Branches On A Tree

by Pixiehobbit

Summary:

The barrier is finally broken, and at last all of monsterkind are free to walk on the surface.
Again.
Sans the Skeleton is skeptical. Why bother getting excited for something that's just going to reset? This is not the first time the barrier is broken, and probably not the last. He feels the need to take a break for everyone else's enthusiasm and wanders to the ruins where he encounters a ghost of his past. The result of that meeting is something he has been hiding for a long time and that he's determined to keep hidden.

Notes:

So angsty...! It will get better, probably. Poor Sans, lol.

If you read this, please feel free to tell me what you think! Any kind of feedback is very appreciated, as I'm a little unsure about my writing any tips or advice would really mean a lot! :)

And thank you for reading! I hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed writing it, haha.

Chapter 1: Prologue Part 1

Summary:

Part one of the prologue. Sans' sickness.

-15 years ago-

As Sans woke up, his skull was covered in tiny beads of sweat. His soul raced within his rib cage and his chest rapidly moved up and down with shallow breaths. Another nightmare, he thought to himself and nervously looked around the dimmed room, clutching the blanket in his hands. It seemed like forever since he managed to sleep through an entire night without any disruptions, usually in the form of nightmares. Horrible dreams of melting monsters and sharp needles piercing his soul. A shiver traveled down his spine when he thought of it.

"S-SANS? ARE YOU AWAKE?" A tiny voice called from beside his bed. It startled him a bit until he realized that it was just his little brother, Papyrus. "I-I HEARD YOU SCREAM, SO I CAME TO WAKE YOU UP."

"oh, was, uh... was i really screaming this time? s-sorry bro, i didn't mean to scare you. it was just a nightmare."

"IT'S OKAY, BROTHER. I JUST THOUGHT IT SOUNDED SCARY SO, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAME TO SNAP YOU OUT OF IT! DO YOU WANT ME TO STAY HERE WITH YOU AND KEEP THE BAD DREAMS AWAY?" asked the tiny skeleton. Even though young, he had no problem with his confidence, but as for now, his usual fearless expression was replaced with big, worried eyes looking at right at Sans.

"thanks bro. i'm lucky to have such a cool dude to look after me," said Sans and made room for him on his bed.

"YEAH, YOU ARE!" Papyrus chirped happily and crept up beside Sans. He yawned and his bones crackled softly as he stretched his arms. "HEY, SANS... CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING?" asked Papyrus as he made himself comfortable.

"hm? of course."

"WHY DO YOU HAVE TO BE SICK SO OFTEN?"

"oh... well. that's just how it goes i guess...?" Sans blurted out. He would rather not discuss that with Papyrus. In fact, he would rather not discuss it at all. He felt so guilty having to lie to everyone, especially his brother. He really wanted to tell them, but as for now, he had no other choice.

"WHY CAN'T DADDY GIVE YOU YOUR MEDICATION HERE AT HOME? I DON'T LIKE IT WHEN YOU HAVE TO GO TO THE LAB WITH HIM."

Every first Monday of the month their father, the royal scientist of King Asgore, Doctor Wing Dings Aster brought Sans to his laboratory to give him 'medication', to 'treat his sickness'. Or at least that's what Papyrus and Grandpa Semi were told. In reality, he was taken to the lab in order to perform a few tests for his father. The test-subject was himself, and while he wasn't really sure what his father and his colleagues were testing, he knew that it was very important to them.

People often told how clever he was for his age, and if he may say so himself he was pretty strong too. Apparently, those were traits that made him a good candidate for whatever their project was. The procedure consisted of sticking a long tube, with a needle in one end, and a bag of what his father referred to as DT at the other end and into Sans' soul. It left him feeling very sick almost all of the time afterward. He'd get really worn out, nauseous and his whole body would hurt a lot. Sometimes he'd even get spikes of fevers.

His father, Wing Dings was very scarce on information when Sans confronted him about the experiment and only told him that 'one day, he'd understand', or 'it's for the benefit of all monsters', or 'the greater good'. 

One thing for sure was that it was really starting to get tiresome for the nine-year-old skeleton.

Besides, always having to lie was the worst. Wing Dings had been very clear about not telling anyone. It was strictly forbidden. Not even the rest of their family could know. He had no idea why, but he felt obligated to obey his father. So they made up some crazy story about an imaginary illness, because of which Sans would need regular input of medication into his soul every other day.

"YOU ARE GONNA GET WELL ONE DAY SOON, RIGHT? AND THEN YOU WON'T HAVE TO GO AWAY ANYMORE," said Papyrus, half mumbling.

"yeah, of course, bro. dad is, uh... really close to finding a medicine that'll cure me for good! besides, you don't have to be sad while i'm gone. you get this whole room all to yourself. no stinkin' brother to boss you around and you can play with all of my toys if you want..."

"I'D MUCH RATHER HAVE YOU HERE," Papyrus whispered and dragged the blanket over his face.

"yeah? well, me too," Sans mumbled under his breath after a short pause.

---

The next morning was pretty much like any other first Monday of the month. No one said a word at breakfast, except for Grandpa Semi, who babbled on about something he read in the newspaper. 

Wing Dings might as well not have been there at all. Like always his attention was strictly on gathering the rest of the supplies needed for the visit to the lab. Even the normally talkative Papyrus ate his cereal in silence. Sans didn't have much of an appetite himself. He knew what awaited him today, and he did not forward to it.

When it was time to go, he gave Papyrus a big parting hug and reassured him that he would definitely not feel sick or tired when he got back home. Another lie, of course, but at least it made Papyrus feel better. He smiled and waved at them as they left the small house in the suburb of New Home.

They were heading for the big lab in the Hotlands where Wing Dings worked. On the way there they passed through the core, which gave the scientist an opportunity to check on his creation and make sure that it was running efficiently. Sans had been there with him more times than he could count and he felt like he knew his way around the core almost as good as his dad did.

When they finally got to the lab, a few other scientists greeted them happily with tired smiles and coffee mugs in their hands. Sans had seen them many times before, but he didn't remember their names. 

Wing Dings led Sans into his office and closed the door behind him. Sans saw a concerned, almost nervous look on the doctor's face, which wasn't like him at all. He wondered if he got a bad result from last time or something like that.

"what's up dad?" asked Sans and put his backpack down on the floor.

"Nothing." A certain hint of hesitation in Wing Dings' voice almost confirmed his fear that something was wrong. "I just... I mean, I know you've been very patient with all this, son," he continued as he opened a drawer from his desk and grabbed what appeared to be a syringe.

"yup that's me. the patient..." Sans couldn't resist the opportunity for a pun, but he regretted it quickly and carefully glanced at the grim look on his father's face.

"You spend too much time with your grandfather." Wing Dings rubbed his nose bone between his thumb and index finger. "In all seriousness, Sans. I think the progress of this experiment has been going very well, and that means we're ready to move on."

"move on? like, i don't have to get a needle stuck into my soul anymore?"

"No. That's still going to be necessary I'm afraid. Hopefully, once the new procedure is done, you won't experience the same amount of discomfort afterward any longer."

"oh, okay. what is the new procedure?" Sans asked. As much as he liked the possibility of getting rid of the long way to recovery after each session, the new procedure was still a bit unnerving considering his father's hesitation. If it weren't something bad his father wouldn't act like this.

"It's just a single injection. A one-time thing and then hopefully no more discomfort," said Wing Dings.

"huh. really?"

"Yes. If my calculations are correct then you should be able to handle this quite well by now."

"what is this then?"

Dr. Wing Dings sat down on his desk chair and sighed. "Every monster's soul lacks a major part of what human souls consist of, and that's a trait called Determination, or DT for short. It's what we've been injecting it into your soul. Everything we've done so far has been to make you tolerant to this." Wing Dings held up the syringe for Sans to look at. It contained a blue-ish substance that almost seemed to be glowing, somehow. "This is the very essence of my research and I need to find a proper host for this to grow and develop in. That's where you come in. While I think you're more than ready to handle this right now, you'll still need the DT for it to sustain within you," said the scientist and placed the syringe on the desk in front of Sans. He rubbed his bony hands with excitement and Sans couldn't remember the last time he had seen his father so enthusiastic about something. This really did mean a lot to him. 

Sans couldn't help but be a little nervous though.

"but you still didn't say what's in it."

A knock on the door interrupted Wing Dings before he had a chance to explain. Not that it mattered. Sans had a feeling that his father wouldn't have answered his question anyway.

"Good morning, sir," said the scientist who entered the room. Sans knew her from before. She was usually the one assisting his father to check up on him during each procedure. Her dull calico fur was clad with the same white lab coat that every scientist at the lab wore and a pair of glasses rested upon her wrinkly, pink nose and strands of tangled hair draped her tired face. 

Her name was Fani, a monster of the feline type. Her white whiskers perked up when she noticed him. "Hi, peewee! You ready for today?" she said, sounding as happy as ever. He hated the condescending behavior she had around him and he really hated being called 'peewee'.

"yeah. i guess so," he said with a grimace on his face.

"Glad to hear. Come, this way, please." She seemed to be completely oblivious to his dismay.

Sans gave his father a concerned look before following Fani to the elevator, which dropped down to the basement and into the corridor that leads his usual stay-over-room. On the way there they passed many other rooms. No one spoke of what was in there, but Sans knew.

There were other test subjects, monsters who had been through a lot more than he ever had. Monsters who were so far gone with various experiments that their bodies had started to fall apart. He only knew this because, during his previous stays in the basement, he'd gotten bored and crept out of his room and actually spoke to one of those monsters. It was kind of sad and a little scary even. The monster was nice though and he returned to her more than once. She was the reason for the bad dreams that Sans experienced lately. Out of the blue, her body started falling apart and it was like she just melted.

She didn't make it. 

Instead of explaining what happened, or comfort him, his father simply urged him not to go to see any one of them again. He was just supposed to stay in his room.

"Please, make yourself comfortable on the bed, and I'll get the IV bag. You see, before we can give you the injection, you need to have a bit of an excess of DT. Just a little more than you're used to. It may make you feel a bit... uh, tingly. Don't worry though! If all goes well everything will be just fine from now on! That's a good thing, right?" said Fani eagerly. She spoke way too fast to sound sure of her own words.

"sure." Sans shrugged his shoulders and got up on the examination table. "although dad didn't tell me exactly what the thing in the syringe is. only that it was something he had worked very hard on." In the corner of his eye, he could see her body stiffen as she fumbled with the long tube, connected to the needle.

"Oh. Well anyway, it should be fine."

"but what is it?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but if the doctor didn't tell you then neither should I. Not that I think he's going to keep it from you. I think he's just had too much on his mind right now. I really think he should be the one to tell you... it's his project after all. Like I said before, don't worry." She made a poor attempt of a smile. "It should be fine."

"heh. you keep saying that word. should." A nervous chuckle involuntarily escaped his throat.

"Oh, peewee you know that's not what I meant. Of course, it'll be fine," said Fani gawkily. She hesitated a while before slowly nearing him with the familiar IV bag, filled with red substance in her hands.

"Ready?"

"yeah."

It always stung when the needle pricked his soul. After that, it wasn't that bad. At least not until a few hours after the procedure, and this time he feared he would get affected worse than before because of the increased dose. 

He didn't like how both his father and Fani talked about if the new experiment would be a success or not. How it should be fine.

He didn't feel fine though. He felt far from fine. His stomach turned when his father entered the room holding the syringe shown to him earlier. Despite the fact that his father wasn't much of a talker, just a single comforting word or at least a little encouragement would have been nice. Best of all would be to know exactly what to expect from this, but he couldn't imagine that would ever happen.

"dad..." Sans began, but the royal scientist interrupted him.

"I'm sorry Sans. This may hurt a little. As soon as I know for sure the installation is successful I will give you some painkillers. Until then I'm afraid any drugs might affect it." He clutched the syringe in a tighter grasp.

"seriously dad. what is that?" asked Sans. He tried to keep his voice as steady as he could as Fani removed the needle from his soul, carefully padding it with a piece of cloth.

Wing Dings sighed deeply but didn't say anything. Sans thought he would leave him with that, but finally, the royal scientist spoke. "What it is, is a chance to redeem monsterkind and break the barrier without having to wait around for more humans to come along. That's all you need to know. Now keep absolutely still. I'm going to inject it through your eye."

"what? n-no...!" Chills traveled down his spine at the thought of that needle entering his eye. Suddenly not even the barrier seemed so important. Before Fani could get a hold of him, Sans got down from the bed and quickly drew back from them both until his back hit the wall.

"Take it easy Sans, it'll be..." Wing Dings began.

"you keep saying that, but it won't be fine! i'm not letting you do that!" He pressed himself as close to the wall as he could. "it's not worth it, right dad? what if something goes wrong and i end up like the other experiments down the corridor?"

Wing Dings' face was completely emotionless. "How disappointing. I was hoping you'd be willing to cooperate. I expected more of you."

"don't do that," said Sans, fighting the tears forming in his sockets. "i've always been cooperative. i have never complained before. i've done everything you've told me to and put up with everything you've done. but i don't want to do this anymore, i'm scared!"

"Please get back up on the bed. If you don't do it on your own, we'll have to make you."

"no! you always say you'll stop the minute i'm telling you to. i'm telling you to stop now!"

"I know, but this is necessary and we've come so far." A blue light ignited around Wing Dings' hand and magic grabbed a hold of Sans' soul and dragged him back onto the bed.

"dad, please..." Sans begged, but to no avail. The blue magic Wing Dings cast on his soul kept him put in place and he couldn't even struggle.

When his father approached him with the syringe in his hand, he couldn't hold back the tears any longer. He silently sobbed when the needled hoovered so close to his eye.

"It's okay. Everything will be fine," said Wing Dings before inserting the syringe into Sans' eye with a swift motion.

A very sharp pain radiated through Sans' skull and spread through his whole body. Even if he tried he couldn't hold back the agonized scream that escaped his throat. The sensation of not being able to move goaded on the panic that spread in his abdomen and he barely noticed when Dr. Aster removed the now empty syringe and put a bandage over his eyes.

 

Chapter 2: Prologue Part 2

Summary:

Part two of the prologue. Sans first transformation into a gaster blaster beast.

Notes:

This was difficult to write. Hope it's not too scrabbled! I was originally going to keep the prologue in two parts, but I still have some things I need to write before I post a chapter with present day events, haha. Sorry.

Oh, and I had a thought when it comes to the language barrier when Sans is in his Blaster form. It's hard to write his responses in thoughts and body language so I figured that perhaps the whole skeleton family has their own way of communication by rattling their bones and clutching their teeth. Sort of like morse-code but with more variety in sounds. I hope it makes sense lol. That way it doesn't matter if Sans is in his blaster-form, he can still communicate. At least with Papyrus and Gaster who understands this concept. Whenever they're using this way of communication I will start and end their sentence with * rather than " as well as use a cursive/emphasis font.

Oh and I'm not sure I mentioned this in the previous chapter's note, but english is not my first language. There may very well be typos and errors in sentence structure. But of course I'll be glad to be corrected so I can improve my english as well as my writing!

Silence.

Sans listened very carefully, but he was unable to hear any sounds. No steps hurrying through the hallway outside of his room, no machines running, no voices talking. He had no idea how much time had passed since his father injected the strange substance into his eye. All he knew was that since then he'd been drifting on and off between consciousness. It was hard to stay awake for very long periods of time.

He could feel something inside his skull and it didn't feel right at all. It was like a splinter radiating with a dull pain. It didn't hurt as bad now as it did during the procedure, it was still staggering with a sense of constrained presence.

It bothered him that he couldn't tell the time and not a single person had been checking in on him, not even his father. Well, at least that he was aware of.

The bandage was still wrapped over his eyes, so he couldn't see anything. Not that it would matter, because even when he tried to peer onto the edges of the bandage there was only darkness.

When the door suddenly opened he winced in surprise and rapidly turned his head towards the sound.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, peewee," said a familiar voice.

"fani?" Sans asked. His head throbbed even worse as he spoke.

"Yeah. How are you feeling?"

"not great. it kinda hurts."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

Sans could hear her fumbling with something. It sounded like she put down something heavy on the floor, or possibly on the counter. A tearing sound of velcro made him realize she had probably brought a bag with her.

"dad mentioned something about painkillers. i could really use it..." he tried, sincerely hoping that was why she came in the first place.

"Sorry, not yet," said Fani monotonously.

"why not?"

"Because there seems to have been a slight complication regarding the amalgamate. It's not combined with your soul yet. We thought the DT would do that, and while it did work a little bit it failed to make it merge properly."

"what..? what does that mean?" Sans immediately started to tremble, and he caught himself beginning to breathe way too fast. He had to make a big effort to try and control himself, despite the fact that he was terrified.

So, things did go wrong after all.

Before Fani could go on about the matter, he already painted a picture in his head, where he would end up like the scary monsters down the hall and be stuck at the lab forever, or possibly even fall down. Fani must have noticed his shudders and realized how scared he was. He felt her getting closer to him and a soft, furry hand gently stroked his forehead.

"Hey, don't be scared. It's not dangerous. We're just going to have to reevaluate the experiment a little bit. You're fine and you'll stay fine. I promise."

He cringed when she removed her hand from his head. His skull stung when she touched him, but her touch had still been soothing. It was reassuring that someone was actually there and made him feel less lonely and miserable.

"Dr. Gaster came up with a solution that should work, but I'm afraid it's rather drastic."

"wh-what are you going to do?"

"For now, I'm just going to check your stats for a bit, okay? I also brought you a little something to eat. For dessert, I got you some monster candy too. Just don't tell anyone about that."

"i'm not hungry."

"I didn't think you would be, but it would be good for your HP."

"i don't care."

"Please, don't be like that. At least have some of the candy? It strictly has no taste of licorice, and I know you like that," said Fani with a chirpy tone to her voice, and judging by the imminent smell of candy she must have waved it in front of his face to tempt him, but it did just the opposite of what it was she intended it to. Smelling the candy made a sudden wave of nausea rush through him. He had no apatite before, and even less so now. It was so horrible that he really thought he might throw up because of the scent alone.

"if i eat it, i'm gonna be sick."

"Oh. Do you feel nauseous?"

"very."

"Sorry, I didn't realize... but you'll still need to increase you HP for the next procedure because you might lose a few points because of it... but don't worry! I promised you that you'll be alright, didn't I?" she blurted out, and just like she did before she was speaking way too fast and jittery to sound even remotely convincing. "Your HP is fine, but we need it to be as good as it can possibly be in order to have a little marginal to work with."

"what does that mean?" asked the tiny skeleton.

The only reply he was given was a deep sigh and then heard her starting to move away. The rustling noise that followed told him she was going through her bag.

"The sooner we can get started, the sooner it will be over," she murmured. Her usual exuberance seemed to have completely faded as she'd walked away from him. Moments later when she came back to the bedside he heard her put something rather heavy down on the nightstand with a thud.

"is it... more dt?" asked Sans. He wasn't really sure what to expect other than that.

"... No," said Fani, exhaling sharply. "Anyway, since you won't eat, before I do anything, I'm going to give you a little synthetic magic through a syringe, in order to maximize your HP and give you a few temporary hit points. It might sting a little and you may experience a tingling sensation through your body. Don't worry about it, that's completely normal. You'll probably even feel rather refreshed afterward. Let me just go out and get it," said Fani and exited the room. It didn't take long for her to return. Or at least it didn't feel like it. It was hard to tell.

"why does my hp need to be so high? what's gonna cause it to drop?" asked Sans.

"Well... that's j-just because... " she stacked on her own words as she spoke and her voice sounded uncertain. "W-Well, since... since you've already been given such a high d-dose of DT, we have to cut back on it for now. After all, it is working, just not as well as we'd like it to. So, in order to boost the properties of the DT, we're gonna have to set off a huge dose of adrenaline into your system. Do you understand?" asked Fani slowly. Her own insecurity was shining through clearly.

"y-yes." said Sans. His soul sank in his chest. Considering Fani's nervous behavior, he already knew things weren't looking good for him.

"Good boy. In order to release adrenaline, we have to... put you through some deplorable situations... starting with electric shocks."

"what?" exclaimed Sans, chocked. It was worse than he imagined and he didn't understand. Why? How could anyone do this? He couldn't think of anything to say that would help. What could he say? Even if he protested, it wouldn't matter anyway. They didn't stop before and they wouldn't stop now.

His body began to tremble again and started sweating. The bandage over his eyes instantly absorbed the tears that formed in his sockets, so Fani couldn't see it, but it stung the injection wound in the left socket.

Fani worked silently and promptly. She injected the syringe in his humerus bone, all the way to the marrow. By now he was so used to syringes that it didn't bother him much. Besides, it didn't hurt nearly as bad as when they injected DT into his soul.

Just like Fani said he did feel refreshed. Like he had just woken up from a long, peaceful nap. Under different circumstances, it would have been a welcomed sensation, but knowing what was about to happen took the tranquility away and he was trembling like a leaf.

She proceeded to put sticky patches on each side of his temporal bones as well as on his sternum. "These are electrodes," she said while working. "The current of electricity is going to go through them. Given the fact that this procedure can be a little breathtaking, you need to be kept restrained with blue magic for now. It's for your safety, as well as mine, so don't let it alarm you. After this, I'm going to plug you up to a battery and I'm going to be delivering electric shocks into your body. They aren't going to be very intense, but if nothing happens the intensity will be increased in order to trigger a reaction."

Sans heard her fidgeting with something just beside him. She didn't say anything else, but her breathing was jagged and she dropped the item she held multiple times.

"i wanna go home," Sans sniffed after a moment of silence.

"Oh, peewee, I know. You have to be strong. This will be all over soon. Please, just try to bear with it. H-hang in there."

"don't do this. please," he pleaded with a brittle tone to his voice.

"I'm sorry. Get ready, okay? I'm going to count to three. One, two, three."

After the sound of a button being pressed, his body instantly triggered and stiffened like a board, resulting in the inability to move at all. He tried to yell, but he couldn't utter any sound at all. All he could do was breathe, or gasp for air with shallow, labored breaths. Then, as fast as it started, it faded and he whined loudly with relief.

"It's okay! It's okay. Okay..? I'm going to wait a few moments before the next one comes, just in case anything happens."

After a few minutes break, Fani repeated the procedure four more times. Each time a little worse than the previous. When she finally told him she'd stop he was so relieved.

Completely out of breath and hurting, he wanted nothing more than to drift off into sleep, but he doubted he would be able to. It hurt too much and he was way too worked up. It was a vicious cycle from which he couldn't seem to escape.

Much to his alleviation, the pain started to fade at a rapid rate. Not before long it was completely gone and it was the best feeling in the world.

"There," said Fani and softly brushed his forehead. "I gave you a little something for the pain, so you can sleep at ease."

Sans hadn't even noticed, but he was overjoyed that she did.

"thank you."

"Don't thank me, peewee," she whispered. "Sleep well. I'll see you in the morning."

---

"It's time to examine the result. Are you ready? Bandage off in three, two, one," said Dr. Aster and removed the bandage. Sans's vision switched from tranquil darkness to piercing, blurry light. His whole head hurt and he cringed upon the change. He could barely see past the blurriness and the only thing he could tell was that he was in a light room and that his father was there with him as well.

Since the shock-treatment, he had mostly been left alone, which he didn't mind at all. It was far better than being put through another 'deplorable situation'. He really hoped they would have their result by now, so he wouldn't have to cope with a similar or even worse ordeal.

"Easy now, son." Dr. Aster carefully helped Sans's limp body up into a sitting position. Bony hands grabbed his cheeks and turned his head in different directions and he could almost feel his father's curious eyes on him. As soon as he let go Sans' head lolled back and he decided to lay back down again.

"Looks like the installment finally succeeded. How do you feel?" asked Dr. Aster, but his voice sounded distant and dull. Sans was glad to hear the installment, or whatever it was, was successful, but his thoughts wandered away and fatigue dimmed his mind. He just wanted to sleep.

"Sans?" Dr. Aster repeated his question.

"oh, uh. well, still can't see anything."

"Other than that? Does it hurt?"

"yeah. i mean kinda. i dunno. it's weird 'cause it feels numb at the same time."

"How many fingers am I holding up?" Sans was able to make out some kind of motion in front of him, but there was no way he even saw the contour of a hand. Let alone how many fingers there were.

"i told you. i can't see anything, it's all blurry."

"And you can't even see anything on your right eye?"

"no. it kinda felt better with the bandage on too. while it's all blurry, i can at least make out that the room is bright and... it feels a bit overwhelming."

"Alright. Then I will put the bandage back on for you shortly. First, however, we need to chart any changes in your magic, okay? It shouldn't take long."

"do i have to? i'm really tired," said Sans as he carefully rubbed his aching left eye, but Dr. Aster quickly removed his tiny hand from his face and decidedly put the arm down by his side.

"You can go back to sleep as soon as we're done. Now, let's see some magic."

Sans was good at magic, but it was difficult to muster enough energy to use his regular blue magic. The result turned out to be a half-assed attempt, which his father quickly scribbled down the result of in a notebook. After a while when Dr. Aster told him he could stop and try to get some rest, Sans was more than happy to oblige.

The constant beeping noise of the machine beside him as well as the scribbling on paper slowly made falling asleep impossible to ward off. Somewhere between consciousness and dormancy, he could hear his father speak softly to him.

"It's going to be okay."

---

The following night was anything but okay. He was abruptly awoken by a dull, throbbing pain, surging through his bones that he couldn't get any comfort from no matter what he did.

He tried getting up for a walk, he stretched his bones and rubbed them but the discomfort only got worse. A strange feeling of disproportionation was really starting to freak him out, and all of a sudden his left eye socket felt as if it would catch fire. Defeated, he crawled back to bed.

With a swift motion of his hand, he ripped the bandage off his face. It was wrapped too tight anyway. He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times. At least he found out that he could see again. With both of his eyes even, though it still hurt. It would have been much worse if the room was bright though, which thankfully it was not. 

For some reason, his pajamas too started to feel too tight, just like the bandage. A twisted grimace appeared on his face and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Something was wrong with him. Very wrong.

'just fall asleep', he thought to himself over and over as he pulled the blanket over his face with shaking hands, tears lining the bottom of his eye sockets. Entering the unconscious state of sleep was the only way he could think of to help him suppress the pain that slowly, but surely spread across his whole body by now, even though he knew he was way too worked up to be able to do so. He still had to keep trying and he really tried as hard as he could.

'just fall asleep, please, please, p l e a s e, fall asleep.'

He tried for a while, but in the end, he couldn't lie still anymore so he got back up from his bed and started pacing the room again. To the door, and back to the bed and to the door again, putting his arms around himself for some kind of comfort. His cheeks became wet with tears as he sobbed, begging for relief that never came.

His rib cage began to rapidly move up and down as his breathing became jagged, and not before long he was completely out of breath. Strength seemed to leave his body and he fell down on the floor. He didn't bother to try and get up again, he couldn't. For now, he had to focus on stabilizing his breathing again. 

The floor was raw and hard, and his bones rattled with both cold and fear. Right now the warmth of the bed seemed heavenly compared to this. He could bury himself under the blanket and disappear... but his body didn't respond to the command to move. Suddenly the bed seemed really far away. He clenched his stomach and whimpered quietly.

A new wave of pain washed over him before the last one disappeared. For a brief moment, Sans thinks that he actually might die.

Without being really aware of it, a loud scream escaped his throat as he began to claw inside his eye socket, aiming to get whatever they put inside out of there. He didn't even care that it would blind his eye again. He just wanted to get rid of the bloody thing.

He grunted, his hate towards the people who did this to him intensifying when he thought about what the scientists had done. Why would they do this, when he clearly stated that he didn't want to participate anymore. How could they? How dare they?

He would get them back by removing the thing from his eye and destroy it, even if it would permanently blind him. That way their precious project would be completely reset and no one else would have to suffer the way he did now.

... but despite his efforts, he couldn't get it out. He wasn't sure he could even feel anything in there. All that he managed to do was cause a very distressing feeling on top of the pain, and once more, the left eye was deprived of vision. 

Eventually, he stopped trying and in the end, when it became too much for him and he finally blacked out, right there on the cold floor.

He drew a sigh of relief.

---

When he woke up again, nothing seemed to be as it should. He was lying on his side, and when he tried to move his body everything felt heavier than usual and his coordination was totally off. There was an odd thudding noise behind him that he couldn't identify, but he couldn't even muster enough strength to turn his head and find out what it was.

Everything still hurt, especially behind his eye, but at least not as bad as it had done before he fell unconscious. A moan, which sounded nothing like himself escaped his throat and shocked him. His mouth felt numb and when he tried to speak and call for help, he found himself unable to pronounce words. The only sound he was capable of was grunts or moans. He started to wonder if the final procedure had gotten to his mind somehow?

At least he could still see with his right eye socket and though everything was still a little blurry, he noticed that he had been moved to another room. Not a single piece of furniture was in this new room, with the exception of a large mirror on the wall, without a question a one-way mirror and the mattress he was lying on. The walls, as well as the floor, was sterile white and very plain, but not like that mattered.

Sans closed his eyes and did his best to remember what just happened and why he had been moved, but he was unable to figure it out.

When the door suddenly opened he instinctively drew back against the wall, but he fell back down on the floor as he soon as he tried to stand up. The surge of pain that followed when his bones hit the floor made him cry out loud. He didn't bother to try and get up a second time. He just remained to lay down, as still as he could. That's when he noticed his arms and hands looked completely different than usual. His palms were longer than normal and the tip of his fingers was adorned with huge claws. He forced his head up with sheer determination alone and looked down on the rest of his body.

No wonder he felt so uncoordinated and off. His entire body had changed form.

He slowly reached for his face with one of his hands, trying hard not to scratch himself with his new claws, and found that it had expanded and grown into a muzzle. His teeth felt sharp and mandible was split in half.

The creepiest thing though was the crevice traveling from his snout all the way up to his forehead, and on the top of his skull, he could feel strange, elongated ridges.

At the root of his spine a long tail, looking like a tapering spinal cord, with spikes at the end, extended behind him, swaying from side to side, explaining the thudding noise when it hit the wall.

If he weren't freaking out before, he sure was now. What the hell was he going to tell Paps?

He tried to get up into an upright stance but again, he lost his balance immediately and fell down on all fours wincing.

He barely noticed when Fani entered the room. In her hands, she carried a plate with a few food items on.

"Good morning," she greeted him a bit nervously and put the plate down beside the door. "Wow. Look at you. That's rather unexpected." She slowly approached with her hands outstretched towards him. "It's okay," she whispered softly and rubbed his skull once close enough. "How are you holding up?"

Sans tried to answer, but only managed to make upset moaning sounds at her. He had already forgotten the fact that he was unable to speak. He was a little embarrassed by the awkward noises he made, but Fani didn't look surprised.

"It's okay, you don't need to answer. I understand, peewee. Wouldn't have expected anything else after what you've just been through. I just... wanted to make sure... guess I shouldn't be calling you peewee anymore, huh?"

After a few tries, he actually managed to remain standing for a little while, but only if he had his hands on the floor and even out the balance to all his four limbs. Looking at the blue illumination cast on the plain environment in front of him, he realized that his eyes were glowing with a sharp cerulean light.

With shaky legs, Sans turned away from Fani and inspected his new body carefully. Trying to regulate his new center of gravity was difficult. His tail was subconsciously swaying to and fro behind him to help him with that. He barely even noticed that.

Despite trying a few times, there was no way he could stand up without supporting part of his weight on his arms... or were they front legs now? Either way, he felt completely out of place and not at all like himself. Everything about this was wrong and nothing made sense. He tried to back away from Fani but fell right down on his butt as he did.

"Sans, listen to me very carefully," said Fani and carefully placed her hands on his cheekbones, and gently aimed his head towards her, forcing him to face her.

"Look at me, please. I know you must be very confused and I know that it must hurt, but you need to remain calm. I will explain everything to you, but you need to remain calm." Just like always, she overemphasized her words when speaking to him and it annoyed him more than ever now.

Besides, how was he going to be able to calm down after discovering this? This was her fault. She was the one who gave him all the DT in the first place, and she was the one who delivered electrical shocks to him.

An involuntary growl escaped his throat and he lowered his head, clicking with his jaws, the pain fueling his frustration further.

"Sans?" said Fani and backed away a few steps. "Stop that." There were no mistaking the fear in her trembling voice.

Sans couldn't care less about her state of mind. In fact, he was glad that she was scared of him. He wanted her to feel just as scared as he did before.

With a quick snap of his neck, he buried his sharp teeth into Fani's forearm. She winced and yelled out in pain, but Sans refused to let her go. Even when he noticed her HP starting to drop, he still didn't loosen his teeth around her.

"Sans. Stop it." A stern, familiar voice bellowed and Dr. Aster entered the room. The sight of the royal scientist made Sans quickly release the grip over Fani's arm. The sudden motion of her drawing away made him fell down on the floor, again. He stayed down and tried to make himself as small as possible, refusing to look at his father. Guilt began to spark in his abdomen and he wondered if Dr. Aster would be very mad with his behavior.

"Fani, you are needed upstairs," Dr. Aster told the feline monster, who responded with a nod and left the room while clutching her wounded arm. Sans winced under just the look on his father's face.

At least he didn't look angry. His arms were crossed as he stepped closer and Sans didn't like that. He felt threatened by his fathers pushing attitude and he growled at him as a warning to stay away.

"You must be very confused, so I will not rebuke you for your actions towards my colleague, but I will make you calm down by holding you in place with blue magic if I have to, and I think neither one of us would be happy about that. After everything that's happened, I will explain the situation to you. Answer me by rattling if you understand."

It took a lot of willpower to remain calm and recompose himself enough to present a reply. *yeah, i understand,* he rattled finally. Rattling his bones felt a little strange with all his new proportions and he wasn't sure he managed to get every word right, but the scientist nodded his head in understanding.

"Good." Dr. Aster clasped his hands behind his back. "As I told you earlier we've been injecting the essence of determination into your soul. DT is a trait we monsters lack in our souls, and humans souls are made of more or less. However, this does not mean all human souls are the same. As far as we know their souls are divided into various properties. While determination is a property on its own there are far more than just that. Such as kindness, perseverance, bravery, patience, justice, and integrity, just to mention a few. Asgore was kind enough to provide us with two different kinds of human souls so that we could study their properties and extract some determination. What we installed into your soul was an amalgamation made of structural pieces of mentioned two souls. Are you following?"

Sans nodded his head.

"Good. I've never been able to bind two different properties into the same vessel before, and the potential of this project is far more important than you can ever realize. However," he started and exhaled sharply. "I should not have dismissed the old sayings of what the legend tells happens when a human soul is combined with a monster's. While your powers should increase, the amalgamation of the two souls, and their different properties, also seemed to have made you take on an entirely new form. It's going to be alright," said Dr. Aster after noticing Sans' sad expression. "you should be able to shift back into your regular form as soon as you learn to switch this power off, sorta say."

Sans nodded his enlarged head. It was a lot of information to process, and he wasn't sure he grasped the entity of it yet. At least it made him feel a bit calmer knowing that this transformation wouldn't be permanent.

*it hurts,* he rattled after a while.

"I can imagine that and I will see to it right now. In the meantime, I think you should try to eat something. Fani made you pancakes."

The thought of what he just did to Fani a few moments ago made Sans cringe and he despised himself for his malicious intentions. In his defense though, he was hurting and he was scared. Scared that he might be stuck like this, scared that he could never go home again, and scared he might never see Papyrus or grandpa Semi again. None the less he knew what he did to Fani was wrong and that she didn't deserve it.

*will you tell her i'm sorry?*

"Of course. I think she'll understand."

Chapter 3: Prologue Part 3

Summary:

Part three of the prologue. Things may be looking up.

Notes:

Wow. Grandpa Semi ended up with a much bigger role than I first intended. Who is he, you might ask? I think this is a rather good explanation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTsqbMGITQk&t=5m51s although we can only speculate!

There are probably so many flaws with this, but after rewriting it several times, I figured this would have to do, haha. Let me know if you notice something that seems wrong, so I can fix it! Some things are still left to be explained, or saved for latter chapters, if you will. :) But this is the end of the prologue at least, so hopefully I'll be able to upload a bit more frequently in the future!
Oh, and I just wanted to remind you, in order to explain the language barrier when Sans is in his blaster form the whole skeleton family has their own way of communication by rattling their bones and clutching their teeth and make such noises. Sort of like morse-code but with more variety in sounds. Whenever a character is using this way of communication I will start and end their sentence with * rather than " as well as use a cursive/emphasis font.

As I mentioned before, I'm very insecure about my writing which is why I appreciate any kind of critique and advice, so that I can improve! And also, thank you so much for reading! You have no idea how thankful I am!

If Sans knew what he had ahead of him, he wouldn't have complained about before when he only had to go to the lab for a few days once a month. Days came and went and he hated every minute he had to spend in this form. It didn't feel natural.

Little by little, he started to recover from the transformation. After much healing magic and some scolding from his father, because he tried to damage the amalgamate inside his eye, he finally regained sight in both eyes. It was a big relief that he hadn't caused any permanent damage to himself.

The following days he had to relearn every motor skill. Even standing up required practice, not to mention keeping his new, extended neck steady in order to hold up his head.

Relearning how to walk had been the worst though. His body already ached without him falling down on the floor every other step he tried to take.

His new tail was useful for balance, but it bothered him for some reason. Perhaps because every inch of it was an entirely new part of his body. His legs and arms and such, though misshapen were not strange to him since he had them before. The long tail, however, was just wrong.

Most of the scientists working with 'his project' didn't want to be in the same room as him when he tried to figure out how to work his body. On more than one occasion he accidentally shoved someone into a wall or knocked someone over with his spiked tail.

At least when no one was around, there was no one to conduct any experiments. He really hated when they did. They would exercise sensory deprivation, stick thick needles into his bones or create stressful or frightening situations just to study his reaction, claiming it had to do something with impulse control and whatnot. Sometimes they'd scrape bone shards from him and the wound stung for days afterwards. And that was among the nicer things they did.

The only thing that made him endure the experiments, every tedious tests and check-ups was the hope that he would be able to finally learn how to 'turn off' the power from the amalgamate like his father said he would eventually, and return to his normal self.

Then he could go home.

Like expected, the change had brought drastic adjustments in his magic. After all, he now held a great excess of it, which as it turned out had made him capable of very unusual, strong attacks.

His father had been enthused upon discovering this, and even though Sans was usually tired and sluggish in this new form, he had to practice a very particular kind of attack, that fascinated Dr. Aster highly. A wave of magic energy concentrated into a blast. It had devastating effects but Sans could never use it very long since it took so much out of him.

The only one who actually came into his room without any scientific motive in mind was Fani. She'd sometimes sit down and talk to him for a while or read a book to him, even after what he did to her. He really appreciated the gesture, because she was the only one who actually visited him just to keep him company. No one else did.

Still, he knew that he couldn't trust her. He didn't trust any of the scientists, including his father.

Roughly two weeks later, still in his new form, befittingly named 'Blaster' by some smartass, Sans was feeling unusually tired. He had been compelled to use his magic attack and was really pushed beyond his limit today. His humerus was neatly wrapped in a bandage after a collected bone sample, and he looked forward to some well-earned rest.

He yawned, happy to soon be able to go to sleep, but he just couldn't quite relax. The gnawing feeling that suddenly appeared in his figurative gut told him that something wasn't right.

Fani, who was sitting beside him gently patted his skull and talked about something that he didn't bother listening to. His body began to ache and he felt uncomfortable. He couldn't keep from squirming and wiggling.

Little by little the sensation escalated and his bones tensed up to the point where he could no longer move. The pain that ensued reminded him of when he first transformed. His neck cracked as he bent it down and looked at his front legs. His eyes widened when he noticed his arms were shrinking down, and slowly regaining their regular shape and size.

The same feeling progressively spread to the rest of his body as well. He quickly braced himself for the same agony he felt when he first transformed. Fani quickly picked up on what was happening and expeditiously excused herself and left the room, leaving him all by himself.

A harsh, stifled yell escaped his throat as his bones relocated themselves, reverting back to their original shape and place, while crackling and snapping noises filled the room. He covered his face with his arms and curled up into a ball. Unlike when he first transformed, reverting back was much less straining and even though it still hurt like hell, at least he managed to remain conscious during the entire duration of the transformation.

Once it was finally over, the exhausted skeleton collapsed on the floor, panting heavily. As soon as he caught his breath he looked down on his hands and he ran them over his body to make sure he really was himself again.

Words could not describe his relief when he found that he was completely changed back. He started to laugh out loud to himself. Eventually, the laugh turned into sobs as the current events caught up with him. He limped over to his mattress, with tears flowing from his eye sockets and burrowed himself under the blanket. It took a good while for him to calm himself down enough to finally fall asleep.

---

When Sans opened his eyes again, his mind was filled with a sleepy haze. To his surprise, he found himself neatly tucked into a proper bed. The blue walls and shelves full of neatly organized toys looked just like the room he shared with Papyrus at home. Surely he wouldn't be home yet? Not so soon after changing back. He was sure there had to be some kind of experiment or test left to do before he could go home. No, this was probably just a dream.

"Good, you're awake," said a familiar voice. He hadn't noticed the slender skeleton standing beside his bed, holding a small notebook in his hands.

"dad?" After spending so much time in Blaster-form, it felt weird to be able to speak, not to mention hearing his own voice again. "a-am i home?" He dared to ask.

"Yes. How are you feeling?" Sans yawned and sat himself up, leaning against the pillow. Dr. Aster sat down at the foot of his bed.

"still a little tired, but otherwise i think i'm good." He inspected his hands and arms thoroughly as if he still couldn't believe he was finally back to normal and he smiled to himself when he eventually convinced himself that it was real and that he was in fact home again.

"Tired? You've been sleeping since you changed back, and that was three days ago."

"three days, huh," he echoed, but he didn't pay attention to it. He was just so happy to be home, and he couldn't wait to see Papyrus and grandpa Semi again. He didn't even notice that his father kept talking.

"Are you even listening, Sans?" said Dr. Aster after a while and sighed.

"huh? sorry, no. must've drifted off," he replied and rested his hands on his lap and turned his attention to his father.

"I said we still need to monitor the development of the amalgamate and make charts of when, or if you're transforming again the next time it's power activates. We also need to make sure it doesn't happen spontaneously, which is why we need to get back to the lab rather shortly. But... I did promise you to go home, didn't I? Here we are."

For once even Sans though it was probably for the best to go back to the lab, since he didn't want to risk turning into a Blaster in front of anyone, considering what he had done to Fani before.

Not that he particularly liked the idea of the lab either and he frowned upon thinking back on the stay there. His father seemed to pick up on his concern and quickly added:

"That being said, it doesn't mean you'll never be able to go home. As soon as we've managed to find a pattern to the output of magic, things will be back to normal. We'll just have to go back once a month, like before and the continuing experiments won't be as harsh as they have been."

For a while the only sound heard was the ticking of the clock on the wall.

"okay," said Sans and nodded his skull. "but... can i at least see paps and gramps before we go?"

"I can get them for you right now if you want to?"

"yeah."

Sans felt a surge of happiness when he saw the familiar, friendly faces and just like that he felt much better than he had in a long time. Papyrus hasted towards him and gave him a heartfelt hug, but when he drew back, he had a pouty look on his face.

"YOU'VE BEEN GONE FOREVER! AND YOU TOLD ME YOU WOULDN'T BE SICK OR TIRED WHEN YOU GOT BACK HOME!" he complained in his usual loud voice while crossing his arms.

"i know. sorry, bro."

"Don't be too hard on him, Paps," grandpa Semi said and gave Sans a welcome-home pat on he head. His eyes were full of gentle concern as he lightly put his hand on Sans' shoulder. "We missed you, Sansy."

"i missed you too," Sans replied and smiled.

"Feeling any better?"

"yeah," he said after a small pause and the smile slowly faded.

"ARE YOU GONNA STAY HOME NOW?" asked Papyrus and threw an anxious look at their father. His entire posture dropped when the scientist shook his head.

"In order to prevent any backlashes, we need to take him back to the lab. Hopefully, things will be better than they have been," he answered and gently pat Papyrus on the skull, but the apprehensive look on his face didn't go away. "If all goes as speculated, he should recover to the point where he only needs his medication once a month," he added.

"OH. HOW LONG IS THAT GONNA TAKE?"

"We'll see," said Dr. Aster and walked slowly towards the door, soon followed by Semi.

Despite Papyrus's peppy attitude, it was clear that he always worried about Sans. Like he was the big brother and not the other way around. It was really touching. He was the most caring soul that Sans had ever known, and he doubted he would ever meet an equal to him.
He really was the greatest, and words could not describe how much Sans looked up to his li'l bro.

The rest of the afternoon was spent catching up, and Sans gladly listened to everything that Papyrus had been up to while he was gone.

Papyrus told him about going to Waterfall with grandpa Semi, where they had been scavenging through some garbage and he even made a new friend. Sans enjoyed just listening to him, but it would be nice to be able to play with him too. For the moment, he was still feeling too tired for any kind of game.

Hopefully, that was going to change soon. After all, his father did say that the amalgamated souls would ease the side effects of the DT. He just hoped that it was true. He was actually surprised that his father had kept his word and taken him home. Maybe there was hope after all.

---

Sans got three days home before he was taken back to the lab. Dr. Aster and his team of scientists immediately resumed their experiment and kept a careful record of how Sans felt and acted in various situations that might trigger the amalgamate's power and set off a transformation.

Thankfully they merely observed him so far and during this time, he didn't transform once. In fact, he barely felt different at all.

Not until after his regular monthly dose of DT did he start to feel odd again and a few hours later he was writhing on the floor as the transformation ripped through his body. This time, however, he only maintained this new form for a few hours before changing back again.

The scientists didn't even have time to execute any tests this time. Not that Sans minded that. He wanted to be left alone.

As far as he was concerned everyone was still at a loss to why he changed back so soon, and Sans himself had no idea what he did differently. All he knew was how much it hurt to shift between forms. Not even the painkillers they provided him with helped, even though it did take the edge of off it.

None the less he was still kept in the lab under strict supervision. The team of scientists gradually resumed a few tests, but just like his father told him, said experiments were not nearly as harsh as they were before. At least not to start with, but the frequent check-ups on the state of the amalgamate were really starting to get on his nerves.

Things went in a similar pace for about a month, but still, nothing seemed to happen as far as he was concerned. Then again no one ever told him what was happening. Sans was almost beginning to let himself believe that the amalgamate's power was worn out, but his subconscious told him that it wouldn't really make sense and it was too good to be true anyway.

A month later, just a short while before the next DT injection, he was sitting in the corner of his designated room in the lab with his back against the wall to get a good overview in order to see when someone might enter.

He really didn't want to feel sick from the DT again and since he transformed only hours after the last injection he felt skittish and kinda scared.

When Fani opened the door and entered he winced and pressed closer against the wall. She had a somber look on her face as she prepared for the injection.

And sure enough, once again it didn't take long after the injection before he transformed after. As it turned out the transformation occurred every time they gave him DT after that point. Dr. Aster came to the conclusion that it was the main factor in triggering the transformations. So he loathed it even more.

The time he had to spend as a Blaster varied. It could be anything between just a few hours, to a few days. He still wasn't sure how he did it, but he always managed to change back into his normal form again, which was consoling at least.

Now that he transformed somewhat regularly, none of the experiments were any less harsh than before, despite his father's promise.

Everything happened so suddenly that Sans barely had time to reflect over it. One thing set off another straight away and everything about it was absolutely appalling. More than once did he try to escape from the lab and go home, but he never succeeded.

As time passed Sans couldn't help but become increasingly apathetic over it. He was on edge all the time and the nightmares became worse than before. Over time he drew himself away from everyone. Even from Papyrus and Grandpa Semi when he was finally allowed to go home between the sessions in the lab.

The one person he'd especially drawn away from most of all was his father because he knew how much Sans suffered from the experiment, and yet still kept going.

He fused the amalgamate to his soul, despite the fact that Sans told him he didn't want it. He caused him to re-experience the painful conversion between forms over and over and he supervised the experiments and he didn't seem to care at all.

This was the reason why Sans, many months later on the evening before the day he would get his monthly DT injection in the lab, found himself outside the door to his father's room. He needed to talk. He needed to know if there was another way to progress the experiment and state that he didn't want to transform again. Maybe this time he would listen? Sans opened the door without knocking.

Knocking on the door would risk getting denied entry.

Luckily, the door was unlocked and when he entered, he saw his father sitting by his desk, surrounded by piles of papers and books.

Not really surprising at all.

He glared at Sans when he entered the room.

Sans quietly closed the door behind him. The room kinda reflected the doctor's personality. The walls were adorned with a stylish black- and white wallpaper and the furniture looked antique and very classy. One could almost not even tell that they came from a garbage dump.

On the opposite side of the room was a door that led to his workshop in the basement. No one, except for the royal scientist himself was allowed in there.

"Entering someone else's room without knocking. How unobtrusive," the royal scientist said sarcastically.

"i want to talk," said Sans and clutched his fists, which were hanging stiffly at his sides. His shoulders were tense and in all honesty, he was pretty scared, but he needed to at least try to have this conversation.

"What about?" Dr. Aster said and turned his chair towards him. Sans did his best to look him in the eye and hoped that his father wouldn't notice just how much he trembled.

"i think you know."

"Yes, but you'll need to be more specific."

"i want you to stop doing this. the experiment i mean. i'm tired... please? there has to be something else you can do? i don't want to go back to the lab tomorrow. i know what's most likely to happen there and i won't... i can't do this anymore."

