Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

No. 7 woke up outside the barrier. They sit up, rubbing their head. "Huh," They say to themselves with an expressionless face, rubbing at their old injury. "That wasn't as pleasant as I had thought." They stood up and turned around, looking at the barrier as it let out a soft passive humming of power. Words echo in their head.

You must finish your mission if you ever want to see the others again. Go out and break the barrier. Release us from our prison.

No. 7 checked over themselves for any injuries. Finding none, they checked to make sure it was still at their side. They grabbed the handle and let out a soft sigh. At least they still had their knife. They glanced back once at the barrier then headed towards the exit. As they stepped outside, they were immediately blinded by a bright light. They blocked their eyes as their vision adjusted then looked out. They saw a bright ball of light above them. That must be the sun, they thought to themselves. They turn around looking above the hole they had just exited from. What did they call it? No. 7 tries to remember. Ebott I think. Mt. Ebott. They look down the cliff in front of them, seeing the ground far below. They shrug to themselves, muttering aloud, "Quickest route is always the straight one." They lightly jump over the edge and slide down the mountain, picking up speed. 

As they approach the base, No. 7 reflexively grabs their knife. They stab it into the cliff side, slowing their descent. They stop inches from the bottom. They pull out their knife, dropping the remaining distance. No. 7 quickly returns the knife to its sheath. They look around, seeing tall structures of brown and green ahead of them. Trees , they thought to themselves. No. 7 begins to walk past them, their face retaining the same expressionlessness it had since leaving the barrier. 

As No. 7 moves through the trees they hear a sound to their right. They turn and lock eyes with a strange creature that seemed to have 2 faces. Monster , they thought to themselves. They pulled out their knife and pointed it at the creature, recalling its type. Froggit I think . The monster seemed to panic before running off into the trees. No. 7 stares after it before returning their knife to its sheath, thinking to themselves. Less work for me. They continue through the trees until they find a clearing of golden flowers. They stand next to the flowers and kneel down, studying them. That's odd, they think to themselves. I think these are called flowers but this collection of them seems unnatural. It almost seems like - 

A sharp snapping noise pulls them out of their thoughts. They pull out their knife and aim it at where the sound came from. A tall figure stands just inside the clearing. They appear to be covered in white hair( fur ) and wearing a purple cloak with some sort of symbol on it. Their large white feet stepped on a small piece of tree( a branch ) which made the snapping noise. They stare at No. 7, a look of surprise on their face. No. 7 looks them over for anything threatening. They notice their sharp fingers( claws ) but don't see any weapons. They see a basket hooked in their arm which appears to have food in it, no weapons. No. 7 doesn't lower their knife however, remembering that monsters had control over something called magic.

The large white monster in front of them slowly shows their palms, leaning over and setting down the basket with food in it. "I mean you no harm my child," the large monster says, showing their palms. No. 7 looks over them again, carefully studying their face before returning their knife to its sheath, standing up. The tall monster seems to let out a sigh of relief before saying, "Greetings my child. My name is Toriel. I am the caretaker of these ruins and those flowers." No. 7 glances down at the flowers then back at Toriel, face unchanging. Toriel asks them "Why don't you join me my child? I can take you to my home and give you some food. Then, if you are up for it, we can have a nice chat. Does that sound good to you, my child?" No. 7 thinks to themselves for a moment, looking down at the flowers again. They don't know why but they have a faint since that this is all familiar. Dejavu , they thought to themselves. 

No. 7 looks up at Toriel and gives a quick silent nod of agreement. Toriel's face seems to light up a bit as she says "Oh wonderful. It's been so long since I last had company. Come, join me my child." She picks up her basket of the ground and turns to leave, glancing over at No. 7 who quietly walks around the yellow flowers to join her. 

They walk through the trees on a faint path just behind Toriel who glances back at them occasionally. The trees begin to thin and No. 7 sees some old wooden structures that appear to be collapsing. Occasionally they'd spot a monster or two hiding or peeking out to watch them pass but they paid them no mind. 

Eventually they came up to a house that seemed newer than the others. Outside the house was a tree but it didn't look like the others. This one seemed larger than the others. Toriel walked up to the door and opened it for No. 7. As No. 7 looked around, they noticed a room with cushioned chairs to their left and a hall with two doors and a mirror to their right. Straight ahead of them was a staircase but they couldn't see where it led.

