Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sans. I promise you.” Frisk took Sans’s hand in their own.

“No more resets. No matter what.”

They smiled at the skeleton. “We roll with the punches. Whatever happens, we can do it together.”

~~~

“Frisk.” Sans walked up to Frisk.

“Y’know, when you made that promise, I really wanted to believe it. I really did. And now… I do.”

Sans hugged Frisk. “Over a year with no resets. On the surface. I never thought it would happen.”

“Thank you.”

~~~
(6 months later)

“Bye Sans! Bye Papyrus!” Frisk waved goodbye to their skeleton friends. “See you tomorrow!”

“See ya kid. ” Sans waved, a happy smile on his face.

“FAREWELL LADY TORIEL AND HUMAN FRISK!” Papyrus said as he and Sans walked out of the house.

“Bye Sans. Bye Papyrus.” Toriel waved to the skeletons. She turned to Frisk. “Bed time, Frisky.” Toriel tickled Frisk, making them laugh.

The two walked to Frisk’s room and Toriel tucked Frisk into bed. “G’night mom.” Frisk said.

“Goodnight sweetie.” Toriel said, planting a kiss on Frisk’s head. “Sweet dreams.”

Toriel left the room, leaving Frisk to drift off into slumber, a smile on their face.

…

“LET US BEGIN THE EXPERIMENT”

~~~

Frisk woke in a cold sweat and with a painful headache. They just had the most terrible nightmare. They couldn't remember it well, it was already fading from their memory. But it was so vivid. The dream seemed to be both brief and agonizingly long. But when it was over they woke up. Woke up on a bed of golden flowers.

The second Frisk realized where they were they sat up in panic. They were back in the Underground, where they had fallen down over a year ago. *No… no no no… what happened?!* They thought in panic.

They had promised. They had promised Sans they would never reset. And they hadn't. But a reset had occurred anyways. They knew it. And a pinch to the arm confirmed this wasn't a dream.

Frisk clutched their head. *This can't be happening. Oh no no no this can't be happening!* Sans was going to kill them. They had promised! And Sans probably thought they had broken their promise.

*I didn't Sans. I swear. I’ll fix this. I’ll find a way… the save point! Maybe I can load my old save? We’ll go back in time a bit, but the monsters will still be on the surface.* Frisk nodded, determined. *I’ll fix this. I just need to get to the save point and-*

“Uhhggg…” Frisk jumped at the sudden voice. They looked behind them to see something that definitely wasn't normal. The flowers Frisk sat on were the normal yellow buttercups. But behind them, the buttercups turned into white tulips. And lying on the tulips was a boy.

He had very pale skin and his head was covered in straight, neat, short black hair. In contrast to Frisk’s bright colorful casual clothing, his clothes were comparatively dull and formal. He wore a white collared shirt with a black vest overtop and beige shorts. His wrists and most of his forearms were covered in white cloth bandages.

Frisk watched as he propped himself up, before noticing the flowers under him. “...Tulips?” he said in a quiet, tired voice, staring at the blooms with one eye, the other hidden beneath a medical eyepatch. Now that he was sitting up, Frisk could see a small silver chain hanging from his neck. Tied to it was one of those sticky hands you can get in capsule machines. The hand was red in color.

“What- is this a dream…?” The boy asked himself.

*Who is this?* Frisk wondered. Wasn't a reset supposed to just rewind time? Why was there someone else now?

He was quiet for a moment before speaking suddenly. “If it's not a dream, then where-” he began to look around, cutting himself off when he noticed Frisk. Upon noticing them, he flinched back. “Ah! Who- who are you?”

“Umm… I’m Frisk… they/them.” Frisk said. “Who are you?”

“I'm… I’m Sunny…” he said quietly. “... he/him.” he added.

“That's a nice name.” Frisk complimented.

“Y-yours too…”

The two stared at each other. “Do… Do you know where we are?” Sunny asked, looking around. Frisk, like always, hid their knowledge of resets and time travel.

“I have no idea. And I really don't know how I got here.” Frisk said. The second part was true. “Do you know how you got here?” They asked.

Sunny shook his head. “No… I went to bed in my house. Then I had a nightmare which- which I couldn't stop. And now I’m here.”

“That's… what happened to me too…” Frisk said. “Did you hear voices in the dream?”

“Y-yeah… I think so…” Sunny nodded. “But I- I don't remember what they said.”

“Weird…” Frisk muttered. “Do you remember what the dream was about? I don't.”

Sunny was quiet for a moment before shaking his head. “No… and that's really weird… I- I’m very good at remembering my dreams… but I can't even remember a single thing that happened besides the voices…” Sunny anxiously fidgeted with the flowers beneath him.

Frisk grew more concerned. “That's exactly the same for me…” *What in the world is going on?*

“I a-assume that means that you have no idea what's going on…” Sunny said with a sigh. “Because I sure don't…”

Frisk, of course, did know some things, but until they knew more about Sunny, they decided to play dumb.

“We appear to be underground. Like in a cave. Did we fall?” Frisk looked up. Sunny followed their gaze.

“How? And where did we fall from?” Sunny asked. Frisk just shrugged.

“Wait… if we’re underground… H-how am I supposed to get home?” Sunny realized, his eye widening.

“Hey, it's ok!” Frisk assured him as Sunny started to panic. “I’m sure there's a way out.”

Frisk could already tell Sunny was someone like Alphys. Someone who was usually nervous and succumbed to stress easily. The situation probably wasn't helping. It was people like these Frisk wanted to help. They wanted to help bring confidence back into people like this.

Sunny took a deep breath, steadying his shaking as he calmed down. “Y-yeah. You're right…” he said.

Frisk got up and held out their hand. Sunny hesitantly took it and they helped him to his feet. Sunny was significantly taller than Frisk, almost an entire foot taller. He was surprisingly light as well. Frisk wondered if it was because of how thin he was. His height and figure made Frisk guess he was around 13 to 14 years old. That's how old Frisk was too which made Frisk question why he was so tall compared to- oh… Frisk takes a quick look at their own body. They are 12 again, not 14. *I really need to fix this…*

Frisk looked around and spotted the entrance to the Ruins. “There.” Frisk pointed to it. “We can try to get out through that cave.”

Sunny followed their gaze and nodded. “Ok…” the two walked towards the entrance. “Thank you for helping me.” Sunny said softly.

“Of course!” Frisk smiled at him. They barely knew him and still had no idea why he was here, but Frisk could tell Sunny was a type of person who could use some support, especially in new situations. Someone like this needed help, and Frisk was always willing to help people. “A friend in need is a friend indeed!” but their mind still wouldn't leave the question alone;

Was he involved with the reset?

~~~

Frisk walked through the pillared doorway and was met with a familiar face. Flowey was in the middle of the room, a cheerful expression on his face, but Frisk could see annoyance deep in his eyes.

*I’m sorry…* Frisk thought as they flinched slightly at Flowey’s gaze. Flowey opened his mouth to say something, and then Sunny walked into the room. Flowey closed his mouth and stared at Sunny, who stared right back in confusion.

After a small staring contest, Flowey began to speak. “Howdy! I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!” he said happily, putting on his normal facade.

“Wha- what- it talked-” Sunny said, shocked. “Are you SURE this isn't a dream?”

“No, it's real.” Frisk said, pretending to be surprised.

Flowey looked Frisk’s way for a second, questioning in his eyes. Frisk gave the subtlest shrug they could, telling Flowey they had no idea what was going on.

Flowey refocused on Sunny. “What are your names, friends?” Flowey asked.

“I’m Frisk!” Frisk said, feigning ignorance like Flowey was. Sunny did not respond, so Frisk answered for him. “This is Sunny!”

“Hmmm, you two are new to the underground, aren't cha’?” Frisk nodded. Sunny still didn't answer or move, still frozen with shock. “It’s rude to stare, friend!” Flowey said with a smile.

Sunny instantly looked away. “S-s-sorry. So sorry.” he apologized nervously.

“It's quite alright! You're probably very confused. Someone should probably show you how things work around down here!” Flowey looked around. “I guess little ol’ me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!”

Flowey initiated a battle and Frisk’s Soul was pulled out. Sunny let out a small yelp of surprise as his Soul was pulled out as well.

“See those hearts?” Flowey said. “Those are your Souls! The very culmination of your… beings… huh. That's a very unique Soul you got there.”

Frisk turned to Sunny to see the weirdest Soul they had ever seen in their life. It wasn't a solid color like it should be, it was multiple colors. The right side of Sunny's Soul was light blue, the color of patience. but then the Soul split down the middle, and the left side of the Soul was a bright red, but somehow Frisk didn't feel like the red meant determination.

Within the red half of the Soul was a smaller heart, cut in half by the blue. The smaller heart was a pure black, which wasn't possible. Black Souls didn't exist outside of fiction, it wasn't a color Souls could take. In fact, none of this should be possible. A Soul could only be one color. Yet Sunny's Soul had three. How? And what did this multicolored Soul mean?

Sunny was staring at his soul in shock and confusion. Frisk couldn't tell if this was because he never saw his Soul before, or was confused on why it looked the way it did.

“Well, in any case,” Flowey continued, resuming his charade. “Your Soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV! What's LV? Why LOVE of course!”

“Oh! You seem to already have some LOVE, friend!” Flowey shot a glance at Frisk and gestured towards Sunny with his eyes. Frisk blinked and looked at Sunny. They knew what Flowey wanted them to do. Frisk focused their soul, and checked their new friend.

*…What?* Sunny’s LOVE, his Level Of Violence, was four. *Why? How?* Frisk had already identified Sunny was a nervous person, someone who would rather run than fight. But perhaps they had jumped to a conclusion too quickly. He would have had to kill several people to raise his LOVE that much. And he was still really young.

Even stranger, his HP was 15. That was less than Frisk’s, and Frisk already had low HP. Some people just had naturally low HP, and Frisk was one of these people. But there was a threshold for HP. HP below 20 was identified as unhealthy and dangerous for the individual. Frisk was borderline but Sunny was way below the threshold.

But something was wrong. Sunny’s higher level should have increased his HP, probably to around 30 or so. Yet Sunny was still very very frail, his level seeming to not have affected his HP at all, which didn't make sense. Even so, Frisk now knew they couldn’t underestimate him. He seemed normal at first, but Frisk was beginning to think he was hiding something.

“Well, do you want some more LOVE, friend?” Flowey asked.

“I- I think I'm good, thank you.” Sunny politely declined. Frisk couldn't tell if Sunny had declined because he was unsure of what LOVE meant, or declined because he knew what it was and didn't want anymore. Frisk hoped it was the latter.

“Nonsense!” Flowey said with a wink. “Some more LOVE is always a good thing! Don't worry, I’ll share some with you!”

Flowey created his seed bullets, which floated in the air around him. “I don't know who you got your LOVE from, but down here, LOVE is shared through… little white… ‘friendliness pellets!”

“Are you ready?” Flowey asked. He didn't wait for Sunny to answer. “Move around! Get as many as you can!”

Flowey tossed the friendliness pellets at Frisk and Sunny. Frisk instinctively dodged, even though they knew Flowey was probably just pretending to attack them so Sunny wouldn't be suspicious.

But Sunny was already suspicious, and he dodged the bullets before Frisk did. Perhaps he wasn't suspicious, but was just nervous and scared. He sure looked to be.

Flowey’s facade began to crumble as his face became annoyed. “Hey, you missed them. Let’s try again, ok?”

Flowey created more bullets and threw them at the humans faster this time. Once again, both humans moved out of the way.

Flowey didn't even try a third time. He quit his act right there, his face morphing into a creepy expression. Sunny quickly took a step back, a look of fear on his face.

“You know what's going on here, don't you?” Flowey asked in his creepy voice. “You just wanted to see us suffer.”

Flowey created a ring of bullets around Frisk and Sunny.

“Now DIE-”

Flowey didn't get to finish. The whole encounter had taken longer than normal, and now Toriel was here. She blasted Flowey out of the ground with a fireball. Flowey shot a glare at Sunny and Frisk before digging himself into the soil and retreating.

*He’s mad at me…* Frisk thought guiltily. *This isn't my fault, but he might think it is. And either way, he’s mad that I'm going along with it.*

They thought for a moment as the silhouette of Toriel began moving towards them. *or maybe he’s not mad. Maybe he just wants to make sure Sunny thinks I’m normal.* Frisk decided to work with that possibility for now. Frisk didn't exactly trust Sunny anymore with his high LOVE.

“What a terrible creature,” Toriel said as she stepped into the light, causing Sunny to take a step back. “Torturing such a poor innocent-” Toriel suddenly paused upon seeing them, her face contorting with worry. “Youths. There are two of you. Oh dear…”

*Right.* Frisk thought. *I'm the last human the monsters need to break the barrier. An 8th human isn't needed. I wonder how the monsters are going to react to an extra human?*

Frisk couldn't help but feel excited about the situation. It was a “what if” scenario brought to reality. But Frisk forced their excitement away. As interesting as this was, Frisk wasn't going to play along with this. As soon as they got to the save point, they were reloading their save and after making sure this would never happen again, they were going to pretend like this never happened.

Toriel regained her composure and smiled at them. “Ah, forgive me. I do not mean to worry you. Everything is okay now, you have no need to be afraid, my children.”

Her reassurance seemed to be falling on deaf ears. Sunny was incredibly shaken by the previous events and the fact a monster was standing in front of him. With time being rewound, he didn't remember that monsters existed.

“I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.” Toriel said. “I pass through this place everyday to see if anyone has fallen down. You two are the first humans to come here in a long time. What might your names be?”

“I’m Frisk.”

“S- Sunny.”

“It is a pleasure to meet you two.” Toriel said. “Are you two injured?”

Frisk and Sunny shook their heads no.

“Wonderful. Follow me. I will guide you through the catacombs.” Toriel said, beginning to walk away. “This way.”

Frisk began to walk after their mom, before pausing when they realized Sunny wasn't following them. They turned back to look at him.

“Aren't you coming?” Frisk asked.

“I- no.” Sunny said, shuffling in place anxiously.

Frisk wasn't about to leave Sunny alone so he could potentially do something bad. “Why not?”

“We- we just got attacked by that flower thing and- and now there’s that- I don't even know what she is, but I don't trust her.” Sunny said.

Frisk was relieved by Sunny’s reasoning. It was sound and matched his behavior. He didn't seem to have any ulterior motives, he was just scared. But Frisk knew there was zero danger.

“That's true.” Frisk said. “But she did save us. And we don't really have a better option right now.”

Sunny looked at the ground quietly, a conflicted look on his face. He was still scared, but he seemed to realize there was no other option. “O- ok… I’ll come…”

Frisk nodded and continued walking, Sunny following behind them at a distance. That was good. It gave them time to check out the save point without them noticing.

Frisk walked into the first room of the ruins and immediately headed to the glowing yellow star. They reached their hand out.

*He's not my friend.* Frisk thought. They still didn't trust Sunny. But they were still kind of sad their adventure together ended right here. They went to reload their save and-

Frisk stared at their save file in shock, dread rushing through them. Their file was gone. They had no save file. All that time spent on the surface, building a new life. It was gone.

*Wait- wait it says File 2!* Frisk thought, relief flooding through them. *That means my first file is still there! But how do I get to it?*

Frisk had no idea. The current menu had no way to change files. And Sunny had caught up, and was now staring at Frisk in confusion. Frisk quickly saved and hurried after Toriel, trying to seem normal.

Thankfully, Sunny didn't stop to question them, and continued walking after Frisk, seeming more interested in the environment than Frisk’s behavior.

As Frisk walked after Toriel, Frisk began thinking of solutions to their new problem.

*Flowey used multiple files when he turned Omega.* Frisk thought. *If anyone knows how to change files, it will be him. When I get a moment, I'll talk to him.*

But for now, with Sunny walking behind them, Frisk couldn't talk to Flowey. They had to wait until they had a moment alone, away from Sunny, but they didn't know when this would be. And they also had to learn of any involvement Sunny had with the reset. He had to be involved somehow. His behavior raised the possibility he wasn't involved on purpose, but he was tied to the reset, Frisk knew he was.

Frisk remained firm even though they knew this situation wasn’t over yet. It had only just begun. Frisk readied themselves for another trip through the underground, but with a new twist.

Chapter Text

The door to the hospital room opened, causing Aubrey, Kel, Hero, and Basil to turn to their visitor. It was Sunny, eye bandaged and wearing a hospital gown.

“Sunny? What are you doing up?” Hero asked as the injured teen walked into the room. “You should be resting.”

Sunny stood there silently for a moment, shaking slightly. But he pulled himself together and spoke.

“I have to tell you something.”

~~~

Sunny went to bed filled with stress. His friends may have forgiven him, but his life was still miserable. His life in Nearby City was infinitely more stressful than life in Faraway Town. It was so busy, so loud, so crowded. So unfamiliar. Sunny had to force himself to go outside. He knew he needed to do so if he wanted to recover and not slip back into his old habits. But it was so difficult with everyone staring at him and his missing eye.

Sunny closed his remaining eye as he went to sleep, ignoring the pain in his arms. Hopefully tomorrow would be better, but he wished this every night, and nothing ever changed. It was hard to sleep with how stressed he was, but after two hours of lying in bed and hallucinating, he finally drifted off.

~~~
(6 months later)

“Good night Sunny!” mom said as Sunny left for his room.

“Goodnight.” Sunny said back, both to his mom and his caretaker Vallery. Vallery had been assigned by the family’s therapist after his mom’s difficulties raising Sunny were brought up. She had been a great help to the family and Sunny’s health. Things had been so much better recently, and Sunny was happy.

Sunny went up to his room and tucked himself into bed. As he watched the lights of cars down on the road flash by his window, he began to drift off. Hopefully tomorrow would be a good day. He wished this every night, and often, his wish would come true.

…

“LET US BEGIN THE TRANSFER.”

~~~

Sunny woke up in a cold sweat and with a crushing headache. What the hell was that nightmare? It was already vanishing from his memory, but it was so vivid, not that vivid dreams were unusual for Sunny. But something about that dream was off.

“Uhg…” Sunny groaned. He propped himself up and froze. He wasn't in his bedroom. He was in a cave and lying on a bed of flowers. Very familiar flowers.

“...Tulips?” Sunny said, staring at the perfect white blossoms underneath him “What- Is this a dream?” Sunny asked. He was quick to get a reply.

Omori suddenly appeared in front of him, staring at Sunny and the flowers. “No. You're awake.” he said. “We were in a dream before. I dream I couldn't stop for some reason. This is real.”

Sunny began to look around. “If this isn't a dream, then where- ah!”

Sunny flinched back when he saw he wasn't alone. Sitting only a few feet away from him on a bed of golden flowers was a young child. They were wearing a blue sweater with purple stripes and blue shorts. They had short messy brown hair and their eyes were squinted closed, yet they still appeared to be able to see, and were staring at Sunny.

“Who- Who are you?” Sunny asked nervously. He wished he had noticed them sooner before talking with Omori. Omori was just a part of Sunny’s head. He was a unique part that could think for himself, but still just in Sunny’s mind. He could only appear and speak to Sunny by making him hallucinate, and that meant only Sunny could see and hear him. He probably looked insane, talking to someone who wasn't there. Hopefully the child would just think Sunny was only thinking out loud.

“Ummm… I’m Frisk… they/them.” the child said cautiously. “Who are you?”

“I’m… I’m Sunny…” Sunny said. “... He/him.” he added.

“That's a nice name.” Frisk complimented.

“Y-yours too…”

The two stared at each other awkwardly before Sunny spoke.

“Do… Do you know where we are?” Sunny asked, looking around

“I have no idea.” Frisk said, looking around as well. “Do you know how you got here?”

Sunny shook his head. “No… I went to bed in my house. Then I had a nightmare which- which I couldn't stop.” Sunny managed to catch himself before he said Omori’s name. “And now I'm here.”

Frisk’s brow furrowed. “That’s… what happened to me too…” they said. “Did you hear voices in the dream?”

“Y- yeah… I think so…” Sunny nodded. “But I- I don't remember what they said.”

“Weird…” Frisk muttered. “Do you remember what the dream was about? I don't.”

Sunny couldn't remember at all. He couldn't even remember what the voices in the dream had said. He glanced at Omori.

“I can't remember either.” Omori said. “And that's very, very concerning since usually it's me that's making you forget.”

Sunny refocused on Frisk and shook his head. “No… and that’s really weird… I- I’m very good at remembering my dreams… But I can't even remember a single thing that happened besides the voices…”

“That’s exactly the same for me…” Frisk revealed, brow furrowing even more. Sunny’s brow also furrowed. The same exact thing happened to two unrelated people? What was going on?

“I think they are being honest.” Omori suddenly chimed in. He was very good at knowing when people are lying. Liars know how liars act. He had put on so many fronts and facades that Omori had become a master at seeing right through them. If he thought someone was being honest, they usually were.

“I a-assume that means that you have no idea what's going on…” Sunny said to Frisk. “Because I sure don't…

“We appear to be underground. Like in a cave.” Frisk said, looking up. “Did we fall?”

Sunny followed their gaze to see a large hole above them, sunlight shining through. “How?” Sunny asked. “And where did we fall from?”

Frisk just shrugged, as clueless as Sunny was. Suddenly, Sunny realized something, his eye widening. “Wait… if we’re underground… H-how am I supposed to get home?”

“Climbing out isn't an option.” Omori said as Sunny began to panic. “Even if it was, you don't have the strength to-”

“Hey, it’s ok!” Frisk assured Sunny, cutting off Omori. “I’m sure there’s a way out.” Frisk said. They didn't seem too scared about what was happening, and their reassurance helped anchor Sunny.

Sunny took a deep breath as he calmed down. “Y- yeah. You’re right…” he said.

Frisk got up and held out their hand to Sunny. Sunny hesitantly took it and Frisk helped him to his feet. Sunny brushed the tulip petals off of him and made sure his photo album was in his vest. It was, and his pocket knife was safely concealed in the vest as well. Frisk looked around before pointing.

“There. We can try to get out through that cave.” They said.

Sunny followed their gaze and saw the cave continued, going further into the earth. Sunny nodded. “Ok…” he said.

The two began walking towards the cave. “Thank you for helping me.” Sunny said, grateful.

“Of course!” Frisk said with a smile. They were very calm about the situation, filled with a hopeful attitude. “A friend in need is a friend indeed!” They proclaimed.

“They are a child.” Omori noted. He was unable to read Sunny’s thoughts, but knew enough about his mind to know what he was thinking. “They probably find a situation like this exciting rather than scary. They act much like Kel does, but more toned down. It's like if you combined Kel and Hero- wait a moment.”

Sunny paused. “Are those pillars?” Omori asked.

Sunny looked ahead and sure enough, there were pillars around an entrance deeper into the cave. The entrance almost looked like a doorway.

“Do people live down here?” Omori wondered. “In a cave?”

Sunny opened his mouth to reply when Omori stopped him. “Keep up with Frisk. If there are people down here, it's best to stick together. We don't exactly know what kind of people live down here. But if there are people down here, or were down here at some point, there is a good chance there is a way out.”

Sunny gave a subtle nod and continued walking after Frisk, Omori following behind him, muttering to himself.

“I have a bad feeling about this…”

~~~

Sunny followed Frisk through the doorway and into a small room. Frisk had stopped walking and was staring at a patch of grass in the center of the room. In the grass sat a single large golden flower. The flower had a face drawn on it, or at least Sunny thought it was drawn on, but then the flower’s open mouth closed and it stared at him. Sunny stared back, unable to tell if he had just imagined that.

Suddenly, the flower smiled and tilted its head to the side in cute fashion. “Howdy!” it said. “I’m Flowey! Flowey the flower!”

“Wha- what- it talked-” Sunny said, taken aback. “Are you SURE this isn't a dream?” He asked Omori. *Or am I just hallucinating again?*

Frisk answered before Omori could. “No, it's real.” they said, sounding amazed.

“They’re right.” Omori said, shocking Sunny. “This is real life. And considering Frisk can see him, this isn't a hallucination either.”

“What are your names, friends?” Flowey asked.

“I’m Frisk!” Frisk said happily, seeming to be excited by the magical talking flower. Sunny was too shocked to reply, so Frisk answered for him. “This is Sunny!”

“Hmmm, you two are new to the Underground, aren’t cha’?” Flowey asked.

Frisk nodded, but Sunny continued to stare at Flowey.

“It’s rude to stare, friend!” Flowey said with a smile.

Sunny quickly looked away. “S-s-sorry. So sorry.” he apologized.

“It's quite alright!” Flowey said. “Your probably very confused. Someone should show you how things work around down here!” Flowey looked around, as if searching for someone to help.

“It's an act.” Omori suddenly said. “Look at his eyes. He’s hiding annoyance. Hiding it the second we walked in. He’s pretending to be nice. Don't trust him. Stay on guard.”

Sunny tensed. Omori wasn't the most trustworthy person, but Sunny certainly trusted Omori more than a magical talking flower.

The flower, upon failing to locate anyone, moved his stem in a way that looked like a shrug. “I guess little ol’ me will have to do. Ready? Here we go!”

All of a sudden, Sunny felt a pulling feeling in his chest. He let out a shocked yelp as suddenly, a heart appeared in front of him. The heart was light blue on the right side, and red on the left, with a smaller black heart inside the red side.

“See those hearts?” Flowey said. “Those are your Souls! The very culmination of your… beings…” Flowey stared at Sunny, smile falling slightly. “Huh. That's a very unique Soul you got there.”

Sunny glanced over at Frisk, who was also staring at Sunny’s Soul, looking very shocked and confused. Unlike Sunny, their Soul was a pure bright red all over.

“It might be how they are supposed to look like. Just a single color.” Omori theorized. “Maybe yours looks different because of me. Maybe if I wasn't here, yours would just be blue. I believe the red side is supposed to represent me.”

*Thanks for the insight,* Sunny thought. *But can you stop being so calm and understanding when I just had my SOUL pulled out of my body?! Can you stop acting like this is perfectly normal?!*

“Well, in any case,” Flowey said, his smile returning. “Your Soul starts off weak, but can grow strong if you gain a lot of LV!”

“Level? What is this, a video game?” Omori commented, brow furrowed in suspicion.

“What’s LV? Why LOVE of course!”

“Oh. That- what?” Omori seemed incredibly confused, as was Sunny. “...I guess LV does sound like LOVE if you try to pronounce it.” Omori mumbled. But the two’s confusion only increased.

“Oh!” Flowey looked at Sunny. “You seem to already have some LOVE, friend!” he said, before glancing at Frisk for a split second.

“I don't think the LOVE he is referring to is affection, so I don't know what he means by that.” Omori said. “And now I don't trust Frisk. This is the second time Flowey has shot them a glance. Something is up with them.”

Sunny had completely missed the first time. But Sunny still trusted Frisk. Omori had confirmed Frisk was just as confused as they were, they were in the same situation. So Flowey couldn't know them, and would have no reason to be looking at them like that. Frisk just seemed like a normal kid. Omori probably had a good reason for the sudden distrust, but Sunny couldn't ask him with Frisk and Flowey around.

“Well, do you want some more LOVE, friend?” Flowey asked.

