It's raining somewhere, but… not here.

We've reached the first of three important scenes that I've already written beforehand! The end is near!

Enjoy!

(Also shout out to that person who found me on Undertale amino. Oh, and would you look at that, we've reached the 100K word mark! I'm sure you all wish I was dead for going on this long but I. DON'T. CARE for once!)

ProtectorTale Ch.21

The humans continued through the rest of the now deactivated color tile maze and eventually made a left turn before climbing up a set of stairs. At the top they noticed a very familiar rabbit monster and his colorful stand.

"Oh, hey!" AJ exclaimed.

Frisk gasped with a smile.

"Oh, hey! It's you two again!" The Nice Cream Guy greeted. "Care for some nice cream?"

"Sure!" Frisk answered. "Oh! But only if I can get two!" She added before turning to her fellow human. "So we can both have one to celebrate making it this far."

The monster gave a hesitant grin. "Well… I kind of had to raise the price since I'm still not getting many customers…" He hesitantly admitted. "It's 50 gold now."

"Fifty!?" She exclaimed in shock. She checked her pockets and counted her coins before eventually sighing. "I don't enough for two… Sorry…"

The rabbit kept his smile up. "Ah, it's alright little one. It's hot enough here that someone else will buy one eventually."

"Well, good luck then." The teen said before walking towards the second set of stairs in front of them.

"Bye! Good luck!" The adorable child said with a wave as she went with her friend.

They went up the stairs and came across a large hall cutting right into the massive rock wall in front of them that stretched as far as they could see. They passed through it and soon reached the other side of the massive rock boundary that marked the end of Hotland. They were now in an area that was protected from the heat of Hotland by the rock, and before them was large resort building with large MTT letters on the front above the doors. They sighed in relief as they pulled down their hoods and felt real cool air once again. They admired the building for a moment before the girl noticed a piece of paper on their right.

"Hey! Go up the creepy alleyway on the right for some great deals!" Was written on it.

"Sure, that isn't a bad idea at all." The boy deadpanned with a confused expression. "Why would someone write that?"

"Maybe they're just being honest?" She guessed randomly.

"What, so you think that they're actually totally honest monsters and they aren't going to hurt us at all?" He asked with a smirk.

"Maybe." She responded. "Wanna check it out?"

He thought about it for a second before exhaling. "Screw it, why not? We visited the person who tried their hardest to kill us after all, what's a creepy alley gonna do to us?" He asked aloud and they walked down the alley.

They quickly reached a dead end with various trash items scattered around in a seemingly organized way in front of a few trashcans. Hanging out next to the items was a gator monster girl and a cat monster girl.

""Hey! Check it out!"" The two monsters exclaimed and smiled at the two humans.

"Uh, hi. Who are you?" The older human asked, slightly surprised by the seemingly peppy characters in the alley.

The two monsters started talking at the same time. "I'm Bratty, and this is my best friend, Catty." Said the gator. "I'm Catty, and this is my best friend, Bratty." Said the cat. They both looked at each other for a moment before laughing. Frisk giggled along with them and AJ tried to not respond in a rude way to these odd characters.

"So… what's with the shop here?" He asked.

"Well the stuff inside is like…"

"Totally wicked expensive." Catty finished.

"But, like, this stuff we found is like…"

"Totally wicked cheap." Catty finished once again.

"You should,"

"Like,"

""Totally wicked buy all of it!?" They both suggested.

"U…huh…" He responded slowly. He peeked over their shoulders and saw some of the items they were selling. "Where did you get all of this?"

"I mean, like, where does anyone get guns, or food, or-" Bratty started.

"We found it in the garbage!" Catty shouted before she could stop herself.

"It's good garbage!" Bratty said quickly.

"It's like, really good garbage!" Catty agreed.

'Nice save…' "Well we'll check it out and see about buying any of it." He said before walking around them. They both looked at the items and noticed the few worth mentioning, like the cowboy hat, the junk food, the key, and the revolver. His hand opened a bit on its own and various thoughts flew through his head before he could stop them. His face showed conflict if you took the time to look closely. "Well, the price tags are all way too much, so we can go now." He said before turning around.

