Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The cycle continues.

And Kris Dreemurr is starting to tire of it. Every death, their consciousness flies back to their body standing in front of the save star in the bunker, ready to exit out onto the scorched surface with their friends, their companions ready to once again face up against it.

The Angel's Heaven.

Every time they find themselves back up against it, the group launches all of their attacks to no avail. And every time, the Angel charges up and launches its greatest attack, wiping them all out and sending Kris back to the Bunker.

Again. And again.

They've tried every possible option. Talking to it, fighting it, throwing every convoluted plan they could come up with at it. And every time, it launches that damn attack.

Again. And again.

Kris was starting to lose hope. They weren't sure how long they could keep going against this threat. And it was starting to scare them…

:

It was also starting to scare The Knight as well. Gaster had been watching from the void, watching Kris and their friends die and come back again and again. He didn't realise that the Angel's Heaven, what should have been his hope for returning from the Void, would instead become a massive force of destruction to this reality. And he was ashamed of himself for causing this catastrophe. It was why he asked an entity known as a Player for help.

And it had abandoned them, leaving the group in anguish against this threat. He wasn't sure what else he could do for them. He had already used up so much of his magic for a ritual to merge their Light and Dark forms together, granting Kris, Susie, and Noelle to use their powers, and allowing Ralsei and Lancer to walk in the Light World, and there wasn't much else he could do…

“Excuse me.” A voice rang out from behind. Gaster turned around to face the sudden visitor, and was greeted by a dark-clothed human. “I guess I was not the only one watching the end of this universe. Dr. Gaster, I presume?”

“And how do you know of me?” Gaster replied in surprise. “My name has been ripped from across time and space, you should not know who I am.”

“Ohoho!” The human laughed as they got closer, revealing their eyes to have black scleras and red irises. “My powers allow me to see reality in different ways, and I am familiar enough with you in my past that I can recall your name far better than most.” They began pacing around the area as they watched the Delta Warriors die yet again to the Angel's Ultimate Beam. “And it appears we are getting close to the true final moments of this world.”

Gaster stared at this inhuman being, possibly demonic in nature. “And you've come to watch in delight of the end?” He scoffed.

The demon stopped in their tracks. “No.” They said before turning around to face him. “I have come because I want to save them from their unfortunate plight. And I know of a place to send them to.”

Gaster looked at them in shock. They wished to help save these people? He thought as he stared at the being. “Why?” He asks. “Why would you want to help them? What would you benefit from this?”

The demon looks at him and shrugs. “I just feel bad for this timeline.” They responded. “The odds were unfortunately stacked against them in this run, and the Angel is giving no quarters. I do not think that this Kris should be stuck in this spiral of hopelessness.”

“And to answer your question about my benefit in this,” they continued. “I would have something new to watch, something that would intrigue me while I wait for the newest showing of a universe’s school play that gets ad-libbed like crazy. Does this satisfy your concerns, Doctor?”

:

Again. And again.

Kris found themself back in the bunker, their determination wearing thin. They weren't sure how much longer they could continue to face their repeated deaths. Sadly, only they could feel the effects of the constant death and return, as everyone else did not have the level of determination needed to have déjà vu of this moment.

There had to be something they were missing throughout all this, but nothing was able to stand out.

“KRIS, COME ON!” Susie shouted down the corridor for the twentieth time Kris could recall. “WE'RE GONNA POUND THE CRAP OUT OF THE ANGEL WITHOUT YOU IF YOU'RE NOT OUT HERE SOON!!”

Kris couldn't even chuckle softly this time around. They laid their head against the wall for a few moments before mustering up the will to follow their friends outside. The surface had been scorched and cracked from the old titans’ initial attacks, meant to pave the way for the arrival of the Angel's Heaven. They've seen this sight countless times already, but for the others, it was their first time.

“Holy crap.” Noelle said, using one of her rarely used curse words had Kris not already heard it every load. “It's worse than I thought.”

“We can rebuild once the Angel has been defeated, heroes.” Ralsei spoke with confidence. Kris could only look away from him. “Now, heroes of light! Let us seal this threat away once and for all!!” The group began to make their way to the ruined church, where Kris knew the Angel would make its appearance. And wipe them away once more.

Again. And again.

They dread this moment. They know what’s going to happen, they can still feel the pain from all of the previous attempts, how their skin screams from the phantom burns. They just want this to be over, they just want to go to sleep. They probably wouldn’t even hate themself if they just stopped after this death.

The group finally arrive at their place of death, and a beam of light crashes into the church, smashing it into pieces and launching them in multiple directions. And from the beam uncurls the wings of the Angel, ready to pass its judgement upon the world. Ready to end them all.

Again. And again.

The group locked into battle positions, ready to face the angel head on. Ready to face their own deaths once more. Kris gave them the orders to block to gain as much TP in the first turn, possibly in some desperate hope of dealing as much damage before its 5th turn. The Angel then attacks, flapping its wings to send sharp feathers while pushing them back with the wind. Kris has had enough experience with this attack that they effortlessly dodge and weave through the feathers.

Kris then commands Susie to unleash Red Buster and Noelle to cast Iceshock onto the Angel, while having the rest defend against the next set of feather attacks the Angel throws at them. Kris knows that after this, the Angel will charge up for the next two turns before unleashing its fatal beam attack, which means they’re gonna have to wallop as hard as possible if there’s a chance of knocking it out of that state.

Turn three, Kris orders everyone to commence an all-out attack, hitting it for several hundred points of damage. The Angel then begins its charge-up. They need to hope they can deal a high enough damage threshold to stop it.

Turn four, they order a second wave of attacks at the Angel, dealing another several hundred points of damage. But it doesn’t seem quite enough to knock it out, as it continues to charge up its blast. Leaving them with one last chance. Kris orders Susie and Noelle to unleash another Red Buster and Iceshock while the rest of the group attacks with full force. Kris needs this to work, they need that Angel to be knocked out.

But as always, it’s not enough. It was never going to be enough, and they knew it. They’ve already tried countless times and every time, the Angel wipes them out of existence. The group becomes frightened as the Angel aims at them, ready to fire.

Kris can’t bear to look at it, and turns their head towards the pitch black ground, ready for the burning light to consume them.

…

…

Hold on. Pitch Black Ground??

Kris has seen the ground many times in this battle, and not once had the ground been this dark in color, which had to mean something was amiss. Had the Knight finally decided to help them?

Suddenly, the black ground shot out black tendrils around the group, frightening all of them. “KRIS!!” They heard Susie yell out to them. “WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING, HAS THE KNIGHT TURNED ON US!?!”

“I don’t know!” They shouted back. “This hasn’t happened before!!”

Susie looked at them in confusion. “What do you mean ‘this hasn’t happened-ACK!!” She tried to speak before a voidic tendril managed to find its way into her mouth. Pissed at the interruption, she starts gnashing at the tendrils in hopes to break free. Kris could have sworn she tried to say something about how they would talk about this later in her currently smothered voice.

