what's the point in all of this?

by micromacuole

Summary:

dust gets bored after he beats the human and builds a device that to travel universes. unfortunately, he ends up in two of the worst possible worlds to end up in out of sheer coincidence. horror is a pissy asshole who always seems to have his panties in a knot, and killer is... something indescribable. but hey, they're together now, and he really just has to suck it up at this point (because the multiverse hates him).

or: i wanted a fic featuring JUST the murder time trio in it... so i wrote it...i wanted to depict how i think they'd meet... so i wrote it......

Chapter 1: skeleton goes to the dump and gets dumped

Notes:

murder time trio lover writes murder time trio meeting each other. fork found in kitchen. nightmare found NOWHERE NEAR THIS FIC

sans had spent many hours scavenging around in the trash dump, an amusingly fitting place for one such as himself, papyrus spat. filtering. engineering. collecting. and most of all, thinking. thinking about if it was even worth it at this point.

 

hundreds of resets had passed. the song and dance between his human and the one once known as sans, although he knew he was no longer that person as much as he wished, had started, lasted, and ended in an embarrassingly bland fashion. there was no grand finale of the fight between the mad one and the human in which the power of friendship and compassion ended their torture. there was no powerful display of power in which the mad managed to overpower the human in some form of fourth-dimensional break in reality. no, all there was was the dull reality check through the skull that was the fact: his human had simply gotten bored. and quit. logged off, like it was all a game.

 

he supposed it was all a game, wasn't it...? a twisted game of checkers, one in which he'd thought was always a much more complicated game of chess. but in his human's eyes, in the one who thought that it was fun to play him a fool, it wasn't anything more but just a simple way to kill time. and those that they never cared for, of course. 

 

perhaps he should've seen the signs earlier; resetting and saving were classic mechanics in the ancient game cartridges he'd found in the dump, and really, if he'd put himself in their shoes - which he wouldn't (and which he did, for a brief period of time, and hated the mentality so much he'd ended himself that reset) - their motivation for prolonging this ended samsara was just that of... a curious player. a minmaxer, a speedrunner, a completionist. and he really, really should've expected it.

 

sans had these thoughts often, especially now, where the pointless loop had broken off from the predetermined path it was set by the one walking, and had come to a long-due stop. he had all the time in the world to himself and his thoughts, to think to himself (and papyrus) about all of the things that went wrong, or all of the things he could've done. sans was a person forged from the regret of one and defined by the lost memories of others, after all.

 

but after all of that, after all the regret and death and suffering, it was over. and now, sans was left to decide what he could do. what else was there to do with the bound-to-rot corpse in this casket of his world that was himself?

well, he'd made up his mind. sans hummed as he wrenched out the final piece for his frankenstein of a machine, a simple screw that he couldn't find anywhere.

 

papyrus floated around, weaving in and out of trash piles, "I CAN'T BELIEVE WE WENT THROUGH ALL OF THIS JUST FOR A TINY LITTLE SCREW..."

 

sans nodded. "i know. at least now we'll get to know if this was all worth it, paps..."

 

with a snap of his fingers, the mad one and his delusion returned to the basement housing his creation.

 

it was a machine. a grand machine, the peak of his ingenuity, if the former scientist in sans had anything to say. a generator connected to the CORE as a power source and with a small, simple teleporter the size of a telephone wirelessly connected to the generator, sans had hypothesized that this device could transport him to other worlds. and now, this behemoth could finally be assembled.

 

he quickly got to work, pulling out a screwdriver from a messily organized drawer and sitting down at his workbench. some components in the teleporter needed to be assembled, and then maybe he'd do a test run with an external object to see if it worked, maybe a few extras just in case...

 

"... YOU SERIOUSLY PLAN TO DO THIS, SANS? YOU PLAN ON TAKING US OUT OF THIS WORLD?"

 

sans didn't look behind him. he didn't need to when he knew that papyrus was just voicing his own, inner concerns that he himself had about this plan. but he spoke up anyways, maybe trying to delude himself with a lost kind of hope.

 

"i do... if this works, we'll be free. it's been 2 years now since the human's left. there's always a chance, but maybe this time they're gone for good." a paranoid thought of his worried about if that statement was true, but he willed it away, "with them gone, we can... do stuff aside from sleeping and talking. and it's not like we can't come back if it does work..."

 

ironic, it was. that he was the one with more hope than papyrus in this situation. usually, back a long time ago, it was the other way around, but things had changed. things had been changing all the time, ever so slowly evolving to something so warped and different that sans could barely recognize it.

 

and now, after a year of talking to... papyrus. not himself. sans had finally came up with an answer to the everlasting purpose of what his life was to be, and what he was to become now that his one goal and pursuit had been achieved.

 

"papyrus... do you know what dichotomy means?"

 

"... WHAT?"

 

"dichotomy. i've told you this word before. remember, if you can."

 

a small smile graced sans's face as he heard papyrus hum to himself, probably making a silly expression as he recalled. his bro was silly like that, even after all this time. the energy regulator he'd inserted into the teleporter wiggled for a moment before stilling, the screw he'd scavenged finally fitting it into place. good. it'd been hard to find a properly sized screw, with so many different sizes...

 

difference. opposition. contrast. sans was no fool, and he certainly wasn't anything but painfully self-aware (he didn't know if he'd envy a version of him that would be stuck in their head anyways, unable to do any critical thinking). he knew he was a hypocrite. a raging, comically textbook definition hypocrite. be sad you killed them all, but also be numb to the deaths of your loved ones. hate yourself for enacting violence, but also love the rush of power you get from hurting them. never be mad enough to view them as nothing more than numbers, but make sure to get them all, you need as much EXP to LV up as possible, don't you? just make sure to save them from the human and put a stop to it, but don't worry if it doesn't end for a long, long time. you'll find enjoyment in it eventually.

 

well, that last one kinda broke his hypocrisy streak, what with how the human was no longer here to stop. but, in the process, and with the estimated 17,520 hours he had of time to think, sans had come to accept that perhaps, nobody was coming anymore. papyrus had been getting irritating (bless his soul, but even sans had limits to how much complaining his bro could spout), and he had to admit he was getting bored. they needed something to do.

 

"AH! YES, I REMEMBER NOW. A DICHOTOMY... IS IT TWO THINGS OPPOSITE FROM EACH OTHER, SANS?"

 

"something like that, just with more emphasis on the different part. kinda like a word you'd use to describe the sheer difference of... let's say, the concepts of positivity and negativity. creation and destruction, life and death, you'd use dichotomy to describe them."

 

and the word could certainly be used to describe himself, sans thought, his hands idly screwing back on the protective panel he'd installed for the device, finally sealing it up. his fingers rubbed along the switches and buttons, all the new choices he could choose, and sans thought to himself.

 

he's going to get out of here. out of this rotting, dead, and dull dump that was his world. sans would go to others and see new things, although not many good ones. he didn't deserve that, not after what he did. but the suffering he would experience, the pain and loss of the new places and people he meets, that is what he planned on looking forward to.

 

"... because if there's suffering to be had, then there's satisfaction and contentment, and things for me to enjoy among all the things that i hate, and make me hate. in the darkness, only then would light be seen." 

 

sans’s eye sockets closed, thinking to himself out loud. having someone to listen was always nice...

 

"i don't need some cutesy recovery story where i end up perfectly healed and happy. i don't want that. i don't need that. all i want... is something to do. to pass the time. to get rid of the restlessness. something to live for. and experiencing the smallest bit of joy will be just that."

 

as much as he hated to admit it, the human used to be "just that". hunting, planning, strategizing, watching, murdering... it used to bring him so much joy. but with hours, days, years all to himself, just to think... he couldn't stand it. sans couldn't live like this. he needed something. a goal. anything . and there was nothing left to do here for him. he had to make his own.

 

"... SANS, THAT SOUNDS GREAT AND ALL, BUT ARE YOU AWARE YOU'VE JUST ACTIVATED THE DEVICE?"

 

sans quickly shot up from his seat, looking down at the small teleporter held in his hands, now vibrating with enough force to shake his arms. the damn thing was on, he'd forgotten to unplug the generator! sans whipped his head over to the floating head, his voice panicked and accusatory.

 

"damn it, papyrus, why didn't you tell me the generator was on?! i didn't even test this damn death trap yet, what if we die or something-!"

papyrus shook his head, looking at sans with a face he knew well enough as "this is your fault". he barely had a moment to make an irritated quip back before the room filled with blinding white, causing him to fall back and land onto the cold ground, and ironically, for everything to go black.

 

-

 

"... SANS! SANS? WAIT, SANS... ES? SANS, WAKE UP!"

 

sans abruptly jolted up from his snowy bed, although the snow was somehow different from normal. sharper, almost as if it was blatantly rejecting him, compared to the compacted and frozen-over snow normally. firstly, he felt around for the teleporter, sighing in relief when he felt the object still held firmly in his grip.

 

he spotted the scarf of papyrus floating around behind him, which was good, but what really caught his eye was the figure standing not too far from him. another skeleton, similarly built to sans himself, with half of his skull cracked open, one red eye, and most certainly an irritated and confused expression on his grimacing face. jeez, he should really lighten up.

 

"who the hell are you?"

 

"... who are you?"

Notes:

woaaah dust over here using BIG words like dichotomy,,, who does he think he is. anyways this whole thing is just me trying to justify why i think they'd even be outside their universes soooo

Chapter 2: welcome to snowdin

Notes:

if you thought they'd like each other at first sight you are clearly mistaken. this is the murder time trio pal...... the only love at first sight here is LOVE at first sight

today was supposed to be a normal day for sans. spend an hour or two in bed dealing with the usual demons and coming up with some new form of threat that would be prevented if he just got up, check on snowdin, check on paps, check on the traps with paps, and at his sentry station, take a nap. pretty summarized, but that was how almost all of his days in this 7 year hell went.

 

today was supposed to be a normal day. but now that couldn't happen because of the stupid, stupid, concerningly dust-covered skeleton lying in the snow that looked an awful lot like himself. like how he looked before. sans had to take a break from looking at the cloned version of his past self. said clone shot up with the force of a zombie digging out of its grave, and the newcomer looked around for a moment before spotting him.

 

of course, sans had questions. and they definitely needed answering. his socket narrowed as he spoke, words coated with suspicion.

 

"who the hell are you?"

 

the fake version of himself blinked for a moment, his eyes changing from white to red and cyan (weren't his eyes from back then blue and yellow?), and he replied. now standing up, sans found this other version of himself to be a pain to look at. like looking into a mirror, but worse.

 

"... who are you?"

 

sans crossed his arms, scoffing down at the shorter skeleton beneath him. wasn't it obvious already?

 

"sans. sans the skeleton. guess you're sans too, huh? unless you've found some way to wear a skeleton's skin."

 

the other "sans" looked around. sans took him over. hood up, looked like he hadn't slept in a good week, covered in what was (hopefully not) dust, holding some device of sorts, and almost turning his head to the side or behind too much. as if he was hearing things. huh... 

 

"... i'm also sans. i came here to... your universe, i suppose, not on purpose. i made a multiversal transportation device and activated it by accident, bringing me here."

 

oh, screw the backstory, this stupid game of copy and paste wouldn't do. sans rolled his eye, grumbling a few annoyed curses at this idiot of a traveler. he'd already tuned out most of his excuse anyway.

 

"no. you're not sans. i'm sans. either come up with a new name or find some way back to what hellhole you crawled out of."

 

was he being rude? hell yeah, but sans didn't care. this fake sans could make that annoyed expression and whisper to himself as much as he liked, he was the original sans. at least, in this universe... a brief memory of a theory relating to that concept came to him, but the thought was forgotten before sans could remember it.

 

the faker looked around once again, focusing on a spot next to sans that definitely wasn't him, before looking away.

 

ah. so he was insane. got it, that made sense.

