Core Issues

by Nicolle

Disclaimer: Undertale is copyright to Toby Fox. Gaster!Sans and Gaster!Papyrus are the creations of Borurou. Underfell is a community built AU. The story is copyright to me.

1. Please leave reviews! I honestly cannot tell how I'm doing if I'm not getting any feedback. In fact, leave reviews for the other fics you read too! Feedback helps writers improve and if you really like what someone is producing it encourages them to write more!

2. This story is rated T for language, suggestive jokes/themes, and violence. Note that my beta teared up a bit at the end of this one.

3. To avoid confusion, our narrator for this episode is C, Frisk's artificial intelligence.

Ep. 6 - Midnight Collapse

I came out of dark in my room, in the cabin in Frisk's head. It was a cozy cabin, situated on the top of a hill among trees in a vast forest that ended at the shores of a dark, cold ocean. This whole area was her 'safe place.' That place in her head that she kept everything that she loved and firmly filed away anything that she didn't. That Frisk made a place just for me in here was strange. We had a lot of trouble getting along at first for, uh, obvious reasons.

I headed into the cabin's main area, a comfortable living room with a couch facing a fireplace. I walked to the kitchen and shivered as I passed the door to the basement. The image of a snake, fangs bared and ready to strike, was burned into the door. It was triple locked and barred by my own hand. And I knew from experience that even just touching the door would freeze you to the core.

I looked around. There weren't any 'Frisks' about. That typically meant she was already awake and concentrating on something. I took a quick peek through her eyes. She was at her sewing machine, working on Red's jacket. It looked like she was altering the Delta Rune badge on the sleeve into a hidden pocket. As she finished it, she slipped one of the green and black badges we'd found inside.

Pulling up my interface, I checked the itinerary. It was a Saturday so the schedule was light: an hour at the firing range, lunch with Asriel, and then camping with Sans and the 'Baby-Bones.' I put down the interface and hopped on the wi-fi, looking around the facility. Red was asleep on the easy chair behind Frisk, feet propped up, phalanges clasped on his chest. His shirt said, 'If you need something from me today, reconsider.'

I headed out of the apartment. Papyrus was cleaning his workshop. Asriel and Agent Niagra were discussing something in the lab. Alphys and Undyne were gone for the day.

The Baby-Bones, Verdana and Ravie, were already here and hanging out in the garage with Sans. Though to call them babies wasn't accurate in the least. Rav, a skeleton like his father, was sixteen, while Vivi, who took after her human mother, would turn twenty later this month. They had latched firmly onto Bones and Frisk as surrogate parents after the loss of their world. And Bones and Frisk had fallen into those roles as if it were completely natural.

It was a phenomenon that Blue had told us about and one that he studied in depth. When the child of a Sans and/or Frisk was in the presence of an alternate reality's version of their parents, everyone involved began acting as a family unit. Even if the Frisk and Sans of that alternate world did not have an intimate relationship of any sort, they still fell into the appropriate roles. The children never treated the surrogates as if they were the originals, but would fit themselves into the current family dynamic in the most appropriate place. When they had met White and his Frisk, they immediately fell into being the youngest siblings in the family and were immediately treated as if that were the case.

Vivi attended an arts school to study preservation. Rav lived with their grandma Carol in a suburb of St. Canard City near the facility.

"Hey, Sans?"

He looked up from working on the Hornet. "Yeah, Vi?"

"I'm gonna go for a walk."

"All right. Be back in an hour. Papyrus is treating us to lunch at the sub shop."

I hopped around the rest of the building. The place was empty, offices closed, laboratories shut down for the weekend.

I popped back to Frisk just as she finished working on the jacket. She dropped it on Red's head.

"*thanks, sugar plum," came the muffled response. He stood and pulled the jacket on before following Frisk back to her bedroom.

"How long are you staying today?" she asked while she changed.

"*not too much longer. i thought i'd hit the nature trail before heading home. it's a nice walk this time of year. i should have brought the kiddo along." He cocked his head to one side. "*the ink is new. when'd ya get that? and without me along? i'm heart broken!" He held out a boney hand for a better look.

Frisk rolled her eyes and held out her arm. "I had it done before I visited you last. I'm surprised you didn't notice then."

"*in my defense, i was very distracted at the time. what with pulling glass shards out of your bicep and all." He looked at the line of sunflowers on the inside of her right arm. "*it's nice work."

"How's the cyborg version of me doing?"

"*he's been doing pretty well all things considered. dad's been growing skin, bone, and organs to put the kid back together. and frisk spends a lot of time with him between her studies. fase is still working on his reset." He stretched. "*i'll say good bye before i head off. see ya in a bit, sugar blossom."

"See ya."

He short cut away while she pulled on a shirt. Grabbing her uniform jacket, she headed for the door.

The facility alarm went off. Frisk froze. "C?"

"Just a sec," I said. I hooked into the security system. "Oh hell. Multiple hostiles on premises. They're moving toward the facility."

"How many?"

"Twelve. Five of them are wearing the green and black badges."

Frisk turned on her heel and went into her laundry room. She lifted a trap door in the floor and dropped into the facility's armory. "Who's here right now?"

"Asriel, Agent Niagra, Papyrus, Bones, Ravie, Vivi, and Red."

Frisk put on her best armor. "Tell Bones to get the kids to the safe room."