The tendrils started pulling everyone into the void quickly, just as the Angel began to unleash its beam. As much as Kris didn’t want to die like this, at least it was a welcomed change to what had happened in their past attempts.

And then their world turned black.

…

And then light came back into their eyes, just as suddenly as it was taken away from them. The void appeared to have whisked them far away from the ruined battleground and left them weightless in a tunnel where they appeared to be moving away from the light at the end. Almost as though they were falling.

Oh crap, they were falling.

Kris shifted their body around so that they could see what they could land on, and the only soft thing was a patch of yellow flowers, now quickly approaching them. They tucked themself into a fetal position, ensuring that they covered their head with their hands so that the landing wouldn’t give them a massive concussion.

CRACK!!!

And the ground hit hard. Hard enough that they heard their bones in their arm and leg breaking, leaving them wallowing in agony. The void could have been nicer by dropping them a lot closer to the ground, but this was at least better than what they were going up against earlier. They laid there for a few minutes, mustering up as much strength as they could to pick themself off the ground and use their only good arm to dig through their inventory for a healing snack.

They felt around the unusually empty space and found a lone Choco Diamond, which was more of a shock since they could have sworn they had already eaten the ones they bought in the Forest. Must have been passed over by accident. They bring it up to their mouth, ready to pop it in for a quick heal.

CRACK!!!

The sudden noise behind them makes Kris drop their chocolate, forcing them to make quick fumbles to save it. Now with the chocolate in their grasp, they shuffle their body around to see what the sudden noise came from, only to gasp at the sight in front of them. Right where they had laid for a moment earlier, a blue-clothed child had now crashed upon.

Several things were now raising through Kris’s mind: Had they stayed there for just a bit longer, that kid would have crushed them. And oh god oh fuck, a kid just fell to their death. What the actual hell did the void just drop them in??

Kris looked at the dead child, unsure of how to feel about the situation currently playing out in front of them. They weren’t exactly religious like their mother was, but they felt like this child at least needed some sort of last rites. Even if they never even met this child.

“Hey kid.” Kris hoarsely asked in a joking manner. “What do you want on your tombstone?”

The body groaned back, shocking Kris in their place..

“Oh shit, you’re still alive!?” Kris said as they limped over to the flowerbed, crouching down once they reached them. “Do you think you can chew?” The kid looked at them like they were crazy (Or Kris was probably guessing that was what they were doing, they were severely injured at the moment and probably couldn’t make a good facial expression without wincing in pain).

“Hold on, let me show you.” Kris spoke as they put half of the Choco Diamond in their mouth and bit it off, feeling the soothing effects of healing magic flow across their body almost immediately. They were gonna need to provide support if the kid was gonna be able to eat the other half of the choco. They got on their knees and propped the kid’s head up before placing the Choco Diamond in their mouth.

Kris waited as the effects washed over the kid, using this time to check on their inventory to see why it had felt so empty all of a sudden. And turns out it was, save for the lone Joker Card, Suspicious Hard Drive, and other Knight-touched items. Not only were those their only items, but their own prized dagger was gone, which meant they were defenseless.

The Knight took my stuff away, that Bastard! Kris thought as the kid sat up straight, their hands patting themself down, which by experience meant they were shocked that their mortal injuries were suddenly gone.

“What is that?” The kid asked them.

“Choco Diamond.” Kris replied. “It heals you for a small amount. And that was sadly my last one.”

“Huh.” The kid sat there, taking this information in. “Is it like those chocolates they hand out at Olive Garden?” Kris looks at them dumbfounded. What did they mean by ‘Olive Garden?’ Was that an Orchard where they made Olive Oil and such?

“I- huh?” Kris said confused. “Maybe, I don’t know? I just want to get out of here.” Kris stood up on their feet. “Hey kid, got a question for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Where are we right now?” Kris was biting a bullet here. They just got pulled from their destroyed hometown and dropped off in the middle of a cavern, with no idea if their friends were even alive.

“You don’t know what Mt. Ebott is?” The kid shouted at them. “The mountain cursed to make those who go to it go missing and said to be filled with monsters!? I thought everyone knew that!”

If the comment about the Olive Garden had left Kris dumbfounded, then Ebott made them draw their breath. If Kris could recall, Mt. Ebott was the setting location of Gerson Boom’s Alternative History novels. Was this kid trying to tell them they were in Gerson’s books?

Nah, that can’t be right at all. There’s no way the Knight would take them away from their world and just throw them into another like that, would they? Please, the guy wouldn’t just do that. Would they? Perhaps it’s best not to dwell on that thought, they needed to get out of here. And since neither of them had any sort of climbing gear or could grow wings and fly out the top, the only other way out would have to be deeper into the cavern.

Kris walked over to the small hallway, gesturing for the small kid to follow. Up ahead, the sounds of a conversation slowly came into range.

“So you think we’re here because of them?” A soft twangy voice asked.

“That is what I said. Can you stop asking questions?” A more regal voice spoke.

Up ahead of Kris and the kid were two translucent glowing children, one red leaning against the wall and one yellow floating in the air. Kris had met a ghost before, but this was the first time they were encountering two spirits of dead children.

“Right. Sorry.” The twangy voice, belonging to the Yellow one, said. They were wearing a Cowboy’s outfit, fitting for their voice.

“...” The Red one, who wore a sweater Kris had plenty of, looked at the two. A moment passes before they realize that the teenager and the young kid heard them. “It looks like they can hear us.”

“And see you.” Kris chatted in. The kid looked at them all bug-eyed. “You see them too?” They asked.

“Oh! Howdy!” Yellow spoke. “No, you’re not insane, we’re just incorporeal.” They appeared to be chipper for a kid that’s dead. “That was a pretty bad fall. You alright?”

Kris and the kid were about to answer, but Red interjected. “You should keep moving. Someone up ahead should help you.” Blunt, straight to the point, not one to dilly dally.

The two ghosts quickly floated to Kris and the kid’s sides. “Given we have nothing better to do…” Red said nonchalantly.

“We’ll accompany you!” Yellow completed the sentence, tipping their ghostly hat. “Consider us your friendly advisors!” Kris could have heard Red scoff at that idea. “Now, onwards!” Yellow pointed forwards to the archway. Considering that was their only path, Kris and the kid made their way through it…

And found themselves in front of a yellow flower with a face.

Chapter Text

So there’s a flower in the grassy patch. A flower that had a dumb looking face on it. Which meant that it was of the Monster variant. And if Kris remembered their monster biology lessons, Flower Monsters don’t normally have a mouth, since they could photosynthesize their energy and not need to eat. So already this guy was unusual.

“Oh hey!” Yellow happily shouts. “It’s Flowey! Yo, we go way back, met him when I fell down this hole and he helped me get through most of the Underground. If anyone can help you two out, it’s him!” Yellow seemed enthused about the sight of their old friend.

