The elevator stopped once it reached the top, and opened up. The tense atmosphere disappeared immediately and was replaced by the sweltering heat that seemed to only be worse up here. You dared not look over the edge as Frisk pulls you along down the pathway. Your unease begins to turn to curiosity as you walk beside them.

"Wow, I would never have guessed this whole place is really a cave underground," you say out loud, looking up at the ceiling. The light coming from the lava illuminates the cave all the way to the ceiling where you can see tiny crystals stuck like in the darker area. You smile And look at Frisk, "Right? Like. This place is huge!"

Frisk wasn't paying any attention to you as they led the way. The light around you changed as you began to walk through a much narrower hall in the cave. It was darker for a moment, then lit up like a city street at night. The building ahead of you looked like a tall apartment building, "MTT" hanging above the door with a couple happy looking robots. There wasn't enough time to really take in the view before Frisk pulled you inside and straight back behind a broken fountain. A few monsters were watching you both as you walked by, peeking around corners, trying to keep hidden.

I don't like this, man, you could feel Roxas' apprehension as it slowly became your own.

You shake your head, now's not the time to be worrying. You push him back, trying to ignore what he was telling you. We came here to help, you tell him. After a moment, he goes silent.

Frisk seemed to be in a big hurry as they led you through a very industrial looking area. They took you straight through an elevator when you remember what Alphys had said. This must be the Core, whatever that meant. It was just as deserted as the rest of the underground, not even a sound.

Once you reached the top, they pulled you through a large doorway into a dark room. It was just as quiet, but the silence was somehow unsettling. You slowed your pace a little, Frisk finally letting your hand go as they turned and faced you with a confused look.

"Oh, sorry, I just... don't have a lot of good experiences with darkness." You rub your head, trying the awkward moment off.

Frisk stared at you for a moment, waiting.

You blink, "What?"

They just turn and start walking again, glancing back at you every few steps.

"Well, golly! You sure are disappointing everyone, aren't'cha?"

The familiar voice makes you turn quickly, "Flowey? What are you doing here?"

Flowey just rolled his eyes, "Is that really your concern right now?" He paused, as if waiting for you to answer. You couldn't think of any sort of answer, so Flowey just groans, "Geez, kid! You're worse than Frisk! No wonder everyone else is starting to hate you."

"Hate me? What have I done?"

"You don't remember?" Flowey gives a sly, and menacing smile, "You're new to this reset thing, so I'll fill you in on something. Frisk can reset this timeline anytime they want, for any reason. Each timeline is a little bit different, like, for example, there are some where everyone is friends... and there are some where you go and kill everyone with Frisk."

You felt your skin go cold, as if your heart stopped and all the blood turned to ice, "What? I would never-!"

"Oh but you would," Flowey moves a bit closer to you, "And you have."

You put your hand to your head and turn to the side. The visions made sense to you now. They weren't visions of the future, but of possible futures made from past decisions. Was that why Frisk brought you here now? You remembered what Undyne had said about Papyrus, how Sans had been acting, and how strange Alphys seemed. This timeline was painted red, but you couldn't remember ever attacking anyone.

But you were never with Frisk.

"But, something has changed," Flowey went on, "you haven't hurt anyone. In fact, you keep going back and undoing Frisk's handy work. I wonder how they feel about that?"

You looked towards the doorway, but Frisk was already gone. You have never really had the chance to talk to Frisk, so it was hard for you to say how they might feel. Not that they seemed be able to talk anyway.

"What will you do now, Sora? The way things are going... you realize this will be a terrible battle?"

"I can take them."

Flowey looks surprised, as if he wasn't expecting you to answer, let alone answer like that "Excuse me?"

You look at Flowey and smile, "They're just a kid, right? How strong could they really be?" As you shrug and turn to walk out, you feel a bit more confident. Yeah, they are just a kid, and a normal human kid couldn't have that much power, right? If anything, maybe you would be amore to reason with them, find out what's really in their heart.

As you walk oit into the hall, your look at your keyblade and smiled. One way or another, this will end.

At end of the long hall was another elevator that seemed to only have one button. As you stand in the elevator, just listening to the hum as it carried you higher and higher, you feel your stomach growl. With a groan, you or your hand over your belly, hoping to make the feeling go away. It was starting to feel like it had been an eternity since you had anything to eat. You just imagine all the food you've seen but never could actually eat. The pie from Toriel, the burger and fries with Sans, the spaghetti from Papyrus, frozen or not, even that goo from Alphys' lab would probably make you feel better.

As your mind gets lost in the sea of food you never got to eat, the elevator stops. It opens up to another hall, but this one is much brighter. Even though everything seemed more monotonous here, it felt more welcoming here. As you walk along the wall, you see the other side open up to reveal a great city that stretched all the way to the opposite end of the cavern. It looked bigger than any city you'd ever been to.

"Whoa! That must be where all the monsters live," you said aloud to yourself, "It actually looks pretty nice down there."

You felt a tug at your wrist again as your keyblade stared to pull you down the hall again. You follow it, starting to run to keep up with it. As it pulls you down into another room, the atmosphere changes. You no longer feel welcomed, there's no longer a warm light coming in from the windows.

There was a sudden sensation of deja vu as you glanced around. Then, a whooshing sound flies past you and makes you jump behind a pillar.

"what the-?!" You looked at the far wall to see a large bone sticking out of the stone. You try to pull it out, but it stings you, making you recoil instantly.

"Well, look who's decided to join us at last?"

The voice you hear is not familiar. As you look up and step out from the pillar, you see two figures in the distance. As you step closer, you recognize them as Frisk and Sans, the latter of which looks none too pleased.

