Prologue

"Extra, extra! Read all about it! Barrier shattered! Monsters free to come and go as we please!"

The headline said it all. 'Barrier Busted, Frisk Brings Freedom to Monsterkind.' The word had finally spread, and the small monster child was doing his part in making sure everyone heard the news.

Although it didn't happen in the way everyone expected it to, the Barrier had indeed been broken, and it was largely due to Frisk's actions. But not by her death, and not by the collection of her soul. Rather, the way she showed compassion, and the way she fought to set things right.

Nevertheless, everyone seemed excited. The monsters were no longer trapped in the Underground. They could roam free in the human world. The possibilities were endless.

Very few wouldn't even leave the Underground, perfectly content staying in the safety of their own backyards. The surface world was uncharted territory, after all. But, as to be expected, there were packs of brave souls ready to follow the trail that Frisk and her friends had blazed.

Frisk, Toriel, Sans, Papyrus, Undyne, Alphys and Asgore began their new lives on the surface. After taking some time to go on a small vacation, they got a place where they could all stay together. Toriel opened a school that anyone was welcome to attend, Undyne continued trying to teach Papyrus how to cook, Sans kept cool, Alphys rediscovered her passion for science, and Asgore kept a protective watch over them all. They were having fun, and things were working out.

Frisk was doing a great job gently introducing the monsters to the humans and vice versa. Things were as normal as they could be, given the situation. There was peace, for lack of a better word.

But, seeing as how humans themselves have trouble getting along with one other, not everything was perfect. There was tension. And where there is tension, conflict is just on the horizon.

Chapter 1

About One Year Later…

"Dinner's ready!" Papyrus called from the kitchen. The others filtered in from all corners of the large house that they all shared.

"Oh boy, spaghetti. Again," Sans observed. Toriel elbowed him in the arm. "I mean… oh boy! Spaghetti again!"

"That's better," Toriel said. "Papyrus, thank you for cooking this week. I'm sure everyone was getting tired of butterscotch pie and escargot."

"Impossible!" Asgore bellowed.

"I was definitely getting tired of butterscotch pie and escargot," Undyne commented. "Escargot is too slimy for me. Hits kinda close to home. It's almost like cannibalism," she added with a shudder.

Toriel's brow arched in concern. "Why didn't you say anything before, dear?"

"Because she's a big ol' softy who doesn't really want to hurt anyone's feelings," Frisk said with a smile, dishing out some spaghetti for both her and Alphys.

"Frisk I will kill you," Undyne said through gritted teeth, a slight blush coloring her face. Frisk simply laughed in response.

"Now now, children," Asgore said in an exaggerated parental tone, "no threatening to kill each other at the dinner table. Pass the pasta."

Alphys took the bowl from Frisk and handed it across the table to Asgore, completely skipping past Papyrus and Undyne.

"Hey!" Papyrus objected. "I made that, you know! Don't I get any?"

"The chef eats last. Haven't you learned?" Alphys mocked, sticking her tongue out.

"Relax, bro," Sans said. "It'll just go right through you anyway. What's the rush?" Papyrus, defeated, slumped down in his chair.

Undyne giggled. "Here, Grumpy Gills." She took the bowl from Asgore and scooped a big spoonful onto Papyrus' plate, then gave herself about double that amount.

"Gonna save any for The Queen and I?" Sans joked.

"Wasn't planning on it," Undyne shot back. But she passed what was left of the spaghetti around the table anyway until it got to Toriel.

Toriel looked into the bowl, which had a disappointing amount of noodles left inside, then looked over at Sans. "You didn't really want any, did you?"

Sans sighed. "I'll just mooch off of the big guy," he said, motioning towards Asgore, who was already digging in. Everyone followed suit.

Life on the surface was great. The whole gang was a family. All crashing under the same roof, all putting in their fair share of work, the inside jokes, the time well spent, it was picturesque. Dysfunctional, absolutely. But none of them would have it any other way.

The house was a safe distance away from both monster and human. The humans, of course, had their own established towns and cities that some monsters were still relatively wary of visiting. So they tried to build up their own towns until it was a little bit more acceptable for everyone to be meshed together, something Frisk was working hard at.

She wrote letters, reports, research papers. She delivered speeches. Never traveling too far from home, she did her best to get word out that monsters are not, well, monsters. And while the humans may not all agree yet, Frisk's words definitely got around. As the Ambassador, she made global news. Mostly from the comfort of her home office.

