AMS

BACK UNDERGROUND

When Sans, Frisk, and Franley made it back home, Sans winked at Franley and motioned for him to follow him. He followed his dad all the way downstairs in the basement. Sans created a shortcut.

"Ready, kid? Take my hand," said Sans.

Franley seemed a little nervous, but took his dad's hand and they went through the shortcut. They came out the shortcut and they arrived at the spot that Frisk had fallen on so many years ago.

"It's not that I'm scared or not in awe of this place, but I'm gonna save just in case," said Franley.

"Heh, sure. I almost forgot you had that power and not your mother anymore. There are days where I think she's gonna load after something happens, but then nothing happens and I remember her power is gone," said Sans.

Franley took a sharp quick breath and a star appeared. He was so happy.

"Looks like it's starting to become more natural," thought Franley.

Suddenly, vines struck through Sans!

"DAD!" cried Franley.

Sans coughed up blood.

"S-son, it's gonna be okay. If you find a way to die, you can just load. If worse comes to worse, you'll have to reset if you really want me alive. But that means you'll have to start from the day you were born," Sans said in a raspy voice.

Franley's tears flowed heavily. Sans' hand reached out to Franley, shaking violently, then he collapsed. His whole body and soul turned to dust. Next thing he knew, a flower with a smile appeared out from the ground.

"Golly! You sure look different, Chara! Did you dye your hair? Anyway, now that old smiley trash bag is outta the way, we can have some fun!" bounced Flowey.

Franley was on his knees, crying, and staring at this adorable flower that had killed his father before his very eyes.

"Chara's my uncle you demon! You just killed my father!" shrieked Franley.

Flowey sank back, being surprised that this kid had yelled at him.

"Wow! No other human ever yelled at me before! You're not predictable, Chara. Even after all this time, we're still inseparable. I want to see what you'll do with the underground this time! That's right. Frisk may have opened the barrier, but some monsters stayed underground because they feared the surface, and now the underground is almost full again. Have fun with whatever you choose to do with their lives!" sang Flowey.

"Kill me! Kill me now!" ordered Franley.

"I don't want to kill my best friend! … Yet. Toodles!"

Flowey went back into the Earth and left Franley to cry by himself. After a moment of crying, he wiped his eyes and shakily stood up, his head still down.

"Maybe if I keep going, I might find a weapon I can use to kill myself and then load. Dad said he can remember timelines, so when I load, he'll know right away to get us back home," thought Franley.

He didn't want to say his thoughts out loud for fear the flower might hear him and ruin his plans.

"Don't worry, dad. I'll save you," thought Franley.

For the first time ever, he felt his soul burning with determination. He held his head up and with fire burning in his eyes, he walked forward. He went down a gray hallway that lead to a grand door, and he went through it. If it hadn't been for the fact that a flower killed his dad, he would have been amazed with the detail in the door. Well, he silently was, but his mind was stuck on his mission. He then came to an area where there are tiles on the ground, but the door was already open.

"Huh. I guess mom didn't close it. That's dangerous, considering that flower has probably been through the entire underground if she left everything open," Franley thought out loud.

"You betcha! But, I can travel around underground the underground. So even if the doors were closed, it wouldn't have stopped me. But you know what I can't seem to get over? The fact that whenever you're underground, I can no longer use my powers to save, load, and reset," cheerfully said Flowey.

Franley had an idea and smirked. Then he put on his best innocent face and faced Flowey.

"Best friend, can I hold you?" sweetly asked Franley.

Flowey bounced happily.

"You want to hold me? Oh, joy! I've missed you, Chara!" said Flowey.

He jumped into Franley's arms and cuddled up to him. Just when Franley was sure Flowey felt safe, he ripped Flowey apart.

"Guh!" choked Flowey.

Once Flowey's face disappeared, it looked like a normal flower that had been torn in half.

"There. One less problem while I find something to kill myself with," said Franley, "Maybe now I can actually enjoy the underground while I look for a way."

He walked through the open door, and his breath was taken away by how beautiful the water in the room looked against the purple walls and floor. He walked up to a sign.

"Why does it look so blurry?" wondered Franley.

He was upset inside. He really wanted to read the sign. So much, that his determination conjured up a z button. Startled, he slowly pressed it. The sign was readable.

"Press z to read signs. Well, I wish I could have read it before I pressed it. I didn't even know I could do that," said Franley.

He walked up to another sign. He concentrated and brought the z button back.

"Stay on the path. Oh, ok," read Franley.

He walked back onto the path and walked over the first bridge. He noticed there was a switch on the wall that had yellow markings around it.

"Press this one please!"

