"All right, man, see you later."

Ben bid his friend group goodbye for today and began his path home. Now that he checked the time, he realized that he had spent more time hanging around at the schoolyard than he thought. It was late afternoon already.

Imagine his surprise when he found he wasn't the only one going home this late. Ahead of him he saw Frisk's messy mop of hair among the usual pedestrian traffic. Oh, right, they had to discuss their play with the drama teacher after school, didn't they?

Given how they were going in the same direction, Ben figured he might as well strike up a conversation with them. But as he began closing the distance between them, Frisk suddenly turned and entered the old abandoned warehouse near the school. Now, what could they be doing in there? It was a bit late to be playing around outside, especially alone.

His curiosity getting the better of him (and seeing how he didn't have anything better to do until dinner time, which wouldn't be until at least another hour), Ben decided to tail Frisk and figure out what they were up to. As he approached the warehouse's gate, he accidentally kicked an old tin can and caused some racket. He froze anxiously, briefly afraid that Frisk would turn around and notice that he was following them, but they kept on walking, apparently lost in thought. Now that he thought about it, they seemed to be aloof a lot lately. Was something troubling them?

Frisk stopped in the middle of a large storage space, having apparently found the place they were looking for. Ben peeked through the doorway to see what they were up to, then quickly ducked back outside when Frisk began looking about, as if making sure they were truly alone.

That was close... He thought to himself, breathing a deep (but quiet) sigh. Whatever Frisk was doing here, they obviously didn't want anyone seeing or hearing. Ben wasn't sure if spying on them was a very nice thing to do, but he simply had to know now.

He looked around and spotted a pile of burlap sacks in the room he was in. If he stood on top of those, he could look through those high-up windows with minimal risk of being spotted. Now that he had a goal, he began climbing up- softly, making sure no loud noises were made- until he reached the top. It was a little wobbly, but he'd manage.

Frisk was still in the middle of the room, facing a wall. They were staring at it really intently, as if expecting it to fall over. Curiouser and curiouser...

"YANDOH FRELBERÉI!"

Whoa. Frisk was known as a very silent kid. Who knew they could yell that loud?

...

Well, whatever Frisk was hoping to achieve here... Nothing was happening.

"MEVIF WEAMMOL!"

Not that it was going to stop them from trying again, it seems.

"AVMANIP!"

Is... Is Frisk into LARPing, or something? Seemed rather lonely, doing that by yourself.

"EÈRMOIAL BELDEMOIRAC!"

...Yeah, I'm beginning to understand why Frisk doesn't want to be seen doing this, Ben thought to himself. It looked kind of embarrassing and a little sad. He decided to keep what he saw here to himself. It was only fair. Everyone has something they'd rather people didn't know about them, after all.

"REIDMERAF SIALÈRDIUR!"

And then there was light.

Ben was about to start climbing down the pile he was on when a bright light- too bright- flashed through the window. The sudden assault on his senses threw Ben off-balance; he quickly lurched forward and tried to grab onto something, but the sacks he grasped gave way as well, and soon everything came tumbling down with a loud crash.

Wh... What, what was that...?! For a few seconds, Ben just laid perfectly still where he landed, too shocked to move or think. He quickly realized that he had lost his glasses, blurring his vision.

"Who's there?!"

Before Ben could even get his bearings, Frisk burst through the doorway, looking uncharacteristically aggressive. One of their eyes was closed, the other was darting around looking for the intruder. When it finally settled on Ben, he knew he was in trouble. Frisk was normally pretty mellow, but right now they looked quite fearsome... for a kid their age.

"Uhh, hi," Ben groaned as he nursed a painful spot on the back of his head. That felt like a bruise in the making.

Frisk let out a huff. "You. What brings you here?"

"I, uhh... I saw you go in here and I was just wanted to know what you were up to."

"None of your business, punk," Undyne snarled at the boy.

Of all people, I wasn't expecting to see him here, Frisk commented.

"Okay, okay, jeez. But, uh... What was that flash of light just now all about?" Ben asked. Undyne froze, unable to think of what to do or say now.

"O-oh no..." Alphys mumbled to herself.

"whoops. busted," Sans added.

Ah, uhm, Undyne, let me handle this, please.

Frisk took control of their body back from Undyne and addressed Ben, who was still half-laying down on the floor. "Eheh... You saw all that, didn't you?" They sheepishly asked while offering him a hand.

