I do not own Undertale. If I did, then why would I be writing fanfiction about it?

This is based off the Deviantart comic Is This Bravery by zarla.

Welcome to my first complete multi-part fanfic! This started off as a one-shot, so the first chapter stands on its own. If you aren't a fan of later chapters (not that I blame you) then for all intents and purposes you can treat this first chapter as a complete story with an open ending.

The dust was turning Frisk's footprints black as she continued on past the now-empty Snowdin. She looked back, almost but not quite feeling regret for how that dust got there in the first place. I'm only doing what I have to do, she reasoned. I'm only defending myself. Given what happened between humans and monsters, you can hardly blame me, right?

When Frisk fell into the underground just a day earlier, she had already learned the hard way that trusting people is usually going to get you hurt. This point was driven home even further after being on the wrong end of one of Flowey's "friendliness pellets."

Why would anyone pass up an opportunity like this?

Flowey was completely right, Frisk realized. Monsters would have every reason to hate humans after getting stuck under Mt. Ebott for who knows how long. Almost every monster she'd come across through the ruins had immediately tried to kill her for no reason other than that she was human- and she responded in that most human of instincts, self-preservation.

Not that she was particularly happy about it, mind you. But she wasn't completely broken up about it either. When she saw that first Froggit dissolve into dust, she was understandably shocked, but she noticed to her own discomfort that it was getting easier. The toy knife she found in the ruins wasn't the best weapon ever (Where are the real knives, anyway?) but she surprised herself at how easily she was able to turn it into something deadly.

It's not my fault, she reasoned with herself again, that everyone I've met wants me dead.

Toriel had seemed genuinely kind to her, she would admit. But Flowey's words rung in her mind every time she found herself trusting the motherly goat. She really wanted to trust her, too. She did save her from Flowey, didn't she? Not to mention, that butterscotch-cinnamon pie was absolutely heavenly. However, she couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong. All those children's shoes in various sizes in the spare bedroom, Toriel brushing off every attempt to ask about how to leave the Ruins, her refusal to let Frisk anywhere near the basement... she got more and more paranoid the longer she stayed there.

Frisk's life on the surface wasn't ideal. Far from it, actually. But it certainly beat having to deal with threats to her life every waking minute. She wanted out. And for all she knew, the seemingly friendly goat lady could just be fattening her up to eat her one day. Toriel attempting to destroy the exit was the last straw. Frisk wanted to go home.

So, she did what she had to.

It was after she left the ruins that she met Lazy Bones (Frisk shuddered. Those puns are rubbing off on her.) and the Skeletor Cosplayer. Papyrus, it seemed, was the inverse of Toriel. Where Toriel acted motherly and kind but almost certainly had an ulterior motive, Papyrus wouldn't shut up about capturing the human, but was clearly an innocent kid at heart.

Doesn't matter how friendly he is. He's trying to get me killed.

Sans, meanwhile, was far harder to pin down. He was certainly more laid-back than his brother, but he did threaten Frisk with a vague "bad time." So he'd have to be eliminated too, eventually.

But first things first- the skeleton who was actively trying to capture her.

"HALT, HUMAN!"

Ah, speak of the devil. There was a thick fog, so she could only make out his silhouette, but the silhouette was enough. She hadn't told anyone her name, and it was hard to determine her gender at a glance, so of course Papyrus would call her that. Frisk brandished her knife- it was mere muscle memory at this point. She instinctively moved forward for the kill.

"HEY, QUIT MOVING WHILE I'M TALKING TO YOU! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY."

Frisk didn't drop her stance. Chances are, he's trying to get my guard down.

"FIRST: YOU'RE A FREAKING WEIRDO!"

Um... okay. That was not what I was expecting, but whatever, I guess I'll humor him.

"NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT LIKE PUZZLES, BUT THE WAY YOU SHAMBLE ABOUT FROM PLACE TO PLACE... THE WAY YOUR HANDS ARE COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER... IT FEELS... LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH."

No more dangerous than doing nothing and letting you all kill me.

"HOWEVER!"

Aaaaand here it comes.

"I, PAPYRUS, SEE GREAT POTENTIAL WITHIN YOU!"

Frisk blinked. What?

"EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY! AND ME, I HARDLY HAVE TO TRY AT ALL! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"

Frisk rolled her eyes. She took another step forward.

"HEY! QUIT MOVING!" Papyrus seemed more annoyed than afraid for his life. "THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!"

Frisk stopped. She wasn't sure why. She felt the odd need to hear him out.

"HUMAN! I THINK YOU ARE IN NEED OF GUIDANCE! SOMEONE NEEDS TO KEEP YOU ON THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW! BUT WORRY NOT... I, PAPYRUS, WILL GLADLY BE YOUR FRIEND AND TUTOR!"

Papyrus continued speaking, but she wasn't listening. She didn't know what to make of it. Keep me on the straight and narrow...? What's he going on about? I'm not doing anything wr-

That's when it hit her. In an instant, Frisk realized just what she must look like to the other monsters. One day, something- not just anything, but a human- shows up in the ruins and starts plowing their way towards civilization, leaving a trail of dust in its wake. The monsters probably told ghost stories about humans- monster kids were probably afraid of humans under their beds. And now here was one- just as horrifying and deadly as they had been made out to be.

Frisk wasn't a bad kid. Far from it, actually. She was a good student, stayed out of trouble, and was generally nice to people (until she realized being nice is more trouble than it's worth, anyway). But now she was among people who feared her and eyed her with suspicion- and she had given them every reason to.

They weren't attacking her out of hate, like she previously thought.

