AUTHOR'S NOTE: There's one more chapter before the hiatus officially starts. I should have been more clear on what I meant by "chapter 25," because the prologue threw everything off by one chapter and FF doesn't like that. X_X So the hiatus will begin next week, not today.

Chapter 24: Determination

The corridor darkened. It didn't feel right to drag Frisk into a Fight, but Sans knew he had to. He couldn't risk that thing getting past him, so trapping it in a proper field was all he could do. He just had to control his intent. He would wait for Toriel to show up and hope she could reach Frisk because she had to be in there, somewhere. She just had to be! If she wasn't…

If that THING killed everything Frisk was to steal her body and soul, he would make sure it burned in Hell.

It didn't waste any time. For its first turn five red magic knives were summoned, just like when Frisk Fought her uncle. Did that attack actually belong to this thing? It aimed for his joints and sternum, but he sidestepped them all. It was his turn…

"take a seat and think about what you've done." He turned his opponent blue, forcing it down onto Frisk's knees before summoning some special bones. The attack connected and about a third of Frisk's HP turned pink. Sans had to hide a wince. He'd have to be careful about using that move, but what did that say about his opponent? About Frisk? Was it really something else in control over there, or was this some split personality she harbored before she ever came to the Underground?

He'd always compared Frisk to a particularly complex puzzle, or equation, but she was doing her damnedest to stump him, tonight.

Two more red knives came for him, spinning through the air as though they'd been thrown. They were dodged easily and Sans kept his hands in his pockets as he summoned a bullet barrage. A weaker one than he would normally use, with a lower number of bullets and a little slower to boot, but the goal here wasn't to kill whatever was piloting his human friend. That would kill Frisk, too, which would just force her to do whatever she did to come back. (Assuming Frisk would come be the one coming back, and not the thing controlling her. It seemed awfully determined, after all.)

His right hand brushed against a familiar object in his pocket. He closed his phalanges around it, praying he wouldn't need it…

The smile changed. Sans was almost reminded of Undyne before spears flew at him. He dodged them, wondering if Frisk ever figured out how to turn other people's souls green. If she did, and the thing had access to that ability, this Fight was going to get rough. He supposed it was a good thing he knew how to dodge all kinds of magic. The thing inside Frisk was also proving to be quite dodgy.

The unintentional pun made Sans groan in his own mind. He made a mental note to annoy someone with it once the Fight was over.

And so it went. The battle went back and forth long enough that Sans began to worry Toriel wouldn't show up. But after dodging a few fireballs he heard footsteps… behind him. Voices rose in astonishment.

"Sans! What in blazes is going on, here?!"

"What the hell are you doing, bone bag?!"

"Oh my god!?"

It was Asgore, Undyne and Alphys. Sans didn't dare to take his eyes off his opponent, but those glowing red eyes focused on the newcomers intently as they came to his side. It was his turn, so he took the chance to summon a small number of blasters, forcing the thing to dodge their line of fire. A large hand fell on his shoulder and Asgore shook him, trying to break his focus.

"Sans, she only has five points left! Stop trying to kill my little girl!"

"i'm not going to," Sans said calmly, still firing cannon after cannon at his opponent. He watched it dodge as he said, "besides, it may look like her but frisk's not the one i'm fighting."

"And how the hell does THAT work?!" Undyne yelled. "It sure looks like her to me!"

Out of the corner of his orbit Sans could see Alphys had her c-phone in her hands. She was shaking as she said, "Un-d-dyne… I think he m-might be right?"

As she spoke red knives came soaring through the air, but they weren't aimed at Sans, or even Asgore. They were flying toward Alphys. Sans felt his soul plunge as Undyne roared. He still couldn't look away from the thing inside his friend, but he grit his teeth as the head of the Royal Guard twirled a spear in her hands and deflected the attack. He didn't need to see the look on Undyne's face to know this wasn't going to end well…

"Why you little-! That was deliberate!" she shouted incredulously. She sneered as she said, "We never should have trusted a HUMAN! I'm going to KICK YOUR ASS!"

