For a Flower

(Written/illustrated Undertale fan fiction based on my first impressions of the game)

[for-a-flower]

Escape

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           As he casually walked down a dark hall of the old lab, Frisk kept an eye on his surroundings.  He entered a room with four refrigerators and a green power node.  As he passed the fridges, one of them shifted in the corner of his eye.  He stopped to look at it.  No movement.  Frisk shook his head then continued toward the node on the other side.  As he passed the last fridge, he saw it shift too, like something was inside trying to get out.  The child froze in fear for a moment then reluctantly approached the closed door of the fridge.  He put a hand on the handle.  Thud!  It came from inside.  Frisk gasped but yanked on the door.  He retreated as the door swung open.  Nothing was inside.            Frisk closed the door and ran to the green node.  He activated it with the green key then spun around to leave only to see a ghostly, half melted figure phasing out of the furthest refrigerator to block his path.  It looked similar to Snowdrake but had more frills.  It frowned in the dark.            "So cold," it said.  The voice sounded female.  She inched closer to the human, shivering.            Frisk's fear calmed somewhat.  "Are you okay?" he asked.  The creature shook her head and seemed to be crying.            ‘It's a snowbird.  You should try telling it a joke,’ said Chara.            Frisk stepped toward the bird thing.  "Uh . . . what do you call a sauce when it gets cold?"            The snowbird sighed.  "I don't know," she said.            "Chilly sauce," said Frisk.            Chara laughed, then her tone shifted abruptly to one of disapproval.  ‘That was terrible.’            But the snowbird smiled a little.  "Heh."            Frisk tried to think of another.  "What's the name for snow when it's on someone's head?" he said.            "Hm . . ."  The snowbird frowned and shook her head.            "A snow cap."            Chara growled.  ‘That was even worse!’            But the snowbird smiled and laughed softly.  "You remind me of my son.  Thank you," she said.  She dropped a blue key on the floor.  “Were you looking for this?”            Frisk nodded.  “Yeah!  Thank you.”  He picked up the key.            “You are very welcome,” said the snowbird.  She retreated into the shadows and vanished.            As the child started toward the last node, he felt bad for the monsters in this place.  Yes, they were freaky.  Yes, they were deadly.  But they still had feelings and personalities and hopes.  Why shouldn't they have freedom too?  Why shouldn't someone care about them too?  Frisk found the last hall in the lab and gasped.  There was a long row of flower pots holding Golden Flowers and lined against the right wall and lots of mirrors on the left.  Frisk stared at the flowers as he passed.  Alphys could have injected any of these with determination.  So how come only the first one came alive with so much power?  Something had to be different about it.  Flowey couldn’t be just a determined flower that came alive after a failed experiment.  But what else was there?            Frisk reached the end of the hall then used the blue key to activate the last node.  He smiled and rushed back to the main room.  He skidded to a stop at the double doors.  All the colored indicators were active.  "Yes!" said Frisk.  He stepped forward and the metal door opened.  The human entered a newer room but the lights and elevator within were still inactive.  Near the back was a generator along with a power switch.  It looked to be the main source of power for the lab.  Curiously, the child moved toward it then pulled down on the switch.            An electrical hum filled the room as the generator booted up.  Lights in the halls flashed on and a loud scream echoed behind him.  Frisk spun around.  Several ghostly amalgamations were slithering across the floor, closing on his position.  Frisk retreated, eyes wide.  The creatures hissed, growled, whispered, and garbled.  Frisk pressed himself against the back wall in fear.  He didn't know what they were saying.  They were all speaking at once.  His heart raced as the creatures moved closer.  Frisk closed his eyes and yelled loudly.  His voice echoed down empty halls.            "Hey!  Stop!" called a voice from the room entrance.  Frisk opened his eyes.  Alphys stood in the doorway.  The creatures backed away when Alphys entered.  "I got you guys some food, okay?!" she said.  The creatures made funny giggling sounds as they turned and slithered from the room.  Alphys joined Frisk near the generator.  "Sorry about that.  They get kind of sassy when they don't get fed on time."            Frisk relaxed a little.  "Fed?"            Alphys grinned nervously.  "Yeah . . . Anyway!  The power went out, and I've been trying to turn it back on!"  The short, lizard creature glanced away.  "But it seems like you were one step ahead of me.  This was probably a big inconvenience for you," she said.  Alphys gave Frisk a forced smile.  "But I appreciate that you came here to back me up!"            "I can . . . understand why you were afraid to tell anyone about this,” said Frisk.  “But what did the note mean . . . 'If you don't ever see me again'?"            Alphys sighed.  "I was afraid I might . . . not come back.  But that's not because of these guys or anything.  They'd never hurt me."  Pause.  "I was worried I would be too afraid . . . to tell the truth about what happened here.  That I might run away, or do something . . . cowardly."            Frisk smiled.  “I know you can do it.  The stuff that happened . . . you can't blame yourself for it.  You had no way to know that's how it would end."            Alphys nodded.  "Yeah and . . . uh . . . I suppose I owe you an explanation."  She sighed.  "As you probably know, Asgore asked me to study the nature of souls.  During my research, I isolated a power I called 'determination'.  I injected it into dying monsters so their souls would last after death."  Alphys frowned.  "But the experiment failed."            "Do you know why?"            Alphys nodded slowly.  "I do now.  You see, unlike humans, monster bodies don't have enough physical matter to take those concentrations of determination.  Their bodies started to melt, and lost what physicality they had.  Pretty soon all of the test subjects had melted together into . . ."  Alphys glanced toward one of the ghostly creatures through the doorway behind her.  "Those," she said.  "Seeing them like this, I knew I couldn't tell their families about it.  I couldn't tell anyone about it no matter how much everyone was asking me."  Alphys’ gazed shifted down.  "And I was too afraid to do anymore work, knowing that everything I'd done so far had been such a horrific failure."            "What are you going to do now?" said Frisk.            Alphys glanced up and sighed.  "Now . . . I've changed my mind about all this.  I'm going to tell everyone what I've done."            "Are you sure?"            "It's going to be hard.  Being honest . . . believing in myself . . . I'm sure there will be times where I'll struggle.  I'm sure there will be times where I mess up again.  But knowing deep down that I have friends to fall back on, I know it'll be a lot easier to stand on my own," she said.  Alphys smiled at the young human.  "Thank you."            "You're welcome.  I'm glad I could help somehow," said Frisk.            Alphys nodded and turned to head out.  She called the creatures, and they rushed to her.  "Come on, guys.  It's time for everyone to go home," she said.  Frisk smiled as the royal scientist led the monsters down toward the exit.  He entered the elevator beside the generator.  It was time to head out himself.  He glanced over a control panel but paused when his phone rang.  Frisk took it from his pocket.  He didn't recognize the number but answered anyway.  “Hello?”            A strange voice spoke.   "Chara . . ." it said.  "Are you there?"            Frisk's eyes were wide.  He didn't know who this was.  ‘Chara?’ he thought, hoping she could provide an explanation.            The voice continued.  "It's been a long time . . . hasn't it?  But you've done well.  Thanks to you, everything has fallen into place.  Chara . . . see you soon," the voice added.  They hung up.  As Frisk lowered the phone, the elevator doors slammed shut.  He pressed his hands against it as the room lifted at an incredible speed.  A red light flashed inside and an alarm sounded.            "What’s going on?  Chara?  Who was that?" said Frisk.            ‘I have no idea,’ she said.            Frisk stepped away from the door, as the elevator shook around him.  He feared it would crash like the last one.  But only seconds later, it slowed rapidly and stopped safely on the highest level.  The alarm stopped and the door opened.  Frisk stared through the open door with wide eyes then leapt out.  The doors shut as soon as he left the elevator.  Frisk glanced back as several vines shot up from the ground and climbed the wall to completely block the elevator entrance.  "Vines?"            ‘That wasn't Flowey's voice,’ said Chara.            "I know but . . . I have a bad feeling."  Frisk glanced down the dull, city pathway ahead.  He sighed.  He couldn't go back now.  He was locked out.  There was nowhere else to go but to the castle where Asgore waited.  Frisk walked through the street of the underground's capital city, deep in thought.  He grew nervous again.  He had more questions than he had before.  But he was determined.  No matter what he ran into, he'd do his best to stay alive.

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[for-a-flower]

The Truth

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           Frisk took a deep breath as he glanced over the room with limited light.  A dusty TV, table, and two shelves were placed against the back wall.  On the right wall was a yellow power node and against the left wall was a table.  Frisk approached the power node and stuck the key into it.  It turned on and activated a computer that sat on the table at the left wall.  Frisk curiously approached the table and computer.  Its screen was mostly black but it displayed a list of log entries in green letters.  There were twenty of them.  The most recent one was several years old.  Frisk tapped enter on the keyboard.  The first three entries were typed on the screen.  Interested, Frisk read over them.            ‘Entry one.  This is it . . . time to do what the king has asked me to do.  I will create the power to free us all.  I will unleash the power of the soul.  Entry two.  The Barrier is locked by soul power.  Unfortunately, this power cannot be recreated artificially.  Soul power can only be derived from what was once living.  So, to create more, we will have to use what we have now . . . the souls of monsters.  Entry three.  But extracting a soul from a living monster would require incredible power.  Besides being impractical, doing so would instantly destroy the soul's host.  And, unlike the persistent souls of humans, the souls of monsters disappear immediately upon death.  If only I could make a monster's soul last.’            Frisk pressed the enter key again.  Three more entries typed in green letters.  Frisk kept reading.            ‘Entry four.  I've been researching humans to see if I can find any info about their souls.  I ended up snooping around the castle and found some weird tapes.  I don't feel like Asgore's watched them.  I don't think he should.’            Frisk glanced at the TV and shelves of tapes along the back wall.  Perhaps there was more information he could get from them.  He continued reading for now.            ‘Entry five.  I've done it.  Using the blueprints, I've extracted it from the human souls.  I believe this is what gives their souls the strength to persist after death . . . the will to keep living . . . the resolve to change fate.  Let's call this power, determination.’            Frisk nodded in understanding.  That machine out there.  That's what Alphys had used to extract determination from the human souls.            ‘Entry six.  Asgore asked everyone outside the city for monsters that had fallen down.  Their bodies came in today.  They’re still comatose . . . and soon they'll all turn into dust.  But what happens if I inject determination into them?  If their souls persist after they perish, then . . . freedom might be closer than we all thought.’             Now Frisk was somewhat confused.  She was trying to force determination from human souls into monster souls so they might behave similarly?  What exactly did extracting it from the human souls mean?  What would that have felt like?  Frisk shook his head and resumed reading.  Two entries typed up.            ‘Entry seven.  We'll need a vessel to wield the monster souls when the time comes.  After all, a monster cannot absorb the souls of other monsters.  Just as a human cannot absorb another human soul.  So then . . . what about something that's neither human nor monster?  Entry eight.  I've chosen a candidate.  I haven't told Asgore yet, because I want to surprise him with it.  In the center of his garden, there's something special.  The first Golden Flower that grew before all the others.  The flower from the outside world.  It appeared just before the queen left.  I wonder . . . what happens when something without a soul gains the will to live?’            Frisk found himself staring distantly for a moment.  He whispered to himself, repeating some of the statements he had just read.  "A vessel to wield the monster souls . . . neither monster nor human . . . something special . . . the first Golden Flower . . . something without a soul gains the will to live."  Frisk gasped.  "She made Flowey?!"            ‘What?’ said Chara.            ‘Entry nine.  Things aren't going well.  None of the bodies have turned into dust, so I can't get the souls.  I told the families that I would give them the dust back for the funerals.  People are starting to ask me what's happening.  What do I do?  Entry ten.  Experiments on the vessel are a failure.  It doesn't seem to be any different from the control cases that hold the human souls.  Whatever.  They're a hassle to work with anyway.  The seeds just stick to you and won't let go.  Entry eleven.  Nothing is happening.  I don't know what to do.  I'll just keep injecting everything with determination.  I want this to work.’            Frisk glanced away to think for a minute.  Alphys had injected that flower with determination . . . human determination . . . that gave it a will to live and the power to save and restart timelines.  It made more sense now.  Things were coming together.  But there were still questions to be answered.  Frisk continued reading the text on the screen.            ‘Entry twelve.  One of the bodies opened its eyes.  Entry thirteen.  Everyone that has fallen down . . . has woken up.  They're all walking around and talking like nothing is wrong.  I thought they were all goners.  Entry fourteen.  Seems like this research was a dead end.  But at least we got a happy ending out of it?  I sent the human souls and the flower vessel back to Asgore.  And I called all of the families and told them everyone's alive.  I'll send everyone back tomorrow.’            Frisk paused.  "She sent the flower back . . . so it hadn't done anything yet?"  He started to read on, but the fifteenth entry was nothing but 'NO' repeated over and over.  The sixteenth was corrupted as if it had been modified or partially erased.  He found the next set of entries.            ‘Entry seventeen.  The families keep calling me to ask when everyone is coming home.  What am I supposed to say?  I don't even answer the phone anymore.  Entry eighteen.  Asgore left me five messages today.  Four about everyone being angry and one about this cute teacup he found that looks like me.  Thanks, Asgore.  Entry nineteen.  I spend all my time at the garbage dump now.  It's my element.’  There was one more entry on the next screen.  ‘Entry twenty.  The flower's gone.’            Frisk scratched his head.  So Alphys knew the flower had disappeared without explanation but nothing else about it.  She didn't know what he had become or what he could do.  However, that last entry did seem to cause her some alarm and concern.  Frisk had calmed since his encounters with those creatures in the lab.  He kind of knew what they were now.  They were like other monsters once.  Alphys' experiments with determination had gone wrong somehow and turned them into those amalgamations.            With that, Frisk approached the TV.  He wanted to check the VHS tapes Alphys had found in the castle.  He glanced over the shelf and picked out two that had only been labeled with a number.  Frisk put the first tape into the TV tape player.  He pressed a play button and stepped back to watch the screen.  The tape played and so did the sound.  But he was disappointed that there was no video to be seen.  Frisk listened anyway.            "Psst.  Gorey, wake up," said a female voice.  Frisk smiled.  He recognized the voice as Toriel.            The deep, kind voice of the king replied.  "Hm?  What is it, dear?  And why do you have that video camera?"            "Shush!  I want to get your reaction.  Gorey, dearest.  What is my favorite vegetable?"  There was a pause.            "Hm . . . carrots, right?" said Asgore's voice.            Toriel sighed.  "No, no, no!  My favorite vegetable is . . . Eda-mom-e . . . get it?"            Pause.  "Go back to bed, dear."            Toriel laughed a little.  "No, no!  Not yet!  Now, if I were a dog, what breed of dog would I be?" she said.            "Hm . . . I don't know, honey.  What kind of dog would you be?"            "I would be . . . a mom-eranian."            Asgore laughed.  "You sure are excited to have this child.  You know, if you keep making jokes like this . . . one day, you could be . . . a famous mom-edian."  Another pause followed.            "Well . . . I am going to bed," said Toriel.            "Hey!  Come on, Tori!  That one was funny!"            She giggled.  "It was.  I am just teasing you.  Goodnight, dear."            "Goodnight, honey."            "Oh dear . . . perhaps it is too dark in here for the video to come out."  The sound cut off.  Frisk waited a few minutes but there didn’t seem to be anything else recorded.  He ejected the tape.  That was probably recorded just before Asriel was born.  The Dreemurrs sounded so content as opposed to sad and lonely like they were now.  Frisk sighed and slipped the first tape back on the shelf.  He reached for the second, put it into the player, and started it.  Once again, the screen was dark but this time a young voice was heard.            "Okay, Chara, are you ready?" said the voice.            ‘What?’ said Chara’s voice in Frisk’s head.            "Do your creepy face!" the voice continued.  Pause.  "Ah!  Hee hee hee!"            ‘They kept this?’ she added.            "Is this Asriel?" Frisk asked her.  No response.            "Oh!  Wait!  I had the lens cap on,” said the childish voice from the tape.  Frisk heard Chara's younger voice laughing in the background.  She said something quietly but he couldn't make out what it was.  "What?!  You're not gonna do it again?  Come on, quit tricking me!  Haha!"  Frisk could only assume it was Asriel.  The sound cut off only to return seconds later.  "Howdy, Chara!  Smile for the camera!" said Asriel’s voice.            This time Frisk felt extreme discomfort come over Chara.  ‘Stop the tape,’ she told Frisk.  He shook his head.  He wanted to hear it.            "Ha!  This time I got you!  I left the cap on, on purpose!  Now you're smiling for noooo reason!  Hee hee hee."            ‘Stop the tape,’ Chara repeated.            ‘Why?’ thought Frisk.  He kept listening.            "What?" said Asriel, probably in response to something Chara had said.  "Oh, yeah, I remember.  When we tried to make butterscotch pie for dad, right?  The recipe asked for cups of butter . . . but we accidentally put in buttercups instead."  Chara's voice spoke quietly in the background again.  "Yeah!" said Asriel.  "Those flowers got him really sick.  I felt so bad.  We made mom really upset.  I should have laughed it off, like you did . . .  Um, anyway, where are you going with this?"  Chara said something else, but what she said still wasn't clear.  "Hu?  Turn off the camera?  Uh . . . okay."  The sound stopped again.            ‘Stop the tape!’ said Chara.            Frisk shook his head.  ‘No.  I want to know what happened,’ he thought.            When the sound returned, Asriel's young voice sounded sad and worried.  "I . . . I don't like this idea, Chara," he said.            This time Frisk could hear part of what Chara said in response.  "Are you seriously crying?"            "Wh . . what?  No, I'm not . . . big kids don't cry."  Pause.  "Yeah, you're right."            ‘Stop it now!’ Chara shouted.            Frisk listened as Asriel continued.  "No!  I'd never doubt you, Chara.  Never!  Yeah . . . we'll be strong.  We'll free everyone.  I'll . . . go get the flowers."  The sound stopped.            Frisk stood staring in front of the blank TV screen in a dark room.  "You . . . you killed yourself?" he said.  "And you forced Asriel to help you do it?"  No response.  Frisk gave a confused look, taking Chara's silence as a yes.  "Why?"  She didn't reply.  "Were you giving up your life to free monsters?  Did you care about them before?"            ‘No, I always meant to use them to attain my goal . . . and that was power.’            "Were you really that desperate?  To kill yourself for it?"            ‘I'm sure you know by now, I will kill anything that stands in my way.  By contrast . . . you will allow yourself to be killed by anything to get what you want.  But guess what.  That's not how it works,’ said Chara.  ‘You can't win without being willing to destroy.  Kill or be killed.  Fight for your freedom and your life or you will never make it out of this place.’            "Why?  Why does it have to be that way?"            ‘Remember what happened last time?  Remember the pain when Flowey kept killing you?’ asked Chara.  Frisk frowned and his gaze drifted down.  He didn’t want to remember.  ‘Your friends made no difference.  All of that for what?  To start over and do it again?  For what?  Convince them to come for you when you're in trouble?  Because that's all the hope you've got, but they won't even do that!  Watch and see!  None of them actually care!  None of them will be there!  And when you call them . . . no one will come!’            Frisk shook his head and glared.  "No.  You're wrong.  I know they care about me.  Even if they don't come . . . it's okay.  I can stay alive."            ‘With what?!  Your determination?!’            "Yes!" he shouted back.  Frisk held out a hand in front of him and a flickering, yellow light briefly lit the room with before fading.            ‘What?  You can't do that.’            Frisk smirked.  "I just did."

