Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Sans!” A loud banging on his bedroom door had Sans sitting up groggily. His head was pounding and he felt weak kneed. Glancing around the room confused, he tried to recall last night’s events but his mind drew a blank. 

“Sans!!!” The pounding on his door intensified and with slow steps, he unlocked the door only to have it flung open seconds later. The force of the door knocked Sans off of his feet and he dropped to the floor with a grunt. Standing in the doorway was Papyrus with his usual deep scowl and his arms crossed. 

“Took you long enough!” He barked out with frustration. “What are you still doing in bed? You have your sentry duty to attend to! Stop being a lazy ass and do your job!” Turning on his heels and not giving Sans a chance to respond, he disappeared around the corner. 

“Fuck…” Pushing himself to his feet, Sans made to leave the room before he realized he was wearing pajamas. He never wore his pajamas…  Confused, he glanced around the room until he found his usual pile of clothes. Hastily getting dressed, he rushed downstairs and slipped on his sneakers. Opening the front door, he bolted outside only to run into the back of his brother. Stumbling backwards, he glanced up apologetically. 

“Watch it shithead!” Papyrus looked him over once before grunting and walking away. Sans watched him leave confused. He usually beat the shit out of him for making stupid mistakes like that. Shrugging it off, he decided he didn’t feel like walking and instead teleported down to his station. Everything was quiet like usual. Sitting down, he pulled out a bottle of mustard and popped the lid off before lifting the condiment to his mouth and drinking its contents through his teeth. Downing the bottle in one go, he crumbled it up in his hand and slammed it down onto the sentry station counter. Why couldn’t he remember what happened the previous day? Not only that but why did his body hurt so damn much? Adjusting his shoulder blades and cracking his neck, he cringed as pain shot through his bones. Hissing, he leaned back into his chair and looked up at the ceiling. The makeshift sky casted by magic illuminated the underground and was the only comfort from reality that Sans could appreciate. Closing his eyes, he enjoyed the peaceful quiet and occasional snow flake that landed on his skull. He wasn’t entirely sure how long he sat like that, but eventually drowsiness sank in and he slouched over the counter, only to drift off to sleep. 

….

“Bro… boss? Are you there?” *silence* “Pap…?” *bang* “Ugh… w-what…?” 

*deep throated laugh* “You shouldn’t have come…” 

“Papyrus? What is g…” *shriek* “W-what are you doing?” *maniacal laughing* “I-it hurts… stop!”

“Not until I’m finished!” 

“No…. NO!!!”

…..

 Sans snapped awake in a panic and clutched his chest with shaky hands. Sweat was covering his brow and his breathing was heavy. Swiping a hand across his skull, he gulped and glanced around. Immediately his eyes narrowed in on his brother who was standing a good distance away, watching him silently. As soon as Sans meet his eyes, he turned and walked away.

“Papyrus?” Standing up, Sans took off at a sprint to follow his brother but the area was vacant. 

“Boss!" He hollered out, but no response came. The images of his nightmare were still fresh in his mind. His brother’s actions since this morning were odd and they all seemed to link together. 

 Sans walked back over to his sentry station but instead of sitting down, an idea popped into his head and he veered away to head back home. Making sure the house was vacant, Sans peeked into his brother’s room. Everything was neatly laid out and a red lava lamp in the corner of the room basked the area in a red glow. Checking behind himself, he slipped inside and quietly closed the door behind him. Glancing around, he made sure not to move any of the objects for fears of his brother finding out. Vaguely in his dream he recalled interrupting his brother when he was in the middle of something and it had ended badly. What it was, he couldn’t remember... but he wanted to see if he could find some evidence that his dream had in fact actually happened.

…….

…….

 Papyrus lay hunched over on his side on his bed. A monster’s heat was usually intense but not like this… right now, he craved nothing more than to pound his thick cock into his brother’s small figure and break his body apart. For years, he had fought off these urges... but tonight, he was barely holding onto his consciousness. He feared if he gave in, his body would seek out his brother on its own and do just that. Papyrus hastily jerked himself off, hoping to ride out his heat like he did every other time, but a suddenly knock on the door had him holding his breath in fear.

“Bro… boss? Are you there?” ‘Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit…’

 Papyrus silently prayed Sans would leave, but instead he heard the soft click of the door and listened as it slowly swung open. Papyrus tensed as Sans entered the room and stopped at the edge of his bed. 

“Pap…?” Sans asked softly. 

 Papyrus tried to ignore him, but as he felt Sans cautiously touch his shoulder, his primal instincts took control and he flipped over before grabbing Sans arm and yanking him onto the bed. Slamming his brother up against the wall, he hung hungrily over his small body. 

 Sans slumped into him dazed by the sudden rough treatment. “Ugh… w-what…?” 

 Papyrus chuckled darkly. “You shouldn’t have come…” His eyes lustfully trailed over his captive. Sans typically looked bulky when he wore his thick, black, fur lined jacket, but right now, he only wore his shorts and red undershirt, which did wonders to his appearance. He looked so slim and small and dare he say cute with his dazed expression. Leaning his head forward to the side of Sans skull, he trailed his sharp pointer finger down his brother's ribcage as he spoke. 

"Mine~"

“Papyrus? What is g…” Suddenly Papyrus gripped one of Sans ribs and with a rough jerk, it snapped free. Sans shrieked in horror and shoved his arms into Papyrus' chest to push him away. “W-what are you doing?” 

 Papyrus laughed maniacally, enjoying his brother’s desperate cries. Oh his brothers weeping was so much more delicious~. He wanted to hear more! Curling his fingers around another rib, he bend it upwards, relishing in the smaller skeletons tears of dismay until it to snapped off. Sans whimpered in fear. “I-it hurts… stop!” But he wasn't near finished, he planned on snapping every rib apart.

“Not until I’m finished!” Papyrus licked the side of Sans skull and hummed happily to himself while Sans trembled and shivered in panic.

“No…” He weakly cried out. 

 Papyrus trailed his bloody hand down to the rim of Sans pants and reached in to fondle his pelvic bone.  Sans gasped at the touch. “NO!” He tried to push his brother away, but Papyrus grabbed his head and slammed it up against the wall, temporarily paralyzing him. Grabbing Sans' wrists, he pinned them down above his head with a sharp bone that slid in between the radius and ulna, chipping off pieces of bone in his haste to pin his brother. Sans shrieked out again. Ignoring his brother’s cries, Papyrus yanked his brothers shorts down and stared on eagerly at the exposed bone.

 This time, Sans tried kicking him away, but Papyrus snagged one of his legs and with a downward thrust of his elbow, smiled in glee as it snapped in half. Sans jaw ground together as the sensation passed through his system before his teeth parted with a shrill scream. The pain overload his senses and his body went limp as his mind shut off.

 Grateful to have no more resistance, Papyrus lowered his brother to the bed and climbed on top of him. Now it was time for the fun part. Unzipping the front of his pants, he pulled out his dick and stroked it a few times to test his arousal. His cock was hard and ready. Licking his teeth, he positioned it at the opening in Sans pelvic bone before roughly thrusting it in and out. Leaning his head down, he tailed his tongue over the broken ribs, tasting the red determination that seeped out of the cracks. Sheer delight at finally claiming his bro and marking him as his own brought him over faster, and it wasn’t long before he gave one last deep thrust and released his cum, coating Sans insides. Growling in satisfaction, he flipped his brother’s body over and started ramming into him again from the backside. His heat was far from over and he wasn’t about to let his brother go that easily, not when he had finally claimed his prize.

Chapter Text

 Papyrus’s consciousness slowly drifted back into focus. His whole body still felt hot and he was panting heavily. Opening his eyes, he saw a blurry figure laying below him. Blinking a few times, his vision cleared and he widened his sockets in horror at the sight. Sans lay crippled and still... his rib cage was shattered, his femur bone was snapped in half, and is soul barely flickered a dim light.

“Sans!” Papyrus gently caressed his cheek but Sans didn’t respond. Grabbing his skull shakily, he tried to turn his head towards him. He immediately regretted the action to see large cracks spread out all over the surface, and a few chunks broke off by the action. Papyrus let go with dread. Tears sprung to his eyes and he lifted his hands to his mouth to muffle his sobs. What had he done to his brother? 

 Summoning his magic, he hastily surrounded Sans in the healing light, urging it to hurry before it was too late and his brother turned to dust. It was a surprise he hadn’t died already… Papyrus couldn’t contain his sobs and tears dripped down over his bros shattered figure. Sans was all that he had in this cruel world and he had nearly destroyed him himself. 

...  

Papyrus sat by Sans side unmoving for several agonizing hours. Even though he felt completely drained, he forced his power to continue. Sans body slowly pulled back together but he had yet to show any signs of life. The only proof Papyrus had that his brother was still alive was his weak glowing soul. Finally, Sans let out a groan and Papyrus lifted his head with relief. Following the groan was a deep throated moan of pain before he fell silent again. The sound was both comforting and torturous. Even though Sans body was hole again, Papyrus held out another hour, just to be certain everything was alright before deciding it was time to give himself a break. Picking up his brother gently, he carried him back to his own room and laid him down on his bed. Before leaving, he quickly swapped Sans out of his everyday attire and slipped on his nightwear, hoping that the soft material would help his brother sleep more comfortably. With one last regretful glance at his brother’s still form, he closed the door to his bedroom and entered his own. As soon as he collapsed onto his bed he blacked out, entering a dreamless deep sleep. 

…

 As morning light filtered through the blinds in his window, Papyrus sat up groggily. He felt weaker than he had ever experienced in his life and he considered just staying in bed instead of going to work. Suddenly he remember last night’s events and he sprung out of bed. Panic coursed through his bones as he ran over to Sans’ bedroom, dreading that he might find a pile of dust instead of his brother. Papyrus clenched the doorknob and almost burst in, but he hesitated with fear of what he might find. Instead he decided to try and call out to his brother as he did every day Sans slept in.

“Sans!” He pounded on the door and then silently waited. When he received no response his worry increased tenfold and he pounded on the door harder.

“Sans!!!” He tried to keep his usual rough voice, but he couldn’t stop the slight dip in his tone. 

 This time he heard a small sound of shuffling before the lock clicked free. Not wasting any time, Papyrus flung the door open. Sans toppled over backwards and looked up at him with a frown. Papyrus never felt more relieved to see his brother alive and well. Suddenly feeling emotional, he barked out, “Took you long enough! What are you still doing in bed? You have your sentry duty to attend to! Stop being a lazy ass and do your job!” Turning on his heels and not giving Sans a chance to respond, he disappeared around the corner.

 As soon as he was out of sight, Papyrus rushed outside to take a deep breath of the cold air and clear his head. Sans was alive! He was okay! He could stop worrying now… and by the looks of it, he didn’t remember what had happened. Tears sprung to his eyes, but he quickly wiped them away. He would not let himself cry in public. Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes and looked up towards the sky, allowing himself this moment to be eternally grateful. Suddenly, the door to the house burst open and Sans rushed outside, only to crash into his back. Sans stumbled backwards and glanced up apologetically. Feeling embarrassed for standing in the doorway, Papyrus reacted defensively. “Watch it shithead!” Papyrus looked him over once, glad to see him in one piece, before grunting and walking away. 

 As he made his way to the waterfall, doubt began plaguing his mind. What if Sans wasn’t actually alright and he was faking it? What if he played it off like he forgot? What if he was still weak from yesterday and a monster picked a fight with him? What if…? Unable to shake off his uncertainties, Papyrus turned back around to check on his brother. Upon reaching his brother’s sentry station, he stopped a good distance away and watched on silently. Sans was massaging his bones and his expression was cringed up in pain. Not a good sign… after cracking a few bones, he laid back into his chair and looked up at the sky, much the same as he had done. His expression softened as he relaxed. That’s a better sign. Seeing his brother so carefree made his soul ache. He had almost taken that away from him. Thankfully he didn’t seem to remember, or else Papyrus wouldn’t be able to show his face around his brother anymore. 
 
 Deciding his brother was okay for now, Papyrus made his way back to the waterfall. Upon his arrival, the gathered Royal Guards all stiffened and saluted their leader.

“Any news?” Papyrus asked officially. He was already an hour late and he needed to focus on work. 

“Nothing to report sir!” 

“Good.” He wasn’t in any particular mood for things to go any more downhill than they already had.

“Sir, the Royal Scientist Alphys requested your presence.” Undyne held out an envelope and he snatched it away a lot rougher than he intended. If his aggression bothered her, she did a fine job of covering it up.

“You are all dismissed to your stations. I shall attend to this notice…” Undyne turned to leave but Papyrus called her back. “Undyne, I would like for you to join me.” Undyne nodded and walked over to his side. 

 Heading off towards Hotland, they walked in silence. Any monsters they encountered veered away, fearful of the two leaders of the Royal Guard. 

 As soon as they reached the laboratory, the front door slid open and Alphys gestured them inside. She looked Undyne over once with confusion at her presence but shrugged it off.
 
 As the door slid closed behind them, Alphys walked ahead and stopped in front of her large monitor where long stripes of paper spooled out over the floor in curled up clumps. Papyrus looked at the mess with a scowl. He hated untidy areas. 

 Getting right to the point, Alphys picked up one of the scrolls of paper and started pointing out miscellaneous codes and jagged lines. 

“My machines picked up a large release of magic last night in Snowdin.” Papyrus’s jaw clamped tightly shut and his eyes narrowed. His reaction didn’t go unnoticed by Alphys and Undyne. “If my readings are correct, then the magic’s source came from you. Mind explaining what had happened?” Alphys turned her full attention on the Royal Guard leader but he only held her stare without uttering a world.  

 His silence peeked Undyne’s and Alphys’ interest but they knew better than to push the subject. Alphys waited silently for a response but when none came, she sighed.

“Whatever the case, that large amount of magic is deadly for one sole monster to use. If this was your doing, then I suggest you receive a checkup, just to be certain you are fine.” Papyrus’s frown deepened.

“I’m fine.” Turning his back to the pair, he made his way over to the exit, but Undyne lunged at him. Papyrus barely dodged the attack and turned on her with a flash of warning across his features. Ignoring his threatening glare, she lunged again and Papyrus summoned a row of bones that nearly pierced her chest but she narrowly avoided the attack and tried diving for him again. 

“I grow tired of this farce Undyne.” His low tone would have warded off most monsters but Undyne wasn’t his second in command for no reason. However, now he wasn’t entirely sure if he should call her that anymore; Her blatant ignorance to his commands was a misconduct he would not ignore. 

 Undyne was fully aware of his exhaustion and she could clearly see his magic was barely holding together. It didn’t take her long to break past his defenses and stopped just inches from his chest with the spear pointed at the ready. 

“You’re not alright. Your brow is covered in sweat and your magic power is very low.”

“I do not need your concern.” Grabbing hold of the end of the spear, he yanked it from her grasp and turned it on her, before digging it into the front of her armor plate. Undyne hissed under the pain but she held her ground.  

“Never intervene again.” He spat the words out through his teeth just inches from her face. Shoving her to the ground, he threw the spear off to her side. Alphys looked over at Undyne with concern but she held her ground, waiting for Papyrus to depart.

“Get off your ass! You’re a shame to the Royal Guard. Undyne, for the next month, your title as second in command will be stripped.” Undyne nodded her understanding and pushed herself off of the ground, wincing slightly from the penetrated wound. 

“Alphys, tend to her wounds.” Taking his leave, he stepped outside and paused. Taking a deep breath, he pounded his fist up against the outer building wall and cursed. "Fuck...!" He had intended to leave Undyne in charge for the day to give himself rest, but her misconduct could not go unpunished, and his pride also got in the way of his plans.

 Needing to take a walk to clear his head, Papyrus decided he might as well check on his brother again.

Chapter Text

 Upon arriving at his brother’s location, he noticed he was out cold. Instead of bothering to wake him, he decided to watch from a distance. He was too frustrated to go back and his thoughts were too sporadic to focus on work. Abruptly, his brother shot awake in alarm, before wiping his brow with trembling hands and looking up. Sans immediately noticed his presence and Papyrus stiffened.

‘Shit…’ He was acting so out of character. Turning on his heels, he briskly walked away. He heard his brother call his name but he accelerated his pace with fears of facing his brother. Sans clearly remembered something and his guilt made him slip into the trees to hide. He felt ashamed for being so cowardly and if any monster saw him, he would probably kill them to keep them from spreading any rumors.

Papyrus wasn’t as ruthless as people made him out to be, he was just putting up a front to protect his weaker brother. After they had lost their parents, his brother took care of him the best he could. They spent their lives living in the dumps scavenging for food and shelter, while his brother worked odd jobs for minuscule pay... but it kept them alive. On numerous occasions, he had nearly watched his brother die. Feeling frustrated with his inability to help, he decided to become the most powerful and feared monster in the underground, to ward monsters off from the notion of trying anything. His power was recognized years later with countless hours of practice alone in the woods, and after defeating Undyne, he became the new head of the Royal Guard. However that still didn’t deter monsters from picking fights or trying to harm his brother. He needed another solution… 

It was during an intense fight that broke out between his brother and another monster that the brothers’ relationship took a sharp turn for the worse. His brother was losing and was on the verge of death. Papyrus had to act fast and so he reacted on impulse. Stepping forward, he intervened in the other monsters killing blow and received a large crack down his left eye. The monster backed off slightly and tensed for a fight while Sans looked up confused. Instead of fighting the monster to protect Sans, he turned on his already battered brother and slammed his foot into his ribcage. Sans screamed out in agony and looked up with terrified eyes. His brother’s look of fear hurt worse than the crack but he convinced himself it was all just as a means of protecting his weaker brother. The monsters observing the fight also tensed as they had not expected that reaction.

“You’re such a big disappointment brother… losing to such a weak monster in front of all these spectators. You’ve made a mockery of yourself and you've humiliated me.” His accusations were lies, he didn’t mean a word of it, but he needed to make a point with the other monsters. His ploy was working but he wasn’t quite reaching the impact he needed. Pushing down hard, he grinded the heel of his boot into Sans sternum. Sans screamed out again. “From now on, you will address me as 'boss' and do exactly as I say.  Do I make myself clear?” Papyrus growled out darkly. Sans nodded his head weakly.

“What’s that? I can’t hear you!? Or would you rather I kill you here and now?” Papyrus pushed down again and Sans groaned.

“Y-yes boss…”

"Good, now go home and get your sorry ass cleaned up…” Withdrawing his foot, he turned back to face the monster who had nearly killed his brother. They backed away with uncertainty.

“And you… you’ve caused enough trouble; filth like you shouldn’t exist.” Not giving the monster a chance to react, Papyrus lunged for them and drove a large bone through their chest. With a pained cry, they turned to dust. Sweet satisfaction filled his soul to get payback on the monster who had hurt his brother. After observing the onlookers, he couldn’t suppress his maniacal grin. Their terrified expressions were like sweet nectar to him. His silent message of ‘touch my brother and you will die’ became painfully clear. From that day on, all the monsters in the underground became fearful of him.

… 

“Boss?” His brother’s calling voice pulled him out of his thoughts and he peered out from behind the tree to see that his brother had stopped just shy of his hiding place. Sans glanced around for a while longer before deeming his brother gone and started walking back to his post. Papyrus slowly creeped out of the trees to watch him walk away, but before Sans returned to his station he paused. All of a sudden, his brother changed directions at a brisk walk and disappeared in a flash of light. Papyrus fully emerged and stared at the spot his brother had been just moments before in amazement. He had never seen Sans teleport before… If he could do that, then what else was his brother hiding? 

Then it occurred to him why Sans had left so quickly… thoughts of worry filled his mind and he quickly made his way home.

Chapter Text

Sans quickly poked around the room. Nothing looked out of place or suggested anything had even happened the previous night. Perhaps it had just been a dream…

Deeming the room clear, he made his way to leave, but something caught his eye. Pausing, Sans approached Papyrus’s bed and picked up a smooth thin piece of bone. Lifting it up to eye level, he inspected the shard and his fingers began to quiver as he recognized the texture. Lifting up his leg, he pulled up his shorts and shuddered to find a chip in his femur bone missing. His worries increased ten fold as he pressed it up against the missing section and it fit right in. Almost as if the tiny fragment contained his memories, floods of images and emotion filled his head and he fully remembered his nightmare.

Suddenly, the door to Papyrus’ bedroom creaked open. Sans stiffened and turned to face his boss. His look of surprise turned to guilt and he dropped his eyes to the ground. 

Papyrus didn’t say anything; He just silently looked between the bone in Sans hand and his look of guilt and fear on his face. Slowly he entered the room and stopped right in front of Sans. The smaller skeleton held perfectly still, waiting to be tortured or quite possibly killed. He couldn’t stop his quivers and he clutched his eyes tightly closed, dreading what might happen to him. He jumped startled when he felt two long arms wrap around his back and his breathing stilled. He waited for the pain or the harsh words, but they never came, which only scared him more. It was like the calm before the storm. 

Sans had always tried to support Papyrus as best he could, but he knew he had failed. When they were little, Sans was barely able to bring back a scrap of food and he ended up going days without eating to keep his brother healthy, but what little did that do. His brother was ridiculed and treated badly, all because he wasn’t strong enough and they were forced to live in the dump because he couldn’t provide a roof over their heads. His brother never showed any signs of caring but deep down, he feared his brother despised him. So when the day came that his brother lashed out at him, he could only accept his punishment and shame. He deserved it… he was pathetic, small, weak and the scum of the underground. There were days he wished he could just disappear but at the same time, what kept him going was watching his brother grow from a little baby bones to a powerful, tall and highly admired Royal Guard leader. He both respected and feared his brother but so did every other monster in the underground. It was like Papyrus was born to a completely different family. And he would have believed it too if not for the fact that he was the older brother, and was present when Papyrus was born before their mother turned to dust.

When his brother demanded he call him boss, Sans didn’t hesitate. He knew he didn’t deserve to call his brother by his name anymore, nor could he even consider him his brother. Boss was his idol, his leader and his owner. If he decided to kill him, he would accept it, but the thought still terrified him. What was it like to die? Would it hurt? Would he just slip away into nonexistence? He feared the unknown but he also didn’t want to disappoint his boss in his final moments, so he held still and tried to calm his raging nerves. 

They stood like that for what felt like hours before Papyrus turned Sans around and tugged him over to the bed. He kept his arms tightly woven around his brother's body as he laid them down. Sans back was pressed up against Papyrus’ chest and he could feel him breathing slowly. His mind froze in panic as he tried to comprehend his boss' actions. They were very uncharacteristic of him. Was this a test? Was his boss just completely out of it and when he would come to, he’ll get beaten for being in his room? The longer they lay still, the more he panicked. Sans made an attempt to move but when he felt Papyrus’s grip tighten, he froze in horror, but still no retaliation or comment. Giving up on the idea of escaping, Sans remained perfectly still. Whatever the case, he wasn’t about to get caught relaxing his guard. Eventually, he felt his boss drift off to sleep and he felt his own exhaustion beginning to sink in but he refused to give in. He surmised this was a test and he didn’t want to fail it…

…

As Papyrus came to, he looked down at his brother expecting to find him asleep but his jaw tightened to find his brother still wide awake and completely stiff. He could feel how exhausted he was and his eye sockets looked dark and sunken in… he had been a fool to think his brother would relax and he had been inconsiderate to fall asleep without at least talking to him or trying to make sure he slept first. He was doing it again… he was being selfish. His brother always thought of him first and never stopped to take care of himself. He became strong to protect Sans, but as he held his brothers small form, he only felt a broken disconnected soul. How could he have let it get this bad? 

Papyrus’s heart ached. His brother was so mentally scarred, he was more terrified of him than anyone else in the underground. His sweet loving brother who had raised him since he was a child and given up everything for him was now an empty shell who feared his violence and cruel words. He had never truly understood how much he had hurt his brother. Now after years of distance, he was trying to show his love and affection but it was having the opposite effect. The longer he held his brother, the more he felt him shaking. He tried to give his brother a comforting squeeze, but by alerting his brother that he was awake, he only received soft sobs. Not sobs of happiness… no… sobs of complete terror.

“Are you going to kill me?” A low, tired and quiet voice asked. It was Papyrus’s turn to tense. With gentle hands, he turned his brother to face him completely but the light in his eyes faded when he got a good look at his brother’s face. Sans eye sockets were dark and empty, his cheek bones were stained with tear streaks and chips of bone were missing. He must have clawed at himself to keep himself awake.

“Sans.” When his brother heard his stern voice, he started shaking again. “Sleep.” He commanded. Sans looked up at him confused but he didn’t argue. The second he closed his eyes, he was out cold. Papyrus summoned his healing magic again and began repairing the damages, including reattached the missing chip to Sans femur. 

He didn’t want to leave Sans side, but he decided he needed to talk to Undyne again. Laying his brother down gently, Papyrus pulled up the sheets and blankets over his still form before taking his leave to Waterfall.

Chapter Text

Undyne was surprised to say the least when Papyrus showed up at her place. Due to his unexpected arrival, she nearly pummeled his face in at her doorstep from sheer anger and frustration, but Papyrus reacted faster and blocked her punch before slamming his foot into her stomach and knocking her off of her feet.

“Tisk, throwing a tantrum I see…” Undyne shook off the pain and jumped back up.

“What are you doing here?” She asked with clear disdain in her tone. Now that she wasn’t on duty, she wasn’t willing to put up with his bullshit in her own home.

“I…” Papyrus feel silent. He hated doing this, but he wanted to get back quickly… “Undyne, your services are required…” Undyne’s hostile glare turned to surprise before suspicion.

“This doesn’t have anything to do with the incident back at the lab does it?” Papyrus clamped up but Undyne wasn’t going to have it.

“I refuse.” Undyne turned to close the door while Papyrus looked up startled. When she caught his surprise, she paused. "Either you tell me, or I’m shutting the door and you’re walking away!” Her threat in most cases would just go ignored and he would in turn show her why he’s the boss, but not this time. Biting his lower jaw, he sighed and shoved his way through the door.

”Hey!” Undyne started to protest but he cut her off, “you wanna know or what?” He asked begrudgingly. Undyne fell silent and closed the door behind him before following him inside. He glanced around at the strewn about objects in the room with distaste.

“Got a problem with my house?” Realizing he was getting distracted, Papyrus shook off the thoughts to focus on the reason for his visit.

“Yes, but now’s not the time to focus on that…” Turning his back to the cluttered room, he focused on Undyne.

“So you refuse to cooperate without knowing the previous evening’s events… I’m not going into detail.” He warned. Undyne opened her mouth to protest, but the sharp seriousness in his eyes made her hesitate. He wasn’t trying to be intimidating like usual, he was actually being serious this time. Instead, she nodded her head and pulled up a chair to sit down.

“There was an accident… and Sans almost died. What Alphys felt was my healing magic to try and save him.” Undyne tensed. “Happy?”

“W-what? That’s all?” Undyne stood up to complain but the death glare she received made her soul sink with dread. She was already pushing it…

“You agreed and as I said, I’m not going into detail. Now the reason for my visit, I need you to watch the Royal Guard for a couple days.”

“Hang on? You suspended me from duty for a month and a day later you're promoting me to temporary leadership!?”

“Yes, now if you’ll please excuse me, I have things to attend to.” Papyrus quickly turned to leave, but then a thought occurred to him and he paused, “oh and Undyne… if I were to so much as hear a single word of what I’ve shared with you from another monster, you should look forward to burning in hell!” Undyne paled as his tone of voice went deep and distorted. She had never heard him talk with such murderous intent behind his words. Satisfied with making his point, Papyrus slammed the door behind him and briskly set off for home.
….

Papyrus wasn’t surprised to find Sans out cold. Laying back down, he pulled him back up against his chest and gently caressed the top of his skull. He felt his brother relax into his touch and he smiled. At least in his sleep his brother was relaxing in his embrace. This time around, he wanted to be sure to stay awake for his brother’s sake. He knew that if he fell asleep now, his brother would wake up in a panic and he would fail to console him. Besides, he was well rested and not anywhere near tired.

It was after a few silent hours of peacefulness that things went wrong. Papyrus was still holding his brother in the same position as before when his brother started to flail and whimper. Papyrus sat up on red alert and he tried to calm his panicked brother.

“Sans… SANS!” Papyrus grabbed his brother’s shoulders but he felt a sudden burning sensation in his soul and gravity was reverse on him. Papyrus slammed up against the furthest wall and slumped to the ground in a daze. As his vision cleared, he gasped to find Sans eye flashing orange and red with a red flame pouring out and lashing madly at the air. Pushing himself up onto numb feet, he approached the bed cautiously. ‘Sans?” He asked quietly. When he received no response, he tried a different approach. “Sansy… everything is going to be fine.” He tried using his brother’s old nickname and he spoke as softly as he possibly could. His gentle tone dispelled the raging magic and Sans dropped back down onto the bed. Papyrus just stood stock still in confusion, shock and alarm.

As the aftereffects wore away, he sat down nervously on the bed and looked his brother over. He looked perfectly calm, like his previous freak-out never happened. Deciding to subtly ask Sans about it later, he laid back down and tightly hugged his brother.

Chapter Text

As light from the outside filtered through the blinds in the window and shone into Sans empty eye sockets, he ducked his head down away from the annoying light and snuggled up closer to the warm body in front of him…. ‘Wait what!?’ Sans bolted upright to find his brother watching him with a relaxed but unreadable expression.

“B-boss, g-good..” Sans glanced outside the window to confirm the time of day, “evening…” He felt a lot calmer than he did previously but he still felt uncomfortable with how quiet and accepting his brother was being.

“Sans, there’s something I’ve been meaning to tell you.” Sans braced as Papyrus’ tone went serious. He still didn’t sound threatening, but he knew his boss could flip like a switch if provoked.

Papyrus went quiet, trying to gather his thoughts. Sans fidgeted slightly as the unnatural quiet settled down between the two. Finally, Papyrus looked up and snagged Sans upper arms before pulling him into a tight hug.

Sans blinked once, twice, three times. “Uh… w-what…?”

“I never want to hurt you again!” The desperate loud cry made Sans flinch.

He was beyond confused and unintentionally voiced his thoughts out loud. “What is going on?”

“I’ve never once despised you Sans… I just wanted to protect you… but in the end, I was doing the opposite. This whole time, I’ve been lying to myself, saying it was for the greater good… but what a whole lotta good that did!” Sans just sat there feeling light headed. He had just woken up and he was suddenly being bombarded with a shouting voice and unfamiliar actions. As his boss’ words finally sunk in, Sans head cleared a bit. Hearing his boss say all of this at once confused the living shit out of him. He had no idea what brought this on but to hear Papyrus say he didn’t despise him was the greatest gift he could ever receive… but… how long would this last...? Would his boss just completely forget all of this and return to normal? Heh, what did he care? He vowed to never forget this moment, even if it was just a small segment of his life. This alone was enough to fill his lifetime with joy and grant him the strength to continue.

Deciding to be a little gutsy on his side, he genuinely hugged his bro…boss back. He was ecstatic to have a chance to hold him again. When he felt his boss withdraw from the hug, he readied himself for whatever might happen next. He watched his boss with calculating eyes as he slid off the bed and walked to the bedroom door. Just before Papyrus exited, he turned back with a large dorky grin.

“I haven’t cooked in a while! How does spaghetti sound?” Sans nodded his head stiffly. As soon as his boss darted out of the room, his face erupted into a burning furnace. ‘Holy shit! That was adorable…’ Sliding off of the bed after him, he realized he felt more rested than he had ever felt in his entire life. Stretching a bit, he smiled giddily. If only his life could be like this every day… but… what were the odds of that happening? Realizing his negativity was setting in again, he shook off the darkening thoughts. He wanted to focus on the here and now so as to not miss a single moment and engrave every second into his memory.

Sans dropped down the stairs two at a time and paused just outside the kitchen to listen to his boss shuffle around. He heard the stove kick on, a few clanging of pans and then the swift sounds of a knife chopping up ingredients. He stood like that for around ten minutes before he had the courage to confirm this was all real. Papyrus immediately noticed his presence and turned to face him.

He gave a warm smile before returning to his work. As the last of the vegetables were chopped and placed into the pan, he settled the temperature to around medium and placed a lid on top. Satisfied, he left his post to stop directly in front of Sans who tensed out of reflex. Papyrus gave a sad smile, before he pulled his brother in close and nuzzled the top of his skull. The surface was rough and had numerous cracks spread out over the surface. A few he inflicted himself, which only pained him more to look at them, while others were from the abuse of other monsters. His brother had suffered a lot…

Sans held still, enjoying the comfort of his boss’ arms, but his haphephobia kicked in and he had to withdraw. After years of abuse, he had developed a strong fear of physical contact. His boss was an exception, but he could only handle so much.

Papyrus felt slightly disappointed at the loss of contact, but his brother gave him a struggled smile. It wasn’t too relieving, but it showed he was trying.

Feeling awkward just standing around, Sans turned to slump onto the couch and Papyrus followed. They sat apart and just listened quietly to the other’s soft breathing. Papyrus wanted to say something but each time he tried, he closed it again. He knew what he wanted to say, but he wasn’t sure how to address it.

When he decided to at least share something, a loud ding sounded in the kitchen, cutting him off. Sighing, Papyrus got up to check the spaghetti.

Sans slumped his head onto his propped up arm and stared blankly at the wall in front of him. Everything that had transpired over the last two days had him perplexed. Everything had happened so fast… Sans eyes broke line of sight with the wall as a plate of spaghetti was lowered into his vision. Sans gingerly accepted the plate and held it out in front of him. He eyed his serving before glancing at his boss uncomfortably. It had been a long time since he had eaten one of his boss’ home cooked meals and he was too jittery to dig in. He felt it was only respectful for the head of the household to eat first.

Papyrus plopped back down onto the couch beside Sans before lifting his fork to take a bite. Just before the fork passed his teeth, he noticed his brother wasn’t moving, and he paused to stare at him expectantly. Sans meet his stare and he fidgeted nervously.

“Aren’t you going to eat?” His brother inquired calmly.

“Y-yea… a-after you…” Papyrus’ brow furrowed in confusion until he realized what was bothering his brother.

“Sans…” His voice deepened and Sans squeaked at his seriousness. “Please address me…” Sans tilted his head to the side taken-aback by the command before he hurriedly responded.

“Yes Boss.”

“…” Papyrus set his plate down on the armrest before turning completely to face his brother.

Sans fidgeted with unease, afraid he had done something wrong.

“What am I to you?” Papyrus asked again. Sans paused for a moment before responding without a second thought.

“You’re my one and only amazing boss.” Papyrus’ jaw tightened.

“What is our relationship?” He tried again. Sans eyes dimmed at the repetitive questions. What was his boss aiming for? Thinking perhaps he was answering incorrectly, he decided to change his response.

“You are my owner.” This response made the light in Papyrus’ eyes darken and Sans dropped his plate in a panic and he dropped to the floor with his head bowed.

“I-I-I’m sorry… I d-d-didn’t…” Papyrus sat shocked, staring at Sans slumped figure. He had not expected such a desperate reaction. His hands immediately wrapped around his brother’s waist and chest before he heaved him up onto his lap.

Sans yelped and tried breaking free of his grasp but Papyrus was having none of that and he forcefully flipped Sans face first onto the couch and pinned him down. Sans groaned from the pressure and his struggles ceased but he still looked spooked. Papyrus felt strong quakes of panic coursing through his brother’s bones and his soul within his chest flickered in distress. He had reacted out of reflex and realized his actions may have given off the wrong message.

“Sans, it’s okay. Everything is fine.” He tried to speak calmly but his gruff voice didn’t sound at all gentle. Frustrated at his inability to soften his voice, he settled for gently caressing his skull. The lulling motions appeased Sans’ anxiety and he bones relaxed.

Slowly lifting off his weight, Papyrus stared down at the ruined spaghetti strewn across the living room floor and he stared down at his own plate which had fallen as well during their struggle. Sans turned his head in worry as he heard his brother’s disappointed sigh and he followed his gaze to the mess made in the room.

His worries slowly slipped back in as he tensed for any form of harsh words, but his brother just wordlessly entered the kitchen before returning to the living room with a dust pan and broom.

When Papyrus entered back in, he exhaled in frustration to find Sans picking up the mess with his hands and wrapping it up into his jacket.

“We have a dustpan and broom you know…?” Sans glanced at him and nodded stiffly before caring the mess into the kitchen and dumping the contents into the trash. He needed to do laundry anyways. Feeling guilty by his continual screw ups, he decided to make a run for his bedroom to quickly get changed and then head outside for a breath of fresh air. He needed to get away and clear his head.

Plan set, he rounded the corner at a brisk walk and rushed past his brother who looked up as he passed.

“Sans?” He tried calling out to him but he ignored it. As soon as he reached his room, he threw on one of his older fluffy winter coats he hadn’t used in a long time. It didn’t take long before he heard a loud rasp on the door as his brother unceremoniously knocked on it.

“Sans, open this door, we need to have a talk.” He tried to sound considerate, but his years of being a Royal Guardsman made it sound more like a command and he mentally slapped himself for his poor address.

Sans froze at the commanding tone. He recognized it all too well. If he tried leaving now, he would surely break this peace that had settled over the house and things would revert back to normal, but a part of him still screamed for him to run away. He didn’t deserve all this… whatever he decided now would surely have its own despairing consequences.

Chapter Text

Sans approached the window, contemplating his next action. A strong part of him still wanted to flee but he wasn’t about to go against his boss… Sighing in frustration, he pulled away from the window and hesitantly unlocked his door.

As soon as the click was heard, the door was hastily thrown open. Sans stepped back and dropped his eyes to the ground.

As Papyrus entered into the room, he paused to contemplate how he wanted to bring the topic up. An awkward silence settled over the two, neither knowing how to begin. As the silence was beginning to become unbearable, Sans silently wished he had taken his leave instead. He really needed some time alone.

Papyrus’ eyes started to twitch with irritation at his inability to share what was on his mind. Sans glanced up at him and smirked with amusement. His expression was clearly evident on his face, which was highly unlike him, and he looked like he was fighting an eternal battle and losing.

“I… *ehem*... we…” Papyrus began. Sans snorted but quickly covered his laugh with a cough.
“FUCK!” Sans jumped not expecting the outburst and his eye sockets turned into wide saucers. Papyrus scratched the back of his head and turned sharp eyes on his brother, determination burning brightly behind his empty sockets.

“Sans, no more!”

“W-what?”

“Boss, stop calling me boss! That was a fucking stupid idea on my part to let it go on for so long…”

“Bos… br…” Sans tried to reply but his sentence drifted off. He didn’t feel comfortable addressing his brother as anything but boss. He had been ingrained with the thought of being lower than dirt… and to try to talk like he was an equal felt wrong…

Seeing Sans’ grim expression made Papyrus’ heart sink. He wanted to have a meaningful conversation with his brother but it wasn’t going exactly as he had hoped.

“Listen Sans, I’ve done a lot of fucked up shit, I won’t deny that… and you… you’ve done nothing but put up with my crudeness and try your damndest to appease me. Ever since we were little, you gave up everything for me and what did I give you in return…? I gave you lies, insults, pain and much more… I want to make it up to you, but I don’t know how…”

 Sans’ shoulders slumped as he listened to his brother’s distraught words. This was not what he wanted to hear… He didn’t deserve anything. Boss said he gave up everything for him, but he had nothing to give. It made no sense! He provided nothing to eat most nights, he couldn’t find them decent shelter and he wasn’t strong enough to protect them from other monsters. Papyrus was the true saviour! He turned their lives around, not him! He fought his way to the top, provided them a home, brought food to the table… Papyrus did everything he had failed to do…

“Boss…” Two strong hands gripped his shoulders in a vice grip and Sans shoved Papyrus away in fright.

“Don’t call me boss!” Papyrus repeated with dissatisfaction. Sans glanced towards the window, having second thoughts about staying. Following his gaze, Papyrus gritted his teeth and approached Sans with slow steps. Sans’ eyes snapped back to him with worry and he backed away slowly.

“What are you doing?” He held his hands up defensively, not liking the glint in his brothers’ eyes. His senses screamed at him to flee but that familiar commanding stare that demanded subjection had his legs locking up. He urged himself to move but he couldn’t fight his submissive nature. His hands clenched and unclenched as sweat began to bead onto his forehead and palms.

Once Papyrus was within arms reach, he reached forward slowly. Sans closed his eyes, ready for whatever his brother had in store. What he didn’t expect was a clink against his teeth and his eyes snapped open. Papyrus’ face was uncomfortably close to his own and had his teeth pressed up against his. Yelping, Sans raised his hands to put some distance between them but Papyrus grabbed his wrists before pushing him up against the wall and deepening the kiss.

‘What the hell!’ Sans thought and turned his head to the side, breaking the kiss. Sans took shaky breaths to calm his befuddled mind.

Papyrus remained silent, watching his brother with calculating eyes. His dating manual explained that kissing was a way of showing affection and since his words weren’t getting his point across, he was beginning to feel desperate.

He needed to convey his feelings and help calm his brothers fears. After years of neglect, he knew restoring his brother’s shattered heart would take some time but he wasn’t a very patient monster… especially when he had a whole underground to patrol and keep under surveillance.
 
He had become accustomed to always being in control and getting his work done early. He could never sit still for too long. Too much to do and to little time. He left early and came back late every day. Hence the reason for putting Undyne in charge while he was away. He needed to be certain that someone he trusted could keep things in order.
 
Now that he had cleared up his schedule, he needed to find some way to break Sans’ shielded barrier. Perhaps what they needed was a walk through Snowdin...

Chapter Text

“Sans! We’re getting out of the house. We could both use some fresh air!” Papyrus gripped Sans wrist and forcefully dragged him towards the door. Sans stumbled behind him confused.

“B-boss wai-” Papyrus whipped back around to face Sans and frowned.

“Stop calling me boss.” He re-emphasized.

“Bro…” Sans trailed off and fell silent.

“Why can’t you just call me brother again? Is that really so hard?” The hurt laced within Papyrus’ tone made Sans flinch and he cast his eyes to the ground. ‘Was it?’ Now that he thought about it, he sometimes let the name slip but only when he wasn’t really thinking about it.

“B-brother…” Sans quietly whispered. Papyrus brightened up at that and his tugging became less forceful. Sans expression relaxed some at his boss… brother’s enthusiasm. As they stepped through their front door to the cold outside, a few passing monsters hurried by to avoid confronting Papyrus.

Sans watched Papyrus’ expression for any form of hostility, but he paid the passerbyes no mind and continued on his way.

As they strolled through the streets of Snowdin, a few monsters gave intense awkward stares. Sans looked down at their still clutched hands and realized the reason for their stares. Blushing furiously, he tugged his arm free and stared down at the ground in embarrassment. Papyrus glanced back at his brother but didn’t say anything.

They continued to walk in silence until they neared the inn, that was when things got rowdy. Sans and Papyrus couldn’t see anything through the thick crowd of gathered mothers all surrounding something or someone. Feeling both curious and annoyed, Papyrus made his presence known with a burst of energy. The monsters nearest him stepped aside with sweat drops. Strolling forward, the monsters continued to form a path for Papyrus until he found the source of all the monsters’ attention. In the center of the group was two unfamiliar monsters Papyrus had never seen before. They were clad in armour and they looked like some kind of spider and warthog. The warthog had a large battle axe strapped to his back and the spider had a sash of knives strapped along his waist. He could tell by their overpowering appearance that they were warriors of the capitol.

Papyrus gave them a once over before grunting and turning to leave. It wasn’t until he felt a hand on his shoulder that he lashed out with a powerful knockback by a row of bones. However, the monster took the blow head on and barely slid back a few feet. Papyrus turned to face his opponent and smiled in interest to see the warthog had withdrawn his battle axe and used it as a shield. He could tell by his appearance that he was a naturally built tank. He could probably hold his ground even under a full on assault.

“Can I help you?” Papyrus asked coolly.

“So this is the royal guard leader? I was kind of expecting more to be honest…” The spider was eyeing Papyrus up and down, with clear disapproval evident in his eyes.

“He might not look all that important, but the fact that he was able to push me so far with such a minor attack at least gives him some credibility.” The warthog snorted his compliment but it still held a bit of reproach.

Papyrus’ blank expression and calm aura gave nothing away to their comments.

“Perhaps a better demonstration is in order, hmm…?” The two warriors glanced at each other. The royal guard leader’s tone remained even as he spoke which made the two warriors hesitant. They didn’t want to lose face after blatantly ridiculing the royal guard leader but on the other hand, they needed more time to assess their opponent. Taking the easy way out, they thought up an excuse on the spot to slip away and not look like fools.

“Nah, you’ve already proven yourself to me! How about you Aluino?”

The spider warrior caught the warthog’s eye and they came to a silent mutual agreement before he answered. “...I trust your judgement Nadar.” The two slipped past Papyrus and forced their way through the crowd, making their way over to the bar.

Papyrus kept his eyes strained on their backs as they left, feeling a smirk tugging at the edges of his teeth.

Deeming them no longer a threat, Papyrus turned back to his brother to see him still staring after the two warriors. Realizing his brother was waiting on him, Sans snapped out of his trance to return the stare. Papyrus’ blank expression still held but within stirred a new fire at a challenge. It had been a while since they’d last seen a new face.

“I will be keeping a sharp eye on them. While they might have played it cool, underneath I could tell they were itching for a fight…” Sans wasn’t entirely sure what to say in response, so he chose to only nod.