"Vivi's out for a walk somewhere on the grounds."

"Is Ravie with him?" she asked.

"Yeah."

She pulled on a harness, put her jacket on over top, and armed herself. She shoved extra foam core clips in the interior pockets of her coat. "Tell him to put Rav in the safe room. I'll find Vivi and get her there. Shut off the alarm."

I silenced the alarm.

She tapped her comm as she grabbed her favorite rifle from the wall mount, slinging it over her shoulder. "Hey, Larry?"

"Niagra here. What's going on?"

"Twelve hostiles on premises. Five with the black and green badges we've been studying. Head to the roof. It's already prepped for you."

"Good to know you read my file."

Frisk smiled. "You have no idea how happy I am to have a sniper on board. I'm looking to take as many as possible alive. I trust your discretion if you feel the need to eliminate a threat."

"Got it. Over."

I hopped over to Bones. "Bones?"

"What?" He sat up, slamming his skull off the underside of the Hornet. "OW!"

"Sans! Are you okay?" Ravie asked.

"Yeah," he groaned, "What was up with the alarm?"

"Hostiles on premises. Take Ravie to the safe room."

He slid out from the Hornet. "I need to get Vi."

"Frisk is on it."

He stood up. "Come on, Rav." He grabbed the boys phalanges and short cut to the safe room. "Stay here."

"What's happening?"

"Not sure yet, kiddo. Just hang."

Ravie grabbed his arm. "No! Don't go! Not again!"

Bones knelt in front of Ravie and gave him a smile. "I'm not gonna just disappear on ya, kiddo. Promise. I'm staying put."

Papyrus came into the room, locking the door behind him.

"Look. Paps is here now. Frisk is gonna find Vi. We'll all be fine."

I hopped over to Asriel. He was hidden on the roof with Agent Niagra.

Frisk came on all comms. "No hostiles have attempted to enter the facility as yet. I'm locking it down to keep them outside. Vivi and Red both show up on the nature trail. I'm heading after them first."

"Any idea why these guys might be here?" Niagra asked.

"I see black and green badges," Asriel said. "I'll bet they're after Frisk and Bones. They certainly brought enough people to finish us all off. Find Verdana as fast as you can and then I want both of you in the safe room."

"Asriel-"

"No arguments, Frisk. I've lived with you long enough to know exactly how over confident you are. The more you win, the more reckless you become. You don't have to do things on your own. Let the rest of us handle this."

"Acknowledged."

"I'm calling back up. Chara? See if they're using comms and if you can tap into them."

"Working on it," I responded. When my brother decided to be charge, he really was in charge. I don't know if it's anything to do with being royalty or inborn skill, but when he pulled out his 'command voice' everyone fell into line. Even Frisk. Well, especially Frisk.

"Heading to the nature trails," Frisk said.

I projected onto Frisk's shoulder.

"How's it coming on their comms?" she asked.

"Almost there... Done. Patching us in. There doesn't seem to be a communications hub, so it's an open channel. They shouldn't be able to hear us. Here we go." I opened the radio line.

A male voice came through giving orders. "Our targets are one skeleton monster, over six feet tall with cracks in his skull, and one human female at five feet eight inches, athletic build. The intel provided says she has long brown hair and blue eyes. Both will likely be wearing black leather jackets with the Seraph Facility symbol on the left sleeves."

Frisk stopped dead. "Fuck."

"What? We guessed they were after you and Bones."

"I know that voice. Shit!" She hopped twice and looked up at the tree tops overhead. "Release my full LV."

"What?"

"You heard me. Give me access to my LV."

"I'm not doing that."

There was a banging inside of Frisk's head. The door to the cottage basement was warping under the strain of successive impacts.

"I know the man on the other end of that broadcast and the description he gave also matches Vivi. Open that door."

Dammit. I pulled the locks and stepped back. The door opened slowly and a younger Frisk walked out wearing a uniform that she'd blocked from large portions of her memory. She walked out of the cottage and was suddenly in front of that cold, dark ocean. She stepped into the water and disappeared. The water stopped moving, becoming as still as glass. The world inside Frisk's head turned cold. Ice and frost covered everything. I shivered against it and felt a blanket being wrapped around my shoulders. Another Frisk wearing a lovely blue dress was hugging me tightly.

On the outside, Frisk's entire demeanor changed. She took off like a shot directly through the woods toward Verdana's position on my map. Vivi was running. I altered the coordinates so she and Frisk would meet at the shortest route possible. Frisk turned sharply, heading instead for the six mercenaries chasing Vi down. Frisk leaped on top of a toppled log and used it as a spring board to give her momentum. She tackled the merc in the back, shoving a knife in his neck before rolling to her feet, and running after the next. She shot him in the legs, trapping them in foam core. He yelled as he hit the ground. The two of the remaining four mercs turned to face her. She ducked for cover behind a tree, pulled the gun with live ammo, and shot the merc in foam core before he could recover enough to attack.

Her LV rose.

A male voice came over the comm. "Female target sighted. She just took out two members of the team."

Frisk dashed deeper into the woods and quickly scaled a large evergreen. She pulled her rifle from her shoulder and carefully aimed while two mercs swept the forest, looking for her. She fired twice and her LV rose again.

She slung the rifle back onto her shoulder as she dropped from the tree and ran directly through the woods toward Verdana.