Asgore released Sans, moving closer to his protégé. "Now, Undyne, let's not be rash, I'm sure-!"

Sans used blue magic to push the king out of the way of more knives, interrupting him. The skeleton was sweating as he said, "i just told you it's not frisk in there! now get the HELL out of here before it kills you all!"

The grinding of Undyne's teeth was audible. She glared at Sans as she said, "I may only have one eye, but I know what I fucking saw! FRISK JUST TRIED TO KILL MY GIRLFRIEND AND MY MENTOR! She's dog meat once I get my hands on her!"

Alphys looked close to tears as she clutched her c-phone to her chest. Everything was going wrong, again! "U-U-Undyne! There's something y-you need to hear! Th-there's a ca-"

An outraged voice and raucous clanking of armor interrupted her. Toriel looked ready to tear him apart as she shouted, "SANS! What are you doing to my daughter?! You promised to watch over her, not Fight her!"

Pulling ahead of the guards tailing Toriel, Papyrus raised a hand and said, "I FEEL THIS LEVEL OF PUNISHMENT IS UNWARRANTED!"

Sans groaned when he heard Toriel and Papyrus' voices. He felt he could afford to cover his face with his metacarpals, since he hadn't chosen what to do with his turn, yet. He rolled his pupils to the ceiling and brought his hand down as he shouted, "for the last time I'M NOT FIGHTING FRISK!"

Everyone fell silent as Sans caught his breath. He kind of understood; he didn't raise his voice like that very often. But between the conversation with Flowey, having his memories crash back into place AND whatever was going on inside Frisk, his patience had worn thin. Of course, everyone just started arguing, again. Everyone except for Papyrus, who scrutinized the human.

Undyne, still holding a spear in her hand, scoffed. "I'm still not buying it. I'm kicking Frisk's ass and you can't stop me."

Toriel brought herself to her full height, eyes flashing as her brow drew downward. She looked down her muzzle and said, "You will do no such thing! None of you will harm my child any further!"

Alphys still hadn't let go of her c-phone, desperately tapping away at it even as she stuttered, trying to get a word in, edgewise. But her voice was overrun by Asgore' as he said, "Tori, Undyne, please! Let's not-"

"Do not 'Tori' me, MR. DREEMURR." Toriel turned her eyes to him, making the king flinch. Seeing that, Undyne stood between them.

"Oh, fuck off, grandma!" she shouted. "I have had it up to HERE with you and your attitude! You leave Asgore alone!"

"How dare you!"

As the situation escalated Sans continued to watch his opponent. A strange expression crossed Frisk's face as the thing inside her watched everyone argue. It was being hidden, now, but it was like they'd never seen a bunch of Boss Monsters disagree with one another. It was like they hadn't known monsters could yell at each other so heatedly, or glare at one another with anger in their eyes. It even let Frisk's eyes stop glowing, going back to their normal sunset color.

That thing just got more and more confusing…

Flames engulfed Toriel's upraised palms. Undyne twirled her spear before pointing it at the former queen. Asgore stood between them, trying desperately to calm them down. The guard assigned to protect Toriel looked between the angry alpha females indecisively, caught between their duty to protect the former queen and loyalty to their commander. The one assigned to Frisk shook inside their armor, frozen in fear and sweating profusely. They delivered a condemned prisoner to Sans once before. They knew what power the soft-spoken skeleton normally hid. Even so, they berated themselves for their cowardice.

Papyrus' brow ridges drew downward in confusion as he looked at Sans. He parted his teeth to ask something but the sound of Frisk's recorded voice erupted from Alphys' c-phone, whose volume had been turned to its highest setting so everyone could hear. What came next stopped everyone in their tracks.

