Chapter Text

Frisk thought of all of the possible things that might allow him to get out of this battle. “Uh… uh,” Frisk said, trying to think of something to do. “Chara, what should I do?”

“I don’t know,” Chara huffed. “Maybe… pet it? It does look like a dog.”

Frisk raised his left hand, and began reaching toward Endogeny in a petting motion. It seems to be longing for the pets, but restrains itself, beginning to growl at him.

“*Endogeny heeds the motions of your hand, but stays away,” Chara notes.

Endogeny begins frothing at the mouth, which shoot forward, toward Frisk. He barely manages to dodge them all, but he is still nowhere near close to SPAREing the amorphous dog Monster.

“*Endogeny lifts its… nose? To the air, smelling something… determined,” Chara says, looking at Frisk.

“Okay, so it appears to be like a dog,” Frisk muttered to himself, thinking of something else to do. He makes a motion to bring the dog closer to himself.

“*Endogeny backs away reluctantly, not wanting to come any closer than it should,” Chara notes.

The amorphous dog pulls its legs into its body, and with the effects of a rocket, shoots after Frisk. Frisk nearly trips on himself as he runs around, attempting to get the dog away. He gets hit a couple of times, and is back to where he started when the turn ends.

“Got any more ideas, genius?” Chara asked under her breath.

Frisk, despite the question being rhetorical, nods. He rears his pan-wielding arm back, ready to toss it.

“*You throw your weapon at its feet. The dog Monster makes an echoing bark, sending it back to you,” Chara sighs.

Endogeny begins barking around, making visible ripples in the air, some of them with a cyan tint to them. Frisk scrambles to get out of the way, but not before getting hit once.

“What else could I do?” Frisk asked aloud as he put back on his bandage, healing him.

“Well, this stupid thing,” Chara jerked her thumb in Endogeny’s direction, “Is no ordinary dog, so we’ll have to try harder.”

Frisk put his fingers on his chin, thinking of another strategy. “Chara,” he began, “What did you mean in the beginning about it sniffing Determination?”

Chara shrugged. “I don’t know. Sometimes I can sense what they desire or have for CHECKs, and sometimes it’s just me making up humorous flavor-text and whatnot.”

Frisk tapped his chin absently. “You did say that it was sniffing for human Determination, so maybe it wants some? Or does it just not like it?”

Chara crossed her arms. “Hmm,” she hummed, “Frisk, try lowering your Determination.”

“What? Why?” he asked, “What if it just wants some of my Determination? I can always get more.”

“I’m more concerned on if it doesn’t like Determination. Think about it: It didn’t appear until after you got the red flag, in which by that time, you were overflowing with Determination. Combining that with what I said at the beginning of the FIGHT, it might be that it detects humans by high Determination levels. Understand?” Chara said, looking Frisk in the eye while hoping that he wouldn’t notice how shoddily put together her logic was.

To her relief, Frisk sighed. “How would I lower my Determination?”

Chara sighed as well, pushing stray hairs out of her line of vision. “I don’t know. Maybe try thinking of something that makes you feel undetermined. A memory, preferably. Those suck, so it should be somewhat easy.”

Frisk nodded, looking down and concentrating on his memories, looking for one that made him feel undetermined.

A crowd of children were standing in front of him in the yard, from when he was five. He was a new arrival at this orphanage, only one week in. Some of the the children pointed their fingers at him.

“Why have you only worn striped shirts and sweaters?” one kid asked, pointing an accusatory finger at him.

“They make me feel safe,” Frisk mumbled, hugging himself in his orange and yellow striped shirt.

“That’s stupid,” another kid said. A kid laughed behind them.

“Hey look!” someone said. Everyone looked in the voice’s direction.

An older kid was standing in front of the window that led into Frisk’s room, holding a box of unpacked clothes. “He’s only got striped shirts!” The other kids began to laugh as the other kid proceeded to dump all of his shirts into the bushes and dirt beneath his window, while Frisk watched on in horror.

Frisk shook his head as he drew himself out of his memory. He never liked that memory, but he’s had five years to come to terms with it.