 

the insane faker then fiddled around with the little remote-looking thing in his hands. he shook it, pressed some buttons, and after some mumbles that sans could clearly tell were irritated (and that he struggled to hold a chuckle back at), he finally flipped the thing over and opened what seemed to be the power source.

his dual chrome eyes scanned over the area for a moment. was he processing something? sans couldn't tell. but then his clone spoke again, clearly over this (so was he, to be honest. at least they had that in common).

 

"yeah, no. this isn't gonna work. we can deal with the naming conventions later, but for now... clearly you wanna boot me out of here already, right? do you know where i can get any source of... power, of sorts? my device isn't connected to my world's main power source now, and unfortunately, it doesn't work."

 

right, right. who was this guy to ask him for anything again? if anything, sans should just steal that little device of his and fix it himself, that way he could send this identity snatcher back to where he came from...

 

and the audacity he had to ask about power? power? here? in this world? covered in what sans could easily turn him into? he could barely hide his irritation behind a strained grin.

 

"... ugh. listen, pal. i'll let you in on the loop. "

 

that got a flinch out of the other skeleton, his hand coming to fiddle with his right sleeve. but sans didn't care much to do anything but keep talking.

 

"we have zero power here. nothing. nada. zilch. null. got that? the core's shut down. and the reason why? because of..."

 

sans trailed off. other him was looking at him weirdly. wait, what was it because of again? he wracked his cracked head for the answer. what was it that papyrus told him again? what was the story...?

 

sans perked up as he remembered, his hand tugging on his empty eye socket, "because the little dictator of a queen that undyne is decided to go ahead, lose her head, and sacrifice a bunch of people as power sources for our little outage... that didn't even end up working. you're looking at the only survivor of said sacrifices, buddy."

 

ugh, another weird look. honestly, how could sans expect not to just be off with his head at the way this other version of himself was so skeptical?

 

"what, don't believe me? i've got the scars to prove it, if it's not obvious."

 

sans pointed to his missing eye and broken open head. they certainly weren't good reminders of that moment, but hey, at least nobody could say he wasn't faking it. but still, why was other him now terrified out of his mind?

 

sans spoke to question when a booming voice spoke beside his head. one that caused him to flinch.

 

"WHY, HELLO, STRANGELY SANS LOOKING STRANGER! IF IT ISN'T ANOTHER MONSTER AROUND THESE PARTS! I HAVEN'T SEEN A NEW MONSTER SINCE BEFORE THE-"

 

sans swiveled around to look at papyrus, fury seething in his good eye, "papyrus, what the hell! i thought i told you not to shout near me like that ever again, you idiot!"

 

"SANS! STOP SHOUTING AT ME! I FORGOT, I APOLOGIZE, BUT YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SCREAM WHEN I'VE DONE NOTHING BUT-"

 

he and papyrus continued to bicker, and sans could see out of the corner of his eye that other him looked rightfully shocked. he seemed to be whispering to something behind him, which just managed to piss sans off more. why the hell was this freak talking to the air again-?!

 

"can you two stop fighting? i'm sure that... papyrus over here would like an explanation. i'd be happy to provide one. so just cool it, other... papyrus and other... sans."

 

that seemed to cheer up papyrus exponentially, and that also just seemed to tick sans off more. he threw a hand to his face, dragging it down while he muttered curses under his breath to himself. but happy-go-lucky papyrus was being happy-go-lucky as ever, despite the clear situation they were in...

 

"WHY, I'D BE OVERJOYED FOR AN EXPLANATION, SANS 1! I'M SURE THAT HAVING TWO OF YOU AROUND WILL BE JUST... DOUBLE THE FUN!"

 

papyrus seemed to be much happier now that this faker was being cordial. wow, not even 5 minutes and sans was already getting his brother stolen by himself. the other sans smiled at papyrus's enthusiasm, but sans could see the hesitance behind it. good. he knew what he was doing, sans spat in his head.

 

"NOW, LET US BE OFF, SANSES! I'VE GOT QUITE THE MEAL FOR SANS 1, SANS 2! COME NOW!" and with that, papyrus sprinted off, the other sans following with a quick glance behind at sans. he stood there for a moment before trying to catch up.

 

"wait, am i supposed to be sans 2?!"

Notes:

silly papyrus :3 concerned dust :o angry horror :(

Chapter 3: known pessimists decide to do something positive (not clickbait)

Notes:

"papyrus, there is no way in this hell i am gonna let you go around referring to me and this... this fake as sans 2 and sans 1. he's not even your brother!"

"YES HE IS, SANS 2. SANS IS MY BROTHER, AND YOU AND SANS 1 ARE BOTH SANS! SIMPLE AS THAT. HOWEVER, IF YOU WISH TO HAVE DIFFERENT NICKNAMES, THEN PERHAPS YOU COULD BE BLOOD AND DUST?"

"you're really glancing over the fact that this guy could be a monster killer with all that dust, huh? wow, paps."

"WE'VE SEEN MORE THAN ENOUGH MONSTERS DIE FOR ME TO GET USED TO IT, SANS 2. PERHAPS SANS 1 HAS ALSO HAD A TERRIBLE TRAGEDY HAPPEN TO HIM..."

"... you're right, papyrus. i have. but let's not overcomplicate things with names. how about we just go based off colors? i'll be sans purple, and he's sans red. is that okay for now, red?"

"... just dandy, purple."

when sans stumbled into this random, definitely nightmare-inducing horror movie version of all those that he'd loved and himself, he definitely did not expect this... thing in front of him to be a part of the movie script. no. he could feel the bile threatening to come up.

 

"HERE YOU GO, SANS PURPLE, A DISH LOVINGLY PREPARED BY ME! HANDCRAFTED BY CHEF PAPYRUS, ONLY FEATURING THE BEST OF MEAT! I CALL IT, MY SPLENDIDLY SWEET AND SOUR SPAGHETTI!"

 

oh, that bile was definitely coming up now. sans could just barely stomach looking at the bowl clearly holding human... teeth. eyes. fingers. fingernails. organs. was that a hair? he weakly shot a smile to this other papyrus, catching a glance of the wide, sadistic grin on sans red's face.

 

he could vaguely hear the vomiting that his papyrus was doing behind him. sans was right behind him if these other versions of him and his brother actually expected him to eat this. he just barely pushed the bowl away, swallowing down some of the disgust he felt.

 

"uh... thank you, but no... thank you. i'm... flattered? but i actually just ate before i came here. yeah..."

 

red's grin grew even sharper. this guy really was pushing all his buttons, wasn't he? sans wasn't exactly a confrontational person to those who didn't deserve it, but this other him was certainly climbing the ranks of "deserving it"...

 

"oh, come on, purple pal. you should try it. just a bite. c'mon, didn't you hear papyrus? he put blood, sweat, and tears into this."

 

"I DID NOT PUT TEARS IN HERE, SANS."

 

"heh... still applies," red said, with the smuggest smirk to ever smirk shot right at purple.

 

oh, that image did not do any better for his metaphorical stomach. sans shut his eyes when he heard his papyrus's vomiting get even louder at that comment too. if only he had ears to shut this all out.

 

papyrus. amazing, cool, great, awesome papyrus. even if it wasn't his papyrus. papyrus with the broken teeth. broken, bloody teeth. papyrus. was feeding him human spaghetti. human. spaghetti.

 

sans stood up from the chair, teleporting away from the table where the twin versions of himself and his bro were practically cornering him in. he held onto the teleporter in his left, his grip tight on his right sleeve as he saw his other self glare at him. for what, he didn't know. he just needed to get out of here.

 

"the food looks... delicious, papyrus. i'll be sure to get a serving later. but actually, i'd like to speak with red privately. y'know, some sans to sans talk. bro to bro?"

 

purple thanked whatever angel was out there that compared to his own counterpart, papyrus's counterpart was actually sensible. he didn't make a fuss or argue, simply frowning at the decline of his food (he internally frowned too, but human be damned if he was eating their organs) and simply nodding his head slightly.

 

"ALRIGHT, SANS PURPLE. YOU AND SANS RED MAY GO HAVE A CHAT. I WILL SIMPLY BE HERE. ENJOY YOUR BROTHERLY DISCUSSION."

 

the lanky papyrus shot his sans a glare, and purple couldn't hold back a small grin at the sight of the silent fight they had with their eyes about whether or not red should talk with purple. eventually, mr. head-bashed-open began to follow him, which sans internally sighed at. he led them to the kitchen, tucked away from the living room...

 

and then immediately backed out once he saw the... mess. sans could hear a small chuckle from behind him.

 

papyrus spoke to him, turned away from the gore, "THIS OTHER SANS IS A PRICK, SANS."

 

"oh, if i don't know it, paps..." purple steeled himself, taking a breath. he quickly turned to leave, dragging the other sans behind him with blue magic, paying attention to the surprise and then irritation red displayed. this time he made sure to bring them he hoped was nothing that would traumatize himself and papyrus; outside and behind the house.

 

as if sans wasn't already fed up enough, red immediately started interrogating him. purple could only cross his arms and watch as the other's perpetually bitchy eye scanned him like he was a bomb threat.

 

"you can use blue magic? how the hell- i haven't been able to use blue magic since they bashed my damn skull in!"

 

sans red was staring at him with a look that could kill, but purple wasn't dense. just an hour with this guy and he could already read the signs: he was jealous. of what for, he didn't know. papyrus muttered something about being ungrateful, and purple couldn't help but agree.

 

"i don't see why it's such a big deal. i don't even use it much for anything but fighting. your jealousy's unwarranted, i hope you know that."

 

the other sans paused his rambling tirade. that pointed look was still there, but purple couldn't care at this point. he just needed to get back to his world and fix this damn teleporter...

 

"honestly, i don't get why you're such a bitchy, prissy asshole anyways. you've got a lot of stuff that i wish i had... a stable life, people you love and care about are still around... you haven't managed to spiral as bad as i have."

 

silence fell upon them. the other sans was still giving sans that look. there was silence. no wind like in his snowdin, no distant chatter like dust would expect from a still populated snowdin, and even papyrus was silent. all eyes were on himself.

 

and then sans laughed. it could be considered more of a chuckle, having lost that a long while back, and looking at him, sans could see the descent of madness that mirrored his own in that bright, blood-red eye.

 

"hehe... you think i'm not just as bad as you?"

a hand came up to that empty socket, tugging on it with a force that dragged sans down like the weight of his own body and sins couldn't keep him up.

 

"you think things are better here? that i have a stable life, that the people are still alive?! don't make me laugh!"

 

was that not it? was he wrong? sans couldn't possibly see how sans was struggling over this. after all, he hadn't been trapped in an endless maze, forced to repeat the same day and the same actions over and over until he went insane. and that was only the start of it, but-

 

"you're not the one that had to convince people not to kill themselves!

 

("IS HE SERIOUSLY BREAKING DOWN?" "guess so.")

 

you're not the one that has to slaughter, no, torture innocent people, or else the "people you love and care about" starve for the next month! 

 

("... what?")

 

and they're in pain, and you're so hungry you know you're rotting from the inside out, and you can't even drink the sorrows away because there's no alcohol!

 

("... oh.")

 

in fact, there's no drinks at all! 

 

("... SANS." "...")

 

even the goddamn bartender's in pain! 

 

("...")

 

and you can't even look at your brother without knowing that he's doomed, he's been doomed for the last 7 years, and you're doomed, 

 

("... that's...")

 

and you can't die because goddamn it you've already gone this far, you can't just give up now when you've got so many people relying on you, sans!

 

(one sans claws at his head. the other holds onto his right arm.)

 

no, you can't give up when everything sucks and everything hurts because you've got responsibilities!

 

(the hooded sans looks away from the other.)

 

but of course not, you don't get it! i have no idea how your dusty ass could possibly understand! 

 

("... i do get it.")