"Wait, really?" Frisk asked, surprised. "I thought you would want the gun, to protect us."

"The last thing I want to do is touch that thing." He responded as he began to walk away.

Frisk quickly turned and bought two bits of junk food nearby, since that was the only cheap thing they had, before running to catch up with him.

The duo stepped out of the alley and turned to see a familiar face. "Hey guys." Sans greeted.

Their shocked expressions lasted for but a moment as they quickly smiled at the sight of their teleporting friend. "Hey sans."

"Hi sans!"

"I heard you two are going to the CORE. How about grabbing some dinner with me first?" The skeleton asked.

"Sure!" Frisk answered.

"Yeah, sure!" AJ agreed.

"Great, thanks for treating me." He responded with a grin, getting a chuckle from them both. He turned to walk towards the alley next to him. "Over here, I know a shortcut." He guided them down the dead end hall.

"Sans, this is just a wall." The teen commented before the skeleton suddenly turned around and grabbed them before teleporting them all.

(It's Raining Somewhere Else – Undertale OST)

"Well, here we are." Sans said casually.

The dizzy humans spun around before falling into the two seats behind them. Now the three of them were seated at a restaurant table with only a candle in the middle to serve as light.

"So, your journey's almost over, huh?" Sans asked with a raised eyebrow and his usual smile. "You both must really want to find a home on the surface."

"Eh, not really. A home down here would be better than one with other humans." AJ commented.

"That's not what we're doing, sans. We're going to the barrier because-"

The skeleton cut the girl off. "Hey, it's alright, I know the feeling." The girl frowned, but he continued anyway. "Though… maybe sometimes it's best to just take what's given to ya. Why go to the barrier at all when you have food, drink, and friends right here?" He asked, motioning around them. He frowned before leaning towards the humans. "You could lose all that if you go any further. Is what you have to do really worth it?"

The humans were silenced by this. They did have good food here, and they did have a lot of friends here. She wanted to free monsters, and he still wanted her to find a proper home, but was it worth possibly dying? Why not just stay down here with them? Why free them? And why try to find a better home up there if one down here would work just fine? Sure, there aren't any very good places to sleep, but like the skeleton just said, maybe they should just take what they have and live with that. The positives certainly would outweigh the negatives, in numbers at least.

"Ah, forget it." Sans spoke up before winking at them with a grin. "I'm rooting for you both."

The humans smiled at that, especially Frisk, who nodded strongly. "Yeah! We can do this! We'll free you all!" She whispered excitedly.

Sans smiled with closed eye sockets at this before opening them and looking at his buddies. "Hey, let me tell you a story." He started. "So, I'm a sentry in Snowdin Forest, right? I sit out there and watch for humans, it's pretty boring. Fortunately, deep in the forest, there's this huge locked door, and it's perfect for practicing knock knock jokes." The humans chuckled at this. "So one day, I'm knocking em out, like usual. I knock on the door and say 'knock knock'. And suddenly, from the other side, I hear a woman's voice. 'Who is there?' So naturally, I respond… 'dishes'. 'Dishes who?' 'Dishes a very bad joke.' And she just howls with laughter, like its best thing she's heard in a hundred years." Meanwhile, the humans were doing their best to keep their laughter quiet and keep themselves from falling out of their chairs over such a stupid joke.

Sans chuckles at the sight, and continues when they've calmed down enough to listen. "So I keep em coming, and she keeps laughing. She's the best audience I've ever had. Then, after about a dozen of em, she knocks and says 'knock knock', so I say 'whose there?' 'Old lady!' 'Old lady who?' 'Oh! I did not know you could yodel!'" Sans paused for effect. "Wow… Needless to say, this woman was extremely good." Having heard that one before, AJ didn't let out more than a chuckle, but Frisk got quite a bit of a laugh out of it. "We kept telling each other jokes for hours, but eventually, I had to leave. Like I said, Papyrus gets cranky without that bed-time story." He said with a chuckle that they all shared. "But she told me to come by again, so I did. Then I did again, and again, it's a thing now. Telling bad jokes through the door… It rules." He said with a big smile.

