"Would you be willing to be ambassador for the monsters?" Asgore asked. The thought brought Frisk back to reality with a start. She was being offered a prestigious position as a representative for all of monster kind, a whole species with no one else to speak for them. Frisk wanted to. She had been told stories of wealth and influence her whole life. This was what she had been send down here for! Well, technically realizing the monsters had been her goal, but this profound influence was a dream. Still, thinking back to the question, Frisk couldn't do it. She cared about these monsters, the people who had been so nice to her. She wished them well. Shaking her head in refusal, Frisk turned down the offer of a lifetime.
It was a bit of a startle for the rest of them. Frisk was always eager to help. They wanted to be there, and had never refused a gift or request before. Still, looking at the child, Toriel decided that they deserved to keep their childhood if they truly wanted. "That's alright dear, we can have someone else do it"
"The Great Papyrus shall gladly do it" Called the skeleton. Papyrus was the exact opposite of what Frisk had expected when she went to the underground. He was nice, and he didn't even have a subliminal reason for it. Toriel wanted to fend off loneliness, a sentiment that Frisk could understand. Sans wanted to make Papyrus happy, and that sentiment of wanting well for those close to you was all to easy for Frisk to understand. Unyne's heroic wish to protect at all costs was annoyingly familiar, and Asgore's willingness to go against his own wishes for an unappreciating public was something that Frisk had been trained to manipulate. No one else here was strange as Papyrus.
Looking back up, Frisk saw Papyrus rushing off for some reason. Good, that was almost guaranteed to induce a panic, and that was exactly what Frisk was aiming for as an initial reaction. She wanted that for multiple reasons actually, now that she cared about these creatures personally.
"Well, they're off" Toriel said, starting to sigh. Frisk was really starting to pity her. "Do you want to come with me, my child" Toriel asked. "I know that you wouldn't at the ruins, but surely this is different- or do you have somewhere else to be" Toriel asked, hoping to get the family she wanted. Frisk fantasized for a moment about accepting her offer. Frisk could agree, and she could have a normal mom. She would be loved, and she could stay with these friends that she loved. It wouldn't be as showy as ambassador, but Frisk could be the daughter of the former queen. That was a position of respect. Frisk could get love, and acceptance, and friends- Frisk was starting to understand Papyrus better.
Still, Frisk cared about these people. That was why she couldn't go with them now. Frisk wanted them to do well. She wanted them to gain acceptance of the general public. She wanted them to freely be able to go wherever they wanted, the way that they couldn't when trapped underground. Still, Frisk could imagine the headlines when her real mother got worried. She knew what the reception would be if Frisk was found amongst these creatures, especially before they had a stable position. Still, seeing something in the distance, Frisk needed to retreat.
"I have somewhere to be" Frisk signed, fleeing to the woods. She didn't stop, she couldn't look back. Making her way to the temporary hideout, Frisk crawled inside and lay still. The whole mountain would be quarantined soon, and Frisk hoped that her supplies would be enough to make her through it. She had several boxes of snack bars, three gallons of bottled water, and ten oxygen tanks to keep her from suffocating. Sealing the room, Frisk opened one of the tanks. Frisk wasn't supposed to leave until the food and water ran out. By that time, the superheroes should have left the aria and any initial crises would have already started, hopefully eliminating Frisk as a suspect. If no one knew who did it, the reaction to the monsters would be more mixed. J wanted the press and public and everyone to go into a panic over their existence. The more ruckus there was, the easier J and his crowd could take advantage.
Frisk didn't know how long it had been when she unsealed the crate. The water was out and Frisk was getting thirsty again. She wasn't sure how long she had slept, but that was how she had spent most of the time in the lead-lined crate. It both stretched how long she could stay in the box and staved off the boredom. After eating a final snack bar, she stepped out into the sun again and wondered if this was how the monster's first sunbeam had felt.
It was a joy and relief to be outside again, but the feeling didn't stay long. Frisk didn't have any source of clean water. She needed to get to a hideout as fast as she could. Applying a natural tone foundation, Frisk went to the path and headed down. As hoped, there wasn't even a perimeter guard around the mountain by now. Trekking carefully through the forest covering the mountain, Frisk managed to get to the town at the base of the mountain with fairly little trouble. Stopping unobtrusively at an internet café, Frisk checked the phone. She was supposed to receive her directions once she got out. Going to "Mom" in the contact list, Frisk simply texted "out of line. Where was the car again?" It was an innocent question, and Harley should remember the code. Her next text from Mom should give the location of her base. It only took a few hours to get the message she was waiting for, and it wasn't hard to get there from here.