He looked ahead before triggering it, and saw that spikes were up.

"Huh. I wonder why those spikes are up since my mom left the last one open. Oh well."

He triggered the switch, walked across the bridge and felt a rebellious streak in him when he saw the switch with no labels around it. He ran over and flicked it like a cat batting a toy. But nothing happened. Shrugging, he flipped the one that was labeled and he heard a loud kerchunk sound. He turned and saw the spikes were down.

"Huh. I wonder why these were even labeled," wondered Franley.

"Ribbit. Queen Toriel labeled them for the human, ribbit. The human in a blue and purple striped sweater," croaked a Froggit.

"Do you mean my mom? Who is 'Queen Toriel'?" asked Franley.

"Ribbit, if Frisk is your mom, then yes. Queen Toriel was the underground's Queen. So, essentially, she is your grandma, ribbit."

"Is she around still?" asked Franley.

"Ribbit, no. Sadly, she died of old age, though she looked middle aged for years, ribbit. I guess Boss Monsters don't live forever after all, ribbit. Hey, I noticed your LOVE is at 2. Please, when a monster wears a yellow name, show some mercy, ribbit."

"A yellow name?"

"Yes, ribbit. When a monster does not want to fight anymore, their name will show up yellow. When this happens, spare them. Though sometimes, you may have to spare until their name turns yellow to truly spare them, ribbit."

"I'll try to remember that. Thanks," said Franley.

Froggit nodded and hopped off. Franley thought about what Froggit said about yellow names and sparing as he continued to walk through the Ruins and solve puzzles even though the doors were already opened. He just wanted to see if he could figure out the answers himself. He wondered why the names were yellow and not pink.

"Yellow is a weird color," thought Franley.

He made it to a room full of Froggits.

"Ribbit, no one listens to me! They keep pressing [x] to skip my dialog. Pressing [x]...well, at least you listen to me."

Franley smiled warmly at the little guy. He then thought about how he conjured up a [z]. Using all of his concentration, he eventually conjured up an [x].

"It would be rude of me to skip through dialog, but this might come in handy if I have to load and try again and again to save my dad," thought Franley.

"Ribbit, I heard f4 can make this full screen. But what's f4 anyway? Four frogs? I can only see a maximum of 3 frogs in this room. This is troubling to say the least."

Franley furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What in the world is this frog talking about? Now that I think about it, this whole area so far reminds me of a tutorial in a video game where they explain all the mechanics and whatnot. Is the underground secretly a game? Am I being controlled by someone and I don't even know it? No. All of my decisions have been my own thinking and rationalization. Maybe these frogs just know about humans and their determination to conjure up keys," thought Franley.

He was then very curious about the four frog thing suddenly, and wanted to check the walls for any secret doors to reveal a fourth frog. He pressed his hands along the wall and slowly inched across it, checking every nook and cranny. Then he saw an ant sized frog and it waved at him!

"Hahaha! How cute! Hey, f4 Froggit! I found the fourth frog!" cheerfully said Franley.

The frog didn't seem to hear him. He got closer.

"Hey! Froggit! I found the fourth frog," said Franley.

The Froggit still didn't respond. Annoyed, he pressed his z button while standing in front of it.

"Ribbit, I heard f4 can make this room full screen. But what's f4 anyway? Four frogs? I can only see a maximum of 3 frogs in this room. This is troubling to say the least."

Irritated, he moved on.

"Ribbit, when you can spare a monster it wears a yellow name. Was this helpful?"

Franley hates yellow, so due to him not liking the color, he selected it was terrible.

"Want me to get rid of yellow names?"

Smiling, Franley selected yes.

"Okay. I'll tell monsters to get rid of yellow names, and they will spread the word throughout the entire underground."

"Thank you!"

"Ribbit, you're welcome."

Franley was surprised to get a response.

"Wait, you guys actually respond? What's with that Froggit there?" asked Franley.

"That Froggit is...special. Of course we respond. We're not computer programs, ribbit."

Franley moved on to the next room where a Whimsun appeared! He remembered his neighbor, Whimsalot and thought they looked familiar.

"But this one is shaking and looks scared," thought Franley.

His soul was summoned outside of his body and appeared in a box, then four options appeared beneath the box, and below the options was his name, level, and health gauge.

"Whoa. This is just like so many RPGs I've played!" beamed Franley.

He felt confident in his abilities since he is a huge gamer. Every inch of his being told him to fight the monster.

"But, he looks so scared and doesn't seem to want to be here. I'll try something else," thought Franley.

He pressed the ACT button, and 3 options appeared. Check, terrorize, and console.

"Console seems to be the correct option, but I wonder what check does."

