Undertale by Toby Fox

Also, this chapter is based nearly completely on the Echo Animation by voidless, so check it out!


He was falling.

A slow pace, yes, but the sense of vertigo was undeniable. He was falling The air around him was cold. It chilled him to the bones like ice cold water.

He couldn't take it anymore.

Sans opened his eyes with a gasp. His left eye was a bright cyan, still in shock. The skeleton's last memory was that of his murder. He felt at his chest, sighing in relief when he felt nothing wet. The blue in his eyes lightly faded, but still remained as he surveyed his… dark surroundings.

The darkness kept growing, going on and on to as far as Sans eyes could see. Bright white rectangles shone light, illuminating the Void. Sans found that he wasn't exactly falling; the Void images had stayed in place, despite the sense of vertigo that filled Sans' bones. But then the skeleton saw something else; the red of a familiar scarf.

"Papyrus!" Sans reached for Papyrus, activating his soul magic to propel him to his brother.

The skeleton grabbed his brother by the waist, an easy task from Papyrus' positioning: the reverse of falling back first. Securing his brother, Sans then saw a flash. Looking around, he saw that the images had changed.

They were images of him. Him through different timelines, no doubt. Some had him smiling, probably from a Pacifist timeline. More of them though featured his iconic magic eye, alive and filled with rage.

There were some he was sure weren't even him. The sudden appearances of a younger, angrier Toriel, lazy version of Papyrus, and the first fallen human in a hoodie were enough proof of that.

Different timelines, Sans thoughts, no, different worlds? How?

He got his answer in the form of two faded purple magic eyes staring down at him.

W.D. Gaster stood, eyes closed and a content smile on his face. In his hands was a familiar button: CONTINUE. The skeleton didn't move, or react in anyway, yet Sans heard his voice echo throughout the Void.

"Hello, son," Gaster said, "You seem… stressed out."

The Void flickered between darkness and blinding light. In between each flash, Gaster's face seemed to change. At first, a proud smile. Then concerned brow crease of an old father. Next, confusion born of an impossibility or anomaly; a face Sans had been accustomed to back in the days of his father's existence. Then, the psychopathic sneer of a serial killer, mouth wide and eyes flashing. As if that wasn't bad enough, the final flash was right in Sans' face; his father's lips in an insane grin radiating insanity, eyes crimson red with DETERMINATION. The skeleton flinched.

"Let me help you with that."

The button in Gaster's holed hands glowed yellow as it was selected. From it, a blinding light akin to the sun formed. Sans could only raise his arm to block the view. When the light faded, Papyrus and Gaster were gone, leaving Sans in the Void, seemingly alone.

"Papyrus!" Sans called out. The timeline images flashed and changed scenes in response. It didn't help in the slightest; half the images didn't even have the younger skeleton brother on them, even less images featured the skeleton alive.

"Papyrus!" he called out again, "Where are you?!"

But nobody came.

Sans trembled. But not in fear. Was it… cold? Maybe too hot? His eye unconsciously came to life as he wandered the Void, desperately looking for Papyrus. His mind went at hyper speed, trying to comprehend his situation. For the umpteenth time the fallen human, Frisk, Chara, it didn't matter, had killed him. He had woken up, but not in Snowdin as was the case in a normal RESET. No, he was in the Void. He didn't know how or why, but he did know that his brother was there too. But maybe someone did…

It was impossible though. He had died, fallen into the Void! All memory of him wiped off existence save for his mind. He could've been hallucinating, or maybe…

"Gaster!" Sans called out. No response.

"Father!"

Nobody came…

Wait, what's this feeling…

Suddenly, Sans felt a fire unlike anything he had felt. It was like… DETERMINATION. But he knew what it felt like to take DETERMINATION. He had felt it before, but this fire that threatened his whole being was so alien, so new, and so much worse.

The skeleton let out a guttural scream which was then muffled. Sans felt something akin to being choked by scalding water, despite not having a throat. His body felt like it was being ripped apart into atoms. Then…

Something formed from him.

A black goo seeped seemingly out of his bones, but Sans knew that it wasn't part of him. The goo turned white, then black again, before taking form into his father. Judging purple-red eyes glared down at cyan-yellow.

"You don't seem to understand the gravity of your position," Gaster commented, "Am I wrong?"

