It was late afternoon, and Frisk started heading back home. When she got back to Toriel's house, the goat monster immediately threw her arms around Frisk and hugged her as tight as she could. "I'm so glad you're safe, my child." Toriel said. "I heard about the attack on MTT News today. I was so worried about you."

"Thanks, mom, but you're kinda crushing me now," Frisk said as she struggled for breath in Toriel's arms.

"Sorry, my child." Toriel said as she let go of Frisk. "This world is a scary place. Not only is there still hatred from the war, but now the very fabric of space-time is falling apart. "I can't bear to think of anything happening to you. You're the most important thing in my life now, my child. I love you more than anything else in the world."

"Thanks, mom. I love you too." Frisk said.

"I made some butterscotch-cinnamon pie for you while you were gone, my child." Toriel went into the kitchen to retrieve the pie for Frisk.

"Thanks, mom." Frisk said as she took the pie. Frisk loved butterscotch-cinnamon pie. It was the only food she liked more than pizza. She ate a slice of it, but decided to save the rest of it for later. Frisk had a long and difficult road ahead of her, and she might need the healing from the pie. It would certainly taste better than Papyrus's spaghetti.

Frisk went to her room and slept until the next morning. When she woke up, she put on a pair of pants and her favorite shirt, a blue sweater with two purple stripes on it. This was the shirt that she had worn on her journey through the Underground. She ate breakfast, hugged Toriel, and left the house.

Frisk went to the marketplace to buy more monster food that could be used for healing. She saw many of her old friends there, including a turtle named Gerson, a spider named Muffet, and a cat named Temmie. She was happy to see all of them, and they felt the same way. When Frisk was done, she left town and headed into the nearby Ebott forest. She activated the FUN detector, and it started beeping slowly. It also showed a radar with a large blip to the southeast.

"Let's try going that way, Frisk." said Chara. Frisk walked in that direction, and the beeping became faster. "That must be the right way to go."

When Frisk walked into a clearing in the forest, a short skeleton was standing there.

"Sans, what are you doing here?" Frisk asked.

"I don't trust this Sargon guy, Frisk," answered Sans. I know what he sent you to do, and I think he's plotting something nasty.

"How do you know about my mission?" said Frisk.

"I have a degree in quantum physics, remember? I just teleported into Sargon's house." Sans replied. "Anyway, I knew W.D. Gaster back in the Underground, and he was a pretty great guy. He never lied to me or hurt anyone, and he taught me how to dunk." Frisk's face turned red with embarrassment as she remembered all the basketball games she had lost to Sans over the past year, all of which ended with him shouting "Geeettttttt dunked on!"

"I knew Sargon as well," continued Sans. "He was always a shady guy and a stereotypical stuck-up nobleman if there ever was one. He was an even bigger human-hater than Undyne was before she met you. On top of all that, he never pays the bill at Grillby's."

"Sans, YOU never pay the bill at Grillby's." replied Frisk.

"That's beside the point," said Sans. "The point is, I don't trust this guy and neither should you. Please, turn around now."

"Sans, I can't just do nothing," Frisk said. "The fate of the entire universe is at stake, and this is the only way we can learn more about how to save it. I promise you I won't hurt Gaster, and I'll do everything I can to make sure he's treated fairly. "

Sans started to plead. "I can't let you keep going, Frisk. Please just turn around now. I don't want to hurt you. You're a good girl, and I can tell you want to do the right thing. But you're being deceived."

"I have to do this, Sans. Please, just let me through," Frisk pleaded.

"I'm sorry Frisk, but I can't let you through. I didn't want to do this, but you leave me no choice." Sans summoned several bones and threw them at Frisk. She jumped out of the way.

"Sans, stop this madness! I don't want to fight you!"

Chara looked at Frisk fearfully. "Frisk, I think we're about to have a bad time!"

Frisk had been in a situation like this before. When she had tried to leave Toriel's home in the Ruins underground, Toriel had tried to stop her in a manner similar to what Sans was doing. "If I keep dodging, maybe Sans will come to his senses and stop attacking.

Sans summoned more bones and launched them at Frisk. She dodged them, but they let out a wave of blue energy that turned the red heart that represented her soul blue. This meant that Frisk's body was heavier than normal and that she would have to make more effort to jump away from attacks. Papyrus had done this to her in the Underground when he tried to capture her.

Sans did not aim his attacks directly at Frisk because he did not want to hurt her. He only wanted her to turn around and abandon her quest. "Look, Frisk. I'm doing this because I care about you. I know Gaster and Sargon better than you do." He summoned several large bones that moved on the ground. Frisk jumped over them.

Sans kept throwing barrage after barrage of bones at Frisk. She dodged most of them, but took a few hits. Frisk's whole body ached, but she stumbled on, trying to ignore the pain and stay determined. Her health was slowly being whittled down, and she healed herself by eating some Temmie Flakes that she had purchased earlier.

Sans brought out his Gaster Blasters, and started firing them at Frisk. She dodged them, but she was clearly exhausted from the previous dodging. Sans kept firing. He wasn't aiming directly at her, but one blast grazed her left arm. Despite this, she still insisted, "Sans, please stop this and let me through. I don't want to hurt you and you don't want to hurt me, we're not going to accomplish anything."

Sans looked at Frisk and realized how much he was hurting her. He thought he was helping Frisk, but now he felt horrible. Every time he attacked Frisk, and every time Frisk was hit, he felt a terrible sting of guilt. "I've taken this too far." he thought to himself. Finally, he gave up.

"I'm sorry, Frisk," he said. "I let my personal feelings get the better of me, and I hurt you because of it. The truth is, W.D. Gaster was my father and Papyrus's father. I can't bear to think of anything bad happening to him, but I trust you. I'll let you keep going, but if Sargon tries anything funny, please tell me right away."

"I forgive you, Sans. Frisk said. "And I promise I will let you know if Sargon does anything out of line." She hugged Sans and kept walking through the forest. Looking down at her chest, she saw that her soul was red again.

"Take this ketchup packet for your arm, Frisk," the skeleton said as he handed her a leftover ketchup packet from Grillby's. She ate the ketchup, and her arm healed.

"Well, that wasn't nearly as much of a bad time as I though it would be," said Chara. You know, I do have a strange feeling about this Sargon guy."

"We have to keep trusting him for now," said Frisk.