The shock of cold air that rushed in as Frisk opened the door sent goose bumps up their arms. Flowey shivered and huddled closer.

"Whoops," Frisk murmured, quickly wedging their foot into the door to keep it open. "I forgot how cold this part is. Gimme a second."

"Wha-?" Flowey began but fell silent when he saw Frisk untying the sweatshirt wrapped around their waist.

Quickly, Frisk slipped into the sweatshirt, zipping it up. It was old, faded and worn in places, but it'd do until they got out of Snowdin. Rolling their shoulders so it would settle better, they let the door swing shut behind them as they stepped out into the snow. "You want to stay in my hood and keep warm, or should I leave it down for you?"

Flowey considered it before sighing. "Leave it down. You don't want to obscure your side vision around here."

"You got it, boss." Shoving their hands deep into the sweatshirt's pockets, they started down the snowy path. For a moment, Frisk tried to recall this part of their journey from over a decade before—the memory was a little hazy, tinged with unpleasantness, so it didn't come easy. Vaguely, they remembered that Alphys should have cameras about, but in this strange new version of the world, Alphys might have better things to do than spy through cameras.

Trying to think back, Frisk paused as they stepped on something that crunched under their boot. Pausing, they glanced down and frowned. It was woodchips—or rather, wood splinters. Someone had smashed a fallen branch into pieces in the middle of the path, no small task seeing the width of the parts of the log that had survived. This was different—they remembered the log breaking, but that'd been after they stepped over it when it was still whole. They clearly remembered how unsettling it'd been to hear a crack and then turn around to see it pulverized.

"Weird," Frisk muttered, stepping over the mess.

"Everything about this place is weird," Flowey grumbled. "Just forget that and listen. You have to be careful around here. Unlike the Ruins, this place is crawling with sentries on the lookout for humans." He shuddered. "There's one pair you have to look out for—these pair of skeletons."

Frisk's heart squeezed in their chest like a vice clamped onto it. Taking a steadying breath, they tried to keep their mind focused on Flowey's words but it wanted to wander. Sans and Papyrus. What would they be like in this distorted world? Sweet, hopeful Papyrus would be a godsend right now, but what if he was different here?

And then there was Sans.

"Are… are you okay?"

Frisk glanced back down at Flowey. "Huh? Something wrong?"

"It's just… for a second there you looked really…" he shifted about warily, like he was worried they might try to hit him. "Really weird."

Frisk blinked and tried to send him their most comforting smile. "Sorry, it's just… well, just an unpleasant thought. You were talking though?"

Flowey considered them a moment before sighing. "Well, anyway, the bridge is just ahead. Be on the lookout for the sentries, okay? And remember, whatever you do, don't shake his hand."

Rather than admit they had no idea who he meant, Frisk resigned themselves to just not shaking anyone's hand and nodded. "Uh, right." Facing forward again, Frisk could see the bridge clearly now—they'd been so caught up in their thoughts, they hadn't even paid it the slightest bit of attention, but now it was staring them damningly in the face. "Hey, maybe I should put my hood up—if no one looks me in the face, then maybe-"

"Hey, human."

Frisk froze; Flowey squeaked his distress and ducked against their neck.

"Hey, I know you heard me. What's a matter, didn't anyone teach you any manners?" There was a loud, pointed step, the snow crunching behind them; Frisk's stomach clenched up in knots. "Don't you know the proper way to greet someone is turn to around and shake their hand?"

Oh, hell, that's what Flowey meant. Slowly, Frisk turned. When their eyes found the speaker, Frisk paused.

The monster was, but more importantly, was also not Sans, or at least not the one they'd known for years. Their Sans had always been a lazy dresser, had an easy smile and jovial air. This one looked ready to shank Frisk even though he held his hand out like an offering. Rather than Sans' blue sweatshirt, stained undershirt, soccer shorts, and slippers, this Sans looked like he actually cared about what he wore. He had a warm looking black coat with a hood trimmed with fur. Under it, he wore a red sweater and black jeans, a black and red striped scarf—he even had on actual sneakers, although Frisk was distantly amused by the fact that he hadn't bothered to tie his laces. Instead of a casual smile, this Sans smirked up at them, a gold canine flashing in the dim light. His eyes were odd too—instead of a pair of tiny white pupils floating in the shadows of his eye sockets, a glowing red iris shone only in his left eye. Even his voice was different—gravelly, like he'd yelled himself hoarse one too many times.