"Yeah..." Ben replied offhandedly as he got up and retrieved his glasses, moving to clean them up with the hem of his shirt.

I don't know how we can get out of this one. What do I do?

"You bluff your little a-...butt off, that's what!" Undyne insisted.

Frisk hesitated a moment. Easier said than done. How could they come up with a plausible explanation for this? Then they gulped and turned to Ben. "Uhm, well, I, um, how d-do I explain this..." they stammered.

"Was it magic?" Ben asked rather forwardly. It didn't sound like a guess.

"What?!" The question completely blindsided Frisk. "W-well, yes... That was my first time practicing, actually," they blurted out before they could stop themselves.

"I see," Ben mumbled, trailing off into a line of thought. Frisk wondered how he knew, and what he was thinking about.

"Ssssh! You shouldn't have told him that!" Undyne admonished.

I'm sorry! I answered before I even realized it!

"Um, well, i-it should be all right, our cover still isn't blown," Alphys optimistically noted. "Just as long as h-he doesn't ask about-"

"And from where did you learn this magic?" came the next curious inquiry from Ben.

"...that," Alphys finished her sentence.

"...Um, I can't tell you that, sorry," Frisk meekly replied to the question.

"You can't, or you don't want to?"

"he's a persistent one, isn't he," Sans commented. His tone was as nonchalant as ever, but Frisk could sense a twinge of annoyance in it.

"I-it's almost like... like he knows something," Alphys guessed.

"Because... I don't want to," Frisk decided on their answer. Ben hummed at that.

"I get it. You don't know if you can trust me."

"What the heck is the deal with this kid?! What does he want from us?" Undyne complained.

Ben was studying an eroded brick in the wall like it was the most interesting thing in the universe. Frisk realized at that moment that his tone wasn't suspicious or interrogative. He seemed to be just as uneasy about this situation as they were. "Well, you see, I think I know what it is you're trying to hide, and... Well, you just tell me if I'm correct, okay?" Ben said, not quite looking Frisk in the eye.

"Oookay..." Frisk reluctantly agreed. Not that there was much room for disagreeing.

There's no way he's onto us, right?

"Th-that's got to be impossible," Alphys declared.

Ben took a gulp of breath, as if anticipating the answer he was going to get. "Did you learn it from... monsters?"

H-huh?!

Without even thinking, Alphys took over Frisk's body and addressed Ben directly. "H-h-how could you possibly know tha-that?! That's, that's just... that's just not possible!" she warbled, eyes full of disbelief.

"I'm assuming that means I'm correct?" Ben hesitantly asked.

"Urk!" Alphys realized too late that she's spilled the beans. Undyne could be heard grumbling something about how she "can't BELIEVE you guys, with your big mouths..."

"Ahhh... Well, I-I guess there's n-no more point denying it, huh..." Alphys sadly noted. "Yes, you are correct. My name is Alphys. I used to be the royal scientist for the Kingdom of Monsters. Through some series of events that we're still trying to figure out, me and a few of my friends somehow wound up i-inhabiting Frisk's mind with them. B-but we're not dangerous or anything like that!" She hastily added.

"Oh, uhm, I see." Perhaps this wasn't quite the answer Ben was expecting. He then nodded to himself. "That would explain Frisk's weird behavior lately."

Papyrus took over from Alphys at that moment. "Oh, but Frisk is plenty weird on their own! Did you know that they think crossword is harder than junior jumble?! That doesn't even make sense!" he yelled.

"...Crossword is harder than junior jumble, though," Ben countered, a little taken aback by the sudden change in tone (and decibels).

Papyrus frowned at that. "Well, never mind then. I guess humans are just weird in general."

Toriel requested to speak with the boy directly, and Papyrus relinquished control to her. "Greetings, my child. I am Toriel. I noticed from your tone of voice that you are distrustful of us. Please, do not be afraid. We mean no harm. Frisk is a good friend of ours. We have tried to respect their wishes as much as possible during our stay here," she assured him.

"Oh-kay..." Ben spoke slowly, lost deep in thought. "Anyone else in there?"

Toriel passed the torch to Sans. "Heya, I'm Sans. Sans the skeleton. That loudmouth earlier was my brother Papyrus." He winked, ignoring his brother's protests. "I believe we already met once. Did you like my joke about Napoleon Bone-apart?"

Ben's eyes widened with realization. "That was you?!"

"Yup. Surprise."

Ben just blinked once, at a loss for words.

