Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Frisk watched her mother come into the dressing room. Today, she would do the best she could to look happy. After all, it was her wedding day. “Hello, Mom. Isn’t it gorgeous?”

Frisk’s mother came over to her and straightened it out. “You look beautiful, Frisk. Are you sure this is what you want?”

No, it wasn’t what she wanted. It was what her father wanted, and her mother had been pleased about it too. To go after her own wants was redundant.

No. “This is what I need.” Her husband was the son of the mine owner of the mountain. He had liked Frisk, and her parents were happy about that. He was rich, handsome, and would help Frisk move on with her life. That was their thinking.

In truth, Andrew was an absolute jerk. She had already caught him cheating on her once, but she didn’t say anything. She would be his prized lovely wife, that would probably give him heirs.

It would make them happy though.

“If you are sure. I know I was very excited for this day?” Her mother was a reasoner though. She probably knew Frisk didn’t enjoy her future husband’s company as much as she let on. However, Frisk was very good at hiding her feelings behind acting. Even her mother couldn’t say for sure how much was acting. “Andrew could be a nicer person for you.”

Yes, he could, but this was fine. The only thing she could do for others now, is to give them happiness. “I think he’s a wonderful person, and I can’t wait to marry him.”

When her father made it a point to set them up, she did her best to be everything Andrew wanted. She pretended to be blind to him looking at others, just like she pretended he wasn’t checking her rudely out at other times. Soon, she would be his wife and her parents would be happy.

“You look so beautiful in that dress,” her mother had to say. “Like a real princess.”

Frisk looked at the mirror, her fake smile was so good it almost fooled her too. The dress looked beautiful. She didn’t feel beautiful.

“I wish I could read your mind sometimes,” her mother said to her as she checked the dress one more time.

No, you don’t. “It could be scary.”

“Even at your scariest, we had faith.” Her mother smiled at her.

Those words combined with her mother’s fake smile, almost tore off Frisk’s own. It was her wedding day, why’d she say that? Yes, they had seen her at her scariest. After she had conquered Underground, she headed home.

She headed home to kill everyone there. Her parents were spry, and not being monsters, had a leg up on the situation. They had called emergency while dodging her attacks and figured out what was wrong.

The echoes of the situation still played in her head. They had called an exorcist to reach her, and to split her apart from another soul. She survived.

The monsters never did. They never had a chance to have an exorcist to help stop the unstoppable force of her. Not that it would be different. Monsters were monsters, they were evil and vindictive. Sinful and full of trickery.

Frisk’s own job was to hunt and keep the monster population down. She never regretted her job.

It’s just that . . . the monsters below felt different. Then again, she was just a kid.

“Oh, a small break in the smile.” Her mother stared at her. “We don’t need you married to be happy for you, Frisk.”

“Marriage and children will help me get through life. Let me enjoy it.” Frisk tried a different tactic. “This will make me happy, even if Andrew doesn’t.”

“Your therapist probably doesn’t think so.”

“Fuck my therapist.” He was always spouting about how Frisk didn’t do enough for herself. She got tired of his bullshit and stopped seeing him as soon as she turned 18. “A marriage is an absolute selfish thing I am doing for myself. He would have no right to complain.”

“Is it selfish, Frisk?”

“To be happily married? Well, we are spending over 50,000 on this marriage so I would guess yes.”

Her mother kissed her on her forehead. “For love or not, as long as you are doing this for you. You will be radiant today, and you deserve to be the bride.” She gave one good smile, and walked away.

Frisk heard her cell phone and saw it was her Maid of Honor. She answered it. “Tara?”

“Hey, Frisk. I’m sorry, but Kendra and I aren’t going to be at the wedding. There was an emergency at work.”

Ooh? “What kind of emergency?”

“Shadow Grabber.”

What?! “Where?”

“Frisk, it’s your wedding. We can handle it.”

Ugh! “Who else is coming? Is Brandon moving his butt?” That was a dangerous monster.

“It’s just me and Kendra. Brandon’s moving a couch today.”

“No, not approved.” No way. “I’m coming down.”

“Wait, Frisk. Today is your wedding, you can’t do that.”

“I have a few hours. It’s long enough to capture that monster and get back.”

“Frisk, no.”

“Where is it?”

“Down at the aquarium.”

Yep. “There’s no way I am leaving you to deal with a Shadow Grabber by yourselves, and it is down in the middle of a public area.” Hell no! “I’ll be there soon. Then, we can all shoot by for the wedding.”

“Frisk, no!”

Frisk hung up and went toward her closet. She opened it up, got undressed, and put on her uniform. She grabbed her tranquilizer gun for a Shadow Grabber. To her knowledge, Tara and Kendra didn’t even have the right gun for one. She also grabbed the elecric netting to catch it. She didn’t know if they had one of those, but she’d be more safe than sorry.

She stepped out of her room and saw her mom. Yeah, what a look. “What? I have a few hours.” She cocked the tranquilizer gun.

“Frisk!” Her mother scolded her. “Your wedding day.”

“I’ll be back in time. Andrew probably won’t be on time anyhow.” He never had been for anything.

“Frisk.”

“Tara and Kendra have to take it on, and it’s in a public setting,” Frisk said, appealing to her senses. “Tara is my Maid of Honor, and Kendra is one of my bridesmaids. What kind of wedding would I have without them there anyway?”

Her mother sighed, and that’s all Frisk heard as she walked away. It wasn’t her choice. There was plenty of time.

At the Aquarium . . .

“Frisk, I can’t believe you,” Tara criticized her as she aimed her gun. “You are putting a 50,000 dollar wedding at risk.”

“No, I’m not.” Frisk concentrated on the shot. “Where’s your tranquilizer?” That would keep both of them quiet. She observed the flooring around the aquarium. It loves smaller prey. She saw it move quickly from one shadow to another. Shadow Grabbers hid in shadows.

“It’s just a baby Shadow Grabber. We can take it out,” Tara told Frisk. “We have our net.”

Frisk kept her concentration. She watched a little girl step toward the dolphin exhibit closer, and watched the shadow of it try to hide in hers. Yep, it was a baby.

She nailed it with the gun. She heard the scream, the girl screamed of course having been so close, and Tara and Kendra threw the electric netting over it.

Tara held it up. “Good work.”

“Yep.” Frisk strapped her tranquilizer gun back on her. “Now let’s go get dressed for the wedding.”

Frisk’s Home

Frisk went back upstairs with Tara and Kendra. Plenty of time to get redressed. She caught her mother’s look as she met her at the door. “I told you I’d be back. We are getting dressed right now.”

“I hope the photographer didn’t catch any of you in your uniforms. This is a wedding,” Frisk’s mother complained. “Frisk? Do you really want to get married?”

“Yes, but I had to deal with a Shadow Grabber.” Ugh. “Shit happens. We grabbed their clothes too. Everyone’s getting dressed.”

“Your hair stylist left. She couldn’t wait any longer,” she warned Frisk. “She was mad.”

“It doesn’t need styled, it’s just short and brown anyhow.” Frisk opened her bedroom door and went in.

“Frisk?” Tara asked. “Are you sure you want to really do this? I mean, I know Andrew is rich and eligible. But. I don’t know. You don’t mesh well.”

Frisk yawned. “People will back off me more and let me live my life, once I’m contained in a marriage.”

“That isn’t really how it works,” Kendra told her as she got dressed.

“Yes it is,” Frisk said. “I know it is. Every time I date, they get this sparly look in their eyes. Then when I break up, they always get all ho-hum until the next one. If I date a bum, they get nervous and ask me about my future, and if we could support kids.” She had them help her zip up in the back. “If I marry someone with money, they can’t dwell on money, kids, or my welfare. I get to move out, they get grandchildren and piece of mind. Everybody wins.”

“I swear, Frisk.” Tara looked back at her. “I love you, but there is something wrong with you. You might consider-”

“Say therapist and I will disinvite you to my wedding,” Frisk warned her. “I know what I need.” Her parents could say ‘you don’t need to marry’ but she did. They didn’t feel comfortable with her moving out until she was settled. They weren’t positive about her future, until she was safe. “There, good as new.” She looked in the mirror again. “There. We are all ready.”

Both of them just gave her weird looks.

Tara hugged her. “Happy Wedding Day, Frisk.”

Frisk felt the hug. She reciprocated it back with a nice pat on the back. “Okay. Let’s head to Andrew’s.” That’s where the marriage would take place, in his backyard. Soon to be hers.

Andrew’s Backyard . . .

“It’s so gorgeous,” Tara couldn’t help but say. “Oh my goodness, you even have an ice sculpture. Wow . . . what is it?” Tara looked at Frisk a few moments. “What is that?”

“An Icecap,” Frisk said.

“Most people choose a swan,” Kendra said. “What’s an Icecap?”

“Just an extinct monster,” Frisk answered. “Hang on.” She could see her soon to be in-laws heading toward her. “Go mingle please.”

She talked to them. Lovingly. And like she thought.

Andrew was late to his own wedding. Not a gaw damn fucking surprise at all. After awhile, Frisk made a small break to talk to guests. If the groom wasn’t there, he couldn’t see the bride anyway. Andrew’s parents were cursing at him on the phone. She already guessed.

“Frisk, dear?” Andrew’s father started to make excuses. “He is going to be a bit late. It seems his bachelor party wore him out. He should have had it sooner, but he is coming. He just needs a little time to get ready.”

Frisk just gave her future father-in-law her practiced smile. “Of course, Dad. I understand.” She had even taken to calling him dad, to close any gap between after Andrew proposed.

“He is lucky to be marrying a girl like you,” his mother said. “You are the sweetest woman alive. You do nothing but forgive and love him, and he is late for his own wedding because of . . . ugh.”

“I understand, these things happen. I won’t ruin the most wonderful day of my life,” she insisted to them. “Mistakes are forgivable.”

“-so really, you should get rid of any scientist who reverses a barrier.”

Frisk’s attention was always attuned to something when she heard the word barrier. One of her guests were talking about barriers. She paid attention to her future in-laws, but she focused in on the conversation.

“He was just joking around with it. I don’t think I should fire him.”

“Look, barriers protect humans. We lock bad things into barriers, and only we can open them. This guy literally made a barrier we can’t break, and only monsters can. They can literally walk through it back and forth, you said that.”

“Yeah, but he just wanted to see if it was possible for pets. There’s hardly any need for this kind of thing. I don’t think it’s a fireable excuse. He was bored and played around.”

Monsters. A barrier for them. To keep my kind out.

“I am so sorry, Dear!”

Frisk watched her mother-in-law dab at her eyes.

“He made you cry, I can’t believe this.”

“No, it’s okay.” Frisk wiped her face. “It’s the happiest day of my life. I just miss him, that’s all. I know he is coming. I don’t blame him.” She had not meant to do that, she had given away her true feelings when she started to hear about the barriers. “I don’t blame him one bit. He’s never done anything real wrong. Really, I just miss him, and I will feel better when he’s here.”

She needed to reroute the situation. Getting along with his folks took some cunning as well, it’s why she told her friends to leave. There were people they had no respect for, and when she acted like she held disdain for them too, it brought them closer to her. “Ugh. Felicity showed up. Andrew said we shouldn’t make a scene.”

“Oh, I was hoping you didn’t actually want to see her.” Her mother-in-law looked so relieved. “I can’t stand her. Yes, we must be polite in situations like this.”

“What a hideous orange dress,” Frisk continued to play into her MIL’s hands. “Where’d she get that, at an Orange Julius?”

Her MIL was delighted with her slander. “I know, really. Who wears orange to a wedding? Subtle colors, subtle. She should know it at that age.”

“Or she doesn’t care, not like she has a husband to correct her.” There, that should effectively put the focus away from her and to that poor woman.

“True. With the way she acts, she probably never will,” her MIL agreed.