The voice Frisk had recognized came back on the comm. "Somebody talk to me! Have you seen the target? Someone answer and confirm!"

"Female who matches description is ahead of us. She'll tire out soon."

Frisk put on the speed, jumping and rolling over the forest floor to avoid trees and pit falls. I could see Verdana directly in front of us. Red was coming down the trail in the other direction. Verdana tripped and fell in a roll. She skidded to a stop, bruised and bloody in front of Red. Shit. Had he met her before?

"Frisk?"

She came to a stop.

"Frisk!"

"Red's got this."

"RED'S NEVER MET HER!"

Verdana looked up at him. "Dad?"

The wolfish grin on his face turned into a black frown, eyes glowing blood red. Verdana hugged herself and squeezed her eyes shut, trembling. He walked passed Verdana placing himself between her and the two men chasing her down on the path.

"*you guys have got some nerve to pick on my kid."

What?

Instead of the usual attacks intended to toy with his enemies, Red hit them both with kill strikes, leaving bloody stains on the ground. He turned back to Verdana. Frisk came down onto the path and he gave her a nod before he slipped off his jacket and wrapped it around Vivi, expression tender.

"*hey, kiddo. you all right?"

She looked at him, tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry. You just look like..." She trailed off, tears streaming down her face.

"*hey now! no worries." He wagged a boney finger in her face. "*come on. i'll get you some place safe." He helped her stand. "*where am i taking her, sugar plum?"

"The safe room," Frisk said.

"Frisk!" Verdana shot into her arms, hugging her tightly.

Frisk hugged her back. "It's okay. You're safe. This is Red. He's going to take you to the safe room. Ravie is already there."

Vivi's face fell when she looked into Frisk's eyes. "Why do you look so different?"

"Go with Red."

Red held out a boney hand and Vivi let him pull her away. "*i'll be back a few." They disappeared.

"So did we just see that weird baby-bones phenomenon in action or is Red not as much of a jerk as I thought?"

Frisk remained motionless. "A little of both."

"Hostile at 6."

Frisk ducked as a knife came flying over her head and embedded solidly in the tree in front of her. Her arm came up to block the punch coming around to her head, but missed the one to her sternum. Grunting in pain, she threaded her arm through his, locking the joint, and hip tossed the guy away from her. He rolled to his feet.

"Holy Shit. If it isn't Frisk!"

Frisk spit the blood from her mouth, wiping her chin with the back of her hand. "Hello, Riley." She squared up, readying for another round. "So you did go merc after discharge."

"Yep. It's too bad. If I'd known you were one of the targets, I wouldn't have taken the job."

"That's why they didn't give you names."

Riley frowned. "Well, you know how it goes."

"Yes. Yes I do." She dashed forward, knocking him into the ground, and punching him in the face. His feet came up and landed a hard kick to the armor covering her stomach, lifting her up and flinging her back.

They both kipped up to their feet, mirroring each other's stance. Frisk threw the first punch left and Riley blocked it, getting knocked in the head by her stronger right. When he stepped back, she followed up with two more punches, and kicked him in the stomach. She stepped back into her stance, waiting for him to recover.

"What the hell are you doing? You don't even give Bones the chance to recover on the training floor!"

She didn't answer.

They circled each other for a moment, before Riley brought a roundhouse kick. Frisk dropped to one knee to duck it and punched him squarely in the groin. He didn't react. His knee came up and caught her in the chin, knocking her onto her back. He stepped back and waited for her to recover.

What the hell?

Frisk pulled a gun and Riley pushed her arm to the side when she fired. She spun to take another shot, and he repeated the process before knocking her gun out of her hand. Frisk grabbed his arm and kicked him twice in the side before landing a crack right into his elbow. He grabbed the front of her jacket kneeing her hard in the chest and shoving her away. They both stepped back to recover.

What was going on? She had access to all of her LV but wasn't even close to going for a kill.

I stepped back into her head and ran down into the basement expecting to see anything other than what I found. I was standing in an office very similar to her office in the Seraph Foundation with multiple large glass cases. One had the snake symbol and the words "PROJECT VIPER" etched into it. I pulled it open. Inside were framed pictures sitting on top of case files. I grabbed the one under Riley's picture and opened it. A small photo fell out. It was a selfie of Frisk and Riley in some European city. I'd never seen her smile that way before. Like she had accepted a fate she couldn't ever truly live with. "Sorry" was written on the back and not in Frisk's handwriting.

I quickly went back to the fight. They were ready to go again when a bone came out of no where and cracked Riley in the head. He fell to one knee, blood pouring from a head wound.

"Damn. You're still good. I could really use you on my team."

Red stood next to Frisk. His eyes flicked between the two. "*so why haven't you killed him yet?"

"I'm out of live rounds."

"*is that all?"

The next strike silenced the merc for good.

Red grabbed Frisk's arms, rubbing up and down. "*come on, sugar blossom. you're lv's got you all cold. you need to warm up."

She looked at him, eyes like cold steel.

"*knock knock."

Frisk sighed.

"*come on. knock knock."

"Who's there."

He smiled. "*that's right. howie."

"Howie who?"

"*howie gonna hide this dead body?"

She cracked a smile. "That was terrible."

"*ah! there's the smile. come on. you need to get to the safe room."

