It had been difficult for her, but Frisk finally managed to get through the steam vent puzzle that she had stumbled upon. Thanks to the mental encouragement from Gaster, she had pushed herself to solve the puzzle set before her, although she was now physically exhausted from it. Pushing herself onward, Frisk knew she couldn't give herself a moment to rest or her anxiety and fears might catch up to her and cause her to have a breakdown again.

She had come upon another elevator that led to the next area of Hotland. Stepping inside of the elevator, Frisk felt it move upwards. As she stood, the woman felt her eyes begin to grow heavy as her strength wavered and she found herself leaning against the wall of the elevator. "Can't fall asleep… I have to keep moving…" she fought against her heavy eye lids as they began to close on her. Sleep was a dangerous thing now… something that Frisk was genuinely worried about thanks to the poison that was sapping her strength.

The faint dinging sound the elevator made roused the woman from her sleepy state as she stood straight now giving her head a slight shake to clear the fog that clouded her mind. As the doors opened in front of her revealing the next area of Hotland, Frisk hesitated a moment as she looked around outside just beyond the doors. She was positive there was a trap just waiting for her outside of one of these elevators now that she had reactivated them. Then again from what she gathered of Mettaton's personality he didn't really seem like the type to use underhanded tricks since he wanted as many viewers as possible and seemed to want to draw this thing out for as long as he could.

Stepping outside now the woman glanced around the area again. It was an open area with edges that over looked the areas below that she had just traveled through. A short ways ahead of her appeared to be a rocky wall with an archway leading into another area in Hotland. She could see an almost ominous purple glow coming from the area within that caused her to pause in step. Taking a breath to gather her determination, for the first time Frisk consciously focused her soul power on creating a time gap as she had a bad feeling about the area ahead of her. After feeling her power peak she relaxed and opened her eyes now as a faint red glow filled them for a moment before fading. She stared at the cavern ahead of her nervously for a moment before gathering her determination and walking forward towards whatever was waiting for her next.

The woman held her breath as she walked through the archway glancing around inside. The area reminded Frisk a little bit of Waterfall; the minerals in the rock walls were what gave off the eerie purplish glow that filled the cavern around her with a dim light. As her eyes adjusted, Frisk saw that the path forward was a stone bridge like pathway with edges that dropped off into darkness below. That darkness seemed to be unending to the woman as her fear of heights hit her, causing her to break out in a cold sweat. Taking a shaking breath she swallowed and forced herself to walk forward.

~o~o~o~

Unbeknownst to Frisk, Mettaton had hacked into Alphys' camera system for the time being to use it to broadcast the next episode of his show staring himself and Frisk. "Welcome back Ladies and Gentlemonsters to another exciting episode of Mettaton EX VS The Human! In this thrilling episode the human will meet the lovely Miss Muffet as they travel through Hotland! The spider woman has been holding a grudge against the human and is more than ready to unleash her revenge! Will the human somehow manage to make it out of Spider's Cave alive or will you all finally see them meet their end? Keep those eyes glued to your screens lovelies!" the announcer's voice echoed from the TV in the skelebro's living room. The footage being shown was of Frisk slowly making her way through Spider's Cave.

A wave of panic washed over Sans as his hands clenched and unclenched nervously in his coat pockets. He watched as Frisk made her way forward now; it hadn't even crossed his mind to worry about Muffet possibly being a threat for Frisk since the spider normally only desired to make money from her victims, not to physically harm them. The skeleton couldn't pull his eye sockets away from the TV as he waited, holding his breath and hoping that Muffet wasn't going to cause Frisk too much trouble.

~o~o~o~

As she walked forward making her way through the dark cavern, Frisk heard a faint skittering sound echoing off of the stone walls around her. The sound make her feel uneasy and nervous as she trembled slightly from built up anxiety. The woman quickly picked up her pace, fearful that this was going to be another fight she couldn't just run away from. Despite the fact that she had picked up her pace, Frisk felt as though something were slowing her down as she tried to walk forward.

"Why is it so hard to walk?" Frisk whispered in a soft tone as she struggled for a moment more before grabbing her phone from her pocket, using it like a flashlight as she looked at the ground. A white, stringy, web-like substance was spread out in small web-like patches on the floor. Lifting her feet up she saw that the substance had attached itself to her shoes as well as the ground, preventing her from walking properly as it tried to hold her in place.

"Ahuhuhuhuhu… Normally I'm not the kind of monster to kill on sight dearie… however I'm not fond of someone who hates spiders. My sources tell me you caused havoc with our sister clan in the Ruins... ahuhuhuhu, I hope you enjoy karma dearie!" Muffet spoke as the web she stood on above the abyss lit up with her purple magic revealing the monster standing just in front of Frisk now.

Before Frisk had a chance to reply the web that now covered her shoes began to glow a bright purple as well. Frisk gave a small groan as the magic moved through her body causing her to become paralyzed as her legs began to give out. She struggled to fight against the magic, but soon found herself sinking involuntarily to the ground. "W-wait! I didn't do anything to them!" Frisk tried to defend herself. A shadow appeared above the woman causing her to look upwards; she gave a faint whimper as her eyes widened fearfully. Above her loomed a large, round, hairy spider like monster; its blood red eyes stared at her from the darkness as it breathed heavily onto her. Its wide mouth was agape, revealing pointed fangs as purple saliva dripped from its mouth onto the path just in front of Frisk.

"Ahuhuhu, meet my lovely pet dearie. He's just been DYING to meet you!" Muffet giggled slightly at the turn of events. She had been expecting more from the human, this victory felt a little cheap to the monster but she would take it for revenge for the spiders in the Ruins.

"I have no choice but to take this loss... I know what to do next time though, as long as I have the energy to keep going… I'll be okay next time... m-maybe…" The woman closed her eyes not wanting to see her death coming as she sensed Muffet's pet descend down towards her.

~o~o~o~

"O-o-oh no! Oh no, oh no, oh no!" Sans heard Alphys' panicked voice on the other end of the phone as he stood numbly back in the kitchen again. It wasn't enough that he had to remember every time Frisk died, but the image of the close up Mettaton had decided to do on her for dramatic measure just before she died seemed to be burned into the back of his mind. The shift from fear to acceptance was less than a moment as the woman realized there was nothing she could do this time. The fact that her eyes turned blank in that moment sent a chill down the skeleton's spine. "I can't keep sitting by and watching this happen… despite what Gaster wants. Honestly, how much more can her soul take before she loses her determination?" Sans thought silently to himself as his eye sockets narrowed into a slight glare as his frustration reached its peak.