Dr. Aster exhaled sharply and removed his reading glasses from his face. "Sans. We've been over this many times before-"

"and you're hurting me," Sans interrupted.

"I know it must be rough, son. It may seem more drastic than it is, but you have to stay strong. We've gotten so far and we can't stop now. Besides, the amalgamate could be damaged without the DT. Hell, it may even break and we need to study the way it reacts to it, and in order to..."

"i don't care about it."

His father stopped in motion. Sans took a step back, his back bumping against the door.

"Listen, son, I know that it probably doesn't interest you, but that's just because you don't understand anything about it. If you put the same effort in trying to understand it as you do memorizing the awful jokes from your book, then I'm sure that-"

"what if i refuse to go at all?" The hesitation disappeared as Dr. Aster spoke and was replaced with anger. Every part of the sentence ignorantly blurted out made Sans feel upset. It was like he didn't even try to see things his way.

He had tried to understand the experiment so many times, and even make excuses for him to explain the harsh treatment.

In the end, this whole experiment had become too much and he knew that he couldn't take it anymore. At this point, he didn't even care that he already interrupted his father twice, but when Dr. Aster turned his chair, got up and started walking towards him, the headstrong feeling disappeared and Sans cowered and pressed himself closer to the door.

His father's towering stance leaned over him and stern eyes looked straight into his own.

"I would say that it would be very unwise. If you know what's best for you, you'll go, you'll cooperate. Tomorrow and furthermore, and we will not have a similar discussion again."

"n-no. it's my life and you have no right to control it!" Keeping his voice from shaking proved to be a difficult task, but he knew he had to try and stand his ground, or he would regret it later.

"Listen, Sans. You are my son, which means that to the day you come of age I have every right to control your life."

"but that's not fair," Sans protested.

"Life seldom is fair, little one. Or we wouldn't be locked away under this damn mountain in the first place. Now, the way I see it you have two choices at this point. One; you can spend a peaceful evening at home with grandpa and Papyrus, under the condition that you go to the lab with me willingly tomorrow, do the procedure, handle the transformation so we can gather data, and then go back home again. Two; you could choose to run away or hide. In whichever case, I will find you. The underground isn't that big. And when I do I'll take you to the lab by force and make sure that you remain there so we can always keep an eye on you. What you choose is entirely up to you. Choose wisely, son," said his father and nonchalantly turned back to the pile of papers on the desk.

Tears were welling up in the tiny skeletons eye sockets. He turned his gaze down at the floor as he tried to fight them.

He left his father's room without speaking another word and headed towards the front door. He had to get outside to gather his thoughts for a while. Running away was tempting. He really wanted to give his father hell for a while, but in the end, he knew it wasn't worth it.

He wiped his face with his sleeve as he walked, picking up quite a pace. He didn't even notice grandpa Semi until he walked straight onto him.

"Oomph!" the old skeleton exclaimed. "Oh, hello Sansy. Aren't you in a hurry. Going somewhere?"

Sans was in all honesty not really in the mood for small talk. All he had his mind set on was to get out.

"i'm just going outside for a moment."

"Where to?"

"dunno. i just need to think. i promise i'll be back soon."

"You look like you have a lot on your mind. Are you sure you're alright?"

"don't worry about it. i feel... better. i just want to go outside for a while." Sans tried to mirror his grandfather's smile in order to convince him he was fine, but judging by the look on Semi's face, it wasn't working.

"Better... but not good?" The smile faded from Semi's face and he crouched down to Sans' level and lightly placed a bony hand on his shoulder.

"you know that's not what i meant, grandpa."

"Don't lie to me, Sans. You know I can read you like a book. I can tell something's up. You haven't been yourself lately," Semi said, raising a non-existing eyebrow. It was kinda odd seeing the old skeleton without the usual sheepish grin on his face.

"i'm not lying," Sans replied and promptly aimed his gaze at the floor.

"Yes, you are. I can tell."

"either way, it's fine!" The tears returned in his sockets and threatened to roll down his cheekbones. Sans really hoped that his grandpa wouldn't notice.

"You're still lying, bud."

It would feel so much better to bare his heart and tell grandpa Semi about everything. Just talking to anyone about what happened would take a huge load off his mind, but he was afraid that if he told anyone about the experiments, his father would decide to keep him in the lab permanently, or that something bad might happen to anyone he told, and he didn't want to put grandpa Semi at any risk.

"It's okay Sans. It's okay to not always be strong. You are allowed to feel bad sometimes. It does not make you weak or insignificant. I know that it's hard and that your illness must take its toll on you, which is why I think you need to become more honest about how you feel in order to cope with what's difficult, don't you agree?" said Semi and placed his hand under Sans' chin as he gently tilted his head up to meet his eyes. His eyes were sincere but thoughtful. The certain spark of humor, which normally was his trademark was absent, for now.

"i don't know..." said Sans quietly.

"You know I would never force you to tell anything me unless you wanted to, but please remember that I will always be there to listen to you. We can sort this out together when you're ready to."

Sans nodded his skull slowly. He wiped the tears off his face with his arm.

He really loved Grandpa Semi. He was nothing like Dr. Aster and he would never even hurt a fly. Semi was always in a good mood, always willing to talk, and he didn't deserve the cold treatment that Sans had given him lately.

There were frequent moments when grandpa Semi, out of concern, had been a little too nosy about what went on with his 'disease'. Sans had always suspected that he knew more than he let on, so he would often tell him off. Sometimes more harshly than intended, but that was only in order to keep him away from the truth.

Maybe his grandpa thought that he hated him for that? As soon as that thought crossed his mind his eyes widened in panic. In the heat of the moment, or possibly due to sheer desperation, just when Semi started to leave Sans quickly grabbed the sleeve of his shirt and stopped him.

"wait. actually, there is something i want to tell you. just... don't tell dad about anything... or paps, okay?" Sans pleaded nervously. He still couldn't bring himself to look his grandpa in the eye. Semi smiled gently and pat Sans' skull.

"Of course. Whatever you tell me I promise to keep a secret."

Sans inhaled sharply and began to tell his grandfather what had been taking place all this time. He told him that he didn't have a disease at all, how the DT-extract was causing him to be sick. He even told him about the soul amalgamate, the experiments and the painful transformations he had to endure.

It was hard to talk about and he had to take many pauses to calm himself down. Some things he left out on purpose, but he pushed himself to tell the rest. The pace of his soul was beating rapidly and he constantly glanced behind his shoulder as he spoke, to make sure his father didn't show up unexpectedly. 
When he was finally done, he was surprised just how relieved he felt.

"This is not... what I expected to hear, Sans," said Semi after being completely silent for short while. "I'm... so sorry I didn't realize. I mean, I did suspect that something wasn't right, but not that it would be something... like this." His expression looked distant as if he went through what Sans had just told him over in his head and Sans wasn't really sure yet if he was being taken seriously or not.

Perhaps grandpa Semi just went along with the story to make him feel better?

"d-do you believe me?" Scared, wide-opened eyes peered at the old skeleton, hoping to be taken seriously.

"Of course I do. I may be just a silly, old geezer, but I know my son, and... putting all the pieces together makes sense. C'mere you." As Semi pulled him in for a heartfelt hug, Sans exhaled sharply, feeling alleviated and safe. He didn't want to let go. He wiped his eyes when Semi finally pulled away.

"are you angry?" he said quietly, almost whispering.

"Angry?"

"that i lied to you all this time..?"

To Sans's surprise, and fear there was a bitter expression, spreading across the old skeleton's face. "Yes, son. I am angry." Sans' soul felt like it stopped for a moment, and he didn't know what to do. He exhaled sharply with relief as the old one continued. "But not with you. You only did what you thought you had to. I am however very angry with your father." he made a brief pause, before turning his attention back to the small skeleton. "Listen, I am not gonna let him do any of that to you again, so don't worry. I'm going to talk to him and-"

"no! no, don't tell him that you know. i'm not supposed to tell anyone. not even you. i don't know what he might do if he knows that i told you." The relief was abruptly replaced with a knot in his symbolic stomach. "he'll be angry. really angry."

"Not as angry as I am with him right now," said Semi.

"please, grandpa. i thought you said i could tell you anything and you'd promise to keep it a secret...?"

"Yeah, that was the case before, but this thing is huge and you're suffering from it." The old skeleton made a pause. He sighed and scratched his nasal bone between his index finger and thumb. "Okay, so if you don't want me to talk to him then what do you want me to do? Do you really expect me to let this go on?" he said slowly and calmly, but his creased brows said otherwise.

"i don't know. i have no idea what to do. i just don't want you to get hurt because i told you," Sans said anxiously looking promptly at the floor. "and i don't want to have to spend the rest of my time in the lab. maybe i shouldn't have said anything. i'm sorry."

"Buddy, no. I'm glad you decided to tell me. And don't worry. We're going to find a way to end this, and I promise you, you're not going back to that lab anymore."

---

The next morning went on as it usually did. Everyone was gathered at the breakfast table eating their food in silence, but Sans couldn't swallow a bite. He was far too anxious. Not only because he was gonna have to go back to the lab, because he couldn't really see another option despite his grandpa's promise, but his subconscious kept thinking up every worst scenario possible.

What if his father had heard him talk to Semi? What if Semi decided to confront him about it despite Sans begging him not to? Would grandpa Semi have to suffer because of him? He let out a shaky breath and gave up even trying to finish his cereal.

Various thoughts crowded his mind and he felt stressed by just being in the same room as everyone.

He glanced nervously at his grandpa, who seemed to be as calm and collected as ever, as he was reading his newspaper. He must have sensed Sans' worried eyes when looked up from the paper. He gave him an encouraging smile and patted his skull affectionately before adjusting his glasses.

When Papyrus finished his cereal and pumpkin juice he went back to their shared room. Sans tried to follow, but Semi placed a hand on his shoulder and carefully pushed him back into his chair.

"I had a thought," he said. "Since Sans' treatment doesn't seem to make him any better, what's the point in continuing it? Especially since it seems to me that he's only getting worse. Is it really that necessary?" Sans widened his eyes and almost choked on the air. He gave Semi an anxious look, but the look on the old skeleton's face indicated that he didn't share the nervous feeling at all. Dr. Aster raised an eyebrow and glared at his old father.

"It's very necessary."

"I just fail to see how it is so important when it seems to be decreasing his health, rather than the opposite like it should. Don't you think so, my boy?" Semi turned to Sans. Beads of cold sweat appeared on his forehead and he honestly had no idea what to answer.

"uh," was all he managed to say.

"Never mind. Either way, I can tell that you are not doing well. I worry about you," said Semi. Even though Sans was thankful he didn't mention just how much he knew, he was still feeling apprehensive. He carefully glanced at his father, who still scowled at Semi.

"He has been making progress. If we stop the treatment now, he might get worse," said Dr. Aster and crossed his arms. Sans tried to excuse himself again, but once more Semi placed his hand on his shoulder and pushed him right back into his chair.

"Worse, you say? Like he got the other day? He has spent a lot of time at the lab lately, and quite frankly I think it would be a good idea to have more than one doctor's opinion. Now, there's a very proficient one whose clinic lies downtown, and-"

"Oh, please, don't be ridiculous. I am a doctor and I'm much more proficient than any quack here in New Home. I am the royal scientist of king Asgore's court and I, of all people, think I know what I'm doing," said the doctor under clenched teeth.

"Sometimes I wonder where your arrogance comes from," Semi grumbled and waved a hand in the air at him. "You can't keep taking on too much work all of the time. You're not invincible! All of your research for the king and maintenance of the core, plus looking after the boy and making sure he's healthy... You can't possibly be doing a good job with everything simultaneously. There is nothing shameful about asking for help. One day or other you're gonna hit your breaking point, and then what?"

"That's enough!" Dr. Aster bellowed and slammed a fist on the table. The surprise made Sans jump up a few inches from his chair. A gnawing feeling sparked in his stomach and he just wanted to disappear. Try as he may he just couldn't keep his body from trembling and he really hoped neither one of the adults noticed.

"Sans does not need to hear any of this," Dr. Aster continued, with a much calmer tone to his voice. "Don't you think he's got enough going on as it is? Do you think he wants this? Do you think I want this for him?"

A sudden cramp was beginning to spread through his bones in an all too familiar fashion. Upon inspecting the fingers on his hands Sans could see claws forming on the tips. He gasped quietly and tried his best to gain control of the situation by breathing deep and steady while thinking about something else. Better times. It didn't help though. It only got worse.

No matter how hard he tried, he failed to do anything about it. The pain felt like pins creeping along his spinal cord and into his arms and legs, slowly overtaking his entire body.

His father and Semi continued to argue and didn't pay any attention to him until he tried to excuse himself again.

"please, i really need to go, i don't feel well," he said with a quivering voice.

As soon as he got up from his chair, he felt dizzy and even saw stars in front of him and it became difficult to breathe. When he tried to walk away, he stumbled and collapsed on the floor. His eyes welled up and he held his breath so he wouldn't scream out loud. Semi and Dr. Aster both rushed to his side.

They were trying to talk to him, but their words blended together and Sans was unable to hear what either one of them was saying. He felt cornered and confused. This had never happened without external provocation before. Let alone at home, where he usually was much more at ease than at the lab.

He could feel his feet leave the ground when somebody picked him up and carried him away. It was distressing being held while transforming and he had to try hard to refrain from thrashing about, in order to avoid accidentally hurting whoever was carrying him.

He recognized the neatly decorated room he was carried into as his father's. Or at least that's what he thought, but the agony surging through his body made it hard to focus his vision.

Dr. Aster walked straight through the room and opened the door that led to his workshop and hurried down the stairs. Sans thought he noticed that grandpa Semi was following too, despite his father's loud protesting noises.

When Sans' feet hit the ground he fell down, clutching his stomach as the transformation progressed. The tail that had formed at the end of his spine was whipping from side to side with agitation.

He couldn't pay much attention to his surroundings, but he was almost certain that he saw fluttering blue lights dance on the pastel green wallpapers. A door slammed and his grandpa's voice faded.

Anxiety got a hold of him as he thought of what his father might do now. He tried with all his might to focus his gaze on him to read his expression but concentrating took a lot of strength from him.

In the end, all he saw was his father's back turned against him. He was standing by a desk, fumbling with something that Sans couldn't see. Another surge of pain, even worse than the ones he felt before made him unable to focus on anything but the transformation.

He felt insecure and exposed. Everything was strange and out of the ordinary. He was completely overwhelmed. Without any painkillers, he was reminded just how bad the pain really was and he tried to reach out to his father.

"dad... h-help," he croaked, but the scientist didn't seem to notice. It even felt like it took longer than usual to transform, and once it was finally over he fell into involuntary unconsciousness right on the floor.

(Picture is a collaboration between me and FunOnABun. A link to their page can be found in the end notes!)

---

Dr. Gaster was usually a calm and collected monster. He was used to being in control and stick to plans, but this was not going according to plan. There had always been a chance that the amalgamate would act up without the DT, but he determined the chance to be very illogical since it never happened before.

One would think he'd know better than to make such a foolish mistake. At least now he could add stress to the list of things that seemed to provoke the amalgamate, judging on the look on Sans' face moments before it all began, and considering the situation.

Or perhaps since they used adrenaline to secure its sustenance at the very beginning of the installation, it was the reason for its sudden reaction?

Maybe the DT wasn't such a big factor at all when it came to that. Perhaps it was more connected to the way Sans felt before, which was stress, or possibly fear. He would have to look into it more properly in the future.

Either way, the fact that his old father had witnessed the first phase of the transformation was indeed very bothersome. This would not be easily explained. Besides, since he seemed skeptical already he wouldn't settle with just any answer. Gaster sighed deeply. Thinking up a lie to cover for this would not be easy.

Sans, now completely transformed was laying flat on the concrete floor, unconscious. When he woke up, he would need to be restrained, should he decide to act up against him.

Lately, he had noticed a change in the boy's behavior for the worse. He had developed quite an attitude towards him, and become cold and distant.

He just wished Sans would stay calm and at least somewhat cooperative down here in his workshop. There were too many valuable prototypes of inventions here.

After all, Gaster knew very well the potential that was in him now and wanted to secure the situation before it got worse. He needed to get him to the lab as quickly as possible where he could be safely sealed in his room, but getting him to the lab would be arduous like this.

Especially if the boy resisted.

With his free hand, he grabbed his cell and texted Fani at the lab to inform her, and spread the news of what had happened.

He glanced at the contraption in his other hand and the remaining five ones scattered around the desk, and wondered if maybe this would be a good opportunity to try them out? They were mechanical hands, designed to amplify his own magic and give 'an extra pair of hands', sorta say.

However, they were only prototypes and he still hadn't calibrated his magic to them. Should they work, the power of his blue magic would augment notably. It was the best solution he could come up with right now since his magic at this point wouldn't be able to hold Sans very long.

The gaping holes on the palms of the artificial hands lit up with a faint blue light as Gaster began transferring his magic to them.

Even though it was just a small part of magic, somehow he still found himself feeling fatigued when he was done. He even had to sit down on his chair to catch his breath for a while.

The hands reacted by emitting a whirring noise, that reminded him of the sound of booting up a computer and then they started hovering in the air. A minor success at least, but whether or not they would actually amplify his magic was uncertain. Only one way to find out.

The infernal knocking on the door upstairs interrupted him and caused some of the floating hands to drop down on the floor. Didn't take a genius to figure out who that would be and he gritted his teeth as the tried to figure out what to do. He couldn't escape the fact that the old skeleton already seen too much.

"Dings! Open this door right now!" Semi thundered from the other side of the door.

Come to think of it, perhaps, another lie would be redundant. Without Sans, there was nothing that Semi could do to prove anything anyway. Should he decide to share what he had just seen, people would just think he was delirious. And he knew Sans would never tell anyone.

So after all, it would probably be best to let him in for now. That way he could keep an eye on him, while he figured out how to proceed with this situation.

As soon as he opened the door, Semi pressed himself inside, shoving Gaster aside.

"Get out of my way, and don't you try anything," he said while rushing down the stairs. When Gaster got back downstairs Semi was already crouched down next to Sans, gently trying to wake him up while calling his name.

Gaster walked up to them without saying a word.

"Is he going to be okay?" he asked after a while when he realized his attempts to wake Sans up were in vain.

"Of course he is," Gaster replied.

"When is he going to change back?"

"Eventually. Is Papyrus still upstairs? I think we'd better keep him from coming downstairs to see this and-"

"I sent him out to play. He won't be back for a while."

"That's good."

The old skeleton sighed deeply. "Wing Dings Aster, how could you? What could possibly have driven you to do something like this?"

"Like what?" Gaster raised an eyebrow. He hated when his father used his whole name. His old name.

"Stop it. I know what you've done. Sans told me all about it."

Gaster cringed. That was rather concerning. Once again he cursed his own foolishness and tendency to take things for granted. He'd never even imagined that Sans would dare to tell anyone.

Even if he had become bolder, he was still very loyal and duteous, so this was really uncalled for.

"Did he now?" said Gaster, trying to keep as calm the best as he could.

"You still didn't answer my question," said Semi under grinding teeth.

"Well... I don't know what you want me to say, because I know you're not going to like the answer I have. In the end, I am a scientist and it's my business to obtain results to my experiments."

"Your experiments? You're unbelievable. This is your son." When his father's eyes met his, it felt as if his gaze were piercing through his very soul. He backed away ever so slightly. "and he is not some kind of lab-rat who you can use for your research. I never in my mind thought you'd be able to even think about doing something like this. At least not to your own family. I don't even know what to say to you right now, other than I am ashamed of you," Semi spat, but his words didn't bother Gaster.

He was a bit surprised by it himself. The only thing that mattered was to get on with the experiment. What his father thought of him was not important.

"That doesn't matter. I don't need your permission to do this."

Gaster glanced at the hands that were scattered on the floor. The fingers were starting to twitch, unbeknownst to Semi, who had turned back to Sans.

"Apparently no conscience either. Dings, please-"

"Do not call me that. It's not my name," he yelled. He didn't have to put up with being scolded anymore.

"What? What do you mean?"

"It's not who I am anymore. My name is Gaster now."

"Wow. Clever. Real scary. I bet you feel very powerful," said Semi sarcastically. "Either way we need to talk about what happens next."

"I agree and I can tell you right now what's going to happen. The experiment will continue and you'd do best to try to forget what happened today. No one will believe you if you try to tell them what you saw, and you won't have any way of proving that you speak the truth."

"I was afraid you might say something like that," said Semi, sighing deeply. "So, until you come to your senses, I'm going to take both of the boys and leave. I will not risk you putting Papyrus through the same thing, and I would never forgive myself if I let this continue. I'm putting an end to this now."

"No. You're not," Gaster mumbled and with the gesture of his real hand, the mechanical hands on the floor sprung to life emitting a piercing blue light.

There was no way in hell he was going to let anyone take this away from him, even if it was his own father. The experiment was successful and he had put in too much blood and sweat into it just to let it be taken away so easily.

One hand floated in Semi's direction and though the old skeleton used his own magic in a feeble attempt to ward off Gaster's attack, he was still hurled back against a wall, with one of the mechanical hands firmly grasping his skull. Another hand placed itself on Sans' forehead, as well as two more on his temples.

A blue light in Sans' eyes abruptly lit and he started howling loudly as he was awoken. He squirmed around on the floor, as if he was suffering, which was disturbingly odd. The transformation should have been completed now.

When Gaster turned to his father, he was displaying similar behavior. He was desperately clawing at his skull in an attempt to remove the hand. Gaster flinched. It seemed the magical enhancement intended for the hands was stronger than he anticipated. They were without a doubt living up to their purpose, but it seemed to be overwhelming both Sans and Semi.

This was just a prototype after all and there was still no telling how they might react. An idea of how to make them useful crossed his mind.

Keeping the power-up was draining and when his phone suddenly buzzed he shifted his focus ever so slightly. Before he could pick it up, a blue colored bone came flying in his direction and since he was in the middle of movement hit him directly. No significant amount of HP was lost, but it was enough to throw him off his game. He turned around ready to counter the attack, but to his dismay, there was no one there anymore. Both Semi and Sans were gone.

---

The air was knocked out of Semi's lungs as soon as he hit the ground. The impact left him laying still for a short while, but he quickly recovered and sat himself up. His chest ached and he could feel the strain on his soul. It had taken much more effort than usual to teleport or use a shortcut as he liked to call it. Especially with Sans along too, but he would never leave him behind. Especially not after learning the things he knew now.

The tidy basement workshop had been replaced with dark cave walls and streams of water. Garbage was laying all over the floor and the smell was rather nasty. Semi took a few deep breaths to recover from the agony he felt before. The pain had left him stupefied, even by his high pain tolerance and he was sure that Sans had felt the same.

He glanced over at Sans in this new beastly form. When he had told him about everything that happened the past few months, there was not a doubt in his mind that he was telling the truth, but to actually see him changed like this was strange, to say the least.

The poor boy looked nothing like himself. Tattered pieces of what was left of his pajamas hung down from his spine and arms as he had grown much too big for it.

Semi's bones crackled when he rose up and hurried to his grandson's side.

Sans was lying flat on the ground, whimpering softly. It was hard to tell if he was conscious because his body was tense but he seemed unresponsive when Semi tried calling his name.

He knew he couldn't take him to a doctor. At least not unless absolutely necessary. There would be a bit too much to explain if they were even to take him in, and Wings Dings would be contacted too and that was the last thing he wanted right now. Perhaps a vet would be better suited right now anyway?

He was not at all prepared for Sans to come back to his senses so suddenly and he winced when the boy hastily drew back, pressing himself against the cave wall.

His eyes were wide opened and he glared at Semi while growling and snarling, like a beast.

There wasn't any trace of recognition in his eyes, which glowed with a fierce blue light. His normal kind, mischievous eyes were now wild and scared.

"Bud? Buddy? It's alright. You're safe now," said Semi, in the calmest voice he could possibly muster. "You're safe." He slowly moved closer, raising his right arm in a defensive stance and did his best to remain as calm as he could, his rib cage was moving up and down rapidly as he tried to catch his racing breath.

Sans kept his gaze locked on him as a faint blue light emitted from the back of his throat.

Slow, but steadily Semi kept approaching. "It's alright," he repeated over and over. Sans kept growling, but at least the blue light in his maw went out.

This gave Semi confidence to proceed. As soon as he was close enough he reached out his hand for his grandson.

A loud snap echoed through the garbage dump as Sans, with a swift jerk of his lengthy neck, buried his teeth around Semi's arm. Semi cried out in pain but managed to calm himself down pretty quickly. It was a sharp, throbbing ache, but nothing he couldn't handle.

He didn't' fight back and he didn't even try to pull away. He simply waited for Sans to come back to his senses.

Eventually, he loosened his grip and retreated. The growling became whimpering once more as he pressed himself closer against the wall. Finally, there was some recognition in his eyes again and Semi dared to hope he'd come back to his senses.

"Sans? Is it you?"

His mandible trembled as he slowly nodded his head. Semi drew a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness, You had me worried for a while."

Sans replied with a soft whimper, refusing to meet his eyes.

"Are you okay?"

No reply. He cowered even closer to the wall, even though Semi was pretty sure he couldn't get further away. Sans lowered his head and refused to look at him.

"Sans? It's okay. You didn't hurt me, see?" he said, briskly moving his arm around. "Everything is fine, I promise."

Very carefully Sans turned his eyes towards him, without lifting his head. Once more Semi tried to approach.

This time, Sans made no sound at all and he lay motionless. There was a much clearer hint of familiarity in his eyes now and Semi was certain that he wouldn't lash out again. Very gently he placed his hand on his forehead.

"Are you okay?" he asked once more, but was given no response other than quiet whimpers and whines. "Say something?"

He shook his head. *i can't. i can only rattle.*

"Okay, I see. It's something, right? You can make yourself understood at least."

*i'm so sorry,* he rattled, somewhat insecure, after a brief pause.

"You've nothing to be sorry about. It's not your fault."

*did he hurt you too?*

"Don't worry. It's passed now. I'm fine, see?"

*i hurt you, didn't i?* he rattled, seemingly taking none or little notice of what Semi said. The old skeleton tried over and over to reassure him that everything was okay, but it seemed that the young one didn't really trust him on that.

*i never should have told you anything. then you wouldn't have gotten hurt at all, and who knows what he might do now that he knows that you know, and-*

"Sans, buddy," Semi interrupted. "I'm gonna stop you right there. Listen, and listen carefully. I'm glad that you told me and deep inside I think that you are too. Your well-being is more important to me than anything, no matter what happens, or how your dad decides to act."

Sans squirmed and he turned his face away, but Semi could still see tears overflowing in his eye sockets.

*i tried to talk to him so many times, but he never listened. he just told me that i was being selfish and that one day, i'd understand.*

Semi exhaled sharply as he sat himself down on the damp ground beside Sans. "He never should have done this to you in the first place. There is no excuse for what he's done. Not even the barrier."

Despite the shallow pools of water around them was tainted by the dirt from all the garbage laying around, the waterfalls drizzling down on the rocks were clear blue and pure and for a while, the only noise heard was that of the many waterfalls pounding against the rocks around them. Sans wiped his face with his front leg and looked around the area.

*are we at the garbage dump? how did we get here so fast?* he asked after a while.

"Let's just say that I know a shortcut. It's the easiest way to explain it."

*where is dad?*

"Still at home, probably wondering where we went. Don't worry though, we're not going back home. At least not when things are like this. After you went to bed yesterday I packed some bags, just in case Wing Dings would insist on taking you to the lab even after I spoke with him. I took a shortcut and left the bags around here somewhere. It should last us for some time and I know of a place we can stay until I manage to come up with a permanent solution."

*what about paps?* Sans was quick to add, and even though he could only communicate through rattling sounds there was no mistaking the concern written all over his face.

"Don't worry, I dropped him off here in Waterfall to play with his new friend before when Wing Dings threw me out of his workshop. He should be nearby. As soon as you feel ready to move, we'll pick him up and then leave."

*what if dad finds us? he told me that if i ever decided to run, he would find me,* he rattled after a while.

"We'll deal with that if it ever comes to it, but as I said, I know a place near the Snowdin region that not many monsters are aware of. Not even your dad, so we should be safe there."

*but... what if i lose control again? i don't want to hurt paps. and i don't want to hurt you again.*

"You were just scared because you didn't know what was going on. I'm sure it won't happen again."

*it did happen once before in the lab. i lashed out at one of dad's co-workers. i think i hurt her pretty badly and it took her a while to act normal around me after that.*

"I can't imagine you doing such a thing without external provocation. Now, as soon as we're in Snowdin, you'll be safe. You'll have no reason to lash out to anyone because no one is going to hurt you. Besides, Paps doesn't need to know about that, so he'll have no reason to be even the slightest bit scared of you."

*he doesn't need to know anything...*

"Well, he's a little too young to process the situation concerning your dad, but you, looking a little different? I wouldn't worry about that. He's considerate by nature and I know that he won't mind at all. You're still you and that's all he's gonna care about."

*i dunno. i really don't think it's a good idea. it feels like he will make a big deal out of it. besides, i will turn back to myself again soon, and i don't... i don't think this is gonna happen as frequently anymore. dad mentioned that the amalgamate might get damaged and break without more dt.*

It was very unlike Sans to be so self-conscious, and Semi wondered where the sudden concern came from. Supposedly such a drastic change would be a different matter, he thought. After all, it would be strange for his self-image not to be affected by this.

The situation would be very unpractical though. "So then, after I pick him up, you're just gonna hide from us until you change back? And if you do transform again in the future, you're gonna hide then too?"

*... yes?*

The old skeleton couldn't hold back an amused chuckle. "Such a troubleshooter you are," he said, with a mild tone to his voice. "Speaking of which, how long do you usually stay like this?"

*i'm not sure. sometimes it's all over within a few hours and other times it can last for days.*

"Alright then. I'll get you to Snowdin first and then I'll get Paps, by myself."

*okay.*

A few minutes later Sans finally mustered up enough strength to get back on his feet. The remaining pieces of threadbare fabric on him fell to the ground as he shook them off. Now that he was standing up Semi got a better picture of how big he actually was like this.

Even in his quadrupedal stance, his withers height almost reached above his own shoulders, and the tail that slithered behind him was at least as long as his whole body length. The only thing that remained somewhat reminiscent about him was his skeletal features, as well as his eyes, though they were lit by the strange light, Semi could still recognize them clearly.

It didn't take long for them to find the bags Semi packed the night before and then using a shortcut, it only took moments to get to the old cabin in the cold region of Snowdin, but just as before, using the shortcut left him a bit winded and he had to try hard to convince Sans that he was alright.

The old cabin, which was located on a remote place just on the border between Waterfall and Snowdin, didn't look like much. In fact, it was more of a hovel than a cabin. It was much smaller and worn than Semi remembered, but at least it would provide a roof over their heads for now. The once blue door only had chips of color left here and there and it creaked loudly as Semi opened it.

The inside was just as unsightly as the outside. Maybe even worse. Various trinkets and items were scattered all over, and broken furniture took up most of the space.

"Perhaps you could make some space while I get Paps?" Semi asked. Sans nodded and quickly got to it. "Just shove it to the corners, and don't go outside until I'm back, okay?"

Sans nodded again, but Semi still had a nervous feeling in his gut when he closed the door behind him. This would not be easy.

Notes:

I AM SO GLAD TO HAVE A PICTURE TO ADD TO THIS. :'D :'D Seriously, you should check out FunOnABun's gallery on deviantART https://www.deviantart.com/funonabun She made Gaster and Grandpa Semi! LOOKATTHEM :') Go to her paaaaaage!

Chapter 4: Reality

Summary:

A shadowy figure, with a sense of foresight finally manages to get a hold of reality after being exiled for so long. Why did it come back? How did it come back? It doesn't know yet. What it does know is that it finally has a chance to set things right. There are many errors to correct and many truths to be revealed.

Notes:

Lol - so much for trying to update more frequently. Sorry!

Do you recognized the scene with the monsters are watching the sun set together? I used some dialogue from the 'True Pacifist Ending' from the game. :') It's such a beautiful ending, to a beautiful game!

There are many questions left unanswered here, very much intentional. Don't worry! The answers will come as the fic progresses! ;) As for how Sans and Frisk figured out how to keep Chara at bay, those answers can be obtained in another fic I'm working on. It's still a work in progress though, but I have every intention to give answers the best I can.

After I posted the last chapter, I learned you can add pictures to your work and that made me so excited! So I will try to add at least one picture to each chapter. Sometimes more, sometimes none, depending on how much time and motivation I have. If you want to see my other pictures, feel free to visit my deviantART account: https://pixiehobbit.deviantart.com/gallery/63350387/Undertale :)

And thank you again for all the comments and kudos I got on this :O You guys are amazing and I'm so happy at least someone wants to read this! As always feel free to point out to me if you notice mistakes, or if things don't make sense! <3

"Dark, yet darker.
The darkness keeps growing,
shadows cutting deeper,
photon readings negative.
This next experiment seems very, very interesting.
... What to you two think?"

---

There was no other word to describe this place other than 'void'.

In front of him was nothing, behind him was nothing. No sound, no sight, no people. Once he tried walking just to see where it would get him, but he ended up walked for so long that his legs gave in under him and he still didn't get anywhere. There were only darkness and absolutely no sign of physical life.

Even before he wound up here, there was darkness in his life. Long ago it used to worry him. As a child his imagination had betrayed him by thinking up horrible creatures lurking in the darkness, ready to snatch him as soon as he let his guard down. 
Now, he had learned to embrace darkness, because it provided cover from the light. Experience had taught him that the creatures he used to imagine in the dark were really light dwellers all along.

There was however an issue with staying in this interminable darkness was not exactly sustainable. Little by little he could feel his body slowly corrupt into the surrounding phlegm and there was nothing he could do about it. He was stuck, but he was at least still aware.

Sometimes when he closed his eyes, he could somehow see past the darkness to reality. Call it visions, or foresight if you will. Perhaps a state of lucid dreaming even? His vision only reached the Underground, but it was very beneficial. He had been able to locate his lost family, he had seen what happened to the scientists on his team and he could see the remains of his experiments.

He still knew that needed to get out. He needed to get back to reality. There were still things he needed to finish. He was too clever and he already knew too much to be contained here when the poor monsters of the Underground suffered under the naively foolish king Asgore's reign.

There was no question about the king's good intentions, but they wouldn't make up for the things he had done. For how he made monsterkind suffer. It was after all his mistakes that got them banished under the mountain in the first place, and not enough monsters knew about that. Those who did were irrational and eager to forgive.

Unlike the common rabble, he would never forgive and never forget. Which was why he couldn't let go just yet. He needed to make things right. His goal had always been to correct the king's error and restore honor to monsterkind. It was his duty, he'd tell himself.

He was willing to admit that some of the things he had done in the past were a little questionable, but since it was for a good cause, it couldn't be helped. His actions had not affected monsterkind per se, only a few individuals. Including his own family, but he didn't consider that to be cruel, in fact, it showed just how much he was willing to sacrifice for his cause and it was well worth it. 

Right now, he watched another timeline come to its end. Just like this time, the past few times had been peaceful and the fallen human hadn't hurt a single monster. They had shown mercy and met encountering monsters with a friendly attitude. Which is why the barrier was broken. He had seen this happen before and it wouldn't take long before time was reset again. During his exile, it seemed that time itself defected. It didn't move forward as it should. It reached a certain point before it reset, over and over. He had witnessed liberation of his kind, occasional murder, and even genocide.

All because of the human.

It bothered him that no one knew the true nature of this particular human. No one remembered every time they killed someone. Sometimes they'd even practice absolute mercilessness and nobody even remembered.

Nobody, but one.

He sighed deeply and opened his eyes. He was surprised to see that instead of the expected darkness, a very strange phenomenon formed in front of him. A yellow spark of light. There was something familiar about the light, he felt like he should know what it meant. 

His curiosity peaked, and he reached out his hand for it. As soon as he touched it, the darkness dispelled instantly. He felt like was abruptly awoken from a deep sleep and he had to peer his eyes, because of what to him was a very harsh light. The sound of rushing water filled his ears and a stale smell entered his nose.

The many new impressions hit him hard and he collapsed on the floor. None the less his face was plastered with a grin. A grin so wide a Cheshire cat would be jealous. When he slowly raised his head he saw high cave walls, which waterfalls thundered down from and the ground was adorned with tiny blue flowers and glowing mushrooms. He blinked a few times, but the scene wouldn't go away. This was real. This was real...!

'How curious', he thought to himself and he clutched the yellow light firmly in his hands.

---

The sun was slowly setting. Sans the Skeleton would never get tired of feeling that warm breeze on his face. The colors of the sky when the sun went under the horizon was astonishing, and everyone was happy and filled with hopeful anticipation. This specific moment was the best memory he had, and he'd always cherish it.

"Isn't it beautiful, everyone?" King Asgore asked.

"Wow... it's e-even better than on TV," Dr. Alphys agreed. "Way better! Better than I ever imagined!" Her enthusiastic smile seemed to affect the whole group as they started to realize that this was real. They were finally on the surface. Years of imprisonment under the mountain were finally over and they were free.

"Frisk, you live with this!? The sunlight is so nice... and the air is so fresh! I really feel alive!" said Undyne and gave the human child a noogie, despite both their and Toriel's protests.

Sans tried his best to grasp every second of it, despite his knowledge that this was just a fleeting moment and that everyone would soon forget about it.

"HEY, SANS..." his brother Papyrus asked.

"yeah, bro?"

"WHAT'S THAT GIANT BALL?"

"we call that 'the sun', my friend," he explained just like he had so many times before. He didn't mind though. It was always, nice and not to mention contagious to see Papyrus happy.

"THAT'S THE SUN!? WOWIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!!!" The lanky skeleton beamed. Sans returned his smile, but the feeling of joy slowly faded when he turned to Frisk. He wondered how much longer were they going to delay the reset this time?

Sans had tried to bring the subject up with them. He needed to know the reason why they would do such a thing, over and over. 

They told him it was because there was another monster, a very important person to them who even though the barrier was broken couldn't exit the underground and that they needed to be saved more than anyone.

He could understand that. He really could. If he had been forced to leave an important person behind, like Papyrus, he probably also would have done all he could to save him too. Nevertheless, it was always a risky thing going back to the beginning, where Chara's spirit still lingered and Sans knew all too well what Chara was capable of when they influenced Frisk.

At first Sans couldn't understand what made the kid go on killing everyone. Everything started out so good when they first came to the underground. The first run ever was pacifistic, but then they reset and started to kill. First, just a few people, then more and more every reset. Not until Frisk nearly lost their own life to Chara, much later did he understand that Frisk wasn't in control. That's when he saw Chara himself.

After that, he held no grudge against Frisk. In some weird, twisted sense, they were a victim as well.
Which is why reset after reset, they tried to find a pattern to why and how Chara got a hold of Frisk, and after some time they actually did it. Eventually, genocide routes became scarce and only occurred when Frisk was worn out or distracted and failed to resist Chara's influence.

As time went on Sans even started to grow fond of the kid. He'd even caught himself thinking of them as a good friend.

Pacifist routes, like this one, was usually the outcome of Frisk's journey through the underground nowadays, though the actual outcome of them was fleeting. Sans had asked to help Frisk with whatever it was that they needed to do to save their friend many times, but they'd always decline, claiming it to be too personal.

Sometimes Frisk waited extra long to reset. They told him it was because they wanted to give Sans an opportunity to enjoy the surface. When all's said and done, they really were a good kid. Their intentions were good, but Sans couldn't really find any joy in going to the surface if he couldn't truly share it with his brother and Papyrus would always forget everything that had happened after a reset, just like everyone else. With the obvious exception of Frisk.

"I could look at this for hours," the old king exulted after a few moments of silence.

"Yes, it is beautiful, is it not?" said Toriel while brushing the dirt off of Frisk's clothes after Undyne's violent display of affection. "But we should really be thinking of what comes next."

Like always, Asgore appointed Frisk the ambassador of monsters, a task they happily obliged to, Papyrus ran off to greet humans and Alphys and Undyne quickly pursued him. Undyne, to keep an eye out for him and Alphys because she wanted to stick with Undyne. Eventually, only Sans and Frisk were left, since even Toriel walked off with Asgore to talk. 

By now the sun had set and stars were lighting up on the sky one by one. They admired it in silence. After all, there wasn't much to say that hadn't already been spoken of.

"Sans? Are you okay?" Frisk asked after a while.

"me? i'm fine, kid," Sans reassured, but he found himself unable to muster a very convincing smile.

"You know I'm sorry, right?"

"of course. dun' worry about it. things'll be alright eventually, right?"

"Yeah. Yeah, they will. Thanks for understanding," Frisk said. They seemed to hesitate a bit before throwing their tiny arms around him.

"s'all good, kiddo," said Sans and returned the hug. "i just wish you'd tell me what's up. i could help you, y'know."

"I know and I wish I could, but... after all that's happened... it wouldn't be fair to As-" Frisk quickly cupped their mouth with their hands. "uh, I mean..."

"your friend?"

Frisk nodded. There was something wistful in their face and Sans wondered if he had ever seen them looking so gloomy before. "Yeah," they sighed.

"hey, are you alright, kiddo? you look pretty drained."

Before Frisk could answer, Papyrus returned with Undyne at his heels. Alphys was trying her best to catch up with them too, but she was way behind.

"SANS! WE FORGOT OUR STUFF! WE HAVE TO GO BACK AND PACK EVERYTHING!"

"in snowdin??"

"WELL, THAT'S WHERE OUR HOUSE IS!"

"don't suppose i can talk you into getting new stuff here on the surface and ditch our old junk?" Sans asked, though he already knew what Papyrus would say. Ow well. Any chance of him changing his mind would spare him the hike all the way back to Snowdin and give him more time on the surface.

"NO WAY! WE CAN'T LEAVE SPRINKLES BEHIND! WHAT KIND OF PET OWNERS WOULD THAT MAKE US??"

"I also have to go! I have to get my anime collection... I also need my manga, and my action figures and posters...!" Alphys huffed trying to catch her breath from the running.

"I KNOW, RIGHT? I NEED TO BRING MY OWN ACTION FIGURES TOO! OH, AND MY ATTACKS, MY BOOKS, AND MY BED!! SANS, I CAN'T LEAVE MY RACE CAR-BED!"

"if you say so, bro."

"You guys are such dorks," said Undyne and smiled widely, baring an impressive set of fangs. "But it would be a shame to leave the anime behind..! Besides, you're gonna need some muscle to carry that bed all the way back here." She flexed her bicep, which caused a violent shade of red to appear on Alphys's face.

"LET'S GO THEN!" Papyrus yelled and walked towards the cave entrance. "FRISK? ARE YOU COMING TOO?"

"Sorry Papyrus. I gotta find mom. I have to talk to her first," Frisk said with a smile on their face. "Maybe I'll catch up with you guys later, okay?"

"ALRIGHT! IN THE MEANTIME, FAREWELL!"

"see ya, kid," said Sans and followed the others back into the mountain for another long, long walk back to where it all started.

---

He could never remember a time when he was so aware of the air around him. As fetching as the darkness was, compared to the stagnant fog in the void the air really made him feel galvanized.

The yellow light was glowing faintly in his hands. He carried it with him because he was afraid that if he let go, he might lose the grip he had of reality. The light was surprisingly silent, not at all what he expected, as it after all, most likely was the reason he got out of the void, and he knew that he could never go back there again.

Which was why the human needed to die.

By now the human child would probably still dwell at the edge of the barrier, and it was vital that he managed to find them and kill them before they could reset. He wasn't sure whether or not he would go back to the void if another reset occurred, but he wouldn't take that risk.

He cramped the yellow light in an even tighter grasp.

Logically it would make the most sense to actively hunt down the brat, but strategically he was going to have to play it slow. There were too many monsters traveling to New Home in order to cross the barrier, which he did not want to be seen by yet. Not to mention that the king and queen were with the child. He had seen the protective the queen was over it and he was not foolish enough to oppose a boss monster. Especially not in this fragile state of being.

Thankfully he knew that in every other reset the human would head to the ruins of Home before they reset, and by then they were always alone. That's when he'd strike. No one would know and no one would notice. With the probable exception of Sans, but that would play out rather well. It would make it so that he'd come to find him.

Focusing on his magic went a lot easier than he anticipated. He even felt stronger, somehow. In the void, he had never been able to access his inventory. When he tried to do so now, he was delighted to see that the artificial hands he made all those years ago were still intact. They hovered soundlessly beside him as he walked. They were just as easily controlled as his regular hands, only with a much longer range. He could easily maneuver them quite far away from him. 

The hands were made to enhance the user's magic and the hollow space on the palms was initially storage for magical energy. He wondered if he would be able to store the yellow light in them. That way he wouldn't have to carry it around. Upon further inspection, he noticed that the hands were already filled with a dark mass. When he moved them around, all nearby light seemed to be absorbed into the mass. He tried summoning an attack from one of them, just to see what would happen. Several dark tendrils emerged from it and coiled itself around a rock, crushing it.

He couldn't help but smile. That was a pleasant surprise and while he could only speculate, he estimated this darkness to be a memento from the void. The hands must have absorbed the darkness even though they were in his inventory. How fascinating!

He tried to keep hidden from any other passing monster, and he didn't leave the shadows, but he would very much like to see how this new power worked on other monsters to find out of there were a secondary effect perchance.

When a group of traveling Temmies came along he slowly resigned further back into the shadows. Temmies had never been known for their keen eye or intellect, so nobody noticed him. He sent one single hand to silently float towards a straggler, placing it on it's back. The Temmie fell down to the floor screaming and flailing its limbs. He quickly withdrew the hand before the other ones reacted and silently slid behind a corner, before rapidly moving on towards Snowdin in a fast-paced gait. The same effect had been displayed as a flaw when he first tried to use the hands, but when he studied the hand he noticed that the darkness in the palm had been replaced with proper magic. A bright white spark filled the gaping hole. It seemed to be a very intense form of magic that seemed to vibrate intensely, just like an overly excited Temmie would. He tried using the magic, just like before, but rather than shooting out tendrils of darkness, it caused the fingers to stretch and grow. Not particularly much, but still noticeable.

Hypothetical conclusion; it now stored the Temmie's magic. Not necessarily all of it, judging of the small amount of power, but at least a small part. He also experienced an odd sense of connection to the Temmie, that he couldn't really put his finger on.

Now that he had obtained a result, he released the magic and when he did, the same dark void contained in the others immediately replaced the white spark.

He walked all the way back to the ruins in silence with that same grin on his face, careful to remain unseen.

Such a wonderful convenience. He knew just how to use this power.

---

 

"NO UNDYNE, WAIT!" Papyrus called out, but he was too late. The captain of the Royal Guards already deadlifted his race car-bed way over her head.

"Don't worry Paps, I've got this!" she smiled at him, baring her large teeth.

"YOU'RE GONNA DROP IT! PUT IT DOWN, NOW! I REALLY LIKE THAT BED!" he whined at her.

"Pfft, c'mon! What do you take me for? A weak-ass nerd? I said I got this! You wanna bring this bed, don't you? That's what I'm doing for you. See?"

"OH, WELL... IF YOU PUT IT LIKE THAT," said Papyrus with a faint smile and grabbed his box of attacks. Most of his belongings had already been neatly packed in cardboard boxes, but he really loved that bed, and he really wanted to bring it too. Preferably in one piece. Then he would be able to drive both in real life and in his dreams! 
He had been very careful when he packed his precious action figures, unlike Undyne who didn't share his sense of carefulness with her own stuff. The few belongings she had left after her house burned down was haphazardly thrown in a single box, already standing by the door.

When Undyne left the room, Papyrus stayed at the door and just watched for a while. The bigger furniture, like the desk and the bookshelf would be left behind because of practical reasons, but the room was gaping with the absence of his usual stuff. It was almost dreamlike that they would finally be able to move to the surface. A whole new world had opened up to him. A world of endless possibilities.

Yet at the same time, it felt kind of melancholic to know that he would never return to this house again. It had been his home for so long and seeing the room so empty made it feel... real.

"Paps? Are you coming or what?" Undyne called.

"YEAH. I... UH, IT JUST FEELS LIKE I'VE FORGOTTEN SOMETHING," he lied. Undyne was not the type of monster who showed her emotions, and neither would he! At least not in front of her.

"Oh yeah? Maybe it's the case on the bookshelf?" Undyne said and walked up to it. She carefully examined the tiny box. A wide grin spread all over her face when she opened it. "No way, you have glasses?!"

"OH. YEAH, BUT I NEVER USE THEM. I THINK I'M GONNA LEAVE THEM."

"Why though? Don't you need them or anything?"

"I CAN MANAGE WITHOUT THEM, BESIDES SANS DOESN'T LIKE IT WHEN I WEAR THEM," Papyrus said and shrugged.

"Why not?"

"I DON'T KNOW. HE SAYS I DON'T LOOK LIKE MYSELF, OR SOMETHING. BUT I BEG TO DIFFER! NO MATTER THE ATTIRE, I AM AND WILL ALWAYS BE THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"

"Dude, you gotta try 'em on for me! I bet you look like a total dork!"

"I WILL GLADLY PROVE YOU WRONG. I LOOK AWESOME," Papyrus huffed and snatched the spectacle case from her hands. He made a dramatic pose once he put them on and didn't even notice how Undyne snickered at him. "FEEL FREE TO APOLOGIZE AND TO BASK IN THE GLORY THAT IS ME."

"Pfft, yeah. You're right. I apologize," she said and mock-bowed her head down. "They look really cool on you. I'm surprised that you're not wearing your battle body though. I thought you wanted to make a good first impression to the humans?"