Good. Frisk didn’t hear anything more about the barrier, though she wanted to. Frisk. Don’t. Even when she had the power of a child, she couldn’t change anything. She destroyed that kingdom, and it could never come back. The few that survived, lived with no king, stuck in misery, knowing they would never come out.

She did that, but monsters were bad. Full of trickery. Every human knew that. She always knew that.

“See, he’s right over there.”

“He should be fired.”

“He promises he’ll get rid of it by the weekend. Calm down, Bill.”

Frisk had to turn to see who they were looking at. A young man in a tuxedo she didn’t know. That man. Had accidentally created something that the monsters would have really loved.

It was something that maybe only some certain monsters deserved. Maybe.

Her MIL started to shoo her away. Frisk didn’t argue, knowing Andrew was probably coming. Frisk went back inside.

She looked at herself back in the mirror again. Even if it makes good people happy, I still shouldn’t be here. Alive. Well-off. Marrying. Eventually having children. None of that should have been for her, but this was where her life lead her to.

“Frisk, it’s ready.” Her mother came in to see her. “Time to get married.”

Frisk found herself heading outside, still thinking. She fought many monsters since Underground. The Underground ones had been so different than all of them.

The screams of mercy. The wails to live. Monsters she knew didn’t do that. It was a given fact any day. It was all trickery.

That was pressed into her when she came back too. High honors everywhere. Who cared that she almost killed her parents with a ‘little too much LOVE’? No big deal, they were fine, and she was fine. Another barrier kingdom handled. Less of a chance it would get out, thanks to one little girl who accidentally slipped in.

That girl had to go through medication. Through therapy. Especially as she started to wonder, now that she had grown up, that maybe? It wasn’t all a trick. They weren’t being tricky. They were just living and defending themselves to keep living. They were fighting because they were scared of her.

It was hard to tell. Her parents also warned her about that. LOVE was powerful, but on a child? It could confuse the whole world up to them. They assured her she did very well. Monsters would have killed her. They would have hurt her. They were fighting, and she fought back.

That past had landed her a future career in monster hunting too.

Her parents were proud of her. Her therapist encouraged her to do more things for herself. To treat herself better. She seemed to develop some kind of complex after all that . . . dust in the air though.

Monsters were bad. She did the right thing. She still couldn’t be happy. These were all facts. Every human knew monsters were bad. Yet, nightmares persisted. She swore she saw Sans the Skeleton almost every night as a child.

Giving his same warning. ‘Don’t say I didn’t warn you.’

She walked down the aisle, seeing the snapshots and the happy faces of everyone. Why did it have to be as a little girl? Why couldn’t I have been older? She walked toward the front of the aisle to see Andrew. That stupid barrier talk, it’s got me thinking about this shit on my wedding day! My day. To be happy. To try and be happy. Everyone should be happy.

“Radiant,” Andrew said to her, trying to make up for being late.

Frisk started to hear the priest. A barrier for them existed now. Whether those Underground monsters were bad or not. Whether the LOVE inside dictated her actions or not. If they had had that, then no human would have been hurt by an evil monster.

And no monster. No monster would have been hurt by a human.

Good or bad, they could just have lived. Seperately, but harmoniously. No fighting. No killing. Just.

They could have been there, on the surface. Safe. No more killing. The Underground. For just a few seconds she had to admit it. That they might have actually been okay monsters. Then?

On the side of the alter next to her future husband . . .

Sans.

Showed.

Up.

Chapter Text

Sans had his brother's scarf on him, just like when they fought before. Everything on him looked like he was before. She could swear he’d probably give her some line about it being the 50th time they were fighting.

Things moved quick on her. She had been so shocked that after this many years her determination actually manifested itself. She was unprepared for what happened.

Sans was in battle mode. There wasn’t going to be any dialogue, he was unaware of his surroundings and would instinctively fight. She should have known better. It wasn’t his fault, it was her fault for being unprepared by his appearance.

Her entire front row laid dead, most pieces separated from each other. Everyone else was already running off or trying to grab a weapon.

Now definitely awake and knowing she needed to take action, Frisk ducked out of the way, and tried to prevent more from happening by giving him something to latch onto. Anything to distract him for just a few seconds. Tara and Kendra had also done that. Frisk pointed to the man she hadn't known. “He built a barrier that humans cannot trespass into!”

That swayed Sans’ attention from any more gruesome slaughter. He had yanked that man over with his magic, as well as Frisk. Could he tell who she’d been?

He finally said something. “Kid.”

Yes, he read the situation right. His power could only control her for so long, she got out of it and dodged out of the way. She dodged again, making her way over to her wedding cake and grabbing the knife for it. It was at an awkward angle and cut her hand slightly, but she’d been through worse.

Her audience who knew the weakness of monsters was attempting to hit him.

They had rocks. Shoes. Sticks. It didn’t take much to damage a monster, but Sans was no ordinary monster. He was trying to dodge at the same time as attack.

They weren't a threat, but Tara and Kendra were.

Frisk had no choice, but to dodge his attacks, as well as try to take her friends and families attacks. “Stop it and just run!” she commanded of them. Only a few listened.

Not Tara or Kendra.

Meanwhile, Sans was getting tired of it, but it was time for dialogue. “So? This is the 54th battle we’ve had together. The wedding ceremony is new, nice touch. I don’t see any monsters around. I see a bright sun, the skies and a bunch of humans in nice tuxedos and dresses trying to kill me. Gotta say, that one’s new too. Popping back from dust is also new. I don’t remember a thing. I got beat, finally, after over fifty tries. All it took was once.”

While he spoke, Frisk was still preventing anything from hitting him.

“What are you doing, Frisk?” Tara demanded as she tried to shoot again.

Frisk didn't know why. It was just what she wanted to do. “It's my wedding day, just give me time.”

“I really have no words. I’ve never seen this in all of time and space. You are the kid. You grew up. Obviously getting married. What the hell, Kid? Did you wish to fight me all over again as a wedding present?”

“Maybe,” she threatened him. It felt empty though as she thwarted more attacks coming from Tara and Kendra. She was trying to have a conversation. “Stop being rude.”

“He killed your guests, Frisk!” They weren't happy.

“I don’t do weddings. I don’t do anything. Complete whatever sick fantasy you have of fighting me again,” Sans said. “Except?”

Frisk now had to shift attention, Sans wasn’t talking anymore. Wait, wait, wait! He was striking everyone that had stayed around. Most people that had stayed to try and fight him were sliced into bits. Tara and Kendra had moved out of the way.

“The Genocider’s wedding colors had to be red,” Sans said to her after the giant massacre. “Hate to be on your invitation list. Are you ready to fight another fifty times or are you going to do something?” He looked toward the one human he left alive that hadn’t left. The man Frisk had pulled over to tell him about the barrier. “Barrier talk is a weird tactic. Won’t work for long if it’s not real. Is there a barrier for monsters?”

“Yes, accidentally!” the man squeaked.

While Frisk watched the situation, she saw her pitiful future husband hiding behind the decorations. He was nice enough to wave her over. Idiot.

Well, he regretted that. Sans brought him right over to him. He wouldn’t live long.

Sans didn’t immediately kill him as he begged for mercy. He was just staring at him probably judging him. “. . . I still got no idea what’s going on? He don’t know shit.”

Yeah, reading Andrew wouldn’t give him-

Frisk felt her chance come to get yanked back over. This time, much closer and stronger. There was no getting away this time. His eye sockets were thick. Black. Devoid of life. Devoid of happiness while his sweaty hands gripped her knife too. Just misery. Just death. She heard the pulsing sounds of the beggings of Underground. Begging for mercy. She heard her parents’ voice on the phone. The exorcist’s words. The nightmares of Sans she had seen for so many years saying-

“I warned you, didn’t I?” He moved away slightly, letting her knife go.

He just sort of stared. Frisk didn’t know what he was thinking.

“Well, never guessed that.” He lowered his bony eye lids a little bit, and his little light guiders came back. “Took an exorcist?”

He was the one stirring up the images in her mind again.

He looked around. “Are there any guests left alive? Oh. Nope, not around anymore.” He looked toward Andrew and the other man. “Hey?”

Frisk watched as somehow they were left frozen.

“Where did your priest go? Just kidding, I know where he ran off to.” Sans used his magic to send the priest that apparently had been hiding also over. “Nice day for a red wedding.”

What was he doing now?

“You’re sorry. Nice to see that. Frisk.” He even picked up her name, her mind was an open book to him.

Except, sorry? “I never said I was sorry.”

“No, you are sorry,” he said stubbornly.

“You are monsters. You are bad. I killed you,” she continued to say toward him. “Don’t be dumb.”

“Yeah. Last time you were that confused, I paid the price for giving you a chance,” he stated. “The fog is less.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Wow, you even tried to kill your own parents? Totally not surprised. Never told anyone you attempted suicide a few times, huh? Three? Gave up and preferred to make them happy.”

How did he know all that?!

“Frisk?” Great, now her friends were concerned!

“I can read you better than ever. You are still confused, but a part of you figured it out finally. The part that brought me back.” He rubbed against where a nose would have been. “I’ve got to think.”

He was reading her so hard. He could read before, but he never said that much. Did he?

“One monster on the surface is not the way to make up for it. Hell, it’s kind of torture.”

“I’m not making up for anything.” Why did he keep saying things like that?

Sans looked toward the strange man who knew about the barrier. “I guess I could join another kingdom? All trapped in the barriers too, huh? Nah, not really my thing. I liked my own kingdom. Would like it back.”

Fat chance.

“You can’t give it back. You don’t even know how you finally got the determination to bring me back. I can tell you that.”

“Recite a whole book for me why don’t you?” she growled. He was monster. He was bad. She should be taking him out, Tara and Kendra were right.

Instead, she discovered another human that was still around, and they had the nerve to shoot at him again.

She blocked it again. “Knock it off, I’m dealing with it!” Her guest ran away.

“You are so uppy uppy and downy downy,” Sans said to her. “There is a good chance. Maybe.”

Maybe? “A good chance of what?”

“I made a small difference after all.”

A small difference? “You made no difference.”

“You didn’t question yourself Underground enough,” he said. “Too small. Obedient. Less of a thinker, more scared. After the fact? That was a lot of years of therapy.”

Grr. “Stop reading that, you shouldn’t be able to!”

“A lot. Eighteen? You needed more,” he teased her. “Except not up here. The answers to your questions you kept asking? You know the answer. You learned it.”

“It’s all trickery.” She held out the knife she had grabbed when she had dodged around the wedding cake. “Monsters are tricksters.”

“Your wedding day, Frisk. Most people would be more upset this happened. You are still stuck in your LV.” He touched his skull. “Self-esteem down the drain. That’s where all your attempted suicides came into play.”

Oh! He shouldn’t be talking about that! She held the knife firmly in her grasp. That stupid human had just interrupted again though, so she had to reflect a stupid stick attack off Sans instead! “Knock it off!”

“Frisk!” Tara scolded her. “What is going on with you? Waste this guy or let us do it.”

“I am working out something therapeutically. Isn't that what you guys wanted?” Frisk pointed out.

Her friends just looked at each other.

“You saved my life 105 times so far,” Sans said to her.

That was some math. “Numbers don’t matter.”

“How about 12,437? That number matters.”

12,437? “What’s that?”

“The number of times you asked the question. Same question still buzzing around in your skull.”

12,437. That could only be one question.

“The answer is no, humans are bad,” he said. “Not that you’ll believe me. You already know the truth. How about dropping the knife? Let’s talk.”

The both of them talk? “About what.”

“Why you brought me back.”

“To kill you for a wedding present.” That joke was getting old, but she didn’t know what else to say to that.

“You learned about Mister Barrier. With him, he brought Mister Hope. Both those guys together? Hey, determination came to the wedding party with an uninvited guest.”

