Core Issues

by Nicolle

Disclaimer: Undertale is copyright to Toby Fox. Gaster!Sans (our lovely narrator) is the creation of Borurou. Underfell is a community creation. Fase is from Technotale. The story is copyright to me.

Special Disclaimer: (1) When building Dragon Sans, I had Roman Kun's G!Sans in mind. Look up roman-kun on tumblr and give the blog some love! (2) The Chara who appears here has no relation to the Boss Chara AU by Whirlibirb/Drakinator, but is close enough that it's getting a credit.

1. All right Ladies and Gents: There are only two episodes left after this. The end is near!

2. This story is rated T for language, suggestive jokes/themes, and violence.

3. I saw a review (from Sappstar) and received a few PM's asking for Army!Frisk to narrate an episode and she is the narrator for episode 11, but that's the only thing I'll say about it. No spoilers!

Ep. 10 - Obsession

Frisk slammed her 'evil' twin into the ground, rolling to her feet over his shoulders. He grabbed her ankle and pulled, but the angle was wrong and she kicked his hand hard enough I heard the bones crunch. He kipped up, and ducked under my girl's swing, landing a hard punch to her sternum with his unbroken hand. She stepped back and he pressed the attack, cracking hard at the armor under her uniform.

His Papyrus was doing the least he possibly could in the fight, which meant keeping me out of it as best he could. While my Paps was very effective on the battlefield, this one was overly taxed keeping up with my magic. Every volley I threw, he blocked, and when I made for the Frisks he would block me physically, taking my hits rather than let me by.

I could see it in my girl's eyes. Frisk was viciously tired from little sleep and her counterpart was attempting to take advantage of it. Attempting being the primary word. He looked just as tired as she did. She punched upward, making contact with his chin, and he brought an arm up to block her elbow from coming down on his mouth. He pulled a knife with his broken hand and she ducked his swing. Frisk grabbed his arm, locked the joint, and pulled the knife from his hand.

A hologram Chara was sitting on his shoulder, pretending to eat popcorn. "Oh man, are you doing terrible today!"

He ducked a swipe of the knife. "Yeah. Thanks for the help, Chara."

It's voice was disgustingly sweet. "Perfectly symmetrical violence never got us anywhere!"

He dodged a kick. "Either help or shut up!" He grabbed Frisk's arm with his good hand, and pulled her off balance enough to lift her and slam her into the ground. She grabbed hold of his arm, brought a leg up to his stomach and threw him over her head into a near wall with a hard smack.

His Papyrus gasped and ran to him. Before either of us could stop them, they teleported away.

Frisk got to her feet. "I am getting real tired of these missions that are little more than kidnapping attempts on his part. He's so bad at them!"

I stopped and looked at her. "Why does that bother you?"

She immediately clammed up and looked away. "Can we go home now? Please?"

I sighed and put an arm around her waist. We landed outside the equipment room. After stowing her gear, she moved to change and stopped.

"I need a shower." She rubbed her eyes and groaned when she saw the eye shadow on her hands. "Today was a complete waste of makeup."

I smiled and put an arm around her. "Come on. I know a short cut to your apartment." I put us in her living room and she stripped as she walked to the bathroom. After the bathroom door closed, I waited until I heard the shower turn on before I turned away. I noticed Blue sitting on the couch. I leaned over the couch, arms resting on the back, and watched Blue compare the two sketchbooks.

"She is going to kill you."

"*nah, she won't."

"Then she'll definitely kill me."

"*based on some of the drawings in the back of this one, i sincerely doubt that."

I looked at him for a long moment. "Hand that one here."

"*if i did that, she might actually kill us." He smiled and winked his left eye at me. "*how'd the mission go?"

"It was another failed kidnapping attempt."

Blue frowned. "*find anything in the files yet?"

"A lot of stuff. Frisk's been staring at them for hours on end for months now. I'm not sure what she's looking for."

"*the key to fixing him." He closed the sketchbooks. "*let's pretend that your frisk is the one we need to stop. what's the first thing you would do?"