The humans laughed in agreement. "Sure sounds like it!" The older one commented.

Once the laughter ended, sans's smile faded a bit, and he grew just a bit more serious. "One day, though, I noticed she wasn't laughing very much. I asked her what was up, and she told me something strange…

'If two humans ever come through this door, could you please, please promise me something?… Watch over them, and protect them, will you not?' " This revelation caused both humans' eyes to widen greatly. She had a feeling they were going to leave back then? "Now, I hate making promises, and this woman, I don't even know her name. But…" He looked down and closed his eyes. "Someone who sincerely likes bad jokes…" Then he tilted his head back up and opened his eyes to smile at them. "…has an integrity you can't say no to." The humans were still too stunned to really say anything. "Do you both get what I'm saying? That promise I made to her... you know what would have happened if I hadn't said anything?" He closed and then opened his eye sockets to reveal pure blackness that stared into their souls.

"You'd both be dead where you stand."

…

"Hey, come on, lighten up you two." The monster said with a chuckle. "I'm just joking with you." He noticed the humans were still stiff and showed no signs of relaxing. "Come on, haven't I done a great job protecting you two? You both haven't died a single time." He said with a wink. The two humans couldn't take him seriously after a statement like that.

"You can't die more than once you dumb skeleton." AJ pointed out with a bit of a laugh.

"Exactly." Sans said with a wink before standing up from his seat. He stared at the humans and gained a strange smile. It was definitely a friendly smile, but he seemed to be thinking of something. He closed his eyes and chuckled before pushing his chair in. "Well, that's all. I don't think I need to voice the opinions of the people at this table, but… Take care of yourselves, okay? Cause someone that isn't at this table really cares about you."

His words hit them harder than they expected, and they felt emotions they weren't used to feeling.

He started to walk away, past their table, but he stopped before he totally left when he heard the teen speak up.

"Sans?"

He turned around and saw them both turned in their chairs to face him. They were smiling at him as their eyes were welling up with tears.

"Some people at this table really care about you too... I hope you know that." He said, and honesty seemed to just flow from him at that moment, and the skeleton could feel it.

Sans's smile vanished. A tear fell down his cheek, and his smile returned in full. "T-Thank you, buds." He said before walking away completely.

The humans turned back to sitting normally in their seats. "Wait, was I crying? Heh. Magic really has affected my emotions. That or being around you has just made me soft." He said with a chuckle before losing his smile. Conflicting thoughts flew through his head and he made a tough decision. He suddenly got up from his seat. "Wait here."

He caught up with the monster as he left the restaurant area. "What's up?" Sans asked as he saw the tall human approach.

"Sans…" He seemed to be having a hard time saying what he was trying to say. "You need to take Frisk with you." He finally said, and the skeleton's eyesockets widened in shock. "I don't want her to go, but she has to! She will be safe down here, with the monsters here. She wouldn't be safe with humans, and she'd just suffer if she tried to stay with me. Just let me go face the king alone. It's better that way." He explained with a bit of desperation as he pleaded with the monster.

Sans's eyes sockets widened in anger. A bone stuck out of the ground under his feet, bringing him up to the human's level. He grit his teeth before grabbing him by his shirt. "You are not going to sacrifice yourself to free monsters, you hear me? If there is one thing that I will not let happen, it's you going and killing yourself after all this time! You and Frisk both have nothing, you need each other rather you like it or not!"

The boy simply looked away from him, a sad look in his eyes. "Well maybe she needs to learn that this world isn't as nice as some people think it is."