Well, if Yellow said he could be trusted, then perhaps he could be asked. Kris stepped forward, and “Flowey” finally noticed them.

“Oh howdy!” The flower said in a strangely sickening sweet voice. “I'm Flowey. Flowey the Flower. You two must be new to the Underground, aren’tcha?”

The kid nodded. “Golly, you guys must be so confused.” Flowey continued. “Someone ought to teach you how things work around here! Oh, I guess little old me will have to do.”

Oh great, this guy’s gonna attack them as a tutorial. Kris thought to themself.

“Ready?” Flowey said as he prepared to initiate a battle. “Here we go!” The aura around them shifted, giving off the feelings of battle. Or, what should be a battle, as something felt off about it. It didn’t feel like how it was supposed to, with turns between the two groups. Was Yellow correct to assume he was a good guy?

The kid yelps, making Kris look at them to see what had startled them. Floating in front of them was a red soul, a soul of Determination. A soul just like theirs. “Kid, it’s alright.” Kris assured them. “That’s just your soul. It will pop out during-”

“Hey buddy.” The flower interrupted, seeming perturbed. “I believe I'm giving the lesson here. Let me do my job.”

“Anyways,” Flowey continued. “That is your SOUL , the very culmination of your being! They start off weak, but can grow strong if you gain lots of LV.”

“Ok, I feel a bit off-putting towards him.” Red piped up. “He is giving off a sinister aura, and I do not like this one bit.”

“Same,” Kris whispered back, somehow earning a weird look from the flower. “If he pulls out an attack, I'm stepping in.”

“Who are you talking to?” Flowey asked them. “Are you ok or something, there's nobody there.”

“Huh?” Kris looked around, improvising as though they couldn't see either Red or Yellow. “That's strange. I think that fall earlier must have given me some kind of concussion-based hallucination.” Now they're lying out of their ass.

“Ok then.” Flowey buys their crap. “Now where was I…”

Red floats in front of Kris and gives them a thumbs up. Yellow, however, is in disbelief at Kris's lie.

“OH YEAH!” Flowey recalls. “You probably don't know what LV stands for, do you? Well, let me tell ya: it stands for LOVE ! And down here, we share LOVE through-” Flowey summons a small seed and continues on with his speech. “Little White Friendliness Pellets!”

Kris's eyes widened for a moment before turning into a sharp glare. That's a fucking attack, he's trying to kill us! They thought as Flowey summoned four more. “You want some LOVE, don’t you? Well, move around and grab as many as you can!” The pellets begin to move towards the Kid, and they reach out their hand to touch one.

Suddenly, the kid feels their weight shift as they’re pushed out of the way of the pellets. Hitting the ground, they look up to see the teen they’re with holding up a shield as they block the hits of the pellets.

-13 -13 -13 -13 -13

Kris yelps in pain as the pellets hit their soul shield, shocking everyone around them. They lower it to give the treasonous flora a deathly glare and growl.

“HEY, YOU IDIOT!!!” Flowey shouted at them. “WHAT’S THE BIG IDEA RUNNING IN AND RUINING MY PLAN!? WHERE’D YOU EVEN GET THAT?!?” He says as he points a vine at Kris’s shield.

“I should be asking the questions here!” Kris shouts as they transform their shield into a sword to point back. “What's the big idea trying to kill us!?!”

Flowey turned his face to the ground as a chuckle emanates from him. Then that chuckle became a giggle as his flower body twitched, before he finally threw his head back as he roared with a maniacal laughter, causing the two humans to step back.

“And I thought you said he was a friend…” Red said sarcastically to Yellow.

“Well this ain't like him at all!” Yellow replied in a worried tone. “I don't know what's wrong with him!”

Flowey's crazed laughter finally dies down and he recollects himself. “You really don't know how this world works, do yah, pal?”

“Not your pal.” Kris shot back.

Flowey smirks back. “Well, pal, ” He says with the viscosity of tar. “In this world-”

“IT'S KILL OR BE KILLED!” He starts his manic laughter once again as he summons a multitude of bullets around the two humans. “NOW DIE!!!”

Kris steps back to the kid as the bullets slowly float towards them. Kris's mind starts racing for an idea, good or bad, that could help them get out of this situation. And luckily, their mind was quick enough.

“Kid,” Kris says as they transform their sword back into a shield. “Here’s what we’re gonna do: You get behind me and when I say go, we rush towards those bullets. These things dissipate after hitting something, so I’m going to take the brunt of the attacks. If I go down, just keep running, ok?” The kid nods back and readies themself.

Kris braces themself for the ensuing damage they will take upon clashing with Flowey’s attacks. They take a deep breath, and calm their mind. “NOW!” They screamed as they rushed towards the bullets, preparing for the worst.

+Full Health

Upon smashing into the bullets with their shield, they healed instead of taking damage, causing confusion for both them and Flowey. And within that confusion, Kris’s leg manages to trip over themselves, causing them to slip and fall into the ground. The whole situation was made worse as the kid trips over them and topples on top, leaving Kris vulnerable for a quick attack.

Thankfully, Flowey was left dumbfounded at his attack screwing up like this to not take the opportunity to try again or to notice the incoming fireball heading for him. Which led to him being launched out of the ground and flying into the shadows, where a soft thud was heard followed by dirt being moved as he presumably dug underground.

“I come out here to recalibrate the puzzles and water the flowers as requested,” A voice spoke out, raising Kris’s eyebrows in shock. They recognize that voice anywhere. “And I instead find a flower attacking two humans without remorssss…” The voice slows down as the one behind it steps into view. “Kris?” Now standing in front of the humans was a red-horned, white fur coated Goat Monster wearing green glasses, a green tunic wrapped with a belt, black pants, and brown boots.

“Asri-” Red seemed to speak up for a moment before Kris interrupts them.

“Ralsei?!” This left the red spirit in confusion, as noticed by the kid.

“Oh my goodness!” Ralsei shook himself out of shock as he runs over to help them. “Kris, you’re alive!! I was so worried, I thought I was the only one who survived!”

That did not bode well. Kris thought as they heard this. “What do you mean by that?” They asked.

“When I woke up, I was alone.” Ralsei answered. “I spent 3 days foraging through garbage, Literal Garbage, before Miss Toriel found me and took me in.” Oh, this was now good news to Kris. If Toriel was alive, then that void must have brought them forward in time to safety. There might be a chance to beat the Angel.

“But…” Ralsei continued, putting worries back into Kris’s mind. “I don’t think this is the same Toriel we know. She kept mistaking me for this ‘Asriel’ from time to time and the books she has don’t seem to make sense.”

“What do you mean?” Kris asked for clarity, not paying attention to the commotion happening behind them with Red and the Kid.

“I don’t know why she calls me Asriel, I’ve never met them.” Ralsei continued. “But the books, these History Books. They seem to mention some kind of grand war between Monsters and Humans.”

Well fuck. Kris thought. Guess that previous thought about somehow ending up in Gerson’s fictional world turned out to be true.

