The underground, a secret world filled with monsters, sealed away from humanity for centuries. Long forgotten by those on the surface, the darkness has silently swallowed all that would brave its doors. Though some have entered, none have returned. Human, monster, it matters not what descends into its depths.
Nothing leaves.
The light gently shines through the windows, filling the Judgement Hall with a gentle golden glow, broken only by the puddles of red splattered across the floor. The silence in the room is broken by the angry huffing of a child as blood drips from their face and arms.
"i told you kid, this is it. reset a 1,000 times, and i'll still be here. you're never going to get past me." The child glares up at the grinning skeleton, standing feet away from them. "Give up." They smile, then start laughing, making him frown.
"What a joke." They quietly say. "Then again, you like making jokes, don't you, Sans?" They start walking forward, holding their knife out to the side. "I AM determination! I don't give up! Kill me 10,000 times, and I'll come back!" They slash at Sans, but he disappears, reappearing 20 feet back. "Come on! I've died so many times already! Whats one more?" They shout as they run at him.
"don't you ever get tired?" Sans questions as he disappears again, avoiding another slash. He reappears behind the child, a blaster at his side. "well, you're gonna die anyways, so its fine if you have a bit of energy left." He holds his left hand out, and a few dozen bones, some white, some blue, appear. "just, hold still for a sec, kay?" As the blaster quickly charges, the bones shoot out at the child. They run at Sans in response, dodging bones as they go.
"I've seen this so many times!" They shout, a vicious smile plastered on their face. Sans feels a chill run down his spine as he watches each of his attacks miss, and his enemy closing the gap between them. He throws his left hand out in front of himself, and the blaster fires. "Keep it coming!" They laugh as they slide under the beam of energy. When it ends they jump back onto their feet and continue running at Sans. Over and over they stab and slash at him, but he dodges time and time again. "You can't keep dodging forever!"
"probably not. i don't need to though." He winks as they suddenly trip over some bones sticking out of the floor. "i just gotta outdo you, and that isn't really hard." They drop to the floor, and a set of bones comes out of it, running then through. "heh..." He lets out a sigh. "wonder how many times this is now that i've killed them. i lost track a while ago." He walks over to their body, but stops. "wait... their soul... where is it?" He questions.
"You idiot." He turns and looks back. Flowey smirks up at Sans. "Chara took that human's soul long ago!"
"what do you know, weed?" Sans asks.
"I know that you're going to lose soon, Smiley Trashbag." Sans opens his mouth to speak. "You don't even know what happened this time." Flowey shakes his head. "Isn't strange that Chara hasn't reset yet?" Sans looks at the empty husk lying on the floor, blood pooled around it, then back at Flowey.
"what did you do?" Sans shouts.
"I, did nothing." Flowey states smugley. "A new piece has entered the game, and it looks even stronger than the last." He glances at the body, and Sans freezes for a moment.
"no... no!" He shouts as he disappears. Sans finds himself in Snowdin, the town silent. He disappears again, this time before a large door. He looks at it, snow piled against the bottom, keeping it shut. His body aches as he looks at the familiar scene, but he continues on. Once more he vanishes, only to reappear on the other side of the door. He looks around, but the only thing he sees is a pile of dust. "i'm sorry lady." He quietly says before continuing on. At first he runs, but he doesn't even make it to the house before exhaustion sets in. "th-they couldn't have reset real quick so i'd have the energy for this?" He questions as he slowly climbs the stairs, up into the empty home. "this is cozy." He pauses for a moment, taking in the warmth of the building, but quickly returns to his quest. He walks out of the home, and continues forward, his movements slowed, but filled with care and caution. With each room he moves a little bit slower. Each corner brings with it a tingling fear. Each completed puzzle, and each pile of dust, brings up images in his mind that he attempts to shake away. "if i had a heart it'd probably be beating right out my bones... heh..." His smile only lasts a moment, as he continues on.
"H-Hello? Anyone there?" Sans stops. "Hello?" The quivering voice is coming from the next room.