“I’m not in any particular mood to encounter those ‘pleasant’ monsters again, so let’s drop by the shop and pick up a few groceries. I’ll whip us up something good back at the house.” Sans nodded his head again and followed quietly behind. There was something about those two monsters that really unsettled him. He had seen hundreds, thousands of different timelines, but never once had he encountered these new visitors… What was going on? What was changing? Was his brother’s odd switch in personality also the effect of an anomaly? Was everything his brother saying and doing a glitch and he never truly meant anything he said?

A new sense of dread filled Sans core and his pupils faded to black. He couldn’t process everything that was happening and he didn’t want to think about it either… His best course of action was to not get comfortable. All it would take was a simple reset and everything would return to its natural order. The last thing he wanted was to get his hopes up and then crushed when his brother returned to normal. He was a fool to think that there was an off chance at having happiness. 'If only I could die and stay dead… then my problems would be gone forever and my brother could move on with his own life as well.'

Chapter Text

Papyrus and Sans were busy around the kitchen cooking dinner. Papyrus was handling the bigger task of actually preparing the food while Sans assisted with gathering the needed utensils for his brother to use. Tonight they were making lasagna.

“Sans, get me the roller!”

“Yes brother.” Sans responded curtly, putting up a front of ease. Underneath crawled his dark sickening emotions. He couldn’t get comfortable with calling Papryus his brother, in case things returned to normal. If he accidentally slipped up, he would be sure to face a grueling punishment. He would play the act of being the good little brother, but with each time he called Papyrus bro, he would repeat Boss in his head a thousand times over. Masking his emotions was easy enough, considering he had mastered his fake plastered smile with ease after experiencing years of memories well over the age of his actual body.

Over the past couple days, he had been far more emotional than he normally was. He knew it was because his brother was being far more gentle than usual and he had already gotten his hopes up. However, now that he was aware that everything was because of an anomaly, he could be prepared.

….

Sans sudden cheerful persona unnerved Papyrus. He couldn’t have changed that fast… something was wrong. Did he do something wrong? Papyrus paused at that thought and couldn’t help laughing bitterly. He sure as hell did something wrong… years and years of wrong, but that only confirmed his suspicion that his brother couldn’t have had a sudden break through. His brother’s act was like clear glass. He could see right through it. He was still being careful not to get to close and every time he called him brother, it felt forced and fake.

He knew he needed to speak with his brother but for now, he would pretend not to notice. If his brother didn’t open up within the next couple days, then he would make sure to get to the bottom of it.

….
Sans set the table as his brother finished cooking their dinner. At the very least, he could enjoy his brother’s home cooked meals while they lasted. That shouldn’t have any negative repercussions…. Who was he kidding, the universe found ways to torture him. He wasn’t sure who hated him worse, his brother or the universe. Glancing over at his brother to make sure he wasn’t looking, he stuck his middle finger up at the ceiling and silently cursed under his breath,
“Fuck you universe!!!”

Feeling slightly amused at his own antic, he sat down on their couch and mindlessly switched between the channels. Oh look Mettaton on every channel, no surprise there…

Turning off the TV, he stretched out on the couch and clasped his hands behind his head with his legs crossed and stared up at the ceiling. ‘I can’t get comfortable.’ He reminded himself. As much as he enjoyed not having to constantly keep on his toes around his brother, he would deeply regret it later when his brother reverted back. ‘Why couldn’t all future resets result in this outcome...? Sans stop! You are going to get your hopes up!’ Putting a stop to his thoughts, he grumbled and he flipped onto his side. Focusing on the kitchen entrance, he waited for his brother to emerge with dinner ready. After a few minutes of silence, Papyrus exited the kitchen with a large pan in tow.

“Is that much food really necessary?” Sans asked with a grin.

“Yes, yes it is! I wanted to have left overs.” Papyrus set the pan down on the table and turned to regard his brother. He noticed he was smiling genuinely but it was short lived as his brother’s face darkened again and he slid off the couch to join him at the table.

Papyrus frowned but he let it slid. Why was his brother so stubborn? Seating themselves at the table, Papyrus dished himself up while his brother once again waited. Instead of making a big deal out of it again, he silently took a bite and his brother reached for his own serving shortly after. He hated having his older brother acting so weak and beneath him. At one point, it had been one of his kinks, but now it was just sad to watch.

The prolonged silence that stretched out over the course of the meal made the air feel heavy and awkward. Clearing his throat, Papyrus thought it best to at least attempt a normal conversation.

“So… um, how’ve you been?” Papyrus cringed at the lame question.

“Fine…” Sans responded slowly, looking at him with searching eyes. ‘Oh what, is my sudden need for conversation something to be suspicious of?’ Papyrus thought bitterly. Was he not allowed to ask meaningful questions?

“Is there anything you’d like to do this evening after dinner?”

“Nothing.”

“Would you care to join me for recalibrating my puzzles?”

“Sure...” Papyrus gritted his teeth at the halfhearted responses. His brother wasn’t trying to elaborate on his answers or keep the conversation going. Sighing, he dug into his food and focused on his meal.

….
Sans watched his brother carefully. Why was he suddenly so interested? All these questions were not like him, but then he reminded himself that it was because of the anomaly and he shut out his worries.

After finishing their meal, Papyrus got started on the dishes while Sans took this opportunity to slip upstairs to lay down before they headed out.

Entering into his room, Sans flopped down onto his bed and buried his face into his mattress. Taking slow breaths, he let his thoughts cycle through. ‘What was this anomaly? Was there a way to stop it?’ This anomaly wasn’t like any of his past resets. That meant this was something new and foreign. It could end in numerous ways and that was what made it even more terrifying. For all he knew, a reset might never occur but he highly doubted that. For now, all he could do was remain vigilant. What he really needed was to figure out more, and he knew exactly who to go to for just that… if those two new monsters had anything to do with it, which he was certain they did, then he wanted to at least speak with them and get a lead in the right direction.

Chapter Text

Once dinner was cleaned up and put away, Papyrus went upstairs to grab his boots. His mind reeled with thoughts on what he could say or do. His brother was going on patrol with him and this was the perfect time to talk to him.

Coming back downstairs, he found his brother dressed and leaning against the front door idly. As soon as he spotted Papyrus, he opened the door and Papyrus walked out before Sans locked it behind them.

“So…” Papyrus cleared his throat awkwardly and Sans shifted on his heels. The tension was thick in the air and neither monster knew what to say but knew something needed to be said. Particularly Papyrus felt the need to speak. His brother wasn’t opening up and he was growing frustrated. If he couldn’t figure out what was wrong then there was no way he could get to the bottom of the problem and fix it.

“I’m going to recalibrate my puzzles along the way to the ruins and then head back up towards Waterfall.” Sans made no sound of having heard but his magic hitched and fluttered in agitation which didn’t go unnoticed.

“Sans… I know you don’t want to talk and I know you think I haven’t noticed your fake smile… I’m not stupid and it’s infuriating me that I can’t get my brother back.” Papyrus paused to see Sans’ reaction, when he received no response, he continued talking. “I was… am a shitty brother but I want to make it up to you.”

“You can’t.” Papyrus froze. The response was really quiet and soft, he felt he might have misheard but as he turned to face his brother, his eye lights were gone and his smile was dark and sad.

“Why can’t I!?!” He asked with a lace of hurt in his tone.

“None of this is real…”

“…none of this is real…?” The gears were turning in his head as those words went on repeat. “None of what is real?” Sans went quiet and his pupils vanished as he realized he’d slipped up. “Sans.” Papyrus grabbed his brother’s shoulders and shook him a little more forcefully than he intended but his cool was slipping.

“Forget what I said.” Sans shrugged him off and stepped past him. Papyrus’ control broke as he whipped around and latched onto his brother’s forearm painfully before yanking him back around.

“DON’T YOU WALK AWAY FROM ME!” He snarled in fury. Sans cringed it pain before his eyes widened in fear and he petrified at the familiar cold stare. “I AM DONE. DONE WITH THE LIES, DONE WITH YOU AVOIDING THE QUESTION!!!” Papyrus took deep breaths to calm his raging emotions. “I need answers…” He added quietly.

“YOU DON’T UNDERSTAND!” This time Sans blew up. Papyrus stepped back shocked. His brother never rose his voice.

He only took a second to register Sans’ words before his hysteria rose again. “THEN HELP ME UNDERSTAND!” He felt pinpricks of annoyance and helplessness surface.

Sans left eye lit up red and he latched onto Papyrus’ soul to shove him away. Papyrus hollered in surprise and Sans’ power died down in realization that he had used his magic against his brother. Gritting his teeth, he sprinted away, hoping to put distance between them and find some time alone to think. He heard his brother’s pursuit and he quickly formed a wall of bones to block his path before he darted into the trees and teleported away. To where? He didn’t care, as long as it was far away from here.
….
Papyrus stepped back nervously as his brother’s eyes darkened and his left eye lit with a red fire. Anger covered his features and he could feel the threat behind the power. Before he had time to react, he yelped in surprise as he was suddenly lifted into the air and throw backwards into the snow. The impact was soft and didn’t hurt but it still startled him. Glaring up, he caught his brother’s panicked expression and he refrained from uttering his angry response. Instead, he simmered down his boiling emotions and he hoped that his expression showed that he had calmed but his brother was sprinting off.

Papyrus scrambled to his feet to follow but a row of bones protruded out of the earth and blocked his path.

“Sans!” He hollered after him. Sans didn’t slow or respond. He watched as he darted into the trees and then all was silent. Knocking away the bones, he ran over to where he’d last seen his brother and he slowed to a stop in confusion as the footprints proceeded into the woods a short distance before disappearing completely. It took him a moment to realize but this time, he was aware that his brother had teleported away.

When was his brother going to stop running…?
…..
The snow swirled around in a small funnel as Sans plopped down at the new location.

Stumbling forward, he let himself fall down into the snow and he curled up into himself.

‘I’m so stupid, I’m so stupid, I’m so stupid, I’m so stupid…” Clenching up his fists, he choked back his sobs. ‘I’ve already let myself get too comfortable… I retaliated against my own brother! I would have never done that otherwise…’ Since he had no skin, the cold merely passed through his bones but his soul on the other hand was exposed for the world to see and the piercing chill of the air stung. He knew laying around in the snow would eventually take its toll, but he didn’t care. He just wanted to freeze over and never wake up. That way he could at least die with the happy memories of this timeline instead of having to endure another torturous cycle of being thrown back into the blender and getting grinded down into mush. He was tired of it. He just wanted to see his baby bro smile again and not tiptoe around him like he was some kind of broken record. He’d dealt with enough punishment to have grown accustomed to it; to start showing concern now only intensified the despair. It wasn’t fair that he was being tantalized by this sweet treat dangling in front of him when he knew it would just be yanked away, leaving him feeling even more starved.

That’s it… there was no point to continue, nor was there a point to dying. Either way, it was all just going to be reset anyway. The human was due to turn up in a couple of days and then the ‘natural order’ would be restored. He felt his nonexistent stomach clench up and he closed his eyes. He hoped the cold would numb his aching heart and take away the pain.

Chapter Text

Papyrus stopped around all of his brother’s most visited sites. He stopped by Chillbys’, his sentry post, the mushroom cavern, the echo flower field, the starry crystal grotto and even the falls. All places turned up empty and after demanding the monsters in the surrounding areas if they’d seen his brother, the results were turning up empty. He was beginning to panic. Where else could his brother have gone? The underground was not all that big and with the constant brawls breaking out between monsters, their numbers were dwindling.

He was beginning to worry that his brother might have had an unfortunate ‘accident’. Every day they lived their lives knowing that it could be their last. That was why Papyrus had worked so hard to get to the top of the food chain. He wanted to ensure Sans and himself were not to be trifled with.

His brother had said “none of this is real…” What did he mean by that? Did he think that Papyrus’ sudden change was because he was dreaming or what? Perhaps he needed to show him that he was still the same.

 He wanted so desperately to show his affection but he didn’t know how. It wasn’t like he could just ask another monster; and even if he could, they probably wouldn’t have any better answers than what he could come up with.

 ....

Sans stared blankly up at the sky. All thoughts and emotions were dull and he didn’t even care to budge as a couple of monsters’ voices echoed uncomfortably nearby. If they found him, they were sure to finish him off for an extra free sum of experience. Not like he was worth much though…

As their voices drifted closer, Sans went limp with defeat. Might as well have it end quickly rather than slow and cold. Just as they were about to walk right by his location, he suddenly felt a powerful urge to hide. He wanted to ignore it, but the feeling only intensified and he managed to stiffly drag a pile of snow over his body to better cover the red jacket.

The two monsters in question passed by without even glancing in his direction and he breathed out a sigh of relief.

He would have just let them find him, but the idea of another monster being the cause of his death besides his ‘brother,’ made his soul spark a little bit of life back into him.

He couldn’t die like this. His brother needed him! Even if his brother sometimes inflicted him pain, the fact that he wasn’t dead was proof enough that his brother cared and that was all he needed to continue. It hurt to know it was all going to disappear and go right back to square one but that was life. It was never fair, and he needed to remind himself that he wasn’t alone. Okay… he was alone with remembering all the resets, but time after time, he had seen monsters in similar or even worse situations of abuse, torture, emotional trauma, sexual assault and all other horrid situations. He didn’t make it this far by being a cry baby, a boohoo-why-me kind of monster. No! He made it this far by remembering the good times! No matter how small, simple or little they were. This reset was the best by far and as long as he didn’t forget it, then that was all he needed.

With his determination renewed, Sans rolled onto his stomach painfully and tried to force himself onto his feet but his stiff, sore, cold limbs failed to hold his weight and he dropped back down to the icy ground.

“S-s-shit…” Sans teeth started to chatter from the freezing temperatures and he slowly curled into himself, hoping to hold onto what little heat he had left. He was powerless to so much as move anymore. Now all he could do was hope and pray that his brother would find him before he adorned the white snow with a speckled gray.

…….

Papyrus decided to check the forest last. It was the only area of the whole underground he hadn’t bothered to check yet. For one, he’d rarely seen Sans enter the forest, and the other being he considered Sans to have run off somewhere to get some peace and quiet. A blasting blizzard was not the idle location to ‘cool’ one’s head. Papyrus paused as he pondered his words and he outwardly groaned. Sans was wearing off on him, even if Sans had learned rather quickly not to say puns around him. He would mostly hear Sans whitty mouth when he thought he was alone or when he was trying to irritate another monster.

 Picking back up the pace, he zigzagged through the forest looking for trails or any signs of life. The first thing he spotted was a pair of footprints leading further into the woods. Sans would probably veer away from the footprints to be alone but Papyrus decided it was better than just staring at an endless white blanket of snow.

 As Papyrus drew closer to the edge of the massive cavern, he began to feel like he was wasting his time. Soon enough, he came to a halt at the rockwall. Growling in irritation, he doubled backwards and followed the prints back towards town. What a waste of time…

 When he got to the branch in the trail from where he had first encountered the tracks, he considered following his own trail back to avoid any unnecessary and unwanted encounters. However something tugged at the back of his mind, egging him on down the other path leading the opposite direction of when he had first followed them.

 Trusting his sixth sense, he continued following the trail, while keeping his eyes trained on the woods around him. It wasn’t until he had walked a good distance that he slowed to a halt out of frustration. The trail had arched away from town and was making it’s way further back into the woods. He realized the footprints were probably from the patrol dogs of Snowdin.

 Annoyed, he turned to head back before something red caught his eye. Scrunching up his brow ridge in confusion, he walked over cautiously. The red fabric barely poked out of the snow and looked an awful lot like a trap.

As he neared, his eyes widened in a panic as he caught sight of a small white head poking out of the snow, blending in almost perfectly if not for it’s unusual smoothness. Dropping down onto his knees, Papyrus dug the body out of the snow and pulled out the unconscious monster. Sans lay limply in his arms with his eye sockets blank and empty.

Hoisting him up into his arms, Papyrus shakingly pulled up Sans’ shirt to check the soul underneath the layers. Just as he feared, Sans soul was already very cold and dim. He had minutes if not seconds left to live.  He needed to supply warmth immediately!

Papyrus glanced around desperately but there was nothing he could use. Staring down at the cracking soul, he did the next best thing. With careful hands, he withdrew Sans soul from his chest and placed it within his own rib cage next to his soul. Papyrus willed his magic to heat up and vibrate against his brothers, in hopes of bringing back the warmth it needed. His whole body shuddered at the sensation but he shrugged it off. He needed to quickly get his brother home and wrapped up.

Here he was out in the middle of nowhere, cradling his brother’s near dead body and soul fucking him to keep him warm… this had to be the worst-best idea at heating up another soul. Later he could feel guilty about the god awful idea, but right now he needed to focus.

Sprinting towards town, he ignored the curious glances monsters’ cast him. He was in a hurry and if any monster made the foolish mistake of crossing his path, they were as good as dead.

As he approached the doorstep to their house, he wasted no time rushing inside and sprinting up the remaining steps to his bedroom.

Papyrus carefully lowered Sans onto his bed before tucking him in and then bolting out of the room to find more layers. When he returned, he carried a stack of blankets that he hastily layered on top of each other and the weak body smothered beneath them. The pile was probably unnecessary but his mind wasn’t thinking straight.

Satisfied with his work, he slid under the covers next to his brother and pulled him up tightly against his chest. His body was beyond frozen but as they settled in, he kept his soul vibrating. He desperately hoped to revive his brother quicker.

 The time ticked by and his brother had yet to show any signs of waking. On the bright side, he was a lot warmer and he was extremely relieved he had found his brother on time. Any later and he would have been a pile of dust.

As Sans’ showed the first signs of life and he began to stir, Papyrus’ heart sang with joy! ...What he didn’t expect was a deep pleasured moan to escape his brother….

Chapter Text

Papyrus flushed and pulled away. He was not expecting that reaction… well not entirely anyway. Soul sharing was very intimate and showed two monsters devotion and respect. In his case, he was treading on that delicate unity, but what else was he supposed to do? He had limited options and none of them could secure his brothers safety.

Sans shifted in the bed and moaned again. This time it sounded a lot less pleasant. Slipping out of bed, Papyrus decided to take this time to prepare dinner. He wanted his brother to eat something as soon as he woke up to level out his magic and assist in his regeneration. He had used up a lot of his magic and it needed to be replenished.

Setting to work in the kitchen, he body switched to autopilot as his mind drifted off into thought.

What was he going to say when Sans woke up? His brother could have easily freed himself from the snow, which only spiked his worse fears. His brother had tried to die. There was no going around that. Had he truly upset his brother that much? Perhaps his sudden changes were having the opposite effect. Perhaps he needed to work into the changes more gradually. As much as he hated the idea of shouting at his brother or inflicted him pain, maybe he needed to return to that to show his brother he was still himself.

Slipping the last of the ingredients into the pan, Papyrus covered the pot with a lid and climbed back up the stairs to check on his brother.

Sans was still out cold, but his breathing was a lot softer and more steady. Thankfully, he didn’t appear to be having any nightmares either. Maybe he thought he was already dead…

Feeling the weight of his sins, he sat on the end of the bed and clasped his head in anger. He had sexually, verbally and physically abused his brother. It was no wonder he had tried to end his own life. He would have probably broken long before now. It was a wonder how his brother remained strong for so long and how had he not seen it before. Despite everything Sans had been through and dealt with, he still loved him unconditionally and tried his best to please him.

As Papyrus sat in the dimness of the room, he came to a conclusion. Once his brother was awake, he would have a serious conversation with him. No beating around the bush, no finding excuses, no stalling for time. He would share everything on his mind. He needed answers and the only way to get that was for someone to take the first step. Sans was unlikely to be the first to talk, so Papyrus took it upon himself. There was a chance he would just look like a fool and Sans would only pull further away but there was also a chance that Sans would finally tell him everything. Sans had said, “none of this matters,” and he knew there was a deeper meaning to those words. He wasn’t going to back down until he got the answers he needed, even if he had to be a little forceful.

….

Sans shifted under the covers and his cracked his eyelids open, staring blearily around the room in confusion. As soon as they fell on Papyrus, he opened and closed his eyes a couple times to clear his vision before he abruptly sat up in bed.

“Papyrus!”

“I made some soup.” Standing up, he made for the door before pausing and adding, “stay in bed.” His authorative tone had Sans straightening to attention.

As Papyrus exited, he wasn’t sure if he should slam the door or close it gently to keep up appearances, which resulted in the door flying closed before it slowed to a click.

Papyrus blushed at how stupid that just looked. He was being too obvious that he was unsettled. Why was it so hard to just act natural? Sure he’d been trying to change the last week, but that’s a week compared to years of refined hard training. Perhaps it wasn’t necessarily hard, he was just other thinking it.

Arriving in the kitchen, he slammed a bowl down on the counter in frustration. No more thinking then. Ladling a serving of soup, he returned to his room to find Sans sitting on the edge of his bed. As he entered, the other skeleton made no notice of having heard him.

“Sans.” His brother jumped in surprise and turned to face him. “I said stay in bed, not on the bed.” It took a moment to click before the smaller skeleton scrambled back under the sheets.

Actually, this wasn’t so bad. He could talk with authority without upsetting himself or really harming Sans. This was much easier than laying his hands on him. (In case a few of you are unfamiliar with this term: ‘To lay your hands on someone’ is an Idiom for causing someone harm.)

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Papyrus grabbed the spoon and dipped it into the soup before bringing it up to Sans teeth. His eyes widened in surprise and he looked between the spoon and his brother.

“Eat.” Sans cautiously parted his teeth and the spoon’s contents were tipped in. The soup was far tastier than anything his boss had ever cooked before. As Papyrus brought the spoon back up, he parted his teeth a lot more eagerly. His previous nervousness of being fed by another was all but forgotten.

As the bowl was emptied, Papyrus smiled in appreciation. Sans rarely finished a full meal and he appeared to have enjoyed the soup a lot more than anything else Papyrus had ever made. He needed to remember everything he did to prepare the soup for when he decided to cook it again.

When he stood to leave, Sans grabbed the edge of his glove. Papyrus paused in confusion while Sans hastily released his grip and glanced away, but not before mumbling out, “Thank you.”

“Would you care for seconds?” He knew his brother would decline, but he wanted to at least ask. What he wasn’t expecting was a nod. Really? His teeth stretched to an uncomfortable degree as he smiled genuinely. He couldn’t even remember the last time he smiled. It almost hurt, but at the same time, his soul felt lighter and glowed with warmth, more so than he had ever experienced in his whole life. He practically glided down the stairs as he dished out another serving and hastily returned to his room.

“C-can I sit up and eat this m-myself?” Sans’ cheeks glowed red at the awkward question. He couldn’t believe he was having to ask that.

“Of course.” Feeling relieved, Sans propped up against the bed frame and held his hands out expectantly. Papyrus handed the bowl over and sat at the end of the bed. He watched in silence as the other ate. It felt comfortable and nice for once. Sans was even relaxed.

Papyrus took this moment to prepare himself. He was enjoying the peace, but now was better than later to get the answers he needed.

“Sans, I need the honest true.” The smaller skeleton went on high alert as his younger brother’s tone darkened. “I know my sudden changes are upsetting you. I may have tried a little too hard this past week, but I am still me. I just came to a realization that my methods of strengthening you were hurting rather than helping and I want to try and fix things.” When he received no response, he sighed and continued talking. “Don’t think I haven’t noticed. Your smiles are fake, you calling me brother is,” Papyrus swallowed thickly, “fake, and then you started saying ‘none of this is real!’ Well it’s real to me!”

Sighing, Sans set his bowl off to the side and held his brother’s stare.

“I was that obvious huh… heh…” Wringing his hands together, Sans cast his eyes downwards as he spoke. “Do you… remember dying?”

“Dying?” What did he mean? Since when had the Great Papyrus died?

“I’ll take that answer as a no…” Sans sighed again and lifted his head. “I do.”

Asking questions wouldn’t get him anywhere, so he waited patiently for Sans to continue.

“I’ve seen you die so many times, I’ve lost count. Again, and again, and again…” Papyrus searched his brother’s eyes, but they held his gaze. Within swirled a mixture of emotions, anger, sadness, loneliness, defeat. “After a while, I just stopped caring. What was the point? After every reset, everyone forgets.”

“Reset?”

“I’ll start from the beginning. As you know, King Asgore started collecting human souls after his and Queen Toriels adopted human child died and their son, Prince Asriel attempted to take them to the surface to find peace only to be killed by the humans. Monsters already despised humans, but princess Chara was an exception and the monsters began to regain hope that the rift between both sides would mend. Once Chara died, that hope turned to rage and the hatred we monsters harbored towards humans only grew.”

“Yes, I’ve heard this story before. Where are you going with this?” Papyrus’ irritation slipped through. He wanted Sans to talk but he was just explaining their history, something all monsters knew.

“I was getting there… So the sentries started gathering the human souls. Seven were needed to break the barrier. By the sixth, we increased the number of sentries on duty, hoping to find that last required soul and reach the surface… but the seventh child was nothing like the others. This child was filled with determination.”

The last bit Papyrus had not heard. So the underground had found a seventh soul, so what happened to it? He wanted to ask, but he reframed. He knew Sans was getting there.

“This child was known as Frisk. Time after time, they tried to befriend the monsters, but their attempts were rebuked. Despite all this, they pushed forward. The other humans before them just attacked in fear or tried to flee, but this child stood their ground. When they got to me… I didn’t ask questions, I did as I was instructed and I…” Sans paused in his story as his breathing began to accelerate. “It was the first time I killed… I always hated fighting. Down here it’s kill or be killed, but I chose to avoid all contention.” The smaller skeleton paused to gather his thoughts before he continued. “When I made to grab the soul to bring it to the king, I was suddenly absorbed in a blinding light. As the light died, I had returned to a full week prior to the event. At first I didn’t realize what was going on. I asked around town… got a few nicks and bruises on my bones in the process, but I was able to gather enough information to understand that time had rewound.”

“Wait, so that human turned back time? That’s what you mean by a reset?”

“Yes.”

“And everyone else forgets these resets?”

“Correct.”

“Then why do you remember?”

Another pause, much longer than usual transpired before Sans spoke. “I used to work in the labs… under Gaster.”

“Hold on, that doesn’t make sense. Surely I would remember that! The memories I supposedly lost are only between the gaps between two resets. If you worked in the labs, that would be before this seventh human fell to the underground.”

Sans smiled ever so slightly. “You were always so bright. Even as a child your level of thinking was well beyond that of any normal monster.” Papyrus’ disbelief subsided at the gentleness of his brother’s tone and the praise he received.

“And you’re right, you should have remembered, but you didn’t. Papyrus, do you remember the old royal scientist before Alphys?”

“I’ve heard there used to be a mastermind behind the core and the creation of the weather controls for each section of the caverns.”

“Those were created by the first royal scientist, Wingdings Gaster. Our father.”

Chapter Text

“Our father?” Papyrus echoed in response. This was the first time he’d heard anything about their parents from Sans. “So our father was the previous Royal Scientist? What happened to him?”

“I'll have to start from the beginning. Gaster and I were in charge of soul experimentation. We used a machine known as the DT extractor to extract human determination and use it on monster souls to analyze the effects and try to use it as a tool to break the barrier.”

“What exactly is determination?”

“Determination is the essence of a human soul that grants the human the power to persist after death. We believe it was by this power that the humans erected the barrier and trap us below ground.”

This slow explanation was driving Papyrus mad.

“That still doesn’t explain how Gaster disappeared or why you can experience resets… unless…” Papyrus eyes widened in horror as realization sunk in.

“So you figured it out?” The question was rhetorical. His expression said enough. “I was one of experiments tested with DT. In fact, before I was even born I had been injected with a small dose of determination. As I grew, Gaster would bring me into the lab to run more tests. All other monsters injected with determination melted or turned to dust. I alone was the sole survivor of the experiments. Having been injected with small increments over the span on my life, my body was compatible with DT. It is by this determination in my soul that I am able to experience and remember resets.”

“Does that mean if you were to die, you’d be able to persist after your death?”

Sans gulped with unease. He hated diluting such imperative information. It made him feel vulnerable, but then he reminded himself that this was his brother. Despite all the rough beatings he’d received, his brother always knew when to hold back and prevent any serious injury… although… a timeline or two, his brother had been so furious with him, he’d dusted him. Those were unpleasant memories that he regretted bringing back to light.

“Theoretically yes.”

“Wait, but haven’t you experienced resets, so shouldn’t you know?”

“Death… is like falling into an endless sleep. At first there’s pain, and then it just fades away into nothing. I can’t say what a normal monsters death feels like. I’ve never had a normal death. All the times that I’ve died have ended in either a painful slash across the ribs or having my skull crushed in. Don’t exactly want to remember them… but before I died each time, I was able to hold my body together for at least a few minutes, so I believe my determination was enabling me that time. After I die, I kind of drift through my thoughts, reflecting back on what I’d done wrong and how I could improve, or what to avoid to prevent a repeat. As soon as a reset happens, I get an unpleasant tingling sensation before I am yanked back by an invisible elastic band.”

“Alright, so that explains the resets and determination, but what happened to… Gaster?”

“King Asgore had demanded Gaster start on a new project. He was getting more and more desperate as time passed on. He wanted to be rid of the stuffiness of the underground. He wanted to be free and exact his revenge.” Sans paused again to clear his throat before continuing. “During one of his particularly bad days, Asgore summoned Gaster to his living quarters… the two were known to be… lovers of sorts, but when Gaster emerged, he was badly bruised and his bones were worse for wear. Gaster was furious at Asgore’s rough treatment… so he sought me out instead. He dragged me from bed and brought me into the lab. I was around twelve at the time. He cuffed me down to the examination table and started experimenting… in more ways than just for science…”

Papyrus’ magic flared within his soul. The implications were no mystery.

“By the end of the night, my soul was in shambles, my bones creaked and ached all over, my skull felt like someone had filled it with lead and I lost the magic in my right eye.”

“H-how could…” Papyrus’ hands clenched tightly onto his forearms, his sharp fingers pierced the bone painfully, but he didn’t care. His brother had suffered all of this and yet… he never knew… He was no better than their father after everything he’d done…

“When I was finally allowed to leave, I tried to gather my things as quickly as I could, but Gaster stopped me. His eyes were dark and shadowed. He looked years older than he actually was and he looked so tired… he told me that night, take care of your brother. I didn’t fully understand what he was implying at the time. I was just so shaken up and wanted to go home. I yanked my arm free and fled…”

“You mean…”

“Father didn’t return for a couple of days, I just assumed he’d holed himself back up into the lab like he did on numerous occasions before, but that was until the royal guard showed up at our doorstep demanding we vacant the premises before they forcefully removed us.”

“We were kicked out of our home just because our father died?” Papyrus asked incredulously. But now that he thought about it, this world was an unforgiving place. Monsters were selfish and would take any opportunity they are given to get what they want. Perhaps another monster desired their home and now that only two children were in their way, they could take it forcefully.

“Not quite. It was more like we had never lived in that house at all. We were trespassers as far as they were concerned. Without a word, I gathered whatever I could and left, taking you with me. There weren’t many safe places left to live in the underground, so I found a decent hiding place at the dump. I was so confused, I didn’t understand everything that was happening, but due to my determination, I was able to connect my subconscious mind to alternate timelines. At first I thought I was just having nightmares, but I learned with time that they were memories. Through these dreams, I was able to understand what had happened, Gaster had gotten low that night and had thrown himself into the core, but he didn’t die. More like this body broke apart at the cellular level. He became tiny particles that got lost through space and time. This in effect caused all monsters memories of him to either fade or become altered in some way. Hence the reason why monsters know the previous royal scientist made the core but they don’t remember his name or face.”

Everything was clicking into place. His brother’s missing eye, his laziness, how they had ended up at the dump, what happened to their parents, Sans childhood, having been scouted out by the royal guard, being the only skeletons in all of the underground, the weird machine in their basement, why his brother was smarter then he let on… it was all making sense! As ridiculous as the story sounded, puzzle pieces that had never quite fit in before were now clicking into place. The biggest mysteries of his life were being answered all at once but they were not the explanations he was expecting.

“I have one last question.”

Sans slumped up against the bedframe, feeling the weight of the world come crashing down. He’d just shared his deepest darkest secrets and he felt more exhausted then he had ever felt in his entire life.

“What is it?” He asked quietly.

“When is the human due to show up?” Sans looked up in surprise. He searched his brother for any signs of disbelief, reproach or judging eyes but he only saw trust and understanding.

“Two to three days.”

Chapter Text

Sans couldn’t sleep the following night. His mind was too preoccupied with thoughts on the nearing reset and everything he had shared with his brother. If things ended badly, his brother would forget everything and their lives would continue like the past week had never even happened. It hurt to think about losing this new strange bond he had developed with his brother. On numerous occasions, he’d reminded himself to not get his hopes up but he had already fallen.
Laying on his side, he hoped tomorrow never came.
…..

Papyrus was not fairing much better. His mind swam with the new information and he feared he’d lose the progress he had made with his brother. Sans rarely, if at all opened up. Now that he had the answers he sought, he refused to lose them. Sans had said it was by determination that he was able to remember… what if…

Shaking away the thought, he willed his mind to clear and he focused on calming his breathing. Not long after, he dozed off to sleep.
….

The following morning, Papyrus was up before the rising light. He set to work preparing a quick and easy breakfast. He had a lot to do today and not a whole lot of time.
Finishing his breakfast in a few bites, he stored the remainder in the fridge and left Sans a note on the counter guiding him to the fridge to find his own portion before he darted out the door. Sans never mentioned Alphys in his explanation the other day, but he figured she’d at least have spare notes stashed away somewhere he could check.

Upon arriving at the lab, Papyrus pounded on the door. They were running out of time. He heard a grumbled response from the other side and shortly after, the deadbolt lock clicked free.

As the door slid open, Alphys poked her head out with a glare.

“What do you want?!” She snapped angrily for having been woken up. It took her a few seconds of clearing up to realize who she was addressing before her posture and tone changed.

“Papyrus? W-what can I do for you?”

Skipping past the pleasantries, Papyrus got straight to busy. “I am looking for some documents.”

“Documents? Of what kind?”

“Do you have any notes regarding something known as Determination?” Her reaction was immediate, the yellow lizard paled in shock and quieted. Intrigued by the reaction, Papyrus stepped through the door and Alphys backed up before he closed it behind him. “Judging by your reaction, I’d say you do.” Alphys remained fixated at the door and didn’t answer.

“Whatever your association with the determination, that is not why I am here.”

“Y-you’re not?”

“I need to get determination for myself.”

“YOU WHAT!?”

“Sans explained that it is because of determination that he is able to remember resets.”

“Heh… heh heh… hahaha HAHAHA…. You want determination? Are you sure you fully understand what it is you are asking?” Alphys’ grin stretched out with a sneer.

“Explain.”

“Have you ever considered why monsters disappeared all those years ago? Have you ever wondered what would be the most painful way to die? Have you ever felt your body melt from the inside out?”

“Yes. No and no.”

“To hear the screams of your experiments as they wreath on the examination table, bodies crumbling, melting, clumping together, disfiguring right before your eyes... It’s quite exhilarating.” Alphys’ eyes stared off into the distance, lost in the past with an emotionless smile pulled around her snout.

“Sans summed that up for me, I don’t need a more detailed explanation. So back to my question, can I see the files?”

Alphys’ eyes refocused on Papyrus’ face and she nodded before heading back further into the lab with Papyrus following close behind.

“The determination has many files on record of theories, hypothesis, trials, experimentations, failures, fusions, embryonic cell tests. The previous scientist studied them all. Most turned out to be failures, but Sans alone was the lone survivor of the experiments. Unless you count the previous royal scientist of course.”

“What do you mean?”

“That man was a mad man, I never met the guy, but his records speak for themselves. His experiments were not going well, so he started experimenting on himself. Nearly dusted himself in the process too, if not for quick wit and chance of luck. He should have melted like the others but he managed to remove the determination from his soul with a syringe and an excess container of magic. He removed most of the determination but a small drop remained which in effect forced his body to remain in between the state of a liquid and a solid.”

“What happened to the doctor?”

“It is believed he fell into the core, but no one knows for sure. I suspect he threw himself into it. I mean what lousy scientist ‘“accidentally” falls into their own creation?” Alphys pulled open the door marked with the bathroom symbol and gestured him inside. Papyrus’ expression morphed into confusion before he quickly swapped it with indifference and stepped inside. The room was empty save for a panel on the back wall. Alphys locked the door behind them before scurrying over to the panel and pushing the button. Papyrus steadied himself as the room shook and began to descend.

Chapter Text

 Sans stared up at the ceiling blankly. The human was due to enter the underground in less than 24 hours.

 In most cases, the human had good intentions, but from time to time, they would exit the ruins covered in dust. If Sans wanted to ensure a reset would never happen again, he would need to work twice as hard to keep the human safe. Most resets were caused by a mishap in an encounter. The human would try to reason with a monster but they could care less. The monsters only wanted experience, fame and glory. The Kings stash of human souls only lacked one more to break the barrier, that last soul being Frisk’s. Unfortunately for them, the child was untouchable. If they were killed, they would just reset. If they didn’t like an outcome, they would reset. If they were bored, they would reset. Time after time, whether the events were good or bad, it would all go back to zero. But this time Sans was more determined then ever before.

 Sans sat up in bed. His eyes burned with determination! For once, a timeline wasn’t shit and he was not about to lose it all over again. This timeline had been the biggest change of them all, and he had high hopes that it meant something new was going to happen.

 Sliding off the bed, he descended down the stairs to find the house empty. After everything he had told Papyrus the night before, he wondered why he'd disappear now of all times.

A slight twinge of panic began to sank in until he found the note on the counter specifying Papyrus had went out and that food was in the fridge. That in itself cleared up his concern for the underground resetting early. Papyrus wouldn't have bothered to cook him food or leave him a note.

 Sighing, he collapsed onto the couch. What now? In normal circumstances, he would have just went to his post by the ruins but after their talk yesterday, they agreed they'd go down together to confront the human.

 After a couple of hours passed, Sans grumbled and pushed himself off of the couch. He couldn't stand all this waiting. Papyrus didn't specify where he'd went in his note, so he had no idea where to find him or when he'd be back.

 Grabbing the notepad, he scribbled down his own note letting Papyrus know he'd be stopping by Alphys lab to check up on a few things. Satisfied, he left the note next to Papyrus’ before teleporting out of the house and landing just outside Alphys’ lab.

.....
 Papyrus sat at a desk with a small pile of notes. Alphys had vacated the room to make herself some ramen while she waited.

 He was grateful for the silence as he read through the files. Most of the documents were written in a strange dialect but for whatever reason, he understood the characters and was unhindered in his search. A lot of the information covered Gaster's research on developing the core. Interestingly enough, the core not only powered the whole underground but it also kept tabs on the anomaly. Apparently the data was transferred to an external machine. When Alphys returned with her steaming bowl of ramen, he asked her about the machine. Alphys looked at him with a strange expression before answering.

"I've heard of the machine... But I don't know where it went. It disappeared along with the previous royal scientist..." Her expression suggested she had more to say, so Papyrus waited patiently before she resumed talking.

"D-do you... actually understand those symbols?"

 Papyrus looked back down at the page contemplating his response before answering.

"This language... feels familiar."

 Alphys hummed in consideration.

"Perhaps you spent more time in the lab then what is recorded in the files. Quite frankly, you're only mentioned once..."

"Show me."

 Alphys scurried out of the room. She was absent for only a short five minutes before she returned with a black suitcase. With steady hands, she propped it up on the table and unclasped the locks. The lid of the suitcase squeaked open from it's aged hinges. The suitcase only contained a few documents and an old rubik's cube. Picking up the cube gingerly, he twirled it around in his hands. He felt a faint tugging at his soul as a distance memory brushed along the surface of his mind but not quite breaking through. He was snapped back to awareness as Alphys spoke up.

"Something wrong?"

"No... It's nothing." Papyrus placed it back into the suitcase with care before picking up the papers. The pages were written in the same symbols from before but a few words were written in English. He assumed by Alphys' earlier comment that she couldn't read the symbols, so his name must have appeared in English. Scanning the pages, it only took him a few seconds to spot his name near the end of all the documents.

 Sitting down onto a stool, he starting reading through the first page.

W.D. Gaster

Determination, the raw essence of the human soul.

Our knowledge of Determination is limited but through our studies, we have concluded that it is by this Determination that humans have the power to persist after death. It is also believed that it is by this Determination that humans had erected the barrier.  

What is the difference between a monster and a human soul? A monster’s soul is the essence of their very being. When they fall, their bodies fade into dust. A human’s soul is not the entirety of their being but rather is their essence housed within a physical body. When they fall, their bodies remain whole while their souls break free. This is what makes humans so much more powerful.

During the great war, I witnessed a human fall. Their comrades were still hopeful in saving their partner. Fueled by curiosity, I watched from the shadows and witnessed a miracle, or in our case a nightmare. The human was resurrected from the dead. A feat us monsters could only dream about. With this new knowledge, I brought it before the King. His hopes of winning the war broke, and he ordered us monsters to retreat underground. How could a monster whose soul is already so weak in comparison hope to fight against undead warriors?

Before the war, a monster’s soul was once known to be full of love, mercy and compassion. But being trapped underground with no hope of escaping has rotted our souls and turned them black and ugly like tar. Without hope, we lost our sanity and instead turned our fears, our angers, our envies toward each other.

We want to prove to ourselves and to others that we are not weak! We are still here and we would much rather die fighting than live out our lives with false hope.

Now our ideals are you die weak or you fight strong, because in this world, it’s kill or be killed.

 Papyrus finished reading the first document with raging feelings boiling inside. The monsters had once lived peacefully? That sounded impossible. Throughout his life, he had only witnessed deceit, cunning, thirst for power and dust. Clenching his teeth together, he folded the first page under the stack before he resumed reading.

 King Asgore has hired the best scientists to study determination and find a way to break free from this wretched place. I W.D. Gaster have vowed to stake my life on my research and find a solution to our problems. I have spent years studying and experimenting with Determination and I believe it is the key to our future.

 If a monster could harness this power, the barrier trapping us below ground would be but a simple obstacle to remove. Unfortunately, each test subject thus far has failed to withstand even a small dose of Determination. This power is too great for any sole monster to harness. With each passing experiment, our volunteers dwindle. Taking drastic measures, I brought my concerns forward to the Kind and we received the green light to take in the ill or nearly fallen monsters are test subjects.

 Papyrus paused in his reading to find an awkward break in the page. Almost as if a piece of the document was deleted. Tucking away that tidbit for later, he carried on.

The King shut down my experiments. His reason being they were too “dangerous.” I say fuck him! Although really I’m his bitch…  or more like his stress reliever... Either way, I refuse to give up my research when I’ve gotten so close.

If I can’t experiment with other monsters, then I will just have to make do with myself. Any monsters injected with determination have melted or turned to dust, so I must tread carefully, but what kind of scientist would I be if I didn’t put my life on the line? Great research is not without risks. I believe that if I were to water down the Determination and only take a sliver of a dose, my body would be able to contain the power.

 The experiment was a success! It was excruciatingly painful but my body didn’t break down. I am taking things slow and checking my vitals regularly but I am not seeing any side affects yet. Do I dare try another attempt?

 Failure! I nearly dusted myself with the second dose. If I hadn’t removed the excess Determination, I would have fallen. Thankfully I survived but my body has taken a toll. I am barely able to hold a physical form now. Experimenting on myself isn’t going to work. I need a new test subject, one that the King can’t know about.

After careful consideration, I have realized I need a monster who doesn’t exist yet, such as a clone. Cloning is a feasible way to run my experiments without harming myself and still studying the effects of Determination. My body still contains a small portion of Determination and I theorize that this small dose will transfer over to my clones, enabling their bodies to have better resistance. This might be the key to solving my problems. Start from the first stages of life and build up a monster soul that can harness the power without falling apart.

While this idea sounds like my best option, it is no simple matter. Cloning requires a female host and injecting one's magic and pieces of soul into the womb, while removing any traces of the female monster’s magic to keep the clones pure and unaltered. That brings up the biggest challenge, I will need to find a female monster willing to play the part of a living incubator.

That does remind me of one particular monster who used to have a fancy in me. She was always following me around and being a nuisance, but If I play my cards right, I might be able to use her.

 I managed to find her hanging out around Hotland and after some persuasion, she agreed to assist on one condition, she wanted to keep one child.  

 As Papyrus finished reading the second page, his jaw grinded together. So Sans and himself were clones that shared no connection with their mother? There only purpose in life was to be an experiment?

Chapter Text

 Sans knocked on the door to the lab and stepped back. He was greeted with silence. Confused, he tried again. When he received no response, he tried the door and it slid open. Why was it left unlocked? Stepping through, he closed it behind him and made sure the bolt locked in place. The building was empty but the lights were on. Alphys was probably downstairs. Sans clicked the button to call the elevator and he waited for his ride down.

…..

 Preparing the subject and transplanting my soul was a simple matter. The hardest part was finding a host, but it turned out to be no problem as well.

03/12/19XX

 Within a week of transplanting my soul, a clone appeared within the vessel. Skeleton monsters have a four month development period within the womb. The first three months are the growth stage and the remaining month the soul is finalizing maturity and stabilizing its magic.

 I would like to begin inserting determination into the specimen before they are removable from the host, but I must reframe to give the subject time to grow. If the specimen dies, then that will set me back some time, but at the very least I will learn about the effects of inserting Determination into an underdeveloped soul. If this experiment is a success, I can try running the same experiment on another monster. A monster whose child is not already infected with determination from the parent. While my determination might help develop the new souls immunity, it might not be the only solution. Perhaps my struggles resided with aged subjects and I needed to think lower.