“*Determination levels down to 97.5%,” Chara noted. “Seemed more saddening than becoming undetermined.”

Endogeny made a sniffing sound, but growled again, echoey barks resounding in the area. Once its turn ended, Frisk looked at Chara, asking “What would you suggest?”

“Well, what I would suggest is a memory that made you feel helpless, because plainly sad memories aren’t going to do much in that department without dredging up more powerful ones,” Chara stated, crossing her arms.

Frisk closed his eyes, concentrating on locating a memory that left him feeling more helpless. After a minute, another unpleasant memory showed itself in the otherwise darkness of his current concentration.

Frisk was hiding in a dark closet, covering his mouth and nose to mask his breathing, for he was in a lot of trouble.

This orphanage was a little better than the one he spent in last year. For starters, hardly anyone bullied him here, so that was a plus! And even one kid wanted to be his friend!

The downside was that one kid had made it his life’s goal to torment Frisk every chance he got, with the one happening only a few minutes ago being the most recent one.

Frisk was just in the common room watching some morning cartoons when suddenly the kid jumped out from behind the couch and shouted ‘Rawr!’. As Frisk jolted in fright, the television was wreathed in a dark blue, leading it to quickly fly off of the stand, crashing to the ground. Two rather expensive vases next to the t.v. were also caught in it, smashing into pieces on the floor.

Horrified at what he’s caused, he jumped off of the couch, shoved the bully out of his way, and darted straight for the closet. He didn’t really know why, but he feels like he’s hid in this closet at least two to three other times that day, though he only actively remembers that one time that day. Deja vu or not, he was glad he got into the closet without noticing.

“I think he’s in there,” the bully’s voice said outside the closet door. Frisk all but slumped to the floor, knowing that the bully also happened to be the biggest tattletale in the world… at least when it concerned Frisk.

Blinding light filled the closet as the door was opened, revealing the faces of his tormentor and one of the adults. The bully, with a smug look on his face, yanked Frisk out of the closet.

“Frisk, this young man,” she gestured to the bully, “said that you were the one who broke the television and those vases. Is this true?”

“No!” he shouted, upset that they were even asking such a dumb question to him.

The caretaker sighed. “Frisk, we know that you are always somehow linked with such incidents, and we can’t ignore them for much longer. Any way, someone needs to go to time out for this, so I ask of you to not resist.”

“No,” he said again, not wanting the corner.

The caretaker sighed again. “I guess that until someone admits, you will both have to go to the corner for now.”

The bully seemed slightly disappointed that he had to go to the corner as well, but smirked at Frisk, appearing as if he was already thinking of some other horrible thing to do.

Frisk snapped himself out of the memory before he was pulled deeper into the memory. He still got tears from thinking of the injustice (he still refused to admit on whether if it was his fault or not) that took place that day.

“*Determination levels at 92.5%. Endogeny appears slightly distressed,” Chara narrated. “Though, I feel as if you could have lowered it more if you remembered something that didn’t also raise your Determination a bit, okay.”

Frisk nodded, sniffling and vigorously wiping his eyes as to not cry.

Endogeny attacked once again, with the slobber flying at him at once. A small fleck somehow nicked Frisk on the shoulder, opening a small cut. Frisk hissed in pain, putting a hand to it to cover it until the turn ended.

Once its turn ended, Frisk took out his Monster Candy, quickly unwrapping it and popping it into his mouth. He then shut his eyes tightly, concentrating even harder. During the last turn, he thought of the one memory that should bring his Determination low enough, and all he had to do was remember it as clearly as possible.

Frisk was standing in a crowd of children, a sea of striped shirts. He felt like he should feel more safe due to all the children who also wear striped shirts on a daily basis, but he couldn’t help but feel unnerved. His eyes began to droop.

“Hey! You!” an adult shouted in his direction, and Frisk opened back up his eyes in alarm. “Pay attention, we’re about to start!”

Some of the kids around him snickered, calling him ‘Squinty’. He hasn’t been here for even a week and they already gave him a name he didn’t like. It wasn’t his fault he barely got any sleep in the past week.

