Saving Nobody Else

by Kyromatronix

Have you ever thought about a world where everything is exactly the same...except you don't exist? Everything functions perfectly without you...Ha ha...The thought terrifies me. Toriel. Asgore. Undyne. Alphys. Papyrus. Sans. Something's missing. But...maybe, with what little power you have...you can save someone else. But choose wisely. NOT EVERYONE WANTS TO BE SAVED.

Technically, it was called the Last Corridor. But the Judgment Hall was more fitting.

Frisk had long ago stopped wondering where the light from this room came from. No matter how many Resets, they could never figure out if it was magic, or if it was somehow the sun finding its way into this tiny sliver of the underground, or if it was even something else. It was almost liquid-like; shadows dripping off the wake of tall, marble pillars. Frisk swam through the pools of darkness that clung to their clothes like oil, only to be redrenched by a golden glow so thick, they half expected it to start running in rivulets down their skin and into their shirt. Strangely, it was one of the few mysteries of the underground that they had never figured out. Not in all their lifetimes here.

Frisk made it about halfway down the hall, shoes tapping against the floor like a stopwatch. Tik, tak, tik tak, tik...When suddenly they weren't alone. The shadows twisted and suddenly there was something there. The first time Frisk were here, their heart had just about stopped. Now, all they felt was a pang of...something along the lines of remorse or resolve? Who knows? The stranger's eyes gleamed back, tiny white marbles in a sky of black.

Here we go again. Get his attention, nice and easy, nothing too fast. Frisk muttered something.

The shadow raised its eyebrows.

"Huh? Triple secret codeword? Nah, I'm out of material."

Frisk drew in a breath, clenched their fists, and stepped forward. They were dangerously annoyed. "Sans. I need to talk to you."

Sans looked surprised that they were advancing. They were usually a quiet kid, keeping to themselves. "That ain't funny, kid. You have the key, what'dya want? Mad about the whole truth thing?"

They shook their head and held out their hands in a universal "mercy" sign that they had perfected a long time ago.

Sans looked at them warily. He clearly didn't trust kids like them. Somehow, he knew. "I'm surprised I didn't notice earlier. A time traveler. You always seemed to know what was going on, didn't cha?" His words bit like frostbite. He had every reason to be irked. Kids like them didn't deserve to be trusted, and Frisk knew it. Somehow, Sans did too. You could only trust a person so much after they gave you everything you had ever wished for, then tore it away from you the moment your back was turned. And somehow, he knew.

He knew.

What else did he know?

They were itching to find out.

"...Sans?"

"What is it, kid?"

"I...was in your lab."

Sans shrugged it off, like it was no big deal. "Course you were. Wouldn't expect any less of ya."

Inhale, exhale. Drop the bomb.

"I know you know something, Sans."

"'Bout what?"

"FUN."

Sans looked at them with pits for sockets. Other than stepping back, he didn't react. Frisk mentally kicked themself. Damn it! Their impatience was getting at them, and they were getting too direct, that was too direct, they shouldn't have done that, now Sans wasn't going to cooperate, they'd have to reload-

"How many times?"

Frisk snapped out of it. They knew that voice. Sans was dead serious. Because if he was serious, you were as good as dead. "What?"

"How many times have you tried this?"

Frisk didn't respond. They gripped their arm and looked down.

Sans scoffed. "Are you...is this some kind of sick joke? Because I'm clearly missing the punch line." They advanced onto Frisk like Endogeny. His eyes were locked, and his grin seemed more like the bared fangs of a wolf. "Stop. Do you seriously think you can mess around with us like toys? With me? Beat it kid. I'm not about to help dirty little anomalies. But you knew that already.. If you want answers... Find them yourself.

He sidestepped around them and walked past.

"Please."

Even if Frisk couldn't see it, they knew Sans had stopped. A couple breathless seconds passed, enough for the sound of rattling bones to barely be heard.

"Please. I...I can't..."

San's slipper hit the floor. "'Please'."

Frisk nodded, knowing Sans was watching them.