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[for-a-flower]

Hidden Lab

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           Frisk groaned where he lay on the floor of a dark, quiet room.  His head throbbed as a shooting pain filled him.  Frisk slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head.  The elevator door had opened halfway, enough to slip through.  There was a hallway just beyond.  Frisk winced as he stood.  He ached all over but nothing seemed to be broken other than the elevator.  He made his way to the door.  He squeezed through the opening and emerged in a dimly lit hall.  Frisk leaned against the wall as he glanced down the hall.  It was dull and worn as if it hadn't been used in many years.  Dust floated in the damp, warm air.  Little cracks had formed along the walls and ceiling in some places.  An eerie atmosphere of feelings seemed to loom around Frisk.  Feelings of being watched, feelings of fear, and feelings of pain.  But oddly enough, they weren't just his feelings.  It was like the young human was sharing the feelings of something else.            ‘Chara?’ he thought.            ‘It's not me,’ she responded.            Frisk quickly grew nervous.  Why did he feel this way?  ‘Did you know this place existed?’ Frisk thought.            ‘No.’            ‘Seems like you really don't know everything you thought you did, huh?’            ‘Shut up.  I'm still right about most of it,’ Chara replied.            After recovering some strength, Frisk started down the hall.  ‘How long was I out?’            ‘How should I know?  Whenever you lose connection with reality, I do too,’ said Chara.            ‘Oh.’  The hall turned left and continued.  Frisk followed it until he entered a central room.  Directly ahead was a large, metal door of another elevator.  It didn’t seem to be working but did appear to be in better condition than the previous one.  Its circuits were tied into four colored power nodes that were all inactive.  On either side of the room was a hall.  The right hall was blocked by a sealed door with an inactive red indicator.  The left hall was the only option at the moment.  Frisk passed a vending machine as he started down the left hall.  He rounded a few corners before entering another room.  It had three operating tables side by side in the center of the room and three sinks against the far wall.  Strange mist lingered in the air.  It smelled weird here.  Frisk touched one of the tables lightly.  It was sticky.  He stuck his tongue out and wiped the gooey substance off on his clothing.            Frisk had no idea what those tables were used for and he wasn't sure he wanted to find out.  But at the same time, he was really curious.  Frisk approached the three sinks.  There was a doorway near them that led into a small room.  Inside the room was a red power node with a place for a key.  The node was off.  Near it was a mostly shredded note on the grimy floor.  Frisk knelt to read it.  He couldn't make out more than three words, ‘drain . . . dropped it.’  Frisk returned to the other room.  The key had to be in one of the sinks.  Maybe it hadn't gone too far down the drain yet.  Frisk turned on one of the faucets.  Oddly though, water didn't come out like one might expect.  Instead a gooey, white and grey substance oozed out and plopped into the sink.            Frisk stared at the clump as an eerie feeling overcame him.  Somehow, he knew this thing was alive.  The clump suddenly hopped out of the sink.  Frisk screamed and jumped back.  The thing plopped on the floor in front of him and inched closer.  Frisk backed away, panic threatening to take full control.  He didn't know what to do.            ‘Kill it.  Kill it!  Kill it!’ Chara shouted at him.  She was frightened and confused as well.  The thing formed a mouth and smiled with a distorted grin as it wiggled its way toward Frisk.  ‘Kill it!’            Frisk scowled and shook his head.  "No!"  He lifted his cell phone to call Papyrus for help.  Instead he heard faint voices through the receiver.            "Come join the fun," they said.  "Come join the fun," the one in front of him repeated.            Frisk dropped his phone in fear and backed into the room wall.  He shook his head.  "No," he said.  "Please let me be."            The thing in front of him stopped.  A frown came across its face.  "That's a shame," it said.  "Farewell."  It inched back and seeped into cracks between the floor tile.  A red key was left in its place.  Frisk stared at the key, his heart racing.            ‘Well . . . that was unbelievably fortunate,’ said Chara.  Frisk grabbed the key and his phone.  He rushed into the smaller room and inserted the red key into the slot.  The red node activated.  Frisk hurried back to the main room.  He had to get out of here.  He hoped he wouldn't have to explore the entire place to find all the nodes.  Whatever he had just seen, he didn't ever want to see it again.            Frisk checked the door at the right hall.  This time it opened.  Progress.  He had to get out, but he was still determined not to hurt anything if possible.  A yellow light sparkled in the hall as Frisk reached a large room of beds.  They were identical, all having a white pillow and soft pink bedspreads.  As the child passed them, he noticed one of them had been disturbed recently.  The bedspread of this particular bed had been pushed aside.  There was a small lump under the sheet.  Frisk approached the bed and reluctantly grasped one corner of the sheet.  In one swift motion, he yanked it back.  He half expected a strange creature to be lurking here, but thankfully it was just a yellow key.            Frisk picked it up and attached it to the keychain of his phone.  He might need it for one of the nodes later.  There were two halls that led from this room.  One went right.  The other led farther back.  Both continued deeper into this nightmarish place.  Frisk sighed and took the one leading back.  The hall came to a conjunction in which Frisk paused to glance down both paths.  The hall on the right was short.  The one on the left was completely concealed within a thick, gross fog.  Frisk walked down the one on the right.  There was no way he was walking into a mysterious fog on the other side.  As he moved slowly, Frisk glanced at the walls.  On one side was a large group of wall fans for some kind of air circulation system.  They weren’t running and that explained why the air was so musky.  The opposite wall had several large vents.            Frisk nervously continued through a thin mist in the warm, dark hall.  He could see little white chunks floating near the ceiling.  The human tried to ignore his fears and forced himself onward until he reached the end of the hall.  There was a switch on the back wall for activating the fans.  This would probably clear away all the fog in this place.  Frisk took a deep breath and flicked the switch.  A yellow spark signaled a save just as the fans activated.  They hummed as the air circulation system started up.  Frisk turned to head back, briefly glancing up at the floating white chunks.  They were collecting into a strange shape.            Frisk froze, fear overwhelming him.  This couldn't be good.  Eerie whining sounds echoed around him.  The thing dropped to the ground a few yards from the human, blocking his escape.  Frisk backed away, eyes wide.  The thing stood up on six paws and a little tail appeared on one end.  It lifted a head and moved forward, breathing irregularly.  It was some kind of . . . dog.  It was large and freaky.  In place of its face was a dark void, and a strange gooey substance dripped from its ghostly body.  Dark blotches filled with glowing eyes occupied the space between its legs.  It was horrifying.  The thing sat in the hall to stare at the human.  Its head tilted to one side, as little ears on the sides drooped.            ‘Is that a dog?’ said Chara.            ‘I really can't tell.  It kinda looks like one,’ Frisk thought.  ‘Except it’s really messed up.’            ‘It's blocking your path.’            ‘I know.’  The dog thing huffed and shook.  It whined loudly.  Frisk stared.  His heart was pounding but he tried to calm himself.  Besides, the thing wasn't being aggressive . . . so far.  Frisk stepped toward the creature.            ‘What?!  Are you stupid?!’ said Chara.  ‘Don't get close to that thing!’            He didn't want to move closer anyway.  The dog creature continued to stare.  Frisk cleared his throat.  “Hey . . . nice doggy,” he whispered.  The creature stood up again.  Its tail swung at an impossible speed, flinging bits of white goop from the tip.  Frisk stepped back.  "Uh . . . do you just want . . . attention?"            ‘Are you kidding?  It wants to eat you alive!’            The creature let out a loud mix of barking and howling at the same time.  The dark orifice on its face grew wider.  It sprung toward the human.  Frisk took several steps back, but the thing landed on him and knocked him to the floor.  Frisk desperately squirmed under the creature's moist, sticky body as its two front paws pressed against his chest.  It hurt, like figurative poison claws were digging into his skin.  Frisk tried to push the thing off him.  The dog made panting sounds and wiggled in excitedly.  Frisk managed to get out from under it.  He scooted away from the thing, breathing heavily.  The creature seemed to be waiting for something.  Frisk reached out, his hand trembling.  The thing lowered its head to rest it on the ground within reach.  Frisk patted the top of its head.  The creature inched closer, its tail somehow wagging even faster.            ‘Really?’ said Chara.            “Alright . . . I'll pet you . . . if you let me go," said Frisk.  The dog let the child rub its head for a moment.  Then it sprung to its six feet and barked playfully.  It spun around a few times then bolted down the hall and skidded around a corner out of sight.  Frisk looked at his hands as he sat on the floor.  They were covered in a wet, sticky substance.  Frisk shook some of it off then wiped his hands and stood up.  He walked down the hall.  Now that the left hall was free of fog, Frisk slowly entered.  Halfway down, he paused at an open doorway to look through.  There was a shower at the back.  Frisk cautiously stepped in.  He thought he saw something moving behind the curtain.  When he peeked around it, nothing was there other than a green key lying in a pile of slimy gunk.  He picked it up, shook off the gunk, then put the key on the keychain.  He only needed one more to get out of this creepy lab.             As Frisk continued his search, he thought he heard voices in the hall behind him.  He glanced back.  No one was there.  Frisk returned his gaze to the path ahead and screamed.  It looked like the head of a large monster was hung in the room he had entered.  Frisk staggered, tripping on his own feet while backing away.  He shuddered in fear, peering up at the massive hanging object.  It wasn't moving.  It wasn't even alive.  It was a machine of some kind.  Frisk pulled himself together and got back on his feet.  He took a step toward the machine, then another . . . and another.  It looked like a skull with a place for two giant eyes.  It had strong pincers attached to it.  Several thick cables held it to the ceiling above.            In a scary way, the thing reminded Frisk of Flowey's mega form.  Now that he took the time to look at it though, he knew it wasn't.  But what was this thing for?  Frisk looked up.  Several cables were attached to it in order to feed it tremendous amounts of power.  Frisk glanced to the left and noticed a sign that read, ‘DT Extraction Machine.’  Confused, Frisk glanced to the right of it where a small room connected to this one.  Through the doorway, he could see an inactive yellow power node.  He quickly rushed through the doorway into the room.  An automatic mechanism closed the door behind him.  Frisk spun around.  That was okay actually.  He felt safer in here than standing in the middle of an open hall.

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Loving Support

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           "Here we are," said Alphys.  The yellow lizard creature and Frisk stood on a patch of dry land among the garbage.  The smell of decay filled the air.  Frisk and Alphys glanced at each other.  An awkward silence followed.  "Uh . . . do you . . . like anime?" Alphys asked.            Frisk shook his head.  "Not really."            Alphys frowned.  "Oh."  Beads of nervous sweat formed on her face.            "Don't be nervous," said Frisk.  "You'll be fine."            "Uh . . . I hope so."  There was movement in the tunnel to their left.  Alphys gasped.  "There she is!  I'm not ready!  I can't . . . do it!"            "Why not?"            "Because . . . ah!"  Alphys ducked behind a trash can nearby seconds before Undyne joined Frisk.            She was wearing a leather jacket and dark boots now.  She greeted the human with a smile.  "Hey!  There you are!" Undyne said.  "I uh, realized that if you deliver that letter . . . it might lead to a misunderstanding.  So, I'm gonna do it!  Give it to me!"  Undyne held out her hand.            Frisk stared.  "Uh, I don't have it."            "What?!"  She dropped her hand and scowled.  "Have you at least seen Alphys?!"            "Um . . ."  Frisk glanced toward Alphys who was cowering behind a trash can.  "Yeah," he said.            Undyne smiled but didn’t seem to catch on.  "Okay, so she's somewhere around here.  Thanks.  I'll keep looking."  She started down a tunnel to the right, splashing through the water.            When Undyne was out of sight, Alphys peeked out then slowly joined Frisk.  She laughed nervously.  "I . . . I really don't know what to say.  I haven't talked to her in forever.  She's probably worried about me and . . ."  Alphys sighed.  "I want to be friends with her again but . . ."            "But what?" asked Frisk.            "I'm just a nobody . . . a fraud.  I know I'm the royal scientist but . . . all I've ever done is hurt people."  Her gaze drifted down as she tapped her clawed fingers.            "Wait.  What do you mean?" said Frisk.            Alphys continued.  "I've already told her so many lies.  She thinks I'm someone that I'm not.  If I let her be my friend again, she'll find out the truth about me.  What . . . should I do?"            "Tell her the truth," said Frisk.            Alphys stared back.  "But if I tell her that . . . she'll just hate me.  Isn't it better this way?"  She glanced down at trash that littered the ground between them.  "I mean, they say 'be yourself', but I don't really like who 'myself' is.  I'd rather be whatever convinces people to like me."            "You can't do it like that.  Pretending doesn't change who you are or what you did.  If you're willing to tell people the truth, maybe you'll feel better about yourself and maybe . . . they'll understand.  Not everyone is heartless.  You know?  What if Undyne and I just want to forgive you and be friends?  Are you going to turn that down?"            Alphys glanced back at the human child.  She sighed.  "No . . . you're right.  Everyday I'm scared . . . scared of what will happen if people learn the truth on their own.  They'll all get hurt because of me."  The lizard-like monster shifted nervously again.  "But Undyne is . . . how can I tell her the truth now after so much time lying to her?!"            Frisk put a hand to his mouth in thought.  "What if we practice?"            "Practice?"            "Yeah.  I'll be Undyne and you practice telling me the truth," he said.  "Would that help?"            "Uh . . . maybe."  Alphys paused.  "Okay.  I-I’ll try it."  She cleared her throat.  "Hi, Undyne.  How are you doing?"            Frisk straightened his posture, grinned, and tried his best to mimic Undyne.  “I'm fine!”            Alphys started sweating again.  "Haha!  Glad to hear it!"  Pause.  "So, I'd like to . . . talk to you about something," she said.            "What is it, Alphys?"            Alphys stared at Frisk as she gathered her courage.  "I . . . I've lied to you!  I'm sorry!  I . . . I lied to everyone!  Everything you know about me is a lie!  And I actually . . . really love you, Undyne!"            Just as Alphys finished, Undyne returned to the cave.  Frisk and Alphys froze in alarm.  Undyne flashed a glare at Alphys.  "What did you just say?"            Alphys grinned.  "Uh . . . Undyne.  I was just . . ."  She glanced at Frisk, who nodded.  Alphys sighed.  "Undyne . . . I . . ."  She took in a deep breath then blurted out the truth.  "I've been lying to you!  About everything!  I told you that seaweed was scientifically important!  And really, I just use it to make ice cream!"  Alphys shuttered nervously as she continued.  "And those human history books I had been reading . . . those are just dorky comic books!  And the history movies I used to show you . . . those are just anime!  They aren't even real!  And that time when . . ."            Undyne stared.  "Um, Alphys . . ."            Alphys frowned.  "Sorry . . . I just wanted to impress you so that you'd think I was smart and cool and that I wasn't some . . . nerdy loser.  But I . . . I messed it all up."  She gave Undyne a sincere smile.  "I think you're pretty cool and . . . I didn't want you to find out how much I had lied because I thought that you'd . . ."            "Alphys . . ."  Undyne grinned at her.  "Alphys!  I think you're cute too!  But you've gotta realize that most of what you said doesn't matter to me . . . at all.  I don't care if you’re watching kid cartoons or reading history books!  To me, all of that stuff is nerdy junk!"  Alphys trembled a little.  Undyne pointed a finger at her.  "What I like about you is that you're passionate!" she said.  "You're analytical!  It doesn't matter what it is, you care about it!  One hundred percent!  At maximum power!"  Undyne paused to lower her voice and her hand.  "So . . . you don't have to lie to me.  You shouldn't have to lie to anyone anymore.  I was looking for you and trying to contact you because . . . I want you to be happy with who you are!"  Undyne grinned.  "And I know just the training you need to do that!"            Alphys stopped shaking.  "You're . . . gonna train me?"            Undyne huffed.  "What?  Me?"  She paused to glance over her left shoulder.  "Nah, I'm gonna get Papyrus to do it."            Papyrus hopped up onto a mountain of garbage with a huge, motivated smile.  "Get those bones shaking!" he shouted.  "It's time to jog one hundred laps, hooting about how great we are!"            Undyne lifted a stopwatch with a funny grin.  "Ready?  I'm about to start the timer!"            "Uh . . . okay, Undyne," said Alphys.  "I'll . . . I’ll do my best!"            "Go!" Undyne shouted.  Papyrus and Alphys hurried down the wet tunnel on the right, the skeleton shouting positive thoughts as they went.  Undyne gasped and faced Frisk.  "Oh my goodness!" she shouted.  "She was kidding right?!  Those cartoons . . . those comics . . . those are still real, right?!  Anime's real, right?!"            Alarmed at her desperation to know the answer, Frisk stared for a second as he briefly debating the answer he should give.  "Uh, anime isn't real," he said.            Undyne was stunned.  "No . . . NO!"  She dropped to her knees.  "I can feel my heart breaking into pieces!  Reality is crumbling away before my eyes!"  She took a moment to regain her composure.  "No . . . I can survive this.  I have to be strong."  Undyne sighed and slowly stood.  "Thank you, for telling me the truth, human.  I'll have to try my best to live in this world without anime . . . see you later!"            "Alright."  Undyne turned and rushed out after the others.  Frisk stood in the junkyard alone.  The human sighed and started back to Hotland.  He left the dump and wandered through several caverns on the path he had taken several times by now.  His phone rang.  Frisk took it from his pocket and answered.            “Hello?”            "Howdy!" said the voice of Papyrus.  "If it isn't my good friend, who trusts me.  This is Papyrus, you're also mutual friend."            "Um . . . is something wrong?" said Frisk.            "Alphys and I finished our training early . . . very early.  So I sent her home . . . very home."  Frisk was quickly getting confused.  "Uh . . . now I feel strongly and for no apparent reason.  You should also go . . . there . . . to her lab . . . house."            "Hu?  What's going on?"            Papyrus ignored the question.  "I only have good feelings about this.  Goodbye."  He hung up.  Frisk was confused.  Sure Papyrus could be odd but normally not this strange.  Something was going on and it probably wasn’t good.  Frisk put away his phone and hurried on down the tunnel.            Several minutes later, Frisk approached the entrance of Alphys' lab.  The doors opened for him.  "Alphys?!" he called.  He didn't see anyone so he rushed to the other side of the room.  It was quiet inside.  Frisk found a note on the floor near a closed door.  He picked up the paper.  The words were written in a hurry and difficult to read.            ‘Hey.  Thanks for your help back there.  You guys . . . your support really means a lot to me.  But as difficult as it is to say this . . . you guys alone can't magically make my own problems go away.  I want to be a better person.  I don't want to be afraid anymore.  And for that to happen, I have to be able to face my own mistakes.  I'm going to start doing that now.  I want to be clear.  This isn't anyone else's problem but mine.  But if you don't ever hear from me again . . . Well, if you want to know the truth, enter the elevator.  I put this note on the floor in front of it.  You all at least deserve to know what I did.’            Frisk put the note in a pocket.  He glanced at the door and stepped toward it.  It opened to reveal an old elevator room on the other side.  The child reluctantly stepped in.  The door slid shut behind him.  As it began its descent, the elevator hummed and creaked noisily.  It didn’t sound stable.  Where did this thing lead?  To Alphys?  To her past?  Clunk!  The elevator suddenly lurched.  Frisk staggered as the structure shook around him.  Loud screeching sounds filled the elevator, like metal rubbing against metal.  An alarm sounded.  Red lights flashed.  Frisk looked around in fear.  A computer voice was heard.             "Warning!  Warning!  Elevator losing power!" it said.  Something snapped loose.  Frisk felt a sudden weightlessness overcome him as he and the elevator began to fall.  "EM tether stability lost!  Altitude dropping!" said the computer voice over the shrieking of alarms.  Frisk looked for something to hold onto but there was nothing to grasp.  He screamed as the room plummeted further down until it came to a crashing halt at the bottom floor.  The sudden stop threw Frisk flat on the floor beneath him.  He lost consciousness.

