Frisk had teleported once with Sans before. The skeleton took him from the Waterfall entrance to Grillby's in Snowdin. The distance between the two locations was so short that the "shortcut" felt totally unnecessary, and that was why he wasn't fond of it.
At first, it's feels like they are free falling, spinning at a high velocity. Then, the limbs become numb, proceeded by a feeling like being squeezed into a small bottle and then taken out again. Finally, the destination is reached. The ones used to teleportation normally do so graciously. The ones not so used to it normally fall with their face flat to the ground.
Naturally, the human fit in the last category, so he just hit the ground with a loud thud, and heard the same happening to everyone else (with the exception of Sans, obviously). As he started to be able to feel his limbs once again, his torso aching from the fall, he got up, wiping the dirt out from his clothes.
It was dark, but they were clearly in some kind of forest. Where did Sans take them?
At the same time, he worried about Bonnie, Berna and Boone. Frisk knew the purple rabbit told them to leave, but he still thought leaving them behind was a bad idea. The two sisters were really talented with magic, but perhaps that wouldn't be enough. And Boone... they must have felt so scared there. The human thought they could have at least taken the white rabbit with them.
Suddenly, he began to hear someone breathing rapidly, growling with pain. He looked around and saw MK laying down on the ground, Sans and Papyrus kneeled next to him. The taller skeleton held a flashlight while the shorter one searched frantically for something in their backpack. A sense of foreboding installed within the human's heart as he walked towards the group.
"F... Frisk...", said MK, noticing him approaching. Their voice sounded thin and it trembled, like they were feeling pain, or were scared. Or maybe both.
"Hey.", greeted the human, worried. "What happened?"
Papyrus looked to Frisk, and Sans merely glanced a look before continuing to search for things in his backpack.
"apparently...", began the shorter skeleton, his voice tense. "you shouldn't take shortcuts if you have fractured or broken bones."
He took some bandages out of his backpack as Frisk looked to Papyrus, confused. The taller skeleton sighed as they pointed the flashlight at MK's ankle. Frisk felt his stomach twist as he saw it.
There was a bone protruding from their ankle, a greenish liquid pouring out from the wound (maybe it was their 'blood'? Frisk couldn't tell for sure). The bone seemed to have fully snapped, and probably pierced the yellow monster's skin during the teleportation.
"I... I can't feel...", babbled MK. "Can't feel my leg... Frisk, what's going on?"
Frisk wanted to say everything would be alright, but his voice seemed to be gone. He kneeled by their side, next to Sans, who pulled the rum bottle from their backpack.
He had forgotten about that. Sans took it from a department store they looted in the beginning of the war, intending to use it as an antiseptic. Papyrus seemed to be shocked when he saw his brother carried that around.
"What are you gonna do?", asked Frisk, gulping.
"put his bone back in its place.", said Sans, taking a look at MK's wound up close. "we don't have much time. if we're not quick enough, we'll have to amputate it."
Frisk noticed his hands were cold, and closed them in an attempt to get them warmer. They were shaking too. Actually, his whole body was shaking.
"A-am...putate?", said MK, panic clear on his voice. "P-please... no... do something!"
"i'll try.", said Sans, looking sorrowfully to the yellow monster. "but i'm not gonna lie – this is gonna hurt as hell."
The prospective of having their ankle amputated seemed to be scary enough because MK didn't hesitate to nod energetically. He seemed to be about to cry, and that broke Frisk's heart.
"pap, frisk.", called the skeleton. "hold him tight. don't let him move around, understood?"
Papyrus nodded and held MK's legs against the ground, while Frisk pressed their chest with his hands. It probably didn't inspire confidence in them as the human's arms were shaking.
He looked away when he heard Sans opening the bottle. The skeleton gave a little sigh before pouring the rum on the wound. Almost immediately MK let out a piercing scream of pain, and Frisk felt their body instinctively shaking, trying to break free from his and Papyrus' hold. It lasted some seconds, and after that they just kept shaking violently, sobbing.
"okay, okay...", said Sans, trying his best to keep calm and not let the situation get the best of him. "just... hold on there, mk. it'll be over soon."
Frisk looked at Sans as they put the flashlight in their mouth and positioned their hands around MK's ankle. He understood what was about to happen, and closed his eyes.
As Sans began to rearrange the bone to put it back on its place, MK started to scream once again. This time, however, it didn't last mere seconds, but a lot more. They shook and twisted with more force, and Frisk almost let them go a couple of times, but held on tight. He had to stay strong. He had to stay determined.
It probably didn't even last a minute, but that dreadful moment felt like it took an eternity. Eventually, Sans managed to put the bone back, immediately placing MK's ankle under a flat wooden plank and wrapping it tightly with the bandages. The yellow monster stopped shaking, but occasionally would let a hiccup or vocalize something, his voice weak from screaming.
"done."
Papyrus let MK's legs go, and Frisk did the same. The reptilian monster, however, made no motion to sit, and just kept on the ground, taking deep breaths.
"YOU... YOU DID GREAT, MK.", complimented Papyrus, giving them a weak smile, but MK didn't even glance at the skeleton.
Sans stood up, stretching out his bones as he did so. He walked towards a nearby tree and sat again, leaning against it. Papyrus kept at MK's side, and Frisk sat down where he was, wrapping his legs with his arms. He felt incredibly tired – the amount of things they had gone through in the past hour was unbelievable.
"Where are we?", inquired the human, breaking the silence.
"i'm not a hundred percent certain.", said Sans. "but we've been here before... maybe last month."
Frisk couldn't help but feel slightly demotivated by hearing that information.
"So we've come back?", he asked, not even attempting to hide the disappointment on his voice.
"hey, i can only take shortcuts to places i've already been.", replied Sans, defending himself. "and this one was the first that came to mind. besides, we were probably a bit too close to undyne, as you can tell by what happened tonight."
It was probably true, but now they were a bit too far from her. They'd never reach the empress, specially with a wounded MK. That meant the war was still far from being over. However, he didn't say anything to the shorter skeleton. They were likely feeling as frustrated as he was, even if they took them there it was in an attempt to protect everyone. The human couldn't bring himself to complain about that. He decided to change the subject instead.
"The protective charms.", he said. "They weren't working. And that fire guy said something about 'being called'. Who... who did it?"
Frisk felt anxious when making the question. He trusted the monsters he'd been traveling with wholeheartedly, and the mere thought of one of them betraying him hurt. The mood got uncomfortable.
"BERNADETTE.", replied Papyrus. "SHE WAS THE ONE WHO DEACTIVATED THE TRAPS AND THE PROTECTIVE SPELLS AROUND THE HOUSE. WE WERE IN THE LIVING ROOM WHEN BONNIE INQUIRED HER ABOUT IT. AND THEN, SUDDENLY, THEY BURST THROUGH THE ENTRANCE. WE COULDN'T DO A THING."
Papyrus looked down, extremely sad.
"Why would she do such a thing?", asked Frisk, not believing. Berna seemed to be such a kind monster, why would she backstab them?
"she had contacts with the royal guard.", replied Sans, dryly. "she probably felt you were a threat to her child because of what happened in the morning. i bet she didn't expect all that to backfire at her, though."
Of course that was it. In the end, it was always Frisk's fault. Always because of his stupid mistakes. And Sans still hoped he could be an "ambassador". What a cruel joke.
Still, he couldn't feel angry at Berna. He simply worried over her, her sister and her child. He wondered if they were still fighting. Perhaps they had already dealt with the situation. Or maybe they had been captured. Or killed. He shivered.
"SANS?", asked Papyrus, his voice a bit unsure. "UM... WHY HAVE YOU BEEN CARRYING ALCOHOL WITH YOU?"
Frisk held his breath. The shorter skeleton had asked him not to tell Papyrus about the rum they had picked up at the department store, but now that card too was laid bare on the table.
"makeshift antiseptic, pap.", said Sans, and Frisk was glad to hear a clear note of honesty on his voice. "and just that. honest. you saw the bottle was full, right?"
Papyrus seemed to be in conflict whether he should believe Sans or not, but in the end, he could probably feel his brother wasn't lying. At least not that time.
"RIGHT.", he replied. "I BELIEVE IN YOU!"
