AMS
THE GENIUS
Following Naomi's containment until she gets better, Fuku apologized to Brent and begged for his help in maintaining her late father's restaurant which Brent happily obliged. It wasn't easy going to school, keeping grades above C minus, going to work, keeping customers happy and satisfied while training Brent on bussing tables, stacking the dirty dishes properly, prepping the food, and so on. But by the end of the week Brent's training was finished and he was moving faster than Naomi ever did. Truth be told, even though he worked faster and better than Naomi, he would never be able to replace her as their best friend, though now the friendship will be strained. Trust will need to be rebuilt.
"Sunday is almost here, you guys gonna come with me to visit Naomi? See how she's progressing?" asked Frisk.
Brent looked down. He wants to visit Naomi, to let her know he doesn't think less of her, but he fears his presence will hinder her progression towards her healing. He wouldn't be able to forgive himself if he caused her more anguish.
"Brent, I know what you're thinking, but if she can't heal because you're a flame monster, then there will be no hope for her ever escaping confinement. It wouldn't be your fault and we would never blame you. I think if she saw you, she will be forced to either accept you as part of the group, or she will accept defeat. She is our friend, but you're our friend too and she harmed you," said Frisk.
Brent sighed and smiled a bit. Frisk was always so... perceptive. So much that he was thankful for it in a way. At least this way secrets would be impossible to keep.
"Okay Frisk. I'll come with you guys to visit Naomi. I'll buy her some flowers or something. What does she like?" asked Brent.
Frisk and Fuku smiled.
"She doesn't like flowers too much, but she loves chocolate," said Fuku.
Chocolate was a delicacy hard to come by in the underground as there was only one place to grow it and it was expensive to bribe the person to grow it. It wasn't real chocolate, just an imitation. But it tasted just like the milk chocolate from the surface.
"Doctor Alphys, she charges 100 gold for 10 pieces. I want to give Naomi 30 pieces to last her a while until we visit her again next month, since they only allow visiters monthly," said Frisk.
"But that's 300 gold! I don't have that kind of money yet!" exclaimed Brent.
"Calm down, I have 100 I can pitch in," said Frisk.
"Here's my 100 as well. Go to Hotland and ask for the chocolate. Though I don't know why you called the doctor a she since he is obviously a male," said Fuku.
Frisk looked at Fuku in disbelief. Could it be her constant saving a loading lately caused a shift of sorts? This has happened before, but with a Snowdrake. It was easily fixed with a reset. But Frisk didn't want to reset. What was the harm with the doctor being a male instead of a female anyway? Frisk couldn't see the harm so she let it go.
"Tra la la, wanna join me in my boat?" asked the river person.
"Yes. Take me to Hotland please," said Frisk as she hopped on the boat.
"Tra la la, then we're off," replied the river person.
Frisk walked up to the lab and knocked on the door. The door slid open and she walked inside.
"Alphys?" called Frisk.
"Just a moment please. I'm putting the finishing touches on Mettaton EX's body since Mettaton NEO was destroyed," said Alphys.
So far Frisk was liking the new as he had no stutter and wasn't shy. Frisk went upstairs to see Alphys up close. Her breath was taken away. He had broad shoulders and a lot of muscle. This new version of Alphys was top notch eye candy as well as ear candy. Undyne sure was lucky.
"Oh hello Frisk. What can I help you with today?" asked Alphys as he smiled an award winning smile.
"Uh, I uh need, uh..."
Alphys cocked an eyebrow at Frisk, which made her blush so hard she had to avert her eyes.
"30 chocolates please!" shouted Frisk.
"Is that all? I can see why you're blushing then. You're going to give them to someone you like right?" guessed Alphys incorrectly.
"Hn? Uh, no not really. I just have a cold," coughed Frisk.
Alphys cocked his brow again but didn't push the subject.
"How has Undyne been? She hasn't called me in a while," asked Alphys.
"Undyne? I guess she's alright. She's had it rough lately. It wasn't easy for her when she put Mettaton NEO on death row for attempted molestation," Frisk answered.
She was almost sure Alphys would look sad and a bit lonely, but was surprised when he laughed.
