The Groundhog Game

by Anonymonimus

Sans was a peculiar monster. He always seemed and acted like he was content with life. However, with every reset, you had come to see that reality was quite the opposite. It took you a while to figure out it was because he was missing someone more than it was the resets bothering him. It took you even longer to learn who. But once you did, you found a way he could be saved.

1. One Year Later

It had been a little over a year since the last reset and you felt no need to change that either. You created a new safe point for yourself beyond the Underground this time, but never had any intention of ever using it. You had been doing good for a kid – better than most adults, in fact. When you emerged with the monsters from beneath Mt. Ebott, you protected them and took them under your wing. It was your job as ambassador, but you also loved them and would have done it regardless. You made a place for them in your world and once you had gotten your kind to accept them the way you did, you focused on the ones closest to you.

Your goal was first and foremost to make everyone happy. You never wanted to hurt anyone. So when you got the chance, you made sure to fill your closest friends with joy by helping them accomplish their dreams. You had Papyrus pass a driving exam and, once he did, you gave him a car. You introduced Undyne to the MMA and she became a world renowned champion fighter. You sent Mettaton to a TV interview you were meant to attend and skyrocketed him to fame – he now possessed one of the biggest fan bases you'd ever seen and it was a little terrifying. You brought Alphys with you to a UN summit to legitimise King Asgore as a monarch and leader of Monster kind; by doing so, you made her intellect as a royal scientist known to the world and she was recruited by multiple prestigious scientific organisations and universities. As wonderful as it was, Alphys had the worst time of her life choosing between all of them. Finally, you used the money you acquired from working so diligently in the past year to help Toriel open a school, which you also decided to attend.

Everyone was truly happy…well, almost everyone.

Today was the Monster holiday known as: 'Peace Day' – a name obviously chosen by Asgore. It was the day, a year ago, you had legitimised his royal status and bestowed rights to Monsters equal to those of Humans upon them. To celebrate, all the monsters who still remained in the surroundings of Mt. Ebott came to your and Toriel's home for a big party. A couple of human diplomats and other important personalities also decided to attend along with journalists and paparazzi to immortalise this important moment. You stood on one of the balconies overlooking the ballroom of your immense home and smiled as you noticed how humans and monsters intermingled with one another easily. It was like there had never been a time where the two species hadn't coexisted.

You looked down to the entrance and saw Mettaton chatting up journalists and posing for their photographers. You expected no less of him. He was probably promoting the film he would be starring in soon. You looked away, turning your gaze to Asgore who seemed to be hounded by children and diplomats. He was evidently flustered by his conundrum, but couldn't find it in himself to turn anyone away. As such, he discussed international affairs with children hanging off his every limb. You chuckled before finding the rest of your friends huddled around the buffet table. Alphys seemed utterly embarrassed as she watched her girlfriend shovel food in her mouth as quickly as possible against Papyrus in a sort of competition. Sans loomed next to her with his typical grin on her face. As funny as the sight was, the smile on your lips faded as your gaze lingered on Sans.

Sans was a peculiar monster. He always seemed and acted like he was content with life. However, with every reset, you had come to see that reality was quite the opposite. When he thought no one was looking, the smaller skeleton would stare off into the distance with a forlorn expression. The pain and anguish he kept hidden would flood his features and his eyes would dim. It took you a while to figure out it was because he was missing someone more than it was the resets bothering him. It took you even longer to learn who. But once you did, you found a way he could be saved – or rather, a way for Sans to save him.

That was part of the game.

All that was left was to find a way to corner Sans. You had to be direct but convincing. The idea you planned to present to him might not seem like the best one at first glance, but it was the only way. You continued watching the smaller skeleton as he moved to rub soothing circles in a disappointed Papyrus's back while Undyne threw her arms up victoriously and cackled noisily. It would seem that she had won their competition. Alphys looked as embarrassed as ever and was desperately trying to get them to shuffle along.

"Frisk." You heard Toriel utter softly from behind you. You turned to face her and as you did so, she placed a comforting hand on your shoulder. She looked down at you with loving eyes and offered you a smile. "What are you still doing up here? You should be celebrating down there."