It wasn't anything hard to walk to the nest city over. Technically, Frisk was supposed to have hotwired a car to get there, but something about the time she had spent with her friends in the underground made the thought of theft distasteful. Luckily, the underground had increased Frisk's running speed, so she could be forgiven any delay. It was both easy and not. Frisk made it to the base easily, and the stolen eye recognition software that was installed made it easy for Frisk to get in the building, but she was hot and sweaty by then.
Going to her room, Frisk made a stop in the bathroom to get the makeup off. J hated it when she tried to blend in, and it was only Mom's concerns that made him let Frisk get some henna dye from Ivy to hide her albinism, but that excuse wouldn't last long if J saw her using it. Right now, Frisk washed with the counteragent J had provided should she decide to use the dye. The last thing that she or Harley wanted was for J to get mad. Harley was desperately hoping for the affection that J would award her in a good mood, and Frisk dreaded the bruises if J wasn't. Still, she thought, Frisk wouldn't have had to deal with either of the problems is she had been selfish and stayed with Toriel.
When he got home, Frisk was waiting. "I'm home and ready to play, daddy" Frisk said with a smile. Dad hated it when Frisk didn't smile. Still, Frisk didn't want to deal with him, but she had to hide it.
"Ah, darling, so good to see you again" the Joker called. Looked like he was in a good mood today.
"You to, dad" Frisk said. It was important to have an answer at the ready, especially with someone so unstable around.
"It is far to late for you to play now, dearie. It's been three months." Joker said, with that fake smile. Uh oh.
"Three whole months, brat" He yelled suddenly, shaking Frisk by the collar before shoving her to the wall.
"Sorry, J, but all the more time for you and Mom to play at grown-up stuff" Chara replied. Sometimes, it was better to get scolded for speaking than for silence, so Frisk had Chara be the one to say those things. J would be happy that his child was being crazy as the rest of them in this madhouse, at least before he decided to be mad that his child was taking after Two-face. Still, making Chara seem murderous and cheerful as Joker was normally could offset that behavior from J. When it didn't, well, it was nothing that she could change at all. Better to have some strategy than admit that your helpless.
"More time? You think that I wanted more time listening to her miss you?" Joker asked, before going off into hysterics. "I'm going to get some more venom" he said, referring to his infamous Joker Venom. Known only to his family, he had developed some addiction to a dew of the chemicals in his famous brain-scrambling accident. He was desperate to stop the world from labeling him a junky for his dependence, so he made up all sorts of plots to look and act unhinged in a variety of ways while still having excuses to get his hands on the venom. That was the real problem, societies disgust at what he really was. No small number of atrocities wouldn't have happened if he had felt safe to just come clean and get his hands on what he needed freely. Frisk supposed that made her and her father most alike. Both of them made up most of their problems to try and hide a few underlying ones. Still, their dependence on those unsafe behaviors was no less dangerous for the fact that it was faked.
Looking in the mirror, Frisk decided that Chara would laugh at the sight. With her dye off, Frisk looked pale as Sans had. When she went out in her circles, some blood-red lipstick would accentuate her completion and bright hair dye of some kind would make her skin seem fake. Right now, she still had it darkened with henna, but it was only a matter of time before it went florescent again. It was very unsettling in black light, or so she had been told. It wasn't a trademark right yet, not when Frisk was still only eight. It would be at least few more years before she would be expected to start doing jobs and schemes with her parents, and it would be more if not for the boy blunder. With that kind of a president, Frisk had a lot to look up to for her future.
Still, Frisk was getting hungry. Idly wishing that Sans was still around to take her out for a burger at Grilbys with way too much ketchup, Frisk braced herself for the reality of tolerating her mother's leftovers. They were worse than Papyrus's spaghetti, and boy didn't Sans make a funny face when she had said that to their faces. Chuckling at the memory and deciding that random out of place giggles were good for the image she was trying to project, Frisk pinned for the friends that she would hopefully never see again. She would go to the fridge and stuff herself with burnt offerings that Harley made for Frisk and J. Still, when she got there, Frisk had to face facts and stop pretending that there was a fridge for her to rummage through. There wasn't. The burnt food had most likely been thrown out by J the instant that he could without hurting Harley's feelings. There wasn't anything for Frisk to forage in the safehouse at all.
