Dark, Dark, Yet Darker

...

Sorry for taking so long to finish this, guys! This ended up being a 19k word monster of a chapter. I thought about dividing it in two parts, and I still can if it's needed, but I figured it might be a little confusing for my readers to split it up. I hope this ended up being worth the wait!

I'd also like to thank the awesome J-Farraday, who helped me a lot with this chapter and gave me some ideas. July's an amazing writer and I'd definitely recommend checking out her Undertale works! Her main fic, Once Upon A Handplate, is absolutely amazing, and it's an extremely sweet Handplates AU with elements from the TV series, Once Upon A Time. Her oneshots and short stories are also incredible, and I'd also recommend checking out her DeviantArt, MissJulyFarraday, to see her fantastic art. Thank you so much, July!

...

Frisk stared at her companion in shock. "You're Sans and Papyrus's missing father?" Gaster nodded and Frisk looked down sadly. "That means you're dead too, doesn't it?"

He shook his head and gently took the notepad from her again, quickly writing in it and showing it to her when he was finished. "No, I'm not dead. Not entirely. And neither are you."

"But the bullet..." Frisk's hand instinctively went to her chest where the bullet had gone through it, clutching her shirt at the remembered pain. "I may have gotten a C in biology, but I still know there's no way in hell I could have survived that."

"It did kill you, yes. You did die. But you have a power within you that allows you to erase that moment. To turn back time before it ever happened. There's no delicate way to tell you this, but you're an Anomaly Of Time."

"I'm a what?" Frisk asked dumbly in shock. "I have to be dreaming or hallucinating or something. I'm a fifteen year old girl from Ebott Town. I don't have time travel powers! How is that even possible?!"

Gaster chuckled a little as he wrote, making her jump a bit. "Child, you're in a world full of monsters and magic. You're talking to a skeleton in a place outside of space and time. After everything you've seen, are time powers that hard to believe?"

"I guess not." she admitted, shuffling her feet. "But how do I even have a power like that? I'm a human, not a monster."

"This is going to be a long story. Get comfortable." Gaster advised and Frisk sat down and settled into a comfortable position. Gaster sat next to her as he continued writing.

"Before I was banished to this place, I held this power, simply known as Anomaly Of Time. It had its limits back then. It had rules. Whenever I used it, I could go back in time five minutes, and five minutes only, and it had a cooldown period of twenty four hours after each use. Using it also drained a lot of magical energy, but it didn't stop me from experimenting to learn more about it and make myself stronger, to go back further. I wanted to use it to help others. But I was foolish. Very foolish. And I learned my lesson the hard way."

"Many years ago, my intern Alphys and I were working on the Soul Project. We were trying to create artificial human souls to break the barrier without violence and to get everyone out as quickly as possible. And to do that, we studied the souls of the humans who had died down here to find out what exactly made them different from monster souls. It was Alphys who found the chemical component that caused human souls to be so powerful. It was a previously unknown soul trait. She called it Determination. The will, above all else, to live. We studied it for weeks, trying to learn everything we could about it."

"One night, I was up very late, studying a Determination sample through my microscope. I hadn't slept in over twenty four hours, and I was exhausted. When I was removing the slide, I spilled the sample on myself. It burned, and I was sick for a day afterwards. But then, the morning after, I woke up, and I felt stronger. My magic had increased noticeably, and when I tested Anomaly Of Time...I went back ten minutes. It might not seem like much, but it was double the power's previous limits, and the cooldown period was cut in half. All from one drop of DT(Determination)."

"I was thrilled. I kept testing it out. I even used another drop of DT on myself. Again, I felt awful for a day, but when the sickness and pain subsided, my power had increased even further. I could go back twenty minutes, and the cooldown period decreased to six hours. I wondered if I continued to use DT if there would no longer be a limit to my power."

"I told Sans about my discovery. But instead of being excited, he was afraid. He begged me not to use DT any more, that I could hurt myself using an untested chemical on my body. He was so upset he was in tears. He didn't want to lose me like he had lost his mom and Chara. I didn't want to hurt him, so I listened. And I came up with another plan. A very foolish plan. But in my hubris, I thought it was brilliant. I would create a time machine, powered with DT and CORE energy to enhance my powers and let me go back much further in time. I would go back to before the Barrier was broken, and I would stop it from being created. I...I also wanted to go back in time to save my wife, who died of an illness. I thought DT would be the cure. I thought I would save everyone. I was obsessed with the very idea. I got Sans to help me. He was unsure about the whole idea. He thought it would be too dangerous, but I talked him into it. I told him that we might just be able to save his mom and Chara, and that if anything went wrong...I could just use my power to take us back in time to before the mistake happened." Gaster looked down at the ground, tears in his sockets. He trembled and Frisk swore it looked like his form was wavering, but it happened so quickly that she wasn't sure if she was seeing things or not. He collected himself and continued writing. "He finally agreed and we started the project with the help of some of my assistants."

"But...when we had finally finished building the machine, and I was in the process of activating it, everything went wrong. The CORE overloaded. There was an explosion and we were all thrown towards the CORE. I managed to throw Sans to safety with Blue Magic, but I and my assistants fell into the CORE. I couldn't save any of them. I literally took us out of time, Frisk. No one remembers me or them except for my boys. My power was torn from me. I know it was in punishment for my foolishness. I destroyed their lives. I left my sons without a father. All because I was too damn cocky to think of the consequences of my actions."

He buried his head in his hands with a soft sob. A shudder ran through his body, and his whole frame then flickered, like the images on the old TV sets her school had.

"Dr. Gaster? Are you okay?" Frisk asked worriedly.

He looked up at her question and she saw to her horror that his whole face had distorted. His sockets were drooping, his mouth a huge gaping distorted grin. She gasped in terror as the distortion continued, his cloak melting into the shadows as his arms seemed to vanish. All she could see now were his face and his hands. She felt helpless. Sans and Papyrus's dad was melting, probably dying in front of her! She had to save him!

"You're gonna be okay, just hang on!" Frisk told him, trying to keep the fear out of her voice as she moved closer, wanting desperately to help him. She instinctively tried to reach for her bag and get him some monster food, then realized that of course it wasn't there as she was dead and in the Void. But she wasn't going to give up. There had to be something... She knelt beside him, tears in her eyes, trying to figure out some way to heal him.

He quickly caught hold of her shoulders with hands that seemed to be connected to nothing, speaking in his language. It sounded more distorted than before, but his voice was calm and reassuring. He took a deep breath and his body shimmered, reforming back into the skeleton she first saw him as. He stood up as if nothing had happened and began writing in his notebook again.

"I'm sorry I scared you, child. I promise you, I'm fine. I just got upset and lost control of my form."

Frisk was still worried. "Are you sure you're okay? You were melting or something."

"Glitching, and it's just a side effect of me being in this place, living and being trapped in a world between space and time, especially with monster bodies being made of more magic than physical matter. This Void...this dimension...things don't work here like they normally would. But I'm okay, I promise. I've had this problem since falling in here, and I'm still alive. It doesn't hurt and I'm in no danger. In fact, it's gotten a little better since I've been working on how to regain my old form, at least for a time. It takes a lot of concentration to hold it though, and when I got upset, I lost my focus."

"Is there anything I can do to help you?"

"I don't think so, not unless you can get me out of the Void. But don't worry about me. Like I said, I'm in no danger, and right now, we need to focus on teaching you about these powers and getting you out of this place."

"But you deserve to be out of this place too and so do your assistants, and I want to help you guys. You may have made a mistake, but you're still a really good person. I want you to be able to go home, and see Sans and Papyrus again." she said softly. "They miss you so much."

Gaster nodded softly. "I know. But with what I did, with all the pain I caused them, they shouldn't. The Void lets me see everything, child. I saw Sans and Papyrus do everything they could to take care of each other. I saw Papyrus cry when he didn't think Sans could hear him because he knew Sans would blame himself. I watched as Sans blamed himself for my actions, thinking it was his fault that I basically manipulated my own son into doing something he had thought was dangerous." He glitched again and Frisk placed her hand on his shoulder.

"You may have made some bad choices, but that doesn't mean you're a bad person." she said softly. "You wanted to help everyone, even if you did it the wrong way, and I know you love them. And they love you. They'll forgive you."

Gaster chuckled sadly and ruffled her hair. "You're so much like my boys. You're kind, caring, stubborn and want to believe the best in everyone. But please withhold your judgement until you hear the rest of this story. There were more effects my actions caused. My assistants, who didn't do anything wrong besides help me and barely knew anything about this project...they're probably trapped in here too, but I can't find them, and their families have no memory of them. It-It's possible they could have been erased for good, and that's all my fault. They didn't deserve this."

"Maybe we can find them." Frisk patted his arm, trying to comfort him. "Don't give up hope on them yet. If you survived, they probably did too."

Gaster sighed softly. "I truly hope so, child."

"It's going to be okay." Frisk said. "I'll try to find some clues as to where they are when I get back...if I still can." The frightening thought made her shudder.

"You're going to be able to, and I'll show you how." Gaster reassured her. "But there's some things I still need to tell you about your powers. About one of the worst consequences my actions caused. With the Determination and Core energy, Anomaly Of Time transformed into something monstrous and fell into the hands, well vines, of someone who abused it."

There was a sick feeling in Frisk's stomach. "Flowey."

Gaster nodded quietly. "Before you fell, he had the most Determination of any being in the Underground. The power latched onto him. And with his Determination, combined with places of extreme magical energy caused by the CORE explosion, the power changed. The limits became almost non-existent. Once the power activated in Flowey after his first death, he could SAVE at points in the Underground and go back to them, no matter how long it had been. And despite that the Save Points did create rules in how he could go back, the cooldown period became completely non-existent. He could use the power as often as he wanted. And he could not be killed. If he died, it would cause an automatic LOAD or reset. And like me, he played around with his powers, experimented with what he could and couldn't do."

"And since Flowey has a psychopathic view on fun..."

"To be fair to him, he wasn't always that way. At first, he tried to find fulfillment by helping people, by making the Underground better. He did try very hard to be good at first. But...he had lost his soul long ago. He can't feel positive emotions any more. He can't feel love and compassion like we can, no matter how hard he tries. And this power...it can make everything seem like a game. He did things, then could reset them and it was like nothing ever happened. Only Sans remembered fully. Papyrus also remembers in flashes, but not completely, and Sans convinced him that what he did remember was only a nightmare."

"I tried to help Flowey at the beginning when he was still good, like I'm helping you now, but well, you saw what I look like when I can't control my form. One thing Flowey can still feel is primal fear and he was terrified of me. He would always slam either the Reset or the Continue buttons before I got to him. He had to learn how to use the powers on his own, and once he started the more sadistic forms of his experiments, I did try to stop him, but...I don't have control over my magic like I once did and he was more powerful than me. He can't kill me, but he always held me off long enough to go back. I couldn't do a thing against him."

"Flowey believed, and still does, that this is all a game." HIs hand shook as he wrote the next line, causing his scrawl to be a little hard for Frisk to read. "He manipulated people, and he's also killed them. He's killed many monsters throughout his runs before resetting. Tears filled Gaster's eyes, dripping on the paper as he wrote. "He murdered Papyrus three times."