“Hey! Are you even paying attention!?!” Red’s screams finally break through Kris’s thoughts, warranting a ‘hmm.’ “I have been trying to ask you who the hell ‘Ralsei’ is and why does he look like that!”

Kris turns to face the ghost unconsciously. “He’s a Darkner, a being of shadows and imagination.”

“Kris, is everything ok with you?” Ralsei said worriedly. “I don’t think the kid there asked a question about me.”

“Wait, you don’t see them?” They asked. He shakes his head no.

“See who, Kris?” He replies with a question. “Is this anything like that entity from before?”

“Entity?” Red asked.

“No,” Kris said. “I don’t think this is anything like that. They haven’t tried controlling my body- hold on.” Kris turns to point at the ghosts. “I’m just gonna put this out here right now: Don’t even think about taking control of me, or we’re gonna have problems. And believe me, I know how to rip a soul out.” They then turn back to resume the conversation with Ralsei. “They haven’t tried controlling me yet, they’re just floating there, like they’re tagging along for the road.”

“Ooooookay…” Ralsei said with a worried look. He then changed the topic to something different. “Well, considering your current situation, I may as well bring you two, three- how many there are of you- back home. I’ll call Toriel and let her know I’m bringing guests back.”

“Will there be pie?” Kris asked, earning a snort from Red.

“Probably.” Ralsei replied as he pulled out an old basic phone, possibly a Mokia. “If it were to turn up, would you guys be ok with Snail Pie?” Kris pulled back and retched in response. “I guess that’s a no, then. Just follow me.”

Ralsei has joined the Party.

The group moved through the archways and found themselves in a ruin-like landscape. Up ahead was a double stairway that led upwards into the next room, with a pile of leaves and a familiar shine at the bottom.

“So, these are the Ruins.” Ralsei begins to explain to Kris and the kid. “Built a long time ago when the Monsters were supposedly forced underground as a home before they finally moved deeper into the caverns. From what I’ve read, this place used to be called ‘Home’.”

“Who names it that?” The kid asks.

“I think it was some King named Asgore.” Ralsei answers. Yeah, sounds exactly like something he would come up with as a name. Kris chuckled to themself, disregarding the fact that the King had their father’s name. Ralsei made his way up the stairs as he held the phone up. “Ah, finally. Some reception. You two can stay here for a moment, I’m gonna call Miss Toriel.” He then left the room, leaving Kris alone with the kid.

Kris immediately made their way to the shining light in front of the leaf pile. As they thought, the shine belonged to a save point, although this one had a gold sheen to it. Kris instinctively held their hand against it, feeling the warmth of the star shine through.

Finding yourself in a strange land with allies scattered, you hope to reunite with them all one day. You are filled with the power of determination.

Kris

Ruins - Entrance

Error Return

Oh that’s not good. Kris thought as they realized they couldn’t use the Save Star. If they couldn’t save, then the next death would literally be their true death. And right after escaping two near deaths already!

“What is that?” The kid walked up next to them. “What are you trying to do with it?”

“I’m trying to save,” Kris responded. “But I appear to not be determined enough to use it. Which means if I die, I’m actually going to…” Hold up. The kid asked them what this was. Which meant…

“Here, you try!” Kris grabbed the kid’s arm and put it up against the Star. The shine of the Save Point bloomed once again, this time upon the kid.

The shadows of the Ruins looms above, filling you with determination.

Frisk

Ruins - Entrance

Save Return

“Hmm.” Kris breathed. “It appears that you have more determination than I do. I guess you’re gonna be using these whenever you see them.”

“Ok, but what do they do?” The kid, now known to Kris as ‘Frisk’, asked them. Kris had to ponder this one for a moment. How the hell do you let a kid know that these things bring you back from death?

“Well, according to Flowey,” Yellow spoke up. “He said that these things lets you revert time back to the moment you use them, either willingly or by death, and with your memories if you have a high level of detemmination.”

“Determination.” Red corrected. “Not whatever you just said, uhhh…” They pause for a moment, as though they were trying to say something. “Hold up. We were talking to one another earlier before they-” Red points at Kris and Frisk. “-Showed up, how did neither of us give each other our names then? This is poor etiquette when meeting someone new.”

“Well then.” Yellow said as they pulled their hat off and held it against their chest. “Why don’t we start now? Name’s Clover, Clover Fortuna. And you?”

“Chara.” Red, now revealing their name as Chara, replied. “And what about you, kid, since we have already heard from ‘Ralsei’ that your name is Kris, armored teen.”

“Knight.” Kris rebuked. “I’m a knight.” Chara snickered as they muttered something about how Kris lacked some armor pieces to be considered one.

“You can call me Frisk.” The kid finally confirmed their name. “Everyone at the orphanage does.”

“Oh, are you from the Sister Maria’s Home for Orphans in Ebott City?” Clover asked. Frisk nodded in response. “I used to live there some time ago before I fell down here. When did you arrive?” 

“I think about 2111.” Frisk answered. Kris was not going to say anything in regards to the year, since if they did end up in a whole new world, it might as well be a whole new year.

“Wow, so I’ve been dead for 5 years.” Clover said morbidly. “Wonder how my friends are doing, maybe Kanako’s out of her Fallen state…”

“Well, I’m going to introduce myself.” Kris said as they glared at Chara. “My name is Kris Dreey-” Kris stopped themself as they somehow slurred the first half of their last name. They coughed and tried again. “Kris Drtth- Druugh- Duuug- What the fuck’s wrong with my voice!?!”

“You good, mate?” Clover asked, worried for the sudden lack of speech.

“I’m trying to say my name, but my mouth won’t say it, what the actual hell?” Kris exclaimed. Perhaps they should try just saying the word by itself. “Duree-dghfjg- ok this is fucking annoying, what the fuck did that knight asshole do?

“Knight Asshole?” Chara chuckled. “Who is he?”

“Some guy who lives in the Void.” Kris answered before they’re suddenly hit by a realization. “The Void. Of fucking course, it has to be the Void, it removed the Knight’s identity from existance. Damn thing must have removed my ability to say my own last name. RALSEI, CAN YOU HELP ME HERE??”

Ralsei returned from the other room. “Yes Kris, what is it?”

“The Void took away my ability to say my last name, can you say it?” Kris asked, hoping for a miracle.

“Oh, I’m terribly sorry.” Ralsei answered sheepishly. “I’ve tried telling Miss Toriel who you were some months ago, but when I tried to say your name, I lost my voice halfway through. This is probably not the answer you were looking for, was it?

Kris sighed, muttering a curse word under their breath. “Just, call me Kris Dagger for now…”

“Well, I’ve finished up my call with Miss Toriel.” Ralsei spoke. “She’s currently making her way to the store to purchase some groceries, so she requested that I help guide you through your new home. Her words, not mine.”