That actually made sense. She was going over it in her head a lot. “I wanted to know, but I don’t know,” she admitted. “I was too young for that kind of environment. I know that I saw what they had written in the Underground. I have information up here too.” Confused.

“I’d almost say this was all pointless and just kill me now, but Mister Barrier being here changes the perspective.” He looked toward Mister Barrier. “Where is the barrier technology?”

“It was just goofing,” he answered. “It’s in my home.”

“Where’s your home?”

“Across town?”

“Cool. Don’t move.” Sans gestured back to him. “Mister Barrier is why we are doing this. It’s worth it if it works. If it doesn’t? Kill me. Straight up kill me, there’s nothing here for me. Then go on living, knowing that you only caused me more pain. Ready for the big day?”

Big day?

“Wedding day.” Sans used his magic to center the priest comically. “A little more to the left. There you go. Go ahead. I’d say I’m sorry for murdering your guests, but I’d be lying. Not sorry for your decorations either. Like I said, a red wedding fits you.”

He still wanted her to get wed? Sans was a weird monster, she knew that much. Letting a wedding happen must be hilarious to him somehow. She didn’t know how, but monsters had a lame sense of humor.

No, she was old enough that she could judge the actions now. Maybe innocent but the skeleton was definitely psycho.

Frisk listened as the priest started to say his lines. Poor Andrew was beside himself. He was so scared, his pants unfortunately now had a pee line down them. Yeah, he probably didn’t plan on that for their wedding day. She herself had no idea what was going on. “Oh, crap. We won’t get a deposit on any of this back, Father-In-Law won’t like that.” Unless he was dead. Was he dead?

“I know this won’t stay quiet for long, so speed up the ceremony,” Sans insisted to the priest. “I like things slow, but not today.”

“Uh, the rings?” The priest would do the most basic now. “Quickly exchange them.” He was already reading passages while Frisk got out her ring.

Andrew was fumbling with the ring, too scared to put it on. Sans came over and placed it on Frisk’s finger.

After it was on Frisk’s, she tried to grab Andrew’s hand, but Sans just grabbed her ring and stuck it on his bony finger. What?

“You are now married, you can kiss the bride, let’s get the papers signed, I leave them in the back of the book.” The priest moved so fast. “Bride here. Groom here. Basic info. This is all marriage is, fill it out.”

Frisk filled out her section, and like she feared.

Sans filled out the others. “Skeleton. Underground. Snowdin I guess is the city. I don't need to explain why I can't kiss the bride, do I?”

What the hell?

“No lips,” Tara quipped.

“No because she killed me. I have some standards.”

The priest didn't say anything about the joke, but signed the papers as well. “May I leave?”

“Yep. Go file that stuff,” Sans insisted. “Mister Barrier, do you have a car? We are heading that way. Old groom? I took your bride. Sorry not sorry. Don’t worry, probably not gonna live long anyhow.”

Frisk didn’t understand what was happening. This time, she was the one in the dark. She headed toward Mister Barrier’s car with Sans just as the sounds of sirens were coming.

Why was she doing this? Why didn't she just kill him again? Oh yeah. Working out stuff.

“They will take a few minutes to get here,” Sans said to Mister Barrier. “Takes me less than a second to kill you, so keep moving.”

Mister Barrier tore out of there and started to head to his home as quickly as possible.

Sans needed to stay as hard as possible against the humans. Be nice and they might kill him. Show weakness, and they might kill him. While that would be fine considering they already did that and he had nothing to live for?

He had something else on his side. A lot more confusion. That marriage wasn’t just a gag, it was a chance to pull her out of the confusion. Marriage meant a joining in certain aspects and qualities. Yeah, he could handle part of the LV better.

If the fog in her brain lifted, then maybe this could turn out okay. There were clearly humans trying to take him out, and she was holding them back.

If the barrier was a lot of nothing, there wasn’t even a reason to bother. If it was a lot of something? Oh.

It hurt to think about. He needed to know, before he could even hope. It wasn’t long before the car drove into a driveway. Mister Barrier immediately tore out of there. Sans caught up with Frisk.

He went down into his basement and showed Sans. It was small, but that didn’t matter. A barrier was just powerful projection.

Frisk wasn’t splitting. Yelling. Killing. Not doing anything much with half her LV suddenly gone. Like he thought. Her friends would be showing up soon, so he should hurry.

“It’s an invisible dome,” Mister Barrier said to him as he showed him. His hands trembled as he brought out the findings.

Sans took the findings while he heard him talk. See-through. The words used were pet barrier. “You designed it for pets?”

“I was trying to make a safety habitat for endangered species, so I started the prototype with pets. The soul wasn’t casted right,” he insisted. “I was going to scrap it and start over.”

Nope. Sans checked the barrier’s pressure. That’s why it was invisible, creatures should feel free to roam. It figured humans would treat animals better than monsters.

“See?” Mister Barrier set it off. It was in a shortened, small state.

Sans shoved his hand into it. Nothing. “Mister Barrier, touch it.”

“I can’t.”

“Try.”

“It’ll melt my skin.”

“Then don’t reach in too deep.” Sans watched as he went toward his computer. “Nope.” He went over to the computer. “Just touch it.”

Mister Barrier couldn’t even touch it. It was hitting the hand tough enough Sans could see it turn red and start to bleed. “Okay, that’s fine.”

Mister Barrier wailed in pain. “Like I said, humans can’t touch it. Pets can’t touch it. I messed it up.”

“No.” It was perfect. Sans was already digging through the computer to see all the nuances that he wasn’t telling him. Oh. Ooh. Nice.

He even found the glitch he made for the pets. No need to hurt the animals, he fixed that. “Does it go through everything else once expanded?” He knew the answer.

“No, don’t!” Mister Barrier insisted. “I don’t want to die. It’s gonna incinerate everything except monsters and inorganic things.”

“Nah, it takes three seconds as it’s growing for the power to turn on.” So Sans did just that.

Mister Barrier freaked out, but then stopped freaking out when nothing happened. He looked at the barrier. “It’s active?”

“Yep, I set it to the size of the Underground,” Sans said as wails and screams were heard all around them. You know, the other humans. He fixed the glitch for the animals. Screw the humans. “That’ll subside.” It was only harmless for three seconds, it was terminating the rest of the garbage outside the house.

Everything but the two garbages next to him. Well? He probably shouldn’t talk that way about his new wife, but old instincts died hard. Like him. After all, she did kill him. His brother. Ended the kingdom.

“I can’t leave.” Mister Barrier seemed to get it. “If you ever shut that down-”

“-it’ll be the opposite, the outer edges will be safe for three seconds and you’d definitely incinerate,” Sans said for him. “Yeah. Guess your the new pet, huh?” Sans didn’t really care how he got out or fared.

“Stand by the edges, I’m sure you know how to see them?” Frisk recommended.

Aw, ruin the fun. Then again, helping. Helping was good morally. It meant her fog was going away. “I guess if you want to survive.” Sans watched him leave quickly.

That left him with just Frisk. “Okay, Frisk.” Sans reached into one of his pockets. His old Grillby wrapper still lingered in there. He brought it out and opened it, revealing a syringe. “Trust me. This isn’t catsup.” Sheer determination. He never bothered injecting it all inside himself. “This will probably kill you, but it will give you the power. It’s liquid determination. Every monster that tries to wield it dies at some point. Cross your fingers. Pull up your pretty little wedding sleeve, Genocider.”

“For what?” A genuine question. “What did you do to me?”

“Oh I just took some of your crazy LOVE away,” Sans said. “Don’t get romantic, this will still probably kill you. Maybe. Could be fun?”

Frisk’s eyes were unfocused. Hazed. Good enough for him.

He injected it into her. “Monsters aren’t bad, humans are. You killed a whole kingdom of good people who just wanted to be free. Who were just fighting to survive. Who fought because they were scared of you. You’re old enough, you see it now. Do the right thing.”

She just stared at him, so hazy. Chance of success? Not real high. He did what he could though.

This was it. The last bit of a slim second chance. A monster could never do it, but a very determined human?

Maybe.

Chapter Text

“Great housing. Paved streets. Awesome grass and trees. This is the site of the new kingdom you need to bring up, Frisk.” Keep up the name. Keep up the instructions.

“Are you sure?” Frisk had to ask.

“Don’t talk back, Buddy. Just make it happen.” He clasped onto her very tight. “Close your eyes and say ‘I want the monsters back’.”

She closed her eyes. “I want the monsters back.”

“And up here. You want the monsters back up here.”

“Up here.”

“Papyrus never did anything but care for you. He saw good where there was none.”

“Papyrus, right.”

“My Knock Knock Buddy, I know you wiped her out. You wiped out everyone. Every froggit. Every monster. You even waited patiently down there to take out So Sorry. How could you?”

“I. I. I!” Frisk screamed.

Sans watched as her whole body seized up and gave out, falling to the ground. Not dead yet though.

But? Then he saw something. It was . . . a Temmie? Drinking from a puddle. A Temmie, she brought back a Temmie? Then, he heard the sounds of home, coming from a familiar place. He turned and looked where the sound came from.

Grillbys was right in the middle of the street, up less than a block. He headed toward it and went inside.

The usual crowd were in it. “Grillby.” It was back. Home was back.

“Hey, Sans!”

“Sans, I haven't seen you in ages. How you doing, Sans?”

Regulars from the bar. Currently. “Hey. Come on outside, I’ve got something to show you.”

He managed to get a couple outside, and their reactions got the whole scene to come out.

Not only that? The bear was trying to climb a tree. The bunny with the pet bunny was excitedly checking out the area.

Aw, it was awesome. “Check it out,” he joked. “Snowdin lights.” All of the humans were seen on the outside with their little cars and guns and shouting, with pretty lights all lit up in their cars.

Frisk’s determination blast had been some kind of a violent siren to them. Or maybe the wedding evasion and massacring whatever humans were in their new barrier? Whatever.

No worries. They couldn’t get in. Sans just waved to them. Monsters were freaked out at first, but soon got the hint too.

The humans were trapped outside of their area, and could not come in.

“Sans?”

Papyrus. He heard his brother’s voice. He watched him heading back towards him, like a dream. That insane human, she really did it. He thought he was gone forever. He was more upset about losing him, than losing in general. “Papyrus.”

“Sans? I don’t understand what is going on, but it seems to be a good thing?” He approached closer, and found himself in a deep hug. “Sans? Are you giving me huggies? Thank you!” He hugged him back.

She did it. Holy crap. Just bringing Papyrus back would have been hard. A Temmie in the middle of Snowdin. That normally didn’t happen. He saw other monsters that weren’t always there either. Some he didn’t think, yep. She could not have gotten rid of Gerson.

That old turtle looked really lost. “How the hell did I end up here? Why am I surrounded by ghosts basking in the sun? Did I finally kick the bucket?”

Yep, confirmed. That liquid determination didn’t just work, pulling the LOVE out of her was the key. He wanted the old kingdom, but her mind had processed more. It didn’t just bring back those lost. She reached down into the depths of the current Underground. The ones that had no king and no hope, and yanked them up.

As awesome as it had been, she didn’t get everybody though. He could see plenty of people missing, she mainly got Grillbys and a few from the current Underground.

She probably couldn’t take anymore and knocked out. For now. Not much choice. He looked toward the little ring he had on his hand. He would have to play with this. “Hey, look.” He’d show Papyrus first. “I got married while you were dead. Cool, huh?”

“What? I don’t understand the pun,” Papyrus answered. “Where did the human that murdered me go?”

“Oh, that’s right. I better go collect Frisk.” Before someone else did.

He headed straight there. Yeah, still out like a light in the middle of the room. He could still feel more determination within her. She was only restricted by her physical self.

If he got Grillby’s back, people outside of Grillby’s and even Papyrus? He could get more. She took everything away. She could give everything back.