"OH GOODNESS! WHAT A TRICK BY MUFFET! SHE'S CERTAINTLY QUITE THE CLEVER SPIDER!" Papyrus stared at the TV in awe as he watched the fight between Muffet and the human play out. Even the taller skeleton was a little hesitant to cheer on Muffet as it seemed the human didn't want to hurt her, but he was definitely impressed with how she had stopped the human.

"Eh, it's not that impressive you dork. If the human was paying better attention they wouldn't have gotten tripped up by that." Undyne gave a slight snort of irritation as she watched the screen. While she still wasn't on friendly terms with Frisk, the fish woman would admit that even she was subconsciously finding herself rooting the human on with a begrudging respect. "Looks like her time has run out though…" Undyne muttered under her breath as she watched Muffet advance towards Frisk.

Snapping out of his thoughts, the skeleton heard a commotion from the TV in the living room and from his brother. The words and sounds were a bit jumbled in the skeleton's numb mind as he tried to sort through them without actually being in there to see what was going on. "I can't teleport her right to the King's castle, his magic is too strong for that. I should be able to teleport her out of this fight and save her from having to decide between sparing or stopping Muffet though." Sans realized as he growled at himself, frustrated that he didn't think of this sooner.

The air around the skeleton crackled with magic as he vanished from the kitchen quickly. "Frisk is gonna be alright this time. I shouldn't have any issues teleporting her out if I block off Muffet." He reassured himself as he moved through his shortcut with practiced ease to appear in Spider's Cave.

~o~o~o~

Frisk sat panting on the ground after having dealt with the lingering pain of the last death. She didn't want to dwell on how she had died, as that was probably the most painful death she had gone through up to this point. "Come on Frisk, get up. If I can avoid the start of the fight, maybe I don't have to finish it. I-I think I have the energy to run straight through." The woman muttered to herself as she struggled to her feet. She felt light headed but tried to ignore this as she took several deep breaths to try to get air to flow through her body again. "Alright… just run straight through… easy enough I hope." Frisk spoke as she stared hesitantly at the stone archway before walking forward.

Walking in the woman heard the sound of spiders skittering around her again. Taking a breath, Frisk allowed her eyes a moment to adjust to the dim light before taking off at a run. The sound of her heavy footfalls against the rocky ground echoed around her, she hoped if she moved fast enough the spider monster's webs wouldn't have enough time to attach to her shoes. She had to be weary of the paralyzing magic the spider seemed to have as well.

These thoughts whirled in her mind as she sprinted forward. "Ahuhuhuhu… run little fly, run. The more you struggle, the tighter my webs become…" Muffet's voice echoed around her sending a chill down Frisk's spine as she tried to ignore her worry and just run.

In the darkness of the cavern Frisk couldn't see very well, and Muffet assumed this would be the case as her clan mates worked quickly to create a curtain like web. They hung it well ahead of the human, directly in her way seeing as there was really only one way to go on the narrow path.

Frisk glanced back behind her not seeing the spider woman or her pet pursuing her. Confusion flickered across the woman's face before she focused on running forward again. "Just keep running, don't ask questions…" the woman thought silently to herself as she began panting slightly, feeling her energy begin to wane as sweat lined her brow. A glint from the purple light was enough for Frisk to see the spider web curtain just a little too late as she ran into it.

Frisk gasped slightly as she felt the strands drape over her now, sticking to her face, hair and skin. It wasn't enough to stop her in her tracks but Frisk felt the web starting to hinder her running. "Damn it…" the woman panted as she kept running.

"Ahuhuhu… you won't run far little fly. My web has you snared." Muffet's voice laughed slightly from the darkness as her magic began to flow across the ground web towards Frisk now. As magic tendrils reached for the web that surrounded the woman, Frisk felt a familiar tingling sensation as it began to paralyze her.

"N-not again…" Frisk whispered in a low tone as she stumbled slightly in her run; as she lost her footing the woman fell and landed with a loud thud on the ground. Her eyes snapped closed as she resisted the urge to cry as she felt the web on the ground and the web on her begin to bind her in its grip. Her labored breathing could be heard in the darkness as she struggled to open her eyes.

"My, my you certainly worked up my pet's appetite human. It's a shame you weren't quite fast enough. Look ahead and you'll see the exit." Muffet spoke in a taunting tone as she walked towards the human now, her pet following behind as saliva formed a trail behind it on the ground. Frisk looked ahead as the spider woman instructed and saw the exit about 50 feet away from her.

"Ahuhuhuhuhu… Normally I'm not the kind of monster to kill on sight dearie… however I'm not fond of someone who hates spiders. My sources tell me you caused havoc with our sister clan in the Ruins... ahuhuhuhu, I hope you enjoy karma dearie!" Muffet spoke as she came to a stop and looked back at her pet, gesturing for the creature to make its move.

Frisk snapped her eyes closed as she heard the skittering of large spider legs heading towards her. She was going to die again… was there really any way for her to get away from Muffet? The spider woman was so intent on killing her on sight for something she didn't even do. "I'll have to think about my next move carefully now…" Frisk thought to herself as her body went limp in acceptance, knowing that she didn't really have any other options here.

Suddenly the air around her crackled with magic. It was a familiar feeling magic that had a slightly cool chill to it, but despite that Frisk felt… safe for the first time since Waterfall. The sound and feel of something rising up out of the ground caused the woman's eyes to open slowly as she tried to move her head and look back although it was a failed attempt. A hand was placed on her side as she felt the cool magic begin to engulf her, similar to a gentle winter breeze. "Hold on Sugar. I'll get you out of here." Sans' voice spoke from the darkness.

Emotion overcame Frisk as she resisted the urge to cry from happiness. "S-Sans…" she whispered weakly to the skeleton as she felt the binding web melt away from her body, a smile passed over her face as she relaxed for just a moment. The skeleton helped her to sit up, where she saw he had made a wall of bones to protect them for a minute and she saw that he had used his magic to clear the spider webs on the ground around them to give them a bit of safety. "I-I can't run… and the webs, they'll snare you in them too if you stay in place too long." Frisk warned in a weak tone.

