Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

They could always reset. Resetting the timeline had always been an option at the back of their mind, and they've done it before, too. Of course they had. They reset when they'd mess up, when they'd get stuck, when they'd get bored. No one would remember anyways, so why shouldn't they?

So when they finis hed this 'run,' beat Asgore and were ready to reset to get their proper happy-end, they were quite surprised to find that the timeline hadn't… reset. They did it, they did reset it, and they felt something happen, but not quite what was supposed to happen. What that was? They weren't too sure themselves, but they were sure that they were supposed to wake up back at point zero. Where their adventure would start, on the patch of flowers in the ruins. Yet they were still here, at the barrier.
Flowey destroyed Asgores soul. Flowey took the human souls, and then Flowey left. Left Frisk alone for themselves to reset. Except the reset didn't work.

It did work, a voice in their head tells them. It had taken them quite a while to figure out who that voice was. A couple of runs before the voice actually talked them into killing monsters. A couple of more until they actually murdered everyone . And then several hundreds before they actually managed to beat Undyne the Undying and Sans. But then, when they had killed everyone and everything in their way, they'd finally come face to face with Chara. And, eventually, sold them their soul to get back to the beginning and never do that again. The voice, however, never left.

What do you mean it did work? Frisk asked, not out aloud but in their head. They knew Chara could hear it. Or sense it, or whatever. I'm still here! And Asgore's still gone.

We're leftovers. Garbage, Chara explained, although it just raised more questions than answers. Chara, of course, knew that. Did you really think the previous timeline would just get erased when you reset?

It doesn't?

Of course it doesn't, you idiot. Frisk didn't mind the insults. They knew Chara was more bark than bite. Or, well, maybe that wasn't exactly true, but as long as they wouldn't actually listen to them and start getting EXP, Chara wasn't a danger.

You reset the timeline and somewhere there's a new one. We, however, are what got left behind in the old one.

Does that mean I'm stuck? I can't reset anymore? Frisk asked panicked. They had gained the ability to save and reset as soon as they entered the underground and never lost it, except during their battles with Flowey and Asriel. But even then they always had a save somewhere. They could hardly even remember a time where they had been actually unable to just get back to where they last saved. It was a safety-net. One that they suddenly realized they couldn't go without.

N ot in this timeline, no. Frisk in the new one can, but you're kind of stuck. Chara explained.

Why hadn't this happened before?

It has, they said. You'd just always been on the lucky end. Thousands of unlucky Frisks had probably already heard this before. This happens with every reset and every load.

So that meant that every time they loaded a save, every time they reset the timeline, some unlucky souls got stuck with the ruined one? It just kept on going, while lucky Frisk was able to jump to a new one where everything was fine.

Precisely.

Wow. How was that possible? How did they never notice that before? Where there thousands of timelines where Frisk died and their friends were left to mourn their death?
Is that really what you worry about?
Of course! What else should I worry about? I imagine losing a friend is pretty tough.

Chara didn't answer, so they decided to stop thinking about this. They were stuck in this timeline. Without being able to do what Flowey asked them to and befriend everyone. Or, well, at least not in a new timeline, so they could get the happy end. And Asgore was dead.

Oh god! Asgore was dead! For good! For real this time. He was dead and he wouldn't come back! Ever. They'd killed him for good. Well, Flowey had, but either way, the king was dead and they couldn't do anything about it.

Bright spark, they could hear Chara scoff in their head. They usually could ignore the ir sarcasm, but right now it really wasn't hitting the right nerve.

That's not the right time to be mean! They snapped. Someone's dead!

So what? You've killed people before.

But it wasn't like that!

They were looking around frantically now, searching over the ground until they found a pile of dust. Some of it already scattered over the place, but most of it stuck together. They knelt down before the king's dust, picking some of it up in a cupped hand. They were… trying to feel something. To mourn? Feel sad? They felt upset, and there was a tight feeling in their throat. They would never see Asgore again. That thought hit pretty hard, but not as hard as it should, considering he'd actually died. They didn't feel like they'd actually lost someone crucial. It wasn't fair to him. Asgore was as important than anyone else was, yet Frisk knew that if it had been Alphys or Undyne or Papyrus that would've died, they would've probably cried. They didn't now.