Although the Barrier had been broken for almost one whole year, humans and monsters were still only slightly integrated. While it wasn't unusual to see both monsters and humans at the park, or at the grocery store, it still made both parties a little uneasy. But fortunately, everyone got along superficially, and that would have to do for the time being.

Asgore dropped his silverware onto his empty plate, and it clanked sharply, disrupting the silence. Content, he sighed. "What's for dessert?" he joked. All eyes shifted towards Papyrus.

He slouched a little. "I didn't, uh, make any. I didn't make dessert." Sans feigned severe disappointment, and likewise, Frisk put her head down on the table. "Oh, come on!" Papyrus shouted. "You all know that spaghetti is all I can make! That's all Undyne ever taught me how to cook."

Frisk lifted her head. "Oh yeah, that's right! I forgot that Undyne can cook, too."

"Not very well," Undyne scoffed, standing up and collecting everyone's empty plates and silverware.

"Well look who just volunteered to do the dishes tonight!" Alphys remarked when Undyne took her plate.

Undyne rolled her eye. "You'd think that by now a revered scientist such as yourself would have invented some sort of self operating dish cleaning machine."

"You mean a dishwasher?" Frisk said. "They come standard in just about every house."

"Have we had one all this time?" Toriel asked, standing up to assist Undyne. She looked towards the kitchen. "Think of all the time we've wasted!"

"And everything that you've broken with your aggressive scrubbing," Papyrus added, inspecting the chip missing from the edge of his plate. He handed it to Undyne.

Toriel shot Papyrus a disapproving glare. "Well maybe if those of us with little to no muscle washed the dishes more often."

"Yeah, Frisk!" Papyrus yelled in an attempt to draw attention away from himself, something he rarely wanted. "Besides, you're the one who's withheld the dishwasher from us for a year."

"I'd love to, but I'm exempt from dish duty," she said matter-of-factly, although she did take her own plate to the sink so Undyne wouldn't have to. "I have a letter to write, anyway."

"Really? I was hoping we could do something cool this evening," Sans said.

"Yeah, I was hoping to test out the drone I just finished putting together," Alphys added.

"I said something cool, Alph," Sans mocked, though he wore a smile. Alphys stuck her tongue out at him. "I was actually thinking about hitting the city. Bro, you wanna come?"

"Me?" Papyrus asked.

"Yeah. I mean, you're the only one of us who has a driver's license so far," Sans explained. "Gotta get there somehow."

"I'm working on getting my license, guys. Soon poor Papyrus won't have to shuttle everyone around," Undyne said.

"Oh, please" Alphys said. "By the time you get your driver's license, I'll have invented a self operating driving machine so simple that Lesser Dog could use it. I am a revered scientist, after all."

"You're lucky we're friends, Alphys, or else there would be spaghetti sauce all over your nice, white lab coat right now," Undyne growled.

Papyrus shrugged. "Well, she's not wrong," he said. "Alright, fine, yeah, I'll go," he agreed. "Why not? It could be fun," he continued. "Two brothers, out on the town!

"Actually, if you guys don't mind, I'd like to tag along," Frisk said. "If you give me some time to churn out this letter real quick, I can go ahead and mail it while we're in town."

"Two brothers, and Frisk, out on the town!" Papyrus said with significantly less enthusiasm.

"Sure, kiddo. Better get writing. I've got places to be," Sans winked.

"Who is this letter for?" Toriel asked.

Frisk took a towel, wiped off her hands, then casually tossed the towel over her shoulder. "The governor of Rhode Island. The state is so small, I figure it would be a good place for a colony of monsters to come together. I'm writing to explain my thinking, and to arrange for her to come for a visit."

As a part of Frisk's work to integrate humans and monsters, she would often have public officials meet her friends, then have them tour the nearest monster village. She knew that in this world, first impressions are everything, and she figured that if any monsters were to give a good first impression, it would be her friends. Plus, she had the King and Queen of the Underground on her side. That alone was sure to offer some bonus points.

The monster town closest to where the gang was living was called Hill Valley. Most of the monsters that Frisk had encountered while in the Underground had settled there, not too far from the Barrier. They knew Frisk, and Frisk knew them. Everyone there was nice.

Hill Valley was practically a clone of Snowdin. Grillby's was open for business, although it was downgraded to a food truck for the time being. The library and the shops were there too, even though they were simply a stack of items behind a well built wooden counter. Even so, it was an honest little town where monsters tried to make honest lives for themselves. A perfect place to show the rest of the world, and a great example of what monsterkind has to offer.