“I- I think I’m good, thank you.” Sunny politely declined.

“Nonsense!” Flowey winked. “Some more LOVE is always a good thing! Don't worry, I’ll share some with you!”

Suddenly, little white seeds appeared in the air around Flowey. “I don't know who you got your LOVE from, but down here, LOVE is shared through… little white… ‘friendliness pellets!’”

“Well, that's not the most suspicious sounding thing I've ever heard.” Omori said sarcastically. “Do NOT touch them.”

*I wasn't going to.*

“Are you ready?” Flowey asked, but didn't bother waiting for an answer before tossing the friendliness pellets at Sunny and Frisk. “Move around! Get as many as you can!”

Sunny quickly moved out of the way and to his surprise, so did Frisk. It appears Frisk also thought this whole thing was incredibly suspicious. They were smarter than they looked.

Flowey’s happy expression turned annoyed. “Hey, you missed them. Let's try again, ok?”

He created more friendliness pellets and flung them out, faster this time. Once again, both Sunny and Frisk moved out of the way.

Flowey stared at them, before his face suddenly morphed from his simple smiley face into a frightening jagged smile, with large black eyes and glowing white pupils. Sunny took a step back as fear flooded through him.

“You know what's going on here, don't you?” he asked in a wicked sounding voice. “You just wanted to see us suffer.”

Suddenly, Sunny and Frisk were surrounded by a ring of friendliness pellets, which Sunny now knew were not friendly at all.

“Now DIE-” before Flowey could even finish, a fireball flew towards him, knocking him out of the soil. The pellets dropped to the ground and disappeared. Flowey shot a glare in the direction of the humans before he dug himself into the ground and disappeared.

A large white figure made its way into the room, causing Sunny to take another step back. The person who just walked in was no human. They appeared to be some kind of humanoid goat creature, wearing a purple dress. And she was extremely tall, almost twice the size of Frisk, who Sunny was only half a foot taller than.

“What a terrible creature,” the creature said in a woman's voice. “torturing such a poor innocent-” the woman paused upon seeing them and did a double take, her face contorting with worry. “Youths. There are two of you. Oh dear…”

She quickly regained her composure. “Ah forgive me. I do not mean to worry you. Everything is okay now, you have no need to be afraid, my children.”

Her reassurance meant little to Sunny, who was freaking out. First he nearly got killed by a talking flower, now there was a goat monster talking to him, calling him her child.

Interestingly, Sunny wasnt that shocked by the events themselves. Stuff like this had happened in Headspace all the time. What was scaring him was the fact he wasn't dreaming. This was all real.

He glanced at Frisk, who for some reason, despite being in the same exact situation as Sunny, including nearly being killed, didn't seem scared in the slightest. They didn't even look confused. They looked completely unbothered by what was playing out before them. Their shoulders weren't even tensed.

*Ok, Omori… I'm starting to believe you now…*

“I am Toriel, caretaker of the Ruins.” the monster said. “I pass through this place everyday to see if anyone has fallen down.”

Sunny expected Omori to quip about Toriel almost being too late, but he was silent. Sunny looked over at him to see him staring at Toriel. Omori saw through Sunny’s eyes, but he would often cause his hallucination form to look at things like a real person would. He was probably attempting to figure Toriel out and determine if she was a threat.

“You two are the first humans to come here in a long time.” Toriel explained. “What might your names be?”

“I’m Frisk.”

“S- Sunny…”

“It is a pleasure to meet you two.” Toriel said. “Are you two injured?”

Sunny and Frisk shook their heads no.

“Wonderful. Follow me. I will guide you through the catacombs.” Toriel said, beginning to walk away. “This way.”

Frisk began to walk after Toriel, but Sunny didn't follow. Frisk noticed and turned back to him. “Aren't you coming?” they asked.

“I- no.” Sunny said.

“Why not?”

“We- we just got attacked by that flower thing and- and now there's that- I don't even know what she is, but I don't trust her.” Sunny said.

Frisk was quiet for a moment. “That's true.” they said. “But she did save us. And we don't really have a better option right now.”

Sunny was quiet. Frisk was right. Sunny wouldn't be getting out of this cave, not unless he went further in. “O- Ok… I'll come…”

Frisk nodded and continued walking. Sunny trailed behind slowly, putting distance between himself and Frisk as the walls of the cave transformed into purple bricks.

“Is the goat woman trustworthy?” Sunny whispered to Omori when he felt like Frisk was out of earshot. Sunny trusted Omori’s judgment right now. He was right about the flower before.

“I believe so.” Omori said. “She seemed taken aback and concerned at the beginning, but I believe she was more concerned for our well being rather than about us directly. If her calling you her child means anything, she’s a very caring person. I don't believe she’s hiding anything, not at the moment.”

Like always, Omori’s reasoning was sound and it put Sunny at ease to know Toriel wasn't going to hurt him. “And Frisk?” Sunny asked. “Can you elaborate on why you don't trust Frisk? Not what just happened. Before.”

“The flower was- what are they doing?”

Sunny noticed Frisk, standing in front of a pile of red leaves with their hand outstretched. They were staring at the wall, but it also seemed like they weren't focused on the wall.

“They’re looking at something.” Omori said. “Something we can't see. Like when you look at me.”

Whatever they were looking at had them looking confused and worried, possibly even scared. But when they noticed Sunny watching, they moved their hand like they were pressing something, then quickly walked to the staircase Toriel was standing on.

“Add that to the list of reasons I don't trust them.” Omori said. “Follow them. Try not to act like you're suspicious.”

Sunny followed instructions, walking up the staircase as Omori followed closely behind. As he walked, Sunny focused on the environment instead of Frisk.

*Why are the bricks purple?* he wondered. There was so much purple it was kind of overwhelming. *...Mari would probably like this place…*

“As I was saying, the flower was only looking at us when it spoke.” Omori said. “It barely regarded Frisk at all. It only acknowledged their presence when it glanced at them. But with your missing eye, they were in your blindspot and I couldn't see how they reacted. But Frisk knows something, and the flower knows they know.”

“Should I ask about it?” Sunny whispered.

“No. Hide your knowledge for now.” Omori said. “But keep your guard up.”

Sunny gave a slight nod as he reached the top of the staircase. As he followed Frisk and Toriel into the next room, he knew that whatever was going on, this was only the beginning.

Chapter Text

“Welcome to your new home, innocent ones. Allow me to educate you in the operation of the Ruins.”

Sunny watched Toriel step on several switches, but he wasn't really paying attention.

*New home? Does she expect us to just… stay here?* Sunny thought. *Doesn't she know we might already have a home?*

“Hmmm…” Omori said. “I’m beginning to sense a motive…”

A pang of fear ran through Sunny when he realized what Omori was implying.

“Calm down.” Omori said. “I don't know if that's really what she wants.”

Suddenly, there was the sound of a door opening. “The Ruins are full of puzzles.” Toriel said as she stepped away from the lever she had just pulled. “Ancient fusions between diversions and doorkeys. One must solve them to move from room to room. Please adjust yourself to the sight of them.”

Toriel continued walking and Frisk followed. Sunny walked after them, reading a plaque on the wall as he did.

“Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones. Foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.”

“Well… I guess my journey ends here then.” Sunny softly joked to himself.

“Hah.” Omori said. “Don't worry, I got the fearless part. And you're brave, don't worry. We’re gonna get home.”

Sunny nodded at the reassurance. He was glad he decided to give Omori a second chance. He may have trapped Sunny in his own mind for years and then tried to kill him, but his presence now made Sunny calmer.

“To make progress here, you will need to trigger several switches.” Toriel said as the humans entered the next room. “Do not worry, I have labeled the ones you need to flip.”

Toriel walked away and Frisk walked across a small bridge to pull a lever, surrounded by yellow arrows painted on the wall. Toriel nodded approvingly and walked across a second bridge. Sunny quietly followed Frisk as they crossed the second bridge and pulled a second lever. Metal spikes that previously blocked the way forwards retracted, clearing the way.

“Splendid!” Toriel said. “I am proud of you, little one.”

“Oh please. A toddler could do that.” Omori scoffed. “That could hardly be called a puzzle.”

Sunny had to agree. Even Frisk didn't seem too excited about the praise. They just continued after Toriel, and Sunny followed.

Toriel paused in front of a strange cotton and burlap doll on a wooden stand. “As a human living in the Underground, monsters may attack you.” She explained. “You will need to be prepared for this situation.”

“Wh- what?” Sunny said nervously. He had already determined the goat woman was a monster, but there were more of them? And they would attack him?

“Worry not, Sunny.” Toriel assured. “The process is simple. When you encounter a monster, they may pull you into a fight. While you are in a fight, strike up a friendly conversation.”

“How is that gonna help?” Omori asked. “If someone pulls a knife on you, you can't just talk with them about the weather like nothings wrong.”

“Stall for time.” Toriel said. “I will come to resolve the conflict. Practice talking to the dummy.”

Sunny just stood there confused. What on earth was he supposed to say to a training dummy?

“Here, Sunny.” Frisk suddenly said. “Do what I do.”

Frisk walked up to the dummy with a smile on their face. “Hi, Mr. Dummy!” they said cheerfully. “How are you today?”

“Wonderful job, Frisk!” Toriel said approvingly. “You try, Sunny.”

Sunny stood there awkwardly until Frisk gestured to the dummy. Sunny nervously walked up. He already was terrible at social interaction, how was he supposed to talk with something inanimate?

“Just pretend it's alive.” Omori said. “You're not gonna look any more insane than you already are.”

*Thanks…* Sunny thought. Omori may be helpful and reassuring sometimes, but most of the time he was still an emotionless brat.

“H- Hi there…” Sunny nervously said to the dummy. “Nice day we’re having?”

Sunny’s pathetic attempts at communication were enough to please Toriel. “You are very good.” she said. “You just need some more confidence, and that's ok. Please follow me.”

~~~

Frisk watched as Sunny attempted to talk with the dummy. He didn't seem too enthusiastic, but he was only talking with an inanimate object, or at least what he assumed to be an inanimate object. Frisk knew the dummy had a ghost in it.

Whether the dummy was alive or not did not matter, what mattered was that Sunny was trying to be nice. That was a good sign. Sunny didn't seem like the kind of guy to fight, but with his LOVE Frisk still wasn't sure. They would have to wait until they encountered a monster to see how Sunny would respond to an actual situation. Would he choose violence or continue trying to use peace?

Frisk knew there was a Froggit encounter up ahead, so they followed Toriel, intent to see how Sunny would react.

“There is another puzzle in this room… I wonder if you can solve it?”

Hearing Toriel’s words repeat saddened Frisk. She was their mom and had been for over a year, but now Toriel had no memory of their time together. *I'll fix this.* Frisk thought. *Then things will go back to normal. Everything will be ok.*

Frisk followed Toriel and as Toriel rounded the corner, the encounter with the Froggit started, pulling Frisk and Sunny's souls out for combat. Sunny took a step back in fear as the Froggit blocked the way.

“Wh- what do we do?” Sunny asked, voice flooded with uncertainty. Frisk had the urge to resolve this but they needed to know how Sunny would react to a real monster.

Frisk gestured towards the frog. “M- me? You want me to… but I…” Sunny trailed off at Frisk’s waiting expression. He took a deep breath.

“H- hey there. I've only seen creatures like you in my dreams. To see something like you in real life is… really cool…”

Froggit didn't understand what Sunny said, but was flattered anyway. And it was a nice compliment, even if Sunny’s voice was shaking as he said it. Frisk was impressed.

*Ok. So there's a good chance he’s not gonna fight even if I leave him alone.* Frisk thought. *That's good, but I should probably stick with him just in case.*

Toriel appeared and scared away the Froggit, making Sunny breathe a sigh of relief. She smiled at him, she must have heard what he had said to the froggit. Sunny just averted his gaze, looking embarrassed.

“This is the puzzle, but…” Toriel said as Frisk and Sunny reached the spiked platform. “Here you two, take my hand for a moment.”

Toriel held out her paw and Frisk took it. Sunny flinched back when Toriel held her other paw out to him. He was still scared of her, it looked like.

“Here, Sunny.” Frisk said, holding out their hand. Sunny hesitantly took it, and stayed close to Frisk as they walked across the spikes, which retracted into the ground as the three stepped over them.

“W-why are these s- spikes here?” Sunny asked, stepping cautiously across the metal floor, as if he thought the spikes would pop back out.

“They are a relic from long, long ago.” Toriel explained as they approached the other side. “I had thought about removing it many times, but it feels wrong to do so.”

“I see…”

“Puzzles seem a little too dangerous for now.” Toriel said as the three safely made it across the spikes.

They continued walking forwards until they reached the hallway of independence. “You have done excellently thus far, my children.” Toriel said. “However, I have a difficult request to ask of you.”

“I would like you to walk to the end of this room by yourselves.” she said. “Forgive me for this.”

Suddenly, a wall of fire appeared in front of Sunny and Frisk. Sunny jumped back with a shocked gasp. After a moment, the fire dissipated, and Toriel was gone.

“Wh- what- where did she- how did-” Sunny struggled to find the words.

“That was so cool.” Frisk said. They loved that disappearing trick. It wasn't as impressive as Sans’ teleportation, but it was still impressive.

“I mean- I guess- but where did she go?” Sunny asked.

“Let's go to the end of the hallway and find out!” Frisk said.

They began walking and Sunny followed behind, looking around anxiously. *Something tells me I won't have to worry about him walking off.* Frisk thought. *I don't think he’ll be able to handle being all alone here.*

Frisk remembered being just as anxious as Sunny was the first time they walked down the hallway alone. It was nice to walk the hallway of independence not independently this time.

After a long walk, the two reached the end of the hallway, and Toriel emerged from behind the pillar, making Sunny jump a bit in surprise.

“Greetings my children.” Toriel said as Sunny breathed a sigh of relief. “Do not worry, I did not leave you. I was merely behind this pillar the whole time.”

“Why- why did you leave?” Sunny asked.

“There was an important reason for this exercise.” Toriel explained. “To test your independence. I’m sure it was much easier as a pair than it would be if you two were alone, yes?”

Frisk nodded, and Sunny hesitantly did as well.

“Good! Do you think you two can keep each other company for a while?” Toriel asked. “I must attend to some business, and you must stay alone for a while. Are you ok with this?”

“Sure.” Frisk said. Sunny gave a small, cautious nod.

“Good. please remain here. It is dangerous to go off by yourself, even if you are together.” Toriel thought for a moment. “I have an idea. I will give you a cell phone.”

“I- I already have a phone, m- ma’am.” Sunny said. “So it's ok- wait…”

Sunny grew panicked. “Oh- oh no… I'm underground. I won't have s- service. I can't call my mom or-”

“Relax, my child.” Toriel said, pulling out an old flip phone. “This cell phone has service down here. You can use that if you need to get in contact with me or anyone else.”

Sunny nodded, looking relieved.

“Which one of you is older?” Toriel asked. “I assume it is Sunny?”

Sunny nodded. “I'm 17…” he said.

“Wait, really??” Frisk asked, shocked. They thought he was way, way younger. But he was actually almost an adult.

“Oh- my sincerest apologies.” Toriel said. “I feel terrible if I may have been treating you like a child. I thought you were… younger.”

“It's- it’s fine…” Sunny said, rubbing his bandaged arms. “I’m just… short. D- don't feel bad…”

“Well Sunny, I entrust you with the phone.” Toriel said, handing it to Sunny, who cautiously took it. “Call me if you two need anything.”

“I’ll be off now.” Toriel said. “Be good, alright?”

Frisk and Sunny nodded and Toriel left the room. After a minute of standing there awkwardly, Frisk decided it was time to head out.

“Ok, let's go!” They said, beginning to walk towards the doorway.

“What- She told us to wait!” Sunny said. “She said it was dangerous!”

“But there's two of us.” Frisk said. “It’ll be fine!”

“I- No. She told us to wait, so we should wait.” Sunny said. “I’m sure she won't be too long.”

Frisk thought for a moment. They hadn't actually waited for Toriel when they were in the Ruins before. After Toriel had left, Frisk had waited a few minutes before getting bored and leaving. Frisk knew Toriel would be taking a while to arrive, with her baking the pie and all. But if Sunny would feel more comfortable waiting, Frisk supposed it wouldn't hurt to wait for her to come back.

“Hmmm, ok. If you really want to.” Frisk said. They walked over to the pillar and sat down against it. Sunny sat down as well and took out the phone Toriel gave him. He began typing in a number onto Toriel’s phone.

“What are you doing?” Frisk asked.

“Calling my mom.” Sunny said. “She should know where I am. She must be really worried. Maybe she can help.”

After dialing, Sunny held the phone to his ear. Frisk was able to hear the phone beep as the call went through, and then a voice. “Sorry, this number does not exist.”

“W-what?” Sunny began getting panicked again. “What do you mean? Yes it does!”

“You said your normal phone won't have service down here, right?” Frisk said. “Maybe the service down here is different. Maybe it can't connect to phones that use normal service. Only phones that are in the network.”

Frisk knew this was the case. It was a whole thing after the barrier was broken, connecting monster internet services to surface networks.

“You're probably right…” Sunny said, before sinking into silence.

*Ok, so if he is part of the reset, he sure doesn't want to be.* Either Sunny was a very, very, very good actor, or he was being serious and really didn’t want to be here. And if he didn't want to be here, there was no way he would cause this reset on purpose. Maybe he did it by accident somehow? But he seemed to get here the same way Frisk did, and had no idea how. But perhaps he just couldn't remember it.

Frisk was now convinced Sunny was not a bad person. The only thing that still had Frisk confused was his LOVE. He did not seem at all like the kind of guy to go on a killing spree, or even kill people at all. So why was his level so high?

It's not like Frisk could just ask him who he killed, so for now this would remain a mystery.

Suddenly, the phone rang, making Sunny jump. “H-hello?” Sunny said as he answered the phone.

“Hello? This is Toriel.” Frisk heard Toriel say through the phone. “You have not left the room, have you?”

“N- no. we’re still here.” Sunny said.

“Good, good! There are a few puzzles up ahead that I have yet to explain. It would be dangerous to try and solve them yourself.”

“Good to know.”

“Be good, won't you?”

“Y-yes ma’am.” Sunny said. “Goodbye.”

Sunny hung up the phone and leaned against the pillar. “I hope she’ll be back soon.”

“Are you bored already?” Frisk asked. “You wanna go see those puzzles?”

“No, we should wait, Frisk.” Sunny said.

“We might be sitting around doing nothing for a while though.” Frisk said, already bored.

“I’m used to that.” Sunny said. “I don't mind it.”

“Alright then.”

~~~

After 8 minutes of sitting around, the phone rang again.

“Hello? This is Toriel.” Toriel said. “For no reason in particular, which do you two prefer? Cinnamon or butterscotch?”

“Both!” Frisk said loudly before Sunny could answer.

Frisk heard Toriel laughing. “That is very convenient! And how about you, Sunny? Are you fine with both cinnamon and butterscotch?”

“Both are fine, I guess.” Sunny said.

“I see. Thank you very much!” Toriel said. “Thank you for being patient, by the way.”

Toriel hung up and Sunny put down the phone, fiddling with his necklace. Frisk suddenly became interested in it. It clashed with the rest of his outfit, but Sunny didn't seem to mind. Frisk wanted to know more about Sunny. The necklace was a pretty strange part of his character.

“Hey Sunny, what's with your necklace?” Frisk asked. “It's really cool.”

“Oh. it’s, umm… really just a capsule toy I tied to a chain.” Sunny said. “But I like it. It makes me feel better.”

Frisk decided to check the necklace. They didn't have anything better to do.

*Red hand?* Frisk thought. *That doesn't even mention it being a necklace.*

*Ok… That's really weird…* Frisk didn't like how the description ended, not at all. It started normally enough, but then it ended with that.

There was an explanation for it though. Objects with high emotional value often had their armor rating increase if that specific person wore it. It explained how a simple chain necklace with a cheap toy tied onto it had a high defense rating of 10. And rarely, if the emotional value of the object was very high, the description may be changed to match. Frisk had only seen a few objects like that before, but they never had a description like that. They had never seen an object have part of its description in italic, and especially never a description speaking in first person. It was very unsettling.

Well, a higher defense was good. Sunny had very low hp, and the necklace should protect him from more dangerous monsters. Even if the necklace was confusing and eerie, it looked to be just a normal necklace. Frisk was going to keep an eye on it, but for now they had more questions.

“What's with the eyepatch?” Frisk asked.

“Oh- er…” Sunny seemed uncomfortable. “I just… hurt my eye” he said.

“What happened?” *Did it get infected? Or did it get injured somehow?*

“I- I don't want to talk about it…” Sunny said softly.

“Ok. Sorry for asking.” Frisk said. “I hope it gets better.”

“Thanks…”

After a moment of silence, suddenly Sunny asked a question.

“Where are you from?”

“Oh! I’m from Fairview Town.” Frisk said. “Where are you from?”

“Nearby City.”

Frisk’s brow furrowed. That didn't really tell them anything. “How close by?”

“Huh? Oh- oh no, the city is called ‘Nearby.’” Sunny explained.

“Ohhhh…” Frisk said, chuckling. “That's a funny name! Kind of confusing though!”

Sunny nodded. “Yeah, it can be. I moved there a few months ago from Faraway Town.”

“Why did you move?” Frisk asked. They liked the names, they were cute.

Sunny became quiet. “My mom thought it would be a good change of pace.” he said softly.

“Did you want to move?”

“Not really… but it was probably a good decision.” Sunny said.

“Why?”

Sunny didnt answer, just rubbed his arms.

“I want to go home…” he said quietly.

~~~

A few minutes later, the phone rang again.

“Hello! This is Toriel. My errands are taking longer than I thought they would.”

*Huh?* Frisk stared at the phone. This hadn’t happened last time. *When she called a fourth time last time, she didnt say this before. Didn't she just say she had yet to clean up? What changed?*

“You see, I found what I was looking for. But before I could take it, a small, white puppy snatched it away.”

*What the- The Annoying Dog? Why is he messing with Toriel? What changed? It can't be because of Sunny, right? That doesn't make any sense.*

“How odd. Do dogs even like flour?”

“Flour?” Sunny asked.

“Err, that is an unrelated question, of course.” Toriel said quickly. “It will take a little longer. Please understand.”

“O-ok.” Sunny said. He hung up.

“Is she making something?” he asked no one in particular.

“Maybe.” Frisk said, knowing she was.

“Well, hopefully she finishes soon.”

~~~

Ring… Ring…

“Hello?” Sunny said as he answered the call.

However, no one responded.

“Toriel?” Sunny asked.

His only response was heavy panting on the other end.

“Bark! Bark!” a dog suddenly barked directly into the receiver.

“Uhhhh…” Sunny and Frisk said together, exchanging glances as they both realized what had happened.

“Stop, please!” Toriel’s distant voice said. “Come back here with my cell phone!”

There was another bark, and then the call ended. Sunny quickly dialed her number.

“No signal…” he muttered after a moment, closing the phone.

“Sounds like she’s in trouble.” Frisk chuckled. They had no idea why the dog was messing with Toriel all of a sudden, but it was quite funny.

“I hope she gets her phone back.” Sunny said.

But until then, all they could do was wait for another call. A call that came a few minutes later.

“Hello?” Sunny said. “Toriel? Did you get your phone back?”

His only answer was a snore.

“That's a no…” Sunny said as Frisk laughed.

“Helloooo? Little puppy…?” Toriel's distant voice called. “Where are you? I will give you a nice pat on the head!”

The dog’s snoring stopped.

“...if you return my cell phone.”

The snoring resumed. And then the call ended.

“I… don't think she's coming anytime soon…” Frisk said.

“I think you're right.” Sunny sighed as he put away the phone.

“So… adventure time?” Frisk asked. The calls with the dog were fun, but Frisk was ready to get a move on.

“I don't think we have another option… so ok.” Sunny said.

The two stood up. “I hope she won't be mad at us for leaving.” Sunny said as they walked to the doorway.

“I’m sure she’ll understand!” Frisk said.

And with that, their adventure into the ruins finally began proper.

Chapter Text

Sunny followed Frisk through the doorway and out of the room they were told to stay in. He was still nervous about disobeying Toriel, but he didnt know how long he would be forced to wait if he didnt.

It's not like he was against staying put. He had spent most of the last four years doing absolutely nothing, both in real life and in his dreams. Just waiting for something to happen. But Frisk wanted to leave, and Sunny wanted to get home as soon as possible.

“Ribbit, ribbit.”

Sunny looked over to see another one of those frog monsters sitting on the ground nearby.

“Excuse me, humans.” the frog suddenly said. “I have some advice for you about battling monsters.”

“Y- yeah?” Sunny could use all the advice he could get right now. Even if it did come from a talking frog.

“If you act a certain way or fight until you almost defeat them, they might not want to battle you anymore.” the frog explained. “If a monster does not want to fight you, please… use some mercy, humans.”

“We will!” Frisk said. “Thank you!”

“I still don't understand how talking is going to help against people who want to fight us.” Omori said.

Sunny didn't either, but he was willing to give it a shot if it meant he didn't have to fight. *It worked before, didn't it?*

But that was because Toriel came and scared away the frog. Would talking actually work without her? Sunny didnt know.

“Hmm? Hey, is that candy?” Frisk said, walking to a room to the north. Sunny followed and saw a bowl of candy on a plinth.

“Please take one.” a note by the bowl said. Frisk reached in and grabbed two pieces, handing one to Sunny.

Surprisingly, Frisk didn't eat it like Sunny thought they would. They just put it in their pocket. *Maybe they aren't hungry.* Sunny thought. He wasn't hungry either, so he put the candy in his vest.

“Let's go that way.” Frisk said, pointing to the south, the only other direction to go.

Sunny nodded and followed them. They took a small detour to step on some leaves, before continuing onwards.

“They did that motion again.” Omori suddenly said.

“What motion?” Sunny whispered.

“Earlier, while they were staring at nothing. It looked like they pressed something. They just did that again in the leaves.”

Sunny hadn't noticed. He wondered what Frisk was doing. Whatever it was, Sunny didnt think it was good.

He didn't have time to think about that, however, because all of a sudden, a white moth-like creature appeared. Sunny felt the same tugging in his chest from earlier, and then his Soul appeared. The same happened to Frisk.

“Is- is this a fight?” Sunny asked Frisk.

“I think so.” Frisk said.

Sunny wasn't actually too scared of this monster. It looked more scared of him than he was of it. It was shaking as it fluttered in place, looking like it was on the verge of tears. He could relate.

*Well… let's try talking then.* Sunny took a breath.

“Hey are you alright?” Sunny attempted to console the monster, but halfway through his first word, the moth burst into tears and flew away.

Sunny and Frisk’s Souls disappeared as the fight ended. “Well that was… interesting.” Sunny said.

“Mmhm.” Frisk nodded. “But I think we did good!”

The two continued walking and entered a hallway with two doorways, each on the left hand side wall. The doorways each had a staircase that led downwards. But there didn't seem to be a need for them, as the entrance to the next room was right there.

Frisk walked forward and then suddenly, the floor beneath them crumbled away and they fell with a yell. “Frisk!” Sunny yelled, running over. “Frisk, are you ok?!”

