Frisk continued on through the Hotlands and encounters new monsters. A miniature volcano with a temper. A very tsundere plane… It seems they haven't changed from the original timeline. Occasionally Frisk would see a message Alphys posted on the Undernet. Frisk didn't even know she signed them up for it. They encountered new puzzles and got hurt along the way, but they always made it out with a smile. They found it tedious that they had to solve puzzles to continue, but why would it be super easy?

As they walked on they entered another dark area. "Why are we always going into dark rooms?" Their phone began to ring so they answered. "Alphys?"

"You can't see a thing, huh?" She hummed. "Let me fix that." There were a few clicking noises then the lights turned on. The three saw that Frisk and Flowey were at a kitchen set. "Get ready, Frisk."

Mettaton soon appeared. "You won't have time for that. I'm already here!"

Flowey let out an exasperated sigh. "What now?"

"Welcome, everyone to, 'Cooking with a Killer Robot'." He clapped for himself.

"Actually I think we'll be on our way." Flowey said.

Mettaton put an arm around Frisk and pulled them closer. "Come on doll make it easy for us and just give up your soul."

Frisk huffed. "Last time I did that, Sans threw himself on someone."

"Sans protected you? Goodness me, you are something special!" He laughed. "And that's why you're the main ingredient of this dish! But… We'll save that for last."

Frisk raised an eyebrow. He's the second person to be surprised that Sans protects them. "Alright, what do you want me to do?"

"Why don't you go get the ingredients on the counter."

Frisk nodded before placing Flowey on the counter and walking to the other side of the kitchen. "Here you go." They placed everything on the counter.

"Alright, everyone. What you see before you are all the ingredients in our cake." He patted Flowey. "Even the vicious little buttercup you see here. That is if you want to kill someone. But, who doesn't down here?"

Flowey hissed and tried to bite the robot. "Fuck off! I'm a Golden Flower!"

"You can't hurt me, weed." Mettaton made a fist. "Speaking of murder. I think it's time to put all these ingredients together." He reached into the cupboard and pulled out a chainsaw. "Luckily I've got this MTT Brand Chainsaw."

Frisk turned to him and stepped back. "Ah…"

Flowey summoned up a thick wall of vines in between the two. "Hey, hey! Mettaton! I know you're all assholes, but come on. It doesn't hurt to be inclusive. There are vegans out there… Somewhere… What about them?"

If a robot could glare, Mettaton was definitely doing it. "Of course." He went back to the cupboard and replaced the chainsaw with a canned soul. "Besides… I'll need for Frisk for later events. The cake's pre-made anyway…" He rolled away.

Frisk watched him go then looked down at Flowey. "Have you always ben able to that?"

"Yeah… I'm a small creature. Using magic takes a lot out of me." He gasped. "What if I did that at the wrong time? What if there was a better time to use my energy? Oh, God… Oh no…"

"Don't worry about it, Flowey." They continued down their path and came upon an elevator.

"This should take us to Asgore's, the king, castle. There you will be able to go home." Flowey informed them.

Frisk nodded and walked inside. They clicked a number and it took them to another, similar looking, part of the Hotlands. They saw a small flame monster looking grumpy in the corner. No one ever remembered his name, but Frisk said they would.

Frisk walked on and saw a familiar face sitting at a hotdog stand. Their face lit up. "Sans!" They said as they ran up to him.

"Well, look who's still alive." He said with a smile.

They looked down and laughed. "Yeah… Mettaton and Alphys were more interesting than deadly…"

"Don't worry about them. I'm still keeping an eye on you." He looked at them. "How about a hotdog? Thirty gold. It's half off, just for you."

"It's normally sixty? That seems overpriced." They handed him the money.

"Because it is." He laughed a bit as he took the money. "A skeleton's gotta do what a skeleton's gotta do."

They pouted. "That's not nice."

Flowey groaned loudly. "We could be literally anywhere else right now, Frisk. But we're here talking to this stupid smiling trashbag."

