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Chapter Text

"W-wh- where am I? Who are you?"

The whole group fell down into the hole and landed on the hard ground, surprisingly they are all not dead. They landed on a patch of golden flowers that broke their fall. They each started to get up an check on each other.

"Ugh, is everyone alright?" Diego asked before he checks himself.

"I'm okay" Iris said straightening her glasses. Diego saw that her purple turtleneck was all dirty now. "Nothing broken, just a little banged up. What about you?"

Diego inspected himself. He had nothing serious, just little cuts and bruises. "I'm good, thanks."

"John get your butt out of my face!" Jerod shouted. His friend was sprawled out on top of him.

"How about you get your face out of my butt!" John retorted. He crossed his arms and scoffed.

"Uh I think you both should get off of Delilah." Diego said. They both looked down and saw Delilah's arm sticking out of the dogpile, her hand clawing at the ground. They could hear her muffled yelling.

They both quickly got off as Delilah gasped, finally able to breath. She slowly turned her head and glared at John and Jerod. Flower petals stuck to her hair.

They both chuckled nervously. "Heh, no hard feelings right?" Jerod said. He grunted as she kneed him in the groin. She turned to John. He put his hands up and slowly backed away from his little sister.

"Y-you wouldn't do that to you own brother right." John stuttered. She rolled her eyes as she punched his shoulder and then hugged him.

"Don't ever tell anyone about this." Delilah said. John agreed in fear of getting hit like Jerod. "But I am glad your alright."

"Ugh you didn't have to do that." Jerod groaned as he got back up. Delilah rolled her eyes.

"Guys, Frisk needs help." The group turned and saw Caleb kneeling by Frisk. His teeth was gritted as he clutched his right knee, it looked like it was swelling.

"What happened?" Delilah asked.

"I landed on his leg pretty hard. I think it's broken." Caleb said. Iris walked up and felt around his leg.

"You going to give me a boo-boo kiss Dr. Iris?" Frisk teased with a wink. Then immediately winced as Iris's hands touched a tender part of his leg.

"Quiet Frisk. I don't feel any fractures but your still going to need a splint."

"With what, the flowers?" Frisk joked with a cocked eyebrow.

John sighed. "Your right, we're gonna have to amputate it." Frisk's face paled as he tried to crawl away.

"Ignore him. We're not cutting off your leg but you can't put any weight on it." Iris said.

"I got him." Jerod said as he hoisted Frisk onto his back. Frisk clung to his neck. "Be grateful that's the worst injury we got from... hey how did we end up down here?"

"We fell from up there." Frisk pointed up. Everyone looked up and saw sunlight shining from high up.

"Thank god the flowers broke our fall." Delilah said. "But how are we going to get out of here now?"

"Maybe we could parkour our way back up?" Jerod suggested. He noticed the face John was giving him. "Um maybe that's not a good idea."

"Why don't we call someone, let me just..." Delilah pulled out her phone and saw that it was broken. Everyone else pulled out their phones, same thing.

"Wait, mine's still good." John said reaching for his. "Screen's a little cracked but it... damn it! Are you kidding me, no signal at all." John complained shaking the device.

Caleb looked at his friend. "Hey Frisk, you got any ideas?"

"Maybe we can go that way." Frisk pointed to the left where the cavern extended into an ancient doorway.

"Um I would prefer if we don't go in the spooky dark cave." John whimpered.

"Really, what are you scared?" Caleb said.

"N-no, just that I don't wan't to...to run into the monsters."

"I thought you said that you didn't believe in monsters." Iris said. A smug grin appeared on her face.

"I-I didn't say that! We should just wait here and help will come."

"What help?!" Jerod said. "No one knows we are down here. Quit being a chicken and let's go man."

John groaned. "Alright... fine. I mean what's the worse that can happen?"

After that, they went and ventured through the doorway. Past it was nothing but a grassy patch, and a single yellow flower... with a face.

"Whoa, that's amazing!" Iris rushed forward and started scribbling down on her notebook. "Look at the way the androecium is formed. I need a sample of this unique flower!" Iris extended her finger at the head.

"Aw that's flattering." The flower spoke. Iris jumped back and shrieked. "Howdy I'm Flowey, Flowey the Flower."  Everyone stood frozen. The Flower's face looked confused. "What, is there something on my face?"

"N-no it's your face." John stuttered.

"Oh...OH I see. Your all new to the Underground aren't ya?" Flowey asked.

"The Underground? Uhh yeah I guess so. Is that an actual name or do you mean just being under the ground?" Jerod asked.

"Both silly, that's what we call the kingdom down here."

"Kingdom? Of what, mole people?" Caleb asked.

Iris nudged Caleb. "Isn't it obvious, this is the kingdom of monsters down here. Right Flowey?"

"Yes-sirree" Flowey said. It dawned on them that Flowey had a distinct southern slang in his voice.

"Wait, so there really are monster's down here?" John asked.

Flowey nodded. "I knew it!" Iris exclaimed. "People always said the stories were false but I knew that the legend had to have started from something."

"Legend? What legend?" Flowey asked.

"It's a really old legend back home, 'Any human that climbs Mt. Ebott never returns." Iris said.

Flowey arched an eyebrow. "Really? Then why did you bother climbing the mountain?"

"We were following our friend. Frisk here decided to run away to the mountain." Jerod said

"Well why would he do something like that?"

Everyone looked at Frisk. "Yeah, why did you climb the mountain Frisk?"

Frisk frowned as he hid himself in the back of Jerod's shirt.

The silence was a little awkward and uncomfortable.

"It's okay Frisk, you don't have to say it now. But you still owe us an explanation, got it?" Delilah asked. Frisk slowly nodded.

Flowey cleared his...throat, and continued to speak "Well anyway, it looks like someone ought to teach you how things work around here. Luckily little old me is here to lend a leaf." Flowey winked.

"That's not necessary Flowey. We're not staying long, we have to get home." Diego said.

"Well it is a long trip to the other end of the cavern. You might as well get some tips for the journey."

Delilah sighed. "I guess you have a point. Go on and show us."

"Great, here we go!"

Suddenly everyone felt a tug on their chest. They saw different colored hearts spout out of their chest cavity.

"See that. That's your SOUL."

"My SOUL... as in the very culmination of your being?" Iris asked.

"Yep!" Flowey replied. John stared in amazement at his SOUL. It hovered just above his hands, the glow of cyan lighting up the dark. He reached out and gently grabbed it. He felt funny in the chest. He checked the other's SOUL, Jerod was orange, his sister was blue, Iris was purple, Diego was green, Caleb was yellow, and Frisk was red."Your SOUL starts off weak but you can strengthen it by gaining a bunch of LV."

"LV? As in level like in a video game?" John asked.

"No silly, it stand for LOVE."

"LOVE really?"

"Yeah, do you want me to share some with you?"

"Uh..."

"Great!" Flowey winked and stuck out his tongue. "LOVE, is shared through little white friendliness pellets. Like these." Suddenly a bunch of pellets popped up and floated around Flowey. "Alright now stand still while I give these to you. Wouldn't want one to miss and go to waste."

The group stood there as they closed in. Suddenly they all cried out as they felt a pain in their chest. Diego quickly caught Frisk when he slipped off of Jerod. They all collapsed on the ground.

Jerod glared at Flowey "Ow, what the hell kind of game are you trying to pull here...Flowey?"

Flowey's face morphed into something evil and demonic looking as he gave a sadistic cackle. "You guys are complete idiots. 'Friendliness pellets' really, you fell for that crap? Down here, it's kill or be killed. And I'm just the luckiest flower that I came across all of you first. No one else would pass up an opportunity as sweet as this."

Diego was shaking in fear as he clutched Caleb and Frisk tightly. "W-what are yo-"

"SHUT UP, I'm doing a monologue! Where was I, oh yeah. With all seven of your SOULS I'll become all powerful. Monsters and humans will bow to my power. Oh I could just imagine the fun I will have. Golly, too bad you wont be around to see it. Now how about you all just DIE."

Flowey cackled as he summoned a ring of pellets which surrounded the group. They all huddled up together as the pellets closed in, completely defenseless.

Before they could hit the group, a green bubble surrounded them and absorbed the impact of the pellets. The bubble then vanished.

Everyone as well as Flowey looked in confusing. Then a fireball came out of nowhere and knocked Flowey away.

"Uh, what just happened?" Iris asked.

"Oh dear, are you children alright?" Said a motherly voice. The group all turned and saw an actual monster. She was wearing a long purple robe with a peculiar symbol on the chest area. She was covered in white fur and her head resembled that of a goat. She approached them with a face of concern.

Jerod and Caleb stood protectively in front of the group. "Stay back monster!" Caleb said, aiming his gun. It's a toy gun with no bullets...but he could pistol whip her.

"Your going to have to get through me to get to my friends." Jerod said punching his fists together.

Toriel put up her hand to calm them down. "Don't be scared, I am not your enemy. My name is Toriel, caretaker of the ruins."

"Well 'Toriel', how do we know that you aren't going to trick us?" Caleb said, eye not leaving her face.

"I'm sorry, I truly don't have any way to prove myself. Please just lower your weapons and you will see that I mean no harm."

John tapped Jerod's shoulder. "I don't think she's lying."

"Me neither, lets see how this plays out."Delilah said.

"She did save us from Flowey." Diego added.

They both gave in and let their guard down.

Toriel smiled. "Thank you, now can I ask for your names?"

"I'm John."

"Jerod."

"Delilah."

"Iris."

"Diego."

"Caleb."

"and I'm Frisk."

"Those are nice names. I pass by here everyday to see if a human has fallen down here. I haven't seen humans in...a long time."

"Well if you know this place so well can you show us the way through the place?" Iris asked.

"Of course. Come children, I will guide you through the catacombs."

Frisk stepped forward and grabbed her hand. Toriel gasped at the sudden affection. Frisk looked up at her and smiled.

"Psst didn't Frisk have a bad leg?" John whispered to the group.

"I thought so too, what happened?" Iris said.

"I don't know he just started walking alright sometime just after Flowey attacked us." Diego said.

"Children, are you coming?" Toriel called out, her and Frisk were already waiting at the other end of the room.

"Yeah, we're coming." Diego said. They all stood behind her as she led them through the catacombs.

"Guys?" John said

"Yeah?" The rest of the group asked.

"I think we're definitely going to be late for school."

Chapter Text

The group followed Toriel behind them as she led them through the catacombs. They each felt a little skeptical about trusting her after what Flowey tried to pull. But she seemed sincere and motherly and they can't help feeling a sense of safety with her presence. At least Frisk seemed to like her, he was still holding on to her hand.

Diego went and tugged at her robe. She turned to him as he spoke to her. "Um Miss Toriel, I just wanted to thank you for saving us back there." He said.

Toriel smiled and patted his head. "It's no problem my child."

"No really, we sure are grateful. Flowey would've killed us if you didn't make that green bubble."

Toriel looked confused. "I'm afraid you must be mistaken. I threw a fireball to scare the flower away. I didn't make any green bubble."

Diego frowned in confusion. "But if she didn't then who did?" He mumbled to himself, Toriel didn't hear him.

Iris noticed the cave suddenly changing to ancient stone walls and floors. Vines hung around the walls as everything looked like old ruins. "What exactly is this place Toriel?"

"This place is known as the Ruins. When humans banished us down here, we first settled here. It wasn't until later that we expanded to the rest of the cavern."

The group felt a little guilty about that tidbit. "Yeah, we're sorry about that." Delilah said.

"Of what my child?" Toriel asked confused.

"For, you know, banishing you all down here."

Toriel stopped and grabbed Delilah's shoulders. "Oh please don't blame yourselves. That was humans long ago who did this to us. You've never done anything to harm monsters."

"Not yet." Delilah muttered.

Toriel flinched at the harshness of her voice. "Excuse me?"

"No offense Toriel but after what happened with Flowey, we aren't taking any chances with monsters." Delilah said.

"She's right. If they attack us we are going to have to defend ourselves." Caleb said.

Toriel's expression "Please listen to me, I am truly sorry that you were attacked by that terrible creature but the other monsters aren't like that. Most have no idea what a human looks like and they don't know that their attacks are harmful." Toriel said. "You wouldn't want to kill anyone would you?"

"Of course not, but what would have us do, stand there and take it?" Jerod asked.

Toriel stroked her chin as she brainstormed. "I have an idea, let me take you to the other room and show you what to do."

John looked behind Toriel. "But the door is locked shut." Everyone turned and saw the door was closed with no lock or handle.

"Ah I almost forgot to explain. The Ruins are full of puzzles. Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. This one is fairly easy. Here, watch as I complete it." Toriel walked towards a bunch of pressure plates on the ground and stepped on only the middle ones. She then pressed the switch on the wall and the door opened. "This way." She led them through a long hallway and into a room that contained only a dummy.

"How is this going to help us survive without fighting monsters?" Jerod asked. He was beginning to question Toriel's methods.

"Simple. When you are drawn into a fight with a monster, your SOUL will be pulled out of your body creating a fight. Do not try to harm them, instead strike up a friendly conversation and try to befriend them."

Everyone looked at her like she was insane.

"Diego, how about you try it on this dummy."

Being singled out, Diego nodded and slowly walked up to the Dummy. He felt his SOUL get pulled out.

"You encountered the Dummy."

Everyone looked around confused. They could've sworn they heard a voice, it didn't sound like it was from any of them. Toriel didn't seem to have noticed as she directed Diego.

"Now Diego, try to say something nice to the Dummy. "

Diego stared awkwardly at the dummy. Rubbing the back of his head he started speaking. "Uhh... So... Hi there Mr...Dummy. My name is Diego and well, it would be nice if you don't try to kill me and my friends."

"..." Said the Dummy, clearly a social butterfly.

Jerod face palmed and groaned "We're seriously supposed to talk monsters to death?"

Toriel ignored his comment as she congratulated Diego."Good job my child. Continue practicing with the Dummy, I will wait for you in the next room. Come to me when you are ready to move on." Toriel left into the next room.

Frisk stepped forward "Alright, I'll go next."

John grabbed his wrist. "No, just no."

"Lets do some real practice." Jerod said as he charged forward and did a single hard punch to the dummy. It staggered back, it's button eyes somehow looking terrified.

He looked at Iris. "Come on Iris, try it out."

She shook her head. "No thank you."

"What, you telling me you wouldn't hit a dummy?"

"I would actually."

"Yeah?"

Iris then smacked Jerod in the face with her notebook. "Well, played." Jerod muttered. Iris smiled coyly.

Caleb glared at the dummy. He hated that Toriel is babying them like they have no idea how to defend themselves. Even though he is only 11 years old he is well aware of the danger they are in. He might have to actually fight someone, but only those that deserve it in his eyes. He aimed his gun at the Dummy and fired.

*BANG*

Everyone jumped back at the sudden ear-piercing sound. They looked at the Dummy and saw that there was now a gaping hole in the center of the head. Caleb's mouth was agape in shock.

"Jesus, Caleb what are you doing with actual bullets in your gun?" Diego said horrified.

"Bu-bu-but I don't..." Caleb stuttered as he came down from the shock. He checked the chamber and was even more confused. "There's no ammo. It's empty."

Everyone looked at each other in confusion. "What? Then how did you shoot that?" Iris asked. "Look at it, it's face is blasted through.

"Ouch."

The whole group again looked around in confusion. There was no doubt this time, they all heard someone else talk.

"Alright who said that?" John asked.

"I did stupid."

John looked at the dummy. "Wait, are you the Dummy?"

"Who are you calling Dummy, Dummy? Hell no, I'm right..... Oh you can't see me? Hold on..." Suddenly a floating figure appeared right in front of them all. It was a boy of about 10 years old. He had neatly combed brown hair and pale skin. On his cheeks were a somewhat permanent blush. He wore brown cargo pants and a striped sweater similar to Frisk's but this one was yellow and green."Oh, didn't think that would work." He smiled brightly at them. "Greetings, I'm Chara."

"You look like me..." Frisk whispered.

Iris quickly picked up on the name. "Wait, Chara? You're the kid who fell down the mountain?." She asked.

Chara nodded. "Yep, one day I fell down the mountain and lived among the monsters. I've lived with them for a couple of years until I died.."

"Wow, so what are you some sort of ghost?" John asked.

Chara looked down at himself. "Looks like it and it definitely feels like it."

"What does it feel like?" Jerod asked.

"Like being dead." Chara said bluntly

"How'd you die?" Diego asked.

"Buttercup poisoning."

"Oh, yikes... I'm so sorry." Iris read about how painful it was to die from consuming buttercups. Even a little bit will kill any human. Either you die... or you have a long agonizing experience in the bathroom.

"It's alright." Chara shrugged like it was nothing. "Not like it was your fault."

Before they could ask any more question, Iris asked the big important question.

"So Chara, don't take this the wrong way but... what are you doing here?" The group nodded in agreement. They wanted to know why this ghost in particular is following them.

Chara tipped his chin. "That's a good question. Well, I know I was buried in the flower patch that you all fell in. You must have woken me up. I guess because of that, my spirit is now attached to all of you."

"Great, we're cursed by a ghost." Jerod muttered.

Chara frowned and pouted his lip. "Aw, don't be like that. I can be useful to you. I can help you guys get home."

"Really? Why would you help us?" Caleb asked skeptically.

"Beats me, I only just met you. But if I'm stuck with you guys then I guess I can help. Besides, if you fell for Flowey's shtick then lord knows you need my help."

Jerod pouted at Chara's remark. Iris looked at Chara curious. "What could you possibly do to help us?"

"Well I can see the status of any living creature, human or monster. I can see their name, health, defense, I can also see small hints that can help you know how to befriend the-"

"Wait! Wait! Wait! Hold on!" John said, overwhelmed by all of what he's saying. "Powers, status, health? What on earth are you talking about?"

"Its my magical power." .....  "You don't know what I'm talking about aren't you?" Everyone nodded. "Okay, I don't have any other way to properly say this so I'm gonna put it bluntly; you all have magical powers."

...

...

...

"WHAT!!!!!"

Chara covered his ears. "OW! Geez, I might be dead but that was still deafening." He grumbled.

"How do we have magical powers, we're not monsters!" Delilah said.

"And we're definitely not magicians." John said.

"Just because your not a monster doesn't mean you can't use magic. I don't really know the whole explanation behind it but I did learn two things from when I was alive. One, that it's only possible to have magical powers down here. Also that the powers are different per person. In Caleb's case, magic bullets." Chara said. Iris was quickly writing it down on her notebook.

John chuckled and jokingly raised his arm at the dummy. "So what, I just wave my arm magically at the enemy or in this case the dummy and what, throw it around like a..." John froze when he looked at the dummy and saw it was glowing cyan and hovering over the air. John came up with two explanations. Either the Dummy is possessed by a ghost, which is stupid, or...

"Oh my god, I have telekinesis!" He noticed the group staring at his face and not the dummy. "What?"

"John, look at your eyes." Delilah pulled out her pocket mirror and showed it to his face. John saw that the cornea of his eyes changed from dark brown to luminous cyan. His raised arm started to feel tired. He lowered his hand and as the glow on the dummy faded and dropped down, so did his eyes.

"Okay, I really need to write this down." Iris said as she was quickly scribbling into her notebook, muttering to herself. She didn't notice her eyes started glowing purple. "Cyan. Glow. Telekinesis."

"Uhh Iris." Delilah said.

"Yeah?" Iris said not looking away from her notes.

"You might might want to look behind you."

Iris looked and her now purple eyes widened. Behind her were three floating purple words.

Cyan

Glow

Telekinesis

"Whoa, amazing!" Iris's face lit up in excitement. She decided to test something. She looked at the dummy, concentrated, and spoke. "I attack the Dummy."

The words attack and Dummy appeared in front of her and charged at the dummy. It exploded and the dummy got knocked against the wall, fluff flying everywhere. "Hmm, so it shoots words that I put emphasis on." She realized that she didn't shoot any words with what she just said. So apparently she can turn that power on and off.

She looked at Diego. "Hey Diego, you think you were the one who made that bubble earlier?"

"I mean that would make sense. I mean his soul is green and the bubble was green." Chara said, as if it's common knowledge. "But we can worry about that later. I think we kept m- Toriel waiting long enough."

"Aw really?" Caleb complained. "But I wanted to see if I have any more powers."

"No, Chara is right. Toriel is waiting for us. We wouldn't want her to worry about us." Diego said.

"Hold on. I need to ask a favor of you." Chara said nervously. The group looked at Chara. "Um can you please not mention to anyone about me?"

"Why not?" Frisk asked.

Chara looked away nervously. "Well, the idea of the ghost of someone they knew haunting a bunch of humans, they might be a little... upset."

Delilah nodded. "Yeah, I understand."

"It's not like anyone will believe us." John replied. The rest of the group agreed and Chara smiled in relief.

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. And I'll make sure to help out in anyway I can."

As they started walking out they looked at the Dummy one last time. It was ripped to shreds and fluffs covered the area around it. They agreed to not mention that to Toriel.

As soon as they left, another ghost's spirit left the remains of the dummy. It cried at the destruction of its own body.

"Dang it. I was so close to becoming corporeal. Now those darn humans ruined everything! I-I I'm telling my cousin on them!" The ghost weeped as it left it's destroyed body behind.

Chapter Text

After they practiced with the dummy, the group headed to the next corridor. They were confused because Toriel wasn't there waiting for them.

"Toriel?" Frisk called. Nobody answered back.

"Really, she ditched us?" Caleb said astonished.

"No, she couldn't have left us." Diego defended.

"I knew we couldn't trust her." Jerod said crossing his arms. "None of the monsters here are going to help us."

"No, your wrong! She's probably distracted by something." Diego walked ahead looking for her. The group begrudgingly followed him. As they reached a narrow bend in the corridor, they all smelled something peculiar. It smelled almost like...mustard seed?

"Ribbit, ribbit"

Everyone stopped in their tracks as a monster hopped right in front of them. It looked like a white frog-like creature that. It eyes each of them carefully with it's beady eyes.

"Oh, it's a Froggit." Chara said.

It barely reached as high as Jerod's waistline. Jerod chuckled as he stepped in front of the group. "Alright, let me take care of this shrimp."

"Careful, it can be tougher than it looks." Chara warned. Jerod rolled his eyes

"Yeah sure, like I can be intimidated by the raw strength of a single little fro- GAH!" The bandanna-wearing human yelped as Froggit hopped at him at super fast speed. Jerod brought his arms up to block the attack. He felt nothing. He peeked and saw the monster hovering in the air covered in a cyan glow.

"Hey Froggit." John said, his telekinesis not wavering. "Hop off." He said as he tossed it back. It landed in a nearby pool of water that was up ahead. The Froggit's head peeked out of the water. "Well, what do you have to say for that?"

"Meow" Said Froggit.

The unexpected mewling put everyone off as Froggit summoned a bunch of flies. They flew towards the group then stopped. Suddenly, each of the flies homed in on each of the humans and attacked.

Everyone except John jumped out of the way. John tried to use telekinesis on the fly but it did nothing. He got knocked back as it crashed into his stomach. He coughed badly as the wind got knocked out of him. Jerod gasped as he saw his best friend get hurt. He glared at the Froggit and his eyes and fists glowed orange. He charged at the Froggit unusual speed and pulled back his fist. He then let it loose as it impacted on the Froggit's body. It flew back and hit it back against the wall. The Froggit groaned as comical swirls covered it's eyes.

Jerod looked at his hand in surprise. "Whoa, I really pack a punch now."

The Froggit quickly shook off it's daze as the group prepared for it's next attack. Then Froggit shivered when it felt like someone intimidating was standing behind him.

Froggit turned around and saw Toriel glaring at it. She held her hand up and it lit on fire. She didn't say anything but the message was clear, LEAVE. Froggit hopped away in fright. When Froggit was out of sight Toriel relaxed herself and looked at the group. "My apologies children. I was just..." She gasped when she saw John was injured. Diego was busy checking for anything serious. "Oh dear, are you alright?"

"I'm checking." Diego said.

"This wouldn't of happened if you didn't leave us." Jerod glared at her. Toriel felt guilty as she looked down

Caleb grabbed his wrist. "Hey, lighten up dude."

"Really!? Just a few minutes ago you said she ditched us now your defending her?"

"But she came back and saved us again. She must have her reason." Caleb looked at Toriel. "Why did you leave us?"

Toriel looked flustered. "I'm sorry. It was just that you were all taking quite a while with the dummy that I decided to go and disable some of the more dangerous puzzles up ahead. Like this one." The group looked and saw the platform over the pool of water. Jerod looked closely and saw the tips of spikes sticking barely sticking out of the ground. "I am truly sorry for leaving you."

"It's alright I understand." Caleb looked back at Jerod. "See, she was just looking out for us." Jerod huffed and crossed his arms in defeat.

"Where does it hurt John?" Diego asked.

"Like right around my abdomen... No, a little lower...To the left- OW!" John flinched when Diego reached the tender spot. "Errr, god! It's like someone threw a rock at me why didn't my power work on that fly?"

"Powers? What power do you have my child?" Toriel asked.

"Telekinesis, I think."

"Oh, that's explains it. It takes some training to learn how to manipulate magic attacks.

John groaned. "Damn, wish I knew that so I didn't have to take the hit. Man it hurts."

Diego gave a gentle comforting rub to the injured area. As he made the gesture, his hands started to glow green. Diego noticed but didn't do anything as a thought went through his mind, the desire to make John better. The green glow stretched outward towards John. John shuddered as the glow enveloped him. Then the glow faded away as John got up. He checked his stomach and felt nothing.

"I don't feel anything anymore. My injury...it's gone." John said.

"Oh, you have healing powers my child." Toriel said. She stepped towards the group. "That's a rare magic to have."

Diego looked at his hands in amazement. "Wow, amazing."

"Yes, but please be aware that healing magic can be very draining. I hope you don't have to use it but keep it in mind."

"Oh so that's how my leg got healed." Frisk remembered when Diego caught him when Flowey attacked them.

John patted his back cheerfully. "Thanks man. It's as if I didn't get hurt at all." Diego blushed at the praise.

"Well then, now that everything is alright, I have something to tell you." Everyone looked at Toriel as she explained to them. "You have surely tested your independence when you battled the Froggit and held yourselves. I can trust you will take care of yourselves. I have to go and attend to some business. I would like for you all to wait for me in the next hallway." She led them to the next room which was an overly long corridor. "Here, I will give you my cell phone number so that we may stay in contact." She brought out a really outdated looking cell phone. The group was generally surprised that the monsters down here have such an advance form of technology, they expected something a little more primitive. Toriel told John her number and he added it to his contacts. "Alright, now please stay here until I get back. Be good children." Toriel said. She waved goodbye as she left them there.

After a while of standing there waiting, Jerod lost his patience.

"What is taking her so long!" Jerod complained. He had nothing to do, except punch at the air.

John, who was sitting down playing with the pebbles and rocks with his telekinesis, pulled out his phone and checked the clock. "It's only been 15 minutes." he said nonchalantly. Jerod glared at John and kicked some dirt in frustration. Everyone else were doing their own thing. Delilah was teaching Frisk a ballet routine, but he kept screwing it up making Delilah mad. Caleb and Diego were just casually chatting. Iris was looking through her notes and adding new ones to it, though every once in awhile she would accidentally summon her giant words but she quickly dispersed of them.

"Guys, I've think we waited long enough for Toriel." Delilah said. "I think we should start moving on."

"But she said for us to stay here and wait for her." Diego said.

"Yeah, but we need to get moving one way or another and we don't know when she is coming back." Iris said.

"After all she did for us we are just going to leave her like this." Caleb said. Frisk nodded in agreement while Chara shrugged being neutral.

"No, Delilah is right." Jerod said. "Toriel may have helped us but we don't owe her anything, whats most important is getting home as soon as we can."

Everyone looked at John who wasn't engaging in the conversation. He sighed. "I don't really care, I'm sticking with my sister and Jerod."

"Alright, then it's decided. Let's get moving." Jerod said. Everyone got together and headed out the room. As soon as they did John's phone started ringing.

John looked and it said Toriel on the ID. "Not it." John said tossing the phone to Frisk. Frisk accidentally pressed the speaker button.

"Hello this is Toriel...Hello?" Toriel said through the speaker. Frisk scrambled to quickly answer.

"H-hi uh Mom...TORIEL! Hi Toriel." Frisk quickly corrected himself.

"Oh, did you just call me mom Frisk?" Frisk flushed in embarrassment. "Well... if that makes you comfortable then I guess you can call me whatever you like."

"Okay, Goatmom." John chuckled. Everyone looked at him like it was the most clever nickname ever.

"Anyway, I just wanted to check and see how you are all doing. My errands are taking quite a while. Is everything alright?" Toriel asked

Delilah decided to break the ice. "Sorry Goa- Toriel but we waited long enough. We have decided to continue on without you."

There was silence on the phone for awhile, then Toriel spoke. "I see. Well then... then I guess there is nothing I can do to stop you. Just keep in mind that some of the puzzles ahead are dangerous and some monsters will try to fight you. Please do not kill them, alright?"

"We won't Toriel, right?" Diego said looking at the group, they all murmured in agreement.

"Good, meet me at my house when you have made it through the Ruins. Don't worry, you can't miss it. Be good my children." Toriel said as she hung up. Frisk handed the phone back to John and they went upward. They saw a little glass bowl on top of a pedestal. And inside the bowl was...

"CANDY!" John, Caleb, and Frisk cheered. They pushed each other as they rushed over to it.

"Wait!" Chara shouted stopping the three of them in their tracks. He pointed to the sign under the pedestal.

'take one.'

"Ok... and?" John asked.

"So take only ONE." Chara scolded. Frisk and Caleb sighed and took one. John took one as well but he tried to take another when no one was looking, he felt disgusting. To hide it he stuffed it in his mouth, it tasted delicious. He tried to take another, he felt like the scum of the earth. He quickly tried to take another but his hand bumped against the side of the bowl and it fell onto the ground with a shatter. Everyone turned around and looked at what John has done. He sheepishly smiled.

"Well what do you have to say for yourself?" Delilah said crossing her arms.

"Oops."

"Ribbit, Ribbit (excuse me, humans)" The group was startled to see another Froggit appear next to them. It didn't look like the one they fought, how they can tell is anyone's guess. "(I have some advice for you about battling monsters. If you ACT a certain way or Fight until you almost defeat them... they might not want to fight you anymore. If they don't want to fight you anymore... Please use mercy) Ribbit." The Froggit then hopped away.

"Okay did that frog just talk?" Iris asked.

"Lets just roll with it." Jerod said. Iris agreed not wanting to press it further.

As they continued they immediately ran into a sad fairy-like monster. They decided to take the Froggit's advice.

"So who is this Chara?" John asked.

"It's a Whimsum. Don't fight it, this monster is too sensitive to fight."

"Anything else?"

"It smells like lavender and mothballs."

Diego decided to console it. He walked up to it. "He-"

"EEEEEEEeeeee!" The Whimsum burst into tears and flew off, ending the fight.

"?"

"Jerod, Frisk are you okay?" John called through the hole that Jerod fell through.

"Yeah, we landed on something big and gelatinous. There's a whole bunch of them down here. Smells like lime gelatin." Jerod said.

"Wait..." Chara said, the description sounds familiar.

"Oooh, giant jellos. Yummy!" Frisk said.

"NO DONT!"

"Burble burb..."

Frisk screamed out loud. The rest of the group immediately jumped down. Jerod and Frisk were against a corner as several lime gelatin mold monsters attacked them. Big pieces of them came off and exploded, the shrapnel spreading at high velocity. Before it hit them, Diego conjured a bubble around them, it quickly cracked and broke after blocking them.

"It's still hard to make them." Diego said

"What are these?!" Jerod asked.

"Moldsmals. Stereotypical: Curvaceously attractive, but no brains." Chara said.

"How do we tame all of them!" Delilah asked. "There's too many."

"I think I got an idea." Frisk said he walked up to the Moldsmals. They pensively stared at the human.

"Squorch?" Said one of the Moldsmals. Frisk put his hands on his hips and...

A.N. Play Wiggle by Jason Derulo

Trust me you won't regret it ;)

...began to wiggle his hips. The Moldsmals wiggle back. Soon it became a big synchronized dance. The whole group stared in surprise and then to each other at this strange dance session.

"What kind of dance is this?" Delilah asked.

"The kind that makes a good meme." John smirked. He held up his phone and recorded, he is definitely going to make a gif. of this when he gets back home.

Soon the monsters were all wiggled out and left the group in a conga line. Frisk sighed in relief and smiled at the group.

"What a meaningful conversation." Chara said.

After completing the leaf and rock based puzzles, they decided to take a little break in a room with a piece of cheese on a table and a mouse hole. Diego went back saying he had to take a pee break. John heard the faint sound of squeaking in the hole. He looked at the cheese, it was stuck to the table for being there for so long yet it wasn't molded. John took out his toy knife and cut out a little chunk of cheese and placed it next to the hole. The mouse won't come out now but it will get it once they leave. Diego came back a couple of minutes later looking really flushed.

"What's wrong Diego?" Caleb asked

"Bro, do. not. mess. with. the. rocks." He said shaking in fright.

Chara realized what happened and felt so sorry for him. "Oh you poor thing." He whispered. After their break they walked until another monster ran into them, or in this case they ran into the monster. It was laying on the ground and saying "Zzzz" out loud, it smelled faintly like ectoplasm.

"Hey, get up!" Jerod said.

The monster got up and looked at the group. It looked like a stereotypical ghost with big glistening eyes. It looked like it was on the verge of crying.

"Who is this?" Caleb asked.

"Napstablook. This monster doesn't seem to have a sense of humor."

"oh, I'm REAL funny."

Chara blanched in surprise. "You can see me?"

"Yeah, your a ghost to right? Oh sorry... I didn't mean to jump to conclusions." Napstablook started crying profusely. The tears splashed onto John's body. John screamed out loud. Everyone looked at him and gasped. John's entire front was sizzling and blistering. He fell on the ground in agony as he clawed at his skin, trying to put out the nonexistent fire that ate at his clothes, hair and skin. Everyone stepped back in terror at the agonizing screams, unsure of what was happening or what to do. His screams slowly died down as he curled into a ball, drawing his last breath.

Everyone stared absolutely horrified at what happened. Delilah and Jerod began to scream when Frisk whispered.

"No"

Reload

Everyone jumped back in utter shock and fear when everything suddenly changed around them. They were back in the mouse hole room and sitting in the same spot they were a few minutes ago. John was the most surprised. He remembered, the pain, the burning, the numbness that comes upon dying, even the controversial light that comes when you die.

"John." Delilah sobbed as she hugged him tightly. John returned the favor, scared out of his wits. His hand immediately went to his silk ribbon he hides in his pocket. He started stroking it, letting the texture calm him down.

"Wh-what happened." John asked. He looked pleadingly at everyone for an answer, there was none.

"I don't know, I just had this strange feeling in me, I just had this burning desire to stop what happened from happening."

"You reloaded." Chara said. He noticed the group looking in confusion. "Frisk's SOUL is red, the color of determination. I had the same color as well when I was alive. With determination comes a really unique power, the power to go back in time."

"I can time travel?" Frisk said mesmerized.

"You can rewind time. You can only go back by a little bit, so don't think about going back to before you guys fell. As long as you stay determined, you can go back. Also if you die, you automatically reload. By the way that is what I called the power, has a better ring to it than just time travel."

"But this isn't a video game." Frisk said.

"No, it's a fanfic concocted by a lonely human with nothing better to do with their lives." Chara said sarcastically...  Jerk. "Just go with the name alright."

"I guess this is a real game changer." Iris said, John too shaken up to even chuckle at the pun. "Now if one of the monsters kill us then Frisk can just take us back to before it happened."

"T-that doesn't change what happened to me!" John shouted. "Those tears, they felt like acid on my skin! I could feel every part of me burn. H-he killed me!" John glared at the doorway as he stomped out there towards Napstablook. "HEY!" John shouted as he brought out his knife. He felt his eyes glow cyan as his rage triggered something new. He summoned a barrage of giant glowing cyan knives. They all went hurtling at the ghost as they sliced through him.

"John what the hell are you doing!" Delilah shouted. Hearing his sister curse snapped him out of his episode. He looked at the ghost he attacked in shame. He ran up to it.

"Oh my god, are you okay?!" He said, praying that he's alright.

Napstablook looked up at the assailant. He looked sad. "Yeah. umm... you do know you cant kill ghosts, right? We're sorta incorporeal and all. I was just letting you hit me because I didn't want to be rude. sorry... I just made this more awkward... pretend you beat me... oooooooo" He started fading away.

"No wait!" John shouted. The ghost froze and stared at John. "Look, I'm really sorry I attacked you. I... I don't know what came over me. Please don't go, I don't want you to hate me." John started getting upset. He looked down as tears started spilling down his face. He really felt like utter garbage. True, Napstablook did melt him alive but that was in a timeline that didn't happen. Right now, the ghost is innocent.

Nappstablook felt awkward right now floating in front of the crying human. He had no idea what's going on but this human is really upset, thinking that he hates him. He decided to try something. He nudged the hooded human. "Hey, I want to show you something." John looked up and watched as he started crying again. Naturally, he backed up in fright but the tears never touched him. They floated to the ghost's head and formed up to make a white top hat. " I call it "dapper blook" do you like it?"

John sniffed as he wiped his tears away. "That's actually pretty cool. Look can we start over?" He asked.

Napstablook smiled weakly and nodded. John reached out his hand. "Ohh I can't really shake you hand back. I don't really have arms."

John chuckled. "Hey, knock knock."

"Who's there...?"

"Nap."

"Nap who?"

"Napstablook is my new friend." John grinned.

"Ha" Jerod said from behind.

Napstablook started blushing, somehow. "oh no... I usually come to the RUINS because there's nobody around... but today I met somebody nice." He turned back to them. "... oh, I'm rambling again. I'll get out of your way."

John waved as Napstablook faded away. He turned back to the group.

"Um sorry guys, I don't know what came over me." John said shamefully.

"It's alright John, I'm sure anyone would be upset over dying." Chara said.

"But don't kill any monsters." Diego said.

"Hey, even if we do kill them by accident, we could always reload." Iris pointed out.

Diego sweat dropped nervously. "Let's hope it won't come to that."

"Alright, lets just keep moving guys." John said.

The group continued forward, not noticing a certain flower watching from the shadows.

Chapter Text

"Come eat food made by spiders, for spiders, of spiders!" Delilah read on the sign.

After befriending Napstablook, the group came across a fork in the road. They took one way and led them to a dead end covered in spiderwebs. Delilah and Diego already gave the spiders some gold coins. The coins they found, was actually left behind by some of the monsters they met so far. At first Diego picked them up in hopes of returning them to their owner but chances are they might not run into them again. The coins had a strange emblem on the sides, similar to the one on Toriel's robe.

"So they are killing their bros and selling them?!" Jerod exclaimed.

"Isn't that cannibalism?" John said in disgust. Delilah and Diego shrugged as the spiders left behind a little bag of doughnuts with purple glazing (At least they hoped that was glaze) and a jug labeled 'spider cider'.

"Well some female spiders kill their mate after uh... copulation." Iris said stopping herself halfway. She just can't resist reciting the facts she knows at school.

"Whats copulation?" Caleb asked innocently, Frisk nodding, wanting to know as well. Everyone looked at each other nervously, not sure how to answer.

"What?" Caleb asked frustrated. Still no one answered. "Uh whatever, I'm asking Toriel." Caleb snatched John's phone and called.

"Hello? This is Toriel." came her voice from the phone.

"Hi Toriel, it's me Caleb. Me and Frisk have a question that the others won't answer."

"Oh, why feel free to ask away. You may not have known but I always wanted to be a teacher. I always find joy in teaching little one's more about the world. Maybe that's not so obvious, still... Anyway, what is your question?"

"What is copulation?"

Everyone heard a startled yelp from the other side of the phone and some static. "O-oh, excuse me I just dropped my phone. Um, well... copulation is...how babies are made."

Caleb and Frisk nodded. "Okay... how are babies made?"

"When a man and a woman love each other very much..." John thought, dreading to hear her response.

"Um well, babies are made by copulation."

"But then wha-"

"ANYWAY!" Toriel interjected. "While I have you all on the phone, I have a question for you. Which would you prefer, Butterscotch or Cinnamon?" The group was a little confused by the question but answered anyway.

"Butterscotch." John, Jerod, Delilah, and Iris said.

"Cinnamon." Caleb, Frisk, and Diego said.

"Chocolate." Chara mumbled though Toriel couldn't hear them.

"I see, well you do not dislike the opposite? Would you turn up your nose if you see it on your plate?"

"No." The group answered simultaneously.

"Okay then. Stay safe and be good, alright." Toriel hung up.

John took his phone back. "Well that was weird, but let's wait and see what she's doi- Oh god Delilah, that's disgusting!"

Delilah stopped sipping from the spider cider. "What? It's not that bad, it tastes a little bit like apple juice."

"Yeah, I remember trying it before, it was pretty tasty."

John was at a loss for words. His sister handed him the cider. "Want some?"

"Uh NO!" John said backing up into the previous room. Walking backwards, he bumped into someone. He quickly turned around and saw himself face to face with a short, one-eyed, biped. His one eye was large and took up most of his body, it smelled of eye-drops.

The monster gnashed it's teeth at John as he jumped back. "It's you! I saw you attack that ghost, I won't let you pick on me as well!" It shot spheres of energy out of it's eye as they darted all around the room. They bounced against the walls as they went all over. The group ducked and weaved around and under the spheres.

"It's a Loox. Family name: Eyewalker." Chara said

"Snrk" John snickered. "Oh my god, Loox Eyewalker, are you serious."

Loox narrowed his eye. "You makeing fun of me?"

John's snickering faded when Loox struck him in the head with some kind of pulse from his eye. John's vision and mind suddenly went cloudy as he could not think straight nor see. He stumbled around trying to grab the wall or something.

"t'e LoX usEd Psybeam, it sup' effEctIve!" John babbled.

"-hat are you, some sort of hairless Temmie?" he heard someone say.

He felt himself bump into something and he instinctively waved his hands around in a panic. He heard some yelling as someone tried to grab his hands. He struggled in the person's grip. Suddenly, a loud gunshot was heard. The sound made his mind freeze up, like a deer in head lights. Soon after his vision started to clear as he saw himself on the ground on his stomach. Jerod was pinning him down while the others were talking with a scared Loox.

"Are you good now man?" Jerod asked. John nodded as he let go and got on his feet. "You really scared us."

"What happened?"

"The Loox used some sort of attack on you and you started acting all crazy."

John blushed embarrassed. "I... didn't do anything too weird right?"

"No, just babbling nonsense. Oh and you kept summoning those knives of yours."

John then noticed the indents around the room. "You were shooting them everywhere, I had to pin you down." John nodded as he looked at the Loox and walked over to him.

"Don't pick on me." The Loox said maintaining a defensive stance.

John tilted his head. "Why would I pick on you?"

"It's how the world works. I picked on you because you hurt the ghost, now you going to pick on me because I hurt you. Either your the bully or the bullied."

John looked at the other's in concern then back to the Loox.

"Look, I have no idea where you got that idea but frankly I don't care. I'm not going to pick on you, just leave us alone and we'll go."

Loox looked at him unsure but slowly walked around the group.

"I guess you guys get it. I'll go but no funny business. I got my eye on you." It said as it walked off.

After chatting with three Froggits, the group continued into another room with a locked door. They wandered the room trying to find the switch. Unfortunately they didn't notice the weak parts of the floor. Frisk watched as each of his friends fell down the new holes in the floor.

"Guys!" Frisk shouted.

"Oh well, they died. Hopefully they will keep me company for eternity." Chara said with sarcasm in his voice.

Frisk heard groaning from each of the holes. He looked over and saw that all of them were alright.

"Ow, how many times are we going to fall down a hole?" Caleb groaned.

"Consider ourselves lucky that we survived all those times." Iris said.

"HUMAN!" Frisk quickly turned around and saw three monsters approach him. Two of them are Moldsmals while the one in the middle looks like a big cockroach. "HEED THE SWARM!" The cockroach shouted.

"What's going on up there?" Jerod shouted.

"Oh it's a Migosp." Chara said. "It seems evil, but it's just with the wrong crowd."

"WE HAVE COME TO TAKE YOU AND YOUR FILTHY FRIEND'S SOULS! LEGION! WE ARE LEGION!"

Frisk opened his mouth to speak but Migosp interrupted him. "I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY! OBEY THE OVERMIND!"

Then a bunch of smaller cockroaches came out from behind and charged at Frisk. Frisk tried to dodge the cockroaches but there were too many and some hit Frisk.

"Hold on Frisk, I got an idea. Try to do that thing you did with the Moldsmals earlier." Chara suggested. "I gotta go, Delilah needs my help, good luck." Chara then vanished.

Frisk did what he asked and began to shake his hips again. Just like before, the Moldsmals shook themselves in sync. Migosp looked in confusion.

"Wait, they know you?"

Frisk smiled.

"So, what brings you down here Napstablook?" John asked, not getting up from where he fell. The ghost was laying down next to him.

"i fell down a hole, now i can't get up, go on without me..."

"But can't you fly? You are a ghost after all" John asked.

Napstablook looked up in revelation than faded away awkwardly. John sighed and got up, he was laying there for a while. He found his was back up along with the others.

What they all saw was Frisk dancing with Moldsmals and a Migosp. They danced like they don't have a care in the world.

"Mm, cha cha cha! Swing your arms, baby." The Migosp said.

"Yeah, put your hands in the air! Wave them around like you just don't care!" Frisk sang. He froze when he saw the other's looking at him. "Gotta go guys, bye." He said as he went over to the group. "Hi, guys, how are you?"

"Oh cool, we're just lost in the underground kingdom of monsters, trying to get home." Jerod said.

"Oh, your hurt. I got you." Diego said as he started to heal Frisk.

"Hey guys, I found a switch where I fell and it opened the door over there." Iris pointed to the exit.

"Nice job Iris, now lets get g- where is Delilah?"

"Over here!" Everyone looked and saw Delilah walk over along with something orange in her hand, she munched on it. Chara was following her.

"What took you so long?" Jerod asked.

"I was busy fighting a monster, it's name was Vegetoid and it looked like a giant carrot. It kept hitting me with random vegetables."

"Oh I can heal you to." Diego offered.

"No thanks, I'm already healed. Turns out it wanted me to eat a part of it." Everyone looked at her in terror. "Chara told me and the monster is alright. Right Vegitoid?!" She called into the hole she fell in.

"Plants Can't Talk Dummy, But Don't Forget To Eat Your Greens." Said a creepy sinister voice from the hole.

Delilah munched on the piece again. "Want one John? It contains vitamin C."

John hissed and smacked it out of her hand. Chara giggled. "Can't blame you, I hate veggies as well."

"Me to." Frisk said.

"Me three!" Caleb said.

Everyone else looked at their childish behavior and rolled their eyes. Some things never change.

"Whoa!" Everyone said. They found themselves at the top of a large balcony. In the distance they saw a majestic ancient city.

"It's beautiful." Delilah said.

"To think that this was under us the whole time." Iris said. "Just how big is this place?"

"I have no idea. I've never seen the whole place."

"I bet I can run all the way to the end."

"Not now Jerod, let's get to Toriel first."

"Aw your no fun John."

"I'm just being practical."

They started walking back and ran into another Froggit.

"Hey, do you know where Toriel's place is?" Frisk asked.

"(It's just up north. I think I saw her earlier carrying groceries, but I was too intimidated to get a closer look.) Ribbit."

"Thanks cutie." Frisk winked. The Froggit blushed and hopped off.

Caleb smacked Frisk on the head. "Stop flirting with everything." Frisk rubbed his head and stuck his tongue out at Caleb.

Before they headed up north they saw a small white dog run into the room with something in it's mouth. It skidded to a stop and it's eyes widened when it noticed the humans. It's mouth went agape and it dropped the thing in it's mouth. For a dog, it had pretty expressive facial features.

"Aw, it's so cute!" Caleb said as he knelt in front of it. He noticed the thing what was in the dog's mouth was a old looking cell phone. "Hey there little guy, what are you doing here?" Caleb reached his hand out to pet it but the dog backed up and growled, obviously frightened. "Whoa it's okay, I'm not going to hurt you." He slowly reached his hand out and petted him on the head, his fur was soft (Caleb assumed it was a dude). The dog flinched a bit then gradually leaned into the hand petting him. He dropped the phone in his mouth and panted happily.

"Bark Bark!" The dog barked, tail wagging.

"Aw, whose a good boy, you are!" Caleb said petting him with both hands. The dog getting more excited.

Diego picked up the phone and wiped the slobber off. He narrowed his eyes at the dog. "This is Toriel's phone. That dog stole it." The dog whined at the accusation.

"Don't listen to him. He's just a big meanie."

"I am not!"

"Helloooo? Little puppy...? Where are you...?" They heard Toriel call out. The dog yelped and ran off in the opposite direction. Just after, Toriel came into the room.

She was surprised to see the humans there in front of her. "Oh, children! There you are, and you have my phone."

"Yeah, here you go." Diego handed the phone back. "Some white dog passed by and dropped it."

"Yes, we call him the annoying dog. He likes to go around and cause mischief. Thank you for giving me back my phone. Did you have any trouble getting here?"

"Not really ma'm. We met several monsters who tried to attack us but we managed to befriend them." Said Delilah

"That's wonderful my child! I'm so happy that you decided to follow my advice and talk to them."

"Well, some of them we talked to, but Frisk decided to flirt with the Moldsmals." Caleb said.

Toriel looked at Frisk curiously. "Really my child? You flirted with them?"

Frisk nodded then did finger guns at Toriel. "I'll flirt with anyone, even a pretty angel like you."

Everyone stared at Frisk mouth agape. Chara bursted out laughing.

"Frisk what the f- heck!" John said.

"Oh dear, are you serious...? And after you said you wanted to call me mother..." Toriel said. Frisk realized his mistake and started blushing furiously. "You are an... interesting child. Anyway... come. Follow me to my home children." Toriel walked off.

Frisk turned to his friends. "Please don't mention this again to anyone."

"Our lips are sealed." Jerod said. They all followed Toriel towards her home. It was a really cute, tidy house, very different from the rest of the ruins.

Upon entry they all smelled a peculiar smell.

"What's cooking goatmom?" Diego asked.

Toriel grinned. "Surprise! I made you all a butterscotch cinnamon pie. I wanted to make your arrival a happy occasion, so I will hold off on the snail pie." Everyone grimaced at the mention of snail pie. "Now follow me."

"I don't know what's so disgusting about it. Snail pie is awesome!" Chara said. They followed Toriel into a hallway.

"Here we go." Toriel led them to a kids bedroom. It was in the process of having its stuff moved around. "I have to still move some things around to accommodate all of you but I'm sure it will be finished by tonight."

Jerod glared at Toriel. "We're not living here you know, we have friends and family we need to get back to."

Toriel laughed. "Of course I know that. But you should be aware that the whole Underground is vastly larger than what you've seen. It will take about a day or two to safely reach the exit. It is best if you rest up here as well as plan and prepare for the journey ahead."

John nodded. "She's right. We have no idea what else we will come across. We should rest here for the night and get as much info as we can."

Delilah smiled and ruffled her big brother's curly red locks. "You are always the one to think ahead."

John shrugged. "Slow and steady wins the race."

"Alright then, go and take a look around. I will call you all when it's time for supper." Toriel went back into the room and continued working.

Chapter Text

The others were wandering the house to do whatever they want. Meanwhile Iris was looking through the books Toriel had. Most of them were either storybooks or snail facts. She did find an old map of the entire kingdom. It wasn't specific of which way to go but it did give her an idea of the rest of the Underground; Snowdin, Waterfall, Hotland, and finally New Home. One book said that this was originally the Capital of the monsters but then got moved to New Home. Toriel was right, it would take several days to make it to the exit. The only way to leave the Ruins is from Toriel's basement, which is a one way door. That means that once they leave, it's home or bust.

"Greetings Iris." John said with a strange accent coming out of the kitchen. He was munching on a chocolate bar.

"Where did you get that?" Iris asked.

"I found it in the refrigerator. Good thing that John doesn't mind."

"Huh?" Iris looked at John's eyes and realized that they were red. Last time she checked, John only had brown eyes.

"Oops. Sorry, It's me Chara." Chara said.

"Your possessing him?" Iris said.

"It was consensual. I asked him so I can eat the chocolate and he said yes. Ah, I had my fill. I'll give him back his body." Chara closed his eyes and then Chara's spirit appeared as John came back.

John shuddered. "Ooooh, that was weird, it was like being in a oculus rift, without being in control."

"What's an oculus rift?" Chara asked.

John realized that it was long before Chara's time. "It's uh the latest in video game technology. You put the headset on and it puts you in a first person view of the game, like your actually there."

Chara didn't jump up in pure surprise like he expected, just nodded. "Sounds nice."

Iris continued looking through the books. She found a big black book hiding in the corner. The cover had a strange set of symbols on it. It was in Wing Dings, luckily Iris knew how to translate.

"Hey John, do you still have that Wing Ding translator app on your phone?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, I never bothered to delete it."

"Can I use it?"

"Sure." John handed her his phone as she started to get to work.

"Wing Dings, weird. Not a lot of people used that language in the Underground. As far as I know only the royal scientist used that."

Iris jumped up. "Look at this!" On the screen it said: Human Souls and their Powers- For dummies.

John knew enough was said. "I'll go get the others."

"I'll meet you outside."

Iris went out front and went through the rest of the book.

"Dang it. Most of the pages are faded or torn out." She mumbled. There were some words here and there that remained. Hopefully it will tell them something. Soon the others came out.

"So what do you got to show us Iris?" Jerod asked.

"I found a book that goes over some of the powers that we might have. Unfortunately, most of the book is destroyed. But maybe we can get something from this."

"So what IS there?"

"Well, there is a page that tells what each Soul represents. Hmm... Oh Jerod, your Orange Soul means Bravery."

Jerod smiled triumphantly. "Knew it."

"Diego and Caleb, green means Kindness and yellow means Justice. Delilah and John, Blue means Integrity and Cyan means Patience. Finally, my purple soul means Perseverance." Iris said.

"What about me!?" Frisk asked.

"Oh. It says that you have Determination."

"Oh cool. That's the same as my Soul!" Chara said "I wonder if you have the same power as me..."

"What power did you have?" Frisk asked.

"Well, it was actually the same thing as John's, knife powers. I could conjure knives and shoot them at enemies."

"Didn't that hurt them badly though?"

"Actually." Iris said before Chara could answer. "The strength of your magic attacks are only as strong as your intent. If you had the intent to kill, then it would be lethal. If not then it's just hurts."

The group nodded understanding. Iris closed the book, there was nothing much left to read. "So let's get started."

For the next several hours they practiced their powers and tried to learn some more. Iris kept track of all their powers in her notebook.

It turns out that Delilah's power was kind of like John's telekinesis, but somewhat stronger. She could manipulate gravity in the area for up to 5 yards. She could make it so light that they could practically moon jump, to making it so heavy like they were carrying a truck. She tried to keep it up for as long as she could but eventually she got tired. He agility was also noticeably improved.

Caleb and Diego were paired up to try their powers. He can use his gun power with or without the gun, but it has better aiming with the gun. It turns out Caleb can change his range, fire power, and spread of the gun to specific modes. Their is the short but wide spread shotgun mode, the long range sniper mode, the automatic rifle mode, and the strongest one is the big missile mode but the last one takes a lot of energy from him. Diego could summon either a wall or a bubble around them, Iris decided to call them wards. He can't conjure them any where, only around humans and monsters, they tested it out on a Froggit. The durability of them depends on his will power, like the Green Lantern. Based on what they saw it looks like his healing powers take a while and that too much of it at once can tire him out.

For Jerod, he had enhanced speed and strength. It's only a temporary power, meaning that he's not permanently strong and fast. Strength-wise, it's not ridiculously strong where he can punch a whole in the wall, just slightly strong where he can cause cracks in stone. He can build up power into his punched to knock back foes far, as seen when he fought Froggit. His speed is just the same as his strength, slightly quicker. He can come to a halt without any drag. Also he can summon giant orange fists and launch them like John's knives.

Speaking of John, along with his telekinesis he can summon giant knives in the air but they can also come out of the ground and move around like a shark fin sticking out of the water. He also learned that he can make himself invisible. The only drawback is that he has to hold his breath while invisible meaning that it's not permanent.

Lastly is Iris. She can summon giant purple words that can explode on impact. They only appear when she puts emphasis on words that she says aloud. During the training she learned two new powers. She can absorb energy from magic attacks and counter it back at the enemy as an energy ball. Lastly she discovered that she can make six long wispy tendrils come out of her back. She can control each of their movement simultaneously. They are each able to stretch 7 yards. Together they are strong enough to lift her up into the air and walk around with them. Eventually they heard Toriel call them.

"Children, dinner is ready!"

"Finally I worked myself up an appetite." Jerod said wiping the sweat off his brow.

"Ditto." John said. "Hey Iris, do you think that was all of the powers we can do?"

Iris looked through her notes. "Hmm, not sure. Maybe we will discover more later on."

"I wonder if Delilah can make a giant death beam."

Delilah gave him a look that said 'wtf'.

Frisk looked a little dejected. "I don't know what my power is."

"Well there is that ability to go back in time slightly." Iris said.

"But what else? That can't be it!"

"Maybe you can self-destruct." John snickered. Frisk pouted in annoyance.

"Come on, lets get going!" Jerod said.

"Don't worry Frisk. I think you'll find your other powers eventually." Caleb said patting his friend's shoulder.

They went to the dining table which Diego has already set up. He left training early to help out Toriel with Dinner. The pie was massive and was placed in the center of the table.

"Greetings my children, did you enjoy yourselves outside?" Toriel asked

"Yeah we did, look at what I can do!" John held his breath as he disappeared in front of them all.

Toriel smiled. "Well I must say that is very interesting. I wish I was there to offer a Tu-toriel."

Jerod snorted as John reappeared. "Oh my god, finally someone who 'goats' my humor!" Toriel giggled in response.

"Alright, enough fooling around. Let us dig in."

The whole group sat down and grabbed a slice of the pie. They all had the same thought.

"Mmm, this is absolutely delectable." John started wolfing down the rest.

"Easy bro. You don't want to have a bad time in the bathroom." Delilah warned.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. You see, the food us monsters make and eat is different from yours. You body completely absorbs it and leaves nothing behind. So we don't have worry about bathroom breaks."

"Interesting." Iris said.

"But wait, do you still have to worry about personal hygiene?" Delilah asked.

Toriel laughed. "Of course. We still sweat and get dirty just like you."

They continued the rest of the food until they were all full. The only problem was that there was still half of the pie remaining.

"Don't worry children, I will wrap up the remainder of the pie for you to take with you. Now if you will so kindly follow me to the guest room." The group listened and followed her down the hall and towards the said room. The room was changed so that there were two beds there and three sleeping bag. In the center there was three back packs. "I gathered as much supplies I could find and put them into those backpacks for you to carry with you, as well as spare cell phones for each of you. Unfortunately I could only find three sleeping bags, two of you are going to have to share a bed."

"This is really thoughtful of you Toriel." Iris said.

"Yeah, thanks." Caleb said.

"Now, I think it's best you go to sleep, you have a long journey in the morning. Good night children."

Diego beckoned for Toriel to lean down. She did and he pecked her on the cheek. Toriel gasped in surprise and then smiled warmly.

"Good night." The rest of the group said. Toriel bid them all goodnight one last time and shut the door.

"Y'know I had my doubts about her at first but she seems like an okay lady." Jerod said.

"I told you, just wait and everything will be alright." John said.

"You know sitting down and waiting for stuff to happen is not the answer to everything." Jerod retorted.

"But it is an answer." John said smugly.

Iris rolled her eyes and looked through the backpacks. Inside was 7 cellphones similar to Toriel's, an empty canteen of water, a pouch to hold the gold they collect, a multi tool pocket knife, a set of crayons with a couple pieces of scrap paper, and a rubrix cube (she had no idea where it came from). Iris, Diego, and John decided to be the ones to hold the bags.

"Alright, who gets the beds?" Jerod asks.

"I have to get one of the beds, if I sleep anywhere else then I'm keeping you up with my snoring." John said.

"Yeah right, you're just saying that to sleep on the bed." Caleb said.

"No, he's right. Trust me, I know." Delilah said. "Me and John got that bed."

"Alright then Caleb and Frisk get's the other bed." Diego said.

"Are you sure bro?" Caleb asked.

"I don't mind." Diego said. "Let's just get to bed." Everyone started getting into bed, except John. He was giving Frisk a weird look.

"Uh, why are you looking at me like that?" Frisk asked.

"Frisk... I think you still owe us an explanation."

"About w-what?" Frisk said nervously.

"About why exactly we had to chase you to Mt. Ebott."

Caleb looked at Frisk. "Yeah, we all know the legend. 'Anyone who climbs the mountain never returns.' So why did you do it?"

Frisk looked down, a shadow cast over his face. "Caleb, you remember during your birthday party when I stepped out of the room? And then I came back acting a little sad."

"Yeah, I kind of knew that you were a little sad. I'm sorry I didn't try to see if you were alright." Caleb felt a little ashamed.

"It's not your fault, you couldn't prevent what I saw next." The group stayed quite as he continued to talk. "I went to your parent's room to watch the news on their TV."

"Is it because of that storm that your parents are caught up in?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, the news said that the storm was getting even worse than before. A-a-and that my parent's cruise ship was gone." Frisk blubbered, sobbing into his hands. "I don't know if they are marooned on some island or they might be..." He didn't finish the sentence but they know what he meant. "I was so scared and frustrated. I felt like I didn't want to exist anywhere!"

"Frisk..." Diego said.

"I'm so sorry, it's my fault you are all down here! If you didn't follow me then it would be just me down here. You would all be safe at home with your family."

"Frisk, just shut up." John said . Everyone looked at John surprised at his harshness. "Quit blaming yourself for us being down here. It was our choice alone for us to go after you. If we didn't care then we wouldn't have even thought of following you to such a forbidden place."

"John's right." Diego said. "You are our friend. Don't think you don't matter at all. Even if your parents are... well, we could have made something work out. Maybe my parent could've taken you in."

"But what if they said no, what would happen then!?" Frisk snapped. "They would not allow me to wander the streets by myself, they would have called child services to put me in the system. I can't go there, I won't!" Frisk's face was glowing red, the beginning of a temper tantrum. Caleb hugged Frisk to calm his friend down.

"I can't blame you for fearing the system." Chara said. Everyone looked at the ghost who stayed quiet the whole time. "I was an orphan almost all my life, so I grew up in the system. It was not pleasant, feeling like you don't belong, that no one wants you. I ended up growing a hatred for humanity, blaming them all for my suffering. That was why I decided to jump down the mountain." Everyone gasped, no one knew that little fact about Chara. "Maybe I still hold a little resentment for humanity but then I met someone, a monster. He was my best friend, he helped my get over my hatred, more or less. I guess he's long gone by now. My point is that despite you all being humans, you all are alright in my book. Friendship is one of the most important things in this world, we need to depend on each other to survive in this world." Chara smiled at them, but this smile seemed a little genuine.

The group looked at each other.

"Your right Chara, maybe we can... no we will make it to the barrier and return home." Said Iris. "And we will do it together."

"But what about me?" Frisk asked.

Delilah frowned at Frisk. "I don't know. But we won't abandon you. Just promise that you will not leave us." She asked.

Frisk nodded meekly. He's a little grateful that the group isn't having any hard feelings for what he did.

"Alright, enough chit-chat. We have to get ready for tomorrow." Jerod said.

They all got tucked into a bed or sleeping bag. Chara didn't really need to sleep so he just shut his eyes and daydreamed.

After a while of waiting, Toriel was sure that the humans were sleeping. She then made her way down the stairs and into the basement. She walked until she reached a big door, the only way to the rest of the Underground. Their she started to begin her daily talk with her mysterious friend. They talked and told jokes and laughed. But the thing was that Toriel was worried a bit about the humans. True, human are naturally stronger than monsters, but it's the whole kingdom against them. If only they had some sort of guide, she would like to go but...

"...and then i said to him, 'papyrus, i'm not fat, just big-boned'. and that's why i'm not allowed to host my bro's birthday party." said the stranger.

"Hehehe." Toriel chuckled lightly.

"hey lady, are you a'ight? you don't seem really into the conversation today."

"Oh, yes sorry. I just have a lot on my mind."

"oh...okay." The stranger didn't press any further.

"Hey, can I trust you with something?" Toriel asked.

"uh, sure. lay it on me."

"Sometime tomorrow, there might be seven human children leaving the ruins." The stranger didn't say anything. "If they do leave, can you promise me to watch over them?"

The stranger stayed silent for a while. "what do you mean by 'if'."

"I am thinking of destroying this door, so that they can never leave and they will be safe with me. I'm really not sure, I keep changing my mind. If I do let them leave, I want you to watch over them and protect them, will you do that for me?"

"...oh, i mean wow that's a big responsibility to put on someone you barely even know. it's like their fate depends on what decision i make, makes you wonder what things would be like if we never met." Toriel waited patiently for him to finish talking and run to a conclusion. "so, if you do destroy this door, that would mean that we won't see each other again. that's a shame, i really enjoy the time we have together. you know what, yeah. i'll do it."

Toriel sighed happily. "Oh thank y-"

"but! but on one condition. they must not kill any monster. if they do then the deal is off. i won't put my brother understand?"

Toriel bit her lip anxiously. "I understand."

"good, welp i need to get going. hope to see you in the future lady." The stranger said as he walked away from the door.

Toriel was worried now. What if they meet a monster who will not back down unless they kill them. She did say to avoid killing but accidents can happen, after all they are just children. They don't fully understand the length of their power. It's not like they could go back and undo their mistakes. She made her choice, if they want to go home then they will have to prove themselves.

Prove they are strong enough to survive.

Chapter Text

Iris found herself in a vast abstract emptiness. Everywhere the colors shifted, like being inside a giant kaleidoscope.

'Where am I, am I dreaming?' Iris thought to herself, or in this case said aloud. "Hmm, let me see if I can make something appear..." Iris closed her eyes and concentrated. When she opened it again she found herself underwater. There was seaweed moving with the currents of the water, fish big and small swam around, and Iris was standing there in the middle of it. She assumed it was a dream. But she did find it very strange that she felt so lucid right now, wonder why...

She looked to the side and saw a black figure several feet away, it's back was turned from her. She didn't remember dreaming up whatever that was.

"Hey, you over there!" She called. The figure did not answer. She pouted and walked over to it. She stood right next to the figure and called again.

"Hey, what are you doing in my dream?"

The figure's body tensed for a second, perhaps just realizing that someone else was there. It slowly turned around to look at her. Iris would've gotten a better look at it but then her dreamscape suddenly vanished as she was forced awake.

Iris woke up feeling groggy. She had no idea what that thing in her dream was.

She heard very loud barking, must have been what woke her up. She reached for her glasses and put them on. The other's were woken up by the barking as well. It came from the doorway. There was the Annoying Dog barking loudly.

"Uhh, what the hell! I'm going to kill that dog!" Jerod growled as he stomped towards the Dog. It just stared at him and wagged his tail happily.

Caleb jumped in between them. "No don't hurt it! It's just a little doggy, it doesn't know any better!" The Dog glared at Caleb offended.

"Can you all pipe it down!" John growled. He was in no way a morning person. He looked at his phone for the time. "7:30? Ugh, I thought being trapped Underground meant sleeping in."

"But it's a school day anyway." Delilah said.

"So! We're not going to school today anyway."

"That's not a good thing you know." Diego said.

"Yes I am aware of that fryboy!"

"Hey, don't talk to my brother that way!" Caleb glared.

"BARK!" Everyone jumped back at the sheer force of that bark. They felt it actually push them back. They all stopped arguing and looked at the Dog.

The Dog nudged his head back. As if gesturing for them to follow him. He then dashed down the hallway. Without a second beat, they all got their stuff together and stepped out of the room. They saw on the floor was the rest of the Butterscotch Pie wrapped in tin foil. Diego quickly took it and put it in his bag. They just barely saw the Dog in the foyer before he went down the stairs into the basement. They reluctantly followed. They lost sight of him but they had a narrow, winding hallway to follow.

"Why did he want us to go down here?" Iris asked as they walked.

"Maybe he's trying to warn us about something." Caleb said

"Or someone." Frisk added.

"Or maybe this is all a big trap." Chara said.

"Shouldn't we let Toriel know that we are going this way?" Diego suggested wanting to get out of here.

"Um I don't think that is going to be a problem." Delilah said.

Everyone stopped when they came upon a large ornate set of doors. And Toriel was standing there with a stoic expression.

"Toriel? What are you doing down here?" Diego asked.

"I have been waiting for you children." Toriel said with coldness in her voice, not sounding like the motherly figure from before. "You all wish to return home, do you not?" She asked. The group silently nodded, unsure where she was going with this. "This door is the end of the Ruins. A one way exit to the rest of the Underground. I am going to destroy it." The group's blood froze at what she said. "No one will be able to leave. Now be good children and go back upstairs."

"Wh- ho- Toriel what the hell is wrong with you!?" Jerod exclaimed angrily.

"Toriel why are you doing this?" Caleb demanded. He thought Toriel was going to help them.

"It's for your own protection." Toriel replied sternly.

"Protection from what?" Iris said. "We handled the monsters here by ourselves."

Toriel sighed. "You naive children, don't you understand what awaits you out there. What you've seen in the Ruins is nothing compared to the rest of the Underground. Everyone is vastly stronger and on the search for humans. You can't possibly survive out there. If you leave, they, Asgore, will kill you. This is for your own good."

Diego looked at her with a heartbroken expression. He put so much trust in her, more than the rest of the group wanted to see. And now she was betraying them all.

Toriel's expression faltered for a second at the face Diego made. She faced away from them.

"This is your last warning. Do not try to stop me."

"NO!" Jerod stomped his foot, his magic adding extra force into the stomp, leaving crack by his foot. "We are leaving and you wont stop us!"

"Hmph , so none of you will listen to reason? Fine, there is only one solution to this." She outstretched her hands, which became engulfed in flames. "Prove yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

She summoned a bunch of fireballs around her. With a sweep of her paw the fireballs launched towards them. Diego quickly summoned a ward around all of them but he didn't expect the force of the fireballs. It quickly shattered and caught them all off guard as the fireballs impacted them. They burnt each of them as they cried out in pain. Delilah was hurt the most from the attack as she barely stood on her feet.

"Delilah!" John helped her sister stand on her feet. "G-guys, I think we should go back." John stuttered. He was too worried about him and his sister's well being.

"No, we are not giving up! If we do then we can't ever go home." Jerod said. "I'm going to knock the sense into her!" His eyes glowed orange as he charged at her. He jumped up to perform a powerful punch at her. Toriel looked at him and quickly did a palm thrust. Jerod got knocked back as he crashed against Delilah, the impact stunned them. Caleb, John, and Iris summoned their projectile attacks and launched their knives, bullets, and Words at her. Toriel then made waves of fire which easily overpowered the attacks. Then she made several trails of fire and they charged at the three in a slithering pattern. One hit Caleb and knocked him down. John frantically tried to use his telekinesis to incapacitate Toriel but was too slow and got hit as well. Iris tried to absorb them but one arced around her and hit her on the side. John, Jerod, Delilah, Iris, and Caleb were now hurt badly.

Frisk and Diego were all that remained. Frisk stood in front of Toriel, terrified but determined to stand his ground. He held up his stick threateningly at the one he warned goatmom.

"S-stay back." Toriel looked at him solemnly. "I-I mean it!"

Toriel did not bat an eye as she prepared another fire attack.

"Stop!"

*Crash*

Everyone stared wide eyed and mouth agape at what they saw. They saw Toriel on her knees, a big gaping hole was now on her mid section. And they saw, hand's ablaze in green flames, Diego standing there with an intense expression. But then his face changed to one of absolute shock and terror. He dropped his pan and kneeled by her side.

"Oh god, Toriel! What have I done! I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to..."

Toriel gave a pained smile. "It's okay my child... It's not your fault... it's mine. I shouldn't have forced you into this."

"M-m-maybe I can heal you." Diego reached out his hand and put all his energy into his healing. But nothing happened as he felt himself become drained.

"I'm sorry Diego, my wound is too great for you to heal, I'm afraid." Toriel said.

"Nonononono." Diego started tearing up and breathing hysterically.

Toriel reached out her hand and caressed his head in her hand. "Listen to me, small one... when you go beyond this door, keep walking as far as you can. Eventually, you will reach the exit... ASGORE... Do not let ASGORE take your Soul. Any of your Souls His plan cannot be allowed to succeed. Take care of them all." Her body started turning grey. She gave one last tearful smile. "Be good, won't you? Diego...." She crumbled into dust right in front of him. An upside down white heart floated over the dust. It quivered in the air for a little bit before cracking and vanishing as well.

"You... how could you." Chara whispered. He looked at Diego and to the dust and back to Diego in utter shock. Diego sobbed silently, trying not to lose his composure. He couldn't believe it, he took a life. Chara couldn't believe he killed his...

"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Jerod said solemnly as he clasped a hand on his shoulder. "Out of all of us I never would have expected you to do that." Jerod bit his tongue at that last bit. "Uh, look she left us no choice, it was either us or her."

"But maybe there was some other way to get through to her." Diego said quietly.

"If there was then we would have taken it." Iris said. She felt awful as well. Toriel, although misguided, was just looking our for them.

"Trust me, none of us are happy with this." Delilah said.

"I never thought I would ever feel bad about the death of a monster." John said. All he heard of monsters was in stories. The kind that scares kids to not look in the closet or under your bed at night, now he felt nothing but guilt.

"I can't believe you murdered her." Chara growled. The group looked at the ghost and saw that he looked very furious. "To think I actually thought that you were different. At least you owed up to you soul, KINDNESS. You made her death quick." He chuckled darkly. 

"But w-what can I do? She wouldn't back down, and she was trying to kill us." Diego blubbered.

"Wow you sure are heartless." Everyone looked down and saw Flowey pop out of the ground. He grinned darkly. "You killed her in one single hit. You must have really wanted her dead." He giggled.

"Shut up, leave my brother alone!" Caleb threatened.

"You know she wasn't actually going to kill you." Everyone looked at him with confusion and denial. His face changed into an imitation of Toriel. "She was just testing what you would do if you went up against an enemy that you thought wouldn't back down. Turns out you passed, you killed her. If only you could go back and change fate now that you know this."

The group didn't say anything.

"In this world, it's kill or be killed. That old hag thought she could break the rules. She tried so hard to save you humans. But when it came down to it... Hee hee... SHE COULDN'T EVEN SAVE HERSELF. WHAT AN IDIOT!" He cackled as he dug back into the ground.

Diego turned to Frisk "We are going back." he said. "And this time we are doing things right." He looked at the group with hope in his eyes. Chara smiled in slight approval.

"Let's do this." Jerod pumped his fist in joy.

"At least we know how she is going to attack now." Iris said.

Frisk nodded as well and he began to concentrate.

Reload

They found themselves back in the hallway just before the doorway where Toriel is.

Diego looked at his friends. "Alright, new strategy. You guys focus on dodging and parrying her attacks, absolutely no attacking her."

"What about you?" John asked.

Diego smiled as he twirled his pan. "Don't worry about me I have an idea."

"Be careful Diego." Caleb said fidgeting with his hat.

"Diego." Chara said. "Do this right and I will forgive you." Diego smiled and nodded.

They walked into the room where Toriel is and she started speaking again.

"I have been waiting for you children."

"Save it Toriel." Jerod said shutting her up. "We know what you are planning on doing and we won't let you do this." putting on a defensive pose. The rest of the group followed suit. Diego didn't get nervous, he knew they were just doing it to look serious.

Toriel's eyes narrowed. "Fine, there is only one solution to this." She outstretched her hands, which became engulfed in flames. "Prove yourself. Prove to me you are strong enough to survive."

She began throwing her fireballs again. Diego summoned a ward in front of him, this time he was prepared for the attack. When the ward went down the rest of the group scattered. Delilah jumped over the fireballs and somersaulted. Some fireballs were close to hitting her but John and Iris intercepted it. Words and Knives darted around the place. Iris summoned her tendrils and used them to smack the fire away. Caleb stood in front of Frisk and John fired at the upcoming fireballs with pointblank precision. The yellow bullets met the fireballs and exploded in a fiery glow as embers trickled down. Jerod ran across the room, darting left and right suddenly in a orange glowing streak, throwing Toriel off. It was a rainbow of colors everywhere.

Toriel looked at Diego who was still standing his ground.

"What are you doing? Attack or run away!" Toriel threw another dozen of fireballs. Diego conjured another ward which absorbed the attack. After it went out Diego grabbed his pan and smacked the fireballs away like a tennis ball.

"We won't fight Toriel. We are leaving." Diego said.

Toriel frowned at him. "What are you proving this way? Fight me or leave!" She ignored the rest of the group as she kept attacking him. Diego summoned his own fireballs and intercepted Toriel's. He looked at her with a sad smile. "Stop it. Stop looking at me that way." Toriel stopped fighting and just looked at him. Diego took a step forward to her.

"I won't hurt you but we want to go home." Diego said.

"I know you want to go home, but... please go back upstairs. I promise to take good care of you." he got closer to her. Toriel's shoulders sagged as she slumped over in defeat.

"You are a stubborn child which is a good thing when you go out there. Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single child."

"Goatmom." Diego whispered, cupping her cheek. He felt her soft fur on his hand.

"No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down there. Your families are up there worried sick about you. It would not be right for any you to never see them again. My expectations, my loneliness, my fear... For you, my child I will put them aside." She said sadly "You may leave if you want. But know that if you do, you can't come back."

"I will miss you Toriel." Diego said, eyes starting to water.

Toriel wiped away his tears. "Shh, don't be sad my child. You will always have your friends by your side. I now believe that you can all make it to the barrier together, and not harm anyone." Diego hugged her tightly. Toriel hugged back. She looked at the others and decided that it was best to not hug them as well, they still look a little cautious of her. Frisk though went to hug her as well which she happily returned. She started walking away. "Goodbye my children." She turned around and smiled at them all. They all waved back as Toriel left.

After she left everyone ran to Diego and congratulated him.

"That was so awesome Diego!" John said

"Yeah, that was pretty brave of you." Jerod said, patting his back.

"Good job bro." Caleb hugged his brother tightly.

"A little unorthodox but I guess it worked in the end." Iris smirked.

Chara floated over to him. "I guess I owe you an apology. You owed up to your mistake." He said

Diego smiled. "Of course, treat other's as you treat yourself. That's how I live my life."

"I thought your way of life is, work hard and be no fun." Caleb teased in a childish voice.

Diego bonked him on the head. "Let's just all agree right now that we won't kill any other monster from now on."

"Trust me, after that, none of us want to do that again." John sighed. The group mumbled in agreement.

Jerod has a objection. "But what if the monster is a relentless killer? I'm not saying that it's the best choice but we still need to have that option there."