He looked toward her. Her red and white dress was kind of pretty. She was kind of covered in blood here and there. Then again? This is enough. He wasn’t alone anymore, and they had the surface.

Inside of the barrier was the last place he needed the fogged up brain of a maniac. Killing the human probably wouldn’t work, her determination would just bring her back again.

He took a walk toward the first edge of the barrier. A dog barked along the way, following them. He put her along the edge. The other human was probably in position too. If not, sucked to be him.

He walked back to definitely his new claimed home, and shortened the barrier just enough that she was out of it.

It was over. He walked back toward the small crowd that had gathered. Hey, even Undyne made it back? Good job. “So? I claim the pretty house on the left. There’s a pool in the back.” Plus the controller of the barrier itself.

“Ooh, a pool?” Papyrus was excited about that as well. “What fun! It could only be more perfect if the humans weren’t aiming weapons at us all the time.”

Sans looked out past the houses to the edge of the barrier. He just waved. “Nah, I just pretend the lights are like Snowdin. Homey, you know?”

“Ma’am please move away. Ma’am you are covered in blood, are you hurt?”

Frisk looked at her wedding dress. She looked at the authorities all around her.

There would be some explaining to do.

After she told her story, or a version of a story, Frisk was allowed to go back home. Her mother hugged her and her father asked her how she had been. “I am okay. Where’s Andrew?”

“I am right here.” He said it with vigor, and he grabbed her and hugged her tightly. He probably wanted to feel brave considering what his pants had been like earlier. “Oh, my precious Frisk. It will be okay. We will reschedule our wedding.”

“Of course, of course,” MIL said as she hugged Frisk too. “That was insane, I can’t believe a monster got out and killed so many! On such a big day too!”

“Can you get the deposits back on some of this,” her FIL asked, “because this wasn’t your fault. This was a monster attack, lots of people are dead. It feels like there should be some kind of cashback for this.”

They are free and back. Is that good or bad? “I don’t know. I will see.”

“We will no doubt make another beautiful wedding either way, Frisk,” Andrew said. “However? We are going to have to see the priest again. He married you to that monster. I couldn’t move, there was so much magic pushing against me. I really tried to save you.”

“Married to a monster?” Frisk’s mother rushed over close. “Is this true, Frisk? Frisk?!”

“Do not worry,” Andrew said to her. “I am sure the priest can get it taken care of. It’s not like it’s even human. Don’t you worry your lovely head over it at all, Frisk. Concentrate on the wedding and I will handle this complication.”

Frisk still felt different though. When she had been injected, she felt massive power inside that let her change things. She still felt more of that in her. She could bring back more. She knew she could. I can do more. I want to. It felt good? The monsters.

She closed her eyes. They fought because they were scared. Scared of me. Even Sans. He should have just killed me. The barrier might have prevented that. He didn’t want to risk her hurting anyone else again. That made more sense. They aren’t going to do anything but live in the city. No demands and no threats. Just, peace.

They just wanted to live in peace. “Monsters aren’t bad.”

“We will call everyone we used for the wedding,” Frisk’s father said to her, not listening to a word she said. “Andrew is right, no worries. There’s no way a human can really marry a monster.”

The next day

“No, it’s official, she is married to the monster,” the priest said to Frisk’s father.

“How can that even be?” Frisk’s mother demanded. “They aren’t even human. They are closer to animals than anything. That- that thing . . . he killed so many people. She didn’t consent to this!”

“Some laws are very old,” the priest answered her. “Legally here, even though monsters have been gone, they do still exist. When they used to exist up here, every great once in awhile, there would be a marriage. Many times I imagine it was because of some kind of deal with the devil type thing. Nefarious. Still, yes, it exists.”

“Okay. How do we get this annulled then?” Andrew asked. “I need to marry Frisk.”

“Normally she would go and officially explain why her marriage didn’t count. It certainly fell under duress,” the priest answered. “That is for humans. I don’t know the process with monsters. It will be different.”

One Week Later . . .

No, it didn’t give her the excuse she needed to get in there. “I just need to talk to a monster in there.” They weren’t listening just threatening her with arrest. “Look? I’m married to one of the monsters in there.” No one believed her or the lawyer she had officially hired until he showed some papers.

“You want the monster groom, to sign these?”

“Look, he doesn’t have to sign,” the lawyer said. “He just needs to be capable enough to understand that he is no longer going to be married to my client once she takes this matter to court and gets it annuled.”

They just shook their head. “None of them are coming out.”

“I just want to get close to a side, to see if I can talk to him,” Frisk said. “Then, maybe he’ll come out?”

The authorities looked at each other.

“It is an official lawyer and an officlal thing,” one of them agreed. “You can stand on a side for a little while, to see if you see your husband. No promises though.”

“Eight ball, corner pocket.” Sweet house. Awesome games. Great pool. Even a bar. He and Papyrus definitely picked a winner. Sans took the shot. “Nice, huh?”

Papyrus didn’t look as pleased as he gestured toward the doorway. “What is that?”

Sans looked at his socks. “Gotta start somewhere. I lost my whole collection. The Genocider didn’t feel like bringing those up,” he joked.

“Sans. That is a terrible place to put such a terrible colletion,” Papyrus scolded him. “Put them in another room that we don’t occupy much, if you need to recreate that ghastly sock collection.”

Heh. It was good to get to hear his brother scolding him again. It was nice to have a place to call theirs and to have a Papyrus in it again. He was even trying to find time to learn about spaghetti again. That training was rudely interrupted years ago.

Speaking of which, he sensed some real determination nearby. Someone was determined to find him? Oh, don’t waste it on that, human! “I’ll be back.” He teleported out to see if he could find it.

Ah, there she had been. That way. He headed toward her, not knowing what she wanted. Did she finally get it through her head they were good at heart and wanted to restore everything for them? Or was she trying to get back in to destroy them all over again? “Hey. You got ejected,” he told her. “Scram.”

This was a very unusual case for George. Every case could be solved though, and his client was married to a monster unfairly. He expected to be the one initiating the conversation. She might even be too terrified to talk. Therapeutic services were nearby in case it was too hard and she relapsed.

During her wedding, a monster had come, killed people she loved, took her away, and forced her to marry him. There could not be a greater case of proving an annulment was justified. If this had been a human and not a monster, that annulment would have been given right away.

As it stood, monster to human marriage was different. George was here to do what he could, and at least be an eyewitness between the brutality.

That . . . was not what he had seen. This monster casually strolled over like his client was a friend. His client didn’t back up, but approached even closer.

“I still have more determination,” she said, almost jumping up and down.

Determination?

“Yes, I can see that,” Monster Sans the Skeleton agreed. “Wasting it on trying to see me. Don’t do that.”

Determination for what?

“You were right. I didn’t have the right training, I had my human instincts, mixed with fear. You are . . . okay. I can do more, Sans. I know I can do more,” she insisted. “I almost got Toriel.”

George knew he did not have all the facts. These two were amiable to each other. There was no threat of relapse, they were friendly.

“Don’t do that out there,” the monster warned her. “If you bring her back out there, she’s toast. These humans are a little buttsad the Monster Kingdom took a slice of their land.”

“But? They shouldn’t be. Because. You were scared, but not bad.”

“Hey, it only took you nearly two decades to get it, but good job. I’m going to get going now.”

It almost sounded as if his client was a monster? She was working with him in some capacity? This was suspicious. Still, he would not keep him from doing his job. Maybe he would get something concrete. “Monster Sans the Skeleton. You need to look over these papers and agree that your marriage to my client was coerced and therefore not legal.”

“Huh? Oh yeah, that’s right. I’m your stupid husband,” Sans admitted. “Is that annoying you? Not being able to wed the real groom? Good.”

“What was it supposed to do?” Frisk asked him curiously.

“I told you before.”

There was coercion, but it was not a threat? Frisk was not threatened. She did this of her own free will, it was clear. The monster it seemed had no sexual interest of any kind toward her.

“Are you sure?” his client asked the monster. “What did you say?”

“It took the LOVE down, so you could think straight again,” the monster said. “But yeah, no problem. Not my wife, I divorce you, whatever.” He seemed to glow slightly. “Just stay the hell away from the kingdom. Maybe in a couple of years I’ll help you try again if you can keep the LOVE in check this time, but I’m good with this. You stay out.”

This was not a case of annulment. His client had not even asked him about ending the marriage, let alone showed she felt any fear. This monster had decimated her wedding, yet this is how she acted? No. George now had another duty. Frisk allegedly might have been responsible for her own guest’s demise. She allegedly might be in cahoots with the monsters. It sounded like it.

George looked out toward the authorities and the therapist nearby. They both had a similar look to him.

The authorities approached Frisk. “Frisk Steele, you need to come with us.”

“What?” Frisk seemed surprised. She shouldn’t have been as cuffs were being placed on her. “What’s going on?” No one told her anything as she was escorted to a car.

“Looks like karma still found ya,” the monster said to her as she was driven away.

Chapter Text

Authority Precinct

I was so filled with determination to talk to him, I missed the obvious! Having a conversation with Sans was paramount, but she’d done it the wrong way. The lawyer could clearly tell the marriage wasn’t quite as forced as it appeared.

It was, sort of. Frisk thought she was marrying Andrew. She had suspicions with the ring. By the time the papers were signed? No, no, she was kidding herself. She could have spoken up, but she figured Sans had a legit excuse.

He did too, he thought it would get the LOVE out of her for her to think about the Underground straight, and she did! She could easily see the answer to the question of whether the monsters underground were bad or not. She already knew that answer, but couldn’t process it.

Everything was obvious now.

The way they spoke to each other was too calm though. That was always Sans, she decimated everything he loved, and he didn’t raise his voice. Never changed his attitude much whether you were friendly or killing people. The authority she was currently talking to made it clear they couldn’t tell either. She really pulled herself into some trouble.

They spread out pictures of after the wedding fiasco. The first row. “Did you know any of these people?”

“Of course,” Frisk said. “They were family. They were invited to the wedding.”

“Funny. Not seeing any sympathy from you while you are looking at these pictures much,” they called her out.

“I didn’t know them extremely well, they were Andrew’s relatives,” Frisk answered. “The real groom.”

“Yeah. Now. Why were you so nice to a monster, when he had done this in front of you?” the authority figure asked. “You were pleasant to each other when you met. The reports didn’t state how you acted, except that you dodged. You could dodge attacks coming at you.”

“Yes, I dodged attacks coming at me.” Frisk would hold onto that. “They were coming directly at me. If I was an absolute friend, he never would have aimed for me.”

“True.” They couldn’t discount that. “Nevertheless, you were quite friendly. Quite, quite, friendly.

Oh, her life was about to end soon if she didn’t think of something. “Yes, it was friendly.”

“Do you know what happens to humans that betray their own kind?”

“Yes.”

“Were you being friendly?”

“Yes.” I really wanted Toriel.

“It’s a trick.” A different person came into the room. She hadn’t seen them before. “I am here to represent the future Frisk Irons. I’ve been hired by the Irons to represent her.”

Andrew’s family was giving up one of their lawyers. It won’t help, I am clearly in too deep. It was just wasting money. The authority were sharing everything they had, to show how worthless it would be to represent Frisk.

“I can dismiss all of this, and prove to you, that Frisk is not colliding with the monsters. In fact, she is on our side.” Her new lawyer gestured toward her. “You see, Frisk has a history with these particular monsters. Her own words will show that she often wore them down into a trusting state at first, and then boom!” He clapped his hands together loudly. “These monsters have come back, and no one can get at them. No one but a human could invade that territory.”

Frisk closed her eyes, willing herself not to scream that it wasn’t true. She didn’t ever want to fight against the monsters again. It was better just not to mess with them ever again. They could each live in peace. “I get close to them. Monsters were trusting. Still are, so I tried to get in their heads again so I could get inside. Like I said, I was friendly.”