It's because he always dies.

But never for good!

Doesn't matter. You're used to it, used to death. You hardly know Asgore as anything but dead.

That's awful.

It was. It was really awful, but they knew Chara was right. Asgore always only ever appeared at the end, and then most of the times died pretty quickly. They'd never had the time and chance to bond with him.

What do I do now? Frisk asked, hoping Chara would have an answer for them. They couldn't cross the barrier without King Asgore's soul, which Flowey destroyed. And they couldn't break the barrier without the souls of every monster combined. Which was also a thing Flowey had to do, and he was, quite frankly, gone.

He's back at the beginning, Chara said, having listened to Frisk's train of thoughts. He'll be waiting for the reset to happen. Poor Azzy probably doesn't even know he's in the leftover timeline. There was bitterness in their voice talking about Asriel, but Frisk was used to it.

You should probably leave. The guard's will check on the king soon and I doubt they're going to believe you that a talking flower killed him.

They had a point. Quickly Frisk scrambled themselves up, trying to get rid of the dust still sticking to their clothes. They took the elevators back to the MTT resort, hoping that, maybe, they would get a call from Undyne. They didn't.

Duh, she only calls when Asgore's still alive.

I can still hope, alright!?

They weren't sure where to go from there on. They'd never been in this situation before. As soon as the news of the king's death would spread around the underground, all of their friends would assume Frisk had killed Asgore. All of them except Flowey, of course.

That's not true, Chara said, catching Frisk's attention. Papyrus would believe you anything. You could probably murder someone in front of his eyes and he'd still think it was an accident.

Ignoring the last comment, Frisk had to agree. If anyone would believe them, it was Papyrus. They also knew that Undyne would probably not care at all what Papyrus would have to say to her, but it was still the best shot they had. So they made their way to the Riverperson to get to Snowdin.

Do you think I should tell Papyrus, though? Frisk asked, hesitatingly. Or should I let him find out himself?

What are you asking me!? I'm not here to help you with your friendship garbage.

Well, guess they were kinda right. Although Chara had helped them with bonding friendships before, giving them tips on what to say or what to do. Chara might still have the tendency to try to bring them to murder, but ignoring that, they were an inseparable team.

I should probably tell him, or it'll look like I was hiding it, Frisk decided eventually, waiting for the Riverperson to arrive. They never took too long.

Your call, Chara answered, just as the small boat arrived. Frisk quickly signed the Riverperson where they would like to head to and stepped into the boat. They didn't listen to the small wisdom the Riverperson gave them and simply left the boat once they arrived in Snowdin, signing back a quick 'thanks.'

The town was as lively as ever, nobody seemed upset, so they assumed that the news about the king hadn't spread yet. Maybe the guards hadn't even found him yet. What would happen once they did? Would they hunt Frisk down? Who would rule the underground?
Toriel will, Chara told them. Oh, right. They'd gotten to that point before, where Sans would call them and tell them Toriel came back from the ruins to rule the underground in stead of Asgore. It never really ended well though, Frisk recalled. Well, there certainly were worse endings than the Toriel one.

O nce they came closer to Sans' and Papyrus' house, Frisk could already spot the lanky skeleton next to Undyne. Right, they'd forgotten about Undyne. Undyne was probably the last person they wanted to tell about Asgore's death. They could still remember hearing about the fish lady planning to hunt you down for revenge in some cases.

Both of the monsters turned to Frisk, smiling, once they approached. Undyne already hollering something, Frisk ignored her and instead went to Papyrus, pulling him down to their height and quickly signing something.

“Could we talk somewhere in private?” They asked. “I need to tell you… a secret.”
Upon hearing that Papyrus eyes immediately lit up. Of course the childish skeleton would love to be part of a secret.