Sans got closer till his face was all the human could see. "You are not hurting her like that…" He said slowly. "And I think you don't really want to anyway." He added before removing the bones and backing off. "So stop thinking about taking the easy way out like that. Freeing everyone down here isn't worth it." He turned around and continued walking towards the exit. "Honestly, she isn't the only one that would be truly hurt by you leaving. But despite what you say and do, I think you know that, don't you?" He asked as he put his boney hand on the door. The human was barely even looking at him anymore, and he certainly wasn't answering him. "Just stop thinking like that, alright, bud? There are a few different ways this could end, but the only endings you should even be thinking about are the ones where you both make it out of this alive." He said before turning to leave once again.

He suddenly stopped and looked confused. "Actually, I have one last thing to ask. Can we talk outside?" The boy nodded and they walked outside as the skeleton wanted to do. "This may be my last chance to ask, and I've really wanted to know, ever since I talked with you two after you both laughed at my puns… Why do you two get along the way you do? Why does Frisk clearly like you so much?" He paused for only a moment. "Why have you protected her all this time? You could have just left her with us or something."

AJ thought about his answer for a few seconds, and for once the answer to such a series of questions came quickly. "I did something that no one else has ever done for her before, I protected her. I wasn't about to let a kid get hurt, but her parents didn't share that feeling, turns out. She started really caring for me because she was just so thankful that I had protected her. And that's what made me like her. She isn't stupid, she isn't that annoying, but that's not just it. While what I did was a first to her, that led to her doing a first for me. She… actually cares about me, my feelings, my wellbeing, and not only that, I actually like her! She isn't a hypocrite! She doesn't just care about me because I'm family! She's such a freaking nice and good person, with good morals, too. She's the first person to treat me so nicely. I don't know if you know what it's like, but I've never been around someone that just knew how I felt and tried, without me asking, to make me happy. I've never felt someone care so much for me before! She… well, what else can I say? She's the closest thing to perfect I've ever seen!" He asked finally, unsure of what else to say.

Sans had been smiling as the boy went on, but with his chance to speak, his smile vanished. "I was hoping you'd say stuff like that. Now I can get to the real point of that series of questions." The human was surprised by this. "Don't worry, I really did want to know what I had asked. It's just that there's one question I want the answer to more. Why did you just try and push away your one reason for living?"

The teen frowned and looked away, refusing to answer.

"You saw a perfectly good reason to live right in front of you, that much is clear. You saw someone worth protecting, worth fighting for, worth faking a smile just to see them happy. Why in the world would you try and get me to take that away from you?" The skeleton asked with a serious frown.

For a few seconds the human didn't answer, and the monster honestly thought he wasn't going to. But then the boy looked up at the ceiling of the cave, and he did answer. "Life isn't for me, or maybe I'm not meant for life, one or the other. I'm not good at anything useful, I don't know how to do anything needed to live a decent life, I'm too sensitive, I hate people and would never get along with any of them. I thought about it, and my entire future would be suffering and pain, even if I somehow got enough money to live a decent life. There's quite frankly no point to living for me. For others, sure, but not for me."

"…I can't understand it." The skeleton admitted. "I'm trying as hard as I can, but even I just can't understand why you would try to get rid of your reason for living. A reason for living is… well… it's a reason to live, to experience life and all that comes with it. It…" He sighed. He couldn't explain it anymore, he was too baffled by the human before him. "I just can't see how anyone other than me would do that."

"A reason for living is an evolutionary thing, you know." The teen pointed out. "We exist to procreate, and that's honestly it, but then we grew brains and wondered about the world and became sentient. We became much more complex than other life, where the fear of death and the need to live was enough. We need to actually feel like there's a reason for living beyond reproducing, because our mental health and our sanity are important. We need it to make it long enough to procreate. That's all it is, evolutionary. There is no reason for living besides that. Most people desperately search for a reason of their own to maintain that sanity, but I'm one of a few people who see beyond that.

It's not just that my life would be hell and I would rather be dead than deal with that, but also the fact that life itself is stupid, to me anyway. I'm not interested in experiencing the world, I'm not interested in falling in love, I'm not interested in a life that is totally unnecessary. I could die and the world would barely notice it. We all could die, and the universe would just keep turning on. Life sure is beautiful, but it really is unnecessary for the rest of the universe." He let out a sigh when he realized he was just rambling and tried to remember the question.