Remembering the snack bars that she had finished a few days ago, Frisk thought that it was odd she was better feed the more isolated she was. As the only human in the underground, there was always someone ceiling to offer her food if Frisk felt faint. The only person in the lead-lined crate, Frisk could have gouged herself if she had wanted to. At this temporary home, Frisk would have to risk leaving the house if she wanted to eat. That required a whole new level of preparation. Frisk wished that she was with Toriel and had some more pie as she got herself glamorous.
As the daughter of such an infamous figure, Frisk couldn't go out without a costume. Deciding to try her luck outside her parent's club and most consistent source of income, Frisk got a hoodie, long sleeves, and gloves. It was better quality, but it was enough to mask her features. Gathering some money from the safe, knowing that J wouldn't care, Frisk set off on the quest for food. No one recognized her in the club, and that was for the better. It was less fortunate on the street, where she was a suspicious sight. Walking a few blocks, Frisk was sad to realize that the cute café she had gone to often enough before had gotten busted. No more looking the other way to get her food from there. Continuing a few blocks, Frisk saw places that she shouldn't try at for their scrutiny. It would be awful if J blew up another building to make a point to Frisk. Seeing something new, Frisk went to try out a hot dog stand. It was new, and might work. Still, there was something familiar about that setup.
"Are you trying to copy me, kid?" Sans called out. It was strange to see someone else in a hoodie like his, down to the color and fur. As the child looked up, Sans felt a horrifying recognition. "Is your name Frisk, by any chance?" he questioned.
Looking up, Frisk had to think fast. She didn't want to be recognized. She would make their lives more difficult if she ended up reintegrating with the monsters and being recognized at an inopportune time or way. "I'm Chara" Frisk blurted. That was what she said when Frisk didn't want to do something or didn't want people to know that. Blaming Chara was just what she had learned to do in that situation, regardless of how true it was or what she was dodging blame from.
Looking at the child, Sans wasn't convinced. 'Chara' had the exact same face as Frisk did, but the shade might be different. Lifting them by the hood, Sans looked at them better in the light. No, that was Frisk, but this child was pale as him! "Why are you here, Frisk?" Sans asked, ignoring her squirming.
"I'm not Frisk" Frisk said, and braced herself for whatever happened.
Sans didn't think this was normal. "Why do you think that you're Chara?" Sans asked. It seemed like the kid was insistent on the matter.
Given a chance to differentiate, Frisk gladly took it. "Frisk isn't pale as me" That was one excuse that she could use. If it meant staying sort of friends with Sans, she would take it.
"So, why is you skin darker that Frisk's?" Sans asked. This really seemed like something was wrong with her.
"Frisk uses fake tanning solution" Frisk blurted before she could sensor herself. No, that wasn't something that Frisk should admit. Deciding that Chara said it, Frisk continued the line of thought. "Chara doesn't"
Looking the kid in the eye, they weren't lying about the fake tanning solution. What even was tanning solution? Sans decided to look it up when he got home. "Well then, why did Chara come here?" He could indulge the kid until he understood it better.
"Chara was hungry, so the went looking for food" Frisk said eagerly. Yes, she decided. She would blame Chara for being hungry.
"Here, take one kid" Sans offered immediately. Why was Frisk touring the streets in search of food?
Immediately stuffing it into her mouth, Frisk eagerly ate the treat. It was gone faster than anything else that Sans had given her, nothing had tasted so good in that instant. It took half the bun until Frisk realized that the 'hot dog' was just an extra-large squirt of ketchup in the bun. Still, Frisk was hungry. She still ate the whole thing and was still hungry afterwards. "More please?" Frisk asked.
Watching her a bit warily, Sans didn't immediately respond the request. Was Frisk starving? Frisk had been the one to eat the hot dog, so Chara wasn't a real person after all. Sans knew now that it wasn't healthy for humans to have as much ketchup as he normally did, so he was a bit warry of letting Frisk have seconds. "You have to pay for the second one" he said, trying to get out of giving her more unhealthy food.