"I had a funny feeling that once you grew up some, he would not be able to resist. That is exactly why I didn't want to make him genitals, but he threatened Undyne's life. I made it to where he wouldn't be able to feel anything though," said Alphys.
"Th-this is a little too much don't you think?" blushed Frisk.
"Hahaha! When you're a scientist, you forget other people don't think the same way you do. My apologies," laughed Alphys.
Frisk sighed of relief.
"So, 30 chocolates huh? That's going to be 300 gold," said Alphys as he wiped oil off his hands.
Mettaton EX sat up on the operation table and waved at Frisk. Frisk handed over the 300 gold and Alphys motioned for Frisk to follow him.
"Where are you taking me?" asked Frisk.
"To the lab where I make the chocolate. I figured you would like to see the process. But! You cannot, under any circumstance, make your own chocolate. Understand?" said Alphys.
"Oh ok! Thank you Alphys," thanked Frisk.
"No problem, kid," smiled Alphys.
They went in the elevator that had a bathroom sign next to it and down they went. Frisk wanted to know when Alphys had time to put a chocolate lab in the true lab, but didn't question it. She was just excited to be able to visit the amalgamates again. It has been a while. When they emerged from the elevator, Endogeny came bounding towards them, with black goop flicking from its oriface. Frisk laughed and pet the Endogeny until it was contented with the amount of affection it was given. The Spoon ghost hovered nearby and said its hellos to Alphys and Frisk. They walked to where the determination extraction machine would have been but in its place was a different machine and a refrigerator with chocolates inside, cooling off.
"This is the machine that makes the chocolate. All you do is you make the imitation substance first like so, add some water to it, and stir until it thickens. Then, you pour the substance in a pan like this one, and place it in the machine. In a few seconds, the chocolate will come out, already cut up in perfect squares and in trays."
The machine dinged and the chocolate came out. Alphys put on oven mitts and grabbed the trays, and put the trays in the refrigerator.
"It takes almost a day for them to cool down. So, I'll take the already cooled down chocolates and package them for you," said Alphys.
Frisk was having a lot of fun learning how to make artificial chocolate. Even though he told her not to make any herself, how could she not? Just for herself and her friends. No one else. What could possibly go wrong right?
"Thank you Alphys! See you around!"
"Bye child! Have fun!"
Well, just to be on the safe side, she saved her progress. You know, just in case.
Sunday came fast, and so did Fuku and Brent to meet up with Frisk. The river person took them to Waterfall where the building that held Naomi was at and they walked there, feeling determined.
"State your name and business please," said the oddly cheery desk clerk.
"We're Frisk, Brent, and Fuku, friends of Naomi. We bought some chocolate for her and want to see how she's doing," said Frisk.
"Okay! Just go down that hall, take a right, then another right, and her room is the third door on the left hand side," said the clerk.
The three walked down the hall and took the necessary turns. When they got to Naomi's room, they were all a little nervous. Brent was nervous for obvious reasons, Frisk was nervous because she was the one who put her in this place, and Fuku was nervous for her friends. Frisk felt a random build up of determination and knocked on the door. A doctor opened the door and stared at them for a moment. Then he let them in. Naomi was in a wheelchair by her room's window. She turned around to face her friends and Brent. She didn't scowl at Brent, but rather, looked away shamefully.
"Naomi, we all pitched in and bought you 30 pieces of chocolate," Frisk said softly.
"Brent pitched in for me?" asked Naomi, her voice cracking.
"Uh huh," said Fuku.
"Do I really deserve it then? No. You shouldn't have wasted your money on that," said Naomi, facing towards the window once more.
"We all just want you to get better, and this is a gift from all of us to show you we care. If you don't want the chocolate, we're just going to throw it away," said Fuku.
Naomi sighed, then reached out a hand. Frisk smiled and handed her the box of chocolates. What happened next, nobody thought would happen. Naomi opened her window and threw the box out of it! They were on the first floor, but she threw it far enough into the river that leads to the Core. By now the box evaporated into nothingness.
"Y-you wasted our hard earned money," whimpered Fuku.
Brent comforted Fuku as tears stained her fiery face. Frisk was feeling a little miffed, but knew for Naomi's sake she couldn't allow herself to falter.
"What's wrong Naomi?" asked Frisk.
