Alice in Undertale

By Lolitafreak88

Chapter 5 Super Skeleton Bros.

What awaited Alice beyond the door was an all too familiar face and an all too unnerving sight. A patch of grass on the ground, lit up by a luminous ray of light. FLOWEY was there looking at Alice with a smug and intimidating expression. After what Alice had endured though, she wasn't all too scared of the bullying blossom quite as much anymore. Furthermore, beyond where Flowey was, stood a purple entryway. Beyond that door must be the rest of the Underground, Alice thought to herself eyeing the flower cautiously, but I wonder what he has to say this time. She was about to speak but Flowey beat her to it,

"Clever. Verrrryyy clever. You think you're really smart don't you?"

"I'd like to believe I am… I've been tutored well." Alice asserted herself with the dignity of a queen.

"Wow… and so modest too. In this world, it's kill or be killed. So you were able to play by your own rules. You spared the life of a single person." Flowey's expression shifted into the still very creepy soulless glare.

"Don't neglect the many other monsters of the ruins that I did spare. I have several witnesses to confirm this." Alice corrected.

"Bah, you didn't even make friends with them. Toriel doesn't even want you to visit her anytime after you go out of the RUINS. What do you think that says about your impressions Alice?" Flowey asked Alice.

Alice wasn't phased at all by his attempts to deceive her into mistrust. After all, she knew things from Chara and Toriel that explained why she would want to remain in hiding. If this king knew about Toriel and her RUINS… Toriel would more than likely be hunted down for aiding the humans. Or at least she'd be forced to join the hunt for Alice in this Underground. Thus Alice understood why Toriel had let her go and made her unable to utter a word or pay a visit towards the goat mother. Still, Alice had to confess that she was already missing Toriel's cooking and beautiful conversations.

"I believe it describes my impressions as perfectly suitable for this world. After all, while I do respect this world for having rules, it doesn't mean that I agree with all their rules, Much like with good and bad advice. There are people here who have absolutely no intent to harm and simply desire freedom and choice." She spoke eloquently to the flower.

At that moment though, she felt something quickly and tightly coil around her ankle. It appeared to be some sort of vine and it looked ominous and sentient. Flowey regarded her with a harsh expression. Such an expression confirmed that this viney entrapment was Flowey's doing. Alice began to wish she had more control over her DETERMINATION when it came to dealing with Flowey.

"How contrary of you little witch. Little do you know but you are a key reason why monsters down here have no choice. Here you are, feeling so great about yourself when really it'd be better if you were killed. What will your 'impressions' do when you meet a relentless killer? You'll die and you'll die and you'll die. Perhaps it'd be best if I put you out of your misery now…" He taunted Alice.

Alice shuddered nervously and looked anxious, trying to find a way to spin herself out of this web Flowey was weaving. Then she had an idea.

"I don't think that would be in your best interests. I have someone supporting me after all and if I go down, they would most definitely avenge me." She spoke as confidently as she could muster in the face of the plant.

"It sure as heck isn't TORIEL. Who is it then?" Flowey asked smugly.

"Well, to be perfectly frank it is the person who guided me down here. Chara." Alice spoke.

"...! WHAT did you just say…?!"

Alice had a hunch that Chara held a great deal of influence in just their name alone and so she had wisely decided to let Flowey know that she knew them as well. Thus, Alice thought, he would ideally leave me be and not threaten me as much anymore. Indeed Flowey's expression changed from a villainous gloat to… a hopeful terror? Flowey's expression seemed to appear dismayed but also as though they knew exactly who she was talking about in a personal way. It was not subtle that Flowey appeared to want to know more about what she knew. The vines loosening around her ankles reflected and confirmed her theory.

"Chara… so you do know them." Alice pointed it out in a gentler voice.

"... More than anyone else…" What almost sounded like a completely different voice altogether seemed to answer her statement.

Alice suddenly frowned in a bit of confusion when she heard a strangely innocent, sweeter voice than anything she heard from Flowey. It reminded her of Toriel's kind tone yet the fact it was coming from such a devious character seemed mystifying and made Alice less confident. It did however revive a deep sense of curiousity within Alice. It seemed that the mere mention of Chara greatly impacted Flowey beyond what she had anticipated. Thus, Alice wanted to understand why.