Caleb sighed. "Your right. But that will be only as the very last resort."

"I think we better get moving before something else happens." Iris said. The group pushed the door open and walked through another hallway. At the end they saw Flowey there looking as smug as ever.

"Howdy!" Flowey said. Caleb gritted his teeth at that greeting of his, it just makes him want to hate cowboys coming from that flower.

"What do you want Petals?" John said annoyed. "We just got past Toriel and I am too tired to bother with you right now."

"Clever. Verrrryyy clever." Flowey teased. "Amazing that you managed to beat without hurting her. You must be the greatest pacifist in the world." Flowey smiled grew more sinister. "Yeah right! I know what you did. You murdered her. And then you went back, because you regretted it. Ha ha ha ha..." Everyone looked at him in disbelief. Frisk's blood ran cold.

"How does he remember?" Chara said to himself.

"You are all completely naive. Do you think Frisk is the only one with that power? The power to reshape the world... Purely by your own determination. The ability to play God! The ability to "SAVE." Flowey cackled.

He looked at John "John, you just love sitting there and watching others do the hard work for you. I don't know if your that weak or just plain selfish."

"Hey leave him alone!" Jerod shouted, not tolerating anyone making fun of his best friend.

"Or what? Your going to beat me up. Ha! You couldn't even land a hit on that old hag. You just love running reckless into battle, like a complete idiot."

"He can't help what's in his nature." Delilah said putting her hands on her hips. "He's just being himself."

"Easy for you to say Miss 'Oh I'm so perfect with my looks and grace'. What a joke."

Iris glared at Flowey through her cloudy glasses.

"What's wrong four-eyes, don't have anything to say to me? Or maybe you have your nose stuck up another book."

"Flowey please cut it out." Diego begged.

"Aw, did I touch a nerve? You going to kill me to and make Frisk reload out of regret?"

"You don't get to judge him." Caleb said, his hand on the trigger of his gun in case Flowey tries anything.

"And you do? When your not petting another animal, you are preventing people like your brother and Frisk from getting due punishment. They like to think they are above consequences, I'm the only exception. "

"And speaking of..." Flowey stared directly at Frisk. "Enjoy that power of yours while it lasts. Maybe after you die another... mmm... 6 times you will understand that in this world ITS KILL OR BE KILLED."

Then, Flowey's face changed, looking grotesque and evil. Flowey gave a villainous cackle and then popped down into the ground.

"I really hate that flower." Caleb huffed angrily.

"How does he have Determination?" Iris asked.

"I'm wondering the same thing." Chara said. "But I don't think we will find the answer here."

They came across the gate to the rest of the Underground. They all looked at each other. John stepped in front of the door. He gripped his toy knife as he turned to the others. "Guys this is it. Once we go through this door, there is no going back. Ready?"

"Hell yeah." Jerod said making punching motions with his fists.

"I'm ready." Delilah said straightening her long brown hair.

"We made it this far." Iris said, pushing her glasses to her face.

"We are going to be alright." Diego said, twirling his pan.

"Let's git partner." Caleb said in a southern accent, tipping his hat.

"Let's go." Frisk said, face full of determination.

"Look at the bright side. If you do die, at least you will keep me company for eternity." Chara said. Everyone glared at him for ruining the moment. Chara coughed awkwardly.

They all took a deep breath and went through the door.

Chapter Text

Alphys sighed to herself as she turned off her TV. The royal scientist just finished a rerun of Mew-Mew-Kissie-Cutie in her pj's. She turned to her big computer. She had to do her daily check on the cams around the Underground and then check on her... guests down stairs. Just another day in the life of the great Dr. Alphys.

"Alphys darling, I'm back!" Said Mettaton, her friend and creation. He rolled right into the lab. "Is there any progress to my new body?"

Alphys sighed. "O-Oh, hi Mettaton. It should be ready for r-reveal in a few... couple of days, b-but I have to get working on your defense mechanisms."

"Oh I don't need that dreadful armor plating. They just make me look unattractive."

"But M-Mettaton, y...you will be vulnerable to attacks when you are in that form. You could..."

The robot wiggled his finger. "Ah ah ah! Don't mention the big fat d-word. Just let me know when it's ready for the big reveal. Let me worry about the technicalities." He said letting himself out.

Alphys sighed as she started slurping on some instant noodles. She pulled up the cam at the far edge of Snowdin forest.

She immediately spit out her noodles and gasped when she saw the screen.

Mettaton burst back into the room. "What happened? I heard a oh-my-gosh-I-can't-believe-what-I-just-saw-that gasp." He strolled over to Alphys. "Oh it's in Snowdin. Is one of the kids pulling a prank on the locals again? This is why I can't have a reality show of Snowdin. At this rate I'm going to run out of stuff to put myself on Tv. Then what are the people going to watch? Well, me of course but I need more."

He just realized that Alphys was still staring at the screen. He waved his hands over her face. "Alphys? Why are you sitting there ignoring my distress. What could possibly draw your attention away from..." Mettaton froze as his optical sensors took a second glance on to the screen showing seven young kids stepping out of the big door to the Ruins. What was most interesting was that they were more than just kids.

"Well hello..."

"Oh god, brrr! It's so-o cold!" Jerod said, hugging himself and rubbing his shoulders. As soon as the group stepped out of the Ruins they were greeted by snow, snow, and trees...with snow, there were a lot of trees. They were in a snow forest. (Was that so hard to describe?)

"You okay Jerod?" Diego asked. He may have been wearing a green t-shirt under his apron but Jerod only had an orange tank top, that's not enough to protect from the cold.

"Y-yeah, j-just freezing my butt off." Jerod was shivering rapidly. Looking at everyone, he is the one most exposed out here.

"Oh, hold on." John took off his black sweatshirt and handed it to him. "Here, put it on."

Jerod looked at his friend uncertain. He only had his white t-shirt on to cover himself. "You sure, your going to end up freezing as well?"

John shrugged. "I can handle the cold more than you can."

Jerod pouted and took the hoodie. It was a little too big for him but at least it was warm. His cheeks flushed "Thanks."

John gave a small smile. "No prob, now lets get going before we catch our death."

They followed the snowy path through the forest.

"It's supposed to be summer in a couple of months, how is it snowing down here?" Frisk asked Chara and Iris. They both shrugged, not sure how. Frisk puffed his cheeks and continued on.

"Hey, where did you think that white dog went? He disappeared right before we fought Toriel."

Iris tipped her chin. "I'm not sure. Maybe he snuck past Toriel when she wasn't looking."

Caleb's eyes sparkled. "You mean we might see him again!?"

Jerod rolled his eyes. "You really have a knack of warming up to mutts." Caleb stopped and kicked his leg. "Ow, what the heck?!"

"He's not a mutt, he's a purebred pome-... pomere-..." Caleb struggled to pronounce the right name.

"Pomeranian." Iris replied.

"Yeah that!" Caleb shouted. "I don't want to hear you insulting cute innocent things again or I will-"

"Shhhh! Hold up guys!" John whispered shouted. Everyone looked at him curiously as he pointed behind them. There was a broken branch on the ground.

"So, it's just a branch." Delilah said.

"I am 100% positive that that wasn't broken before we passed it."

*Snap*

Everyone looked up and saw a small pile of snow fall from the treetops.

John started making a straight beeline down the path. "Nonononononono. I have played Slender and I know this won't end well."

Delilah called to her brother. "John stop, your just being parano-" They heard the crunch of snow behind them. They turned around and barely saw a silhouette of someone before it disappeared. "Wait up!"

"Don't leave me!" Frisk whined as he chased them.

"I'm too young to die!" Caleb cried.

They all followed him close behind. The atmosphere was quiet and still, which unnerved them the most. They eventually reached a small bridge that was blocked by a gate, except the bars were too wide to block anyone out.

"Umm, do monsters think a human stereotype is that we are really fat?" John said.

Iris was getting anxious. "Who cares, let's hurry before we are..." They all heard the footsteps behind them. It slowly walked up till they were right next to them. Frisk was the one in the back so he was the most exposed but he was scared stiff. "...caught."

"humans. don't any of you know how to greet a new pal? one of you face me and shake my hand."

Frisk whimpered as he slowly turned towards him. He kept his gaze on the ground and quickly took the person's hand.

Pfffffffthhhh

Everyone turned around and John couldn't help but laugh out loud at what he saw.

"Oh my god, whoopee cushion in the hand? Why didn't I ever think of that?!" John said, clutching his stomach as he kept laughing. Frisk kept a -_- face as he slowly let go of the person's hand.

"heh, looks like someone has good taste in humor." said the figure. Taking a closer look they realized the person was a skeleton. He wore a blue hoodie, black basketball shorts, and pink slippers. He was short, at Frisk's height, and looked chubby, more than John. He had a permanent smile on his face as he had little white dots as eyes on his sockets. "anyway, hey there. my name is sans, sans the skeleton. you are all humans right?"

"Yeah, we are. I'm John." He wrapped an arm around Jerod and Delilah. "This is my best friend Jerod and my baby sister DelilAHHHH!" John yelped as she pulled on his hair and pulled his ear to her mouth.

"John, are you freaking stupid, we are trying to not attract the attention of the Underground."

"C'mon, where's your sense of adventure?" John said.

"No, I'm with Delilah on this one." Jerod said. "Why are you so trusting of this guy, you never warm up this easily?"

John sheepishly rubbed his head. "It's just that, he's a fellow comedian. You can always trust someone who makes people laugh."

"Even the Joker?"

"That's just a comic book character. This is real life." John defended.

"uhh, hello? i still here, don't give me the cold-shoulder." Sans said calmly.

"And look, he had puns as well." John whined. "Just give him a chance."

Delilah sighed. "Fine, but whatever happens is on you." She let him go and looked at Sans, he had a lazy demeanor on him, just like John. "Um, hi Sans. Like my brother said, my name is Delilah and the others are Iris, Diego, Caleb, and Frisk." They waved slightly.

"sup, and don't worry i'm not gonna snitch on ya." The group sighed in relief. "but wow, seven humans in one day. that's hilarious.

"How is that funny?" Iris asked.

"cause my brother, papyrus is a human hunting fanatic."

"Why are you and your brother named after fonts?" Iris asked, pinching her nose.

Sans shrugged. "i dunno, it looked like the right 'type' of names." Iris actually snorted but quickly regained her composure. "well, speak of the skeleton, here he comes right now."

"What!" Jerod looked into the distance and saw a tall figure rapidly approach. "Oh crap."

"hey, no sweat. i got an idea. follow me." he walked across the bridge and the group followed him when they noticed a dingy sentry station and seven lamps strewn around the station. "quick, behind those seven convenient lamps." They all quickly went behind a respective lamp. Just as soon as they hid they heard a loud voice.

"SANS!"

"sup."

"YOU KNOW WHATS UP BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T RECALIBRATED THE TRAPS!" God, it was like listening to nails on a chalkboard. "WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?"

"just staring at this lamp, wanna check it out?"

"NO, I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH I MUST BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN! THEN I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL GET ALL THAT I UTTERLY DESERVE!"

"Achoo!" Jerod sneezed from behind the lamp. Everyone stiffened, hoping their cover was blown.

"BLESS YOU LAMP, NOW WHERE WAS I? OH YES, RESPECT... RECOGNITION... I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK TO BE MY FRIEND! I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING!"

"hmm, maybe this lamp will help you."

"What the heck are you doing Sans?" Delilah thought to herself.

"SANS YOU ARE NOT HELPING. YOU JUST SIT AROUND AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERYDAY!"

"Boondoggle, noun: work or activity that is wasteful or pointless but gives the appearance of having value." Iris said in her head.

"Huh?" Chara said. He was listening to her thoughts.

"Basically, being lazy." Iris said. Chara hummed, understanding.

"hey, take it easy. i've got a lot of work done... a skele-ton." They all heard a rim-shot. John snickered, covering his mouth. He could feel the searing gaze of the rest of the group on his head.

"SANS!"

"come on, you're smiling."

"I AM AND I HATE IT! SIGH... 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... down to the bone."

Another rim-shot was heard as John snickered again.

"Boo!" Caleb yelled.

"SEE SANS, EVEN THE LAMPS HATE YOUR PUNS! UHH... I WILL GOT BACK AND ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES. AS FOR YOUR WORK, PUT A LITTLE MORE BACKBONE INTO IT! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus cackled. There was an awkward cough as they heard footsteps getting farther away.

"alright guys, you can come out now."

The group stepped out, carefully looking around to be sure.

"Thanks for the help Sans." John said.

"no prob john. but you should get moving before he comes back. and if he does then you will have to listen to more of my puns." Sans said.

"I wouldn't mind that." John said.

"Nope." Delilah grabbed John's ear and pulled him along. "We're going now."

"hold on there." The group stopped and looked back at him. "i got a favor to ask of you guys. you see my brother is feeling kind of down lately, but seeing you guys might just make his day."

"Are you asking us to run into him?" Diego asked. "Because that might not be the best idea."

"oh, you're all going to run into him anyway, i'm just asking if you could... well, play along with his antics." The group all looked at each other, unsure of how to answer. "don't worry, he isn't dangerous, even if he tries to be. so think about it alright?" He didn't let the group answer. "alright, see you guys later." Sans winked as he snapped his fingers. He immediately vanished in front of them.

"Whoa, he can teleport!" John exclaimed. "That's awesome!"

"So do you think we can trust him?" Iris asked.

"I don't know." Delilah huffed. "He's annoying, but he doesn't look like a bad guy."

"I just wanna keep going." Jerod said shivering, looking at John's sweatpants and to his basketball shorts.

"I'm not giving you my pants Jerod." John said sternly. "Whatever the case is, we still have to go forward guys."

"Yeah, let's go." Diego said. Him and the group followed. "Hopefully this Papyrus guy is as nice as Sans said."

They all continued on the path, unaware of the pair of eyes watching them from behind.

"SO AS I WAS SAYING ABOUT UNDYNE..." Everyone froze when they came across none other than the Great Papyrus himself. He was a skeleton as well but looked nothing like Sans. He was taller than any of them and leaner, he was also wearing a funny looking getup with a red scarf. He was currently talking with Sans, not noticing them yet.

"hold that thought bro, look over there." Sans said.

Papyrus looked at the group and back to Sans, then back to the group, and back to Sans... this went on for awhile. Finally Papyrus stopped and looked at Sans.

"OH MY GOD, SANS ARE THOSE HUMANS?"

"uh actually, i think those are children."

Papyrus looked disappointing. "OH..."

"hey, what kind of children are they?"

Papyrus took another glance. "OH MY GOD, ARE THOSE HUMAN CHILDREN?"

"yes."

Papyrus squealed loudly. "OH MY GOD! SANS I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL... I'M GONNA... I'LL BE SO POPULAR! POPULAR! POPU-" Papyrus realized that the humans were still staring at him. "AHEM! HUMANS, YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU! I WILL CAPTURE YOU! YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL, THEN... WELL I'M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENS NEXT... NEVERTHELESS, CONTINUE ONLY IF YOU DARE! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus dashed off.

"well that went well." sans said nonchalantly. "don't sweat it kids, i'll keep an eye socket out for you." He winked.

"Hey wait." Iris said. "Is there anything else we should know about your brother?"

"well, he does have this special attack. if you see a magic attack that is blue, don't move and it won't hurt you."

"Like this?" John summoned a cyan knife.

"yep." Sans stated. "alright, see ya around." Sans teleported away again.

"His brother seems kind of nice." Diego said.

"A little naive to." Iris said. "He wants to capture us yet he didn't do it as soon as he saw us."

"Maybe he knows we're too powerful for him." Caleb said.

"I guess..."

"Well then, onward I guess." John said. The group continued on, not sure of what to expect from the skeleton duo.

Chapter Text

The group continued on until they reached another sentry station. The only thing different about it was that it had a sign in front of it.

"Absolutely NO MOVING!" John read aloud.

"Why? Is there some sort of motion sensor there?" Iris asked. She looked around, she didn't see any

"Only one way to find out." Jerod said, preparing to step forward.

Iris's eyes went wide. "Jerod, NO WAI-" It was too late, Jerod already hopped in front of the sentry station. Everyone held their breath. They didn't see anything happen.

Jerod turned around and gave a thumbs up to the group. "Alright guys, it's safe to co-"

"Did something move? Was it my imagination?" Everyone saw a black and white bipedal dog wearing a spotted collar and a dog treat dangling from their mouth popped up from behind the station, it was holding two long daggers. It's eyes looked a little like they were blind yet he seemed to still be seeing through them. "If something WAS moving... For example, a human... I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!" He growled as he raised his daggers threateningly.

Jerod flinched a little bit at the sudden movement of the dog. The monster's head snapped towards Jerod and he narrowed his eyes.

"There you are. Don't move an inch."

Jerod tried to jump back from the blades but the dog moved with such speed that Jerod barely had time to react from the wide arc. He felt the sharp blades slice his torso as he suddenly started to feel very...very...cold...

Reload

Seeing Jerod suffer such a fatal injury made Frisk quickly reload to just before they reached the station.

Jerod hugged his torso as he shivered uncomfortably, remembering what just happened or what might happen.

"Jerod, are you alright?!" John asked, frantically inspecting him for any injury.

"No, I just died." Jerod said giving a pained shudder. He brushed it off and focused on the task at hand. "How are we supposed to get past him? He's way too fast"

"I can help." Chara said. "I was going to warn you but it was too late. His name is Doggo, he can only see things that move."

"He has Riddoch syndrome?" Iris said curious.

"I'm going to assume yes, anyway I noticed just before he attacked you his blades turned blue."

"That must be one of those blue attacks that San's mentioned." John said.

"Hmm, I got an idea." Caleb said.

"Go on." Diego said.

"One of you have to distract him, I'll handle the rest." Caleb said.

Jerod nodded, trusting Caleb with his idea. He approached the station once more and inhaled as he stepped in front of it once again as Doggo came out saying the same thing he said earlier. Except this time, Jerod stood still as the blades came towards him. Doggo looked around, wondering where he went. Doggo was starting to turn towards the others so Jerod moved his left arm slightly which made Doggo's head jump back towards him and tried again to slice at him.

"I could've sworn I saw something move." Doggo mumbled to himself. Suddenly Caleb, having snuck carefully behind Doggo when he was distracted by Jerod, launched himself on him and started petting his head. He started freaking out at the invisible hands touching him. "WHAT! I'VE BEEN PET! BUT NO ONE IS HERE POT? PAT? PET?" He babbled to himself. Caleb slowly snuck away while Doggo flailed about in panic.

"S-S-S-Something pet me... something that isn't m-m-m-moving... I'm gonna need some dog treats for this!" He whimpered as he sunk back into the station.

"Let's go." John whispered as everyone tiptoed pass the station, leaving Doggo. They came across a small clearing with a frozen lake.

"Lets take a little break here before we move on." Delilah suggested. The group nodded and went to go sit on tree stumps.

Frisk, Caleb and Delilah went ice skating on the lake. They didn't have skates so they just slid on the ice with their shoes.

"They seem to be having fun." Chara said.

"Yeah..." John sighed sadly.

Chara's eyebrow rose. "What's up with you? Just a little while ago you were having a laugh with that short skeleton's jokes, now you are all mopey."

John flinched and looked away nervously. "Sorry, it's just that I have something called a bipolar disorder." John said.

"Oh, I think I heard of that back at my orphanage. Though I don't know what that is."

"It's a mental problem where I have these sudden mood swings. I can be so happy and energetic one moment and the next I can be all depressed. I don't remember the whole specifics of it."

"Oh, so it's like ADHD."

"No, that is Jerod. He has it." John and Chara looked over at Jerod. He prepared a snowball and was about to throw it at Iris who was reading her book. But his foot slipped on the ice and he face planted onto the snow.

"I can see that." Chara giggled.

"Yeah, we are a mentally unstable duo." John smirked, feeling a little better. "I usually take medication for my mood swings but that's back at home. My parents always keep a spare for me just in case."

Chara was a little hesitant to ask another question. "What are you parents like?"

John sighed. "Oh just your typical suburban american family." He realized he was talking with someone who isn't familiar with that concept. "Oh sorry. I meant, they are nice, when they aren't chewing on me to study for school. My mom is a cashier at a retail store while my dad works at a bank. My mom is, well, the mom that loves to embarrass you in public. My dad is a little bit greedy, you should see how many lottery tickets he buys. They love me but I know they see Delilah as the favorite, can't blame them. Now Jerod, he's family is pretty 'redneck'. His mom is a nurse while his dad is a retired veteran. His two older brothers are mechanics, big, and likes to play rough; when I first met them I shrieked when they put me in a headlock. I don't really know that much about Iris's family, just that she's an only child and her parents work in the town hall. Diego and Caleb's family are one of the richest people in town, and the nicest. They own a popular diner that almost everyone goes to. Frisk... well, his parents 'were' nice people."

"Uhh, I asked what your parents are like, not what everyone's families are like." Chara said.

John blushed. "S-sorry, I tend to ramble."

"It's alright, so w-"

"Hey you!" John's attention snapped towards the voice. A monster approached him, it looked like a blue drake with a snowflake design on it's face. It spoke in a cracked voice that you hear when you go through puberty. John gripped his knife, just in case.

"Who are you?" John asked. The others noticed John talking with the monster and slowly walked over to him.

"My name is Snowdrake, and uh can I ask you to listen to my jokes? I need an outside opinion." Snowdrake asked.

"Sure, jokes are my thing."

"Ah thanks... uh...um w-well." Snowdrake sweated nervously.

"What, have trouble breaking the ice?" John grinned, Jerod giggled in the background.

Snowdrake smiled. "Nah, I'm just giving you the cold shoulder. You know at frost glance you look like a human."

John kept his cool (Heh) and kept joking with him. "Snow-ppose I am, do you know what a human looks like?"

"N-no not really. Never have icy one."

"Well then it's not ice to assume I am one."

"Oh my god..." Jerod's shoulders shook with laughter.

"But you are a human." Chara said.

"Shut up Chara." John snapped.

"Who are you talking to?" Snowdrake tilted his head.

John smiled, been waiting forever to try this joke he came up with. "I have a secret. Want me to tell it?"

"Yeah."

"Icy dead people."

"Pfffft hahahahaha!" Jerod fell onto the snow, holding his sides as he laughed out loud.

"Hey Jerod, chill out."

"Shuhuhuhuht up hahahahah!" Jerod struggled to breath.

"Wow, you are good."

"You arent so bad either."

"Ha, I knew it! Dad was wrong." Snowdrake cheered. "I got to tell my friends about this. Thanks man!" He said as he dashed off.

"Snow long, friend." John felt Jerod punch his sides as he gasped for breath. "Alright, I'm done."

Jerod took a big gulp of air as he slowly calmed down. "Hah...hah... damn, one day your going to kill me." John shrugged innocently. "Alright, I think we rested long enough, lets move out."

"YOUR SO LAZY! YOU WERE NAPPING ALL NIGHT!" Papyrus scolded Sans, not noticing the humans watching.

"i think that's called sleeping."

"EXCUSES EXCUSES!"

"Sound familiar John?" Delilah teased her brother.

"Shut up sis."

"OH-HO, THE HUMANS HAVE ARRIVED! I TAKE IT THAT YOU ARE READY FOR MY PUZZLES?"

Jerod pumped his fists. "You bet we a- did you just say puzzles?"

"OF COURSE, MY PUZZLES ARE A FORCE TO BE RECKONED WITH! ONLY THE BRAVES OR THE FOOLISH HAVE ATTEMPTED MY PUZZLES, NONE SUCCEED!"

"that's because no one has even tried it."

"SANS, BUTT OUT! ANYWAY ME AND MY BROTHER HAVE PLACED MANY PUZZLES ON THE ROAD AHEAD, AND RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU IS YOUR FIRST TRIAL! BEHOLD, THE INVISIBLE ELECTRICITY MAZE!" Papyrus gestured dramatically to the space between them. Now that he mentioned it, they could hear the distinct hum of electricity in the air. "WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE..." He pulled out a blue orb. "THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HEARTY ZAP!"

"Hehehe, quite shocking." John chuckled nervously.

"ALRIGHT, YOU CAN GO NOW!"

John nervously glanced at Papyrus and back to the group. He took a deep breath as he put his right foot forward.

*ZAP*

John jumped back as he realized he didn't get shocked. He looked at Papyrus, who was covered in soot.

"SANS! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

"uh, i think he has to hold the orb." John face palmed because he didn't realize he wasn't holding the orb.

"OH RIGHT!" Papyrus walked through the maze, without getting shocked, and handed him the orb before running straight back. "OKAY, NOW YOU CAN TRY!"

John looked down and saw the foot prints Papyrus left behind, he didn't seem to notice he left them. John slowly and carefully followed the footprints across the maze. He accidentally miss-step and he felt himself get shocked by several volts of electricity. He hissed in pain as he quickly retracted his foot.

"John! Are you okay?" He heard Delilah say.

John, not wanting to risk turning around and bumping against the walls again, gave a silent thumbs up before continuing. Eventually he made it to the end. He gave a victory pose as he pulled out his phone and played the Final Fantasy Victory theme.

Papyrus was surprised "INCREDIBLE, YOU SLIPPERY SNAIL! YOU SOLVED THAT SO EASILY... TOO EASILY!"

"Um, yeah. I used nothing but my senses to figure it out." John didn't exactly lie.

"HMM, IMPRESSIVE!" Papyrus rubbed his chin. "BUT LETS SEE IF YOU ARE STRONG IN THE MIND! THE NEXT PUZZLE IS MADE BY MY OLDER BROTHER SANS!" Sans lazily waved at the call of his name.

"Alright, I was bone for it!"

"OH MY GOD, IT'S SPREADING! NO!" Papyrus screamed as he ran off. The puzzle disabled as the others walked through it.

"thanks guys. he really seems like he's having fun."

"No prob." Jerod said.

"Hey, what's with that funny outfit he's wearing?" Caleb asked.

"Hey, quit being rude!" Diego scolded.

"no, it's cool. we actually made it a couple weeks back for a costume party. he hasn't taken it off since, keeps calling it his battle body."

"Ew, please tell me he at least washes it?" Delilah asked.

"well, if you mean he wears it in the shower then yes." Delilah's nose scrunched up in disgust. "isn't my bother the coolest?"

"N- Mmph!" John covered Delilah's mouth.

"Yeah he is!"

Sans chuckled. "alright, see you guys around." he said as he left them.

Chapter Text

Hello, my name is Delilah and my brother is currently frozen in ice. Now your probably wondering how we got ourselves into this mess. It started when three monsters walked up to us; Icecap,Snowdrake,...and Jerry. I don't know whats up with Jerry but something about him i just find disgusting. Anyway, John tried to joke around with the monsters but they recognized some of the jokes as Snowdrake's material, turns out they thought we did something to him and immediately froze John in a giant icicle. I-

"Delilah move!" Jerod shouted.

Delilah snapped out of her random monologue and jumped out of the way as Chilldrake flew his ice talons at her.

"No bedtime! Only DEADTIME!" Chilldrake shouted.

They lingered longer than she thought, apparently Jerry's power is to make other's attacks last longer. Delilah turned around and saw that Icecap blocked her from the others with a wall of icicles. She stood there and tried to ponder what to do. It was three against one, she had less than 5 minutes before John dies of suffocation. So how is she going to...

"Hey! Quit ignoring me!" Icecap shouted, shoving his hat into her face. "My hat is right here, LOOK AT IT!"

Delilah scowled. "Alright, you need to cut that out." Delilah waved her hand and she levitated the big hat off of Icecap, he immediately turned into a big ice cube. Chilldrake gasped in surprise.

"Geez, you guys suck at this." Jerry said.

"Can you guys listen to me!? I was trying to tell you that we didn't hurt Snowdrake at all. He is wandering the woods looking for you." They looked at her dumbfounded, then looked away guiltily.

"Can you please let my brother go?"

"*Sigh* Whatever!" Chilldrake said. "I ain't apologizing."

"My... hat..." Ice said sadly.

"You know, you look better without that hat." Delilah said.

"You think so?" Ice looked at her hopefully.

"Yeah, hats are for posers."

"Hey!" Caleb shouted.

"You know what, your right! Thanks!" Ice and Chilldrake wandered off when Jerry was on his phone distracted.

Jerry then looked up and noticed the others aren't around. He sneezed without covering his nose, much to everyone's disgust.

"They went that way." Delilah pointed, the opposite direction.

"So... can you give me a ride home?"

"No."

"...Awkwarrrd." Jerry said as he walked off in the wrong direction.

Delilah turned and saw Diego was already thawing John out. His head was already sticking out.

"Th-th-th-th-a-anks Diego." John stuttered through the cold. "Wh-a-at-t is it, t-two I owe y-you?"

"It's no problem. But I think this might take awhile." Diego replied.

"Well then me and Frisk are going to scout ahead." Caleb proclaimed.

"I'm following you two." Chara said.

Diego looked unsure but nodded. "Be careful you two."

"Don't worry, we got super powers."

"Magic powers." Frisk stated. Caleb pouted at Frisk and dragged him along.

"What are you doing with that?" Caleb asked. Frisk was holding a pile of snow in his pocket.

"I met a snowman who asked to take a piece of him with me."

"And it didn't melt?"

"Nope. Hey Caleb look!" Frisk pointed to a vendor in the distance, a blue bunny was watching it. Caleb arched his eyebrows and walked over.

"...Why is it not selling? I thought this was a perfect place for a cold treat." The bunny said sadly.

"Uh hello?"

The bunny looked up and his ears sprung up as he got excited. "Oh! A customer! You kids want some Nice Cream?"

"Nice Cream?" Frisk asked.

"Yeah, it's the frozen treat that warms your heart. Now just 15g."

"Yeah, we'll take two." Caleb handed the gold.

The Nice Cream guy handed two wrapped Nice Creams to them. "Here you go! Have a super-duper day!"

They waved to him as they both walked off. As they opened the wrappers they read the inscriptions inside.

"You're super spiffy!" Caleb smiled as he tipped his hat and took a bite.

"Love yourself! I love you!" Frisk smiled to and was about to take a bite before he saw Chara staring longingly at the treat. "Is something the matter?"

"Huh? Oh, just that I was wondering if I could have a bite?" Chara said nervously.

"Um, sure but how are you going to..." Chara immediately flew into Frisk's body as he stiffened and closed his eyes. When he opened his eyes again they were red. He grinned as he looked at the treat and took a bite.

"Frisk?" Caleb said nervously.

"Nope, it's me, Chara."

"Whoa, since when could you do that?"

"When I possessed John yesterday for a bar of chocolate."

"Wha- when did he, never mind. Look over there!" They both saw something approach fast. It was a white dog just like the Annoying dog. Though this one had a bit of a happy derp face and it was wearing full on metal amour with a sword and shield. It looked at the two of them and panted happily.

"Doggie!" Caleb squealed as he went to pet it. The dog slowly raised his sword.

"Caleb no!" Chara pushed Caleb out of the sword swipe before it could hit them. "Are you crazy. Lesser Dog will kill you!"

Caleb pouted. "No it won't. All dogs want to pet. Just trust me." He pushed Fr- Chara off and walked up to Lesser Dog. "Hey there doggie. You want a pet?" The dog just kept panting as he stared Caleb down with it's non-changing expression. Caleb gently petted him and his neck suddenly extended a little bit. Caleb arched an eyebrow but kept petting. It's neck kept extending. Caleb didn't know what to think of it but just kept happily petting him. It's head kept going higher and higher until he lost sight of it. He heard a distant bark.

"Uh Caleb I don't think this is a go- OH MY GOD!"

They saw Lesser Dog's head start coming down despite it's neck still reaching into the clouds. Caleb realized he went to far and slowly backed away.

"Okay, enough of this." Chara raised Frisk's stick and did a calling whistle. Lesser Dog's head quickly retracted and went back to normal. "Want the stick. Want the stick boy! Fetch!" Chara feint threw the stick, Lesser Dog fell for the trick and followed it. When that was over, he turned to Caleb. "You know, I think Frisk want's his body back." Chara closed his eyes and then Frisk came back. "What did I miss?" Frisk asked.

"We fought another dog monster but me and Chara took care of it."

"Then why is there two more dogs approaching?"

They looked and saw two dogs wearing black cloaks and wielding axes approach. One had noticeable feminine eyelashes and another had thick eyebrows and a mustache.

"What's that smell?" The mustached dog said.

"Where's that smell?" They feminine dog finished the other's sentence.

"If you're a smell..."

"... identify yoursmellf!"

They both wandered around them sniffing the air, then they halted as they looked at the Frisk.

"Dogamy and Dogaressa." Chara blatantly stated. "This couple's sight is based on their sense of smell."

"Hmm... Here's that weird smell... It makes me want to eliminate." Dogamy said

"... Eliminate YOU!" Dogaressa finished. They raised their axes and growled menacingly

"Wait, hold on..." They re-sniffed Caleb.

"...you smell like a weird puppy."

Caleb looked at himself and saw a couple traces of white dog hair, probably from Lesser Dog. It must have mixed with his natural scent. Caleb shrugged as he happily petted Dogamy. His tail wagged in surprise.

"Wow! Pet by another pup!" He exclaimed.

"Well. Don't leave me out!"

Caleb proceeded to pet the both of them until they were both content.

"Dogs can pet other dogs?"

"A new world has opened up for us..."

"Thanks, weird puppy!" They both waved and left them.

"Hmm, I guess petting is a good strategy after all." Chara said.

Caleb smiled triumphantly as he and Frisk headed back to rejoin the group.

Jerod facepalmed. "Iris really?"

"Hush, I'm almost done!" Iris snapped.

When they came across the next puzzle they didn't expect it to be a crossword search. There wasn't even a booby trap for skipping over it, yet Iris insisted on finishing it. Sans and Papyrus patiently waited as she finished it in peace.

"What the heck is a giasfclfebrehber?" Iris mumbled to herself. She knows a lot of words in the dictionary but this didn't even look English. Luckily she found the word and circled it. She presented it to the two skeletons. "Here you go, all done."

"SANS! YOUR PUZZLE BARELY EVEN FAZE THE PURPLE HUMAN!"

"My name is Iris." She said but Papyrus didn't listen.

"darn i knew i should have used today's crossword instead." Sans said.

"WHAT, YOU USED CROSSWORD AS A PUZZLE?! YOU DIDN'T EVEN MAKE IT!"

"but i did made the effort to drop it over there when i was passing by."

"Either way it's finished now." Iris said. "Which, by the way, was really easy."

"Yeah, give us something harder like Junior jumble." John said.

Iris looked at him with a disappointing expression.

"Really, Junior Jumble?" Delilah asked.

"No, John is right, it's really difficult to unscramble those words." Frisk said.

"Dude, that easy-peasy word scramble is for babies." Caleb said.

"Do you have any idea how many words there are in the English language?" Jerod defended.

Before a large argument could start Papyrus stepped in.

"HUMANS, DON'T WORRY FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!"

"even though you like junior jumble?" Sans asked.

Papyrus ignored him. "NOW WHO THINKS CROSSWORD IS HARDER?" Iris, Delilah, and Caleb raised their hands. "AND THOSE WHO THINK JUNIOR JUMBLE IS HARDER?" John, Jerod, Diego, Frisk, and even Chara rose their hand. But since Papyrus can't see him, Chara's vote doesn't count. Papyrus smiled triumphantly "THERE, BY MAJORITY VOTE, JUNIOR JUMBLE IS OFFICIALLY THE HARDEST! YOU HUMANS MUST BE VERY INTELLIGENT IF YOU ALSO FIND JUNIOR JUMBLE HARDER, LIKE ME! NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus joyfully ran off.

"hey, thanks for saying you guys like junior jumble just to appease my brother." Sans said to John.

"But I didn-"

Delilah covered her big brother's mouth. "Yeah, your brother seems to find difficulty in interesting places."

"yeah, yesterday he got stumped trying to solve the horoscope."

"What! How is that even possible?!" Iris exclaimed.

"We don't have stars."

"..."

After they a couple of mundane puzzles and challenges they finally reached one that was a little challenging.

It was a pair of pressure plates lit up with blue X's and separated by large piles of snow, and a switch on the side.

"It says, 'turn every X into an O then press the switch. Do not step on them twice." Iris read. She casually stepped on both of them once then pressed the switch. The spikes blocking the road ahead didn't open up. She was confused, she did what it said. Why is it no-"

"Arf Arf!"

Everyone saw a familiar annoying white Dog stepping on one of the X's.

"It's you!" Caleb squealed in joy. The Dog smiled and wagged his tail happily.

"Nice to see you again." Iris said dryly. She hates it when someone interrupts her when she is doing a puzzle.

Caleb noticed the group's disdain. "Um, hey doggie? Can you please move for us?" The canine tilted his head. "We need to finish the puzzle to move on." The Annoying Dog seemed to understand what he said as he stepped off of the pressure plate. "Tha-" Suddenly the Dog dashed towards the spikes and leaped over it at a height that didn't seem to obey the law of physics.

"..."

"What is with that Dog?!" Jerod said.

"I don't know." Iris pinched her nose as she finished the puzzle again. "Let's just move on."

Just after they ran into Papyrus.

"OH UM HUMANS, BEFORE YOU CONTINUE I SHOULD LET YOU KNOW... YOU WERE TAKING QUITE A WHILE TO GET HERE SO I TRIED TO IMPROVE ON THIS ONE, BY ARRANGING THE SNOW TO LOOK MORE LIKE MY FACE! BUT THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND AND NOW THE PUZZLE IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT!"

He gestured to another spike puzzle that looked a lot more difficult than the other one.

"Don't worry, if there is a solution I can figure it out." Iris said. "Okay lets see... alright, let me go this way and take a right... okay now I'll take another right and... DANGIT I STEPPED OVER A TILE TWICE! Okay, let me start over. I'll start down here and take a loop around without touching the last tile... then I'll go around and go right and then... Oh shiiiiii-taki-mushrooms *Sigh* Alright I can do this."

"NO!"

"Crap!"

"WHAT ARE YOU KIDDING ME!"
"RRRAAAAHH!"

At this point, Iris's hair was a mess from her frustration. She was at this for about 10 minutes. At one point Papyrus tried to say something but Iris gave a dark stare at him and he stepped back. She went back at it for another 5 minutes until the spikes suddenly retracted.

"Huh? How did-"

"Oops." Everyone looked at John and saw him leaning against the tree. "I just leaned on this tree and I heard something click."

Iris nostrils flared. "Papyrus why didn't you..." She looked and where Papyrus was supposed to be there was a snow structure of a muscular Papyrus with a note left on it.

"DEAR HUMANS, SORRY I HAD TO LEAVE YOU WITHOUT SAYING GOODBYE BUT IT WAS APPARENT THAT THE PURPLE HUMAN WAS NOT ACCEPTING MY ASSISTANCE AT THE MOMENT. SO I WENT ON AHEAD TO GET THE NEXT PUZZLE READY. IF YOU ARE TRULY BY THIS PUZZLE AND WISH TO CARRY ON, JUST SIMPLY PRESS AGAINST THE TREE TO THE LEFT OF THIS NOTE YOUR'S TRULY, THE GREAT PAPYRUS."

John nervously looked at Iris. "Um, Iris..."

Iris angrily gave John petty punched to his side. She then put her face into the sleeve of her purple sweater and they heard a muffled screaming. When she was done she looked calm and stoic.

"Okay, lets go."

The group said nothing as they went ahead and saw a big flat open space similar to the electric maze puzzle from before but this one was cover in tiles all around.

Papyrus and Sans turned towards the humans. "AHH, FINALLY! OH I MEAN, AT LAST YOU HAVE ARRIVED HUMANS! WHILE THE LAST PUZZLE WAS TRULY A CONUNDRUM OF MY GLORIOUS WITS, I CANNOT TAKE CREDIT FOR THE ONE RIGHT IN FRONT OF YOU! THIS WAS CREATED BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS!"

Iris's eyes narrowed. "What does this puzzle do?"

"YOU SEE THESE TILES?! ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLOR! EACH COLOR HAS A DIFFERENT FUNCTION! RED TILES ARE IMPASSIBLE! YOU CANNOT WALK ON THEM! YELLOW TILES ARE ELECTRIC! THEY WILL ELECTROCUTE YOU! GREEN TILES ARE ALARM TILES! IF YOU STEP ON THEM... YOU WILL HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER! ORANGE-TILES ARE ORANGE-SCENTED. THEY WILL MAKE YOU SMELL DELICIOUS! BLUE TILES ARE WATER TILES. SWIM THROUGH THEM IF YOU LIKE, BUT... IF YOU SMELL LIKE ORANGES! THE PIRANHAS WILL BITE YOU. ALSO, IF A BLUE TILE IS NEXT TO A, YELLOW TILE, THE WATER WILL ALSO ZAP YOU! PURPLE TILES ARE SLIPPERY! YOU WILL SLIDE TO THE NEXT TILE! HOWEVER, THE SLIPPERY SOAP... SMELLS LIKE LEMONS! WHICH PIRANHAS DO NOT LIKE! PURPLE AND BLUE ARE OKAY! FINALLY, PINK TILES. THEY DON'T DO ANYTHING. STEP ON THEM ALL YOU LIKE! ALRIGHT, DID YOU GET ALL THAT?"

Iris easily caught up with what he said as she scribbled down the instructions onto her notebook. "Got it." She said.

"GREAT, BUT THERE IS ONE LAST THING YOU SHOULD KNOW... THIS PUZZLE IS ENTIRELY RANDOM, NOT EVEN I KNOW HOW TO SOLVE IT! ARE YOU SURE YOU ARE READY?"

Iris gave a thumbs up, ready to regain her lost pride from the last puzzle.

"THEN GET READY!" Papyrus flipped the switch as the tiles lit up and changed color rapidly. It changed so fast that it was definitely worth a seizure warning. Then it stopped, revealing the true puzzle.

Sans and the rest of the group laughed out loud. The puzzle was nothing but a straight line of pink with some red tiles on the side. Papyrus rubbed his scalp as he walked off. Iris just stood there, glaring at the tiles.

"ha...ha...Iris...are you...okay?" Delilah asked.

Iris's body shook as some of the group got a little nervous. Then it was revealed that she was giggling madly. Soon, she joined in on the others in their laughter. She may have failed to regain her pride, but she can admit that this was pretty funny.

After they regained their composure from that hilarious scene, they left that puzzle and its ridiculousness. They passed through an area full of half-finished snow sculptures of a familiar dog, thought the said dog was nowhere to be seen.

They navigated through one more X O puzzle, this one was better constructed than the other one except that it was over a slippery lake with the threat of falling off. This time Iris was able to help the other's simultaneously step on the plates while not falling off. Now they reached a fork in the road.

"Which way do we go?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know. The map I saw didn't say which way is which."

John tried to brainstorm an idea. "Hmm, why don't we just split up."

"Yeah, that's a good idea, nice thinking dude!" Jerod praised.

John's face flushed, hiding the freckles on his cheeks. "Um... T-thanks, *cough* anyway I'm taking the right way."

"I'm with ya." Jerod said.

"I want to go left." Caleb and Frisk said simultaneously.

"Well I'm staying with my brother." Diego said walking next to his little brother.

"Me to." Delilah said walking next to her sibling

"I'm going to stick with you three." Iris said.

"Alright, so if anything goes wrong call us on your cell phone." The group nodded and went their way.

"hey guys." Sans said.

"Sup." John said as he passed by Sans. When he looked ahead he noticed Sans was already there. He turned around and didn't see him there as well.

"say are you following me?" Sans asked as the group approached.

"No, but how do you do that?" Delilah asked.

"do what?"

"You know! Disappearing like that and reappearing somewhere else."

"oh my shortcuts, its just one of my magic powers, you know you can do that as well."

Her eyes widened. "R-really?"

"yeah, just think of a place nearby and just do some sort of gesture to activate it. i usually prefer snapping my fingers.

Delilah nodded and began to concentrate.

"wait." Sans stopped her. "if you're thinking of heading home instantly, don't think about it. even if that was somehow possible you will burn yourself out using all of that energy to travel such a distance."

"Thanks for the advice." Delilah thought of the area ten steps behind her. She clicked her heels and she felt he body get tugged as she was pulled towards the location. She gasped in shock and excitement.

"Delilah, I can't believe it!" John said, eyes sparkling. "You can teleport!" He shook her shoulder happily.

Delilah smiled and turned to Sans. "Thanks S-" She paused when she saw that Sans left, in his place was a pile of snow with his name written on it with ketchup. She wondered how he did that so fast but Jerod interrupted her.

"Monster up ahead!" Jerod warned.

They looked and saw a reindeer-like monster approach. It had a grotesque face and it's antlers looked like trees, there were several items stuck to it.

"Hey Chara, what's it's..." Jerod realized that Chara wasn't there, must've gone with the others.

"Hey, you guys, can you..." The monster took a closer look at them and it's eyes widened. "Oh no, not more gosh darn teenagers! You guys stay back!" The monster growled threateningly.

Delilah stepped forward carefully. "It's okay, we aren't going to hurt you. My name is Delilah, what's yours?"

"...Gyftrot."

"Hi Gyftrot. What's the problem?"

Gyftrot huffed. "A bunch of kids cornered me and put all this junk on my head without my consent."

"That's awful." John said. "Want us to take it off of you?"

The monster looked at him surprised. "R-really?"

"Yeah, c'mon guys." Him, Jerod, and Delilah went up to him and pulled off what what stuck to this head. A cup, streamers, a book, a picture of Snowdrake and his parents (John decided to keep it and put it in his bag.), and finally something big and white.

"You again!" Jerod said, holding it up. The annoying dog barked happily as he licked Jerod's nose. Jerod groaned and dropped the dog.

"Hmm I don't remember him being put in there." Gyftrot said. "Well, thank you for the assistance. I better get going, I got a bunch of kids to teach a lesson." It clopped out of the area, The Annoying Dog leaving with it. With them gone, the three of them can inspect the cave they saw.

"A cave inside of a cave?" John said. They were walking inside.

"Well the overall cave is humongous." Delilah said.

They entered the cave and saw that it was lit up by luminescent mushrooms and grass.

"Iris would have a field day with this." Delilah said.

Everyone stopped in their tracks as they heard a scared whimper at the end of the cave. There were several guesses what it could be, none of them good. They peeked behind a corner and saw a small cream-colored bunny girl pressed up against a door with no handle. She was cowering against the strange door as something large and looming stalked towards her. It looked like a flying, smiling whale with a scorpion tail.

"Hey!" The two monster's turned and saw Jerod in front of them. "You better leave that girl alone or else." He punched his fist. The big monster cocked his tail like a shot gun and fired. Jerod yelped as he dived back to John and Delilah's spot for cover. Looking back he saw the magic projectiles spray in every direction. He mentally cursed to himself.

"How am I supposed to get past that? It will blast me before I could get anywhere near it."

"Hey." Delilah got Jerod's attention. "Me and John will keep that big whale thing down with our telekinesis while you run in there and grab that girl."

"We will?" John asked, unsure.

"Yeah, with the two of us, I think we can hold him down long enough."

John bit his lip as he nervously reached into his pocket to rub his faded ribbon. "Alright, but we need to focus on a specific part if it."

"I'll get the tail area, you get the head area."

"Got it." Jerod looked back out of the hiding spot and the monster turned it's attention back to the bunny.

"You ready John?" Delilah asked.

John took a deep breath. "Yeah."

The two siblings ran towards it and thrusted their hands out. Their eyes and hand glowed blue and cyan as they focused on the big monster. The monster glowed in both colors as it was forced onto the ground. It grunted angrily as it tried to aim it's tail at them. But Delilah put pressure on the tail forcing it onto the ground and aiming at an empty wall. The monster kept grunting as it relentlessly struggled. The two of them were losing control fast.

"Jerod go!" John called. Jerod nodded as he used his magically enhanced speed to quickly skid up to the bunny girl.

"Hey there." Jerod reached towards her. She flinched and backed away more. "Shh, it's okay. I'm here to save you." The bunny cocked it's head to the side as if she was unsure to believe him.

"Jerod, we're about to lose control, get out of there!" Delilah called. Jerod quickly grabbed the bunny and was about to leave when the monster broke free and blocked Jerod's path. John and Delilah tried to use their magic but felt themselves too drained at the moment.

"Well this looks like the end." Jerod thought to himself, forgetting that even if he died Frisk would just reset... but that would ruin the dramatic moment. He tried to use his body as a shield for the bunny but, by the intensity of the projectiles he saw earlier, it would only for for a couple of seconds.

"Arf" Everyone turned to the sound of the bark and deadpanned at what they saw. There was The Annoying Dog running with it's little feet towards the big monster. The monster just stood there, amused by the Dog's dumb bravery. It's amusement changed when the Dog crashed into him. It knocked him back into a wall. Everyone stared in surprise at the Dog's unusual strength. The monster, in it's daze, aimed it's tail at the Dog. The canine didn't even flinch as the projectiles came towards him. He gave a single bark as the force of it knocked the projectiles back at the monster.

The kids decided to leave the cave now while the Dog was busy dealing with the monster. They stepped out of the cave, still hearing the fight going on inside. Jerod set the bunny down. She looked at the humans timidly. Then she wrapped her arms around his leg.

"...Thank you mister, for saving me." She said.

"No problem" Jerod said, slightly flustered. "Who was that guy anyway?"

"Glyde, he is very aggressive when someone invades his territory."

John arched an eyebrow."Then what were you doing there?"

"I was just curious. All the other kids back at home keep saying to stay away from him, and I wanted to know why." Her ears drooped as she looked down in shame.

They heard a bark as The Annoying Dog stepped out with a smug expression. They group looked back inside and saw Glyde on the ground with comical X's. The Dog panted happily as if nothing happened.

Jerod tugged at the collar of John's hoodie. "Mmmmm, thanks for saving us." The Dog's face brightened as he jumped towards him. "NO!" The Dog stopped mid-jump. "No more kisses."

"Ruff!" The Dog agreed as he walked towards the bunny.

"I think he's going to take me back home." The bunny said. "Thank you guys, I won't forget you!" She said as she followed the Dog.

Jerod sighed as he rubbed his neck. "That was exhausting."

"So this was a dead end. Lets get back to the others." Delilah said.

"Yeah." John said. "Hopefully, they are having a better time than us.

Diego grunted as Greater dog struck his ward with its long spear. The large armored dog was pretty strong and powerful, yet it looked innocent, like it didn't even realize it is fighting.

"You just had to inspect that snow poff." Chara complained.

"Well someone wouldn't quit bothering me by making nonstop comments about snow poffs." Iris snapped.

"I was bored!"

"Guys, the barrier is failing!" Diego shouted. The ward was beginning to crack.

"What do we do?" Frisk said.

"...pet it?" Caleb suggested.

Chara scoffed "Yeah right, that mutt will trample you before you get anywhere near it."

"Hmm maybe I can distract him with something." Frisk grabbed a bunch of snow and made a snowball out of it. Just after, Greater dog gave a powerful bark which shattered the ward. Just as Greater dog charged at them, Diego put out his hand.

"Stop!" He shouted, the dog surprisingly listened and stopped in it's tracks, some snow skidding from the sudden stop. Diego reached his other hand behind him and handed him the snowball. He then threw the snowball for Greater dog to fetch. It splats on the ground several feet away. Greater dog excitedly attempts to gather all of the snow in the area. In it's excitement, Caleb and Frisk snuck up on him and started petting decisively. The dog got super excited and started whining, asking for more. They kept petting until it started to get tired. It slowly leaned back in it's drowsiness, right onto Caleb and Frisk. Luckily Iris reacted and stretched two tendrils around both of them and pulled them back just as the dog landed on the snow.

"Thanks Iris." Frisk said.

"Yeah, you really saved our as- behind." Caleb corrected himself.

Just then, Greater dog woke up and got back onto it's feet. The group stared cautiously at him. not seeing it coming, the dog jumped out of the armor, revealing it's actually small body. He looked a lot like the Annoying Dog but this one looked noticeably bulkier. It walked up to Caleb and Frisk and licked both of their faces, a way of saying thanks. They both giggled at the ticklish sensation of the dog's tongue. Then Greater dog returned to his armor and walked off, with it's behind sticking out of the top part of the armor.

"Nice thinking Caleb." Diego said, patting his back. "How'd you know petting it would work?"

"And how did you know it worked for those other dog's before." Chara asked.

Caleb grinned. "All dog's like to be pet."

Just then, John, Jerod, and Delilah returned.

"Hey guys, it was a dead end where we were. All good here?" Jerod asked.

Iris nodded. "We just took care of another monster, looks like it was guarding the bridge up ahead."

"Guess it's this way then." The group went single file across the bridge. But about halfway through, they saw Papyrus and Sans at the other side.

"HUMANS" Papyrus yelled loudly, by Papyrus standards, so the group could hear him from so far away. "THIS IS YOUR FINAL AND MOST DANGEROUS CHALLENGE!"

"Oh my god, he's going to cut the rope!" John panicked.

"HUH?! NO, I WOULD NEVER DO SUCH A THING!" John sighed. "INSTEAD, YOU MUST GO THROUGH, THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR! BEHOLD!" Suddenly fire lit up below them, harpoons stuck out of the other side of the cliff along with cannons, maces dangled above them, and the Annoying Dog hung from a rope. "WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!" Chara silently noticed John, Jerod, and Delilah nervously glancing at the Dog for some reason. "THERE WILL ONLY BE THE TINNIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY REMAINING!"

"Talk about overkill." Jerod muttered.

"READY? BECAUSE I'M ABOUT TO DO IT!

"Papyrus wait!" John called. Papyrus stopped just before it was all activated. "Um... look I think this challenge i-is too easy to defeat us." Papyrus's eyes widened.

"WHAT!"

"John, what the heck are you doing..." Delilah angrily whispered.

"Hold on Delilah." Iris said. "I think he's up to something."

John continued talking to Papyrus. "Y-yeah, you can't use this to beat us. After all, you are a skeleton with standards. You make you puzzles very fair, not too hard and not to easy. But this challenge is too direct, no class at all right?"

"..."

"P-papyrus?" John was worried he wasn't buying his bluff.

"YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY CORRECT! IF I'M MAKING A FINAL CHALLANGE TO CAPTURE YOU WITH, IT MUST BE AS BIG AND GRAND AS ME! AS FOR THIS ONE, AWAY IT GOES!" All of the weapons retracted and the machine turned off.

"Phew" John wiped his forehead.

"DON'T THINK THIS ISN'T OVER CYAN HUMAN! THIS IS JUST ANOTHER DESCISIVE VICTORY FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I'LL FIGURE OUT SOMETHING TO BEAT YOU WITH! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus cackled as he left the group by the bridge.

The group walked up to Sans who was still standing there casually. "hey, nice thinking, fooling my bro like that." Sans said.

"Heh, reverse psychology. I always saw it work in movies." John sheepishly smiled.

"heh cool, anyway i have no idea what my brother is going to do now. if i were you, i'd keep blue attacks in mind."

"Thanks Sans." Iris said. "Hey, do you live anywhere or do you all just live in trees."

"that would be pine-ful but no. we live in a town up ahead. check out the place, you might learn more about us." Sans winked.

They waved as they walked up to a nearby sign.

"Welcome to Snowdin Town"

Chapter Text

After journeying through ancient ruins and snow covered forest's, the group was glad to finally find civilization. True there was Toriel's home but that place seemed really rustic and old fashioned. Although this place seemed to have a rustic style to it, it did have neon signs and electric lamp posts. Speaking of which, the town was full of snow covered wooden buildings as monsters happily walked about, unaware that not one but seven humans are in their presence.

"Wow, this place looks just like a Christmas card." Delilah said. Snow was beginning to flutter from the... sky?

"It is pretty cozy looking. Might be nice to spend the night here." John said rubbing his kneecaps. "My legs are killing me."

"No, we can't stay her. We already lost most of the day dealing with all the puzzles and monsters back in the forest. We need to keep going." Jerod said.

Everyone groaned but nobody wanted to argue with him. They walked through the town, glancing at the sights as they passed it. They noticed most of the monsters looked like furry animals, bunnies, bears, wolves, etc. As they passed a diner named Grilby's Caleb looked through the window.

"Hey, it's all the Dog monsters I saw earlier." Caleb said eyes sparkling.

"Just keep moving." Jerod said, pushing Caleb along. Just as soon as they entered the town they now left. By now it was snowing heavier and it was obscuring their vision.

"Guys I can't see!" Frisk said.

"Me neither." John squinted his eyes into the distance, he saw two shadow silhouettes. One was tiny while the other was tall.

"...ARE YOU SURE ...BT TH...?" Said one voice.

"...s buddy the... ...n't wa... ..o b... ..u're friend." Said another voice.

"Who's there!" John called. He saw as the smaller figure vanished. The taller figure was still there.

"HUMANS?"

"Papyrus?" John took a better glance and recognized that it was him.

"SO YOU HAVE ARRIVED, AND SO SOON! ER... MAY I TELL YOU ABOUT SOME COMPLEX FEELINGS I HAVE?" Papyrus asked.

John looked at the others through the thick snowfall and saw Jerod shrug. He looked back to the skeleton. "Sure, um... what kind of feelings?"

"FEELINGS LIKE... MEETING SOMEONE WHO LOVES PUZZLES OR HAVING A COOL AND SMART PERSON THINK YOU ARE COOL AND SMART! MEETING THE KIND OF PEOPLE YOU DON'T SEE THAT OFTEN!"

"Yeah?" John said, having a happy feeling of where this was going.

"THESE FEELINGS... THEY MUST BE WHAT YOU'RE ALL FEELING RIGHT NOW!" John frowned, disappointed. Not because he wasn't talking about himself, but that he was actually right.

"Um, aren't you talking about yourself?" Delilah asked.

"I CAN HARDLY IMAGINE WHAT IT MUST FEEL LIKE TO FEEL THAT WAY! AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT!"

"Talk about narcissistic." Delilah muttered. Yeah, she might be the pretty girl in class but at least she is humble about it.

"I PITY YOU LONELY HUMAN! BUT WORRY NOT FOR YOU ALL SHALL BE LONELY NO LONGER! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL BE YOUR..."

Papyrus's voice trailed off. John was getting worried, this sounded like Papyrus wanted to be his friend out of pity. Even though it would be nice to have a monster as an ally, he had narcissistic friends before, it didn't work out.

"Well?" Delilah said impatiently.

"...NO I CAN'T BE YOUR FRIEND! YOU ARE HUMANS, I MUST CAPTURE YOU!"

John frowned, slightly hurt by the rejection. "Pa-"

"NO! NO MORE WORDS! YOU TOLD ME THE LAST CHALLENGE WAS TOO EASY TO BEAT YOU WITH, WELL NOW YOU MUST FACE MY NEW CHALLENGE! BEAT IT AND I WILL GIVE UP AND YOU MAY PROCEED! AND THAT CHALLENGE IS ME! PAPYRUS, THE NEWEST MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

[Play Bonetrousle]

Suddenly the snowfall dissipated leaving a large dome of open space. Outside of the dome, snow still fell down thickly, looking like a shifting wall. Papyrus did a dramatic battle pose as the group stood in surprise from the sudden clearing of snow.

"Look out!" Chara yelled.

The group turned as large bones came out of the fog and flew towards them. The group jumped as they flew under them and vanished back into the fog on the other side. John wasn't quick enough on his feet and one of the bones crashed against him. John staggered a bit but held his ground.

"Ow." He groaned, clutching his stomach. "Chara, anything you can tell me about Papyrus?"

"He likes to say Nyeh heh heh."

"NYEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus cackled

"Gee... thanks." Chara smiled smugly

"NOW YOU REALIZE YOU ARE NO MATCH FOR ME? ARE YOU READY TO SURRENDER?"

"No, I'm not." John said as he saw another bunch of bones coming toward him. He used his telekinesis to push them back. He couldn't specifcally move the bones but he tried to do a pulse of energy to knock them back. "But I ain't fight'n you either."

"I wouldn't want to break those hot bones of yours." Frisk said winking. Papyrus's face grew red.

"Frisk what the heck? stop flirting with everything!" Caleb said.

"WHAT!? FL-FLIRTING!? SO YOU FINALLY REVEAL YOUR ULTIMATE FEELINGS! W-WELL! I'M A SKELETON WITH VERY HIGH STANDARDS!

"Well I guess it's fortunate that I have no redeeming qualities." John said sarcastically.

"OH NO! THAT HUMILITY... IT REMINDS ME OF, MYSELF! YOU'RE MEETING ALL MY STANDARDS!"

John's eye's widened. "H-huh?"

"Gee John. I didn't take you as a playboy." Jerod teased. John's face turned red as a beet. Forget the fact that it's another dude, its a freaking skeleton! He may have seen some weird stuff online but... no...NO!

"W-wait" John stuttered. "It was Frisk over there who was flirting with you!"

"You do realize you just set up a little kid with an adult male skeleton."

"Okay I take it back, no one is flirting with you!"

"VERY WELL THEN IF NO ONE IS FLIRTING OR FIGHTING THEN PREPARE FOR MY FABLED BLUE ATTACK!" Papyrus sent a dozen blue bones at them. The group stayed still as the bones phased harmlessly through them. Suddenly they all felt a weird sensation in their Soul as each of them turned blue like Delilah's. Then a bunch of regular bones came at them once more. They tried to jump but they felt themselves be pulled to the ground. All of the bones crashed against them.

"What the!" Delilah said, struggling to get up. Diego started gradually healing them all.

"YOU'RE ALL BLUE NOW, THAT'S MY ATTACK! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Well I'll just..." Delilah tried to use her gravity manipulation power but she felt something prevent her from using it. It was Papyrus, he was blocking her power! "...Crap."

"NOW PREPARE YOURSELF! MORE ATTACKS WILL COME!"

"Wait, time out!" John shouted.

"OH OKAY, TAKE YOUR TIME!"

As surprised as they were about that actually working, they gathered together and discussed what was going on.

"Okay, WHAT IS GOING ON!" Jerod asked freaked out.

"Papyrus just altered our gravity." Delilah said.

"Ugh, jumping is weird." John said as he put a lot of effort into his jump. Suddenly he felt himself be lifted up high into the air. "Whaaa" He flailed in the air as he slowly drifted back down.

"Oh so it's like moon gravity." Iris said. "This might make things harder."

"So what do we do?" Diego asked. He didn't want a repeat of what happened with Toriel.

"HEY, THERE IS NO TIME-OUT IN BATTLE!" Papyrus exclaimed.

"Crap, guess he's not as naive as I thought." John mumbled.

The bones made a beeline for each of them. They all had trouble jumping over it but they managed. The only one who wasn't having trouble was Delilah. She was gracefully jumping over them like it was some sort of ballet rehearsal. But a bunch of bones punctured through the ground where she was going to land. Her feet glowed blue as she did a drop kick and the bones broke under the force.

"Whoa, where did you learn to do that move?" Jerod asked.

"Television." Delilah said. She threw her hand out and made a tree fall over in front of them, blocking off the bones that were coming at them.

Jerod sneered as he ran up to the fallen tree and punched it. It go knocked towards the new coming bones and it exploded into cinders.

"HA! How's that for y-" A bone smacked Jerod in the face and he spun around, losing his balance.

"I CAN ALMOST TASTE MY FUTURE POPULARITY! PAPYRUS: HEAD OF THE ROYAL GUARD! PAPYRUS: UNPARALLELED SPAGETTORE!" Papyrus was a little distracted by his daydreaming to really focus on the humans. This made it easier for them to jump over them. Until a blue bone came from above and knocked them down. But for some reason it didn't hurt John, must be because of his cyan Soul.

"UNDYNE WILL BE REALLY PROUD OF ME!"

"Who's Undyne?" Iris asked. She didn't notice the bones coming from behind. Luckily Diego was right behind her and mad a shield for them both. Iris gave a silent nod saying thank you.

"THE KING WILL TRIM A HEDGE IN THE SHAPE OF MY SMILE!"

"Who's the king?"Iris said, her giant Words exploding several bones at once. Iris wanted to know who or what he was talking about, but Papyrus wasn't listening to her. John sliced through the bones with his toy knife, which glowed cyan and extended it's length. He was panting harshly, but no one seemed to notice.

"MY BROTHER WILL... WELL, HE WON'T CHANGE VERY MUCH. I'LL HAVE LOTS OF ADMIRERS! BUT..." Papyrus paused for a second.

"HOW WILL I KNOW IF PEOPLE SINCERELY LIKE ME? SOMEONE LIKE YOU ARE REALLY RARE... AFTER YOU'RE CAPTURED AND SENT AWAY. I DON'T THINK THEY'LL LET YOU GO..."

The group was having trouble understanding what Papyrus was talking about. All they knew was that the monsters wanted to kill them as revenge for trapping them down here, but now they want to capture them. And who is they?

"URGH... WHO CARES! GIVE UP!" Papyrus said frustrated.

"Not a chance Papyrus." Caleb said. He and Frisk were working together to destroy any bones that came near them. Caleb kept making potshots while Frisk was using and copied attacks he picked up.

"THEN PREPARE TO FACE, MY SPECIAL ATTACK!" Papyrus said.

The ground rumbled as a large shadow appeared in the foggy distance. Their eyes widened in terror when they realized it was giant bone, about the size of a building, and it was heading right for them.

"I don't think we can jump over that." Delilah stuttered.

"And I don't think I can punch that." Jerod said nervously.

"Mommy..." Diego whimpered.

"Now would be a good time for a deus ex machina." John wheezed backing up a bit.

"ARF"

Everyone turned around and saw something appear out of the fog.

[Play Dogsong]

"Oh my god." Caleb said. He is watching as the Annoying dog came out of nowhere and charged at the giant bone. And he wasn't alone.

"Defend the weird puppy and his weirder friends!" Dogamy said.

"What he said!" Dogaressa roared, or howled.

"BORF!" Greater dog said.

"Bark!" Said Lesser dog.

"I can't see, so I'm just following you guys." Doggo said.

All together they crashed against the bone. The bone staggered a bit as all of the canines pushed against it.

"WHAT THE HECK! HEY, WHAT ARE YOU DOGS DOING TO MY ATTACK!" Papyrus exclaimed.

Soon the dogs managed to gain the upper hand as the bone started to tip backwards.

"NOOOOOO...!" Papyrus screamed as the bone fell on him. Snow kicked off the ground from the impact.

The group looked at their saviors.

"Why did you help us?" Caleb asked.

"The little Annoying Dog came to us, he's a distant cousin of ours." Doggo said. Annoying Dog barked in retaliation."He asked for help."

"Besides, any friend of the weird puppy..." Dogamy said.

"Is a friend of ours." Dogaressa said.

Greater Dog, Lesser Dog, and the Annoying Dog nuzzled up against Caleb. He ran his hands through each of their fur.

"Thank you guys." Caleb said.

"Yeah, you really saved us." Jerod said.

"I don't how how we can repay you." Diego said.

"Got any dog treats?" Doggo asked.

"...No."

Doggo sneered. "Well let me know when you get some and I'll take it."

"Doggo, they don't owe us anything..." Dogamy said.

"They are our friend. Now come on. Let's get back to our poker game." The dogs howled in agreement.

The group waved to the dogs as they left. Now that that was over, they can get back to the task at hand.

Jerod sighed. "Well, now we can move on... John?"

John was thrusting his hands at the giant bone. Papyrus was still stuck under it, with little bones circling over his head.

"I can't leave him like this." John said through gritted teeth. He thinks that if he concentrates hard enough then he might manage to lift up the magic attack. Suddenly he felt a painful throbbing on a part of his brain as the Bone glowed cyan and started to rise. He struggled to lift it, his brain was killing him. He glanced back and watched as the others stared at him with wide eyes.

"No just stand there in a stupor instead of help me Delilah." John complained in his head. "Stupid anime tropes. How do you even like those shows Iris?"

He used as much effort as he could as he slowly turned the bone away and made it land right next to Papyrus. The skeleton slowly got back onto his feet.

"You okay Papyrus?" Diego asked.

"WELL...! 'HUFF' IT'S CLEAR... YOU CAN'T! 'HUFF' DEFEAT ME!" Papyrus huffed, despite John helping him out. "YEAH! I CAN SEE YOU SHAKING IN YOUR BOOTS! THEREFORE I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, ELECT TO GRANT YOU ALL MERCY! I WILL SPARE YOU, HUMANS!" The storm dissipated as well as the giant bone.

"Wait, why didn't Papyrus do that when he was trapped under the bone?" Chara said.

Papyrus turned his back on the humans as he cried in despair. "NYOH HO HO! I CAN'T EVEN STOP SOMEONE AS WEAK AS YOU HUMANS... UNDYNE'S GOING TO BE DISAPPOINTED IN ME. I'LL NEVER JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD... AND... MY FRIEND QUANTITY WILL REMAIN STAGNANT!"

"What a loser." Chara said, rolling his eyes. The others felt bad for the skeleton, he just wanted friends.

John took a dare as he said something he wouldn't thought he would ever say. "I'll be your friend." John croaked. "I-If you want to."

"We will to!" The others said.

Papyrus turned towards them with a widened smile. "REALLY!? YOU WANT TO BE FRIENDS, WITH ME? WELL THEN... I GUESS... I GUESS I CAN MAKE AN ALLOWANCE FOR YOU!" He jumped in the air and whooped. "WOW! I HAVE FRIENDS! AND WHO KNEW THAT ALL I NEEDED TO... CYAN HUMAN, ARE YOU OKAY?"

"Just... a little tired.. gonna rest my eyes for a bit...." John mumbled as he collapsed onto the snow. The group panicked as they helped John back onto his feet.

Jerod inspected his friend. He looked knocked out. He gave gentle slaps to his face. "Hey, buddy, wake up."

"He's alright, just really tired." Iris said. John wasn't exactly the most healthiest of the group, and that extra strain of lifting the bone must've been the breaking point for him. "He might wake up in a couple of hours."

"HE CAN LAY ON MY BED UNTIL HE RECOVERS!" Papyrus said.

Diego turned towards the skeleton. "You would really do that for us?"

"OF COURSE, THAT'S WHAT FRIENDS ARE FOR!"

Delilah turned towards Jerod. "Well...?"

Jerod huffed. "Fine, we will rest in town for the night. Might as well at this point." Jerod lifted John onto his back, arms dangling from his shoulders. For someone almost his size, he was pretty light.

"Aw." Delilah cooed.

Jerod turned towards her and narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Uh, n-nothing." She said, looking away. Jerod brushed it aside. "Phew, almost let that cat out of the bag." She then turned to Papyrus and changed the subject. "So, your house?"

"RIGHT, FOLLOW ME HUMAN FRIENDS!" Papyrus said as he led them back to town. "I HAVE SO MUCH I CAN SHOW YOU THERE! I'M SURE THE CYAN HUMAN WILL LOVE MY SPAGHETTI!"

Chapter Text

John groggily opened his eyes. He saw himself staring at the rocky ceiling.

"Wait, wasn't I fighting Papyrus?" He thought to himself. He got up and looked around. While the place was just a cave with no exit, he was drawn to the shrine at the end of the room. Sitting on the shrine was the Annoying Dog who was just staring at him, panting excited.

"What are you doing here?" John asked. "Weren't you and an army of dogs fighting a giant bone?"

WTF did I just say?

The dog just sat there with no change in its expression. John noticed a donation box in front of the shrine. John also noticed that he was carrying a leather satchel around his waist. He looked in and saw a bunch of coins. He decided to put two of the coins in. As he did a bunch of fairy lights poofed into the room along the shrine wall. John put six more coins in and some slightly nibbled dumplings appeared at the end of the room. Then he put twelve more coins in and a Inflatable Wacky Waving Mascot appeared in the corner of the room as well.

"This is weird." John said as he looked back at the satchel. He realized that the satchel refilled itself with money. He looked back at the donation box and back to the satchel. He grinned greedily.

"Time to spend money." He chuckled to himself, eyes turning into money signs.

Omg, that was a horrible one-liner. Just timeskip while I go cringe in a corner.

After much time later the room got filled will many assortments of decor, courtesy of John's greed. Along with the f airy lights, nibbled dumplings, and an Inflatable Wacky Waving Mascot there was also a framed photo of Papyrus, a boombox playing some catchy meme worthy tune, a game CD, another photo of Papyrus but blurry, a short length of rope, a Dog food tap dispenser, A white paper with blue pawprints on it (reminds him of a show he loved as a little kid), a framed rejection letter from the Shrine Certification Committee, a larger donation box, and a larger shrine.

John casually cracked his knuckles as he looked over his work.

"Whelp... this was a waste of my time."

"I don't know, it seemed kinda fun" Said a little boy that just suddenly appeared

"What the... who are you?!" John said backing up in startled.

The kid smiled innocently and put his hands behind his back. "Hee hee, you don't recognize me?"

"No!"

"Well take a closer look, freckles."

John brushed aside the childish insult and examined the boy closer. He looked to be around 11 He was wearing a light blue t-shirt with basketball shorts and light up sneakers. He was pale with freckled cheeks and long red curls. John now realized who was standing in front of him.

"Your me." He said.

"Yep, I'm your subconscious." The kid said. "The part of your brain and your Soul that does everything better... I think."

"Whoa." John said amazed "Wait, does this mean I'm dreaming?"

"Ehh, looks that way. We both know you have to be in a deeper sleep to have this kind of dream."

"So, why are you a younger version of me?"

"Are you really questioning a dream?" Young John arched an eyebrow.

"Hey, if your my subconscious then something about you have to make sense."

"Good point. *Ahem* I, or we, chose this form because it was something that you would be comfortable with. You, before that incident happened."

John's neck hair rose as he trembled. "... Please don't mention that day."

"Sorry, you know that day bothers me too. How did someone so cute, energetic and innocent turn into such a geeky fat Emo."

"Hey, I am not an Emo!" John said enraged.

Young John smirked. "Have you seen our closet? Most of our clothes are black or grey. Also you keep brooding about never winning Jerod's heart. "

John groaned, his younger self was just as bad as his sister."I am not having this argument with myself. Can you wake me up?"

"Sure, just don't move." Young John said as he pulled his leg back then slammed the foot right into John's crotch.

John stirred and woke up on someone's bed. It was a big race car style bed. He always wanted one when he was little, never did get one. For some reason his stomach hurt, but why?

"AHH, THE CYAN HUMAN HAS FINALLY AWOKEN!"

John turned his head to the rest of the room. He saw Papyrus having some sort of standoff with Frisk. Papyrus was wearing some sort of unusual sport outfit with a shirt that says 'cool dude'. Frisk was holding a plate of spaghetti and looked extremely grateful that he woke up. While Papyrus was distracted, Frisk threw the spaghetti out the window. Also Caleb was playing with Papyrus's toys in a corner.

"Hey John, 'bout time you woke up." Caleb smirked.

"Ughh, What did I miss?" John asked, completely confused.

"AH, ALLOW ME TO EXPLAIN! AFTER YOU DECIDED TO TAKE A NAP IN THE SNOW, I SUGGESTED THAT YOU MAY REST IN MY ROOM! SO I LED YOU AND THE OTHERS TO MY HOUSE!"

"W-Where did everyone go?" John said looking around the room.

"THEY ARE ALL DOWNSTAIRS WAITING! YOU'VE BEEN NAPPING FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS! LUCKILY, I SPOON FED YOU SOME OF MY WORLD FAMOUS SPAGHETTI IN YOUR SLEEP! JUDGING BY THE PASSIONATE EXPRESSION YOU MADE IT SEEMED TO HAVE WORKED! DO HUMAN'S FACES TURN GREEN WHEN THEY ARE HAPPY?" Frisk shrugged.

John now realized what that was that he tasted in his sleep. He will remind himself to never fall asleep on Papyrus's watch ever again.

"Uh huh, and what were you two doing?" John said. "Cause I think this is... no I don't have a joke for this, I have no clue."

"ME AND FRISK WERE JUST WRAPPING UP OUR PLAYDATE! AFTER ALL, HE DID FLIRT WITH ME...I THINK. I LOST TRACK OF WHO WAS FLIRTING WHO EARLIER!"

"Mmm hmm." John said, trying to sound casual. "So, how'd it go Frisk?"

"He friendzoned me!" Frisk said downcast. Caleb rolled his eyes.

"ALAS, IT IS TRUE! I JUST DON'T LIKE HIM THE WAY HE LIKES ME, ROMANTICALLY I MEAN! BUT WE MAY REMAIN FRIENDS AS I TRY TO HELP YOU FIND SOMEONE ALMOST AS GREAT AS ME!"

John chuckled as he got out of bed. "Well, might as well let the other's know I'm awake."

John headed downstairs with Caleb, Frisk, and Papyrus and saw the other's in the living room watching Tv.

"John!" Delilah shouted as she got up and hugged him tight. "We were so worried about you."

"Yeah, next time let us know when you decide to take a catnap." Jerod said.

"Well I wanted to but you were getting so agitated about leaving as soon as possible that I didn't want you to worry."

"Forget about that, if I knew it bothered you so much then I would have agreed to stay here to rest! Don't think I don't care about you!" Jerod said angrily.

John frowned and looked away. "S-sorry."

Jerod sighed as he gave his friend a pat on the back. "It's cool. I just hate it when you keep these things to yourself."

There was an awkward pause as John tried to change the subject.

"So *ahem* what are you guys watching?"

"Oh, this is called MTV" Iris said.

"What does that stand for?"

"Mettaton Television." John looked confused and sat next to her as she explained. "Look, the show host is some sort of robot called Mettaton." Iris pointed to the screen, showing a robot, but it looked more like a giant calculator with a wheel and two arms. "Papyrus said that he loves this show. Personally I think Mettaton is a bit of a showoff like Jerod."

"HEY!"

"But I am really interested by his A.I. programming. I mean he sounds actually alive."

"That's nice." John said, pretending to be interested. "So what's the plan for the rest of the day?"

"Oh, me and the others talked about it." Jerod said. "Now that you are awake we are going to go and find a place to stay for the night."

"But I wanted to stay here" Caleb asked.

"Unless you want us all to bunk in one bed or the couch, that's a no." Caleb said.

"Tomorrow, we'll move on." Diego said.

"PARDON ME HUMANS BUT WHERE EXACTLY ARE YOU ALL HEADING TO?" Papyrus asked.

"We need to head back to our homes on the surface." Frisk said.

"OH IN THAT CASE, AS YOUR KNEW BEST FRIEND, ALLOW ME TO DIRECT YOU TO WHERE THE EXIT IS!"

"We already know that the only exit is in the Capitol." Iris said.

"THEN YOU MUST KNOW THAT WHEN YOU REACH THE CAPITAL, YOU MUST CROSS THE BARRIER."

Everyone froze and looked at Papyrus "Barrier?"

"YES, THAT'S THE MAGICAL SEAL TRAPPING US ALL UNDERGROUND. ANYTHING CAN ENTER THROUGH IT, BUT NOTHING CAN EXIT."

"...nothing?" Diego gulped.

"WELL, EXCEPT FOR SOMEONE WITH A POWERFUL SOUL, LIKE YOU HUMANS!"