Slapping footsteps on tile. Sins crawling on their back. A bony hand inches from their neck.

"Give me one good reason."

Frisk's breath was shallow from fear. Getting dunked on was VERY painful; they knew from experience. It was kinda ridiculous, how they had spent a score of resets trying to get Sans to talk. And when he did, when he asked them to give a reason for all this, they couldn't- What on earth COULD they say?! What could Frisk possibly tell him to change his mind that wouldn't result in them being killed again? What could Frisk possibly do to justify messing with time, with his friends and family, with HIM, like they were tools! That's what they had JUST been doing! And every time they got this far, every time Sans realized he was being manipulated, they told him something different: Flowey, Gaster, Asgore, Humans, Monsters, Asriel, Papyrus, himself, themselves. But nothing worked. Sans didn't trust them.

At least they got further this time than last time.

"You're scared."

Frisk's ears rang. "Yes."

"I've dunked you before."

"Yes."

"You keep coming back?"

"Yes."

A phalange grazed their neck. They could practically feel the familiar Karma toxin dripping from the stark bones.

"Determined one, aren'tcha?"

Frisk didn't respond to that, didn't even nod, just stood there shaking from anticipation. It was all or nothing now. Either he trusted them and opened up, or they got dunked.

They sincerely hoped it was the former.

After what seemed like an eternity, San's hand dropped. Fingertips barely missed their shirt. A shudder shot down their spine, and they forced themselves to breathe. Sans, when he wasn't lazing off, was very, very terrifying. Frisk had seen him go full-out in only one of their runs, but it was enough for a lifetime.

Sans sighed. "You're crazy. Y'know that right?"

It was the former.

Frisk almost laughed.

Sans grabbed their sleeve almost offensively fast and practically dragged them down the hall. Frisk followed, more than a little scared, but also overwhelmingly curious. Many, many resets had gone into those few, tense moments. They made it to the door, and Sans let go of them. He stuck his hands into his pockets and stared at nothing. "...You sure ya wanna know?"

Frisk was nodding even before he finished. They really wanted to know who this mysterious man was, and if he could help them with the task at hand.

Sans sighed, his eyelights grey. "Alright. Don't say I didn't warn ya."

He walked through the door and disappeared. Frisk, having done this multiple times, followed. The world twisted like a ribbon, then there was a flash of darkness and-

They tripped on the welcome mat.

Sans looked at them and chuckled. "What'cha doing on the floor kiddo?"

They mumbled something angrily into the carpet. It was full of crumbs and gravel from melted snow.

"Heh." Sans kicked off his slippers. "Wait here." He walked up the stairs and entered the murk of his room. Frisk did, and took the opportunity to reacquaint with the house. It wasn't the biggest, with a living room containing a TV and an old couch that made sitting on the green and purple carpet preferable. Sans' pet rock sat on the table against the closer wall, slowly digesting its colorful sprinkles. The kitchen was across from the front door. Its sink was four times the usual height, and Frisk knew from experience that the only contents of the fridge were spaghetti and chips.

They visited the trash can.

Next to the TV was a sock with a train of sticky notes attached to it, telling Sans to put away his sock repeatedly and Sans finding loopholes in every request. It was kind of symbolic to the skeleton brothers' entire relationship, if you thought about it the right.

The wind from the open door tugged at the pieces of paper, who refused to budge. Frisk shivered. Their blue and purple striped shirt wasn't very insulated, and Sans and Papyrus' house wasn't the warmest. Maybe skeletons didn't feel cold? Then again, Sans did wear mittens and a fur-lined jacket.

Sans entered closed the front door behind him, thankfully blocking out the wind. He walked over to the couch and flopped down. He patted the seat next to him, inviting Frisk to join them. They did. Man, weren't couches supposed to be comfortable?

Wait. Didn't Sans go into his...

Eh.

Sans was holding a stack of papers that he was flipping through. "I would've taken ya into my lab, but I'm guessing you're bored of that place already."

Frisk nodded and sank deeper into the cushions.