"I beg your pardon Flowey but if I may as-"

"-NO. You may not ask little brat. Yo-you don't need to know why… I know Chara… you don't even deserve to know… what's the point of telling a soon-to-be corpse to begin with?" Suddenly Flowey snapped aggressively in his usual tone at Alice.

Alice instinctively cowered back, expecting another barrage of bullets to appear but they didn't. So it seemed that her knowledge of Chara was protecting her at the moment. What he also said just now struck Alice as very interesting... yet she didn't know how it was interesting yet. It just sounded important how Flowey wanted to keep how he knew Chara a secret. This also reminded Alice of something she had tried to look up in Toriel's book.

"Um… Flowey… I peered upon a book of Toriel's about the plants that can be found in the Underground and I couldn't find your genus… so I take it you are unique?" Alice inquired.

Flowey just shook his head and looked at Alice in a disdainful way.

"You just don't shut up do you? I'm surprised no one has killed you out of frustration at your relentless questioning. Keep yapping like that and they'll give up on you, and you'll be forced to give up on this world. Then I'll be the one left to inherit the power to control it." Flowey announced.

"Inherit the power? What do you mean by that?" Alice asked, frustration growing but trying to remain civil.

Plucking the demented weed was growing very tempting but Alice felt it would be foolish to try.

"I am the prince of this world's future. With the power of the human SOULS, I'll be a god. Don't worry, my little monarch, my plan isn't regicide. This is SO much more interesting. Seeing you, a foolish pawn, prancing around in this 'kill or be killed' hell. I look forward to seeing more from you," baring ferocious teeth, Flowey mocked Alice.

"Vulgar weed. I intend to make my own decisions and you won't get your way with me." Alice insulted Flowey in an act of defiance.

In response, Flowey did something even more startling than summon bullets. His face appeared to enlarge like a balloon, the horrific bared teeth grinning malevolently at her. He then cackled that hideous laugh once more before sinking into the earth and disappearing, vines following after him. Alice stood for a few moments and decided to ponder to herself what Flowey had revealed to her.

"So he intends to take the power of the Underground for himself… which in everyone's eyes is the human souls they gathered to break the barrier. It would indeed seem like they hold a lot of power here, but the way he referred to himself as a prince…" Alice spoke aloud to herself.

Considering there was a King Asgore as Toriel confirmed, and knowing in a traditional monarchy the prince was often the son of the king and heir to the throne… But I highly doubt the king is some giant flower, Alice reasoned, even if Flowey didn't answer if he was a unique flower or not it would've been a more prominent detail in that history book if the king was a plant. Alice began wishing she had asked Toriel more about the King. However, remembering that Toriel didn't seem to recognize Flowey when she had saved Alice and the fact Toriel knew the king well enough to have a negative opinion of him, it confirmed that Flowey was not inheritingly a prince or the king's son. After all, Toriel would've likely said something about it. Then there was the matter of how stunned Flowey had been and how vulnerable he was when Alice revealed she knew Chara.

"Perhaps I should ask Chara next time we meet." Alice decided as thinking about it was too grim at the moment.

Besides, she had succeeded in earning her freedom and also ensuring Flowey would at the very least not hinder her anymore. She felt proud of herself and in control, no longer caged in the RUINS. A surge of excitement overcame Alice and she nodded to herself assuredly. Thinking could come later, now it was time to experience the rest of this Wonderland she had dreamed of for so long. Hopefully I'll be able to meet more wonderful people and see more wonderful things, she thought. With a quickened but still dainty pace, she soon crossed the entryway…

UNDERTALE

"B-Brrr…" Alice instantly felt an intense chill and shivered.