"Oh, well that's a relief." John said.

" BUT THAT IS WHY THE KING WANT TO ACQUIRE A HUMAN."

"Why does the King want to capture us?" Iris asked.

"And what's the king's name?" Caleb asked.

"KING ASGORE DREEMURR, HE WANTS TO OPEN THE BARRIER WITH SOUL POWER. THAT'S THE ROYAL DECREE! THEN US MONSTERS CAN RETURN TO THE SURFACE!"

"That's...nice." Iris said nervously.

"BUT DON'T FRET, NO ONE ELSE IS AWARE OF YOUR PRESENCE!"

"Breaking new! Seven humans have been spotted!" Everyone turned to the screen where Mettaton was sitting in a news room. A catchy jingle played as the news started.

Play Live Report

"Yes, welcome back beauties and gentlebeauties. You have heard me right folks, seven humans have been spotted by the security cameras. Unfortunately, for legal reason, I can't provide the clip of them being spotted. I can say that they have been spotted in the Snowdin Forest area. Now we go live to Burgerpants, who is at Captain Undyne's house to question her about the human sightings. Let me just remind him that if he screws up this interview then he is going back to a cashier. And if he messes up once more then its back to mascot. Now, Burgerpants?"

"H-hey there boss. I'm at Undyne's house right now. I am knocking at the door right now. Oh, here she comes."

"Nyyyh, hey there... why is that camera pointed at me?"

"H-hi Undyne. I'm from MTT Network. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"

"What, why would I answer your or that rectangular creep's questions?"

"..please Undyne, I don't want to go back to a being a cashier."

"Fiiinnneee, what do you have to ask me?"

"Thanks, given the recent rumors what are you going to do about the sightings?"

"Huh, what the hell are you talking about?"

"You know, the sightings of humans in the Snowdin area."

"WHAT! OOOh,I gotta call Papyrus!"

"No wait, don't close the do-"

"Okay, I think we get the point." Jerod said as he turned the Tv off. "So, looks like the cat's out of the bag."

"Hey, at least they don't have an image of us." Iris said. "Why did the Burgerpants guy forget to take the lens cap off?"

"Something tells me that he is getting demoted." Delilah replied.

"Hey, didn't Undyne said she was calling Papyrus?"

Right on cue, Papyrus's phone rang. He shakily put it to his ear.

"H-H-H-HI UNDYNE. HOW ARE YOU?... UM, ABOUT THE HUMAN... UM... WELL..."

"Give me that." John whispered as he snatched the phone from Papyrus's hand. He pinched his nose and spoke in a surprisingly good imitation of Papyrus.

"hi. Hi. HI UNDYNE!"

"Papyrus, is that you, your voice sounds a little off?"

"UM y-YEAH, IT IS I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! NYEH HEH HEH! *COUGH* SORRY, I'M NOT FEELING TO GOOD TODAY, MY VOICE SOUNDS FUNNY. SO, WHAT WERE WE TALKING ABOUT AGAIN?"

"It's about what I just heard. Is there any humans in the area?"

"UM, I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE, I'VE HEARD RUMORS BUT I'M STILL LOOKING INTO IT. TELLING THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN FACT AND OPINION IS A REAL PAIN IN MY NECK!"

"Wait, you don't have a neck."

"IT'S A FIGURE OF SPEECH."

"Well, alright. How about you meet me at the usual spot tomorrow and give me a full report on what you find?"

"GOOD IDEA, I'LL SEE YOU TOMORROW THEN, BYE-BYE!" John quickly hung up and wiped his forehead. "God, my throat hurts."

Papyrus handed him a glass of water. "Maybe if we're lucky, we can sneak past everyone and make it to the barrier."

"OH, I ALMOST FORGOT TO TELL YOU..." Papyrus said

"Of course theres something else." Iris muttered

TO REACH THE EXIT, YOU WILL HAVE TO PASS THROUGH THE KING'S CASTLE, RIGHT BEHIND THE THRONE ROOM."

"Great, just perfect!" Jerod said.

"Maybe the king isn't that bad, right Papyrus?" Frisk asked.

"UM... HE IS..."

"oh, he's a big fuzzy pushover!" Sans said, stepping out of his room and headed down the stairs. "everyone loves that guy. i'm sure if you go up to him and say 'excuse me mr. dreemurr can i please go home?' he'll guide you right to the barrier himself."

"Hey Sans." John said.

"hey dude. anyway, i'm heading to grillby's to get a bite to eat. wanna come?"

"Sure!" John said, jumping up. "Come on guys."

"Yeah, I am kinda hungry." Caleb said.

"WAIT, HOLD ON! LET ME GIVE YOU MY PHONE NUMBER SO YOU CAN CALL ME ANYTIME YOU WANT!"

"Platonically right?" John said.

Papyrus blushed. "OF COURSE, GOOD LUCK HUMANS!"

They waved goodbye as they followed Sans outside. They noticed that the Underground looked a little darker. John checked his phone, it was sunset on the surface. What made the place down here look darker was anyone's guess, maybe they have an invisible sun.

"YO!" A small, yellow, reptilian monster walked up to them. He had no arms and wore a sleeveless, yellow, striped shirt. The monster turned to kids. "What are you all doing with Mr. Sans, dude?"

"eh, i'm just taking these kids to grillby to eat." Sans said.

"Wait, they are kids?" The monster kid asked.

"I'm as sure as me being a skeleton."

"Then where are their stripped shirts? I mean that funny eyed dude has one but none of you have one."

Chara broke down into laughter while Frisk angrily looked down.

"Psst, is it some kind of law that kids gotta wear stripped shirts?" Diego asked Sans.

"kinda. it's not really required." He said.

"Well, we kinda left our shirts back home." Delilah said.

"Oh cool. Well, hope to see you guys later." He said as he dashed off, then tripped onto the snow.

"Are you okay?" Diego asked.

The monster kid lifted himself off of the snow and shook himself clean. "Yeah, by dude!" As he ran more carefully.

They finally made it to Grillby's and Sans led them inside. It was your typical old fashioned bar/diner full of monsters.

"hey everyone. ya boi sans is back!" Sans said in a goofy tone.

Everyone casually looked at him like this was an everyday occurrence. The group noticed the dog monsters were in a corner playing poker. But the Annoying Dog wasn't there, much to Caleb's disappointment.

"Hey Sans."

"Hi Sans"

"Hiya Sansy."

"Hey, weren't you here in the morning?" A duck monster asked sarcastically.

"morning? who died?" The whole room was full of laughter from that response. As the room died down Sans and the others head to the bar. "sit down guys, the chairs don't bite."

John inspected the chair closely, checking under the cushions.

"john, kiddo, like i would pull a whoopee cushion prank on you."

John relaxed himself and sat down. The others followed his lead and sat down on their own bar stools.

Pfffffffthhhh

John and Jerod fell off the table in a fit of laughter while Frisk blushed and puffed his cheeks angrily at Sans.

"hey, i didn't say i wouldn't prank you." He said sitting himself down. "in this world there are two kinds of people, the prankers and the pranked."

"And we're the prankers." John said.

"yep, so lets order." He said looking to the bartender. The bartender, Grillby, was apparently nothing but a human shaped flame wearing a suit and glasses.

"Whoa." Iris said mesmerized by his presence. "How does your body work?"

Grillby just stared at her silently, the crackling of fire being the only sound.

"Grillby doesn't talk about himself." the duck monster said.

"Why, does he have a dark and mysterious past?"

"No, he can't speak." the duck said.

"No, I can talk." Grillby said in a monotone voice, startling everyone. His voice sounded kinda metallic and had an echo to it.

"What the..." The duck jumped in surprise.

"well i'll be, all the time i've been here i never once heard you speak." Sans said. "why didn't you ever speak if you could?"

"...I'm shy." Grillby said, his cheeks awkwardly blushing.

"oookay, well i'll have a burger. what do you guys want?"

"I want a burger to." Diego said.

"Me to." Caleb said.

Me three." Iris said

"I'll have a salad, if you have one." Delilah said.

"Burger, no pickles or condiments." John said.

"Burger." Jerod said.

"The souls of the innocent." Chara said evily.

"A bagel." Frisk said.

"What! No!" Chara said.

"Two bagels."

"Noooooo!"

"Just kidding, one bagel."

"you heard them grillbz, a sextuple order of burg, a bagel, and a bowl of oiled leaves." Sans said. Grillby nodded and went into the kitchen.

Sans looked at the others. "so, what do you guys think of my brother?"

"I think he's a really nice guy." John said.

"He's pretty tough. He held his own when he fought us." Jerod said.

"He's pretty sweet when he's not being full of himself." Delilah said.

"Meh." Iris shrugged.

"He... tries hard to cook." Diego said.

"He has cool stuff." Caleb said

"He's a really nice friend." Frisk said.

"of course he is. have you seen his follower count on the undernet, he almost reached his two-digit milestone."

"Undernet? You mean the internet?"

If Sans could frown, he would be doing it right now. "...really, that's what they are calling it up there? not the overnet? *sigh* and we all thought asgore sucked at names."

There was an awkward silence as Grillby came back with all the food.

"good, grubs here. bone-appetite."

They started digging into their meals. John noticed Sans was drinking from a red bottle.

"Are you drinking ketchup?"

"yeah, it's good, try it." Sans offered it to him. John took it and brought it to his mouth. His eyes bulged as he pulled it back down and made a disgusted face.

"Bleh!" John said, drowning the taste down with his burger. Delilah smirked at him.

Sans chuckled. "anyway, cool or not, you have to agree papyrus tries real hard. like how he keeps trying to be part of the royal guard."

"If there are guards then why haven't we come across one?" Caleb asked.

"you did, they're over there." Sans pointed to the dogs playing poker.

"Really?" Jerod asked. "Them?"

"yep they are dog-finitely the ones protecting us. anyway, wanna hear the story about how papyrus tried to join the royal guard?"

"Sure." Iris said.

"well one day, he went to the house of the head of the royal guard and begged her to be in it."

"...that's it?"

"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."

"Hmm." Jerod said, munching on his burger.

"oh yeah, i wanted to ask you something." Suddenly, everything around them went dark as the bar lights were still up.

"Hmm, electric box shorted again." Grillby said. "I'll fix it." He went out back.

"...have any of you heard of a talking flower?" Sans asked.

The group looked at each other nervously then nodded to him.

"so you know about them. the echo flower."

"Huh? Echo Flower?" Iris asked.

"they are found all over the marsh. say something to it and they will repeat it over and over."

Iris nodded, interested about that little fact. "So what about them?"

"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."

"That's weird." Frisk said.

"how so?"

"We met a flower that talks kinda like that as well. His name is Flowey, and he gave us quite a scare."

"Said he was going to be watching us." John added. "You don't think Papyrus is talking with him?"

Sans looked up deep in thought. "hmm, i don't know. for all we know there could be dozens of those floweys. or someone is making a really elaborate prank with echo flowers. i'll keep an eye out, you guys should do the same."

"We will, thanks Sans." Diego said.

The lights went back on as Grillby came back. Sans stretched and got up. "welp, better get back home. papyrus gets cranky without his bedtime story. so if you guys are looking for a place to stay, try the snowdin inn." The group nodded. "by the way, i'm flat broke. good luck with the bill." Sans said as he dashed out.

"What the- SANS!" Delilah shouted.

"Don't worry, I'll just put it on his tab." Grillby said.

"Thanks Grillby." Diego said.

"You should really thank me for not blowing your cover." The group looked at him and paled. Grillby, somehow, winked. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me. Not a lot of monsters would know what 'you' look like. Just try not to make it obvious."

Frisk gave a thumbs up. "Thanks, we will." The group hurried out and found the Inn that Sans mentioned.

A skinny pink rabbit lady was standing behind the front desk. Looked like the Innkeeper.

"Hello, welcome to Snowed Inn. Snowdin's premier hotel. How can I help you?"

"Hi, we're looking for a place for each of us to stay the night. Seven total." Diego said.

"Ah alright, one night is 80g per room and/or customer." The rabbit said.

Diego stiffened as he looked through the money bag that Toriel previously gave them. "Uh, we... don't have 80g."

Before the lady could reply a squeal rang out. A head peered from behind the table. John, Jerod, and Delilah instantly recognized the face.

"Hey I remember you!" Jerod said to the little bunny girl. "Staying out of trouble right?"

The girl giggled. "Yeah I am. I went right home after you helped me."

"Wait, Bon-bon, you know these folks?" The lady asked.

"Yeah mom. These three saved me when I wandered out earlier today. I would be dead if it wasn't for them."

The bunny mother stared at the group and her eyes started watering. "Oh, thank you so much for saving my baby! Forget about the cost, you may stay the night for free."

John blushed. "You don't have to do that for us."

"Yeah we do! I'm not sleeping in the snow!" Caleb shouted.

Diego lightly smacked Caleb across the back of his head. "Manners."

"Please I insist. Anything to repay you heroes."

"Heroes..." Caleb looked up, eyes sparkling with pride.

"Here, take these room keys. Your rooms are right upstairs."

"Thanks ma'm" Delilah said. The others thanked her as well and headed upstairs to their respective rented rooms.

"Goodnight guys!" Bon-Bon jumped up and down and waved excitedly.
"And it's way past your bedtime for you young lady." The bunny lady said.

"Aw mama!"

Chapter Text

Iris was having another dream like the one she had the other day. Except this one just skipped straight to the weird part. She was in nothing but a grey emptiness, as far as the eye can see. She saw the mystery man again in a corner with his back turned from her. Taking a closer look at him, his body looked kind of viscous, kind of like Venom from Caleb's comic book collection. The back of his head looked translucent, practically white. She took a step closer to him.

"Hey there." Iris called. "Who are you? What are you doing in my dream?"

The man flinched at the voice and took a small glance at her. She could see a bit of his eye.

"H-how... imP-possible." The man whispered. "ThI-is can't be pO-ossible." Iris noticed the man's voice sounded strangely synthesized. She reached a hand out to his trembling form.

He quickly slapped her hand away. "NO-o-O-o, G-et-t-t-t Away!" The man screamed. Iris rubbed her hand.

"Hey, what was that fo-..." Iris's voice faltered when she saw the front of him. His face looked like it was once skeletal, similar to Sans and Papyrus. Now it was something grotesque and deformed. There was a giant lump on the upper right corner of his face, a crack ran down it past his eye. His right eye was shut closed from the lump. His mouth looked like it was ripped open from silly putty, parts of the upper and lower lip stuck together. Black goop frothed from his orifices and ran down his face. His head was not connected to the black mass that was his body, it just hovered over it. He had no arms, just hands. His hands were the only thing that didn't look so messed up. They looked smooth and skeletal, the only noticeable thing was the giant holes that go through the palm of his hand.

"Ahhh!" Iris shrieked backing away. She tripped and fell on her butt. She slowly crawled back, eyes wide in fear.

The man's face contorted into, she thinks it's concern, and reached one of his floating hands towards her. She flinched.

The man took a deep breath. "...No, it's okay. I won't hurt you. I am just curious."

"A-about w-what?" Iris asked skeptically.

"A-a-About you human, what are you doing in the U-u-Underground?"

"Me and my friends fell down the mountain together. We are trying to get out safely."

"Friends?-? How many of you are there?"

"Seven."

The man grimaced. "Then my people will not make it easy for Y-you."

Iris eye's widened. "Your a monster?" Okay, that sounded dumb when she said it out loud. But at this point she looked at monsters as a race, not a stereotype of big and scary creatures that hide in your bed.

The man did a smile, it's eye struggled to open. "He-heh-heh. Yes silly little child, I am."

Iris's nostrils flared. "I am not a silly little child! My name is Iris and I am a child prodigy where I come from. I skipped several grades because of my intelligence."

"Hmm. A very interesting feat. Well salutations Iris, my name is Dr. WD Gaster."

"Doctor? What is your occupation?" Iris said, feeling more comfortable being in the presence of another intellectual.

"I am- was the Royal Scientist, leader of the science division for the Underground."

"Wow." Iris said, amazed. "You must have created many great inventions?"

Gaster grinned proudly. "Why of course. Why my most beneficial of inventions was the creation of the CORE. It's the power generator of the Underground."

"Let me guess, it's a nuclear fusion generator?" Gaster shook his head. "Hydroelectric plant?" He shook his head again. "... Geothermal reactor?"

"C-correct!"

"Wow, back on the surface that is only a theorized source of power."

"Well here I can assure you that it is not s-science fiction, it is truly fact. Oh, I wish I could see it for myself."

Iris frowned. "Why can't you? Better question, what is this place?"

"The Void. This is my prison."

"Why, what happened?"

"...I-" Gaster immediately grimaced as he fell onto his knees. He started hacking up black inky goo. Strange symbols appeared around his body.

"Gaster, are you okay?" Iris tried to reach for him.

"No ToUcH... toO... UnsTAble!" Gaster looked up at her, his face was... there is no other word to describe it than 'glitching'. "Child... LISten... basEmEnT... sanS... ansWers... HELP ME!"

Iris felt an image flash into her head. Before she could say anything her dream collapsed.

"Gaster!" Iris yelled. She jumped up suddenly as she woke up back in her room in Snowed Inn. She calmed her breathing as she wiped the cold sweat off of her forehead. Reaching around in the dark, she found the lamplight and flicked it on. She laid in bed and let go of a deep breath she wasn't aware she was holding.

Then she remembered that image Gaster flashed in her mind. She knew immediately where to go. Iris pulled the covers off and put on her glasses. She didn't really have any Pj's with her so she had to stick with the clothes she wore all day just like the others. Before she stepped out she thought about telling the others. 'hey guys, a goop man spoke to me in my dreams and told me to break into San's basement.' They probably would take her to the nuthouse.

It was easy to sneak out, there was a family sleeping in the other room who were snoring loudly. She eventually reached Sans & Papyrus's house. She searched the perimeter for the door she saw.

"Now where are you?" Iris said to looked behind the house and found the basement door hidden by a bush. Iris pulled on the door but it didn't budge. She noticed the lock on the handle. She made one of her purple tendrils and tried to pick the lock with it. It was awkward at first due to this being the first time she picked a lock, with a tendril no less. But with her sheer intelligence and sense of precision it can be estimated that she could easi-

*Click*

or she could just rudely interrupt the sexy author/narrator who took the time out of his life to write a detailed description of Iris trying to open a lock for the first time. Thanks!

Iris opened the door and tiptoed downstairs.

"Hey." Chara said.

"Gah!" Iris yelped when Chara suddenly appeared out of nowhere. "Wha- What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing." He crossed his arms and grinned smugly at her. "Well being a ghost I can't sleep. So I had nothing to do but just stare at your sleeping forms."

"..." Iris sweat dropped.

"By the way, Delilah literally sleeps like a princess, flat on back and hands on stomach. How is she even related to John?"

"I have no idea. I think she might have a goofy side deep down."

"I guess, I just haven't seen i- Hey, wait a minute. I almost forgot I was interrogating you. What are you doing here? And where is here?"

So Iris had no other choice but to explain the dream she had and meeting Dr. Gaster.

"Hmm. I knew Dr. Gaster back when I was still alive down here. I had a couple of visits to his lab for some testing, giving I was the first human to appear in a millennia. How did he end up in that 'Void?" Chara said perplexed

"I have no idea. All I know is that Gaster mentioned a basement down here. I think there might be some answers down here."

"Why does this matter to you? I mean it kinda matters to me but why do you care?"

Iris straightened her glasses "To be honest I don't know." Iris said "Why do I want to learn more about this man? Why do I like to keep making notes about every little thing down here? Why do I care about every little thing that happens down here? Because of curiosity. Everything down here is so unique and different from the surface. If we get out of here, I don't think anyone would believe what we found down here. I just want to know everything this place has to offer, all secrets and inventions."

"You sure are persistent about this." Chara commented

"Yeah, I am..." Iris said, walking down the staircase. It led to a pretty small and clean looking basement. There was a single workbench with several drawers. In the corner there was some sort of large machine covered by a curtain.

Iris looked through the drawers and found some interesting items. One was a silver badge with a symbol that looked the same as the one on Toriel's robe, behind it says 'Royal Scientist Division'. There was a folded lab coat with a couple ketchup stains on it. There was a blueprint on the workbench that looked very complicated to decipher. She found an old picture and picked it up. In the picture was Gaster himself, looking a lot less disfigured than in her dream. He was next to a much younger looking Sans as well as several people that looked liked scientists.

"Wow, what does all this mean?"

"ya know, it's kinda rude to go snooping around other people's stuff."

Iris quickly turned around and saw San's there by the entrance, dressed in a grey t-shirt and blue pajama pants with bones designed on it.

"Quick come up with an alibi." Chara said.

"Uhh, I was just exploring." Iris confessed.

Sans crossed his arms. "oh really? found anything neat?"

"Just one." Iris held up the photo. "Who is this guy? The tall one with the holes in his hands."

San's eye's dimmed, like a pupil dilating. His smile looked a little sad. He sighed as he walked over to her.

"well, since you are so curious... his name is dr. wb gaster. and he's my father."

Iris took a double take on what she heard. "Your dad? But... how, your a skeleton?"

"kid, i am not telling you the snowdrakes and the migosps on monsters right now. just think what you want to think, doesn't matter to me. anyway, yeah, he's my pops."

"Wait Sans... Papyrus... WD? Wait, Wing Ding?! Really?!" Iris chuckled, it now makes sense.

"yeah, it's a thing. so gaster was also the head royal scientist division, back when there was one. i was also a scientist."

Iris and Chara snorted. "You, a scientist?"

Sans actually looked hurt by the comment. "yeah, was..."

"So, where is Gaster now?"

Sans looked a little serious. "well, he's not here. all because of this." Sans grasped the curtain covering the mystery object and yanked it down. It was some kind of mounted gun, except it looked a lot less for combat. "now i know what you're thinking, what the hell is this? well... i don't really know. g' called it the 'spacial/quantum distorter."

"Oh, it's a teleporter." Iris said.

"or a time machine, still figuring that out. gaster kept this thing a very big secret. say'n that this thing will save us all. i would've believed him if it didn't go haywire. one day, a big explosion occurred at his personal lab over in waterfall. all us royal scientists rushed over to see what was happening, gaster was there with the machine outside pointing at the front door. kept saying that it was malfunctioning, 'this wasn't supposed to happen'. he was frantically trying to save as much of his notes as possible, despite our protests. he didn't listen. the scientists all ran in to try to pull him out, except me and another scientist. all i could do was watch, that's what i'm best at anyway. next thing i knew the lab suddenly vanished, like it was never even there. also, nobody remember those who vanished with the lab, complete memory wipe. only me and the scientist remember. okay enough with the pronoun game, the other scientist's name is alphys, the current royal scientist. and that's all i know."

"What? Just like that?! What happened with Gaster?" Iris yelled.

"i guess he died. nobody found the remains of those lost there. i don't know, i gave up trying to find the answer a long time ago."

"Well I'm not!" Iris jumped up and pumped her fist. "Hear me Mr. Lazybones. I will find out what happened with Gaster and if he's alive then I will find a way to bring him back!"

"Oh my god." Chara put a hand to his head and shook his head.

Sans chuckled lightly. "kid, if you ever manage to pull that off, i will actually move my sock collection."

"Fine it's a de-"

"meaning that i don't think you can pull it off." Sans said with a cynical tone. "but hey, i'm always open to new stuff. so go ahead, surprise me."

"I will." Iris declared.

"well, you better get back to your room before the other's find out your missing."

"Yeah, see you Sans. Thanks for the info." Iris waved as she headed back to her motel room. She went back to bed, trying to talk with Gaster again.

But nobody came.

Meanwhile, outside the Inn

While everyone else was asleep, a little flower was loitering outside. If this was any old flower it would perish from the cold. This isn't a regular old flower.

"Hmm, so that's what the smiley trashbag was hiding down there." Flowey pondered. "This might prove interesting. I know I was talking smack to those losers earlier but I know that I'm no match for them now, now that they know their powers. If only there was one of them...

Anyway, all I got to do is follow my first plan, and maybe, with a little help from that whozamacallit device I can do something else. Just gotta keep my eye on them. They are tough but still mortal. Chubby and Muscles-for-brains proved that earlier. Golly, maybe they will all die before they reach Asgore. Hee hee, soon it will all come full circle. Not only will they're Souls become mine but everyone's Souls. Then I will finally become the God of this world. HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!"

"Arf."

Flowey stopped his laughing and noticed the Annoying Dog standing next to him. It stared at him with it's beady eyes, panting excitedly. He never liked that Dog, it was so mysterious and random. Also he was never able to kill it before.

"What the hell do you want you mangy mutt?" He snarled at him, making the scariest face he could manage.

The Dog stopped panting and cocked his head.

"Yeah, that's right. Don't mess with me. Now beat it!"

The Dog whined as he slowly walked past Flowey.

"Yeah, you better run ya little bi- err dog."

The Dog stopped right next to Flowey...

"Um, what are you doing?"

The proceeded to lift his hind leg facing Flowey. Flowey looked with horror in his eyes.

"WAIT NO NO!"

Chapter Text

After the whole group had a full night's rest, they thanked the Innkeeper and left the inn returning to the cold air.

"So what now?" Frisk asked, yawning.

"Now, we take a look at the shop. See if there is anything useful." Delilah said, chewing on a mint gum since she lacks her toothbrush.

"Okay, the next place is called Waterfall so uh... I think it's wet there." John stuttered. He blushed as everyone stared blankly at him.

"That... kinda goes without saying John." Iris deadpanned. "But I know what your getting at. Lets look for some stuff to help us with the water. Boots, umbrellas, whatever we can find useful."

The group nodded and entered the shop.

"Hello, travelers. How can I help you?" Said a purple bunny wearing a tank top and a summer hat. She looked to be the shopkeeper

"Hi, got any weapons?" Jerod asked, hoping to change his arsenal. Maybe they got plasma nunchucks or a big flaming warhammer, anything was better than a shoddy old glove.

"Um no, this is a general store young man." The shopkeeper blinked.

"Okay, how about I sell you some stuff of ours?" Frisk said.

"Huh? Sell somethin? Does this look like a pawn shop? I don't know how it works where you come from... but... If I started spending money on old branches and used bandages, I'd be out of business in a jiffy!"

Diego put an arm around Jerod and Frisk and gave the warmest smile he could muster to the bunny lady. "What my two impulsive friends meant was, what is it that we can buy here? You see, we are new around here."

"Oh, why didn't you say so. We sell snacks and some small garments."

"Okay, we'll take a look around."

"I can't remember the last time I saw a fresh face around here. Let alone seven at once. Where did you come from? The capital?"

"Y-yeah. We're touring the area." John said. Looking through the snacks. His eyes were fixated on a bunny shaped cinnamon bun

"You don't look like tourists. Are you here by yourselves?"

"Hey, can you tell me the history of this place?" Iris said cutting her off. "I'm writing stuff down for my notebook."

The lady smirked "Think back to your history class... A long time ago, monsters lived in the RUINS back there in the forest. Long story short, we all decided to leave the ruins and head for the end of the caverns. Along the way, some fuzzy folk decided they liked the cold and set up camp in Snowdin. Oh, and don't think about trying to explore the RUINS... The door's been locked for ages. So unless you're a ghost or can burrow under the door, forget about it."

"I've... heard about it. Anything else?" Iris persisted.

"That's all I know, you can try the library."

Jerod tapped John's shoulder. "Hey, dude. I forgot to give this back to ya." He handed John his black hoodie that he let him borrow.

"B-but aren't you cold?" John asked.

"Yeah, but since we're going somewhere a little warmer I won't really need it."

"Thanks..." John said as he put it back on. He honestly felt more comfortable with it back on. Warm... Safe...

"Hmm, this coat looks nice." Delilah said, holding onto a blue raincoat. If the place is as wet as Iris and Jerod said, she doesn't want to end up soaking her white dress shirt or her red vest. She decided to buy it, along with a pair of matching galoshes

"Hey Frisk look at me!" Frisk looked at Caleb who was wearing a red poncho over one shoulder. "I'm Mcree from Overwatch. 'It's high noon." He said in a cowboy accent holding his holstered gun.

Frisk smirked "That's cool looking."

"Yeah, gotta thank John for introducing that game to me."

"What the hell are you two talking about? You sound like total nerds." Chara muttered.

"So you want it Caleb?" Diego asked.

"Yes please."

"I'll also have these Cinnamon things." John said holding these cinnamon buns that are in the shape of a bunny.

"For all of us?" Diego asked.

"Y-yeah, of course."

"I'm good." Jerod and Iris said not finding anything worth buying.

They all put the stuff they want up front and they handed the shopkeeper their gold.

"Hey, I think I heard of you guys." The lady said. "Yeah, your the kids that saved my sister's little girl yesterday."

"Yeah that's us." Jerod said.

"Thanks a million. It's nice to see kids these days doing something good for society. Not like those kids that messed with that poor Gyftrot the other day. Now we have to decorate a tree and give out presents once a year just to make him feel better."

Jerod and Iris looked at each other. "Coincidence."

"Anyway bye now! Come again sometime!" The shopkeeper said.

"Thanks, goodbye!" Diego waved.

"So let's get going." Jerod said, antsy to get out of the cold.

"Hold up. I'm not going anywhere until I read those books at the library."

"Uhhh..." Jerod groaned.

"See, that wasn't so bad." Iris said cheerfully.

"Wasn't so bad? We lost over an hour of travel!" Jerod exclaimed. They were walking pass the place where they battled Papyrus into a cave that led to Waterfall.

"We wouldn't have lost that much time if Delilah didn't chew out the librarian!" Chara said

"Hey, who makes that kind of spelling error? If they can't spell library then they shouldn't have opened it up in the first place." Delilah defended herself.

Iris scoffed. In her opinion it was worth it. She gained some interesting information that might prove useful. Like humans having more physicality than monsters, meaning that they are naturally weaker than us. When a monster dies, their body turns to dust, which explains what happened to Toriel. But the monsters make up with it by naturally having magic. All monsters have a form of magic, while most humans do not. Though there is some humans, named 'mages', that have the capability to wield magic. That left a big question, if certain humans have a gene that allows them to use magic then why hasn't the world discovered it? She refuses to believe that the government hides them all in area 51 or something, somebody would've blown the whistle by now if that was the case.

She stopped when she came upon a sentry station with Sans behind it. A blue luminescent flower with a long stem grew out of the corner, must be one of those echo flowers.

"hey kids."

"What are you doing here Sans?" John asked.

"what? haven't seen a guy with two jobs before?"

"..."

"oh yeah, forgot to congratulate you guys for getting past my bro. it must've been hard with his special attack and all."

"Yeah, it was pretty ruff." John giggled.

"But dog-gone it we managed to beat him." Frisk grinned. John patted him on the back.

They looked back at Sans and saw that he wasn't there.

"Huh?"

"unfortunately for both of us..." The group looked behind them and saw that he teleported behind them. "i'm a sentry too which means i should at least try to capture you."

"Really Sans?" Delilah asked a little cautiously.

"yeah, but i ain't going easy on you. get ready for a bad time."

Play the most dramatic version of Megalovania you can find

"San's I'm not going to fight you." John said concerned.

"well, that makes my job easier." He said as he threw a bone at John. John closed his eyes as it came toward him.

Record scratch

"Huh?" John said rubbing his forehead. The bone only hurt a little bit when it bumped him on the head. It might bruise a little but it barely even felt lethal.

"welp, i'm pooped." Sans shrugged walking back to his station.

"T-that's it?" John asked. "I mean I thought you might surprise me by being super OP."

"kid, the hardest thing i ever do on a daily basis is get out of bed. be realistic here."

"Well... can we go now?"

"sure, i did my job. just watch yourselves out there."

"Thanks." The group waved and marched forward. They came across a waterfall blocking the way. The water looked a little deep.

"Heh, I'll go first." Jerod said as he jumped into the water. It reached up past his waist. He gave a thumbs up as he slowly trudged to the other side. The rest of the group were about to jump in as well when they noticed something from the top of the falls flow down towards him.

Jerod noticed it just as the group realized what it was. "What the... GAH!" He grunted as the giant rock smashed against him and he got knocked off the edge. He frantically kicked his legs out, trying to reach the ground. He noticed that he wasn't falling at all. He opened his eye and noticed his body was glowing. 'that's right, John's telekinesis.' He thought as he was being pulled back to shore.

"You really want to become a ghost like me huh?" Chara scolded. Jerod rubbed his head sheepishly.

"I think I can get us across." Delilah said. "Just hold onto me." The group did as she said and each grabbed her arm or shoulder. She focused on the other side of the waterfall and stomped her foot. Suddenly they felt their bodies get pulled towards that point and they suddenly appeared on the other side.

"Whoa!" Caleb shouted. "That was awesome!" Frisk shuddered from the sensation.

"Ugh..." Delilah clutched her forehead.

"Are you okay sis?" John asked.

"Y-yeah, just going to take some getting use to." Delilah replied.

After making sure she was alright they continued. They came across a big patch of tall grass, or is it kelp?

"Hold on. I think there is somebody over the cliff." Chara warned.

The group looked up at what he was talking about. There indeed was a person standing right over the edge of the cliff. They wore a heavy set of metal armor. They couldn't see their face but they knew this person was trouble. Being very quiet, they tried to sneak past the person through the tall grass.

*Snap*

Everyone froze in place when they heard the twig snap. The mystery person looked down at where they were hiding. Searching around they lifted their hand up and a glowing spear manifested in it. The armored figure looked ready to throw it.

'Maybe I should get up and distract them. Then the others can escape.' Diego thought.

"Arf!" Suddenly, out of nowhere, the Annoying Dog came out of the grass and looked at the figure. The figure tilted his head and watched as the Dog ran away. Shrugging it off, they put the spear away. Just then Papyrus came out of nowhere and approached the figure.

"HI UNDYNE!" Oh so that was Undyne... "I'VE COME TO GIVE YOU MY REPORT ABOUT THE HUMANS!"

"Good. How many are there?" Undyne asked. Her voice sounded gruff but feminine.

"AH ABOUT SEVEN!"

"Really? That's great! You fought them right?"

"Y-YES I DID, I FOUGHT THEM VALIANTLY!" Papyrus glanced to the side nervously.

"Did you capture them?"

"WELL... EEEEEEHHHHHHH... NO."

"WHAT!" she roared as she turn to face him. Everyone jumped at rage in her voice.

"I-I'M SORRY UNDYNE. I TRIED REALLY HARD, BUT IN THE END I FAILED." he sighed. Undyne huffed.

"Fine then. If you want something done right you do it on your own."

"WAIT, WHAT DO YOU MEAN?"

"I'm going to find those humans and take their Souls myself." she declared.

"BUT UNDYNE, YOU DON'T HAVE TO DESTROY THEM... YOU SEE..."

"Papyrus," she interrupted him,"Must I remind you what our mission is? They are the enemy, we will take their Souls, break the Barrier, and destroy the human scum. And if you have a problem with that, maybe the royal guard isn't for you."

The group don't know how to take this new information, but they definitely aren't staying here near her. They started to slowly crawl out.

"...I UNDERSTAND, I'LL HELP IN ANYWAY I CAN." Papyrus said.

"Great, knew I could count on you." She said happily. "Hop to it!"

Papyrus sadly trudged away. Undyne looked to the area like there was a crowd. "I know your out there humans, I will find you, and you will face my spear of justice!" She declared as she disappeared into the shadows.

With the coast clear, the group crawled out of the grass. They took a grave look at each other and began trudging along. Then they heard a rustling in the grass. The group watched as a small yellow monster crawled out of the grass.

"Hey I know you, your that kid we met yesterday." Jerod said.

"Yeah, that's me. My name is MK, short for monster kid." The group snorted at the name. "But yo, did you see the way she was staring at you all. That...was awesome! C'mon lets go watch her beat up some bad guys!" MK ran past them and tripped onto their face. He quickly got back up. "I'm okay!" The group felt a great sense of dread but had no choice but to continue on.

Chapter Text

"Guys I think we went the wrong way." John said. He was rubbing his ribbon to calm himself down.

"Shut up John, I know where I'm going!" Jerod growled, trudging ahead of everyone.

Delilah frowned. "Jerod, I think my brother is right. We need to be more careful now that Undyne is after us."

"It will take more work for us to map out all of waterfall and that might put us in jeopardy." Iris straightened her glasses.

"I hope we can avoid an encounter with Undyne." Diego said. "I don't want to fight her but if she leaves us no choice..."

"Then we can beat the hell out of her!" Caleb exclaimed. Diego bonked his brother on the head with his pan, messing up his hat.

"You had that coming Dude." Frisk said. Caleb stuck his tongue out at him.

"Hey guys look over there." Chara said.

The Group looked up ahead and saw another group of human kids approach.

The first one was a young girl who wore a white t-shirt with blue stripes. She had blonde hair tied back by a red ribbon. Next to her was a boy wearing clothes somewhat similar to Jerod's who was cling closely to the girl. There was a dark-skinned girl wearing a ballerina outfit along with a blue striped shirt. Next to her was a pale boy wearing a pair of glasses that were more cloudy looking than Iris's, yet he was reading his notebook perfectly. Another pair of kids walked with them, a timid boy and a slightly older girl with a sharp look in her eye. They both had tan skin and dark brown hair but the boy had green eyes while the girl had yellow eyes. Lastly was a child that looked terrifyingly like Frisk, except they couldn't tell this kid's gender.

"Brayden I think we went this way already." Melody said

"I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING!" Brayden stomped on the ground in frustration.

"Face it, went in a circle." Clover said. Brayden stuck his tongue out at her.

"Maybe we should go retrace our steps and start over at Nappstablook's house?" Faye timidly asked.

"I estimate it might take a couple of hours to backtrack from where we came." Percy said.

"Um guys, the genderless kid is trying to tell us something." Cody said.

The genderless kid pointed ahead. The kids looked and saw the group that was there with them.

Both groups stared each other down. Surprised to see another bunch of humans.

John and Faye both broke the ice at the same time. "What?"

After some time of confused chatter between them, both groups somehow understood who they were. They were both versions of each other from an alternate reality. How they figured it out, who cares?! This chapter ain't canon anyway!

The group spent the time chatting with their alternate selves.

"So somehow we opened up a rift in time and space and now we are both here." Iris concluded to Percy.

"False! One cannot freely travel between dimensions or time. I estimate such a feat would result in a temporal paradox that could absorb all molecules and forms of matter in both universes and obliterate them from existence." Percy said emotionlessly.

Iris blinked. "What the... are you even human inside?!"

"I don't understand the question. I have 206 bones in me, a heart that beats at an adequate pace, perfectly functional white blood cells, and I have full motor control over all 4 of my appendages. The only thing that incapacitates me is my lack of a 20/20 vision, which I can see that you lack as well." Iris sweat dropped.

"Wanna compare notes?" She asked.

"Absolutely. By the way do you like anime?" Iris's face lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Cool gun." Caleb said to Clover. He compared it to his fake toy gun.

"Thanks, and same. Now I can understand me not having ammo but why are you empty?" Clover asked.

Caleb nervously looked away. "I was in a rush to chase my friend to Mt. Ebbot that I didn't really have time to load it up."

"What that yellowish kid over there? He take someone's notebook as well?"

"Not really..."

Frisk and the genderless kid smiled at each other and gave a thumbs up.

"Nice, at least we look the same between universes. Unless you're a girl... wait what gender are you?" Frisk asked his counterpart.

The child shrugged. Frisk frowned. "What? you can't speak?" The child shrugged again. "Dude, whats up with you?" The child shrugged once more. Frisk wasn't enjoying this.

"Nice tutu." Delilah said to Melody.

She smiled. "Thanks. Ballet is my favorite pastime."

"I have one to, didn't bring it with me back home. Too busy watching out for my big brother." Delilah pointed to John. Melody peered over her.

"He's your big brother?"

"Yep, but I am the more mature one. So, show me some of your techniques and I'll show you mine."

"...And boom!" John said as he held out his palm to Faye. A glowing cyan knife appeared and floated just above it. They were both laying on the ground. "The other's have their own powers as well."

Faye's eyes sparkled. "That's amazing! Brayden would love to have a super power of his own."

"Yeah, you two seem to be reeeaally close." John lip curved slightly.

Faye's eyes narrowed. "You seem to be close with Jerod as well."

John's eye twitched. "W-well, orange you glad we aren't admitting anything?" He said with a calm smile.

Faye smiled back. "Tibia honest, yeah."

Jerod and Brayden were looking at each other.

'Holy heck! He's so tall!' Brayden thought to himself. He barely made it to Jerod's shoulders, he also had a lot more muscle definition than himself. 'I knew I should have drank more milk, first thing I'm doing when I get home is drink a whole gallon of milk.'

Brayden glared at Jerod and put up a fighting stance. "FIGHT ME! I ain't afraid of you!" He said, trying to look intimidating.

Jerod just grinned, showing off his pearly whites. "Jesus christ, you are just precious." He said as he gave him a noogie.

"Grrr, STOP IT!" Brayden charged at Jerod with his fist out. Jerod easily stepped to the side as he past by him. He quickly grabbed his wrist and pinned it behind him. The younger version yelped from the pain. "Hey, let me go!"

"Say uncle." Jerod said, pulling a little more. His older brothers always do this to him since he's the baby of the bunch.

"What? Never!" Brayden yelled. Jerod smirked as he reached for his exposed armpit. Brayden stiffened. Jerod's brothers always tickle tortured him to make his say uncle, maybe he is just as ticklish as..

"O-okay, Uncle, Uncle!" Brayden frantically said. Jerod didn't even start.

'Geez he's even worse than me.' Jerod thought as he let him go. He slapped his shoulder.

"So you never fought any monster?" Diego asked Cody.

Cody looked down sadly. "I would never want to hurt anyone. That's not the right thing to do."

Diego smiled sadly and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Yeah, I get that. I really don't want to hurt anyone either. But being an older brother I have a responsibility. I gotta do what I have to do whether I like it or not." Cody smiled slightly.

"Yeah! He really kicked Toriel's butt when I got hurt." Caleb yelled at them.

Cody paled. "You did what!"

Diego glanced angrily at Caleb then frowned at Cody. "Yes but it was in self-defense. Trust me, I was upset after."

Cody gave a small smile. "Well, at least your sorry about it."

Chapter Text

"Mmm, flexing contest go!; )" Aaron said as he flexed his big muscles.

After their unsettling encounter with Undyne, the group continued into Waterfall. They just completed a puzzle involving 'bridge seeds', which Iris was more than happy to explain it's functionality. They were about to cross the bridge when a muscular horse with a fish tail came out of the water and flexed his muscles. Jerod and Delilah were the ones closest to him.

Jerod smirked. "Take this!" He said as he flexed his biceps as well. His muscles weren't as large or defined as Aaron's but he still put a lot of effort into it. He thought he saw John giving him a funny look, he tried not to think about it.

Delilah weakly did a flex to impress Aaron.

"Ha! Hey cutiepie. ; )" Aaron creeped over to her. "You don't seem to be that good at flexing. How about I give you some tips?; )"

"Um, can you please back up a bit?" Delilah asked nervously. This guy was making her seriously uncomfortable.

"Feisty, huh? ; )" He said as he wrapped a sweaty bicep around her. Delilah shrieked and tried to kick Aaron in the crotch. But she kicked nothing.

Aaron laughed. "Wow! Spunky! Love it ; )"

"Get away from me!" Delilah kept pushing him away. She would've tried to teleport away but she couldn't focus being near this creep.

"You'll change your mind cutie. ; )" Aaron said.

"HEY!" Everyone turned and stared at John. His eyes were glowing cyan as he glared straight at Aaron. "Let. My. Baby. Sister. Go." He said darkly

"Pfft, or what chub? ; )" Aaron then felt something sharp poke him in the back. He tilted his head and saw a flurry of knives floating behind him, aiming straight at his exposed back. He sweatdropped and immediately let go of her as he backed into the water. "Okay... I'll just go now ; )" He said as he submerged.

John's eyes died down as he went and hugged his sister. "Are you okay sis! It's alright, the creeper is gone!" He babbled.

"Um John... I'm alright, you can calm down." Delilah blushed awkwardly. John realized that the others were staring at him and he let go, blushing as well.

"Q-quit staring at me and lets go!" John quickly said as he walked forward. The group didn't comment back but followed him as well.

Then, out of nowhere, Frisk's phone started ringing. "Hello?" Frisk answered.

"HELLO THIS IS PAPYRUS!"

Frisk smiled. "Hey Papyrus. Wait, how did you get this number?" None of the group gave him their number.

"IT WAS EASY! I JUST DIALED EVERY NUMBER SEQUENTIALLY UNTIL I GOT YOUR'S! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

"Because that's practical." Iris muttered as Delilah rolled her eyes

"SO... WHAT ARE YOU WEARING RED HUMAN?"

John narrowed his eyes. "Frisk hang up."

Delilah kicked him in the shin. "Now hold on, I'm pretty sure he didn't mean it like that."

"I'M ASKING FOR A FRIEND! SHE THOUGHT SHE SAW YOU WEARING AN OLD BANDAGE, IS THAT TRUE? ARE YOU WEARING AN OLD BANDAGE?" Everyone frantically shook their head and mouthed 'no'

"N-no." Frisk said, doing an awful job of making it sound truthful.

"SO YOU ARE NOT WEARING AN OLD BANDAGE? GOT IT! WINK WINK!" He said as he hung up. Frisk quickly took off his bandage and stuffed it in his pocket. He gave a thumbs up.

"Wow..." John said.

"I know, how could Papyrus sell us out." Delilah said.

"No... Look up..."

Everyone did as he asked and they were mystified. On the ceiling there was dozens of shiny sparkling jewels scattered around. With the dark ceiling, it looked like they were staring up at the night sky. There were also some Echo flowers scattered around as well as a sign and a telescope.

"The Wishing room." Iris read the sign.

"It's so beautiful." John whispered. His eyes sparkled.

Delilah smiled. John doesn't really like being outside (what a surprise) but he always loved staring at the stars when the sky is clear. He would sit outside for hours just staring. She touched the flowers and she heard voices come out of them.

'A long time ago, monsters would whisper their wishes to the stars in the sky. If you hoped with all your heart, your wish would come true. Now all we have are these sparkling stones on the ceiling.'

Delilah frowned and listened to a pair of echo flowers.

'C'mon sis! Make a wish!'

'I wish my sister and I would see the real stars someday...'

"It's not fair..."

Delilah noticed Chara was floating right next to her.

"Huh?"

"Monsters have been trapped down here for so long. They only have this, fake stars since they can't see the real thing." He sulked.

"Your right it's not fair at all." Caleb said. Iris and Diego were figuring our a secret by the telescope that opened a secret doorway. They went through it.

"You know, why did the humans ever attack monsters?" Diego asked as they walked along a pier.

"Yeah, I mean yeah some managed to kill us so far but from what I saw Diego do, it's so easy to defeat them. Humans are naturally stronger than monsters. What did they have to worry about?" Iris asked to.

"Well humans do have one weakness." Chara said.

"What is it?" Iris listened closely.

"Ironically it's the strength of their Soul. From what I've read, human Souls have the power to persist outside the body even after death... like me."

"Your talking about the afterlife aren't you?" Jerod asked.

"Yeah. Also if a monster defeats a human they can take it's soul. A monster with a human Soul. Thats... really powerful."

Iris scrunched up her face. "But wait, then why-"

"Iris look out!" Delilah screamed.

Iris looked up and saw something coming at her quickly. She felt herself get knocked to the side. Iris looked to the ledge across the river they were on. She saw Undyne over there. She was the one attacking her. She then heard a bloody gasp. She turned around and paled at the sight. A spear was plunged straight through Delilah's torso. She dangled from the spear as she looked at them with a fear-stricken face.

John put a hand to his mouth as he looked at her.

She weakly put her hand out. "F-f-frisk..." She sputtered, coughing up blood.

Frisk quickly reacted and focused on reloading.

Reload

Everyone returned to the point right before they entered the next room, where Undyne was waiting for them.

"Is everyone okay?!" Frisk asked. He looked for Delilah and found her holding John close. She was sobbing silently into his hoodie. John did his best to comfort her, giving a straight face.

"Shh, it's alright sis." John said rubbing her back. "It's going to be okay."

"*Sob* Liar..." John smiled sadly, at least she isn't hysterical. "I died... and it hurt."

"But your not dead, right Lala?" Delilah gave a weak chuckle. She always loved that nickname. "Don't worry your looking pretty good for a zombie."

"Your so dumb." Delilah said letting go of him. "I'm better now, thanks bro."

Iris was pacing along the pier. "This is bad. That pier is the only way to get past the dock and she's blocking the way."

"I don't think we can fight her." John said. "So far she's the only monster that seems dead set on killing us."

"Well then, we're gonna have to stay on our feet and don't stop." Jerod said. "Just stay together and keep moving. If it all works out then Frisk won't have to reload again."

"Maybe me and Iris should be in front, since we can counter the attacks." Diego suggested. Iris nodded in approval.

The group took a deep breath and went forward. Right on cue the spear came at them. Iris reacted this time and threw her hands out. Her eyes glowed purple and the spear stopped right in front of her and turned purple as it compressed itself into a ball. She threw it back at Undyne and it exploded causing a smoke screen to make her temporarily lose her line of sight.

"RUN!" John screamed. The rest followed suit. Undyne got out of her daze and chased them. Spears were being flung at them relentlessly. They all jumped, ducked, and defied the laws of physics to the point where even Papyrus would scratch his head. They seemed to be doing a good job avoiding the spears, until one hit John in the side. He hissed as it sliced a hole through his hoodie, luckily it was just a scrape. He made some knives and threw them back at Undyne. They hit the pillars next to her and made the ceiling collapse on her. She yelled as the rocks fell on her. John clutched his sides.

"What was that?" Diego exclaimed.

"It was in a rush." John said. They heard muffled yelling under the rock pile. "She's alright, hurry!"

The group ran and hid in a patch of tall grass. They tried to slow their breathing when they saw her approaching. She stared right at the area where they are and reached down. Turns out she grabbed MK who was hiding in the grass with them, much to everyone's surprise. Thinking that she made a mistake, she put MK down and walked away. The group sighed in relief and got back out.

"Yo, did you guys see that?! Undyne just TOUCH ME!" MK jumped in joy. "I'm never washing my face ever again. Man, are you all unlucky. If you were just standing a little bit closer... Yo don't worry! I'm sure we'll see her again!" He tripped once more. Jerod helped him back onto his feet. "Thanks dude."

"No prob, now why don't you-" Mk was already gone. "go back home..."

"I hope Mk doesn't get himself into too much trouble." Diego said.

"We have to worry about ourselves... he'll be alright." Jerod sounded unsure. Mk was so close to having his childhood traumatized by seeing his hero murder seven kids in front of him. Jerod put the thought aside, the important thing is that they made it out alright. "C'mon lets hurry before she comes back."

"That wasn't funny!" Frisk mumbled, wiping the ink off of his eye.

"No, it was hilarious." John said. Jerod just finally calmed down from his belly-aching laughter. They were walking into a glowing marsh that lit up the path in front of them.

"You really like defending Sans." Delilah said.

"Because he's hilarious!"

Jerod stopped everyone when he saw someone walking towards them. It looked like a living bathtub with a rubber ducky on it's head. Next to it was two Moldsmals.

Chara immediately gave them it's name. "Woshua, This humble germophobe seeks to cleanse the whole world."

"Hmm." Delilah respected this monster's mission of cleanliness.

"I got the Moldsmals." Frisk said wiggling his hips. It immediately pacified the two jelly monsters. Woshua wasn't please.

"NO. THAT DANCE'S TOO... DIRTY!" Woshua screamed. It threw a giant bar of soap at the group who immediately jumped out of the way.

"Mother F*****!" Jerod shouted in surprise. Everyone stared at him.

"Wosh u mouth!" Woshua scolded.

"Jerod didn't mean it. Trust me I hate dirty stuff as well." Delilah quickly said.

"...You want to be clean?"

"Yeah, all of us RIGHT?" The rest of the group eagerly nodded.

"Green means clean." Woshua aimed his hose at them and fired. For some reason the water was pure green, they prayed it wasn't radioactive waste. Woshua whistled as it cleaned them. They felt it wosh away all grime on them, even woshing their wounds. When it was over they looked at each other. They all looked squeaky clean but no trace of water on them.

"Amazing. Mixing green healing magic to a water based attack creates some sort of solvent that removes all traces of grime, and it immediately removes all traces of the liquid from the body. It does leaves a faint smell of... detergent." Iris said, scribbling into her notebook.

"Thanks Woshua." Delilah said.

"Clean! Clean! Clean!" Woshua cheered as it left with the Moldsmals.

"Uh, I smell weird." John muttered.

"You smell clean." Delilah sniped

"I miss my natural scent." John whined.

After quickly avoiding Onionsans and his creepy face, (A.N: I didn't put Onionsans in my last story and I'm not in this one. I don't like Onionsans.....) they ran into another monster. It was a fish like monster that had her back turned from them. She was singing quietly to herself. Delilah recognized the song and walked up to her.

"Um excuse me but can I ask for your name?" asked Delilah.

The monster glanced slightly at her and replied. "Shyren"

"Hi Shyren. Are you singing 'All I want for Christmas is You?" Shyren nodded. "I love that song. Can I sing it with you?" Shyren looked hesitant but agreed. "John play that instrumental version of the song you got on you phone."

"That's an oddly coincidental version of the song to have at the moment." Iris commented as John pressed play.

You know what song to play

"I don't want a lot for Christmas,

There is just one thing I need..." Delilah gestured to Shyren.

"I don't care about the presents,

Underneath the Christmas tree..." Some nearby monster came to them, drawn from the singing.

"I just want you for my own,

More than you could ever know..."

They both sang together. "Make my wish come true oh,

All I want for Christmas is you..."

"OMG M-mettaton come l-look at this!" said Alphys.

"Okay what is darling." said Mettaton coming into the room. He froze when he heard the music. "Who is singing that lovely voice?"

"Oh um it's um its. J-just come and look at this." Mettaton looked through the monitor and saw what looks like one of the humans singing with a monster. There was a crowd of monsters nearby cheering like this was a concert.

"Heavens, who is that monster?"

"Thats um her name is um Shyren."

"Shyren?! You mean that tone deaf monster that Undyne mentioned? How is she singing so well?"

"I-I guess she's actually good at singing. They just started several minutes ago"

"Several minutes?! But there is a huge concert going on now." He gestured towards the screen. The other humans were with the other monsters.

'Amazing' Mettaton thought. She can gather a crowd so quickly. Someone almost as talented as himself could prove useful, all the more reason to continue with his plan...

Chapter Text

*Ring*

"Hello?" Frisk answered the phone.

"GREETINGS HUMANS, IT IS I THE GREAT PAPYRUS! REMEMBER WHEN I ASKED ONE OF YOU ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE WEARING?"

"Yeah..."

"WELL MY FRIEND WHO WANTED TO KNOW... HER OPINION OF ALL OF YOU IS VERY MURDERY."

"Her name wouldn't happen to be Undyne, no?" Iris asked.

"NOT IMPORTANT! ANYWAY, WORRY NOT DEAR HUMANS! I WOULD NEVER BETRAY YOU! I AM NOT A CRUEL PERSON. I STRIVE TO BE COMFORTING AN PLEASANT. PAPYRUS, HE SMELLS LIKE THE MOON!"

"?" Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

"SO I TOLD HER THAT YOU WERE NOT WEARING A BANDAGE! I TOLD HER YOU WERE WEARING SOMETHING RANDOM, LIKE AN ORANGE TANK TOP!"

Everyone paled and looked at Jerod who was wearing said tank top.

'Crap, now it's too late to change it. She already saw our faces.' Jerod thought.

"I KNOW THAT YOU WOULD NEVER WEAR SUCH A THING! PERHAPS THAT ORANGE HUMAN BUT WHERE WOULD HE EVEN FIND SUCH A SPECIFIC OUTFIT? IT'S NOT LIKE HE WAS WEARING ONE THE WHOLE TIME, THAT WOULD BE A HUGE COINCIDENCE! DANG I JUST WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH EVERYONE!" He lamented as he hung up.

The group knew Papyrus was just trying. Besides, they think Undyne wouldn't have been fooled either way. They came across a sign that said of there being treasure in the northern room.

"All right, treasure!" Caleb cheered. The northern room only consisted of a piano on one side and a sign on the other.

"A haunting song echos down the corridor... Won't you play along? Only the first eight are fine." Chara read.

"Hmm, so their is supposed to be a musical cue of eight notes to unlock the treasure." John said

"Well what are the notes?" Delilah asked.

"Hey your the musical expert here!"

"Yeah but there are a large number of combinations and we don't know if this thing is booby trapped."

"Guys relax! It sounds like what we're looking for is down the corridor." Diego said.

The group nodded and wandered back down the corridor.

"Hey Chara I was meaning to ask." John said. "Earlier you said monsters can take the Souls of humans, can a human take a monster's?"

Chara frowned. "No, when a monster dies their Soul turns to dust along with the body. And to take the Soul of a living monster would require a lot of power. But..."

"But?" Iris said, interested.

"There is an exception. There is a rare type of monsters called a boss monster."

John snorted. "Really, boss monster?"

"I'm very serious right now. A Boss Monster's SOUL is strong enough to persist after death... If only for a few moments. A human could absorb this SOUL. But this has never happened. And now it never will."

"Wait, when Diego... I mean, that one time when Toriel died. Her Soul popped out for a little bit before vanishing. She must be a boss monster." Jerod said.

"Yeah, that was why humans declared war on monsters. Because if given the opportunity, monsters could become more powerful than humans." Chara scoffed. "As if it can be called a war. Not one human life was taken and countless monsters turned to dust."

"Wow, that's really unfair." Caleb scowled. "Monsters didn't deserve that." Chara smiled, happy that another human thinks so.

"Hold up guys." The group looked at an old statue of a horned figure leaning against a wall. Rain, or just water, was dripping from above soaking the statue. "Do you hear that?" Frisk asked. They listened, hearing something like a music box coming from the statue. But the rain was falling so heavily that it drowned out the sound.

"I got this." Delilah said as she pulled out a small umbrella.

"Where'd you get that?" John asked.

"I got it from that store back in Snowdin town. Thought it might come in handy." She said as she put it over the statue. Suddenly the music became clear.

Play Memory

The group paused when they heard the melody. The music was simple yet sweet. They all felt a lump in their throat.

"It's weird." Frisk said. "I don't know what it is but this music is filling me with a sense of loss." The group nodded. They were all thinking of someone they miss. Friends, family, loved ones. They blinked away their tears.

"What do you think Chara?" Diego asked. Chara had a look of disbelief his face as tears streaked down their face. "Chara?"

Chara snapped back into reality and looked at Diego, wiping his face. "Hmm, oh sorry. It's just that, that song really reminds me of someone."

"Your best friend?" Frisk asked.

"Y-yeah." He answered. The group looked concerned at him. Chara cleared his throat. "Anyway, isn't this the song we need for the piano?"

Delilah memorized the notes and hurried back to the piano. Quickly she played the first eight notes of the song. Then a door opened. Passing through the door they came across an pedestal holding a shiny red ball. The group looked to each other in confusion.

"What is that?" Iris asked.

"I have no idea." Chara confessed.

"Well, we did complete the puzzle. I'd say we earned it fair and square." Caleb said. He turned around and saw the Annoying Dog was in the place of the ancient Artifact.

"Wha-"

"Arf!" The Dog said as he tackled Caleb and licked his face. He giggled from the dogs wet tongue.

"Hahaha, It's nice to see you to!" Caleb said happily.

"Where'd that artifact go?" Chara asked looking at the empty Pedestal.

"I don't kn- HEY!" The Dog snatched John's backpack and took it in his mouth. "Get him!"

The group ran around the room trying to catch him. The Dog was very agile, dashing out of reach at the last second.

"I got him." Jerod said, running towards him.

"Me to!" Caleb said running towards them to.

The Annoying Dog simply jumped out of the way as the two of them bumped heads. They clutched their heads as the Dog smiled triumphantly. Then he felt someone grab him.

"Gotcha!" Frisk cheered. The Dog's eyes widened in surprise. "Now drop the bag." The Dog whined as he let it go.

"Well I hope you're proud of yourself." Caleb playfully scolded.

The Dog nuzzled Frisk's face, a way of congratulating him, and hopped off of him. Frisk grimaced when he felt a bunch of the Dog's fur get stuck on him. The Dog barked as he dashed away. It jumped into the wall and passed right through it. The group sweatdropped at the wall that the Dog went through.

"That is the weirdest dog I ever met." Jerod commented. The group murmured in agreement.

"Here you go John." Frisk handed him back the backpack.

"Nah, you can hold onto it. It was pretty tiring lugging that thing along all day." Frisk smiled and strapped it on, looking very proud.

"I wonder what that Artifact was?" John asked.

"I don't know, some sort of precious jewel perhaps." Iris theorized. "Well, it doesn't matter anymore. That thing is gone now."

The group wandered along, not noticing the gift the Annoying Dog left in Frisk's backpack.

"Yo! What's up guys!" Mk shouted. The area was wet with the rain so he hid in a little dry cave. The group grabbed an umbrella from the room prior to this one and didn't have to worry about the rain. Each of their umbrellas were color coded to their respective Souls.

"MK? What are you doing in there?" Jerod asked.

"Well, it got kind of wet and I can't really grab an umbrella." He said gesturing to his sides where his arms would be.

"Oh... Want to share with me?" Frisk proposed.

"Sure thanks!" Mk got under his umbrella and stood next to Frisk. "Let's go!"

The group silently wandered along, the rain being the only sound besides their footsteps. Then Delilah tried to break the ice.

"I'm singing in the rai-"

"No." Jerod growled. "Enough singing, this isn't a musical."

"You have no Soul." Delilah pouted, kicking some water on him.

"Yeah I do." Jerod said. He was about to pull out his Soul but remembered that MK was there.

"Yo, isn't Undyne the coolest? She beats up bad guys and never loses."

"I guess, never really met her." Jerod said. "I take it she's your role model?"

"What? She's everyone's role model. So many people look up to her. If I was a human, I would wet the bed every night, knowing that she was going to beat me up." MK laughed.

"Yeah that is a scary thought, and a good justification for still wetting the bed at this age. HAHAHAHA!" Frisk did a forced laugh. The group gave him a questionable look. His face turned red as he buried himself with his sweater.

"Yo, wanna see my magic?" Mk asked.

"You got a magic attack?" Iris questioned.

"Of course, everyone is born with their magic attack. Didn't you learn that in school?"

"U-u-Uh..." Iris flushed, someone was questioning her intelligence.

"She forgot." Delilah said. Iris mouthed thank you to her.

"Yeah, so what's your power?"

"Well... First can one of you do a projectile attack?"

"I can." Caleb said. He aimed his gun at a wall and unleashed his bullets at them."

"Cool, hold on." Mk hummed to himself as he convulsed for a millisecond. The spikes that run down the back of his head to his tail started glowing. "Now try again."

Caleb tipped his hat as he fired again. This time they shot much faster and left a bigger dent in the stone wall.

His eyes brightened "You can make my attacks more powerful?"

"Yep and faster. It only works in a small area around me. It's not much but it's my only power."

"That's pretty cool kid." Jerod praised. "I think a power like that might come in handy to someone. So don't sell yourself short." He patted Mk's head, watching the spikes.

Mk gave a toothy grin. "Thanks dude!"

They continued down the path until they reached a clearing in the tunnel. In the distance they saw a gleaming castle overlooking a huge city.

"Is that...

"...the king's castle." Mk finished for them. "I never been there before but I did meet the king once in school, we had to call him Mr. Dreemurr."

The group felt a tug in their heart, in the distance was their way home. Home never felt more close yet so far.

"What's he like?" John asked.

"Huh?"

"The king."

"Oh, he's pretty nice. He came in and taught the class about responsibility and stuff... Yo, that got me thinking. How cool would it be if Undyne came to school?!"

"I get the feeling she would beat up all the teachers." Jerod said.

"What, no! She's too cool to beat up an innocent person." The group suddenly bursted into laughter. Mk was confused but joined as well. "I guess its pretty funny."

"You know whats even funnier? What if we happen to be human children?" John quipped. "What would she do then?"

"Oh, she would... I have no idea."

"THAT'S WHAT MAKES IT FUNNY!"

The group calmed down and continued on. They walked until they reached a ledge on the path.

"Now what do we do?" Caleb thought.

"I got this." John lifted everyone up with his powers and moved them to the top of the ledge. Jerod reached down and hoisted John up.

"Yo, I'll race you to the end of the path!" Mk shouted as he ran off.

"Mk, where are you going? Come back!" Jerod shouted but he didn't hear him. Jerod sighed and continued on.

"Great now where are we supposed to go?" They reached a bridge with winding pathways. Suddenly patches of the ground turned blue and spears struck upwards. The group jumped back. They looked to the distance and saw none other than Undyne on the opposite bridge.

"RUN!" Delilah shouted running ahead of them. The group stuck together as they ran around each spear that comes out of the ground. There was a short delay with the blue patches giving the kids time to dodge. They came across a couple dead ends where they had no choice but to back track. They got a couple of scrapes from the spears because they were so crowded together. They reached a straight section of the bridge and ran down that way. The spears slowly subsided.

"Did we lose her?" John panted.

"I think so." The group slowed down but continued down the path. They stopped when they came across a dead end. They can see some water at the bottom but there's no telling how deep it is.

"Damn it, we have to go back." John mumbled. They turned around but froze. Just several feet away was Undyne. Everyone's blood ran cold but they kept a defensive stance. Through her helmet they heard her speak

"Seven. Seven human souls is what's needed before our king, King Asgore Dreemurr becomes a god."

'What?" The group thought but they kept their gaze on her.

"With that power he will destroy the barrier and take back the surface world from humanity, giving back the pain and torture they have given us. Now I see seven humans in front of me. Do you understand humans?"

"That you see the error of your ways and want to let us go?" John asked.

"No... that this is your only chance at redemption for us. Give me your Souls, or I will tear it from your body."

"No." They all said in unison.

"Fine." Undyne threw out her hand and a spear materialized. "Have it your way." She began marching towards them.

"YO, hi Undyne!" Everyone paused and looked behind Undyne seeing MK running up to them. "I'm like so excited to finally meet you. Me and my friends..." He noticed the group. "Hi guys, I'm waving at you. I got a little lost with those bridges back there. But we did it, we finally get to see Undyne fight."

"MK. Please get out of here." Jerod pleaded. He didn't want him to see the several results of whats about to happen.

Mk looked confused as he glanced at Undyne and back at the group. "Wait, who is she fighting?"

"Us. Mk... we're humans."

"WHAT!"

Undyne pulled MK aside and started talking to him. "Listen, kid..."

John saw an opening for an escape and swung his hands forward. A row of conjured knives came down and sliced through the bridge. Undyne realized what was happening and tried to lunge for them, but was too late. The bridge gave way and they started falling down into the abyss. The last thing Jerod saw was the look of disbelief on Mk's face.

Chapter Text

You groaned as you fell onto the ground. You don't know how far you fell but far enough that you are surprised to be alive.

"Uhh, errrr. Ow." You groan out loud. You open you eyes. You see golden flowers in your face.

"Am I in heaven?" You thought to yourself. 'No, I would never be let in there.' You can guess that your still alive. You look up and see the light from the sky high above the pit you fell in. You try to get on your feet.

"AHHH" You cry out in pain. You look and notice that a large rock fell on your right leg. You are pretty sure it's not supposed to bend that way. You clutch you head and recoiled when you felt a strange wetness on your hand. Pulling your hand back you see it red with blood.

You don't know what to do. No one knows you are here, even if they did nobody would ever bother looking for you. You can't move and you are losing blood... speaking of which you are starting to feel a little dizzy... maybe take a little nap...

NO! No, I won't die here, I refuse to. You pull out your knife you took with you, in case any creeps try to take you. You consider chopping your leg off but that might lead to certain complications if you expect to get out of this alive. You stick it in the ground under the rock, safely away from your leg, and try to wedge it out. It was no good, you don't have the proper leverage and strength to do it, not at the angle your in. That wouldn't be a problem if this GODDAMN ROCK WASN'T STUCK IN YOUR BLOODY LEG!

You scream out in frustration. You always felt emotionally and mentally helpless, now you are physically helpless making it a full triforce of helpless, god you love that game. Tears stream down your eyes as you sob silently.

"SOMEBODY HELP ME!" You cry out.

'But nobody came' You think to yourself. 'nobody ever comes.' You chuckle darkly. What did you expect, the magical prince of goats would come to rescue yo-

"That sounds like it came from over here." Said a nearby voice. "Oh you've fallen down haven't you?" You look and are face to face with an anthropomorphic goat child wearing a striped sweater."

'What the f-'

"AHHHHH!" You scream as you grab your knife and aim it threateningly at him. "Back you demon, back! Don't make me stab you."

"Uh a-"

"No, don't try to trick me with your evil words." The goat smiled sheepishly and walked forwards. "I'm warning you." He didn't seem to listen. "Alright that's it. RAAAH!" You slash at him across his midsection. Strangely enough you felt no resistance in your blade. You open your eyes and sweatdropped. You misplaced your knife and instead attacked him with a flower ripped from the ground. Your face flushed with embarrassment. You cover your face with your hands. Suddenly your felt the weight of the rock get lifted up. You look and see the goat had taken the liberty of moving the rock off of you.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

You try to get up, not sure if it was to A) Tackle the goat B) Run away screaming C) Trust this thing. You chose D) I don't know, give me a good grade or I'll stab you. You groan as you clutched your leg.

"Here I'll help you." He said as he hoisted you up and you leaned your right side on him. "Let me take you home, my mom can heal you up properly.

"...thank you."

The goat gave a grin that you hated to admit was rather adorable. "What's your name?"

"Laura Croft"

"... Your lying. That sounds like a girls name"

Damn it, well at least he didn't assume I was a girl.

"Alright, my real name is Chara."

"Chara, huh? That's a nice name." He grinned. Kill this adorable demon! "My name is-"

The group groaned as they untangled themselves from the pile of bodies that is them. A patch of golden flowers seemed to have once again broken their fall.

"Did we fall into a Undererground?" Caleb asked.

"I don't think so bro." Diego said.

"It looks like some sort of garbage dump." Iris stated.

"Ugh, my back!" John groaned as he rubbed his behind. "It hurts!"

"Serves you right!" Delilah angrily smacked her brother on the back of her head. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"Language." John muttered.

"Don't tell me to watch my language when you just tried to kill all of us!" Delilah shouted. John flinched and backed away a bit.

"Delilah is right, that was really reckless." Iris scolded. "We had no idea what we would've landed on."

"I-I thought that we would've been fine. Better than fighting Undyne."

"We could have taken her!" Jerod said upset. John face was downcast and he was clutching his hair.

"You didn't have to be a coward and chicken out." Caleb said.

Frisk shook his head in disdain.

Diego frown disappointing at John as well. "I'm sorry John but that's not fair to put our lives at risk just because you were scared."

John looked up at them and the group halted their complaints. His face was red with anger. "After all we've been through, I thought you would have a little more faith in me. In me, your friend! Sure, I didn't know if we would've survived but that hardly matters. After all Frisk could've easily reloaded if it went wrong. But I had a bad feeling, would Frisk be able to reset if his Soul got taken? I had no idea so I did what I knew might've happened." He glared at them. "What a joke. You never get this mad at Jerod when he stupidly goes off and walks headfirst into danger yet you put me in the spotlight when I do?! Where's the logic in that." He growled angrily and turned his back to them. "To think I would actually consider you guys my friends." He walked away.

"John..." Delilah said, reaching out to him. John tensed up and shoved her back. She fell onto the ground and got her clothes soaked.

"HEY!" Jerod said running up to them. John would never lay a hand on his sister, what's up with him?

John's eyes glowed cyan as his glared pierced into his Soul. "Don't" Jerod was surprised about how gravely his voice can be.

He leered at Chara. "You were right Chara. Humanity does suck." He left them there. The group just stood there saying nothing for a couple of minutes.

"Geez, he said that he acts a little weird when he's off his meds but not that bad. And I thought my scary face was creepy."

"Where does he go, thinking that we don't care!" Jerod growled.

"Well he's wrong to think that." Diego said. "We do care."

"Me to." Caleb said. The others agreed as well.

"He's our friend whether he likes it or not."

"It's not that." Delilah said. "He just doesn't like being called out by everyone. Yeah it's kinda petty but it really is a big deal to him. He probably realized by now he was wrong to be hostile at us."

"He does deserve some credit. It's not like we were doing anything back on the bridge. I think we owe him an apology." Iris said.

"Your right." Jerod said. He didn't mean to bring his best friend down so much. But why did he feel like there was more to it?

Suddenly an explosion echoed through the area. The water below them rippled as the place rumbled slightly.

"John." Delilah's eyes widened. They trudged faster through the water and piles of garbage that littered the area. The finally reached where John was. He was currently in a battle with a floating dummy. The dummy had the most angriest face they ever seen on an inanimate object. John was covered in cotton as he panted heavily, his body looked bruised and he looked like he was about to collapse.

"Foolish. Foolish! FOOLISH! Even if you attack my vessel, you'll NEVER hurt me! I'm still incorporeal, you DUMMY!"

"I know. I'm just venting some of my frustration on you." John retorted.

"Really? Is that what your friends did to my cousin back in the ruins? Took their anger out on his body? Well. Well! WELL! Let's see how you feel when I take you and your friends Souls.

"They aren't my friends. I don't need friends." He threw his hand out as he unleashed a flurry of knives at him. "I got... pant... knives..." He wheezed as he tried to fire again. But nothing came out, just a sputter of cyan. "I'm... out of knives." He paled.

"Good then hold still. DUMMY BOTS! MAGIC MISSILE!" The Mad Dummy roared as he summoned an army of little robots shaped like him. They all locked on to him and fired missiles at him. John flinched as he prepared for certain death.

"John!" The group screamed as they ran in front of him. They didn't have time to react as all the missiles hit them. John stared dumbfounded at the scene. The group struggled to stand as their back was turned from him.

"What. What! WHAT! That attack was meant for him!" The dummy fumed. "Why did you have to ruin this moment for me?!"

"Because..." Frisk panted. "We don't abandon our friend." John eyes went misty at the proclamation.

Iris winced and clutched her side. "You know, in hindsight, Diego could've put up a shield, Delilah could've teleported him out of there, or we all could've countered with our own attacks." She glanced back at John and gave a small smile. "But I guess we all make dumb mistakes." John smiled back.

"I'm sorry guys."

"We're sorry too." Jerod said.

"HEY GUYS! QUIT IGNORING ME!" The Mad Dummy fumed. "That Flower was right, you are all just insufferable. But no matter... I still have the upper hand! All of your healths are low and I can't be destroyed!" The Dummy cackled. "You will all pay for destroying my cousins body!"

"Who are you talking about?" Caleb asked.

"YOU DON'T EVEN REALIZE WHAT YOU DID!? MY COUSIN FROM THE RUINS, THE DUMMY YOU DESTROYED! Us ghosts spend our whole lives looking for a proper vessel. Slowly, slowly, we grow closer to our new bodies... Until one day, we too may become corporeal beings. Beings able to laugh, love, and dance like any other... But YOU! My cousin's future...! You took it all away! What do you have to say for yourselves?"

"...Oops."

"Oops. Oops! OOPS! You know what, I hope you aren't too attached to your bodies. Because you are dying RIGHT NOW!" The Dummy cackled manically. "AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH...OW, What the..." Small white droplets of water fell from up above and landed on him. "Huh? What the heck is this!? Ergh! Acid rain!?"

A familiar looking ghost suddenly faded in. " ... sorry, I interrupted you, didn't I?" Napstablook asked. "oh no... you guys looked like you were having fun... oh no... I just wanted to say hi..."

"Grrr IS EVERYONE GOING TO INTERRUPT ME?! I just CAN'T catch a break! I've NEVER been more mad! Guooooohhhh! My mannequin levels are going OFF THE CHARTS!" The Mad Dummy's body got more and more red as he shook in place. Suddenly he halted as something seemed different about him. "...? This... This feeling...? Eureka. Eureka! EUREKA! Humans. That moment of unbridled emotion. It allowed me to finally fuse with my body! How's that sound? I'm fully corporeal now! My lifelong dream, realized! In return, I guess I won't stomp you all. How does that sound?"

"Gr-great. Please go away." John said.

"Okay! I can't wait to show everyone this!" The dummy floated away. Napstablook was the only one there with the group now.

"Thank you Napstablook." John said, happy to see the ghost again.

"oh hi... oh no, I forgot your name."

"I never told it, my name is John."

"hi John, was just passing by and notice you were having fun."

"Um... sure, fun."

There was an awkward silence as Napstablook glanced to the side.

"well... i'm going to head home now."

"Can we come?" Diego asked.

"um... sure. feel free to come with if you want... or not. No pressure. I'll be in the next room." He hovered away.

John turned to the others. "Guys I..."

Jerod bumped John on the head. "That's for thinking we're not your friends. Get it through your thick skull or I'll knock it in myself!"

John was flabbergasted by Jerod's approach but nodded. Then he was pulled into a bone crushing hug. He saw Delilah walk up to him. She gave him a look that he knew what it meant.

"I'm sorry I pushed you." John said dryly. Delilah accepted the awful apology.

"And?"

He looked to his 'friends'. "I'm sorry I thought you guys aren't my friends. You are."

"Look whose matured into a big boy." Jerod teased as he lifted John into his arms bridal style. John yelped and flailed in his arms.

"What the hell Jerod, put me down!" he yelled, face red in embarrassment.

"Nope, I'm carrying you to Napstablook's house." Jerod said.

"I am not a baby!"

"Well you acting like a whining little child earlier so I'm treating you like one for the remainder of the day."

John huffed and settled into his arms, trying to hide the smile on his face. They came across Napstablook outside the garbage dump who was staring questionably at John and Jerod.

"I... hurt my leg."

"...oh no."

Chapter Text

"...welcome to my house" Napstablook said. "It's not much but make yourself at home."

The group looked around. It was a pretty small house, just one room with a computer, fridge, and tv.

"If you want you can spend the night here... no pressure or anything. I heard about Undyne looking for you all and I assumed that you needed a safe place to sleep and..."

"Napstablook." Diego grinned. "It's alright. Thank you for giving us a place to stay."

"Hey is there anything to eat?" John asked, stomach rumbling.

Napstablook went to his fridge and rummaged through it.

"How is he doing that if he doesn't have arms?" Iris asked herself.

"Um... all I got is this ghost sandwich." He handed him a generic looking sandwich that was transparent.

"Uh, thanks?" John said as he reached for the sandwich. It phased right through his hand and plopped to the ground.

"oooh... maybe your friend over there can help himself to it."

Chara perked up. "Oh, so you can see me?" he asked.

"yeah, I have ghost eyes. As long as I remain a ghost I can see all ghosts... sorry if it took to long to tell you..."

"It's alright." Chara said as he grabbed the sandwich and ate it. "Yum."