Toriel closed the door behind them and walked towards the room with the chairs, No. 7 walking behind them. Toriel sat in the larger chair and motioned for No. 7 to sit in the one across from them. As No. 7 sat, Toriel held up the food basket for them, saying "You must be famished my child. Here, help yourself to whatever you'd like." No. 7 stares at the food in the basket, not recognizing most of it. They carefully reach for a loaf of bread and begin cautiously eating it. 

Toriel watched them for a moment before asking "So what is your name my child?" No. 7 stopped eating for a moment before responding "Number Seven." Toriel seems surprised by this and says "That's a number my child. What's your name?" No. 7 looks at Toriel, head slightly tilted. They ask "Is a name not what you use to identify a specific individual?" Toriel seems surprised by this before saying "No my child, a name isn't just to identify you, it's suppose to be unique to you. It should be yours, not just a number." No. 7 thought for a moment before responding "Then I guess I don't have a name." 

As they return to nibbling their bread, Toriel sighs and stands, going to a bookshelf. She picks out a book and walks over to No. 7, asking "Do you know how to read my child?" No. 7 gives a quick nod and she offers them the book. "Here," she says. "Why don't you read through this and pick out a name you like? I'll go bake us a pie while you find a name. Does that sound good, my child?" No. 7 looks up at her, wondering what a pie is, giving a quick shrug and taking the book. She gives a warm smile and heads into the next room, out of sight. No. 7 opens the book and begins reading the pages at an alarming speed, their eyes rushing over the pages and reading their contents almost as fast as they can turn the page. 

They suddenly stop as a name stands out to them for some reason. They look over the name carefully. Chara . No. 7 isn't sure why but they have the same feeling of dejavu again looking at that name. Toriel pokes her head into the room and asks "Is everything alright my child?" No. 7 snaps out of it and looks up at her giving her a quick nod before she disappears back into the other room. They continue flipping through the pages before stopping at another name that stood out to them. They read it again. Frisk .

"Why do we all have to have such simple names?" No. 5 asks you. You give a quick shrug, not really looking at her. She puffs her cheeks and moves in front of you. "Seven, don't ignore me." You give another shrug as she groans, saying "Arg, you're impossible. Fine, I'll give you a name then." She thinks hard as you watch her. Suddenly her face lights up. "I know," she says excitedly. "Your name can be Frisk! Well, do you like it?" You give another shrug. You hear a slight chuckle to your side and glace over at No. 6, writing in her notebook like always, a slight smirk on her face. Not that you care. "You love it, don't you?" No. 5 asks you excitedly. "Well, I named you, you've got to give me a name now." You look at her, her eyes beaming at you, and let out a sigh. "Fine," you lament. "How about this? Your name can be-"

"My child?" Toriel asks, stirring No. 7 from the memory. "Are you alright my child? You seemed to be staring off into nothing." No. 7 looks at her and give a quick nod. She gives a warm smile and asks "Have you decided on a name?" No. 7 nods again pointing to a spot in the book. Toriel looks at it and says "Frisk? That's a wonderful name, my child. From now on, your name is Frisk."

She hands Frisk a plate with some food they don't recognise and a fork. "Here, my child. It's one of my specialties. Butterscotch cinnamon pie. I do hope it is to your liking, Frisk." Frisk looks at the pie quizzically. Toriel looks concerned, asking "Have you never eaten pie before, my child?" Frisk gives a quick shake of their head. Toriel gives a slight chuckle and reaches for their hand. Frisk hesitates for a second before letting Toriel guide them. Their fork picked up a piece of pie and brought it to their mouth. "Like that my child," Toriel says with a smile. Frisk takes a bit of the pie, their face reacting in surprise at the taste. They cautiously repeat the actions to eat more pie while Toriel sits in her chair with her own piece.

Frisk finishes their piece of pie and Toriel chuckles saying, "There is more pie should you desire some, my child." Frisk shakes their head and says "Satisfied." Frisk looks out the window and notices the light has changed. Toriel follows their gaze and comments "It is getting late, my child. I have a spare room if you wish to stay the night here. Would you like that?" Frisk shrugs then nods. 

Toriel stands and leads them to the first door in the hallway they noticed earlier. She opens the door and Frisk peers inside. It is a mostly empty room, some containers and a bed being the only things in the room. Frisk enters the room and opens the first container. There is a collection of old shoes. They all appear to be the same size and are much too small for them. They walk over to a taller wooden container and open it to find many old shirts of similar design. Green and yellow with stripes. Like the shoes, they all appear too small for them. Toriel watches them from the doorway curiously as their attention shifts to the bed. They carefully climb into it and Toriel walks over to their side. She generally tucks them in and says "Sweet dreams, my child." She exits the room, closing the door behind her, leaving Frisk in darkness. Frisk falls asleep.

