A/N: AHHHHHHHHHHHH! Thank you all for 1000 views! It makes me feel very happy to know that my fan fiction is actually being read and (maybe) entertaining people! Also a HUGE thank-you to my beta-reader, FictionGirl11, for being fabulous and making this story 5 times better.

Here we go!


'It took you long enough. I thought I'd made it instantaneous... better late than never. Sans, we should go. We have work to do.'

"Wait. V, wait. What the heck's going on- Oh God. You didn't." Realization dawned in his skeletal face. He felt a sinking feeling in his SOUL.

'You know perfectly well what I did. Be glad you're alive.'

"No. NO! Give him back! Please, please, can't you do something?" His voice had changed from his usual calm tone, for it was laced with what could be described as panic. OOC for the skeleton who'd watched everyone he knew die, over and over again... but this was different in a twisted way. This could be... permanent.

'Sans, we don't have time for you to be sentimental about that spare.'

"Spare? Are you kidding me? Do you know where we are? WHEN we are?"

There was a pause, but it didn't last long. "I... No. I do not. But it doesn't matter. I assume time has passed, and I am certain that some of us were killed by some humans. But our research is still important. Sans, don't you remember? We were going to save everyone! Once we break the Barrier, we'll be free! You and I, Sans, we'll be heroes." Her voice grew in volume, and a spark of excitement lit her words.

It was not so for him. "V... You don't know what you've just done. We aren't there anymore! You NEVER change, never. You couldn't just let me die, had to actually, seriously, finish the (censored) transfer, and now..." Sans cut off before the pain he was feeling could leak into his words. He didn't want to give her the satisfaction. "We need to go...somewhere... else."

'Very well. Though I don't want to waste much more time."

He vanished.


The house was quiet and empty, a far cry from the days when there was a family in its walls. But those days were long past, and only the faintest echoes of a 'mother' and her two boys remained. The blue and purple zigzag carpet had been present on the floor for as long as the old house had stood in Snowdin, and the burgundy wallpaper was old enough to rival Gerson.

A skeleton stood in the middle of what must have been the living room, looking around wistfully at the green couch, television, and sock that lay beside it. He was sure it was stuck to the floor by now.

But sightseeing wasn't what he'd came for. "V? You there?"

'I literally can't leave.'

"...that's not unsettling at all."

'I'm... glad to hear it?'

His features hardened in annoyance as he sighed. "It was a joke. Anyway, on to more important things. WHAT DID YOU DO TO MY BROTHER?" He was on the edge of his patience.

'Sans, Sans. I thought we talked about this before. If something were to happen to you, I can't afford to lose all my work. I am... surprised, to say the least, about how the other one... changed, but at least the transfer was seemingly flawless.'

"So. He's just... gone?" Papyrus...couldn't be gone. Not like this.

'I thought I'd drilled this into you years ago... IT WAS NEVER REALLY HERE IN THE FIRST PLACE. What has happened in my absence for you to become so... attached to that thing? Don't you care about our work anymore?' The other being's condescending tone of surety was infuriating. She didn't know anything, there was no reason for him TO continue the work.

"You seriously don't know what has happened, do you? The Barrier's down! We're free, V. It's been... almost eleven years."

A pin dropping would've resonated throughout the house. An uneasy atmosphere had faded into the room like fog, and the frame of the skeleton shook slightly as he accepted his own words.

Finally, she spoke again. 'Eleven years... eleven years I was gone. But how? It feels like mere days have gone by since our accident!'

"Our accident? The only thing that happened was you trying to go too fast and Papyrus (censored) saving me! And another question for you, V- how are you awake? I SAW what that stuff did to you!" He'd also seen what had happened immediately after. There shouldn't be anything left of her to communicate with.

'It turns out that when one is Determined enough, anything is possible. Be glad I've forgiven you for what happened in the lab.'

"How are you even- Oh. V, did you actually manage to SAVE? That's... incredible. I suppose the excess Karma I released when I, uh, died, rekindled your consciousness from..."

An amused chuckle echoed in his skull. 'You're smarter than I gave you credit for. Go on.'

"Ha! We were right, weren't we? You were in the Crystal Timeline, the fractured one!" His voice had gained an excited edge, and it seemed as if his past anger had been brushed away for continuing a conversation from long ago. "What was it like? Was anyone else there?"

'I can tell you everything... if you continue with our work.' Immediately the excitement died, replaced with the previous annoyance and a new tone of disbelief.

"...you're kidding. V, we don't need to work anymore! We're all free, and Frisk... Frisk seems content. I..."

'You've grown soft. Don't you remember what we saw in the chart? The loops never end. Some last for longer, years, even, but they all RESET eventually. We can change the focus of our experiments. Put a stop to that child's manipulations of time.'

The skeleton grew silent.

'Sans, do not tell me you've given up on our vision. We were going to save everyone. Even when the experiments were, well, painful for you, I know you wanted the same future I did! The future I still want!'