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Chapter 5 (Darker Secrets)

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           Frisk traveled through the Core with the help of Alphys.  He found it a little easier to survive this time, though he came close to death a few times on the way.  Chara was silent again, which worried him.  Frisk found Mettaton and successfully survived the encounter without dying.  He took some hits and burns but it could have been worse.  After Alphys sent Frisk on ahead, the child left the room and started down a long hall toward the elevator.  In a moment, Alphys rushed to join him.  Frisk stopped to let her catch up then continued.            "So . . . you're about to meet Asgore, huh?" said Alphys.  Frisk nodded.  He wasn't afraid of the king, but something still felt off.  Alphys glanced away.  "You must be . . . pretty excited about all that, huh?"            Frisk shook his head then glanced at her.  "Not exactly."  They walked in silence a moment.            "Well . . . you'll finally . . . get to go home!" she said.  Alphys shuffled along nervously beside Frisk.  They reached the elevator and stopped.  The doors opened.  Frisk stepped toward the entrance.  "Wait!" said Alphys.            Frisk looked back.  "What?"            Her eyes darted left and right.  "Oh . . . I was just going to . . . um . . . say goodbye and . . ."            Frisk sighed and stepped away from the elevator.  "What is it, Alphys?  It's okay.  Tell me.”            Alphys lowered her head.  "I can't take this anymore," she mumbled.  "I . . . I lied to you."  She glanced up with a frown.  "A human soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier alone," she said.  "It . . . it takes at least a human soul . . . and a monster soul."            "I know,” said Frisk.            Alphys glanced down again.  "If you want to go home . . . you'll have to take his soul.  You'll have to kill Asgore."  She shook her head.  "I'm sorry."  She turned and hurried back down the hall.  Frisk stared as Alphys rounded a corner.  She was bothered by something more.  He couldn’t tell before, but this time it was more clear.  Alphys had mentioned that she hated herself in the past.  She told him she felt unsure of herself.  That explained why she had been nervous around him and others.  But why did she feel that way?  Frisk sighed and turned around.  Alphys was a friend too.  After her assistance in Hotland and the Core, he couldn't simply walk out without trying to know her better too.            Frisk stepped out the hotel doors just outside the Core.  As soon as the heat of Hotland brushed over him, his phone rang.  "Hello?"            "Hey!  Uh, this is Undyne," said a voice.  Frisk heard Papyrus say something in the background but couldn't make it out.  "Shut up, Papyrus!  This was your idea!" Undyne shouted back.  She cleared her throat then continued.  "Human!  You have to deliver something for me!"  She paused a second.  "Uh, please?"            "Okay, sure.  Where are you?" said Frisk.            "I'm at Snowdin in front of Papyrus'."            "Okay, I'll come by.”            "See ya, punk!"  Undyne hung up.

           Frisk hopped off the riverboat near the town.  He waved goodbye to the boat man and thanked him for the ride before bolting down the path to Sans and Papyrus' home.  He dashed around some trees and nearly bumped into Undyne and Papyrus by house.            "Whoa!  That was fast!" said Papyrus.            Undyne smiled.  "Um, so, I have a favor to ask of you.  I . . . need you to deliver this letter to Dr. Alphys."  She handed Frisk a sealed envelope.            The child glanced at the letter.  "Okay, but why don't you go yourself?"            Undyne paused.  "Hu?"  She made a funny little smile.  "Well uh . . . you should know the answer to that, human."  The fish monster laughed a little.  "Hotland's sucks!  I don't wanna go over there again!"  She narrowed her eyes and waved the letter.  "So here you go."  Frisk took the letter and stuffed it in a pocket.  Undyne scowled.  "Oh, and if you read it . . . I'll kill you!"            Frisk backed away, waving a hand.  "Uh, I won't.  Don’t worry."            Undyne grinned again.  "Thanks so much!  You're the best!"  The child nodded then rushed back to meet the boat man.            Minutes later, Frisk crouched at the closed lab door.  He slipped the letter from Undyne under it then knocked.  No reply.  The child put an ear to the door.  There was shuffling on the other side.  "Oh . . . no.  Is that another letter?  I . . . don't want to open it," said a muffled voice inside.  "Can't I just . . . slide it back out?  Wait.  N . . . no . . . I can't keep doing this.  I'll read this one."  A pause followed.  "Um . . . it's sealed kind of strongly, isn't it?" said Alphys.  "Wait a second."            A minute passed.  Frisk knocked on the door again to make sure Alphys was okay.  The door opened.  Alphys stepped out, her eyes glued to the note in her claws.  "Hey, if this is a joke, it's . . ."  She glanced up and saw Frisk.  Her green eyes grew wide.  "Uh . . . did you write this letter?  It wasn't signed so, I had no idea who could have . . ."            "Well, I . . ." Frisk began.            Alphys gasped.  "Oh no!  That's adorable.  And I had no idea you wrote that way."            "Well, I . . ."            "It's surprising too after what I did while trying to put myself into your story and all," she said.  Alphys sighed and glanced down.  "I don't really deserve to be forgiven."            Frisk frowned.  "What?  No.  I don't hold any of that against you.  You're just lonely.  I'm glad to be your friend, but I didn't write the letter.  I don't even know what it says."            Alphys stared back.  "Wait . . . so who wrote it?"            "Undyne.  She told me to bring it to you."            Alphys glanced at the letter, a little confused.  "Hu?  She actually . . . wants to spend time with me?"            Frisk nodded.  "Yeah, why not?"            "I can't.”  Alphys frowned and flooded up the letter.  “I mean . . . I've always looked up to her.  She's so cool and strong and stuff.  We used to be close friends a while back and . . . well I just couldn't do it anymore, because I . . . was worried she'd find out about all the lies I told her to gain her friendship.  And if she ever found out the truth about me . . . she'd probably just hate me.  And . . . you probably would too."            Frisk shook his head.  "No, I wouldn't.  If Undyne really wants the chance to hang out with you again, you should give it a try."            Alphys shifted nervously.  "I can't.  It's . . . been so long.  I'm . . . I'm not sure I even know how to properly hang out anymore.  But . . . you’re right.  I should try.  Hey!  Will you come with me to the meeting place?  Maybe I'll be less nervous with you around . . . while we're waiting for her to show up."            Frisk smiled.  "Yeah.  Where's the meeting place?"            Alphys grinned nervously.  "Uh . . . the garbage dump."            "What?"            "Yeah, because uh . . .”  Alphys scratched her head.  “That's where Undyne and I used to hang out all the time.  We found all sorts of great stuff there.  It was actually fun.  I . . . have a lot of good memories about it."            "Okay, let's go.”  Frisk motioned her to join him.  Alphys reluctantly left the lab, and they walked toward Waterfall's dump.

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Motives

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           Once outside again, Frisk shut the metal door and locked it behind him.  He leaned his back against it and sighed.  Even though he still didn't know that much about Sans, he did understand a little.  Like many monsters in the underground, Sans was sad, yet doing his best to cheer others.  His puns, his jokes, his trombone playing . . . all of it.  He had lost his hope.  His dreams had been taken.  He had pretty much nothing left and he was trying to be content with it.  Frisk couldn't begin to understand how that felt.  Sans was hoping to make things better in the underground, but he knew that any progress he made could be ruined or erased at any moment.            Frisk suddenly lifted his head.  He knew who had caused all the timeline shifts.  The same one who had the ability to save and reset before Frisk arrived . . . Flowey.  But why?  What was there to gain by constantly starting over, going back, or changing things so much?  What in the world had he been up to?  What plans had Frisk ruined to make the flower so upset?  The human sighed and walked toward the house front door.  His questions about Flowey weren't getting answered.  They kept multiplying.  Still . . . he knew Flowey was involved with the past and future of monsters.  He had to be important somehow.  That's what Frisk wanted to know.  How exactly did that creepy little flower fit in with all of this?            After sending Temmie to college, from which she returned in seconds, Frisk went back to the entrance of MTT hotel.  As he approached the double glass doors he saw someone in the shadows to the right.  Frisk glanced over.  It was Sans.  "Hey, Sans," said the child.            "Hey, kid.  Guess you visited my room already," he said.            Frisk nodded.  "Yeah."  He held out a hand, to give the keys back.  "Thanks for trusting me."            Sans took the keys and shrugged.  "No problem.  But I don't want pity.  Stop looking at me like that.  Just promise you’ll do what you can to keep that stuff from happening again, alright?"            "Of course I will!"            "Listen kid.  All the things I used to have are gone, except Papyrus.  He keeps me going.  Those other things I had to let go because I couldn’t do anything to get them back.  You . . . you're different.  You can change timelines.  You can save it to keep it safe.  But even kid's like you . . . as rare and as powerful as you are . . . can’t do everything."            "I know.  I don't want to do everything.  I just . . ."  Frisk’s gaze drifted away briefly then darted back to Sans.  The child frowned  "You don’t think I can free the monsters . . . do you."            Sans shrugged.  "Don't know, buddy.  But I can tell ya that it’s technically impossible for you to get everything you want in a good ending."            "Told you," said Chara.            "What?” said Frisk.  “Then . . . why am I even trying?"            "’Cause you have to."  Sans put a hand on Frisk's shoulder.  "Just because it shouldn't technically be possible, doesn't mean it can't happen.  I mean, look at you.  You can time travel at will just because you want to stay alive.  You have reasons to survive.  That's what determination is.  Even if things look impossible . . . you should never give up.  Keep going, striving for better, because that's who you are."            Frisk managed a smile.  "Thanks."            Sans stepped back.  "I don't know what you're going to face.  But I do know that you'll have to confront Asgore again."            Frisk nodded.  "Yeah . . . I know."            "Take your time, though," said the skeleton.  "See ya later, kid."  Sans turned and started down the path toward the stairs.

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Clues

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           By the time Frisk got there, no one was around Sans' and Papyrus' home when the child approached the front door.  He knocked and no one answered so he let himself in.  After all, the door hadn’t been locked and Sans had invited him.  The child climbed the stairs and strolled toward the door of Sans' room.  Orange and yellow flames still flickered from under the door.  Frisk slipped the key into a lock and turned it.  Click.  He pulled the key out, put it in his pocket, took a deep breath, and opened the door.  Immediately the magic flames as his feet were blown out, sucked into a dark emptiness on the other side. Curiously, Frisk tapped the tip of his shoe on the floor ahead.  He couldn’t see anything but there was definitely a floor there.  Reluctantly he stepped in and reached out with both hands, searching for a light switch.  He bumped into a large object, tripped over it, and collapsed just as the light flashed on.            "Hey, Sans, have you seen my-"  Frisk sat up and saw Papyrus in the doorway.  The skeleton seemed confused for a moment but smiled and greeted the child.  "Oh, hello.  You aren't Sans," he said.  "Wait a second.  Why were you using a treadmill in the dark?"            Frisk glanced down.  He was sitting on a treadmill in the center of the room.  "Uh . . ."            Papyrus narrowed his eyes suspiciously.  "Is Sans pranking you across time and space?  I hate it when he does that!"            Frisk stood up.  "Does he do that often?"            Papyrus grumbled to himself.  "I can't be sure.  I don't remember anything of the sort, but he mentioned doing it in the past.  I can't tell if he's joking or not!  Anyway, have you seen my action figures?"  Frisk opened his mouth to respond.  "Wait!” Papyrus shouted.  “I know where to look!  In my collection!"  Papyrus laughed loudly and started across the hall.  "Sometimes, I'm a genius . . . all the time."            As soon as Papyrus had gone out of sight, movement left of the door grabbed Frisk’s full attention.  In the corner was a whirlwind suspending several papers, books, pieces of trash, and a plate of spaghetti in its current.  Frisk stared at it for a second.  The mini tornado seemed to be self-sustaining somehow.  Eventually the child returned his attention to the treadmill.  There was a note taped on it reading, The truth is you got owned, nerd.            Frisk ran a hand through his brown hair.  "What?"  He glanced over the room.  To his right was a mattress and a crumpled ball of sheets and blankets.  The pillow sat on the floor beside the bed.  There was a pile of dirty socks in the corner opposite that of the whirlwind.  This must be Sans’ sock collection Papyrus had mentioned.  Other than a bed and treadmill, the only other thing in the room was a small dresser against the back wall with two drawers and a lamp.            Frisk went to the dresser and looked inside the top drawer.  Clothes and a couple trombones were shoved inside.  Frisk pushed the drawer shut then opened the second.  It was mostly empty, but a strange key lay at the bottom.  Frisk took the key and shut the drawer.  He paused and looked over the room again.  He sighed.  The place was a mess.  Sans didn't seem to own much.  The room felt empty and lifeless yet overused and sloppy.  It made no sense.  How could someone's room be so dead?            ‘You feel like there is much more that you do not know.’            Frisk exited the room, turned out the light, and shut the door.  He paused at the steps.  He wasn't sure what he had just seen.  He wasn't sure if he had seen anything worth noting.  But he did have a key, and it had to go somewhere.  Frisk rushed down the staircase and out the front door.  He circled around to the back of the home where he found a closed, metal door.  He rushed toward it and slipped the key into a lock on the handle.  Click.            Frisk took the door’s handle in both hands.  It was icy cold.  A thin sheet of frost had covered the entire door, which hadn’t been used in a while.  The child pulled as the door’s metal hinges squeaked.  In a few seconds, the door swung open.  Frisk released the handle and put his hands in his pockets to warm his tiny fingers.  He peered down a small set of steps that led to a dark room.  Without hesitating, the human ventured down.  As he neared the bottom, the lights activated automatically.  Frisk’s eyes darted over the room.  It looked completely different than anything in the house above.  The floor was covered in dull purple tiles and the walls were light teal.  There was a workbench near the stairs and four drawers under it.  Some blueprints lay on the counter.  Frisk tried to make sense of the blueprints but he couldn't read the sloppy writing.  He glanced to the far wall.  In the corner was a machine covered in a dusty sheet.  Now that he noticed it, Frisk figured the blueprints were probably for that.              Frisk approached the machine and peeked under the sheet.  It didn't look like anything he'd seen before.  He had no idea what it was.  The human sighed.  This was sciency stuff.  Sans had mentioned being a scientist in the past and that he abandoned his work.  Frisk glanced at the drawers under the counter.  He intended to look everywhere.  Normally he'd feel bad being nosey, but Sans had practically given him permission.            The human pulled open the first drawer.  It had nothing but a badge in it.  Frisk had no idea what it was for or where it was from but it looked pretty cool.  He shut the drawer and opened the next.  Inside this one was a large book.  Frisk opened it.  The first page was full of pictures.  It was an album.  Frisk glanced over the images.  There were a lot of people he didn't recognize.  They were on the surface and they seemed happy.  Frisk flipped through pages of photos that were taken at various locations on the surface.  He didn't recognize any of the places either.  It didn’t take much effort to locate Sans and Papyrus among other humans or monsters in the images.  But this was wrong somehow.            How could Sans and Papyrus have been on the surface?  They weren’t boss monsters like Toriel and Asgore.  They couldn’t have lived that long.  How come Papyrus didn’t know Frisk was human if he had lived around humans?  None of this made sense.  Frisk slowly flipped through the album until he reached a blank page somewhere near the middle.  Here he found a card with three poorly drawn people smiling.  Frisk picked up the card and flipped it over.  There were two words written on it.  "Don't forget," he whispered.  Frisk stared at the drawing for several seconds.  As he stood staring, he tried to piece things together.  What conclusions could be drawn?            Sans said that he didn't know how many times he's lost everything.  This album was what he had once.  Somehow, before the war with humans and monsters, Sans and Papyrus had family, friends, and a home on the surface.  Until something happened . . . and now all of it was gone.  The broken machine in the corner and the blueprints . . . could they have something to do with it?  Sans said he was a traveler once too.  Perhaps it was a time machine.  Maybe he had done all this research on timelines while trying to fix whatever happened and was never successful.  During the research, Sans must have learned about timelines stopping and starting then eventually just . . . gave up.  Papyrus seemed to be completely oblivious to the situation though.  Why was that?  He was strange at times, sure, but definitely not stupid.  Maybe something had happened to Papyrus too.            Frisk set down the card and shook his head.  He closed the drawer.  He didn't know what had happened or why, but he knew all he needed.  Frisk opened the last of the drawers.  His eyes widened.  There was a bag of gold and a note.  Frisk read the note.            "Hey, kid.  You've got a lot of dreams and a lot of hopes.  I did too once.  I'd like to help you accomplish all of them, but I know I can't.  Here's what I can do.  This is the gold you spent on those hotdogs and a little extra.  Since you didn't eat the dogs, it's not fair of me to take the money.  So here ya go.  It should be enough to send Temmie to college."            Frisk picked up the bag and put it in a pocket.  Even if Sans had given up on a future, he was still active in the underground as a sentry, hotdog seller, comedian, and judge.  That was good, but so much had already been taken from him.  Even worse, he knew he couldn't do a thing about it.  Now he was probably counting on Frisk to change something in the timeline loop.  And since Frisk seemed to be the only one able to do it, Sans had no choice but to trust him.

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What You Must

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           Frisk walked through the caves of Waterfall on his way back to Snowdin.  Chara had calmed down during the trip, but she was still upset.  ‘Where have you been?’ Frisk thought.  He didn't expect a reply, however Chara was apparently willing to give him one.            ‘Busy thinking up new ways to convince you to do as I say,’ she said.            ‘You remember through a reset too?’            ‘Clearly.’            ‘And your plan was to not say anything?’ thought Frisk.            ‘I had decided that a more subtle approach would likely work.  I was wrong.’            ‘Why do you want me to hurt monsters?’            ‘I want to be free.  But the only way that's going to happen, is if you do as I ask.’            ‘But why?  I can get out of the underground with one boss monster soul,’ thought Frisk.            ‘Perhaps.  But this isn't about you.  I can't.  I'll still be trapped here.’            ‘You need the souls of every monster?’ said Frisk.            ‘No!’ shouted Chara.  Frisk stopped in the dark, narrow tunnel.  A chilly breeze blew by from the cooler area ahead of them.  ‘I need my own strength back instead of feeding on yours.  I know you don’t like me being in your head.  And Sans is right.  I would gladly leave you alone if I had the power to do so.’            Frisk continued walking.  ‘Do you even know how to gain that power?’ he thought.  No response.  ‘Cause if you can’t, why do you keep trying?’           ‘Why do you keep trying,’ said Chara.  ‘You don't know if you can keep all the promises you've made or prevent everyone from dying, much less free everyone.  But you have that thing . . . what did he call it?  Determination.  I wonder . . . how powerful is it?’            ‘I guess I'll find out eventually.’            ‘You know . . . everything you learn, I'll learn too,’ said Chara.            ‘I thought you knew everything about the underground.’            ‘I do.’            ‘So tell me where Flowey came from,’ thought Frisk.  A brief pause followed.            ‘I can’t.’            ‘Then shut up.’  Frisk felt Chara cringe inside him.  She was clearly frustrated.            ‘Do you have any idea what would happen to you if I was standing in the tunnel?  I'd kill you.  Because you're an idiot.  You care about that stupid flower after all the stuff he's done?  You want to be friends with him, but I'm the one trying to get us out of here,’ said Chara.            Frisk lowered his head and spoke quietly in response to her.  "If you know everything I do . . . then you know I want to learn more about you.  You and Flowey are a mystery.  I know your past, but why do you want to hurt monsters?  And Flowey . . . I don't know anything about him."  Frisk glanced up.  Sparkling crystals hung on the cavern ceiling above.  "Why?  If I could understand what happened . . . maybe I can fix something . . . or at least make things better."            ‘You can't save everyone.’            Frisk frowned.  That statement cut deep to the heart.  He stopped to lean against the rock wall.  "But I can keep trying."            ‘You can't do it!’ Chara insisted.            Frisk scowled and looked up.  "Why not?!"  His voice echoed down the tunnel.  Tears came, but he brushed them away quickly.            ‘You of all people . . . the most determined human I've ever known to exist . . . and all you want to do is save a race of monsters that cannot be saved.’            Frisk covered his face with his hands.  "I . . . I have to do something,” he muttered.  “I won’t quit just because you tell me to."            ‘Very well then.  Do what you must.’

