Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: Humans and Monsters.

One day, war broke out between the two races.

After a long battle, the humans were victorious.

They sealed the Monsters underground with a magic spell.

Legends say that those who climb the mountain never return.

A familiar story, told many times over. Spanning distances far beyond the caverns under Mt. Ebott, and beyond even the surface above. Across SAVES and RESETS. Across many timelines and into the furthest reaches of the multiverse.

And at the end of this old tale, is the beginning of a new one….

A shrill scream echoed across the cave walls as a small figure tumbled down, cutting off with a loud thud as the figure landed hard in a semi-soft bed of flowers.

The small body was still for a few long moments, then, trembling, rolled onto it's back as it tried to force air back into it's lungs, pants mingling with pained whimpering as it clutched it's chest.

It was a good few moments before the figure, a little boy of about ten, caught his breath and forced himself up with a groan, one arm around his front while the other rubbed his head as he looked around, squinting in the dim light that fell from above.

"Owie…" The boy wheezed out. "Wh… where am I…?" Though the light only fell on the flower bed, there was enough to see that he was in a relatively small cavern, with a path leading off into another that was framed by large purple grey pillars.

Now, the boy was young, yes, and could be somewhat oblivious and naive at times, but he was by no means stupid and he knew that pillars like that shouldn't be this far underground, or probably anywhere nearby, really, except the very old buildings, and this wasn't a building, but a mountain. A mountain that, as far he knew- and he knew a lot, thank you- Mt. Ebott was nothing special, except for hikers, nature lovers, and… and the old legend of monsters and missing children that parents told as a bedtime story and an older sibling told to scare the younger.

The boy gasped, hetero-chromatic eyes shining as an idea popped into his head. Maybe he could be the one to solve the mystery! Maybe he would find the monsters and the missing children! He'd defeat the beasts and save the children and return home as a brave hero! Or better yet, maybe they were all nice and he'd befriend all the monsters! Maybe then the other children would finally realize that he was just as cool as they and would be his friend!

With his new mission spurring him on, the boy pushed himself to his feet, bravely ignoring his aching body and no, those weren't tears in his eyes, not at all, you must be seeing things.

Wiping the not-tears from his eyes- grimacing at the dirt on his hand that would now be on his face. He was a little boy, but a little boy with standards- he marched toward the connecting cavern.

Unlike the hole he fell into, this cavern was mostly darkness with only a dim light in the distance, however, he could just make out the outline of more pillars and a few other structures. The thing that caught his attention, though, was a single flower in the middle of the room, strangely illuminated in the otherwise dark cave. It had dark red petals and a pale yellow center. In that center, was a face.

"Greetings." The flower said, with a friendly smile, red eyes glinting in the dim light. " I am Chara. It's been a while since a new human fell down here."

The little boy blinked, the urge to back away suddenly strong, but with a deep breath he stood up to his full four foot six inches. "Y-yes! I just fell and decided to see if anyone was down here!"

Chara nodded "Oh, well you were very lucky to find me then." They smiled wider. "Newcomers have a lot to learn about the Underground, it can be a dangerous place."

"Oh! No worries!" The boy proclaimed, a fist on his hip and a hand on his chest. "I am the bravest and best! I can get through, no problem!" Maybe the Monsters down here were actually friendly, maybe the children who had disappeared simply decided to stay.

Chara hummed, tilting their head. "Well, I can show you how to be even better." The boy perked up, and their smile turned into a grin. "Oh yes. Here, let me show you…"

The boy stepped back with a gasp as something in his chest was tugged and with a pop the area was flooded with a blue light that seemed to chase all other colors away until there was nothing but black, white, and the glow of what he could now tell was a deep blue heart.

Chara giggled softly. "That there? That's your soul. Your thoughts, your hopes and dreams, your memories. Your entire being all compressed into a little blue heart."

"Wowie…" The boy whispered in awe.

"Now to be better than the best," Chara began. " You must share these." Small white seeds flew up into the air behind them. "In them, is LV, and LV stands for LOVE."