 

in fact, i have no idea why you're even alive right now! i should've killed you where you stood when i saw you in the snow with all that dust on you, but i didn't! 

 

("you should've.")

 

i don't even know why! 

 

("... i don't know why either.")

 

i don't know why i let you live, why i brought you to my house, why i'm even saying this to you right now, and sure as hell why i even care what you say!

 

(sans looks back. the other one is covering his face, peeking through the gaps of his fingers.)

 

but you're me, at least another version of me, so you should at least get this when i say it! i don't care how bad your hell was, mine's worse. okay?! got that?? 

 

(he doesn't nod. that doesn't seem to register to sans as his hands fall to his sides in fists.)

 

you better have, because i should send you back to your hell...! send you back and get you out of here, out of this graveyard where we're already dead and it's only a matter of time..."

 

... the other sans collapses to his knees. sans can't help but watch him in silence. that bright red eye is nowhere to be seen now, not even as a flicker through the gaps in his fingers. 

 

"... you haven't done anything wrong yet... i can't even fucking kill you."

 

his voice is shaky after all that yelling, clearly not being used to that much shouting. or emotion, it seemed. sans whispered for papyrus to quiet his snarky remarks as the other sans spoke, dejected and hopeless if it were not for what he were saying.

 

"hey... can that device of yours take more than one person?"

 

sans thinks. he did build it to have the ability to input other passengers, just in case. but he hadn't tested it out...

 

"... yes."

 

sans watched his counterpart closely as he mumbled to himself. what was he suggesting here...?

 

"... i know about a power source. the only one in this place. if i lead you to it and you take me with you, you gotta bring us to a world where i can find some food, or goddamn it, therapy for whatever my home's become.

 

his other self's eye was back, staring at him. was that hope he saw, or just a resigned attempt at it?

 

"SANS, WHAT IF HE'S LYING? THIS YOU HAS DONE NOTHING BUT INSULT AND TRICK US."

 

paps was right, he supposed. but... paps wasn't sans. he was a sans, and this other sans was also a sans. he couldn't relate. no matter what sort of trick he pulled, sans wouldn't regret it. he knew how it felt, after all...

 

"... i'll do it."

 

the other sans blinked.

 

"... you promise?"

 

he hesitated.

 

"... i do. we'll leave as soon as possible."

Notes:

if it hurt you to read horror as red and dust as purple dont worry. i hate the color themed names too but worry not they are only temporary :333
also horrordust bonding moment!!! yippee!!! why is horror so emotional you may ask. i don't know why don't you ask him. oh WAIT he's too busy dealing with this unpredictable and making himself question himself situation to answer....

Chapter 4: ngl they’d be a lot angrier if they were fully aware

Notes:

title says it all. they could've killed eachother like 6 times over in this one but hey! lies and deceit work out in the end!

in a place buried deep underground without any access to the sun, how can you expect people to maintain consistent sleep schedules? by picking a random time for it to be acceptable and just knocking out, that's how.

 

which is why after 9:30 PM, when sans red read a story to papyrus (which just consisted of him retelling the fluffy bunny from his forgetful head, considering the book was lost quite a while back) and had to unfortunately get help from his dusty counterpart to read it to him (since he forgot), the two finally set out to the CORE.

 

red clipped together his cloak, sighing a sigh of resignation as purple input him as a traveller in the teleporter and finally got up from the damn couch. he wasn't going to let himself get his hopes up about this little mission of theirs, so for the moment, the other sans didn't quite deserve an inkling of respect.

 

"so first you take my place for a few minutes, then you read for my bro for me, and now we can't even shortcut there?" 

 

"seriously?" purple rolled his eyes from under his hood as he stood up and made his way to the door. all of snowdin would be asleep by now, according to red, yet it was still bright outside. a consequence of living underground, he supposed, "you of all people should know that's not how shortcuts work. i need to know where i'm going before i can shortcut."

 

red muttered a grumbled "yeah yeah" under his breath, and they set off. it would be a long walk, considering the sans-ly pace they took steps at. whatever, no one was awake at this time. even food and cannibals needed time to sleep.

 

they made their way through snowdin, passing by grillby's, passing by trees and trees and trees and trees with nothing but the harsh crunch of snow under their feet and the mumbles that red wondered if the other thought he couldn't hear. unfortunately, he just couldn't catch a break, and purple just had to start talking once they took their first step into the muddy swamp of waterfall.

 

"so... we've got some time to pass, i guess. how about a game of 20 questions?"

 

"no."

 

a groan came from the hooded one at the firm refusal. what a prick, papyrus once reminded him again.

 

"look, we've got time to kill, and i sure as hell wanna kill it. only a few questions then, and you get to ask me some back. no 20."

 

this little proposal would then quickly be regretted at the little chuckle that red made, and the quick reply of a question that followed.

 

"fine then, time killer. what's with all the dust on you, eh?"

 

"... starting off strong, huh..." mused purple, as he glanced off. compared to his world, where waterfall was still and silent, and where dreams of freedom died, replacing the formerly patient cyan with a dulled action taken, this place's waterfall was... mutated. the colors were greener than anything, and sans didn't want to think about what could possibly have happened to turn what was normally clear flowing water into a brown slush of mush.

 

plants? withered or withering. waterfalls? unflowing or just little trickles now. walls? etched with what were either tally marks or claw scratches. it was all eroded, corroded into someone vastly different from how it started, but sans actually didn't bat an eye at it from this point. from what he'd heard, this place... as bad as it may seem, might be more tormented than he'd thought. even the papyrus here didn't bat an eye at the idea of murder anymore...

 

still, purple couldn't help but be vague. there was no way this other him would take it lightly, "it was a result of something the human in my underground did. they kept us stuck in a loop where they killed us all repeatedly for so perpetually long i can't even remember, and i tried to save as many people i could..."

 

not really that much of a lie, anyways, right? he did try. he saved them all in the end. 

 

"... but some still ended up dying, right in my arms. i managed to stop them, but still. the dust doesn't go away even when i wash it off."

 

"first off, ew," red grimaced at that last statement, but then hesitated to say his next words. not that he knew this other him all that well yet, but paranoia was a funny thing. and perhaps it was paranoia, or perhaps he was just being observant, but that wasn't the full truth.

 

… but for now, he’d give other him the benefit of the doubt.

 

"... and second. i'd try and call you out on your shit, but i'll be honest. i have no idea what you mean by being "stuck in an endless loop". or having just "one" human, so i’ll let you off the hook for now. here, time's normal. and humans fall down all the time."

 

purple rolled his eyes, "wow, good for you, pal. got anything else you wanna brag about?"

 

"heh, nah. not yet. but hey, on the topic of anything else, i got another question for you," a flick was administered to purple's hood as red said this, "what's with this thing, bud? covering up a nasty scar? how about you embrace it like i do?"

 

"... for practicality's sake." he said, pulling the hood forward more (as if that did anything), "keeps my vision clear from obstructions. staying focused was important when i stopped my human."

 

"practicality's sake?"

 

purple stopped when red stopped. his eyes narrowed when red's eyes met his, now empty and blacked out.

 

"seems a bit too practical to me. i mean, what kinda... obstructions would you need to distract yourself from, hm?"

 

... sans gripped his right arm. what, was he taunting him? there was nothing he did yet to be suspected of...

 

and then sans's red eye came back, along with a smug grin as they kept walking.

 

"hehe, just kidding. just made a little guess there, dusty pal. lighten up. it's not like you did anything wrong, right?"

 

"... no, you're right. i didn't do anything wrong."

 

more silence passed as they eventually left waterfall (purple's slippers were going through it in that swamp) and entered hotland. to his surprise, the volcanic area was... dark. it was almost barely lit up, and looking at the supposed pools of lava before them, purple saw cooled magma. how in the world is the lava cooled-?

 

"don't be fooled, it's still boiling hot under the surface. hotland's been cooling like this since the core broke down. must be something with the magic, but i lost my scientist brain way back," red pulled purple away from the edge, but for a moment, purple thought he'd push him.

 

he gathered himself and kept in pace with red, listening to a few of papyrus's words of curiosity before speaking, "right. i forgot that the core here's broken... i'll ask some questions now."

 

"oh god, don't-"

 

"so, you mentioned something about 7 years of damnation during your little... mental break earlier. care to elaborate?"

 

a disgruntled groan is all that came from red. he didn't wanna be interrogated, damn. was it so hard for this to stay one sided? unfortunately, it was only fair for him to reply, considering he asked the other some questions...

 

oh well. if his little teleporter didn't work, then purple was gonna learn all these little facts of life living down here anyways.

 

"7 years is how long we've been stuck under here without any power. 7 years since the core broke down, 7 years since monsters started cannibalizing each other, and 7 years since snowdin's had to eat human to survive."

 

"... hm."

 

well, that explained a lot. at least explained the eating habits, even if purple had just assumed it was some sort of... unique quirk. honestly, he didn't expect the cannibalism, but the human consumption was outright. in fact, he didn't even need an official confirmation to know that snowdin had been eating humans, what with papyrus's appearance or the dead bodies everywhere...

 

"DISGUSTING, IS IT NOT?"

 

"absolutely vile," purple muttered in response to papyrus. a nagging voice in the back of his head spoke in defense of this rotting world and his counterpart walking next to him, that they probably had no choice, that things probably spiraled out of control and this wasn't on purpose!

 

probably. but who knew? certainly not purple, but even he knew that bad decisions could be made with good intentions in mind. any sans knew that. he knew that. awareness was another factor, but awareness was something purple was certain this other sans had. especially considering that breakdown.

 

"ASK HIM ABOUT THESE... FOOD HABITS OF HIS FELLOW MONSTERS, SANS."

 

asking was a natural progression of thoughts, and papyrus was right. if it were anyone else, purple likely could've asked without any major worries. but... from the stare he was getting from the other sans, he suspected asking anything else would be a death wish.

 

and he really didn't want to die in this world yet. not when he had things to stay alive for (does guilt count? or was this experience miserably inspiring enough to consider worth it to continue?).

 

"you, uh... talk to yourself often? thought i heard you say something along the lines of how... disgusting you think this place is?" red spoke with veiled anger. just one little thing could set him off like a bomb, one little set-off and purple'd be falling down to the barely solidified ground and through it into lava, "because, y'know, i don't think you've got any right to speak on behalf of this place, yeah? i don't know what type of standard you uphold in your world, but with i've gathered, i don't wanna hear-"

 

"i was talking to papyrus, it was nothing. calm down."

 

"heh?" that seemed to snap red out of the little fervor he was going through. talking to papyrus? papyrus wasn't here? was he going mental?

 

well, he'd figured out this other him was crazy the moment he saw him, so it wasn't far-fetched... so it wasn't that bad. red could kinda relate. kinda.

 

"... you're a freak."

 

"you're one to talk. did you seriously forgot about how mad you were just 2 seconds ago?"

 

red blinked, and then shrugged his shoulders, "it is what it is. forgetting stuff's normal for me anyways. what, you want me to keep being mad?"

 

"... no. forget about it."

 

more silence, except it actually wasn't that much considering they were just approaching the core. it had been 7 years since red had seen this place, and surprisingly, it looked abandoned. there weren't any guards in the vicinity, there didn't even seem to be any recent activity in the area. eh. whatever.

 

at least after the silence of snowdin, the lore drops of waterfall, and the tension of hotland, they were finally here. now purple could get his power source, and red could find a way to help his world.

 

... if this worked, of course. and if his eye was still where it was. if sans even remembered where it was.

 

"well, here we are... warning, just in case. the "power source" i told you about is my missing eye. so just be on the lookout for that," a beat of silence passed. red interrupted purple right before he could speak, "oh, and if you even barely pinch the eye, i'll be sure to exchange it for yours, so don't you dare think about damaging it. okay?"

 

"like i'd dream of it. that eye's my ticket outta here too. and i certainly wanna leave after what i've seen..." purple replied. he went up to the main entrance, and red almost laughed at his naivety.