"You. You saved me just to betray me like this. I thought we were friends," bitterly said Naomi.
"Betray you? I couldn't let you harm Brent just because he made you remember Grillby. If I got over him being a flame monster, I thought you were capable as well. But you're more traumatized than I thought. So I called to get you help. You can leave this place once you are healed. Brent came out of his way to come see you. He wanted to show you he forgave you," said Frisk.
A couple tears fell from Naomi's face. She knew Frisk was right but was feeling self hatred too much it made her stubborn.
"I think it's time you all left. You are making Naomi cry," said the doctor.
Frisk looked at Naomi, hoping she would say something. But she didn't. Without another word, the trio left. When they were out of the building, Frisk put her hands on her friend's shoulders.
"Take it easy guys. Now we know not to buy her expensive gifts. I mean, it's only been a few weeks since she was taken here. As long as we're consistent with our monthly visits, she should improve. If not, well then she will stay here," Frisk said sadly at the last part.
Fuku cried some more before she said, "Do you know what they do to patients who are here for more than two years?"
"Nooo?" Frisk said slowly.
There was a sinking feeling in her gut that told her she didn't want to find out.
"They treat them like dogs. They put them to sleep. Forever. If Naomi doesn't get better before two years, they will kill her," sobbed Fuku.
Not on Frisk's watch. She groaned and rubbed her temples. A star appeared and Frisk saved.
"If she dies in two years time, I am going to load and personally help her escape," promised Frisk.
Everyday was almost the same as ever. Breakfast with Sans, school, work, dinner with Sans, shower, rest, repeat. Occasionally Sans would flirt on a whole different level that flew over Frisk's head. It's ok. He wanted it to fly over her head so that way it wouldn't be awkward. He is already a 30 year old skeleton monster sleeping in the same bed as a 15 year old human girl. He doesn't touch her or nothing though, so it's innocent. He faces one way and she faces the other. Although there have been some nights where Frisk latches onto him. He doesn't mind. All she's doing is hugging his back. Sometimes Sans teases her about it. Like when she wakes up, Sans looks at her and says:
"Are you in love with my back or something kid? Or do I have glue on it?"
Frisk ends up laughing a bit rather than blushing. This takes Sans by surprise as normally she blushes and gets quiet.
"Seems like she's starting to get used to the way I flirt," thought Sans.
Frisk flirts with Sans as well. She thinks she is being clever, but Sans doesn't show her his face when he blushes. She is a little too obvious about it in terms of body language and her eyes give away her motives. A month passed, and the trio who run Grillby's are going to visit Naomi again. It was a repeat of last time in a sense. Instead of expensive gifts, Frisk alone bought her a teddy bear. Brent pitched in for the teddy bear but they didn't tell her that. He wanted to be able to get her things without her throwing them away. But Naomi still didn't look at them or say more than two words. The two words she spoke to them were "hi" and "bye".
It was now December with Christmas in 20 days. Naomi's been in the hospital for 3 months with no progress showing. Sans noticed Frisk looked upset. Sure, she was wearing a smile, but the pain was evident in her eyes.
"Something wrong kiddo?" asked Sans.
He knew Naomi was in the hospital, about what happened with Brent. He had a hunch she wasn't healing.
"Is it true that...the doctors put their patients to sleep if they are in there for more than two years?" asked Frisk.
Sans' eyes widened. He was the only one who knew about that since he used to work for them a long time ago. He found out the hard way and when he found out, he quit and took an oath to never spill their secret. He was wondering how Frisk knew about that.
"Who told you?" Sans asked in a meek, worried tone.
"Fuku told me. Why? Was I not supposed to know?" asked Frisk.
"No one except me should know that! I used to work there. When I saw them put someone to sleep I quit and promised them I wouldn't tell anyone. So how did Fuku know something like that?" asked Sans.
"I don't know," Frisk looked down at her plate of hotdogs.
The next day at school, Frisk didn't see Fuku in her seat. Frisk first thought she was just running late until she realized Fuku was never late for school. But just in case, Frisk pulled out her phone and dialed Fuku's number. Brent picked up.
"Hello?" asked Brent.
Worry sank in her gut. Was Brent like Grillby after all? Had he done something to Fuku and now he's going to tell her he found Fuku's dust?