"thanks, bro.", replied Sans, sounding a little happier.
At that moment, MK made a motion and slowly stood up from the ground. He pressed their wounded leg against the ground, testing the improvised curative. His face flinched a little, but he didn't make any complaints, so that was probably something.
"How are you feeling?", asked Frisk, concerned.
"Like crap.", said MK. "But thanks a lot, guys. I don't know what I'd do without you."
It was possible to hear the gratitude on their tired voice, and it made Frisk feel a little better. They slowly walked to a nearby tree, limping, before sitting down and leaning against it, like Sans had done before.
After a while, Sans stood up and started walking towards the yellow monster. He sat next to them, who in turn looked at him, probably confused. Frisk and Papyrus just watched, not sure of what was going on. For a while, nobody said anything, and the human could almost tell the shorter skeleton was feeling embarrassed.
"so... uh...", said Sans, scratching his head. "what you did tonight... i mean... you were really brave there."
Frisk would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised by that. Sans giving a genuine compliment to MK wasn't something to expect. The shorter skeleton would normally either give them a neutral treatment, or be ironic at them. Nevertheless, the human smiled.
"i know we didn't start... this... really well. at all.", continued Sans. "and i've been a jerk to you a couple times. i didn't trust you. but tonight, how you and frisk saved us... i'm sure now you're trustworthy."
"SANS...", said Papyrus, clearly happy with the moment, but Frisk just poked them in the arm. It was better if they didn't say anything there.
"um... so...", said Sans a while after his brother's interruption. "i'm willing to put it all behind us, and start all over again."
Frisk's smile grew wider, even though nobody could see it in the dark. MK kept in silence, probably having a hard time believing what he was hearing.
"Sounds nice, numbskull."
The human wanted to laugh with joy, but that would probably just embarrass everybody, so he settled with just laying in the ground, relaxing. Papyrus shifted his look from Sans and MK to him, confused.
"HUMAN?", they called. "ARE YOU GOING TO SLEEP HERE?"
"leave them be, pap.", said Sans, standing up once again. "we're all 'bone tired', heheh. let's camp here. sunrise must not be far, anyway."
Frisk closed his eyes, still smiling. His heart still felt heavy, but he wasn't feeling down. He felt more determined to find Undyne and end that war – even if it would all come down to kill or be killed.
For the first time, the four felt united not as simple friends, but as true brothers.
"Sans worked with the royal scientist!?"
Frisk almost dropped all the sticks and wood planks he had been carrying. The sun was setting, and as MK still couldn't walk too much, they would settle down in the forest much earlier than they used to. As the yellow monster and Sans guarded the place, the human and Papyrus ventured themselves deeper into the woods to find material to make a small fire.
As they walked, they'd do all sorts of small talk. Frisk's favorite bands, Papyrus favorite dishes (all of them involving spaghetti, of course), cool trivia about the Underground the human never knew about, things like that. Somehow, that day the conversation topic shifted into Sans, and Frisk was utterly shocked about what he had heard – if he had heard it right.
"YES!", replied Papyrus, his eyes beaming with pride. "HE MAY NOT LOOK LIKE IT, BUT HE'S REALLY SMART!"
Sans was indeed smart – he always pulled a (bad) joke in the moment it presented itself. However, Frisk had difficulty believing that very same skeleton knew physics and science stuff too well. Then again, he showed the human the constellations back when the war had just started, so there was that.
"It wasn't Alphys, though, right?", asked the human. Frisk had the feeling the skeleton and the now deceased royal scientist were at least acquainted, but couldn't picture Sans working for her.
"NO, NO! HE AND ALPHYS WERE PUPILS OF THE ROYAL SCIENTIST AT THE TIME!", replied Papyrus, picking up a plank from the ground. "DO YOU THINK THIS ONE IS GOOD?"
The taller skeleton waved the plank in front of him. It looked slightly wet, but he reckoned it would burn okay in the fire.
"Seems cool.", said Frisk. "Anyway, who was the royal scientist before Alphys?"
Papyrus frowned, as if he was trying to remember something he had long forgotten.
"I DON'T... KNOW?", he said, confused. "IT STARTED WITH "W". WILL? WALE..? THAT'S STRANGE... THEY BUILT THE CORE AND A BUNCH OF OTHER STUFF, BUT I CAN'T REMEMBER THEM!"
It was weird, indeed. If they built the core – the source of energy for the Underground, they should have been really famous. Papyrus would surely know at least their first name. Why didn't he?
"How did Sans end up working in the lab?", asked Frisk. After all, that was what he was curious about, forgotten royal scientists aside.
Papyrus looked down, deep in thought, reminiscing about his past and Sans'.
"HIS FIRST JOB WAS AS A JANITOR IN THE LAB. I THINK THAT WITH HIS... SENSE OF HUMOR... HE MADE FRIENDS WITH EVERYBODY THAT WORKED THERE, INCLUDING ALPHYS AND THE ROYAL SCIENTIST. BUT THAT ASIDE, HE HAD ALWAYS BEEN INTERESTED IN SCIENCE. HE NEVER WENT TO SCHOOL, BUT HE'D STUDY WITH ME, AND HE LOVED THOSE PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY STUFF!"
So Sans' job that took he and Papyrus from the streets was none other than as a janitor in the royal lab. Frisk never expected their first job to be of a stand-up comedian, but working at a science lab didn't seem to be fit for the shorter skeleton.
"I THINK THE ROYAL SCIENTIST NOTICED SANS KNEW A LOT ABOUT SCIENCE-Y THINGS, SO THEY TOOK HIM AS THEIR PUPIL WHEN HE TURNED 19." they continued. "I REMEMBER THEY CAME HOME REALLY HAPPY THAT DAY!"
Frisk picked up some more sticks nearby a tree, catching glimpse of a snail going up its trunk. It made him remember someone who used to like snails, but he pushed the thought to the back of his mind.
"And what did his work consist of?"
Papyrus made a stereotypical thinking face, which made them look even more like a cartoon character.
"UGH, I DON'T KNOW!", they said after a while. "AT FIRST IT WAS ALL ABOUT FINDING A WAY OF BREAKING THE BARRIER WITHOUT HUMAN SOULS. THEN IT SHIFTED TO BE ABOUT... TIME... TRAVEL..?"
The skeleton sounded really unsure. Frisk snorted.
"What?", he said, skeptically. "Time travel? Is that... even..."
Possible? The human was ready to mock that very idea. Time travel was absurd, but... he suddenly felt that somehow it... made sense? It felt like he was forgetting an important information.
"I KNOW! I'M NOT SURE I'M RIGHT, TO BE HONEST! YOU BETTER ASK SANS IF YOU'RE CURIOUS! AS GREAT AS I AM, SCIENCE IS NOT FOR ME!"
That snapped Frisk out of his thoughts. Maybe the war was starting to make his brain melt. Of course time travel was impossible – the general idea of time travel, at least. Besides, he still wanted to know a few more things about that part of Sans' life.
"I THINK THIS IS ENOUGH FOR A GOOD FIRE!", said Papyrus, energetically. "LET'S GO BACK TO THE CAMP!"
The human nodded in agreement, and they both turned around, starting to make their way back to the rest of the group. They walked in silence for a while, as Frisk had the feeling he was about to bring up a touchy subject, but he decided to ask it anyway. He reckoned Papyrus was more prone to answer it sincerely than Sans.
"So uh... how did you guys end up in Snowdin?", he asked a bit hesitantly. "I mean, you were both working as sentries when I met you six years ago, and Sans never mentioned anything about working as a scientist."
Papyrus gave a little sigh, but kept their kind smile nonetheless. Frisk knew then he was right – the reason Sans stopped working at the lab was probably not a happy one.
"THAT WAS MY IDEA.", they replied. "FIVE YEARS AFTER SANS STARTED TO WORK DIRECTLY WITH THE ROYAL SCIENTIST, AN ACCIDENT HAPPENED AND... AND I THINK THEY PASSED AWAY."
"You... think?", asked Frisk. It was weird Papyrus wouldn't be sure about such a vital information.