Caleb and Frisk checked the computer, it was opened to music sharing forum. "Dude you mix music? That's awesome." The red Soul kid asked.

"Yeah it's just a hobby of mine."

"Can I listen to some of your's?" He begged.

"Um here's one, it's called Spookwave." The ghost pressed play and a strange haunting noise came from the computer. It was weird but somewhat catchy.

"Hmm, it's alright." John said. He heard some noises outside, he peeked through the curtain and saw Whoshua and Aaron trembling in fear just outside.

"... what the HECK is that music?" Woshua asked

" I-I DUNNO DUDE, BUT IT'S SPOOKIN ME OUT ; )" Aaron whimpered yet giving a flirty blink with the end of his sentence. John arched an eyebrow, they were scared of the music? It's not that scary.

" ... this is worse than Shyren."

"No way, Shyren is way less scary ; )"

" ... if you're so scared, why do you keep winking?"

"THESE ARE WINKS OF FEAR ; )"

"Forget it. This beat is too... ... filthy." Woshua scampered away from the area, leaving Aaron behind.

"Wosh! Wait! Don't leave me ; )" Aaron chased after Woshua. "Is this creepy music my punishment for being creepy? ; ) Please... stop... I'll never creep again! ; )" He cried.

"Weirdos" John muttered closing the curtains. He suddenly remembered that on their way to Napstablook's house he saw another house next door that was a pink carbon-copy of Napstablook's.

"Hey, who lives in that house next door?"

Napstablook glanced to the side, to the TV that Frisk and Delilah were inspecting. "...my cousin."

Iris took a guess based on his 'body' language. "Is he some sort of TV star?"

Napstablook flinched. "... yeah... he doesn't live there anymore. I kept his key so I can keep the place clean." He gestured to the transparent key on a key hook against the wall.

"Can't you just phase through it?"

"yeah but that's kind of rude... to phase into other people's homes without their permission."

"What's his name?" Caleb asked.

" Met- uh... Happstablook." He said. They could tell that he didn't want to talk any more so they dropped it.

"Um hey do you want to lay on the ground and feel like garbage with me? ...It's a family tradition." Napstablook asked.

"Huh?" The group was perplexed at such a strange offer.

"Sure." John said. "What do I gotta do?"

"Oh... just follow my lead." Napstablook laid down on the ground. Shrugging John laid down next to him. He gestured for the rest of the group to come over. They all laid down in a circle facing the ceiling.

"Isn't this nice?" John asked.

"I guess... When do we actually do?" Jerod was confused

"you just lay here... And just feel like garbage. Feel free to get up whenever you want." Napstablook said insecurely.

"No, I'm not hating this!" Jerod reassured.

"Yeah this feels kinda relaxing." Delilah said.

Iris tilted her head over at John and saw his eyes were closed and he was breathing softly. "Is he sleeping?"

"SSSSSSSNNNNNOOOOORRRRRRREEEEE!" Everyone jumped a bit from how loud John snored.

"Geez, he wasn't kidding when he said he snores loudly when he isn't in a bed." Caleb snickered. Luckily his snoring calmed down so they were able to doze off. They all said goodnight to each other and fell into a peaceful sleep...

Except for Chara and Napstablook since ghosts can't sleep.

When Iris opened her eyes she felt strange. Her body felt light... like she was underwater. But she didn't feel wet.

Iris sat up and looked around. She was still in Napstablook's house and her friends were asleep on the ground with her.

...What?

She did a double check. She saw what looked like her lying on the ground with her eyes closed. But how, is she...

"Chara?" Iris turned to the ghost child who was just floating over them, since he can't sleep. Chara did not respond to her. Neither did Napstablook.

'Okay so being dead is probably out of the question. Maybe this is a dream, but what kind of lucid dream is...'

"IIIIIIris."

Iris turned to the front door and her eyes widened at the skeletal hand floating over the door frame.

"...Gaster?" She gasped.

The hand silently did a 'come here' gesture and floated away. Iris quickly followed it outside. She flew away from the house towards a river that she had no problem going over it. She started recognizing the place, it was the glowing marshes they saw earlier. She must've taken a huge shortcut back here. They passed by the marshes until they reach a corridor where the hand suddenly stopped against the wall. The hand suddenly did several gestures with it's hand. Iris recognized it as sign language. It said 'Room 269'. Suddenly the hand disappeared as the space around the wall distorted. Then a grey door appeared against the wall. Iris tilted her head.

'Didn't Sans say that Gaster had a lab in Waterfall that vanished?' Iris thought. She opened the door and walked in. There was nothing there but Gaster in an empty grey room. She was extremely disappointing, this is the farthest thing from a laboratory.

Gaster smiled at her. "We-elcome back Iris." He gave a small bow. "Forgive me i-if our last encounter was cut short. I can assure you that this one will last much longer than previously."

"Gaster, I have so much to ask!" Iris exclaimed. "I know about what happened to you, and you being Sans and Papyrus's father."

Gaster gave a pained smile. "Ahh, my sons. It's been so long since I've seen them. Tell me, how is Sans doing?"

"He's alright I guess, so is Papyrus." Iris confessed. "but Sans believes that you are dead. Speaking of which, what happened to you exactly? Why does everyone not remember you like you never existed?"

"Ahh, a good question. You see while the kingdom was waiting for a human to fall down and have their Soul being taken, I had no such desire to wait. I have no desire to destroy humanity, I just see that as a waste of a millennia of human knowledge.  I eventually discovered the key to time travel and temporal displacement. I called it the... Oh dear, I seemed to have forgot if it was called the quantum or the spacial distorter. Let me just call it the Distorter for now. Anyway, the Distorter had the ability to transport matter to a specific point in space and time."

"Wait, did you just say time?"

"Yes, time. The machine doubled as a time machine but it won't work, or shouldn't work, for the same goals you would have in mind. For example, I could have used the machine to travel back to before the War even started and prevent it from happening. I could attempt that but it would be futile in the end."

"Paradox?"

"Paradox."

"Of course, so what did you plan to do with it? Open a portal to the surface and surprise attack the humans?"

Gaster grimaced. "As bad as things are between our races, know that I hold no ill will against the humans for what your ancestors have done to us. With that in mind, I am still a loyal subject to the king, so if he declares war against the humans, I must follow. What worries me most about it is the loss of all human culture and knowledge accumulated over the millennia. So I at lease convinced Asgore to let the Distorter first be used as scouting mission. Basically a single individual would go to the surface and document all they can learn about the humans. Whether that was a good plan or not is irrelevant at this point. Me and my team were working day and night on the machine, getting it to work. And then, one day I finally reached a breakthrough. I was so overjoyed, in my excitement I decided to test it out and see if I could open a portal to go to the surface. I was such a fool. The barrier did more than just blocked everything from physically leaving. It also locked out any attempt to escape by means of teleportation. How the machine reacted... it was chaos. It malfunctioned and created a black hole right in the middle of my lab, and it wouldn't stop expanding. I realized that if I didn't do something I would've consumed the entire Underground. I did what I could to decrease the mass of it before it collapses on itself. By the time the other scientists arrived I limited the blast radius to just a couple of feet outside my lab. Then everything went pure black... We ended up here in the Void, my makeshift pocket dimension within the boundaries of the Barrier. See, I'm still in the Underground, but on a different plane of existence. As a result, all proof of my existence was also taken with me here. Sans is probably the only one's that remembers because he was close to the blast." He sighed.

"Wait, so the other scientists came with you here as well?" She looked around. "Well where are they?"

Gaster looked away miserably. "They, are no longer with us."

"You mean..."

"Dusted. This place is truly uninhabitable. No form of life can survive here. I had to watch over unknown time as all of my comrades withered away in front of me."

"Whoa." Iris said surprised. That must've been really hard on him.

"It's my fault. If I wasn't a fool and realized that escape via the Distorter was impossible then my comrades would've been spared this fate."

"You couldn't have know this would." Iris said. "The path to discovery will bring many hardships and dangers. As scientist's they knew the risks of coming for you. Don't live in the past with your mistakes, learn from it, take notes and you will achieve victory."

Gaster smiled at her. "Your a very interesting person, Iris."

She blushed a bit. "I'm just a regular human."

Gaster scoffed at the humility. "Exactly! Ever since our last encounter I have been pondering nonstop of how, out of all of the residents in the Underground, and out of the other six humans you are traveling with, you are the only one that can communicate with me. What is it?"

Iris just looked at him, not sure what to say. Gaster regained his composure. "Perhaps there is more to human Souls than what I learned. Either way, I am extremely grateful to meet you. But I am curious, why did you bother learning more about me? Why did you try to learn about something that doesn't exist?"

Iris pursed her lips and straightened her glasses. "Because you do exist, it's just that everyone thinks you don't. Sans is the only one that remembers but he gave up trying to find you. I am the only one who actually found you."

Gaster chuckled. "I guess you can say you were flabber-gastered?"

Iris scrunched her nose, he really was San's dad. "Sans may think it's impossible but  I believe there might be a way to bring you back."

"And what might that be?" Gaster asked with a cynical grin.

"The Distorter."

Gaster's face fell. "What? I-IT's still there?!" Iris nodded. Gaster jumped in joy. "Eureka, I thought it was gone this whole time. Why I... if the machine could open a portal to bring me here then... Y-YES I THINK I-I-IT JUST MIGHT WORK!"

"Um, Gaster a-"

"AT LAST, I THOUGHT I WAS D-DOOMED TO S-S-ST-T-TAY HERE FOR ET-T-TERNITY. T-THIS EXP-PERIMENT MIGHT PROVE, VE-R-RY I-INTERESTING! W-W-A-"

Suddenly Gaster collapsed as he started glitching out. Iris ran to his side. "Gaster! Are you okay?" She reached a hand out to him.

"N-No D-Don't!" Suddenly behind Gaster, a giant skull loomed over them. It was shaped somewhat like a dragon and it's eye sockets glared right at Iris. Iris froze in terror at the intimidating thing. It opened it's mouth as energy started building up inside it's maw. "Mo-o-ve damn it!" Suddenly, Iris was pulled back as the skull unleashed a blast of energy where she was.

"I-I c-can't be-l-live I forgot-t-t-t."

"Gaster, what is happening?"

Gaster took a deep breath as the glitches disappeared and the giant skull. "Listen closely, our time is running short. If you stay here any longer your life will be at risk."

"I don't understand."

"That giant skull was called a Gaster Blaster, please stay mature about the silly name. It's one of my powers, I didn't mean to use that on you but I'm losing myself. Those other scientists suffered the same thing. They started glitching out and lashing out at everything around them until they collapsed under their own insanity and turned to dust. I estimate that in about a week or two, I will turn to dust as well."

"Then we got to get the machine working again." Iris insisted.

"No, it won't work just like that. The machine wasn't purposely trying to find this place. I have to figure out the right coordinates for this dimension. That might take a couple of days." He desperately looked at Iris. "Please, give me time to figure it all out!"

"Alright, what can I do to help?" Iris asked.

"Please do not have your Soul taken. When I find the coordinates I need to relay it to you so you can operate the mac-chine." Gaster glitched for a second but quickly calmed himself. "One more thing, do not tell Sans about me, not yet. If this fails I don't want to give him hope just to have it taken away again. Please promise me!"

Iris stared into Gaster's eye sockets. "I promise you Gaster, you will come back and you will see your children again."

If Gaster had actual eyeballs then he would be misty-eyed. "Good now wake up." He said as his hand extended a finger and poked Iris's forehead.

"Iris wake up." John said shaking her.

"Gahhh!" Iris sprung up and instinctively slammed her notebook into John's face. John cried out as he fell on his back.

"Jesus, why am I the one getting injured the most." John complained as he rubbed his nose.

"S-sorry John." Iris said softly.

"Are you alright Iris? You look like you didn't have a good sleep?" Diego asked.

"N-no I'm fine. Just excited from the sudden wake up." She reassured everyone. The rest of the group was up and going through their stuff. "Is it morning already?"

"Yeah, and we better get moving soon, cause apparently, Nappstablook neglected to tell us that Undyne's house is right next door!" Jerod glared at the ghost who was shying into the corner. John glared back at Jerod and he relaxed. "So we need to get going before she catches us here."

"Alright." Iris put on her glasses and her backpack. She noticed Chara doing something in the other corner by the key rack with his back turned. "What are you doing?"

Chara yelped and turned towards them with an innocent expression. "Noooothing"

"Are you trying to take another ghost sandwich with you?" Napstablook asked. "It's okay... you can have it." Chara thanked him and flew towards the others.

"C'mon guys, lets go!" Jerod called. He was already waiting outside.

"Bye Nappstablook, thanks for letting us stay here the night." Frisk said.

"Yeah, it was pretty cool of you." Caleb said.

Napstablook blushed and faded a bit. "Oooh, it was nothing. Be careful out there... I don't want my new friends to end up as ghosts as well."

John gave a thumbs up. "Thanks man."

The rest of the group wave goodbye as they left the house. Everyone felt rejuvenated, except for Iris. She was still thinking about Gaster. That poor monster doesn't have much time. She can't ask the group to stay here to wait for Gaster, they wouldn't take the risk. Hopefully something will come up making them stay here longer.

'Gaster, keep persevering. I will save you.'

Chapter Text

Just after the group left Napstablook's house, they headed west and came across a shop along the road.

"Lets see if we can get some supplies." Diego suggested.

"Or food." John said, stomach rumbling.

"You know I still have Toriel's pie." Diego said. He bit back those words. None of them want to eat the pie, it was too intimidating to eat. Only something just as intimidating as Toriel would make them want to eat it.

They stepped inside and came across a old looking tortoise monster running the place.

"Whoa there! I've got some neat junk for sale." The Tortoise said in a wheezy voice. "See anything you like?"

"Well take a look around." Delilah said. The monster nodded. He noticed Iris was staring at him curiously.

"Kid, you look like you want to ask me something."

"No offense but your quite old." Iris said. "I'm guessing you know a lot of things."

"Really? I haven't noticed. I still look as dashing as I was when I was a hero."

"You were a hero?" Caleb asked.

"Yep, I was known as Gerson, the Hammer of Justice. But that was way back before the war. Now Undyne is the local hero."

"Wait, war?" John was surprised. "You don't mean..."

"Yep the Human-Monster war. I fought in the war."

"That makes you millions of years old!" Caleb exclaimed. Diego bonked him with his pan.

"The war wasn't millions of years ago, just several thousand." Iris said. Caleb's ears turned red in embarrassment.

Gerson eyed them. "Hey, you know Undyne came through here earlier asking about people who looked like all of you..."

"We aren't humans, if that's what your thinking.

"I'd watch your back, kids. And buy some items... It might just save your hide! Wa ha ha!"

"I'll have seven of this." Delilah said. She showed them little cans of something called 'Sea Tea'.

"Ugh I hate tea." John muttered.

"You have no taste." Chara growled as Delilah payed for the drinks.

"Do you know anything about that emblem?" Iris pointed to the wall, it was the same emblem that they've been seeing all over the Underground.

"Eh? You don't know what that is? What are they teaching you kids in school nowadays...?"

"Oh we know what it is. We were just wondering if you did." John said.

Gerson narrowed his eyes at John. Then he laughed. "Wa ha ha! Alright, I'll play along. That's the Delta Rune, the emblem of our kingdom. The Kingdom of Monsters. Wahaha! Great name, huh? It's as I always say... Ol' King Fluffybuns can't name for beans!"

Jerod snorted. "King Fluffybuns?"

"It's a long story. I don't really remember it right now."

"So what's the meaning of the Delta Rune." Iris asked. She observed the emblem it was a orb between two wings and three triangles beneath it. As far as she knows, no emblem on the surface looks like this.

"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 wings above symbolizes... Somethin' else. Most people say it's the 'angel,' from the prophecy-"

"Prophecy? What prophecy?" Frisk asked. Suddenly, Gerson whacked him on the head with his cane.

"Hush child, I'm getting to that! Now where was I... Oh yeah, the prophecy. Legend has it, an 'angel' who has seen the surface will descend from above and bring us freedom.

"An angel?" Diego asked.

"Well I don't think they meant it literally. I reckon it's just a fancy way of describing someone. Anyway, the people have been taking a bleaker outlook lately, Callin' there wings the 'Angel of Death.' A harbinger of destruction, waitin' to 'free' us from this mortal realm..."

"So what about that circle between the wings? You didn't mention it." Frisk said. The circle looked kinda familiar.

"Well in my opinion, whenever I see that little circle... I jus' think it looks neat! Wahaha!"

"So you don't know what it means?"

Gerson stroked his pointed beard. "Well, not exactly. But I do have somethin." Gerson dived under his stand and rummaged through his stuff. "Take a look at this." He lifted up a box full of stone slabs, with strange symbols on it.

"What is that?" Iris asked. The symbols remind her of Egyptian hieroglyphics but it also had traces of Latin letters.

"It's the ancient language of monsters. The language died off long ago but I still remember what it says." He tapped his noggin. "I have no idea where these came from, they were found out of nowhere long ago, back when we were just imprisoned down here. It tells of something else. It's not a prophecy but it tells... somethin."

Gerson put his magnifying glass to his eye as he inspected the slabs.

"Seven humans, masters of the mystic arts,

Souls of the purest virtues of man,

Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justice, and Determination,

A conduit to connect them together,

United together to make the great barrier,

Anything can enter through the seal, but it takes strong Soul power to pass through it,

One day the Fallen will rise,

The Angel will come,

And the Underground will go empty."

The group just stared at Gerson after he told his little history lesson. They felt butterflies in their stomach.

"Wahaha! You kids look like that all the time in school?" He laughed.

"Thank you for the drinks, and the lecture. We're going now." Delilah said, pulling John and Iris along.

"Be careful out there, kids!" Gerson waved. When they left his smile fell as he rubbed his head. "I really hope those kids don't think they've got me fooled. I may have only one good eye but I can clearly tell they are humans. Maybe they will actually caught onto my hints and realize I figured them out."

"I don't think Gerson figure us out." Jerod said, relived. They didn't stop walking until they reach a dark maze with semi-luminescent crystals.

"Who cares about that! Did you listen to what Gerson told us?!" Iris held out her Soul. Curious, the group did the same with theirs. "Patience, Bravery, Integrity, Perseverance, Kindness, Justice, Determination?! And Seven humans made the barrier!"

"This can't be a coincidence." Chara said. "It would make more sense if individual humans fell down here at different points in time. But not seven at once, with the exact same traits as the mages."

"What if..." John pondered. The group turned to him and listened to his theory. "What if, this isn't real life. What if this is all just a fan-made story, a fanfiction, and we are the main characters."

"I'm sorry what?!"

The whole group turned to the source of the voice and saw a really miffed Flowey come out of the ground.

"What the heck are you going on about! This isn't some story concocted by a some loser. This is all a game, and I'm the player. You are not the main characters, your only playthings in my game of endless killing!"

"What do you mean endless killing?" Caleb asked, completely forgetting what they were talking about earlier.

Flowey paused. "... dangit, I wasn't supposed to let that slip. If only I can take that back like I used to before." He grumbled.

John narrowed his eyes. "You are able to reload." He deduced. The whole group gasped.

Flowey gave a evil toothy grin. "Aren't you a clever boy. How'd you figure that out?"

"I didn't, you did." Flowey's grin fell as he just realized he got duped.

"ERGHHHHH Alright fine!" He shouted. "You are right. That's how I was able to remember when you reloaded to save that old goat." Diego frowned at the bad memory. "But now I can't reload, because of you!" He pointed a vine at Frisk. "You had to fall down here and take that power away from me! Why? Why do you have to get in my way? Why do you have more determination than me? Why do you look like Chara?!"

Chara paled at the mention of his name. The group did as well.

"How do you know that name?!" Frisk asked.

Caleb pointed his gun at Flowey. "Talk, now!"

Flowey sneered. "Like I would tell you. Not gonna happen. Besides, you got other problems on your hands right now."

John arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You really should've kept your eye on four-eyes, monsters might sneak up on her."

Delilah's eyes widened as she turned her head behind the group. She gasped and put a hand to her mouth. There was a giant monster that looked as gelatinous as Moldsmal. But this thing was larger and looked more like a big bloodworm. The worst part was that there was a pair of legs handing loosely from it's big mouth, Iris's legs. She hung limp from it as it proceeded to pull her deeper into it's mouth.

"Golly, you might want to hurry up with that reload Frisk." Flowey snickered. Frisk glanced at Flowey and back at the creature. "Hurry before Moldbygg gets you guys next." Frisk relented and began to reload.

"Four down, three more to go." Flowey grinned as everything rewinded

Reload

"-el will come,

And the Underground will go empty." Gerson said. He faced the group who looked ghastly pale in terror. He didn't mean to scare them.

"Are you kids okay? You look like you've seen death." Gerson asked concerned.

"We're fine, we're going to go now." Delilah quickly said as she and the others quickly left the shop and went a little distance away from the dark maze.

"...Wow, that was quite an experience." Iris shuddered. They couldn't see the scared expression in her eyes through her glasses. "Suffocating to death."

"Try melting from acid."

"Or getting sliced open."

"Or getting skewered by a spear."

"Okay I get it!" Iris shouted.

"But in all seriousness... Are you okay?" Delilah asked.

"Y-yeah, I am now." She reassured everyone. "But I would prefer to not meet that thing again."

"Well it was a maze. Maybe we can find an alternate path through it?" Diego suggested.

The group nodded in agreement and decided to follow his plan. Being extra sure to avoid where Moldbygg was, the group wandered through the maze. It wasn't easy seeing in the almost absolute dark. They eventually found a tunnel with light at the end of it.

"I think that's the way out." Frisk told everyone. They walked through it.

Jerod sighed. "Finally I thought we would never... What. The. Hell?"

Play Temmie Village :3

The group halted and stared wide-eyed at the village full of strange cat-like monsters. They had black hair and were wearing blue shirts.

"Oh no, those are Temmies." Chara said.

"What, are they dangerous?" Delilah asked.

"No, I'm just severely allergic to cats."

"Same." Frisk said, being careful not to be so close to them.

One of the Temmies walked up to them. It stared at them with a derp expression. :3

"hOI! i'm tEMMIE! WeLcOm to teM villagE!" The group were put extremely off guard by the Temmie's strange dialect.

"Oh my god." Caleb whispered. "They are so... CUTE!" His eyes sparkled as he picked the Temmie up and nuzzled into her face.

"awwAwa cute!" Temmie pets Caleb back. It was then that the group noticed that Temmie's paw just stretched at a 90 degree angle upwards to Caleb's head.

"tEMS coMe aNd SEe THis hUmaN!"

Suddenly all of the Temmies turned their heads toward Caleb. What followed was what can only be described as a stampede. All of the little monsters crowded over Caleb, to the point where the group lost sight of him.

Diego, concerned for his brother's safety, called out to him.

"Caleb are you okay?"

They heard some muffled screaming from the pile of Temmie, it was drowned out by the constants HOI'S. They didn't know what was going on until Caleb's head stuck out of the pile. He had a frantic look in his eyes, but a big smile on his face.

"GUYS HELP ME!" He screamed.

"What's going on?" Diego asked.

"THEY'RE..."

"They're what?!"

"THEY'RE TICKLING ME!" He laughed.

"THa HumaN is SO Cute!"

"TeMmie WAnT to pEt eVErywHere!"

"HAHAHAHAHA, OH GOD! MAKE IT STOP!"

The group sweatdropped. And here they thought he was in real danger. They just watched as Caleb squeal and laugh as the many Temmies nuzzle their soft fur onto Caleb's sensitive exposed skin.

"HAHAHAH PLEASE, SOMEONE HELP ME!"

John turned to Jerod with a smirk. "Go on Jerod, get in there and be a hero." He nudged his side

Jerod glared at John with a blush on his face. "H-hell no!"

"HAHAHA I CAN'T BREATHE!"

"Are you just going to stand there and watch him suffer?" Frisk complained. He can't go and help him, he is too allergic.

"Hey what's that Temmie over there doing?" The group saw another Temmie standing outside of the pile currently torturing Caleb. Next to him was-

"Oh no, not you again." Jerod groaned seeing the Annoying Dog next to the Temmie. The Dog had some kind of cereal box on the ground in front of him. He simply tipped the box over and a bunch of colorful flakes spilled out.

"FOOB!" The Temmies immediately got off of Caleb and ran to eat the Flakes on the ground. The group walked over to Caleb. His face was red, gasping for air, his clothes were a mess, and his hat fell off.

"I thought *gasp* I wasn't gonna make it." He panted, picking up his hat.

"That Dog really likes you." Said a really deep masculine voice. The group stared at the Temmie next to them with a deep voice. "Hi, I'm Bob."

"Uhhh..." Iris stared at the Temmie with the even stranger voice.

"Hi Bob." Caleb said.

"You gotta be careful with the other Temmies, they are extremely affectionate."

"Well what about you?" Delilah asked. "Aren't you a Temmie as well?"

"Yeah, but I one of the few Temmies that got some self-control in them. That's why that Dog over there asked me for the Tem Flakes. Us Temmies can't stop eating them" Bob said.

Caleb petted the Dog's head. "Thank you for helping me out, you are a really good dog." He praised.

The Annoying Dog ran in a circle and barked happily at them. He then nudged his head towards a store entrance.

"I think he wan'ts to show you guys the Tem shop." Bob said. "FYI, the Temmie that runs the shop is surprisingly intelligent."

"Thanks Bob." John said. They went into the shop and were greeted by another Temmie. This Temmie looked different than the others, she had grey hair and wore a blue/yellow striped shirt.

"hOI! welcom to... da TEM SHOP!"

"Hello, I'm Caleb." Caleb said cheerfully.

"HoI caLeb i'M temie!" Temmie said. "WOuLD u LiKe tO SElL anytHing?"

"We can sell to you?" John asked.

"tem buy StUffs for...G! bUT TEMmiE Also haVe to Pay for colleg" Temmie frowned. She brought out a large box that jingled. "THAD doG already dogntE alOt OF MuNS buT TEMMie stiLL dOn't haVe eNGH!" She sniffed downcast.

"We can help you out, right guy?" Caleb asked the others

"Uhh, sure." Iris looked through her backpack, there wasn't a lot of gold there.

"I don't have a lot either." Diego said. "You got anything Frisk?"

"Uh let me see." Frisk looked through his backpack. He froze when he saw a bunch of white in the bag. "What the..." He turned the bag over and some sort of white substance spilled out.

"Is this yours?" Jerod demanded at the Dog. He smiled smugly at Jerod.

Temmie's eyes lit up. "WOA! u gota... Dog residues! hnnn... I gota have dat Dog residues..."

Caleb's eyebrows rose. "Will this... stuff, will it help pay for your College?"

"yayA! P! giVe id tO tEM!"

He looked to Frisk, who nodded back at him. "Alright, you can have all of it."

Temmie's arms outstretched all around the pile of Dog residue and scooped it all up. She took a deep breath and was about to say something. But she was interrupted when she suddenly sneezed.

'SHE IS SO ADORABLE!' Caleb screamed internally. The cat monster rubbed her nose and continued.

"tHanK u CALe! tem go to colleg and make u prouds!"

Everyone's smile dropped when they watched as Temmie's face left her body. It just came right off and phased right through the wall.

"What the..." Everyone turned to Iris.

"Don't look at me, this completely makes no sense!"

"tem bak from cool leg, tem learn MANY THINs." The group turned back and saw Temmie's face has come back when they weren't looking. Along with that was a graduation cap.

"Well, you look smarter." Diego said.

"t! tem MADe an ART AstErpieCe! TaKe a loOk." Temmie pulled out a big art canvas. It looked almost exactly like the Mona Lisa but the face had Temmie's face.

A.N. Whats the secret behind her smile? :3

"wHAT do hUMAnS ThiK?"

John stifled a snicker. "I think it's a Tem outa Tem." John snorted.

"Is this a joke?" John froze when he heard Temmie talk so seriously. She rolled her eyes"Are you having a chuckle? Ha ha, very funny." Suddenly she leaned into John's face. "I'm the one with a degree!"

"Uh... uh." John stammered. He would make a witty comeback about his education but he remembered that he's still in high school. Also, she was being very intimidating right now.

"Hey Temmie, please calm down." Caleb begged. "He didn't really mean it."

"Y-yeah, sorry." John said.

"oKay tem OrGiVe u." Temmie said, instantly calm. "oh this wuS FOUnD in tHA Dog residue u GaVe!" Temmie handed the item to them. It was a red orb, the Ancient artifact they found yesterday.

The group looked at Toby. "You hid that in our backpack, didn't you?" The Dog nodded his head.

Iris took it into her hand and inspected it. "Hmm... I can safely assume, using all my knowledge on gemology and anthropology, that I have no idea what this is." She put the artifact in her bag. "Maybe I'll figure it out later."

"Well we gotta get going." Diego said to Caleb.

"Wait!" Caleb handed a handful of money to Temmie. "Give me a box of Tem flakes please."

"What are you going to do with that?" Jerod asked.

"I need something to distract the Temmies with!" Caleb said, taking the box in his hands. "Bye Temmie, hope to see you again!"

"BOI!" Temmie waved as they left. When they left, Temmie turned to the Annoying Dog and put on a serious face. "Why did you give the Artifact to them?"

"..."

"Do they even know what it does?"

"..."

"Me neither."

Chapter Text

After the group left Temmie Village they ventured through the dark maze, making sure to avoid Moldbygg. It didn't really matter that they were trying to avoid it, they could barely see anything in the maze and they had no idea where they were going. The faint light from the crystals were the only means of seeing in the dark.

"Ow, quit stepping on my foot Jerod!" Delilah complained.

"That wasn't me!"

"Sorry, I got big feet." Diego said.

"Oh, it's okay."

"Bio luminescent grass and crystals." Iris said inspecting them. "This whole Underground never ceases to amaze me."

"I thought there were some crystals that glowed." Caleb said.

"There are, some quartz can glow on occasion."

"Hey guys, I think the exit is over there." Frisk pointed out. They saw a light at the end of the tunnel.

"What is-  Oh man!" John complained as he, Jerod, and Frisk stepped into a deep puddle of water. "Ugh great. Cold water soaking my shoes and socks."

Frisk shrugged, his boots protecting him from the water.

"C'mon it's not so bad." Jerod said, kicking some water towards him. "It's quite refreshing."

"Says you. You only got sandals on. You don't have to worry about soaked socks."

Iris, Diego and Caleb took off their shoes and socks to avoid the same fate as John.

Delilah was staring at John. He narrowed his eyes.

"No."

She pouted and gave puppy eyes.

John groaned. "Fine, get on." He squatted so she could gleefully hop onto his back. He gave her a piggy-back ride across the water.

"Aw, whose a lovey-dovey big brother?" Jerod teased.

"Shut up." John muttered.

He carried her to the other side, avoiding the water. They all sat down by the shore as John took off his shoes and squeeze dried his socks.

"If I get trench foot later, I swear..." John grumbled. Jerod kicked his feet against the water.

"So where are we going next?" Delilah asked Iris.

"Lets see." Iris looked through her notebook. "We might be coming up on the entrance to Hotland. I don't really know much about it, though I think the name gives us a hint."

"And after that the Capital, right?" Caleb asked.

"Right."

"That is if we can fully avoid Undyne."

"Don't jinx it Delilah." (A.N. Heh, JINX.....)

Frisk got up and walked towards a Echo Flower. Feeling bored, he pressed the flower and activated it.

"Children where are you?" The group all froze and felt dread at the familiar voice. "John, Jerod, Delilah, Iris, Diego, Caleb, Frisk?"

"No, that can't be..." Diego whimpered.

"It's me Toriel, your friend and guardian."

The group sprung up and gathered around the flower. They couldn't believe it.

"Goatmom?" Frisk whimpered.

"Please tell me where you are. I want to protect you. I want to protect you." The group's eyes widened as they heard the voice suddenly morph into Flowey's.

"Hee hee, what a joke. She abandoned you idiots. Left you all on your own to get killed. Who would want to protect you, especially the killer chef that's with you." Tears gathered in Diego's eyes as he clutched the sides of his head. "Don't worry, this is all just a bad dream... AND YOUR NEVER WAKING UP HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA."

Having enough of the laughter, Diego lit the flower on fire. They listened as the voice grew distorted with the burning of the flower until it ceased entirely. In anger, the rest of the group stomped the remains of the flower until there was nothing left.

Diego looked at everyone, a serious expression on his face. "Don't listen to him. He's just bullying us, and what do we do with bullies?"

"Kill them?" Chara guessed.

"Kick them in the balls?" Delilah asked.

"Beat the crap out of them?" Jerod asked.

"Kidnap them and lock them in your basement, torturing them to make their pain even worse th..." John blinked for a second noticing the awkward stares he was getting. "Sorry I just lost my train of thought."

"No!" Diego said, ready to smack everyone with his pan for being so dense... and sick. "We ignore them. He's just saying random stuff to get us riled up."

"Oh." The group nodded.

"He's right." Iris put a hand on Diego's shoulder. "We gotta stick to our wits and keep going." Feeling invigorated, the group moved on. They left the room and reached a bridge.

"Careful guys, this bridge is kinda slippery." John warned.

They were halfway across when they heard a shout behind them.

"Yo!"

They turned around and saw none other than MK run towards them. He stopped in front of them and took a second to catch his breath.

"MK! It's great to see you again." Jerod grinned.

MK gave a nervous smile back. "Yeah... Um... Yo, I know I'm not supposed to be here, but I needed to talk to you."

"What 'bout?" John asked.

"Well, you said you were humans right?" Jerod nodded ashamed. "Why didn't you tell me dude?"

"We couldn't risk you going to Undyne. Are you saying you would be willing to keep it a secret?" Mk didn't say anything. "I thought so."

"So, me and Undyne were talking yesterday. She told me to stay away from you guys. So I guess that means we're enemies... I think."

"We don't have to be." Diego said.

"No, I think we do dude." MK said. "The problem is... I am having trouble hating you so... can you say something mean so I can hate you."

"Do puns focused on you count?" John asked only to get elbowed on the side.

"MK... You are too nice of a person to be my enemy." Jerod said.

MK looked like he got smacked in the face. Not only did he refuse to say something mean, in the context of how he said it meant that he was too incompetent to do something as simple as make an enemy. So in a way he got insulted an complimented at the same time. Now he just felt a ping in his heart.

Then he scowled at Jerod. "Yo, really? I ask you to do one simple thing and you can't even respect that!? Fine I'll do it myself. Yo, I... I hate your guts." He smirked confidently at them. They all had disappointment on their faces. MK smile fell as he looked down. "Man, I... I'm such a turd. I'm... I'm gonna go home now." he said before tearing up. Jerod reached for him but then he ran back across the bridge.

"MK wait!" Caleb chased after them. MK stopped in place. Caleb didn't expect that and tried to stop. The slippery surface of the bridge made him slide right into the armless monster. They crashed into each other and gasped as they fell off of the bridge. Caleb quickly wrapped an arm around MK and reached his other arm upward. Jerod was already by their side thanks to his magic speed. Unfortunately he wasn't fast enough as their hands barely brushed against each other before missing. Jerod watched as they fell into the abyss below.

"NO!" Diego screamed. He grabbed John by the hem of his hoodie. "Why didn't you pick them up?"

"I... It was all so fast I'm... I'm sorry."

Diego let go and looked to the others. "We have to find a way down there, maybe they are oka-"

"NOT SO FAST HUMANS!" The group looked and saw Undyne at the other side of the bridge. "I finally found you. You aren't getting away this time." She said as she marched towards them. "Prepare to lose your Souls humans!"

"Not today Undyne!" They all watched as Caleb and Mk rose up over the bridge and floated in midair. Caleb's eyes glowed yellow as his body was enveloped in the very same colored aura. He smiled at the others. "Hey guys, I can fly!" He waved as he set himself and Mk down. Mk gave a relived smile as he turned to Undyne, standing in her way to the humans.

"Y... y... yo... dude... If... if y-you wanna hurt my friend... You're gonna have to get through me, first." The group could not believe what they were seeing, a little monster kid standing up to a big and tough royal guard monster.

Through her helmet, Undyne narrowed her eyes. "What did you just say?"

"I...I said I won't let you hurt my friends!" Mk said louder this time.

Undyne clenched her fists. Iris didn't know what the justice system was like in the Underground, she did think back to all those medical torture traps she read about.

"Fine."

Mk and the group blinked. "What?"

"Fine, I'll go... for now." She summoned a spear and pointed at the humans. "This isn't over yet humans! And as for you..." Undyne looked back at MK. "You are in serious trouble right now. I suggest you go back home once I leave, or face the consequences for betraying your people." MK gulped. Undyne put her spear away as she left.

MK gave a sigh of relief. "She's gone... Yo, you really saved my skin. Guess being enemies was just a nice thought, haha. We'll just have to be friends instead" he said to his new human friends.

The group all ran up to him and cheered at him.

"That was awesome MK!"

"Wow, I can't believe you just did that!"

"Thank you dude!"

"You sure got some guts MK!" Jerod said as he kneeled to Mk's face level.

"R-really?"

"You bet, you just stood up to the captain of the Royal guard, without any means of defending yourself. If that's not bravery I don't know what is." He pulled out his orange Soul. "Personally I think your more worthy of this."

MK's eyes sparkled but he kept his distance, wouldn't want to risk taking his Soul. "I did, didn't I? Wow, wait till I tell my parents. Wait... my parents! Man, I should REALLY go home... I bet my parents are worried sick about me!" He ran back across the bridge, not before turning back to his friends and grinning at them. "Later, dude! Good luck out there!" He bent his body to the side. "I'm waving at you!"

"We should get going before Undyne comes back." Caleb said.

The group agreed and trudged on. Along the way they had a talk with Caleb.

"So, when did you learn to fly?" John asked.

Caleb shrugged. "Magic." Diego bonked Caleb on the head with his pan. "Ahh! Alright I don't really know. As I was falling I just suddenly felt this sensation in my Soul and I suddenly learned how to do it."

John thought about that. He remembered that time back in the ruins, the first reload after having his whole body melt. While he was storming off to confront Napstablook he felt a sensation in his Soul as well. At first he thought nothing of it since he was blinded by anger but not that he looked back he wondered, how did he suddenly learn to summon magic knives? It's almost like, his Soul knew it for him.

"The same happened to me." Chara said. "Back when I was alive I didn't have that magic book Iris had back in the ruins. So I had to naturally figure out my powers. So far I only learned to reload and use magic knives from the same sensation you spoke of."

"So what else can you do, can you throw your hat like a boomerang?" Frisk asked.

"LET'S SEE!" Caleb threw his hat over the cliff. They watched as it slowly flew down. Caleb jumped down and picked it up in midair.

"I wish I could fly." John pouted.

"You already have enough powers, stop being a spoiled brat." Delilah scolded.

"mphfpgh... your a spoiled brat..." John grumbled.

They reached the end of the tunnel and into a huge open area. They could see large machinery and a red glow in the distance behind some rocky landscapes.

Iris looked in her notebook. "We reached the end of Waterfall, Hotland is dead ahead."

They marched towards Hotland but stopped short when they saw something. At the top of a large stalagmite, which looked more like a mountain but they were underground so..., Undyne stood there, gazing at all of them through her helmet.

"Seven. Seven human souls and King ASGORE w-"

"WHAT!" Jerod called at her. The group was startled by the sudden yelling.

"I said, Seven human s-"

"I CAN'T HEAR YOU! YOU'RE TOO FAR AWAY!"

"I SAID SEVEN HUMAN SOULS AND ASGORE WILL..." Undyne paused. "You know what... SCREW IT!" Undyne ripped off her helmet and threw it with all her strength, it flew through the air far into the distance, where did it end up?

Jerry sighed as he wandered through Snowdin forest. "Aw geez this is just not my week. I failed to catch the humans, my friends ditched me, and now I'm lost in the woods. How much worse can it get?"

Jerry looked to the sky and saw something fly at a high velocity towards him.

"Is that a helm- OW!"

Play Spear of Justice

Undyne showed her face. She looked like a blue fish monster with razor sharp teeth and an eyepatch. She had a large red ponytail at the back of her head. She grinned at the group and squatted.

"Superhero landing, she's going to do a freaking superhero landing!" John and Jerod said excitedly. Undyne jumped off of the peak and landed fist-first on the ground several feet away from them. Several cracks covered her where she landed.

"Whooo superhero landing." said John clapping his hands. "Y'know it's really hard on the knees. Totally impractical, but they all do it."

"Quit referencing Deadpool!" Caleb growled. "I know the movie was awesome but not now."

Diego looked accusingly at Caleb. "Were going to have a talk later about you watching Deadpool at your age." Caleb sweated nervously.

"YOU!" Undyne glared at the humans. "You're all standing in the way of everybody's hopes and dreams! Alphys' history books made me think humans were cool...with their giant robots and flowery swordswomen..."

"Why does that sound so familiar?" Iris thought.

"But you!" She eyed them. "All of you are nothing but cowards! Hiding behind that kid and risking his life for you! And let's not forget that wimpy goody-two-shoes schtick! Oooh! We're making such a difference by hugging random strangers! You know what would be more valuable to everyone!? IF YOU WERE ALL DEAD!"

She pointed a spear to the sky. "Everyone's been waiting their whole lives for this moment! But we're not nervous at all. When everyone put their hearts together, they can't lose! I am the spear of ju-"

"Hey!" Jerod slammed a fist into the ground. The whole area rumbled slightly. "Listen up Undyne! We are not letting you kill us!" The whole group stood next to him and put on a defensive stance. They all realize that Undyne is not the same as the other monsters. She won't be hugged or flirted with to pacify her, Diego realizes that. They all have no choice but to fight back. "So either shut up and leave or get ready for a pounding!"

Undyne grinned. She put on a dramatic fighting pose. "Very well then. En guarde!"

"NYAHHH!"
"RAAAAAA!"

With that both sides did a battle cry and charged.

Chapter Text

'To be fair, charging headfirst into a large strong monster wasn't the best idea.' Jerod thought to himself. He thought it would cool like those scenes in movies and videogames. It wasn't so cool when Undyne barreled through all of them like a bowling ball. They all got knocked around and got the wind knocked out of them.

Jerod coughed and rolled onto his back, only to have a glowing spear be up in his face. Undyne had a toothy grin as she stared him down.

"Stay still human." She prepared to strike.

Suddenly she glanced to the side as she swung her spear behind her. Jerod heard a clashing sound and the sound of John yelping.

Jerod took the opportunity and did a leg sweep and jumped on his feet. Undyne staggered as she lost balance. John butted her head with the handle of his knife. Jerod quickly ran back to the group along with John. Undyne summoned a large barrage of spears that surrounded them on all sides. Diego summoned a large shield in a dome around them. The spears just bounced harmlessly off of the shield, not even leaving a dent.

"This is totally unfair!" Undyne yelled. Jerod stuck his tongue out mockingly at her.

"Well maybe you shouldn't have gone up against seven humans when you're kind couldn't handle one!" John said.

Diego scowled at John. "Dude, don't antagonize he-"

Undyne punched the shield. It broke through and grabbed Diego by the throat. He gagged for breath as he lost focus on keeping the shield up.

"That's enough out of you." She swiped her spear on him. Diego's Soul quivered as the green glow on him dimmed out. He realized that Undyne just disabled his shield power, like how Papyrus took Delilah's gravity power.

"Hey Undyne!" Caleb was flying over them, hat tipped dramatically. "You are mean!"

Undyne's eyes widened and she glared manically at him "How dare you call me mean! I'LL F*CKING KILL YOU!"

"Language." John wheezed.

Undyne threw a flurry of spears at Caleb. Caleb yelped as he flew around the place, narrowly avoiding the spears. He returned fire at her, his bullets shooting through the spears and at her feet. She grabbed a spear with her other hand and deflected the bullets.

Diego's hands lit on fire and he clawed at Undyne. The sheer heat of the flames made Undyne let go of him. He quickly grabbed his pan and swung.

Undyne caught the pan in her hand. Delilah jumped up behind her and tried to drop kick her. Undyne sidestepped that as well and shoved her and Diego. They both went spiraling back, luckily Delilah used her gravity power to slow them down so the impact wasn't as severe.

"Guys my shield is gone." He groaned.

"Alright. We have no choice but to be on the offensive." Jerod said.

"Got it." Iris looked to Caleb and they both nodded. Iris summoned giant words that said Fish Spear Guard. Undyne threw her spears at them before they could get to close. One flew straight at Iris. She quickly leaned backwards as a spear narrowly flew past her, so close that it sliced the cover of her notebook. Unfortunately Undyne was too distracted and barely had time to react as Caleb unleashed a powerful barrage he was building up.

"Justice rains from above!" He said.

Undyne did lightning-quick swipes with the spear in her hand, reflecting the bullets back to him. Caleb got hit by his own attacks and cried out in pain.

"Take this!" Undyne darts into the air and slashed through Caleb. He gasped and lost consciousness. He fell like a rock from the air. Diego caught him before he hit the ground.

"Thank god, your alright." Diego said as he gave him a quick heal.

"It's almost impossible to land a hit on her!" John said. Caleb started stirring awake.

"Nothing is impossible." Frisk said. He pulled his stick behind him. "Fetch!" He yelled, throwing it at Undyne. Undyne caught it in her hand and used the momentum to launch it back at Frisk. It smacked right into Frisk's eye. It looked like it was going to leave a bruise. "Yeah I can't hit her."

"It's no use. She is way too fast." Chara said.

Jerod stepped forward. "Not too fast for me." He said. His eyes glowed orange as his fists and feet got enveloped in an orange aura. He charged at Undyne, leaving a streak of orange light in his wake. Undyne was surprised by his eagerness and jumped back as Jerod's fist swung through the air. Undyne swung her spear as Jerod brought his fists up. Their weapons collided as sparks released from the clash. They both were struggling to push the other back. Jerod gritted his teeth as he slowly felt his strength drain from the exertion. His heartbeat rose as he sweated profusely. Undyne grinned as she slowly pushed him back.

He never felt fear of losing. He does lose sometimes and gets upset about it, but that is just a game for him and his opponent, no real consequence from the loss. This is different, he realizes that if he losses Undyne will kill him. Sure Frisk can always reload but how many times can that be done before the power suddenly goes away? After all, Chara somehow died despite having that power.

Then he remembered something. A memory of a day that he didn't realize was more important to someone else...

Jerod was walking home from school with his friend John. His other friends wanted him to stay with them but they wouldn't allow John to join them. They felt weirded out by John, calling him strange. So he refused their invitation and decided to walked home with his buddy. It was quite a long walk since their homes were on the other side of town. Hopefully, in a couple of years, one of them will get their licence and drive the other around.

"Are you sure you wouldn't rather be hanging out with Alex?" John asked, he said Alex with disdain. Jerod never saw John or Alex encounter each other but they seem to hate each other with a passion. He never knew why they did not like each other but he never bothered to ask.

Jerod smiled and put an arm around John. "Eh, it's no big deal. I'm not missing out on much. Besides, we got a game of Super Smash Bros to play."

John smiled back but it went down as he looked away. "Yeah..." He said depressed.

"Yo, what's wrong dude?" Jerod asked, clasping his shoulder.

"It's nothing. It's just not fair that you are missing out hanging with them." He rubbed his arm nervously. "I don't want to get in the way of your other friends."

"Hey, I told you it's no big deal!" Jerod said frustrated. "They are my friends but it's my choice who I want to hang out with. After all, it was my choice to introduce myself to you and ask to hang out. Heck, if I didn't bother to talk to you we never would have met, and who knows where we would be now if we never met."

"Yeah, who knows..." John whispered, looking towards the distant mountain. "Why do you still hang out with me?"

Jerod arched an eyebrow. "I don't understand."

"Why me? I mean look at me. I got no friends, get constant mood swings, do nothing but play video games, and fat with no desire to work out. Why would you want to hang out with a loser like me when you can be with other people you would be happy with?" He said feeling melancholic, kicking a random can on the ground.

"Too be honest, I was just being friendly when we first met. Despite our differences we get along pretty well, even if your little sister is a bit of a jerk to me. I never met someone that I enjoy hanging out with as much as us. My other friends are nice but there are some issues I have with them. They may be my friends but you will always be my best friend."

John looked at him with wide eyes. "Best... Friend." John's smile came back and he whiped his eyes.

"Yeah, and I promise that I won't let anything bad happen to you." He said as he gave him a bro hug.

John laughed. "You really are something special Jerod."

"You know it!" Jerod lightly pinched his freckled cheeks. John angrily slapped his hand away

"Arrgh, I hate it when you do that!" John growled.

"Not my fault you got a cute nose." Jerod grinned mischievously.

John blushed. "You really think so?"

"Yeah, all the ladies will be falling head over heels for you with that bad boy."

John's expression turned sour for a second. "Oh."

"Anyway, race ya to your house!" Jerod yelled as he pushed past John.

"What the... Hey!" John yelled out. He had no other choice but to cash after him. They both laughed as they ran home.

Jerod trembled under Unydne's strength. He remembered the screams from John when he died the first time back in the Ruins. There is no way he is going to let him go through something like that happen again... not on his watch.

"RRAHHHH!" Jerod yelled, with adrenaline coursing through his veins. His eyes glowed more fiercely with the burning passion of Bravery. Undyne felt herself be suddenly be pushed back. She staggered back a bit as she tried to regain her footing.

Jerod then got up close to her and unleashed a flurry of punches to her sides. She swiped at him with her spear but he just ducked under it and launched an uppercut to her face. Her head snapped to the side from the blow. She wiped her face and glared at Jerod with fury. She raised her arms over her head and brought them down hard on his back. Jerod coughed loudly as he fell onto his knees. He looked up at her with narrowed eyes and lunged at her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and yelled out as he suplexed her. She collapsed onto a heap.

KO!

Jerod whooped loudly as he jumped up and pumped his fist. The rest of the group cheered as they all slapped his back.

"You did it Jerod, you defeated Undyne!" John said relived. "You really had me worried, I thought you were done for.

Jerod grinned sheepishly. "Well I had a promise to keep." John arched an eyebrow at that statement.

Diego got in between them and wrapped an arm around both their shoulders. "Well the good thing is that we got through her without having to resort to k..."

The group all froze and watched in shock as Undyne got back up. Her armor fell off of her, showing her casual wear underneath. But the thing was that she looked on the verge of collapsing into dust.

"I... I thought I just knocked her out. I didn't mean to hit you that hard..." Jerod said with a bewildered look on his face.

Undyne gave a toothy grin as she clutched her chest "Ngahhh... I guess you were stronger... than I thought..." She fell onto her knees. "So then... this is where... ... it ends... at least I died fighting seven... humans." She whispered the last word as she collapsed into dust. It was kind of strange because the dust was falling unusually slow, like something was resisting. An extra surprise was that Undyne's white Soul popped out.

"Huh?"

All of a sudden, specks of red appeared on the Soul. The dust then suddenly lifted off the ground and slowly collected itself. It started to reform Undyne's body.

"WHAT!?" Everyone cried in unison.

"What the, that's not a normal monster Soul!" Chara said

Undyne appeared again and used a spear to help her back up. She was barely standing and her body looked pale. "No... NO! I won't die!" She shakily pointed her spear at them. "Alphys... Asgore... Papyrus... Everyone is counting on me to free them! NNNNAGH!" She clutched her side as her body shimmered. She her one good eye suddenly shined with passing, literately and figuratively. "Humans! In the name of everyone's hopes and dreams... I WILL DEFEAT YOU!

John's forehead scrunched in concern. "Undyne, what are you doi-" He was cut off as Undyne charged at him. He brought his knife up to deflect the attack. He quickly threw her back with his telekinesis.

"Come on, is that all you've got!? ... pathetic." She said as she charged at them again. Iris whipped Undyne back with her tendril. She barely resisted as her body shimmered even more. "You're going to have to try harder than that! S-see how strong we are when we believe in ourselves?"

"Undyne please stop. Your body is..." Jerod couldn't finish the sentence.

"H...heh... Had enough yet?" She was getting weaker and weaker by the second. She limped over to Jerod and tried to punch him. But all she could do was lightly slap him. The group backed away from her. Her body shimmered more and more.

"...I won't... ...Give up..." She slurred. Suddenly a part of her fell off, like she was melting. "Ha... ha... Alphys... This is what I was afraid of... This is why I never told you..." She fell on her stomach as she barely had the strength to get up. A white puddle spread around the ground by her. "No... No! Not yet! I won't die! NGAHHHHHHHH! I WON'T DIE! I WON'T DIE! I WON'T DIE! I WON'T..." She whispered, closing her eyes.

In all this confusion and panic, Frisk felt something strange. It wasn't coming from his Soul, yet it felt close to him. Almost like... it was coming from his backpack. Frisk quickly opened his backpack. He saw the ancient Artifact in there, it was glowing red and shaking. Frisk pulled it out and held it up.

"What is happening with that thing?!" Caleb asked.

"I don't k- GAH!" Frisk yelped as the Artifact shocked him. He let go of it as it floated in midair. The group stared, astonished at it. A crimson beam enveloped Undyne. Her body quivered as the puddle started gathering up back into her.

"The Artifact, it's restoring Undyne's body." Iris said.

"I can see her life force." Chara said. "She's unconscious but back to full health." The artifact stopped glowing and dropped on the ground. Frisk carefully put it back in his backpack.

Jerod frowned at Undyne's unconscious form. He walked forward and lifted her up. She leaned on his side as he held her up.

"What are you doing?!" Delilah said.

"Look, I know she killed you and she gave us a lot of hell, but we can't leave her like this... not after what I've done." Jerod said. Delilah glared at him. "I need your help, I'm going to take her home and I need you to teleport us there."

She looked like she was debating in her head what to do. She groaned and rolled her eyes. "Fine! Everyone get close and hold on." She ordered. The group did such as she focused on where she remembered Undyne's house to be. They all disappeared in a blue flash.

Chapter Text

Papyrus was sitting by Undyne's front house worried about his human friends, Undyne didn't really have the best intentions for them from the sound of her voice earlier. He decided to meet up at her house to see if he could talk her out of hunting the humans, perhaps even get them to become friends. Unfortunately she didn't seem to be home at the moment so he decided to wait for her. He was debating whether or not to call the humans when he saw a monster approach. It was a small armless lizard monster, he recognized him as the child from Snowdin Town. He was running at a brisk pace.

"OH HELLO THERE TINY MONSTER CHILD!" Papyrus greeted. The monster kid stopped in his tracks when he saw the skeleton.

"Yo, h-hey dude. Um, is Undyne home?"

"NO SHE ISN'T UNFORTUNATELY!"

"Dangit, I was hoping to apologize to her." He said handing his head.

"OH, HAVE YOU DONE SOMETHING TO MAKE HER MAD?"

"Not really but she seems to think so and says I'm going to be in trouble for it. I don't want my parents to find out, I'll be grounded for like a million years!"

"DO NOT FEAR, I AM SURE THAT WHATEVER YOU HAVE DONE WASN'T AS BAD AS YOU MAY THINK! IF YOU WOULD LIKE I CAN VOUCH FOR YOU!"

"Really? Thanks dude!"

"IT IS NOTHING! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, STRIVE TO SEE THE BEST IN EVERYONE! NOW HOW ABOUT YOU TELL ME WHAT YOU DID? IT IS BEST TO CONFESS WHAT YOU DID TO OTHERS!"

The Monster kid glanced nervously side to side. "Um well I..."

Suddenly, he was interrupted when the seven humans appeared out of nowhere, with an unconscious Undyne being carried by John and Jerod.

Papyrus gasped. "THE HUMANS?!"

"Oh hey Papyrus." John waved.

"Hey MK." Jerod greeted.

Papyrus and MK looked at each other in surprise. "You know them?!" they said in unison.

"Hey, we can get the introductions over with later." Diego said quickly. "We need to help out Undyne."

"Undyne!?" MK's eyes widened seeing his role model unconscious. "What happened to her?"

"We'll explain later, let's get her inside first."

"I'LL OPEN THE DOOR!" Papyrus stepped in front of the door. "I GOT AN EMERGENCY KEY! JUST IN CASE A SITUATION SUCH AS THIS OCCURS!" He unlocked the door and they all went in. Papyrus led Jerod to Undyne's room and he set her on the bed. He sighed as he closed the door and meeting the others in the main room.

"So let us explain..."

ONE HOUR LATER...

"...And that's everything." Iris concluded.

Jerod sweatdropped. "Did you really have to take so long telling that?" Frisk Caleb and Mk fell asleep after awhile.

"I was trying to be descriptive, just in case there was something we missed that explained what happened back there!" Iris pouted

"Yeah can we talk about that?" Delilah asked, shaking the younger kids awake.

"I wasn't planning on killing her. I was trying to be careful."

"By yelling and fighting like this is some sort of Shōnen anime?" Iris snarked.

"I don't even watch anime. If anything, I would have expected you to do all that."

Iris scoffed. "Yeah right, like I would run up to her and yell BAN... KAI!"

"Whatever, I didn't mean to hurt her." Jerod groaned leaning back on his chair.

"I UNDERSTAND HUMAN, I KNOW THAT NONE OF YOU HAD ANY ILL INTENTION TO HARM ANOTHER PERSON!" Papyrus stroked his chin. "THOUGH I NOW WONDER WHAT YOU MEANT WHEN YOU SAID THAT UNDYNE 'MELTED'?"

"I don't really know either. I thought monsters turned to dust when they died." John said.

"Yo, that's what they tell us at school." MK said. "Also I don't know how you saw her Soul, she isn't a boss monster."

"INDEED THE ONLY BOSS MONSTER WE KNOW IS THE KING."

'And Toriel' Diego mumbled, he didn't feel like mentioning it, especially if they ask how he knows this.

"All we know is that this thing..." Frisk held up the Artifact. "Is what saved Undyne's life."

"Yo, that thing looks awesome!" Mk gazed at it.

"HMM." Papyrus took it in his hand and he narrowed his eyes at it. Then he gasped in surprise.

"You know what it is Papyrus?" Iris asked eagarly.

"HUMANS, I TRUST YOU WITH ALL MY SOUL AND I BELIEVE IT'S TIME I TELL YOU..."

"..." The group leaned in to listen.

"THAT I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA WHAT THIS IS!" The group fell back disappointed.

"Guess we gonna have to ask Undyne when she wakes up.."

"Yeah... is it a good idea to stay here with her sleeping in the next room?" Delilah said nervously.

"DO NOT FEAR, WHILE SHE MAY BE... AGGRESSIVE, SHE HAS VERY GOOD MANNERISMS! WHY IF YOU JUST TALK TO HER, SHE WILL MOST LIKELY NOT HARM YOU!"

"That's actually what I was thinking." Jerod said. The group turned to him, interested in listening to his idea. "Look, if we can at least get her to listen to us and see that we don't mean harm then she will leave us alone. We won't have to worry about the royal guard tailing us."

"That's... actually a pretty good idea." Iris confessed.

"YES, I COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF!"

"It'll be nice to not have us being chased by guards." Caleb said. "Now lets just hope that Undyne isn't too mad that us humans are in her house."

"Oh believe me I AM!"

Suddenly Undyne's bedroom door was ripped off it's hinges as a drowsy Undyne came out. She glared as she stared and saw MK, Papyrus, and the seven humans she was hunting in her house chilling out.

"GOOD MORNING UNDYNE!" Papyrus waved like nothing was wrong with the situation. MK hid behind everyone, not trying to draw attention to himself.

"What the hell are you all doing in my house?" Undyne growled.

"I LET THEM IN."

"Why?!"

"WHY NOT?"

"Because th..." She groaned and rubbed her forehead. "Never mind." She looked to Jerod. "Why are YOU here? To rub your victory in my face?"

"Yes and no, we are here because I wanted you to know that we aren't your enemy."

"Are you kidding me, of course you are our enemy! All you humans ever do is declare war and attack us. All of you are merciless, degenerate, scum that has no right to rule the sur-"

Frisk held up a finger to Undyne's mouth, shushing her. Undyne was stunned by the human's boldness.

"Thank you Frisk." Diego said. "Now if we were those things that you said we are, then we wouldn't have spared you. Let alone save you from death."

"Well I ... wait you saved me?"

"Back when we were fighting, your body started acting strange. Your form was shimmering, your eye was glowing, and your whole body seemed to be slowly melting instead of turning to dust." Iris said. Undyne's eye widened.

"If it wasn't for Frisk here, you probably would've died. So you owe us, leave us alone and let us move on to the barrier." Delilah said.

Undyne looked ready to kill them all on the spot. Then she sighed and rubbed her neck. "I don't know what game you are trying to pull here, if you weren't my house guests I would have beaten all of you up." She turned her back on them. "Now get out of my house."

"But Und-"

"I said get OUT!"

Jerod glared at her. "Your welcome for helping you, jerk. C'mon guys she's not worth the time." He started walking towards the door.

John hastily whispered something to Papyrus. They smiled and gave a thumbs up.

"DANG WHAT A SHAME!" Papyrus said with despair. "AND HERE I THOUGHT YOU ALL COULD BE FRIENDS WITH HER! BUT I GUESS I OVERESTIMATED HER, SHE'S JUST NOT UP TO THE CHALLENGE!"

Undyne tensed and turned toward Papyrus "What?..."

"And here I thought Jerod had the guts to ally himself with the 'enemy'. Never knew my best friend was more cowardly than me." John said with a teasing edge to his voice.

"The hell did you say!" Jerod got up in John's face. John felt a little intimidated but kept calm. His poker face may not be as great as Frisk's but it's decent.

John rolled his eyes. "Oh so you want to prove yourself?"

"THEN TRY IT!" Papyrus and John pushed Undyne and Jerod up to each other.

"He thinks I can be friends with you?" Undyne and Jerod mumbled to themselves. They both glared daggers into each other. They put up a grin that said 'I hate you but I'm going to pretend I like you'.

"Listen up JEROD." Undyne forced herself to call him by his name. "You and your friends are going to hang out with me, right here right now. And we will become not only friends but... BESTIES!"

Jerod gave a mock laugh. "Sure, we'll become friends. I can make friends with a wimp like you any day ."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah.

"Oh yeah?!"

"Yeah!"

"OH YEAH?!"

"YEAH!"

They were both up in each other's faces with their aggressive grins. The atmosphere was really tense, like any moment a fight is going to erupt.

"WELL, I THINK IT'S TIME TO GO TO THE... BATHROOM! COME ALONG MK!" Papyrus said eagerly. Making friends or not, he can tell that things were going to be messy.

"No thanks dude, I want to stay and watch this." MK said excited.

"ALRIGHT, YOU ALL HAVE FUN!" Papyrus said as he jumped out the window, breaking the glass. Everyone, even Undyne and Jerod, sweatdropped from Papyrus's sudden stunt.

"Geez, was that necessary of him?" Delilah asked.

"He usually sticks the landing." Undyne commented. She gave a more cheerful smile "Why don't you have a seat?"

"Fine." Jerod snapped as he dragged the others along to the dining room table. They all sat down on a wooden stool.

"Comfortable?" The group nodded. "Good, I'll get you something to drink." Undyne rummaged through the fridge.

John put a hand on Jerod's shoulder. "Having fun?" Jerod gave a glare, shutting him up.

"All set! What would you like?" Undyne laid out some beverages... and a bowl of sugar.

Diego started getting up to go pick out his drink. With super quick reflexes, Undyne threw a spear right at the table, embedding itself in it. Everyone jumped in surprise and gave her a bewildered look.

"Hey don't get up! You're the guests! Sit down and enjoy yourselves!" Undyne growled.

Jerod was about to get up and do something stupid when Iris grabbed his wrist and pulled him back down. She narrowed her eyes at Undyne.

"So what do you want us to do then if we can't get up?"

Undyne's smile wavered. She made the spear vanish. "Um, why don't you just point to what you want? You can use that sword over there." The group looked at the giant sword just leaning against the wall. It was bigger than all of them.

"Whoa, that's an awesome sword!" John exclaimed. "It has a medieval style yet it doesn't look a century old."

"Yeah me and Alphys built it." Undyne grinned proudly.

"Who's Alphys?" Frisk asked.

"The royal scientist." Iris replied. Everyone responded with a 'oh'.

"Humans may suck but their history kinda rules! I heard that humans used to wield swords 10x their size!"

Iris arched an eyebrow questionably. "That's not tr-"

Jerod then lifted the sword up like it was made of cardboard. Iris pouted in defeat.

"When I found out about it, I intermediately wanted one. Alphys was a big help, she figured out all the specs, she's a... pretty cute nerd." Undyne mumbled that last part.

"What?"

"I said that she's a pretty cool nerd!" Undyne flushed pink for a second. "So anyway, what do you guys want?"

"You." Frisk said seductively, wiggling his eyebrows. Everyone stared at Frisk in definite silence. "... I'll have the tea."

"Me too." Delilah said. The rest of the group said so as well except for John.

"I'll have soda."

"What?! That sickly yellow liquid? It rots your teeth, your mind, your fighting spirit!"

"Don't care, want it."

"Ugh, alright. Coming right up."

"Yo, do you have one of those cool swirly straws for me to use?" Mk asked as the tea was heating up.

"Yeah I do. All the cool people drink with that!"

The tea was finally ready as Undyne served it to them, and begrudgingly gave the soda to John.

"Careful its hot."

...

"It's not that hot, DRINK IT ALREADY!"

Jerod gave the first sip. He recoiled a bit as it burned his tongue. But he did like the taste of it.

"It's pretty good." He said. The others sipped as well and nodded in response.

"Yeah, nothing for the best for my absolutely precious friends!"

The group continued sipping until Frisk asked a question.

"Hey, do you know what this is?" Frisk showed the Artifact. "This was what healed you.

Undyne glanced at it. "I don't know, never seen that in my life. Perhaps Alphys knows whats up."

"I'll have to ask her." Iris said.

"Hey...you know its kind of strange you love that tea. Golden Flower tea." They heard a shrill shrieking in the distance.

"Weird, sounded like a crying flower. Anyway what's so strange about it?" Iris asked.

"Well that's Asgore's favorite kind." The group stiffened.

"The king?" Diego asked.

"Yeah. You know, you remind me of myself when I was a kid." Undyne said to Jerod and Mk.

Mk's eyes widened. "Me?"

"Yep, always going head first into a fight and wanting to prove myself. That's kinda how I ended up as the royal guard."

"Yo, tell us the story!" Mk begged.

"I'm with Mk, I really want to know to." Jerod said.

Undyne sighed. The group leaned in to listen. "Well back when I was kid I would always follow the local hero, Gerson."

"We heard of him, the Hammer of Justice."

"Heh, well he will always be known as old geezy Gerson to me. Just like you Mk, I followed him around and watched him beat up bad guys. I always thought that he was the strongest around, until he told me of someone else that was stronger than him, Asgore. I wanted to prove I was stronger, so I tried to fight him."

"You fought your king?!" Caleb asked surprised.

"Well emphasis on tried, I couldn't land a single hit on him. And he didn't even fought back. I was so humiliated to have lost that way. Afterward he asked me something goofy. 'Excuse me but would you like to know how to beat me?' I said yes and he trained me to fight better. And then one day, during training, I finally managed to land a hit on him."

"You must have felt really proud." Jerod said.

"Not really, I felt horrible. But he was beaming at me. Never have I seen someone so happy to get their butt kicked. Anyway long story short he kept training me and I ended up captain of the royal guard. Now I'm the one who trains dorks to fight."

"Like Papyrus?"

"Yeah..." Undyne glanced behind her to the broken window then leaned in closer and talked more quietly. "But to be honest, I don't really think I could ever let Papyrus into the Royal Guard." The group's eyes widened.

"Why not? That's like his big dream. He won't stop talking about it. He's not weak, he actually proved to be a pretty freaking tough fight." Jerod said.

"I know that but it's just that... he's too innocent and nice." The group look confused. "Look, he was supposed to capture you guys and he ended up becoming friends with you instead. I could never send him into battle. He'd get ripped into little smiling shreds."

"Well you are our friend." Diego said.

"I think what he means is that you are kinda not making sense." Caleb said. "You did try to kill us and look where we are now, in your house drinking tea and having a nice chat. I don't think it's fair to crush his dreams if you are the head of the royal guard and doing the same thing that you are afraid of Papyrus doing."

Undyne tipped her chin. "You know, you got a point there punk. I was so worried about his well being that I didn't think how it affected him. That's part of why I started teaching him how to cook y'know? So he can do something else with his life." John narrowed his eyes at her. "I always thought that you humans were just the worst of the worst, but I guess you proved me wrong. But I still think that there are some humans that suck."

"Believe me I know." John mumbled.

"Um, I don't know if this is a good time, but I'm sorry about earlier." Mk said. "I hope that I'm not in trouble for my crime."

"Crime, what crime?" Undyne winked, but it looked more like she was just blinking. Mk smiled and nodded.

"Hmmm... oh look, you are out of tea. I'll get you some more." She said as she got up to get some more. But then she stopped. "Wait... cooking... Papyrus! He's supposed to have his cooking lesson right now!"

Right on cue, Papyrus kicked the front door open and burst into the room. "NEVER FEAR, PAPYRUS IS HERE!"

Undyne grinned at the group. "And you're all going to join us!"

John jumped out of his seat. "Welp, guess it's time to egress outta here." He ran toward the window. Undyne intercepted and lifted him up by his head.

"Not so fast. Nothing brings me and Papyrus closer than cooking! Which means that if you join us, we'll become closer than ever before!" She gave a hearty laugh.

"Fuhuhuhuhu"

"Mommy..." John squeaked.

Undyne hopped over to the group and somehow lifted them all up in her arms and hopped over to the kitchen.

"Now lets begin. Papyrus, the ingredients!"

"COMING RIGHT UP!" Papyrus stomped his foot and a bunch of vegetables fell from the ceiling.

"Weird, I don't see a shelf up there." Iris said.

"Quiet, now let's start with the sauce! Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy! NOW! Pound them to dust with your fists!"

The group did as she asked, slamming their fists on them, spattering everywhere. Diego gave Delilah his apron so she wouldn't have to worry about her dress getting stained. Mk didn't have arms so he slammed his face on the veggies. He smiled at the group, face covered in paste. "Yo this is fun!"

"Yeah, that's the spirit, now it's my turn! NGAHHHH!" Undyne slammed all the vegetables. The entire counter and all their faces was covered in goop. John grabbed a towel and wiped Delilah's face clean before she broke down.

"DON'T WORRY ABOUT THE MESS HUMANS! WE WILL SCRAPE IT ALL INTO A BOWL LATER!" Papyrus said.

"Yeah what Papyrus said. Because..." Undyne stomped her foot and a large pot with a box of noodles fell onto the stove. "Now we add the noodles!"

"Seriously, where is this coming from?" Iris wondered.

"HOMEMADE NOODLES ARE THE BEST BUT UNDYNE BUYS THE STORE BRAND!"

"They're the cheapest!" Undyne yelled proudly. "Uhh, Papyrus, do the honors."

Papyrus saluted and threw the entire box of noodles into the pot, even the box.

'I don't think the health inspector will like that found in the food.' Diego muttered to Caleb.

"YEAH! Nice job Papyrus!" Undyne hooted. "Alright! Now it's time to stir the pasta! As a general rule of thumb, the more you stir...THE BETTER IT IS! Ready? Let's do it!"

John stepped forward and started stirring. He did it slowly, making Undyne yell at him to stir harder.

"Ugh let me do it!" Undyne pushed John aside and made one of her spears. She slammed it into the pot over and over until it was mangled and bent out of shape.

"I never thought cooking could be so intense." Jerod said.

"Well you haven't seen nothing yet. Now for the final step! TURN UP THE HEAT! Let the stove top symbolize your passion! Let your hopes and dreams turn into burning fire! READY!? Don't hold anything back!"

Jerod nodded and started turning the knob to the right. The flames radiated intensely.

"Hotter!"

Jerod obliged and turned it more. Smoke was coming out of the pot.

"HOTTER!"

Jerod looked at her questionably before turning it more. Something was bubbling and they don't think it was the water.

"HOTTER DAMN IT!"

"Undyne, I don't think this is a good ide-"

"Ugh, let me do it!" Undyne said. Grabbing the dial, Undyne turned the knob and fire shot up from the burner, all the way to the ceiling. "See!? This is how you-"

And then the house exploded. Everyone was blown out of the house as it was engulfed in flames. The group waited for the ringing in their ears to stop before listening to Undyne.

"Oops, the house is on fire again." Undyne laughed.

"DON'T WORRY, YOU CAN STAY WITH ME! AT LEAST UNTIL YOUR HOUSE IS REPAIRED!" Papyrus offered.

"Sounds like a plan. So what's next humans?!" She looked to the group. Their faces were covered in soot and their expression was frozen. "Guys?"

"That... was AWESOME!" Jerod whooped. The group broke into smiles and laughed with him.

"Yeah, I can admit that was fun!" Delilah said wiping her face.

"Wanna do it again?"

"NO!" The group yelled at once.

Undyne looked to them. "You know even though you guys defeated me and my house is in shambles now... I don't to fight you anymore." She said softly. "At first I hated you punks and your stupid saccharine schtick, but you guys really aren't what I expected in humanity. You are... good humans, and my new friends."

Jerod smiles. "That's nice but what about our Souls?"

"I know, we probably won't get a chance to get all seven at once, but I just can't bring myself to do it anymore. Listen, um..."

"Jerod."

"Jerod, it seems that you and your friends are fated to fight Asgore. But knowing him...He probably doesn't want to. Talk to him. I'm sure you can persuade him to let you go home."

"I'll try." Jerod put out his hand. "Friends?"

Undyne took his hand and shook it. "Friends." They grinned at each other.

"So are you sure you're okay with this?"

"Sure I'll manage, eventually, some mean humans will fall down here and I'll take THEIR souls instead. That makes sense, right?"

"I guess that's fair, so will you call off the guards?" Iris asked.

"I can't. You see, Alphys showed me these animations about. Uhhh, humans? So I can learn their weaknesses. And one of them is about this human that, uh. Well, suffice to say, they can control people's minds! Anyway, I told the guards that if I ever defended a human. I must be under some kind of mind control! And to disregard EVERYTHING that I tell them!"

Iris was taken aback. 'Does she think that anime is real life?' She thought. She thought about telling her the truth but something tells her that this will cause her to have an existential crisis.

"So... what do we do now?"

"Well you can take the longer way past Alphy's lab. There are less monsters in that area that will be looking for you. Here." She handed them a slip of paper.

"What's this?"

"It's a pass for the Riverman's ferry. He can give you quick transport to Snowdin, Waterfall, and Hotland."

"Thanks for this Undyne." Delilah said.

"It's nothing. Oh, and if you DO hurt Asgore..." Undyne added. "I'll take those humans' souls, cross the barrier, and beat the HELL out of you all! That's what friends are for, right? Fuhuhu!"

"Yeah I guess." John chuckled nervously. That was the most friendliest threat anyone has ever given him

"Well I'm going to go hang with Papyrus. So, if you need me, drop by Snowdin."

"OH AND IF YOU EVER NEED HELP, JUST GIVE ME A RING, SINCE UNDYNE WILL BE WITH ME WE'LL BE ABLE TO BOTH HELP!" Papyrus added.

"Already got you under my contacts list." John said.

"Yo, I guess I gotta go with them to, need someone to help explain to my parents where I was." Mk said.

"Alright, bye Mk." Jerod said.

"See ya later, you punks!"

"BYE HUMANS!"

All three of them left to go back to Snowdin as the group headed to the riverboat.

Chapter Text

The group walked back through Waterfall to try and find the ferry that Undyne mentioned. Well, everyone except Caleb, now that he discovered he can fly he's been hovering in the air nonstop like he was Peter Pan. Taking a turn where Gerson's shop was, the group finally reached a river. On the river was a wooden boat with a hooded figure standing on it. They can't see any part of the mysterious figure under the cloak.

"Hello?" Diego said nervously.

"Tra la la. I am the riverman. Or am I the riverwoman? It doesn't really matter. I love to ride in my boat. Would you care to join me?" They asked.

"Yeah, we're going to Hotland." Delilah said showing their passes to them. The River person nodded and the group got on the boat.

"Then we are off." The boat started moving forward across the water. It was almost like it was motor powered but there was no engine in sight, it was just a plain old wooden boat. The group stayed silent while they moved across the current.

"Tra la la. A Dog, a Ball, and Seven Humans, does the punchline come before or after?"

The group looked questionably at the River Person.

"This guy is weird." Chara commented.

"Don't speak ill of people who are listening. Tra la la."

Chara's eyes widened. "What, you can see me to?" The River Person didn't respond back. Chara frowned in confused disappointment.

"Tra la la. The fallen is coming... Tra la la."

"I think you mean the Angel of the prophecy." John commented, not looking at them.

"Tra la la. Cyan and Orange make a nice boat, too bad it's not ready to set sail. But should it?"

"?"

After listening to more of the River Person's random comments, they finally reached Hotland. They got off and looked at the blazing rocky landscape. It was like being inside a volcano instead of a mountain. It was nothing like what they saw before.

Diego turned around. "Thanks Ri-" But the River Person and they're boat was already gone. He pouted and followed the others. They reached a cross road. One was the one that led back to the river, the other probably led to Waterfall, the other led to what looked like an elevator. Too bad there were two armored guards blocking the way. The last path led to a big looming facility.

"That must be the lab Undyne was talking about." Iris said.

"Then that's the way we go." Chara said.

"Um, I'm against going in the ominous looking laboratory." John whimpered.

"Oh relax, Undyne said we would be safe with Alphys." Jerod said.

"And you immediately trusted her? She just tried to kill us earlier today!"

"Weren't you the one trying to get us to be friends?"

"...Let's just go."

The group went in and were met by darkness. All the lights were off.

"Diego, flame on please."

The apron boy nodded and green flames lit up over his hands. It didn't light up the whole room but it was enough for them to get a decent telling of the place. They walked forward down the empty lab.

"Where is everyone?" Delilah asked.

"Must be a day off." Jerod guessed.

"Hey look." Caleb flew over to a big computer screen on it was seven kids looking at a screen of seven kids looking at a-

"Okay, this is some pretty crap right here." Jerod said. Frisk turned around and waved at the camera filming them. Iris then noticed a computer desktop. It was covered in sticky notes. Iris wiped them off and turned on the computer.

"What are you doing?" Delilah asked.

"Hacking their mainframe." Iris said casually.

"Uh, I don't think we should be doing that." Caleb said

"Well I want to find out about some stuff." Iris said plugging her phone into the computer.

"Like what?"

"I don't know, This is supposedly the center of science and technology for monsterkind! I want to download as much data and info I can find and bring it to the surface. No way am I leaving it all down here."

"Iris..."

The short girl sighed loudly. "Fine, alright I'll copy the files onto my phone instead of stealing it okay?!" No one protested. "Good, now while that's downloading let me... hmm."

"What?" Frisk asked.

"Take a look at this." She showed them the monitor and it showed security cam footage on the screen.

"Yeah it's security so what?" Jerod asked.

"Wait, these places look familiar. Isn't that the entrance from the Ruins into Snowdin?" John noticed.

"Exactly, which means that whoever was working here probably knew about us since the beginning."