Instead of his usual outfit, he was wearing a black t-shirt with a gray vest. His customary scarf was still neatly wrapped around his neck and he just couldn't bear to part from his favorite pair red boots and gloves. The blue skinny-jeans were carefully chosen to complete the cool look, and if he dared say so himself, the glasses wrapped up the outfit pretty neatly. Was there at all anything he wasn't good at, he wondered.

"YES, I DO. BUT GIVEN THAT WE WILL NOT GO TO WAR WITH THEM AFTER ALL, I CAN'T INTIMIDATE THEM BY WEARING A BATTLE ARMOUR. THIS CALLS FOR A CORDIAL APPROACH."

"So... does that mean you've given up on your dream to become a royal guard now?" Undyne asked carefully. The question took him off guard and he had to think for a while before finally answering.

"YES, I MEAN NO... I MEAN... WILL THERE EVEN BE A ROYAL GUARD ANY LONGER? WHY DO YOU ASK?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just... I don't actually know if there will be any need for it to go on, given that this is 'the era of peace between monster and humans'," she said imitating the words Asgore had spoken before with a mock-voice. "Good thing we've been practicing cooking, right?! It will give us something else to do with our lives!" She seemed to appear cheerful, but something about her demeanor was off. Like she was trying to hide something. At least she was right. Cooking with her was among his favorite things to do and he couldn't wait to hear what the humans would think of their combined culinary forces!

Joining the royal guards had been his dream since as long as he could remember. He had spent close to every waken hour doing his best trying to get accepted into the guards. He calibrated so many puzzles and went on so many patrols. Now that the royal guards might disband he hated to admit that he was feeling a little concerned. In the end, having their freedom weighed more than being popular. He would still work hard on reaching his goals anyway, and once the humans would get to know him, he'd be popular anyway! He wondered if Frisk would take up on their offer and let him be a mascot to the monster embassy?

Suddenly Sans' door creaked open and he came out of his room, carrying an old book in his hands. At first glance, it seemed to be a physics book, but upon further inspection, it turned out to be a joke book. How typical...

"hey. how's it going?" he asked and stretched his arms into the air and yawned loudly. There was no doubt in Papyrus's mind that he had been sleeping. How could he still look so tired after a nap?

"WE'RE DONE! HOW IS PACKING YOUR THINGS GOING?"

"oh you know, i just-" when he turned and looked at the two of them he flinched, even just for an instant, but Papyrus noticed and proceeded to quickly remove his glasses. He immediately figured that they were the reason why. "uh, i got this all ready to go," he said and presented the well-read book. Papyrus raised an eyebrow at his brother as he put his glasses back into the case.

"AND THAT'S ALL YOU'LL BE BRINGING WITH YOU?"

"pretty much. now, if you need me i'll be at my old spot at grillby's for the last time," he said and excused himself down the stairs.

"THAT LAZY-BONES NEVER CEASES TO IMPRESS ME WITH HIS BOONDOGGLING. HE'S JUST TO LAZY TO SORT HIS STUFF OUT AND ACTUALLY CLEAN UP, I'M SURE OF IT."

"You got that right," Undyne said and opened the door to Sans' room, which he left unlocked. Dirty laundry and garbage were scattered all around and his unmade bed was dirty enough to make it look that the dust-mites inside would actually be able to move it on their own.

Papyrus rubbed his temples. As usual, he was going to have to clean up after Sans. He couldn't bear leaving the room in such a poor condition! "I DON'T KNOW WHY I THOUGHT THAT HE WOULD DO IT HIMSELF... OH WELL. WE MIGHT AS WELL DO IT FOR HIM WHILE WE'RE AT IT, RIGHT UNDYNE?"

"No way. Not me at least. His mess, his problem." said Undyne and crossed her arms. "I've already helped you clean your stuff, even though I only promised to help you carry your bed. I'm not cleaning up after Sans too!"

"DON'T BE LIKE THAT. TECHNICALLY, YOU'RE STILL THE CAPTAIN OF THE ROYAL GUARD, AREN'T YOU? ISN'T IT YOUR DUTY TO HELP MONSTERKIND?"

"Yeah. When they're in need of protection. I don't exactly run a cleaning service, you know?"

"I SEE. WELL, I GUESS I BETTER DO IT MYSELF THEN. ALONE. WITHOUT YOU. ABANDONED, BY BOTH SANS AND YOU."

"Don't start on me Paps..."

"NO, NO, IT'S FINE. I BET YOU HAVE MUCH MORE IMPORTANT STUFF TO DO ANYWAYS," he said and faked a very dramatic frown.

"Alright, fine! I'll help you clean his freakin' garbage! Happy?"

"YES! IT'S ALWAYS FUN TO SPEND WITH YOU," Papyrus beamed at her.

Undyne seemed to calm her temper and her bitter face turned at least a little milder. "Aww, Paps. Now I really gotta do it, don't I?"

"GREAT! I'LL GET A TRASH-BAG!"

Undyne went into the room. Using her feet she scooped some garbage into a pile, with a disgusted look on her face. "Hey, what about the treadmill?" She asked.

"OH, SANS HAS NEVER USED THAT ONCE IN HIS LAZY LIFE. WELL, EXCEPT FOR PRANKING PEOPLE THAT IS. I DON'T THINK HE WANTS TO BRING IT WITH HIM. LET'S JUST LEAVE IT."

"Okay. Hey, I suppose this so-called 'bed' isn't much to save either, right?"

"EW, NO."

"Good, 'cause I've got a fun idea. Wanna use it to slide down the stairs?"

---

A chilly wind blew past Sans' face as he walked past the town's infamous 'libarby'.

He wished he could be at least a little enthusiastic, but it's hard to rejoice over something you knew would disappear. Papyrus and Undyne had spent the entire day packing the house while sharing exuberant conversations about the surface and how wonderful it was.

And it was. It really was. In the beginning, he did the same thing, but that felt like it was forever ago.

Right now he didn't really feel like participating in the other's cheer. He went straight to Grillby's like he said he would, but when he put his bony hand on the doorknob he had a change of mind and kept walking. Out of Snowdin, over the bridge and past Papyrus's many puzzles. He didn't even bother to use a shortcut. 

He just kept walking until the ruins towered in front of him. The heavy stone gates were open and the magical seal that prevented people from entering the ruins was lifted. He wondered how many times he had been sitting outside this gate, telling Toriel his most hilarious knock-knock jokes. She had been a great audience-of-one. He couldn't help but to wonder how many times he'd have to do it again. Telling the same jokes and making that same promise to her, over and over.

He sat down and leaned against the gatepost. Few of the monsters settled in the snowy forest remained, as most of them had moved on to the surface already. Only the cold wind whistled through the trees. The last thing Sans expected to hear was footsteps coming from the ruins.

A lonesome Froggit jumped past him. It waddled a few steps out of the gate and gazed out on the snowy forest ahead of him. At first, it didn't speak. It just made itself comfortable, careful not to touch the snow and gazed over the snowy landscape.

"uhm, hello?" said Sans. He wondered if the Froggit had noticed him at all.

"After all this time... I can't believe that the ruins are finally open. It's pretty cold though, isn't it? Is all of the Underground this cold?" it asked him.

"nah. once you pass through the town of snowdin, it gets warmer. you're from the ruins?"

"Yeah. I've lived my entire life in these ruins. Finding that the door is open makes me feel a little... nervous to be honest. Oh, well. Now there is nothing left to do but move on, right?" The tiny frog-monster said and gave a little smile.

"yeah," Sans replied and shrugged his shoulders. "welp, enjoy today, man. 'cause you never know how long it's gonna last."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Another wind grabbed a hold of the two of them, making the Froggit wince.

"... nothing. i frog-ot," said Sans. The Froggit didn't react to the pun, which kinda made him a little disappointed. "shouldn't you be hopping along now anyway?" He asked.

"One step at a time. I've only just seen the outside of the ruins. Besides, I need to get my brothers. We should probably go together." The Froggit turned to him and tilted its head with a furrowed brow. "Say, Mister, you look kinda bothered by something. Don't you have anywhere to go?"

"yeah. i just, uh... i should probably go and find my own brother as well."

"Oh yeah? You mean the other skeleton down in the ruins? Come to think of it that must be why you're here and all..."

"what?" This was new. He knew for a fact that Papyrus was at home packing their stuff with Undyne, and besides Papyrus and him, there were no other skeletons around in the underground.

"Yeah, the skeleton in the ruins! He's a lot taller than you, clad in some black robe or something. Oh, and his skull was cracked. Come to think of it, he looks way creepier than you."

The first person that came to mind was one that he would rather forget about. 

His father. 

Perhaps seeing Papyrus with his glasses had made him subconsciously aware of him or something, since he resembled him so much while wearing them, but that made no sense. He had a very clear memory of his father being dead. He remembered watching him fall down into the core. It sent chills down his spine only to think of it, and he tried to discard the gnawing feeling of guilt that crept up on him.

The Froggit tilted its head with a faint smile on its face. "Why don't you go see him? He's by the old caretakers' house. At least he was when I saw him last. Just pass straight through this corridor and up the stairs. You can't miss it. I... uh, would have shown you there, but I kinda need to get accustomed to the cold."

"okay, thanks. see ya, buddy."

Sans' soul flickered with unease as he stepped into the ruins. Just the thought of Gaster caused anxiety to gnaw on him, but he knew that it was impossible for him to be here. 

He just wanted to be extra sure, so he tucked his hands into his pockets like he always did and started walking. 

Since he had never actually been in the ruins before he couldn't use a shortcut. Which was too bad, because walking all the way through the corridor really was a drag. It was too long and monotonous to be even remotely interesting. 

As he walked he tried to convince himself that it wasn't logical for Gaster to be in the ruins, over and over, because he was dead. His mind wouldn't seem to agree with him and countered his logical thoughts with 'what if's and 'are you sure's. He quickly climbed the stairs and entered what with certainty had been Toriel's home. He kinda felt like he was invading her privacy because the house was completely untouched. It was just like someone still lived there.

None the less, Sans quickly looked through the house and to his relief he couldn't find anyone there. He exited the house making his way through Toriel's garden, but he stopped in his tracks once he reached the big, hollowed tree in the middle of the path.

"There is no one left here. Or perhaps it's me you're looking for? You do look awfully tense," said an eerie voice from behind him. Shivers went down his spine when his worst fear came true. He didn't have to turn around to know who it was. He recognized his father's voice right away, despite the fact that it sounded... broken somehow. 

The sound instantly brought back unwanted memories of dark rooms and broken bones. "Such a lucky coincident to stumble upon you, of all monsters here. Did you miss your old man?"

"you shouldn't be here," Sans replied without turning to face him. He had to force himself to breathe at a steady pace.

"Yet here I am."

"how?"

"No thanks to you, my boy."

He hoped that Gaster wouldn't notice how he started to tremble. He just couldn't control it. 

He clenched his fists. Within seconds it was like every bad memory came back to him and flooded his mind with a smothering force. He tried his best to shake it off like he always tried to whenever anxiety got a hold of him, but this was getting all too real. 

"you deserved what happened to you and i won't feel guilty about it," said Sans between clenched teeth.

"Is that so? Keep telling yourself that and you might actually start to believe it."

"why are you here?" Sans gritted his teeth as he spoke. He finally turned around to face Gaster and he was genuinely surprised when he did. This was not the monster he remembered at all. The cracks on his skull had spread across his cranium and face and even deformed his right eye socket. His long, proud figure was reconstructed into some sort of black mass that seemed to drip all over the floor, like oil.

"That's a good question. In all honesty, something we all should be asking ourselves. Where I've been, I've had a lot of time to think about... well, anything really, and the more I thought, the more I realized how much I have left to do right here. I still need answers, and now that you're here I could really use you."

"go to hell," Sans retorted. His eye began flickering with a golden-blue light as he glared at Gaster.

"Ah, there it is," Gaster mused and reached out a hand. Sans instinctively stepped back, even though he knew Gaster wouldn't be able to reach him from where he stood. "You know, frankly I think you should thank me. I've seen you from where I've been. I've seen how powerful the amalgamate has made you," said Gaster with his hand still reached out for him.

"you're wrong. without the dt, it broke a long time ago and i haven't been affected by it since," said Sans and pointed at his eye. "seems like all of your work was for nothing, huh? which means that there is nothing you want from me anymore. so leave me alone."

"Oh, Sans. You always were the clever one, act like it. It's still intact and you know that. You've felt it, haven't you? You've drawn power from it."

"bullshit."

"Alright. Let's assume that it did break. Go on and explain to me why do you think that only you remember the timelines for example? Also, do explain why your ability with blue magic exceeds most monster's. Is it because of your hard work and vigorous training? I told you I've been watching. I know everything there is to know about every timeline. Much like you, no? You have so much potential in you, thanks to the amalgamate. Just think of all the things you could accomplish!"

Sans was at a loss of words, stupefied even, as he tried to put the pieces together in his mind. No one knew about the timelines and he always believed that the reason he did was somehow connected to the fact that he used to be exposed to so much determination as a child.

There had been occasional times when he questioned that the amalgamate was actually broken, but he'd always push those thoughts away and stick to what he thought he knew for a fact, that it was busted and practically useless. After all, it had been many years since it caused him to transform into a blaster-beast.

The fact that is was broken was only logical.

"that's a load of crap and you know it! you're just trying to get to me, but it won't work. i'm not who i used to be."

Gaster's face cracked up in a sinister smile. "Then why are you shaking?"

Sans didn't answer. Instead, he summoned a few bones from his inventory and aimed them carefully at his father.

"look, you once gave me a choice, remember? a choice to either do what you told me to or suffer the consequences. i am giving you that same choice right now. go away and don't ever try to contact me, or paps. or i'll... i'll..." somehow he found himself unable to finish the sentence and he frowned upon himself for it.

"Kill me? Yes, I imagine you would, but I'm afraid I won't allow that. You see, I seem to have picked up a few tricks of my own during my exile."

A purple orb appeared in Gaster's eyes, even the cracked one. Several hovering hands, that to this day still haunted Sans' dreams, appeared behind him. From the gaping hole in the middle of the hands appeared a black void in all hands but one, which had a bright yellow light in it instead.

Suddenly shadowy tendrils shot out from them and coiled themselves around Sans' arms and legs before he had time to dodge. He tried to get loose, but the tendrils wouldn't budge. Another one of the hands hovered up to Sans and placed itself over his glowing eye. The hollow part of the palm was lit with a clear, yellow light.

"Should've used the laser canons you stole from me. After all, I did model them after you and your magic."

The spark of light in his socket grew stronger and increased in size as Gaster's hand pressed against it. Then he felt something hot run through him as if he was being scalded by boiling water. The burst of energy running through his skull was more than enough to know that the amalgamate was welling up with power within his eye.

"We all have our different purposes in this life, and try as we may we cannot run from them. As for your purpose... it was defined for you long ago."

Something in the back of Sans' head screamed at him that this wasn't right. He had to escape. He had to get back home again before it got even worse.

"I made the amalgamate. It's mine, and since it's fused to your soul that means that you are mine to own too."

Thinking became hard. It was like Sans' body refused to cooperate. He needed to use a shortcut, quickly before it was too late.

So he did.

Chapter 5: The Man Who Speaks In Hands

Summary:

Sans flees the scene, Frisk is captured and Toriel looks for her child.

Notes:

Me trying to write be like: http://pixiehobbit.tumblr.com/post/171307943702/thatwriternamedvolk-megan-cutler

Haha it's sad but true. I honestly thought that I would be able to upload much more frequently, but I get stuck ALL THE TIME.
Sorry!!

Anyway, here the next part! Please don't be afraid to tell me what you think! I'd love to get some constructive critique! :D

I also updated the previous chapters a bit. Feel free to check it out if you like. :)

Sans immediately collapsed as his feet hit his bedroom floor. He was back in Snowdin, in his own room. The sudden headache he'd gotten throbbed behind his eyes, making it difficult to think. He tried to soothe it by massaging his temporal bone, but instead of relieving the pain, it only made it worse.

As much as he hated to admit it to himself, knowing that Gaster was still out there scared him to death. He was supposed to be dead. He'd perished in the core years ago, way before the time loops even began.

At least as it turned out, whatever magic his father had used on him, it couldn't prevent him from using his shortcuts and there was no trace of him here, so at least he had that going for him. An unnerving feeling in his gut told him that Gaster wouldn't be far behind and considering what he just said about having watched all these years, he would most likely know where he and Papyrus lived and that meant they needed to leave immediately.

Papyrus still didn't know about what happened all those years ago, and Sans was determined to keep it that way. Telling him the truth now would only stir up unnecessary guilt and he didn't want that for him. He was snapped out of his thoughts when someone suddenly abruptly knocked on the door.

"SANS? I KNOW I HEARD YOU JUST NOW! WHEN DID YOU COME BACK?" Papyrus nasal voice yelled from the other side of the door. "COME OUT OF THERE! I KNOW THERE'S NOTHING LEFT IN YOUR ROOM TO PACK BECAUSE I AND UNDYNE PACKED YOUR STUFF FOR YOU! BY THE WAY, WE'RE GONNA HAVE TO BUY YOU A NEW MATTRESS ON THE SURFACE..."

Sans slammed open the door. The hasty and unpredictable movement caused Papyrus to flinch and step back in surprise.

"BROTHER! YOU SURPRISED ME. WHAT'S WRONG? DID SOMETHING HAPPEN?"

"yeah, so we need to leave. now."

"WHAT ABOUT OUR STUFF?"

"we'll get new stuff on the surface."

"WHY?" said Papyrus and raised an eyebrow in bewilderment, but he quickly followed Sans down the stairs.

"just trust me, okay?" Sans muttered. He felt skittish and for a reason, he wasn't entirely sure of, he needed to check that the coast was clear outside, though it was highly illogical that Gaster would have been able to keep up unless he too knew how to use a shortcut too. At this point, he wouldn't be surprised.

Being as distracted as he was right now, using a shortcut could be hard, and even more demanding with an extra person along. He made the best effort he could to calm himself down, by trying to regulate his rapid breathing, but it proved to be a hard task to clear his mind.
He knew he'd need to use a shortcut in order to get him and Papyrus to the surface. Frisk would still be there and he could ask them to reset straight away. 
Remaining in the Underground, now that he knew his father was out there, was treacherous and he wouldn't risk it even if he knew things would reset soon. He wouldn't take any chances considering Gaster.

In his mind, he was already trying to chart all of his locations and actions in previous timelines so he could make sure to keep himself and Papyrus away from Gaster.
Sans' head kept throbbing and he suddenly started to feel very dizzy. He did his best tried to ignore it and tried to focus on planning instead. So far Gaster had never shown up in any other timeline, so tracing previous movements should be safe even if he would know about their whereabouts.

Undyne, who had been gathering stuff in the kitchen raised an eyebrow and crossed her muscular arms when she noticed them.

Adding yet another person through the shortcut just wouldn't happen and Sans wouldn't hesitate to leave her behind. Gaster had no connection to her, and even if he had seen how close she and Papyrus were and decide to try something on her, she'd be more than able to fend for herself.

Papyrus wouldn't. He barely wanted to fight anyone normally, and him seeing Gaster would probably make him overjoyed and who knew what Gaster might do to him? Or tell him.

"BROTHER, WAIT!" Papyrus yelled as he caught up with him and abruptly put his hands on his shoulders to stop him. "YOU NEED TO TELL ME WHAT'S WRONG!"

"it'll be fine," he said. Not that sure it sounded very convincing. Even Undyne seemed to acknowledge something was off. "i just need to... to..." he staggered on his words as he tried to figure out what to tell him.

"What's up?" asked Undyne, fixating her eye on them closely tracking their movements as if she were to pounce at them. "Is something wrong?"

"APPARENTLY, BUT SANS WON'T TELL ME WHAT," said Papyrus with his arms crossed.

"no time," said Sans as he opened the front door and glared out at the snowy town. To his relief, there was no one there.

"Wait a moment. If something happened, you need to let me know," said Undyne sharply and walked up to Sans with a determined gait. A webbed hand on his shoulder caught him off-guard and she forced him to turn around to face her. "What's up, weirdo?" The strict look on her face faded and she tilted her head. Her yellow eye felt like it was piercing right through him and he took a step back when she leaned forward towards him. "What's wrong with your eye?" she inquired and significantly pointed at her own eye.

Sans immediately froze. "wh-what do you mean?" he asked and placed a hand in front of his eye socket. He wasn't using magic right now so his eye should be fine.
His eyes widened and his body stiffened when he saw the familiar golden blue light from his socket illuminate his hand. He hadn't even noticed before. All of a sudden, a familiar gnawing sensation began to surge through his bones and he was really starting to panic.

"It's blue. And... glowing?" said Undyne. She looked as if she intended to poke her finger into the socket to examine. Thankfully she didn't.

Sans cussed to himself under his breath and pulled up his hood over his head and turned back to the door.

"SANS, PLEASE. TELL US WHAT'S WRONG! THIS ISN'T LIKE YOU," Papyrus quavered. He nervously fidgeted with his scarf and the frown on his face made Sans feel bad for causing him so much worry. All of a sudden a loud crack echoed through the room. The immediate pain that shot through his spine caught Sans off guard and he couldn't hold back a startled groan as he fell down on his knees.

"BROTHER!" Papyrus yelled and hurried towards him.

Sans already knew what was about to transpire. He could feel it. There was no mistaking the sudden wave of pain and the eerie, anticipating feeling deluging through his body, threatening to tear him apart.

'ignore it, ignore it, ignore it, just keep going, try to ignore,' he thought to himself, desperately trying to calm himself down. He remembered the chant his grandpa taught him for situations like this.'i am the master of my own thoughts, i'm the captain of my soul and i mustn't look back. don't look back, don't look back, do not look back.'

In the end, he slowly started to realize that at this point there was nothing he could do to prevent it. It had already gone too far. Part of him didn't want to believe this was actually happening after all this time, especially right now when it hadn't happened even once since he was a kid. Not even when he actively tried to make it happen while facing Chara during a genocide run.

His first spontaneous reaction was that he didn't want anyone to see him like that. Especially not Papyrus. There were still too many unfinished things to say regarding the subject. So he decided to leave by himself and wait this out alone until Frisk reset.

"i'm sorry," he grunted between clenched jaws. Searing pain radiated through his entire body, that rapidly increased when he laboriously mustered enough strength and focus to use a shortcut.

"Hold on a second," said Undyne and firmly grabbed his arm, and in the blink of an eye, they were both gone, leaving the frightened Papyrus behind.

---

Frisk dipped their hand into the water. Even though it was so cold that their hand was starting to get numb, they still didn't want to pull it out of the water. They enjoyed making tiny splashes. It got their mind off of things.

Luckily, this time they had returned to the Underground before the River Person had abandoned her post, and she was kind enough to give them a final ride to Snowdin Town. A welcomed gesture since it meant that they wouldn't have to walk all the way through the underground again. Plus they didn't have to go against the hoard of monsters traveling to the surface.

When Toriel had asked Frisk if they wanted to stay with her, there was no hesitation on Frisk's mind. There never had been. Frisk never had a mom before and Toriel seemed to be a mother at heart. It came so naturally to her. Every reset when they had to meet Toriel for the first time yet again, she never treated them any less as if they were her own child.

This timeline, something very unusual happened. Toriel and Asgore had actually started talking to each other, without apprehension or dismay. They were simply having a normal conversation. Frisk tried their best to remember what they had said or done differently so they could repeat the action over again. In fact, they secretly hoped that maybe the two of them would patch things up between each other. Maybe then they could be a family and the thought of that made Frisk feel more peaceful than they could ever remember.

Hopefully, that would be the case once Frisk wouldn't have to reset anymore. By the Asriel would be with them, too.

The reason why Frisk traveled back, timeline after timeline was so they could go back to the ruins for Asriel. Knowing that he would remain trapped in the underground as a soulless flower was unbearable to Frisk. Everyone else got a happy ending, and Asriel deserved one too, but they still needed to find a way to give him one.

Sadly, after Asriel returned to being a flower his body would wither and the golden flower would slowly perish. He claimed over and over that he didn't want to be saved, that he had given up, but Frisk was determined to find a way to save him too. Sadly, so far they were unsuccessful. Even during the time Asriel actually agreed to be put in a pot in order to become more mobile, he'd wither within just a few days, despite Frisk's best efforts to keep him well. At least if left in the ground, it could take a few more weeks.

Frisk would never give up trying to find a way to help him. Things were looking much better now that Chara didn't pose as much of a threat as before and since they could always count on Sans to look after them, the severeness of the situation felt less staggering. Not that they didn't grieve over the times Chara had forced them to kill anyone, because it was terrible and still haunting their nightmares, but it was easier to resist Chara now.

Thankfully, after the barrier was gone, Chara seemed to be gone from the ruins too. Frisk had never stumbled upon them in the ruins after a true pacifist run yet. Perhaps that was Asriel's doing? They had been best friends, and it was only natural to think that Asriel would want Chara to rest in peace.

When everybody watched the sky together before, Frisk couldn't help but notice the dismal look on Sans' face. They knew resets were hard on him because he remembered - and to be swept from his happy ending time after time would probably be discouraging, yet at the same time, Frisk would never forgive themselves if they left Asriel behind. They just couldn't. Even though Flowey had done an awful lot of bad things, Asriel was good, and he was still in there. The fact that the barrier was down proved that. It was all Asriel's own doing and when given the chance he'd do it over again, and again.

"~Tra la la,~" sang the River Person in a somber tune. "~Beware of the man who speaks in hands.~" The dog-shaped boat gently skimmed the calm waters as the vast mountains of Snowdin appeared on the horizon.

"What does that even mean?" asked Frisk and perked up from their slouchy position while discretely wiping their hand dry on their striped shirt. It wasn't the first time the River Person had said something like that and although they usually seemed to say things at random, this was the most frequent statement.

"~Beware of the man who came from the other world, tra la la,~" she continued to sing. "~The man who fell into his creation. Beware of the void and the six lights.~"

"I'm not sure I follow," said Frisk and tilted their head.

"That's okay," the River Person answered, without averting her steadfast gaze forward. "It doesn't mean anything. Or maybe it does? Your guess is as good as mine, I just like to sing. Here we are." The boat slowly stopped at the Snowdin riverbank and Frisk thanked the River Person accordingly before heading towards the ruins.

It was a good thing they didn't have to pass by Sans and Papyrus's house. They wanted to get to Asriel unnoticed, so nobody would follow. In order to protect Asriel, Frisk hadn't even told Sans about him. Sans did remember what Flowey had done when he was in control of the timelines too and it was probably best if he didn't realize they were the same person.

Frisk had always liked Snowdin Forest, even though it was cold. The tall ascents of the ground gave a fantastic view over the snow-covered trees and the crystals on the roof shone brightly, though the crystals in Waterfall were more frequent, it was still a beautiful sight.
Once they passed the bridge that Papyrus painted, which always made them feel a little lightheaded, the hike was going smoothly. When they got too cold they picked up the pace and jogged for a while. Most of the monsters were gone, but they did see a few enthusiastic Froggits skipping in the snow, on their way to the surface.

Finally, the ruins towered up in front of them and they entered without hesitation. Walking down the corridor that led to Toriel's house almost felt like coming home. In all honesty, Frisk had lost count over how many resets they'd made and at the beginning of every run they'd always stay at least one night with Toriel. 
Not that it mattered how many times they'd reset. As long as they managed to accomplish their goal, things would turn out fine even though it was tough at the moment.

When Frisk got out of the house, they were met with an unfamiliar sight that startled them. A tall ghostly monster was standing in the middle of the yard. It had it's back turned to them, and Frisk was unsure if it noticed their presence at all. It surprised them because no one had ever been here at this time before since everyone would head out to the surface and it was too tall to be Chara.

With a flick of their hand, they summoned the save button and made a save point, just in case.

They approached with caution and tried to make as much noise as possible so it wouldn't be startled by them. When they were a few feet away from the strange monster, it finally turned around to face them. Another surprise was that it was a skeleton. Frisk had never seen more skeletons in the Underground other than Sans and Papyrus. They tried to find solace in thinking that maybe this one would be as nice as they were?

"Hi," said Frisk nervously. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"That's quite alright, young one. I knew you were coming," replied the stranger. His voice sounded weird. It was almost like hearing someone speak through a walkie-talkie.

"My name is Frisk. Who are you?"

"I am Gaster," the skeleton replied."Dr. Gaster."

"Doctor? Like Dr. Alphys?" Frisk wondered. "Perhaps you know her?" The likelihood of that was low, but Frisk just wanted to try and make conversation.

"She's the royal scientist. Like I used to be."

"Oh, you're a scientist too? Alphys never mentioned anyone else working in the lab with her... and I've never seen you there before."

"I'm not the royal scientist anymore, and Alphys is nothing but an incompetent fool and a liar. Keeping such miserable creatures in the lab while completely and deliberately misleading their dependents"

Frisk flinched a bit over his remark. They came to the conclusion that Gaster wasn't very friendly after all, and they had a feeling in their gut that something was off. Besides if he was a scientist too, as he claimed, then why had they never heard of him, or even seen him before? As far as they knew, no one had never even mentioned his name. "Alphys only lied because she was afraid to hurt anyone," they tried to defend their friend. "And she has made up for her mistakes now and she's sorry for what she did."

"Being sorry won't take back your actions. She made a fatal mistake. If she was working for me, I'd penalize her wrongdoing acutely." The electric static in his voice seemed to enhance as he raised his voice.

"No one ever wants to make a mistake," said Frisk cautiously, getting more uneasy every second. "D-don't you think everyone deserves a second chance?" they tried to smile at him, but his face remained motionless.

"Even if it's someone like me? Or... someone like you?" he said after a while. He stood as still and proud as a soldier. It was just as if he was waiting for something to happen. One of his eye sockets seemed a bit crooked, but the other one was lit by a tiny speck of a white light which traced every movement Frisk made. Suddenly from behind his back, several hands appeared and hovered silently next to him. 
Frisk gasped silently and took a step back. They immediately came to think of the River Person's song.

~Beware of the man who speaks in hands, the man who came from the other world.~

They kept backing away without taking their eyes away from the meager skeleton, who looked more threatening each second. They wanted to turn around and run away as fast as possible, but they were afraid of turning their back at him.

"You humans are all the same," said Gaster as a purple light lit up in both of his eye sockets. "Don't forget that you're only alive because of a promise someone made for you, even though you deserve to die for what you've done to monsterkind. Resetting time, over and over. Slicing and slivering us with that pretty little knife of yours, slaughtering innocents just to get by, just like we were your toys."

"Th-that's not true," Frisk stuttered. "How do you know about that?"

"Don't worry, child. You can rest at ease knowing that everyone will be happy when you're dead and unable to reset again. I want you to know that after this, we will annihilate your kind and make you all suffer the same way we have under this damned mountain."

Frisk didn't hesitate anymore. Hoping to surprise him with a quick start, they turned and ran as fast as they could. They summoned the load and reset buttons as they ran, but a hovering hand caught up to them immediately and grabbed their leg so they fell. Before they could hit any button at all, another hovering hand snatched them away from Frisk and they landed softly in Gaster's outstretched palms.

"Peculiar," he said to himself and observed them carefully.

"Please! You don't understand!" Frisk exclaimed with a loud trembling tone to their voice. They tried to bend loose the grip on their leg, but the hand still clutched them tightly. It slowly started to pull Frisk closer to Gaster, despite their efforts to wiggle loose.

Not knowing what else to do, they grabbed a dry stick lying on the ground and slammed it against Gaster's skull. He cried out in pain and stepped back. The floating hands dropped down on the floor and Frisk was free.

Not wasting a second they hurried towards Toriel's house. The corridor in the basement had never seemed so long before, but they wouldn't stop running. Not even for a second. They clenched the dry stick in their hands as they ran, glancing behind their shoulder every other step as they ran to make sure they weren't being followed.

Frisk let out a relieved chuckle between winded breaths as the exit of the ruins were towering up in front of them. Gaster seemed frail, and hopefully, he wouldn't be able to open the large gate if Frisk managed to close it in time.

It took every ounce of strength that they had left to push the heavy door shut, but they did it. They kept running until they got to Papyrus's sentry station, in which they curled up inside, finally allowing themselves to catch their breath. Their whole body burned from the effort and their lungs felt like they were filled with magma.

When they felt ready, they tried to summon the reset button, but nothing happened. They tried multiple times, but again, nothing happened. Not even the load button appeared. Frisk hoped and begged that it was just because they still felt so worked up, and not because Gaster had snatched them. Would that even be possible? No monster possessed DT, so either way, there was no way he could use them.

The only thing they could do at the moment was to regain their stamina and plan their actions.

They decided that they would go to Snowdin. Hopefully, everyone would still be there, packing their stuff and Gaster wouldn't stand a chance against them.

Suddenly the sound of footsteps in the snow approached. Frisk carefully peered out from the sentry station while remaining as silent as they could. They placed their hands over their mouth so they wouldn't breathe too loudly.

It was Gaster. So he did manage to open the gate.

The crackling snow under his feet sounded quite loudly, but when they looked at Gaster it seemed like he was floating, rather than walking and Frisk couldn't see his legs under that black robe or whatever he was wearing. Thankfully, it didn't seem that he'd noticed them and he just went past.

Frisk drew a deep sigh when he was gone and his footsteps had faded. For someone who seemed to be so clever, a scientist and everything, Frisk was surprised he didn't think about checking the cardboard sentry station.

Once they were absolutely certain Gaster was gone they grabbed their phone and noticed that they had nearly 35 missed calls from Toriel. All of them were going to have to wait. They were going to call Papyrus and let them know that Gaster was potentially heading their way and ask for help, but no one picked up. They tried again, and again with the same result.

Not knowing what else to do, they dialed their adoptive mother's number, despite her being so far away.

"My child, where are you?" said Toriel as she picked up the phone.

"Mom, I need your help," Frisk whispered.

"Where are you, Frisk?"

"I'm in the underground, in Snowdin...

"What on earth are you doing there?"

"Please hurry, I-"

Before they could finish the sentence their cell was snatched from their grip, by a floating hand.

"Next time, perhaps you'd do well to remember not to speak so loudly when you're trying to remain hidden?"

"Get away from me!" yelled Frisk and swung their stick at him. A floating hand caught it and averted it before it could hit him. Another set of hands grabbed their arms and prevented them from escaping.

"Do you still think someone is coming to save you?"

---

Toriel basked her face in the toasty sunlight. The morning air felt wonderful.

Sleeping under the starry sky had been thrilling, even for her. Her fire magic prevented Frisk and herself from getting cold and she had fallen asleep watching the glimmering stars. It was just like she remembered it. Only better, somehow.

The first thing she had noticed when she woke up was that Frisk was missing, but at the moment it didn't worry her that much. Frisk was a free-spirited child and they had probably run off to see their friends already. After some time passed without a trace of her child or anyone else from yesterday who she knew them, Toriel was getting worried they might have gotten lost among the hoard of monsters emigrating from the underground. They wouldn't pick up their phone so Toriel decided to go look for them.

"Pardon me. Excuse me," she said while searching the accumulation of monsters, but Frisk was nowhere to be found. She called out their name, but no one answered.

"Tori?" someone called her. As soon as she heard that voice, anger immediately boiled up and she clenched her fists. Besides, he did not get to call her by her old nickname anymore and the fact that he still did goaded on her anger. She raised an eyebrow as she turned to face him.

"Mr. Dreemurr."

They had a long chat before, regarding the future of their people, but Asgore had not dared to utter a word of what happened in the past, although she was sure he was just as aware as she was that they both desperately needed to sort it out. Not in order to get back together, which she had the feeling he desperately wanted to and not in order to be even friends again, because she still wasn't ready to see past his horrendous actions towards the poor, innocent children just yet.

No, the only reason they needed to talk was so they both would finally be able to move on.

"Where are you going? Shouldn't you be traveling the other way?" the broad goat monster asked and gestured to the path that lead down the mountain. He fumbled with his purple cloak as he spoke and glanced at her carefully, which didn't really suit his regal appearance at all.

"Why do you care?" she snapped and crossed her arms. 

"Where... where is the child?" asked Asgore.

"They went with the others."

"Oh. I was hoping to talk to them. They... kinda agreed to be the monster ambassador, so... "

"Well, you're gonna have to come back when they return."

"Yeah," said the king and chuckled nervously. "Y'know, you and I are probably going to see each other a lot more, since Frisk will be staying with you and I'll need to check up with them every once in a while. I just thought-"

"Mr. Dreemurr, if there's nothing else you want then perhaps you should be moving along."

"Well... I was thinking that.. maybe... you could call me when they get back? D-do you still have my number?"

"No," said Toriel and shook her head.

"Oh. Well... would you mind if I g-gave it to you? I mean, not that you have to call, maybe Frisk could, although it would be nice to talk to you... I was rather fond of our conversation last nigh, and it felt g-great to talk to you again, but you don't have to talk to me unless you want to of course," the old king blurted out.

"I will allow you to leave me your number, if you go away afterwards," said Toriel and handed him her cell.

"A-alright. Here you go," mumbled Asgore as he registered his number on the phone. "I'll... see you later then?"

"Frisk will call you."

"Okay. G-good bye."

Without even bothering to reply, Toriel turned her back and resumed her search. Asgore would probably not hesitate to help her looking for them, but she wouldn't allow herself to sink low enough to ask for his help.

Once she was certain Asgore was gone, she started to call Frisk's name, but the child was gone from the face of the earth. She lost track of how many times she tried to call. As her concern increased, her soul pounded faster in her chest. She tried to tell herself that she was overreacting and that Frisk would show up any given moment. Her anxiety increased each minute. She even considered calling Asgore and ask him to help her.

She sighed deeply and sat down on a rock to recompose her thoughts and calm down.

When her phone rang she was immediately filled with anticipation and she was overjoyed when she saw Frisk's name on the display.

"My child, where are you?" she asked softly.

"Mom, I need your help," Frisk whispered. Their voice sounded brittle and strained.

Toriel immediately sprung up on her feet. "Where are you, Frisk?"

"I'm in the underground, in Snowdin."

"What on earth are you doing there?" asked Toriel. She was already racing towards the cave entrance.

"Please hurry, I-"

A strange static noise filled the cell and the call was abruptly ended. 

Chapter 6: In The Forest

Summary:

Papyrus gets a clue about where his brother and Undyne might be. Undyne witnesses something horrifying and Sans disappears into the woods. Frisk is given a glimmer of hope which is abruptly taken away immediately.

Notes:

Another chapter finally done! Sorry for taking so long! I know it's not a very long chapter considering how long it took, but I find myself struggling to express myself in English.

Anyway, I have so much material for this fanfic and I love working on it! I just need to connect the chapters to each other and make things attach and make sense. It takes a while for me. XD And if things don't make sense right now, I do intend explain it further in latter chapters!

I think I was a little overambitious at the beginning where I thought I'd be able to upload every week, just because I have an idea of how things will turn out. It was wrong. Boooy was I wrong. Like sooooo wrong. I am going to see this through though!

And to anyone reading, thank you so much!! Not in my wildest fantasies did I imagine such a positive feedback! :O :D However, that said, please don't be afraid to point out if I made a mistake somewhere! Typos, sentence structure, plot hole, etc. Any kind of constructive critique is very appreciated!

Papyrus had no idea what to do, or where to even start looking for his big brother and Undyne. Somehow they had both dissolved and there was no trace of them by the doorpost. He blinked his damp eyes a few times before he stepped outside.

"SANS? U-UNDYNE?" he called with a shrill tone, desperately hoping to get an answer. There was no reply, but the echo of his own voice. In fact, no one at all was around. Snowdin Town seemed vacant and in the eyes of the lonely skeleton kind of frightening as well.

It bothered Papyrus how Sans had seemed so upset because he knew that it would take a lot to make his brother feel that way. Something was really wrong, so why couldn't he tell him? And what happened to him before he disappeared? That awful crackling noise still lingered in his metaphorical ears.

He decided to go see if there was still anyone left in any of the houses who might be able to help him look for them, but he didn't get a response from any of the houses in the village. Not the inn, or shop or library. Not even the ever so crowded Grillby's. Even the Ice Wolf was gone.

He looked anxiously around him. He didn't even know where to start looking, but he knew he had to find them. They couldn't just vanish into thin air. Or could they? He wrapped his arms around himself and tried to think of what Undyne would have done in this situation. He was glad that she managed to grab Sans in time. It gave him a little comfort knowing that she had disappeared together with him. She would definitely be able to protect him and take care of him until Papyrus found them himself.

The sound of footsteps crunching on the snow made the gangly skeleton turn around so rapidly that he almost lost balance. There on the main street of Snowdin Town hopped a group of Froggits, coming from the forest.

"I'm so glad we made it past that bridge," said one of them.

"You know that that wasn't really a bridge, right? It was a large and quite steady rock formation somebody just painted on," replied another.

"Oh. Well, it was real enough for me! You know how scared I am of heights!" Papyrus rushed up to the quintet of tiny frogs. Most of them drew back at his sudden influx, but one Froggit remained still. A grin appeared on its face when he came closer.

"Hey look! It's another skeleton!" it chattered cheerfully. "Are you waiting for your brother to come back?"

"H-HOW DID YOU KNOW??" he asked without even greeting them. He had no time to be polite, he needed answers.

"Well, I saw another skeleton before," said the tiny frog. "By the ruins, before we left."

"WHAT DID HE LOOK LIKE? DID HE HAVE A BLUE HOODIE AND PINK SLIPPERS?"

"Uh-huh!"

"THEN THAT'S MY BROTHER! DID SOMETHING SEEM STRANGE OR WEIRD?"

"Uhm, no. He seemed a little troubled by something, but he said he was going to go find his brother in the ruins or something."

"BUT I'M HIS BROTHER, AND I HAVE NEVER EVEN BEEN IN THE RUINS!"

"Maybe he was referring to the other skeleton inside the ruins?" one of the other Froggits suggested.

"Oh yeah. Well, maybe. Hehe, come to think of it you're the third skeleton I've seen today!" said the Froggit and snorted.

That was unaccounted for. Ever since their grandfather fell down he hadn't seen any other skeletons around, but it would have to wait for now. He needed to go to the ruins to see if Sans and Undyne were still there. "WELL, THANK YOU FOR YOUR HELP," he cajoled and hurried towards the snowy forest.

"Hey, aren't you going to the surface?" another Froggit called after him and tilted its tiny head.

"NO. I NEED TO FIND MY BROTHER FIRST! I HAVE TO GO BACK TO THE RUINS!"

"Well, okay. Good luck with that!"

---

Undyne hit the ground hard. She had not expected the sudden environment change and she fell down hard on the snowy ground. She felt disoriented and though she didn't know exactly where they were, it was really cold. The sound of rushing water from the river made it feel like they couldn't be that far from Snowdin Town. The frigid climate made her body shiver and she tried hard to recover from her face-plant with at least a little dignity left.

Brushing the snow off her shoulders, she turned to Sans to scald him, but her annoyance quickly faded when she saw him laying on the floor, hugging his stomach and gasping for air, just as if he had been punched right in the gut.

"Dude, what's wrong? What happened?" She hurried to his side, but he didn't answer. She grabbed him by the shoulders and lifted him up. By now, the light she noticed in his socket before had grown brighter and it was flickering between blue and yellow. Sans wiggled lose and stepped back. He looked terrified to see her.

A sharp, crackling noise coming from Sans resounded loudly and made him curl up even tighter. Strained noises escaped his mouth and he sounded almost like he tried hard to muffle the grunting and moaning sounds. It wasn't hard to tell that he was suffering and that something very severe was taking place.

"Sans, you gotta tell me what's wrong," she demanded. By now his body was violently shaking and when he tried to get up, he fell back down immediately.

"i-i... i got this. it's nothing. go back t-to snowdin," he mumbled under his breath.

"C'mon, why can't you tell me what's happening?" she inquired. This whole thing was getting creepy and she didn't like not knowing what happened.

"go away," his voice rumbled in an austere tone. It didn't sound like him at all and it didn't go well with the pun-loving bum Undyne knew him as.

"Not until you tell me what's happening to you," she strictly insisted. "Maybe I can help!"
Compassion had never been one of Undyne's strongest traits, but the way he was squirming on the ground really made her feel bad for him. She tried walking up to him again and gently put her hand on his back. He winced under her touch and mumbled something inaudible.

"Wha-" she began but was interrupted when he suddenly lashed at her. A powerful push, with a strength she never thought the tiny skeleton had, put some distance between them. Luckily, a snow poff muffled her fall, but it was still humiliating being tossed away so easily and the cold snow on her bare arms made her shiver. The sympathy she felt just moments ago quickly changed into anger and she mumbled several curses under her breath as rose from the snow poff and brushed the snow off her blue scales. "What the hell, Sans?"

"stay back," he growled in a similar way he did before. The blue light in his socket had become even brighter, and there was a faded hint of blue light in the opposite socket as well. His body was violently shaking between and he breathed with strained gasps. Somehow his features seemed to broaden. At first Undyne though she was only imagining it, but then Sans' head suddenly split open from his brow all the way down his nasal bone. His agonizing wail, as well as the series of splintering sounds that followed, made her skin crawl.

"Holy hell!" she exclaimed, backing off a few steps.

He swiftly drew the hood over his face and turned his back at her, trying to get away, though he didn't manage to get very far before he collapsed back down on the ground. The fabric of his hoodie on his back bulged and pointed bone shards poked through, running down along his spine and his whole body began to shift and expand.
Despite the fact that he tried to hide his face behind the hood, Undyne could still see how his nose and mouth widened into a sort of muzzle and his teeth grew pointed and sharp. Horn-like ridges began to grow on his every side of his skull and poked through the hood as he tossed his head from side to side. The foam that formed on the corner of his mouth was splattered all over the scene.

At the root of his spine, something stretched and meandered into a tail-like appendage, swaying from side to side with a whipping motion. The sound of ripping fabric tearing joined in the dry crackles as his shoulder blades dislocated and shifted. His whole body was slowly getting too big for his clothes and the tattered fabric fell to the ground at his feet. Only shredded remains of his what used to be his blue hoodie remained on his crooked back.

With a loud crackle, his spine arched and he howled in agony as his now exposed bones popped out of their places and rearranged themselves into new angles and even shapes.

It was sickening to see him in this state and Undyne wasn't sure if there actually was anything she could do to help. She was afraid to do more harm than good if she interfered right now. All she could do was helplessly watch Sans writhe on the ground while howling in pain.

As he changed, his voice changed too. It went from loud, harrowing screams to rumbling yelps and animalistic roars.

He slammed his hand on the ground and desperately scratched his fingertips against the cave floor, and the claws that formed at the tip of the phalanges left marks on the rocky ground below the snow.

After a little while, the roars slowly quieted down. He moaned and grunted heavily before he became still. Then, as fast as it all began, it finally stopped. No more crackles and pops, and no more changes to his body. Even Undyne felt relieved on his behalf even though she wasn't sure it was completely over for him just yet. He was still breathing heavily, gasping for air as if he'd just been running for miles.

All she knew was that he was unrecognizable. All traces of the short and bulk skeleton had been wiped out and replaced with this creature. 

He was a lot taller than he usually was and the skeletal structure of what he had become reminded Undyne of a mixture between some sort of a reptile and canine creature. Considering the placement of his shoulder blades she doubted he'd even be able to rise up into a bipedal stance anymore.

He whimpered and moaned under winded breaths as he tried to keep his wobbly body from falling over on the side. His mouth was still foaming and his glowing eyes stared blankly at nothing.

In the end, his efforts seemed futile and his posture started to drop. For a while, it looked as if he was going to fall down on his side. Undyne tried to walk up to him to help him keep steady at least, but before she could get close to him, the long tail, adorned with sharps spikes at the tip, increased it's movement from side to side, going faster and faster.

His body was tense, but he didn't seem combative, nor skittish. He remained crouched on the ground with his back still turned against her. The whipping motion of the tail speeds up even more. Loud hissing noises rumbled in his throat as he abruptly raised his claws to his own face and started to scratch one of his eye sockets frantically. He barely managed to keep balance doing so. He rasped and clawed bad enough to leave several marks on his own skull. He writhed and squirmed as the hissing gradually escalated into screeching howls, echoing in the cave.

"Sans, can you hear me?" Undyne spoke as softly as she could possibly muster herself to. She hoped that her own uncertainty wouldn't shine through. Maybe he'd let her come close enough to heal his eye, so he would stop scratching it. Thinking that he might lash at her again with his newly formed claws and fangs, she formed a glowing spear in her firm grip and prepared herself to attack, should she have to. "Are you still in there somewhere? Give me some kind of sign." She took a single step towards him and then stopped.

He finally looked at her and his tired eyes followed her every move. The glowing pupils were slightly skimming the environment, within the hollow sockets and the foam around his mouth slowly dripped onto the ground. The left eye socket had several shallow gashes from his own clawing and thin dribbles of some sort of red fluid ran down those gashes. If she hadn't known any better, she'd say he was bleeding and he still seemed to be out of breath.

The spear in her hands crackled with magic energy and her clutch around it grew even tighter. She drew a sigh of relief when he finally nodded his large head.

She mumbled a few inaudible words under her breath in awe. The spear disintegrated and she let her arms rest at her side. 

"What happened? I've never seen anything like this happen to someone." He didn't respond but twitched and rustled his head. With his claws, he resumed scratching the socket. Undyne walked up to him, a bit more reassured than before and forcefully pulled his arm down, so he couldn't cause any more damage to his face. An agitated growl rumbled in his throat, causing her to stop in her tracks. Her body tensed and she readied herself to flee from his range if she had to.