You glanced back at the party below and nodded. She was right; though you would have much preferred to simply look over everyone because you would get to see them happy. Another time, you supposed. You allowed Toriel to guide you towards the stairs and you leaned into her warm, comforting touch. You would likely be spending most of the party by her side.

Once you arrived at the bottom of the stairs, you were immediately noticed by all the neighbouring monsters. They beamed at your presence and huddled around you, shouting and cheering 'happy peace day!' You simply smiled as you weren't much for words. The gesture seemed to get your message across just fine all the same. Toriel lead you past them and the others who flocked to you, bidding you the same sentiment. Eventually, you reached the cake she had confectioned for this event. You were expected to give a speech of the sort before cutting the first piece. There was even a little podium for you to step on.

So step on it you did. You could now just barely see above the heads of the hundreds of Monsters and Humans flooding your home. They all looked eager to see what you had to say. You cleared your throat and straightened your clothes. You looked around the room, meeting everyone's gaze for at least a brief second. Then, you took a deep breath and paused dramatically. You concluded your speech with a double thumbs up that had all the Monsters cheering and clapping. Your kin looked absolutely confused but nevertheless clapped as they wondered if you were going to give a speech or if that was it.

You really weren't much for words.

From that moment on, the party livened up further. It became louder and more people seemed to join. You remained by Toriel's side, content to watch her chat with others and have a good time. Your eyes drifted every now and again to the sea of folk surrounding you until you found Sans somewhere in the chaos. Your gaze lingered on him and you waited to see if he would make a move to leave. It took him a while to declare he wanted some fresh air and, when he did, you followed. Gently tugging on Toriel's sleeve, you pointed outside to tell her where you were going before actually leaving. The last thing you wanted was for her to worry.

Now the game was beginning.

You weaved through the thick crowd of monsters and humans, finally reaching the glass door left ajar. You stepped into your backyard, finding Sans leaning against the fence of your porch. His eyes were closed and he seemed to be taking in the fresh air like he said he would. Despite not having reacted in the slightest, you knew he knew you were there. Still, you let him take his time to acknowledge you. Time wasn't an issue in this game, it was endurance.

"you've been watching me a lot tonight, kid." He finally said, opening his eyes and glancing in your direction. "something you want to tell me?"

How to start? Where to start? From the beginning, you supposed.

"You're sad." You said quietly. Your voice was raspy from being so unused. If only you could convey everything you ever wanted to say through a handful of looks and gestures, then you wouldn't have to use it at all. Sadly, it wasn't the case. "You pretend you're happy, but you're sad."

Being outed seemed to tear away at the façade Sans attempted to uphold day in and day out. You saw the sadness he normally tried to keep to himself twinkle in his eyes. "yeah?"

"Is it because of him?" You asked and even though you haven't yet said his name, Sans tensed visibly. "Gaster?"

Incredulousness overtook the smaller skeleton's features. It was like he couldn't believe the name left your lips, but it did and he didn't know how to feel about it. His mouth twitched and moved into different shapes, wanting to ask everything at the same time. Sans struggled to pick his first question. "how?" He eventually asked.

"I met him once." You told him and you didn't miss the sharp breath Sans took in. The confession peeled his mask further away and you could now see how broken he really was. "It was an accident, I think. First, I met a monster – grey, lifeless – who talked about him. About how he fell. Then I found a door that shouldn't have been where it was. He was inside. I don't think he thought I could see him until I reached to touch him."

"what did he do?" Sans asked, his voice strained from a flurry of emotions.

"He disappeared." You answered. You met more grey, lifeless monsters who talked about him afterwards, but you kept that to yourself. It wasn't important. Instead, you opted to ask: "Who was he to you?"

For all the grey monsters had told you, you knew very little about Gaster. He was the royal scientist before Alphys. He built the Core which powered all of the Underground and, one day, he fell in. Somehow, this resulted in no one remembering him – almost no one. Sans remembered; how you figured that one out, you absolutely couldn't remember nor fathom. But Sans remembered and that was all that mattered.