"Well, I guess that help gets the introduction out of the way." Diego said.

"Always the optimistic one." John said.

"Hey, what's that?" Caleb pointed to a file that said 'NSFW Fanfics'

John flushed pink. "Uhh, maybe we should leave that file alone."

They all heard a door opening.

"Crap." Iris muttered. She quickly stopped the download and unplugged her phone. Just in time since right after the lights came on. There was a yellow lizard monster similar to Mk. Though her features resembled more of a dinosaur. She wore a labcoat and had a pair of spectacles.

"-hat do you mean they should be here soon? I gotta quickly check on my..."

She stared at the humans, frozen stiff. She had a cell phone in her hands.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"-_-"

"Omg, they are already here! I'm not properly dressed, I didn't wash myself, the place is such a mess!" The monster rambled to herself. She looked away while she was having a little panic attack.

"Um hey there. Are you Alphys?" Iris asked awkwardly

The monster stopped her panic attack and looked at them with a nervous smile.

"Um Y-Yeah! I'm Dr. Alphys, the Royal Scientist."

"The Scientist, as in singular? I thought there would be a whole team of scientists" Delilah said.

Alphys frowned. "Um there hasn't been a whole science division in a... long time." The group looked at her in confusion. Except for Iris, she knew exactly what was up with her.

"A-anyway, I take it that you guys are the humans John, Jerod, Delilah, Iris, Diego, Caleb, and Frisk."

The group was a little shocked. "How did y-"

"I have been watching your guy's journey through my security cameras since you left the Ruins."

"Everything?" Frisk asked suspiciously, glancing nervously at Chara.

"Yeah, well not really everything-everything. Mostly just the interesting stuff, I try to give you your privacy." Fisk sighed in relief.

"That's great and everything but we need to ask you something." Jerod said. "Undyne told us that you can help us get to the Barrier."

Alphys sweated in excitement. "O-oh, yeah I can help you with that. With my help I can guide you through Hotlands straight to the King's castle, no problem!" She smiled reassuringly.

"But what's the catch?" John asked. This was way too good to be true.

"Well, um, there is one tiny issue. See there is this robot I made called Mettaton."

Delilah and Iris perked up. "We heard of him, he's some sort of robotic TV star right?"

"Thats right. But he's also programmed with anti-human combat features. When I first found you guys on my camera Mettaton found out as well. Now he's planning on making you part of his show while at the same time trying to kill you."

John groaned. "Oh, so we are going to be in the Hunger Games eh?"

"Wh-what's the Hunger Games?"

"It's not important. So maybe we should get going before he gets here."

"Actually he already knows you're here."

Suddenly the light's went out.

"Oh no."

*OHHH YES! WELCOME, BEAUTIES...* Suddenly a spotlight turned on revealing the rectangular robot. *TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!*

Play Showtime

Suddenly the room was lit up by multicolored spotlights and confetti rained down. *OH BOY, I CAN TELL IT'S GOING TO BE A WONDERFUL SHOW! I'M YOUR HOST, THE FABULOUS METTATON! TODAY WE HAVE SEVEN WONDERFUL GUESTS JOINING US! AND NOT JUST ANY REGULAR GUESTS, BUT THE SEVEN HUMANS!" The spotlights lit up over the humans. John flushed pink and buried his face in his hoodie.

'Oh no, I forgot he has stage fright' Delilah bit her lip. She quickly jumped in front of the camera that nobody noticed until now. She gave the brightest grin she could muster.

"Hi everyone! You heard him correctly, we are the seven humans. My name is Delilah, these are my friends Jerod, Iris, Diego, Caleb, Frisk, and then there's my big brother John! Go easy on him, he's camera shy." She whispered that last part. The rest of the group nervously waved.

*OHOHO, WHAT ENTHUSIASM! ALMOST AS BIG AS YOURS TRULY!* Mettaton clapped his hands. *LOOKS LIKE THEY ARE READY TO BEGIN THE QUIZ.* Seven podiums rose out of the ground with a buzzer on each of them. "THERE IS ONLY ONE RULE, ONE OF YOU MUST ANSWER CORRECTLY... OR GET SHOCKED BY 50,000 VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY.*

John gulped as he looked ready to break down.

*OH AND CRYING IS AGAINST THE RULES AS WELL!*

"I-I-I Don't know if I can do this." John whimpered. He felt Jerod and Delilah grab his hands.

"You got this dude." Jerod said.

"Don't worry John, we'll be here by your side."

John took a deep breath and nodded to them. They all got onto their podiums.

*ALRIGHT, LETS GET EVERYTHING READY!* Mettaton said as a projector screen came down the wall.

Your ready? The screen said

"Uh, you misspelled you're." Iris said only to get immediately tased. She collapsed on the ground.

*NO ONE LIKES A GRAMMAR NAZI!* Mettaton scolded. Iris glared as she wiped the drool off of her mouth. "ALRIGHT, FIRST QUESTION!"

1. What is the Prize for answering correctly?

Delilah pressed her buzzer. She had an idea, based on Mettaton's personality so far, what the answer might be.

"The Answer is more questions."

*RIGHT! SOUNDS LIKE YOU GET IT!* Mettaton clapped his hands.

Delilah wiped her forehead in relief. The group gave her a thumbs up. Alphys gave one as well, she was hiding behind Mettaton.

*NOW HERE IS YOUR PRIZE!*

2. What's the king's full name?

"Asgore Dreemurr!" John said immediately.

*CORRECT, LOOKS LIKE YOU DON'T HAVE STAGE FRIGHT AFTER ALL!*

John pouted but gave a small smile.

*ENOUGH ABOUT YOU. LET'S TALK ABOUT ME!*

3. What are robots made of?

None of the group knew the correct answer. Right before the time ran out Iris pressed the buzzer.

"Um, I'm not really sure the exact answer. I do know that robots have titanium metal and structural composites of carbon fibers."

*OH, TOO BAD! YOU WERE ONLY HALF RIGHT SO I WILL USE 25,000 VOLTS.* Iris cried out as she got shocked again. *THE CORRECT ANSWER WAS METAL & MAGIC!*

4. Two trains, Train A, and Train B, simultaneously depart Station A and Station B. Station A, and Station B are 252.5 miles apart from each other. Train A is moving at 124.7mph towards Station B, and Train B is moving at 253.5mph towards Station A. If both trains departed at 10:00 AM and it is now 10:08, how much longer until both trains pass each other?

Normally a question like this would be no challenge for Iris but she was too disorientated from the second shock to think properly. 'Come on, it's 30... something. What was it?!' She panicked.

She looked over at Alphys and saw her doing a gesture with her hands. She realized that she was signing the answer. She quickly answered it.

"32.058 minutes."

*WONDERFUL! I'M ASTOUNDED, FOLKS!*

Iris mouthed a thank you to Alphys.

5. How many flies are in this jar?

The screen then showed an image of a jar full of moving flies.

"Um, 55?" Jerod guessed. He was immediately shocked.

*WRONG! NOW LETS PLAY A MEMORY GAME!*

6. What monster is this?

The screen then showed the corner part of a monster's face. Frisk immediately recognized it.

"Froggit!"

*Nope* Frisk got shocked and almost fell over.

Caleb scowled. "What, that is obviously..." He looked at the screen again and saw the image changed to Mettaton wearing a shirt of Froggit. "Hey that's cheating!"

Mettaton ignored the protest and proceeded to the easiest question in history.

7. Would you smooch a fanfic writer?

Everyone answered at the same time.

*GREAT ANSWER! I LOVE IT!* Mettaton cheered. Alphys gave them a stinkeye for that answer. *NOW HERE'S A SIMPLE ONE.*

8. How many letters in the name Mettaton?

Except the 'n' at the end of the name increased rapidly covering the screen to disorient them.

Diego pressed the buzzer. "The answer is eight." He guessed, he tried to sound it out in his head.

*OF COURSE THAT WAS EASY FOR YOU!* Mettaton said. *TIME TO BREAK OUT THE BIG GUNS!*

9. In the dating simulation video game "Mew Mew Kissy Cutie" what is Mew Mew's favorite food?

Iris immediately jumped up and slammed on the buzzer. She was about to say something but Alphys interrupted her.

"OH! OH! I KNOW THIS ONE! IT'S SNAIL ICE CREAM!" She said.

"I know that. I remember in chapter four when everyone went to the beach and she buys ice cream for all her friends but no one else wants it because it's snail flavor." Iris finished.

Alphys stared at her astonished. "You know that game?"

Iris shrugged. "Eh, it's an alright game, I'm more into the show. I take it you like the game?"

"Like it? I LOVE IT, ESPECIALLY THAT SCENE! IT'S ONE OF MY FAVORITE PARTS OF THE GAME BECAUSE IT'S ACTUALLY A VERY POWERFUL message about friendship and..." Alphys trailed off when she realized that everyone was staring at her, even Mettaton. The robot's arms were crossed. She smiled nervously.

*ALPHYS, ALPHYS, ALPHYS. YOU AREN'T HELPING OUR CONTESTANT, ARE YOU? OOOOOOH! YOU SHOULD HAVE TOLD ME. I'LL ASK A QUESTION YOU'LL BE SURE TO KNOW THE ANSWER TO! AND I'LL LET YOUR NEW FRIEND IRIS ANSWER FOR EVERYONE!*

10. Who does Dr. Alphys have a crush on?

Play Final Jeopardy theme

Iris looked at Alphys. She was shaking her head mouthing no. She had an idea of what the answer might be but she didn't feel like humiliating Alphys. So for her sake, she came up with the first think she could think of.

"The Penguin Squad!"

...

The group looked at her with a really confused look.

"What the heck is th-"

*THE PENGUIN SQUAD!? THAT GANG OF RUFFIAN PENGUINS AND THEIR MAGIC FLYING TRASH CANS? WHO WOULD EVER LOVE THOSE LOSERS, ESPECIALLY THEIR LEADER WEARING THE BLUE HOODIE! THEY ARE THE EMBODIMENT OF CRIPPLING DEPRESSION, THINKING IT'S STILL 2010! SHE WOULDN'T BE CAUGHT DEAD WITH THEM RIGHT ALPHYS?*

"Errm..." Alphys nervously looked away, blushing pink.

Mettaton gave a robotic cough. *WELL WELL WELL. WITH DR. ALPHYS HELPING YOU THE SHOW HAS NO DRAMATIC TENSION! WE CAN'T GO ON LIKE THIS! BUT. BUT! THIS WAS JUST THE PILOT EPISODE! NEXT UP, MORE DRAMA! MORE ROMANCE! MORE BLOODSHED! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLINGS...!* He waved goodbye as his wheel leg turned into a rocket thruster and he flew up into the ceiling. The normal lights came back on as the show ended.

"Well that was certainly something."

"That's one way to put it." Chara said.

"Um, th-that last question, thanks for making something up."

"No problem." Iris said. "So I guess we gotta get moving?"

"Alright, you can take the back exit of the Lab to get through Hotland" Alphys suggested.

"Thanks Dr. Alphys." Diego said.

"Please, just call me Alphys. Oh, let me give you my phone number. Th-then... if you need help you could..."

"What's wrong?" Frisk asked, Alphys was staring at their phones.

"Your phones look ancient! Where did you get them?!"

"Hey, my phone isn't that old!" John said.

"Y-yeah but the others don't even have texting." Alphys said. "Hold on, let me just take those phones for a second." The group handed her their phones as she rushed upstairs. They heard loud machinery noises and what sounded like their phones screaming in pain. Not a minute later Alphys came back down and handed them a new set of slick looking phones, all color coded to who they belonged to.

"Well I'll be damned, this is insane." John said looking at his new phone.

"Yep, I transferred all your data in each of your phones to these new ones, so you don't have to worry about giving everyone a new cell number. I also added you all to the Underground's no. 1 social network. Now we're officially friends." Alphys chuckled. The group chuckled with her. Then the chuckling was dragging on longer than necessary and the group stared at her. Eventually she stopped and there was an awkward pause. "I'm going to the bathroom, good luck!" She ran to the door which she entered and went back through it.

With nothing left to do the group headed out the lab.

"So we went from a overbearing Goat mother, an narcissistic skeleton, a killer fish warrior, and now we got a deadly robot TV star." John said.

"Don't forget us all having super powers." Caleb said.

"And a ghost following you." Chara added.

"Yeeaaahhhhh, this is going to be a hell of a story when we get home."

Chapter Text

The group left Alphys Lab and went through Hotland. Everywhere they looked there was molten magma and machinery. The heat was pretty intense but John still kept his sweatshirt on. They reached a conveyor belt and hopped on it as it pulled them along.

"Amazing, just look at all the machines around here!" Iris said, eyes sparkling. She was looking around the place as they were pushed along.

"I knew monsters had some form of technology but I had no idea it was this advance." Delilah said. She just assumed that their tech was somewhere alongside the humans on the surface but based on Mettaton and what she saw around her they seemed more advance than humans. Maybe it was a good idea for Iris to copy some of Alphy's data.

"Man, I'm liking this heat." Jerod said, walking with passion. "It really pumps you up for the road ahead."

"Sure, whatever you say." John mumbled.

Suddenly Iris's phone pinged. She picked up her slick new phone and saw that she got a notification on the Undernet. It was Alphys updating her status.

Alphys: time to help the humans!

Just a second later another notification came up.

Alphys: gonna call them in a minute! =^.^=

Alphys: I HATE USING THE PHONE I DON'T WANT TO DO THIS LMAO

Iris groaned and changed her phone settings. Now she won't get constant status updates on her phone. They reached the end of the belt and they finally moved on. Along the path they were encountered by a monster. They looked like a small volcano with legs.

"Hey Chara, got any info to tell us?" Diego asked.

"Oh, this is a Vulkin. They are pretty nice monsters." Chara said, not paying that much attention and looking around.

Diego nodded "Alright, this doesn't seem so hard." He said stepping forward.

The Vulkin squealed at the kid. "Ah! I'll help! Healing magmas!"

'Healing magmas?' Diego questioned. 'Well maybe it's like Woshua's healing water. Vulkin looks friendly.'

"Sure, you can heal me." Diego shrugged.

"Oh! Ah! I'm helping!" Vulkin said as magma erupted from it's head. Diego stood there and waited for the lava to hit him.

"Diego, what the hell are you doing!" Chara shouted.

Diego turned around. "Whats wro-"

Suddenly the lava enveloped him. The rest of the group jumped in terror at the screams that suddenly pierced their ears. Diego thrashed around as the overwhelming heat of the thick molten rock scorched him to the bone.

Chara turned to Frisk. "Rewind NOW!" The screams were beginning to die out.

Frisk nodded as he concentrated fast.

Reload

Diego gasped as he found the burning sensation suddenly disappear. He was back with the group just before they ran into Vulkin.

"Diego!" Caleb immediately hugged his brother. Diego patted his brother on the back, still a little in shock.

"Are you okay Diego?" Delilah asked.

"...water." He said hoarsely. He cleared his throat. "I want water p-please."

Iris handed him the canteen of water she was carrying. He quickly gulped it down. The cooling sensation of the water reassured him that he wasn't being burnt to a crisp.

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!?" Chara screamed angrily.

Diego flinched and looked up at the ghost boy. "W-what?"

"Wha-wha- WHAT happened back there? You seriously just stood there as someone blasted you with magma! Are you brain dead or something?" He looked at him with fury in his eyes.

"But Vulkin said that was healing magma." Diego said. "I thought it was like Woshua's healing water."

"First, if it would heal you then it would've been green. Second, IT'S FREAKING MAGMA! I didn't warn you about it because I was sure you were smart enough to move on your own, guess I was wrong."

"Hey, leave my brother alone!" Caleb shouted back at him. "You can't blame him for thinking it wouldn't hurt him. We barely understand the magic down here, we've only been here for several days. You've had a longer time to learn about monsters."

"Yeah, how was I supposed to know ghosts cry acid tears." John said.

"And what about blue attacks?" Jerod said. "I didn't know about that and I ended up sliced open.

Chara groaned and shook his head. His demeanor calmed down. "You're right. I guess you all still have more to learn about monsters and magic. I'm... sorry." He said, crossing his arms.

Diego nodded. "It's alright. I should've known better. Let me go and try that again."

Jerod's eyebrows furrowed. "You sure dude? You did just get killed by Vulkin."

"Yeah, lets go." Diego got up and walked again, the group following behind. They ran into Vulkin again.

"Ah! I'll help! Healing magmas!"

"Wait!" Diego shouted. Vulkin paused and looked at him curiously. "Look, your magmas do not heal, they hurt so please don't do it."

"Ahh... Not... helping? Okay..." Vulkin looked down upset.

Diego frowned and knelt down by the little volcano. "Hey, don't be so upset. At least you were trying to help others, that's pretty co- er... awesome."

Vulkin looked at him and smiled brightly again with hearts in it's eyes. "Ahh! Tries the hardest!"

Diego grinned and hugged it. He immediately regretted it as he felt his body get singed. He winced and pulled back quickly.

"Ahh... you hurt?"

"N-no, I'm good." He gave a thumbs up. He waved bye as he and the group quickly passed by.

"See that wasn't so hard." Diego said.

"Yeah, but you still got burnt by hugging him." Iris said.

"Quiet, I wanted to do that."

The group continued forward until the path suddenly end. Literally, the path ends with a huge gap with a lava ocean down below.

"Uh, did we miss a turn?" John asked.

"No, I didn't see any other path back there." Frisk said.

"I could fly us over." Caleb suggested. Diego paled.

"Um, it's not that I don't trust you bro but I prefer to not dangle over anything intensely hot for awhile." His little brother nodded understanding.

"So how are we expected to get across?" Delilah asked.

Suddenly Iris's phone rang.

"Hello?" Iris answered.

"Uh! H-hi, Alphys here. I was just uh checking to make sure that you guys are doing okay."

"We're doing fine Alphys. Well except for this big gap in our way."

"O-oh, let me look into the camera... Alright I see you guys. Oh this puzzle, it's an easy one. See that big vent in front of the gap?"

Iris looked and saw a vent by the edge of the cliff. Steam was coming out of it.

"Yeah?"

"Well the CORE cools off by releasing steam from them, and at the same time it doubles as a jump pad to launch you across the gap."

John's eyes widened. "Jump pad, really?"

"Yeah, just step on it anywhere and it will launch you in a set direction, all of the steam vents across Hotland are built like that."

"Um, this seems a little dang-"

"YOLO!" Jerod yelled as he ran towards the vent. Suddenly he got blasted across the gap and reached the other side. He grinned at the group and gave a thumbs up.

"Well, guess that settles that." John said as he followed next. The rest of the group got ready to jump across one at a time.

"Looks like you were right, thanks Alphys."

"I-It's no problem... Oh one more thing. Watch out for o-orange lasers. Y-you have to be moving, um they won't um... move through those ones!" Alphys stuttered. "... Uh bye!" Alphys quickly hung up. Iris frowned at the phone but shrugged it off and rejoined the others.

The group continued on going through some more vents and now lasers, thanks to Alphys they didn't have to worry about them. They reached a new puzzle that was a big locked door. It seemed that it had to be opened from two different places. Iris and Delilah volunteered to open them while the others waited by the door.

John was looking through the posts Alphys made. He arched an eyebrow at one.

"...Undyne called me to ask about the weather?' There's no weather down here."

"Then where did that snow come from, the one in Snowdin?" Frisk asked.

"That's... a really good question."

"I questioned that too, but I just accepted that I would never know the answer." Chara said.

"Like this thing?" Frisk said, holding up the Artifact.

"Oh yeah, we never asked Alphys about it." Caleb said.

"I doubt that she will know what this is at all." Frisk said.

"A little harsh don't you think?"

"Not really Diego, I just had a feeling that nobody knows what this is."

"Well, it still seems pretty useful, given how it saved Undyne." John said.

Suddenly the door opened. Delilah teleported back to the group with Iris in tow.

"All done!" Delilah said cheerfully.

"Good job sis, lets go." John said as they went through the door. It was pitch black inside. They noticed that Iris was doing something on her phone.

"What are you doing?" Jerod asked.

"Hacking into the light system."

"You can do that?"

"Yeah, Alphys left this app on this phone to help me hack into some systems. Hold on... there! Let's brighten it up."

The lights came on showing where the group is. They are in what looks like a recording studio for a kitchen.

"Oh no."

Mettaton slowly rose out from behind the counter top, wearing a chef's hat.

*OHHHH YES! WELCOME, BEAUTIES, TO THE UNDERGROUND'S PREMIER COOKING SHOW! COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT! PRE-HEAT YOUR OVENS, BECAUSE WE'VE GOT A VERY SPECIAL RECIPE FOR YOU TODAY! WE'RE GOING TO BE MAKING... A CAKE! MY LOVELY ASSISTANTS HERE WILL GATHER THE INGREDIENTS. EVERYONE GIVE THEM A BIG HAND!*

In the background they could hear an applause towards them.

*WE'LL NEED SUGAR, MILK, AND EGGS. GO FOR IT, BEAUTIES!*

The Diego and Delilah went to get the ingredients from the fridge.

"I guess this isn't so bad. Just a cooking show." Delilah commented to Diego.

"At least it's not with Gordon Ramsay, that guys scares me." Diego said. He scowled at the fridge. "Hey, there's no milk or eggs in the fridge."

*MILK? EGGS? IN THE FRIDGE? NO WAY, DARLING! THEY'D GET COLD! THEY ARE ON THE COUNTER OVER THERE" He pointed and to the ingredients over by the sink.

"They are probably spoiled if left outside." Diego said.

*I ASSURE YOU DIEGO THAT THEY ARE INDEED NOT SPOILED! THEY ARE MEANT TO BE COOKED ANYWAY SO NO REASON TO LET IT GET COLD!*

Diego flared his nostrils but bit his tongue and let it go. Cooking is a passionate subject for him so he really didn't like to hear it get besmirched from someone else.

The group put the ingredients on the counter as Mettaton congratulated them. *PERFECT! GREAT JOB, BEAUTIES! WE'VE GOT ALL OF THE INGREDIENTS NEEDED TO BAKE THE CAKE! MILK... SUGAR... EGGS... OH MY! WAIT A MAGNIFICENT MOMENT! HOW COULD I FORGET! WE'RE MISSING THE MOST IMPORTANT INGREDIENT!*

"Is it butter?" Diego asked.

*NOPE IT'S...* Out of nowhere, Mettaton pulled out a chainsaw. *A HUMAN SOUL!*

Everyone yelped and jumped back as the robot moved towards them. Suddenly Mettaton's phone started ringing. He paused and answered it. *HELLO...? I'M KIND OF IN THE MIDDLE OF SOMETHING HERE.*

"W-wait a second!" Alphys said. "You can't chop open the humans on live TV, there's uh... there's children watching."

*OH MY, YOU ARE ABSOLUTELY RIGHT ALPHYS! HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN!* Mettaton tossed the chainsaw off the stage. *LUCKILY I HAPPEN TO HAVE AN OPTION RIGHT HERE! MTT-BRAND ALWAYS-CONVENIENT HUMAN-SOUL-FLAVOR-SUBSTITUTE! A CAN OF WHICH... IS JUST OVER ON THAT COUNTER! WELL, DARLING? WHY DON'T YOU GO GET IT?* The group peered over him and saw a lone can on top of a counter. They shrugged and walked over.

"Wonder what an artificial human-soul-flavor-substitute taste like?" John thought.

"I don't know, what does your arm taste like?" Chara retorted.

John sighed. "Should've seen that coming."

Diego reached over to the can and the counter suddenly rose from the ground. It reached way up high above the stage. Everyone sweatdropped at the sudden change of circumstances.

Mettaton strolled over next to them. *BY THE WAY, OUR SHOW RUNS ON A STRICT SCHEDULE. IF YOU CAN'T GET THE CAN IN THE NEXT ONE MINUTE... WE'LL JUST HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE ORIGINAL PLAN! WITH PROVIDED CENSORS... SO... BETTER START CLIMBING, BEAUTIFUL!*

"Don't worry guys, I'll get it." Caleb said, straightening his hat.

"Be careful." Diego warned.

"Don't worry, I will." Caleb winked as he flew upwards. At the speed he was going he would get to the top in no time. He grinned, this was going to be easy.

*GEE, THIS IS GETTING PRETTY EGGCITING! BETTER WATCH OUT!* Mettaton yelled as he flew up to be level with Caleb, only slightly higher than him. He started chucking eggs at the flying human. Caleb cried out as the splattered egg on his face obscured his vision. He wiped it off and quickly took evasive maneuvers around the eggs. It wasn't easy due to him being new to the flying thing.

"Hey, isn't that a little eggstreme?" John joked. There was a rim shot and stocked laughter in the background. He blushed at the audience reaction.

*GOT MILK DARLING?* Mettaton poured a carton of milk on Caleb. He groaned as he felt the cold creamy liquid stick to his clothes.

*HOW ABOUT A LITTLE SUGAR?* Mettaton threw a bag of sugar in the air which got in Caleb's eyes. He cried in pain as he rubbed his eyes. He glared at Mettaton and was about to lash out at him but he remembered that he's on a time limit. He looked at the time and saw that he had ten seconds left and he was only halfway done! He quickly used all his energy to fly faster that he ever had before, zooming past Mettaton. Finally he made it to the top and grabbed the can. He sighed as he looked at the timer. He barely made it with only 0.5 seconds to spare. He let his body relax as he dropped down. He quickly remembered just how high up he was and quickly went back to hover mode before he hit the bottom and made a big stain in front of everyone. He presented the can to everyone as the audience cheered.

*MY MY. IT SEEMS YOU'VE BESTED ME. BUT ONLY BECAUSE YOU ARE FORTUNATE ENOUGH TO HAVE A TRUMP CARD AT YOU'RE DISPOSAL! OH, I LOATHE TO THINK OF WHAT WOULD HAVE HAPPENED TO YOU WITHOUT YOUR POWERS! WELL, TOODLES!* He said as he carted off.

"W-wait, what about the cake?" Delilah said.

*OH YES! ABOUT THE SUBSTITUTION... HAVEN'T YOU EVER SEEN A COOKING SHOW BEFORE? I ALREADY BAKED THE CAKE AHEAD OF TIME! SO FORGET IT!* He quickly added before he left.

"Does everyone down here have no idea on how to cook something edible?" Diego asked. He looked at Caleb who was a mess, coated in egg yolk, milk, and powdered sugar.

"Ugh I need a change of clothes!" Caleb complained.

"Sorry bro but we don't have any spares you can use, your gonna have to wait till we get to another store." Diego said.

"But you did a good job making it to the top, thank to you we weren't disemboweled by a chainsaw." Jerod patted his back.

John was rummaging through the refrigerator.

"What are you doing?" Frisk asked.

"Stocking up on food for us. We haven't really eaten that much lately." John said. "Hmm, there's only raw meats and veggies."

"Well you could always use some more vegetables in your diet." Delilah said.

"Yeah, it's good for your health." Iris added.

John glared at the two of them. "Keep your vegetarian lifestyle away from mine please."

"Yeah, meat eaters for the win!" Jerod and John fist-bumped. The two girls rolled their eyes.

"Hey, there's a pack of instant noodles." John pulled out a small package. "We just got to find an working oven..." He glanced to the kitchen oven. "That doesn't explode then we're good."

"Ready to move out gang?" Chara asked.

"Yeah, come on!" Jerod said. The group nodded and got out of the frying pan and... back to... the frying pan...

Awkward.

Chapter Text

The group stepped out of the elevator they rode in. Outside there was something that caught their attention. In the distance loomed a gigantic machine.

"What's the heck is that?" Jerod said.

"That's the Core." Iris said. "It's what is giving power to the entire Underground."

"It's that big!?" Delilah said. "I'd hate to see what would happen if it just suddenly broke down."

"Yes... well somewhere in there is an elevator that will take us straight to the castle." Iris said.

"That means we might get home by the end of the day!" Caleb cheered.

"But... what are you going to do to d- Asgore?" Chara asked. Diego thought he heard a twinge of concern in his voice.

The group looked at each other. "We really don't know what we will do. He seems to be the one deadset on killing us, he is the king. But whatever we do we won't let him kill us." Diego answered. Chara seemed to like that answer and nodded to them.

"Lets move on." Frisk said. They reached what looked like a sentry stand and the one behind the stand was...

"Hi Sans!" John waved.

Sans looked at him and winked. "heya buddy, what's up? wanna eat my wiener?"

John froze in place and his eyes widened comically as his brain just processed what he said. His face turned pink. "What?"

"yeah, my wiener." He held up a hot dog on a bun. "i'm in the hot dog selling business now. want one, only 30g."

"Oh, um sure." John breathed handing him money for the whole group to get a hot dog.

Sans paused at Frisk. "uh, your backpack is too full. guess i'll just leave it up here." He placed it on top of Frisk's head. Frisk smiled.

"want more? kay, it's on the house." He place another one on top of the first hot dog. Frisk kept both hot dogs balanced perfectly on his head. He grinned playfully.

Well this is going to take awhile...

"sorry pal but that's my limit." Sans said.

The group stared awestruck at Frisk who had twenty-nine hot dogs stacked on his head being balanced perfectly. They have never seen such balance skills before.

"Aw, c'mon Sans." Frisk pouted.

"i'll be frank with you kid. as much as i enjoy putting hot dogs on your head thirty is just an excessive number. twenty-nine, now that's fine but thirty... well does it look like my arms can reach that high?"

"I'm more surprised you could reach any higher than tw-" Frisk suddenly stumbled a bit. He recovered but the stacked hot dogs wobbled above him. It suddenly collapsed. John reacted and managed to catch one with an empty hot dog bun. The rest hit the ground.

"Ha, I saved it!" John said triumphantly.

"good job john. thanks to you this wiener made safely in-between two buns."

John's grin broke into one of horror as he blushed. Jerod snorted and nearly choked on his hot dog. Delilah chortled a bit as Iris rolled her eyes. Diego snickered as well, cursing hims childish immaturity. Caleb and Frisk looked at each other in confusion.

"I don't get it."

With that the three human broke. Jerod, Delilah, and Diego fell over in laughter. John just stood there frozen in embarrassment. He turned to Sans with his usual grin, yet now it looked smug. He tossed the hot dog at the skeleton's face. It bounced off of him and fell onto the ground with the other's.

"hey, stop hitting people's faces with wieners." (a.n: I regret nothing)

John scowled at him and opened his mouth to say something but then his phone rang. He picked it up and heard Papyrus on the phone.

"GREETING'S CYAN HUMAN! MY PUN SENSES WERE TINGLING... IS SANS WITH YOU?"

"Yes, he's running a hot dog stand in Hotland and making hot dog puns at me!" John tattled. By then Diego and Delilah were calming down from their giggle fit but Jerod was still on the ground clutching his stomach.

"WHAT, HE IS SUPPOSED TO BE AT HIS SENTRY STATION IN SNOWDIN! HE'S SLACKING OFF BY DOING WORK... HE TRULY IS THE MASTER OF LAZINESS!"

John looked at Sans and grinned evilly. "Sans wanted me to tell you that he's not the master.

"WHAT?! THEN WHO IS?"

"He said the person's name is updog." San's eyes dimmed for a second realizing what can of worms he just opened.

"UPDOG?... WHAT IS UPDOG?"

Instantly the entire group broke into laughter except Jerod was laughing nonstop without a break. So now he was just laughing even harder.

There was a moment of silence on the phone as Papyrus said nothing. Suddenly they were invaded by an ear piercing screech.

"NYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE-" The phone suddenly hung up.

Then San's phone started ringing. Sans picked it up.

"hel-"

"-EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE"

John grinned at the distressed skeleton. "Have fun with that Mr. Punmaster." John said. He turned to the group. "C'mon guys lets go." He looked at Jerod who was still on the ground in silent laughter. He cocked his head as he lightly kicked him on the side. His friend slowly began to calm down as he took a big gulp of air.

"I can't believe you did that, no one ever falls for that!"

John smirked slightly and shrugged. He gave a final wave at Sans before walking off with the rest of the group. The group took another break by a three way road. John got a post from Papyrus on the Undernet. He assumed it was Papyrus, who else would go around with the nickname CoolSkeleton95. Also his profile pick was him flexing in front of a mirror wearing sunglasses, with giant muscular biceps photoshopped onto his arms, even the biceps have sunglasses! He and the rest of the group went onto a Groupchat to talk.

CoolSkeleton95: DEAR HUMANS! I APOLOGIZE FOR YOU BEING SUBJUGATED TO SUCH AWFUL PUNS FROM MY BROTHER SANS! YOU MUST BE VERY DISTRESSED!

HeresJohnny17: Eh, It wasn't so bad Pap

StrongestSoul24: IT Was Hilarious! XD

HeresJohnny17: Wait, Jerod? Why is your username the strongest soul?

StrongestSoul24: Because I am! *Flexes muscles*

CoolSkeleton95: ME TOO! *Flexes as well*

Delilah15Dancing: Well my brother is stronger than you-

-_-Frisk: Hey I see what you did there. :)

Ep1cNoScope: Eyyyy.

Delilah15Dancing: -guys when it comes to soul power. Wait what are you two talking about?

-_-Frisk: Um nothing.

Ep1cNoScope: Yeah nothing.

Delilah15Dancing:... Okay. Anyway, he is the one that saved Papyrus from that giant bone attack.

!OtakuGirl1: Before fainting, at least Jerod still stayed conscious before beating Undyne.

StrongestSoul24: OH BURN BY Iris!

Diegolikescooking: Please don't talk about burning.

You got a friend request from NAPSTABLOOK22

HeresJohnny17: Hey Nappstablook sent us a friend request.

It seemed to have already rejected it'self

HeresJohnny17: What the!? Oh hell no! :(

20 Friend requests from HeresJohnny17

NAPSTABLOOK22 accepted the friend request

NAPSTABLOOK22: oh... hey guys

CoolSkeleton95: GREETINGS FELLOW MONSTER!

HeresJohnny17: Napstablook what was that, rejecting your own friend request?

NAPSTABLOOK22: oooohh sorry, My finger slipped.

HeresJohnny17: You don't have fingers!

NAPSTABLOOK22: Oh...

HereJohnny17: ? Forget it.

!OtakuGirl1: Hey how did you find our usernames on the undernet?

Undyne: Oh, right after you punks had your cooking show with that bucket of bolts, he released online your usernames for the whole underground to see.

Mtt-Official: Whoops, sorry Darling.

iHateFridays: Do you guys know where my will to live is? I tried asking my kids but I was blocked.

Alphys: Oh no not them again! Quick, block them!

iHateFridays was blocked from the Groupchat.

Diegolikescooking: That's not going to stop the rest of the underground from sending us friend requests.

Ep1cNoScope: Oh come on bro, how many monsters would want to chat with us humans?

99 Friends added to Groupchat

-_-Frisk: Oh no.

M0NST3Rkid: Yo, hi guys!

Fr0ggyFroggit:(Hello again humans) Ribbit

ChillDrake-the-Rebel: You guys were awesome on that cooking show! with Caleb and his dodging skills.

SoSorry1010: OhhihumanssorryforbeingsoquickwiththisbutIjustwantedtomakeaquickcameo!

TeMgotoColleg: Hoi, Tem waTed to conglaturate humANs fOr srVivinG!

Delilah15Dancing: Um guys, I think we need to get moving.

Jerry: So, how about that Mew-Mew Kissie Cutie 2 movie?

!OtakuGirl1: And On that note, we gotta go!

RG01: Dude, I think I see you guys!

RG02: Turn around

The group exited their groupchat and noticed two monsters approaching. They both wore Royal Guard armor but one had bunny ears and the other had dragon ears.

Iris mentally cursed herself for getting caught. "Um, hi"

"There you are! See dude, I told you they were the humans." The bunny monster named 01 said.

"...ask them the thing." 02 replied.

"Oh right. Hey humans, can we get your autographs?"

The group sweatdropped. "Huh?

"Yeah, here." 01 handed them an autograph book. The group was confused, they thought they were being captured.

"... go on, sign it." 02 said.

The group did as they were asked and scribbled their names onto the book. They handed it back to the bunny monster who eagerly took it back.

"Thank you guys so much, you seven have fun!" 01 said as they both walked off. The group silently began to walk away from them.

"... Huh? What is it, bro?" The group paused when they heard the two monsters say something to each other. "Yeah I know they're humans so wha- Oh that's right..." The two guards faced the group again. "Bummer. This is, like... Mega embarrassing. We, like, actually totally have to kill you and stuff."

"Here we go again." John muttered as the battle commenced.

"Team attack!" Both guards said. They swung their blades and star-like projectiles went towards them. The group dodge rolled out of the way.

"So what do we do?" Caleb asked.

"I got a dumb idea." Frisk said. "I gotta get closer to the dragon monster."

"Alright, we'll distract them." Jerod said elbowing John. The two of them stood up to the guards as they began swinging at them again. Jerod zoomed out of the way as John destroyed the starts with his knives. The guards didn't notice Frisk standing behind 02 and was rubbing off the dirt and grime on the armor. Suddenly 02 flinched.

"Are you alright bro?" 01 asked.

"...can't...take it. ...armor...too...HOT!" 02 took off his upper body armor, revealing his scaly muscular torso. "...much better."

John just stood there a little surprised by the monster suddenly deciding to strip in the middle of battle. 01 was bothered as well so his attacked missed.

"D... Dude..." 01 said surprised.

"Hey, you look like you got something to say." Frisk said to 01, teasingly patting 02's pecs like bongo drums."Maybe it's best to be honest about your feelings."

"Wait, what are you talking about Frisk?" Jerod asked. John had a nervous expression, he knew exactly what was going on here.

"...what?" 02 asked causally, not at all bothered by the human playing bongo's with his pecs.

"I... I... D-dude... I can't... I can't take this anymore! Not like this! Like, 02! I like... I like, LIKE you, bro! The way you fight... The way you talk... I love doing team attacks with you. I love standing here with you, bouncing and waving our weapons in sync... 02... I, like, want to stay like this forever..."

The group watched as this event unfolded in front of them. 02 stayed silent.

01 sweated nervously. " Uh... I mean, uh... Whew, bro! That human, Put me, uh, under mind control! What was I just saying? It's a blur dude! Whoops!"

" ...01." 02 said suddenly.

"Y-Yeah, bro?"

" ...do you want to ...get some ice cream... after this?"

"Sure dude! Haha!"

The two pf them stared at each other happily. Forgetting about the humans they both walked off.

"Aw, that was so cute." Delilah cooed.

Jerod smirked. "Well good for them. They both look like a cute cop- John are you okay?"

John felt a tear slip on his cheek. He quickly rubbed it off and cleared his throat.

"Y-yeah, I'm good. Lets get going."

Jerod was confused but followed him with the rest of the group as they moved forward.

Chapter Text

The group ran into another pair of monsters just after they finished with the two royal guards. They both looked like a walking candlestick made out of rope and a flame for a head. They gave the group a grin so wide that it would give Sans a run for his money.

"It's the rare and threatening Double Davis!" Chara said

"The what?"

"Its a synonym I came up with. They are both actually called Pyrope, this mischievous monster is never warm enough."

"How is it not warm enough, it's sweltering in here?" Iris complained.

"Feel the heat." One Pyrope said as it tried to whip them with it's flaming ropes. The group kept moving and dodged the attack. The other Pyrope threw a set of bombs at them but Iris absorbed them before they went off. She then noticed a thermostat over on a metal pipe. She went to it and crank the heat up high. Everyone felt a blast of the intense heat as it distorted their vision.

"YEAH! Hot! HOT! Hotter! HOTTER!" The Double Davis cheered. They were so excited that they didn't notice the group sneaking away.

They entered a dark corridor that reminded them of another corridor they ran into earlier.

"This is seeming oddly familiar." John said.

"Yeah, I think this is another one of Mettaton's shows." Jerod said.

"What is it this time,a new's report?" Chara quipped.

"At least it's air conditioned." Iris said relived.

"Well first thing first, can you turn on the lights Iris?" Delilah asked.

"Sure thing." Iris said as she hacked into the lights using her phone. The room was illuminated once again revealing where they are.

"Are you serious?" Chara's eyebrow twitched.

*OHHHHHH YESSS! GOOD EVENING, BEAUTIES AND GENTLEBEAUTIES! THIS IS METTATON, REPORTING LIVE FROM MTT NEWS!* Mettaton announced from his news station. The monsters that were watching this at home saw the humans on the secondary screen in the back. *AN INTERESTING SITUATION HAS ARISEN IN EASTERN HOTLAND! FORTUNATELY, OUR CORRESPONDENTS ARE OUT THERE, REPORTING LIVE! BRAVE CORRESPONDENTS! PLEASE FIND SOMETHING NEWSWORTHY TO REPORT! OUR MANY WONDERFUL VIEWERS ARE WAITING FOR YOU!*

Jerod gave a gesture to the screen with one of his fingers. Luckily that was censored out.

"So we can pick anything to report?" Delilah asked, shoving Jerod out of the way.

*ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING INTERESTING, AS LONG AS IT'S IN THE AREA! NOW HOP TO IT!*

"How about this one?" Jerod asked, holding a basket ball.

*BASKETBALL'S A BLAST, ISN'T IT, DARLING? TOO BAD YOU CAN'T PLAY WITH THESE BALLS.* Jerod snorted at the euphemism. *THEY'RE MTT-BRAND FASHION BASKETBALLS. FOR WEARING, NOT PLAYING. YOU CAN'T GET RICH AND FAMOUS LIKE MOI WITHOUT BEAUTIFYING A FEW ORBS.*

'Oh I bet you can't' John thought to himself. He picked up a video game. It was called "Mettaton 2: The Mettaton-ing"

*OOH LA LA! THIS VIDEO GAME YOU FOUND... IS DYNAMITE! THOUGH I DON'T MAKE AN APPEARANCE IN IT UNTIL THREE-FOURTHS IN. BUT I LIKE THAT. APPEARING FROM THE HEAVENS LIKE MANNA, SLAKING THE AUDIENCE'S HUNGER FOR GORGEOUS ROBOTS... OOH! THAT'S METTATON!*

John tossed it aside, too pretentious of a game for his taste.

"Hey, who left this script here?" Delilah said out loud holding a movie script. "METTATON THE MOVIE XXVIII?" She read the title.

*OH NO! THAT MOVIE SCRIPT! HOW'D? THAT GET THERE? IT'S A SUPER-JUICY SNEAK PREVIEW OF MY LATEST GUARANTEED-NOT-TO-BOMB FILM STARRING ME! I'VE HEARD THAT LIKE THE OTHER FILMS... IT CONSISTS MOSTLY OF A SINGLE FOUR-HOUR SHOT OF ROSE PETALS SHOWERING ON MY RECLINING BODY. OOH! BUT THAT'S! NOT CONFIRMED! YOU WOULDN'T (COUGH) SPOIL MY MOVIE FOR EVERYONE WITH A PROMOTIONAL STORY, WOULD YOU?*

Now Delilah would think that this seriously sounds like the worst movie to ever exist but she has seen alot of dumb stupid kids movies, half of which are actually for adults, and as long as this one doesn't have a fart or poop joke in it it's alright in her book. (Won't stop the movie critics from ripping this apart)

"I found... this." Frisk said, honestly dejected by the glass of water they found.

*OH MY! ... IT'S A COMPLETELY NONDESCRIPT GLASS OF (GASP) WATER. H2O, PLACED IN A TINY GLASS, NOT EVEN WORTHY OF BEING CALLED A CUP! BUT ANYTHING CAN MAKE A GREAT STORY WITH ENOUGH SPIN!*

"I found this present." Diego said. Holding a simple white box covered red ribbons.

*OH MY, IT'S A PRESENT! AND IT'S ADDRESSED TO YOU, DARLING! AREN'T YOU JUST BURSTING WITH EXCITEMENT? WHAT COULD BE INSIDE? WELL, NO TIME LIKE THE "PRESENT" TO FIND OUT!*

"You know, you really like to start your sentences with the word oh." Iris stated.

"Hey guys over here!" Caleb called. The group walked over and saw Caleb was with the Annoying Dog.

*WHAT A SENSATIONAL OPPORTUNITY FOR A STORY! I CAN SEE THE HEADLINE NOW: "A DOG EXISTS SOMEWHERE." FRANKLY, I'M BLOWN AWAY.*

"Let's report him, HIM!" Caleb begged.

Mettaton clapped his hands happily. *ATTENTION, VIEWERS! OUR CORRESPONDENTS HAS FOUND... A DOG! (CUE AUDIENCE AWWS) THAT'S RIGHT, FOLKS! IT'S THE FEEL-GOOD STORY OF THE YEAR! LOOK AT ITS LITTLE EARS, TINY PAWS, FLUFFY TAIL THAT'S SMOKING AT THE TIP*

"...what?" Iris looked at the Dog and noticed that the tip of his tail was sparking like a... FUSE!

*THAT'S RIGHT... THAT DOG... IS A BOMB!*

The Dog cocked his head at everyone's face of worry. He turned his head and noticed his tail was on fire. His eye's went comically wide as he yelped and ran across the room. Caleb cried in panic.

*BUT DON'T PANIC! YOU HAVEN'T EVEN SEEN THE REST OF THE ROOM YET!* The background of the news station collapsed and revealed that Mettaton was actually in the room with the humans the whole time (but doesn't explain why the group couldn't see him at all from their perspective)

Also all the items were revealed to be bombs as well. *OH MY! IT SEEMS EVERYTHING IN THIS AREA IS ACTUALLY A BOMB! THAT PRESENT'S A BOMB! THAT BASKETBALL'S A BOMB! EVEN MY WORDS ARE... BOMBS! BOOM!* If this was a video game this would've been a funny 4th wall joke but right now all the group can see is Mettaton making silly bomb noises.

*BRAVE CORRESPONDENTS... IF YOU DON'T DEFUSE ALL OF THE BOMBS... THIS BIG BOMB WILL BLOW YOU ALL TO SMITHEREENS IN 2 MINUTES!* He gestured to the other side of the area to a bomb the size of a car. *THEN YOU WON'T BE REPORTING "LIVE" ANY LONGER! HOW TERRIBLE! HOW DISTURBING! OUR WONDERFUL VIEWERS ARE GOING TO LOVE WATCHING THIS! GOOD LUCK, DARLINGS!* Mettaton said as he flew away. Suddenly all the items flew across the area.

"Well f#ck you, you stupid robot!" Jerod shouted.

*OH ONE MORE THING, IF ANY MORE OF THAT PROFANITY COMES OUT OF THAT MOUTH OF YOURS RESULTS IN A "ACCIDENTAL" TASING! KEEP THAT IN MIND DARLING!&

Alphys quickly called them. "D-don't worry! I installed a bomb-defusing program on all of your phones! Use the 'defuse' option when the bomb is in the defuse zone! N-now, go get 'em!"

Delilah's leadership instincts immediately kicked in. "Alright guys listen up! Jerod you go after the basketball, John get the video game, Caleb get the Annoying Dog, Frisk get the glass of water, Diego get the present, I'll get the movie script, and Iris you-"

"Don't worry, I'm working on something to help." Iris said going through her phone.

"Alright, you guys know what to do. Now go!"

The group nodded and quickly ran to their bombs to defuse.

"Come here boy!" Caleb said as he tried to approach the Dog. He was running in circles, trying to catch his tail which was on fire. Caleb tried to lunge at him but the Dog quickly jumped out of the way. Caleb fell on the ground and floated back up. He was about to chase him again but then realizes 'wait, I don't need to catch him, I just gotta defuse him.' He pulled out his phone and aimed at the Dog pressing defuse. The tail immediately went out, the Annoying Dog happily licked Caleb's face as a way of thanking him.

The rest of the group had no trouble with their bombs, except for Frisk. The glass of water was moving too quickly for Frisk to catch up with.

"Hold on." Iris said fumbling with her phone. "Head for the center! I'm using EM fields to trap the glass of water there!" Frisk nodded and quickly ran to the paralyzed cup of water (That's not something you say everyday). He pulled out his phone and hit the defuse button.

"We did it!" Delilah cheered as Mettaton flew back in.

*WELL DONE, DARLINGS! YOU'VE DEACTIVATED ALL OF THE BOMBS! IF YOU DIDN'T DEACTIVATE THEM, THE BIG BOMB WOULD HAVE EXPLODED IN TWO MINUTES. NOW IT WON'T EXPLODE IN TWO MINUTES! INSTEAD IT'll EXPLODE IN TWO SECONDS!*

"WHAT!" The group exclaimed.

*GOODBYE, DARLING!* Mettaton waved.

The group screamed and ran around in panic. Iris was the only one standing still calmly.

"Um Iris, why aren't you running around like some sort of idiot?" Chara asked.

Iris glanced at the ghost boy and winked. She looked at Mettaton. "Jokes on you Mettaton, while you were paying attention to the others I hacked into the bomb and disabled it myself." She said proudly. "Well, not without some help from Alphys' hacking app but I gave it a little upgrade to bypass the big bomb's firewall."

*CURSES! IT SEEMS I'VE BEEN FOILED AGAIN! CURSE YOU, IRIS! CURSE YOU, DR. ALPHYS! AND CURSE YOUR SIX HUMAN FRIENDS! BUT I DON'T CURSE MY WONDERFUL VIEWERS FOR TUNING IN! UNTIL NEXT TIME, DARLING!* He said as he flew out of the room.

Iris wiped her brow. She turned to her friends. "Save your applause guuuyyys..." She trailed off and sweatdropped at the sight in front of her. In their panic of an imminent explosion the entire group jumped on top of each other until Frisk was the one supporting them all on his shoulders. His face was beet red as he strained to hold them all.

"Wow, you look away for one second and this is what happens." Chara snickered.

"Yeah, I have no idea how we got like this." Jerod said.

"I'm more surprised that Frisk is able to carry all of us." John said.

"Well he did balance 29 hotdogs on his head earlier." Jerod said.

"But that doesn't weigh more than 6 kids."

"Can you guys please get off of me!?"

Alphys: Wow we really showed showed Mettaton, huh?

!OtakuGirl1: Yeah we did, couldn't of done it without your app! Thanks Alphys.

Undyne: Yeah, good job Alph!

Alphys: Hey, I know I was kind of weird at first... But I really think I'm getting more... Uh, more... More confident about guiding all of you! So don't worry about that big dumb robot. I'll protect you from him!

StrongestSoul24: Wut? Ur gonna beat up Mettaton for us?

Alphys: ! No, his metal body makes him invulnerable to almost all attacks.

-_-Frisk: So your saying that even if we want to we can't hurt him at all?

Alphys: Exactly!

HeresJohnny17: Well if it really came down to it, you could always disable him right?

NAPSABLOOK22 left the groupchat

Alphys:...

Diegolikescooking: Alphys?

Alphys: IDK. Anyway, what did you guys think about Mew Mew 2?

!OtakuGirl1: Is the comment section not a warzone anymore?

Wosh u name: Comment's are Clean!

!OtakuGirl1: Well I think it's trash!

Alphys: Omg me too! Why do people think that it's better than Mew Mew 1? DON'T THEY GET IT RUINS MEW MEW'S ENTIRE CHARACTER ARC?!

Delilah15Dancing: Eh, I'm not a fan of anime.

!OtakuGirl1: How are we friends again?

CoolSkeleton95: ANIME? ISN'T THAT A KIND OF CARTOON FOR SMALL CHILDREN?

HeresJohnny17: Oh trust me, there is nothing child-friendly for about 75% of anime.

Ep1cNoScope: But the fighting is so cool.

M0NST3Rkid: YO I KNOW RIGHT!

-_-Frisk: Shouldn't you be in school MK?

M0NST3Rkid left the groupchat

!OtakuGirl1: Anime is deep! It's EMOTIONAL!

Undyne: See, the punks gets it!

CoolSkeleton95: IS (THE SOUND A BABY MAKES) AN EMOTION?

Undyne: YEah CAUse IT's HoW I'M FEElinG RIGHT NOW!

CoolSkeleton95: WAIT... UNDYNE... DO YOU LIKE ANIME?

StrongestSoul24: Well DUH!

CoolSkeleton95: UH OH, I MEAN I'VE NEVER SEEN ANY. MAYBE I ACTUALLY DO LIKE ANIME!

!OtakuGirl1: You don't have to say that Papyrus.

CoolSkeleton95: MAYBE I'M A BABY WHO LOVES CARTOONS FOR CHILDREN!

UNDYNE: YOU DON'T HAVE TO SAY THAT PAPYRUS!

The group reach another elevator which took them to the 3rd level of Hotland. They passed by a pastry parlor run by a spider lady. They passed by quickly because she was giving them really creepy stares and licking her lips. They continued on until they came across another monster. This one looked about the size of an airplane, BECAUSE THEY WERE ONE! It was an airplane monster wearing a mop cap and had a little bit of blush on where they think her cheeks were... it was a girl right?

"Um, what?" Iris said confused. She was really getting confused on how there was a monster that looked like a man-made vehicle that was only invented about 100 years ago.

"It's a Tsunderplane." Chara said.

Iris's eyebrows rose up at the name. "Are you serious?" Maybe it's just a coincidence, it can't actually be...

"I didn't mean to get in the way. It's not like I like you or anything! BAKA!" Tsunderplane said.

'Oh my god it is!' Iris squealed internally. Now she has an idea on how to beat this monster. She whispered into Frisk's ear on what to do. He gave her a thumbs up and walked over to the plane. He got up close to her... but not too close.

"Eeeeh? H-human...?" The plane started blushing more and more. The plane tried dropping bombs to scare the human away but he easily dodged it and smiled at her.

"Hey there, you sure got a powerful rudder." Frisk winked at her.

John facepalmed. This was too stupid even for him.

"Huh!? Y-you sicko!" Tsunderplane shrieked. It flew off in a blushing mess.

"The Underground never ceases to surprise me." John said.

The group continued on, heading into a creepy dark tunnel covered in cobwebs.

Chapter Text

The group walked through the dark tunnel. It was damp and smelled of something sweet and noxious.

"Ugh, I though Mettaton would take better care of his sets." Delilah groaned.

"I don't think this is Mettaton's doing." Iris said, stepping on a web. It stuck to her foot and she struggled to pull her foot off. It came off with a yank as she caught up with the others. The group stopped when they heard faint hissing and chittering.

"Ahuhuhuhu... Did you hear what they just said? They said seven humans will come through here." Said a voice with a french accent.

The group walked a little faster but they were slowed down by all the web.

"I heard that they hate spiders.

I heard that they love to stomp on them.

I heard that they like to tear their legs off."

'Okay, 2 out 3 that voice got right' Caleb thought.

The many webs became too much and the group got stuck in place.

"I heard..." In the distance the room lit up showing a female spider monster appear with a bunch of large spiders. She was the same lady that they saw earlier at the bake sale, she gave them a funny look when they passed by her. "... that they're awfully stingy with their money."

"Depends on who's asking." Delilah said bravely. Unlike the others, spiders don't bother her.

"Ahuhuhuhu... Hello dearie, my name is Muffet. I'm the leader of the spiders of the Underground and the owner of the spider bake sale that you so rudely passed by without a second glance! You think your taste is too refined for our pastries, don't you, deary? Ahuhuhu I disagree with that notion. I think your taste is exactly what this next batch needs!"

"Wait your going to eat us!" Diego jumped.

Muffet giggled. "No of course not, I'm going to sell you as cupcakes for customer's to eat. But first I'll take your Souls and give it to the one that warned me about you."

"Warned you? Who warned you about us?"

"I did!" Next to Muffet popped out a familiar yellow flower. "Howdy!"

"Flowey!" Jerod growled. "What are you doing here?"

Flowey smiled innocently. "Oh nothing, I was just wandering the area totally not spying you when I met this 'wonderful' Miss Muffet. I just so happened to warn her that you seven are coming and that I would give a lot of money if she could get your Souls for me." He winked. "Anyway I'll leave you..." He turned and counted the spiders that were in the room. "One... two... three... four... the number after four... I'll leave you guys to take care of them. Have it girls, it's dinnertime!" He cackled as he dug into the ground. Muffet turned to the group and smiled.

Play Spider Dance

The group paled at her gaze and struggled harder to get out.

"Don't look so blue, my deary" She tipped the two cups of tea she had and poured it onto the web it gave it a purple glow and it started turning the nearby webs the same color as well. "I think purple is a better look on you!"

When the web by the group glowed purple the group felt themself get freed from the web. They tried not to think about it as they tried to run to the exit but when their foot touched solid ground it was suddenly pulled back towards the web.

Caleb tried to fly out but he couldn't break free.

Delilah tried teleporting out but she can't get any farther than the web.

"What?" Delilah exclaimed.

"Ahuhuhu Why so pale? It's just a little bit of my purple magic. You can only move freely through my PURPLE web. Once your are in my web you can't get out unless I say so. Makes it fun to watch my prey squirm. You should all be proud."

"Proud of what?" Delilah asked.

Proud that you're all going to make a delicious cake! Ahuhuhu!" From both sides of the tunnel came a swarm of large spiders. The group shrieked as they piled on top of them, they tried to swat them away but there was just too many. They felt their tiny and slightly venomous teeth nip and bit at them.

"Get OFF!" Suddenly they all felt a strong shock course through them. The spiders hissed at the electricity and crawled away. The group looked at the source of the shock. Iris's hands were wreathed in electricity.

"Interesting, looks like I can conduct electricity." Iris said, looking at her hands. They felt tingly, similar to a static charge, except she felt in control of it.

"That might be useful." Chara said.

Jerod shook his fist threateningly at Muffet. "You better let us go Muffin-"

"It's Muffet."

"Whatever, you better let us go or Iris is gonna zap all the spiders you send at us!"

"Let you go? Don't be silly Your Souls is going to make every spider very happy. And I don't have to send them after you." The spiders hurled large doughnuts and croissant at them. The group tried to dodge or parry the attacks but it was hard to tell the pattern. The doughnuts bounced and the croissant hurled around them and back like a boomerang. You'd expect them to hit like a regular doughnut and croissant, that's what Frisk thought when it went coming for him. It felt like a baseball hit them.

"That flower who warned us about you offered us a LOT of money for your Souls. With that money, the spider clans can finally be reunited."

"Spider clans?" John asked.

"You haven't heard? Spiders have been trapped in the RUINS for generations! Even if they go under the door, Snowdin's fatal cold is impassable alone. But with the money from your Souls, we'll be able to rent them a heated limo! And with all of the leftovers we could have a nice vacation or even build a spider baseball field."

'Wait, spider's in the Ruins...' Delilah thought. Didn't she get something from them several days ago?

"Oh, how rude of me! I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet! It's time for dinner, isn't it? Have fun, you guys Ahuhuhu!" She grabbed a little bell and rung it. In the distance they heard a roar.

John turned to the others. "Guys there is something big and ferocious coming towards us, we need to get off this web now!" The group struggled even harder to get their feet onto solid ground. But no matter how much they tried they can't get free.

"Come one, there has to be a way out of here!" Caleb said.

"Over there!" Jerod pointed to a separate piece of webbing against the wall. "We can use it as a ladder."

"It won't work, it's too far away."

The large monster appeared. It was a giant cupcake spider monster with vicious teeth. It looked too big to be affected by Iris's lightning attacks. The monster stared at them.

"Everyone stay still. It's vision is based on movement." Chara said. The group did as he instructed and froze in place. The monster continued to stare at them, it looked like it was working. Then it roared and marched towards them. "Crap I was thinking of a T-rex, RUN!"

The group ran to the edge of the web, just across is the web they could use as a ladder.

"Hmm, I wonder..." Iris thought. She pulled out her purple tendrils and extended them. A pair went behind her and attached to the web on the ground while the others reached towards the ladder web. It curled around them and formed a makeshift bridge. The tendrils glowed a shade of purple similar to the web. Delilah tried to step on it and her foot didn't get pulled off.

"Guys hurry!" Iris warned. The group walked over her and across her makeshift bridge. They got on the ladder and climbed up it. Iris quickly pulled herself over to them and climbed as well. The giant cupcake growled as it crawled towards it's prey on ladder. The group realized what it was about to do.

"Climb for your lives!" Jerod said. The group hurried up as the monster climbed onto the web and followed them. It climbed pretty fast, the humans struggled to stay ahead. All the while Muffet calmly watched this as she sipped on her tea.

John was climbing too frantically since he was lagging behind and he slipped. He fell back crying out.

But the effects of the web pulled one of his feet back and he dangled upside down. He tried to pull himself back up but unfortunately he slacked off on sit-ups in P.E. He paled as he saw the monster was only several feet away.

"Ahhhh, HELP GUYS!" He screamed He tried using his powers but he in too much distress to think straight. "I don't want to die... again!"

Delilah turned around and saw her brother in danger. The monster opened it's mouth to take a huge bite at him. She scowled as her eyes glowed blue. She slid down the web and aimed the sole of her foot at the monster. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant blue leg was formed next to her. It slammed into the monster's head with a hard shock wave and then it faded.

The group's eyes widened. Delilah just discovered a new power.

The monster cried in pain as it began to topple over from the impact. One of it's strong spider legs hooked on John's leg as it pulled him down as well. Delilah watched in terror as her brother fell down from up high. Her and the rest of the group slid down to check on him, ignoring the dazed cupcake monster.

Delilah cupped John's face and shook it gently. "Oh God, John say something!"

"...ow." John wheezed. The others sighed in relief, John really gets himself hurt a lot since they fell.

"You're still alive? Ahuhuhu" Muffet giggled. "Just give my pet a little bit to recover and he'll finish what he started."

"Diego heal yourself and the others, I'll take care of John." Diego nodded.

Delilah pulled out a spider doughnut she was carrying and handed it to her big brother. Muffet arched an eyebrow.

"Dearie, where did you get that?" Muffet asked.

She glanced at the spider lady. "I bought the spider doughnut from your friends in the Ruins."

"Wuht! SssPuhdur duhnught!" John shouted with his mouth full. He didn't realize the doughnut was... ew.

Muffet narrowed her eyes. "I don't appreciate liars dearie. I'll teach you to steal from spiders!"

"Um, miss Muffet!" Came a timid childish voice.

Everyone looked and saw a small adorable spider approach with a piece of paper.

"Yes, what is it Lucas dearie?"

"Um, I got this tewegwam fwom the Wuins and you need to wead this."

Okay, this little spider's lisp was already cute but it's failure to pronounce L's and R's is really adding to the adorableness.

Muffet took the paper and looked over it. Her face turned to one of surprise. She looked at the humans and back to the paper.

"Hmm, it says here that not only did you buy a whole bag of spider doughnuts and a jug of spider cider, but you also did not harm a single spider."

"See this was all just a big misunderstanding." Delilah said. John feeling better got up and joined the others.

"Oh my, I am so sorry for all the trouble! I would never harm such a valued customer no matter how much bounty is on you. I'll make it up to you. You can come back here any time. And, for no charge at all. I'll wrap you up and let you play with my pet again!" John paled as he glanced back at the monster. "Ahuhuhuhuhuhu! Just kidding!"

"So you won't give me their Souls." Flowey growled, coming back out of the ground.

"Sorry dearie but I will not, no matter how tempting your offer is. I know what the other monsters say, that us spiders are too greedy and callous. But at least I still have my integrity when it comes to those who are nice to us. So I will not accept your money."

Flowey smiled evilly. "Oh well that's fortunate. Because I don't have any money to give you."

Muffet scowled at Flowey. "Excuse me?"

"Lady, I'm a flower. How do you think I make money, photosynthesis? I was just bluffing when I said I was giving you a gajillion g." Flowey cackled. "Golly, you should see the look on your face! You got scammed!"

"You just really like to stoop to new lows don't you?" Diego said. "Don't you feel any guilt inside?"

Flowey face became unreadable for a moment. "I feel nothing."

"You are not welcome here, I suggest you leave now before I make tea out of you." Muffet said.

"Fine, don't need you to take care of them for me. That being said." Flowey turned to the humans. "Better watch yourself." He said as he left them.

Muffet looked down cast as she got rid of her purple magic. Even though she just tried to kill them, the group felt bad for her.

Delilah walked up to Muffet. "Excuse me, Muffet?"

Muffet turned to her. "The purple effect is gone dearie, you are free to go now."

"Um it's not that it's... here." She handed her a jingling bag. Muffet curiously took it in one of her hands and opened it. Her five eyes widened, it was full of g!

"I do not understand."

"This is all the money that I have on me. It's to help you and your spider friends in the Ruins."

"Really? But why would you give this to me after all I've done to you and your friends?"

Delilah smiled. "You didn't mean it, well you did but you were mislead. Besides I always love to support a good cause." Her face got a little more serious. "But Muffet, maybe you should try to be a little bit more selfless. As much as you want it too, the world doesn't revolve around you. No one is going to buy your ridiculously expensive spider pastries just because, I mean come on 9,999 gold really?! Just try to be a bit more fair and you will see it's for the best."

Muffet smiled as she hugged Delilah with all six of her arms. "Thank you so much dearie, this means a lot to me. And I will try to follow your advice, you seem to know what you are talking about. Me and the spider clan are in your debt."

"Thank you pwetty wady!" Lucas complimented.

Delilah smiled at all the spiders. "It's nothing. Now if you would excuse us..."

"Oh yes, you have a show to get to! Good luck dearie, I will be rooting for you."

Delilah waved goodbye to them as she and the group left the dark tunnel.

"Well that was interesting." Iris said. "You and me learned two new powers and you made a new friend."

"It wasn't so hard, she's really nice when you gloss over the cannibalism." Delilah said.

"Ugh, I can't believe I just ate a doughnut made of spiders." John gagged.

"You didn't seemed bothered by that little fact before you knew." Chara said.

The group continued on...

"So how long do you think before Muffet decides to cook Lucas?"

Chapter Text

"I can't believe we are doing this." John said through gritted teeth.

After the group left Muffet they ended up in front of a large stage with a medieval tower setting. Apparently Mettaton wanted them to help tell a story. A story of a human and a monster in love, kept apart from each other by fate. Mettaton plays the damsel in distress while the brave human knight is... Delilah. The others get the part of her human companions.

"Shut it John, the sooner we do this the sooner we move on." Delilah whispered.

"Why are you the knight? Isn't it supposed to be a man that saves the dainty damsel in distress."

Delilah smacked him on the back of the head. "Quit being sexist, Undyne is a knight and your no muscleman." John puffed his cheeks angrily.

The group looked up and saw Mettaton at the top of the tower wearing a sparkly blue dress.

*OH? THAT HUMAN... COULD IT BE? MY ONE TRUE LOVE?*

This started to remind John of a scene from a game he played once.

"I am h're Mettaton mine own loveth, cometh down from thy toweth'r and we shalt beest togeth'r." Delilah said. She memorized her only line pretty well even if she only read it for 10 seconds.

"What language were you even speaking?" Jerod scratched his head.

"English duh."

Music started to play as Mettaton began going down the stairs. For a robot with a single wheel as a foot he sure went down the stairs effortlessly. He slowly slid towards them as he began to sing.

*Oh my love,

Please run away,

Monster King,

forbids your stay.

Humans must,

Live far apart,

Even if,

It breaks my heart.

They'll put you,

In the dungeon,

It'll suck,

And then you'll die a lot.

Really sad,

You're gonna die,

Cry cry cry,

So sad it's happening.*

Mettaton did a dramatic pose as the song ended. John was thinking about how hard Sans and Papyrus were laughing watching this.

"Can we go now?" Caleb said impatiently.

*SO SAD. SO SAD THAT YOU ARE ALL GOING TO THE DUNGEON. WELL, TOODLES!* He said as he quickly pressed a button opening a trap door. The group screamed as they fell into it and landed on the hard ground. It wasn't that long of a fall but it still hurt.

They groaned as they got back up.

"Is falling down holes going to be a regular thing now!" Frisk said annoyed. Everyone was starting to get sick of Mettaton's shenanigans. Speaking of Mettaton, he flew down still wearing his dress.

*OH NO! WHATEVER SHALL I DO? MY LOVE AND HER FRIENDS HAVE BEEN CAST AWAY INTO THE DUNGEON. A DUNGEON WITH A PUZZLE SO DASTARDLY, MY PARAMOUR WILL SURELY PERISH!* He gestured to the other side of the 'dungeon'. The group noticed the familiar looking tiles on the other side.

"Wait, is that..."

*O, HEAVENS HAVE MERCY! THE HORRIBLE COLORED TILE MAZE! EACH COLORED TILE HAS ITS OWN SADISTIC FUNCTION. FOR EXAMPLE, A GREEN TILE WILL SOUNDS A NOISE, AND THEN YOU MUST FIGHT A MONSTER. RED TILES WILL... ACTUALLY, WAIT A SECOND. DIDN'T WE SEE THIS PUZZLE ABOUT A HUNDRED ROOMS AGO?*

"Yeah, back in Snowdin Forest." Iris said, excited to finally get another shot at this puzzle. "I already got the rules memorized and written down in my notebook."

*GREAT... THEN I WON'T WASTE YOUR TIME REPEATING THEM! OH, AND YOU'D BETTER HURRY. BECAUSE IF YOU DON'T GET THROUGH IN 30 SECONDS...* A wall of fire lit up behind them, startling them all. *YOU'LL ALL BE INCINERATED BY THESE JETS OF FIRE!*

"Not again." Diego whimpered.

"Don't worry bro, I'll just fly over." Caleb said.

*OH AND IF ANY POWERS ARE USED TO CHEAT...* A missile launcher flew down *YOU'LL BE BLOWN UP BY THESE ANTI-AIR MISSILES!*

"Oh, shoot." Caleb said disappointing.

*AHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA... HA... HA! MY POOR LOVE! I'M SO FILLED WITH GRIEF, I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING! GOOD LUCK, DARLINGS!*

The tiles lit up and the timer started.

The group stumbled forward and ran through the tiles. They didn't remember the rules of the puzzle so they kept getting shocked, jumped by piranhas, or slid back to where they were. It didn't help that Mettaton was serenading as they struggled. Iris knew the rules and if given enough time to plan it out then she would have finished this easily, but she was on the clock and didn't have time to figure out a route. To be fair she did make it farther than the rest before the timer ended. The tiles suddenly went grey.

*OOOH, I'M SO SORRY! LOOKS LIKE YOU'RE OUT OF TIME!* Mettaton said as the flames started approaching. *HERE COME THE FLAMES, DARLING! THEY'RE CLOSING IN! GETTING! CLOSER! OH MY! ANY MINUTE NO-* Mettaton was cut off when the flames went out. *WHAT'S THIS?*

Iris's phone started ringing. Alphys answered it. "I did it! I hacked into the firewall!"

"Hah, firewall." John said.

"Nice job Alphys, knew I could count on you." Iris complimented. She was still upset that she didn't finish the puzzle but it's good enough, there are more important things at hand right now.

"Whew, that was really close!" Delilah said relived.

*OH NO! HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN? FOILED AGAIN BY THE GREAT DOCTOR ALPHYS! ... THA-*

"That's right! Come on, Mettaton, give up already! You'll never be able to defeat us... Not as long as we work together!" Alphys said.

"Yeah, we finished your puzzles and did your shows, now leave us alone!" Jerod shouted.

*PUZZLE? FINISHED? SWEET IGNORANT JEROD, WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT...? DID YOU FORGET WHAT THE GREEN TILES DO? THEY MAKE A SOUND, THEN YOU HAVE TO FIGHT A MONSTER.*

"Oh no." Iris said, she forgot about that little tidbit.

*WELL, DARLING... THAT MONSTER... IS ME!* He said as he landed in front of them, ripping off his dress like a superhero. *NOW SINCE I'M SUCH A GOOD SPORT, I'LL LET YOU ALL HIT FIRST!*

"Alphys, are you really sure that he cannot be hurt?" Frisk asked.

"I... I don't know!" Alphys said. "Oh god, I didn't think this through, I-"

"It's alright Alphys!" Jerod said, eyes glowing orange. "We'll see what we can do. This is for all the stupid crap you put us through!" Jerod said as he ran towards the robot and pulled back his fist. He unleashed all his strength into one powerful pu-

BONK

A orange shockwave bursted from the contact and spread outward. Jerod fell on the ground and clutched his fist in pain. It looked broken.

*OOH, THAT TICKLED!* Mettaton taunted.

"Sh-shut up!" Jerod hissed.

John sent a flurry of knives at Mettaton but they just bounced off of him with a ping. Delilah used her new powers she learned and sent giant hands slamming down on him, Iris sent giant Words (ROBOT, ATTACK, SHOW, ETC) at him and exploded, Diego threw his fireballs at him, and Caleb shot at him. None of them did any damage. The group stared at Mettaton in disbelief.

*MY MY, IT SEEMS THAT YOU HAVE NO MEANS OF FIGHTING BACK!* The group backed up in fear. *WELL, THIS IS QUITE A PREDICAMENT! THE AUDIENCE WAS EXPECTING A GRAND FINALE WITH ACTION, DRAMA, BLOODSHED! IT SEEMS THAT THIS FIGHT LOOKS VERY ONE-SIDED. LOOKS LIKE I WILL HAVE TO END THIS FIGHT PREMATURELY!*

"What?" Delilah said.

*YES, THIS TYPE OF FINALE DESERVES SOMETHING MORE INTENSE! SO DON'T FRET MY WONDERFUL CONTESTANTS, AND MY WONDERFUL AUDIENCE! STAY TUNED FOR THE GRAND FINALE IN THE CORE! BYE-BYE!* He said as he strolled out of the room.

"Well that was convenient." Alphys said relived. Diego started healing Jerod's hand.

"Yeah, thanks for your help Alphys, we couldn't have done it without your help." Iris said.

"W-what? Oh no, you were all doing the cool stuff. I only put a silly hacking program into your phones... Hey can I tell you guys something?"

"Sure."

"Before I met you guys, I d-didn't... I didn't really like myself very much. For a long time, I just felt like a total screw-up, even as the Royal Scientist. I thought I couldn't do anything without feeling like I let everyone... but, um, guiding all of you has made me feel a lot better about myself... so thanks for letting me help."

John frowned sympathetically, he knew how that felt.

"It's nothing Alph, you made the journey for us a lot easier."

"So where to next?"

"W-well you have to go through the MTT Resort, the CORE is just past it."

"You guys have a resort?" Caleb asked.

"Yeah, Mettaton owns it. So just keep going your almost there." Alphys hung up.

The group left the dungeon and ran into the Nice-Cream guy along with the two royal guards from earlier.

"Hey, can we have any Nice-Cream?" John asked eagerly.

"Oh sorry, I've actually sold out of everything. These two fellas bought all my ice cream."

"Sorry dude." 01 said. "If it makes you feel any better we're like, takeing a rain check on that killing you thing, like don't tell Undyne about it."

02 nodded.

"Well she won't mind. We are actually her friends." Jerod said. The guards stared in surprise.

Nice-Cream guy perked up. "Actually I do have something for you..." John's face brightened "A big smile." Then his face was full of disappointment...

Chapter Text

The group looked upon the MTT Resort. It wasn't the biggest hotel compared to the one's on the surface but it makes up for it on just how spectacular it looks. It looks like a hotel meant for Hollywood celebrities.

Suffice to say they were impressed.

In front of the hotel was their favorite skeleton Sans. After everything with Mettaton it would be nice to hang out with someone more mellow.

"Hey Sans." John waved.

Sans smiled wider seeing the humans. "hey, i heard you guys are heading to the core."

"Yeah, the sooner we get there the sooner we can get home." Delilah said. She guessed that it was actually nighttime by now.

"well, you are going to be waiting quite awhile."

The group frowned. "What do you mean?"

"mettaton just came by and closed off the core. 'said he wanted to make some changes for the finale with you guys."

"Damn it!" Jerod growled.

"How long till he opens it back up?" Diego asked.

Sans shrugged. " 'bout 3 days, i think."

The group groaned. "So we are stuck down here for 3 more days?" Caleb complained. Sans nodded.

"aw don't be upset. hey, how about grabbing some dinner with me to lift your mood?"

The group looked at each other, it's not like there is anything else to do now. They nodded.

"cool then follow me." Sans led them into the hotel. They saw a giant fountain in the center of the lobby with a statue of Mettaton on top spewing water on the ground. Right now they are just feeling too upset to care about how ridiculous it looked. Time seemed to be a blur as they went into the restaurant, got a table for all of them, and had their food served to them.

They looked down at their food. "We didn't order anything." Frisk said.

"i did, you guys seem pretty down so i got you the steak. sorry delilah but i couldn't find anything veggie related that was fit for human consumption. i don't know why he puts sequins and glue in most of his stuff."

Delilah sighed. "It's alright." She said as she picked at her steak. Sans could tell they were really upset

"so, your really letting this get to you? you must really wanna go home."

"Of course Sans, we really thought we were going home today." Iris said.

"I miss my parent's." Caleb sniffed, eyes watering.

Diego rubbed his shoulder comfortingly "Me too, me too."

"My bros must be freaking out, wondering where their baby brother is." Jerod said.

"Everyone must be thinking we're dead by now." John said.

San's smile wavered "hey, i know the feeling, kiddos. though... maybe sometimes it's better to take what's given to you."

The group looked up. "What do you mean?"

"well down here you've already got food, drink, friends... you could live a good life down here."

"Sans, I'm sorry but that's out of the question." John said sternly. "Even if we wanted to not all monsters are going to be okay having us live down here when they could use our Souls to break the barrier. there is no way we can coexist peacefully down here, especially when the king is after us."

"hmm, guess you got a point there." sans shrugged. "guess it's just a nice thought."

There was an awkward silence as the group ate their food.

Chara frowned, shocked. He was used to at least John being the downer but not the entire group.

Sans looked away and scratched the back of his head. The his face lit up as a thought went through him.

"hey, let me tell you guys a story." He took a deep breath. "so i'm a sentry in snowdin forest, right? i sit out there and watch for humans. it's kind of boring since i never found a human until now. fortunately, 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. 'who is there?'"

The group looked up in surprise. Locked door in Snowdin, woman's voice. They realize he's talking about Toriel. It's been awhile since they thought of her. They wonder what she's doing now.

"so, naturally i respond: 'dishes.' 'dishes who?' 'dishes a very bad joke.' then she just howls with laughter. like it's the best joke she's heard in a hundred years."

The group gave a small smile.

"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!"

The group snickered at the joke. Chara smiled, it looks like San's story was making the group feel better.

"wow. needless to say, this woman was extremely good. we kept telling each other jokes for hours. eventually, it was getting late and i had to leave. papyrus gets kind of cranky without his bedtime story."

John snorted. "What do you read him, Peek-a-boo with fluffy bunny?"

"no. advance puzzle construction for critical minds. i don't know what children's book you read to bed." Jerod chortled, John didn't know how to respond to that.

"But you did go to see T- that lady behind the door again right?" Diego asked.

"yeah, she asked me to come by again, so i did. then i did again. and again. it's a thing now. telling bad jokes through the door. it rules."

The group smiled. At least they knew that Toriel wasn't alone. They had to leave her but they still felt bad since she was so ready to take care of all of them just out of sheer loneliness.

