(New Update: I'm absolutely FLOORED at the amount of attention brought to this project. I can't stress how absolutely and utterly grateful I am to you all for the out pour of Love for this! PLEASE!! Any fanart, comics, YouTube animations would be SO GREATLY appreciated! Anything to get the word out! Thank you, guys! <3

Theme for this chapter:

Song: Cut

Artist: Plumb

And you'll get tired of seeing it, but as always, Thank you and I hope you enjoy!)

Gnawing at her nails, Frisk paced the small bedroom within her studio apartment. She looked from the bed to the clock, then back to the bed again. Maybe if she made a pot of coffee? Yes! A pot of coffee and she'd be up the entire night! Then again, she had to work a double the next day, and sixteen hours on absolutely no sleep would be not only brutal, but Frisk realized she also couldn't run from this forever. No coffee in the world would keep her awake for the rest of her life. Eventually, her body would give out and she'd sleep anyhow. Whether she chose to or not. At least this way, she'd be safe within her bedroom, and if something happened, this is where she'd wake up. It was already going on midnight, and after the events of the day, her body was so drained that she could fall asleep on her feet given enough time.

It was then that a thought occurred to her. When she'd been near the Save Star last, there had been 2 functions. Save and Reset. If she hit reset, would it take her back to the first room with the patch of flowers? She'd be safe there, what with the door that had locked behind her after she'd finished the first puzzle... That was the only logical answer, and if that was the case, she was going to smash that button like the fucking Hulk.

Crawling into bed, covers drawn up over her body, a long exhale slipped from her lips. Was she ready? Hell no..... "It's okay, Frisk. You can do this." she thought, trying to give herself a bit of a pep talk. Rolling into a fetal position, she closed her eyes and stared into the abyss of black within.....

"Well well. You're back." Why was this voice plaguing her already stress inducing nightmares? Yes. She'd finally admitted it to herself. This was a nightmare, and within nightmares, monsters were definitely real.  "What do you want?" Frisk called out.

"Oh, not much. Just your Soul." it said, followed by ominous laughter that caused the hairs on the back of her neck to stand on end. Without warning, the shroud of darkness lifted. Frisk turned her attention to the Save Star and gasped at what she saw. The save marker was there and fully intact, but the reset button had somehow been cracked into a dozen pieces. "Do you honestly think I haven't seen that little stunt pulled before? Sorry, toots. You're just gonna have to go in there and take care of business." came the voice; taunting from within her own mind like a venomous snake preparing to strike. What was she going to do now? Glancing down, Frisk could see her reflection in the knife that was once again within her grasp. Maybe going into that room armed had somehow pissed the Skeleton off last time, causing him to attack? It was a long shot, but honestly, what did she have to lose at this point? That, and she honestly didn't want to hurt anyone, even if said someone was trying to kill her. Maybe there was a logical reason and she just hadn't figured it out yet. Maybe he could somehow be reasoned with. If there was one thing Frisk loved, it was a good mystery, and this one was the biggest she'd ever encountered. It's not like she was really dying. It also wasn't as though she couldn't tolerate a bit of pain. Well, maybe more than a bit, but it didn't matter. She'd been numb for so long within the real world that, even though it was painful, feeling pain was better than nothing at all. That was the crazy talking again, but it made sense to her, so that was all that really mattered, wasn't it?  The knife was tossed aside, and as it clamored across the floor, Frisk took a deep breath and rounded the corner. The tree, which she'd first thought of as majestic, now added nothing but a horrific sense of foreboding to this room.

"I know you're there, Dollface. Come on around."

She hadn't seen him due to the tree's magnificent size, but now Frisk was certain the Skeleton was there. She peered around the edge, a familiar detached feeling taking hold. Looking down, that heart was outside of her body again, moving in unison with her. "I.. I don't mean any harm." she said in a soft voice. The Skeleton laughed wryly. "Don't mean any harm?" he spoke condescendingly. "Bitch, I ain't your girl asking if these pants make me look fat. I may be nothing but bones, but I still got a brain inside this skull. Now get your ass out here so I can take you down and send you back to whatever asshole created you and the rest of your evil, manipulative and murderous kind."

