Frisk had been curled up on the hard, concrete floor for quite a while. They were unable to sleep, the nervousness of what would happen to them forcing them awake. The guards outside of their cell had been completely and totally silent, offering Frisk no chance to escape, or any chance to hear useful information. For what they thought was the fifth time, they sighed, scooting up to the bars of their cell, staring out to try and look for any escape route, if they were let out. That was the key word, 'if'. They had failed note only Sans, who they couldn't stop worrying about, but Alphys. Frisk sighed, pressing their face against the cold metal and staring out. They would have hummed a tune, to pass the time, but the guards had shouted at them to shut up, no matter how quiet they were. The sound of something rolling across the ground made Frisk scoot back, and a now familiar voice that Frisk had come to hate suddenly rung out, with the pattering of careful steps following it. "O-Oh my!" Mettaton crooned, coming within sight, his screen flashing red and yellow. "Look m-my dear A-A-Alphys!" He said, leaning forward and pointing at Frisk even though he didn't need to. "It's a little a-adorable human! I just want to eat you up." He laughed, grabbing the poor scientist, Alphys by the shoulders and lifting her up.

"Y-Yes! Eat... Eat it up..." She responded, and Mettaton dropped her. She fell heavily to the ground, and some of the guards snickered. Alphys stood up, dusting off her brown jacket and her black pants, her tail twisting around her feet. Alphys looked like she wanted to say something to Frisk, who was staring at her pleadingly. After all, she was their only way out.

"Ooh, you'll be perfect for my next c-cooking show! As an... Assistant, of COURSE." Mettaton said, before making a gesture that was more like whipping non-existent hair out of his screen. "Ah, all of m-m-my fans! They'll love you." He insisted, before rolling away, chuckling to himself like he had just told the funniest joke ever. Alphys was scribbling something down on a piece of paper, before dropping it. Her tail quickly swept it through the bars of Frisk's cage, and before any of the guards could tell her she dropped something, she was running after Mettaton, full-sprint. The guards attempted to chase after her, and Frisk took their chances, reading what she had wrote.

Stay calm. Mettaton will try to make a show out of you, so keep him entertained and you'll live longer. You might even get rewarded. I'll get you out of here, trust me.

P.S. Destroy this

The note read. Frisk let out a sigh of relief, but soon, the guards returned. "Give that piece of paper back to us so we can give it to Doctor Alphys." One ordered Frisk. Frisk stood up, holding the piece of paper and gritting their teeth, narrowing their eyes at the burly guards. "Give it to me, you filthy brat!" He said again, beginning to fiddle with the lock on the cell. Frisk, thinking quickly, ripped it up into as many shreds as possible, and as extra measure, so they wouldn't be able to piece the thing back together... The guard let out a groan, letting go of the lock, and returning to his post. Frisk had decided to eat the note due to their quick thinking. If that was a good idea or not, they didn't know, and they honestly didn't care. They knew that the paper wasn't really a food, but it was the first thing they had had in a while. Their stomach had been empty ever since they had gotten sick in the Old Lab. It had a faint taste of instant noodles, if they thought about it.

They felt guilty for eating anything when Sans was nearly dead and awaiting help back in Hotlands, but they knew that he would probably understand. After all, they didn't want to die and let him down. All they could do was wait for now, and hope that Alphys would be able to save them.

"More modifications? B-But, I jus-" Alphys stammered, and Mettaton held up a hand to silence her.

"No 'But's', my dear A-A-Alphys! I demand that I be able to put on a show for our n-new little human friend!" Mettaton countered her, his wheel spinning as he went over to her work table, clearing off her notes and tools before laying himself down onto it. Alphys tried not to cuss him out, and instead grudgingly grabbed her newest blueprints for Mettaton.

"You want the new one, don't you?" Alphys said, an idea occurring to her as she turned, a deceptive smile on her face.

"Of course I do!" Mettaton answered simply.

"Let me grab the rest of my notes real quick. I-I'll be back." She said, opening her smaller workroom's door, and pulling out her phone. She dialed Sans' phone number, hoping he was alright. After the moment it took for Alphys to lock the workroom door, she heard a painfully familiar voice speak through.

"when i got a phone call, i thought it woulda been that kid. hello al." Sans said, his voice unnaturally thick and slow. He definitely wasn't alright.

"Sans, your friend. That human. Th-They got captured by M-Mettaton. You need to help!" Alphys said urgently, tripping over her words.

"well, i'd be glad to break out my skills i've learned from being an... nevermind. i'd be happy to, butt as they might've told you, i'm kinda out of commission for a while." Sans sighed over the line, and Alphys' hopes fell.

"... I... Just... J-just, try to make it here. I'll s-stall Mettaton as long as possible." Alphys said, wondering what Sans had been talking about, before hanging up. She nearly went to grab the Mettaton blueprints, until she remembered one last contact she had. She had been good friends with them the rare times she had seen him. She always treated him to food, water, and had even given him a phone specially made for his use. Alphys dialed his number, and just a quickly as Sans, he answered with his unique, cheerful greeting. Alphys quickly gave him a run-down on the situation, and just as she suspected, he promised he would get it done, just for her.