Sans rubbed his face and exhaled heavily. "Jeez, where do we start...First off all, prove me wrong." He selected one of the papers and handed them it.

But it wasn't a paper. It was a photo; Frisk and all their friends were standing on a sort of path. Undyne was laughing, baring her teeth and challenging the camera with her good eye while Alphys tried to play it cool. Papyrus was absolutely ecstatic, his hands a blur of red and white. Sans looked laid back, a lazy grin plastered on his face, and he was sneakily giving Frisk bunny ears. Toriel was trying to conceal her laughter, her ears in motion and a paw on San's skull. Asgore was smiling, too, but it was a bittersweet smile.

Frisk in the middle. Smiling.

Happy.

Frisk gulped. They suddenly felt sick. They had already known that Sans had this; they'd discovered it many Resets ago. But now, it almost seemed like Sans was accusing them for it. They'd ignored it in the lab (Sans did a lot of space-time shenanigans), but that was because no one else was around. It didn't matter if Sans knew, there was nothing he could do about it! He was practically an NPC, for crying out loud! But, he knew and, and he wasn't pressing charges, or saying "this ends now", even if he had been pissed before. Even if he had dunked them before. He'd had the right to be mad.

He was trying to guilt trip them.

Sans waited. Frisk slowly handed the photo back. He sighed, took back the picture, and muttered, "That's what I thought."

Their head went into their hands. There was nothing to say.

Sans shifted on the couch. "Ugh, where do I even...So, you're curious about FUN. Whelp. For starters, do you know what it is?"

"It's, uh…" They composed themselves and sat up. "...It's kinda like a variable, I guess. You change the number, and it...changes something. Like people or places."

"Eh, pretty close. FUN is a bit more complicated." Sans popped an...eyebrow? Eyebone? Whatever it was. "How'd you even find out about something like that?"

"Well...I Reset a lot of times, and, I ran into some...people? They were like ghosts, or something. They only appeared at certain times."

"The Grey Ones."

"'The Grey Ones'? You know about them?"

"I catch 'em around sometimes. Offered to take 'em to Grillby's but, y'know, they didn't really respond."

"Yeah…"

Sans shuffled through the prints, his eyes far away. "Random question."

"Yeah?"

"Does the name WingDings ring any bells?"

"'Wing...Dings'? No, I- Was that a pun?"

Sans got it and realized he'd missed a great opportunity. "Pfft. Nice. Can't believe I missed that one. Uh, WingDings, Aster, Dr. W.D. Gaster?"

"Oh, Gaster! Yeah, they mentioned his name a couple times."

"Course they did." Sans rubbed the back of his spine. "Well, how much do ya actually know about him?"

Frisk furrowed their brow. It had been quite a while since they had run into one of those...Grey Ones. Well, technically it had only been a day, but still. To them it was longer. "He was Royal Scientist. He created the Core to produce electricity, and, uh, one day he fell into it."

"Eh, there's a bit more than that, but it's a start." Sans shifted through his stack of papers, and Frisk got a better look at them; reports, equations, blueprints, photos...it was a big mess of science junk. Did Sans really get all this? All those tiny little numbers and letters?

A couple sheets of notebook paper were hidden among the documents, pencil marks slapped across them like claw marks: Names of people, random snitches of dialogue they recognized, frantic scribbles of people they'd never seen before, including one that looked like monster kid. Frisk was about to ask about them, but they were already gone. Besides, Sans probably wouldn't tell, anyway.

Sans apparently found what he was looking for. He put the stack on the floor and held it in a way that subtly hid it from Frisk's view. "Alright kid. Let's play Twenty Questions. Cuz I'm REAL curious about you, and if I acted like my usual self in all those timelines, I'm certain you're real curious about me. Am I right?"

"Yup. You were, uh...very good at that."

Sans smirked. "Good. You wanna go first, or should- Nah, ladies first."

"Uuuugh! Sans, really?"

"So I can go first?"

"No, that's not what I meant! I meant no!"

"So you mean yes?"

"YES!"

"So no."