Unexpectedly, for all his bizarre differences and generally unfriendly aura, Frisk found their stomach unclenching. They even managed a smile as they turned completely to face him. "I'm so sorry. I let surprise get the better of me. Now, please, let me beg your pardon again if I don't shake your hand. You see, my hands are both absolutely freezing." They shrugged with a friendly smile. "But maybe some other time?"

The strange Sans looked at them for a long, silent moment before flicking his hand away. There, in the palm of the hand he had offered them, was a simple looking joy buzzer. "Oh, well. As long as you're begging."

Frisk bit back a giggle—did he think he was going to intimidate them that way? Frisk had a long list of embarrassing moments against them in their world and emotional blackmail wouldn't work against them there—this amateur didn't stand a chance. "Oh, I am. I'd get down on my knees for you, but you see, then my pants will get wet and that kind of defeats the purpose of staying warm."

The skeleton snorted at them, looking genuinely amused. "Probably, but it's a shame I won't get to see the image of you kneeling before me. I'm sure it'd be very… entertaining."

Frisk paused, actually surprised. Oh, he can't be doing what I think he's doing. He cannot be flirting back. This world really is bizarre. "Maybe later."

He sneered. Without a word, he used his thumb to flick against the side of the joy buzzer. Frisk nearly bit their tongue as arcs of blue lightning flashed out of the toy, throwing wild shadows across the grinning skull before them. "That's if there'll be a later."

Well, shit, that would have probably fried me. Quickly, they fixed their smile back onto their lips and forced their body to relax back into the easy posture from before, years worth of diplomatic training kicking in. "Well, you're quite the prankster, aren't you?"

His grin was all wicked amusement. "I do love to leave my audience in shock."

In spite of themselves, they giggled. "I'm sure they find your jokes electrifying."

"You're really crazy," Flowey grumbled behind their ear.

The skeleton seemed to share the flower's bemusement; he slipped off his joy buzzer as he put his hand in his pocket, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He was watching them, examining them. At last, he spoke. "You don't spook easy, do you?"

They dipped their head in a semblance of gratitude. "Steady nerves are required in my line of work."

"And what is your line of work?"

"Bureaucracy, I'm afraid—rubbing elbows, negotiating. That sort of thing. First one to flinch there gets a lot worse than a punch in the arm."

"I'll bet," he drawled, not buying any of Frisk's spiel for a second. It almost made Frisk smile—they never could get anything past Sans. Still, what he said next made them pause. "You know, you look like this isn't the first time you've done this before."

It took all Frisk's control not to shift about at that one. "Met a handsome stranger in a snowy wood before?"

The compliment actually seemed to through him off for a moment. He blinked at them before clearing his throat. "I meant more like walking into a monster invested world like you owed the damn place. But yeah, if that strikes your fancy, meeting handsome devils in forests works too."

He knows. Frisk tried to keep their face neutral as they fought to find their voice. "You think I've been here before?"

He narrowed his eyes at them, but didn't answer.

Frisk tilted their head, trying to look innocent. "But I think I would remember meeting you before. Don't you?"

"Maybe. Or maybe you might have met someone like me."

Well.

Fuck.

Shock and worry fought in their mind, but still they found themselves smiling. "Well, one could hardly blame for making a habit of it if I did. Who doesn't like rendezvousing with handsome strangers?"

"Tch," he muttered, shifting his weight again. "I don't know if I like just being another little meeting in a wood somewhere, babe. Maybe I should just put an end to your little trysts."

They were pushing their luck, but he hadn't pulled them into an actual battle yet. Dare they push on? Putting their hand against their chest, they wore an inviting smile on their lips. "Oh, shall you keep me away from all the other hopeful suitors in the world? Why, how very forward—but at the same time," they let their smile morph into something sweeter. "Well, I have to admit, it would be hard to refuse."

His rictus grin twitched—Frisk waited, searching his face for anger, but at last he finally chuckled. "Babe, I get the feeling that you like leaving strings of broken hearts wherever you go."

Frisk actually pouted at that. They'd never intentionally done that before, but it was hard to ignore the truth. They scratched their neck and mumbled. "I just like having a little fun. I try to make sure they have fun too."