"Yeah, fuck you too, Petals." He handed Frisk the hotdog. "Here's your 'dog."

"'Dog'?" Flowey repeated.

He smirked and looked at the flower. "Yeah, that's right. 'Dog. Apostrophe-Dog."

"God, I hate you."

"The feeling is mutual."

"Oh, quit it, you two." Frisk smiled as they put the food away in their inventory. "Thank you, Sans."

"Hey, it's no problem, kid." He laughed a bit. "Thanks for the shoutout, by the way."

"Oh, that?" They giggled quietly. "I was just thinking out loud. I didn't think he'd hear me." Frisk went back to their journey. "See you later!"

"Yeah, you too." He watched them go before calling out. "Don't let what he said go to your head."

Frisk snorted as they got further away. Suddenly their phone chimed. "Hm… What's this?"

Alphys posted something. "We're posting our hottest selfies, today!" And there was a picture of a trashcan covered in several dark filters.

Frisk covered their mouth and smiled. "Oh my God…"

They got another message for a post from "BadAssSkeleton95" in response to Alphys' post. It said "Our hottest selfies, huh? Clearly, I've already won." It's a picture of Papyrus flexing with photoshopped biceps.

Frisk started laughing and Flowey soon followed. "For a bunch of dark monsters. They're pretty… Fun-loving."

"I mean, everyone loves having fun." Flowey responded as they continued walking.

As they continue they encountered a few more puzzles until two familiar guards ran up to them. They warned them of a wanted human in the area. Frisk was clearly said human, though the two monster didn't figure it out until a few moments later. They fought for a bit until Frisk convinced the two to share their true feelings for each other. They decided to let Frisk go.

"They like each other… It's kind of strange that they can still love and have crushes down here."

"Hmm… Yeah, I guess." Flowey sighed. "Honestly Frisk… Some people actually don't feel anything nice for anybody. And others deny their feelings hard as hell."

"Really?"

"Yeah…" Flowey looked down. "Sans, the king, and Mettaton are people who don't care about anybody. Alphys, Papyrus, and Undyne are people who deny."

"Sans doesn't care for anyone, huh?" Frisk recalls the times he's spoken to them one-on-one and realizes Flowey never saw any of it.

"Nope…" He looked up again. "He doesn't even really like his own brother, it's kind of sad. Maybe because he threatens his life constantly, but you have to have someone on your side."

"That's sad…"

"Meh… He's an asshole. I don't care."

As they continued walking they entered another dark room. They received another call from Alphys. "Already on it."

The lights came on and the two were on another set. This time it was for a news reporter. Flowey's eye twitched. "Are you serious?"

"Oh, yes!" Mettaton chimed from a reporter's desk. "I told you, I'd need you again!"

"For fuck's sake…" Flowey mumbled.

"Good evening, my captive audience! This Mettaton reporting live from MTT News!"

"Live?" Frisk asked. They looked forward with a bright smile and waved.

Flowey summoned a vine to smack their hand. "Don't wave at the audience, Frisk!"

"Quite a dangerous situation has developed in eastern Hotland. I hear there was a possible murder."

"Murder?" Frisk repeated. "Oh, no…"

"Yes! Murder! My favorite thing! Our lovely detective Frisk will investigate."

"Good Lord, this is his stupidest segue yet…" Alphys was still on the phone. Flowey sat the phone next to himself in the flowerpot.

"I don't really see anything." They looked around the room. "I just see more Hotlands."

"Hm…" Mettaton rubbed where his chin would have been. "How odd. I'm sure myself and my audience can see it."

Frisk looked around again. "Am I looking for a pile of dust?"

"Not sure! Why don't you tell me how humans die?" The news reporter scenery fell apart. "Welcome to the Red Room!"

"I'm pretty sure that's illegal!"

"This is the underground, baby!" He rolled over to Frisk and grabbed their face. "I'm tired of playing around. Asgore wants your soul on a silver platter and I want to feel the rush of tearing you to bloody piec-" He was suddenly cut off.