"there... really is someone else..." Sans looks up at the ceiling. "papyrus, you'd probably want me to give them a chance, wouldn't you? ...sorry brother. i can't let another human ruin what little is left." He stands there, waiting. Soon, a young girl walks around a corner. She's older than the last, though she looks far more fragile. Her red hair reaches down to the middle of her back, though some covers her face. When she spots Sans she freezes. A look of terror fills her face, and she starts to stumble back. "What's wrong kid? You look a bit rattled." Sans says.
"Y-You... You're... A..."
"a skeleton, yep." He shrugs. "kinda strange having someone react like that after all this time, especially since the last one didn't really seem to feel anything at all."
"H-how are... What... Where..." Tears fill the girl's eyes. Sans sighs.
"look, nothing personal kid, i just don't wanna go through this all again." He holds his left hand out to his side, and his eye begins to glow. A dozen bones appear around him, and the girl drops to her knees, the tears flowing silently from her wide open eyes.
"P-please..." She quietly says. Sans doesn't say anything in response though. He simply throws his hand forward. "No!" The girl shouts. Suddenly, her eyes are directed to something in front of her. She thrusts her hand forward, and a green light shoots out from it. Sans pulls his hand back, and the bones stop.
"wh-what?" He questions. The light spreads out, hitting the couple of dust piles in the room. It also heads for him. He puts his arms up, but when the light hits it envelopes his whole body. Almost as quickly as it came, it vanishes. He looks down at his hands. "what was... that?" He looks at the scared girl as his energy returns. The aches of his body have disappeared. He then looks at where the other lights hit. The dust piles have returned to their original forms, leaving behind a couple of confused Froggits and Whinsum. "what did you do? h-how did you..." He looks back at the girl. She's shaking. "how did you do that?"
"I... I don't know." She says through her sniffles. "I just... Something just popped up in front of me. I... I thought that it said help, so I touched it." She looks at the revived monsters. She slowly holds her hand out. "I-It came back."
"what is it?" Sans glances around.
"It... Its some button... It... Says 'heal'." Sans pauses, then sighs again.
"you're just making things more complicated for me. really." He smiles. "look, kid, sorry about, you know, trying to kill you and all. i think if you knew what i'd just been through, and what i'm worried is about to happen, then you'd understand." He looks back the way he came, then at the girl. "perhaps i should start over. i'm sans, sans the skeleton. this is the underground, where monsters live. well, we're a bit stuck here, or you'd probably have seen us before now." He shrugs. "anyways, what's your name?" He puts his hands in his pockets.
"M-me? I'm... I'm Nyssa..." She puts her hand over her head. "Is... Is this even real? This cant..."
"this is real. trust me, i wish this was a bad dream myself. listen, nyssa, mind showing me that trick of yours again?" Nyssa stands, but she doesn't move. "look, kid, i'm not gonna hurt you if you aren't gonna hurt me, okay?" She still doesn't move. "just, come with me real quick. you could help a lot of people right now."
"Al... Alright." She nods and starts walking, her eyes bouncing from one monster to the next. When she reaches Sans, he leads her into the next room.
"you see that dust piles around here? those are monsters that were killed by the last human to come down here."
"O-oh?" She looks at the dust.
"the last human... they weren't exactly pleasant to have around. i wouldn't have been so quick to attack ya, but they kinda left a sour taste in my mouth when they went and killed all my friends."
"I'm sorry." She looks down.
"it wasn't you who killed them. but you might be able to save them." Nyssa looks at Sans, then again at the dust. She holds her hand out, and after a moment the green light flies out, covering the dust. Sans watches as the forms of the monsters begins to return. Then their color, and finally the light disappears, leaving behind dazed, but otherwise healthy, monsters. Nyssa smiles and looks at Sans, but her smile disappears as she sees the tears falling from Sans's eyes.
"Are... Are you okay?" She quietly asks.
