A/N: i INSTANTLY fell in love with Undertale the moment i first played it. i am in love with the skele-bros now, but sans' belief is really relatable to me, that's why i picked him out of the two to write about. plus, thank you, fan fictions, for reeling me into the frans ship. thanks very much. here's RESETS.

Chapter 1 - CONFUSION

The Eighth Reset

"you betrayed me, frisk. you betrayed everyone."

They said nothing. They kept that sadistic smile and unmerciful glare on their face.

"i really…really, thought that we could be friends, frisk. it seems i was wrong about you."

Still, they were silent, but their smile turned into a grin. maybe they just lost their mind because there's been too much resets recently, they'll come back to their senses any minute now, he tried to convince himself. Frisk's current actions aren't doing any good to help him validate his thoughts though. Sans was about to talk, buying some time, trying to buy Frisk some time but they started to attack. He dodged just by a hair.

Well, if he had hair that is. Heh. But enough jokes! The things that are happening to him at the moment aren't funny. It seems like they were doing this on purpose. It seems right now that they were hell bent on killing everyone, including him.

"just when i thought you were going to prove to me that i was wrong about the world."

just when i thought there was hope.

"you are sooo going to have a bad time.

"welp. sorry, old lady. This is why i never make promises."

Sans began attacking relentlessly. Frisk had a counter for Sans' attack. It was as if they had practiced every attack. Had they gone through this timeline before? Was there a reset just like this that they had already experienced? But if they had, wasn't Sans supposed to have an inkling? Anything, even a hunch? He was drawing a blank. He felt nothing, not even his gut told him that this would happen.

no surprise there. frisk has always been an unpredictable kid…

"c'mon, buddy. do you remember me? please, if you're listening… let's forget all of this, ok? just lay down your weapon, and… well, my job will be a lot easier."

His ever-calculating brain was out of options on how to end this fight. He resorts to using underhanded methods. Frisk is receiving minimal damage. He was empty of bright ideas, but this can't go on forever. He was getting exhausted. His magic reserves are depleting fast. It doesn't help knowing that there isn't any hope left. His determination was back to 1 since they killed Papyrus.

"that's it Frisk! it's time for my special attack. are you ready? here goes nothing."

The thought of killing Frisk crossed his mind but he'd rather get a mad, impatient Frisk－like the one attacking him right now, yelling at him to "stay still and let them kill him"－than a dead one, so he didn't attack on his next turn.

"yep. that's right. it's literally nothing."

they couldn't finish this if they won't ever get their turn. i could spend my whole eternity stopping them from destroying themselves and a whole timeline…

…god, priorities, sans, timelines first, then frisk.

Poor, pure, innocent Frisk, innocent no longer. Their hands are full of the dust of fallen friends and family. Thinking about them like that caused an uneasy feeling in his gut. He tried to remember the memories of Frisk from other timelines that his mind could grab. The puzzle-loving Frisk, pun-making Frisk, the Frisk who befriended him and his brother, the Frisk he knew and loved…

Sans fell asleep of exhaustion. Frisk took this as an opportunity to push through their confines. They were determined to see this through. They were planning on killing him in their sleep if need be. When he was finally in reach, they attacked once but the smiley trashbag dodged their knife, but they were not one to give up easily, oh no they weren't going to give up…we are so close to our goal… so they struck the second time, when the skeleton least expected it. How stupid of him, they thought. The skeleton died, by their hand.

Monsters didn't bleed, it's just ketchup. Sans wasn't dying, he was just…just… He couldn't think of an excuse. He was too lazy to. What was the point? He was right all along. There was no point to existence if we're all meant to repeat a cycle of life and death, or worse, a reset. On second thought, both are equally terrible. Sans gives up, again. This was it, this was the end. Oddly enough the thought was comforting.

" … … … so… guess that's it, huh? …just… don't say i didn't warn you. at least i wasn't lazy for once in this life…"

Sans walked to the exit. He can't let them see him turn to dust. He should at least be given the chance to keep a little pride, right?

"i'm going to grillby's."

When he reached it, he closed his eyes and saw only white. He opened his eyes to see the path, but saw Papyrus standing instead, with a hand stretched out in front of him.

"HEY BRO! GOOD TO SEE YOU!"

"hey papyrus! do you want anything?"

Finally, the smiling nuisance turned to dust. They were so close to their goal, they could almost taste it.