"NO. You will move. Or I will move you. Or you force my hand and I turn you to Dust. What comes to pass matters little to me. But I WILL go to the Prison. That human will never see the light of day again. I am determined to ensure he does not."

Everyone except Sans turned to Alphys. Tears streamed down her face as she held her-c-phone out to them. She sniffled, but was determined as she said, "Th-the Frisk I know w-w-would never s-say anything so… so horrible!" She sobbed out the last word, but refused to fold under the weight of her anxiety or exhaustion.

Frisk needed her, and that gave her strength. Through chattering teeth and weak knees, she continued. "Th-that person c-c-c-can't… They aren't… S-something is t-terribly, terribly wr-wr-wrong here! I-i-it's like when Frisk w-went after h-her uncle, only so much worse! Th-the person in that field c-can't be her! That m-might be her body, b-but it's not HER! S-so… So un-t-til we figure out w-what's going on, we sh-shouldn't f-fight each other."

She locked eyes with the thing inside Frisk. "Please… wh-whoever you are, please! We can t-talk. L-let us help. You d-don't have t-to…"

Alphys faltered. She wasn't seeing her friend in those eyes. It was a stranger, a complete stranger who didn't care about what she was saying. They might have been listening, but nothing she said was going to change their mind. She could tell she was going to fail, again. Her friend needed her and she was as powerless as she ever was.

*What in the world made me think I'd be able to help? With that thought she fell to her knees, what little strength she found draining out of her and leaving her a sobbing wreck on the floor. Undyne turned her back to Toriel without a thought as to what magic she might cast. She gathered her beloved into her arms, tucked her under her chin and held her close.

"It's okay, Alphys," the warrior said gently. "I believe you. It might be Frisk's body, but it's not Frisk. Okay. I don't get it, but I won't fight Toriel. Or Frisk, I guess. But I still want to know why the hell those attacks were aimed at Alphys and Asgore!" She glared at the human over her shoulder, shielding Alphys with her body as she did.

Though she tried to radiate as much love and comfort as she could to Alphys, she was still angry Frisk tried to hurt two of the people she cared about! It was also weird to see her with her eyes open. She looked like a completely different person. Not even during their Fight had the human looked that way.

Undyne stopped glaring as she began to see what Alphys (okay, and Sans) had meant. Not just her, but Asgore and Toriel as well. Papyrus' voice made them jump as he said, "I AM GRATEFUL, DR. ALPYHS, FOR YOUR TIMELY INTERRUPTION OF THE IMPENDING CONFRONTATION BETWEEN UNDYNE AND MISS TORIEL! BUT I MUST ADMIT I AM CONFUSED BY HOW YOU DID IT! WHY WAS FRISK'S VOICE ON YOUR C-PHONE?"

Alphys was still upset too answer him, so Sans was the one to explain. "there's a camera set up in here, to bear witness whenever i… do my day job. it was set up just before granddad retired. traditionally, it'd just been him and the royal guards hearing any confessions, but asgore convinced him that having a backup for his memories wasn't a bad idea." He looked over his shoulder and said, "thanks, al, for working your techno-magic on it. almost forgot about that thing, myself."

Undyne stroked Alphys' head as the alchemist hiccuped in her tears. She said, "You did good, Alphys. I'm really, really proud of you. You're the best." She gave Alphys a quick smooch on the top of her head, pouring as much love as she could into the brief gesture. The alchemist seemed to be calming down… which was a new record! A personal best, she was sure! Undyne hugged her girlfriend as tightly as she could without hurting her.

Papyrus nodded as he said, "AGREED! DR. ALPHYS IS THE COOLEST ALCHEMIST WE ALL KNOW! SO, NOW THAT THAT'S OUT OF THE WAY!" He rounded on Frisk, hands on his hips as he boomed, "HUMAN! WHO ARE YOU, AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH FRISK?"