"What's going on here?" You ask as you stand facing them, looking at Frisk.

"This is the end of the game," Frisk says with a devilish smirk, "And I'm so glad you could join us for it."

As you watch the words come from their mouth, the knife dangling from their hand carelessly, you catch glimpse of Sans holding his towards them. In an instant, they are surrounded by bones that grab and impale them at every angle. You tried to look away, but your eyes were locked, horrified, disbelieving.

And then, they disappeared.

Sora! Did you see-?

"Y-Yeah, I think I know what you mean." Suddenly, Sans appeared directly in front of you, making you jump back, "Sans!"

"Heya kid." His tone was fairly terse. He stood a foot away from you, one hand in his pocket, the other at his side, as if ready to attack.

You hold your hand up in front you and give a nervous laugh, "Guess I kinda caught you at a bad time?"

"That's real funny kid," you watched as his eye started to glow and his hand began to raise at his side. At the same time, you felt your chest tighten as your feet began to lift off the ground, "May be hard to believe, but I'm not exactly in a joking mood right now."

"W-Wait! S-Sans, I-!" As he raised you higher in the air, you could feel your panic rising. You failed your feet, uselessly hoping it would help you get back to the ground.

"How's the weather up there?" Sans asked "feeling the heat yet? "

"Sans wait, listen!"

"Oh? You want me to listen? Mighty high order if you ask me."

"I know how to help now!" You plead with him, "I know how save you all!"

Sans paused, considering his options for a moment, "You've said that before. How do I know you're talking the truth this time?"

You shake your head and look down at him, "I know now what I didn't before! Just hear me out!"

Sans waits a moment again, watching you as you continue to flail about. Finally, he shrugs, "You get one chance, kid," he says as he sets you back down on the ground and shoves his hand back in his pocket.

You take a deep breath and sigh, relief washing over you, "Thanks, Sans."

"You can thank me later. I'll listen to you, on one condition."

"Condition?" You feel the apprehension building again.

"We talk later. Somewhere private," Sans steps forward and hands you a folded piece of paper, "When you wake up, leave the Ruins and find me. Don't let anyone see you and don't talk to Toriel."

You look at the paper and tilt your head, "Okay, but what's this?"

Sans winks at you, "The password. You tell that to me and I'll believe what you say. This way I know you spoke to me."

"Okay, that's confusing."

"See you on the other side, Sora."

Before you could ask anything else, or even react, everything went dark. Sans was gone in an instant and you watched as your SOUL broke down the middle. Through the darkness there was a voice calling out your name.

Come on, Sora! I thought you were better than that!

There was a warmth on your face from the sun, though there was a lack of breeze. The air was stagnant and musty. The ground beneath was cold and hard, though there was a light scent in the air. Beneath that-

You quickly open your eyes and sit up straight with a had died, you could remember it so clearly. The dark hall, light shining through stained glass, Sans' smile as he stood in front of you, the bones. And yet here you were, back at the start.

"oh man... will this ever end?" You put your hand on your head and sigh. As you stood and brushed yourself off, you remembered what you have to do. With a smile you clench your fist and nod, "Right! Let's do this!" You run ahead through the dark cavern and into the Ruins.

As you make your way into the first bright area, you see a flash in the leaves. You slow down to a walk to try and get a better look, but it vanishes the closer you get. You fold your arms, "That's weird."

"Please slow down, my child. I'm not as young as I used to be."

You tense as you hear Toriel approaching the door above you. You recall the last time that Frisk had come with Toriel to find you. In a panic, you dove head first into the pile of leaves, hoping they completely covered you.

For a moment, it was quiet. As the leaves settled with your shallow breathing, you heard the doors open and footsteps walk down the stairs. As they got closer to you, you held your breath. Just inches from your head were feet crinkling in the leaves. They stood there for just a moment, before running off to join the other pair as they left the room.

It felt like an eternity before your lungs began to burn with the breath yoy still held. With a gasp, you jumped up from the leaves and looked around. The room was empty as it had been. If you hadn't heard them yourself, you might not have thought anyone had come through.

"No time to waste!" You quickly hopped up the stairs, two at a time, and made your way through the Ruins as quickly as you could. You didn't stop to rest until you stood outside of Toriel's house, out of breath. As you took a deep breath, you smiled and hurried down to the basement and to the door leading out into the snow.

To your surprise, you see that the door is slightly ajar. Of all the times you'd come here, you've never seen it open before you came to it. You shake your head and push the door open.

"Wow, you sure are early," Flower is in the center of the dark room, waiting, "In a hurry or something?"

You just nod and walk right past him, "Yup! No time to talk!"

As you leave the Ruins and walk out into the cold, you hear Flowey scoff and say, "Someone sure is determined."

The cold air hardly had enough time to chill your skin as you ran through the snow and across the bridge. Everything seemed to fly by a lot faster than you would have thought, even as you stand in the clearing. You feel as if you pressed fast forward, only now pausing to look around. Sans' station was in the corner as usual, but Sans himself was nowhere around. You turned around a few time, rubbing your head.

"Come on, Sans. Dont tell me to meet you and then not show up," you give a frustrated sigh.

Behind you, then, was a loud yawn, "Who'ssat?" As you turn back to the station, you see Sans stretching his arms as he stood behind it. He looks at you as he scratches his head and walks closer, "Heya, kid. I'm Sans, Sans the Skeleton. Just who might you be?"

You pause a second and remember what Sans in the last timeline had told you, the note he had given you. You grin and stand firmly.

"I am the legendary fartmaster."