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Chapter Text

Max sat up and rubbed his head. He was sitting on a patch of golden flowers. He'd just fallen down for what felt like minutes. Was he dead? Was this heaven? He turned a corner and saw a giant flower and- did it have a fucking face ?

"Howdy!" said Flowey. "I'm Flowey! Flowey the flower!"

"What the fuck!? " said Max. "What the fuck are you?"

"Flowey the flower," said a voice. "A being with no SOUL, neither monster nor human. He greets you welcomingly."

"What the fuck, disembodied voice?" asked Max "What do you mean this thing doesn't have a soul? What are you ?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Flowey.

"You asked the voice about itself," said the voice. "It refuses to answer."

"Wait, you can't hear it?" Max asked Flowey.

"No?" said Flowey. "Are you sure you didn't hit your head on the way down?" 

"No, I'm not sure," said Max. "I'm talking to a fucking flower named Flowey ."

"Well, anyway, I should show you how things work around here!" said Flowey "Down here, LoVE is shared through little white 'friendliness pellets.' Here! I'll share a few!"

"Dude, I don't want your fucking 'friendliness pellets,' that's creepy as hell," said Max.

Flowey, apparently not listening, conjured little white… things, and hurled them at Max. He avoided them all, but then a fireball came hurling towards them. It hit Flowey square in the face. Max pointed and laughed.

"My child," said a bell-like voice. "That creature may be a miserable, cruel thing, but we do not laugh at others' pain, even if they have wounded us."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. First, I am not your fucking child, I don't even know your name . Second, I'm not your child, you can't tell me what to do."

"Language!" said the weird old goat lady. "But you are correct, I should have introduced myself. I am Toriel, guardian of the ruins. I come here every day, looking for children who have fallen down."

"What? That's fucking creepy. You come here looking for children? What do you think, disembodied voice?" Max asked.

"Toriel. Knows what's best for you."

Max rolled his eyes. "So you're telling me she doesn't kidnap children and keep them in her goat basement."

"Despite everything, you have a feeling you can trust her."

"I have no such feeling! Don't just blatantly lie to get me to go with this lady!"

"My child, who are you speaking to?" Toriel asked.

"It won't tell me. It's just a voice that says that I should trust the weird goat lady that looks for children every day."

"My child, are you quite alright? Let me heal your wounds. You must be quite shaken from your fall," Toriel said. She knelt to get on Max's level and held her arms open.

Max pointed at her, and yelled "That is not my mom!" He sprinted past her, only to be met with a closed door, some stones on the ground, and a sign. "You've gotta be fucking kidding me," Max said.

Toriel had stood up and followed him into the room. "Child, I know you're scared, but the underground is a dangerous place! If you go off on your own, you're likely to get hurt or-" she cut herself off.

"My name is Max. Not Child, or Little One, or My Child, or whatever bullshit you want to use. It's Max."

"Chil- Max," said Toriel, "please, I know I am not your mother, but the underground is no place for a human to be all alone. Let me guide you through the catacombs."

" Catacombs? " asked Max. "Fucking catacombs? There are bodies here?"

"Well-" said Toriel. "Would tunnels be the preferable word?"

"Not if there are fucking bodies!"

"Well, although there is centuries of monster dust built up here, I suppose there is only one human body buried here."

"Oh great," said Max. "Only one dead body. We better not be walking towards it."

Toriel smiled. "If you will not let me assist you on the puzzle, we may not be able to walk anywhere. But no, their body is buried under where you first fell."

"I landed on a fucking body?"

"I mean, it's buried," said Toriel. "But yes, I suppose so."

"Great," said Max. "So now I'm like, mega haunted or something. Fine. It's not like I can climb solid stone, so if you want to unlock the door, go for it, I'll follow the strange creepy lady through her weird puzzle door."

"Thank you for trusting me, my ch- Max." Toriel pressed the outside buttons, ignoring the ones in the middle. Max stopped for a moment to read the sign. It'd be just the thing if he ignored it and it said "Warning! Don't follow weird goat!"

As he approached the sign, the voice piped up. "Brave ones, foolish ones, both walk not the middle road."

"I can fucking read!" said Max.

"You realize the glyphs on the sign are different than writing on the surface," said the voice.

"Can you stop referring to me like that? You know you can say 'the writing is different, dumbass,' right?"

"You get the feeling that the voice is trying to distance themself from the situation."

"Why would I get that feeling?" Max asked. Wait- no he wouldn't use that weird form of speech that it did. "I mean- why are you distancing yourself?"

The voice was quiet for a moment, but eventually, it softly said "seven humans have fallen into the underground before you. Seven humans have died in the underground before you."

"Oh," said Max. "Are you trying to not get too attached to me?"

"You get the feeling your assumption was correct," said the voice.

"Well for once you're actually right about how I feel," Max said. "I, uh, don't know how to feel about the rest of that."

Toriel poked her head through the door. "I'm not trying to rush you, but are you coming, Max?"

"Yeah, yeah, I don't really have a choice here," said Max.

They made their way through the puzzles. Max thought that Toriel was an overbearing bitch, but with the amount of traps that involved spikes, it was just the tiniest bit reassuring- was he really getting lured in by this thing's tricks? Well, if it wanted to eat him, it would've already. Probably.

"I was going to have you walk down this corridor by yourself to test your independence, but you seem plenty independent, Max," Toriel said. She patted his head. Max swatted her hand away, but he had to admit her fur was soft.

She simply smiled and knelt next to him. "I have to go for a while, and you will have to wait here. But! Do not dispair, for I will give you a cell phone!" She handed him a small phone.

"What is this, a fucking Nokia?" Max asked. "This thing's ancient. Besides, I already have the one I stole from David forever ago."

"Oh," said Toriel. "Well in that case, simply allow me to add my contact information so that if anything were to occur here, you could let me know." 

"Nope." said Max.

"What?" asked Toriel.

"You can give it to me, but I am never using it. If you make me give you David's phone or whatever I'm just gonna block your number."

"Max, what if you get into trouble? I won't be able to protect you."

"I'll get myself out of it."

"Are you sure you can-"

"YES!" Max yelled back. " Fuck , I've taken care of myself this long, go ahead, do what you want. I'm going to do my own thing."

Toriel knelt down. "I won't abandon you, my child. I know you're scared, but-"

"Why do you care so much?" said Max. "Don't you have anything better to do?"

"Every time a human comes into the ruins, they meet the same fate," said Toriel. "They come. They leave. They die. I am just trying to protect you, do you understand? If you were to leave, they- Asgore would kill you. I am trying to keep you from that fate. That is why I care."

"Who's Asgore?" Max asked.

Toriel went silent.

"Hey! Weird voice! Who's Asgore?"

"Asgore Dreemur. King of all monsters," said the voice. "Toriel is looking at you strangely."

"Yeah, because you keep talking in riddles and I have to yell at apparently nothing to get any information!"

"You begin to wonder if the voice can hear your thoughts," it said.

Oh great, you only tell me after I make myself look like a complete idiot in front of her? Not like she needs another excuse to baby me, thought Max.

"In any case." Toriel began. "We must make our way home now. Perhaps you are not ready to be left on your own quite yet."

She said the kids before me all left the ruins. How did they do that? Max thought. Out loud, he said "I told you I'm fine by myself." Toriel, apparently not listening, pulled him through the rest of the ruins.

"You remember that the words after were: 'they die,'" said the voice. After a pause, they continued. "There is a door in Toriel's basement. It is a one-way exit to the rest of the Underground."

In the basement ? Max thought. That's fucking creepy . I mean I guess it's better than bodies but shit.

"Toriel seems very determined to keep you here."

"Ah!" Max yelped. "I forgot you were there!"

"I'm right here, dear. Were you startled by something?" Toriel asked. "I know many things in the underground may be foreign to you, but I am happy to teach you. This may be a surprise, but I have always wanted to be a teacher!"

"Fucking great," said Max. Why do I always get stuck with the peachy-keen "everything's great!" fuckos? I mean David's alright now but no one is this fucking nice and gentle. She's up to something.

"Do you want something from the spider bakesale?" Toriel asked. 

A fucking spider bake sale? What the fuck is that? "Not if there are any fucking spiders involved in the process."

"Max! Be nice to the spiders!" Toriel scolded.

"Why?" Max asked.

"They worked long and hard on their goods. Besides, it's never a good idea to get on their bad side. Trust me," Toriel said.

"Did you mother one to death or something?" Max asked.

Toriel glared at him. "No. However, my– someone I used to–" she took a breath. "I've heard that trying to tax them is a nightmare if you don't play your cards right."

"Are you the FBI?"

"What?"

