He held the knife in his hands, quietly looking down at his feet and biting into his lip before he slowly ascended up, up in the elevator. Silence filled his ears as he stepped out...out into a beautiful, long hallway with rising ivory pillars, the Delta Run flanking stained glass windows on all sides as bells faintly rang through the air across the golden hall. Frisk made his way through it towards the doorway at the end before suddenly there, in the middle, stood Sans.

"...hey. you've been busy, huh?" the skeleton inquired, tilting his head ever-so-slightly to the side.

Frisk's body was caked in dust. Like he'd been rolling around in it, bathing in it. The dust of innocent monsters so fully covered the ten year old boy that he almost didn't even look like a child. He looked more like an undead ghoul. His eyes were so deep brown, they were almost red, and the hand that held the knife was slightly shaking, his expression flickering back and forth between a creepy, unnerving grin that looked more like an imitation of humanity than the real thing and a quiet, contemplative gaze.

"...so can I ask you a question?" The deep, normally amiable voice of Sans inquired, the skeletal monster's bony head hung low, his eyes shut, hands in the pockets of his blue ski jacket, the hoodie hung low behind his neck. "...do you think even the worst person can change? if they just try?"

Frisk then did something Sans didn't expect.

He sighed, hung his head, and then spoke.

Spoke.

Sans couldn't believe it. At night, he'd have flashes of times and places. He could faintly see the future and the past, of times that could be or that couldn't POSSIBLY be. But of all the times he'd seen himself facing Frisk in the hall when the kid was like this, the kid had never, ever spoken up before the fight.

But now Frisk asked him a question.

"I'll answer that if you answer mine, Sans." Frisk quietly inquired, the brown-haired youth looking up, squarely into Sans's stunned skeletal face. "Do you think that even the best person can change into something bad if everything is against them?"

Sans stared. His mouth slightly gaped before he tilted his head a bit. "...what's that supposed to mean?"

"You got any parents?" Frisk asked.

Sans was quiet before he shook his head back and forth. "died a long, LONG time ago. my eldest brother had to take care of us cuz they were gone and now even he's gone."

"Then you know what it's like to be an orphan." Frisk said. "...it wasn't...too bad at my orphanage, but I hated just...just being passed over again and again. I just wanted out so bad, and I'd heard all the rumors about Mt. Ebott. I fell in and I found the monsters down in the Ruins...found Ms. Toriel. The former queen. That...that nice lady who you told jokes to behind the big door."

Sans stiffened a bit. The lady he'd promised. Frisk continued on, speaking carefully, deliberately.

"She tried to teach me to get out of fights. To just...talk to the monsters until she came to help. Well...it worked...at first. I got hurt a lot, but...but it worked. I managed to talk lots of Looxes and Froggits and Whimsuns out of hurting me. I almost got killed by a Moldsmal, but...well, I finally managed to get to Ms. Toriel's place, and I finally, FINALLY felt...happy." Frisk said, his tone getting softer, warmer as he looked up from the floor, gripping his chest with one hand. "I stayed there for over a week, and she made me Butterscotch-Cinnamon pie, she tucked me into bed with stories, she read to me by a fire, she..."

Frisk began to shudder, and Sans could see tears forming. "...I really felt like I had a mom. A MOM." He murmured. "But after a while I...I started getting kinda stuffed up. The Ruins were pretty small. So I asked her how to leave and...and then she tried to destroy the doorway out. To keep me from leaving. And...and when I...when I said she shouldn't, and I wanted to leave, to-to see what else was out there, she told me about Asgore."

Frisk lowered his hand from his chest and his tone slipped into a briefly dark growl. "...I had noticed there was stuff belonging to other kids in her home. Even though the pictures she had only showed ONE human kid and a cute little goat boy. But I was darn sure neither of them were the kind who'd wear BALLET SHOES. Like the ones I found in the closet. That's when I first learned about the Six. And learned that if I left, I'd die. And so I had to prove myself...

And I died. For the first time."

Sans's eyes widened as Frisk cringed. "I burned...to death...in front of her. I-It-it HURT, Sans! Do you have ANY IDEA how much it hurts to die?! To BURN TO DEATH?! It was agony all over! It was nothing but endless heat and I was screaming and screaming!" Frisk screeched, gripping his hair. "ALL because she just couldn't let me out! And I sometimes keep dreaming about that, the very first time, the FIRST time I died, because the SECOND time, oh WOW, did you NOT keep an eyesocket out for me, cuz I GOT MY HEAD CUT OFF BY ONE OF THOSE STUPID SNOWDRAKES!" Frisk screamed, shaking his fists at his side as Sans took a nervous step back.

