PLDN Chapter 4

> CHAPTER 4: Return to the Underground
>
>

## Sub-Entry 031: "Back to Mount Ebott":

So.  It finally happened.  The timeline was back.  But I knew it wasn't...no, it was a new timeline.  While the scans indicated, clearly, that it was a pacifist timeline, I still felt worry in the back of my mind.  The last one was such.  Yet it still ended badly for everyone--all those hopes and dreams taken away for a brief moment...then everyone's memories went with them.  Almost everyone's.  Somewhere a talking golden flower was even more messed up after losing to me.  Losing with the power of six human souls, no less.

Some quick tests and research in my private Dimensional Axis room and I was ready to christen this new timeline, designating it UTPR-3235.  Once again...this was not an arbitrary number.  It had meaning.

I was really glad that the Council denied Asriel from attending the meeting.  But now, how was I going to explain that I had to deploy almost immediately.  I was back to keeping secrets all over again...no...it was the same secret, just a new timeline.

“So...did she tell you?”  I asked.

“Yeah.”  Asriel looked down at his feet.

“You have to go away again...like before.”  He sounded disappointed but understanding.

“It’s my day job.  I thought I’d be retired from it but...”

“Just when you think you got out, they pull you back in again?”  He said with a forced chuckle.

“Azzy.  No.  No movie quotes.  This is serious.”  Yet...I didn’t sound as serious as I had intended.

“I know.”

“Asriel...”

“No, it’s okay.  I’m older and wiser.  Old enough to understand why.  There’s...a greater good to serve, right?”

“Yeah.”

“I know what you’re thinking.  No.  She didn’t tell me to where and when you’re going.  I understand what classified means.”

I looked into his eyes.

“Hey.  I’m a teenager, now.  I’ll be fine on my own.  Besides, it’s not like you won’t be back.  I’m patient.  I’ll wait up for you, whether it’s hours or days or...weeks.......or months.  Even...\*sniffle\*...years.”

“Hey, don’t go all...”

“I’m a crybaby...\*sob\*...this is what I do.”  Asriel was starting to tear up and sniffle.  “I’m always going to be a crybaby.   Really.  It’s fine.  It’s okay for a big boy to cry.  Chara would understand.”

“...yeah.  I think she would.”

“Well...time’s-a-wastin’.  You don’t want to hold up your mission, now do you?”

“No...but...I’m in no hurry to leave you guys behind.  I still have some...prep to do.  I have to dust off some stuff in the X-Vault--”

That was about the moment the Delorean appeared out of its three-explosion worm-hole and drifted to a stop inches from us.

“KOMMAND has been busy.”  I noticed it had been cleaned up and refurbished.

“Well...your ride’s here.”

“I got stuff to do before I take it out.”

“You need to talk with Miles and Sensei and Aunt Vi and everyone else.”

“Yeah.   Get some supplies, dust off my weapons (I hope I won’t need them.).”

That was when my com-link went off and the Council was quick to send me an update.

“Volt Arcade.  You have an hour to prepare and report to the transport room to deploy.”

“Oh no...”  I groaned.  “Well...change of plans.  I guess I won’t be taking the Delorean.  I guess it’s up to you to look after her for a while.”  I handed Asriel the keys.

“No joyriding.  Especially through TIME.”  I cautioned.

“I know.  I’m actually afraid of tampering with time.  Not until I know more about quantum physics and chrono-science.  All the stuff you know...the Butterfly Effect...and stuff...”  Asriel rubbed the back of his head.

“LIke Bunnie says...”

“Those who deserve power the most are the ones who desire it the least?”

“That-a-boy.”

Asriel got in the car and made sure the time circuits were switched off and drove off to UCIAT Headquarters; and parked in the vehicle bay.

I made my preparations; visiting Bunnie for advice, assurance, and any necessities we could scrounge up. Unfortunately there was not enough time to do this proper what with S.T.C. about to yank me out of there.

I visited a few others I had decided to keep the circle small. There wasn't time to update Queen Brooke. I'd have to inform her once I returned.

I did however visit Miles and made very clear what was expected while I was away. He still felt he was pretty green in the grand scheme of things. But he still looked to me for direction.

When all was said and done, the Council automatically recalled me, now that my bracer's A.E.O.N. link and beacon were reestablished.

I reappeared on the transport platform.

"Back to do this by the numbers..." I muttered.

I reported to the Council chambers for briefing. Fun, fun, fun (sarcasm heavily implied).

I visited the armory for a quick load-out. How generous...only the bare essentials.

And finally back to the transport room again.

""Agent Arcade, you are clear to deploy. Begin the final countdown."

"All lights are green." The technicians assured. Maybe they'd get this one right.

"Coordinates locked. UTPR-3235 confirmed."

"Conduct your research as you will." The transmission of the council was brief. "Refrain from your usual...maverick methods if you can help it."

Ouch. That was passive-aggressive.

"Now transporting...in 10...9...8...7...6...5...4...3...2...1...IGNITION!"

And the tachyon and chronoton flow around me began and I found myself being pulled out of this reality and into another...

All seemed well until I heard the klaxxons at the last moment.

"Ohhh sh--"

And then...

## Sub-Entry 032: "Diverted by the Man Who Speaks in Hands":

"Wha...what happened...?"

In that brief moment a spike of anger practically lined up the STC transport technicians in crosshairs.  They had failed me for the last time......AGAIN.  I know what I just said.  Don't roll your eyes over my contradiction!  It was deliberate, okay?

Okay.  Calming down.  I might be on a little edge.  For good reason, too.  I recognized this place.

"The Void.  I'm back in the Core again."

No so much as the Core in the traditional sense, mind you.  It would probably be a better description to compare it to DImension W's fourth plane of existence where the "coils" were used to extract energy form the surface layer of that fourth dimensional plane.

In this case this inner universe, this limbo within the dark matter space of the core, where everything ceased to exist...this place meant only one thing.  Or rather one person...

"Gaster."  My expression doured and my mood crashed hard.  I was not looking forward to that damn ex-skeleton monster again.  I swear if he was about to get uppity about the last timeline I was going to shatter his freakin' mandible.  Screw however much LV that was equivalent to.

Strange...it almost felt like there was even more structure here than before, despite it being an empty void...if anything it felt more like the inside of Troia Base...the training cyberspace environment for the New Generation Reploids; a pseudo-digital, crystaline techno-matrix filled with quantum code and almost crystaline structures.

My footsteps still made that crystally ring that was vaguely metallic, as they had before.

As I blinked I swore I could make out hovering, transparent crystal structures in midair...but only for less than a hearbeat’s instance.  What had Gaster been doing in here?  This didn’t feel like his usual Core research.

“Hmm?  Oh!  It would appear you’ve arrived.  On time.  I would expect no less.”

That was Gaster’s voice alright...each instance I came here his voice was more...tangible?  It was less so...a language that defied explanation and even less of a literal interepretation of “Man Who Speaks in Hands”.  I don’t know how to describe his old iterations...like I could see a manefestation of his very words in character/symbol form...in...well...Wing Dings.

“You...”  I narrowed my eyes.

“Come, Doctor.  We have much to discuss.”

It was W.D. Gaster alright...but...the demeanor had changed.  It didn’t feel like the spiteful, pompous ass who looked down on me from his high horse.  No...this couldn’t be him.

As I looked, he looked even more...complete than the last time.  I’d estimate 99% a skeleton.  But the holes in his hands were still there and the slices in his skull from his mouth to his eye socket and his other eye socket to behind his head were still there.  There was less...deformation in his skull as well.  Plus unlike the last time, he was wearing bifocals.  Weird thing that a skeleton should need glasses...

“Gaster--”  I starrted, sounding quite angry.

“I know you must have questions and this must feel largely inconvinient, but rest assured, I did not intend to divert you from your duties as a slight or deliberate attempt to provoke you.”

“You have no idea...”  I only slightly backed off.

“Hmm...”  Gaster looked at me.  “That expression...that’s the expression of someone who’s had hardships--”

“You dare to talk to me about that?  This world got reset and threw all my efforts in the trash and you’re suddenly going to double-talk on me after warning me that it would all be fruitless?  Well guess what?  You were right, I was wrong.  Happy?”