“Alright,” one adult up front began, “As all of you brats know, you are the newest batch coming to this orphanage because no others are willing to accept you for being ‘special’. Absolutely none of you- no exceptions- are special. You are freaks in the eyes of society, and for good reason, so this place is the end of the line for you. It is our duty as part of the FMC to make sure that none of you become a threat to society.”

Another adult cleared their throat, and everyone turned toward them. “We have analyzed what we feel are your Colors, being from the common Green or Purple, to the rare and elusive Red. In the order of Violet, Blue, Cyan, Green, Yellow, Orange, and Red, come up when we call your name.”

They began calling people by first name, and kids began going up front to be led away to the big manor that Frisk knew was behind the large curtain. He knew he wasn’t Orange or Cyan, or even very much Blue! He had a little Yellow, but he knew it wasn’t enough, so if he had to guess, then he would be either Green or Purple. He would doubt it if he turned out to-

“Reds:” the adult announced, looking at the list. They appeared to take a double-take, looking back at the list, squinting and frowning at it. “Well, looks like we’ve a lucky Red! Frisk!”

Frisk’s face shot up in shock, mouth gaping open as he walked up to the front, realizing that he was the last one in the area. The slight disbelief at being recognized as a Red was abruptly ended when they yanked his hair and placed a vice-like grip on his upper arm, walking him forward and .

“Now, don’t get us wrong,” they began whispering into his ear, “We were all quite surprised as well when you showed up as a Red, but the graphs don’t lie. So, as protocol, any located Red must be kept under strict lock and key, considering how ‘Determined’ your kind are!” they spit the last part out. Frisk was led into a dark tunnel that led in the direction of the manor.

“W-wait! I won’t do anything bad! I swear!” Frisk pleaded, using his right arm in a feeble attempt to free the grip from his arm, but they were fruitless.

“Ah ah ah, don’t get your little Red head too Red,” they said as they began to ascend a spiral staircase. They passed a few levels, and Frisk couldn’t get a good glimpse of what laid beyond before rising another level. “We have a little arrangement just for you.”

Frisk got onto what appeared to be the top floor, barring where the attic should be, and was led down a hallway, turning to the right, before appearing in front of what appeared to be a bedroom door. The door was swiftly opened, the adult practically throwing him into the room before swiftly shutting the door, locking it with a whole bunch of fancy locks.

“Hey, please!” Frisk said, quickly getting back up and pounding on the door. “Let me out!”

“Shut up, kid. Your choices and desires, as a Red, do not matter here, and they never will as long as we say,” they sounded to be tapping their foot on the floor. “But, if you can manage to get out of there within the next twelve hours, then we’ll bring all your crap in there, capisce?” Frisk considering for a moment, then was about answer when the adult said “Don’t bother answering. What you want doesn’t matter,” the sound of footsteps retreating.

Frisk stared at the door in disbelief. He slowly lowered himself next the door, curling up into a ball, not bothering to lie on the ratty mattress that laid in the corner. He began to sob, right next to the door, slightly shaking in effort. He cried out for someone, anyone, to let him out of this room.

…

But nobody came.

“Frisk?” Chara’s voice said to him, as tears began to fall from his eyes. Frisk sniffled, wiping his eyes before covering his face. Chara looked back at Endogeny. She noticed that what appeared to be its ears were drooping sadly. “*Determination Levels at 80%. Endogeny still suspects you’re human, but now wants to comfort you instead.”

Endogeny slowly walks up to Frisk, and begins pushing itself against him, as if asking if he wanted to pet it. Chara sighed, taking one of Frisk’s hands and putting it onto its fur(?). Frisk froze from the stickiness, but didn’t resist Chara moving his arm.

After Endogeny had enough of Frisk’s Chara-controlled petting, it gives an echoing bark, and practically (or literally) rockets away from the duo. Chara smiles, and looks to see Frisk still silently crying.

“Hey, Frisk,” she said, lightly patting Frisk’s cheek to catch his attention. He was still dripping tears. Chara bit her lip, thinking of what to do. A risky but possible idea to make him stop crying popped into her head. “Hey Frisk, want to know where I got my name?”