"Ha! Please don't tell me you ever try to justify it with some 'better to have loved and lost than never loved at all' bullshit."

Frisk looked away. "Lost love is nothing to joke about."

He paused again and they could have cringed at themselves—now the mood was awkward. So much for trying to salvage the situation. They glanced up at them, trying to resolve themselves for a fight that they were in no way prepared for, but stopped at the look in his eyes. The look he wore was pained and something like regretful. "You… you really aren't the right Frisk at all."

Frisk froze. "I didn't tell you my name."

The two looked at each other, tense and wary. Before either could speak, a harsh voice, like a caw of a crow, shattered the silence of the wood.

"SANS! SANS, WHERE ARE YOU?"

Startled, Frisk glanced over their shoulder once before looking back to Sans. He blinked up at them, and then shocked them utterly.

"Run," he whispered.

Confused, Frisk did a double take; even he seemed to jolt out of his astonishment at his own voice. But there was no time—before Frisk could run or either of them could speak, the voice was already behind Frisk.

"Sans," it hissed, as if the name was bitter in its mouth. "I'm surprised. Have you actually done your job for once?"

Part of them begged them not to look—whatever, whoever it was, it could not be, mustn't be who they thought it was—but still, Frisk's head turned again, glancing over their shoulder. Looking back, Frisk's heart nearly skipped a beat.

Honestly, the whole thing would be hilarious if it wasn't so terrifying. Like Sans, it was Papyrus but so not Papyrus that Frisk's perception of reality seemed to break a little around him. He wasn't just taller—which, in retrospect, this Sans was also taller, although he still didn't go past Frisk's shoulders—but his face was different as well. The eye sockets were wider and a tad more symmetrical in size—Papyrus' right eye had always been a little wonky. But where Papyrus always seemed to have to have a friendly or excited grin on his face, this Papyrus's jagged teeth were fixed in a sneer. His skull had a crack extending upwards from his right eye; red irises glowed in the sockets, much like Sans'. His clothes were strange—a black uniform of some sort, but shredded about the middle and a tattered red bandana around his neck. Frisk couldn't tell if it was supposed to look fashionable or if he'd just ripped it in some fight. Because this Papyrus certainly seemed like a fighter, especially with that glare in his eyes.

"Uh, h-hey, boss! Look what dropped into our lap. A human! I, uh, I was just, you know—keeping them busy so you could come, uh, capture them."

Boss? Frisk frowned for a moment at Sans before glancing back to Papyrus. Were these two not brothers in this world? The animosity in the air between them might have been a little more excusable then.

"Were you? I'm pleasantly surprised. Usually your lazy bones are out somewhere napping or sneaking off to go to that disgusting bar. But it looks like you're not slacking off." He spared the other skeleton a nasty look. "Although I hope for your sake that you weren't lying about keeping them here for me. If you were thinking of taking credit all for yourself…" His left eye dimmed and his right eye began to glow like a bright coal in his eye socket. "Then you'd be in for a world of trouble."

Before them, Sans had gone deathly still, his eye flickering between Frisk and Papyrus. What was he thinking? They didn't think for a second that he'd actually been trying to sell them out to this twisted version of Papyrus, but at the same time, Papyrus's arrival had stolen all his confident air and left him a panicked sounding mess.

Whatever was going on, it seemed to please Papyrus. He smirked as he straightened to his full height, towering over Frisk. "Whether my brother was slacking or not, it doesn't change anything for you, human. Right now, you should do the wise thing and just surrender, or you'll face the wrath of the Infernal Papyrus."

For the life of Frisk, for all the long sessions of training and talking to stuffy government people, they could not help the snort that escaped them. Before them, Sans twitched so hard his bones rattled for a second. Papyrus stiffened.

"What? Does my name amuse you, human? Something you'd like to say to me?"

Fuck it, I don't think I could talk my way out of this one anyway. If I'm going to do this, I might as well go hard. "What are you, a thirteen year old edge lord trying to sound all grim and dark? Also, you have a shitty attitude. He's your brother, for god's sake. What hell bug crawled up your tailbone and died?"

For a brief moment, he seemed so stunned, Frisk thought that maybe he'd blown a fuse and was just going to stare catatonic into the air above their head for awhile. Then, Sans made a noise—probably just a muffled gasp, but even to Frisk's ears, it sounded like a smothered laugh. While a part of them was glad that he wasn't still freaking out about Papyrus, the sound seem to break the spell on Papyrus.