Sans thought he saw the thing twitch (or was it a flinch?) before it made Frisk smile. "I do not know what you mean," it said almost innocently. "I am right here…"

"DON'T GIVE ME THAT GARBAGE." The people who never heard him use that tone gaped at Papyrus. Even the thing blinked at him with a barely-restrained expression of surprise. Sans grinned as he continued. "THE HUMAN WE KNOW WOULD NEVER SAY SHE WOULD MURDER SOMEONE! NOT EVEN AS A JEST! NEITHER WOULD SHE WILLINGLY HARM ALPHYS OR HER FATHER!

"I POSTULATE THAT, KNOWING HOW STRONG UNDYNE IS, AND LEARNING HOW STRONG SANS IS, YOU KNEW THEY WOULD PROTECT ASGORE AND ALPHYS! YOU MAY HAVE BEEN ATTEMPTING TO PROVOKE THEM IN ORDER TO… HASTEN THE END OF THE FIGHT! BUT! THERE IS A BETTER WAY!

He moved Sans' side, placing himself firmly within the darkened area of the Fight. He shared Sans' turn, making their choice for them both. Two options floated before Frisk's body as he proclaimed, "I, THE GREAT ROYAL GUARD PAPYRUS, CHOOSE TO SPARE YOU!"

Sans stared at him with wide orbits. "papyrus, you can't! it's going to kill you!"

Looking at him out of one corner of his orbit, Papyrus said, "EVERYONE DESERVES THE CHANCE TO DO A LITTLE BETTER! YOU KNOW THAT AS WELL AS I DO, SANS." He looked back at the human and smiled encouragingly. "THERE IS STILL A CHANCE FOR THIS TO END PEACEFULLY! I KNOW YOU WILL DO THE RIGHT THING. I BELIEVE IN YOU!"

"pap-!"

The thing wearing Frisk like a coat had taken a moment to consider its options. Sans felt sick as Frisk's left hand moved toward the "Fight" command. It came down as though it was in slow motion and Sans felt his skull shake in a gesture of denial.

His magic flared in his left eye, tinting his vision yellow. Screw the rules of the Fight saying his turn ended! Screw the tradition that said he and his brother had to wait for the attack! He wasn't going to lose Papyrus, ever again!

He pulled his right hand out of his pocket and brought it up. On his middle finger he had a special ring, which he poured his magic into. The weapon of the High Judge, the Soulbreaker, formed into the shape of a bastard longsword. The weight of pure Justice tried to strain his carpals as he took a shortcut to stand before his opponent, the options floating between them. He set his shoulders to cleave Frisk's soul in two, determined to do whatever it took to stop what was happening.

He spared a second to mentally apologize to Toriel for breaking his promise. He regretted it but, as much as he liked Frisk, Papyrus' well-being came first. It always had, and always would. As long as his brother lived Toriel could hate him as much as she wanted. Then again, would she even remember what he did, when Frisk came back…?

He focused. His stats didn't matter to the Soulbreaker, only his intent. He could see the hand moving to end Papyrus' life had stopped in the thing's shock at his sudden attack, but it was moving again. Time felt like it was crawling and he couldn't bring the Soulbreaker down fast enough! Something happened to his soul…

He'd been turned blue! He was pulled away from Frisk's body and his attack missed, his sword slicing the air between the magic panels that let a thirteen year-old child decide everyone's fates. He cracked a couple tiles on the floor before he was hoisted into the air. Although his weapon wasn't suited for throwing he set himself to do so, anyway, as he flew backward. But he saw Frisk's right hand do something as Papyrus caught and held him tight. More bodies crashed into them, furred and scaled hands holding his arms as he strained to see what was going on inside the field.

A little red pencil had formed in the air by Frisk's hand. Her forefinger pointed and it jammed itself into the Fight button, the sound of glass being broken echoing in the corridor. Five more pencils formed, joining the first in attempting to destroy the option.