04/15/19XX

 My first injection showed no side effects. The soul within the womb appears to be unharmed or unaffected by the DT. This is the biggest breakthrough I have made since I first took up this project. The question still remains though, is this the cause of the Determination in my own soul transferring over or because I started at the earliest stages of life? This remains to be scene and I will test this at a later date.

05/08/19XX

 The second trial of injections also transferred over to the specimen with no signs of damage. I have been making sure to only use small doses. I wouldn’t want to ruin my experiment with how much progression I’ve made.

06/13/19XX

 After the third injection, the subject started to show the first signs of warning. The soul temporarily started to melt, before it miraculously solidified again. This has never occurred before. I wish I can experiment further but with three months having passed, to start over now would be a waste. I will wait out the fourth month before I remove the subject and resume my experiments.

07/14/19XX

 The host has gone into labor. In case of a problem with the delivery, I will use a human method known as a C-section to remove the subject safely. Unfortunately for the host, I lack any pain killers. They will just have to manage.

The first clone was a success, but it is rather small and needy. It hadn’t crossed my mind that the subject would start off as a child. No matter, with time I will find a solution for the noise. For now I will link the subject up to life support and a magic regulator to keep the soul's energy stabilized.  

  I will give the subject a couple weeks to gain strength before I start my next tests. The first signs of magical strain shown within the womb has me concerned that my following tests are going to require additional care and caution. I have also brought up the issue of preparing the second clone with my donator, but after the strain of delivering the first, they requested a few months time to rest and recover. I agreed to a six month recuperation period.

 After finishing the third page, Papyrus sat the pages down onto the desk and leaned back in his chair. Who was the woman mentioned in the notes? The monster known as Gaster only referred to her as the host, a vessel or a donor. Why? Standing up, Papyrus made his way back over to the elevator.

 Alphys stared after him confused. “Where are you going?”

“Don’t bother putting the documents away. I’ll be back shortly.” Just as Papyrus reached the elevator, the doors slid open. Standing inside was Sans whose expression morphed from surprise to confusion. Papyrus looked unfazed but he felt an odd twinge of guilt. ‘Why do I feel guilty?’

“P-Papyrus, what are you d-doing here?”

“I was here on some Royal Guard business. What are you doing here?”

 Sans glanced away and fidgeted nervously. “I-I was going to ask Alphys for a f-favor.” Papyrus raised an eye socket at the obvious lie. If you’re going to lie, at least try to keep somewhat composed.

“What kind of favor?”

 Sans was looking everywhere but at his boss. “Well…” Sans was at a loss for words before it suddenly occurred to him, he had a ticket out. “Alphys has cameras strewn around the underground. I was wondering if we could use those to our advantage.”

 Alphys choked out in the background and Papyrus looked back at her with interest.

“Oh really~ Tell me more about these cameras…” Sans inhaled sharply. ‘Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.’ Maybe making note that he knew about them wasn’t such a good idea...

 Alphys coughed a couple times to correct her breathing before she responded.

“I just have a couple cameras placed near the lab to protect against intruders. Although, I do have a couple cameras on the outskirts of Snowdin. Those are mostly used for scouting out any humans that might pass through the ruins.” Alphys’ hands tightened together with nervousness.

“You know Sans, using those cameras is actually a good idea.”

 Sans shifted in place. While the praise made him happy, the fact that he used a lie to get it made him feel uncomfortable.

 Papyrus stared Sans down quietly, while sweat beaded on Sans skull under the scrutiny. Papyrus was well aware that the cameras were brought up as a means to dodge the real reason for his visit. While he felt frustrated for not being trusted by his brother, he was still impressed with the new information he acquired. This brought up the question of, how much did Sans really know? And how much was he still withholding?

 Not wanting to press the matter, he decided to trust his brother. ‘Sans wouldn’t do me wrong. If he thought it best to remain silent, then I will respect that. Besides, I lied first. It would be like the pot calling the kettle black, or however that human saying went.’

“I was just about to head out to get something to eat. Would you care to join me?”

 Sans looked at Papyrus calculatingly. ‘Was that an order? It didn’t sound like an order? Can I say no?’

 Papyrus could see the gears turning in Sans head. It was obvious he was trying to discern his words as either an order or suggestion.

“You don’t have to come if you have other plans.”

 Sans shoulders sagged in relief. “T-thanks. I’ll stick around here for a while before heading home.”

 Papyrus nodded in understanding before he took the elevator up, leaving the royal scientist and his brother to look at each other in tense silence.

 Perhaps he should have taken the offer, because now he had to deal with a furious Alphys.

Chapter Text

Sans was saved by the lie but at what price. Now he had to deal with Alphys.
The second the elevator doors closed and Papyrus was out of the way, Alphys’ tail lashed back and forth in fury.

“How long have you known about my cameras?” Alphys asked coolly.

Sans nervously scratched the back of his head. Well shit, how was he suppose to explain himself out of this one.

“Look Alph, my sentry station is near the ruins, don’t think I haven’t noticed the cameras stashed around there! There’s one at my own post for fucks sake! I’ve also found one hidden behind the old worn down sentry station. There is another outside the ruin door and there’s camera wedged in between some rocks and covered in a blanket of snow by Dogressa and Dogamy’s stations. I believe the last camera I’ve found hidden was in a tree… oh wait nope, now I remember, there is also one in between all of Papyrus’ puzzles.*

Alphys’ claws glowed with bright yellow heat magic as she lunged at Sans. The smaller skeleton leapt backwards, narrowly avoiding clawed slash mark across his ribs. He had enough scars as it was. When she lunged again, he jumped to the side.

“I would kill you on the spot if it weren’t for your brother!” Sans continued dancing around Alphys, easily avoiding each attempt she tried at getting her claws on him.

“Give up you pungent, scaly bitch! Your not gonna catch me.”

His comment only irked her more. “How is it that the great and powerful Papyrus gets stuck with such a pathetic whelp such as yourself?”

“Ah Ooo… now you see… that’s where you’ve crossed the line…” Sans eye burned dark red as he summoned a femur bone weapon that materialized in the from the ceiling and slammed down piercing Alphys tail, rooting her to the ground.

The lizard monster hissed in fury and pain as she reached behind to snag at the bone only for Sans to summon a blue bone and wedge it into her chest. Alphys froze, fully aware that if she moved, the bone would inflict more damage.

Growling in frustration, she conceded in defeat. “So why are you here trashbag?”

“I need more determination.”

“Pff… hahahaha… your brother came here for much the same reason.”

Sans cocked his head to the side in confusion before his eye lights vanished in realization.

“Fuck! Papyrus is going to get himself killed…”

The scientist studied the skeleton before she slowly asked, “how much of the previous scientist do you remember?”

“Enough.” He scrutinized the other as she talked. He didn’t want to relent any information, but he was curious as to where she was going with this.

“I shared some files with your brother. They were stored inside an old suitcase and he was reading them just before you appeared. They were the only documents to mention Papyrus, but the other files I have on hand mention you a lot.”

“Oooh. So let me ask you then, how much do you know.”

“I mostly have theories and assumptions. Most of the files left behind by the previous royal scientist were written in strange symbols but I have a few on hand written in english."

“Show me.” He demanded. Alphys’ expression was neutral as she contemplated.

“Fine. But get your filthy bones out of me!” (Have fun with your imagination kiddies XD)

Sans held his hands up as a sign of truce and the bones dissipated. The second her tail was free, she swept Sans off his feet and glared down at him.

“Try anything like that again and I won’t let you off so easily.” Lifting her tail to her hands, she inspected the hole. “Could fit a nice tail ring actually.” She muttered to herself. Stopping in front of a small table with a reading lamp and old suitcase, he realized this was probably the suitcase Alphys had been referring to.

“This here is the old dusty suitcase I found. This was probably Gaster’s personal bag.”

 Lifting up the lid, he glanced inside to find three papers and an old rubik's cube. Sans picked it up shakily. Why was this still here? He was half tempted to burn the toy but he quickly buried his feelings of anger to set it aside and instead focus on the pages.

“Huh… weird.”

Sans turned to Alphys in confusion. “What?”

“I could have sworn there were more pages than that…”

There were more… Papyrus must have taken them! Wait, slow down, ask first.

“How long has Papyrus been down here?”

“Give or take an hour or two. When I showed him these documents, he got up and left in the middle saying he needed something to eat and… HE TOOK THE PAGES!” As soon as she realized, her tail thwacked the floor repeatedly. “There must have been something important he found…”

“Perhaps… let me look these pages over real fast.” Picking up the other three sheets, he quickly scoured over the information. As he finished the last page he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. These were Gaster’s personal files all right and from where he left off in the document, the following pages would explain his and Papyrus birth. Not to mention… Sans paled. Damnit! Papyrus didn’t need to learn everything! Dropping the pages back into the suitcase, he turned for the elevator. He needed to find Papyrus and talk to him.

“And where are you going?”

“To find my bro.” As the elevator lowered, he was about to step inside until he stopped and scoffed at himself. I can teleport! God get your brain out of the gutter. Porting out of the room, he landed back at his house.

Chapter Text

Papyrus walked around the lobby of the lab feeling flustered. He knew he’d have to explain himself to his brother… fuck… what was he saying! He was the royal guard captain, he didn’t have to explain jack shit! He was honestly still very unsettled at having been caught snooping around the lab. He had been too absorbed in his reading to sense his brother nearby to come up with a more proper excuse other than “royal guard duties.” But Sans bought the lie. Although… he was curious what his brother’s true intentions were for visiting the lab. While the camera’s were a feasible cover story, they were nowhere near the truth.

Sensing his brothers magic spike, he stood up to inspect what the commotion was, but just as quickly as it aggravated, it settled back down to a mild spark. He continued to read the faint sensations before his brother’s presence disappeared altogether, which could mean either two things, he was dusted or he teleported away. If his brother truly had been dusted, he would have felt his brothers distress, so it was the later. He must have gone out looking for him… which meant now was his time to progress before his brother caught on that he never left.

Taking the elevator back to the bottom floor, he was quickly met with a furious Alphys baring his way out of the shaft. She nearly struck out having not expected anyone to be riding the elevator. As she recognized the occupant, her expression leveled out to a more neutral stare and she stepped aside for him to get out.

“Back so soon?” She asked.

“I never left.”

“Avoiding your brother?”

Papyrus ignored her and sat back down in his chair to finish reading. He didn’t have time to fully pour over the text as he had before, so he quickly read over the information.

01/14/19XX

Just as we had agreed, six months have passed and it is time to start anew with the second soul.

Upon speaking with the host, she has demanded she keep the second child. I have tried reasoning with her on letting her keep a third child, but she refuses to birth more than two.

Reluctantly, I let the woman leave. I still have my first subject who is alive and well. Without a backup subject, my experiments will have to proceed with caution, and if push comes to shove, I will get a second soul whether it be by ripping the child away from the woman or growing a new soul artificially.

Papyrus rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his fist as he pondered what he was learning. Adjusting the pages in his free hand, he skimmed down a few paragraphs before he resumed reading.

05/14/19XX

The first subject is developing at an accelerating rate. While they’re body has taken the downfall of stunted growth, their mind has progressed far beyond what I could have expected. They have already mastered speech and have shown signs of high intelligence. While this makes my experiment interesting, it also poses a potential threat. I may need to clip the wings of my subject. For now, I will enlist my subjects help around the lab.

Reaching the end of the page, Papyrus turned to the last page.

08/3/19XX

Having been given no name, the subject has demanded some means as to be recognized. Giving the subject a name will entitle it to being a real monster instead of just an experiment. With careful consideration, I dubbed the subject ‘Sans.’ They have served me well and have earned the right to be above that of an experiment.

So Sans worked under Gaster, the previous royal scientist… that almost meant that Gaster was their father...

10/18/19XX

All progress on the determination has come to an abrupt halt. ‘Sans’ body was unable to sustain the recent dosage and his body had begun to deconstruct. I managed to hook him up to life support, but the damages have already been done. His health has settled at a measly one. Further testing will dust the subject.

10/21/19XX

Now that my first subject is useless for continuing my research, it is time to locate my renegade host.

She has served me well by helping me progress, but it is time I reclaim what is mine. I also have to thank her for dealing with the second subjects development. The earliest stages of their life is annoying and is much preferably skipped.  

The host made a fool's errand by trying to resist. If she had just complied, I might not have had to dust her…

Papyrus froze and slammed the pages down onto the desk. Gaster killed his mother?

Alphys’ had taken a seat across the room from Papyrus to read a book while she waited. She jumped startled as she heard Papyrus slam the pages down and she scowled over at him.

Clenching up his fists painfully, he picked up the pages again and quickly scanned over the remaining text.

10/5/19XX

‘Sans’ has taken it upon himself to care for the second subject. He has named the new subject ‘Papyrus.’ For now I will let them bond while I prepare my next experiment. This might make the first subject more defiant, but I can use the second subject as an anchor.

2/8/19XX

Just as I had anticipated, ‘Sans’ has grown fond and protective of the subject 2. Separating the two, I reminded the first subject of there place and warned them that further defiance will be met with severe consequences.

2/9/19XX

Unlike with the first subject, the second experiment is unable to contain DT. Their first dosage was already met with a negative reaction, despite the small dosage. This sheds new light on the experiment. Determination is best tested within the womb. Without a host to conceive a third soul, my experiment is halted.

4/13/19XX

My first two subjects are a waste of resources. They cannot be tampered with further and they have grown far too attached for my liking. While the first subject is still useful as a lab assistance, the second just takes up unnecessary space. I will have to remove them.

7/2/19XX

I have found a use for both subjects. ‘Sans’ is complacent as long as I have his ‘brother’ under my care. I have taken a new liking for my first experiment. They have proven themselves more valuable than just another helper around the lab. By having sped up their growth with infusions and tank hibernations, the first subjects heat set in early. By relieving them of their heat, I realized just how attached i’d become of subject 1. They are more than just an assistance or a subject, they are my partner. While they still try to fight me from time to time, they’re defiance is slowly diminishing by controlling their ‘brother.’ This bond they share is proving to be most useful.

Papyrus pushed the pages away. He felt sick to his soul. So their “father” bed his brother? The more he read, the more he felt anger pooling into his soul and the pressure in the air increased.

Alphys was on high alert. She’d only seen the captain get this furious when he was out for dust. Being the nearest monster meant she was likely to be targeted.

Papyrus turned cold eyes to look at the lizard monster. “Alphys.” His tone was surprisingly even for looking so blood thirsty.

“Yes captain?” She addressed him formally, hoping her respect would save her life.

“Take me to the DT machine.”

“Yes captain.” Alphys strode forward down the hall with Papyrus following close behind. He was silent the whole walk down the hall, the only sound being the clicking of his boots as he walked until they stopped in front of a large skull looking metal construct.

“Hook me up.”

Alphys looked at the royal guard captain silently in confusion before nodding.

“This is going to kill you.” She stated matter of factly.

“It won’t.” He replied with full confidence.

Chapter Text

Sans blipped all over Snowdin in search of his brother, but everywhere he landed turned up empty.  

Where could Papyrus have gone? The underground only had so many places his brother frequented and if he was going out to eat, then he’d go somewhere more fancy, like MTT resort, but that turned out to be a bust. After he’d checked some more of the higher class restaurants in the capitol, he wound back at his house in Snowdin pacing around the living room in distress. The only place he hadn’t checked yet was Chillbys but his boss hated Chillbys with a passion… What other alternatives did he have? His magic was running low from his insistent ports, but he pooled it together for a final port and landed himself outside Chrillbys. Throwing open the doors, he strode inside to find the usual patrons but no brother. No surprise there… Well he was out of luck. He couldn’t find his brother and he was drained. What was he missing? While he was here, he might as well get something to eat to get some his energy back before resuming his search. He wouldn’t get very far without magic.

Chillby waited impatiently, his purple flames flared up in annoyance as he watched the short skeleton pause and hold the doorway open, bringing in a gust of cold air.

“Shut the goddamn door!” He snapped. His voice knocked the skeleton out of whatever stupor he fell into and he closed the door before taking a seat at the bar.

“I’ll have a bottle of mustard and some fries.”

Chillby slammed the bottle down on the counter in front of Sans with a scowl.

Sans hastily swiped the bottle and chugged it down, savoring the sour condiment. Chillby watched him with disgust for a second before he turned his attention to the door as it swung open and another burst of cold air filtered through.

Sans opted to ignore it but heavy clad boots clicked against the hardwood and stopped just behind him. He could feel their presence weighing behind him and he turned in his seat in exasperation to tell the monster to ‘fuck off’ but his eyes narrowed when he came face to face to the snout face and his handsy friend.

“What do you want?” Sans snapped, his eyelights already starting to glow a faint red in warning.

The warthog narrowed his eyes and stared Sans down before glancing around the bar.

“Where’s that brother of yours?”

Sans shrugged nonchalantly, although on the inside he was concerned. With these new monsters around and the threat of the human returning to the underground, he couldn’t lose his brother now after they’d made so much progress.

The warthog snorted in disapproval before eyeing Sans again, thoughts gearing in his head before he spoke.

“For the younger brother to be the head of the Royal Guard, you’d think the older brother would have esteemed to a higher rank than just a common sentry…”

Sans shrugged again. “To much work…”

Aluino and Nadar exchanged a glance.

“I am curious to see how the brother of the captain would fare in a fight… surely by sharing bonds you are more powerful then you let on?”

His eyes narrowed at their implications.

“Nah, what you see is what you get. Now move along and let me eat in peace.”

Sans barely managed to blip off of his seat as a large battle axe swung down and embedded itself into the bar counter, splintering it into a large gaping hole.

Sans thrust his foot into Aluino’s gut and sent the spider warrior crashing into the wall while he held a sharp red bone weapon against Nadar’s neck.

“Nice try fatass!”

Nadar rounded on Sans to retaliate before he shrieked in pain as fire erupted against his back and charred his fur.

“Not in my bar! Fighting is not allowed!” Chillby had hopped the bar and was standing behind the warthog with his flames flared up and collecting in his palm ready to dust the monster if he dared to ignore his warning.

The heavy armor clad warrior glared at the bartender with a challenging stare. The hog silently analyzed the flame monster and contemplated shrugging him off but he also had a reason for his visit and a pointless bar fight would only waste energy and draw negative attention that they wanted to avoid… for now. shoving the small skeleton to the side, he strode out with Aluino following close behind.

Sans grinned smugly before returning to his seat at the bar.

“Finish your food and then get the fuck out of my bar.” Chillby slid the fries down the counter to Sans before he started cleaning up the mess left by the hog.

Drenching the fries in mustard, he ate them quickly. He still had a missing brother to find. As soon as he finished eating, he pushed the empty plate away and hurried out of the bar.

Once back out in the cold, he set for home again, just to verify Papyrus hadn’t returned in his absence.

As he walked he felt eyes watching him the whole trip back to his front porch. He knew he’d been followed and he was almost certain it was the two newcomers. Trying to act as nonchalant as possible, he unlocked his front door and strode inside. As soon as the lock was clicked into place, he closed the blinds and peeked out.

Nothing unusual caught his eye but he couldn’t shake the feeling he was in danger. Something didn’t sit right with him. It wasn’t until he saw a shadow pass by his peripheral did he quickly scramble away from the window in surprise. Only he realized the shadow wasn’t come from outside, it was plastered on the side wall. Freezing up in fear, he heard faint rustling of movement before the air spiked with magic. His body reacted faster than his mind and he ported to the top of the stairs. Glancing around the room in a panic, he couldn’t find the source of the shadow. But there on the floor where he’d just been standing was cobwebs spread out.

Where…? Before he could even complete the thought, long arms wrapped around his body, restraining him. His arms were painfully pulled back behind him, his waist was gripped tightly to prevent struggling and another arm snaked inside his ribcage, taking hold of his soul and bringing it out into the open air.

“Shh shh shh… don’t worry little skele, I’m just going to be borrowing you for a while~” Sans tried to calm his frantic mind to gather his magic and knock the freak off but he shrieked in pain as two sharp venom tipped fangs sank into his soul, filling his core with an intense burning sensation. Quickly numbness set in spreading throughout his body and his knees knocked, trying to hold him up before he went limp and his consciousness slipped away.

Aluino grinned and caught the faint skeleton before scooping him up into his arms. Objective captured, he unlocked the front door to find Nadar already waiting for the baggage. Passing the skeleton over, he locked the door behind him and followed the warthog out of Snowdin.  

Chapter Text

“You’re pretty confident… and you don’t even know the procedure. Hehehe, You might want to ask your brother~”

Papyrus stiffened but carried on, not even bothering to respond. He put his brother through hell and he deserved to pay his dues. He wanted to understand his brother and connect with him on a deeper level instead of continually being disconnected and not being able to comfort him.

“You’re going to dust. I don’t care how confident you think you are. But that’s not my problem. I’ll send your brother your regards and tell Undyne the good news on her promotion.”

“Stop talking!” Papyrus snapped. He was losing his nerve with all her yapping and he needed to stay determined.

Alphys hissed in annoyance but she clamped up until they reached a ram skull shaped machine with cords connecting to the cranial and jaws.

“What is this?” He asked feeling strange vibes from the machine, almost as if it was alive…

“This is the DT extraction machine.”

“DT extraction?”

“DT is short for DETERMINATION and was drained out of the human souls we had collected thus far.”

“Is this where…”

“Oh gods no! We are implanting DETERMINATION in you not extracting! We’re only stopping here to withdraw some of the DT from the machine for your surgery~”

Papyrus didn’t react. He wouldn’t let her get to him. Watching Alphys silently, the scientist scurried around the big machine to a control panel along the wall where she punched in a command. The eyes of the skull lit up followed by the jaws parting. Cold condensed air filtered out of the opening, creating wispy trails of fog. Entering another command, the machine began to hum with soft vibrations that rattled the ground as a container slowly rolled out between the jaws. Stepping away from the panel, Alphys walked over to the box and flipped up a flap to reveal a number pad. Entering in a pincode, the box popped open. Inside contained rows of test tubes. Sliding a clawed finger over the glass tubes, she found the darkest red solution and pulled it out of the container with a gleeful smile.
Closing the box, she returned to the panel and with a few more clicks, the machine pulled back into its original stasis position.

“We’ve got what we need. Right this way captain.” Alphys carried the vile over to the room on the right.

He followed after the lizard monster and paused in the doorway. The walls were lined with equipment while the back wall had a tv with book shelves on either side. In the middle of the room was an examination table.

“Lay down.”

Moving over to the table nervously, he climbed up and laid down as instructed.
Alphys quickly began strapping Papyrus down with restraints.

“What’s with the restraints?”

“Well I wouldn’t want you lashing out at me if things were to say… go wrong~ It’s for my own safety!”

Papyrus twitched nervously. He was starting to have doubts. No no. He was doing this for Sans…

Alphys booted up the computer in the corner of the room and began punching in keys. Turning away from the monitor, she navigated around the room grabbing cords and wheeling equipment to different positions for either use or to move them out of the way. When she finished reorganizing the room, she stopped by Papyrus’ side.

“Summon your soul.”

Papyrus tensed and looked at her suspiciously.

“Well?” She demanded impatiently. “Do you want to do this or not?”

Very reluctantly, he summoned his soul and cringed as Alphys grasped it none too lightly and walked away with it out of his view. Papyrus’s calm demeanor cracked when the core of his being was removed. He felt so vulnerable. If she so chose, she could just crush his heart here and now to kill him.... But she was a monster of science and wouldn’t pass up this opportunity to experiment on him… while the thought wasn’t very comforting, it was enough to appease his fear. He would get what he wanted, even if it killed him.

“I’m inserting the DT now.” Alphys pressed the prepared syringe against Papyrus’ soul before jabbing it inside the inverted heart. All at once a wave of intense burning heat passed through his body and he jerked in his restraints with a barely contained scream. AHHHH! FUCK! Fuck fuck fuck! It burned! Oh gods! He felt like he’d been dipped in acid. His magic flared in response to his pain and fear but it just as quickly was smothered out by the waves of agony crashing over him. He could feel his health dropping at an alarming rate and his bones began to feel like their were liquefying. So this was it… all his conviction, resolve and purpose were snuffed out by his own stupidity. How could he have thought despite all the warnings that he could overcome it? He wasn’t a god. He wasn’t as invincible as he made himself out to be. He was just another monster… a monster who had failed himself and his brother…

Thrashing in the restraints, he stared up at the ceiling, feeling darkness closing in on him, pulling him into the abyss of eternal sleep; calling him… beckoning him… closing his eyes, his struggles slowed and his soul gave another weak pulse before dimming to a dull grey. With one last flicker, it crumbled away into dust.

The figure that lay on the table was disfigured beyond recognition. A mucky pile of white with a tattered outfit fused within the glomp. The dust from the soul was pulled to the body, fusing with the newest amalgamate of the underground. Keeping it alive in a horrifying nightmare of glitched stats. Unable to pass on or be seen as anything more than a gloppy freak. Another mistake wrought by a failed determination experiment.

Alphys stared smugly at the newest member of her collection and flipped out her cell phone to text her girlfriend the good news. Today had been a very good day~

…..
Sans sat strapped to a chair unmoving. His sockets were empty and his voice was raw from screaming for so long. Now he could only give the smallest of groans in pain while the two monsters who had taken him captive moved about taking him apart piece by piece. They had already removed all his toes and fingers along with chiseled out designs all around the circumference of his skull. They had even taken great delight in snapping off ribs in various places and getting creative with reattaching them.

How he had not dusted was due to a test vial they had received from Alphys. It prevented a monster from dusting for a solid day and they had only just gotten started.

When the cries died down, the pair decided it was time to up their game and they extended Red’s leg and tied it down while Aluino brought down a hacksaw to his femur. Pressing it down, he slowly grinded into the bone. When they still only received a groan of pain, Nadar growled in anger. Their fun couldn’t be cut off that early. They were still waiting on the captain of the royal guard… Picking up a bolder, Nadar smashed it against Sans’ foot, shattering the bone. Sans jerked in his chair, some life restoring to him as new air escaped his throat in a violent scream. The pain front his foot was severed along with his femur as his leg dropped to the floor. The pain only increased and he thrashed in fury. His magic attempted to take the form of his desired weapon as a last desperate retaliation but the drugs he had been given squandered his efforts and he slumped back in the chair.

Sans endured the torture for as long as he mentally and physically could handle it, believing without a doubt his brother would come save him……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….……………...………………………………………………But he never came…

When the day was up, he greeted death with open arms and his body faded to dust….

Chapter Text

The machine he had been lead to was not what he was expecting. It’s skeletal appearance and hollow eyes felt oddly alive…

“This is the DT extraction machine.”

Papyrus looked it over silently, ignoring the heavy weight that seemed to permeate the air. “Is this where…”

“Oh gods no! We are implanting DETERMINATION in you not extracting! We’re only stopping here to withdraw some of the DT from the machine, captain.”

Papyrus nodded and watched her silently as she scurried around the big machine to a control panel along the wall where she punched in a command. The eyes of the skull lit up followed by the jaws parting. Cold condensed air filtered out of the opening, creating wispy trails of fog. Entering another command, the machine began to hum with soft vibrations that rattled the ground as a container slowly rolled out between the jaws. Stepping away from the panel, Alphys walked over to the box to flipped up a flap on the side to reveal a number pad. Entering in a pincode, the box popped open. Inside contained rows of test tubes. Sliding a clawed finger over the glass tubes, she found the darkest red solution and pulled it out of the container with careful paws.
Closing the box, she returned to the panel and with a few more clicks, the machine pulled back into its original stasis position.

“We’ve got what we need. Right this way captain.” Alphys carried the vile over to the room on the right.

He followed after the lizard monster and paused in the doorway. The walls were lined with equipment while the back of the room had a tv with book shelves on either side. In the middle of the room was an examination table.

“Lay down please.”

Moving over to the table nervously, he climbed up and laid down as instructed.
Alphys quickly began strapping Papyrus down with restraints.

“What’s with the restraints?”

“I apologize sir, but these are for my own safety… previous injections with determination have not gone well…” She fiddled with her claws nervously before adding, “You’re pretty confident… but you don’t even know the procedure.... You might want to ask your brother... You’re going to dust. I don’t care how confident you think you are...”

A small twinge of worry pinched his soul but he steeled himself from any unwanted emotions.

Alphys booted up the computer in the corner of the room and began punching in keys. Turning away from the monitor, she navigated around the room grabbing cords and wheeling equipment to different positions for either use or to move them out of the way. When she finished reorganizing the room, she stopped by Papyrus’ side.

“I’m going to need your soul.”

Papyrus tensed and looked at her suspiciously.

“Well?” She demanded impatiently. “Do you want to do this or not?”

A monster's soul was the very makeup of their being. If the lizard monster really wanted to, she could just crush it and that would be it… but he knew she wouldn’t and he came here with a purpose. Summoning his soul, he cringed as Alphys grasped it none too lightly before she walked away with it out of his view.
Alphys carried the soul over to her equipment and picked up the prepared syringe with the red determination. Lining the needle up with the organ, she called out, “I’m inserting the DT now,” before jabbing it inside the inverted heart.

All at once a wave of intense burning heat passed through Papyrus’ body and he jerked in his restraints with a barely contained scream. “AHHHH! FUCK!” Fuck fuck fuck! It burned! Oh gods! He felt like he’d been dipped in acid. His magic flared in response to his pain and fear but it just as quickly was smothered out by the waves of agony crashing over him. He could feel his health dropping at an alarming rate and his bones began to feel like they were liquefying.

Alphys cringed but couldn’t turn her eyes away. To see the captain thrashing and screaming was alarming and intriguing. He always kept a tight lid on his emotions, even when fatally wounded. She had seen patients of all varying shapes, sizes and backgrounds fall victim to the experiment but none came close to the captain's level of power or control. Now she was seeing him at his weakest… and it was unsettling. It made her realize how truly powerful and frightening a human's determination was.

Papyrus arched off the table and slammed back down, thrashing his head and trying to gather his thoughts. He was doing this for Sans! He had too! His brother was handling a heavy burden on his own and it was eating away at him! Now that he was aware, it was as clear as day and it pained him to see it! He felt like shit right now but he would overcome this trial as he had overcome every other trial that tried to intervene in his life! Sans was all he had in this miserable world and he hated seeing him deteriorating! THIS. IS. NOTHING. Gritting his teeth, he poured every ounce of his magic into holding his soul together. His breaths came in heaving gasps and he screamed in anger as his health continued to drop.

The scientist’s eyes grew wider and wider as she bore witness to the captain of the royal guard fighting off the effects of determination. This was impossible… there was no way! He was suppressing it! He appeared to be just on the verge of collapse but he was holding out far longer than her other patients and even now… he was actually… winning…? Or at least appeared to be. The parts of his body that would start to melt would re-solidify and then sag, only to be forced back together… without being exposed to any determination for all these years and then to suddenly have this much control over it was astounding… SHE HAD TO DOCUMENT THIS!
Prying her eyes away from the table, she hurried over to her computer in the corner of the room and pulled down her keyboard to begin a log.

Slowly but surely, Papyrus felt the burning sensations dulling and in its place was an uncomfortable sting but it was more bearable, save for the ringing in his skull and the sudden wooziness. Had he done it? Was it over? He tried sitting up but his limbs felt like jelly and he slumped back down. Staring up at the fluorescent white lights, the bright glare made his skull pound with aching throbs and he closed his eyes. Just for a minute… he would rest… just… for… a… minute….

Chapter Text

Sans groaned as he slowly came to. His head felt all buzzed out and fuzzy and everything around him was passing in whirls of color. He tried clearing his mind of the hazy fog but consciousness evaded him. He distantly heard voices talking, and bits and pieces of a conversation were picked up.

“What… do… him?”

“Lure… captain…”

“Any word…?”

“None…”

Sans nodded back off.

…..

 A light buzzing noise was the first thing Sans became aware of as he came to again. He felt unpleasantly numb.

Lifting his head weakly, he glanced around but everything looked black and fuzzy, or wait… it was a blind fold. As more awareness came back, he shifted his body to find he was strapped to a metal chair. Testing the bindings, he confirmed them to be made of thick rubber fastened firmly around his wrists and ankles as well as through his ribcage. He was completely pinned. With this setup, it didn’t take a genius to figure there was some kind of magic restraint and sure enough, when he focused his attention on his soul, the unpleasant tension in his body was from the foreign object gripping his core. No magic and no use of his limbs… he was at the mercy of his abductors…

Sans recollected on how he had gotten into his predicament and that was when it dawned on him! He was taken by the spider warrior! ‘What was his name again… Aludo? Whatever, doesn’t matter, I need to find some way to escape or at least get a better idea of my situation.’

Listening to the sounds around him, everything was quiet, even as he stirred awake, no movement could be heard which meant he was alone at the moment. This was the perfect time for him to get his bearings. He was blindfolded so he couldn’t see but he used his other senses to try and gauge his predicament. The straps didn’t look to have any kind of lock or release…. Then they were built into the chair. Oh wonderful… things could only get better! If he had a lock to pick, then he might have tried popping a couple fingers off to use as a lock pick… well that was out of the question…

Guess all he could do was sit here with nothing but his thoughts to keep him company…

First order of business, he needed to get an idea of why he was here and what the two warriors expected of him… they were questioning him before if he was as strong as Papyrus… was this all just some stupid ruse to get his brother to fight them? Or were they going to use him as a hostage against his brother for gain? ...His brother… Papyrus was still missing… did they know? If they didn’t then he was probably going to be here a while… what was Papyrus even doing and why couldn’t he find him…….. That was when it clicked… he checked everywhere but the labs! ‘What if boss never left!?’ He was such a FUCKING IDIOT! Why had he not considered that!? And Alphys had said he was trying to get determination for himself! ‘Oh no…’ He couldn’t be here! His baby bro needed him! Thrashing in the chair, he hollered out loudly, “OI! LET ME GO MAGGOTS!” His voice echoed off the walls and was met with the sound of a heavy door scraping across the floor as it was shoved open followed by heavy footsteps.

“Oh, you are awake! Perfect! We can get started then!”

Sans swung his head around in the direction of the voices and scowled. He immediately recognized the voice of Nadar.

“What do you want?” Sans asked sharply and to the point.

“What we want to know is where that brother of yours is.” Aluino spoke up from behind Sans and he straightened in alarm. He hadn’t even heard the monster move. It was no wonder he was snuck up on in his own home.

“He is busy you dumb shits!” He kept an air of calm despite his erratically thumping soul. He was scared but to show fear would be a weakness the abductors would exploit.  

“Funny because from what I heard, he has be shirking his responsibilities onto Undyne and frolicking off to do who the fuck knows.” Nadar snorted with contempt.

“Papyrus is faithful to his position as Captain and always excels at performing his responsibilities! Who are you to say he is failing his job!?”

“We are the King’s guards and have come to inspect Papyrus’ battle prowess and ensure the captain is still fit to lead the guard. But from what we have observed, he is nothing special. In fact, we believe he has gotten soft.” Aluino carried on speaking.

He couldn’t believe this! His brother takes a couple days to recuperate, because god forbid, he definitely earned it, only to already have the King on his ass!? He seethed in anger, all previous fear smothered out by his rage.

“FUCK YOU! Papyrus works his ass off for the royal guard! He took two days to get some shit sorted out and your fucking complaining that he isn’t fit to lead?! Why don’t you contest with him in a fight and get your asses beaten to shit for daring to gripe about him, you stout nosed pig and bug eyed freak!” Sans huffed and glared against the blindfold. If only he was free so he could teach these two pieces of shit their place.

Sans head was violently snapped to the side as a powerful slap rang through his skull and caused blinding hot pain to seer down his spine. The hit was full of loathing force and left him disoriented and gritting his teeth together painfully to fight off the tension that filled his body.

“That was a warning.” Aluino hissed at the side of his skull. “Try raising your voice at us again and you will be begging us to dust you.” He gulped dryly and went quiet. He wasn’t eager for another slap like that again. Testing his jaw, he rotated it slowly, wincing from the aching pain that settled in.

“Now that that is settled, we are bored waiting for Papyrus to show himself. Our “friend” is out looking for him as we speak, so we will be having some fun to keep ourselves entertained while we wait~” Nadar spoke up this time and stepped closer.

He didn’t dare ask. He already had a pretty good idea. Torture wasn’t uncommon down here and this wouldn’t be his first time getting experimented on. Thankfully his 1 hp prevented most attempts at dismembering him since they’d rather keep their hostage alive for bargaining or they had nothing of worth to trade. They still had other methods, but none of which were all that excruciating. Unfortunately for them, they had no idea how truly solid he was despite the low health. Only Papyrus was well aware he could take a good beating. What he didn’t expect was for a heavy boot to be placed up against his crotch and grind against his clothed pelvis.

“W-what are you doing?” Curse that fucking stutter! When his fear slipped through his mask, he couldn’t control his cursed vocals from getting caught up in his throat.

“As he already said, we are having a little bit of fun~” Aluino whispered in the croak of Sans’ neck followed by a forked tongue running down the length of his cervical vertebrae.

Sans yelped and shuddered in disgust. What. the. Hell! “No! Get OFF!” He jerked against his restraints, desperate to get free and immediately all contact ceased. He sighed out a breath of relief only to shrieked in surprise as a current of electricity shot through his body. The voltage was only a warning zap but it still left a lasting sting on his body. His attention was on high alert after that jolt and he sat straighter. That explained the metal chair and rubber straps.

“Do we have your attention now?” Nadar growled out. “Put up any more of a resistance and we will be forced to take drastic measures.”

Sans gulped and nodded slowly. He was so fucked… literally and figuratively…

………….

Papyrus groggily opened his eyes. Everything ached from head to toe and he felt like he was made of glass. Turning his head slowly, he found himself still strapped down but with additional monitors hooked up to his ribs and soul, sending out alerts and beeps every so often with codes of data.

Alphys was hunched over her computer, fingers tapping the keys in quick succession with her head peeled up watching the screen as she typed wildy. She remained unaware of his consciousness until a few minutes later, she sighed and pushed away from the screen only to freeze when she met his red eye lights.

“Y-you’re awake. Good… h-how do you feel?”

“I feel like shit, but I’ll live…” His voice was hoarse and dry. He hadn’t been screaming during the injection… had he?

“O-oh… I’ll go get you some water and we can continue our conversation after.”

He turned his head away to stare down at the bindings still strapped firmly across his body. Surely these weren’t needed anymore… he would speak with her after she returned. Laying back he sighed. So it worked… but what would that entail…? Shifting his body, he winced as pain shot through his spine in protest but he continued to feel around. He didn’t feel particularly different… he had succeeded, right?

Alphys returned a short time later and attempted to tip the cup for Papyrus but he glared at her in warning.

“I do not need assistance. Release me.”

“There might be some side effects we have not encountered Sir. For now, it is safe for you to remain restrained until we are certain you are well.”

“This is not up to debate Alphys, this is an order from your captain!” He tone had a ring of finality to it as he spoke and the scientist fumbled nervously for the straps before pausing. Her claws twitched and a silence fell over the room before she slowly stepped back with a wild look in her eyes.

“No.” She stated flatly.

“Excuse me?” Papyrus’s tone darkened.

Alphys stiffened but held her ground and met his stare. “This needs further testing. Just think of all the possibilities! This could be for the betterment of the whole underground! We might even be able to finally escape this hell hole and reach the surface! Monsters successfully infused with determination to fight on the battlefield! This is revolutionary!!!”

“ Alphys. . . “ As her name passed by Papyrus’ teeth, the scales on Alphys’ back prickled and pinched her skin in apprehension as a chill settled over the room. The lights flickered in protest as all energy condensed around Papyrus, darkening the room while his red eyes glinted, piercing the dimming light. His expression was as cold as ice as he bore into Alphys, demanding subjugation. She could feel the murderous intent radiating off of him.

Her body froze in terror and her gaze was locked with Papyrus’.

“ Release me. . .” She moved forward like a marionette on strings, pulled by the force of Papyrus’ words. With an eerie calmness, her hands worked on the straps against her will.

As the last restraint was released, the heavy weight in the room subsided. Standing up, he tapped Alphys on the shoulder as he passed in a silent show of thanks before exiting the room.

She flinched out of reflex and just stood stock still trying to grasp what had happened. As the click of the elevator doors closed, she sagged to the floor shivering.

......She had created a demon......

Chapter Text

Aluino removed the blindfold, making Sans’ wince as light immediately filled his skull. “There that should be better.” Pressing in close, he slid his hands down Sans’ shoulders to his chest, tracing the curve of his ribs through his shirt while he breathed softly along the back of Sans’ neck.

“So fascinating…” Aluino hummed out. “You can just reach right in~” He pressed in on the ribs, bunching up the shirt through the gaps and rubbed the inner ribcage. “It makes me curious… where does a skeleton’s soul go without a body to hide it? Does it just sit in the open within the ribcage?”  Two more of his hands trailed down to Sans’ waist and gripped the bottom of his shirt before slowly lifting it while another pair traced his iliac crests.

Sans breath hitched and he scrunched up his eyes with his head turned off to the side. He felt disgusted by the touches and his haphephobia was screaming for him to be released and washed clean. ‘Oh god… where is Papyrus…’

Nadar pulled over a chair and sat down to watch with a grin plastered across his face, drawing the attention of the spider warrior who looked up to meet his stare.

“Liking the show so far?” Aluino asked smugly.

“Indubitably, but I feel like it’s progressing a bit slow…”

“Then I’ll just have to up my game.” Holding the skeleton still, Aluino cut down the middle of the shirt with his sharp point finger, pulling it open for a better view.

Looking down through Sans’ ribcage from above, Aluino clicked his tongue to see the soft glow of the inverted heart floating inside. “With your soul on display like that, it makes one curious as to how your kind have survived this long… or perhaps you haven’t… I mean there are only two of you after all~”

Sans stiffened in his seat. All this scrutinizing was making him light headed and nauseous, especially having his soul being looked at with such hungry eyes… it was disgusting.

“This might be our last chance to study the skeletal makeup before the underground is free of your kind. Besides, this information will be useful for when we find Papyrus.”

“Like what?” Sans needed to get his mind off of the touching, so what better way than to keep the other talking.

“Hm… such as where the soul is located, what parts of the body are more fragile or sensitive… what bones inflict the most amount of pain…. You are our perfect little test subject.”

Sans spat at the warriors face and sat back with indignation. “Fuck you!”

Aluino lifted one of his six arms to scrap off the spit before clenching up his fist and slamming it down against San’s pelvis, grinding into it sharply.

The blow cracked the bone and Sans yelped in surprise followed by shooting pain traveling up his spine through his pelvis. He clenched up his teeth to bite back the whimper before snarling in anger at the other.

“Don’t try to act tough, you’re hardly a threat.” Softening his grinding, he stroked the abused bone softly and feathered his other hands along Sans’ spine earning a shudder from his captive. “If you behave, perhaps we can be easier on you... We can make your suffering short and more pleasureable~”

“You’re just a bunch of horny fuckers! Why would I ever want your filthy touch!?”  

The spider warrior stopped all his actions only to slap a hand over Sans’ teeth and yanked his skull up to stare him in the eyes. “Running your mouth off like that is only going to make things so. much. worse!” Shoving Sans back into his seat he turned to Nadar.

“I am done playing nice. Nadar! We are going to have to teach this cocky shit how to behave!”

“About damn time!” Getting off his chair, he strode over to the skeleton and towered over him while he looked him over. “I am going to have fun breaking you~”

“Heh, I am going to enjoy watching my brother dust your sor… Ahmf…” Sans gagged in surprise as a mouthpiece was clamped over his teeth from behind. Turning his head to see over his shoulder, he watched as Aluino tightened the clamp and tied it back. He tried thrashing his head to get the damn thing off, but Nadar’s massive hand easily cupped the size of his skull and held him still.

“That should shut him up! God he is fucking annoying…” Ensuring it was nice and tight, Aluino stepped back around into view and looked at his handiwork. “Not bad. This should prevent him from trying anything with those teeth.”

The mouthpiece forced Sans’ teeth apart holding his jaw open painfully. He could feel tears beginning to form on the sides of his sockets from the unpleasant stretch.

“How does that feel? I hope your comfortable because you're about to service me maggot and I wonder just how much you can take… Hopefully I don’t break you too quickly.” Nadar nudged his clothed hard on against Sans’ skull watching with mirth as the skeleton cringed away.

Unzipping the front of his pants, the cock sprang free already swollen and dripping with need. The sick fuck was getting off to this! Giving it a stroke, Nadar grunted in pleasure. “Ahh yes, my cock is throbbing and eager to pound into your skull.”

Sans’ eyelights wavered taking in the size of the warthog’s girth and tensed in apprehension. Holy fuck… there was no way that was going to fit… The cock was nudged against his cheek, and he stared up at the monster in defiance.

“Look who’s trying to play it tough. Hahaha, just relax and you might enjoy this~ Or continue to be difficult and make this all the move enjoyable for me. Hehe.” Nadar pressed in closer, making his member slid up Sans’ face, getting uncomfortably close to his eye socket. His breathing picked up in dread as it nudged the rim, dribbling cum oozing down to trickle into the opening and he jerked back with a hiss as the magic that made up his socket fizzled to the foreign sustenance. It wasn’t to say it hurt, but the sensation was gross and unwelcoming.