Outside to her amazement was a completely snowy environment. A long path onward lined left and right with purest snow, a giant and almost endless forest of dead and leafless trees, and a snow-covered bush to the right of her. It seemed dark like it was dusk but yet there was still some light and radiance probably from the snow. Alice was amazed and dazzled once more but the chilled air, as well as the fact her fashions were far more fit for a sunny day at the park, made her feel very cold. She looked around desperately, trying to find something warm or even some sight of a monster or person.

"How d-desolate…" Alice murmured as she looked behind her.

The door to the RUINS was lined with a gorgeous archway but the walls of the RUINS themselves were cracked. It was a stark contrast to this very natural outside environment so Alice felt a sense of relief that she been able to leave the ruins. Then Alice remembered how someone had been listening in on her and Toriel right outside the ruins. Naturally no one was around this time but there was still that chance the mysterious man was around here. She looked carefully through the woods as she began to walk along the path. This whole scenario seemed reminiscent of a fairy tale like Little Red Riding Hood. Except it was very cold and in a completely different sort of world. Alice soon came across what appeared to be a very large and heavy branch lying on the path. There was no point in trying to pick it up and it seemed useless to bring along so she walked onward. But then… SNAP!

"...! What, w-what was that?!" Alice gasped as she heard a frightening sound.

Turning around, she looked on in horror as the giant branch she had saw was completely snapped into two pieces. Alice knew this could only mean one thing. She was being followed by someone or something and they were likely to be aggressive. Alice tried to maintain some composure as perhaps she was jumping to conclusions but still the idea of being completely watched without seeing who was watching you was utterly terrified. So Alice quickened her pace forward, trying not to look around for fear of catching the sight of something spooky. She could hear footsteps following right behind from time to time but at this point her main focus was to find something in plain sight. She came across a simple wooden bridge over a ravine with a wooden gate that appeared to be in Japanese style.

"Bridge… bridge… bridge…" Alice was mumbling the word over and over to herself to give her some comfort.

But before she could make her first step across that bridge, she heard a voice that was right behind her…

"HUMAN. Don't you know how to greet a new pal? Turn around and shake my hand."

The voice was unmistakable. It was that voice of the gritty man who was listening in on her and Toriel through the door. It sounded strangely more relaxing and pleasant to hear up close but this whole situation was far too extreme to take any chances. Alice, arms folded due to the cold, asked,

"A-and should I refuse?"

"Then you'll miss out on the warmth of a handshake I guess." The voice replied laxly in a way meant to help Alice ease up.

I could use some more warmth, Alice considered. Eventually she decided it was somewhat rude to decline someone's attempt to greet her and so she turned around and instinctively grabbed… a bony… hand?

"PFFFFTTTTTTHHHHHH!"

"E-Eh…?! W-what was… I-I… that most certainly…" Alice, blushing furiously after the vulgar sound, scrambled with her words.

What she felt was something similar to a balloon and it completely released all it's air as soon as Alice's hand clasped the mysterious figure's hand. The hand itself felt very hard like it was simply bones and that was when Alice first got her look at the figure… and her eyes and mouth opened wide.

"heheh… the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. it's ALWAYS funny." The figure continued on nonchalantly as Alice took him all in.

It was a SKELETON. A walking living, rather on the thick side skeleton standing before her. Bony hands, bony legs, and a head that perfectly resembled a science model. His eyes appeared to have no eyeballs, leaving a black empty space but with two mysterious glowing white orbs that seemed to be his eyes. He was also dressed in clothes, quite a step up from her daydreams about only animals wearing clothes. He wore a white casual shirt underneath a very warm looking blue jacket with fur around the neck, black shorts with a white stripe on each leg, and pink slippers. Alice suddenly felt a bit in awe at this incredible monster, so different from Toriel. He was acting very friendly and goofy and even his fashion choices reflected a sense of spirit. Pink after all was a very bold color and his fashion sense was beyond anything Alice had seen in her hometown.

"W-why… you're a living skeleton!" Alice declared as she pointed at him cheerfully.

"in the flesh… or bone in this case. anyways, you're a human right? all alone with no one to accompany you?" He asked with a carefree smile.