"Pull the A.I." I blinked and checked the time on my phone. Two in the morning. "I need to go see if the goat prince is still in the lab. Later, Blue."

He smiled at me and disappeared. I short cut over to the lab. Asriel was still there, staring into a microscope. Like me, he slept a scant four hours a night, six if he was really tired.

"Hey, Az. Got a minute?"

He looked up. "Sure."

I leaned back against the cabinet next to him, hands in my pockets. "If I were to remove Frisk's A.I., how would I do it?"

He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. "I take it you mean to remove the other Frisk's A.I., right?"

I nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, assuming that the A.I. is just an A.I. and not a soul, pulling the connecting chip will do it in a pinch, but the system shock would be incredible. He might die and then he'd just reset and we'd be back in the same position. If you could sedate him first, you could pull the A.I. with less worry."

I thought about that for a minute and put my hands behind my head. "So how long have you known that C was actually Chara?"

"Since Midnight Collapse attacked us directly two years ago."

"That's a big piece of information to keep under your horns."

He sighed and his head fell back, looking at the ceiling. "I didn't want Frisk to ask me to remove the implants."

I shifted a bit. "Did she?"

"No. She said that the implants gave Chara a technological advantage and she wanted him to have every advantage he could. She's spent every scheduled training session since working with Chara having different levels of control over her body. Since he can access her muscle memory, he's pretty good when he's in full control. A good thing since we've seen quite a bit more of the other Frisk."

I nodded. "For someone who is convinced that they aren't the same, he's been trying his damnedest to kidnap her. Today makes attempt number seven."

He leaned back a bit in the chair, looking out into the hall. "I think our new Papyrus is right. This Frisk is obsessed with his counterpart. I wonder if he felt this way about the other versions of himself that he's killed. Speaking of obsession, she's still up, huh?"

"What?" I looked over. Her office light was on and I could see her rummaging through the files. "God dammit! She needs to go to sleep!" I stood. "If you'll pardon me, I need to tie your royal sister to her bed."

Asriel rolled his eyes. "I really don't need to know that about the two of you."

"Woah! Wait! We aren't like that!"

The goat prince laughed, wiping a tear from one eye. "The look on you face right now is the best! I wish I had a camera!" He reached into his pocket, pulled out his phone. "Oh wait! I do!" He snapped a picture. He looked at it appreciatively. "Oh yeah. That's a keeper."

I huffed and went into Frisk's office. Before she had a chance to say anything I turned her soul blue and lifted her away from her desk.

"Hey!"

"Bedtime, Sweetheart." I short cut us back to her bedroom and pulled off her shoes.

"Put me down!"

I unbuckled her pants and pulled them off, grabbing her socks along the way. She strained against my magic as I unbuttoned her shirt and pulled it off of her.

"Bones!"

"You have not been sleeping. You're going to bed. Now." I pulled the covers back and put her in, holding her down with magic. I went over to the window and opened it. "Hey Sans!"

Dragon Sans lifted his head and looked at me. "*yesss?"

"Give me your tail."

His long tail came up and I laid it on top of Frisk. She huffed under the weight.

I went back to the window. "Don't let her up until after sunrise."

"*got it."

"Thank you." I rummaged through Frisk's clothing and pulled out her phone. "I'm keeping this for the night." I went over to the bed, and she watched me, eyes heavy lidded.

"Let me up."

"Nope." I sat down on the edge of the bed near her head. "It's a Sans-es job to take care of their Frisk, right? Well, right now, my Frisk is a mess. You need to sleep. I'm going to wait here until you're out and then I'm going to camp out on your couch to make sure you don't leave again. Provided you manage to get past a dragon. And I know you're too tired to do that. Get some sleep."

She closed her eyes, arms wrapping around Sans' tail. "Breakfast."

I ran a boney finger along her ear, pushing her hair back. "Yes, I'll make you breakfast."

Her head turned to the side. "Crepes."

My finger ran along her cheek and down her neck. "I'll make you crepes."