"We aren't gonna run Angel. I'm gonna use a short cut to get us outta here." Sans spoke in a reassuring tone as he placed a hand on her shoulder and focused his magic to open a short cut for them. Relief was brief for Frisk. As she thought maybe she was going to get out of this, the dark purple mark on her skin glowed bright in response to Sans' teleportation magic.

A white hot pain seared across Frisk's skin as she screamed, her whole body wracked in pain. The magic was determined to make sure she finished this fight in one of two ways, either by killing or sparing the spider. "S-Sans! Stop! Stop! Your magic is hurting me!" Frisk yelled in a loud tone causing the skeleton to pull his hand back away from her body quickly.

"Frisk! Angel?! Are you alright? Talk to me!" Sans' eye sockets widened in panic as the woman threw her hands out in front of her on the ground, taking shaky breaths as the pain lingered a moment then subsided and the glow from the mark faded away. With his concentration broken, his bone wall vanished as well leaving them open to Muffet and her pet now.

"G-go… before she gets you too…" the woman whispered as she looked behind them now to see Muffet staring at the pair with her five narrowed eyes. Frisk tried to stand, but the effects of Muffet's paralyzing magic, along with the pain from Sans' magic left the woman too weak. All she could do is look back at the spider woman.

Ignoring Frisk's plea to run away Sans took a breath as he tucked his hands in his coat pockets and walked forward, his eternal grin looked small and serious now as he stood between the two as a barrier. Obviously using a short cut was out of the picture so he would just have to stop Muffet in order to protect the woman. Frisk still had fight in her, but her body was definitely a lot weaker than what it had been last time he had seen her. A flicker of guilt rippled through his soul before he pushed it down.

"Sans… do not interfere with what I must do to avenge our sister clan from the Ruins…" Muffet spoke in a soft, dangerous sounding tone now as she stared at the skeleton in front of her. Why he had decided to protect the human was beyond her but there was no time to dwell on it.

"Heh… I dunno what or who told ya that she hurt your clan, but I've been keeping an eye on the human since she's left the Ruins a few weeks ago. I don't think that Frisk would hurt a fly, let alone your sister clan. So I'm gonna give ya one warning. Let the human go without any more trouble…" Sans replied to the spider woman in a cool, calm tone as he looked at her with narrowed eye sockets; his left eye was ablaze with his magic as he did little to conceal it.

"Sans… please, don't…" Frisk's voice could be heard weakly from behind him; however he paid her no mind at the moment. The skeleton was focused completely on making sure the woman didn't have to Reset yet again thanks to the monster that stood in front of him.

"Then by all means skeleton, show me proof that she didn't hurt a spider in there. My informant has told me otherwise and has shown me proof that one of my own was killed." Muffet responded in a dark, anger filled tone as her own eyes began to glow ever so faintly in the dim light. She had four of her fists clenched in front of her out of anger now as she glared at the pair.

Sans cast a glance back at Frisk over his shoulder, giving her the opportunity to defend herself against what Muffet was claiming. Frisk's tired eyes were wide with confusion before she shook her head at the accusation. "But… I didn't hurt anyone I swear it! When I found the Spider Bake Sale in the Ruins I couldn't buy anything because I had no money… b-but I didn't squish anyone while I was there! Really, you have to believe me." The woman pleaded in a weak tone as she stared at Muffet, not sure just who her informant was or how they had convinced her that it had been Frisk who had done it.

"Tch. I don't believe you for a second human. I want proof that you didn't do it, your word means nothing when I have a body as proof." Muffet responded in anger as she glared at Frisk. Making a quick move the spider woman formed a sphere of magic in her palm before shooting it forward at Sans with deadly accuracy.

The skeleton watched as the magic formed into a web-like net that was meant to snare him. His own magic flared as a wall of bones rose up again protecting him from her attack. Upon contact he heard a faint hissing sound coming from her attack as well as some purple vapors rising up into the air. Giving a almost silent grunt, Sans felt a small portion of his magic drained from him. "Damn it! I forgot how much of a threat Muffet really is!" Sans mentally yelled at himself as he realized her magic was able to drain his in the same way she had drained the human's energy. As the bone wall lowered Sans regained his composure as his grin lifted into a slight smirk. "Heh you need to do better than that Muffet."

"Oh, really? You're not going to give me a choice but to go through you to get to the human?" Muffet asked as she gave Sans a hard stare. The monster respected him quite a bit since he had helped out her cause in the past, so she didn't have any desire to hurt him, but if he was going to stand between her and the human then Muffet didn't have a choice. Sans didn't bother with an answer as he remained between the two. "It looks as though the culprit has managed to snare the judge and jury in her web of lies. I won't be convinced so easily though. If I have to fight you to get to her, then so be it." Muffet replied as she formed magic in her hands again before placing her palms on the ground on the web around her.

A large horde of small, purple spiders began to emerge from the web's threads as they quickly made their way towards Sans, creating more of the ground web that he had burned away with his magic. Seeing her do this, Sans formed several bones above him, all of them coated with blue flames of magic that flickered in the air before he directed them forward towards the horde. As the bones hit the ground the fire magic that surrounded them burned away a small section of web and spiders in the area around it.

Muffet growled slightly now drawing up more magic to use multiple attacks at once since her single attacks weren't draining his magic nearly fast enough. Raising all six arms into the air, Muffet formed what looked to be a set of donuts in one pair of hands, a set of croissants in one pair of hands and in the last pair she formed magic like she just had to create the magic spiders.

Finally feeling some of her strength return, Frisk pushed herself to stand on a pair of wobbly legs as the two monsters fought. "I need to stop this before it goes any further." The woman panicked slightly as she tried to think of some way to stop the fight without risking a Reset. The woman was so focused on the fight that she didn't notice Muffet's pet had vanished into the darkness. The monster now hovered over the woman waiting for just the right time to descent down upon her.

Sans dodged both the croissants a bit too easily, as if Muffet hadn't necessarily been aiming for him as they disappeared into the darkness behind him. Her donuts though were a bit harder as they started out small, bounced off of the ground, then seemed to shift into more of a ring as it tried to land around him so Muffet could bind him and drain his magic. To avoid a direct hit, Sans shot bones into the rings causing them to wrap around his attack. This still drained a portion of his magic, but not as much as a direct hit would have. A bead of sweat rolled down his skull as the skeleton's breathing became a bit more labored than it was before. Doing this without the intent to harm his opponent was making this fight difficult. Quickly placing his hand on the ground he expelled blue fire magic into the ground around him to stop the advancing magic spiders that were nearly on top of him now.