"YOU-!" Papyrus shrieked, but instead of speaking again, he summoned an arc of red bones above their head, poised to slam downward at any moment. A wild, furious light glinted in his eyes, but before he could attack, Frisk gasped and pointed behind him.

"Look! A rock!"

Half to their surprise, he actually turned around and looked. They didn't question it though—the Papyrus of their world had always been easily distracted in a fight anyway. This one apparently wasn't that different in that regard. As he looked, Frisk bolted past him, so that as he turned back around, Frisk escaped once again out of his line of sight. They heard a scream of outrage as they ducked through the bars of the bridge. Wood splintered behind them and a few red spectral bones flew past their head, aiming to block them from the path.

"Quick, into the trees!" Flowey yelped as more bones flew through the air, one of them smashing into what was once a conveniently shaped lamp. Rather than head directly into the tree line, Frisk ran to the side, ducking behind the sentry station for cover. Above their head, wood splintered as bones cleanly punctured the sides. Papyrus let out an outraged scream, but Frisk had no time to either wonder or enjoy it. Instead, they ran hell bent for leather into the trees.

Rather than run parallel to the clear walking path, Frisk ducked around trees and hopped over logs heading north until they nearly slid off a cliff. With a yelp as their boots fought to catch a grip on the slick ground, they started to head back south. The entire time, the woods crackled behind them with the sounds of wood splintering and trees falling.

"There! Get back on the trail, before you kill yourself by falling into a hole," Flowey shouted, pointing a leaf towards the light that was brightening through the trees.

At last, they skidded out onto the path, catching themselves with one hand wrapped around a tree trunk to stop themselves. Clutching the tree, they gasped for breath. "I-is he… still following… us?"

"Papyrus never gives up so easily," Flowey sighed. "Especially when it comes to people who sass him. What the hell were you thinking?!"

"Eh… ah… well, to be honest," they licked their dry lips and shrugged. "I was just kinda… annoyed and figured that there wasn't really… a change for me to talk him around. So I said to hell with it and decided to try this way instead. It worked. Mostly."

"Mostly!" he scoffed. "Now you got one of the most driven, persistent monsters in the entire Underground after us, and you think pissing him off mostly worked the way you wanted it to."

"Something to that effect, yeah."

"God, you're going to get us both killed," he groaned, putting his face into his leaves.

"Well," they grunted as they straightened. "I can put you down on the ground, if you want. You can still try to get away. Hell, I can probably lead him away from you, no sweat."

Flowey sighed. "No… no. I made my decision. Time to stick to it."

Frisk smiled and started to thank the flower, but they could hear distant crashing in the trees moving steadily closer. Papyrus was catching up.

Flowey made a noise like he was clearing his throat. "Time to get moving. Listen, this little detour might have gotten you past some difficult traps, but I should warn you, Papyrus has got more traps set up ahead, and you need to be careful."

Frowning, Frisk started to jog forward. "Traps? What happened to his puzzles?" Monsters loved puzzles on the whole—sure there were some who weren't so keen on them, but they were a minority. Half the trouble the Frisk had to deal with as an ambassador came from monsters accidentally annoying humans with their overcomplicated puzzles they insisted on setting up in weird places.

Flowey shot Frisk a baffled look. "Monsters don't do puzzles anymore. They spend all their time just trying to stay alive. The only puzzles you ever see down here are either old and broken or ones for people's houses—and even those are super old. Nowadays, there are just death traps."

"That… just doesn't sound right," they grumbled.

"Yeah, well, that's how it is. Speaking of death traps, you got one coming up."

Frisk's chin went up as they scanned the ground before them. There didn't seem to be any trap there—just a wide swath of untouched snow. But if Flowey said that there was a trap, they'd believe him—he had no reason to lie to them. "Okay, where is it? And how do I get through it?"

"It's under the snow. He's put mines underground."

"Mines?" Jesus Christ, they thought, eyeing the snow suspiciously as they ground to a sudden halt. "He has mines?" Of course, the Papyrus of their world also had some unusual ideas for traps, but he'd known Alphys who'd hooked with up with some of it. Was this Papyrus a friend of this Alphys?