"Oh!" The boy cheered. "I'm great at love! I give the best hugs, and the best get well cards, and the best friendship macaroni art, and-"

Chara quickly cut in. "Ah, but this is a special kind of LOVE. It makes you stronger, just by touching one of these, you'll be stronger, faster, greater than anyone else." The little seeds slowly approached. "Go ahead, grab them.."

With an eager grin the boy reached to grab them, his soul following the movement and floating forward, closer to the little seeds until there were only inches between them, when suddenly as one, the seeds shot forward and buried themselves into his soul.

A screech of pain was forced from his throat as he stumbled back, soul jerking close to his chest as he instinctively lifted his arms around it. Pain blossomed from his chest and spread to his whole body and he fell to his knees, numbers flashing before his eyes.

1/20

"Hehehehe.." He looked up, watery eyes locked onto what he had thought was a friendly little flower monster. "You're so stupid. You really thought I'd just give you some special power? No, no, it's me that'll have the power!" He watched in terror as the flower's eyes widened and mouth gaped, oozing black liquid as it grinned at him. "I'll take your soul, I'll take all the LOVE, and I'll be the best."

"B-but, wh-why?" He sobbed, curling in on himself as a ring of white seeds materialized around him. "Wh-why do you have to do this? C-can't we just be friends?"

Chara giggled. "Friends? With you? Humans are nothing but disgusting, bitter, hate filled fleshbags that bring nothing but pain, you stupid little boy." The seeds seemed to quicken in their approach. "Now do everyone a favor and DIE."

The boy clenched his eyes shut with a sob, curling around his frantically pulsing soul as he waited for more pain. But after a few, agonizingly long moments of nothing, he fearfully eased an eye opened to find the ring of seeds gone, colors returned and his soul back within him, and Chara with a look of confused annoyance, only to be replaced with shock as, out of the nowhere, a little… bone? Yes, a little white bone flew out and smacked the flower, ripping them from the ground and flinging them off.

The boy startled as a deep voice emanated from the dark. "heh, little pest, torturing a kid like that. can be a real thorn in someone's side." The human spun around, gasping in shock as, in the dim light from afar, a short skeleton emerged. It was wearing a black hooded robe over a blue turtleneck sweater, and had what appeared to be fuzzy pink slippers.

The small blue lights that seemed to serve as it's eyes in otherwise large, blank sockets rested on the boy, and the skeleton's permanent grin seemed to soften. "heya, kiddo, no need to look so rattled. there's no spooky, scary skeletons here, just me." It- he?- held out a small, bony hand, one socket falling shut. "i'm sans, sans the skeleton, i live here in the ruins, lookin' out for humans that may have taken a tumble. you're the first in a while."

The boy hesitantly took the hand, standing with the skeleton's help with only a soft whimper of pain. "Th-thank you, Sans… I.. I don't know why that flower attacked me… I only wanted to be friends…"

Sans put a hand on the kid's shoulder, grin lowering slightly. "aw, kiddo, that flower… they aren't the nicest of beings down here, dunno who they are or where they come from, but i don't think it's anything you did to make 'em act that way." Then he chuckled and ruffled the boy's hair. "you're a cool lil dude, i'm sure you'll make loaks of other friends down here."

The boy brightened. "Really? Yes, you're right! The Great-! Wait was that a plant pun?!" The boys nose scrunched as Sans' grin widened, eye-lights brightening. "Ugh, puns. As I was saying! I will traverse the Underground, spreading joy and friendship to all!" He put his hands on his hips, chest puffing out and scarf blowing in a non-existent wind. "I will be everyone's friend or my name isn't The Great Payton!"

"the great payton, eh? well, nice to meet someone as cool as you." The skeleton said, giving the boy a small nudge as he began walking. "now c'mon, let's ditch before the weed gets back."

Payton frowned as he followed easily. "That's not very nice, Mr. Sans, calling someone a weed. Even if they're not very nice, you shouldn't be mean back."

Sans raised his equivalent of an eyebrow, but chuckled and shook his skull. "you're somethin' else kid. not many people would forgive someone so easily for almost killing them."

"Well, I believe anyone can change, that anyone can be a good person if they try."

"heh, you're a cool kid, payton."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

So I've had this AU on my mind for awhile

Updates will be sporadic, but hopefully some people will like it