Kris sighed as they looked at Frisk. “Come on, Frisk, let’s go. I don’t think Toriel likes waiting.” As the duo made their way up the stairs and into the next room, Kris couldn’t help but feel as though something had been watching them for a while now, but a scan across the room turned up nothing.

Chapter Text

Kris finds themself in a small room with what appeared to be elevated plates on the floor. Pressure plates if Kris had to guess.

“So,” Ralsei snapped the attention of them and Frisk over. “The Underground is littered with many puzzles such as this. According to the history books I've read, it was designed with the purpose of keeping humans out.”

“However,” He continued. “To ensure that Monsters weren't locked out by accident, hints are placed close by to help them solve it.”

“He is quite attentive in his studies.” Chara said.

“He aims to assist and please.” Kris responds. “That’s sort of his trait as a Darkner. Their kind aids Lightners whenever we go into Dark Worlds.”

“What's that, anyways?” Clover asks.

“I'll explain later,” Kris says. “It’s pretty long-winded and right now, Ralsei would rather have us focus on solving these puzzles.” Looking back at Ralsei, they find him crossing his arms and tapping his foot away.

“Yes, that would be nice, Kris.” He said. “Normally, Miss Toriel would solve this one for you, as it is the first puzzle, but I think you should try to do it yourself.” Ralsei spread his arms out for them to take the floor.

Kris looks around the room in search of a hint, and finds Frisk standing in front of a plaque on the wall. Walking over to them, they read what was written on the sign.

For a while, actually.

“Well,” Chara speaks up. “What does it say?”

Kris chuckles as they look at the red ghost. “I can’t read.”

“What do you mean, ‘You can’t read?’” They bark back.

“I don’t know all the letters to Ancient Monster Runes.” Kris revealed. “Only enough to spell my name.” They watched as Chara smacked their face, muttering something about how stupid this whole situation was.

“How about you, Frisk?” Chara asks the kid. “Can you read the plaque?” They watched as Frisk shakes their head in silence. “Oh for- ALRIGHT, I guess I am the translator for you three until you learn how to read Runes!” They floated closer to the plaque and looked it over. “Only the fearless may proceed. Brave ones, foolish ones. Both walk not the middle road.”

The trio glanced over to the plates, taking note in their placements. Six plates in total in three columns of two, with the middle not only offset downwards but also paved with a lighter tone in the flooring.

A path. The middle road.

“You think the two in the middle don’t do anything?” Kris asked.

“Maybe.” Frisk responds. “What do you think?”

“It is likely the answer.” Chara answered. “Clover, do you have anything to add?”

“It’s the four on the outside,” said Clover. “Toriel’s already done this for me when I fell down here.” They look back to find the trio now facepalming out of anguish.

“Why did you not say so?” Chara scoffed. “We are standing here trying to read a plaque and you could have just told us the answer? You are a fool!”

“Nobody asked me!” They shot back. This caused Chara to start a bicker with the ghostly cowpoke, leaving Kris and Frisk to their own devices as they waltzed over to the puzzle.

Standing on opposite sides of the path, they glanced at each other. Frisk gave Kris a thumbs up as they stepped onto the plate. Kris followed up by stepping onto their plate, and then quickly galloped to their second plate, stopping as they stepped on it. They glance back as a silent gesture to the kid to start moving to their next plate, and then turn back to the doors. As soon as Frisk activated the last plate, the door opened slowly, allowing the group to proceed.

Or well, it was more like the two humans and the goat proceeded through the doors, and the two bickering ghosts were dragged along.

The next room they found themselves in was quite long, with two waterways separating the room into three sections.

“Oh hey!” Clover spoke up when they noticed their surroundings during a moment of ignoring their bicker with Chara. “I remember this room, I fell into the Dark Ruins from here.”

“How?” Frisk had to ask. Kris decided to listen in on this conversation, they did not want to get separated from a group again.

“The floor by one of the switches was unstable and I fell through.” Clover reveals. “Wonder if they patched it.” And that didn't really help Kris.

They noticed a sign on the side of the path, and walked over to see what it said. Surprisingly, it was in english, which must have meant this was a recent addition.

You are now reading a sign.

Kris deadpanned harder than usual. No shit they’re reading a sign, that's what you are!

“Who makes a sign like that?” Chara piped up beside them. They must have floated over to check out what Kris was reading. “It is a waste of a sign!”

“What is?” Clover now popped over. They turn their attention to the sign and read it. “Oh, yeah that's a waste al’ight. What that plaque back there say?” Clover points to the wall, where a plaque was indeed hung from. The trio walked over to see that it too was written in Ancient Runes, prompting Chara to act as the translator.

“It says, ‘Stay on the path.’ ” Chara turns back to the group, hearing Kris and Clover say something about how the plaque should be transcribed onto the sign instead. “You guys do realize these plaques are written in Runes so that Humans can’t get the hints as fast, right?” They watched as Kris and Clover both raised a finger in objection for a moment before slowly lowering it as they came to fathom the reasoning given. “Alright, let us move back onto the path before you get a fine.”

“Alright, alright.” Kris said as they returned to the main path and crossed the bridge to where Frisk was, waiting with Ralsei so that they could all cross the next bridge together. “Is there supposed to be a puzzle here?”

“There is,” Ralsei answered. “But you were so busy over there that I just had the young one do it anyway, there’s not much of a complicated solution to this as you can see.” He states this as he waves his hand over to the lone lever on the wall. “And I may have to do the next one across the bridge because Miss Toriel mentioned that the last human that came down here fell through the floor.” He glanced behind him towards the two levers, the furthest of which had some wooden planks nailed over a hole beneath it. So it was patched at least.

The full group crossed the second bridge where Ralsei temporarily separated from them to pull the first switch, allowing the spikes blocking their pathway to recede into the ground. While Frisk and the ghosts went on ahead, Kris waited for Ralsei to come back.

“Hey, Ralsei.” They ask as the goat reaches them. “How long has it been?”

He looks at them perplexed. “What do you mean, Kris?”

“How long has it been since you came here?” They explained their question. “It’s just… You look a bit older than when we left to fight the Angel, before we all got sucked into the void. How long have we been separated?”

“Wait, do you mean it’s only been a short moment from when the Void took us on your end?” Ralsei asks, to which Kris nodded in response. Ralsei looks down at the ground, a hint of sadness across their face. “Then over a year and a half.”

A year and a half??! Kris’s eyes widened at the revelation. We’ve been separated for almost a year and a half!?!

“When I showed up here.” Ralsei speaks. “I spent several weeks waiting for one of you to show up. Even after Miss Toriel said that nobody had entered the Ruins from the other side ever since she closed the doors. When none of you showed up…” They squatted onto the floor, anguishing over the memories. “I felt myself reverting back into that old Darkner self of mine. It took over several weeks before Miss Toriel was able to convince me to help her with chores around the Ruins.”