Meeting the warthog’s gaze, his expression must have said everything the monster needed to know before he sneered and mock petted his skull in false comfort. “Easy pet. I won’t stick it in your socket. But if you misbehave I might have to take back my word…” Sans stared back hearing the empty promise and lingering threat behind the statement. He was powerless to stop them and by being defiant, he was only making the game for the pair that much more exciting. He had a sinking suspicion they were hoping for his disobedience to have an excuse to play more rough. A part of him feared his captives would disregard his 1 hp and dust him early before his brother came for him… or that is, if he came for him… Honestly, it was just far easier to give up anyways… dropping his eyes in resignation, he went lax in his bindings earning a grunt from Nadar.

“Was that all the fight in you? Well that is disappointing... “

“No matter. We’ll have more fun once Papyrus has been found, or if he finds us. His brother here really is a big disappointment… such a shame for the great captain to have to regard this sack of shit as family.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Lifting Sans skull, the warthog angled his cock with the opening in the ring bit before pressing forward, easing his engorged shaft into the opening in Sans’ teeth. The small skeleton relaxed his jaw further, hoping it would ease the pain of the stretch even just a little and it did provide some relief, but as more of the cock was pushed in, the harder it became to fight back the gag reflex. His magic had yet to materialize as he was not the least bit aroused. Quite the contrary, he was so disgusted, he doubted he could get worked up, regardless if they touched his most sensitive bones. He couldn’t imagine how good his dry, bony skull must feel around the warthog’s dick and the monster must have agreed because he grabbed either side of Sans’ skull and started thrusting in and out, looking for some purchase of friction for pleasure. All he received was an uncomfortable slap of flesh on bone with some precum lubbing up the entrance to prevent a rash.

“Fuck this is so boring… how do skeletons even engage in sex?” He could hear the whine just on the tip of Nadar’s tone and Aluino huffed.

“You are so impatient… his magic forms the necessary parts and from my understanding, they can take on any sexual organ they desire.”

“Hey shithead! Form a tongue or something before I lose my patience!” He demanded with another sharp thrust.

Sans choked out a groan of anger and looked at Aluino to explain to this pighead what requirements he was missing in order to fulfill the “request”. He could tell the spider warrior was well educated and had done his homework. With at least one of his captives having enough sense to understand his genetic makeup, he could feel some relief to a near harrowing experience of being taken by two monsters completely lacking in knowledge.

Aluino thankfully understood the look before stepping closer and kneeling down to trace his hands over the curves of Sans’ bones, while watching his expression for particularly sensitive areas of contact. Having some form of easing stimulation aside from the painful stretch of his jaw was a mute relief to his new found panic of being touched all over. He meant for the spider to explain rather than get handsy and realized his mistake to late. He wheezed around the cock and shook violently in his bonds earning a startled look from both monsters who exchanged a silent look.

“This is clearly not working… pull out of him Nadar and give me a moment. I’ll be right back…”

Nadar did as he was told with some resentment. Whether it was at Sans or Aluino, Sans’ couldn’t tell, or perhaps it was a bit of both… but to have his mouth free again of the intrusion was a small respite for the time being.

The minutes dragged on far longer amidst the silence of the room with Nadar still sporting a hard on and looking Sans over in a mix of disgust and lust. The monster was clearly turned on by the prospect of claiming him but was far to stupid to figure out how. He really wished his jaw was free to shoot insults the warthogs way but for now he would take enjoyment thinking the thoughts to himself.

After some time, Aluino returned carrying a vial in hand and some other instrument blocked from view by a cloth. Nadar was back on his feet in relief to see his companion and looked over the contents his partner was carrying in interest while Sans’ stared on warily.

“We aren’t going to be getting anywhere at this rate… so I brought some help.” The spider tapped the vial and held it up for Sans to see. “This is a little aphrodisiac I made myself~ beautiful isn’t it…” The liquid was a pale blue that sloshed inside the glass container as Aluino waved it around. As the words aphrodisiac were spoken, Sans’ paled in realization and hissed in refusal. Fuck fuck FUCK! Hell no! He was not about to let them drug him! Even less so be openly engaged in his own rape! Aluino stepped back clicking his tongue and nodded for Nadar to hold the small skeleton still as a syringe was pulled out of the cloth and carried over to a table. Popping the cap off the vial, he poured the contents into the end of the syringe before turning back with a wide devilish grin.

“Stop fretting, this’ll just made you feel amazing.  A far better treatment than being fucked raw don’t you think? Don’t fight me on this…” Coming to stand in front of Sans with Nadar holding his skull and pressing in on his chest from the back, the small skeleton could only watch in horror as the spider’s hands reached inside his chest cavity, taking hold of his delicate soul and pulling it out into the open. His breathing accelerated in panic as the needle pressed in on the inverted heart before breaching the surface. The sting was dulled as all thought processes were on overdrive, driven to a near mad hysterical state. Slowly, the top of the syringe was pushed down, emptying the contents making his soul glow a mix of purplish red before it was accepted into his being, mixing with his magic and returning to its natural red glow.

“There, see? You are perfectly fine… you’ll start to feel real good…” It wasn’t even a few seconds before a tight heat build up within Sans’ core, making him break out in sweat all over his body. His souls glow slowly intensified in brightness as it was brought to a near heat like state and he twitched as hands were ghosted over his bones, not quite touching but still lighting up a fire of need. His senses of despising physical contact were overwritten with a delirious desire for more and his overflowing magic flushed through his body filling his frame with a buzzing warmth. Aluino gently swiped a hand along the skeleton’s brow before grabbing his skull and turning it from side to side to inspect the drugs effects. Sans nuzzled the hand gently making Nadar chuckle.  “That’s a powerful drug… and you said you made this?”

Aluino looked on proud and pressed in closer to grab one of Sans’ ribs, stroking it softly, earning a small gasp at the contact and a pleased hum from the warrior.

“The poison of my kind causes a strong paralysis but with some tinkering, refining and adding some additional ingredients, I was able to make it an intoxicant. A small dosage is highly effective and can last a good few hours. I added quite a bit so you should be in for a ride~” Trailing his hands lower, he grazed his fingers over Sans’ clothes pelvis, making the smaller monster squirm and whine.

“You can try entering him again. He should be worked up enough for his magic to solidify into the desired parts.”

The warthog wasted no time in grabbing Sans’ skull and slamming his cock back inside. The motion rang loudly through Sans’ skull, making him wince through the painful action.

“Not that forceful!” Aluino hissed annoyed. “Have some restraint! He only has one hp and we need him for when his brother arrives!”

Nadar ignored Aluino’s comment and groaned as Sans’ magic responded to the scent of his sex by forming a glowing red appendage to cushion the intruding member instinctively. “Ahhh fuck… this feels much better…” Sans rocked with each thrust, unable to move or speak through his mouth full of cock.

Tsking annoyed, Aluino turned his own attentions to working his hands down into Sans’ shorts, brushing his fingers feather light over the pelvis. Sans hips rolled up seeking more purchase of the touch, desiring to be relieved of his building tension.

Aluino chuckled and obliged, applying more pressure while looping his fingers through Sans’ pubis, stroking it roughly. Sans groaned sending vibrations through Nadar’s cock and making the warthog grunt in satisfaction. “Whatever you are doing, don’t stop~”

Pinching and kneading over the sensitive bone, Sans shivered and gasped as his magic solidify into a stout ruby red cock. Aluino withdrew his hands before standing and walking away leaving Sans’ twitching and whining in need. His attention on his loss of contact was short lived as the warthog speed up his thrusts, member twitching and swelling in size, alerting Sans to the owner’s nearing release. The fog that settled over his consciousness from the drug withdrew as he became aware of the knot threatening to spill down his throat. Sans  growled out around the cock trying to formulate words to get the other to pull out or stop but they came out garbled and broken. His sexual assailant paid no mind as he redoubled his efforts to get himself off, moving fast and relentless  making Sans’ jaw ache. With one last hard slam all the way up to the hilt, he sank deep into the back of Sans’ throat and stilled as his hot seed ejected out.

The skeleton gagged as his skull was filled, and his throat was clogged. Cum seeped down his cervical vertebrae, clinging to his ribs and dripping onto his burning soul. He jolted in surprise, feeling a tingling sensation along the surface of his inverted heart before the cum was soaked inside. Sans jerked violently at the pleasurable sensation. It felt gross, but oh fuck… so good….

Once the warthog was emptied, the large shaft now noticeably smaller in size, was pulled free, much to Sans’ relief. He would feel even better if the damn mouthpiece was taken out. Instead he was left with a sore jaw and an itchy burn in his soul.

Instead of shooting insults or moving to violate him again, Nadar stood off to the side, waiting for his companion to return. Sans took the moment to himself to get his bearings and analyze the room. The room was nothing special. It was rather simple with hardly any furniture aside from a few chairs but as he looked over his shoulder he balked in horror to see a shelf full of jars containing dust! Forcing his head to turn more, he was able to make out another wall just out of view of tools. While it was hard to make out in his peripheral, he could see the glimmer of sharp metal.

The skeletons bones began to rattle as his fear and anxiety took hold. Nadar cast a glance over at him before looking over his head at the shelving on the back wall and smirked.

“Don’t worry. Your dust won't be joining theirs. We only save the dust of monsters who are worth keeping.” Sans soul tightened at the comment and he felt nausea rising. What sick freaks kept dust as a prize!?

Chapter Text

 The following silence hung thickly in the air. The longer the spider took, the more apprehensive Sans became. What were they doing? How much longer were they going to take? Would they dust him and leave his remains for his boss to find, or would they torture him and leave his life hanging by a thread?

A loud slam of the door startled both occupants, though for Sans his was underlined with strained tension.

“Had your fun?”

“Yea. What do ya got there?”

“Oh this~” Aluino held up a long metal rod with a grin. Sans adjusted in his seat to watch the exchange and looked the rod over confused. “It’s for a bit of fun.” Turning his attention to their captive, he stepped forward and brushed a hand along their cheek. “Look how much you are sweating… you must really be terrified.” Kneeling down to Sans’ eye level, another hand brushed up along the skeleton’s still erect member, though his arousal had diminished some from the duration Aluino had been absent. Immediately upon contact, Sans’  went rigid as the fire in his soul was reignited and he groaned as the skilled hands worked his shaft back up to full arousal.

“There does that feel better.” The mocking tone asked. “Don’t worry, I have something special planned for you.” Thumbing over the slit in the cock, he toyed with it teasingly while his grin pulled up into a sneer at the skeleton’s contorted expression caught between fear and pleasure. “I just can’t wait to see you wreathing in pained pleasure~” The spiders words were all the warning he got before the metal rod was pressed down into the slit. Sans’ straightened in his seat with a choked gasp as it was pressed inside his urethra. Whatever drug was still raging in his soul made the penetration feel extremely sensitive, blocking out whatever pain he feared he’d be in otherwise.

It was uncomfortably tight as the rod was pressed in further but the spider was careful and took his time feeding it through. Sans was unable to turn his eyes away, scared they would tear his magic. In wasn’t until the sounding rod was all the way seated that the warrior stopped forcing it in. Sans took a shaky breath. His soul was hammering in his chest, distressed by his position. He was completely at their mercy and that was what terrified him the most. He knew what they had planned… it was only a matter of time before they grew bored with their “play” and got serious.

Standing back up, Aluino dusted off his pants and looked down at the skeleton with contempt.

“You claimed the first hole, I think it only fitting I take his ass.”

Nadar grunted in reply and stepped back to lean his weight against the wall.

“Hm… his current position doesn’t leave much room for adjusting…” Moving behind Sans, he shifted through the objects hanging on the wall, making them clink or bang together. Each sound make the small skeleton flinch, his imagination running wild.

“Aha~ here we go.” Stepping up behind the chair, the straps were carefully removed, each arm working efficiently to undo the clasps. Two of his six arms slipped Sans’ arms free but quickly held his wrists together tightly as a leather arm binder was fitted up his arms and then tightened. Once it was fastened, Sans was lifted off the chair and the spider warrior slipped beneath him to sit the skeleton on his lap.

“There we go, much better.” Bringing his hands down to rest in Sans’ lap, he stroked the femurs and leaned forward to brush his fangs along the spinal column. Sans went rigid at the uncomfortable touches. If a monster could have a heart attack, he was certain he’d be a wreathing mess. His full focus was on each unwelcomed caress and the knowledge of knowing even after he was raped and brutally torn apart, these memories weren’t going to die with him and that brought out a choked sob. It was hell living a day in and a day out always knowing about the resets and never being able to be relieved of all the knowledge accompanying the humans whimsical actions. He was going to remember for the rest of his life this moment. He hoped he was dusted sooner rather than later. If Boss showed up… if he saw what they were doing to him… his brothers expression would be burned into his memory… or even worse, if Papyrus was dragged down with him into this mess… he’d be a wreck… he wasn’t even entirely sure how to process this all at once.

Through his cycling of sporadic thoughts, he didn’t realize he’d completely spaced through the spiders next actions until he felt a painful jab in his magic and he was forced back into focus to feel a sharp, angled hook fed itself through his ass. The spider was holding Sans middle tightly as he held the skeleton in place. His expression was focused and determined as he inched inside the tight heat. Sans’ magic tried pushing out the intruding appendage but by tightening his magic muscles, the sharp point only pricked his insides and he squirmed in alarm, further scraping up the magic and making tears pool in his sockets. Aluino hissed in frustration and bit down on the back of Sans’ neck. Only a small dose of neutralizing poison was fed through but it was enough to make his body go lax against his will. Withdrawing his fangs, he looked at the skeleton in disapproval.

“This would go a lot smoother if you’d stop struggling! It only hurts if you tense up or try to move.”

Sans groaned in reply, but all else was cut off with a deep intake of air when the spider rolled his hips up and the hook was pushed in to fully sit inside. Sans’ thoughts were becoming muddled and disarrayed. From the touching, to the unwanted sensations and the aberrant torture that was sure to escalate later, he was being driven to new levels of madness.

“Ahh yea… so nice…” Aluino withdrew his hips a bit before jerking back up. “And tight~”

“Gah!” He would have cringed or even tried thrashing again if not for the poison filling his bones and dulling his magic to force him into a relaxed state.

The spider set a rhythm of thrusting up and easing back out. The burn of the pricking hook eased some the longer the warrior worked up his magic and he felt a small warming sensation filling his body as healing magic sealed over the scraped walls lining his ass. Sans was caught off guard when Aluino reached around to his front and grabbed the top of the sounding rod and began sliding it up. His hips bucked up at the sensation of having his urethra practically massaged by the rod. He felt a huff of hot air along the back of his neck from the spider watching in amusement.

“You like that huh?” The rod was slipped out to just the tip before it was shoved back down, making Sans keen in pleasure. His head rolled back to rest against the spider’s shoulder and he choked out a grunt as the clasp on his jaw lock was jostled, drawing his attention back to his aching jaw. Aluino seemed to realize he’d forgotten to remove it and looked over at Nadar.

“RIght…” The warthog got the memo, not even needing to be told as he stepped closer, but then a thought dawned on him and he stopped just as he’d reached their side.

“And what do I get out of this?” He asked derisively.

 The spider glared up at him, watching his companions smug expression before conceding. “FIne. Step closer and I’ll get you off, but first remove the damn clamp.”

“Gladly!” Not even caring to be gentle, he rip the clamp off, forcing Sans’ jaw to pop from the force. The resulting pain was a minute point to having his mouth finally free, and he quickly closed his teeth, working his jaw a bit to ease the throbbing.

Aluino looked on unimpressed but not hearing a complaint from the skeleton, he let it slide as he reached out a free hand to slip down inside the warthogs pants to curl around their shaft. With the hand preoccupied with stroking them off, he turned back to Sans and lightly nibbled down on their clavicle. Sans tensed at the feeling of the fangs lightly grazing his bone before he gasped as the sounding rod was resumed being thrusted up and down his shaft. His hips rolled up against his better judgement, reacting to the foreplay and sensitivity.

With his full attention on servicing the two monsters, Aluino had fallen still, solely focused on making his two partners wreath in pleasure. As the engorged cock in his hand swelled, he stroked it faster, in effect making his other hand jerk the rod in and out more quickly. Sans cried out, feeling a burn rising that was definitely not pleasant. He wasn’t wet enough for the rods passage to be eased.

Aluino slowed both hands, making Nadar groan in frustration at being denied his release while Sans relaxed back in relief.

“Why’d you stop!?” He growled out.

“Patience or you’re not getting anything.” Grabbing the base of Sans’ cock, Aluino stroked it gently, bringing back the more pleasurable sensations while he grabbed the top of the rod and pulled it out.

Sans slumped back panting, both relieved and disappointed the rod was removed. Throwing the metal rod aside, he curled his fingers around the shaft, kneading it up and down before rising to the tip and pressing in with his pointer finger. “This should fit a lot nicer…” The narrow finger slipped in easily with the shaft already lubricated and Sans hips raised, taking in more of the finger with a moan. Fuck…. Fuck. He shouldn’t be responding but he was losing the fight over his will. Swirling his finger teasingly, he started pumping in and out again, adding a light scrap with each pull.

 
Nadar watched on hungrily, getting more aroused with the display. “Damn that looks hot. I might need a taste of that next.”

Aluino grinned, pleased with himself. “After. For now… we should work on the finale to get to the real objective.”

Reaching back over to Nadar’s manhood, he proceeded to jerk him off, now having better control of both hands while he worked up a faster pace of bucking up into Sans’ tight heat. He growled out obscenities as he neared his peak, feeling both “partners” drawing close as well due to his work. He licked his teeth pleased, humming lightly as he licked the back of Sans’ neck. Sans shuddered and clenched up as his orgasm ripped through him but the finger filling his urethra blocked the passage, making it knot up around the finger with no escape.

“Hng… ahhhh…. L-let it out….” Sans whined weakly, feeling his body growing dull as exhaustion quickly set in. Aluino snickered and nibbled Sans’ scapula.

“Only if you ask nicely~”

If he had any energy left, he would have argued but a weak please tumbled out making the spider click his tongue in consideration.

“Not good enough. Try again.”

His expression hardened slightly in frustration before he huffed out, “Please. Take. it. Out.” He emphasized each word, holding back the barest of spite.

Deeming the response acceptable enough, he retracted his finger slowly, purposefully, teasing the hole by withdrawing and then pushing back in, then retracting some more. Sans groaned at the sensation and pulled his hips back as far as they could go to sped up the process, before finally finding some release as the finger popped out, allowing his cum to seep out freely. He shivered and slumped back tiredly, feeling lulled on by the rocking of the spider as the warrior continued to get off his partner. It wasn’t long before Nadar moaned his release, stirring Sans’ from his slumber in disgust as the boar’s ejaculation rained down on him. He would have complained under different circumstances, instead he just choose to ignore it.

Clearly Aluino wasn’t pleased before Sans was lifted up quickly and dropped back down into the chair unceremoniously.

“Really!? You got some on me as well!”

Sans listened in on their bickering with only half a mind while the other half slipped in and out of consciousness. The chatter died down to a low rumble in his skull before all grew quiet as he passed out.

Chapter Text

 As soon as the doors closed to the elevator, Papyrus slumped ever so slightly against the railing to hold himself steady. He felt like he was back to being an infant with noodly arms that didn’t quite work right until they were worked in. Whatever this damn DETERMINATION was, it made him feel both as solid and brittle as a diamond.

Once the elevator doors opened, he straightened back up and took a step forward, only to fumble his step and nearly trip over. After a few wobbly steps out, he caught himself on a desk and held onto it firmly with a growl of frustration. How the hell was he going to be any help clumsying about like a babybones! He needed to work off this faze and fast, otherwise once he was outside these walls, he was going to become free exp to any lucky monster that caught him in this funk.

 Pushing away from the desk, he wobbled a bit before straightening and rotating his joints. Holding out one hand, he focused his magic to form a bone sword only for a tight heat to flare up in his soul. He cut off his magic in surprise and tensed, ready for the pain…. But… it never came. The heat persisted but it didn’t burn, though it was a bit uncomfortable. Trying again but expecting the sudden flare, he conjured a bone construct. He immediately realized the sword was far denser and heavier than any bone weapon he’d summoned before. Holding it closer to eye level, he inspected the surface. It faintly pulsed with the aura of his magic, but aside from that, there wasn’t anything spectacularly different, it just felt different. Storing that information for later, he practiced swiping around in the air, adjusting his stance to hold him upright. He couldn’t stay long, he had just skipped out on Sans and needed to get back to him, plus he wasn’t entirely sure Alphys wouldn’t get over whatever transfiction she was in and come chasing after him.

 Once he felt he was at least stable enough to carry himself, he exited out the front lab doors, taking a second to inhale a deep breath of air. His head was still buzzing with all the new information he’d learned… and he didn’t like it… at least now he had DETERMINATION on his side, an element he was sure would prove useful in the near future.

 During the whole procedure, he couldn’t shake the feeling that his brother needed him. It was what helped him pull through the surgery and now that he was out, he was heading straight home to fill his brother in as well as demand some answers. He was tired of all the lies!

 Following the path down to the lake, he wasn’t surprised to find the River Person already waiting for his arrival. Stepping down into the boat, he took a seat, not even needing to vocalize where he was going. It was strange and unnerving how the River Person always seemed to already know where each monster was heading.

 Not once had he ever heard the River Person speak. The only sounds that were ever heard were the light trickles of water passing by as the boat practically floated along the surface of the water, causing hardly any sways as it moved. But not this time… an eerie voice, just barely over a whisper, but still as clear as a bell, spoke over the usually deafening silence.

You do not know of which you seek….

 Papyrus stiffened in his seat, holding perfectly still and unconsciously held his breath as the River Person trailed off like he was ending a thought. The silence persisted back over the pair for a length of time, only for a chill to run down Papyrus’ spine as the River Person continued, seemingly echoing off of the cavern walls, making it sound as if the voice was coming from all sides.

Beware the judge who cannot speak

Who remains awake in an eternal sleep.

His eyes that bore into the past, who sees beyond and what is and was last

And when the time comes for the final kill

He will be tormented by a breath that is still

 As the words dropped off, the walls repeated it back like a mantra, growing quieter and quieter, until falling back into the heavy silence. He would have turned his head to catch a glimpse at the River Person and question their riddle, but he was frozen in place, skull pounding with the foreboding words. The trip between Hotland and Snowdin never felt more ominous and long, nor was he more relieved when the boat pulled up along the shore. Hastily climbing out, he glared back at the cloaked figure. They appeared as they always did. Cloak drawn, head down, standing still like a statue. Clicking his jaw shut, he turned on his heels to retreat back to his home only for the chilling voice to trail after him

Farewell…

 Papyrus stopped short and turned back to regard them but they were already gone. Not a single sound had been heard of their departure… He stared down at the dock for a solid minute, trying to come to grips with what he heard. Righting his posture, he put his back to the river, and strode off, heading home.

…….

 Sans groaned, having been jostled awake by rough hands shifting his body around. Rolling his head to the side, he cracked his sockets open, flinching from the bright light boring down on him from above.

“What…” He croaked out. His voice felt hoarse, like he hadn’t drank any water for a long time, but that was ridiculous, skeletons didn’t have vocal chords that could shrivel up. Their voice was solely based on their magic… His magic! He must be running low! Sans attempted to sit up only to find he couldn’t move. Brow furrowing, he jerked his arms and legs, finding they were strapped firmly down onto whatever surface he was currently laying on.

 Warning bells rang loudly through his head, making him feel queasy with unease and panic. Where… his thoughts were quickly answered as his memories came rushing back to him.

“Ugh… fuck…” His head pounded with a growing headache but he couldn’t just lay passively by, he had to get back to Boss and warn him of these fuckers!

“Ah, so you are finally awake.” The spider's voice broke through his thoughts and he snapped his eyes open to glare at the speaker, only to wince at the sharp reminder of the blinding light overhead. Snapping his eyes closed, he let out another groan. “It’s disarming how quiet and still you lay when asleep… one might pass you off as the living dead.”

“I wouldn’t call that sleep…” He retorted. Sleep was like reliving a nightmare over and over again. For him to have been unconscious without even a distant memory lingering was likely due to him having likely slipped into a slight coma, probably from all the stress and vehemous of the situation, his subconscious was blocking out the world. But even that defiance would only last so long. Now he was back to full awareness and still just as pissed, if not more so than before.

“Oh?” Aluino hummed in interest. There was so much more that could be learned of the skeletal breed and he was eager to learn~ “While our earlier engagement was fascinating and pleasurable, now I think it is time we move on to the real objective. I am going to be executing a series of tests and I want you to respond with either a 1 or 10 for how much pain you are in. If you fail to respond immediately, then a shock with be initiated directly to your soul.”

 Sans stilled… directly to his… that was when he became painfully aware of how cold and barren his chest cavity felt. His soul was missing! How had he not immediately realized!? He could feel it pulsing nearby, wanting to be returned back to it’s host but it was being restraint.  There was also something else… something unwanted buried inside the fragile heart… he wanted to try and look but as he squinted open his eyes, all he could see was a blurred figure of Aluino blocking his vision.

“Am I clear?” He demanded impatiently, when no response immediately came. Sans was still trying to come to terms with his new position and missing soul that the question remained unanswered. Aluino growled lowly and held up a small device. Turning a notch, a short high volt was transferred to his soul making Sans shrieked and writhe on the examination table.

“Did that get your attention now?” Aluino asked with a tsk of annoyance.

 Once the burning sensation passed, Sans gasped and nodded his head quickly, not wanting another dose of the device.

“Good, now how much pain were you in?” The spider asked, swapping out the device for a clipboard.

“Uh, I dunno… maybe 3?” The first jolt wasn’t nearly as painful as he made it out to be. It was more of the suddenness that had him reacting so animatedly.

 Writing down the response, the spider pulled out a small, lightweight hammer and knocked it down against Sans sternum. “How does that feel?”

“Uh… .00001?” Sans couldn’t help grinning. Was this spider serious? The smile was wiped from his face as the hammer was brought down more forcefully on his clavicle. The bone strained, even under the lightweight of the hammer.

“Now?”

“Since when are you a scientist?” Sans asked breathlessly. The spider glared and another jolt was administered to his soul. Sans jerked in the bindings but this time withheld his voice by grinding his teeth together.

“Do not make me keep repeating myself.”

“Heh, ouch… okay… I’d say a 4.” Seeing the spider losing his cool was worth the pain.

 Aluino continued trying the hammer on various different bones and Sans began answering on a dime, if only to speed up the process and get to the fucking point. Once all his tests were recorded, he set the hammer aside and looked over his notes. After viewing the human textbooks, he compared the two results with the information presented in the book finding that the skeletal body of a monster compared to a human’s skeleton was far more sensitive. Not surprising considering their body was composed of magic, but what was even more fascinating was that the monsters spine and pelvis were even more sensitive that a human’s. The lack of a body had to coop in those aspects to get the monsters aroused, so it’s not to say it was surprising, but it still quenched his thirst for knowledge. The rest of the body responded roughly the same as a human’s, but the results would be inconclusive without a real test subject to experiment on.

 Sighing, he put the notepad aside and picked up a small saw. Sans whole body went rigid as he stared at the sharp teeth of the object.

“I’ll dust if you use that… w-wouldn’t you want to wait until Boss got here and instead ran a few more tests?” Sans tried curbing the spiders interest in his favor, but the uninterested look turned his way made him fall silent. The spider could careless. They were more interested in finding his weaknesses to use as a reference against Boss… Setting the sharp, jagged edge of the blade against his sternum, he grazed it lightly over the bone, watching in mirth as Sans struggled to calm his shaking.

“Killing is all about intent…” Those were the only words of warning he had before the blade was dipping down into the slash already apparent on his sternum. Shit! Fuck! He forgot about the scar ever present on his chest. That had honestly been the last concern on his mind, but now that he was being sawed into along the lines of the scar, he was being painfully reminded that it was there, caused by the countless deaths and resets of the child. The warrior must have noticed it long before things really escalated and had wondered how such a deep harrowing wound could persist on a 1HP monster. The scar alone was evidence enough that he was more hardy than he appeared, but that was a scar caused over countless resets! Surely being sawed into would dust him, even without intent!

 Each grind of the blade drove deeper into his sternum and brought pinpricks of tears to his sockets. He kept his teeth locked painfully tight together, only letting out small grunts with each pass of the teeth along the sensitive bone. He could feel marrow and red DETERMINATION bubbling up to the surface before spilling over and dripping down past his ribs making the spider pause in wonder at the red substance. He eased the pressure of the blade, if only for a second to take a small sample of the liquid, staring at it in wonder.

“You bleed?” He asked curiously.

 Sans didn’t respond. He kept his eyes transfixed on the ceiling, staring resiliently ahead. He could get through this. He would endure it, if only for Boss. He had to hold out. He wanted to continue being by his baby brother’s side; Even if we was useless and always getting in the way… Pap was all that mattered to him… he was what kept him rising day in and a day out. But… a small afterthought rose to the forefront of his mind, did Papyrus really need him? His brother had risen to the top of the ladder, he was a beacon to lesser monsters starting out at the bottom, as he had once had and while he was greatly feared, he was also highly respected. Monsters talked at the bar or out in the woods when they thought they were alone, often speaking highly of Papyrus and how he was keeping order amidst all the chaos. Many still despised him, but he had a place in this world, with followers he wasn’t even aware he had. But Sans knew… he always knew. He kept tabs on all monsters, ensuring Papyrus’ rise to power was unhindered. If a monster proved to be in the way, he would find ways to get rid of them. NO ONE was hurting his baby bro if he could help it! But that was before. Now Papyrus was powerful enough to take care of himself. It pained him to think of Boss’ side remaining vacant without him, but his brother would pull through and he would only continue to rise to the top.

………………...Even that thought was stopped short… while the last reset had been a great distance off, it was undoubtedly going to occur again, and these nightmares were only going to continue. So what did it even matter? He chuckled humorlessly to himself at the thought. Here he was stressing about his brother being alone without him… only to be reminded it wasn’t even a possibility in the first place. Honestly, to be able to finally find rest would be the day he had to look forward to. The chuckles dissolved into mad cackles, shoulders shaking in mixed hysterics at a joke that wasn’t even funny.

 The warrior set the small vial containing the skeleton’s blood down and turned back to inspect his captive. Hearing the broken laughs had him twinging slightly in unease. Something about that laugh sent a shiver running down his spine. It sounded more broken and thick with craze than even he had endured with past experiments.

“What’s so funny?” The warrior asked with an upturn grin that was purely for show.

“Nothing. Just found it hilarious how after everything, I’m only just now coming to grips with the fact that I can’t actually escape this madness.”

“And what madness do you speak of?”

 The skeleton turned empty, voidless eyes to stare back at the warrior. The look had him tensing, readying an attack to an unseen threat before it passed as the black sockets were reignited with pupils.

 His stance remained strained, despite having felt the threat pass. For a chill biting second when he’d stared into those bottomless pits, he felt his sins crawling down his back. It spoke volumes more than words of his life choices, leaving behind the ringing of voices crying and begging for mercy… he clenched up his fists to fight the shaking.

“What are you?” Came the gruff uneasy question. He had to know. The short skeleton wasn’t normal… and it was driving him mad with curiosity.

“Just a lazy skeleton.” Sans’ responded idly.

 Aluino’s anger spiked in frustration at the illusive response and he snagged the saw harshly, slashing it more aggressively than he intended with raging bloodlust down Sans’ ribs. Sans screamed and thrashed in his bindings before he gurgled and spat up blood. The tangy rust taste filled his senses.

………………...He should have just given up…………………….

………………...It was so much easier………………………..

………………...but he couldn’t………………………..

……….A single thought persistently despite it all…………………………………………………..…………………... Papyrus………………….

 Chest rising and falling rapidly, he grinned shakily up at the spider, who returned the gaze with a shocked expression that quickly morphed into a wild expression.

“You are persisting…! You aren’t even a real monster, are you?” Bringing the blade closer to his face, Aluino’s forked tongue darted out, lapping up the red DETERMINATION coating the saw. “I want your power!”

“Sorry buddy…. You don’t want what I have…. It is a living hell.”

Chapter Text

 Aluino’s grin stretched across his face. “OOooh but I d-o–” Aluino’s works cut off abruptly and his eyes widened in surprise. Bringing up a pair of hands, he grabbed at his throat, trying to rub away the burning sensation that only seemed to grow stronger. “-G-hah…. AHHH!”

……….The burning sensation spread down his throat and steadily smoldered hotter, almost to the point that he felt like molten lava was filling his lungs and clogging his throat. He shrieked and dropped the saw in favor of running to the sink, scooping up handfuls of water in a desperate effort to wash away the burn.

-But it didn’t help.  The water just felt like acid!

“W-what… GAH-AH….” Aluino hacked and coughed as the burn spread, encasing his entire body in what felt like a fiery pit of hell. He thrashed around wildly, trying to put out the invisible flames but that did little to no good until his insides started to bubble and deflate, like melting plastic. “What did you do to me!?” The spiders features started to droop and his body sagged as they tried to walk back to Sans. Their magic flared to life, trying to fight back against the unknown force but it sparked out painfully. They stumbled the last few steps and crashed into the side of the examination table. Reaching over the side, they grabbed at Sans’ ribs, using them as leverage to pull themselves up.

His features were distorted beyond recognition now; he was quickly losing the morph of his body. Grabbing onto the bones tightly, he gave one last desperate shake and gurgled out a sentence that was nigh incomprehensible but it was to late. He sagged downwards until he was a puddle of puddy coating Sans chest, making the skeleton gag at the stench of burnt flesh.

 But the nightmare didn’t end there. Just like with all of Alphys’ DETERMINATION experiments, the body of the monster didn’t dust. Oh no. It persisted on and it began to slather and mold into Sans’ bones, seeking solidarity and structure.

 Sans screamed out in terror as he felt his body being invaded and a soul not his own filled his chest cavity, seeking out his own heart to tether to. It’s search was in vain  as his heart was still across the room from him, being restrained in a machine for “experimental” purposes.

 As long as it didn’t mold into his heart, they wouldn’t entirely become one, but at this rate, the monster formerly known as Aluino would become a fixed attachment to his body.

…………………

 Papyrus held his posture rigid, with his chin held high and his shoulders square. An intimidation tactic to keep monsters off his ass. He needed to find Sans and talk to him. He felt that he’d finally found a solution that might help bridge the gap prying the brothers apart. If he could just understand his brother on a deeper, more personal level, then they could make up and become a family again…

 Now came the hard part of actually talking openly about their feelings. Monsters in the underground were cold hearted bastards, and showing any form of weakness was easily preyed upon, even in families. But he knew he could trust his brother. Sans was the only monster in the entire underground that understood and loved him fully, without demanding anything in return or trying to take advantage of him. On the contrary, that had been what Papyrus had been doing. He’d used his brother as a stepping stone to obtain his goal as the royal guard captain. Now it was his turn to repay the favors he owed his brother.

 HIs conviction burned brightly in his heart, almost like an unseen force was adding tinder to the small flame until it was a burning passion in his heart. He felt invigorated! Like he could accomplish anything!

 Grinning to himself, he strode forward with a quicker stride. Any monster that caught a glimpse of him felt chills run down their spin. Seeing the royal guard captain grinning so openly was bad news bears and all the monsters cleared the path, slipping back into the shadows to avoid whatever sickening thoughts the captain might be brewing.

 Papyrus’ halted abruptly as he reached the outer premise of his house. Something wasn’t right.

 Traces of magic not belonging to either Undyne or Sans was emanating from the interior of his house and he damn well knew that Sans’ wouldn’t let anyone else in.

 His soul lurched in worry but he suppressed the desire to bolt inside. He had to scout the perimeter first. Check for any traps or ambushes.

 He gave a thorough search of the surrounding area but no footsteps could be seen approaching any sides of the house. So how had they gotten in… The roof? Summoning a staircase of bones, he climbed to  the roof and sure enough, footprints were imprinted in the fresh powder of snow along the backside of the house. The back window likewise was pried open with the curtains flapping quietly in the wind as it blew past.  How had they gotten on the roof? The trees? Papyrus scanned the outlining forest and followed the traces of magic. It appeared the monster had made quick the leap from the nearest tree onto the shingles.

 Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes to focus on any nearby souls of monsters that might be in the area but the nearest soul was a good quarter mile away. Odd.

 Dropping down from the roof, Papyrus approached the front door and cautiously unlocked it. Standing off to the side, he swung the door open and waited for a trap to spring.

Nothing.

 The seconds stretched on before he deemed the place was truly empty and he stepped inside. The room was in order as it always was, so whomever had invaded wasn't out for any possessions he might own, which left only one answer. The invader was after Sans.  But why? The conclusion he came to wasn’t a happy one but since when were they ever? It was the goddamn underground for pete's sake! They were likely after Sans as a roundabout way to get to him.

 The captor was a coward. They were to afraid to face him head on and instead decided to use his family against him.

 The only thing out of place was a glob of web plastered on the wall and at the center of the web was a note in fine print. Walking over to the web, he cut the note free using his bone weapon and read it over.

 (( You are not fit to be the captain of the royal guard. Your family is weak and that doesn’t reflect well on your status. If you want your brother back alive, I expect you to come alone to the Research Laboratory of Monster Physiology and Progressive Magical Experimentation in the capitol.))

 Papyrus crinkled up the note and ignited the paper into a burst of red flames before it smoldered out into a pile of ash. Gritting his teeth, he strode back out of the house, slamming the door closed behind him in a blind rage. How fucking dare they involve Sans and call him weak! Only he was allowed to call him that!

Chapter Text

Papyrus’ anger could be felt a mile away. Monsters with half a brain steered clear, while a couple tried to size him up.

They didn’t last long.

He was on a mission and not even the king could stop him! Not while his brother was in danger and being used as blackmail to draw him out. He was going to teach who ever took his brother a very valuable lesson about “stealing.”

His thoughts were cut short by the sound of trampling feet and loud shouts of profanities. He took a step back as a young bunny monster came barreling out of an alleyway, only to trip over her own feet in her haste to escape, causing her to come flopping down at Papyrus’ feet.
She had been fleeing a gang of rouge monsters who all wanted a good time.

The skeleton monster glared at her venomously, making her ears lay flat against the back of her head and her nose twitch in fear as she stared up into his dark, red eyes.

The monsters giving chance stumbled out of the alleyway, all spouting off sick profanities and demanding she come back and suck them off.

Papyrus shifted his attention from the girl and stared bone chilling eyes at the gang. They were to drunk and caught up in their lust that the curdling bloodlust in the air went unnoticed. They just strode forward, with one monster placing a hand on his battle body, giving a hic as he spoke up, “Thanks b-buuuuddy… y-you saaaved us the trouble of c-catching ‘er ourselves…”

Papyrus swiped their hand off his shoulder and slammed his foot into their gut, making the monster stumble backwards, clutching his stomach with a pained yowl. The other pair of monsters looked on confused before they lunged at Papyrus with a cry of anger.
“Wha the fuuuck do ‘o think yer doin?”

In one swift movement, he summoned a wave of bones that erupted below their feet and sent the monsters flying into the brick walls of surrounding buildings. They each gave a pained groan before a volley of arrows rained down on them, finishing the gang off.

The bunny monster trembled in recognition as her terror filled brain started to catch up with her. It was Papyrus! Captain of the royal guard!
“O-oh g-god… p-please don’t k-k-ki-”

“Where is the laboratory?” He cut her off before she could finish her sentence and she flinched, covering her head with her hands expecting a blow. But it never came.

“L-laborat-tory?” She chanced a glance upwards. He was angry but she could tell it wasn’t directed as her. He was unexpectedly patient for a monster revered with such fear.

“I am looking for the Research Laboratory of Monster Physiology and Progressive Magical Experimentation. I have someone I am in a hurry to meet.”

“Oh! The l-laboratory is just d-down the block a couple streets. O-once you reach the shop Black Soul you’ll take a r-right and it should be only a few doors down.”

“Show me.” Was all Papyrus had to say and then the bunny monster was on her feet at a moments notice, guiding the captain hastily to the desired building.

She was still scared but she got the feeling that everything would be alright. It was odd. But she felt safe around the strongest, most dangerous monster, second to the king. He wasn’t trying to take advantage of her. He was just seeking her guidance. He even saved her… whether it was an accident or not, she felt eager to repay the debt.

…………………..

While Sans was in custody and being experimented on, Nadar had been off doing his own thing, leaving Aluino to his experimental desires. He could care less about learning more on the skeleton race, save for when Aluino had been in a good mood and they got a little extra fun out of their catch. Once he’d been sated, he left the geek to his own devices. Now he was eagerly pacing the halls of the laboratory awaiting the arrival of the Royal Guard Captain. His only interest was to tear the piece of garbage limb from limb and put it on public display!

He was the strongest monster around, but he didn’t have quite as much prestige as the bone fucker. However, now was his chance to rise to glory! He could show the rest of the underground just how mighty he was!

Who knows, he might even work his way up to becoming crowned king! The crazy fuck currently sitting on the throne didn’t deserve the position. His rule had long since grown outdated what with the disappearance of the queen. She had been the true voice of reason and actually got shit done! But with her gone, the king wasted away the undergrounds progressive possibilities on “trying” to control the masses within the barriers walls, instead of using the souls he’d taken from the countless children he’d murdered to escape this hell hole! He just sipped tea all day and complained about the disparity of the monsters residing in his kingdom.

Snorting out loud, he swung his axe around, practicing maneuvers. He would make a much better king! He’d actually get shit done!

Nadar’s smug grin slipped into one of confusion as the air around him began to feel heavy and condensed with magic. It radiated with murderous intent and his brow broke out with sweat from the intimidating aura. Tensing, his fingers curled around the handle of his battle axe tightly, making his fingers turn white from the tension. There wasn’t a doubt in his mind that the bloodlust was coming from Papyrus.

Keeping his stance ready for an attack, he slowed backed his way down the hall to inquire Aluino as to what they should do.

It wasn’t a retreat! It was a tacktiful fallback to his ally to set their plan in motion. Everything was fine. They still had Sans’ in custody and if all else failed, they could just blackmail the fucker to cooperate.

Once he was around the corner, he -hastily- confidentiality strode down the hall to the lab room and pounded on the heavy metal door.

………….

At the sound of knocking on the door, Sans held his panicked breath. His body felt disgusting with the slim of the previous monster filling his bones as it molded with his frame.

The knocking was quickly followed by a voice that sounded slightly panicked. They were trying their damndest to mask it but it was still noticeable.

“Aluino! The royal guard captain is here!”

Papyrus!? Papyrus was here!? Sans struggled against the cuffs. He didn’t want Papyrus to find him like this!

…...

 When no answer came, Nadar threw open the door to find the room vacant of Aluino. The boar grumbled in annoyance at the lack of his partner in sight.

“Where the fuck is Aluino?” The boar focused his disdain on the cuffed up skeleton.

 His brain went into overdrive as he tried to process an answer. What do you mean where is he? You can’t seriously be that fucking blind!? He’s currently seeping all over my body and undoubtedly making a huge mess on the floor! He couldn’t very well say any of that. Nadar would murder him on the spot. But couldn’t he tell that Aluino was nothing more than a puddle? His clothes were literally hanging over the side of the lab table with a huge glob of goo stretching from the floor up to the top of the table.

The logical side of the brain quickly reminded him that any sane monster wouldn’t immediately come to the conclusion that another monster melted rather than dusted. Or much else melted from seemingly nothing!

“He…. went off to gather some more equipment for another experiment.” The lie was relatively easy to make. He had become good at lying to save his own skin, or lack thereof.

 Nadar didn’t even question it. The statement made perfect sense. “Damnit… why now?!” The boar grit his teeth as the magic pressure he felt earlier drew closer. Only now was Sans able to feel it and he shrank down against the metal surface he was strapped to.

 The boar considered looking for Aluino but he couldn’t leave the captive alone. He had to guard them until the spider came back otherwise their plan would fall apart. If worse come to worse, the safest place would in the laboratory room using the captain’s brother as a hostage. He could use them to overpower Papyrus or as a bargaining chip to secure his safety.

 Sans face scrunched up from the scent of fear radiating off the boar monster. They were really scared. It was laughable. They were the ones acting all cocky! And only now the stupid shit was understanding how dangerous Papyrus actually was. It was a little late to start regretting it.

 A need to spite the monster slipped out of his mouth before he could stop himself, feeling glee at knowing that his badass of a brother made monsters cower around him. “You’ve gone and done it now! Yer gonna get fucked over so bad yer gonna wish you’d stayed holed up in yer  little side of the underground!”

 In a swish of air, Sans barely had time to register the motion before the blade of the axe was pressed painfully at his neck. Sans’ sockets were black and his grin turned into a grimace. THe blade nudged the sensitive cervical vertebrae, speaking volumes more than words. He nearly got himself decapitated. Sans mentally slapped himself. ‘You’re not in the clear yet dumbass!’ He reminded himself.

 Wait. Why should he care if he was decapitated? It would all just reset anyways. And if he were dead, Papyrus could fight without having to hold back. Taking a deep breath, he steeled himself for what he was going to do. It was now or never. Taking in a lung full, he shouted his next words with seething hatred, wanting to ryle up the boar.

“Come on you stupid ass cock sucker! Kill me if yer gonna do it! Don’t just threaten me emptily! Make good on yer threat, otherwise yer just a fucking pussy!”