“I’m fine!” Frisk’s voice called. “Some leaves broke my fall!”

Sunny peered down into the cracked floor. It wasn't a very big drop, and right below the cracked floor was a large pile of leaves. Sitting on the pile of leaves was Frisk, waving up at him with a smile.

“I’m glad you're ok.” Sunny said as he walked around the hole. “But we should be more careFULL-” Suddenly, the ground underneath Sunny caved in and he too fell down onto the leaves.

Frisk laughed at him as he sat up. Sunny did his best to hide how much he was shaking. “You were saying?” Frisk said with a grin.

“There's a reason I said ‘we’” Sunny said as he stood up, trying to seem like the fall didn't affect him that much. He brushed the leaves off of him and offered Frisk his hand, helping them to their feet. “Are we trapped here?” Sunny wondered as he looked around.

“No, the staircases head down here.” Frisk said, pointing to a doorway with a staircase inside. “If we climb that one, we should be on the other side of the floor.”

Sunny and Frisk walked through the doorway and walked up the staircase, looking around. The inside of the staircase was gray, not purple. Sunny and Frisk made their way up. Sunny looked around as he climbed the staircase, anxious. He noticed Omori was gone, not having much to comment on at the moment, he didn't bother to make Sunny hallucinate his presence. Sunny knew he was still watching though. At the top of the staircase, the two found themselves on the other side of the room. They continued forwards, and suddenly the phone rang.

Sunny didnt get a chance to say anything before the sound of soft snoring came from the cellphone. “Looks like nothing has changed.” Sunny said to Frisk.

The dog sneezed on the other end and then resumed snoring. Toriel’s distant voice could barely be heard.

“Here, pup-pup-puppy!” she called. “Oh dear, I should not keep my guests waiting any longer… oh no, how long has it been since I have talked to them…? Perhaps they have been calling the phone, and…? Here, puppy!”

The dog sneezed again, and then the call ended. Sunny sighed as he put away the phone. “I think you made the right call, leaving the room.” he said. “I don't know when she's going to get her phone back.”

“Hopefully soon.” Frisk said. “Lets see if we can find-”

“Ribbit! Ribbit!”

All of a sudden, two of the large frog monsters jumped over a spiked part of the floor and charged. Frisk and Sunny’s souls appeared as a battle began.

“W-what do we do?” Sunny said, taking a step back.

“We be nice!” Frisk said. “Hi there, frogs!”

The frogs slowed their charge, and exchanged confused glances. The left frog snapped out of the confusion first. “Rib- ribbit!” it said as a swarm of white flies appeared around it and then flew towards the humans.

“Dodge!” Frisk said, running out of the way.

Sunny attempted to do the same but he reacted too slowly and one of the flies hit his arm. “Agh!” he cried out as a sting of pain erupted from his arm. He tripped and fell to the ground.

“Sunny!” Frisk said. “Are you ok?”

“Ahhg… yeah.” Sunny said, sitting up. His arm hurt, but those arms had been through a lot more pain. He was used to it, so it didn't bother him too much. It was just very sudden.

“Hey frogs!” Frisk said. “Please dont attack! We mean no harm!”

“Ribbit…” the left frog, the more aggressive one, took a step forward and more flies appeared.

“Uh… umm…” Sunny desperately thought of something he could do.

*”If you act a certain way or fight until you almost defeat them, they might not want to battle you anymore.”* The talking frog’s words suddenly echoed through Sunny’s mind. *it… it worked last time on the frogs… so maybe-!*

“Ummm, wow, you're very strong!” Sunny said. “That attack was- was very impressive!”

“Ribbit?” the frog paused, blinking.

“Yes, you both are really strong!” Frisk said, immediately adding onto what Sunny said. “You've gotta be some of the strongest frogs I've ever seen!”

“Y-yeah!” Sunny nodded.

“Rib… ribbit…” the white flies disappeared and the frog seemed embarrassed.

“Ribbit rib!” The right frog seemed less embarrassed and more proud, even though it hadn't even attacked them. It turned and began to hop away, looking happy. “Meow!” it said as it left.

“Ribbit.” The left frog also turned and began to hop away, before it suddenly paused. It reached underneath itself, where a dark shadow lay, and pulled out a few golden coins. “Ribbit!” it tossed them at Sunny, and then hopped away. Both frogs jumped over the spikes and vanished.

“Wow, that WORKED?” Omori said, suddenly next to Sunny. “Scratch everything I said earlier.”

Sunny was just as surprised. He wasn't really expecting anything to happen, he just couldn't think of anything else to do. But it looked like talking was a valid way to avoid fighting. You could indeed just talk to someone who had pulled a knife out on you.

“Sunny! You ok?” Frisk said, walking over to him.

“Yeah.” Sunny said, getting to his feet. “What's this it gave me?” He examined the coins. They were not gold, they were far too light. They just had a gold color or coating.

“I think it's money.” Frisk said.

“Why would it give me money?” Sunny asked.

“Maybe it felt bad for attacking you.” Frisk theorized.

“Maybe…” Sunny said, pocketing the golden coins.

“C’mon, lets get past those spikes.” Frisk said. They walked forwards and pushed a rock onto some kind of pressure pad. The spikes retracted into the floor.

As Sunny followed Frisk, he noticed a plaque on the wall. It read “3 out of 4 gray rocks recommend you push them.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Omori questioned.

“Maybe there will be more spikes later, but one of the rocks wont work to retract them.” Sunny theorized.

“Huh?” Frisk said, turning their head. Sunny froze up in panic. They had forgotten to whisper, and Frisk had heard them talking to Omori.

“Oh! Yeah, you might be right!” Frisk said.

“Relax.” Omori said. “They think you were just talking aloud. Just be more careful next time.”

Sunny withheld his sigh of relief as he followed Frisk, entering a room where the floor was all cracked. Nearby was another gray staircase. “Is the floor going to fall?” Sunny asked nervously. He didn't want to fall again.

“Only one way to find out.” Frisk said, walking onto the cracked floor, which immediately caved under them.

“I’m ok!” Frisk called out from below.

“Thats good.” Sunny said. “But how are we supposed to get across? Is there another way forward down there?”

Frisk was quiet as they got up and walked out of sight. “No, but there is a path down here!” they called after a moment. “And a sign! We have to step where the leaves aren’t piled up!”

“And where is that?” Sunny asked.

“I’ll come back up and show you.” Frisk said. Sunny waited patiently and Frisk appeared from the gray staircase. “Follow me.” they said.

Frisk stepped onto a certain part of the cracked floor, which did not cave under their weight. Sunny steeled his nerves and followed them, stepping onto the cracked floor. He followed closely behind Frisk as they navigated a winding path through the cracked floor.

“They have a good memory.” Omori noted. He wasn't walking on the path. If he was a real, tangible being he would have fallen by now.

Sunny and Frisk reached the other side, and Sunny breathed a sigh of relief. “I hope we don't have to do something like that again.” Sunny said.

“Don't like heights?” Frisk asked.

“No.” Sunny said.

“You did look really shaken up when you fell earlier.” Frisk said. “But thanks for being so brave!”

“Y-you noticed?” Sunny said, a bit taken aback.

“Yeah.” Frisk said. “But I could tell you were trying to hide it, so I didn't say anything. You're ok though, right?”

Sunny nodded. The two resumed walking. “What?” Sunny whispered to Omori. “No comment on that?”

“Sunny, anyone would have noticed that.” Omori said. “You were shaking more than the leaves you just fell on. I’m more surprised you thought they didn't notice.”

“Jerk…” Sunny mumbled, turning his attention forwards, where a new puzzle awaited. There were three rocks in the room, each near another pressure plate. “Oh, this is what the sign meant.” Sunny said. “I think only 2 of these rocks work.”

“Maybe.” Frisk said. “So which two do we try first?”

“I guess the middle and the left?” Sunny said, unsure. All the rocks looked the same. But those two were further away from the pressure plate than the right one.

Sunny and Frisk worked together to push the rocks onto the pressure plates, but it must have been the wrong combination, because the spikes blocking the way didn’t retract.

“Then maybe it's left and right,” Sunny theorized, walking over to the last rock.

“And if that's not right, then it's middle and right.” Omori said.

*Yes, I’m able to do math, Omori-*

“WHOA there, pardner!”

“Whhaa!” Sunny yelled in fright and shock, leaping backwards and falling over.

“Who said you could push me around?” a voice said, coming from the rock.

“Uhhh…” Sunny said, stunned. He knew he would be encountering some weird creatures, but he didn't expect a talking rock to be one of them. *Is he going to give me some advice?* Sunny couldn't help but think.

“Oh, that's what the sign meant.” Omori said.

“Sorry!” Frisk said, running over. “Sorry, we didn't know you could talk!”

“It's quite alright, kiddos.” the rock said. “Hope yer pal’s ok. Took quite a tumble there.”

“You ok, Sunny?” Frisk asked. Sunny nodded and got to his feet, for the fourth time today. *How many times can a person fall in a single day?*

“Umm, Mr. Rock?” Frisk said. “We sort of need to get by.”

“Y-yeah.” Sunny said. “Can you please move?”

“Hmm? Okay, just for you kids.” the rock said. With a scraping sound the rock began to move forwards, but then suddenly stopped. It had only moved a few inches.

“Uhhh…” Sunny said. The rock did not move enough, but Sunny was too non-confrontational to tell it that. Thankfully Frisk wasn't.

“Sorry, but we meant you move onto the pressure pad.” Frisk said.

“Oh, sorry Pumpkin. I think I got it now.” the rock said. The rock moved forwards until it was resting on the pressure plate, and then the spikes retracted.

“Thanks!” Frisk said. Sunny nodded in gratitude, and began walking towards the cleared path, Frisk following him.

As Sunny was about to step onto the bridge, Frisk suddenly grabbed his arm and yanked him back. “H-hey! What-”

SHINK

Sunny watched as the spikes suddenly popped back up. Fear rushed through him. If he had stepped on that, he wouldn't have his feet anymore.

“T-thanks…” Sunny said.

“No problem!” Frisk replied, smiling.

“...How did they know that would happen?” Omori asked.

Sunny did a double take at Omori’s words. He stared at Frisk in confusion as they walked back over to the rock and began to speak to it.

“There was no warning that the rock would move.” Omori said. “So how did they know that it wasn't safe to cross?”

“That's… really strange…” Sunny said quietly.

“‘Suspicious’ is the correct term.” Omori said. “And something tells me that this entire time, they've been playing dumb. They know something. They know this place.”

“That doesn't make sense though…” Sunny said. “They're in the same position as me. And you said earlier they weren't lying.”

“Maybe I was wrong.” Omori said.

“Or maybe you were right then, but wrong now.”

“Then explain the spikes.” Omori countered.

“Ok, it should be safe to cross now.” Frisk said, walking back over. “I asked him to stay put.”

Sunny nodded, and Frisk stepped across the bridge. Sunny followed, the spikes staying put. Sunny stared at Frisk, walking forwards like nothing was wrong. Like they knew it was safe.

“I’ll ask them about it.” Sunny whispered.

Chapter Text

“Have a good day!” Frisk said as they waved goodbye to the froggits and moldsmal. Sunny seemed to have gotten a grip on acting, so they won the fight pretty quickly.

Frisk pocketed the won gold as the two entered the mouse room. “Gross…” Sunny said as he examined the old cheese. While Sunny was distracted, Frisk went up to the save point and saved.

As they pushed onwards onto the next room, they encountered a roadblock. Napstablook lay on a bed of leaves, sleeping. Well, pretending to. Him repeatedly saying ‘z’ aloud did little to convince anyone.

“Is that a ghost?” Sunny asked.

“Looks like it.” Frisk said, walking up. “Excuse me, Na- Mr. Ghost! You happen to be in the way. Can you move please?”

“Oh…” Napstablook said softly. “Sorry… I’ll get out of your way…”

“It's ok!” Frisk said as Napstablook vanished. “Have a good day!”

“You're very good at this.” Sunny noted.

“I just like being nice.” Frisk said with a smile. “C’mon!”

Frisk walked forwards into the spider bake sale room. They wanted to buy a donut for the Muffet fight later. Hopefully this mess would be resolved before they ever got to hotland, but since they had the money it wouldn't hurt to buy one just in case.

Frisk took in the sight of the room feeling nostalgia. Cobwebs covered the walls, where spiders sat. Tangled within the webs were purple donuts and small silver jugs containing a clear violet liquid. Underneath the web was a small makeshift bakery, where the spiders worked to make more of their goods.

Sunny followed Frisk into the room and instantly froze. “Ummm… uh…” he said slowly. “I’ll just… wait out here…” He slowly started to back up.

“What's wrong?” Frisk asked. “Do you not like spiders?”

Sunny nodded. Frisk noticed he was shaking a bit. “Arachnophobia?” Frisk asked.

Sunny nodded again, looking a bit embarrassed. “That's ok, I understand.” Frisk said warmly. “I’ll be out soon.”

Sunny left the room and Frisk walked up to the spiders. They didn't worry about him doing anything bad, he obviously wasn't that type of person. Although Frisk still didn't fully trust him, they could still see his shadow, shuffling outside the room, so Frisk knew where he was.

“Hi spiders!” Frisk said, waving at the little black arthropods, which waved back. “Can I have a donut please? And can you wrap it up for later?”

The spiders crawled up to one of the donuts and began to untangle it from the web, and wrap it up in white silk. As they did, Frisk took out the gold they had won from the monsters. It was at that point Frisk realized that they didn't have enough. The donut costed 7G, but Frisk only had 5. Frisk remembered that Sunny had won some gold from the first fight they had with the froggits.

“Give me a minute, spiders.” Frisk said. “I don't have enough, but my friend has some money. I’ll be right-” Frisk paused when the spiders shook their heads.

Frisk watched as a spider went behind the web and after a moment, came out with a folded up piece of paper, handing it to Frisk. Frisk opened it to find a note written in neat cursive.

“We spiders are very nice and there is no reason to be afraid of us. You two can have a discount! Enjoy your donut! We hope you can overcome your fear, and visit us again! :) ”

“Wow! That's so nice of you!” Frisk said. The spiders nodded and handed Frisk the wrapped up donut as Frisk placed the 5G in the web. “Thank you so much!” Frisk said as they waved goodbye.

“Sunny!” Frisk said as they left the bake sale. “Look!”

Frisk handed Sunny the note the spiders wrote and Sunny took a moment to read it.

“That's, um- very nice of them.” he said, obviously still afraid. “And you bought a donut from them?”

Sunny nodded, showing Sunny the wrapped up donut. Sunny flinched a bit at the sight of the webs. “I’m saving it for later.” Frisk said, putting the donut in their sweater pocket.

Sunny began to say something, but he was interrupted by the phone ringing. “The dog again?” Sunny said, taking out the phone and answering the call.

“Hello? Hello? This is Toriel.”

“Oh! Toriel!” Sunny said.

“My apologies, a strange dog kidnapped my phone.” Toriel explained.

“We know. It was calling us.” Sunny said.

“It kidnapped the phone, and then it was napping on the phone!” Frisk joked.

“Haha!” Toriel laughed. “Howl funny! Well, as you can see, I have recovered it. And you are still waiting in the room, are you not?”

Sunny and Frisk exchanged nervous glances.

“Uh… no. We left…” Sunny admitted. “We waited a long time, but after the dog kept calling, we didn't know when you would be coming back, so we left. Sorry.”

“I see. Do not worry, my children. I understand. I would have probably done the same myself.” Toriel said. “Where are you now?”

“By a spider bake sale.” Frisk said.

“Oh! You two made it very far into the ruins! I am proud of you.” Toriel said. “So perhaps you could make it all the way? My house is further ahead. If you are feeling up to it, perhaps you could meet me there?”

Sunny looked at Frisk, who nodded. “Ok.” Sunny said. “We’ll meet you there.”

“Wonderful!” Toriel said. “Stay safe now. Call me if you need help with anything.”

The call ended and Sunny put away the phone. “I was worried she was going to be upset.” Sunny sighed in relief.

“It's good that she isn't.” Frisk said. “Let's get going.”

Sunny nodded and walked after Frisk into the next room. Sunny took a pause to read the sign in front of them, and he shuddered. “Remind me never to touch that donut.” he said quietly, making Frisk chuckle.

As they walked past some Froggits, Sunny suddenly spoke. “Umm, Frisk?”

“Yeah?” Frisk said, turning to him. “What's up?”

“Earlier-”

“HEY!”

The humans turned to see a Loox, walking towards them. A fight started and Frisk and Sunny’s souls appeared.

“Aren't you two just a bunch of freaks!” the Loox said angrily. “Your outfits are so weird that I can't decide which outfit is better! One’s all dull and formal, and the other is too bright and childish! Are you going to a theatre, or to school? Talk about a mismatched duo! You two are crazy!”

The Loox launched an attack and cackled. Sunny and Frisk dodged the snake like bullets, Frisk getting grazed by one. “Hey! That's not very nice!” Frisk said. “We wouldn't say that to you!”

“Pfff, yeah you would.” the Loox said, creating bullet spheres.

“Nope! And so I'm not going to!” Frisk said, crossing their arms.

The Loox paused and stared at them. “...you aren't picking on me?”

Frisk shook their head, and so did Sunny.

“W-wow…” the Loox said, its attack vanishing. “Finally someone gets it. I- I’m sorry!”

The Loox tossed them some gold and ran off as fast as it could in guilt. The battle ended and Frisk picked up the gold as their soul disappeared.

“That was odd.” Sunny said.

“Yeah.” Frisk nodded. “Anyways, you were saying?”

“Oh, right. Um…” Sunny was quiet for a moment, before taking a deep breath. “I’m really thankful for you pulling me away from the spikes earlier, I really am. But… how did you know it wasn't safe? There wasn't any sign it wasn't…”

*He’s more observant than he appears.* Apparently Frisk’s attempts to seem normal weren't working as well as they thought they were. And he was suspicious of Frisk like Frisk was suspicious of him. Sunny knew something was up, and Frisk had to try and convince him everything was fine.

“My mom and my friends always tell me I have spidey senses.” Frisk said with a smile. “Somehow I just know if something is going to happen.”

A half truth was better than a full lie. Frisk was often told they had spidey senses, and that was without reloading saves. These senses were not the reason Frisk knew the rock would move, but it was a believable excuse. And Sunny appeared to believe it.

“Ah, ok.” Sunny nodded. “Thanks again.”

~~~

“You’re seriously buying that?” Omori asked as he walked beside Sunny.

Sunny gave a small nod as they trailed behind Frisk.

“Why? It makes no sense.”

It didn't matter how soft Sunny’s voice was when he talked to Omori. Omori heard through Sunny’s ears, so as long as Sunny could hear himself, Omori could hear him too. So Sunny could have a conversation with him even though he was right behind Frisk.

“Omori, you’re a person with individual thoughts that lives in my brain.” Sunny told Omori. “Having ‘spidey senses’ does not compare. It's not the strangest thing in the world.”

“I suppose that's fair…” Omori grumbled. “But I still don't trust them. And you shouldn't either.”

“I don’t.” Sunny said. “They are definitely acting weird, I’m not trying to deny that. All I'm trying to say is what happened back there wasn't that strange. It's still worth keeping in mind, but the explanation works.”

“Good, I hear ya.” Omori said. “I’ll continue keeping an eye out, you just keep walking.”

“It's my eye.” Sunny joked as Omori vanished.

“Looks like more falling.” Frisk said as they entered the next room.

The next room didn't have a cracked floor like the other one, rather 6 different parts of the floor were cracked, and next to each cracked floor was a doorway. Presumably there were staircases behind them, but the doorways had light purple doors in their frames. The end of the room was blocked with spikes. A sign on the wall read “there is just one switch.”

“The switch must be under one of the floors.” Frisk said. “Sunny, do you want to wait up here?”

“I think I can just walk down to check if the switch is underneath.” Sunny said, walking over to a door. “I think it would go faster if I- oh.” Sunny tried to open the door, but not only was it locked, it didn't even have a door handle. “Nevermind then…”

“Looks like there's no cheating for this one.” Frisk chuckled. “Don't worry! I’m sure this won't take too long!”

Sunny nodded and watched as Frisk walked to the far end of the room. “I’ll try all the holes on the right first.” Frisk said. “I’ll be right back!” Frisk said, jumping onto the cracked floor.

Sunny waited for them to come back up. When they didn't, he began to get worried. But then the door near the floor they jumped down opened.

“Sorry!” Frisk said. “There was a carrot monster!”

“As long as you're ok.” Sunny said.

~~~

Frisk stepped onto the right middle floor, and it collapsed underneath them. Frisk stuck the landing and saw Napstablook, lying on the ground. Frisk knew none of the holes on the right of the room had the switch, the switch was in the middle left hole. But Frisk knew guessing right the first time was suspicious. And the right holes had some stuff Frisk wanted.

“Hi ghost!” Frisk said. It hurt to pretend they didn't know Napstablook. And it hurt to see Napstablook still firmly concealed in their shell. Mettaton had been working with their cousin to give them some more confidence, and it had been working a bit. And a bit meant a lot for someone like Napstablook.

“Hello…” Napstablook said quietly. “Sorry if I’m in your way again… I fell down a hole… Now I can't get up… Go on without me…”

Napstablook was quiet for a moment. “Wait, ghosts can fly, can't they… oh well…”

Frisk watched as Napstablook vanished. That short talk was all they came down there for, now Frisk wanted to get the ribbon. They climbed up the staircase back to the top floor.

“Not that one.” Frisk said, walking to the last hole on the right. They allowed themselves to fall, then picked up the ribbon. They began walking towards the staircase.

“Frisk!” a voice hissed at them.

Frisk turned around to see Flowey behind them. “I would talk to you, but I know you shouldn't keep that weirdo waiting for long.” Flowey said. “Tonight, when you stay with Toriel, meet me at the balcony. We NEED to talk.”

Frisk nodded, and Flowey retreated back into the ground. Frisk walked up the staircase, tying the ribbon into their hair. Having a meeting set up with Flowey was a relief. Now Frisk didn't have to worry about trying to figure out how to do that anymore.

“It wasn't there either.” Frisk said to Sunny as they opened the door. “But I did find this.” Frisk showed Sunny the ribbon, just to make sure Sunny knew they had gotten it so he wouldn't ask questions when Frisk put it on.

“Looks nice.” Sunny said, trying to be nice.

“Left side now.” Frisk said. “I’ll try the middle.”

Frisk fell down and turned to the switch. They flipped it and heard the spikes retracting up above.

“Found it!” Frisk said as they arrived back at the top. “C’mon! Let's keep going!”

Sunny followed Frisk as they entered the perspective puzzle. *This one is pretty simple.* Frisk thought. *I’ll let Sunny do this one, since I’ve been solving all the others.*

“The far door is not an exit.” Sunny read aloud from the sign by the door. “It simply marks a rotation in perspective.” he turned to Frisk. “Uhhh… do you know what that is supposed to mean?”

Frisk shook their head. “Sunny, can you do this one?” Frisk asked. “Since I did the last one? Don't worry, if there's falling involved I can do it.”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Sunny said. “That's only fair. Let's see…”

Sunny walked around the room, checking out the colored switches before coming across the entrance to the next room. A staircase blocked by a spiked floor, but the spikes were already retracted.

Sunny and Frisk walked up the staircase and found themselves in the exact same room they were in before. “Wh- huh?” Sunny said. “Weren't we just here…?”

Frisk pointed to the sign on the wall. “The sign is different.” They said.

“If you can read this, press the blue switch.” Sunny read. “Er, ok.”

Sunny located the blue switch and pressed it. With a clicking sound, the spikes at the end of the room were retracted. The two humans continued on, climbing up the staircase, and once again found themselves in the exact same room.

“Oh wait-” Sunny said. “'A change in perspective.' These are different rooms, they're just made in a different rotation than the other.”

“I think so.” Frisk said. “It says you need to press the red switch now.”

“This is weird.” Sunny said as he looked around for the red switch. “Why are there puzzles everywhere?”

“Maybe it's a monster thing.” Frisk said.

“Maybe. But do they really consider something like this a puzzle? It's not that hard.”

“Yeah, it's weird.” Frisk said. They also didn't understand what the point of this puzzle was. The concept was cool, but in execution it didn't really pan out. it seemed to be made to be more abstract and artistic than the others.

Sunny flicked the red switch and the spikes retracted. And once again after the staircase, the two were in the same room, now told to press the green switch. After doing so, the two ascended the staircase and found themselves in a hallway, faced with a split path.

“Which way?” Frisk asked.

“Uhh… straight.” Sunny said. Frisk followed him and they reached the balcony overlooking the Ruins.

“W-wow…” Sunny said as he stared over the edge. “It's like a kingdom straight out of a story book…”

“Yeah.” Frisk said. They loved this view. They had come back to the Underground multiple times to see it. The Underground had some incredible scenery, and had even become a tourist attraction after the monsters returned to the surface.

“How big is this place?” Sunny asked himself. “Something tells me this isn't even half of what's down here.”

*Buddy, you have no idea.* Frisk thought. The Underground was huge. During their last adventure, Frisk had decided to explore the Snowdin forest, and had found themselves completely lost. Sans had found them and brought them back to the path.

“Hopefully Toriel’s house isn't down there somewhere.” Sunny said. “Finding it would take a while.”

Frisk nodded. “Let's keep going then.” they said, knowing her house was litterally right around the corner.

Sunny followed Frisk off of the balcony back where they came. Frisk noticed Sunny said nothing about the plastic knife on the ground. If he noticed he didn't care. That was a good sign.

The two backtracked and made a right, heading down the path they didn't go. They arrived at the tree in front of Toriel’s house, and Toriel was waiting in front of it.

“Oh! My children! You made it!” Toriel said, walking up to them. “Splendid! I am proud of you.”

Frisk noted that Toriel had said “little one” before, but with Sunny here, she must not want to be rude. She had already assumed he was younger than he was, and she probably still felt bad about treating him like a little kid.

“Forgive me for leaving you two alone for so long.” Toriel said. “It was irresponsible of me to try and surprise you like this.”

“Surprise us?” Sunny repeated.

“Errr…” Toriel seemed nervous, before smiling. “Well, I suppose I cannot hide it any longer. Come, you two!”

Toriel walked away and the humans followed her. Sunny exchanged a confused and worried glance with Frisk. The surprise seemed to be worrying him, but Frisk already knew what the surprise was. And they were looking forward to it. They could use some pie after all they had been through today.

As they walked towards the house and went inside, Frisk didn't save, not seeing a good opportunity too. But there wasn't any need to save right now, as the humans were now in the safest part of the Ruins. Toriel’s home.

Now that the hard part was done, all Frisk had to do was wait until nightfall.

Then they would have their chance to talk to Flowey.

Chapter Text

Sunny walked into the purple building and was instantly greeted by the smell of freshly baked pastries and warm cinnamon. Sunny didnt get hungry often, but just that smell was making him hungry. Especially after all that running around.

“Do you smell that?” Toriel asked. “Surprise! It is a butterscotch cinnamon pie!”

