Flowey sat outside the lab, watching as Chara and Alphys left in the direction of Waterfall. He supposed they were going to try and find new furniture to make that laboratory livable for a human. The only thing he didn't understand was why.

"Alright Chara, what's your game…?" he asked himself. Chara wasn't one to give up on a plan after having committed so much time to it. Flowey knew this from experience. So why had they reset? That smiling trash bag was a tough fight, sure, but…

Further, Flowey could have sworn he overheard Chara telling the Royal Scientist about the reset. He didn't know where this heel-face turn came from… But it interested him. This was new. This was something that had never happened before. In that moment, watching Chara walk with Alphys, he made a decision. He wouldn't meddle at all. Everything he'd been planning up until now was irrelevant. This was so much more exciting.

Frisk and Alphys were en route to the best place where one could find furniture in the Underground: the dump!

Well, realistically speaking, there were probably more than a few furniture stores in the New Home, the Underground's capital, but Frisk and Alphys both agreed that it was probably best to avoid New Home for now, as much as Frisk wanted to see the city; she'd only seen it from afar before.

"The dump, you see, is where I find EVERYTHING I need," explained Alphys as they trudged through the wet caves of Waterfall.

Probably because she identifies so well with her surroundings, said the voice in Frisk's head. Which reminded Frisk, at some point Alphys should probably know about that, too. But not right now. Frisk knew better than to dump yet another massively confusing secret on the lizard.

On the way to the dump, Frisk noticed that, whenever they passed a monster like Shyren or Aaron, Alphys would avoid eye contact and keep moving. Huh. Odd, she thought. I should ask her about that soon.

Once they reached the residential area, Alphys' nose picked up something concerning. "What's burning?" she asked. She looked over and saw that smoke was billowing from Undyne's house. "You said that Undyne was staying with a friend in Snowdin, right?" she asked, worry apparent in her voice. Frisk nodded. "I suppose this is why."

Frisk put a finger on her chin and contemplated the situation. "You know, that fire started a couple of days ago," she said. "I feel like the house should be ash now."

Alphys just stared at the burning building. "Just as tough as its owner, I suppose." Sighing, she turned around to head for the dump, only to bump into the fish in question, who greeted her with a very large, toothy grin.

"Al!" she shouted. "Great to see you!" Undyne then grabbed Alphys in a headlock, which Frisk couldn't help but chuckle at.

Alphys' newfound confidence from the day before seemed to vanish immediately. "Ah-um, U-Undyne! G-gee, who knew you'd be here… At your house…" Frisk pinched her nose bridge.

Undyne didn't seem to notice how flustered Alphys was, likely because that's how she normally is. Nonetheless, she let go of the lizard. "Yup, just checking up on the ol' homestead." She looked over at her house. "Mhmm. Just as I thought. It's still on fire. Yup, she's a tough one! It'll be WEEKS before this fire dies down."

"Y-you haven't tried to put it out yet?" asked Alphys incredulously.

"And deprive it of a chance to fight the fire off itself? NONSENSE! My house doesn't need any help!" She whistled at her inanimate house. "You go get that fire! You can do it!" The house, of course, didn't respond. Undyne looked back at Alphys and noticed that Frisk was right behind her. "Kid! There you are! Haven't seen you since that time you burned my house down!"

Alphys' eyes widened. "Y-you did this?!"

"Sure did, she lights fires even faster than Papyrus!" Undyne responded, oblivious to Alphys' concern.

Frisk crossed her arms. "Oh, I can't take all the credit," she said as modestly as possible. "You did all of the heavy lifting."

Undyne waved a hand. "Oh, pfffft, it was your first time." She then looked back over at the house. "Besides, I was holding back anyway." She looked over at Alphys, who was just staring at the house. "Al? You alright?"

Alphys shook her head. "I have a headache."

Undyne seemed to remember something. "Oh! That reminds me! Papyrus' lazy brother wants to talk to you two." She shrugged. "He wouldn't say what for. Hey, Alphys, you never told me you knew Sans."

Alphys' eyes narrowed. "I do, unfortunately." Why was he still bothering them?