"Yeah, but thankfully not a lot. I heard him grumbling about costs one day. He only has enough to cover a patch of about six feet wide both ways, but trust me, you don't want to hit any of them."

"I believe you," they murmured, eyeing the snow again. "Six feet, huh? And where does this patch start?"

"You see that tree there, the one with the big crack in the trunk that kinda looks like a half circle?"

Frisk paused to consider the tree. "Looks more like half a heart to me."

"Whatever. That's where it starts. It's a straight line across."

"Right—six feet. Straight across. Can we go around it?"

Flowey shook his head, his petals tickling the bottom of Frisk's earlobe. "He's hidden spikes on the outsides of the patch."

"Damn."

"Usually I go under the trap," Flowey hummed thoughtfully. "Put me down—I'll find a safe path for you to hop across. Then you can-"

Behind them, there was a loud crash as something came barreling out of the trees. Frisk's eyes met Flowey's wide ones and in that moment decided. They turned on their heel and headed back the way they came, walking several feet with their long stride.

"W-what are you doing?!"

When they had god back a little ways, Frisk turned again and began to crouch. "Brace yourself, Flowey. I'm going to jump it."

"ARE YOU—oh, why do I even ask anymore?" he groaned.

Frisk grinned. "Hang on tight cause—here—we—go!" Kicking off hard against the snow, they sprinted forward with all they had. Keeping an eye out for the tree marking the start of the minefield, when they got close, they leapt into the air. For one moment, they were weightless, like they were about to take off into flight. All too soon, they came crashing back down to earth, their feet slipping as they tried to land. With a thump, they smacked bottom first into the snow, which would have been more painful if they hadn't had the cushion of snow to land on. They grinned recklessly, but when they glanced over their shoulder, they spotted a familiar black blur heading towards them fast. With a startled grunt, they tried to pick themselves up in a hurry. As they stood up, their foot caught a stone, tossing it into the snow in back of them as they started to move.

The world exploded behind them.

The force of the blast knocked Frisk off their feet and everything went black. The next thing Frisk knew, they were face first in the snow. Their back felt hot and Frisk's first panicked thought was to roll around in case they'd caught fire. They flipped onto their back before they remembered Flowey. Sitting up, they looked over their shoulder. "Flowey! You alright?"

The flower reeled back out of their hood, bobbing and weaving drunkenly, like a snake being charmed, before shaking his head. "Blurgh, that sucked. What happened?"

"I think I accidentally sent off the mines, but I dunno."

He shot them a glare. "You don't know?!"

"To be honest, I think I blacked out for a moment—look, never mind. Are you okay though?"

He frowned thoughtfully for a moment. "I… think so?"

Relief flooded Frisk and their smile showed it. "Thank goodness."

He stared before shaking his head slightly. "Look, we gotta go. Papyrus-"

Behind them, there was an outraged yell. Glancing backwards, Papyrus was just outside the clearing where the trap was, looking down at the mess they made of his trap. Without another word, Frisk picked themselves and began another dash down the trail—with luck, Papyrus would be held up trying to get around the trap to buy them more time.

"Flowey, which way?" they asked, ducking around a bend in the path.

"Keep heading forward!" he shouted, hunching back down against their shoulder as they nearly skidded, their feet losing purchase on the snow. "When you get to the abandoned sentry station up ahead, then you'll have to watch out for more traps."

Abandoned? Frisk's brow furrowed, but they didn't dare waste their breath asking questions, not with a murderous skeleton bearing down on them.

Sure enough, up ahead they spotted a sentry station, looking ramshackle and dusty. Just beyond it, they ground looked strangely lumpy.

"There's spikes buried under the snow," Flowey explained as they grew near.

"Under the lumps?"

"No. The lumps are there because Papyrus just left the dirt from the holes he made lying around, so now they're covered," he said, leaning his head forward. "I'll tell you where to go. You just try not to screw up!"

"Got it, boss."

Listening to Flowey, Frisk managed to weave and jump over the traps although there had been a close call when they stepped too close to an edge of one and their foot had started to slide into the pit. Thankfully, Papyrus's own trap slowed him down yet again. While he had to pick his way through the maze of pits and spikes, Frisk started running again.

"Please tell me there's no more traps up ahead," they shouted over their shoulder to Flowey.

"Some, but you've passed most of them! But you have to watch out for the other sentries now—there's a pack of four dogs for sentries around here and you have to be careful with all of them."