"They do tax stuff, right? Ugh, I forget who is mad at Mr. Campbell for what, nevermind."

"No, I don't, I mean, I'm not any sort of official," said Toriel. "I am simply a silly old lady who cares too much."

"Fucking right about that," said Max. I wonder why she's so hard on herself. And why she's so defensive about not being an official. Is she a fucking cop? Is being human illegal? Am I going to be arrested? A perfect ending to this fucking day.

"You realize Toriel has no reason to arrest you. You get the feeling you are safe with her." 

I just wanna fucking get out of here.

"Toriel is quite strong," said the voice. "It will be difficult to convince her."

You're the ghost of one of the dead kids, right? How did you get out? 

"What?" The voice sounded caught off-gaurd. "I me- You think you may have thought unclearly."

Listen. We're in creepy fucking catacombs where kids died. I fell on a body and now I'm hearing a weird echoey voice that no one else can hear? You're a ghost. Ugh. You're not going to listen? Fucking- you're the one person here who knows what I'm dealing with and you refuse to be helpful? I will fucking kill you.

The voice simply laughed.

Oh. Yeah. Ghost. Is there anything I can do to make you talk to me like a normal fucking person instead of this narration shit?

"...Toriel may have some chocolate in her fridge."

Can you even eat chocolate? I didn't think ghosts could eat.

"You can eat chocolate."

If I eat the chocolate in Toriel's fridge, you'll talk to me like a normal fucking person? None of this narration bullshit? What? That doesn't fucking make sense? Is the chocolate poisoned and you're trying to kill me?

"You feel like you're an idiot. The thing you're addressing can hear your thoughts. It has access to your senses as well."

Well sorry I don't know how ghosts work , Max thought. Yeesh. Ugh, I don't know why I'm trusting you more than the goat lady. Wait are we stopping?

"Here we are, my child. It is not much, but it is cozy enough," said Toriel.

"Where the hell did you get those bags?" Max asked. What the fuck is in there? Are those snails?

Toriel laughed. "I thought it would be hard to surprise you since you were with me, but since you were in your own little world, this worked out wonderfully!"

"Surprise me with what?" Max asked.

"Oh! I cannot believe I nearly forgot to ask, you do not have any allergies, do you?" Toriel asked.

"I'm not eating your food," said Max. "I know that's a fucking trick."

"I cannot change your mind, willful one, but I will make it for you in any case. When you get hungry you are free to eat. Here, let me show you to your room." Toriel ushered Max into a dimly lit yellow room. It was clearly a child's room, with scribbles on the walls and shoes in a bin. In lots of sizes. Creepy . I'm really getting a bad feeling about her , thought Max.

"Ok cool, this is my room," said Max. "I'm not really tired at the moment though. I'm gonna look at the rest of the house."

"Wonderful!" said Toriel. "If you require my assistance, I will be reading in the living room. I believe you would not like me standing over you."

Fucking right about that. "Cool. Read your old lady books." Where's the kitchen? Or is the fridge not in the kitchen here?

"Toriel's kitchen is just past the living room." said the voice.

I think that's the clearest thing you've said to me thus far. You really want that chocolate, huh?

"You have the urge to just go and get it."

Fuck, fine fine. I'm not gonna try to pull any shit .

"You get the feeling things would not turn out well for you if you did."

Max went in the same direction Toriel left in. The living room was cozy. The walls were purple. Toriel sat next to the fireplace, across from the bookshelf. Max ignored it all and marched to the doorway behind Toriel.

Thank fucking God . Max ignored the stovetop and trashcan and made a beeline for the fridge. He flung it open and grabbed a chocolate bar.

"You break off a peice of chocolate and put it into your mouth. It is smooth and creamy. You've never tasted something so good in your life."

"It's just fucking chocolate," Max said.

"Yeah, well I haven't tasted 'fucking chocolate' since I was alive. So forgive me for enjoying it."

Wow, you really did drop the whole narration deal.  

"A deal's a deal. My name's Chara, there's a 99.9% chance you're going to die here, and I'm just here for the ride."

Wow that's a fucking change

"Yeah, well if you are going to think directly to me, there's not much of a chance of me effectively distancing myself from the situation. What's the year?"

It's 2021. Accursed year.

"Wow. It's been like 800 years since the last kid fell. What's changed on the surface?"

You want me to give you the last eight hundred fucking years of history? Now? I'm ten, I don't fucking know everything.

"You should stop standing in the kitchen and go to your room. Mom's going to be suspicious."

Mom?

"Toriel. My apologies for not explaining, but I will refer to her as mom from here on out."

Max made his way to his room, but on the way back, he saw the stairs.

"Mom will catch you if you try and go now. And she'll keep a closer eye on you in the future. And if you go through at all, your chance of a premature death will increase by quite a lot."

So when can I go?

"Wait until mom is cooking dinner. You can sneak out while she is in the kitchen. Trust me, she has ears like a bat, you need the highest odds you can get."

Fine, fine. I'll fucking wait in my room .

"Oh, that's interesting."

What?

"I'm going to leave you for now. I think another matter requires my attention."

Chapter Text

A redheaded man stood on a bed of yellow flowers, rubbing his head. An adult. Chara had nearly forgotten what adult humans looked like. He had a red soul, like Chara had once had. They hoped he was responsible enough to be trusted with the timeline. Eh, even if he wasn't, it didn't much matter at this point.

"Max!" he called. Oh great. He's here looking for the other one. Didn't he know people came here when they wanted to disappear? Someone with that stupid smile on his face clearly didn't belong in the underground.

He walked forward through the room where Flowey had been and reached the puzzle room. He leaned down to look at the sign next to the door.

Chara rolled their eyes, but they might as well read it for him. "Brave ones, foolish ones, both walk not the middle road."

"What did you say?" asked David. "I mean- how silly of me not to introduce myself! I didn't expect to meet anyone here! I'm David! I'm looking for a boy named Max. He got lost in this area not long ago. I'll get out of your hair as soon as I can! Uh- where are you?"

Chara wasn't going to answer that, or offer any more help with the puzzle. Normally they'd stay and watch, read signs, translate for froggets, and whatever else the human couldn't do that they were willing to help with. 

However, there'd never been more than one human at a time in the Underground, and despite not having a pysical body, they couldn't be in more than one place at once. Max would be far more interesting for the next while. He had probably given Toriel the slip by now, and they'd always had a soft spot for Snowden. Plus watching Max interact with anyone was bound to be hilarious. Plus he might run into the royal guard and they needed to- gosh, had they gotten that attached to him already? Ugh it would really hurt when he died. Better go postpone that.

Chara popped up beside Max, not that he could see them. They were right outside the exit to the ruins. "Nice job."

Max nearly jumped out of his skin. Where the fuck did you go?

"None of your business," said Chara. "I don't exist to just hover around you."

You don't? Wait, I thought you were giving me more information now, thought Max. 

"Nah, I just said I'd cut out the narration. Why'd you stop walking?" Chara asked.

"Because you nearly scared me out of my skin!" Max yelled.

"Yeah. It was funny." Chara smiled.

Max rolled his eyes and walked forward.

"It was!-" Chara dashed forwards, and stopped short when they saw that flower dead ahead of Max "Uh-oh."

What the hell is up now? You better not be messing with me again , Max thought. I wouldn't be surprised if you just went quiet for a bit to scare me.

"The flower's back," said Chara. They knew that he couldn't control his thoughts the same way they could control speech, so they'd ignore most of what he thought unless they thought it was directed at them. Or it was funny.

Flowey popped up. "Well, well well, you got past without even fighting. I bet you feel real clever. You didn't kill anyone this time!"

"Listen shitface, I got out of there. I wasn't exactly congratulating myself on that. Honestly killing someone didn't even cross my mind, what the fuck is wrong with you?" Max asked

"I'm not-" Flowey stammered. "You're going to kill eventually. In this world, it's kill or be killed."

"Ok," said Max. "Can I leave now? Is that all you wanted to tell me?" Why the fuck does he want me to kill someone? he thought.

Flowey paused. "I'll be watching you."

Max took that as his cue to walk past into the snow. Fuck it's cold. What's up with that guy?

"I can't see his soul, so I presume he doesn't have one," Chara answered. "Other than that? Beats me, I've never seen him before in my life. He does seem awfully familiar- but no, I've never met him. Or most of these monsters, though I can offer some insight since the general types of monster have stayed more or less the same."

You can see souls? What the fuck? Max was barely able to stop himself from speaking out loud.

"Oh yeah, yours is purple," Chara answered.

What's yours? Max asked.

"Don't have one."

What?

"I gave it away," Chara smiled. They were not going to tell him what had happened, but they could tell him the amusing parts of the truth.

What?