Everyone stopped. All monster eyes were on Frisk's body even as Undyne, Asgore and Papyrus held Sans at bay. Alphys covered her mouth with both hands, the scales of her face gone sickly pale. Toriel was stunned, too many emotions warring for dominance in her heart for her to process. Fortunately for them all the human's left hand had stopped moving, unable to touch the button floating before her.

The look on Frisk's face was… indescribable, but that wasn't what stopped everyone; it was her eyes. The left iris was glowing that bright, determined red, again, but the right wasn't. It was flickering between many colors, an entire rainbow swirling in her eye. The spectacle made Sans furrow his brow ridges.

Why did that look so familiar?

Frisk's right hand slowly rose. Sweat dotted her forehead with effort even as the left moved away from the buttons, only to start reaching for her own soul. At the same time Frisk's right hand chose Mercy the left clawed at her soul, making Frisk gasp. Her HP steadily fell as the field disappeared, freeing everyone from the Fight. When she collapsed she only had three points in her bar, and it was falling fast…

Sans let the Soulbreaker dissolve and wrenched himself out of everyone's grasp. He ran to Frisk's side with Papyrus close on his calcanei. Sans fell to his patellas with a clack and reached for the hand clutching Frisk's soul, despite the fact that touching anyone's bare soul without consent was a fairly serious crime. In her case even more-so because she was a kid, but as her HP hovered at two points he figured there wasn't any time for the luxury of propriety.

"hang in there, frisk! just hold on!" He used both hands to try and pry the fingers off, but they were determined. The harder he tried, the faster her HP fell. He didn't think he could get them off without breaking Frisk's hand. He wasn't sure he could control his intent well enough to do that without touching her HP, at this point.

She had one point left. Papyrus was joining in now, but they still couldn't get that hand off! He was alarmed as he said, "FRISK! OTHER HUMAN! THIS SOLUTION IS NOT IDEAL!"

Her HP fell below one point… but just barely stayed above zero. How was that even possible? Toriel knelt at Frisk's head, cupping her daughter's face with both hands as she looked into Frisk's eyes. Sans could feel her soul reaching for Frisk's as she murmured reassurances. Papyrus soon followed. Sans took a moment to collect himself as much as possible before joining them.

So many zeroes came after that decimal point… The shadows in Frisk's soul were running rampant. Fear and self-loathing were still there, but they were secondary to something else; hate.

Too many zeroes… How did Frisk do it? Blazing hot, wickedly cold hatred for humanity was swirling, threatening to drag them down and swallow them whole. The weird thing was that it didn't feel like it came completely from her…

Undyne, Asgore and Alphys finally joined in reaching out to Frisk but they were too late. The darkness in her soul was too deep. They couldn't see the real Frisk anywhere. That self-restrained, stone-faced, smart, kind, sweet, gentle, funny kid they'd all come to care about was gone…

Sans' eyelights extinguished. His hands fell away from Frisk's soul as he was dragged into his own abyss. There was no point in trying. Frisk already lost everything that made her who she was. She was dead, no matter how much HP she still had. There was nothing they could do to help, so what good would trying do? She was going to die. They would all be sent back in time, undoing everything that happened only for it to happen again, and again, and again…

"SANS! DON'T GIVE UP!" As Papyrus shouted he used his soul-connection to grab Sans', pulling him away from the dark. "I KNOW THINGS LOOK BLEAK, BUT I KNOW FRISK IS IN THERE, SOMEWHERE!"