The way he spoke.... so cold and jaded, as though time had warped his ability to see any form of good in people. And why did he think all humans were murderous and evil? That made her even more curious, despite the gnawing fear, knowing what was coming. "I'm not lying..." her voice came out choked, straining to fight back the tears in her eyes. She didn't fear the dying part of it all, knowing she wasn't really going to die. And a little pain wouldn't be all that bad.... but did it have to be as painful as he'd made it the first time?

Without warning, an orange bubble of sorts seemed to surround her and Frisk screamed as her feet came up off the ground. Hovering in mid-air, she was dragged uncontrollably toward her impending doom. Not wanting to see it happen, her palms came up to cover her face. "If you're going to do it, just get it over with." her voice came out muffled behind the safety of her hand.

"Didn't know I needed your permission, but if you insist. Besides, I never say no to a lady." As quickly as his words had come, Frisk found herself being flung across the room, slamming into one wall after the next. She could hear her bones snapping under each blow, crying out for him stop. She even dared to lower her hands and stare at the Skeleton, acceptance riddled on her face. He only appeared to grow more determined by this when his arms moved and finally dragged her up toward the ceiling. The moment her head made contact, She heard a loud crack before everything went dark..... again.

"Why aren't you fighting BACK!?!" Frisk was done listening to this voice. "I don't need to answer to you. Besides, it's not like I had a choice. Even if I wanted to fight back, he didn't really give me a big window of opportunity." She wasn't going to hide her irritation anymore. Frisk told herself she was no longer going to be a pawn in the Voice's little game. "You're not even supposed to BE here right now. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead already." came the Voice again.

"What the hell are you talking about?!" knowing she couldn't believe half of what came from this Voice, she spoke incredulously. "It's not important. You've got enough Determination that he shouldn't be this much of an issue. Now, this time, FIGHT BACK!"

Some strange part of her found it kind of fun pissing that Voice off. It obviously didn't know her well enough to not have an inkling that she wouldn't fight fire with fire. No. She'd douse it with a bucket of water and call it a day. Still, Frisk didn't take kindly to being toyed with, and being that she wanted to get to the bottom of this rather than trying to hurt this Skeleton, she'd simply continue to piss it off. She'd do so as many times as it took before the Voice simply gave up and let her sleep in peace. Frisk figured if she avoided violence enough times, maybe the skeleton would become flustered, and just curious enough to stop and talk to her. It was worth a shot, right?

Next thing she knew, Frisk was being bathed in the light of the Save Star that floated silently next to her. The Voice had been right about one thing. She was filled with Determination, only it wasn't geared toward killing that Skeleton. Resolved to do the right thing, she held onto the knife and walked back into the room with the tree. Once in the Skeleton's sights, she held up the knife.

"See, I knew your true colors would come out sooner or later, Doll. It just took a-...." He trailed off when Frisk tossed the knife to the grass below and held up her hands as if to surrender. The Skeleton cocked his head off to one side in confusion. "I told you. I'm not here to fight you." Frisk then made a bold move. "What's your name?" He'd probably kill her again, but she'd been expecting that. Still, asking for someone's name showed that you cared... even a little, and maybe it might wear down his walls..... Hopefully.

"Sans?" he said questioningly before shaking his head. "Dammit, no! I don't care if you ARE the first female to come down here. That doesn't make you any different. Every single Human that came before you killed everyone I care about! Humans ain't capable of compassion. All you know is death and destruction, and I'm gonna show you the same shitty time they've all shown us." and with that, Sans raised his blasters, poised to attack when Frisk nodded her head as if accepting her fate. She could see a flicker of doubt in his glowing gaze, but when the blasters electric beams met her awaiting body, pain sizzled through her veins and the world, once again, faded away.