 The blend pressed down on the bones and they creaked against the strain. He tensed for the feeling of being decapitated and dusting…  only it never came. Sans frowned as the blade was steadily held against his neck but never made the actual cut.

“Shut the fuck up. If I kill you now, I’ll lose my leverage. Try all you want but I’m not going to do jack shit until your usefulness has run out.”

‘Well shit.’ So much for his plan.

Chapter Text

 Papyrus followed the scent of fear. It wasn’t as strong as most folk back in Snowdin but it was definitely from a monster who understood his power. They’d fucked with the wrong monster and he was going to drag their mangled body all across Snowdin as a reminder to any who fucking dare try a stunt like this again!

 Navigating the corridor of hallways was a breeze. The scent of fear was acting as a natural tour guide.

 Wow. How thoughtful of them.

 By the last corner he passed, he traced the scent down the hall and  through large metal doors. A sign hung on the door, stating an experiment was taking place inside and all personnel were to leave the doctor in peace.

Papyrus grit his teeth. They had better not be doing anything to Sans or by god, there would be hell to pay!

 Lifting his hand, he called up his boiling magic to the palm of his hand which  projected a blast of bones at the door. They collided with a loud clang and the door creaked from the pressure before with a ringing pop, it was dislodged from the hinges and clattered to the ground in a loud heap of disfigured metal.

Papyrus stepped through the door, and his icy glare immediately fell on Sans before turning into a blank stare.

“H-heya P-paps…” Sans greeted nervously.

……………………………

 Sans could feel his brothers presence as soon as he entered the building. The strap on his soul nullified his senses, making him undetectable to the outside world but the aura of anger and bloodlust was so strong, it was able to transfer through the equipment, directly into his weak heart.

 The power was intoxicating and he felt drawn to the terrifying power. It was almost like a sedative to him. While the aura was fear gripping to other monsters, to Sans it felt familiar and safe. Like he knew Papyrus could handle himself and could protect him at the same time.

 It was…. Relieving, almost… like all his previous fears were just silly.

 Why had he doubted Papyrus? He had thought he’d only be a hindrance to Papyrus but now that thought just felt ridiculous.

 He still felt like shit for getting taken, but Papyrus didn’t just give up on him! He came all the way here and yet here he’d been trying to end his life thinking it would be best for everyone.

 He was wrong. Papyrus was so strong because he had someone to protect. That was what made a ferocious monster so terrifying. It wasn’t solely their power, but their drive!

 At the thought, he felt rejuvenated. Papyrus was here. Everything would be fine. Hell! Even if he did die, he knew a reset would just pull him right back into his baby brothers arms.

 Sans snickered, drawing the boar’s attention.

“What’s so fucking funny?”

“Oh nothing. Just knowing yer gonna get yer ass kicked from here to the ruins and back.”

“Oh for the love of… just shut the hell up!”

“What’s the matter? Realizing yer mistake to late?”

 The blade nicked off a piece of his clavicle in response. “I said to shut it!”

“Oh by the way~” Sans had second thoughts on bringing this up now, but he could feel Papyrus was closer, nearly at their room. “Yer friend isn’t coming back~”

 That drew the boar’s attention and the blade crunched through the remaining clavicle, cleaving it in two. Sans inhaled sharply and grit his teeth together to hold back any gratifying response the boar might have wanted. “Explain.” Nadar demanded angrily.

 Sans just forced his trademark toothy grin.

“Damnit! TELL ME!” THe blade made for another swing but Nadar came to a halt as the door began to ring out with loud bangs as objects were forcefully hurled into the metal. Changing his focus to the door, he held his battle axe up defensively. He unconsciously took a nervous step back as the door broke free of its hinges and dropped to the floor in a heap of broken metal, making the room echo painfully with the sounds of the heavy door slamming down onto the stone flooring.

 Papyrus stepped through the door and the room became flooded with his presence. His magic made the room pressure feel crushing and Sans’ had to double take on the amount of force being projected from his brother’s soul. Now that he really got a strong dose of the magic, he realized Papyrus didn’t feel quite right…

The red piercing eyes scanned the room before finally landing on the small skeleton strapped to the lab table.

“H-heya P-paps…” He called to him lamely.

 Papyrus had notably long strides, but he’d never cleared a room so fast. Just before he reached Sans, the boar stepped in his path and glared back at the skeleton monster.

 Lowering his axe back to Sans’ neck, he tensed as the red eyes looked menacingly into his own. HE felt like they could drill holes through his skull if giving the incentive.

“I was only following orders… if you want your brother back, you have to agree to my terms…”

 Papyrus was not one to negotiate. Especially not with a monster who clearly had a hand in harming his brother!

Before Nadar could even process what was happening, he felt his feet become rooted in place by heavy gravity magic and a bone blade was being thrusted through his chest.

 The boar’s eyes widened in horror as the weapon drove through his innards like a knife through butter. He could already feel the flesh that made contact with the blade beginning to turn to dust.

 But he wasn’t about to give up so easily! Blue magic wasn’t like green where the body was entirely restrained in place. It only gave the illusion that you were bound. While he might not be able to pary as well under the pressure, he sure as hell could still move! And that was all he needed. His own magic flared back at Paps, forcing the taller skeleton to retreat as the boar grabbed at the handle of the bone weapon and tore it out of his chest. He felt his life force deplete greatly but atleast without the bone being stuck in his body, he wouldn’t continue to drop health.

 Orange magic coated the axe and he swung it with terrifying force and precision at the skeletons sternum. His bulky form made him a bit slow, allowing Papyrus to draw back to a safe distance.

 The pair glared at each other from a few paces away, taking a moment to analyze the fight and look for an opening.

 Papyrus was the first to retaliate. Bringing up a wave of bones, he cage Nadar in and fired outer bones into the cage walls to pierce through the monster restrained inside.

 Nadar was a fast thinker and he summoned giant glowing magic shields that blocked the attack. Only one bone managed to get through the defense, grazing his calf.

“Come on! Is that all you’ve got?”

 The royal guard captain snorted in disdain and charged head on. He was a much better fighter while on melee. Ranged attacks were only for precaution or restraint.

 The cage wall burst into a shower of sparkling red magic, which acted as a smokescreen of sorts to allow him in close. Nadar barely had time to react as he raised his axe up to block the strike.

 Papyrus pressed in close, breathing heavy breaths into the boar’s face as adrenaline coursed through his bones. “I will make you a public example to all the fools who think they can use my brother as leverage against me!”

“Then perhaps your brother shouldn’t be such a lame ass monster for starts?”

 With a growl of rage, he swung his bone blade outwards, using the force to knock the boar off balance before a second bone materialized in his free hand and was thrusted through the chest, right where the heart of a human would be.

 Nadar howled in pain and swung his head backwards before bringing it around to swipe his horns into Papyrus’ skull. The force of contact made Papyrus’ temporal bone shatter into shards of bone. Stumbling away backwards, he brought up a hand to stroke the side of his face, finding half of it missing.

“OH MY GOD! PAPYRUS!” Sans shrieked in fear. His brother was severely injured and he couldn’t do anything to stop it!

Chapter Text

 The ground rumbled and shook, and the equipment all around them rattled with the force of an earthquake.

 Nadar stumbled with the force of the quaking and dropped his weapon. Not because of the earthquake.

 But because of the bright red glowing aura surrounding Papyrus. The skeleton monster had snapped and was summoning all his magic at once in a burst of rage.

 Sans shouted in alarm as the room was suddenly tilting and the examination table he lay on slid down the slope and slammed against the wall before toppling onto its side as the room teetered back. His skull throbbed from where it had collided with a fallen filing cabinet.

 From his new position, he could see the entire layout of the lab and his eyes widened as he took in the state of the room. Bone constructs protruded out of every square inch of the flooring, walls and ceiling. Nadar looked like a pin cushion, with various sized bones punctured through his body.

 In the middle of it all was Papyrus, kneeling on one knee and shaking from the exertion of using so much magic at once.

 He’d used far to much magic at once!

“Papyrus!” Sans called out to his brother, worry dripping from his tone.

 Papyrus took a few shaky breaths before looking over towards Sans. “Sans… you!” He sounded angry. And he was. But he felt the anger was misdirected. He’d meant to use Nadar as an example but his stupid temper tantrum killed the fucker off instead. So much for that. And now he was mad at himself for losing his cool and at Sans’ for being the cause of their fucking situation! If his brother hadn’t lied in the first place then things could have progressed a whole lot differently!

 Sans clammed up at the tone. He was all to familiar with it. It meant Paps was mad at him and if he didn’t own up, he’d be in for a world of hurt. “Sorry…” His response came out meek and his glanced off to the side, breaking out into a nervous sweat.

 Papyrus paused at that and only felt more irritated but it was solely directed at himself. He was acting on his anger again and it was only going to set things back. He’d made so much progress with his brother. Their relationship couldn’t revert back now! He needed to fix this and fast.

“Don’t apologize! We both fucked up but neither of us is really to blame…”

 Sans looked up at that. It was strange hearing his brother being so open.

“Here, let’s get you down and then get the fuck out of here!” Papyrus summoned another bone weapon to cut the straps but his magic sparked painfully in his soul. He felt drained and not in a usual way. He feared he might have permanently damaged his soul but he could worry about that later. He intended to summon a sizeable bone saw but all he managed to conjure was a small bone blade about the size of a dagger.

 Cutting off each cuff on Sans’ wrists and ankles, he helped his brother to his feet, trying to ignore the fact that his older brother was bare boned. Now was not the time to inquire what happened.

 Sans stretched out his limbs, feeling grateful to have full control over them again. Now he just needed his soul and then they were homeward bound.

 Finding it was simple enough. He could feel the magnetizing effects of his heart needing to return to its body. It was freeing it that was no small task. It was hooked up with varying cords and sitting behind a reinforced glass container.

 Papyrus tried force first, to get the container open. When that didn’t work, he attempted to pry open the.

 Sans rolled his eyes and picked up the fallen computer chair before rolling it over to the stationary computer. Turning it on, he searched through the data files until he found the the main power grid. Inputting the necessary commands, the machine beeped in reply to the command line before the latch clicked free.

“Impressive.” Papyrus commented feeling respect for his brothers intuitiveness. This was the first time he’d really seen Sans use his big brains.

 Pulling up the lid, Sans careful withdrew his soul and worked on detaching each cord. As the last of the cords dropped loose, he let out a sigh of relief. He was finally free of the damned intrusions.

“Let’s head home!” Papyrus took one step towards the door before his knees buckled.

“Papyrus!? Are you okay?” Sans knelt down in front of his brother and looked him over worriedly, fretting like a mother.

 Papyrus chuckled and took Sans small hands in his own and thumbed over the top of his shaky hands. “I’m better. Now that I know you’re safe.”

 The statement had Sans’ blushing in embarrassment and he ducked his head down to hide the red glow. “G-good… I’ll port us home so that you can rest.”

 The world whizzed past them as they were instantaneously ported across the underground and back within the safety of their own home.

 The port left Papyrus woozy and lightheaded. Sans supported Papyrus back, keeping the taller skeleton upright. “Sorry, i don’t normally port with a tag along. Are you feeling okay?”

“Urk… I feel like everything is spinning…”

“Yea, I used to get dizzy too but I’ve grown accustomed to it.” Sans guided Papyrus over to the couch. “Here, sit down and I’ll go get you some water.” The captain gratefully plopped down onto the couch and laid back. He tried closing his eyes, but it only made the feeling worse so he settled for staring up at the blank ceiling. That at least grounded him a bit more.

 Sans returned quickly and held the cold glass out to his dazed brother. Papyrus just stared at it for a few solid moments until he reached for it. Only his first attempt was a swipe and miss. He tried for a second time but again, he missed the glass “Stop moving it around!”

“Pft, I’m not.” The stout skeleton chuckled and took hold of Papyrus hand before pressing the glass into it for him.

 In one large gulp, he downed the glass, immediately feeling the wooziness subsiding. With a sigh of relief, he was finally able to focus on Sans and take a good look at him. His eyes roamed across  his body, noting all the cracks and broken bones, as well as the strange muck that hung off his ribs and spine like thick, globby cobwebs.

“Sans. What exactly happened?”

 The smaller skeleton fidgeted nervously. He knew the question was coming but he hadn’t had time to prepare himself.

“Well…” He wrung his hands together before finding a spot on the couch beside his brother. Papyrus waited patiently but after what felt like an eternity, he pressed a reassuring hand on the small of Sans’ back and rubbed it slowly. The touch eased Sans of the tension and he quickly spewed out the details of his encounter with Aluino and Nadar before he could clam up again. However, he left out the details of being raped. He was not about to convey that encounter. May those memories rot and burn and someday be forgotten.

Chapter Text

 It was quiet. Cold. Everything felt empty and void. Like nothing could ever matter. Short breaths tried to intake air but only lungfuls of acid were ever inhaled. It burned… like the hotfire of hotland. Only worse. Much worse. He was swimming in the fiery pits with no escape. Only death could free him of the pain. But death was ever elusive. And he was alone. It was painfully lonely in this pitch black void of nothingness. And then he felt it. Fingers curling around his cervicle vertebrae, squeezing tightly. Painfully. The bone creaked against the strain, threatening to snap if any more force was applied, but it never increased. It was steady and solid. “How does it feel? My fingers wrapped around your neck...” A cold, childish voice spoke through the black spots in his vision. He couldn’t see or speak, he could only feel and hear. It was a nightmare. He knew he was dreaming. He’d had dreams like this often. It reminded him of the days he was trapped within his cell, ever alone, cold and scared. That was until Gaster took him in to be his assistant. Things had progressively gotten better from there. And then his brother came into the picture. That was when things started to rapidly get worse. But he couldn't let Gaster hurt his brother. He was the first real family he’d ever had and the world didn’t feel so lonely anymore. He would do anything to keep that void filled. Only that love was mocked and spat on… by the world, by the very monsters he trust and by the demented human that plagued his life on a daily basis.

“You are going to die. Again. And again.” Eerie laughter followed the words, echoing off into the void then bouncing back louder. “Beware the breath that lies still~ HaHAHAHAHA I am cooooming~” The child's face came into view. They had a hand cupped over one eye with the other pressed to their lips in a sign of silence.

 Sans jolted awake and sat upright on the bed feeling sweat soaking his bones and making his sheets stick to his waist uncomfortably. Looking around into the shadowy room, everything was where it should be. He was home. But that dream was a reminder. The human was in the underground. They’d be leaving the ruins soon… swiping a hand over his brow, he let out a deep breath before climbing out of bed to get changed. Stick to the code. As long as he played along, the human would lose interest quickly and then be gone. However, there was something about the human that concerned him… he remembered their first few runs because they were gruesome and sad. The human was so pure of heart and kind. They worked tirelessly to change the dark hearts of the monsters trapped underground but as time wore on, their spirit waned and in it, the same blackness started to take hold. Sans felt worried for the child and he tried getting close to restore their spirit in a bleak but hopeful chance at getting a better life for his baby bro, only that had set their course into a deep, dark, scarring, unbreakable path of carnage and death, with his brother being the cornerstone of their bloodbath. They clung to Sans like a leech that sucked the life out him, desperately trying to feed their hunger for attention. Once they learned he remembered, he was their succulent nectar to all the bitterness the underground offered them. And to Sans, they were his plague that ripped all joy out of him. Not that he had much, what with the underground being a blackhole of vengeance and distrust. And they left him feeling less and less hole with each passing reset. He was losing himself. Day by day, he became less aware of the world around him. He was neglectful, dirty, slothful and worse of all, dishonest. His life was basically a lie. But he did it all for Pap. As long as Pap was around, he could hold a small flicker of life in him. He refused to let that small flame go out. He wouldn’t leave Papyrsu to endure the hate filled world alone. Even if it destroyed him, he would find a way to get his brother the better life that he deserved.

 Holding that thought close to his heart, he got dressed and ported out of the house to the ruins door.

 Snow was still piled high along the seal. The child hadn’t crossed over yet. He still had time to enjoy this short lived moment with Papyrus remembering and trying to make their relationship closer. Porting back home, he set to work in the kitchen. He wasn’t a good cook, he burned most of his attempts at cooking but he could make eggs without harm. ...Mostly.

 He prepared a pan on the stove as his brother woke to the smells of food and came downstairs to investigate.

“Sans? You are… cooking?”

“Heya bro! Get out a plate, I made you some eggs.”

 His brother quirked a smile as he got out the requested plates. He set one aside for Sans as he held the other out. Knowing his brother had gotten up early to make him breakfast made his soul soar! He was finally seeing his brother for who he really was without the stooped shoulders or cynical and stoic attitude.

 The first bite was a bit salty, but after that, the taste started to blend in and he hummed in approval. “These are really good brother!”

“Really?! ..Eh, I mean, Of course they are! I had to take care of you when you were little after all!” The genuine smile flashed his way had Sans blushing embarrassed and looking away to feign interest with his own eggs.

“Uh, aren’t you cooking those eggs a little long? They are going to burn!”

“Huh?” He had been staring at the eggs but not registering that they were indeed starting to burn. Shading off his stupor, he quickly fumbled to grab his plate before dropping the eggs unceremoniously onto the flat surface with a slat.

 Taking his seat at the table, he ate quickly, hardly noting the taste as he finished his food in three large bites.

 Papyrus quirked a brow. “Are you in a hurry?”

“Oh uh, we got work bro. I am just trying to be more responsible.”

“Sans, responsible… responsible, Sans…. Sans… responsible….”

“....you okay there bro?”

“I just can’t put the two words together…” Papyrus grinned mischievously at him and Sans just scoffed, mock offended. “Well excuse me for trying to actually be the older brother for once~”

“Don’t try to hard or I’ll be out of a job!”

 Sans grinned and slunged Paps playfully in the arm. “I wouldn’t want your job, even if it was offered to me on a silver platter! Who wants to be authoritative all the time. Not me. No thanks. I like having my evenings to just kick back and get a drink or two at Grillbys.”

“Drinking isn’t healthy.” Paps seriousness returned and Sans could only roll his eyes. “Relax Paps, I am not going to be slipping back into old habits.” …(This run.)

 That appeased his brother's worry as he got up to take their plates to the sink. They were cleaned and put away before the pair were splitting off for their respective jobs.

Chapter Text

Sans kept his jacket zipped up and tight around his body as he walked to his station. He could still feel the grim on his bones from when the spider monster melted and fused with his body. He hated it but there was nothing he could do. He was an incomplete amalgamate. Now he just needed to wait for the human to reset and then he’d finally be freed of the intrusion.

Kicking up snow with his boots, he stared down intently at the ground as thoughts reeled in his head. Everything was going to go back to normal… he’d much rather stay as a disgusting amalgamate then lose this once in a lifetime chance to have his baby brother back. Papyrus wouldn’t truly be gone but their relationship wouldn’t be on good speaking terms anymore. They’d go back to servant and master. That would also mean that Nadar and Aluino would still be around, lying in wait for the next order to bring Papyrus down. Would that become another consistent loop or was this also just a freak accident? There were so many unanswered questions. The unknown terrified him. He’d grown sterile to the world around him for so long, that feeling all these conflicting emotions and experiencing all these new outcomes made his anxiety spike. Only, unlike before, he actually felt like it was a good thing. Maybe he’d finally be able to take a step forward. He’d need to talk to the human and try to appease them to leave this timeline alone ...that would require effort.

…..He would try. If there was even a one percent chance that talking to the human would make a difference, he would chance it!

Once he was clear of the town, he ported the last remained distance to his post and flopped down onto the wooden stool to wait. The human was likely to appear today. They didn’t normally take very long in the ruins. Judging by the length of time they’d been in the ruins, they weren’t on a genocide run at least. That was a good sign. They might be more open to be reasoned with.

…………………………

Papyrus sought out Undyne with good news to tell his one and only friend. They weren’t besties. Nothing as fucking gay or personal as that, but they liked to spar and joke. If that wasn’t a friend, then he didn’t know what was.

He found the fish monster at the training grounds. She was taking on all the royal guard soldiers at once and shouting at them angrily. “YOU CALL THAT A PUNCH YOU FUCKING PANSY?! CAN’T YOU AT LEAST DODGE SOMETHING SO BASIC!? ARGH! YOU ARE ALL TERRIBLE! I NEED A REAL CHALLENGE!”

Papyrus grinned amused and announced his presence with a loud clearing of his throat. “Ehem. I believe a real challenge has just arrived.”

The fish monster had one of the dog soldiers by the throat. She threw them to the ground as soon as she looked up and saw Papyrus, giving a shout of welcome. “HEY YOU BONE FUCKER! Where’ve you been all this time!”

“I had some unfinished business to take care of.”

“I take it everything’s been taken care of?”

“Indubitably.”

“ALL YOU FUCKERS ARE DISMISSED!” The soldiers all dispersed and Undyne walked over with a large ear splitting grin stretching across her face. “What was this business you needed to take care of?” She threw the first punch, which was easily spared by timely summoned bone weapons. Papyrus responded back calmly as he dodged another blow. “Some stupid shits took my brother so I took them apart as compensation.”

Undyne kicked off the ground, summoning a spear in each hand as she twirled her body midair to add momentum as she struck down on Papyrus’ defense.

The skeleton retaliated by flicking up the bone weapon to knock one spear away and twisted his body to swing for the back of Undyne’s head. “And how is the brother situation going?”

The fish monster quickly ducked forward and swung her body back around before slamming her boot against Papyrus’ chest, kicking off it, making the taller skeleton stumble back as she back flipped with the force. “He has opened up a lot more. He isn’t nearly as reserved. And how are the guards doing in their training?”

Undyne didn’t give Papyrus much time to get back his footing as she charged him head on, spear out stretched to pierce his chest. Papyrus quickly side stepped it, letting the spear sail past before his fist closed around the shaft and he twisted his body to throw Undyne over his head. “Fucking terrible! They’ll be dust by the end of the week if they don’t shape up and grow some fucking balls!” She flipped her body around to correct her landing before hitting the ground and somersaulting forward to quickly get back onto her feet. “They aren’t nearly as much fun sparing with as my old partner.” Her battle ready stance relaxed, informing the captain that their sparring was over.

“I need some water. I’ve been out here sparring all morning.”

“Have I missed anything in my absence?”

The second in command took the lead back to her house as they talked. “Nothing outside the usual. A few monsters thought they were hot shit but they were put in their place in record time! The underground is growing predictable and boring. I need someone who can provide a real challenge! That way when I deal the killing blow, it’ll be all that more satisfying!”

“I can’t share your passion but I can respect your dedication.”

“Pft, you are such a fucking stiff prick. It’s just the two of us, there is no need to talk so formally!”

Papyrus rolled his eyes. “This is my normal.”

“No shit. You need a good time! Maybe some hot banging? It’ll loosen up those tight screws you’ve got stuck up yer ass!”

“Fuck off.”

That only made Undyne laugh all the louder. As they reached her house, she threw open the door with more force than necessary and stomped inside with heavy clomps of her boots. “Want anything?” She called over her shoulder, head already buried inside her fridge as she found a beverage to drink.

“I’ll pass.” Taking a seat at her table, he let his rigid posture relax.

“Your loss.” Pulls out a beer and pops the cap, taking a big swig. “Fweh! That hits the spot!” Kicking out one of the wooden chairs around her table, she straddled the chair, cowboy style and leaned over the wooden back. “So what’s up with yer magic? It felt denser than usual.”

“I had Alphys inject me with determination.”

That got her attention and her slouched posture rightened. “Why the fuck would you ask her to do that?”

“I learned about my past.”

“And?”

“My father was the first royal scientist.”

“No shit?” She teetered the seat back and rocked forward, body full on expressive like the rest of her as she conveyed her surprise.

“Apparently my brother and I were to be determination experiments to test the effects of DT. I’d learned my brother was the first and only successful specimen to survive injections.”

“Then why hell would ya put that shit in yer body?”

“Apparently I’d had injections myself but I didn’t react positively so further experiments done on me were cut.” Not to mention his brother had stepped in to keep him safe… not that he’d share something so personal, even to his only friend.

She threw her hands up in the air, further emphasizing her question, with large questioning eyes.

“Sans has been very distant and I figured this was my best option to get close to him.”

“And how did you figure that?”

“I don’t know. I just got the feeling it was the best course of action.”

“Have you noticed any changes?”

“No. I feel fine. My magic is thicker and feels heavier but not in a lethal way.”

She fell quiet to that. Folding her arms over the top of the chair, she rested her head in the middle and stared off to the side, eyes narrowed in thought. “You should check in with Alphys later just to be sure. I can’t have ya dying on the job. This underground needs you as does your brother.”

He suspected she might say that and he agreed. He distrusted the yellow dinosaur, but she knew what she was doing. “I will.”

“Good.” Picking up the beer can, she finished it off in one last gulp before crushing it against her head and tossing it over her shoulder into the trash can. “Then come-on you bone head, let’s get back to work.”

Chapter Text

 Creeeaaaakkkk…. A heavy stone set door marked with the symbol of royalty grinded painfully open against its frozen stone frame. A small body pushed heavily into the chilled door, trying to force it open against a blasting wind that sent their teeth chattering as the chill touched their skin. They had been trying to wait out the coldest nights of Snowdin but their patience had run thin. While being holed up in the warm, cozy house with mom made them happy, it didn’t ultimately satisfy them. Being with mom might keep them safe, but it became redundant with the few activities they could do in the small confined space and no one understood them…
But there was one particular “friend” that they could relate to more than anyone… they both loved and despised that “friend.” They loved them so much, they went out of their way to get to know them on every level. They always took time out of their schedule to find them, and keep them company, even if their efforts weren’t always understood or appreciated. But this friend was still keeping secrets and they didn’t appreciate secrets. Friends shouldn’t conceal anything from their closest companions….

 And then there were their bitter feelings. They resented this friend more than anyone. They had a home they could call their own. A family that, despite what it might look like from the outside, was very close and unbreakable. And they were elusive. They eluded them, each. And. Every. Run. It irritated them so much, that they started spending more of their time with trying to crack them, than trying to find a way to get free.

 Despite it all, they soon realized, it was actually a fun game trying to get them to talk. It gave them something new to focus on.. After so many repeated efforts to get free, and failing time and time again, they’d lost hope and drive. They’d become dull, emotionless and lost all interest in their time warped prison. That was until they discovered the greatest secret! Their friend, a stout skeleton named Sans, remembered!

 They’d only found out by accident. The tired skeleton hadn’t been in the mood for their games and made a small slip up. They’d told them they were fed up with having to deal with them and to not get Papyrus involved again. Again. Such a small word. And yet it meant so much. Again? They hadn’t even reached Papyrus yet that encounter. And then the skeleton’s face dropped all emotion as their sockets went blank. That was when it clicked. The child lost all composure. They cried, shouted, laughed hysterically. It was all so damn funny! All this time, the skeleton knew. And yet kept quiet. They understood their struggles, their pain, their loneliness, but not once did they even share that they weren’t truly alone. They’d accepted it. Embraced it. Thrown all cares to the wind. And even sold their soul to the devil to find solace. Meanwhile, the one damn friend in the entire universe that was always so patient with them (in the beginning) had been feigning ignorance.

 It was from that moment on that they persisted after them. They had to get closer. They needed to know more. If they were hiding this big a secret, there was no telling what else they might know. Surely it wasn’t just coincidence that they were the only two in the entire underground who could remember resets. ….There might be others… but they had a gut feeling they were alone.

 And for this run, their gut was telling them something BIG was about to happen! Stepping out into the blistering winds, their hair was swept behind them, waving with vigor almost as if outwardly expressing their growing glee. They had big plans today! Sans better not disappoint them~

 Oh and speak of the devil. There they were now~
Asleep as per usual. They smirked as they approached the slumbering form but as they drew near, the skeleton sat upright to meet their gaze with a stern look. Their boldness was offsetting. They usually just played along at first before making any moves. Something was off. They halted a good distance away.

“Hello Sans.” They greeted in a fake, but seemingly convincing sweet voice.

 The glowing eye lights of their friend looked them over. Looking for dust no doubt. But Frisk had been a good child this run. They were honestly proud that they had been able to fight off the urges of the demon that resided in their head, tempting them to pick up the knife that they knew rested in the ruins.

 Just as quickly as they began their analysis, their eyes traveled back up to stare into their own. It was honestly unnerving how composed the other was. That was when they started to notice other small details such as the shadows under their eye sockets were fainter and their shoulders weren’t nearly as slumped. And their eyes didn’t constantly meet theirs only to veer away before making eye contact again for a few moments at a time. They were small differences and barely noticeable to a discerning eye, but they’d had many MANY dealings with Sans to know all their quirks, body movements, gestures and habits.

“We need to talk.” The gruff voice made them jump. They coughed embarrassed and rightened their posture, acting as if they hadn’t just been startled.

“The magnificent Sans needs to talk?” They asked slowly with a tap on the chin. “Whatever about?” They tilted their head innocently.

“I want to help you find a way out of the underground. No matter how hard. No matter what blocks our path, I’ll help you to Asgore’s castle.”

 The child’s innocent act dropped as they stared blankly at the other. Did they hear them correctly? Their arms fell down to their sides, going limp as the command center up top shut down and needed a reboot.

 The skeleton was quiet himself, giving the child time to process the statement. Sans, the slothful skeleton, was going to help them out of the underground? It was laughable and they would have laughed too, if not for the hard stare directed at them. They were serious. They had every intention to help them. But why? And what caused the sudden change?

 A much colder voice left the child's lips, with eyes blank and devoid of emotion to match. “Why would you want to help me?”

“There is a condition.”

 Their question was ignored but the follow up comment cut off their complaint. Of course there would be a condition. That was to be expected, so they remained quiet for the other to make their terms.

“No more resets.”

 The child’s cold eyes went wide with craze and their teeth stretched up into a wide grin. The skeleton never once mentioned their knowledge of resets after the first slip up. Both parties knew the other knew and yet they both decided to just play along. It was a game of who cracked first. And now Sans just openly admitted he knew with no strings attached. It was true. They did know after all. After so long of them not making any further comments on their knowledge of resets, of course one would question their sanity on what they had actually heard all those months ago. But this wasn’t just a reference. It was a direct statement saying the word with full understanding.

“And what if I say no?” They had no intention of being unreasonable. This was just another test to see how the other reacted. And to their dismay once again, the skeleton got off their stool and knelt down in front of them to bow their head in plea.

“Please. Do not reset.”

 Frisk shuffled on their feet uncomfortably. Their behavior wasn’t anything they could comprehend. They’d NEVER seen a monster grovel before another other than in fear. This was different. They were begging them in the most peculiar and unnatural way that they’d never seen any monster do before. It was to real. Too human. Too conscientious.

 Their tooth splitting grin fell. “...why are you doing this?” Their voice was small, much like a scared childs. All air of indifference gone and replaced with raw emotion. A feeling they hadn’t experienced in years it felt like. This was all too real. They were realizing they didn’t like this. It was easier to treat it like a game when everyone reacted the way you expected and consequences were forgettable when no one even remembered you committing any grievances. Now they were starting to come to terms with the realization, Sans knows. He knows everything. He knows all the sins they’d ever committed. Sans knows about their reset powers. He knows how they relied on their powers to get away with anything and everything. They were like a child, caught by a parent doing something bad.

 Frisk turned their back to Sans, trying to hide the bubbling tears as they filled their eyes. They were ashamed, confused and scared. Why now?

“Go away.” They choked out.

“I can’t-”

“I SAID GO AWAY!” They refused to turn around and see the knowing eyes of the other. It would only make this all the more real but they could also still feel the burning eyes boring into their back. They weren't leaving. . . “I will murder you if you don’t leave.” The threat was answered by the cracking of snow. That got their attention and they almost believed they were going to walk away then, but the crackling ceased.
| *Sans refuses to leave. They are resolved. |

 Frisk let out a huffed gasp as they tried to catch their breath in between sobs.

“I’m not leaving your side. As I said before, I’m going to safely escort you through the underground.”

“A-and what if I d-don’t want to leave?!” Their voice was all choked up, making it a bit difficult to understand.

“And why would you stay?” Sans countered. “Do you like being killed... or killing? Do you like watching other monsters dust each other?”

 Frisk wrapped their arms tightly around themselves, hugging their far to light jacket for the current weather. “...sometimes.” They whispered out quietly.

 Sans fingers curled into a fist, clenching tightly in a ball at the child's admittance. He still remembered the child’s sweet innocence when they first appeared in the underground. Had he helped them then, this never would have happened but he’d been to indifferent at the time and also nervous and untrusting of the human. He could care less what happened to them, until the first resets started happening. He hadn’t been to certain on the cause, other than the time anomaly reading being picked up by the machine in his hidden lab. Eventually he traced the anomaly to the child and thus started their game of cat and mouse.

“Look, kiddo. Isn’t it about time you give this “game” you're playing a rest. Surely you will find more acceptance and happiness on the surface with your kind? Down here, you will never truly find a place you’ll belong. All that’ll meet you is more death and despair.”

 Frisk chewed on their lip nervously. They’d since calmed down from their crying but small hiccups escaped every few seconds after their outburst. “...they wouldn’t accept me. I was an outcast up there… why do you think I threw myself into the pit?”

 They threw themselves? … Sans withheld showing his surprise. He honestly hadn’t given it much thought as to how the child got down here, other than just slipping. “I’m s-”

“Stop! I don’t want your pity.” The human cut them off and finally turned to face them. Their eyes were red and puffy and their cheeks had tear trails staining their cheeks. “I want to know why the change of heart. And if you refuse to tell me then I will also refuse your offer.” Turning down their help would be the biggest mistake of their life but they had a suspicion Sans wasn’t going to back down. They came to them with resolve so they had some leverage over them. It had to be important to cave like this.

 There was a long pause and they also dreaded they’d been wrong about them openly sharing their reasons before the skeleton let out a long exhale and spoke, “It’s for my brother.” Another pause. The child wasn’t going to interrupt and Sans knew they were waiting for a further explanation. “He’d finally opened up to me.”

 The child’s face softened ever so slightly before going blank again. He wasn’t so sure he saw it but it gave him hope to continue. “All this time, we’d done nothing but fight and call each other names. But recently we’d gotten close and now more than ever, I’d like things to stay as they are in the underground.”

“And what caused Papyrus to open up?” Surely there was more than that. What had been happening under their nose that they didn’t know about?

“Well uh…” Sans scratched the side of his arm, remembering how he’d been captured and raped, only to end up as part amalgamate. With the good comes the bad... “I’d had a run in with some not so good monsters. Papyrus ended up saving me, which just let us open up more to each other.”

“Not so good monsters? Isn’t that every other monster?”

Sans cracked a grin at that poor in taste joke. “Yea well, worse than the average monsters.”

“What was worse about them?” That had Frisk’s interest. There were worse monsters in the underground they had yet to meet?

 Sans coughed awkwardly. “Just torture and stuff…”

 The child’s analyzing eyes looked them over with that same look of prodding. They knew there was more that Sans was keeping from them and they wanted all the details.

“So is it a deal then?”

“I want to know what else they did. You’re keeping things from me.”

 Sans could already for an embarrassed flush tinting his cheeks from how his face was warming. “It’s not important. They just tortured me, end of story.”

“You can’t seriously think I’m that stupid? I know you’re hiding details from me.”

“When yer older!”

“What does me being older have to do with it?!”

 Shit shit shit! They were being persistent! Think Sans! How do you satisfy their curiosity…? Like a light bulb was hovering over their head, a light came on. “They’d tried experimenting with my body, trying to break it apart to find a skeletons weakness but they wound up taking in my Determination… their body melted and fused with mine.”

 He could see the thoughts turning in the child's head as they took in the new information and with a sigh of relief, they shifted gears to the new knowledge.

“Does that mean you’re an amalgamate? And I thought determination was only what humans had…” Their eyes narrowed as new suspicions rose.

“Yea, somewhat and yea, only humans have Determination, naturally. I was once a DT experiment, but unlike the others before that Alphys tested, I was the original experiment by the first royal scientist.”

 The human had to with frame from squealing in glee. They’d spent years searching for this information but every turn they made, it remained elusive. To think all along, Sans had all the answers.

“What was the first royal scientist?” They wanted to test their theory… they’d found hints of dialogue and text that suggested it was another skeleton with a font name but they’d never been able to get any closer to piecing any more than that together.

“Wingdings Gaster. My father.”

 Frisk couldn’t contain their excitement as their theory was proven correct. “I knew it!”

 Sans was taken aback at the outburst. They knew? How?

“Well not that they were your father, but I knew they were another skeleton with the name Wingdings.”

“How?” He thought all that information was lost.

“Sans, how long do you think I’ve been doing this? I’ve been piecing things together for years! There are clues ‘all’ around, you just need to know where to look~”

 He had to give them that. They had the power to reset as many times as they wanted, giving them all the time in the world to look for any hint, no matter how small.

“And what happened to your father?”

“There’s not much else to know. He made the core, he threw himself into it and I fled with Papyrus to Snowdin, where we’ve lived ever since.”

 That was a bit of a let down. They’d hoped for more, but at least they’d learned something big!

“Alright. Deal.”

“Uh, what?”

“Deal! I’m accepting your offer.” Frisk held out their small hand in invitation for a hand shake. Sans looked at it like it was a second head before he realized what this meant. Under normal circumstances, he’d hate to make physical contact, but his haphephobia was a small concern in face of his eagerness to make the underground normal again. Taking hold of their hand, he gave it a firm shake before releasing the grip and returning his hand to the pocket of his hoodie.

“Now let’s get the fuck out of here.”

Chapter Text

 Frisk walked with confidence, shoulders back, chin up and eyes forward. They felt like they were on top of the world. They’d managed to get Sans to talk, they’d agreed to escort them through the underground and now they had an opportunity to leave this hell hole. ...Although they weren’t entirely sure they were ready… ‘but what if the opportunity never arises again…? What if I get stuck here forever if I let this one chance fall through?’ Their eyes narrowed in thought at the exciting but also terrifying prospect. They were walking unfamiliar ground, with knowledge that had seemed far out of reach only a day before. They never really planned what they’d do if they made it this far. 

 Meanwhile, Sans trudged along at a slower pace. ‘Is the kiddo really cooperating or was this another scheme of theirs? Can I even trust them to move on and never reset again?’ This all seemed too easy to him. There had to be a catch. But for now, he’d play along and make sure Paps stayed far out of it. The last thing he wanted was for his bro to ruin his chance of preventing any more resets. Papyrus HAD to remember! He wouldn’t be able to stand seeing his baby bro revert back into his old, cold self. 

“Hey Sans?” The child had noticed their traipse and slowed to walk at their pace. 

“Hm? What is it kiddo?” He preferred to talk as little to the child as possible but he knew how determined they were and if he opted to ignore them, it would only make them more persistent.

“I’m not going back on my word.” Sans paused in surprise. Was he being that obvious? But there was something in their tone that had his doubts freezing. They sounded so full of conviction. 

“Yea?” 

“I pinky promise.” Frisk stepped in front of Sans and held out their hand with their pinky pointing out for him to gasp.

 He just stared dumbfounded at the gesture. “What are ya doin?”

“It’s a little something we humans do to pledge that we will not break our promise. You just link your pinky with mine and we shake.”

“Pft, that’s fuckin stupid…” Sans side stepped her and walked around. “I’ll take yer word for it, but the second you step out of line and I’ll- ...nevermind.” He dropped the threat entirely. That wasn’t how he wanted their interactions, full of hostility and suspicions. He wanted them to trust him as must as he yearned to be able to trust them.

 The human fell quiet to that and the remainder of their walk up to Snowdin was full of tense quiet. Sans picked at a loose thread in his hoodie pocket nervously, not liking the tense air between them. He felt he should say something to distract them from his earlier hostility but he wasn’t sure what. 

 As they neared the sign that once welcomed monsters in, but had since been vandalized, he reached out nervously and quickly snagged the back of Frisk’s light jacket, tugging them back slightly. They grunted with an oof with the tug.

“I think it’ll be faster if we take a shortcut…” He didn’t want to chance running into Papyrus.

“A shortcut?” This was the first time they’d heard anything about a shortcut. As far as they knew, Snowdin was walled in by closely planted trees from the tight spacing of the rock walls.

 Nodding, he veered off the path, heading up the hill, further into the trees. Frisk scrambled after, struggling a bit with the thick layers of snow from an unused path. Their jacket snagged a branch or two on the climb up and they had to tug it free, pouting slightly as they heard the material rip. Ahhh damn… and now they couldn’t reload to fix it… they meant every word when they said they weren’t going to use their powers. With their attention drawn down to the rip, they weren’t expecting the path to suddenly turn solid, causing them to stumble forward into a metal railing. As their small hands clasped the metal to catch their fall, they yelped and quickly released the steaming bar. ‘What the hell..’ The blistering chill, thick piles of snow and forested trees were gone, replaced by smoldering heat, burning magma and metal walkways. The heat felt nice on their icy skin but their hands were another story. Thankfully they’d only touched the metal for a few seconds so the blisters lining their palms were small in comparison to what they would have been had they not just come from a winter wonderland. 

“Hotland?” They voiced their confusion out loud. They’d nearly jumped a good half hour of walking. What? How?! Was that shortcut always there? ...and damn, they’d been too busy looking down to even remember where the shortcut was to begin with!

“We’ll be passing through Alphys’ lab on foot. After that, I’ll take us through another shortcut.” 

 There were more? How many secrets had they not found? Well this time they would be ready! They were going to learn where this shortcut was, just in case… and to satisfy their own curiosity. 

……….

 Sans really didn’t want to be here. He wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with Alphys, especially not after he put a hole through her tail. But he wasn’t exactly the most fit monster both physically and magically, so teleporting drained him a lot of his stamina. Passing through Alphys’ lab was the safest way for him to recharge before their next big jump through the underground.

 Only problem was the large, steel framed door blocking their entry. Alphys was likely inside, working on another one of her projects or watching another one of her disgusting hentai shows. Uuu-ahh He shuddered at the thought. He’d been neglectful once and ported in on her during one of a shows heated scenes… He’d regretted it ever since. The freak had sputtered like mad upon being caught and nearly mauled him to death but he managed to wear her down just enough to get some reason back within her animalistic animosity. He’d calmed her down but on the flip side, he was coerced into watching one of her movies with her, on the safe side should he ever get the urge to talk. It was either that, or lose an arm. Losing arm seemed less damaging in the long run, but that would only start up a fued with Paps only friend in the entire underground, the fishy bitch who was mated to Alphys, though they refused to admit it to anyone. It could be for Alphys sake, to keep her safe or because Undyne was afraid it would ruin her image. Both sounded believable. Either way, he couldn’t do that to his baby bro, so he suffered through it. Since then, he’d avoided her lab like the plague, unless it was absolutely necessary.

 Frisk paced behind them, looking forward with renewed awe to their surroundings. It was still the same old underground but their attitude towards it had changed. It wasn’t anything remarkable, but now they were noticing how little they actually cared for the world around them. It was a kill or die world, so sightseeing was at the bottom of their to-do list. But being with Sans, like this, they felt safe. It was an odd feeling… it was like being back home with mom… cozy within the honey creme walls with a strong scent of cinnamon spice… only Sans smelled more like charcoal, mustard and old rotted wood. 

Oof. Sans had backed up into them, knocking them over onto their ass. They’d been to lost in thought to notice them backing up and they looked up with an annoyed frown. “What’s the deal-” Sans wasn’t looking at them, but instead had his arm outstretched and a bright red glow flashed over their head. Leaning back, their eyes traveled upwards before the color drained from their face at the rare sight of the demonic skulls hovering just over their heads. Their jaws were agape and charging a blast aimed at the door. Seeing the demonic skulls reminded them of their worse runs… they almost never saw these weapons unless Sans was really serious and it never ended well for them. Just seeing them trained on something other than themselves didn’t quench their nerves as their limbs started to shake and spasm. The red ball of magic within the maw of the beasts echoed loudly as they gathered energy before there was a rippling roar as the blast was fired off. Frisk shrieked and ducked their head down, throwing their arms over their head. The door gave a loud rattle and creak before the heavy steel door tumbled backwards with a crash against tiled flooring. 

“WHAT IN HIGH ASGORE-” A shout reverberated from inside but Sans ignored it in favor of crouching down in front of Frisk. They flinched back at the movement and Sans paused, looking uncertain as to what to do. 

“You uh- okay there kiddo?” He asked slowly. With a wave of his hand, the skulls dissipated and he gave a sheepish laugh. “They’re uh- gone now… y-you don’t have to be afraid anymore… hehe, sorry for scarin ya like tha’.”

 Frisk stayed tightly wound up in their ball and the skeleton let out a long sigh. Getting back to his feet, he slid his jacket off from around his shoulders and draped it over Frisk’s shoulders. Frisk flinched again before realizing what it was. Sans jacket? Bringing a hand up, they gripped the front of the hoodie and tightened it around their shoulders. “Thanks.” Came their quiet voice. He shuffled his feet nervously, suddenly feeling really bare without his “safety blanket” of sorts. That jacket meant a lot to him, so being without it was a first since they’d first received it all those years ago. His soul felt conflicted on his own actions, but strangely, he didn’t regret it. If it helped calm the kid, then he could go a day not wearing it. Even if they had a long history… 

It was only now that Frisk realized the source of the stench from earlier was coming from the jacket, not Sans. Well it made sense, they didn’t exactly have bodies that could permeate sweat, or other bodily fluids that produced scent. Did they ever even wash the thing? 