"yeah, i'm fine. i just... i didn't think i'd be able to see any of them again, but..." He chuckles. "sorry, guess i was feeling a bit bonely when everyone died."
"Is... Is that a pun?" Nyssa asks, her face half smiling, half annoyed.
"expect a lot of them." He winks, and she laughs lightly.
"This really is just some messed up dream, isn't it?" She looks at the other monsters, then at Sans again. "A skeleton who thinks he's got some funny bone in him, weird little monsters, and some super power... I really can't believe it."
"believe it, because thats exactly whats going on. also, what do you mean thinks? i'm a pretty humerus guy." She giggles. "right, there are a lot of monsters that need your help, but... i've got someone in particular i need you to start with. come on, i've got a shortcut." He starts walking, and Nyssa follows. Suddenly he finds herself in the snow. She stops and spins around.
"H-How did we get... What..." She looks at Sans.
"it's a shortcut." He continues walking.
"Is that a town?" Nyssa asks as she follows.
"yep. it's empty right now, but once everyone is back, and we know they'll be safe, then hopefully they'll all return home." He walks up to a house and opens the door. "this is my house, in case you get curious."
"Alright. Why are we here though?" Sans grabs a bowl off the table and takes a lid off it. Nyssa sees the dust inside.
"just, use your power." Nyssa nods and holds her hand out. The light reaches from her hand and gently wraps around the dust. As it rises up and takes shape, Sans takes the bowl away. The dust quickly retakes its original form, and once the light disappears, there is a second skeleton standing before Nyssa.
"WHAT... HAPPENED?" Sans instantly hugs him.
"p-papyrus!" He shouts.
"SANS? SANS, WHAT HAPPENED?" Papyrus asks. "THE HUMAN, I THOUGHT..." He looks at Nyssa. "OH, HELLO THERE! WAIT... SANS! THAT IS NOT THE SAME HUMAN! SANS! ANOTHER HUMAN HAS APPEARED!"
"yeah, i know." Sans chuckles. "papyrus, this human is nyssa. she's got a pretty cool power. i thought you'd like her."
"POWER? WHAT SORT OF POWER COULD A HUMAN HAVE? THER AREN'T NEARLY MAGICAL ENOUGH!" Nyssa smiles.
"Uh, I-I can heal people, I guess." She quietly says.
"HEALING? THAT'S AMAZING!" Papyrus shouts. "BUT, SANS, WHERE IS THE OTHER HUMAN? THE ONE WHO... THEY REALLY DID KILL ME, DIDN'T THEY?" Papyrus' cheerful voice becomes quiet. "DID THEY STOP?"
"no... they had to be stopped." Sans says. "but... they shouldn't be a problem anymore bro, don't worry. they won't be getting up again."
"OH... I HAD HOPED THAT THEY WOULD CHANGE." Papyrus sighs. "IT MAKES ME SAD THAT THEY CONTINUED TO HURT OTHERS. BUT... THEIR SOUL. DID..." Sans shakes his head. Nyssa looks between the two of them.
"no. their soul... didn't show up. for some reason its gone. that annoying little weed said something about someone already taking it, but i wasn't really sure what they were talking about."
"I SEE..." Papyrus looks at Nyssa again. "WELL, MS. NYSSA, THANK YOU FOR REVIVING ME, THE GREAT PAPYRUS. I HOPE THAT YOU'LL BE A BETTER FRIEND THAN THE LAST HUMAN."
"Friend?" Nyssa looks at Papyrus in surprise. "Oh, I... I didn't... I mean..." She stutters as she looks off to the side, a slight blush in her cheeks.
"whats wrong? don't you wanna be friends with my bro? he's the coolest monster i know." Sans says.
"I just... This is, almost normal." Nyssa gives them an embarrassed smile. "I... I didn't even think of the possibility of being friends with a couple of skeletons. I'm not sure how I'm dreaming all this up." Sans frowns.