Alice opened her mouth as she was about to instantly reply but then she realized he needed to be smart about how much information she should share to these people. He probably knew about Toriel already since he had spied on them, he knew a lot more about the rest of the Underground, this place was probably not Waterfall, and Flowey and Chara seemed too infamous to share. He also asked her if she was alone which at this point was technically true.

"Yes I am a human… and alone. I haven't seen any other humans besides myself." Alice spoke politely.

Chara doesn't even seem to be an ordinary human so I'm not lying, Alice reminded herself. Still she noticed how the Skeleton was eyeing her without changing his smile or expression once. Normally this would be expected but a few moments went by where he seemed to be carefully considering what she had said to him. But soon enough he replied,

"... well that's hilarious. i'm sans. sans the skeleton."

"Sans…? Why that actually does sound like a pretty nice name. But what do you mean by 'hilarious' exactly?" Alice inquired with an arm gesture.

'Sans' did sound like quite a fine name to her ears and sounded warm and approachable. Though the idea of her answer being 'hilarious' did strike a slight nerve.

"oh nothing about you personally. im actually supposed to be on watch for humans right now. but… y'know… i dont really care about capturing anybody." Sans explained.

Alice couldn't help herself from sighing in relief. Take that Flowey, she told herself. At this point she was getting a bit competitive with proving Flowey and Chara wrong. It gave her more pride and helped her remember Toriel more.

"That's certainly good news. I'm afraid that not every monster has been pleasant company to me. It's great to hear you are more sympathetic to the humans. O-oh and I'm Alice." Alice introduced herself with a curtsy somewhat hindered by the cold.

"...alice huh? well you seem like a great pal alice. very fancy too. now my brother, papyrus… he's a human-hunting FANATIC." Sans said something that made Alice suddenly worry again.

"P-Papyrus…? You mean like the material the Egyptians used as a writing template?" Alice asked.

"...sure we could go with that." Sans replied with a wink.

Alice felt slightly flustered by such a wink coming from something like a walking and jovial skeleton. Also the reply seemed to indicate him allowing Alice to make that the reason why this Papyrus was named in such a way. Either way, Alice pressed on,

"B-but then why-?"

"-hey, actually, I think that's him over there. i have an idea. go through this gate thingy." Sans interrupted her with a very useful update.

"Oh h-he is…? B-but wouldn't it be best to hide in the trees perhaps?" Alice offered.

"only if you're foraging. besides I know a place where papyrus would never look. It's right through here. my bro made the bars too wide to stop anyone." Sans seemed insistent as he spoke.

"... Ok I trust you… but I would like to ask you something. Why were you spying on me through the door to the RUINS?" Alice felt this was a good time to ask as she passed through the gate.

Sans eyes widened and for a moment… flashed blue? He looked as though he had been caught off-guard by her statement for a moment but then he seemingly recovered.

"eh you get pretty bored watching out for humans and i happen to be fond of checking out those ruins.. today was the first time in a long time I heard something like that though… but anyways you better hurry." Sans led her to an open space past the gate.

Alice felt that was a satisfying answer and the reaction was quite interesting so she said no more. In this open space was a very quaint looking wooden stand with a snow-covered roof, a few piles of snow, and… a lamp. Alice did a double take.

"W-why is there a lamp in the middle of the woods?" Alice asked incredulously.

"and a conveniently-shaped one at that. quick, get behind it." Sans said.

Alice frowned and her face seemed to flush.

"I have more dignity than that Sans… besides you didn't answer my question!"

"... UNLESS you would like to encounter a fanatic on human-hunting anyway." Sans seemed to speak quite strictly to her with a hint of frustration.

Alice flinched and realized maybe she was overreacting. She just never thought this sort of scenario was possible.

"I apologize… I'm just quite baffled by this…" She said, hoping for forgiveness.

"its ok…" Sans said with a smile.