"I gave it away!" Chara couldn't stop themself from being at least a bit defensive. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."

How the fuck did that seem like a good idea?

"Are you just going to stand there in the snow?" Chara asked. "I have other things to do, you know."

Fine.

"Oh, there's a security camera in the bushes," said Chara. "Thought you might want to know."

"Why do I care?" Max said. It's not like I'm doing anything illegal.

"Your existance is a crime," Chara said.

What?

"I was going to wait until you figured it out, but yes, my dad declared a war on all humans after I did an oopsie." Chara brushed through the trees. Even though they'd been awakened six times at this point, passing through the branches without issue was still quite novel.

An "oopsie?" A fucking "oopsie?"

"A big oopsie that may have killed my brother and I?" Chara "clarified", "Anyway, my dad hates your guts, which is not great for you, considering he is the king."

Fuck . "Great. Anything I can do about the security camera?"

"Not that I know of. Also stop talking to yourself."

Fuck. I'm not used to carrying a conversation without saying anything. Oh I should probably walk away from the door, not just stand here. Max started walking.

"I am the one carrying this conversation," said Chara. "Also, what is that word you keep using? It must have been coined after I was around, for I do not recognize it."

What word? Fuck, what word are they talking about?

"That one! 'fuck.' I do not understand its meaning."

How the fuck do you explain 'fuck?' I'll just tell them-

"Ey! I can hear your thoughts. Don't 'tell me' anything except the truth. Wow, that's a big stick. I don't think you could break it by standing on it."

Thank fucking God we're away from that conversation. Fuck how do I not fucking swear in my thoughts? Whatever, they refuse to tell me their 'business,' so I'm not going to bother explaining how to swear. They'd probably just cuss me out anyway. Can I pick it up and scare away monsters that want to hurt me? Fuck. It's heavy. Fine, baby stick will have to do.

"If you're not going to teach me how to 'swear,' then I suppose you don't need my help. I do know something that would probably interest you, but I can always leave if you have better things to do."

Fine. Fuck. In a sentence: Fuck you.

"Not helpful. I'm guessing it's an insult of some kind? Like heck?"

Max laughed. "Yeah, use fuck instead of heck."

"What's so funny?" Chara asked. There was a loud cracking noise. They looked behind Max and saw the stick broken into several pieces. "Well that's probably not good."

"What?"

"The stick broke. We have company. Or they have company? We– or rather, you, are the trespasser here."

Let's just get out of the creepy forest. Max thought, Also you promised to tell me something if I taught you.

"Oh yeah. You're not alone anymore."

What?

"You're not the only one."

Not the only what? What do you mean 'anymore?'

Chara laughed. "I didn't actually say I'd tell you, simply that I knew something."

Bitch .

"Ooo what's that one mean?" Chara asked, knowing their delight would annoy him.

Fuck you, I don't have to tell you anything.

"Neither do I," said Chara. "Heck you too."

That's not- just use fuck, you're sounding like fucking David , thought Max

"Who's David?" asked Chara, knowing full well who David was.

He's- fuck these are thoughts this is gonna be hard. He's a camp counselor that is so fucking happy and loud and annoying and he does everything in his power to make me smile- God, no! That's not- David's a redhaired guy that cares too much.

Chara smiled. Oh this will be interesting. Wait what was that bridge? Wow, Max was walking fast, he was waking through the bars already.

You better not fucking yell and scare me through this thing .

"There is someone behind you," Chara said.

I'm not falling for that, thought Max.

"No seriously-" Chara started, but they got distracted by his HP and ATK "Oh wow."

What? I fucking swear if this is a joke.

"I've never seen such a weak monster. You gotta be careful not to kill this guy."

What if I want to kill him? Max thought. I still don't believe this guy exists. What's he look like?

"He's a skeleton, short and stout, I also can't see anything in his eye sockets, unlike usual. He's also wearing slippers and- uh- the same kind of outerwear as you."

The guy's wearing a fucking hoodie?

"I mean, if that article is called a fucking hoodie," said Chara. "He seems like he means business, if a strong wind doesn't blow him over first."

Fine. I guess I'll turn around and… say hi? thought Max. This is so fucking weird.

"Good call," said Chara. "Most monsters will probably be thrown off-balance by a decent greeting from a human. –if they even recognize you as a human, it's been forever since one's fallen."

Ok, shut up so I can pay attention to this dude . Fuck, do I really have to be polite? Max turned around and yelped. Chara had said he was a skeleton, but he was not expecting the empty eye sockets to be watching him the way they were. Somehow, his slippers or the fact Chara had said he was weak didn't make him any less intimidating.

“don’t you know how to greet a new pal?” he asked. “step forward and shake my hand”

Pal’s probably good, thought Max I still don’t like this. Nonetheless, Max stepped forward and shook his hand as he requested.

“ Pffft”

Chara laughed.

You have a weird sense of humor, thought Max.

“ hehe, the old woopie cushion in the hand trick. it’s always funny .” The skeleton smiled, his eyesockets became more animated, and he said “ heya. i’m sans. sans the skeleton. i’m supposed to be looking for humans, but i don’t really feel like capturing you. looks like you already figured out you can just walk through the gate.”

“Yeah, I have eyes. I can fucking see that thing’s not stopping anyone,” said Max.

“ it’s not completely useless” said sans. “ it might stop any’two’”

“ I already fucking hate you,” said Max.

“aw come on, i’m not that bad. my brother, on the other hand… well, he’s a human-hunting fanatic. you should get going before he gets here.”

“ Great,” said Max. “Where do I go?”

“behind this would-be-conviently-shaped-if-you-were-a-different-kid lamp. he’ll never look there.”

“We’re just going to be hiding behind a lamp?” asked Chara. “No thanks.”

Chapter Text

Chara decided that instead of waiting for Max to wait behind a lamp for who-knows-how-long, they’d go check on David. Golly, he’d already made it to mom’s house. Ugh, he found the SAVE point. “Seeing such a cozy house in the middle of the ruins fills you with DETERMINATION,” they said reluctantly. They really didn’t trust him, but it wasn’t like he could hurt them, they were already dead.

    “Ah!” said David, nearly toppling over. Chara giggled without letting David hear. They’d learned how to control when the humans could hear them, and they didn’t want him to think of them as a person just yet, especially not one that found scaring him incredibly amusing.

    “You walk forward and knock on the door,” Chara said, as David did so.

    I’m just going to ignore that for the moment , though David, I need to find Max .

    Toriel opened the door. “Oh, hello! I was not expecting to see another human today! I am just about to finish making a pie, would you like to join us?”

    “Us?” asked David.

    “Ah, yes, I suppose it is only me. Max seemed quite tired, so I was letting him stay in his room and sleep. I will simply leave the pie in his room.”

    He has a room already? I better play dumb to figure this lady out. “Golly gee,” said David. “That sounds ab-so-lutely incredible! Is Max your son?”

    Toriel smiled and shook her head. “No, he is simply a fallen human like yourself. I check for humans at the entrance of the ruins every day, but I have never anticipated more than one in a day! No, no, he is simply a child that I am caring for.”

“Oh, I see, and you have left him to his own devices in ‘his room?’” David asked. Somehow, he doubted that Max was still there. David had seen the knitted doubles, the scrambled attempts to leave- there was no way Max was sitting quietly in his room. Over the weeks, David had learned a simply rule of thumb- if you weren’t aware of Max’s presence, he probably wasn’t present. 

Toriel nodded. “Indeed. Oh! How rude of me, I have failed to introduce myself. I am Toriel, guardian of the Ruins.”

“I’m David!” said David. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance!”

“The same to you,” said Toriel. “Follow me, the pie should be cool enough by now.”

The last time David had met an incredibly nice stranger that offered sustenance, he turned out to be a cult leader, so he was a bit hesitant, though he tried not to show it. “It smells incredible!” he said.

“Thank you,” said Toriel. “It has been long since I have seen a human your size, so I am not certain of how much pie you require.”

“Oh, don’t worry about me!” said David. “I am a-okay! I wasn’t expecting any pie when I fell down here!”

“Hmm,” said Toriel. “I know. I will set Max’s piece inside his room, and then we can share the rest. I will place it on this table.”

David sat down at the table, but he wasn’t sure. There was no way Max was in that room, and he didn’t know enough about this woman to know what she’d do once she figured out he wasn’t there, but hopefully she’d be willing to work with him to find Max and get him safely back to the surface safely.

“You think Max is not in his room,” said Chara. “You do not know where he is.”

David sighed before sliding back and smiling. “I should go check on her,” he said aloud, “I hope she’s ok, it seems like she cares about him.”