 

"dumbass, it's not just gonna open for you. here..."

 

... after some trial and error, it turns out that trying to force open a locked door was not the best solution. so, second best try. purple blasted the door down (with envious glares from red) and they made their way inside the abandoned core.

Notes:

how will a mushy bloody eye serve as a power source for a artificial mechanical teleportation device??? ermmm horror's eye is just THAT powerful..... (i say with sweat dripping down my face)

Chapter 5: zombie & co. return to his resurrection site (and almost die a second time)

Notes:

this would've been a lot shorter if i didn't realize that horror would probably NOT be okay with just casually strolling back into the core lmao

dusty and quiet. all that could be heard were their quiet footsteps. purple couldn't help but notice that red was fairly silent. not weird, if it weren’'t for the fact that he was sweating more than normal and honestly just looked... terrified? as if that was an emotion he'd see on the usually grouchy other sans.

 

"IT'S A BIT AMUSING, SANS. PERHAPS HE'S HAVING ANOTHER BREAKDOWN? I MEAN, THERE MUST BE SOME TRAUMA HERE."

 

"... i think you're right, paps." purple replied, purposely raising his voice. but even in the dead silent, red didn't notice what he said. he only seemed to tug on that empty socket of his, walking mindlessly forward.

 

"hello?" purple waved a hand in front of the other's face. "you awake? you alive?"

 

no response. the other only continued to walk like a zombie, holding onto that empty eye socket of his with an empty gaze. their steps continued to echo softly around the metal walls surrounding them, and purple could only stare at red warily while papyrus made comments and assumptions.

 

more hallways passed and purple was starting to wonder if they were even making any progress to their destination. after all, red was... in some state. where were they, anyway?

 

"SANS, LOOK DOWN THIS HALLWAY... COVERED IN BONES!"

 

purple turned his attention to what papyrus spoke about, stopping at the entrance of a hallway covered head to toe, walls, roof, and floor, with bones. and a lot of them. was this here before? they didn't look like his bones... some were sharper, some were thinner. they weren't as uniform as his own. he glanced back at red, still mindlessly walking.

 

"... must be his. don't know how long they've been here though. this place is dead." 

 

purple brushed it off for now. with nothing else to do, he continued to follow after red, both of them walking in nothing but silence aside from purple's mutterings. that is, until a distant voice became audible the more they walked forward.

 

"I pray... soon... Alphys, everyone..."

 

red's steps suddenly sped up, frantic and desperate as soon as he registered this voice. it was her, her, why was she here now? here? again, with him, alone? for round two?

 

but red's frantic scrambling was stopped when his soul turned blue. "woah, what do you think you're doing?" purple spoke from behind him, and red snapped to glare at him, a crazed look in his eye.

 

"don't you hear that? that disgrace of a queen's here... i don't know how she knew we were here, i don't know how she predicted this, but i'm ready to just end her and get this over with." 

 

"don't you remember what she did to me? i remember, i think, i remember what they all did. you remember. you should remember."

 

"... don't look at me like that! you remember! i know you do, i know i do! and i hate her for it!"

 

purple strengthed the gravity put on red, listening to papyrus's insults of another spiral. well, he was insane, this other him wasn't the most mentally stable, so what? he didn't know what other him was exactly spouting, but purple needed to get them back on track and focused. he promised to help them, after all.

 

"shut up. listen to me, okay...? just for a bit."

the stupid babble about memories and how someone, who purple could assume was this world's undyne, deserved to die continued. purple couldn't help but get a bit irritated. he wasn't a saint, after all, and he'd long since lost his patience for anything that wasn't a goal of his. and really, this little breakdown was not something he wanted to deal with when the teleporter was waiting inactive.

 

so it might be a bit harsh in papyrus's eyes, and especially in red’s, but purple summoned a sharpened bone and held it to red’s working eye. that shut him up quick.

 

"good. now listen... i don't plan on dealing with any more of these little outbursts of yours until that eye becomes my battery. i have places i wanna see... it might seem a bit idiotic, but even though coming here was an accident, and god, is it terrible down here... i'm not disappointed."

 

"i got to see another side to myself that i never would. i found out just how annoying i can be sometimes. i found out that suffering is a universal thing for us. and now, just because of you, i'm generously offering my assistance in helping this world... because i want there to be hope here after, what, 7 years of nothing? i sympathise with you."

 

"so stop wasting our time, please. don't you want to help your underground?"

 

"... i do."

 

"then get it together."

 

purple dismissed the bone threatening red, releasing him from the blue magic restraining him. they continued their walk once again. just that this time, red seemed to be a bit more aware of his surroundings.

 

soon, the hallway opened up to reveal a sculpture of metal and bone merged together, with a blue glow emanating from between some bones deep within. in front of the ruins of what once was the core was the queen. praying.

 

"So to finish off the night, I pray for the Underground. I pray for my citizens, my loved ones, and myself. May we one day be freed from this hell that the Demon dragged us all into. Thank you, Angel."

 

"are you talking about me, you dick?"

 

an eye saw to another eye as the kneeling queen turned to see sans. no, two sanses. two demons. red couldn't hold back the sadistically amused grin at the confusion in undyne's eye, but purple was more focused on the blue glow coming from behind the bones. it seemed the remnants of whatever red did here remained, and he just needed to wrench out what he needed.

 

"SANS, THEY BOTH HAVE ONE EYE. LOOK AT THAT, THEY MATCH!"

 

"i know paps, but right now, i've got my eyes on something better than a cyclopean staring contest."

 

"Sans... there's another one? There's two? Two of you... what are you planning?" undyne narrowed her eye, taking in the two sanses. what was going on?

 

a waste of time. purple teleported behind undyne, pinning her down to the ground with a few bones. it was right in his reach, that blue glow... the glow of freedom, of power. soon, he could have it. he just needed to reach through the bones...

 

"WAIT! What are you doing?! Don't go near there! DON'T TAKE IT!" undyne shouted at purple, protesting from the ground. what did these skeletons think they were doing?!

 

red chuckled and looked down at the fallen queen, "what, you mean what's rightfully mine, undick?" he sneered at her. seeing the high and mighty fall from the throne was always, always funny. "i'm finally doing something i wish i had the chance to a long time ago, asshole. and you've got no say in this. i'm leaving this hell, and i'm finally gonna get some help. do something."

 

purple's fingertips grazed the glass of a cylindrical container. he could see it now, the eye. the bright, swirling, glowing eye made of cyan and yellow. almost there, he could almost grab it...

 

red's vague words didn't make the situation better, especially considering the person they were spoken to, her paranoia, and her endless grudge against him. especially her grudge.

 

undyne wrenched herself out from the bones pinning her down, her metal armor screeching in stress from the force she used, "You plan on LEAVING US ALL HERE?! You wanna LEAVE us like this, Sans?! Rotting and starving and DYING EVERYDAY BECAUSE OF YOU?! And wearing my cloak you stole from me too! Now you wanna take the last sliver of hope we have?! NO WAY!"

 

purple’s hand finally grasped the container with red’s eye in it, but at that moment undyne also stood up from the floor, thoroughly pissed. she charged forward with a furious scream, but red summoned a wall of bones to stop her for as much time as they could.

 

"hey, hey, be gentle with it, prick- i told you i'd beat the shit out of you if you damaged it!"

red warned as purple opened the long-sealed container and the back of the teleporter. despite purple's greatest urges to squeeze the fragile eye until there was nothing left just to get this guy to shut up, he managed with more softness than he intended to place the eye in the empty space.

 

"how the hell is this gonna work-"

 

the crack of bones snapping from a rage-fueled punch cut purple off, and red whipped his head around. undyne had broken through his barrier and was now lunging at them.

 

"SANS!"

 

"oh shit." purple shut the teleporter closed with a frantic curse.

 

"give it to me, dickhead, don't let her get it-!" red reached for it himself. he didn't want the eye to be in someone's hands but his own.

 

the two skeletons didn't have any time to bicker as undyne practically threw herself onto them, and now it was a battle of who could grab the teleporter first.

 

one bony hand firmly maintained his grasp. another gripped tightly onto his wrist with her armor digging into his bone as she fought against blue magic. the last bony hand slammed against the buttons on the device.

 

and thanks to red's random button presses, they disappeared. and ended up somewhere new. 

 

-

 

"SANS. SANS, WAKE UP. YOU AND OTHER SANS ARE IN ANOTHER WORLD..."

 

once again, purple shot up from the cold ground, grimacing at the mushy and melted snow compared to the compacted and frozen-over snow normally. thankfully, the teleporter was still in his hands, so he pocketed it before the device could get wet and potentially damaged.

 

like a comforting reminder, papyrus was floating over him like a guardian angel, and he could see the splayed out body of the other sans from the other world he'd teleported with just a couple feet away. he got up from the mushy ground, walking towards the face flat skeleton laying in the snow as purple took in his surroundings.

 

but he quickly had to do a double take once he caught sight of something bright red between two trees. something? with a target shaped... thing in front of their chest. a sans. staring at him for who knows how long with empty black eye sockets, and black tears running down his face.

 

a sans with a knife.

 

"SANS, GET OUT OF HERE NOW-!"

 

that was all the warning purple got before he just barely dodged an attack from the other sans. he took no time to waste, pulling up red from the ground and sprinting off further in the world.

 

"wha-what's going on?! where are we??"

 

"i don't know, but we're not safe here-"

 

the sounds of their feet trudging through the snow stopped as red and purple were suddenly turned blue. red watched in outraged shock as knives surrounded them from all ends. purple could only watch the new skeleton teleport in front of them with a smile.

 

"well. isn't this interesting..."

 

purple caught the yellow shine of a SAVE point tauntingly glowing in the other sans's hand. he could save. the red soul. the black liquid.

 

this thing was just like his human.

 

"greetings. don't worry, dust, horror. we're just going to play around, okay?"

Notes:

uwa?? who's this??? could this be....... FULL TRIO?! killer the force that you are. if you've hated how emotional horror's been and how calm dust's been in the past few chapters don't worry killer will change that (trust)

Chapter 6: welcome to snowdin?

Notes:

"sans~ stop your pointless walking around! i can sense something with my ghostly powers... someone new's here."

"you're not a ghost. and why would i believe you?"

"because i can sense it! not one, two new people have entered the world! the code tells me so. or maybe it tells you and then i tell you? either way, you've got visitors~"

chara is probably lying. and even if there is someone else, what's the point in checking it out?
what's the point in not checking it out?! who knows, maybe we can finally do something around here!
well, maybe we should just mind our own business. we've done enough anyways...
no, screw that! let's just go and check it out. aaaagh, doesn't it help just to see if it's worth it anyways?!
... no. because we know how this is gonna go down. let's just let them leave and we can reset and finally end it-
no! because that's boring!! that's boring, and you know it! c'mon, let's just go see this once. if they're here, it's meant for us to see!

"... haha. even in your head, you still listen to me."

"... oh. would you look at that? two other sanses. they must be from an alternate timeline... didn't i warn you about alternate timelines? which sanses are these, sans? tell me."

"... h0rror_sans and murd3r_sans."

"mhm, mhm~ ooh, i better leave you to it, then. i'll be watching you deal with those twoooo..."

[FILE SAVED]

dodge a bone, duck under a slash, just barely get grazed by a blaster, try to escape from the fight, get dragged back in, don't die-!

 

that's what red's been repeating in his head non-stop since this fight began. the fight he and purple (well, they really needed to get names sorted out, because why was killer calling him dust?) were in against the new sans they met who called himself killer.

 

oh- just barely expanded the head wound there- red-horror wasn't quite sure what was going on at all?? at first he thought he'd be finally finding a way out of the hell that his au was and doing something good, and then he finds out that he and purple-dust are somewhere completely random?! how did the damn teleporter work anyways-

 

"ugh! goddamn it dust, would you stop shooting at me too??"