*So she WAS making something.* Sunny thought. *It smells really good.*

“I thought we might celebrate your arrival.” Toriel said with a smile. “I want you two to have a nice time living here. So I will hold off on snail pie for tonight.”

Sunny froze.

“Well, I was right.” Omori said. “That is her motive.”

Sunny wanted to speak up about this, to tell Toriel he already had a home and family. But Toriel’s happy expression was so happy and kind. Not to mention she was towered over Sunny and was a monster. Sunny didn’t have the willpower to say anything. Sunny glanced at Frisk. Frisk has had no trouble speaking up so far, and they probably missed their family as well.

Frisk seemed more interested in the prospect of pie though, and didn't seem very worried. Sunny gently nudged them, and they snapped out of their pie trance. Sunny motioned to Toriel with his eyes. After a moment of processing what Sunny meant, Frisk held up a finger.

“Wait.”

Sunny gave Frisk a small nod. Waiting was probably best for now. It may be a bad idea to speak up now, especially after Toriel went through all the trouble of making a pie for them.

Toriel had not noticed their silent conversation, she seemed too happy about their presence. “Here, I have another surprise for you two.” Toriel said. “Follow me.”

Toriel led Sunny and Frisk deeper into the house. The inside of the house was in striking contrast to the purple world outside. It looked very normal and homey.

“This is it…” Toriel said, stopping in front of a door. “I hope you two will not mind sharing a room. I hope you like it!”

Toriel opened the door and showed the humans the inside of their new room. It was suitable for a child, with lots of toys. On each wall sat a bed, each looking recently made. While the right bed looked like it had been there for a while, the left bed looked like it was placed there very recently. The room must have only had one bed, but since there were two of them, Toriel had to get another.

Suddenly, Toriel’s head raised. “Is something burning…? Um… make yourselves at home!” Toriel quickly ran off.

Frisk walked inside the room and Sunny followed. “Worried about all this?” Frisk asked now that they were alone.

Sunny nodded, sitting down on the left bed. “I don't understand this,” he said with a sigh. “Doesn't she know we might already have a home?”

“...maybe she’s lonely.” Frisk said as they sat on the right bed. “Or maybe something else is worrying her.”

“That's still no excuse.” Sunny said, fiddling with his necklace. “I want to go home already, I can't stay here.”

Frisk was quiet. Sunny looked at them. “...don't tell me you want to stay here.”

Frisk quickly shook their head. “No, of course not!” they said. “I also have a home. And I really, really, really want to get back to it. I shouldn't be here, and I don't know how I got here. I don't know what happened…”

Frisk hugged their chest. For the first time, they showed an emotion other than happiness, excitement, and acceptance of the situation. They looked sad and worried. “I need to get back as soon as possible…” Things became quiet.

“I believe that's genuine.” Omori said.

“So we have to ask to leave.” Sunny said after a moment. “We need to explain that to her. She probably won't like it…”

“Yeah.” Frisk agreed. “But I think we should wait until tomorrow before we say anything. It's been a really long day.”

Sunny hesitantly nodded. As much as he wanted to get home as soon as possible, this was the most action he had experienced in a long time. Physical action at least. Sunny wasn't a very fit person, and he was exhausted from running around and being attacked all day.

“Besides! Toriel made a pie!” Frisk said, their smile returning. “We have to enjoy that!” The desire for pie had scared away their sadness, and now they seemed excited and happy once again.

“Yeah, I'm hungry.” Sunny admitted.

“Then let's go!” Frisk said, jumping off the bed.

Sunny got up and followed them out of the room in the direction of the pie smell. They found Toriel, setting a large, smoking hot pie on the table. “Hello you two! How do you like the room?”

“It's nice!” Frisk said, Sunny nodding.

“Oh, I'm so glad!” Toriel said happily. “Here, my children, would you like some pie? You must be very hungry.”

Sunny and Frisk nodded and sat down at the table. There was an extra chair which Omori sat in, partially clipping through the table because the chair wasn’t pulled out. Toriel went to the kitchen and brought out a knife and some plates and utensils. She began to cut the pie and gave each of them a large slice.

“Enjoy!” Toriel said with a smile.

“Thanks!” Frisk said, digging in. “Wow! It's so good!”

Frisk seemed to really be enjoying the pie, they had a big smile on their face as they ate. But suddenly, Omori said “Is it just me, or do they seem a little sad?”

Sunny noticed that Omori was right. Frisk’s smile was wavering a little, and their eyes held a twinge of sadness. “It probably reminds them of their home.” Sunny whispered.

Frisk noticed Sunny watching them and hid their sadness with another smile. “Try the pie, Sunny! It's really good!”

Sunny nodded and slowly used his fork to cut the tip of his pie slice off. He tried it, a little hesitant, and his eye widened. “W-wow. That is good.”

Sunny hadn't expected the combination of cinnamon and butterscotch to work as well as it did, but it was an excellent pairing. The spice of the cinnamon danced with the sweetness of the butterscotch on Sunny’s tongue, before being balanced out by the buttery pie crust.

“I’m so glad you like it.” Toriel said as she took her own slice. “It's been a long time since I got to share a pie like this.”

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Sunny said as he took a second bite.

“Yes, thank you!” Frisk repeated, already almost done with their slice. “The pie is great!”

Toriel giggled. “You two are so different!” she said. “It's quite the interesting combination! How did you two become friends?”

Sunny still didn’t consider Frisk his friend, but if Toriel thought they were friends, he best say they were.

“We actually just met today.” Sunny said. “When we woke up here.”

Toriel’s smile fell at this. “I see. That reminds me of another thing. Why did you come here?”

“Oh we… just… woke up here.” Sunny explained nervously. “We both just fell asleep, and when we woke up we were down here.”

“Yeah.” Frisk nodded. “We don't know why.”

Toriel seemed confused and concerned. “So you didn't climb the mountain? How odd.” Her smile returned, hiding her worry. “Well, not to worry. Whatever happened, you two are safe now. I will make sure you have a nice time living here.”

“...But we-”

“No Sunny.” Omori suddenly said. “Remember. Wait until tomorrow.”

Sunny saw Frisk’s expression. Like Omori, they were telling him to not say anything. Sunny looked down at his partially finished pie.

“...nevermind.”

“I’m surprised you didn't want a second slice, Sunny.” Frisk said as Toriel picked up their finished plates and brought them to the kitchen

“It’s ok. I’m full.” Sunny said. “It was a big slice. It's about as much as I normally eat.”

Frisk had eaten two and a half slices, while Sunny only ate a single slice, not even finishing it by eating the crust. Frisk may be smaller than Sunny, but they had a way bigger appetite.

Toriel overheard this as she returned from the kitchen and seemed worried. Frisk seemed a bit worried as well. Sunny was used to this. Everyone worried about how little he ate. But he was actually eating much better than he was before. Improvement comes in small steps, it doesn't happen all at once.

“Well, there is more pie in case you want it, Sunny.” Toriel said. “You can have some tomorrow. It's getting late, I'm sure you two are tired.”

Sunny checked the time on the phone Toriel gave him. He also checked the time on his normal phone, just to make sure the clocks were aligned. They were, the time read 9:37.

While that wasn't extremely late, Sunny was tired from everything that had happened today, and was ready to sleep.

“And when you sleep we can talk.” Omori said.

*Right!* Sunny thought, perking up. He needed to talk to Omori, and sleeping would be the perfect opportunity to do so.

Frisk also looked very tired. “Sounds good!” they said with a yawn.

Frisk and Sunny got up and Toriel led them into their room. “I will be in the dining room.” Toriel said. “Please let me know if you need anything. Goodnight!”

“Goodnight!” Frisk said as Toriel left.

“Oyasumi.” Sunny said.

Toriel paused. “Oyasumi? What does that mean?”

“Oh, it- er- it means goodnight in Japanese.” Sunny explained.

“Ah!” Toriel said with a smile. “Well then, oyasumi to you as well! Sweet dreams!”

“It's cool that you know Japanese!” Frisk said.

“Thanks…” Sunny said sheepishly as he sat on one of the beds. He had no idea how he was going to sleep on this. The bed was stiff, obviously it hadn't been slept in for years. When Sunny had moved to the city, he had some trouble falling asleep due to the new environment. This room would likely have the same effect. Not to mention he was still very stressed out from being lost in a world filled with monsters who had tried to kill him.

“I’m going to use the bathroom.” Frisk said, walking towards the door. “Be right back!”

Sunny nodded as Frisk left. He sat on the bed for a while, the silence growing, only spiking his anxiety.

“You good?” Omori asked, making Sunny jump.

“I- yeah…” Sunny said. “I just… tonight I should have been over at Kel and Hero’s. I was supposed to be visiting everyone.”

“I know.” Omori said. “This really sucks.”

“That's an understatement.” Sunny said, hugging his arms. “I’m still really freaked out by all this. Mom must be so worried. Everyone must be.”

It was quiet. As Sunny hugged himself, he felt the photo album in his vest. He paused, then took it out and opened it. He looked at all the photos of his friends, their captured smiles melting away Sunny’s anxiety.

Sunny went through his photo album in silence, feeling better and calmer. This was ruined when Frisk walked back in. “I'm back!”

Sunny jumped, startled, and quickly closed the photo album. “Y-you scared me.” he said, putting the album back into his vest.

“What was that?” Frisk asked, pointing at Sunny’s vest.

“N-nothing…” Sunny said nervously. Normally he would be ok with sharing his photo album but he felt a bit too anxious at the moment to allow someone else to touch it.

“I-I’m gonna go to sleep.” Sunny said. “Oyasumi.”

“Oyasumi.” Frisk repeats. “See you in the morning.”

Sunny nodded, lying down on the bed and pulling the blankets over himself. Frisk turned off the light and Sunny heard them climb into their own bed. Sunny closed his eyes.

When he opened them again he was greeted with white.

Sunny sat up, seeing nothing but white around him. The floor he sat on was cold, and there wasn't a single noise. He was in White Space.

“This day was certainly eventful, huh?”

Sunny turned around to see Omori sitting in his usual spot a few feet away. Sunny got up and walked over, sitting beside him. They sat in silence for a moment.

“So, about Frisk.” Omori said, breaking the silence.

“You're really starting with that? Not about any of the monsters or waking up here?” Sunny asked.

“Yes, because Frisk knows something, I know they do.” Omori said. “They have not been freaking out over the situation at all. Maybe they're just excited by the monsters and adventure, but they don't seem very excited either. They're just calm, TOO calm.”

“But how could they possibly know anything?” Sunny asked. “We woke up in the same spot.”

“Maybe Frisk woke up before you, and went on ahead.” Omori theorized. “Maybe they did something. That would explain why the flower was only focused on you and was glancing at Frisk. It would also explain why Frisk seems so calm, because this is planned out. And although this may be a stretch, it may be how they remembered the solution to that falling puzzle. And it explains that they knew the rock would move. They've seen it, and so they know what's going to happen. ”

“You're saying this like they are some evil mastermind.” Sunny said. “They are 12.”

“Sunny, I’m 12 and an evil mastermind.” Omori countered.

“Touche.” Sunny said. “But you're different, and can’t be compared to them. And while I agree with all your evidence, I don't think your theory has any actual grounds. It just doesn't make sense. Why would the flower join their side? What's to gain? And wouldn't Toriel or another monster have seen them? Everyone was acting like it was the first time they had ever seen Frisk. Unless you think that's also an act.”

“No, that seemed legitimate.” Omori said. “You have very fair points. I don't believe the theory fully myself, but it's the best I got. We just don't have enough information yet. We still don't know what they were looking at and pressing either.”

It became quiet again.

“Let's change the topic then, since we don't have enough info.” Sunny said. “I still can't believe all of that was real. Like- real monsters. Actual living monsters.”

“It's certainly strange.” Omori said. “Perhaps no one has found them because they're underground?”

“Toriel said ‘so you didn't climb the mountain’. This cave must be under a mountain.” Sunny says. “That begs the question, which mountain?”

“Perhaps you can ask Toriel in the morning.”

“She lives under the mountain, she might not know its actual name.” Sunny said.

“Uhg, you're right…” Omori said, clutching his head in frustration. “We need information. Without that, we’re not going to figure this out.”

“Yeah…” Sunny sighed.

“Frisk knows this information, I know they do.” Omori grumbled. “But how are we going to get it out of them?”

Frisk laid in bed, listening to Sunny. His breathing was steady and in a constant rhythm, as it had been for the last 15 minutes. He was truly asleep. Which meant now was the time for Frisk to act.

Frisk slowly and quietly climbed out of bed. They grabbed a large stuffed frog toy and slipped it under the covers in their spot. As they made the bed so it looked like someone was sleeping under it, Frisk kept an ear out to make sure Sunny wasn't stirring. He wasn't.

Frisk slowly crept out of the room and into the hallway. They could hear water and dishes clinking in the kitchen. Toriel was distracted. Frisk took this chance to sneak through the hallway and outside back into the Ruins. Frisk turned to the save point and saved.

Frisk quickly made their way towards the balcony overlooking the Ruins. And there waiting, exactly as planned, was Flowey.

“Took you long enough.” Flowey said.

“Sorry.” Frisk said, walking over. “I had to wait for Sunny to fall asleep.”

“That's fine. What's important is that you're here now. So let's talk.” Flowey said. “Why haven't you reloaded the save?”

“If I could, I would.” Frisk said. “But it says my file is now File 2.”

“Wha- File 2?” Flowey asked. “Since when did you have access to multiple files?”

“Since never!” Frisk said. “I don't know how that happened! But I don't know how to access File 1 now. I didn't have time to try. But I know you used multiple files. Can you help?”

“Yes, I know how to change files.” Flowey nodded. “Meet me in front of Toriel’s- no, that's too close… the mouse. Meet me by the mouse hole.”

“Ok.” Frisk said as Flowey vanished into the dirt.

Frisk left the balcony and quickly made their way to the mouse room. Frisk had never been in the Ruins at night. The artificial lighting had dimmed now that it was nighttime, and there weren't any monsters about. Although Frisk found it interesting, more pressing matters were at hand. Like finally fixing this mess.

They arrived at the mouse room, where Flowey waited in front of the save point. “Open the menu.” Flowey commanded. “Don't save though.”

Frisk interacted with the save point.

“Ok, now the way I did it while I was Omega was that I imagined a dial.” Flowey said. “Each setting on the dial was a different file. I imagined the dial turning, and that would grant me access to a different file. Try doing that.”

Frisk focused, imagining a dial with two options: File 1 and File 2. They imagined turning the dial to File 1, and then opened their eyes.

“It worked!” Frisk cried excitedly.

“Great!” Flowey said. “Now reload the save and let's be DONE with this crap!”

Frisk happily obliged, ready for things to go back to normal. They pressed LOAD.

Both of them went quiet upon seeing this. “What does that mean…?” Frisk quietly asked.

“...I dont know.” Flowey said. “I’ve never seen this before. And I've been messing around with saves for who knows how long.”

Frisk attempted to load the file again, but nothing they did worked. With a sigh, they closed the menu. “What now?” they asked, tears in their eyes. “How do we fix this? How do we unlock it?”

“I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” Flowey said. “There has to be some cause for this. So there must be a way to un-cause it. And I'm pretty sure that starts with Sunny.”

“Sunny?” Frisk asked, turning to Flowey.

“They are the only thing that's different.” Flowey said. “The only thing that doesn't make sense. He has to be involved.”

“Probably… but I don't think he wanted this.” Frisk said.

Flowey turned to them, questioning in his eyes. “I’ve been with him this entire time.” Frisk explained. “From what I can tell, he really wants to go home. And he strikes me as the nervous wreck kind of person, someone like Alphys. I’m not saying he didn't cause this, I'm saying he didn't WANT to cause this.”

“But he still might have caused this.” Flowey said. “And he might be so nervous because he’s pretending not to know. Or maybe because of the reset he forgot he caused this.”

“But how WOULD he cause this?” Frisk argued. “He doesn't have a red soul, and he certainly doesn't seem like the determined type. He hasn't done anything suspicious… well, except…”

“Except what?” Flowey asked.

“Well, his necklace is strange. The description I mean. Check it when you get the chance.” Frisk said. “And there's also something that happened right before he went to sleep. I went to the bathroom and when I came back, Sunny had a large green book. He put it away pretty quickly, hiding it in his vest.”

“That book must be important then…” Flowey muttered. “There must be something inside of it.”

“Yeah, but with it in his vest, I don't know how to get it to look at.” Frisk said. “I only got a quick glimpse at the cover. I think it had the word basil on it.”

“Maybe it's a recipe…” Flowey theorized. “A recipe that could somehow cause a reset?”

“That's kind of a stretch.” Frisk said.

“I’m aware I'm grasping at straws, but we don't have much information.” Flowey said. “We still have no idea what that soul means, or what it can do.”

Frisk nodded. Sunny’s soul was still a huge question mark.

“Not to mention his LOVE.” Flowey said, bringing up the other question mark. “He may seem like a nervous wreck, but he clearly had the guts to commit multiple murders.”

Frisk nodded. “That's the main reason why I don't trust him.”

“As you shouldnt.” Flowey nodded. “A level of violence like that isn't gained easily. I would know. That's multiple people killed. He’s more than he seems. We cannot let our guard down around him.”

Frisk nodded again. “So I suppose that's my cue to head on back.” they said.

“I guess it is.” Flowey said. “I’ll see you tomorrow then. And don't worry, if he tries anything I'll be there.”

“Wait!” Frisk said as Flowey began to dig under the ground. Flowey paused and looked at Frisk. “One more thing…”

“Sans.” Flowey guessed.

Frisk nodded, tears in their eyes. “He must be so mad. The promise was broken and-”

“Frisk, the promise wasn’t broken because you didn't break it.” Flowey said. “And I'm sure Sans knows this too. I would have talked to him, but I wasn't leaving you alone with Sunny. When you see him tomorrow, you can tell him all about what happened. He’ll understand, he won't be mad.”

Frisk sighed, wiping away their tears. “You're right… thanks.”

“Rest well, Paci-Frisk.” Flowey said, before vanishing under the ground.

Frisk walked back to Toriel’s house, lost in thought. What was going on? This couldn't be Sunny, right? Frisk had no idea how he could possibly do something like this. Maybe Flowey was right and that book he had somehow had information on how to cause a reset. Frisk would have to try and find an opportunity to look at it. But for now, it was time to sleep. Frisk needed their strength if they were to figure this out.

They arrived back at Toriel’s house and saved, before creeping inside. The lights were off, so Toriel must have gone to sleep. That made it easy for Frisk to slip back inside the bedroom.

Sunny hadn’t moved an inch, still breathing rhythmically. Frisk slowly made their way back to their bed and removed the decoy, placing it back in the toy box. They climbed into bed and tucked themselves in.

They closed their eyes with a quiet sigh. They didn't think they would ever be sleeping in this particular bed again, but here they were. But Frisk assured themselves it would be ok. Frisk knew what the problem was now, their file was locked. And there had to be a way to unlock it.

Frisk knew that tomorrow, they could tell Sans about what happened. And then, with all of them working together, they could surely fix this. Frisk was determined to fix this, they had to. And with that final thought, they drifted off to sleep, awaiting whatever would happen tomorrow.

Chapter Text

Frisk opened their eyes to pure white. Frisk, confused, closed them again for a moment. When they opened them back up, they expected the white to be gone, but it wasn't. All Frisk could see was white.

Frisk sat up, reaching a hand to their face, worrying they had gone blind. But as they did, Frisk saw their hand. They looked down and saw the rest of their body. They hadn't gone blind, their vision was fine. It was just that the world around them was this blinding white.

Frisk looked around, but saw absolutely nothing. There were no shadows here, so Frisk couldn't tell if they were in a small room or an endless void. Without shadows, they seemed to be floating in nothing. But Frisk could feel the floor underneath them, it was smooth and cold. Not freezingly so, just cold. Like a metal railing on an autumn night.

As well as seeing nothing, Frisk heard nothing. No wind, no ambient sound. It was just deathly quiet. The only thing Frisk was able to hear was their own breathing. Apart from that, this place was total sensory deprivation. At least until Frisk heard voices.

“No, that doesn't make sense either, sorry.”

“Well, do you have a better explanation? You've been hearing all my theories, but I haven't heard any of yours.”

“That's fair. Let's see…”

The voices sounded like Sunny and… Sunny? The second voice sounded like Sunny, but different. It sounded younger, like a child was talking. But it was also a lot duller in tone, like whoever was talking didn't care about what was being discussed.

Frisk turned around towards the sound of the voices and saw something within the infinite void of white. An island in the endless sea of nothing. It was a large blanket with various things on it, like a laptop and a tissue box. Hanging from the ceiling (wherever it was) was a long black wire, but it had nothing on its end. Everything on and around the blanket was black and white, even the blanket had no color.

Sitting on the blanket were the speakers, facing away from Frisk. One of them was indeed Sunny, and the other one was… also Sunny. Just smaller, and completely black and white. He matched the environment around him while Sunny stood out amongst the white.

Joining them on the blanket was a black cat. The black cat stared at the Sunnys before noticing Frisk. Upon seeing them, it meowed, grabbing the Sunnys attentions. They stopped talking and turned around, spotting Frisk. They stared at them for a moment in silence.

“What the-” The black and white Sunny broke the silence as he rose to his feet. He walked over to Frisk and stared down at them. “How the hell- what are you doing here? How did you get here?” he demanded. Though the tone he spoke in was dull, it was forceful, far more forceful than the timid Sunny could ever be.

“I- I don't know.” Frisk said, slightly intimidated. “I just went to bed and- oh wait.” *I'm dreaming. This is a dream.* Frisk realized. *But why am I dreaming of this? What even is this?*

The monochrome Sunny turned to the normal Sunny as he walked over. “What's with them? Why did you make them?” the small Sunny asked. “Why are they in White Space?”

*White Space?* Frisk thought. *Is that what this place is called? It's a very apt name. Wait- what do you mean ‘make me?’ What are they talking about?*

“I didn't do this.” the regular Sunny said as he arrived at his doppelgangers side. “I was about to ask you the same question, Omori.”

Sunny’s look-alike, who was apparently named Omori, turned their attention back to Frisk. “Then why are they here?”

“I’m asking myself that same question.” Frisk said. “I can tell this is a dream, but I don't know why I’m dreaming of this.”

“Wha- a dream?” Sunny repeated, his eye widening.

Omori was quiet as he stared at Frisk. “Do you know what this place is?” he asked.

Frisk shook their head. “Do you?” Frisk asked.

“Yeah… I dream of this place all the time.” Sunny said.

“You dream of this place…? Wait-” Frisk paused as a possibility hit them. “...I think we’re sharing dreams…”

“What?” both Sunnys said at the same time.

“Well, this isn't a normal dream.” Frisk said. “I’ve never dreamt of anything even remotely close to this. But Sunny said he dreams of this place all the time. I think I'm in his dream…”

“Is that possible?” Sunny asked, sounding nervous. “For us to share dreams?”

“I have no idea.” Frisk said.

“Then how are you in Sunny’s dream?” Omori asked. His tone was still dull, but it was also aggressive. Clearly he wasn't happy about Frisk being here.

“I wish I knew.” Frisk said with a shrug. “I've only heard of this in movies and books. But it's the best answer I've got.”

Omori stared down at them. Although his expression was… expressionless, Frisk could practically see the gears ticking in his head. Finally, he spoke. “Get up.”

All of a sudden, two white hands with red outlines appeared from behind Omori. They flew over to Frisk and grabbed their wrists. “H-hey! What-”

Before Frisk could finish, the hands had pulled Frisk to their feet. The hands let go and Frisk stumbled for balance.

*What was that?* Frisk thought. The hands stretched from Omori’s back with long arms that were wavy and bendy, like they lacked all bones. The hands took their place behind Omori, ready to be used again if need be.

“What are those?” Frisk asked.

“Hands.” Omori answered. Frisk checked one of them.

Frisk couldn't help but notice the hands had the same name as Sunny’s necklace. Is that why Sunny wore it? Because of these hands Omori could make? Did the necklace allow Sunny to make the hands too? Frisk decided to check Sunny’s necklace again to see if anything changed with it, but they saw Sunny was no longer wearing it.

Sunny’s chain necklace with the red sticky hand was gone, and now Sunny was wearing something different. A translucent wire necklace, with a small glowing lightbulb hanging from it.

*...Luck?* Frisk thought. Items affected defense and attack, but Frisk had never seen one affect luck before. It was interesting, Frisk didn't know that was possible.

“Well, thanks for helping me up.” Frisk said, trying to be polite, even though they were upset about being pulled to their feet like that. It certainly wasn't a kind gesture. Already, Frisk wasn't liking Omori. But they understood why he seemed to be upset, Frisk had barged into Sunny’s dreams without an invitation, though they certainly hadn't meant to.

Omori just stared at Frisk. Now that Frisk was standing, they could see that although Omori was smaller than Sunny, he was still taller than Frisk, but not by very much.

Omori wasn't just smaller than Sunny, he was younger. He looked to be around 12, the same age Frisk was currently. Omori appeared to be wearing pajamas. A black tanktop and white shorts with black stripes. On his feet were a pair of long black socks, and he wore no shoes.

Omori wasn't wearing the bandages Sunny had on his arms, nor was he wearing an eyepatch, allowing Frisk to see both his eyes. And Frisk didn't like how they looked.

Even undead monsters like Napstablook and the skeletons had a bright shine of light to their eyes. Flowey’s shine was subdued, but it was still there. The shine was something that told everyone “I’m alive!”

Omori’s eyes did not have this shine. His eyes were dead, blank, and emotionless. If Omori laid on the ground and held his breath, Frisk would probably mistake him for a corpse. Frisk didn't like this, it made them uneasy.

Frisk couldn't deny that Omori looked like he belonged here in White Space. He lacked all color, and so meshed with the colorless environment around him. He only had one piece of color on him, and that was a red ribbon he had tied into a small bow around his neck. Being the only colored thing Omori had, Frisk was curious about it and checked it.

*ENERGY?* Frisk was getting more and more confused. That ribbon looked like a normal ribbon to them. Why was a defense item increasing attack? And what was ENERGY?

There was only one thing Frisk had not checked yet, and that was Omori himself.

*Juice? What is Juice- wait… level 5? But how…?* Nothing about this was making sense. Why was HP now called Heart? What was Juice? And why was Omori’s LOVE 5? Frisk needed answers.

“So, I have a few questions.” Frisk said.

“As do we.” Omori said. “But you go first.”

“Ok. Umm… who are you?” Frisk said, pointing at Omori.

“My name is Omori.” Omori said.

“Are you also sharing dreams with Sunny?” Frisk asked.

“No. I exist in Sunny’s mind.” Omori said

“What does that mean?”

“Umm…” Sunny joined in the conversation. “Omori is just… a part of my head. He’s a mental manifestation of-”

“I am Sunny’s protector.” Omori suddenly said, cutting Sunny off as he shot him a glance.

“Sorry…” Sunny said quietly.

Whatever Sunny was about to say, Omori didn't want Frisk to know it. It was obvious to Frisk that Omori didn't trust them. So he was hiding information from them. Frisk supposed that was justified given the situation. They couldn't get mad at him, after all, Frisk had been doing that same thing all day. But Frisk still didn't trust Omori.

