DtSE II: Ambassador Distracted

Dr. Alphys, one of the most brilliant minds of monsterkind, wasn't sure what to expect when Frisk came over to her house and asked to speak with her one-on-one. Maybe it had something to do with the other souls, or the amalgamates, or the video tapes in the lab that she had yet to give back to Asgore. She was NOT expecting the child to ask about… Gaster. But here they were.

Alphys sighed. "So… y-you wanna know about W.D. Gaster."

"I do," Frisk said. "If you tell me about him, I'll tell you why I need to know."

"I g-guess I can tell you…," Alphys said, "W.D. Gaster was the royal scientist before me. He was scientist when the royal children were killed. His first invention was the CORE that powered the underground, and that's how he became Royal Scientist – I know, a… killer robot… that's actually f-fake is nothing compared to that… I'll continue. Um… so Gaster, like every royal scientist, had the task of figuring out how to destroy the barrier – that's what the CORE was for, to generate energy to destroy it – but he also invented many other useful things. He created w-weapons, for when Asgore… waged war… on humanity. He also created… a m-machine… that he said would help find souls to break the barrier by searching across reality. He tested the machine on himself… but it failed. He wasn't killed… he was erased from existence entirely."

Alpha started to have a horrified look in her face, but she continued. "Very few people remember he even existed. But somehow… I remember him again. I mentioned this to Asgore, and he remembered him too. I think something is reversing the e-effect. B-but that's all I can tell you, I don't know… I would suggest talking to Sans… he knows more about Gaster's experiments since… well…"

At this point, Alphys was starting to break down. "Alphys," Frisk said. "It's OK. Do you want to know why I need to know this?"

"W-why?"

"I've been told I need to… recover… Gaster. Bring him back into reality, and he can help me save them. Chara, Asriel, the other six human souls… Do you think it's possible?"

"Like I said, I d-don't really know about the last machine he made. But if the goal was to find souls, then… maybe you can give them… maybe you can bring them b-back. But… be careful. Resurrection is dangerous magic and dangerous science, and it can easily fail. I tried to… well, you k-know what happened."

"I understand. Thank you so much for helping me. I gotta go see Sans now."

"You're welcome… Oh, and please…?" Alphys asked. "When you talk to Sans… make sure to be respectful. Don't push him to talk about what he doesn't want to."

"...I will." Frisk said, wordlessly going back up the elevator. While they climbed, they remembered something completely unrelated – the Nice Cream Guy was going to be attacked by humans. Frisk decided to text him a warning, saying they saw online that people are going to try to hunt him out, and that he should leave. Frisk went to Sans's house, and Papyrus welcomed him the same as last time, and Sans still made the same joke about cheese.

"Hey, Sans?" Frisk asked suddenly. "I really need to talk to you, it's serious."

"is this about what happens later today?" Sans asked. "'cause i'm not mad about that. or… i won't be…"

"That was nothing, it was my fault, I forgot to heal, got attacked by a human… back to square one."

"yeah, figured as much. i had a feeling of deja vu this morning and figured you… well, you know. papyrus, undyne wants you over for training."

"YAY! MAYBE THIS TIME SHE'LL LET ME JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD!" Papyrus said, leaving in a hurry. Frisk decided not to ruin their dreams a second time – he'd find out sooner or later that the Royal Guard was done for.

"alright frisk," Sans said. "whatcha' wanna talk about."

"Alphys told me you might know something about W.D. Gaster."

Sans's face changed to a serious expression. "Listen, kiddo. If you want me to tell that story, there's some stuff you gotta tell me, first."

"Anything you want," Frisk said.

"Great. Tell me about your control over the timeline." Sans said. "Give me all the details. I already have an idea, but… I need a bit more information. Start from the very beginning."

"Okay, here we go," Frisk said, sighing. "Long ago, two races ruled over earth – humans"

"I don't mean that far back," Sans interrupted.

"Ugh, fine. Well, it all started when I first fell into the underground. Flowey tried to kill me, I met Toriel, and then I saw what I later found out was a SAVE point. I was filled with determination. As I went through the ruins, I fled from every monster I saw. Apparently, I saved after seeing a mouse try to get some cheese? This was before I faced Napstablook. I couldn't run from them because they blocked my path, and I couldn't get them to stop crying. And the tears hurt – I think they were acid – and… I didn't survive that fight. But I woke up back at the table with the cheese – my last SAVE point."