Frisk gasped. Tears filled her eyes as she thought of her friend and crush being brutally destroyed. She couldn't stop shaking. 'How could he do that?! How could he kill Papyrus?! Papyrus befriended him, probably when no one else would!" She clenched her fists. "I swear, when I see that weed again..."

Gaster placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her down. "Don't sink to his level, Frisk. Remember your promise to the others. That pathetic weed isn't worth the LV, and I don't want you doing something you'll regret later." Frisk took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself, and reluctantly nodded. She could tell that Gaster was angry too from how tense his body was, but was doing his best to stay calm and rational, probably so he wouldn't glitch again. "Like I said before, he has no soul, and he thought this was all a game. He thought that since he could reset everything after playing that it didn't matter. Don't think I'm defending him. His actions were inexcusable, soul or no soul. I'm trying to explain his thought process to you because I don't want you to fall into the same trap he and I did. No, I don't believe you'd ever end up like him," he reassured her when she opened her mouth to speak. "But I do want you to understand that these powers aren't a game. I don't want you to let them take you over like I did. These powers are very dangerous, and very serious, and I want you to treat them as such. I don't want you to end up in the void or some other dangerous situation like me, and I don't want my boys to be hurt any more either."

"I'll use them responsibly." Frisk promised, and she meant it. She never wanted to cause her friends any pain for any reason, nor did she want to do something stupid and put herself and others in danger. "But you still haven't explained something. How did I end up with these powers if they were Flowey's? He's not in the Void or dead or anything, unfortunately. He's still here."

"You have more Determination than he does. When you fell, the power immediately transferred to you."

"But I didn't feel anything different. Are you sure I even have it?"

"You do. I can sense it, and you wouldn't be in this place or see the Continue and Reset buttons if you didn't. It lay mostly dormant within you until now. It didn't need to come out, so it didn't. It worked the same way with Flowey. He didn't know until after his first death either."

Frisk nodded and glanced again at the Continue and Reset buttons. "When I go back, I'm supposed to hit this one, right?" Frisk asked, pointing at the Reset button, but careful not to touch it, not wanting to get it wrong as she had no clue what she was doing.

"No. That will send you all the way back to the beginning when you fell into the Underground."

"Does that mean I can go back in time to before I actually fell and go back and get Tina?" Frisk asked hopefully, wanting to save her sister. She could bring her to Toriel's and they could live out their lives safely in the Underground!

'I'm afraid not. It will only take you back to right after you ended up in the Underground. The moment you received your powers. And remember, if you do that, most your friends will forget you except Sans. Even Papyrus might not remember you, and I have no idea if Chara would remember you or not. You'd have to go through everything all over again, and that doesn't guarantee things would happen the same way."

Frisk shuddered at the idea of losing her friends and having to start all over and alone. "Thanks for the warning. So I'm supposed to hit Continue then?"

"Yes. It'll return you to the last Save Point." Gaster explained.

Frisk's eyes widened. "But I DIDN'T save! I didn't see any Save Points! I'm not even sure what a Save Point is even supposed to look like!" She buried her face in her hands. "Oh god, I'm going to end up at the very beginning anyway, aren't I?"

Gaster gently placed his hand on her shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "No. I'm connected to the Save Points too. They're what tie me to this place. Every time you passed a Save Point, I could feel them reacting to you. You had come so far and done so much for my boys and their friends that I wanted to help you. After a few tries, I was able to manipulate them just enough so they would record your progress when you neared them. The last Save Point you reached was the one right outside Mettaton's door, approximately twelve minutes before your death. That's where you'll go back to."

Frisk sighed in relief. "Phew." She looked up at him gratefully. "Thank you so much, Dr. Gaster."

"You're welcome, child. Once you return, you'll be able to see and access the Save Points, therefore controlling completely when you come back. The Save Points look like glowing yellow stars. You'll see them throughout the Underground. They also contain strong magic, so when you actually touch them, they should heal you. I'd recommend saving frequently, just in case. You can also go back to your last one without dying. Just concentrate and focus on the power within you. You should see a screen with the words Continue and Reset, just like here. Just hit Continue and it will transport you back to the last Save Point you interacted with."

Frisk nodded. "I will. Thank you for everything, Dr. Gaster. And listen, what Flowey did isn't your fault. He made his own crappy choices all on his own. You're not responsible for other people's decisions."

"I know, but I still have a lot to make up for." he said dismissively as if he didn't fully believe her. "Also, there's some last minute advice that I want to give you, Frisk. Remember, you're not alone. You have my boys to help you out. Tell them everything. Communication is the basis of every healthy relationship. Also, please...tell them both I love them. Tell Sans not to blame himself any more, because this isn't his fault. Tell him to open up to his brother about everything. Papyrus deserves to know, and he wants so badly to help. Tell Papyrus I'm so proud of who he is and who he's become and that he's going to be the best Royal Trainer the Kingdom Of Monsters has ever had. I'd also tell you to tell Chara to open up too, but I think she's figuring it out on her own that she can't hide from the past."

"I will." Frisk promised with a soft, sad smile. She then realized something. "Wait, how'd you know my name? And you can see Chara?"

"I can see almost everything from within the Void. See, but not interact. And I've tried to keep an eye out for you, even though I couldn't do much because I feared you'd end up exactly where you are. I heard you say your name to Chara when the two of you first met, and I can see Chara and hear her when she speaks. And you might want to let her I can hear EVERY word she says. She doesn't have much of a filter, does she?"

Frisk shook her head with a slight laugh. "No, she does not." She glanced at the buttons again thoughtfully, then her eyes lit up as she came up with a sudden, impulsive idea. She smiled at Dr. Gaster. "So, are you ready to get going?"

He blinked in confusion. "Me? I can't leave here."

"Maybe you can. I got an idea. You said you got trapped here when your powers failed, right? And you can't get out?" Gaster nodded, looking confused as to where she was going with this. Well, I'M here, and I have your powers, and I CAN get out! If I grab onto you, maybe I can pull you out with me!" She offered a hand to him with a smile.

Gaster shook his head sadly as he wrote. "I don't think it will be that easy, child. I'm bound here by the Save Points. I think the only way I can get out of here is if they, and the ability to control time itself is destroyed."

"So how do I destroy them or get rid of this power or do whatever it is I need to do?"

"You'd be willing to get rid of it?"

"Well, yeah. I want you to be able to get home." Frisk told him. "And not only that, but this power sounds stupidly dangerous. I don't really want to screw with it and risk doing something dangerous that hurts everybody. I'm more than willing to give it up if it means Sans and Papyrus get you back, and your assistants can go home to their families too."

Gaster smiled at this, then frowned again. "I don't know. It would probably take an immense amount of power, and even then I don't know if it will work."

"I'll talk to Sans and Papyrus about it. They're both geniuses, they might be able to figure it out." Frisk said, determined. "And we can still try my first idea. It won't hurt you, right? And it's something you were never able to try before, so maybe it COULD work."

Gaster thought it over for a few minutes. "We can try it." he finally agreed. "But I'm going to be holding onto you, not the other way around. If something goes even the slightest bit wrong, I'm letting go. I'm not risking you getting trapped here with me." He looked at Frisk and the look in his sockets told her he wasn't accepting any arguments.

"Deal." Frisk agreed.

"Now, I'm going to gently take hold of your wrist. I don't want to risk hurting you badly if things go wrong. Which is your nondominant hand?"

"My left." she told him, holding out her left hand. He gently took it, putting his notepad in his jacket. "Are you ready?" He nodded and she hit Continue.

There was a loud beep, and a rush of wind. The Void wavered around her as the buttons blurred and went out of view. There was a short, sharp pain on her wrist where Gaster was holding it. She almost felt herself being tugged backwards.

And then he let go.

She tried to regain his hand, but he was gone. Then there was a burst of color, and her feet hit solid ground.

...

Frisk gasped as she opened her eyes. She was back in the real world, exactly where Gaster said she would end up, but she didn't get much chance to look at her surroundings.

There was an animalistic scream and the next thing Frisk knew, Chara, her eyesockets filled with a black substance, and more of the thick, oily liquid dripping from her mouth, was flying right at her. Frisk instinctively tried to scoot back with a scream of her own, but Chara was much faster.

"You killed her! I'm going to kill you!" Chara screamed, clearly still thinking she was in the moment Frisk had died. Her voice sounded raspy and demonic, and Frisk could actually feel Chara's fingers, cold as ice, start to wrap around her throat.

Frisk's eyes were wide with panic. "Chara, stop! It's me! It's me!"

Thankfully, her telepathic voice pierced through Chara's rage and the ghost snapped out of it, quickly letting her go. Her sockets and face returned to normal.

"Frisk...Oh thank god...I-I thought you were..." Chara sobbed in relief, trying to throw her arms around her friend but the unearthly energy she had held in her rage had escaped her and her arms went right through Frisk. "I'm so glad you're okay..." She saw the red marks her icy fingers had made on Frisk's skin. "I'm so sorry! Did I hurt you?"

Frisk rubbed her neck to get rid of the chill. "No, you stopped yourself before you did." she reassured her.

"What the hell happened? Did I just dream we went to face Mettaton and he killed you?"

"No, it-it actually happened. Mettaton killed me, and I was in the Void, and I met Dr. Gaster, and..." Frisk tried to explain everything in a jumble of words, thoughts and images, shaking as everything finally caught up to her.

Chara tried to make out what she was saying, but was lost. "Frisk, slow down. You're not making any sense."

"I'm not making any sense because this situation isn't making any sense." Frisk muttered, then took a deep breath to clear her head before projecting the whole story to Chara.

Chara listened carefully, her expression shocked and horrified as she realized what her friends had gone through. "So this truly happened? You died, and you went to whatever the Void is, and Dr. Gaster helped you? Are you sure we both weren't dreaming?"

"I don't think so." Frisk said softly. As she got to her feet, she saw a glowing golden star beside her.

Chara saw it too. "What's that thing? It wasn't there before."

"That-That's the Save Point Dr. Gaster was telling me about...You can see it too?"

"Well, yeah, it's right there." Chara pointed out.

Frisk shakily reached out and touched it. Warm magic surged through her body, and a screen suddenly appeared in front of her with her name and level, the time, the name of the area the Save Point was in(Hotland-CORE End), and two buttons reading Save and Return. Frisk shakily hit Save and there was a beep. The text turned yellow and indicated her file had been saved.

"Okay, so I died...and I now have time travel powers, and this IS real, and yet I still wasn't able to save Dr. Gaster and I still have to face Mettaton and I don't know what to do and I know I don't stay dead but dying still fucking hurts and..." Frisk rambled in her head as she turned to stare at Mettaton's door, not realizing she was projecting everything to Chara as the shock of everything finally caught up to her. She sat down as she tried to catch her breath, pulling up her knees and wrapping her arms around them. She wished Papyrus and Sans were with her. She desperately wanted Toriel, but her goat mom hadn't called her in a few days and Frisk didn't want to bother her and make herself a burden to her adopted mother. Her birth parents had always hated being bothered and she didn't want to make Toriel upset with her too...

"Stop this. Stop being weak. You're not one of those fairy tale princesses who need everyone else to do everything for you. You can take care of yourself. You've taken care of yourself for fifteen years. You can take care of yourself now." she berated herself, trying to lift her head high and get up, though her legs were shaky.

Chara frowned, hearing Frisk's inner monologue and tried to figure out a way to comfort and encourage her, but before she could say anything, Frisk's phone rang.