Sunny could sense the growing tension between the two 12 year olds, and he attempted to defuse it. “Omori is like… like an imaginary friend,” he explained nervously, trying not to upset Omori. “But he’s also not so imaginary. He can think for himself.”

Although Frisk didn't fully understand how that was possible, it was a good enough explanation for them. It also appeared to satisfy Omori. Though Frisk was even more confused now. If Omori was just in Sunny’s mind, an imaginary friend, how was his LOVE higher than Sunny’s? Something didn't make sense. But maybe it was just part of the dream?

“Meow?” Frisk felt something touch their leg and looked down. At their feet was the black cat, looking up at them.

“Awww! Hello!” Frisk said, confusion and suspicion temporarily forgotten in favor of the cat. Frisk bent down and pet the cat, who leaned into Frisk’s touch, purring.

“She likes you.” Sunny remarked.

“Mewo likes everyone, Sunny.” Omori said

“Mewo, that's such a cute name!” Frisk said. “It's nice to meet you, Mewo!”

Mewo meowed again and nuzzled against Frisk’s face, purring even louder.

“You can pet Mewo all you like, but now it's our turn to ask a question.” Omori said. “I still want to know why you're here.”

“I told you, I don't know.” Frisk said. “I’d like to know why I'm here too. And I'd also like to know what this place is.”

“It's called White Space.” Sunny said. “It's a place in my dreams I visit sometimes.”

“Why do you visit?” Frisk asked. There didn't seem to be much worth visiting here. It was so empty. The most notable thing about this place was the lack of anything notable.

“Just to talk with Omori, really.” Sunny said. “And to chill when I've had a particularly bad day.”

Frisk could understand why this place could be calming for some people. Napstablook would probably adore this place. But for Frisk, the total silence and lack of anything was incredibly eerie. Suddenly, something caught Frisk’s eye.

“Where did that door come from?”

“What door?” Omori and Sunny asked at the same time.

“That one. Behind you.” Frisk said, pointing.

Sunny and Omori turned around to see a white door, connected to nothing. It definitely wasn't there before, there was so little here that Frisk would have noticed it.

“...Why is that here?” Sunny asked, wide eyed, sounding nervous.

“It shouldn't be.” Omori said, walking over and opening the door. He stared silently out the door for a few moments, before finally speaking.

“Why the fuck is Headspace back.”

Frisk and Sunny followed Omori through the door, which despite not being attached to anything, led somewhere. A place Sunny seemed to know.

“What happened to Neighbors Room?” Sunny nervously asked as he looked around.

Frisk took in the strange “Neighbors Room” which was the total opposite of White Space. It was extremely colorful with soft but vibrant pastel colors, and it was full of substance. Toys and cards were scattered on the ground, as well as a few fried eggs for some reason. A few flowers grew from the light purple floor, along with a white tree with long magenta leaves coming directly out of the top of the trunk. There was a long yellow counter against the far wall, which had various things like a toaster and present on it, and a pink baseball bat leaning against it.

Frisk looked up to see if there was anything on the ceiling, but there wasn't. There wasn't even a ceiling. Above the room was a purple sky filled with stars and the outlines of objects which drifted past. These “constellations” were of many different things. There were beds, books, flowers, lightbulbs, chairs, shoes, jump ropes, baseball bats, planets, and much more.

But although the room was very cute, it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. There were holes and cracks in the walls and floor, which had patches of desaturated color. The counter on the far wall was dented and cracked, and some of the doors for the cupboards had fallen off or were missing entirely. There was a white table in the room which had broken in half and was missing a leg. The remains of a plate lay on the broken table, with a single bean among the shards.

Although the room looked abandoned, there were some creatures in it. On a large rainbow staircase lay a large white snake with a few speckled light purple scales. Peering over the wall was a giant yellow cat, who stared at them with a soft, warm smile.

As Frisk looked around at everything, Sunny and Omori were doing the same. Sunny seemed nervous, eying the room with confusion and worry. Omori still looked completely emotionless, but he examined the room with intensity.

After looking around, Omori turned to the giant cat. “What happened here?” he asked it. “What's going on?”

The cat said nothing, it just continued to stare at them, still smiling.

“Useless.” Omori said.

“Hey!” Frisk said. “That was uncalled for! Apologize!”

“It doesn't matter, and we don't have time for your nonsense.” Omori said, turning to them. “This place should not be back.”

“Well what is this place?” Frisk asked, upset at Omori.

“A prison.” Omori said.

Frisk, caught off guard by that, and takes another look around. “This… doesn't look like a prison.” they say. White Space struck them as more prison-like. This place was quite cozy in comparison.

“Exactly.” Omori said. “It's supposed to look nice. To be nice. It's trying to convince you to stay. It's trying to trick you into thinking you aren't trapped.”

“Really?” Frisk asked. Sunny nodded. “Ok, then let's leave.” Frisk said, pointing to a glowing white doorway at the top of the rainbow staircase, a clear exit out of the room.

“They don't get it.” Omori said, turning to Sunny.

“What? What don't I get?” Frisk asked.

“It’ll be easier to explain outside.” Sunny said as Omori began walking towards the staircase.

Frisk and Sunny followed him, the cat watching the three walk over to the exit. Frisk noticed that Omori had already taken charge of the group, walking ahead of them. As they climbed the staircase, the snake who laid on it raised its head to look at them.

“Sssssss….” It hissed. “Going out, Omori? Here’s your allowance.”

The snake held out its tail and a small white bag tied with a purple pastel string materialized out of thin air. The snake handed the bag to Omori, who took it and pocketed it.

“Sssss… take care.” the snake tells them, lowering its head.

“Money?” Frisk asked.

“Yes.” Sunny confirmed as Omori began to continue up the staircase.

Omori said nothing to the snake, so as Frisk followed the two Sunnys up the staircase, they turned to the snake. “Thank you!” they said.

“Ssssss…” the snake hissed. “Waiting for something to happen?”

“Huh? What do you mean?” Frisk asked, confused. But the snake said nothing.

“Frisk, c’mon.” Sunny said. Frisk looked at the snake one more time, before following Sunny into the light.

Of all the places Frisk expected Neighbors Room to be in, a tree stump was not one of them. Frisk stared at the environment outside of the tree stump. Everything was pastel, to the trees and flowers to the rocks scattered among the minty grass, to even the tree stump they had just emerged from. The sky was the same as in Neighbors Room, purple with various constellations floating by.

“Whoaa…” Frisk couldn't help but say as they looked around. “This place is… wow…”

Frisk couldn't help but feel excited. They had already known they were going on a new adventure, but had only expected to adventure through the Underground again. They had never expected anything like this.

“Andddd they’ve already fallen into the trap. Great.” Omori suddenly said.

“What?” Frisk asked, turning to him. “What trap?”

“This is still the prison.” Omori explained. “All of this is. All of Headspace is the prison. Do not get trapped in it. Just ignore it and focus on more important things. Like figuring out why it's back.”

Frisk looked at the environment again. Once again, this place didn't feel like a prison. But if it was, then it had already succeeded in pulling Frisk into it. And that was kind of scary. Frisk followed Omori’s advice and shook the excitement from their body, refocusing on the matter at hand. “Ok, what do we do? If this is a prison, how do we leave it?”

“Well this is a dream.” Omori said. “So Sunny should be able to control it and make this go away. Sunny?”

Sunny closed his eyes and stood there for a moment. When he opened them again, he got scared. “It- it didn't work. I cant- I cant control it.”

Omori was quiet for a moment. “...me neither.” Omori turned to Frisk. “I am going to hate you if this works, but you try.”

“Huh? How?” Frisk asked.

“Just try thinking of something appearing in front of you.” Sunny said. “If you can control the dream, it should appear. For example, you can think of something important to you like-”

All of a sudden, a violin materialized in midair and fell into Sunny’s arms. The group stared at it.

“Does it work now?” Omori asked.

Sunny was quiet. The violin suddenly vanished, then appeared again. “It's… just the violin. I don't know why. All I can do is summon the violin.”

“Well, at least you can do that.” Omori said. “That's something. We don't know what we’re getting into, and we need our weapons.”

*A weapon?* Frisk thought. *That's a weapon?*

Of all the things Frisk expected a violin to be, a weapon was not one of them. And they especially didn't expect it to be that strong. Either the violin held significant emotional value, or it was another part of the dream.

“You said ‘our weapons.’” Frisk noted. “Do you have a weapon, Omori?”

Omori nodded, and reached into his shorts pocket. Frisk watched as he pulled out a large knife. Well, if there was any sign that Omori was the one Frisk should be worrying about, that was it.

*spd? Like speed?* Frisk thought. *Oh! All these attributes must be part of the dream!*

Although Frisk found the new stats interesting, what they found more interesting is that Sunny’s violin was significantly stronger than Omori’s knife. They wondered why.

“I assume you don't have a weapon.” Omori said as he put away his knife.

Frisk shook their head. “I don't need one.” Frisk said.

“Yes you do.” Omori said. “Hang on.”

Omori poked his head back into the tree stump. After a moment, he withdrew, and one of the red hands followed him, holding the pink baseball bat that was inside Neighbors Room. The hand, which was flying rather than coming out of Omori’s back, presented the bat to Frisk.

“I don't need something like that.” Frisk said. “Thanks though.”

“Take it anyway.” Omori said, the hand tossing the bat into Frisk’s hands. “Now try to control the dream. Think of something, and don't tell us what.”

Frisk stared at the bat. They imagined the bat appearing and disappearing like Sunny could do with his violin. To their shock, it actually worked, the bat vanished when Frisk thought of it, and came back the same way. “it-”

“It's part of your inventory.” Omori said before Frisk could say anything. “That's normal to be able to do that. Think of something else. Something appearing in front of you, or the grass changing color.”

Frisk thought for a moment about what to try. They decided to try and make one of their favorite stuffed animals appear on the ground. They focused real hard, imagining the toy dog appearing in the grass. But nothing happened.

Frisk tried their other stuffed animals as well, and even a slice of Toriel’s pie. But nothing appeared. “It's not working.” Frisk said.

“Good, I would be extremely upset if it did.” Omori said.

“But it's not working for us either.” Sunny said.

“Yes, that's the problem.” Omori said. “The question is, why?”

“So what do we do?” Frisk asked.

“We investigate. Headspace is back, so let's start there.” Omori said.

“We should start with the playground then.” Sunny said.

“Yes, let's go.” Omori said, beginning to walk south.

Frisk and Sunny followed him. As they walked, Frisk noticed how much Omori stood out. Frisk with their brightly colored clothes fit very well into the colorful pastel environment.

Sunny’s color palette was more dull, but he still had color, so still fit in. The same could not be said for Omori. Omori’s total lack of color clashed against the world, and he stood out like a sore thumb. Omori didn't look like he belonged here at all, yet he seemed to know Headspace very well.

And even though they knew Headspace, they weren't hiding that knowledge from Frisk. Frisk had hidden their knowledge about the Ruins and the Underground, but Omori and Sunny weren’t hiding anything about Headspace. The very existence of this place worried them, and they must want Frisk to be worried too. And so Frisk is, even though they don't have any idea why they should be worried. Maybe something dark and sinister lurks under the ground here. Frisk could only trust that they could avoid it.

After walking south for a short while, the three entered a playground. The playground was completely abandoned, and several of the play equipment like the slide, swings, and tetherball pole were broken.

Sunny instantly turned his attention to the right, where a checkered red and white picnic blanket lay. Atop the blanket was a picnic basket and several other things one would bring to a picnic.

“They're not there.” Sunny said quietly.

“Did you want them to be?” Omori asked.

“...no.”

Frisk was confused about who Sunny was referring to, but the Sunnys were already walking over to the picnic. Frisk followed, and Sunny pointed at a small pile of candy on the blanket.

“If we eat that, we’ll fully heal.” he explained. “We’ll get all our Heart and Juice back.”

“Good to know.” Frisk said.

Frisk noticed the picnic basket and walked over, curious if there was anything inside. As they lifted the lid, suddenly their check skill activated on its own.

*What?* Frisk thought. *Why does the dream have a save point? And why is it now a picnic basket?*

Well, a save point was a save point, and Frisk was going to SAVE. However…

Frisk was confused and kind of worried. Who was the Dreamer? And why could they suddenly SAVE when Frisk couldn't?

“Are you trying to SAVE?” Sunny suddenly asked, walking over.

“...Yeah.” Frisk said, suspicious. How does Sunny know about that? How long have they known?

“Stop it.” Omori said. “Don't mess with anything.”

“Sorry.” Frisk said. “It's not letting me anyway. It says only the DREAMER can save.”

“That would be Sunny.” Omori said.

“Huh?” Frisk said, staring at Sunny.

“Omori and I made my dreams similar to a video game.” Sunny explained. “Things like stats and skills. And save points in case I missed something or something went wrong. So if something happens, don't worry. We can just try again.”

“Does time rewind?” Frisk asked. They were concerned that Sunny could overwrite them if he could, that was very, very bad.

“I mean- I guess? The dream always played out the same if I had to load a save.” Sunny explained.

“Does it go back in real life too?” Frisk asked.

“That's stupid.” Omori said. “Of course not. That makes no sense. It's just a dream, why would it affect reality?”

Well that answered Frisk’s question, and Frisk was relieved. Their save wasn’t being overwritten. This was exclusive to the dream. That was very good to know, and was very useful.

“But that does bring up something important.” Omori said. “So listen up.”

Sunny and Frisk turned their attention to Omori. “Time rewinds in the dream, but not in real life.” he said. “But you two are only asleep for so long. If we are forced to load a save, the time you spent sleeping doesnt go away.”

“So we’re on a time limit.” Frisk said. *That means reloading is detrimental, not helpful.*

“How long do we have until we wake up?” Sunny asked

“Sunny fell asleep at around 10, and I assume Frisk fell asleep shortly after.” Omori said. “It took an hour for Sunny to enter REM sleep, and then 20 minutes later Frisk appeared. We talked for 10 minutes, and now we are here. So I would say we have 7 to 8 hours before you two wake up. But time moves faster in a dream, so it will be more like 6. If we are lucky, you two will sleep in and we’ll get more time.”

“What are we going to do during that time?” Frisk asked. “What are we looking for?”

“Anything.” Omori said. “Anything to explain why Headspace is back and why me and Sunny can't control it. It might be tied to why Sunny woke up in the Underground, and by extension you. I’d say it has a very good chance of being tied to it actually. You want answers, Sunny wants answers, I want answers. Now we can possibly get some.”

“Sounds good to me!” Frisk said. They were not expecting to have a chance to get some answers in their sleep, but that just made things better. All they had to do was find those answers before they woke up.

“Let's get moving then.” Omori said. “And no matter what happens, remember:”

“It’s just a distraction.”

Chapter Text

“I think we should check Basil’s house.” Omori said. “As it…” Omori glanced at Frisk for a moment. “As it was of great importance last time.”

“Basil?” Frisk asked.

“He’s… one of my friends.” Sunny said. He really didn't like that Frisk was in his dream, but Frisk didn't seem to know how they got here. The fact they were asking a lot of questions told Sunny that Frisk wasn't lying, they had not come here on purpose. But Sunny still disliked this very, very much.

“Is he like Omori? An imaginary friend?” Frisk asked.

“N-no. Well, kinda.” Sunny said. “He exists in real life, but there's also a version of him in my dreams. Same with all my other friends.”

“You dream of your friends a lot?” Frisk asked. “That's nice!”

“Yeah but… they're not my real friends.” Sunny said. “They're fake. They're like actors, just following a script… That's why I'm glad they weren't at the picnic. Hanging out with them in real life is so much better.”

Sunny sighs sadly. “I was actually supposed to be visiting them today but then… this happened.”

“Oh… I'm sorry…” Frisk said. “But don't worry! We’ll get home!”

“I hope so.” Sunny said.

“Come on.” Omori said. “We can continue to talk as we move.”

Omori began to walk and Sunny and Frisk followed him. They didn't get very far, before they were stopped by a voice.

“Psst… hey! Psst…” it hissed at them.

The group turned around to see a large blue mailbox, covered in dents. The mail deposit door was open and from the darkness within, two glowing eyes peered out.

“Hi?” Frisk said.

“Yes yes, hello, valued customers!” the mailbox said. “My storefront is a little damaged after… Well, I'm not sure. I was sleeping, you see. But I assure you, my goods are in tip top shape! Please buy something! Kekekeke…”

“Hmmm.” Omori said. “We don't know what's ahead. It may be worth buying some healing items.”

Sunny and Frisk nodded and the three walked up to the mailbox. “Two candy, one apple juice.” Omori said.

“The total will be 40 clams.” the mailbox said, a gray hand reaching out of the mail slot.

“...Clams?” Frisk said. They watched as Omori take out the white bag and pour some clams into his hand, before giving them to the mailbox. “...why is the money here shellfish…” Frisk said, looking extremely confused.

“Clam is slang for dollar.” Sunny explains, leaving out the part about how when he heard the slang for the first time, he thought actual clams could be used as currency, hence it becoming the currency in Headspace.

Frisk burst out laughing. “That's really funny!” they say. “I didn't know that! Makes all those rich people look shellfish!”

Sunny chuckled at the pun. Although Sunny didn't trust Frisk, he had to admit they were fun to be around. They radiated Kel energy.

“Mollusk you make such a terrible pun?” Omori said, making Frisk laugh even harder. Omori didn't emote much, but he did like puns (if the endless amount of jokes and puns throughout Headspace was any indication). He never laughed at them though, he enjoyed making them rather than hearing them.

The mailbox’s hand retreated into the box and the mail slot closed for a moment. When it reopened, the hand held out two pieces of candy and an apple juice box. Omori took them and pocketed them.

“Thank you kindly!” the mailbox said before chuckling and closing the mail slot.

“Ok, let's go.” Omori said.

As they left the playground, Frisk asked a question.

“You said they were recovery items. What do they heal?”

“The candy heals 30 Heart each.” Omori said. “And the apple juice heals 25 Juice.”

“What's Juice?” Frisk asked.

“It's how skills are used.” Sunny says. “Each skill costs Juice, and when you don't have enough juice you can't use a skill.”

“What are skills?” Frisk asked.

“They are moves you can use in battle.” Omori said. “They do different things from lowering stats to dealing stronger hits. For example, I have-”

Omori suddenly stopped walking. “...Omori?” Sunny asked. “Is everything ok?”

“Why do I have Annoy?”

“Huh? You have what?” Sunny said, taken aback.

“My skills are Guard and Stab.” Omori said. “But I don't have Sad Poem anymore. I have Annoy.”

“But that's Kel’s skill…” Sunny said, concerned.

“I know.” Omori said. “And that's not to mention I dont have the rest of my skills from last time. Sunny, what do you have?”

Sunny checked his skills.

“T-thats not right…” Sunny said. “I have Calm Down and Guard, but then there's new skills. Sad Song and Healing Melody. Sad Song acts like your Sad Poem, but Healing Melody acts like Hero’s Cook… I’m also missing Allegro, Encore, and Cherish. And weirder, Calm Down now costs Juice.”

“What?” Omori said, brow furrowing. “There are no skills like that. What on earth is going on?” He turned to Frisk. “Frisk, do you have skills? If so, what are they?”

“Uhhh… how do I check?” Frisk asked.

“Just think about it and you should know what you have.” Omori said.

Frisk was quiet for a moment. “I do have skills. I have Guard like you two, but I also have Pep Talk, which apparently makes someone happy. And Pep Talk costs Juice.”

“Yes, that's normal for Pep Talk. But Pep Talk is Aubrey’s skill…” Omori muttered thoughtfully. “Why do you have it…?”

“Well, Pep Talk makes some sense for Frisk. The question is, why did my skills and your skills change?” Sunny asked.

“I have zero clue. We already established that none of us can control the dream. So I don't know why this happened.” Omori said.

“Well, they seem useful.” Frisk said. “Maybe we can work with them.”

“Yes, we will use what we have. But why did I get Annoy? Why did it decide to give you Sad Poem, or I guess Sad Song, to you?” Omori wondered.

“Well, you are pretty annoying sometimes.” Sunny remarked.

Omori shot Sunny a small glare before sighing. “I guess you're right. And it wouldn't make sense for you to get Annoy, Sunny. But that raises a concern. These skills were obviously chosen for us.”

“Chosen for us?” Frisk repeated

“We were given skills that match us very well. But it also didn't give me and Sunny both a way to inflict Sad, and gave me Kel’s skill instead to finish the triangle because Annoy on me made more sense than Annoy on you or Sunny.” Omori said. “That's not a coincidence, that was deliberate. Something or someone picked these for us.”

“B-but who..?” Sunny asked, looking around.

“Beats me.” Omori said. “We need to keep moving if we want to find out.”

The three walked forwards past the signpost and into the woods. But Sunny noticed something. “...is it just me, or are the trees bigger?” he asked. “And are there more of them?”

Omori glanced around. “You're right.” he said. “And we should have come across the gardens by now.”

They continued walking and the forest got thicker and more overgrown. Strangely, many of the trees were covered in white vines that grew pinwheels. This was not normal, and Sunny and Omori were very, very concerned.

Eventually they came across a split path. “This wasn't here before…” Omori said. “Let's go… left. Because that's where the sunflowers should be. They made a left turn and walked forwards, before coming across the signpost.

“What?” Omori said. “That doesn't make any sense. We were walking away from it for-” Omori stopped as he turned around.

Sunny and Frisk followed his gaze and saw that the path they just came through was gone, and so was the forest they had just traversed. It looked like they had walked from the direction of the train station.

“W-what's going on?” Sunny asked nervously.

“...it appears this place has changed.” Omori said. “I think it's non-euclidian now.”

“I don't like this…” Sunny said. What was going on in his head?

“Me either, but we can't just wait for something to happen.” Omori said. “We have to find out what happened.”

“R-right.” Sunny said with a nod.

“Maybe it's trying to stop us from reaching Basil’s house.” Frisk said.

“You may be right.” Omori said. “But we’re going to reach it anyway.”