"Okay," Sans said. "So your power is that… if you die, you go back to your last save? Because I already knew that. But this confirms it…"

"Yup," Frisk said. "Now you really know how I got past all those difficult bosses. Truth is, I'm not a great fighter, and I'm not good at dodging attacks, but I can keep trying, and learn exactly what will happen. That's how I got past difficult battles: Undyne, Muffet," Frisk started, counting on their fingers. "Uh.. the Mad Dummy, Asgore, the Amalgamates, Mettaton, even weaker bosses like the Greater Dog, Toriel, the Royal Guards 01 and 02, and there's still more. Even Alphys, technically, since she was responsible for those lasers. Not Papyrus, though… although he did try to capture me and send me to people who wanted my soul… actually, you're the only one who didn't try to harm me!"

Sans started to chuckle. "Well, I'm too lazy to hurt anyone, anyway. You died to the greater dog? You really are bad. Who got you the most times?

"Yeah, no need to make fun of me." Frisk said, remembering the fight against the armored pup that was so excited he smothered Frisk to death. "There's a reason he's in the Guard, he's tougher than he looks… and between our main battle and the times she chased me, Undyne was the hardest battle for me. I think it was a total of twenty-one times that she made me load my save."

"Dang, that's rough. So what happened that made you go back today?"

"Well, I was visiting the bad side of town, and some monster haters decided to attack the Nice Cream Guy. I went to protect him, they thought he was kidnapping me so I left the van, they realized it was me, chased me down, and some other guy hit me with a baseball bat. Also I was already low on HP because Undyne accidentally hit me with spears when I barged into her house without knocking."

"Huh." Sans said. "Well, that's interesting. But I can tell that's not everything."

"No." Frisk said. "When I reached the end of the RUINS, I arrived at mom's house. She made me some pie, and told me I'd be living there forever… but I wanted to leave, to go back to the surface. I asked her about this, and she told me she was going to destroy the exit to the ruins, that Asgore would kill me if I left. Then, she told me that if I really want to leave, I'd have to face her. So I did. My first attempt didn't go so well. She ignored me when I tried to talk to her, and didn't let me spare her either, and I ended up losing on my first attempt. On my second attempt, I decided I needed to fight her, just enough to weaken her and make her see that I was strong enough to leave the ruins, but… my last attack, it… dealt more than I expected. And.. well… she died. It was my fault. I saw her soul shatter and everything."

"So you killed Toriel?" Sans asked.

"It was an accident!" Frisk said defensively. "And I didn't accept it, I refused to. And I realized… if I could go back on accident, could do it intentionally too. So I… went back, and I spared Toriel the next time. I figured it out. I left the ruins, met you and Papyrus, and… well, you know how it went from there."

"Not completely. You mentioned having a difficult battle with Asgore. I remember Toriel stopped that fight before it began. Explain."

"Ugh, fine," Frisk said, getting really tired of explaining everything. They were here to gain information, not give info away. But they complied nonetheless. "My first run, I spared Mettaton, went through Asgore's castle, got judged by you, fought Asgore a few times – he destroyed my mercy button but ultimately let me spare him in the end. Then Flowey appeared, killed the weakened king, took the other souls, became a near-god, tortured me, the souls rebelled against him, and I alone was sent across the barrier.

Soooo… I went back again, accidentally dated Alphys, then helped her confess to Undyne. Alphys then unlocked the True Lab with all the amalgamates in it. Somehow, this caused Flowey to change his plans, and send me up to Asgore with no way out, before getting Papyrus to get everyone else to stop the fight. He absorbed the six souls and every monster's soul, which is equal to seven souls, and he became the God of Hyperdeath. I fought against him, saved six lost souls, and I was even able to temporarily save Flowey, who is actually the dead prince Asriel… but he returned to being a soulless flower after he released the souls he stole, but not before he shattered the barrier. And… that's actually everything." Frisk said, out of breath. "PLEASE don't ask me any more questions."

"This has been quite interesting, kid." Sans said. "I've been aware that… something's been happening to the timeline, I have a machine that can... chart the timelines. I was worried it was some… malicious force, an evil anomaly. But… I've never had a reason not to trust you. You've always followed the principle of 'do what's right, not what's easy'."

Frisk had to agree. They thought back to all the battles they fought, all the times their now-friends killed them. Frisk wondered what their friends would think if they knew what they did. Especially since they already had their own things to feel guilty about, Frisk thought. "For me they're the same thing," Frisk said.