David crossed the foyer to find an open doorway to a child’s room. Just inside the door was a shattered plate and splattered pie. Toriel was kneeling in front of it, sobbing openly. “Pathetic, is it not?” she asked weakly. “I could not save even a single child.”

“Just because he snuck out of the house, it doesn’t mean he’s gone! I can help you look for him!” David exclaimed.

“You do not understand,” Toriel said, the rage sneaking into her voice. “He has left the ruins. I cannot protect him outside of these accursed purple walls. He will die. I have seen it time and time again. Every child that falls leaves the ruins and dies. This is the seventh. Asgore will kill him, and with his soul, all of humanity. I could not protect a child, and from my failure, many more deaths are yet to come.” She stood up sharply. “And yet- even if I could not protect a child, perhaps... all of humanity is not yet lost. Stay here. There is something I must do.”

“I’m coming with you,” said David.

“What?” Toriel asked. “You may not come with me.”

“You want to save humanity, right? Surely I can help! We’ll save Max together!”

“No.” said Toriel. “I must do this alone. Stay here. We can make him a memorial when I get back, if you wish.”

“He isn’t dead!” said David. “You say there’s no chance, but if I know anything, there’s always a chance, even when things look impossible!”

“Then you know nothing,” said Toriel. “Stay here.” She walked into the foyer and down the stairs into the basement. “Why are you following me?” she asked. “There is nothing for you here.”

“I’m not abandoning him!” David insisted. “Show me how to follow him!”

“I thought you would be wiser than the others, I suppose I was wrong,” Toriel said, continuing to stride forward. “They were just children, but you are as foolish as them. Do you not understand? If you leave here, you will die.”

“Thank you for informing me of the risks,” David said. “I still can’t just stand back and let Max endanger himself!”

“You will endanger yourself and you will get nothing in return,” said Toriel.

“I won’t stop caring,” said David. “No matter what it takes or how I get hurt, I will not cut myself off. I won’t stop caring.”

“I am doing this because I care, do you not understand?” Toriel stopped at the door. “This is the door. A one-way exit to the rest of the underground. I am going to destroy it. This is the only way.”

“But we could-”

Toriel turned around, pulling herself to her full height. She glared at David. “You will never leave this place. I will keep you safe here. Now, go upstairs.”

David suddenly realized he didn’t have a weapon. He felt very small and weak in front of her. However, he refused to back down. He would find Max, whatever it took. He wasn’t going to let a kid die on his watch. 

Chara sighed. “Seeing the exit to the rest of the underground fills you with determination.” This was interesting, all right, but they knew David had no idea how much stronger he was than most every monster, and there was nothing they could say he would believe. They almost considered checking up on Max, but they decided they couldn’t leave now. Besides, there was no guarantee he was faring any better.

“If you will not leave of your own accord, let me show you what us monsters are capable of,” said Toriel, lighting her paws on fire. “Why you cannot leave.”

David closed his eyes and balled his fist. “I am not letting you keep me here! I am not letting Max die here!”

Wow , thought Chara. Should’ve expected this from a Determination holder but still- yeesh, that’s so much effort. They’d mostly been alright sitting back and watching up until now, nothing had required much comment. They could feel David’s heart pound out of his chest. They hated seeing their mom this upset. What could they say? “Toriel is looking through you,” was all they could muster up. Please don’t fight her.

David threw a punch. He couldn’t tell how much it had hurt her. He was a lot stronger than a child. Still, Toriel threw fireball after fireball at him. David tried to dodge, but his left cheek was singed by her magic. He’d never seen fire like this, but he couldn’t focus on that now. He had to survive. He had to help Max. He landed another solid hit on Toriel. She winced but surrounded herself with fire, forcing David to back up. Another barrage of fireballs came flying at him. 

“Please,” David called, during a brief pause between fireballs. “I don’t want to fight you! Just let me leave!”

“You think they will let you go?” Toriel asked. She sent another round of fireballs his way. “You think they will cease if you ask them nicely?”

David dodged more fire. He didn’t want to fight, but what option did he have? Maybe he could show her he was strong enough to save Max. He hoped he was strong enough to save Max. The next time there was a break between her attacks, he landed one more solid punch. 

Toriel crumpled to the ground. She smiled. “You are stronger than I thought... Perhaps you will achieve your goal and stop Asgore from taking Max’s soul. You are humanity’s last hope. Please, Asgore’s plan cannot be allowed to succeed… save humanity… for me, won’t you?” with that, she faded into dust.

Chapter Text

“Wait- no!” yelled David. “No no no no no no no!” He fell to his knees. “I didn’t mean- I just- this isn’t what I wanted. Damnit. Why couldn’t you have just let me through?” Tears formed in his eyes as he hopelessly clutched at piles of dust on the ground.

“You get the feeling Toriel wouldn’t want you to linger here,” Chara said, holding back tears of their own. Big kids don’t cry. “You remember that Max has gone ahead of you.”

“Right,” said David softly. “Right. Just a moment.” He carefully gathered Toriel’s dust into a pile and placed a pebble that had fallen from the roof onto it. A makeshift memorial, but a memorial nonetheless. He slowly stood and brushed off his knees. Too much had now been lost for him not to find Max. With a heavy heart, he walked through the door leading out of the ruins.

To his surprise, he saw a flower with a face in front of him.

Oh great , thought Chara, kill him now, he’ll go back to before the fight. Everything can still be okay, right? Big kids don’t cry.

“I hope you like your choice,” Flowey said. “After all, it's not as if you can go back and change fate. In this world, it's kill or be killed.” He laughed. 

David scowled. “I didn’t have a choice . Sometimes fate just- gets in the way of everything you work for.”

Flowey ignored him and continued. "That old hag thought she could–"

"She's not! She wasn't…" said David. "It's my fault, not hers. Don't. Please."

"She thought she could break the rules," Flowey continued. "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 finished triumphantly before ducking into the ground.

"No…" said David. "It wasn't her, she just… I'll save humanity for her."

"You wish you could change fate," Chara hinted. "Turn back the clock." Please figure out how to reset. Please. You have to.

"Thanks, I know," David snapped. "I mean, I'm sorry. I don't have a right to be angry about this, it's all my fault." He shut his eyes tightly. "You don't know how much I want to go back."

Chara bit their lip. He was so close . Come on David, dig those heels in. Bend fate to your will.

Suddenly, David felt a rush of warmth. The smooth ground under his feet shifted to rough stone. He could smell soot and butterscotch. He had to find Max without anyone dying, whatever he took. His resolve was renewed

“If you will not leave of your own accord, let me show you what us monsters are capable of,” said Toriel, lighting her paws on fire. “Why you cannot leave.”

David opened his eyes in amazement. It was her voice, without a doubt. And that was her face. He was so relieved he didn't know how to speak– what to say, he hadn't even considered what he could have done differently. What he will do differently.

Toriel paused. "Wait. ... why are you looking at me like that? Like you have seen a ghost. Do you know something that I do not?" she asked. "No... That is impossible."

"You thought about telling Toriel that you saw her die," Chara said, "But… that's creepy."

Sure is , thought David. But what can I do ? David stood his ground. "Let me through." He hoped he sounded more confident than he felt.

Toriel sent a barrage of fireballs at him. They were easier to dodge now that he knew what to expect. When she paused, he didn't take the opportunity to fight, he didn't say anything, he just stood still. He didn't want to fight her– couldn't fight her, and there was nothing he could say to convince her. He was sure of that. And he knew she didn't want to fight him either. Maybe, with time, she would think better of destroying the door on her own.

As he stood his ground through the next three volleys, the only sound was the searing of her flames against the stone walls of the ruins. David had started to doubt this would work. His hair was singed and he was losing breath, but he had to do this. He couldn't kill her again .

 "What are you doing?" Toriel asked. David didn't answer. He didn't have an answer. He was running on pure adrenaline. Toriel flung more fireballs at him. He tried to dodge, but the corner of his shirt caught on fire.

"Attack or run away!" she insisted. She seemed firm, but David could hear a slight tremble in her voice. No one has to die here . His focus on not killing her distracted him from the fireball that hit him square in the chest. He was drained, he felt like his legs were giving out from under him, and yet still he stood.

"What are you proving this way?" Toriel asked, incredulous. David half-expected her to kill him, to even the score here and then. But her fireballs danced harmlessly around him. He held his hand out towards one and it shot away, repelled by him.

"Fight me or leave!" Toriel insisted. "Stop it." She bit her lip. Her fireballs flickered. She wasn't as sure anymore. "Stop looking at me that way." Her eyes started to fill with tears. 

"Go away!" she yelled, shooting a strong, bright stream of fire everywhere but towards David. She stopped and stood quietly. David and Toriel stood looking at each other, David's silent plea filling his eyes.