Frisk recovered her gun and took Red's hand. In her head, the younger her in the uniform reappeared in the house. She went back down to the basement, the door slamming shut, and locking behind her. The world inside her head warmed up, ice melting away.

Red short cut over to the safe room. Ravie glomped Frisk as soon as she appeared.

Asriel came over the comm. "It looks like the mercs are gone."

"Yeah," Frisk said. "Who'd you call for back up?"

"Blue. He brought a few friends. We've neutralized all but one of the people with the green and black badges. We can't locate the last. They likely ran for it when they realized the facility was locked up and a sniper was on the roof. With the mercs gone, we can start containment, and get some answers."

Frisk turned to Bones. "Call Fase and have her search for anomalies. I don't want to deal with that last one popping up unannounced."

Bones looked at her hard and she looked away. "Sure." He pulled out his phone.

Frisk sat down with the Baby-Bones, hugging them both.

"Fase said she only detects the four we've currently got."

Frisk nodded. "You two okay?"

Ravie nodded and Vivi hugged her tighter. Vi looked much better than she had earlier. Likely a piece of monster candy had set her to rights.

Asriel came into the room. "We're clear and the four we caught are in containment. Larry's cleaning up the mess Red and Frisk made."

"*not sorry."

Blue short cut into the room. "*welp. looks like you guys got a skele-ton on your plate today."

"SINCE YOUR BROTHER IS NOT HERE TO BE DISGUSTED BY YOUR BAD JOKES, I SHALL YELL AT YOU ON HIS BEHALF. REALLY, SANS!"

Asriel chuckled. "Thankfully, with the facility closed down, we don't have to worry about the media showing up." He sighed. "You kids are having lunch with Bones and Papyrus, right? Why don't you four head out?"

"Are we still on for camping?" Ravie asked.

"Totally," Frisk said. "It's important to do normal things after bad things happen. Sticking to plans and routines helps. You guys have a good lunch."

The four left and Frisk turned to Red, Blue, and Asriel. "Let's go see our anomalies."

We headed up the stairs.

I moved my hologram to Blue.

"*hey! long time no c!"

"That was legitimately terrible, Blue."

He shrugged. "*welp. i guess i need to put down my c game and move to my a game."

"I'm a hologram and somehow, that one physically hurt me."

He winked his left eye socket at me. "*whatcha need?"

"I've got a new reaction for you dealing with the 'baby-bones' phenomenon."

"*oh?"

"Red called Verdana his kid."

Red looked over at us, but said nothing.

"*that's not too surprising. verdana's father was a lot like red."

"*i thought we were all versions of you. you mean there are other versions of me? this is horrible! that means that somewhere there's a more evil version of me. i do my best dammit!"

Blue flinched a little, like the nail had been hit too squarely on the head. What did a more evil version of Red look like?

"*you know there are other versions of you."

Red gave Blue that smile I'd only seen on the two of them, something only the Alpha and Beta Sans-es shared. I went back over to Frisk. Her expression was back to normal, the icy edge gone from her eyes. I sat down on her shoulder.

Each of the four had been put in separate rooms out of view of the others, their badges removed. They consisted of one female Frisk and three male ones. All but one was completely possessed by a Chara. We started with him.

"How the hell did you do it?! How did you convince the mercs to leave?!" he yelled when we came in.

Frisk crossed her arms over her chest. "We didn't. What's the name of your group?"

He snorted. "Don't have one."

"What's your objective?"

He cocked his head to one side, glaring like we were idiots. "That's not obvious by now?"

"How did you make the badges?"

He smiled. "Why don't you ask your kids' mom?"

Asriel grabbed Frisk before she could hit the guy.

The prisoner coughed a few times and laughed. "So that's the button to push? That's good intel right there."

"You're a cocky little son of a bitch," I said. "How many Frisks and Charas have joined?"

"Fuck you, traitor."

I blinked. Traitor?

Asriel whispered something into Frisk's ear and she took a deep breath, letting it out slowly.

"How did you find out about us?" she asked.

The prisoner suddenly looked like a deer in head lights. He had not expected the question. "I don't know. I know there are people who are fixing timelines, but we've only recently started going after them." He looked confused. "We thought you wouldn't be ready for us."

"Too bad. You showed your hand," Frisk said. "Let's move on."

The next 'Frisk' took one look at Asriel and refused to talk.

Next was the female possessed by Chara.

"Woah. Your LV makes mine look like a drop in a bucket," she said, a little stunned.

"What's the name of your group?" Frisk asked.

"How is that possible? Are you a transplant from some other timeline? Or did you kill all the mercs and suck up the EXP that way?"

"This is my timeline. I didn't take out all of the mercs. What is the name of your group?"

"Neither of those is possible. Not with an LV like that." She looked at me. "How are you able to project like that? You look like a spirit on her shoulder. Would I be able to do that if my LV were that high?"

I snorted. "My Frisk had her LV way before she met me."

"That doesn't make any sense." She stared at the floor. "That's not possible. There is no child that is a murderer to start. A Chara is crafted through the malice of those around them. Frisks... Only a very few Frisks have that."

"What is the name of your group?" Frisk repeated.

She kept staring at the floor. "Midnight Collapse. We're called Midnight Collapse."

"What is your objective?"

"Destroy all time lines." She looked at Frisk. "What did your parents do to you? Mine were awful, but, I wasn't like this until I'd spent centuries in the dark."