"Huh?" His grip loosened and he fell over. "What just happened."

"His batteries ran out." Alphys responded. "I'll retrieve him later.

"How convenient." Flowey looks down at the phone.

"Well, Frisk is a lucky, lucky kid." She laughed a bit. "Keep movin' Frisk. You've still got a ways to go." The phone hung up.

"Hm…" Frisk looked down at the machine. "I'm always so close to death, but it always stops at the last second. Sans wasn't here this time though."

"Hm…" Flowey huffed. "Who needs him. We've got each other."

"Yeah…" Frisk looked down again and slightly kicked the robot. "See you later Mettaton." Then they kept moving.

As they walked the duo looked over and saw the Core in the distance. Frisk had actually not been informed about the place at all. It gave them bad vibes even without any knowledge of the place.

"Hey, Frisk." Flowey looked up. "You've been quieter than usual. You okay?"

"I… I'm just nervous about meeting Asgore." They sighed. "I don't think I'll be as lucky with him…"

"I'll be honest with you… He's the absolute worst." Flowey looked down. "He's serious and all he wants is take your soul. He'll stop at nothing to kill you. And you… You're weak. You'll never make it out alive."

They hummed. "We'll see…" the two continued and they came to another elevator. The next place they came to looked entirely different. The place was mostly a dark purple and black.

They walked up to a woman with the same amount of limbs as a spider. She smiled deviously. "Welcome to my parlor, dearie! Interested in some spider pastries? All proceeds go to me and my cause."

"Oh! What is it?"

"My bank account."

"Oh…" They shook their head. "How much?"

"9999 Gold." She smiled brightly.

Frisk jumped. "Um! No, thank you!" Frisk walked up to another monster who seemed to have bought something from her.

"What the hell just happened…" The monster looked at the Spider Donut in their hand. "I think I was possessed. Or seduced. Either way, I'm flat broke now."

Frisk looked back with a frown before moving on. The girl was… Creepy. They kept moving and encountered another complicated puzzle before entering a new are. The place was covered in cobwebs.

"Smells like… Cobwebs…" Frisk commented.

Flowey turned back to look at them after their ridiculous statement. "What the hell does a cobweb smell like?"

"You wouldn't know. You don't have a nose."

"What?!" Flowey touched his face. "I don't need a nose to know that was stupid, Frisk."

They kept walking and noticed it became harder to walk. "Huh?" Frisk looked down.

Suddenly laughter filled the air. "Did you hear what they said?" A familiar voice asked.

Frisk continued walking through cobwebs. "What was that?"

There was laughter again. "They said a naive little human would come through here with a flower." Frisk kept walking. "They said the human was always kind no matter what." Then they could barely move. "They said the human might even give up their soul. Frisk could no longer move. "What an idiot…"

Frisk turned to see that the spider woman appear next to them. "I also heard you were really cheap…" She laughed. "What's 9999 gold, dear?"

"Oh, this isn't fair at all."

The battle mostly consisted of Frisk being caught in a weird purple web and giving up a lot of their money. The woman eventually lets Frisk go after she saw how exasperated the child got.

"Well, you're fun! Even if you don't fight back!" She grabbed Frisk's cheek and pinched it. "It's not smart, but… You're a survivor."

"I guess." Frisk looked up at her. "What's your name?"

"It's Muffet." She laughed. "People like to call me… The Queen of Spiders."

"You seem nicer than most."

She giggled. "I'm not nice. I just don't have that much to gain from killing you. I have all the money I could want. And it is the root of all happiness!"

"I'm pretty sure it's, 'money is the root of all evil'…"

"What's your point?" She shooed Frisk. "Go along, now. I can't let anyone know I let you go."

Frisk continued along their path until they came across a stage. It had a poster that announced Mettaton's show with big red letters that said 'POSTPONED'.

"I wonder how that would've gone." Frisk thought aloud.

"Just another shit show, I'm sure." Flowey scoffed. "He definitely wants to kill you." The two continued to talk about various things as they continued on their adventure.