"Yes- I mean no! Or-"

"Exactly." Sans snickered, but gave them the paper he had been holding. "Know what THIS is?"

It was a blueprint, and an old one, by the look of it. It was old, and slightly burned at the edges. There was a diagram of a skull-like creature in the center. Various equations and measurement clarifications labeled it, along with a couple of random symbols that Frisk couldn't read. Whoever wrote those had really bad handwriting. But Frisk immediately recognized the machine that it was showcasing. "The DT Extractor?"

"Ding ding, congrats! Right on the nose!" He tapped his nasal cavity. "I'll take it you went down into Alphys' real lab, then?"

Frisk nodded. They had seen the extractor, the lab entries, the amalgamates, everything, multiple times. It wasn't necessarily their favorite place, but it was fascinating to see the power of Determination on others. Monsters didn't have enough matter to maintain their form when injected with Determination, and the results were...strange.

"Well, here's another question: Who designed the DT extractor?"

"Alphys did, using- Are these hers?"

"Nnnnope. Notice how I said 'designed' instead of 'made'. Alphys didn't design the DT extractor. She built it from blueprints. Actually, from COPIES of blueprints." He jabbed a finger at the picture of the machine. "These are the originals."

"Oh."

"Never figured THAT out, did ya?"

"N-no." They had never figured that out. They'd read the reports multiple times, and they had always assumed that Alphys had designed it using HER blueprints. Now that the thought about, the entry had read 'the blueprints' instead of 'my blueprints'. How had they overlooked something so SIMPLE?! ...What else had they overlooked down there?

Sans coughed. "Kid, you're, uh- That thing's fragile, kid."

They looked down. Their hands were crushing the blueprint like leaves. "Oops." They unclenched their fists, not wanting something Sans trusted them to hold to crumble into bits.

"Eh, s'okay, it'll reload in the next timeline."

True. Everything did revert to its original state when Frisk Reset.

Wait.

Sans was implying that they Reset? Sans NEVER would want them to Reset. Sans HATED Resets! He hated little anomalies like them, always screwing up reality and tossing them aside like toys! ...Didn't he?

Frisk looked at them, eyes almost wide enough to see their pupils. "Are...are you saying I should-"

There was suddenly a glove in their face. Sans looked at them with narrow sockets. "Hush. Let me explain."

Frisk didn't understand. "But y-you-"

"Let. Me. Explain."

Frisk shut their mouth, curiosity getting the better of them. Heh, it had been a long time since they'd felt that. Sans removed his hand and pinched the bridge of his nasal cavity. When he started to talk, his voice was hoarse. "W.D. was a brilliant scientist. He made the Core to give power to the Underground, but also as something else."

And Sans started talking.

"WingDings had a bigger vision than toaster ovens. The Barrier is made of pure energy, a special type that repels the type of magic that monster souls are made of. If a monster goes through the Barrier, they hit a wall."

Sans used gestures as he spoke, hands sweeping this way and that to emphasise certain points. "He observed the human souls he had and discovered that human souls were made of the same type of energy. Monster souls are a different type. If you combine the two, you get a sort of Schrodinger cat variable that somehow allows entry without being repelled.

"He wanted to find out more about monster souls, but he couldn't observe any because of their fragility. But then he thought that if he balanced the will to live on with the constant tug of death, he could observe an exposed monster long enough to record it and discover its nature." Sans' pupils flickered for a moment. "DT is not something to be tampered with, kiddo. You should know that."

Frisk solemnly nodded.

"One experiment failed badly enough to kill him and many others. But he didn't die; he vanished. From EVERYTHING, even memory."

"'Vanished'?"

"Like he never existed."

Frisk looked down, digesting this. Gaster made the Core. Gaster studied Souls. Gaster used DT. Gaster miscalculated. And Gaster simply vanished. Like he was never even there. Frisk thought about how weird that would be; to wake up after a Reset and ask Alphys where Undyne went. And she'd just respond, "U-undyne? Who's that? A, uh, a friend of yours?" And they'd ask around, but nobody would know her. Even Papyrus wouldn't remember his friend. What would Papyrus be like without Undyne?