"So yeah, a part of me sees a reason to live with this kid. After all this time, a big part of me really does want to stay with Frisk now. But the other big part of me, that still recognizes the facts of this world, just really wants to stop. To stop living when it's pointless, to stop trying even though there's no reward for trying that means anything. That part of me really hoped you would take her away, so I could free monsters, and do one, last, good thing, for all the people who still think living isn't stupid." He said in a low tone and frowned at the skeleton. "That's fine though. If people have a reason to live, good for them. …I'm gonna shut up now. I answered the question and if I said anymore I would just rant again."

The skeleton was silent for a minute, frowning in thought. "I could comment on the things you said, but then we'd be here awhile." He commented. Then he suddenly changed. "What matters is what I already told ya, no more thinking like that now. You've got a kid to protect." The skeleton said as his usual smile returned before turning around and walking back into Hotland. "Besides, I personally don't believe in sacrificing yourself for the greater good, not when there are other options. Those other options may be nearly impossible, but I'd still rather try them than take the way that makes most happy but causes a few to suffer." He commented. "Then again, you wouldn't see me doing anything like that anyway. After all, I'm just some lazy skeleton." He said before teleporting away. It didn't matter if what he said was true or not, all that mattered was that the boy took the hint.

"If you say so." The human said to no one with a shrug. He walked back into the hotel and saw that Frisk had been staring in that direction the whole time, waiting for him.

"Were you two talking about something?" She asked curiously.

"Yeah, just some… private stuff." He responded, waving it off as nothing important. "Anyway, ready to keep moving?" He asked, holding his hand out for her.

"Ready!" The young human answered, fueled with determination. She took his hand and felt it again. She couldn't help but feel it, she could feel in his tight grip that he really cared about her. It was the grip of someone who didn't want to lose what they were holding, and she couldn't help but giggle happily.

That smile made him smile. It wasn't the sight of an innocent and kind kid being happy, but the sight of someone that cared about him, someone that he cared about, smiling and being happy… He felt his emotions completely shift and he was suddenly filled with joy. It wasn't even the first time that seeing her happy had made him happy. He wondered if this was what it was like to have a little sister.

Then he surprised himself by actually thinking that this was alright, that he could live with this. For him, it was a weird thought to entertain.

They stepped into the room that you would see first if you actually walked into the resort instead of teleporting in. There was a fountain in the middle with a statue of Mettaton on it, spewing water onto the floor and creating a large puddle. There was nice tile and carpets, and even some possibly fake plants in the corners of the lobby.

"DETERMINATION!" Frisk shouted, and every monster in the lobby turned and stared at them.

The older human pulled his hood up. "Frisk… why did you have to do that?" He whined embarrassingly. She simply giggled in response and he decided they were leaving the area.

"Wait, what about that elevator there?" The girl asked and pointed at the elevator nearby.

He looked over and saw the small crowd of monsters near it. Their expressions showed their frustration and distress, and one of them was even calling a family member and telling them they wouldn't be home tonight. "I think that elevator's down." He responded and they continued out of the lobby. The sign saying CORE was hard to miss.

They stepped out and away from the lights of the resort and slowly crossed a bridge over a deep, dark pit. There was an immense amount of machinery ahead of him, but everything here looked much more advanced than down in Hotland. Two figures noticed them and retreated into the CORE, and the duo hesitated for a moment.

"I suddenly have the feeling that this area won't be easy." AJ commented.

Alphys called them. "Huh? Who are they?" She asked. "N-Nobody else is supposed to be here. Oh well! We can't worry about that now."

"Yep, this isn't gonna be easy." He deadpanned.

"We'll make it through, AJ! Just stay determined!" She said passionately.

"If we get into a fight, I'll do what I always do." He said assuredly before they continued on and entered the CORE.

(Core – Undertale OST)

"Ready? This is it!" Alphys said. Before them was an elevator, as well as two paths on either side of it. "Take the elevator up to the top of the CORE."