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Chapter 4 (Pain of Loss)

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           With the help of Alphys, Frisk journeyed through Hotland.  He bought a bunch of hotdogs from Sans about half way there.  Since Frisk couldn’t carry them all, Sans stacked some of the dogs on the child’s head.  They fell off and tumbled over the ground.  After laughing and cleaning the mess, Frisk remembered he wanted to save money for Temmie.  He felt bad for wasting so much gold on hotdogs.  Sans asked why he seemed down, so Frisk explained.  Sans shrugged and told him to be wiser with his money next time.  Frisk tried to start another conversation with the skeleton, who told the human he was busy and that he’ll have time later.            Frisk hurried through the rest of Hotland and survived Mettaton’s death traps without any mistakes, thanks to his own memory and of course Alphys.  On the way to MTT hotel, he encountered a spider monster he had not met his first time through.  After being wrapped with webbing and almost eaten alive, Frisk held up the spider doughnut he had bought from a spider bake sale in the Ruins.  It was a desperate attempt to escape with his life.  At the sight of it, the spider smiled and introduced herself as Muffet.  She said there must have been a misunderstanding and released him.  Frisk thanked her for sparing him, then bolted out of the parlor without another word.            The small child climbed stairs toward Mettaton's hotel which was positioned between Hotland and the Core.  After traveling probably all day, Frisk was exhausted.  Surely it was dark on the surface by now.  At the top of the stairs, Frisk paused to catch his breath.            Sans approached from the hotel.  "Hey, buddy.  How's it going?"            Frisk replied between heavy breaths.  "Alright . . . just tired."            "I hear you're heading to the Core," said Sans.  "Wanna get something to eat first?"            Frisk nodded.  "I'm not hungry . . . but a break would . . . be nice."            "Alright, follow me.  I know a shortcut."  Sans led Frisk down an alley right of the hotel.  They stepped into the dark and emerged in the hotel's diner.  Sans approached an empty table and sat down.  Frisk sat on the opposite side.  "Well, here we are," said Sans.  "Your journey's almost over, hu?"            Frisk shrugged.  "I hope so.”            "You must really want to go home."            The human glanced at a lighted candle burning softly on the table between them.  "Sort of."            "Hey, I know the feeling," Sans replied.  "Though . . . maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you.  Down here, you've already got food, drink, friends . . ."  Frisk looked at Sans again.  "Is what you have to do . . . really worth it?" asked Sans.            "Well, I'd like to stay but . . ."  Frisk stopped himself mid sentence.  He wasn't sure he should tell Sans about wanting to let monsters free.  He wasn't even sure he could yet.            Sans sighed.  "Aw, forget it.  I'm rootin' for ya, kid."            Frisk let a smile come across his face.  "Thanks.  You're the best."            "Hey, let me tell you a story."  Frisk nodded and leaned back to listen.  He knew this story but he didn't mind hearing it again.  Sans rested his hands on his lap and began.  "So, I'm a sentry in Snowdin forest, right?"  Frisk nodded.  "I sit out there and watch for humans.  It's kinda boring.  Fortunately though, deep in the forest, there's this huge locked door.  And it's perfect for practicing knock-knock jokes.  So one day, I'm knocking 'em out, like usual.  I knock on the door and say, 'knock knock.'  And suddenly, from the other side, I hear a woman's voice."  Sans switched into a mimic of Toriel's voice.  "'Who is there?'  So, naturally, I respond, 'dishes'.  'Dishes who?'  Dishes a very bad joke."  Frisk smirked.            Sans paused to observe Frisk’s reaction then continued.  "Then she just howls with laughter, like it's the best joke she's heard in a hundred years!  So I keep 'em coming, and she keeps laughing.  She's the best audience I've ever had.  Then, after a dozen of 'em, she knocks and says, 'knock knock'.  I say, 'who's there?'  'Old lady!'  'Old lady who?'  'Oh!  I did not know you could yodel!'"  Sans giggled.  "Needless to say, this woman was extremely good.  We kept telling each other jokes for hours.  Eventually, I had to leave.  Papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story.  But she told me to come by again, and so I did.  Then I did again . . . and again.  It's a thing now, telling bad jokes through the door.  It rules."            A pause of silence followed.  Even though Sans' expression didn't change, he sounded less enthusiastic than before.  "One day, though, I noticed she wasn't laughing very much," he said.  "I asked her what was up, then she told me something strange.  She said, 'If a human ever comes through this door . . . could you please, please promise something?  Watch over them, and protect them, will you?'"  Frisk glanced down.  He missed Toriel already.  "Now, I hate making promises,” said Sans.  “And this woman, I don't even know her name.  But . . . someone who sincerely likes bad jokes has an integrity you can't say 'no' to."  Sans glanced away.  "Do you get what I'm saying?  That promise I made to her . . . you know what would have happened if she hadn't said anything?  Buddy . . ."            Sans lowered his head and closed his eyes.  Frisk's smile faded.  When the skeleton lifted his head, his eyes were dark.  Frisk felt a sense of dread as Sans finished his sentence.  "You'd be dead where you stand.”            Frisk was nervous again.  Had he done something wrong?  Did he mess up somewhere?  His heart raced.  "But . . . but I . . ."            Sans blinked, his eyes returning to normal.  He could see Frisk's fear and sighed.  "Hey, lighten up, buddy.  I'm just joking with ya."  Frisk took a deep breath but still felt on edge.  "Besides . . . haven't I done a great job protecting you?  I mean, look.  You haven't died a single time."  Frisk rolled his eyes.  Maybe not this time but that wasn't true.  Sans leaned closer.  "Hey, what's that look supposed to mean?  Am I wrong?"            Frisk nodded.  "Yeah."            Sans paused a few seconds and leaned back in his chair.  "Heh."  He put his hands in his pockets.  "Well, take care of yourself out there, kid.  Cause someone really cares about you," he said.            Frisk smiled.  "I know."            Sans glanced away briefly then sighed.  "I have something else I need to say."            "What."            "Well . . . you've traveled quite a way . . . and showed mercy to a lot of monsters who tried to hurt you."  Sans pointed toward him.  "You . . . you know what it's like to kill . . . to gain power and strength from the death of monsters."  Frisk's eyes widened in alarm.  Sans continued.  "But . . . you haven't gained any LOVE . . . you’ve gained love.  No matter the struggles or hardships you faced, you strived to do the right thing.  You refused to hurt anyone.  Even when you ran to stay alive, you did it with a smile.  I'm proud of you," said Sans.            "Thanks but . . ."  Frisk stared at Sans from across the table.  "How come you seem to know what happened before?"            Sans shrugged.  "Lucky guess, I suppose.  You're about to face the greatest challenge of your journey.  Your actions at the end will determine the fate of the entire world."            "I know but-"            "If you refuse to fight, Asgore will take your soul and destroy humanity."            "But . . ."            Sans continued.  "But if you kill Asgore and go home, monsters will remain trapped in the underground."            Frisk sighed.  "I want to free everyone so bad," he said.  "And if letting Asgore kill me is the only way, maybe I'll do it.  But whatever happens, I want everyone to be happy."            “Yeah, I know.  You’d be surprised what you can learn by watching someone,” said Sans.  "If I were you, I would have thrown in the towel by now.  But you didn't get this far by giving up, did you?"  Frisk shook his head.  "That's right.  You have something called 'determination'.  So as long as you hold on . . . as long as you do what's in your heart . . . I believe you can do the right thing."  Frisk smiled.  "We're all counting on you, kid" said Sans.  He winked.  "I wanna wish you good luck."            "Thanks, Sans," said Frisk.  "But . . . how do you seem to know things that happened before.  I thought only Flowey remembered when I-"            “Reset?” asked Sans.  "I have a very good idea of things that happened in past timelines . . . even though it may be foggy.  Call it deja vu mixed with the knowledge of studying various timelines in the past.  But those days are long gone now.  Since then . . . I've . . ."  Sans looked away and shifted in his seat a little.  "Well, I lost my hope a long time ago . . . and I gave up on trying to go back . . . to the way things used to be."  The skeleton faced the child, who was staring.  "You see . . . while I was studying . . . I discovered something I wish I hadn't.  Being a former traveler myself, I studied the flow of various timelines.  I can't be sure about anything, but I do know that the timeline has been tampered with for years . . . stopping and starting again . . . going back to the beginning . . . things like that.  But the worst part about it . . . is that it never progresses.  On the charts, it just kept repeating over and over . . . again and again . . . like a loop of pointless events."            "What?" said Frisk.  This was disturbing news.            Sans nodded.  "Ever since then . . . I didn't see a reason to go on . . . knowing everything is gonna end suddenly one day . . . that nothing really matters.  It's a strange, hopeless feeling.  I don't even know how many times I've lost everything."            Frisk frowned.  "That's awful.  I'll fix it . . . if I can."            Sans leaned forward on the table.  "Listen, kid.  At this point, I don't care how things end up.  If you reach your goal . . . don't ever reset.  Don't ever go back.  I just want things to move on.  I want to continue with my life.  I want to know that it won’t be cut short someday."  Sans reached into a pocket.  "And if you still want to know more about me . . ."  He took out a key and handed it to the human.  "Here.  It's the key to my room . . . as well as my past.  You should check it out."            Frisk reluctantly took it and glanced at the silvery metal object.  He looked up again.  "Why would you give this to me?"            "Because I trust you, kid.  The way you act tells me you’ve seen consequences and want to avoid negative ones.  You’ve got a lot of sense."            "I'll visit as soon as I can," Frisk said.            Sans stood and put his hands into his coat pockets.  "Would ya mind coming back out with me?"            Frisk stood up and put the key in his pocket.  "I'd like to."            "Alright, stay close."  Sans led Frisk toward the left wall of the diner.  As they moved toward it, everything went dark before they appeared in the alley.  Sans stood a few steps ahead facing away.            "How exactly do you keep doing that?" Frisk asked.  Sans didn't reply.  He was blocking the exit of the dark, narrow alley.  Frisk stepped forward.  "Sans?"            His head was lowered.  He spoke with a dull, low voice.  "We're not finished yet.”  Sans slowly turned to face the human.  "I gotta tell you something.  I keep getting a bad feeling every time I see you . . . every time I'm nearby.  And it's not that I don't like you, kid.  We're pals.  I trust you . . . with everything.  But this feeling . . . I can't keep ignoring it.  Usually my feelings lead to something and knowing that . . . I think you should be aware of another threat."            Frisk was confused.  "What.  What is it?"            Sans stepped closer and spoke quietly.  "There's someone else in the underground.  Someone who's not a monster . . . but they're trapped like the rest of us.  If I was them, I'd be trying my best to get out.  But this someone . . . they know things . . . they know everyone here, because they've lived here long ago."  Frisk stared at the skeleton.  "Now, I haven't been here the whole time.  I don't know all that much about her.  All I know is what I've been told . . . and the feelings I get.  Kid, I don't know what you know about the Dreemurrs.  But a while back, their son found a human child in the Ruins."            "Yeah, I know the story.  You had the monsters tell me before,” said Frisk.            Sans scratched his head.  "I did?"  Frisk nodded.  Sans shrugged.  "Huh, alright.  So you know about her.  You know about Chara."            "Yeah.  I know who she is . . . kinda.  And . . . you're right about her wanting to get out.  She's . . . tried to convince me to do things several times."            "Hu?  How?" said the skeleton.            "I don’t know, but somehow she can talk to me.  I don't know if it's her soul or what.  Do you know?"            Sans shook his head.  "No.  I didn't think she'd be able to directly influence anyone.  But hey, that explains why I've been getting such odd feelings around you."            "I've been refusing her," said Frisk.  "I . . . already have enough regrets as it is."            Sans put a hand on the human's shoulder.  "Whatever you do . . . keep refusing forever if you have to . . . or bad things will happen, alright?"            Frisk got the feeling that he’d regret agreeing with Sans, but he ignored it.  "I will,” he said.  His vision immediately went dark and blurry.  A loud voice screamed with rage.  Frisk closed his eyes and covered his ears.  It didn’t block it out.  He staggered.            Sans grabbed him to offer the child extra support.  "Whoa!  Stay focused, buddy."            ‘You can't stop me!  This world is already mine!’ said Chara.  Frisk felt lightheaded.  He hadn't heard Sans.  Everything was dark.  He couldn't see.            Sans shook him firmly.  "Listen to me.  Don't let go, kid.  Come back."  This time Frisk heard him.  He tried to force his way back to his senses.  He opened his eyes, which were lit with faint sparkles of red magic.            Chara didn't stop talking.  ‘I will tear him apart.  I will crush him to dust!’            Frisk rubbed his head.  "What . . . happened?"            Chara continued.  ‘You are nothing but a means . . . a means to acquire a renewed existence.’            Sans released the child and stepped back.  "She's quite ferocious, hu?"            "Wait . . . how did you know it was her?" said Frisk            “I heard her."            "Really?  How?"            "It was loud enough," said Sans.  "It’ll be hard, but you have to keep fighting her.  She’ll do whatever she can to get what she wants, but stay determined, kid.  You can do it."            Frisk nodded.  "I'll do my best.”            ‘It is going to happen no matter what you do,’ said Chara.  ‘And when it does . . . I will personally watch everyone suffer and die at the point of my blade.’            Frisk tried to remain focused.  The bits of red magic faded from his brown eyes.  "Sans, please tell me she'll eventually leave me alone.”            Sans sighed.  "Have to be honest with ya, buddy.  I don't know if she will.  But if she gets a chance to go elsewhere . . . I don't see why she wouldn't."  Frisk sighed.            ‘You don't even know me, really.  Do you know what will happen if you continue like this?’ said Chara.  ‘Wait.  You don't need to know.  I'll let you find out the hard way.’            "I hope you're right about this, Sans," said Frisk.  “I don’t think I can’t hold her off forever."

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[for-a-flower]

A Good Heart

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           On the way to Hotland, Frisk stopped before nearly stepping on a little, white cat creature.  He had hardly seen it in the dark.  It peered up at him for a moment then smiled and gasped.  "Whaa!  Human!  Much cute!" it said.            Frisk waved.  "Hi."            The cat monster bounced up and down on four legs.  It wore a blue shirt and had black hair on its head.  "Hoi!  I'm Temmie!"            "Oh, are you from Temmie Village?"            Temmie nodded.  "Ya!  Tem vilag is my homes!"            "Can you show me?" said the human.            The cat smiled.  "Yayz!  Tems be happy to see human.  Follow!"  The monster rushed down a narrow path between two large rock formations.  No wonder Frisk hadn’t seen this path the first time.  It was mostly obscured.  Frisk and Temmie entered a small cave area.  There were several cat creatures scattered here.  The one who had led Frisk turned its head around like an owl to smile at him.  "Welcomez to da vilag, human!"            "Thanks," said Frisk.  The Temmie rushed off to join a group a few feet away.  They were all staring at Frisk, vibrating with excitement.  These creatures were odd.  After glancing over the cavern, he noticed a sign mounted just inside the entrance.  It read, 'Hoi!  Welcome to Temmie Village!'  Frisk curiously walked further in, passing other Temmies.  He approached one standing near an egg.            The Temmie spoke as the child walked by.  "Hoi!  Tem . . . watch egg!  Eg . . . wil hatch!  Tem . . . proud parent!"            Frisk found an entrance and read two signs on either side.  The first read, 'Hoi!  You shouldz visit Tem shop!'  The next said, 'Yaya!  I agree you shouldz!  Visit teh shop!'  Frisk smiled and went in.  Sitting behind a cardboard box inside was another Temmie.  She was a little different.  Her shirt was a lighter blue striped with yellow and her hair was grayish.  She gasped.            "Hoi!  Humans!  Welcome to da . . . tem shop!" she said.            Frisk stepped closer.  "Hi.  What do Temmies sell here?"            "Oh!  Tem haz list!"  Temmie handed the human a list of prices.            Frisk paused to look it over.  Everything on the list was labeled as Tem flakes but with varying prices.  Confused, he handed the paper back.  "Alright, I might come back later.  But . . . do you buy things?"            Tem nodded.  "Tem like buyz new stuffs!"            Frisk reached into his pocket and took out the toy knife he had found earlier.  "How about this?"            Tem gasped.  "You have a toy knifes!  Tem always wanted a toy knife!  Ugh . . . but Tem trying to save muns for colege.  Pppppp!  Gotta have that toy knifes!"            "Um . . . I won't make you buy it," said Frisk.            Temmie reached out.  "No!  Tem will get!  Gives you eighty gold!"            Frisk's eyes widened.  "For this?  Are you sure?"            "Ya ya!"  Temmie nodded.  "Please?!"            Frisk reluctantly handed her the plastic knife.  "Okay."            Tem snatched it.  "Thanks purchase!"  She tossed eight gold coins at him.            Frisk caught most of the coins but several scattered on the ground in front of the box.  The human picked them up.  "So . . . you want to go to college?" he asked Temmie.            Tem frowned.  "Tem always wish for higher education.  But don't havz the muns."            "How much does it cost anyway?"            "Thousand golds."            Frisk sighed.  He knew he didn't have that much.  "Oh.  Hey, maybe if I get more money . . . I'll help send you," he said.            Temmie smiled again.  She bounced a little in excitement.  "Oh!  Reallys?  Human much nice!  Tem appreciate!"            Frisk smiled back.  "Don't thank me yet.  I still need to find more gold.  I'll be back, later okay?"  He turned to leave.            "Boi!" Tem called after him.  After leaving the shop area behind, Frisk stopped and sighed.  He had made so many promises that he was beginning to wonder if he had gone too far.  Was he able to keep all of them and make everyone happy?  That’s what he wanted, but what if he couldn't?

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[for-a-flower]