A holed hand pulsing with purple magic and DETERMINATION reached to take Sans' face. He watched in horror as it approached with purposeful grace. Purposeful for malign intent, no doubt.

"Years in the Void have taught me little. Perhaps we should exchange roles," Gaster said, "I was the better judge…"

"Get away from me!" Sans swatted the hand away, turned, and bolted.

Running as fast as he could, Sans didn't look back. He didn't want this life, to be trapped away, forced to watch as the world went on without him. Yet Gaster was determined. Something gripped Sans' ankle, and the skeleton could do nothing but be dragged into nothingness.

And so Sans fell once more. He was filled with a sudden weariness. He felt sluggish, too tired to continue. He felt his eyes yearn to close shut.

"Tired?" Gaster's voice cut through Sans' consciousness like a knife.

"You failed them, you know," his father droned on, "Let them be slaughtered by a foe they couldn't hope to defeat, or even understand."

"Give in."

An alien warmth filled Sans' skull. He felt the malign intent guiding it, but it just felt so inviting…

"Let me take your place."

His skull suddenly throbbed in pain. Sans wanted to groan in pain, but couldn't summon the energy to do so. A tired whimper was all he gave.

"Give in."

The heat increased. Now it was like a fire. Sans felt like his skull was melting. It was shifting, losing its form for something slimmer, smaller. He wanted to scream. He tried to. Tried and tried.

"Give in.

"GIVE I-"

"NO!"

Sans felt as though his soul had shattered, but he still lived. He glowed blue with magic, which then released itself and the foreign entity that hooked itself off Sans' existence.

"I…" Sans paused to take his breath, "I will not give in!"

Gaster reformed opposite him, a amused smile on his face.

"Oh? You refuse?" Gaster raised a holed hand. A swarm of black tipped bones appeared, snapped in half, leaving sharp points. "Well, my son... get comfortable."

The bones surged forward, faster than any Sans had used himself. The smaller skeleton barely dodged, sweating only minutes into the fight. A Gaster Blaster formed, eyes purple, in front of Sans. The small skeleton was forced to blink out of the way. He came out of his shortcut, dazed and in pain.

The small skeleton was on his knees, feeling the trickle of warm DETERMINATION leaking from his mouth. His frame burned again, his bones feeling like they were splitting. His left eye flickered weakly, barely comprehending the Void's state changing, flickering between black and white. He barely escaped storm of black bones coming for him.

The skeleton backed away, drained and in pain, panting. Gaster pressed forward, calm professional stance almost mocking Sans for his weakness. The Man Who Speaks in Hands grinned.

"You can't dodge forever," he taunted.

A whole bone whizzed past him in response. He tilted his head out of the way, dodging it with ease. Gaster looked to his son, false disappointment on his face.

"Come on, Sans," he said, "I know you can do better than that."

Sans shuddered in fear, the distorted, judging voice of his father shaking him from within. He channeled his fear into will and conjured a barrage of his own bones. With a yell of desperation born from fear, he sent the bones at his father. Gaster's smiled widened. He raised his arms in an invitation.

Like Chara's knife before them, the bones went clean through Gaster like he was liquid. They passed through him, not dealing him harm. Gaster gave a distorted shriek for laughter, before accelerating forward, his melted frame a blur.

Sans's eye-lights brightened with surprise. Both he and his father never engaged in close quarter combat. It was too risky given their delicate stature. They were both like humans in that sense, with massive damage outputs, capacities to kill, and low health bars.

But now his father didn't even exist. He couldn't hurt what didn't exist. But sometimes, what doesn't exist can hurt.

Sans conjured a wall of bones to defend himself. The wall of bone and blue magic did nothing to hinder Gaster, who's melted frame blasted through the wall, and straight into Sans. Gritting his teeth to get his mind of the pain, the smaller skeleton skidded across the floor. His eye-lights turned a hue blue as he utilized his soul effect to slow himself down.

Gaster approached, halfway between the states of liquid and solid. He looked at Sans with empty eye sockets, the menacing black more fear inducing then Sans' had ever been. Nonetheless, Sans looked back at Gaster with defiance. His left hand was engulfed in blue magic. Sans figured it was time to fight fire with fire.