Four? Whose missing? Before they could ask, they had to focus on not skidding off the cliffside. They had cleared the thickest parts of the woods that surrounded this end of the cavern, but now it was time for their descent into the Underground proper.

They ran for as long as they could, but eventually they had to slow down or risk dropping from exhaustion. Slowing to a brisk jog, they took their time looking out for traps and sentries. Sure enough, Frisk had to pause and hide from both Greater and Lesser Dog; watching them, they couldn't help but shudder. Rather than look like the adorable dogs they'd meet long ago, these two looked nearly rabid and snarled at everything.

Papyrus eventually caught up as they hid from Greater Dog; it was hard to hear over the wind, but Papyrus snapped a demand for a report. Greater Dog growled, but somehow seemed to give Papyrus a report.

"And that's it? You haven't seen anything out of the ordinary?" he asked loudly. "No trespassers?"

Greater Dog snarled and Papyrus quickly summoned some red bones to hover around him. After a tense standoff, Greater Dog huffed but shuffled away. Papyrus glared after him before waving away the bones. Turning on his heel, he stalked back the way he came.

Frisk watched him walk past for a moment before slinking out of their hiding spot and creeping down the path again.

"That was close," they muttered as they hurried into the next area. To their relief, Greater Dog had already moved on and was nowhere in sight. Looking around the area though, Frisk had to pause. "Flowey, am I crazy, or is there a plate of spaghetti in the middle of the path?"

"Oh, you're definitely crazy, but yeah, there's really a plate of spaghetti there." He paused and then gave their jaw a warning prod with a leaf. "Don't even think of trying it."

"Insensitive name calling aside, I'm not dumb enough to eat a random plate of food off the ground, thanks," they shot back before frowning down at the plate. Papyrus in their world had left it as perhaps his most harmless trap; what reasoning did this world's Papyrus have to do so too? "Is… is it poisoned?"

"Well, judging by the dead mice around it, I'd think so."

Indeed, there were at least four dead mice around the plate, one of them even still clutching a noodle in its forepaws. Shaking their head, Frisk delicately stepped around the food and its victims and continued on their way.

They kept their brisk pace up until they nearly walked straight into Lesser Dog's line of sight again. Carefully, they tried to dodge around him, and at first it looked like they would make a clean getaway. But, they'd gone no further than a few yards and ran directly into the married Dogi pair. Like the other dog guards, they snarled and looked raggedy, but there was no avoiding them.

"Damn," Frisk muttered, bracing themselves for another fight.

Before their soul got pulled into a fight, however, a rain of red bones slammed into the ground between them, nearly knocking Frisk off their feet in fright.

"Oh, no," Flowey whimpered, ducking against their shoulder as Frisk turned to look back.

Papyrus had caught up with them; he still had his hand outstretched, glowing with red magic, like his eye. He glared at the Dogi. "This one's mine. Clear out, or you'll end up like Doggo."

"Bastard," Dogamy growled, but Dogaressa grabbed his arm and whispered something to him. The pair of dog monsters looked at Papyrus and growled, but they slunk away.

What on earth happened to Doggo to scare them all so bad? Did Papyrus have something to do with it? They thought idly as they turned back to look at Papyrus. And just how much should I be worried here?

As the dogs slipped away, Papyrus let his arm drop before glancing down at Frisk with a glare and a smirk. "You honestly thought you got away from me, didn't you?" He scoffed. "You managed to slip past Greater and Lesser Dog, but you let those two idiot s catch you? I was hoping you'd at least get us away from these fools so I could capture you in peace, but I see that was too much to hope for."

Well damn. Either he's lying to bluff me, or I'm not nearly as sneaky as I hoped I was. Frisk took a moment to consider their options before holding their hands up in a friendly, placating manner. "You know, I agree with you—I'm disappointed in me too. I can see now that I've let you down, I've let myself down, and really, I might as well just start over from scratch. So, how about-"

Without another word, Frisk felt a tug on their soul. They shut their eyes in frustration, knowing that the world went black and white around them. Goddamnit.

"Face me, human," Papyrus growled, eye sockets glowing a fiery red as a thicket of bone hovered directly behind him. "I'm tired of your cowardly attitude. Now, fight!"