Duel with Undyne

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           Just minutes later, Frisk turned the corner and approached Undyne's home.  It looked like a scary fish face.  Definitely Undyne’s.  Papyrus was near the front door.  He greeted the human as Frisk joined him.  "Oh ho!  The human arrives!" said Papyrus.            Frisk thought he heard music so he paused and listened.  It sounded like piano music was coming from inside the home.  "Music?"            "Oh yeah!  Undyne's been practicing her musical skills on a piano for quite some time," said Papyrus.  "Anyway, I have a plan to make you two great friends!"            Frisk smiled nervously.  "It better be a really good one."            "It’s foolproof!  Just stand behind me for now."  Papyrus approached the door.  Frisk stood directly behind him, hiding himself from view as best he could.  The skeleton lifted his hand to knock but paused.  "Oh yeah."  He glanced over his shoulder then turned to offer the human something.  It looked like a gift wrapped bone with a ribbon tied around it.  "Make sure to give her this.  She loves these!" said Papyrus.  Frisk nodded and took the bone.  Papyrus faced the door, which strangely resembled the mouth and teeth of a carnivorous fish.  He knocked.  The piano playing stopped and was followed by silence.  The door slid open, like the mouth of a fish ready to swallow its prey.            Undyne stood on the other side and welcomed Papyrus with a smile.  "Hi, Papyrus!"  She had removed her armor and without it she didn't look quiet as large and threatening.  She wore a plain, black shirt and blue jeans.  "Ready for your extra-private, one on one training?" said Undyne.  Frisk suddenly had a really bad feeling about this.            Papyrus nodded.  "You bet I am!  And I brought a friend!"  He stepped aside to reveal Frisk, who tightly clutched the bone Papyrus had handed him.            Undyne glanced at the child.  "Hi, I don't think we've-"  She recognized him and couldn’t complete the sentence.            Frisk grinned at her.  "Hello."            Undyne flashed a glare at Papyrus who stared back with a smile.  She grumbled and forced a smile.  "Why don't you two . . . come in?" she said.  She stepped aside to let them enter.  Papyrus excitedly stepped in.  Frisk followed and glanced around the home.  There was a table to the right and a piano near a window of the left wall.  At the back was a kitchen area and a door leading to a bedroom.  Undyne closed the door then joined the group.            Papyrus nudged Frisk.  "Here, Undyne.  My friend brought a gift for you on his own!"  Frisk stepped forward and held up the bone.            Undyne seemed puzzled.  "Uh . . . thanks."  She glanced at Papyrus then back at Frisk.  She snatched the bone from the human.  "I'll uh . . . put it with the others."  She walked to the far wall and opened a drawer under the kitchen counter.  It was stuffed with other bones just like it.  Undyne dropped the new one in and shut the drawer.  She rejoined her guests.  "Are we ready to start?"            Papyrus gasped.  "Whoops!  I just remembered!  I . . . have to go to the bathroom!  You two have fun!"  He rushed for the window on the left.            Frisk tried calling after him.  "Wait!  Don't leave me by . . ."  Papyrus leaped through the window, scattering glass across the floor.  ". . . myself," Frisk finished.  He and Undyne were suddenly staring at each other.  Undyne glared.  Frisk grinned and laughed nervously.            She scowled at him.  "So why are you here?  To rub your victory in my face?  To humiliate me even further?  Is that it?!"  Frisk shook his head.  "Then why are you here?"            "Papyrus invited me so I . . ."            "Wait!”  Undyne gasped.  “I get it!  You think that I'm gonna be friends with you, huh?  Right?"            Frisk glanced over at the broken window then back at Undyne.  "Yes?"            Undyne burst into laughter.  "Really?  How delightful!  I accept!  Let's all frolic in the fields of friendship!"  Her fake smile faded back to a scowl.  "Not!"  She stepped closer to the child, who backed away.  "Why would I ever be friends with you?!"  Undyne folded her arms.  "If you weren't my houseguest, I'd beat you up right now!  You're the enemy of everyone's hopes and dreams!  I will never be your friend!"  Frisk frowned.  He didn’t like being shouted at.  Undyne pointed toward the door.  "Now get out of my house!" she yelled.            "Aw, really?" said a voice from the window.  Frisk and Undyne noticed Papyrus peeking in.  "What a shame.  I thought Undyne could be friends with you," he said.  Papyrus sighed with disappointment.  "But I guess I overestimated her.  She's just not up to the challenge."            Undyne’s visible yellow eye grew wide.  "Challenge?!  What?!"  Papyrus ducked out of sight again.  She scowled.  "Papyrus!  Wait a second!"  No response.  Undyne mumbled something then fixed her gaze on the human.  "He thinks I can't be friends with you?!"  She burst into laughter again.  "What a joke!  I could make friends with a wimpy loser like you any day!  I'll show him!"  Undyne stepped forward and sneered.  "Listen up, human.  We're not just going to be friends.  We're going to be . . . besties!"  She stepped back.  "Ha!  I'll make you like me so much that you won't be able to think of anyone else!"  Frisk wasn't sure he liked the sound of this.  Undyne laughed loudly.  "It's the perfect revenge!"            "Uh . . . okay," said Frisk.            Undyne’s mood shifted dramatically and she gave him a pleasant smile.  "Why don't you have a seat?"  She motioned toward a chair at her table.  Frisk went to it and sat down.  He glanced back at Undyne.  "Comfortable?" she asked.  He nodded.  "I'll get you something to drink."  Undyne walked to a fridge against the back wall.  “What would you like?" she asked.  Frisk couldn't see what was available from the seat, so he moved to get up.  Undyne spun around, tossing a magic spear at the table.  It hit the center, splitting the wood structure straight down the middle.  Frisk froze.  He was too frightened to let out a startled yelp.  "Hey!  Don't get up!" ordered Undyne.  "You're the guest!  Sit down and enjoy yourself!"  Frisk slowly sat down.  Undyne’s pleasant smile returned.  "Um, why not just point to what you want?" she said.  "You can use the spear."            "Oh . . . okay."  Frisk slowly outstretched a hand to reach for it.  He tapped it then yanked his hand back, as if expecting the spear to explode or something.  Nothing happened.  Frisk took hold of the magic spear and held it up.  It was actually quite light.  Frisk directed the spear tip to point at a pack of tea on the counter.  "How about that?"            "Tea, huh?"  Undyne nodded.  "Coming right up."  She opened the package then grabbed a teapot and filled it with water.  She set it on the stove and turned it on.  Undyne glanced back as if to make sure Frisk was still at the table.  "It will take a moment for the water to boil," she said.  Frisk nodded.  Several minutes passed as the two awkwardly stared at each other.  Eventually the teapot started whistling.  Undyne poured a cup of tea then returned to the table.  "Okay, it's all done!"  She set the cup in front of Frisk.  "Here we are."            Frisk offered the spear back to her.  Undyne took it then dispersed the magic.  "Thanks," said Frisk.            Undyne took a seat in another chair at the opposite side of the cracked table.  She watched Frisk pick up the teacup.  "Careful, it's hot," she said.  Frisk lifted the cup to his mouth and took a tiny sip.  Undyne scowled.  "It's not that hot!  Just drink it already!"  Frisk quickly took a sip of tea.  He tried not to wince after burning his tongue and slowly set the cup down again.  He’d give it more time to cool.  "It's pretty good, right?" said Undyne            Frisk nodded.  "Yea.”            "Nothing but the best for my absolutely precious friend!" she added.  A pause followed and her smile faded some.  "Hey . . . you know . . . it's kind of strange you chose that tea."            "Why is it strange?  What kind of tea is it?"            "Golden flower tea.  That's Asgore's favorite kind."  Undyne glanced away.  "Actually, now that I think about it . . . you uh . . . kind of remind me of him."            "Really?  How?"            She grinned.  "You're both total losers!"  Undyne paused and her gaze drifted down.  "Sort of."  A minute passed.  Frisk took another sip of tea.  It was cooler now.  Undyne sighed.  "You know, I was a pretty hotheaded kid," she said.  Frisk set down the cup and listened with interest.  “Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight Asgore.  Emphasis on tried.  I couldn't land a single blow on him!  And worse, the whole time, he refused to fight back."  Undyne stared at the cracked table between them.  "I was so humiliated."            "What happened?" said Frisk.            "Well afterwards, he apologized and said something strange.  'Excuse me, do you want to know how to beat me?'  I said, 'Yes'.  And from then on, he trained me.  One day, during practice, I finally knocked him down.  I felt . . .”  A guilty look crept over her face.  “I felt bad."  Undyne smirked.  "But he was beaming."  She laughed a little.  "I had never seen someone more proud to be a loser!  Anyway, long story short, he kept training me, and now I'm the head of the Royal Guard!  So I'm the one who gets to train dorks to fight!  Like uh . . . Papyrus."  Frisk smiled.  He was more relaxed now.  “But um . . . to be honest . . . I don't know if I can ever let Papyrus into the Royal Guard," said Undyne.  Her gaze darted over to glare at Frisk.  "Don't tell him I said that!"            "I won't." said Frisk.            "Good!"            "But why can't you?"            Undyne sighed.  "He's just . . . well . . . I mean, it's not that he's weak.  He's actually pretty tough!  It's just that . . . he's . . . he's too innocent and nice!"            "Is that a bad thing?" said Frisk.            "I mean, look, he was supposed to capture you.  And he ended up being friends with you instead!  I could never send him into battle.  He'd get ripped into little, smiling shreds.  That's part of why I started teaching him how to cook, you know?  So um . . . maybe he can do something else with his life."  Undyne suddenly gasped.  "Oh, sorry.  I was talking for so long.  You're out of tea."  Frisk glanced at the cup in his hand.  It was empty.  Strange.  He didn't remember drinking all of it.  Undyne stood.  "I'll get you some more."  She took the cup from Frisk but stopped suddenly where she stood in the room’s center.  "Wait a second.  Papyrus . . . His cooking lesson . . . He was supposed to have that right now!"  Undyne grinned, eyes shifting back to the child.  "And if he's not here to have it . . . You'll have to have it for him!"  She clenched her hands into fists and laughed loudly.  With a grin, she jumped onto the kitchen counter and dashed across it.  Stuff spilled and shattered when it hit the ground.            Frisk's eyes were wide.  "A cooking lesson?"            Undyne, still standing on the kitchen counter, flashed a glare at him.  "That's right!  Nothing has brought Papyrus and I closer than cooking!  Which means, if I give you his lesson . . . we'll become closer than you can ever imagine!"            "Um . . . I don’t like looking," said Frisk.            "Afraid?!" she said.  "We're gonna be best friends!"  Undyne leapt from the kitchen counter and landed by Frisk's chair.  He hopped up and moved away, but she grabbed a hold of his arm and enthusiastically dragged him across the room to the kitchen counter.  After which, she set him on his feet again.  Frisk's heart was racing.  He looked up at Undyne.  "We’re making spaghetti!  And let's start with the sauce!" she said.  Undyne stomped on the floor.  The whole room shook, shaking some vegetables out of a hanging basket on the roof.  They plopped on the counter in front of Frisk.  Undyne grinned and pointed to them.  "Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy!  Now!  Pound them to dust with your fists!" she ordered.  Frisk glanced over two tomatoes and a few other vegetables.  But what if he didn’t want to pound his enemies to dust?  Frisk reached out to pet one of the tomatoes.            Undyne gasped.  "What are you doing?!  Stop petting the enemy!"  She pushed Frisk aside.  "Here, let me show you how it's done!"  She slammed a fist onto the vegetables as hard as she could.  Frisk squinted.  Tomato juice splattered all over his face, Undyne, and the wall.  Wonderful.  He had managed to stay generally clean up to this point.  But at least Undyne seemed to be enjoying herself.            She smiled.  "Uh . . . we'll just scrape this into a bowl later."  Frisk wiped some tomato juice off his face.  "But for now . . ."  Undyne stomped on the floor again.  A large pot and package of spaghetti noodles dropped from a rack above the stove.  They crashed to the stovetop.  "Now we add the noodles!"  She picked up the package and handed it to Frisk.  "Homemade noodles are the best, but I just buy store-brand!  They're the cheapest!  Ahahaha!"  Frisk took the pack of noodles.  "Uh, just put them in the pot."  Frisk carefully opened the package.  He took out a noodle and dropped it into the pot.  He took out another and dropped it in, dropping the uncooked noodles one by one.  They chinked against the bottom of the pan.            Undyne huffed.  "Come on!  You're never going to get the point of this if you don't cooperate!  Just throw them all in!"  Frisk narrowed his eyes and gave in.  He threw the pack of noodles into the pot as hard as he could, including the box.  Undyne grinned with approval.  "Yeah!  I'm into it!"  Frisk smirked a little.  "Alright!  Now it's time to stir the pasta!"  Frisk nodded.  "As a general rule of thumb, the more you stir . . . the better it is!  Ready?" said Undyne.            Frisk smiled.  "Yeah."            "Let's do it!"  Undyne handed Frisk a spoon.  He took it and started stirring.  He stirred quickly for his first time doing this.  "Stir harder!" urged Undyne.  Frisk put more force into it.  "Harder!"  The child stirred as hard as he could manage with as much speed and force as he could.  "Harder!!!" Undyne shouted.  Frisk sighed and stopped stirring.  "Let me do it!"  Undyne summoned a spear and stabbed at the noodles and pot several times.  She crunched the noodles and bent the pot out of shape.  Undyne laughed and the spear vanished.  "That's the stuff!  Alright, now for the final step."  She faced the young human.  "Turn up the heat!  Let the stovetop symbolize your passion!  Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire!"            "Alright,” said Frisk.            "Ready?"            "I think so."            "Don't hold anything back!" said Undyne.  She was definitely passionate about cooking.  Frisk reached forward to turn the knob.  This was something he could do.  "Hotter!" said Undyne.  Frisk kept turning.  Flames sprouted from the stove top.  "Hotter!  Come on!"  Frisk continued.  As flames started to shoot up from the stove, he could feel his inner pyromaniac starting to surface.  Undyne was grinning with anticipation.  "Great!  Let me finish it off!"  She grabbed the knob and turned it up to max.  Flame blasted to the roof.  Frisk and Undyne jumped back.  “Oh shit!” Undyne shouted.  She held out a hand.  A bright flash filled the room with an intense wave of heat.  Frisk shielded his face.            As the light faded, Frisk lifted his head.  Green magic dispersed like a bubble that had surrounded them had popped.  The wall and roof near the stove was scorched.  The wooden table, counter, and piano were on fire.  Frisk and Undyne glanced at each other as they stood in the middle of the room away from flaming walls.  Undyne smiled.  "Ah man, no wonder Papyrus is so bad at cooking," she said then glanced around the room.  "So what's next?  Scrapbooking?  Friendship bracelets?"  Frisk shrugged.  Undyne sighed.  "Who am I kidding?  I really messed this up, didn't I?"            "Well . . . the house is kinda burning down now."            "I can't force you to like me, human," she said.  "Some people just don't get along with each other."  Undyne looked down at the floor.  "I understand if you feel that way about me.  And if we can't be friends . . . that's okay . . . because . . . if we're not friends . . ."  Undyne gave Frisk a scowl.  "It means I can destroy you without regret!"  Undyne’s spear flashed with blue light when it appeared in her hand.  Flames raged around them.  "I've been defeated.  My house is in shambles.  I've even failed to befriend you.  That's it.  I don't care if you're my guest anymore."  She readied her spear.  "One final rematch!  All out on both sides!"            "But I don't want to fight you."            Undyne scowled.  "It's the only way I can regain my lost pride!  Come on!  Hit me with all you've got!"  She stood ready, allowing Frisk the chance to attack first.  As flames along the walls grew larger, the room only got hotter.  Maybe there was only one way to solve this.  Frisk clenched his right hand into a fist and swung at her with all his might.  He did try, but the intent to harm her wasn’t there.  His hand bumped against her shoulder, like a pebble tossed at a rock wall.  Undyne stared.  "What?  That's the best you can do?"  She looked confused.  "Even attacking at full force . . . you just can't muster any intent to hurt me, hu?"            Frisk shrugged.  “I don’t want to kill you.”            Undyne smirked.  "Heh, you know what?"  She released her spear, letting it fall to the ground in front of her.  The magic weapon faded.  "I don't actually want to hurt you either," she said.  "At first, I hated your stupid saccharine shtick, but . . . the way you hit me just now, it . . . reminded me of someone I used to train with."  She sighed as heat and flames continued to swell around them.  "Now I know you aren't just some wimpy loser."  Undyne grinned at Frisk with a real smile.  "You're a wimpy loser with a big heart!" she said.  "Just like Asgore."            Frisk smiled.  "Thanks."            "Listen, human.  It seems that you and Asgore are fated to fight.  But knowing him . . . he probably doesn't want to.  Talk to him.  I'm sure you can persuade him to let you go home.  Eventually, some mean human will fall down here, and I'll take their soul instead.  That makes sense, right?" said Undyne.            Frisk nodded.  "Yeah."            Undyne scowled.  "Oh, and if you do hurt Asgore . . . I'll take the human souls, cross the barrier, and beat the hell out of you!"  She grinned.  "That's what friends are for, right?"  Undyne glanced at the door which was nearly closed off with fire.  "Now let's get out of this flaming house!"  She ran for the door.  Frisk rushed after her.  They dashed through the fire and safely out the door.  Once several yards from the home, Frisk and Undyne stopped to look back.  Flames rose from the fish like house as if it was being cooked for a meal.  Undyne glanced at the child in the cool air of Waterfall's caverns.  "Well, that was fun, hu?"            "Yeah," said Frisk.            "We'll have to hang out again another time!  But uh . . . somewhere else I guess."  She laughed a little before adding something.  "In the meantime, I guess I'll go hang with Papyrus.  So if you need me, drop by Snowdin, okay?!  Oh!  And if you ever need help, just give Papyrus a ring, okay?  Since we'll be in the same spot, I'll be able to talk too!"            “Good idea!”            Undyne smiled.  "Well, see ya later punk!"  She rushed down the path toward Snowdin.            "See ya!" said Frisk.  The human continued on his way toward Hotland.  He wasn't sure Papyrus’ plan was going to work at first, but it was a pretty brilliant plan.  Other than Flowey and Chara, Undyne was the one Frisk had been worried about.  But now he had another strong monster as his friend and it gave him determination to keep going.  Yellow light sparked in front of him, marking the timeline and saving his progress.  Now it would be safe . . . forever.

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           While journeying through Waterfall, Frisk encountered several more monsters.  He managed to get by without killing or hurting any.  Yet every time he showed them mercy, he initially felt successful followed by a feeling of impending doom.  Frisk wasn't sure why.  But after how things had ended last time, the knowledge was haunting him.  He feared the same slaughter would take place if he messed up.  Frisk shook his head to dismiss this line of thought.  It didn't matter how it ended last time.  This time would be different.            After yet another encounter with Undyne, Frisk found himself near a little stream through a field of Echo Flowers.  He waded through quiet, flowing water as the flowers whispered to him.  He recalled the first time he had come through here.  Flowey had taunted him for killing Toriel.  Frisk continued between blue flowers around him but stopped when he heard Toriel's voice.            "Where oh where could that child be?"  Frisk spun around with a smile, but no one was there.  "I've been looking all over for them,” Toriel’s voice added.  Frisk’s gaze shifted to focus on an Echo Flower.  Its voice changed as it laughed.  "Hee hee hee."  The Echo Flower spoke with Flowey's raspy voice.  "That's not true.  She'll find another kid, and instantly forget about you.  You'll never see her again."            Frisk looked around.  "Flowey?" he called.  "Where are you?"  No response.  The child listened but didn't hear any movement.  However, he had an undeniable feeling that Flowey was still here, watching from the dark.  Frisk backtracked his steps through the stream.  "I know you're watching me," he said.  From shadows on the right came quiet mumbling.  Frisk stopped to look but didn't see anyone.            "You idiot," said Flowey's voice.  "You told him about me, didn't you?"            “Who?” said Frisk.  Flowey growled, clearly frustrated with the child’s reply.  It took a moment for Frisk to remember that he mentioned Flowey to Sans recently.  "You mean, Sans?"            "Yeeesss.  What made you think that was a good idea?"            "Sans is . . . my friend too,” said Frisk.            "You're not my friend as long as you're his friend!" the flower shouted from the dark.            "I didn't think we were friends."            "Pfft!  You said you wanted to help.  Isn't that what friends do?"            Frisk nodded.  "I am your friend, but right now . . . you're not accepting it."  He turned and continued toward the tunnel exit.  "I want to be friends, but you won't let me."            "Because you're a traitor.  I told you not to tell Sans about me."            "No, you didn't.  You just said not to tell him what I did,” said Frisk.  A moment of silence followed.            "Well, I meant to," said Flowey.            "What happened?"            "Oh nothing . . . he just threatened to kill me.  He said . . ."  Flowey's voice changed to a bad mimic of Sans.  "By the look on that human's face, I can tell you've already killed him multiple times.  And you know how I know that look?  It's the one you're giving me right now."  Frisk climbed out of the water and stood on dry land.  Flowey's voice returned to normal.  "Have you ever been attacked by Sans before?  I doubt it.  It's scary as death itself."            “What do you mean?  Sans is a nice guy."            Flowey's voice grew eerie.  "Not to creatures like me, he's not."  Frisk looked around again just as Flowey emerged from the dirt in front of him.  Flowey scowled at the human.  "If he killed me, you would have lost your only hope to get out of this place."            Frisk retreated a little.  “Or I’d find out you were missing and go back.”            Flowey glanced away with a pouty face.  "Even though I hate him, Sans did have a point.  The fate of everyone in the underground depends on you . . . even mine.  Ever since I lost the ability to save . . . I can die just like anyone else.  That makes his threats even worse."  Flowey glanced back up at the child with a cheery smile.  "But on the bright side . . . you won't kill me."  His eyes went dark and smile grew wider as fangs appeared.  "Because you're an idiot."  Flowey burrowed before the human could add anything.            Frisk sighed and resumed the long walk ahead of him.  He felt like he was being used, taken advantage of, and betrayed.  Maybe he was an idiot for making a promise that he wouldn't kill Flowey.  Maybe it was a stupid idea to be making friends with everyone.  But no matter what, he couldn't give up yet.  Flowey had to have a reason for what he had done.  If Frisk could find the answer . . . or anything about Flowey’s past . . . maybe he'd be able to understand.  Frisk stopped suddenly.  Toriel.  She was probably worried about him.  Frisk had her phone number, so he lifted his phone to call.  The phone rang but no one answered.  Maybe she was busy right now.            Frisk decided to leave a message so she could listen to it later.  "Hi, mom.  You're probably worried, but I'm alright.  I'm almost through Waterfall now.  I'll make it.  And . . . thanks for being such a nice person."  Frisk hung up, nodded with approval, then continued on.