...

Papyrus was working on his lesson plan when he suddenly felt an odd, sick feeling in his stomach, like something terrible had happened. He looked around. The TV was on a "Please Stand By" message waiting for Mettaton's show. He got up and walked out to the kitchen, where Undyne and Sans were looking at some papers in the kitchen, though Undyne also seemed confused and was looking around like something just wasn't right. Sans was standing very casually, but there was that look in his eyes that Papyrus knew meant he was really upset about something, but trying to hide it.

Something had happened. He could feel it. Something he couldn't remember. But what?

There was a flash of something in his mind.

The human, standing under a spotlight, covered in bruises and burns. The laser burning through her knee, sending her to the ground in agony. A second laser burning a gaping hole in her chest. The light going out of her beautiful brown eyes...

His own screams echoed through his skull...

She's dead...

He gasped, his hand going to his skull, his legs almost crumpling underneath him. Undyne and Sans heard him and rushed to his side, taking hold of him and helping him sit in one of the kitchen chairs.

"Papyrus! You okay? What happened?" Undyne asked as Sans quickly ran to get him some water.

His skull throbbed. "The human. Is the human okay?"

"I'm sure she's fine. She's probably in..." Undyne rubbed her head too, looking troubled. "You know what? I'm kind of worried too for some reason. I don't know. I just have a weird feeling. Maybe we better call her."

"Good idea." Sans said, giving his brother the glass of water. "I...kind of feel like she needs us too."

Papyrus nodded and shakily reached for his phone, managing to dial the human's number with trembling fingers. It rang once. Twice. His soul sank.

And then she finally answered.

...

Frisk jumped as her phone went off, fumbling for it. After a few tries, she managed to answer it. "Hello?" Her voice sounded a lot more shaky than she would have liked.

"HUMAN! IT'S THE GREAT PAPYRUS! I WAS JUST THINKING ABOUT YOU AND DECIDED TO CALL YOU UP!" His voice was cheerful, but Frisk could hear a bit of worry in it.

Frisk managed to smile a little, comforted by his voice. "Hey, Papyrus. Thanks so much for calling. It's really good to hear your voice."

As always, Papyrus knew something was wrong. "ARE YOU OKAY, HUMAN? I, WELL, HAD A BIT OF A BAD FEELING, AND I THINK IT WAS RIGHT. YOU SOUND LIKE SOMETHING'S BOTHERING YOU. ARE YOU OKAY?"

"I.." Frisk tried to figure out what to say, how to even explain this mess. But words failed her. All that came out was a stifled sob that made her twinge in embarrassment at how pathetic she sounded.

"I'M ON MY WAY." Papyrus said immediately. "WHERE ARE YOU?"

"T-The Core. At the very end." she told him. "But I'm okay. You don't have to..."

"NONSENSE! I WANT TO BE THERE FOR MY COOL FRIEND! I'M HEADING OUT THE DOOR NOW." Papyrus then hung up. Frisk stayed where she was and waited for him, trying to figure out how to explain all this to him.

...

It took less than ten minutes for Papyrus to reach his friend. She was standing at the end of the CORE, facing the door to the Capitol elevators and staring at it as if afraid someone was going to come out of it and attack her. Her whole body was tense, but Papyrus could see a barely noticeable tremble.

She didn't notice his approach, so he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. "Human?"

She gasped and whirled around, starting to put her hands up in a defensive gesture, her eyes wide with terror, which faded away as she recognized him. She slowly calmed down and put her hands down. "Oh. Hey, Papyrus." She tried to smile, but he could tell it was fake.

"Human, are you all right? What happened to you?" he asked softly.

"I..." She struggled to speak. Tears were forming in her eyes and she tried to blink them away, looking down at the ground, clearly trying to compose herself.

He pulled her into a hug. "Please don't hide. You know you don't have to around me." he said gently. "Now, are you really okay?" He pulled back just enough to look into her eyes, but kept his arms wrapped around her.

She hesitated a moment and then shook her head, her face crumpling. He hugged her tight again, and she buried her face in his scarf, her whole body shaking with sobs. She cried to him for a few minutes before composing herself. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, human. I want you to feel safe enough to express your feelings to me." he reassured her. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I don't know if you'll believe it. I barely believe it and it happened to me." she admitted.

"I'll always believe you, human. I know you wouldn't lie to me." he told her gently.

She sighed softly. "I don't even know how to start."

"Just start from the beginning."

She nodded shakily and took a deep breath before telling him everything.

And he remembered.

...

Papyrus shook with sobs, holding her close as she finished telling her story. His vision had been true. He had lost her. She had experienced death, and he hadn't been able to do a thing to help her. His dad was trapped in a dark and horrible sounding place, unable to leave, control his magic, or even keep his form, only able to watch and listen to the world without being able to interact with it.

And Flowey, who he thought was his friend, had done so many awful things. Some of his memories of the timelines were cloudy, but he remembered Flowey attacking him, crushing his skull when he had tried to reason with Flowey and get him to stop doing violence. He remembered Flowey attacking his brother, looming over him. He had been able to save Sans, but he knew now the cause of his brother's terrible night terrors and depression. Sans had been dealing with this pain and these memories for who knows how long, and had borne the burden without telling him. And he hadn't been able to protect him. He had only remembered the timelines before as nightmares, and he now knew Sans had done everything to keep him from having to remember. Sans was always trying to protect him.

Now it was his turn to protect Sans, his dad, and his human friend. Holding the human close, he checked her over for injuries.

"I'm okay." she reassured him. "Going back in time got rid of the big injuries, and your amazing spaghetti soup healed any injuries from the Core fights. Thank you so much for it, by the way. You saved my butt again."

"I'd do anything for you. You're my friend." he told her, cuddling her close.

The human trembled in his arms. "I'm sorry I haven't been such a great friend." she whispered. "I'm sorry for hurting you by dumping all this on you. I'm sorry I couldn't get your dad out of the Void."

He stroked her hair. "Human...none of this is your fault. You're an amazing friend! Don't ever doubt that! You tried your hardest to get Dad out, and not only that, but you found him, you brought messages back from him, and you might have found a way we can get him and everyone who worked with him out. This...This is the biggest breakthrough we've had. And...And I'm glad you trusted me enough to tell me everything. That's what a true friend does. I'm glad you don't hide things from me. You're important to me and I want to be there for you. I care about you so much." He clasped her hands in his own as he said this and looked into her beautiful brown eyes. And it struck him in this moment, just how much he cared for her, this girl who he could be the entirety of himself around. His soul fluttered and magic rushed to his cheekbones.

And he realized that he had fallen for her. Hard.

But he couldn't dump this on her, not like this when they were both an emotional mess and had much more important things to worry about. First, he needed to make sure she and Sans were safe and that Mettaton and Flowey couldn't hurt them, and he needed to help her get her sister back, and get his father back. Then, once everything was calm, and they were both peaceful and happy, he could see if she wanted to go on another date, if she still had feelings for him and hadn't been turned off by him acting like a total loser and then friendzoning her on their first date.

She was looking at him worriedly now and he realized he had just been sitting there staring at her for possibly a solid minute.

He gently squeezed her hand to reassure her. "It's going to be all right. We'll get through this together." He managed a big smile for her. "After all, you have the Great Papyrus by your side! I'll help you, and so will Sans and Undyne. You're not alone. We're here for you..." He was about to call her "human" like he normally did, but then he realized something.

In the almost week he had known her, despite how close they had become and how strongly he felt about her, he had never once asked for her name. In fact, looking back on it, he realized she had tried to introduce herself when they had first met, and he had been so excited about seeing and getting to capture a human that he had talked right over her.

She was his friend, and he wanted her to become more as well, and he had never even bothered to learn her name.

What kind of friend did that?

He was upset at himself, and of course she noticed. "Papyrus, are you okay?"

"I've made a grave error, human." he told her.

This got her even more worried. "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"We've been friends for almost a week, and I don't even know your name. In fact, I remember that you tried to introduce yourself and I interrupted you. I'm sorry." He looked down at this.

She smiled genuinely for the first time since he had come to meet her and let out a small laugh. "Hey, it's not a big deal. I've only actually been able to tell my name to one person down here, and your dad knows because he heard me tell that person, but neither he or the other person can tell anyone else, and I haven't been able to say my name to anyone else either. I'm pretty sure it's cursed."

"What do you mean? How can your name be cursed?"

"It's the weirdest thing. Literally every time I've tried to tell anyone other than that one person my name, I get interrupted or something stupid happens that cuts me off right before I can say it." She chuckled and shook her head.

"I'm sure your name isn't cursed." he reassured her. "It sounds to me like people just aren't listening when they should be. Try telling me your name now. I'm listening, and I won't interrupt."

She smiled at this. "All right. Let's try this one more time. I'm..."

"Guys!" Papyrus then heard Sans's voice call as his brother came running up to them, and his poor friend was cut off once again before she could say her name. She burst out laughing, and so did Papyrus.

"I SEE WHAT YOU MEAN." Papyrus told her, wrapping an arm around her.

"Geez, bro, you need to slow down." Sans panted as he came up to them. "I can't keep up with those freakishly long legs of yours, and you know it's too dangerous for me to teleport in Hotland."

"I'M SORRY, BROTHER. BUT MAYBE YOU SHOULD WORK OUT WITH ME AND UNDYNE!" Papyrus told him, wrapping his free arm around his brother and hugging him close. "THEN YOU'LL BE AS FAST AS I, AND FEEL MUCH BETTER BESIDES."

"Eh, I get enough exercise running my mouth." Sans joked.

"IT IS TRUE THAT YOUR MOUTH GETS MORE EXERCISE THAN YOUR BODY." Papyrus sighed, but with a fond smile as he released his brother. "BUT THAT'S BESIDE THE POINT. YOU ARRIVED JUST IN TIME, AND WE HAVE A LOT TO TALK ABOUT. THE HUMAN TOLD ME..." He then stopped, remembering what he and his friend had just been talking about, and that, due to the "name curse" he was beginning to believe was actually real, she still hadn't been able to say her name. "BUT, FIRST THINGS FIRST. BEFORE WE GET STARTED, THE HUMAN IS GOING TO TELL US HER NAME!"

"Nice. For some reason, I didn't know it. I've just been calling her "kiddo" or "Little Red." Sans said.

"You interrupted me when I tried to tell you." the human reminded his brother.

"TRY TELLING US AGAIN. SANS WON'T INTERRUPT THIS TIME." Papyrus told her, giving Sans a look. Sans gave a sheepish smile and nodded.

"My name's cursed. Somehow, someone's going to interrupt." she said with a shake of her head and a laugh. "it's gonna happen."

"IT IS TRUE THAT YOUR NAME MAY BE UNDER A SINSTER CURSE, BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM NOT GOING TO GIVE UP! YOU ARE TOO AMAZING TO REMAIN NAMELESS AND YOU DESERVE TO HAVE YOUR VOICE HEARD! SO I AM GOING TO TRY AS MANY TIMES AS I NEED TO UNTIL YOUR NAME CAN BE TOLD! THE CURSE WILL GIVE UP LONG BEFORE I!" Papyrus told her confidently.

She beamed, her smile beautiful and genuine, at his words, then took a deep breath. "I'm Frisk!" she blurted out quickly and loudly as if trying to get it out before someone interrupted. Her eyes widened. "I said it! And no one interrupted!" She looked to Papyrus and Sans. "You heard it, right?"