"YEAH, I... THAT MAKES SENSE, I GUESS!", they replied, frowning. "SANS WAS REALLY, REALLY UPSET ABOUT THAT, AND HE STARTED TO WORK A LOT MORE. THERE WERE DAYS I WOULDN'T EVEN SEE HIM GET HOME, AND WHEN I DID, HE'D USUALLY BE... REEKING OF ALCOHOL, AND I WOULD HAVE TO HELP HIM GET TO BED."
So that was why Sans wanted to keep the rum bottle a secret – Papyrus probably didn't have fond memories of alcohol, and Sans didn't want his brother to think he had started drinking again. Frisk imagined how the taller skeleton felt when they'd see their brother drunkenly getting home.
"THEN... WHEN ALPHYS FILLED IN THE POSITION OF ROYAL SCIENTIST, HE JUST QUIT THE JOB.", continued Papyrus. "I THINK THEY FOUGHT OR SOMETHING, BECAUSE SANS NEVER SPOKE TO HER AGAIN. THAT WAS WHEN I GOT US JOBS AS SENTRIES AND MOVED TO SNOWDIN TOWN. YOU KNOW, TO START OUR LIVES OVER! IN TIMES LIKE THOSE, WE MUST REMAIN POSITIVE!"
The skeleton smiled, and Frisk smiled back. That was so Papyrus. The human was glad to be with them – the past months would have been unbearable otherwise.
But something Papyrus said struck the human as odd. Maybe Sans and Alphys did fight, but have they really never spoken to each other again? He remembered when he asked the shorter skeleton how did the monsters break the barrier, and they seemed to know an awful lot about Alphys' experiments. Perhaps they had gotten back in touch with each other after Frisk left the Underground?
He wondered if Sans would be open about all that if he asked him. But Frisk knew for a fact the skeleton was trying to talk about their past, little by little, so the best he could do was go for it and follow Papyrus' example, maintaining a positive attitude.
They had no choice but to carry on and walk through all places they had already been to reach Undyne – although MK's condition slowed them down considerably. Still, giving up or leaving the yellow monster behind were not options in none of their heads.
Almost three weeks after the cabin incident, the group reached a town they had already passed by in the past – and now it felt even more like an empty shell of what it used to be. The place felt dead, and they probably were the only live souls wandering those streets.
"We're only here now?", asked MK, clearly disappointed.
Frisk could not blame them for being upset. Basically a month of traveling had been wasted, and they were trying to redo it. To make it worse, Sans' "shortcuts" were out of question – at least until the reptilian monster's leg fully healed. The human himself was feeling a bit down, but he gave his best, most determined smile anyway.
"Hey, we can't stop now, can we?", he said. "How's your leg?"
MK glanced at their leg, making small movements with it.
"Sometimes it hurts.", they said. "But it's healing fine, I guess."
Sans and Papyrus had walked a bit further, looking attentively at the windows of the houses and shops. The taller skeleton signed for them to keep close.
"this place is empty.", said Sans, intrigued. "remember the last time we were here? the human patrols?"
"YEAH! WE ALMOST MANAGED TO SNEAK PAST THEM!", said Papyrus more cheerfully than it would be appropriate for such a memory.
"That wasn't fun.", stated MK, gloomily.
"welp, good for us that we don't have to go through all that again.", said Sans, shrugging. "let's just be careful."
With that, they started to wander around the city. They always checked before turning a corner, their eyes and ears attentive to the slightest of motions. However, that time nobody ever came.
As twilight colored the sky with a mix of orange and purple, they decided to search for a house to settle in for the night. Frisk was actually excited about that – every opportunity they had to sleep in a place other than the woods had to be taken gratefully.
They decided for a small house located in what the human presumed to be the downtown. As soon as they entered, he noticed a thin layer of dust covered almost everything, indicating it had been sometime since someone had lived there. Nevertheless, they had to check if there wasn't anyone hiding.
It was a fairly simple home, so the four of them wouldn't take much time checking it. Frisk walked past the kitchen and the living room, and into the bedrooms. One of them had a king sized bed, so he presumed they were in a place that once was home to a couple, perhaps with a small child, considering the other bedroom. He checked under the bed and the closet, finding nothing strange, as expected. However, as he turned around, his sight locked onto a big map of the region that was hanging in the wall, scribbles all over it.
The human walked closer to it, curious. The markings seemed fairly recent. One of the cities had a big circle drawn around it, and a small note under it. He squinted his eyes to read it, and at first it didn't make any sense, but as realization sunk in, he felt his heart starting to pound.
Queen there? Gotta take her out.
Heading there with the team.
- Leo J.
"Sans!", he called, his voice shaking a little. "Papyrus! MK! There's something weird here..."
His message was a bit vague, which made the rest of the group come rushing to where he was, thinking that maybe the human had actually found someone there. Frisk merely pointed to the map, and Sans was the first one to approach it, their pupils fixed on the circled city and the message. Their expression remained neutral, much to Frisk's nervousness.
"Please tell me this is not what I think it is.", pleaded Frisk, his voice with an almost childish tone.
Sans looked at the human, their everlasting smile still not giving in.
"yep, pretty much."
"UM... WHAT IS... WHAT?", asked Papyrus, his own question confusing him.
"we're not the only ones after undyne.", replied Sans, closing his eye sockets. "whoever was here has already set foot at finding her, and somehow had a lead at where she is."
MK stepped into the room, looking at the map as well. Suddenly, all the color drained from his face.
"But... but that's...", he babbled, looking at Frisk desolated. "That's on the other side of the region. We'll never reach them before they do."
The yellow monster sat on the bed, looking to the floor.
"I knew I was just slowing you down.", he said with a pessimistic tone on his voice. "You should just leave me here and teleport back to the clearing. It's not too close from that city, but at least then you'll have a chance."
"WHAT!? NO WAY, MK!", said Papyrus, putting his hands on his hips, almost looking angry with the reptilian monster's suggestion. "I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NEVER ALLOW YOU TO BE LEFT BEHIND!"
"i'm with pap, buddy.", said Sans, winking at him. "you won't see yourself free from my wonderful jokes any time soon, y'know."
MK just looked at the skeleton brothers with a look of disbelief.
"If those humans reach Undyne before we do...", they began.
"there is a possibility they'll kill her, in which case we monsters will be sent back into the underground, and it'll suck.", completed Sans. "but we're not leaving you behind, mk. we'll find a way to get there quickly. you'll see."
Frisk wondered if Undyne could take on a group of well armed humans. She had grown more powerful for sure, but the possibility she'd fall on the wrong hands and make everything be in vain was really stressing. However, MK didn't need to know about that. Besides, the human would never consider the possibility of leaving them behind, so he smiled, trying to show confidence.
"Hey, let's forget about all that for now.", he said, changing the subject. "Let's search for anything that might be useful here. Then we can eat."
They didn't find much, though – some old cookies and molded bread, and that was it. Searching some markets the next day would be wise – but as three months had already passed since the war started, it was becoming more and more difficult to find fresh supplies. They had to try it, anyway.
They divided their rations for the day and ate, making small talk as they did so. Usually, Papyrus would make a remark about the place they were in, and Sans would manage to make a pun out of it, making Frisk and MK roll their eyes and the taller skeleton almost go insane, and that time it was no different. It never got old.
As night went on, they decided it was time to turn in. That time, Sans would start the watch, and it would surely be monotonous since the town was empty, but they couldn't take any foolish risks. As Papyrus and MK went to the rooms, the human threw himself in the sofa, while Sans sat on a chair nearby.
Frisk was tired, but there was something about being the only human alive on a desolated town that made him extremely uncomfortable. His mind wandered to Bonnie's words he heard weeks before – "he was probably the only human traveling with monsters, and was totally okay with it".
Thinking about Bonnie made him feel bad. He could only hope they were alright, but inside him there was a little voice that kept saying they hadn't met a happy fate. It was another guilt on his pile, alongside Toriel's death and... well, that whole war.
"can't sleep, huh, buddo?", said Sans.
Sans sat backwards on the chair, leaning their torso against the chair's spine, legs thrown at its sides, glancing at the human. Frisk just looked back, unaware of how much time had passed.
"No...", he answered, as if it already wasn't obvious enough. "I'm thinking about... well, I'm thinking about them."
The skeleton made circular movements with his head, his bones rattling as he did so.
"no use crying over spilled milk.", he stated. "it's not like you need another thing to feel guilty about, anyway."