           Frisk stepped from the shadows and lifted his head.  Undyne stood among jagged rocks above the entrance cave to Hotland.  She had been waiting for him.  "Seven . . .” she said.  “Seven human souls and King Asgore will become powerful enough to break the barrier.  Six . . . that's how many we have collected thus far."  Undyne stared down at the human child, her face concealed by a metal helmet.  "Understand?"  Frisk nodded.  "Through your seventh and final soul, this world will be transformed."  Undyne paused and glanced away to add in a quieter tone, "First, however, as is customary for those who make it this far, I shall tell you the tragic tale of our people.”            "I um . . . already know the story," said Frisk.            Undyne turned her head toward him and let out a frustrated puff.  "Fine, you know what?  I wasn't going to tell you anyway!"  The knight took off her metal helmet and flung it away.  She scowled at Frisk, pointing a finger at him.  "You!  You're standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams!"            Frisk frowned.  "I know.”            "Alphys' history books made me think humans were cool, with their giant robots and flowery swordsmen."  Frisk was confused to hear that.  Where had Alphys got that idea?  Undyne gave Frisk a daring grin.  "But you?  You're just a coward!  Hiding behind that kid so you could run away from me again!  And let's not forget your wimpy goody-two-shoes shtick!"  Undyne laughed then mocked the human.  "Oooh!  I'm making such a difference by hugging random strangers!"            "I was just trying to be nice," said Frisk.            "You know what would be more valuable to everyone?”  Undyne narrowed her eyes.  “If you were dead!"  Frisk stepped back, frightened.  "That's right, human!  Your continued existence is a crime!"  Was it even possible to make her happy?  Undyne continued.  "Your life is all that stands between us and our freedom!  Right now, I can feel everyone's hearts pounding together!  Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment!  And when everyone puts their hearts together, they can't lose!"  Frisk gulped.  Undyne summoned her spear.  "Now, human!  Let's end this, right here, right now."            "But I . . ."            "I'll show you how determined monsters can be!" she said.  "Step forward!"            Frisk narrowed his eyes as a yellow flicker of light briefly flashed near him.  He took a deep breath and moved forward.  "I'm ready," he said.            Undyne seemed surprised but shook it off.  "That's it then!"  She leapt from her position and landed hard on the ground in front of Frisk.  She struck at the child, flinging a green magic from the end of her spear.  The attack swept by Frisk, freezing him in place.  Undyne didn't speak as much this time.  She tossed spears one after another.  Frisk faced them as they came, harmlessly dispersing the magic projectiles.  Several spears appeared around Frisk and shot toward him.  It took some effort to avoid injury, but Frisk managed to flawlessly face all the spear as they came.            When Undyne paused to gather her strength and prepare another attack, Frisk took the chance to say something.  "I don't want to fight you.  I want to be friends.”            Undyne shook her head.  "Friends?  No!  I'm not about to stop now!  Not when I'm this close to taking your soul!"            Frisk glared back.  "You haven't even hit me yet!"            Undyne flipped her spear.  "I was warming up!"  She summoned a large group of spears and flung them at the human.  Frisk's eyes widened.  Had there been this many before?  Despite his best efforts, he was completely overwhelmed.  One of the spears scraped by his side.  Two nicked his left leg and a third nearly knocked his right shoulder out of joint.            Frisk gasped and staggered, still trapped within green magic and unable to run.  He panted, grasping at his right shoulder.  "I won't fight you.”            Undyne scowled and stomped a foot.  "Why don't you just . . . die already?!"  She tossed several spears, but they moved much slower.  Even as sharp pain traveled through his shoulder and leg, Frisk found it easier to avoid the attack.  Undyne hesitated.  Frisk clumsily stumbled forward when the green magic suddenly released.  He was free.  He made a run for it, a stabbing pain in his left leg.  He dashed by Undyne, who scowled.  "No!"  The knight followed him through the narrow tunnel toward Hotland.  "Stop running!  It's pointless!  Even if you get by me, no one has ever made it passed Asgore!" she yelled.  "Killing you is an act of mercy on my part!"            Frisk kept running as the air grew hotter.  He could hear Undyne’s heavy footsteps close behind.  His phone rang.  What perfect timing.  While still running, Frisk managed to pull it from his pocket and answer.            "Hey!" said Papyrus’ voice.  "What's up?!"            Frisk answered between huffs of air.  "Uh, I'm kinda . . . trying not to . . . die right now.”            "That’s okay!  You don’t have to reply.  Just listen.  I was thinking that you, me, and Undyne should all hang out sometime!  I think you two would make great pals!" said Papyrus.            Frisk glanced over a shoulder.  Undyne grumbled and tossed several spears in his direction.  Frisk smirked.  "Sure."            "Let's meet up at her house soon.  I’m heading there right now!"            "Oh uh . . . okay,” Frisk agreed.            “See you there!”  Papyrus hung up, so Frisk quickly stuffed the phone in his pocket.            The tunnel opened into a nearly lava filled cavern.  Undyne threw several more spears while Frisk bolted by Sans, who was asleep at a stand near the entrance of Hotland.  Undyne noticed the skeleton and skidded to a stop.  She scowled as if holding back the urge to rant and shout at him.  She forced herself onward and followed Frisk over a bridge across a particularly hot lava flow.  The human stopped on the other side to look back.  Undyne’s pace slowed considerably.  The heat was quickly taking its toll.  "Too hot," she mumbled.  Undyne stopped and staggered.  She flashed one last glare at the human before collapsing on the bridge only a step or two away.            Frisk rushed to the nearby water cooler, ignoring the pain in his own body.  He filled a cup of water then ran it back to Undyne.  He dumped the cool water on her head then stepped back as she stirred.  Undyne opened her eyes then slowly stood.  She stared at Frisk for a moment as if confused or briefly remembering something.  Without speaking, Undyne turned and walked back toward Waterfall.  She crossed the bridge and disappeared in the shadows beyond.  Frisk sighed.  He reached into a pocket and took out a crab apple.  He took a few bites, which almost immediately relieved him of the damage he had taken during the fight.  Frisk walked back in the direction of Waterfall too.  He still needed to find Temmie Village.  Maybe he'd run into it on the way to Undyne’s home . . . wherever it was.  After a few minutes of backtracking through the caves, Frisk called Papyrus to ask for directions.            "Hello, human!  What's up?" Papyrus asked.            "I'm trying to find Undyne's house but I don't know where she lives,” said Frisk.            "Oh!  Undyne just got back!  I was about to call and ask where you were!  She lives in an area of Waterfall near two funky looking houses."            "Near Napstablook's home?"            "So you met the little guy!  Yeah!  Undyne lives just to the left of that cavern."            "Okay.  I think I'm almost there," said Frisk.            "See you soon!"  Papyrus hung up.

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Chapter 3 (One on One)

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           As Frisk journeyed through Waterfall with monster kid, there were a few close calls with Undyne spotting them.  Eventually Frisk and monster kid got split up.  Undyne found Frisk and chased him over a long bridge.  Even though he took some hard hits, he made it to the same dead end he had been cornered at last time.  As Frisk peered into the abyss below, Undyne blocked the way back.  The child turned to face her.  She towered above him, but he knew what was about to happen.  Undyne stabbed the wooden boards beneath them.  The bridge split and collapsed.  The child screamed as he fell into darkness below.            For a moment to follow, Frisk floated in a dark, empty place.  But then he heard a young voice speaking.  "It sounds like it came from over here," it said.  "Oh!  You've fallen down, haven't you.  Are you okay?"  Frisk couldn’t respond this time either.  "Here, get up."  Frisk got a feeling that his body was moving even though he knew he wasn't.  He thought he heard another voice but wasn't sure.  The first replied.  "Chara, huh?  That's a nice name.  My name is . . ."            Frisk gasped and sat up to look around.  He was sitting on a bed of Golden Flowers in the middle of a dark, trashy pool of water.  He had just realized something.  That voice . . . it was Asriel's voice.  That feeling . . . it had to be Chara.  Frisk stood up.  Now he was sure she was still there, watching him.  This was her memory of the time she had fallen into the underground and was found by little Asriel.  Frisk's fall just now must have jogged her memory.  But the reason for her silence was still unclear.            Frisk waded through trash littered water.  He knew a dummy inhabited by a ghost was just ahead.  When the human approached, the dummy came alive and blocked the path.  It summoned several magic attacks, which Frisk skillfully dodged.  The enraged dummy tossed a single knife at him.  Frisk stepped to the side, easily avoiding it.  The knife plopped in a pool of water behind.  The dummy laughed and said that they'd be here forever if Frisk refused to fight.  After a few minutes of waiting, acid rain drizzled down from above.  The dummy panicked and left.            Frisk looked up as Napstablook came down to join him.  The human smiled.  He was worn out after rushing around in the water to avoid death, but he waved at the ghost.  "Hi.”            "Sorry, I interrupted you, didn't I?" said Napstablook.  "As soon as I came over, your friend immediately left.  Oh no . . . you looked like you were having fun.  Oh no . . . I just wanted to say hi . . ."           “Uh, the dummy and I weren’t exactly having fun.  I’m glad you showed up.”            Napstablook still wore a defeated look on his face.  "Well . . . I'm going to head home now.  Oh . . . um . . . feel free to 'come with' if you want," he said.  "But no pressure.  I understand if you're busy.  It's fine . . . no worries . . . just thought I'd offer . . ."  Napstablook turned and quickly started off in the direction of his home.            "Wait!"  Frisk followed the ghost into the next cave area.            Napstablook paused and looked back.  "Oh hey . . . my house is up here . . ." he said.  "In case you want to see . . . or in case . . . you don't."  He led Frisk through a branching tunnel that opened up and revealed a strange, small house.  Beside it was another home almost identical.  Both were somewhat tilted in opposite directions.  The one on the left was blue and the other was pink.  Napstablook phased through the door of the blue painted home.            Frisk approached the door.  Napstablook was a nice guy; quiet, timid, and nervous.  Frisk was curious to learn about him.  He opened the home door and stepped in.  The single room home had a refrigerator, a TV, and a few disks sitting on a table.  In one corner was a little spider web with a flyer for a spider bake sale stuck to it.  Other than that, the room was empty.  At first, Frisk wondered why Napstablook didn't have much.  But then again, a ghost wouldn't need a full home.  Napstablook hovered near a computer with a pair of headphones on his head.  Frisk joined him.            Napstablook heard him approaching and turned to look.  "Oh . . . you really came . . ." he said.  "Sorry . . . I was sort of expecting you to keep walking."            "You invited me to come.  I can at least show up,” said Frisk. Napstablook gave a little smile.  "It's not much, but make yourself at home."            "Thanks.  What are you doing?"            "Oh . . ."  The ghost’s large eyes darted back to the screen.  "I was working on a new music mix.  There aren't many tracks to listen to down here . . . so my brother and I have been making mixes for monsters.  There’s a few disks on that table that are done," Napstablook told him.  Frisk hadn't thought of that before.  The monsters probably didn't have many instruments down here.  Hearing or playing music would be a rare thing.  That thought gave a special meaning to the tune the Dreemurrs had written for their son.  Napstablook broke the silence.  "I mean . . . it's hard to get a lot of music when only a few monsters . . . have instruments.  Like Sans . . . and Undyne."            Frisk fixed his gaze on the ghost.  "Hey, don't be sad.  One day you'll be free.  I promise.  And you'll have all sorts of nice music to hear."            Napstablook sighed.  "I wish I knew that was true."  Frisk glanced over to the fridge.  "Oh . . . are you hungry?”            “Not really.  I just-”            “Let me get something for you."  Napstablook went to the fridge, reached through the door, and took out a sandwich.  "Here is a ghost sandwich."  He handed it to Frisk, who reluctantly attempted to take it.  As expected though, his hand passed through it.  Napstablook pulled away from the child and frowned.  "Oh . . . I’m sorry.  I forget you can't eat ghost sandwiches . . . I'm really sorry . . . please don't be mad."            Frisk shook his head.  "It's okay.  I'm not hungry anyway."            Napstablook ate the sandwich then sighed.  "After having a good meal, I like to lie down and feel like garbage.  It's a family tradition.  Would you like to join me?"            "Oh . . . sure?" said Frisk.            The ghost laid down in the room center on the wooden floor.  Frisk lay on his back beside him.  He glanced over at Napstablook, who stared at the ceiling in deep thought.  Frisk looked up as well.  Several seconds passed in complete silence.  Slowly, a breeze of cool air stirred around them.  A tiny glimmer of light appeared in the room followed by others.  Frisk peered up at them, unsure what to think.  The room around him seemed to fade as more and more specks of light appeared.  Slowly, a smile came to his face.  It was space . . . these were stars . . . nebulas . . . galaxies . . . They were so bright . . . so pretty.  Frisk relaxed.  He focused his attention on one of the galaxies and felt like he was moving toward it.  He couldn’t explain how this was happening but it was peaceful and calming.  He sighed.  It also took too long to reach the destination he had focused on.  He blinked and shook his head.  The room was normal again.  Frisk stood up and found Napstablook already floating beside him.            "Well . . . that was nice," said the ghost.  "Thank you."            "Did you see the stars too?"            He nodded.  "They were pretty."            Frisk scratched his head.  "Is this what you always see when you lay down to feel like garbage?"            "No . . . I usually just feel like garbage.  But you showed me something beautiful.  I have never met someone who has such a vivid imagination . . . and a soul so alive . . ."            "You saw what I was imagining?"            Napstablook nodded.  "I'm sorry . . . I wasn't intending to.  You have a lot of hope . . . and it's contagious.  I needed that."            Frisk smiled back.  "I'm glad I helped you feel better."            "You . . . you're a really nice person.  Would you be too upset if I asked to be friends?"            Frisk shook his head.  "No, I'd love to."  He held out his hand.  Napstablook glanced down at it and frowned.  Frisk slowly lowered his hand with a nervous grin.            "Sorry . . . you should probably get going.  I've taken a lot of your time."            "Thanks for inviting me.”            "Goodbye,” said the ghost.  Frisk waved to him then headed to the door.

           Frisk resumed the trip through Waterfall, but stopped suddenly when he noticed a small cavern of shimmering crystals to the left.  He hadn’t seen this opening the first time through.  Might as well make a quick detour.  The human stepped in and immediately saw an old turtle monster inside.  "Hello?" said Frisk.            The monster greeted him with a funky grin.  "Whoa there!  I'm Gerson."  The turtle moved forward, a magnifying glass in one hand.  "I've got some neat junk for sale.  You looking for anything?"            "Do you have food?  I might need some later," said Frisk.            Gerson reached into a bag and showed the human three strange fruits.  "Got some crab apples here.  They're pretty good if you don't mind the sour taste."            "How much do they cost?"            "Eh . . . I'd say twenty-five gold each."            Frisk felt his pockets and took out fifty of the gold pieces he had collected on the way.  "Can I have two?"            Gerson handed him two.  "Here you go!  Thanks!"  He returned the third to his bag.  "So . . . what's a person doing so deep in the underground?"            "I'm trying to get home."            "Well, hey.  Good luck.  I hear someone's out looking for you."            "Yeah."  Frisk’s gaze drifted away from the turtle to the back wall of the cave.  He noticed the same symbol he had seen before at various places in the Underground.  He stared for a second.  "Hey, Gerson?  What's that symbol thing?"  The child pointed to the wall.            The turtle glanced at it then returned his gaze to the human.  He seemed confused with the child’s question.  "Eh?  You don't know what that is?"  Frisk shook his head.  "What are they teaching you kids in school nowadays?"  Gerson giggled then began to explain.  "That's the Delta Rune, the emblem of our kingdom, the ‘Kingdom of Monsters’.  That's its name."  Gerson laughed.  "Great name, hu?  It's as I always say . . . Ol' King Dreemurr can't name for beans."            Frisk smirked.  "Do you know what the emblem means?"            "Hm . . .” Gerson scratched a tuft of hair at the end of his scaly chin that almost looked like a beard.  “That emblem actually predates written history.  The original meaning has been lost to time.  All we know is that the triangles symbolize us monsters below, and the winged circle above symbolizes . . . something else.  Most people say it's the 'angel' from the prophecy."            Now Frisk was interested and curious.  "Can you tell me about the prophecy?"            "Oh, sure . . . the prophecy."  Gerson stepped closer and narrowed his eyes a little.  "Legend has it an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom.  But lately, the people have been taking a bleaker outlook . . . calling that circle the 'Angel of Death' . . . a harbinger of destruction, waitin' to 'free' us from this mortal realm."  Gerson grinned and stepped back to glance at the symbol.  "In my opinion, when I see that circle, I just think it looks neat!"            "Tell me more about you," said Frisk            "Oh, I've been around a long time . . . maybe too long.  Studying history sure is easy when you've lived through so much of it yourself!"  Gerson laughed.            "Were you there in the war against humans?"            The turtle’s yellow eyes widened.  "Oh yeah, I was there . . . one of the few still alive after that disaster."            Frisk tilted his head a little.  "But . . . the king doesn't seem old.  What kind of monster is he anyway?"            "Oh, Asgore?  He's a real interesting type of monster . . . the strongest type of all.  We call 'em boss monsters.  When they have an offspring, the soul power of the parents flows into the child . . . causing the child to grow as the parents age.  But Asgore doesn't have a child, so he's been stuck at the same age . . . and probably will be forever,” Gerson explained.            This made sense.  Asriel would have grown up and his parents would have gotten older if he hadn't died.  But now Frisk had another question.  "Uh . . . what if the child is a human?"            Gerson seemed puzzled.  "Huh?"            "Didn't they adopt a human child?"            "Oh!  Nah, that wouldn't work.  So if Asgore's your father, he'll definitely outlive you.”            "Uh also, do you know anything about Undyne?" Frisk said.            Gerson nodded.  "Sure do.  She's really come a long way since she was a little urchin.  I used to be a hero myself, back in the old days . . . Gerson, the Hammer of Justice.  When she was younger, Undyne would follow me around, to watch me beat up bad guys.  Sometimes she'd even try to help!  Though, most of the time the folks she attacked weren't bad guys."  Gerson snickered.  "It'd be the mailman or something like that.  Anyhoo, I appreciated it!"            Frisk smiled.  "Okay, thanks for explaining."            "Hey, you should stop by Temmie Village farther on, if you find it," said Gerson.            "Is it in Waterfall?"            "Yeah . . . some place.  They're interesting little creatures.  I'm sure you'll get a laugh or two from them.  Hahaha!"            "Okay."  Frisk turned and started back out.              "Be careful out there, kid!" the turtle called after him.

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Flowey?

