Three months had passed since the five half-monster children and the few monsters that lived above ground had to flee back into Mt. Ebott. They were all curious as to how things were going in town. Well, most of them. Kari was still recovering from losing her mother-figure, once again. She had lost more parents than the average child her age, and it was taking its toll on her. It slowly began to upset the other children. They understood her pain but they were angered by her reluctance to talk about it.

"Kari, we need to talk about Mother." Kitearo spoke while sitting next to Kari. The girl glanced up at him then back to the ground. Kitearo sighed. "Look, I know you loved her. I did too. I never had a mom. Mine died after I was born so I never got to speak with her. You're lucky, you got to know yours, even if it was just for two years." Kari just huffed in reply. This just annoyed Kitearo more. "Kari, seriously. It's been three months, at least lighten up a little. We all loved her, okay? Not just you. She was special to all of us."

"Shut up!" Kari snapped. "Just shut up!" Kitearo blinked at Kari's sudden outburst. "You don't get it! I was right there! I could've done something! I saw it! I could've. I could've saved her. But I just stood there." Kitearo sighed and began to think of how to approach this situation. "I know I couldn't do anything to save my parents when I was two, but this time I could and--"

"Okay, I'm done with this sap." Kitearo growled and stood up, grabbed Kari by her hair and dragged her out of the safe room and towards the Throne room.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow! What gives!" Kari hissed while struggling to get free from the older boy's grip. Kitero did not reply. Instead he just tossed her in front of one of the windows. "Yeow!"

"Look outside and tell me what you see."

"But--"

"Do it now or I swear I'll get even more pissed!"

"Ok, ok, geez." Kari grumbled and looked outside. "All I see is the forest."

"Exactly. Nothing changed. That's how small it was, Mother's death. Tomorrow it'll be nearly the same. Nothing will change." Kitearo stated while crossing his arms. "Now listen, just because someone dear to us died doesn't mean we should cry out of self pity. Get over it." Kari turned to Kitearo as he kept talking. "You saw it for yourself. Nothing in the world changed. Anyone who didn't know our mother would just keep walking and going about their day. Yeah, sure you can feel a bit upset. Yeah it'll be rough and at times you'll just want to crawl in bed and sob. But that's not what you should do for such a long period of time. I mean, seriously, three months?! You need to keep moving forward and remember those who died in a positive light, got it?"

Kari sniffled and nodded. "Yeh." Kitearo sighed.

"Good. Sorry I was so mean, I was just sick of you being... Like this for so long." Kari nodded and the two began to walk back to the safe room when a large explosion caught them off guard. The two looked at one another then scrambled to look out the window. They saw that the whole town was burning. Another explosion sounded, this time closer to the mountain. Kitearo gulped. "Kari, let's hurry back." He ordered. Kari nodded in reply and the two began running back to the safe room.

Once they arrived, the two noticed that Undyne was putting on her armor and many other monsters were as well. The armored fish monster looked at the two and blinked.

"I was wondering when you two would be back." She stated. "There was an explosion nearby, you might have heard it. It happened not too long ago, so me and some other monsters from the royal guard are going to check it out." Undyne and the other armored monsters began to leave. Kari gulped and clung onto Undyne.

"Don't go! They'll kill you!" She gulped. Undyne frowned then picked Kari up by her scarf. "Please." The child sniffled.

Undyne sighed. "I won't die. I promise. I'll be back in two hours." She stated then put Kari down and continued towards the exit. Once she was gone Kari huffed and began to talk with the souls she harbored.

Kari, we need to stay here.

"But Frisk, she's not as strong as a human. They'll slaughter her and everyone else."

The kid has a point. I say we kill em all. The humans, I mean.

Chara, stay out of this.

"I can help her. But I'm kinda scared. What if I'm really not strong enough. I mean, to control my abilities. What if I lose control?"

Ugh... You're so stubborn. Fine, if he's okay with it.

I'm good with it! Ready when you are, I guess.

"H-hold on. I wanna talk with someone first, Bravery."

Who?

Kari sighed. "Dr. Gaster." Sans twitched upon hearing the name. The skeleton had heard Kari mumbling to herself but let it be for a while, until he heard Dr. Gaster's name. Sans stood up and approached the child.

"Hey kiddo, how do ya know that name?" He asked, putting a hand on Kari's shoulder.

The child jolted and looked up, only to sigh once she saw it was Sans. "I'll explain later. I..." Kari paused for a moment, glancing down to think, then looked back up at Sans. "I've got something to do. I'll be back in about an hour." She smiled and began falling backwards. Sans went to grab her, but she vanished seconds before he could.