Sunny wondered just how confusing the simple forest had become. There was only one way to find out, and the three re-entered the forest.

~~~

Frisk followed Sunny and Omori until they came across the turn. This time, the group made a right, and found a garden of Sunflowers.

“Is this one of the gardens?” Frisk asked.

“Yes.” Omori said. “I assume that means we’re on the correct path.”

“None of the flowers are wilted.” Sunny noted. “Does that mean… Headspace Basil is here?”

“Perhaps.” Omori said. “Or maybe the flowers are not wilted because Basil is doing ok.”

“Huh? What does that mean?” Frisk asked.

“This is Sunny’s mind.” Omori said. “Certain things are affected by what he thinks and perceives. The flowers in the gardens each represent his friends, and they are doing good in reality, so the flowers are healthy here.”

“Oh! That's really nice!” Frisk said. That was a really sweet way of thinking about things. This whole place was utterly fascinating to them.

As they continued to walk, all of a sudden a creature appeared in their path. It looked at them, and then charged! Frisk’s Soul was brought out as a battle began.

“W-why are the Souls here now?” Sunny asked, looking nervous.

“Probably your perception changed, thanks to everything happening in the real world.” Omori said. “And it appears I was right about your Soul.”

Frisk looked at Sunny and did a double take. Sunny suddenly only had half a Soul, the blue side. Frisk wondered where the other side went, until they saw Omori. The red and black side was now in front of him.

*The red side is Omori’s…?* Frisk thought. *But… Sunny said he was an imaginary friend… but he also said Omori wasn't so imaginary. Whoa. He’s actually real. He actually has his own soul. That's crazy.*

*But how? How does something like this even happen? I’ve never heard of anything like this before. How did Omori do this? Who is he?*

*Where did he come from?*

The creature that attacked them was small and shaped like a seed bulb, with a thin stalk coming out of its head topped with leaves. Frisk, having never seen a monster like this before, checked it.

*Huh? That's odd. It didn't tell me its LOVE.* Frisk noted. *And what a rude description.*

Suddenly, Omori drew his knife and Frisk realized he was about to attack. “Wait!” they cried. “Don't attack it!”

“This is a fight, Frisk.” Omori said. “And things here don’t work like how they do in reality. Now draw your weapon.”

“No.” Frisk said, before turning to the Sprout Mole. “Hi! We mean no harm, it's ok!”

The Sprout Mole reacted by headbutting Frisk.

“H-hey! It's ok! There's no need to fight!” they said. The Mole just stared at them with a vacant look.

“It's not going to work, Frisk.” Omori said.

“Yes it will, it always works!” Frisk said. “All you gotta do is figure out what someone wants!” They turned to Sunny. “Sunny! What do you know about this monster?”

“H-huh?” Sunny said, taken aback. “W-w-well I made it so… I know a- a lot.”

*You… made it?*

“Uhh… Sprout Moles are… creatures… that are kinda stupid. And when they get lost they become vicious and violent.” Sunny explained.

“Aha!” Frisk said. “So we just got to give it some directions!”

“Uhhh… I don't think that-” Sunny tried to say

“If you're lost, there's a signpost that way!” Frisk said, pointing in the direction they came from. “Just walk forwards until you reach a split path, then make a left and keep walking!”

“Frisk, that's not going to work-”

“Ah-?” Omori was cut off by the Sprout Mole speaking.

The Sprout Mole’s eyes lost some of their vacancy and it blinked. “Oh. Ok. Thanks.” it said, before walking away. The group's Souls disappeared as the fight ended.

“See?!” Frisk said triumphantly. “It ALWAYS works!”

“But… how?” Sunny said, looking shocked. “That was never a mechanic before.”

Omori was quiet before sighing and putting away his knife. “Perception.” he said. “Being nice was working in the Ruins. The creatures there resemble the creatures here. Since being nice was working on them, your perception changed, and now we can win against Headspace creatures like that as well.”

“Oh.” Sunny said. “That's… interesting.”

“So let's keep doing it!” Frisk said.

Omori’s brow furrowed. “I am not ok with that. By doing that, we are indulging the prison. These creatures are not real, our kindness means nothing to them and does not help in the long run.”

“Omori, we know it's a trap. We’re not going to fall for it.” Sunny said. “We know they aren't real. So that means fighting means nothing in the long term either. We have the option to win fights through being nice-”

“Mercy!” Frisk chimed in. “It's called sparing!”

“Mercy.” Sunny said. “So let's just do that. Who knows, it might actually be faster than fighting.”

Omori sighed. “Fine. But if it stops working or takes up too much time, we fight.”

“Ok.” Sunny said as Omori began to continue walking.

Frisk followed, thinking. Omori was way, way different than Sunny. He had a vastly different personality and traits than Sunny. He was not timid or nervous, and was even aggressive. Perhaps that's why Sunny’s Soul was split so fiercely. And why Sunny’s and Omori’s levels were able to be different.

Omori preferred to fight his way through problems, and even used a knife as a weapon. He had probably killed some of the creatures here, which is why his LOVE was 5. Frisk wondered if Omori had gotten Sunny to kill things too. That would explain Sunny’s level. But Sunny didn't seem like the kind of person to do something like that. But maybe because this was a dream he felt ok with it? Or maybe… Omori had convinced him to kill someone in real life? Frisk didn’t know. But at least they won't have to do anything like that anymore.

The message Frisk got after the sprout mole had been spared said that they had gotten tofu. Frisk reaches into their pocket, but it's empty. They suddenly remember how they could make the bat appear and disappear. Frisk thinks about the piece of tofu being in their pocket, and suddenly, they feel it in there. Frisk takes it out and looks at it.

*Omori said things here are based on Sunny’s perception…* “I guess you don't like Tofu?” Frisk asked Sunny. Sunny shook his head.

Frisk decided to eat the tofu to restore the Heart they had lost. They personally liked tofu, but when they bit into it, they found it tasted way worse than normal. Sunny’s perception was impacting the flavor of things here. This was probably how he tasted it.

The three continued their trek, navigating the twisted path that only got more and more overgrown. They passed a few gardens of flowers, one growing lily of the Valley and another many roses. Some plants had begun to block their path, which Omori had to cut out of the way. They made a right turn and- “God damnit.”

They were back at the rose garden. “We must have taken a wrong turn.” Sunny said.

“At least it didn't bring us back to the sign.” Frisk said.

As they made their way back to the turn, Frisk asked Sunny a question. “Hey Sunny, you said you ‘made’ that sprout mole. How?”

“Oh, uh… I didn't make the concept of sprout moles.” Sunny said. “They exist in media, mainly the video game series Sprout Mole Eater. And since I'm familiar with them they became part of Headspace.”

“That’s cool!” Frisk said. “What else did you make?”

“Uhhh… everything. Me and Omori made all of Headspace.” Sunny explained.

“Whoa, really?” Frisk said, wide eyed. “Wait… but you said this place is a prison. Why would you make it then?”

“That's private.” Omori interrupted, pausing his walk. “All of this is private. And that's why you shouldn't be here.”

He walked over to Frisk and stared down at them. “You are literally in Sunny’s mind. This is why this world is called Headspace, if you couldn't figure that out. You should not be here. And you are not to cause trouble or poke your nose into things while we figure this out, got it?”

“Yes, I understand.” Frisk said. “I didn't mean to invade Sunny’s privacy, I don't know how I got here. But I won't do anything, I promise.”

Frisk was sincere about this. Frisk tried to be very respectful of others, but entering someone’s mind without permission had to be the least respectful thing one could possibly do. Frisk knew they wouldn't want someone in their mind without asking first.

“Good. Now that that's settled, let's continue.” Omori said. “And I will be watching you, Frisk.”

Frisk nodded as Omori began to walk away. *He said he was Sunny’s protector. It makes sense for him to keep an eye on me.*

As they arrived at a garden of tall pink and purple flowers, another Sprout Mole appeared. It charged at them, and the group’s Souls appeared. But something else happened: the Sprout Mole began to glow blue.

“Why is it glowing?” Frisk asked.

“Because it's Sad.” Sunny said

Frisk took a closer look at the Sprout Mole, seeing that it did look very sad. Frisk wondered why it was Sad and felt bad for it. But Omori clearly didn't.

“This is a good Emotion for us.” he said. “Since we want to use mercy, the higher defense doesn't matter.”

Frisk was upset by Omori’s words. They didn't want the Sprout Mole to be Sad, they wanted it to be happy.

*Wait… Didn't that Pep Talk skill say it made a friend or foe Happy?*

Frisk decided to try and use it. All of a sudden, they had the urge to shout “You can do it!” and they did just that.

Suddenly, the Sprout Mole began to glow yellow. Its sad look vanished and it began to jump up and down, its energy renewed.

Frisk was very pleased with this, but Omori was not.

“Frisk.” he said in an annoyed tone.

“Hey! It was Sad!” Frisk said.

“Yes, and that was good for us.” Omori said.

“Hey! That's mean!” Frisk said angrily. “Why do you want it to be sad?”

“Because now-”

Omori didn't get to finish before the sprout mole suddenly rushed towards Omori and slammed into him. But before Omori could react, it suddenly slammed into him a second time.

Omori staggered backwards, and then shot a glare at Frisk. “Because now it will deal more damage.”

“Oh…” Frisk said, realizing they might have made a mistake. That was a lot of damage Omori just took. And the Sprout Mole wasn't any closer to be spared, it was still lost.

“Uhhh…” Sunny said. “Sprout Mole, if you need to get out of the forest, walk north until you come across a turn. Then make a right and you should be brought to a sign.”

The vacancy from the Sprout Mole’s eyes vanished and it stopped attacking. It gave Sunny a thanks and began to move on its way. As the group’s Souls disappeared, so did the yellow glow around the mole.

“Why did you do that?” Omori said accusingly to Frisk.

“Hey! I just didn't want it to be sad!” Frisk said. “I didn't know that would happen!”

“Omori, they’re new.” Sunny said. “They don't know how this works.”

“Can you please explain how it works?” Frisk said. “I’m really confused on why being Sad is better than being Happy.”

“Well, it all depends on the situation.” Sunny said. “The main feature of battles in Headspace is the use of Emotions. There are three Emotions: Happy, Sad, and Angry. None are better than the other, it all depends on when they are used. They each do a different thing. That Sprout Mole was Sad at first, which meant that it moved slower than normal. But in return, its defense was increased, and if it were to take damage, it would lose some Juice instead of Heart. But Happy means that the Sprout Mole was now much faster than normal, and as Omori experienced, it has a higher chance of dealing a critical hit. But it also has a higher chance of missing its attack.”

“Speaking of critical hits, can you use that new skill you got to heal me?” Omori said.

“Oh- sure.” Sunny said, taking out his violin. He began to play it, and a nice gentle melody filled Frisk’s ears.

“Thank you.” Omori said.

“That's so cool how you can do that.” Frisk said.

“Thanks.” Sunny said. “The problem is that I shouldn't be able to. Now where was I- oh right.” Sunny put away his violin and continued with his explanation.

“Angry is the third emotion. If someone is Angry, they will hit harder and deal more damage. But they lower their guard, and take more damage in return. Each emotion has an upside and a downside, none are better than the other.”

“There's more too.” Omori chimed in. “Emotions affect enemy behavior. Happy enemies are more likely to use a move that has a special effect, like that Mole attacking twice in a row. Angry enemies are more likely to just attack. The reason I wanted that Mole Sad was because Sad enemies have a higher chance of doing nothing during their turn, which can prevent us from taking unnecessary damage.”

“Oh… I just didn't want it to be sad…” Frisk said.

“Its ok.” Sunny said. “Emotions disappear after battle, so you shouldn't worry about someone being Sad or Angry, it's just part of the fight. its normal for this place.”

“Ah, ok!” Frisk said, feeling better. As long as it wasnt permanent, Frisk was ok with it. especially if this was how things normally worked. “This is so interesting!”

“I’m not even done.” Sunny said. “The main way Emotions affect a battle besides all their effects is how they interact with one another. The Emotions work like rock paper scissors. Happy beats Angry, Angry beats Sad, Sad beats Happy. You’ll take more damage against a foe who has an Emotion strong against yours, and less against an opponent who has an Emotion weak to yours. And the same applies to enemies. So there's a lot to consider when deciding Emotion.”

“Speaking of deciding Emotion, don't just change an emotion without warning.” Omori said. “Announce what you want to do, and wait for us to agree. We don't have to change Emotion since we won't be fighting, but just in case. If we plan how we use them, we should win fights pretty easily.”

“Ok, got it!” Frisk said. *Happy, Angry, Sad* Frisk repeated in their mind, memorizing the triangle. This was going to make battles very, very interesting.

~~~

“This should be the last garden.” Sunny said as the group arrived at a garden of white tulips.

“Hey, these are the flowers you were lying on.” Frisk noted. They wondered why.

“Yeah. But I have no idea why.” Sunny said. “These flowers are supposed to represent me, but I don't know why I woke up on them.”

“It's TOO specific.” Omori said.

That was too specific. Did someone place them there? But who? If they placed them there, they must have known Sunny would wake up in the Underground. But how did they manage to place them there with the reset? Something didn't make sense.

“Anyways, Basil’s house is right up ahead.” Omori said.

The three continued their trek until they came across another one of Mari’s picnics. The three stopped to catch their breath, eat the food, and Sunny saved. Then they continued onwards, and came across Basil’s house.

The shoe was completely overrun with plantlife, but at least the area wasn't creepy anymore. Omori cut through the foliage blocking the path and the three went inside.

“Looks like nobody's home.” Frisk said.

The house was empty and the fireplace was nothing but ashes. Plants ran amok inside while the plants inside the pots were shriveled from lack of care.

“Looks like the hole is gone.” Sunny noted.

“What hole?” Frisk asked.

“It's… something that happened in the past.” Sunny said, seeming a bit reluctant. He seemingly didn't want to share whatever happened. So Frisk asked a different question.

“Do you dream of this place a lot?”

“I used to, yes.” Sunny answered.

“Which is why its so concerning that its back.” Omori said. “This place was destroyed.”

“How?” Frisk asked.

“I said this was a prison. But the reason it was a prison was because it was hiding something.” Omori said. “When the prison was escaped, the secret kept outside the prison was learned, and the prison now had no use. But now…”

Omori gestured to the winding forest outside the house. “Now the prison is back. And worse, it has changed. That means only one thing. It's trying to hide something again. Something is being hidden from us. Do you understand why this is a problem now?”

Frisk nodded. They understood the trap now. Headspace was all fun and games to try and get you from leaving and learning whatever was being hidden. But Frisk wondered what was hidden the first time. They didn't think Sunny and Omori was going to tell them.

“So how do we find what is hidden?” Frisk asked.

“Firstly, we look for more clues here.” Omori said. “The forest has gone nuts and none of us did that. After we check this place, we should check the other areas to see what we can find.”

“What about-”

“Not yet.” Omori said, cutting off Sunny. “Come on, lets go.”

Omori grabbed Sunny’s arm and walked out of the house. Frisk followed them and as they walked back towards the garden, Frisk noticed Omori subtly pull Sunny towards him.

Omori turned his head slightly and his mouth moved as he whispered to Sunny. Sunny nodded and then Omori let go. Frisk was too far away to hear whatever Omori had said, but they didn't need to be close. What Omori didn't know was that Frisk could read lips, and could tell what Omori had said.

“Not with them around.”

Chapter Text

“So which way do we go first?” Frisk asked. The group had taken a purposeful wrong turn to get back to the sign, and now they had two options, left and right.

“It doesn't matter.” Omori said. “Both directions lead to the same forest. And it's a circle, eventually we’ll end up back here.”

“So let's go left.” Sunny said. “There might be something at the train station.”

The group began walking left and quickly, the trees grew thicker as they entered the forest proper. White vines snaked around the trees, growing pinwheels which spun in the wind. It was very pretty, but Sunny looked unsettled.

“What's wrong?” Frisk asked him.

“I said me and Omori made all of Headspace, but we didn't make a plant like that.” Sunny said. “I don't know where it came from.”

“Hmmm…” Frisk said, staring at the vines.

“Pyon?”

A small white bunny jumped in front of the group, looking at them.

“Awww, how cute!” Frisk said, smiling.

“It's cute, but it's also an enemy.” Omori said.

The bunny stared at the group, before it turned and hopped away.

“Sometimes they attack, sometimes they don't.” Sunny said as it vanished into a bush.

“So, where is the train station?” Frisk asked.

“North.” Omori said. “We don't have passes so we can't board the train, but it’s still worth checking out.

The group headed north, Frisk taking in the environment as they walked. Everything was so colorful and pretty, and most things had a slightly purple tint to them, usually around their edges.

Frisk had a lot of time to take in the scenery because, like with the route to Basil’s house, the route to the train station was different. According to Sunny, the path was more winding. Once, the group did a complete circle and wound up somewhere different, only proving the forest had become non-euclidian. But after this circle, they found themselves at the entrance to the train station.

“Finally.” Omori sighed. “I was worried we were going to get to the end of that maze and there wouldn't be anything there.”

The three made their way under the sign and entered a clearing filled with benches. A wooden stage was set up near the trees, where a tall, white creature in an orange hat and scarf was playing a guitar.

A few monsters sat on the benches, but there was a long line of various monsters away from the benches. Frisk had never seen monsters like any of them. They were lined up in front of a lemonade stand, and Frisk could see a train in the woods behind the lemonade stand.

“So there are still people here.” Sunny said.

“Maybe they know what's going on.” Frisk said, walking up to a purple monster sitting on a bench. “Excuse me, sir!”

The purple monster looked up at Frisk. “Yes, hello? How may I help you?”

“Do you happen to know anything about why the forest has become so strange?” Frisk asked.

“Can't say I do, no.” the purple monster said. “I’m on my way to conduct important business. And then afterwards, I will conduct more important businesses.”

“Oh, I see.” Frisk said. They turned towards a small leaf with a face. “What about you?”

“All I know is that I hate it.” the leaf said in a cheerful voice, not at all matching the malice its words implied. “I hate it because I saw a new type of BuNNy. I hate buNnIeS more than anything else. That's right. BUnNiES. I just hate them so much. If I had one wish in the world, I would destroy all of the world's bUNniEs.”

“ok…” Frisk said awkwardly, not expecting that hateful tangent from a tiny cute leaf.

“So as well as the environment changing, there are new enemies too.” Omori said, walking over.

“Great… more things to worry about…” Sunny said anxiously.

“Let's continue asking around.” Frisk said. “There's gotta be someone who has information.”

“I sincerely doubt it.” Omori said. “These people are not real. They are all actors. They are simply saying what they have been told to say. And if they have been told not to tell us anything, they won't.”

Frisk looked around the train station at all the monsters. They were talking and chatting with one another, smiling and laughing, and a few looked annoyed. *None of these people are real? Really?*

“Still, it's worth a try.” Sunny said.

Omori sighed. “Fine. Let's split up and see. But I doubt we’re going to learn anything. But if one of us does find something, call the rest of us over.”

The group split up and went around talking to everyone in the area. The colorful and unique creatures had some funny things to say, and Frisk found themselves smiling and chuckling a few times. But nothing anyone said was helpful.

“Mom told me to put on a jacket because she thought it was going to get cold… sigh… It's so hot right now… but I don't want to take my jacket off… because then I would have to hold it…”

“Isn't the air nice here? You can smell the clean!”

“I am in need of fat stacks of cash.”

“When I wait too long, I get antsy! Gotta move! Gotta move!”

“La… Lala… la… lala… la! My singing makes time pass faster for me… and slower for everyone else!”

“H-E-L-L-O! I A-M T-H-E S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E-E!”

Frisk reached the front of the line, where the lemonade stand was. Standing in front of the lemonade stand was a cowboy, but he didn't buy anything. He just danced in place, swinging his arms back and forth, holding up the line.

“Excuse me, sir?” Frisk asked.

“Howdy!” the cowboy said, not stopping his dance. “What brings you to Headspace, little whippersnapper?”

“We’re looking for information.” Frisk said. “We’re wondering why the forest has become so weird.”

“Now that's a tricky one!” the cowboy said. “With a tricky answer to boot!”

Frisk was surprised. This was the first person to actually respond to their question instead of saying something random. Frisk quickly waved Sunny and Omori over.

“Do you know anything?” Frisk asked as the two Sunnys arrived at their side.

“Fraid’ I don't know much.” the cowboy said. “But I do know Headspace has gone all cattywampus!”

“All of it?” Omori asked, brow furrowing.

“Well, it certainly wasn't like this before now, was it?” the cowboy laughed. “Who’s to say your other worlds haven't changed too?”

“But do you know why it's like this?” Sunny asked.

“Mmmm, can't say I do.” the cowboy said. “I’ve learned many things from my travels, but a ‘why’ isn't one of em. I know as much as y’all do. Sorry kids!”

“Ah, ok.” Frisk said. “Thanks though!”

“You're a kind one, through and through! Just remember to focus on what's important!” the cowboy said. “Now y'all better skedaddle! It’s a long journey ahead, young whippersnappers! I’m rootin’… and tootin’ for ya!”

“That was more information than I was expecting to get.” Omori said as they walked away.

“What do you mean?” Frisk asked. “He said he didn't know why the forest changed.”

“Compared to everyone else, he knew a lot about what was going on.” Omori explained.

“He’s the only one who has really acknowledged a change so far.” Sunny added. “I just wish he knew more.”

“Well, the train station was more informative than I thought it was going to be. That's something.” Omori said. “Let’s see if we can find anything else.”

The group made their way back to the main part of the forest. On the way, Frisk spotted a watermelon. “What's that doing there?” Frisk wondered aloud. It seemed kind of out of place.

“It's an item.” Sunny said.

“Really?” Frisk asked.

Frisk watched as Omori walked over to the watermelon. They expected him to pick it up, but instead he just touched it. That light touch caused the watermelon to burst, crumbling to the ground. Omori reached towards the remains and pulled out a bar of chocolate.

“Open any you come across.” Omori said as he pocketed the chocolate bar. “We might need the items.”

“Why do watermelons have items inside them?” Frisk asked as they resumed their walk.

“No real reason…” Sunny said. “I just… like watermelons.”

They turned a corner and found a bunny blocking the path. But this bunny had a pinwheel on its back.

“Is this the new bunny the leaf was referring to?” Frisk asked.

“Probably. We didn't make a bunny like this.” Omori said.

The bunny noticed them and suddenly charged. A battle began with the new bunny, and Frisk checked it.

The Pinwheel Bunny made the first move, running up to Sunny and biting him before he could react.

*14?! That's almost all of Sunny’s HP!* Frisk thinks. But they see that Sunny, although hurt, didn't look like he was near dead. Frisk decides to check him.

*Huh? His stats were not that high before. Wait a moment…*

*Are our stats gradually increasing?* Frisk wondered. It must be yet another quality of the dream. After all, the bunny was dealing damage that could possibly one shot one of them if it got a critical hit. A gradual increase of stats made fights more fair. Frisk was curious, and decided to check themselves. They hadn't done so before.

*Ah! So I have juice too! Cool!* Frisk probably should have realized that sooner since they were able to use Pep Talk. The dream kept getting more and more interesting.

“What do we do to spare it?” Frisk asked Sunny.

“I- I don't know. I didn't make this creature…” Sunny said.

“Hmmm…” Frisk thought for a moment. “It's a bunny, so maybe we jump around?”

“Try it.” Omori said.

Frisk jumped as high as they could. The Pinwheel Bunny stared at them, unimpressed.

“I don't think that helped.” Sunny said.

The bunny suddenly began to spin in a circle. As it spun, it began to glow yellow.

“Great, it can change its emotions.” Omori said.

“It became Happy…” Sunny said. “Wait, maybe…”

Sunny spun around. After spinning for a moment, he staggered to a halt, looking dizzy. But the Pinwheel Bunny looked happier. It spun along with Sunny, and then spun out of sight.

“Nice job!” Frisk said happily.

“T-thanks…” Sunny said, still looking dizzy. “Maybe next time you spin though?”

“Sure!” Frisk said. “You're ok though, right? That bunny was stronger than it looked.”

“Yeah, its stats were higher than a normal bunny.” Omori said. “It had above average luck. It's good we spared it before it could attack while Happy.”

“Luck?” Frisk asked.

“It's a stat.” Sunny said, mostly recovered from his dizziness. “It increases critical hit rate.”

“How can you tell what stats enemies have?” Frisk asked.

“I just focus on the enemy and I'm told what their stats are.” Omori said. “Maybe it’ll work for you too.”

*Ah, so it's like checking.* Frisk wanted to try it out. They began to walk forward, looking back at Sunny and Omori as they did. “C’mon, let's keep going-!”

Frisk wasn't looking where they were going and bumped into a tree. All of a sudden, their Souls appeared and a battle began. Frisk looked around for their opponent but didn't see anything. The only thing in front of them was the tree.

*Is there something in the tree?* Frisk wondered, staring up at the canopy.

*Wait, the tree IS the enemy?* Frisk thought. *How odd.* Its health and juice were very high. Frisk wondered if its stats were similarly high, and decided to try and check them. They focused on the enemy and thought about its stats.

*...uh oh.* Frisk didn't know much about the new stats, but they didn't need to in order to know that those stats were ridiculously high. This thing was going to one shot all of them. The tree loomed over them, now very, very intimidating. Frisk braced themselves for an attack and being sent back to the save point.

Nothing happened. The tree had wasted its turn and did not attack. Frisk decided to use this opportunity to try and pacify it. Frisk didn't know what the tree wanted, so they decided to try and explain themselves

“Excuse me, tree! We mean no harm!” Frisk said. “I’m very sorry for bumping into you, it was an accident!”

Once again, the tree did nothing. “Wait… is this just a normal tree?” Frisk asked.

*Oh my god it is.* Frisk thought. They had actually gotten into a battle with a normal tree. *That's so funny!* the high stats the tree had must just be part of the joke.

“Let's just go…” Sunny suddenly said in a quiet voice.

Frisk looked back at him to see that he wasn't smiling. He didn't seem to find the encounter funny, he even looked a little uncomfortable. Omori looked like he wanted to leave as well. Both of them were trying to avoid looking at the tree.

“Ok.” Frisk said. “Sorry, I thought it was an enemy.”

“It's ok.” Sunny said.

As they walked away from the tree, Frisk wondered why they looked so uncomfortable. I mean, they made it, right? If they didn't then they would have said something about it. Frisk wanted to ask but also didn't want to upset them, so they stayed quiet.

The trio wandered through the twisting woods, popping open every watermelon they came across. They got many things from the fruit like candy, plum juice, a jar of jam, and a couple of sparklers that had the ability to inflict happiness onto people.

They had also gotten into several fights against Sprout Moles, Bunnies, and Pinwheel Bunnies. They had taken some damage, but they had plenty of healing items.

As they finished crossing a long foggy bridge covered in holes, Omori suddenly spoke. “We’re now on the other side of the forest. If we keep heading forwards we should get back to the sign and playground.”

“What then?” Sunny asked.

“We’ll check out one of the other areas. Probably Otherworld because the foes in Pyrefly Forest and Last Resort may be too difficult for us right now.”

Frisk had no idea what any of those places were, but the plan sounded good to them. They kept walking but they were stopped by yet more enemies. A Bunny and a Pinwheel Bunny blocked the path. A battle began, and both enemies began to glow. The normal Bunny glowed blue and the Pinwheel Bunny glowed red.

“Ok, one is sad, one is angry.” Omori said. “Hopefully the Bunny wont-”

Sunny suddenly began to glow blue, and his shoulders slumped.

“Do that.” Omori sighed.

This was the first time one of the party had been inflicted with an Emotion. Sunny was looking down and to the side. Frisk felt bad for him.

“Do we change his Emotion to something else?” Frisk asked.

“I’m ok.” Sunny said. “I’ll be fine.”

“If we deal with them quickly, it’ll be ok.” Omori said.

Frisk jumped up and down, something they learned pacified the normal bunnies. The Bunny jumped up and down, before hopping away. Frisk then started to spin around to pacify the other bunny, but before they could, it lunged at Sunny.

The emotion advantage boosted attack hit Sunny hard, bringing him to low HP. Thankfully, it wasn't enough to take him out. But Omori didn't seem to care.

“I have had enough of this.” Omori said, pulling out his knife.

“Hey, wait no-!” Frisk said, but Omori didn't listen. He lunged at the Bunny, and slashed at it.

The Pinwheel Bunny staggered, and then collapsed. All of a sudden it… turned into a piece of bread?

“What just happened?” Frisk asked, looking at the bread confused. Why on earth did it turn into bread.

“I killed it.” Omori said.

“You did WHAT?!” Frisk yells, beginning to freak out. “Why would you do that?!”

“It almost took out Sunny. I wasn't taking any risks.” Omori said.

“But I was about to spare it!” Frisk said.

“Well, you didn't. It doesn't matter.”

“Yes it does!”

“Hey, hey-” Sunny said, stepping between them. “Stop fighting. It's ok.”

“It's not!” Frisk said. “He killed it! Why are you acting like this is fine?!”

“It's just a dream.” Omori said. “This argument is pointless and we’re wasting time.”

“Is this how Hero felt?” Sunny says with a sigh. “Look, stop fighting. Here, i’ll fix it.”

“How are you going to fix it?” Frisk asks as Sunny opens his vest and reaches into it. He pulls out the jar of jam they got from the watermelon.

“We need to save those, Sunny.” Omori says. “We may need it.”

“Then next time, don't kill stuff.” Sunny says, snatching Omori’s knife

Sunny walked up to the slice of bread and knelt down beside it. He opened the jar of jam and spread the jam on the bread with the knife. The bread was suddenly enveloped in a flash of light and when it faded, the bunny was back! The Pinwheel Bunny looked around confused before hopping away.

“What on earth just happened?” Frisk asked, wide eyed.

“Things dont exactly die here.” Sunny said. “When they ‘die’, they become toast. And they can be revived with life jam.”

“Ba dum tsss.” Omori said, still in his flat tone.

Frisk burst out laughing at the pun. “That's so funny!”

“You were mad at me for killing it and now you think it’s hilarious?” Omori asked. “Double standards I see.”

“Hey! I’m just glad it's ok!” Frisk says. “I’m still mad! You still killed it!”

“Because this is a DREAM.” Omori says. “It's not real. No one actually died, even if the bunny wasn't revived. Get that into your head.”

Frisk knows there is a way to check if someone had actually been killed, a fool proof method. They checked Omori.

Omori had gained no EXP from his kill. Which meant he was being honest and no one actually died.

“...still.” Frisk says. “Don't kill things. It's not nice.”

“We have the option not to fight, so let's do that.” Sunny said to Omori. “If one of us takes a bad hit, it's fine. We have healing items and I have a healing skill. Or we can just go back to the picnic to heal.”

Omori looked at them both and sighed. “Fine, but only because I’m not winning this.”

The trio resumed their walk, Sunny healing himself with his Healing Melody as they continued their trek. Frisk was quiet, lost in thought.

They officially did not like Omori. Getting Frisk to dislike someone was hard, but Omori managed to do so in record time. Omori preferred to fight his way through problems, and his LOVE was proof of this. But Frisk was really confused now. Frisk assumed Omori had gained his LOVE by killing stuff here, but he just proved that wasn't possible. The creatures in the dream weren't real and gave no EXP. So how on earth was Omori’s LOVE 5? And how did Sunny get his LOVE? Something didn't make sense.

Frisk was so lost in thought that they almost missed an opening in the trees. “What's in here?” Frisk said, walking through the opening.

They entered a clearing, shadowed by the tree canopy. A river flowed at the back of the clearing, and in the center of the clearing there was a single tree. Hanging from the tree was a tire swing, and floating in front of the tire swing was a black creature.

It resembled a ghost, with a tail and two arms. It was black in color with a single eye on its center. The ghost floated in front of the tire swing, silently staring at Frisk.

“Oh, hello!” Frisk said, not expecting to see someone. “Who are you?”

The ghost didnt reply, just continued to stare at Frisk. Then Sunny and Omori entered, and spotted the ghost. Upon their entrance, the ghost suddenly vanished, and an eerie sound echoed in the clearing. Sunny took a deep breath and mumbled something to himself.

“Uh, is everything ok?” Frisk asked.