With a blue fist, Sans jabbed at his father with surprising speed. With equally surprising swiftness, Gaster dodged, backing away from each punch. The sudden switch from solid to liquid was the only heads up Sans received, and it wasn't enough. A manic grin on his face, Gaster charged into Sans again.

Sans hit the ground hard. Pain filled his bones. He struggled to get up. A holed hand helped him on his way up.

"A shame," Gaster mocked, "You are my legacy… but you are weak. But it is of no matter. This ends no-"

Sans' vision was suddenly consumed in a flash of orange. Gaster's distorted shriek was deafening, leagues more painful then the feeling of his chin hitting the ground. When his vision cleared, Gaster wasn't there. The urge to sleep, coupled with the depressing feeling of failure, still was.

"SANS?"

The voice was familiar, and certainly woke Sans up. A gloved hand helped him up to one knee. Filled with hope once more, Sans' eyes looked up with eagerness he didn't feel; he was in disbelief.

"papyrus?"

At least, he was.

His brother was there. Clad in his battle body, still damaged from Chara's attack, Papyrus stood in front of him. His soul glowed proudly was displayed in front of him, still in perfect condition. Albeit faded; his body seemed translucent like a ghost's, like it wasn't there. Still, the image of Papyrus being there, alive and well, was enough to draw tears from his eye sockets.

"i saw you die…" the tears fell to the floor. Brotherly instincts took over as Papyrus put an arm around his brother.

"SANS… DON'T WORRY! I FORGIVE YOU!"

Tears still fell down.

"i let you die…"

"SANS!"

The elder skeleton brother looked up to meet his sibling's loving face. Or rather irritated and impatient face.

"YOU BONEHEAD! I ALREADY FORGAVE YOU!"

His brother's image flickered. He became less opaque, but now his soul still glowed strong. His wounds seemed to disappear as his expression turned more confused.

"papyrus!" Sans cried out, fear in his voice.

It didn't seem that Papyrus noticed his fading existence in the Void. Still stumped in the question of the source of his brother's distress, he spoke.

"HONESTLY, I DON'T KNOW WHY YOU'RE SAD. I'M HERE, YOU DON'T SEEM HURT… WAS IT THAT GUY ATTACKING YOU? WHAT A MEANIE!"

Sans' grin returned as Papyrus, who had respect and love for everyone and everything, unknowingly started to insult his own father. Had he known, his brother would likely hide away from any and everyone in his room in embarrassment. At least, if his reaction to making his first bad pun was anything to go by…

Papyrus faded once more, and suddenly disappeared. Eye flashing again, Sans stepped up and scanned the Void for a sign of his brother. Dread began to build back up within his system.

"papyrus-"

"NO! DO NOT BE AFRAID OF THE DARK!" Despite not even existing, Papyrus still called out to his brother, "THAT'S SILLY! NOW LISTEN TO WHAT I HAVE TO SAY!"

"YOU CAN BE LAZY, AND BROODING, AND LAZY… DID I SAY LAZY TWICE? BUT! I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! AND YOU ARE MY BROTHER! THAT MEANS YOU TOO ARE GREAT! I BELIEVE YOU ARE!"

Sans felt his SOUL fill up with a pleasant warmth.

"bro…"

"Yeah! I know we aren't the best friends, but I know you can do it!"

Sans knew that voice, "undyne?"

"Do not be afraid," a new voice, motherly in tone, came from the Void. "We all are here, and we believe in you!"

"Tori?"

Another voice, female again, but nervous, spoke, "I k-know it seems impossible, but I know you can win!"

"Alphys!"

"Darling, show them what you've got!"

Even Mettaton was here. Sans had never felt more confident than ever before. All of his father's put downs meant nothing now.

"Sans!" the voice was undeniably Asgore's, "You must be DETERMINED!"

And so he was. A rush of energy unlike any he had ever felt filled Sans. He was, undeniably, filled with DETERMINATION. With confidence, his eyes glowed, staring straight at the forming mass in front of him.

Gaster smiled at Sans, but not with malice. The smile was more akin to interest, the satisfaction of solving a mystery or fixing a problem. Beneath that, it seemed there was… pride?

"Yes…" the Man Who Speaks In Hands rasped, "Perhaps you do see."

Sans stepped forward, defiant.