"Honestly, I can't say I would've done the same. But… a deal is a deal. You told me your story, so I'll tell you about W. D Gaster. But you still haven't told me one more thing… Why do you need to know?"

"Oh my gosh, more questions? Okay… When I first fell into the underground, I always felt like I was being guided by a mysterious voice. It told me who I was fighting, It told me what items I found did… It helped me figure out how to spare Toriel, it helped me solve puzzles. And when I died, it gave me a memory of encouragement to keep going from its own life. Today, after I was killed but before I came back, I learned who that voice was – the first human to fall into the underground, Chara. She appeared to me, and told me I wasn't done saving everyone. She told me I needed to save her, Asriel, and the other six humans who fell. But in order to do that, I would need the help of Gaster."

"Heh. So, you want to save everyone. That's a noble goal, kid." Sans said. "I guess I'll tell you what I can if it'll help you. It's quite a long story, so I'll simplify it for you. Wingdings Gaster-"

"I'm sorry… his name was WINGDINGS?" Frisk said, laughing hard. "The great mysterious scientist… Wingdings!"

"Frisk…" Sans said.

"Hey, can I order some Wingdings? With a side of fries?" Frisk added.

"Okay, that was a good one." Sans admitted. "But this is serious. Gaster was the royal scientist before Alphys. He was quite eccentric, a bit reclusive, but he was also a genius. Like all royal scientists, his main task was to figure out another way to shatter the barrier. He created a geothermal plant that would generate enough energy to destroy the barrier – that plan failed, but it was still a huge help to all the monsters in the underground.

But then… the prince and princess were killed, and Asgore declared war on humanity. He tasked Gaster with creating weapons for the upcoming war, and he invented a powerful blaster that can be summoned by a monster's magic. But Gaster believed monsters would not be able to win the war, even with Asgore absorbing the Souls. So… he decided to create stronger monsters. His first attempts were successful – in fact you can find those same monsters and their descendants in the CORE today."

"You mean, like… Astigmatism? Or Final Froggit?"
"Yep, those exactly." Sans said. "But his second attempt was far bolder – the CORE monsters weren't strong enough for him. He wanted to create a monster – in his own image – that would have all sorts of powerful abilities that would make said monster perfect to fight humans. It… sort of worked – the monster was powerful. But they lacked energy, strength, and stamina. Nonetheless, Gaster raised this monster as his own, and a few years later they created a second monster to – one with more strength and energy, but less special abilities. The two of them were specially designed to balance each other out. Both of them were essentially his children, until his disappearance…"

"So… he created actual monsters in a lab? And he was able to, like, design them how he wanted? Do these monsters– Gaster's children– still… exist?"

"Yup."

Frisk started to perk up. "They might be the missing link! They could help us find Gaster! Do you know what happened to them?

"Well, the younger one is off doing who-knows-what," Sans explained. "But I can help you find the older one."

"You know him?"
"Well, of course i know him. he's me."

Frisk heard what Sans said, and after their brain processed for a second, they realized what he meant. "Wait, you mean you're-"

Suddenly, the door burst open. "HU- FRISK! WE'VE BEEN LOOKING EVERYWHERE FOR YOU!"

"Oh, and there's the younger one… hey pap," sans said. "what's happening?"

"WELL, APPARENTLY SOME HUMANS TRIED TO ATTACK A MONSTER'S HOUSE! BUT THE MONSTER WAS NOT AT HIS DWELLING, SO IT'S ALL GOOD! OH, ALSO, THERE'S A PLANE HERE FOR YOU!"

"A… plane?" Frisk asked.

"Yes,' Toriel added. "Did you not hear Asgore tell you this morning?"

"I… kinda zoned out, I was still tired."

"Well, it doesn't matter now, punk! We gotta go!" Undyne said.

"YEAH! WE'RE GOING TO THE WHITE HOUSE TO MEET THE MAN IN CHARGE!"
"You mean… the PRESIDENT OF AMERICA?" Frisk said. "Since when were we going to…"

"JUST COME ALONG," Papyrus said. "THE AIRPLANE IS WAITING! YOU TOO, SANS!"
"alrighty." sans said. "we can save this for later."

The group – which also included Alphys and Asgore – quickly went to the airport by public bus. Ebott Cities airport was a relatively simple building – just a large hall with ticket counters and TSA checkpoints. Everyone walked into the airport and approached a ticket counter, when a security guard approached them.