“Huh? Oh- yeah. It's fine. Don't worry.” Sunny says.

“It looks like nothing is here.” Omori said.

“Yeah, whoever that was left.” Frisk said. "I wonder why a tire swing is all the way out here though?" They checked it out of curiosity.

“Let's go.” Omori said. “We’re almost out of the forest.”

As the group left the clearing, Frisk wondered who that was. The way Sunny reacted, he seemed to know what it was, but Frisk didn't think he liked it. But they had told Frisk not to worry. They knew what it was, and if it was dangerous they would have said something. So Frisk decided to listen to Sunny and not worry about it. But they still wanted to know what it was and why Sunny reacted that way.

The trees began to thin and the group found themselves back at the sign.

“Wow, it really did go in a circle.” Frisk said.

“Yep.” Omori said. “Lets go back to the picnic and heal.”

The trio entered the playground and went over to the picnic. Omori took some of the candy on the blanket, and new pieces of candy spontaneously appeared in its place. Sunny and Frisk took some candy too, and all of them ate it.

Sunny walked over to the picnic basket, no doubt to Save. “So what now?” he asked.

“I’d say we visit Otherworld.” Omori said. “We can visit the other areas, but we’re not strong enough to safely face the enemies there. Otherworld was designed to be visited right after the forest, that's our best bet right now.”

“Alright, how do we get there?” Frisk asked.

“It's to the east of the stump.” Sunny said. “It's not too far.”

“If you're all set, let's go.” Omori said. The rest of them nodded, and followed Omori back to the stump. They made a right turn and began heading east.

“Just a warning Frisk, it's a long climb.” Sunny said.

“Uhhh…” Omori said, suddenly stopping his walk. “About that…”

Frisk looked up. A ladder stretched into the sky, and then stopped, looking like it had broken apart. If it led to something in the sky, whatever that was was gone.

“W-where is Otherworld?” Sunny asked, sounding very anxious.

“The cowboy said the other areas changed, but I didn't expect one to just be gone…” Omori said. “That is very concerning…”

“So what do we do now?” Frisk asked as they turned and walked back to the stump.

“We find somewhere else to go.” Omori said. “We don't really have a choice.”

Frisk looked to the north of the stump and spotted a beach. They pointed to it. “Maybe we should go out on the water? There's an island there.”

“There are no islands on that water. Not any notable ones besides the well and lighthouse.” Omori said.

“Well, there clearly is an island. And it's really big too.” Frisk said.

Omori and Sunny turned to the north and quietly stared out at the beach.

“...I think we found Otherworld…”

Chapter Text

Omori slipped into the cold water. It wasn't freezing, but it wasn't warm either. It was about the floor temperature in White Space. He looked back to see Frisk sliding off the dock and into the water, but Sunny stood on the dock, looking at the water nervously

*Ah, that's right.* Omori thought. Sunny was afraid of drowning, of deep water. The last time he made this swim he was using Omori as his vessel, as his avatar. In the persona of Omori, Sunny was able to easily overcome his fear. But the lake incident was proof that while Sunny was Sunny, this fear was a high hurdle to jump.

“Here, Sunny.” Omori said, swimming over. “Hold on to me.”

“O-ok…” Sunny said. He took Omori’s hand and Omori gently helped him into the water. Quickly, Sunny wrapped his arms around Omori, and Omori let him. Omori may not be Sunny’s vessel anymore, but he could still provide a similar reassurance.

The trio began to swim through North Lake towards the massive island in the water. It wasn't too long of a swim, and the three climbed ashore the rubble of light purple rock.

“This certainly seems like the rocks from Otherworld.” Omori said, staring at the ground. Already, their clothes were completely dry. Convenient, because Omori didn't like to be wet.

“It's like it fell…” Sunny says as he looks around. Shattered moonrock is everywhere, and some long cattail stalks grow randomly amongst the damaged purple ferns.

“If I had to guess, I would say it DID fall.” Omori said.

“But why?” Frisk asked.

“To distract us with the question of why it fell.” Omori says. “But since we don't have a better option, let's see what ‘reason’ there is.”

Omori began leading the way, walking through the wreckage. Omori was already tired of Frisk. They were making things much, much harder than they had to be. Sparing things was interesting and worth noting, but it was wasting time. It was indulging the dream and pulling them deeper in the trap. A trap that Frisk had obviously fallen into, despite Omori’s attempts to pull them out.

Omori could see it on their face and hear it in their voice. They were fascinated and enamored by this place. And their kind-hearted nature meant they wanted to be friends with everyone they saw here.

Sunny, not wanting to upset them, was playing along too and indulging the dream. But at least he knew that everything here wasn't real. No friends were actually being made. Hopefully Frisk would realize this soon, but until then Omori would have to keep them on track.

Though Frisk’s fascination with Headspace was strange. They were so enamored with the environment and the creatures here, constantly asking questions and looking around. But they were not like this at all in the Ruins. They seemed much more focused then, and the monsters didn't seem to scare them, or even interest them that much. Omori didn't really pay much attention to that in the Ruins, but seeing how Frisk acted here, it was yet more evidence that Frisk was familiar with the Ruins.

Omori wanted to confront them on what they were hiding, but a confrontation would build distrust between the group. Omori could tell Frisk didn't trust Sunny fully, and especially didn't trust Omori. Sunny and Omori didn't trust Frisk either. But right now, everyone was keeping their distrust of one another to themselves.

If the topic was brought up and Frisk was confronted, the distrust would be brought to the surface, and even more would build. Although they did not trust each other now, they were still working together reasonably well. If Omori confronted Frisk, they might not be anymore.

The group needed to work together right now. Sunny and Frisk had only been asleep for 3 and a half hours, which equaled 2 hours within the dream. There was still lots of time before they awoke, and they needed to work as a team until then. When he saw a good opportunity later, he would take it. But for now he would keep an eye on Frisk as he analyzed them and gathered more evidence.

The group continued walking, collecting all the watermelons they found in their path, and came across the Otherworld Campsite. Or at least what was left of it. Pluto’s transportation station was in smithereens, the communication towers were either bent or on the ground, and there wasn't a single car that wasn't broken.

The picnic was thankfully untouched. It was designed that way. To be a safe space no matter what happened around it. It was meant to protect someone after all. The group walked over and Sunny saved.

“...’Crashed Otherworld’?” Sunny said. “It says we’re in Crashed Otherworld.”

“Well, that's a fitting name for this place now.” Omori said.

“What was it like before it crashed?” Frisk asked.

“This, but not broken.” Omori said.

“How informative.” Frisk said, unimpressed.

“Well, it's the truth.” Omori shrugged.

The three left the picnic basket and made their way further into the campsite. All the houses around were destroyed, and no one was inside any of them. The dragon house was missing its wings which sucked. Omori really liked the design of that house.

As the three continued up the hill, suddenly a voice called out to them.

“Hey!”

The group watched as a quartet of space pirates ran down from the top of the hill towards them. One of the pirates wore a backpack, another had bandages wrapped around his head, one was missing his bandana, and the last had a crooked beak. “Are you looking for the refugee camp?” The pirate with the bandages around his head asked.

“Refugee camp?” Sunny asked.

“It's just over the hill.” The pirate with the backpack said, pointing to the top of the hill. “Come, we’ll take you.”

The trio followed the space pirates up the hill. “What are your names?” Frisk asked as they walked.

“I’m Pal.” The Pirate with the bandages said. “That's Buddy over there with the crooked beak. The one missing his bandana is Amigo, and Ace is the one with the backpack.”

“Why is there a refugee camp?” Omori asked Pal.

“Well, have you taken a look around?” Pal asked, gesturing at the remnants of chaos around them.

“Ah… right.” Omori said.

“The Captain made it to help the residents of Otherworld after the crash.” Amigo said. “Many, many homes were destroyed and many people went missing. We’re still looking for survivors.”

“We’re here.” Buddy said.

They reached the top of the hill. Spaceboy’s house was destroyed, and there didn't appear to be a way to get inside. The group looked down over the other side to see many white tents and firepits.

The space pirates led the group down the hill to the refugee camp. Omori could see all the residents from the campsite here. Smol the centaur, the Duckie family, the TV Girl, and lots and lots of sprout moles among many others. And among these people was a familiar face.

“Oh hey, it's Pluto.” Omori said. The swole planet was helping a group of Space Pirates carry some supplies.

Pluto, upon hearing his name, turned his head to look at the group. A smile spread across his face. “Omori!” he said. He put down the stuff he was carrying. “Give me a minute, Guy, my friend is here.”

Pluto jumped into the air and within a second, he had landed in front of them. “Its so good to see you, Omori!” Pluto said with a hearty laugh, before he paused, looking at Sunny. “And… other Omori?”

“I’m Sunny.” Sunny said. None of the headspace residents knew who Sunny was. At least they weren't supposed to know. They were only supposed to know who Omori was, and that was it.

“Sunny! A brilliant name!” Pluto laughed “The sun is an amazing planet! One of my good friends! I just wish we didn't live so far apart!” Pluto turned to Frisk. “And who are you?”

“I’m Frisk!” Frisk said. “It's nice to meet you!”

“The pleasure is all mine!” Pluto said, before looking around. “Say, where is Kel? And all your other friends?”

“Off somewhere.” Omori said. It didn't matter where they were. They weren't real and just made to distract. Though Omori wouldn't be against knowing their location. “What is going on, Pluto?” Omori asked.

“I'm helping out with the refugee camp.” Pluto said, before flexing his muscles. “They could use someone as strong as me to help with the rescue efforts. Unfortunately, this means my transportation service is temporarily closed.”

“I see.” Omori said. “That's unfortunate.” This meant they couldn't just fly over to the other areas to see what was going on there. And if they had to backtrack, they couldn't use Pluto to skip the journey.

“We could use some extra hands.” Pluto said. “I heard you were a big help to the Captain before. Perhaps you can help again.” Pluto pointed to a tent to a large ship. “Captain is over there. I’m sure he will be thrilled to see you. But for now, I have to get back to work. Come find me if you need anything!”

Pluto jumped into the air and flew back over to the supplies he put down. He picked them up and began carrying them away.

“Come on,” Pal said. “I’ll bring you to the Captain. Amigo, Buddy, Ace, you go help Pluto.”

The space pirates nodded and ran off. Pal led the trio towards the tent by the ship and they entered. “Captain! Look who we found!” Pal said.

Captain Spaceboy, who was sitting at a table examining a map, turned to look at them. His eyes widened and a smile formed on his face. “Omori! And- taller Omori?” Spaceboy looked at Frisk and Sunny. “Who are your new friends?”

“I’m Frisk!” Frisk said.

“Sunny.”

“The others are off somewhere.” Omori said.

“Well, it's a pleasure to meet you two!” Spaceboy said. “I am Captain Spaceboy.” He didn't seem to be dealing with his heartbreak anymore, which was good. Though Omori knew it was probably just overshadowed by the urgency of the current matter.

“We heard you need help?” Frisk asked.

“You heard correctly.” Spaceboy said. “Come with me.”

Spaceboy led the group outside the tent and gestured to the large ship. “You see, my old ship was destroyed when the planet fell. So we have built a new one, large enough to house all the residents of Otherworld. We plan to bring them back into space and look for a safer planet to live on now that this one has fallen.”

“Why has it fallen?” Omori asked.

“That IS the question.” Spaceboy said. “As you know, I control all the planets in the solar system. But for some reason, I suddenly lost control over this one. Before I could even react, it was plummeting towards earth. It landed in some water so the impact was lessened, but the force was enough to destroy the planet. Thankfully the fall wasn't too far, which is a good thing! We don't want the dinosaurs to go extinct again!”

Spaceboy laughed before sighing. “The problem is that we have constructed the ship, but we’re missing two crucial parts. The Engine and the Gravity Manipulator. They are too complex to make with the supplies we have on hand. Thankfully, our radar detected these parts in the area. Unfortunately, we have yet to find them.” Spaceboy turned to the group. “Omori. You and your friends were of such great assistance to me last time. Can you help me again?”

“Sure!-”

“No.” Omori said, interrupting Frisk.

“What- why not?” Frisk asked.

“This isn't real…” Sunny whispered to them. “These aren't real people. It doesn't matter in the long run. It just slows us down. This place is a distraction, remember?”

Frisk stared at Spaceboy quietly. Spaceboy seemed upset about the refusal, but then he smiled. “I suppose I understand about needing a motive to help.” he said. “I am a pirate after all. I may have some stuff that will interest you. Pal?”

Pal nodded and went into the tent. He returned after a moment with a floating tray, presenting it to the group. On the tray was a sno-cone ticket, a large bag of clams, and a ray gun.

Although the clams would be nice and the ray gun looked like a strong weapon, they couldn't get distracted by this. “Sorry, the answer is still-” Omori paused as he spotted something else on the tray. “...is that a key…”

Lying on the tray next to the ray gun was a small black square, the letter E written on top. “Huh? What are you talking about?” Pal said, looking at the tray. “I don't see any keys.”

That was to be expected. The residents of Headspace could not see the keys. Only Omori, the Dreamer, and the creatures connected to Black Space and the Truth could see and interact with them. However Frisk seemed to be able to see the key too, which made sense, as they werent a part of Headspace.

But the key’s presence on the tray was extremely concerning. Back in White Space, Omori knew for a fact that the keys were within the keyboard on his laptop. So then how did the keys get scattered? The only way that was possible was if after they left Neighbors Room, someone entered White Space and…

Omori is silent.

There went the one place Omori thought was safe.

Omori does not have a choice now. Black Space was already the main destination Omori wanted to go. The only reason he hadn’t gone there immediately was because Frisk was with them, and if there was one place Omori didn't want Frisk to see, it was Black Space. This was the main reason why Omori had decided to investigate the other areas. He was planning to go to Black Space the second Frisk was gone.

But it appears as though he had made a mistake. He had missed his chance to enter Black Space. Black Space was where all secrets were kept and where all truths were revealed. The keys being scattered was only confirmation that something was down there. But they would need to find the keys to find out what this was. The key Spaceboy had offered as a reward was one of the required ones. Which meant that they had to help Spaceboy.

“Fine.” Omori sighed. “We’ll help.”

“Wonderful!” Spaceboy said, clapping his hands. “Allow me to inform you on what we know. Pal, would you mind getting the map?”

Pal went back into the tent and came back out with a large map. He laid it on the ground.

“Pluto isn't the best map maker, but he was the easiest way to get a good view of the planet.” Spaceboy explained. “We are here.” he pointed to a star drawn on the map. “And we detected the parts somewhere within the Junkyard. The problem is, whenever we have tried to enter, our signals jam up. We don't know why, but we believe that someone is taking advantage of the chaos.”

“Who?” Frisk asked.

“There are many intergalactic criminals the Space Pirates deal with.” Spaceboy said. “One of them might have seen the planet fall and decided to raid the place during its moment of weakness. How selfish.”

Frisk nodded, looking upset. Omori just sighed. They had definitely fallen for the trap despite everything Sunny and Omori had said.

“Anyways, the quickest way into the junkyard is through my house.” Spaceboy said. “Unfortunately, my house was completely destroyed in the crash, so we can't access that entrance. But there is another one.”

Spaceboy took out a pen with rings floating around it. “There is an entrance to the junkyard here.” he said, drawing a circle on the map with glowing blue ink. “If you follow this path…” Spaceboy began to draw a line from their location to the circle. “You should reach it easily enough. And you may keep the map, hopefully it will help you.”

“Thank you!” Frisk said as Omori picked up the map. Omori scanned it real quick then put it away, the path already memorized.

“No, thank you!” Spaceboy said. “Your help is very, very appreciated! Now, i best get back to business here. I wish you the best of luck!”

Spaceboy returned to his tent and Omori turned to the group. “Lets get going then. We should have enough time to find them before you both wake up. But lets still not dilly dally.”

Sunny and Frisk nodded and Omori began leading them back up the hill. “Shouldn't we look at the map?” Frisk asked.

“Sunny has a very good memory, so I do as well.” Omori said. “I would even say mine is better.”

“Yeah…” Sunny grumbled. “Especially when-”

“Sunny.” Omori said, shooting him a look.

“...sorry.” Sunny said.

Frisk looked at them both, a hint of suspicion on their face. That was fine, Frisk was allowed to be suspicious. But Omori didn't want them to know the things Omori did and could do. It was safer that way.

Omori led the two through the main part of the campsite and towards the lake. They reached the area where Kel hid Pluto before, and Omori could see the entrance to the Junkyard. However before they could enter, a Space Bunny jumped out of a fern. The group’s souls appeared and a battle began.

This Space Bunny looked normal, but it's helmet was broken. Because of this, its cheeks were puffed out, like it was holding its breath. It looked strained and fearful, but that didn't stop it from attacking. The antenna on the remains of its helmet glowed, and it launched a beam of energy at Frisk, who couldn't dodge in time

Frisk seemed unconcerned about the large amount of damage they took and was more worried for the enemy. “I- i dont think it can breathe!” Frisk said. “What do we do? How can we help it?!”

As Frisk stood there panicking, Omori sighed. He took a step forward. “Space Bunny.” he said. “You are a completely normal Bunny. The only difference is that you wear a helmet. You breathe oxygen. And right now, you are surrounded by oxygen. You can breathe. Stop being dramatic.”

The Space Bunny paused and after a moment of hesitation, opened its mouth and took a breath. It stood there for a moment before it slapped its head with its paw. Then, it slipped off its helmet and walked off.

Frisk laughed and Sunny chuckled. Omori didn't laugh, but he had to admit that was amusing. But he can't get distracted. They have a task now. Find the spaceship parts. Find them before they wake up.

Chapter Text

The trio made their way into the junkyard and quickly the environment was overtaken with trash. *This is supposed to be in space, right? Why is there a dumpster in space?* Frisk considered asking but they already had a feeling on what the answer was.

“Because it's a distraction.”

That seemed to be the reasoning behind everything here. There was no real meaning other than it was made to be distracting. Even the whole thing with the refugees was apparently a distraction according to Sunny. But it seemed so real, and Frisk was having a hard time believing it was fake.

They were happy Omori had decided to help, but only because there was a “key” in the rewards. It seemed like a normal keyboard key, but Omori was willing to help to get it, so it had to be important. Frisk decided to ask about it.

“Hey, so what was with that key?” Frisk asked. “What's it for?”

“What do you think keys are for?” Omori asked.

“Well, typing on a keyboard.” Frisk said. “Which is why I don't understand why you were so willing to help. That doesn't seem very important. And you kept going on about how we can’t waste time.”

“Ignore what it looks like.” Omori said. “What are keys for?”

“Uh… for opening things- wait-”

“Exactly.” Omori said.

“Oh, that's clever.” Frisk said. They liked the double meaning. “What does it unlock?”

“Remember how we said something was hidden before?” Omori asked. Frisk nodded. “Well it was also locked up. The keys opened a door to it.”

“What is this thing that was hidden?” Frisk asked. “There's so many measures to keep it secret.”

“It doesn't matter. It's in the past.” Omori said. “But the keys scattering is just more proof that something new is being hidden from us.”

“And if we want to find it, we have to get all the keys and unlock the door. Then we can see it.” Frisk said.

“...yes.” Omori said, a bit hesitant. Frisk wondered why. They got the impression that Omori didn't want Frisk to see whatever the keys unlocked. That made Frisk a bit nervous. Did Omori know something?

“Enemies inbound.” Sunny said, grabbing their attention.

Frisk looked up to see a group of flying oranges descending from the sky. The oranges had small faces and antennae on their heads. A battle began and Frisk checked the flying fruit.

*U.F.O?* Frisk thought. *But… that's an orange.*

“Haha!” Frisk laughs. “Oh, that's a funny pun!”

“Yup.” Omori nods.

“There are so many of them…” Sunny says as he stares at the enemies. There are a total of 8 of them. “How are we supposed to win?”

“I don't know.” Frisk says.

Three of the UFO suddenly charge at the group. Two go for Omori and one goes for Frisk.

As the three U.F.O fly back to their swarm, another U.F.O in the group’s antenna begins to glow. It fires a beam at Sunny, and Frisk hears the word “Orange!” being yelled from somewhere.

“Well, Frisk?” Omori asked. “Got any ideas?”

Frisk thought for a moment. What would these little guys like? They seem to be alien-esque, so maybe…

“Hi! We come in peace!” Frisk says. The oranges just stare at them blankly

“That wasn't it… um…” Frisk points to Omori. “Uh, he’s the leader! You can talk to him if you want!”

The oranges didn't respond. Instead, the final three oranges who had yet to take their turn flew forwards, their antenna glowing brightly.

“Uh oh.” Sunny said.

Before Frisk could ask what they were doing, light erupted from the antenna and shone onto each of them, flashing a multitude of colors.

All of a sudden, Frisk felt really angry.

Frisk watched as Sunny began to glow yellow, smiling a bit. Meanwhile Omori started glowing blue. For the first time, there was an emotion on his face. He looked off to the side slightly, looking sad.

Frisk then realized they themselves were glowing. They were glowing red and felt angry. But the feeling was weird. Frisk did feel angry but the emotion felt… fake. It was hard to explain. It was almost like they were being forced to be angry, but without a reason to feel this way the emotion felt empty and meaningless.

“This is really weird.” Frisk said. “I don't like it.”

“If you want to, you can change your Emotion to something else.” Omori said. “But you should probably get used to it. Emotions will come up a lot and sometimes you may have to feel a certain way.”

“Alright.” Frisk said, deciding to try and work with it.

“The question still remains, what do we do?” Sunny asked.

Frisk attempted to talk to the U.F.O again but they just attacked again, and everyone took some more damage.

“We’re wasting time.” Omori said. “I agreed to play nice as long as it didn't take too long, but we’re getting hurt and getting nowhere. I’m finishing them.”

“No!” Frisk said as Omori walked forwards, knife in hand. Frisk reached for them but Omori evaded. As he did, his foot kicked a piece of trash on the ground.

SKREEEEEE

The object he kicked suddenly let out a piercing whine. Everyone covered their ears and the U.F.O began to spasm. Omori noticed this and picked up the device, holding it up.

SKREEEEEEEEEE

The U.F.O spasmed more and quickly flew off, trying to get away from the sound.

Omori lowered the device, which was still screaming. He fiddled with some dials on it and managed to get the device to stop. “Convenient.” he said, staring at the device.

“What is that thing?” Sunny asked, rubbing his ears.

“I think it's a radio.” Omori said. “It's pretty beat up.”

Frisk also rubbed their own ears, trying to get them to stop ringing. They didn't feel Angry anymore, which was good. “I don't think the oranges liked it very much.” they said.

“But we didn't win by attacking.” Omori said. “So we still played by your rules.”

“Yeah… but I wish we could have won by being nice.” Frisk said.

“And I wish not to waste any more time. We didn't kill them, they are fine. Let's keep going.” Omori said, pocketing the radio. “In case we encounter some more of them, I'm keeping this.”

“Bye bye!” Frisk said as they waved at a wormhole. Frisk had managed to spare it by wiggling at it, and thankfully that battle had not taken up much time so Omori wasn't upset.

Sunny took out an orange juice and drank it to restore some of his Juice. Things were going well and they were making good progress. Frisk and Omori weren't exactly getting along but at least they were working together.

“Oh, right. The conveyor-bots.” Omori said suddenly.

Their path forward was blocked by a conveyor belt running in the opposite direction. Near it sat a blue conveyer-bot, slightly beat up.

“What is it?” Frisk asked.

“They control the conveyors.” Sunny explained. “Hero needs to talk to them to- uh oh…”

“What? What's wrong?” Frisk asked.

“We don't have Hero. It was his job to talk them into changing the direction of the belts.” Sunny explained.

“So we can't get past?” Frisk asked.

“Not exactly.” Omori said. “They listened to Hero because he was nice and polite. So this should work.”

Omori suddenly placed his hand on Frisk’s shoulder.

“Tag. You're it.”

“Huh?” Frisk says, wide eyed.

“Tagging is how you change leaders in Headspace.” Omori said. “Whoever is the leader can do certain things. Try talking to the robot.”

“Oh, ok!” Frisk said. They turned to the robot. “Hi sir! Would it be ok if you changed the direction of the belts? It would be really helpful!”

“Bzzt!” the conveyor-bot went. “Ah… hm… nice person… okay…”

With a whirring noise, the conveyer belts suddenly changed directions. “Thank you so much!” Frisk said as the group continued walking.

They got on the conveyors and rode them through the junkyard, coming across another conveyer-bot, this one pink. Frisk talked to it and another conveyer belt changed directions. As they walked towards the new conveyer, suddenly a shipping crate shook.

All of a sudden, a giant jar of jam burst out with a loud crash. “Kool aid man?” Frisk asked.

“Hey kids! I’m the Life Jam Guy!” the jar said. “I sell Life Jam! It really works!”

The Life Jam Guy looked at all of them with a smile. “Would you like a free demo?”

“No.” Omori said instantly.

“No thanks.” Sunny said instantly.

“Sure!” Frisk said.

Omori pinched their nose with a sigh as Sunny looked at Frisk in fear. Frisk looked back, confused. “What? Why are you looking at me like-”

All of a sudden Life Jam Guy punched them in the gut and they instantly collapsed to the ground.

“Rip in rest.” Omori said emotionlessly as he stared at Frisk. “They were unable to take a hint.”

Everyone waited for Frisk to turn into toast, but they didn't. Life Jam Guy seemed very puzzled at this. “What's going on?” he asked. “They should have become toast by now…”

“I think it's because Frisk isn't a part of Headspace.” Omori theorized. “So the rules don't apply to them.”

“It did say that Frisk was down, not that they were toast…” Sunny mumbled. “But how do we get them back up?”

“Try your life jam?” Omori said to the Life Jam Guy.

“Huh? Alright.” Life Jam Guy brought out a jar of jam and dumped it onto Frisk.

Frisk’s head rose. “Uhhg… what just happened…” they said, seeming dazed.

“Well would you look at that.” Omori said. “It really works.”

“That's good!” Life Jam Guy said, helping Frisk to their feet. “Here, friends, let me heal you!”

The second he said that, all of the group’s health and juice was restored.

“Well, it's good to know that Life Jam still works even if we don't become toast.” Omori said. “Let's keep going.”

The three continued forwards and collected the key to progress further into the junkyard. But as they were riding the conveyors back, they began to hear loud, earsplitting music.

“What's going on?” Frisk asked.

“I don't know.” Omori said.

Omori used the key to unlock the gate, and- “that's a LOT of Doombox.”

Sunny looked past Omori to see a horde of floating boomboxes covered in white flames. They were the source of the loud music, which made it hard for Sunny to think.

“What do we do?” Sunny asked. “There are too many to fight.”

“Hmm…” Frisk thought for a moment. “Maybe… tag!”

Frisk tapped Sunny’s arm with a smile.

“Huh? Why are you tagging me?” Sunny asked.

“Well, you have a violin!” Frisk said. “So maybe you can fight music with music? I assume that's how tagging works. Doing things your good at. I assume your good at music, consitering your weapon is a violin and you heal us with music.”

“They may be right.” Omori said. “Try it.”

“Ok…” Sunny said, taking out his violin. He took a step forwards and instantly all the Doombox turned towards him. Their music blared and they charged at him.