“BUT OF COURSE, HUMAN!” The skeleton said happily, gathering the child up in his arms. Surprised Frisk slung their arms around Papyrus' neck as to not fall off. “PLEASE DO EXCUSE US, UNDYNE, FOR THE HUMAN AND I NEED TO… DISCUSS NOT SUSPICIOUS MATTERS THAT YOU NEED NOT TO BE SUSPICIOUS ABOUT!!!”
Sighing, Frisk ran a hand over their face. Well, at least Undyne seemed to trust Papyrus enough as to not stop him, although her grin looked somewhat strained.

“'Course nerd!” She said, before Papyrus left with Frisk into his cool shed. There he placed them down again, already bouncing on the spot like a giddy child.

“SO??? WHAT IS IT THAT YOU WANTED TO TELL THE GREAT PAPYRUS?” He asked, but Frisk motioned them to be silent, pressing their ear against the door. It didn't sound like Undyne was at the other side, but still the moved with the skeleton to the back of the shed, before beginning to sign.

“Asgore, he's...” They realized suddenly how hard this was actually going to be. How do you tell someone that their king is dead?

“NOT AT THE CASTLE? DON'T WORRY HUMAN!!!” Papyrus said as Frisk seemed unable to finish their sentence. “THAT HAPPENS SOMETIMES! HE IS PROBABLY BUSY VISITING SCHOOL CLASSES AROUND THE CAPITAL.”

“No that's… not what I meant,” Frisk continued awkwardly. “Asgore is… he's dead.”
They paused, letting the words sink in, watching the skeleton's eye sockets widen.

“BUT- ...How?” He asked, voice suddenly low. Good, despite his childlike demeanor, the skeleton seemed to grasp the seriosity of the situation.

“I didn't kill him!” Frisk assured him immediately. “I promise, I didn't. He was talking about adopting me, raising me together with the queen.” Papyrus nodded while listening. That did sound like something the king would do. “And then a… someone came and killed him, destroying his soul.” They didn't want to tell him what killed the king wasn't a monster, let alone the monster king's son. And they also didn't want to tell him about the stolen human souls. In fact, Frisk wasn't even sure whether or not Papyrus knew about the human souls.

“I didn't want to tell Undyne, because… I don't think she would believe me,” Frisk finished signing.

The skeleton looked somewhat reluctant. “Why would Undyne not-” He paused. “No, you're right, human.” Papyrus knew Undyne just as good as Frisk, better even, and even he seemed to realize that Undyne still didn't quite trust Frisk. Not that Frisk could blame her.

“Why did you tell me that, human?” Papyrus asked eventually, seeming quite thoughtful.

“People are going to find out the king's dead soon,” Frisk explained. “Everyone who knew I was heading there is going to blame me. I'm...” scared.

“WORRY NOT, HUMAN!!!” Papyrus boomed, voice loud as ever again. “I WILL NOT LET ANYONE HURT YOU! THE GREAT PAPYRUS WILL PROTECT YOU AT ALL COST!”

Frisk smiled weakly, glad that the somewhat naive skeleton trusted them.

“I also kinda sorta need a place to stay...”
“FEEL FREE TO STAY AT OUR PLACE!!!” The monster suggested. “WE DO NOT HAVE A SPARE ROOM, BUT IF YOU WISH YOU CAN SLEEP ON THE COUCH!”

Once that was agreed the two of them left the shed again, slamming the door into the face of an aggravated Undyne.

“OW FUCK!!” She cursed, rubbing her face. Papyrus let out a dismayed gasp at the curse.

“NOT IN FRONT OF THE HUMAN!” He chided sternly. “UNDYNE, HAVE YOU BEEN EAVESDROPPING?”

“HAH, eavesdropping? ME? Papyrus, who do you think I AM!” Undyne let out a force strained laughter. She was a bad liar. Apparently she even seemed to notice herself. “Relax Paps, I didn't even hear anything.”

F risk relaxed a little at that. The monster didn't seem to be lying with that , she even seemed kind of annoyed at the fact that she hadn't gotten anything out of eavesdropping. Papyrus however didn't seem pleased with that answer.