“What made them come back?” one of them asked.

“My determination to get through my wedding. I was nervous, and the Irons are a well-to-do family. I was determined to get through it, but with the nerves, I remembered another time I was nervous. It triggered the monster back. I convinced him I was on his side and it was on purpose. He was so on my side, he injected me with some strange liquid determination concoction. It created everything out there.” Keep acting, Frisk. “Once I was freed, I knew what I had to do. I used the marriage as an excuse to get in there, but it didn’t work.”

“Get her in there, she could kill them all, and eventually get down that barrier,” her lawyer said. “She’d start with being nice, but eventually kill them all.”

“I had a very high determination as a child,” Frisk added.

“It would explain that, monster hunters are great tricksters,” one of the authorities agreed. “She can’t get in though anymore than anyone else. It’s sealed off.”

“Maybe. Everything is up in the air,” the other authority figure said to her. “You might be their enemy back then, or you might be their savior now. That thing was freed at your wedding.”

“My determination just went out of control.” she said. “Any lady gets nervous on their wedding day.”

“Everything you have on her is not enough though,” her lawyer continued. “My client should not be here. She never said anything to any witness’ ears that said she had conspired with the monster. Especially on a wedding day. That should be the happiest day of her life, not the day to conspire with monsters. Let her go.”

As they let her go, Frisk offered her services to terminate the monsters again, but they didn’t seem interested. Maybe they didn’t believe her, or maybe they didn’t think the monsters could control the barrier.

It made sense. Bad things were often dumb, and monsters would be dumb. If they were bad. They weren’t dumb though, something else she should have seen as a kid. They were all intelligent. They created puzzles to get across the kingdom for goodness sake.

It was just. Every monster out there, in her world, was bad. Very bad.

For now? At least, some of them were back. Back and living in peace.

One Week Later . . .

“This one is gonna go right in the center pocket,” Sans predicted to Tori and Papyrus. She had come over to learn about the game of pool they were having fun playing. Sans had to give it to the Genocider.

She brought back Toriel, somehow, cutting through the barrier and having her placed right into the kingdom. When she wanted someone, they showed right up. It was nice having his knock-knock friend back. Almost as nice as having his brother back. As great as having his boss back.

Sort of. Temmies, a bear, a bunny and a bunny, Gerson, and the regulars at Grillbys. That was still it. There was so much room in the barrier, everyone took their own home, and there were still a ton to spare.

Apparently after cleaning out some human remains, homes were relatively comfy. So were businesses. Grillby left the little shack of Grillbys for a lovely upscale restaurant Sans didn’t know he’d grabbed. Shiny floors, lots of glasses, and a lot more supplies. He was making more than burgs and fry now.

It was nice. It was all really nice.

“Would she give us more again?” Tori asked Sans. “If the child is trying to make up for the foulness, couldn’t we get more back?”

“Probably,” he said. “It’s risky though, and the authorities took her for being friendly with me. Might have killed her. Jailed her. One or the other.”

“Sans. I know she did wrong, but she was trying to do right now,” Papyrus told him. “Could you talk a little more gently about your wife?”

Heh heh. Tori’s eyes got so big. “The child that committed genocide is your wife?”

“Whoah, whoah. It’s been like 15 or 16 years. She’s a full grown adult. She was actually at her own wedding,” he said.

“The? Her age is not what I am hung up on,” Tori said. “You married the . . . the woman who killed everything and everyone? Papyrus? You? Eh?”

Oh. “She was confused about monsters being bad or good. Even now, she still couldn’t see through it. I stole her, and took some of her LOVE so she could think straight.” Yeah, he heard that gasp. “I married her first, remember?” Yeah, doing that without marriage, that would be real taboo. He still would have done it, but the moment was right.

That and if royalty did come back, he’d be killed for that. Gotta respect power of every kind. He even gave it right back when he gave her the annulment thing.

He lined up his next shot at the table. “She’d thought back about whether we were good or bad way too many times, but couldn’t see the answer when all the humans hate monsters.” He took his shot.

“Sans!”

Oh. Ow? His ball swerved off course as his magic didn’t follow through the shot right.

“Sans, you were cheating,” Papyrus called him out. “For goodness sake, it’s a fun game.”

“Yeah, that’s funner to win,” Sans replied. “If I had ears, they’d be splitting right now, Tori.”

“You married her. You married her.” She was really hung up on that. “You married the human!”

“Uh? Yeah.” That was pretty established by now. “Then I let her go. So?”

“You can control her. You have the control over her, Sans,” she said. “Get her here, and we can restore the entire kingdom.” She was so excited. “Bring your wife here, Sans.”

Oh. “I know we hear it all the time, so we kind of tune it out?” He placed his bony hand to the side of his skull. “Those aren’t birds squawking out there.” If he left, he was toast.

“You married her.” Tori just grinned at him.

“Yeah, then I said divorce for her.” Tori wasn’t this stupid, what was she getting at?

“Yes, but you kissed her?”

“No way.” Like he’d want to kiss the killer that murdered everyone?

“Oh.” She fell into disinterest. “I thought you kissed your wife during a ceremony?”

“I didn’t feel like kissing a killer,” Sans pointed out. But, his interests did peak. “I’ll be invincible if I kiss her?” Oooh.

“Yes, during the marriage.” Yeah, she definitely didn’t see any more potential. “Humans just have a silly paper, but monsters need something else. It is only legal between monster and human when liquid moves from one to the other.”

“Well if I had known that, I could have made her dress yellow,” he joked. “Missed opportunity.”

“Sans,” Papyrus called him out again.

Huh. “Come to think of it, I made her a red wedding.” Wait. “The cake knife.” He remember seeing some blood on that knife. He did touch it too, and when he fought hard, he often sweated a lot. If his magic sweat met her blood? “I need the knife.” Maybe he could still be bonded to her after all.

Not marriage, but a bond to steal her power.

He moved toward his room and checked his trash can. He hadn’t sent her back out with that thing. He laid his bony finger on it and he could feel it’s power. Oooh. They did bond, just not with a kiss.

Blood and bone.

“Okay, Sans, I insist you throw out your trash more if you still have something like that in this house,” Papyrus complained.

“Sans, power is a two way street,” Tori warned him, seeing the bloody knife. “I see that you are bonded, perhaps, but not properly with a kiss.”

“Liquid is liquid.” Yeah. “Her blood with my touch.”

“Sans, if you gather her power, without a proper bond in a wedding, it’s the same as taking LV or EXP without marriage.”

Technically he’d have the power, but yeah, he lost the marriage. “Any ideas? This is the whole kingdom, Tori. Can’t you like . . .?” Yeah, she wasn’t going to bend, it was real taboo. If he did it, even for the kingdom, he’d be executed or banished afterward. Probably banished. Dang royalty.

“You can’t take all of it. You couldn’t if you wanted to, you aren’t married anymore. But, I suppose?” Tori squirmed. “What she gives willingly in a natural bonding would still carry over with the bond you have now.”

Uhhh? Not marriage. Gave power? “Dumb as bricks over here, Tori,” he teased.

“Oh. Well? A human’s determination can be moved away in a bond of kissing. A kiss might get us someone back. Especially since she still has some liquid determination. Very glad it didn’t kill her.” She was definitely stalling. “Full skelesmooching sessions would really increase our chances.”

Aw, man. “Are you saying I got to get . . . with the Genocider?” Ew! “No way. Kingdom or not, I’m not screwing with that thing.”

“Language, Sans,” Papyrus scolded him.

“She seems . . . better?” Tori tried to convince him. “Oh, Sans. It’s for the whole kingdom. The past and the present. All of it, she has so much power. She can’t kill you, you did bond with her. That means you are invincible to her.”

“Takes the fun out of foreplay,” he teased. Tried to tease. “Two or three maybe from a kiss. Think about who we want the most.” He watched Papyrus lining up his shot.

“Sans, you get to borrow a human’s determination power when you become physically attached like that,” Tori explained. “The more you attach yourself, the more power you will get. So, to get the whole determination to get our full kingdom?”

Uh huh. “So then several make out sessions, with the killer bride?”

“For a start, yes.” Tori smiled. “It will take much more than two or three kisses. At least she is getting better?”

Hmm. “She was in the middle of her own marriage. Tricking a human into thinking I actually love it would be magic in itself. Especially that one? Still, a good chance she’d try to kill me. Guess I can’t technically die.”

“Not at first. If she marries someone else though, you will be susceptible,” she warned him. “You are in a magic state of protected boyfriend. Married women do not have boyfriends.”

Yeah, yeah. “How many make out sessions to save a kingdom.” Hmm. “Could I move the already living up faster to the surface, like two or three? Do I need to touch a certain base to get to bringing them back from the dead?”

“Why ask? Just bring her here and you’ll eventually get there,” Tori said.

“I’d rather not do that.” Did she forget? “I lessened the LOVE, but she has it back, having a human trapped in here is dangerous, Tori. What if she goes nuts again?” Just because he got her to do what he wanted, and she seemed to realize the truth? Seemed was the correct word. It didn’t mean she’d stay that way. “She didn’t just mess up once. She killed every single monster she could. You really want that in here?”

She sighed. “You will have access to her power about fifteen minutes or so. After a good make-out session, you’ll have to leave fast and get back here.”

“Easy teleport. No time at all,” he said casually. Super easy. “Does it have to be with like lovey dovey love touching? Or can I just grab her?”

Tori didn’t seem to like that. “It would be better if she cooperated. Monsters have a bad enough reputation, we don’t need to go forcing kisses on humans.”

“It’s just like . . . doesn’t have to be lovey dovey mushy stuff?” he asked again.

“No, just touch, Sans. Physical touch. Fluids work better. Hand holding will not get you far.”

Hmmm. “I don’t want it in here. I don’t know how it’ll react inside a barrier again.” He watched Papyrus mess up his next shot. “That could turn out as bad as that shot.”

“Hey!” Papyrus scolded him. “I tried hard, and without magic.”

Which took the fun out of it. “She wants married to some guy called Andrew Irons. She isn’t going to be cozying up to me before their wedding.”

“Try. For the kingdom. She wants to help, right? Maybe if you explain to her about the bond?”

Maybe. This was crazy. But? Restoring the kingdom. If she did have any guilt inside of her still . . . fluid.

The cake knife worked. Maybe?

Frisk stopped her car on the side of the road. What the heck? She got out and looked at the top of her car.

Sans was sitting on it. “Sup?”

Okay. “If you need something make it quick.” She was a monster hunter, she couldn’t just gab with a monster in public.

“I do need something, how’d you know?” Sans still didn’t come down. “I needed to tell you that your eyes are as green as the vomit of Temmie.”

What? Frisk didn’t get it. “I’m not bothering the Monster Kingdom’s new area. I don’t understand the joke, or why you are on my car.”

“Not romantic? Thought it was romantic.”

Romantic? She watched him jump off. This monster wasn’t a danger right now to anyone in the area, his anger had been absolved, but he was offbalanced. Romance? “I don’t need romance, I’m getting married.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think pretty words would work,” he shrugged.

Pretty words? “What do you want, Sans?”

“I need a nice long makeout session witcha.”

What?! “Do you want to die again?”

“Oh, come on. For a few minutes we were married. Let me kiss the bride?”

Frisk moved quickly as he tried to grab her. “The fuck do you think you’re doing?!” She always carried a weapon though, and now had a knife toward him. Not that it did much, he was a skeleton. There was no skin to pierce. To pierce through bone, she’d need a stronger weapon or more determination.

If he tried that shit again, she would get one of them though.

“Yikes, your feisty.” He just chuckled at her. “Hey, a chance though, no instakill? Getting the hint monsters are good?”