 By this time, Alphys appeared around the corner, peering out with fire burning in their eyes. “SANS! WHAT IS THE M-MEANING OF THIS!” They demanded with a feral growl.

“Sup.” Was his only retort and he strode past her, through the door. 

“Don’t you “SUP” me! Why did you blow my door down?” 

“It’ll give you something to do.” He retorted with a haphazard grin. Frisk got to their feet slowly, watching the exchange and snorted a small laugh. Sans’ grin grew to their enjoyment but their added voice drew the dinosaurs attention to them. Alphys stared. Frisk stared back. And Sans bristled.

“Frisk, get back.” Sans warned. Frisk looked at him confused before they ran a quick check on Alphys.

| Ready to kill. They’d found the last soul needed for their collection. |

 They barely had time to register the warning before a battle axe came barreling at them. Frisk narrowly dodged the blade as they rolled to the side. They got a quick glimpse at the earth next to them, realizing the force of the blow blew a sizeable crater into the ground and their fear drained through them. *Weak.* A voice, much like their own, rang through their head but it felt foreign, and suddenly their body was being animated much like a doll. Their body lunged to its feet and drew a blade from behind their back, lashing it forward toward the royal scientists’ chest. Alphys yelped and drew her battleaxe up, deflecting the blade and swiveled it around, knocking Frisk away. The child twisted their body into a roll, using the momentum to carry them back onto their feet and then turned to glare deathly daggers at the dinosaur. 

 Sans’ fingers nervously fidgeted on what he should do. Attacking Alphys would bring down Undyne's wrath upon him, ultimately getting Papyrus involved but stopping Frisk could cause another unwanted reset, losing all chances he had with Papyrus and their new future that he’d worked so hard to obtain. It was more practical to attack Alphys but then wouldn’t he just hurt Papyrus in another way? He could lose his only friend… At least with a reset, Papyrus wouldn’t have to suffer, it would only be Sans. Grinding his teeth together in frustration, his eyes narrowed in anger. No. He was tired of thinking of others. It was time he was selfish for once. He’d think of something to prevent Undyne and Papyrus from having a fall out, but the here and now, he needed to act. Just as Frisk and Alphys charged each other down, Sans brought up a bone wall between them before the center of the bone structure broke apart, with streams of bones barreling into both parties, knocking them away. He kept up the onslaught until both were forced to their knees. Using that time to act, he pierced bones down through their clothes, pinning them to the earth and strode forward with a low growl. “Enough.” It pained him to pierce his own jacket, but if it kept them restrained, then it was worth a few patches. 

 Alphys tugged hard against the bones, giving an ungodly shriek of anger.. “You son of a-! You put holes through my lab coat! Oh I am going to kill you! Do you hear me Sans? I’ll bludgeon out your skull and break off each rib from your spine until you're nothing more than a spiny toothpick!” 

 Frisk wasn’t fairing too well themselves. They looked crazed with madness and were swinging the knife around in the air with wild laughter. It was like they’d reverted back into the same bloodthirsty killer who haunted Sans’ dreams. Which was the real Frisk? Or was that even Frisk at all? Seeing the change first hand… it was more like they were possessed. The sight was unsettling and he struggled with how he should react. 

 “Frisk… kiddo? Calm down. Alphys is restrained, they aren’t going to hurt you now.”

“HAH-HAHAHAHA Hurt ME ?! They can try!” 

 Their eyes meet and like the feeling you get when you are free falling, he felt his non-existance stomach drop. Their eyes carried a haunting look of promised death and betrayal. But above all, it suddenly clicked with him, this wasn’t the same Frisk who had walked and talked with him all this way. And now that he was seeing the two sides of Frisk, his gift of soul reading reflected back what he feared. This body hosted two souls. One tainted black with grief and the desire for revenge. While the other was a warm red, but was getting polluted and turning a deep crimson-black. The foreign soul was drowning Frisk in their anguise. It offset him on how to respond or react. But it wasn’t just the child who was cackling like mad. Alphys was faring no better as she screamed out profanities and slued out insults and threats. Sans was caught in the middle as to what he should do to settle both parties. Neither were in any state to listen. So without giving it another thought, he summoned a bone bat and gave them both a thack to the back of the head. 

Chapter Text

 He was being quite bold, which felt out of character even for Sans. He wasn’t entirely sure what had gotten into him, but he liked it. He felt in control for once! And in no time at all, he’ll be rid of the human once and for all, and then he’d have Paps all to himself without fear of another reset to ruin it all!

 The human was knocked out cold, currently being dragged behind by a blanket Sans had snatched out from under Alphys’ unconscious lump of a body. He was quick to clear out of the lab, not wanting to chance how long the dinosaur would stay under. He gave them a good strike to the head, so they shouldn’t be coming around any time soon, but the blow was sure to be one they’d probably remember for the rest of their life. After he had disposed of the package, he would be sure to never enter hotland again. 

 The human wasn’t just lying freely sprawled out on the blanket. He’d tied them up good, taking great care to restrain their arms. Maybe Frisk can be trusted, but not the second soul residing within them. They had seen the darkness staining their soul black. It was like he was seeing Asgore’s soul, only it was far more powerful and devastating. When the time came for Frisk to leave, would the foreign soul go with them? Or would they only seek out a new host to use for their gain. Sans halted as the idea crossed him. Was Frisk not the true cause of the resets? What if all along, the enemy he had been fighting was a force outside nature itself. If it was the lost soul that sought to eradicate them all, how does one fight what it cannot see? If the soul can just freely switch bodies as it pleases, then will this nightmare never end? 

 Like a crashing tsunami, his thoughts swirled down into a bottomless pit of despair. Was he merely struggling towards a pointless full circle. After everything, would the cycle just find itself a new means to an end? Was he destined to eternally loop this cycle of near freedom, only to have it ripped away at the last second? Like a man starved. He was offered the sweetness of nectar but just before the tongue can taste the drop, it is snatched away, leaving the man with a bitter aftertaste of what could have been but was lost. Would he lose this peace he’d found with his brother and be reset to ground zero? Sans shrieked as he felt a hairline fracture rip across his soul and he dropped forward onto his knees. Curling in on himself, he rested his skull against the grimmy dirt while his arms clutched across his chest, criss crossing over the source of pain, trying to shield himself in. Shit. He nearly dusted himself in his loathing despair. The mind is a very powerful place. And for a monster, it can affect them in some drastic ways. A monster who has lost hope will crumble away into nothingness. All it would take was simply giving up. Sans was many things, but a quitter… he was only partially one of them. Picking himself back up off the ground, he stroked across his chest, soothing away the pain from the new fracture while he gathered up the end of the blanket. 

 Thinking takes too much time and energy. He’ll leave that decision making to the Sans of the future. For now, he had a mission to complete. 

…………………………..

 Patrolling the underground was eventful as ever. Monsters just couldn’t pass up having a good time brawling and leveling up! Disputes and fights were broken up as quickly as possible, but Papyrus’ head just wasn’t in it. He was to busy being sidetracked with what else Sans might be concealing from him. Now that he had determination, he could help Sans shoulder some of his burden, even if only by a little. But more importantly, he needed to know everything Sans knew if he was to ever fully be a true crutch Sans could rely on. 

 “Hello, earth to Papyrus?” Papyrus’ eyelights returned to their full glow as his attention focused on the present. Undyne grinned in recognition to his attentiveness and voiced her previous remark. “If you are that bothered by your brother, than get going you stupid shit! I can handle patrol here for the day with no trouble! Just don’t go making this a habit, you got it, you numbskull!”

 Was he being that obvious? Clearing his throat, he spoke with authority, reminding the fish just who was in charge. “I don’t take orders, Undyne!” His warning was well heard but the woman showed no signs of being intimidated. 

“Oh please! I know you better than you think I do!”

 Sighing, he let the matter drop. She wasn’t taking him seriously and he honestly couldn’t muster the energy to be serious anyways. Just before handing the rest of the cleanup to Undyne’s care, he inspected the restraining of the criminals before deeming the situation free of need to intervene further. 

“Be sure to give a full report to me by the end of the day.”

Undyne rolled her eyes at his diligence to his role as captain. Even with how distracted and worried he is for his brother, he always puts the welfare of the underground first.  “Just get going already!” 

 Papyrus narrowed his eyes. He didn’t like his job being done for him. But very well. He would make quick work of checking in on Sans before returning to duty. He just needed to put his mind at ease so that he could focus. Setting his priorities straight, he made to leave the clearing.

 He hadn’t even made it halfway across the way before a glowing spear suddenly came crashing down in front of him, blocking his path and throwing up snow. Papyrus reared back in surprise before whirling on Undyne, silently demanding answers as his magic gathered in the palm of his hands, but his anger simmered down to displeased confusion when she wasn’t even looking at him but her phone, with worry lines creasing her face.

“Papyrus.” She began. Her tone had him straightening with assertiveness. “Sans is traveling through the underground with a human.”

 Her comment had the wind knocked right out of him and he teetered on his heels as he processed the claim. Sans, with a human? They are traveling the underground together? What, why?!

“Alphys just alerted me through text. She’s sending their coordinates now.”

 His posture went rigid as she relayed the information and he paced over in long strides to inspect the text. “And she is certain of this?”

 Undyne bristled subconsciously to her captain’s doubts of her mate. ‘Alphys wouldn’t lie about this!’ “Do not doubt the royal scientist! She has cameras strung up about every quadrant of the underground!”

 That would bring need for concern if not for a more pressing matter, so he pushed that new intel aside for now and focused on the coordinates that pinged shortly after the first text.

“You, mutts, make quick work of sending these filth to the bastille and then await further orders! Undyne, you come with me! We are going to confront my brother and this human companion of his!”

 Was he not going to take any more of the guard with him? Undyne felt a sourness fill her mouth. Papyrus must be prioritizing the safety of his brother over the seriousness of the situation at hand. The remaining soul of a human was present in the underground and yet they weren’t being turned in but rather escorted by Sans of all monsters? Papyrus most likely wants to protect Sans from harm in his own way. She suspected things might go south if his brother failed to cooperate and drastic measures needed to be taken. What would Papyrus choose? His brother and risk his reputation and title, or would he side with the law and order of the royal guard and have his brother restrained? It remains to be seen, but friend or not, she would turn on Papyrus in a dime if he shared even an ounce of betrayal. 

……………………………

Frisk came too with a nasty headache and a burning need for water to quench their dry throat. But that wasn’t the worst of it, their back ached like there was no tomorrow! What on earth? Shuffling around within the confinement of the blanket, they were quick to realize their arms were restrained. 

“Sans?” They croaked out. The skeleton in question paused in their dragging and turned back to regard them. 

“Heya kiddo? Feelin’ like, uh, urself agai’?” Frisk raised a brow questioningly. The response was answer enough and he dropped the other end of the blanket he’d been using to drag and squat down at their side to be eye level with them. 

“Are you aware that yer housin’ two souls within yer body?” No reason to be careful with popping the question. This was a serious matter and he needed answers.

“What?” They asked dumbfoundedly. Sans groaned and scratched the back of his head, not liking their lack of awareness. So they had no idea what was going on themselves. Either that or they were still trying to wake up from the clubbing he’d given them. He’d given them a second more to process the question and answer fully.

“Two souls?” They repeated back the question, and he could see the gears turning. He hoped for a better response than just a, ‘what'. “I- I had no idea…” Sans deflated with disappointment. So they really had no clue. “But I- I guess I kind of suspected something was wrong..” Frisk’ looked downcast at their lap, avoiding the others eyes with their admittance. “Ever since the first reset, I’d felt like a shadow was looming over me.” Without looking up, they could feel the piercing stare of the other. It wasn’t judgemental, but it still put them on edge. “This uh- girl, approached me in like a dream or something. She said she could provide me with a great power. A power to reset! A power that allowed me to go back in time to the way it was before I’d ever even entered the underground.” 

 Shit. So the power to reset wasn’t their own after all. 

“The offer was tempting, but it came at a cost. The girl said I would have to sell them my soul to use their power. I hesitated at first, of course, but I had hurt some peop-er monsters that I really didn’t mean to and I wanted a second chance to make it right. So I accepted. At first, everything seemed alright. But when I reached the end of the underground a second time, I’d hurt Papyrus and that had upset you… so they made the offer again. And… I accepted…”

 Sans rose to his feet quickly, feeling frustration at the news. So that’s where the second soul came from. Why? Why would they agree to something like that? Frisk bit their lip with guilt as they felt the other move away. They still couldn’t bare to look at them. 

“It was by the third reset….” Frisk took a deep breath, steeling themselves for the last remark they felt needed to be said, “I lost nearly full possession of my body and ever since, I’ve felt like a doll moving throughout the underground with these thoughts and sometimes quick glimpses of memories that made me feel so lost and angry all the time. I just never realized it was because i was being possessed or something! These emotions felt so real, like they were my own!” Ducking down their head into the blanket, they walled themselves in and silently wept in horror. “It wasn’t until you confronted me early that I’ve really felt so free of suppression. Like these are my own words and thoughts.” Peeking out through the blanket, they quickly checked on Sans, hoping this revelation didn’t break their pact. The skeleton’s back was to them, so they couldn’t read their expression. Well not like they really could anyways, seeing as how they lacked defining facial features and their teeth were always pulled into a grin, but it was their eyes that they could read. But for the first time in a long time, they wanted to go home. The craving was so deep for freedom, that it felt like they could physically feel the shackle now holding them down. It was like awareness had now grown within them the reality of their situation. They were slaves. A doll controlled by the whim of another so filled with hatred that it had clouded their mind for far too long! Now they just wanted to be themselves again. To taste what it felt like to live above ground and be amidst their people.

 Frisk hadn’t even realized Sans was still unresponsive, being lost in their own thoughts, but when the skeleton turned to regard them again,  they felt their spirits raise a fraction. It was such a simple thing but to see that their eyelights were still present and not cast away to be nothing but empty voids, it let them know, Sans was still with them. They had seen that blank stare far too often, a look that spoke death and distrust. But for now, he was believing their words and daring to continue forward with them.

“Lets go.” With one quick motion, a bone weapon cut the blanket free from restraining them and Frisk shoulder out of the tattered shreds. It felt nice to stand again, feeling their bones pop free and relax from their strained position. 

 Wiping their eyes free of tears, they smiled happily at the other. They didn’t return the same sentiment, but it didn’t dampen their mood any. Things were looking bright!

Chapter Text

 Frisk was unnervingly happy, which set Sans nerves on edge. He didn’t particularly do anything different, so what the hell? Even at one point, they tried grabbing his hand and Sans jerked back from their touch as if it would burn him. They looked a bit ashamed and apologetic before they were back to their happy-go-lucky attitude. He wasn’t sure what he preferred, the psychotic child or whatever this Frisk was. 

Wait.

Maybe not. 

That was a dumb thought. Thinking was dangerous. He should just focus on the end goal.

 “Hey Sans…” Frisk had been skipping ahead eagerly but suddenly their chipper step sombered as they slowed to his pace. 

 “What?” Why couldn’t they just walk the rest of the way in silence?

 “Do you think my parents are still waiting for me up there?”

 Sans halted in surprise to the question. Their parents? How the hell should he know? And why were they getting all personal with him? They weren’t friends, no matter how delusional the child was. They were just a neutral party working towards the same goal. 

 “Don’t know. Don’t care.” He would rather not think about his own parents, let alone hear about the child’s fuck of procreators.

 “Oh.” And just like that, the subject dropped. Which was a relief to Sans but now the air was filled with stifling tension. Ugh! Why must they make this weird?

 He would have opted to ignore them but what if the child suddenly felt too pressured to go? Damn it all! Fine. If they wanted false comfort, he’d give it to them. “Maybe. Er- definitely. A parent could never forget the offspring they created.” The process was far to lengthy and painful… He wasn’t exactly the most empathetic monster in the world, but the answer seemed to appease the small human at least. Their soft smile was back, gratefully toned down. Maybe the human wasn’t so bad after all; If you got over their sickly sweet attitude that liked to come and go as sudden as the stormy winds of Snowdin. 

“...I wonder if time above ground has been resetting too or if time has still been progressing?” The question was just a simple thought to continue the conversation, but as soon as Frisk asked it, they realized just how important the answer would be. Even Sans delved deep into thought. He never considered that to be a possibility. Was the human civilization continuing forward whilst the monsters elapsed into a never ending eternity of time looping? 

“I don’t know.”

“Oh.” Frisk clenched the front of Sans’ jacket in disappointment; the tough fabric brought their attention to the material and they were reminded that Sans’ had lent them their hoodie to help calm them down. The gesture was so sweet but very unusual for the despondent skeleton. Sliding the jacket off their shoulders, they held it out to their “friend.” Hotland was far to hot for the material and they were feeling a lot better. “Thanks.”

 Sans’ hands lurched forward quickly, snagging the jacket back and quickly slipping it back on over his head. The action was a bit abrasive, but Frisk showed no signs of caring. They just smiled warmly in understanding. As soon as the heavy material settled over his bony shoulders, the tension just eased out of him. His hoodie was back where it belonged. Slumping his head down a bit into the material, much like a turtle hiding in their shell, he sighed gratefully.

“We are getting close to the capital.” Sans’ noted aloud. “Stick close. We’ll take another shortcut just up the path by the MTT resort.” 

 Breaking their attention off of Sans, they noticed just how far they’d walked already. They were already basically at Mettaton’s resort, which should have taken 2 days at the very least. Sans’ must have led them down another shortcut whilst they were talking. Damn! They missed it again! Where were these shortcuts?

 They needed to keep their guard up! They wanted to at least see one of these shortcuts before their journey was up! Squaring their shoulders, with their head back and eyes forward, they walked with purpose. Although, they headed Sans advice and stepped up a little closer to their side whilst keeping an appropriate distance to prevent brushing up against their paranoid companion. 

 The resort was quick to come into view. There was no mistaking the towering building with it’s  flashing neon lights, exuberant colors and bold flashing signage that spelt out MTT. The daunting building was a place of many hardships and resets. The robotic sociopath known as Mettaton ran the resort. The robot was a creation of Alphys, and much like their creator, they loved the torment of others. But Mettaton claimed they were nothing like their lame excuse of a recluse, bipolar, bigoted, schizophrenic creator. They were an artist who craved the spotlight and bringing entertainment to the “filth” of the underground. But that “entertainment” involved a lot of blood and loss of limbs. Whenever Frisk had to cross over the threshold to the core, they’d have an unfortunate run-in with Mettaton and the robot LOVED to chop them up into itty bitty pieces for their “viewers,” all the while laughing maniacally. 

 Just the thought alone had them damn near puking at the memories. Under the impairing control of the other soul possessing them, they hardly even recognized pain anymore, but they could still feel the residual ghostly sensations of losing pieces of themselves. 

“Are you okay?” 

 They hadn’t even realized Sans had been watching them. Rubbing up and down their forearms, they nodded. “I just have bad memories of this place.”

 “Same.” Frisk looked up surprised and intrigued, wanting to learn more about their escort. “Which is why we are bypassing it.” But the skeleton showed no signs of indulging their curiosity. They were a bit disappointed, but Sans’ experiences were probably about the same as their own. In which case, they probably didn’t want them to go into details. 

 As they neared the building, Frisk subconsciously stepped in close to Sans, pressing up just a bit into their back. They felt Sans’ bones click as they locked up but he didn’t protest, which was a relief to the kid. Instead of passing through the large, grandeur double doors, they were led around to the left side of the building where a chain link fence sectioned off the back part of the establishment. Did Sans have a special key? Without slowing, the skeleton continued onwards, walking straight into the fence and Frisk reflexively tensed, only they passed through the wiring like it wasn’t even there and continued on into the darkness. Was the fence only an image to fool passerbys that the back alley is blocked? 

No. Frisk remembered quite clearly coming down this path before, trying to find a way around Mettaton. The fence is real. So… is Sans capable of passing through physical objects? It would make sense. These “shortcuts” could very well be him just phasing through the walls. Using that logic, his routes suddenly made a lot more sense. Except that still left unanswered questions like, how could Sans go left and still end up on the right side of the path? Maybe to hide his abilities? 

 Frisk had to squint as the darkness transitioned into very bright fluorescent lights illuminating a familiar blue corridor. The core. 

 Peeling back from their escort, they blinked away the burn still lingering from the sudden transition, to stare amazed at how far that simple alleyway had taken them. They were practically at the exit of the core. At this rate, they’d reach Asgore’s castle in just a couple hours. 

“Wow Sans! How are you doing this?”

 They twirled slowly on their heels, taking in the full area with awe and amazement. They recognized this hall. It was rare they ever reached this far, but when they did, it was always under distress from a crazed robot chasing them. Now they could just take it all in without the fear of a chainsaw aiming for their back.

 If only they had reached an agreement with Sans’ far sooner. Then they might have gotten the chance to actually appreciate the underground as something more than just a pit of death and despair. 

 They had heard from mother Toriel that long ago, the underground had actually been a place of peace. Well as far as peace could transpire in a prison made of earth and magic. The monsters were once very loving and accepting. And the underground had actually been cared for, as it was their home, despite their circumstances. The way mother spoke, it made Frisk wish they could see the underground in its prime. To experience the wonder of a kingdom made entirely of monsters working peacefully together. But that had been long ago. Way before the queen’s children had been brutally slaughtered. 

 They had been so caught up in their marvel that they didn’t notice the shaking in Sans’ legs, or the way their body was sloughing just a bit lower to the ground. By the time they turned to face their “friend,” they caught a glimpse of their face contorted in pain and exhaustion, before they were suddenly collapsing in a heap on the tiled flooring.

“SANS!” Frisk screamed in alarm and dropped to their knees by the skeletons side. Grabbing handfuls of their jacket, they tugged the material with determination, until their companion was flipped onto their back. They were met with a blank stare, as voidless sockets stared into nothingness. Along Sans’ brow was pools of translucent red sweat and what minimal features he could contort his face into, Frisk recognized their look of pained exhaustion. Was Sans’ using up a lot of magic for their sake? Shit. And they were right in the middle of the main core hallway. If any monster came passing through, they would no doubt surely kill the skeleton. Frisk would defend them of course, but there best bet would be to find somewhere to hide. Bundling up Sans as best they could into their small arms, they struggled to their feet. It wasn’t that Sans’ was heavy. It was more like they were nearly the same size as Frisk, if not just a bit bigger, which made carrying them awkward. Taking each step with care, they made their way to the exit. They would be safer outside the brightly lit walls and would be one step closer to the palace doorstep. 

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

 The further on they trudged, the more apparent it became just how motivated Sans actually was for once. He'd never seen his lazy brother put so much as a pinky out of Snowdin for the last... who knows how long! What was it about this human that had him so determined? 

 Papyrus didn't like being in the dark. He was a monster that knew it all. NOTHING happened without his say so. But suddenly, there was a lot more going on beneath his nose cavity and that really irked him. Sans better have a damn good explanation, otherwise HE MIGHT....! 

...

...

No. Otherwise he might nothing. He wasn't about to let violence be the solution this time. He believed his brother had a reason. Either the human was black mailing him somehow, or he had a lead to something much greater than they could comprehend at this moment. 

 He felt his subordinante's eyes boring into the back of his skull. Undyne must have sensed his restless mind. Clear the mind, focus the soul. He couldn't let his thoughts overwhelm him so deep into enemy territory. Not a moment to late did he sense an impending impact with his current position, to which he sidestepped. In a streak of white, the projectile crashed into the pine covered ground, sending up a cloud of dirt and debris. Papyrus looked on to find a bunny monster curled up painfully into themselves. That impact surely should have dusted them, but their trajectory perfectly knocked them through the flimsy ends of the pine limbs, which slowly their fall to avoid serious internal damage. They probably escaped lucky enough to only have a broken bone or two.

 Not one to pass up the perfect opportunity to interogate a monster that so conviently landed at his feet, he flicked up his pointer finger and let his magic manifest a bone bed to lift the monster off the ground. The bone bed rippled then rolled forward like a converyer belt, delivering the monster to his feet.

"Nice day for a flight?" The monster only groaned back in reply. Whether it was in response to their pain or the bad joke, he couldn't tell. "I just so happened to be in the area looking for someone to talk to, care to enlighten me?" The bunny opened an eye to squint up at them. Their expression was pulled tight into a grimace to show how much pain they were in, but that pain was burried under a burning hatred. Papyrus' eyes narrowed as he read their expression and sensed his brother's magic lingering on their body. "Have a run in with another skeleton recently?" 

 The bunny forced a snarl in reply, but their vocal cords locked up and sent them into a coughing fit. 

Their anger and look of recognition was enough of an answer and he non-to gracefully dropped their battered body onto the hard ground. The bunny let out a yowl as they fell to their side, no doubt connecting a bruised or broken rib to the floor. Stepping past them, Papyrus followed the trajectory the bunny came from to get his heading. There was no use asking which way Sans went. He knew that wouldn't yield any results if they were sent flying like this. His brother was serious and probably pretty pissed about something they did. Sans wasn't one to pick a fight, but he damn well knew how to finish them when he got serious. At the very least, he knew they were getting close. 

 Undyne must have reasoned the same thought as he caught her summoning a magic spear out of the corner of his eye. 

"Do not engage without command." He knew Undyne well enough to know she could be quite rash in the heat of the moment. His words also servered as a warning. He wouldn't hesitate to turn his sword on her if she was insubordinate. Sans was his responsibility, not hers. 

And the human problem... would be handled after he spoke to his brother.

......

Frisk was like a magnet to Sans' side. They were still pretty shaken up. Sans glanced at them from the corner of his eye. He had an inkling to say something to help cheer them up but he wasn't feeling all to cheerful himself. He knew they were walking into the lions den with no plan, no foresight as to what was to come and still feeling drained from a long day of using magic and having to deal with emotions, ugh. He honestly didn't think they would get this far. He reasoned Frisk would give in and cause another reset, or turn on him when the opportunity arrived. So- what now? The uncertainty and anxiety were coming back with a vengeance as all this silence was giving him too much free time to think. A tingle surfaced along the back of his skull, to which he started to scratch at the disturbance.

Was he going to have to fight? Could they bypass Asgore? Would his brother catch him first? Will Frisk keep their promise? So. Many. Things. To. Consider. His mind was racing in circles, and as his irritation grew, the harder and faster his fingers worked at his itch. 

"Sans?" The voice was small but it was enough to shake him from his impending panic attack. He was still locking up but at least he wasn't having an episode. He looked down at his unlikely companion and tried to no avail to retort or offer some verbal confirmation that he was fine. But he wasn't really fine. It was more of a defense mechanism to appear less pitiful than he was. Frisk seemed to understand and offered him their small hand. His attention turned to their opened palm and he thought about knocking it away as he always did but instead, he found himself impulsively taking the offered hand and grasped it gingerly in his stocky bone fingers. A momentary flash of surprise crossed Frisk's face but they quickly recovered. "We can do this." That statement felt like an unsurpassable mountain but their determination shown thrown like it always did. Only this time, it wasn't a determination that made him weak in the knees with fear from being on the receiving end. Instead, it seemed to warm his bones as Frisk's hand clamped down even tighter in his grasp and he was pulled along with renewed haste.

 (In Frisk’s own mind, they too were dealing with a weight to carry but seeing the state Sans was in, they knew one of them had to be strong for the other. Sans was probably just as concerned as they were, if not more. So, with that thought in mind, they spoke the words they felt both of them needed to hear. “We can do this.” And they were going to see this through, no matter what. It was no longer about going home anymore. It was also a chance to let peace finally settle in the underground. Maybe without an anomaly causing a disturbance in their daily lives and constantly resetting things back to another loop of unending suffering, they might actually have a resolution.)

………

“Sire! We have received a report that Sans is on his way here, to the castle!”

 Asgore slowly lifted his mounted head from the palm of his massive paw. Sans? On his way here, now? The skeleton brothers had never ventured far from the safety of their small town in Snowdin before the big ‘incident.’ What spurred this on now? The massive boss monster shifted in his seat with a newfound eagerness. Things had become so mundane and uneventful in the castle as of late but now Gaster’s little project was walking straight into his home, a big mistake... But a mistake that pleased Asgore greatly.

“And he brought a human!”

 Asgore rose to his feet with powerful stomps, shaking the earth from the might of each step. “What?!” A human?! In the underground? Why was he just now getting this report? And Sans was bringing them here? What exactly could that sly skeleton be planning? Slamming down the blunt of his axe to the stone flooring, he looked to the carrier and growled out, “I will handle this. Tell the guards to stand by until I give the orders to engage. And inform the royal guard that I want Papyrus brought in for the treachery his family has brought upon the royal family!”

“Y-y-yessss your highness! I will inform them right away!” The carrier bowed deeply repeatably before scurrying out of the throne room in fright. The boiling magic pouring out of Asgore drove nails of fear through them and the other royal servants still present in the throne room. No monster could match the might of Asgore. Especially not when they were enraged. Hence why they had continued to rule all of the underground for a millennium. The other servants’ avoided the direct gaze of their king, not wanting to evoke his wraith and suffer an early demise. When his attention turned to them, they froze in fright as he pointed a brawny finger at them. “Prepare my chambers. I want it perfectly in order for when this minor incident has been taken care of.” They still felt the chill run cold but at least the order gave them an excuse to clear the room. They all quickly bowed respectively before making haste out of the room, leaving the mighty kind alone to await his “guests.”

Chapter Text

 Frisk and Sans peered out from behind some cover to observe the intimidating gates leading into the palace. They were uncomfortably close, but it was the best vantage point they could secure that offered them a good view of the comings and goings of the palace. Only the place outside the great walls looked deserted.

“Where are the guards?” Frisk wondered out loud. Sans felt an ill foreboding omen. That was a question for the ages. Since when was the palace left unguarded? Did everyone take a lunch break at the same time? That question was as dumb as asking if there was snow in Snowdin.

“What should we do?” Frisk wanted to be the one with all the answers, given they had infiltrated this palace numerous times in various runs, but something was very off with this run. But what else was new? Everything had been a staggering mess since the very beginning. The dominoes just kept toppling into each other and creating a bigger and bigger rippling effect, changing all the events that had ever happened previously. Nothing was as it should be. Was that a good thing or bad thing… it was too early to tell.

“I- don’t know…” He could easily teleport them inside, but what if there was a trap awaiting them? He couldn’t port again so quickly after a jump. It was too risky. But just sitting around outside doing nothing was just as risky. They were bound to be found sooner rather than later by being so close to the royal palace.

“Why don’t you teleport into the throne room along the ledges? I doubt Asgore will be looking for anyone up there.”

 Sans looked at Frisk confused. The ledges in the throne room? The only times Sans ever went to the throne room were during difficult times (ie genocide runs) and the last thing on his mind was to admire the site like a tourist on vacation.  

“Yeah. There are little ledges lining the walls around the throne room and they are pretty high up too.”

“Only problem kiddo, I can’t port to anywhere I haven’t seen before.”

 Frisk sighed in disappointment. They thought they had a creative solution. As if they could just walk up to the front door and knock on it. Hah- right! That was like walking yourself into the broiler. How would you like me, medium rare, extra crispy? Seeing as how they weren’t getting anywhere, they looked to Sans with hopeful eyes. They’ve lived a lifetime or two longer than them, surely, they had some inkling of an idea.

“Making plans was never my thing. That was always Papyrus’ strong suit.” His baby brother was far more intelligent than him and always seemed to have a plan for every outcome.

…………

 Papyrus and Undyne walked with authority up the path heading to the palace. They weren’t fugitives on the run so they had no reason to hide. Head held high and aura overflowing with warning, he kept a sharp eye out for his brother. No doubt his brother would feel his magic and come beg for forgiveness or his own magic would react and give him away. He was a weakling that wouldn’t last long without his protection. He had to locate his brother and apprehend him before he made things worse.

 Along their way, Undyne and Papyrus were approached by a monster wearing the royal crest and carrying a scroll containing the royal seal. Asgore had sent them an official order. Papyrus held his hand out expectantly but the carrier looked past him to hand the order over to Undyne. Without waiting for her to read the scroll, the carrier scurried on to continue with their duties. Papyrus narrowed his eyes at the disregard for his authority and turned his attention to Undyne, expecting an explanation.

 She scanned the document over and huffed in disbelief. Bringing up a hand to rub her sore eyes, she held the parchment out to Papyrus to read. He scoured the text with haste. As he read his magic coiled around him like a hurricane, lashing and sparking at the open air as he felt his temper rising. He was to be sacked from all royal guard duties and put under immediate arrest for treason against the royal family. Treason!? He was on active duty to arrest the human and cease all biliterate acts against the capitol. He was in no away aligned with his brother’s misguided conduct.

 “This is fucking ridiculous!” Papyrus clenched down on the parchment, crumbling it up and then igniting it into a red flame that burned it into cinders. “Fuck the royal order! I will be the one to put a stop to my brother!”

 Undyne was stuck at a crossroad. It was a direct order from Asgore. To disobey this relayed message from the king would put her in the same ordeal as Papyrus and his brother. She would be condemned as an accomplice acting against New Home. “Papyrus.” Her captain, er- Ex-captain looked at her expectantly to hear her decision. “What will you do if you are confronted directly by Asgore? What if Asgore gets to your brother first?”

 Papyrus didn’t hesitate with his response. No matter the wall, he would scale it! “I will just have to knock his ass down. I’m not about to come quietly.”

 The response was unexpected but completely like her friend. Undyne cackled in glee and excitement. If a fight with the king of all monsters came about, then who was she to turn away from an opportunity of a life time? Undyne was just as obsessed with testing her strength against monsters who were stronger as Papyrus was. Or maybe his wasn’t so much as an obsession as it was as the will to live to become stronger. But both ideals were two sides of the same coin. Plus, the more she thought about it, the more she realized that the best outcome for the underground might actually be to knock Asgore out of power. The underground needed new authority and court law if things were to ever get better.

“Well I’ll be damned! To hell with it! If a fight with Asgore crosses our path, I’ll be fighting at your side.” Undyne gave a toothy, lopsided grin and picked up her spear to shout out a war cry to declare her allegiance and show her warrior spirit.

 Papyrus smirked at her antics and raised his own weapon to clack it against her spear. She was a one in a million friend and he couldn’t have been luckier to have her at his side. Of course, he would avoid the more treacherous course of action to avoid things going awry, but he was prepared for the worse. “The palace is close. Let’s finally put an end to all this.”

Undyne quickly chimed in. “Let’s fuck shit up!”

………

 Sans considered the possibility of just porting directly to the barrier. Surely Asgore expects him to have to crossed through the palace like a normal monster. But then again, that area was particularly sensitive to the king so it was also the most likely heavily guarded as a last resort if they did somehow make it past him. That was probably where he sent all the missing guards. That risk seemed far more dangerous than just teleporting directly infront of the throne. What he needed was to keep his cards hidden so showing any of his real magic to Asgore was an out. The best course of action really was looking like a direct approach to the front door. If he could just get the king to lower his guard, then and only then might he have a chance! Asgore was a boss monster, he couldn’t take him lightly.

 Sans’ thought process was cut short as he felt his brother’s powerful aura draw near. Papyrus was already here!

“Frisk. My baby brother is close. I need you to stay hidden.”

 Frisk grabbed hold of Sans’ arm frantically. “What are you going to do?” They had seen far too many times of Sans get his ass handed to him by Papyrus, so they knew he wouldn’t stand a chance against Papyrus. Not because he couldn’t defeat him if he wanted to, but because Sans couldn’t accept fighting back against his brother at all! He would surrender without a fight and just accept any beating that befell him. Their eyes must have conveyed their thoughts because Sans grabbed their shoulders gently and looked down at them with the softest eyes they’d ever shown them. “I’ll be fine. My brother and I have been on good terms as of late.”

 Frisk was struck with a daze, giving Sans ample room to wiggle free of their hold and port away to finally confront their brother. It was time for a change and Sans would be damned to let this opportunity slip by. If it meant resisting his brother, then so be it!

Chapter Text

 Papyrus sensed his brother before his blip even fully rendered him tangible. In one fell swoop, he had a knife at Sans’ neck and a firm arm looped behind his back, holding him imprisoned against his body and at a disadvantage to escape. Sans had to double take his predicament before his panic spiked. Oh shit! Oh shit oh shit oh shit! Paps is angry! Paps might snap! He might have used up the last straw of Papyrus’ patience.

“Long time no see, brother.” The snarky comment was at least a sign that he wasn’t dead yet. Red eyes met red and the staring contest commenced.

“Ha-haha… bone-jour. Nice day for a walk to the capitol, isn’t it?”

 That comment earned him a violent full body shake. “The hell it is! Do you have ANY idea of how serious the situation is?!

“Not yet but I bet yer gonna tell me anyway. I was just skull-king about, looking for a way into the place that won’t result in me being bone-apart.”

 If Papyrus had veins, they would probably be bursting right about now. He looked like he was about to explode but by the willpower of the gods, he found his chill and forced himself to look past the puns and grim jokes his brother was all to known for and instead decided to vent by just suplexing his brother. That was considered him being chill right? At least Papyrus liked to believe so. At least he wasn’t screeching like a hawk on steroids. Character development!

 Sans groaned as his legs folded over his head in an unnatural way and the back of his skull ached from the impact with the ground. Curling out of his uncomfortable yoga pose, he got to his unsteady feet and changed face to a serious demeanor. The difference was like a switch was flipped and that brought Undyne and Papyrus to alert.

“In all seriousness Pap. I need you to stay out of this.”

 The comment was so forward and direct, it took the captain a moment to collect his thoughts. “I will do no such thing!”

“Please Papyrus, there is a lot more at stake here more than you realize.” Sans decided to try reasoning with his baby brother first. If he could just get Papyrus to back down, then that would help ease Sans’ worry of getting his brother involved and potentially killed for another X amount time. He knew it was a long shot but at least you couldn’t say he didn’t try.

“Explain. Now.”

 Figures as much. There was just no way he was getting out of wasting valuable time to explain his great plan. “Sooooo, you remember that human?”

“…” Undyne and Papyrus gave him a ‘no shit’ look and he nervously pulled at the front of his shirt. “Right, the only human in the underground… so they can actually manipulate time and space and revert time back to days in the past, erasing all events that have previously happened. Only you don’t know about this because your memories are wiped each time.” Undyne quirked a brow and Papyrus only frowned harder, if that were possible. “You might be wondering, what about me? Well, I am apparently immune for some reason and I fight Frisk, the human, every day. Only you don’t know about it because I kept it secret. How this all correlates to now is, I have to walk this human through the palace, past the king and out the barrier to finally let time proceed as it should.”

 There was this pause of silence that had this weight to it like a defusal team trying to decipher a bomb. It permeated the air and made Sans uncomfortable. He rocked on his heels awaiting that big moment where they reacted in one of two ways, they believe him. Yea, no. Or two, they lock him up for safe measure and make him see a psychiatrist.

“Are—you high?” The question rolled out with a slow slur as Undyne finally processed everything.

“Hah- wouldn’t that be better…” Because in all honesty, he would rather he was under the influence of drugs and this was all just a very lucid dream.

His brother still remained silent and that was what really made Sans wary and anxious. Even Undyne noticed how quiet he was being for a change. No explosive anger. No accusations. Not even a quip similar to Undyne about the mental well being of his brother. He was just standing there, processing the question like he hadn’t just heard insanity.

 Papyrus did believe Sans, despite how insane it sounded. There was a lot he knew his brother was hiding from him, such as his ability to teleport. Those notes from their father were already proof enough. And Sans had to endure so much all for the sake of their fathers’ mad experiments to test theories and push the boundaries of science. He had wanted to know more and now suddenly he was getting an answer, or at least the beginnings of an answer. So, like hell he was going to stay put just because his brother was suddenly trying to act like the older sibling! To make his point, he strode forward and grabbed the front of Sans’ collar and yanked him up to smack his head into theirs to knock some sense into them. “Like shit I’m staying out of it!”

 Sans groaned as he rubbed the sore spot. He knew Papyrus wouldn’t listen… what was the point in even trying. It was all coming down to this. A fight he would much rather avoid but for the sake of all the underground, he wasn’t about to come quietly with his brother. His magic responded in kind to his determination as his left socket started to flicker between an unnatural hue of red and cyan.

“I’m coming with you!” It wasn’t a demand. But it also wasn’t up for debate. The captain knew that Asgore was an obstacle none of them could face alone.

Sans’ magic sputtered out and receded back into his soul in response to his confusion and surprise. Papyrus wasn’t going to stop him? But he wanted to help? Surely there had to be a catch. Right?

Undyne cocked her dead to the side and mouthed with no sound ‘the fuck-‘ She lost the will to voice a complaint. It was like Papyrus had changed personality over night and was suddenly being very cooperative and spontaneous. They came here with a plan to capture Sans and stop the human but now they are joining the human to take down Asgore? I mean, she was totally down for the later, as they had already previously discussed being an option but she hadn’t totally believed Papyrus was being serious. She just thought the hothead was talking crap to increase morale or some shit.

“You- want to come with?” He had to repeat that statement to himself to fully process it. He knew Papyrus had changed a bit this run, but for him to declare he was tagging along? Especially with the bare minimum knowledge he had just been fed that sounded like a bad plot to a movie. This was all just so unbelievable. He had been ready for a fight! He had even summoned his full powers expecting shit to hit the fan.

 “Stop fucking standing around! We are right outside the palace gates for god’s sake! Grab your stupid human pet and let’s get this over with!”

 “Uh-ah-r-right okay.” Sans about tripped over himself in his haste to obey the command. He couldn’t even retort that Frisk wasn’t a pet. Porting back to his previous hiding spot, Frisk about screamed out of fright, but he managed to cup a hand over their mouth to stop the sound. “S-sorry kiddo, I didn’t mean ta fright ya.” The tension in their body melted upon immediately recognizing their companion and they looked him over quickly to make sure he wasn’t injured.

 Noticing the inspection, he scrunched up the corner of his jacket awkwardly, not liking the attention nor knowing how was he going to explain Papyrus’ sudden involvement. While he would much rather keep Paps safe, their insistence to tag along was so unusual he couldn’t even try to fight it. “Soooo- you are probably wondering what happened with Paps. He uh-“ Would Frisk be upset, take this the wrong way, stop trusting him? These questions suddenly made him realize how poorly things could take a turn. Especially since he was still trying to understand his brother’s intentions. What if this was a trap? Was Papyrus just trying to lure the human out? Would Frisk and Papyrus fight?

 Frisk sighed as they saw he was getting trapped within his own head again. They were always such a worry wart. “Everything is going tibia okay.”

 Was- was that a pun? Was Frisk trying to cheer him up? Meeting their gaze, he saw the calmness and trust staring back at him and it helped set him at ease, if even only just a little. “Papyrus wants to help. Or at least I think he does.” In normal circumstances, he knew his brothers’ intentions but just as everything else had been made different this run, his baby brother was changing. Their encounters until now had been for the most part positive. He just had to trust Papyrus.

 Frisk shared the same sentiments as they stood up and looked expectantly out for Papyrus. Everything was making sense now. Sans’ approaching them with such determination they had never been seen before till now. And what more than his love for his brother would drive him to press onwards like this? Something had happened between Sans and his brother. That was why he wanted to preserve this timeline; to avoid things reverting back to the way things were. This intrigued them. They wanted to see what sort of Papyrus this timeline produced.  

 It was a relief to see Frisk was on board. Now all that remained was to bring the two groups together and let Papyrus take over because being a leader was something Sans was never good at. Placing a hand on Frisk’s shoulder, Sans ported them back to his brother and Undyne.

 It was all starting to look up from here. But there still remained the biggest mountain to climb named Asgore. What fresh hell was awaiting them behind the palace gates?

Chapter Text

 When they appeared before Papyrus and Undyne, Frisk clung to the back of Sans’ jacket, awaiting some kind of negative reaction. To which they received, but it wasn’t what they were expecting.

“Stop fucking clinging onto Sans!” Papyrus waved a bone weapon at them, looking furious and… jealous? Did Papyrus get jealous? Their clammy hands dropped the material quickly and instead choose to pocket their hands in their own sweater, but they still stuck close to their friend. That irked the royal guard captain but at least they weren’t touching him now. Why was Sans even allowing it in the first place? He normally hated physical contact with anyone but himself? Maybe that was what was really getting under his bones, not that he would admit it. Or maybe it was the way Sans was standing protectively in front of the kid. What was so special about this human? Fuck! Now was not the time to be getting emotional. He had a job to do. But like hell he wasn’t going to cause a riot after everything was settled.

“Move it.” Papyrus shoved past Sans and Frisk, taking the lead as Sans had expected, and the party followed after.

 Since Sans and his human companion joined their group, Undyne had been keeping a close eye on them both, but on him in particular, which was strange and very unnerving. Did she think he was up to something? Or was she still set on the idea that he was high? “So, what was with the eye?”

 “The—OH!” He almost forgot he unleashed his power for a split second when he had first confronted them. At the time, he didn’t even think about concealing it. To much was at stake to be playing it safe. “It’s nothing.” His eyes shifted to the side, a clear indication he lied. Him trying to play it off and act coy wasn’t fooling anyone and they all deadpanned.

“Can you stop fucking lying for once and just give us a straight answer!” Undyne didn’t like going into combat with an ally that was withholding details.

 Being put on the spot was something Sans was never good at dealing with. Shimming down into his jacket, he kept his eyes downcast and walked with a slump in his shoulders. “Is now really the time?”