“Calm yourself, Dr. Arcade.”

“I don’t get you!  What is this?  What is all of this?!”

Gaster sighed.

“I suppose I deserve that.  Please, I wish for you to give me the benefit of the doubt here.  I’ll explain the best I can.”

“Explain fast.  I may have limitless patience, but that doesn’t mean I can’t be a little pissed off about the whole thing.”

“Okay.  Let’s start from the beginning...or the end.  When the child reset.  Something...happened when they did.”

“That’s descriptive.”

“I’ve been studying over this..anomaly for some time and I’ve begun to isolate...foreign modification to this world’s...structure.  Its...code.”

I let him speak at that point.

“I’d tried searching for a match but...then it occured to me...when I disabled your equipment, things that I detected within it...had a familiarity to it.  It didn’t occur to me until...memories of that started coming back.  I often wondered if anyone outside of this void has...echoes of that timeline in their subconscious?  What a remarkable phenomenon!  Echoes of memories adhering to the convervation of energy and the conservation of mass.  Perhas...this is...conservation of information?  All from an outside element influencing its very nature...this is proving very...interesting.”

I began to follow where this was going.

“You’re saying...that I caused this?”

“In so many words...your bracer affected their reset; your essence got entangled when this world was deconstructed and became intermeshed when it was reconstructed...like the alchemy of the ancient surface world I had researched in centuries past.”

“Then...there very nature of this world has changed?”

“I haven’t determined in what way...because I believe somehow...the changes leaked outside of space and time...even finding its way into this void.”

“Changing you as well.”  I reasoned.  There was a dissatifaction knowing that Gaster himself was fundamentally altered in some ways.  It meant that there would be no comeuppance.  I wouldn’t be able to give him a piece of my mind in good conscience...even though his memories of that were still inact--

“I also feel I should apologize for...my previous selves.   I...we...whichever is the right pronoun....was/were not...whole.”

Damn.  That just took all the wind out of my sails.  I really wanted to be steamed at him.

“...apology accepted.”  It was begrudging but sincere.

“While I am very aware of a lot of things about this world...its past selves...its vast sea of timelines that have come and gone...I still remain blind and deaf to what lies outside of this world and its iterations.  I...have...desynced, in a manner of speaking...I have lost touch with you and the Prince.  I’m sure everyone else who was aware of them has lost track as well.”

Sans.  Echoes of our battle were going on in my head at that moment.  Was he any different?  More or less likeable?  Did he still carry a grudge against me?  Surely he couldn’t be happy with Frisk.  I’d have new challenges trying to convince him to forgive and forget.

“The Prince is just fine...”

“I know you must think very lowly of me...I was...not compassionate toward his plight in earlier iterations.  The last two timelines in particular.  I knew what he had become in other versions...there was a time before I lost myself...when I felt remorse for what was done to him.  At some point...I stopped being able to forgive him for his behavior, regardless of his soulless form.  I just...slipped further and further away as the photon readings began to drop well into the negatives.  I lost whatever...constitution was left of me; mentally and physically.

But with your presence in the last timeline and this one...I’ve started to...regain what was lost.  Perhaps you and your world are the key.”

I felt a little more inclined to throw him a bone...no pun intended.

“Asriel is...happy.  He’s finally aging...growing.  He’s learning so much...acquiring skills most everyone in the Underground would never have dreamed of.  He’s so full of hope...so full of dreams...so full of wishes...so full of...light.”

“Light...I begin to wonder if my research went in the wrong direction.  Maybe it wasn’t the dark matter...the Void itself...that should have been the basis for the Core.  It’s still functioning properly but...”

“It’s like the nuclear reactors of the human world.  Once thought to be a well-spring of limitless power, turned out to be too much poisonous risk to be a safe and viable source.”

“Interesting...”  Gaster stroked his mandible...I’d seen Papyrus do similar.  Was this version of Gaster...?  It seemed likely.

“That look...you’re wondering about my relation to Sans and Papyrus.”

Okay...does he also have Bunnie’s Sixth Sense?

“I assure you it’s...a much more benevolent connection this time around.  But as to what exactly...you’re welcome to speculate.  I believe humans call that...spoilers?”

“Right.”  Okay...as the conversation kept going I didnt’ want to admit that I was warming up to this W.D. Gaster.

“You have many other questions.  As do I.  While even though time and its flow in this non-existence is...different.  Still...it doesn’t change the fact that time is passing on all sides.  By this point,  the first fallen has met their fate as has the Prince.  The six other souls have already met their fate.  This will bring you back to the eighth fallen’s time.  Their instance of Determination...where their timeline begins.”

“Hmm...if need be...would I still have access to the earlier parts of this timeline?”

“This timeline is unstable as your agency calls it.  You should be able to...if that is what you need to do.  But I warn you...you won’t find much pleasant in this timeline.  It...did not deviate like the “Genocide Timeine” we first met.”

“I know...that was a one chance in a number beyond anything comprehensible by man or machine.”

But the option to seeing if this timeline was any different was...something I could reserve for future visits here to the Underground.  Heh.  Days of future past?  You’re doing it again, Arcade.

“Is there anything I should know going in there?”

“Probably...nothing I should tell you.  What you’ll discover is something you’ll find out in a natural course of time.”

Right there Gaster sounded so much like my mentor, Dr. Brown.

“You’re right.  Well.  When you send me back...at least try and keep me on course.”

“Rest assured, I’ll keep you from any mishaps within the scope of my powers.  But afterward, you’ll probably be at the mercy of the ones who handle your transport through time and space.”

I groaned.

“Well...thank you for the assist.  And...no hard feelings, Doctor.”

“The same, I should hope?”

“No....not anymore.  It would be pointless to carry a grudge, now.  And in bad taste.”

“I will warn you.  Be careful.  You have not been the only outsider to set foot on this world.”

“I know.  It was his fault that the timeline went so horribly wrong.  I just won’t be able to prove it to the others...I don’t even know if I should.”

“The day may come when you will have to, my dear Dr. Arcade.”

“I’ll do what I can until then.”

Gaster opened the door and I stepped through...

## Sub-Entry 033: "Fallen Down, Rising Up":

...fallen down...

...that was the phrase that popped into my head in that brief instant I blinked.

Then I realized...I was in fact falling...down the mouth of Mount Ebott!

“...you idiots...”  I muttered, vowing that when I got my hands on my transport technicians, it would not be pretty.

\*WHUMPH\*

I landed, the flowers breaking my fall.  And I was out...for maybe a moment or two.

“Ugh...why do I keep forgetting what that was like...”

I was referring to that instance where my techs had dropped me in the wrong timeline; as a result I got a head full of dust laced with blood that ended up screwing with my mind...causing those nightmares.

I rose to my feet and lumbered toward the dimly lit purple doorframe.  In the darkness I could see...

“!!!”

I gasped.

“Frisk...!”

I shook off my moment of daze to try to catch up.  I could just make out the outline of Toriel.  I was a hair late on the uptake.

I stopped to catch my breath.

“Wait...!”  I managed to gasp...but not loud enough for anyone to hear.

I admit it.  I was prepared for this, but in the time I had been diverted by Gaster, I’d completely fallen apart.

I should have gone in with the Hazard Card activated.  I should have done a lot of things.  I was minutes into this mission and already screwing up.

That’s what five years of being out of practice does to you.

“Dammit all!”  I muttered to myself, sorting through my holo-tablet’s various data windows and apps.

“Come on...”  I called up everything I had compied to date to prepare myself.

“Yes...”  I read through as many notes as I could.

“Man oh man...what a way to kick this off...”

I started to cross the area, going through the patch of grass.

That was when I felt it coil around my leg..and trip me up.

“OOF!”

I picked myself up and tried to roll over...that’s when I saw it.

“No...”  My eyes widened at the thorny vine around my leg.

I reached down and tried to pull it loose.  It got tighter in response.

“Don’t do this...not now...!”

I sat up and pulled harder.

That was when I sensed it.

I slow turned as it rose out of the ground.

“Howdy.”  Came the greeting.  But it wasn’t cheerful.  In fact...it sounded angry.