An odd feeling of dread chilled Frisk to her soul as she watched Sans struggle to stand back up right now. In the back of her mind, she vaguely recalled Alphys lecturing him on the dangers of using so much magical energy while she had been physically unconscious but mentally awake in The Void. Feeling her determination rise up, the woman knew she had to stop this fight as quickly as she could.

Muffet's pet gave a slight growl as it dropped from the ceiling behind the human now, nearly almost on top of her. Frisk gave a scream as she took a step back, nearly tripping as she did. Her hand quickly moved to the pan she had grabbed to defend herself, although she didn't want to strike the monster if she could help it to prevent another mark on her soul. The monsters jaws opened wide as it dove forward to try to eat the human in one bite.

Frisk's eyes widened in panic as she saw this, "Just hit the damn thing and run!" Chara's voice echoed in her mind. "N-no!" Frisk shook her head in a panic as she tried to move backwards, however she was going to lead the creature closer to Sans and put him in more danger. As the monster's mouth chomped down just in front of her, Frisk quickly reacted and shoved the pan vertically into the monsters mouth, causing it to get stuck in between two of the monsters teeth temporarily stunning it.

Sans turned back towards Frisk now as he saw Muffet's pet advancing towards her. "Frisk! Damn it, look out!" The skeleton yelled as he fired a barrage of bones at the creature to fight it off. While he was distracted, Muffet took the opportunity to send her donut attack at Sans now as one of them fell over the skeleton before latching onto him, pinning his arms at his sides as she absorbed some of his magic, causing him to fall to his knees. She knew she couldn't absorb too much or she would risk killing Sans, and she didn't want that, so she quickly dispelled the magic causing the skeleton to throw out his arms to catch himself before he could land face first on the ground.

"Sans! Muffet, please stop!" Frisk found herself yelling in a panicked tone as her body moved forward on its own. Her mind was replaying the fight with Undyne and the unnecessary death of her friend that had caused her to force a Reset. "No, no, no, no!" the woman cried in a panic as a few tears rolled down her cheeks out of fear. She dropped down in front of him, hearing his labored breathing. "Sans! Sans are you alright? Please… please say something." She whimpered in a panicked tone as she gently placed a hand on his mandible to lift his skull to face her. His gaze looked tired, but relieved at the same time to see that she was alright.

"H-heh, sorry I wasn't much help. Muffet had my attention snared for a bit." The skeleton spoke in a breathless tone as he fought with himself to stay conscious now. Despite the situation a little smile lifted the corner of her mouth as she gave a slight laugh.

"It's alright, I know this situation is a bit sticky right now." Frisk replied trying to calm down as her heart hammered loudly in her chest. Sans returned her laugh with one of his own as he tried to catch his breath.

The moment of peace was short lived for them as a low "whirring" sound could be heard coming from the darkness behind Frisk. Sans glanced back behind the woman to see the two purple croissants Muffet had attacked with earlier coming back at the pair like boomerangs returning to their master. "Frisk, watch it!" the skeleton reacted a lot quicker than he thought was possible for him right now.

Quickly sitting back on his legs he grabbed the woman's wrists in his hands, pulling her forward now. "Oof! S-Sans?" Frisk squeaked out her response as she was pulled on top of him now, confusion flickered across her face at the action.

Not having the time to answer right then, Sans wrapped his arms around her, hugging her close to him before quickly rolling both of them to the right onto their sides. He was worried about rolling any further than that because of how narrow the pathway was, and the seemingly endless drop they faced if he rolled them too far.

Keeping a tight hold on the woman's back with one hand the other pressed her head against his sternum. She felt his mandible resting on top of her head as he held her there. Resisting the urge to struggle, Frisk's whole body grew tense as she heard the loud crash just behind Sans where Muffet's attack crashed into the ground.

Placing the palm of her hand gently against his sternum, Frisk pushed back a little bit as she lifted her head to look at the skeleton that had saved her yet again to make sure he was alright. Her brown eyes were wide in shock as she stared up at Sans. His white pupils looked back at her from beneath a half lidded gaze as exhaustion began to weigh heavily on him. His soft grin appeared relieved though as she shifted beneath his grip on her. The woman felt an odd sensation ripple through her soul as she stared at the soft expression on his face now. "Sans? A-are you alright?" she asked in a soft voice.

"Heh, that was a pretty close call. Thankfully I'm just big boned and not doughy, but I butter be more careful I guess." He tried his best to ease her worry and lighten the situation, but the skeleton knew that Muffet wouldn't hold off for long. "We'll ketchup later Angel." Sans ran his hand affectionately over the back of her head and gave her a wink of his eye socket before forcing himself to stand back up. "Heh not bad Muffet, but I'm still standing. You're going to have to do better than that if you want the human's soul." Sans warned as he wobbled a little bit while he regained his footing but kept himself between the spider woman and the human.

"Sans… you and I both know you can't keep fighting. Your magic levels are nearly depleted and pushing yourself further will only end up hurting you… or worse." Muffet replied in a matter of fact tone as she glared at the skeleton in irritation now. She put her hands on her hips as she watched Sans refuse to move from his spot between the two. The spider woman's resolve wavered a bit; while she wanted revenge she didn't have any desire to kill another monster to achieve it.

"Sans! Please, stop. You've done enough for me! Just... just let me try talking to her." Frisk begged as her voice cracked from the fear of him hurting himself for her. Sans glanced back at her out of the corner of his eye socket as the woman struggled to stand to her feet.

"She's not going to listen to what you have to say Frisk. I think we've already come to that conclusion. Stay there, and don't put yourself in anymore danger." The skeleton replied in a cool tone as he returned his gaze to the spider.

"Please Muffet! Please just listen to what I have to say!" Frisk begged in a desperate sounding tone as she shifted her gaze to the spider woman who kept her gaze on Sans. "I don't know who told you I would do something so horrible to your clan mates. I don't know how they had proof to convince you that it was me specifically that killed a spider, but I never hurt anyone in your sister clan! I… I didn't…" Frisk wasn't sure just what to say to convince Muffet otherwise, she had no proof that what she was saying was true.