Sunny braced but through his fear he began to play his violin, playing a calming melody. The Doomboxes' approaches slowed and their music stopped blaring. They floated there, staring at Sunny as he played his song.

Out of the corner of Sunny’s eye, he saw Omori gesture to Frisk and they began to walk past the Doomboxes. The Doomboxes were too focused on Sunny to care. Sunny followed them as they walked by, still playing his music. After they entered the building in front of them, Sunny stopped playing his music, breathing a sigh of relief.

“Good job.” Omori said.

“Thanks.” Sunny sighed with a smile.

Frisk followed Omori while Sunny played his music to distract another Doombox. Sunny was a very good violinist and his music was very nice. Frisk always liked the violin, but they had never seen anyone play one in person, just on TV. to hear someone play one in person was great, even if it was only a dream.

Sunny caught up with the group as they reached a ladder. It was quite tall but it was the only way forward so they began to climb. Frisk climbed first with Omori close behind them. Sunny followed them but he wasn't as fit as the 12 year olds so he climbed a lot slower. By the time Frisk and Omori reached the top, Sunny was only halfway up the ladder.

Omori stood by the ladder, waiting patiently for Sunny. Meanwhile, Frisk took a look around. There was so much trash. Was this how junkyards actually were, or was this just how Sunny assumed they were.

As Frisk looked around, they spotted something that seemed out of place. There was a small wooden table with candles on it. The candles were arranged around a picture frame.

*Odd. What is something like this doing in a junkyard?* Frisk thought. They walked over, curious.

There was a photo in the picture frame but it was blurry. Frisk got closer to take a better look. It appeared to be someone with long hair, but it was hard to tell.

As they got closer, all of a sudden the table disappeared. For a split second, a black ghost with one eye appeared where the table was, staring blankly ahead. It emits a strange sound and then vanished, both it and the table gone without a trace.

“Wh- what was that?” Frisk asked, eyes wide, heart beating out of their chest. That really scared them.

“Don't worry about it.” Omori said.

“What?” Frisk asked, looking at them.

“It's not a problem.” Omori said. “Don’t worry about it.”

By this point, Sunny had finished climbing the ladder. “What… What happened?” he pants.

“Something.” Omori says.

“Huh? What?” Sunny asked, looking confused.

“Something.” Omori says again.

Despite saying the same thing again, Sunny seemed to understand what Omori meant. “Why?” Sunny asked as he stood up.

“Photograph.” Omori said, helping Sunny to his feet.

“What was that thing? Is it something bad?” Frisk asked, not entirely understanding the situation.

“Huh?” Sunny said. “Oh, no. no it's fine. It's just… it just appears sometimes.”

“Its normal.” Omori said.

“...alright.” Frisk said. Neither of them seemed worried about it, so Frisk decided to believe them for now. But they were getting suspicious. That thing didn't seem very friendly. And Frisk can't help but wonder…

Was it following them?

Chapter Text

“Frisk, hurry up.” Omori said, arms crossed.

“I’m almost done, hang on!” Frisk said.

They continued to unknot the rolls of cassette tape coming out of the broken shell of a Mixtape. Unlike Omori, the enemy was being very patient and held still as Frisk untangled its tape. Sunny was just standing to the side. He was very patient but even he wanted to get moving. He at least wanted to get that key before they woke up.

“And done!” Frisk said, finishing with the last knot.

Slowly, the cassette tape began to be rewound into the Mixtape. Once it was all back in, it floated around happily before leaving with a thankful wave.

“Finally.” Omori grumbled. “Next time we run from them.”

“If we’re in a rush, why don't we just run from everything?” Sunny asked.

“Fighting makes us stronger and provides us with items and money.” Omori said.

“And it's fun!” Frisk said.

“That is not on the list of reasons why we don't run.” Omori said, looking at Frisk. “Stop having fun. This is why this is taking so long.”

Frisk just gave Omori a deadpan look. *Jeez, they’ve really sunk deep into the trap.* Sunny thought. He didn't know if it was possible to pull them out at this point. But he would do his best too.

“Oh, new skills.” Sunny said.

“Leitmotif?” Omori said. “What is that skill? That's another new one.”

“What does it do?” Frisk asked.

“Let's see…” Sunny said, checking his skills.

“It's an attack.” Sunny said. “It gets stronger when used over and over again. It doesn't cost much, but since it has to be used over and over, it will use a lot of Juice if I want to get any mileage out of it.”

“Neat!” Frisk said. “Now what is mine- oh, it's also an attack.” They seemed pretty bummed about that. Apparently they were completely against all violence, which made sense for a kid. It was a good character trait.

“What about you, Omori?” Frisk asked. “What's Bread Slice?”

“It's more of a gimmick than anything.” Omori said. “It's an attack, but if it defeats an enemy I get a piece of bread. And before you ask, no. It's not the enemy itself. The bread just appears, separate from the enemy.”

“Eating the enemy would be really weird.” Sunny said.

“Yeah.” Frisk agreed. “But I don't think we’ll need to use any of these skills. We’re being nice, remember?”

“Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to have them.” Sunny nodded. He already had four skills so he decided to replace Guard with Leitmotif. He never used guard anyway.

“Let's get moving.” Omori said. “That battle took way too long. We still haven't found a single ship piece yet.”

Sunny nodded. They had been searching for an hour and had only come up with a bunch of trash. Thankfully nothing smelled, but it was still gross to be digging around in the trash. Sunny felt a lot like Kel.

Skree…

Sunny and Frisk covered their ears as a high pitched whine filled the air. “Omori, will you throw that thing away already?” Sunny yelled at his doppelganger.

Omori still had the radio he had acquired in their first encounter with the U.F.O. He fiddled with the dials, causing the noise to get all warbly and staticy.

“It's acting up for some reason.” Omori said.

“Then throw it away!” Frisk said.

“We may need it in case there are more U.F.O.” Omori explained as he managed to get the noise to stop.

“The U.F.O we met when you got the radio have been the only ones we have seen.” Sunny said. “And U.F.O don't appear in the junkyard itself-”

Sunny was interrupted by everyone’s souls appearing as they were pulled into a battle. But before they could even see what was attacking them, Sunny was shot by a laser and began to glow red.

“Looks like you spoke too soon.” Omori said.

Sunny looked up to see a U.F.O rushing towards them, however this one was different. The skin of the orange had been partially peeled off and trailed behind the fruit like a ribbon. Even more bizarrely, its antenna wasn't an antenna anymore. It seemed to be some kind of robot which was digging its legs into the orange’s soft head. The light on the drone was green instead of the normal red.

Omori held up the radio and the terrible feedback noise filled the air once again. The orange writhed and seemed to want to flee, but did not. Instead it lunged at Omori, who quickly moved out of the way.

“Omori, the radio isn't working!” Sunny said. “Turn it off! The noise is giving me a headache!”

Omori did as he was told and pocketed the radio once again. He looked up at the fruit. “So what do we do?”

“There's a robot on its head.” Frisk said. “I bet it's controlling it!”

“So if we can get it off, it’ll be spared.” Sunny said.

“Alright then, how do we get it off?” Omori asked.

“Hey U.F.O!” Frisk said, walking forward. “That thing on your head looks really painful! If you come here, we can get it off for you!”

The U.F.O drifted towards Frisk, who smiled and reached out, only to be hit in the chest by the U.F.O suddenly slamming into them.

“Ow!” Frisk exclaimed in shock and pain. The U.F.O twitched but the thing on its head seemed to dance around. Sunny presumed it was the robot laughing at Frisk.

“Frisk, if the robot is being controlled, then it's not going to let you just take it off!” Sunny said. He couldn't help but yell at Frisk due to the emotion he was currently afflicted with.

“Right!” Frisk said, rubbing their chest. “Stupid me! So how do we get it off-”

Frisk was interrupted by a pair of red hands appearing and grabbing the U.F.O. It writhed around in the grip as a second pair appeared and began to pull off the robot. The robot did its best to fight but there were four hands and one robot. Pretty soon, Omori had managed to pry the robot off of the orange, revealing its natural red antenna.

Once freed, the orange instantly flew away and disappeared into the sky. One of the red hands held the robot by the antenna and spun it around like a lasso before yeeting it off over the mountains of trash.

“That's how.” Omori said as his hands dusted off before vanishing.

“You didn't need to throw it.” Frisk criticized.

“Don't sympathize with a parasite.” Omori responded.

“But why was there a robot on it?” Sunny wondered. “That's never happened before.”

All of a sudden, a shadow passed over them. They all looked up to see a large orange flying saucer fly by. It was shaped a bit like those plastic fruit juicers that Kel once broke while trying to make lemonade. He was really determined to get every drop of lemon juice out of the lemons as he could. The flying saucer flew further into the Junkyard and began to abduct trash.

“What is that??” Sunny said, eyes wide.

“Something tells me it's the answer to your question.” Omori said. “And considering it's flying, I bet it has that gravity part we need.”

Omori began to run after the flying saucer and Sunny followed him. Frisk, caught off guard by their sudden dash, took a moment to catch up.

“But its gravity part belongs to it!” they said. “It's not right to take it!”

“Frisk, we’ve been doing what you want to do for the past few hours.” Omori said. “Now it's time for you to do what we want to do. We’re stealing that part so just deal with it.”

“None of this is real.” Sunny said. “So in the long run it doesn't matter. Come on, we have to get that key before we wake up.”

“I'm not happy with this…” Frisk said. “But fine.”

Frisk watched as Omori dealt with the Peeled U.F.Os that attempted to attack them on their way to the flying saucer. His red hands easily removed the robots and tossed them away. Frisk didn't think throwing them was a necessity and he could be a bit more gentle, but at least they were being spared.

All of a sudden, Omori threw something else, this time to Frisk. Frisk fumbled and caught what he had thrown, finding it was a granola bar.

“Heal up.” Omori said. “I suspect a boss fight.”

“No need.” Sunny said right before Frisk started to unwrap the granola bar. He pointed ahead of them. “Picnic.”

Coming into view was the familiar red and white picnic basket. Sunny immediately went up to the picnic basket to save while Frisk helped themselves to some of the chicken, which tasted so good. The taste once again made Frisk question if this really was real. They had never had a dream that felt so much like reality. But Sunny and Omori kept saying that it wasn't real.

Omori had told Frisk to stop having fun and although Frisk was annoyed, upon thinking about it some more, they understood why Omori had said that. If this whole place was a trap like they kept saying, then Frisk was falling for it. That was scary, and so Frisk tried to stop having fun, which was hard as this place seemed to be the definition of fun.

It's why they didn't protest when Omori and Sunny said they were now going to do what they wanted to do. They had been nice to Frisk, putting up with them even when they slowed them down. So Frisk figured it was only fair. And they did need to hurry up because time was ticking.

After restoring their HP and JUICE, the group continued running onwards towards the flying saucer. Sunny had to tag Omori for him to cut down some traffic cones blocking the way, and soon they were below the saucer. It wasn't as big as it appeared to be, it was about the size of a car.

The saucer seemed to spot them and their souls appeared. A battle had begun. A port on the bottom of the saucer opened, spraying a mist of orange liquid at them. It got into Frisk’s eyes and stung. Frisk rubbed their eyes and the other two did the same.

“Uhg, bad start.” Omori said, wincing in pain at the citric acid in his eyes.

Frisk, though having some trouble seeing due to the juice in their eyes, checked the flying saucer.

*It's really strong. Omori’s right, this IS a boss.* Frisk thought.

“We come in peace!” Frisk called up to the U.F.OJ

“No we don't, Frisk.” Omori said.

“Look, maybe we can talk our way into getting the ship part.” Frisk said.

Before Omori could respond he was shot with an orange beam of light. Frisk heard someone yell the word orange, but Frisk didn't know where it was coming from.

“We come in peace!” Sunny said, before scrambling out of the way of another laser.

“Can you come down so we can talk, please?” Frisk called up. However the U.F.OJ didn't react at all.

“Oh.” Sunny said.

“Please?” Frisk asked the U.F.OJ.

“So we fight then.” Omori said, taking out his knife. “It's about damn time.”

“I guess we have no choice then…” Frisk sighed.

“Are you actually going to fight?” Omori asked.

“Yup.” Frisk said. “I’ve been in fights before. Actual fights. I try to use mercy whenever I can, but I know that sometimes that's not an option.”

“Wow, I thought you were totally against violence.” Sunny said, taking out his violin.

“I don't like it.” Frisk said. “I wish there was another way. And I also wish I had a weapon…”

“You do.” Omori said. “Remember the bat?”

“Oh yeah!” Frisk said. They focused for a moment and the pink plastic bat appeared in their hands. “Great!”

“See? I told you that you would need a weapon.” Omori said.

“Yes yes, you were right.” Frisk said. “Thank you.”

“Time to test out this new skill.” Sunny said, before pausing. “Uh, I don't think I can reach it.”

Sunny was the tallest person in the group but even still, the U.F.OJ was flying way above them. Perhaps they could reach it if they all stacked on top of one another, but the saucer would probably just fly up so they couldn't reach it again.

SKREEEE

A loud high pitched whine filled the air, causing Frisk and Sunny to cover their ears. Omori had once again taken out the radio and was rapidly messing with the dials, causing the radio to produce a number of irritating sounds.

“Cut that out!” Frisk yelled.

“No!” Omori yelled back. “Look!”

Omori used a red hand to point at the U.F.OJ, which was flying erratically and losing altitude. Soon, it was within reach.

“I figured that would work. It worked on the oranges, so why not the juicer?” Omori said, passing the radio to his red hands who continued to mess with the dials.

“My ears hate you.” Sunny said.

“Oh, just fight already!” Omori said, lunging forwards with his knife and slashing the metal hull of the saucer

“Let's see how Leitmotif works.” Sunny said. He began to play his violin, playing a brief string of notes.

“Now it's my turn!-” Frisk unfortunately didn't get to have their turn because an orange laser was shot right at them, knocking them to the ground.

“Great job.” Omori said sarcastically, receiving a glare from Frisk. But Omori didn't seem to care and just attacked the U.F.OJ again.

“Sunny!” he yelled the moment his attack had finished. Sunny looked over as Omori held his palm out towards Sunny. Frisk didn't understand what he was doing but then

All of a sudden hands with their fingers pointed up appeared around Sunny, spun around him, and flew up before vanishing.

“Oh!” Sunny said. “Thanks!” He began to play his violin, playing the same string of notes he did before.

“So it doubled in power.” Omori said. “Great. This fight is going by very fast.”

“What did you just do?” Frisk asked. “How did you do that thing where you gave Sunny defense?”

“It's called a follow up.” Sunny said. “You can perform them by pointing your palm at a teammate after you have attacked. It needs energy to execute though.”

“What's energy?” Frisk asked. They remembered Omori’s ribbon had something to do with energy.

“Every time one of us gets hit we gain one energy.” Omori said. “We can have up to ten. With the headspace friends, all ten energy could be used for an ultimate attack. However I don't see that option with you guys. Probably because I was controlling the headspace friends so it was never really a team attack.”

“Can I try?” Frisk eagerly asked. It sounded very cool.

“Go ahead.” Sunny said.

“Wait-”

Before Omori could finish, Frisk had rushed forwards and hit the U.F.OJ with their bat, making a loud clunk sound as the plastic hit metal, but it wasn’t as loud as the ear piercing sound still coming from the radio.

Frisk then held out their palm towards Sunny. They expected something to happen like when Omori did it, but nothing happened. “Why is it not working?”

“If you had listened when I told you to wait, I would have told you we only have 2 energy.” Omori said. “Three are needed to execute a follow up.”

“Oh…” Frisk said, laughing sheepishly. They had gotten a bit too excited. They liked new things after all, especially when it involved friends.

The laser flew towards Sunny, who wasn't fast enough to get out of the way in time. However, right before it hit him, it staggered for a moment and then suddenly flew towards Omori, nailing him in the side

“gh-” Omori said as he was hit. “What was that?”

“I think that was you ‘protecting me’” Sunny said. “An effect of your follow up.”

“Well, you're welcome I guess.” Omori said. “I have to heal now.”

Omori took out a smores from his pocket, the marshmallow still gooey despite the lack of heat, and bit into it, restoring his HP to full. As he did, Sunny raised his violin and began to play once again.

“I think we almost got it!” Sunny said, seeing some smoke rising from the saucer. He looked at Frisk and smiled. “Now you can do your follow up.”

Frisk smiled back and hit the U.F.OJ with their bat. Then they pointed their palm at Sunny.

Frisk suddenly had the urge to say something encouraging. They pumped their fist in the air and said the first thing that popped into their mind.

“We got this, don't worry! Everything will be ok!”

It went quiet for a moment, even the radio stopping making noise as the red hands paused with the dials. Then Sunny began to glow blue.

“Amazing.” Omori said. “What a great use of our last bit of energy.”

“Whu-” Frisk stammered. “Why? Why did that happen??”

“Uhhh…” Sunny said softly. “That particular phrase is… sensitive to me.”

“Oh…” Frisk said. They considered asking why but they didn't want to push on sensitive information. “Sorry…”

“It's ok.” Sunny said, smiling through his emotion. “You didn't know. You know for next time.”

Before Frisk could respond, the U.F.OJ began to spin. Ports opened in its sides and it shot out a ton of orange juice which rained down on Sunny, Omori, and Frisk.

Frisk was brought down to critical health. Sunny was about to heal them when Omori got his attention. “Sad.” he said, pointing to himself.

Sunny nodded and began to play his violin.

Omori twirled his knife around before running towards the U.F.OJ. It fired a laser at him but Omori dodged and then jumped at the spaceship, plunging his knife deep into its hull.

The U.F.OJ crashed into the ground with a thud. It let out an alarm signal as it collided with the dirt. The alarm called over several Peeled U.F.O which began to attack, but were swiftly dealt with by Omori, freeing them from their robotic parasites. After all of the oranges were freed, the alarm stopped and the lights of the U.F.OJ turned off.

“We did it!!” Frisk cheered, pumping their fist into the air.

“Oh no you didn’t!” a small, high pitched voice said.

The juicer cone part of the U.F.OJ opened and out popped a small green lime with arms and legs, holding a ray gun. It pointed it at them threateningly.

“You may have destroyed my ship,” the lime said in a voice that was not the least bit intimidating. “But now you- can you turn off that blasted radio?!” it yelled at Omori.

“Yes please…” Sunny and Frisk said at the same time.

Omori obliged and his red hands turned off the radio. “I've had enough of that thing too.” Omori said, tossing it into the piles of orange juice soaked trash.

“Uhg… I can still hear it.” Sunny said, rubbing his ears. Frisk nodded, rubbing their ears as well trying to get the noise out.

“Well hear this!” the Lime shouted. “My ship may be destroyed, but now you will face the wrath of me! L.G.M! Lime green man! Be prepared to-”

“GET EM’!”

The lime was interrupted by several voices and then before anyone could react, several space pirates leapt into the scene and pinned the lime to the hull of the ship.

“You are under arrest for crimes against space!” one of the space pirates said.

“Oh Citrus!” the lime yelled as it was placed in handcuffs.

“What's going on?” Frisk asked the pirates.

“That lime has been wanted throughout the galaxy for some time now.” one of the space pirates said. “He had been controlling alien fruits with his robotic drones and making them do his dirty work as he collected resources. The crashing of Otherworld is likely what brought him here.”

“Thank you for your help!” another space pirate said. “We heard all the noise and came to investigate. We likely wouldn’t have been able to capture him without your help!”

“You're welcome!” Frisk said happily.

“There's probably a gravity manipulator in his ship.” Omori said. “You can take it for yours.”

“Oh, thank you!” one of the space pirates said. “That's one of the things we need! We’ll get that back to camp right away!”

“We best be off then.” Omori said. “We still have to find the other part.”

“Best of luck!” the space pirates called as they walked away back to the picnic.

Omori sat down on the picnic blanket with a sigh. He was exhausted from that fight. The others were too, and after they all had some of the chicken Mari had found in the trash, they sat together, resting.

“How much time do we have left?” Sunny asked.

Omori was quiet for a moment as he thought. “About an hour and 30 minutes in dream time.” he said. “We should have time to get the key and maybe do something afterwards.”

“Sounds good.” Sunny said.

“Try not to slow us down.” Omori said to Frisk. “We’re on a time crunch here.”

“I’ll try.” Frisk said. It was quiet for a moment before Frisk spoke. “I have some questions I have been meaning to ask and I figure now is the best time since we’re already taking a break.”

“What is it?” Sunny asked.

Frisk pointed to Omori. “Where did you come from? You say you're from Sunny’s mind but you have your own soul. Yet it's also connected to Sunny’s soul. So how?”

“Sunny made me.” Omori said.

“He made you?” Frisk repeated, eyes wide.

“Made me like he made everything else.” Omori said. “He couldn't enjoy the world he made as himself, so he made me. An avatar for him to project himself into. Every time Sunny came to Headspace, he was never Sunny. He was Omori, and I was him.”

“When did you develop your own soul?” Frisk asked. “When did you start thinking independently from Sunny?”

“It's hard to define an exact time.” Omori explained. “We both had the same goals and thought the same things. I’d say when I started to create and do things independently from Sunny without his awareness was the moment that proved I was separate, but it didn't feel like it. I was still doing what he wanted. It's only when our goals shifted away from each other that I would say I completely split away from Sunny. We wanted opposite things and we started to fight over what we wanted. That's when I was fully acting independently.”

“When did this happen?” Frisk asked.

“Only a few months ago actually.” Sunny said. “Then Omori disappeared for a month before coming back.”

“I didn't disappear. I went quiet.” Omori said. “I can't go anywhere. I’m stuck in your head, dingus.”

“Why did you do that?” Frisk asked.

“He didn't need me anymore.” Omori explained. “At that point, I thought of myself as more of a burden than helpful. So I didn't interfere with his life, apart from stopping some of his nightmares. But one night, he was a wreck so I brought him into White Space so he could calm himself. Then we just kept talking and now I'm his, as Sunny puts it, head roommate.”

“That sounds fun.” Frisk said whilst laughing.

“Omori can be quite annoying though.” Sunny smiled.

“You love me and you know it.” Omori said, leaning against Sunny.

“Yeah, yeah…” Sunny said, looking away slightly annoyed but still smiling.

“Cute.” Frisk smiled. “It must be nice to have a friend by your side at all times. Or I guess in your head in this case. But I am still confused. I still don't really understand your soul.”

“Yeah, neither do I.” Omori said.

“What? But you have to!” Frisk exclaimed. “It's your soul! You have to know what it means!”

“Well what does yours mean?” Omori shot back.

“Determination.” Frisk said.

“Huh?” Omori asked. He hadn't expected an actual answer.

“My soul is red, so it means Determination.” Frisk said. They pointed to Sunny. “His soul is light blue, so it means Patience. But you…” Frisk pointed at Omori. “I have no idea what your soul means. I’ve seen a multicolored soul before.”

Omori stared at them, before exchanging looks with Sunny, who looked just as bewildered as Omori was. Patience was something Sunny had a lot of. Was Frisk actually able to tell that just by the color of Sunny’s soul?

“What do the other colors mean?” Sunny asked.

“Well, there's too many to name, but I know a few by memory. Green is Kindness, yellow is Justice, orange is Bravery, blue is Integrity, and purple is Perseverance.” Frisk said. “But black isn't a normal color. And neither are multicolored souls.”

“How do you know all this?” Omori asked, looking at Frisk suspiciously.

Frisk was silent as they stared at Omori. “...how do you not?” they said. They looked shocked, taken aback. “It's common knowledge! Everyone knows what souls are and at least some of the colors!”

“Is this normal for you? All this stuff about souls?” Omori asked.

“Yes???” Frisk said. They seemed to genuinely think this was completely normal. “Seriously, how do you not know this stuff? It's like one of the most basic things taught in schools! Souls are talked about literally everywhere!”

“I haven't heard a thing about any of this.” Sunny said. And by extension, Omori hadn't either. “I certainly didn't learn it in school. I know people had souls but it was described like this. And they were tangible things someone could just… bring out and show to others.”

“That's really weird…” Frisk said. “I don't understand…”

“Neither do we.” Omori said. “So tell us more.”

“Well, each color corresponds to a different trait. Everyone has these traits, but one trait is dominant, and that becomes the soul color. So Sunny here has a lot of patience. That doesn't mean he lacks kindness or generosity, but it means that his dominant trait is patience.” Frisk explains.

“I see…” Omori says. “Interesting.”

“Now that you know what souls are, what does your soul color mean?” Frisk asked. “Multicolored souls shouldn't exist. And neither should a black one.”

Omori was quiet, thinking about it. *What did the flower say? The soul was the culmination of one’s being? Hmm… the colors line up with that too…* “I believe I have a guess.” he said.

“And what is it?” Frisk asked, leaning forwards with anticipation.

Omori didn't want them to know.

“I’m not telling you.” Omori said.

“Huh? Why?” Frisk asked.

“You no doubt have figured this out, but I do not trust you.” Omori said as he stood up.

“I told you, I don't know how I got into Sunny’s dreams!” Frisk said, standing up as well. Sunny, seeming nervous, stood up too.

“Not that.” Omori said. “I believe you when you say that, as you’ve fallen for the trap.”

“No I haven't-”

“Yes you have.” Omori interrupted, walking towards Frisk. “You trying to play nice and having fun here is proof. These people and creatures are not real. They exist solely to distract us, and you indulging them is slowing us down. But that's beside the point right now. I don't trust you because you know something. You’re hiding something. You know the Ruins. You know the Underground.”

“Wh- No I don't!” Frisk said. “What makes you say that?!”

“Many things.” Omori said. “While we were in the Ruins you were very calm and focused on getting through them. You didn't strike me as that interested in the cave full of real monsters. But here, you have been extremely curious about everything. So why weren’t you curious in the Ruins, Frisk? Shouldn't reality interest you more than a dream?”

“...I-”

“And that's not all.” Omori interrupted again. “The monsters did not scare you at all. They scared Sunny, and he’s seen far scarier things than a few frogs and a moth. But you weren't scared. You were completely unphased by their existence. You were barely interested in them, and perhaps that makes sense, as the Flower seemed to know you.”

“What??” Frisk asked, taken aback.

“When we met the flower, I couldn't help but notice it was only looking at Sunny. It was focused on him and only him. And when it wasn't, it was shooting you glances. It was communicating with you. You know that flower, and both you and the flower know something. And all this doesn't even address that you keep touching something we cant see. You know the Flower. You know the Ruins. You know what's going on. And you will tell us what you know.”

Frisk was quiet, staring at Omori nervously as a bead of sweat ran down their forehead. “I… I don't know… anything…” they said. A very obvious lie.

Omori glared at Frisk. “You can lie all you want, but I will be getting my answers. And if you don't tell us, then I will make you. Please dwell on that while we find this last ship part.”

Omori began to walk away, beckoning them to follow. Sunny turned to Frisk. “It… It would be really helpful if you told us what you know…” he said anxiously. “We need everything we can get if we want to figure this out… so… please tell us?”

Frisk was quiet, saying nothing. After a moment, Sunny turned and walked after Omori. Frisk followed, still quiet.