"Where's Fuku?" asked Frisk, her tone steady.
"She's with me. We're running a little late. She was so depressed yesterday I felt bad for her going home by herself so I spent the night with her to keep her company," said Brent.
Okay not what she was expecting. But just to clear him of all suspicion...
"May I talk to her?" asked Frisk.
"Sure," said Brent.
A few seconds of silence but then...
"Hey Frisk! Sorry to make you worry. We had so much fun last night that we forgot to set the alarm. We finished breakfast a few minutes ago and we are in Hotland right now, walking to the capital. Tell the teacher we will be there in 10 minutes," said Fuku.
She sounded happy. Not a fake happy. But a genuine, starstruck happy. The worry left Frisk and she felt kinda bad for suspecting Brent after all he has done for them. But now she's wondering something else. Do Fuku and Brent...like like each other? The thought made her smile and she was a hopeless shipper.
"Okay, I will tell the teacher you're running late. See you soon. Bye bye," said Frisk.
Ever since Monster Man committed suicide, the post office had been struggling to successfully get everyone's mail on time because the new teacher for the ninth graders was Sans the skeleton. Today was his first day actually since the principal had filled the position for some time. The kids never gave him any trouble because, well, it was the principal for crying out loud. If anyone gave him a reason to, you would be suspended or expelled. So when a skeleton, a little taller than the shortest girl in class which was Frisk, walked in wearing a lab coat over a fuzzy blue sweater tucked in black slacks and wearing dressy black shoes and reading glasses, the class couldn't help but not take him seriously. Frisk had a thing for guys with glasses, as Sans had read in her diary. He was wearing fake glasses, made to look real. Frisk couldn't help but feel all the butterflies in her stomach. But with everything else going on right now, it wasn't the best time for her to feel such things. So instead, the butterflies turned into a slight stomachache and she grew a small headache. It was like her body was punishing her for thinking about being happy while her friend's life was possibly on the line. Feeling nauseous, she put her head down. Sans scratched his skull in confusion at Frisk's behavior.
"Huh. She should be blushing like crazy. Probably wasn't the best time or something," thought Sans.
"Awww! He's so cute! Are you our new classmate?" asked one of the girls.
"Heh, nah. I'm too old to be a student here. I'm your guys' new teacher for the year until the principal decides to find someone else or to keep me," said Sans.
"Are you kidding me? I could beat you up and you wouldn't be able to do a thing about it!" laughed one of the jocks in the class who got low fives from his buddies.
"Heh heh heh. You really think so eh? How about you try to land one on me? If you manage to hit me, I won't assign any homework to you for the week. This is a one time thing however," offered Sans.
The whole class, minus Frisk gasped at Sans' bravery.
"I don't think he knows who he just challenged," whispered some of the students.
"Ha. Do you even know who I am nerd? My name's Josh Naxter, the strongest guy on the football team! Here I come!"
Josh leapt out of his chair and began running towards Sans. Sans yawned and in the blink of an eye, his left eye was flashing blue and yellow, and Josh couldn't move. The class gasped.
"Whoa. Frisk are you seeing this guy?" asked Fuku.
Brent was in shock as well.
"That's Sans. He's my guardian," said Frisk softly.
There was a hint of pride in her voice. She was proud of the fact she lived with not only her best friend, but the one monster who was capable of so much because of his powers.
"Is this the best you can do? Once you let me go, I'll just come running at you again," mocked Josh.
Sans snapped his bony fingers and Gaster blasters appeared around Josh.
"You will do no such thing. When I let you go, you will head back to your seat and be a good student. I can only do one damage per frame which is why I bend reality to get more than one of my blasters here. What you are seeing are copies of my one and only Gaster blaster," said Sans.
"Whoa. Frisk did you know Sans was OP?" asked Brent.
Frisk's smile faded.
"Yeah. I always knew," Frisk said lowly.
She wanted to tell her friends how she knew, but was afraid they would judge her. She was all for there being no secrets, but this was on secret she didn't want to leak. Sans remembers because he exists outside of Frisk's resets and what not. Everytime she loads, he remembers what he was doing last. It bothers him sometimes, but not as much since he knows Frisk only loads now when absolutely necessary. So he drops his attitude and puts his trust in her.