"he was my best friend." Sans answered and the forlorn expression he typically wore when he thought no one was paying attention overtook him. He wore a bitter smile and his gaze was dazed, focusing on nothing as he probably fell into the depths of his memories.

"How did he fall?" You asked.

"he was trying to bring down the barrier." Sans explained, scrunching his face in thought. It seemed like he was having a hard time piecing the memories together. "he built a machine powered by the core and when he activated it, he fell." You frowned. Sans laughed, evidently reading your thoughts just from your expression. "that was vague, i know. truth is, i don't remember it very well." His smile became bitter, "my memories of him change with every reset. sometimes, he's just a feeling of something missing – i can't remember his face nor who he was to me, but the pain of his absence is still there. sometimes i can remember everything perfectly, so much so i could draw a detailed portrait of him if i was remotely artistic. most of the time, i remember bits and pieces."

"What do you remember now?" You asked. It was vital to the game.

"he was my best friend." Sans repeated with a shrug, "i knew him all my life. we worked together as scientists; i might have been his assistant or just his confidant. i was there when he fell and i tried to catch him, but i couldn't. that's it."

You nodded. He made no mention of remembering his facial features – either because he couldn't or he only remembered little. However, you were certain that once he saw him, he would be able to identify him. Regardless, whether he recognised him the first time or not wouldn't be an issue. Time wasn't the issue. Now that you had gotten the conversation where you wanted, you needed to branch off into the game and make Sans a willing participant.

"I want everyone to be happy. I want you to be happy." You told him. Your heart was beating just a little faster in your chest. It would be fine. It would work. "I know how to save him."

Deafening silence washed over the both of you. Sans stared at you in bewilderment, not quite grasping what you were offering him. He had tried to save Gaster before, if that machine in his hidden lab was anything to go by, but had failed. Perhaps he had given up on the prospect and had accepted that his goal was just unattainable. The thoughts that must have been rushing through his head…

"okay." He answered quietly. You weren't quite sure what he meant by it. "let's do it."

Now it was your turn to be shocked. Sans asked questions. He was smart. He didn't get involved in things without knowing the full scope. He was currently being reckless. That was very much unlike him. "You're not going to ask me questions…?" You asked him because you were so taken off guard by his compliance.

"i trust you, Frisk." Sans stated and he sounded so honest it made you feel guilty. A part of you struggled to understand why he would trust you. Though he could never remember the true resets, Sans knew what you had done time and time again. He knew about the blood – nay, dust staining your hands and clothes. You were different now, but did that matter especially when what you were about to do was taken into consideration?

"Follow me." You simply replied.

You walked down the short steps of your back porch with Sans hot on your tail. He followed you quietly as you began circling the house looking for Him. He had told you He would be skulking about; if not being an annoyance on the inside, than watching the others from the outside. You spent a good few minutes just searching for Him and you could feel Sans starting to wonder why it was taking so long. Just when he was about to bring it up, you noticed Him in the bushes. His white little tail stuck out from the green leafs for a flash, but that was all it took. You wandered to His hiding spot and parted the leafs. Sans seemed rather surprised to see Him.

"a dog?" He asked quizzically.

And yes. At first sight, He appeared to be nothing more than an adorable, white pooch – and, in a way, He was. However, He was also so much more. You had a hard time finding a good word to describe Him. He was just so complicated to define as one thing, but He also barely fit into any label. Was He a dog? Sometimes. Was He a monster? Maybe. Was He a human? Depended on the day.

"Ah, Frisk!" He said, attempting to cover the slice of chocolate cake He had undoubtedly stolen from the party. You reached past Him and took it. Chocolate wasn't good for dogs. "Oh come on!" He whined, "Just a little slice won't hurt!" You stared at Him dead in the eyes as you swallowed his piece in one bite. "No! You're so cruel!" He howled.

"what's going on?" Sans asked.

"Frisk ate my cake, that's what's going on." The Dog pouted.

"why did you bring me here?" Sans asked, looking at you for answers.

You elected to ignore him. "He's willing." You told the Dog.

"Is he now?" The Dog responded musingly. "I imagined he would have less obvious questions to ask."

"He didn't ask any." You said, and perhaps Sans regretted trusting you so much now. It didn't matter. It was too late.