"Excuse me, I'm gonna have to ask you to leave."

"Why is that?" Toriel asked.

"Monsters are not allowed in the airport. As per the–"

"I know, I know," Asgore said. "Monsters aren't allowed to leave Ebott City."

"Exactly. So what are you doing in an airport?" The guard asked.

"we're here to catch a flight out of here." sans said. "duh."

"I'm gonna have to ask you one more time to leave," The guard added. "Or you will be arrested for trespassing."

"I'd love to see you TRY!" Undyne said, threateningly. The guard started to reach for his holster.

"This is your final warning!" The guard said. "Leave. Now!"

"It's okay," A man said, walking over. He had blond hair, light skin, and was wearing a fancy suit. "They're with me."

"And who are you?" The guard said, turning to the man.

"You really should recognize me," The man said. "I'm the President of this nation. And technically – your boss." As he said this, he pulled his government passport out of his pocket, which confirmed his identity.

"President Xander!" The guard said. "So sorry, sir, I'll be out of your hair immediately!"

The guard scurried off.

"I don't think that's So Sorry," Frisk said..

"What do you mean?" Toriel asked.

"Oh, I went to this Art Club and… you know what, never mind."

"Anyways, we have much to discuss," President Xander said. "We must go to Air Force One immediately. All of you are here, correct?"

"This is everyone you asked for," Asgore said. "Except for…"

Suddenly, the airport lights turned off. Everything was pitch black. Then… a spotlight turned on, revealing Mettaton, in his EX form. Camera drones were following the robot star. Strobe lights turned on, while disco music started playing.

"...him." Asgore finished.

"Mettaton, turn the lights back on!" Frisk said, loudly. Mettaton complied.

"Sorry, darling!" Mettaton said. "But I simply had to make a divine entrance, you know I do."

"...I could have sworn Michael Jackson was dead," President Xander joked.

"Who's that," Frisk asked.

"that's clearly mettaton," sans said. "c'mon, let's board the plane."

"Wait, what about the Gaster stuff?" Frisk asked. "We were in the middle of something!"

"what's a 'gaster'?" sans replied. "i've never heard of such a thing." he winked, but something about the way he said that told Frisk to drop the subject. "Anyway, i gotta go get snacks, i'll meet you on the plane." Sans walked away.

The group, sans Sans, followed the President aboard Air Force One – an airplane with a lavish interior, including cushioned seats and a desk for the Commander-in-Chief himself. The 8 guests all got seated as the plane took off.

"So, what's… happening?" Frisk asked sheepishly.. "I kinda missed the memo."

"Not to worry," an older woman said. "Everything will be explained promptly."

"Yeah," an African-American man added. "You really don't need to worry, we got this."

"S-so, who exactly are y-you people?"

The President stepped forward. "I guess you monsters wouldn't recognize me. I am Eugene Xander, and I'm the President of the United States, which is the country you now live in. Right now, monsters are limited to stay within the confines of Ebott City, California."

"Yes," The black man said. "But we're gonna change that soon. I'm Steven Howe, Vice President."

"And I am Karen Moore," the woman added. "I'm the secretary of State. Eugene's wife, Erika, is also on this plane, but she is currently the pilot. Officially, Air Force One isn't to be utilized like this, so we're on our own. No Secret Service, no staff, no nothing."

"Well, that's reassuring," Undyne said.

"Say, you guys haven't introduced yourselves either," President Xander said, purely out of courtesy. "Well, except for Mettaton, with your dramatic entrance."

"Oh, yes. I am Toriel. I am Frisk's adoptive mother." Toriel added, gesturing towards her child.

"My name's Asgore Dreemurr. I'm the king of the monsters, Toriel's ex-husband, and Frisk's adoptive father."

"I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS!" Papyrus added.

"Uh… I'm Alphys," Alphys said, nervously as always. "I'm the royal scientist, actually."

"And I'm Undyne, former captain of the Royal Guard!"

"Former? Who's the current one," Xander asked.

"Nobody, the Royal Guard is done for," Undyne said matter-of-factly. "I think we're gonna merge with the local police."
"WHAT!" Papyrus said. "IT'S DONE FOR? HOW AM I GOING TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD IF IT'S DONE FOR!"

"King's orders," Undyne shrugged. "It's kinda like how Toriel fired the royal scientist. Except she can't actually do that since she's not queen anymore."