Frisk took command of their body back. "So, uhm... I take it you're convinced?"

"...Who's asking?" Ben suspiciously replied.

"Ah, uh, just me, Frisk."

"Can I... see that magic from earlier again?"

Frisk nodded. Focusing once more, they attempted to gather magical energy from their surroundings before repeating every exact movement that previously led to success. The chance to prove their newly-earned worth in the field of magic... it filled Frisk with determination.

"REIDMERAF SIALÈRDIUR!"

Frisk was prepared for the resulting flash of light this time... But it was still really, really bright. Casting magic was weird. It was like seeing colors for the first time after having previously been colorblind... And yet different from that, still. It was an indescribable sensation. The fact that no words exist to define it was a sure sign that Frisk really was the first human to do this in a very long time. "Very good technique for a beginner, Frisk. You are a natural," Toriel complimented.

"Whoa... Yeah, that's something else, all right," Ben mumbled, rubbing his closed eyelids for a few seconds.

"If you'd like, you can watch while I practice in the future."

"That sounds cool..." Ben took the offer.

"Yes. But! One simple favor in return." Frisk's voice had gotten a lot lower pitch and a little more... velvety. Ben guessed another monster had taken control. "You see, my name's Mettaton, and I'm monsterkind's biggest star. I aim to represent monsters on the big screen when the time comes for us to reveal ourselves to humanity... but it's not time for our debut performance yet."

Frisk, or rather, Mettaton, walked over to Ben and leaned on his shoulder, rather blatantly invading his personal space. Frisk was glowing with embarrassment, but Mettaton didn't care. "So if you could be so kind as to keep mum about our existence until we're ready to go, then that would be much appreciated, honey. I'll even give you an autograph as a reward."

"...Yeah, sure..." Ben leaned away, clearly not comfortable. As a result, his agreement didn't sound very convincing. He flinched when Frisk's facial expression transformed again suddenly.

"And I'm Undyne. And if you DO talk to anyone about us, then I'll have an "autograph" for you too. Where do you want it?" The threat wasn't exactly subtle, especially not with "Frisk"'s face mere inches from Ben's own.

Luckily for him, Frisk backed away a moment later, their face reverting back to it's usual neutral expression. "Uhh, sorry about that. Undyne is a little distrustful of humans she doesn't know. Which is to say, all of them except me. Heh heh." They sheepishly scratched the back of their head. "Don't worry about it, she's really nice once you get to know her."

"I-I believe you..." Ben weakly reassured. "I'm sorry, this is all so much to take in." He leaned against the back wall, adjusting his glasses.

"Well, I've spilled the beans... So how did you know about the monsters?" Frisk wanted to know.

"Ah! Uh, uhm..." Ben looked like he had a split-second panic attack, then readjusted himself. "Well... I... I'm not ready to talk about that. Not yet. It's... very personal." He scratched the back of his head. "Don't worry, I'll tell you sometime soon, but... Gimme a while to mull over all this, okay?"

Frisk looked at him with a face of distrust. Here they were, exposing all their secrets, and he wasn't willing to follow suit. Still, they were willing to give Ben the benefit of the doubt. He wasn't one to lie or go back on his word. At least, that's the impression they got from their limited interactions with him so far. All they could do now was hope he could be trusted. "Fine, then."

"Well, I'll be heading home, then," Ben awkwardly mumbled.

"Okay. See ya."

As Ben turned to leave, Frisk and the monsters conversed among themselves whether they trusted Ben or not. Undyne's opinion was a resounding "No", of course, but there really wasn't anything they could do about it at this juncture. On the other end of the spectrum, Papyrus firmly believed in innocence until proven otherwise, and thus assumed Ben would keep his word as promised. Everyone else fell in-between those two extremes.

"Oh, and Frisk?" Ben stopped and looked back over his shoulder.

"Yeah?"

"Be careful around those monsters. They're more dangerous than you seem to realize." And with that, he headed for the exit.

"Mind your own business!" Undyne growled, but not out loud for him to hear.

But as Ben walked through the doorway, Frisk noticed a small spot of out-of-place color around his chest area. It moved straight through him as if it wasn't even corporeal, yet still followed his movements somewhat. Looking closer, they recognized the shape of a human soul, pulsing cobalt blue with integrity.

A/N: Had to rewrite this chapter a couple times, just wasn't happy with it. The end result is a bit cobbled together from all previous versions. Hope that didn't mess up the flow.