He chose check and read Whimsun's stats and the little description about it.

"I can't handle this!" shook Whimsun.

Suddenly, white flies littered the box but was avoiding Franley's red and white soul.

"Looks like he's not going to attack me for real."

He chose to console Whimsun.

"I-"

Whimsun fled.

"Gee. I was only going to tell it 'it's all going to be okay'. Guess it was really upset. I wonder if I can get yellow names back so I can actually tell when to spare these monsters. I don't want to get upset and frustrated to the point where I consider killing them. He walked back to talk to the Froggit.

"Too bad. Monsters only have pink names left. Take it or leave it, ribbit."

"I'll take it."

Meanwhile above ground...

"Guys, have you seen or heard from Franley or Sans? I can't find them anywhere," asked Frisk.

"Sorry, human, but no I have not heard or seen them," answered Papyrus.

"I saw them go down in the basement earlier but I don't know where they are now," said Alphys.

"I wasn't even here all day," said Jock.

Frisk called Candy.

"Hello?"

"Hey Candy it's Frisk. Have you seen or heard from Franley?" asked Frisk.

"Not since you guys left. He's gone though?" asked Candy.

"Yeah, he's gone somewhere with his father," nervously said Frisk.

"They could just be bonding somewhere secret," suggested Candy.

"But Sans and I don't keep secrets from each other. We made a promise when I was a child," said Frisk.

"If it's one thing I've learned, is that no one can effectively promise to not ever keep secrets. So, sorry to break it to you, but Sans has a secret that you don't know about, but he can show your guys' son. I know it hurts, but I care about you too much to let you believe in your false hope," said Candy.

Tears pricked in Frisk's eyes.

"I have to go. Thank you," said Frisk.

Frisk put her elbows on the kitchen counter and put her head in her hands.

"What secret could Sans possibly keep from me? It's not anywhere outside of here or my mom's house in Gravity Falls. So where would they go?" thought Frisk.

She wiped her eyes and went into the living room.

"Alphys, I need your expertise in finding my husband and son. I'll pay you a huge reward for helping me if I find them with your help," said Frisk.

"That's my language right there! Don't worry. I'll create something that will track those two down that finding them will be guaranteed! Then once I get money, I can buy parts that I need to finish my latest invention!"

"What's your latest invention?"

"A device that amps up monster's magical capabilities so we can make a bigger barrier! It's getting crowded and we need the extra space," said Alphys.

"Why don't you just make something that can create anything made of matter so we can build a wall bigger than the barrier? We'll have a gate as an entrance and exit, but anyone who doesn't own a key can't get in. Then, you monsters can use your magic to make the wall indestructible," suggested Frisk.

"That makes more sense. Thanks!"

Alphys took out the unfinished invention and broke it over his knee and the broken bits fell on the floor. Frisk handed him a broom and dust pan, then Alphys handed them off to Jock and walked upstairs to his room with Frisk. Frisk, being an adult human female, is a lot stronger than she used to be when she was a kid. She has demonstrated her strength many times when having friendly sparring matches with Undyne to keep her and Undyne in shape. But back when she was a kid, she had to rely on items to be able to match up against Undyne. Now, she can pin her down with her bare hands in less than 10 seconds. Alphys knows he can't touch Frisk. Nor does he want to anymore, mostly because he doesn't want every monster to force him to live among the humans. But not just any humans. Big, buff, muscular adult men with tattoos and chugging thick cider like it's water.

Back underground...

"Phew! I finally made it. I don't know why I bought a cup of spiders, but I thought it might help me later. I'm using you guys as a last resort," breathed Franley.

He looked at the toy knife in his pocket, and hesitated.

"I don't have to kill myself just yet. I mean, down here is where my mother grew up and had her adventures. Besides, everytime I asked her about her childhood, she would always give me vague answers. What doesn't she want me to find out? Could that flower have given me answers?... That flower was pure evil. I can't trust that flower. I'll find things out myself," thought Franley.

He safely tucked the toy knife down in his pocket, tied the faded ribbon he found in his hair, and walked towards the cute house in the Ruins.

"I don't know what's beyond that door. Should I save? No. If I save now, I won't be able to load to before my dad was killed. I have to do everything in one go, and I know if I die prematurely, I won't be given another chance like this to learn about my mother and the things she went through. I know close to nothing about my dad as well. I need this. To better understand myself too. Because, they're part of me. I embody both of them as their son. If I'm going to be King one day, I need to learn everything I can about everyone's history. And it all starts here," Franley said determined out loud to himself.

He took a step forward into what will be a crazy learning experience. If he truly is to learn everything in one go and stay alive, he will need more determination than he has ever had.