So Alice found herself twisting her body in the position necessary to properly hide behind the lamp. Furthermore the cold air made this stance even harder to maintain for her. Then again, Alice considered, I suppose it's better than hiding somewhere dirty. Peering to try to get a glimpse of Papyrus, she suddenly saw a very tall skeleton bounding towards where Sans was. No doubt this was Papyrus and he was very different from Sans. He was taller and thinner with a more defined face But it was his fashion sense that was particularly… gaudy? Showy? Something of the sort at any rate. A white short-sleeved shirt with an orange cape tied around his neck, thick gloves with yellow lining, strange bottoms that resembled underwear in blue and yellow, and enormous red boots. He looked positively absurd which gave Alice a bad feeling…

"sup, bro." Sans greeted Papyrus.

"YOU KNOW WHAT "SUP," BROTHER! IT'S BEEN EIGHT DAYS AND YOU STILL HAVEN'T… RECALIBRATED. YOUR. PUZZLES! YOU JUST HANG AROUND YOUR STATION! WHAT ARE YOU EVEN DOING?!" The response was far more animated and far more passionate than Alice had anticipated.

Compared to the rough yet charming and approachable voice of Sans, Papyrus sounded vigorous, rowdy, innocent, and quite confident. Such a startling contrast, Alice concluded. The mention of puzzles also intrigued Alice who, even after the redundancy of the RUINS, could never hate puzzles and riddles altogether. If it was true then that meant there would be more of a similar caliber of games and mental challenges to overcome. Alice's eyes lit up slightly as she continued to observe the brother's conversation.

"staring at this lamp. it's really cool. do you wanna look?" However San's reply was far from what Alice had anticipated.

He's going to give me away! Alice thought as feelings of anger and being betrayed quickly rose to her mind. But as soon as she began thinking Sans of a traitorous goofball, Papyrus began stomping his feet impatiently.

"NO! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THAT! WHAT IF A HUMAN COMES THROUGH HERE?! I WANT TO BE READY! I WILL BE THE ONE! I MUST BE THE ONE! I WILL CAPTURE A HUMAN!" He hollered.

Alice raised an eyebrow at Papyrus's arrogant statements about him being the one to capture this human. It certainly reflected the 'fanatic' Sans had described but for what she knew, he and Sans did not seem to possess any particular abilities. Toriel had shown her fire manipulation from the start but neither of them seemed to have any skills or weapons on hand for capturing a human. She knew that monsters did have magical powers from what Chara told her so she began to imagine what kind of magic they had. Raising minions from the dead? Control over spectral and dark energies? Or maybe they could enlarge and manipulate their own skeleton bones into weapons. The possibilities intrigued Alice.

"THEN, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS… WILL GET ALL THE THINGS I UTTERLY DESERVE! RESPECT… RECOGNITION… I WILL FINALLY BE ABLE TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! PEOPLE WILL ASK, TO, BE MY, 'FRIEND?' I WILL BATHE IN A SHOWER OF KISSES EVERY MORNING." Papyrus spoke with a prideful pose.

"...Surely he has a chip on his shoulder-bone and a great vanity." Alice mumbled to herself annoyed.

She never liked the idea of braggarts who felt entitled to rewards or status when they did not condone themselves with dignity or humbleness. After all, her sister would always tell her how hard people worked for their achievements and status and that it was very rude to not give them the proper respect. From a queen to a member of the guard to a baker. it was important to be respectful of others and not use them merely as mirrors or a source of compliments. Alice was developing far less respect for Papyrus as he continued to ramble on and on about things he believed he deserved. Until she saw actual evidence of his deeds, she remained unimpressed.

"hmm… maybe this lamp will help you." Sans commented.

"Sans you are not not helping…" Alice cursed under her breath.

Clearly these two were definitely strange and absurd in their own ways. She liked Sans more at the moment but it seemed as though he was trying to give her away to Papyrus so he could capture her. But to her surprise, Papyrus mimicked her exact same words and stomped as he said so,

"SANS! YOU ARE NOT HELPING! YOU LAZYBONES! ALL YOU DO IS SIT AND BOONDOGGLE! YOU GET LAZIER AND LAZIER EVERYDAY!"

"hey, take it easy. i've gotten a ton of work done today. a skele-ton." Sans then seemed to turn to the left and wink after he said this obvious pun.

"Oh!" Alice gasped as she was quickly reminded of something.