"one day, though, i noticed she wasn't laughing very much, i asked her what was up. then she told me something strange. 'if a human ever comes through this door... ...could you please, please promise something? watch over them, and protect them, will you not? now, i hate making promises. 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." The group nodded, getting that he respects her friendship enough to follow her promise.

"y'know strange thing is, the very next day, i found you guys coming into snowdin forest through that door."

The group dropped their silverware and stared at Sans. He wasn't looking at them, staring to the side. The very next day? Did she really come up with this plan to protect us if she failed to destroy the Ruin's entrance?

"do you get what i'm saying?" sans asked as he closed his eyes. "that promise i made to her...you know what would have happened if she hadn't said anything?" sans let out a heavy huff of breath. "...guys."

He looked at them and opened his eyes. The group paled at his deathly empty black eye sockets.

"All of you would be dead where you stand."

The group were really uncomfortable now. They had their little fight with Sans way back but he was a real pushover. Still there was something about him that seemed dangerous, like he could make your sins go crawling down your back.

The light went back in his eyes. "hey, lighten up, buckaroos! i'm just joking with you, besides...haven't i done a great job protecting you guys? i mean, look at yourselves. you haven't died a single time."

"..."

"hey, what's that look supposed to mean? am i wrong...?"

"W-what? No, that's just ridiculous!" Frisk laughed.

San's arched an eyebrow. "heh." He got up from his seat. "well this was a nice chat. since you guys are going to be here for awhile why don't you go back and see all the friends you made, or just nap for three days. can't blame ya if you did that. by the way, i think it's a good idea if you get rooms for yourself here."

John nodded. "Yeah, thanks Sans. For everything."

Sans winked. "no prob john. and guys, take care of yourselves, cause someone really cares about you guys." he said as he left them with that last piece of advice.

"...Did he forget to pay for us?"

After having to pay for San's food alongside the group's food, they went to the receptionist and ordered rooms for each of them. Apparently they were expected since Mettaton actually booked rooms for them all in advance. They said goodnight to one another and went to bed in the overly large bedrooms.

San's story might've been strange, and a little ominous, but it still lifted their spirits. You could say it filled them with...

Determination.

Chapter Text

The next morning the group woke up in their beds. They remembered that they are sleeping in hotel bedrooms owned by a robot that is preventing them from going home.

They were grumpy this morning.

They all met up back in the lobby. The monsters bustling around payed no mind to the seven human children in their presence.

"Nice morning today huh?" Chara said

"Yeah it sure is a beautiful morning today, if we were home today!" John grumbled.

"John please don't start this now." Delilah said. "It's too early for this."

"No, John should be mad. We would've been home this morning if Mettaton didn't go and force us to spend a 2 day vacation Underground." Caleb said.

"I know, we are all pretty irritated by Mettaton. But the truth is we aren't going home for at least 2 more days." Frisk said

"Why don't we just break into the Core and get to the Barrier now!?" Jerod said punching his fist.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. Alphys said that the only way through the Core to the capital is via elevator. Mettaton could shut it down on us or worse." Iris said. "Don't forget we can't damage him at all, we would be at his mercy."

"Well, we gotta make the best of the 2 days we have left here then." Diego said clapping his hands to get the group's attention. "But first, lets eat breakfast."

The group walked into the nearby food joint that is part of the lobby. It looked like your typical fast-food restaurant, except everything glittered. The cashier was a cat-like monster wearing a red and yellow uniform. He had an exaggeratedly forced smile.

"Welcome to MTT-Brand Burger Emporium, home of the Glamburger. Sparkle up your day (TM). What can I do for you?"

"We're just getting breakfast together." Delilah said looking at the menu. "You guys want the Starfait?"

"Sure sounds good." The group jumped when the monster's smile turned into a creepy dramatic smile, pulling up the rainbow colored treats.

"Thanksy! Have a FABU-FUL day!"

"Um, are you okay, Burgerpants?" Diego asked reading the name-tag.

Burgerpant's smiled looked even more stressed. Diego sweatdropped.

"What? Why do you keep trying to talk to me? I'll get in trouble if I get chummy with the customers. Sorry..."

"..."

"We-"

"SO, I wanted to be an ACTOR!" Burgerpant's suddenly said.

"Ok?"

"I'm getting on in years, so let me give you some advice, little buddy. Don't live like me. I'm 19 years old and I've already wasted my entire life."

"Heh, I know that feeling." John chuckled.

"So, how's your romance life?" Frisk asked.

Delilah facepalmed, this is not what you ask someone you just met.

"Listen. I like you, little buddy. So I'm gonna save you a lot of trouble. Never interact with attractive people. Unless you're one of them, they're just gonna take advantage of you."

Everyone looked at Delilah. "...What?"

Eh, she looks alright. But be careful when they ask something of you. Like that one time those two chicks asked me to sneak them some glamburgers. And I, naive teenager that I was, said yes to them. Bad idea."

"Why, what happened dude?" Jerod asked.

"Well I was taking the burgers to the alleyway outside, that's where the two ladies are.

"So I went out to the alley to see those two ladies, and uh... you know, see what'd happen next. Then my boss, uh, saw me and asked me what I was doing. I was so startled, the hamburgers in my pockets tumbled out onto the ground. Not wanting to lose face, I scrambled to pick them up! But, as I was leaning over, the weight of the remaining hamburgers caused my pants to fall down. Then the girls laughed at me. Everyone calls me Burgerpants now... Is your friend alright?"

"Yeah, he just forgot to breath." John said as Jerod banged his fist on the counter top as he stifled his giggles.

"So, I take it your not enjoying yourself here?" Diego asked.

"At first I was, when I first came to Hotland, it was my dream to work with Mettaton... Well, be careful what you wish for, little buddy!"

"Why, he's... not... that... bad..." Diego said each word through gritted teeth. Now he was grinning like Burgerpants.

"God, have you even looked around? This place is a labyrinth of bad choices. And every time we try to change something for the better, he vetoes it and says 'that's not how they do it on the surface.' Oh! Right! Humans are always eating hamburgers made of SEQUINS AND GLUE."

"...They don't."

"I just don't get why people find him so attractive? He's literally just a freaking rectangle... You know, one time, I bought one of those, uh, kits online... to... Uh, make yourself more rectangular... They don't work."

"Um please don't talk about that." Delilah insisted.

"Well, I'm sorry you got a hard life but don't worry. Things might get better in the future."

"Future? WHAT future? Nothing down here ever changes. I'll probably be trapped at this stupid job forever... But wait! There's one thing that keeps me going! If Asgore gets seven human Souls, we'll finally get to go to the surface! It'll be a brand new world! There's gotta be a second chance out there for me! For everyone!"

"... does he not know that we are humans?" Chara asked. Burgerpants suddenly pulled out a cigarette and started smoking it.

'There are children present!' Diego screamed internally.

"So stay strong, little buddy. When I make it big, I'll keep all of you in mind."

"...Okay. Thanks for the chat." Delilah said taking the starfaits in her hand as Diego left the money for it.

"Anytime little buddy."

"We're just going to go now. See you... later." They waved as they awkwardly walked backwards out of the restaurant.

"Geez that guy was weird." Jerod said throwing his empty cup of starfait away.

"Well you would be too if you worked in retail." John said.

"Speaking from experience?"

"Yeah, I work in a department store remember. All I did was put shoes in boxes... all day." John trembled.

"Hey when was your last sceduled shift?" Delilah asked.

"Oh I think it was two days ag-" John stiffened. 'F*ck, I'm so fired.'

"Anyway, what are we going to do now?" Frisk asked.

"I'm going to Waterfall to find Woshua." Caleb said. "I need to get these clothes cleaned." His clothes were still stained from the Cooking show with Mettaton.

"Why don't we head to Snowdin town. That's where most of our monster friends are." Diego suggested.

"Sure, I'm game." Jerod said. "Good thing I still got that hoodie from the shop."

"Me too, I'll catch up with you guys after I get myself cleaned." Caleb said.

"You guys go ahead without me. I'm staying here." Iris said.

"You sure?"

"Positive, I going to look through the files I extracted from Alphy's computer. She built Mettaton, maybe she left something we can use to shut him down.."

"Alright cool, hope you find something." Delilah said. "C'mon guys, lets get to the Riverperson's boat." She said. Caleb flew up and headed to Waterfall.

"Bye guys, have fun!" Iris waved.

Hey, nerd, that's my catchphrase...

After a couple hours the group made it to Snowdin Town, even though it took a couple days for them to make it Waterfall (time of travel in the Underground is inconsistent). That thought did not cross the group's minds until now.

"You guys do realize that we could have just taken the ferry when we first got to Snowdin Town? We would've snuck past Mettaton and made it home on the same day."

Jerod took a big exhale from his nose as an angry vein appeared on his forehead.

"Tra la la. The Soul of the heart is the Core of the machine." The Riverperson said. The group said nothing as they got off the ferry and headed towards Papyrus and San's house. It was only a couple of days but it felt like they haven't been here in quite awhile. They reached their door and knocked. Almost immediately the door was ripped open and they were face to face with papyrus

"HUMAN'S!" Papyrus squealed. He gave them all a big group hug. "IT'S SO GREAT TO SEE YOU AGAIN!"

"Wait, it's the humans?" Undyne asked from another room. Almost immediately she barged in and turned to them. She gave a toothy grin at the nervous kids.

"Guys, get behind me." Jerod said. The others did as he ordered just as Undyne charged at them. She put Jerod in a headlock as she gave him a noogie.

He giggled as he pushed her off.

"Heya punk, its been awhile since I've seen you."

"It's only been a day."

"Well we should be hanging out everyday!" She shouted. "But it is nice to see you again."

"Same. How's it been."

"It's been hell!" She said with the most cheerful attitude. "Since my house was burned down again I had to sleep on Papyrus's couch. It's all jangly and uncomfortable."

"BUT ITS ALL WORTH IT JUST TO BE WITH ME!"

"Aw Papyrus, your always worth it! So where have you guys been?"

"We stayed at the MTT Hotel for the night."

Undyne's eye widened. "A hotel? Cool! I've never stayed at a fancy hotel!"

"REALLY ME NEITHER!" Papyrus said.

"Well we are going to have to stay there for a little while." Frisk frowned.

"Huh, what are you talking about? I thought you were heading to the King."

"Well we were but Mettaton closed of the Core. He's going to open it in two days."

"OH MY, HE MUST BE PLANNING A SPECTACULAR FINALE IF HE'S GOING TO TAKE THAT LONG."

"Geez, that sucks guys. Hey, wanna have lunch with us? We just made some spaghetti." Undyne grinned.

"YOU MUST TRY OUR SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus said eagerly. Before the group could answer he already ran into the kitchen. There was clattering and a cat screech before Papyrus came back with a bowl full of oddly colored spaghetti.

Diego's eyebrows furrowed. "Okay... come with me, both of you." He said calmly as he grabbed Papyrus and Undyne by their wrists. They were both dragged into the kitchen with looks of confusion.

Chara chuckled. "Looks like its time for 'Cooking with Diego."

Caleb flew out of the Waterfall entrance and into Snowdin. He can cover a lot of ground when he could fly. He crossed over rivers and gaps quicker. He already found Woshua and he managed to help clean his clothes. He flew over to Papyrus's house and noticed that the door was left unlocked.

"Hello?" Caleb said as he stepped in. He saw John napping on the couch between Jerod and Delilah. Delilah was reading a book she found while Jerod was impatiently tapping his foot on the ground staring at the wall, John's head was leaning on his friend's shoulder. Frisk was on a little chair looking through his phone. Frisk looked up and waved at his friend.

"What's going on here, wheres my brother?"

"He's in the kitchen teaching Undyne and Papyrus how to properly cook." Chara pointed to the kitchen.

Caleb raised an eyebrow then headed into the kitchen. "Hey br- whoa!" He said looking at the room. There was plates of spaghetti all over and the sink was full of dirty pots. Diego was staring at a sauce-covered Papyrus and Undyne standing over the stove, arms crossed and wooden spoon in his hand. Diego turned to Caleb and grinned, his apron was stained with spaghetti sauce.

"Just in time little bro! These two might've actually made something edible."

"I'M NOT SO SURE, I KEEP TELLING YOU THAT UNDYNE MAKES GREAT PASTA!" Papyrus complained.

"And this results in her burning her house down in more than one occasion." Diego scolded. "Anyway, it's finally ready to taste test." He said as he handed a plate to him.

Caleb nervously took a spoonful of it and took a bite. It wasn't the best but it was alright in his opinion. He gave a thumbs up as he swallowed. Undyne and Papyrus gave a big sigh.

"Great, I finally did it!" Diego pumped his fist, getting starry eyed.

"So can the other's go now? They look like they been waitin for awhile." Caleb asked.

"Wait, they are still waiting in the living room? I thought they already left." Diego sweated nervously. "Jerod is not going to be happy... Uh, tell them they can go now."

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you punks when we're done cleaning this mess." Undyne said.

"Cool, see ya later."

"HAVE FUN HUMANS!" Papyrus said.

Grrrrr.

"So what now?" John yawned. The group wandered around Snowdin town.

"Wanna talk about politics?" Delilah said.

"I'd rather sleep in the snow." Jerod scowled. "I'm bored! Let's wrestle."

"No..." Everyone said in unison.

"YO, IT'S THE HUMANS!"

Everyone turned and saw none other but their good friends MK run towards them, and he wasn't alone. A whole bunch of kids monsters, some that they knew, were there as well.

"MK!" Jerod said excited. Mk ran up to them... only to stumble. Luckily Mk used the momentum to roll and jump back onto his feet. The group gave an applause.

"Nice recovery dude!" Jerod said.

"Yeah, Undyne taught me to do it so I can avoid what happened last time." Mk said sheepishly. "Speaking of which I really gotta thank Papyrus for vouching for me when my parents tried to ground me for life. He's actually pretty cool..."

"We all saw you guys on TV!" A random kid monster said.

"Yeah, you were SO cool!" Snowdrake said. "I wish my mom could see it."

"Mk, Snowdrake, Chilldrake, and Icecap kept saying that they knew you guys but we didn't believe them."

"Oh we know them, Mk actually stepped in front of us to protect us from Undyne." Jerod said.

"Whoa, you stood up to the captain of the royal guard?!"

"That's so cool!"

"Wow Mk, your so brave!"

Mk blushed, embarrassed by all the attention.

"So why are you guys back here, do you want to see my hat again?" Icecap asked.

"Uh no, we just decided to hang out here for the day. But we don't know what to do." Delilah said.

"Oh, can you show us that cool attack, the one with the giant hands?"

"Um actually I'm not sure if that's a good idea. I'm still getting used to using that attack, I don't want to get you guys hurt."

"Hey this gives me an idea." Jerod said turning to the group. "Why don't we have a little spar?"

John's eyes widened. "You mean fight each other?"

Mk jumped up and down. "Yo, that's a great idea! We can all watch how strong you guys are!" John trembled nervously.

Chilldrake flapped his wings. "Hey I know this perfect place in Snowdin Forest where we can all sit and watch you guys."

"Alright, lets do this!" Jerod pumped his fist.

"Wait, can we talk about this fi-" John didn't have time to finish before he was dragged along with his friends.

Chapter Text

Iris went to her hotel room and sat on the bed. The group left to do whatever, leaving her to look through her phone. She looked at it like it was the most valuable thing ever. In a way it was, it held knowledge. Knowledge from a civilization that has advanced technology despite being out of contact from the outside world. Her anthropology teacher would have a field day to take a look at this place. Maybe when she gets to the surface she could show what's on the phone to the world. They might think that she is lying so she might have to leave out the monster civilization part but this would prove useful to trusted scientists and philosophers.

She was thinking about how the discovery of monsters would effect world religions when she realized that she spent the last several minutes thinking to herself without even touching the phone. She laid back on the bed and turned on the phone.

First thing she realized was how much storage it has taken up. With the upgrades Alphys put in her new phone it has nearly 200 GB of storage space, just as much space as the latest smartphone. Well the stuff Iris downloaded took up more space than what her phone could previously hold. It must have reached the phone's limit of storage when she was downloading it.

'Crap, this must mean that some stuff are cut off or corrupt.' Iris thought. She started looking through the files. The first several stuff was mostly reports on current or past events that don't seen to be in chronological order:

Millennia anniversary of living in the Underground, Core construction completed, Lower portion of the Ruins sealed off, Core meltdown averted/ no casualties reported, great famine of '73 officially over, Declaration of war against humanity, surveillance cameras finished set up in Snowdin Forest.

She kept scrolling through it, worried that this was all there was until she finally reached something interesting. It was a bunch of blueprints for certain technologies and inventions, including the Core. She put a tab on them when she found a series of lab reports. It looked like Alphys wrote them.

ENTRY NUMBER 1: 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. How... I don't know.

ENTRY NUMBER 2: 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 NUMBER 3: 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 most monsters disappear immediately upon death. If only I could make a monster's SOUL last...

ENTRY NUMBER 4: 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 these weird tapes. I don't feel like ASGORE's watched them... I don't think he should.

Iris saw a link of some sorts, based on the file name it looked like a series of videos. She tried to listen to them but they didn't convert properly into the phone and were corrupt. She scowled, one more mystery left unsolved. Under the corrupt videos was another note.

As I was reading through a whole bunch of research notes and old scrolls from way back when it gave me an idea. I thought it is a good idea to leave behind all the information I can find about Souls into one report. Just in the event of a worse case scenario and the books and scrolls are lost or destroyed. I'm not counting this under my official entries but instead making it separate. Okay, here it is.

Souls: The very culmination of our being, both humans and monsters. What they both have in common is that they are both magic based, hardly any form of science without a hint of magic could detect a Soul. Monster souls make up our entire anatomy due to us being mainly composed of magic, it's what makes us and fuels us. Humans depend on so much more to create and keep them living.

Reproduction of monster's are very similar to human's, but there are some... exceptions.

What's confusing is that what little knowledge we have of humans today is concerning, apparently the use of magic has been lost and turned to myth just like us monsters. It doesn't make sense, magic cannot be destroyed only moved, so where did it go? Unfortunately if there are no traces of magic anywhere besides beneath Mt. Ebott then that means that we are indeed the only race of monsters left on earth... this does not bode well...

Back to the Souls, it can be separated into two parts, the Vessel and the Essence. Vessels are like containers for the actual Soul, to be more blunt it's what gives the Souls it's heart shape. It's what keeps the physical being alive and what lets the Soul communicate with the body, without it... the entire Soul dies. Monster Souls are upside down unlike humans, the significance of that is still unknown, perhaps an unnecessary leftover of evolution like humans having body hair despite it's lack of usefulness in cold temperatures. The Essence is the part of the Soul everyone is familiar with. It's what naturally gives them their color. The color itself is actually important because it is derived from the Soul's trait. For monsters our Souls are always pure white, not having a specific trait. It is difficult to determine just how many types of Soul colors there are for humans. At first we thought it was the traditional 7 colors of the rainbow but we have managed to learn there is an entire color spectrum of them, each having their light and dark side. Traits don't completely define what a human is like, just what comes more naturally to them.

Because monster's physicality are more dependent on their life force they were naturally weaker than human's, we could attack with all we got but it would be near impossible to actually kill them, while humans could kill us in one to five blows. But from a video of the recently fallen human being attacked by an monster in a fit of fear, we found out that humans are now far weaker than before. It is hypothesized that the lack of exposure to magic on the surface has decreased the Human's connection to their Souls, they are still predicted to be stronger than monsters but by a smaller margin. So now it is absolutely possible for any monster to kill a human if given the means.

Boss monsters are a unique version of monsters. They are stronger than regular monsters and their Souls can persist after death for a few moments. This leaves the opportunity for humans to absorb monster Souls. Also they are inherently immortal. Capable of being killed but cannot die by natural causes, old age, sickness, etc. It's only after they conceive a child that they become mortal and start aging. It it due to the Monster's magic and Soul power flows into the child causing the parent to grow with their child. It only works if the child is in proximity and alive. If the child dies then the boss monster stops aging, living probably forever until they are killed... Poor Asgore.

Soul absorption is exactly what it sounds like, absorbing the Soul of the deceased and gaining their power. You can't absorb a Soul when it is alive and you cannot absorb a Soul from someone of the same species. How the host would be affected mentally is an unknown. There are two it would be: either the absorbed Soul get's it's personality and  consciousness back, acting as a secondary host in the person's head. Or the Soul could be no longer functioning and be silent having no affect to the host's mind. Measure of power after Soul is absorbed cannot be mathematically predicted or measured.

Iris was really intrigued. This is just what she was looking for. The fallen human Alphys was talking about must've been Chara. Also the news that humans are now actually weaker than back in the war doesn't bode well, but it does explain why it was so easy for monsters to kill the group including herself. But where did all the magic go? She was right, there are no traces of the existence of magic in the world. She doubt global warming would be an excuse. She continued back to the entries.

ENTRY NUMBER 5: I've done it. Using the blueprints, I've extracted from G-... I actually don't really remember who made these blueprints. Anyway, I believe this is what gives Human Souls the strength to persist after death. The will to keep living... The resolve to change fate. Let's call this power... "Determination."

ENTRY NUMBER 6: 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.

Iris made a mental note that 'Fallen down' means monster's that are comatose. That little slip up was enough for her to know that their mutual scientist friend was the one Alphys got the blueprints from. Determination, that's what Frisk's Soul trait is categorized. She guesses that Determination is naturally in all humans but Frisk has enough to make up his trait. So Alphys must've been planning on using Determination on comatose monsters so they could make a makeshift human Soul to use on the barrier. It was a good idea but there was one problem, who would absorb their Souls?

ENTRY NUMBER 7: 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 a human SOUL... So then... What about something that's neither human nor monster?

ENTRY NUMBER 8: 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 when... He died. It appeared just before the queen left, still covered in the dust. I wonder... What happens when something without a SOUL gains the will to live?

Flower... no, it couldn't be...

ENTRY NUMBER 9: 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 NUMBER 10: experiments on the vessel are a failure. it doesn't seem to be any different from the control cases. whatever. they're a hassle to work with anyway. the seeds just stick to you, and won't let go...

ENTRY NUMBER 11: now that mettaton's made it big, he never talks to me anymore. ... except to ask when i'm going to finish his body. but i'm afraid if i finish his body, he won't need me anymore... then we'll never be friends ever again. ... not to mention, every time i try to work on it, i just get really sweaty...

Iris stopped at that last entry. What was left next to the entry was images. Not just any images but Mettaton's blueprints! She jumped in joy, not usually so giddy. She was no mechanic but she knew enough to get the gist of what things meant. There was a whole bunch of stuff about servos and parts... but nothing about circuity or A.I. She was confused, Alphys said she made him but...

"Wait, what's that?" she said to herself seeing a peculiar shape in the center. It was heart shaped, it was a Vessel! A Vessel for a Soul! Mettaton isn't just a robot, he's a living thing with a robot body. Iris couldn't believe it, this may be a kingdom of monsters but what Alphys has accomplished is a miracle. She snapped out of it and examined the blueprints further. So the Vessel is meant for an already living Soul and acts like the CPU of the machine, as well as the power source. So if the Soul itself was attacked then it would actually damage the body. Unfortunately the Vessel is protected behind the strong metal frame. But she did find something that warns about the new forms being too venerable and risk of exposed Vessel. She didn't know what the forms are but maybe...

She put the thought on hold as she continued the entries.

ENTRY NUMBER 12: nothing is happening. i don't know what to do. i'll just keep injecting everything with "determination." i want this to work.

ENTRY NUMBER 13: one of the bodies opened its eyes.

ENTRY NUMBER 14: Everyone that had fallen down... ... has woken up. They're all walking around and talking like nothing is wrong. I thought they were goners...?

ENTRY NUMBER 15: Seems like this research was a dead end... But at least we got a happy ending out of it...? I returned the vessel back to Asgore's garden... And I called all of the families and told them everyone's alive. I'll send everyone back tomorrow. : )

ENTRY NUMBER 16: no No NO NO NO NO

The 17th entry was really corrupted like much more than the other corrupt files. But it wasn't as disturbing as the rest of the entries.

ENTRY NUMBER 18: the flower's gone.

ENTRY NUMBER 19: 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 NUMBER 20: ASGORE left me five messages today. four about everyone being angry. one about this cute teacup he found that looks like me. thanks asgore.

ENTRY NUMBER 21: i spend all my time at the garbage dump now. it's my element.

And that's the end of the what was downloaded. Iris shut it off and gave a stressful sigh. Alphys created Flowey, that was obvious. The dust of whatever monster died on the king's garden must've had traces of the Monster's DNA or whatever that is for monsters, and it must've lived when Chara was around so that's why he knows him and mistook Frisk for Chara. And the adding of determination to the flower created Flowey, something neither human nor monster, capable of absorbing both Souls. Question was, why was he the way he is now, a jerk. Maybe it's because he doesn't have a Soul himself. And without it takes away the ability to feel anything, only Determination. She can't imaging how horrible that must feel. Speaking of which... She didn't say what happened to the fallen monsters but it didn't sound good. They aren't dead, if they were then it wouldn't have been that big of a deal to give the dust back or tell the truth. No, something worse happened.

Who is Mettaton? Who is Flowey? What happened to the monster's that fallen down? What happened to the magic on the surface?

All of this was really getting to her. She decided to take a break. She stepped out to have a breather and grab something to eat.

Chapter Text

Chapter 32: Brawl

Word about the humans having a little brawl spread quickly around town. Pretty much everyone in Snowdin already saw the humans, whether on TV or they met them back when they first entered Snowdin. Either way, they caught everyone's attention. They all looked for the place in Snowdin Forest where it was said they were going to fight. In the clearing just outside of town, a large crowd gathered, a crowd almost as big as the one when the Blue Soul human sang a song with the Monster Shyren. A certain Temmie who went to colleg was selling "merchandise" for the fight. Collectible cards of each of the humans. (It was actually just pieces of construction paper color coded to the human's Souls)

After Papyrus, Undyne and Diego finished cleaning the mess they made from all the spaghetti, they also got word about the fight and went to the clearing. Diego and Frisk decided to sit out for the fight and just watch from the sides.

"Okay so what's the rules guys?" Jerod asked.

"It's one on one, and it's over when one of the side yields. Of course no killing." Caleb said.

"I like it." Delilah said.

"Um I'm not sure about this." John whispered but no one heard him.

"Alright, so who goes first? Wanna try rock-paper-scissors?"

The group agreed and they put their hands out. John lost to Caleb and Jerod lost to Delilah.

"Alright after you two are done it's you and me bud." Jerod grinned. "Time to see what your really made of!"

John nervously shook his head.

Delilah and Caleb stepped on opposite sides of the clearing. They stared each other down. It was all for fun, not like a serious fight to the death. But that doesn't mean they are just going to play around.

Papyrus decided to be the referees, Undyne couldn't because you know... royal guard, humans, royal decree...

"Who do you think will win Undyne?" Jerod asked.

"I don't know, Caleb was pretty strong when I fought you guys. Delilah doesn't really have much up her arsenal but she does have that new power of hers so who knows." Undyne said.

"Hey where's Sans?" John asked.

"I don't know, probably at home sleeping." Jerod said. John hummed sadly.

"I DO HOPE BOTH YOU HUMANS ARE READY!" Papyrus raised his hands up. "AND BEGIN!"

Caleb flew into the air just before Delilah's giant hands could grab him. He halted in the air and looked down at her. He aimed his gun and fired. Delilah gracefully tried to dodge the bullets until one hit her leg. She cried out and fell down. The crowd "OOH'ed". Good thing his magic bullets aren't the same as regular bullets, to humans they just stung... a lot.

In retaliation, Delilah summoned her giant legs and hands to slam Caleb down to the ground. He flew over and under them like he was a stunt plane.

Caleb gave a cocky grin. "Give up Delilah. I have the upper ground."

"Don't underestimate my power!"

(A.N: *Facepalm* Why did I reference Star Wars?)

Delilah's blue Soul suddenly pulsed, making a little shockwave around her. The snow that was falling down were suddenly suspended in midair. Caleb looked around in confusion. Delilah jumped into the air, spinning around rapidly as the low gravity made her go much higher. Caleb flew to the left as she passed him but Delilah predicted that. She quickly teleported herself right above Caleb as she did a back flip maneuver. Caleb barely had time to react when she slammed both her legs into his back. He toppled to the ground, Delilah increased the gravity for him as he fell making the impact that much more painful. He fell into the snow like a meteor, his hat falling to the side. He groaned as he picked himself up. Then a giant hand pressed him back down into the snow. He looked up to see Delilah standing over him, a sly grin on him. "You give up yet?"

"RRgh, n-not yet!" He said as he struggled to break free. His arms were pinned by the strength of the giant hands. 'why don't I have giant hands?'

Eventually he realized he was defeated. "I yield."

Delilah smirked as the hands vanished. The crowd cheered her name as she did a curtsy. Caleb picked himself up and reached for his hat wiping the snow off of it.

"THE WINNER IS THE BLUE HUMAN!" Papyrus said.

"Good game guys, that was cool!" Jerod said. Diego and Frisk clapped at them.

"You did good bro, you gave it your best, just try not to get too cocky next time." Diego said. Caleb hung his head down in defeat.

"Guess we are up huh?" Jerod said to John.

John looked up, not really focused on the conversation. "Wait, it's our turn?"

"Yeah, can't wait to pummel you." He said mischievously, punching his fist. John gulped.

"Good luck John." Delilah said.

"NAHHH, kick his butt punk!" Undyne shouted.

They both stepped onto the 'arena' on opposite sides. Jerod put up a battle stance as John just stood there with his hoodie pulled over his head, he felt the eyes of everyone around stare at him as he awkwardly stood there.

"READY HUMANS? BEGIN!" Papyrus shouted.

Jerod launched forward with his super speed. He barely made it two feet before he was lurched to the ground. John was using his telekinesis to pin him down.

"What the...?" Jerod said confused.

"Yield now or you will stay stuck there all day." John said. The crowd booed him, his cheeks flushed. 'Please stop looking at me

"John, seriously let me go and actually fight!" He said. John didn't answer. Jerod summoned his orange magic to push at the telekinesis. John's hand wavered as he tried to hold him down. Eventually he broke free and dashed at John with super speed. John's eyes widened as he pulled his arms up over his head for defense. He felt the fist connect, it wasn't super painful but a punch is a punch. He barely had time to dodge as Jerod kept attacking with a series of short jabs. His arms were feeling pretty sore.

"Come on John, you can't keep blocking forever." Jerod teased.

John was starting to get really frustrated, he wished Jerod got the clue that he didn't want to fight him, especially in public with and audience watching.

Then Jerod surprised him by doing a hard jab into his side, right in a weak part of his ribs. John gasped as he fell on the ground coughing up the air that got knocked out of him. Jerod stopped his assault and looked at his friend in concern.

"Dude, are you alright?" He suddenly his body glowed blued as he was lifted up. He tried to grab at the ground but he couldn't reach. Suddenly cyan knives appeared in the air around him. The crowd gasped in surprise. Jerod's eyes widened, this was kinda freaking him out a bit.

"J-John? Uh look I'm sorry! It's your stage fright isn't it, look I'll yield right n-"

"Oh you better not..." John said, but it didn't come out as a growl, it sounded kinda playful. He looked up at Jerod and... he was smirking. "Cause you're in for a bad time!"

Sans woke up with a start in his bedroom, ketchup bottle in hand. He took a deep breath as he looked around the room.

"wow, thought i felt a disturbance in the force, like someone just took my 2nd favorite line without knowing it, and then silence..."

(A.N: Ugh I hate myself...)

Jerod felt himself be set down by John. His eyes widened in surprise watching his friend put up a fighting stance with his toy knife out.

"Uh dude, did I hit you on the head or something? This isn't like you."

"Yeah you're right but you know the old saying, 'If you can't beat them, join them!"

"...Your going to let me win?" Jerod scratched his head confused.

"N-no! Okay, not the best quote in this context. I mean that I'm ready to fight for real now. But you're gonna owe me for this."

Jerod smirked, happy to see his friend in a playful attitude. "Alright, lets do this for real!"

John then put up a sassy pose. "Not going to go down that easy buddy. So watch as I show off my SECRET SNEAK ATTACK!"

John snapped his fingers and he vanished.

'Oh, I forgot he could turn invisible. He barely done that this entire time down here.' Jerod thought to himself

Jerod listened carefully for any sound around him. There was the sound of crunching snow behind him as he swung towards the sound. Orange glowing fist clashed against cyan glowing knife as John became visible again.

"WHOOPSY, looks like my sneak attack failed!" John giggled. He jumped backwards to avoid the coming swipe. He launched volleys of knives at him, his friends dashing past them. Jerod threw a giant glowing fist at him. John reacted quickly and put up a wall of knives to block it. The resulting smoke screen gave Jerod the opportunity to run at him from the side. John's eyes widened at his exposure.

"Shoryuken!" Jerod yelled as he uppercutted John. He got launched into the air and landed on his back several feet away. Normally John would be pissed off and humiliated but he's just amused that Jerod just took a Street Fighter attack name.

Jerod was at his side ready to do a hard punch down on him. "Looks like I win."

"Don't count on it." John said. Jerod felt something sharp poke at his back. He had an good idea at what exactly was behind him.

The corner of John's mouth quirked up a bit, Jerod's to. Then they started laughing softly as it kept growing until they were both cracking up.

Jerod put his hand out to help John up. Once he was on his feet they looked silently at each other and did a fist bump. They then looked to the audience. "We both yield!"

Surprisingly, the audience did not boo them. Instead they cheered at the spectacle of friendship and a good fight. With the fight over, the crowd dissipated, going back to their everyday lives.

John and Jerod went back to their friends. They noticed that Chara was nowhere to be found.

"That was an awesome fight punks!" Undyne said. "You both gave it your all!"

"I WAS WORRIED THAT YOU WERE ACTUALLY HURT THERE CYAN HUMAN, BUT YOU WERE SPECTACULAR! ALMOST AS MUCH AS ME!" Papyrus said.

Delilah suddenly wrapped her arms around John's neck. "I'm so sorry John! I forgot you have stage fright." He patted his sister on the back.

"It's okay Delilah, I kinda got over it. Didn't want to be a killjoy to you guys." John said. Actually in his head, he knew that he would get even more humiliated if he tried to end the fight because of his shyness so he tried to suck it up for his sake and everyone else's. Now he really feels like going to the bathroom right now, or pass out.

"Still, you shouldn't have felt forced into this." Diego said.

"I'm really proud of you dude!" Jerod said wrapping an arm around John's shoulders. "If that's what it took to make you get over your stage fright I should punch you more often."

"Ehehehe..." John laughed awkwardly. Actually he felt a lot more comfortable being out there with his best friend by his side. Sure he also likes it when his sister was covering for him but he felt less anxious being out there. He made him feel... brave.

"Hey! Where's MK, Snowdrake, and the other kids?!" Jerod said.

"They are over there!" Frisk pointed to them. They were with the dispersing crowd meeting with their parents.

"Where's Snowdrake's parents? I don't see them." Caleb said.

Undyne frowned. "Um, he kinda lives on his own in the forest with his friend Chilldrake."

The group snapped their heads at her. "What?"

"His dad is the comedian at the MTT hotel. From what I hear, he calls his son's jokes 'an embarrassment to the family'. Then the kid's mom 'fell down' a couple years ago, so he ran away from home and joined up with his rebellious friend."

"Aw, that's so awful!" Delilah said.

"It's not as bad as you think, since he's a ice-based monster."

"OH LOOK, THE MONSTER CHILD APPROACHES!"

The group looked and saw MK running towards them with two monsters they think is his parents. They look exactly like Mk, but slightly taller. The one on the right has a big bushy mustache, monocle, and wore a tux with a top hat (He looks like the Monopoly guy). The one on the left has long wavy brunette hair, long eyelashes, and wore a purple poke-dot dress.

"Quick, what are they're names?" Jerod whispered to Papyrus.

"UM, I THINK IT'S MONSTERDAD, MD, AND MONSTERMOM, MM!" Papyrus whisper shouted.

"Of course that's their names." Jerod grumbled.

"Yo, mom dad see! These are my friends I told you about!" MK said.

The group smiled nervously as the parents looked them over with unreadable expressions.

"So." MD began, eyebrows furrowing. "You are the humans that my boy made friends with?"

Something about the way he said that sounded kinda prejudice. Like early 1950's america prejudice.

Jerod sweated nervously. "Err, yes sir."

"Well then, I got to say you sure got a lot of guts being friends with a monster. Not everyone has nice opinions on monsters. They would sooner take justice into their own hands before convicting you."

The group gulped.

"Now honey, stop scaring them." MM scolded. She smiled to the group. "Excuse him, he gets really defensive when someone makes friends with our little baby."

"Mooooom!" Mk blushed embarrassed.

MD smiled. "Yes, sorry about that. Frankly I got to thank you. I hear you saved his life. Not only that but he has gotten a lot of attention from his classmates." He nudged his son. "He's always trying to do something to get attention like the little scamp he is. It's already been a day but he's gotten so popular in school. All thanks to you kids."

Mk gave a bright grin to the group.

"We are both very thankful for what you've done for our child. We wish you the best of luck on that finale with Mettaton."

"Thanks!" Diego said looking at the clock on his phone. "Wow, it's getting late. We gotta go."

"Aw really!?" Caleb whined.

"Don't worry punks, we can hang out tomorrow if you want to!" Undyne said.

"Can I hang out too!?" Mk asked.

"Only if you finish your homework first." MM said strictly.

"AW MAN!"

The group waved goodbye to their monster friends as they headed to the Riverperson to get back to the MTT Resort.

Chapter Text

Iris wandered outside the hotel deep in thought. She unfortunately bought a Glamburger from Burgerpants. Like he said, it was covered in sequins, not fit for human consumption. The thoughts of the notes were still in her head, but the rumbling of her stomach was bothering her. She noticed a small sign in the alleyway next to the hotel. She wandered in and found a little stand with two monsters. They were a purple cat and an alligator.

"Hi." Iris waved.

"Heya! I'm Bratty, and this is my best friend, Catty." The alligator said.

"I'm Catty, and this is my best friend, Bratty." The cat said.

They both paused an looked at each other. They then giggled. They both talked in a American valley-girl dialect. Iris shuddered, remembering when Delilah acted that way for two weeks. John would not look at her in the face until she changed.

"What is this place?"

"This is like..."

"Our shop!" Bratty and Catty finished each other's sentences.

"But there is a shop inside, why sell stuff so close to it?"

"The stuff inside, is like...

"TOTALLY wicked expensive."

"But, like, this stuff we found is like..."

"TOTALLY wicked cheap."

"You should..."

"Like..."

"TOTALLY wicked buy all of it?"

"TOTALLY wicked buy all of it?"

Iris's stomach rumbled. She took a look around, it was mostly just random stuff like an old shirt, shoe boxes, or a waterlogged computer.

"Got any food?" Iris asked.

"Yeah we do!" Bratty said.

"Here, it's 25g." Catty said handing her a small snack bag. It said Popato Chisps. She handed the two girls the money as she ate into it. It was junk food but it was still food.

"Mmm, where did you get this stuff?" Iris asked after she swallowed the food.

"I mean, like, where does anyone get old computers, or food, or..."

"We found it in the garbage!" Catty exclaimed.

Iris's eyes widened as she heard that. Before she could react, Bratty interjected.

"Don't worry, that's not from the garbage."

"Alphys gave it to us!" Catty said.

That satisfied her. "Yeah, well at least it ain't this." Iris pulled out a Glamburger.

"Oh my God. Is that a Glamburger? OH MY GOD! GIMME!" Catty lunged at her. Iris shrieked and jumped back. Luckily Bratty held her friend back.

"God, Catty. Try to have some self-control." She scolded.

"Sorry... I just get soo excited when I see a Glamburger! I would get it myself if that guy wasn't there the whole time."

'Are they talking about Burgerpant's?' Iris thought. Then she remembered what he told them about two girls asking for Glamburgers.

"Tell me about this guy." Iris asked.

"That guy from the store is kinda a creep" Bratty said.

"Yeah! He's a creep! But he's kind of cute, too..." Catty squealed.

"C'mon Catty, don't you have ANY standards?"

"Nope!" Catty giggled.

Iris arched an eyebrow. Does this sound like... infatuation?

"C'mon, he doesn't sound so bad." Iris said.

"OK, like, the annoying thing is he'd be OK if he just treated us with some respect." Bratty said.

"But he just acts really weird." Catty said.

"And then acts like it's OUR fault he acts that way!"

"Like, when we asked him to get those Glamburgers. He dropped them and ran away before we could even say anything!"

"We were, like, going to share them."

"Really? I wasn't."

"Catty!" Bratty scolded.

'Both are really strange, they are meant for each other. I can see it now, Cattypants.' Iris smirked. "Well it just so happens that Burgerpant's told me to give this to you." She said to Catty.

Catty's eyes sparkled. "Really?!"

"Yep, and he wants to hang out with you two but he doesn't have the guts to say it himself."

"Oh, uh..." Bratty frowned.

"Yeah! He should come look for junk with us!" Catty exclaimed.

"But like, if we let him hang out with us... I just worry it'll..."

"... be really super fun!"

"Um, that was NOT what I was gonna say."

"But I was close, right !?"

"No!"

"C'mon, think about how cool we are compared to him! We'd be saving his LIFE with our friendship! His LIFE, Bratty!"

"..."

"Think of all the glamburgers he could get for us!"

"Good point, alright we'll go see him later."

"Yay!" Catty cheered.

Iris smiled. "That's nice. So uh, you mentioned that you know Alphys?"

Both Bratty and Catty looked at her. They seemed to have forgotten she was still here.

"Oh my God."

"Alphys."

"Oh my god,"

"ALPHYS."

"She used to live on our street."

"She was like a big sister."

"I mean, like, if your big sister..."

"Takes you on trips to the dump."

"She showed us the coolest places to find trash."

"She was always collecting these weird cartoons."

"Then she became the Royal Scientist..."

"Yeah, we haven't seen her in forever..."

Iris nodded. She took another look around the place and noticed something familiar. A transparent looking key.

"Hey, where did you get this?"

"Oh that! Mettaton threw it out one day and we took it with the rest of the garbage."

"Oh my God, Mettaton! He's like my robot hu-"

"Yeah, yeah!" Iris interrupted Catty "How much for the key?"

"Like about 600g."

"It's obvious this is important, why else would he throw it in the garbage for us?"

Iris groaned. She didn't have enough to get it. But maybe...

"Thanks for the food Bratty and Catty but I gotta go!"

"Like, see you later!" Bratty said.

"Like, later and stuff!" Catty said.

They both waved as Iris left.

"...Catty?"

"Yeah Bratty?"

"Did you remember to ask the human for her autograph?"

"...whoops."

Iris wasted no time as she quickly took the first ferry to Waterfall. She then headed straight for Napstablook's place. The lights were out.

'Looks like he isn't here' Iris thought to herself. She looked to the pinkish house next to his. She turned the doorknob, it was locked. She pulled out one of her tendrils. 'I hope this works.'

She stuck the tip of the tendril into the key slot of the knob. She tried to twist it. Apparently, tendrils have nerves so when it got caught in between two metal parts... it hurt.

She bit her lip as she silently cried out in agony. She kept pulling on the tendril to get it out. She didn't know the tensile strength of her tendrils but she really hoped it wouldn't rip. Eventually she got it out and she tenderly rubbed the aching tendril.

"Trouble in paradise?"

Iris glanced next to her and noticed that Chara was there with her.

"Hey Chara, what are you doing here?"

"Eh, the others were having a bit of a play fight with each other but I didn't really care. I'm more curious of what exactly you are doing."

"Um... I'm just trying to solve this mystery."

Chara's eyes lit up. "Oooh, I love mysteries. What is it?"

"Not entirely sure but I do know that there might be some connection between Mettaton and whatever is in this door. Thing is I can't open it.

"Oh, maybe you need this." Chara pulled out a transparent key from his back pocket.

Iris narrowed her eyes. "Where did you get that?"

"I stole it from Napstablook when we were at his place."

"Why?!"

Chara shrugged.

Iris face palmed. "Okay, just get the door open."

Chara nodded and unlocked the door. They both went into the house. It was just one room like Napstablook's but this one was more decorated than the latter. It was all pink with glitter everywhere. There were a bunch of diaries on the floor.

"Geez, someone had a REALLY feminine side." Chara said. "I think I remember the person who lived here. It's on the tip of my tongue." Iris read through the books, mumbling the words out loud.

"Dear diary... blooky... cousin... corporeal... She's a dork. Alphys?... Sketch... body... star..." Iris closed the last book with a resigned face.

"What's wrong?"

"So uh, I'm 95% confident that this WAS Mettaton's house and that he was a ghost and Napstablook's cousin.

Chara snapped his fingers. "I remember now! Happstablook. That was his name. Wait, he's Mettaton?"

"If that's the person who lived here then yeah."

"But if he was a ghost then why didn't he see me like Napstablook?"

"Probably because he's not seeing you with his ghost eyes but instead through a mechanical visor." Iris said.

"Oh, so case closed?"

"Not yet, I want to see one more thing." Iris said as she left through the door, remembering to keep it closed. "First I want you to put that key back, then we are heading to Alphy's lab."

"So here we are, at Alphy's lab."

"Chara stop narrating everything!" Iris said annoyed.

"Iris said annoyingly to nothing, looking crazy to any watching monster." Chara grinned.

Iris huffed as she stopped by the Lab door. There wasn't anything to lockpick, just an electric panel. Iris used her high intelligence to go down the numerical list of all possible combinations for the pan-

The door opened before she could touch it.

"Wha...!" Iris and Chara said at the same time. They looked, the lab lights were shut off and no one was at the door. "Who opened the door?"

"Arf!" Iris looked down and saw the Annoying Dog staring at her. Tail wagging happily.

"Why am I not surprised." Iris sighed. She stepped past him and entered the lab. It didn't look like Alphys was here at the moment, this will make things easier.

"What are you doing?" Chara asked as Iris went to the computer. The Dog went to a large bag of dog food and ate joyfully.

"Alphys's notes said something about injecting Determination into comatose monsters." Chara's eyes widened. "Apparently something went wrong, I want to know what." Iris said as she looked through the computer. "By the way, do you know of any monster that died on Asgore's garden?"

Chara stiffened. "Ho- No, why do you ask?"

"Eh, just curious." Iris shrugged. "Hmm, looks like there's a bunch of emails from several monsters, Snowdrake, Aaron, Doggo, etc. They seem to be asking for the dust of their families, already knew that... oh, looks like there's a whole lower section of the lab. Let me just take a look through the cameras..."

The computer screen pulled up a feed of the lower lab. It was dark and creepy looking hallway. There was a bunch of fog in the area. She clicked next and it showed a room with a tv, next was a hallway with a mirror and a bunch of flowers, a room with hospital beds...

Suddenly she saw something move, in the far end of the room by the sinks. She tried to get a good look at it but it was too foggy. Then the lights flickered and it was gone just like that.

"Okay, that's really creepy." Chara shuddered.

"Yeah, like some kind of horror videogame." Iris said. She clicked next and it showed a large room with Alphys, a bunch of b-

"Alphys?!" Iris's eyebrow rose. She was walking towards a bunch of dog bowls and poured something into them.

She sadly looked towards the other hallways.

"Dinner is ready!" She shouted.

There was silence for awhile as Iris and Chara stared curiously into the screen. Suddenly they recoiled back at the 7 creatures that came into the room.

The first one was a large slimy creature with a scaly torso, muscular arms, and a gelatinous head. It's head bared an enormous set of teeth. It growled as it crawled quickly using it's strong arms.

The next one was a skinny and tall bird-like creature It's head was red with a giant eye, at least that's what she thought before the eye opened and closed revealing teeth. The body was greenish with wings that looked kinda like frog legs. The legs of the creature was blue and it was a miracle how the thin little things supported the body. It chittered to it'self as it limped slowly towards them.

The next creature looked so familiar. It looked alot like Snowdrake from Snowdin but from what she could tell, it looked kinda feminine and older looking. It's body was endlessly dripping blue slush and it's eyes were... faces. They were orange like faces that made up her eyes. They looked kind of like carrots. She walked slowly towards them, stumbling once in awhile.

The next was a white dog monster. It was huge, bigger than Greater dog. It's body was constantly shifting as it moved around with it's many legs. Under it was what looked at first like a shadow but it was silhouettes of dogs with eyes that glint. Where it's face was supposed to be was replaced with a large gaping orifice that was drooling a strange froth. It trampled over, tripping on it's many legs.

The last three were hard to depict, they had no definite shape. It was just a sticky white mass with eyes, barely looking like a head. Once in awhile they seemed to be 'glitching', similar to what Iris saw happen to Gaster in her 'dream'.

Iris felt uncomfortable. These don't look like regular monsters, something seemed unnatural about them. Especially the three head ones.

The monsters all went to they're bowls and ate in their own strange and horrifying ways.

The head creatures just stared silently at the bowls, no one looked at them.

The Snowdrake creature looked at Alphys solemnly.

"Can...I see...Snowy...now?" She said, it looked like a hassle to even speak properly.

Alphys shook her head sadly. "N- I'm sorry Mrs. Drake, you know I can't do that. They can't know what happened to you."

Just then, everything clicked into place in Iris's head. These were/are the monsters that had fallen down. They melted into each other due to the determination, turning into these Amalgamations. They refuse to die but their bodies must not be able to hold all that determination unlike humans, just like what happened to Undyne. Flowey must be able to hold the determination probably because he doesn't classify as a monster and his flower body must be able to contain it properly, at the expense of the rest of the Soul.

Basically zombie monsters, minus the biting.

"O...kay..." Mrs. Drake said.

"How could she leave them down here, away from their families?!" Chara said angrily.

Suddenly, the slimy muscular monster snarled at the bird monster, lashing out at their food.

"I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry! I'm Hungry!" It yelled, it's voice resonating like a recording on a loop.

The bird chittered wildly, flapping it's wings, causing a bunch of butterflies to fly into the monster's face. It snarled, gnashing it's teeth at them. The bird spoke but it sounded strange, like three people were talking over each other.

The dog creature did a distorted howl.

"Lemon bread! Leave Reaper Bird alone!" Alphys ordered. "You guys are scaring Endogeny."

All three of them calmed down, but Lemon bread and Reaper bird gave angry glares at them.

Then the head monsters looked at the camera, directly at Iris. She felt a strange chill go down her spine.

"Come join the fun!"

"Lorem ipsum docet"

"Redacted"

Then the screen froze and glitched out. Iris looked at the screen baffled. She didn't know what to do. About a minute later the feed resumed, but it seemed to be on playback.

"Look, if you're hungry Lemon Bread, I'll go get some more for you. Just hold on." Alphys said walking out of the room.

Iris's eyes widened. Alphys was heading here right now.

Right on cue, the lights turned on. Iris looked behind her and was face to face with an surprised Alphys.

"I-Iris?"

"Uh oh." Chara said. "Busted."

Iris gave a sheepish grin. "Heyyyyy Alphys. Fancy seeing you here."

"This is where I live and work."

"Oh."

Alphys narrowed her eyes at her. "What are you doing here?"

"Uhhhh." Iris looked at the Annoying Dog, who was slowly walking towards the locked door. "I was following that Dog!" She pointed at him. The Dog somehow phased through the wall and vanished before Alphys could turn around.

"He was just there, I'm not lying."

"D-don't make this up. Why are yo-" Alphys peered over her and saw the camera feed on the computer. Iris looked back and saw what she was seeing.

"H-how much did you see..." Alphys whispered nervously.

Iris's expression hardened, knowing that she's not the one being interrogated now. "I saw enough, I know all about what happened down there with the monsters and Determination. And quite honestly, I am a little disturbed." Alphys looked away guiltily. "You brought these poor monsters back from the brink of death and now they are... amalgamates. Not only that but you kept them down here away from their families, feeding them like animals."

"I'm so sorry!" Alphys sobbed. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen! I had no idea that experimenting with the Souls would end up like this. I've tried to figure out how to fix this but it looks like the effects are permanent, they are forever stuck like this."

"Alphys, you need to tell the families what really happened." Iris said firmly.

"I- No! They will all hate me!" Alphys yelled. "They will be disgusted, knowing what I did to their love ones."

Iris sighed. "Look, I don't blame you for what you did. It's an accident, that's the danger of trying new things. But you can't take this lie to the grave. What if you die tomorrow, who will take care of them? You have to persevere and move past this, for not only you or the Amalgamates, but also for those that care about you."

Alphys looked down, unsure of what to say.

"Alright, I can't force you to make this decision, it's not my place. I'm not a monster. But know that if you do, I'm sure they will forgive you. Look on the bright side, you brought their family members back when they should be dead." Iris walked past her and towards the lab exit. She turned back to her. "Think about it."

After her confrontation with Alphys, Iris headed back to the hotel. It was starting to get late anyway.

"I feel like you were being too easy on her." Chara said to her.

"No, she already had a hard time keeping this in for so long. I could see it in her eyes. I just hope she will make the right decision."

"Well, too bad you probably won't live to see it."

Iris raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"

"Helllooooo, remember the little issue with Mettaton being invulnerable to your attacks? It's just going to be a long and slow fight with you all dead in the end."

"Well, we could always use Frisk's reset ability." Iris argued.

Chara rolled his eyes. "Yeah sure, you could just turn back time to win a fight that can't be won. Frisk can't reset forever, if he could then I would still be alive. Eventually we run out of determination and we are on our own. He would just be prolonging the inevitable."

Iris frowned. She didn't want to admit it but deep down she knew he was right. But not unless she can figure something out. If there is anything, anything that could give them a chance, it's in the blueprints that she took from Alphys.

She walked into the hotel and saw the group chilling by the fountain.

"Hey guys." Iris waved.

The group looked up at her. "Hey Iris!" Delilah smiled. "Where were you?"

Iris shrugged. "Just took a loooong walk."

"Aw, you missed it!" Caleb said. "These two girl monsters went up to Burgerpants and started having a chat with him. Something about garbage and glamburgers? BP looked unsure but eventually he agreed to do whatever it was they wanted her to do."

Iris smiled to herself. "Eh, oh well. So what did you guys do?"

"Well we hung out with Papyrus and Undyne, and a bunch of kids from Snowdin." Frisk said.

"I finally taught Papyrus and Undyne to cook edible spaghetti." Diego said relived.

"And then we all watched as my brother beat this blockhead up in a fight." Delilah laughed, nudging Jerod.

"We told you, it was a mutual tie!" Jerod glared at Delilah.

Iris laughed lightly, it looks like it was an interesting day for everyone. Here's to the calm before the storm.

Chapter Text

After a while of hanging out and chatting, the others decided to head to their rooms for the night. That left John and Jerod alone together in the hotel lobby. All the other guests have went to bed as well.

They sat there together in awkward silence.

"So Jerod, what are you going to do when we get out of here?" John asked.

Jerod looked to his friend and shrugged. "I don't know, I doubt anyone would believe us about finding monsters down here. I'm gonna have to come up with something. I might be grounded for awhile though. Oh well, I'll try to hang out with you more before I move."

"What are yo- Oh." John frowned. He remembered what he told him a few days before they fell down here. Jerod's mom moving to Atlanta for her career or something like that. They only have till the end of summer before he loses him. Maybe now is the time to say something. "You know I'm going to miss you when you move to Atlanta." John said.

Jerod smiled and nudged his friend's shoulder "Hey, don't think I'm going to forget about you. It's going to be tough for me to make new friends there as well. At least Rachel will keep me company."

John looked at him perplexed. "Who's Rachel?" he said, unintentionally sounding a little defensive.

"Oh, she's this girl I met as a pen pal. She lives in Atlanta, and she's kinda cute. I'm thinking of asking her to be my girlfriend. Ain't that great John! ...John?"

Jerod's smile fell. John wasn't looking at him but he felt like something was off. John slowly got up, hoodie covering his face.

"I-I'm going to bed, g-goodnight." Jerod heard his voice crack, like he was trying not to cry or something. He started walking away.

Jerod grabbed his wrist. "John? What's the ma-" Jerod was cut off by the piercing look of anger and despair that John had in his now glowing eyes. Jerod felt something sharp press against his neck. He looked and saw a cyan knife was pressed against him. Unlike earlier today though, this one felt more inclined to hurt.

"Let. Go. Now." John said, barely holding his composure.

Jerod scowled. "What the hell is wrong with you! You don't ju-" Jerod was cut off as he was pushed back and was knocked against the wall. John quickly ran into his room and closed the door before Jerod could catch up with him.

Jerod looked at where his buddy was in bewilderment. This wasn't like his best friend. Even in his worse episodes, he never pulled a weapon on someone.

"John..."

Delilah laid in her hotel room. She was daydreaming when she heard a knock on her door.

She went to the door and cracked it open a little. It was Jerod and he looked a little shaken up.

Delilah furrowed her eyebrows in concern. "Jerod? You okay?"

"Delilah, can I talk with you?"

"Um, sure. What is it?"

"It's about your brother. He just had another of his episodes earlier today."

She didn't say anything as she opened the door more and led him in. She made sure to lock the door as she turned to him. "Is he alright?"

"I don't know. All I said was that I'm getting a girlfriend in Atlanta and next thing I knew I had a knife pressed against my neck."

Delilah pursed her lips and her eyes darted around. She sighed as she gave him a serious look.

"Does anyone else know?"

"Nope, no one was there."

"Good." She massaged her face like she was stressed out. "I'm going to tell you something that stays between us. Did John ever tell you about before he met you?"

"Kinda, he only said that he didn't have any friends before he met me, I thought he was being a little bit dramatic."

"Well he did have friends, one. They met back in 5th grade. Back then, John was very different. I barely remember how he was always so energetic and playful and affectionate. His friend was the leader of a group of kids his age so he hung out with them as well."

"What was his name?" Jerod asked. He never heard John mention this friend of his.

"I don't know, I never met him, neither did our parents. Anyway, he hung out with them for almost a year, until something happened. I remember that day, I was seven years old.

Younger Delilah was watching cartoons on the TV. Her parents left the house to quickly take care of something. She then heard the door open. She hopped off the couch and went to the front door, thinking it was her big brother home from hanging out with his friends.

"Hi J-"

She gasped and her eyes widened. There was her 11 year old brother by the front entrance. His bright blue t-shirt was stained red with blood and torn in some parts. He was missing one of his little batman sneakers, his bare sock was soggy from puddles and mud. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, arms, legs, and... oh god his face. It was a pulped up mess. It was covered in purple, blue, and red. She could barely recognize him by his face, but she knew it was her dear brother who was weakly leaning on the door frame.

The swelled up mess that was her brother turned his head towards her. She stood there frozen in shock.

"B-big brother?" She finally said.

He looked at her through his swelled up eyelids, tears slowly streaking down. She saw the fear that was in his eyes.

"d'lah?" John mumbled through his swollen purple lips.

Delilah slowly walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him. John gave off a strangled sob as he weakly hugged her back.

"m' s-sc'red. It h-rts."

Delilah didn't know what to say, all she knew to do was comfort his brother.

"Right after that our parents came home to that. They took him to the hospital immediately. He recovered but there were many scars. Some of those scars are still there, you may have noticed some of them."

"Yeah..." Jerod whispered. He did notice John walking with an unusual limp when he gets tired, and he had this small and faint looking scar at the side of his cheek he would never have noticed it if he wasn't looking at him when he's blushing. There was also that one time Jerod saw his exposed stomach and found a nasty burn scar on the right side. "So did he ever get help?"

"Ye- well no. See, when my parents tried to get him to talk about who did this to him, he just wouldn't speak. Time and time again they tried to get him to speak and he never said anything. He stopped hanging out with his friends as well. Then he started having these emotional episodes of his. I'm usually the one to calm him down. One day, as he calmed down from his episode, I asked him why he won't tell us who did this to him. He just simple replied to me,'because they will hurt me again if I do.' The way he phrased that, along with the fact that he stopped mentioning his friend, I knew they were the ones who did this to him."

Jerod pulled his hair back. He couldn't believe his friend went through all that. "Damn, no wonder he doesn't have a lot of friends. After something like that, I would have a lot of trust issues. But what does this have to do with what I said?"

"Let me continue." Delilah said firmly. "Anyway, after that incident, he became reclusive, antisocial, depressed."

"I kinda knew about the depressed part, he's not doing that good of a job hiding it."

Delilah scowled at him. "No, you haven't seen how bad it can be, it's far worse than you saw. He has no care for his health. He eats so much, refuses to talk to anyone, his grades slip, and sleeps in late. Some days he has trouble getting out of bed in the morning, finding a reason to get up out of bed or to... stay with us."

"Did... did he ever..." Jerod gestured to his wrist. He didn't have the stomach to say it out loud.

Delilah shook her head."...no, he's depressed but also too much of a coward to hurt himself, not that it's a bad thing in this instance." Delilah hung her head downward. "He just...shuts down. I do my best to be there for him but it just not enough. I'm so scared for my big brother. I'm worried how he's going to be when he gets older." She looked up. "Then one day he met you."

Jerod smiled softly, he remembered it. It was the first day of 9th grade. They were seated together in Algebra. He was very open and talkative to John, even though he barely talked back. Then John noticed he was wearing a shirt about a video game that they both happen to enjoy. John timidly offered to show him the game at his house, which he happily agreed. From then, their friendship quickly grew. They couldn't stay away from each other, almost everyday they hung out.

"And?" Jerod asked, confused. It sounds like there was more to this than he understood.

Delilah groaned. "God, you're dense! Have you ever noticed that he never had a girlfriend before?"

"Wait... Are you saying that he is jealous of me?" Jerod said. Delilah nodded. Jerod started having a nervous feeling, a thought in the back of his head that he hoped wasn't true. "He likes Rachel?"

Delilah gave him a look.

Jerod gulped. "He...he likes me?"

"He loves you."

Jerod staggered back a bit. He really never saw this revelation coming. He always thought his buddy was into girls. Now he realize, all those quick glances he gives him, those random blushes, how he gets so clingy to him sometimes. Jerod leaned against the wall as he ran his fingers through his hair. "...how long?" He said.

"Since the beginning."

"God DAMN IT!" Jerod roared as he punched the wall, leaving a hole in it. It was fortunate that he was using his powers so his hand wasn't broken or splintered."I can't believe I was so stupid! All this time and he said nothing? How could he keep this from me?!"

"Because he didn't want you to look down on him."

"Oh that's bullshit, he knows I am accepting of those kinds of people!"

"But what about when those kinds of people are in love with you?"

"..."

"Yeah, you were the only friend he had, but he wanted to be more. He don't know how you would feel about him, worried that this might be a mistake. So he decided to wait. He waited many years, building up a relationship, getting to know each other better, waiting for the perfect time to say it."

Jerod slapped his forehead. "And I ruined it."

"Exactly, you told him that you were getting a girlfriend. He probably now thinks that all his waiting was for nothing. And now you need to talk to him."

"Huh?"

"Yeah, you owe it to him. Look I can't force you to like my brother back but you should at least tell him what you feel. Who knows what lies in store for us in the future. We might die to Asgore or we might not, and you will leave him like this when you move. Be there for your friend."

Jerod was silent for a moment, he turned around.

"...Alright." He said as he was heading to the door.

"Good, and Jerod, one more thing."

"Yeah?" He paused.

" I know we don't exactly get along too well and sometimes I think you are a complete idiot. But I really do think you two are meant for each other."

Jerod snapped his head back at her. "Why do you think that?"

"Ever since he told me of his little crush a couple years ago, I've been paying closer attention to you two. You two have amazing chemistry. Like every time you both are working on an assignment you both always get straight A's. You both look out for each other, making sure the other doesn't do something stupid. And you both get through any problem together. When you have fights or get mad at each other, you both manage to work it out and go back to being friends. And to top it all off, love or not, you do care about him."

Jerod thought about it for a minute. She was right. He never really thought about how he looked at John. He always thought that it was a like a big/little brother complex relationship, but now he realizes there might be something there. But even if he says yes, he is going to have to move away anyway. He doesn't know, it will change many things about their lives, but he needs to make a choice, now.

"I don't know how I feel right now." Jerod said softly, clenching his fist. "What I do know is, my friend is upset, and I need to be there for him."

Delilah smiled and hug him, much to Jerod's surprise. They never really got off on the right foot, so hugging never really seemed like an option.

"Um..." Jerod said.

"Don't get me wrong, I still think your a dummy, but thank you. My brother has been through a lot. I'm so grateful he met you." She pulled back from the hug and wiped her eyes. "Now go."

Jerod gave a thumbs up and left to go to his friends room. He paused at John's door, nervous about confronting him. It's not every day you learn so much about a friend in just several minutes.

Then he took a deep breath and gave a small knock. There was nothing for almost a minute.

"John... It's me."

There was silence for a second, then the door slowly opened.

"Hey, Jerod." John rasped through the crack in the door. Jerod paused when he saw his face. The red locks on his head was a mess and his eyes were red and puffy, probably from crying, and was that... scratch marks on his face?

"Can I come in?" Jerod asked calmly.

"S-sure." he said, opening the door more to let him in. Afterward he shut the door.

"Delilah want's to know if you are okay, and I want to know to." Jerod said.

John looked away timidly. "Y-yeah. I'm fine. Okay, maybe I'm a little sad that you have to go, but I'll get over it I swear." He said as he sat on the bed.

Jerod didn't know how to begin the conversation, but he needed to let him know.

"I know about your 'old friend' John."

John tensed up as he looked down. He stayed silent.

"John, is this why you've been so depressed most of the time?"

"Y-yeah, why do you think I've been late to school frequently from time to time? Because sometimes I have trouble getting out of bed in the morning. Why, when I already know how worthless I am. How much I'm a pathetic waste of space that the world is better off without. One less freak..."

"But what about now, if anything you've been looking alot better since we first fell down."

"That's because I have a reason to care, it's not really a sense of friendship with the others, not that I hate them. It's more like a primal instinct to stay with a group to survive down here. I couldn't let my depression get in the way of others if we all need to depend on each other to make it out of here."

"Why didn't you tell me you were feeling like this?"

"Because I didn't want to make your waste your time worrying about a pathetic loser like me. A clown, a coward, a weirdo, A FAGGOT!" He screamed.

John snapped his head at Jerod and had an intense look on his face, eyes flickering cyan.

"Wha- John?..." Jerod said confused.

"Oh don't you act so surprised! I'm no idiot, if my sister dared revealing my secret about my past to you then she must have told you...the other stuff."

Jerod didn't know what to say, he rarely got scared or intimidated by anyone but right now he was terrified by the raw emotion that John is unleashing.

"So now you know just how much of a freak I am."

"Your not a freak." Jerod said.

John gave a dry laugh. "You sound just like Delilah. But I am a freak. Why else would I let myself be beaten to a pulp by people I thought were my friend? Because I weirded them out, I never learned to shut up or to keep personal space, or to stop saying weird things. They grew uncomfortable being near me and tried to get away from me, but I just wouldn't get the hint. Eventually they had enough of my shit and cornered me and took me to an alley near my house. They... they hurt me, and I... was so scared. Scared of everything. I wanted to just hide in my room and never leave. People stayed away from me as that moment made me so reclusive, I didn't mind... but at the same time I did mind. I was alone for so long, so scared, so lost. I believe the world just wants to torture me. I just wanted it to end but as scared as I was about everything, I was more scared of the pain. Once I was thinking of following in Frisk and Chara's footsteps and climb the mountain. Perhaps I would have gone through with it if something didn't stop me."

"What did?"

"...You." John mumbled, voice calmer but hoarse from all the yelling. It's a good thing the rooms were soundproof or everyone would've heard everything. John buried his head into his sweatshirt. "You're the only one who made me feel normal. Like I matter in the world."

Jerod bit his lip as he sat on the bed and put a comforting hand on John's shoulder. "Can we please talk about it? I can't just forget about this or leave things like they are."

"Why not, I'm used to being forgotten."

"John..."

"What do you want me to say?" he asked, he lifted his head up. "You don't understand how hard this is for me!" John said somberly. "I didn't want anyone to know, especially not you!"

"But... It's just. You liked me for as long as we met and I don't know why."

"Are you saying that it's nothing but teenage hormones that make me attracted to you?" John said angrily. "You think I'm all 'ooh, look at that boy's hot sexy body with his abs and biceps. I just want to make out with him and feel his muscles." John said in a mocking flamboyant tone. His expression hardened "Idiot. What happened with my 'old friend' may have messed me up inside but it also made me learn something. It made me appreciate the value of friendship more, true friendship. It brought me closer to my little sister, who was always there for me. And I now like people for more than just their looks, but for the person they are inside, despite how cliche it sounds."

He looked at his best friend and crush with a pained miserable smile. "Jerod, you are more than just a big macho muscle man. You are nice, friendly, caring, funny, selfless, loyal, etc. I appreciate how you were the only one trying to be my friend. Me, when everyone looked at me like a big sad loser. You brought light back into my life, you never stop making me happy. I never knew how to repay you for all you did. That's why, considering my feelings, I never knew how to tell you how I feel. If you rejected me, I was scared that you wouldn't want to be my friend anymore. But if you said yes, I wouldn't know what to do, I've never knew what it was like to be in a relationship. I'm less scared of coming out to the world, though it's still a scary thought, I'm more scared of coming out to you. I tried to not make you pick sides, giving you the options to hang out with your friends rather than me. But it hurt me every time to see you not choose me, no matter how rare that was. I just wanted you in my life all the time, as selfish as that sounds. I just silently, patiently watched as I slowly began to lose you from my grasp. That's why I tried to prepare myself to never have you with me, to accept the pain that it brings, to have my heart broken. Why do you think I get hurt the most throughout the journey, well besides dying? Because this world sucks, there is no future for me, only for you and I don't want to drag you to hell with me."

John covered his face with his hand and started sobbing. He didn't hear anything from Jerod for awhile. 'He probably hates me, disgusted by my secret, or feels betrayed as his best friend.'

Suddenly John's hands were pulled down as he looked Jerod right in the eye. His friend's lips were quivering and tears streamed down his cheeks. John's eyes widened, never at all has he seen Jerod ever cry before. Tear up from a painful injury but not actually cry.

"I'm so sorry." Jerod said, pulling him to a tight embrace. John tensed at the sudden close contact, the only one who gave him this much comfort was his sister. He calmed down and returned the hug weakly. "This must have been bothering you for a while hasn't it?" Jerod asked.

"Since the very beginning." John replied.

"I'm sorry I never realized it sooner. You've always been the type to keep these feelings inside."

"It's not your fault you didn't realize it. I always did a good job trying to hide it."

"Look I get that your mad at me-"

"What?!" John pulled out of the hug and gave him a frustrated glare. "No I'm not mad at you, I'm mad at myself. It's not your fault I was born this way, to like you, to be a freak."

"John, your not a freak." Jerod silenced him before he could go on another rant again.

Jerod cupped John's cheek, his own cheeks turning red. "You know, I don't actually have a preference."

"Huh?" John arched an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yeah, I mean I do like girls. But I'm not so uptight that I would immediately reject dudes. I guess I was just following the norm and sticking to finding girls. I had these small flings here and there with girls, but it never lasted that long, not as long as what we have."

"What are you saying?" John couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"I'm saying that perhaps, for what little time we have left, if we die down here or I eventually move, we can try to be a couple. What do you think?"

John was in disbelief. He didn't think, no, he never would have thought that this might be possible.

"I...I... This can't be real. This has to be a dre-"

He was cut off when Jerod placed his lips to John's. John's eyes went wide, as Jerod pulled back. It was a quick peck but it was John's first kiss and it felt good. He stared at Jerod, butterflies in his stomach. He never expected him to be so gentle and kind, not like the tough guy act he always shows.

Jerod smiled at him, cheeks were as red as his."You always were cute when you were flustered." Jerod chuckled. "This is real John. I'm here and I want you to be happy."

Then the floodgates opened up. John wrapped his arms tightly around Jerod's waist as he sobbed uncontrollably. The sound he made was terrible, guttural, miserable. But Jerod held on to his... boyfriend as he let out his pent up emotions. He rubbed his back, his friend's tears soaking a part of his shirt.

"Shhh, it's okay John. Let it all out."

"...I-I-I lOVe YOu!" John choked out in the middle of his sobs.

"I know..."

They didn't say anything after that. They laid down in the same position, John still sobbing into Jerod's warm embrace. Their Souls pulsed in sync with each other.

They didn't realize they fell asleep like that.

And for the first time in the many years that John slept...

He finally felt at peace.

Chapter Text

Iris found herself back in the empty grey room. She doesn't remember waking up or ending up here so that could only mean one thing.

"GASTER!?" Iris called out to the emptiness. There was no sound, no ambiance, just silence.

Iris turned around and found Gaster standing in front of her.

"Gaster, there you are." She said overjoyed.

"..."

"Gaster?" The figure in front of her wasn't moving at all. Iris stepped closer to see what is wrong.

"I-IRIS!"

Iris jumped back because Gaster's face suddenly lit up. Both of his eyes, even the disfigured one, opened up and stared at her. His mouth contorted into an unusual wide smile.

"I-i-i-I'm S-s0oo hAppY t-T0 see you!" Gaster reached towards her.

"Gaster, calm down, your glitching out too much!"

Gaster paused right when he was about to touch her and the pinpricks in his eye sockets went out for a second. His body and face slowly relaxed as he looked at her with a more serious expression.

"Thank you Iris, I almost lost myself there. I'm afraid that my time is running short. Soon, very soon, I will fade into the void and be lost forever."

"But do you have the coordinates?"

"c-Coordinates?..." Gaster's face glitched for a second, then he was smiling gently at her. "Yes, oh yes! I finally figured out the coordinates for this place!"

"Good, then just tell it to me and I'll head right over to San's place."

"Hold on child!" Gaster said firmly. "There are somethings you need to know. Now listen closely, because chances are I won't be able to repeat myself without glitching out again."

Iris leaned in closer, ready to scribble on her notebook. She didn't realize she was holding it nor was she sure it would say anything once she wakes up. It must've been a mental personification of her memory storage or something like that.

"Okay, there is absolutely no way you are able to work the machine. Not that I think you are incapable of doing that but to figure out all the stuff about it will take too much precious time. You will need someone who would know how to work it, you need my son Sans."

"But what if he doesn't believe all this stuff?" Iris asked.

Gaster smirked. "There's this one thing that could work, a secret code phrase that only me and him know. When you see him tell him this..." Gaster whispered it into her ear. She recoiled back when she heard it and looked at him bewildered.

"Really?"

"Yes, really. Just relay the message to him and he will automatically know that I indeed communicated with you. Either that or you are a time traveler but I seriously doubt that. Alright the next step is to take the device back to the front entrance where my lab used to be in Waterfall. I assume you remember the location?" Iris nodded. "Excellent, next you two need to find a power source, a really strong one because this will take up a lot of power to keep the portal stabilized long enough to retrieve me. You must access the royal lab's computer and direct the power supply of the Core to a special power cable in Waterfall. Hopefully it's still in the area after all these years."

"Got it."

"One last thing, the coordinates. F.U.N value to 66.000, Coordinates to 268 room_water_fakehallway, then to Coordinates 269 the_void."

"Alright I got it, I think..."

Gaster narrowed his eyes at her.

"Kidding, I'm kidding!" Iris chuckled. "Levity is important in a situation as serious as th- OH now I understand Sans."

"Yes, now I'm going to wake you up now. I hope you kn-" Suddenly Gaster convulsed as he fell onto the ground. He gave out a chilling robotic scream as his body distorted rapidly.

"Gaster!" She said about to reach for him but stopped herself before she got hurt.

"j-J-j-j-JUST G-_0!" Gaster shouted as Iris felt herself get pulled out of there.

"Gaster!" Iris screamed and sat up on her bed. She realized that she is awake now. First thing she did was check and see if she remembers all the instructions.

'Mmmm yep, I remember it all.' She said mentally. 'Lets do this.'

She got right out of bed and didn't bother getting changed. (None of the group had any extra clothes with them anyway besides some small stuff) She left her room, remembering to lock her door. She went into the lobby where the others were. John and Jerod were facing the other's, holding hands for some reason, and their faces were red.

"-so don't worry, we aren't bothered at all." Diego said. "Right?" The rest of the group nodded at the statement.

"Yeah, we won't judge." Caleb said

"I'm proud of you John!" Delilah grinned.

"It is kinda cute." Chara said.

"I ship it!" Frisk said.

"Oh hi Iris." Caleb waved. The others turned to her.

'Crap, I don't have time to explain all of this to them.' Iris thought.

"Hey, uh I got to go do things." Iris said, sweating nervously.

"Is it about Gaster?" Chara asked.

"Who's Gaster?" Jerod asked

"The old royal scientist as well as Sans and Papyrus's dad. He got lost in time and space so no one remembers him. Iris swore that she would find a way to bring him back."

'Oh, guess that explains things quickly.' Iris thought "Yeah, and I'm on a time limit to bring him back so I gotta really get going." Iris said quickly.

"Well let us come and help you." Delilah said.

"No, you can't!" Iris said. It came out a little too harsh than she intended. "Look, no offense but you guys are just going to slow me down. I don't have time to ex-"

"I get it." John said, the others turning to him. "It's like one of those solo-mission-character-arc kind of thing. So I guess you got to do this alone."

Delilah frowned. "But John-"

"Sis, if she doesn't want us following her then we gotta respect her decision."

Delilah sighed. "Alright fine. But at least take Chara with you, if something bad happens to you then Frisk could just rewind."

"Alright."

"Don't worry I'll keep my eyes on her." Chara said.

"Be careful Iris." Diego said.

"I will, bye guys!" She said as she dashed out of the hotel and to the Riverperson's ferry.

Iris made it to Snowdin as fast as the boat could allow. She jumped off and tumbled through the snow.

"Geez calm down!" Chara exclaimed, seeing how frantic Iris was being.

"Can't gotta hurry!" Iris said running towards Sans's house. She was about to open the door when Undyne blocked the way.

"Heya punk!" Undyne said. "Haven't seen you in awhile."

"Hey Undyne, excuse me gotta talk to Sans." Iris said sliding past her. Then Undyne grabbed the back of her sweater and turned her towards her.

"Hold on punk, I got a quick favor to ask of you!"

"Sorry, no time."

"THEN MAKE DAMN TIME!" Undyne roared in her face.

"Ok."

"Good." Undyne said cheerfully. "Whenever you get the chance, can you deliver this letter by Alphys's lab?" Undyne said as she handed her a letter.

"Fine, was heading over there later today anyway." Iris said as she took the letter.

"Thanks. Oh and don't read it or I will kill you." She said in a uncomfortably happy voice. She let Iris go as she went upstairs to San's room. She knocked on it.

"Sans! I need to talk with you!" She shouted. There was no answer on the other side of the door.

"Hold on." Chara said as he stuck his head through the door. "Yeah, he's sleeping."

"Sans COME ON! WAKE UP!" She yelled banging on the door.

"You do realize that the door doesn't have a lock, right?"

"..." She opened the door then stepped in. Sans's room was messy, clothes were everywhere. In a corner there was a miniature tornado (not the strangest thing she's seen down here) with the Annoying Dog sleeping in it. She saw Sans sleeping on a mattress with no frame. His jacket was laying next to him.