"V, those three years were the worst of my life. I went through my days knowing that if I didn't go along with your plans, you'd use Papyrus instead. I... can't say I wished you dead. You're the only mother I've ever really known, even if you suck." The anger was back with a bitter undertone.

'Thank you.'

"Anytime. But, when you died or whatever, I was finally free. Papyrus was free! He could have a future, a real one, outside a laboratory."

'That's all very nice, I'm glad you remember what you wanted when you were thirteen. Get to the point.'

"I'm saying that I don't want to get back into that (censored). You can go possess a toilet for all I care."

'I'm not a ghost, I'm my own conscience that I programmed into your skull.'

"...You never did get my jokes. Get lost," he snapped. A floorboard creaked in perfect timing with his his frustrated huff. "But first, tell me how to get Papyrus back in his body. I don't care if it dusts me for real, just spare Paps."

'On one condi-'

"One condition' can go to (censored)! Either you give Papyrus back or I do it myself and kill you for good while I'm at it!" Sans's usual cool had been lost long ago, the skeleton having reached his breaking point. "Listen, Paps is all I got. Can't you just let me be the expendable one for once? We're not in the lab anymore, V. We're BOTH monsters."

She had retreated into the back of his mind, and her voice was faint. But he could still hear the echoes of her answer.

'Very well. Take us downstairs.

"Inna minute. Gotta check something first." Sans could feel her annoyance with being told to wait. For once, he was the one who was insisting she listen to his demands, and he had to be sure of something.

Sans focused in and conducted a self CHECK. He hadn't had to do this since forever, however, it was the only way to be certain he could bring Pap back. A basic readout appeared before his eyes.

Name: Comic Sans MS Bold-Italic

Species: Monster; Skeleton

LV: 1 (Sans snorted- his LV must've been wiped. It used to be quite higher.)

EXP: 0

HP: 1/1

ATK: 1

DEF: 1

MP: 1,250/1,250

MpM: 10

HpM: .1

DoT: (Karma) 1-10 dpa

SOUL Status: FULL, FUSED- FUSED WITH: 'Papyrus'

Primary trait: Magic (White)

Secondary Trait: Wisdom (Indigo)

Sharer Status: HP: 680/680

For the first time since 'dying', the skeleton smiled before vanishing into thin air. Papyrus wasn't gone for good.


"Um, so, I suppose we will just... continue on with the ceremony..." Asgore said awkwardly as the mix of surprised and worried titters of the audience died down. Most of the monsters seemed relatively unaffected by Papyrus's abrupt disappearance, but there were a select few who were talking in hushed, worried voices.

"What the heck just happened?" questioned Undyne fiercely.

"I believe Papyrus had a panic attack... not surprising, considering the circumstances. Perhaps I should go after him..." said Toriel.

"M-maybe he just wants s-some s-space to cope better." Alphys nervously interjected. Toriel looked like she wanted to argue before a soft voice broke into their conversation.

"...hello, undyne, alphys, your majesty, frisk..."

The four turned to see Grillby, the bar tender of the aptly named 'Grillby's' in Snowdin. He nodded respectfully to Toriel before speaking again. "...if I may..."

"Of course, Mr. Grillby, please. Any thing you have to say?" said Toriel in response.

"...thank you. ...you see, for all the time I have known Papyrus, he has never possessed to ability to "shortcut" as he just did. only... his brother had that magic. I do not know for sure, but if I were to guess, I'd say that it appears Papyrus may be... inheriting his brother's special powers."

The four were shocked into silence until Undyne piped up. "Wait, you mean Sans had than one crazy power? Could he summon awesome bone spears? Why didn't he use them?!"

Frisk jumped into the conversation. They told Undyne that Sans could change other's SOUL colour like Papyrus, summon skull cannons, teleport, use regular and blue bone attacks, and had a strange purple power that burned almost like acid!

"My child, how do you know all of this?" Tories inquired, looking both intrigued and mildly concerned.

Um. They'd asked...? Flashes of endless waves of attacks, a glowing cyan yellow eye and a dusty knife came to mind before being swiftly ejected from thoughts.

"...Frisk is correct, though they are missing a particular thing. Sans had those powers, but he could also sometimes... predict things. A particular time when he'd had a few too many ketchup bottles, he told me all about what I would do the next day... and most of it happened..." Grillby's flames seemed softer, almost, remembering his old friend fondly.

"R-Really?" added Alphys.

"...yes. But that's irrelevant. You should find poor Papyrus..." suggested Grillby. The man of fire walked away as if the conversation had never happened, obviously used to being overlooked as a bartender and only showing up to give the ordered food before leaving guests to their own.

Frisk couldn't help but wonder if Grillby was right about Papyrus getting Sans's abilities and what it would mean for the near future...


A/N: MP = Magic potential, DoT = Damage over Time (dpa = damage per attack), MpM = Magic per Minute (referring to how quickly magical energy can replenish) The stats came up with by cross referencing Sans' actual stats and a few video games for mage and assassin characters, as well as a few Undertale forums and fan theories. When a monster performs a self CHECK, they can see all their stats, not just the bare bones ones for battle. This is just for clarification. Enjoy~