“F...Flowey?”

“That’s right...it’s your old pal...Flowey the Flower.”  I turned around and looked.  The little yellow murderflower was back.

“You...you couldn’t stay away...”  Flowey drooped over, looking like he was wilting.

“Flowey, I’m sorry.  I--”

“Sorry isn’t good enough!”  He suddenly snapped up, barring fangs but otherwise keeping the same face.

“You’re right...I screwed this up, bad...but I want to make it right--”

“It’s too late for that...”

That’s when the unthinkable happened.

Flowey pulled himself underground...then I felt the vine pull on me...and I felt the ground open up and I felt myself being engulphed!

“AAAAAAAAAARGHHHHHH!!!!!!”

Everything went dark.

I tried lighting up my fur...that’s when I saw I was in a hollowed out...well...space under ground.  It was cramped but enough for me to stand up...it looked like an older area that the ruins were built on top of.

I had pondered that there might be older labyrinths underneath it all.  Like something one of the previous children might have fallen into.   Violet would probably joke that it would make its own spinoff game...like a yellow edition.

I’d faced Chara-Wraith multiple times and didn’t bat an eyebrow.  Sure she kicked my butt, a couple of those times, but in all fairness she was using Mettaton NEO’s body and an bio-nanomachine cyber-mutated body stolen from the abilities of two of our town’s shapeshifters.  This was a golden flower, animated by memories and injections of Determination.  Chara-wraith easily slashed him to pieces in Genocide runs.

Why couldn’t I lay a hand on him?

“Don’t...please don’t...you have nothing to gain from this!”

“It doesn’t matter...you’re the cause of my suffering.  You did this.  You made Chara vanish.”

“But...the timeline reset.  The new Chara soul should have--”

“They never came back after they died.”

“Wh...what?”  I was stunned.  “But...Frisk--”

It was coming back.  Flowey was aware Frisk wasn’t Chara in the last time-line.

This of course led to a scarier realization.  Flowey retained all of his memories from the last timeline.  He was practically unchanged.

Worse thant that...he was continuing what he started as Photoshop/Omega Flowey...without the six souls.

Come on.  Get a hold of yourself, Volt.  Face your fear.  Turn this around and fast!

Flowey suddenly appeared and began the assault with the Friendliness Pellets.  They hurt...bad.  They weren’t enough to pierce me and what injury they did cause regenerated way too face for it to be a problem.

Look at him, Volt.  Look at him.  He’s not...he’s not...he’s NOT...!!!

“I’m getting...a little tired...of your SH-(FLOWEY CACKLE), Asriel!!!”

With that...the assault stopped.

Flowey suddnely looked...stunned...maybe even a little shocked.

## Sub-Entry 034: "Flowey's Grief.  A Flower's Unresolved Issues/Navigating the Ruins":

“I...thought I told you...Asriel’s dead...I’m just--”

“Stop making excuses.  Man...he was right...I’m sorry what happened to you, but not sorry enough to excuse you being a total spoiled rotten jerk!”  I tightned my fists.

I pointed at the plant.

“You think you’re the only one who ever lost someone you care about?  You don’t know anything, you damn weed!”

Flowey's expression slowly drooped from blank to a little spooked.

“You didn’t think this through, did you?  Fight an immortal lycanthrope with the power of deep space cosmic storm who you’re REALLY pushing to light up like the sign to Hotland?!  Or did you forget last time you had the power of six human souls giving you all bout the power of a god?!”

“I...I...!”  It was true.  Flowey didn’t know how to respond to that.  He wasn’t prepared for this.

“I don’t have time for your temper tantums and your game.  You want to go off “script”, you know there are consequences for that.  Or do I need to remind you what Chara’s “fun” got her...”

Flowey’s face shifted...to that of Asriel.  He was in there somewhere.  At least...the part of him that could feel fear.

“Ch...Chara...n...no...”

“Accept it.  Her mischief was what lead to her getting taken over by true evil and that lead her to her death.  I’m sorry it’s unfair that she was as much of a victim as you, in the last timeline but you know better.  You just don’t care.  You got bored like she did and it’s put you in a time-loop that keeps going over and over.”

I glared at “Flow-ey-sriel”.  “You have to have figured it out by now.  So tell me...who put you up to this.  You have to know you were lied to.  You have to know being partners with him won’t bring her back.”

“......”

“What?”

“I...I don’t want to be here...”  Flowey dug deeper and tunneled away.

“Coward.”  I growled.   “You’re not my best friend.  I shouldn’t have ignored that for so long.”

I then bore my claws and started digging my way up.

“Well...this sucks.”  I said as I finally emerged top-side.

I started picking my way through the ruins...the easy traps and such.  They were coming back to me.  Frisk and Toriel already had a head start.

I found myself confronting everyone from Froggit to Vegetoid.  Curiously...none of them engaged me.   It was weird when Monsters didn’t attack you.  And yet...they still left GP behind when they headed off and bid me farewell.   What was going on with this world.

“Good...grief...”

It wasn’t long before...

“Okay, Muffet.  Here’s an advance on the money I owe you...”

Like rehearsed I left the GP in the spider web.

Like clockwork I got my spider donut and some spider cider.

“I just know I’ll end up in a weird situation with a bill, later but at least I’ll be on her good side.”

Some time later...

“Ohhhhhhh.  I’m in your way, aren’t I?”

Napstablook.  He was already wearing the hat.  Dapper-blook represent.

“Ohhhh noooo...I should goooo...”

“Wait.  You...don’t have to leave.  Stay a bit.”

“If that’s what you want...”

“I’m Volt.”

“I’m...Napstablook.”

“You’re a ghost.  Right?”

He nodded shyly.

“Well...it was nice to meet you.  I have to get going.”

“Ohhh....well...it was nice to met you.”  He actually smiled.  “Today..is...a good day...I met two nice people...”  He faded out.  As I did I heard him humming...wait was that “Graveyard Theory”?

Was it...possible...?

The switch puzzles.

I continued onward until I got close to Toriel’s house up ahead.  I stopped to look at the tree outside.

I didn’t notice Flowey sprout up behind me.

He scowled.  “I’ll show you...”  That was when his vines tunneled through the ground...up the walls...into the ceiling...and then dislodged a large chunk of rock overhead.  I looked up too late--

\*ERROR\*

\*LOGGING INTERRUPTED\*

\*SUBJECT UNCONSCIOUS\*

## Sub-Entry 035: "Meeting Goat Mom For the First Time...Again":

\*CRYPTOSMASHER ONLINE\*

\*LOGGING SYSTEM REACTIVATING\*

\*RESUMING MISSION PARAMETERS\*

I started to stir.

Oww, my head...

C’mon, Volt.  Open your eyes.

“Ohhh...”  I moaned.

I heard it in the darkness, still trying to get my eyelids to respond.  A woman’s voice.  A familiar voice.

But almost immediately...I was in for something I wasn’t prepared for.  She was humming.  I know this song...I know it...!

“Wha...”

“Oh!  I am sorry.  I did not mean to disturb you.  You still need your rest.  I’ve healed your injuries.”

That song...

“I hope I was not a bother--”

I finally opened my eyes.  White fur.  Floppy ears.  Dark, copper red eyes.  Tiny little cow horns.  Conspicuous fangs from the muzzle.  Tiny little nostrils on the snoot.

Toriel Dreemurr.  Yup.  Same purple ceremonial robes with the white suit with the flaring sleeves unearneath.  Barefoot as Bunnie’s karate class when on the dojo floor.

“You’re my...you’re my...!”  I almost said aloud; getting the same vibe one Marty McFly must’ve had no less than three times when he woke up in the 1950’s, an alternate 1985, and 1885, respectively.

“Ah!  You’re awake now.  Please forgive an old woman--”

“N...no.  It’s okay.  That song--”

“Do you like it?  It’s called “Fiery Nights”.”

No.  Way.  How?  How could she remember that?  Even subconsciously.  Did she remember me?  The timeline was reset...but was it a True Reset or a regular one?  I should know the rules to this world.  Still...for something that personal to survive the world being deconstructed...

“Where...did you hear it from?”