"My parents are good people."

She shook her head. "You aren't a sociopath. You lack the traits. What am I seeing?"

Frisk sighed. "If I tell you, will you answer my questions?"

Her red eyes turned bright with eagerness. "Yes! I must know."

"What you see is military service in special operations during a time of war. I did not fall until after discharge."

She blinked several times. "You're a soldier."

"Yes. My Level of Violence is not an indication of an evil nature. It's a sign of my willingness to defend those I love."

"You're a soldier." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "A high Level of Violence earned through duty at least, if not true devotion. I did not consider such a thing."

"Why are you looking to collapse all time lines?"

She looked at Blue. "I killed that smiley trashbag over and over. The look on her face, knowing I had come back just because I wanted to see her die again and again. I wore her resolve down to nothing. She didn't even try to fight me the last time. She just waited for the strike and the reset. I walked away with true victory! That's when Midnight Collapse found me and offered me the ability to destroy other timelines. To have that total victory again and again. I gave them my Frisk's soul and in return, they gave me a badge that would let me travel to other timelines."

"*traveling the void between those universes requires skill in advanced math and quantum physics," Blue said. "*that doesn't look like your forte."

"Well aren't we the font of all wisdom!" She giggled. "No. I can't do it on my own. But we have someone who can do it for us." Her smile turned sly.

"A Frisk? A Chara? A Sans? Who?"

She fell silent, giggling.

The last one had broken through the foam and was waiting when we came in the door. Frisk floored him, picked him up, and threw him in a corner.

"Who is directing your travel between timelines?"

He froze, but recovered quickly. "That's your opener? Wouldn't you like to know who we are or why we're doing it?" He pointed to Frisk. "I'm sure you'd like to know, right? You destroyed your timeline. Get me out of here and I'll help you destroy more."

"Who's directing your travel? Who's solving the equations?"

He frowned. "I don't know. It's just a voice on the comm. Real eerie-like."

"Is that person your leader?" Frisk asked.

"No."

"Who leads the group?"

He shrugged and smiled. "Come with me, Frisk. We can find out together."

"Red? Tie him to a chair, please." Frisk turned on her heel and left. She waited outside the room for Red to finish and the door to shut before she spoke. "That is a serious amount of differences in knowledge."

"They could be lying about what they know," Asriel said. "You might want to try going back in with the third one without me. He might become talkative."

"You noticed that too?" Frisk said. "I've seen that before while out on missions with Bones. Some Chara's change completely in the presence of an Asriel, especially a full grown adult one."

"Not to be a downer on the conversation," I chimed in, "but no one here has had lunch yet and your sugar levels are about to tank, Frisk."

She sighed. "Noted. What should we do with these four?"

"*i could use some new test subjects," Red answered.

"No."

"*my dad could use some new test subjects," he pressed, smile wide.

"Double no." She rolled her eyes.

"*how about the first one then? give me that asshole and i won't tell lover-boy what was said in that room."

Her eyes narrowed, but she smiled. "You're quick to the black mail. But still no. Blue?"

Blue put his left hand on his chest and closed his eyes, bowing his head slightly. It was a simple gesture and one I couldn't remember not seeing him do while thinking. "*we'll dump all of them back in their original timelines and lock them there if their timelines still exist. the only choice at that point will be reset and a chance to do it the right way." He pulled out a phone to call Fase and arrange it, following as we headed for the kitchen.

Asriel sighed. "I was looking forward to having lunch with my siblings today." He smiled ruefully. "I miss not getting to hang with you two."

"My apartment is right next to yours, Az. You have a key, just come over."

"But then he'd have to give up some portion of his 18 hour days," I teased.

Frisk nodded. "You do overwork yourself."

"*i hear some pots calling some kettles black," Red snickered. He and Blue sat down at the table and pulled their condiments of choice out of no where.

"Hot dogs work for everyone?" Frisk asked.

"*haven't met one i didn't like," Blue answered. He and Red knocked their condiment bottles together before chugging them.

As everyone started eating, Bones came in with Rav and Vivi.

"Blue!" Vivi hugged him tightly.

"*hey kiddo! how ya doing?"

Ravie stared at Red. He looked over. "*need something, kiddo?"

"Sorry. You just look like dad."

Red patted the top of Ravie's skull. "*no problem, kiddo."

I hopped over to Bones. "Sans?"

"Yeah, C?"

I lowered my volume. "We need to talk. Away from Frisk."

He frowned but nodded and headed down the hall. Red noticed and followed us to Frisk's office.

Bones leaned against the desk, hands in his pockets. "What's up?"

"The head of the mercs was someone Frisk knew. Someone from her past." I looked at Red. "She lied about the ammo. She didn't even pull the gun with the live rounds when she went to shoot him."

"*even with her level of violence jacked up she didn't want to ice the guy?" Red snorted. "*i almost feel bad for killing him."

"Who was he?" Bones asked. "Do you have any idea?"

I shook my head. "No. His name was Riley. The only memory I could find was of Frisk pretending to be happy when she wasn't."

"*she's good at that."

Papyrus stuck his head in the door. "CONFERENCING WITHOUT THE OWNER OF THE OFFICE? A LITTLE RUDE, DON'T YOU THINK?"

"It's all good, Paps. Just talking about the owner of the office."