"you really still think this is a dream?" He asks coolly. Nyssa looks at him. "listen, this isn't a dream. we're real, this place is real. stop treating us like some write off nonsense your brain came up with while it was bored during the night." His tone is sharp, causing Papyrus to look at him in surprise.
"AH, SANS, ARE YOU OKAY?"
"no, i'm not okay." Sans lets out a frustrated sigh. "everyone i ever cared about was killed, and i've been close to dying myself. now there's a chance to save everyone, but the person who can save them is another human, and it's one who isn't even willing to accept that we're real, that we actually exist and have lives and cares and fears... it's been a bit of an emotional time for me."
"I-I... I didn't, you know, thats not... It isn't..." Nyssa stumbles over her words as she attempts to form a sentence. Suddenly, Papyrus picks Sans up and hugs him tightly.
"BROTHER, CALM DOWN!" Papyrus cheerful says. "WHATEVER HAS HAPPENED, WE'RE ALL GOING TO BE OKAY. IF THE HUMAN IS HAVING TROUBLES, WE'LL SIMPLY HELP HER TO GET ALONG WITH EVERYONE AND FIT IN." Sans smiles and hugs his brother back.
"right. sorry pap." Nyssa looks down, then back up at the brothers as Papyrus sets Sans back down.
"FOR NOW, I THINK IT'D BE BEST TO MAKE SURE EVERYONE IS OKAY. WHATEVER COMES NEXT, WE'LL BE FINE IF WE'RE ALL TOGETHER." Papyrus looks at Nyssa. "YOU CAN HEAL PEOPLE, YES?"
"Uh, y-yeah, I guess…" Nyssa quietly replies.
"PERFECT!" Papyrus shouts. "WE SHOULD GO CHECK ON ALL OF OUR FRIENDS RIGHT AWAY! COME ON, LETS…"
"bro, you should just relax for a little bit." Sans says, drawing the attention of the others. "there are a lot of monsters that need help. i'll take her around and make sure everyone is taken care of. you… you were just dead, i don't want you running around so soon after being revived."
"SANS, I'M FINE. THE GREAT PAPYRUS CAN'T BE STOPPED BY SOMETHING AS SIMPLE AS DEATH!" Papyrus shouts. Nyssa smiles, and so does Sans.
"i know you're strong bro, but… please, for my peace of mind, just stay home and rest, okay?" The two look at each other for a few seconds, then Papyrus sighs.
"ALRIGHT. I'LL STAY HERE FOR NOW. BUT… HURRY HOME, OKAY?" He smiles, and Sans can't help returning the warm gaze.
"don't worry bro. you know me, i too much of a lazy bones to go running around all day. we'll make it quick." Sans then turns and starts walking towards the door. "come on nyssa, i wanna hurry back so i can take a nap. i'm pretty tired out from all the fighting and emotional stuff."
"Uh, A-alright…" She follows him. When he shuts the door, the two start walking through the snowy village, the only sound coming from their footsteps on the snow.
"so, what do you think of my brother?" Sans asks, making Nyssa jump.
"O-oh, he's…" She pauses, and a light smile forms on her lips. "He's very sweet, and he seems fun… I… I didn't expect him to want to be friends so suddenly… Its kinda nice."
"yeah. my bro is pretty cool, and he's always been way too nice to everyone… whatever happens from here on out, i want you to remember one thing." He stops, and so does Nyssa. The two stand in silence for a moment, then Sans turns around, his eyes closed. When he opens them, they're completely black, sending a chill down Nyssa's spine. "i've lost my brother once. it doesn't matter who gets in my way, it won't happen a second time." When he blinks, his eyes return to normal. He turns back around and continues walking. Nyssa doesn't though. She simply stands there, the image of Sans preparing to kill her stuck in her mind. "what's the hold up?" He stops and looks back at her.
"N-nothing." Nyssa quietly says as she starts following him. "Sorry…" Her voice is barely audible. Sans' usual smile disappears for a moment, but he quickly turns away and continues walking. The two then disappear, leaving behind a dead end of footprints.