"I'm going to go get started. I'll be up in my office then if anyone needs me." Frisk trotted up the stairs to the second story of the house. She walked about halfway down the hallway, passing the room that Sans and Papyrus shared, then turned into her office, shutting the door behind her.

She sat down in her chair, pushed her laptop to the side, put a pair of thick framed glasses on, and got a stack of embellished paper from one of the desk drawers. The paper had gold ribbon drawn around the margins, making a nice border, and at the very top of every sheet, 'From the desk of Frisk Dreemurr' was printed. But before she could get started, there was a knock at the door.

Slightly irritated, she sighed and backed her chair away from her desk, and turned it towards the door. "Come in."

Undyne cracked the door open and poked her head in. "Hey, hate to bother you, but I just wanted to let you know that Asgore found a butterscotch pie in the freezer and he's going to cut a slice for everyone. You want one?"

Frisk took her glasses off. "Yeah sure, save me one for later, okay? I've gotta get this letter done before Sans wants to leave for the city."

"Sure thing, nerd," Undyne said, sporting her usual huge smile. "Hop to it," she added, shutting the door, not leaving Frisk enough time for a sassy comeback.

Frisk let out a small breath of laughter and put her glasses back on. She wheeled her chair back to it's place at the desk. "Let's get to work," she said, cracking her knuckles and picking up a pen.

Governor Raimondo,

Firstly, thank you for taking the time to read this letter. I realize that as an elected official, you must be busy with not only local affairs, but statewide and national issues as well.

As you know, the Barrier has been gone for almost a year now. The monsters have been freed, and now roam around and live amongst us humans. Even so, equality has been a struggle to obtain. One year is not enough time to evoke lasting change around the country, let alone the world. Monsters still cannot work in the same establishments as humans, monster children cannot attend the same schools as human children, and discrimination is still evident on city streets and in public places.

My goal as Ambassador is to rid the world of those negative thoughts and actions to the best of my ability. Due to unique circumstances, I've gotten to know some very nice monsters who deserve the best that life here on the surface has to offer. That being said, monsters themselves have a lot to offer in return.

They are not different than humans in any way other than appearance. They too have skills, hopes, dreams, feelings and ideas. They fit right in, although too little people realize it.

I would like to extend an invitation to you to come visit myself and my friends here at our home, about 25 miles northeast of Cheyenne, Wyoming. I would also like to take you on a tour of the nearest monster village, Hill Valley, to show you how the monsters live their day to day lives.

Most of the monsters who have come to the surface have stayed relatively close to where the Barrier had been, still wary of the ever present risks of interacting with those who do not yet understand. I would like to help the monsters make their way around the country, and the world, with little to no trouble.

Rhode Island is a lovely state, albeit the smallest. In my own personal opinion, I think it would be a nice, quiet location for a few families of monsters to settle down.

The words flowed out of Frisk's mind effortlessly. She knew exactly what she wanted to say and how she wanted to say it. But as she wrote, a strange sensation fell over her. She suddenly became overwhelmingly tired. She furrowed her brow in confusion about her own condition, and tried hard to keep writing.

She fought sleep as hard as a small child would, but sleep won. Without warning, her eyes bolted shut and her head slammed down on her desk.

Frisk found herself in a dark room, looking around aimlessly at the inky black emptiness that surrounded her. Was it a dream? An empty, disappointing dream? Very faintly, she heard a voice calling.

"Frisk? Frisk?"

She turned her head around so fast that she could have given herself whiplash. "Hello? Who's there?"

"Frisk!" The voice was a little louder this time around.

"What?" Frisk replied, half irritated, half frightened.

"Finally! I've tried so hard…"

"What is this?" What's going on?" Frisk turned around again, and met none other than Asriel Dreemurr face to face. Not the young Asriel that had to be left behind, but the one who looked to be about her age. The Asriel that she had fought.

She took a step back, and was scared breathless. "A-Asriel?"

He smiled warmly. "I've tried so hard to reach you. I'm glad I was finally able to."

"But how… how are you… I mean, how…"

Asriel, once a clear image, began to fade. He winced, seemingly in pain. "Drat… I knew I probably couldn't keep this up for very long."

"Asriel, what's going on?" Frisk asked, her voice shaky.

"I'll have to explain later, okay? I'm running out of energy. Heh. It was good… to see you… again… Frisk… talk to you… later…"

And just like that, Asriel was gone.

Frisk put her hands on her head and shut her eyes tightly, not understanding what had just occurred. She could almost still hear his voice calling her.

"Frisk… Frisk? Frisk!"