"I am sorry.  But I cannot say that I know that.  I has been a song that has always stayed with me but I do not know how, when, or where I learned it.  I feel like...it was a gift from a friend...but...I know of no such person who shared this song with me.  It is truly...a mystery.”

More proof of my theory from earlier.

“Kind sir...I found you collapsed in front of my home with a nasty head injury.  You are lucky that it was not serious.

“F...Flower...”  I managed to get out.

Toriel’s mood soured for only a moment. “You need not worry about that horrible creature.  I drove it off.  It will not bother you again.”

I sat up and held my aching head.  I was...on a bed.  As I looked around I began to recognize the surrounding area as Toriel’s room.

“I am Toriel.  I am keeper of the ruins.”

I hesitated.  I was in a bit of a haze, so I was struggling to come up with a cover story at that point.

“Dr. Volt Alessandro Arcade.  I’m...kind of a physician and researcher.”

“Oh!  A scholar.  That is fortunate.  But...how did you come to enter the ruins?  The only entrance is through the door leading to Snowdin Forest, through the cellar.”

“I...uh...”

Toriel looked at me for a moment.

“Are you...one of them?”

“Them?”

“One of the fabled monsters who was never found, captured and imprisoned in Mount Ebott.  There havs been stories that...some of us, those untold number of years and years ago remained in hiding.  I’ve heard...tales...about creatures spoken in myth on the surface world.”

Surface?  Wait...what she was suggesting was sounding suspicously like old folklore, fables, and legends.  Things like...the Loch Ness Monster, the Abominable Snow Man, Mermaids, the Jersey Devil, Chupacabra...yeah...the list went on.

Wait...who did she hear stories from?

The only explanation I could think of...was the six children who fell into the underground.  They had to have told her stories about the surface world.

“Tell me...how long were you in hiding?  How did you find your way to the underground?”

This seemed like an opportunity.  A do-it-yourself kit for a somewhat believable story to go by to maintain secrecy.  So I went with it.

“Yes...my...family and I remained isolated from humans in a hidden village.”

I decided to spin a tale based on a truth.  A truth that was far into my past.  I did have a birth family once.  We did live in a hidden village.

“Until we were discovered and.....well...let’s not go into...unpleasant memories.”

Bringing up the Huntress...that wasn’t a good memory of mine.  I thought I buried it deep.

“Oh...my...condolences.”

“My family and I were on the run with my friends...others who were in hiding.  As for how I came here...all I remember is...falling down a hole and waking up in a bed of flowers.”

I kept the explanation short and to the point.  There’d be another time to delve into details and annectdotes later.

“How terrible...separated from your family!”

“My...wife and daughters must be so worried.”  I continued to weave a tale...a fib made out of truth.  “I wonder...what became of them...my other friends.”  I almost name-dropped Bunnie, Violet, and the others.  Not yet.  Not this soon.  Not until I got my stories straight.

“Well...I should let you go back to sleep and finish up your slumber.

“How long was I out?”  I asked.

“It’s been...several hours.   But not enough for a proper sleep.  It is very late.  You should go back to bed and rest up.  Children who sleep well grow well, right?”

“Haven’t been a child for a long time.  But I know what you mean.  I doubt I’m going to grow any, though.  I think I’ve already peaked.” I said with a chuckle.

A brief and muffled laugh.

“Well...I guess I’ll take your advice.  I...have a lot to think about...a lot to come to terms with.”

“I guess I should rest.”

“Yes, please do.  At the very least if you cannot slumber, please be considerate and keep silent.  I have another...guest I do not wish to awaken.

Frisk must be in the child’s room.  I wonder if that third room was still under renovation?

“What about you?  Do you have a place to sleep, Toriel?”

“You need not worry about a silly old monster such as me.  I will make do with the recliner in the other room by the fireplace.”

“Seems...inconvinient for you.  But if you’re sure.”

“Perhaps tomorrow you can tell me more about you, Doctor.”

“Perhaps.  But...you can call me Volt.  I think you’ve--”

“...earned that?”

“Yeah...”

“We are friends after all.”  She beamed.

“Friends...”  I said to myself.  “I would like to believe we are.”  I replied.

Was she...always this quick to extend the olive branch right off the bat?

This was strange.  It was like...so much unfinished business was taking care of itself after waiting 5 years.

“Well.  Good night.  Pleasant dreams.”

Dreams...I wonder what dreams I would have that night?

I lay back down and covered up.  Toriel closed the door and I heard her footsteps get softer as she went down the hallway.

I drifted off again.  At some point during the night I thought I caught the smell of...well, what am I saying, of course I coaught the smell of Butterscotch-Cinnamon Pie.  Gods...I really hope she offers me some of that and some tea.  I could probably use it when I was properly rested.

## Sub-Entry 036: "A Heartbreak Healed By Mercy":

I’m not sure when I woke up but the first thing I did was strain my ears to listen for movement in the other rooms.

Nothing.

I was the first one up...I think.

I quietly got up and found my sandals laying nearby.  I slipped them on and generated a miniature Neon Light orb in my palm so I could look around my surroundings.

I took a moment to think and trust...that my eyes weren’t playing tricks on me..   Well...here comes a thought:

As the Rebecca Sugar song went: “Everything stays right where you left it.  Everything stays but it still changes ever so slightly, daily and nightly...etc.”

Oh boy.  Lisa’s got me singing those songs now.  I digress...the lyrics held true even now.

There was her sock drawer.  Still scandalous.  There was her diary.  Still filled with skeleton puns.  There was the photo album with a...\*ahem\*...picture of her when she was younger.  I’m...not at liberty to go into detail.

I slid “Chariel” out from the desk but for a moment before returning it to where it originally sat.

And there...the picture frame turned face-down...no, two......two?

I righted the first one.  Asgore, Toriel, and Asriel...but...where was Chara?  I was beginning to worry that what Flowey said was true.  What if...the new Chara soul never did find their way back to this timeline?  What if Chara-Wraith had knocked her...him...them so far out of the incarnation process that...

No...that can’t be right.  If that were the case, then Asriel would have never had a reason to cross the barrier and there wouldn’t be a child’s  body to lay to rest in the bed of flowers at the center of  the village.  Granted, he had his memories from the last timeline.  Granted, he went through the same situations only to be wracked with grief once more.  Yet, again he followed their infernal plan which ended in failure, blood, dust, a broken family, and a kingdom losing hope.   To time travel back through the unstable timeline now just to confirm what I knew would be a wasted effort.

Which mean only one thing.  When their combined soul shattered, both of them disappeared without a trace.   Frisk didn’t have a ghostly tag-along this time.

A thought occured.  Wouldn’t that mean this was the best possible scenario for a true pacifist ending?  No evil presence to break the rules?  I just had to worry about the weed.   An easier job this time around would be welcome.

But...why wasn’t Chara in the photo?  Was their existence somehow erased, post-mortis?  I coiuldn’t just ask Toriel or Asgore about it.  Once again I’d be sleuthing for clues without letting anyone know I was doing so.  I’d have to...coax them to give that information freely without it becoming an interrogation.

I checked the other photo. It was...some people but...they were...blurred out. It looked like something had been spilled on the photo and somehow caused the image to distort. Vaguely...it looked as if...they were making heart-shapes with their hands.......wait...was this? Was this what remained of my Mother's Day gift to her in the old time line? Somehow it still existed but...badly warped in the reset such that our images were unrecognizable. The only thing that could be made out were those heart-hand gestures.

I quietly opened the door and entered the hallway, tip-toe-ing.  Probably should have just carried my sandals in my hand but it was probably better to have both hands empty for whatever lay ahead.

The room under renovation hadn’t changed.  Why would it?  The child’s room door was closed.  No sounds of movement or activity.

I went the other way toward the family room/dining room.

Toriel was asleep in the recliner by a still-burning fireplace.  The table had a couple of slices of pie and some servings of tea nearby.

I checked the kitchen.  Based on the scent...I figured she’d been up into the border between incredibly late and incredibly early making the pie and preparing for breakfast.  She had tired herself out being a caretaker.

I pulled out a chair from the table and put it close to the fireplace and sat down, deciding to pass the time and figure things out.