They were attacking her out of fear.

All she had to do was let them know she didn't want to hurt them any more than they were already hurt. It actually seemed like not all of the monsters realized she was human- did she really need to kill them too?

She was snapped out of her epiphany by the realization that Papyrus had stopped talking and was not holding his hands out in an unmistakable gesture of... surrender?

No. Not surrender, she realized. The fog had cleared enough for her to get a look at his face, which despite being nothing but a skull, radiated gentleness and kindness.

Papyrus is sparing you.

The knife fell from Frisk's numb fingers, landing in the snow with a soft fwump.

I'm a murderer, Frisk realized dumbly.

Papyrus didn't seem to notice the absolutely dumbfounded, horrified look on her face, but he did evidently see the knife drop from her hand. "YOU DID IT! YOU DIDN'T DO A VIOLENCE!"

I actually have to be congratulated for not killing someone. Frisk felt her eyes well up with tears. She didn't bother holding them back. She didn't see the point.

I'm a murderer.

Frisk dropped to her knees. Her legs felt the freezing cold immediately- in hindsight she really should've grabbed some long pants on her way out of Toriel's place- but she pushed it aside for the time being. Actually, the memory of the kindly old goat monster upset her even more. She probably was being sincere after all. Toriel had saved her life, made her the most delicious food she had ever had in her life... and Frisk killed her.

She killed all those monsters.

I'm nothing but a cold-blooded murderer.

Sans showed up a few minutes later, completely out of breath. Once he realized Papyrus was going to try to talk down the human, he couldn't afford not to care anymore. His brother was cheerfully marching to his own death.

So, being the dutiful brother he was, Sans ran as fast as his slippers would allow him to. He ran towards the exit of town, towards the place he saw the human disappear into earlier. He desperately hoped he wasn't too late as he picked up the pace.

He was bracing himself for the sight of a pile of dust with a red scarf lying on top of it. As such, was completely unprepared for the sight that met his eyes instead.

"I DID IT, SANS!" Papyrus cried out as he stood, holding Frisk in his arms. Frisk was covering her face, sobbing. Papyrus, meanwhile, had tengible excitement in his voice. "I GOT THEM TO LISTEN! IT WAS REALLY SCARY, I ADMIT, BUT I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WAS ABLE TO... UM... SANS?"

Papyrus's voice died down once he realized Sans was shaking. Sans was feeling equal parts shock and relief that his brother was even alive, and it was hard for him to hold back tears.

"BROTHER? ARE YOU OKAY?"

Sans sniffed. "never better." Normally he would've found a way to work a pun into that response somehow, but he was too floored with emotion. "can i talk to the kid for a sec?"

"OF COURSE!" Papyrus replied, going right back to his original cheeriness.

Sans walked up to Frisk, who didn't seem to have heard the exchange. She was still crying.

"kid?" Sans prodded. "i, uh, didn't think you had it in you... but, um, i really appreciate what you just did. or didn't do, as the case may be."

Frisk opened her puffy red eyes, tears still running down her cheeks.

"I... am... so sorry," Frisk stammered out between sobs.

Sans recoiled a bit. He had never once heard her speak since they first met. He managed to keep his expression the same (which wasn't hard, since he was a skeleton and didn't have any facial muscles), so his surprise didn't really show.

"I'm sorry," Frisk choked out again, a bit clearer this time. She buried her face in her long striped sleeves again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry..."

Sans tried to lighten the mood a bit. "it's all right, kid. i mean, better late than never, am i right?" He chuckled at himself. He knew it was bad form for a comedian to laugh at his own jokes. He didn't care. "you didn't hurt my brother, so you can't be all bad."

If Frisk heard him, she didn't show it. She was still muttering "I'm sorry" over and over again, her throat getting a little dry. Now that she had gotten a bit quieter, Papyrus set her back down on the ground, so now she was standing up again.

Finally she summoned the determination to look Sans in the eyesockets. "What are y-you still doing here?" Frisk glanced back at the toy knife laying in the snow. "I-I-I'm a murderer..."

Sans sighed. "listen, kid. you done goofed. i get that. but if you're really as evil as you say, you wouldn't be out here crying like this."

Frisk sniffed again. Now that she had some semblance of composure, Frisk was able to speak a bit more clearly. "I didn't want to kill anyone. But... what that flower told me... kill or be killed... I- I felt like I had no choice..."

Sans flinched. He knew very well what flower she was talking about. Thanks to the lab accident that removed Gaster from existence, he'd been forced to keep all his memories of the previous timeline every time that smug little thing pulled a Reset. But, for the sake of the kid's fragile psyche, he didn't say anything.

He realized that the old lady on the other side of the locked door was probably also dead because of this kid. But seeing her like this made him realize something else.

Sans still had a promise to keep.

Thanks for reading, everyone. Feel free to let me know how I did. This is my first attempt at both an Undertale story, and my first fanfic in years. I haven't written a serious story in quite some time.

Basically, this story contains my interpretation of Genocide!Frisk. (And yes, I personally see Frisk as female. If you disagree, full power to you, and I'm sorry if I offended anyone.) Basically, no one comes to Mt. Ebott for a happy reason, and that would also apply to Frisk. I'd imagine she has enormous trust issues, and she'd instantly buy into Flowey's kill or be killed philosophy. So she'd justify it as self defense, with a little prodding from Chara. Once she realizes what she's doing (if she ever does) and figures out how to reset, she goes back and fixes her mistake. Assuming Chara doesn't assume direct control, anyway.

But again, that's just my interpretation. As a silent protagonist, Frisk is bound to get a ton of that. Hope you liked it!