:-"Run Forest, run!"-:

Alphys, Undyne, Frisk, and Sans are working together in the CORE power distribution center. Well, everyone but Sans actually; he's on the side, contemplating the events that occurred at the secret human lab. Sans has a bad feeling, like something really bad is going to happen soon. He tries to shake the feeling, but it sticks around. Alphys fusses over how the power the CORE provides has to be converted to non-magic energy, while Undyne and Frisk hold parts for her.

Under Sans' shirt, a very pale red glow can be seen, he is carrying the SOUL container inside of his ribcage. At first it was a joke, but they realized that it would be better if he held onto it.

Sans pulls Frisk to the side after a few moments, while the other two are preoccupied.

"hey, frisk... are you getting that same..."

Sans pauses, seemingly trying to find a word Frisk would understand.

"Foreboding feeling? Yea, why?"

"heh, didn't think you knew that word... anyway. after what happened back there, i think it'd be best if we started being extra careful."

"Hmm, yea but it's just forest season; I don't think anything super bad will happen."

"you say that like it's normal for an angry forest to chase after people..."

Frisk is somewhat confused and asks "Isn't it, though?"

Sans shrugs. Perhaps this was the new normal.

Alphys yells out in joy when her test succeeds, and non-magical power begins being transmitted to the output device they have. When she is done, the group decides to visit Snowdin and Alphys remembers to finally automate the Ice dispenser; since Ice Wolf is on the surface. As they pass through the Underground, the group can tell that all the monsters are anxiously waiting for the day they can finally leave. The modifications are simple... stupidly simple. All Alphys has to do is extend the conveyor belt and speed it up a little.

With that problem solved, the group spends some time with the monsters in the Underground; hoping to alleviate some of their built up tension. Mettaton has been doing a fabulous job at keeping the monsters entertained, but nothing can stop them from thinking about the surface.

The group leaves the Underground, remembering that they should be working on making the village a place where humans and monsters will be safe and comfortable. When the group reaches the exit Sans and Frisk notice movement on the other mountain.

Keeping an even tone and looking at the couple, Frisk says "Hey, Alphys, Undyne, you two go on ahead Sans and I will catch up."

Undyne is slightly annoyed "Aw c'mon punk! Don't tell me Sans is rubbing off on ya! We can look at this view when everything is safer.

"There is just some stuff I want to talk to Sans about, and I don't want to worry you if it's nothing."

Undyne starts of amused "Well if you 're planning to prank..." But then takes on a fearful tone, "h-hey... Why are all the trees moving way over there?"

Frisk continues their best to remain calm, "that's what we need to talk about. Don't worry, I'll tell you later OK? I just need to run something by Sans."

Undyne reluctantly replies, "a-alright punk... we'll go on ahead, but don't take too long."

Alphys has a hard time taking her eyes off the scene, having looked after Undyne mentioned it. Undyne pickers her up and heads off.

As soon as the two are out of earshot, Frisk speaks in as clear of a voice as possible; Sans can see the fear on their face.

"Uh... Sans... that has never happened before."

"that's not good."

"Do... do you also see.."

"that giant bald path coming from the mountain, headed right for town?"

"Yea... it's like something really big is chasing them... and it's really fast."

"looks like it will reach the village by nightfall... you know what, i'm gonna tell you a secret. it'll help in case you need to talk to a past me."

Curious, Frisk asks "another secret codeword?"

"yea, kinda. more like a super secret passphrase. c'mere, i'll whisper it."

Frisk moves closer and Sans tells them something. *whisper whimsper whisper*

Frisk gives a visible grin "Really?... OK!"

Seeing the Smile on Frisk's face actually makes Sans forget about all the bad things going on... but only for a moment. "heh, remember, keep that between you and me. that will let me know something really bad happened, but i can trust you. don't forget to use my secret secret triple-secret codeword first."

Frisk's smile fades, and the two begin walking back to the village. Frisk decides to take a picture of the scene with their phone camera. Along the way, Frisk comes up with an idea.