Sans wanted to believe him, he really did, but he couldn't. Not when Frisk's soul felt like it was covered in a whirlpool of heated tar. He wasn't the only one feeling the effects of trying to connect to it. Alphys, Asgore, and Toriel all felt the self-loathing they tried to hide within themselves and it was getting to them. It was becoming a feedback loop of helplessness, sorrow and regret that would soon spiral completely out of control. They would all Fall Down into the pit before them, just like Frisk…

They should never have tried in the first place. He should've let Frisk kill her uncle, no matter what it did to her. Even better, he should've ended that bastard's life when he had the chance, preventing this from happening at all! His mind was filled with would haves, should haves, and could haves as he was consumed by his negative emotions…

"NGAAAHHH! Would you all just STOP ALREADY!?" Undyne's voice echoed in the hall even as her soul sent figurative spears of admonishment to them. "Frisk is alive! She's in here and we're going to find her! The rest of you just sit back and let me and Papyrus do all the work!" She returned her full attention to Frisk. "PUNK! Did you already forget what I told you?! I said the next time you got shoved in a hole, I was dragging you out! Well, HERE I COME!"

Her hands replaced Sans' in trying to free Frisk's soul. She reached deep, braving the massive, cloying hate with tender ferocity. She was worried, Sans could feel it, but she wasn't letting that stop her from trying to find her friend in the morass. Papyrus was right there beside her, charging forward even as he kept a thread of encouraging feelings connected to Sans behind him. Despite Papyrus' own fear of what he might find, he was diving in like the brave person he was. Everyone could feel how much they cared for Frisk…

Couldn't they see they were just going to hurt themselves, if they kept this up? They needed to stop! Frisk's HP was well below a fraction of a percent, and it couldn't go much lower. It wouldn't be long before she-

"S…a…n…s…"

That was Frisk's voice! His pupils returned as pinpricks, letting him see into the girl's eyes. The left was still red and she was bleeding through her tears, again. The right iris was still a rainbow, but… there was something in the blackness of the pupil that made his mind stutter.

It was tiny a tiny, golden, shimmering star, not unlike one of the lights that hung in the night sky. Frisk's mouth moved as he watched, letting him see how hard it was for her to reach out, but she was trying…

She looked at each monster in turn, struggling to say their names as she did, and he could feel something happen inside them. He could feel something happen inside himself, though he didn't know what it was. He could feel it giving him strength where he'd lacked it before. He looked in her eye again to find her trying to bore a hole in his skull with her gaze.

The star shone brighter and he could swear he could feel the whatever-it-was inside him getting stronger. Even though she was dying, she was still reaching out to them. She was still trying to help them, despite being in so much pain. She was so damned determined, but why…?

Alphys gasped. "Sans! L-look at her soul!"

"but i already did…"

"Not IN her soul, AT her soul!"

Sans blinked in confusion, then pulled himself completely away from the connection so he could think a little better. He looked at the soul still in Papyrus and Undyne's hands…

It looked the same, baleful red as Frisk's left eye… until it flickered a different color. Sans thought he was just seeing things, so he stared until it happened again. And again, and again!

Pink. Frisk's soul was trying to turn pink, but kept reverting to red.

"what the hell…?" Sans didn't know what to think, but he took a deep breath before reconnecting to Frisk. His bond with Papyrus helped him go deeper than he would have gotten on his own, and that was when he felt something besides burning-cold hatred. It was small with distance, but it was there.

Love was there. Not LOVE, but the feelings a child held for their parents and their friends. What they felt for friends they considered family. Sans watched as that love raced toward them from the depths, shielding them from the worst of the shadows inside her. It soothed them like a balm after being burned, making everyone sigh in relief.

He took the chance to Check Papyrus and Undyne. Their HP was running low, because the dark within Frisk had been lashing at them but they were otherwise fine, despite the tears in their eyes. Sans felt his own orbits burning as he heard Alphys and Toriel sob. Asgore shook like a leaf and he understood why.

He could feel Frisk. They could all feel her. She was in there, alive. Despite the dire straights she was in she was doing everything she could to protect them, because she loved them. Sans realized that she was letting herself love them, unconditionally and without fear of rejection. As she did the pink color in her soul stayed longer and longer before fading back to red, the star in her eye shining brighter. Seeing it, Sans was struck with the impulse to do something he hadn't done since Papyrus was born.

He made a wish.