I ran the tips of my phalanges back and forth along her clavicle. It wasn't long before her breathing evened out. I let go of the blue magic and she pulled her right leg up, relaxed. I went into the living room, kicked off my shoes, and laid down on the couch. Unlocking Frisk's phone, I stopped for moment to look at the wallpaper: a photo of me playing guitar. I turned off her alarm and set the phone down on the coffee table next to her sketchbook.

I pulled out the photo I kept hidden in the interior pocket of my jacket, the glow from my eye illuminating it. Everyday, my girl looked a little more like the one in the photo. I closed my eyes.

When I opened them, sunlight was streaming through the window over Frisk's sewing desk.

"Let me up, Sans! I really need to pee!"

I chuckled and put the photo back in my hidden pocket. I wandered into Frisk's kitchen to start breakfast.

"You'll need to give me a lift down."

I looked out the window over the sink. Dragon Sans floated Frisk down from the third floor on a wave of blue magic. She'd pulled on a long nightgown and the long lacy cardigan she wore as a robe. When her feet touched the ground, she put a hand on his snout and one underneath his jaw bone, rubbing his skull. The years of isolation had left him needy for any and all physical and mental contact. He let the kids of the Foundation staff play on him and he'd stick his head in any window to listen to whatever conversation was happening inside just to hear voices again.

I popped the bacon into the oven and prepped the fruit and veggies.

Asriel came into Frisk's kitchen, snout first. "What is that amazing smell?"

"Breakfast. Will you grab the oven mitt and pull the bacon out for me?"

"Sure." He pulled out the bacon and set it on the counter. "Where's Frisk?"

I nodded to the window and the goat prince looked outside. He smiled and started working around me in the easy way we'd become accustom to over the years when Frisk needed to be cared for. Asriel handed me a cup of coffee as I finished the last crepe.

I looked out the window as I took a sip. Frisk was still petting Dragon Sans. In the early morning light, they looked like a scene so popular among fantasy artists: a princess and a dragon.

"Breakfast is ready, Beautiful."

She gave Dragon Sans one last hug, and waited for me to turn her blue. I lifted her back up to the apartment and took her hand to help her in the window.

"Good Morning," she said

Asriel leaned into her, looking at her face. "You have dark circles under your eyes."

"I love you too, Asriel."

He steered her into a chair before sitting himself. "You need to stop. You can't help anyone if you're this much of a wreck."

Dragon Sans head poked through the window, resting on the counter. "*agreed."

"You're off training for this morning." His ability to command slipped into his voice.

"Asriel-"

"No arguments." He loaded his crepe with vegetables and bacon.

She filled her crepe with fruit and whipped cream. "You can't just change up the schedule so easily," she muttered.

C burst to life on her shoulder. "Who has two thumbs and control over the facility's scheduling system? THIS GUY!" He frowned at her. "I took you off the schedule yesterday. The only way you're getting back on is if, by some miracle, King Chara shows up and asks you for a few rounds on the training floor."

"*king... chara?"

I turned to Dragon Sans. "A Chara that has, through an unusual set of circumstances, outlived the rest of the Dreemurr family and now sits on the throne in his timeline. His Frisk is a little younger than mine and his Sans is one of our variation."

"And he's still a jerk," C said.

"Takes one to know one," Frisk said between bites.

C stuck his tongue out at her.

"Speaking of his Frisk," I said, "We should call and see if she'll come and have a look at you."

Dragon Sans lifted his head, interested. "*why?"

"She's a mage. A top notch one too. In their timeline, the barrier need to be opened by building the correct spell and she managed it."

I pulled out my phone and dialed G, the nicest Sans of the Gaster!Sans, as Red's Frisk had started calling us.

He picked up on the first ring. "*hello?"

"Hey G. Can we borrow your Frisk? We've got a transformed Sans and she might be able to get him back to normal."

"*oh! uh. let me see if she's busy."

I could almost see the phone being pulled out of his hand.

A voice as warm wolf's fur and twice as dangerous came over the receiver. "And exactly where would Frisk be going?"

"Hello, your majesty. Nice to hear your lovely voice."

"If this is a recruiting call, you won't be getting anywhere."

I rolled my eye. "We've got a transformed Sans. We think your Frisk can get him back to normal."