 Even Papyrus wanted to know more but his brother was right. They were literally at the palace doorstep. Undyne couldn’t have picked a worse time to be trying to interrogate someone. “No. It’s not.” Seeing as there were no guards stationed around the outer parameters, Papyrus halted the group just outside the massive double doors leading through the front entrance. “Asgore knows we are here. Once we cross over this threshold, we’ll be walking into a trap.” He hated the idea that they were knowingly entering anyways, which was why he started simulating possibilities within his head at an accelerating rate. Knowing what he knew now about Sans having the ability to teleport, he formulated they would be useful as a scout. Sans could be fuckin’ annoyingly elusive when he wanted to be, so he wasn’t to worried that his brother would get caught out easily. Undyne’s magmatism magic and shields would provide the best front-line support to get them through most assaults or ambushes. Then there was the unknown variable of the human. Sans said they could reset time but by how much and could it be utilized in a fight? Would the human even offer assistance for that matter? The human was to much of an unknown for Papyrus to formulate a plan including them in the picture. He would much rather keep them out of his way anyways. His active role would be offense but also backline defense. He was exceptional at close combat and ranged attacks. He could use his gravity magic and bone weapons to keep attackers at bay or kill them should they expose their weaknesses. And if they got to close, he would just slice the little shits up.

 The group looked between the door and Papyrus, awaiting his instructions as the captain gathered his thoughts. Every one of them recognized and respected the royal guard captain’s decisions. They knew he would come up with a plan, even with the limited time they had. He had worked his way up the ladder of power not by strength alone but also by intuitiveness and valor. “Sans, I want you on scouting duty. Keep out of sight while trying to decipher Asgore’s plan. Undyne, you will be providing our defenses and I’ll be our offense.” It wasn’t a foolproof plan but it was better than going in without instructions or an active role to play. 

 Frisk took notice to their lack of involvement so they just assumed they were the “escort mission.” They could fight too, they wanted to say, but they didn’t dare question Papyrus so they just puffed up their cheeks in a pout and followed after.

 Upon entering through the large gold inlayed palace doors, Sans was the first to get a good look at their surroundings and then ported away as instructed. Undyne took to the front, shield at the ready, as Papyrus summoned a ring of bones that spun in the air above his head. They looked like a mmorpg group about to raid a dungeon, which tickled Frisk but they kept the amusement to themselves. They doubted Papyrus or Undyne would appreciate their joke, or even get it for that matter.

 The entry hallway was just as abandoned as the outside, which meant the monsters were probably all awaiting them in the throne room. Why was Asgore allowing them to come inside? Wouldn’t he want to prevent them access to the palace in the first place? Because now they had a clear path they could retreat back down should things go bad. Oh shit—Maybe they didn’t… Frisk started to get a grasp of Asgore’s plan. He was allowing them easy access to get them in the heart of his territory and then he would cage them in on all sides.

 The palace wasn’t very big, so it was a short walk to the main objective. Papyrus steeled himself for what was to come as they walked the last stretch to the throne room. “There is no going back.”

Frisk wondered if he too considered the possibility that they were being led into an encirclement. Even if he hadn’t, he wasn’t wrong about there being no way back. Unless they defeated Asgore, they had no chance of escaping.

 The group shuffled into the throne room to find King Asgore seated in his massive chair with his head propped up on one arm, and the other was resting in his lap. He looked like he didn’t have a care in the world. The King of all monsters rove his eyes across the group, looking unimpressed.

“What is this?” Asgore asked with a big yawn. The question was merely rhetorical. Asgore knew what they were doing. It was more of a sarcastic statement to show how in vain their efforts were. They barged into his home, fully armed and ready for an attack, but what they received was a disgruntled greeting. Despite his disinterest in them, namely Papyrus and Undyne, the King’s fierce stare fixed on the human and his eyes gleamed with pleasure. “Thank you for bringing the human right to my doorstep. Saved me the trouble of having to track them down myself.”

 Papyrus clenched his fists in anger. Not because he cared that they delivered the human to the King. He couldn’t give two shits what happened with the human, but because he was being looked down upon like he wasn’t even worth a second of the King’s precious time. He also despised being seen as nothing more than a delivery boy.

“We aren’t here to give you your precious parcel! We’re here to set things right with the underground!”

Papyrus slammed his heeled boot down and jabbed his bone sword in the air, aiming it at Asgore with full bravado.

 Asgore scoffed and sat up in his throne chair. Reaching behind himself, he took hold of the hilt on his massive battle-axe and swung it forward, slamming the end on the tiled flooring. A loud ring echoed around the room, making the walls and floor vibrate. Getting to his feet, he rose to full height and towered above them like a giant to an ant. Asgore wasn’t done displaying his power. His rich golden magic coiled around him like a poisonous snake that snapped its jaws in warning. The golden glow was beautiful but only a fool wouldn’t recognize the true promise that lay beneath the display. The majestic nature was a mere disguise as the sheer force of concentrated magic squeezed down around them, threatening to suffocate them in his mere presence. And it burned like a blaze that hungered to be feed.

Papyrus felt his nerves start to unravel at the sight of intimidation. There was but one monster Papyrus feared. Every monster feared him. And it was for good reason. Asgore was the oldest living monster that held the single most power and authority. They were foolish to defy him. Even his instincts recognized the sheer overwhelming force they were reckoning with.

 Papyrus lowered his weapon, surrendering to the feeling of defeat, even before a real fight broke out. Even Undyne’s shoulders sagged in surrender.

 Frisk looked dismayed to see just how small and powerless her two biggest obstacles were in the face of King Asgore. Frisk always thought they were all equally powerful and dangerous. But now having them all gathered together in one room, their difference in power was striped bare for all to see.

 Asgore looked pleased to see their submission and he strode over to claim his prize. He would also deal with Papyrus and Undyne’s betrayal with his own hands.

 But he was stopped short. A sudden force of magic was holding him at bay and his eyes widened in surprise as Sans appeared before him within the blink of an eye.

“You will not harm them!” Sans’ eye was a flickering strobe effect as a multitude of colors flashed in the socket. “And the human is leaving the underground.”

 Asgore was forced back a step and he looked stupefied.

 He wasn’t the only one. Frisk, Papyrus and Undyne were all equally at a loss for words.

 Papyrus was so mesmerized, he almost forgot what was at stake. Coming back to his senses, he shouted in dismay. “SANS! Do you NOT understand the consequences of your-“

“Pappy, stay out of this!”

 Papyrus looked stricken. Pappy?

 Like a distant dream, lost to the far recess of the mind, until it was pulled by an invisible string. The dream resurfaced. A long time ago, far back to Papyrus’ early days, when he was young and gullible to the world. He was always so curious, so full of life and adventure. Everything was like a new wonder to be discovered. He would seek out the mysteries, eager to learn and explore. “Pappy!” Sans would say in the sternest voice he had ever hear. He would yank Papyrus back roughly by the soul and force him down to sit and listen. “You DO NOT go outside without my permission!” Papyrus would stare up, wide eyed and full of dread as his body unyielded to his urge to pull away, to cower and hide from that disappointed scowl. “Why?” He would ask in a small voice. He didn’t want to make them any madder, he just wanted to understand. “You- YOU just DON’T. The underground is a mad world filled with greed, filth and destruction. Do you want to die?” …”No.” But that answer wasn’t good enough, and suddenly the world would be swaying violently as he was grabbed around the shoulders and shaken. “DO you?” “NO!” He just wanted to have fun…

 Papyrus blinked back the memories as the colors of the vision faded to black and disappeared altogether. He was back in present day, watching as the stout skeleton stood his ground against none other than Asgore, the KING of ALL monsters! But this Sans looked far more reminiscent of the past, then the brother he’d come to know. One look in Sans’ eyes and he realized it was a two-way street. Sans’ wasn’t looking at the Papyrus of the here and now, he was seeing a much smaller, more defiant child Papyrus, who just didn’t know any better.

 There was a time where Sans was actually considered powerful and dangerous. So far back, it was practically forgotten. Sans wasn’t always an apathetic, no good, piece of shit slob with absolutely no drive or care for the world. He was once a force to be reckoned with. A real terror on the streets. Where monsters revered him and actually backed down from a fight. But an image of a person is so easily overwritten with another’s perceived portrayal.

 You push a little and gain ground. You get a taste for power. Then you push a little more, to test the waters and see how much you can get away with. When no consequences follow, you begin to grow braver, become more self-important and imposing. You see yourself on a pedestal, while those laid out before you are small and beneath your nose. That was what had become of his brother. He stopped pushing back, and he accepted the jabs and jeers thrown his way. But why? Was it because of their roots? Was it… because of Papyrus? Or maybe, he just grew tired of putting up a front all the time. …That was something Papyrus could relate to. But he’d put up such a farce for so long, it had become ingrained into his very being.

 The weight of his emotions started to drag him down. He could practically feel his knees buckling in at the sheer flood of emotion that grabbed hold and squeezed his soul. He’d forgotten the real Sans, because everything he’d come to know and accept was the meek, lazy, unmotivated brother who needed protecting. He thought maybe Sans had simply lost the power to remain on top so he did what he thought best and faded into the background, all for the sake of self-preservation.

 There were so many variables. Too many questions to just take a gamble at finding the right answer. He was no closer to cracking the case that was Sans, than he was to capturing his first human. The only thing that had him faltering was this tension so tangible, you could choke on it between the King and his kin. What good was a human to free the underground, when your stupidly brave sibling was picking fights they couldn’t win?!

 The King was glaring back at his “little” brother, but they made no move to initiate a fight. His bones were vibrating in suspense of the brittle glass supporting the weight of the situation. The first to make a move and the glass would shatter. He couldn’t risk his brother’s life by acting rashly. So, he waited.

 He just needed to be quicker than the opposition. Read their movements and act accordingly. His eyes, as nervous as they were to leave the scene, darted to look at all corners of the room, absorbing all details, crevices and furniture that made up the space, analyzing all angles, plotting a course of action, preparing for the worse and planning for success.

 Then the king moved. It started from the belly, rolled up the neck and slithered out the tongue.

 Papyrus was so on edge for battle, that he about tripped over his own feet in his initial lunge, only to slam his boots down to stop his propelled motion forward as the King reared back his head and bellowed out a laugh.

A… laugh?

 Not an axe swinging wildly? Not the thunderous quakes of war? Not a bellowed screech of outrage? But a full belly laugh?

 Sans’ expression, though still tight, seemed to read the room and unraveled just a smidge.

“Why, I knew you would come, eventually. But to be so defiant as to bring a child to my very chambers and expect free passage is beyond me. YOU? The judge!? WHA-HAHAHAHAHA.” The King dropped back down into the large golden chair, sending a different kind of quake through the palace walls.

“I never intended to return. I had full intention of staying far away from here. But by letting this human pass, time may continue to move forward and the underground might actually for once see the change it has long since craved.”

 The King’s eyes narrowed, his expression displeased with the comment, but still searching all the same. “And why would the judge of all monsters accept this blights freedom? Should they not pay for the crimes they and their kind have committed?”

 Papyrus was still so lost on the situation that it took him a hot second to realize the King was calling his brother The Judge. Was Sans a royal advisor back in the day? It would explain the Kings behavior to not be putting an immediate end to the blatant disrespect.

 Sans went quiet with that question and the pin pricks of light within his sockets dampened, till they were practically void. But then the lights flared back up a violent crimson and a lopsided grin that looked to be on the precipice of sadness, understanding and madness clashed in an unsettling mask over Sans features.

“I… cannot forgive the humans for this shit they’ve forsaken us to endure…” The King straightened in his throne and stared down expectantly as a shit faced grin stretched across his lips. “But…” Then the grin receded back a touch. “What good will come of continuing this cycle of hate and bloodshed? We have suffocated ourselves in a pit of our own hatred and lies! We became afraid of living out the rest of our lives in these depths of darkness that we let that fear consume us and soon we began to fear for our very survival, till we fought over what little we could procure to justify our own means to an end. And the infighting struck a new chord of distrust for even those we once called our friends. Soon, we couldn’t even tell right from wrong. It was all a pitfall of madness and decay, till we lost what little we had left. Nothing will ever be as it once was, if we aren’t willing to let go of the past to move towards a new tomorrow.” There was just so much Sans wanted to say. But words were never easy to convey. He had kept so much pain, sadness, loneliness and despair trapped inside himself with no way out. And he had just accepted that it would always be that way. But now. He had a choice. And every fiber of his being screamed, he was making the right choice.

 The blunt end of the axe clacked against the tiled flooring of the throne room as the King rose from his chair. His eyes were pulled tight into a strained glare, with a deep-set frown tugging at the corners of his lips and his teeth shined through at the edges, as his rage surged out.

“ENOUGH! I will not rest till these humans have been put to justice! We lost the broadness of day, the endless horizons, a sky of fine blue, mountains of grandiose heights, EVERYTHING! All because those despicable creatures couldn’t see past our differences and they were blinded by greed! Greed to have it all, whilst we are left to rot beneath the Earth’s surface! As the Judge, I expected far better of you. A monster who was gifted by the ancients to understand and see all. You surely have become a wasted, good for nothing drunk, who’s lost all sensibility. What a waste. Crawl back to the shanty squalor you call home and get stoned back in your own misery.”

 Papyrus looked perplexed between the exchange. Sans’ shoulders sagged back down into the weight of the hood, whilst the King trudged up with heavy footfalls, to retrieve the human who was pulling at Sans’ sleeve with urgency and distress. But the despondent skeleton seemed stricken and defeated.

 That look of silent acceptance. Of having given up. It was like a strike of lightning. Papyrus wasn’t about to let his brother deteriorate! His own determination and force of will revitalized in his urgency to protect the thing he held most dear.

 Without a second thought, he summoned a bone weapon and let swing a field goal across Sans’ cheek. His brother toppled over with a shout of alarm, and crumbled onto his side. He quickly flipped over to identify his attacker but one look at Pap and he about shut down again.

Papyrus didn’t give him time to wallow as he picked his brother up by the scruff of his tee and jacket to jam their teeth together in a very unpleasant, scrapping of bone on bone. Sans eyes popped wide at the action before he yelped as he was dropped onto his tailbone. It was all the matter of seconds, but time seemed to pause, as it too tried to catch up with what was happening. Even the King himself had frozen in place. His appalled, taken-aback expression would have been funny had there not been pressing matters to add to the seriousness of the situation.

“Now that I’ve gotten your attention, I think it’s about time I’ve shared my thoughts on the matter.” Whether locked by shock or peaked by curiosity, the King didn’t object, so Papyrus continued. “No one will listen. No one wants to accept change. Because change is the scariest thing of all. And distrust has become a far more empowering emotion that everyone clings to. Change can’t happen till we, the monsters who hold authority or positions of power begin to actually listen and respect each other. Lest we annihilate ourselves out of existence, we need to get our shit together and start looking at new solutions instead of letting this endless, pitiful cycle of bloodshed repeat itself. I never knew the world above ground, so I have nothing up there to be missed. But what I do know is the feeling of having family but even that has been lost amidst all this chaos. If you truly want us to be free again, then we first need to fix what we already have. How much better would a life above ground really be when we can’t even take care of our current home?”

 Never before had Papyrus bled his heart out like this. But they were words he felt every monster in this room needed to hear. If he could just talk some sense into Asgore, then maybe, just maybe they might all live to see another day.

“Change? You think these decrepit, vile, repulsive beasts that taint this underground can ever be redeemed? I tell you, no. They are but hollow husks of what monster kind used to be and they are merely old skin that needs to be shed. Their tomb will be this underground, but my future and the future of monsters most loyal to me will be granted a second chance to finally take back what is ours!”

“Are you suggesting abandoning your people when you return to the surface?” Undyne spoke up this time. She was sickened by the idea. The monsters had long since been in chaos from the lack of real authority and only now was she seeing the real reason why. Their King has long since given up on them. He only cared about himself.

“Do not scorn me! You should know more than I how much of a lost chaos this underground has become. Forsake them and join me! Join me and I will make you the new captain of the royal guard!” Asgore opened his large, fuzzy paw and held it out to her. Undyne never felt so insulted. She wanted to earn the right to be called the captain, not to have it handed to her on a silver plate like she was some kind of dog to be called to its master when a piece of food was offered.

“I refuse your proposal. I will not give up on our people!”

 Asgore’s eyes turned hard and cold as he clenched up his fist and took firm hold of his axe hilt. “Then you all leave me now choice but to dispose of you. This human is the last soul I need to control the bridge between the underground and the surface and I will not be thwarted by no monster, not even the Judge!” Asgore swung his axe down on Undyne, but Papyrus reacted faster, as he pushed her soul back out of danger. Undyne skid across the floor, narrowly avoiding the tip of the axe, as it crunched down into the polished flooring, creating a large crack in the tiles. Rolling to her feet, she grabbed hold of Asgore’s soul, forcing green magnetism magic on him and let fly a barrage of daggers that flew at him from all sides. But her magic was cast off by his own force of will and the daggers dropped harmlessly around him as the magnetic attraction was lost.

 Papyrus was quick to follow her example as he summoned a sea of bones beneath the King’s feet and rattled them aggressively to throw off the Boss monster’s balance. Asgore growled in annoyance and slammed his foot down, crunching the bones under foot and swept his axe forward at Papyrus. The captain just barely managed to summon a bone wall to take the brunt of the swing, but the force blew right through it and he swore as the axe came dangerously close to slicing him in half. He was only saved because Undyne had reacted just in time to form a shield between his body and the axe, coupled with Sans’ gravity magic slowing the blade just enough to avoid the construct being shattered. Despite their best efforts, the blow was still felt through the shield, knocking Papyrus back and he fell to his knees.

“You are wasting your time!” The King bellowed triumphantly. He could tell he was easily overwhelming them. Even his previous doubts with the Judge’s involvement were pretty much swept away with the wind. He was the King for a reason! No monster could defy him!

 Frisk looked petrified by the fight. All hopes of safely escaping were turning to ash by the duel they were spectating. Without their levels, they were powerless to help. Especially when not even the three greatest forces they had ever come to know in the underground were being pushed back like this. Frisk had faced off against Asgore more than once, but it had never felt like such a struggle as it was for this run. Could they only ever truly escape by having to kill every monster? Frisk had hoped they could still escape with sparing the monsters and living a new life free from dusted hands. Frisk felt their knees turn to jelly and they sagged to the ground with a trembling lip. They felt like crying in frustration. They had promised Sans. They promised they wouldn’t reset anymore. They had promised to let the monsters live freely without them muddling up the timeline. Could they still keep that promise?

“We haven’t even broken a sweat! Not that we can anyways, being a skeleton and all.” Sans looked so proud of himself as he smiled smugly.

“Sanss!” Papyrus couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Sans was cracking jokes, even as their lives were on the line. Frisk’s lips cracked a smile. It was hard to stay dreary when Sans and Papyrus were being their usual selves in the heat of battle.

 Undyne scoffed but she too cracked a smile. “Good one you old bones!”

“Don’t encourage him…” Papyrus sounded exasperated but even his mood seemed a little lighter.

“Is this some kind of game to you?” Asgore took another wide swing but Sans ported out of the way, reappearing only an inch out of place.

 Sans pocketed his hands and winked at the King. “No, but I can make it a game.” Another swing and Sans disappeared for a fraction of a second, only to appear in the same place completely unscathed. “Want to play whack-a-mole?”

 Asgore growled and attempted a third swing, but again it was met with air before Sans was standing in front of him again looking pleased with himself. Was he really impossible to hit? He knew Sans was trying to get under his skin, and damn was it working, but he wasn’t a fool. If all Sans knew how to do was run, then he’d just turn his advances on the three other occupants who didn’t have the same utility to dodge his axe. So, for his four swing, he pretended to aim for Sans and just as the monster zipped away, he took a large step forward and swung wide, getting a successful connection with Undyne’s side. The fish monster screamed in pain, toppled over and clutched her side as the wound started to dust around the missing chunk.

“Undyne!” Papyrus used all his magic force to shove Asgore back with the biggest bone wall he could conjure and rushed to her side. The wound was severe but she wasn’t about to fully dust. Sliding an arm under her shoulder, he yanked her back to her feet. She hissed in pain as she was guided to the back wall. “Stay here. Let me and Sans handle this.”

“I’m not an invalid! I can still fight!” Undyne seethed in anger at being babied, but Papyrus formed a bone cage around her.

“Then you can fight from back here. But you are not leaving this spot till the fight is over, am I understood!?”

 She opened her mouth to argue, but her words fell on silence as Asgore’s body was suddenly free floating. Papyrus tilted his head confused and turned around to see what she was gawking at and his jaw dropped in turn.

 The King’s body was fully coated in the distinct red glow of Sans’ magic as it kept the King suspended midair. Asgore thrashed and snarled at Sans, trying to fight the magic containing him. How was he using the Jugde’s power on him?

“Cheap shot. Are you really worthy enough to be called the King of all monsters when you will resort to subterfuge? You even plan to abandon all monsters to the underground when the time comes, just as you have jilted your wife.”

 Asgore roared in anger at the accusations. “SHE. LEFT. ME!” He spat each word with pure disdain and spite. Sans was digging at his old scar. The one truth that held the most power to make him lose his mind. Toriel had left him at the pinnacle of his despair and he had nothing to use to repair the broken pieces of his life. All that resent he felt towards humans and his wife was redirected at all the monsters that had survived the war. Their survival led them nowhere but to an eternal prison made of dirt and rock and he despised his kind for their weakness. Asgore wanted their lives to be as miserable as his. It was by his anger that things had gotten so bad in the underground, but he never gave a shit to fix it.

 It was by this fact that Sans now used his power as the Judge to overwhelm the mightiest of all monsters.

………

What is the judge you might wonder?

 The Judge was the master of magic and had complete power over all souls. It was an ancient power that long served monster kind and preserved peace. After the war with the humans and the monsters were subsequently trapped below the surface, the old Judge was slain. Without a power to maintain peace and balance, Asgore was without reins. He became dark, resentful, angry and in need of something or someone to blame. He lashed out against his wife, against his people and even against his most trusted friends. Doom and gloom took hold over the souls of monsters, replacing the once kind, peaceful hearts and making them act out violently.

 Gaster sought to gain control over the underground, so he locked himself within his study to recreate the lost power. He had even managed to obtain a piece of the shattered Judge’s soul. He first hoped by using a human’s DETERMINATION, he could bring back the dead. But that study quickly led to a dead end. So, he tried the second-best option and that was to fuse the Judge’s soul with the soul of his first child. But the power was ancient and couldn’t maintain stability, so he continued with his DETERMINATION experiments and produced a result unlike anything he could have hoped for. The birth of a new Boss Monster but it wasn’t quite the same as King Asgore or Queen Toriel. He was both stronger and frailer than any boss monster before him. The values of his HP were a wretched 1. A one! How could the Judge’s power have any real sway over the underground when all it would take was a simple accident to destroy his greatest creation!? Gaster had been furious! Not only was the Judge’s power now unless to him, he couldn’t even hope to try again for fear of losing his invaluable test subject. But that was when he realized he could instead try furthering his research with DETERMINATION, because a human’s soul was still far more powerful than any Judge or boss monster combined!

 Now knowing Sans was just a failure, Gaster had no problem disclosing the secrecy of his experiments with Asgore. He failed being able to gain control of the underground, so instead he would become the King’s closest right-hand man.

 It was by Gaster's notes that Asgore knew of Sans' power but he was also made aware of just how weak Sans actually was. Gaster had to prove Sans wasn't a threat. It was the only way to keep his experiment alive. And it was also the only reason Sans had been able to live a "peaceful" life for as long as he had in Snowdin. The King didn't want the underground to know that the Judge was revived, so all notes pertaining to said knowledge were either destroyed, or kept within the King's vault. He wanted to keep that information to himself, should he ever need it, but he never anticipated for Sans to stand before him with such defiance. And he never knew that despite only having 1hp, just how fucking elusive the shit was! Sans never disclosed his ability to teleport to anyone! Not even his creator knew. Boss monsters each have their own unique ability but Gaster surmised San was a fraud boss monster, given his origins, and none of his tests showed anything extraordinary so he assumed Sans hadn’t inherited a unique power.

 Sans was now grateful that he kept this information to himself. Even as a child, he had this feeling that he should keep his ability hidden and now it was paying off. Asgore was caught off guard and he was still alive because of it. It gave him an advantage in combat that he normally lacked given his health. As long as he remained vigilante, he could keep up this game of cat and mouse and eventually find the key to their success.

Chapter Text

 With his full power released. Sans was untouchable. Not even the greatest boss monster of all time could defy him! However, his power was a double-edged sword. He only had 1HP. One hit and it was game over. But that wasn’t the worse of it. Sans lacked endurance. His power would last mere minutes. He was on a constraining time table. He had to end this quickly before Asgore overwhelmed them all again.

 Using every bit of his magic that he could to keep the king suspended, Sans encircled the goat king in a ring of bones, all sharpened and angled inwards to turn Asgore into a giant pincushion. Each bone weapon that pierced the king’s suspended body nicked away at his health but with Sans’ magic being strained thin like a spool of thread, each strike wasn’t nearly as powerful as it could be. Not to mention the fact that the judge’s power was more effective against humans than his own kind. He was hardly chipping away at the king’s overwhelming pool of health.

 As long as he stalled the fight, they would surely find victory.

Papyrus was finally raring to take another stab at Asgore after having secured Undyne out of the way of the fight. Drawing his bone sword, he rushed forward, eager to assist his brother with taking their adversary down. He got within two paces of the king, bone swords posed at the ready to strike but his pace slowed to an abrupt stop and he was instead flying backwards as red magic grabbed at his soul and yanked him back. The whiplash that followed had his head spinning but he realized immediately why his brother had stopped him. Right where his footing had been was a giant crater.

 Where had that even come from? The king was completely immobilized! Clearly the king still had some reach with his abilities despite being frozen midair.

“D-don’t- gah- interfere!” Sans choked out the words, struggling to concentrate on holding the powerful king in check while also having to save his baby brother from nearly being pummeled into dust. To Papyrus’ dismay, that fraction of a second that Sans had been distracted, the king bellowed out a roar and golden magic lashed out against Sans’ red gravity magic in response. The force was enough to break the connection restricting his soul. With a loud boom as his massive hooves landed back onto the tiled floor, he let out a blast of energy, knocking everyone off their feet, save for Sans who was still an immovable wall.

With the massive shock wave, Frisk had been blasted against the wall. Their head throbbed from connecting with the smooth stone and they rubbed the back of their skull, tending to the sore that would no doubt swell up into a bruise.

 Sans grit his teeth and cursed under his breath. Things just got a whole lot more difficult, but he wasn’t exerted yet. He could hold his ground just a little longer.

“Kid.” Sans didn’t look back at them. He wouldn’t dare let his eyes leave the looming threat that blocked their path.

 Frisk jerked up their head at being addressed.

“Do you think you can make a break for it?” Sans hated that he couldn’t offer much more assistance with getting them through. All he could do now was draw attention to give the human enough room to escape past their obstacle.

As long as the human made it through the barrier, Sans could just teleport everyone else back to Snowdin to recuperate. He had enough power reserved to pull off one last big stunt. That wouldn’t save them from Asgore’s wrath but Sans was pretty good friends with Toriel, or at least he believed they were. They might be able to take refuge in the ruins until they could heal and formulate a new strategy to free the underground from Asgore’s rein. At this point, they didn’t have a choice now. They had to take the king down sooner rather than later, lest this all be in vain and they all died. Asgore wasn’t going to take this rebellion sitting down.

Frisk looked to the ominous door behind the throne and back to Asgore. Their knees locked up in fear as they considered their chances of getting past unscathed. Even when Frisk was fully leveled, they remembered how terrifying the king was. They’d tried sneaking past Asgore before in the past but that never went well. In the end, they were always caught and forced into a grueling battle with a small chance of success. “I- I-“

 Their stuttering didn’t go unnoticed. Sans’ shoulders sagged to hear how scared Frisk was. Scratch that idea. He was going to have to brute force their way through. “Forget it.” He muttered; tone just barely audible enough for them to hear.

“I should have squashed you when I had the chance. Gaster’s little project wasn’t worth keeping around, even if you contained the judge’s power. I don’t need it to overtake the humans! Not when I’ve procured 6 human souls and the seventh and eighth are soon to follow!”

 Seventh and eighth? Sans chanced a glance over his shoulder at the human in confusion. Frisk’s face turned as white as a sheet and they looked stricken with pain and sorrow. Clearly Frisk knew what the king was talking about. Sans quickly focused his attention back on Asgore, not wanting to leave himself vulnerable. He didn’t want to focus to heavily on what the king meant. Despite this, his thoughts swarmed around that new piece of information like a moth to a flame. This was news to him and he thought he’d gotten to know the kid the best, whether he wanted to or not.

 The exchanged looks between Frisk and Sans didn’t go unnoticed to Papyrus as he leapt back onto his feet to ready himself for any more shockwaves. What more was he in the dark about? Although judging by his brother’s expression, even he didn’t know about the human containing two souls. From what he’d gathered so far, the human would sometimes go on a murderous rampage and then other times they’d be passive and gentle after each time they reset the underground. Was this because of the human possessing two souls? That logic made sense.

 Now was not the time to be dwelling on that information. Sans was adamant about getting the human out of the underground and if they succeeded then who cared if they had two souls. They’d be free and out of reach of the king. God forbid the king actually get his hands on another two souls! The stakes just got a whole lot higher.

 Seeing how bothered the skelebros were by the news, Asgore saw his chance to get their guard down as he continued on with his rant. “Did you think I wouldn’t notice? I’m not sure how you’ve adsorbed another soul, given how that should be impossible for a human; yet here you stand with what feels like a very angry, tainted soul out for blood. My blood it would seem.” The king reared back his head and bellowed out a laugh. The noise rang out like a thundering echo in the empty throne room.

That seemed like hardly something to laugh about, only further unnerving Frisk. How did the goat monster even learn about Chara?

Papyrus felt a chill ripple across his bones as the aura emanating from the goat monster turned wretched and the golden hue started to turn a sickly brownish red, showing just how corrupt and tarnish their king had become.

He wasn’t the only one to notice. Sans felt ill just being in their presence. Trying his best to ignore it, he grabbed at their soul again, trying to regain control over the fight but his magic was repelled and instead Asgore’s magic started to mix into his, which only amplified his queasiness and made it hard to stand.

 Seeing Sans starting to sag, Asgore lunged forward, battleaxe swinging full circle in his haste to finally squash the bug.

 The stout skeleton barely reacted fast enough as he ported to the back of the room. The room spun as he fazed back into existence and he slumped up against the wall as the nausea struck like a blow to the gut.

“Sans!” The royal guard captain took up guard in front of Sans, stance at the ready to parry any further attacks. His soul sank at seeing his brother looking damp in sweat and appearing very sick. He himself was feeling the effects of being so close to a corrupt monster but it must have been ten times worse for Sans after having his magic get tainted.

 At the sensation of Asgore’s magic taking root into Sans’ soul, a sudden revolting surge of ooze and gunk spewed out between his ribcage, through his teeth, out his sockets, down his arms and legs and spattering the ground and wall around him in thick chunks of black sludge. The sludge bobbed and squirmed like living organisms and it began to wriggle back towards Sans who had collapsed into the mess and was continuing to cough and puke up more sludge.

Everyone gagged at the sight, and the stench that followed was beyond fowl, as if a dead carcass had just spilled out of an aged body bag.

The bone cage around Undyne had grown weak enough for Undyne to shatter amidst all the chaos and she had forced herself back onto her feet. “What the fuck!” At the sight and smell of the abomination oozing out of Sans, Undyne covered her nose and mouth in disgust. What the fuck had Sans been eating?

As disgusting as it was to draw near the mess, Papyrus wasn’t about to forsake his brother to whatever fresh hell that was. Stooping to their side, he looked at a loss of what to do. Sans was spewing up muck that was unlike anything Papyrus had ever seen. Even a quick glance at the king suggested this mess had nothing to do with Asgore.

 The goat monsters eyes watered at the horrible stench. With their strong sense of smell, it was ten times worse for them. With a fierce growl, they sent out a blast of fire, aimed at the skelebros in hopes of burning anything and everything pertaining to the rancid black sludge.

Undyne barely reached them in time, throwing up a massive shield that narrowly managed to deflect the attack. She was struggling to be near the goop as it clogged her senses but she stood firm, despite how badly she wanted to flee the room.

 Papyrus flashed her a grateful look. It had been so stupid of him to turn his back to the king. Without her interference, they would have been dusted just then. If he wanted to save Sans, the King had to go first.

Undyne stood at Papyrus’ side with her head held high and her courage burning brighter than a star. For the first time ever. They truly felt like comrades in arms. That silver lining between friend and foe was severed. They were fighting the same demons. And they would die trying to kill the oppressor together.

 Whilst their fight commenced, Sans weakly stretched out his arm, wanting to call his brother back from gates of hell. His vision was skewed in black and his throat was clogged with thick slime. All he could mutter was a broken ‘run.’

Papyrus couldn’t win. He wasn’t strong enough. Their fates shouldn’t be sealed all because he had stubbornly insisted on freeing the human from the underground. Why had he cared? He’d now doomed all the monsters he cared about! Now more than ever, he needed to be standing on the front line, defending his home. What even was this muck? That question wasn’t left unanswered for long as a broken voice spewed out his mouth.

“𝔪𝔶 𝔨𝔦𝔫𝔤, 𝖘𝖆𝖛𝖊 𝖒𝖊.”

The presence he felt was so hauntingly familiar. -Aluino- The spider monster that had fused with his body was stirring to consciousness after seemingly being nothing more than puddy. The black ooze that had sloshed out of him seeped back together into a solid entity that coiled around his bones and then stretched into thin weblike tendrils that spread out into the immediate area and started to creep up on the unsuspecting Undyne and Papyrus who were focused on holding their own against the boss monster. Sans watched on in horror and tried to cry out in warning but his body was being overwhelmed and smothered.

 Beyond his flickering vision that threatened to go dark, he caught glimpses of the fight between Asgore, Papyrus and Undyne. The pair were surprisingly holding their own. But for how long could they hold out? They weren’t losing ground but they weren’t really gaining it either.

Their battle prowess was a force to be reckoned with but it was all about to go to shit as the tendrils gained more momentum and started to spread out like wildfire.

And just like that, when Papyrus and Undyne were starting to get more confident and outmaneuver their adversary, the tendrils caught their ankles, tripping them up and causing them to slam down onto the floor.

“The shit!?” Undyne squirmed against the monstrosities. Gaze following the mucky string, they found the source. Sans was about nearly encompassed in the ooze, with only bits of his distinct jacket and skull visible around the disgusting sludge

“𝖐𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖒.” The spiders voice was a distorted mess but it was clear enough to be understood. Not one to pass up an opportunity, Asgore reacted faster than anyone else in the room could comprehend. Just like that, Undyne was diced like an onion on a cutting board.

 She hardly had time to mutter a sound before she burst into dust.

 Papyrus’ mouth gaped open in silent disbelief. One moment they were basically dancing circles around Asgore and the next, Undyne was gone.

Gone.

Undyne… was gone.

Tears prickled at Paps eyes, and he felt the urge to cry. His one and only true friend was gone, just like that.

Bones erupted around Papyrus’ body, shredding all the tendrils that had coiled around him and the surrounding area. With a sharp intake of air to swallow down his emotions, he summoned a barrage of bones, each gaining more and more velocity until they were nothing more than streaks of white and red that flew around the room, pummeling every surface they came into contact with.

 Swinging the massive axe around, Asgore’s own adrenaline spiked as he expertly dodged the onslaught. The captain was recklessly throwing around his magic in a fit of rage. At the rate they were expending their resources, it was only a matter of seconds till Papyrus was running on empty.

Asgore’s teeth cracked into a toothy grin. He’d won. As much of a challenge they had provided him with; in the end their emotions were their downfall.

Sans could feel his brother’s crushing sorrow, even with how adamant they were to hold it under. After everything they’d been through over the past few days, they were finally starting to crack under the pressure.

 His baby brother didn’t deserve to endure such a heavy weight. That was Sans’ to bear. Struggling back against the spider monsters will to suffocate him and bring him and his brother to their demise, he urged what power he had left to overcome this quandary and save his brother. Papyrus was growing reckless in his grief.

 Sans’ coated his entire body in a bright red glow that burned damn near as hot as a furnace in an attempt to melt away the tendrils. His body ached and screamed in pain, but the pain wasn’t his alone to bear. Aluino’s own misery blended with his, seeing as how they were fused into one body. The pain to Aluino was torture but Sans on the other hand could take it. Fighting through the seering pain, he rose to his feet. They were shaky but at least now they were his again. Aluino had disappeared back into the far recess of his mind, having retreated to flee the torture.

Papyrus on the other hand could see stars filling his gaze as the world filled in with spots and monotonous colors. Just as he was about to draw a close to his act, Sans was there in the nick of time to save him. It was his time to prove once and for all that he wasn’t the only one that could protect those dearest to him. In a flash of light, Sans caught Papyrus’ body just as it started to drop to the floor, having used up the last of his magic. The captain looked small when he was nothing but a sack of bones.

“I’m- sorry… I wan’t- strong… enough…”

 Sans shushed him and wiped the sweat from off his brow. “You did amazing. I couldn’t be prouder.”

Was Papyrus hearing things or was Sans actually saying those things to him?

Setting his brother down against the wall, Sans steeled himself for the last act. This was it. He had to succeed or die trying. There was no holding back now. In one last desperate attempt to find victory, the bones around Sans feet started to swarm and mold together, forming dreadful shapes of monstrous snake or goat like skulls with jaws that chattered eerily and eyes that ignited to life and bore into you with fixed, predatory stares.

“What the hell is this?!” Asgore gawked at the abominations. Those things looked dreadfully familiar. That was when Asgore recalled Gaster having made horrific bone weapons out of the remains of dusted monsters with lingering regrets in the world. They were amalgamations of lost souls that sought retribution and destruction. These beastly atrocities were thought to have died with Gaster. They were highly destructive and far too powerful for any monster to control. Or so he thought. These artificial life forms swarmed around Sans protectively and waited patiently for his command.

 Gaster had claimed they couldn’t be tamed and had thus been disposed of.

 FUCK! HE WAS SO STUPID! This just showed how much Gaster had been lying to him. He had thought the scientist had been loyal. What more was he unaware of? How much more shit could this fat slob pull out of his ass?

“ARGH! I should have disposed of you right when Gaster came forward with your measly existence.” His patience was spent. He was tired of this bullshit fight. Just when he would get the upper hand, Sans would thwart him with something new and unexpected. Gaster, you planned this didn’t you? You just knew this was going to happen someday!

I hope you turn over in your grave to know that all your precious little experiments are about to be decommissioned.  

Chapter Text

Sans flicked a finger, a small cue to his armament to encircle the king. The skulls obliged immediately on command and opened their maws to charge condensed spheres of volatile energy. These gaster blasters were affixed to Sans’ magic, so they weren’t all powerful but they were his final ace up the sleeve. There use was strictly prohibited to extreme measures. Only using one or two wasn’t too strenuous but to command the whole fleet spelled certain doom. This was Sans’ answer. He would willingly give his life to end this cycle of despair. It was his last act to draw the curtains on this scene.

Asgore bellowed out the loudest war cry he could muster and then infused the shaft of his axe with magic, that quickly swelled and spread around the blade, coating it in a thick layer of noxious film that bubbled and steamed.

Asgore eyed up the blasters and the blasters eyed him back. It was a standoff. But a shot one at that. The blasters fired when ready, and the whole palace quaked under the shock wave of magic as it blasted the air with its fervent magnitude. The room lit up like the fourth of July, only far less festive.

The expert war meister weaved through the onslaught, seemingly unfazed to the eminence of death that faced him. He showed no signs of slowing. The stakes were to high to make a mistake now. With each missed shot, the king retaliated by sending out his own shockwaves of magic by a hefty swing of his cleaver that cut the air itself in its wake.

The blasters were just as nimble, having minds of their own that needed no commander. They already received their orders. Kill. And they would follow it through.

This gave Sans the window of opportunity he needed to catch his breath. His magic was draining at alarming rates with each blast that filled the room but it didn’t matter if his body lost all function. As long as he still carried his magic core, the blasters would run endlessly, till the last sand was drained from his body.

Sans eyed his brother’s saged broken body with anger and regret. He should never have involved his brother. Against his better judgement, he had allowed Undyne and Papyrus to tag along and now it had cost them an ally, and nearly his brother’s life. How could Sans be so foolish?

His laments were abruptly interrupted by the feeling of coils grappling his ribcage. Sans lurched at the sickening feeling of being invaded from the inside out. As his body weakened, so to did his hold over the other presence that was occupying his body. The muck hardly had any real control anymore, what power it had used before was practically snuffed out, but it was still making itself known. He could feel its anger and bloodlust but it had no means to retaliate. It was just another reminder that Sans needed to end everything. He couldn’t remain like this.

“I am going to fix this.” He promised. Whether his brother could hear him or not wasn’t really a concern. The promise was only for himself. Forcing himself back onto shaky feet, he approached the fight with saggy shoulders. He didn’t want to be here. He didn’t want to be doing this. Those lost days of doing nothing but sitting around his station all day or just getting yelled at for one stupid thing or another suddenly felt like pleasant memories in comparison. And now he longed to just go back to how things were. Minus the human of course.

Speaking of… his eyes roamed the charred battlefield but the human was nowhere to be seen. Had Frisk just abandoned them under the fog of war? Whilst everyone was distracted, did they make a break for it?

Sans could feel a growl growing in his chest as anger replaced his fatigue. Was all of this for nothing?

That was until he caught Frisk ducking and crawling between the rubble at the back of the room. The kid had done it! They had successfully snuck past the king whilst they were distracted. The exit was OH so close! He just needed to stall a little longer and then he could get Pap and himself out of this mess.

Asgore was still to preoccupied to notice. But during his vehement rage, he had successfully broken about four of the gaster blasters, leaving only six to remain. He looked rugged, with his clothes tattered and worn but he showed no signs of slowing.

“Is this the best you can muster Judge?” The king spat the name with bared teeth.

 Sans scoffed, “It is more than enough to take your proud ass to the grave!” If he could just keep the kings attention on him just a little longer. Please be speedy Frisk! He silently begged her within his mind.

His retort earned another vicious roar and the next wave of attacks were geared towards him. With neatly half the blasters out of commission, the fight wasn’t nearly as challenging, meaning he could spare more time trying to put the control room out of commission. If Sans was gone, then everything would be over.

Sans skirted out of the way, but his heel clipped a collapsed pillar and he toppled backwards. Shit. He wasted no time in porting in that same second, expecting the king to lunge for the opportunity but as he fazed back into existence on the other side of the room, he about screamed out of his bones as the axe crunched into the rock just above his head. Sans eyes were blown wide as he glanced up to find the axes mere inches from taking his head off. He had become to predictable and almost lost the game immediately.

King Asgore roared in laughter. Sans looked paralyzed with fear. It was written all over his face. The look was tantalizing and the boss monster licked his teeth with glee. “So close.” He sneered, knowing he was getting the upper hand. He could almost call this fun.

Sans had turned ridged with how much fear he felt. He had been lucky. If he wasn’t so short, he would have been a goner. He was just lucky Asgore hadn’t put into consideration of Sans height when he had made the throw.

“I won’t miss a second time.” The king promised with deadly confidence.

Maybe you can get the fuck out of here now Frisk? He really wished he could just turn tail and leave now. Pride be damned! He hardly had any of that useless emotion to begin with. Being the butt of the joe was nothing new to him, so being titled a coward wasn’t a big deal to him. His brother’s life was far more important. He either had to flee to save Papyrus or take Asgore down with him, but the second option was beginning to feel like a pipe dream.

Get over yourself! He chided internally. His own self loathing wasn’t doing him any favors.

A quick glance towards his brother and he made the split-second decision to cut their loses and leave. Asgore wasn’t a fool. He saw right through the plan just by reading the room and Sans body language. Before the skeleton even had time to take action, Asgore recalled his axe and turned his full advances on Papyrus.

“PAPYRUSSS!” Sans screamed in horror as the blade of the axe swung down upon his skull. All rains of hell bore down on the defenseless captain and Sans could hardly think. All instincts turned to hyper drive.

Papyrus jerked his eyes open just in time to see everything play out like a movie moving in slow motion from the king boring down upon him with the axe in full swing, to the cleaver glinting its metallic gleam from the lights above and Sans materializing out of thin air to intercept the blow.

The crunch of bone rang out ominously through the corridor and the once golden palace walls were stained red amidst the splatter of crimson blood. Papyrus felt the spray strike his face and clothes and then a dead weight collapsed into his lap. The captain’s eyes lost all light as horror seeped in to find his brother slumped against him, nearly cut in two. In a last-ditch effort to save him.

Papyrus reached out shaky hands, joints sticky and jittery as they stroked Sans slack jaw. “Sans?” Papyrus voice broke, hardly above a whisper but full of desperation. His words were meet with alarming silence. That was when he felt another wet, warmth start pouring down over him. Papyrus’ whole body rattled as he jerked back, clutching Sans to his chest protectively and shifted his gaze upwards to find the goat monster slumped over them, all light gone from his eyes, jaw agape and blood pooling out between his slacked maw, coating the skelebros in streams of red. The king… was dead?