“Hmm?” Frisk mumbled, even though it sounded wet.

“It was my great-grandfather who gave me my name,” Chara looked to the distance, smiling in memory. “He told me that he named me that because he ‘Chara’-s ‘bout me,” Frisk blinked at her, not knowing how to respond. “He also said that he liked to think that I would have a lot of ‘Chara’-cter,” Frisk gives a watery giggle. “In fact, the only reason he was the one to name me was because he found me on his doorstep. I think I got my love for jokes from him.”

“Chara,” Frisk said, remnants of crying still in his voice. “You’re crying.”

Chara touched her cheek, and sure enough, her fingers came away moist. She gave a sputtering laugh. “Great, moron. My attempts at stopping your crying have only ended up with my own.”

At that, Frisk began laughing, with Chara joining in a few seconds later. A few minutes later, they were both lying on the ground breathing heavily from laughter.

“I think we should keep going,” Frisk said, sitting up.

“I agree,” Chara replied. “Now that we’ve got that out of our systems, we can move on faster. For whatever reasons.”

Frisk stood up, dusting off his pants, helping up Chara, before moving onto the next area. In this area, there were what appeared to be two scoreboards. Frisk looked at the scoreboard on the right first, which said Top Scores: Daily .

Frisk jumped up and squealed, pointing at the scoreboard. “Look! I’m number one!” And in fact, he was number one for daily. “I’m so proud of myself.”

Chara scoffed. “You may be number one for today, but look at the Top Scores: All Time board,” she jerked her thumb smugly at the other board. Frisk glanced at the board.

Chara Dreemurr was penciled in with the number one spot written as well, with the flag amounts and colors as well. All other ones below it were electronically recorded, including Frisk’s, whose took up the second place slot. Frisk gaped at the board. “How?!”

Chara smiled smugly. “I told you that it took me months to get red. I also played roughly as long as you would, so it only makes sense,” she crossed her arms.

Frisk began pouting, crossing his arms and walking into the next area. When he finished his pouting, he looked up, finding a SAVE point next to a table with what appeared to be… spaghetti? There was also a note next to it, and a mouse hole behind it. Frisk walked up to the note, reading it.

“*The note says ‘HELLO, HUMAN! I HAVE REHEATED A PLATE OF PASTA FOR YOU TO EAT WHILE YOU FINISH WHATEVER YOU WERE DOING IN THE PREVIOUS AREA. THIS SHALL PROVIDE ALL THE NECESSARY THINGS HUMANS NEED TO KEEP GOING FORWARD! -SIGNED, THE NYEHFULLY GREAT PAPYRUS’,” Chara read aloud.

Frisk looked around the area, as if expecting there to be a convenient microwave. “Where is a microwave? He couldn’t have made it without a microwave nearby.”

“I don’t think you’ll need a microwave for that,” Chara said, a bemused expression on her face she pointed at the spaghetti. “Take another look at the spaghetti.”

“Huh?” Frisk said, looking at it. There were visible heat distortions above the plate, and he could feel the heat a few feet away from it. “How?” He beared the heat to take a better look at the plate.

“*The heat emanating from the spaghetti is hot enough to cook most foods. The reason for how the spaghetti is staying this hot, or how it is not burned, eludes you,” Chara said quirkily.

Frisk giggled, turning to the SAVE point. Before SAVEing, he turned back to Chara. “Do you think the mouse will ever get to eat the spaghetti?” to which she just shrugged.

Frisk turned back to the SAVE point. “*Knowing that one day the spaghetti will cool down enough for the mouse to eat, it fills you with Determination,” Chara said sagely, bowing her head. Frisk smiled widely, walking onward.







Frisk stepped on the second X, turning it to a circle, then stepped on the button, walking over to Papyrus. Said skeleton turned to Frisk, noticing him. “MY, MY, HUMAN! YOU HAVE GOTTEN PAST MY PUZZLE WITHOUT MY HELP. ER, THOUGH WHY DO YOU LOOK AND SMELL LIKE A WEIRD PUPPY?”