Undyne blinked at Alphys' sudden change in tone. "Uh, yeah, he's pretty annoying, alright." She crossed her arms. "But, uh, something tells me there's something else going on here."

Alphys shook her head. "It's not for you to worry about. Regardless, you can tell Sans not to wait up." She started walking towards the dump. "We have nothing to say to him." Frisk glanced between Undyne and Alphys, shrugged, then started towards the dump, her feet splashing in the ankle-deep water.

Undyne frowned, and followed as well. "Whoa, whoa, hang on, Al, is there something I don't know here?" she asked while following. "Well, I mean, a lot, obviously, but specifically about you and Sans?" She stopped in her tracks, coming to a realization. Her frown worsened and her brow furrowed. "Did he hurt you? Because if he did—"

"He didn't touch me," interrupted Alphys. "He tried to harm Frisk, though."

Undyne blinked. "Frisk? Who the hell is—?" She glanced at the human. "Oh, the kid." The realization set in again. "Wait, the kid?! Why the hell would Sans try and hurt the kid?!"

Alphys stopped and turned to face Undyne. She looked visibly angry, something Undyne had not seen before. It was so… cool. "I don't know, Undyne. He thought she was dangerous. Right! She's the dangerous one! God, he's such an... A-And to think we used to—" Alphys grabbed her forehead, another headache setting in. She took a couple of deep breaths and calmed herself down. "Anyway, it's not worth getting worked up over. The bottom line is I don't want to see Sans right now."

Undyne looked conflicted. Frisk just looked uncomfortable. They looked at each other, frowning. Undyne sighed. "Al, I don't know what history you've got with Sans. It doesn't matter, but…" she put a hand on Alphys' shoulder. "Look, Sans won't be bothering you anymore. I'm going to see to that personally. As for you, Frisk, I'm going to want to know WHY he wanted to hurt you in the first place."

Alphys' eyes widened. "You can't possibly be suggesting—"

Undyne shook her head. "Alphys, Sans is lazy, he's inconsiderate, he's not funny, and he's just all around a bad patrolman." She looked back over at Frisk. "But he's not an idiot, and he's not a bad person." Frisk nodded. "I'm not saying Frisk did anything to deserve being attacked like that. What I am saying is that Sans must have had a good reason for doing what he did, even if it seems totally out of nowhere to the rest of us." She crossed her arms and looked off at a nearby trash bag. "At least, he BETTER have a good reason." She shot a toothy grin at Alphys. "Or I'm gonna kick his butt until his dust turns into dust!"

"Heh. Good luck with that one," said Frisk, although it really didn't sound like Frisk. She turned her head and coughed. Alphys once again noticed a red glint in her eyes, before she blinked and her eyes returned to normal. "Uh, what I mean is, Sans is pretty good at dodging... responsibilities. He'll probably dodge a butt kicking just as well."

Undyne grinned and closed her eye. Or maybe she was winking? She ruffled Frisk's hair and laughed. "That he is, kid. That he is." She opened her eye and knelt down to Frisk's level. "So, why do you think Sans went and did that? I thought you two were friends." She gasped and stood up. "Did you two have a fight? That's AWESOME! Who's winning? I gotta teach you how to sling sh- mud in an argument."

Undyne was so busy getting excited that she didn't notice that Frisk seized up. Alphys, however, did notice. "Frisk?" The child didn't respond. "Frisk, are you alright?" Undyne stopped fooling around long enough to notice that Frisk was clearly not well.

"Kid?"

Frisk leaned against a wall for balance and clutched her head. "Uh, sorry, it's just…" She squeezed her eyes shut as if trying to block something out. "A lot of bad memories."

Alphys' eyes widened. She looked over at Undyne. Undyne looked confused. "So, I guess you and Sans really are on bad terms after all," Undyne said.

Frisk let out a dry laugh. "You don't know the half of it." She glanced over at Alphys. "I'll be fine. I think I've calmed down."

Undyne grinned. "Great! Now, what brings you two to Waterfall?"

Alphys was still looking at Frisk, one eyebrow raised. "We're getting furniture," she responded slowly. She looked over at Undyne. "Frisk here is going to be staying with me for a while."

Undyne perked up. "Huh? Staying with you?" she asked. "I thought the kid was on her way to the barrier?"