"I can't help it!", said Frisk, almost annoyed. It was easy to just tell someone not to feel guilty over something. "I... ugh... why is this so hard?"
Frisk scratched his eyes. Damn, he was tired. He would probably look like a zombie the next morning.
Sans kept in silence, not sure what to reply. They kept like that for a while. Frisk, however, didn't want to be quiet. For some reason, when it was too silent, he felt some bad, weird feelings growing in his chest, almost as if he would explode. He hated it – it was like being a time bomb. He had to get it out somehow, but how to start it?
"Sans?", he called, his voice low. "Do you... think I'm a bad person?"
The shorter skeleton looked puzzled, turning their head a little to the side.
"what makes you think that?", they asked.
"I don't know. It's just a feeling, I guess. I have enough reasons to feel like that, so..."
Sans sighed, looking to the ground as he did so.
"you're asking the wrong person, bud.", he replied, giving a half-hearted smile to the human. "i'm pretty much a bad person myself."
"I think you're awesome.", said Frisk almost instantaneously. Sans chuckled, a bit surprised with the answer.
"welp, that i am, right? but despite that...", said the skeleton, closing his eyes. "everything i do is for selfish reasons. even when i'm helping pap... it's not like i'm saving him. i'm saving myself."
Frisk had motives to disagree with that, but trying to make Sans see that would be complicated, and he lacked the energy to do so. MK was right – they did have a thick skull.
"Have you told Papyrus?" he inquired. "About you not being biological brothers and... you know, the rest."
Sans opened his eyes again, but didn't make eye contact with the human.
"no, i haven't had the... opportunity to do so."
Frisk knew that wasn't true, and by the way the skeleton hesitated, they didn't believe in that, either. However, the human could tell that Sans was very afraid of being rejected, or that Papyrus wouldn't look at them in the same light anymore. It was a very rational feeling – but Frisk was sure the taller skeleton would understand everything. But then again, he wasn't the one who had to tell it. He decided to change the subject.
"Papyrus told me you used to be a scientist."
Sans grinned, amused by the fact the human had discovered that.
"heh, it was no big deal. i never went to school, after all.", they said, shrugging.
"You worked with the royal scientist!", said Frisk. "Don't try to say it was no big deal."
The skeleton smile widened, and their eye sockets made a movement that was similar to an eye-brow raising.
"wow, so you really talked about me, huh?"
Frisk's face went red from embarrassment. He felt like a hypocrite.
"Sorry..."
"hey, no biggie.", they dismissed. "my story and pap's are pretty much intertwined, so when you talk about one, you talk about the other."
That was something everybody could agree with. The two skeletons were together pretty much everywhere, or at least they knew what each other was up to. Biological or not, they were true brothers.
Sans rested his chin on his arms, that were crossed over the chair spine. He had a nostalgic look on his face.
"yep, i worked with the royal scientist.", said Sans. "cool guy. very smart. he enjoyed my science puns, but only periodically."
The skeleton stopped for a moment, expectantly, and only after a few seconds Frisk noticed why. The human face palmed.
"God, Sans. Why?", it was the only thing he managed to say.
Sans gave an earnest laugh.
"c'mon, throw me a bone here, that was a pretty good one.", stated the skeleton, winking. "anyway, where was i? Oh yeah, the royal scientist. doctor wingding gaster. did a lot of great things and all."
"Yeah, that's something I can't understand...", said Frisk, scratching his eyes. His head was starting to hurt. Great. "I never heard of him when I passed through the Underground... and he seemingly was the one who built the entire Core. I don't know much about it, but wasn't that the source of all energy down there? I figured the guy behind it all would be pretty famous."
He was glad to be talking about that – the mysterious royal scientist's oblivion had been puzzling him for a while. If there was anyone who could give him some answers, it was Sans. They, in turn, changed to a somewhat darker expression, and the human knew something bad had happened.
"there was an accident.", replied the skeleton, the light in their eye sockets dimming slightly.
"What kind of accident makes someone be almost completely forgotten?", asked Frisk, almost jokingly. Had Dr. Gaster done something bad, like those celebrities that would appear in shameful episode after shameful episode, until nobody would talk about them anymore? The human doubted a scientist would do such a thing, though.
"he got shattered across time and space.", said Sans as if it was the most natural thing in the world.
It took a while for those words to be fully processed by Frisk's brain.
"Oh... uh... what?"
There was a moment of silence, when neither Frisk nor Sans knew what to say next. The human put his hand on his forehead – his headache was getting worse, and that conversation certainly wasn't going to help it, but he wasn't thinking on backing down.
"um, how can i put this into words?", said Sans more to himself than to Frisk. "like, at the time dr. gaster, alphys and i – we were doing experiences with... um... you can say it was time travel."
"Time travel?", asked Frisk, skeptically. It looked like Papyrus hadn't been wrong, after all.
"we were trying to make it so the barrier would never have been made.", explained Sans.
"By going back in time?", he asked, confused. "That's insane!"
Sans chuckled, and Frisk knew he had said something stupid. He felt dumb, but the whole thing was a bit too far-fetched for him to just believe in it that easily. He couldn't be sure if the skeleton wasn't just pulling a prank on him, either – which would be annoying, but not unexpected.
"i wish it would have been as simple as 'going back in time'.", said Sans, looking down pensively. "time is an amazing thing, frisk. remember when i asked if you believed in alternate timelines, way back then?"
Of course Frisk remembered. It was the night he had told Sans what really had happened in the Underground six years before. The human simply nodded, a bit afraid of what the skeleton was going to tell him.
"you were almost right.", said Sans, looking at him with a spark in his eyes, like they were talking about something they really enjoyed. "you said something along the lines of 'when we make a decision, another universe is created for the alternative we didn't pick'. you were in the right track, but it's not that plain and simple. when we make a decision, hundreds of thousands of alternate universes are created, each with its own variables. some are really similar to each other, while others are radically different. and the most amazing thing we discovered is that they aren't static – they keep going on, with the people in it living their lives, unaware of all of this."
His head was really pounding now. That was a lot to take all in one go. But there was another thing... he remembered something Sans had told him on that same night they had brought the alternate timelines up, and felt his heart sinking a bit.
"Ok, I understood. I think.", he said simplistically, though not with much confidence.
"heh, i imagine this might be all a bit overwhelming.", replied the skeleton, looking to the ground again. "welp, the point is, we weren't trying to go back to the past... we were more like trying to find a timeline in which a war between humans and monsters never broke. it was difficult to find it, because even if it didn't happen when we know it happened, it would just happen anyway at a later point. but we did it. it existed. it was real. the perfect pacifist timeline."
Sans tapped his fingers on the chair. Frisk could tell that the whole timeline stuff really excited him.
"our plan was to merge that timeline with ours. to do that, we'd need something to work as a link. after some research, we discovered that link had to be a live, sentient being. that meant it would have to be either me, alphys, or gaster. theoretically speaking, to mend the timelines would be like picking up two pieces of thread and tying a knot to join them together. we could send, i don't know, a robot to do the job, but if they messed up we didn't know what sort of disaster could happen."
Sans slowly stopped tapping his fingers. His expression became less bright and more somber again.
"we built a machine that would allow one of us to go merge the timelines. we knew it would probably be dangerous, but we were so close to breaking the barrier, or making it like it never existed, we couldn't back down.", said Sans, his voice calmer. "when it was completed, i volunteered to be the one, but dr. gaster didn't allow me. he wanted to go instead. he said that i was young, with a whole life ahead of me, while he was old and didn't have much to lose."
Sans gave a pause to the story, and Frisk could identify true sorrow in his expression. The human knew what was going to happen, too.
"he entered the machine, and we turned it on, full of hope.", they continued. "but dr. gaster never came back. for months, alphys and i attempted to find him across the timelines, and to be fair we did find some traces, but they were images and messages that didn't make any sense. i'd like to believe that he died but... i think what happened to him was much worse than that."
That was a dark ending for someone who seemed to have been a brilliant scientist. Frisk wondered if Gaster was alive, hidden away somewhere between the timelines... he wondered if they were aware of what happened to them, or if their conscience shattered, not live, but not dead either. The human shivered with the thought. A fate worse than death, for sure.