"Aaaaalphys!" Mettaton complained from her main workroom.

"Thank you for doing this for me. You have no idea how much this means to me." She said. "I need to go no, I-I'm really sorry!" She whispered into the phone. The person on the other line began to respond.

"See you later, big-" Was all he was able to get before Alphys snapped her phone shut, gathering up a few random blueprints and carrying them into her workroom. Alphys knew that she wouldn't be able to completely dismantle Mettaton without him noticing, but she had a more subtle solution. Mettaton was... Way too efficient for his own good, and Alphys had the perfect way of making him the opposite of that. Alphys took her tools, shutting down Mettaton to be able to operate on him more easily. Less efficient was easy.

Time to get started.

Frisk was pissed, to be honest. They had not only been mocked by Mettaton, but broadcasted to every monster that managed to snag a TV. By the time that they had returned to their cell, they were just some laughing stock used for Mettaton's show. He had cut it short however, claiming that he needed his 'beauty sleep'. But Frisk knew robots didn't need sleep. Frisk returned to their cell, with the guards snickering to themselves, watching them storm in. Frisk looked up, raising their eyebrow. What? Their cell had been... Luxuriously furnished with MTT Brand furniture. They blinked. It was still there. They touched it. Still there. Alphys had mentioned Mettaton might reward them for providing a good show, but Frisk wasn't expecting this. Frisk's nose wrinkled when they found, placed on one of the tables, a steak in the shape of Mettaton. A perfect rectangle. Frisk decided not to touch the thing, instead, sitting on top of the bed, nearly sinking in completely. Okay, this was just weird. Why would your enemy do this?

Frisk sighed, staring out of the cell. Not matter how fancy this was, that didn't mean that it wasn't a jail that they couldn't get in. Frisk completely trusted Alphys, but this was getting ridiculous. It had been a few days. Was Sans alright? Had he decided to come after them? Frisk groaned, pulling at their hair. This was painfully repetitive. But what could they do? They had to keep going with this, or die. They wouldn't be surprised if they were stuck here forever.

Frisk lay there, staring at the cold, gray ceiling.

Everything was way too quiet. It was... Awful.

BOOM!

Frisk sat up immediately. A huge explosion rang through the entire building, and the guards ran from Frisk's cell to assist the fight going on. More explosions followed, and something was running towards their cell as quickly as possible. A yellow monster who couldn't have been taller than them ran out of the dust that was settling around the entire facility. He had a scarf tied around his neck, with what looked to be a yellow and brown sweater. "Yo!" He panted, and that was when Frisk noticed that he had... No arms. "I'm gonna get you outta here, just like my big sis Al told me to! I'm Monster Kid!" Monster Kid greeted them, before dipping his head into the pouch made by his scarf and pulling out a key. He stuck it into the lock, twisting it using only his head. With a swift movement, he pulled it out and pushed his head against the door as Frisk jumped onto the ground, helping him push the heavy metal door in. Monster Kid dropped the key back into his pouch, his tail waving like an excited dog. His cheerful expression didn't even change when another explosion went off.

"What's going on?" Frisk asked Monster Kid, as he escorted them out into the hallway.

"Oh! Yo, that's right! My big sis, Alphys, she's the royal scientist. She's really cool! She called me and told me to come and break you out of this joint!" Monster Kid explained to Alphys as they walked.

"Then why are there explosions?"

"Short skeledude! Sans! He's making a diversion!" Monster Kid said. "He looked... Er. Not so good, to be honest. But! He's really fast! Almost as cool as Alphys. All of us need to get through into the Core. I know my way through here, I stole a map!" Monster Kid said to Frisk, leaning down to grab a map out of his pouch. "Sweet, huh?" Monster Kid mumbled through it, leading them down twists and turns, flipping it up in front of his face to read it, before dropping it back down. He slid to a stop, nearly crashing into Sans, who was laughing maniacally, shooting another blast at the rush of angry guards. Alphys stood behind him, plugging her ears.

"Monster Kid! You did it!" She gasped, glancing at him. "W-We need to get out of here, quick! Sans, come on!" Alphys said to Sans. Their backs were up against a metal door, and the rush of guards pounding their way was booming in their ears. Sans created a large shield out of bones, blocking the oncoming attacks. Frisk threw the door open, and Alphys and Monster Kid ran through. Sans backed up, his eye glowing bright yellow. Frisk held it open for Sans, and he backed through, getting rid of his shield, and Frisk slammed the door, running after him. Sans blocked the door as best as he could, before sliding to a stop. The cold, hard, metal pulse of the Core was unmistakable. Sans finished his blockade by piling as many bones as he could in front of the door, before following Alphys, Monster Kid, and Frisk farther into the Core.