"Stop that," she said loudly and decidedly, defiantly looking him in the eyes. "If your eye is bothering you, then let me take a look at it. Maybe some green magic will help?"

There was a certain sense of uncertainty in his eyes when he looked at her. He slowly swayed his head from side to side and exhaled sharply, careful to avoid her look. In the end, he lowered his enlarged skull so she could reach properly.

The self-inflicted injury didn't seem that serious. Barely any decimals had been lost to his HP and it was nothing a little healing magic and some food would restore. Although she couldn't quite grasp what the red fluid actually was. She inspected both his eyes thoroughly but couldn't see anything other than the clear blue irises, that seemed to have replaced the usual tiny, white dots in there. The flickering light between blue and yellow from before was now a constant glow, with the greater part of them a clear shade of blue with the bottom lined with a thin yellow bow.

The gashes slowly mended as Undyne healed him until there were just shallow scrapes, but his strange irises remained unchanged. 

As soon as she was done, Sans jerked his head and pushed himself up on his feet. By now his breathing was finally more or less stabilized.

"Does it still hurt?" she asked but had to hurry to his side before he had a chance to answer when he wavered and almost fell over trying to walk. "Hey, take it easy," yelled Undyne as she placed her hands on his side to keep him from falling down on the ground.

With her help, he wobbled over to the riverbank and lowered his maw down and greedily gulped down the cold water. 

He kept drinking for so long that Undyne was getting kind of impatient. She tapped her feet on the ground, trying to think of what to do that might help. This whole thing was beyond her line of expertise. 

Thankfully she knew someone who's likely more educated on bizarre events.

"We have to get to Hotland. I think we should head over to Alphys's lab. Whatever happened to you, I know she'll be able to help." Sans sighed deeply between gulps and gave her a skeptical look. "Don't look at me like that. You know it's true. She's like the best at these sort of things. Besides, I'm pretty sure Papyrus is worried sick. I should give him a call," said Undyne as her mind crossed her ambitious student, who was most likely still looking for the two of them back in town.

Water dripped down Sans' maw as he stopped drinking and he whined loudly at her. The upset sound almost reminded Undyne of Greater Dog losing a game of poker to himself. "What? Why do you sound like that? Don't y-"

Sans rapidly turned his head toward her as soon as she grabbed her cell from her pocket, which immediately made her tense body react and ready itself for action. She barely noticed that she dropped the phone onto the snow as she instinctively summoned a teal spear in her grasp. He opened his wide jaws, and for a moment she thought he might actually bite her.

Thankfully, he didn't. Instead, he grabbed her phone between his teeth and with a swift jerk of his neck, he hurled it into the rapid waters. Undyne didn't say anything at first. She just stared in the direction in which Sans had thrown her phone, processing what he just did. After a few moments, she turned to him with rage in her eyes. She clenched the spear in her hands and bared her teeth at him.

"What the hell, dude? What's wrong with you? Why you do that for?" Instead of paying attention to her, he turned away and proceeded to scratch his eye. His nonchalance made Undyne even more agitated. She dissolved the magic spear in her hands and took a deep breath. "Listen, pal. I'm just trying to help and I can't do that when you're acting like a total jerk! I get that this whole thing must have been hard on you, but acting out on me won't solve your issue! You wanna know why this happened, don't you? Besides, dont'cha think Papyrus, your brother, deserves to know what happened?" she spat, unable to hold back her emotions. Sans just kept scratching his eye, like he didn't even hear her. "Are you even listening to me?" She reached out and grabbed the horn on his skull, to force him to face her.

Before she got a solid grip he jerked his head straight at her and hissed while snapping his jaw. His large fangs, that would put her own to shame, were just inches away from her and the sudden motion caught her off guard. She flinched and instinctively bounced back. Had she not dissolved the spear in her hand, she'd have hurled at right at him reflexively.

She swore under her breath, carefully awaiting what he'd do next. He drew back almost immediately, but his vibrant eyes were still fixated on her. He kept growling, a warning to stay away, she figured and she obliged, but she still wouldn't let this go. Much to her surprise, before she could utter another word, he turned on his heel and darted into the woods between trees.

"H-Hey, where do you think you're going?" Undyne called. She chased after him but quickly gave up the chase.

Going further would be futile because it didn't seem like he'd come with her anyway. It pissed her off how he just ran off alone, in the middle of Snowdin Forest despite what just happened. 

Why wouldn't he let her help? The best thing she figured she could do right now was probably to go back to Snowdin and get Papyrus. This was too serious to leave alone. She had to know why it happened and who did that to him, in order to prevent it from happening to anyone else and she figured that Papyrus might be able to convince Sans to go with them to Alphys's lab. Better than she ever could anyway.

It was going to be hard to tell the younger brother what happened. Knowing him, he'd be devastated on his brother's behalf. Maybe she'd spare him some details...

After following the river for a while Undyne was disappointed to learn that she'd been walking in the wrong direction, as the ruins towered up in front of her behind the vast forest. At least she wouldn't have to walk trudge her way in deep snow anymore as a trailed road leads from the ruins all the way to Snowdin.

As she walked she suddenly began to hear people speaking and not before long she encountered a dark figure, right next to Papyrus's sentry post. The black dressed monster had several detached hands floating beside it, and in its arms were a familiar figure with a striped shirt. 

Frisk didn't look well, at all. Their flushed cheeks were stained with tears and blood and their body hung limply in the monster's stranglehold. They noticed Undyne before the other monster did and their eyes shot open.

"Undyne, help..!" they yelled in a rasping, hoarse voice.

It took less than a second for the captain of the royal guard to take action. She clearly took the perpetrator by surprise as she rammed into him, tackling him to the ground. 

Frisk rolled away on from them when the grasp around them was loosened. Good. Hopefully, they'd be smart enough to keep away.

Undyne straddled the other monster, who had fallen onto the ground and summoned a few spears around two of them, sprouting out from the ground like tree saplings. Two more spears appeared in each of her hands. She aimed both of them at the perpetrator's face. To her disappointment, he didn't seem frightened at all. He just smirked at her. Beating him up was going to be a pleasure, and a good way to get a little frustration out of her system.

"You and I need to have a little talk," she told him and bared her fangs. "and, buddy you caught me in a bad mood, and since you hurt my bestie, things aren't looking too bright for you. What do you have to say for yourself?"

In the corner of her eye, she saw Frisk slowly getting back up on their feet. "Undyne, be careful!" they called with a gruff tone to their voice as they rubbed their sore throat.

"Ah. Captain Undyne. Such a surprise to see you here. I honestly didn't count on that," said the perpetrator with a strange voice.

"Do I know you?" said Undyne and raised an eyebrow.

"Not necessarily."

"Then how do you know my name?"

"I know quite a lot about you, my cantankerous friend. You are the most naturally determined monster I've ever seen and I admire that. Too bad determination won't help you now."

"Who the hell do you think that you are?"

Undyne hadn't thought much about the hovering hands around them, because they were too close build up a momentum strong enough to harm her. When one of them suddenly latched onto her forehead she screamed out in pain. She couldn't even manage to hold herself up anymore and fell over on her side, clutching her stomach. Her head hurt, her chest hurt, her arms and legs hurt. It was like her entire soul was affected. 

The pain was so intense that she almost forgot where she was and what she was doing. Her mind was filled with a hazy static and she lost all sense of control over herself.

---

 

Frisk watched in horror as Undyne fell down on the ground, screaming. The spears around them vanished into thin air and Frisk's heart sank to their stomach. They had been so relieved to see Undyne of all monsters, and the hope of being rescued lit up a sense of determination in their soul. 

Now they were just as hopeless as before. They wanted to run, but they didn't want to leave Undyne behind.

"S-Stop it!" they yelled. "Don't hurt her! It's me you want, right?"

"Did you know, when a monster is hurting, their body instinctively craves to ease the pain. If an intense kind of pain lasts long enough, their minds will shut off and focus on nothing else rather than getting rid of that pain. In this state of mind, it's very easy to manipulate the soul of the affected. If you know how to, naturally. I guess it depends on each individual. You just gotta know how to press their buttons."

"What?"

"I've always thought it was a fun kind of irony, to be killed by your own friends," he said and turned to the screeching Undyne. "Get up," he told her.

Her body was still visibly tense, but she did just like he said. Her eye was empty and expressionless and she had become fearfully silent. Her whole body was shivering and she looked unsteady on her feet. The hand on her forehead was covered in a green light.

"Kill the human," said Gaster and to Frisk's dismay, a few spears appeared out of thin air, aimed right against them.

They dodged the best they could, but they knew that Undyne was a sharpshooter and that this was not a battle they could win in their current state.

"This will be amusing," said Gaster as Frisk sprinted away as fast as they could, with Undyne at their heels.

Chapter 7: Reunions

Summary:

Frisk meets a new monster and Alphys is alarmed.

Notes:

Phew. This was a hard chapter to write. (aren't they all, lol) I've had the map over Snowdin Forest in a tab since I began writing this chapter, but some places were still hard to describe. ^^; (Some parts of this chapter even takes place slightly off the map. But not that far.)
I always struggle with high intensity-scenes. If anyone have any advice, I'd be very thankful!

Oh, and I've recently updated my design for Sans when he's in blaster form. Feel free to check it out if you like: http://pixiehobbit.tumblr.com/post/173479229402/a-request-by-an-anon-to-draw-gaster-blaster-sans

As always, thanks for reading! It's now almost 2 am and I'm going to sleep haha. Good night!

Being chased by Undyne was all too familiar. Frisk usually knew her battle routine, and what to expect from her, but this time she wasn't as predictable as usual. In the end, Undyne would only give up if shown mercy to, and that wouldn't be an option right now. 

What Gaster told them, about controlling monsters by hurting them, sent shivers down their spine. It was horrible.
Frisk was fairly sure it was caused by one of the hands that were pressed tightly to Undyne's forehead. Gaster did the same thing to them with another hand and it did really hurt, but clearly not as bad as Undyne was hurting right now. Frisk didn't dare to turn and see just how far back she was. At least they seemed to have outrun Gaster long ago.

They ran as fast as their tiny legs could carry them towards Snowdin. Sans and Papyrus would still be there. Without Gaster nearby, they wouldn't be exposed to the same cruel mind control as Undyne, and they could help remove the hand from her face. Hopefully, that would stop the pain so she could snap out of it and they could flee together. Though Frisk was already tired from the earlier sprint, they were determined to get help for her bestie. Their body ached from the effort, but they kept going. Past Doggo's sentry post, past the Snowman's location and down the hill with the married dog's sentry stations.

When they made it to Papyrus's spaghetti-trap they noticed that Undyne was gone.

For a moment the only sound Frisk heard was the beat of their heart pounding in their ears and their own winded breaths. Looking around their surroundings they could establish that this place was as empty as the rest of the underground seemed to be. They were almost starting to believe that Undyne had disappeared somewhere else. Even so, that fact didn't make them feel any better. She could be anywhere. 

Then suddenly, a teal spear flew right past them slightly brushing against their cheek. It didn't cause much damage, but it startled them and set them off balance and they fell down the edge of the cliff beside the table with the unplugged microwave. It wasn't really a big fall, but big enough to knock the air out of their lungs when they hit the ground. The layers of snow on the ground slightly attenuated their fall, but they still landed pretty bad.

They lay still for a while, catching their breath. In the heat of the moment they didn't hurt that much, but when they finally tried to get up and keep running, their right leg didn't respond at all. They fell back down on the ground with tears flowing from their eyes. Not until a few moments had passed did their body seem to suddenly realize what just happened and a splitting pain began to spread. The agonizing dull throb that settled in their leg was just a little worse and it felt just like the time they broke their it when they were little.  

When they finally raised their head, the sight in front of them made their heart freeze. A large beast-like skeleton monster, with fierce, glowing eyes slowly approached them with wobbly steps. It looked rather grim, kind of reminded Frisk of something that could have originated from a zombie story, with tattered pieces of fabric loosely hanging from its back and its eerie eyes. The tired expression indicated that it had just been awoken from sleep, but it seemed to have perked up remarkably when it noticed them.

The first spontaneous reaction was that they were intimidated by its size, but at the same time, it seemed kinda familiar. It's piercing blue eyes looked right at them and it's long tail dragged on the ground as it slowly got closer. It seemed to be quite unsteady as it moved. It sort of looked as if it was going to trip over its own feet.
Frisk immediately tried to make a run for it. Hopefully, they'd be able to outrun it, even in this state, because they were in no shape for a battle right now. The pain in their leg was too much and they couldn't move very far. Not even their determination to run away could overlook that fact. 

"Please, don't hurt me," Frisk begged and raised their arms around in a defensive stance. They squinted their eyes, bracing for an attack... but nothing bad happened. When Frisk dared to look they saw the monster tilting its head and it cooing softly.
It stopped a few feet from Frisk and bent it's head to their level, curling its tail around itself while sitting down. It didn't attack. It just stayed still and observed them.

Slightly encouraged by its hesitation Frisk slowly lowered their arms. "You're... not going to hurt me?" They couldn't hold back a sharp exhale of relief when the beast shook its head. "Can you please help me then? I need to get to my friends in Snowdin and-"

A loud clamor made both of them turn their attention to the cliff elevation, where Undyne's figure towered. Several spears appeared behind her and she aimed them all at Frisk. They cringed. They knew that they wouldn't be able to dodge in this condition.

Suddenly they could feel themselves being picked up. Using its large maw the beast held them up by the collar of their shirt and removed them, as well as itself from Undyne's attack. It gently put Frisk down a few feet away from the impact area and let out a fierce snarl at Undyne.

"No! Don't hurt her! She's not really mean, she's my friend! It's the hand on her face that's making her do bad things!" yelled Frisk, as they held on to their damaged leg, which was really making itself reminded at the moment. It had even started bleeding from a wound on the back of their calf that Frisk hadn't noticed before.

Undyne fearlessly jumped down the cliff, landing on the ground, just like a superhero. She proceeded to immediately charge at Frisk, but the beast got in the way and shoved her aside with its horned skull. She slammed against the cave wall, but quickly recovered and attacked again as if nothing ever happened.
Once more, the beast interrupted her before she managed to summon another attack. It ran up to her and tackled her down to the ground. While she was down, it pinned her down with its claws so she couldn't move anymore. She wailed and tried to wiggle loose, but to no avail. The beast was too heavy. It jerked it's neck towards her and enveloped it's jaws around the hand on her forehead and ripped it off her and hurled it away.

A growl rumbled in the beast's throat as it opened it's jaws widely and the mandible bone split open as a bright light formed within its maw. Just then Frisk realized why they thought the beast looked familiar. The skull looked just like Sans' special attack. It shot a bright beam towards the hand and send it flying back. Frisk had to cover their ears to drown out the loud noise. Static formed around the hand and it disappeared into thin air.

Frisk drew a sigh of relief and couldn't help but to smile a bit. It didn't take long before their smile faded when they realized that Undyne didn't get up. Her body went limp as the beast released her and she stayed down flat on the ground. 
Frisk was beginning to wonder if the beast had used some kind of imperceptible magic to take her down or something. Trying to get up on their feet proved to be a difficult task. It took every last ounce of effort they had to slowly crawl up to Undyne in order to check on her.
Thankfully they still had the abandoned quiche left in their inventory that they could give to her if she was too injured. The beast turned towards Frisk and they were surprised when it used it's head offer them support. With its help, it went a little smoother at least, and they thanked it under their breath. 

Frisk tried to shake Undyne's shoulders and talk to her, but she didn't give any response. At least her HP hadn't dropped all that much. She was a little bruised and battered, but other than that she seemed to be okay. She was probably just exhausted.

They exhaled sharply and turned back to the beast, who seemed to have taken quite an interest in the rocky wall all of a sudden. It's blue were eyes fixated on the stone formation, examining it from top to bottom. It took a step back and opened its maw so wide that the mandibles split again. The beam of energy blasted against the wall while the beast moved it's head up and down, from side to side. Frisk covered their ears again. Hopefully, the awful noise would wake Undyne up. Surely nobody could sleep in such clamor? Scorched marks were left under the impact of the blast. Frisk kept watching and it took a while for them to figure it out, but they finally realized the beast was forming letters 

It must have been hard using nothing but the luminous burst of energy to write because the letters were scribbled and difficult to read. It didn't matter, because they could still see the message very clear. Once done the beast closed it's maw and looked at its work. The message made Frisk's heart sink in their chest.

R E S E T

"Do you know about the resets too?" they asked carefully, feeling tremendously guilty. Though it's knowledge about what they'd done was alarming, at least they were thankful that the beast didn't seem as vindictive as Gaster. 

All of a sudden Undyne's eye shot open. She gave a constrained moan as she sat herself up, placing a shaky hand over her face where the hand had been attached.

"Wh-What happened?" she mumbled as she gently rubbed her forehead. She cringed when she noticed Frisk's bleeding leg. "Oh, shit! Did... did I do that?" she asked nervously.

"Oh! N-No! I mean, you were chasing me, and I fell, but I know you didn't mean to! It's okay now. This monster helped us," said Frisk and pointed at the beast, who was suddenly drawing away between the trees.

"This is... strange, I... Huh? Sans!" yelled Undyne and sprung up on her feet. She seemed to be taken by surprise over her own wobbly stance as she staggered up to the beast. It took a while for Frisk to evaluate in their head what she'd said and they tilted their head in confusion.

"Don't you dare to disappear on me again! Especially now!" she yelled and grabbed his tail, giving it a light yank. He whined loudly and quickly turned towards her, with a rumbling growl in his throat. It made Frisk a bit apprehensive even from where they were sitting, but Undyne didn't seem frightened at all. 

"Don't you dare, 'cause I swear bone-boy, I will tie your tail around my own arm and tighten it as hard as I can if you even think of leaving me behind again!" He was groaning loudly in protest but at least, if just a little reluctantly, he turned around and walked back to Frisk with Undyne. "Yeah, yeah. Save it for someone who cares about your feelings," she said completely ignoring his complaining noises. With a rapid, lashing motion his tail broke free from Undyne's grip and he grumbled at her.

"S-Sans?" asked Frisk from where they sat. The growling noises slowly faded as the beast shifted it's attention to them. The blue light within its sockets glowed in the same way Sans' one eye did during their battle, long ago. That, as well as the familiar blue fabric on its back, and it's reminiscence to Sans' special attack should have made them figure it out sooner. They managed to stand up, and tried to limp over to him, but didn't manage to take even a single step before their broken leg caved in under them. Both Sans and Undyne hurried to catch them. In the end, it was Sans who caught them with his large snout before they hit the ground and helped them keep steady. "What happened to you?" they asked, frowning their brows as they held on to him. 

Undyne sighed deeply. "That's what I'd like to know too, but let's not discuss it here."

"Where is Papyrus?"

"Left in Snowdin, probably," said Undyne. "We need to go to him and then get you three the hell out of here. I do not want to encounter the douchebag who did this to me right now. At least not with the two of you so vulnerable... and I wouldn't want to put Paps in any potential danger either." she stated while scratching the back of her head in a nervous aspect.

Something told Frisk that Undyne hadn't witnessed the forceful blast Sans was capable of. He didn’t look like he was up for a fight anyway, let alone against someone with such gruesome tactics. His body was slouching even worse than when he was his normal self and it looked like he was struggling to keep balance. And if even Undyne was shaken up, it was pretty bad.

"Are you okay now, Undyne?" they asked her. "Does it still hurt?"

"Nah, I'm fine. Sorry for what I did. It was so weird... I've never felt anything like it before. It was just like I had to.. y'know," said Undyne with a meaning look. 

"It's alright. Gaster actually explained it to me." For some reason, they could feel Sans tense up after mentioning Gaster's name. 

"You know him?" asked Undyne and walked up to them rapidly. They were almost scared by her sudden approach.

"N-Not really," said Frisk and shook their head. "I stumbled upon him in the ruins. He said some pretty mean stuff. He said he knew Alphys and that he used to be the royal scientist before her or something. Then he tried to kill me. After you showed up he said it would be more amusing if you killed me, because we're friends." 

Undyne swore loudly and crossed her arms. "I need to summon royal guards to back me up for this one. Wait a moment. Oh yeah, I have no phone," she hissed sarcastically at Sans, who for some reason turned his eyes in a different direction.

"I would have lent you mine, but Gaster took it from me," said Frisk.

"That's alright, punk. We need to get to back Snowdin anyway." She locked her one eye on Sans and gestured at him with her index finger. "And you can't argue that. We need to get your brother and get you to safety. Safest place I know is Alphys's lab. Besides, while you're there she can find out what happened to you. If I borrow Papy's phone to tell her what happened I'm sure she'll figure out what's the matter with you before we even get you there. So, don't fuzz." Undyne's gaze turned to Frisk. "Think you can manage to walk, punk?" 

"No. I think my leg is broken," they answered faintly.

"Okay," said Undyne and precipitously lifted Frisk, making them look like a rag-doll hanging under her arm. It was kinda amusing but also rather degrading at the same time. Not that they minded though. At least, not at this time. It was better than limping all the way to Snowdin with a broken leg. "There. Now we can go," said the blue fish-monster.

Frisk replied by nodding their tiny head. 

Undyne started to move in a scurry, but Sans didn't follow. When Undyne noticed she grunted loudly as she turned back for him.

"Come on, Sans. This isn't about just you anymore. We can't let someone like Gaster walk around, knowing what he might do and what he's capable of. Besides, punk here needs to see a doctor just as much as you do. I can't heal their leg with magic unless their bone is properly reset first."

Sans gave Frisk a knowing look after Undyne's latter statement and very subtly turned his head towards the rock formation with the engraved message. To Frisk's relief even if Undyne had seen the message on the rocky wall she hadn't questioned it and there was no way she'd know what it meant out of context.
And this was not the best occasion to explain what it to her. They weren't even sure they wanted her, or anyone else to know now that there was no turning back.

Come to think of it, Sans, who knew very well about it was probably counting on the reset to be able to change back to his normal self. That would explain why he wanted them to reset so bad. 

'I can't', they mouthed at him without sound. He tilted his head in response and Frisk wasn't sure if it was because he didn't understand them or if he was simply baffled by the fact. At least he slowly started to amble towards them.

"That's what I thought," Undyne grumbled. "Let's keep away from the path, just in case. We have to be quick. Think you handle that, Sans?"

The question felt redundant considering Sans' wide steps. In fact, his walking pace was almost faster than Undyne's, even though his movement was slow and sluggish. Just like before he seemed to struggle with his balance and almost tripped over his own feet several times. Undyne seemed to take into account and settled with walking at a fast pace next to him.

They walked in silence. When they arrived at a wide chasm between ledges, Undyne decided they would have to climb up on the path in order to advance.

Climbing back up on the cliff seemed effortless to Undyne even with Frisk in her arms, despite the fact that she barely was able to walk just about half an hour ago. It took Sans a few tries and in the end, Undyne had to assist him by pushing him up.

"This would be so much easier if you were as enthusiastic as your brother when it comes to training," she muttered as she in vain tried to help him over the ledge. Undyne grunted loudly as he kept sliding down almost instantly on every try. 

While waiting, Frisk sat themselves down on an unexpectedly comfortable snow poff. They were just by Lesser Dog's sentry station. Though his snow sculptures had been vandalized, Frisk still recognized parts of the happy snow dog-face. They sat there for a good while as Undyne tried her best to help Sans climb up.

They went over the recent events in their head, over and over as they tried to figure out what to do. They wondered what would Flowey think when they didn't return for him? They were snapped back into reality by a familiar loud voice suddenly calling.

"FRISK! WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FOREST?"

Frisk turned and was greeted by the sight of Papyrus. 

"Papy?" He looked a lot less cheerful than usual and his brows were furrowed in a frightened expression. It didn't suit him at all.

"YOUR LEG IS LEAKING. ARE YOU ALRIGHT?"

"Well, actually..." 

Suddenly Sans' large head peered up from the ledge. He dug his claw in the snow as he tried to drag his up his body, but when he noticed his brother his eyes shot open with surprise and a loud whine escaped his throat. He slipped and fell back down again with a boisterous thud.

"WAS THAT... SANS' SPECIAL ATTACK..?" asked Papyrus slowly, closely followed by Undyne's loud swearing echoing through the gorge. "OH! IS UNDYNE HERE?" he asked with a raucous tone to his voice. "I REALLY NEED TO FIND HER!" 

"Yes, and Sans is here too, b but it's not-"

"HE IS?! THAT'S GREAT! IS HE ALRIGHT?" Papyrus seemed to brighten up when they mentioned his brother. 

"Yes, but it's just a little weird, you see... Well, I don't understand it either, but something happened to him and now he looks different."

"DIFFERENT?" Papyrus raised a metaphorical eyebrow.

"Yes, but we were on our way to find you and take him to Alphys, but there's another monster somewhere in the forest chasing us, and he hurt Undyne real bad and he even tried to kill me." 

Suddenly a loud roar from below the ledge resonated, the shrill sound reminding almost of nails being dragged on a chalkboard. The sound made Frisk cringe and in the corner of their eye, they saw Papyrus do the same.  

"WHAT... WAS THAT?" asked Papyrus.

---

Dr. Alphys was sitting in her office at the lab. Boxes of her stuff were piled up, most of them filled with her beloved action figures, posters, manga pockets and anime DVDs. Hours had passed since she finished and she was patiently waiting for the other's to come. She felt kinda content. Maybe even happy. At least happier than she had been in a very long time. The amalgamates were back with their families, Undyne asked her out on a date and they would all finally be able to go to the surface. Her back cracked loudly, all the way down to her tail as she stretched it out properly.

She sighed and glanced at the clock on the wall. When Undyne asked her to wait at the lab she was happy to oblige. It saved her the long walk all the way to Snowdin, but now Alphys was getting kinda impatient. She was so excited to go and she wanted to leave right away, so she could leave the lab behind forever. She would not miss this place. Too many dark memories were made here, that she'd rather forget all about. 

Which's why she was so glad for this opportunity to start anew, but when she looked at the pile of boxes, she began to wonder how on earth she was going to be able to bring them all along? Undyne would probably offer to help her carry some stuff, but it wouldn't be fair to ask so much of her. Especially since she'd probably already be burdened by her own stuff. Perhaps she'd have time to reevaluate what to bring. It would help the time pass by faster. She really wanted to have her action figures, which thankfully only took up one box, and didn't weigh all that much. The main problem was the three boxes full of DVDs.

An idea struck her mind. If she transferred the digital downloads of her anime series from her computer, into her portable USB drive she could at least leave the many boxes with the physical copies behind. Maybe she'd be able to actually buy them on the surface now as humans do. 

Her scaled hands danced over the keyboard of her computer as she transferred a few of her favorite episodes of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie as well as some other series into her heart-shaped USB necklace. When she was done she looked at the clock again. Her shoulders dropped when she learned that only fifteen minutes had passed since she started this, but it felt like an hour ago. Time flowed like cement. 

She decided to check the monitors to see if there were still any monsters left in the underground. Most monsters from smaller regions such as Snowdin and Waterfall had a tendency to just leave without packing and head straight towards the surface, while monsters in New Home still lingered in their homes, carefully packing. There were a few small herds of monsters left here and there, but the majority had already gone. 

With the pressing of a button, she switched the camera's view to Snowdin to see if she'd manage to get a glimpse of Undyne and the skeleton brothers since she couldn't see them elsewhere in the underground.

Snowdin seemed completely vacant. Save for the various footprints on the snowy ground there were not a trace of any monsters at all. It already looked like a ghost town. Alphys figured that they'd still be in the house getting ready to go. 

Just for fun, she switched the camera again to see if there were any monsters left in the forest. The camera was placed really close to the ground which gave Alphys a rather good worm's eye perspective. The gates to the ruins were opened wide and judging by the crisp details on the edges of the footprints on the snow, there seemed to have been some recent activity. Alphys continued and switched the camera to the various locations in the forest. Her interest peaked when she noticed a lonely monster, right by the snowball-game court. Its face wasn't familiar to her, so she figured it came from within the ruins where no cameras were installed. 

None of the cameras around were equipped with any kind of sound recording device, but though the monster was lonely it seemed to be talking to someone. Alphys switched to nearby cameras, but there were no other monsters around. There was however a familiar figure who bewildered her when she noticed it. It was Frisk, of all people, sitting on a snow poff by Lesser Dog's sentry station. Why were they there? Alphys definitely remembered them saying that they weren't going to join them. She gasped when she noticed a big wound on Frisk's leg. She rushed towards her bag and started toiling among the tightly packed items until she found her phone.

She had called Frisk so many times earlier that their number was still on top of the list of most dialed numbers. The dial-up beep sounded bray in her ear as she waited for her friend to pick up. 

There was no answer. In fact, they looked like they didn't even hear the phone at all.

She immediately tried calling Undyne, but as soon as she dialed the number a mechanical voice told her the number wasn't in use anymore. This was strange and highly alarming. Alphys pressed a button on the control panel to expand the view, splitting the screen in all the various locations where cameras were installed in the Snowdin region. This time she called Sans, but no one answered his phone either. The only thing that made her a little reassured was the fact that Papyrus headed in Frisk's direction, though she couldn't help but to wonder why nobody picked up their phones. Her reception was great and she couldn't imagine that it would be different in Snowdin. Unfortunately, since she didn't have Papyrus's number, she couldn't call him, even if she was skeptical that he would pick up. 

She dialed Frisk's number again. This time someone picked up, but no one was talking. Alphys saw on the monitor that it wasn't Frisk. 

"H-Hello..?" she said quietly. Her hands were shaking now.

There was still no reply. The only sound Alphys heard was a soft humming noise, that reminded her of a computer.

"Who is this?"

Still no answer. Only mechanical humming.

"Why do you have my f-friend's... ph-phone..?"

"Don't call again," a strange voice grunted and hung up. 

When she surveyed the screen she started paying attention to the lonely monster from before. It made a motion from its head and it's arm dropped down to its side. In the clutch of its hand was a phone. It dropped the phone and resumed walking, slowly, slowly. Alphys had a very bad feeling and no idea what to do.

Notes:

The lovely Mira-Image helped me edit this chapter! Go check out her page! https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image :D

Chapter 8: The Fall

Summary:

Papyrus deliberately breaks an order to save his brother while Undyne goes after Gaster, and she is not in a forgiving mood. Someone without insight of the recent happenings is thrown into the whole mess trying to do the right thing, but fails miserably.

Notes:

Hey guys! So sorry for the delay!!! Ah, I've had a massive writers block.. Soryysorrysorry!! I got some really nice comments on the last chapter and I can't stress how much I appreciate you feedback!

I would just like to point out some concerning news. I don't know how many of you are aware of the new Article 13 that was adopted into the European Parlament? It basically means that the our internet is under the risk of being censored and filtered, keeping us European citizens away from posting/accessing fanart, fanfiction, memes, etc.
Some people say that it won't do much difference, others say we'll be excluded from all kinds of fandom everywhere. They are going to vote on the article July 5 (please consider giving this a look and sign the petition against it: https://saveyourinternet.eu/ )
If the article goes through, worst case scenario it means I can't upload anymore chapters online, but then again I'm not sure. It all depends on just how picky they will be.

HOWEVER.

IF I can't upload anything more here, and you want to keep reading, look me up on tumblr, or deviantart, because I think I have a way around, just to get the story going. But for now, let's just hope that the article won't go through!

But at least you know that if I suddenly disappear from here, it's because our internet is being censored, so. >_<

My tumblr: http://pixiehobbit.tumblr.com/
My deviantart: https://www.deviantart.com/pixiehobbit

A loud boom burst from the gorge below Lesser Dog's sentry station. Within seconds, Undyne came flying up the ledge. She frowned when she noticed Papyrus, and quickly proceeded to pick up Frisk under her arm. She threw a stern glance at the tall skeleton.

"We have to go, now!" she yelled.

"WHAT'S HAPPENING?" Papyrus asked. He could barely finish his question before Undyne grabbed his arm with her free hand and dragged him along.

"What about Sans?" asked Frisk, but their question was immediately answered when the beast dragged himself up on the cliff. His claws left big marks on the ground, but despite his efforts, he couldn't quite seem to pull himself up. A mechanical hand was pressed against his head, ignited with a faint blue light in its palm. He roared loudly and gritted his teeth at them.

"Gaster must have known where we were. He came out of nowhere, I-I didn't even see him before it was too late." Undyne's voice shook as she spoke, despite her effort to come off as confident. The thought of those hands made her feel kinda skittish. She sighed deeply, trying to gather her thoughts. She would never let her own fear stop her. Nothing could stop her, she would just have to put her fears aside and fight. First, she needed to get Frisk and Papyrus to safety. Then she'd get that hand off of Sans, find Gaster, and maim him. 
"THAT'S SANS..?" asked Papyrus when he turned his head back. He was moving way too slow and if it weren't for her tight grasp around his arm, he probably would have even stopped. "WHY ARE WE RUNNING FROM HIM?!"

The charge of magical energy filled the air, and Undyne made a sharp turn to avoid the sudden blast. It had brushed her when she was still down in the gorge. Even though it wasn't a direct hit, it still hurt like hell and took more HP from her than such a light touch should have. The fact that he was capable of such magic had taken her completely by surprise, but it was her own fault for letting her guard down.

"Because of that," she told Papyrus, who stared wide-eyed towards the beast that was his brother. "I'll explain later."

Undyne grabbed them both harder in her grasp as she smoothly glided over the ice and passed the trees. Sans was still not even close, in fact, she wasn't even sure if he managed to climb up the ledge at all yet.

There wasn't a sound behind them, save for the rustling in the trees. No footsteps or anything. They stopped right in front of the bridge to Snowdin.

"UNDYNE, YOU NEED TO TELL ME WHAT'S HAPPENING. WAS THAT REALLY SANS BACK THERE?" begged Papyrus, as he made a pointing gesture towards the forest.

"Papyrus, here," replied Undyne, ignoring his question. She abruptly threw Frisk over to him. "Get Frisk to Alphys's lab. I'm gonna go back for Sans. Frisk can explain everything to you as you go, alright?"

"But Undyne, what if Gaster gets you again? Then both you AND Sans would be trying to get us," Frisk added cautiously.

"BESIDES, YOU CAN'T FIGHT SANS! I MEAN, YOU MIGHT HURT HIM!" Somehow Papyrus's face seemed paler than normal, and his jaw trembled ever so slightly.

"Don't worry, Paps. I'm not gonna fight him. All I'm gonna do is try to get close enough to snatch the hand off of his face. That way he'll be fine. I'll be careful, I promise."

"The other monster I told you about said that he can manipulate monsters by hurting them," Frisk added, their big eyes aimed at the lanky skeleton. "That's what he's doing to Sans. He's forcing him to obey by hurting him."

"B-BUT THAT'S AWFUL..!"

"Yeah, that was... really bad. He did the same thing to me. But as soon as the hand fell off my face I managed to get back to my senses. Now that I know what he can do, I know to be more careful."

"THEN...THEN YOU CAN'T POSSIBLY MEAN TO TAKE HIM ON BY YOURSELF! I CAN HELP!"

"No. The best thing you can do right now is to get Frisk, as well as yourself to safety, so Gaster won't get you too. If I'm not back in an hour, call for help at the lab."

"BUT UNDYNE-"

"No. I won't risk you getting hurt too. Go. Now!"

"BUT-"

"Now, Papyrus!!" she downright yelled and pointed towards the abandoned town. "A good royal guard never questions an order, and if you ever want to be included you’d do well to remember that!"

Papyrus hesitated before giving her a quick nod. "YES, MA'AM!"

And off he went, hurling Frisk up onto his back. She hated using his desire to be included in the royal guards against him, but in this case, it couldn't be helped. It was for his own good. The scared look on his face etched itself into her mind, and she could really understand his concern. There was nothing she could have told him to make him feel better anyway. She was not a ‘consoling’ type of person. She was more of a 'bring justice and kick ass' kinda person.

And when they found the one responsible for making poor Papyrus look so sad, both justice and ass kicking would be delivered.

---

Gaster had forgotten all about the human's phone until it suddenly rang. He recognized the voice as Dr. Alphys. She sounded upset and stressed and it annoyed him just to hear her voice. At least he remembered to throw away the phone after dismissing her. The fewer monsters involved, the better it was.

At first, he was a bit dismayed he lost control over the captain of the royal guard, but as it turned out, the human had led them straight to who he'd much rather use as an ally, and getting control of Sans was almost too easy. The fact that he was already in his blaster form would save a lot of trouble and time.

He called the beast back down the gorge, and let the human and their guardian escape - for now. He didn't count on them being able to reset right now, since he held a fraction of their soul and their determination in his hands, making their soul and power incomplete. Besides, if they wanted to reset, they would already have done it by now.

The fact that they both were aware of his trick by now, would make the captain too alert and on her guard to get control over again. Such a tactic required the element of surprise. He could possibly try to have Sans attack them. He could attack from afar, but it seemed too treacherous, and he won’t risk losing control over him too.

Sans loped towards him slowly. He was quite an intimidating sight to behold, but his stats were absolutely horrid for a monster of his caliber. Despite the fact that his stats were greatly improved in this condition, his quite frankly embarrassing base stats dragged him down remarkably. He should be close to invincible but was now left with an HP, ATK, and DEF of only 50, which weren't bad per se, but it bugged Gaster because it had the potential to be so much more.

It was such a shame that Sans had let himself go to such an extent, but at least it wasn't a problem that couldn't be quickly solved with some LV.

As for now, he had another mission in mind. Years ago, when he was still the royal scientist and tempered with fragmented pieces of human souls, he managed to combine souls with varied properties into the amalgamate that he gave Sans.

But there were others too.

By seemingly unthinkable chance, he did the impossible and managed to create a series of artificial souls, which he combined into two new amalgamates. Though less potent than the real thing, which Sans had, they could theoretically enhance the ability and strength of a monster in the same way, to the point of even becoming a boss-monster. From the void, he could see where they were kept after being confiscated from him.

Luckily, no one, not even Asgore, seemed to think of them as anything else but old artifacts and had not tried to harness their power.

"Let's go," he told Sans, who obediently did as he was told and closely followed. "Before we do anything else, we need to find that annoying dog. It shouldn't take long."

---

Frisk had done their best to explain to Papyrus what happened, but it was a lot to take in. The whole situation was so bizarre and if he hadn't seen Sans himself, he wouldn't really know what to make of it. Still, he couldn't leave his brother, stripped off his own free will and in anguish. He knew he would disobey Undyne's order as soon as she commanded him to run. He wouldn't leave them and he knew he could be helpful!

Even though Undyne said she wouldn't fight Sans, his HP's low enough to deplete over just the lightest hit. That's why he never wanted to join any playfights or combat training for a reason that Papyrus could actually understand, and not because he was so desperately lazy. He had to go and make sure that his brother remained unharmed! It didn't even matter if he couldn't make it into the guards. His brother mattered more to him.

As soon as they reached the skeleton brother's house, Papyrus abruptly put Frisk down by the door.

"GET INSIDE, AND STAY THERE UNTIL I COME BACK FOR YOU."

"Are you going back?" asked Frisk.

"I HAVE TO."

"But Undyne said-"

"I KNOW WHAT UNDYNE SAID, BUT I CAN'T SIT IDLE WHILE MY BROTHER IS IN DANGER. BESIDES, IF I LEAVE YOU HERE I ONLY BREAK 50% OF HER ORDER. MAYBE THAT'S GOOD FOR SOMETHING?"

"I'm not staying here if you go. Take me with you!" said Frisk and pouted.

"WHAT? NO!"

"Yes! If you're going, I wanna go too! I don't want to sit idle either! Not when all three of you are in danger!"

"OUT OF THE QUESTION! YOU CAN'T GO. YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE USEFUL AT ALL!" Papyrus exclaimed and placed his hands on his hips.

"Am too! I can look out for those hands and warn you if they get close so that Gaster won't get you too!"

"WELL, I SUPPOSE-"

"I'll walk on my own if I have too. So you can either help me or let me limp there all on my own, with my broken leg. Papyrus. Please?"

"FINE! ALRIGHT, YOU CAN COME!"

Frisk gave a determined nod, and Papyrus helped the child up onto his back. As they ran back towards the forest, from this very much unnecessary detour, Papyrus hoped that they wouldn't have lost all that much time.

They didn't have to run far to stumble upon a familiar face. A stressed white dog came rushing from the descent that led to the mysterious door, which Papyrus had never managed to understand. Why was there even a door in the middle of nowhere? It didn't make sense.

He sighed. The last thing he needed now was this meddling canine. Somehow it seemed to appear around him whenever it could cause his life the most trouble. It was almost like a conspiracy, and it didn't bode well for their rescue mission. The dog didn't look as friendly as usual though. Its usually playful eyes were opened wide enough that it looked like they might pop out, and its ears were folded back. Its tiny tail was tucked under its belly, and it yelped loudly as it ran.

Both Papyrus and Frisk understood why when they were greeted by the sight of Sans chasing the dog. Naturally, since he was so much bigger than the white spitz-like dog, he caught up to it at once.

The poor dog didn't stand a chance against the large beast, who effortlessly picked it up in its maw, and threw it against a wall.

"THAT'S HIM, R-RIGHT? asked Papyrus hesitantly. Even he felt sorry for the dog, who after realizing it couldn't get away fought back with all its tiny might.

"Yes! I bet Gaster is making him hurt the dog!" replied Frisk in a subdued tone as they scanned the area.

Not knowing what else to do, Papyrus called out to his brother, "S-SANS!", But the beast didn't lose its interest in the dog. In fact, he didn't seem to have noticed them at all. Maybe he just hadn't heard him? He would need to get closer, so he carefully put Frisk down on the ground and slowly approached his brother.

"What are you doing?!" Frisk whispered hoarsely, a little too loud.

"STAY THERE," Papyrus ordered. He finally got a proper look at the beast. It was surreal to try and grasp the fact that this creature was his brother. His lazy, pun-loving, defenseless brother, but he was almost certain that he would have recognized Sans, even without the knowledge that it, in fact, was him. There was a sense of familiarity in his eyes, despite the blazing blue light.

"B-BROTHER?" Papyrus called again, louder this time. He winced ever so slightly when Sans turned his large head towards him. At least this time noticed him, but Papyrus started to wonder what he thought he might get out of getting his attention now. What if he attacked? The last thing Papyrus wanted was to hurt anyone, least of all his own brother. He wished he had his battle body. Then at least he'd feel more confident than he did now.

A low growl rumbled in Sans' throat, but Papyrus remained steadfast. He tried to keep his voice from shaking as he spoke. "SANS? I KNOW IT'S YOU, OR AT LEAST THAT YOU'RE IN THERE SOMEWHERE. IT'S ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS! PLEASE, IF YOU RECOGNIZE ME, GIVE ME SOME SORT OF SIGN!"
When nothing bad happened, Papyrus dared to get a little closer, and a little closer still. Sans now seemed to have forgotten all about the tiny dog, who used the opportunity to run away, and he shifted his full attention towards Papyrus. Neither of them released eye contact.

Sans was still growling boldly, but other than that he made no indication of actually attacking his brother.

"I KNOW YOU CAN BREAK FREE OF WHATEVER IS HELD AGAINST YOU. YOU DON'T HAVE TO LISTEN TO WHAT THE CROOK TELLS YOU TO! I CAN HELP YOU!"

Sans softly shook his head a few times and huffed. It was almost as if he was actually making an effort to do something, he just didn't get it all the way. Maybe he was trying to snap out of it? Maybe he'd recognized his voice? A spark of hope ignited in his soul. Of course, the ever delicate and pleasant voice of the great Papyrus would be the remedy! He reached out a trembling hand for his brother. If he could only get close enough to get the hand off of him...

"That'll do. Back off, Sans." Someone said. Sans immediately obeyed the command and drew away from Papyrus. "You really can't keep away, can you, human? Or do you just enjoy interfering in other people's business?"

He heard Frisk gasp behind him. "It's Gaster!" they called to him.

A tall, slender figured emerged beside the large skeleton beast. It too was a skeleton. But it didn't look like an ordinary skeleton like himself, or like Sans usually did. Rather, it seemed to struggle to maintain a physical form and as it walked towards them, it left puddles of some kind of black slime behind it. Papyrus squinted his eyes and really tried to focus his vision because what he saw didn't make sense at all.

"Hello Papyrus," the figure said. The familiar voice confirmed what he thought, though it sounded raspy and distant and just a bit different than he remembered.

"DAD?"

Frisk looked at him as if he had just declared something absolutely preposterous. They looked at Gaster and then back to Papyrus. "Dad?" they echoed.

Gaster smiled. "Finally, I get to speak with you,” he said.

"WHAT... IS THE MEANING OF THIS?" Papyrus still couldn't believe what he saw. He decided that this day could officially not get any more bizarre.

Before he could get an answer, an energy spear was hurled towards the slender skeleton. It missed by inches, but it didn't seem to phase him. He calmly turned around and was greeted by the infuriated face of Undyne. Her eye was blazing with anger and she was breathing heavily. Sans raised his head and snarled loudly at her, but he remained in place just as he was told to before.

"What the hell are you still doing here?!" she yelled at Papyrus, but she clearly wasn't expecting an answer, as she continued to charge at Gaster.

"NO, WAIT!" Papyrus called, but she didn't listen.

"Pleasure to see you again, captain. You seem truculent," Gaster stated, swiftly dodging spears flying in his direction.

"This time, I won't let you get to me," she said between clenched jaws as she glared at the hoovering hands, floating beside him. "And you will let our friend go!"

"BUT WAIT, HE COULDN'T HAVE..." Papyrus began, but the familiar sound of rattling bones coming from his father made him shut his mouth and listen. It seems the message wasn't intended for him.

*Kill the human, but do not harm your brother. Bring him to me and be very careful. Don't let him get to you.*

He knew that Sans could understand it too, and as soon as their father finished his directive, the beast turned its large head in his direction. "WHAT?" Papyrus exclaimed. "NO, WHY WOULD YOU..?"

Before turning away, Gaster threw him a glance, causing chills to run down his spine. The look in his eyes was cold and without mercy, and the cracked scars that ran along his head down his face emphasized his sinister vibe. A wicked grin appeared on his face. "Let's talk later," he said before heading off, with the raging Undyne on his heels.

For a brief moment, Undyne turned to Papyrus. Her brows frowned and she yelled with a stern voice. "Since you're here, try and help Sans! And remember that I'll kill you if you get hurt!"

He didn't bother to reply, because she wouldn't listen. She was too determined to be reasonable in a situation like this. Not that he'd have time to argue with her right now anyway. Papyrus quickly picked up Frisk and threw them over his shoulder. The first spontaneous feeling he had was to get Sans as far from their father as possible since evidence pointed at him being the one who controlled him. Maybe some distance would give him another chance to break through to Sans. 

He was so certain that he'd gotten through to him before, and that meant it could happen again. Sans would listen to him. Surely he'd recognize the great Papyrus! He had to!

Sans proved to be a lot faster than Papyrus anticipated and would catch up to them in no time, so Papyrus decided to stop after a while and wait for Sans to get close instead.

The heavy steps quickly approached them. Frisk held on even harder to Papyrus and turned their face away.

"DO NOT WORRY, FRISK," reassured Papyrus and gently pat their head. "HE ALMOST SNAPPED OUT OF IT BEFORE, AND I KNOW HE WOULD NEVER HURT US! THE SOUND OF MY VOICE WILL BRING HIM BACK!"

Any minute now he would stop. He just needed to hear his voice, and then it would be fine, Papyrus thought. "SANS, IT'S ALRIGHT," he said. "LISTEN TO THE WORDS OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS. YOU CAN DO THIS. YOU CAN BREAK THROUGH! YOU DON'T HAVE TO KILL ANYONE. SANS? PLEASE?" But there was still no response from him. His eyes were wide open and fixated on the human on Papyrus's back. Drool ran down his mandible as he stepped closer. Then, without warning he charged at them, his jaws wide open. Papyrus grabbed Frisk from his back and held them tightly in his arms as he prepared for the impact. He closed his eyes.

But there were none. A loud clack resonated as he opened his again he saw that a spear-like object deeply impaled his brother's scapula and rib cage from the side. Both his eyes shot open and he cried out in pain. Everything happened so quickly and it was so surreal, just like a dream where you try to run without going anywhere.

Unable to put weight on his foreleg, Sans couldn't stop his momentum and he plunged right towards them. Papyrus would have stayed and tried to break his fall, but all of a sudden he felt himself being picked up and carried away. He was so caught up in the disastrous situation that he didn't process who or what it was and didn't react fast enough to protest. Whoever carried Frisk and him took a leap upwards towards the opposite direction of Sans' fall and the last thing Papyrus saw of his beastly brother was him plunging down the cliff. The person who snatched them gently placed the two of them by Greater Dog's sentry station.

"Are you alright, young ones?" A kind, but upset voice demanded.

"Mom?" Frisk asked.

"Such a miserable creature!" cried Toriel, and glared in the direction of the mystery door, where Sans fell down. "What on earth is happening?" The old queen asked as she turned to the child. She examined every inch of them to check on their injuries.

Papyrus stared in the same direction, disbelief in his eyes. "W-WE HAVE TO GET DOWN THERE!" he croaked.

He cringed when he thought about the startled and hurtful look in Sans' eyes and tears welled up in his sockets, but he didn't have time to be upset. He needed to save his brother. He hurried to the edge of the cliff and looked for the best path to climb down on, but the cliffs were very steep and it would be hard to avoid falling.

"What? Why?" asked Toriel and raised an eyebrow at him. She was already in the middle of healing the remains of Frisk's bruises and wounds.

"Mom, you don't understand! That's Sans!" cried Frisk while trying to wiggle loose of their mother's arms.