"I know you want to find him, but…" She looked away from David, towards the right. "But please... Go upstairs now," she said softly.

She smiled. "I promise you will have everything you need here," she paused, clearly looking for a response from David, who just waited for her. "I know we do not have much, but, we can have a good life here." Toriel insisted.

They stood there for a few moments more, Toriel's face filling with guilt and indesision. "Why are you making this so difficult?" she asked. "Please, go upstairs," she begged.

She closed her eyes, considering something, then laughed. "Pathetic, is it not? I cannot save even a single human." She frowned, sighed, and shook her head. "No, I understand. You would just be unhappy trapped down there. I know the guilt that comes from failing to save one you love. A life here would not suit you. My expectations... My loneliness... My fear... For you, for Max... I will put them aside. Good luck."

"Thank you," David said. "I'll save us both. For you." He smiled.

Toriel laughed. "Do not waste time lingering here with an old lady like me. Leave through the door and keep going. You will find the rest of the Underground there. Max went ahead of you, so if he is still alive, you will find him there as well. But I must caution you, once you leave through that door, you will not be able to come back." She smiled. "Goodbye." She hugged him, and healed his wounds from their fight. "Oh! You may find it useful to have a cell phone! I have a spare one here, and I believe Max said he has yours, so once you go through those doors, you should be able to call him!" Toriel fumbled through her pockets for an old flip phone. "Here. It is not much but…"

"Thank you for everything," David said with a grin, hugging her again. "Let's both stay alive." He walked through the door, to encounter Flowey once again.

"Clever. Verrrryyy clever," said Flowey.

"What?" David asked, stunned.

"You think you're really smart, don't you?" Flowey asked.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" David insisted.

"In this world, it's kill or be killed," Flowey said.

"No, not this time!" David said. "I didn't kill anyone! And I'm here! Now!"

"So you were able to play by your own rules," Flowey admitted. "You spared the life of a single person." He laughed.

"And I will do it every time. I won't kill anyone!" David insisted. "It's just not right!"

Flowey laughed again. "Don't act so cocky. I know what you did."

David's face drained of its color. He felt sick.

"You murdered her," Flowey said gleefully. "And then you went back, because you regretted it." He laughed again.

"I– I never meant to kill her!" David yelled. "I didn't want to I just–"

"You naive idiot." Flowey's manic tone turned frighteningly calm, yet still off-puttingly cheerful. "Do you think you are the only one with that power?"

"What?" David asked, his voice and hands shaking.

"The power to reshape the world. Purely by your own determination. The ability to play God!" Flowey elaborated, getting louder and more thrilled by each line before suddenly going quiet again. "I thought I was the only one with that power. But, I can't SAVE anymore."

"You–you could do that too?" David asked. "Then why did I, how did I–"

"Apparently," Flowey sounded a little annoyed. "Your desires for this world override mine. Well well, enjoy that power while you can." He grinned. "I'll be watching."

David sunk to the ground. He should be relieved, right? She was back. But somehow, the knowledge he could turn back time, the knowledge that someone else wanted that power… he was overwhelmed and devastated. It was too much. She was back, but that didn't get her dust off of his hands.

Chapter Text

This fucking frozen spaghetti . Max thought. Not that it would be edible if it was thawed.

"Whoa," Chara said. "I did not will myself over here." They shook their head. "I don't think I like that feeling."

Huh, thought Max I was just wondering what your reaction to this shit would be.

"It's ok, in any case," said Chara. "I didn't wake up to watch a grown man cry over my not-dead mom."

What ? Max asked. Uh, did you feel that weird uncomfortable thing and then suddenly I have to do this shit again? I don't know how else to explain it but—

"Yeah," Chara said. "That was un-killing mom."

What? I'm getting real tired of dealing with your shit .

"Too bad, you're stuck with me," said Chara. They grinned to themself. "But yeah, your friend David murdered mom and then un-murdered her."

What? How do you un-murder someone? Wait– David killed Toriel? I'm never letting him live that down .

Chara laughed. "Me neither. Oh, it seems your cell phone is ringing."

"Eh," Max said, sticking the phone back in his pocket without answering. "Probably a telemarketer or something." WAIT DAVID'S IN THE UNDERGROUND?

"Oh, I guess I forgot to mention it earlier," said Chara. "Didn't seem that important."

Ugh, this trek is miserable enough without fucking David here. Have you seen these godawful puzzles?

"Nope!" Chara said cheerfully.

You know that guy who we met at the bridge? Sans?

"Yeah, what about him?"

I'm pretty sure he noticed when everything went back.

"Hmm, I don't know any monster that has enough determination to do that," Chara said. "Oh, that soulless flower absolutely knows."

I don't know what to make of that. Max continued on. I'm finally past where I was.

"Hmm, it looks like there's a switch between these trees," Chara said.

You're not usually this helpful , Max thought. I don't like this .

Chara stuck out their tongue before realizing he couldn't see them. "Yeah, well I'm in a good mood. Don't make me hecking regret it ."

"You're doing that on purpose," Max accused, pushing the switch and lowering the spikes on the other side.

"I haven't the faintest idea what you are referring to," Chara said.

Max rolled his eyes and stepped forward. He could see white fur and silver armor glinting in the son. Wonderful. You see the shit I’ve had to deal with?

“It’s a dog,” Chara said. “They can’t resist being pet.” The dog bounded over to Max, who rolled his eyes, but nonetheless reached out to pet it. It attacked once or twice but soon got so excited by the prospect of being pet its neck shot into the sky. Despite himself, Max laughed. He couldn’t even reach it anymore. Its head started to come back down, and Max gave it a final pat before moving on.

He had barely walked past where the spikes had been when more dogs came out, saying something about a smell. Whatever. They’re dogs, right?. He waved the baby stick and got their attention, then threw it. The dogs raced after it. Haha suckers . Max snapped a branch off a tree.

"You snap a branch off the tree. It makes a satisfying crack," Chara narrated absent-mindedly.

"Hey!" Max yelled, "you said you'd stop doing that!"

"Shhhh, you're going to attract the whole pack at this point," Chara said.

David's phone rang yet again. "It's probably David, mom gave him that phone she offered you."

Ugh, Max thought.

"So…" Chara said. "Are you gonna answer? If not, I'll probably dip here to watch David keep trying and failing to call you. It'll be hilarious."

"I'm glad you find our distress and mortal peril amusing," Max muttered, reaching to decline the call. "But go for it– I'll just be hanging here."

"Not moving forward?" Chara asked.

"Eh, I wanna watch David fall on the ice," Max said.

"I'd try to get to Snowdin if I were you. There's probably a restaurant or inn you can stop in to warm up."

"Won't everyone try to kill me for being human?" Max asked, ignoring his phone ringing once again.

"Nah, nobody's seen a human before. Just don't make a fuss about it and you should be fine. Better than out here, anyway," Chara told him. "Alright, bye!"

They found themself outside of the entrance of the ruins, but David was sitting on the ground again , instead of doing anything interesting. He was desperately punching numbers into the old phone. "Come on, come on, come on," he whispered. "I need this."

Chara sighed. "You get the feeling you should move on." As funny as David's desperation was when contrasted with Max's apathy, they had a feeling herding them together would probably end up both increasing Max's chances of survival and be incredibly interesting.

David picked himself up and ducked though the gate, and looked at the lamp Max hid behind earlier. 

"A lamp. It's shaped like an unfamiliar child," Chara said. Come on, they thought you're not gonna have long before the dogs and skeletons get done looking for Max and return to their posts.

David moved on, but leaned down to inspect a guard station… or something. "It's some sort of checkpoint or sentry-station. But there are bottles of ketchup, mustard, and relish sitting inside. You have the feeling it won't be abandoned for long," they hinted.

I should get going then , David thought.

Thank you , thought Chara. Might as well go hang with Max for a bit, Snowdin town is a lot more interesting than this forest.

"Hey," they said. "Ugh, you're still in the dumb forest?"

"WHEN I SAY THE WORD, IT WILL FULLY ACTIVATE!" A tall skeleton yelled, Chara instinctively covered their ears, even though they were using Max's hearing. "CANNONS WILL FIRE! SPIKES WILL SWING! BLADES WILL SLICE!" Papyrus explained.

"Who's that?" Chara asked.

The fucker that's been trying to capture me, Max thought. But I think Sans wasn't lying when he said this guy was harmless.

"Seems pretty strong to me," Chara said. "Oh yeah, Sans is here too. Great. At least he's a little quieter." The skeletons stood in front of a long bridge with cannons, spears, spikes, flames, and a dog surrounding it from both above and below.