"well, that went well, didn't it?" Sans laughed nervously.

"We were AWESOME!" Monster Kid said, his eyes lighting up. They still couldn't stop to rest, as it wouldn't take long to get through Sans' blockade.

"Yeah, you were p-pretty cool..." Alphys said, putting a hand on Monster Kid's head. Frisk sighed in relief.

"I'm just glad you're alright, Sans." Frisk mumbled.

"monster kiddo was a cool dude and gave me some healing items." Sans said. They descended into idle chatter, trying to relax. Eventually, however, they had to stop to rest, locking themselves into a small part of the Core that was oddly warm, despite them being on hard metal. Alphys gently brought up what Sans was going to say before they had fallen into the True Lab, however, and that was when the guards weren't their problems anymore.

"... Sans? You were going to tell me something, when we were back in my lab..." Alphys said, and Sans promptly stopped yawning, his eye snapping to glowing blue.

"... oh. that. it wasn't really important."

"B-But you said..." Alphys stammered, and Sans sighed, shrugging.

"... alright. it's not really something we should talk about in front of, you know, the kiddos. but alright, if you really want to know. You remember how I got re-assigned from being a Royal Scientist to being, you know... In the army." Sans sighed, pulling up his hood and his mask. "Erm... I'm not just a soldier."

"What kind of soldier ARE you then?" She asked him. "Just say everything!" Alphys insisted.

"An assassin. Killing humans is what I do, Al. Rakes in money, too. It's fun, if you try it." He said to Alphys, who immediately scowled the moment that he mentioned that it was 'fun'. "That's why I have more HP now. Training, and killing lots and lots of humans." He said. There was a bit of maliciousness in his voice, something Frisk only associated with him being angry or when he was fighting. "I've been experimenting, to be honest. Just my old scientists roots cutting in. I've been experimenting on the best ways to kill humans. See, you can blast them, you can..." Frisk glanced at Monster Kid. His jaw was hanging open in awe. He probably thought that Sans was the coolest thing that had ever existed, judging from his expression alone. "Oh! I took off one of their heads using their own axe one time! You should have been there to see it. I even made a joke after it, like a total badass." Sans boasted to Alphys, who looked less impressed, and more disgusted.

"... Sans? Please tell me this is a joke." She said, and Sans' eyes turned pitch black.

"Every word is true. If you learned how to fight, you would like it too. It's a good stress reliever." He said.

"... Wha- No. Sans. Sans, this is not you. Y-You're a really nice, f-funny skeleton. You wouldn't h-hurt anything. You like puns, your br-brother, science... Not fighting... N-Not slaughtering humans..." Alphys stammered, gritting her teeth. "What happened to my best friend?" She asked him, her tone dead serious. That was when Sans stood up, his eye glowing purple.

"Oh, let me guess, Alphys. We're not friends anymore because I need to do my job?" Sans said sarcastically, staring down at her. She got up as well.

"S-Sans, listen to yourself. Priding yourself in killing poor people?"

"The same 'poor' people that trapped us down here in the first place?! HUH?" Sans shouted. Frisk and Monster Kid were dead silent, with Monster Kid no longer wearing his goofy expression. "Oh, and I'm the bad guy for taking out the trash!"

"They have feelings too, Sans! We can... N-no. There's other ways to settle this with humans th-than just killing them..." Alphys persisted, and Sans snorted, staring her in the eyes.

"Tell that to Asgore for me, Alphys. Tell me how long you'll stay the Royal Scientist. Because I know where you were before you became a Royal Scientist. Do you really, really want to go down back to the dump with those two girls to pick out your little shows? To return to that shack you call a home?"

"They're not little shows, Sans!" She shouted, tears falling from her eyes. Apparently, Sans had struck hard... "They're anime... T-They're the... It... It makes me feel... L-like... I have... Friends..." Alphys whispered.

"You have friends, Doc. You just lost one, though." Sans growled.

"Good! B-Because... You... You are NOT MY FRIEND! You never were! You were the only person to talk to, and I... I-I just... I get too a-attached too e-easily! And... A-and... I never knew that you were... S-Such... Such an a-awful person!" Alphys started to sob, and shoved Sans out of the way of the door, opening it and running into the Core. Sans pulled his hood tighter around his face, his eyes pitch black. What he was feeling was unclear, but Frisk knew that they couldn't leave Alphys. She had helped them, so she might get caught by the guards... Frisk walked past Sans, with Monster Kid following them. Frisk was leaving one of their friends to get another, while one was by their side. But still, they never felt more alone in their life. They could never understand what it was like to be a monster, no matter how much they might want to be one. And no amount of wishing was going to change that.

...

There was a chance, though. There was always a chance, no matter how bad things got. And that little glimmer of hope, with their friends split apart, but still by their side...

It filled Frisk...

With...

Determination!

Even if it was a little less Determination than it had been before.