Muffet clenched her fists again as anger flickered over her face. The human didn't APPEAR to be bad as her informant had told her, but she had a body that proved that someone had indeed squished and killed a spider in the Ruins. Another monster couldn't be responsible for it… could they? Would the monster that told her about the human do something that extreme just to set her up? Muffet debated for a moment before shifting her gaze up to the ceiling.

"Miss Muffet! Miss Muffet! Please wait, we just received a telegram from the shop in the Ruins!" A high pitched, squeaky voice called out to the spider as one of her clan mates dropped down from the ceiling quickly holding a piece of paper for the monster. Muffet grabbed the paper from the spider roughly before narrowing her eyes as she read over the telegram. If she had looked angry before it was nothing like the look of fury that crossed over the spider's face now. Sans shifted slightly now, waiting for another potential attack from the spider.

Closing her five eyes the spider woman inhaled deeply as she tried to calm her anger. "I have been fooled." Muffet conceded as she lifted her gaze directly to Frisk's now, staring at the woman with an apologetic look on her face. "I apologize for the trouble I have caused you hu… ah, Frisk was it?" the spider woman spoke in a soft tone now.

"Er… u-uh, yes?" The woman stuttered slightly. Her eyes were wide with confusion at the process she had just seen Muffet go through, from frustration, to furry, to a calm but angry look on her face. She couldn't recall seeing anyone change emotions quite so quick and was curious about the telegram now.

"This telegram is from the spider in charge of running the shop in the Ruins. While it is true that one of the spiders there is missing… the shop keeper says it happened just two days ago. I know the trip from the Ruins to here would take a lot longer than that on foot. This is proof that you did not bring harm to the spider I was told about. I… sincerely apologize for my behavior leading up to this point Miss Frisk, and my attempts to kill you." Muffet spoke in a calm, soft tone as she bowed her head in apology to the human before her.

"H-huh? Um… well… I accept the apology, b-but…" Frisk stuttered, not sure how to respond now as the situation just took a drastic turn for the better. The woman wasn't exactly sure how the spiders in the Ruins had known what was going on with Muffet, since based on her reaction Frisk doubted the spider woman took the time to contact her sister clan. She stole a glance at the skeleton who couldn't seem to believe the luck either as his eye sockets narrowed in suspicion at the spider.

Muffet's gaze followed Frisk's as it fell to Sans as well. She realized what the problem was quickly, while the human might be willing to forgive her, Sans probably wouldn't at this point considering all the trouble she had caused for him in their fight. "Ah… I understand." She bowed her head apologetically at the skeleton as well. "I apologize to you as well Sans. My misunderstanding caused a lot of trouble for you as well. I understand you may not forgive me but I still offer the apology anyways."

Turning to Frisk now a small smile lifted the corner of Muffet's mouth. "I also have a message for you from the caretaker of the Ruins. 'Please be safe my child. I see the journey has not been easy for you but I believe you can continue to do the right thing. Remain a beacon of light for the Underground, my child.' Someone in the Ruins cares a lot about you Frisk." Muffet spoke with a slight sigh as she bowed her head apologetically again to the two. "I must take my leave now as I have a liar to try to find and make pay for what he's done. You are free to continue through Hotland, Frisk." The spider woman spoke giving a small wave back at the two as she turned quickly and made her way out of Spider's Cave with her pet skittering quickly behind her.

The woman blinked her eyes at the quick turn of events as she sunk to her knees in a daze, her heart hammered loudly in her ears now before tears of gratitude welled up in her eyes, a few escaping and trailing down her cheeks. "T-Toriel… thank you for your help." She whispered softly as she wiped at the tears. Sans looked over at Frisk with a blink of his eye sockets as she uttered the name in a soft voice.

"Toriel huh? Well we still haven't been properly introduced so I don't think it's fair to call her by that name." Sans thought silently to himself as his grin seemed to get a little bigger. "Thanks Old Lady. You couldn't have picked a better time to intervene." The skeleton muttered under his breath as a feeling of gratitude filled him as well.

Blinking his eye sockets as realization dawned on him, The skeleton quickly moved towards Frisk now as the woman tried to stand. He wrapped an arm around her in a hug again as his other hand rested against the back of her skull. "You do realize you just 'spared' Muffet right?" He whispered softly to the woman who froze before her body began to tremble slightly. Lowering them both to the ground, Sans held her close to him in an attempt to give her some comfort. "I'll be here when you wake up this time, Angel. I promise." Sans spoke is a soft, soothing tone as he felt her shaking more now.

"I won't last long. I haven't been able to stay conscious very long these last few times. D-don't leave me… please." Frisk whimpered softly as she snapped her eyes closed and buried her face into the shoulder of his jacket. The familiar and nostalgic scent of Snowdin lingered on his jacket, providing her more comfort as she wrapped her arms around his lower rib cage holding herself close to him as she waited for the waves of pain to hit her.

*MUFFET WAS SPARED*

Frisk gave a loud cry of pain that she tried to use Sans' coat to muffle as she pressed her face hard into his clavicle. Extending beyond just the pain now, Frisk felt the faint sensation of pins and needles on her skin as the cursed mark on her skin spread again like ivy taking over its host. She didn't have the energy to scream as the sensation and the pain coursed through her body. "It hurts, it hurts!" she whimpered over and over again as her fingers dug into the back of his coat. "M-make… it… s-st-stop…" Her words slurred as she begged weakly as her mind grew numb. Dizziness hit the woman and then darkness engulfed her vision before her ears deafened and unconsciousness took her away. Her head turned towards him as her body slumped against Sans; it still involuntarily jerked and twitched from the lingering pain she mentally couldn't feel anymore but her body physically still could.

The skeleton exhaled faintly as he released a breath he didn't realize he'd been holding. Looking down at her face now he gently wiped away a few tears that trailed down her cheeks. He never would have thought that he would feel such empathy for a human of all things; he never had felt that for them before Frisk. Considering most humans that ended up here did fight at least someone to protect themselves. His grin lifted a little bit now, Frisk was definitely different for a human as she aimed only to break the barrier for them, not really to escape herself.

Sans suddenly felt a feeling of dread hit him as if his soul knew something he didn't, prompting him to take a closer look at Frisk. Laying her down on the ground, the skeleton's eye sockets widened as he stood to his feet now. Her soul was just visible in her chest; it was flickering between visible and not as Frisk mentally fought with herself to keep her determination in her soul as a part of her desperately wanted all this to stop. The woman's determination seemed to wane as her bright red soul became visible to the skeleton now as it rose out of her chest, hovering half a foot above her body.