Worse...What would Papyrus be like without Sans?

Their stomach did a loop de loop.

"...That's awful."

"Tell me about it."

"Wait, if he's really gone, then how do you know about it?"

"Heh." His laugh was hollow "I have my ways, I'm sure you know by now. And, well, old BirdBells wasn't determined enough to keep existing, but he refused to die off completely. He left plenty of traces of himself to be found, including whenever you do that resetting thing. FUN is kinda his version of a treasure hunt. Every different amount of FUN triggers something new; a clue, you might say. It changes whenever you restart the day. It's almost like he's taunting time travelers to find him. And from what I see...it's working."

Puzzles? Sounded like another monster they knew. It was like a huge Jigsaw puzzle; every time they Reset, they were handed a piece Reset again, and you get another. And another. And another. Get enough, and you can start building. You might misplace some pieces at first. But eventually, even if you're missing some parts, you'll see the big picture.

"Puzzles and secrecy. Sounds like two skeleton brothers I know…" They elbowed Sans, trying to get a reaction of some sort.

"Eh. Just another trick I learned from him, I guess."

Okay, not the reaction they'd wanted. Frisk looked at the skeleton. His eyelights were dim and fuzzy with nostalgia, and he was staring at nothing. Frisk got the feeling that if they touched him, he would fall off the couch. Somehow, someway, he remembered. He remember this person that was gone, had never existed, even! And all this time, through every Reset, he'd kept it inside. Locked it away like it was a precious treasure. And seeing as Frisk was going back through the game to learn everything they could, it was probably worth everything to him. Even during that final killing spree, Sans hadn't told them everything; just enough to keep them baited and fighting, frustrated and stuck. He kept it down, teased them with it, kept it down, under lock and key.

And now, he was giving it away. Handing it to them, in a box wrapped in silver ribbon.

No wonder he looked hurt.

"Sans?"

"Hmm?"

"...Why are you telling me all this now?"

Sans shrugged. "I thought it was obvious. I CARE. I CARE about WingDings. I CARE about FUN. Heck, I even CARE about your little spacetime shenanigans, if that's what you're wondering about." Frisk frowned. "Don't give me that look, some things are worth the effort."

"No, that's not it, it's just...If you wanted him back so bad, then why didn't you ask in the first place?"

Sans exhaled loudly and somehow sank even further into the couch. He made some indecipherable noises and twiddled his phalanges, obviously reluctant to answer.

Frisk, immediately and against all reason, felt guilty. "S-sorry, you don't have to-"

"Don't ask stupid questions, kid. You know the answer to that one."

Frisk started. They did know the answer.

"You'd be dead where you stand."

"That's your fault, isn't it?"

"Isn't it your responsibility to do the right thing?"

"You're really kind of a freak, huh?"

"I can't afford not to care anymore."

"You can't understand how this feels."

They'd always seen Sans as a tough impenetrable dam that nothing could break.

But they'd found a leak.

There was something hidden deep inside him. Hidden under layers and layers of puns, smiles, secrets, threats. Buried in some deep, dark place, was fear. Cold, hard fear of the anomaly.

Of Frisk.

Of someone who could take whatever they had, whenever they wanted, and destroy it.

And you'd never know.

Could Sans really be scared of...a kid?

"That expression," Sans murmured, not even looking at them.

"..."

"Well, I won't grace it with a description."

Frisk almost threw up on the spot. They buried their face in their hands. Again.

"Frisk?"

Their voice was hoarse and muffled. "What." It came out more of a statement than a question.

"Do you know what the machine in my lab does?"

"...No."

"Heh. Good. I'd be in a bit of trouble if you'd figured it out midst a killing spree. Anyway...it's not entirely functional, but- Wha?"

This time, it was Frisk's turn to stop Sans. Their hand aimed for his mouth, but somehow hit his eye sockets. Sans looked confused about all this. "Kid, uh, I can't see."

"Stop it."

"Stop what?"