"Hey Sans wake up!"

"zzzz, six more hours pap..." Sans mumbled, covering his face with a pillow.

"Sans we don't have six hours."

"zzz, sans isn't here right now please leave a message."

Iris groaned. She looked around, making sure the door is closed. Her cheeks turned red as she leaned into his 'ear' and said the secret code phrase that Gaster told her.

"I'm... the legendary fart master."

Sans suddenly sprung up from bed. Iris felt a strong pulse of power as everything was pushed back from the bed. Sans looked at her, his smile barely there. His eyes weren't darkened out but he was still staring at her sternly.

"where... did you hear that?" He asked, not trying to sound funny.

Iris explained everything to Sans. How she has been having dreams which let her visit Gaster in the Void, what is happening to him, and how he and her plan to get him out of there.

"...And I need your help to get the machine working."

"heh... all this time i've could've been looking for him and i wasn't..." Sans chuckled.

"Sans..."

"no, i know, now's not the time. you said he had a plan?"

"Yeah but first we need to get to the Distorter."

"already here." Sans said.

Iris suddenly realized that they were in Sans's basement. 'Forgot he could do that'.

Sans pulled off the cover for the spacial/quantum distorter and brought it forward.

"Alright, next we need to hook that up to this cable over by where his old lab was... He said we might need a lot of power..."

"how much?"

"Um..."

"he, didn't say did he?"

Iris face palmed, she forgot to ask for more details. "I don't know, what I do know is that we need a large power flow directly from the Core."

"okay, since you already know how to hack into alphys's computer i'm sure you can handle directing the power. me, i'm going to go get this set up."

"I never said I hacked into Alphys's computer!" Iris said defensively.

Sans held up his phone and showed Alphys's most recent post.

Alphys: OMG, the human with the purple soul just broke into my lab and hacked my computer! ! ! good thing she didn't read my fanfics LMAO!

#Get_better_locks

"Oh." Iris said flustered.

"whatever, it's not like your going to jail or anything. more like the death penalty if undyne finds out." Sans shrugged.

Iris nodded. "I'll go over to Alphys's and BORROW her computer so I can direct the power."

"hopefully she's not home, i don't think she will be happy to see the same human break into her house a second time."

"Here's hoping."

The two of them went their separate ways. Iris headed back to the ferry to get to Hotland as soon as possible.

She past by the group as she went through Snowdin, except John and Jerod weren't there.

They didn't notice her as she went past them. She got on the boat, asked to go to Hotland, and went down the river.

"We're going to save you Dr. Gaster!"

Chapter Text

Well after all that happened last night, the morning after for John and Jerod was pretty awkward. You know, waking up in each other's arms in the same bed after proclaiming their love to one another, romance novels take this kind of scenario to a naughty place...

Good thing this isn't a romance novel!

They knew that they don't want to keep their relationship a secret so they went to the group that morning and told them the truth about them, that they are a couple.

Suffice to say, they were pretty okay with it, not judging or anything. They didn't get the chance to tell Iris cause she seemed to be in a rush to save some scientist lost in space or something like that.

After they told everyone, John pulled Delilah aside and asked for some time alone with Jerod. Delilah understood and took the rest of the group to Snowdin.

John and Jerod took a walk, a long walk. They ended up by the entrance from Hotland into Waterfall when Jerod spoke out.

"John, is this a date?"

John looked up at him. "...I don't know, does it have to be?"

"I guess so, since we are a couple now ya know?"

John blushed and looked away. "It's okay if you don't want to do this yet, I don't want to bore you."

"Hey." Jerod grabbed John and turned him towards him. "Don't say that. Enough with that self pity crap. Now come on and lets do something fun together."

John smiled softly. "Alright, so what do you wanna do?"

"I got an idea."

3...2...1...Go!

John and Jerod cheered their respective snail to go faster. The slimy creatures kept going towards the finish line.

"COME ON GARY II! YOU CAN DO IT!"

"You got this Jerod Jr."

"go TEMmiE!" Temmie said, their third competitor.

Both were neck and neck towards each other. Suddenly, Gary II curled up into it's shell and caught fire.

Jerod stared mouth agape as John's snail reached the finish line.

"Oh... it looks like the winner is John's snail." Napstablook said. Woshua walked over to Jerod's snail and doused the flames. The snail seemed alright, surprisingly.

"Woo hoo I won!" John cheered.

Despite losing, Jerod grinned seeing his friend so upbeat.

"Here's your prize..." Napstablook handed John the money he earned for winning the snail race.

John silently stared at the money.

"...this is 9g."

"Yeah..."

"But I paid 10g to enter the race?!"

"Sorry, but we have to make a profit somehow..."

"Eh, it's alright dude." Jerod said wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "It's just 1g that you lost."

"Yeah, I guess your right." John nodded.

"good gAme HuMan!" Temmie said walking up to them. They then realized that this is the same Temmie that Caleb befriended and helped pay for colleg.

Tem sO hAppy For U WinniN thaD TEmmIE WiLl siNG A SONG TO U AbOUT temMIE!"

Play Undertale- Temmie Village Acapella :3

Hoi, Hoi

Hoi, my name is Te-

"Uh, no thanks that's alright." John interrupted her, record scratch was heard. He didn't want this turning into a musical. "We were heading out anyway."

"Aw okay." Temmie said slightly deflated, literally. Then she perked up. "BOi HUmans! TelL cAlEb TEmmIE SaID hOI!"

"We will, see ya Temmie." Jerod waved.

"Bye Napstablook." John said.

They both headed out and wandered around Waterfall. They just chatted aimlessly to each other until Jerod spoke up.

"So what do you wanna do now?" Jerod asked.

"Well we could play some video games IF I brought any with me down here." John said, slightly miffed.

"Come on, this whole adventure is like a video game, quit being so obtuse."

"Do you even know what that means?"

"...Iris says it to me sometimes." Jerod said casually. "Well maybe we can go for a jog around Hotland."

John grimaced. "Ugh, exercise."

"Hey, you need the workout chubby."

"I am not chubby!" John growled. Then Jerod started pinching his cheeks and stretching them.

"Says these cheeks and this bel-"

*Squeak*

Jerod paused for a second after he poked John's stomach. John's face turned red.

"John..."

"Yeah?"

"Did you just squeak like a toy?"

"..."

"How is that possible?" Jerod exclaimed.

"I don't know, cartoon logic?!" John said embarrassed.

"But this isn't a cartoon." Jerod smirked and gave another poke and he squeaked again. John glared at him and Jerod bursted out laughing.

"Shut up!" John said.

"HAHAHAH I'm sorry HAHAHA, it's just to funnyHAHAhahahaha!" Jerod guffawed.

"I'll give you something to laugh at!" Jerod was shoved onto the ground. He grunted, not expecting John to push him, and was pinned down by the smaller guy. John immediately wiggled his fingers into Jerod's sides.

Jerod's laughter went even higher pitched at the tickling sensation. He hated this, they been doing this kind of stuff to him for the longest time. And worse, he's ridiculously ticklish while John isn't at all. So far Jerod never got John to laugh out loud once from it, not before he immediately retaliates and causes Jerod to be out of breath by the end.

"HAHAHAHAHA NOHOHOHOH JOHN HAHAHAHPLEASE STOHOHOP!" Jerod squealed. John had to admit that he always found this kinda cute, seeing Jerod like this. The way his face scrunches up trying to resist laughter, the giggles from his voice, and just how funny the situation is that a smaller chubby boy is dominating a big muscle man. In a way, it's something physical that John can beat Jerod at.

"Mmmmm...Nah." John teased as he pinched his boyfriends ribcage. Jerod bucked up and tried to tickle John in the ribs as well but he wasn't even fazed. "How many times do I have to tell you, I'm not ticklish!"

"HAHAHAI'm SOHOHOHORRY HAHAHAHAHAHA!"

Jerod tried to shove him back but was laughing too hard to work up the energy. Who knows how long they fooled around like that, a minute or half an hour, but eventually Jerod's laughter started to sound raspy so he stopped and gave Jerod some space. The muscular human flopped on his back and took a big gulp of air. He glanced at John.

"Ha...ha...you...are...brutal..."

John shrugged. "Hey, your the one who kept poking me."

"I'm sorry." Jerod got back up on his feet. "It's just that it was too cute."

John looked away, it felt like his face was on fire at the moment. He begged for there to be something to change the subject.

His prayers were answered as his cell phone rang. He felt relived as he answered it.

"Yello?"

"Heya punk!"

"Hi Undyne!" Jerod shouted from a couple feet away.

"What are you two doing? The other humans came by earlier and said that you two were out doing stuff."

"Uh..." John didn't know what to say 'Is it just normal to immediately say that we are dating? I have no prior experience to know what to do, HELP ME!'

"We are just hanging out in Waterfall" Jerod quickly answered.

"Oh good, cause I got a favor to ask of you two." Undyne said. "I handed a letter to Iris earlier today. She was supposed to deliver it to Alphys earlier today. I want to make sure that Alphys reads it soon TODAY, but Iris isn't picking up her phone."

"Why don't you just call Alphys and ask if she got the letter?" John asked.

"Um...Well you see..."

"YEAH UNDYNE!" Papyrus said over the phone. "WHY DON'T YOU CALL HER OVER THE PHONE AND SAY IN A HOT VOICE 'ALPHYS, DID YOU GET MY (WINK) LETTER?"

"OH MY GOD! NO! SHUT UP!" Undyne yelled. John and Jerod raised an eyebrow.

"OKAY FINE! GIVE ME THE PHONE, I'LL DO THE HOT VOICE!"

"NOOOO! That's even WORSE!" There was some scuffling on the other end then it was quiet as Undyne talked to the humans again. "Look, just go and make sure that she gets the letter for me, please?" She begged.

"Alright." Undyne sighed relived. "Do I have to do a hot voice?"

"NO, No hot voice!"

"Alright, alright. Just kidding, bye." John hung up.

"That was weird." Jerod said. Him and John started walking to Hotland.

"Yeah, hey do you think that Undyne is crushing on Alphys?" John asked.

"Hell yeah, it's super obvious!" Jerod said.

"Kinda reminds me of us, the two of them." John said.

Jerod chuckled and poked his stomach again, earning another squeak, before running off. John have a murderous grin as he chased after him.

"AHHH, I'm sorry John!" Jerod snickered.

"Then come here, I won't BITE you I swear!" John said playfully.

Eventually Jerod and John called it truce before John passed out for overexertion. The chase did get them to Hotlands a little faster. They reached the lab and saw the letter on the welcome mat. Jerod pressed the doorbell several times with no answer.

John picked up the letter, opening the seal.

"Uh John, I wouldn't do that if I were you. Undyne will kill you." Jerod warned.

John rolled his eyes. "Like she would tell if I opened it." He said as he ripped it open and took out the letter.

Back in Snowdin, everyone was eating spaghetti made from Undyne and Papyrus. After Diego's intense lesson yesterday they finally made edible, almost decent, pasta.

Suddenly Undyne tightened her grip on the glass she was holding and it shattered in her hand. The drink spilled onto the table along with some shards.

"Oh yikes!" Frisk said, who was sitting next to Undyne.

"ARE YOU OKAY UNDYNE?" Papyrus asked.

"Y-yeah. Just felt really angry towards someone all of a sudden."

"REALLY, WHAT COULD HAVE CAUSED THAT?"

"...I don't know..."

John opened the letter and read it thoroughly. His face was stoic but he was sweating nervously at what was written.

"Um...wow...Undyne sure knows A LOT of euphemisms."

Jerod glanced over at the letter. "What the hell is a wee wee willie winkie?"

(A.N: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

John closed the letter up. "I feel unclean all of a sudden."

Just then, Alphys opened the door and saw John and Jerod there by the door.

"O-oh, John and Jerod. Hi guys. What a-are you doing here?"

"Well we were just wandering about and..." John and Jerod glanced behind Alphys and noticed Iris was over by the computer. Her tendrils were sticking up into the ceiling, almost like a zipline. Iris looked right at them, eyes wide. Jerod was about to speak up when Iris mouth 'no', and put a finger to her lips.

'Guess that whatever she's doing, she doesn't want Alphys to know about this.' John thought.

"W-what are you two looking at?" Alphys questioned, slowly turning around.

"I got a letter for you!" John said quickly getting Alphys attention.

She looked at the letter curiously. "For me?" She said as she took the letter and read it over. Her face started blushing as she turned to John. "I-is this some kind of joke? Did you really write this?"

'WHAT?' John screamed internally. Then he noticed that the letter had Undyne's name nowhere on it, so it could be from anyone.

"I mean I had no idea that you wrote that way, at all."

John looked to Jerod who was trying really hard to not burst out laughing again. Iris had a astonished look on her face.

"Look Al-"

"You know what, I'll do it! Let's go on a date together!"

John's face turned almost as red as his hair. He was too flustered to properly explain this and Jerod was no help right now.

"H-hold on, let me just put on my dress." Alphys said about to turn around and notice Iris. John quickly grabbed her wrist and pulled her out the door.

"Aw who needs fancy clothes, your alright with what you are wearing! Let's start the date now!"

Iris mouthed 'thank you' as the door to the lab shut.

"O-oh alright." Alphys said, a little flustered as well. "But um, where do people go on a date?"

"Um...I know!" He said as he dragged Alphys along, letting his practicality have no say in this.

"Um, will your friend mind?" Alphys asked, referring to Jerod.

"Sure, he won't mind. Now lets go to the most romantic place I know."

"The MTT Resort?"

"The most romantic place I know that I can afford for someone, the GARBAGE DUMP!"

"Here we are!" John said as they reached the dump.

"Do you come here often?" Alphys asked.

"Nope, last time I was here I had a temper tantrum and nearly died from a murderous dummy."

"Good times." Jerod said.

"So uh... what do we do now?" Alphys asked.

It was then that John fully realized the situation he was in. He doesn't really know how old Alphys is an- No, that's the least of his problems, he's already in a relationship.

"Um Alphys, I...I'm sorry but I can't date you." John said.

"Aw shoot, I was hoping we could play along for a little longer." Jerod pouted.

"Wh-what?" Alphys stuttered.

"Sorry for fooling you like this, I know this might be up-"

"OH thank GOD!" Alphys sighed in relief. "You think the same thing too."

"Uh what?" John deadpanned.

"Sorry John but I don't actually like you, the one I really like is Undyne. I even had a bunch of gifts to give her if I ever did go on a date."

"Well if we are being honest with each other." John took Jerod's hand. "Me and Jerod are together."

Alphys's eyes sparkled. "W-what? Really? For how long?"

"Since this morning."

"W-wow, I actually already thought of the shipname, Jethron..."

"Where'd the 't' come from?"

"I actually wrote this little fanfic about you two living together as husbands a couple of days ago." Alphys pulled out a little makeshift book. John took it and brisked through the pages...

And he thought Undyne's letter was explicit.

He immediately tossed the book into the abyss below. Alphys shouted in protest.

"Alphys, we're 17, no." John said sternly.

"Sorry..." Alphys said.

"So if you like Undyne then why did you decide to date this guy?" Jerod asked.

"W-well, I thought it would be fun to go on like, a cute little pretend date with you, to make you feel better."

John pinched his nose. "Alphys, if I wasn't dating Jerod and you told me this, I would be devastated."

"I'm sorry, Undyne really is the one I want to go on a date with. But she is way out of my league."

"Oh, and I reach your standards?" John asked offended.

"N-no, it's not that you aren't cool!"

"You saying I'm not cool!?"

"John." Jerod put a hand on his shoulder. "Take five, I got this." John nodded and let Jerod step in. "Why do you think you aren't good enough for her?"

"Well... she's so confident, strong, and funny. And I'm just a nobody, a fraud. I'm the royal scientist but all I ever do is hurt people. I've told her so many lies... she thinks I'm a lot cooler than I actually am. If she gets close to me, then I will lose her."

"...So what?" John spoke up, his face serious. "Alphys I know exactly what you are going through, afraid to lose the one you love. You might think that it's better to live a lie where both people are happy but it's not. If Jerod loved me and I never told him about my life then I don't deserve him. You need to be yourself."

"B-but I don't really like who 'myself' is."

"Is that what you think or do you just want to be whatever makes people like you?" Jerod questioned.

"..."

"You see what I mean?"

"Y-yeah, I think so. Maybe your right, I should tell Undyne." The two of them nodded at Alphys. "But how do I tell her? I don't have the confidence! I'm going to mess up!"

"Well you could always practice with us." Jerod suggested.

"You mean like... a roleplay?"

"Hey, now that's a fun idea." John said. "Me and Jerod can roleplay the scenario and show you how to talk to her."

"Alright, I'm game." Jerod said. Alphys excitedly sat on a pile of garbage to watch this.

"So who is going to play who?" Alphys asked.

"I'll be the pizza boy." Jerod smirked.

"...It's not that kind of roleplay."

"Oh, well I'll be Undyne then."

"Okay, and I'll be Alphys." John said, clearing his thoat. If there is one thing he and Delilah take pride in is how good they are as impersonating someone's voice.

NYAHH! Hey Alphys, you looking pretty cute today!" Jerod said in a gruff voice. "By the way, I'm going to say Nyah alot because I am uncreative with my catchphrases and I like to think I'm a cat!"

John tried to hide an amused smile. "Th...thanks Undyne. I never really know what to say when you talk like that. But I know that you mean that platonically." He said in a nasally voice. "Um anyway can we talk?."

"Talk, to you? Hmm... I guess so. I often seem excited to listen to you for some reason. Actually I get extremely emotional by even the smallest of things, like that one time you dropped you phone in the river and I tried to beat the river up. Anyway, I will make intent eye contact with you so you sweat while you talk. So, what is it?" Jerod asked.

John stifled a giggle "Yo your one hot hotbaby!" He snickered.

Jerod arched an eyebrow "What!? A...Alphys!? What's gotten into you!? H-Hotbaby!? How dare you call me that!? First off I'm a baby knight..."

As soon as he said that John held back a snort.

"...Captain of the babies! Treat my position with respect, or I will strike you down! Now as I suplex a boulder for no reason, is there anything else you want to tell me?"

"*Then I dab on the haters*" John snickered.

"...w-what?" Jerod said, caught completely off guard from what he said.

"I love you Undyne." John pecks Jerod on the lips before he continues laughing his butt off.

Alphys gasped, feeling like this was kinda off script. She stayed silent as she watched.

"Alphys! What are you d-doing! You shouldn't kiss me...!" John giggled as he covered his face. Suddenly he was pulled into a tight embrace. He looked up and saw Jerod giving a coy smile "I should be kissing you instead." He pulled him into a deep kiss. John's eyes widened, this kiss felt really good. He struggled to push him back to breathe, but he wouldn't budge. The kiss lasted a full minute before Jerod pulled back. John collapsed on the ground, eyes glazed over.

"...*pant* Damn..." John mumbled.

"NGAHH! I'M UNDYNE AND I'M PILING ON THE SMOOCHES!" Jerod roared.

"Uh what's going on here?"

Everyone turned and saw Undyne and Papyrus with the rest of the group standing several feet away. The three of them blushed in embarrassment.

"Um, I NEED AN ADULT, SHE TOUCHED ME INAPPROPRIATELY!" John said pointing at Alphys.

Delilah scowled and put her hands on her hips, not buying it.

"Alphys, there you are!" Undyne said. "What are you doing here with the two of them?"

"Um, w-watching them romantically roleplay as the two of us." Alphys stuttered.

"...What?"

"OH FOR CHRIST'S SAKE, UNDYNE LOVES ALPHYS AND ALPHYS LOVES UNDYNE!" Jerod shouted, pushing Alphys towards her. "Now say something!"

"Alphys what is going on?" Undyne asked concerned.

"Undyne...I... I've been lying to you!"

"What? ABOUT WHAT?"

"About well... everything! I told you that seaweed was like scientifically important! Really I just... I just use it for ice cream! And those human history books I keep reading, they are just dorky comic books! And the history movies, they are just anime, they aren't real! And that time I..."

"Alphys." Undyne held her.

"I just wanted you to think I'm smart and cool. That I wasn't some nerdy loser."

"Alphys"

"Undyne I... I really think you're neat, Ok..."

"Shhhh" Undyne shushed her. The rest of the group was kinda moved by this. Suddenly Undyne lifted Alphys up and tossed her into a trash can like a basketball.

"That was uncalled for." John said.

"Alphys I...think you're neat, too, I guess. But, you've gotta realize that most of what you said really doesn't matter to me. I don't care if you watching kid cartoons or reading history books. To me, All of that stuff is just NERDY CRAP! What I like about you is that you're PASSIONATE! You're ANALYTICAL! It doesn't matter what it is! YOU CARE ABOUT IT! 100-PERCENT! AT MAXIMUM POWER! ...so, you don't have to lie to me. I don't want you to have to lie to anyone anymore. Alphys... I want to help you become happy with who you are! And I know just the training you need to do that!"

Alphys shuffled out of the trashcan. "Undyne... You... y-you're gonna train me...?"

"Hell yeah I'm gonna train you and Papyrus is going to help!"

At the mention of his name, Papyrus immediately ripped off his battle body revealing sports getup underneath. "IT'S TIME TO JOG 100 LAPS, HOOTING ABOUT HOW GREAT WE ARE!"

"Ready? I'm about to start the timer!"

"WAIT!" Jerod shouted. The group looked at him. "Me and John are joining you. Lord knows he needs the exercise."

"W-what?" John sputtered.

"Great idea punk. A group exercise is way more effective!"

"Wait, I am not anywhere near ready to run with you guys!" John said nervously.

Jerod held his hand. "Don't worry I'll help you."

John took a deep breath and nodded. Undyne started the timer and the whole group ran with them.

In the end, it was a pretty fun first date.

Chapter Text

Iris had no idea what was going on but she was sure grateful for the distraction that John gave her. Now that Alphys was out she could continue working on the computer.

"You know this is kinda cool." Chara said. "We're like some kinda secret spy."

Iris didn't answer, too focused on the computer screen.

Chara watched as Iris rapidly pressed buttons on the keyboard. The screen there was a whole bunch of... Chara couldn't describe what he was looking at.

"How do you know how to work this?" Chara asked.

"Simple. Just gotta reconfigure the electric flow towards the adjacent power component. Now each of the components can only go in a specific direction so I gotta make sure it goes the way I want it to go. Also, I gotta watch the distance between each node cause the father it is the less power is delivered. Also gotta watch out for too many splitting pathways or else the power will be weakened." Iris said in one breath.

Chara stared at her with a blank expression. "Um... that sounds complicated."

"No, it's just like arranging redstone in Minecraft."

"What's a Minecraft?"

Iris paused for a second, then resumed her work. "Never say that to John's face."

"What, why?"

"Unless you want a two hour lecture about the history of it I suggest you keep that to yourself." Iris said. Then a sound came from the computer and she jumped up from the desk and cheered. "Eureka!"

"You did it?" Chara asked.

"Yeah, power flow is going directly to there." She pointed to the screen. "Now to figure out where there is."

She left the lab and headed straight into Waterfall. She retraced her steps from Napstablook's house to get to that doorway location from her dream. She knew she found it when she saw Sans working on a machine.

"Sans!" Iris called.

"heya, i guess you did it. the machine got power now, and i'm able to charge my phone as well." He pointed to an outlet where his phone was.

"So is it ready?" Iris asked.

"no, it's still at 12%, give it some time."

"Oh." Iris looked around. "Wait, are you talking about the phone or the machine?"

"the phone, the machine has been ready the whole time."

Iris glared at Sans.

"alright, so i just need some coordinates, please tell me the old man told you them?"

"Yeah, it's um... F.U.N value to 66.000, Coordinates to 268 room_water_fakehallway, then to Coordinates 269 the_void."

"kay, got it." Sans said typing it into the machine. "alright, once i start this up you head immediately into the portal. you don't got much time, this amount of power will cause the machine to overload, once that happens well you two better be back here when the door closes."

"You aren't coming with me?"

Sans shook his head. "can't, someone's gotta watch the machine. i'll do what i can to give you more time."

Iris nodded.

Sans smile widened. "good, now stand back i'm powering it up now."

The machine whirred to life as it sputtered a bit. Sans glared a little at the machine and gave it a hefty kick. It turned on fully as symbols flashed on the screen on the side. The two of them noticed that the electrical lights around the area dimmed slightly. In fact, over the entire Underground the lights dimmed due to the amount of power being directed to the machine. The front of the distorter looked like it was charging some kind of blast. Then whatever it was charging unleashed itself onto the wall. The light was blinding as everyone looked away. When they looked back they saw a grey door against the wall. It shimmered in place, the distorter acting like a projector for the door.

Iris looked at Sans.

"I'll be back." She said as she reached for the door.

"iris," She looked back at the skeleton who was casually looking away and scratching the back of his head. "i was trying to a-void saying this but... good luck."

"Same here Iris, hate to tell the others about your death." Chara said.

Iris grinned and nod here head. She reached for the doorknob and open the door, stepping in.

She found the Void the same as before, dark and boring. But now she felt a weird chill down her spine being here physically.

"Gaster?!" She called out, she didn't have much time to waste. "Gaster, it's me! Iris!"

She heard a strange sound but she couldn't pinpoint from what direction it was coming from.

"O# #t'# #o"

She frantically looked in all directions but saw nothing but the darkness.

"O# it'# t#e on# ne# t#e o ne# #on#"

She thought she saw something at the corner of her eye but it quickly disappeared.

"O# it's t#e w#on# n#mbe# t#e w#on# n#mbe# son#"

Was it just her or was the sound slowly turned into a voice?

"O# it's t#e wron# n#mber t#e wron# n#mber son#"

Oh it's the wrong number the wrong number song

Then the voice now sounded like it was right behind her.

"Oh it's the wrong number the wrong number song"

She turned around and saw the deformed back of Gaster.

"Gaster?" Iris asked cautiously.

"Oh it's the wrong number the wrong number song,

We're very very sorry that we got it wrong,

Oh it's the wrong number the wrong number song,

We're very very sorry that we got it wrong,"

Gaster just kept repeating the same two lines of this simple song over and over. Iris had enough and reached for his shoulder.

"Gaster, come on it's time t-"

Iris was immediately blasted backward and landed on an invisible wall. She straightened her glasses and looked at the slightly miffed Gaster.

"Hello Iris. It seems that you have disturbed my little soliloquy."

"Gaster, you can talk perfectly?" Iris said bewildered. The former scientist's body was distorted and glitching but his voice sounded perfectly normal.

Gaster smirked. "Yes, after I last talked to you I came to a realization. The more I resist the void the more pain it brings me. Now I don't fight it, I don't resist."

"B-"

"Shhhh" Gaster put a finger to his mouth. "Do you hear that?" Iris listened and still heard n-

Wait, she did hear something. It sounded like the whooshing of wind.

"It's the call of the void. It calls to me."

"B-but Gaster, what about our plan?"

Gaster rolled his eyes. "Foolish child, what awaits me in a world as blind as yours?"

"You come from that world!"

"Nothing but pointless semantics, this is where I truly belong, not a world that has forgotten my name."

"Look at yourself, you are fading away!"

"No, I am becoming one with the almighty void. It stretches far and wide. What once seemed endless, I can comprehend the sheer size of it. Watch this." Gaster swiped his hand and several glowing lines appeared in all directions, connecting to one another through silver spheres.

"Wh-what is this?" Iris asked.

"These are the timelines. Your timeline, the one I come from, is one of many. I can see them all, timelines starting, stopping, and crossing into each other. Some are only slightly different from yours, others are completely different. I can't possibly put it into words that you will understand. The void provides me the capacity to understand all of it."

Iris noticed that there was a bunch of lines that stopped near a specific sphere, not connecting into it. Gaster noticed her curiosity.

"Yes, most timelines that are similar to this one suffer the same fate. There seems to be some sort of anomaly that causes the timelines to just suddenly end. Whatever it is, it's not natural.

"And you say you void provides endless knowledge?" Iris accused.

"Mind your tongue child! While it is true I don't know what the anomaly is I am sure that if I have more t-" Gaster paused himself and chuckled. "Oh, I forgot. Time is irrelevant here."

Gaster extended his hand. "Iris, join me. Be one with the void, I can show you everything beyond our world. We can go on a journey of endless discovery, together!"

Now you think that Iris would definitely not accept something so insane, but she actually considers it. To gain absolute knowledge, that's something that she always dreamed of. She was born to learn things quicker than most people, this is her chance to explore the unknown.

She reached her hand out towards him. Gaster's smile widened.

Then Iris paused. She thought about her friends, her family on the surface. She remembered what she told Sans.

Iris backed away. Gaster's smile dropped suddenly.

"Hmm, interesting. So you reject the calling of the void?"

"I'm sorry Gaster. Believe me, the offer is tempting. But I made a promise."

"Promise?"

"To your son, Sans."

"I promised him I would bring you back to him. And nothing, in my world or the void, will deter me from my promise. That's what it means to have Perseverance, when faced with a setback we must challenge our assumptions!" Iris stared him down, eyes glowing purple through her glasses. "Gaster, I will bring you back by force if I have to."

Gaster's head twitched slightly. "If you go back, you will eventually die, whether from the monsters of your pathetic mortality."

"We all got to make sacrifices in the name of science."

"WE WILL NOT BE DENIED YOU STUPID CHILD!"

Iris was blasted back by the powerful shock wave emitted by Gaster. At the same time the room lit up. It now became an all white large room. The grey door still visible right behind her, she could easily flee to safety. But she will not back down.

She looked back at Gaster and saw two figures next to him. She realized they are the Memoryhead monsters from Alphys lab with the other Amalgamates.

"Do you now see the extent of my power, my will made REAL!?" Gaster said. "Back there I an nothing but a forgotten scientist, here I am a God!"

Iris shook her head, Gaster was lost in his power. "Gaster, you have lost your mind. But don't worry." She summoned as many tendrils as she could. "I'll knock the sense back into you."

Gaster chuckled. "How barbaric, being forced to resort to violence."

"Look who's talking." Iris shot back.

Suddenly the Memoryheads glitched out and formed onto large Dragon-like skulls, Gaster Blasters.

"Heh, very well then human." Suddenly several skeletal hands similar to Gaster's grabbed her tendrils and pulled her upward, leaving her exposed and vulnerable. "I will enjoy experimenting with your Soul."

Then the Gaster Blasters shot at her with a blinding light.

Outside the door Sans and Chara felt a slight rumble.

"huh, sounds like the kid is having trouble. better go check on her." Sans said as he walked towards the door. He turned the knob and... it didn't budge.

his eyes dimmed. "oh no."

Chara tried to go through the door but he couldn't phase through it like other objects. "What is going on!?"

Chapter Text

Chapter 38: Dark Matter

The blast that hit Iris had enough power to disintegrate her body, leaving only the Soul.

Good thing that she absorbed the blast at the very last second. She concentrated and the blast was stored inside her to unleash later.

'Thank goodness I got this power.' Iris thought. She made her tendrils disappear and she fell down.

Play Glitchtale OST- Vantablack (Gaster's Theme)

"Hmm, clever tactic." Gaster commented. "But it's all for naught. You can't kill me in my element."

"Who said anything about killing you." Iris said. She charged at Gaster and slashed at his midsection with a tendril. It left a huge gap where she slashed, then the gap closed itself back up.

Gaster gave a sly grin as he slowly sunk into the ground. At the same time the room turned black again.

Iris stayed on her guard, wondering what he was up to.

Suddenly she felt a tug in her Soul as she was thrown upward. She crashed into the ceiling right in time as a row of bones came and smacked her with enough force to make her hit the ground again. A Gaster blaster was charging in the corner of her vision and a row of Gaster's hands flying towards her. She threw her hands out as electric sparks zapped both of them to pieces. She smiled triumphantly.

"Don't get cocky now."

Iris looked up and her smile faded as a giant Gaster hand slammed down. She passed through the hole in the palm as it went through her. But then she suddenly felt like she was falling as she screamed from the sensation.

She looked down, at least what she thought was down in this optical illusion of a dimension, and a Gaster blaster had it's mouth opened waiting for her to fall into it's maw. She summoned eight tendrils and made them stuck out in all directions horizontally. They stuck to the unseen walls of the hole she was falling in and she screeched to a halt. The Gaster blaster glared at her as it vanished. Gravity shifted back to normal as Gaster reappeared.

"You seem to be quite the creative thinker."

"I have imagination, something you seem to lack." Iris quipped. After all, look at this place! There is nothing abstract or creative about it! It's either all black or all white!

Then a dark tendril came out of nowhere and smacked her across the face. It made her glasses almost fall off.

"W-what the..."

"And you said I lacked imagination." Gaster shot back. "In here, my will and thoughts become reality. Even original attacks or attacks I copy from other's can be made real. What you saw so far was just my normal attacks, now let me try something new." He said as he summoned a giant ball of dark fire.

"come on, come on!" Sans said to himself fumbling with the doorknob. He has no idea how but the Door won't open anymore. It's still there so there is still a connection to the Void but if it doesn't open soon then Iris...

"Sans do something!" Chara shouted. Sans said nothing back since he isn't aware of the ghost boy's presence. "This isn't good, this isn't good!" Chara panicked. He doesn't know much about how it works but if Frisk reset's while Iris is outside of time and space he has no idea what will happen to her. Will she fade from existence or maybe there will be two of her, or maybe it would cause a paradox and destroy everything!?

"COME ON EVERYONE, WE STILL HAVE 36 MORE LAPS TO GO! OOH, LETS GO THIS WAY THIS TIME!"

The two of them turned to the right and saw a group of people approaching. It was Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, and the rest of the group approaching. John and Alphys seemed... a little out of breath.

"Someone put me out of my misery!" John wheezed.

"I can't feel my legs." Alphys panted alongside him.

"Quit being so lazy dude!" Jerod scolded.

"C'mon, feel the burn punk!" Undyne said cheerfully.

John glared at them. "You guys are insane! I just ran 64 laps around Waterfall! Just one lap around here would be enough for me!"

"hey."

"Hey Sans, and you guys know that I am the least fit among y-" John snapped his head back to the short skeleton. He saw a projector-like machine projecting a grey door that Sans was pulling on.

"BROTHER, WHY ARE YOU PULLING ON THAT DOOR?" Papyrus asked.

"because I a-door it."

John chuckled, the poor pun slightly numbing the ache in his legs. Papyrus gritted his teeth and held back a scream.

The group noticed Chara lingering by the door.

"Sans, where is Iris?" Diego asked.

"uh, behind this door, stuck in an alternate dimension."

"What?" Undyne asked, confused.

"It's Gaster, I think he trapped Iris behind the door with him. She might be in trouble." Chara told the group.

"look, tibia honest it's a really long story, what you gotta know is that iris is stuck behind this door and we need to get this open before she's toast."

Undyne smirked, flexing her arms. "Step aside bonehead." She said pushing him aside. She pulled with all her might on the doorknob. But it didn't budge. Undyne stared confused at the door. She pulled again and still nothing happened. She growled and slammed herself against the door.

"Alright then, no more Mrs. Nice Fish..." She reached and grabbed Papyrus by his scarf. "C'mon Papyrus, we are taking this door down together!"

"ALRIGHTY UNDYNE, I'M WITH YOU!" Papyrus cheered.

"On the count of three. One... two... THREE!" They both attacked the door with a flurry of bones and spears. It caused smoke to envelop the area. When the smoke cleared...

The door wasn't damaged.

"Well, this might take awhile." John said, lying on the ground. "Gonna take a breather." He said, taking a small nap as the others freaked out over Iris's well being.

Iris knew that this was an impossible battle to win, statistically. Gaster basically has unlimited attacks thanks to the Void and is nearly invulnerable. Even if she manages to land a hit on him, she would get beaten down to nothing before she can cause a dent. She needed to think outside of the box to win this.

She jumped over an ice beam from one of Gaster's hands and another hand immediately appeared besides her and charged up a flame attack. She pointed her index finger at the hand and shot a spark of electricity at the hand, blowing it up. She fell on the ground and try to catch her breath.

'Hmm, strange how that second hand appeared so quickly after I jumped, almost like he knew I was jumping up there.'

She then heard a Gaster blaster appeared behind her, charging it's attack. Iris retaliates and wraps a tendril around the mouth. It struggled to open up and fire. She saw another gaster blaster form to the side. She swung her captured blaster and it crashed into the other one, destroying them both.

She continued on her train of though, keeping an eye out for other surprise attacks.

'That Gaster Blaster seemed to appear too soon after I trapped the first one. It's almost like he can predict my attacks.'

"You do realize that I can hear you think, right child?" Gaster said.

"Crap baskets." Iris said, throwing a bunch of word bombs at the wall of jagged bones approaching. She can't keep doing this, Gaster is going to start predicting his moves.

The former scientist rose up slightly from the ground and outstretched his arms. The goop outstretching with him making his form look larger.

'He's reading my mind, that's how he's predicting my attacks. I gotta do something random to throw him off! What would the others do? John would wimp out and take a nap probably. Jerod would punch... nah...'

Gaster charged at her.

'Frisk would... flirt!'

Iris then clicked her heels, did finger guns at Gaster and winked.

"Hey sexy, you sure do melt my heart."

Gaster paused his attack and looked at her baffled. Iris face started to heat up. She swore to never do something like that again.

Then Gaster grinned and gave a hearty laugh. His form rippled with his suppressed chortles. "Well now, you sure brought a genuine laugh to this old monster. I haven't laughed like that in ages."

"So you are gonna let me win?" Iris asked hopefully.

"Absolutely not!" Gaster's face hardened, still smiling. "But I will sure remember this moment." He said as he snapped his fingers and a ring of Gaster blasters appeared around them.

"COME ON, HEAVE!" Undyne ordered as the group charged at the door once more. They all crashed against it and toppled onto the floor.

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS A SLIGHT HEADACHE!" Papyrus groaned.

Jerod rubbed his sore arm. "John, you got any ideas?"

"Did you try to turn the doorknob?" John asked, recovering from his jog.

"..." Caleb double checked. "Yes."

Suddenly, the machine blared out. Sans looked to the monitor. He started to sweat nervously.

"Sans, what's wrong?" Frisk asked.

"um... well i gear that the machine might be overheating."

"...I-It's not gonna blow up is it?" Alphys asked.

"nah... but it's gonna go into emergency shut down any minute." The machine made a pop sound and San's eyes dimmed. " 'kay scratch that, we got about a minute now."

"COME ONE, OPEN UP DANG IT!" Delilah screamed, yanking on the doorknob like a maniac. "IRIS, COME ON DON'T DIE ON US!" She bit back saying 'again' in front of everyone.

"Don't worry guys, I'll fix this." Frisk whispered as he concentrated on his power.

RE-

"NO, STOP FRISK!" Chara screamed out loud. Frisk stopped and looked at the ghost boy confused. "You can't reset, not with Iris stuck over there in a place without time. It might cause a paradox, wiping her out of existence like Gaster." Chara warned.

Frisk's eyes widened as the group listened to the horrific realization. If Iris dies inside there, she will die for good.

"What are we going to do?" John panicked.

"Iris, please open up the door!" Diego banged on the door.

"Hey, you better open up this door punk!" Undyne growled. "You ain't dying like this!"

The whole group argued with one another in their panic. But then help has arrived... in the form of a dog.

"ARF" Barked the Annoying Dog. Everyone paused and looked at the Dog in confusion. He had a serious look on his face as he looked to the door and them.

"Oh wait, the Annoying Dog! I've seen him go through walls." Caleb snapped his fingers. He remembered back at the room where they got the Ancient Artifact.

"So can I, but I can't get through the door." Chara argued.

"uh kid, i'm not sure the dog's powers wolf work on this door. it's not like i can teleport inside." Sans said.

"Still, we gotta try." Caleb said, he knelt towards the Dog. "Hey there boy, look we need your help. My friend Iris is stuck behind that door and we need to get her out of there before the door dispersal and we lose her forever.

The Dog furrowed his eyebrows and nodded. He quickly dove into Frisk's backpack.

"Wha- HEY!" Frisk yelped out at the sudden weight increase. The Dog then jumped out and ran towards the door, with something in his mouth. They didn't get a good look at what was in his mouth, not before he jumped and went right through the door.

"...What is up with that Dog!?" Chara sweatdropped.

Iris was on her last legs as she was nearly out of stamina, and magic. She had no opportunity to attack so far. Only relying on being defensive and dodging. And now she was exhausted.

"Gotta... keep... moving..." Iris panted as she threw another set of Word bombs at the coming bones. "Gotta... Persevere..." She said right before she collapsed on the ground.

She heard the humming of a Gaster blaster as she used what energy she had to look up. She saw Gaster looming over her with a sneer on his face.

"You have much Perseverance inside you, I can give you that." Gaster praised. "But in the end it's futile to think you can beat me. With the Void fueling me I have unlimited power."

"At the cost of your sanity and your body. Look at you, you look like those monsters that got injected with determination."

Gaster narrowed his eyes. "Well yes, you see the Void also supplies me with determination to keep me alive. Let me fully explain, you see w-"

One boring and long lecture later....

"...and that's how the void gives me determination and how my body is still functioning." Gaster finished explaining.

Iris was confused and frankly didn't really care at the moment, especially when she is seconds away from death, or minutes?... again, the void doesn't have time.

"But enough lecturing, prepare to lose your Soul." He said as he sent out a bunch of dark tendrils that wrapped around Iris's Soul. She gasped as she felt her life drain away. But despite that a thought ran through her mind.

'If I lose my Soul will I die or just lose my sense of self?' Iris thought. 'Flowey seems to have some personality in him but almost not emotions, maybe I'll end up like him.'

"I do not know who this Flowey is but I am curious as well. I have never seen an recorded instance where the Soul was directly extracted from a living creature, human or monster. I'll be sure to record what will happen to you for further hypothesis. Goodbye."

Suddenly something small and red hit Gaster on the head. He rubbed his head and looked at what it was, it was the Ancient Artifact. He picked it up and inspected it.

"Arf!" Iris looked and saw the Annoying Dog with a triumphant smirk on his face.

"What is going on?" Gaster and Iris said in unison. Suddenly the orb started glowing in his hand. Gaster's eyes widened as the crimson glow enveloped him. Then the intensity of the glow increased and Gaster freaked out.

His entire body was convulsing, struggling to keep itself together. His eyes glowed red as the orb tried to match the intensity of his eyes.

"Wwwhwhwhahahaht ISsiSIS ThiIS? NoOONOooo, thiS iS MMMMMmmmmYYMmY PoOWwEr!" Gaster screamed, body glitching out.

Iris realized what was going on. The Artifact is stabilizing Gaster's body and purging the determination that was destroying his body, just like with Undyne. But Gaster is still trying to draw determination from the void so the Artifact is still trying to fix the body. Iris needed to intervene or else this will be an endless stalemate.

She got up and used the power that she had stored since the begging of the fight. She sent a beam towards Gaster with the same power as his Gaster Blasters.

Gaster was caught off guard as he got struck right in the head. The resulting blast as well as the stress from resisting the Artifact caused him to fall unconscious.

The Artifact floated in the air as it repaired Gaster's body. Then the Artifact shut down and fell to the ground.

Iris looked over Gaster's body. He no longer looked like a viscous mass. His face looked normal, she thinks. It still had a thin scar going down his face but his skeletal face looked peaceful. He was wearing a black cloak over a grey turtleneck, and had brown formal shoes.

The battle was over.

Iris got up and went to Gaster.

"Come on Dr. Gaster, time to take you home." She hoisted him to her side and supported him as she walked towards the door, making sure to pick up the Artifact.

She looked at the Annoying Dog. "I don't know how you got in here, but thanks for the help. You really saved my butt."

The Dog wagged his tail happily at the praise. Together they walked to the door. She noticed there was tugging on the door. She looked at the doorknob and saw that it was set to lock. She unlocked it and it suddenly swung open. She saw Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys, John, Jerod, Delilah, Diego, Caleb, Frisk, and Chara on the other side looking at them.

"IRIS!" They all said relived.

Iris gave a reassuring wave.

Sans and Alphys looked at who she was carrying, Sans's eyes dimmed a bit and Alphys gave a startled gasp.

"I-Is that..." She began.

"we can talk about this later, iris get over here before the machine shuts off!" Sans warned.

Iris nodded and walked through the doorway, there was a little resistance getting Gaster to the other side, but she made it through. There was a strange gust of air as soon as he walked through. Papyrus and Undyne looked lost in thought before they gasped at the former scientist.

"DAD!?" Papyrus said.

"Papyrus, isn't that your dad Gaster right there?" Undyne exclaimed.

"Yes, it is but why is it that I can remember him?"

Sans chuckled as the machine shut off and the door vanished.

"Well we got some explaining to do." Iris said as she handed Gaster over to Jerod to carry.

"ditto kid, i know you are all flabbergastered at the moment but lets get this old man to the lab first and we'll explain everything there." Sans said.

Chapter Text

"So let me get this straight..." Undyne began. She and the others were in Alphys lab. The one that was in the basement due to Gaster's unknown condition. He was laying on a medical bed, hooked up to a machine that was checking his condition. He was still knocked out after Iris hit him with his own attack. Chara, meanwhile, was just keeping silent since the group can't talk to him with others around right now.

"That man is your old man Gaster, the royal scientist before Alphys. And the reason we only remembered him till now was that he was caught in some crazy experiment that plunged him outside of time and space?"

"yep, sounds about right." Sans shrugged. The group was huddled with Iris, whose wounds were being tended to by Diego.

"BUT BROTHER, HOW IS IT THAT I FORGOT MY OWN FATHER YET YOU WERE ABLE TO REMEMBER?!" Papyrus said.

"that's because i was near the accident when it happened but i didn't get caught in it. alphys knew as well but she kept it to herself."

Alphys gasped. She was tending to the amalgamates, who were hungry. She didn't have time to hide them somewhere and given the issues she had no choice but to come clean to everyone about it. Luckily Gaster was everyone's priority at the moment so they didn't say anything yet.

"I-Its true, I did know about Gaster. But I knew it would be pointless to tell anyone about it if they can't remember." Alphys said.

"well that won't be a problem now, as soon as g-man passed through the portal, he became part of the timeline again, instantly restoring everyone's memories."

"Except them memories of the others..." Iris said. "The other scientists caught in the experiment."

"What happened to them?" Caleb asked.

She shook her head. "They are gone for good. Nothing I can do to bring them back. Gaster blames himself for what happened."

Jerod patted her shoulder. "You did good Iris, you beat the odds despite the difficulty."

"Well... I couldn't have done it without some help..." Iris looked to the Annoying Dog. He was conversing with Endogeny. She thought that the amalgamate was related to him but he doesn't seem that enthusiastic over seeing them. He looks more like he's meeting them for the first time.

Caleb rubbed the Dog's head. "Your a good boy! Here have a treat!" Caleb took out a dog treat.

"Where did you get that?" John asked.

"I might've swiped one of them from Doggo back in Sno- GAH!"

"ARROOFFF!" Endogeny barked, tackling Caleb to the ground. It nuzzled affectionately into him with it's amorphous body.

Caleb giggled. "Okay okay, you can both have it!" He split it in half and tossed one into the amalgamate's orifice, vanishing into the black hole. The Annoying Dog calmly took the other half of the treat from Caleb's hand.

"Um... so how exactly did the Dog help?" Alphys asked.

Iris scratched her chin. "He just threw this at him." She pulled out the Ancient Artifact from her backpack.

Frisk's eyes widened the widest he could, which isn't a lot. He didn't realize that the Annoying Dog took it from him.

"Hey, isn't that the thing that you used to save my life?" Undyne asked.

"S-save your life?!" Alphys stuttered surprised.

"Yeah, when we defeated Undyne we accidentally killed her in the process but... she didn't die. Wasn't sure at first what it was that happened to her but now I know. She has Determination."

Undyne's jaw dropped. "I...have what?!"

"WOWIE, I DIDN'T KNOW SHE HAD DETERMINATION (WHATEVER THAT IS) BUT HOW ARE YOU SO SURE?" Papyrus asked.

"Well Alphys already knows that I hacked into her notes, and I learned about what she did down here and experimenting with Determination. Gaster was drawing Determination from the Void as well. Both you, Gaster, and the Amalgamates had Determination in you which caused you all to survive the harsh conditions your body was in at the time. But it also caused your bodies to melt down since the bodies can't handle the determination without breaking down."

She held the Artifact in her hand. She then looked at the Dog. He had a blank look on his face but he glanced to the side at Endogeny. Something clicked in Iris's head.

"Frisk, can you come with me for a second?" She asked.

"Um, yeah..." Iris pulled him by the hand towards the melted dog monster and put the Artifact in his hands.

"What are you doing Iris?" Delilah asked.

"Just a little test. Frisk, do you remember what you were feeling when you saw Undyne dying?" She asked.

"Well, there were several stuff, fear, confusion, panic, sympathy..." Frisk used his fingers to keep track.

"Were you feeling...'determined' at all?"

Frisk arched an eyebrow. "Y-yeah I was determined to re-, I mean I was wishing that I could go back and fix it." Frisk corrected himself. "Why do you ask?"

"Cause that's what I was feeling at the same time this thing activated on Gaster. I don't really know what this does exactly but it seems to react to determination. I felt it envelop me as well as Gaster at the same time. I don't think it was draining me or anything, just using me as a conduit or something. And since you have the most determination out of all of us..."

"You want to see if you can activated it and use it to 'cure' Endogeny of his problem." John finished, realizing where she was going with this.

"you really think that will work kiddo?" Sans asked.

"It's worth a try." She shrugged. "So please Frisk, try it out for me?"

Frisk looked a little lost in thought but he put on a tough face and nodded. He looked at Endogeny who was casually staring at him with it's big orifice. Frisk closed his eyes and concentrated. He used that feeling that he used every time one of the group dies, when he wants to go back and change it. Except this time he focused on the dog and wanting to fix him... her... it? Lets just go with them since it's more than one person in there. He felt the Determination fill his Soul. At the same time the Artifact sparked to life once more.

The Dog's ears shot up as the strange red ball enveloped them in a red glow. No one could get a good look at them since the glow was obscuring their vision but they made out it's shape changing. When the glow cleared the group were all shocked.

In front of them was no longer Endogeny but a bunch of dog monsters. One looked like Doggo but wearing a blue vest and brown shorts. A female Dog looked like an older Dogaressa, even wearing the same black robe as them. Another had the same derpy look as Lesser Dog but was female and had a blue skirt on as well as a blue blouse. There was a tiny dog that looked... like a regular Pomeranian dog, just like the Annoying Dog but looked kind fatter. The largest of them wore a bulky metal armor like Greater dog wears, and he looks old in the face, they can clearly see the difference of grey fur vs white fur. All of the dogs were unconscious.

"I-I can't believe it, they are back to normal." Alphys's eyes watered. "It's a miracle!"

Frisk looked at the Artifact in his hand in astonishment. "Wow." Was all he could say. The Annoying Dog sniffed each of the recovered dog monsters curiously. When he sniffed the large dog monster, he was kicked in the face by a powerfully reflexive canine leg.

"Don't get excited yet." Iris says. "Now that we know this can work on the Amalgamates, we gotta take care of the rest, as well as take care of these dog monsters."

Alphys cleared her throat and straightened her glasses. "You're right, we got some work to do. Undyne, Jerod, can you two help me move them to a proper bed for them to rest. And Frisk, can you come with me, to fix the other's?"

Frisk gave a thumbs up and the other's murmured in agreement.

"I'll help." Caleb offered.

"Me too." Diego said.

"Don't forget about me!" Delilah said.

John shrugged. "Might as well go with them and see what happens."

"Ok, me Sans, and Papyrus will stay here and wait for Gaster to get up." Iris said.

"if he get's up." Sans murmured.

"DON'T BE LIKE THAT BROTHER! OUR FATHER WILL SURELY GET UP SOON AND ONCE HE DOES HE WILL BE TREATED WITH MY NEW AND IMPROVED SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus said, remembering the last time he gave Gaster some of his spaghetti. Let's just say that his expression was difficult to read.

Sans chuckled. "i'm sure he will like that."

Alphys looked like she wanted to say something but bit her tongue and went with the others.

The three of them stayed and waited in the room with Gaster. Iris looked at the machine showing his vitals. They kinda similar to a humans, but slightly different in some aspects. She had no way of knowing if what it said was good or bad.

"Hey, Sans. Do you know if these vi-" Iris stared at Sans as he got out some whipped cream and sprayed it on Gaster's hand, around the holes in them. "What are you doing?"

"well i was thinking that if gaster is being reintroduced into the real world then i might as well make it something to remember." He chuckled as he pulled out a feather. "me and him used to do it to paps all the time when we were younger."

"YES... A MEMORY I'M REGRETTING TO REMEMBER!" Papyrus grumbled.

"shh." Sans said as he wiggled the tip of the feather on Gaster's... nose. Immediately Gaster reacted and put his hand to his face, splattering the cream all over his face.

"Gahhh!" Gaster freaked out and sat up. Iris, Sans, and Papyrus stepped back and watched as Gaster wiped his face. He paused and looked at his hands, facing away from the three watching him. He looked at his legs, and felt them.

Iris stepped forward and cleared his throat. Gaster flinched and turned around. He had a look of bewilderment on his face.

"I-Iris?" Gaster stammered, surprised to see her.

"Is it really you Gaster? Not some crazy madman?" Iris asked cautiously.

"N-no, I think my heads cleared." He clutched his skull. "Ugh, wait, a headache? I haven't had a headache in years, not before..."

Iris smiled. "Welcome back Doctor."

"I... I'm back..." Gaster's face slowly formed a smile. "I... I never thought I would be able to come back."

"Well like I said, you lacked imagination."

Gaster gave a small chuckle. "It seems you are right." Then he noticed the two skeletons at the other end of the room staring patiently at him. "Sans... Papyrus... My sons."

"sup." Sans waved. After years of never seeing him that's all he really had to say. Papyrus made up for his brother's lack of enthusiasm.

"DAD!" Papyrus screamed as he tackle hugged Gaster. "I'VE MISSED YOU SO MUCH! WELL ACTUALLY I ONLY REMEMBER YOU RECENTLY BUT I STILL MISSED YOU!

Gaster smiled and patted his son's back. "I missed you to Papyrus. I never forgotten about the two of you."

"Come on Sans, it's been several years and all you got to show for it is saying HEY!?" Iris complained.

"No, it's okay Iris. Sans have never been know for being the excitable one." He took another look at his other son. "Sans, you've gotten...fat."

"and you've gotten older. i'm gonna have to start calling you geezer gaster." Sans grinned.

Gaster smiled back. "Well with age comes experience so I'll take that as a compliment."

I CAN'T WAIT TO TELL YOU ALL THE THINGS THAT YOU MISSED!" Papyrus said. "OOH BUT FIRST YOU MUST TRY MY NEW AND IMPROVED SPAGHETTI!" Papyrus said pulling out a plate of spaghetti from... where did that plate come from?

Gaster's smile faded. "Er, thanks Papyrus but... I'm not hungry."

"Don't worry, I hear that his cooking has improved since a friend of mine taught him." Iris said.

Gaster looked unsure but nervously took a bite from the spaghetti. His face scrunched up, anticipating the following aftertaste.

Except there wasn't one. Gaster's eyes widened as he looked at it. He immediately wolfed down the rest of the pasta, filling up his empty stomach.

"*GASP* HE LIKES IT!" Papyrus squealed, stars in his eyes.

"geez, take a napkin ya animal." Sans said handing one to him. His dad took it and wiped his mouth. He regained his composure and turned to Iris.

"Ahem, Iris. I'm sorry I haven't said this yet but..." He put his skeletal hand on his shoulder. "Thank you so much for what you did. Without your help I would have been lost forever... like my other assistants."

Iris frowned. "Gaster don't b-"

"Hey guys, we're done! Everyone is back to normal but they are all unconscious." Jerod said, stumbling into the room with the others.

Frisk looked at Gaster. "Oh, you're finally awake!"

Gaster turned and saw his old employee Alphys, the Captain of the Royal Guard Undyne, and a bunch of humans that he doesn't recognize.

"Gaster, these are my friends. John, Jerod, Delilah, Diego, Caleb, and Frisk." Iris introduced them.

Gaster smiled at them but had a grim look on his face. He looked at Alphys. "Hello Alphys.

Alphys sweated nervously and looked at him. "H-hello, it's nice to see you again Dr. Gaster."

"Please, the only doctor here is you. I have no desire to take up my old job again."

"Well, if you aren't going to be the scientist again, what are you going to do?" Diego asked.

"Well let me just..." Gaster tried to step up off the table. He stumbled a bit but Undyne and Papyrus caught him before he stumbled.

"Don't worry old man, I got ya!" Undyne said.

"Thank you Undyne... what happened to your eye?"

Undyne smirked. "You got a bunch of catching up to do."

They watched as Gaster finally stood up on his own.

"Wow, it's going to take a while to get used to this body again, but I think I'll manage. Now as I was saying, I'm going to visit the families of my old assistants and then... I'm going to retire."

"What for?"

"To tell them about what has happened to their family members. It's my fault that they are gone and forgotten. I can't let their memory die, not while I'm still here. They might be devastated but they deserve to know the truth." He looked at everyone who had approving looks on their faces.

"I-I-I'm going to go tell the truth as well." Alphys stepped forward. "I made some mistakes of my own and I hid it from everyone. I was scared at first, on how much everyone was going to hate me if I told them. Frisk may have fixed my mistakes but that doesn't excuse me hiding them for so long." She looked at Iris. "I know its going to be hard, but like you told me, I will have others to support me. T-thank you Iris for helping me realize this."

Iris blushed at all the praise everyone gave her so far today. "You're welcome."

"That's my Alphys!" Undyne cheered as she lifted her up and gave a big fat smooch to her face. Alphys turned red in embarrassment.

"Whoa, look at the time!" Delilah said, looking at her phone. "It's getting late, we gotta head back to the hotel soon."

"Aw really!? We can't stay with Gaster a little longer?" Diego whined.

"No, remember that first thing tomorrow morning we got our finale with Mettaton."

The group opened their mouth in surprise, it's been three days already?!

"Go on then humans." Gaster said. "You're journey still isn't over. And Iris." He looked at her. "You may have stood up to me in the Void but remember that you almost died, and barely managed to beat me. Asgore is no pushover, he has strength and power of his own. Stick together and don't lose your guard."

She nodded. "Goodbye Gaster."

"I'd hate to have my savior die on me. Don't disappoint me Iris."

"So you guys are a thing now!?" Iris exclaimed.

Jerod held John's hand. "Yeah."

"Sorry I forgot to tell you, I was caught up in the moment" Chara said.

"Well... good for you guys." Iris said. She was okay with them being together, it's just that she didn't see that coming at all. A total nerd with a total jock. What is this, a fanfic?

They stepped into the hotel "Wow, what a day" Jerod yawned.

"You tell me. But I'm just so ready to finally go home tomorrow." John said.

"Good night guys." Iris said walking to her room.

"Night!" The others said. They all went to their rooms as well. They needed as much rest as they can have for tomorrow they have to fight Mettaton...

And face Asgore.

Chapter Text

*HELLO BEAUTIES AND GENTLE-BEAUTIES! IT IS I THE FABULOUS METTATON, SAYING GOOD MORNING TO EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU WONDERFUL VIEWERS! AND WHAT A GOOD MORNING IT TRULY IS, FOR TODAY IS THE FINALE OF THE SHOW STARING THE HUMANS! JOHN, JEROD, DELILAH, IRIS, DIEGO, CALEB, AND FRISK. IN A FEW MOMENTS THE CORE WILL OPEN UP AND ALL SEVEN HUMANS WILL TREK THROUGH IT TO THE EXIT, WHERE I RESIDE. WHO WILL WIN, THE GLAMORUS AND POWERFUL METTATON, OR SEVEN HUMANS!?

Play Live Report, Undertale OST

*OH MY! WE HAVE A BREAKING NEWS ANNOUNCEMENT, TWO IN FACT! DOUBLE THE NEWS, DOUBLE THE EXCITEMENT!

WE HAVE CONFIRMATION THAT THE FORMER ROYAL SCIENTIST, W.D GASTER HAS RETURNED TO SNOWDIN TOWN! APPARENTLY, NO ONE NOTICED HE WAS MISSING THIS WHOLE TIME, DUE TO HIM BEING FORGOTTEN! YOU SEE, APPARENTLY SEVERAL YEARS AGO HE AND SEVERAL OF HIS ASSISTANTS GOT THEMSELVES CAUGHT UP IN A TRAGIC EXPERIMENT THAT HAS FLUNG THEM INTO AN ALTERNATE DIMENSION, WIPING ALL TRACE OF THEIR EXISTENCE FROM OUR MEMORY! OH HOW TRAGIC, FOR GASTER WAS THE ONLY SURVIVOR FROM THE DESTRUCTION, THE OTHER ASSISTANTS HAVE PERISHED! WHEN QUESTIONING HIM, WE GOT NO COMMENT BUT HE DID ADMIT THAT DUE TO RECENT EVENTS HE WILL NOT RETAKE HIS OLD POSITION AS THE ROYAL SCIENTIST! MORE OF THE STORY ON THE SIX O CLOCK NEWS!

IN OTHER NEW, THE CURRENT SCIENTIST DR ALPHYS HAVE RETURNED SEVERAL MONSTERS TO THEIR FAMILIES. THESE WERE THE SAME MONSTERS THAT HAVE FALLEN DOWN A COUPLE OF YEARS AGO AND WAS DONATED TO HER FOR EXPERIMENTS. THE FAMILIES WERE OVERJOYED TO SEE THEM ALIVE AND WALKING AGAIN! IT IS UNKNOWN WHY IT TOOK SO LONG FOR THEM TO BE RETURNED BUT IT LOOKS LIKE A HAPPY ENDING FOR EVERYONE!

WE WILL RETURN TO THE FINALE AFTER THIS COMMERCIAL BREAK!*

The group were munching on the leftover spaghetti that Papyrus has left for them. They weren't allowed to bring outside food into the restaurant so they ate on the lobby fountain.

"I hope you guys are ready." Delilah said.

"I am." Iris said.

"Hmm." John frowned.

"Everything alright dude?" Caleb asked.

"Well it's just that I... I'm going to miss this place." John said. "And Sans and Papyrus."

Jerod wrapped an arm around his boyfriend. "Yeah, I'm going to miss hanging out with Undyne and Monster Kid."

"I wish I could help out Muffet's spiders." Delilah sighed.

"I also wanted to see what happened to the Amalgamates, and learn some more stuff from Alphys and Gaster." Iris said, clutching her cell phone.

"I'm going to miss all those fluffy monsters, like Temmie." Caleb pouted. "It won't be the same petting a cat ever again!"

"..." Diego's lip quivered. "I want to hear Toriel again one last time."

"We all do Diego." Frisk said. "Maybe we can give her a call."

"What's the point." Diego said. "She's just going to get more upset that she won't see us again."

"Wow, you are all such crybabies." Chara rolled his eyes. "Come on, big kids don't cry! I know you won't see them again but look at the bright side. You will all see your families again!"

The group all looked at the ghost boy. They all smiled softly. Chara blushed a bit. "Don't look at me like that all at the same time, it's weird."

"Aw, you're cute when you blush like that." Frisk giggled.

Chara's eyebrow twitched. "Look at these cheeks, I'm always blushing! If you opened up those eyes of yours then you would see that!"

"So what are you going to do if we get back home Chara?" John asked. "Since you're a ghost and all."

Chara shrugged. "I don't know. I guess I'll haunt you guys for the rest of your lives."

Suddenly, the group's chat started going up. They went through their chat.

Undyne: NGAAHH! Hey punks!

Alphys: Hi everyone. =^-^=

M0NST3Rkid: Yo, hi GUYS!

CoolSkeleton95: HELLO HUMANS!

MasterComedianSnowdrake: Ice to see you again!

GoopDAd17: Greeting's humans.

HeresJohnny17: Heya

StrongestSoul24: Whatsup!

Delilah15Dancing: Hi guys!

Diegolikescooking: Hello!

Ep1cNoScope: Howdy dudes!

-_-Frisk: Hi

!OtakuGirl1: Hi. Wait, GoopDAd17, Gaster is that you?

GoopDAd17: Yes it is child. Sans helped me out with this "Social media" thing. I... wasn't really around when this thing was made.

HeresJohnny17: Well welcome to the future old man!

MasterComedianSnowdrake: Oh yeah, thank you again Dr. Alphys for bringing my mom back! It's sooo cool to see her again.

Alphys:...Ooooh Itwasnothing!

!OtakuGirl1: So I'm guessing you are here for more than just a friendly chat?

Undyne: Yeah you caught us.

CoolSkeleton95: WE ALL WANTED TO BID YOU FAREWELL!

-_-Frisk: Wait, what do you mean?

GoopDAd17: Well you won't get any cellphone reception while in the core, unless you got a direct landline.

Alphys: So this might be the last time we can say goodbye.

Delilah15Dancing: Oh... :'(

LittleMUFFIN26: Yes it is a shame...

TsunderNOT!01: But It's not like I care or anything, BAKA!

StrongestSoul24: Okay?

Diegolikescooking: I'm really gonna miss all of you.

TeMgotoColleg: TEmm Heta GOODBois!

M0NST3Rkid: Yo, don't make me cry.

Wosh u name: Tears clean face!

Undyne: Well, even if we can't talk, we'll be with you in spirit, OK?!

CoolSkeleton95: YEAH! YOU CAN'T GET RID OF US!

HeresJohnny17: Oh Papyrus, I can't get you out of my head even if I tried.

Undyne: Good luck in there, all of you!

M0NST3Rkid: I believe in you dudes, if anyone can make it through it's you!

They got more messages from other monsters saying how they wish them good luck, and then they exited the chat. Everyone felt warm and fuzzy inside.

"You know, maybe it will be alright if we break the barrier." Frisk said.

The group looked at him in bewilderment.

"What? Are you sure?" Iris asked.

"I mean, look at how many monsters like us. I don't think they want to wage war with humanity anymore. So maybe Asgore will have no choice but to call it off if the majority doesn't want to do it."

Chara nervously looked away. "Well, I don't think that's a good idea. Just because monsters are willing to make peace doesn't mean humanity is. They could try to attack the monsters and force them into a war."

"But it's been a long time since the old war, all the humans from then are long gone. It's not like we've seen any humans today kill a monster." Caleb said.

Diego and Jerod looked away.

"Hey, you did it in self defense bro, and Jerod you didn't mean to." They nodded at Caleb.

"Guys, it's time." Frisk said, standing up.

John clutched Jerod with one hand and Delilah with the other. Iris straightened her glasses. Diego rubbed Caleb's shoulder comfortingly.

They all got up and went to the back of the hotel to the CORE. Some monsters spotted them and whispered excitedly to themselves. Others waved and cheered, others looked at them with empathy.

They stepped outside and stood on the bridge that connected to the CORE. They saw the door into it was open. Together they all ran in.

Chapter Text

The inside of the CORE smelled of ozone and the air felt a little thick. The floors, walls, and ceiling was vibrant shades of blue with lights against every surface. There were metal pipes sticking out of them, humming with power.

There were two pathways in front of them.

"Oh no, this place is a maze." John said.

"Maybe we should split up?" Jerod suggested.

"No, we don't want to risk any of us getting lost. We're better off sticking together." Delilah said. "Iris, maybe you can write a map with your notebook."

"On it." Iris said. "If we get lost, this map will help us."

"So, which way should we go?"

"Lets go right." Delilah said.

Through the door they reached a dead end.

"Well that was fast." Jerod said. They went back and took the door on the left this time. They reached a long hallway, but they weren't alone. On the other side stood two monsters. One was a large armored figure wielding a heavy weapon. The other was a floating wizard-like monster with two orbs floating by it's sides.

"It's Knight Knight and Madjick. Knight Knight fights with her Good Morningstar while Madjick fights with its orbs and magic incantations." Chara stated.

"These guys look tough." John said.

"Abra cadabra."

"Adieu."

Madjick's orbs went to far corners of the room and rapidly fired cross projectiles at the group. The group ran around to avoid the attack. Caleb flew up to avoid it. One hit Frisk on the arm and he glared at the orbs. Said orbs stopped attacking when he glared at them. He pointed his stick accusingly at the Monster.

"Cut that out Madjick!"

"Ahhh, a fellow wizard!" Madjick said whimsically. Frisk looked confused then he looked at his stick and realized that the monster thought he was holding a magic wand. "Thank you and Goodnight!" It said as it vanished into it's hat, the hat vanishing as well.

Knight knight slammed her Good Morningstar on the ground and something appeared above Caleb. A portal appeared in the sky, showing the Moon over a starry night sky. He stared at it mesmerized to see such a thing again. Then the stars fell down and launched towards him like a meteor shower. Caleb flew left and right to dodge the meteors. Diego saw the meteors coming and formed a barrier around him and the group. They were protected from the barrage.

'hmm, knight knight, good morning star, moon.' Delilah thought. She had an idea as she walked up to Knight Knight.

"Good Kni-"

Delilah started humming that tune she heard from the statue back in Waterfall. The beat was hard to forget. Knight Knight raised her Good Morningstar and it trembled in her grip as her eyelids became heavy from the tune she was hearing.

"Close your eyes..." She said as she hit the Good Morningstar on the ground before she fell asleep. Another portal appeared above them, this time of the Sun. Fireballs came out of nowhere and launched at them from an angle. Diego snuffed out the fireballs as they got close to them. With Knight Knight asleep the fight was over.

They quietly walked past the sleeping monster and continued forward. They reached a long narrow bridge and saw it was covered in cyan lasers.

"How are we getting past this?!" John asked.

"Hold on, I'm hacking into the system." Iris said as she was typing into her phone. She arched an eyebrow. "They aren't turning off. I got locked out of the system!"

"Mettaton..." Delilah said. "He must've did it." She tried looking to the other side. "I can try to teleport us over there but that's a little risky."

"Hold on let me try this." Iris threw her hands out and shot the lasers with an electrical blast. They sputtered off. "There we go, let's move it!"

They ran across, and were halfway there when they saw the laser's turning back on. In a split second, Delilah reacted and teleported them to the other side right before it turned on. They gasped in suprise.

"Wow, nice quick thinking Delilah." Iris praised.

They continued on to a large grid of hallways. They wandered around trying to find the way out, when they came across a small room with a trash can. John opened it and saw a person wearing a blue hoodie and munching on a vegan burger.

"Heya, I'm IhateFridays, wanna hear about my commissions." The person laugh manically. John shut the trash can and backed away.

"What's in there?" Jerod asked.

"N-nothing."

"YOu'll all float down here!" Said the person in the Trashcan.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" John said, pushing everyone out of the room.

They continued searching the hallways for a way out. They came across a sharp turn over a chasm. Iris saw on the other side there was a converter belt that was dispensing larger blocks of ice into the chasm, there was a sizzling sound as they fell.

"I guess that's to cool the place." Iris guessed.

"Uh guys, you might want to come over here!" Caleb called out.

The group went to him and saw Caleb surrounded by six monsters. What was strange was that they all resemble slightly the monsters they met from the Ruins, but they look more powerful.

The Froggit look alike is wearing a crown and his body looks spiky. Whimsum is wearing a set of armor and holding a two-bladed spear. Loox is hovering in the air slightly with a sleeker body and his big eye changes from an eye to a smiling mouth. The one that look like Moldsmal is shaped like a lava lamp with dog ears, it's face was spinning and they couldn't tell what are the eyes and mouth. The Vegetoid clone looks more snake-like which go along with it's snakes for hair, like it's medusa or something. The last one looks like Migosp but had a big smile on it's face painted white like a clown.

"Chara... who are these guys?" Frisk asked nervously.

"It's Final Froggit, Sir Whimsalot, Astigmatism, Moldessa, Parsnik, and Migospel!" Chara said in one breath

"Well, this is a nightmare." John said.

"Why do those first three look so familiar?" Frisk thought to himself.

"Robbit Robbit"

"I've made my choice."

"Take your last look."

"Herssss Hisssss"

"Shh..."

"They're coming"

All the monsters attacked at once. The group ran around as flies, butterflies, orbs, snakes, exploding slimeballs, and cockroaches attacked all over. There was nowhere to run and the group all got damaged severely. Chara watched nervously as they looked close to death already.

They tried to do their strategies that they used on their ruins counterparts. All of them failed except for Frisk and Delilah. Instead of wriggling his hips he fixed Moldessa's face, making it stay in one place. It seemed happy with how it looked and left. Delilah asked for a bite from Parsnik, and she happily gave her. Except she gave her a snake to eat. Luckily it wasn't a real snake so it was less morbid when she took a bite out of it. Pasnik left with Moldessa as well.

The other's didn't share the same sentiment and attacked the humans. The group stayed on their guard this time to avoid the attacks.

"It's not working!" John said, using his telekinesis to push Final Froggit back who was charging at him.

"These guys are too tough!" Diego exclaimed as he tried protecting everyone from the attacks but Astigmatism was relentless.

"Wait, I recognize these guys now!" Frisk exclaimed. He pointed to Final Froggit, Sir Whimsalot, and Astigmatism. "You three, you all look like parts of the Amalgamate I cured!"

Iris's eyes widened behind her cloudy glasses. She went through her notebook. "That's right! Reaper Bird, that's the Amalgamate that was made up of your family members!"

Final Froggit looked mystified.

"You..." Astigmatism said, it's big eye gazing at Frisk. "You're the one that brought them back?"

"Well yeah, but it was Iris and Alphys that helped as well."

Sir Whimsalot lowered his spear. "I will not fight you humans, not when I now know that there is still hope for peace." He pointed to the hall in the right. "That way leads to the end of the Core, where Mettaton resides!"

"Good luck humans, you're gonna need it." Astigmatism teased, but it didn't sound so malicious. Final Froggit croaked at Migospel.

"Oh, we're all not fighting them now? Alright then." He said as he followed the three of them.

Diego wiped his brown. "That was really close."

"Good job Frisk." Iris said, nudging his shoulder. "Thanks to you we made it out alive."

"Thanks, but it's not over yet." Frisk looked down the hallway with dread.

"Don't worry, I think I got a plan." Iris said.

They all followed Sir Whimsalot's orders and went down the hall and across a long bridge that lead to a doorway to a darkened room. The group went through and saw Mettaton waiting in the middle of an arena.

*WELL WELL, IT TOOK YOU SEVEN LONG ENOUGH TO GET HERE! YOU'RE THREE DAYS LATE!* Mettaton said.

"Wha- You locked the door to the Core!" Jerod exclaimed.

*WHAT?! NOW WHO WENT AND TOLD YOU THAT?* Mettaton could see that the group was fuming with rage. *OHOHOHOH I'M JUST JOKING, A LITTLE TEASING NEVER HURT ANYONE DARLING! YOU KNOW, THINGS WOULD HAVE BEEN DIFFERENT IF I FOLLOWED ALPHY'S PLAN!*

"Alphy's plan? You're lying, Alphys wouldn't betray us!" Iris said.

*WELL OF COURSE SHE WOULDN'T! NOT NOW AT LEAST! YOU SEE WHEN WE BOTH FIRST SPOTTED YOU EXITING THE DOOR TO THE RUINS ALPHYS CAME UP WITH A SMALL PLAN TO USE ME AS A 'ANTAGONIST' ON YOUR ADVENTURE! ONCE YOU REACH HOTLAND I WOULD PRETEND TO BE A MALFUNCTIONING ROBOT AND FORCE YOU ALL ONTO MY SHOW AND TRY TO KILL YOU, WHEREAS ALPHYS WOULD STEP IN ALL THE TIME AND SAVE YOU FROM CERTAIN PERILS THAT WOULDN'T HAVE HURT YOU EITHER WAY! SHE MEANT WELL, SHE JUST WANTED YOU TO LIKE HER, THINK THAT SHE IS THE HEROINE THAT SHE ISN'T!*

The group frowned. They didn't know that Alphys would think of going that far to trick people into liking her. And by the looks of how things went, she didn't need to do that to get what she wanted.

*UNFORTUNATELY I DIDN'T SHARE THE SAME IDEA! I REJECTED HER IDEA AND FORMED MY OWN PLAN! I WOULD LET ALL OF YOU INTO MY SHOW AND PUT YOU THROUGH DANGERS THAT WERE INDEED REAL! THEN I WOULD TAKE A SHORT DELAY TO NOT ONLY REARRANGE THE CORE BUT TO GIVE YOU ALL A CHANCE TO GET TO KNOW THE MONSTERS BETTER! YOU'RE ALL NATURALS AT GAINING ATTENTION DOWN HERE, SO YOU WOULD DRAW MANY MORE MONSTERS INTO MY SHOW! AND IN THE END IT WILL ALL BUILD UP INTO MY MASTER PLAN!*

"Which is?" Delilah asked.

*TO SAVE HUMANITY!*

"...What!?" They all exclaimed.

Mettaton put his hands on the sides of his rectangular body. *LOOK DARLING, YOU MAY BE STRONG BUT I CAN'T RISK ANY OF YOU GETTING TO ASGORE! I DON'T WISH FOR WAR AGAINST HUMANITY, MY ONLY DESIRE IS TO ENTERTAIN! I'LL TAKE ALL SEVEN OF YOUR SOULS, CROSS THROUGH THE BARRIER... AND BECOME THE STAR I'VE ALWAYS DREAMED OF BEING! HUNDREDS, THOUSANDS... NO! MILLIONS OF HUMANS WILL WATCH ME! GLITZ! GLAMOUR! I'LL FINALLY HAVE IT ALL!*

Delilah scowled. "You are ridiculous! You say you don't want to hurt humans yet you are willing to kill us just to reach you're own selfish desires! You aren't even misguided, I can tell you are well aware of what you are doing!" She said, disgusted.

Mettaton waved his hand flamboyantly. *SO WHAT IF A FEW PEOPLE HAVE TO DIE? SO WHAT IF SOME PEOPLE DON'T AGREE WITH ME? AND SO WHAT IF IT MEANS HURTING OTHERS? THAT'S SHOW BUSINESS, BABY! NOTHING IS GOING TO HOLD ME BACK FROM MY DREAMS! NOT YOU, NOT MY SHOW AND NOT BL-... ANYWAY, MY POINT IS THAT IT'S HAPPENING NOW AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!*

"I've heard enough of this!" Iris said as she pressed a button on her phone, pointing at Mettaton. Mettaton shook violently as electric sparks came out of him.

"What did you just do Iris!?" Delilah said. Mettaton might be an awful person but she didn't want him to die.

"I've hacked into his mainframe using a program I made with my phone." Iris said. "And before you ask, no, I didn't have it this whole time. I only just made it using the blueprints I got from Alphys!"

"Well I'm glad you did it." Jerod said. "Now you can shut him off and we can move on."

Iris frowned. There is nothing she could find that would allow her to turn Mettaton off externally. The only thing she could find was to delete all of the software's memory, but that's the equivalent of killing him and she won't allow that.

"I can't do that, it won't let me." She said. "And this program won't last forever."