 

dust snarled at horror for that comment (he snarled?), "shut up, that's not my goddamn name! stay out of this or i'll turn you into exp!" 

 

what the fuck??? horror's cloak tore at the ends when he dodged some bones that dust shot at him. seriously, what was his problem?! first dust shows up in his world like some kind of silent, weirdly helpful but crazy guy, and now he was threatening to kill horror?! what was with the personality shift??

 

and don't even get him started on this killer guy-  every time he tried to get out of the fight (he didn't wanna fight, and clearly dust didn't want him involved either), the guy always seemed to herd him back in! like a sheep! horror was totally getting played here and he didn't even know the game they were playing!!

 

a clearly dangerous game is what. horror was caught in the middle of the barrage of knives and bones and blasts like a goddamn monkey in the middle and it sucked. he didn't know how he got into this situation- oh, just barely avoided becoming a knife pin cushion there.

 

clearly he did something wrong by trusting dust. clearly there was more to dust than horror knew. clearly . clearly! he'd even suspected it! what type of person has the remains of the dead all over them? a maniac, that's who. no doubt about it now. he was a freak, this hooded creep. the audacity he had to lie-?!

 

"ah, ah, ah, where do you think you're going, hm?"

 

shit, caught again! horror was dragged back by killer's blue magic. he flew like a goddamn projectile towards killer. horror could only catch the big grin killer wore before hands wrapped around his ankles and spun him around.

 

like a goddamn toy! like a mindless object to be used to fight! horror had to hold back his vertigo as the world spun and spun and spun, the only distinct color being the bold red of killer's target.

 

oh god he was gonna be sick-

 

and then he flew. horror crashed straight into dust as he was launched, sending them crashing onto the ground. in his dizziness, horror grabbed onto something rectangular. wait, this was the-

 

"ugh- that's it, i'm sick of this!"

 

horror was flung again by dust this time. god, that hurt, this sucks-

 

dust approached with murder in his eye lights, small giggles escaping him without any control, "i wonder how much exp you'll give me, horror. maybe enough to max me out? i've been stuck at LV 19 for quite a bit, you know..."

 

LV 19?

 

oh, so he was right. this papyrus hallucinating hypocrite did kill them all. just like horror suspected-

 

“i mean, not like it’ll matter. whatever pathetic shred of exp you have, it’ll be enough!”

 

bones were shot at horror. he could only hold the teleporter tighter as he scrambled away, desperate to stay alive. just stay alive , that’s all he needed to do right now. the maniacal cackles followed after horror as he ran into the forest. bones flew past him, whirrs of magical energy obliterated the surroundings, but he just needed to dodge, dodge , just stay alive, damn it!

 

what a fool he was to believe that getting involved with another version of him was any good. what a naive idiot he was! now he was stuck in somewhere unknown with one delusional murderer and another eldritch knife-happy creep, with no way out except for some little toy that might not even bring him back to his world.

 

he was going to die here, left for dead with two that didn’t even deserve the right of killing him. insignificant, pointless, and helpless, he wouldn’t end up doing anything to help. this is what happens when you get your hopes up, undyne chided, at least you tried, papyrus resigned.

 

[FILE SAVED]

 

“goddamn it, worry about that later, sans!”

 

horror ducked behind a tree, panting heavily. the teleporter was still in his hands, he was still alive, but he was still being chased. what could he do? just no time to get angry now. no way, not now. he had to stay calm. breathe in, breathe out, listen to the footsteps walking around and the small chuckles of dust...

 

"horror. where are you? come on out, i'll make it quick, i promise ..."

 

he would have to be a moron to actually come out. dust didn’t know where he was though, right? that’s why he was asking, the dirty murderer he was- wait, calm down, calm down, not now. calm down. just wait for him to leave, then you can figure out this teleporter thing, and get out.

 

“that killer guy is against both of us, horror. i know it, you know it too. he wants to keep us stuck here until we give up, but i won’t let that happen, okay? you can help me help you if you just let me kill you. ”

 

horror couldn’t care less about killer right now! whoever he was, he could rudely fuck off. he had enough to deal with right now. screw dust’s manic episode, screw killer and… whatever he is, screw wherever he was. horror fumbled with the teleporter, the precious object that held his eye. how did this work? he remembered that dust could input people in. was he already registered? which button was the teleport button?

 

“papyrus wants to talk to you, horror. don’t you wanna talk to him? he would gladly chat with you if you just gave up. isn’t that right, paps?”

 

wow , using papyrus as a bargaining chip. dust was really going low. ignore it, horror repeated. his papyrus was alive and safe for now, back at home, he just needed to get home. dust could stay here with his hallucinations and his trigger, but horror wouldn’t. he couldn’t-

 

“horror, you’ve wanted this for a long time, haven’t you? i can do it for you, i can kill you for yourself, i can finally put you out of your misery, so come on!”

 

… fingers gripped into the metal of the teleporter enough to make a mark. horror hung his head low. the footsteps continued around him, but it didn’t matter. 

 

low blow? low blow.  

 

he’d told dust that in a moment of weakness (why did he ever lower his guard that much?), and now he was using it against him. he didn’t think the guy had it in him (but why wouldn’t he, if you would go that low yourself?). who did he think he was, who gave him any sort of permission to bring up horror’s personal thoughts, who did he think he was?! the guy had just as many problems as him, the audacity to beat him down when he was already low…

 

what made him think that horror wanted to die anyway!? why would horror ever let himself die at the hands of this insane lunatic? no, horror should kill him for even suggesting that! he’s got some-

 

“he’s got some audacity, right? you should do it, horror.”

 

an undignified scream escaped horror that definitely alerted dust to his whereabouts. he whipped his head up to be met with killer, the thing watching him. watching him. how long was he there?! 

 

“i’ll help you out. be sure to hit him hard, okay?”

 

with a push, horror was shoved out from behind the tree. dust's frenzied eye lights locked onto him immediately. horror could feel his non-existent stomach drop when he saw dust running at him, yet a grin overcame him.

 

hit him hard. dust's bones were seconds away from hitting him. he had to hit him hard, he had to do it, not like dust didn't deserve it anyways!

 

horror readied himself as he summoned a giant thigh bone. wind up the swing-

 

"horror! there you-"

 

and it hit. a bone-crushing crack echoed through the forest. 

 

horror watched as the chips of bone dissolved into ash, floating around in the air and merging with the snow below. dust's eye lights persisted for a split second after he bashed his face in, staring at him with a look of surprise. what, did he not expect it? horror almost wanted to laugh. that was pitiably easy.

 

cathartic. was it a relief for dust when he died just as much for horror when he killed him? a relief to finally have the burden of life and all of its downs to finally be ended? it certainly felt so. horror didn't feel any pity. not that he should, for a dirty murderer like dust. but at least he felt some exhilaration on his behalf. 

 

if the guy wanted to feel some joy in the midst of suffering, then horror would do so for him.

 

all those thoughts and more went through horror's head as he lowered the thigh bone. dust's body fell to the ground as he slowly became his namesake, and horror could only stare. his smile slowly faded from his face until dust was fully gone, a pile of clothing in his steed.

 

... silent. is this how it felt for himself to die? silent.

 

until a hand on his shoulder interrupted and horror was met with the black stained face of killer, of course.

 

"wow, he went down fast. well, this was a nice start. let's see what you two can do next."

 

and before he could respond, horror was already bleeding out from a knife slash.

 

... wow. this was how it felt to die, he supposed.

 

... what was the point in doing all of that, all of this... if he was just going to die in the end anyways?

 

-

 

dust and blood mixed and mingled together in the snow, and killer could only stare. the drips of determination leaking from his eyes fell onto the puddle. and killer could only stare.

 

from the sleeve of what was once dust, killer could see a peek of red fabric. he looked away.

 

next to the fallen cloak of what was once horror, killer could see a rectangular device. he kept that in mind.

 

killer spun the knife in his hands he used to murder his guests. well, this was new... a lot of new information to take in.

 

"that device is probably what they used to get here..."

 

"... those two died awfully fast. they don't act as composed as they were in the stories they told us."

 

"haha, doesn't that just make it all so much more interesting? i do quite like a classic surprise~"

 

"i guess. but if anything, they're not classic enough. although i did like seeing horror kill dust. some bravado he had, heh."

 

"... it's what they deserve. i can't stand them one bit..."

 

"what, because of what we heard? so what? dust seems more crazy than chara told us so, and horror just seems more pissy! nothing wrong with some unpredictability!"

 

"you know it's more than just that-"

 

killer tuned out the spiraling bickering of his inner voices. they could argue inside the body's head. for now, this needed to be undone. he needed to learn more about these so-called "threats to our timeline" that chara preached so vehemently about back then.

 

he could feel their eyes watching. was this satisfactory? likely not. it was just the first of many. killer hadn't interacted much with the newbies himself. it definitely wasn't enough.

 

for no reason at all in his eyes, he had to protect the timeline. one part wanted it alive to reset it. the other just wanted to play around. killer was leaning towards the latter, but he couldn't care, really. what those two wanted wasn't of any concern to him.

 

right now, it was more intriguing to watch these two new variables. see what made them tick, see what they could do. if they fit what he needed them for, he'd move forward. but if not, then maybe he might let them go. who knew? not him.

 

that one voice didn't like them. apparently they did irredeemable things. the other voice didn't care. apparently it was worth enough to see the danger they possessed, pathetic as they were.

 

killer? he didn't know how to feel about them. no way he'd figure out later on... but what else was there to do? he was only delaying this body's death at this point anyways. how would a few more rounds of this game hurt?

 

and so, killer tucked the knife into the sheath around his waist and pulled up the save point.

 

[FILE LOADED]

Notes:

every new killer pov paragraph i always have to think "oh shit what other aspect of his character have i yet brought up???"
anyways horrordust DEATH :333 just a couple chapters ago they were bonding!! this is the power of full trio (hatred and violence against each other)

Chapter 7: it takes two to remake one

Notes:

"alright sans, since you've been doing so well during these past few resets, i'll be generous. it's storytime!"

"..."

"haha, don't look so surprised. you're grateful, correct? correct?"

"... correct."

"hm, good. you better be. now, let's see... i've told you about all the multiversal monstrosities out there that could threaten little old you and me."

"... you have."

"right! remember: stay away from owls and octopuses, touching the spider causes cowardice, and let the squid disappear in a blink."

"owl, octopus, spider, squid..."

"good, good~ now, have i ever told you the story of the dead dog and hopeless rabbit?"

"... no?"

"hah. very well then~"

more exp, he needed to raise his lv, that thing was here. or had it never left? it didn't, did it? it was always there, waiting for the weakest moment of his to return. and papyrus was talking, papyrus was loud, papyrus just wouldn't just shut up...!

 

dust knew what could shut him up.

 

"horror. where are you? come on out, i'll make it quick, i..."

 

dust paused. hadn't this happened already?

 

he stopped his staggered steps. the hooded skeleton took a minute to look around. the last memories flooded back. some calmed his mind while others further aggravated it, and papyrus just wouldn't shut up.

 

they entered this world. nobody was here, except for one. dust knew better than anyone what that implied. and that guy, killer. a freak of nature, yet somehow sans. but he's not sans. not like dust. something to be wary of, something to deal with...

 

"HE'S GOING TO UNDO ALL OF OUR PROGRESS, SANS, HE'S GOING TO-"

 

dust cut papyrus off as he rubbed his temples, "i know, just- shut up. i can't afford to lose myself now, i need to think..."

 

the fight. horror's incessant complaints. the look on his face when dust started chasing after him. the hunt, that chase. it was satisfying to see his usual smug grin wiped off his face, wasn't it? running so hopelessly...

 

"SANS, STOP STANDING AROUND! WE NEED TO FIND THAT OTHER SANS AND HUNT HIM DOWN ALREADY-"

 

dust groaned again, "i know, okay? i know, i want to, but i can't right now. i promised him..."