"I got that part. Where would she be going?"

"Seraph Foundation Facility."

Silence.

I waited.

"We'll be there at 10am your time." He hung up.

Frisk looked at C, smiling.

He pointed at her. "Not putting you back on the training floor. You're going back to bed. I will seriously start scheduling people to come in here and sit on you if I have too."

"Day off to sleep. Doctor's orders," Asriel said. He pointed at her breakfast. "Drink your tea."

Frisk sighed and drank her tea. Setting the cup down, she blinked a few times. Her hand came up to rub her head as her eyes closed. Asriel caught her before she fell out of her chair.

I stood and picked her up out of Asriel's arms. "Could you warn me when you're going to drug her?"

"She would beat me senseless if I did that!" He pointed at the cup. "That was chamomile tea. The sleepiest of teas."

I put Frisk back in bed and checked my phone. Thirty until G arrived. Back in the kitchen, Asriel was putting dishes in the washer. I patted Dragon Sans on the snout. "I'll be out with G and his Frisk as soon as they get here."

He nodded and pulled his head out of the window.

"Need any help?"

"No." Asriel shut the dishwasher and hit the start button. "We're good. I'll meet you down at the entrance in ten."

I short cut over to the suite Paps and I shared.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN, SANS? I HOPE YOU WEREN'T SLEEPING ON THE COUCH IN THE LIVING QUARTERS."

I pulled off my shirt and dumped it in the hamper. "Nah. I was camped out on Frisk's couch last night. She was doing her 'wait till everyone is asleep and keep working' routine."

He frowned. Which is not an expression I like seeing on him. I went in my room and dug a turtle neck out of my dresser.

"DO YOU THINK SHE'S TRYING TO SAVE HIM AS A WAY TO SAVE HERSELF?"

I pulled on the turtle neck and leaned my arms against the dresser. "I'd thought about that. But that's not how Frisk sees herself." I looked at my brother. "It's more that she's so disappointed in him that she's trying to show him up by fixing him. Frisk has always been competitive."

"EVEN MORE SO SINCE HER LV INCREASED TWO YEARS AGO."

I pushed my drawer shut and turned, leaning back against it. "Got any suggestions?"

"SHE NEEDS A BREAK. GIVE HER SOMETHING ELSE TO FOCUS ON. PERHAPS NOW IS A GOOD TIME TO GET HER TO TALK ABOUT HER PAST."

"That means sharing ours."

Paps pointed at me. "YOU ARE THE ONE WHO IS NOT INCLINED TO DO THAT, SANS. WOULD YOU PREFER THAT I HAVE THAT CONVERSATION WITH FRISK?"

I huffed and pulled my jacket on. "I'll fix it."

"GOOD."

I stopped at the door and hugged him.

He hugged me back. "WHY ARE YOU SO SHORT, MY BROTHER?"

"I'm not short. You have to be that tall to contain all your enthusiasm."

"NYEH HEH HEH!"

I patted his back and let go, heading out of the suite and to the entrance. G appeared with his Frisk and Chara in tow just inside the front doors.

G looked like me and yet, didn't. There was a sweetness to his face that no other version of us contained, and he was shorter by a good six inches. Next to him stood an adult male Chara with spiky brown hair in a gray shirt and brown jeans under a long, black, red lined coat, the Delta Rune embroidered on the back. Around his neck was a heart locket. G's Frisk, a twenty-something young woman in a dark turtleneck sweater and short plaid skirt over black tights and brown boots, stood in front of them both. Her long white hair was braided and twisted into a bun on her head.

"Hey guys."

G smiled brightly. "*bones!"

"Nice to see you're not essence bleeding."

"*papyrus and I figured out how to stop that completely by accident." He looked at me with a really embarrassed smile. "*please don't ask!"

Chara crossed his arms over his chest. "Where's Az?"

I frowned. "Good question." I looked behind me. "He was supposed to meet me here." I shrugged. "Come on."

I led them out to the gardens behind the building. Dragon Sans looked over and stepped carefully so as not to shake the ground too much as he walked. He eyed the newcomers.