In a serious tone, Frisk suggests "Hey Sans... do you think everyone in the village would fit into the underground?"

"i don't see why not, but it would be a little cramped."

"Better than going to an early grave though, right?"

Sans responds in a mock offended tone "hey now, leave my sleeping habits out of this." And gives Frisk a wink.

Frisk gives a subtle grin. The two continue on in uneasy silence, walking faster than they initially realize. Sans considers using a shortcut, but he is still pretty drained and doesn't want to leave the other two behind. They eventually catch up with Alphys and Undyne, and the whole group begins to pick up their pace. Undyne complains out loud.

"I swear, if those stupid tree things get anywhere near here, I'm gonna make 'em wish they never existed!"

Sans casually inserts "heh, well you have competition. looks like they're running from something."

"Wait, so... something even worse is headed over here?"

"yep."

Undyne doesn't respond... she puts on her fake brave smile that actually makes her look kinda worried.

Frisk speaks up. "We're thinking that we should try to evacuate everyone as fast as possible into the Underground."

Alphys responds "t-that could work... but we would need to get everyone in the Underground ready first... and the space problem... I-I will go back and do that!"

Undyne looks to Alphys and says "I'll go with, I'm just glad we thought about it now instead of waiting till we were at the town."

Sans replies "sorry, i must've forgotten that. me and the kiddo will head to the village and warn everyone."

:-:

The group splits up, once again, as Alphys and Undyne hurry back to the Underground. Fortunately they are not very far away. Sans and Frisk continue in silence, but Sans decides it would take too long and feels ready for another short cut. Sans waves for Frisk to follow and heads towards the river that leads to . After a brief transition, the two are turning around the corner of the gate. Frisk speaks up calmly.

"We should go to the town hall first, don't want to cause unnecessary panic."

"sounds like a plan, let's go."

They pass through the town, hear some commotion in the training grounds (Sans notices a Blaster go off, but ignores it; Papyrus is probably showing off), and make their way inside the town hall. Frisk rings a small hanging bell at the front of the desk several times, and shortly after someone runs out hurriedly. It's Stacy.

"What's the problem Frisk?"

Feeling a little worried now that they think about the thing coming towards the town, Frisk asks "has Bernard come back yet? There is something headed our way and all the Wälder beasts look like they are running from it."

Feeling alarmed, Stacy asks "What? How do you know that?"

Frisk shows Stacy the picture they took, and says "We saw them all running in random directions and a huge bald spot on II, looks like it's headed this way."

Frisk's CELL reads: 1:15 P.M. April 5th, 2045

Stacy doesn't respond immediately... when she does, she's sad. "We just got a scout back, he seemed delirious... but you just confirmed his reports. I'm sorry Frisk... but Bernard..."

Stacy doesn't continue her sentence but tears begin to well up in her eyes. Frisk is visibly upset, also starting to get teary eyed, which makes Stacy even more upset, which makes Sans a bit uncomfortable... he speaks up in a worried tone.

"we think it'd be best if everyone went into the Underground, till it passes."

Managing to calm herself, Stacy asks. "Did you two manage to see what's chasing the Wälder beasts?"

"no, but it's pretty big and fast. looks like it might reach here sometime after dinner."

In disbelief, Stacy responds "all the way from the other mountain?! Oh goodness, that is very bad... Are you absolutely sure?"

"yep, should get everything we can and head to the Underground."

Stacy begins hurriedly moving papers around, looking for something while saying "I'll let the elders know immediately, in the mean time please take this list" she hands Sans a rough piece of paper. "This is a list of everything we absolutely need to survive."

"alrighty, we'll get started. have anything that'll get the guard to help?"

Stacy had been leaving, but stops and says "OH! You're right, sorry..." She shuffles through the papers, writes a few things down on a small one, and hands it Sans. "Give this to Deborah, she's the next in command since Bernard is gone." Stacy rushes to the back.

"thanks, c'mon kiddo, i don't want you leaving my sights alright?"

Frisk weakly nods and follows Sans.