“Nowadays, I find myself taking walks around the place and speaking with the other monsters that reside here.” Ralsei breathes for a moment before springing back up. “But now that you’re here, there may be hope that the others could be too. In fact, it’s possible that if they haven’t shown up in the Ruins, they’re going to be on the other side of the door. All we would need to do is convince Miss Toriel to open them for us.”

He then places a hand on Kris’s shoulder. “Come now. I believe I could use your help in teaching the young one on how battles work down here.” He then passes, leaving Kris confused at that moment.

At least the confusion was lifted the moment Kris entered the next room, because they saw Frisk and the two ghosts clamoring around a dummy dressed up in the attire Ralsei had worn back then, down to the old red scarf.

“Look how cute this thing is!” Frisk said in glee.

“It’s mighty fine adorable.” Clover agreed.

“It does look nice.” Chara said nonchalantly however. “But I feel dressing up a battle dummy seems counterproductive. All the repairs you would have to make to both the clothes and body every time it is badly damaged.”

“Alright.” Ralsei spoke up as he stood in front of the exit of the room. “Considering what happened earlier with the flower, I think it is a good idea if I were to teach you how battles properly work down here. And I have asked Kris to help me, since they are quite experienced in the art of battle. Kris, can you please approach the dummy?”

Kris looked at the dummy, then at everyone else. If this was going to help Frisk survive, they might as well. They stepped forwards to the dummy.

BATTLE START!

*You encountered the Green Dummy.

Kris heard Chara speak this aloud, making them turn to the red ghost. “Hey, I am just simply narrating. Do you think you can do better?”

“Yes.” Kris said. “I’ve been doing it for an entire week.”

“Yeah, but you are going to look weird doing it.” Chara shoots back.

“Oh really?” Kris fires in return. “Well I think I could narrate better than-”

“Kris.” Ralsei interrupted the conversation. “Are you going to teach the kid how to battle or how to shout at air?” Kris went quiet in embarrassment, earning a laughing fit from the red ghost.

Kris raised their right hand to their face, and felt for a decent option they could choose.

Check

*Green Dummy - AT 0 DF 1

A cotton heart and a button eye adorn with kindness. All that's missing is a smile.

“Okay, okay. Not bad.” Chara clapped. “Still, I could do better.” Kris glared at them.

“Alright, Kris.” Ralsei clapped his hands before turning to Frisk to explain what they did. “That was a Check. This allows you to gather hints about the opponent that can help you SPARE them faster.”

“Now Kris,” He instructs them. “I want you to try another ACT.”

Kris brought their hand back up to their face, feeling for another action to take. And once they were ready, they pointed at the dummy.

Talk

“How are you doing today?” They asked the dummy. It said nothing back.

“Splendid.” Ralsei exclaimed in response. He then turns to Frisk. “Some ACTs will make your opponents friendlier towards you, making them easier to SPARE. However, some ACTs are not as nice, and will make them be more aggressive towards you, making them put more power behind their attacks.” They turn back to Kris. “Now, I want you to try FIGHTing. It'll be okay if you hit them, the cloth should be heavy enough to take the blow.”

Kris readied their magic blade and focused their power for an attack against the dummy. They shouted as they thrust their blade towards the left side of the dummy before quickly swinging upwards and swiping the blade over to the right side, knocking the hat off in the process. With their blade now on the other side, they thrust downwards, stopping just before the blade would hit the scarf.

Kris heard the oohs and aahs from Ralsei, Frisk, and Clover. Chara, however, did not seem impressed.

“You leave yourself open for a counter thrust, Kris.” They remarked. “Flashy, but not very viable in battle.”

“Who made you the expert in swordsmanship?” Kris butts back, but Chara rolls their eyes.

“That was very good, although you didn’t exactly hit it.” Ralsei said regarding Kris’s attack. “Then again, FIGHTing should only be a response if there’s no other option you can take. Now, I want you to show what DEFENDing looks like.”

A quick action, sure. Kris thought as they swapped their sword into a shield.

“DEFENDing allows you to increase your defense during your opponent’s turn.” Ralsei explained the mechanics to Frisk. “It will also raise your TENSION POINTS, or TP, which will allow you to pull off some moves without needing to expend MAGIC POINTS, or MP.”

“Ok, that’s new.” Kris had to interrupt. “The MP, I mean. What’s the difference?”

“Oh, I didn't realize that because you've just arrived here that you wouldn't know about MAGIC POINTS!” Ralsei apologized. “Let me explain: MP and TP are used for ACTs that require points. TP is gained through DEFENDing and Grazing, which is done by narrowly dodging attacks, and is used by the whole team. MP, however, is an individual stat that differs from person to person. Some people have more MP to draw from, some less. All MP however can only be recharged through Monster Food. And from what I’ve figured out, about 1 MP is the equivalent to 10 TP.”

“Kris.” Ralsei turned his attention back over to them. “Considering you are able to use magic, it’s likely you are capable of using MP as well. Can I check to see how much you’re drawing?” Kris nodded in response, allowing Ralsei to walk over and press his paw to their chest, around where their soul would be. “I’m sensing you may have around 30 MP, which isn’t surprising considering you can rip souls.”

“Do me, do me!” Frisk shouted, waving their arms in the air. “I want to know if I can do it too!” Ralsei then walked over to them and performed the same act.

“Huh.” Ralsei said, earning an eyebrow raise from Kris. “I seem to be picking up some magic within you, albeit to a lesser extent. I think you might have around 10 MP.” This earned a ‘COOL!’ response from the kid. Ralsei then clapped his hands together as he stood up straight. “Alright, Kris. We should wrap this tutorial up. Do you have any items on hand?”

Kris shook their head. “I used up my last Choco Diamond healing the both of us after our rough landings down here.”

“Ah, then I should give a brief explanation.” Ralsei responded. “ITEMS can be used in and out of battles like MP, allowing you to heal or equip both weapons and armors. Now Kris. I believe we are almost done here, so I now want you to SPARE the enemy.”

For their final action in battle, Kris moved their right hand back up to their face before flicking it towards the dummy with their signature pose, sparing them.

YOU WON!

You earn 0 exp and 0 gold.

The feelings of battle lifted from the field, signifying its end. Kris let out a sigh as Ralsei clapped his hands together once more as he spoke. “And that is what a battle down here looks like. Now sometimes, a battle might turn out to be tougher to handle than usual, so it is okay if you run away from it.” Frisk nodded in response. “Now, shall we put your learning to the test?” Kris stepped aside as Frisk went up to bat against the Dummy.

And then lost it when the young child immediately tried to spare the dummy. Ralsei stood dumbfounded as Frisk tried to spare the dummy again.

“Um, kid?” Ralsei spoke up as Frisk attempted to spare for a third time. “You do realize that you cannot just spare an enemy right out the gate, right?” Frisk took their attention off the dummy to look at Ralsei for a moment. “Thank you. Perhaps you should try tal-”

*Spare

“Oh my goodness.” Ralsei said as the kid went back to their spare attempts. “Kris, can you- Can you stop laughing, this isn’t helping!”

