beloved indies, there were always little discrepancies, always little things that suggested that things weren't exactly normal. Not normal in a good way, though. As though a benevolent force was always watching the Player as he played.

And so, he remembered his friends. And he smiled.

And everybody lived happily ever after.

But you don't really believe that. Do you?

=)

THE END