"Sans the skeleton? My child, we both know that he does not look like-"

"It was him! I don't know how, but I know! I spoke to him!"

Toriel's eyes widened. "But... it... I mean, he was attacking you. He hurt you! And I was... I was protecting you."

"It wasn't his fault! A bad monster made him attack us, but he never wanted to do that! Besides, he wasn't the one who hurt me!" Frisk yelled, both too loud and too fast.

"You're... serious? Please, tell me you're not serious," reasoned Toriel, and shook her head in disbelief.

"WE ARE VERY SERIOUS, WHICH IS WHY WE NEED TO GET TO HIM," Papyrus turned to them as he wiped the tears from his eyes. He'd rather not think of what might have happened, but he needed to know and if Sans was still there. He couldn't afford to assume otherwise. Not until he knew for sure. "WE HAVE TO SAVE HIM!"

Notes:

Annoying Dog doesn't follow this universe's laws of physics. He may have absorbed the artifact, but he can't use it's power. Technically the dog is a representation of Toby Fox, so I don't count him monster. At least not in this fic haha. ;-P

Chapter 9: Shattered Soul

Summary:

Papyrus learns harsh truth. But no one still really knows happened to Sans, and will Alphys even be able to help after this?

Notes:

I'm back!
Sorry for taking forever! I was originally intending to upload this yesterday, but we had a really bad thunderstorm where I live!

Anyway.
To explain a bit of what happens in this chapter. I figured that since Toriel, after all, used to be queen she should have a fancy weapon, like Asgore. I figured a naginata would be pretty nice. The one she has is heavily influenced by Impa's naginata from Hyrule Warriors ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Me0zP9vuvg ) because I thought it would be very suited for Toriel with fire magic and such.

I also really want to thank you guys for the feedback I've gotten. Thank you for every kudos, every comment, every bookmark. Thank you for giving me confidence to write! I used to be terrified of sharing my writing online. But thanks to you guys, I'm starting to feel like I can actually share this without being embarrassed about it.

But still, please don't be afraid to point out typos, grammar errors, plot holes etc. ^^;

Lots of love,
PixieHobbit

Damn it.

The dog had gotten away before he could retrieve the artifact, and this time he wouldn't be able to predict where it would go. It could be anywhere.

At least Papyrus showed up just at the right moment, and the fact that he had the human with him meant that this time he could make absolutely sure there'd definitely be no more resets. He would use the opportunity to finish what he started and make sure they were dead. Sans wouldn't let them go, not when he was under the direct influence of his hand and when he killed the human it would provide him with some much needed EXP. 

Convincing Papyrus to play by his book wouldn't be too difficult, Gaster predicted. Even without the hands. His endless pursuit of integrity would make him easy to manipulate.

He dodged another teal spear and sought cover from the many more coming behind a tree. The captain was stubbornly chasing after him. She gracefully avoided every attempt he made of trying to get her with his hands. Knowing what could happen to her, she didn't let her guard down even once. Thankfully, despite her superior strength he proved to be more limber than her. At least when she was in this state of rage. But rage could potentially be a good thing for him. The angrier she got, the more likely was it for her to lose her focus and drop her guard. He just needed to hold on for longer than she.  

A few bones, shining with a blue light appeared in front of him. He hurled them blindly behind him, hoping at least one would hit her. It was hard to determine if it did. He still didn't look back. Even if she was hit, she clearly didn't let it stop her. But he wasn't worried, not yet. Because there was still something he could try. 

The hand he used to control her earlier was still holding a bright white light in the hollow space within the palm. Much like the Temmie from before, he suspected it to store a part of her magic in it. It had even left the Temmie from before completely immobilized. Thought it was unlikely to happen to Undyne since she was so much stronger, maybe it would temporarily stun her at least. 

As Undyne got closer he braced himself to run and put a little more distance between them, but suddenly his soul lit up with a fierce green light and he couldn't have moved an inch any longer.
When he listened, waiting for her to come closer he could hear her steps suddenly stopped. But he could still hear the crackling of tangible magic very close. Another spear no doubt. Her attacks were actually getting monotone.

"I've got you now. I hope you're better at defending yourself than you are at hiding. If I were you, I'd like to do down with at least some dignity left. But maybe it's too late for you anyway, considering what you've done."

"Oh. You're going to kill me?" asked with a tense form of amusement in his voice. She still hadn't noticed that he held a part of her magic. Would that even be possible for her to notice that?

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Despite how much I think you deserve to die right here, right now, you should be brought to justice first. You know, be given a chance. But then again, you didn't give me a chance before, did you? Or Frisk, or Sans?" she spat. There was no mistaking the disgust in her voice as a great look of bitterness swept across her face. She took one step closer. "There is nowhere you can hide from me. You can't run, and even if you could you can't dodge my spears. You can't get away. So why don't you just give up?"

"I'm not done yet. I have things that need to be done."

"Is that what you think?"

"Yes," he replied directly. 

Another wave of magical bones appeared and was directed at her. He could hear her jumping and working to get out of the way. 

As she stumbled he triggered the hand which contained her magic. The white light flickered brightly inside the hand. He turned his head as far as he could to try to get a look at what happened. To his delight, her whole face scrunched up as her legs caved in under her. She dropped the spear and braced herself with her hands on the ground. The green magic on his soul was dispelled and he was able to move again.

Suddenly a shining spear formed from the light within the hand, crackling with magic in a purple shade. The slender fingers curled around in a tight grip before he hurled it at her. She grasped her forehead with one hand and kept herself up with the other against the ground. She didn't notice the spear until it hit her and dug right through her shoulder with an appalling sound. It caused much more damage than any of his materialized bones ever could. Thin lines of blood traced down her arm as an eerie grimace spread across her face.

But despite that, soon she slowly grinned, baring her fangs as she lowered her hand from her forehead and yanked the spear out of her shoulder. 

"Was that all you've got?" she asked, her voice loud and thunderous, as she threw the spear aside, blood on it splattering on the ground before it dissolved into thin air. Slowly she got back on her feet and walked closer. He quickly tried to press another hand on her to regain control, but she averted every attempt.

As suspected, she was much too strong to be affected the way the Temmie was by the hands. At least from a remote distance, unlike the Temmie. Her eye was strictly fixed on him, though her face showed a hint of strain. At least she was still somewhat affected. Her movements were a tad slower now than before, but she still managed to keep her guard up and she forced herself to go on. She was determined. It was quite admirable. No, it was fascinating. She was the only monster he had ever seen to display natural determination. Under different circumstances, he would love to study this. 

But this was sadly not an option right now. A wide row of bones appeared in front of him and formed a circle pattern around her. Killing her would be a shame. She was a fascinating individual and he could the magic of her soul. 

The bones were aimed too narrow for her to dodge properly this time, but even so, she managed to dodge the majority of them. Gaster frowned as he had to evade two teal spears emerging from the ground and he had to back down. His feet slightly slipped as he stepped out on the frozen lake. He almost lost his balance.

"You really are a grade-A freak," Undyne hissed at him. Faster than he could react, two spears appeared out of nothing and pierced right through him. Much to his surprise, it didn't hurt. Not even the slightest bit. It just phased through him, like he was made of nothing. 

Undyne shared the look of surprise and hesitated for a while before letting out a loud battle-cry as she directed another wave of spears towards him. This time he deliberately let himself get hit, just to see what would happen. 

His teeth shone clear as his mouth widened into a grin. None of the spears damaged him. They just phased through his body without even depleting his HP a single point.

"I should be the one asking if that's all you've got", said Gaster. He tightened the hold over her magic, and though she remained standing he noticed her falter. At this rate, she wouldn't be able to go on for much longer. "How does it feel to be beaten by a grade-A freak?" 

The wind howled over the frozen lake. Undyne gritted her teeth. "I am not giving up."

"Then you are a fool."

Suddenly a loud, howling shriek echoed through the forest. They both turned their heads to see the large creature that was Sans falling off the edge of the cliff elevation, screaming in pain. It seemed he was hurt pretty badly. Something was sticking out on his right side, a weapon of some kind. Surely Papyrus wasn't stupid enough to risk landing an attack on him?

The ice on the frozen lake cracked under the impact of Sans' fall, but at least he didn't break through it. Such an impact would without a doubt have killed him. Gaster didn't even bother to try and get to him. Undyne, on the other hand, abandoned her post and dashed towards him. He decided to let her be, and turned his back and headed towards the next area. Losing Sans would be devastating, but not as devastating as losing the artifact forever. With Undyne busy helping Sans, he could find the dog before it disappeared completely without being interrupted by her.

Even without Sans, things could still work out as long as he could get the artifacts. Then everything would fall back into place.

---

 

"HURRY, HURRY, HURRY!" Papyrus yelled. They trudged through the knee-deep snow. The old queen tried to keep even steps with the lanky skeleton, but she lacked the athletic capability. Besides, she was carefully cradling Frisk in her arms which slowed her down even further. She still didn't quite understand what just happened. It sounded very unlikely that them monster she just shot down was actually her dear friend, but both Papyrus and Frisk insisted. It didn't make sense. Even if it were true, she still couldn't put together why he would attack them.

At the very, lest she hoped it wasn't true. Logic spoke against it. But the thought of having badly wounded one of the only persons to ever care for her since she exiled herself to the ruins caused her eyes to well up. All she intended to do was protect her child. When she saw Frisk, bruised and battered as the beast approaching them, the thought of losing another child came crashing into her mind. She acted before she thought the situation through. She even used her naginata to stop him, and now if anything serious would have happened to Sans, it was all her fault. 

"Mom?" Frisk seemed to have picked up on their concern and gave her an equally concerned look. "Do you think he's gonna be okay?"  

She wiped the frown from her face and tried to give the child a reassuring smile.

"Of course. But, would the two of you mind filling me in about what happened? What were you doing down here in the first place, my child?" 

"I was... just going to visit the ruins. I was, uh... looking for something I thought I lost. And there I met the bad monster who did all this, and-"

"HE'S NOT BAD," Papyrus interrupted. "HE'S NOT."

"Papyrus, you-" Frisk began, only to be interrupted once more.

"HE IS NOT BAD. I KNOW THE THINGS HE'S DONE ARE VERY QUESTIONABLE, BUT I KNOW THAT ISN'T WHO REALLY HE IS. HE WOULD NEVER HURT ANYONE."

"Who?" asked Toriel. 

"Gaster."

"HIS NAME IS WING DINGS," Papyrus corrected.

"Oh. Sorry. It's just that he told me his name was... never mind," said Frisk and shook their head. "He's... doing bad things," they empathized, "and he uses his floating hands to manipulate other monsters. He did it to Undyne before and now he's doing it to Sans!"

Toriel turned her gaze to the tall skeleton. "It sounds like you he's a friend of yours?" She was sure he heard her question, but he continued as if he hadn't. He still wouldn't stop and Toriel had to walk briskly to keep up with him. He didn't reply.

"I think it's his dad," Frisk whispered in her ear. 

"Oh. That's rather unexpected. Where is he now?" she said, raising a single eyebrow as her mouth pulling up to under her nose. 

"Undyne went after him. I think they went towards town, but I'm not sure. And Mom, if he comes here you need to be super careful that he doesn't hit you with his hands. If you get hit, it's gonna hurt so bad that you'll lose yourself to Gast... uh, I mean Wing Dings," they said, throwing a careful glance at Papyrus. 

Toriel nodded. "I would never do anything to risk your well being or my own. 

They arrived at a steep slope. Below the slope was the big, frozen Snowdin lake. Though she couldn't see the beast from here, he should be close. She grabbed the child in an even tighter embrace. Even if she had been as athletic as Papyrus, she lacked the grace to climb down the slope with dignity. It wasn't a pretty sight, but at least she didn't stumble, not even when her feet landed on the frozen water. Although she was very close to slipping. Papyrus, who made it down with much more ease, had not bothered to wait for them. He was already several yards ahead, and he didn't look back. His nasal voice echoed through the cave as he called for his brother, but no one answered. 

"Is it really a good idea to stir up attention, my friend? Maybe we should try and be more discrete?" suggested Toriel. "Out here on the ice, I won't do much good in a fight, unless we are aiming to melt it under our own feet."

"YOU WON'T HAVE TO FIGHT. NO ONE HAS TO. NO ONE SHOULD. IF DAD DOES COME HERE, I'M SURE I CAN TALK TO HIM, BUT NOT BEFORE WE FIND SANS!" He barely finished the sentence before he gasped loudly. "SANS!" he yelled and ran off as fast as he could.

"Oh, no," said Toriel under her breath, as she too noticed him.

---

Undyne ran as fast as she could. She had to get to Sans before the ice completely broke beneath him. Her forehead throbbed and the deep wound on her shoulder ached. Every heartbeat sent a surge of pain as if her body was being torn apart. It was getting progressively harder to think straight. But at least it wasn't as bad as when Gaster pressed his hand against her forehead. When he attacked her with his hand again, it was just like all of her strength left her, and that it hadn't even been near her this time. It still hadn't passed and she had to try hard to persuade herself to go on.

The closer she got to Sans, the more the ice resonated beneath her and several cracks spread under her own feet too. When she was close enough to almost reach him, she stopped and proceeded to lay down on the ice and crawl the remaining distance to make sure she wouldn't break the ice.
Using his horns as handles she slowly dragged the beast to safety on the thicker ice. At least the ice made it easier to drag him, but the pain in her shoulder still made itself reminded every time she moved her arm, regardless of how easy it was to move him.

She allowed herself to take a deep breath before glancing over her shoulder. Thankfully, it didn't seem like Gaster had pursued her. Only her own footsteps were visible on the ice. Looking back at Sans, she promptly checked his HP, fearing the worst. And her fear came true when she stared at his stats, with disbelief in her eyes.

0/25  and his soul was cracked in the middle, and in two pieces. But despite that, he hadn't turned to dust.

Not knowing what else to do, Undyne yanked out the weapon from his bones and threw it away. It had left a gaping hole on his shoulder blade and another fracture, from the impact of hitting the ice, running down his upper arm too. The same blood-like substance that oozed out from the wound over his eye earlier now stained the ice. She would need to heal that later. As for now, she focused all of her healing magic on his broken soul.

Using such magic in her current state was distressing and it sure didn't do her already throbbing head any good. But she couldn't give up. She'd never give up! The thought of how heartbroken Papyrus would be if his brother died made her go on for much longer than she thought she ever could. She wouldn't let him down!

Beads of cold sweat appeared on her forehead and her hands began to tremble. Everything considered she must have done something right because his HP was slowly starting to recover a few small decimals at a time. She didn't know why, or how but it didn't matter right now. 

Not before long she heard footsteps approaching. She grunted when she realized that it was Papyrus The last thing he needed was to see his brother like this. He was probably already shaken up after everything that happened. Worst case scenario he'd go after Gaster himself, trying to talk him into apologizing and drink tea and all would be fine and dandy.

His eyes shot open when he saw the fallen beast. "SANS!" he yelled and hasted even faster towards them, slipping a few times on the ice as he ran. Once he got to them he sat down in front of Sans. With a swift motion, he grabbed the mechanical hand from his brother's forehead, which due to the circumstances had completely slipped Undyne's mind, and hurled it away. It dispelled in the air before it even landed. Turning back to Sans, he gently shook his head in order to make contact.

"SANS, CAN YOU HEAR ME? SANS!?" his eyes were wet with tears as he turned to Undyne. "UNDYNE, IS HE OKAY?"

"I... I'm not sure," she huffed and wiped the sweat off her face with her forearm. "I hope so." To her surprise, another figure joined in. It was Lady Toriel. In her arms was Frisk, who seemed to have gotten healed and perked up significantly since last time Undyne saw them.

"Oh dear..." Toriel uttered under her breath. She gently placed the child on the ice and walked up to Undyne, crouching down beside her. "How bad is it?"

"It's hard to say. At this point, I'm not even sure what happened. His HP was down to zero, but... He didn't fall down. I don't know how, but I managed to restore some health... but, uhm... I'm getting pretty drained," Undyne was embarrassed to admit. She was hoping for some relief so she could catch her breath properly.

"Let me take over, my friend. You've done enough," said Toriel.

"ME TOO!" yelled Papyrus. When he checked his brother's health bar a terrified look spread across his bony face. The health bar displayed 0.78/25 but his soul was still split in half.

"WH-WHAT...? THIS-"

"It was like that when I healed him too," Undyne was quick to add. "But for some reason, I can't explain it, he didn't fall down," she repeated.

"His HP is recovering. This doesn't make any sense," mumbled Toriel. Her hands lit up with green light as she began to heal the fractures on Sans' bones, while the frightened Papyrus desperately tried to mend his soul. His hands were shaking even worse than Undyne's did before.

"Would food help?" asked Frisk. "I have some quiche in my inventory."

"Thank you, my child. But food is redundant while we're using healing magic," Toriel said softly. 

Undyne exhaled deeply. She took a few deep breaths to calm herself down, but she wouldn't allow herself to relax just yet. She had learned to always expect the worst and to always be on the edge and she didn't like not knowing if Gaster was near or not. But it was getting hard to stay alert and she feared that she might lose consciousness unless she loosened up. 

"Are you okay, Undyne?" asked Frisk carefully.

"No." 

"Do you want the quiche?"

Hopefully replenishing some energy would help against the pain in her shoulder. And her throbbing headache. "Yeah. I could use some." But before Frisk reached for it Toriel spoke. 

"I am so so sorry. This is all my fault," she said.

To Undyne's dismay, Frisk abruptly shifted their attention to the former queen and said quiche didn't appear. "No, it's not your fault! You were just trying to protect us," they sniffled as they wiped their nose with their sleeve.

Undyne pouted and looked away. She glanced at the weapon on the ground, covered in the red liquid. It was a metal pole with a curved single-edged blade on the end. The handle was purple and it was adorned with three flower charms in gold just at the base of the blade. She had seen that charm before, somewhere else and she immediately knew from where. Asgore had the exact same kind at the base of his trident. 

"This is yours?" she asked Toriel, as she sat herself down next to Frisk. The icy ground made her shiver, but it was the least of her problems now. "You're the one who attacked him?" 

"I'm afraid so. I didn't know who he was, and when I saw him trying to attack Frisk, I-" Toriel looked away. "I'm so sorry. This is all my fault."

Papyrus remained unusually quiet. Undyne wasn't sure if it was because he blamed Toriel for what happened or if it simply took too much energy from him to try and mend the broken soul.

"This is so messed up," said Undyne and buried her face in her hands, proceeding to carefully massage her temples. When something poked Undyne in the side her first reaction was a sheer annoyance, until she realized that it was Frisk, handing her the quiche. The annoyance was quickly replaced with guilt for flaring up so fast. 

"Thanks, punk." It only took her two bites to gobble down the whole thing. It was chewy and crunchy, with just a hint of abandonment issues. Though it didn't give her the pain relief she hoped for, she no longer felt that she might fall unconscious anymore at least. 

The wind kept howling through the cave. It was an eerie, whistling sound. The bitter wind felt cold on Undyne's skin, so she wrapped her arms around herself for warmth.

"Can you fix him?" asked Frisk after a while.

"I... I DON'T KNOW," said Papyrus. "I'M TRYING SO HARD, BUT I CAN'T SEEM TO... WE MUST FIND SOMEONE WHO CAN FIX THIS! THERE HAS TO BE SOMEONE, RIGHT?"

"You've done well, my friend. Now let me try," said Toriel. The two switched places. 

"What about Alphys? Didn't you say that she could help Sans, earlier when we were in the forest?" said Frisk.

"Yeah, but she is still in her lab, and we're in the middle of nowhere. Do you suppose we just carry him all the way to Hotland?" 

"Frisk was just trying to help," said Toriel, suddenly strict. "Do we have another choice? I fear that I'm not very useful right now either." 

Suddenly, a loud snap echoed through the cave, joining in with the whistling winds. Sans made a twisted grimace and yelped, making them all wince. His body began to tremble as the yelps faded and groaning, protesting sounds escaped his throat instead. Little by little he begun to shrink in size as the sound of popping and crackling noises, which sounded just like the splintering of bones, filled the air. The macabre sounds made Papyrus squirm about. Somehow his face seemed to get paler than usual.

Sans began to writhe on the ground as his bones dislocated themselves and reverted back to more familiar angles and shapes. Papyrus gave him some space, but Toriel remained steadfast by his side the entire time, despite his long tail whipping at her. A faint, green light emitted from her hands as she tried to keep the broken bones from shattering further under the pressure of changing. Just as Undyne got up on her feet to help her hold him down, but his body went limb before she could. 

Everything went still as suddenly as it began. But for some reason, he still didn't look quite like himself, though he was a lot more recognizable now. He still had a long tail, and his hind legs only shrunk in size, without changing shape. His face slightly bulged and his teeth were pointed and sharp. The ridges on his head which used to be horns seemed to have gotten sharper as they narrowed. 

No one said anything for a while, as they waited for him to change back completely. But nothing happened. Undyne couldn't tell how much time passed when she finally spoke.

"Well, at least he'll be easier to move now. Paps, do you have your phone on you? I need to borrow it so I can call Alphys and give her the gist of what happened."

"BUT I DON'T HAVE HER NUMBER."

"That's okay, I've got it memorized."

Undyne swiftly dialed Alphys's number as soon as Papyrus reached her his phone. But no one picked up. She bit her lip and tried to think rationally. Even though Alphys didn't pick up her phone, which she always did usually, she was safe in the lab. She promised to wait there for them and nothing bad could have happened to her.

"DID YOU REACH HER..?" 

"No. But she will be at the lab. She has to be."

"THEN LET'S NOT WASTE ANY TIME! LET'S GO!" said Papyrus and carefully picked up Sans from the icy ground. Toriel remained sitting, following them with her gaze before nodding her head. 

"I agree," she said as she sent away her weapon using her cellphone. "We mustn't dawdle here anymore. If this Gaster-"

"Wing Dings," Frisk was the one to interrupt this time.

Undyne raised an eyebrow. "Does everyone except for me know who Gaster is?" She forced his name out of her mouth. When both Papyrus and Frisk lowered their gaze to the ground and refused to look up, she became even more inquired to know. Not to mention annoyed. She crossed her arms. "What?" she questioned.

"Papyrus, was Frisk really right about what they told me before?" Toriel asked him as she gently picked up Frisk in her arms.  

"About what?" Undyne demanded as the group started walking towards the snowy slope. She glared at Papyrus, who cowered a bit when she got close to him. "Spill it, now." 

"UH, WELL. FOR ONE, FRISK WAS RIGHT WHEN THEY SAID HIS NAME ISN'T GASTER, BUT WING DINGS."

"That doesn't explain anything."

"Language," Toriel remarked with a scowl. Undyne rolled her eyes and turned back to Papyrus.

"THING IS, UH. THAT HE'S KINDA OUR DAD," he said hesitantly. He held on to his brother even tighter and he still couldn't bring himself to look at her.

"Wh-what?" she said, slightly taken aback by the news. Her disgust for Gaster grew even stronger after learning this. 

"BUT BEFORE YOU SAY ANYTHING, I KNOW IT SOUNDS BAD AND I KNOW THAT THE THINGS HE'S DONE AREN'T RIGHT. BUT HE IS NOT REALLY A BAD PERSON AND I KNOW THAT IF YOU JUST LET ME TALK TO HIM I COULD-" 

"Papyrus, stop," said Undyne harshly. She raised her lip high and bared her fangs at him. "You always keep saying that. But the fact is that not all people are good people and not all people can be trusted. Even if they happen to be family," she caught herself raising her voice more and more. "I'm sorry you have to be related to him, 'cause if we meet him, then we, including you, need to make sure he won't hurt nobody anymore. Because that's what he does. Talking to him won't help. Figuring out a solution while braiding each other's hair and drinking tea will not help. He's a sociopath. Look what he did to Frisk, and me" she gestured at the child and then herself. "and look at what he did to your brother. He won't hesitate to hurt you as well, I'm sure. C'mon. We both know that none of this would have happened if it weren't for him. So don't be stupid."

Papyrus didn't say anything. He still didn't look at her. Unlike her, he didn't seem to be angry or annoyed. Just sad. Which immediately made her feel bad for yelling. She sighed. "I'm sorry, man. But that's how it is. Dude's a psycho and how he managed to raise someone as nice as you is totally beyond me."

He still didn't say anything. 

"My friends, let's just help each other move on from here. We can discuss what needs to be said later when we've calmed down and processed what's happened. Until then, let's just keep moving," said the old queen.   

Chapter 10: D E T E R M I N A T I O N

Summary:

Getting to the lab.

Notes:

So, the EU voted to pass the law regarding article 13. BUT! They are going to vote one final time in 2019. PLEASE I URGE YOU TO CONTACT YOU MEPs. PLEASE? https://saveyourinternet.eu/

On a lighter note, I decided that it would be too much to write every unexplained matter down in this story. So I cut a few off. BUUUUT I decided to make it a comic instead, which takes place somewhere in the third part of the prologue and continues after even after it ends (so basically it takes place 15 years before the main events of this story). If you want to read it you can go here: https://www.deviantart.com/pixiehobbit/art/But-First-Tea-pg-1-759894051 :')

As for this chapter, I tried hard to see things from Alphys perspective - she's a scientist she's smart and she can make a plausible hypothesis. I hope it didn't come off as too obvious. >< The temporary hit points were much inspired by The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, where you can cook dishes that gives you temporary health. I may have gotten carried away with the medical stuff. I've made a lot of research and I think it might have ended with too much information lol. Feel free to tell me if it's very bad XD

*sigh* writing dialogue between multiple characters is really hard.

AND ALSO, LOOK AT THIS FANTABOLOUS ART THAT THESE AWESOME PEOPLE MADE:
https://sta.sh/019oxds9eps9
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Branches-On-A-Tree-763836934
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Good-Boy-765259549
https://www.deviantart.com/bluejaysymphony/art/It-s-a-family-tradition-758211602

Alphys stared at the screen in disbelief. Her cheeks were still stained with tears that she had shed when she watched in horror as Undyne was wounded. She had no idea what was going on, or who the strange monster was, but he seemed to be the cause of the sudden calamity.

In order to be able to observe what happened to all of her friends, she split the screen in two: one view following Undyne and one following Papyrus and Frisk. When Toriel suddenly appeared and struck down the strange beast, who seemed to be a companion of the equally strange monster, she drew a sigh of relief. But needless to say, when everyone, including Undyne, hurried towards it in order to save it she was very confused. At least the whole group was together again, and now they were accompanied by a boss monster, which made Alphys feel a little better.

She closed her eyes and turned away from the monitor. Her hands were shaking and her breathing was staggered. Why didn't she intervene? Why couldn't she bring herself to get out there and help them? Even after seeing Undyne get hurt, she still didn't even consider it.

What would it matter anyway? What would she be able to do? She didn't have any fighting skills and she was in no way in any good shape. It was just her, and what could she do? Nothing, that's what. Unless they needed someone to pose as bait or something.

When the familiar Mew Mew Kissy Cutie ringtone boomed from her phone, Alphys cringed. She didn't recognize the number, so she didn't dare to answer. Speaking to the man earlier had left her with a feeling of dread, unlike anything she ever felt before. Even though she saw him drop the phone in a pile of snow, she didn't want to risk it. She tried her best to ignore the phone, just in case it was him. Beads of sweat formed on her head as she glanced at the small device, speaking on the phone was hard for her even under regular circumstances. Eventually, the phone stopped ringing and Alphys let out a sigh of relief. She turned back to the monitor. Her eyes opened in surprise as the large skeletal monster had changed shape and size, and was now cradled in Papyrus's arms. The group started walking out of range from the camera.

Alphys quickly swapped views to find them again. After some time she found them in Snowdin. Undyne, who was the only one not carrying anything, raised her hand to her face. Alphys cringed again when the ringtone started again. She looked at the phone and then back to the monitor. It did look very much like Undyne was holding a phone, so Alphys approached hers with caution, as if it would attack her, and picked up.

"H-Hello..?" she said quietly.

"Alphys, thank goodness! Where are you?!"

"U-Undyne?" her voice trembled, but she exhaled sharply with relief as she started to realize who she was talking to.

"Yeah, listen we need help. Are you at the lab?"

"Yes."

"Great. Stay there and lock the door. Don't open for anyone until we come. We have a lot to tell you and we need you to take a look at something very strange. Are the cameras you've installed still usable?"

"Yeah, I-I-I," she stuttered, suddenly embarrassed by what Undyne would think if she knew she had been watching them all this time and done nothing.

"Good," Undyne interrupted, to Alphys's relief. "I need your help to locate a monster for us. A skeleton, in a black robe of some sort, his skull is cracked and he looks generally creepy. Can you see if he's anywhere near us?"

"Uh, h-hold on." Returning to the monitor, she switched between cameras and found that he seemed to be gone.

"I can't s-see anyone... except for you guys. What... what happened?"

"It's a long story. Believe me when I say nothing makes sense. Would you mind keeping an eye out for the skeleton while I explain to you?"

"Of c-course..."

Undyne was right. Nothing about any of the recent happenings made sense. At all.

"So, you're telling me that Sans changed into... that? And he's the one in Papyrus's arms?"

"Yes, and his soul is broken. Somehow he survived, but he needs help."

"How i-is that even possible?" She focused her vision on Sans' limp body and tried hard to visualize him as the skeleton she knew so well. The sudden realization of who it was hit her hard and the color faded from her face.

He looked so different. At least on the screen. No one seemed to know what happened that caused him to look like that, or why he didn't change back into himself again. Alphys really hoped that they wouldn't count on her to find it out, because she had no clue and she wouldn't even know where to begin. Not once had she ever heard or read about anything like that happening to a monster. Terror sucked the very breath from her lungs. She would fail everyone again.

"We were hoping that you could help us find that out. The main issue is first of all his health. Do you think you might be able to do something?"

"Undyne, I'm... not that kind of doctor... the only medical abilities I have are self-taught, from when I was looking after the... a-amalgamates..."

"But even so that means you have more experience than any of us. We tried using green magic, but that only helped the physical damages and I think he needs food to heal properly. What do you think?"

"I'll... see what I can do..." Her mind wandered as she tried to remember how much medical stuff she had left down in the true lab.

"Thanks, Alphy. You're the best."

Papyrus was breathing heavily. They were moving quickly towards Hotland. He held Sans in a tight grasp, scared he might drop him. For being a skeleton, Sans was ice-cold to the touch and that was very alarming, so Papyrus had done his best to wrap him up in his scarf. Thank goodness his favorite scarf was the longest one he owned. While it still didn't cover all of him and probably didn't provide heat like it was intended to, it was better than nothing. At least it covered the remains of his injured arm so Papyrus wouldn't have to look at it.

Seeing Sans with such strange proportions, the horns, the fangs, and the tail, was odd, and Papyrus wondered what on earth could have happened to him. He did act very strange, at least stranger than usual when they were still at home packing their things. Maybe he knew something was wrong, even back then?

Papyrus wished that there was a way for him to talk to Sans and get some answers regarding what happened to him. Maybe he even knew about their dad?

He himself still didn't know how to feel about his dad. It's not like Undyne didn't have a point, but he knew that their dad wasn't a bad person. What he didn't know was what could drive his dad to hurt anyone like this. Especially Sans. There had to be a reason! Rather than trying to figure out potential motives to justify his actions, he pushed those thoughts away and decided that the main concern, for now, was to take Sans to the lab so he could get help.

Toriel was cradling Frisk in her arms and Undyne was on the phone, talking to Dr. Alphys, claiming that she would be able to help. There was a bitter taste in the back of Papyrus’s mouth that he couldn't seem to get rid of. Despite everything, he was still terrified that his brother might be damaged beyond help. What if he actually fell down? He had to check every other step that he was still breathing. It reminded him all too well of when they were kids and he was sick, and all this concern and uncertainty that he used to feel came back, flooding his mind.

He was snapped back to reality when Toriel spoke to him. "How are you holding up, my friend?"

"HUH? OH, I'M... TRUTH TO BE TOLD, A BIT CONFUSED."

Frisk seemed to sleep, safe and sound in their adoptive mother's arms. As they dozed, Papyrus wished the same sign of life for his brother too. It would put his mind at ease and help him focus on other things.

"I can imagine. But... You know that I am sorry, right? I did not know who it was. I should have found out before I struck." Her big eyes were sad and full of guilt.

"I KNOW." She and Sans seemed to be friends. Equally dorky, too and of course he knew that she didn't mean to harm him. She just wanted to protect Frisk. Maybe Papyrus himself would have done the same in order to protect his friends? "BUT IT DOESN'T MATTER. AT LEAST... WE MANAGED TO GET HIM BACK FROM DAD'S... I MEAN..." he fell silent and looked away, checking on Sans again so that he wouldn't have to finish the sentence. After what Undyne said out about their dad, he didn't feel like discussing him with anyone and be further judged. "BESIDES, SANS WILL BE OKAY. HE HAS TO BE."

Toriel inhaled deeply and heaved a sigh. "Of course, dear. But I need to ask you something because you're the one who knows Sans the best. Has anything like this happened before?"

"NO, IT HASN'T AND I'VE NO IDEA WHY IT HAPPENED AT ALL."

"I see," said the old queen and nodded. "I... hate to say it, but it seems a bit strange that it happened in connection to your dad showing up, considering what he did. But I still think Miss Undyne was a bit tough on you. I mean, a father is always a father... Tell me, what happened to him that would make him do something like this?"

Papyrus was actually a bit relieved of her milder reaction. "OH. WELL, I DON'T KNOW. I WAS ONLY SIX YEARS OLD WHEN HE DIED, SO IT'S BEEN AT LEAST... FIFTEEN YEARS? FOURTEEN MAYBE? I MEAN, WHEN I THOUGHT HE DIED.”

"So he disappeared when you were only six? What about your mother?"

"SHE IS DEAD TOO, BUT I WAS VERY TINY, SO I CAN'T REMEMBER HER AT ALL. I'VE JUST SEEN HER PICTURE."

A frown fell upon Toriel's lips. "That's awful. I'm guessing Sans can't have been much older than you were when you were orphaned then... How did you manage to take care of yourselves?"

"WE WEREN'T BY OURSELVES. OUR GRANDPA LOOKED AFTER US. HE USED TO LIVE WITH US AND HE ALWAYS THERE WHEN DAD WAS WORKING. WHEN DAD... DISAPPEARED, IT WAS ONLY NATURAL THAT HE'D TAKE CARE OF US."

It took them both completely by surprise when Sans suddenly began to move and whimper weakly.

Papyrus inhaled sharply. "SANS! CAN YOU HEAR ME? ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" He asked loudly. But the smaller skeleton didn't open his eyes. His movement faded but he remained very tense and he kept whimpering under his breath. Realizing that it was probably futile right now, Papyrus gave up trying to communicate. A quick stat check told him that his brother wasn't losing HP. Actually, he was regaining it even if just by decimals at a time.

"Do you want me to take him for you? If you take Frisk, I can carry him and use some green magic while we're on the move," Toriel offered, giving him a kind glance.

"NO, I GOT IT. HE IS ACTUALLY REGAINING HP, JUST VERY LITTLE AT A TIME. IT'S... HARD TO SEE HIM LIKE THIS. HE WAS SICK A LOT WHEN WE WERE KIDS AND THIS KINDA REMINDS ME OF THAT."

"He was? He never told me that."

"YEAH... HE NEVER TELLS ANYBODY ANYTHING. BUT I REMEMBER HOW AWFUL IT WAS AND HOW MUCH I WORRIED ABOUT HIM. MUCH LIKE NOW."

"C'mon, punks. Hurry up! We don't exactly have all day!" Undyne called. She was a few yards ahead and still on the phone, so she hadn't heard them talk. Maybe that was for the best right now.

The damp air of Waterfall was getting warmer and warmer as they got close to Hotland. It was like walking in a sauna, but at least that would keep Sans warm. Much like Snowdin, Waterfall was quite a cold place and considering how cold his brother still was, the warmth was welcomed for once.

It didn't take many steps past the glowing welcome-sign on the border of Hotland, before all humidity was gone from the air.

Red hot magma flowed beneath them as they walked over the gangling bridge, and Papyrus flinched, suddenly very aware of how flammable they all were. He didn't like Hotland. Quality puzzle-making was almost impossible here as any ice-spikes would instantly melt. There was something eerie about large mountain caves full of boiling magma, and the air was hard to breathe. He'd never visit this place unless he really had to, which he did now.

When the laboratory finally towered in front of them, Papyrus recognized the building right away. Vague memories of coming here as a child played in the back of his head, though he wasn't entirely sure why he was brought here or how long ago it was. Again he was abruptly reminded of the strange events that had taken place, as he remembered that his dad used to work as a scientist, too.

With the phone still in her ear, Undyne began to bang the large door. "You can let us in now, Alphy."

The metallic sounds of a lock being open joined in the sounds of some kind of strange machinery. As the door slowly opened, they were greeted by the scientist’s worried stares. "H-Hey. Hurry u-up and get i-in..!"

The inside of the laboratory was nothing that Papyrus could remember. Unlike the bright, antiseptic hallways he was sure awaited him inside, the dimly lit room was nothing but a great big mess. The greenish walls were stained and dog food was scattered all over the dusty floor.

"I'm s-so sorry for the mess. I didn't p-prioritize cleaning, I only packed the most essential of my stuff. Oh, my stars... a-are you okay?? Undyne, y-your shoulder...!"

"Needless to say, we could use some rest and some food. Hope you have more than just dog food." Undyne said, with a surprisingly soft ring to her voice.

The yellow lizard walked up to the desk and began to stumble through the drawers in search for something consumable. "Y-Yeah, I've got ramen a-and soda and I think there are some potato chips around here somewhere."

"CAN WE MAKE SURE MY BROTHER'S ALRIGHT BEFORE WE EAT, PLEASE?" Papyrus begged, getting more impatient. Now that they were finally here, they couldn't afford to slack off. Sure, Sans was still regaining HP, but he had barely gotten enough HP to fill up a single point yet.

"Papyrus is right." The gentle ring in Undyne's voice was gone. "Do you think you might be able to do something?"

"Uh, o-okay. Uhm... I think it would be best if we took him down to the true lab at once. I've got all my equipment there."

"You go on ahead, while I take care of Frisk. I'm sure some food will heal them properly. We'll be right with you shortly," said the old queen. "May I borrow a bed, or a chair to put them down in?"

"Oh, of course. Just go up the stairs. My bed is kinda cube-shaped, so I don't know how comfortable it'll be, but..."

"It's fine. Thank you," said Toriel with a warm smile towards Alphys, which caused a flush of red to appear on the yellow lizard's cheeks.

"Alright, let's go." Undyne gently took Alphys by the arm and didn't let go until the scientist had begun to walk to the elevator leading down to the lab.

The purple metallic walls in the elevator were equally dirty as the one in the main room. Alphys pressed her hand against a small panel. A sensor read her hand-print and activated the elevator. The doors slid shut and they began to sink down without stopping for a long while.

"S-So... you still don't know why happened t-to him? I mean, the way he looks and stuff..?"

"All I know is what I told you on the phone. One second we were packing our stuff when Sans showed up and acted weird. The next thing I knew, Sans and I are in the forest and that's where it began," Undyne explained.

Papyrus didn't know Alphys that well yet. They used to hang out a little when they were kids, but she spent most of the time hanging out with Sans anyway. What he did know on the other hand, was that someone smart enough to be the royal scientist would definitely know how to help his brother. As she continued, however, his heart sank.

"I see. Uh, I hope you won't be too disappointed in me if I can't find out why." Alphys inhaled very deeply. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to lie anymore. I wouldn't know where to start or where to go. I've never heard of something like this... Gah! I'm so sorry! It's worse too since it happened to Sans so it's harder to realize that I might not be able to help him. What if I do something wrong? What if I mess up? Besides-"

"THAT STUFF CAN WAIT. WE DON'T NEED TO KNOW THAT RIGHT NOW. ALL I WANT TO DO IS MAKE SURE HIS HEALTH IS ALRIGHT," Papyrus loudly interrupted. He wanted to make a point to both her and himself, though he didn't feel great about it.

"R-Right, of course."

"Don't worry Alphy," Undyne added. "You can't do more than your best. You're like the smartest person ever and I'm sure you can learn more than we ever could."

Alphys looked away from Undyne and wrinkled her forehead.

"L-Let's hope so, at least."

Finally, the elevator stopped. This part of the building was even darker, and was made up of nothing but walls littered with air conditioning vents. There was no sign of movement, and a stale scent of wet dog lingered in the air. Alphys led them down the corridor and into a room with a few sinks, some benches, and three operating-tables. A bright-red first aid kit was haphazardly thrown in among these, very out of place. Alphys motioned Papyrus to put Sans down on one of the tables. "I'm just going to start up this machine so we can read his stats more carefully..." she said, gesturing to the monitor placed in the middle of the room. "Give me a moment.”

While she booted up the machine, Papyrus carefully put Sans down where Alphys instructed him. His chest was falling and rising with much deeper breaths than before, which Papyrus decided to take as a good sign.

"Undyne, you can sit down on the table beside, so I can take a look at your shoulder too."

"It's fine Alphys," Undyne replied with a gentle tone in her voice.

"At least allow m-me to wrap it up?" Alphys glanced at the dried blood that ran down her arm.

"I CAN DO THAT WHILE YOU GET THE COMPUTER-THINGY GOING," Papyrus offered hurriedly.

"Fine." There was a small hint of reluctance in Undyne's voice, but she sat down and allowed Papyrus to heal her injury. He always considered himself a good healer, but the wound was deep and rather messy. He did the best he could do, but in order to make it go away completely some food would be necessary. As for her stats, he didn't dare to do a stat-check on her. Knowing Undyne she wouldn't like to appear weak and checking her stats after such an injury almost felt like an invasion of her privacy. Besides, he trusted her to keep her own stats in check.

When Papyrus was almost finished, Undyne insisted on wrapping it up herself, so he let her. The mess swathed loosely around her shoulder made it look like it had been done by a child, but Undyne seemed content enough. In the meantime, Alphys carefully wrapped the exposed remains of the injury on Sans' arm.

Finally, the monitor lit up, and a mechanical whir filled the room. With a practiced motion, Alphys took two of the wires connected to the machine to put one on Sans' temporal bone and the other one on his sternum, using some kind of strange band-aid to keep them in place. The monitor flashed with a bright light, before finally showing content on the screen. But something didn't look right.

S̯̞̜̹̮̩͕̮͉̺͑̿ͭ̀̔ͨ͑ͫ̆̃̂ͭa̙̪̱̻̼̼͈̻̯̒̊ͮ͋ͥ͑ͪ̿̆̿̄ͣ͌ͧ̑n̝͎̪̱͇̘̜̫͍͇̩͉̅́̏̊̆̀͒̎ͤͥͦ̏ͬ̾͌ͯs̮̞̗͓̽̊͋͂͛ͯ̓͊̈́ͣ ̘͖̫̳̺̖̟͕̳̩̮̼̙̙̣̥̬͐̏̑̇͐̏ͯ͑̉̈͒͑͑͗̋̚ͅt̤̬̝͔̬̻ͪ̆͂ͧ͆͊̏͆ͨ̎̚ḧ̹̙͎̞̪̼̫̞͎̺̗̞͈͖̥̱̜ͯ͗ͭê̖̰̼͎͎̮̘̫̬̬̦̦͓͚̼̟͌ͤ͐ͯ͒ͣ͋ ̘̱͍̞͎̪̙͚͕̻͙̘̲̆͂̎̀ͣ͗̐̌̃̓͂ͣ͒͆̚S̫̟̬̥̼̳̬̰̱͍͎͕͈͇̻̥̬̣̲̀ͯ̂ͮͩ̉̾͋k̺͍̰̲͉͓̘͚̤̬̖̲̝̪̠̪͉͇̲ͦ̀͑ͤ̽̐͂͛̍ͭ̐͂̈͋e̤̮̱̞͊ͥͦ͑͐̐ͅl̦͙̣̪̼̘̟̟̱̝͉̯̭̹̙̹̦͉͌̈ͤͦͤͯͩ̈́͋̑ͬ̚ẽ̳̤͙̼̳͎̝̮͓̝̮͚͙̻͊̈͌ͮͤͤ͗ͣt̟̼̩̭̩͔̱͈̋ͥ̆̈̎ͤ̑ͪ͊̋̇ͥ̃ͫ͋ͪ̅ͬo̬̱̺̘̱̟͍̟̮̣͍ͭ̇͊ͩ̔ͤ̈́̾͛ͬ̚ͅṉ͉̝̼̗͇̱̹̻̖͆̎̅̿͗̏ͪ̚

͔̜͇͖̱͔̻̿ͭͥ̅ͯ̋ͣ̈́́̿͛͌ͦ͗A̲̗̼̳̥̦̤̣̘̖͎̫̤̯͖̅ͤ͛̎̇͛͌͒͐̊̑̀ͥ̆̀͌̄ͅT̲͚̦̙̲̺͆̎͒ͯ̐̍̎ͦͭ͐ͧ̃ͅK̫͚͇͓̐̌ͭ̐ͣͯ͊̾̒ͬ͑ͪ̈́̔:̺̦̜̻̗̝̌̽ͩ̒̀ͩ̆͒ͪͯ̿̎ͧ̑̊͛͋̑ ̤̫̥̪͐̒ͯ͌̽ͦ̏̓͂ͥ̃ͨͧ1̤̯͍̺̖̣̩̩̼̗̫͋̏̎ͤ̓͌̂̄̌͒͌̋ͪͪ̇4͕͔̝̼͍̠̈̃̈̇̏̇́͛̔ͨ.̳͓̠̮̖̞̝̬̉̓͐̀̐̿̄͋ͨ̇ͨ̄͂̈́͒ͦ4͚͇͓̼̫̫̜̱͚͙̮̦̝̻ͣ͒͌̋ͥ͑̔̽0̗̻̼̳̟̳̖̥͇̬͍͔̣̥̲̭͔̂̍̏̿́ͮ́̓͗ͦ̓ͦͩ̈́̿̈́5̗̟̞̱͈͔̱͍͎̳̯̗͋̑ͫ͐ͨ́̄̋

̰͉͈͍͎̝̤̼̱̜͍̺̰͍̩̒̑͛͗ͩͭ́̓ͩ͌̇͊̒D̤̭͙̖̅͛͐̑͂̇́͆ͮE̪̰̲̮̮̣̠̥̣̰̼̥̗̱̺͌͌̈̽̊̉ͤ̈̃͐ͫͮ́ͅF̤̫̠̟͉̟̞̥͎̳̜̭̰ͪͫ͑̋̆̆̀͋͒ͯ͊́̽͊̃̚̚ͅ:͍̗͔̪̯̪̘̝̹̩͇̟̩͆ͣͣͫ̈̍͑͐̅ͫ͂̚ ̦̺̖͕̣̜ͮ́̈́̎͒̏͛̉͋̀̓ͨͧ͊̄̃͐ͤ̚1͎͖̮̗̬͖̲̻̜͚̌͒ͭͤ͆̅ͪ̌̿̽̊͒͑2̬̟̣͉̝͚̜̟̟͈̖̾̏̈̈́̾ͅ,͇̝̰͖̯̖̙̻̬̣͈̮̐̌ͧ͆ͦ̔̔ͤͫͮ͂̃ͬ̊̊̑̉̐9͎͉̗̜̝̎̂̃̏̏ͣ̾͆̒͑̃ͫͨ̔͑ͦ͐͐7̞̞̠͎̟͎͇̘̭͎̳͚͚ͬͮ͋̊̌́͆͐̇ͩ̍̈̋5͓͔̦͙͍̞͔͖̪̯̙̙͓͕͌̎͛́ͪ͊ͣ̊̑̀̓̌̅́̎ͬ

̠̥̖͕̻̗̗͍̮͙͔̋͛̇̑͋̃ͬ̆̀̑̀Ľ̳͔̙̳̥̘̰̼̘̲̯̥̍͆̒̌̇͋̒͆ͨ̏̊Ṿ̞̻̲̬̲͖͎̪̲̈́̆̉̀ͦ͆̒͋̃̇͆̄ͪͬ͊̊̽̆̅:͕͚̯̻̖̭̜̥͕͇͇͖͔̣̺̞̩ͩͧ̃ͥͨͩ̿͐̌̍͌ͅ ̖̤̩͍̭͓̫͈̪͇̣͔͈̬͓̜̎̋ͭ̈́̈́̾ͨ̄0̩͔̳͈̩̣̯̘͇͓͎͕̣̯͖̫͎̝͙͊̍ͣ͆̊̔̌ͥ

͔̮͎͙̳̪͙͈͓͇͈̩̳̹̙̃́͌̔̾̎H̗̟̭͕͕ͭ̋ͫ̿ͩP̘̰̥͈̩̙̳̜̯̠͓͓͇͓ͨ̉̒ͮ̅͌͋̑ͩ̈̾ͫ̚:̰̫͚̪̗̪̮͉͙̮̰̄̏͋͊͐̐̈ͅ ͇̤̭͈͈͇͇̠̜̱͍̠̙̖͓ͦ̏̆̉ͣͯͩ̾ͯ̏͋̓ͧ͒̄͊̏ͅͅͅ0͎̟̻͍̭͋̓̊̄̐̇̃̊ͪ.͉̖̻̠̥̭͍͚͓̀̉͆̇ͯ̇̎ͭ̓̈̎̄̽͂ͣͬ̚̚9͇̣̤͙̲̩̟͕͚̗̖͖̖̱͉̲͒̒̌͐̅̎̄̇̍5̰̦̙͙̺̮̱͖͓̭̯̅͋ͯ͗ͣ̈̎ͣͅ7͉̣̠̮̭̬̫̤̤̘̱̙̠͉͉̙̬ͬͤͮͬ̓͐̀ͨͬ̀͐̊̐͑̈́ͫͬ̑ͨͅ

̝̠̥͕̒̎͛̈́̂ͭͤ͆S̬̦̮͉̮̺̉͊̿̀̋̉̿ͥ̑o͙̺͚͇̭̭̥͓̘͍͓͉̼͙̊ͣ̾̔̌̆̂̍ͥͮͫ̓̔ͭͦṳ̘̥̤̺͔̠͙̒̄̐͋̄l̤̰͉͉̖ͫ͋͂̊ͭͥ̃̎̂ͭ̀̓̈́:̳̰̣͔͙͖ͨͬͩ̒͐͂͆̾̆͛̇̉͊ ̪̘̻̲̘̗͕͋͂͛ͫͨ̿͋̇ͤ̓0̘̝̬̪̠̞̹͖̲̝̦̼̩̮̩̱̩͗ͮ̾͋̈́̚ͅ1̦͈̥͇̹̲͓̲͕͍ͬ͐ͮͫ̎ͦͣ̓͒ͪ̿ͥ̍ͥ̆ͨ̾̚1̲̣̟̬̘̜̯̦̝̥̳͑̓̾ͬ̔ͣ̾̋̋͊̓ͮ͐̔͒͊͊̆ͥ0͇̖͓͚̗͚̫̻͉̣̻̯̺͉̺̫̂ͨ̓̃̉ͫ̍̿ͦ̓̅͐̂0͇̫̘̺̲̜͓̘̱͓͎̘̻̖̜̪̣ͦͦ̑̾̂ͣ̇̎ͭ͌̊ͬ̂̌̏̆́1̪͈͇̖̼̟̲͕͚͈͇ͥ̑̋̒̅̄͑̿̂́̆ͬ͗̈́̓ͣ̚ͅ0͚̻̺̼̽̐ͯ̓̍̽̏ͤ͆̏̂ͅ1͙͇͚̯̼̭͚̣̪̱̯̝̗̱̟̗͈̻̰̑͗͑ͣ̍ͨ͛ͯͫ̚ ̞͎̮̼͚̪̰̖͙͍͐ͫ̔͂̋ͦ̀̊̾͊̎ͬ̾͊0͔̤̗̣̞ͨͩ̏̃͒͆̓̿̑̾ͧ͐̽̂ͮ͒1̯̮͈̘̪̥̦̬͖͉̗̺͍̻̦̼̦̞̈́͒ͧ̌̓ͦ̚1̥͓̤̳̮̣͇͈͉̞̥̼̀̄̄̾̾ͮ͒ͭ̔͐̅͌̊͌̋ͮ̌1̠͕̺̖̬͇̯͙͕̥͍͓̗͈̳͈̎̈̉͌̃ͮͪ͋̎̇ͤ͋̉̽̈́̐̓̐0̰̭̘̻͇̬̺͈̺ͮ̉͗͌0̠̼͖̻̫̺͚͙̉̏̃̂̀̋͑͊ͪ̇̄͐̐̎̏ͩ1̥̳̘̟̳̟̯̫̞̣̙̯̥͇ͣ̋͋̊ͧ̀́̓̃̓ͯ̋̚0͕̠̙̤̤̼̗̙̩̜̦̘̹ͤ̊ͧ͑͐ͩͫ̑̽͐ͫͣ̐͛͗͗̚ͅ ̞͚̱̜̳̙̠͈̰̲̘̮̗͚̟̰͉̗̞͐̉̓̑̑ͩͥ̅ͯ͊͑͋

͓̥͉̝̫̝̤̩̭̖̯̆ͮͫ̀͌ͤͮ̐͑ͦ͑̈́̓̍0̞̠̘͙͇͉̌̈́ͨ̑̃̇͑̑͊͋͐1̞̦͖͍̾ͨ̒̋1̗̯͓̖͓̲̺̼́ͣ̇ͥͬ̄̈̋̇ͤͮ̈1̟̙̹̦̪̻̦͖͓̯͖̪̹͛ͧ͌̔̅̈̇͐͂̑ͪ̇̒̿̐̄ͥ͗̓0̩̣̞̩̰͔͕̙͖͓̻͉̎͗̊̋͑̓̄̒͒͌̐͆̍̔̓̉ͫͬ̚ͅ0̳͉̮͇͉͇̤ͩ͑͂ͨ̊̌̃ͪ̓̀̍̅́ͮ1̫̘͔̪̮̙̮̟̬̣̹͆ͭ̋̍͗̽̓̈̀̅͋ͤ͛ͣͫ̾ͅ0̠̗̻̝͉̥̓͒ͪ̍ͦ̂ͨͬ̂̈̔̔ͭ́̒͐̚ ͍̫͍̰͔̼̫̮̘̯̞̺̤̝̠̥̇ͦ͗̾̓̔ͣ̔̓ͣ̆̌ͫͧͩ͂̌0̪̩̰̲͈̯̗̮̦͍͕̬͔̩͎͙͆ͨ͊͆͊ͣ̽ͅͅ1͉̦͉̪͈͕̮͔̼̝̥̞̹̬̫͋̄̇͋͐ͩ̆̇ͭ̊̆̀̑ͅ1̙̝̘͇̗͚̩̗̺̻͇̘̬͂̇͋̓ͫ̀̐̀͆͌̃̏̄ͥͥ̚0̞̻̯̠̞͉̺̘͍̮̠͓͍̟͚̓̇ͨͫ̉̓̾ͫ͂̽ͩ́̂ͥ̽̓͌̑̎ͅ1̻̗̦̟̩̲̻̠̫̥̤̞̪̭̹̤̃͆ͧ̋̅ͬͮ̽̊ͭ̇ͧ̏ͦͭ̐1̗̟͙̠͉̳̙̻̭͙̣̙͚̜̲͈ͣͯ̏͌̿ͬ͑̊͋̊͋1̘͖̰͚̠͔̙̦̝̻̩̝̭̣̙̱̼͇̄ͤ̌̊̆̈́̈́̂̊͋ͪͨ̑͊͊ͪ͆1̗̹͕͍͔̜̱̠̃̐ͧ́͂̓̂̏̽̇ͅ

The letters were warped and almost impossible to read and the whole screen was glitching with light flashing in varied intensity. Papyrus looked on the screen and then back to Alphys. He decided to step back to give Alphys more space.