They head to the barracks and track down Deborah, then hand her the paper. The looks it over... and her face goes pale.

"Shi-... itake mushrooms! This is not good... So, I'm guessing they put you in charge?"

"for now, i guess. here's the list of supplies, we're gonna evacuate everyone to and into the Underground."

"I know a lot of people who won't be happy with that..."

"anyone who doesn't go will have to deal with the thing that's coming, i don't think they'll survive."

"Did you manage to get a look at it?"

"no, but there's a large path across the mountain. it's headed this way."

Frisk hold up their phone and shows her the picture they took.

"F-udge that is a huge path! Also... this is really short notice and since this is just a preparatory order, so we won't be moving anyone yet... but if we get the word... I'll make sure everyone moves."

"we'd better get started."

"To be honest, if it wasn't for the fact that we are headed into the mountain... I don't think we'd be able to pull off a full evac. Even now it's iffy, but we don't seem to have a choice."

Deborah, Sans, and Frisk work with a few other guards to gather the needed supplies; taking it into the center of town. Several curious citizens ask what is going on, but Deborah merely replies "Evac drill."

It takes several hours, and most of the guards are now involved in the process, but eventually they manage to get everything on the list. The guards stand at the ready for their next orders, and Deborah goes to the town hall.

:-:

Inside the town hall is chaos, people are rushing to collect important documents and store them safely. Asgore comes out from a side room and spots Deborah.

In his usually cheerful voice, Asgore says "Howdy! You must be Deborah, I was told you would be arriving. We have reached a consensus, the humans can take refuge in the Underground. From what we were told, time is of the essence... with that being said, there is still resistance even in the village council; not to mention that anyone who refuses to leave cannot be forced... also, you can only take half of the emergency supplies... Sorry."

Deborah huffs. "Figures, damn old people too stuck in their old ways to trust new allies... Thank you for your aid, Asgore; I'll begin moving people into the Underground. Sans said that Alphys and Undyne are already there, prepping it for our arrival."

Asgore nods and says "That is very good. I still have some convincing to do, I will join you shortly."

Deborah starts with the Addams residence first, because they have been the most useful for the village's survival despite their... odd ways.

After three knocks at the large doors of the Addams' manor, and a few minutes, Marceline opens the door.

In her usual mysterious demeanour, Marceline says "Hello, Deborah, how may I help you?"

"We're evacuating everyone to , something really big is headed this way... it's chasing away all the aberrant forest creatures. We think it would be best if the Addams family evacuated as well."

Somewhat disturbed by the news, but maintaining her mysterious expression, Marceline replies "Oh my, that is truly troublesome... I will let Conrad know immediately, pardon me."

Marceline curtsies and Deborah gives a small bow before they both leave. Deborah heads back and begins informing the villagers. As expected, many people were resistant to the idea... but more accepted than she thought.

As she gets everyone prepared to evacuate, she has the guards and villagers begin to take half of the gathered supplies to the mountain by cart. The sounds of falling trees in the not-so-distant distance speeds up the process, and encourages some who were on the fence about leaving. Tension rises and people slowly begin to panic, causing accidents. The whole process takes longer than desired. With every minute the sound of falling and breaking trees gets louder, and some swear they can hear whispering and screaming in the wind.

:-:

Frisk and Sans are helping to keep everything in order, and helping move stuff onto carts. Frisk looks particularly uneasy. They help as much as they can, but they are so small and young that they end up tiring out and feeling like they are in the way. Sans tries to cheer them up with practical jokes, but it doesn't help.

Frisk's CELL reads: 6:32 P.M. April 5th, 2045

Frisk feels something through the void, as though hundreds of arms are reaching for their SOUL. A wind blowing up from the south-west carries the whispers of tormented SOULs... and the sounds of falling trees... Wälder beasts begin running past the village, paying no attention to the fact that it exists.

* THE CREATURE DRAWS NEAR, THE STARS FEEL LIKE THEY ARE BEING DEVOURED.
* AS IT APPROACHES, THEY VANISH FASTER AND FASTER.