“THAT WAS VERY RUDE, UNDYNE! I EVEN TOLD YOU NOT TO BE SUSPICIOUS!”
Yea, great job with that.

Don't be mean, Chara.

“SO! If it wasn't anything suspicious what WERE you talking about?”

“I AM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU THAT,” Papyrus said. “ESPECIALLY NOT AFTER THAT.”

The skeleton took Frisk by the shoulder and lead the two of them towards his house. Undyne stumbled after them a little taken aback.

“Aw, c'mon Papy! Don't be like that! I'm sorry, alright?” She said, sounding regretfully. It didn't happen often that Papyrus actually got angry at anyone aside from Sans.

Papyrus paused, letting go of Frisk near the couch and turned towards Undyne. “ARE YOU REALLY?” He asked.

“Of course, ya nerd!!”
“OKAY, THEN I FORGIVE YOU!!!” The skeleton beamed at the monster, clasping his hands together.

“ALRIGHT! So what were you and the squirt talkin' 'bout!?”

“I CAN NOT TELL YOU THAT.”

Frisk could hear Undyne grinding her teeth, wanting to say something else, but the noise of the front door opening rather roughly interrupted her. Sans came slouching into the house, closing the door behind him and froze for a moment when he spotted the three of them staring down at him.

“uh. hey,” he said, a little taken aback.

“HELLO BROTHER!!! THE HUMAN WILL BE STAYING WITH US FOR A WHILE,” Papyrus announced excitedly. “I HOPE YOU DO NOT MIND THAT.”
Sans scrunched his brow. “yea, no i don't think so,” he said. “i'm not letting a killer stay in our house.”

Chapter Text

Uh-Oh, Chara chimed in almost comically. Frisk only frowned in response.

“SANS, WHY WOULD YOU SAY THAT ABOUT OUR GUEST,” Papyrus spoke first. He sounded quite nervous, he knew after all. Neither him nor Frisk just had expected for anyone to find out about the king's dead so soon.

“Yea Sans, what is this about?” Undyne asked, although her eyes were on Frisk now instead of on Sans. Worried Frisk held onto Papyrus, who seemed to noticed and placed his hand on their head protectively.

“i've just been to hotland. some guards passed my hotdog stand, sayin' the king's dead,” Sans explained surprisingly calm. Why was he so calm about this? Sure he seemed… angry, but not quite how you would react if your king died.

“You're joking,” Undyne said, squinting at the smaller skeleton, who simply shook his head no. “Sans that isn't funny.”
“shouldn't, as the head of the royal guard, you know about this anyways?” He asked, angering the fish monster.
“SANS, that ISN'T funny!” Her voice was wavering. “I can arrest you for this, Sans! You can't just go around telling people the KING is dead!”
“well, he is.” Sans stated, putting a sense of finality in his voice, making Undyne bristle. She stopped complaining, though, her eyes hardening as she got out a phone from her pocket.

“Excuse me,” she said tensely under her breath to no one in particular. “I’ve got to make a call.” She pushed rather roughly past Sans out the door, almost sending the skeleton stumbling, but he didn’t seem to mind a lot, his own glare never leaving Frisk.

“pa-”
“IT WASN’T THE HUMAN,” Papyrus interrupted his brother quickly. He pushed himself in front of Frisk protectively, startling the child for a moment, before they realized he was trying to help them. Sans let out a bitter laugh.

“yea right,” he drawled sarcastically, glaring at his brother now instead of Frisk. Frisk couldn’t what Papyrus looked like right now, but it seemed to make Sans feel a little guilty about his choice of words, the smaller skeleton suddenly glancing away and to the ground. “who else would’ve done it?” He prompted instead. “i’m sorry pap, i know you’ve befriended the human or whatever, but-”
“BUT IT WASN’T THEM!” Papyrus insisted, stomping his food in an almost childish manner. “THEY WOULDN’T DO THAT!”
“well who else would’ve killed asgore?” Sans repeated himself, leaving Papyrus dumbfounded. He didn’t know the answer to that, how could he? Frisk hadn’t been able to tell him yet, but… who was going to believe them in first place?