 

calm down. he remembered. next, horror caught him by surprise and killed...

 

horror killed him?

 

... wow. okay, wow. that sobered dust up pretty quickly. after that, the world reloaded. but seriously? horror killed him?? that thought was almost embarrassing, especially with how confident he was during his loss of composure... nevermind, it was embarrassing.

 

the embarrassment could be shelved for later. now with a mind clear enough to think, he could take a look around. papyrus was still blabbering about, but dust could see the clear footsteps in the snow leading behind a tree. not that good of a hiding spot. dust made his way over.

 

he scoffed when he saw horror. honestly, it was pathetic... trying to threaten him with permanent imprisonment in this world?

 

as if dust hadn't already been through that.

 

"horror, put the eye back in. neither of us have the time or energy to be against each other right now."

 

clearly frightened but trying to seem strong, horror scoffed. "what, so you can just kill me afterwards? i'm not falling for a switch like that so easily." horror squeezed the eye tighter between his fingers, threatening dust if he made one wrong move.

 

"what could you possibly gain from this?" dust crossed his arms, "it'll just come back in the next load anyways, unless you work with me."

 

"i have no idea what the hell a load is! so i guess boo me for not wanting to work with the guy that almost killed me, huh?"

 

horror's eye narrowed, a wobbly grin crossing his face. dust's red and cyan eye lights met his, an unamused expression on his face. clearly horror didn't understand the situation at hand, but still, did he have to be so stubborn about it?

 

"and i definitely don't wanna work with someone with your kill count either, dust." horror spat the name out with disdain, as if it had personally hurt him.

 

"DO YOU HEAR HIM, SANS?! HIS AUDACITY! YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT-"

 

"no."

 

papyrus was right, in a sense. he could easily permanently silence horror. his words stung, dust could admit.

 

but he couldn't. he didn't need to. there was no need to kill, not now. he had to keep his head, no time to lose his cool... just ignore the thing, it wasn't his human, and this wasn't his world. it's not his business, not his business...

 

dust had get him and horror out of this world, and help horror's world. horror's world was his business right now. his priority. he promised. he had to get through this.

 

no matter how annoying horror was, or how much he reminded dust of them.

 

dust took a step towards horror. he held his hands up, relaxing his body. horror's grin weakened at the sight of white eye lights staring back at him. no red, no other color, just white. familiarly white.

 

"... listen, i know that... i know that i'm a bad person. that what i did was wrong. i've long since accepted that. but now's not the time to talk about this."

 

papyrus screamed in dust's face, but he didn't listen. he just kept eye contact with that bright red eye, judging him for any lies.

 

"you barely know the surface of it. if you wanna judge me, you should learn my story. but if you wanna hear my testimony, then we need to get out of here first."

 

horror's hand trembled. he held the eye closer to himself, yet his panicked look calmed.

 

"i can help you. just put the eye back in the teleporter, and i'll get us out of here... far away. and then we'll help your underground. you can judge me as much as you want then... okay?"

 

dust took another step forward. horror broke eye contact broke, gritting his teeth. begrudgingly, he flipped open the back of the teleporter and put the eye back in. with a curse, he shoved it into dust's chest.

 

"y'know, you're so lucky you've managed to give me a bit of hope in the middle of this. i would've given up already if it weren't for this chance..."

 

dust looks down at horror. slouched with his head low so similarly to how he's seen him far too many times for just a couple of hours. that same resigned look to his face. a zombie, a corpse marching towards his grave he dug years ago.

 

pathetic, commented papyrus.

 

it was. it is. horror truly was pathetic.

 

just like you, added papyrus.

 

... yeah. just like himself.

 

horror looked up at him. dust looked back. his hand grasped the teleporter held against his chest, their fingers brushing against each other-

 

"really heartwarming moment, huh?"

 

dust swung around his hand holding the teleporter to make contact with his face, but his wrist was caught. he could just barely see the anger on horror's face before he collapsed the ground. met face to face with killer's flat grin, the surrounding area was covered in bones sticking out from every crevice, and dust knew he fucked up.

 

"SANS, YOU'VE KILLED THE OTHER SANS!"

 

"i know papyrus, i know!"

 

keep yourself together, sans! stop shouting, stop fighting with papyrus in front of this thing! killer was enjoying you fall apart too, don't give him the satisfaction. dust attempted to pull his arm away, but killer's hold was freakishly strong.

 

those empty sockets narrowed with killer's smile widening, "wow, chara was right. you really do talk to him..."

 

killer's free hand came up to the edge of dust's sleeve, teasingly dancing around his wrist.

 

"i wonder what else they were right about?"

 

a concentrated blast of magic from dust forced the two to seperate. his grimaced gaze caught sight of killer standing across from him. teleporter in one hand. papyrus's scarf in the other.

 

the scarf. he had papyrus's scarf. no, nonono he wasn't allowed to have it- not someone like them!

 

killer's laugh echoed through the woods as they began a chase. uncomposed and spiralling, dust could only throw everything he had. bones, blasters, blue magic, but nothing was working! killer was only leading him on, weaving through the trees and tauntingly trailing red behind him.

 

"desperate, aren't you? that makes sense since you're acting on your code, at least. but not like you'd understand what that means..."

 

killer swerved to the left. dust stumbled to catch up, firing blaster after blaster at killer. what would he know about dust's desperateness?!

 

"this isn't even your scarf, but you're so needy for it. is it like a trophy for you? after you killed everyone, did you need some proof to make sure it was true?"

 

a trophy?? a prize?! what was he even talking about? killer didn't know anything! dust teleported in killer's path to grab him, but the other just slipped past him with a wink.

 

"ah, or maybe it's the opposite? based off your reaction, you're guilt ridden and regretful. y'know, memoirs of the past don't make the grief any better."

 

"you think i don't know that more than anyone else?!"

 

killer stopped and they came to a standstill. stood with his arms spread, killer leveraged the scarf and the device with the weight of their importance. dust kept him still with blue magic, honing in on the red target now turned blue on killer's chest.

 

"oh, i know you know that well. in fact, i know all i need to know about you. so i'll ask you this..."

 

the scarf stayed in killer's grip, the teleporter thrown elsewhere in the forest.

 

"will you go after your escape, or come after me?"

 

dust gritted his teeth. an ultimatum?

 

papyrus's scarf. the teleporter.

 

(he could leave. he could easily get out and escape this repeat what happened so long ago but did he want to? could he? not really probably killer would just bring him back after all of it and, wait horror wasn't even alive right now. the promise, his promise, he couldn't keep the promise if horror wasn't alive, right? he needed to get horror alive, he needed the scarf back. it's a win-win scenario, dust gets the scarf back and when he dies he'll come back, horror will be back, he just needs to keep him alive next time and then they can get out-)

 

"good, good, just what i thought..."

 

knife met bone, and killer held the scarf in the air.

 

"show me just how much you're like him!"

 

the bone holding killer back snapped with a crack. dust skidded against the snow and had only a moment to recover before killer came at him, knife in one hand and the scarf lazily held in the other. dust had to dodge.

 

dust scoffed, "who the hell are you talking about, asshole?!"

 

"there's no reason for me to tell you, dusty. just be a fun little experiment for now, okay? i gotta see a few-" killer paused as his arm was impaled by a bone, but he shrugged it off, "things!"

 

"let's recap, shall we?" killer backed off from dust, but he managed to grab the edge of papyrus's scarf. big mistake.

 

killer tightened his grip on the scarf, dragging dust with him as he swung the scarf around, "a sans that remembered resets and a human who didn't know how to give up..."

 

"one day the sans grew sick of it and decided to kill everyone." dust stumbled as he tried to keep hold of the scarf and stay standing. he saw one of his slippers go flying before he almost did himself.

 

"hallucinated his brother, learned to love it, and lost his mind in the process..." killer laughed at the sight of dust clinging onto the scarf, being dragged around like he was weightless. didn't he realize that killer was toying with him?

 

"and apparently doesn't know how to give up, either!"

 

killer let go of the scarf, sending dust tumbling to the ground with a yelp. he fumbled to wrap the scarf around his neck, but dust couldn't get up in time before a foot was on his chest and hands were tugging on the scarf's ends, tying the fabric tighter and tighter-

 

"sound familiar yet?"

 

of course it sounded familiar, dust had lived it! his hands clawed at the fabric around his neck, the pressure of the fabric choking him until he felt dizzy-

 

"it should. but don't worry, sans."

 

dizzy, dizzy, staring at the infinitely spinning target until his eyes went criss-cross. was he sans, was he not, but it was too late anyways to go back to what was lost- he couldn't breathe.

 

"soon, all the people you killed, all the sins on your back..."

 

spinning spinning spinning- you should let him do it, doesn't it sound appealing? don't let the human win though, don't let him do it! upside-down heart, the world was flipping and switching stages of lucidity. listen to papyrus, listen to their screams, listen to their cries to be free...

 

"you'll be free of it all."

 

freedom, a prospect he coveted, or didn't, did he want to be free? stop the human, break the cycle, end up in limbo but isn't that what you wanted? help the others in the alternate purgatory, sans, those like that papyrus. his papyrus, your papyrus, where's papyrus, papyrus! listen to him already, dust!

 

"SANS, FIGHT BACK ALREADY YOU PATHETIC WHELP!"

 

dust's eye lights flickered with the last embers of life. raise a glass to your death, and shoot your final shot.

 

-

 

two voices screamed at him and a child's grin widened as killer stumbled back. honestly, he should've expected that, but the soul splitting pain of having bones shot through the culmination of his being was worth the surprise.

 

being as determined as he was, killer's soul could keep itself together despite the split. however, he felt no need to continue this game of cat and mouse. killer had seen all he needed. he watched as dust shakily stood up, wrapping the scarf previously used to choke him around his waist.

 

dust was feisty, that was fun. it had been a while since he'd had someone actually kill him and make it hurt. too determined, that wasn't fun. that meant he'd need the other sans for this (and to get those two voices to finally shut up, too.)

 

killer tried to filter them out, their input on his choices weren't needed right now. he tried to ignore the ghost child giggling at him from behind. all he directed his attention to were the red and cyan eyes staring at him, watching him with a hand holding the scarf.

 

was that how it felt to be judged? no, surely not. killer couldn't hold back a laugh though, the black pouring from his face staining the snow as dust spoke.

 

"... you sound delusional talking about me and my freedom like that. death isn't something i'm willing to accept."

 

"aw, really? and here i thought you would've... hah-" weak, he could see chara chiding him, but he ignored it in favor of a cough, "accepted my deal..."

 

once upon a time ago, a purple rabbit lived in its enclosure with all of its fellow kin. they enjoyed peace and happiness when their new owner appeared. fortunately, the new owner neglected all the other rabbits aside from the purple one.

 

"it's fine, though... more than fine."

 

watching as all its family and friends died around it, the rabbit could do nothing but remember as they were replaced, over and over. it went mad, and vengance filled its heart. it decided to spite its owner by killing it fellow rabbits before them, so he could force the owner to keep going to the pet store. perhaps that way the owner get sick of all their trips and give up on replacements.

 

"i know all i need to know about you, dust."

 

the rabbit set out on its journey, hopelessly finding ways to end his kin. it even began to hallucinate the closest to him, its brother. but the human kept on replacing them, no matter how many trips they had to take to the pet store because of the rabbit's efforts. and that's how the story ends: the rabbit gets stuck in an endless loop of death and replacement!

 

"i know everything."

 

now, now, keep this story in mind as a reminder, sans. no matter what you do against a higher power, nothing will ever make it stop. okaaaay?

 

sans dust didn't seem to agree with that statement, instead shaking his head and looking at nothing above him, probably his brother... why was that, killer wondered? it was true.