You pant heavily. No. 2 is fighting harder than usual today. Their gun makes it hard to close the distance quickly. He sneers at you, seeing your struggles. You take a deep breath, knife at the ready. No. 2 takes aim. He begins shooting at you as you rush him, dodging the bullets left and right. He seems startled by the sudden closing of distance and begins panic firing. One of the bullets is about to hit you but you deflect it with your knife. You close the distance before he can react further and sweep his legs. He falls to the floor, gun clattering out of his hand and away. You put your knife to his throat, both of you panting heavily. His face is filled with shock, your face remains unchanged, seeming almost bored. The buzzer goes off, signaling the end of the match. You stand up, uninterested in No. 2 as you turn towards the people entering the room. No. 2 gets furious as he shouts. You look at him but before you can react, he tackles you to the ground. He quickly takes your knife out of your hand and attacks you with it. It slices your face, blinding you in your left eye. You feel blood trickling down your face as your scream in pain. Before No. 2 can continue his assault, he is picked up and dragged away by the other people. You scream and clutch your face as you hear the ones around you giving orders to move you to surgery. You are picked up by multiple people and rushed to a different room, still half blind. They strap you down to a table, still bleeding and discussing what to do. You hear a familiar voice suggesting they preform that surgery. You glance over. Even through your half blind daze, you recognize the speaker as the one in charge. Some people ask for confirmation and he nods before telling them to put you under. You feel a sharp pain in your neck before everything goes to black.

Frisk wakes up from their dream, rubbing at the scar across their eye. They look around the room and see a slice of pie on the floor with a note next to it. They read the note which says 'In case you get hungry, my child.' Frisk puts the note down on the bed and studies the pie. They exit the room and walk towards the mirror on the wall. They look at their reflection. It's you, Frisk thinks to themselves. They look at their eyes. Their right eye is a beautiful bright green. Their left eye is red with a scar going over it. Their red eye. My 'special' eye, they think to themselves. They hear what sounds like a page turning in the room they were in the day before. They walk into it and Toriel greets them, book on her lap. "Good morning, my child," she says. "I do hope you slept well." Frisk just shrugs, remembering their dream.  They need to continue their mission. Toriel looks at them, concerned, and asks "What is it, my child?" Frisk looks at Toriel and asks "How do I leave?"

Toriel seems nervous at the sudden question. "Leave?" she asks. "Why would you want to leave? You can stay, I'll keep you company." Frisk shakes their head, saying "I need to leave." Toriel abruptly stands, saying "Stay here, my child. There is something I must attend to." She quickly rushes past Frisk and heads downstairs. Frisk quickly follows her. They go down the stairs to find another long hallway that descends downwards. Frisk rushes down the hall, turning left at a corner and finding Toriel at the end in front of a large door. Without turning around she asks "Why? Why do you need to leave?" Frisk blandly responds "I have a mission. I must destroy the barrier." Toriel turns to them and asks "And what of those who try to stop you?" Frisk responds "I guess I will have to destroy them too." Toriel sighs and says "I will not let you harm innocent monsters. The war ended many years ago, I will not let history repeat itself." Frisk pulls out their knife and says. "Move." Toriel shakes her head, eyes filling with tears. "No. I will stop you. I will protect their happiness." Frisk points their knife at Toriel and says "I don't want to fight you." Toriel sighs and says "That makes two of us." She summons a fireball in her hand and the battle begins.

Chapter Text

Frisk's red eye begins to glow and they dodge Toriel's magic. They rush at her with their knife and Toriel attempts to block it with her claws. The knife glances off her hands, leaving a scratch from which dust spills. "Move," Frisk repeats. Toriel tries to send more fireballs towards Frisk but they dodge effortlessly, almost like they can see them coming. Frisk tries to shush her again. She attempts to block with her other hand but Frisk feints and goes for her leg instead. Toriel falls to one knee, clutching at the injured leg, more dust spilling from it. "Move," Frisk says more insistently. Toriel laughs to herself, saying "Pathetic, is it not? I cannot stop even one child." She launches more fireballs but they seem half-hearted as Frisk barely has to dodge. Frisk rushes in to attack, going for Toriel's throat. She makes no attempt to block and closes her eyes, accepting her death. 

...