"Well, I'm so glad to meet you all in person!" the President said. "Especially you, Frisk. You've become a bit of a celebrity, you know! You discovered a lost civilization and became the and you're only… how old are you?"

"I'm basically ten," Frisk said. "Though my birthday isn't until next week."

"Next week, huh?" Xander asked. "That's very exciting! Are you excited to be the 'birthday boy'? Or… 'birthday girl'? Actually, wait… which is it? Wait, no sorry, that sounds rude."

"It's fine," Frisk said. "I really don't care what you call me, really – boy, girl, or anything else, it's all the same to me."

"Alright," President Xander said. "So what about school? Do you go to school?"

"Not yet," Frisk admitted. "I've… never gotten the chance. I'll probably go to school in the fall. My mom wants to become a teacher, actually."

"Interesting, interesting," Eugene said. "Well, I have an electronic meeting with the Prime Minister to go do, so we'll be leaving you all here. We'll arrive in DC in 3 hours."

"Thank you," Frisk said, as the president, vice president, and secretary all walked away.

"well, this is all very interesting," sans said, walking into the room.

"SANS, WHEN DID YOU GET HERE!" Papyrus asked.

"just now," sans said.

"WE'RE IN THE SKY!" Papyrus replied, aggravated.

"i took a shortcut," sans said, winking. "Anyway, i'm gonna watch a movie," he added, before sitting down in the chair the President was in and opening his laptop. Frisk sat down next to Papyrus.

"Hey Papyrus," Frisk asked. Frisk intended to ask Papyrus what he knew about Gaster since Sans was not being very helpful. "Since the royal guard shut down, what do you plan on doing?"

"HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW. TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD HAS BEEN MY GOAL SINCE I WAS JUST A BABY BONES!" Papyrus said. Bingo. That's exactly what Frisk expected him to say. A perfect segway. Hopefully, Sans didn't catch on to what Frisk was doing.

"It's been your goal for that long, huh? When did you first decide you wanted to join the royal guard?"

"WELL, I WAS STILL A MINI-BONES," Papyrus explained. "AND SANS AND I WERE RUNNING AWAY FROM SOMETHING IN HOTLAND! WE THOUGHT WE WEREN'T GOING TO MAKE IT, BUT THE ROYAL GUARD SAVED US! FROM THAT DAY ONWARD, I KNEW I WANTED TO JOIN THE ROYAL GUARD! AND THEN UNDYNE JOINED, AND SHE BECAME MY IDOL!"

"What… were you running from?" Frisk asked, hopefully.

"OH, IT'S A VERY LONG STORY," Papyrus said. "BUT IT IS ALSO INTERESTING AND SAD, TOO. THEREFORE, I WILL TELL IT TO YOU! BASICALLY, MY FATHER MADE A TIME MACHINE, AND DECIDED TO USE IT, BUT IT FAILED AND EXPLODED…" Papyrus said. "I NEVER SAW HIM AGAIN AFTER THAT DAY…" he added, wistfully. "I THINK SANS STILL HAS THE OLD MACHINE IN HIS SHED, THOUGH."

"Thanks for telling me that," Frisk said. "That's all I needed to know. I've been trying to figure out information about Gaster, so- yeah."

Frisk spent the rest of the Air Force One plane ride playing some video games on their phone, and it wasn't long before the plane started landing in Andrews Air Force Base. The pilot – Erika Xander, the First Lady – got out first, followed by Secretary of State Karen Moore, Frisk, Undyne, Toriel, Asgore, Papyrus, Sans, Alphys, Mettaton, the Vice President Steven Howe, and President Eugene Xander. The presidential limo was waiting, and everyone got in. The president was driving with the First Lady next to him, in the second row was Karen, Steven, and Asgore. Toriel, Frisk, and Sans were in row three, and Papyrus, Alphys, and Undyne were in the back, with Mettaton squeezed in.

"Alright," the President said. "We're gonna be heading on down to my office, this'll be rather quick so do not worry! Just hope nobody attacks us, since we don't have any security today."

"Don't worry! If anyone tries to attack you, I'll roll down the window and throw 75 spears at them!" Undyne said, braggingly.

"You have 75 spears on you right now?" The Vice President asked.

"Well, I can summon them through magic. Everyone has their own way of using magic – Toriel uses fire, Papyrus uses bones, Mettaton uses lots of different things. Mine? SPEARS!"

"That's actually kinda cool," The VP said. "You'd be a good soldier, or cop, or security guard."