Before the brothers could continue their discussion, though, Undyne came back in, surprisingly lax despite the spear in her hand and the mixture of sorrow and death-intent in her eyes.

“UNDYNE-”
“I’ve just received the news,” she said, walking up to the skeleton and shoving him roughly to the side. He let himself be shoved, leaving room for Undyne to point her weapon at Frisk’s throat. “Asgore is dead. Last person seen at the castle? A ‘small child in a striped sweater.’”

What the hell is that idiot doing? They heard Chara cursing in their head. He said he’d protect us!

Part of Frisk wanted to agree, Papyrus had been their only barrier between themselves and Undyne, but part of them just… couldn’t. It was neither Papyrus job to protect them, nor could they really expect him to put himself between his best friend and a human that had apparently most likely killed the king.

“U-UNDYNE BE RATIONAL!”
“No, YOU be rational, Papyrus!” The fish monster growled, pointing her spear rougher into Frisks windpipe as if talking to them instead of Papyrus, forcing them to stumble back a little. It was only a matter of seconds before they could feel the icy grip of blue around their soul, too, now.

Oh you’ve got to be kidding me!

“i’m sorry but i’ve got to agree with her,” Sans muttered darkly. “i don’t know what they’ve told you, but they’re not safe.”
“Where are you taking me?” Frisk signed quickly, hands shaky as they did so.

Undyne scoffed at the question. “That’s none of your business.”
“WHERE ARE YOU T-TAKING THEM?” Papyrus asked in their stead. His own voice was nervous, too, but you could see he was trying to fix his composure, standing straighter than usually, eyes unnaturally serious. “I OWN THE SENTRY STATION OF SNOWDIN AND I AM THE SENTRY THAT HAS CAUGHT THEM, AFTER ALL. I BELIEVE IT IS MY BUSINESS AS TO WHERE YOU’RE TAKING THEM.”

Surprised the Captain of the Royal Guard spun her head around, glaring down at the slightly shorter skeleton. Despite the murder-intent in her eyes, though, he didn’t seem to back down at all. “Fine,” Undyne hissed eventually. “I’m taking her to Alphys. She’ll extract their soul. But not un-guarded.”

Extract my soul!?

“E-EXTRACT THEIR SOUL!? THAT DOESN’T SOUND HEALTHY!” Papyrus shrieked, gloved hands covering his mouth.

“Well…,” was all Undyne offered to that, before turning away. “Thanks for the help, Sans. I’ll be taking them to Hotland now.”
“need a, uh, shortcut?” The stout skeleton offered. Undyne shook her head no. “alright. be careful.”

And with that Undyne grabbed Frisk roughly by their stomach, hauling them over her shoulder and carrying them off. They could hear Papyrus calling after them, Sans warning Undyne about them being dangerous, but it wasn’t like Frisk could even do anything, except thrash and hammering against the tall monsters back.

“Will you stop that?” Undyne growled under her breath.

“No! Let me go!” Frisk responded automatically, hands signing faster before they could think.

She can’t see you like that, Chara reminded them.

Do something! Frisk cried back at them. She’s going to kill me!

Well what the hell am I supposed to do?

I don’t know! Anything! Wait-

You know what you’re asking for, Frisk? Chara warned them, almost, almost sounding a little worried, a little sympathetic. But Frisk shook their head quickly, despite the motion probably only coming off as strange to the monster currently carrying them.

Don’t kill her! They’d told Chara quickly. Just- I don’t know! You’re the brains here! What can I do?

They could feel Chara’s pride swelling inside their own soul, would’ve rolled their eyes too, if they weren’t still freaking out.

Well I am the smart one of us, they’d crooned inside Frisks head. And maybe it was true in a way, too. Chara decided to result in violence more often than not, but they knew the monsters of the underground better than Frisk did. If they actually thought about it they had an easier time coming up with solutions than Frisk did.

She’s bringing you to Alphys, Chara said in their head. Silently Frisk urged them to go on. Alphys knows Flowey. Maybe if you mention him to her, she might believe you.