Frisk looked down, slightly embarrassed. “I don’t want to say,” he said. He did not want to tell him the issue with having to get past the Dogi, not to mention that he met his first non-Flowey death to them… okay, no mentioning on his ability to turn back time, but he still did not want to tell him that he met with the Dogi.

“ANYWAY, ONTO MORE IMPORTANT MATTERS; DID YOU ENJOY THE PLATE OF SPAGHETTI I LEFT FOR YOU?” Papyrus asked, anticipating Frisk’s answer.

“I, uh, left it so that we can have it together later?” Frisk said, holding his palms upward in a questioning manner.

“REALLY? WELL, I’LL BE SURE TO TAKE YOU UP ON THAT OFFER SOME OTHER TIME. PREFERABLY WHEN WE ARE NOT BUSY GOING THROUGH PUZZLES, OF COURSE! FOLLOW ME, HUMAN!” Papyrus replied, and marched to the east, Frisk following in his footsteps. The two (technically three) came to another larger area.

Frisk looked at Papyrus with a curious expression as he walked beside him. “What’s up with this puzzle?”

Papyrus posed. “WELL, SINCE YOU WERE TAKING SO LONG WITH THE BALL GAME AND OTHER GUARDS, I DECIDED TO MAKE IT INTO THE SHAPE OF MY HEAD,” he said, turning toward his puzzle wistfully. “SADLY, THE SNOW FROZE TO THE GROUND BEFORE I COULD FINISH PLACING THE PIECES OF SNOW. BUT THIS WILL HAVE TO DO FOR NOW.”

Frisk stepped on a few X’s, but found that he was doing it in the wrong way, so he pressed the button to reset the puzzle. This continued for a few times before Chara held up her hand, signalling Frisk to wait. “I think I see something in the trees, so walk closer so that I can check closer.”

Frisk walked closer, next to Chara, and went to the tree. “Huh?” he wondered, and began shuffling through the tree branches. “There’s a switch on the tree!”

“That’s what I thought,” Chara said. “Well, what are you waiting for? Flip it!” to which Frisk did. He then walked over to the button, stepping on it. Immediately, all of the X’s turned to circles, spikes receding into the ground.

“IMPRESSIVE, HUMAN. YOU MUST HAVE LOCATED MY SUPER-SECRET SWITCH!” Papyrus said, leaping over the puzzle. “BUT CAN YOU, HUMAN, SOLVE THIS NEXT, DASTARDLY PUZZLE? IT SURELY IS TO ME! NYEH HEH HEH!” and with that, he sped off.

Frisk quickly sped around the puzzle, and widened his eyes at the sight of this next puzzle.

A rather large, white block with what appeared to be… panels was in his way, with only an orange oval right in front of him and a screen next to it and Test 01 above it. The screen switched on, revealing Papyrus’ head.

“HELLO AGAIN, HUMAN. AS YOU CAN SEE, THIS NEXT PUZZLE WILL BE ONE OF THE HARDEST ONES YOU’LL EVER COME ACROSS IN THE ENTIRE UNDERGROUND, AND MADE BY A JOINT COLLABORATION BETWEEN THE PHYSICS AND ENGINEERING DEPARTMENTS. IT WAS BASED ON A GAME THAT WE HAVE SCAVENGED FROM THE DUMPS, MADE TO PERFECTION AND HAS THE ‘PAPYRUS GASTER STAMP OF APPROVAL’ ( PATENT PENDING ).

“WHEN I PULL THIS LEVER AND TWIDDLE THIS KNOB, ANOTHER PORTAL WILL OPEN UP! THE POSSIBILITIES OF THIS PUZZLE ARE ENDLESS, AND NOT EVEN I WILL KNOW WHERE THE SECOND PORTAL WILL STOP. ARE YOU READY?” Frisk made an unsure sound. “GOOD. ACTIVATING!”

The orange oval opened to show somewhere that appeared to be inside the cube, then switched to another place, then another, and kept moving through possibilities. The rapid oscillation of views made Frisk begin to feel nauseous, slightly swaying on his feet.