"and the worst part is that everything remained the same, with one exception. everyone just... forgot about dr. gaster." said Sans, his voice filled with grief. "no, forget isn't the right word. it was like he had never existed. some kept with a faint memory of a royal scientist who built the core, like pap, but the majority of monsters just forgot everything about him. just like that. even alphys ended up forgetting... and i'm afraid someday i'll forget too."
Sans had a serious expression. Frisk had seen them like that a few times now, but he would never get used to it. The human felt sympathy for the skeleton – it was clear Dr. Gaster had been someone Sans once admired deeply. To see someone like that be forgotten must have been heartbreaking.
"when a monster dies...", said Sans after a while. "their soul vanishes almost instantly – unlike a human soul, which remains somewhat intact. memory... is the only way a monster can keep existing in our world. that's why... why i..."
They couldn't complete it, but Frisk understood. The human had never seen Sans so upset before, but was happy they told him all that.
"I know him now.", said Frisk, trying to sound comforting. "I won't forget him."
He had never met Gaster before, so he didn't know if it counted, but Sans looked at him with gratitude, anyway.
"thanks, buddy."
They remained silent for a while, the thing Frisk remembered a while before still bugging the back of his mind.
"Sans?"
"yeah?"
"The timeline in which I...", Frisk didn't know how to put it into words. "Which I saved everybody from the Underground. After everything you told me now... it's real, right?"
To the human's surprise, the skeleton seemed unsure of what to reply. It was a logical question – did they have any doubt about it?
"yeah, it is.", they replied, stretching their bones. "but there's no use complaining we're not in it."
Somehow, Frisk felt they were hiding something from him. They weren't lying, but they weren't telling the whole truth, either. There was something more to that – something that was missing, but what was it? The human could feel a memory sprouting in the depths of his mind, but he couldn't make it clear. Plus, his headache didn't make things any easier.
He turned around on the sofa, closing his eyes. He was tired – he wouldn't learn anything new anymore at that time.
"I really hope they are happy there.", he mumbled, in a futile attempt to make himself feel better.
Hours turned into days, days turned into weeks. They walked, and walked and walked, never close to safety and always deeper into that land desolated by war. They'd see signs of destruction on cities, small villages and roads. Again, the only place where one could pretend a war wasn't happening was in the woods, but progression was difficult and slower there.
In the meantime, MK's leg healed very nicely. Frisk was impressed with the short time it took to fully heal, considering how severe of a wound it was, and to be fair, the yellow monster seemed to be equally impressed ("It's magic, I guess. It's always magic."). They could even run once again, and the group restarted to cover the regular amount of ground they used to.
As the hot days of summer started to contrast with chillier nights and a colder wind, indicating the approach of autumn, they found themselves taking refugee in a apartment building inside a fairly big city. It was nice to come across a large town, as supplies would be easier to find, but it came with a price. And that price was that a human resistance group was taking control of everything.
They learned it the hard way – as soon as they stepped inside the streets they were attacked (a situation Frisk wasn't unfamiliar with, but that didn't make it any less scary). Somehow, they managed to escape without any damage, hiding in a building. They settled for an apartment on the higher floors.
The human peeked into the window, watching a group of humans patrolling the streets.
"HE'S TAKING TOO LONG!"
Papyrus was walking from one side to the other of the living room. It was clear they were worried. Sans had left to check if he could find any useful information or supplies, but he hadn't come back yet.
"Relax, Papyrus.", said MK, throwing himself on a dusty sofa. "It's Sans we're talking about. I'm sure he's fine."
"WHAT IF THE HUMANS CAUGHT HIM!?", replied the skeleton, biting their thumb.
"In that case, I feel really sorry for those poor humans...", stated MK, rolling his eyes. "Right, Frisk?"
Frisk glanced at the two monsters. Papyrus looked stressed out, while MK looked chilled – the extreme opposites right next to one another. Sunset cast an orange light into the room, lighting up the small particles of dust hovering in the air.
"Yeah! He's fine, Papyrus.", said Frisk, smiling. He wasn't a hundred percent certain – one could never be in that situation – but he needed to reassure the taller skeleton everything would be okay.
"See? Just you wait an-"
Whooosh!
"AAAAAARGH!", screamed the yellow monster, sitting up as Sans appeared on the sofa, right next to them. "Dammit, Sans! Don't do that again!"
"whooops, sorry.", said Sans, grinning and looking to the side in a mischievous manner. "didn't mean to."
The look in their eyes told Frisk otherwise, but the human decided not say anything. The shorter skeleton stood up and walked to the table, placing his backpack on top and unzipping it.
"WHAT TOOK YOU SO LONG, SANS!?", said Papyrus, trying to be mad, but the relief in their voice gave them away.
"sorry, pap.", said Sans, placing canned food on the table. "some humans spotted me, but i managed to get away and got these."
"That's great!", said Frisk, picking up a can. It didn't seem to be spoiled, too, which was also a good sign.
"then i took a shortcut back here.", he continued, winking at MK, who simply looked away, annoyed. "i also got some cool info."
He picked up a folded paper and opened it on the table. It turned out to be a map of the town. Everybody looked down as Sans started to point out locations.
"so, turns out there's a human resistance group here, as you noticed. a militia of sorts. i saw some of their focal points being here, here and there."
He pointed to three places nearby where they were.
"Those are close.", stated the human, looking at the skeleton. "Do you think they really are in control of this town?"
"from their almost instant attack from before, i'd say yes.", said Sans, scratching his chin.
"So they are not the human group that is going after Undyne.", concluded the human.
"considering their 'territorial' manners, yeah, that's unlikely."
There was an uncomfortable silence where everyone thought the same thing.
"Why the hell are we here?", asked MK, rhetorically.
"normally, i'd ask the same thing.", replied Sans, sounding excited. "but look at the map. there's a reason this human group took over this city."
Sans pointed to a location on the north of town, where a big block was drown. Frisk tilted his head to read its name, and his heart skipped a beat when he did it.
"A GUN FACTORY?", said Papyrus before the human could do so.
"yep, and from what i heard it's well equipped, too.", replied their brother, clasping their hands. "because of that, it's their headquarters, and it's where they keep their vehicles."
From their tone of voice, Frisk reckoned they had something in mind, and he didn't have to ask to know what it was. The real question was: how?
"we need to go there.", they revealed. "get some weapons. get a vehicle. we will cover a lot more ground."
"Are you crazy?", said MK, spontaneously. "We'll never get past their security!"
"we gotta try.", replied Sans. "plus, we can always shortcut back here if anything goes wrong."
The skeleton looked expectantly to everyone, but no one seemed to be really excited about that idea.
"c'mon, guys.", pleaded Sans, looking to Frisk. "frisk, you know you need a better weapon, or at least more ammunition."
The human looked at his new backpack tossed into a corner of the room. He found it during the past month, as his previous one was left in the cabin. Inside it was the handgun he picked up from the cabin's shed, but he hadn't used it since that night. If he remembered right, the magazine had three bullets – not a really useful weapon if he kept it like that.
He wasn't really fond of it. He didn't like the feeling of pointing a gun, nor the way it fit in his hands – it felt wrong. It brought back bad memories. And yet...
"Yeah.", he said, conformed. "I know. But I'd like to stick with the handgun. At least it's easy to use."
Sans smiled, happy to hear someone finally agreeing with him.
"cool.", he said. "so we're doing this or what?"
He looked at MK and Papyrus. The taller skeleton looked intensively at the table, while the yellow monster didn't seem to be wiling to take part in the plan. They looked at Frisk, who simply shrugged. Did they have any other choice, in the end?
"I guess so.", said MK.
"UM... SO WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO?", asked Papyrus, putting his hand on the back of his neck.
As expected, Sans seemed to have already thought about that. He leaned slightly against the table, looking at everyone.
"we're a small group. if we plan it right, we can sneak past them."
"So it's a stealth mission, huh?", stated MK.
"precisely.", agreed Sans. "we'll have to be really silent, which means that you, papyrus, should not talk by any means."
Sans went back outside that evening a couple times to go near the gun factory and watch how well secured it was. It turned out to be just as MK had predicted – the human group patrolled the place intensively, which meant that entering the building would surely be a challenge.
