Inside the Underground Game:

He was still there. Toriel wasn't. Huh? "T-Toriel?" He moved around lightly. "Toriel? Caretaker of the ruins? Hello? H-Hello?!" Frisk felt around him. Looked around him.

Nothing. He didn't see anything. He didn't feel anything.

"Ooh, isn't that interesting."

Flowey? Frisk looked behind him. He started to run, but the ground was too sludgy and he stumbled. Flowey just chuckled at him as he started to scoot backwards in a crawl. He felt his soul come out toward the encounter again though.

"You can't escape this time," Flowey's face contorted into something vicious looking. Jagged mouth. And his laugh was weird, echoey and half-sounded like a scream.

"What do I do? What do I do?" He felt Flowey hit him again. Frisk yelled! He tried to run away. Dodge. Anything he could, but Flowey was about to do the same thing again. "Nothing is like what dad said, nothing is like what dad said!" Frisk covered his head. Please let me come back. Please let me come back. I don't want to die.

"Ha! Take-Ow!"

Frisk looked ahead of him where Flowey seemed to disappear from. The battle instantly went over like when Toriel interrupted. "T-Toriel?"

"Nah, Kid."

Sans? Frisk looked over at the corner. In the darkness, he managed to make out a familiar shape. He watched as blue flames seemed to rise in Sans hand.

"Flashlight?" Sans joked.

"What did I do wrong?" Frisk asked him.

"Nothing, Kid." Sans strolled over to him. "You should have started with Papyrus is all. Believe it or not, whoever was in charge of that big old 3d game is using magic. Otherwise, I couldn't be dragged back in here with you."

"Oh. Weird." Frisk stood up and dusted himself off. "Where'd Toriel go?"

"Welp? That goes back to that whole 'should have started with Papyrus' thing I said earlier." Sans moved closer. "You needed to work your way up the chain. See, when ya move from one place to another."

Frisk looked around. He was next to a fire.

"You need to have enough magic to move everybody," Sans finished. "And Kid? Your dad made you try to scoop Toriel on your first turn. You know how powerful the queen can be?"

Frisk scratched his head. "So, I have to get someone weaker."

"Uh. No." Sans tapped his slippers lightly. "It's a one time deal per monster. The magic took Tori. She is now in your world, but you aren't getting back. You already took the goggles off and you didn't return. Right?"

Frisk felt all around himself again. "Well? Then? How do I-?"

"You don't," Sans said outright. "I warned your dad there were risks messing with magic someone doesn't understand."

Frisk looked around again. "But. But."

"I'm sure that little group is gonna try something at some point," Sans said. He trotted along through the house and down the stairs. "For now, this is home, Kid."

"Uh?!" Frisk stopped. "But, I can't stay here! I don't belong here! And, and they're killing humans for souls!" What was he supposed to do? "Do I stay here?" Then what would he eat? How much food was there?

Sans looked back toward him. Gut feeling knew this would be bad. Just like before, everyone would be after that kid. Only this time, he wasn't an invincible kid that could do anything. He was just a regular little human.

Funny. He really did look exactly like the sprite he met so many times before, but his eyes were open and his emotions were readable. Real readable. They were screaming the same thing Sans' did when he first fell.

His dad was bound to try something. Probably to bring the little girl Frisk in. In the meantime, the boy just needed to lay low. No one knew about him yet. Except that idea might not work. The human was already seriously trembling. Temperature shifts. Diseases. Viruses. Lack of food. Lack of certain nutrition. You didn't even need to fight a human to kill it.

A regular human would find it hard to survive. But a kid? A tiny little . . . others never got a chance. They didn't have somebody on the other side that could retrieve them, their fate was sealed. It came down, definitely scared, for them. Well, scratch that. It came down because daddy clearly had someone breathing down his neck, enough to risk his son. Still. Just a kid.

"You're smart, Sans. Do you think I should stay here?" Frisk asked. "Will it be warm enough up there?"

"With a fire." But heat? He doubted there was a ton of food.

"Sans? Will my human soul, if I die, will it bring me back to the beginning again? Like dad said?" Frisk asked.

"Honestly?" Sans looked back at the stairs. "Maybe, but that's only if you die by monster. A soul returning after the body freezes to death, gets overheated to death, or starves to death is always a factor. Viruses. Health issues. Gotta have a healthy body to move a soul."

" . . . is that how the others died?"

He just had to ask. "I don't know," Sans said. "Knowing Asgore, probably." How else would they die for good and not come back?

"How long do I have to survive?" Frisk asked.

"Look, Kid. I don't have good answers," Sans said. "My answers are 'I don't know, probably and maybe' for just about everything, including on if you are going to die or not." He grabbed at his skull. Just another kid. He's just one more kid. That he'd had countless good days with. Just the sprite, just what he chose the sprite to do. He tried to back up. He should be thanking his lucky stars he didn't just take him to Undyne. I mean, he played his life like a game. As a game. Pacifist or not.

The kid curled up on the stairs. "Sorry, Sir. I'll do my best."

Sir? Sans stepped forward again and saw through his eyes. Ah. When he got scared of his dad, he'd call him Sir. Not respect. Fear or fright, hidden behind a respectful word. A way for his dad to walk away and let him deal with whatever he had to come to terms with.

Sans turned, wanting to do just that. Keep walking. Keep walking. It was human. It had no chance down there already. Keep going. Oxygen was weak, no one really needed much of it. That would probably kill it first. Keep walking. Weather was way too cold, it'd have to live on the other side, not Snowdin, and that wasn't an option. Don't turn back. You never turned back for another one. It survives on or off by its own self.