"Curious." The Dog nodded and brought His paw to His chin – a very human gesture you've been privy to multiple times. It was what made you doubt he was all monster to begin with. His beady eyes fell upon Sans. "How much does Gaster mean to you for you to be so reckless?"

You glanced at Sans as well. He probably had a few of his queries answered with that simple question. They were in front of a bush talking to a little white dog because it was the first step in saving Gaster. But now that you considered it further, he probably had more questions now than he did before. It didn't matter. They would eventually all be answered. For the moment, you were equally curious. What was it about Gaster that pushed Sans to be unnaturally thoughtless?

"you're going to help us save Gaster?" Sans asked.

"No." The Dog answered with an amused laugh, "I'm going to allow you to save him."

Sans seemed perplexed by the answer. "who are you?"

"Today, I'm a little dog." He answered, "Maybe tomorrow too. And the day after. I like being a dog."

"I think…" You started off slowly, trying to find the right words to describe Him. "I think He's some sort of God." The Dog exploded into a loud fit of laughter at that, but you continued all the same. "He's as strong as one and He's capable of unnatural feats. The rules of physics and all that we know don't seem to apply to Him."

"When you put it like that," The Dog said, "Maybe being described as some sort of God isn't entirely crazy."

"this is…" Sans started but trailed off. He was evidently flustered by the turn of events and didn't know how to react to it. You didn't blame him. "i really wasn't expecting this…"

"How could you?" The Dog snorted, "It's not like it was predictable. Regardless!" He turned towards you with a twinkle in his eyes, "The Game is afoot, Frisk! Shall we be on our way?"

You nodded and, once you did, you were swept off your feet. For a second, it felt like you were falling. Whether you had or hadn't, you would never know. You were surrounded in a darkness that had crept up on you unexpectedly, but it wasn't frightening – it was familiar. You had been in that darkness so many times before and, when you looked up, you found the familiar orange letters floating above your head. There was a sort of sense of nostalgia rushing through your veins after being absent for so long. A part of you missed the feeling of re-experiencing one of the most unique moments of your life and tweaking little aspects of it. You would never get tired of meeting your friends for the first time. However, you eventually had to move on and so you did.

"where…where are we?" Sans asked in awe, glancing up at the orange letters. You had almost forgotten he was there what with being so used to solitude.

"The Loading Screen." You answered. "It's where you can access the save file—"

"and the reset button." Sans finished. He caught on fairly quickly. He was smart. Would he want to play the game when he knew what it was? "is this how you manipulated the timeline?"

You nodded in affirmation.

"Brings back memories, doesn't it?" The Dog asked, drawing yours and Sans's attention to Him. "However, this isn't Frisk's Loading Screen; it's mine." He informed further, "I have far more save files."

Suddenly, the orange letters above your head were just off to your left. It appeared that you were shifted swiftly to a higher level or that the words were brought down to yours. In the end, it didn't matter. You watched the Dog give a brief flick towards His save files and watched as hundreds of them zoomed past your eyes. You couldn't understand how He could make sense of them when they were all labelled by numbers so you chalked it off to his God-like powers.

"before we take this any further." Sans said, "can someone please explain to me what's going on?"

"I was wondering when you would demand answers." The Dog chuckled, "What exactly would you like to know?"

"for starters, what's this 'game' you mentioned?" Sans asked.

"When Frisk came to me for help, I made a proposition to them." The Dog explained, "I would give you the opportunity to save W.D. Gaster and we would watch to see if you succeeded or failed. Your failure means my victory and your success means my loss." Sans frowned at that and was immediately on his guard; needlessly so. "Don't get any ideas, here! I'm not the antagonist of this story! If I'm a God, I'm a careless, absent God. I'm only doing this just because."

"what happens to Frisk if i can't save him?" Sans asked, and you felt touched that he was still concerned for you.

"Don't worry about it." The Dog replied.

Sans obviously wasn't satisfied with the answer, but he understood he wasn't about to get anything better. Instead, he opted to keep going. He turned to you; "how did you come across Him?"