"Maybe…"

"WHAT ABOUT ME?" Papyrus asked.

"I dunno, you don't seem to be the most… disciplined." the VP said.

"HMPH!"

"Guys, stop arguing. We're here!" The President said.

"Already? That was really fast," Toriel said.

"Since I'm the President, I can drive as fast as I want."

The group of twelve all went into the building they had just arrived at – the White House, home to the executive office of the nation. It was very opulent, with fancy wooden furniture everywhere, and paintings of the Presidents before Eugene Xander. The President led the group down multiple hallways until they arrived at their destination. The Vice President, First Lady, and Secretary of State all left, leaving just the President, Frisk, and the monsters. They walked into the next room.

The next room was none other than the President's office – that is the Oval office. There were two couches that the monster guests squeezed their way into, while Frisk sat in a chair next to the presidential desk. The president sat down at his desk and opened his computer. "Alright," he said. "It's time for our meeting. Hopefully, by the end of this, you will be given the rights you deserve by Executive Order. The involvement of the Congress and Court will be unneeded. Let us begin."

—-

"So, I guess that's everything," President Xander said, one and a half hours after the meeting had begun. He handed everyone a thick stapled stack of papers. "Here's all the paperwork you'll need – a meeting transcript, and the actual text of the executive order I have just put out. Please note that the meeting transcript is not accurate, as it cuts out the deal we made."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Frisk said, shaking the president's hand.

"WHO KNEW THIS WOULD BE SO EASY!" Papyrus said. "I MEAN, YOU GOT US ALL SET!"

"Hey, a deal's a deal," the President said. "But remember: this stays between those of us in the room. No-one is to know what happened today."

What had happened that day was, well, a deal. Frisk and the monsters explained their grievances about the current situation with monsters. The president explained that since Mt. Ebott was in America, all monsters were considered American citizens, and said that any anti-monster discrimination was the same as any other type of discrimination. The president promised he could pull some strings in the Senate to get a 'Monster Rights' bill passed in only a few hours, and maybe spread some good word within Ebott City to get the monsters the job they desired – Toriel a teaching job at the local elementary school, Undyne a leadership role in the local police force, and Mettaton a show on local television. Asgore and Frisk still had their political roles, Sans… well, nobody really knew what Sans did, and Papyrus planned on following Undyne. There were also plans to have a research center be built for Alphys, but that was on the scale of years whereas everything else would take effect within a few months at most.

But of course, this was an awfully generous offer for the President. As Undyne said – there had to be a catch. And there was. Getting all this done would take a lot of money, especially to pay off the senators to approve the bill. And Eugene Xander wanted some money for himself, too. One million US dollars would have to be given to President Xander, and in exchange he would make everything happen. That much money would have been difficult to acquire for most people, but the monsters happened to have a metal that was valuable on the surface in heavy abundance – GOLD. Each of their common coins was worth over a thousand dollars in human money. What could buy a bag of chips in the underground could buy a car on the surface. Between Asgore, Toriel, and Papyrus, there was already enough of the 600 gold to pay the bribe, and after verifying it was real gold, Xander immediately wrote the executive order and started work on letters to Ebott City's leadership.

"Hey, thanks for everything," Undyne said.

"Oh, it's no problem." Xander said, fidgeting with one of the gold coins. "Y'know, it's actually a funny coincidence we even met. Believe it or not this wasn't actually my idea – a friend of yours suggested I hold a meeting with you all specifically, and it would benefit both me and you! And it did!"

"Wait, who was this 'friend of ours'. I don't remember hearing anything about this!" Undyne asked.

"Oh, I never caught their name," President Xander said. "He seemed very trustworthy, but who wouldn't trust such a cute little flower! I mean, honestly!"

"A cute flower…" Alphys asked.

"we need to leave. now." Sans added.

"Well, the plane is still back at the airport, I can take you there if you want?" The president asked.

"no need, i know a shortcut," sans said. "everyone except the president, follow me."

"Wait, you can't just go through the halls-"

Sans, ignoring Xander, led the others down the hallway. They turned a corner…

And found themselves in Grillby's new location.

"Wha- HUH?" Undyne said, noticing that she and the others were thousands of miles away from the White House all of a sudden.

"How are we in Grillby's, Sans?"Mettaton asked.

"like i said, i know a shortcut."

"THAT ISN'T A GOOD ENOUGH EXPLANATION! WHY DID WE EVEN LEAVE IN THE FIRST PLACE!"