They approached the elevator and pressed the button. Nothing happened for a few seconds. The boy pressed the button twice and waited a few more seconds, still no sound. "Ugh. I knew this was gonna happen."

"What? The elevator should be working…" Alphys said, surprised. She went silent for a few seconds, seemingly in thought, before awkwardly speaking up. "W-Well then! Go to the right and keep going straight!" They entered the room to the right and were met with a dark room and flames in the darkness below. "Alright, now just-… That pit… isn't on my map." She realized. "F-Forget it! Try the left side then!"

"Why isn't this on your map!?" The older human asked, confused.

The lizard let out an annoyed sigh. "T-The CORE is made out of interchangeable parts, so it could have been changed, but there was no scheduled change today! My map should show what the CORE looks like right now!" She exclaimed. The humans entered the next area and actually had a straight path forward this time. "Okay, you should be able to make it through here… Watch out!"

A hat suddenly dropped down in front of them, and before they could even comment on that, the object moved. A pair of boots stuck out of the bottom as the hat floated into the air, and a monster stuck its head out of the top and grinned as two magic orbs appeared on either side of it. The humans got their tools of self-defense out and got ready for the fight. "Tinkle tinkle, hoy!" The monster said before its two orbs moved towards them.

One orb launched itself at the older human and he side-stepped it and turned around to face it as it came back. He dodged again and swung at the orb as it flew by, but it weaved its way around his blade. Meanwhile the other orb was flying all around the child and launching magic crosses at her. She watched three fly at her and she jumped to the side. The orb relocated and fired another three, and she dodged two before hitting the third with her stick, deflecting it away.

The orb then began randomly zipping around and stopping only to launch one cross before relocating. She deflected one before rolling to dodge a second, then jumping back from a third and spinning around to see and duck under the fourth. She noticed the orb seemed to move more when she focused on it, as if it didn't want her to, and so she tried to do just that, deflecting and side-stepping the magic but keeping her eye on the ball. One cross manage to glance her shoulder and cut into it, but she noticed the orb slow down and stop moving as he refused to look away from the orb. It weakly fired one cross and she deflected it back into the orb, shattering it. The floating magic monster seemed annoyed by this. It whispered arcane swear words.

AJ had found a pattern he thought was working for the sphere attacking him, dodge its kamikaze attack and then swing his blade on its string while it was turning around to come back at him. He had nicked it a few times and the cracks on it were clear to see. He noticed the orb sputter and swerve a bit as it came at him again and he was able to shatter it with his sword. He quickly threw his machete at the monster while it was defenseless, but it floated out of the way and grit its teeth. "Hocus pocus!" It announced, and another two orbs appeared before attacking again.

The teen raised his weapon and waited as the orb rushed at him, but the orb suddenly stopped and shot small crosses at him instead. He had little time to react and ducked under the attacks while trying to block them at the same time. The crosses knocked his weapon out of his hands, and he spun around to get it when he remembered his string and instead spun around to swing his blade at the orb. It dashed to avoid his blade and launched more sharp crosses at him, with two of them cutting into his sides as he fell back to try and dodge them. He growled before suddenly standing up with the help of the blue magic and he rushed the orb.

Meanwhile, Frisk jumped back from the orb that was trying to fly into her. It rushed her again and she jumped to the side, but the orb quickly flew at her again and knocked her down. She rolled to the side as the orb smashed into the ground where she was lying and ended up cracking itself. She backed herself against the wall as the orb went after her again, and she moved at the last second so the sphere would shatter itself against the wall. Meanwhile AJ chased after the orb almost relentlessly, dodging its nearly point blank attacks while trying to destroy it with his sword. The orb was as fast as he was, but he was still able to land a strong hit that shattered the orb into little pieces of glass.

The monster seemed really frustrated now. "Alakazam!" It shouted angrily as four orbs appeared and flew at the humans. The teen grew tired of this fight and used the light blue magic. He rushed the four orbs and shattered them all in a second before jumping up at the monster. It just barely flew to the side in time to avoid the human. It started to sweat and seemed to look side to side for a way out. It then let out an awkward chuckle before disappearing into its hat, and then the hat vanished as well.