Monsters were not good, but the Underground monsters. They seemed, from her memory, fine. Probably. “I am going to leave your kingdom alone as long as none of you hurt any humans. I believe I might have been mistaken,” she admitted. “I know I was for Toriel. I don’t know about you.” He was a little crazy. “You told me to leave the kingdom alone anyway.”

“Well, yeah, the kingdom,” Sans said. “I didn’t say stay away from me. Give me a date?”

What was his trick? Frisk held up her knife. “This one doesn’t cut through bone. Don’t make me go home to get the one that does. What do you want?”

“Really? Took out monsters with nothing but a stick last time.”

"I was a different person back then," she said. 

"Yeah, that LV in a tiny little human, like baking a cake with a truckful of mayonnaise."

Oh, he was so weird.

“I’ve been like almost two decades dead,” Sans said. “By you, you know. So? Gimme some sugar.”

She’d give him sugar right up his- what?! - Oh no, he did not! “Let go of my arm!”

“Come on, Frisk, I need some fluid, just bleed for me,” he said as he held the cake knife from her first ruined wedding.

Asshole! Frisk pulled her hand away. Stabbed right in her hand. “You are a hazard. I am going to kill you if you stick around.”

“Good, Sweetie. Let’s get it on.” He spun the cake knife in his hand. 

---

This cute story has potential. I am bringing everything from everywhere to here so expect to see some different stuff. Statistics haven't even started yet, but I also need to make a new chapter.

If you like this story then give it a kudos or a comment if you could, it shows me that you are enjoying the story. After another chapter or so, I will start slowing down updates and chapters to depend on statistics more. It helps me figure out what people like the most of mine.

Chapter Text

Frisk watched as he started to fight her, right in the middle of the street. No regard for anyone around. She dodged his crap, no choice right now until she got home. She moved through the alleyway, trying to keep anyone from being hurt.

Except, alleyways did always have a much higher chance of running into a secondary monster. It was a better idea than taking a fighting Sans through the public ways. “Why are you insisting on fighting so hard? You got your brother back and some of your kingdom. You’re safe, so fuck off!” Seriously!

“Oh, come on. Aren’t you having fun, Frisk?” He wasn’t letting up. He was putting everything he could into fighting.

He was really giving it his all, he was starting to sweat like crazy. If he got tired, that was it. “You’re nuts, taking me on like this. I was being nice leaving you alive.”

“Well, quit the niceness,” he said back.

Oh? “You’re actually going to respond back to me this time?” She blocked another bone attack, but had to dodge another by getting on top of a car. “What do you want, are you just insane? If I reach home, I am going to kill you.”

“Oh your such a sweet talker, Honey,” he teased her.

This guy made no sense. “If you’re gonna fight me, you are going to need stronger moves,” she warned him. “I’ve dodged everything and once I get my weapon, you are dead.”

“Something new, huh? Okay, sure.” He moved down the next alley after her. “I like my women like I like my dogs.”

Oh, what kind of a sick joke was that supposed to end in? Seriously. She swerved around another car, but then landed-

Straight into Sans, he teleported.

He rubbed her head. “Sweet and fun to pet. What did the viewer of the future dead horse say?”

“Never mind, I don’t want something different!”

“That’s lame,” Sans answered.

No, oh no. “Please, I’ll fight you, just don’t use your humor.” Damn. Frisk threw the first punch this time.

“Whoah, would you like a bowl with that punch?” he teased.

If there is a higher being, please end this. She avoided his next blow.

“Oh come on, Frisk. Aren’t you enjoying the date so far?” He disappeared.

Great, he teleported somewhere else. Frisk looked around her surroundings. Where did he go? She kept moving forward. “Just keep your eyes out for him.”

“For little me?”

She looked above her. He was sitting in a tree with-

She was now covered. “I am just? Shellacked in paint?!” It was going to be harder to dodge now that she was covered in blue. Sans must have spotted someone painting something and stole their can.

“Covered more than just your soul this time,” Sans teased. “Don’t worry though, I’ll cover that too.”

“Bastard!” That would definitely slow her down as she felt the weight of the blue on her soul now. “I feel so heavy.”

“Too much wedding cake can do that.” He held the cake knife still. “Let me see if I can take some out.”

Frisk tried to move. Her movement was very impaired, not only did he make her soul heavy, she was slippery all over from the blue paint he poured on top of her.

“What’s wrong, Frisk?” He asked. “Feeling-”

“If you say blue, I’m going to rip out your spinal chord with my bare hands!” she yelled as she dashed around a tree to miss him again. If she was slippery, then she’d use it where she could.

“Aw Frisk, you should just say that you love me,” Sans said as he moved back to the same tree where they started. “Showing me’s still nice.”

Showing him? Frisk looked outward and saw it. The curve of the paint. The flip at the tree. Following his run. “It’s a fucking heart.”

“It’s a heart. It needs another heart to fuck.”

Frisk felt him literally stand on her head and grab her hand. For some reason, her hand and his bones were glowing?

“Fucking around with you was fun though.” He leapt down. “We’ll do this again some time real soon.”

Some time real soon. This whole time? He was just playing with her. “Asshole.”

“Don’t have one of those,” he said as he sauntered off.

“Doesn’t mean you aren’t one!” She yelled at him. Playing around with a monster, that was ridiculous. She tried to shake off the blue paint from herself.

“I like when women and dogs shake too.”

?! She turned around. He wasn’t there. He came back just to make that last comment. Note to self, Frisk. Do not let your team find out a monster just played you. You’ll never live it down. She looked at the huge blue heart in the middle of the poor neighborhood, and the neighbors of that neighborhood already approaching her.

She reached into her pockets and pulled out her credentials. “Frisk Steele, Monster Hunter, Class S.” The credentials were almost completely covered in blue paint. “I was in pursuit of a monster.”

“Yeah, you were,” one of them said, also noticing the blue heart.

“It is a particularly interesting type of monster,” Frisk said to them, trying to stay professional. “If you see any kind of a skeleton monster, do not fight it, please call my department. Highly difficult to catch.”

“Especially covered in paint,” another one just had to point out.

Paint. Covered in paint. Next to a gigantic heart. In a Cul De Sac. She would never live this down.

“Ummm . . .?” Sans looked toward Tori. “I guess we don’t exactly get the choice of who gets to come back.” He closed his deep fridge. “Hey, at least he’s back alive?” He was able to get Frisk’s determination, but the citizen he brought back almost got killed instantly.

“It’s not a very good life, routed into a freezer, Sans,” Toriel said. “The Snowman is going to need something bigger and colder. This isn’t a good place for it.”

Yeah, no kidding. “It took forever to gather enough.” The Snowman? “At least it worked.”

“Yes. At least it worked,” Tori agreed. “We have to come visit him once a day. He’ll get very lonely stuck in a freezer.” She glanced at him. “One would think you’d get more from Frisk after that long. Exactly how did you manage to get her to make out with you? Did you tell her of our plight and she wanted to help out of guilt?”

How’d he help. “Nah, I fucked with her.”

“Sans!” Papyrus scolded him.

He just chuckled. “I mean, I screwed around with her.” Both of them were still looking at him. “Look, I found a way to get some power without having to get smoochy with a genocider. Isn’t that good enough?”

Biggest joke of the day. Everyone had laughed at her. Frisk went home, washed up, and washed up with some iffy chemicals too to get that stuff off. Worst of all?

Her beautiful hair was trashed in this blue brown blegh color. She tried to die her hair to cover it, but it wouldn’t work completely. Terrible.

“Frisk?” Andrew looked in on her. “It’s not that bad. You will get it sorted out. Come to bed.”

“I was a laughingstock today.” She got away from the bathroom mirror but didn’t feel any better. “I’m gonna hide this out of public.” Oh no. “Andrew?”

“I think you’ll find a great wig for the wedding,” he said soothingly. “It’s okay. Let’s go to bed. I’ll make my future bride feel all better.” He rubbed her shoulders. “I can call up a hairstylist for you tomorrow.”

Right. Maybe they could help. I killed him for a long time. I took away his kingdom. He wanted some just revenge. She was trying to see it from his point of view. But. “I want to kill that monster. He ruined my hair.” She noticed Andrew’s look.

“The skeleton that ruined our wedding and killed our guests?” He added.

“Right. That too.” She felt her hair again. She wasn’t a huge fashion diva or anything, but her hair? Oh her hair. Covered in all of that paint. Could it even be saved? She looked back at Andrew again. “I’m carrying my bone piercer 24/7.” He’d pay for ruining her hair. “I am going to kill Sans the Skeleton for ruining my hair.” She noticed his look again. “And for the wedding and killing our beloved guests. Let’s go to bed.”

Author's Journal: I hope you enjoyed the newest chapter. Thanks for the show of support, and especially the comments from Cristopher.  Also the kudos from Cristopher, Kaliego, and goldchild2 along with guests. It's all appreciated. This chapter released earlier since I really wanted to write it. Next chapter isn't scheduled yet, but it will probably be in late october or early November. This was a blast to write, I forgot how much I also loved romcoms.:) If you are shy or don't feel comfortable with your english for comments, just know I do accept emoji comments. I will just write an emoji comment back. If you write in your native tongue, I'll try to get it translated and write something back for you. Something short. If I can't translate it exactly, then I will send you an emoji. I am making an effort to reply to all my comments that I can.

Thank you for you support, and we'll see if Frisk will be able to find a way to take Sans down for ruining her hair. Oh yeah and her wedding and killing her guests. 

Chapter Text

It’s fine. Don’t think about it. Frisk showed up for work in her gear. Yet, the others were definitely giggling at her.

“Frisk?” Tilly called her out. “I heard you had some trouble with a class 9 monster last night?”

At least the paint came off. “A little.”

“I heard he made a mockery of you,” one of the new girls dared to say to her. “I came here, hearing about all your great accomplishments, and I get here and hear about this instead?” She laughed. “Boy, rumours hold no water at all about you.”

Frisk moved away from her.

“Frisk, what happened to your hair?”

Great. “Nothing, Sir. Just having some color issues.”

“Well, a gallon of blue paint straight on determined hair will do something like that,” he muttered. “Can’t you cover it?”

“I am wearing my standard uniform hat.” Man.

“With coloring. More coloring.” He gestured to it. “It’s this mush of brown, red, green, and blue. It’s downright disgusting.”

“Maybe if we just take some red paint to cover it all back up?” that new girl gladly offered.

“Yeah.” He didn’t looked pleased at Frisk. “A class 9 monster?”

“Sir.”

“A skeleton. A class 9 monster took down one of my best ever employees.”

“He was slippery.”

“Why didn’t you kill him?!”

Oh. Yes, they were getting to the crux of it quick. “I didn’t have my bone piercing knife.”

“You had a gun, you always have a gun, it could have shattered something enough to slow him down, trap him, and then get your gun to take care of it.”

Technically right. His kingdom just came back. I didn’t understand what he wanted. I still don’t get why he did all that.

“Frisk!”

“Yes, Sir!” Daydream later. “I was a little under my game. He killed some of my wedding guests and ruined my wedding over the weekend, Sir.”

“Do you really think I don’t know that?” He edged up closer. “Do you really think that I don’t know everything?”

Shit. “What do you mean, Sir?”

“My office!”

Frisk sat down in his office. He didn’t even bother talking to her, he was looking at files and writing. Oh, he knew. Oh, he definitely knew. She stayed quiet, trying to figure out how to proceed.

“Frisk Steele.” First and last. “Did you or did you not recall him, as well as that whole monster mob taking over a now confined barrier area?” He slammed his paper down and pointed at it. “I know who they are! I know where you hesitate and where you don’t. Even the psychologists know.”

Of course he knew about private conversations, like anything was actually private for people in her career? “Sir-”

“They were not good!” he yelled at her. “Ever. No monster is ever good. They are all deceiving. This has been pounded into you since the day you were born. Everyone knows this. Just the youngest, the absolute youngest don’t understand the basic fact. They are all bad. Every single one.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Even babies.”