"Lemme take a closer look." Undyne stood up and approached the monitor. "The hell..?"

"PLEASE TELL ME THAT IT USUALLY DOES THAT." Papyrus felt tense. Not even smiling seemed to be an option anymore. Not that he’d want to of course, but still.

"No... Th-this is not… o-ordinary." the yellow lizard whispered under her breath, staring at the screen. "I guess we have t-to assume that what happened to him messed up his s-stats... really b-bad."

A loud bang caused the mechanical whir to temporarily fade, before quickly booting up again. Undyne rubbed her fist, which she had used to punch the monitor with. The impact caused the screen to flash again and sound even stranger than before. Like a distorted glitching noise, but at least it seemed to help, as the content on the screen came out just a bit clearer.

"I think I see something now," she said and leaned closer to the machine. "At least a little. Name, attack, defense, yadda, yadda, yadda... Soul status... huh... Okay? There are just a looot of numbers, ones and zeros all over."

Alphys threw an anxious look at the fish monster while simultaneously fidgeting with her own claws. "A-Are you sure?"

"Yup. Pretty much," Undyne stated, without taking her eye off the screen.

"Can you tell me the order of them?"

"Nope. It's too blurry. Besides, there are a lot of numbers."

Papyrus peeked at the screen. "BUT... CAN YOU DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT?" he asked carefully.

The scientist took a deep breath. "Hmm, let m-me see... This is so confusing! I think that I'll start by going to the storage and see if I got something that'll help him recover HP at least. There should b-be something left. I'll be right back..."

Not much was being said between Undyne and Papyrus when Alphys was gone. Papyrus wasn't in a talkative mood, as Undyne must've noticed. He could almost literally sense her worried glances, but she too remained silent.

Alphys returned holding a pink blanket over her arm, a pillow, and plastic bag containing a transparent liquid, with a long tube at the end. "I found this!" she said, almost triumphantly. "This is what I used for the amalgamates when they were, uh, w-woozy..." she toned down immediately and put the pillow under Sans' head and tucked him in under the blanket. She turned to Papyrus, pointing a scaly finger at the bag. "It's concentrated magic which restores HP, as well as give a few temporary points... which I think Sans might need right now, y'know just in case. This usually works by me putting a needle into an arm, or a leg on any of the amalgamates, but they are... a bit softer and... fleshier than Sans is. I might have to find a thicker needle if this one doesn't work. If I even have one that is..."

Papyrus nodded his head and backed away to let the scientist work, showing his concern with silent attention. He was just as much at a loss as Alphys on how to get the needle through. Usually, any medication they needed were consumed like a food item, or in extreme cases through their souls. but that was not an option right now, considering the condition of Sans’ soul. The thought of getting an actual needle through the bones made him cringe a little.

Alphys carefully tried inserting the needle on an unscathed part of Sans’ arm. Her hands were shaking quite a bit as she tried pressing it directly onto the bone and she fumbled and didn't manage to press it through. She tried a few times, each time proved to be unsuccessful.

"Want me to do it?" Undyne asked.

"Oh Uh, n-no thanks. I think I'd better do it. Even if it weren't for the f-fact that his soul is... a bit messed up, he's got less than 1 HP right now." For a brief moment, she turned her attention towards the monitor. "Any ill-intent or even slight trace of annoyance could accidentally hurt him and we can't afford that... I can do this, I just need to be careful..."

Undyne nodded and Alphys tried again, but to no avail.

"Try putting it in one of the cracks on his arm maybe? They should be more vulnerable," Undyne suggested, but Papyrus cringed even more with that idea. It sounded way more unpleasant.

"No. It's going to have to be set in place for a while, so in order for his wound to completely heal it has to go somewhere else, through an incision made without an ill-willed intent, remember? I think I'm gonna have to try and find another n-needle after all."

"Where do you keep your medical supplies? I can help you look," Undyne offered, seemingly eager to help in any way she could.

Alphys nodded. "Thanks. I'll show y-you. Do you want to stay here with Sans?" she asked, looking back at Papyrus.

"I'M NOT GOING TO LEAVE HIM," he replied, determined to stay at his brother's side.

"That's what I thought, I just w-wanted to ask..." she said before she and Undyne left the room.

Papyrus yawned, covering his mouth. The fact that he'd been up several nights, calibrating his puzzles, was beginning to take its toll and he began a valiant struggle to try to keep his eyes open.

In hindsight, he wished he could have been a little less determined to capture a human and join the royal guard, especially now that all of his hard work might not even pay off. He blinked and rubbed his eyes with his palms. There was no use dwelling on that matter. Especially not at a time like this.

Thankfully both the girls shared an optimistic look on their faces when they finally returned, and Alphys showed him a strange looking tube with a long, thick needle attached.

"This should d-do the trick," she said a bit hesitantly and tried again. Part of Papyrus was happy for Sans that he wasn't awake to experience Alphys trying to get the needle through his radius. After a few tries, and some scraping with the needle, which caused chills to go down his spine, she finally succeeded. A trace of red liquid was discharged from the puncture the needle caused, but at least it got through this time and Alphys drew a sigh of relief.

"What is that?" asked Undyne and pointed at the wound, while Alphys wiped the red liquid off. "It was all over the place back on the lake. Are skeletons even supposed to bleed? I mean I always thought that you guys didn't have blood because of, well kinda obvious reasons."

"I MEAN... WE HAVE MAGIC AND MARROW, BUT I DON'T THINK MARROW IS SUPPOSED TO HAVE THE SAME SHARP SHADE OF RED AS THAT," he said after eyeing the red substance now staining the cloth, unable to keep his face from grimacing. "I ONCE BROKE MY ARM, BUT I DON'T REMEMBER IT TO LOOK LIKE THAT."

In the corner of his eye, he noticed Alphys flinching ever so slightly. "Are you sure?" she asked, her eyes slightly widened as she continued to put a dressing around the needle in order to keep in in place. As soon as she connected the needle to the tube to the IV bag it was filled with the transparent liquid and though the numbers on the screen were blurry, they were visibly affected.

"YES?" Papyrus stated, raising an eyebrow at her. He couldn't shake the feeling that she had figured something out.

"Well, in th-that case I could extract some of it and analyze it. To find out what it is and if it's got something to do with... this," she sighed deeply and eyed the screen. "But I'm going to need more than just a small drop, so I'm going to need another needle... But having said that I, uh... I think I might know what i-it is, but I need to make absolutely sure.”

”WHAT DO YOU THINK THEN??” Papyrus's heart lifted for a while.

”I mean, I'm not sure and I realize that my guess is far-fetched, but it could be, uh... DT. But e-even if it were, some things still wouldn't make sense! I mean... uh..." She fell quiet and aimed her gaze at the wall. She fumbled with her glasses as if she was trying to figure out what to say next.

Left without a proper answer, Papyrus glanced at Undyne and for a brief moment, their eyes met. She shared the same confused expression and shrugged her shoulders. "Alright. So you think it's... DT. Care to explain what that is?" she asked as she turned her attention back to the yellow lizard-monster. It was unusual to hear her talk in such a tender and caring manner, because it sounded nothing like her ordinary strident, awe-inspiring voice.

"Oh! S-Sorry... It's determination, or simply DT for short. It's a very potent trait that we monsters don't possess in our souls. Humans, however, have excess. In my experience, DT can be used to enhance the strength and endurance of a monster... It can even bring back monsters who have fallen down."

”Huh. Well, that does sound plausible,” said Undyne. She crossed her arms and gestured towards Sans with her head. ”So at least the bonehead should be okay then?”

Silence lingered in the air before Alphys finally brought herself to continue.

”I-I don't know... I, uh... Like I said monsters don't naturally p-possess DT. That's because... well, it's because m-monster bodies don't h-have enough physical matter to handle it. It could c-cause the body to... break... down. That's what happened when I tried to-" Her trembling voice fell quiet and she swallowed. Refusing to let her gaze off of the wall she inhaled sharply before she continued. "I mean, it was the main factor that caused the a-amalgamates to form, to begin with. They too ran out of HP and were fallen, but the DT revived them. Then it... dissolved them. But, I mean..."

Another pause. She sniveled and wiped her face with her sleeve. Undyne walked up to her and removed her glasses, so she could wipe a single, falling tear off her face and then gently placed a hand on her shoulder.

"It's alright," she assured, looking Alphys straight in the eye. "You did your best for them."

"Th-thanks..." Alphys whispered breathlessly, grabbing Undyne's hand as a forced smile spread over her face. When she finally saw the concerned expression on the tall skeleton's face she quickly added: "N-Not like that's sure to happen to Sans! We don't even know for sure that it is DT! I've never seen it affect a monster's body this drastically alone before. When it happened to the other fallen monsters It sorta merged them together upon touch and that hasn't happened to Sans! We're all still able to touch him without being affected the way the amalgamates were! For all, I know it c-could be something else! I just think it could be DT, I don't know!"

"Either way it wouldn't make sense for him to suddenly acquire it, right?" Undyne queried and let her arms fall down the sides after giving Alphys her glasses back.

"R-Right. But right now I can't think of anything that suits the description of this whole mess more than DT. I mean it doesn't explain why he looks like this, but it could explain the 'blood'," she made quotation marks with her claws. "the fact that he was able to survive when he should have f-fell down, his broken soul still withstanding and the peculiar stat-readings... well, maybe. B-But..." she breathed out heavily. "Besides... I-I really can't think of anything else it could b-be..."

No one spoke for a while. The glitching noises from the stat monitor seemed to increase in intensity, as their voices quieted down.

"SO, C-CAN YOU FIND OUT THEN?" asked Papyrus. It felt like a small lump was sitting in his throat as he tried to speak. He hoped his voice didn't tremble as much as his soul.

"Yes. I could try to draw some out through the remains of his injury. A small pinprick should be alright."

"'Aight let me help you if I can," said Undyne, but Papyrus hoped that Alphys would reject her offer because he was scared that she might be a little too rough on his brother and end up accidentally hurt him instead. And that had already happened one time too many today.

The regular syringe-needle got through the weakened bone tissue on the humerus much easier than it did on the radius. Undyne didn't have to help, so Papyrus could let out a sigh of relief.

The syringe was quickly filled with a bright red substance. Alphys filled up a whole tube before she nodded to herself with a satisfied look on her face and withdrew the needle. "That should do. I'm going to run these through the DT extractor and hopefully, I'll know what it is in... a while... You can join Toriel and Frisk upstairs... it's more homy there."

"I'M NOT LEAVING SANS ALONE DOWN HERE."

"Okay. That's fine. You can make yourself at home here too. It's just a bit... creepier down here..."

"ALL THE MORE REASON NOT TO LEAVE MY BROTHER ALONE. WHAT IF HE WAKES UP? HE'S GOING TO BE VERY CONFUSED AND HE'LL NEED SOMEONE TO EXPLAIN EVERYTHING TO HIM."

Undyne moaned loudly and crossed her arms. "And I don't think you should be alone now either, not in the shape you’re in. So I guess I'm staying here with you too. Just as long as you're sure you don't need any help with that, Alphy?" she said pointing to the filled syringe in the yellow lizard's hands.

"Oh! Uh, no thank you. This is just a standard analysis. I did it all the time with the DT I used... before…” Alphys made a small pause and cleared her throat.”It shouldn't take that long."

"Okay. Let me know if you need anything, alright?"

Alphys nodded to Undyne and gave her a polite smile before going away again.

Papyrus went to the unoccupied operating table. He carefully glanced at his brother and frowned. Confusion and fear still crowded his mind. Somehow he felt like he couldn't relax just yet, and that he needed to be alert and ready for action.

Undyne on the other hand yawned loudly and stretched her uninjured arm before sitting herself down beside him. "You look awful, punk."

"WHAT, ME? PFFT. I'M FINE. JUST A LITTLE TIRED FROM THE WALK HERE THAT'S ALL."

"Alright, so why don't you take a break and sleep for a while?"

"NO WAY. SANS IS GONNA NEED ME WHEN HE WAKES UP AND I CAN'T BOONDOGGLE AROUND."

"Alright, if you say so." She said and exhaled sharply. "Hey, listen. About earlier, I'm sorry for what I said to you. I was frustrated because of what happened and I took it out on you. You didn't deserve to hear any of that."

"THAT'S ALRIGHT," Papyrus answered. He was never one to hold a grudge, especially not after being apologized to. "I'M SORRY YOU GOT HURT," he continued, glancing at her bandaged shoulder.

Undyne gave a nod before strictly aiming her gaze towards Sans. "So, you sure you don't know anything about this?"

"OF COURSE. I HAD NO IDEA. LADY ASGORE THOUGHT... SHE SAID IT WAS WEIRD THAT IT HAPPENED AFTER DAD SHOWED UP, BUT I THINK THAT SHE'S WRONG. NONE OF THAT MAKES SENSE."

"Well, I wouldn't say for sure that she's wrong. Look, I get you're protecting your dad, but even you must think that it does sound strange that it happened just now.” There was a brief pause... Papyrus didn’t feel like answering Undyne’s remark.

“Ungh, to think that we could be on the surface right now, huh?" she said and exhaled sharply.

"I JUST WANT SANS TO BE OKAY. IT'S HARD TO SEE HIM LIKE THIS,” Papyrus mumbled quietly.

"Yeah. He does look pretty messed up... But don't worry! If nothing bad has happened yet I'm sure it won't be long before he's back to his old, lazy... sloppy self again! Actually I'm not so sure that's an entirely good thing." Undyne attempted a goofy grin, baring almost all of her fangs, but when Papyrus didn't react the way she hoped for, she leaned back against the wall, grunting.

The glitching sound of the machine beside Sans’ bed pierced through Papyrus's mind as if it was trying to remind him of every horrible thing that took place today.

Papyrus did his best to remain alert, though he eventually couldn't resist the temptation of closing his eyes. It was surely just for a moment, but the next thing he knew Undyne was poking his skull, which seemed to be leaning on her shoulder.

"Dude, wake up. Alphys is back."

"WHAT?" he became alert quickly and pulled away from Undyne with a growing sense of doom. He cringed when he saw Alphys. The somber look on the scientist's face didn't bode good news. He barely even noticed that Toriel and Frisk had come downstairs. "WHA-WHAT DID YOU FIND OUT??"

"Well, it, uh, i-it is DT."

For several moments, Papyrus just stood there watching her. A thousand thoughts raced through his head. He released a sudden sigh as he tried to speak, but no words came out. Finally, it was Toriel who spoke, with a soft voice.

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know. I really don't, because based on what I found... I mean this is not the same as the DT I've been working with. The one Sans had is 57% less potent, give or take a few...”

"SO... IS THAT... A GOOD THING THEN?" asked Papyrus.

"In all honesty... I mean... M-Maybe? But I think this raises more questions than it answers. Do you think it's possible for Sans himself to have known about it?"

"OF COURSE NOT, BECAUSE IF SO THEN I KNOW THAT HE WOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING. HE LOVES SCI-FI STUFF AND THINGS OUT OF THE ORDINARY. IF SOMETHING WAS... STRANGE, I’M THE ONE PERSON HE WOULD HAVE TOLD." Papyrus couldn't stop his voice from shaking.

"Like he did when we were still at your place?" said Undyne and raised an eyebrow. "The more I think about it, the more I think he knows more than he lets on. I mean it's hard to say if he knows about everything, but I think he knew what was happening to himself. Or he wouldn't have left us, right?"

"Is it even possible for those two things to be connected?" said Toriel's soft voice. She had sat down in one of the benches beside the row of sinks, with Frisk on her lap, gently patting their head. The child's lower lip trembled, as they threw careful looks over in Sans' direction.

"It's not a conclusion I would make," said Alphys, quietly. "I mean, I guess it does explain how he was able to s-survive your a-attack, y-your majesty, but this whole shape-shifting thing... not so much. Besides, there is something else."

Again, Papyrus's whole body seemed to tense up and he readied himself for more bad news.

"The DT Extractor down the hall is the only known method ever reported in the whole underground to be able to extract DT from a human soul."

Papyrus barely noticed how Toriel slightly cringed when Alphys mentioned the human souls, and the petting on Frisk's head intensified.

"This machine has been here for as long as there have been reports, but it was undergoing upgrades and maintenance ten years ago because the extracted DT was too weak. That means... that the l-last time someone extracted DT with this low potency was ten years ago, or m-more. So I... uh, h-he had had to live with it for at least ten years, and you can't spend that long not knowing that. He has to know."

"BUT THAT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE. HE WOULD HAVE TOLD ME SOMETHING!" Papyrus exclaimed, just a little louder than he intended to.

A heavy silence fell upon the group.

"At least I think it's safe to say that he's not risking a s-similar fate as the amalgamates," said Alphys after a while, trying her best to give a reassuring smile. "and-and he c-can explain when he wakes up, right?"

“So he’ll be fine then? Asked Toriel. “That’s a good thing, yes?” She turned to Papyrus, with a reassuring smile on her lips.

"I KNOW... IT'S JUST... I'VE NO IDEA WHAT TO MAKE OF ALL THIS.” Papyrus couldn’t stand to look at her without feeling patronized.

"Don't worry, dude. As soon as he wakes up we can ask him, and then we can punch him for being stupid and not letting you know any of this!" Undyne added.

Once more Toriel turned to Papyrus. "I had a thought, earlier you mentioned to me that Sans was sick when you were kids? What was the matter with him?"

"WELL, I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE SICKNESS WAS CALLED. ALL I KNOW IS SOMETIMES IT WAS BAD AND OTHER TIMES HE WAS DOING PRETTY GOOD. WHEN IT WAS REALLY BAD HE COULD BE BEDRIDDEN FOR DAYS. I REMEMBER HE USED TO HAVE A LOT OF TROUBLE WITH HEADACHES… AND SOMETIMES HIS SOUL WOULD REJECT REPLENISHED ENERGY AND HE'D BE REALLY SICK."

"And what did your dad do about that?" The old boss-monster continued.

"OH! HE WAS VERY CONCERNED WITH SANS' HEALTH! ONCE A MONTH OR SO HE TOOK SANS TO THE LABORATORY, WELL HERE I GUESS, IN ORDER TO TREAT HIM AND KEEP HIM HEALTHY."

"Wait a minute. Here as in here? This exact place?" Undyne's loud voice questioned.

"YES. HE WAS A SCIENTIST. JUST LIKE ALPHYS."

"No way! I-I didn't know that..! What h-happened to him?" Alphys stuttered.

"THEY TOLD ME THERE WAS AN ACCIDENT AND THAT HE FELL DOWN."

"And by 'they', you mean..?" Undyne added, skeptically.

"OUR GRANDPA, AND AUNT AND UNCLE. WELL, THEY WEREN'T REALLY OUR AUNT AND UNCLE, BUT WE LIVED WITH THEM FOR A WHILE AFTER DAD FELL. IT WAS IN-" Papyrus burbled on.

"But why take h-him to a lab and not to a doctor?" Alphys interrupted. Her cheeks flushed instantly. “Sorry… I didn’t mean to interrupt you…”

“You have a good point though,” Undyne proclaimed.

"WELL, THAT WAS SO DAD COULD GIVE HIM HIS SPECIAL MEDICATION AND KEEP AN EYE ON HIM, OF COURSE! WHICH WAS GOOD BECAUSE THE MEDICINE ALWAYS MADE HIM WORSE FOR A FEW DAYS BEFORE IT STARTED TO WORK."

"What happened when your dad disappeared then? Who treated Sans after that?" Papyrus didn’t like the accusing tone in Undyne’s voice. He decided to ignore it for now, so that he could prove her wrong.

"NO ONE. BECAUSE..." Papyrus stopped himself for while. His eyes widened and eads of cold sweat formed on his skull as he suddenly realized that this was one coincidence too many to make sense of what he thought he knew. He had to force himself to go on. "SANS... RECOVERED SHORTLY AFTER DAD FELL."

Undyne's face wrinkled up in a disgusted frown. "That doesn't sound like a coincidence. Not after all this. Alphy, tell me again how DT could affect a monster?"

"W-Well, no matter the potency DT would probably do q-quite some damage. Clearly not as bad as the amalgamates sustained, but it could very well explain the symptoms you described as well as the fact that he was bedridden from time to time."

Papyrus backed away from the group. The realization of how everything seemed to be connected hit him like a punch in his metaphorical gut and he froze to a point he was barely breathing.

He couldn’t believe that his brother's sickness was the fault of someone he had spent a lifetime looking up to, because he was a hero. A hero not only to him but also to the people he was giving hope to through his research. Surely his dad couldn't have done something so wrong?

"BUT... BUT DAD COULDN'T HAVE... I MEAN HE WOULDN'T. A-AND EVEN IF THAT WAS THE CASE THEN SANS WOULD HAVE TOLD ME SOMETHING! W-WE WERE KIDS B-BACK THEN! IT WAS BASICALLY AGES AGO!" he stuttered with a trembling voice.

"I know it sounds bad, Papyrus, but I think that Undyne might be right," said Toriel. "We can't ignore that this might be the case."

"N-NO! IT'S NOT TRUE!" he shook his head in disbelief. "AND I'LL PROVE IT TO YOU..! I'LL PROVE IT EVEN IF IT MEANS GOING BACK TO OUR OLD HOUSE SO I CAN SHOW YOU HIS OLD OFFICE, IN WHICH YOU WILL FIND NOTHING SUSPICIOUS!"

"Alright," said Undyne, without hesitation. "Let's go right away, you and me."

"WHAT?"

The fish monster crossed her arms and tapped her feet impatiently on the ground. "If there is nothing suspicious there, then you will have proven your point, but if there is, then maybe we can find out something that might help."

"WH-WHAT?" Papyrus repeated.

"Yeah! We could leave right now if you're up for it?"

"No, wait j-just a moment," Alphys interrupted. "What if Gaster is still out there?"

“Then I will not let him escape again.” Undyne clenched her fists as she spoke and a wicked grin appeared on her face.

"Either way, before we do anything we need to take a moment and look after ourselves," Toriel added, in a motherly manner.

 

Chapter 11: Back To The Roots

Summary:

Papyrus is in denial and have mixed feelings about coming home, and Sans wakes up?
Who is this child?

Toriel did her best to make the plain noodles more appetizing, but she didn't have many ingredients to work with. Thankfully her inventory had been filled with one or two snails, but it still wasn't the tastiest meal she'd ever cooked. At least it was better than the stale popato chisps from the vending machine down the hall.

Frisk was now sleeping in one of the beds in the dormitory, while Alphys and Undyne discussed something in the other corner of the room. After much about and though, their leg seemed to be fine. The poor child was still tired though. No wonder. Toriel couldn't begin to imagine how horrible all of this must be to them. They were going to need much rest.

Undyne and Papyrus would be leaving in the morning and go back to New Home to the house where the skeleton brothers lived in as children in order to find any clues about Gaster and what happened to Sans. Toriel was a bit skeptical, though she didn't tell them yet. She still guilty crawl in her soul and she had no better solution to offer. The idea of going outside, with a monster like Gaster out there was unnerving, to say the least. The thought baffled her. Monster souls usually didn't contain such an ill intent as he seemed to. Not while acting on their own. As far as she'd always known and experienced, monster souls didn't contain such bad traits. Love, hope, compassion is what people had always said monster souls are made of.

Her tired legs cracked when she got up from the chair beside Frisk's bed. Deciding that they would be alright for the moment Toriel called for Undyne and Alphys to keep an eye on them, as she decided to check on the skeleton brothers. Papyrus had taken the conclusion they made very hard. He seemed absolutely dumbfounded by everything and she felt so sorry for him.

"Papyrus? Are you okay?" she asked gently as she approached him in the dimly lit room.

"OF COURSE. I'M FINE. I JUST CAN'T SEEM TO STOP SHAKING IS ALL. BUT I'M FINE."

"You should try to get some rest before you leave."

"THE GREAT PAPYRUS NEED NO SLEEP," he said but failed to sound even close to convincing.

She nodded as she sat herself down beside him. "Are you sure about going?"

"YEAH. I THINK I HAVE TO... NOT THAT THERE WOULD BE ANYTHING TO FIND ABOUT... YOU KNOW. BUT IF THERE WERE..." he inhaled sharply, his eyes still focused on his brother. "THEN I THINK UNDYNE IS RIGHT. MAYBE WE'LL FIND SOMETHING THAT CAN HELP SANS. IF... IF THIS REALLY IS TRUE THEN... I CAN'T BELIEVE THAT ALL THESE YEARS HE NEVER TOLD ME ANYTHING. I-I HAD NO IDEA. I MEAN, I KNOW HE'S NOT THE TYPE TO LET ANYONE KNOW STUFF ABOUT HIM, BUT I ALWAYS THOUGHT HE AT LEAST COULD TALK TO ME ABOUT EVERYTHING.”

Toriel lightly put her fuzzy hand on his shoulder. ”Listen, I don't know the two of you as well as I'd like to. But to me, he never once came off as anything else but a good and kind monster, and there is not a doubt in my mind that he did what he did with your best in intention. Seeing that it's a lot to take in, of course.”

”I STILL WISH HE WOULD HAVE SAID AT LEAST SOMETHING.”

"I know. I'm sorry. I understand that you must have so many questions."

"YEAH, YOU COULD SAY THAT," he said, slightly widening his eye sockets briefly while exhaling sharply.

"I suppose I would, too," she said, not able to hold back the melancholic tune to her voice. "I will stay here with Frisk. But be careful, will you not?"

"OF COURSE. UNDYNE IS GONNA BE WITH ME, SO IT WILL BE FINE."

Toriel nodded, more to herself than to him and turned her gaze to Sans. Alphys had done some digging in her closet and found a t-shirt that she thought was his size. It read a phrase she didn't quite understand with some letters she was unfamiliar with, as well as a pair of pajama-pants that during normal circumstances probably would have reached the small skeleton's feet, but now only reached his ankles. Hopefully he the clothes would make him feel less exposed when he woke up. The bandage around his eyes was because Papyrus insisted to wrap his every injury, despite Alphys trying to tell him it was unnecessary because of the concentrated magic he was given.

Toriel hesitated for a while before she picked up her cellphone and entered her contacts. Asgore's number was under the recently added menu. She looked at it for a while before putting the phone back into her inventory. There was no need to involve him just yet. Besides what could he do other than to hand over the issue to the captain of the royal guard? And she was already here.

Hoping that Papyrus would talk to her if he felt like venting, she let the silence linger for a while.

---

"You know what? I-I think I'll g-go with you," said the yellow lizard. Her statement almost made Undyne spit out her noodle-snail soup.

"What? No way. You're staying here behind these locked doors, where I know you'll be safe," she replied, harshly.

"I'm j-just thinking... I know that I'm n-not good for much-"

"Alphys," Undyne began but Alphys didn't care that she was interrupted.

"It's true! Anyway, I am probably the o-only one who knows what we might be looking for. I know the sciency-lingo, hehe," she chuckled nervously and adjusted her glasses, even though they already lay perfectly on her snout. "I know what to go for and what to leave behind. So, please let me help you with the only thing I'm actually capable of helping with..."

Undyne's posture sank a little. She didn't like the thought of putting Alphys in potential danger. She knew Alphys was dedicated and a part of her admired her for it. Papyrus could fend for himself, but he wouldn't. In fact, he would never even hurt a fly. Let alone his own dad, considering how he behaved when she tried bringing up the subject with him. She was going to have to keep an eye on him already. Keeping an eye on Alphys too would be challenging. Especially since she still felt kind of worn. "But you are already helping. If it weren't for you, none of the Sans-issue would have been resolved. Besides, who is going to make sure he gets what medicine he needs when you're away?" Sudden pain in her chest made her wince slightly. Luckily Alphys was turned in the other direction and didn't seem to notice. The pain lingered and for a moment her chest felt like it was being squeezed in a vice. She tried brushing it off, blaming her skittishness and hoped that Alphys wouldn't notice.

"Sans already has what he needs, and b-besides Toriel isn't going. She'll be happy to keep an eye on him, I'm sure."

Undyne placed her now-empty soup-bowl on a nearby nightstand. She folded her arms and turned her gaze towards the floor. "Fine. I... kinda just don't want anything bad to happen to ya', you know?"

"I-I know," replied Alphys, as the same violent shade of red as from before appeared on her scaly face. She frantically averted her eyes from Undyne's direction. "I... d-don't want anything bad to happen to you e-either."

"But just so you know, you ain't getting out of my sight for a second, you get it?" Undyne narrowed her eye at the smaller monster and furrowed her brows.

"O-Of course!"

The tightness in Undyne's chest still lingered, but she made another attempt to brush it off as she and Alphys went to get Papyrus so they could leave.

Papyrus was a lot more upset than even Undyne that Alphys would be coming along but calmed down when Toriel promised to look after his brother while they were gone. He threw many nervous glances over his shoulder when they left the room, but Toriel assured him that she'd go back to Sans as soon as she got Frisk. For a moment Undyne thought that maybe the reason she felt so strange was that his nervousness bled over to her?

None the less there was no time like the present, so after exchanging phone numbers Undyne basically drove them off, leaving Torel, Frisk and Sans at the lab.

---

As soon as they were gone, and the big lab door was sealed shut and locked, Toriel went back to the dorm.

"My child?" said Toriel softly as her tall figure bent over the sleeping child. Her big hand stroked them gently on the cheek. Frisk woke up, squinting their eyes from the light and yawned loudly. "You can keep sleeping if you want, but I'd rather have you in the same room as me, so I can keep an eye on you and I promised to look after Sans too."

"Isn't Alphys doing that?" asked Frisk groggily, rubbing their eyes. They got out of bed and followed her without complaining, but they obviously still needed rest. Toriel immediately noticed that they were still limping a bit, so the old queen picked up the child in her arms and headed down through the corridor with quick steps.

"No, dear. She went with Undyne and Papyrus. So it's just the three of us here now," said Toriel while walking.

"Oh. What about Gaster?"

"They promised to be careful, so don't worry."

A part of Toriel hoped that Sans would be awake so they could speak to him, but he was sleeping soundly. Only now he was snoring too. Toriel chose to take that as a good sign. She sat down on the operating table next to where Sans was laying, with Frisk curled up in her arms.

She stroked the child's head gently, waiting for them to fall asleep, but it wasn't hard to notice that the child wasn't quite relaxed.

"Mom?" they asked softly after some time had passed.

"Yes?"

"I can't sleep."

"You're safe, my dear child. Nobody is going to hurt you anymore. I promise."

"I know. But... still."

The poor child was throwing discrete looks towards Sans and there was a certain sadness in their eyes. Toriel knew that Sans had watched over them as they traveled the underground and they seemed to have grown quite close. It was no wonder that they worried so.

"I understand that you worry, my child," she said and brushed Frisk's hair between her clawed fingers. "I worry too. But it's going to be alright. I have faith in the fact that dr Alphys and the other's are going to find something that will help him."

"Yeah," Frisk said with a faint smile, but Toriel saw through the forced expression at once and she had a feeling in her gut that Sans wasn't the only thing that the child worried about. She hugged Frisk close her and nuzzled their cheek.

"If you want to talk about what happened today, you know that you can tell me anything, right?"

"Oh. I-I'm just worried about Sans. That's it," said Frisk with a toneless voice and their smile faded quickly.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sure, my dear? If something is bothering you, know that I will always be there for you."

"I know, mom. Thanks."

"You're welcome."

The humming of the fan and beeping of computer processors filled the room when they both fell silent. Something about it that was very soporific just to listen to. Toriel longed for sleep herself, but she wouldn't forsake the task of keeping a watchful eye on Sans, just like she promised.

---

'Very peculiar,' Gaster thought while observing his hand. The hard skeletal structure had become soft and squishy, almost. Just his left hand, nothing more. Perhaps using the mechanical hands had drained his magic and after all, he wasn't sure himself where his limit was anymore.

Every fiber in his body told him to stop, but he couldn't bring himself to. He still needed to find the dog before it was too late but began to fear that the usage of magic would catch up to him if he didn't rest for a while. In the void there had been no need for him to replenish energy by eating and not until he finally sat himself down did he remember that it would probably be a good idea to find something to eat.

"You really are an idiot, you know that right?" a voice whispered. It caught him by surprise and he rapidly scanned the area, looking for whoever dared to sneak up on him. But there was no one there. "You're supposed to be smart, are you not?" The voice belonged to a child. It had a light, playful tone to it.

"You took your sweet time. What happened to you?" said Gaster, bringing the hand filled with the faint yellow light closer to him.

"I've always been like this. At least outside the void. I couldn't let you leave without me," said the light, from which the voice came from, in a mocking demeanor.

"It was you who got me out of the void, wasn't it? So, you can travel freely between this world and the void?" A dry tone echoed with the question.

"One of the many benefits of being dead, I suppose. By the way, you're welcome."

"Why did you wait so long to get me out of there? Where were you all this time?"

"I was watching. Just like you. Didn't you always want to learn more about pure determination and its effect? Now you have because you've seen it."

"Interesting. So, here we are then. All this knowledge, and so little time."

Gaster turned his attention back to his hand. It was a strange sensation to touch it, but even more so feeling the touch of his own hand on it. It was numb and yet at the same time, a trilling sensation rushed through it. Almost similar to cramp, but more intense.

The floating hand, containing the red light and the stolen reset button from the human, hoovered closer to him as he inspected it thoroughly. The reset button's sharp light blinded him for a while as he summoned it. Everything would be easier if only he could reset. Then he could start over, get Sans, get the annoying dog and the amalgamate.

"Tell me, friend, what are you planning on doing now?" said the child, who was still without a face. Only the dim light indicated that it was there at all. "Are you going to reset?"

"Yes."

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," they said mockingly, followed by an ironic giggle.

"And why shouldn't I?"

"Quite honestly it was not very easy to get you out if the void. As much as I imagine that you'd have had a fruitful time observing the timelines, my power has slowly been building up over time. I haven't been strong enough to get you out of there until now, and if you were to reset, then well... chances are you'd end up right back in the void and you'd have to wait and see if I'm nice enough to let you out of there a second time. If that's even possible."

"Rude, but perhaps you have a point," said Gaster and dismissed the reset button. "Then I'm going to find the soul amalgamates that I made. I know exactly what to do with them. But I need to gather my strength and rest a while before I do anything."

"Why wait?" the child chimed."You don't need to rest. Just 'borrow' some magic from the soul-fragments that are stored in the hands, as you did to the small, annoying monster before."

That thought hadn't even crossed his mind. He didn't even think it would work that way. All it had done so far was imitate the magic from the soul fragment. But then again he didn't try to actually absorb the magic to his own soul.

"How do you know it'll work?"

"Because I'm smarter than you."

---

Frisk still couldn't fall back to sleep.

The tiredness from before was dispelled as worry and guilt clouded their mind instead. They thought long and hard about what happened and what it would mean now.

Now they weren't able to reset anymore. If Flowey and Sans died, everything they've done would have been for nothing. Every reset, every time Chara made them kill, every time the people they considered their friends tried to kill them. Everything. They felt even worse since the only person they could talk to about all of this was still comatose. Except for him, they had no one to talk to about it with and who understood and it felt so forlorn.

They sighed deeply as they tried to make up their mind about telling Toriel. But what if she wouldn't forgive them? What good would it be for her to know about all this? About Chara? Or Asriel?

Should they decide to her about it would allow them to brainstorm with her about what to do and they wouldn't feel so alone in this.

"Hey, mom," said Frisk. "actually there is something I want to tell you, but I'm not really sure how, because it won't make any sense." They had to make an effort to keep their whispering voice from shaking.

"Try me," replied the boss monster gently.

"Do... do you ever have a weird feeling that some things already happened before?"

"Like Déjà vu? Well, sometimes I guess. I think it happens to a lot of people from time to time?"

"But do you ever experience it frequently?"

Toriel's eyes directed up in the ceiling as she thought about it for a while. "As a matter of fact, yes. Just recently there have been multiple occasions."

Frisk squirmed about and kept their hands busy with their golden locket. They were terrified and their eyes were narrow and lined with tears. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea after all?

"Mom... I've done something really bad." Now there was no way to go but one.

"My child-" Toriel began but was interrupted by a sudden noise coming from Sans, as he abruptly started to cough and hack. He gasped sharply between wet coughs and it was a horrible noise to listen to. Toriel gently placed Frisk down on the operating table and hurried up to Sans' side. She helped him up into a sitting position to make it easier for him to breathe and it actually sounded like it helped. But his body was still limp and she had to hold on to him to keep him upright.

Frisk stayed put, even more, scared now than before. Somehow, even though Sans had no lungs the cough sounded wet and slimy and that was a sound that reminded them all too well of what happened to other monster's exposed to DT. Though Alphys said he'd be fine despite the DT in his system, Frisk was really starting to get scared that Sans would end up like one of the amalgamate's anyway. And if so, Toriel was very exposed as she held him so close to her.

"Mom, I think you should give him some space."

"Don't worry my child. He's going to be fine."

"But what if Alphys was wrong? What if the DT is actually hurting him? It could hurt you too."

"I appreciate your thoughtfulness, but Alphys said that there is no reason to worry. Besides, I promised to look after him. It's my fault this happened in the first place, so it's not more than fair for me to do what I can for him. Maybe you'd better wait in the dorm?" Toriel suggested to Frisk. But they shook their head. "My child, please..?"

"No!" They said, as firm on their voice as they could.

"But-"

"No! I'm not leaving. I want to help too!"

Toriel nodded. "Alright then. If you want to help then could you please get some water from the sink?"

Frisk obliged without a second thought and went up to one of the nearby sinks, looking for some container to fill up with water.

They couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of how unaffected Toriel seemed to be. Just like she knew exactly what to do. The sound of Sans' distressed noised lurched in Frisk's ears and a wave of nausea washed over them. When Toriel got the water she gently leaned Sans backward and tried pouring some into his wide opened mouth, but it didn't seem like he managed to actually drink anything.

Eventually, he finally managed to calm down but continued dry, racking retches, as if he was going to throw up before he finally fell silent. He was still breathing rather heavily. Toriel spoke softly to him, trying to console him while keeping a close eye on the monitor with his stats.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright. Just relax," she told him, over and over in a soothing voice.

Suddenly his body went stiff as if he realized he was being held ad he began to try and get loose. "let go", he mumbled under his breath, while frantically thrashing around to try and get away from Toriel.

"My friend, calm down. You've nothing to fear." She loosened the bandage around his eyes in order for him to be able to see, but it didn't seem to do much. He still didn't seem to be fully aware of what was happening. Eventually, the horrible cough returned.

"Frisk, would you mind," she sacrificed one arm from the hold on Sans and grabbed her cellphone and handed it to Frisk. "call Dr. Alphys please."

---

The happy street Papyrus remembered was laying before him, gloomy and abandoned. It didn't look like anyone at all had lived nearby in at least a few years. The neat houses and hollowed out cave walls that people used to care for was timeworn and tattered. His own house included. It was hard to tell if people had still been living here until the barrier broke or not. If that was the case, they certainly weren't taking proper care of their real estates and that was a shame.

Luckily they didn't stumble upon anyone on the way there, but then again Undyne kept a swift pace. When Alphys failed to keep up she carried the smaller monster on her back to remain as efficient as possible.

It felt strange coming back to this place. Ever since his father supposedly died, he had never been here even once. But since they still owned the house, he had tried to get Sans to come along a few times, but he always came up with various excuses not to go, so they never went.

But coming back here made it feel as if he had never left at all. Though wear and tear had taken their toll on the lofty house, it was still his home, somehow. He'd almost expected grandpa Semi to await his return inside.

"This is the one?" asked Undyne and pointed at the house.

"YES. THIS IS WHERE WE USED TO LIVE. THOUGH IT DIDN'T USE TO LOOK AS... FRAYED BEFORE. AT LEAST NOT AS FAR AS I CAN REMEMBER, AND MY MEMORY NEVER FALTERS."

"Don't suppose you have the key left?" Undyne called from over by the house. She gave the door a sinister stare as she rolled up the sleeves of her jacket.

"I NEVER EVEN HAD A-" Papyrus began but was interrupted before he could finish the sentence. With a swift motion, Undyne had already kicked in the door.

"Didn't think so," she huffed and entered.

"U-Undyne, be c-careful...!" Alphys stuttered. Papyrus wasn't slow to follow the eager captain inside. Even inside it looks just like Papyrus remembered. Even though the air was stale, it was still the same smell of his home.

With the absence of some furniture, the long hallway looked just like when he was little, with the addition of a thick layer of dirt and lint everywhere.

Undyne flicked the light switch a few times, without result. Papyrus couldn't help but to go through the hallway and into his and Sans' shared room. Nostalgia hit him hard when he found that the room looked exactly the same as when he left it. His old toys were still scattered all over the floor and books and puzzles were neatly stacked in a shelf, precisely sorted in the specific order he wanted them to be.

He picked up a worn action figure, which he used to love and he started to remember just what he did the last time he was here. It was just before Sans were going with their dad to the lab. They were having breakfast and he felt sad. He always felt sad when Sans went away.

"Are you okay, dude?" asked Undyne from the hallway.

"OH. OF COURSE," he told her ambiguously and swiftly put the toy down.

"Did you find anything?"

"NOTHING WE MIGHT HAVE ANY USE FOR. JUST SOME OLD TOYS AND STUFF."

"Was this your room?" asked Undyne and looked around with a somewhat amused look on her face. She snickered to herself and went through the shelf, a grin spreading on her face as she grabbed a very worn notebook with a green binder.

"YEAH, SANS AND I USED TO SHARE THIS ROOM. BUT WE PROBABLY WON'T FIND ANYTHING IN HERE ANYWAY, SO WE SHOULD MOVE ON."

"Is this a dairy!! It is, isn't it?! Was this yours?" She asked, the grin even wider somehow and waved the notebook in front of him.

"NO. THAT WAS SANS' JOURNAL," said Papyrus. He recognized it right away because Sans would always make a scene and yell at him if he even tried to get a sneak peek. "YOU SHOULD PUT IT DOWN, HE WAS VERY CAREFUL NOT TO LET ANYONE READ IT. NOT EVEN ME, UNDYNE!"

"Hell no. Might as well discover some embarrassing childhood shenanigans while we're here."

Her toothy grin faded as soon as she opened the notebook. "Okay, this isn't what I expected."

"WHAT? WHAT'S WRONG?" asked Papyrus. Undyne flipped the book towards him and he had to cover his mouth to prevent a startled gasp to escape his mouth. The pages were cluttered with alarming messages and drawings. 

 

Notes:

I'm so sorry for the frequent POV change >< Hopefully that won't be an issue in the latter chapters!

I was supposed to upload this on October 11, because that date marks the one year anniversary of this fic. Good God I'm a slow writer. At least I made a cover in time for the date, feel free to go to chapter 1 and check it out! I've also made a few changes in the prologue that you can also check out of you want!

LET THE FLUFF BEGIN... in the next few chapters.. XD I'm a bit torn on how to write the next chapter. It might be a very short one. THIS TIME IT WON'T TAKE SO LONG AND THIS TIME I MEAN IT! ^^'

AND ALSO, LOOK AT THIS FANTABOLOUS ART THAT THESE AWESOME PEOPLE MADE:
https://sta.sh/019oxds9eps9
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Branches-On-A-Tree-763836934
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Good-Boy-765259549
https://www.deviantart.com/bluejaysymphony/art/It-s-a-family-tradition-758211602

https://www.deviantart.com/princess-cadence-mlp/art/There-Powers-767159339
https://www.deviantart.com/funonabun/art/fani-your-morals-confuse-me-769858548
https://www.deviantart.com/spinjester/art/GB-Sans-770150188

Chapter 12: Thoughts Of A Burdened Mind

Summary:

Papyrus looks through the journal, but quickly comes to realize that he wish he never did.