"Frisk… come on Angel, you can't give up…" Sans whispered in a low tone. He had seen this happen before to the other humans that had ended up down here. He knew this was the perfect chance for him or any monster to steal her soul as she literally was at death's door right now. Fear rattled his bones as he stepped back not wanting to accidentally absorb her soul. He couldn't bring himself to be the one to take it. "Angel… please… don't give up." Sans begged softly as he stared at the soul in front of him.

"There's gotta be a way to give her soul its determination back." He whispered as his white pupils flickered between her and her soul in panicked thought. He tried to focus his mind, as fear and panic seemed to cloud it. "Snap outta it! Her soul won't last long outside of her body!" the skeleton mentally yelled at himself.

Taking several deep breaths to calm himself down and focus his thoughts the skeleton stared at her soul for a moment. "I think soul power and magic are similar to one another if I remember the old man's research right. Maybe I can use my magic to transfer some of my own magic to her soul in order to give it a bit of a jump start." The skeleton spoke to himself as he approached her soul cautiously.

Sans placed his hands on either side of the bright red heart as he focused a small amount of his magical energy into his palms. He knew he had to be careful because he was very close to hurting himself or worse by draining his magic to dangerously low levels. "J-just enough to get through to her, that's all I need." He whispered as a blue sphere surrounded the red soul that floated in the air. "Frisk! Come on Angel you can't give up yet! You're so close to Asgore right now, you're so close to showing everyone that not all humans are bad! You need to hold on to your determination… please… don't give up yet. Be strong, for me." Sans wasn't sure if she could hear him on a subconscious level right now but he was hoping she could since this was relying heavily on her being willing to gather her determination once he put what little magic he could into her soul.

He heard a faint whimper escape the woman, and then saw her soul glow a bright red, blinding him slightly as he lowered his hands and looked away from her body. Looking back he saw her soul vanish back into her chest as she gave a slight gasp, inhaling deeply before her breathing returned to normal. Sans gave a groan as he fell back onto the ground as a headache rattled his skull now.

The faint ringing of his phone stopped the skeleton from passing out right then and there as he pulled it out of his pocket to answer it, glancing at the name through blurry vision Sans thought it said Alphys' as he hit the answer button holding the phone up to his skull. "Hiya… Alph…" he answered in an exhausted tone.

"Sans! You're going to kill yourself y-y-you m-moron! You haven't even f-fully recovered fr-from the last time yet a-and you go and p-p-pull this!" Alphys' normally meek voice yelled into the phone speaker now. A faint cough was given from the skeleton.

"Didn't… have much of a choice Alph. Muffet was trying as hard as she could to… kill Frisk." Sans responded in the same tone as before, not particularly bothered that Alphys was yelling at him.

"I mean I g-get that b-but still! I mean… I guess you didn't have much of a choice, b-b-but d-did you r-really absorb her s-s…" Alphys started to respond as her voice took on an odd tone to it.

"No. I didn't absorb her soul." The skeleton answered in a sharp tone now. "Why would I go through all that trouble to just… let her die? I… transferred some of my magic to her soul to try to convert it to soul power and amplify whatever was left of her determination." Sans mutter as he squeezed his eye sockets closed now as his headache seemed to intensify.

"O-oh… th-that was a good idea actually, except for the fact that you've completely exhausted yourself now… for the second time in a very short period of time." the scientist pointed out in a low tone.

"Yeah… well, I had to do what I had to do. Now I need to find some way to get her to MTT Resort so we can both rest for a few days. I might be able to use a short cut…" Sans muttered trying to talk out what he needed to do.

"You can't!" Alphys shrieked loudly into the phone causing the skeleton to pull it away from his skull and flinch slightly. "I-i-if you think I'm just going to sit back and let you think th-that's a good idea you are r-r-really a moron!"

"Well… do you have a better idea Alphys? We can't just hang out in Spider Cave until I have enough energy to create a short cut safely." The skeleton snapped slightly in a matter of fact tone. "I never said it was a good idea, but it's the only option I seem to have at the moment."

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment before the lizard woman gave a slightly shaky sigh. "I-I… erm… I'll come up there and help you recover some of your magic. I… h-have a prototype steroid I've been working on that will temporarily give you a boost of magical power." Alphys murmured in a soft tone into the phone. She wasn't too keen on the idea of making her way up there but the elevator outside of her lab should be up and working now.

Sans was silent for a moment as he took in what she said, he recalled helping her with a few of her prototypes in the past… they didn't always work out for him, but this option was better than tearing his soul apart by using too much magic. "Alright Alph… just watch out, someone is around causing trouble somewhere in Hotland." Sans warned the lizard woman in a tired tone.

"I-I-I'll be alright… just stay put until I get there." Alphys replied nervously as she hung up the phone and took a few deep breaths to calm her anxiety. The lizard woman quickly texted Undyne to let her know what was going on after Mettaton's show cut out before disappearing down into the lower lab to get what she needed.

~o~o~o~

"W-well Ladies and Gentlemonsters unfortunately we seem to have temporarily lost our video feed! However it seems that the human has managed to avoid death not once, not twice, BUT THREE TIMES NOW! How lucky is this human ladies and gentlemonsters?! Stay tuned for the next episode to see if the human's luck finally runs out!" the announcers voice was extremely strained as the camera turned to static after Muffet admitted that she had been lied to thanks to the telegram.

Undyne sat with her face in her palm now as she sighed slightly to herself. She wasn't sure exactly how to explain to Papyrus what just happened, granted the skeleton wasn't stupid; he was just a bit naïve. Sans was going to owe her big time since he decided to intervene in the fight.

"U-UM… UNDYNE?" Papyrus asked in a timid sounding voice as he stared worriedly at the screen. He was obviously aware that he had missed something. Undyne gave a slight sigh and looked over at the skeleton with a serious look on her face.

"Yeah, Papyrus, that was Sans. Yes he was helping out the human." Undyne answered in a matter of fact tone. She already had a feeling she knew what he was going to ask her and that was part of it.

"SO THE HUMAN THAT METTATON KEEPS SAYING IS BAD. IS THAT THE SAME HUMAN THAT I BEFRIENDED?" Papyrus asked as he looked over at the fish woman. She felt bad for the skeleton as he looked at her with a worried stare.