"EACH PART WILL SWING VIOLENTLY UP AND DOWN!" Papyrus continued.

Wait for it , Max thought. He's not gonna fucking do it.

"Really?" Chara asked.

"ONLY THE TINIEST CHANCE OF VICTORY WILL REMAIN!!!"

Trust me, I can spot a bluff from a mile away, Max thought. It's gonna fucking "malfunction" or something .

"ARE YOU READY?" Papyrus called. "BECAUSE! I! AM…! ABOUT…! TO DO IT!"

Chara laughed. "I see what you mean."

A few seconds passed and the skeletons turned away from the bridge. "well?" asked Sans, "what's the holdup?"

"HOLDUP!? WHAT HOLDUP!?" Papyrus yelled. "I'M… I'M ABOUT TO ACTIVATE IT NOW!"

They turned back towards the bridge. About five more seconds passed. "that, uh, doesn't look very activated," Sans said.

"WELL!! THIS CHALLENGE!!" Papyrus yelled.

"Does this guy know how to tone it down?" Chara whispered.

I fucking wish , Max thought.

"IT SEEMS... MAYBE… TOO EASY TO DEFEAT THE HUMAN WITH. YEAH, WE CAN'T USE THIS ONE! I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS!!! MY PUZZLES ARE VERY FAIR! AND MY TRAPS ARE EXCELLENTLY COOKED!"

"Was the spaghetti a trap?" Chara asked. "Because I would beg to disagree."

This is such a fucking waste of time, Max thought.

"BUT THIS METHOD IS TOO DIRECT! NO CLASS AT ALL! AWAY IT GOES! PHEW!"

Max smiled. I've been nothing but a dick to him and he still won't get mad at me. I'm going to try stealing his scarf– cape… thingie next.

"You totally should," Chara said. "I can't wait."

"WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT!?" Papyrus asked. "THIS WAS ANOTHER DECISIVE VICTORY FOR PAPYRUS! NYEH! HEH!!…. HEH???" Papyrus walked away.

"The bridge looks safe to cross now," Chara said.

Yeah. No shit, Max thought.

"Do you want me to go watch David again?" Chara threatened. “I could even delay his arrival.”

Please don’t, thought Max, ignoring Sans as he crossed into Snowdin. It’s already going to be fucking boring enough waiting as is.

Chapter Text

It took about thirty minutes of waiting before David finally arrived in Snowden. Max had gotten a room in a hotel and settled in for a nap, so Chara had followed David for most of the way, but he’d managed to avoid detection as most of the royal guard had left after Max came through. And the training books on how to identify a human said they were 3-5 feet tall.

When David finally got to Snowdin, Chara zipped back over to Max. “Wake up,” they said. “He’s here.” When they didn’t receive a response, they decided to just scream as loud as possible, since only he could hear them. Could he even hear them while he was asleep?

Max jolted up. There’s that question answered. “Hey. He’s here.”

“And you had to scream in my face about it?” Max asked.

“No, but it was fun.” Chara said. “Now come on, I don’t want to just watch you sit here all day.”

“Fine,” Max grumbled. He walked down the stairs and turned in his key.

“Hm?” said the bunny at the counter. “You’re checking out already? Well, here’s your money back. You can pay me if you want to stay overnight.”

“Huh?” asked Max.

“You were only up there for thirty minutes!” she exclaimed, “Really, no one’s checking in this early anyways. Feel free to stay overnight anytime though!”

Max walked out of the inn, David, who immediately saw him, picked him up in a hug. Max struggled against him, but Chara could feel his relief. They were so close together now, Chara couldn’t fully tell which one they were following. They’d never done this before, but they felt they could probably still direct their speech to one human? “You feel relieved to see your friend again,” Chara said. David jumped slightly, setting Max down, but Max didn’t seem to notice.

“God damnit , David, why did you have to do that?” Max asked. “I mean—what are you … doing here?” he asked, somewhat robotically.

“Max! I am just so happy to see you again. You had me so worried. Don’t you ever do that again!”

“Do what? Fall down a gaping chasm? Wasn’t planning on it. Now come on, we’ve got to keep going if we ever want to get out of here.”

“Oh yes, I’m sure Gwen is doing just fine without us, but I don’t want to abandon my post for too long!” said David.

“Sure. I want to see the sun before I die of a vitamin D deficiency.”

Max pulled David through Snowdin town. They did not stop in Grillby’s. Or the Librarby, despite David’s insistence that they just had to inform the people inside of the spelling error. They walked through the surprisingly small town until they got to where Papyrus was waiting for them.

He held out a hand. “Halt human—s? Can—do humans multiply like that? That’s fascinating! Well! Human, and Clone of Human, let me tell you about some complicated feelings. Feelings like meeting another pasta lover, knowing one day that you will be separated by capture, wanting to be seen as cool by a cool person. Those feelings must be what you are feeling right now! But now I—I only have to capture one of you! Clone of Human! I, the Great Papyrus, will capture you! And Human! I will be your friend!”

“Dude, you can’t just capture David.” Max said. “He’s pretty good at escaping by this point.”

Papyrus paused. “Should I capture you, then, human?”

“How about we don’t capture anyone?” Max asked. “Just let us through.”

“And then we can be friends!” David exclaimed.

“But I—I must capture the humans!” Papyrus exclaimed. “Then I’ll be popular! People will want to be my friend!”

“We’re people!” David said cheerfully. “And we want to be your friends!”

“ You want to be his friend,” Max muttered, but Papyrus didn’t seem to hear.

“Oh my, I—but Undyne will—I have to capture the humans!”

Max sighed. “You want real friends right? Being ‘popular’ or ‘prestigious’ doesn’t get you that. People want to be close to you so they get what they want or so they can tell people they know you. It’s not as fun as it seems.” Max intentionally neglected to mention that they were also trying to “befriend” Papyrus because they didn’t want to get captured—at least that was Max’s intent. He could never tell what David wanted.

“Yeah, David’s being genuine,” Chara tacked on.

Where did you go? Max asked.

“I have a lot to watch between having both of your thoughts and everything else that is going on. My commentary has not been necessary.”

Fair Enough .

“But—but—No. You’re right. I don’t think I’ll find another monster who cares about me the way you do. Undyne will be so disappointed in me. I’ll never make it into the Royal Guard. But!! I’ll have two new friends! Friends who genuinely like and care about me!!” Papyrus said. “So—so I, the Great Papyrus, will allow you to pass through!”

“Really?” Max asked. That was suspiciously easy.  

“Of course! I can’t be your friend if I capture you—or—no, it will be very hard to communicate when you’re locked away in the capital!! But!! To show what a good friend I am, I’ll even give you directions to the surface! Just continue on through the cavern until you reach the capital, then pass through the Barrier!”

“The barrier?” David asked.

“That’s the magical seal trapping us all underground! Anything can pass through it, but nothing can leave. Except a being with a powerful soul, like the two of you! That’s why the king wants to acquire a human! He wants to open the barrier with soul power! Then us monsters can return to the surface!” He paused. “Oh! I almost forgot! To reach the Barrier, you will have to cross through the King’s castle. But don’t worry! He’s a big fuzzy pushover! Everybody loves that guy. If you just say ‘excuse me, Mr. Dreemurr, can I please go home?’ He’ll guide you straight to the barrier himself!” He grinned. “Anyway!!! That’s enough talking!! I’ll be at home being a cool friend!!! Feel free to come hang out!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”

David smiled as Papyrus,,,,,,,, leaped over them??? Strangely air-walked? “Let’s go hang out with him!”

“David, no. We have to get out of here, remember? We’re stuck underground?”

“Oh, well, I hope we can see him again!”

Hey, do you know who … Undyne is? The one Papyrus said would be disappointed?

“Don’t treat me like a walking—flying—floating encyclopedia,” Chara said. “I haven’t been around here for like a thousand years, remember? I have no clue who any of these people are.”

As David and Max headed forwards, they felt a rush of not exactly warm air—but certainly warmer than Snowdin. As they walked, the crisp snow under their feet turned to cool mud. The ceiling was lower and more noticeable here, but it was still probably fifty to sixty feet up. The next room had three monsters in it, sans, a yellow, bipedal monster wearing a striped shirt, and a bright red monster with a fishbowl for a torso.

sans waved them over. Max rolled his eyes, but David walked forward. As he did, he felt pride in what they’d accomplished so far, and he felt his determination rising. Whatever the rest of the adventure had for them, he could handle it. For everyone on the surface who must be missing Max right now.

Chapter Text

“Nikki!” Gwen yelled. “Get back here!”

“Adventure is out there!” Nikki called back, scrambling over the mountain rocks.

“You need to get back to the bus,” Gwen said, half-heartedly following her. “We cannot lose two kids today.”