The hygiene might get it first. Lack of clean water for it's body, as well as the food. Get one of a million viruses or diseases. That's how all the others probably went. No different. No different. "I'll see if I can't round you up a burger, Kid." Couldn't! There was a major difference this time. This one wasn't stuck in an endless battle of death, he had family out there that would be trying to claw their way to a solution. And selfish motives or not, it was because of his family that Sans got the single chance to touch clean water.

Touch a clean house. Feel clean clothes. He couldn't help but think of that as he stuffed his hands in his coat. Played my life like a game. Not the kid's fault. He didn't know. He was never even the one of the two that played Genocide anyhow. Never hurt him. That's just chance.

One burger. He'll get it one burger. Not like tomorrow ever . . . wait. Humans kept time ticking down there, right? So, technically, tomorrow would come. Well? Fine, if it does, and I remember it, then one burger per day. More than fair. But this human also lost whatever magic the machine had given it to come down and fetch a monster too. So, maybe time wouldn't keep moving. And the kid would blend in somehow with the rest of the 'game'.

The kid would be the real sprite, come to life.

Frisk.


2018, Inside

It was like out of a nightmare, but Sans knew it would happen. Frisk was leaving, out into the cold wilderness. He barely left and he was already starting to shiver badly. He watched it move past the large stick he always cracked beforehand, and across the bridge. Okay. It'll be fine. He'll be fine. Just, relax. His fam might still come back. Never know.

When it came to the lamps, Frisk remembered his option when he saw Papyrus coming. Missed him completely by being behind a lamp.

"Sans!" Papyrus didn't miss him though. "Are you patrolling your side well?"

"Doing fine. Doing good. Lots of snow, like always, it's all just always snow like always," Sans said.

Papyrus groaned. "I hope there wasn't a joke in there."

"Oh come on, Papyrus, you know I'm more transparent about that kind of thing," Sans joked as he watched a ghost cross across the bridge. "Snow what I mean?"

"Aah!" Papyrus yelled. "Too early, Sans!"

"Never too early for a good joke."

"Just keep your eye sockets open," Papyrus insisted as he finally walked away.

Sans watched as Frisk came out from behind the lamp.

"Your brother is gigantic," Frisk said as he strolled over to Sans. "Humans don't even get that tall." Frisk looked up toward Sans. "I should have known, look how tall you are. And Toriel, she was massive." He curled up in his sweater more before heading on his way.

"You know what time it is?" Sans warned Frisk.

"Yeah, puzzle time," Frisk said. "At least it'll help keep me warm."

It wasn't a joke. "You're going to die today, you know that?" Sans told him. "You'll find out whether you come back or not today."

Frisk nodded but continued on his way.

Sans did his usual, introducing Papyrus to Frisk. The eight year old accepted his fate. There was no way around it.


Sans watched the kid, once again, take it on. Shouldn't be here. It needs food. Frisk was just an average boy. Papyrus didn't notice anything wrong at all about the human coming and going back. It looked like the trip up top had made him a little more immune to the magic glaze over monsters had with the resets. Still? It was clear nothing had been wiped away from before.

"This human seems to be taking all day," Papyrus said. "Oh well. You've nowhere else to be except a knock-knock door I suppose."

Still remembered his knock-knock buddy. Sans just watched Frisk try to keep taking on Doggo. Things should have been different. His dang ol' dad. Did he even still care? It was hard to tell. Frisk still had a chance of getting out if Ben could figure something out. What they'd do, he didn't know. Old magic in video games wasn't exactly his bag. At least Tori's out there. Getting some sun now. Probably getting a shower. Sure enough, she needed and deserved some. They all deserved a shower and more.

Right now though, that was just a dream again. A pipe dream he didn't have much faith in. And as long as Frisk was there trying hard not to die? It'd be a constant reminder not of the kid's determination. But fate.

Fate. That they would always be forever Underground.


Frisk stared at the flowers. He was scrunched up against them again. Come get me. Please come get me. Please. Frisk wanted to stay in the Ruins, and wait for a few more days. It'd be safe. But, he lost his way. Queen Toriel had taken it. Not on purpose, but it didn't matter. What gave him the power to leave was gone. So how did he know for sure how many days he had? What if he was only lasting a few days, and then repeating? What if he kept trying for a couple months, and repeating? What if he was only getting a single day. Dad. Frisk E. Where are you? Please? He'd admit forever that his sister was the best at video games. Heck, after everything he went through, he wouldn't even want to ever touch another video game! He'd refuse, until his father just gave his mom full rights to him. No more. Video games. Ever again.


"Take one. Here, take one real quick." Sans tried to get the kid to take one. He was hurting. It was getting harder to get through it all. Grillby's was such an easy thing, he visited it all the time. "Here."

Frisk finally took the burger. He sat up and munched on it. He took another bite and swallowed it. "Which is worse, Sans? Being scared I would die, or constantly dying?" He took another bite before he spoke again, but tears were starting to gather up in his eyes. "It's a good burger."

"Yeah. Helps take pain away. Tries to." Sans patted the kids back. "Take it easy. We'll be out tomorrow. Keep the burger." He couldn't help it. He just . . . felt for him. He was hoping that the little bit of good, the tiny bit of good he had felt in Ben, figured out a way to save his son.

But he didn't have good feelings about that anymore now then he did yesterday.