 

"you don't know anything about me at all. we've just met. assumptions like that are what put you in this type of situation, killer."

 

ah, dust said it his name with such hate, with such vitriol. those words coated in quiet rage, that six letter word... finally, someone who would.

 

"haha, well, when a story's already been spoiled to you, then there's no point in reading the book..."

 

"is that what you see me as? a book you haven't even judged the cover of?"

 

it was true. it was true, why was he trying to object against it? he knew better than this scripted character, there was no point in trying to go against him.

 

"well, i'll let you know this. when you don't even read the book and understand the character's way of thinking, then you don't know anything. nor can you consider yourself a reader."

 

his soul couldn't hold up against the strain anymore. it shattered like glass as killer finally began to melt, his death imminent. dust didn't bat an eye. he laughed at those words.

 

"boo... you're so boring... and not enough like him..."

 

the good thing about death was that killer could get a reprieve from the world he had no part being in. the bad thing, he'd come back. did dust understand that? they both weren't sans. maybe he did.

 

"no sans would play along with my crappy metaphor..."

 

[FILE LOADED]

Notes:

nobody but me and the several people i've complained to them about know how hard writing this one was. killer sans when i catch you when i catch you (i love him but he WILL cause me to pass away one day D:)

Chapter 8: but it takes one to unite two

Notes:

hey guys hit ao3 author micromacuole here from triglycercule tumblr blog sorry it took so long to update school was kicking my ASS!!!
school is basically over now so i have time to focus on this :3 also i finally figured out how to characterize killer hehe (actually my first proper demonstration of how he is like is this chapter!! say hi to sans and determination fellas)

"terrible metaphor aside, what do you even think you are doing, killer?"

 

the timeline reloaded back to the last save. killer didn't need to look up to know it was chara scolding him. that dead visage always seemed to comment on every little thing he did. a bit annoying, but just another thing going on in his head.

 

but the question was valid. did he even know? killer recalled what cards he had to play. dust was... acceptable, he supposed. calm and rational enough to serve his purpose that killer required of him. although he was a bit attatched... but wasn't sans as well?

 

did he even know what sans was like?

 

horror, on the other hand... spiteful and snappy. not exactly sans material. but, they must both be here for a reason. if the players decided to bring both, then who was he to waste what he was delivered?

 

"shouldn't you know? you are in my head, after all."

 

killer walked through the mushy snow of his snowdin, the other two voices in his head strangely quiet. maybe they had also gotten bored of all the dying and reloading, just like how chara seemed to be. the child floated alongside him, a pouty expression on their rosy-cheeked face.

 

"yeah, but it's boring to read your mind. i only do that when i reaaaally wanna know something~"

 

they floated to face killer, an eyebrow raised. killer simply kept walking past, looking through them. something was in the distance.

 

"but i have a feeling i know what you have planned... hehe. better watch out~"

 

something flying at him. killer dodged the razor sharp bone flying at him, but another wave of bones rushed by and he had no time to react. pushed around by the force, killer was pinned to a tree, making a really convincing porcupine cosplay.

 

it must be dust. killer wrenched his body out of its restraints. oh, his arm looked a bit mangled, but he had better things to worry about, like a rematch with the hopeless. killer had to hurry this up. he had to get rid of dust and horror so things could get back to plan.

 

or not, killer thought. he still needed them alive, despite what the laid-back voice wanted.

 

dust approached with little hesitance, not a word uttered as he blasted at the tree killer was just moments ago. aw, no words of contempt this time? maybe it was better that way.

 

did killer mind? he decided that he didn't. besides, he'd seen enough of dust already. that voice was right, it was better to get this over with. he had horror to get to.

 

despite how much the determined voice wanted to play with dust (more like torment, the other voice commented), killer didn't have time for this. he simply zoned out, focusing on eliminating dust. sure, he got hit every now and then, and definitely got fried by a couple blasters every now and then, but killer didn't care. he just threw attack after attack at dust. he could tank all the damage anyways.

 

killer snapped back to reality once heard the telltale sign of dust finally collapsing to the ground. oh, did he finally do it? that took longer than expected. had horror run off yet?

 

he had to catch up to him. the previous voice pushing him to hurry things up muttered something about "not having to kill him", but killer just internally rolled his eye lights. what a pansy. he hurried things up the fastest way there was.

 

speaking of hurrying, horror certainly wasn't. he was basically in the same spot he was when killer saved: behind that tree as if it wasn't the most obvious place.

 

hey, he wasn't complaining, i'm sure you thought that. killer was more than fine to watch horror from behind the other side of the tree as he muttered stuff to himself (dust did that often too. these guys certainly talked a lot).

 

"can this stupid box even work without dust here? do i even want to leave with him anymore? whatever, just- how the hell does this teleporter even work?? dust said he built it from scraps, which means it's halfassed..."

 

the teleporter was made by dust? interesting... what would prompt a dusttale sans to create a device to leave his world? regardless, horror's train of thought should be stopped. killer still needed him in this world.

 

killer reached out from behind the tree, about to grab the teleporter.

 

... he tried to grab the teleporter. grab the teleporter. why wasn't this damn body listening to him-?

 

"... need a hand, bud?"

 

what? killer looked at horror, backing away with narrowed sockets, and then down. oh. he was missing his hand. when did that happen?

 

... must've been during that fight with dust.

 

wow, that's quite comedic!

heh... been a while since we heard a good pun.

 

play it cool. killer tucked his severed arm into his pocket, putting up a false grin. right, puns... that was a sans thing right? maybe he could test out horror with this. faster than fighting like it was with dust anyways. (but more boring...)

 

"heh, a hand. nope, i think i'm good..."

 

killer watched horror tucked the teleporter away. he just had a make a pun to start the conversation and see if horror was up to par. he just had to make a pun...

 

internally killer could tell the chill voice was shaking his head in disapproval. the determined voice was just laughing at him. since when was making puns this... difficult?

 

the two stood there in somewhat awkward silence. killer's jacket began to stain black from his missing hand, while horror watched him, wary and slightly confused.

 

"what do you want? here to kill me another time?"

 

"no, not that..." killer mumbled. how could he progress this? third time wouldn't be the charm this time.

 

"so then what do you want, huh? just wanna stand here and stare like this is some joke?"

 

"nah. i think... i just want to talk."

 

horror almost laughed at that. killer could hear the two voices laughing. what, was that the bad dialogue choice here?

 

"you just wanna talk... you've got tibia kidding me."

 

the laid-back voice laughed while killer wracked his head. tibia... what else? the laid-back voice suggested something, and killer decided to roll with it. that voice would probably be better to deal with horror than the determined voice.

 

"nope. not kidding anybody here, i'd have to have a thick skull to do that... aha. haha."

 

haha, what was with that awkward laugh??? sans, are you even trying to be convincing?

hey, i didn't do that. the body did.

the body? oh, poor killer. he likely has no idea how to deal with this situation he's in~ is that why he's begun listening to you instead of me?

maybe.

 

horror looked at him like he was an alien, but killer disregarded it. puns, and observant... that's some form of similarity, right? maybe killer could go along this route, as long as he made the right choices and kept his sense. giving up control of the body to the laid-back voice was a sure death wish, knowing what that voice wanted...

 

that red eye of horror's narrowed, and killer followed its gaze to his chest. horror was looking at his soul, which was warping. the shape was unclear at the moment, but killer knew if he kept listening to that voice, that unstable soul would turn into an upside down heart.

 

"hey, my eyes are up here. but i guess something caught your eye?"

 

oops, that jab at horror was unintentional. oh well. it certainly got him to flinch. the determined voice smiled at that.

 

"yeah..." horror put the teleporter into his pocket, flashing that signature smile all sanses had. the smile was similar enough to him as well. at least killer knew one of those two could smile like that now.

 

"real flashy, huh? i'm sure with that target thing, nobody would ever miss you."

 

killer hummed. was that how things were going to go? hm, he'd expected things to stay civil for a bit longer, but maybe horror was more aggressive than he'd assumed.

 

"you wanna test your aim?"

 

killer didn't need to say much more. he didn't realize it, but he was itching for a fight with how fast he parried against horror's initial lunge. the bone that made up horror's weapon (the determined voice mused in the background: what could that thing even be called? a club? a bat? a big heavy chunk?) cracked upon contact with killer's knife. horror backed up once he heard it, but he didn't hesitate to spawn bones right under where killer was formerly standing.

 

killer ducked behind a tree, but horror followed after, "y'know, out of the two people i've met so far in on this shithole adventure, you're definitely the one that pisses me off most."

 

"hm." killer went around a swing, "is that a fancy way of saying i unnerve you more than dust?"

 

"tch, don't read into the lines so much..." the bone construct almost hit killer head on, but he countered, "just means that you should probably watch your head!"

 

more cracks came each time they clashed. horror was on the offensive, swinging around that thighbone like it took all the strength in his body. killer didn't fight back. he simply defended, ducking and dodging every swing horror threw at him with relative ease. for a guy with a weapon that required strength, he definitely didn't have any to use it. must be the famine. or was sans always that physically weak...?

 

what are you doing?! stop defending and attack already! look at how weak he is, he'd never last if we actually fought back.

i don't wanna hurt him, parasitic code.

... ah, you and your morality~ he'll fight back eventually. even you know that killer can't resist the allure of a good beating.

 

another clash had horror panting, backing off as his weapon snapped. the magic making it up must be weak for a construct to be that fragile. horror didn't back off though, summoning another. that must take a lot of him, horror's legs were shaking. killer smirked, dodging another hit for his head. what a weakling.

 

"are you just going to keep making those until you break yourself?"

 

horror grunted, practically throwing himself to swing at killer's knees, "i... won't break. heheh... i can't."

 

"so then," another hit to his one working arm, "what's your goal here?"

 

a sharp grin crossed horror's face, his red eye tracking killer with accuracy despite how weak he was. that smile didn't look sans-like at all.

 

"my goal...? i don't have one."

 

oh?

 

"you... you're gonna kill me. i'm not dumb enough to ignore when i'm outmatched. and i'm also not dumb enough to believe that... sticking around and letting you kill me again and again is gonna lead to anything good."

 

did he suddenly gain awareness or something?

...

 

"but you need both me and dust alive for whatever it is you want. otherwise... you wouldn't keep bringing us back. and i'm not sticking around to find out why. so if i..."

 

horror dropped the fractured bone construct, summoning a cleaver. killer's eyes widened.

 

" kill myself..."

 

a droplet of blood dripped down horror's neck. killer stood there at a loss. he didn't expect this.

 

(he didn't expect this? he thought he had it all predicted.)

 

"then you'll bring us back. right? "

 

he wouldn't, would he? since when was this a possibility in the script? when could this coded character act so... unpredictably?! that's not fair, he's not allowed to do this!

unsans-ly. or was it? would sans do this? what would sans do? what is sans even like?

...

 

from behind, a rosy cheeked child giggled.

 

-

 

a tsunami of thoughts flooded through horror's cracked head. the pain hurt. the metal against his bone stung. it hurt. it hurt a lot. he wouldn't be doing this again.

 

killer was standing still, his weird target a jumble of red and white. horror took a breath, shutting his one eye.

 

horror didn't want to die. he'd died one too many times to count now. but killer would bring him back. he'd suck it up and deal with dust, and they'd get out.

 

for snowdin, for his world. to get out. for himself.

 

he exhaled and winded his arm back, before slitting-

 

 

 

he fell. the breath was knocked out of him. killer hovered over him as he held back his arm, black tears dripping on horror's cheeks.

 

"you won't. you can't die."

 

(if horror is going to die, it'll be by killer's hands.

he's going to die in the end anyways... killer will listen to the parasite and do it himself.

 

h0rror_sans is only able to die if his stolen eye is destroyed. if not, his body will enter a state in between life and death for a moment before he returns to life. )

 

horror chuckled. the wet squish from between his fingertips had white eye lights appearing in killer's sockets.