“Max isn’t lost ,” Nikki said. “You know him, he’s probably just trying to hijack the bus or something.”

“Still. Field trip over. Back to bus.”

“Ooo! Look at this cool cave I found!”

“Nikki! Don’t you dare go in there I’ll—” Gwen sighed and muttered as she tromped over to the cave. At least it should be relatively easy to corner her in an enclosed cave.

“Whoa!! Look at this giant hole I found!”

Gwen tromped slightly faster. Why did she sign up for this again? She swore these kids were trying to get themselves hurt sometimes.”Nikki for the love of everything that’s good do not get any closer to the hole!”

“I’m going to look down the hole!”

Gwen stopped in her tracks “God damnit,” she muttered before running to the cave. To her surprise, when she got there, Nikki was standing calmly on the edge, looking down. Gwen had honestly feared that she’d get there and find Nikki at the bottom of the big hole, so this was a relief.

“Please, for my sanity, back away from the hole.” Gwen pleaded.

Nikki shrugged. “Fine, it just looks like there are flowers down there, nothing cool.”

“Flowers?” Gwen finally was able to get a good look at the cave. She’d expected it to be dark, but there was a hole up, letting in sunlight, as well as the hole down. Plant roots crowded the small cave, leaving plenty of tripping hazards if you weren’t paying attention to your feet. Thankfully Nikki was nimble enough to scramble back over to Gwen proudly. “Nikki, you are not running off again.”

“Yes I am!” Nikki said, attempting to run before Gwen scooped her up, arm’s reach away.

“Nope. you’re not. I even have winter gloves on, so my hand is less biteable than normal. Don’t try it though, just. please don’t.” Gwen managed to carry Nikki back to the bus with less difficultly than anticipated. Gwen set Nikki down next to Campbell, then counted “one, two, three, four—Campbell. Where are the other kids?”

“Huh? What do you mean the other kids?” Campbell asked. “They’re all here now! Art kid, theater kid, angry kid, adventure kid—” he looked around. “Hmm I think there were mo—definitely these exact kids when you left! These are all of the kids!”

Gwen sighed. “Go find the rest of the kids.”

“—but I didn’t—”

“—I don’t care whose fault it is. You are finding the rest of the children and bringing them here.” Gwen said. “Not one more word out of you.”

Campbell rolled his eyes but knew better than to get into a fight with Gwen when her temper was so high. He turned around and, rolling his eyes, climbed back up the mountain. “I really should’ve asked her what kids I needed to find. How many are there supposed to be?” he spotted Neil hunched over a rock. “Hey! Science kid! Do you know how many of you there are?”

Neil looked up. “What do you mean? I haven’t cloned myself recently, I don’t—”

“No, no, no, no, not you specifically, do you know how many campers there are?”

“You don’t?” Neil asked. “Every time I forget how fucking irresponsible you are you just have to remin—”

“I don’t need this. Fine, I’ll just take you back to the bus and try and weasel it out of Genevieve.”

“Wait!” Neil said. “I think we can work something out. You want to know how many kids you’re missing, I want to analyze these fascinating geology samples. Tell you what. I’ll tell you how many campers there are, and I’ll go back to the bus after I’m done collecting my samples.”

“You drive a hard bargain, kid.” Campbell said. “How do I know you’ll keep your end of the bargain?”

“If I’m not back to the bus by the time you find everyone else, you can come get me. I’m wearing a bright yellow sweater, I’m not exactly hard to find.”

“Alright kid, it’s a deal.”

“There are 10 kids, including myself,” Neil said. “Now leave me and my rocks in piece.”

“Thank you, science kid!” Campbell said. He turned away to do his mental math. There are four kids at the bus, and I’m not looking for science kid at the moment, so that means that I’m looking for five kids!—which five kids? Eh, Gracey will tell me if I nab the wrong one. He tramped through the snow, looking for children. He didn’t have to go far before his path was interrupted by Erid snowboarding, throwing a wave of snow in her wake—and onto Campbell.

He walked down the mountain, carefully thinking through how to talk to her. She was the daughter of those agents, so he had to be sure everything was ab-so-lutely above board. Nothing shady here!

When he finally reached the bottom of her path, he said “It’s time to return to the bus.” Not the most creative solution but what she said next could hopefully give him something to work with.

“Yeah, I know,” she said. “But if they’re not done, neither am I. Waiting by the bus while everyone else is doing stuff is lame.” She flipped her hair out of her face.

Campbell closed his eyes, carefully thinking through his next move. “I understand not wanting to be left out. How about you tell me where one of the others is, and I’ll tell you when everyone else is done so you can come to the bus.”

Erid raised her eyebrow. “Is that really responsible?” she shrugged. “Whatever, Space kid’s up at the top.”

“Thank you! I am being a very responsible counselor by stopping him from getting hurt while you clearly know what you’re doing!” Campbell walked backwards from her, almost tripping on a rock buried under the snow. 

Erid rolled her eyes. “Whatever, dude.” She snowboarded away.

She totally bought that , Campbell thought. He then ran up to the top of the mountain, where he found Space Kid. “Hello, my adventurous little friend.” he said. “Let’s go down to the bus, so that Gloria doesn’t murder me!”

“Space!” said Space Kid, trying to reach up with his hands.

Campbell rolled his eyes and picked him up. “Space!” said Space Kid delightedly, before Campbell tucked him under his arm and ran back down the mountain. “Glenda!” he called. “I have already found one, and now I will go find the other fou—five!” he said, certain that Gurtrude would be proud of him for remembering how many kids they were missing. He’d almost forgotten to count science kid but he remembered!

Gwen poked her head out from behind a bush. “How did you know Dolf went missing?”

“What?” Campbell asked. 

“You said five. If Dolf wasn’t missing it should’ve been four. You did remember that David’s looking for Max, right?” Gwen asked.

“Right, right,” Campbell bluffed. “Dolf, the theater boy! Of course I noticed he wasn’t here!”

Gwen’s face paled as she saw Nikki, Nurf, and Space Kid, and only Nikki, Nurf, and Space Kid, in front of the bus. “Preston?” she called. “This is officially a nightmare.” She sighed. “Ok for now we’re both on ‘make sure the kids who are here stay here’ duty. Once David comes back with Max, we’ll go get the others. It shouldn’t be long now, they’ve already been gone a while.”

Chapter Text

“heya,” said Sans. “i’m sans. sans the skeleton.”

“Oh hello!” said David! “I’m David, and this is Max!”

“Wasn’t your sentry station at the entrance to Snowdin?” Max asked.

“what? you haven’t seen a guy with two jobs before? besides, this is the entrance to snowdin.”

“Why is your station the only thing covered in snow?” Max asked. “I don’t fucking trust you.”

Sans shrugged. “fair enough.”

David shook his head. “No I am very sorry for his behavior! Max, be nice!”

“Why?” Max asked. “Because he hasn’t directly tried to kill me? I don’t like him.”

“Max!” David scolded.

“anyway,” Sans said. “i’m going to grillby’s. wanna come?”

“Grillby’s?” David asked. “Oh! I remember seeing that little restaurant in Snowdin! I’d love to go with you!”

“Jesus fucking Christ David, have you forgotten that we’re trying to get up to the surface? We don’t have time to go to a fucking restaurant.”

“Come on, Max, it would be rude to decline such a polite offer!”

“oh man, i can’t believe you’re prying me away from my work,” Sans said. He got up from his sentry station and started walking away from Snowdin. “over here,” he gestured. “i know a shortcut.”

David and Max looked at each other, shrugged, and followed him. They’d only gone a short distance before they found themselves in Grillby’s. “fast shortcut, huh?”

“Holy shit,” said Max. “You can’t just call straight-up teleporting a fucking shortcut!”

Sans shrugged. “i don’t know what you’re talking about. it’s just a really fast shortcut.” He grinned. “hey everyone.”

A chorus of monsters greeted him. “Weren’t you just in here for breakfast?” One asked.

“nah, you must be thinking of brunch. i haven’t had breakfast in at least thirty minutes.”

David looked around. “I don’t see anywhere for the three of us to sit.”

“oh yeah, there’s only two open barstools.” Sans said.

“Oh no,” Max said sarcastically. “I guess we’ll just have to keep going onwards. Darn, I really wanted to hang out with you. Oh well.” He started to walk out.

“actually,” Sans said, looking at David. “this would be a good chance for you and i to get better acquainted. on account on having not met and all that.” He turned to Max. “if you don’t mind, that is.”

“Whatever,” Max said. “As long as I don’t have to do it, I guess we can just waste time on this bullshit.” He turned to David, “Just know I’m going to remind you of this when I want to do some time-wasting bullshit.”