"This is G, Frisk, and His Majesty, Chara Dreemurr."

Chara waved off the formal title. "For home, not here." He reached out and rubbed Sans' boney snout. "Hey, big guy."

Frisk stepped around Chara and put her hands on Sans' massive skull. "I'm going to use magic on you. Is that okay?"

Dragon Sans laid down, putting his head on the ground. "*go ahead."

She drew several quick patterns down his skull with her finger. The patterns turned gold and glowed brightly. An image of what Dragon Sans was supposed to look like appeared over the symbols. A Sans of my variation with a longer face and a bright yellow eye as opposed to my white one. There was a distinct composure to his face and a refined air to his posture.

"Interesting. How did you go from so little matter to so much?"

Sans remained silent.

Frisk smiled patiently and petted his skull. "I can't help you if you won't talk to me."

"*something my brother did."

"Why?"

"*soul." His soul coalesced in front of us; pure, white, and cracked.

Frisk and G gasped.

"You're damaged!" Frisk stepped back and looked at the dragon. "The dragon form is to protect your soul!" She held out her left hand, palm up.

Sans looked at G and I. "*safe?"

I nodded. "You let my Frisk near you."

"Why is that an issue?" Chara asked.

"His Frisk and mine are near mirror images of each other and his Frisk is the leader of Midnight Collapse."

G covered his mouth with one boney hand. "*oh my god."

Frisk put her hand on his skull. "Please?"

Sans sighed and let the his soul sit in the palm of her hand.

"Thank you. How did it crack?"

"*tried to fix frisk. failed."

Frisk took a deep breath. She started to glow a bright gold, head falling back. She began to float and ribbons of power flowed around her before wrapping around the soul.

Sans shivered.

The light died away and the soul in Frisk's hand was whole. It floated back to the dragon, disappearing within him. His eye changed from blue to yellow, the cracks in his skull opening. A long yellow tongue came out and licked her face.

"Eh! Glad you're happy."

Chara chuckled and handed her his handkerchief. She wiped the drool from her face.

"Now for the hard part. Getting you back into your original body."

"Will you stay with Frisk?" Chara asked G.

He nodded. "*of course!"

"Come on, Bones. I want to find Az."

"Good point. He should have caught up to us by now."

We headed into the building and found Asriel standing just inside the door talking with Agent Tahoma.

"Yo. Az."

Asriel and Agent Tahoma turned to Chara.

"Can we fix it tomorrow?" Asriel asked.

"Yeah..." Lily said, staring wide-eyed at Chara.

Chara and the goat prince hugged before walking off.

Agent Tahoma walked over to me, eyes still following Chara. "Geez! I thought the sex on you was loud. But the sex is so loud on that guy I'm picking it up rooms away with the TV on full blast!"

I chuckled. "You want a hand with that box?"

"Please." She handed it to me. "Who is that?"

"That's a Chara that didn't die from some unusual or suicidal circumstance," I said. "It's what C would have looked like had he not died in his teens."

"Hot damn."

"Where's the box going?"

"It just needs to go back in Agent Serif's office." She waved me a long and started walking.

I followed her down the hall. "You can just call her Frisk."

"Yeah. That just sounds so informal. I mean, she's a real life Viper! That's a huge deal. Like super legit. They never say who's in Project Viper when it's put together. You just know that things are going to go south for our enemies as soon as it's announced. And you know that every person picked for the project is a bad ass on epic levels. And I've not only spoken with one, I work with her and have even had lunch with her on several occasions. There are people who would kill for that kind of awesome!"

She stopped dead in the hall, looking at me excitedly. "And you get to hit that!"

I sighed and closed my eye sockets. "We aren't like that, Lily."

"Seriously? You've been seeing each other for, what? Four years now? More?"

"You can have an intimate and loving relationship with someone without sex."

She huffed. "That's not what I meant. I was talking about the amount of time."

"Monsters live a very long time, Lily. Four years is like four days for me. It freaks me out how fast human children grow up. Escorting Vivi down the aisle at her wedding was surreal because she's only twenty-two. That's still early childhood for most monster types."