"OF COURSE, MY DEAR FRISK! I TOLD YOU THE CURSE WAS NO MATCH FOR THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Papyrus told her, smiling widely. She grinned happily, clearly ecstatic that she was finally able to tell others her name.

"Frisk, huh? That's a nice name, kid." Sans told her.

Papyrus nodded happily. "IT'S VERY CUTE!" he blurted out then could have smacked himself when he realized what he said. He blushed deeply. Nice going, Papyrus.

Though by the blush that appeared on her face as well, maybe his chances for that second date were better than he thought.

...

Sans watched, smiling, as his brother and Frisk fidgeted and looked down shyly at Papyrus's sudden remark. He had seen this coming. He glanced to Chara, and saw that the ghost girl was floating beside Frisk, giggling and making kissy faces at her and Papyrus. Apparently she had too.

He decided to give the two a moment to themselves. He'd talk to the kiddo about the LOAD later, but right now she was happy and Papyrus was happy, and the pain had been put aside for now, and he wanted them to have this. They both deserved it.

And he had a certain person he needed to catch up on things with.

"Welp, I'll give you two lovebirds a moment." he told Papyrus and Frisk, chuckling as they both turned bright red. He then focused his sockets on Chara. "Right now, I have a real CHARA-cter to talk to."

Chara jumped about a mile. She turned to Sans, her eyes wide. He grinned at her and winked. "Hey, Chara."

She froze for a second. "You...You can see me now?" she asked very softly. He nodded. She somehow looked both afraid and happy as she drifted closer. She then let out a sob and flung herself into his arms, hugging him tightly, burying her face into his chest. Her touch was cold and her body felt almost as light and fragile as air, but he could still feel her. He held her close, tears falling from his sockets as well as he savored every second of having his beloved friend back in his arms.

Chara was back, and for that moment, he felt complete.

His HoPe rose from one to two.

...

The whole time, Flowey hid unseen, having been watching to see how the human would react to the Load. She had been clearly badly shaken by her death, and he had been going to go out and try to get it through her thick skull once again that she needed to fight.

But then Papyrus had called, and very quickly arrived to his human friend's aid.

And the idiot had told him everything.

So Dr. Gaster had been the creepy thing that had stalked him whenever he died, the one that had always either just scared the crap out of him, or in later resets, had tried to rip his petals off. Interesting. He hadn't even recognized that distorted melty thing as his "Uncle Gaster."

And of course, the weak little human had to one-up him after stealing his powers and not only found out the identity of the "Void Stalker" on her very first death, but had BEFRIENDED him as well.

And not only that, but she told Papyrus everything Dr. Gaster had apparently told her, including about the games Flowey had played with his powers. And he could tell by Papyrus's face that the tall skeleton now remembered.

And now Papyrus wasn't going to trust him ever again, or he'd have to do some serious groveling for even a tiny bit of that trust to return. Either way, that plan was spoiled, and he couldn't just reset like he once could, because she had stolen his powers! She had ruined everything!

But he would have the advantage once he got the human souls, even if she was an annoying little thorn in his side. He'd kill her over and over and enjoy every second, make her beg for mercy that he wouldn't give her. Once he got bored, he'd take her soul, become a god, and break the barrier.

Then the world would be his plaything!

But then something happened, something that shook his world and tore his plan into tatters.

The smiley trashbag had come running up to them while Papyrus and the human had been babbling on about something stupid, mushy, and boring that Flowey had completely zoned out on. And while the human and Papyrus were celebrating the incredibly dumb accomplishment of the idiot being finally able to say her name without interruption, the trashbag had looked at the human and said something that immediately got Flowey's attention.

Just two little words.

"Hey, Chara."

Flowey stiffened in shock and stared, his anger immediately disappearing, wondering if either the smiley trashbag had gone crazy or he had. And then he saw it, just for a split second.

His sister, a translucent, phantasmic form, resonating from the human.

He gasped. Thankfully they didn't hear him. He ducked underground and burrowed away, trying to collect his thoughts, finding a private, quiet spot in Hotland away from everyone else where he could mull this over.

Suddenly it all made sense.

The human's similar appearance to Chara. Their soul colors being the same. The way she laughed when nervous or upset. How comfortable she seemed around monsters. The way she always seemed to know how to calm them, and did it the way Chara would have. As if part of her remembered, and knew what to do.

She was the reincarnation of Chara.

When he was still Asriel, he and Chara had once found a book on reincarnation and other mystic stuff in the dump. Chara had believed it was all a load of crap, but half-joked that if it wasn't, she wanted to come back as a monster.

Too bad you didn't get your wish, sis.

It sounded crazy, but it was possible. After all, he had come back as a flower, with all his memories but no soul. And apparently, she had come back with her soul, but not her memories.

And yet she had found her way home, back to him.

There was a phantom feeling of warmth at this, not nearly as strong as when he had his soul, but more than he had felt in a long time. Enough that he felt almost...happy.

It was as if Chara returning had brought part of him back as well.

He immediately scrapped his original plans. He wasn't going to face his sister as this soulless husk. He needed to become Asriel again, no, the god of Hyperdeath, and they would play in the garden like they once had, but play the games of gods, just him and Chara, together forever. He would bring her memories back, and he wouldn't let her leave him again.

And he had an idea on how to do it.

He had practically memorized everything in the Underground, and there was one plaque that told him exactly what he needed to do.

"Humans are unbelievably strong. It would take the SOUL of nearly every monster... ... just to equal the power of a single human SOUL."

Flowey grinned. It might not be easy; he would have to time everything perfectly and go around the whole Underground to set up his plan, but he was up to the challenge. And Chara, despite her lack of memories, had made a lot of friends down here, and if he played his cards right, he could get them right where he needed to be.

All the pieces would fall into place, and he would have everything he ever wanted.

...

Sans hugged Chara tight. "I missed you so much, Care. I'm so glad to have you back..."

"I...I missed you too. And I...I have a lot I need to talk to you about." she said very softly.

She sounded extremely sad and Sans guessed that it was because of her death and having lost so many years with her loved ones. "I do too. We have a lot to catch up on." he told her. She nodded but still wouldn't look at him. He was about to ask her what was bothering her when he heard Papyrus and Frisk speaking beside them.

"Who's Chara? And why is Sans hugging nothing?" Papyrus whispered to Frisk. He was trying to keep his voice down, but Sans still heard him. He turned, about to explain, but the kid beat him to it, grinning widely in what looked like relief.

"He's not. You remember that person I told you about earlier? The only one I was able to tell my name to?" Papyrus nodded, clearly confused. "Well, she's a ghost. And for some reason, until recently, only I could see and hear her. Her name's Chara, and she and Sans were really good friends when they were kids."

Papyrus squinted, obviously trying to see Chara. He then smiled. "I SEE HER! SHE'S THE SORT OF TRANSPARENT GIRL IN THE GREEN AND YELLOW STRIPED SHIRT WITH BROWN HAIR, RIGHT?"

Frisk nodded with a smile. "That's her."

"SHE LOOKS FAMILIAR..." Papyrus mused.

"You've met. She said she knew you guys when you were younger. And she's King Asgore's adopted daughter." Frisk explained.

"OH! I KNOW WHO SHE IS NOW! PRINCESS CHOCOLATE!"

Both Chara and Sans burst out laughing at this, Papyrus's old goofy nickname for Chara thankfully chasing away his friend's tears.

"Yep, that's her, bro. Princess Chocolate." Sans told him. Papyrus grinned widely and the kid also looked extremely happy to see him and Chara reunited. He wondered why she hadn't told him about Chara earlier, then remembered when the two of them had first met about how the poor kid had been confused, obviously hearing something he couldn't hear at one point. She probably had thought she was going crazy too, or thought if she told him, he would think she was crazy. Since he had thought the same thing himself when he started seeing Chara and also had tried to hide it, he couldn't fault Frisk for doing the same.

Frisk gave Chara a somewhat mischievous grin and a thumbs up as she and Papyrus moved aside slightly, obviously trying to give them a moment, and Chara blushed for some reason and glared a little at her. Frisk just giggled as she turned away.

"What was that about?" Sans asked her.

Chara's promiment blush deepened even further. "It was nothing!"

Sans blinked. "Um, okay. So, what was bothering you earlier?"

She looked down. "I..."

A loud beep cut her off and both Chara and Sans jumped and turned to see Frisk reaching out and saving her progress at the Save Point.

Papyrus didn't seem to notice the beep itself, but was clearly confused as to why Frisk was reaching out at what probably looked like nothing. "HUMAN, ARE YOU OKAY? DID YOU DROP SOMETHING OR DOES YOUR ARM HURT?"

She shook her head. "I'm just saving. I..I don't want to lose any of this." she admitted softly.

Papyrus wrapped an arm around her. "You won't. I'm not letting you get killed again."

Sans flinched. "You told him, didn't you?" he asked Frisk, his tone coming out a little angrier than intended.

She nodded. "I wanted to be honest with him. He deserved the truth, and there were things he needed to know. When I temporarily died, I ended up speaking to your dad." she said softly.

Sans's sockets widened. "Our dad? Where is he? Is he okay? How did this happen?"

"He and I were in this dark place. He calls it the Void and says it's like another dimension between space and time. And...he says he's okay, but...he does have trouble holding his form and it glitches sometimes. He says he's in no physical danger from this and that it's just a side effect from the Void, but it's still kind of worrying."

"It's going to be okay. We're going to get him out of there as quickly as possible." Papyrus told both of them.

Sans nodded. "We will. Frisk, did he say anything about how we could get him out of there?"

She nodded. "Yes. He says he's bound there by the Save Points that were created during the Core explosion and that theoretically he can get free if they and the Anomaly Of Time ability or whatever it's called is destroyed. I tried pulling him out myself when I loaded, but it failed, so I think that's the only solution. Is it possible for me to destroy it, or make it go away? Can I will it away or smash the button or something?"

"It would take a lot more power than any of us have to destroy the ability, kiddo. And I don't think you can just will it away, and even if you could...it would just transfer to someone else. And...there's a certain someone else I definitely don't want to get the ability back."

"Flowey." Papyrus said quietly.

"You remember, don't you?" Sans asked his brother softly, looking down. Chara wrapped her arms around him, trying to comfort him.

"Yes. Dad told Frisk and she told me." Papyrus told him.

"It was for the best. Papyrus needed to know how dangerous Flowey was." Chara said gently. "That way, Flowey can't catch him off his guard and he'll be able to protect himself. Your brother's strong and he's smart. He'll be okay."

"He needed to know, Sans." Frisk said softly. "I'm his friend. I can't just hide these things from him. Flowey's dangerous and I can't live with him or you or anyone else getting hurt because I didn't speak up."

"And I'm glad she was honest with me." Papyrus told him firmly. "Sans, I'm not a small child any more. You don't have to hide things from me." He moved from Frisk's side over to Sans, and picked him up, hugging him tight. "Sans...I know you want to protect me, but...I want to do the same for you. I don't want you to be hurting any more. You're my brother and I love you. I want to help, but I can't help as much if you keep things from me..." There were tears in his sockets. "I want to be there for you. Please let me."