“Max. Do not leave Snowdin,” David instructed. “We’ve got to face what comes next together.”

“I’m not an idiot, David,” Max replied as he walked out the door.

Before he could completely close it behind him, Sans asked, “why don’t you go say hi to papyrus, i know he’d love to hang out.”

As a response, Max let the door close behind him. David and Sans walked up to the barstools. David noticed a whoopie cushion on the seat and scooped it up before sitting down.

“you’re observant, huh? i forgot to warn you that weirdos sometimes put whoopie cushions in the seats.”

David grinned. “Well, it comes with being a camp counselor! The kids just love to play pranks but you’ve got to let them know it’s not ok to make jokes at someone else’s expense!”

“eh,” said Sans “anyway, let’s order.”

“—you there?” Chara felt themself yanked outside. They shook their head.

“What is it?” they asked.

I was trying to talk to talk to you Max thought. Didn’t you hear me?

“No, I was watching David,” Chara said.

Wait, but if you didn’t hear me why did you—

“—I just wanted to come outside for a moment while they were ordering,” Chara said. They had a bad feeling about letting him know that it wasn’t exactly voluntary. “If you are bored enough to talk to me, why do you not go hang out with Papyrus?”

You mean the guy who wanted to capture me? Max asked. Why would I?

“Because it looked like their house is between here and Waterfall, so David will probably drag you in there later if you do not go now.”

Max rolled his eyes. I thought he’d be the one rushing us back to camp. But no, we’ve gotta fucking talk to the skeleton. Then talk to the other skeleton. I just wanna fucking sleep.

“The inn lady would probably let you take another nap?” Chara suggested.

They shouldn’t take that long, Max thought, Unless David decides this guy is his best friend or something.

“I still think it will be faster to go hang out with Papyrus now, rather than have David along. I have been meaning to ask you: is he really like that?”

Max laughed. Yeah, it’s really fucking unbelievable, but he’s really just like that. I thought that no one could be that cheerful without some sort of hidden agenda, but he’s just fucking like that.

“Curious,” Chara said.

What? Max asked.

“Oh, it is not much. I just have not seen an adult human in so long now. I had—different expectations.”

Max sighed. Well, might as well go talk to Papyrus so I can try to steer David away later.

“I wish you luck,” Chara said. “I will see what David is talking about.”

Let me know if he starts saying shit like ‘he’s such a good kid, actually,” so I can prove him wrong later.

Chara grinned. “Of course.”

“I just got here today!” David protested, “I don’t have that much!”

“relax, buddy. i was just kidding. grillby, put it on my tab.” Sans turned around. “oh, by the way—i was going to say something, but I forgot.”

“That’s okay!” said David. “I, uh, actually wanted to ask if you had any advice for us, as far as leaving?”

Sans smiled. “it’s not worth it, buddy. but i know that’s not gonna stop you from trying.”

Chapter Text

"What do you mean, it's not worth it?" David asked.

Sans shrugged. "eh. like i said, i know i can't stop you." He smiled. "besides, i don't think putting shoes on is worth it," he said, gesturing to his slippers, "so why listen to a guy like me?"

David struggled with what to say. Sans' cheerful air was back, but David couldn't help noticing his smile seemed a little forced.

"anyway, i better get back to work. i can't believe you've pulled me away for this long," Sans said. "see ya around."

"Yeah," David said, still stunned by the sudden seriousness Sans had shown. "I guess I will." He stood there for a second, considering his options, then stepped back outside onto the snowy road. He sighed. It was his responsibility to take care of Max, and now they were both stuck. The possibility of never reaching the surface again had never been something David was forced to face before. Something about the way Sans' face had darkened before cautioning him caught him off guard.

David started pacing. Of course it was going to be hard, but he could do it. He had to. Otherwise, no one would know what happened to them down here. Wait—he'd assumed that the phone network was limited to the Underground, but he'd never actually tried it. Maybe he could call Gwen and tell her what had happened. It didn't hurt to try, right?

He dialed Gwen's number on the phone Toriel had given him. To his surprise, she picked up. "Good news!" David said. "I found Max!"

"Oh thank God," Gwen said. "Get back here quickly and help me—"

David cut her off. "There's a… small problem."

Gwen sighed. "Of course it couldn't be that fucking easy" she muttered. "What?"

"We sort of fell down a hole and now we're both stuck."

"Holy hell I think I saw the one you're talking about. How are you still alive?" Gwen asked. "Nikki, down!"

"Good question." David answered. "I'm feeling a-okay! Everything is fine!"

"Do you need me to come get you from the hole?" Gwen asked. "You cannot stand on top of the bus!"

"Uh no, it led out to a cave system and there's another entrance on the back side."

"How do you know?" Gwen asked. "Campbell, could you get her?"

"This is going to sound really weird… but there are a bunch of monsters down here and they kind of… told us?"

Gwen groaned. "So now not only do I have to deal with all of these kids basically by myself, because God knows Campbell's no use, you've hit your head. Just, stay still, I'll figure something out." "Nerf, I swear to God do not test me today!"

"Wait!" David said. "Let me get Max! He'll confirm!"

"Of course he will, because he's Max and he loves being a little shit. Just because Max says something doesn't mean it's true. Hold still."

David stopped pacing and looked around. He saw a bear monster close by. "Okay wait. If it's just Max and I here and I'm imagining everything else, what's this?" He held the phone to his chest and started speaking to the bear monster. "So sorry to impose, this might seem a bit rude, but would you mind saying something into my phone?"

"David? David?" Gwen asked. "Where'd he go?"

"Um, hello?" said a voice that was very clearly not David or Max. "Is that good? Is that what you needed?"

"Yes! Perfect!" David said. "Thank you very much!" He put the phone back to his ear and walked away. "See?"

Gwen sighed. "Sure. Get back up here as soon as you can, okay?" "Campbell, stop, I don't even know what you're doing, but stop."

"Will do!" said David.

Gwen hung up. Well there goes her chance of reenforcements. Damnit.

Chapter Text

CHAPTER 10

David put the phone back into his pocket. He should probably check up on Max. Where was Max?

Chara sighed to themself. They didn’t like feeling like a weird tour guide, but it would probably take David forever to find Max without their help, and they were curious about how much Waterfall had changed. “You have a feeling you will find Max at the skeletons’ house.”

Where is the skeletons' house? David thought. At this point he'd stopped questioning the fact there was a voice in his head. Maybe Gwen was right and he did hit it.

Chara suddenly realized they didn’t know, nor did they know if he was still there, in any case.

They shifted over to hover near Max. “Didya miss me?” they asked. It took a moment for them to figure out where exactly they were. They were outside, close to a large house. They guessed it was probably Sans and Papyrus's.

“Could you stop sneaking up on me like that?!” Max yelled.

“How?” Chara asked, laughing. “I can’t exactly make footsteps or show up in front of you first.”

Max sighed. I really need to figure out how to remember to think instead of talk.

"You really do," said Chara. "David's done by the way, if you want to go back to meet him.'

Max rolled his eyes, but started trudging back towards Grillby's. He's going to have to walk by here to go to Waterfall anyway.

"Yeah, but knowing him he's probably just going to knock on every door he finds looking for the right house," Chara said.

"Knowing him," Max thought. I didn't know you knew him that well.

"Am I wrong?" Chara asked, somewhat defensively.

ASGORE FIGHT

Max rolled his eyes. “Not ready? Pssh, Papyrus was right, this guy’s gonna be a big fucking pushover, right David?... David?”

David, who had been so cheerful just a moment ago, was visibly shaken. He smiled uncertainly. “I don’t know about that,” he said hesitantly.

“Ugh, let’s just go fight this guy,” Max said, starting to walk through the door.

“No!” David yelled. His voice wavered slightly and he grabbed at Max’s sleeve, pulling him back. “If we have to fight him, I’m fighting him alone .”

“‘If’ we have to fight him? He’s the only thing standing between us and getting out of this dump! He doesn’t even want to fight! I’m sure it’ll be easy enough to convince him to help us instead of trying to kill us.”

“We can’t ,” said David. “There’s nothing to say. Let’s go, uh, watch anime with Dr. Alphys!”

“What’s going on with you, man?” Max asked. He squinted. “Are you … like a shapeshifting monster or something?”

“No!” said David. “We just- we just can’t go in there. We’re not ready to fight him.”

“Pssh, I think you’re underestimating me,” Max said. “You can be all weird out here, I’m gonna go talk to him.”

“ No! ’ David blurted. “I can’t watch you die again!”

“ Again? ” Max asked. 

David slapped his hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry, Max.” He whispered. “I couldn’t protect you.”