"h-hey, e-easy kid-"

"I forgave Toriel! She didn't MEAN to, she LOVED me, she was so nice, so I forgave her! It hurt all over, but I forgave her because I know she didn't want to hurt me! But Snowdrake and his dumb friends DID, and they cut my head off! And that wasn't even the first time, cuz OHHH, did I die so many times against the Royal Guard!" Frisk said, punching the nearby pillar. "Axed through the chest! Sliced into chunks! Crushed by a giant armored dog! Over and over! And your brother, I..."

Frisk took in a deep breath. "...I thought he was funny. I really liked him. I could see he was lonely too. Lonely like me. And it looked like we wouldn't fight." Frisk murmured. "...but then he knocked me unconscious and tossed me into his shed. It kept happening so often I dunno how many times, it all started blurring together..."

Now Sans was beginning to visibly sweat as Frisk's gaze became accusing. "But OHHH, now we get to Waterfall. I thought I'd gotten good at dodging. I actually got past all the other monsters just fine! But UNDYNE, oh, did she prove me wrong!" Frisk snarled. "That...that BIG BULLY! I was begging her, screaming that I didn't want to fight her! I just wanted to be friends, and she wouldn't accept my mercy! She tossed boulders at me! Impaled me through every part of my body! Kicked me off the high rise platforms! 28 times, Sans! She killed me TWENTY! EIGHT! TIMES!" He yelled furiously, taking a step towards Sans as he shook slightly in fear. The red in the eyes was gone. Now it was just a furious, baleful brown.

"l-look, uh, wh-why don'tcha put the knife down and-"

"She wants to talk about cowardice when she's HURLING SPEARS AT AN UNARMED KID IN A BALLERINA'S TUTU?! SHE'S the coward!" Frisk screamed. "You ALL are for trying to kill an unarmed kid! And you already killed six! I'm not surprised Undyne's so strong, how many has SHE killed to get that high a LV?" Frisk wondered aloud, bitterness seeping into every single word as he shook and shuddered with raw fury. "Oh, but I got away eventually. And then I met Alphys. I didn't die QUITE as much in Hotland with her helping me, I mean, don't get me wrong, being BLOWN UP BY PYROPES sure hurts, but for once, for ONCE...it looked like someone was really looking out for me. Giving me advice. Unlike some people I could mention!" Frisk snarled, pointing an accusing finger at Sans.

Sans was now stepping back more and more, as Frisk kept slowly stepping forward. "l-look, I-I didn't-"

"Alphys seemed so lonely too. She seemed like she didn't believe in herself, and I felt bad for her." Frisk said, stopping as he turned to the side and closed his eyes, quietly sighing. "She seemed so unhappy, and...and being friends with her made me feel good. Because I could tell she wanted to impress me, and that made me feel better about myself. Like...wow. Someone really looks up to me, someone...someone thinks I'm so cool. Like an actor on TV they really love and wanna show off to. I...I really liked that." Frisk said happily, wiping his eyes on his dusty sleeve. "Then Mettaton told me the truth, that she'd been making up stuff, putting me in danger just to bail me out. But I could forgive her, cuz she seemed to really be so sad and she just wanted a friend." Frisk murmured. "But then she told me to get free of the Underground I'd have to kill someone."

Frisk cringed. "...I'd have to kill Asgore. And that...that was something I couldn't forgive. That'd she'd keep that kind of secret from me hurt me more than anything else she did." He murmured out. "...why do people have to lie and keep secrets anyway? Honesty's the best policy for a reason. It's not just a virtue for nothing." The ten year old child mumbled. "And Asgore, I, I KNEW he'd murdered the other kids. But I could tell he didn't want to. The minute I looked at him, I KNEW."

Frisk turned around, back facing Sans as he put the knife down and sat on the ground, covering his face. "I knew he didn't want to hurt anyone. He was too nice and sweet and he was so afraid of me. Afraid of hurting me. I could tell he didn't want to kill me. He didn't even have it in him to look at me during the fight. He told me he didn't deserve mercy. And I wanted to forgive him..."

A long...painful silence. And then...