The boy dropped his weapon and gripped his sides as he collapsed onto his knees. "Ah!… god! That one hurts so much more than other monsters that hit me…" He said weakly.

"Y-Yeah…" The girl weakly agreed as she used her good arm to hold up the phone and activate the portal. She got out the two bits of junk food and tossed one to her fellow human.

*Ring* "Th-That was close. Why are there monsters like that down here?" Alphys asked with a mix of confusion and concern. Though her new thing now seems to be 'hide all doubt behind false confidence'. "I mean… It's no problem, r-r-right? W-W-We've just got to keep heading forward!" She went silent for a moment before hanging up.

Having eaten magic food, they were ready to keep moving into the next room. The next room quickly made a right turn and they found themselves blocked by a forcefield. There were a few deactivated lasers behind the forcefield, and a switch next to it. Alphys called them again. "Looks like you can't proceed until you hit the switch. B-But those lasers will activate when you do. Hang on… Alright, looks like they'll come in this order: Orange, Orange, Blue. G-Got it? Move until the third one."

"Here we go…" The teen said aloud before he hit the switch on the wall. The lasers activated, and as they took their first step towards them, their eyes widened in shocking realization. They halted quickly as two blue lasers passed through them at high speeds before quickly running forward to avoid being hurt by the orange laser. Fearing that the lasers may come back, they ran across the narrow glass platform to the other side.

"Oh my god, are you two okay!?" Alphys asked worriedly. "I… I'm sorry, I gave you the wrong order…" She went silent again, and the teen could guess how she was feeling right now.

"Alphys, it's oka-"

"E-Everything's fine, okay!?" The lizard cut him off as she spoke up suddenly with more false confidence filling her voice. "L-Let's just keep heading forward!"

'Alright, as long as she isn't getting depressed over it.' AJ thought, but avoided saying while Alphys was on the phone.

They continued down the hall ahead of them and noticed the path branch off. They could keep moving forward, or turn to their left. "A crossroads… uhh… uhh… Tr… Try heading forward!" She eventually suggested. The boy let out a hesitant hum at the thought of directions from the monster after the last time, and he peeked into the left path. All he could see was darkness. He shook his head and decided to trust Alphys. "W-Wait!" She said suddenly as they started to walk by the dark room. "No, I think you should h-head left!" She corrected.

He internally admitted that the correct path could be through the darkness, but he would rather not go into another dark room where a certain killer robot was probably waiting for them. "No, I think you were right the first time."

"A-Are you sure?" Alphys asked hesitantly.

"Nope! But I'm sure not going in there willingly!" He responded and continued walking.

"Yeah, I don't think I wanna go in there either." Frisk agreed as she glanced into the dark room before following him.

They continued down the hall and eventually came across another bridge across a dark chasm. The bridge was covered in a ridiculous amount of lasers. "M…more lasers… Okay, I… I won't mess around this time. I'll just completely deactivate the lasers and let you through." Alphys decided, and they waited a bit for that to happen. "Aha! There we… They're… They're not turning off… Why aren't they turning off!?" She asked in annoyance. Her confidence quickly faltered. "I… I can't turn them off… I… N…N-No! I can get around this! I have this under control! I'm going to turn off the power for that whole node!" She decided. Eventually the lights shut off and the lasers shut down. There was just enough light from the room ahead and the room behind to let them generally see. "Okay, go!"

"Good job, Alphys!" The child cheered at the sight of their friend persevering through challenges. They walked along the slightly less narrow walkway and made it half way across before Alphys suddenly shouted.

"WAIT, STOP!" The humans froze in place as over a dozen blue lasers activated around them, with two passing right through them. They dare not move a muscle. "Th-The power… it's turned itself back on! D-Damn it… Th-This isn't supposed to… I… I'm gonna turn it off again!" She announced suddenly as she forced herself to focus. "When it turns off, move a little, and then stop! Okay? I'll just keep turning it off when it keeps coming back on." The lights and lasers flickered off again and the humans rushed forward. They were able to move for a single second before the lights started to flicker and they stopped as quick as possible as the system kicked on again. Then they went out again and they quickly ran forward. They repeated that two more times until they were safely past the lasers. "S-See? I've got everything under control. Everything's under control!"