Do you think so? Frisk asked nervously. They’d never had too much to do with Alphys. They knew about the amalgams, of course, and gone to a date with scientist more than once. But they’d never really spent some quality time together, and surely, they’d never talked about Flowey together. Frisk had no idea how Alphys would react.

It’s the best shot we have, Chara reminded them and, well. They were right where they were right.

Undyne didn’t take the boat to Hotland, for whatever reason, instead deciding to walk the whole way. So when they finally arrived, they apparently were the last to the party. The party being Guardsmen 01 and 02, Papyrus, Sans and an anxious looking Alphys tapping away on her keyboards.

“What the-”
“UNDYNE! THERE YOU ARE!” Papyrus voice boomed out as first, startling the other monsters.

“U-U-Undyne! Where h-have you be-en? Sa-Sans said you should’ve b-been here ages-s ago, we w-were getting wo-worried!” The small dinosaur blabbered out, faster than her tongue could handle, her feet scratching nervously against the tile flooring.
“Uh… I… I’m sorry,” Undyne muttered a bit taken aback. “I didn’t take the boat, I… didn’t expect everyone to be waiting here for me.”
“WELL, OF COURSE WE WOULD COME! IF THE HUMAN IS AS DANGEROUS AS YOU SAY, WHICH THEY AREN’T, IT WOULD BE VERY IRRESPONSIBLE TO LEAVE YOU ALONE!”
“i agree with one point of my bro, not the others,” Sans added quietly. “sorry, paps.”
“YOU CAN APOLOGIZE ONCE WE’VE SORTED THIS OUT.”
“...yea.”
The guards were the only one that hadn’t joined in their semi-casual chatter, but were frozen in a polite salute until Undyne eventually nodded them off. “Dr. Alphys has asked us to guard the public part of the laboratory, while she extracts the human’s soul in the lower parts.”
Frisk let out a distressed noise at the mention of soul-extracting.

“Fine,” Undyne told them. “The brothers and I will join Alphys.”
“O-Oh that won’t be n-necessary!” The smallish dinosaur squeaked in, but it seemed like none of the monsters were having any of that.
“the human could kill you, alph’”
“Yea! I’m NOT letting that squirt hurt you!”
Even the Royal Guards joined in. “Please, Dr. Alphys, we’re only trying to help you.”

Only Papyrus didn’t seem to have something of himself to add, but he still seemed convinced by the fact that Frisk wasn’t dangerous.

See, you’ve got him here, too now.

Yea, Frisk agreed, letting out something akin to a relieved breath. I’m going to be fine, right?

Chara didn’t answer, but… they decided that they were right. They were going to be fine. They’d make it through this somehow.

“F-Fine, b-but… I n-need to clean the me-mess up first!” Alphys stuttered nervously, before scattering off to the true lab, presumably hiding the amalgams somewhere. She re-appeared a little while later, leading the three monsters down to her actual lab.

“WOWIE!” Papyrus gasped at the sight. “SUCH A HUGE LAB HIDDEN UNDERNEATH A SMALLER LAB!”
“Yeah...” Undyne agreed, although much less enthusiastic. “How come I’ve never seen this place before, Alph’?”
“O-Oh I don’t l-like bringing visitors here…,” Alphys replied quietly.

“bad experience. feel ya,” Sans replied casually, but when Frisk threw him a glance, still being carried over Undyne’s shoulder, the skeleton seemed more tense then usual.

Has Sans ever been in the labs? Frisk asked the demon in their head. Once more, Chara didn’t reply. Frisk decided it wasn’t any of their business anyway.

“S-So King Asgore is r-really dead, huh…?” The small dinosaur asked carefully, as he lead them through the large hallways to a smaller, more secluded room. Her voice was sad. Oh, of course it would be. Everyone in the underground except Toriel seemed to love Asgore.