                 

The last page of written content ended rather abruptly. Papyrus clutched the now closed book in his shaking hands. He just briefly looked through it, but it was still more than enough information for him to take in.

"I think it's safe to say that something definitely was wrong," said Undyne and grabbed to book from him, browsing through a few more pages. "Doesn't exactly seem like he was in a good place and he does mention your dad more than once. This is solid proof that he is not a good guy, see?" she showed him a very specific page, but Papyrus just looked away. "This is not okay."

"BUT... B-BUT HE'S NEVER... I MEAN, WHY WOULDN'T HE TELL ME SOMETHING LIKE THIS?" asked Papyrus and grabbed the journal back from her. With a firm motion he closed it, before clutching it close to his chest as if some kind of comfort would come from the gesture and make the content lighter. "I MEAN IT'S... ME. I'M HIS BROTHER. WHY WOULDN'T HE TELL ME THIS?"

Undyne crossed her arms. The uncertain look on her face didn't suit her normally confident appearance at all. "I'm sorry Paps. I don't know."

Papyrus didn't say anything. He had to try hard to stay focus, but he felt tired. Tired and empty. He found it hard hard to adjust to this new information. His mandible was starting to quiver and he wondered how he could've been so blind. Sure, it was a fact that Sans valued his privacy very much, and for as long as he could remember Sans had been both lazy and apathetic, so neither of those things had ever been alarming. That's just the way he was, but Papyrus never thought about why he was like that. Not to mention why he would keep such a big secret about their father.

"Don't worry, Paps. We're going to find out exactly what happened, help Sans, and then show that bastard Gaster what's coming for him!" said Undyne and smashed her fist in her palm.

"Y-YEAH, I MEAN," said Papyrus quietly, his voice shaking as he walked up to the bookshelf to put the journal back, but Undyne interrupted him before he could do so.

"No, bring it. Even if we don't find anything more of value here, the journal might help Sans remember what happened."

"BUT THAT MEANS HE'D HAVE TO THINK BACK ABOUT IT."

"Yeah?"

"WELL, I DON'T KNOW. IT SEEMS PRETTY DRASTIC... IT MIGHT BRING BACK BAD MEMORIES...?"

"That can't be helped. I'm sorry."

Papyrus winced when his phone suddenly rang. The display showed Toriel's name and he prayed that she would call with good news about Sans. "HELLO...?"

"Papyr-" said Frisk's voice.

"IS SANS OKAY?" he blurted out before they could finish talking.

"Put them on speaker," said Undyne and called for Alphys in the hall.

"Well, he woke up a while ago. I think, but we can't seem to get through to him. He keeps coughing kinda badly..." they spoke with a brittle voice, as if they might start to cry and there was indeed a faint coughing noise in the background that made Papyrus feel even worse. "Is Alphys there? Mom was was hoping that she might know what to do in order to help him."

"Oh, I-I'm here Frisk," said Alphys, who had entered the room just in time to hear the latter part of the conversation. "I'm afraid it's hard to tell why he's coughing so bad, but at least his should should be fine, thanks to the artificial magic I hooked him up to earlier. I-it's something, right? I mean th-that's at least good?" said Alphys, hesitantly looking for confirmation from Undyne and Papyrus as she nervously fidgeted with her own claws 

"But he's still not responding to us when we try to talk to him. It's like he can't even hear us and mom has to hold him down so he won't accidentally hurt himself." Papyrus glanced at Alphys, and was a bit dismayed when he saw how unsure the yellow lizard looked. Her tail was slowly swaying from side to side and her eyes were distant, deep in thought.

"PLEASE, ALPHYS. THERE MUST BE SOMETHING ELSE YOU CAN DO, RIGHT?" Papyrus pleaded.

"Well, maybe," she mumbled quietly. "Frisk, are you still down in the True Lab? You're, uh... gonna have to listen to me c-carefully."

"Give her the phone, Paps. She can instruct them what to do while we search for more information, okay? That way we can go back to them sooner," said Undyne and poked his arm.

"BUT I NEED TO HEAR HOW SANS IS DOING AND-"

"No, you don't. At least not right now. Don't worry, Alphys will know what to do. We need to trust her, okay?"

"BUT-"

"No 'buts'! Besides, instead of just listening to how he's holding up and getting all worked up about it, you should do what you can to help."

"BUT WHAT CAN I DO?"

"You can help me try to find a clue to what happened to him, okay? If we are to help then we need to know that."

"WELL, O-OKAY," Papyrus stuttered, but he knew that she was right. He wouldn't be able to help by worrying. That would only cause the exact opposite of what he wanted to achieve.

"Good. Then let's go to the study, or lab or whatever you mentioned before. Show me the way."

Papyrus nodded and led her towards his father's bedroom. He knew that his father's study was in the basement, but not even he knew what was down there. He was never allowed inside, and being the exceptionally good little kid he was, he never disobeyed any authorities. He did remember how paranoid his father was about people entering his private study and the basement door was sealed shut with more than one lock. Though neither one of the locks stood a chance against Undyne's fury. Not the actual door either for that matter.

Dust flew in the air as the door was knocked down and a fusty smell spread across the room. The staircase was rickety and didn't seem safe at all. At least not according to Papyrus's standards, and it was difficult to see anything past it. Undyne summoned a teal spear to illuminate their surroundings, since there were no electricity to light the lamps. Everything about the lab reminded Papyrus of a scene from a horror movie and he did not like horror movies.

The room was mostly empty, but for a few obsolete pieces of rusted, what Papyrus could only imagine to be science equipment. He recognized one piece of the equipment, a microscope, because Sans used to have a similar one when they were kids. There was also an old looking computer. As for the other gadgets and trinkets, he could only guess what they were.

All equipment shared the common trait of wear and tear, all probably useless by now. A few shelves with some interesting looking notebooks caught both Papyrus's and Undyne's attention. Papyrus grabbed as many as he could, but he didn't dare to look inside them. Not here, not yet. Undyne briefly glanced through some books, before throwing them over her shoulder.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING? DON'T YOU THINK WE MIGHT NEED THOSE?"

"They're just boring math books. I highly doubt math can explain this." 

"YOU DON'T KNOW THAT!"

"Do you?"

"I, UH... NO."

"Well then! You should probably looks through your own pile as well and sort out what we don't need."

Papyrus gulped before doing what he was told. He was kinda relieved when the books he found proved to be nothing but fiction or math books, but just to be safe, he held on the the notebooks that were hand written by his dad. Not that he would be able to decipher Wing Dings that well, but maybe the numbers still meant something. Either way they wouldn't be bothersome to bring with him if he sent them to his interdimensional storage box. 

Undyne instructed Papyrus to keep looking for information, as she went back to the ground floor to get Alphys.

By now he was feeling pretty confident that he at least wouldn't find any more disturbing facts. Another fiction book went into the discard pile, but he still pressed the journal close to him. 

Notes:

Again - I apologize for taking forever! I'm not going to say that the next part will be up soon, because it probably won't. I won't stop writing though and I've managed to get a lot more things figured out. Anyway, I'm still very grateful to anyone who reads this, and I hope your holidays were great! ^^

I can assure you - it's not going to be all angsty! I just had to postpone the fluff a little further. ^^;

I tried hard to write the journal notes from Sans, a 10 year old kid's perspective. The font I used for his handwriting is called Acki Preschool and I thought it suited his character well! It can be found here: https://www.1001fonts.com/acki-preschool-font.html

The pages featured here are not the entire content of the journal, because that wouldn't be a good read I'm afraid, but more details of what happened will be revealed in the comic! https://www.deviantart.com/pixiehobbit/art/But-First-Tea-pg-1-759894051

Feel free to visit the ask series I made for the characters (based on the prologue comic I'm working on, so the characters are smol -w-) and ask a question, if you want to! https://www.deviantart.com/pixiehobbit/gallery/67493451/But-First-Tea-Ask-Series

I also finally have a reference sheet for blaster Sans! https://www.deviantart.com/pixiehobbit/art/BoaT-Sans-ref-775353382

Thank you wonderful people for the amazing art you made for this story! It really means the world to me!

https://sta.sh/019oxds9eps9
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Branches-On-A-Tree-763836934
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Good-Boy-765259549
https://www.deviantart.com/bluejaysymphony/art/It-s-a-family-tradition-758211602

https://www.deviantart.com/princess-cadence-mlp/art/There-Powers-767159339
https://www.deviantart.com/funonabun/art/fani-your-morals-confuse-me-769858548
https://www.deviantart.com/spinjester/art/GB-Sans-770150188

https://www.deviantart.com/dreamernekoinu/art/Our-Father-Is-Trash-Papyrus-778007454
https://www.deviantart.com/midnightsama397/art/I-m-Here-For-You-774298975
https://www.deviantart.com/c-o-m-r-a-d/art/Grandpa-Semi-A-gift-for-PixieHobbit-777267940
https://www.deviantart.com/usappakin/art/Grandpa-Semi-and-his-grandkids-request-774184039
https://www.deviantart.com/bluejaysymphony/art/PAPYRUN-773839129
https://www.deviantart.com/funonabun/art/FABULOUS-FELT-BOI-773798441
https://www.deviantart.com/midnightsama397/art/Grandpa-Semi-772779912

I HIGHLY RECOMMEND YOU ALL TO LOOK THESE WONDERFUL ARTISTS- AS WELL AS HUMAN BEINGS UP AND SHOW THEM ALL THE LOVE!! <3

Chapter 13: Subconsciousness

Summary:

Papyrus finds a weapon and Undyne is getting tired. Frisk feels determined and Sans is dreaming.

The silence was starting to get to Papyrus. Despite the fact that he felt confident about not finding any more disturbing facts, he started to feel worse about the journal itself. It was just like it didn't feel real until now, like this was something that actually happened. It did describe how their father seemed to have caused his brother's strange sickness, or at least something done something very bad. Ignoring the urge to browse through the journal again, he briefly remembered an entry describing that his brother felt bad for lying to them about the disease he never had. Papyrus closed his eyes and inhaled sharply. Any thoughts of how his brother must have felt like was immediately put aside. He decided to try not to get upset, not right now. Undyne was right, he needed to stay focused, so that he could put every ounce of effort into trying to help, but it was hard not to let the mind wander back on what he'd learned. Right now what he needed to do was shape up and shift his attention to what was in front of him.

The faint light of his blue attack was not nearly as efficient to light up the environment as Undyne's spear, but it was still enough to navigate around the room. In front of him was a desk with an old computer, some scattered notebooks which were also filled with some sort of math equations. There were also various trinkets scattered here and there that didn't really mean anything to Papyrus. Technology wasn't his stronger side and when he was unable to identify what they were he let them be. Hopefully Alphys would know better what they were. Against the wall was a green locker, but it didn't contain anything but old and scrubby lab coats. Beside the locker was an empty metallic barrel and a sink, that looked like it could use a good cleaning. On the floor in one of the corners was a few rather big boxes scattered around. Some were already opened and emptied, carelessly scattered around a bit from the rest, while a few others were unopened and neatly stacked on top of each other. Papyrus decided to investigate and opened the box on top.

It contained a skull-like contraption, kind of similar to a canine's skull structure. Only bigger. Much bigger than even Greater Dog's. He gently put the notebook aside and tried to take the contraption out of the box. It was a lot heavier than he anticipated, but not impossible to move. As he placed it on the floor beside him, he aimed the glowing bone towards it so he could study it properly. Thankfully he noticed right away that it wasn't a real skull thanks to the plastic feel and metallic implants inside the hollow spaces, but it had a striking resemblance to what Sans looked like before. Upon further inspection he also noticed that the metal pieces that were mounted to it had to be some sort of canon, meaning that this was a weapon. The other unopened box contained the exact same thing, but the metallic implants were loose and the plastic skull was shattered.

A sense of looming unease crept up along his spine as he tried to figure out what they were, and what their purpose was. They did resemble Sans a lot. Was he meant to be a weapon too? If so, then against who? This whole thing felt too complex and well-measured to be a random experiment, but monsterkind had no enemies in the underground, so it didn't make sense. The impression of unease intensified when he thought about the way his father had been acting today and Papyrus couldn't help but to wonder what his intentions were?

He was abruptly brought back to reality when Undyne returned with Alphys. The glowing spear in Undyne's hand brightly illuminated the surroundings once more, making his own simple blue attack seem redundant.

"Wow. This place is... interesting," said the yellow lizard. "I mean, I wouldn't h-have minded having a workshop like this in my private home. Look at all this stuff!"

"What you got there?" Undyne immediately noticed what he found and walked up to him.

"IT'S A WEAPON, I THINK. A CANON OF SOME KIND MAYBE?"

She nodded, as she looked at them. "Is it just me, or do they look like Sans did before?"

"THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT I THOUGHT!"

Undyne inspected it thoroughly, effortlessly lifting it over her head as she inspected it from below. "Well, you're definitely right about the canon."

"WHY MAKE THEM LOOK LIKE SANS THOUGH?" asked Papyrus, his hands restlessly fidgeting the journal once again.

"Maybe your dad tried to replicate the magical blast he used to attack you guys with before?" Alphys suggested. "That's what I... would... do." Her voice got lower as she spoke and her gaze wandered. "I mean o-obviously not anything bad, l-like this... not on purpose... I mean, Undyne briefly e-explained what you found in the j-journal, but you know, if I... I mean, if I wanted to get to the bottom of how something w-worked, I'd make a replica and try my very h-hardest to make it both look and function as much as the original specimen that I possibly could."

Undyne heaved it up over her shoulder like it was nothing. "Either way we should totally bring them."

"YES, I AGREE, BUT I HAVE SOME ROOM FOR IT IN MY INVENTORY. LET ME TAKE IT FOR YOU." Not only was Papyrus worried that her carelessness might break the one that was still whole, but as she lifted it there was an unfamiliar faded hint of a grimace on her face and her eyelid looked heavy, like she was struggling to keep it open. 

"Good thinking! H-Here is your phone back." With shaky hands Alphys handed it back to him, before shifting her attention to what was in the room.

"WHAT... DID TORIEL SAY? HOW IS SANS?" asked Papyrus after sending the canon to his inventory.

"Oh! D-Don't worry, he's fine. I instructed Toriel how to increase the amount of artificial magic, and he did stop coughing... he s-still seems to be sleeping though... But! His stats are finally visible on the screen! He keeps regaining HP, and it's a lot higher than usual!"

"Hah!" Undyne chortled. "See? He's basically back to himself already, and getting better too!"

"Y-Yeah, I guess so," Alphys said, trying to return the cheerful expression. "But it would still be preferable if he woke up."

"True, but I wouldn't be very worried though. Right, Paps?" said Undyne and dunked him on his back. Papyrus silently nodded, hoping that she was right.

"Based on what we find here, I can try and rerun few tests when we get back. If I knew for sure if they did anything else to him other than the DT, it would help out a lot. Any information of how much DT they used, what their purpose was would also be good... such things could be taken in consideration on a whole new level from before, when we didn't even know it was DT for sure. M-May I see the journal, please?"

Papyrus quickly obliged. Alphys's eyes widened as she browsed through the pages, turning her head in swift, small motions as she read.

"Are any terms familiar to you? Or the reasoning behind some of the things he explains?" asked Undyne, her eye shifting back and forth from Alphys to Papyrus.

"Well, no. As far as I'm concerned none of these notes explain why he would change shape like that, only that it did happen. I'm going to have to read it more carefully to know for sure. It doesn't make sense to me... I'll need to figure out the reason why." She sighed and glanced over the room. "Except for the canons, what else did you find down here?"

"Nothing much except for some math-stuff. Like, so much math... Think that would be useful?"

"Uhm, I don't think so? What we should look for are some form of logs or journals I guess. Did you try searching through the computer? Digitalized content is much more common and very much preferable over hand written content among us scientists. E-Even if it was a while ago."

"There is no power though, remember? We've just been searching through the shelves. Did you go through them all?" asked Undyne, turning to Papyrus.

"YEAH. THERE WERE SOME BOOKS I DECIDED TO KEEP. I FIGURED THAT THE HANDWRITTEN ONES WOULD MAYBE BE USEFUL, IF WE CAN DECIPHER THEM."

"A-As for the computer, I may be able to do something about that. I could use my magic! N-Not to power up the whole house, obviously... that would be way to much for me... but I think I can muster enough strength to boot up the computer at least."

"Great!" Undyne exclaimed as a whirring sound filled the room as Alphys worked her magic. "Then you and me can keep looking for stuff upstairs!" 

He nodded and used his cell phone to send the broken skull shaped canon to his inventory as well, just in case they'd need it, along with the journal and as many of the books as he had room for.

They were both halfway up the stairs when Alphys called to them.

"G-Guys? I don't think you can stop searching. There is a log here, and it's a lot of information."

Papyrus froze mid-motion, not liking at all how worked up her voice sounded.

"Sans was indeed a test-subject for an experiment, involving the attempts to merge human and monster souls. That's what the summary reads, and that would actually make sense! DT is strongly associated with human souls and it can be extracted from them. There is an often recurring theory that harnessing the power of the souls, even only a few, would greatly damage the barrier."

Papyrus emotions were in conflict. He felt awful for Sans, but at the same time,if even just a little uplifted.

He was still angry, and there was no question that his father had done some very questionable deeds. Yet still, if his intentions were good, the bad actions would be at least a little more justifiable. Of course that do anything for what Sans must have had to go through, but still. The thought of what he read in the journal vanquished the uplifting feeling and even made him feel guilty about it. There was no uplifting thing in this matter. At least there shouldn't be, for Sans' sake.  

"This... this is just... wow." Alphys continued, adjusting her glasses as she kept reading. "Papyrus, your dad successfully merged two pieces of contrasting human souls..! That is huge! Like really! It shouldn't be possible! There is a whole section about that in a different folder. I have to read this!"

"Okay, cool, cool, cool," said Undyne, who didn't seem to share the same eagerness. Her enthusiasm seemed to have faded remarkably. She loosened her long hair and put it back in another ponytail, sighing deeply. "how about if we took the computer with us too? You can read the rest about it in the lab. I don't like being separated from the other's."

"ME NEITHER!" Papyrus exclaimed. Truthfully, he just didn't like the idea of Sans being all alone. Well, not all alone, but without him. Right now that seemed enough to be worried about. "BUT I DON'T HAVE ANY ROOM LEFT IN MY INVENTORY." 

Undyne shook her head slowly. "Me neither, but I can carry it." 

"Carrying a computer through the warmth of Hotland isn't a good idea.. sorry," said Alphys. "I don't have any room in my inventory wither, but I suppose I could spare without, oh... wait! We don't have to bring it at all! I have this!" She dug up her necklace from under her coat.

"A NECKLACE?" Papyrus questioned. It was no arguing that it was a very pretty necklace, the locket was a bright pink heart lined with a golden edge, but how a computer would fit into it was beyond him. Then again, Alphys was the scientist, and not him.

"Not just a necklace. The locket is a USB-flash drive! Observe!" she said proudly and grabbed the locked in both her hands and split it in two pieces, indeed revealing it to be a USB drive. "I was going to use it to bring my favorite episodes of Mew Mew Kissy Cutie to the surface, but this is more important obviously. Okay, let me just..." As she connected the locket, the computer made a dull beeping sound, which kinda reminded Papyrus of his phone whenever it needed to be recharged.

"There we go! It worked! Now, before I can transfer over the log, I just need a moment to delete the Mew Mew episodes. I have all episodes backed up on the computer in the lab anyway. It just might take a few moments." She raised her head away from the screen. "Unless you two still feel like you want to go searching for other things that might be of value to us, though I doubt you're going to find anything better than this, you should take a moment and rest. You both look like you could need it. A-Are you alright?"

Papyrus couldn't help but to notice that the question was more aimed to Undyne than to him, but to be fair, Undyne definitely looked like she had seen better days.

"You sure about the log though? It's all we need?"

"I'm positive!"

"Good."

The muscular fish-monster went up to the nearest wall and sat herself down, leaning against it while closing her eye. Papyrus wanted to follow her example to keep her company, but he didn't feel like he would be able to relax even if he wanted to, which he didn't. His head was spinning from all the information they had obtained and he felt restless. As long as he just kept his limbs moving, no bad thoughts would get to him. No worries, no fear, no guilt.

He went through the room one more time, and another, and another still. At this rate he was just pretending to be interested in various things, just so he could keep moving.

Undyne suddenly grunted. "Come, on Papyrus. You're not going to find anything else of value here, you're just making me nervous. Either get upstairs, or sit your bony ass down."

The last thing Papyrus needed was to be scolded by her again, but he didn't want to venture away from the two of them so he decided to sit down next to Undyne.

"This is so freaky," she said after a while. "You didn't know any of this?"

"NO. ALL ANYONE EVER TOLD ME WAS THAT SANS WAS SICK, SO HE HAD TO GO TO THE LAB WITH DAD SOMETIMES AND GET HIS MEDICINE. I JUST DON'T GET IT. GRANDPA... AND SANS TOO, FOR THAT MATTER KEPT TELLING ME THAT, EVER AFTER DAD DIED AND WE'D MOVED." After he began to speak about it, it was hard to stop. There were so many things he needed to get out of his chest. "WHY WOULDN'T THEY TELL ME? IT WOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER FOR EVERYONE IF I KNEW, RIGHT? SANS WROTE IN HIS JOURNAL THAT HE FELT GUILTY FOR LYING, SO WHY KEEP THAT UP? WHY DID GRANDPA LIE TO ME? I COULD HAVE HELPED! I WOULD HAVE UNDERSTOOD! I-I MEAN..." a sudden realization hit him hard. His posture lowered and his eyes widened. "YOU DON'T THINK THEY THOUGHT THAT I WOULD HAVE SIDED WITH DAD, DO YOU?"

"I don't know. Do you think that sounds like something you would do back then?"

"OF COURSE NOT! NOT AFTER LEARNING ALL OF THIS. I MEAN, THE JOURNAL MAKES IT QUITE CLEAR HOW BADLY SANS WAS AFFECTED BY ALL THIS... THAT KIND OF BEHAVIOR ISN'T RIGHT FOR A DAD TO DO TO HIS SON."

"But you didn't have access to the journal back then, right? If Sans and your grandpa, or whatever, told you all of this, but your dad denied it then who would you have believed? I mean, considering how you've been acting up until now."

"I... I-" Papyrus began before a familiar voice interrupted him and he sprung to his feet. There was no mistaking his father's voice, but the unexplained static made it sound raspy and distorted, even worse than before. The memory of how he wasn't allowed down in the workshop surfaced, and he caught himself trying to think of a good excuse to why he had ventured here. It took him a while to realize that the sound came from the computer.

"Ah, s-sorry!! I found some vocal recordings! Everything is fine, I j-just accidentally enabled it when I was trying to transfer the files! I'll t-turn it o-off..."

"NO. M-MAYBE IF I HEAR DAD TALK ABOUT WHAT HE DID, IT WILL BE EASIER TO PROCESS IT." Knowing that he had to try and convince himself somehow that his father had actually done these things, he thought it would be easier to understand it if he heard his father's voice talk about it. 

"Paps, I'm proud of you!" Undyne beamed. "You're finally getting it!"

---

It hadn't taken long for Toriel to get back to sleep, but Frisk couldn't seem to relax, not even curled up in their adoptive mother's warm embrace. At least is seemed like Sans was doing better. Alphys had told Toriel what to do over the phone and thankfully his coughing ceased shortly after. 

It was still scary. 

A part of Frisk was glad that Toriel had fallen asleep again, because then they wouldn't be able to tell her about the resets and Chara anyway. They still didn't know if it was the right decision or not, but now they had a little more time to think it over.

They curled up closer to Toriel. Her soft snoring was comforting somehow. Sans on the other hand was far from as noisy as he was before he started coughing. His loud snoring was replaced with deep and steady breaths. 

Even though Toriel had tried to reassure them that he would be fine over and over, they didn't feel good about it and they couldn't seem to stop thinking about it. The more they listened his slowed breaths, the more aware of it they got and that brought on restlessness.

Careful not to wake up Toriel, they wiggled loose and stood up, slowly making their way towards Sans. There was a calm expression on his face and he showed no signs of distress. The thought of the DT and amalgamates gnawed on the back of their mind, despite everyone's promises that nothing like that would happen. 

They shook their head to interrupt the dark thoughts. Despite everything, it was still him. Filled with determination they ignored their fear and grabbed his clawed hand. 

"Hey," they whispered quietly, so they wouldn't wake up Toriel, but still loud enough for Sans to potentially hear them. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I just want you to know that would reset if I could, but I... I can't. Gaster, he... he took the reset button from me, and I'm not sure how or why it happened, but I just can't reset anymore. I never should have. I should have given up long ago and let you guys be happy on the surface. I'm so stupid, and I'm sorry." Tears welled up in their eyes as they spoke, when they realized that every bad thing that had happened recently was their fault. Not just now, but also every genocide run, every uprooted happy ending, and now Gaster. 

They should have payed more attention to what Flowey said about just how powerful the ability to reset was. Of course it didn't matter now and it was too late to try and fix anything now. 

A silent sniffle made them raise their hand to wipe their face with the sleeve of their shirt, but when they tried to move their hand Sans suddenly grabbed it tightly, and he didn't let go. Though a little startled, a gasp of excitement escaped their mouth, and they forgot all about trying to be quiet. 

"Sans? Are you awake, Sans? Can you hear me?" The excitement was difficult to repress and they called for him again, but there were still no reply. He just held on to their hand, in a grip so tight that the claws slightly dug into Frisk's skin, but they didn't care. It only hurt a little. They were too thrilled that Sans was finally waking up to be bothered by it.

Sadly it didn't take long for the excitement to fade, because there was no other response from him, nor any other signs that he was conscious at all.

With a saddened sigh they placed their other hand over his and affectionately returned the squeeze. He was still cold to the touch, so Frisk began to rub his hand, though they weren't sure about how much good that would do to a skeleton's bony fingers.

Not until now did they actually begin to feel tired. Unsure if it was because the sudden impulse of tiredness, or the sheer determination of telling themselves that he wouldn't suddenly turn into an amalgamate, they crawled up beside him and within minutes there were sleeping soundly. 

---

The fierce yellow spark cast it's eerie light in the darkness. It was the only source of light that Sans could see. It was just bright enough to give him and idea of his surroundings. Big windows in stained glass and checkered tiles shone through in the same shade of dull yellow that emitted from the strange spark. It was very familiar, not just the surroundings which he figured would have to be the judgement hall, but there was something about this specific scenario that he knew that he remembered. He just couldn't put his finger on it.

The feeling that something very bad would happen gnawed on him and he prepared himself for the worst, but he was u nsure of which timeline he was in, and if Frisk had committed genocide or not. 

Then again, why else was he here?

Just for this once, he decided that maybe facing Frisk, even after a genocide, wasn't a good idea. Something was off. Maybe he was just acting silly and Frisk was in fact on their way for a normal judgement. Maybe they hadn't killed that many monsters this time? He started to wonder which poor mosters had been sacrificed for the sake of Frisk rescuing their friend this time? 

Was Papyrus alive?

T he fact that he didn't even know that was enough to make him want to leave, and he prepared himself to use a shortcut. With a sharp inhale he closed his eyes, expecting to be in Snowdin when he opened them again, but he wasn't. The golden light faintly shone over the judgement hall. There was something condescending about the light and Sans felt like he couldn't get away from it soon enough. 

Every attempt to use a shortcut proved useless. He tried over and over, but without any success. Papyrus still might need his help though. There was still a chance to save him and Sans was determined to get to him, even if he had to run all the way to Snowdin. The more worked up he got, the more was he convinced that Papyrus was still okay. 

Sans arched his back and took a big leap forward, barely even noticing his quadrupedal stance. Not that it mattered. All that mattered was getting to Papyrus before it was too late. Slowly he began to notice that something wasn't right, but he just shook the feeling off, and raised his head while narrowing his eyes to see through the darkness better.

Encouraged by another light, he picked up a faster pace. By now he was panting heavily form the effort, as he desperately tried to reach the light. 

When he finally got there, he treated himself to a short break and sat down.

That's when he finally noticed exactly what it was that made him feel so off. A quick inspection of his body finally made him understand that he was in his blaster form. How and why that was left him feeling more disorganized than before and fear began to gnaw on his mind. 

The sense of dread grew worse when he realized that despite all the running, he hadn't gotten anywhere. He was still in the judgement hall, the faint yellow light shining in the middle of the hall, mocking him.

Just because he could, he snarled at it before sprinting away once more, galloping gravely with high steps and tail raised high behind him.

He had to get to Papyrus, and then he had to find Frisk, before they did something they would come to regret. Another light appeared ahead of him, but just like before he ended up in the judgement hall. 

No matter how hard he tried to move on, it was just the same thing, over and over.

His mind got occupied with thoughts of how to get out of what seemed to be a twisted joke, as h e dropped down to the ground, placing more weight on his aching arms than he probably should, and  he began to tremble. 

All of a sudden, the air around him grew cold, cold enough for him to see his own breath even. Footsteps echoed through the hall and Sans cringed when he turned his head and was greeted by the sight of Frisk. His heart sank in his metaphorical chest when he saw the blood on their hands and the trail of dust behind them. Their eyes glowed red with determination, or was it Chara's soul shining through? 

The red soul of determination overshadowed the golden light and all of the judgement hall was lit by it's light.  

It was too late.

Sans knew what he had to do now. He would have to make them reset, even if he had to do it by force. Thankfully it seemed that he could still move around somewhat well in his blaster form and he was a lot bigger and stronger like this. If he played his cards right this battle could end much quicker than usual. He wouldn't even hesitate to play dirty if they decided to be tenacious. 

A low growl rumbled within his maw when he tried to talk to them. He had completely forgotten that he couldn't speak properly like this. 

Fueled by both grief and anger Sans lunged towards them, aiming his fangs at their knife-wielding hand and Frisk cried out in pain as his teeth punctured their skin. Using their other hand to hit him couldn't have been any less effective. He didn't feel anything and his HP didn't seem to drop at all.The grip around the knife loosened and finally they dropped it, but Sans refused to let go. Biting down even harder, he picked them up and began to thrash them around in the air. 

He loosened his grip in a failed attempt to get an even better grip around their arm and Frisk finally managed to wiggle loose. It didn't take a genius to figure that they would go for their knife, but Sans stopped them before they could reach it by tripping them over with his tail. 

Once Frisk had fallen down on the ground, Sans placed his clawed hand on their back and pressed his entire weight on them. They flailed desperately trying to get loose, but Sans didn't budge.  

This was too easy. No need for blue magic, or even karmic retribution. Frisk had already lost, but they still wouldn't reset. What the hell they were waiting for? Suddenly, there sounded a quiet giggle that soon escalated into a  maniacal laughter. 

Did they not think he was serious? That he wouldn't kill them if he had to? 

His temper and voice were both rising as he began to concentrate all of his magic into one final attack. If this didn't make them reset then nothing would. Getting hit by a blast at this close range would be an instant kill for sure. He felt the intensity and warmth of the magic building up in his eye and within his chest. His bones reverberated a rattling sound as he directed the energy outwards from his mouth.

For a while, the judgement hall was drowned in a bright blue light, thundering with a deafening blast.

When it was over, the laughter had died out and the human child lay lifeless on the floor. The red light faded and once more the judgement hall basked in a faint golden glow.

Sans let them go and backed off, as he waited for them to reset. He would do this as many times as it took while he waited for a true reset.

But nothing happened. Not even a loading reset. 

Sans looked around the room, clenching his jaws and his eyes narrowed and worried.

"You really are an idiot," a distorted voice called. Sans rapidly turned his head towards Frisk, but they were laying motionless on the floor. 

A twisted laugh sounded through the hall, confirming to him that the sound wasn't Frisk at all. It came from the yellow light. The chilled air around him seemed to intensify and he felt his bones grow icy cold.

"Look at what you've done. Look at the human, your friend."

Sans kept his gaze locked on the light as his face twisted into a scowl. The rumbling noise of a growl overshadowed the sinister, giggling tone. 

"You did this," the voice from the light continued, completely ignoring his loud threats. "and you still think that it was for a good cause? To undo what has been done and save what has been lost? No, that's not true. It felt g o o d, did it not? To make them suffer, to make them realize that there are consequences for their actions. Killing this child gives you closure, and it's the only thing you have that makes you able to cope with every messed up timeline."

The growling faded and Sans shook his head. He wanted to argue, to tell the light that it was wrong. The only reason he went all out on Frisk like this was to make Chara disappear so Frisk could reset. That had always been the reason why.

It was the only way.  

"You may choose to tell yourself otherwise, but now you know the truth, and you can never say again that you didn't know."

With those words, the light faded and everything went dark. 

Notes:

WHEN MOTIVATION FINALLY STRIKES XD XD I got a lot of inspiration from this music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pyiBOwTQRMQ&t I can't believe that this fic has over 200 kudos! That honestly means so much to me!

This chapter became so much darker than what I originally intended. Oops.

Thank you for being patient!
/Pixie

Art Feature:

https://sta.sh/019oxds9eps9
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Branches-On-A-Tree-763836934
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image/art/Good-Boy-765259549
https://www.deviantart.com/bluejaysymphony/art/It-s-a-family-tradition-758211602

https://www.deviantart.com/princess-cadence-mlp/art/There-Powers-767159339
https://www.deviantart.com/funonabun/art/fani-your-morals-confuse-me-769858548
https://www.deviantart.com/spinjester/art/GB-Sans-770150188

https://www.deviantart.com/dreamernekoinu/art/Our-Father-Is-Trash-Papyrus-778007454
https://www.deviantart.com/midnightsama397/art/I-m-Here-For-You-774298975
https://www.deviantart.com/c-o-m-r-a-d/art/Grandpa-Semi-A-gift-for-PixieHobbit-777267940
https://www.deviantart.com/usappakin/art/Grandpa-Semi-and-his-grandkids-request-774184039
https://www.deviantart.com/bluejaysymphony/art/PAPYRUN-773839129
https://www.deviantart.com/funonabun/art/FABULOUS-FELT-BOI-773798441
https://www.deviantart.com/midnightsama397/art/Grandpa-Semi-772779912

https://www.deviantart.com/little-starlight64/art/laughter-commission-repost-781427003
https://www.deviantart.com/arerona/art/Prize-BoaT-Sans-and-Alphys-780682662

 

PLEASE TAKE A MOMENT TO CHECK OUT THESE WONDERFUL ARTISTS- AS WELL AS HUMAN BEINGS AND SHOW THEM ALL THE LOVE!! <3

Chapter 14: Too Much Information

Summary:

Frisk and Toriel discover that everything isn't as it should be, while Papyrus, Undyne, and Alphys listen to an old recording.

Notes:

Woah, that turned into a bigger hiatus than I anticipated >< Probably because I have been so indecisive about this chapter XD Hopefully the next part won't take so long!

Frisk felt warm and safe. In the back of their head was a nice dream, which sadly got interrupted by sudden movement beside them. A strange, soft sound resounded at their side.

They slowly opened their eyes they saw that Sans had woken up. He was sitting up, sobbing silently.

"Sans?" They called while rubbing their sleepy eyes, but he didn't seem to notice them. “Are you okay?”

His breath was shallow and beads of sweat adorned the top of his horned skull. He pressed his clawed hands over his face and his tail was neatly curled around his body.

Frisk tried to get close and put their hand on his back. As they got closer, Sans’ eyes widened and he finally seemed to notice the child beside him. His cheekbones were still wet with tears and there was a fluorescent glow in his left eye. A bright, blue light just barely illuminating the darkness of his eye socket.

Frisk had seen that light before. It brought back memories of bad times.

"Are you okay, Sans?" they asked quietly, but there was no reply. The skeleton just stared at them, his mouth hanging open just as widely as his eyes.

"Who are you?" he asked, disjointed. His breath was shallow and he observed them from top to toe, just as if he was looking at them for the first time.

"What?” Frisk exclaimed, exhaling sharply and narrowing their eyes. Maybe he didn’t see them in the darkness? Or maybe it was a joke? “It’s Frisk..?”

Still the same dazed expression.

“Uh, the stupid doodoo butt? The… legendary fartmaster..?” they tried, with an unsure smile stretched on their lips.

"You're a human,” Sans stated, no reaction at all to the secret codewords. “Where did you come from? Crannford? Goodsprings?" his voice got louder as he spoke.

Frisk was not very good at geography and didn’t know many towns other than a few. The closest and biggest town to Mt. Ebott was Port Murray, and that’s the only town that ever came up in conversation before. Definitely not their hometown Goodsprings, that they knew for sure.

"I’m not supposed to be here..." said Sans half mumbling. His eye lights shrank and his eyes narrowed.

He just looked blankly in front of him.

Frisk didn’t know what to say, they just looked at him, befuddled.

"The king… he..." Sans stopped himself and lowered his head slowly while seemingly struggling to keep his eyes open.

Frisk was taken aback when Sans rapidly raised his head. His eyes shot open and frantically scanned the room. He turned to the edge of the operating table and struggled to his feet with irregular movements, but he almost immediately fell over and landed flat on the floor. Frisk gasped got down on the floor themselves, running to Toriel.

They shook her arm and called her name until she woke up. The boss monster yawned loudly and stretched her limbs.

In the meantime, Frisk hurried back to Sans. They grabbed the fabric of his t-shirt and tried to pull him back up on his feet.

"Why do I feel sick? What's going on? This isn't right. This isn't me!" Sans exclaimed loudly and looked at his hands in disbelief, before running them over his body. "This isn't me!" he repeated, his voice as hollow as a mountain.

"My child..?" Toriel groggy called from the bench she was sleeping on. "Oh! You're awake!" She continued when she noticed Sans. It took mere seconds for her to become alert and make her way towards them. At first Sans didn't even seem to notice her, but when she squatted down in front of him he immediately winced and tried to draw back.

Frisk decided to back away.

"It's alright. Let me help you," Toriel assured, as she reached out for him, but he didn't seem to take any notice to what she said.

"You,” he said. Finally, there was a trace of recognition in his voice. Yet for some reason, he didn’t seem happy to see her. “Get away! You do not touch me!" he spat, desperately trying to crawl away from her.

“My friend..? What’s the matter?”

“I don’t know! I just… I don’t know,” he mumbled and covered his face with his hands. “This just isn’t…”

“It isn’t what?” Toriel asked gently, without making any further attempt of approaching him. She patiently sat down on her knees and placed her hands on her own lap in a relaxed manner.  

The skeleton didn’t reply. His arms fell limp at his sides, and again it seemed like he really struggled to remain conscious.

The glowing eyes made shivers go down Frisk’s spine.

Sans made a few wobbly attempts to get back on his feet, but to no avail and every time Toriel tried to reach out for him he yelled at her to stay back.

Frisk was shaking, but since Sans didn’t seem as upset having them around, they tried to approach instead.

Before they made it to him, he grabbed his chest and gasped loudly. From underneath his shirt, a blue light glowed through from between the ribs. Just as sudden as it appeared it went away. As did the light in his eyes and his body dropped down on the floor.  

---

Alphys gave Papyrus a hesitant look before she pressed a button, and the abandoned office was filled with the somber tone of Dr. Gaster’s voice.

Papyrus leaned back against the wall and closed his eyes, listening to the static recording.

“ Entry 1

This is Doctor Wing Dings Gaster, royal scientist under King Asgore, ID-number 12482.

The project I’m going to go through here will cover the important events in the management and operation of the soul-project I have been ordered to set in motion.  We are a team of four scientists, myself included, and it’s our duty to figure out a way to impact the barrier, without necessarily killing any more humans. Our king… wants peace…”

Gaster’s voice emitted some kind detest like the words were forced out of his mouth and he sighed multiple times.

“The DT-Extractor has been successfully booted up for the first time. So far everything is going smoothly.

The souls that Asgore lent us are doing well, even after we extracted the DT. We managed to get more than enough DT from them and still the power of the souls remains unaffected by our incisions. That should say a lot about the raw power of a human soul, especially since these are mainly just children's souls. I don’t even dare to imagine an adult hu... Anyway.

My research has shown that the different properties of souls are much more relevant than the scientists before me first believed. The specific property, like kindness or bravery, makes the foundation, the very essence of the entire soul. This suggests,  that humans and their behavior are very much affected by these characteristics in life. Unlike us, they do not seem to have the luxury of choosing their traits, which if you think about is rather pathetic for a race, claiming to be superior. I mean, after all, they seem to think that they’re the only ones suited for life at the surface like we mean nothing..!

After we’ve made it on the surface, things will be very different and believe me, I will do all in my might to make that happen.

If a monster were to absorb the power of a soul, then they would most likely also absorb the trait. It still remains to see how the different properties will react when combined with each other, via a monster, probably Asgore's soul.

Two specific souls have been left in our custody for now and I want to remove a small piece of one of them in order to see how it affects the soul and what I can do with the pure essence of it.

With the DT and the soul-attributes, I could hypothetically create an artificial soul and fully unleash its potential. We hope to do this by fusing the two characteristics together into one being. Once we've unlocked the secret to creating new souls, we might not have to wait for another human to fall down in order to collect a new soul. With these tools, I do believe that we will be successful and a brighter future is within our generation's reach.

I will not fail, no matter what I need to do.”

Gaster’s voice was full of desperation, almost. The recording crackled and a static noise resounded. Shivers were sent down Papyrus’s spine. He had never heard his father talk like this.

“ Entry 2

The souls we still had were... more or less successfully spliced. All went well with the yellow soul, justice. A small part of the essence was successfully taken and is seemingly holding up well on its own.

As the blue soul demonstrated to us, there is much more soul-essence to collect, but we can't risk depriving it of an unnecessary huge amount. Who knows what could happen? The soul might lose the power needed to break the barrier, and we can't afford that.

We made a mistake with the blue soul, and despite it being fractured, I think it should be fine. For a force with such potential, they are more fragile than I anticipated. On the bright side, the amount of pure patience that we have now is more than enough, and it means that we won't need to take any more essence from the other souls.

Now, we can move on with the main projects. I will put all of my time and effort into two specific ones, both involving alternative ways to expectantly bring  the barrier down. I will give specific orders for the rest of the team, regarding the remaining tasks.

I will use the collected DT in an attempt to merge the two soul pieces together, which will hopefully be resulting in a new soul with a unique property.  

Entry 3

I might be onto something. While the two soul pieces successfully merged, it is not formed its own individual soul. Still, I wouldn't think of this as a failure. The power of this thing is almost equal to the entity of one human soul. However, the properties remain unchanged and are still two individual souls.

The power should not go to waste. I still might be able to work with this and develop it further.

Though now that I think of it, this is an amalgamation of two children's souls, meaning that they were never given the opportunity to grow up. A solution could be to actually merge it to a monster soul. Preferably a child, so it can grow as the child grows.

Entry 4

Rather than asking Asgore to plea to some poor family to give up their child for the sake of research, I've made the very hard decision to let my own son take that place.

It's in the best of interest for all of us since it would provide a host for the amalgamated souls, and we can still have access to it whenever we like. Sans is strong and he is smart. And I'm sure that he will be able to handle this gallantly. The amalgamated souls could even potentially enhance his magic, making him able to greatly affect the barrier.”

There was a pause, followed by Gaster’s heavy sigh. Alphys stopped the recording.

“Well… there’s that… Sh-Should I go on?” she asked, carefully glancing at the others.

“Yes,” said Undyne, before Papyrus had a chance to say anything.

Papyrus already figured out what would come next, but he wasn’t sure he’d braced himself enough to hear it, even after all this. Then again, he probably never would. Delaying it would only cause him to worry more. This time was as good as any.

“YES.”

There was a brief pause recorded before Gaster’s voice continued.

“I know that this is what’s best for all of us. It has to be like this.”

Papyrus winced and looked at the floor.

“ Entry 5

Asgore has given his approval to my idea, and the experiment will begin shortly.”

“Wait, stop it just for a moment, will ya, Al?” Undyne pleaded and Alphys was quick to oblige. “Asgore couldn’t have known about this..? He would never let anything like this happen!”

No one dared say anything.

“This. Damn. Day..!” Undyne muttered under her breath. “Go on.”

“Because of the moral dilemma this situation presents, no one can know about this. I will not have my integrity questioned.

I have to make sure my son understands the importance of keeping it to himself. Luckily he is easy to deal with and there is no doubt in my mind that he will understand the severity of the situation. We will begin by preparing his soul with DT simplify the merging, for both him and the amalgamate.

Entry 6

The amount of DT in our possession is more than enough for another attempt to create an artificial soul. We will simply have to use what we have now. The souls of monsters. They will serve as the base, in the creation of something entirely new.

As macabre as it may sound, Asgore asked everyone outside in New Home for monsters that are close to falling down that we can use for our research and we managed to get the body of a young girl.

So far she's still alive, but unconscious. She's a goner and she doesn't have much time.

Her family must have known this  since they volunteered her body for the sake of our research. I admire their mentality. We all must make whatever sacrifices we can in order to finally get out of this damned place.

It is true that a monster's body falls apart shortly after death, but if we manage to inject some soul-essence and DT into the host directly after she passes away before the body disintegrates ... perhaps. .. we could prevent that from happening. The determination should cause the soul to go on even after death. And if we're lucky the soul-essence that we will add is going to start the progress of the old soul into an entirely new one, which can grow within that body.”

Gaster spoke fast, and there was a hint of a tremble in his voice. Papyrus couldn’t tell if it was fear or excitement.

“ Entry 7

Sans is responding well to the DT. There are some side effects, but nothing too severe. Only spikes of fever and soreness.

Entry 8

Goner Kid is growing stronger every day. The DT did indeed make her soul determined to go on, though it appears that her consciousness is a bit unstable. Her mind seems to have reformed and she is neutral about most things. It seems like all she knew before is lost, which, in my opinion, is merely an  insignificant loss.

Could this mean that her soul has reformed too? Did we actually achieve our goal?

Entry 9

There has been a drastic turn for the worse regarding Goner Kid. Her soul is unstable and will fall apart, and there is nothing that we can do.”

There was a shaky inhale.

“ I don't understand.

The DT should have made the soul driven to go on, but it failed to do so and based on Sans' reaction to it...  I am starting to suspect it to be a bit drastic for a monster's soul to obtain. But for it to derail like this... I will need to keep an extra eye out.

I might be able to save a part of Goner Kid's soul even after she falls down, but there are no guarantees that it's going to work.

Entry 10

Goner Kid has now fallen. Her body melted and is completely broken, with nothing to save but a small fragment of her soul.

I've yet to learn how this could happen when things were going so well. The fragment of her soul remains saved for research, and Asgore has provided us with more bodies. Hopefully, we can learn what went wrong and prevent it from happening again.

Entry 11

The new bodies came in today. They're still comatose, but if I work quickly, can try to replicate the method used on Goner Kid, but this time using a variety of magic, rather than soul-essence. That substance is too precious to be lost once more.  

Entry 12

It's been some time since my last audio log. Things are happening quickly, and I should be able to attempt to merge Sans' soul with the amalgamate of the human souls sometime next week.

Everything should be ready and we've calculated the risks and countered with several back-up plans. I hope to report with good news shortly.

Also! Things are looking promising with the fallen monsters brought back with DT, as well. I've decided to give all of them the common name of Sentio-Souls, and there are five of them so far. They've all received an experimental dose of DT, combined with monster magic this time.  

Entry 13

Things are indeed looking promising, but that's what I thought about Goner Kid too. All I can do for now is wait and see what happens to them.

Entry 14

Another sentio-soul has fallen. It’s body melted, just like Goner Kids. This one was one of the Sentio-Souls given a large dose of DT, as well as concentrated purple magic. On the brighter side, we did manage to harvest some kind of trait-like essence from the soul before it was destroyed.

Entry 15

Two more sentio-souls have fallen.

In order to maximize the results, all of the Sentio-Souls were given a varied amount of DT. The ones that fell had both received a large amount.

The ones that are still alive are the ones who been given a small amount of DT and will not be getting any more. The pattern is obvious by now, and we will not be giving them anymore for now.

By giving them regular monster magic, we’ve managed to produce some kind of essence, closely resembling that in human souls. Using that essence I could try and make a similar amalgamate like the one I created with the actual human souls?

I will have to be careful of how much DT I give Sans, but since the other's survived with a smaller amount of DT, he should… no… he will  be fine.

The remaining sentio-souls will only be given concentrated magic only from now on.  

Entry 16

The Sentio-Souls seem to react well to adrenaline. It makes their magic stronger, stabilizes them when they're weak. Furthermore, it makes them produce a greater amount of the essence that we need.

Entry 17

Finally, the process of merging the souls have been set in motion. Sans seemed a little reluctant, but he'll get over it.

I decided to inject it through the eye since his soul is already prepped with DT, it would be unwise to put it under direct pressure seeing how straining it has proved to be.

In his eye, it could grow and slowly fuse with his soul in over time. It just needs to get attached first.

After all, the eye is the window to the soul.

Entry 18

Unfortunately, we've encountered a minor backlash regarding the soul amalgamate.

The combining of the souls did not go as efficiently as I'd anticipated, even with all the DT. Thankfully we do have some options. I will not let this work go to waste. Not now, not regarding the potential.

Sans did not take the installment very well and he has yet to regain consciousness.