Sans hugged his brother back just as tightly, clutching onto his scarf. "I'm so sorry, Paps." he whispered, tears in his sockets as well. "I just didn't want you to get hurt again...I told you once, and you tried to stop Flowey and protect me, and..." He tried to fight the tears, but couldn't any more and broke down.

Papyrus hugged him close, and the next thing he knew, two other sets of arms were around him as well, Chara's cool, light embrace and Frisk's solid warm one. He snuggled slightly into the hug pile, feeling a little better with them all close.

"Sans, I know you don't want me to get hurt, and I promise I'll be more careful from now on, but please, don't keep these kinds of things from me any more. I don't want to lose you either. I want you to be safe, and happy for real, and I'll always be there for you no matter what."

"The same goes for us. We're all here for you, Sans, and we love you so much." Chara told him.

Frisk nodded. "Chara and Papyrus are right. And Flowey no longer has that power, I do, and I'll do everything in my power to make sure you guys don't get hurt again, and I promise that I will be extremely careful with this power and not misuse it. Your dad warned me about it and how dangerous having that kind of power can be."

Sans smiled a little at this. "I'm glad you're taking this seriously, kid. I don't know how much Dad told you about what happened, but both he and I let ourselves believe this power could fix everything. We only realized too late how dangerous it truly was the night Dad fell into the Void. I should have known better that day and stopped him. I'm glad you learned the lesson much sooner and much safer than we did." He couldn't look at Papyrus, still blaming himself. Papyrus just hugged him tighter.

"Sans, none of what happened was your fault." Chara told him firmly.

Frisk placed a hand on his shoulder. "Chara's right. The failure with the time machine wasn't your fault, and your dad wants you to know that. He doesn't want you to blame yourself or feel guilty when it was his mistake. He feels terrible for talking you into it when you were reluctant. He admits he shouldn't have done that."

Papyrus nodded softly. "Sans, what happened was an accident, nothing more. Please don't blame yourself, brother." Sans finally nodded, a weight leaving his chest at the knowledge that his dad didn't blame him and the comforting words of his friends and brother.

"He also wants you to know he loves you both so much, and Papyrus, Dr. Gaster told me to tell you he's proud of who you are and who you've become and that you're going to be the best Royal Trainer the Kingdom Of Monsters has ever had." Frisk reported.

Papyrus's eyes lit up at this, his voice rising back to normal in sheer joy. "HE KNOWS ABOUT THAT?"

"He can see everything from within the Void. That's how he knew about everything that happened." Frisk told him.

"CAN HE SEE ME NOW?"

"I'm pretty sure he can." Frisk reassured him.

"HI DAD!" Papyrus called. "WE LOVE YOU TOO, AND WE'RE GOING TO BRING YOU HOME! AND THEN YOU CAN SEE MY SENTRY STATION AND SANS'S LAB AND WE CAN DO ALL THE COOL STUFF WE ONCE DID! STAY DETERMINED! WE'LL SEE YOU SOON!"

"We will." Sans added, and he was actually starting to believe it. His soul felt lighter than it had in a long time. Chara was by his side, he knew where his dad was, Flowey no longer had the power of Reset and while Frisk did, he believed her word that she wouldn't misuse it.

It was starting to fill him with Hope.

His HP rose from two to three.

...

Gaster watched smiling from within the Void. "I can't wait to see you again, boys." he said to his sons, even though he knew they couldn't hear him. At least they knew he was there and could see them, and for now, that was enough.

But there was something still bothering him. He turned to the figure that was with him in the Void, watching the scene with him. "Are you sure it was a good idea to keep who Flowey actually is from Frisk?"

"Yes." the figure replied. "It's best she didn't know yet. If she accidentally let it slip, Flowey would either have found a way to truly hurt her or, if told a little later, it would increase his obsession with the idea of her being Chara. I don't want to see Frisk hurt any more than you do. And we need to make sure not to interfere too much. Things may be playing out differently in this timeline, and in many ways better, but certain things still need to happen. People need to meet in certain places at certain times, and Asriel needs to reveal himself on his own."

"Are you sure they'll be okay?"

"I won't lie, things will be hard at times, but they'll be all right. With the knowledge you did give Frisk, how much your boys are helping her, and how determined little Frisk is to help her friends, I believe they'll triumph." The figure smiled. "It's only a matter of time."

...

Ten minutes later, the three stood together, Frisk having filled them in on everything that had happened.

"Now I just need to get past Mettaton. And I'm not sure how." Frisk admitted softly, looking to the door with no small amount of fear. "I don't know how to talk him down. He thinks killing me, taking my soul, and going out to reason with the humans is the best way to save both monsters and humans, and he thinks I'm too weak to survive Asgore." She paces a little, thinking. "I need to defeat him somehow. Maybe if I show him I'm strong enough, he'll let me go. There's got to be a way."

"You're not going alone." Papyrus told her immediately. "I'm going with you. I believe in you, and I know you're strong, but...I don't want to see you get hurt again. I think I can talk him down."

She looked at him in worry. "Papyrus, what if YOU got hurt? I at least can't die, but what if Mettaton went after you?"

Sans looked worried. "This isn't a good idea. Paps, you promised me you'd be careful, and if Mettaton got it in his head to kill an innocent teenage girl, I don't trust him around you either. And Frisk, I know you can't die, but I still don't want you to be so reckless with your safety, and I don't want to see you get hurt any more than Papyrus does." Both Frisk and Papyrus looked down sheepishly and nodded. "There has to be a safer way to do this. Maybe I can try a shortcut and get us straight past him to the Capitol."

"Okay, that's probably a better idea." Frisk admitted.

Papyrus was unsure. "Sans, the Core's all rearranged, which means the distance would be a lot harder to judge, and you don't know the area as well as you do Snowdin and Waterfall. Which means you could end up through a wall, again, or falling off a cliff, or into lava, especially since you'd be bringing all of us with you, or at least be bringing us over one at a time. I don't want you to hurt yourself."

"Okay, you have a point, but I know I can get us to the elevator leading to the castle." Sans told them.

"That could work." Frisk said, then realized something. "But I think Mettaton has all the elevators under his control. He made sure I couldn't use them earlier."

"I can hack them." Sans reassured her.

Frisk relaxed at this. "Just let me save first." she said and did so, then hoisted her bag over her shoulder, making sure she had a good grip on it so she wouldn't lose it. "Okay, ready."

Papyrus smiled and took her hand, then took his brother's. "Then let us go!"

Sans nodded, grasped Chara's hand with his free one, and prepared to shortcut, focusing carefully on their destination. But at the second they made the jump, Frisk's phone rang, distracting him enough that his grip slipped on his brother and Frisk. He and Chara landed right where they was supposed to, in front of the King's elevator.

But to his horror, Frisk and Papyrus were nowhere in sight.

...

Mettaton sighed as he waited onstage at the Core's End. His mercenaries had failed to kill the human.

So now it was up to him. For the sake of humans and monsters, he knew what he had to do, even if it destroyed him inside to do it.

The minutes dragged on, but he knew she was coming. She had to if she wanted to go home.

Any second now she would come through the door with a smile, her brown eyes sparkling with life and trust.

And he was going to take that life and betray that trust.

I'm doing what I have to.

An image flashed through his mind of a crumpled little body on the ground, of the light leaving glassy brown eyes that stared at him accusingly like the murderer he was.

He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to push the image away. No matter what happened today, she would die. She was far too weak, so thin a strong breeze could blow her away, and she was too gentle to lay a hand on anyone, even when they tried to kill her. She wanted to reason with Asgore, but Mettaton knew the king would have no sympathy for her, no matter how small and fragile and sweet she was, or if he did, he would push it away and take her as simply the final soul.

Just like he had stolen the soul of the sixth human to fall into the Underground.

Her name was Andrea. She had rich mocha skin and long flowing black hair. She wanted to make movies and carried her script ideas in a tattered notebook that was constantly at her side. She wore stylish glasses when she was reading, which were always sliding down her nose and smudged from where she pushed them back up. She had a light friendly laugh and a soul that glowed a deep, warm purple.

She had been his friend.

He had met her in Waterfall, before he had gotten his body, while he was still a simple snail farmer with big dreams. She had been wary and startled when they first met, and had almost smacked him with that notebook of hers, but quickly relaxed when she realized he meant her no harm. He let her stay at his house to eat some food and rest. They talked and laughed, talking about their favorite movies, and she showed him her scripts, which he raved over. She was a talented writer and her stories were wonderful and engaging, ones he wished he could act in. He told her of his dreams and she happily encouraged him, and had the widest smile when he acted out some of the scenes of her movies. She told him she hoped he would come to the surface and make movies to thrill the world with her and her fiancé.

She was supposed to get married to the love of her life that spring. Her eyes sparkled as much as the dainty diamond ring on her finger when she told Mettaton about the man she loved. Mettaton, being the romantic he was, had been all too happy to listen to her plans and give her some ideas of his own to make her wedding even more magnificent.

She was only twenty three, with her whole life ahead of her.

Until Asgore had taken that life away.

She had been strong, with sixty HP and a soul full of Perseverance. Mettaton knew from whispers that she had fought as hard as she could for her life, had even injured Asgore, and yet she hadn't stood a chance.

Her soul had been taken, as had her future.

And even her name.

If she was ever even spoken of, she was only called Purple Soul. To everyone in the Underground but him, she was simply a means to break the barrier, just a soul, not a person with a life of her own and a family.

A family that would be destroyed if Asgore broke the barrier and started a war against humanity.

Which is why he had to do what he had to do.

For Andrea's family, and the rest of humanity to live, the little red souled human would have to die.

He looked again at the door, waiting for her to come in, steeling himself.

And then two figures popped out of literally nowhere and landed on the floor in front of him.

...

Frisk face-planted into the ground, the wind getting knocked out of her as Papyrus landed on top of her. She groaned and squirmed to get free, looking up to try to figure out where the hell they were.

Only to come face to screen with Mettaton.

Both she and Papyrus leapt to their feet, Papyrus trying to pull Frisk protectively behind him as Frisk tried to stand protectively between him and Mettaton, resulting in a weird, loopy sidestep and them almost tripping over each other as they watched Mettaton warily.

She couldn't tell what Mettaton was thinking as he lacked a face, but he soon spoke, his voice sounding as awkward and confused as they clearly felt. "Well. Well, well, welly, well. This...certainly wasn't what I expected."

Papyrus chuckled nervously. "Nyeh..heh... Well, this isn't supposed to be where we ended up! But no matter! We'll be on our way and let you get back to your show! It was very nice to meet you, Mettaton! Come along, Frisk! Let's go catch up with my brother!" He gently pulled at Frisk's arm and she quickly followed him as Papyrus took long, confident strides towards the door. She hoped Mettaton would be caught too off guard to stop them.

But Mettaton quickly regained composure, rocket boosters propelling him into the air as the robotic star flew between them and the door. "You can go, skeleton. The human stays." he said firmly.

Papyrus tightened his grip on Frisk's arm. "No. Let her go with me, Mettaton. I know you're a better person than this. There has to be a better way to help humans and monsters and even if there isn't, I'm not letting you hurt my friend."

"We know you're the one who's been fucking with the Core, Mettaton. We know you're the one who hired the mercenaries to kill me. We know you turned Alphys's plan into a murder plot." Frisk said angrily. "I thought you were better than this, you know. I trusted you."