Papyrus’ eyes roamed the scene before him, trying to make sense of everything as his mind had grown numb. Asgore had been impaled at every angle with long, sharp bone constructs and giant fanged skulls had clamped down along his shoulders, arms and legs. They also showed no signs of life but they held on desperately. It was like looking at a statue frozen in time. The king’s death had been immediate. From all their crazed desire to finally kill Papyus, they had left themselves the smallest window of vulnerability and Sans had exploited it in his last-ditch effort. At the reminder of Sans, Papyrus opened his stiff arms and his brothers body rolled out unrestricted. It was cold, limp, lifeless. Papyrus gave the saggy body a small shake and then another. Sans’ head lulled back and forth from the effort but it was no use. He was dead.

Papyrus grit his teeth together. He could feel the urge to cry but nothing seemed to happen. It was like he lost all feeling. He was just as empty and lifeless as the body in his arms.

“Sans?” A small voice called from somewhere out of the rubble. When they received no reply, Frisk stumbled out of the wreckage, looking lost and confused. Why had they even come back?

Frisk spun circles, trying to get a bearing on the situation. When their eyes finally found purchase with Asgore, they gasped in horror. It was a sickening sight, but their vision quickly transfixed on the bodies below the impaled king. It was who they were hoping for, but it was hard to tell if they were even still alive.

“S-sans?” They tried again. When only Papyrus looked up, they lurched back a step, fear rolling off of them like waves.

“He’s dead.” Papyrus’ voice sounded just as dead and Frisk sharply inhaled as tears fought their eyes. What had even been the purpose of freeing the human? What good had it done them? He lost his only friend, his brother and now, even his will to live.

When the first sniffles were heard and then the waterworks were released, Papyrus could hardly reciprocate. It was his own brother. Shouldn’t he be the one that was crying? So why did he feel nothing?

The crying continued for what felt like ages. The human was leaving a mess behind, meanwhile Papyrus remained transfixed to the wall, arms raised, holding a corpse that looked annoyingly at peace. Was this the master plan? To die and leave him alone? He wanted to shake Sans angerly, to get a reply. How smug he must feel to know he slayed the king of all monsters!

“Heh-hahaha… HAHAHA!” Papyrus couldn’t help myself. He started to laugh. It sounded forced and jarring but it was at last something. The thought of Sans looking down on him and feeling smug just made everything so funny! Right, it was funny!?

But if it was so funny, why wasn’t he feeling amused. Why did his laugh sound so desperate? And why was the human looking at him in pity?

“P-Papyrus…?” They tried cautiously. They looked like they were on the edge of their seat, ready to flee at the first signs of warning. But Papyrus wasn’t a threat. Not like this. He was just trying to cope. Just trying to understand. Just trying… to feel.

Why was he so worried? He obviously had a solution out of this mess. If you can’t beat ‘em, join them! Papyrus looked Frisk dead in the eye. “See you around, kid.”

Frisk cried in horror with no means to stop them as a red bone pierced Papyrus’ soul. The heart fractured and beat in panic, hoping to stop the inevitable. And then their body went limp, slumping up against his own brother’s eternal slumber. His hand found purchase with his Sans’ and he threaded their fingers as a last act of love before the world faded to black.

Chapter Text

Frisk refused to reset. Sans had forced them to promise him they wouldn’t, even if he died. But did that still apply if Papyrus died as well? Wasnt this all for naught?

A warmth trickled out between Frisks’ arms and they about jumped out of their skin. Looking down at the source, they found 6 lights pulsating out of their chest. During all the confusion, Frisk had descended down into the crypt to free the other human souls. They couldn’t in good conscience leave the other children down here to suffer any more than they had. They needed to finally be put to rest, instead of being trapped like specimens in a vial.

Clutched tightly were the 6 human souls who were all thrumming with life. Each glowed a unique color contingent on their personality trait, cyan for patience, orange for bravery, blue for integrity, purple for perseverance, green for kindness, and yellow for justice. Despite being tortured souls, the warmth they shared with Frisk brought them to their feet. It was strange but not unwelcome as each soul pulsated against Frisks’ own soul, trying to beat in unison and drawing out strength they didn’t know they had. And then they felt this urge, like things could be set right again. How? They asked within their mind. Then they felt the winds begin to blow, the air became lighter and Frisk was picked off the ground, body suspending amidst a cocoon of wind that encased them. Out of the wind, 6 children spirits took form, looking like little wisps as their souls were dragged back into parts of the wind.

“Do you wish to save them?” One of the children asked. Her soul was a vibrant green, like fresh spring grass.

“I do!” Frisk said with conviction.

“Despite what the monster’s have done to us?” This time the yellow soul spoke. It was a young boy who looked to be just a year older than Frisk.

“Not all monsters are bad!” Frisk pleaded.

“We can see that.” The purple soul reached out to touch Frisk’s shoulder. A comforting gesture that brought a lopsided smile to Frisks’ face. They had been none stop crying, looking like a complete mess but the simple touch calmed their aching heart.

“You risked a lot to free us!” The orange soul chipped in.

“We have seen your adventures. We know the routes you took.” This time the blue spirit spoke but they didn’t sound nearly as pleased.

Frisk hung their head in shame. They know they had done a lot of good and bad. Experimented with things that shouldn’t be experimented with and left the “game” on loop.

“Easy there. They weren’t doing it alone.” Cyan gently chided the blue spirit.

“I wasn’t about to leave empty handed.” This time the voice came from behind Frisk and they felt arms loop around their shoulders.

The other souls glared in unison at the offending party and Frisk glanced over their shoulder to see Chara for the 2^nd time of their life. Their lips was set in a hard frown and they looked to be holding Frisk possessively.

“Free Frisk!” Orange cried out and yellow reiterated him.

“They have done enough, leave them alone!”

“I was merely getting back at the monsters for abandoning me!” Chara argued back. “If they had just listened to me, then Asriel could have saved the underground and I wouldn’t have died in vain!”

This was news to Frisk. They had known a little bit about Chara from stories they’d heard to rumors passed down the grape vine but never the full story. From what they had learned, Chara had consumed poison and died. Asriel attempted to take their body to the surface, to lay it to rest but the humans killed Asriel out of fear. Thus the humans and monsters were never able to come to terms with each other’s existence.

“Asriel and I made a plan, a plan that would free the monsters once and for all! I willing ate buttercups in order to free my soul from my mortal body. Asriel then fused with me and we ascended to the surface to retrieve more souls. But Asriel refused to take the souls we needed. I had told him they would never accept us but he insisted there was another way. As he fled, we were caught by a manhunt. Just before he lost us our last life, he brought us back to our parents and told them all of our plans. Instead of taking this chance to retaliate, Asgore and Toriel locked down the kingdom. This gave the humans ample time to fortify the barrier, making it impossible to breech without 8 souls! Seven was recorded within the books but that information was kept out of the public eye as Asgore realized his mistake to late. The monsters had been completely cut off from ever reaching the surface. This doomed the underground to destruction! And in return, everything I had worked for was ruined!!!” Chara clutched onto Frisk even tighter. “Asgore knew he had to do something, so he found the weakest point in the barrier and dug a hole out of the mountain top, hoping some reckless wanderers would fall to their end. When Toriel discovered Asgore’s plans, a fight brought out and the pair decided to go separate ways. Asgore returned to the capitol while Toriel sealed off the ruins, preventing any monster from ever finding the pitfall. In honor of Asriel and I, Toriel planted a bed of buttercups to catch any humans fall, but to what end? The sentiment has little meaning anymore. Every human that has even passed through there has died! We had been betrayed by both humans and monsters alike! In their ignorance, they single handedly caused the destruction of the underground. Now monsters have lost all gentle kindness they once possessed. They kill for fun and I retaliate!”

After hearing all of Chara’s story, silence filled the room. It was a lot to take in but finally things were starting to click into place. The full story was out on the table and it was hard to swallow. Despite what Chara said though, weren’t they just shifting the blame? To Frisk, it sounded like everything that transpired was really their fault.

Despite these being personal thoughts and opinions, the link Chara and Frisk shared allowed the other to hear and feel everything that crossed Frisk’s mind and Chara screamed out in anger.

“IT WAS NOT MY FAULT!”

No one dared say anything. The tensions were high and Frisk realized they needed to play the mediator and get their other half to see reason.

“I wasn’t trying to say you caused everything but Chara, your hatred of humans is what ultimately led to your death. Toriel and Asgore had nothing to do with it. They were only thinking of their people when they decided to lock down the kingdom. It was a perfectly reasonable response. Of course, they loved you and Asriel and wanted to set things right, but they couldn’t put everyone else at risk.”

Chara’s soul constrained around Frisk even tighter as they started to attack Frisk in anger. They didn’t have a physical body so there were limitations but Frisk could feel their soul being squeezing. It was painful but they could tell they weren’t at risk of dying.

“Chara please.” Green was the first to speak out of the other souls and they hoped they could coax some presence of mind out of the enraged red soul.

“Mom and Dad ruined my plans! Asriel ruined my plans! If they had just listened! Things next would have turned out like this!”

 The constraints were starting to feel suffocating, but Frisk still fought to argue back. “You said it yourself, monsters were innately loving and kind back before your death. Why would they want to take a life if that were the case? Your plan hinged on putting your brother’s morals and standards on the line and when that fell through, you felt like you needed someone to blame!”

“Shut up, shut up, shut up!”

“Instead of blaming others, you should take responsibility!”

“Frisk… I don’t think…” Purple tried to interject but Frisk ignored them. This was a fight between themselves and their accomplice. They were finding truth within their own words because they had done the same thing through the numerous runs they’d experienced throughout the underground.

It was hard to hear the truth but it was necessary for the next step in change. To accept responsibility, find forgiveness with oneself and to grow out of the ashes.

Chara’s anger wavered and Frisk knew they were getting to them. They were adamant in their denial but they were starting to waver. Perhaps they already knew deep down, but it was always so much easier to push the blame then to admit your mistake.

“If they had only listened… none of this would have happened…” Chara looked physically stricken and Frisk felt some remorse but they had a lot more thoughts they had been hanging on to since they’d first started to uncover the history of the underground, that they chose to plow on with their interrogation, rather than try to be subtle. Before it had been like looking for a grain of salt mixed into a pile of sand to get answers, but now that they had this opportunity to actually talk to their accomplice, they couldn’t let this opportunity slide.

“Why did you think it was a good idea to end your own life in the first place?”

“i-“

Frisk cut them off, wanting to voice their full spiel while they had the floor. “If you loved the monsters so much and they actually returned that affection, then how was ending your life and trying to kill your own kind going to make them happy? How is this outcome not your fault?”

“WHAT DO YOU KNOW?” Chara grabbed hold of Frisk’s hair and yanked their head back. Despite their embodiment being comprised of only determination and energy, they still held far too much power for a measly spirit. It was no wonder their soul still resided in the world. Unlike the other children’s souls which were trapped within containment jars, Chara had been a free spirit but they choose to remain, to harbor hate and grief and to turn that rage against everything, even the monsters they once deeply loved. “I am sick of your accusations! I did what I thought was best for all monsters and Asriel understood. He knew that the monsters could never truly be happy trapped under the earth with no access to the sunlight. To pass through the barrier, only one human soul was required. All we had to do was get six more and then the barrier could have been gone forever. But Asriel got cold feet and now HERE we are!”

“So it’s Asriel’s fault then?” Frisk countered back. “I thought you blamed Asgore? OR did you blame Toriel. You know, I honestly can’t keep track of who you blame anymore. It seems to me like you think everyone but yourself is at fault here!”

Chara’s aura turned a dark muddy red, like dried blood plastered on a guillotine and they screamed in anger. The other souls observing from the outer circle cried in alarm and spread out to the far corners of the room. With a break in the formation, Frisk dropped to the ground and yelped as they scrapped their knee on the crumbled stone flooring. The feeling of dread loomed over them and they dismissed the injury to focus their attention on the threat boring down on them. Chara’s face morphed into a sadistic grin, with bloodshot eyes, pale skin and black ink began to poor out of the corner of their eyes, nose and mouth. It was like watching a demon shedding its skin to reveal its true form. Beneath the human mask, Chara had really become a demonic vengeful wraith. Then Frisk felt violated as their soul was quite literally ripped out of their body against their will and it floated up into Chara’s hand. Frisk and Chara made eye contact as the demon child began to squeeze.

Unlike before, Frisk could feel their life force draining rapidly as copious amounts of pressure was increasingly applied to the delicate heart. Chara was actually trying to kill them! They had forgotten the deal they’d struck with Chara oh so many runs ago, where they’d sold their soul out of desperation and now it was over. Out of their own anger, they had picked at old wounds Chara bore and all sensibility was lost. Chara was beyond reasoning now and Frisk was going to meet their end.

“CHARA!” An unfamiliar voice screamed out in desperation and suddenly the pressure on their soul released. Frisk gasped for air, despite their lungs not being the thing that needed to breath.

The demon looked around the room, face draining further of color if possible and they twisted this way and that, searching dolorously to find the source. Through the link, Frisk could feel a mix of horrified, sadness and desperation radiating from Chara.

Then Frisk caught sight of a small patch of earth breaking apart before a small flower poked its head through. Flowey? Frisk had almost forgotten about the flower after they disappeared many, many months ago. At the start, Flowey had nervously approached them once or twice before vanishing all together. Despite almost nothing being known about the talking flower, Frisk had found some evidence that the dead prince had been attempted to be resurrected via DETERMINATION through a few indepth explorations of Alphys’ lab.

If this really was the dead prince, then did Chara know?

Their question was immediately answered as all demonic markings evaporated from Chara’s scarred body and they touched down beside the flower. Their knees crumbled as if the sheer weight of the world landed on their shoulders and they reached out with tiny, anxious hands but they didn’t close the gap immediately, leaving Flowey room to return the hug or retreat. Flowey looked conflicted, and the hesitation didn’t go unnoticed as hurt flashed through Chara’s eyes.

Slowly their hands drooped to their sides and their head hung. “You don’t trust me, do you?”

Flowey glanced around the room, reading the tension in the air and how the other souls looked frightened and cornered. “What became of us?” The flower asked softly.

It was a rhetorical question but those few words carried so much weight. Unlike the accusations Frisk was throwing earlier, Flowey seemed to know how to handle the situation better than any other occupants in the room. Maybe it was the soft-spoken voice, maybe it was the feeling of familiarity to the tortured soul, or maybe it was the question that shared dual responsibility. Whatever the case, it was fascinating to watch as Chara’s outer appearance reflected their inner child. Maybe what Chara needed after all this time was someone who knew and understood them and had undergone the same trials and tribulation.

It was to soon to tell but the fight was draining rapidly out of Chara as they pondered the question. “I just want things to go back to the way they were…”

Silence followed that statement as Flowey contemplated a response. “What is lost can’t be returned. We can only try to change it. …Will you?”

“What can I do?” Chara was conflicted. They were merely a spirit, what was Asriel expecting of them?

“We can reset for a final time.”

Frisk looked stupefied at the suggestion. Another reset? What would that accomplish though?

“What will that do?” Chara rose to their feet, energy returning to their disheartened body. Whether it was explosive anger again or open curiosity, it was hard to tell. Maybe it was a bit of both? Whatever the case, Frisk choose to speak next.

“Wouldn’t bringing Asgore back be counterproductive?”

The other spirits nodded in agreement but Flowey held a leaf up, signaling they wanted to speak. “With all the souls gathered here, we could reset everything back to the very beginning, where it all began.”

A chorus of gasps and voiced disbelief followed that statement. Was it really possible? That was years and YEARS of history wiped from the face of the earth. What would even become of the outer world? Would Frisk cease to exist? Chara must have sensed their distress because to their surprise, the first child looked directly at them and replied to the unasked question. “The surface is unaffected by the resets. Only what is trapped within the barrier is influenced.”

Frisk wanted to ask how they knew but then they realized very quickly that Chara had returned to the surface some time after their fall, so of course they would know.

That piece of information was at least comforting but, in a way, not either. That meant Frisk had been missing for months and probably presumed dead at this point.

“D-do you want to try?” Flowey asked nervously.

There was a passing of looks around the room but no one spoke up for some time, till yellow stepped forward. “Why not? That would mean the monsters won’t become bloodthirsty and out for vengeance. Besides, we intended to do this from the start, but this is way better than we thought possible!"

That sparked the rest of the group to agree, leaving Frisk and Chara. The pair stared unwavering at each other, each searching for the other’s decision. Whatever might happen, an underground where they weren’t constantly having to watch behind their back sounded kind of nice and they wanted to see what Chara’s home looked like before the fall. They considered how mad Sans would be that they were breaking their promise, but surely they would forgive them after they realized the underground would no longer be a place of death and destruction. He could rebuild his life with his brother.

“I’m in.” They spoke in unison, the bond reflecting each other’s determination with those words.

Flowey let out a big sigh in relief. This exchange had been short and sweet but their presence alone was the gold dust the souls didn’t know they’d been searching for. Perhaps no one could have predicted this outcome, hence why this was the first time in centuries this option was even viable. But with eight human souls and a young boss monster to boot, they had a chance to change history!

“Ready?” The flower asked, giving anyone a chance to back out. No one did.

“Ready!” Each soul replied with a mix of joy, fear, suspense, excitement, glee and most of all, love. Flowey held a leaf out to their sibling and Chara looked choked up before their hand slipped gently down into Flowey’s hold where they gripped each other tightly. They were going home. Maybe not physically, but they could be there together in spirit.

Chapter Text

A soft breeze blew open a pair of loose dirty curtains. The air was freezing but to a monster made up of literal bones, the cold was hardly a concern. What was a concern, was the fact that the window was open! Sans launched out of his bed faster than a rocket blasting to space and slammed his window seal closed, casting the room back into darkness. His heart like soul was practically hammering out of his chest from the amount of anxiety he just experienced all in the span of a few milliseconds. He should have been dusted with that amount of carelessness. How could he have forgotten to lock it up tightly? In fact… where had the boards even gone that he nailed down? Had a monster broken in?

That’s weird... Sans noted the lack of nail holes in the wall. Did the infiltrator take the time to patch up his wall? For what purpose!? He knew his brother wouldn’t do this. Paps was just as paranoid, if not more so with keeping the house highly secure.

Ow… Sans winced as his head pulsed with a surge of pain.

Suddenly his head was swarming with memories that flooded in as the dam gates burst open but it was INTENSE, like a fire springing out of your very bloodstream and scorching you from the inside out. Simultaneously, he felt his world spinning while he was also falling. This was a new reset. But it was a hundred times more painful and unforgiving as he crumbled up like a wad of paper onto the floor. His hands were clenched tightly, to the point of grinding nails into bone as he tried to ground himself from the pain and wretched feelings pouring inside his very being. His life…. (lives?) were flashing before his eyes and overtaking his senses. He was witnessing all his life experiences through a mental theater that had hundreds of different films all playing at the same time. This was the WORST. What on earth had the kid done?

For a body made of bones, Sans was sweating. He was draining his body thin of every liquid possible through every orifice. And then finally, after many MANY agonizing minutes, the layers started to settle and he could see a clear picture. His last life experience floated to the top and everything became abundantly clear that he had fucked up. He had died to save Papyrus and now he was back in his bedroom all over again. FUCK! The human had promised!

As that information sunk in, Sans could do little more than just stare blankly up at his ceiling. The spinning was slowing but he still felt the sensation of falling. Or maybe that was just his spirit leaving his body…

All of that nonsense, only to end up back here. What a wasted effort. Why did he even bother? Of course the human wouldn’t keep their promise. He was a fool to believe them. Heh. He knew this was going to happen. Hah! It was laughable that he had any hope at all.

He wanted to scream while simultaneously slink off to Grillbys to drown himself in his woos. Papyrus was back to square one. He was back to square one. And any day now, the human would turn up once more. Only this time, Sans wasn’t about to play their game anymore. He would just kill them on the spot and be done with it.

A firm knocking on his door stirred Sans from his laments. “Yea?” He asked disheartedly. Any second now, Paps was going to scream at him and demand he get his ass over to his station. What time was it anyway?

“Sans?” A soft voice asked. It was so soft in fact, that Sans was caught off guard. It sounded so odd, yet familiar? He felt stupefied.

The seconds ticked by and there was this painful silence. Sans dared not even breath because he felt like he might wake from a dream. This was a dream right? Because that voice he just heard was a sound he thought he would never hear again. “P-papyrus?” He asked cautiously.

There was this breath of a sigh, out of relief maybe? And then the doorknob twisted. Sans steeled himself. For what, he didn’t even know but he couldn’t move or even prepare himself for the worse. He was just locked up in place, watching with batted breath as the door slowly swung open.

There in the doorway stood a tiny, miniature version of the Papyrus Sans had grown very accustomed to. This was Papyrus as a very early teen. He was comically short, given how much taller he was than Sans as an adult, but here he was back to being around the same height as Sans, maybe only a couple inches taller. And he was dressed in a soft sweater, sweat pants and a red scarf wrapped around his neck. It was an unblemished scarf that had escaped the unkind wear and tear that befell it in future years.

Sans’ room was dark, with the only light coming from the slits in the window shudders. The halo of light behind Sans made the shadows around his body and face darker and thus harder to make out but Papyrus would recognize his brother’s shape any day. When the only response Papyrus received was quiet observation, he cleared his throat and spoke again. “Sans?” He asked nervously.

As Sans continued to stare, there was something even more apparent that left Sans’ speechless. Papyrus’ eyelights were devoid of red and his teeth were square, unchiseled to match the harsh environment. When had Papyrus made the change? Wasn’t he still a child when cruelty forced his hand? All of this felt surreal and impossible. A timeline that shouldn’t exist. Was he in heaven? Or was this a pleasant dream to send him off to the afterlife?

Sans jumped to his feet and took fast strides towards his baby brother. Papyrus tensed at the silent approach and reflexively summoned a bone weapon. Arms flew past either side of his head and suddenly his skull was being pressed up against a firm chest, in a very tight squeeze.

“If this is a dream, I never want to wake again.”

Papyrus wanted to protest against the sudden bear hug but his words choked up in his throat as he felt quakes passing through Sans’ body and vibrating through his own bones. Was Sans crying? His question was answered when he felt teardrops plopping onto the top of his head. It wasn’t sobbing. In fact, it was oddly quiet. Almost like Sans was afraid to make a sound.

Papyrus reached his own arms up to return the hug and he felt a breath escape through Sans’ teeth. It was a soft gasp but it was apparent they weren’t expecting the returned affection. Did they still think this was a dream?

“Sans.” Papyrus whispered their name to get their attention. His brother didn’t reply but he felt them shift, which was as much of a response as he was going to get it seemed. Swallowing a lump in his throat, he continued. “We are safe. This isn’t a dream.”

“Heh- if only that were true.” Sans was in denial. A reasonable assessment but Papyrus was having none of it. He firmly pressed a hand against Sans’ chest, just enough to separate them so their eyes could meet.

“I’m telling you the truth. I’m just as perplexed as you are but we’re both here. We’re alive…”     

“Wha-? I-I don’t understand…” Did something almost happen to them in this timeline?

“It’s strange, isn’t it… this is our home and yet not our home. I’m me, but I feel… different? A-and you, you’re my broth-eeer…” Papyrus trailed off, looking Sans over and just now realizing the differences. “You.. look different? Y-you are Sans, right?”

That was an odd question. Of course, he was Sans. And what did he mean he looked different? Sans peeled away from Papyrus to see his reflection, although it stung his soul to be apart. The closest mirror could be found in Papyrus’ room. He quickly headed for the room and threw the door open. He faltered ever so slightly to see a room so familiar and yet littered with someone else’s stuff. Another oddity he could deal with later. Continuing to the mirror, which thankfully was the one consistent feature, he paused at his reflection, taking it in slowly. Just like his baby bro, his features were softer, rounder and his own pointed teeth were gone. He looked like a complete stranger.

Sans felt his brother’s presence join him in the room and he pried his eyes away from the mirror to regard his brother.

“I don’t understand…”

“Oh good. Then I’m not the only one confounded.”

Sans stared questioningly, wanting him to elaborate.

“I’ve never experienced a reset before so I wasn’t entirely certain what constitutes as normal…”

“Never experienced a reset before?” He mimicked Papyrus’ words, like he was still trying to grasp the situation. His head was reeling with everything that was being thrown at him.

“Oh right, I guess I should start with an explanation first.” Papyrus stroked his chin, trying to formulate words to help him convey what needed to be said. Meanwhile, Sans felt his knees give out. Instead of fighting it, he just sank to his butt and looked up with an unreadable expression. Papyrus broke out of his thoughts to regard his older brother’s predicament. “Perhaps sitting is for the best.” Crossing his own feet, he plopped down beside Sans, all the while still sitting upright, authoritative in posture. Despite his outward appearance, this was still the same Papyrus. Somehow the action was comforting and it consoled the elders scrambled heart.

“Before I begin, do you remember dying?” The question seemed so silly but then again, this was Papyrus’ first experience, so he nodded his head in response. He would try to speak but he was worried he’d disrupt or ruin whatever this whole interaction was. “I guess a reset sets you back to the beginning, while your memories are preserved. I should be clear, I never forced the human child’s hand to reset. I simply wanted to join you.”

Sans grit his teeth, making an audible grinding noise that was painful to the ears. Papyrus felt like swallowing his words. He wasn’t the best at storytelling and he especially wasn’t good at keeping some details to oneself. “What I mean to say is, this outcome, reset or whatever… is just as confusing and new to me. Have you always restarted life back to when I was… a child?” Papyrus held out his palms and turned them over to inspect each angle with reserved interest. He was trying his best to maintain a calm disposition.

Once again, Sans settled for a head shake. He desperately wanted to speak up but his voice was stuck at the back of his throat. Simple gestures were just going to have to do till he could get a lid on his emotions.

“I see. Then perhaps having two souls travel back in time doubled the effects, or perhaps it was by all the souls of the humans being gathered in one place… has it always just been the one human to send you back in time?” Another nod. Papyrus hummed with consideration. “How far back in time does the human usually send you?”

Sans swallowed and tried to speak but all that came out was a soft whimper. How pathetic… he felt stupid for such a sad display and his predicament didn’t go unnoticed. Papyrus looked his brother over slowly, before sighing and scooting over closer to grab Sans around the middle and hoist them up, only his weaker body didn’t quite measure up to his expectations. Papyrus only got Sans to flop into him from the lack of strength, so he just used what power he had to instead drag Sans over till they were sitting in front of them. From behind, he nervously wrapped his small arms around their middle, in his attempt at a hug. He wasn’t what you’d call sentimental or “huggy” but his brother was clearly still trying to come to terms with reality. Papyrus needed to show them this was real and he wasn’t going anywhere.

Sans grabbed Papyrus’s hands, holding them tightly and even pulling them in closer. This was nice… “I-“ He swallowed thickly, and took a deep breath. He had to talk or they were going to get nowhere. “The timeline usually only resets to just a day before the human enters the underground. It’s like the human’s failsafe to undo everything they’d done without anyone remembering.” He took another minute to breath, and Papyrus waited patiently for him. “I didn’t always remember resets. I only could recall their “loaded saves.” They are like miniature versions of resets. Those would take them back to a preset time. A full reset, is like what I just explained. The first ten or so full resets, I was just like everyone else. Forgetting everything that the human had done. But the determination within my body-“ Sans held up one of his hands, looking at it with bitterness, “started to grow more powerful… and I started to recollect things. It wasn’t immediate. It was like- forgetting you left something in the room, but when you go back to retrieve it, you can’t remember what it was. Then you leave for the day, and it just hits you!” He settled his hand back over Papyrus’s arm, giving it a gentle squeeze for comfort. “I eventually became fully aware of each reset, till it got to the point that I wished… it would all just… end. Why couldn’t I- b-be like the rest?” Tears pooled into the corners of his eyes and he fought off the urge to cry. What he wouldn’t give for a bottle of mustard right now…

Papyrus still hadn’t said anything, but he tightened his hug. His arms were shaking. He pondered how he was able to remember this reset then, if it originally wiped Sans’ memory at first. Was it because Alphys gave him a high dosage? Or was it the doing of the human souls?

“If I may-“ A sudden shadow appeared in the doorway of Papyrus’ room.

“AaaaAaaaaaA!” Sans screamed in alarm and fell backwards into Papyrus’ lap in his attempt to flee. Papyrus quickly slung an arm around Sans’ middle, pulling them further against themselves as his other arm summoned a bone weapon defensively.

“Sorry…” In the doorway stood a young goat monster. In their hands was a buttercup that they pressed tightly against their chest, crinkling the petals slightly in their distress. They were visibly just as shaken as the pair in the room. “I- I know it was rude of me to just come in… but I can explain what’s going on.” Their tone sounded a mix of pleading and eager to help.

“Who-“ Papyrus began, but Sans cut him off.

“Asriel?!” He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. Was this really queen Toriel and king Asgore’s son? How had Flowey restored their body?

The goat looked to the ground and bit their bottom lip nervously. “Yea…”

“How?” Sans pressed his question. He needed answers.

“Frisk and Chara… a-and the other children.” AHhH! Where should he begin? It had been so long since he had his own body and could talk to others freely. All these emotions were so powerful now after having been a hollow husk before.

Papyrus narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Asriel was dead. Whoever this way, he wasn’t going to fall for it. But Sans rose to his feet and started to approach them. Papyrus was perplexed and immediately grabbed their hand, trying to pull them back to safety. Sans halted in surprise before resting a soothing hand over Papyrus’ grip. “It’s fine.” He said confidently. And there was no way Papyrus could argue. They sounded so certain. But- He looked back at the young prince in confusion. There was clearly more going on that he was out of the loop on.

“Well- uh- you see… er-“ Was this what being alone for centuries did to you? It made you socially awkward and a babbling mess? He settled a paw over his thudding heart. “I spoke with the children. We all agreed to make this the last reset we ever did.”

“The last reset?!” He asked hopefully. Was it actually true?

“Yes. The souls are gone. ALL of them. We made sure they were never even collected within this timeline to begin with.”

This was a new phrase Papyrus hadn’t heard before. “This timeline?” He rose to his feet and looked around Sans to eye the mini monster. They looked to be about his own age at this current point in time. But weren’t they already dead many years before Papyrus was even born?

“It’s a… long story.”

Sans grabbed Papyrus’ hand for support. “Tell us, please.” They needed answers, even if he didn’t like what they heard.

“Do you know what an alternate-timeline is?” He directed the question to Sans, given their history with resets.

“Yes. I know of them. I was researching it in my free time.” -To find an escape from the hellhole he was stuck in…

Papyrus could only look on. He had no knowledge to contribute.

“Well- we diverged the timeline… and reset it back to as close to its origin as we could. It took the power of all eight human souls, and my own, to make this possible.”

Sans considered the tale they were being told. Was it actually possible to diverge a timeline? How could he even dispute it?! I mean, look at Papyrus… even he had changed himself. There was something else odd that they mentioned- they reset them back close to the origin… “What do you mean by origin?”

“I’m honestly not entirely sure, but the children said they could see a branching timeline from where it all began, like a central hub of all occurrences, or something like that. So, they set a branching timeline as close to the “origin” as they could.”

That explanation was sound enough to be plausible. If the humans could load to a precise time, then they must be able to see the full timeline to be accurate. “Then what about you? How are you here?” At this point, Sans would believe anything. Human DETERMINATION seemed to have infinite possibilities.

“That was a final parting gift… all the souls used the last of their power to merge with my body…” They’d used up a lot of their DETERMINATION for the reset, so Asriel wasn’t all powerful, despite having six human souls powering his body. “The six souls in Asg- dad’s possession fused with me.”

“Then-”

“Chara remained with Frisk. They are no doubt at the entrance to the ruins…” Asriel watched his reaction carefully. This news was either going to be taken well or bad…

Hearing that the child was still around was a blend of frustration but also feeling weirdly relieved. Relieved he could hear from their own side of the story. -Annoyed, because they still had another escort mission on their hands… otherwise, there might be another repeat of resets. Asriel claimed they made one final reset, but so long as a human remained in the underground, he could only believe that statement with a grain of salt.

“Won’t the child be met with hostility?” Papyrus asked.

Asriel shook their head. “Monsters closer to the origin aren’t hostile like they were in your timeline.”

Sans looked around the house at the reminder. It really did seem softer, homier and less doom and gloom. So, this is what the world was suppose to be like… that explained the lack of boarded windows. Just saying it was safer still didn’t quite set home. Seeing was believing.

“Shall we meet up with the human then?” Sans asked Asriel with a sense of purpose and eagerness. He was going to see first hand how much everything had changed.

Papyrus rested a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m coming with you.” He left no room to argue, but Sans wasn’t opposed anyways. In fact, he was relieved his brother was going to tag along. They were finally in this together. Without Papyrus being here… and remembering everything as Sans did, he wasn’t sure he’d have been able to pick back up the pieces of his life and continue living again.

…………

Just before they set out, Asriel borrowed one of Sans’ hoodies, using it to cover their head. He didn’t want to be recognized and stopped from meeting up with Frisk. With that out of the way, the trio left the protective walls of the house and took their first steps into the unknown. Despite hearing it wasn’t dangerous to be outside anymore, the three were still on edge. They’d seen the horrors of their world and only going off of what the children told them wasn’t validating enough.  

The first thing they took note of was how clean everything looked. Even the air smelt fresh, free of blood and trash. They noticed a few locals outside and watched them suspiciously. A small mouse monster noticed their stare and offered them an enthusiastic wave. Sans blinked a few times in surprise, before returning the gesture nervously.

“Hmph. Things really have changed.” Papyrus was still putting on an air of confidence and authority, trying to appear intimidating to deter monsters from approaching. But they hardly received any glances, other than from a monster or two who found his behavior to be cute for a child. Papyrus pretended not to notice them, but he felt his cheeks warm in embarrassment. Sans slunk further into his jacket. It was very unnerving with how drastically the underground had changed. It was like it wasn’t even his home. When they came up on the town square, Sans’ eyes widened in surprise. A giant glowing Christmas tree with flashing lights, decorated the center walkway. He had heard about Christmas from folk tales and story books, but to see it was actually being celebrated here felt so surreal and fantastical. His eyes stared transfixed on the lights, till Papyrus grabbed his arm, pulling him away.

“Sans, focus!” He only scolded them lightly, because he knew what they were feeling. He felt the same way but they had a mission. They could come back later.

“Right, sorry.” He took one last glance behind them for good measure before prying his eyes away from the spectacle. Was this really their life now? Perhaps… it wasn’t so bad. He could actually give Papyrus the life they deserved.

….

No one said anything for the entire walk. They were more preoccupied with taking in their surroundings. It was all the same, and yet different. Everything was well kept; the monsters were all friendly and not a single trap was laid out on any part of the road. With each step, it was becoming undeniably clear that they really were safe here. This was a new home they were going to have to get to know, one step at a time. Papyrus grabbed Sans’ hand, and Sans looked over at them inquisitively. He didn’t say anything but he flashed them a knowing smile. He could sense what Sans was thinking and they felt the same way. Sans squeezed their hand in turn and swung their clasped hands lightly as they walked. For once, he was in high spirits. Papyrus chuckled quietly to himself and followed suit.

Finally, they arrived at the giant double doors leading into the ruins. Asriel rubbed his paws together nervously before giving them an experimental push. They opened with ease. It wasn’t locked?

Sans and Asriel shared a look. Did that mean Toriel never divorced Asgore in this timeline? Or was that yet to come? Whatever the case may be, that made their job a whole lot easier. Asriel took the lead in, while Sans and Papyrus followed suit, walking side by side, matching each other’s pace. For once, Papyrus didn’t have his long legs to out-stride Sans’ short gait.

The ruins were fairly well lit as they made their way deeper within the halls. Asriel looked around in solemn silence, as they recalled their time down here, trapped in the body of a flower. Papyrus and Sans on the other hand had never been in this part of the underground, so they were more in awe.

They continued onwards to the point that Asriel was growing worried. Why hadn’t the meet up with Frisk and Chara yet? Were they wrong in assuming they’d appear at the entrance? But that was just it, Asriel navigated the group to the buttercup flower bed, only to find Frisk laying atop the bed of flowers. They were quiet and still.

“Frisk, Chara!” Asriel called their name in alarm. Fear gripped their soul as they threw themselves to their knees at Frisk’s side and grabbed their shoulders, shaking them wildly.

“Oi-” Sans strode forward and grabbed Asriel’s shoulder, jolting it back. “Don’t be so rough!”

They looked up at him with tears in their eyes. “They’re not responding.” He couldn’t lose them again! Not after everything they did to set the underground free. How was this fair?

Sans could merely roll his eyes at their melodramatic display. “You dumb prince, they’re not dead.” Asriel blinked rapidly in surprise at the statement. “I can see their soul is just fine.”

Asriel tilted their head in confusion. A monster wasn’t normally able to see a soul without permission or calling it out. Now that they actually thinking with a clearer head, Frisk was still warm to the touch. From what Asriel could recall, Chara turned cold when they died. A relieved sigh escaped past their lips and he settled his head in the crook of Frisk’s neck. “Thank goodness…” He whispered out in relief.

Asriel jolted in surprise as he felt a small hand cup the back of their head, rubbing it gently. “That was quite the wake-up call.” Frisk’s small voice was thick with sleep but their tone was light with humor.

“I am so relieved you are alright!” Asriel grabbed the hand atop their head and pulled it down between them, enclosing it in both of his paws. He was so happy, he could hardly contain himself. Frisk smiled warmly up at them before their eyes noticed the two skeletons standing behind Asriel.

“Sans? Papyrus?” They asked slowly in confusion. “You look- different.”

“Glad of you to notice. And you look like shit.” Sans grinned teasingly down at them.

“I feel like shit.” They admitted. With stiff limbs, they rose to their feet, Asriel helping all the while. “I assume it worked then?” They asked, but they already knew the answer with evidence right in front of them.

“So, Asriel wasn’t talking out of their ass then.” The prince in question threw them a half-hearted glare and Sans chuckled.

“I can only assume he explained the timeline and how it was diverged, right?” Frisk looked between Sans and Asriel for clarity. Sans nodded in response. “Good, then there isn’t much else to say.” This was all going to be a learning curve for them all.

“I believe my parents are still at the castle. When we came up to the ruin’s door, it was unlocked.” The implication of what they were saying didn’t go unnoticed. That meant the king and queen hadn’t separated after their fight over losing Asriel. He could go home and save his family!

Frisk pulled them in for a tight hug and squealed happily. “That’s amazing! Wow! Just imagine their reaction when they see you!”

He laughed, sharing their excitement and energy, but there was one thing he needed to say. He pulled back a bit, while maintaining contact with them, to look Frisk in the eye. “We can go see them together.” His eyes pierced into them, trying to convey a thousand words they couldn’t speak. Frisk and Chara were both part of his family now. He wanted them to live with them. To be their sibling again. Frisk’s eyes filled up with tears and they looked nervously between Asriel and Sans. They so desperately wanted to take them up on their offer, but what would Sans say? They’d promised to leave the underground and never return. After breaking their promise on the reset, they couldn’t break another one…

Asriel was confused by their attitude and also turned to look at Sans, silently asking them what Frisk was hesitant about. The skeleton groaned in annoyance. He wanted the human gone. The trauma they caused him was years in the making. But if he kicked them out now, he’d be making himself out to be the bad guy in this situation. His mind reeled on the appropriate answer. Well… Asriel was the prince of the underground. Their words were as final as the king’s. That seemed like a reasonable enough excuse he could get behind. “The prince is asking you to live with him. That’s your decision to make.” He folded his arms across his chest and looked off to the side, feigning indifference.

Papyrus narrowed his eyes, as he knew Sans was putting up a front. A small twitch in their fingers was the only indicator for outsiders to know that they were anything but calm in this situation.

Frisk seemed to pick up on it as well as their eyes turned down cast. “Thanks Asriel. But I have a promise to keep.” The dejected tone cut like ice. Sans hissed in irritation.

“You stupid fuck! Stop thinkin’ about me and do whatever the hell ya want!” He turned a cold, angry scowl their way, eyes glowing a blazing blue, that flickered ever so slightly red.

Frisk lurched back in alarm and Asriel stepped forward protectively. Just as quickly as their temper flared, it settled and he turned his head away again. “I’m saying… do what’ll make you happy… just don’t reset again.” He finalized his words, all fight draining from his body. Papyrus rested a hand on their head and he flopped forward, resting his skull against their chest. Papyrus stroked it gently as he watched the events unfold.

Frisk sucked in a deep haggard breath before they broke down crying. They cried for minutes on end, and everyone let them. Even Sans and Papyrus waited it out.

It took a bit but they finally mellowed out. “I-I’m fine now…” They sniffled slightly and wiped their eyes. “Thank you, Sans.” He wasn’t sure he could say anything back right now, so he just stiffly nodded.

With that out of the way, the group exited the ruins. A pensive silence carried them on their way. It was only when they reached the skelebros home that they found the words to speak. “I guess this is where we part ways.” Frisk was honestly a little sad Sans wasn’t coming the full trek of the journey, but they knew the two brothers had a lot to unpack (mentally).

“Till another day small human.” Papyrus gave a curt nod.

Sans looked uncertain. “I guess I’ll be seeing ya around, kiddo.” Their eyes meet momentarily and they each gave a sheepish smile.

“Thanks, for everything Sans…” Frisk hesitated a bit before holding out their hand. Sans eyes it warily before he took their hand. It was a brief shake but it was the first step to mending their relationship. “See you around.” And then they were off.

………

Papyrus and Sans took some time adjusting to their new environment. Sleeping at night was especially difficult. They decided to keep the boards off the windows, to not draw any unnecessary attention in this otherwise peaceful society. But that also meant they were to on guard and antsy to rest properly. That was till Papyrus advise they sleep together in one bed, just till they had adjusted to this new life. That had helped immensely. The familiar comfort lulled them to sleep and from then on, rest wasn’t a problem.

With everything that was changing, Papyrus and Sans were grateful the other was still the same inside. Even if the rest of the underground didn’t remember the hardships, at the very least, they still did. It helped valid their existence. It wasn’t all just a horrible nightmare they’d dreamt up. It was a horrible reality that became heaven on earth to them. Meanwhile, the locals’ main concerns were with being trapped underground. If only they knew how good they had it!

..

One evening, while Sans was lazily hanging off the couch, Papyrus had walked in and just stared intensely at him. Sans looked back nonchalantly. “Yo.”

Papyrus huffed at the display and walked over, planting a knee between Sans’ spread legs and bending forward to catch himself on the back of the couch with one hand. The other reached out, caressing Sans’ curvy cheek bone. Sans’ eyes followed their movements carefully, feeling sweat beading on their brow.

“Uh- Paps…. What’s brought this on?” He nervously met their eyes to see them staring smugly down at them.

“Don’t be coy, you know what this is.”

Sans’ eye lights vanished and he pushed them out of the way, springing off the couch to rush past them. “Yea… nope!” His arm was caught from behind and he was yanked backwards. With flailing limbs, he collapsed on the ground and Papyrus placed a knee against their ribcage, pinning them to the floor.

“Why are you running Sans?” Papyrus’ voice practically purred the question.

“You are far too young for this!” They quipped back with apprehension.

Papyrus scoffed at the idea. “I’m a damn adult and you know it!”

“Not with that body yer not!” They grabbed at Papyrus’ knee and hoisted it off. For once, it was a fair fight. Papyrus was missing some height to overpower them.

Papyrus growled back at the statement, feeling pissed with it being brought up. “I’m still the same inside!” Sans rolled to his feet and Papyrus followed suit. It was now a Mexican stand off.

“I REFUSE WITH THAT BODY!” Sans grabbed a pillow for protection and held it tightly against their chest while facing off against his little brother.

Papyrus raised a brow in confusion. “What is that Sans?” A pillow was their best defense? He summoned a bone weapon and cut it in half with ease.

Sans stared at his shredded pillow with disappointment. Alright, if he wanted to play rough, so be it! Sans’ eyes burst to life, shining a vibrate blue flame as they turned Papyrus’ soul the same color. The gravity magic tightening down on their body, threatening to make their knees buckle under the wait. Papyrus was perplexed by the show of power. He shouldn’t be to surprised; he saw how powerful Sans truly was during their fight with Asgore. Papyrus shifted their stance to better support their weight and summoned up a ripple of bones from out of the floor. The abrupt shift in Sans’ foothold had his losing his balance and he toppled over backwards. Immediately, his hold on Paps dissipated and they lunged on him again. They tussled on the ground, limbs flailing and heat building from the exertion till both were exhausted and just lay flat on the floor, catching their breath.

“I won’t take no for an answer.” Papyrus was stubborn as always.

“And I won’t fuck a child. So, grow up in a couple years, then ask me again…” Papyrus fixed him with a challenging stare and Sans glared back. Neither were yielding. With a disgruntled and very annoyed sigh, Papyrus gave up first.

“Fine. But you better believe in two years I’m going to leave you a hot, smoldering mess as I ravage your body and then you are going to wonder how you endured without it.”

Sans laughed in response and hefted himself back to his feet before he held an arm out for Papyrus to take. Papyrus took hold and was lifted up, but not without first slinging an arm around Sans’ neck and forcing them in for a very passionate kiss, fench style. A moan slipped out of Sans mouth, and his cheeks burned red. He knocked Papyrus upside the head and took a big step back to glower at them.

“You let your guard down.” Papyrus puffed up his chest proudly, and walked away, leaving a sputtering mess in his wake.

AN: I am so sorry for how long this story took to complete. I really had to sum everything up or I was never going to get anywhere. Also, it goes without saying that Asriel and Frisk/Chara are living happily together, now that the family is all reunited.