I had just started collecting my thoughts when Toriel stirred and awoke.

“Oh!  Good morning!”  I blurted out.

“And to you, Doctor Volt.”

“Just Volt.  The P.h.D. is superficial around here.”  I insisted.

“Did you sleep well?”

“I did.  But it looks like yours was less than--”

“Nonsense.  You are my guest.  I can make sacrifices for the sake of new friends.”

“If...you’re sure.”  I was doing my best to be on my most polite behavior.  It felt almost like the vibe that had grown between us had been brought back to zero.  I wondered how this world decided what to retain and what to reset.

“So...you are a physician?”

“Scientist and explorer would be accurate.”

“Oh!  So you have been all around the surface world?”

“In a manner of speaking.  I know you have questions but...I don’t very much feel like talking about work...especially now that I’m probably never going to be able to return to it...”  I said, hinting at the barrier.

“Oh dear.  I am sorry.  I did not--”

“No, it’s okay.  I’ll...just have to eek out a new life and figure things out.”  I tried steering the conversation away from my “plight”.  I thought a moment.  “Perhaps...when I’ve adjusted to things around the Underground.”

“I see...you intend to leave the Ruins to see what lies out there.”

“What do I have to fear out there?”

“If you only knew...”  She looked to the side for a moment.

“Whatever it is that has you concerned, I assure you.  I can take care of myself.”

I generated a ball of electric plasma in my hand before snuffing it.

“No, no.  I see you are very strong.  It’s just that...”

“That look in your eyes.  You’re a pacifist, right?”

“Perhaps once I believed that was the right way to live in this world.  But...there have been...changes tot this Kingdom over time.  I...do not know how much you know of the Underground by reputation.”

“...there were...stories.”  I decided to nip this in the bud.  No pun intended.  “There was a story a long time ago about a monster somehow escaping the barrier.  I heard the stories of the “brave villagers who fended off a horrible beast”.  I felt the story was unfairly slanted.  I know how...humans can be.”

Bit of a dangerous line to ride, Volt.

I immediately saw Toriel’s expression turn to anguish.  Curse you, Volt.  For making Goat Mom cry again!

“Do you know something, Toriel?”

“It is no tale.  It is history.  Painful history.  That horrible beast was...my son.”

“Your son?”  I knew the story and where it was headed.

She nodded and explained the tragic tale of Asriel.  Hearing it a second or even third time didn’t help me any.

“I’m...so sorry.”  I comforted.  “If what you explained is the case...then that makes you the former Queen?”

“Emphasis on...former.”

“Then in New Home...”

She turned away at the implication of Asgore.  “I do not wish to speak of the cowardly whelp.”

“But...clearly there’s something...still there.”  I probably shouldn’t have went there.

She growled for but a moment...then sighed.  “I did not foresee that being angry with him for this long would...take so much effort to maintain.

“Grudges are taxing.  I’ve seen what they do to good people.  Only the truly wretched can maintain them indefinitely.”

I looked off to the side, thinking of my own arch-enemy who had gotten away with hurting me and my family and friends and just disappeared for five years.

“It would matter not.  Even if...I did want to reconcile...surely he would not feel the same.  By abdicating the throne and leaving his side, I have committed an act of treason.  By safeguarding all those children over the years, I have willfully aided and abetted enemies of the crown.”

“Toriel...you don’t have to walk alone in this.”

“It is the way I deserve...failing as a mother and wife.”

“Toriel...my...second in command...that is my most loyal friend and follower used to say that “Even if you walk alone, hope never walks alone.”

“That is good advice but...words do not always have the power in practice that they bring to the ears.”

“You are still a Dreemurr...in both senses of the word.  Even if you have forsaken the name, I can see you still have dreams buried inside.”

“Dreams are meant to be broken.”

“But the pieces remain.  You only need to fit them back together.  My friend also would say dreams are forever.”

Toriel sighed again but didn’t look like she wanted to dispute it.  Silence at that point.  Suddenly she looked pensive and turned toward the staircase in the hallway.

“Excuse me...there is something I must attend to.  If you wish there is food prepared in the kitchen.  I was going to offer the pie on the table but it has since gotten cold.  Perhaps a piece from the remaining part on the oven.  The magic should still be keeping it warm.

“That is a kind offer.”  I was going to protest but I felt there was an urgency to her voice.  I went into the kitchen without delay.  I soon heard Toriel leading the child away from the staircase and bringing them to the living quarters.  I peered around the door frame.  I could see the back of Toriel but I couldn’t get a good look at Frisk in front of her.

I ducked back in and helped myself to a slice of pie and a fresh cup of tea.  I continued to follow Toriel’s words as she spoke to the child.  It unfolded pretty much right on cue.  Sure enough Toriel left the room and headed down the staircase.  I then heard Frisk’s footsteps behind.

Well.  No sense in putting this off.  Better see this unfold.  I finished my slice of pie and downed my tea...then grabbed one of the slices on the table and one of the cups of tea on the table and put them in my E.N.G.I.N.E. dots for later.  Don’t show them to Asriel, no matter what, Volt.

I casually headed down the staircase, activing the SPECTRE function of the bracer...finally and continued on my way.  I caught up pretty quick and overheard everything.

"You wish to return “home” do you not?  Up ahead lies the end of the RUINS.  A one-way exit to the rest of the Underground.  I am going to destroy it.  No one will ever be able to leave again.  Now be a good child and go upstairs.”

I was catching up quickly.   Strange...Frisk’s form was...taller and more...shapely than I remember.  Weren’t they...a child?  An agender child?

“Every human that falls down here meets the same fate.  I have seen it again and again.  The come.  They leave.  They die.  You naive child... If you leave the RUINS... They... ASGORE... Will kill you. I am only protecting you, do you understand?  Go to your room..."

They had reached the corner, a left-turn toward the first ruins gate.

“This is your final warning...”

I took a deep breath and turned the corner  I could clearly see the back of Frisk.  Their...hair was longer than I remember.  That was...definitely a female body, maybe 14 or 15.  The blue and jumper sweater with the pair of purple horizontal stripes.  Were those...jean-shorts...jorts?

Okay, Volt.  You touched ground on this in previous laboratory notes; the theory that each Frisk was different, in all probability.  But...this felt radically different.  I’d never seen a Frisk incarnate with a definitive gender before.  I suspected...this was one of the side effects of me...my bracer altering the nature of this timeline.  This Frisk was definitely a young girl.  But...was it the same soul?  Or a new one?  My mind started to race with thoughts and I remembered what I originally theorized that the Chara-Wraith might have...taken other Frisk’s souls in Genocide Runs.

Yet, this was a supposedly pacifist run that had come after the reset of a pacifist run.  By logic, it had to be the same Frisk as before.

“Hmph.  You are just like all the others.  There is only one solution to this.  Prove yourself... Prove to me you are strong enough to survive.

And with that Toriel blocked the way.  It all progressed the same as all the other timelines I’d seen save for the last one where Chara-Wraith interferred.

I’d memorized the scope of her powers.  I knew the spells she cast.  In all likelyhood, I could probably navigate through the gaps of this “bullet flame Hell” as well as Frisk.  Speaking of...they were dodging as if they could see into the future.  Yeah...this many resets, this many runs.  This was proof this Frisk retained memories of previous ones.  It answered a lot of questions while asking new ones.

I crossed my arms and leaned up against the door frame and waited it out...but still on guard for anything to be different.  I was anticipating the first moment that something didn’t as the timeline was supposed to.

I watched every fireball.  Every fire...glove/goat head serpent thing.  I was sure this Determination was Frisk’s own, not one that...didn’t belong to them...her.  I was going to have to get used to that pronoun.

There was that interface...that H.U.D.  That same code I’d seen our Asriel use.  It was complete, including the FIGHT option.  But Frisk never brought her hand toward it.  Instead they repeatedly pressed on the MERCY option and selected spare.  Like they had done this before.  With each one, Toriel began to hesitate more and more until...

While attempting to act aloof, she finally spoke again.

“What are you doing?”

Spared again.

“Attack or run away!”

And again.

“What are you proving this way?”