Papyrus suggested disguising Frisk as one of the militia's members, but his brother dismissed the idea saying they probably knew there was a group of monsters-plus-human loose in town, so they'd surely be paying attention to that. As hard as it would be, a sneaky approach had a higher probability of success, even if just by a little.
Based on Sans' findings, they designed a plan and passed it through over and over, until everyone knew it by heart. Frisk thought it was a solid plan – at least until the part they actually got into the building. Unfortunately, the skeleton had no idea what it looked like inside, so they would be running blind there. They had to be prepared to fight, and the human didn't like the prospective. Even if Sans could teleport everyone back in case things got out of control, it was still dangerous. They'd also have to make their way to the factory by foot – Sans' teleportation made a noise that could draw attention, which didn't matter much if they were trying to escape, but was a crucial detail if they were trying to sneak by place with tight security.
A little past midnight, they decided to finally head out and start the plan, with a cold breeze blowing through the air. Sans and Papyrus weren't bothered by it, just as heat also wasn't a big deal for them. Frisk and MK, on the other hand, could be affected by climate changes, so they had to be prepared. The human wore a parka-like coat he had found in an abandoned house, while MK wore a wool sweater. Frisk cut its sleeves so it would fit the yellow monster's body better.
It was a moonless light, which meant things were harder to see. In turn, that could also work in their favor, as darkness helped them hide. They made their way through the streets silently, avoiding the human patrols. From time to time, Frisk would put his hand in his pocket to feel if the handgun was there. He had taken it from his backpack so it would be easier to draw in an emergency – not that with three bullets only it would be much help.
Finally, they reached the gun factory. As they had seen before, it was on the northern edge of the city – surrounded by a regular chain link fence they would have to climb. They carefully walked around it until they found the spot on the other side of the fence that was full of trees. They climbed it silently, and Sans helped MK through with his blue magic. Frisk could see the faint lights from the flashlights the humans on patrol were holding.
They walked using the trees' shadows as undercover until they could see the building. From the point they were, they could see the corner of the factory, and by it there was one of the entrances, just as Sans had told them before. Two humans – a man and a woman –, guarded the door, each holding a semi-automatic machine gun. Some other people, armed as well, passed by at regular intervals. Frisk heard one of them yawning as they got closer, and another saying how tedious of a work that was.
"okay.", whispered Sans, looking intensively at the two humans guarding the entrance. "now's the tricky part. are you all ready?"
Of course they weren't. They all nodded.
"nice. mk, you and i will head over that bush as soon as frisk draws attention."
Sans pointed at a particularly messy, dirty bush far away from the corner of the factory. They had discussed that part before, but MK was scandalized regardless.
"What? There!? No way!"
They all looked at the yellow monster, confused. MK looked back at each of them, seeking support, but didn't receive any in return.
"Dude, you can't be serious!", he said, his voice slightly thinner than usual. "What if there's a... I don't know, what if there's a snake there!?"
Up until that point, Sans had been very serious about that mission, but he grinned automatically with the reptilian monster's response.
"hey, that's no way to talk about your relatives."
They heard a soft snort coming from Papyrus. They all looked at them, who in turn avoided eye-contact, embarrassed. Sans opened his mouth, clearly amazed. That had been practically a laugh.
"okay now, we gotta focus.", said the shorter skeleton, managing to regain his composure after that little situation. "look, mk, i'm not feeling so hot about going in there too, but we talked about this and we need to do it. understand?"
MK looked down, trying to think of something to say, but couldn't come up with anything. They just sighed, defeated.
"Fine..."
"great.", said Sans, looking at the human. "frisk. when you're ready."
If they depended on that, they'd never carry on with the plan. Well, better be over with that. Frisk inhaled deeply, putting his hands in a shell form around his mouth and screaming.
"HELP!"
A second after he did it, he thought that plan was actually really stupid. How did that sound good on paper?
For better or worse, it worked. They heard exclamations coming from the people all around them, and soon Frisk saw the lights from the flashlights being pointed at the trees where they were hiding. Sans and MK rapidly moved around, while the human and Papyrus walked back towards the chain link fence they had climbed before.
Frisk got his back against a tree, while the taller skeleton did the same against another, by his side. They were tall, but skinny, which meant the tree had just enough width to be a fit hiding spot. Soon enough, the human could hear the steps in the grassy ground from the patrols walking by the trees, trying to spot any signs of unusual activity. He held his breath when they walked close by, praying they wouldn't notice anything.
Seconds that seemed more like hours passed when he heard the footsteps getting further away, indicating the humans were searching another section of trees. Frisk signed for Papyrus to follow him, and they did. Being as silent as possible, they made their way back to the "front", where they could see the factory once again. The human's heart skipped a beat when he saw the entrance was now unguarded.
And then, a loud noise came from their right. That was Sans' sign, which meant they had very little time. He and Papyrus sprinted to the entrance, expecting for everyone to notice them and start shooting.
But that never happened, and instead they found themselves safe and sound inside the factory. They were in a corridor very well illuminated by a white light, which made Frisk's eyes hurt, as they had gotten used to the darkness. He heard some shooting outside, and suddenly there were steps approaching from beyond the corridor.
With his heart beating fast, he looked around and found a door. Grabbing Papyrus' arm, he led them towards it and entered the room, which turned out to be just a small broom cabinet. They closed themselves in and waited. The footsteps came running and passed by the door, getting distant until they finally seemed to head outside once again.
Waiting a few moments, they re-entered the corridor once again. The sounds from outside had ceased too, and the human started to get nervous. Papyrus seemed to be going through the same, after all, they were both thinking the same thing.
Were Sans and MK alright?
They looked at each other, unsure of what to do. As if reading their minds, the shorter skeleton and the yellow monster just bursted through the corridor entrance, running at full speed and not showing any signs of stopping.
"let's go!"
It wasn't necessary to say anything more. The four ran away, going through the mazy corridors just trying to get away from the entrance. Frisk didn't even know where he was anymore, nor how they would head back outside, but he didn't care. He was just worried their footsteps would draw attention from the humans inside the building, but strangely enough they didn't find any.
A while after, they started to slow down the pace until they came into a halt, panting. Frisk knew his body was full of adrenaline – he could run for hours, if necessary, and believed that with the others it was the same.
"O... kay.", said MK, still catching his breath. He didn't speak loudly, but his words still echoed through the empty corridors. "What do we do now?"
"we need to search for ammo for frisk.", said Sans, looking around, probably thinking where they should go. "then we get outta here and try to get a vehicle."
"We'll be really lucky if we make it that far.", replied the yellow monster.
"geez, always the downer, aren't ya?", mocked Sans. "c'mon, let's go."
With that, they started to walk through the corridors, their ears attentive to the smallest of sounds or hints of danger. There wasn't anything special about the factory, but it looked like it was kept clean. Frisk was used to see an state of abandonment as soon as he entered indoors, so that was a nice change of pace – life threatening situation and all considered.
When they came by a door, Sans would listen closely for any signs of movement before opening it. For a while, they didn't find anything really useful – only offices, meeting rooms and bathrooms – all kept tidy, for some reason.
"But why?"
They stopped dead in their tracks as they heard a voice echo through the corridor. Sans, who lead the way, raised his arm in a sign for everyone to stop moving. They held their breaths, paying attention.
"We think there may be intruders outside.", said another voice. "We need support. Don't worry, I'll guard the storage while you're at it."
The voices sounded they came from the adjacent corridor that crossed the one they were in. Sans motioned to everyone get against the wall, and got closer to the corner.
"Fine... but I'm sure it's nothing! It's always nothing...", replied the first voice.
"Stop complaining and just go!", commanded the second, annoyed.
They heard tired, reluctant footsteps getting further. Sans quickly peeked on the corridor, then turned to the rest of the group.
"there's... someone... there.", Sans communicated simply moving his mouth, not making any sound.
"What... do we... do?", asked Frisk in return in the same manner. MK and Papyrus simply looked nervously at the skeleton.
Sans seemed to be in conflict, the lights on his eye-sockets dimming slightly. He crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. Frisk knew exactly what was going on inside his head – he was thinking of doing something he wasn't particularly excited about. However, the human knew that never stopped him from doing anything.