She waits. Nothing. She cracks open one eye and sees the knife less than an inch from her throat, frozen in place. She looks at Frisk who says "I don't want to hurt you. You were so nice to me. Please. Move." Toriel lets out a tear and says "I cannot. For their sake. I will keep them safe." Silence. Frisk breaks it, saying "I don't want to kill if it can be avoided." Toriel looks at them. Frisk continues, "I just want to break the barrier. To save my…" Frisk trails off, unsure how to finish. Toriel asks "Your family?" Frisk shrugs and says "I guess you can call them that." Toriel looks at them. She says "Then promise me. Promise me you won't harm anyone- you won't kill anyone unless you have no other choice." Frisk looks into her eyes, knife still against her throat. Frisk sighs, putting the knife away. "I promise." Toriel smiles and says "Then there is hope for you yet, my child." She stands, slightly limping, and hugs Frisk, much to their surprise. "I hope you find the happiness you were looking for." She smiles at them then walks away, still limping. 

Frisk watches her leave until she rounds the corner, out of sight. They turn and look at the large doors. They open them and walk through to the outside.

Frisk steps outside and is immediately hit by the temperature difference. They look back above the doors and see a sheer cliff back up the mountain they came from. They look around, the ground covered in white stuff they didn't recognize. They notice something in the bush next to the door and recognize it as a camera. They swiftly pull out their knife and disable it before looking back at the path. They begin walking down the path though they feel like they are being watched. They disabled the camera so they wonder what could be watching them now. Their red eye activates and they spot a few thin trails of light blue fading in the trees. They keep walking, stepping over a large branch. As they continue, they hear a snap and whip around, hand ready at their knife. The branch that had seemed so sturdy before was broken into pieces. They notice the blue trail leading up to and away from the branch, slowly fading but freshly made. They were being stalked. Frisk's hand rested on their knife as they raised their guard. They kept walking.

Frisk came up to a bridge over a large hole. They peered down into it wondering how far down it went. Suddenly they heard footsteps behind them. They didn't openly react but their hand tightened around their knife. The footsteps got closer. They stopped right behind them. Frisk contemplated striking first but remembered their promise to Toriel and held their attack. Silence. 

“ human, ” a voice behind Frisk says. “ don’t you know how to greet a new pal? turn around and shake my hand. ” Frisk hesitates for a moment before carefully turning around. Now in front of them they see what appears to be a short skeleton wearing a blue hoodie and pink slippers. Frisk hesitantly reaches out their free hand, reaching for the skeleton’s outstretched hand. They firmly grasp his skeletal hand. Your firm grip causes the whoopee cushion in his hand to let out a tremendous fart noise, breaking the cold silence that surrounded you. “ heheh... the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny. ” 

Frisk tilts their head and gives a quizzical look. The skeleton stares up at them. “ really? nothing? not even a chuckle or a slight grin? ” Frisk shrugs at the skeleton. He shrugs back and says “ anyways you’re a human right? that’s hilarious. i’m sans. sans the skeleton. i'm actually supposed to be on the watch for humans right now. but… ” Frisk pulls out their knife, holding it just above their sheath. Sans seems surprised, saying “ woah woah woah. relax buddy. i’m not going to hurt you. honestly it seems like too much work. ” Frisk returns their knife to the sheath but doesn’t take their hand off the handle. Sans lets out a slight sigh of relief before saying “ my brother, papyrus… he may try to capture you. but don’t worry, he’s not dangerous. in fact, i think that’s him over there. i’ve got an idea. quickly, follow me. ” Sans walks across the bridge and Frisk hesitantly follows the strange skeleton. They come to a clearing with a lamp and a poorly made sentry station. Sans looks at Frisk and says “ quick, hide behind that conveniently shaped lamp. ” Frisk looks at Sans, trying to figure out if he’s serious. Frisk walks over and instead hides behind the sentry station right next to the lamp. Frisk swears they heard the skeleton click his tongue but he doesn’t have one so they ignore it. They hear footsteps rapidly approaching, stopping near where Sans was. Frisk peeks through a small hole in the sentry station and watches events unfold.

