It wasn't long before everyone in the household gathered around the slightly feverish Frisk to get a glimpse of their loose tooth, making the small bathroom even more claustrophobic. Most monsters that lose teeth usually grow them back immediately with little to no pain or blood. Humans, on the other hand, would have each tooth slowly detach from their gums as the new one pokes through. This was something new to the monsters, and each of them had a different idea as of what to do.

"Just yank it out and get it over with!" Undyne suggested. "It'll grow back faster that way, right?"

"U-Undyne, it'll fall out on its own.." Alphys clarified.

"Are you sure that it will grow back?" Toriel asked.

Alphys nodded half-heartedly and then shrugged. "That's how it works in anime, at least."

"I think we should just leave it in. It's easier than doing anything about it, right, Frisk?" Sans was almost tempted to rip the tooth out himself because the sight of it made him uncomfortable. It made him wonder what it would be like if one of his own teeth had become loose, and the thought of losing teeth was one of his worst nightmares. It seemed so unnatural and just plain painful just to look at. During everyone's assumptions about Frisk's tooth problem, Papyrus was practically laying on the ground and had the side of his face firmly pressed against Frisk's chest. No amount of other bodily functions had ever fascinated him like a heartbeat before. It was like a tiny, life-giving drum that had been beating since the moment Frisk was born. The sound it made was also very soothing to him. "Bro, what are you doing? You've been like that for at least five minutes."

Papyrus sat up and grabbed the front of his brother's shirt to pull him towards the human. "Have you ever heard a heartbeat? It's beautiful, listen!" He pointed excitedly at Frisk's chest and gave it a small tap.

"May I?" Sans asked Frisk. They nodded and Sans rested the side of his head on their chest and listened closely. "This is certainly different. Human hearts beat a lot louder than any monster heart I've ever heard."

"Other monsters have heartbeats too?!"

"Yeah, man. I've got one, and so does Alphys and Toriel," Undyne stated.

Papyrus looked like he had just uncovered the meaning of how all life came to be. "You've been living with this thing in your chest the whole time, Undyne?! Your Majesty as well?!"

It took a little while for Undyne to calm Papyrus down about his new discovery. He just couldn't wrap his head around an organ that could push liquid through a being AND make such an interesting sound. While that was going on, Alphys decided to get a better look at Frisk's tooth. When she touched it, it just barely wiggled, so it would be another day or two for it to fall out unless Frisk wanted to tear it out immediately. Frisk shook their head at the option and Alphys breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. I think it's best to just... let it do its thing, you know?"

Time came and gone, and the group went on to do their thing. Toriel went to make something soft for Frisk to eat, Papyrus was making a new video in his room, Undyne and Alphys commandeered the couch for an anime marathon, and Sans was... somewhere. He was always somewhere, obviously, but this time he was at a somewhere that wasn't anywhere near the house. It was normal for him to vanish unexpectedly, but Frisk got an eerie feeling about his absence. No, it wasn't just from Sans not being there. Something was wrong. The house felt empty and lifeless. The colorful family that Frisk one had were reduced to static images plastering a barren, untextured background. Frisk tried talking to their family members, but all they got in response were repeated, lifeless lines of speech that droned on and on, no matter what Frisk said. Panic began to set in as the once colorful characters of Frisk's story looked drained and zombie-like. All eyes were void of emotion and movements skipped and repeated at random. This reality that Frisk had entered could not even be escaped. Their Save point was gone, and the doors and windows may as well have been just stickers on the walls. The small child ran frantically around the house, crying out to the people living there. Frisk's eyes stung as tears and blood filled them and mysterious cuts and bruises littered their flesh. Every movement was painful, but they couldn't give up. They kept crying to Toriel, Undyne, and Alphys, but they never received a response.

Slowly, each and every one of Frisk's beloved family members dissolved into thin air and Frisk was left in the void alone. The walls leaked a pitch black liquid until they were completely coated with darkness, and the floor cracked into jagged puzzle pieces before shattering, revealing a dark pit of nothingness beneath them. Frisk soon lost control of their movements because of the unbearable pain that had soaked into every muscle, bone, and inch of skin they had. Even breathing was painful; it was as if their lungs were filled with scalding hot water that could not be expelled. It seemed as if they were floating in this void, almost like they were deep in the ocean at night; no light, no sound, no clear sense of direction. Still, they had not given up. They called for help and they called for their friends, even if it meant that they had to bawl in between words.

It wasn't long before the human child realised something that they never wanted to be true. It was an indefinite truth that could not be altered or manipulated in any way. It was a truth that no being filled with determination would ever want to even consider happening.

Frisk was alone.

For the first time, nobody came to help Frisk. They were stranded and damned to float in a sea of black for as long as their body could take it, and nobody was even there to say goodbye. When did Frisk really see their family for the last time? Was it when Frisk went to the bathroom? Did they even wake up that morning, or the morning before? Did they even wake up from falling down Mt. Ebott? Or, was it always like this? Frisk didn't want to think about that. They couldn't go through everything again since they knew what would come. They had to hold onto hope. They couldn't give up, no matter how much pain they were in or no matter how hopeless they felt.

There was no indication as to how much time had passed. Hours, maybe? It could have been mere seconds, but it was enough time for Frisk to figure out how to lessen the pain. They stopped calling for help and slowed their breathing to a nearly unnoticeable rate. This almost caused them to lose consciousness, but they didn't really care. It wasn't as if it mattered anymore. There was nothing for Frisk to hope for anymore, after all. To them, everything was gone and there was nothing they could do about it. All they could do was focus on the sound of their slowing heart to distract them from the depression that surrounded them. Each beat was tiny plea to the world, and each beat grew further and further apart until there was nothing more to hear. The pain had stopped, but Frisk could no longer think clearly. Memories of their family's voices echoed in their mind until it became a roaring typhoon of mindless sounds. From this wicked storm, they could pull out a few familiar voices, but none of which they could identify the owners of.

"Are you there, my child?"

"C'mon, kiddo. I know you can pull through."

"Human! You must wake up!"

"You got this, Frisk! Use your determination!"

"D-does it hurt? Oh geez, please get up.."

The sound of their heart reanimating and beating again had startled Frisk, causing them to draw cool air into their lungs. To their surprise, it didn't hurt to breath. It didn't hurt to move their arms or legs either. The darkness that had engulfed Frisk was dissipating quickly like a black fog to reveal a fuzzy image of their family worriedly hovering over them while they were laying in bed. The nothingness and hopelessness they had felt was replaced with the warmth of a soft blanket and relieved smiles of happy faces. Frisk attempted to sit up and hug everybody, but their body felt limp and heavy. They couldn't even really hear properly, but through the jumble of words, Frisk could hear Toriel say, "Thank goodness Flowey saved Frisk."