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           Frisk greeted Sans at the entrance of Waterfall.  Sans responded from behind a stand with a casual smile.  "Hey, kid.  What?  Haven't you seen a guy with two jobs before?"            "Nope."            "Fortunately, two jobs means twice as many legally-required breaks,” said Sans then laughed a little.  "I'm going to Grillby's.  Wanna come?"            Frisk nodded.  "Sure.  I'm starving.”            "Well, if you insist . . . I'll pry myself away from my work."  Sans stood then stepped from behind the stand.  He motioned Frisk to follow.  "Over here.  I know a shortcut."  Sans led the way into a dark tunnel ahead.  Frisk followed the sound of Sans' footsteps like before.  He heard a door open followed by a flood of warm light as the scene of Grillby's restaurant appeared.  Frisk looked down.  He and Sans stood a step or two from the door.  Frisk glanced over a shoulder.  Snow fluttered down outside.  He looked back at Sans.  "Fast shortcut, huh?" said the skeleton.            Frisk nodded.  "That was cool."  Sans walked further in, passing some tables as he greeted everyone.  The monsters replied happily.  Sans and Frisk reached the front where a strange fish creature leaned on the counter.            "Hey Sans, weren't you just here for breakfast a few minutes ago?" said the fish.  Frisk backed away.  He had forgotten how bad this monster smelled.            Sans shook his head.  "Nah, I haven't had breakfast in at least half an hour.  You must be thinking of brunch," he said.  Sans directed Frisk’s attention to an empty seat at the counter.  "Here, get comfy."  Frisk checked the seat before sitting this time.  Sans didn’t attempt the same prank here either.  That was odd.  Sans sat down to the left and waved at Grillby, who stood behind the counter.  “Let's order.  Whaddya want?  Fries or a burger?"            "A burger sounds good," said Frisk.            "Yeah.  I think I'll have one too."  Sans glanced at Grillby, who quietly waited their order.  "Grillby, we'll take a double order of burgers."  The fire monster nodded and left to prepare the food.  Sans paused awkwardly and scratched his head.  Several seconds of silence passed.  "So, what do you think of my brother?" said Sans.            "He's nice."            Sans nodded.  "Of course, he's cool.  You'd be cool too if you wore that outfit every day.  He'd only take that thing off if he absolutely had to."  Sans shrugged.  "Oh well.  At least he washes it."  He snickered.  "And by that I mean he wears it in the shower."  Grillby returned with two plates of food.  "Here comes the grub."  Grillby set the burgers in front of Sans and Frisk.  Sans lifted a bottle of ketchup and offered it to the human.  "Want some ketchup?" he asked.            "Hm . . . no thanks."            Sans winked.  "More for me."  The skeleton proceeded to drink the bottle of ketchup, while Frisk took a bite of his burger as if drinking ketchup wasn't strange.  Sans set down the ketchup and paused a few seconds.  "I actually probably don't want the burger," he said.  He scratched his head again.  Frisk wanted him to hurry and get to the point.  He wanted to ask him so much but it didn’t seem to be the best time yet.  "Anyway," Sans said.  "Cool or not, you have to agree Papyrus tries really hard."            Frisk nodded.  "He does."            "Like how he keeps trying to be part of the Royal Guard.  One day, he went to the house of the head of the Royal Guard and begged her to let him be in it."            Frisk swallowed a bite of his hamburger, trying to be patient.  "What happened?"  He took another bite of the burger while he listened to Sans' response.            "Of course, she shut the door on him because it was midnight.  But the next day, she woke up and saw him still waiting there.  Seeing his dedication, she decided to give him warrior training.  It's, uh, still a work in progress," said Sans.  He looked away again.  Another awkward pause accompanied the next few minutes while Frisk ate his burger.            Without making direct eye contact with the child, Sans broke the silence again.  "Oh yeah.  I wanted to ask you something," he said.  Frisk set down the burger and glanced at the skeleton beside him.  "Have you ever heard of a talking flower?" Sans said.            Frisk nodded.  "Yes.  I saw one as soon as I woke up in the underground.  It tried to kill me."            Sans narrowed his eyes with suspicion.  "Yeah.  Anyway . . . I'm talking about the Echo Flower.  They're all over the marsh.  Say something to them, and they'll repeat it over and over."            Frisk nodded.  "Oh, yeah.  I heard someone talking about those."            "Well, Papyrus told me something interesting the other day.  Sometimes . . . when no one else is around . . . a flower appears and whispers things to him.  Flattery . . . advice . . . encouragement . . . predictions.  Weird, huh?"  Frisk nodded.  "Someone must be using an Echo Flower to play a trick on him.  Keep an eye out, okay?"            "I will," said Frisk.            "Thanks."            Frisk glanced down.  "And . . . I think I already know who it is," he said.            Sans seemed interested.  "Yeah?"            "A little yellow one . . . who goes by Flowey."            Sans stared for several seconds almost with an extreme look of confusion.  Frisk peered back as an eerie feeling of dread overcame him.  Had he said too much too soon?  "The little yellow one . . . he can't be trusted," said Sans.            Frisk nodded slowly, as memories of the last timeline came back, resurfacing like a nightmare.  "I know.”            Sans continued to stare as if he had a strange feeling about the human that he was trying to make sense of.  Eventually he glanced away.  "Okay, just warning ya."  Sans got up from the chair.  "Welp.  That was a long break."  He glanced at Frisk, who stood as well.  "I can't believe I let ya pull me away from work for that long."  Frisk shrugged and smiled back, trying hard to push the memories of his fight with Flowey back again.  "Oh, by the way.  I'm flat broke.  Can you foot the bill?  It's just ten thousand gold," Sans said.            "I don't have that much, but I would if I did."            Sans laughed.  "Relax, I'm just kidding."  He glanced around Frisk.  "Grillby, put it on my tab."  Grillby nodded.  Sans walked to the door and opened it, a chilly breeze blowing in.  He paused to look back.  "By the way . . . I was going to say something else, but I forgot."  Sans winked then stepped out, shutting the door behind him.  Frisk sighed.  It was strange.  He hadn't done anything wrong but he still felt uncomfortable with that interaction.  Sans seemed confused but hadn’t attempted the same pranks.  Maybe he did remember through resets.  If he did though, why did he seem to be searching for answers?

           Meanwhile Flowey glanced down a dark cavern of Waterfall in search of Frisk.  He looked to the right first then turned his head to the left to see Sans standing there.  Flowey yelped and attempted a quick retreat.  Sans held up a hand, wrapping the flower in the blue glow of a magic hold.  Flowey squirmed as Sans stepped from the shadows.            "I hear you've been giving my little buddy a hard time," said Sans.            Flowey grinned, breaking into a nervous sweat.  "Ha ha, well . . ."            “I should kill you right here."            Flowey trembled.  "But I haven't hardly done anything yet."            Sans' eyes went dark and he stepped closer.  "I can tell by the look on the human's face . . . that you have already killed him multiple times.  And you wanna know how I know that look?"  Flowey glanced around nervously.  "It's the same look you're givin' me right now," said Sans.            Flowey frowned.  He couldn’t escape Sans right now and both of them knew it.  Flowey glared.  "Alright fine.  If you really want to kill me, do it.  I dare you."            Sans eyes lit up with life again.  "Hey, I would if I felt you were a real threat.  But you're not . . . not anymore.  This is just a warning, flower.  I've had enough of you messing with the timeline already.  I can't stop you if you have that power.  But you mess with Papyrus or my buddy any more, and I'll hunt you down like you've never been hunted before.  Considering you're pretty weak now, killing you wouldn't be hard.  And once it's done, you aren't comin' back either."  Flowey was trembling again.  He pulled against Sans' magic hold but to no avail.  "Get outta here."  Sans released his hold and lowered his hand.  Flowey ducked out of sight, retreating into the dirt.

           Frisk made it back to Sans' stand at Waterfall, but Sans wasn’t there.  Frisk peeked behind it but it was unoccupied.  He scratched his head.            “Yo!” called a young voice.              Frisk turned around.  He recognized the monster kid immediately.  “Oh, hi!”            The reptilian creature smiled.  "Are you sneaking out to see her too?"            Frisk nodded.  "Undyne?  Duh."            "Awesome!  She's the coolest.  Come on!  I just saw her go this way!"  The kid rushed onward as Frisk followed.  They ran across a bridge and ducked in the tall grass on the other side of a stream.  Monster kid focused his gaze on a ledge above.  "Up there.”  Frisk looked up and saw Undyne’s shadow.  “Sh!” said monster kid as Papyrus approached Undyne.  Frisk had heard this conversation before but was willing to stick around and listen for differences.            "Hi, Undyne!  I'm here with my daily report, uh . . . regarding that human I called you about earlier."            Undyne stood in the shadows, her armor glinting in dim light.  "Did you fight them?"            "Yes, of course I did!"  Papyrus grinned.  "I fought valiantly!"            "Did you capture them?"            Papyrus paused.  "Well . . . no.  I tried very hard, Undyne, but in the end . . ."  The skeleton glanced down and frowned.  "I failed."            Undyne growled.  "Fine, I will deal with them myself.”            Papyrus looked up in alarm.  "What?  You're still gonna take his soul?"  He stepped toward her.  "But Undyne, you don't have to destroy him!  You see . . . you see . . ."            "It is still a human, Papyrus.  We need its soul.  I will do what I must to get it," she said.            The taller skeleton sighed.  "I understand.  I will help you in any way I can," he said.            Frisk was confused.  They were friends now.  Why would he want to help her kill him?  Frisk and the monster kid waited quietly in the grass until Undyne left.  They crawled out and continued on.            Just a little farther in the cave, Frisk's phone rang.  He reached into his pocket, took it out, and answered.  "Cool!  A phone!  Who is it?" asked the monster kid beside him.            A familiar spoke.  "Hello!  This is Papyrus!"            "Hi, Papyrus," said Frisk.  "I didn’t call you yet.  How did you get my number?"            "It was easy!  I just dialed every number sequentially until I got yours!"            Frisk grinned nervously.  "Oh, I should have called," he said.            Papyrus laughed.  "That's alright.  So . . . what are you wearing?"            “Uh . . .”  Frisk glanced down at a blue and purple striped shirt and dark pants.  "The same thing I was wearing when I saw you.”            "I'm just . . . asking for a friend," he said.            "Why?"            "Well, she thought she saw you with a red ribbon around your wrist.  Are you still wearing that thing?"            Frisk glanced at it and nodded before responding.  "Yeah."            "Okay, so you do still have it.  Cool.  You're my friend, so I trust you one hundred percent!  Have a nice day!"            "Thanks."  Papyrus hung up.  Frisk put the phone in his pocket.            Monster kid was staring.  "Was that the tall skeleton dude?" he said.            Frisk nodded.  "Come on.  Let's keep looking for Undyne."  He led the way toward a small entrance ahead.  Monster kid smiled and skipped after him.

           Shortly after monster kid had gone on ahead, Frisk entered the largest cavern of Waterfall.  His phone rang again so he answered.  “Hi, Papyrus,” he said.            "Hello!  Remember when I asked you about clothes?" said Papyrus.            Frisk nodded as he crossed a bridge in the cavern.  "Yes."            "Well, the friend who wanted to know . . . her opinion of you is very . . . murdery."            "It's Undyne, isn't it."            "Maybe . . ." said the skeleton.  "But worry not, human!  Papyrus would never betray you!  You said you were wearing a red ribbon so . . . I told her you were because I knew that as soon as I asked such a suspicious question, you'd think to take it off."            Frisk stopped to glance at the ribbon still wrapped around his wrist.  "Oh, uh . . ."            "See?  Everyone is happy and I didn't even have to lie about it.  Being friends with everyone is easy!"  Papyrus hung up again.            Frisk put away the phone and continued.  It didn't matter anyway.  She was going to find him eventually.  And this time, Frisk was going to try . . . somehow . . . to make friends with her.

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[for-a-flower]

Hanging Out

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           Frisk followed Papyrus to his house.  The skeleton noticed the child rushing toward him and smiled.  "Wowie!  You really want to be my friend!" he said.            “Yeah, why not?” asked Frisk.            "Well, then.”  Papyrus rubbed his chin as his eyes darted over the town path.  “I guess I should take you somewhere super special so we can hang out.”  After a second his eyes grew wide.  He lifted a finger.  “And I have the perfect idea!"            "Cool!  Where are we going?"            "A place I spend a lot of my spare time!"  Papyrus motioned the human to follow then proceeded to rush down the snowy street.  Frisk did his best to keep up.  They rushed to the other side of town where Papyrus suddenly halted.  Frisk ran into him and nearly lost his footing.  Papyrus spun around.  “Excuse me!”  He stepped around Frisk then hurried back the other way.  Frisk was confused but continued to follow.  The skeleton led the child back to the front door of his home, the only house in the town lit with Christmas lights.  “We’re here!”  Papyrus motioned to the door.  "My house!"  Frisk giggled.  Papyrus cheerily opened the door and stepped in, leaving the door open for Frisk to enter.  The main room was large, warm, and cozy.  "Welcome to scenic . . . my house," said Papyrus.  "Enjoy!"            Frisk glanced around the room.  By the right wall was a table with a plate on it.  A small rock sat on the plate covered in sprinkles.  Frisk went to poke at the rock then glanced over his shoulder.  Papyrus stood behind him.  "What's this?" said Frisk.            "That's my brother's pet rock.  He keeps forgetting to feed it.  So, of course, I'm left with the responsibility," he said.            Frisk smiled as he eyed the rock.  "Sans has a pet rock?  Why?"            "Nyeh!  I think he said it was a reflection of himself?  But it’s not even shiny!" Papyrus said.  “Hm . . . as for sitting around and not doing anything though.  That’s accurate.”            Frisk’s eyes scanned the rest of the room.  There was a large TV against the back wall and a green couch in front of it.  The walls were brown with orange trim and the carpet was zigzagged with light blue and purple.  Frisk spotted a dirty sock lying against the wall near the TV.  There were sticky notes stuck to it.  He couldn't help but move closer.  Frisk knelt in front of the sock to read the note under the rest.  It was clearly written by Papyrus.            "Sans!  Please pick up your sock!"  Frisk smirked then read the next note.            "Okay,” was Sans’ reply.  Frisk flipped to the next.            "Don't put it back down!  Move it!"            "Okay."            "You moved it two inches!  Move it to your room!"            Frisk broke into giggling when he read Sans' third reply.  "Okay."            "And don't bring it back!"            "Okay."            "It's still here!"            "Didn't you just say not to bring it back to my room?"            Frisk read the last note from Papyrus.  "Forget it!"  He stood up, stilling giggling.            “I see you’ve discovered Sans’ stray sock!” said Papyrus.  “I left it on the floor hoping one day he’d need it or learn to pick it up on his own.  But he seems to have a limitless supply of socks and isn’t bothered that this one is on the floor!”            “Why is that?” said Frisk.            Papyrus glanced away.  The door had been left open and was letting in a draft.  “You should see his room.  That might explain it,” he mumbled.  “You’ll have to ask him to let you in though.  He usually keeps it locked.”            “Okay, I’ll ask him later,” said Frisk.  He stepped through the kitchen doorway to his right.  Papyrus entered as well, supervising as the child looked around.  In the kitchen was a stove, counter, and refrigerator.  Normal kitchen contents.  None of that was surprising.  However there was an extremely tall sink against the far wall.  Frisk approached to look up.  The thing looked like a four story building compared to him.            "Impressed?" said Papyrus from behind.            Frisk nodded.  "Why is the sink so big?"            "So I can fit more bones under it!  Take a look!"  Frisk reached for the cupboard knob and peeked in.  A small, white dog sat inside.  It was gnawing on a bone.  Frisk opened the door so Papyrus could see it too.  Papyrus gasped at the sight.  "What!?"  The dog grabbed the bone between its teeth and bolted for the door.  "Catch that meddling canine!" Papyrus ordered.  Frisk jumped for it, but the dog dashed by Papyrus and out the door.  Papyrus and Frisk stopped in the doorway as the dog rushed through town.  "Curses!"  Papyrus closed the door.            A door opened on the second floor.  Sans stuck his head out of his room, holding a trombone.  He blurted out a few descending notes, before quickly retreating and shutting the door.            Papyrus scowled.  "Sans!  Stop plaguing my life with incidental music!"  Frisk laughed.  They could hear Sans chuckling through his room door.  Frisk located a staircase leading to the balcony and two bedrooms.  He went for the stairs while Papyrus followed.  The child paused to observe a stand beside the couch.  There was a joke book lying on it.  Frisk picked it up and looked inside.  There was a quantum physics book in there and inside that was another joke book and yet another quantum physics book.  Confused, Frisk closed the book and set it back on the stand.  He headed up the stairs and approached the first door, which had caution tape across it and a stop sign.            Papyrus joined him.  "This is my room!" he said.  "Would you like to go in and hang out like a pair of very cool friends?"            "Yeah, but hang on."  Frisk glanced down the hall toward Sans' room.  The door was closed, but strange flames seemed to be seeping out from under it.  The flame was yellow and blue in color.  Since it wasn’t burning anything, Frisk assumed it was magic.  He approached the door and knocked.  "Sans?"  No response.  "Sans?" the human called.  He tried to open the door but it was locked.            "You're wasting your time, human," said Papyrus.  Frisk glanced back.  "My brother always keeps his door locked from the inside even when he's not home.  Don't ask me how he gets back in, cause I'll never know."            Frisk sighed and joined Papyrus in the doorway of his room.  "Alright, hang out time."            Papyrus smiled and stepped aside to let the human enter.  He left the door open while Frisk looked around.  It was quite nice.  There was a box of bones and a computer along the right wall, a bookshelf and a flag with a skull on it on the back wall, and a table with some action figures near a bed made up inside a car.  The computer was on, so Frisk went to look at it.  An internet page was open.            "That's the internet!  I'm quite popular there," said Papyrus.  "I'm just a dozen away from a double digits follower count."  Frisk gave Papyrus a skeptical look.  The skeleton scowled.  "Of course, fame has a steep price.  A jealous troll has besieged my online persona, always sending me bad puns in a goofy font."            Frisk snickered a little.  This troll sounded like Sans.  "So what's with the car bed?" he asked.            Papyrus grinned.  "Oh!  Well, if I ever get to the surface, I'd like to drive down a long highway.  Wind in my hair . . . sun on my skin . . ."  Frisk stared up at the skeleton who sighed.  "Of course, that's just a dream.  So instead I cruise while I snooze."            Frisk moved to the table of action figures.  "Wow, you have a lot of these.”            "Ah, yes, action figures . . . a great reference for those theoretical battle scenarios."            "How do you have so many?"            "Heh.  Well, let's just say they're from . . . a chubby, smiling man who loves to surprise people."            Frisk tilted his head a little.  "Santa?" he said.            Papyrus laughed.  "Yeah, that's right!  Santa!"  The two paused a few seconds as an awkward silence followed.  "So . . . do you want to start hanging out?" said Papyrus.            Frisk smiled.  "Isn’t that what we’re doing?"            “Okay!  Here we are, hanging out!"  Papyrus scratched his head as his gaze shifted away.  "I've . . . actually never done this before."  He peered down at Frisk.  "But don't worry!  You can't spell prepared without several letters from my name!"  The skeleton whipped out a book and showed it to the human.  "I snagged an official hangout guidebook from the library!  So we're ready to have a great time!"            "Uh . . ."            Papyrus opened the book and held it in front of his face.  "Let's see . . . step one . . . ask them to hang out."  Papyrus lowered the book and smiled.  "Ahem!  Human!  I, the great Papyrus, will hang out with you!"            Frisk found this to be a strange approach, but went along with it.  "Okay."            Papyrus gasped.  "Really?  You'd like to hang out too?  Wow!  This is perfect."  Frisk giggled.  The skeleton lifted the book again.  "I guess that means it's time for part two!  Step two . . . put on nice clothes to show you care!"  Papyrus paused and slowly lowered the book.  "Wait a second . . . wear clothing . . ."  He glanced at Frisk's wrist.  "That red ribbon around your wrist."            Frisk glanced down at the ribbon.  He had forgotten he had tied it loosely around his wrist after leaving the Ruins.  "Yeah, what about it?"            "You're wearing nice clothing right now!  But not only that . . . earlier today you were also wearing clothing!"            Frisk was confused.  "Um . . . of course."            Papyrus gasped.  "No, could it be?  You've wanted to hang out with me from the very beginning!"            Frisk snickered and shrugged.  "Yeah, I guess you could say that.”            Papyrus stepped back, his eyes wide.  He stared at the human in utter amazement.  "No!  You planned it all!  You're way better at hanging out than I am!"  Papyrus shook his head.  "No!  You're friendship power!"  Frisk smiled proudly and crossed his arms.  Papyrus gave a mischievous grin.  "Heh.  Don't think you've bested me yet!"            Frisk's smile faded.  "Hu?"            "I, the great Papyrus, have never been beaten at hanging out, and I never will!  I can easily keep up with you!  You see, I too can wear clothing!  In fact . . . I always wear my cool clothes underneath my regular clothes!  Just in case someone wants to hang out!  Behold!"  The skeleton slipped off his heroic red cape, put a cap on his head, and turned backwards.  The shirt under his cape read "cool dude."  Frisk snickered.  "What do you think of my secret style?!"            Frisk gave him a thumbs up.  "I love it."            Papyrus' eyes grew wide again.  "Whoa!  A genuine compliment!"            Frisk nodded.  "You're welcome."            Papyrus narrowed his eyes as if this was a contest now.  A contest to decide who was the better friend . . . and he wanted to win.  "However . . . you don't truly understand the hidden power of this outfit.  Therefore . . . what you just said was invalid.  This hang out won't escalate any further unless you find my secret!  But that won't happen!"  Frisk paused a second before he lifted a hand to point up at his hat.  Papyrus paused.  "My hat?!"  Papyrus laughed a little and lifted his cap.  Under it, balancing perfectly on the top of his head was a little box.  "Well, then . . . you found my secret!  It's a present!  A present just for you!"  The skeleton handed the box to the human.            Frisk was actually surprised with this.  "Oh, thanks."  He opened the box and found what looked like a plate of spaghetti inside.  There was something strange about it though.  Frisk glanced up at the skeleton.            "Do you know what that is?" Papyrus asked.            "Spaghetti?"            He smiled.  "Right!  But oh so wrong!"  Papyrus grinned down at the young human.  "This ain't any plain old pasta!  This is an artisan's work!  Silken spaghetti, finely aged in an oaken cask, then cooked by me, master chef Papyrus!"  Frisk glanced back down at the plate he held.  He didn't want to eat this.  Papyrus grabbed his attention again.  "Human!  It's time to end this contest!  There's no way it can go any further!"            But there was a way.  Without letting himself hesitate, Frisk slurped up a single noodle.  His face reflexively scrunched up.  The taste was indescribably repulsive.  Frisk tried to prevent spitting it back out and forced himself to swallow it.            Papyrus stared in surprise.  "What a passionate expression!  You must really like my cooking . . . and by extension, me!"  The skeleton backed away from Frisk.  "Maybe even more than I do!  Nooooo!"  Confused, Frisk offered the skeleton the plate back.            Papyrus sighed and took it.  "Human, it's clear now.  You're completely obsessed with me as a friend.  Everything you do.  Everything you say.  It's all been for my sake."  Papyrus glanced away with a frown.  "Human, I want you to be happy, too.  It's time for me to express my feelings."  Papyrus moved away to set the plate on a table.  "It's time that I told you . . . I, Papyrus . . . hm . . .”  He glanced back at Frisk.  “Well, I'm flattered you care so much.  But maybe cool it a little bit?  You are a very nice person.  I'm glad we're friends, but I think you can reach your max potential if you live more for your own sake, rather than just for mine,” said Papyrus.             Frisk frowned a little.  "I just didn't want to disappoint you.”            "Hm . . . Hey, I know of a solution!  You should hang out with my boss, Undyne!  I think if you spread your friend energy out more . . . you'll have a more healthy lifestyle."            Frisk nodded.  "Okay, I’ll give it a try."            "Yeah!  Let's be friends with Undyne!"  Papyrus grinned.  He turned and started out but stopped in the room's doorway and spun around.  "Oh, and if you ever need to reach me . . . here's my phone number.  You can call me at any time!"  He handed Frisk a paper.            "Thanks."            "No problem!  See you around!"  Papyrus left the room and started down the stairs.  Frisk sighed and put the paper in his pocket.  He glanced down at the floor.  He wanted the chance to hang out with everyone, Sans, Undyne, Alphys, Asgore . . . Flowey . . . maybe even Chara if she ever decided to speak again.            Frisk left Papyrus' room.  If he was to be completely honest with himself, he was mostly curious about Flowey, a soulless flower with a personality, determination, and sometimes the ability to save and reset.  How did that even happen?  It didn't seem like it was supposed to be possible.  However Frisk had the feeling he needed to learn about Flowey through everyone else, since Flowey himself didn't seem willing to talk about his past.  It was the same with Chara.  The two of them actually seemed quite similar, except Chara was a human and Frisk really had no idea what Flowey was.