The view abruptly stopped, showing what clearly was a straight path, to the complete other side of the cube. Papyrus stared through the portal thing. “FOR ONCE, I’M ACTUALLY GLAD THAT A PUZZLE TURNED OUT WRONG,” he said, spinning and moving into the next area.

Frisk held his head as he walked through the portal, ending up on the other side, Chara following him. He looked at the machine to the left, inspecting it. “*The machine appears to have been left on the ‘Testing Mode’ difficulty,” Chara sighed, brushing aside her hair. “Never change, Papyrus. Never change.”

Frisk nodded, walking to the east. Here, he saw what appeared to be several snow dogs with long necks, an empty doghouse, and a SAVE point. Frisk ran over to the SAVE point. “Looks like another guard should be here but isn’t,” he said, cupping the SAVE point in his hands.

“Don’t jinx it, just be glad it’s not here right now, so your life will be easier,” Chara mumbled. “*The apprehension in the air of the lack of a guard is overwhelming. But you stay Determined.”

Frisk barely made it two steps before being pulled into a FIGHT. He looked up to see a bipedal dog in armor, holding a sword and shield that bore the Delta Rune. “Lesser Dog,” he muttered under his breath.

“I never thought I’d say this, but I’m freaking tired of all these dogs!” Chara shouted.

Frisk shrugged. “I don’t know about you, but I’m diving right in to get this over with!” He dove at Lesser Dog, petting hand outstretched. Chara stared at him, stupefied.

“*You dive to pet Lesser Dog. You haven’t even touched it yet, and its neck begins stretching,” Chara said, almost unbelieving.

With each turn, Frisk kept petting, until Lesser Dog stopped attacking altogether, letting Frisk pet it to his heart’s content. “Must. Keep. Petting,” he said, petting Lesser Dog vigorously.

“Really, Frisk?” Chara said, putting her hands on her hips.

“It’s a dog, and all dogs need a good pat once in a while,” Frisk said, patting Lesser Dog’s head.

“Whatever,” Chara said, crossing her arms and looking away, waiting for Frisk’s petting spree to end so that they could continue.







Greater Dog hopped out of its armor, giving Frisk a lick on his nose, before jumping back into its armor, leaving Frisk behind to wipe the slobber from his nose. He looked at Chara, with an expression that clearly said ‘Why didn’t you stop it from happening?’

“You know fully well that I can’t do anything,” Chara huffed, gesturing to her ghostly self.

Frisk sighed heavily through his nose, walking onto the wooden bridge. Though, this bridge felt strangely… solid. As if it were actually made of solid rock. Frisk looked ahead once again, to see Papyrus on the other end of it, looking in his direction. Frisk stopped.

“HELLO, HUMAN! THIS IS THE FINAL TEST BEFORE SNOWDIN VILLAGE. DO YOU HAVE WHAT IT TAKES TO GET PAST IT? WE SHALL SEE IN A SHORT MOMENT!” Papyrus said, taking out and pressing a button. Immediately, several large axes and spikes the size of Frisk appeared at the sides of the bridge. “GET PAST THIS, AND YOU SHALL SEE THE HOME OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS.”

The axes did not swing, and the spikes did not proceed. “Um, aren’t they supposed to be, you know, activating?” Chara asked. Frisk echoed her words.

“THEY WILL, IN JUST A MOMENT,” Papyrus said, beginning to sweat.

“That, uh, looks the opposite of activated,” Frisk said, nervous that Papyrus might actually consider turning on the puzzle. He almost shivered at the thought of what dying to that would be like.

“I…” Papyrus began, then looked down and sighed. Then he appeared to perk back up. “YOU’RE RIGHT! THIS IS THE VERY OPPOSITE OF ACTIVATED! BECAUSE I AM NOT. GOING TO. ACTIVATE. THIS. PUZZLE. BECAUSE HOW COULD ANYONE SEE HOW NICE YOU ARE IF YOU ARE SKEWERED?” He pressed the button again, and the traps recede back to… wherever they came from. “PHEW!” he said, turning away and wiping off sweat. He turned back to Frisk. “WHAT? THIS DECISION HAS POSSIBLY SAVED YOUR LIFE. NYEH! HEH! … HEH?!” Papyrus said, before running off.