“Yes, Sir.”

“Then what the hell is this? You got them a barrier that we cannot get in. You gave them a base, so that they can attack from the shadows and go hide safely back in again.”

“No, Sir. Have they attacked innocent civilians besides my wedding guests?”

“No. Not yet. It’s a matter of time.” He gestured to the files. “You know how many lives that barrier wiped out activating it?”

“No, Sir.”

“562. Men, women and children were wiped out in the blink of an eye.” He pointed at her with his pen. “All because of a weakness that believed them to be ‘good’. That toll is already on them. Now. Use whatever friendship you made to get in there and wipe them out again.”

“It was not on purpose, Sir.” He didn’t understand. “That class 9 monster that messed with me was part of that group of monsters. He didn’t like me obviously. I destroyed and wiped out their kingdom. They are not going to allow me back in.”

“You brought them back.”

“To them, it’s probably just luck. It means nothing else.” She expected nothing from them.

“Jim and Maggie’s daughter was at home with a babysitter,” he said to her. “It took them two years to finally have their baby girl.”

Their baby girl? “We had cookies with pink frosting celebrating it a couple months ago.” Why was he bringing it up?

“Hm.” He brought an old LV tester up on his desk. “Frisk. Put your finger in there.”

An LV tester. “Why don’t you just call me a profanity, it would be nicer.”

“Finger in there,” he demanded again with staccato in his voice.

Frisk put her finger in there. LV 8?

“You are my prized LV Monster Hunter, what the fuck is this?” He stood up from his desk. “You flinched with the little girl. You’re gaining distraction from empathy back.”

Empathy? “I’m not empathetic.”

“You weren’t. How would you feel if I did this?” He went over to her and pulled on her hair.

She squeezed her eyes shut. “It hurts.”

“And if I go and get paint to throw on it?”

Not again. “I would handle it.” She watched him bring out a batch of neon green paint. He opened it up and brought it over to her hands.

“Other monsters have heard about what you’ve done. You’ve opened yourself up to a weakness and they found it.” He sighed. “They kidnapped Jim and Maggie’s baby girl. If you don’t pour that over your own head, they will torture it to death.”

Frisk tipped her head back and poured the neon green paint over her head, trying not to get it in her eyes and mouth.

She watched her boss. He wasn’t pleased.

“No request for added information. You don’t know who asked for it, any evidence they had anything, and you just went and embarrassed yourself in front of a Superior.”

“I just . . .” She looked at the paint dripping down her. “They wanted that baby for so long.”

“Jim. Maggie. I’m going to need assistance with Frisk in here,” her Superior called out on the phone.

Jim and Maggie both showed up and held her still.

“Is the baby okay?” Frisk asked, a little hazed over.

Maggie just looked at her oddly, then back at the boss. “She cares?”

“She’s corrupted.”

“If she cares, she’s more human,” Jim said to her boss. “This is great news.”

“No, it’s not. She was this department’s most prized Monster Hunter. Something popped her. Frisk is dead,” he muttered.

“She isn’t dead.”

“She is to me. She’s been popped. Hold her steady.”

“Oh, Sir,” Maggie tried again. “Let’s just try working with Frisk this way?”

“When she came to this department, she was as hardened as a 50 year old seasoned Monster Hunter. One look at her and I was already proud.” He pulled out a syringe. “Poor Frisk.”

“Don’t kill her!” They both yelled out.

“She didn’t do anything wrong.”

“She killed 500 people by recalling a monster.”

“She was thinking about a tragedy on her wedding day. It happens,” Jim tried to convince him. “She was too young for what happened.”

“She’d rather die, I’m sure of it. The old Frisk would rather die. Getting taken down by a class 9 monster.” He looked at the syringe. “But I won’t. We have to do what’s right. I’m sorry, Frisk.” He injected her with the syringe.

He didn’t kill her? What did he do? “Sir?”

“Just stay still.”

“What are you doing to her, Sir?” Maggie asked. “Is that a death needle?”

“Putting her LV back the way it had been. She is more of a danger to herself right now at half mast.” He just sighed. “She’ll never be the same though. Her perfect record is smashed, she is Class A instead of Class S now.”

“I swear sometimes Sir!” Maggie spoke out of line. “You made it sound like we had to kill her, not that your prized employee wasn’t going to win you an award this year.”

“I don’t care if I don’t get the best supervisor award,” he muttered. “I would have liked to go to the bahamas though.”

Frisk watched him take the syringe out. She felt different. Really different.

“Maggie. Get her washed up. Make sure her soon to be husband understands what happened and watches over her for about a day while she adjusts herself back again.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Frisk's Home

Frisk hated it. “I don’t want to be in bed.”

“Your LV was taken down and just jumped up,” Maggie said to her as she tucked her into bed. She closed the curtains behind the bed. “It’s like when you get a cold, you need to take a day to rest.”

Ugh. Frisk looked toward Maggie. “The baby’s still fine?”

“Of course,” Maggie smiled. “Just our babysitter died. Shame, she was pretty good. Little Katrina is still with us. If not, I’d be killing you right now, not getting you to bed.” She looked at Frisk. “Get better, okay? Our star hunter can’t be sick in bed for too long.”

Frisk watched her leave. In her PJ’s. Middle of the day. This was so annoying. She closed her eyes, to get some rest. The sooner she got better, the sooner she could get out.

Frisk opened her eyes as she felt drops of something landing on her nose. She winced and looked up. “Oh no.”

“Hey, Human.” Sans was staring at her from her opened window above the bed. “Sleeping?”

“I’m sick.”

“Yeah, you are, but what are you doing lying around in bed?”

Grr. “Go away. My bone piercer is within arm’s length.” Probably.

Sans just chuckled. “I’ve got one of those too, but you are too nuts to see it.”

Ugh. “It’s a weapon, so go away.”

“No, I can’t. See? I need your determination to rebuild our kingdom,” Sans told her. “There are two ways to get it done. We can keep playing our fun game of chicken, or I can pork you. Your choice.”

Ew. Frisk sat up. “Don’t you try it.”

“Yeah, I lied, you don’t get the choice of porking. I’m not choosy, but genocider is just too far off the date category,” he chuckled. “Seriously, the Queen Toriel, you know? The lady you killed in the ruins? Yeah, she wants me to physically make out with you to get your determination. Romance with you of all things, is not my style. So let’s make a deal?”

Damn it, her bone piercer was still too far. “What deal?”

“We can take a picture of us on a date somewhere, and after that, we can fight it out.” He held out the cake knife. “Sweat and blood gives it to me. So we either get funky or get fighting. What do you say?”

She finally reached her bone piercer. “I can kill you now.”

“Oh come on, fake date first, and then we fight? Make me look good to the queen.”

“Why would I help your self image?” Frisk held her bone piercer tight. “You embarrassed me in front of my whole department.”

“You killed me and my entire kingdom. Embarrassment doesn’t come close to that. You should really consider that fake dating then. Going once. Going twice?”

“I am getting married, I am not going to-”

“Okay.”

Frisk was drenched. Very drenched. Not a little wet, like a hose. Sans had poured an entire barrel of water over her! She was cold, wet, and her bed was making squishy sounds as she tried to get her bearings.

“Told you. Learn to play nice.”

Ugh! She held her knife, flipped up towards the window, and chased him down the street with the water sloshing in her PJ’s. This guy was such a -

She slid in front of him and grabbed his bony leg to block it.

“Wow, pretty good,” he said to her. “Better than last time.”

“Don’t go in that way.” She gestured to the area. “Feel it breathing.”

“Breathing?” Sans looked into the alley way he almost went down into. “What in the-”

No! Frisk grabbed him as the tongue shot out to eat the little menace. She stabbed the tongue with her bone piercer. It wiggled while the monster screamed. “Get out of here!” How dare this thing get this close to her own block.

She hung onto the side of the bricks as the alley lifted up. This wasn’t something she should take on by herself, nor when she was technically sick, but there was no choice.

She had to fight the Wall.

Chapter Text

What the hell was that? Sans just tried to block the sunlight to look high into the sky where Frisk was dangling against a wall. That wall though? He saw all kinds of things attached to this thing.

It was a monster, and the messed up alley tent he almost ran through, was a giant mouth. It was hiding itself. Cool monster.

The cool monster reached down and picked him up. “Uh, I don’t need a lift?” Hey. “I don’t like heights.” Whoah! “I’m a monster, what are you doing?” It was hanging him over his own mouth, where Frisk was still dangling. “Hang on, hang on, can’t we talk about this?”

The monster let go and Sans went straight into the mouth, heading toward the gullet until Frisk caught him before going down. She was holding onto some kind of chair fused into it’s mouth.

Sans pulled out his camera, faced it toward Frisk and him and made a peace sign. “That probably counts as a date.” He felt Frisk losing her grip, so he grabbed onto the side too. A monster that fused with objects to hide. Pretty cool except for the fact it wanted to eat him.

He heard a kid’s scream and saw another hand holding like a three year old girl over it’s mouth.

“Sans, hold that!” Frisk tossed out part of a curtain.

Sans hung on as the kid fell down into the mouth. It was caught in the curtain in the middle and continued to cry.

Frisk tied the curtain to the side. “Take care of it.” She then flipped out of the mouth.

Take care of it? Sans tied the sheet to the side too. He moved toward the middle to grab the screaming thing and looked up.

Stuff was starting to rumble inside the mouth. “This guy makes Onionsans look small.” Stuff was starting to come out of the sides as he felt the whole thing start to fall over.

He lost his balance and fell over on the side. The warm cheek felt weird. He climbed out.

When he looked up he caught Frisk taking her weapon out of it’s eye.

The kid continued to scream. “Can you take this thing?”

Frisk climbed down. “I’m not good with kids.”

“I’m not good with human kids. It's hurting my ears and I don't have any,” he pointed out.

“She is a smart girl.” Frisk came over and sat her down. “Never trust monsters. They do nothing but eat us.”

Eat? Was she serious? “Monsters don't eat humans.”

“Yes, they do. Children are eaten the most.”

“But I’m not bad.”

Sans saw a tiny monster, probably around five or so near him. No spikes, and no roaring. As harmless as it could be.

Frisk moved with such speed, he barely had time to stop her before she killed her! “What the heck is your problem?!” He grabbed her bone piercer away from her. “You’d think you’d learn by now, not every monster is a problem.”

“Judy!” The guardian of the little human girl came running toward them and held her daughter. “Thank goodness you are safe.” She looked toward Frisk. “Thank you so much. We were just strolling through the park when a gigantic hand came and ripped her away.” She planted kisses on her daughter.

Uh oh. Firm reminder. I might have killed this monster’s mom. A defenseless little monster wasn’t just out in the middle of nowhere.

“Help me.” The little monster started to cry and put out her arms. “My mommy is gone.”

Mommy. Shit. “I can’t do much, Kid.”

“Lady, please leave with your child. Now," Frisk commanded.

The lady put down her daughter, but noticed the other little monster.

“Please help me?” The little monster put out her arms toward the lady and continued crying. “I lost my momma.” She was all choked up and brushed her tears away with her cute decorated little ribbon and bows tail.

“I need my knife back,” Frisk gritted her teeth at him. “Don’t be fooled. I need that kind of knife to kill it.”

Oh, man. “You just never learn, do you, Frisk?” Then?

It was crazy. The lady and her child. In one swift motion, a tongue filled with thousands of razor blades came out of the tiny little monsters mouth and wrapped them up so tight, like a spider with its prey. There were sharp screams before they were crushed by it. Blood dripped through the wrapped tongue, but nothing else was seen.

It shoved it’s tongue back in it’s cute mouth and wiped it. “More please?”

The fuuuuuck! “What the hell was that?!” Sans watched it’s tongue come toward him, but Frisk was the thinking one. She yanked him out of the way, grabbed her bone piercer from his side, and held it’s tongue immobile.