By this time Toriel’s aim was degrading.  It didn’t even look like she was TRYING to hit Frisk with her fire spells.

“Fight me or leave!”  There was anguish to her voice.

“Stop it!”  It had degraged to nothing more than a fiery light show.

“Stop looking at me that way.”

“Go away!”  Her voice was breaking, now.

After that she was silent until...

I had debated taking action all this time...but I felt...the timeline didn’t need any unnecessary changes if I could avoid them.  I was already interacting and altering.  If I could preserve as much of a Pacifist Run as possible...well..it was only right.  It was only proper.

“I know you want to go home, but...”

She suddenly stopped her attack.

“But please, go upstairs, now...”

A sad smile.

“I promise I will take good are of you.  I know we do not have much, but...  We can have a good life here.”

Frisk would not relent.

“Why are you making this so difficult?  Please, go upstairs.”

Again.  And again.  And yet again.

“...  Ha..  Ha...  Pathetic, is it not?  I cannot save even a single child.   ...  No.  I understand.  You would just be unappy trapped down here.  The RUINS are very small once you get used to them.  It would not be right for you to grow up in a place like this.”

I silently mouthed the words as Toriel spoke them.  I had said them in some form once.

“My expectations... My loneliness... My fear...  For you, my child, I I will put them asside...”

Toriel turned her back toward us and hung her head before the gate.

“If you wish to leave the RUINS I will not stop you.  However when you leave... Please do not come back.  I hope you understand.”

I felt a tear roll down my face as I watched...for the hundredth...thousandth...millionth time?...Goat Mom bend hug Frisk, who hugged back.  I was sure I heard Frisk sniffle.  They had done this over and over but it had no less an impact the than the first time.

“Goodbye, my child.”

Frisk opened the gates and stepped through once Toriel walked around them and headed back out.  Frisk was already through the hallway by then.

I made up my mind.  I wouldn’t run from this.  I pulled the Hazard Card and before I know it, I blocked the way.

## Sub-Entry 037: "The Twin Promises":

 I heard her gasp.

“How...much of that did you see and hear?”

“Enough.”  I stood before her.

“I--”

“No.  It’s okay.  I understand the situation perfectly.  So does the child.”

“I...”  Toriel started to sob.

“It wasn’t easy for you.  Nor was it for them.  You did the right thing.  I know...after all those other children...why should this one be any different?  Well...I have a good feeling, somehow.”

“But how can you say that.  You know what--”

“I know he is only thinking of his people suffering down here.  I’m sure he remembers what it meant to be a parent, once.  Just as you never forgot.”
She threw her arms around me and buried her face in my shoulder.  I was taken by surprise.  I comforted.

“Toriel.  I know your duty as a mother was cut short.  But you should know as all mothers eventually do...a mother’s duty of protecting and nurturing a child is only temporary.  You will always be there for them but you cannot care for them indefinitely.  They grow up.  The leave.  We as parents have to have faith that we did everything we could to prepare them for what lies ahead.”

“...this day should not come so soon.  It hasn’t even been a full day.  She came into my life then left so suddenly.”

“I know.  There really should be more time.  My second in command, due to her beliefs and her pratices swore a vow of celebacy...yet she is wiser than any wife and mother I knew.  She told me this: The only thing we can truly give our children...are roots...and wings.”

Toriel thought about that for moment.  Then she nodded.

“I have already said goodbye to one...and now you are about to leave."

“I must.  My own family...my wife and children are waiting for me; they will find a way to me...somehow.”

“When they come...I will send them on their way to meet you.”

“That is very kind of you.”

She started to turn away...then she turned back to me.

“I have...already asked...someone to make a promise to me.  To watch over the child, guide them, and protect them......but...”

This was...a surprise but not completely out of nowhere.

“I know they are busy, being a sentry with duties.  I sense they...do not like to make promises.  They cannot be everywhere and they cannot be expected to spend so much time being the child’s shadow.  However...if you would--”

“Hmm?”

“If you would also promise me to watch over the child...when my friend out there cannot...”

“Say no more.  It would be an honor to help them along in their quest.  Perhaps...maybe...the off chance I bring them to the Barrier...”

Toriel winced for a moment.

“...there’s a problem isn’t there?”

She knew.  It was the kid or Asgore.  And Frisk didn’t have it in them...at least I didn’t think they did...to end the King of All Monsters.  Asgore would deny them the chance to show mercy.  I already knew how it worked.

“You don’t need to explain.  I’ll...stick it out until the end.  Somehow...this will work out.”

“I do not see how it can.  We are in a prison without light.  Without hope.  With nothing but broken dreams.”

“Remember what I said about broken dreams.  Even in pieces...”

“Dreams are forever.”

“Only you can choose to discard them.”

A moment of silence.

“I promise.  I’ll do everything in my power to keep them safe.  Perhaps I’ll meet your friend and we can pool our resources.”

That was an empty promise.   Knowing Sans...he’d have a bone to pick with the kid.  I doubt he’d have a warmer reception for me.  He was counting on me to deliver that hope...and I fumbled the ball.  Frisk took it all away from them.  From me.  Even from Asriel, whether he knew it or not.

I wasn’t looking forward to the meeting.

By now Frisk had already encountered Flowey and they did their routine.  By my estimates, the delay had given them enough time to encounter the stick and the faulty gate and the whoopie cushion in the hand.  I’d best get going.

“Well.  I’d better get a move on.  I get the feeling I’m sure not dressed for whatever’s out there.”

“Snowdin Forest lies directly beyond.”

“...snow?  Great...”  I wrinkled my nose and folded my ears back, not even trying to hide the fact that I disliked the cold.

“I fear I have nothing to offer you in terms of extra clothing.  Your...attire is a bit...unusual.”

“Yeah.  I suppose sandals with a gi and a labcoat was not the way to go with my exploration.”

“...Gi? Is that what you call those pajamas you're wearing?”

“If we meet again, I’ll explain another time.”

“I do not foresee that happening any time soon.”

“Give yourself some more credit.  Leaving this place, if not in disguise, would do you some good.”

“Disguise?”

“Yeah...so no one would recognize you...your highness.”

“Please do not refer to me that way.  I...have left that life behind.”

Now THIS was familiar.  Like mother, like son.

“Well.  I’ll be off now.”  I stepped through the gateway and into the hallway.    Through the doorway and into the blackness...

There was Flowey’s grassy mound.

He whirled as he saw me and burrowed under ground.

I walked over to the mound.

I then lifted a foot then stomped down hard, releasing a weakened version of Volt Catfish’s charged Triad Thunder.  The resulting tremor and release of electric sparks spoke for itself.

I heard a small yelp underground.  Not enough to hurt him let alone kill him.  But definitely enough to smack some sense into him.  Yeah.  I was going to waive sensei’s rule about revenge being a fool’s game just this once.  Little weed had to learn that I was no less dangerous than Smiey Trashbag; the one who had caused more than his fair share of resets.

“I believe I’ve made my point.”  I called down the hole.

Oh yeah.  I was not going to forget about him like the last run.  I shoved open the gates...and stepped out into the cold.

“I hate winter...”  I muttered and shoved my hands into my lab coat pockets.

## Sub-Entry 038: "Sudden Betrayal?  Has Frisk Lost Her Mind?"

Out I went into the dark, creepy dead forest.  Snow.  Ice.  Silence.  I knew it was a straight shot to Sans’ sentry station, but I decided I needed more prep for future trips back here to the Underground.

The first thing on my mind was...was the alcove still there?  I’d need it if I wanted to hide the Delorean.

I went off the path and weaved my way through the maze of trees and checked along the perimeter of the wall outside the RUINS...darn it, why was I putting that in all caps, now?   Huh...I wonder if my time with Toriel had an effect on me?  This felt a little...meta.

After a bit of searching...

“Score!”  I hurried over to the entrance and went in, generating a Neon Light orb.

It looked the same.

Big enough.  WIde enough.  Long enough.  Yeah.  I could park the Delorean in here without any troubles.  It could be hidden well enough that I didn’t have to worry about anyone finding it.

“Finally, Lady Destiny comes through for me.”

Really, Volt.  You should know better than to invoke her name without catching the attention of her sister.  You KNOW what happens when you do that...