“Yeah,” Undyne replied equally sorrow, but there was a slight, sad laugh in her voice. “Never gonna forget the big guy, though. Man… I can’t believe such a… small human was able to… able too…”
“But I didn’t kill him!” Frisk protested, signing the words behind Undyne’s back. It was frustrating she couldn’t see him. It was stupid too! After all, as far as Frisk knew, monsters communicated through souls rather than actual language, which was why they all seemed to immediately understand their sign language, despite probably never being introduced to it. Yet still, when they couldn’t actually see their signs the words seemed to fall on deaf ears.

More like deaf souls, Chara chimed in.

You’re not helping!

The voice in their head just shrugged, or well, did as much of a shrug as you could do without any kind of a body. The message came across either way.

So Frisk began hammering their hands against Undyne’s back, trying to catch her attention, trying to catch anyone’s attention. It worked.

“STOP that!” Undyne snapped eventually, catching the other three monsters attention.

“HUMAN?” Papyrus asked worried. “I THINK THEY’RE TRYING TO SAY SOMETHING!”
God bless Papyrus. “I didn’t kill Asgore!” Frisk signed him quickly. “Flowey did!”
“FLOWEY?” The tall monster repeated surprised, halting his movement and quickly prompting the others to stop, too. “YOU DON’T MEAN THAT TALKING FLOWER MONSTER…?”
“T-T-Talking flower!?” Alphys squeaked nervously.

Bingo.

“U-Undyne p-please put the human down f-for me.”
“Don’t believe their lies, Alphys!” Undyne argued, but Alphys didn’t seem to be able to be reasoned with right now, simply giving Undyne an urging look, that eventually seemed to convince her. “Fine, but I’m not letting go of ‘em!”
“T-They need their h-hands to sign,” Alphys noted, and with an annoyed groan the fish monster let go of Frisk’s hands behind their back, instead taking a handful of their sweater.

Frisk was just glad to have firm ground underneath their feet again.

“It’s true!” They quickly signed as long as they had the chance. “I didn’t kill Asgore, he told me he wanted to adopt me, be a family! Flowey killed him! He destroyed his soul and took the human souls-”
“He took the WHAT!?” Undyne asked suddenly absolute furious. “WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WE NEED THOSE SOULS!”
“Flowey has them! It’s not my fault!” Frisk repeated quickly, but they could feel the grip on their sweater tightening.

“bullshit,” Sans scoffed, and even Papyrus seemed unsure at the accusation. Not to mention Undyne’s distrust practically fuming off her.

“BUT WHY WOULD HE DO THAT?” Papyrus almost whined. “LET ALONE HOW? HE’S SO… SMALL AND FRAGILE.”
“He’s stronger than he let’s on.”
“A-And determi-mined,” Alphys piped in quietly. The attention was on her again all of the suddenly, startling the anxious scientist a little.
“You don’t BELIEVE them, RIGHT Alphys?” Undyne scoffed. Alphys didn’t reply, instead nervously twined her claws together. “ALPHYS!?”
“I-I know him, a-alright!” She squeaked out. “I m-made him in m-my labs, a-and… he e-escaped one day!”
“A fucking flower?”
“UNDYNE!! THE HUMAN!”
“Screw the human!” She spat at him angrily. Papyrus took a startled step back, and Sans took a protective step forward.

“watch it, fish-face,” he muttered threatening. “papyrus’ isn’t the one you got a bone to pick with.”

Undyne seemed to get the hint, well, less of a hint rather than a brick to the face, and looked to the ground apologetically.

“I-If Flowey killed Asgore, w-we can’t ta-take their soul!” Alphys decided, jumping when Papyrus clapped his hands together excitedly.

“SHE IS ABSOLUTELY RIGHT!! IT WOULD BE VERY UNFAIR TO TAKE THEIR SOUL IF WHAT THEY SAID IS TRUE!” He added, a large grin on his face again. Sans and Undyne seemed unimpressed.

“how do we know they’re not lying?” Sans asked suspiciously.

“Sa-Sans, I know Flo-Flowey is real.”
“But we don’t know if he ACTUALLY killed Asgore!” Undyne added angrily. “Let alone took the souls! I haven’t even HEARD anything about that yet!”
“Ha-Has anyone checked th-the souls, yet…?”
“Alphys, WHY are you defending the human so much?” The fish monster asked, both confused and a little upset.