? Reset

Light was shining through the hole above. They could smell the musky scent of newly watered earth and plant life. Frisk woke up underneath a deep cavern. They were back here again, underneath Mount Ebott. Back in the Underground. Was this the eighth time..? No. No… This… how many times have they reset already? They… they can't remember the last one. What happened last time? Sans would know. Sans would tell them. They would ask once they saw them. They stood up from the bed of golden flowers with haste. They can't wait to see their friends…their mom and dad… They stepped forward and－

The rush of memories from a previous reset struck them like a bolt of lightning. It hurt and they fell down on their knees.

"No…no, no, no…that can't have happened… I…"

"And it will happen again," someone said, her voice echoed from the nothingness. Frisk was turning around, trying to find whoever it is that said it, only to realize the nothingness she was talking from was inside their head.

"Wha-what..? Why?! Why are you inside my head?! Get out of there! I won't let that happen!" Frisk was starting to panic, screaming on top of their lungs at the invisible threat.

"But wasn't that what you wanted: something different? You were so tired of doing the same thing over and over again, right? I did you a favor.

"Weren't you tired of seeing everyone still the same while you were changing? For years now, you've been doing the same thing over and over, while everyone else, except for…one, never had a clue as to what was happening. You were changing, growing up, and no one seemed to notice. No one was getting old, unlike you. They're all just the same. I did you a really HUGE favor, Frisk. I gave you change!"

"No! No, you killed them! You killed them all," Frisk was having difficulty breathing now, with the panic setting in and the erratic beating of their heart and racing images of everyone's dying faces… Sans' dying face…

Everything went dark for a moment.

The sudden flash of yellow light was blinding, Frisk thought. They could see that yellow, blurry thing moving near their face. A soft but muffled voice from a distance was talking, but they can't quite hear what it was saying. Everything was on their side…no, they were the one on their side. They were the one who is on the ground.

…must have passed out, they thought.

They could see clearly now. The yellow, blurry thing earlier was Flowey, but he's nearer.

Frisk didn't listen to anything he was saying. They didn't even notice that he was about to kill them with those friendliness pellets. They just hugged the little flower. The flower was puzzled at this gesture. Frisk was whispering, "you're alive" to him repeatedly. Flowey couldn't get Frisk off him by just telling them to 'get away' or 'get off me, stupid.' He was about to bring out some vines to get them the hell off him, when they suddenly cried hysterically, rocking them both back and forth.

"Asriel, I'm sorry, I'm so so sorry!" They said.

Flowey was taken aback by that, (Why did they call me that? He thought.) and in his confused state he just disappeared back into the ground.

Toriel thought she heard cries back here and it seems she was right. She rushed as soon as she heard the cries of a…child? No, it was a woman. A young woman, about the age of nineteen. Well, Toriel was still older than them, so much so that they could be her daughter. They were still a child in Toriel's eyes.

Toriel found Frisk in the dark, alone. Their hysterical cries have subsided and it was instead replaced by sobs.

"I expected you to be…smaller," Toriel couldn't help but say.

The curled up human looked up at Toriel, recognition painted all over their face. They grabbed Toriel's arm and hugged her.

"Mom, I thought I lost you!" Frisk cried again.

Well, Toriel really thought they recognized her. This young one was full of surprises! Calling her 'mom' like that all of the sudden. Well, maybe they're just scared, after all, they fell from a great height. They could be delirious at the moment. Toriel tried to reason with them.

"Oh, child, I am not your mother. I would like to be but, you must be mistaking me for your human mother, is that it?"

Frisk calmed down for a bit. They were supposed to be stronger than this. They felt silly; of course Toriel wouldn't remember adopting them. This is a reset! They thought themselves very silly for just crying in the dark like a child. They were no longer a child. They must find a way to get out of this mess. They must find out why this happened in the first place and how to stop it. They had to find Sans. He would know. Timelines were his research. They had to be strong. They must not make everyone worry, especially Toriel. Or else, they wouldn't be able to get out of the ruins.

"Y-yes…I am sorry, uh..?" Frisk acted as if they don't know Toriel's name.

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself, how rude of me. My name's Toriel. You may stay here in the ruins with me, child, throughout the duration of your stay in the Underground."

"I'm Frisk… Mmm… Toriel… I… I can't stay around here m-ma'am. You see, I'm…I…" It was hard trying to find an excuse to tell their mother. There's the fear that the lie would be found out, but, Frisk realized, and again reminded themselves that this was a reset. They decided that it would be better to tell her the truth…well, part of it.

"I'm looking for someone."

A/N: ugh, ISSMANT (I suck so much at naming things). I don't know why but the title for this just sounds wrong to me. ehe. I hope you enjoyed reading this. If I you want me to continue, because, well, you actually enjoyed it, tell me in the comments please, so that I can upload the chapters much faster. External motivation is also good to some extent. Thanks!