I set up some provisions in the cave ahead of time.  Things that might come in handy later.

“Well.  That’s all set.  I might as well--”

Crap.  I noticed that one of my E.N.G.I.N.E. dots had fallen off.   At it’s diminutive size, it’d be a needle in a haystack!

Fortunately, what hadn’t left my person was the tracker in my pocket.  I could follow my way back to where it fell off and nab it before someone noticed it.  I know it wouldn’t respond to anyone else’s biometrics but my own.  Yet...better not to be sloppy.

I combed back through the trees, following the signal.  Yeah, it went right back to the RUINS......er...the Ruins.  Now how to beg Toriel to open the gate.

“Huh?”  I saw a humanoid figure heading back toward the gate.  It was too tall to be Sans.  It was the wrong shape to him him or Papyrus.  In fact...the shape looked human.

“Frisk?”

I hustled to catch up.  Yeah.  That was Frisk’s jumper, jorts, and boots.  There was no mistaking it.

In all the runs I had been on, I’d never seen them attempt to go back on what Toriel had asked them to do; to never return.

Did she miss Goat Mom that much?

She pounded on the doors.

At first it seemed heartwarming to me.

But then...I began to realize the pounding was getting a bit...frenzied...almost violent.  To the point where Frisk was practually PUNCHING the doors.

“What the Hell...?”  I slowed my pace but crept forward.

Finally when I thought their were going to be completely ignored...

The doors opened.

“My child......I thought I made it clear.  Please...do not come back.  It has to be this way.  You understand.   You have proven yourself strong enough to survive.  There is no going back home this way.”

Silence.  I hadn’t actually heard Frisk speak yet.  I had only heard them speak that one time as they reset the world; and they were only a child.  By now their voice had to have changed.

“My child...?”

I was suddenly getting a creepy feeling up my spine...but why?

“Why do you not--”  Then I hard the sudden gasp.

“What are you doing with that...?”

I got closer and saw the glint in the dim light.  SOmething metal...and sharp.

“No!”  I suddenly recognized the form of the True Knife.  How the Hell did they get that?!”

“No...!  Please!”  Toriel fell back into the hallway.

Still silent.  Not even laughter.

“Frisk?!  What the actual Hell?!?”  I blurted out and took off into a dead run as the gates started to close.  I dove through as they slammed shut behind me.  Toriel had a head start with Frisk in hot pursuit.

I knew I should have scanned the kid!  I just knew it!  Damn you, Chara!”

This old song and dance again.  I thought this was a pacifist timeline.  But clearly it was a neutral, headed toward a genocide run.  Yet...if that was the case...why double back now?  Why not just just start killing to begin with?

Through a crack in the wall, I caught sight of the micro-sized Froggit from earlier on in the ruins.  Guess he got around pretty quick.

As I rounded the final stretch, Toriel had just tripped up the stairs, falling flat.  The wind was knocked out of her.  As she rolled over, Frisk took their time to approach, knife raised.

Y... you... really hate me that much? Now I see who I was protecting by keeping you here. Not you... But them!"

The first stab came as a warning, thunking into to wood of the steps, missing Toriel’s neck which made her yelp in terror.

“After winning my trust...getting me to lower my guard......I abandoned my duties as The Gatekeeper of the Ruins......”  She started.

"You... ...at my most vulnerable moment... To think I was worried you wouldn't fit in out there... Eheheheh!!! You really are no different than them!"

I had heard her say this before in Genocide Runs...when the Frisk/Chara would stab them instead of offering a final spare.

Toriel tried to scramble away but found herself grabbed by the back of the robes.

“No!  No, please!”  She pulled away harder until suddenly Frisk let go, causing Goat Mom to stumble and fall again.  She rolled over as Frisk stood over top of her.

The look of horror was frozen on Toriel’s face.  Yet in the brief moment...something...familiar sparked in her memories.

In that moment it was like she saw a ghost.

“...it cannot be--”  She started to say as the knife plunged--“

\* CLAAAAANG! \*

## Sub-Entry 039: "Toriel Saved/Sans Calls Strike One":

“!!!”

Toriel gasped as the True Knife struck metal...the blade of my Zanpakutou.

“You have a permit for that dagger?”  I asked with an angry tone.

Frisk tried to press her attack but I suddenly spoke the words.  “Discharge.  Kaminariou no Danganken.”

As my samurai sword changed shape into its more electromagnetic form, the jolt sent the human backward, forcing her to drop the knife.

“Permit...DENIED.” I said with a dead serious tone that somehow carried the cockiness of an 80’s action star, remind you not to...Hassle the Hoff’.

There was an audible grunt as they recovered and assessed their options.

“Are you okay, Toriel?”

“Doctor...what...how...?”

“Respectfully...we all have to have our secrets.  Maybe another time.”

Being careful not to use the “true name”, I addressed the attacker.

“Human.  Don’t you know how to greet a new pal?”  I smirked briefly.  “That expression you’re wearing...well...I won’t grace it with a description.

No reaction.  If this was a new Chara possessing her, they they probably hadn’t had the chance to encounter Smiley Trashback at his most desparate.

I couldn’t see Frisk’s eyes.  That was normal...actually, no.  They were hidden under her bangs instead of squinted shut like before.  Oh well.  They could see somehow.

“I can’t help but feel as if...you’re going down a dangerous path.”

I continued to turn familar phrases against her.  If this was the same Frisk at least they...she would remember and react.  If their LV was this low then Chara wasn’t in complete control yet but they were influencing them.

“So what’s it going to be?”  I raised my Soul Slayer while pulling out the Giga Meter.  I took a quick scan.

Another angry grunt...and they suddenly dove for the knife, tumble-rolled and ran back down the hallway and retreated.

“No, no, no...what have I done...”  Toriel looked anguished with grief.  “I have allowed that...that......that human into the ouside.  I know other monsters won’t be as...compassionate as me but...if they--”

“Toriel.”  I helped her to her feet.  “I made a promise.  I will take care of them.  If need be...I’ll stop them.”

“But...you might--”

“Better to die a hero than live long enough to see yourself become the villain.”

Yeah.  I went there.

“You are...truly a brave soul.”

“No.  I’m not as brave as you think.  I just know what I have to do for the greater good.  I’ll stop them and...try not to hurt them in the process.  But...if it should come to that...?  May I save a life while taking a life.”

Toriel didn’t know how to respond to that.  That was a pretty bold thing to promise.

“Toriel...they’re someone’s daughter.  I owe it to them to save them.  Just as I owe it to every monster out there that has a family to think of.  How can I hope to save anyone if I’m not willing to try to save everyone?  It’s an imposible, and illogical thing to attempt but I have to do what’s right.”

Toriel streamed tears...then wiped her eyes on her sleeve.  Heh.  Familiar.

“Bless you, kind sir.  Bless you.”

“Will you be okay?”

“I...I will.  Go now.”

I didn’t argue.

“I feel we will meet again.”  THat was the last thing I said to her.

On the way out, my tracker zeroed in on the missing E.N.G.I.N.E. micro dot.  I picked it up and reattached it, renenforcing the magnetic field on the insert I had placed in my black belt.  Toriel wasn’t looking.

I started picking up speed.  By the the time I reached the gate I had already started electromorphing.  Flowey wasn’t prepared for it and ducked underground again as I flew past.

He popped back up with a look of shock and disbelief.  I thing it was coming back to him what he was up against.

Outside...

“Come back here, you little--!”  As I soared toward Papyrus’ broken gate...

Sans suddenly appeared, hands in his pockets.  And just as suddenly the left eye snapped open revealing that blue glow.  Uh-oh.

I felt my entire self crash against a brick wall...but there was none.  It felt more like my very soul had been...oh yeah.  Blue Attacks.  Why didn’t I see this coming?  Because I was in a hurry, maybe?

“Hey.  We’ve got to talk.”

So much for Sans’ greeting and the whoopie cushion in the hand.

“...!”

“My place.  What d’ya say...Arcade?”

Crap.

“Don’t answer.”  And before I knew it...we were inside the shed behind the Skelebros. house.