"I never gave you any reason to trust me, darling." Mettaton said, though there was a faint sound of remorse in his voice. "And you're right about everything. I rearranged the Core. I hired those mercenaries to kill you. But don't fear, gorgeous. I have no intention of harming humanity. All I wish for is to be a star. With your soul I'll cross the barrier and convince the humans to break it myself! I'll be the shining hero who saves both humans and monsters!"

Frisk snorted, then started laughing, hysteria bubbling within her. Papyrus looked concerned and Frisk felt his arm wrap around her, which grounded her enough to calm down a little. She faced Mettaton and her lips twisted into a smile that she felt was probably only a little deranged from his slight flinch. "You'll be a hero? How do you expect to explain to the humans that you killed a teenage girl? How do you expect them to accept you with blood on your hands? Newsflash, Mettaton, they won't."

"Frisk isn't wrong, Mettaton. Violence isn't the answer!" Papyrus told him, keeping Frisk close to him and trying to calm her as he spoke. "But you can still help save everyone! Just help us! As soon as King Asgore realizes Frisk means no harm, I know he'll let her go through the barrier to get her sister and Frisk will help us break it from the outside. You can help us convince the king, and everyone will be free, and you'll be a big star in both the Underground and on the surface, and no blood will have to be shed."

"Darling, don't you think I would have done exactly that if it would have worked?" Mettaton said with a sigh. "Look, I don't want to do it this way either, but even if it was possible for a human to get through the barrier, which it isn't, Asgore simply won't let her. He'll fight her, he'll kill her, and he'll use her soul to break the barrier. She's too weak to defeat him. At least this way, her family won't go down with her. If you truly care for her, walk away now."

"First of all, I'm right fucking here." Frisk said angrily. "And who are you to decide I'm weak?! Who are you to judge whether I'll live or die? I think I'm a much better judge of that, and I'm going to live."

"Frisk's right. She's strong. She always has been, and if you can't see it, well, I guess that's your problem. And she has the Great Papyrus and all her other friends by her side, believing in her and helping her. And I'm not leaving her either. So you can either let us go or face us both." Papyrus said firmly. He took Frisk's hand and squeezed it gently.

Frisk squeezed back, and even smiled a little at his support, though she was worried about his safety. "Papyrus, you don't have to stay. You can go. I can handle him." she whispered.

"I know." Papyrus whispered back, the sincerity in his voice letting her know how much he truly did believe in her strength. "But as a Royal Guard in training, and more importantly, as your friend, I could never leave you behind to face danger on your own! We shall fight together!" Despite the horrible situation, Frisk could feel her soul soar as she stood hand in hand with Papyrus, facing Mettaton defiantly.

"Oh my...Two lovers staring over the edge of the cauldron of hell. Do they both wish for death? That means their love will end in hell." Mettaton said dramatically, raising his arm over his screen in a fake swoon. Frisk glared at him, though she was also pretty sure she was blushing and hoped Papyrus couldn't see it. She didn't know he was doing the same.

"Such strength! Such passion! This means...It's time to show you my own!" Mettaton reached back, and...flipped his own switch. Again, he glowed with a blinding light, causing Frisk and Papyrus to shield their eyes. "Ohhhh yes..." As the light faded, Mettaton stood there in his now familiar humanoid form, posing dramatically under the spotlights that now shone above them. "I've been waiting for the perfect moment for the glorious debut of my new body! And now, my worthy adversaries...I'm going to make your last living moments...absolutely beautiful!"

...

"Damn it, Damn it, Damn it!" Sans growled angrily at himself as he raced up the hall, looking into every room, Chara quickly following behind. "Papyrus! Frisk! C'mon, guys, where are you?"

"Frisk? Papyrus?" Chara called, just as worried. The ghost girl phased through several walls, frantically looking for her friends.

"Damn it...I can't believe I lost my grip...What if they're hurt or they fell off the Core or..."

"Sans, try to calm down." Chara told him, though she was clearly just as worried as he was. "If they're in real trouble, Frisk would have LOADED."

Sans couldn't even think straight. "But what if they're trapped in the Void, or..." He turned to look worriedly at Chara, not watching where he was going.

His best friend's eyes widened. "Sans, watch out!"

Before Sans could react, he found himself crashing into a scaly body, who let out a very familiar startled squeak as they both tumbled to the ground. Sans let out an "Oof!" as he landed on his butt and looked up into the worried eyes of Alphys.

"S-Sans? What are you doing here?" Alphys asked nervously.

"That doesn't matter. I need to find my brother and the human, because your pet robot's on a rampage and trying to take out the human." Sans said, a little angrily.

Alphys raised her shaking hands, clearly trying to pacify him. "M-Mettaton's not going to hurt her...This is my fault...I needed the human to trust me...and I came up with this stupid, selfish plan, but..."

"And Mettaton's taking your plan into his own hands. He actually is trying to kill her. I need you to find out his location and find where the human and Papyrus are right now."

"H-He wouldn't..."

"Alphys, I don't have time to argue about this! I need to find them now!" Sans yelled more loudly than he intended.

"O-Okay." Alphys pulled out her tablet and went into the camera feed, going through all the rooms. Sans's soul sank as he saw his brother and Frisk were in the room with Mettaton, facing him. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but Mettaton was clearly blocking the door. Frisk looked angry and was yelling while Papyrus was clearly worried and looked to be trying to pacify both of them. Papyrus and Frisk then joined hands and faced Mettaton.

"Don't be reckless! Load and get out of there!" Sans yelled at the screen. He noticed Alphys looking at him in confusion but didn't bother to elaborate.

"It-It's going to be okay! I'll...I'll unlock the door and tell Mettaton to stop the show...He's just doing this because of me..." Alphys said quietly, then rushed to the door and tried to pull it open. The door wouldn't budge. "What's going on? I can't get in!"

"I told you, Alphys, things just got real!" Sans told her, then gasped as Mettaton flipped his own switch, turning into the dark haired figure that would probably haunt his nightmares tonight.

"This isn't supposed to be happening!" Alphys cried out. "Mettaton, what are you doing in there?!" The three didn't seem to hear her as Mettaton formed heart shaped bullets all around him and Frisk and Papyrus tensed, ready to dodge.

Alphys gasped and pulled out her tools, struggling to unlock the door. Sans quickly prepared to teleport inside, but was stopped when Chara grabbed his arm.

"It's not going to help either of them if you get yourself killed teleporting in there when Mettaton's firing bullets. Help Alphys get the door unlocked. I'll help Frisk and Papyrus."

"But..." Sans startled. Alphys glanced to him, clearly thinking he was talking to her as she of course couldn't see Chara.

Chara touched his cheek. "It's going to be okay. I've helped Frisk before. And she and Papyrus are some of the strongest people I've ever known. We'll be fine. Trust us." Sans nodded and Chara flew through the wall.

...

Frisk felt rather than saw it when Chara joined her side again as she and Papyrus dodged the wave of bullets sent at them by Mettaton. She could feel the heat of them, but this time was ready, and got through them unscathed. Glancing to Papyrus, she was relieved to see he was similarly unhurt.

"Frisk, look out!" Chara yelled and Frisk quickly leapt out of the way as Mettaton viciously kicked out at her. Papyrus tried to get to her to help, but Mettaton sent a small wave of bullets at him, though Frisk noticed his attacks weren't nearly as vicious with the tall skeleton.

Papyrus easily dodged the attack and sent some small bones under Mettaton's feet to trip him up. Mettaton stumbled but quickly caught his balance, and sent a flying kick at the skeleton. Papyrus leapt out of the way, and Mettaton feinted to the left, only to strike Papyrus hard in the ribs with a sudden and fierce right kick, knocking him to the ground. Chara gasped as Papyrus fell and rushed to help him, even though she couldn't do anything against Mettaton.

"PAPYRUS!" Frisk screamed and let out a cry of rage as she rushed at Mettaton, dodging a fast bullet from him, raising her fist as she prepared to punch his lights out and beat him to a metallic pulp. She wanted so badly to hurt him for hurting her friend and crush. To make him pay...

Then she remembered something.

Gaster's voice, soft and kind but stern. "Don't sink to his level, Frisk. Remember your promise to the others."

Papyrus's firm belief only a few minutes ago. "Violence isn't the answer."

Toriel's warm, loving words. "Now, despite what that horrible, horrible flower told you, violence is NOT the best way to handle a fight, little one. Sometimes talking will calm everything down, and kind actions will help ease a conflict. Sometimes monsters will attack if they're angry or afraid, but stay calm and be gentle. There's always a way to end a fight peacefully with no bloodshed."

Chara and Sans, who had so little reason to trust humans, believing in her.

"I like that you've shown compassion to monsters even when attacked and that you've never given up on anything, even when it's hard. You've got a good heart, Frisk."

"You haven't, even for a second, made me regret keeping that promise. You've given a lot of monsters hope. I'm rooting for you."

She wasn't going back to fighting like a frightened animal like she had on the school playground against the kids who picked on her. The Underground had taught her better than that. She owed it to her friends to be a better person than this.

She owed it to herself.

"No." she said aloud, lowering her fist. Mettaton seemed surprised, and in the eyes of his new body, she saw something else.

Regret.

"Papyrus, you okay?" she called to her friend in the brief moment Mettaton hesitated.

Papyrus was already on his feet. He had a small crack on his ribs but still smiled. "I'm fine, Frisk!" She smiled and not taking her eyes off Mettaton, tossed him a Nice Cream from her bag, blocking the path to him to give him the chance to recover.

"What are you trying to prove, darling?" Mettaton asked.

"That I'm strong. That I'm better than this. And that...I think deep down, you are too." she said calmly, standing tall.

"I have nothing to prove, sweetheart. I'm the idol everyone craves!" Mettaton said proudly, though she could again see the regret in his eyes as he summoned bullets, this time shaped like him.

"You're going to hit me again? Go ahead. Try. I'm not going to get hit at ALL." she said, puffing out her chest, showing the same pride he did. Mettaton chuckled and shot the bullets at her, though she briefly noticed he was careful not to send too many Papyrus's way. Frisk ducked and weaved, and somehow, with Chara alerting her to unseen attacks and her own dodging abilities, even though the Mettaton bullets shot out heart shaped bullets as well, managed to dodge every single one.

"Nice!" Chara called to her.

Frisk felt exhilarated. "I have no clue how the fuck I did that!"

Chara yelled out a warning as Mettaton again leapt forward and Frisk ducked under the flying leg, only to get kicked in the stomach and sent flying. Before she could hit the ground, warm bony arms caught her and she was pulled behind Papyrus, who struck Mettaton with a large bone, expertly parrying each kick.

Frisk swiftly took a bite of spaghetti in the moment Papyrus gave her to recover, feeling much better afterwards. She heard Papyrus cry out triumphantly, "You're no match for the great Papyrus!" before posing just as dramatically as Mettaton, and then caught a glimpse of a set of numbers on the board above their heads. It read "Ratings." and climbed steadily.

She didn't even KNOW there was over 6,000 monsters in the Underground.

And then she had an idea. This was exactly how she was going to show Mettaton the light. Mettaton, above all else, was a star. He clearly loved his viewers and cared about his fans. All this crap about killing her, about wanting to become a hero for both humans and monsters, was all for them.

She needed to show him he was indeed a star, not a killer. She need to show him that's all they needed him to be. And to do that, she needed to do exactly what Papyrus right now was doing so naturally.