"Why are you sad?" asked Brent.
Frisk wiped her eyes.
"It's nothing," sniffed Frisk.
Brent and Fuku frowned sadly at each other. Neither of them liked it when their friends were hurting. Brent wrote a note to Frisk during Sans' speech about science. The note read:
"Whatever is bothering you, you can tell me. Whatever it is I won't judge because you are my best friend. Besides, whatever is on your mind is obviously bothering you. You need someone to tell it to right?"
Frisk sighed and wrote back, "It's not that simple. I can't tell you because I know for a fact you wouldn't judge me but you wouldn't be able to look at me the same way anymore."
Brent frowned and replied with, "I assure you I would never dream of giving you different treatment. I am aware you can reset, save, and load. You got upset when we asked if you knew about Sans' power. If something happened in a previous timeline, I won't judge you or treat you differently based on the past."
Frisk was really compelled to telling him everything. But, she was afraid to. Sighing, she saved secretly and decided if he treats her differently, she will tell him a false story. But then she thought "why can't I just tell him the false story anyway?" She thought about it, and decided honesty is the best policy. If he treats her differently, she would have to learn the ways of Sans. Sans had a lot of secrets he couldn't tell anybody. He has tried before and it backfired on him. So Frisk loaded plenty of times for him. She wrote on the paper, "When I was ten, I was possessed by the first fallen human who turned out to be the younger brother of my mother. He was an angry spirit since before he died, he tried to free the monsters. His adopted family's son, his brother, betrayed him when he didn't attack the humans on the surface and they both died back underground. So he wanted revenge on the monsters. He used me to commit genocide on the monsters. Sans waited for me in Judgement Hall. I was at 19 LOVE, which means Level Of ViolencE. He killed me over a thousand times before I finally managed to kill him. I persuaded Chara, my uncle, to restore the timeline and to let me try and save the monsters my way. I was never able to free the monsters, but I helped my uncle to rest in peace as he was able to come to terms with monsters and me living underground happily."
Brent read over the note and was astonished. He smiled and replied with, "Really? In my eyes, you didn't do anything wrong since it was your uncle who had forced you to do such a thing. Frisk, you are a kind human. Very different from the ones we read about in the history books."
Frisk ended up crying a bit. She was relieved. It seemed he wouldn't treat her badly. Fuku felt the same as Brent. If Frisk wanted to kill them all, she would have done so years ago. If Frisk really was a bad human, she wouldn't have sacrificed herself to save Naomi. To their utter shock and surprise, Sans snatched the paper, read it over, then looked at Frisk with disbelieving eyes that said "what did you do".
Brent and Fuku felt like they got Frisk in trouble.
"You three, stay after class," said Sans.
Frisk gulped, not knowing what to expect. Brent was sweating as was Fuku.
Meanwhile in Alphys' lab...
"Doctor Alphys?" called Mettaton EX.
She heard heavy breathing and was disgusted when she saw Alphys pleasuring himself to Frisk's Undernet profile picture.
"What are you doing?! You sicko!" yelled Mettaton EX.
Alphys was quick to grab her. His facial expression was unreadable.
"You will tell no one of this," murmured Alphys.
"Why wouldn't I?" glared Mettaton.
He switched off Mettaton by flicking the switch at the back of her head, took off her cranium, and removed the new memory.
"Because you won't remember a thing," said Alphys.
Alphys wasn't one for cheating, which was why earlier that day he had called Undyne to break it off. Undyne was a little heart broken but didn't feel the same love for him as she used to. Her duty took up her time now, so she understood where he was coming from as well. But she did not know his true motives for breaking up with her. Alphys carried Mettaton's body outside his lab, and turned her back on. She blinked her eyes a bit.
"Alphys? What happened?" asked Mettaton.
"I was about to ask the same from you. I found you out here turned off," said Alphys.
"Wha-. Really? That's odd," said Mettaton EX.
Suddenly, she remembered what she came to his lab for in the first place.
"Never mind that, I'd like to buy 50 chocolates for my husband," said Mettaton.
Alphys smiled.
"Alright. 500 gold please, and to make sure nothing happens to you, I'll walk you home," said Alphys.
Mettaton nodded her head.