"THEN I HOPE YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT HELPING HER WITH THE INCREASE IN HER LV. THOUGH SHE HAS LONG LIVED WITH THE CONSEQUENCES, IT HAS BEEN SEVERAL YEARS SINCE IT LAST INCREASED. FRISK IS, ULTIMATELY, A VERY GENTLE PERSON. THIS CANNOT BE SWEPT UNDER A RUG." There was a strange flicker in his eye. One I recognized as being distinct to Gaster more than either of the brothers. "SHE WILL ATTEMPT TO KEEP HER TROUBLES TO HERSELF. YOU MUST NOT LET HER CARRY THAT BURDEN ALONE." He left the office.

Bones sighed and rubbed his skull. "It's like yelling at myself," he muttered.

Red crossed his arms over his chest. "*oh i know that look. weird to see it on a papyrus and not dad. what happened?"

Bones grimaced. He pulled a letter out of the interior pocket of his jacket and handed it Red. It was the letter he'd written himself in the Core.

Red looked it over, looked up at Bones for a second, and then read it again. He folded it up and handed it back. "*you workin' on this?"

"Yeah."

Red eyed him suspiciously. "*you better be." He sighed. "*you've got plans for the day, right? better get on those. it'll help her."

They headed out the door and back to the kitchen.

Agent Niagra was at the table. "So how does that work? You're a skeleton but you have full expression. Isn't your face hard like bone?"

Before Blue could answer, Frisk leaned over him. "The top up here? Totally solid." She knocked against it gently. "But down here, it's way softer." She pulled on his cheeks, mashing them around while giggling. Vivi, Rav, and Asriel were losing it at the other end of the table.

"*why am i putting up with this?" Blue huffed.

Frisk eased his skull back so they were looking eye to eye socket. "Because you love all the Frisks."

He gave her a wry smile and booped her nose with a boney finger. Frisk let go of him and sat down next to him, smile still bright. I jumped back in her head to look around. The cottage was nice and warm, a cheery fire in the hearth. Relief came over me like a wave. She wasn't acting. I came back out and sat on her shoulder.

"So when do I get to meet the friends you brought along today?" Frisk asked.

Blue shrugged. "*they were just the ones who responded the fastest. next time we have a party, i'll bring you along."

"And by party, you mean you all sit around and nap, right?"

"*partying makes us bone tired." He stood. "*i need to drop our detainees back in their respective timelines and get home. if you guys need anything or the fifth anomaly reappears, give me a ring."

"Thanks, Blue."

He winked his left eye and disappeared.

Frisk pulled out her phone to check the time. "If we want to be having smores at a camp fire tonight, we're going to need to get going."

"The Chevelle is packed," Bones said. "We just need to get in it."

Frisk gently yanked on one of Asriel's ears and rubbed the top of Red's skull. "Thanks for the help, Red. See you guys later."

"*anytime, sugar puss."

The trip out to the national park was as quiet but for Frisk talking to the kids in low tones about earlier, using a technique I'd seen her use with Alphys to quell fear and anxiety. She was helping them make sense of the morning. They camped at their normal spot by Jade Lake, close enough to be near the facilities but far enough away to have some privacy. Verdana and Frisk got the fire going and set a grate over it for grilling while Ravie and Bones put up the tents.

"So are you two officially seeing each other now?" Vivi asked while grilling chicken legs.

Bones raised a browbone at her as he sat down. "What gave you that idea?"

"Oh My God! You're pawing Frisk up every time you think we aren't looking! Geez. You're almost as bad as dad was."

Frisk huffed. "He has not been pawing me up, Vi." She sat down next to Rav. "Bones is not doing anything out of the ordinary. Besides, he's a bag of bones. It's like not much is going on there."

Rav piped up. "But it doesn't take that much magic at all to make a... uh. You know."

Vivi and Frisk laughed.

Sans facepalmed. "Apparently I missed a part when I gave you the skele-man talk."

"Which part was that?"

"The part about discretion." He looked at Frisk, hoping for some sympathy.

She smiled and gave him her best 'interested' look.

Sans sighed. "I know better than to believe that look."

She giggled and grabbed a marshmallow from the bag. After a long evening of creepy ghost stories, Vivi and Rav called it a night and crawled into their tents. Frisk sat next to Bones on the log and he put an arm around her waist.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Your LV went up and a part of your life that you don't talk about wanted to have a conversation with you. You don't have to tell me about it if you're not up to it, but I do want to know if you're okay."

She turned and leaned back against him, putting her hand over his. "I'm okay."

He looked at me. I checked the inside of her head and gave him a thumbs up. "I'm not really pawing you up, am I?"

"Vivi was exaggerating. Geez, you're so afraid to touch me at all that right now I'm pretty sure I'm asleep and this is a dream."

He gave her that half-cocked smirk that often graced his skull. "Do you want me to pinch you to make sure?"

She rolled her eyes. "No. There is something I would like to know," Frisk said.

"Oh?"

She turned her head to give him a sly smile. "So what can you do with your magic?"

I wasn't sure how, but Sans blushed.

Frisk laughed and relaxed against him, head on his shoulder, watching the fire crackle and pop. It wasn't long before she fell asleep, the inside of her head darkening to a starry night. Bones put her in her tent, wrapping her up in her sleeping bag. He stayed there for a minute, watching her sleep.