The skeleton glanced back at the group, but nobody did anything. He then peeked again on the corridor. Suddenly, he made a fast, precise movement with his hand, and a bone materialized, projecting itself across the adjacent corridor. They all heard a loud "thump", followed by the sound of someone falling on the ground.
Sighing, Sans walked inside the corridor, making a sign for everyone to follow him. With a sense of dread, they did it, and the first thing to be noticed was, obviously, the man slumped over the ground. Frisk must have made a scared expression, one that didn't pass unnoticed by Sans.
"relax, i just knocked him out. he's simply unconscious."
As they approached the militia member, they could see that was indeed the truth. He had been simply knocked out by Sans' attack, falling unconscious in front of a large, iron door. By his side, the same type of semi-automatic machine gun used by the others on the resistance group was thrown out in the ground. Sans picked it up, analyzing the item.
"huh. what do you think of this, buddo?", asked Sans, offering the gun to the human.
The human's hands got colder. He clenched his fists, shaking his head.
"It's rapid-fire.", he replied. "I'd probably just end up shooting myself or one of us if I tried to use it."
The truth was that he didn't want to hold that type of weapon not even if his life depended on it, but technically he wasn't lying. His aim with the handgun was pretty off, from what he could tell from the only time he used it. He'd probably lose control with the recoil of a machine gun.
"welp, that wouldn't be good.", said Sans, letting his arm loose, but still holding the weapon. "can't be helped, for now."
Frisk nodded, grateful the skeleton had understood. He then shifted his attention to the iron door they were in front of. If he heard the two humans right before, the resistance group was worried about securing it, which meant...
"What's in there?", asked MK.
Giving their characteristical smile, Sans placed his hand on the doorknob.
"only one way to find out.", he replied, opening the door and entering. The lights were already on, which was strange considering no one was there.
Frisk gasped as soon as he realized what the room was. Of all the possible places, they actually found it. An ammunition storage. All sorts of magazines, shells, bullets and gun parts lined up neatly in shelves against the walls. By its corner, there was a desk with some loose bullets and empty magazines – maybe that was where they reloaded them. Frisk reckoned that was probably a tedious work.
"welp, that's perfect, huh?", said Sans, beaming.
It was impressive indeed, but Frisk wasn't sure if he felt exactly happy about being in a room of that sort. Still, he knew he would find useful things in there, so that was certainly a plus. There was no time to lose.
"Uh... not meaning to break it but...", called MK, still outside the storage. "But what are we gonna do about... you know, him?"
He motioned his head towards the unconscious militia's member. Upon discovering the room they had been guarding, Frisk almost forgot about them.
"oh.", said Sans, his grin faltering a little. It seemed he had forgotten about them, too. "that's simple. leave it to me."
The skeleton pointed his hand towards the man, casting his blue magic, making them lift above ground. They reminded Frisk of some sort of creepy doll, with their limbs loosely moving around.
Sans looked around for a while before spotting a locker against a wall on the opposite side of the room. He walked towards it and opened it, while he made the man "follow" him as he did it. Then, he put them inside it, closing its door afterwards. As soon as he released his magic, Frisk heard some thuds inside the locker, as gravity took its effect again.
"welp, that's it.", said Sans, turning around and rubbing his hands. "now, let's see what we can find here. mk, can you watch the locker?"
MK didn't look like they were very excited about the idea, but they simply sighed, conformed.
"Okay. Watch the locker. That's an okay task. Not creepy at all."
"glad you liked it.", said Sans sarcastically while the reptilian monster frowned. "let's go, frisk. the sooner we find what we need, the better."
The skeleton didn't have to say it twice, as Frisk also didn't want to spend much time in there. The human immediately started to search through the ammo boxes for ammunition he could use in his handgun. He quickly learned there were a lot of magazine types – and that he didn't understand anything about it. He simply took the handgun from his pocket and tried to load them to see if they fitted. It was difficult to find the right type, which made the human annoyed. Why were there so many? What's the difference between a Glock 17 and a M22 anyway?
Then, a little set of boxes catch his attention. He picked one up and read the label – it was a suppressor for pistols. He took it out what turned out to be a black, cylindrical object, almost the same size from the muzzle to the rear sight of the handgun. A silence suppressor would surely be useful for practice purposes – the muffled sound of the shots wouldn't call so much attention, meaning he could train his shooting with more safety.
Not actually expecting it to fit, he attempted to install it within the handgun barrel, and to his surprise, it made a clicking sound. Did that actually work? Well, he wouldn't know for a while – the suppressor made it impossible to put the handgun back in the pocket, so he just took it out and put it away in his backpack.
He proceeded to the table on the corner, where people would reload the magazines. The human expected maybe to see something that would help him understand which type of magazine he should grab. Instead, his eyes fell on the calendar on the table. It was a simple calendar from that year, and the days that had already passed by were crossed. He felt something tickling inside him when he noticed the last day that was crossed. Was it actually possible? The day they were in..?
"Guys..?", called Frisk, slowly. "Uh... what day is today?"
Frisk was with his eyes fixed on the calendar, so he couldn't actually see the others reactions from his question, but from their silence they clearly didn't expect it.
"um... let's see...", said Sans, pensive. "it was september 20th... but now we're past midnight... so it is the 21th?"
That matched with the date on the calendar. Yes, it was possible. For the first time, the thought made him smile. He turned around to face the group. They all seemed weirded out by his reaction.
"What's up with today?", asked MK, raising an eyebrow.
Frisk crossed his arms and looked to the side, unsure of how he should answer. Still, the silly smile on his face didn't disappear.
"It's my birthday.", he replied, simplistically.
Realization came to each and all their faces, and it was funny to see the transformation on their expressions. Everybody gave a true, genuine smile.
"Hey, congrats, man!", said MK.
Papyrus was being faithful to his agreement of not speaking a single word during the mission, so he walked towards Frisk and gave them a hug, almost crushing them with an unexpected force. The human awkwardly hugged them back – it felt warm, like a regular human hug. But it smelled like bones.
"heh, congratulations, buddo.", said Sans, approaching as Papyrus broke the hug. "here's your birthday gift."
He passed an arm around Frisk's shoulder and handed the human some pistol magazines. The human was skeptical the skeleton would actually find the right one, but picked one up out of politeness and attempted to reload the handgun. It smoothly fit the magazine port.
"so what's your age now?"
"17.", Frisk replied. "It's just... wow."
In all honesty, since the war had started he felt like time itself had frozen, but of course that wasn't the case – he knew all too well he had been walking through the wreckages and horrors of it for four months. He remembered his conversation with Mrs. Magda the day before the war broke out, and it felt like it was forever ago. In that meantime, something inside him had changed. He was scared to death, and everyday was a struggle, but he felt hopeful. Hopeful one day things would get better. Hopeful that one day he would make things get better.
And that filled him with determination.
"yeah...", replied Sans, letting Frisk go as the human put the magazines on his backpack. "maybe we can have a party afterwards, heh. But now, we need to get out of this place. what do you think?"
"I'm in.", replied the human. "Let's do this!"
He looked to MK and Papyrus. That little moment seemed to have lifted their spirits up. Frisk could almost taste it in the air – the determination, this time not only in him, but in everybody. They could carry on with that mission. They could achieve their goals.
And that was when everything went wrong.
An alarm sounded off, with a loud, constant and piercing noise. They all jumped on their spots. The good feeling inside Frisk immediately waned, leaving only dread behind. What was going on?
"Guys!", called MK, looking at an up corner of the room, his face turned pale. "Over there..!"
Frisk looked, and mentally cursed himself. They had been so absorbed by all the equipment inside the room – and the subsequent reveal of the human's birthday – that they didn't notice the security camera that was there, surveilling them all that time. How could they have been so dumb?
He could hear movement inside the building. The clock was ticking – they would be trapped if they didn't act fast.
"crap, we need to go!", said Sans. "c'mon, we can still do this!"
"W-what!?", said MK, his face marked by terror. "Are you crazy!? We need to-"
But Sans had already kicked the door open. Papyrus just followed his brother behind, and Frisk didn't think too much either and ran as well. The piercing noise of the alarm and the approaching sound of footsteps made it hard to think. He heard the yellow monster cursing, but they started to run too, accompanying the rest of the group.