She needed to be a star too, to connect with Mettaton the way she had during the opera when they acted together on the stage.

She pulled out her phone and subtly hit the laser button.

Mettaton gave a pose of his own, standing on one leg, raising an arm over his head, and another over one eye as he gave a smirk to the camera. "Smile for the camera, darlings!" More Mettaton shaped bullets came flying at them, along with a set of square boxes with a single glowing yellow dot that moved as the row rushed towards Papyrus, who was still standing between her and the attacks, not giving him any room to dodge. Having an idea, Frisk leapt forward, shooting her laser at the glowing yellow dot, hoping to give Papyrus enough space to dodge. It worked even better than expected, pushing the whole row aside and away from her friend. Papyrus gave her a grin and sent out a small bone as the next row came, expertly hitting the yellow bullet in that row and propelling the bullets away as the two gracefully dodged the Mettaton bullets that came as well, though Frisk, slower than Papyrus, did get grazed and burned slightly on her arm.

"You okay, Frisk?" Chara asked.

Frisk nodded to her friend and posed triumphantly as the attacks stopped, hands on her hips, ignoring the burn. "You can't stop us, Mettaton!"

"NOT WHEN WE WORK TOGETHER!" Papyrus cried out, striking a heroic pose. Frisk could hear the crowd going wild, or maybe it was just a sound effect, but either way, this seemed to be working.

There was the sound of a bell and Mettaton yelled, "Ooh, pop quiz time! What do you love most about Mettaton?"

Both Papyrus and Frisk blinked.

"Really? You expect any of us to say nice things about you after this crap?" Chara asked, rolling her eyes.

"UM, YOU HAVE VERY NICE HAIR, BUT I DON'T LIKE THAT YOU WERE MEAN TO FRISK." Papyrus said, being too much of a nice guy to say anything too mean.

Frisk was much more blunt with her opinion of him. "You're a jerk...but I guess you're a jerk with nice legs."

"That's right! Legs was the correct answer!" Mettaton praised, not seeming to care about the rest of Frisk's response. Frisk rolled her eyes and Papyrus just shrugged. Mettaton just posed more for the camera, clearly having the time of his life.

Frisk's soul felt a little lighter. They just needed to keep this up a little longer. Both she and Papyrus took more dramatic poses.

Mettaton's chest glowed and exposed the soft pink heart at his core. "Your answers really showed everyone your hearts. Now let me show you mine!" The heart summoned more Mettaton shaped bullets and many more in a zig zag shape, filling the whole room with their glowing light. Frisk and Papyrus dodged and weaved, Papyrus covering Frisk with bone walls and small attacks against the Mettaton bullets, finding out quickly that it would break them up before they could send out the heart shaped ones. This and alerts from Chara about any approaching danger allowed Frisk to focus on Mettaton's exposed heart, and she fired her laser rapidly in succession at it, knowing from what Mettaton said that it was basically a pea shooter and wouldn't kill him. Both she and Papyrus were hit a few times, causing some burns and scratches, but made it through the massive attack intact.

"YOU'LL HAVE TO TRY MUCH HARDER TO DEFEAT US, METTATON!" Papyrus boasted.

Mettaton shuddered as the jolts of electricity from Frisk's laser went through his Core, but still kept smiling and posing. "Ooh, I'm just warming up!" More bullets shaped like his box form came flying at them, but Frisk and Papyrus remained calm, Frisk using her laser and Papyrus using his bone attacks to shoot them down like they were clay pigeons before they could create any more bullets. With Papyrus's boast proven true, the ratings surged.

"But how are you both on the dance floor?" Mettaton asked with a smirk, hitting a button that lowered a disco ball above them. Lasers shot from it, some white, some blue, that blocked any path of escape. Papyrus struck it with a bone attack, trying to destroy it, and the lasers changed colors.

"Papyrus! The lasers change when it's hit!" Frisk called. Papyrus nodded and hit the ball with bone attacks at a steady rhythm as they danced and moved with the lasers, allowing them to get through without harm. The audience cheered as Frisk and Papyrus both gave a V for victory pose.

Mettaton's grin widened. "But can you keep up the pace?" He turned the disco ball up, causing the lasers to go much faster. Working as a team, Frisk and Papyrus struck at the ball and danced their way through with only a minor burn on Papyrus's leg from a misstep. Still, Papyrus posed and the audience cheered even louder.

"Lights! Camera! Bombs!" Mettaton called, summoning both bomb shaped bullets and boxes that were impenetrable by the laser. Frisk found out the hard way that if the bomb was hit, it would explode at them and got a big burn on her stomach and arm for her troubles, but Papyrus picked her up, shooting down the bombs and rapidly getting them through.

"Time for our union required break!" Mettaton called and a simple sign that read Happy Breaktime showed up with no other attack.

Frisk and Papyrus took the opportunity to quickly share one of the containers of spaghetti Papyrus had packed Frisk, sighing in relief as the healing magic rushed through them, their wounds fading away.

Chara looked to them worriedly. "Are you guys all right?"

"We're fine, thanks to Papyrus. Both for the save, and for all the food he packed for me." Frisk told her, giving Papyrus an appreciative smile and a grateful look.

Chara smiled at this. "It was truly nice of him. He's an amazing person."

Frisk grinned at this as she and Papyrus turned to Mettaton again as the breaktime sign disappeared.

"Things are blowing up!" Mettaton said as he posed yet again for the camera, sending another wave of the same attack. This time, Papyrus and Frisk were ready and got through it without injury, working together to destroy the bombs.

"YOU'LL HAVE TO DO BETTER THAN THAT!" Papyrus called to Mettaton as Frisk gave a heroic pose beside him.

"We've grown so distant, darlings! How about another heart to heart?" Mettaton asked mockingly, revealing his heart shaped core again. Frisk had no clue why he kept revealing this clearly more fragile part of himself.

Maybe he did truly want to show them his heart.

The heart surrounded itself with the fragile boxes that could be easily broken by her laser and summoned more of the zig zag bullets. Frisk and Papyrus dodged, Papyrus sending small bones at the boxes and Frisk shooting electricity from the laser at the heart as they did.

And then, much to their shock and horror, another jolt went through Mettaton's body...and his arms literally fell off.

Frisk and Papyrus gasped. "That wasn't supposed to happen...Mettaton told me this thing was basically a pea shooter! I just wanted to stop him...Not dismember him!" Frisk cried out. She didn't like Mettaton, but after everything she told herself she wouldn't do, after seeing the regret in his eyes...she didn't want to be a killer.

"I think it overloaded his core." Chara told her. "It's not your fault, Frisk. He's literally trying to kill you, remember?"

"It's not your fault, human. Mettaton, we need to stop this now. You're hurt. Just let us go." Papyrus pleaded.

Mettaton got to his feet. "I already told you can't destroy me with that little pea shooter, darling. Disrupt my core slightly, yes. Kill me, no. And I'm not giving up yet!" He posed on one leg, even without arms, clearly determined. "After all, who needs arms with legs like these?! I'm still going to win, and the two of you better not hold anything back! You want me to believe you can face Asgore?! Prove it!"

He sent another set of boxes and bombs at them, forcing them to dodge and destroy the bombs.

"They're coming back!" Chara screamed as the attacks suddenly reversed. Frisk pulled Papyrus out of the way of another bomb before it exploded and while taking a little damage, they both survived the attack intact.

"Come on!" Mettaton sounded angry, and Frisk wasn't sure if it was at himself or them as he sent more of the same type of attack, which also reversed itself once it had finished, forcing the three of them to be constantly on their guard. Thankfully, they were again able to make it through, and despite being hurt, posed dramatically. The audience screamed.

"D-Drama...Action..." Mettaton sent a huge wave of bombs and boxes, but despite the size, it lacked the strength and finesse of the others and also didn't reverse. Frisk and Papyrus dodged or destroyed every single attack, though each stuffed spaghetti in their mouths afterwards to keep them going, as Mettaton, despite his injuries, still had determination in his eyes to keep going as well.

"L-Lights...Camera...Enough of this! Do you truly want humanity to perish?!" Mettaton asked angrily as he sent out his next wave of bombs.

"They're not going to!" Frisk yelled as she and Papyrus dodged the attacks. "No one's going to be destroyed! Once I talk to Asgore..."

"He'll kill you! Just like he killed her!" Mettaton yelled.

"Who?" both Frisk and Papyrus asked in shock.

Mettaton said something in a false cheerful voice about a commercial break, then switched off the cameras before locking eyes with Papyrus. "You weren't the only one that was friends with a human." he said softly. He looked at Frisk then. "Andrea. The girl that fell before you. The one who helped inspire me to be a star. She thought she could get past Asgore too. I believed her. We were both wrong."

"Oh god...no...Dad couldn't have...he wouldn't...Not an innocent person..." Chara said over and over, tears in her eyes.

Frisk covered her mouth, her heart aching for both the human girl and for Mettaton. She understood now. Beside her, Papyrus let out a soft sob.

"I swore that I wouldn't let this war happen! That I'd save both humans and monsters! That I wouldn't let her family die with her! And I'm going to! Even if I have to..."

"But you don't have to!" Papyrus yelled before Frisk could speak. "Frisk isn't going to die! I don't know why the king did what he did to your friend. It wasn't right. But...I'm not going to let you make me lose my friend either. And I know you don't actually want to, nor would your friend want you to do that. I know you're scared. But you can do a little better. Even if you don't think so. And so can King Asgore. I promise. We can end this all peacefully. No one has to get hurt, or die."

"I'm sorry about Andrea, Mettaton. I truly am." Frisk said softly. Chara nodded as well, but seemed to be so shaken she couldn't speak. "But I swear to you, I will live, and humanity will be fine, and monsters will be free. I'll personally make sure her family is okay."

Mettaton laughed as if not believing her. "Ha..Ha...How inspiring. Such passionate words, but can you truly back it up without your skeleton and ghost friend there with you? I've seen your strength when you all fight together, and I have to admit I'm impressed. But what will happen if you somehow end up alone? Can you truly survive that?"

Frisk stood her ground. "Yes." She motioned to Chara and Papyrus to back away. They both looked worried, but she smiled. "I'll be fine. Let me prove it to you."

Papyrus and Chara reluctantly stepped aside. "I BELIEVE IN YOU, HUMAN!" Papyrus called.

"Me too! Kick his ass!" Chara told her.

Mettaton turned the camera on. "How dramatic! The final showdown between me and the human! But we already know who will win! Let's see the true power of humanity's star!" Once again, he exposed his heart, and Frisk grabbed her phone.

It was a desperate final attack; like Papyrus's, combining every element of the fight. Bombs exploded, the sound filling her ears as she dodged, ducking out of the way of zigzag bullets as she shot at his heart. He jumped at her, kicking with vicious speed, but even though she was hurt, she wouldn't let him knock her down. She kept her eyes on him the entire time, her soul glowing with determination. It was that way for several moments, Mettaton attacking with more and more desperation, Frisk holding strong despite any injuries, dodging kicks and bombs and bullets, not giving up. For the last time, she shot at his core. Not out of hatred, not out of anger, but out of caring, wanting to reassure him that her story didn't have to end the same way as his friend's.

Because deep down, she knew that losing more of the people he cared about what what he was truly afraid of.