Tahoma looked at me thoughtfully. "I understand." She put a hand on my arm. "Humans don't live that long. Please remember that." She turned and started walking again.

I followed. Frisk was inside her office, in a blouse and long skirt, poking at the files on her desk.

"Hey, Beautiful." I set the box down. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Chamomile may put me to sleep, but it goes right through me, so I wake up right away. Hey, Lily. Finished with the box?"

"Everything is scanned," Tahoma said. "I'll be working on Papyrus' papers next. Anything I need to know?"

Frisk shook her head. "Nope. If you have any questions about what you're looking at, just ask him. He'll be happy to explain in a completely normal and not Alphys-like fashion."

Tahoma gave Frisk a double thumbs up and left.

I sat on the edge of the desk, arms crossed, using magic to shut the office door and lock it. "You're driving yourself crazy with this. You haven't sewn or knitted in months. You bought a new sketchbook weeks ago and you haven't worked in it. You haven't gone out with friends. You haven't talked to your mother in ages. And she's texted me several times asking if you were okay. The only time you've taken any breaks was for anything having to do with Vivi's wedding and that's it. And the only time we've had together, minus the night after the wedding, I've spent trying to get you to slow down and sleep. So what, exactly, is going on?"

Frisk put hands in her lap and bowed her head, looking at them. "I can't let him win. I can't let some coward determine everyone's futures. I can't." She sat up and looked at me. "I've been over and over these files and I keep seeing the same thing. When either of us had the freedom in a mission not to take lives, he consistently did. Because it was easier to kill a target rather than sneak around them, knock them out, or turn them into an ally."

She pointed at the files. "He could have, at any point, completely disqualified himself for a Midnight Collapse order by his own command's rules for its use, simply by meeting his mission objectives in a less lethal manner."

Frisk sat back in her chair, staring at the files. "I've been going about this the wrong way. I keep thinking that my past is something I should just leave lying where it is and just ignore that I was good at what I did. It's time I start using my past to my advantage." She pushed aside the files and pulled out a piece of paper. "I've never told you what I did in the military and all you've ever heard from me was the mention of Project Viper." She started drawing up plans. "Project Viper only exists during a time of war and its only purpose is to handle 'morally questionable' missions. I was the team specialist in Asset Extraction and Retrieval." She looked up at me. "Those are just fancy terms for kidnapping and theft."

"You're going to kidnap him."

"I'm going to kidnap him."

"That's why you're so mad at his attempts to kidnap you. You think he should be doing a better job."

Frisk sighed and looked back at the paper. "His failure to grasp that stealth and misdirection were to his advantage angers me in a way that I can't really describe."

"What was your last mission? Was it the same as his?"

She shrugged. "Similar. I wasn't there to assassinate the terrorist leader. I was there to take him into custody. We had a deep cover agent in the terror group and I posed as one of his wives. It was arranged that I would be shown off as a point of pride. I was a 'daughter of the enemy.' I met with the leader multiple times under that guise. When I was trusted enough to handle serving him food while he worked alone, I called for extraction after drugging him. The cover agent, his family, my target, and I were far from enemy territory before anyone knew we were gone."

I stood and moved to stand behind her chair, leaning on it to watch her work. "What's your plan?"

"His attacks are coordinated with people who don't, for the most part, know what they're doing. I'm going to flip his script. On the next mission, we're taking a full team and dispersing them around the entire area. So when he makes his attempt on me, we can grab him instead. I need to talk to Red. I want him for this and I'll need his help coordinating."

There was a knock at the door. I flipped the lock and opened the door. Tex, the female Sans we'd picked up from Sheriff Sans' timeline, stuck her skull in the door. "I don't mean to interrupt, but G said to get youse both. His Frisk thinks she can get Dragon Sans back to normal. They're out in the parking lot."

Frisk smiled. "Great!" She stood and Tex closed the door.

I grabbed Frisk's arms so that I had her full attention. "This isn't a competition. You've pushed yourself to a limit that I am not comfortable with and it will not continue." I pulled her into my arms, holding her head against my rib cage. "Promise me you'll slow down."