Sans looks over to Frisk and asks, "you ok bud? you look spooked."

Frisk, hardly able to maintain their calm demeanour, replies "Y-yes... I just... feel really weird. Like something is... reaching for my SOUL?..."

Concerned, Sans advises "huh... i don't feel that. let me know if it gets worse."

Frisk nods, and then remembers something else. "Well, my SAVE stars have been... disappearing too, like they are being eaten or something... At first I thought it was just because I didn't need them any more, but the one next to the manor is gone."

Even more concerned, Sans stops helping with loading the carts and takes Frisk somewhere they can talk. Sans asks "when did they start disappearing?"

Frisk thinks for a moment before replying. "Uh... the night of the magic lesson."

Sans' eye sockets go dark. "hey... buddy... if anything happens... Don't try to load, OK? Just reset. whatever this is... it sounds like it's after determination."

Frisk connects the dots and asks "you mean... this thing is after me?"

Sans replies sullenly, "yes, and it sounds like it's going faster than i thought..."

After a moment of silence, Sans asks "frisk. how did you feel when we were at the secret lab? any funny soul or save star feelings?"

"I... felt a subtle presence... I think it was just Chara, they started speaking to me that day too."

"hmm... how about after?"

"I could feel my connection with one of my SAVE stars vanish, it also felt like... something started to recognize me. Like it had been half asleep, but woke up suddenly."

Sans hesitates before asking his next question, "was it similar to how you felt when you saw cu-270?"

Frisk thinks for a moment... "No. More like... a ton of people I don't know. Why?"

Sans is equally hesitant, and his expression is grim. "cu-270... released a bunch of trapped souls... i used the spike in determination from you practising magic as an anchor, while the teleporter did its job... so when we left the core we also went back in time. The creature has probably been wandering aimlessly for years until the SOULs found it... and we returned with you being supercharged with determination from the procedure."

The sounds of trees being uprooted and snapping like twigs grows closer, they can almost feel the tremors. The sounds of panic and screaming begin to be heard. The people who refused to leave are now regretting their life choices.

Frisk is no longer able to keep their stoic expression, they are visibly upset for the second time today. "So... this is a dead end?"

Sans hugs Frisk, and says "I'm sorry, Frisk..."

The sound of the monster-built barrier breaking is heard in the distance, and men begin yelling instructions as they try to fight back. The sound of incomprehensible gibberish grows louder.

Frisk tries to ignore it and hugs Sans back, asking, "do you think he meant to release them...? Did he know?"

Sans pauses for a moment to think, before responding. "no... there's no way he knew. i think he just really hated david, that guy never treated anyone nicely... even sanchez was better than him."

Sans holds Frisk's head to his chest, keeping them from seeing the colossal amorphous mass rushing towards them. It was like an entire human city's worth of people were merged and melted together, all yelling, screaming, whispering, clawing, kicking, grabbing... tearing, biting... devouring. Houses were crushed like snow underfoot, people became red puddles before being assimilated into its massive form, and the screams of agony seemingly had no single source...

A few words could be made out through all of the gibberish. "I need determination, give it to me! It is mine! we must HAVE IT! GIVE IT TO ME. THE PAIN! IT HURTS, IT HURTS! DIE AND GIVE US WHAT IS OURS!"

Holding on as tight as possible, Frisk and Sans brace for the inevitable... Sans is torn away first, and Frisk watches in horror as he dissolves into dust and they start to see the mass of flesh in front of them.

Arms grasp several parts of Frisk, and they closed their eyes. Hoping that not seeing anything would make it hurt less...

After immense pain, everything stops. Sound, feeling, sight. Nothing remains as Frisk floats in the VOID. In front of them is the gateway leading out of the Underground. Most of their monster friends are piles of dust, and their human friends and family are mangled corpses; all except their parents... Frisk feels the pull of the creature even now, they fight with everything they have until finally...

* FILE CORRUPT, RESET?
* (YES) - - - NO