“ sup, bro? ” Sans asks the taller skeleton who Frisk assumes to be Papyrus. “ YOU KNOW WHAT ‘SUP’ BROTHER! IT’S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN’T… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND OUTSIDE YOUR STATION! AND WHAT WAS THAT LOUD NOISE EARLIER? ” Sans chuckles and says “ just practicing hand shaking with whoopee cushions bro. ” Papyrus seems to be very irritated with Sans. “ AND WHO OUT HERE WOULD YOU BE PRACTICING WITH, BROTHER? ” Sans points to the sentry station where Frisk was hidden and says “ i was practicing with the human under my sentry station. ” Frisk grips their knife tighter. Papyrus stomps his feet and say “ THAT’S NOT FUNNY SANS. I WON’T LET YOU TRICK ME AGAIN. THERE IS NO HUMAN UNDER THE BED, NO HUMAN IN THE CLOSET AND NO HUMAN UNDER YOUR SENTRY STATION. YOU WERE JUST BOONDOGGLING AGAIN AS USUAL YOU LAZYBONES! ” Sans chuckles and “ hey take it easy. i’ve done a ton of work today. a skele-ton. ” From San’s pocket, a rimshot sound effect plays. Papyrus groans and says “ I DON’T KNOW WHY I GOT YOU THAT SOUNDBOARD FOR YOUR BIRTHDAY. ” Sans chuckles again and says “ come on. you’re smiling. ” Papyrus sighs and says “ I AM AND I HATE IT! ” 

Inside San’s sentry station, Frisk is watching the brothers argue, if it can be called that. They shift over a bit, accidentally knocking over a ketchup bottle which makes a noise against the ground. “ WHAT WAS THAT? ” Papyrus asked. Frisk readies their knife. “ eh, ” Sans says. “ probably just the human hiding there. ” Papyrus turns back towards his brother and says “ THAT ISN’T FUNNY SANS. IF THERE WERE A HUMAN, WE’D HAVE TO DELIVER IT TO THE ROYAL CAPITAL. I’D GET RECOGNITION. I’D BE POPULAR. SO KEEP YOUR EYE SOCKETS OPEN FOR HUMANS. WE NEED TO BRING THEM TO THE ROYAL GUARD SO THEY CAN… THEY CAN… HUH I’M NOT SURE WHAT THEY’D DO. BUT I’M SURE THEY’D WANT TO BE FRIENDS WITH ME. ” Sans says to Papyrus “ yeah bro. you’re the coolest. everyone will want to be your friend. ” Papyrus seems pleased by that and says “ EXACTLY. SO STOP SLACKING. I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES. AS FOR YOUR WORK… PUT SOME ‘BACKBONE’ INTO IT!!!!!! NYEHEHEHEHEHE!!!!!! ” Papyrus walks away laughing at his pun. Eventually everything goes silent and Frisk puts their knife back in it’s sheath. They step out of their hiding spot and glare at Sans. He shrugs and says “ what? he didn’t capture you yet, did he? ” Frisk brushes themselves off and begins walking in the same direction Papyrus went in. “ actually hey… ” Sans calls out after Frisk. They turn to look at him, clutching their knife handle. He continues, “ hate to bother ya, but can you do me a favor? i was thinking… my brother’s been kind of down lately… he’s never seen a human before, and seeing you might just make his day. so if you could keep pretending to be human, that would be great. thanks. ” Before Frisk can respond, Sans walks off in the other direction. Frisk blinks and he’s gone. Their red eye glows and they see the thin blue trail coming from where he was standing. Turning back, Frisk continues onwards, wondering about the skeleton’s words. 

Frisk walks down the path until they see a river off to the side. They head towards it and check their reflection. It’s still you . They look up at a stump next to the riverbank and see a small device on top of it. They pick it up and look over it, judging it to be some sort of communications device. They decide to pocket it and head back to the path. They pass by a small rock in the middle of the path and step over it, paying it no mind. Frisk notices the skeleton brothers ahead of them and approaches. They hear Papyrus talking. “ QUIET SANS, REMEMBER WHAT WE’RE HERE FOR… TO KEEP WATCH FOR HUMANS. ” Sans sees you and points towards you saying “ like that one? ” Papyrus looks over and sees Frisk walking towards them. “ OH MY GOD! ” Papyrus shouts. He leans over to Sans and asks “ THAT’S A HUMAN, RIGHT? ” Sans looks at him and just says “ ...yeah. ” “ YES! EXCELLENT! ” Papyrus says enthusiastically before clearing his throat aggressively. “ HUMAN, ” he calls out to Frisk. “ YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU. ” He suddenly realizes Frisk isn’t in front of him and turns around seeing that they already passed him while he was talking. Frisk gives Papyrus a blank look. He scoffs and says “ NATURALLY. LOOKS LIKE WE’RE GOING TO PLAY THE CAPTURING GAME THEN. SO BE IT! NOTHING A FUTURE ROYAL GUARDSMAN CAN’T HANDLE. ” “ ...the kid left, ” Sans points out. “ WHAT!?! OH… WELL SO BE IT… ”