Taking out a dollar bill, Frisk silently offered to buy one. Sans decided to readjust the price again to deter them from an actual purchase. "Did I say that it cost one dollar? I meant five" He said. Frisk just put away the one-dollar bill and offered a five. "Did I say five?" Sans diverted again. "I meant ten" Again Frisk offered the desired amount. "I meant twenty" He called. That was overpriced for a hotdog, right? Still, Frisk just offered the money. "Isn't that a little much to be paying for a hot dog?" He finally asked. Where did a kid even get twenty dollars to blow on one hot dog? Still, instead of answering, Frisk offered all of the bills she had shown before with a hundred-dollar bill for good measure. "You're killing me here, kid. Do you really like my hotdogs so much?" he finally asked.
"I'm hungry" Frisk admitted. Sans just couldn't decide.
"Why don't you go to one of the other shops?" Sans asked gently. "I think that they have larger meals"
"I'm too little to buy food there alone" Frisk said. Last time she had tried to, someone called somebody there and the media made a stink, so after a very large and showy debate her costumed acquaintances all had to attend and a blatantly threatened jury, it was ruled that Frisk couldn't buy food alone but that it was illegal to call protective services to take away a supervillain's child. Frisk would rather not go though that mess again, especially with Joker planning something big for the arrival of monsters back into society.
"How about you give me the money and I'll buy you a large meal to go?" Sans offered. Pulling her hood up a bit to ruffle Frisk's hair, Sans poured as much sincerity into the offer as he could.
"You get the change?" Frisk offered. She knew about deals like this. He got something for letting her get her hands on it.
"It'd be nice, kid" Sans said, touched by the offer. "The stand doesn't have much business as no one's sure if a monster can get a permit to sell food yet, that and I'm not sure where to get 'dogs, so thanks"
Smiling brightly, Frisk handed Sans the money and pointed to a restraint. Letting her show him inside, Sans marveled at what this place looked like. He hadn't actually been inside a restraint on the surface yet, and he was somewhat disappointed by how not private they were. Back in the underground, he could bring a human into one and no one would question what he was doing with them. Here he was getting a few looks here just for being inside the lobby. "It doesn't look very private, kiddo" Sans said.
Nodding her head solemnly, Frisk gave Sans a grave fact of life for this place. "Never say anything here if you don't want the whole world knowing about it"
When they were led to their seat, Frisk looked at the menu.
"What is that for?" Sans asked curiously.
"The menu says what the restaurant is currently selling and how much it costs" Frisk explained patently. "I am looking to see what they have that looks tastiest and not buy something that costs more than available"
"So that's how humans do things?" he questioned curiously. At Frisk's nod, he questioned further. "But at the other place I got a chance to eat at, I was told to order anything"
"The person who offered to treat you must have had a credit card than. When you have that, it can pay for however much you spend as long as you can pay it all of later. People who sell credit cards make a lot of money charging people extra for not paying off what they spent" Frisk explained, making sure that Sans understood not to treat a credit card like he had his tab.
"Doesn't sound very safe" Sans said.
Frisk just shrugged. "People still like it because it's convenient" She said. "You shouldn't be one of them" Frisk warned.
When the waiter came back, Frisk showed Sans exactly what to order for her. When the food was brought in, the server made an absent commeant. "I didn't know that monsters had children" She exclaimed, looking between the skeleton and a girl the same shade in similar cloths.
"Well yeah, monsters can procreate, but what does that have to do with me?" Sans asked, confused.
Frisk, on the other hand, knew exactly what was being inferred. She knew what would happen if she was associated with the monsters. This was what she wanted to avoid, even if it called scrutiny on her. "He isn't my dad, if that's what you were wondering" Frisk said, lowering her hood. Seeing the strangled gasp, the waitress gave, Frisk grinned. No, Frisk was going to blame Chara for this one. "My father is busy on a scheme, not anything that will be done soon to my knowledge, but everyone knows what he prioritizes between me and his work. This bystander was nice enough to buy me food. I think that he's new in the city. But don't worry" Frisk said, mock pity and condensation everywhere in her tone, "I'll be nice enough not to tell on you, so long as you don't tell on me. It has been some times sense father used fireworks, don't you think"
The server started shaking, and after a furious trembling nod, she scrambled to get away. At Sans' look, Frisk repeated her wish for him. "Don't ask something here that you don't want the whole world to know, and the world does not need to know about you getting suckered into buying food" Frisk said, making an entirely different connotation for his behavior. Getting the hint, Sans remained silent. It took a little while to eat, but Frisk enjoyed the meal even through the silence. It had been to long sense she had eaten, and it was nice to have the sustenance. It was only after the food that Frisk would have to cough up some answers.