"She seems normal, but something's off." Bones sighed. "Maybe I'm expecting her to act a certain way."

I hopped over to his shoulder. "Everything on the inside looks the same."

"Still. Paps is right. She needs something. I just don't know what. And I can't sit back and hope she gets it together on her own." He crawled out of the tent and grabbed the water pail to put out the campfire. He stopped for a moment, staring at the night sky. He pointed.

"See that? That's Jupiter. If I wake up early enough, I'll catch Saturn just before the sun rises."

"Nerd."

He chuckled. "You staying up?" he asked.

"No. If I do, it'll wake up Frisk and keep her up. She won't hit REM until I go dark. How late are you going to be up?"

He checked his phone. "It's only eleven. I'll hit the hay around one. I want finish my new book."

"Goodnight, Bones."

"Night, C."

I went to sleep, letting my background processes run their nightly protocols. When I woke, the cottage in Frisk's head seemed gray. I popped up on her shoulder to have a look around. Frisk was working in her sketchbook in the early morning light, a cup of coffee steaming next to her. She already had a new fire going, eggs and bacon cooking in a big cast iron pan. Between sips of coffee, she would occasionally look to her left, away from the tents. I looked in the same direction. The reflection of a pair of eyes shown back at me.

I spoke through the implant in her left ear. "How long have we been watched?"

She shrugged. "He was there when I came out to start breakfast."

"Him? How can you tell from here?"

She looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "It's a male version of me. Specifically me. He knows I've spotted him. He's observing my reaction."

"So you aren't giving him one."

"Well, that's not exactly true. Any response I give, no matter how calculated is still informative. Watch. He'll leave when Bones comes out of his tent."

"Why?"

"The same reason I would. Sans is never a fight you want if you can avoid it."

"Why aren't you doing anything about it?"

Frisk took a sip of coffee. "I'm not prepared for a fight right now."

I huffed. "So we're just going to let the fifth anomaly watch us and not take care of him."

"I don't think he's the fifth anomaly. I think the assault on the facility was planned so he could watch our response."

"I really doubt Fase would miss him in a sweep."

"She might if he's an exact match for me." She held up her sketchbook to show me the page she was working on. It said Midnight Collapse in a stylized script, the letters big and blocky. Inside the open space of the lettering were partial images of people from all walks of life laying in pools of graphite colored blood. Written all along the margins were the words "Eliminate All Sentient Life" over and over, making a frame.

I stared at her. "It's a code phrase."

She nodded. "It means 'eliminate all persons with whom you have had contact and leave."

"How many times have you had to do it?"

She shook her head. "None."

Bones came out his tent and the sketch book snapped shut. The observer in the tree disappeared.

Sans stretched. "Morning, Sunflower. Did you make me coffee?"

"Don't I always?" She poured him a cup and handed it to him. "You missed Saturn," she said.

Bones shrugged. "Must have been tired." He noticed the sketchbook and reached for it.

She swatted his hand away. "You know better."

He held up both boney hands in mock surrender. "Geez, Sweetheart! Won't I ever get a look?"

"I don't ask you to play the piano for me. Don't ask to look in my sketchbook."

"Sharing your lewd drawings with C and not me? I'm hurt."

Frisk sighed. "Jerk." She scooted two eggs and some bacon onto a plate for him. He took the plate, and gave her a wink.

Verdana came out of her tent. "What's this I hear about Frisk drawing sin?"

Bones threw his head back and let out a full on cackle while Frisk put her head in her hands.

Ravie crawled out of his tent sleepily. "What's all the noise about?"

That only brought on a new round of laughter from Bones. The rest of the morning was spent swimming in the lake before Bones pulled the tents down and Frisk packed the camp away. When Bones dropped the kids off Grandma Carol came out to check out the car.

"Hey!" Bones leaned out of the driver's side window, flashing her a big smile. "How's my hot, hot baby?"

"Oh don't you go talking like that, you silver tongued snake."

He stuck out an overly long tongue. "Nope. My tongue is still blue."

She chuckled as she shook her head. "So lewd. This is the Chevelle? It's nice! Look at this paint job! Did you ask for that?"

"Max surprised me with custom stripes. Want a ride?"

"I'll take you up on that next time you come by. I have to get Vivi back over to the dorms today."

"Sure thing, hot-momma."

"How ya holding up, Frisk? It must be a pain with this hound dog around."

Frisk shrugged. "He's not that bad! Tell Vivi I'll come by to see her on campus this week."

"Will do." Carol smiled and swatted at Sans before heading back to the house. He winked at her.

"Flirt!" Frisk snickered as he pulled away from the curb.

"For Carol? Oh yeah!" He pulled into the garage and unpacked the trunk while Frisk headed back to her apartment. She dropped her bag on the floor after shutting the door.

The male version of her was sitting in a chair by the window, looking out on the facility's gardens. "Nice place you've got here."

Frisk dropped her bag. "I don't appreciate people barging into my home let alone making themselves comfortable."

His eyes flicked to her and then back to the window. "If I am you and you are me, am I really barging in?"

"I doubt floral prints are your thing."

"My home is more on the woodsy side." He stood. "Camping is an interesting mental reprieve. A good one too." He made a face and his voice came out in imitation of some remembered trainer. "Stay on routine. Continue doing normal things." He snorted. "No matter what changes, the training remains."