Frisk keeps walking down the path, passing an impressively built outpost and disabling a few more cameras on their way. As they pass by a second outpost, a voice calls out “Did something move? Or was that my imagination?” Frisk dives to the side, back against the outpost, pulling out their knife. It sounded like the voice came from the outpost. A dog monster steps out and begins sniffing the area, trying to find what moved. Frisk considered their options. The dog seems to have found them and launches a magic attack at them. Frisk’s red eye glows. A voice in their head whispers ‘ Don’t move. ’ Frisk freezes and the blue attack goes through them. Frisk watches the dog as it says “Was it my imagination?” He begins to sniff the air, getting closer and closer. Frisk’s free hand feels the ground around them, landing on a stick. They pick it up and the voice whispers ‘Throw it!’ Frisk throws the stick into the trees. The dog monster freezes, seeing it. “Stick? Stick! Stiiiiiick!” The dog monster runs after the stick. Frisk takes the opportunity and bolts. 

Frisk stops running and catches their breath. Ahead of them they see a shining surface. ‘ Ice’ the voice tells them. Who’s there? Frisk wonders but they get no response. Frisk walks towards the ice. Suddenly their red eye glows and they whip around knife out aimed at Sans who is holding his hands up to calm them. “ woah kid, ” he says. “ jumpy aren’t we. i come in peace. ” Frisk puts the knife back, eye dimming. “ i just came to give you some advice on blue attacks. Ya see- ” Sans starts. Frisk cuts them off, saying “I’m aware.” Frisk turns to walk away. “ heh… been above ground a whole day and you’re already a magic expert? ” Frisk turns to glare at Sans but he’s already gone.

Passing the ice, Frisk walks into a clearing. Across from it, Frisk spots Sans and Papyrus talking. Frisk can just barely catch the last of their conversation, something about napping and sleeping. Papyrus notices as Frisk walks up. “ OH- HO! ” he says. “ THE HUMAN ARRIVES. IN ORDER TO STOP YOU… MY BROTHER AND I HAVE CREATED SOME PUZZLES! I THINK YOU WILL FIND THIS ONE… QUITE SHOCKING!!! ” Sans laughs at his brother’s pun as he continues. “ FOR YOU SEE, THIS IS THE INVISIBLE… ELECTRICITY MAZE!!! WHEN YOU TOUCH THE WALLS OF THIS MAZE, THIS ORB WILL ADMINISTER A HARTY ZAP! ” Sans looks at Papyrus and says “ hey bro, i think the human needs to be holding the orb for it to work. ” Papyrus looks at the orb in his hand and says “ BROTHER, YOU ARE CORRECT! I ALMOST FORGOT! ” Sans takes the orb and tells Papyrus “ here, let me. ” Sans teleports next to Frisk and places the orb on their head before teleporting back. Papyrus looks at Frisk and says “ HUMAN, YOU MAY BEGIN. ”

Frisk looks at Sans who seems almost amused by their predicament. Frisk looks at the maze. Suddenly their red eye begins glowing. They enter the maze. Three steps forward, three steps left, four steps right, and right straight to the exit. Sans and Papyrus seem surprised by how effortless you did that. Frisk walks up to Sans and takes the orb off their head and puts it on San’s head. They look Sans in the eye sockets and ask “Shocked?” Frisk walks away not waiting for their response. 