"It's complicated. I've met him a lot of times." You answered. "I didn't know what he was until I beat the Credits. I was able to open that door – the one in the caves just outside of Snowdin. I found him inside and learned what exactly he was."

"why did you make such a potentially dangerous deal with Him?" He asked, but sounded reproachful. It seemed that Sans didn't approve of your decision to place yourself in a bet with a God-like creature. If He was anyone else, his concern would be justified.

"Don't worry about it." You simply replied, and the Dog approved.

"so what now?" Sans sighed and turned to the Dog as well. "what's this game i'll be starring in?"

"I'm glad you asked!" The Dog barked excitedly, wagging His tail madly, "It's the Groundhog Game! I'm going to send you back to the three days before Gaster erases himself from the timeline. Your job will be to stop him from doing whatever it was that went terribly wrong and effectively save him. You can have as many tries as you like and you can tell him whatever you want – even the truth. If you think he'll believe a little white dog and a human child are watching you; tell him! Whatever you do, you just have to end up saving him. If, by the end of the time I've given you, you haven't managed to save him – don't worry about it! You can try again! You can try as many times as you like! You can even stay trapped in an eternal loop of those three days – though I already know you don't want to. The game ends when you've either won or given up."

You watched Sans carefully throughout the explanation of the game. You were concerned and rightfully so. The moment the Dog mentioned he could reset as many times as he liked, something changed in him. He seemed more fragile, which was very bad for you. You could already see him begin to cave under the weight of resets and now you weren't so sure accepting to this was a good idea even if it was the only option for Gaster. You knew how much Sans hated the resets and how they affected him. They made him depressed and apathetic. They made him sleep and sleep, because there seemed to be no point to his actions with them around.

The resets were the worst things Sans could imagine. You wanted Sans to be happy. So why was it that you decided he should suffer through them and witness the death of his best friend time and time again until he figured out a way to save him? A part of Chara must have still been lingering inside of you. They would never truly leave you. You were bonded. Partners. But you pushed the thought aside. Sure, Sans would suffer, though only for a little while in the grand scheme. If he succeeded like you hoped he would, he would finally be happy. Everyone would truly be happy.

You never wanted to hurt anyone.

"now i understand…" Sans huffed bitterly and glanced at you, "i get why you kept looking at me like you had hurt me."

You bit your lip and looked away guiltily. What were you supposed to say to that?

"Despite you being here," The Dog said, "You can still refuse to be a part of this game."

"what happens to Frisk if i do?" He asked.

"Nothing. The game is annulled." The Dog answered, "Our little bet is also annulled and Frisk finds themself in a situation to convince me through some other means to save Gaster."

You're both impressed and angered by the way He decided to word his sentences. You wondered if the Dog realised He had essentially manipulated Sans into agreeing to their game. If He did, and He probably did, He was a cruel God. Crueller than you yourself – and that was saying a lot. Regardless, you watched Sans lament his predicament and weigh his options. You felt terrible because you were terrible. What kind of friend would do that, even with the best intentions? You should have probably looked for a better way but it was too late now.

"fine." Sans decided resolutely. "i'll do it. for Gaster."

"Excellent!" The Dog yipped and hopped around.

He turned towards the list of save files and began scrolling through them. They flew by in front of your eyes too fast for you to keep track. Soon, it was nothing more than a blur of orange until, abruptly, it stopped. Only one file was displayed in the darkness: 19950714. You heard Sans suck in a shaky breath.

"I believe in you." You muttered to him, though it probably meant nothing. Sans hardly acknowledged that you had said anything.

"You'll have all the memories you harbour now." The Dog said, glancing over his shoulder. "Any questions?" Sans shook his head. "Off you go."

And the next thing you knew, the small skeleton was gone. You were left alone in the darkness with the Dog. You felt a pit in your stomach. You had made a mistake. Red flags had been raised and alarm bells were going off; but it was too late. You felt a glare baring into your back, but you couldn't imagine why as you were shrouded in darkness. It was just you and the Dog and the latter was looking at you with innocent eyes, not reproach nor hatred. It was most likely just your imagination, then.

"He's going to break, I think." The Dog mused and He was probably right. "How many resets, do you reckon?"