Kris attempted to calm down as they watched the kid try to spare the dummy three more times. “Hey Frisk. Maybe cool it with the spares. Ralsei is trying to teach you something here.” They watched as Frisk looked back at them for a brief moment, like how they did with Ralsei. “Kid, don’t do it.”

*Spare

*Dummy tires of your aimless shenanigans.

The group watches as the dummy floats upward and, through some strange magic shenanigans of its own, clips through the ceiling of the room as it discards the other article of clothes that had adorn it. Which unfortunately causes Kris to lose it again after a few seconds of silence. Ralsei, however, had an even more dumbfounded look on his face as he attempted to process what had just occurred.

“I’m just going into the next room.” He says as he leaves the two alone.

Chapter Text

Once Kris had managed to calm down from the events of the clipping dummy, they gathered up Ralsei’s old belongings and went into the next room to reunite with the aforementioned goat.

“Well, might as well take these back.” Ralsei said as Kris handed him the old clothes. “I hope Miss Toriel has a spare dummy lying around, it took quite a while to find the materials to make that old dummy back in Castle Town.” He puts the clothes into his inventory before resuming the conversation. “Now, this puzzle is separated into two sections: a West Wing and an East Wing. I want you to figure out the secret of the West Wing and how it connects to the East Wing, you two got that?”

Kris and Frisk nodded. Ralsei then walked over into the small hallway, presumably to the Eastern room, leaving them to their own devices.

“So, what should we check first?” Kris asked the group. Frisk pointed towards the vines on the wall.

“I think there might be a button behind those.” The kid said. Kris waved them to go over and check to see if they were correct, and Chara followed along to keep them company. Leaving Kris with the yellow ghost Clover.

“Hey Kris?” Clover asked the teen. “You mind if I ask about something real quick?”

“Shoot.” Kris said.

“Pew.” Clover jokingly responded. “A’right, what did you and Ralsei mean by ‘ rip a soul ’? You don’t mean like ‘ pullin’ your soul out ya chest, ’ right?”

“Yeah.” Kris responded. “Why’d you ask?”

“You don’t rip people’s souls out, do ya?” Clover asked, a hint of worry and anger in their voice.

It took Kris a moment to realize what Clover was getting at with their question. “OH ANGEL NO!” They shouted. “No, I don’t go ripping other people’s souls out. I only do that to myself!”

This did not help ease Clover at all. It instead brought more worry. “What do ya mean ya only rip your own soul out? Doesn’t that kill ya?!?”

“I was possessed for the last week, it was the only way to have a sense of control over my life.” They explained. “If you do it right, you can get at least a few hours in before it needs to be put back, otherwise you’ll end up comatosing.”

“That does not put me at ease whatsoever.” Clover responded as Frisk and Chara returned from their search. “But to argue with it would be hypocritical.”

“There was nothing behind the vines.” Frisk said. Kris mumbled to themself at this information as they checked the room again to see what could be the hint in the room Ralsei had mentioned. Besides the strange way the pathway on the ground looked, there really wasn’t anything out of place…

Hold on. The pathway didn’t look right.

Kris decided to roam around the path on the ground, placed in the middle of the room and leading to absolutely nowhere. There had to be a good reason for such a path here, what if this was the hint mentioned by Ralsei? Perhaps a check in the next room may provide an explanation for it. Kris walked down the hallway and turned the corner.

BATTLE START!

*You encountered a Froggit.

And Kris managed to walk into an encounter.

*Frisk joins in.

Ok, they guess this was happening. Kris should probably apologize to the Froggit for not looking where they were going.

Apologize

“Hey, sorry for bumping into you.” Kris said as they knelt down to its level. “I didn't see you at all.”

*The Froggit didn't exactly understand what you said, but thanked you anyway.

And now it was Frisk's turn to act. Hopefully they don't try to spare right off the bat, even if it would end the fight in this scenario.

Complement

“You look so cute!” Frisk squealed at the Froggit. Kris could admit the same, Froggits were usually cute.

*The Froggit didn't understand what you said, but was flattered anyway.

“Umm, excuse me.” Ralsei said as he butted into the foray. “Could you please not bother them?” He stared the Froggit down with a glare only a mother could teach. The Froggit shrunk back in fear and decided to crawl away as fast as it could from said fright, ending the battle as quickly as it started.

“I am so sorry, guys.” Ralsei said as soon as the Froggit hopped around the corner. “I really should have been paying more attention to what was going on, Toriel would have berated me if either of you got hurt.”

“Hey hey, we're fine!” Kris replied. “Besides, I can handle a few hits.”

“Well yes,” Ralsei said. “But the kid can't.”

Ah, right. Frisk was a child, they would naturally have a lower health pool compared to a teen or adult. Kris thought. That, and the fact that their own health had been manipulated to their Dark World version due to the Knight’s ritual.

“Shit, I guess.” Kris said in response. “Guess I’m gonna have to guard them.” They watched as Ralsei turned back around and headed down the hallway to the Eastern Wing, passing a plaque on the wall. Kris and Frisk walked up to it, guessing from the previous ones that this too had a hint.

“What does this say?” Kris asked Chara. Chara studied the plaque for a moment before turning back to Kris.

“It says ‘The Western Room is the Eastern Room’s blueprint.’” They responded. “You think it’s that strange path you walked around back there, Kris?”

Kris nodded in response. “It’s the only thing really standing out, so it has to be that.” They said as they walked to the right, to find that the reason for the path were the spikes.

A lot of spikes.

“What the actual fuck?!” Kris exclaims as they throw their arms forwards, gesturing towards the spiked bridge. “WHY ARE THERE SPIKES NOW!?! THAT SEEMS WAY TOO DANGEROUS, ESPECIALLY WITH THE KID!!!”

“Now that you mention it,” Ralsei says in regards to Kris’s outburst. “It does seem a bit dangerous to have you guys try to solve on your own. Perhaps I should lead the way for this puzzle, so hold onto the kid’s hand if you will.” He then turns around and guides the group through the spiked bridge, the spikes retracting beneath his feet.

“Damn.” Kris scoffed. “Would have loved to have been impaled on these.” Ralsei stops and turns back to Kris at this remark.

“You sounded like Susie there for a moment.” He says with a grin.

“Ye-yeah.” Kris chuckled, feeling flustered for some reason. “I guess that would be something she’d say at the moment.” The group resumed their trek across the bridge in silence, ending as they entered the next room.

Which was a very long hallway.

“Alright, Toriel told me that this hallway is your final test.” Ralsei explained. “A test of Independence, which now that I think about it…” He pauses as he looks back and forth between the two humans. “Isn’t exactly gonna work like she thought it might.” There was an even longer pause afterwards.

“Look, Miss Toriel probably just wants to know if you’ll be comfortable travelling by yourself from time to time.” Ralsei finally explains. “I’m likely going to be with you on the way home if she doesn’t call me to run an errand. All you need to do is just meet me at the end of this hallway, alright?” Frisk nodded in response. “Alright, I’ll see you at the end.” And with that, he jumps backwards and quickly floats down the hall.