Alphys pushed in her glasses. "Yes, well, there's been a change of plans." She leaned on a pile of trash. "Undyne, do you know what it takes to cross the barrier?"

Undyne nodded. "A human soul."

Alphys shook her head. "It takes a little bit more than that. If Frisk goes into that throne room, she's leaving either in a casket or with the king's dust on her hands." Alphys pulled a poster out from the trash pile and examined it. "Neither option is very appealing. Say, Frisk, do you know who Larson Larson is?"

Frisk, who had been sifting through her own pile of trash, turned around and looked up at Alphys. "He's running for president up on the surface, I think." She went back to looking through the pile. "I dunno what his platform is, but his name sure is stupid."

Alphys looked back at the poster. "Huh. 'Better than nothing.' That's not a very good slogan." Suddenly, the trash heap behind her started to wobble. She turned around, only to be buried in a landslide of trash. She poked her head out above the mountain and spat some old food out.

Undyne walked over and started pulling things out of the trash. "Man, humans sure are wasteful. Look at all of these perfectly good DVDs!"

Alphys freed her arm from the trash and grabbed one of the DVD cases. "Oh, they were right to throw this one away." She tossed it over her shoulder and got to digging the rest of her body out of the pile.

Frisk gasped. "Oh! Undyne! Help me pull this out!" Undyne dropped the DVD cases she'd been holding and went to help Frisk dig out salvageable furniture.

A few hours passed, and the three were exhausted, but they'd managed to pull out enough stuff to make Alphys' lab liveable for… Well, anyone who wasn't Alphys. They'd found several new (to them) sets of clothing, surprisingly undamaged and only in need of a wash, as well as a new bedframe (something which would be a temporary arrangement, as Alphys intended to surprise Frisk with an easy-to-describe folding bed of her own), a new dresser, and one of the video game consoles Alphys didn't already have.

When they were faced with the issue of getting all of this stuff back to the lab, Undyne suggested they load it all onto a raft and have the River Person tow it back to Hotland. This, of course, left them a bit of free time, as they were told it would take about an hour to get everything to Hotland.

Undyne cracked her knuckles. "Man, I'm starving. Who's up for Grillby's?"

Alphys, though tired, could definitely go for some food. Suddenly, she thought better of it and shook her head. "Sans lives in Snowdin, right? Maybe we shouldn't—"

Undyne waved a hand. "If Sans tries anything, he'll have to answer to me." She crossed her arms. "I still can't believe he'd try and hurt the kid. It makes my blood boil."

Alphys coughed. "Uh, d-didn't you try and kill Frisk?"

Undyne scoffed. "That was, like, different, or something! I didn't know the kid was such a weenie!" Frisk giggled. "When you're the captain of the Royal Guard, you gotta make split-second decisions! You don't have time to think about whether or not the child you're about to impale on a spear is innocent!"

Alphys rolled her eyes and smirked. "I bet you didn't even read her rights to her." As Alphys joked, Frisk noticed how much more confident she'd become… Because of her? No, that couldn't be right. Frisk knew deep down that most people were usually worse off for having known her. Yet she couldn't deny just how much less unstable Alphys seemed since yesterday. Perhaps having somebody depend on her had an effect on her. Perhaps Alphys viewed Frisk as the thing that could potentially turn her life around.

Or perhaps Frisk was just over-thinking this, the voice said. Frisk rolled her eyes and just kept ignoring it. Listen, pal, I'm just the realist here, it continued. Look, you're a little upset with me right now, I get it. I can admit when I'm wrong. Maybe that whole last reset was going a little overboard, but in all fairness, I was like 95% sure I was going to get something really cool out of it.

Frisk's inner dialogue was interrupted when she noticed Alphys staring at her expectantly. "Frisk, is that alright with you?"

Flustered, Frisk asked, "Um, what? I zoned out."

Undyne chimed in. "We're gonna head back to the lab and watch anime."

Frisk smiled and nodded. "Yeah, that sounds great!" With that, they all started towards Hotland.

The voice wouldn't shut up. Listen, I don't want you to think I'm some deranged killer or something. I don't do something unless there's a definite reward, and I was sure I was going to get a reward back there. I was going to reset afterwards anyway.