Further down the path, Frisk encounters the skeleton brothers in another clearing, this one having a small paper in the middle. “ HUMAN!!! ” Papyrus calls out. “ I HOPE YOU’RE READY FOR… ” Papyrus seems confused, asking “ SANS, WHERE’S THE PUZZLE? ” Sans looks at him and says “ it’s right there. on the ground. trust me, there’s no way they can get past this one. ” Frisk walks up to the paper and picks it up. “ SANS, THAT ISN’T A PUZZLE YOU LAZ- ” Papyrus starts before being cut off by Frisk, who says “This is impossible.” Papyrus looks at you and you hand him the paper as he looks it over. “All the words are there except for the ninth word. This puzzle has no solution.” Papyrus studies closely, muttering “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT ITS RIGHT HERE.” Without looking where he’s pointing, Frisk says “Check the ninth letters. One is ‘e’ and one is ‘u.’” Papyrus reexamines the word search, seeing that Frisk was correct. “ BROTHER, YOU GAVE THE HUMAN AN IMPOSSIBLE PUZZLE! THAT IS NOT IN THE SPIRIT OF PUZZLES! ” Sans shrugs, side eyeing Frisk and saying “ hehe, sorry. my mistake. i knew i should have used today's crossword instead. ” “WHAT!? CROSSWORD!? I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU SAID THAT. IN MY OPINION JUNIOR JUMBLE IS EASILY THE HARDEST.” Sans looks at Papyrus and says “what? really, dude? that easy-peasy word scramble? that’s for baby bones.” Papyrus looks shocked. “UN. BELIEVABLE. HUMAN!!! SOLVE THIS DISPUTE!” Frisk looks at them and says “...I don’t know what either of those are.” Sans and Papyrus both look surprised. “ what kid, you never seen a newspaper? ” Sans asks. Frisk just shrugs and shakes their head. They point to the paper and say “That was my first ‘word search’ I think is what it was called.” Sans and Papyrus look at each other for a moment. “ WELL I MUST GO AND PREPARE MY NEXT PUZZLES FOR YOU HUMAN. AND NEVER FEAR, THESE PUZZLES WILL HAVE SOLUTIONS. NYEH HEH HEH. ” Papyrus leaves Frisk and Sans. Sans seems to be lost in thought. Frisk begins to walk past him when he stops them, saying “ wait. ” Frisk turns and looks at him. “ you said that was your first word search, right? yet you solved it in seconds. how? ” Frisk thanks for a moment before saying “I guess I just picked it up from a…” Frisk hesitates, unsure what word to use. “...friend,” they finally decide before walking off, leaving Sans alone. 

Continuing down the path, Frisk finds there are spikes in their way. They carefully touch them to text their sharpness. Finding them to not pose a significant danger, Frisk jumps the spikes, cutting the back of their legs and arms though not reacting to the pain. They are about to check themselves when they hear someone coming. Two dog monsters approach them, smelling the air. They talk back and forth, questioning what they smell. Suddenly, the male realizes and says “The smell is human!” Both dog monsters ready their axes and Frisk readies their knife. The dogs charge and Frisk dodges. The female goes in to attack but Frisk blocks the blow. The male swings his axe and Frisk rolls to the side to avoid it, their blood covering the snow. The male attacks again, forcing Frisk to dodge but before they can fully react, the female comes in for another attack. Frisk tries to dodge but winces at their cuts and barely manages to protect themselves, taking a glancing blow and bleeding out more. This isn’t good they thought to themselves. I need to stop their attacks now . The male raises their axe to chop down on Frisk but Frisk reacts too fast for them. Frisk cuts off the axe head then flips around the dog monster, holding their knife to his throat. The female calls out “Dogamy!” Frisk looks at her and in a commanding tone shouts “Stop!” She freezes. “Now throw your axe to the side of his throat gets a new hole.” She whimpers “Okay, I’ll do it.” She throws her axe away and Frisk nods. “Good. Now sit. Both of you.” Both dogs drop to the ground, seeming terrified. Frisk pushes the male forward so he’s next to the other dog monster. “Now stay,” Frisk instructs. “Count to 300, then you can move.” Frisk turns, putting their knife away and leaving the traumatized monsters behind, blood dripping in the snow as they walk. 

As Frisk is walking up to the next puzzle, still bleeding, they notice Papyrus working on it. He hears the approach and says “ HUMAN, YOU GOT HERE SOONER THAN I- ” He stops, noticing your condition. “ HUMAN! YOU APPEAR TO BE INJURED AND LEAKING! ” Frisk looks at Papyrus and says “I’m fine. I’ve had worse.” Frisk tries to walk pass but Papyrus stops them, saying “ THAT IS NOT A GOOD THING HUMAN, YOU SHOULD GET THIS LOOKED AT. HERE, LET ME HEAL- ” Just as Papyrus’ hands begin to glow green, Frisk’s eye flashes red and they shout “NO!” They push Papyrus and he stumbles backwards, falling into the snow. Papyrus seems shocked, saying “ HUMAN, I JUST WANT TO HELP- ” Frisk cuts him off, saying “I said I’m fine.” Frisk walks past the deactivated trap into the next area, ignoring Papyrus’ concerned looks that followed them as they left a red trail in their wake.