He walked up to Frisk. They stood facing each other and I would have called them twins were it not for the obvious masculinity in his jaw line, the obvious feminine curve of her body.

"If the training turns out not to be enough, give me a call." He slipped a piece of paper into her hand and gave it a light squeeze, maintaining eye contact. "Sometimes." He smiled lightly. "Talking to someone who truly shares your experiences helps." He pulled his hand away slowly, letting his fingertips linger ever so slightly.

He stepped passed her and opened the door. "The fifth anomaly is hiding on the nature trail." He went out the door.

Frisk leaned against the wall, eyes squeezed shut. Inside her head, the dark ocean had swelled. She turned to the door.

"No!" I moved to full possession and sat her down.

"Let me go, Chara."

"No. You are staying put."

"The anomaly-!" She pulled against me.

"No. You are a wreck in here. If you go, you'll kill the anomaly. I'm not letting you. I'm going to get Bones."

"No. Don't bother him."

"You need your Sans."

"Don't bother him."

"Fuck that." I jumped over to Bones. He was sitting in his room, reading a book. "Sans! Frisk needs you. Now."

He put the book down and stood. "What's going on?"

"Just hurry."

He short cut to her apartment. She was heading out the door.

Bones scooped her up. "You're not going anywhere." He sat on the couch with Frisk in his lap, her head tucked under his mandible. "Would you mind giving us some time alone, C?"

"Not at all." I hopped over to Asriel and sat on top of his head.

"Hey, Chara. What's up?"

"The fifth anomaly is hiding on the Foundation grounds."

Asriel set down the test tube in his hand. "Without setting off the alarms? Well, I'll give them credit for their skill." He washed and dried his hands before heading out of the lab. "Are they still on premises?"

I checked the grounds. "Yeah. They're hanging on the nature trail. Looks like they're prepping something."

Asriel went into his apartment and pressed a button hidden behind a bookshelf. A false shelf rolled away to reveal six souls in six vessels. "There's a threat to the Foundation. Which one of you would like to help me deal with it?"

All six vibrated in their vessels, but the orange one came out, and landed gently in Asriel's hand. He absorbed the soul. The sclera of his eyes turned black, horns lengthened, teeth sharpened. He teleported to the trail, floating in the air above and behind the fifth anomaly. It was another Chara possessed, female Frisk.

"Waiting for someone?"

She turned, gun out and ready. She looked confused until she looked up, took aim, and fired. The bullets hit the shield natural to Asriel's power and fell to the ground.

Asriel smiled and waved a finger at her with a wink. "Oh, you should know better." Asriel snapped his fingers and a bright red soul appeared in front of her chest. "This is your soul. The very culmination of your being. You don't want it to get hurt."

Asriel's fire magic leaped to life in his hands and spread around the girl, boxing her in. Asriel let loose a Star Blazing and she managed to dodge most of it. She moved to attack and Asriel simply floated to the side to dodge.

"I do train with my Frisk. You really don't have a chance."

I heard my own voice. "Oh yes I do!"

Asriel quickly moved away from the strike. Asriel raised a hand and lightning bolts pummeled the field. The anomaly could only dodge so many before getting hit.

"Chaos Blaster while she's down!" I yelled.

Several lasers cut through the area and the girl hit the ground nearly cut in half by the attack. A Chaos Saber appeared in his hand and the girl breathed her last. He pulled the black and green badge from her jacket before consuming her body in a magical fire. Looking around the trail for her equipment, he grabbed her things before returning to his apartment.

Asriel touched his hand to his chest and stopped. He looked at me. "Do I need to defend Frisk's honor?"

I rolled my eyes. "We put the two most reticent people in the world in a room together. If they did more than cuddle I'd actually be proud of them."

Asriel sighed, a smile on his lips. He drew the orange soul out and it floated back to it's vessel on the shelf. His eyes and horns returned to normal. He touched the vessels lovingly. "You guys okay in there? Anyone want out for a while?"

There was a soft humming, but none of the souls left their vessels.

"All right then. You kids sleep tight." He pressed the button that hid them away.

"Dad would kill us if he knew you still had the souls."

Asriel nodded. "Probably. I wonder why they haven't left."

"Maybe for the same reason I haven't. You were the first person we all met in the underground. The first experience we all had with monsters. You make a damn good first impression."

"But you did leave."

"No, Asriel. I didn't."

He turned his head to look at me fully.

"I stayed with Mom's dust when you spread her across the flowers in the Ruins. And for the most part, I slept. I would wake often to check on you, make sure you were doing okay. When each of the children fell, I woke to see them before going back to sleep. But when Frisk fell, I could feel your panic. Your overwhelming fear. I wasn't aware that she was dying. I thought it was her LV. So I went into her, thinking I could limit it. I found this warm cottage in the middle of an old forest. She was laying on the floor in that cottage in this pretty but faded blue dress. The colors all around were dull and fading, but as you worked, they brightened. I could hear you talking to her so I repeated what you said, holding her hand. And when you implanted the AI unit, I took control of it."

I smiled. "I'm not your memory. I'm me."

Asriel sat down. "I wish I could hug you."

"I believe that Frisk can handle that. I mean, I am her Chara."

A tear escaped his eye and he wiped it away. Not for the first time, I wished I was solid enough to at least touch my brother's face.