Frisk turned her face into the fabric of my turtleneck, arms wrapping around me. "I promise." One hand slipped under my turtleneck and ran along my spine. Her fingers gently wrapped around my vertebrae, rubbing up and down. A deeply pleasurable sensation thrummed up my spine. She looked up at me, eyes like deep water.

I resisted the urge to put her back against the wall. "Don't distract me like that."

"I'm not trying to distract you. I'm apologizing," she whispered. She let go of my spine and ran her fingers along the bottom edge of my rib cage.

I took Frisk's chin in my phalanges and turned her face up, dropping my mouth toward hers.

The door opened and Sheriff Sans' Frisk stuck his head in. "Are you two coming outside?"

I stopped and sighed. "Yeah. We're moving."

Frisk took my hand and we headed out the door.

In the parking lot, everyone in the building had turned out to watch G's Frisk work. She'd drawn a huge circle in baby blue chalk in an empty part of the lot, the interior covered with long lines of symbols in white and yellow chalk.

Frisk pulled out her phone and called Red. He was suddenly standing next to her, the kiddo and Papyrus with him. The kiddo jumped several times, trying to see over people in front of her. Her Papyrus lifted her and put her on his shoulders.

G's Frisk directed Dragon Sans into the circle, carefully helping him place his boney feet. My brother stepped up next to me; a sweater, jeans, and bomber jacket I recognized as being mine in his arms. I looked up at him and he smiled.

"I DID NOT THINK YOU WOULD MIND."

I smiled and shrugged. "If this works, he's gonna need those."

Red had his arm around my girl, leaning in to whisper something in her ear.

She smiled. "That's legitimately terrible."

"*but you'll sleep so well when it's over that those circles under your eyes will be gone for good."

She rolled her eyes. "Along with my self respect."

He laughed, hugging her close.

G's Frisk finished her prep and took a deep breath. "Are you ready?"

"*yesss."

She stepped into the circle. "Then let's begin." Her blue eyes turned gold, glowing. A swirl of white light came up around her and she laid her hands on his skull. The light shot around Dragon Sans like a mass of ribbons, wrapping him in a cocoon. The lines of sigils underneath him glowed and G's Frisk started chanting. The light rushed upwards suddenly becoming too bright to look at. Frisk's legs gave out under her and G caught her, helping her sit as the glow from the circle died away.

Sitting in front of her was a skeleton with the all too familiar cracks in his skull and one bright yellow eye. He stared in wonder at his phalanges and the holes through the metacarpals.

He looked up, and dove at Frisk, hugging her with all that he had. "*You did it! You did it!"

She hugged him back. "Well, yes and no." She leaned back to look him in the eye. "The dragon form contained too much matter for it to just disappear and you spent so long in that form that it is intrinsic to you. So I split the difference."

"*What do you mean?"

"It means you can shift between both forms. Your dragon body is contained within this one. I was able to do it because you're like G. You literally have the void within you, so it makes a nice place to keep all the extra pieces of you. And, bonus! You get to keep all the extra HP."

He smiled at her, clavicle and scapulas dropping. "*Thank you."

"You're welcome." Frisk looked around and waved everyone else over. G pulled her out of the way while Sans was crushed with hugs and Papyrus helped him into proper clothing.

Chara put an arm around her. "Nice job."

"Thank you."

He looked over toward me and caught sight of my Frisk. "I was told you weren't well. That must be true because I've never seen you out of uniform before."

"It's been a long several months," she said.

He gestured, indicating people who weren't physically present. "Midnight Collapse has been a real pain for me, so I'll tell you what. I'm still not joining, but when you figure out where they're hiding, I'll be there for the assault."

"Thank you."

He nodded and looked down at his Frisk as they walked away. "Anything you want to do here before we head home?"

I didn't hear her answer.

"What's his deal?" Red's Frisk asked from her perch.

"He's a jerk," my girl said.

"I meant, what's he got to offer that he gets to be that rude?"

"That Chara can suck up monster souls and use their power," I said.

"Woah. That is both hella cool and hella frightening."