“What the??” “Hol’ up.” Chara and Clover said, exasperated at this sudden sight. “Did he just levitate???” The two ghosts shouted in unison.

“Yeah.” Kris said. “One of his unique Darkner abilities. Still don’t know how he does that anyhow.”

“Can you please explain what a Darkner is?” Chara asked. Kris looked at the two ghosts before looking back at the long hallway in front of them, faintly seeing Ralsei at the end waving back.

“Sure.” They replied as the group began their walk down the hall. “It’ll pass the time.”

“So, to understand what a Darkner is, you have to understand what a Lightner is.” Kris begins to explain. “Which is basically what Humans and Monsters are. We’re Lightners, we live amongst the Light. Darkners, however, are a form of beings created from the imaginations of objects or ideas within the shadows, which become stronger the darker the shadow is.”

“Ok, so a monster that exists in shadows.” Clover reiterated. “But then how do you get Goat Boy over there?”

“Well, if you’re able to get the shadows to become darker than dark, you’ll be able to cross over from this world to theirs.” Kris answered. “The best way to do this is by pouring your determination into a sharp instrument and stabbing the Earth with it, creating a Dark Fountain. These fountains turn the room it was created in into a Dark World while granting you a bridge to cross over, where you’ll see Darkners like Ralsei.”

“So, Lightners and Darkners can cross this bridge?” Chara asked.

“No, only Lightners can.” Kris responded. They realized why Chara asked that question. “Darkners return to their original object form when entering the Light World. Ralsei and this other Darkner Lancer, a goofball if you meet him, are only on this side because of a binding ritual the cracked-face Knight performed on us. It’s actually the reason why I even look like this, this is my Dark World outfit.”

“Wait, so you are not just dressing up as a knight for fun?” Chara asked once again.

“No. The Dark World changes your outfit based on your personality.” Kris answered. “I became a Knight while my friends Susie and Noelle became a Barbarian and Priestess.”

“This sounds pretty cool.” Clover says.

“Yeah,” Kris says. “Until you get to the part where only one Dark Fountain should exist at a time, and too many will cause an event called ‘The Roaring.’ And that’s before we even talk about opening Dark Fountains within Dark Fountains, that’s a big no-no!”

“What is this ‘Roaring?’” Chara asks. “Why have I never heard of it? And what happens if you open a second fountain inside one?”

“It’s a world-ending event caused by too many opened Dark Fountains. You have to let the Earth heal for some time after opening one.” Kris explained the first half of Chara’s question. “And the reason why you shouldn’t open a fountain within a dark fountain is because that’s how you get Titans. Harbingers of the Roaring, and literal manifestations of everything wrong with the dark.”

“And I’m probably guessing the reason why you don’t know about this Roaring is because we did possibly come from another world.” The group went silent as they processed this information Kris mentioned.

“HUH!?!” Frisk, Chara, and Clover all shouted in unison.

“I mentioned the Void earlier.” Kris explained this new topic. “It’s like an empty plain of darkness that contains multiple realities. The Knight must have brought me and my friends here when we were unable to stop the Angel’s Heaven from continuously killing us and destroying the world over and over again. Except he had to be a prick and separated us, lousy bastard.”

“So there were Monsters on the surface in your world?” Chara asked them. Kris nodded in response. “Heh. What I would not give to have lived in your world.” They appeared to be downtrodden by this information.

The group finally reached the end of the hallway, where Ralsei greeted them once again. “Alright, since the two of you have demonstrated your independence, or rather that you can walk long distances without getting into trouble.” He stares at Kris as he says this. “I’m going to be rewarding you with your own phone for the time being.” Ralsei pulls out their Mokia and hands it to Frisk. “Which would be my phone, actually. You can call Miss Toriel if you need help with any puzzles you encounter here.”

“You know I do have a phone of my own, right?” Kris brings up to Ralsei, who turns to them as Frisk fiddles with their new cell phone. “You didn’t need to give us yours.”

“Well, does your phone get service?” Ralsei asks. Kris fumbles around their Key Inventory to pull out their own phone and turns it on.

Empty Network Bars

Well shit. Kris thought. Guess travelling to another world would make you lose connection to your service provider. That would make the phone Frisk is holding their only lifeline right now. “No, I guess not.” They said as they put it back into their inventory.

*Ring Ring

Oh good, Frisk must have found the contacts and was now calling Miss Toriel. Perhaps they could try to get a sense of what kind of personality this Toriel had, see if it was a close match to their own mother’s.

The phone line connected and a soft voice spoke through. “Hello As- Ralsei, sorry. What do you need this time?”

“Hi!” Frisk said energetically, startling Miss Toriel.

“Oh, who is this?” She asks. “Did Ralsei give you his phone?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” Ralsei spoke up. “I’m granting these two access to my phone until we reach the house.”

“Ah, that is very kind of you.” Toriel said. “You can call me Toriel, child. And what is your name?”

“I’m Frisk.” The kid spoke, a mischievous smile growing on their face. “Are you made of sugar?” Kris, Ralsei, and Chara’s eyes poked out of their sockets upon hearing this come out of Frisk. Why would they ask that kind of question? They couldn’t be trying to-

Oh Angel, THEY WERE.

“No, why would you think I am made of sugar?” Miss Toriel unknowingly adds into the child’s incoming flirt.

“Cause you sound like you have a pretty sweet-” Frisk was immediately interrupted by Kris swiping the phone out of their hands like there was no tomorrow as Chara pulled on their own hair.

“AND THERE GOES YOUR PHONE PRIVILEGES!!!” Kris shouts at Frisk. They put the phone up to their ear and spoke to Toriel. “I am so sorry, mom. I was not expecting them to just flirt wit- ACK!!!” Kris froze and slowly crumpled to their knees, realizing what had just come out of their mouth just then. By pure instinct, they managed to accidently call this Toriel “Mom,” which now directed Chara’s ire onto themself. Clover was not making this situation any better with their laughter.

“Did you just call me ‘Mom?’” Miss Toriel asks. Kris could only mumble an ‘Uhuh’ in response, not really knowing what else to say at the moment. Toriel made it no better when she responded. “Why, I would be happy to be your mother, child. I am guessing that you must be this ‘Kris’ Ralsei has mentioned again and again?” Kris muttered yet another ‘Uhuh’ in response, the words still not finding their places back on their tongue.

“Well, I hope we will meet soon, Kris.” Toriel said. “I have been told you have an appetite for pie. Goodbye.” And with that, she hangs up, leaving Kris to stay kneeling on the ground as Chara tries desperately to grab their cowl in an attempt to shake them, Clover floating upside down from laughing too hard, and Frisk and Ralsei watching close by Kris’s descent into despair.

It was going to take a moment for Kris to put themself back together after that slip-up.