The skeleton looked at where Kari vanished in shock then felt his smile grow bitter. "What the hell, kid." He mumbled. "That's my trick."

----------

Kari sighed as she floated in a black void. She looked around to see sparkling dots appear, making the area look more like a galaxy than just an empty void. She chuckled lightly, liking the cool effect.

"Oh, you're back? Why?" A voice called. Kari turned towards the voice only to see Dr. Gaster himself.

"Well, I kinda need to train." She informed.

Gaster blinked then hummed in thought. "Then why come here?" He asked.

"Uh. I was thinking that, since this is your dimension, you could manipulate the time so it would be different. That way I could train for a long time here, but it'd be only an hour or so back home."

"You're a smart one. I guess I can help you." He huffed while crossing his arms, smirking. Kari smiled shyly while rubbing the back of her head. "Well, hop to it. I'll manipulate the area to help you."

Kari nodded and felt gravity pull her towards a black land mass that was beginning to form. Kari blinked and made sure to land on her feet. That's when her training began. Sometimes she would fight against the eight human souls she harbored, having Gaster make them bodies made out of energy that only he could maintain. Other times she would fight against Gaster, strengthening the bonds with her and the eight human souls and working on team work.

It had been about a year in Gaster's dimension. Kari had grown about four inches and her hair had grown longer. Her clothing, except for her scarf, was messier and a bit ripped around the edges, and she had gained a scar across the rim of her nose from one of her battles with Gaster.

"Hey, Gaster." Kari called while fighting the scientist. Gaster looked at the girl. "Why are you helping me so much?"

"Well, you're the daughter of an old friend of mine." Kari tilted her head. "Your father. He and I were good friends before the war. We worked together a lot. When I was trapped here, I was able to view out into many other dimensions. I saw you with him in only one, though. I only saw one dimension with half monsters, such as yourself." Kari widened her eyes. Gaster chuckled and lunged at the girl for an attack.

Kari! Pay attention!

"Wha- Fris--?!" Kari was immediately taken over by the eighth human and dodged, her eyes closed half way with a bandage on her nose scar that was made out of pure red energy, a stick in her right hand made of the same energy. Around her right eye was a red aura, seeping towards her ear while a text box appeared on the front of her scarf. In the box was the word "MERCY" in bolded red letters, flickering like a flame, while a red heart with light gray stripes appeared on both of her sleeves, flickering like the word and text box.

"Good thinking, Frisk." Gaster chuckled.

"We aren't Frisk." They smirked, two voices merging into one.

"My bad. Karisk." Gaster put his hands up in defense, rolling his head as he would roll his eyes, had he actually had eyes. Frisk retreated and Kari sighed. "Heh, your trait change technique is at its best, it is almost like you've become one with the other souls." Kari giggled then took a stance, ready to fight. Gaster sighed then backed away.

"Wai- what are you doing?" Kari called with a small growl. "Don't you retreat! We aren't done here!"

"Yes we are. It's been an hour back at your home. Hurry up and head back." Gaster chuckled. Kari gasped then nodded.

"R-right!" She said as she made a portal back to her dimension. She looked at Gaster for a moment then jumped through the portal.

----------

Kari hopped out of Gaster's dimension and looked around with a sigh, the portal behind her closing. "Kari!" The girl heard and turned to see Sans looming over her a bit.

Kari waved. "Hey." She stammered nervously.

"What were you doing?"

"Training." Kari replied then walked towards the exit with a smirk. Sans grabbed the girl, stopping her in her tracks.

"I don't think an ho-"

"I know you know how long I've been training." Kari cut him off, not bothering to look at the skeleton. "I know that it was only an hour here, but I've been training for a while." Sans's eyes became voids as he grew shocked at her words, letting go of her. "I'm gonna go help Undyne before she's killed." Kari said then left the Underground.

Sans grumbled and began thinking of what to do, eventually deciding to follow the girl. Not long later the twins, Flo, and Kitearo joined Sans and Kari. They all headed towards the exit and were now on the cliff, overlooking the explosions in the distance.

Well, isn't this a new look on things?

Shut up, Chara. You only like the destruction.

You know me so well, Frisk.

Kari sighed. "Would you two please... Just, not now."

Sorry.

Sorry.

"Thanks." Kari mumbled and began to think of a plan to finish this senseless battle that was steadily developing into an all out war.