Toriel's diary had been full of puns and rather on the nose jokes as well. Sans had just made a pun that would fit right in with the ones that had been in Toriel's stood out was the first pun Alice had read said 'Why did the skeleton want a friend?' Sans was indeed a skeleton as well and had displayed familiarity with the ruins. There's no way that is just a mere coincidence, Alice thought. It meant that Sans and Toriel must've had come into contact once or possibly many times in the past and that may have been how Toriel got into puns. But he had told Alice earlier that her departure was the first time in a long time he had heard something of that caliber happen in the ruins… That could've meant a number of things like he hadn't been visiting for a long time or perhaps there was a routine between him and Toriel where he would come pay the ruins a visit from time to time. It all was very curious and confirmed that Sans knew Toriel. Before she could contemplate any further, Papyrus spoke again.

"SANS!"

"come on. you're smiling." Sans turned to face Papyrus with a cheeky tone.

"I AM AND I HATE IT!" Papyrus admitted.

Alice giggled a bit at this silly exchange. It seemed that Papyrus had been subjected to many a pun from Sans and had grown to accept them. Then she suddenly heard Papyrus sigh.

"WHY DOES SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME... HAVE TO DO SO MUCH TO GET SOME RECOGNITION…"

"Because that's how life is…" Alice muttered to herself, aggravated by the 'greats' and the cold

"wow, sounds like you're really working yourself… down to the bone." Sans turned to the left again, shrugging his shoulders with a closed-eye grin.

"UGH! I WILL ATTEND TO MY PUZZLES… AS FOR YOUR WORK? PUT A LITTLE MORE, "BACKBONE" INTO IT! NYEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHE!" Papyrus cackled as he gave his final instructions to Sans.

He then proceeded to depart… 'proceeded' being the key word as he quickly turned back to say,

"HEH!"

With that, the tall skeleton bounded away from the scene. Alice felt great relief as she pulled out of the lamp before Sans had a chance to tell her and she muttered,

"T-this cold is unbearable… a-and what was that about trying to gesture him towards my hiding spot?"

"sorry kid but hey, i tried. papyrus usually doesn't listen to my implications anyway." Sans replied.

"I'm surprised he even listens to anyone at all. He's unbelievably full of himself and pompous! He claims you are lazy but from the fact he's declaring how 'great' he is you'd think he would have something to back it up. He says he wants to capture a human so shouldn't he be armed and ready? But no! There are no weapons around, no traps set up, and if he really wanted friends he has the power to go out and converse on his own. He doesn't deserve any sort of glory if he's doing it only for people to fall all over him and other such selfish motivations. I loathe foolish people like that." Alice went on a uncontrollable rant about Papyrus.

Suddenly, she felt an intense chill in the air directed towards her and when she looked… Sans pupils were nowhere to be found and he was clearly very angry at her. She was then subjected to an extremely fearsome yet stoic tone,

"... You're not in the position to judge others ALICE."

"Ah…! W-wait… I mean… I'm just…" Alice suddenly felt her knees go weak and she began to step back.

"If you're going to keep judging people like that and making criticisms, YOU will be the one who won't have any friends. Got it?"

Sans didn't move so it seemed he was only scolding Alice but the pupiless eyes and the sheer presence he had made Alice feel even more fragile than she had been when she had first encountered Flowey. It was clear that Sans had something within him to back up his powerful words and tone. Alice realized she had disrespected him by insulting his brother, even if she truly felt Papyrus had behaved arrogantly. Her pride and desire to show her intelligence and proper behavior led her to make her first mistake in the Underground. Suddenly feeling a desperate need to apologize, Alice fell to her knees and began speaking,

"I-I'm truly sorry Sans… I-I just… I've always been taught to be humble and proper and where I come from, people value honor, dignity, and good mannerisms. W-we're used to judging others from afar and correcting the said wrong behavior… b-but I suppose down here it's not like that… is it?"

Sans softened his aura and body language, closing his eyes as he considered what Alice said. When they opened, the pupils returned to his eyes in addition to his casual tone,

"nope. not one bit. i can imagine then it's a bit of a headache for you being down here where things are very different from what you're used to."