"because, that flower was behind that meeting. i should've known this was too easy."

"YOU MEAN MY FRIEND FLOWERY?" Papyrus asked. "HE'S NICE! I KNOW HE DIDN'T MEAN TO TRY AND TAKE EVERYONE'S SOULS!"

"It's still really suspicious," Frisk said. "I wonder if it was a distraction from… what I was trying to do?"

"What were you trying to do, my child?"

Frisk did not want to answer that question. They already decided not to tell Toriel or Asgore about their plan, in case it failed. No reason to give them false hope.

"Look, it's a secret plan. If it works out, I'll explain anything. If not… then it's better that you don't know. I'm sorry."

"I understand," Asgore said. He knew too well about false hope.

"Where did you guys even come from!" A purple lizard, sitting next to a dress-wearing lion said.

"Look, Suzy, it's a long story," Frisk said

"And HOW do you know my name?" Suzy asked.

"Also a long story," Frisk said, as they left Grillby's with the other monsters – and what they saw was not good. The shed next to Sans's house – the one that they knew held a mysterious machine that was likely Gaster's failed time machine – was destroyed. Alphys and Undyne's house was destroyed as well, as if a sinkhole caused it to collapse into the earth. The lab underneath it must have been ruined, as well. Frisk ran into the ruins of Alphys's house, and jumped into the collapsed tunnel.

"Hey. Frisk!" A voice said from behind them. "I heard on the grapevine you were tryin' to kill me!"

Frisk turned around, and noticed that Flowey was behind them, popping out of the ruins of Alphys's house.

"I'd never… kill you? What!" Frisk asked. "I'm trying to save you, Asriel."

"But I'm not Asriel," Flowey said. "I hate Asriel! And if you bring him back, you'll DESTROY little old me! I can't let that happen! So you know what I did? I destroyed your machine! And now you can't bring back your STUPID scientist, or your STUPID souls! So ha! I win!"

"Why are you telling me this?" Frisk asked. "I can just go back to my save, and make sure you never destroy the machine!"

"Yeah, sure, go back and skip your meeting. Save your machine, but you'll never get your 'equality law' passed by those humans!" Flowey said, smiling evilly. "You'll ruin your happy ending!"

"Then I'll make it work, " Frisk said. "I always do."

"Don't forget, it was MY idea for the President to meet with you!" Flowey boasted.

"You already convinced him before my last save," Frisk said. "Too late to cancel that meeting!"

"Oh… you'll EAT YOUR WORDS!" Flowey replied. "You just WAIT to see what I have in store for you when you come back!"

Frisk grinned. "You're the one who'll eat your words, Flowey."

"Ooh, cocky are we?" Flowey said. "I guess we'll see! So, you 'gonna reset, or do want me to-"

"You know I don't want to do it myself," Frisk said.

"Did you seriously STILL never figure out how to load your SAVE without dying? Wow, you really are an idiot! I figured it out pretty quickly! Well, no need to do it yourself this time! Flowey's on the case! Aren't I nice?"
Frisk suddenly found themselves surrounded by a familiar ring of 'friendliness pellets'. They didn't even try to jump out of the way. Why didn't Sans warn me I'd have another reset today, Frisk thought, as the bullets closed in.

"Say hi to Chara for me!" Flowey finished, burrowing away as the pellets wiped out Frisk's HP, shattering their soul.

GAME OVER.

"Frisk!" The voice of Asgore said. "You must–"

"Stop doing that, I know it's not actually Asgore!" Frisk said, exasperated. They were back in the black void.

"Whatever," Chara said. "Look, I can tell you how to bring the six humans back. Asriel and I are a whole different story. To resurrect a human soul, you need seven human souls that have 'SAVE SLOTS'. The souls used to shatter the barrier are still intact… somewhere."

"I thought they were destroyed!" Frisk said.

"It takes the power of seven souls to shatter the barrier. The power of every monster is equal to that of one soul, so the souls of every monster acted as equivalent to the missing soul. That is why the barrier was shattered without your soul. But the souls were not used up – otherwise, all the monsters' souls would have been used up. Next time, think with logic. It will do you some favors."

Frisk chose to ignore Chara's attitude. "So if I need seven souls to resurrect one soul… how do I bring back all six?"