"Th-That was just as terrifying as flying over a pit to be honest." AJ commented.

"Y-Yeah." Frisk agreed.

The humans continued through the CORE and soon reached a crossroads, with three paths to choose from. "Alright! So, you should… you should…" Alphys trailed off. "…I don't know? This doesn't look like my map at all. I'm sorry… I… I have to go."

"No, Alphys, WA- and she hung up! Great!" The teen exclaimed before letting out an annoyed sigh.

"Determination… DETERMINATION!" The girl shouted passionately as she stared at the obstacle before them and the smell of ozone filled their nostrils.

"Alright, you pump yourself up, I'm gonna- what the?" The screen on the wall of the left hall suddenly lit up, and he approached it. "North: warrior, south: sage, any path leads to the end." He read quickly. "North it is then."

"Hey, wait! We're not going down a fighting path!" She countered. "Let's go down the sage path and free everyone peacefully." She demanded more than suggested.

He exhaled through his nose. "Fine. Fighting would have been more fun though." He commented before walking down the left hall. Frisk gave him a look that said "I can't believe you just said that" before following him.

They continued down the hall until they noticed a room to their left, which they entered. Upon entering they noticed the boxes and ships puzzle. "Awesome! I knew picking this was a better idea!" Frisk commented cheerfully before quickly getting up to the controls. Her tongue stuck out to the side as she focused intently on the layout of the puzzle. "Oh." She sobered up when she realized this was easily the hardest version of this puzzle she had ever done. She focused and spent the next minute and a half maneuvering the boxes until she had a shot on the opposing ship. "Yes! Got it!" She cheered and turned to her fellow human with a big, cheerful smile. "Now let's get back to the-"

The sound of a rocket drew their attention to the door leading out, where they saw a familiar box with arms come flying in at high speeds and ram into the taller human, essentially clotheslining him when he failed to duck in time. Mettaton's arms rapidly grew in length and wrapped around the downed human completely and pulled him up into the air. "Hey!" The girl shouted and pulled out a stick before running at the robot, who quickly flew away and back down the hall. The boy struggled and shouted and did all he could to break free. Mettaton looked behind him as he flew and was surprised to see the small human actually gaining on him. He stopped and turned to her before snapping his fingers, and a forcefield appeared between them.

"LET HIM GO!" She shouted at him.

"Ooh, feisty." The robot commented. "This, darling, is the patience test. It's something you need to have when you're waiting for a show you love to begin." Mettaton explained. "So join my wonderful fans and be patient, will you darling? The fabulous show starring yours truly will begin shortly! We just need to finish some… final prep work." He said, pointing at the struggling human in his arm before flying down the hall further and into another room.

Frisk banged her fists against the forcefield, but it was clearly in vain. She reluctantly sat down and waited like she was told to do, frowning all the while. She eventually realized her mood and let out a slow breath. "Just stay determined, we'll get through this. I know we will." She said to herself.

I've started school again! NOoooooooooooo… I was hoping to get this done before that happened, but it's too late! …Alright so I thought I was going to have to do geometry this year. IT'S WORSE. I HAVE TO TAKE A STUPIDLY LONG MATH CLASS NOW. AS IN AN ACTUAL CLASS. THAT I SIT IN. WITH OTHER PEOPLE.

School may or may not affect my free time, so if I miss even more Saturday posts, that's why. It honestly probably won't affect it, but I figured I should warn you all anyway cause… school + fight scenes? That could end up being a problem…

Yes I know I could have split the chapter into two parts but I've decided not to. Might as well just keep them fused together, longer chapters towards the end, get to the end faster.

Well, that's all I have to say for now. Hope you enjoyed and I hope you have a great week!