"Yeah, Papyrus. She's the same one that was here in Snowdin, and the same one I fought in Waterfall as well." Undyne confirmed with a nod of her head a she stared ahead at the TV now as it played a rerun of one of Mettaton's shows.

"IS THAT HUMAN REALLY BAD LIKE METTATON SAYS UNDYNE? OR DOES HE JUST THINK SHE'S BAD BECAUSE OF WHAT EVERYONE SAYS?" Papyrus asked as he stared at the fish woman with wide eyes.

"Do you really have to ask that Papyrus?! You know damn well if she was a bad human Sans wouldn't be going out of his way to help her! You know how your brother has always felt about humans, and that he's never gone out of his way to help any of the other ones that had fallen down here in the past. No I don't think this human is as bad as all of us assume she is." Undyne growled in frustration with the taller skeleton. She hated admitting this because she still didn't like Frisk, but even she knew she was wrong to assume the woman should be killed on sight. She nearly fell off the couch when Papyrus quickly stood to his feet. "What are ya doin?" she asked in a gruff sounding tone.

"UNDYNE! THE HUMAN AND MY BROTHER NEED MY HELP, ESPECIALLY IF METTATON IS TRYING TO CONVINCE EVERYONE THAT THE HUMAN IS BAD! THAT MAKES SANS A TARGET AS WELL! AS A FUTURE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD, I CAN'T JUST SIT BACK WHILE AN INNOCENT MONSTER AND HUMAN ARE HUNTED DOWN! I'M GOING TO MAKE MY WAY TO HOTLAND AND TRY TO TALK TO METTATON! I NEED TO TRY TO CONVINCE HIM TO LET THEM THROUGH TO ASGORE WITHOUT CAUSING THEM PROBLEMS!" Papyrus responded in a determined tone as he looked back at Undyne with a serious look on his face. He was a bit scared to meet his idol, and worried that the robot wouldn't listen to his request, but he had to try for Sans' and Frisk's sake.

Undyne blinked her eye at the taller skeleton before smirking as she gave a slight chuckle and shook her head at him. He might not necessarily be fighter material because of his optimistic nature, but he sure as hell had a heart of gold. The fish woman wasn't about to let him walk into trouble on his own. "Well I guess I'll be keeping you out of trouble then won't I, you dork?! Come on, let's go! We'll have to make tracks fast though since they're already almost through Hotland." Undyne grinned widely at the skeleton before she darted out of the door leaving a stunned Papyrus in her wake.

"WAIT UP UNDYNE!" The skeleton yelled as he took off running after the fish woman. The trip to Hotland would take them at least two days to get to where his brother and the human were now if they kept running nonstop. Although Papyrus was sure that they would move on by then he hoped that Sans' laziness would kick in and buy him and Undyne some time. The skeleton knew it was unlikely that they wouldn't have to stop for breaks, but he was hopeful that they would get to Mettaton before Sans and Frisk could.

~o~o~o~

The door to the Ruins opened hesitantly as Toriel looked out at the snowy land in front of her. The goat woman took a shaky breath before pulling her hood over her head as she made her way out of the Ruins for the first time in a very long time. She hoped that enough time had passed that no one would recognize her now that she had stepped outside. Although even Toriel knew how rare goat monsters were, so she would stick out like a sore thumb if she didn't wear her cloak. "I'm on my way my child. Please hold on a little longer." Toriel spoke quietly out loud as if hoping Frisk could hear her even though they were quite far from one another.

She had taken to watching Mettaton's show despite how ridiculous it seemed only because it was the only way for her to know just what was going on with the young human that had fallen into the Underground some time ago. At seeing Muffet's accusations on the TV, Toriel had made her way to the spider's shop to find out if Frisk had indeed caused them problems. Once she was there and found out that the human had simply said her farewell to the spiders since she didn't have any money, Toriel asked the shop keeper to send word as quickly as she could to the spiders in Hotland asking them to stop their attack on Frisk since she hadn't caused any problems.

As she made her way back to her home, Toriel realized that Frisk would be making her way to Asgore soon. After seeing the fight between the spider woman and the skeleton, Toriel pushed herself to face her fears of returning to the Underground and facing Asgore for the human's sake. While the skeleton seemed to be doing a good job protecting her, Toriel could tell there was something very wrong with Frisk, and it was making the task set before them very difficult. She decided then to make her way through the Underground and try to talk some sense into Asgore before they could get to him.

Her breath billowed up in front of her maw as she made her way towards Snowdin. The goat woman hoped desperately that the River Person was still taking travelers over the water ways between Snowdin and Hotland. It would be the only way she would be able to make good time to get to Frisk and the skeleton before they reached Asgore.

~o~o~o~

Fighting to stay conscious, Sans still lay on the ground as he waited for Alphys to show up. His head still throbbed and it was a bit disorienting for him to move as he found out when he tried to move closer to Frisk to check on her. His hand reflexively moved over his right eye as he gave a slight groan of pain. The sound of feet moving quickly across the ground roused the skeleton as he forced himself to sit up while staring off to the right now.

The skeleton released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he saw the scientist making her way towards him. "Alph… no problems right?" Sans spoke in a low tone as the scientist make her way towards him in the darkness.

"A-ah well… I ran into M-M-Muffet briefly but she was t-too concerned with something else to pay me any mind." Alphys responded in a shaky voice as she knelt down next to Sans. "I'm g-g-going to heal you a little b-bit before I give you the prototype. S-since it's only a t-temporary burst of m-magical energy you'll be drained when it wears off." The lizard woman warned him as she put her hands over the skeletons chest where his soul rested, her hands gave off a faint yellow glow as she healed him a little bit. She didn't have the ability to completely heal the skeleton but something was better than nothing at this point.

Once she was sure he was healed enough, Alphys stood and pulled out a small bottle handing it to Sans. "There's three pills in there, only take one at a time, and DO NOT take them in the same day. I'm not exactly sure of the side effects of them. Since it's just a magic enhancer I don't think it will be bad." Alphys explained quietly as the skeleton took one of the pills out, and looking at it before giving the scientist a speculative gaze. "W-well you don't have to take it, b-b-but I couldn't heal you e-enough to make it so you can use a short cut safely."

"I don't have much of a choice then since I don't want you to screech in my ear again." Sans grumbled slightly as he eyed the pill again before hesitantly putting it in his mouth. It didn't have a flavor to it, just some kind of liquid inside. The skeleton coughed a little as the liquid seemed to burn slightly as he felt a tingling sensation moving through his bones. Sans breathed deeply as the tingling sensation grew worse, although it wasn't unbearable and it didn't hurt, it just felt weird.