"We're gonna die," Flowey whispered. "We're gonna die and then only thing that makes this slightly better than letting Toriel kill us is that at least we aren't going to burn to death first. No, he's just going to impale us to death!"

"Don't know what you're so worried about," Frisked hissed back as their fight menu options appeared before them. "You're a tiny target—he'll probably miss you mostly."

"He only needs to hit me once, moron." He shuddered and hunkered down, deeper into Frisk's sweatshirt. "Any bright ideas before he kills us?"

Frisk considered their ACT options before glancing up at Papyrus. Jokes, flirting, none of these seemed to be any safer than trying to tango with a honey badger. But, as they looked back at their options, an idea ignited in their head. They reached for the options.

"Mercy? Are you crazy?" Flowey gasped as Frisk tapped the menu. "He's not going to let you spare him!"

Frisk, however, smiled at what they saw. "I didn't really think he would. That's why I'm not going to try."

"What? You're actually going to-" he paused and then straightened. "Oh, you are not-!"

"Of course I am," Frisk answered before tapping the option. For a moment, Frisk only tensed, silent as Papyrus frowned, who was slightly confused with the hold up. Then, without a word of warning Frisk bolted to the side, startling Papyrus so much that he stood rooted to the spot as they shot off through the trees. "I feel no shame!"

Ducking between branches and hurtling over fallen branches, the human raced through the trees as Papyrus howled furiously behind them. "Again? Get back here, you coward!"

"You did it—I don't believe it!" Flowey laughed, half in disbelief. "Oh, good god, how did you even know that would work twice?"

"Oh," Frisk panted. "I just—well, honestly, that was luck and chance." They yelped as a branch caught their clothes, but rather than pause to untangle themselves, they only winced as their sweatshirt loudly ripped. "We just need to get far enough away that he'll give up."

They could practically hear Flowey rolling his eyes at them. "Papyrus? Give up? Are you-"

A roar split the air behind them along with the sound of wood cracking and dull thuds of heavy things falling. Frisk felt a cold sweat break over their body.

"Oh, great—now he's even more mad. Can't you go any faster than this?"

"Excuse me, I only have two legs and I'm tired as is," Frisk huffed as they ducked around another tree. "I can only go so—ack!" The tree they'd just ducked around exploded behind them, sending splinters everywhere, including falling into their hair.

"Oh, crap," Flowey breathed. "Frisk, time to go faster."

"Oh, no shit!" they yelped as they slipped on a patch of ice, hidden beneath the snow. Frisk found themselves rolling down a hill, hitting half a dozen thorny bushes on the way down while they tried not to let themselves land directly onto Flowey. Halfway down the slope, they managed to roll themselves onto their side and quickly scrambled to their feet. A bone sliced through the air like an arrow as it whizzed past their head.

Dead ahead of them, the trees thinned out. Frisk ran out of them, but then squeaked in terror when they realized that the trees only thinned out because there was a steep cliff on the other side. Windmilling their arms in circles, they caught themselves in time before they overbalanced straight off the ledge. Looking around, they saw there was a narrow, precarious path that would have been a challenge even with their hiking gear, but it was the only path to take now. Carefully, they did their best to pick their way through, but something behind crashed through the underbrush.

Turning, Frisk's stomach dropped to see Papyrus explode out of the trees, his eyes already trained on them. However, in the next moment, he set his foot down to stop himself and that's when it seemed he found a patch of ice. For a moment, Frisk's eyes could only widen as Papyrus began to tilt over. Unlike Frisk though, there was no occupied hill to slow his descent—all he had was a long drop of him.

For a moment, a nasty thought shot through Frisk's mind. Well, that problem just solved itself. But, before the thought was even finished, Frisk's body was already moving on its own. Before they could make a word of warning—which, really, Flowey deserved that much because he was still riding on their back—Frisk lunged forward, surging after the skeleton as he slipped over the edge. They could see the lights in Papyrus's eye sockets widen for an instant as one hand caught his while their free hand reached up to catch the lip of the ledge. And then, like the snap of a guitar string pulled taunt, Frisk's arms were nearly wrenched out of their sockets as gravity and Papyrus's added weight stretched their arms to their limit.

It took all Frisk's control not to scream out, but their arms held. For a moment, all three were silent as they waited to see what would give first. The moment passed however and they didn't plunge into the drop below.