"INDEED," her Papyrus said. "THOUGH I BELIEVE HE FOUND OUT ABOUT HIS POWER COMPLETELY BY ACCIDENT."

I nodded.

The kiddo patted the top of her brother's skull. "Let me down, please! I'd like to go see Dragon Sans."

Her brother set her on her feet and she rushed into the crowd. Dragon Sans saw her and gave her a big hug, twirling her around.

White was suddenly standing between Frisk and I. He put his arms around us, smile almost too big for his face. "I have someone you need to meet."

Blue appeared and winked at us.

"We've met," Frisk said.

"Not him! Her!" He held out his hand a human soul appeared, held aloft in his magic. "This is the Frisk formerly trapped in my badge!"

Hi.

"*holy shit, white! well done!" Red said. "*is it a repeatable trick?"

"Yes! But here's the best part! Show 'em!"

A glowing reset button appeared in front of the soul and the noise of the crowd suddenly died, everyone crowding around.

White giggled like a mad man. "Her world isn't gone until she is! All of the collapsed timelines are there, waiting for their Frisk's to reset them!"

"*gather everyone and have them bring their badges," Blue said. "*a few of them are going to need what asriel's gotten hidden away in his apartment."

Frisk and I looked at Asriel. "What do you have in your apartment?"

He put his snout in his hand. "Just gather all the badges. I'll be down with them."

All Sans-es and a few Papyrus-es in the crowd pulled out their badges. Several more appeared as we waited. When Asriel came back out of the building, a rainbow of six human souls floated around his head.

"*you gotta be fuckin' with me," Red breathed.

"That is the absolute last thing I expected to see today," I said. "So, you got anything to tell us, Goat-Boss?"

Asriel sighed. "After Frisk opened the barrier, they stayed with me."

The souls floated around him, hugging him tight.

"It's not that they can't leave. It's that they won't."

"*and that's just fine, because we can use their help," Blue said. "*as white releases the trapped frisks several of them will need healing. these kiddos right here can provide that." He nudged White. "*time's a wastin,' white."

White isolated and released the Frisk in each badge as it was put in front of him and every Frisk in need of healing was surrounded in turn by the other souls. When White finished, he look incredibly tired but deliriously happy. Fifty-four Frisk souls floated around us.

"All right, everybody! Time to reset!" White yelled.

Fifty-four reset buttons glowed in the sky and the souls began to disappear.

"Wait!" Sheriff Sans' Frisk was holding on to Tex. She was disappearing.

She smiled and hugged him tightly, ruffling his hair. "You did great, buddy. We'll see each other again. My kiddo, she needs me now." Tex disappeared, sucked back to her timeline and its reset.

"Goodbye!" Red's kiddo waved as the souls disappeared, green and blue braids swinging wildly.

"Goodbye is right. Goodbye to at least 70% of Midnight Collapse!" White laughed maniacally while the rest of us stared in awe.

Red put his arm around my girl. "*not a bad way to end a day, huh?" His wolfish smiled returned. "*so whadya say? it will totally knock you out."

"I am not going to be your vicarious tattoo collection, Sans!"

"*come on, sugar blossom! you've only got the one. you need more! how about some flowers right here?" Using his rib cage as an example he indicated the area just under her breasts. "*i'll make sure the tattoo artist doesn't get handsy."

Frisk pointed at him with a mock glare.

He held up both hands. "*okay! okay! I'll stop." He put his arm around her again. "*promise me you'll take a break, alright? let us handle things for a bit. it's okay to rely on us." He smiled. "i'm a reliable guy!"

She smiled and sighed. "That you are. I do need your help. I'll show you what I'm up to in the office."

They headed off together toward the building.

"AS USUAL, MY BROTHER'S JOKES ARE TERRIBLE."

"Tibia-honest, I find them quite humerus."

He swatted me up the backside of the head.

xxx

Author's Note:

I do my best to not go too far into describing what a character looks like since everyone has their particular opinion or headcanon. For example, the eternal argument over how tall or short any particular Sans might actually be. While it was unintentional in the original draft, I have left in my personal opinion of Sans' height. Did you catch it?