"Stop acting like I'm going to whip out a knife and stab sombody. Cuz I'm not."

Frisk's voice must've betrayed more than they thought, so nothing was said. Time passed, though neither was sure how much. Both of them realized how fragile this was; one a glass mirror, crumbly as a snowball, the other a loose cannon, fully loaded and quick to destroy. Sans watched them intently, scared that any sudden movements would trigger a Reset. He cleared his nonexistent throat uncertainly. "Frisk, I..."

"I'm sorry."

His hand went to theirs, warmth soaking through his mittens and nearly reaching his bones. Frisk turned with glistening eyes. San's smile wasn't plastered on this time.

"It never happened."

Frisk stared. Then teared up. Then dove into a hug, smothering their face with the fluff on his hood Sans hugged back, chuckling to himself. The fear was there, but it was much weaker now.

"Sans?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"Save it for later, kid. We still got a timeline to redo."

They let go, feeling awkwardness settle in. The couch suddenly felt a little more comfortable. Their gaze locked on the sock chain, the residue of two opposite brothers. An odd thought struck them, one that they were surprised they hadn't thought of before.

"Hey Sans."

"What is it, kid?"

"Can I ask a question?"

"You just did."

"Doh- Can I ask another?"

"Kid, you literally just did. It's getting annoying."

"Sans, oh my god."

"What?"

They calmed themselves down. It was a trap. They could get around this. They just had to think ahead… "By any chance can I ask four?"

Sans made a face. "That's getting real greedy, kid. And you just did."

"No I didn't"

"Yeah you did."

"When?"

"Just now!"

Realization hit like an anvil, and they groaned loudly. "Uuuuuuuuuugh. Saaaaans, whyyyyyyyyy?!"

He laughed, making no effort to keep a straight face. "Because I could. But uh, if you're serious, then I wanna ask one too. Cuz honestly, I probably just answered a gazillion of yours."

"Fair enough. And as a reward for your…" Frisk stuck a dramatic pose they had learned from Papyrus. "...magnificent jape, you may go first.

He grinned wide, displaying his domino set of teeth. "Aw gee, thanks." He then turned his gaze to the blueprints on the floor, his pupils grey with nostalgia. "Our reports showed a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum," he murmured. "Timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting...until suddenly, everything ends."

He looked at Frisk with tired eyes. "That's your fault, isn't it?"

Maybe it was their imagination, but they felt Karma toxin coursing through their veins. They inhaled sharply through their nose. "Yes, and no."

"That's, uh, not very clear."

"Okay, I admit, I DID...cause havoc in a couple timelines-"

"More than a couple."

"...more than a couple, but I never 'ended' anything. I start a timeline, I finish a timeline, but I always restart a timeline. I never just 'quit'; I'm not even sure that's possible."

That was definitely not what Sans had been expecting, for better or worse. He looked down for a bit, chewing on the information and muttering something to himself that Frisk didn't quite catch. "Eh right. Your turn."

Their gaze turned back to the sock. Could it really be…?

"Is...Gaster your father?"

Sans jerked. "Come again?"

It made sense. The gears in their mind started spinning madly. "Your dad, is Gaster your dad?!"

"Kid, what in the-" Sans stopped and rethought the question. "Technically, no. He wasn't my dad, more like a close friend. A lil' scatterbrained and anxious, but a good guy all the same. Still. Why do you ask?"

"I dunno, it just...kinda seemed fitting." Eager to leave the failed guess behind, Frisk focused on the blueprints. The symbols they were written in were strange, almost as unreadable as San's poker face. If they knew any better, they'd say it was in a different language altogether. Or, again, maybe it was the handwriting. Who knows?

They got up to leave. "Well, see you, I guess."

Sans suddenly gripped their sleeve. "Wait."

Frisk turned. "What?"

"In...In order for this to work, I'm going to need a trinket or something, an object that's so unique that it would be weird for you to not have it."

"Like what?"

"I don't care, just somethin'.