"Holy shit!" Flowey shouted for all three of them. Frisk huffed a laugh, but Flowey only whacked them across the back of their head with a leaf. "You suicidal lunatic! You nearly got us all killed. You—you whack job!"

"But I didn't," Frisk chuckled breathlessly. They glanced around and sighed in relief as they spotted plenty of hand and footholds. Wedging their feet into some holds, they took a moment to swing Papyrus up to some nearby holds, despite the painful protestations coming from their shoulders. Once he managed to rest his feet and catch a hold with his free hand, Frisk let go. He scrambled up just fine, but they needed a moment to gather their strength. Shoulders screaming, Frisk finally flopped up onto the ledge and let themselves have a pained groan.

"Frisk? You okay?" Flowey asked, softly.

"Yeah," they answered after a moment, bracing their hands against the ground. They managed to get their legs under them but they couldn't find their strength to climb out of a kneeling position. Ah, shit. My arms are toast—now what? Maybe if I can get to my candy, then…

"Frisk? Do you need, um… Frisk?" Flowey began, his voice low and worried.

Frisk turned their head to reassure him, but before they could open their mouth, the world went dark and their soul appeared. Above them, Papyrus glared down at them. Flowey squeaked in surprise, but Frisk saw what the skeleton was looking at.

*HP: 11/30. Less than half. Easy pickings, especially for a murderous skeleton. Who challenged you to a duel to the death less than ten minutes ago.

Oh fuck—get up, get up, get up-! But their shoulders only wanted to buckle. Glancing back up, they saw Papyrus, his arm up raised as a pair of long bones was summoned into existence above his head. Shit—if I can at least roll onto my back, then maybe Flowey'll be-

Flowey gasped and two somethings slammed into Frisk's back at once—they gasped as well. Not from pain however—instead of the intense pain they'd expected from two bones stabbing them in the back, the what-ever-they-were that had violently struck them left only a soft warmth pooling into their shoulders. Opening their eyes, they caught just a flash of a green light before the attack disappeared. Glancing downward, they checked their HP again.

*HP: 30/30.

*Papyrus has… healed you?

This Papyrus knows healing attacks, they thought, their mind adrift in wondering warmth. Maybe he isn't so unlike the Papyrus I know after all.

Still, they tried to keep their face more neutrally happy as they faced him. "Ah, thank you for that-"

"You're at full health?" he asked abruptly.

"Yeah, I'm-"

Without another word, he cut them off by punching them dead in the face. Frisk only got out a smothered yelp before the skeleton leaned back again. Resisting the urge to whimper in pain or clutch at their smarting face, Frisk glanced down again.

*HP: 17/30. Welp. Still higher than before at least?

"If anyone asks," Papyrus hissed, "you escaped me through underhanded tactics and trickery, you got that?"

Frisk stared up at him for a moment before finally speaking. "Oh… kay?"

"Good." He paused, as if waiting or trying to think of something else to say. At last, he nodded to himself and stalked away, back into the trees.

Frisk listened until the sound of his boots crunching through the snow disappeared into the distance. Once the forest was still, Frisk sighed and reached into their pocket to pull out the sack of monster candies.

"God, that was close," Flowey sighed as he finally poked his head back over their shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," they mumbled as they popped a monster candy into their mouth. Instantly, their health bar filled back out and their face stopped hurting. Sighing in relief, Frisk offered the sack to the flower. "Want one?"

Grumbling, Flowey reached in with his leaf and took one before tossing it into his mouth. "I'm usually against wasting recovery items but I deserve this after the shit show you put us through. What on earth were you thinking?"

"Well, mostly I was just trying not to get the two of us killed," they replied as they tucked the sack back into their pocket and stood up, brushing the snow from their pants. "Okay, that's enough 'fun' for me, I think. Let's get the hell out of here and into town before anyone else tries to attack us, huh?"

"If it gets us out of this cold, then whatever," Flowey mumbling, shivering as he tucked himself back into their sweatshirt's hood.

Frisk smiled, patting the flower lightly. "Just think of it—we can sleep in an inn soon. A nice, warm inn, with a real bed."

Flowey snorted. "Yeah, real nice."

"Don't be such a pessimist, Flowey. Stay determined."

"Oh, I'm determined alright—determined that this place is gonna suck."

Frisk had to laugh as they began their long walk back out of the woods. "Well, with an attitude like that, what else can you expect?"