"So, just what was that scene about?" Sans asked back at his cart. Frisk looked around before answering. Pulling out a few darts, Frisk got each of the security feeds and bugs on the ally and dragged Sans inside. "Now no one's listening" Frisk said. "Ask away" she offered.
"What was that nonsense about you conning me into paying for the food, Frisk?" Sans asked, being specific.
"It happened at Grilby's" Frisk said. "Technically, I never said that that was why I was at that specific restraint"
"Still, why did you feel the need to disassociate from me?" Sans asked, a little hurt at the implied contempt that Frisk made out to be their relation.
"I'm associated with people who's circles you should stay out of, Sans" Frisk said, bracing herself for a clean break with her dear friend. "Ever heard of the Joker? He's an infamous supervillain and murderer, one who happens to be my father" Frisk admitted. "If we were properly associated, it would be expected that you start to join in his genocide, thievery, and hostage-taking. I don't want my friends forced back into the mountain"
"No, I haven't heard of the Joker before. Does that mean that surface hummer is actually illegal?" Sans asked, trying to lighten the mood.
Giggling Frisk shook her head. "It's not actually illegal to joke about it. The governmeant only gets upset if you actually do what those jokes suggest, and even then, some people laugh about it. Still, this is your chance! Get away from me, and you can pretend that one time of getting suckered is the most of our association"
"Look Frisk, I'm your friend. I'm not sure if you remember it, but I was willing to rush strait into a battle that was probably suicide to save you, along with most of your friends from the underground. This being the surface and the stakes being lower doesn't change that" Sans said sternly.
"But this is real life! No one but the naive heroes do that, and even they publicly break ties when someone associates with the wrong person or does the wrong thing" Frisk argued. That fact was her Parent's whole life and carrier, how could anything be different?
"No" Sans said. "I'm your friend and refuse to abandon you"
Frisk just broke down crying at the words. Sans gently gathered her in a hug, letting her. When she could speak again, Frisk started explaining why the idea was so impossible.
"Mom planned to give me to her sister when she realized that she was pregnant, and the sister agreed. Still, when I was white as Dad, they both took it as a sign regardless of the fact that it was merely albinism. Joker probably would have found a way to get rid of me if not for the coloring, but instead I grew up for them. Because Robin is Batman's ward and shares in his less than legal activities, I'm expected to do the same once I'm big enough. Still, with more training I'm supposed to do better, even though Joker never actually shelters anyone from going to Arkam and getting punished for their actions. It's a vicious cycle, and I'm trapped" Frisk said, starting to cry again.
Thinking it through, Sans tried to think of a solution. "Hasn't anyone tried to take you from him?" Sans asked.
"They did once. A restraint alerted the authorities, and there was big mock trial that a lot of supervillains attended. A few legal personnel a jury and Batman showed up, but Joker just blew up the jury when they started acting like they'd vote against letting him keep me. He got another one, still made of random Gotham citizens, but that time everyone agreed. Still, it was probably because he planted a lot of bombs in the city and threatened to detonate them if the jury didn't decide to agree with him. Batman defused all of the bombs, but the jury still voted to let him keep me. Harley said that it was because I make a great story, and Robin said that I leaked information about Joker that saved lives, so he isn't going to do anything either" Frisk explained, still hanging on to Sans.
The reality of it sinking in, Sans started to realize Frisk's dilemma. "No one on from the surface is going to do anything to help you" he realized. He wasn't surprised when Frisk declined to give a verbal answer, only clutching him tighter. Spotting someone watching him, Sans decided what he was going to do. The kid didn't want him or any of the other monsters to get hurt for their association. Sans would respect that, but he was going to do something. "Now I just feel sorry for you" Sans said, loud enough for anyone to overhear. "Tell you what kid, if you bring the money, I'll buy some food for you anytime" he said, leading her out of the ally. "I don't want that sort of attention though, so how about you wait a while before getting some more pickings, alright?"
Frisk nodded, standing up straighter, pulling her hood back up and running off. There was nothing else that she could do now. Sans just watched her go, sadness swelling in his heart. He wished that he could have done more.