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This Again

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           Frisk walked through chilly, frosty air as it clouded over with thick fog.  His head was down, but he stopped to look up when Papyrus' voice broke the silence.  "Human!" said the skeleton.  "Allow me to tell you about some complex feelings.  Feelings like . . . the joy of finding another pasta lover.  The admiration for another's puzzle solving skills . . . the desire to have a cool, smart person think you are cool.  These feelings . . . they must be what you are feeling right now!"            Frisk smirked and shrugged.  "I guess you could say that."            “I can hardly imagine what it must be like to feel that way.  After all . . . I am very great.  I don't ever wonder what having lots of friends is like."  Papyrus sighed.  "I pity you . . . lonely human . . . But worry not!" Papyrus shouted.  "You shall be lonely no longer!  I, the great Papyrus, will be your . . ."  His voice trailed off and he glanced away.  "No . . ."  He shook his head.  "No, this is all wrong!  I can't be your friend!  You are a human!"  Papyrus pointed at the child.  "I must capture you!  Then I can fulfill my lifelong dream!  Powerful!  Popular!  Prestigious!  That's Papyrus!  The newest member . . . of the Royal Guard!"            Papyrus blocked the path ahead.  With a grin, he waved a hand almost comically.  Four bones shot up from the snow between them.  Frisk narrowed his eyes and prepared himself.  The bones slid toward the human, who easily stepped around them.  Papyrus waved the other hand to send six bones this time.            Frisk stepped left, easily avoiding the attack.  He was used to much worse by now.  He glanced back at Papyrus, still smiling.  "You know, you'd make an awesome friend," he said.            Papyrus gasped and stepped back.  "Oh!  What flattery!  But I have high friendship standards."            Frisk rubbed his chin.  "I can . . . make spaghetti," he lied.            Papyrus grinned.  "Oh no!  You're meeting all my standards!  Well, human, if you really want to be friends . . . we can hang out, after I capture you.  So if you give up right now, that'll happen even sooner!"            "I don't want to attack you, but I'm not going to let you catch me either,” said Frisk.            The tall skeleton crossed his arms and stepped back.  "Oh, so you won't fight.  Then let's see if you can handle my fabled blue attack!" he said.  Papyrus burst into laughter and raised both hands.  Bones rose from the ground coated with a blue magic.  Frisk stood his ground and let them come.  The attack passed through him harmlessly.  It almost tickled.  Darker blue magic surrounded the child, but he remembered the sneak attack this time.  Frisk jumped to his  right to avoid a bone that came up behind him.            Papyrus snickered.  "You're blue now.  That's my attack!"            "Looks like it'll have to be the hard way then,” Frisk whispered to himself.            Papyrus sent large groups of bones hurtling in Frisk's direction.  The human avoided them by jumping several and ducking others, while Papyrus went on about his dreams.  "I can almost taste my future popularity.  Papyrus, head of the Royal Guard!"  The skeleton raised a hand to summon another group of bones.  They cut through the snow as they moved toward him.  Frisk was ready.  He knew Papyrus' tricks now.  Frisk jumped several bones of the attack then moved aside to avoid one that flew in suddenly from the left.  The skeleton seemed frustrated that he hadn’t landed a single hit yet.  "Undyne will be so proud of me!  The king will trim a hedge in the shape of my smile!" he said.             Frisk rolled his eyes as several more bones formed in front of Papyrus and slid forward.  There were quite a few this time and Frisk timed his jumps wrong.  He landed hard on one, which shattered and sent a piercing jolt of pain up his spine.  He staggered a little in the snow.  A second wave of blue ones passed.  Frisk froze in place.  Papyrus chuckled.  "My brother will . . . well, he won't change very much," he said.  He raised his right hand and prepared another attack.            "Can we be friends now?" said Frisk.            Papyrus paused as if he was reconsidering.  He lowered his hand.  "I'll have lots of admirers if I do this, but . . . will anyone like me as sincerely as you?"            "I don't know," said Frisk.  "But I can be a cool friend, honest."            "Hm . . . someone like you is really rare," he said.  "And being friends would be kind of hard after you're captured and sent away."  Papyrus scowled.  "Ugh!  Who cares!  Give up!"  The skeleton swung a hand, sending several bones toward the human.  Frisk leapt over several, landed, and jumped up again, floating lightly into the chilly air.  He came down safely. "Give up or face my special attack!"  Papyrus stomped a foot on the ground.  Again Frisk dodged around a group of bones that rose around him.  A few taller ones appeared and flew toward him.  Frisk jumped.  He made it over and landed safely.  Just as he stopped to smile at Papyrus, a small bone dropped from the sky above and bumped his head.            Frisk collapsed in the snow a few feet from Papyrus.  He got back to his feet and rubbed his head.  After the initial shooting sensation, the pain left almost as quickly as it had come.  Frisk smirked.  "Nice one," he said.            Papyrus laughed.  "Human, this is your last chance before my special attack!  So now would be a great time to give up."            Frisk shook his head as cool air whirled around them.  "I'm not giving up," he said.  Besides, this was easy.  It was more entertaining than threatening.            “Well then!”  Papyrus lifted his head with a grin.  "Behold!  My special attack!"  He stepped aside, revealing a white dog chewing on a bone.  Frisk couldn't help but smile.  Seeing the confused look on Papyrus' face, Frisk pointed at the little dog.  Papyrus glanced down.  His eyes grew wide.  "What the . . . that's my special attack!" he said.  "Hey!"  The dog looked up.  "You stupid dog!"  Its pointed ears suddenly flopped over.  "Do you hear me?!  Stop munching on that bone!"  Papyrus leaned over to glare.  The dog inched away, dragging the bone with it.  "Hey!  What are you doing?!"  Papyrus stomped the ground with frustration.  "Come back here with my special attack!"  The dog turned and bolted through the snow.  Papyrus glanced down and sighed.  "Oh well.  I'll just use a really cool regular attack."            "Great.  And then can we be friends?" said Frisk.            "Perhaps . . . I'll think about it.  Until then . . ."  Papyrus rolled his eyes.  "Here's an absolutely normal attack."  He stepped back and raised both hands.  Frisk knew what to do.  He jumped and flipped back to avoid the incoming bones.  He landed, ducked a few more, then jumped again.  Frisk dodged right and left while bones skidded and bounced across the path.  He took a few hits and cringed a little.  Frisk glanced at Papyrus just as a wall of solid bone took form up between them.  It slid toward Frisk, occupying the entire width of the path.            Frisk crouched then jumped straight up as hard as he could.  As before, he floated lightly over the wall of bone as it slid beneath him.  Wind rushed by his face.  Papyrus stared.  Blue magic trailed behind Frisk as he came down for a landing only a few feet before Papyrus.  A wisp of snow blew from the spot Frisk landed.  His head lowered and hair covering most of his face, Frisk smiled.  Without the need to look, he crawled back to watch one last bone tumble by.  Frisk stood up.            Papyrus was panting.  He grinned nervously.  "Well . . . it's clear . . . you can't . . . defeat me!"  He spoke between puffs of air.  Papyrus nodded.  "Yeah!  I can see you shaking in your boots!"            Frisk shrugged.  “No, I'm fine.”            Papyrus shook his head.  "Nonsense!  I saw you take a couple hits.  But fear not!  I, the great Papyrus, elect to grant you pity!  I will spare you, human!  Now's your chance to accept my mercy."            "About time."            Papyrus sighed and suddenly dropped to his knees.  "Nohohooo . . . I can't even stop someone as weak as you.  Undyne's going to be disappointed in me.”  Papyrus lifted a hand and glanced up with a sad look in his eyes.  "I'll never join the Royal Guard and . . . my friend quantity will remain stagnant!"            Frisk held out a hand.  "Then let's be friends.”            Papyrus glanced down at his hand.  "You really want to be friends with me?"            "Why not?  You're a pretty cool guy."            “Well then . . . I guess . . ."  Papyrus glanced around before finishing.  "I guess I can make an allowance for you."  He jumped to his feet, grabbed Frisk’s hand and shook it with a happy grin.  "Wowie!  Who knew that all I needed to make pals, was to give people awful puzzles and then fight them?"            Frisk smirked.  "That's not normally how it works."            "You taught me a lot, human.  I hereby grant you permission . . ."  Papyrus stepped off the path and motioned ahead.  "To pass through," he added.            "Thanks."            "And I'll give you directions to the surface!  Continue forward until you reach the end of the cavern.  Then, when you reach the capital . . . cross the barrier.  That's the magic seal trapping us all underground.  Anything can enter through it, but nothing can exit except someone with a powerful soul," said the skeleton.  "Like you!  That's why the king wants to acquire a human.  He wants to open the barrier with soul power.  Then us monsters can return to the surface!"            "Sounds like a plan at least," said Frisk.            Papyrus nodded then stepped closer.  "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you.  To reach the exit, you will have to pass through the king's castle.  And the king of all monsters . . . is well . . ."  The skeleton grinned.  "He's a big, fuzzy pushover!  Everybody loves that guy.  I am certain if you just say, 'Excuse me, Mr. Dreemurr, can I please go home?'  He'll guide you right to the barrier himself!  Well anyway . . . that's enough talking.  I'll be at home being a cool friend!"  Papyrus stepped around Frisk and started down the path toward Snowdin.  "Feel free to come by!"  The skeleton waved over his shoulder.            "Wait!"  Frisk rushed after the skeleton.

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Chapter 2 (Friend of Papyrus)

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           Frisk walked casually down a snow covered path, expecting Sans to be following.  The child stopped at a narrow bridge Papyrus had made.  He didn't need to look back to identify the source of footsteps behind.   While facing forward, standing in the snow, Frisk let the other monster stop behind him.            "Human," said a low voice.            Frisk turned to face Sans and held out his hand with a smile.  Sans reluctantly shook hands.  This time he hadn’t been holding a whoopie cushion.  Frisk had expected the same practical joke to be played as well.  But when nothing happened, he glanced down at Sans’ boney hand.            “Huh.  Did you expect something else?” said Sans.            "Uh . . . no."            Sans let go of Frisk’s hand and stepped back.  "You even turned around before I said to . . . weird."  He shrugged.  "Whatever."  He put his hands in the pockets of a blue coat.  "Anyways . . . you're a human, right?"  Frisk nodded.  The skeleton glanced away.  "That's hilarious," he said then looked back at Frisk.  "I'm Sans."            "Hello," said Frisk.            "I'm actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now but . . . you know . . . I don't really care about capturing anybody," he said.  "Now, my brother Papyrus . . . he's a human hunting fanatic."  Sans paused to look ahead.  "Hey, actually I think that's him over there."  Frisk followed his gaze and saw Papyrus coming down the path.  "I have an idea.  Go through this gate thingy,” said Sans.            "This?"  Frisk faced the bridge and glanced over a wide gate built across it.            "Yeah.  Go right through.  My bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone," said Sans.  Frisk walked over the bridge then glanced back at Sans.  "Quick.  Behind that conveniently shaped lamp."  Sans pointed toward a dark blue lamp near a wooden stand.  Frisk hurried to it and positioned himself behind it.            Sans remained in the open to greet Papyrus.  "Sup, bro?" he said.            Papyrus joined his brother and glared.  "You know what?  Sup, brother!?" he said.  "It's been eight days and you still haven't recalibrated your puzzles!  You just hang around outside your station!"  Papyrus paused to glance over the nearby wooden stand partly covered in snow.  "What are you even doing?!" he yelled.  Frisk listened quietly to the conversation, searching for any differences.            Sans glanced over at the lamp then replied to his brother.  "Staring at this lamp.  It's really cool.  Do you wanna look?"            Papyrus scowled and stomped a foot on the ground.  "No!  I don't have time for that!  What if a human comes through here?!  I want to be ready!  I will be the one!  I must be the one!  I will capture a human!"  He grinned and took a heroic pose, as his red cape caught the wind.  "Then I, the great Papyrus . . . will get all the things I utterly deserve.  Respect . . . recognition . . . I will finally be able to join the Royal Guard!  People will ask to be my friend."  He glanced away as his thoughts drifted.  "I will bathe in a shower of kisses every morning."  Papyrus paused dramatically in a moment of silence.            "Hm . . ."  Sans glanced at the lamp.  "Maybe this lamp will help you," he said.            Papyrus sighed.  "Sans!  You are not helping!  You lazybones!  All you do is sit and boondoggle!  You get lazier and lazier every day!"            "Hey, take it easy.  I've gotten a ton of work done today," he said then winked.  "A skele-ton."            A partial smile threatened to break through Papyrus’ glare.  "Sans!"            "Come on . . . you're smiling," he said.            "I am and I hate it!"  Papyrus stepped away and sighed.  "Why does someone as great as me have to do so much just to get some recognition?"            "Wow.  Sounds like you're really working yourself," said Sans.  "Down to the bone."            Papyrus let out a frustrated puff of air.  "Ugh!"  Sans chuckled.  "I will attend to my puzzles!  As for your work?  Put a little more . . . backbone into it!"  Papyrus burst into laughter and started back the way he had come.            "Okay.  You can come out now," called Sans.  Frisk slipped out and joined him.  "You oughta get going.  He might come back.  And if he does . . . you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes."            Frisk sighed.  “Alright."  He continued down the snow covered path.            “Actually . . . hey,” said Sans.  Frisk looked back.  "Hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor?"            "What is it?" said Frisk.            "I was thinking . . . my brother's been kind of down and upset lately.  He's never seen a human before . . . and seeing you just might make his day.  Don't worry.  He's not dangerous," said Sans.  He looked away.  "Even if he tries to be."            Frisk smiled.  "Sure."            Sans nodded.  "Thanks a million.  I'll be up ahead."  He pointed forward with a finger then turned to walk in the opposite direction.  Frisk shook his head and went on through the snow.  He was chilled but warm enough for now.  He wondered if Sans remembered anything from before.  Flowey had mentioned that Sans would never forget if he found out something about him.  But did that mean through traveling in time as well?  Was he like Flowey in that way?  Frisk assumed that Chara could remember through time travel since he could.  If she didn't, she wouldn’t be this silent.

           For the next several minutes, Frisk wandered Snowdin forest, happily amusing Papyrus by solving his puzzles.  He also played with Snowdrake and gave him a laugh for the puns he made.  Snowdrake ended up leaving in an excited fashion.  After the encounter, Frisk did his best to pass the dogs of the Royal Guard without hurting them.  The first dog, blind to movement, Frisk petted to satisfy his want for attention.  The next, he simply tossed a stick for.  The dog ran off to get it and didn't bother to bring it back.  That was okay though.  Frisk had to roll around in the snow to satisfy the curiosity of a cute dog couple, so by the time he reached Snowdin Town, he was wet and shivering.            Frisk glanced down the town's main path, which seemed more lively and cheerful since he had been there before.  He smiled, determination flooding in.  He glanced down just as a familiar yellow spark lit the snow then vanished.  Frisk rushed to the Inn and paid to stay with money he had gathered from helpful monsters.  He found the room, laid out his shirt to dry, then rolled up in the warm and closed his eyes.  Even though several monsters were snoring loudly in a room next door, the child quickly drifted off to sleep.            Frisk found himself standing in shadow.  The darkness enveloped everything around him.  Eerie, raspy laughter echoed in the dark.  It grew louder and louder.  Frisk frantically searched for the source, but he couldn't see.  A loud crack of splitting rock was heard briefly, before a spiny vine wrapped tightly around him.  "This is all just a bad dream," said a voice.  "And you're never waking up!"  A blast of magic shot from the dark and struck Frisk.            Frisk screamed and sat up.  His heart pounded as adrenaline rushed through him.  He trembled in fear, breathing heavily as he glanced around the bedroom.  It took several moments for the child to calm himself.  Frisk’s gaze drifted down to the tangled blankets around him.  He didn’t want to sleep anymore, but at least he was more dry.  He slid off the bed and rubbed his eyes.  Frisk sleepily pulled on his striped sweater, opened the door, and walked down a narrow hall toward the stairs.  He found a rabbit creature at the lobby’s front desk and handed her the room key.  "Thanks," said Frisk.            The female rabbit smiled.  "Wow, you look quite rested!" she said.  "Which is funny, cause you were only up there for a few minutes."            "Oh," said Frisk.  She was right in a way.  He did feel a little rested as well as terrified again.            "Feel free to come back any time!" said the rabbit.            Frisk nodded and headed for the door.  He braced himself for the cold then opened the door and stepped out.  He still felt shaky after that dream.  He had to keep moving and get his mind off it.  Worrying about what could happen this time wouldn't help.  He had to keep his hopes up.  And this time he was hoping things would happen differently.  He hadn't died a single time so far.  Already it was looking a lot better.  For the most part, he also knew what to expect this time.  Frisk casually walked down the town street as he thought.  He passed the Christmas tree and the library.            Since he knew what to expect, any deaths depended on whether or not he could move fast enough to avoid attacks.  He knew dying really wasn't a problem if it happened.  It was feeling it that was horrifying.  Even though he had been through a lot already, Frisk couldn't help but wonder what else lay ahead.  Since there were minor differences this time, he couldn't be completely sure of the outcome.  He held onto the hope of a better end.  That was the only thing he could do.

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