Frisk woke up. The sun was shining brightly into his room. He checked the time, it was a little past noon. Wow, I really slept that late? Frisk asked himself. Toriel must be worried about me. Frisk got out of bed and put on his favorite blue and magenta striped sweater. He opened his door, and then saw a sight he was all too familiar with.

Frisk let out a horrified gasp. There was a pile of dust on the floor just outside his room. Frisk saw more than enough of this dust to know it was the dust of a dead monster. It can't be hers, right? Frisk desperately tried to think of another explanation. Maybe some burglar came in, tried to break into Frisk's room, and Toriel killed them to protect Frisk. Frisk called out for his mother.

"Mom? MOM! What happened here? MOM! ANSWER ME!"

But nobody came.

Frisk still refused to believe that Toriel was dead. If it was her, there would be no bringing her back this time. Outside the barrier, there were too many other SOULs. There was too much determination interfering with Frisk's. He could not SAVE or RESET out here. This death, whoever it was, was permanent. Frisk tried dialing Toriel's number, but it immediately went to voicemail. Frisk then called the local emergency service who said they would send an autopsy and police team right away. Should I call anyone else? Frisk wondered. The first person that came to mind was Sans. Frisk knew that Sans and Toriel were close, maybe he knew something. Frisk dialed his number. He didn't pick up. He must be at work, believe it or not. Frisk tried his work number.

"THANK YOU FOR CALLING SANS'S! THE BEST HOT DOGS, HOT CATS, AND SPAGHETTI THIS SIDE OF MT-"

"Papyrus!" Frisk hated to interrupt. "Is Sans there? I need to speak with him!"

"OF COURSE! HE'LL BE RIGHT OVER! HEY, SANS! IT'S FOR YOU!"

"I'm busy."

"YOU'RE NOT DOING ANYTHING!"

"And I'm working very hard at it."

"IT'S FRISK! AND IT SOUNDS IMPORTANT!"

Eventually, Sans picked up the phone.

"Hey, Frisk! You wanna place an order?"

"Sans, this is important! Something might have happened to Toriel! There's someone's dust in our house, and I can't find her!"

There was a brief pause.

"I will be right there," Sans hung up.

"Papyrus, take over for me."

"SURE… NOT THAT YOU WERE DOING ANYTHING ANYWAY."

Sans headed towards Frisk's house. He knew what was happening. It turned out, this was one of those timelines after all. Frisk was getting ready to kill every single monster from the underground, but why now? Out here, Frisk could not control the timeline with all the other humans around. It didn't make much sense, but Sans saw no other explanation. He sincerely thought that this Frisk was his friend, but when he got to that house, he would do what must be done.

Sorry, Tori, but he did kill you. I don't think you will mind if I return the favor.

By the time Sans got there, the police were already on the scene. He could have beat them by taking one of his shortcuts, but Sans was not exactly eager to kill his former friend. An officer tried to stop him, but he nonchalantly ignored him and made his way towards Frisk. Frisk was sitting over Toriel's remains, crying.

Oh, drop the act.

"Sans!" Frisk saw him and hugged him. "They finished analyzing the dust. It is her, Sans. I'm sorry, I know she was your friend." Frisk's crying intensified.

This was no act.

Frisk let go of Sans and turned his attention back to Toriel's dust pile. It was getting damp with Frisk's tears.

"Hey," Sans gently pushed Frisk away from the dust, "You're going to wash her away."

If Frisk really was the killer, then all the bad times in the world would not be enough for him. Only a true sociopath could fake this devastation. There had to be another explanation.

"Frisk, do you have any idea who did this?"

Frisk shook his head. "Everyone loved her."

"Apparently not," Sans lamented.

Sans thought about the motive for killing Toriel. Everyone would suspect it was Frisk, there was no other easy suspect.

"This is bad, Frisk. If people think a human-monster ambassador murdered a monster like this, it could cause tension between the two races. Not only that, you are a hero to the monsters. If they think you betrayed them, it will certainly start a war."

"I… hadn't even thought about that. All I can think right now is that my mother is dead."

"I know. Grieve now, but soon, you are going to have to do what you can to prevent more deaths. Papyrus and I will have your back the whole way. Stay determined, Frisk."

Sans left Frisk to his sorrow, hoping he wouldn't regret it.