"You will need to absorb the six souls. These, plus your own, will give you the power to traverse across timelines. But a human cannot absorb human souls unless they have first absorbed a monster soul – and it would have to be a boss monster, too. I assume you are not going to take the soul of Toriel or Asgore, correct?"

"NO! They're my parents! I'd never do that!"

"Hence why you must travel through time and collect a boss soul from another timeline – perhaps the one when you accidentally killed Toriel, before going back and fixing it."

"I'm still not gonna do that!"

"She was already killed in that timeline. You might as well take advantage of it. You will have to do much worse to achieve your goals later on."

"Look, even if I did… I wouldn't be able to go back in time without having absorbed the souls… and I need to go back in time to absorb said souls. It's a… what's it called?"

"A catch-22?"

"Yeah, that."

"Exactly. That is why you must recover Gaster. He can help you start. Now go back. Stop Flowey. And please… try to survive the whole day. I will talk with you again when you next sleep. Good luck, Frisk."

"Thanks, Chara," Frisk said, as they LOADed back into the world, back into their bedroom that very morning.

They still grabbed their backpack, and went downstairs, where Monster Kid was still waiting.

"Welcome back, Frisk!" Monster Kid said. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah, meet you at-" Frisk said, running out the door, intentionally not telling MK where they were going – straight to Sans's house.

"SANS!" Frisk yelled. "We need to protect your shed!"

"Frisk? what's happening?"

"Look, I'm not explaining everything again. Gaster's machine is the key to bringing back the other 6 humans, Asriel, Chara, and Gaster himself. I already got killed twice today – once by a completely unrelated human and once by Flowey after he destroyed the machine. I explained more of this to you last time, and you told me how Gaster… created you."

"wow, that's crazy." sans said. "well, i can make sure flowey leaves this machine alone."

"Good," Frisk said. "Last time, Flowey destroyed Alphys's lab, too. I guess something in there was key to stopping him. Though honestly, basically all the machines in her lab weren't very important – a judgment scanner, some Mettaton suits, a- oh no."

"what is it?"

"I think Flowey's gonna steal one of the-"

Suddenly, Frisk noticed out the window a mechanical being, flying out of the ground, and landing in the street.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON!" Papyrus yelled, running down the stairs.

"That's one of Alphys's suits she made," Frisk explained. "Something related to her animes. She wanted Mettaton to have it, but he didn't want it. I think your flower friend just stole it…"

"WHY WOULD METTATON NEED A ROBOT SUIT? HE'S ALREADY A ROBOT!"
Oh right, Frisk thought. It wasn't common knowledge that Mettaton was actually a ghost in a robot suit instead of a true robot. Frisk felt it would be rude to tell anybody Mettaton's secret, since not even his ghostly cousin knew his true identity – as far as Napstablook knew, the ghost that became Mettaton was gone, and Mettaton was just some new guy. Frisk opened the door. Papyrus followed Frisk, while Sans went to protect Gaster's machine.

"Alright, Flowey, explain yourself!" Frisk said.

"Oh, is it not obvious?" The mechanical suit that Flowey was now in control of said. "I know

I'm too weak to stop you now! But… I've been through SO MANY timelines! I've befriended everyone! I've KILLED everyone! And when I kill everyone, that egotistic superstar takes this very form just to stop me! And I'll be honest – it gave me some trouble. But that just means it'll do the same for YOU!"

Alphys and Undyne emerged from their house, noticing the clatter going on outside.

"N-no! This can't be-"

"What is it?" Undyne asked the nervous scientist.

"That's a powerful body I made for… for Mettaton. It's built to be near indestructible and undefeatable. Of course, this is only a prototype, and the f-final version is already a part of Mettaton now… but…"

"Enough of this!" Flowey said. "I know none of you can stand up to this power!" Flowey pointed an arm cannon at Frisk.

"FLOWEY, STOP THIS! PLEASE!" Papyrus yelled. "I KNOW YOU DON'T NEED TO DO THIS!"

"Of course I do!" Flowey said, with a tinge of insanity. "I'll be killed if I don't! It's kill or be killed! S."

"BUT YOU CAN DO BETTER THAN THIS!" Papyrus said. "I BELIEVE IN YOU, FLOWEY!"

"I knew you'd say that!" Flowey said. "You always do! Usually, it happens…

t.

Flowey began to charge up an arm cannon, a blast of energy that would hit Papyrus directly. But before he could, another blast of energy struck the robot flower, cancelling his attack.

"Oh great…" Flowey said quietly. "Not him…"