“I don’t know why, but I feel that that exchange should’ve taken longer. But whatever,” Chara said, gently pushing Frisk forward.

“I know, but at least I won’t have to face Greater Dog again,” Frisk muttered, walking toward the little town.

When he got in front of what appeared to be a store and inn, Frisk noticed a SAVE point, walking toward it. He cupped his hands beneath it, SAVEing.

“*The sight of the town before you fills you with Determination,” Chara said. Frisk looked at her, raising an eyebrow. “What? I couldn’t think of anything else to say.” Frisk sighed, entering the shop.

The shopkeeper looked up at Frisk, smiling at him. “Ah, I’ve heard that a human was going to pass through town today, but I didn’t think that you’d come to the shop. Monster or human, anyone is welcome here.”

Frisk looked around for a bit, pulling out some coins in case anything caught his eye. He came across what appeared to be a bag of leaves, and a slightly-stained apron. He picked them up, waddling them to the counter. “I want these, please.”

The bunny nodded. “Those will be 40 G,” Frisk gave her the coins, and gleefully began walking out the door, nearly forgetting his items. “Snowdin roots for you, human,” she called out before he left.

Frisk put on the apron. “Something decent to wear,” he said, tying it around his waist. “Also, what are these?” he asked, holding up the plastic bag filled with leaves.

“Hmm,” Chara hummed, holding her chin. “*Bag of Herbs. Recovers 29 HP. Various herbs, none of which emit a mint scent.”

“Great,” Frisk chirped, walking eastward. “Gotta find Papyrus, first.”

“Wait wait wait,” Chara said, walking in front of Frisk. “Why don’t you… uh, look around first? No need to rush things, right?”

Frisk shook his head. “I don’t want to take too long. Besides, I’m sure that Papyrus will be willing to let me stay over wherever he lives for the night.”

Chara bit her lip, contemplating. “You do have a point, and he does seem like the type of person who would do that with someone he just met… Fine.”

Frisk silently congratulated himself, and eagerly walked toward the eastern edge of town. Fog began to suddenly begin forming, and at its thickest, he stopped, for fear of getting lost in the thick fog.

Suddenly, the silhouette of Papyrus appeared. “HUMAN,” he began. “ALLOW ME TO TELL YOU SOME VERY COMPLEX FEELINGS. FEELINGS LIKE… THE JOY OF FINDING ANOTHER COOKING LOVER. EXCELLENT SKILL AT SOLVING PUZZLES. BEING ABLE TO SOLVE THINGS PEACEFULLY, AND PREVENT ESCALATION OF CONFLICT. THESE FEELINGS… YOU MUST BE FEELING THESE RIGHT NOW!!!”

“Eh, sorta,” Frisk whispered, and needlessly waved his hand.

“AFTER ALL, I AM VERY GREAT, AND HARDLY EVER KNOW WHAT IT FEELS LIKE,” Papyrus continued. “YOU SEEM TO BE IN NEED OF AN EXTRA FRIEND, ESPECIALLY IN THE UNDERGROUND AT THESE TRYING TIMES. I PITY THAT YOU SEEM TO LACK ANY RIGHT NOW. WORRY NOT, YOU SHALL NOT HAVE FEW FRIENDS FOR ANY LONGER! FOR I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE YOUR…” he trailed off.

“Papyrus?” Frisk questioned, becoming worried at what was happening.

“NO, NO! THIS MIGHT TURN OUT WRONG! YOU’RE A HUMAN! IF ANY OTHER GUARD FINDS OUT, THEY MAY TRY TO CAPTURE YOU! AND AS A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD, IT IS PART OF MY DUTY TO CAPTURE YOU! IF I CAPTURE YOU FIRST, THEN I CAN KEEP THE OTHER GUARDS FROM TAKING YOU TO THE EMPRESS! NYEH HEH HEH!”

A FIGHT began, exposing Frisk’s SOUL. He looked up to see Papyrus, an expression of future victory written on his skull. “*Papyrus blocks the way,” Chara breathed.