Frisk raised an eyebrow. You mean I was going to reset?

The voice didn't answer for a moment. Finally, they responded with You know that reward I was talking about?

Frisk shook her head. We'll talk about this later. You're, at the very least, psychologically unstable.

Well you're the one who's talking to herself, so who's the crazy one here?

Outside of Frisk's mind, Undyne received a phone call. She checked the ID before deciding it was important. "Hang on, guys, I gotta take this," she said before walking towards a branching hall. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." With that, she answered the call as she split ways with her friends. "What's up?"

When they were alone, Alphys stopped walking. "Frisk, we need to talk about something." Frisk turned around to look at her. "S-so… I-I know I said I'd drop this, but… Th-that thing with Sans got me thinking." She scratched the back of her neck trying to find the right way to ask the next question. "So, um… What I'm trying to say is…" Her eyes darted around the room. "Have you fought Sans before? In another timeline?" Frisk simply nodded, not making eye contact with Alphys, who crossed her arms. "So that's why that thought freaked you out." Alphys wondered whether or not to ask Frisk about the outbursts where she seemed like another person entirely, but figured that was information Frisk would feel more comfortable talking about with time. "As I've said, I used to work alongside Sans as an assistant to the last Royal Scientist. He has some… Unusual abilities, to say the least. So I can understand why you'd be a little freaked out." She put her claws on Frisk's shoulder. "But don't worry about it. You haven't done anything wrong in this timeline. If Sans tries anything, he's in the wrong, not you."

"I don't want to avoid Sans," Frisk said. "He was… Is a good friend. He's scared, too."

Alphys sighed. "I know, Frisk. I'm just scared for your safety. What if—?"

"What if?" Frisk repeated the question. "I'm going to be down here a while. I need to not have any enemies. So, tomorrow, we're going to get Sans to come down to the lab, and we're going to talk this whole thing out." It wasn't a request.

Alphys hesitated, but responded finally with "Okay, fine. B-but you need to have a save point ready in case something goes wrong!"

"It won't."

In the other room, Undyne was having her own conversation. "What's up?" she asked as she picked up the phone.

"Heya," a familiar voice said.

Undyne scoffed. "Sans. You'll be pleased to know that your concerns are completely unfounded and are based on no logic or reason whatsoever. I just checked most of Waterfall. No dust, no dead monsters… Well, except for Napstablook. No… Nothing." She glared at her phone. "The kid's not dangerous, Sans, and I think you knew that."

"Juuuust makin' sure," he said.

"What's more, I just found out that you attacked her back in Hotland?" Undyne said in an accusatory tone.

"I didn't. I just wanted to have a little chat with her." He yawned. "Al overreacted."

Undyne shouted into her phone. "Hold your tongue! Alphys doesn't overreact. She's real pissed, Sans, and I don't blame her."

"Besides, even if I had…" He suddenly sounded much more serious. "Isn't that my job?" Undyne groaned. He was doing the creepy no-pupil thing on the other end, she could tell. "Isn't it YOUR job?"

"My job, Sans," she began, "is to protect the inhabitants of the Underground from any and all threats." She leaned against a wall. "The human, as of right now, is an inhabitant of the Underground, and you, my friend, are any and all threats." She clenched her fist threateningly as if Sans could see it. "So I suggest you deal with whatever crazy paranoia spell you've suddenly come down with, or I'll deal with it for you."

"Hey, relax, guy," he said, suddenly far more relaxed as well. "I'm just investigating some things that aroused my suspicion."

"And one more thing," continued Undyne. "Don't tell me how to do my job."

"So, tell me," Sans said. "What makes this human different from the two you killed?" With that, Undyne hung up and threw her phone at the wall, shouting in rage. After spending the next four minutes calming down, she picked the phone back up and looked at the screen. It was already shattered before she threw it, so she didn't really know if she broke it more. Sighing, she made one more phone call. "Papyrus. Don't wait up for me. I won't be in Snowdin tonight. I've got other business to take care of."

With that, she hung up and started towards Hotland. She was going to watch movies with her friends, and dammit, she was going to have fun.