There was a loud cracking sound as his legs fell off, his head and torso falling to the ground. Frisk dropped her phone and walked over to him, kneeling beside him as she checked him over. "Are you all right?"

Mettaton was looking up at the screen in awe. "Just look at these ratings! This is the most viewers I've ever had!"

"Because that's what's important, not the fact that your limbs are blown off." Chara said sarcastically as she came running up with Papyrus.

Mettaton just ignored her. "We've reached the viewer call in milestone! One lucky viewer will have the chance to talk to me...before I leave the Underground forever!" Despite being a head and a torso, he still gave the camera his trademark smile. "Let's see who calls in first." A phone that must have been built into Mettaton rang, and Mettaton answered. "Hi! You're on TV! What do you have to say on this, our last show?"

"Oh..." Frisk heard a soft, familiar voice say. It sounded like Napstablook. "Hi...Mettaton...I really liked watching your show...My life is pretty boring...but... Seeing you on the screen...brought excitement to my life...vicariously. I can't tell...but I guess this is the last episode...I'll miss you...mettaton...oh...I didn't mean to talk so long...oh..."

"No, wait! Wait, Bl..." But before Mettaton could finish what he was saying, Napstablook hung up. "H...They already hung up..." He looked sad, but managed to smile again. "I'll take another caller!"

Calls came flooding through the system. "Mettaton, your show made us so happy!"

"Mettaton, I don't know what I'll watch without you."

"Mettaton, there's a Mettaton shaped hole in my Mettaton shaped heart!"

"They need you down here, Mettaton. You're the only star we monsters have, and we do all truly love your show." Papyrus said gently. "You don't need to go up there to be a hero. You can still be one to everyone right here."

"Ah...I...I see. Everyone...thank you so much." He turned to Papyrus. "Darling, you're right. It...might be better if I stayed down here for a while. Humans already have stars and idols...but monsters...they only have me. If I left...the Underground would lose its spark. And..." He turned to Frisk. "You've proven you truly are strong. Maybe even strong enough to get past Asgore...even...even if you may have to do something I know you don't want to. I'm holding you to your promise, Frisk. I'm sure you'll be able to protect humanity. And I know that you'll help her." He looked up at Papyrus and Chara. "Ha..Ha...It's all for the best anyway. The truth is...this form's energy consumption...is inefficient. In a few moments...I'll run out of battery power...and.." Both Frisk and Papyrus looked concerned, and Chara looked like she wasn't sure whether to be or not. "Don't worry. I'll be all right. Knock em' dead, darlings! And everyone...You've been a great audience!" His eyes then dimmed as his batteries went out, his voice fading away, leaving a shaken Frisk, Papyrus, and Chara staring at him.

The door then burst open and Sans and Alphys came running in. "We...We finally managed to open the lock...Are you three..." Her eyes went wide in horror as she saw Mettaton's seemingly lifeless body. "Oh my god... Mettaton! Mettaton, are you..."

"Paps! Frisk!" San cried out, pushing past her and rushing to his brother and Frisk. He pretty much leapt into his brother's arms, shaking. "You guys had me worried out of my mind...Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, but Frisk could use some healing." Papyrus reassured him. Sans nodded and went over to Frisk, sending gentle healing magic into her, healing away the bruises and burns and checking both her and Papyrus for any broken bones or more serious injuries. Thankfully, they were okay after the healing. He then hugged them both tight, motioning for Chara to come into the hug too.

"Thank GOD, it's just the batteries." Alphys said, having finished her check on Mettaton. "Mettaton, if you were gone...I would have...I would have..." She then realized Sans, Papyrus, and Frisk were watching her. "I m-mean, h-hey, it's n-no problem, you know? He's just a robot...if you messed it up...I could j-just build another."

"Shut up, Alphys!" Sans yelled. "Your damn plan and your asshole robot almost got my brother and little sister killed, and I can't fucking rebuild them!"

"Sans..." Papyrus started, trying to calm down the fight.

Sans just ignored her. "What the hell were you even thinking, putting them through that?!"

Alphys' eyes filled with tears. "I-I'm s-sorry. I-I just n-needed the human to trust me!"

Frisk spoke quietly, more sad and drained than angry right now. "Alphys, didn't it ever occur to you that I would have trusted you without this crap? That maybe I just needed you to be my friend?" She looked down. "Why did you think you needed to do this?"

"Because I needed you to listen to me when I convinced you to stay!" Alphys blurted out. "To not go face Asgore!"

"I'm not going to hurt him! I promised!" Frisk protested.

"I know you weren't going to. But...Human...there's something I haven't told you." Alphys let out a soft sob. "A-A human soul isn't strong enough to escape the barrier. It takes a human soul...and a monster soul. To-To leave here...to go home...You'd have to take his soul." She buried her face in her hands. "You'd have to kill King Asgore."

Frisk's soul sank and she felt like she was going to throw up. "No...No, that isn't true. It can't be true!"

"I-I'm sorry." Alphys said softly.

Frisk looked to Sans, Papyrus, and Chara, desperate for reassurance that this was all a lie or sick joke. Papyrus and Sans looked just as shocked as she was, but Chara was looking down at the ground.

"Chara?" Frisk asked, her mental voice trembling.

Chara's eyes filled with tears. "I'm so sorry, Frisk."

At this moment, Frisk knew it was the truth. She glared at her friend. "You told me you could help me get home! How could you hide this from me?!"

"At...At first, I-I didn't want you to kill Dad...and then when I realized you wouldn't...I-I just couldn't bring myself to tell you the truth because I was a coward. I was hoping I could figure out another way to get you safely home without you ever having to know, and there are some things that I thought of that might work but I don't know for sure... And when Alphys kept saying that you could get home...I hoped..." She shook her head. "No There's no excuse for me keeping this from you. I'm so sorry, Frisk. I never should have hid this from you."

Frisk's eyes filled with tears. "Damn right you shouldn't have! I understand you hiding it in the beginning, hell, I probably would have done the same thing if it were Tina, but after you knew you could trust me, how could you give me false hope like that?!"

"I-I didn't want to hurt you..."

"And what the hell did you think was going to happen when I found out?!"

"I..."

Frisk turned away from Chara, and looked at the ground, trying not to burst out sobbing in front of everyone. There had to be another way! There just had to be! There...

She was pulled into a tight hug, cradled against Papyrus's bony chest. She let out a soft sob, and his fingers gently ran through her short hair.

"I have to get Tina, Papyrus, but...he's still Chara's dad...and your king...I can't do that to all of you..." she sobbed into his chest.

"Shh...You don't have to. Let's go home, Frisk. We'll figure out another way. There's always another way." he told her softly and, keeping his arm wrapped around her, began guiding her towards the elevator to the beginning of the Core, saying goodbye to Alphys and that they'd call her to figure things out later. Frisk numbly let him lead her, glancing at Sans and Chara.

"It's going to be okay, kid." Sans said, gently placing a hand on her shoulder as they walked.

"I'll-I'll think of something. I promised you I'd get you out of here and I will." Chara told her. Frisk looked down, knowing Chara meant it, but still very hurt by her friend hiding the truth from her.

The group slowly, keeping Frisk wrapped up in their protective embrace, headed through the rest of Hotland towards the boat that would lead them to Snowdin, all of them vowing to find a way to make sure this could end peacefully without the loss of a life.

...

Meanwhile, on the surface, at the exact moment Frisk had died and come back to life, little Tina felt a sick feeling of dread in the pit of her soul as she sat on the couch, trying to read a book and hoping Frisk would come through the door. The dread eased off after a few minutes, but Tina still had the feeling that her sister needed her badly.

This couldn't wait any longer. Frisk might be in serious danger, and Tina needed to find out where she was, now!

Tina got up and headed towards her and Frisk's shared room, about to do what she knew she should have done days ago. Unleashing her inner Nancy Drew, Tina began searching the room for clues, anything Frisk might have left behind to indicate where she might have gone on the day she went missing.

Tina began checking their battered nightstand, glancing at the picture of her and Frisk with Santa that Frisk had saved up to get taken last year. Tina had longed to get a picture with Santa like many of the other kids in her class had, and the nice elf who ran the camera had let Frisk join the picture too when Tina begged for it. Also displayed proudly on their nightstand was the card Tina had made Frisk last Mother's Day, because "You take care of me just like Miss Brown says a mother should, Frisk!"

The little girl wiped her tears away at the sight of these two objects that Frisk loved so much, and opened the first drawer. Inside were some of Tina's drawings, school papers, and art projects that Frisk hadn't found room for on their wall, and underneath them, as Frisk liked to keep things hidden, was a tattered notebook. Inside were some phone numbers and names of people Tina knew her sister worked for sometimes, as well as tasks Frisk needed to do, some labeled with dates and times.

Aha!

Tina eagerly flipped to the last page, and was met with the answer to her question. Frisk had carefully written, "Meet with Professor Williams at 2:30." as her last task on the page.

She liked Professor Williams. Frisk helped him out often and would sometimes bring Tina with her. Since it was hard for him to get around because he was old and sore, Frisk and Tina would help him carry things and sometimes do some small projects like collecting plant specimens or taking pictures for him for him to study, which were always fun, and the professor would always give them a little extra money and cookies afterward. Maybe Frisk had to go get something for him and got lost or hurt or kidnapped!

And if so, it was up to Tina to find and save her big sister, just like Frisk always did for her!

Tina quickly grabbed her backpack, dumping her schoolbooks out on the bed. She grabbed the first aid kit kept in the second drawer of their nightstand, just in case Frisk was hurt when she found her. She then hunted through the house, finding the biggest empty bottle with a lid that she knew she could carry when full, which was a big empty soda bottle her parents or one of their scary friends had left lying on the ground, and rinsed it out carefully before filling it with clean water. She also grabbed the bread Miss Marianne had given her yesterday at the food pantry and packed it as well so Frisk would have something to eat when Tina found her. She also packed Frisk's tattered coat which her sister had left behind, and put on her little pink sweater.

And now she was ready! She put on her backpack and picked up her little stuffed puppy. "C'mon Spot! Let's go see Professor Williams and find out where Frisk went!" she said cheerfully. Her eyes then landed on the picture of her and Frisk again, and she picked it up. If she did have to go to the police or a doctor to help her save Frisk...she would need to show them what her big sister looked like.

She put the picture in her backpack, tucked Spot under her arm, and headed out the door and towards the science lab.

The thought of saving your big sister and bringing her home...It fills you with Bravery.

...

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! I know this might disappoint some readers, and I'm sorry, but I won't be doing the Asgore and Omega Flowey fights. I have a few reasons for this, the main one being that being as communicative as Frisk is, if Flowey killed Asgore, she would immediately sound the alarm and tell the brothers and Undyne Asgore was in danger after loading, possibly ruining Asriel's chances for the True Pacifist ending. Another reason is that it leaves a plothole with what Chara and Alphys told Frisk would happen about a human soul not being able to escape the barrier, and the third reason is that Sans and Papyrus simply wouldn't let Frisk and Asgore fight to the death, and would do everything they could to find another way.

And little Tina will be making her own journey to find her big sister, as many of you amazing readers have guessed, and she'll be in every chapter from this point onwards.

Thank you so much for reading and if you have any questions, or noticed any mistakes I might have made that I missed in editing, please leave a review or feel free to PM me! I'm always happy to hear from my readers!