Papyrus sits in the snow for a minute. “ WHY DID THE HUMAN NOT WANT HELP? ” he wondered aloud. “THAT HUMAN IS STRANGE. THEY DID NOT EVEN KNOW WHAT A NEWSPAPER WAS. WHAT WAS THEIR LIFE LIKE IN THE UNDERGROUND. THEY SEEM TO BE SOLVING THE PUZZLES EASILY ENOU-” Suddenly Papyrus remembers “OH NO, THE NEXT PUZZLE, IT MAY NOT HAVE AN ANSWER!” Papyrus stood up and rushed after the human. “ HUMAN, ” he calls out. “ I MUST APOLOGIZE BUT THE NEXT PUZZLE- ” Click. The spikes retracted. Frisk looked at Papyrus, having solved the puzzle before he could get there. Papyrus is stunned. He shakes his head and say “WELL HUMAN, YOU SEEM TO BE A PUZZLE MASTER. SURELY YOU WILL LOVE THE NEXT PUZZLE THEN. NYEH HEH… HEH…” Papyrus seems to hesitate before running ahead of them. Frisk follows behind, blood trail less obvious than before. 

Frisk continues down the path until they catch up with Papyrus. “ HUMAN, ” he calls. “ THIS NEXT PUZZLE WAS MADE BY THE GREAT DR. ALPHYS! SEE THOSE TILES? ” Frisk looks down at the checkered ground in front of them then back at Papyrus. “ ONCE I THROW THIS SWITCH, THEY WILL BEGIN TO CHANGE COLORS! EACH COLOR HAS A DIFFERENT FUNCTION! RED TILES ARE… ”

…

…

“ ...FINALLY, PINK TILES. THEY DON’T DO ANYTHING. STEP ON THEM ALL YOU LIKE. HOW WAS THAT? UNDERSTAND? ” Frisk nods, having memorized the instructions. Papyrus smiles, “ GREAT. THEN THERE IS ONE LAST THING. THIS PUZZLE… IS ENTIRELY RANDOM!!! LET’S BEGIN! ” Papyrus flips the switch looking excited. Frisk looks unperturbed. Sans looks bored. The puzzle finishes randomizing. There is a straight line of pink tiles. Papyrus doesn’t react for a moment. Sans chuckles and says “ well, that was anti- chromatic . ” A rimshot comes from his pocket. Papyrus doesn’t even react to San’s bad joke. He just leaves.

“ SANS, IT IT JUST ME OR DOES HAT HUMAN STRIKE YOU AS ODD? ” Sans shrugs at Papyrus’ question. “ what makes you say that? ” Sans asks him. “ WELL EARLIER THE HUMAN WAS INJURED AND APPEARED TO BE LEAKING RED LIQUID. ” Sans looks at Papyrus and says “ i think that’s called bleeding. humans don’t dust like us monsters. ” Papyrus nods “ RIGHT, THAT’S WHAT I THOUGHT. BUT WHEN I TRIED TO HEAL THEM THEY- ” Papyrus looks at the rock formation painted to look like a bridge and notices the human approaching. “ AH, HUMAN. YOU HAVE ARRIVED. NOW YOU WILL FACE MY LAST AND GREATEST TRAP! BEHOLD, THE GAUNTLET OF DEADLY TERROR! ” Cannons, blade saws, flames, and a dog(?) on a rope appear, surrounding Frisk. “ NYEH HEH HEH, ” Papyrus laughs. “ YOU HAVE NO HOPE OF BESTING MY MASTERPEICE! ” He holds up a remote with a single button on it, saying “ AS SOON AS I PRESS THIS BUTTON, MY TRAP WILL ACTIVA- ” Faster than either Sans or Papyrus can react, something hits the remote out of Papyrus’ hand. They both turn and look at the remote which slides to a stop in the snow, a knife sticking out of it as sparks fly. They both look at Frisk, Sans’ eye sockets dark. Frisk had just thrown their knife at the remote. 

After a few seconds of silence, Papyrus speaks up. “ CONGRATULATIONS HUMAN. IT APPEARS YOU HAVE BESTED MY FINAL TRAP… I HAVE NO CHOICE BUT TO ACCEPT MY DEFEAT. BUT THIS IS NOT THE END HUMAN. I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL CATURE YOU YET! NYEH HEH HEH. HEH. HEH? ” He rushes off, leaving Sans and Frisk. Frisk walks past Sans who is still watching them with dark sockets. They lean over as they pass and snatch their knife out from the still sparking remote, returning it to its sheath. They stop and turn to look at Sans, his sockets still dark. “No jokes comedian?” Frisk asks. Sans just shrugs, sockets unchanged. Frisk turns back and continues after Papyrus.