“Well.  I knew this was coming.  Gonna give me a piece of you mind and another thrashing for what happened?”  I glared.

“I’d be lying if I said it didn’t cross my mind.”

“So you DO remember the timelines.  I’d love to know how you and the Weed do that.”

“Gotta keep our secrets.  I mean...you don’t see me searching for the skeletons in your closet.”  Sans said with a wink.

“Really, Sans?”  I folded my arms.

“Why don’t we get to the point?”  He shrugged.  I tensed and got ready for battle.

And that’s when he hit me with the most unexpected thing of all...

“...I owe you an apology.”

“What?”  I was dumbfounded.

“You were right.  I was wrong.  I should have trusted you.  I get it.  I probably mucked things up.   Despite everything, you didn’t have any issues fighting me but...you couldn’t lay a hand on the Murderflower.  He really is the Prince, isn’t he?"

“Sans, you’re a smart skelly.  You know you don’t have to do much to connect the lines.  You know this goes back to--”

“Yeah.  Kinda figured.  I mean...we have a past...or at least we do in another timeline or AU.”

“So...whatabout--”

“Let’s leave “G” out of this.”

“Do you...”

“Nah, it’s not like that.  But it IS complicated.”

I was having trouble buying that.

“You’re having trouble buying that.

...right.  I guess even Sans had changed a little from the reset.  Thinking back to it, I saw a spark of hope and clarity in Toriel’s eyes that I didn’t see in the previous timeline.  Was this because of me?

“Look.  You got a job to do.  So do I.  Right now...I have to be a sentry.”

“Yeah.  I know where you’re going with this.

“Thing is, and I’m sure you know this, I got a bit of a promise to the old lady to keep.  So where does this leave me?  Where does this leave us?”

“Things...got complicated again.”

“I think it’s time I uncomplicated them, Arcade.”

“What are you saying?”

“I know what the kid did back there...or tried to do.  That plus the reset...”

“Sans?”

“Let’s just call this...strike one.”

I didn’t like how he put that.

“I’ll see how they do with Pappy.  Just know that things haven’t changed in those lines.  I’m sure you of all people understand the situation.”

“All too well.  Besides, I like and respect your brother.”

“Good answer.  As for the kid...I’ll be watching for strike two.  If they get to strike three...they’re not going to like what happens next.   I’m sure, neither will you.  But then again...you’ve already made a promise, too, haven’t you?  So I guess should that become the case...it doesn’t matter if...nor does it matter when.  It just matters...who.  Which of us will do the job?  And uh...for the record, don’t think that just because I’m a skeleton I don’t have the...guts to do dirty deeds.”

“Yeah, you’re definitely not the cover art of ACDC.”

“I’m guessing that’s the punchline to a joke.”

“Reference from my world.  Nevermind it.  I hear you loud and clear.”

“Good.  Now.  I think we have a brat to find.  I believe they’ve had a head start now.”

“Right...I need to backtrack through Snowdin forest and do a headcount.  I don’t know how I’m going to find the dust of any victims with all that snow around.”

“For the kid’s sake I hope there aren’t any...”  Sans’ eye lit up again--

## Sub-Entry 040: "The Child Has Vanished.  Put the Investigation On Hold and Return Home":

“...really hate when he does that.”  I folded my arms and folded my ears back with a growl.

I set a DATA SAVE Marker and went on my way.   When I came back here next, I’d do this section legitimately.  Right now, no time to savor the flavor of Snowdin (Bah.  Humbug.).  I had to figure out where Genocidal Frisk disappeared to.

Well.  Back here again.  Doggo’s sentry station.  Once again I occupied myself in the usual way as I began the search...

"Did something move?  Was it my imagination?  I can only see moving things.  If something WAS moving, for example, a human...I'll make sure it NEVER moves again."

Here we go again...

"WHAT?!?  I'VE BEEN PET!  POT?  PAT?  PET?  PAT?  POT?"

I take too much enjoyment in exploiting my SPECTRE function.

And before long, the smell of burning dog treats filled the air as Doggo slowly dropped behind the sentry station counter, out of view.

I cleared my throat and went on.

“Here’s Mr. Green Christmas, he’s Mr. Sun...He’s Mr. Heat Blister, he’s Mr. Hundred-and-One...”  Sequels.  You know I love em’.

I drifted past...and sometimes through a lot of familiar faces in this intangible form that existed outside of time and space.  Icecap.  Snowdrake.  Doggamy and Doggaressa.  The snowman.   Gyfftrot.  They were all there.

But who wasn’t there was Frisk.  At some point I lost both their tracks and their scent.

It was weird.  It seemed almost like they disappeared into thin air.  A thought came to me based on something Violet had as a theory.  Was it possible the kid could... “save and quit” like this were a game as Flowey suggested?  I still had things to learn about this world.  Were they just a “player” that came and went as they pleased?  That seemed kind of fishy to me.  I had never gotten clues that it was this way.  Maybe it was a change from the reset?

“Once again, Madam Fate pulls the rug out from under me.  Juuuuust typical.”  I fumed.

THis new Jeckyl-and-Hyde routine was something new.  Definitely the kind of thing worthy of a James Rolfe string of bad language and obscene metaphors like the kind only an LJN game could invite upon itself.

I sighed and had a look at the Giga Meter’s snapshot of Frisk.

Sign of a red human soul.  The spectrum analysis showed emphasis on Determination out of the seven traits.  It also meant that this Frisk wasn’t soulless; having given that up for the power of ERASE in Genocide timelines.  There seemed very little to distinguish, sometimes, between that and a TRUE RESET; other than their point of origin--a True Pacifist or a Genocide timeline.

“Well.  There’s a normal human soul--”  I started as I checked the readings.

But it was not what I saw that made me concerned.  It’s what I DIDN’T see.  There was no valence there.  No sigh of spiritual possession.  In otherwords...no Chara.

“What?  Then that means...Frisk chose to go rogue on their own?!”

This couldn’t be right...this could not be right.  Could it?”

I’d have a looot to think about once I got back.  Far more to think about than I believed I would.

I signaled for an RTB.

Before long I got a message from S.T.C. that again the technician screwed up and I was stranded here for the time being.

Hah.  Like Hell I was.

I switched to a secure, super-encrypted channel and desynched from A.E.O.N. only momentarily.  I sent only a single pulse train.  It would easily be written off as noise to anyone else who intercepted it.

“I know you’re out there, KOMMAND.”  I muttered.

Moments later...

I got a signal from S.T.C.

“Stand by to beam back to base.”

As I was recalled from UTPR-3235...

“Sir!  Sir!  Volt Arcade’s transport diverted!”

“What?  Again?!  What did you do?!”

“I don’t know, sir!”

“Where did he go?!”

“I don’t know, sir.  He’s not on any known part of the Axis of Reality map!”

“Figure out where he went or the Council will have our heads!”

“His conection to A.E.O.N. is still active, but we can’t trace where it’s coming from.”

"We’re all in deep whatsit, now...”

Sure enough...

“Miss me?”

“KOMMAND...”  I crossed my arms.

“I know, I know!  I did a real no-no with you back then and you’re kind  of pissed about it.”

“What was your first clue?”

“Eheheh...well...I’d love to stay and chew the fat but you want to go home, right?

“We will talk about this later.”  I growled, knowing full well she’d beat around the bush until I didn’t feel like pressing the issue.

“Okay.  I’m sending you back to Miranda City.  Asriel’s waiting there with Pit.  Rock stayed behind on his world.  S.T.C. cleaned up the timelines.

“KOMMAND...about Asriel...?”

“He knows about Daimyou.  He took it pretty well.  Don’t worry.  Her secret’s safe with him.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“Commander...all’s cool.  Don’t worry about it.  We got this.  Really.  The kid understands.  If anything he understands better than he did and this experience will help him stay patient about what you want to tell him in a natural course of time.”

“I have other concerns as well, but they can wait.  Send me back to where Azzy is.”

“I told them to wait up for you in the gateway room.

I just rolled with it.

“Bone...voyage!"

“KOMMAND, no.”

“KOMMAND, yes!!!”  ANd with that. I was transported out and back to the lab again...

Chapter 5

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