"I see," he declared, "I know what it takes to be a Judge."

His left eye glowed neon blue and golden yellow, filled with power. His left hand aflame, he snapped his fingers, summoning three Gaster Blasters. Filled with righteous rage, Sans yelled, commanding the blasters to fire.

The weapons had no qualms attacking their maker, and from the smile on Gaster's face, neither did he. The magic blasts did far better than Sans' bones, and even Chara's knife, doing longer lasting damage. As Gaster's body began to slowly reform, Sans went on the offensive.

With bones, magic-fire infused punches, and gravity SOUL effects, Sans slowly whittled at Gaster. Gaster didn't seem to mind, only staring at Sans with a growing smile. A gravity beat down sent the scientist back. Sans charged forward, but was caught off guard when Gaster finally retaliated.

Grabbed in with Gaster's SOUL effect, Sans was stuck in place. He flinched for a moment, but quickly recovered and glitched out of the way. Gaster continued, his own left eye alive with purple magic. But each time Sans got trapped in Gaster's SOUL effect, the Judge warped out of the way.

So instead, Gaster stopped playing with SOUL effects. With all his effort, Gaster summoned a swarm of bones and sent them at Sans. The smaller skeleton dodged barely, weaving left and right, before warping past an un-dodge-able wall. It then occurred to him that Gaster was using a final attack. His final attack.

Want to use my tricks against me? Sans thought, Alright, that's cool.

He dodged perfectly, predicting his own moves. Surrounded by his blasters, Sans took the easy way out and simply warped out of the circle. He sent a flamed fist at his father, who dodged away, ending his assault.

Sans stood, watching his father cautiously. It only then occurred to him that he had used plenty of energy dodging his attack; his legs were shaking, his stance slightly wobbly. To his relief, he found that his father was not selecting the option to FIGHT. But it wasn't MERCY either. It was ACT, followed by CHECK.

Sans' own soul popped up. Only now it was different: though primarily white, like a normal monster's, the soul had a sheen of all the colors of the rainbow. As the sheen grew closer to the center, some colors faded whilst others grew stronger, more opaque. At the SOUL's core was the color of Sans' eye: aqua for PATIENCE, orange for BRAVERY, and yellow for JUSTICE.

"Now you see, Sans," Gaster said, "But do you understand your burden?"

"I do, father," Sans replied, filled with DETERMINATION.

"Oh? Then show me."

Gaster charged one last time at Sans. The chosen Judge met the attack head on, his soul radiating a field of power, blocking Gaster's advance like a shield. Gaster's distorted shrieks filled the Void, but Sans pushed on. He felt his past failures crawling down his back, but shrugged it off, the willpower of the Judge within him.

But even it began to fade. The top of Sans' skull suddenly felt more heavy, and sleep beckoned his name. He was exhausted, running on fumes, but still the memory of those he was fighting in him called out to him. A primal urge to defend himself, those he loved, and the whole world surged within him, and with a mighty yell, Sans breathed magic fire.

Gaster was sent back, and consumed by the magic blast. His amalgamate frame decayed in the blast, but on his face was a genuine smile. Sans barely felt tears of joy as he saw his father's face. It was filled with pride and happiness.

Around them, the visions of the timelines closed and the Void grew darker, yet darker. With a final effort, Sans finished the attack, and fell, his vision dark.

"Good luck, my son," Gaster said, "I'll be in touch."


Sans gasped, breathing in the air of Snowdin once more. He looked around, confused and shocked. He slowed his breathing, and observed himself. He found his hand, which was scarred. A circle was cleanly engraved in its palm, still glowing with purple magic. The magic faded, then the scar, then it was as if it was never there. The lingering energy that Sans felt there though was enough proof of what had transpired.

"So, I didn't hallucinate all of that," Sans said to himself.

He stood up, putting his hands in his coat pockets. Had he looked in a mirror, or any reflective surface, he would've seen that his eyes now permanently glowed a calm blue. His grin widened, filled with DETERMINATION.

"I won't fail you, dad."


AN: yaaaaay i finished the exposition chapters.

now i have finals so don't be expecting anything soon

Please do send some reviews, I'd like some feedback on my work (and perhaps ideas and suggestions from you guys?)

Thanks! Bye.