Frisk hesitated, then snapped something off their neck. A heart locket was placed into San's hands, engraved with the words 'Best Friends Forever'. They couldn't think of anything more unique or special in the entire Underground. Sans took it and weighed it in his hands. "Yeah, this'll do." He closed his phalanges around it decisively and met Frisk's eyes, his expression unreadable. "Whelp. See ya in the next one."

Frisk started to put their hand out, but hesitated. Sans saw what they were trying to to and nodded, holding out his own. Two smiley trashbags shook hands, some unspoken alliance between them. It felt strange. The determined player and the rebellious pawn stood, drinking this newfound concern for each other.

It smelled strangely of trust and ozone.

After what seemed like an eternity, Frisk let go and wordlessly left the room, walking down the street into the icy fog. They stopped in the deepest part of it, where you could barely see the outline of your own hand.

They shivered from a bad memory. They'd nicknamed this place "Pap's spot" for a reason.

They hadn't killed Papyrus a lot, because he was so, well, innocent. The fact that he spared them of his own accord in every fight possibility was something he was special for. Even Toriel hadn't done that! Only Papyrus and...Sans. But when they did kill him, things had gotten fairly interesting, especially for Undyne. But even those got boring. So, for the sake of doing even a little good, they usually let Papyrus live to see another Reset.

Usually.

I like Papyrus.

Frisk whipped around, before remembering something. "What was that?"

He's nice. I enjoy playing with him. He's always so fascinating and positive.

It was starting to snow, somehow. They took a few breaths (they had been on edge the entire conversation with Sans).

"You've been awfully quiet," they whispered to nobody.

Hm. That I have, nobody answered.

"Why? Don't you have anything against this? I mean, you're kinda a completionist and-"

Frisk, I promised to be your friend. I promised to help you get your happy ending when I had lost mine.

"You've never, ever been content with a happy ending. Never."

A voice giggled, like it was sharing an inside joke. That's because those weren't happy endings, Frisky. How could I be happy when my best friend was still a flower? Even I can feel emotion to some degree, but Asriel cannot. Why wouldn't I want to help him?

"I...I guess you're right. But, uh."

Yes, Frisk?

"Why did Flowey recognize you during that...one run?"

Hmm...I suppose since you were so determined to succeed.

"What do you mean?"

Your Soul, the very cultivation of your being, was growing stronger. It was full of Love. And as your love grew, so did your resolve to keep going; the more Love you had, the more you wanted, and the more you got. As your Soul got stronger, so did I. Asriel looked at your Soul and saw a person so determined that would do anything to finish the job. He saw me.

"You?"

Yes. Ironic, isn't it?

"I...guess?" Frisk remembered something. "Wait, then why was he scared of you? I mean, he's your best friend, right?"

Yes, without a doubt.

"Then why?"

They were silent for so long that Frisk thought they were ignoring them. Then, they answered, For the same reason Trashbag is scared of you, I suppose.

"Fear of power?"

No, not quite.

"Then of what?"

Frisk could feel nobody pulsing with some strange emotion. Fear of the loss of it.

They walked into Waterfall and disappeared from view completely. Behind them, there was a flash of gold and green popping up through the white. A little flower, picture perfect, looked out into the fog with a curious expression.

Then, its petals started quivering. It snickered, then chuckled, then bellowed with insane laughter that rippled through the snow like a shockwave. It shook so hard pollen started drifting off it like dust, and its black, beady eyes scrunched closed, hysterical tears pricking at their edges. Its mouth sported a huge open-mouthed smile, and its teeth glinted in the ambient light.

It laughed and laughed until its stem hurt, then it looked back into the fog where the human had gone, and a whole nother laughing fit started, just as bad as the first. Its blossom hit the snow and it rolled around, pivoting on its stem.

It finally wound up on the ground, looking up at the stone-speckled ceiling of the cavern, golden petals spread around it like a halo. It face hurt from smiling too hard, and a strange, twisted kind of mirth bubbled up inside him like sap.

It was all too funny.

Flowey grinned at the falling snow. "Hahaha ha hah...I-idiots."

Continue or Reset.

Reset.