"Then why did you even do this?" Caleb asked.

"So I can access something that would make him more vulnerable to attacks. INCAPACITATE him, don't actually hit to kill." She warned. The phone pulled up two options. She presses one then Mettaton will change into his more vulnerable form, but there is no going back, except the hard way.

What should she pick...

[EX] Or [NEO]?

Chapter Text

Iris pressed the button that said NEO.

Suddenly the room was covered in a flash of light.

Everyone shielded their eyes from the intensity.

There was a deep electronic voice that spoke.

"HAHAHA THAT WAS A BAD CHOICE DARLING!"

"What the..." Jerod said dumbfounded at the figure in front of them.

Mettaton now looks humanoid, with black metallic hair, white plating for skin, and all four limbs. Except his right arm was replaced with a blaster cannon. He had pauldrons on his shoulders that looked like his now existing legs. Behind him was bright glowing wings. His hair was pulled back and on his right eye had black plating with a cross hair in the middle.

Iris felt like she made a mistake. She turned to Frisk. "Frisk, I think you should res-"

"TIME TO DIE NOW DARLING!"

Mettaton shot at them with his blaster cannon. They all jumped out of the way as the blast came towards them. It stopped at where they just were standing and suddenly exploded.

Mettaton used this distraction to attack for real. He locked on to Caleb, who was staring at the explosion in shock. He fired a fast precise shot right at his head.

Diego took a glance and noticed the blast coming at Caleb. "LOOK OUT!"

Caleb turned his head and noticed the blast. He barely had time to react when the shot went right through his skull and through his brain. He died before he could feel what happened...

Chapter Text

Reload

Caleb gasped and found himself back outside the room just before Mettaton. He felt his forehead where there was a gaping hole. He didn't felt the pain but he felt a numbing sensation there.

He was grabbed and pulled to face Diego's distraught face. "Thank God you're alright!"

He immediately went and hugged his brother tight, bawling his eyes out. Diego hugged back as Frisk gave a comforting rub on his back.

The group felt bad for Caleb, that must've been a very traumatizing experience for someone his age. True, each of the older kids in the group went through worse but no kid his age should have to experience that and live with the memory.

Iris walked up to Caleb, not looking him in the eye. "C-Caleb... I'm so sorry. I didn't know what the pick and the choices were so vague and..." She took off her glasses to wipe her eyes, pooling with fresh tears. "I swear, if I knew Mettaton would be so powerful in that form th-" She was cut off when Caleb wrapped his arms around her, the force pushing her back a bit.

"It's okay, I forgive you. There was no way that we could have known it was so dangerous." Caleb said pulling from the hug. He adjusted his hat. "But it was still scary. I can't even remember what happened after I died, I blacked out there."

"Um guys..." Chara interrupted. "Sorry to ruin the moment but I want you to know that Iris was on to something putting Mettaton in that form. I could sense him being more vulnerable to attacks, especially in the chest area."

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"You saw that little heart thing in his chest, I think that's his power core or whatever. I could tell that's what keeping his body functional. It also looks non lethal to damage it from what I could tell."

"So we just gotta attack that heart and we can beat him." Jerod concluded. "Alright then, we can do this them! Lets go with the other form this time Iris, and everyone, keep on your guard and let Diego know if you are too hurt." The group nodded and went back into the room where Mettaton was standing.

*WELL WELL, IT TO-*

"Hey Mettaton, look behind you! There's a... a thing!" Frisk said.

*OOOH A THING!? I MUST SEE IT TO PUT ON TV!* Mettaton said as he turned around. *I UH CAN'T SEEM TO SEE IT DARLING, IS IT INVISIBLE!?*

Iris then shocked Mettaton with her phone and pressed the EX button this time. Again there was a flash of light as fog covered the area.

*Ohhhh Yesssss!*

Stage lights lit up. They could barely see Mettaton thorough the fog. *Beauties and Gentle-Beauties! Welcome to today's finale: Attack of the Killer Robot! And the humans have decided to prematurely show off my new body! How rude of them but luckily this was all intended. So as thanks I will make sure that their last living moment will be...*

The fog cleared as they saw Mettaton's EX form. It was similar to the NEO form but less meant for combat. His hair was over his right eye, he wore high heeled boots, and... he just looked hot to everyone. Frisk was staring at his legs like he wanted to marry them.

*Absolutely beautiful!* He snapped his fingers as music started playing.

Play Death by  Glamour

Caleb immediately fired his gun at the heart shaped core in his chest. It bounced off of it doing no damage.

*That little peashooter wont work on me, maybe if you put your HEART into raising the ratings then I'll make it easier.* Mettaton said as he did several poses and jumped at them. He swung his legs around them with style as the group ran around to avoid the attacks. John got kicked in the side as he fell over.

Violence +50

"You guys have to fight while playing along to the show!" Chara said. "Or else you won't be able to defeat him non-lethally."

The group nodded in understatement. Delilah jumped forward and did graceful ballerina poses. The audience nods.

Pose +100

"I won't get hit at all from your next attack Mettaton!" Delilah declared.

Mettaton grinned as he sent out a bunch of little mini-mettatons bots of his box form. They flew at her as she gracefully twirled and went through them. But then the bots blew kisses at her as heart shaped projectiles. She quickly did a complete split as they flew over her. The ratings go up from avoiding all the attacks.

"Nice job Delilah!" John cheered. The cheering stopped when he noticed he was literally in the spotlight. Everyone on TV stared at him wondering what he is gonna do. John started sweating nervously, he didn't know a pose, he doesn't know how to dance, he got no-

"Hey dude." John was grabbed by Jerod and looked him in the eye, grinning. "I'm gonna kiss you now."

"Wait wha- mmmmphhfff!" John said muffled by Jerod's lips pressed against his. His cheeks went red as he closed his eyes and kissed back. His friends, the audience, everyone was watching but he didn't care at the moment. He felt safe with Jerod by him. They pulled away from the kiss and looked at each other with flushed smiles. The group looked at them with approving nods. The rating's skyrocketed.

OTP! +1,500

John blushed and covered his face. "Shut up, I-I don't need your praise!" He stuttered.

Cuteness +500

*Oh My! What a passionate exchange between two lovers! You both sure showed your heart, let me show you mine!* Mettaton said as his heart came out of his chest and shot arcs of electricity at them. Caleb shot at it as the group his behind Diego's shield. It wasn't easy since the thing was moving so much but he got enough hits in as the Heart went back into Mettaton.

*How are you on the dance floor darling!?* Mettaton said as a big disco ball came down. It's lights turned into blue lasers as the group stood still as the lasers went by. But then Mettaton came in and dance fight at them as well so when they had to stand still for the lasers and dodge the kicks and punches. The group weren't even dancing, more like improve freestyle. Frisk threw his stick at Mettaton as he caught it in his mouth. The ratings went up. Mettaton tossed the stick back at Frisk.

Stick +250

*Lights, Cameras, Bombs!* Mettaton said as he posed and pointed upwards. Bombs started falling from the ceiling as the disco ball still attacked. Caleb shot at one of the bombs as they were passing by the disco ball and it exploded. It caused a chain reaction as the other bombs exploded destroying the disco. But the blast still hit all of the group as they took major damage.

Action +300

Violence +100

Mettaton put a finger on his chin and smiled mockingly at them. *Aw, you seem to be pretty hurt. I'll give you a break and just make the next attack a pop quiz. Pull out your phones and send me your answer to this question: What do you like most about Mettaton?*

The group got their phones and sent their texts to Mettaton's Undernet account.

HeresJohnny17: The Dank Memes :D

StrongestSoul24: YOU MOTHER#####R REALLY #####NG SUCK! I HOPE YOU #### # #### YOU ######## ############!

Delilah15Dancing: Your dances are... alright. Even if they hurt.

!OtakuGirl1: I liked the quiz show you did.

Diegolikescooking: The cooking was fun, I just wish you cooked more edible food.

Ep1cNoScope: I... Don't really know what to say...

-_-Frisk: Legslegslegslegslegslegslegslegslegslegs!

*Well, your answers were really... interesting.*

Quiz +1000

*Well now, it's time to say goodb-*

"HOLD UP!" Diego said as he pulled up a packet of instant noodles with a hotplate. "I need to cook this first to get our health up."

Mettaton stared at him, eyebrow twitching. He turned to the audience *Alright, time for our commercial break!* He said as a random commercial ad played and he stood there tapping his foot.

The group looked at Diego who was putting a pot on the hotplate and poured a bottle of water he had into it. It slowly started to boil.

"Wh-where did you get that stuff anyway?" Iris asked.

"I got the equipment from Mettaton's cooking show and the food..." Diego didn't finish what he was saying as he poured the noodles into the pot along with the flavor packet to mix with the noodles as they cooked.

They sat there and waited...

And waited...

And waited...

And w-

Later, quoth the Spongebob Narrator.

"There we go!" Diego said as he put the finish noodles into plastic bowls that he had as well. The group silently ate as their health went up. It tasted alright, these instant noodles don't really taste good but with a little TLC from Diego added to it slightly.

They put all their stuff away as they turn to Mettaton.

*You ready darling?*

Delilah shrugged. "Yeah."

Mettaton snapped his fingers as the show came back on.

*That break has made us so distant, darling... How about another heart-to-heart?* He said as the heart came out again. This time it shot bombs at them as well as electricity. Caleb was given cover by John and Diego as he shot at them. He accidentally hit a bomb and nearly got hit before Iris stepped forward and absorb the blast. She shot it back with her power. Mettaton's body shook as he lost his arms. He sent out a flurry of bombs and bots at them in desperation.

*A-Arms? Who needs arms with legs like these!?*

Somewhere MK is squealing in delight, Jerod thought.

* I'm still going to win! Come on...! The show... must go on! Dr... Drama! A... Action! L... lights... C... camera...*

He stopped and glared at them *Enough of this! I won't let you stop me! Take this last attack, the power of the idol everyone craves!* His heart core came out as he shot at them with everything they had. Knowing this was the last attack, the group charged through and attacked with everything they had. They got hit and their recovered health went back down. But before they reached death, the attacks suddenly ceased. They looked at Mettaton who lost his legs and was just a head and torso at this point.

*Ooh look at these ratings!* Mettaton said. The group looked at the ratings chart and saw that it was through the roof. *This is the most viewers I've ever had! We've reached the viewer call-in milestone! One lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to me... before I leave the Underground forever! Let's see who calls in first.* A phone rang as he picked it up from an internal phone system. *Hi, you're on TV! What do you have to say on this, our last show!?*

There was silence on the other end before a voice timidly spoke. "... oh... hi... mettaton..." Delilah gasped as Mettaton's eyes went wide, both recognizing the voice. "I really liked watching your show... my life is pretty boring, but... seeing you on the screen... brought excitement to my life... vicariously I can't tell, but... I guess this is the last episode...? I'll miss you... mettaton..." Mettaton looked down sadly. "... oh... I didn't mean to talk so long... oh..."

*No wait bl-* But Mettaton was too late as the line ended.

"Napstablook." Iris said. "I knew it."

"Knew what?" Delilah asked.

*I-I'll take another caller.*

He picked up the phone again and this time it was a random monster.

Mettaton, your show made us so happy!"

"Mettaton, I don't know what I'll watch without you."

"Mettaton, there's a Mettaton-shaped hole in my Mettaton-shaped heart."

He kept going through caller after caller and they all have the same thing to say, they love him and will miss him.

Mettaton looked like he was about to cry, even though he can't.

"Well, it looks like someone does have a heart." Delilah said.

*E-everyone, thank you so much!* He looked at Delilah. *Darling, you and your friends, thank you all as well! You've all really brought up the ratings of my show, higher than I could ever have dreamed. I was wrong for thinking I was the only thing that made my show big. I may be great but no one can be the greatest over time. The audience are just as important as the star. They encourage me to keep going, to believe in myself, to spread word about me. One cannot exist without the other. If I left then I would be leaving the Underground as well as myself empty inside. I never would have known this without you.*

"Being the best isn't everything. It's what you do that makes you happy is how you live your life. So tell me, what is it you truly want to do?" Delilah asked.

Mettaton bit his lip nervously. *I... I wan't to stay down here and entertain all the monsters. I want to see Blooky again. Darling I do believe you can take on Asgore. It won't be easy but you all have the teamwork to make it to the end. I'm not the hero of this story, it looks like the heroes are you!* Mettaton chuckled, but his voice distorted for a second as his body twitched.

"What's wrong?" Frisk said concerned.

*It's alright. This form's energy consumption is inefficient. In a few moments I'll run out of battery power and... well... I'll be alright.* Mettaton winked and gave a determined smile. *Knock em dead darling! And everyone, thank you. You've been a great audience!* And with that the lights in his eyes went out as he went limp. The stage lights went out as the show ended.

The group frowned at Mettaton. Just like the rest, the group misjudged him. He wasn't a bad guy, just desperate for attention.

The door behind them opened and they saw someone run into the room.

"O-oh, finally it opened." Alphys said.

"Alphys? What are you doing here?" Iris asked.

"I saw you all on TV fighting and I felt like I needed to stop Mettaton. I came straight here but the door was locked. What ha-" She noticed Mettaton's body behind them. "OH MY GOD! Mettaton are you..."

"It's alright, it's just the batteries." Diego said.

"Oh thank god!" Alphys wiped her head.

"Can you fix him?" Iris asked.

"Yeah, it's easy, just gotta power him up and he will repair himself."

"Well in that case..." Iris sent a shock of electricity to him and his body crackled with electricity.

*POWERING ON! REBOOTING IN THREE... TWO... O- Wait, I'm awake already?* Mettaton said, confused.

"Hey Mettaton, just gave you some juice so you can repair yourself." Iris said.

*Why thank you Ir-* He pause when he noticed Alphys. *Oh, hi Alphys.*

"Hi Mettaton." Alphys said. "Don't worry I was just le-"

*NO WAIT!* Mettaton said. *Look, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that I wasn't a good friend to you. I want to be a better person now, and put others before my show.*

Alphys looked surprised but she smiled slightly and nodded. "That's awfully nice of y-you. Thank you." She turned to the others. "Come on guys, leave Mettaton to repair himself while I lead you to the elevator."

"Does that mean I can't take this?" Frisk pouted, holding one of Mettaton legs.

Mettaton and the group chuckled. *Guess I'm going to have to make replicas of my legs part of my merchandise. Go darlings, and good luck!*

The group waved to Mettaton as they moved forward, Frisk leaving the leg behind. They walked silently towards the elevator.

"You guys must be excited, you're so close to going home." Alphys said.

"Yeah, but we are really going to miss this place." Frisk said. They finally reached the elevator as the doors opened.

Iris looked at Alphys. "Goodbye Alphys."

"W-Wait!" the group paused and looked at Alphys. "I-I mean uh... I was j-just going to say goodbye and...um." She started to sweat nervously. Then she sadly turned away from them.

"What is it?" Caleb asked, sensing that something was wrong.

"It's about a memory from Gaster. I could remember him but certain memories were foggy but once it cleared I remembered something he told me. He checked the Barrier and measured it's level of power, to learn more about it. A-and we found something serious, something we never wanted anyone to find out."

"What is it?" John said nervously.

"The barrier wasn't just made with seven humans, it was seven humans... and a boss monster."

The group's eyes widened. They felt their heartbeat still.

"A... monster helped make the barrier?" Iris said.

"Yes, no one except me, Gaster, and a select few knew about this. We have no idea who did it. There are hardly any boss monsters left and we know that Asgore couldn't have done it. A monster worked with the humans to trap us under here." She frowned and looked away. "Not only does that mean that it requires a monster Soul with seven human Souls to break the barrier but also that a human Soul isn't strong enough to cross the barrier alone. It takes at least a human soul...And a monster soul."

"...No" Diego said upset.

"That means...that means..." Caleb thought aloud

"Oh no." Said Delilah

"No, don't say it" Muttered Jerod

"If you guys want to go home, you have to kill our king and take his soul. But only one of you can leave." She said.

Alphys started walking away. "I-I'm sorry." She said

"Alphys wait!" Iris shouted. But it was too late, she was already gone.

The group looked at each other with terror.

"This can't be true!" John said.

"How are we supposed to choose!?" Jerod said.

They went to their phones and tried calling their friends. Maybe they might know something to help. They called everyone, Sans, Papyrus, Gaster, Undyne, anyone they knew. But nobody answered.

"Why aren't they picking up!?" John said. "The phone lines are back on so they should know we are calling."

"It's because they can't help us." Iris said. "They don't want their last memory of us to be a bad one."

She looked to the others. "We have no choice, we must move on."

"Hold on, let me just make one more call." Diego said. He stepped away from the group and made another call on his phone. The person did not pick up but he left a message right before he hung up. He went back to the others and stepped into the elevator with them. They had no idea what they were going to do now, they were filled with uncertainty.

Ring

Ring

Ring

Hello? Oh I guess you aren't picking up like usual huh... It's me, Diego. I think this is the last call you are going to get from me...

Me and the others made it to the Capital, soon we will run into Asgore. And... WE ARE SO SCARED!

We don't know what to do, do we kill him, let him kill us, or what? I don't know! Look if you are listening then please do something, ANYTHING!

*Sigh*

Guess I'm just dreaming for too much. Well then, I guess we are going to figure this out on our own.

Goodbye...

Chapter Text

The group went up the elevator in silence. So much was on their mind at the moment. Not only did they learn that a monster helped make the barrier, not only did they learn that the only way to leave was to take a life, not only did all their friends abandon them in the time of need out of fear. But none of that compares to the fact that only one of them can leave this place, while the others have to stay down here. None of them had the heart to selfishly abandon the others, not after all they've been through.

For once, not even Iris knew what to do.

They stepped out and walked through the appropriately grey capital city. They didn't know how but they knew that the path they were taking lead to the throne.

But what they saw next snapped them out of their mood.

"It can't be!" Delilah said. In front of them was an exact replica of Toriel's home back in the Ruins. But it was all grey and... not old looking.

"Welcome to New Home." Chara said. "Asgore's house."

Diego gazed at the entrance. "Do you think..."

Together they went inside. Even the interior closely resembled Toriel's house. There were golden flowers covering the house. The stairs to the lower level was blocked by a easily passable gate with a note. Caleb read it closely.

"It looks like Asgore is not home right now. He's in the throne room past the stairs." Caleb said.

"Well, we have no choice but to see him." Jerod said stepping over the gate.

"Wait." John grabbed Jerod's arm pulling him back.

"Look, we can't avoid him. I know you are scared but..."

"No, it's not that." John said. "It's just something on my mind that I've been thinking about since we fell down here. Something that doesn't make sense. So Asgore declared war on humanity and to collect their Souls to leave. But there already was a war going on, the one that got them down here in the first place. So there was a time where they weren't hateful to humanity. Which is where you come in." John pointed at Chara.

The ghost boy's eyes widened. "Me? What makes you think that I have anything to do with this?"

"By the fact that you lived down here with the monsters for awhile and they haven't killed you. Iris showed me her notes about you from before we fell down here. You disappeared in 1997, that's a year before I was born. Not only that but for some reason, no one back home will talk about something that happened almost a year later. I get the feeling that it has something to do with you."

The others looked at Chara curious as well. They don't know that much about Chara, they never bothered to ask. But for Asgore to allow Chara to live down here meant that he only declared war on humanity sometime later. So what happened?

Chara crossed his arms and looked away.

"You know something, tell us." John said.

Chara remained silent.

"Chara..." He turned around and looked at Frisk. "Please tell us what you know."

"Fine! Alright, I'll tell you my story. But don't interrupt me until I'm finished, understand?" The others nodded.

"Good, now listen as I tell you..."

Chapter Text

I... My life before everything... it wasn't happy.

I "had" a family but I barely remember them. I was so young when they abandoned me at the Ebott Orphanage where I spent the rest of my childhood in agony. The owners barely paid attention to us kids and barely took responsibility. We skipped school, caused mischief... well the other kids caused mischief, I tried to isolate myself. The kids were as delinquent as you can be, minus the leather jackets, oiled hair, and finger snapping.

I was always picked on. Not only for my eyes being so unusual but also because apparently I don't follow the 'gender social norms' that everyone follows.

"Boys don't go picking flowers." They say.

"Boys don't play with dolls." They say.

"Boys don't talk about their feelings." They say.

WELL THAT'S BULLCRAP! I'm a boy but I can do whatever girly crap I want or whatever boyish crap I want without being socially ridiculed thank you very much! I am human!

...Sorry, getting off topic.

But they didn't listen, and they tried beating the sense into me over and over again. I tried calling for help, but nobody came.

Well eventually I had enough of everything. In a fit of spite, towards who I'm not sure, I ran away to the legendary Mt Ebott to... well you already have an idea. I don't remember why exactly I did it, I don't exactly remember why I even took the kitchen knife! I mean the people that owns the orphanage each have a pistol hidden in their closet but noooo, I had to take the dinky kitchen knife. Well... now they can't chop their vegetables anymore, that'll teach them!

I found the same pit you all fell down but unlike Frisk I actually jumped, that's not something I'm proud of but I don't regret it due to what happened next. After I fell I woke up on the hard ground with my legs pinned beneath a rock that fell with me and my body bleeding out. I didn't want to die a slow death so I cried out for help.

That's when I met him...

"That sounds like it came from over here." Said a nearby voice. "Oh you've fallen down haven't you?" You look up and was face to face with an anthropomorphic goat child wearing a striped sweater.

...

"AHHHHH!" You scream as you grab your knife and aim it threateningly at him. "Back you demon, back! Don't make me stab you!"

"Uh a-"

"No, don't try to trick me with your evil words." The goat smiled sheepishly and walked forwards. "I'm warning you." He didn't seem to listen. "Alright that's it. RAAAH!" You slash at him across his midsection. Strangely enough you felt no resistance in your blade. You open your eyes and sweatdropped. You misplaced your knife and instead attacked him with a flower ripped from the ground. Your face flushed with embarrassment. You cover your face with your hands. Suddenly your felt the weight of the rock get lifted up. You look and see the goat had taken the liberty of moving the rock off of you.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

I tried to get up. I groaned as I clutched my leg.

"Here I'll help you." He said as he hoisted me up and I leaned my right side on him. "Let me take you home, my mom can heal you up properly."

"...thank you."

The goat gave a grin that you hated to admit was rather adorable. "What's your name?"

"Laura Croft"

"... Your lying. That sounds like a girls name"

Damn it, well at least he isn't misgendering me.

"Alright, my real name is Chara."

"Chara, huh? That's a nice name." He grinned. Kill this adorable demon! "My name is Asriel, Asriel Dreemurr."

"That's cooooooo-" After that you blacked out.

Next thing I knew I woke up in Asriel's bed, with all my wounds healed. I found him by my bed explaining that his mom healed me.

So yeah, let me just get this out of the way. Asriel's mom is Toriel! Yeah, the same Goatmom from the Ruins that you befriended. That's not all, his father is Asgore!

I got saved by the prince of monsters, hows that for a story!?

Now can you guys stop looking at me like that so I can continue my story?!

When I first saw Asgore I was terrified. I mean, he looked like the Devil! I was about to offer Asgore as a living sacrifice before they cleared up that he wasn't in fact the Devil.

Anyway, the two parents were surprisingly okay with me around, with me being a human and all. Asriel seemed giddy, showing me his toys and doing drawings with me, it was small but the first positive social interaction I got in awhile. They took care of me for awhile

And then they asked me a question that would change my life forever...

"So what do you think young one?" Asgore asked me. Him, his wife, and Asriel were all waiting for my answer.

I felt my palms start to sweat as I took a gulp of air.

"I-I mean, it's only been a week. And I don't really feel like overstaying and-"

"Oh don't be ridiculous Chara!" Toriel said. "We wouldn't mind it at all."

"Come on Chara, don't you want to?" Asriel asked, stars in his eyes.

"Why..." My eyes were downcast. "Why are you being so nice to me? I'm a human, the kind that trapped you all down here and you want to adopt me?!"

I felt a sigh and a big hand touch my shoulder, it was Asgore. "Chara, child, I am no fool. The human lifespan is about 80 to 100 years. Those that trapped us are long gone and we all have accepted that and moved on. I don't blame the human race today for the sins of the past. I've seen you and Asriel quickly get along together. The very fact that we can be a family means that their is hope to coexist with humanity on the surface once more. Don't you like to stay with us?"

"I do but," I wiped my eyes of the fresh tears. "I never thought that this day would come... where I am wanted."

The three of them pulled me into a tender hug as I felt full of happiness. I smiled the biggest smile I ever made, finally I had a home...

They adopted me and claimed me as  the human prince to all monsters. I didn't really care about being royalty, I was just happy I had a family. Asgore was such a softie for a big tough looking guy, Toriel was probably the only teacher anyone would want as a mother. And Asriel...

Asriel,  he was more than just my brother, he was my best friend. We did everything together, explore the Underground, pretend to be the future king and Queen (I was the king Asriel was the queen much to his dismay), comfort each other during nightmares, and get home schooled together. He was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. What was he like? Hmm, think about the most sweetest and innocent person you can think of, that's what he's like. I love him no matter how much of a crybaby he can be, like that time he stepped on a snail by accident and cried for hours, we even had to show that the snail was alright! He could never hurt a fly.

I put the past behind me. They tried asking about my life back on the surface but I didn't like to answer them. I didn't belong on the surface, I belonged with the monsters. I got to know almost every type of monster there is. They were all welcome to talk with a humans, well most of them. Some of the monsters weren't aggressive but kinda spiteful about them being stuck down here thanks to humans, I can't blame them. I tried to learn as much as I can about the Barrier and how to break it but I got nowhere. I'm only one human Soul. But I was hopeful that one day the monster would be freed.

So many things happened in such short time. One of them was when I used my first magic attack. It was the glowing knife attack similar to John's but mine were red (And cooler) and it was more 'slice-slice' instead of 'stab-stab'. Me and Asriel used to play fight all the time when suddenly a big knife came at him. After a boo-boo kiss and a band aid later he was excited to see me do it again.

Well first I was taught to control my powers from Asgore. He was already teaching Asriel to control his powers so he trained me along with him. I think he was also teaching some other monster at the time but that one was a more private session so I never saw them.

Then I learned my other power, the power to Reload. It happened on accident when I was playing with Asriel. It suddenly took me back by a couple of minutes but it freaked me out. I told Asriel about it and he belived me as crazy as it sounded. We told mom and dad who then took me to get examined by Dr. Gaster.

Yep, good ol' Gaster before he got all weird and goopy. And I remember when we went to see him...

"Well this is very interesting." Gaster told us as he looked over the results on his clipboard. I just went through a series of scans that I patiently went through. Toriel, Asgore, and Asriel were by my side.

"What is Dr. Gaster?" Toriel asked. "Is my Chara alright?"

"Yes of course your majesty but this is-"

*CLANG*

Gaster sighed as he sent a pair of skeletal hands to the nearby crib.

"Sans, stop messing with your little brother?" He scolded as he pushed the infant and the toddler away from each other. "I swear, he just loves messing with everyone, I hope he doesn't grow to make a habit of it. Anyway, these results are very peculiar. So you said that you were able to go back one minute into the past?"

"Well a couple of minutes, I can't remember how much exactly." I answered. "But how were you able to know anything from that machine?"

"Oh this thing." Gaster gestured to a weird looking machine. "This was a side project of mine that let me be able to read changes in time. It's part of a idea I'm working on but back to this situation. From what I could tell, you made an alternate timeline starting at the point where you resetted."

"I have never heard of anyone with the magical ability to rewind time." Asgore said. "Do you think this is safe for him to have this ability?"

"Hmm." Gaster pulled out an old tome he had on a shelf and read through it. "Hmmmm... ohhhhh... ahhhh... very interesting..." He noticed our impatient glares. "Alright. So you are right, no one has ever had the magical ability to be able to control time itself. That's due to the sheer amount of energy needed to actually pull it off, to rewind time means to affect the time of the entire universe itself which is a amount of power that is highly achievable. But the barrier... It actually traps more than I thought. It isolates space and time itself from escaping into the outside world. That makes the entire underground a pocket universe."

"Golly... we have out own universe." Asriel said. "But how is Chara able to do this though?"

"Well Chara has the Soul of Determination, the power to change fate. I can only theorize that Chara is able to use their Determination to manipulate time only in the Underground, while the outside world is still moving naturally."

I looked at my hands with surprise. I had the power to control time...

"Don't let the thought go to your head child. You only have a finite amount of Determination so you can't go back too far." Gaster narrowed his eyes. "There's also the threat of time paradoxes. So I would suggest that you try to avoid doing such a thing.

So I was pretty astonished of what power I have. Too bad I couldn't go back that far, the farthest I went was about an hour and a half or so. Gaster took some blood samples from me in hopes of getting more information about Determination. I think that's what led to Alphy's lab incident now that I think about it.

I knew what everyone was thinking, that maybe I held the key to unlocking the barrier. It was no use, I didn't have enough strength to break it on my own and who knew when any other human would fall.

But then the accident happened...

"Are you sure you are supposed to add that in?" Asriel asked.

"Of course, the recipe did ask for buttercups after all." I said as I tossed the flowers into the bowl and mixed it. Me and Asriel were trying to make a pie for Asgore. I already made him a sweater for his birthday so I wanted to try something different.

"I don't know..."

"Ugh, here watch..." I said as I took a spoonful of the batter and ate it. It was raw tasting but kinda rich. "Mmmm, see it's good. Kinda tastes like chocolate." I put the spoon to Asriel's face. "Here, try it."

Asriel hesitated but took the spoon and put it to his mouth. But then a small white Dog came out of nowhere and took the spoon from his hand.

"What the... hey give it back!" Asriel shouted as he chased the Dog.

I giggled as I got another spoon out and finished setting up the pie. "You're the prince Asriel, order him to stop."

"Oh right." Asriel straightened his back and looked at the Dog with a serious expression. "Halt, as the prince of the monsters I order you to stop." He said trying to make his voice deep. The Dog looked at him with a curious expression right before he jumped through the wall. Asriel slumped over in defeat. We finished the pie and I gave it to Asgore right before I went to bed.

It was early in the morning when Toriel barged into our room.

"Children get up! Something is wrong with your father." Toriel said agitated.

I tried to get up but I suddenly felt a strong wave of nausea fall over me. I cried out in pain, my stomach feeling like it was on fire.

"...hara?"

I then blacked out. I don't know for how long but I eventually woke up and saw a distressed Toriel, Asriel, and Gaster talking with each other.

"...idn't know mom, Chara was sure that it was right! Oh god, no!"

"As...riel?" Both turned to me and saw that I was awake.

"Chara!" Asriel was about to jump and hug me but Gaster held him back. Toriel looked at me with a miserable expression. I noticed tear streaks in her eyes.

"Chara... what did you put in your father's pie?" Toriel asked.

I tried to think back, the pain in my chest making it harder to think. "I put flour, eggs, milk, some buttercups, and-"

"Buttercups my child?!" Toriel pinched her nose. "Chara the recipe asked for cups of butter not buttercups!"

"Oh... oops." I murmured weakly.

"This isn't funny Chara! Gaster said they are poisonous!" Asriel cried out. I looked to the three of them not sure if I heard him right.

"Poisonous... is Asgore okay?"

Gaster nodded grimly. "He's sick but he will recover. He is larger and stronger than you, plus the buttercups were diluted when they were fully cooked. But you... you ate them raw..."

I couldn't take the silence. "What? You make it sound like I'm gonna die!" I laughed slightly.

They didn't answer.

...

I WAS dying.

I frowned slightly, my stomach pains were gone or maybe I was no longer noticing them. "B-but it was just an accident."

"I thought you would know about the nature of buttercups my child. There is no cure to such a poison."

"I'm sorry young one but this is something that's impossible to cure. It's extremely fatal to almost every creature. I managed to give you something to dull the pain but you don't have to long before your body shuts down.

"...How long?"

Asriel couldn't take it anymore and ran out the room.

"By the next day at the most." Gaster said

Toriel sobbed. "I am so sorry my child! I wish to make your last moments as comfortable as possible."

"Th-thanks Toriel. Could I have some time to myself to think please?" I asked.

Toriel nodded and left the room with Gaster. "I love you my child." She said as she closed the door.

I was dying, I was trying to process it. Not a lot of people get the luxury of knowing when exactly they died, I doubt I got it cause of luck. None of them mentioned resetting to me, probably cause I didn't have the strength to go back that far. Maybe if I knew right after I ate the batter but that was hours ago.

So I was doomed, but I wasn't freaking out. I guess I was okay with this. I didn't have a happy life and I expected for me to one day die cold in the streets back home but look at me now. I am surrounded by people that adore me and care for me, not a bad way to go compared to home, I thought as I felt my eyes slowly shut. (I'm not dying yet, I'm just napping, hold your horses guys!)

home...

home...

HOME THAT'S IT!

"Chara... Can you hear me? We want you to wake up..."

"Chara! You have to stay determined! You can't give up! You are the future of humans and monsters."

I opened my eyes and saw Toriel and Asgore by my bed. Asgore was barely supporting himself by his weapon. I didn't feel any better, in fact I felt even worse.

"Oh, you had us worried my child!" Toriel said. "We thought that you were already... Anyway, is there anything you want from us?"

"Toriel Asgore, can I have one last request?" I asked, my voice was growing hoarse.

"Of course." Asgore said.

"What is it my child?" Toriel asked.

"I want to go home!"

The two looked at me in confusion.

"Back in my town, there's this field of golden flowers that I used to love to go to. It looked absolutely beautiful by the setting sun. I want to be able to see that one last time before I go."

Asgore frowned. "Chara, you know we can't break the barrier. We don't have enough soul power to do it, let alone cross it. We are six souls short and..." Asgore trailed off in his sentence.

"Oh." I said, I knew about that but there was something else they didn't tell me that I only knew half about it. "C-can I at least see the barrier, just me and Asriel?"

"Of course my child." They got a wheelchair for me since I didn't have any strength to walk. They weren't kidding about me dying, I felt my body slowly break down from the inside out. Whatever anesthetics Gaster gave me really numbed the pain, but I could tell how bad it was on me. It wouldn't last through the night.

Asriel came back, his eyes were red and his ears were a mess, probably from rubbing them in his eyes.

"Heya Az."

"H-hi Chara." Asriel said. He gently lifted me onto the wheelchair and set me down.

"Chara I'm sorry I left you. I was j-"

"It's okay bro, you always were a crybaby." I said, lifting a hand to his snout and rubbing it gently. He smiled slightly as he set me down.

He pushed the chair across the palace as I took one last look around. I barely lived here for a year but it was the best time I ever had.

If only I had more time.

We reached the barrier and I looked at what was keeping me trapped down here, keeping us all trapped down here. I pressed my hand against the barrier. It felt... I don't know how to describe it. But I knew I lacked any power to break such a thing.

"Chara, I know we can't take you home but I want you to know that you were the best thing I ever had." He held onto one of the lockets that he made for both of us on my birthday. "I was alone before, I had no friends, I wasn't bullied just avoided. But then you came along and made my life better. I would give up being the prince if it meant I could be your best friend."

I smiled and patted his paw.

He sniffed. "I just wish we had more time."

"...maybe we can."

Asriel turned to me in surprise. "Huh? I don't understand."

"Asriel, remember mom's history lessons? What was it that caused humans to attack monsters?"

"Um... it was fear."

"Fear of what exactly?"

"Well they feared of the power we possessed that a monster could ab-" He paused and turned to me wide eyed. "Chara, are you serious?"

"Az, please just listen. You are the only one that can do this, absorb my Soul and cross the barrier."

"B-b-but...WHY!?" He shouted at me. "Why me?!"

"Asriel, my last request isn't for me to see the sunrise, its for you to see the sunrise. You deserve to see it, more than any other monster down here, and definitely more than any humans do!" I scowled. "You don't deserve this, none of you do. Humanity should be the ones down here for what they've done!"

I coughed badly, I pulled back and saw blood on my hands. I think that little outburst shortened my time till death to really soon. Asriel knelt in front of me with a panicked expression.

"Asriel, you don't have to let me go. We can be together forever." I pulled my arms out to him. That's when I lost all strength in my arms as they fell to his sides.

"Chara I-I don't know." Asriel said.

"Please Asriel. I'm not ready for this to end!" I said weakly, feeling my eyes slowly lose their vision. "I'm not ready to say goodbye to someone like you!"

I could hear my heart slowly start to stop beating.

"...ara ok."

And then everything felt so strange. Asriel did absorb my Soul but it felt so strange. We both had a shared consciousness over a newly formed body. We couldn't see what it looked like since there wasn't a mirror nearby but we knew it was different. We were together again, two minds one body.

(John what the heck is a Steven Universe?! Shut up and let me finish my story!)

Together we picked up my dead body and we went through the barrier like it was nothing. We saw the sky for the first time. But it was nighttime, we missed the sunset. But I wanted to show him the sunrise instead.

"Chara are those stars?" Asriel asked. We could hear each other and feel our presence but we couldn't see each other.

"Yes they are." I said.

"But what is that?" I felt Asriel take control of the right arm and pointed at the sky, right at the moon.

"That's the moon dummy!" I chuckled.

"Really? It looks like a ball of cheese!"

I laughed to myself as we continued on. We crossed through the town in silence, our footsteps making no sound. Asriel and me didn't notice that a human staring from out their house was looking straight at us, I knew but I thought he would leave us alone, forgetting what I was carrying.

We reached the field of flowers in the center of the schools in town.

"You know, mom and dad told us that this town was around long before the war. They said this was where the human mages once lived, right by these flowers." Asriel said.

"Well they can't hurt anyone any longer." I said as we set my body down into the flowers.

"So... what now?" Asriel asked.

"Anything we want. We are the most powerful thing in existence."

We stood up and looked across the horizon. We are the thing that humans feared so long ago. Thousands of years and it finally happened.

"...ver there!"

"-ook at that!"

We turned around and saw the source of the voices. It was the police, someone must've called them. They formed a perimeter around the school as hid behind their flashing cars. Not only that but a crowd of other humans started approaching, some with cameras, some with their families, and some with weapons. The police was holding them back.

"Um Chara, who are they?" Asriel asked. A helicopter flew above us as it shined a spotlight on us.

"The police. Think of them like the royal guard."

"But why are they here, we didn't do anything."

"MURDERER!"

"YOU KILLED THEM MONSTER!" They shouted.

We looked down at my body and realized, they think Asriel killed me.

Asriel took over the body and tried to reason with them. "Look this is n-"

*BANG*

Asriel and me flinched back as we felt a bullet fly into our chest. It felt like nothing, but the implication was clear.

"Stay right there you freak!" An officer with a megaphone shouted. "You have the..." The officer looked to another asking if I still had Miranda Rights.

"Idiots, all of them." I growled. "They won't even give the chance to listen to reason." I straightened my back and pulled back my head.

"Uh Chara, What are you doing?" Asriel asked.

"Giving them something to fear." I said simply as I roared at them. I put a lot of power into that roar that it knocked the people right off their feet. It also disabled all electronic devices near us. While they were down I lit up my hands with fiery knives.

Suddenly I was held back, mentally not physically, by Asriel.

"Chara, what are you doing?!"

"They tried to kill us, it's only fair we kill them instead. Besides, remember what we were told, seven human Souls can break the barrier. We can free mom and dad right now and put the humans down there instead." I said gleefully.

"Chara no! This isn't right!"

"GET THEM!" The humans recovered and broke through the police line. They charged at us with their weapons. Knives, guns, bats, anything they could find they hit us with. I tried to attack back but Asriel didn't release his hold on me.

"What are you doing Asriel! They are killing us!" I shouted.

"I don't want anyone to die!" Asriel cried. "Please don't make me!"

"Are you serious right now! You want to curl up and cry while people beat you to death?! What kind of king are you to let yourself die like this!? I HATE YOU ASRIEL I..."

Suddenly I felt my anger dissipate as I heard Asriel's sniffles. He's no killer, I realize. That big heart of his will never let him kill someone like this. That heart is why I love him.

We aren't killers, we're just kids... he's just a kid.

"Asriel I..." I was cut off when we felt a shotgun to our side. The police has come with a SWAT team and pushed the people aside. They started firing at us. We were incredibly tough and powerful but we weren't bulletproof.

"Lets go home now, before we die." I suggested. Asriel's sniffles stopped.

"W-"

"Without killing anyone! Just pushing them aside."

"...Ok."

We then sent a shock wave that pushed the police aside. We quickly grabbed my body as we looked at the mountain. We also saw the long bunch of police and people that were in our way. We took a big and powerful leap as we landed a couple of blocks away. But there were police there too. They were all over the town. They got some pistol shots at us before we leaped again. We misjudged the distance and landed right into an dirty neighborhood. We crashed into a car and the roof caved in on us.

A bunch of hoodlums saw the ruckus and marched over to us.

"Looks like the party moved on over here." One of them said. "Wait, that's my car!" He shouted. He grabbed a spiked bat. "You're gonna pay for that you son of a bitch!"

"L-look, it was an accident! Just let us go home please!?" Asriel begged.

One of them, probably the leader, stepped forward. He eyed Chara's body.

"So you did kill that kid huh? Would'a thought you ate 'em by now."

"What? No I wouldn't eat them!"

"Ugh, so instead you play with their dead ass? Damn, I've seen some weird shit but that's just sick man!" He threw down his bat. "You ain't even worth the blood on my boots." He snapped his finger as the other's aimed their guns. "Make 'em eat lead boys!"

They all fired on me as we cried out in pain. The shots came from all directions. We felt ourselves near death from all the bullets.

Something snapped inside us as we roared out. "ENOUGH!" A wave of fire circled us as the thugs stepped back.

"What the hell! This things a freaking demon!"

We used what little energy we had and hopped all the way to the woods in one jump. We didn't felt so good. We felt a mix of blood and dust come out of out torso.

"We're dying Chara..." Asriel said weakly.

"M-Maybe Toriel can fix us!" I said as we trudged back to the barrier. We heard shouting in the distance as we entered the cave. The humans must've followed us.

"Chara! They are going to find the way inside!" Asriel said.

He was right, the humans would find the way into the barrier and find the monsters. Oh god, they could kill them all!

"No they won't." I said as I fired a powerful blast to the mouth of the cave. The mountain rumbled as rocks fell and the cave collapsed. Now no one would find the monsters unless they fall through the hole. We limped back through the barrier and tried to reach Mom and Dad. We then collapsed in the throne room. We felt our dust falling over the flowers.

"Chara, what's happening?! I can't feel my body! Help, Please. I think we're dying!" Asriel wailed.

"Asriel... Chara?"

We looked up and saw the petrified faces of Asgore and Toriel. They must've had a lot of questions to ask. Too bad they won't get the answer.

"Heh... sorry everyone, I messed up." I weakly said as I closed my eyes.

Play Stars-Undertale Piano Cover

Next thing I knew, everything went black. I no longer felt Asriel's presence as I was all alone in the darkness. I felt lost...

I felt like I was asleep for so long. Everything going numb. I thought this was my hell, just endless nothingness.

I thought about all my regrets. How I never said 'I love you' to Toriel and Asgore. How I almost forced Asriel to commit murder. How I got myself and Asgore poisoned. How I got me and Asriel killed. I just wished I could start over.

-hn! Please don't let go! I changed my mind, I don't want to die!"

I stirred from the voice. I felt the strange warmth of determination.

"I'm...trying." Said another voice.

I heard a crack.

"Nononononono! Mother fu- AHHHH"

A series of cries rang out as I suddenly felt energy inside me. I opened my eyes and saw myself in a different flower patch. There were a bunch on human kids on the ground. Seven in total

"W-wh- where am I? Who are you?"

Chapter Text

"...And I guess that's when you guys fell down here." Chara concluded.

When he finished he looked at the group. They had blank expressions on their faces.

"It all makes sense now." John said. "Asgore put the pieces together about what happened with you and was ticked off about the humans taking the lives of both his kids in one night."

"Well wouldn't you be mad at that?" Delilah asked.

"Yeah, but to declare war on humanity just like that." Diego said. "He sounds like such a good guy and now I don't know what he is like. And then Toriel..."

"She definitely didn't agree with Asgore's decree." Jerod said. "Probably ditched him and left to the Ruins..." He looked lost in thought about something.

Caleb looked at Chara and lifted his hat. "You blame yourself for Asriel's death, don't you?"

Chara grimaced. "Why not? After all I almost turned him into a murderer and forced him to do something so taboo as taking a human's Soul to become the ultimate being, to only get forced into a terrifying situation and end up dying. I never even tried to give him a choice or to say I'm sorry for forcing him into that situation. You can't deny I got what I deserved."

"Maybe, but that was in the past. I feel like you became a better person now."

"Huh?" Chara asked perplexed.

"I mean you talk about how much you hate humanity yet you kinda haven't been mean to us. True there was those two times you yelled at my brother but that was for justified reasons. You weren't really hateful to us, more helpful really."

Chara pursed his lips. "Well, considering the last time I got ticked off over humans got me um... Wait, what year is it?" Chara asked, he never thought to bring this question up.

"It's 2017" Caleb said.

"Wow, nearly 20 years." Chara murmured. "Anyway, considering it got me and my best friend killed and got me 20 years alone in darkness, I decided to hold my tongue. And honestly I... kinda like you guys."

Frisk's face lit up as Chara started blushing. "Really?"

"Don't give me that lover-boy! I meant that, I've only met awful humans all my life and the first good people I've met were monsters. Then I met you guys and I thought you would be no different but you surprised me. When you do the wrong thing you regret it and do what you can to resolve it. You have a caring selfless heart. You aren't perfect but now I realize that nobody is, but that doesn't make you bad guys and I guess I wanted to say that I respect you guys and want to-"

"Okay that's actually sweet but hold that thought Chara." Jerod said. "I have a question of my own. We resetted a lot but Frisk should be the only one to remember anything. Why do we remember anything?"

Chara shrugged. "I dunno, I never got anyone to remember the resets back then."

"Unless..." Iris said. The group was surprised that she said anything, she was too busy thinking about something once Chara finished his story. "Unless there is more to Determination that we know. When we fell, you latched onto our Souls that made you be able to become corporeal. What if that made us all become connected by our Souls through you, like a bunch of wires. So when Frisk resets, he pulls our memories with him thanks to you where the present/past us gets them."

The group stared at her.

Delilah scratched her head. "I think I get it. So we can remember, thanks to Chara?"

Iris huffed. "Yeah, sure, lets go with that." She said rolling her eyes.

"So many questions, yet we don't have the time for them." Jerod said. "Let's take a look around the house and see what we can find."

"You go on ahead, I gotta just write something down." Iris said. The group went to where they think the kid's bedroom is, leaving Iris behind with Chara.

"Chara?" Iris asked.

"What?"

"From what I know about ghosts, they are usually around because they have unfinished business. Napstablook and Mettaton I don't think counts as real ghosts, they are probably just a type of monster that looks like a ghost. You on the other hand are a real ghost. So no offense, but why are you still here?"

Chara stroked his chin. "I'm not sure. I just felt like there was something that prevented me from moving on. This feeling like I'm still needed for something."

"Hmm." Iris nodded. She wasn't going to say it but there is something big on her mind and Chara's story just confirmed her suspicions.

'I can't tell them, not yet. It's not him anyway, just something that had his memories. We don't need something like that on our minds right now.'

They went to the bedroom where the group were pulling out these bunch of wrapped boxes.

"What are you doing?" Chara asked.

"We found these presents left here. Along with this note." Caleb read. "To the seven humans that pass this way, know that at least one monster cares about you. From, a friend."

John opened his present marked for him and opened it. The first thing he saw was a 10" long stealth knife. It was black and serrated on one side. It also came with a sheath. He picked it up, it felt like it weighed a couple of ounces, and attached the sheath to the waist of his pants as he picked up the other item. It was a silk ribbon like his own but this one looked new and not faded. It was cyan colored, and it tied into a ring. He wore it on his wrist like a bracelet as he felt it's texture. The feeling soothed him.

Jerod opened his and found a bandana like his but this one looked more for military soldiers. It was camo colored and looked like it was made from very high grade ballistic weave fabric. Just putting it on made him feel tougher. He also found a glove that, like the bandana, looked made for the military. He wished that he could wear it on one hand and his current glove on the other but this was meant for his left hand. He put it on and clenched his fist, feeling stronger and tougher than before.

Delilah opened her box. She gasped softly as she saw a beautiful pink tutu. It looked like the one she has at home. She picked up both this and the ballet slippers that were inside. She already has ballet slippers on but those are old and worn out, while these are new and durable. She went to the nearby closet and slipped both clothing on, completing her ballerina look. She sort of wished she got something more useful, like a bullet proof vest or a sword, but she decided that no matter what happens ahead she will do it in her original style.

Iris opened her box. She saw a pair of glasses like her own but the lenses were not cloudy. Without hesitation, she switched them out. She was surprised that they not only were adjusted to fit her perfectly but the lenses were the same prescription as her other one since she can see clearly through them. What also caught her attention was the book in the box. It was thick and heavy, when she opened it, it showed a bunch of ancient text of monster history, magic instructions, and other assorted subjects pertaining to monster culture. She clutched it to her chest as she felt giddy. When this was over she was going to read all of it.

Diego opened his box. He saw a clean and nicely folded apron. He always wanted to get a new apron since his was dirty and covered in stains. He took it off and put on the new one. He also picked up a steel frying pan from the box. It was clean like the apron and the flame retardant stainless steel looked freshly polished. It was a far better pan than his old burnt pan that looks like it will crack like charcoal. He gripped the handle tight, hoping he won't have to use it to take a life.

Caleb opened his box. He smiled when he saw that there was a real gun inside with a holster. It was a magnum revolver that cowboys used to use way back when, but this didn't look like it was a century old. He checked the chamber and found no bullets. He didn't mind since he has his yellow attack. He tied the holster around his waist and put the gun in it. Looking back into the box he found a cowboy hat as well. Unlike his kiddy hat, this was the real deal made of cow leather that was chocolate brown. He put it on, feeling like a real gunslinger.

Frisk opened his present. He pulled up a baseball cap. The visor was blue while the rest was red. He put it on with the cap twisted to the side. He also picked up a normal wooden baseball bat. How it fit in the box was anyone's guess. It felt more comfortable than the dinky stick of his.

He heard John snort. Frisk looked at him. "What?"

"Dude, you look like Ness!"

Frisk pouted and stuck his tongue out at him. He then noticed another box that was hidden underneath one of the two beds. He went under and pulled it out. Inside was a kitchen knife and a heart shaped locket.

"Those were mine..." Chara said.

Frisk opened the locket and found on one side an inscription that said,'Best Friends Forever'. On the other side was an image of Chara with his monster family. Toriel and Asgore were too big to fit in the picture but he could see Chara and Asriel smiling while holding flowers, they looked so happy. There was a knob on the back and when Frisk twisted it, it played a musical tune of the music box back in Waterfall.

The group heard Chara gasp. They saw him struggling to hold back tears.

"Oh Asriel, you big crybaby..." He said wiping his eyes. "Alright, that's everything, lets move on."

The group felt sad for Chara but moved on like he said. They went to the end of the hall and saw a big mirror for them to look through. They looked at themselves, they were filthy. Besides the new gear they got, their clothes were dirty and torn in someplace. Some of them got bruises and cuts from all the fights they went through this week.

They thought back, it has been about a week hasn't it? It felt like this journey has lasted far longer than that. They've been through a lot, but despite everything...

"It's still us."

The group walked along a narrow pathway that supposedly led to the throne room.

"So you two were caught by a bunch of humans that night right?" Delilah asked Chara.

"Yeah, it was crazy!"

"But how is it that news didn't get out about monsters being real? You can't hide something like that so easily."

"Hold on." Delilah stopped him. They reached a new chamber that led to a pristine hallway. It was yellow and looked like a church with it's mosaic windows and ornate pillars.

They walked through slowly, the light though the windows cast dark shadows over the pillars.

Suddenly, bells started to ring. The group didn't know it but the bells were actually ringing everywhere. All the way to the ruins, monsters stopped in their tracks and heard the bell rings. They knew it meant one thing...

The humans are about to meet the king.

The group then heard a voice.

"so you all finally made it." The voice sounded familiar almost like... no it couldn't be. "the end of your journey is at hand. in a few moments, you will meet the king. together... you will determine the future of this world. that's then... But now isn't the time to stop you."

Huh, the voice suddenly changed at the end.

The figure stepped out of the shadows and-

It wasn't Sans...

"Hey guys." Said the Annoying Dog. "It's so nice to finally greet you all."

Chapter Text

"What, it's you!" Caleb exclaimed.

"Yeah it's me." The Dog said. The group was still standing there with their mouths open. This Dog that followed them from time to time throughout their journey just suddenly came to them and said he could talk. True they already met talking dogs and other weird stuff but this felt out of nowhere from what they expected.

"Since when could you talk?" Iris shouted.

"Hmm." The Dog looked up thinking. "I guess since I was born."

"And you never said anything to us?" John demanded.

"I never spoke to anyone, so don't think it's just you. I just didn't feel like it. By the way, hi I'm Toby." The D- Toby waved his paw at them.

...

"Uh come on guys, this is the part where you ask me questions." Toby sweatdropped.

The group snapped out of their confusion.

"Toby, why are you here?" Frisk asked.

"Um, I wasn't expecting that question first but alright, I'll bite." He joked. "Well I'm here because I wanted to see you guys one last time before you head out."

"That's awfully considerate of you."

"Yeah, Sans was supposed to be the guy here that judged you guys and see if you are a good or bad, yada yada yada. But I got him to step aside and let me be the one here in his place. After all, whatever happens next will effect us all for good or worse. But since I am here, I am obligated to give you the lecture. So, have you heard of EXP?"

John arched an eyebrow. "You mean experience points?"

"No, it stands for execution points." Toby said

"Wait what?! Then what does the 'X' stand for?" Iris said

"...execution."

"So both the 'E' and the 'X' stand for the same word, that's not how acronyms work!"

"Yet the same thing is with experience points, the 'E' and the 'X' are the same word."

"That's because the first three letters already makes the acronym, it's ironic."

"But it's still wrong!"

"So is y-"

"SHUT UP!" The group shouted at Iris and Toby.

Toby blushed. "Heh sorry, got off track. Anyway 'EXP'..." Toby sneered at Iris who grinded her teeth. "it stands for execution points. It's how monsters quantify how much pain a human has inflicted on one of our own. If you kill a monster then your EXP increases until it reaches a high enough point where your LOVE increases."

"LOVE, that's what Flowey told us makes our Souls stronger when we first got here." Frisk said.

Toby frowned. "Well he's not wrong. LOVE stands for Level of Violence." Iris facepalmed. "Each time your love increases you do become stronger, but at a cost. To make yourself stronger you have to sacrifice your humanity, making you more and more bloodthirsty and... well that really doesn't fly by most people."

The group nodded understanding the danger.

"Well we didn't hurt any monsters so our LOVE hasn't gone up."

"Not in this timeline..." Toby mumbled.

"What?"

Chara could've sworn that he saw Toby glance at him for a second. The canine cleared his throat.

"Anyway, its true. You haven't hurt anyone. You aren't a murder, Good Job!"

"So what now?" Caleb asked.

"Now you all go and face the king. You gotta choose to either kill him and pick which one of you will cross the barrier while leaving the rest of you trapped down here with the monsters or you can allow him to take your Souls and let monsters reclaim the surface from humanity."

The group looked at each other, not sure what to do.

"What do you think we should do Toby?" Caleb asked him

Toby shrugged. "It's really not my place to say. All I want is to see my mission get completed."

"Mission?"

Toby frowned, realizing his little slip up. He walked to the side and looked out one of the windows. "I guess I might as well tell you."

He sighed and spoke without looking them in the eye. "I am the monster that helped make the barrier."

The groups eyes widened. "What!"

"Yeah, and before you ask, I'm actually a boss monster that is thousands of years old but that's a secret I have been keeping for a long time. I was around during the war and I helped the mages make the barrier from the other side."

That kind of explains how unusual Toby's abilities are from what they've seen.

"B-but why?" Diego asked. He doesn't want to hate anyone but what Toby just said that he betrayed his entire race was just awful. Maybe there was more to the story...

"Sorry, I'm under oath to not tell you. Seriously, a spell was put on me so that I don't tell you the truth until you find out for yourself. But what I can tell you that besides protecting the artifact, what I did was for the good of monsterkind."

Wait, the Artifact! Frisk pulled said item out. "What does this thing even do?"

"Its to-" Toby immediately shut his mouth with his eyes wide open. He fidgeted in place as he looked at them. "Um, that's kinda hard to explain. You've already seen some of it's properties but there is so much more to it then you can even fathom." Toby gazed at it. "All those secrets and I'm the only one that knows how to start it's main ability."

"Can't you at least show us how to use it?" Delilah asked.

Toby's face went serious as he narrowed his eyes. "I'm not under oath for that but I will not tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because this is bigger than humans or monsters!" Toby barked. The room shook with the intensity of the bark.

The group stepped back from Toby who calmed down and looked at them.

"For thousands of years I have kept my oath to protect it. I have once seen it's main ability before and it's not something to be taken lightly by anyone. I will not let this fall into the wrong hands. Look, I do like you guys, you are all really nice kids. From John's innate selflessness, Jerod's encouragement, Delilah's generosity, Iris's curiosity, Diego's concern for both friends and enemies, Caleb's conscience, and Frisk's Pacifism, you are truly an example of the best of humanity." The group flushed a bit at the Dog's compliments.

Toby frowned. "But that's not enough to make me allow you to have this. I can't let my personal opinion get in the way of worthiness. You just want to use it to beat Asgore and get out of here. Well no, the situation to use it needs to be a lot more dire than the fate of all monsterkind and e- seven humans."

"Well what can we do to be worthy of it?" Jerod asked.

"By answering this question, 'whatever it is you choose to do next, will it benefit humans or monsters? If you all have the same correct answer then you deserve to know how to use it."

The group felt stumped. They were too unsure to know what is the correct thing to do.

"I thought so..." Toby's ears slumped down. "I'm sorry but you are on your own. I won't help you overthrow my king."

Caleb was the first to walk forward and petted Toby's head. "I know you don't mean to hurt us by keeping this from us. After all, you have been looking out for all of us haven't you?"

Toby nodded. "Yeah, ever since I first saw you guys in the ruins I knew I had to give you some help. True you all handled some stuff on your own but there were times where if I didn't help a little then you'd be doomed. I really do want to tell you everything but I can't." Toby backed away. He had some tears. "I wish I didn't get too attached to you guys."

"Toby..." Caleb frowned.

"Look, I wasted enough of your time. Good luck!" He said before he ran off.

The group felt concerned for Toby. There had to be something he was keeping from them.

With nothing left the group continued on.

"Chara..."

Chara paused as he heard the voice. The others went ahead as he listened.

"I did it Chara, everything has finally fallen into place. I just wish you were a part of it. Don't worry, I'll see you soon."

Chapter Text

The group stood before a large doorway. On the side was a sign that said "Throne Room".

"It looks like this is it guys." Chara said. "No turning back after."

John fidgeted in place, too nervous to step through.

He felt Jerod grab his hand. He looked at his reassuring grin.

"Lets do this." Jerod said.

"Together." Frisk said.

Frisk stepped forward and pushed the doors open. The group moved in...

The room looked more like a garden. There were flowers and vines all over the place. And in the center, where the throne was, was the king. His back was turned from the others as he hummed a familiar song.

The group didn't know what to do, do they say something or sneak attack or what?

John nervously cleared his throat.

"Oh? Is someone there?" Said Asgore. His voice sounded deep and jolly. "Just a moment, I have almost finished watering these flowers." The group let him finish and put down the watering can. "Here we are!" He started turning around to face them. "Howdy! How can I..." He immediately backed away in shock as he realized who they were.

Asgore looked the same as on the picture, but his face was full of sadness and stress. It was the face of someone who has suffered years of loneliness and depression.

"Hi your majesty." Delilah said calmly.

"Oh" was Asgore's response. He looked at them with a sad smile "I so badly want to say,'would you like a cup of tea?' But you know how it is."

"You were expecting us?" Iris asked.

"Yes, I take it you are Iris." He looked at the others. "John and his sister Delilah, Jerod, Diego and his brother Caleb, and Frisk. You've all made it so far..." He sighed as he looked out the window. "Nice day today, huh? Birds are singing, flowers are blooming, perfect day for a game of catch."

The group didn't say anything as they continued to stare at him.

"Y-you know why we are here." John said.

Asgore nodded. "When you are ready, come into the next room." he said as he went through the door at the end of the room.

"He's so friendly." Diego looked down. "How are we supposed to fight this man."

"Just because he doesn't want to fight doesn't mean he won't be easy to beat." Jerod said. "Don't let your guard down and attack when you see an opening."

Chara was hovering over a part of the garden. He was staring at the ground.

Frisk stood next to Chara. "Was this where you..." He nodded. Iris stared grimly at a empty patch in the garden.

Diego pointed to the other end of the room. There was a throne covered up by a white sheet in the corner.

"Toriel." He mumbled. "How could you leave him like this..."

They went into the next room where Asgore was standing.

"How tense, just think of it like a trip to the dentist." Asgore said.

"More like a trip to death row." John muttered quietly.

Asgore stopped at an old archway. "Are you ready? If you are not, I understand. I am not ready either." He said as he entered into the final room.

The group followed behind and was awestruck. The room was rocky like a cave that expanded for over 50 feet. And at the end was the barrier. It was a giant flat prism of energy. They couldn't see anything on the other side.

"This is the barrier?" Caleb said.

Asgore nodded.

"If...If by any chance you have any unfinished business, please do what you must." Said Asgore not looking at them.

"Is now a good time to have a bathroom break?" John asked. The group didn't look at him but he knew the answer was no.

John clutched his knife. Jerod clenched his gloved fist. Delilah straightened out her tutu. Iris held onto her book. Diego tightened his grip on his pan. Caleb turned off the safety on his gun. Frisk grasped his bat with both hands. They all felt their souls come out as Asgore turned towards them with a solemn expression.

"We are ready King Asgore." They all said in unison.

"I see. This is it, then..."

Play【UNDERTALE】Bergentrückung＆Asgore - orchestra arrange - by Niiya新谷

(Seriously, It's amazing!)

"Ready?"

They all huddled up as they got ready to fight.

"Humans, it was nice to meet all of you." He said as he looked down. "GOODBYE." He said as he summoned a giant fiery red trident. He slammed it on the ground as all of the group felt a shock wave come out of it. They noticed behind them, the door back to the throne room has shut.

They can't run now...

Jerod was the first to attack. He dashed forward at super speed and punched at Asgore, small shockwaves from each impact. Asgore didn't topple over as he punched at Jerod. He was knocked back hard and would've crashed into the wall but John caught him with his telekinesis and put him down.

"Thanks dude!" Jerod said, his shoulder ached.

"No problem man, just make sure to k- GET DOWN!"

They both ducked as a powerful fireball came at them. They looked at Asgore. He put his palm out and another set of fireballs came out.

Both Jerod and John clutched each other as the fire came. Suddenly Diego and Iris stood in the path. Diego snuffed the flame out and Iris absorbed the other fireball and fired it back at him. Asgore staggered a bit from his own blast. Asgore thew his hands out and embers surrounded the area. They started moving towards the group.

The others fanatically moved out of the way as Caleb flew upwards. He shot at Asgore but the flames was obscuring his vision. He got a few hits in before the flames came at him forcing him to go back down. Asgore ran and loomed over them. His eyes flashed blue and orange as he swung his trident at them. John was the only one who reacted accordingly as everyone moved back. Diego put up a shield around him which immediately shattered, but it protected him nonetheless.

They both cried out as they charged at Asgore. They both swung their weapons at him. But it hardly did anything before Asgore punched John in the stomach and swung his trident at Diego. Diego clashed his pan against Asgore's trident. He struggled against it as Asgore pushed against him. He was about to give in when he felt Frisk pull him back as Delilah and Diego charged at Asgore together and jabbed at him with kicks and punches. Asgore grabbed both Delilah's leg and Jerod's arm as they were about to attack again. He squeezed hard as Delilah and Jerod cried out at their broken limb. They clawed at him to make him let go but he didn't.

They heard a cry as cyan energy hit Asgore in the back. John was glaring at him with his eyes glowing cyan.

"Let them go!" He shouted as he used his telekinesis on Asgore's hands. He used all his power to force him to release his little sister and boyfriend. Iris weakly used her tendrils to pull her injured friends back. John roared as he jumped on Asgore's back and stabbed at his back repeatedly.

"W-Wow... I've never seen John this brave before." Jerod said clutching his broken limb.

"He gets really protective of those he cares about. He just recklessly goes in there." Delilah said balancing on her one good foot.

Asgore had enough of John as he reached behind him and pulled him by the arm. John yelped as he was slammed into the ground, making a crater in his shape. Asgore then tossed John over to the others where he crashed into Jerod. His friend grunted as he caught him.

"You alright John?!" Jerod asked. His friend looked pretty beaten up.

John coughed. "It's gonna take a bunch of boo boo kisses to fix me up." He spit out a tooth. "Great, now I'm not gonna be able to eat steak anymore..."

"Everyone, eat up!" Diego said as he pulled out a plastic container. He opened it and it was a pie. Not just any pie but...

"Toriel's Butterscotch Cinnamon pie!" Frisk exclaimed.

"Where'd you get that?" Chara asked.

"Before we left the ruins I quickly grabbed it for us to use. I wanted to use it as a last resort and it looks like this is it." Diego said as the others quickly ate it. They felt their health and strength return. John even felt his tooth grow back, guess that counts as healing bones.

Asgore sniffed the familiar scent and he gasped silently. "Tori..."

Chara looked at Asgore eyes wide. "Guys, his attack and defense went down! Now's your chance."

"Alright guys, this is it. One last attack to finish him!"

Together they all rushed at him for a final beat down. Asgore tried to make another attack but was caught off guard.

John did a powerful backslash at Asgore, followed up by Jerod giving a hard punch to his chest, Delilah came in and did a upward side kick knocking his trident out of his hand, Iris slammed her book down onto his head, Diego bashed into him with his pan, Caleb pistol whipped the side of Asgore's face. Asgore stumbled back from the constant beatings as Frisk pulled his bat back and swung hard. Asgore finally collapsed on his knees, defeated.

The group stood over Asgore. The king of monsters, defeated by 7 human children.

"Ah... so this is how it is." Asgore said.

"Sorry Asgore, we didn't want to do this..." Diego began.

"But you left us no choice." Caleb finished.

Asgore chuckled. "You all have strong hearts, like my son."

"Asriel?" Frisk asked.

Asgore shook his head. "No, Chara..."

Chara frowned.

"The human child I adopted many years ago. He and my son became a symbol of hope, that we could coexist on the surface in peace. But that was all changed when I learned that the humans have killed them. We were all devastated. In my anger I declared war on humanity. I told the kingdom that we would take the Soul of any human that falls down here, be it man, woman, or child! I didn't think, I just acted before thinking it through. To be honest... I didn't want to kill any humans... I didn't want to wage war... I just wanted my children back. But, the damage was done, my wife left in disgust, the people's hopes have returned. I couldn't go back on my word."

"You just wanted to do what was best for you're people." Iris said. "Even if it cost you your happiness."

Asgore nodded. "Humans... this has gone off long enough. Please, take my Soul and leave this place."

The group looked at each other sadly. What do they do, take the king's Soul and let only one of them leave or stay here and never get to see their family again? Which side is the better ending?

...

"No." The group said in unison. "We won't kill you."

Asgore gasped as he looked at them awestruck.

"After everything, after all the trials and hardships, you refuse to kill me and go home?"

Diego started healing Asgore. "To leave would mean to take a life. No one here wants that. There has to be another way, one without sacrifice, and if there isn't then we will be happy to stay down here."

"Well, we won't see our families again but I don't think they would want to have their child return as a murderer." John said.

Asgore smiled as he stood up over them. "Humans, for as long as you remain down here, I will do my best to take care of you. We could be like... a family."

Suddenly Diego heard something behind them. He turned around to see a fast moving projectile zip past them and towards the kind.

"Asgore look out!" He called out but it was too late as it impacted him.

Chapter Text

Asgore staggered a bit from the impact of the fireball. The group gasped as Asgore collapsed on the ground. He was still alive, good thing that Diego healed him.

"Oh god, Asgore! Are you okay?" Diego cried out.

"What a terrible creature, to harm poor innocent youths." The group looked at the now open exit back to the throne room and saw...

"TORIEL?!" Everyone exclaimed. They never thought they would see her again.

"G- Goat mom!" Diego said.

The goat woman smiled at the group. "Greeting children. It's so great to see you all again."

"What are you doing here?" Diego asked, honestly happy to see her again.

"I am here to save you. I got your message young Diego. At first I wanted you to do your journey on your own but I knew that even if you survived, you would be faced with a terrible choice. To escape, you must take a life, Asgore's life. I will not allow anyone to die today! So this fight is over."

Diego frowned, she didn't understand the situation. "Bu-"

"Tori, you came back!" Asgore said getting back on his feet. He was so happy to see his wife after so many years, even though he just got attacked by her.

Toriel scowled at him. "Do not 'Tori' me Dreemurr, you pathetic welp!" She scolded, despite Asgore's authority and power, said king was cowering before his former partner.

"He-"

"If I hadn't intervened and stopped you, then these children would be dead by your hands!

"Wa-"

"You are truly a cowardly creature, meekly hiding in your castle, declaring war against humanity and never doing anything about it! You raised a human yet you would wish their species destroyed! You put everyone in despair just because you suf-"

"SHUT UP!"

Everyone turned to Diego who's eyes were glowing green against his angry face. He stomped towards Toriel and looked up right into her awestruck face. "Don't you DARE talk trash about this... wonderful and kindhearted man! First of all we weren't fighting anymore, we worked it out and he was gonna let us live peacefully down here. He may have made mistakes but HE had no other choice in the matter, and he isn't the only one in the wrong right now! It's you!"

Toriel's eyes widened.

"I love my friends and my brother, but if we all died then I would understand the cause. Monsters deserve to see the surface, even if humans and monsters are at war. But YOU, you would force all monsters to remained trapped under here and at the same time try to keep us down here, away from our true home on the surface."

"Th...That still doesn't make what Asgore did okay!" Toriel shouted in defense.

Diego narrowed his eyes. "Did you ever stop to think that you're part of the problem!"

"Dude, this isn't your concern..." John said. He and the others didn't feel like getting involved in the two monster's relationship.

"No it is, at least I'm the only one here with the guts to say what needs to be said." Diego growled. He looked back at Toriel.

"What did you do to help the Underground? Your husband was full of despair and grief and you just left, abandoned the kingdom and your husband. You could have stayed and worked something out with him, took responsibility and find an alternative. As the queen you could have shared the heavy burden of what Asgore declared but no... you ran. You ran to the ruins like a coward in a vain attempt to imprison any humans that you come across. You think kidnapping is any better than murder, they are both the wrong thing! You think you are the only one who suffered for your children's death but Asgore has suffered far more than you. He couldn't forget even for a second that his kids are dead due to his duty. Why weren't you there, how can I possibly forgive you if you can't even see what you did!?"

That was enough for Diego as he ran to Asgore and wrapped his arms around his waist and started crying. Asgore looked to the crying child and to Toriel who was speechless.

"Tori I..."

"No Asgore, the child is right..." Toriel's head hung low. "I am a cruel person to not see the error of my ways. I was callous to you when you were hurting, I didn't even say goodbye. I didn't think that maybe I could have actually done something, if anyone could talk you down it would have been me. My pathetic attempt at protecting the humans failed anyway. We are both guilty of crimes. I... I'm sorry."

Asgore nodded. "As am I. But if it wasn't for the humans then my crime would have been far worse."

"If you did kill them then I'm to blame as well."

"Tori, I know that our relationship is strained from all these years but... do you think we could at least be friends again?"

Toriel walked up and cupped Asgore's cheek. "Gorey, I think we could be more..."

Asgore smiled and a tear of happiness fell down his cheek.

There was a muffled chuckle. They both realized that Diego was still in between them.

"You two... are really so sappy." He chuckled, his tears faded. "But can you save your make up kiss when I am not stuck between you?"

Toriel smiled and petted Diego's hair. "You truly are a kind child."

"Really? Cause that's not what it looked like a minute ago when I was screaming at you."

"That's because you care so much." Diego grinned.

"For the record, I was gonna jump in and help out Diego." Caleb said.

"So I take it you are the queen again?" Delilah said.

Toriel nodded. "And my first decree being the queen once more, I declare the hunt for human Souls over."

Asgore put a hand on her shoulder. "I support her order no more needless killing."

John sighed in relief. "Finally, no more surprises for the day please."

"Nyahh! what was all the racket I heard?"

Everyone looked around in confusion as they saw Undyne burst into the room, ready for a fight. "Listen up everyone! NOBODY IS GONNA FIGHT ANYONE!"

"Undyne!?" Jerod said.

"Yo, is everyone alright?" Mk said, peeking out from behind Undyne. "Please no fighting dudes."

"MK!"

The two looked around in confusion. "What's going on?"

"Long story short, we beat and spared asgore, his wife came back and is queen again, and we aren't fighting anymore." Jerod said.

"Oh." Undyne and Mk said disappointed.

"Greetings, you must be the human's friends. It's so nice to see yo-" Toriel trailed off as she noticed MK. "Oh my gosh, you are the most adorable child I've ever seen!" Toriel squealed as she pinched MK's cheeks.

"Ah, someone help me!" MK cried out. Everyone chuckled. Jerod pulled MK back and gave him a pat on the back.

"Why are you here anyway?" Jerod asked.

"Well, we were all debating whether or not we should save you dudes but when we heard the bells I made up my mind. I snuck away from home and ran into Undyne who had the same idea."

"Yeah, but don't expect me to save you from your mom's wrath this time." Undyne chuckled. MK pouted.

"That's twice in a week that you went against the kingdom, wow you sure are a rebel MK." Jerod teased.

"Well, it looks like the rest of the Underground are rebels, look over there punk." Undyne pointed.

The group watched as almost every monster they met came into the room to save them. It was surprising how big the room with the barrier actually is but it looked like it was big enough.

"hoi tem AM here. CAn eVeryOn pLAy NOice P! " Temmie begged, walking in with Toby.

"Uh, this isn't what I expected." Toby said taking in the scene.

"Toby?! I thought you weren't going to get involved?" Caleb said.

"I wasn't, I was just gonna see what would happen. So you guys chose the right answer it seems?"

"Yeah, this will benifit both humans and monsters if we stay down here. Maybe in time we will find another way to get through."

Toby smirked. "That day may be sooner than you think..."

"human temmIE MIsed U" Temmie said, tackling Caleb and nuzzling into him. Caleb giggled and pet her.

"Darlings, you did it! You sure knocked the king's socks off!" Said Mettaton strutting in with Muffet. He smiled at Delilah.

"Ahuhuhu, looks like my number one customer is alright. That's a relief." Muffet giggled.

"Mettaton, how are you still in your EX form?" Delilah asked.

"I got my wonderful associates to plug me to a temporary battery until the power system is fully completed, isn't that right Burgerpants?"

"I'm a cashier, not a mechanic!" Burgerpants said.

"Your two new associates don't seem to mind, right girls?"

"We get paid like 2g an hour!"

"That's one more g we normally get paid!" Bratty and Catty said. Burgerpants grumbled to himself.

"Me and the rest of the spiders are happy to see you in one piece. If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have been able to change my business style and make enough money to get the spiders from the ruins over here." Muffet said, hugging Delilah.

"And because of you I managed to get a crew to join me in my career." Mettaton gestured to Shyren and Napstablook. Delilah smiled, it looks like made up with his cousin.

"Ah, welcome back your majesty." Gaster said to Toriel. The former Royal scientist came in with the current Royal scientist. "It's great to see you again."

"Y-you remember him right, y-your majesty?" Alphys asked.

"Of course, Dr. W.D. Gaster right? What happened to you?" Toriel asked.

"It's a long story." Gaster replied, not feeling up to recapping the story right now.

"Hi doctor!" Iris said.

"NYEH HEH HEH! NEVER FEAR, PAPYRUS IS HERE!" Papyrus announced as he came into the room. "I HAVE COME TO KEEP THE PEACE! SO NOBODY IS GOING TO FIGHT OR ELSE... I WILL ASK UNDYNE FOR HELP!" He proclaimed.

"uh bro, i think this baaaad timing." Sans said shuffling in behind his brother.

"That voice." Toriel said as she approached Sans. "I think we met, have we?"

"hey, i recognize that voice to, so your the one behind that door?"

"Yes it was me the whole time. So I take it that this is your brother Papyrus?"

"yep and the names sans."

"SANS, WHY ARE YOU TALKING TO ASGORE'S CLONE? AND WHY DID HIS CLONE SHAVE HIMSELF?"

"bro, that's the queen."

"WHAT REALLY! WOWIE, I'M MEETING THE QUEEN AND SHE KNOWS MY NAME!" He clasped his hands to his face and went starry eyed. "THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

John smirked. "Hey Papyrus, why did the skeleton burp?"

"HMM, BECAUSE HE DRANK TOO MUCH COLA?" Papyrus tried to answer.

"No because he didn't have the guts to fart." He replied. Everyone except John, Jerod, Sans, and Toriel groaned at the pun. Toriel and Jerod giggled as Sans lifted John up and twirled him around.

"haha, atta boy! you made me so proud!" Sans cheered.

"I CHANGED MY MIND, THIS IS THE WORST DAY OF MY LIFE." Papyrus wailed.

"Aw, Papyrus. You can't stay mad at me right?" John teased. Papyrus smiled brightly and hugged John and twirled him as well.

"YOUR RIGHT FAT HUMAN I CAN'T STAY MAD AT YOU!"

John pouted. "Hey, I'm not fat, just big boned." Papyrus immediately dropped him.

All the monsters gathered round and looked at the humans. Then Toriel spoke.

"Children, I am honestly surprised by just how much of an impact you made on the residence of the Underground. Who would have guessed that you would make friends out of those who tried to kill you."

"HEY I NEVER TRIED TO KILL THEM!" Papyrus exclaimed. "I ONLY TRIED TO INCAPACITATE THEM FOR CAPTURE!"

"ehh, i don't have to admit anything." Sans replied.

"I-I couldn't kill them even if I tried." Alphys said.

"Yo, I agree with you on that!" MK said.

"tEm am no COld bLOODeD kILlER." Temmie replied.

Toby and Gaster casually shrugged.

"Ahem, as I was saying." Toriel continued. "You have touched the lives of so many of us. And even if this barrier doesn't work then at least, with all the friends you made, I think you will be happy staying down here."

"Why I would even be willing to share the spotlight with you for your prolonged stay." Mettaton said.

"Appreciate the thought Toriel but we aren't planning on giving up." Diego said.

"We haven't come this far for our plan to fail." Frisk said.

"Well, golly. Hate to disappoint."

The group froze when they heard that voice. "Oh no."

The ground rumbled as giant vines popped out and coiled around all of the monsters. "Here's Flowey!" The flower cackled as he came out of the ground.