"And then I died again...and again...and again. At his hands. 10 times. And I couldn't take it anymore, Sans. I was just so...SO mad. And I wanted to hurt all of you like you hurt me again and AGAIN AND AGAIN!" Frisk whispered. "And when I first landed down here, I...I had this person guiding me. Not Toriel. SURE as hell not YOU!" He yelled, whipping his head around at Sans to glare at him. "No, she-she said her name was Chara."

Were it possible to turn whiter than white, Sans would have done so on the spot.

"She kinda appeared sort of...like a wisp out of the corner of my eye, and-and I could hear her in my head and my heart. She said she'd guide me through the Underground but she kinda wanted me to beat people up if they attacked me. And the more I died, the more...angry she got that I wasn't fighting back. To her, it was Kill or Be Killed. And because I kept getting KILLED, I...I finally decided...no. I'm not going easy on any of you anymore. She kept telling me that was wrong, hurting them back was right, so I listened, Sans. And I hurt you all. Over and over. Just like you hurt me. Just like you hurt the other kids."

Sans frowned, the skeletal monster stepping forward a bit. "w-wait, that's not-"

Frisk gripped his legs tightly, whipping reddened, tear-filled eyes at him. "It's TOTALLY fair! I read the plaques in Waterfall, Sans, I KNOW you guys had stolen human souls before! I saw that picture of a monster with human souls absorbed into them, and the plaques got made BEFORE Chara fell, so that means you guys had stolen human souls before! I get why we sealed you down here! We were all scared you'd turn into soul-stealing beasts that'd probably go after all our kids, right?!"

Sans cringed a bit, rubbing the back of his neck. "...well...sorta, yeah...pretty much..."

"Well you proved us RIGHT, cuz that's EXACTLY what you turned into!" Frisk screamed. "And yeah, sure, blaming people for what their ancestors did over a thousand years ago is TOTALLY fair! But you know what?! As scummy as everyone else in the Underground was, for all the times they tried to hurt me, or for how they betrayed me, YOU?! YOU'RE the one I'm the most pissed at!" Frisk yelled, rising up, fists at his sides, shaking angrily. "Where were you when those dumb teens kept killing me?! Where were you when Greater Dog launched me off an icy cliff!? Where were you when Muffet ate me alive?! And where were you...when Paps was dead?!"

Sans's sockets grew dark as Frisk's tone turned baleful. "I could get not fighting me at first. You'd been shocked. Afraid. Unsure. But aftering seeing UNDYNE die, even after getting so powerful, to not do ANYTHING to try and stop me until I reach this place?! To not step in and try to kill me after you see Undyne melting away?! Where were you when I was going through Hotland? Cuz ALPHYS at least, for how cowardly she gets, was trying to evacuate people! You just twiddled your thumbs and stayed in this stupid hall!" Frisk snarled, gesturing around at the golden hall about her, nostrils flaring. "You're a completely lazy coward! And you hide behind the idea of "nothing matters so why bother" to cover up the fact that you don't wanna TRY! Because if you try and fail, then you've only yourself to blame, and you're too scared to really try! You only really try when there is LITERALLY nothing else to do! You're the worst person in the Underground! At least Undyne died trying to save a kid! At least Papyrus didn't actually kill me! At least Toriel tried to care for me and look after me! At least Asgore APOLOGIZED for trying to hurt me! And even Mettaton tried to stand up to me for Alphys's sake! I have more respect for Muffet, she's selfish but she owns up to it! I don't expect ANYTHING from that mean lady but-but I! I!"

Now Frisk was blubbering, snot coming down from his nostrils, fists clenched tightly, tears flowing freely. "I thought you would help me! Y-You said you'd keep an eyesocket out for me! I thought I could trust you, and all I did was DIE! And you wanna call ME a demon and a monster after everything all of YOU did?! You're HYPOCRITES! Especially YOU, you...you...you FUCKING COWARD!"

And with that final, furious, bile-filled bellow, Frisk finished, panting and heaving, chest rising up and down as Sans closed his eyes, quietly bowing his head.

"So I'm gonna ask you again Sans. Do you think...even the best person can become bad...if everything is against them?" Frisk finally said.

Sans slowly opened up his eyes, tears softly brimming in his sockets. "...yes."

"...that's the answer, Sans." Frisk muttered, picking the knife up...and tossing it away, making it bang against the wall as he flopped down onto his knees, gripping them tighty with his dusty little hands, head bowed as the tears freely flowed. "...and it's my answer too."