Alphys seemed surprise at the question, a faint blush covering their scales. “I-I like them…,” she muttered nervously. “Th-They’re my friend. I do-don’t want to hurt th-them if I d-don’t have to.”
“Thank you, Alphys,” Frisk signed them quickly, thankfully. “You and Papyrus are the only one on my side right now!”
“O-Of course! I wouldn’t l-let a friend down!”
“NEITHER OF US WOULD, HUMAN!!!” Papyrus agreed quickly. “WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK!”
“I-I thought they were your friend, too, U-Undyne,” the scientist eventually pointed out, surprisingly brave for them. “A-Are you ju-just going to i-ignore that, because so-someone killed King A-Asgore?”

“We don’t know who killed Asgore,” Undyne hissed through her teeth.

“E-Exactly! We don’t kn-know if it was Fr-Frisk!” Alphys countered quickly, putting a clawed hand on the child’s shoulder. “A-And I know Flowey e-exists! We’ve g-got to give them a chance!”
“YES!!! LISTEN TO DR. ALPHYS! SHE’S A SCIENCE WOMAN AND MUCH SMARTER THAN ANY OF US!” Papyrus agreed with a firm nod.

“I-It’s scientist...”
“SEE!!! SO SMART!”

I think it’s working, Chara, Frisk hesitantly spoke in their own mind. I didn’t think Alphys would actually step up for me that much!

Undyne and Sans still don’t seem entirely convinced, though.

“Please,” Frisk signed to the monsters. “I’m as shook about King Asgore’s death as you are! I never wanted it to end like this.”

“well, kid,” Sans replied, putting up a nice front, but his voice was still dripping with venom. “what’d’you expect us to do? what do you plan on doing?”
“THEY ASKED IF THEY COULD STAY WITH US!” Papyrus told his brother excitedly.

“never.” He made it sound like there wasn’t even going to be any kind of debate. Except there was.

“SANS, IT’S MY HOUSE AS MUCH AS IT IS YOURS! AND I SAY THE HUMAN IS WELCOME FOR AS LONG AS THEY WANT TO STAY!”
“but paps”

Oho, brother fight.

Don’t be rude, Chara.
“DO NOT ‘PAPS’ ME, BROTHER!” Papyrus told him sternly. “THEY’RE GOING TO BE STAY AT OUR HOUSE UNTIL YOU’LL BE ABLE TO PROVE THEY’VE KILLED ANYONE.”
“how- but- why don’t they have to prove they killed no one!?” Sans spluttered angrily, apparently caught off-guard by his brother actually talking back so sternly.

“BECAUSE YOU’RE THE ONES SAYING THEY KILLED SOMEONE IN FIRST PLACE!”
“Tha-That’s true,” Alphys agreed. “P-Plus what do you expect them t-to do? Seek up the a-actual murderer? That doesn’t sound s-safe!”
“EXACTLY!!! YOU CAN’T SEND A HUMAN TO WHOEVER KILLED KING ASGORE.”
Undyne let out a reluctant grumble, but eventually actually let go of Frisk’s sweater, opting to cross her arms instead.
“Alright, you’ve got a point,” she muttered, sounding unhappy with the decision, but didn’t seem to try to fight it anymore.
“so, you’re just gonna fuckin’… pull that decision without me?”
“PRECISELY!”
Hah.

“I AM VERY SORRY, BROTHER, BUT YOU ARE BEING IRRATIONAL THIS TIME! WE’VE OUTVOTED YOU AND FRISK GETS TO LIVE.”
“and stay at our house?”
“AND STAY AT OUR HOUSE!” Papyrus repeated excitedly, picking up the human in a tight hug. “OH I’M SO HAPPY YOU’RE NOT GETTING YOUR SOLE EXTRACTED!”
Frisk laughed at the comment, then at relief, and suddenly realized, holy shit, they weren’t going to die! “I’m so happy, too,” they signed, unable to stop laughing in relief. “Thank you so much Papyrus, Alphys.”