It screamed as she sliced upward. “My thongue!” It yanked it back.

Sans could see all of the razor blades it had infused on it’s gigantic magical tongue that was ten times the size of the kid. “Okay, kill it. Kill it with fire, please.” He dodged another attack from it’s injured tongue. Even injured, it was still trying to kill him. He did feel some of that tongue though. It was that same weird feeling he felt on the sides of the cheek in the Wall monster. He looked at his bone. 

It didn't cut through, but he had tiny dents in his bone.

“Tell it a joke,” Frisk commanded.

Tell it a joke? “Uh, what’s white, pink, blue and yellow?” he asked it as it concentrated on him. “Me if I were a human. Did that joke piss you off-” Aah! That little bitch just grabbed his leg, he could feel the razorblades pressing into his bone again. “Hey, quit that. You are making me look terribly bad right now.”

That was only with half her split tongue. She used the split to grab someone else nearby. Sans didn’t even know if it was man, woman, teenager or what, the tongue was just a massive swirling tongue that hid it’s prey like before.

He watched as it’s head split open right down the middle. It screamed once and then fell to the ground.

Frisk looked exhausted from behind it. She had some kind of radio from somewhere. “This is MH Frisk Steele, #691945, reporting three casualties in the Interim district, appearances are one woman, one girl, and the third is unknown. Two monsters involved, level three, both Walls. Adult Wall was taken care of with no casualties. Baby Wall was the source of all three casualties. It’s tongue was pierced down but not far enough.” She hung up the radio.

That was insane. “How old was that baby monster?”

“From the diameter of the tongue?” She still seemed depressed. “Three weeks maybe. Babies are often the most difficult to kill. They are cute and speak well. They will deal out their tongue chaotically if they feel threatened.” She touched her forehead. “I didn’t pierce that tongue back far enough, I could have saved that last casualty.”

Sans watched her faint to the ground. That was messed up. Monsters up on the surfaces, actually eat humans like a banquet?

He grabbed the radio that went off again.

“MH Frisk Steele, your exact location please. Can you identify the kills for us so we can notify the families?”

Sans talked back to it. “This hunter fell unconscious. She was kind of sick.” She was actually sick. Shit. He pulled out the cake knife and laid it across her forehead. There was a ton of sweat between them. But. Don’t feel bad, Sans. If you didn’t yank her out, it’d probably have eaten a ton more people undetected. He picked her back up and teleported her to her home.

Frisk's Home Again

Her bed was a soppy mess. It was still hard to believe something so innocent. Something that wanted it’s mommy. That was so small, and cute, with little ribbons and bows. Was so heinous. “That’s not monsters, Frisk. I don’t know what these things eating humans are, but they aren’t monsters.”

He found a dry bed and put her in it.

Frisk woke up again as she hit the bed. “Whuzzah?”

“Whassup to you too.” He gave her a couple of pills. “We need to have a talk, Frisk.”

Frisk looked at the pills. “Who are . . .?” Her vision was probably blurry. “No doppels gonna take me . . .”

“Sans,” he said. “It’s Sans the Skeleton. You fell on the ground after saving me. I owe you one.” He actually owed her two. He almost ran into that Wall monster. The Wall monster grabbed him again to eat him. That baby almost ate him too, though he was the distraction for her. “Those aren’t monsters. I don’t know what they are, but they aren’t monsters.”

“They are monsters,” Frisk muttered. She blinked and tried to look at him. “They all eat. They all kill. Underground . . .” She shook her head at him. “What are you? Monsters kill in seconds. They kill in seconds. They shout mercy and talk. But the ones Underground? What are you?” She went out again.

Too out of it to take the pills. He closed his hand back up. Instead of bounding off though with the determination, he looked around her other room that had the soppy bed and dug into her books.

Levels. Type. Class. Yep, their young were even more terrible. All carnivore. It refused to eat old meat, it wanted live and fresh meat. Young took an average of 500 people in their lifespan. Most types tended to live in the outskirts of a town, but the most dangerous lived within huge cities themselves.

The most dangerous was a Doppel 14, it could mimic everything about a human, and it could even breed with them. Males would keep a normal fair attitude through the entire relationship, but when a female human started birth? “The young eat the insides of the human mother.” Oh boy.

These weren’t monsters. These weren’t monsters at all.

“Oh, there we are.” Class 9, two levels. The least dangerous monster, endangered. No quick kill traits. Not born with instinctive hunting. Only kills when threatened. Doesn’t eat it’s prey. Class 9 level 1 was actually kept in zoos like animals. Class 9 level 2 were trapped away in barriers.

The only real monsters were in level 9’s. “Well? This explains quite a few things.”

He went back to see Frisk. “Hey? Feeling better?” She looked better.

She yawned and looked at him again.

He held up one of the books toward her. “So I’m this one, right?”

Frisk looked at the page. “Yes, you’re a Class 9, level 2.”

“This Class? Is the only level of monsters, Frisk.” He gave her the book. “The whole kingdom was level 9.”

“Yeah. I . . . figured it out when I got older,” she muttered. “It was hard to detect.”

“Well, when a baby crying for it’s mommy can then lacerate another mommy and it’s kid in seconds, I can kind of see that,” he admitted. “I’m just messing with you, Frisk. I’m not gonna eat you. Monsters don’t eat people.”

“Level 9 isn’t known to be threatening, unless threatened. It was easier to lock large groups of them up.” She got softer. “There’s never been empirical evidence that level 9 eats people.”

“They don’t eat people at all. I’d rather eat regular food. Give me a hot dog and a burg anyday. Monsters and humans are more alike, than not alike.” He flipped through the book. “All the rest of these aren’t monsters. They don’t even attack through the soul, they just devour the body. I think mankind was invaded by an alien species, and they used monsters as their own base for identity.” Yeah, it sounded crazy, but it was the truth.

“ . . . aliens?” Even Frisk didn’t seem to believe it.

“Okay, think about it? When you massacred my whole kingdom, did anyone actually hurt your body, or were they just trying to hurt your soul?”

“Soul. Fighting was just with the soul,” she admitted. “Before the year 1653, our knowledge about monsters was much more limited. Then all at once, major attacks started to happen. Millions of lives were lost in a span of three days. We got organized. Monster attacks were actually documented.”

There it had been. “Nothing beforehand.”

Frisk sat up in bed, looking through the book. “There are 354 known monster varieties.”

“One, there’s one, and 353 known alien varieties.” He closed the book. “Monsters don’t eat humans.”

“They absorb souls though?”

“Only a boss monster, which is super rare,” he corrected her. “Easily spotted though, usually wearing a king’s robes. How many level 9’s are there still?”

“At last count? I believe there was about 500,000.”

“These aliens have some kind of magic like monsters. When you got rid of the monsters, they really set up house. There was some screaming and maybe a little crying at your wedding when I took out your guests. Not a whole lot. People were more interested in putting me down.”

“A child 9 years or older could take down a level 9 monster, it’s like hitting a pillow,” Frisk told him. “You were not the pillow that people expected.”

I think I get it now. “Was there a specific human that made you feel threatened from level 9, when you couldn’t even get proof it ate humans?”

“There was a mayor that claimed he’d seen it, but the documentation was never proven,” she said slowly. “In fact, several people claimed it, but nobody ever had proof.”

Yeah. Doppelganger. “Wow, humans have been fucked for some time.”

“Numbers plummeted. Average lifespan dropped to 50. Older humans and younger humans tend to be preyed upon first,” she admitted. “Smart people do not take out their children that young. That woman was asking for it.”

“That woman was asking to be eaten alive, by taking her daughter out on a walk?”

“Ten and under, yes, that child was definitely underneath that age.” Frisk’s temper was seen. “The nerve of that woman. Mothers try it all the time, the excuse of ‘I need fresh air’ and ‘the children need fresh air’, well fresh air is going to get them killed! Train them right up until the age of ten so they have some chance of survival out here.” She let out a gruff sigh. “We are still trying to pass a law to make it illegal for pregnant mothers to leave a house at all during pregnancy. They get gobbled up so fast, being so large and fragile, it’s a two for one special. It never gets passed though,because it restricts the humane right to be free.”

Sans sat down on a chair.

“It wasn’t my fault or your fault any of that happened. I don’t know the third victim, so I can’t say what they were doing. Oh no.” She grabbed her head. “I was supposed to split it open and identify the bodies.” She got up, but he weighed her back down by turning her soul blue. 

“Yeah. Maybe. 500,000 level 9’s, right?” With that many monsters still around. If they could learn about them? “Monsters learn about their enemies, and then figure out their own strategies quicker. There’s a better chance with magic, that these things could actually be taken care of.” He looked at a page of statistics. “Instead of simply them multiplying and taking out all of humanity in the next predicted forty years?”

“It’s just a prediction,” Frisk uttered, still trying to sit up with a heavy blue soul. “I don’t have any control of that. My department already knows I was responsible for letting you loose.” She gave up trying to sit up and grabbed at her hair. “My hairs a mess. You ruined it. I’m going to kill you for that later.”

“You’re going to kiss me for that later?” he joked. “Okay. I guess? I can sort of see doing that instead of trying to kill each other senselessly today.”

“I didn’t say that,” Frisk said to him again.

“Here.” He gave her the pills again. “You’re still sick.”

“My hair.” She took the pills. “My LV. I feel like I’m on my period.”

“TMI.”

“Hormones start acting up with LV changing. You dropped it by a lot, and they shoved a lot back in.” She ate the pill and started to cry. “It’s red and brown and green and blue. They say it looks like vomit. I can’t cover it up, I have too much determination in my genes. It just gets ickier.”

Hmm. “So we just watched an innocent kid and a mom get slaughtered, you discovered aliens are the real culprit, and you are crying about your hair?” It was almost funny.

“My whole department laughed at me, I couldn’t take down a class 9 monster!” she complained. “Those levels are practically in zoos. Some of them are, the simple ones that can’t kill people at weddings.”

Oh yeah. “Guess I’m sort of sorry about murdering your guests. Misunderstandings.”

She was looking at her hair again. “Everybody hates me.”

“Geez, Frisk, are you pregnant or something?”

Frisk groaned. “No, I’m just. LVing out.” She laid her head back. “I’ll kill you later.”

“Aww, Frisk. First you have to stop saving my life in order to do that,” he pointed out. “So I wasted a lot of that determination you gave me to look into this alien threat. I don’t have much left, so I’m gonna need a favor?” Hmm. Hormones went with LV problems. “I’ll give you some chocolate for it?”

“Deal, what do you need?”

Frisk had no idea what to do about that one. No monster attacked like that. It was so fast, and she was too sick to think. Sans had turned her head toward his skull and stuck something electric and wet in her mouth. It took a few seconds to even process it.

She pushed him away and wiped her mouth. “Was that some kind of a kiss?”

“Yep!” He seemed pumped as he rocked on his slippers. “Wow, Tori was right, I get a lot more with that. Hell, it was just a simple kiss too?” He held his index finger up to her. “Next time I see you, I will bring you chocolate.”

What? “I’m almost married!”

“It doesn’t mean you can’t have chocolate. If your future hubby is too much of an ass and says you can’t have chocolate, don’t get married.”

“No.” She groaned. “I mean, I’m not doing that again.”

“Eh, we’ll see. It depends how bitchy you are when you’re feeling better,” he said as he made his way out the window with new determination, and new knowledge to bring to the kingdom’s attention.

Author's Journal: These two chapters were really fun to write. I've been having a hard time lately, and some good old fashioned Undertale writing really hit the spot this time. Thanks for reading. Next update will be . . . I don't know. Maybe in a week or two? I kind of just surprised with this one. I just wanted to write it, so I just wrote on it. It gained some kudos and comments though, so thanks for the support. It really helps out.:)