The amount of DT given to him has already exceeded the limit and since the amalgamate has been installed, I can't risk giving him more… His voice went from formal to coarse. “Anything that happens to Sans at this point will affect it as well.

There will be a need for some rather drastic methods, but Asgore won't have to know about that. All he needs to know is that the experiment is successful and I will make sure of that. No matter what I need to do.

I am determined. I will update the report as soon as things have cleared out.

Entry 19

After a, let's call it 'therapy session', the amalgamate finally got attached to Sans' soul and is stable. Thanks to DT and adrenaline it finally

I can sit back and relax for now.

I am eager to learn just how much it’s already affected him, and I will begin testing as soon as I can.

Entry 20

I don’t believe it. The power of the amalgamated souls is… a bit different than I anticipated. It caused not only Sans’ soul to mutate, but his body as well. It’s not at all what I expected, and quite frankly I’m not how to respond.

I knew that it would affect his soul, but I did not at all think it would affect his body as well.

We’ve yet to learn just how much this mutation has affected his magic, but it should be greatly enhanced compared to what it usually is.

This is very, very fascinating… To think that all of this could happen and I only used bits and pieces of two human souls. Two children souls none the less.

Heh, as soon as we get to the surface there will be no stopping us. Not even the foolish king’s bleeding heart..!”

There was a brief pause. In his fast-paced voice was a hint of anticipation, that quickly turned to annoyance. Papyrus could hear him click his tongue nervously whenever he didn’t speak.

“Reminder: delete that part later.

The question still remains if the change of Sans’ body is permanent or not. Even before I knew his body would react like this, I had the theory that the power wouldn’t be active all the time. I’ve written all about that on the computer in the lab.

With time and practice, he should be able to learn to control this power at will. When he does, I assume… and hope that his body turns back to normal too. He should even potentially be able to use this power at will.

The potential is promising, but… We shall have to see.

Fani is currently looking after Sans at the lab. From this point on someone will always need to be close to him and make sure he remains stable. I’m going to the lab tomorrow and I will probably stay for a few days so this log will be put on hold for a while.

Entry 21

The remaining Sentio Souls…”

Silence.

“I, uh… hate to interrupt…” said Alphys, and paused the recording. “The file transfer is complete… and… I think we’ve all heard enough for now.” She threw an anxious look towards Papyrus. He glances back at her, but he was speechless for the moment. “At least we know why S-Sans transformed… It’s because of human souls, and that m-makes sense… kinda. I mean, your dad actually managed to combine two soul fragments together… and well… you heard the rest.” Alphys’s voice got more and quieter as she spoke.

“Did you notice what he said about Asgore?” Undyne asked. “ The foolish king and his bleeding heart. ”

“I REALLY DON’T CARE ABOUT THAT RIGHT NOW... I WANNA GO BACK TO SANS.”

Notes:

I've had a lot of help with this chapter and I want to give them all a shoutout here!
DreamerNekoInu helped me decide on the fictional town names, Daskleine helped me edit and proofread Gaster's notes and Mira-Image helped me brainstorm the idea of artificial souls! <33 Thank you, guys!! I really appreciate it!
https://www.deviantart.com/dreamernekoinu
https://archiveofourown.org/users/Daskleine/pseuds/Daskleine
https://www.deviantart.com/mira-image

Chapter 15: A Golden Flower

Summary:

A golden flower stands out from the rest.

Notes:

I'm BEK! XD

I can't believe I aspired to update once a week before. Pfft! I can't even keep up once a month! XD But pieces are falling to place and I've been given a lot of opportunity for character development and world-building thanks to a few awesome friends, who's helped me out a lot! <33

Anyway, I hope you like this chapter! ^^'

Not many words were exchanged as Papyrus, Alphys and Undyne walked back to the lab. Undyne was carefully scanning the surroundings, once more insisting on carrying Alphys on her back, despite the fish monster's posture slouching, which was not like her at all.

Papyrus tried to follow her careful example, to make sure they didn't encounter his dad, but it was hard to concentrate. His mind was clouded with thoughts, and all he wanted to do now was get back to his brother. Hopefully, Sans was doing better now than when Frisk had called... Papyrus desperately needed answers and he needed to talk to Sans about what he had learned, he had so many things he needed to say.

He caught himself falling behind and quickly ran up to Undyne and Alphys. Undyne suddenly stopped. Her shoulders went up and down heavily with winded breaths and her skin was matted and her movement seemed forced.

"P-Please Undyne, let me down... I can walk on m-my own I promise..." Alphys worried eyes looked down at Undyne, and Papyrus was getting worried too. This was definitely not like her. He walked up to them, nervously fidgeting with his own gloves. "WHAT'S WRONG?"

"Psh! I'm fine!!" Undyne exclaimed and took a wavering stepped forward.

"No, you're n-not!" Alphys insisted and shuffled about on Undyne's back, so the stronger monster yielded and put her down. Before falling down on her knees. Both Alphys and Papyrus called her name in unison.

Alphys placed her scaly hands onto Undyne's shoulders. The yellow lizard's eyes were wide with concern and she didn't seem to even care that her glasses almost fell off.

"It's nothing," Undyne's hoarse voice replied. Her breath was still winded and had the bag under her eye always been there? "I think I just need some water. We're getting close to Hotland after all... that must be it."

"THEN WE MUST HURRY!" Papyrus exclaimed. "THE MTT RESORT IS NEARBY AND WE CAN GET YOU A SODA FROM A VENDING MACHINE OR SOMETHING!" He tapped his fingers against each other and spoke way faster than he usually did. He could not afford to have his best friend hurt too. Not after all of this!

"A soda isn't the same as water," Undyne remarked with a wrinkled nose and mockingly retched with disgust.

"But it contains water," Alphys added, her index finger pointing towards the roof of the cave, using her other hand to adjust her glasses. "and you should drink at least something?"

Undyne grunted and got back on her feet. "Nerds..." she mumbled under her breath as she kept walking with wobbly steps. Papyrus stayed close, just in case and Alphys fought valiantly to keep up the pace. In the end, Papyrus picked her up and put her on his shoulders. Thankfully, there was not a sign of anyone, no other monsters, no other skeletons.

---

The feeling of refreshment left Gaster much calmer. It no longer felt like he was falling apart, and he didn’t even need to sit down anymore. He opened and closed his hands a few times, carefully inspecting them.

The disfigured one seemed completely normal now, like nothing was never even wrong with it, to begin with. The yellow light in the palm on his mechanical hand fluttered with various intensity, but was silent for now, the faint shadows dancing on the wall which he had been leaning on.

One of the other ones, the one he had used on the captain, glowed with intense green light in the middle of the palm. The yellow light was right. He could drain energy from her soul and there was still a connection between them. The hand he used on Sans had a spark of light in it too, but the light was blue, just like the magic he favored to use. However, considering what happened, and the fact that he could still use Sans’ blaster form, he didn’t dare to drain any magic from him. If the captain went down, it wouldn’t be such a bad loss. His son on the other hand… he had put in too much time and effort into that project and his HP was too low to gamble with.

At least it seemed like he was no longer in danger himself. The way his body acted was almost similar to how he had seen Dr. Alphys’s amalgamated corpses, and his own creations, the Sentio Souls behave because of DT... but in this specific case, it made little sense to Gaster. Why did he start to fall apart like that? Sure, he could imagine that the urge to achieve his goal was something that could be similar to determination, but even if it were such a fragmental part should not be harmful to a monster.

Maybe the determination came from the captain, whose magic must have bled over to him through the hand. That could have happened earlier when he still had her under control. She was after all the most determined and hellbent monster that Gaster had ever seen. His eye was caught by a fluttering glow nearby.

“What are you thinking about?” asked the suddenly alerted yellow light.

“We need to move faster,” he replied as he began to walk, determination in his fast-paced gait.

“Are you worried, Gaster?” the voice within chimed. Gaster decided not to dignify that with a reply. “Are we going to Asgore’s castle? He won’t be there you know.”Did you give up on the dog?

Gaster wrinkled his metaphorical nose and the edges of his mouth dropped. Finding the dog now would be hard since the dog was a very random creature. No matter the timeline it did not seem as bound by pre-coded pattern as most other monsters, and predicting its movement and tracking it would be a waste of energy and time. Especially since he sort of knew where the second artifact was hidden. "You weren’t always this rude,” he jabbed at the light, slightly annoyed. Such an attitude would never be permitted if it was his own child, and it would need to be corrected. 

“I was never as close to bringing that murderer to justice before. Especially since you shattered my soul for research...” the small voice grew deeper and more articulated the longer the sentence lasted before fading in a hoarse tone.

“If it was ever anything that Asgore did right, it was killing the lot of you. But yes, he does need to face the consequences of his actions, for everything that he did to monster."

The older skeleton enjoyed the silence that followed as he walked. Silence to him was inspiring and enabled him to concentrate on his next move. Right now he needed more power, much more than the shards of the souls in his hands could provide, and there were few, if any monsters left down here. Understandably they all had made their way to the surface. Thankfully the dog was not his only option, and while he wasn't sure of the exact location of the second artifact, he knew it was hidden in the royal castle. 

Gaster knew his way around the Hotlands just as well as the back of his hand, and he knew what shortcuts to take to make the walk most efficient. The whole time he walked he drained a little, and a little more energy from the captain's soul, at least just enough to keep his body from falling apart. He didn't want to spend it all at once in case he couldn't find a new soul to drain, and he still didn't want to risk using the hand containing Sans' soul shard. Maybe the issue would get better once he had some food?

The new, fancy hotel was new. It was tasteless and Gaster wrinkled his nose as he passed by. The face of that abhorrent robot was absolutely everywhere. Who could afford such luxury when the rest of the underground was miserable? Resources have always been scarce and wasting it on your own image like this was just stupid and ignorant. 

By the walls were a few vending machines, all still stocked with a variety of candy, which made Gaster's nose wrinkle even more, but he needed to at least try to eat something. Breaking the glass was not hard with the mechanical hand, but before he could grab anything, a few familiar voices approached. He'd recognize the annoying voice of the captain anywhere, but he also heard Papyrus. This was not a good time to face them, so Gaster made the quick decision to hide. As silently as a shadow, he made his way towards one of the doors, with the number 777 written on it. Gaster shortly noticed that they all did. Every single room on this floor. Fancy yes, logical no.

He opened the door, as silently as he could and hid inside.  

Very carefully he peeked out the door and noticed the trio passing through. They seemed to have the same idea as he did and were busy prowling the vending machines for food and drinks. He kept an extra careful eye on Papyrus. He would need to find him later and talk to him about what happened. Papyrus was naive and his belief in people would be very useful to Gaster but for now, that had to wait. 

Thankfully it didn't seem like anyone noticed him. He waited until the silence returned, and even then he waited some more. He needed to be absolutely sure that they were gone. There's a time and place for everything, and once he gets his hands on the artifact he would have enough power to kill the captain and get his son back. Both of them. Once he had them on his side, as well as the artifacts he wouldn't need to worry about Asgore any longer.

When they finally got to the throne room, after who knows how much time, it was bathing in the faint sunlight shining in from the outside world. The golden flowers looked especially vibrant when combined with the sunlight. All those plans that Gaster made in what seems like ages ago, were finally put it into operation, and he knew he would succeed. His chest rose and sunk sharply in a sigh and there was a slight shake in his hands. Whatever was left of his was soul tingled with anticipation.

In the corner of his eye, he noticed that something was moving more unnatural than flowers swaying in the wind. One flower suddenly turned around and looked at Gaster with wide eyes, as if it had seen a ghost. Ah, yes. The prince. This was not the place where he would usually be during most resets. Wonder what made him come here now?

“You’re… you’re new,” the flower stated as if it couldn’t believe it. “How is that possible?”

“I wonder if he can hear me??” asked the yellow light, but the golden flower seemed unphased. “Too bad… there are many things that I would be able to tell him.” Gaster waved his hand nonchalantly towards the hand containing the yellow light.

“Prince Asriel?” he asked, as formally as he could, neatly folding his hands behind his back.

The flower stared at him blankly. It opened it's mouth and then closed it again. It took a while for it to react. “H-How did you know??” A worried expression spread across the flower’s face and the petals drooped. The eyes were tired like it hadn't slept in a very, very long time.

“Where I come from, I’ve seen things. Many things, but sadly not what I need to know right now. Though I do believe that you will be able to help me.”

Asriel huffed and narrowed his small eyes. “I don’t even know who you are. Why should I help you?”

“I’m looking for a very valuable item, an artifact, hidden somewhere here in the castle. You know your way around here, right?”

“Maybe I do, maybe I don’t. Let me repeat myself-” the flower’s stalk grew longer, and though the eyes were still lacking energy, the small brows lowered and the moth cracked into a wicked grin. An act of false confidence no doubt, based on the previous reaction. “Why should I help you?”

Gaster remained unphased. Unbeknowingly to the young prince, Gaster had a catch that he knew he wouldn’t be able to resist. “Because you want to see what happens if you do.”

Chapter 16: Calling The Big Guns

Summary:

The group is back in the lab.

Notes:

Told you I'm not dead eheehee. Thank y'all for being patient <333

It took a while, but Undyne eventually had a soda to drink. Her whole face wrinkled up with disgust and her shoulders tensed their way up to her ears.
The group looted what they could from the vending machines to bring with them. Alphys longingly glanced the soda cans in her arms, but she determinately shook her head when Undyne offered her some.
The fish monster perked up remarkably after restoring some energy, and the rest of the way back to the lab was eventless and calm. However, they were all still very much on edge and ready for action, much concerned for each other’s safety. Especially Undyne, though with replenished energy was still not completely restored to her usual self. Proper rest was in order.

Finally back outside the laboratory, they called Toriel on the phone, and she opened the door to let them inside. She did so in silence, greeting them with a face creased with worry that clearly spoke for itself. Papyrus immediately picked up on it, and a sting of concern spread like a jolt of electricity from his soul through his entire body.

“WHAT’S WRONG?” he asked, taking a step closer to the old queen. “DID SOMETHING HAPPEN TO SANS??”

Toriel sighed, her posture dropping noticeably. Her face relaxed and a gentle smile replaced the previous expression, but the faux calmness did not fool Papyrus. Not this time.

“WHAT’S WRONG?” the tall skeleton repeated his question even louder than before, his eyes burning with concern.

Toriel exhaled, deflating her posture even more. “I don’t know, dear…” she confessed mumbling softly, and gently clasped her hands in front of herself. “It seems like he… Well, first of all he woke up earlier. Frisk spoke to him.”

“HE DID?? BUT THAT’S GREAT NEWS, ISN’T IT?” Papyrus exclaimed loudly, his clenched hands flying up to his chest with excitement, almost not letting Toriel finish her sentence before he reacted. In this situation, he had to grasp every ounce of hope that he could get.

“Yes, but you see… he was very confused. He didn’t recognize Frisk, or me. I fear that he might suffer from some form of memory loss.”

A few moments of silence passed. Undyne eyed Papyrus nervously, before turning to Alphys for assurance.

Papyrus wasn’t sure how to respond. He could no longer control his hands; they were shaking in an odd trembling rhythm as he contemplated the old queen’s words.

“Are you s-sure??” Alphys nasal voice asked and the yellow lizard stepped forward, her clawed hand fumbled with her glasses in an inelegant manner. She tried to look up towards Toriel, but her look faltered nervously.

“I am,” Toriel replied, her face creased once more.

Papyrus glanced at Alphys intensely, as if she had a solution to this complication, but she looked no less worried than Toriel. That only meant one thing! The most obvious solution of all! He shook his head and straightened his spine, determined to make his hands stop shaking.

“I’M GONNA TALK TO HIM THEN! SURELY HE’S GOT TO REMEMBER HIS OWN BROTHER, RIGHT? I MEAN, IT’S ME,” Papyrus felt a flutter of hope, slightly reassured by his own words and walked up to the elevator, leaving everyone else behind.

“Dear, he’s sleeping again,” Toriel called after him but made no effort to either stop him or follow. “And Frisk is sleeping too, they’ve been so worried.”

“THAT’S OKAY,” Papyrus replied. “I WON’T WAKE THEM UP.”

-

Toriel sighed again and tiredly rubbed her head. Her anxious demeanor was already rubbing off on Alphys, the scientist’s mind suddenly cluttered with thoughts of things she could have done to prevent this from happening. Her face wrinkled into a stake grimace as overthinking caught her in its grasp. She should have listened to Undyne when she told her to stay behind, maybe this could all have been avoidable? Maybe if she had been quicker, or picked a different kind of medicine, or-

“You alright, Alphy?” A blue-scaled hand was placed on Alphys’s shoulder, snapping her back to reality. She didn’t even notice how badly she was shaking until Undyne’s touch calmed her.

“I-I’m fine.” Her voice trembled almost as bad as her body did. “I just… maybe you were right, Undyne… m-maybe I should have stayed, maybe I could have been more use... ful… here…” She sighed.

Undyne’s expression grew weary for just a second, her mouth opened and closed like an actual fish before she clenched her jaw and gave Alphys a look so intense it felt like it was going to cut through Alphys. The scientist flushed when Undyne's hands crashed on top of her shoulders.

"Alphys! Listen! It's all thanks to you that we managed to get so much information, you're the one who started the computer AND found a way to bring the files home. None of that would have happened if it weren't for you, because let's face it, it would have just been me and Papyrus and we'll…" Undyne's eyes strayed away and she shrugged. "I mean, now we can learn, about Sans and about Gaster… we can strategize, rather than just flailing in the dark."

Tears of raw magic formed in the edged of the scientist's eyes and her cheeks became dangerously flustered, as Undyne kept going:

"I'm glad you insisted on following. Sure, it sucks about Sans, but who says there was anything you could have done, even if you stayed? Who knows how this DT stuff, or whatever, affects the mind?"

Alphys nodded but kept looking at the floor. There was something comforting about the last sentence. The amalgamates that she accidentally created did suffer from mental issues… and maybe, since Sans had DT that was less concentrated it would be less severe to him?

Alphys's shoulders raised and deflated, in a stressed demeanor as she sighed. She raised a hand to remove her glasses, using the back of her other hand to wipe her face. "You're right," she sniffled. "Thank you Undyne. I, uh, I'm sorry. I'll try to… to...." Her voice grew more silent as she spoke. "I'll try not to doubt m-myself so much…"
"Good. A smile suits you better anyway," Undyne confessed, her pupil aimed away. "But anyway," she added and cleared her throat. "We should discuss what to do. Gaster is still out there, with those hands. He needs to be brought before justice."
"I agree," Toriel added. "He attacked Frisk. If he decides to attack other humans then our return to the surface might not be ideal to them. The last thing we want is to get locked away again, or Dog forbid, another war."

"Do you really think it might come to that?" Alphys asked, looking up to the former queen with concern written over her features.

"I certainly hope not, but it has been a while since we last had relation to them. I do not know what they think of us, and Asgore did do something horrible to their kind, children nonetheless." The spite in her voice replaced the gentle tone she usually had as she spoke. Her fist clenched at her sides.

"They don't know that. I mean there's no way," Undyne added as she crossed her arms and leaned against a wall, taking a relaxed posture. "Not anything we need to, nor should be concerned with now. Asgore did what he had to anyway… Gaster, however, is a big concern. Whatever he's got planned doesn't bode well no matter what it might be, and we don't know where he is." Her gaze went to the elevator where the lanky skeleton was last seen as he went to see his brother, her thoughts concentrated on that as she didn't really want to think of what role Asgore could have played in this current mess. The recording said that Asgore had given approval, but Undyne tried her best to find ways around that because she just couldn't see him allowing something like this to happen, and whatever Gaster told him just had to be a lie. She was slightly reassured when she remembered the way the scientist almost trash-talked Asgore. In fact, it took away an enormous load off her shoulders. "Papyrus barely has any memories of him, and even if he did he was not involved in all that shit. Sans was, so he might know what Gaster really wants."

"Given that he remembers."
Once more Toriel relaxed, voice back to normal. Her shoulders rose and dropped as she sighed before scooting the desk chair out and taking a seat. Her hands neatly folded on her lap, looking very much like a queen at the moment. Her furrowed brows and narrowed eyes indicated being deep in thought, an expression shared by the yellow lizard who was also fumbling with her own claws.

Undyne watched them before closing her eyes, slightly wrinkling her nose. It was always easier for her to think if she eliminated redundant impressions. Her fin-like ears folded to the side of her head. She gave a wide yawn, closely followed by a grunt. Thinking was hard… only for nerds anyway.

"This sucks."

"Uhm, we also have the file I copied from the computer," Alphys suggested. "M-Maybe it's best if I get to it... or at least begin to transfer the files to my computer. I should probably check on Sans after that. The computer needs to load anyway, ehehe..." Having said that Alphys waddled over to her computer and put in the USB drive, making all the preparations to connect it to her lab computer. She looked at the two remaining monsters before nodding to herself and aiming her gait to the elevator.

Toriel eventually summoned her phone into her hand and tapped it a few times before holding it to her floppy ear.

"Who are you gonna call?" asked Undyne.

A disgusted grimace spread over Toriel's face as if she was chewing on rotten garbage.

"Asgore."

-

Both Sans and Frisk looked peacefully asleep like nothing was even wrong. Except for the obvious changes on Sans.
Papyrus grabbed a chair and scooted it to the bedside, letting his body deflate as he sat down. He burrowed his face in his hands and sighed.
Sans and Frisk were both sleeping in the same bed, right next to each other. For some reason, the human seemed to have taken a liking to his brother… somehow. Well of course, he was Papyrus's brother, and he was very glad that they got along, that way Sans wouldn't be a third wheel when they hung out.

Just at this moment, Papyrus didn't care if the human liked Sans better than him. He just wanted his brother to be okay. Maybe Sans needed that anyway? Papyrus mustn't be selfish at a time like this, not after everything he'd learned.
The past day had been rough for Sans, even without all this happening. Sans would never tell, obviously, but now that Papyrus thought about it there had been some hints that he wasn't doing well.

In his defense, however, many monsters in the underground were quite somber and hopeless when the barrier was still up. Papyrus had always done his best to be a good example to those monsters, and keep his spirits up so they could too. Someone has to set an example…

Finally, Papyrus looked up, beholding the sleeping people in front of him, his soul overflowing with things he wanted to tell his brother.

He might as well lighten the burden inside and talk. At least Sans wouldn't be able to interrupt or joke it away right now like he always did whenever Papyrus tried to bring up the important stuff. The lanky skeleton lowered his hands and relaxed them, letting them rest on his lap. One hand flew up to scratch the back of his head. It kinda bothered him that Frisk was there. After all, he did promise not to wake them up.

Papyrus hesitated. His mouth opened and closed several times, his mind shilly-shallying of whether to speak or not. What if Toriel entered the room when he was talking, or Undyne?? Nothing he wanted to say was intended for them.

Papyrus rib cage expanded and fell rapidly in a deep breath. It felt stupid just sitting here quiet.

"BROTHER?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. "I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW HOW SORRY I AM FOR ALL OF THIS. I WISH I HAD KNOWN ABOUT IT SOONER." He paused for a bit, letting the silence hang in the air until he could bring himself to go on. In fact, he was hit by a sudden urge to keep talking - he couldn't leave it like that! "N-NOT THAT I'M MAD, I'M DEFINITELY NOT!" his hands flew up in a defensive stance in front of him, before falling back on his lap again. "I JUST… I COULD HAVE BEEN A BETTER BROTHER TO YOU. I COULD HAVE HELPED, I WOULDN'T HAVE… I WOULD HAVE BEEN MORE CONSIDERATE. I SHOULD HAVE FOCUSED ON MAKING SURE YOU WERE OKAY." A painful sting of guilt struck his soul, as he came to think of the journal in his inventory that the younger Sans had written. "I JUST WANT YOU TO BE OKAY. THAT'S WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED. AND, I… UNDERSTAND THAT YOU HATE HIM. BUT YOU KNOW WHAT? AFTER TODAY, I PROMISE THAT I WILL TRY EVEN HARDER TO PROTECT YOU. I WON'T LET ANYTHING BAD HAPPEN TO YOU, AND I WILL DO MY UTTERMOST TO HELP YOU GET THROUGH THIS!" Once he got started, it was hard to stop, but finally, he got everything he needed to say out of his system. Part of him was glad that Sans wasn't awake, but it would still be nice to get some confirmation that part him knew and understood that he was going to get help.

Why was he breathing so hastily? This wasn't even a bit physically straining..? He wiped a tear from his eye socket, completely unaware that tears were slowly falling from the other side of his face. How sad, the Great Papyrus is crying, after making such an important promise nonetheless. Both of his hands flew to his face and he tried to wipe his face, or at least hide the tears before anybody got here.
He inhaled sharply and leaned against the side of the makeshift bed. He gave his poor brother one last look before his eyelids grew too heavy and he fell asleep. By the time Alphys got there, he was sleeping so deeply that he didn't notice her at all.

Chapter 17: Ugly Faces

Summary:

A very groggy skeleton wakes up and tries to get his mind straightened out

Notes:

Omg, I can't believe it's been so long... aaaa I'm so sorry!! ><'' and holy heck, I did not expect to get so much positive feedback when I was gone! Thank you so much for every comment and kudos!! qwq

Lots of things have gotten me occupied! Including me writing my very first official novel! It's an ongoing project, and it's far from done! But within a few months, I hope to make it public on some platforms! And if you like this story, perhaps it will tickle your fancy as well? It's very similar to this story, minus the Undertale elements and characters.

If you want to follow this project you can do so on my Instagram, or on deviantart or twitter! (which I'll be more active on soon shhhshshhs) It would really mean a lot if you could maybe at least leave a like or two? qwq There will be updates there about this fic as well!

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When Alphys got to the room she was met with a trio of sleepers. Considering everything that Papyrus had learned recently, needed rest too, she thought. Time to process this. They all did. 

Sometime later, the lanky skeleton was scooped up by the fiendish fish-monster and taken to a proper bed on the first floor, so he could rest better. Frisk was cared for by Toriel once more and with that hours started to pass. 

Asgore was not yet contacted, because of course, he was unavailable the one moment that Toriel actually wanted to talk to him. She even left a message one time, which went against every bit of her dignity, but bigger things were on stake, and for that she swallowed her pride. At least she was here, and that was more than enough, should this Gaster decide to do anything. If anything, this whole mess had reminded her of what she used to be. The need to be someone the others could rely on, someone they could count on to keep them safe, surfaced more and more for each second. Her royal demeanor hadn't changed much, and if a queen couldn't keep her subjects safe then what good was she? It was just a shame how she had let herself waste away in the ruins, wallowing in her own self-pity.

The old regent looked down at the child in her arms, kissed their forehead, and promised herself: never more. 

-

Blurry, so blurry. Everything was dark and he couldn't focus his vision. 
Something was wrong, very wrong. In his head, his eye, his chest, his soul...

"where am i?" asked the blaster skeleton listlessly as he slowly raised his head from the pillow to look around. Or,  at least he tried, but his neck seemed to fail to lift the weight of his head. No matter, he saw nothing beyond the blur anyway. Everything was spinning and his whole body ached with acute, throbbing pain. 
Nausea threatened to make him heave raw magic and each beat of his soul felt almost viscous, adding to his belief that something was very wrong, and that he needed to move - now! 
Very slowly, yet still, as fast as he could,  he slowly raised a trembling hand to remove whatever covered his face, only to find out that there was nothing there. Then why did it feel like something was pressing him down? 
His rib cage heaved with a strained breath as he tried to focus. It wasn't all dark,  he realized. A dull light shone upon the room he was in. The only thing he saw were blurry contours of what he assumed to be bookshelves and storage desks. It reminded him of- but it couldn't be… No reset had ever gone that far back, it couldn't be. 

So, where was he then, he thought to himself. What happened? 
A strange feeling or more intrusive thought kept urging him to get the hell out of wherever he was, but his body felt heavy and difficult to move. Like he was wading in molasses. 
When he heard a voice talking to him his body tensed. Though he became more and more alert, his vision was still bad, like he was looking through a fish-eye lens and he couldn't see who it was. If anyone was even there, or if he was dreaming? 
He tried to listen, breathlessly, but he couldn't hear what they said. The voice sounded alien and strange, why? Among the few impressions he managed to pick up, he did see that they were wearing a white coat, just like the scientists at the lab.
Sans' soul sank. A thousand thoughts struck his mind at the same time, and his eyes shot open. 
Was he back at the lab, after all? After all this time, and countless resets? Did he never even leave? Where was Papyrus? Why was he here, and what was happening? Trying to put together what just happened was close to impossible with such a heavy impact on his mind. His thoughts tangled into each other. 
Snowdin Forest suddenly popped up into his mind. He was there, he was,  and they were… Frisk and Undyne, and-

Then it hit him, like lightning from a clear sky. Gaster. 

He… he had returned, and- and he did something to Sans. He..? He had transformed him into a blaster? Or had that been just a dream..? The thought of Gaster was pretty solid in his mind, but the rest were just a mish-mash of thoughts and impressions that he had no idea how much truth was behind.
Reality harshly brought him back to the present. The other monster reached out for him, but Sans winced before they reached him, and drew back. Much to his surprise the voice was soothing. It spoke to him with gentle words, but he didn't feel any calmer. It was just what they used to do in the lab, to calm him down when he was anxious. 
Luckily he knew better now compared to when he was a kid, and this time he wouldn't stand down. He refused to calm down, because he would never allow things to go back to what they were before!
With increased pace and intensity, his soul pounded within his rib cage, threatening to jump on and run away. Beads of cold sweat formed and ran down his skull. He had this one chance, he would take it! 
The other monster moved closer, definitely trying to grab him this time.

"no!" yelled the skeleton and pushed them away. It was still agonizing to move but he couldn't risk anything now that Gaster was on the loose and he was in fact in the lab. 
Little by little his senses began to come back. This room was really small, and it only got smaller, as it seemed to him that the walls moved even closer. He could almost swear he heard a creaking noise from clenching his teeth together so hard and his eyes grew wide as saucers, eyelights but tiny pinpricks. 
This wasn't right! He knew better now, he should be able to keep his cool and work his way out of this situation. Yet fear got the best of him. 
"stay back!" 
The recoil from trying to ward off the scientist caused him to fall off the opposite side of the bed as his body was still weak. The reckless move most likely inflicted more damage on himself than he caused the other. The constant aching in his bones escalated upon the impact and he cried out in pain. His static movement didn't get better when he realized that he was all tangled up in blankets and wires. 
He tried to raise his arms in a defensive stance, but his hands got intertwined in the mess as well. Thankfully, it didn’t take long before he managed to break free. The tips of his fingers seemed to rip the soft fabric into shreds when he tried to pull back his hands.

Somebody was calling his name, and he could feel the hands of whoever called him on his back, pulling him up into a sitting position. The involuntary movement made him wince, he couldn't focus at all! By now the voice was desperately yelling, but he couldn't hear what it said. He tried to push them away, but they persisted by his side.
He hissed and snarled at them, but they didn't budge and it made fear turn to sheer desperation. He could feel the warm build-up of magical energy in the back of his throat, just like when he was in his blaster form. He didn't mean for it to happen, his body reacted before his mind causing buried memories to resurface.
Before he could fire the blast, he felt himself being grabbed again, harder this time, and promptly lifted and pinned against a wall. An arm pressed against his lower jaw and forced his mouth shut. The blast was smothered in his metaphorical gullet. Another, much louder, far angrier voice spoke to him. Nothing like the condescending or cold ones he connected to the lab. 

"Snap out of it! You're safe and we're not going to hurt you."
The words pierced through his skull, this time he heard loud and clear. He even recognized it. He knew this voice well, not from the lab, but from... work? The smell of fish became clear. He blinked his eyes a few times as his eyes slowly adjusted themselves to the environment and a wave of relief that allowed him to relax his tense body, washed over him when he finally recognized his boss.
"undyne?" he moaned between his clenched jaw. The pressure against his jaw immediately disappeared and the grip on him was let go. 
"Goddammit, Sans you scared us! Ah-!" 
The moment he was being let go of, Sans' legs caved in under him, but Undyne's quick reflexes made her able to catch him before he banged against the floor. His wobbly body would have fallen if it weren't for the blue monster helping to keep steady by holding him up under his armpits. Huh, so that's where the fishy smell came from. 
"I got you, don't worry" said Undyne and dragged him up back on his feet. "Can you stand up?"
"i... i don't know. it.. heh." A tired grin spread across his face. He was still trying to make himself realize that he wasn't trapped in the lab at least. Undyne was there, so he was among friends… kinda? Quite honestly everything was so weird that he didn't know how else to react but with his trademark skeletal grin. When he lifted his gaze he saw the monster in the white cloak get closer. This time he saw Alphys perfectly clear. A nervous chuckle escaped his throat. 
"What's so damn funny?" asked Undyne. 
"Your face." He kept giggling, like a 10-year-old kid or something. Though his fears were somewhat put to rest, for now. Though there was still something unsettling about this whole scenario and his smile quickly faded when he noticed his hands, as did the laughter. Instead of his normal bony hands, he now had claws instead of fingers. His soul sank when twitches far beyond where his spine usually ended made him realize that he still had a tail, and it was twitching from side to side with agitation. 
"this... this isn't right," he mumbled while trying to move, all traces of amusement erased in a heartbeat. As he was to find out, most motor skills were seemingly reset. His body was sluggish and slow to respond to his commands. He was certain by now that if Undyne hadn't been by his side to hold him up he probably would have fallen down into a pile of bones on the floor without hope of ever getting back up.
"C'mon. I'll help you to the bed," Undyne offered and more or less dragged him towards the bedside so he could at least sit down. He tried to follow, but despite his efforts, his feet didn’t even leave the ground. 
"D-Does it hurt? Or d-do you feel… uhm… not alright… but maybe okay? Okay-ish?" asked Alphys as she walked up to the bed after Undyne gently lowered him down on the soft mattress.

Sans sighed as he tried to find balance and strength to keep himself sitting up.  He stared at Alphys, trying to process what she just said as he found it hard to catch up on his racing thoughts.
"i'm fine," he said after a while and looked away. The trip to the floor did seldom good to his already aching body, but it didn't matter. He wasn't gonna let her know and it was bad enough that they saw him like this. The more he could keep to himself the better. How would he explain this anyway?
"Oh really? Is that why you're shaking?" said Undyne and pointed at him with her palm faced up. 
Dammit. Was it really that transparent? He didn't even notice. 
"i'm... cold?"
"Okay then. If you're fine, go over to the desk over there and bring me the pencil case," said Undyne and placed her hands on her hips while making a gesturing nod towards the desk. 

Tired eyelights traced her movements with mismatched eyes. He hadn't noticed it himself yet, but his left eye light was glowing in a blue light traced by a yellow line. The same way both of his eyes would when he was fully transformed. 
A frown overtook his features. Yeah, there was no way he'd be able to go that far like this. He'd fall down on the floor, and that would not work out in his favor in his case.
"nah. too much effort," he replied, hoping to brush it off. Without even thinking about it he flicked his tail sideways with a rapid motion. The sudden movement, on a body part he wasn't used to even having, sent a dull ache all the way through his spine and a grimace appeared on his face. Undyne raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms, staring at him with just a bit of triumph in her eye.
"Sans, l-listen. You need to let me know if you're... I- I mean… I can... help you," said Alphys. "I-If you let me… I could reinsert the needle in your arm… it was torn out as you fell down on the floor… uhm,  anyway… uhm anesthetic. And stuff.." She stumbled while nervously adjusting her glasses as her stumpy tail coiled around herself as if she wanted to appear as small as possible. 
Sans looked down his arm and saw a clear mark of where a needle recently was sitting, as well as some loose bandage. His eyes narrowed with disgust. 
"So, d-do you want me to? I don't want to do anything you're not okay with, and-"
"okay," he interrupted. The thought of needles would have made him crawl out of his skin if he had any, it would be nice to get some relief from the discomfort. In fact, he needed to, he couldn't think like this. And thinking was crucial right now.

He ran his clawed hand across his skull. He found a rift in the middle of his face as well as ridges and bumps along his head and even on each side of his jaw. His feet were stretched and bendy, and it felt strange. Yet somehow there was a spark of familiarity in it all. Not the good kind though. The tip of his tail curled and twitched as stubborn pain pulsated in even waves. Even though he tried to keep it still he couldn't.
"Do you r-remember what happened?" asked Alphys carefully as she picked up the needle. Her anxious stare spoke for itself and her hands were shaking. 
"not really." Sans narrowed his eyes, trying to remember,  but no matter how hard he tried everything was still a blurred mess. 
"Well... your soul kinda... broke, but the human souls bound to yours kept you from falling down and are actually mending your soul as we speak."

The semi-transformed skeleton's shoulders tensed and he held his breath. Finally, after what seemed like an hour he looked at Alphys, starting at her as if he had just seen a ghost. "how do you know about the human souls?"
Alphys's eyes widened and her cheeks flushed red. "S-sorry!! We didn't mean to pry into your life, but…"
"We met your old man, went to your house, found some documents, and here we are." Alphys noticeably relaxed as Undyne took over. "We know. A little at least,  but that's okay 'cause you're gonna fill in the details for us. Everything." The fish monster's words were almost threatening, the impression strengthened by her leaning closer, with her sharp teeth bared. 
"where is papyrus?" asked Sans aiming his eyes straight at her, trying his best to remain unphased, very deliberately ignoring her questions.
"Sleeping, upstairs," Undyne replied, nonchalantly. 
"does… he know?" 
"Course he does. We were at your house. He's got your journal."

Several silent curses were made, some of which turned loud as Alphys got to work and reinserted the needle. Several apologies from a very stressed-out lizard followed. At least it soon felt better… a lot better as the pain slowly faded, with whatever drug Alphys used. His whole body deflated, he would have lied down if it weren't for Undynde grabbing his shoulders. 
"You're not off the hook. Speak."
"I don't have anything to say to you."
"Listen, punk. Unlike Papyrus, I don't fucking care about your feelings right now. There's a psycho out there on the loose, with the capability to enslave innocent monsters," she said and pointed at the door meaningly. "We should be up on the surface celebrating, not locked in here like insects in a cage! This isn't supposed to be a time of fear!" 
"Then go. What's holding you back?" Sans replied dryly. He didn't wanna have this conversation, not with her and especially not with Papyrus. He just.. needed to be alone so that he could think. He had to find out how to handle this.
Undyne grunted and sat down beside him. "You've been awake for like one minute, and you're already getting on my nerves!"
"Thanks. I do try."
"Screw you."
"You'd like that, huh?"
"Ew. Eeeew." Undyne scooted aside and a series of other gagging noises followed. At least this made Sans feel accomplished. Getting under her nerves always did amuse him.

"Uhm.. in order t-to get back t-t-t-to the subject, Sans… the cat is already out of the bag. So… it would be really great if you would help us," Alphys said as she fiddled with her claws like Sans knew that she always did whenever she was nervous. Now it was his turn to grunt. He never could say no to her.
"Look, it's not a pretty story."
"You're not pretty either," Undyne stated and flicked one of his horns with her fingers.
"Wow. First of all ouch. Second of all.. what exactly do you need to know?"

Chapter 18: The One With The Two Brain Cells

Summary:

A little lighthearted joking between friends can do wonders for your soul.

Notes:

Aaa such a short chapter! I recently found out that my more organized notes are missing, so this chapter is a little spontaneous just because I wanted to post it today, as it marks the 4 year anniversary of this fic! I appreciate every single reader, and kudos and comments! Y'all so nice I can't even!<3
This story is far from done! I intend to see it through to the end! Thanks for putting up with me and my irregular posting🙏

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"Tell us about your dad," Undyne demanded, staring holes at the skeleton with her one good eye. 
"Not talking to you. Shoo," Sans said and waved his clawed hand at Undyne in a dismissive gesture. "Still got nothing to say to you. I'm only talking to Alphys."
There was a twitch in Undyne's eye, her lips tightened into a thin line. 

"Uh, maybe that's for the best..?" Alphys said as she knew Undyne well enough to tell that if she remained here, her annoyance would only grow. Sans seemed set on annoying her specifically. Or perhaps not, he was just being himself, but that was not optimal for Undyne. "You should get some rest. Or you could read the documents that we found..?" The lizard monster suggested, clicking the claws on her fingers together in an awkward way that she had seen anime protagonists do when they were shy. 

Undyne scoffed. "Reading's for losers. I'm gonna rest up real good in case I have to fight later." With those words, she disappeared down the corridor. "Later, losers!" 

Both the skeleton and the lizard cringed as a door was slammed shut.

"You sure pick 'em well," Sans told Alphys ironically. 
"H-hey, there's nothing wrong with Undyne!" Alphys crossed her arms. Her brows creased and a pout spread on her features. Not that she could possibly never get mad with someone, least of all Sans who was her good friend, but she could make it seem as she was!
"Yeah sure, nothing wrong except for everything she does and everything she says. C'mon, Al, she the type with only two brain cells, both fighting against each other for third place." 
"Clever. Sounds like you're jealous." Alphys always thought that Sans could stand to get some sass back every once in a while. Even now. Hopefully, it would make him feel more normal, even after everything that happened. 
"Just looking out for you. Don't wanna let your bad taste make you unhappy in the end." The skeleton shrugged lightly. 
"Oh, I know I got bad taste, we used to date remember?" She chuckled at him. The bickering was like a fresh breeze of air, in a heavy situation. It did them both well right now.
"Holy shit, I can't believe you remember that. Wouldn't call it dating though, we were just kids."
"Teenagers. The age where it all starts coming together... That must be why I developed bad taste. At least you look cooler now, but you're still a dork." 
"You're the dork, you're just cocky cuz you're dating the jock!" 

The two chuckled lightly, and for one precious moment, things didn't seem as serious anymore. The situation wasn't changed, however, and the problem that was Gaster and his whole legacy remained. Alphys, feeling as it was still her job to get the information they needed cleared her throat and went back to the heavy subject again. 
"Anyway... Now that's it's been established that I'm dating an idiot," she said to humor him. "Uhm... if you wouldn't mind..?"
 
Sans raised a brow at her. "I do mind, but I got no choice, do I?" he asked, with a dry undertone, in contrast to the easy-going conversation they just had. 
Alphys' nose wrinkled up, her face aimed down on the floor as she began fidgeting with her own claws. Sans could be heard sighing. 
"Okay, relax. No biggie. Let's get it over with, yeah?" he quickly added.
"Yeah... uhm, so... first of all, you're not hurting anymore right now are you?"
"Nope. Don't feel anything right now."  
I take it that this never really happened to you before, huh?" 
"Not that I know," Sans replied and looked down on his fists, which he repeatedly clenched only to relax again, seemingly studying them as if he had never seen his own hands before. 
"And your soul?" 
"What about it?" The skeleton stopped moving at all. His gaze remained lowered. 
"You feel off or anything right now?" Alphys asked, trying to find a good way of elaborating her question. 
"I've been like this since I was a kid. For as long as I've known you, and-"
"Ah, y-yes, sorry! I mean... I don't know if you r-remember, but.. your soul broke, you a-almost died. For a moment you were down at 0 HP. But... yeah... you're still here." 

The thought made Sans feel absolutely horrified, he didn't even know that was possible. "I... what? And no reset?" he blurted out, but the statement was left lingering and unexplored in the stale laboratory air, as the door that was just slammed shut, was slammed open again, by Papyrus. Sleep was still written behind his eyes. How could he look so tired and so worked up at the same time. 

"SANS! YOU'RE AWAKE!" 

Chapter 19: At Grillby's

Summary:

A brotherly talk is initiated, and very well needed.

Notes:

So, I'm slowly coming to terms with the fact that this fanfic has become an annual occasion xD I keep telling myself that this is the time I finish it, more frequent updates! This time being no different, but!

... well, thanks for being patient with me xD

Sans immediately froze as he heard his brother’s name. He couldn’t, nor would he explain this to him. It was too much and the shame and guilt weigh too much.
Before Papyrus even had a chance to look at him, he was gone. Only the blanket falling down on the floor indicated that someone had even been there at all.
Left alone to ponder over Alphys words, he knew exactly where to go. Same place as ever when he wanted to be alone, away from his brother.

-

“Brother!” The lanky skeleton called, but he was nowhere to be found.
“Did… did he just use magic?” Alphys said, more like a statement to herself, as she had just told him that his soul was down on 0. Using magic in that condition was an incredibly foolish decision, and now she had no idea where he was, or if he was okay! Alphys caught herself off guard by being angry over his decision. “Why would he do that!?”
Papyrus saw the blanket drop to the ground. He closed his eyes, he should have seen this coming.
“He teleported?”
“Yes! And I told him that his soul is weak! Besides! Besides, that freak is out there, and this isn’t an anime! He’s not just some villain to be defeated with the power of friendship, this is real!!” Alphys huffed, waving her scaly arms in the air, her hands balled up into fists. A deep breath was taken before her hands dropped, adjusting her glasses again. Only to see Papyrus leaving too.
“Wait, Papyrus! Not you too!” She called.
“I know exactly where he is, I’ll be right back,” the skeleton replied. “I’ll be right back, don’t tell Undyne that I left.”
“Absolutely not! Hey-!” But Papyrus was already off

-

“Tra la la~ Eat a mushroom every day! Why? So I know that you’re listening to me…”

-

Papyrus waved the River Person off, scoffing to himself as his feet crunched against the snow. “What a strange person…” he told himself and shook his head. It was a wonder that they were still there and hadn't left for the surface with everyone else! Very convenient indeed!

Snowdin didn't look any different. The only thing that stuck out was the lack of monsters. The tree stood proud and tall on the town square, but there were no gifts around it, and no rabbits anywhere. Only skeletons, because he knew that his brother was here also.

The snow crackled softly under his red boots, like so many times before. He walked quickly, his goal straight in mind to minimize any potential encounters with his dad. While the vast majority of footsteps in the snow lead from Snowdin and towards Waterfall, the footprints left behind by the skeleton lead in the opposite direction.

In contrast to Snowdin as a whole, Grillby's looked the same. At least in the aspect of Sans, sitting hunched over the bar in his usual spot. His tail slumped against the floor, his forehead against the bar.
"Brother," Papyrus started but got rejected at once.
"Go away."
"Don't be stupid, I'm not gonna do that. I never did any of the other countless nights you spent here. Now, stay where you are, don't you dare teleport away from me."
"That was different."

Papyrus took a seat next to Sans, nearly folding his hands on top of the bar.
"Are you okay?" He asked before performing a stat check. Upon closer thought, he did not trust whatever his brother might say regarding the issue. There was no reply, but his stats were okay, so Papyrus could relax about that at least. The obvious elephant in the room was the way he looked now, Papyrus told himself that the only reason why he reacted was because he wasn't used to hearing his brother's voice from that shape. That's all.
"You don't have to reply. I just… I know, okay? About dad, what he did to you."
Papyrus leaned in, waiting for an answer. But none came.
"Fine, I guess that I'll do the talking. I'm... I'm sorry."
Finally a reaction. Sans turned his head and peered with the somewhat unsettling glowing eye straight at Papyrus. The taller brother swallowed thickly, metaphorically, before straightening his posture, trying to look nonchalant.
"For what?" Asked Sans.
"For everything."
Sans narrowed his eyes. "You didn't do anything wrong."
"I could have been there for you. I wouldn't have pursued my dream so passionately if I knew that you were struggling and needed help."
"That's stupid."
"No, it's not. What's stupid is suffering without asking for help when you need it. All this time… I didn't know." Good thing Papyrus' hands were folded on the bar, it made it easier to control the shaking.
Sans looked down again. "The reason I didn't tell you is so that you wouldn't have to worry about anything. So you can do what you wanted to, be whatever the fuck you like, do what makes you happy while we are stuck down here in this hellhole."
Without fully knowing why Papyrus got the feeling that this wasn't solely because of something their father did. It felt strange, like some kind of déjà vu. At least he figured out why Sans had never spoken a bad word about their dad. Why he never said anything at all about him.
"I'm worried regardless, and I'm not happy if you're not happy. You're my brother." A speck of dust on the bar caught Papyrus' eyes for now. He appreciated the gesture, it was hard to know where to even look right now.
"You can't change the past. Nobody can," Sans said eventually, running a clawed hand over his skull like he always did when he was stressed. His hand dropped when the motion was stopped by the horns protruding from his forehead.
"No. But the past is the past, it's behind us. And if I knew, then I wouldn't have been so hard on you."
"You would have learned that you're related to a raging psycho, and-"
"I would have learned that my brother might have needed my help. Sans, I'm not stupid, and I don't know why you treat me as such."
Sans flinched, his tail flicked slightly to the side as if trying to create a barrier between them.
"I could have handled that. It would have been shocking, yes. Would I have been sad? Probably! But I would have gotten over it!" For the moment that's what he felt like anyway, having the initial shock settled. Sans was more important to him than his pride after all. Grandpa always said that family is the most important thing.

"I know you're not stupid," Sans replied. "I'm sorry."
"And I forgive you. Will you forgive me?"
Again, Sans looked up before shaking his head.
"There's nothing to forgive."
"There is too! Forgive me!" Papyrus prompted once more.
"Fine. I forgive you," Sans said, although Papyrus had a feeling that there wasn't true genuinity behind those words.

A frown clad the bony face of the taller skeleton, before he leaned over, bringing his brother in for a hug.
"You better mean those words. And by the way, horns are cool."

-

Outside of Grillby's, a yellow flower poked up from the ground. A wicked smile stretched the lips on the unlikely face. The set of footprints leading into the shack belonged to one person only, which was why he knew that Papyrus was in there. Gaster was right about one thing. Flowey was bored and he had nothing to lose. Might as well see how this plays out.

Notes:

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