"You might want to take it slow Sans. It's a weird sensation I know b-but that's o-one of the more obvious side effects." Alphys warned as she watched the skeleton stand and flex his hands as if testing his movement.

"I'm fine. It's not that bad, just uncomfortable is all but I can deal with that." The skeleton responded as he shrugged out of his coat now and walked over to Frisk. He sat the woman up and put the coat on her zipping up the front and pulling the hood up over her head to hide her face.

"Why would you take her to MTT Resort instead of back to your house in Snowdin? It seems like that would be safer." Alphys asked as she stood, watching Sans now as he lifted the woman into his arms.

"There's a possibility that if I try to use a short cut it might hurt Frisk. I just found this out when I tried to get her away from Muffet. If I take her back to Snowdin and then I can't get her back here for some reason… I'll have basically killed her because she won't make the journey through Waterfall and Hotland again. I'm pretty sure she's running on borrowed time at this point." He explained to the scientist as he felt his magic building back up quickly. It actually hurt his soul a little but he was choosing to ignore that, hoping that by using some of the magic to create a short cut it would relieve the pain.

"I… I wish I could do more to help her. I s-still can't figure out wh-what else is causing this curse. Sh-she should have a couple pills left that will help relieve her fatigue, m-make sure she takes them." Alphys gave a sigh as she felt guilty that she couldn't help the woman.

"Alright. See ya Alph. Thanks for the help and make sure you watch yourself going back home." Sans tipped his skull in thanks to the lizard woman before his left eye flared with magic and a short cut opened up in front of him. Walking into the portal the skeleton began to search for an area near MTT Resort for them to exit at.

~o~o~o~

Appearing out in front of the building, Sans gave a groan as his head spun slightly. While he had used up some of the magic boost, it didn't feel as natural as his own magic normally was and had left him a little disoriented. Taking a few deep breaths the skeleton forced his legs to walk forward into the big building. He was grateful that monsters tended to ask very few questions, so him carrying Frisk in, especially with her disguised in his coat, shouldn't attract too much attention.

Walking up to the front desk he set Frisk on the ground with her back against the desk before speaking to the monster behind the counter who had a hand for a head. "Hiya bud, you got a room I can rent for a few nights?" Sans asked in what he hoped was calm sounding voice.

"If you got the coin I'm sure I got a room, Bones." A small mouth in the center of the hands palm replied to Sans in a monotone voice as he checked the screen in front of him to see the list of free rooms. The skeleton dug his hand into the pocket of his shorts and pulled out a brown coin bag, he tossed four of the largest coins in the bag onto the counter top. "Sounds good, Bones. Just walk down the hall that branches off the main area to the right there. You'll be looking for room number 2." The monster said handing Sans a key card for the room.

Sans gave a nod to the monster as he tucked the card into his pocket. The skeleton then lifted Frisk from the ground, struggling to keep his balance for a moment as he felt his skull give a slight throb. Shaking his head to clear his vision the skeleton made his way down the right hall now.

Inside of the hotel room now, Sans gave a slight sigh, feeling relieved for the first time in at least a day. The skeleton walked forward towards the large bed that took up the majority of the space available in the room. Laying Frisk down on one side the skeleton ran his hand over his left eye now as his head gave a throb again. Suddenly the world spun as Sans caught himself on the bed before he completely crumpled to the floor as his fatigue suddenly hit him like a blast from one of his Gaster Blasters.

"Damn… that hurts…" The skeleton groaned in a weak tone as he stumbled around to the other side of the bed where he forced himself to crawl up onto it. He felt his exhaustion and fatigue take over as he tipped sideways onto the bed. His vision grew black and he was unconscious before his skull even hit the pillow beneath it.

Hello again my lovely readers! I hope you all have enjoyed Chapter 20 of Ivytale! I know it's been a bit of a long wait, but I'm trying to keep my promise to update monthly as best as I can! Hopefully a slightly longer than normal chapter makes up for this :3.

I think it's best if I explain my views of "monster magic" so this chapter might make more sense. So monsters are born inherently knowing certain kinds of magic. Some can use both offensive and defensive magic, and others are limited to one or the other.

Sans for example can use offensive magic, such as summoning his Gaster Blasters and his bone attacks. However he's primarily a defensive magic user, i.e. he creates protective barriers both of pure magic and from his bone attacks and short cuts to get out of difficult situations. However Sans doesn't have the ability to use healing magic, he's never been able to draw the right kind of power to be able to do it. Instead of that he has the ability to use his magic to amplify other monster's magic. For instance if he transferred his magic to Papyrus, then Papyrus's bone attacks would do a lot more damage. If he were to transfer it to Alphys' her healing magic would be able to heal more than what she can by herself. He's the only monster in the Underground who can use that particular type of magic so he doesn't understand the "limitations" or "side effects" of the magic himself.

If you guys are interested at all, I can post a "filler chapter" that goes into greater detail what each monster has for magic in Ivytale. I don't really want to fill up this note with a whole detailed explanation of it since it might be boring for some people.

So since I'm sure there have been a few of you wondering why Sans didn't just teleport Frisk out of trouble I thought I'd provide an explanation. One is it's not something he necessarily thought of, two when she did a force Reset and "teleported" them back in time she also became sick from the experience, three he is unable to teleport Frisk directly to the castle since Asgore is stronger than him, and four the determination/magic that Flowey used actually is able to interfere with him trying to teleport her out of a fight by causing Frisk pain.

I'm sure some of you are also wondering why I'm bringing back Toriel, and why I've kept Undyne, Papyrus, and Alphys as constant characters. This is leading up to a "true pacifist ending" for Ivytale basically. Keeping the main characters of Undertale relevant is actually a necessity for the ending of this story. That being said the fights for Mettaton and Asgore may not be what you guys are really thinking they're going to be.

If you read this far, thanks for sticking through this author note with me guys! I appreciate all of the fav's, watches, and comments from all you as always! Thanks for sticking with me through the slow updates as well! This story has kind of evolved on me in ways I wasn't really expecting when I started writing it, but I'm so happy it has, and I'm thankful for every one of you lovely readers who has taken the time to read/ reread my chapters while I update it! Until next time guys, see ya! :3