"Y-yes… I-I do want to see more of this world a-and… if I need to control my temper and be more accepting, I most definitely will do so." Alice offered.

"... you sound like you mean it. ok, i guess i overreacted too. i just really love my bro and i've felt like he's been a bit down lately. he's been trying to join the royal guard all this time and hasn't had much luck. he thinks capturing a human will do the trick… though i don't know…" Sans looked to the side, still smiling but with lowered eyes.

"Oh… there's a Royal Guard? Do-"

"-anyways kid, you better get a move on. my brother might come back and if he does... you'll have to sit through more of my hilarious jokes," Sans interrupted, winking at Alice.

"I wouldn't say they are hilarious but they do lighten the mood. You are a great entertainer I feel Sans." Alice complimented as she got up from her knees.

"heh, i'll take it. anyways what's the holdup? there's nothing to be scared of. it's just a dark cavern filled with skeletons and horrible monsters."

"...W-well fortunately I've devised a method to deal with the said monsters. A wise woman taught me this technique. Simply by appealing to their better nature, I can pacify any conflict and leave a battle with grace and dignity." Alice explained cheerfully.

Sans looked at Alice with an astonished expression. As though he didn't quite understand what she had just said. But then he smiled big and even sounded relieved,

"then… you should be alright kid. stay safe and also stay warm until you can get to SNOWDIN. there'll probably be a new 'skin' for you." Sans teased.

"... SNOWDIN?" Alice asked, her eyes lighting up brightly.

Another new place! Alice thought excitedly. The name also sounded very accurate with the winter atmosphere of this area she and Sans were in. But she was most curious in what the architecture, culture, faculties, and overall atmosphere of Snowdin could be. She had by now accepted this area wasn't Waterfall so this confirmed she was not yet where Napstablook lived. So naturally she asked Sans hoping for more details but Sans replied,

"you'll find it to be a real hot spot alice."

"Couldn't I have just one hint?" Alice asked as charmingly as she could.

"nah… spoils the fun."

"Well alright… so this is your sentry station I presume?" Alice asked, deciding to use this opportunity to take a closer look at the booth.

She noticed that there were bottles of ketchup, mustard, and relish sitting inside of it. Intriguing choice of food, Alice decided.

"yep it sure is. i usually take naps here though since you rarely see much on this job. hey by the way, alice?" Sans asked.

"Hmm? What is it Sans?" Alice questioned as she pulled away from the booth.

"can you do me a favor? remember how i said my brother's feeling down? he's never seen a human before and seeing you might just make his day. you don't have to worry, he's not dangerous. even if he tries to be.," Sans explained, looking to the side.

Alice wasn't sure about that, knowing how Flowey seemed a charming little flower at first but turned out to be quite dangerous. While she had been thinking Papyrus was indeed just talking big, now that she felt more calm she was beginning to consider he may have some potential as well. If Sans could channel the presence of a military commander just a few moments ago, then what was the brother Papyrus capable of? Still, it seemed as though Sans was going to have her back on this and it would help give her some protection from the 'merciless killers' Flowey had described. Plus it would be extremely comforting to have some company once again and he knew Toriel well enough to influence her.

"Well… of course I will. It's the least I could do to repay you for what you've done for me thus far." Alice agreed with a curtsy.

"thanks a million. i'll be up ahead." Sans said as he began sprinting in direction of the ruins.

"Ah… Sans… isn't that the other way…?" Alice inquired but Sans had already set off.

"Hmm… perhaps he knows some sort of shortcut that's in the woods or something. Either way, I suppose it's time to carry on." Alice talked to herself as she straightened out her skirt and began her descent into the depths of the wintery woods.

"..." Sans had stopped at the same bridge where he and Alice had met moments prior.

He seemed worried and hesitant, sweat dripping. Many things were running through his mind about the young girl he had just seen, "Alice". All questions that needed answering.

"i just hope… she does that favor… right." He spoke to himself before seemingly teleporting away.

To Be Continued...