 

"yes... i can."

 

at least this way, it hurt less for him.

Notes:

(that's not fair, it's not fair, he isn't allowed to do that! he actually is, we just didn't expect it. no he's not because the code doesn't allow it!! in what line of code is it stated that "horror sans has the balls to kill himself"?! maybe the code does, or consider this, not every thing runs on "the code"! oh what do you know, before me, you were just a scripted character who would've never broken free and made a choice- i didn't make that choice, you influenced me into doing it, you invasive, implanted infection- oh, but am i not an amplification of your own thoughts-?)

... in a daze.

stand up from the dust.

reach out.

[FILE LOADED]

Chapter 9: skeletons get dumped out of a dump into another dump

Notes:

dump dump dump dump dump dumplinggggg mtt week anybody anyone like mtt enough to dedicate a whole week to it?! i do (but i couldnt come up with something for my own prompt i came up with) so i wrote this chapter for mtt week day 3: LOVE

Enjoy.

among the snowfield, two iterations of the same one spoke. putting their differences aside, they shook hands with as little animosity they could muster, and began their escape.

 

chara smiled. hopefully this would be fun to watch. =)

 

-

 

where are they?

wow, finally asking the right questions! hurry up and find those two already, killer!

 

determination was demanding. sans was discouraging. choosing between the two was hard.

 

what did he want?

 

he didn't know.

 

he'd like to get those two to shut up, perhaps. finding dust and horror and getting their code would work. combined, they were "sans" enough. he could fix his scrambled soul, get those two voices to be eternally silent, and…

 

and then what? killer didn't know.

 

he never did.

 

but like always, killer pulled out his trusty knife and embarked on the hunt.

 

"well, this plotline won't progress if i don't find them... isn't that right?"

 

-

 

and that it was.

 

dust and horror were really bad at hiding. the chill voice spoke up in their defense that the timeline had just reloaded and they didn't have much time to move, but killer didn't care. did they think that standing around in a spot killer already knew about was ever going to get them good cover? besides, when did sans care to defend two people who he disliked so much and served no purpose in his goal of resetting the universe? killer found it illogical. but alas, he found many things illogical.

 

bones and beams from blasters whizzed past killer. horror appeared from nowhere, swinging that bone club at him. he wasn't able to move at those speeds normally. dust must be teleporting him.

 

surrounded, turn another way. another wall of bones popped up. killer swerved in the other direction. dust was trying to control where killer went, wasn't he? interesting strategy, but it wouldn't work. dodge again, horror appeared.

 

honestly, what was this? those two seemed... strangely coordinated now. and they weren't even saying a word. what was going on here...?

 

as he ran (killer could easily teleport away, he just chose not to... for the plot), killer inspected the device in his hand. so this was the teleporter. small and simple, yet somehow able to teleport 2 whole beings across universes.

 

... huh. how did dust make that?

who cares?! i say... break it.

 

all this dodging was getting monotonous... and slightly irritating. there wasn't even any fun dialogue from those two to make this back and forth fun. and besides, killer needed some time to learn about this device.

 

well, he'll have to use that.

 

-

 

"is that supposed to be his blaster?!"

 

the sight of the skull had horror tripping over his feet, just barely being caught by dust by the sleeve.

 

"tch... seems like it."

 

the gaster blaster imposed upon them with its large size and crying the same tears as its creator. not a single part of dust wanted to know just how powerful the black energy gathering in the blaster's mouth was. so this was what killer's true power was like...

 

horror's panicked shout broke dust out of his trance. "dust- stop looking at the damn thing, it's about to fire!"

 

horror had already summoned a wall of bones to block it. that wouldn't be enough. more walls of bones from dust's magic surrounded them, while horror crouched down and took dust with him. they stayed crouched together, horror covering the sides of his head to block out the noise.

 

the blaster was deafening. so loud it was almost silent.

 

dust closed his sockets for one moment, not even a second.

 

when he opened them again, their entire surroundings were, to put it mildly, absolutely obliterated. the trees and snow that once surrounded them were gone, replaced with deep scorches in the ground. everything was covered in a black liquid. likely the same as what eternally fell from killer's sockets.

 

the bones meant to protect them somehow did their job. dust internally sighed... seems like making 27 layers did the trick. but now, the issue was finding killer.

 

"where could he possibly be?" muttered dust. horror shrugged, inspecting a drop of the black substance he'd collected with his finger. wet and runny, like the consistency of blood. horror would know.

 

"who knows? i say we hurry the hell up and find that guy before he destroys it or puts us back into that time loop," horror looked over his shoulder, flicking off the substance from his finger.

 

"so let's go."

 

a sigh left dust. the thought of being trapped in another loop... he wouldn't stand for it.

 

"right. let's find that scumbag."

 

-

 

killer stood among a small patch of echo flowers, the distant rushing of water silencing determination and sans. the teleporter was still in his hand. killer made sure none of the black tears dirtied it.

 

the ground from what he could see was a dark shade of blue. waterfall was blue. expected of water, of course. blue was the color of fluidity, sadness, smooth and cool. calming.

 

blue was the color of his jacket. or at least, it was supposed to be. not after he was gifted new apparel by you.

 

was he him ? not anymore, right? so then why did he have the same face, the same body, the same hands that took the lives of all he treasured? why were the voices he heard from the flowers just the same as his ? was he remembering wrong?

 

killer, don't you think you should get on with analyzing the teleporter? standing around reflecting is booooring. you know we can all hear your thoughts, right?

 

he knew. killer wiped away a droplet of his determination corrupted tears from the teleporter's surface.

 

"i can take my time. those two have the whole underground to search for us."

 

wind rustled the flowers as killer sat. the red and white manifestations of determination of sans only he could see sat too. killer could sense chara's presence behind him, but that was to be expected. they were always watching.

 

the echo flowers spoke with killer's voice. determination seemed bored out of its mind, while sans couldn't keep his head up and look killer in his eye.

 

"one day i wish i could get outta this universe, ya know? chara says that there's a whoooole multiverse out there filled with all sorts of people! ah, how i wish i could go out and see all that was new... now that, i'd certainly get a kick out of."

 

"i wish i could stop feeling. and not just whatever i feel now, but boredom too. it's torment. if i didn't feel boredom, would i finally stop resetting and just being the same as chara? i killed them. and yet i act the same... and it's not like the grief or sorrow ever goes away either. i wish the apathy was absolute."

 

"i really... hate this. i want to say sorry. i wish i could. but whenever i do, i can't help but think... none of this matters. they won't remember my apology. they won't forgive me forever. it's always the same, it never changes... and i dare to call myself sans? no, i'm not sans... i never will be again. even if i wish."

 

"i want to be free. i want to make my own choices. chara said the players controlled all. that they decided every move, every plot point, every thought i think now. i don't want that. who would? why would they give me this much freedom when they knew it would ruin me? is god really that cruel? i wish i could be free."

 

"i take it back. all of whatever sans said. whatever determination said. who knows what i want? what i wish? it's them, on a higher plane of existence. whatever they have planned for me is what i want. wishes won't make that true. so players... if you can hear me, or see this, or read this, or however you perceive me... please. give me an interesting ending. i can only hope then that i figure out what i want."

 

an ending, huh... killer tossed that idea around in his head for a bit. determination was too busy playing with the grass. how childish. killer was pretty sure sans was crying. how sensitive.

 

horror sans. dust sans. those two... came here. not by chance. nothing was ever by chance. everything was planned out, scripted to happen. so it wasn't something he could ignore. killer couldn't ignore this chance for something new.

 

were they the interesting ending he'd asked for? very likely. the players really were listening...

 

the teleporter would take him out. he could leave this world. sans and determination both wanted that. the former meant it literally. killer didn't care much for sans's sob story suicide to this world and then to reset it back to glory. the latter meant it selfishly. killer didn't care much for all of the grotesque ideas determination had planned outside of this world, regardless of if they could because it was all just a game.

really, not like he cared much for his own plan to fix his soul. he was really only doing it so sans and determination could shut up.

 

in the end, killer was a follower. he had followed the urge the player coded into him to make the deal. he had followed chara in the endless cycle of death and rebirth. he followed whatever planned out route sans and determination offered him. and once again, he would follow whatever the players had planned for him.

 

and if going with dust and horror was just that, then he would follow.

 

"... at least that would be more interesting than this. at least it would be something new."

 

-

 

horror had run himself ragged searching for that prick killer. and honestly? he was fed up!

 

panting, horror caught his breath against a wall. dust and him had searched through the underground, and yet there wasn't a single sign of the guy. how could he hide so well?? horror though that at least this underground would be the same as his. at least, it looked the same. and horror knew his underground like the inside of his skull.

 

walking the entire underground's distance was tiring. sweat drenched his clothes. god, what he wouldn't do to take a shower and eat something nice right now...

 

dust came back from the path he was walking on, a less than enthusiastic expression on his face.

 

"this is honestly ridiculous. it's like he disappeared. and yet he still hasn't loaded or reset..."

 

horror wiped off some sweat from his face with his sleeve, "hasn't destroyed the damn teleporter either, otherwise i'd be dead by now."

 

"what is he planning?" dust fiddled with the fabric of the scarf around his waist. he was getting a bit irritated. horror glanced away from the red fabric, facepalming and letting out an exasperated groan.

 

he swore he blinked just once. but when horror opened his eye again, he saw killer standing there behind dust. horror jumped, and dust immediately swerved around to slap killer across the face.

 

but of course, the hand was caught. killer simply tilted his head to the side.

 

"you're quick to resort to violence against me, aren't you?" he raised his free hand to reveal the teleporter they'd been searching for all this time.

 

"even when i'm willing to return this?"

 

"huh??" "excuse me?"

 

the announcement was baffling to horror and gave dust straight up whiplash. killer was returning the teleporter without a fuss? without some big fight to take it back from him? without even a hidden knife to pull on them? dust couldn't believe that someone that resembled them so much would be so... easy.

 

horror composed himself faster than dust, snatching the device out of killer's hand. he opened the hatch in the back. good, his eye was still there. killer watched in quiet observation as dust wrenched his wrist out of killer's grip, hostility still ready to flare back up the moment killer tried to pull a fast one.

 

horror scoffed in disbelief, "... is this some kinda trick? because if it is, you're really bad at taking more than what you give."

 

"no tricks." killer replied, quite vaguely in horror's opinion. but honestly, they had the teleporter now. regardless of if dust was still on guard or if killer wasn't fighting back, he and dust could just teleport out of this world and finally go back to helping his.

 

horror pressed that same button he did before. dust's sockets widened when he saw killer pull up the reset button.

 

"wait, horror, hold on! he's-"

 

-

 

snowdin was packed. papyrus was trying his best to mediate and calm the two groups down, but it was of no use. without sans there, undyne wouldn't back down, and the lives of snowdin seemed to be at risk here. oh, if only sans could magically come back and help them...

 

"inputted himself into the...!"

 

the sharp voice got everyone's attention. undyne froze at the sight of another sans with sans and that other sans she'd seem earlier. papyrus simply perked up, relieved at the sight of the three sans piled on top of each other haphazardly.

 

dust looked up to see the surprised and confused people looking at him. horror's papyrus seemed to be the only one who was mildly composed.

 

"... horror, you fucking idiot."

Notes:

unexpected and a bit anticlimactic?? surely yes even i didnt expect myself to take things down this route. but alas killer sans is unpredictable ( -᷅ ·̫ -᷄ )

now that these first 9 chapters are done i gotta say this is the end of this fic!! BUT DONT FRET! micromacuole you say you cant POSSIBLY leave us at JUST their first meeting!! and that i wont :3
i have Many other ideas for my beloved trio to go through :333 the torment never ends for them,,,,, so stay tuned for that hehe (·ω≦)✧

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 1 of dichotomy/autonomy/whatever you want it to be