"Do you enjoy having your body burned to a crisp, or is there something I'm not getting here?"

"Do we really need to talk, or do you just enjoy the sound of your own voice?" came Frisk's irritated response. The voice only scoffed. "Fine. Have it your way." The void lifted and instead of hesitating, Frisk threw the knife and marched toward the room where she knew Sans was waiting for her. Before she could even speak however, she was once again enveloped in another glowing orange bubble. "Sans, please!" she cried, but he didn't appear in the mood for conversation. At least, not at first. He sent several bones, that had already been in the air waiting, toward her chest. They penetrated deep withing her ribs, making her cough, blood trickling down from the corner of her lips. Frisk then grabbed the floating heart near her chest and weakly held it out toward him. "What the hell are you doing?" Frisk didn't respond with words, but instead smiled softly. "Why the fuck won't you even TRY to defend yourself?! Fight me, bitch!" He sent one more bone into her stomach this time, causing a red sheet to spurt from her gasping mouth. The hand holding the heart wavered, then fell all together as her body slumped over within the bubble. Vaguely, Frisk could have sworn she felt herself being lowered to the ground, but that could have just been her imagination playing tricks since everything was once again a familiar nihility.

The brunette felt like she was in a never ending loop. One load after another, she'd go in, Sans would impale, slam or electrocute her and everything would start all over. Wasn't he getting tired of this yet? After ten times, she was. Why didn't he get it? It wasn't like she'd charged at him, waving a knife and going all Braveheart on his ass. So what was so difficult about this for him to understand? After the last load, as that's basically what appeared to be happening, not even the Voice had spoken. She now stared at the Save Star, resolved to continue being murdered until Sans finally considered that she might be telling the truth. Moving toward the pile of red leaves, something now seemed.... different. Frisk walked around the tree and much to her surprise, Sans was nowhere in sight. She blinked, scanning the area and waiting for death to come out of nowhere....

....But nothing happened. Before her stood a door to what looked like a small house. Funny, she hadn't really noticed it before. Then again, being killed or waiting for death to hit you didn't give much time to drink in one's surroundings. Frisk took a few cautious steps... then a few more. She walked up a window, peering inside to see a quaint looking living room. It was also empty, something she was all too grateful for. The door was surprisingly unlocked, and the moment Frisk opened it, she was greeted by another Save Star. Relief immediately stapled itself to her consciousness and she reached for it. The Reset button was still smashed to pieces, but she could at least Save now and move forward without Sans beating her into oblivion. Blanketed in light, she could barely make out the voice's irate statement.... "This isn't over."

"It is for now" she mumbled, half awake. The sound of her own voice was what finally brought her around before painfully tired eyes opened. Frisk rolled herself out of bed, and just like every other night, she was covered in sweat and panting like an overheated dog. Reaching for the window, she slid it open all the way and stuck half her body outside. The wind howled through the trees and whipped her hair about her face. She was grateful though, as it cooled off her overheated form and dried the sweat that clung to every inch of her flesh. All she could think about now was Sans. So many questions hung around that name. Had people really murdered whoever lived there, in that place? Frisk knew that if that was the case, that damned voice had something to do with it. But Sans.... he was so.... broken. She wanted to help him. Make him see that not every Human was a homicidal maniac. But how? And she definitely avoided the sane part of her mind. The one telling her that trying to rationalize a fake situation with a Skeleton created by her unconscious mind like he was a real person.... person? .... yeah. person-... was something people in straight jackets do. Because she wasn't crazy. Well, okay. Maybe a little, but only she needed to know that.

Looking up at the stars, the brightest one seemed to wink at her whenever a tree branch momentarily covered it. Closing her eyes, Frisk made a wish.

"Please... I wish.... If I have to go back, make him listen. Let me help him; Make him believe that I'm an exception to whatever horrible people he's encountered...." Not that Frisk really bought into all that wishing on a star business, but at this point, after everything she'd just been through, she was starting to believe that anything might be possible....