"Intruders on the east wing!"
They turned into a corner just as some people started shooting at them, the shots hitting the wall instead. The loud sound of shooting was amplified by the echo from the corridors, making Frisk's adrenaline quickly turn into pure, irrational panic. He was just following Sans, but the skeleton probably was just as lost as he was. The mazy factory just added a sense of claustrophobia that made the human feel even more trapped.
"Go! Go! Don't let 'em escape!"
They were lucky enough so that they weren't coming across any dead ends. Sometimes, a group of humans would appear right in front of them, but they always had another escape route available. However, Frisk knew they couldn't keep that up much longer – their luck would eventually run out, and that time there wouldn't be anyone to save them.
"C'mon, don't hold back!"
They kept a nice advantage from their pursuers, so they were hardly ever in range to be shot. Frisk had only one thing in mind, and that was to dismiss the human group. Only then they could actually think about the building layout and escape that place once and for all. The question was – would that actually be possible? It would be foolish to assume the militia didn't know their own headquarters. it was only a matter of time before Frisk and the others got trapped.
"Go around! Go, GO!"
They were being hunted down aggressively. There was no way they could dismiss their pursuers for long. They'd have to teleport with Sans, but first they had to have a good enough advantage so the skeleton could do that. It didn't help no one was thinking straight, as everyone was basically following their instincts.
With the sounds of gunshots and the alarm still buzzing constantly, Frisk couldn't notice there were footsteps approaching from the front, and only when a man from the militia appeared in right up their faces was when the human noticed they were trapped.
Frisk froze in place as the man pointed his gun towards the one who was closer to him – MK, and pulled the trigger.
"kid..!"
Sans threw himself, getting the yellow monster out of the way just as the man started shooting. Frisk instinctively covered his face with his hands and fell to the ground.
"NO!", yelled Papyrus.
The taller skeleton raised his hand and summoned a wall of blue bones that appeared from the floor and went all the way up to the roof, separating them from the man. He, in turn, gave a few steps back, confused, and ran away, screaming things Frisk didn't understand.
The human looked around. There were gun marks on the wall nearby him, but he wasn't hit. He couldn't believe in his luck. He was so shocked that it took a while for him to notice Papyrus was offering a hand for him to stand up. He took it, his legs feeling as if they had turned into jelly.
"ARE YOU OKAY, HUMAN?", asked Papyrus, concerned.
If by okay they meant "alive", then the answer would be yes – because anything beyond that would be too much. The human nodded.
MK and Sans were up as well – the latter resting their hands on their knees, while the former looked at them with a mix of shock and worry.
"S-sans, you... you...", said MK, his voice failing.
Sans then fully stood up, his face scrunching up for a second.
"i'm f-fine.", he simply said. "we gotta get out."
His expression was a desperate one – and to see Sans desperate meant things were quickly getting out of control. They had to do something. Frisk rapidly scanned their immediate perimeter, and his vision locked onto a door they had passed by. The human ran towards and opened it, revealing a set of stairs that led to an upper floor.
"Over here!", he yelled as the approaching sounds of their pursuers got closer once again.
Everyone ran upstairs, and as Sans – the last one – entered it, they started to hear the gunshots again. Frisk almost tripped and fell the stairs a couple of times, but he always managed to keep up the pace. As Papyrus burst the door to the second floor open, revealing that the corridor layout was about the same of the first one, they entered it and ran, once again, yet through another maze of corridors. That time, however, Frisk stopped hearing the movement from the militia, which meant they were at a really good advantage. All they had to do was stop and take a "shortcut" out of that place.
Papyrus seemed to have the same thing in mind as he lead the group through one of the doors, into a small office. The taller skeleton stopped in the middle, panting. Frisk closed the door as he entered, letting a sigh of relief. They were closer to safety – only one step left now.
"WE GOTTA GET OUT!", said Papyrus, looking at his brother.
Sans nodded, the light on his eye-sockets disappearing for a moment. Frisk reckoned they felt frustrated because the second half of their plan had failed, but there was nothing left for them to do. The situation had become far too dangerous for them to keep going like that.
"yep...", replied the skeleton. "okay... just grab me... i'll take a shortcut."
Everybody quickly approached Sans. Papyrus grabbed their left hand, while Frisk grabbed the right one, holding MK, just as he had done last time. The shorter skeleton closed their eyes, and Frisk did the same, getting ready for the teleportation. They braced themselves for the upcoming "shortcut".
But it never happened.
Instead, Frisk felt the skeleton's grasp loosening as they collapsed on the floor. He opened his eyes, looking at the skeleton, confused. What was going on? Sans attempted to stand up once again, but didn't manage.
"S-SANS?", called Papyrus, kneeling, extremely worried. "A-ARE YOU OKAY?"
Frisk and MK crouched down too. A foreboding feeling was in the air. Sans' breath was quick and shallow. The light on their eye-sockets dimmed for a bit.
"damn... heh... i guess i'm not as young as i used to be..."
Frisk bit his lip. Something was wrong, he knew it, but he didn't know what. With a feeling of tightness around his chest, he took Sans' backpack from him and tossed by his side, grabbing the skeleton and turning them around so he could see their front. His whole head spun with what he saw.
"Holy..!", exclaimed MK, shocked.
The human became speechless. Sans' shirt was marked all over it with gun marks, but that wasn't all. A bright red liquid poured from his wounds, soaking his shirt and hoodie. It had an awful resemblance with human blood, yet...
"SANS!", said Papyrus, his voice even louder than usual. "W-WHAT..? WHAT IS THIS!?"
Sans breath was getting quicker, and he was looking at a point above his head, seemingly having difficult to focus. Nevertheless, he managed to look at Papyrus.
"get outta here.", he said, his voice full of sorrow and desperation. "i can't be saved."
"WHAT!? WHAT ARE YOU SAYING, BROTHER?", replied Papyrus, taking his brother's hands in his. "W-WE ARE NOT LEAVING YOU BEHIND!"
Sans made a low, weird noise, as if he was chuckling, but his erratic breath made it sound somewhat disturbing.
"pap... heh... i..."
"NO!"
Frisk felt tears forming on his eyes. MK looked desolated. That couldn't be happening. It had to be a nightmare. It felt like one.
He noticed that a white powder was beginning to accumulate all around Sans, some of it stained red. It sent chills down the human spine. Despite all the desperate wishes in his heart, it was happening. There was no denying it. He felt the same way he did when Toriel died all those years before.
"NO... NO..!", said Papyrus, his voice desolated. He was about to cry. "SOMEONE... WE CAN... DO SOMETHING! RIGHT!?"
The way he looked at Frisk when he said that was too much. That desperate hope – the human couldn't take it. They looked away, and felt something stuck in their throat as Papyrus began to cry.
"Sans, I...", began MK, his voice full of guilt.
The skeleton looked at the yellow monster. Cracks had appeared on their face, and some parts were dusty, making it look like they were melting.
"sshh... it's okay...", they replied, forcing a smile. "i... need... want you to..."
With a breaking noise, both the skeleton's arms broke down as if they were crumbling plaster. It formed a pool of dust by their sides. Papyrus sobs got louder, and Frisk swallowed.
Maintain the focus on Sans' face.
Don't look.
Don't look anywhere else.
"want you... to... stick together... until...", Sans attempted to say, his voice very thin. Frisk had no idea how he could hear it. "until... the end... promise?"
He looked to the human. Frisk's voice was gone. He wanted to say everything would be fine, but that would be a blatant lie. Even if he wanted to believe in it, it would still be a lie. Nothing would be fine. There was no escaping it. He simply nodded, and the skeleton gave a weak smile, more cracks appearing on their skull.
With one last bit of strength, Sans turned his face to look at Papyrus, who was sobbing uncontrollably. It seemed every second the taller skeleton spent looking at their brother at that state drained their sanity.
"pap... i... i love you... bro..."
Papyrus' whole body was shaking. They opened their mouth, but they couldn't do anything but cry. That whole situation was tearing them apart, and it was too much for Frisk to see. The human looked down, clenching his fists. He felt MK was close, just as shocked and hurting as he was.
"I... I...", Papyrus tried to say. "SANS, I..."
And the inevitable happened. Sans' body gave in and crumbled – his existence reduced to the white-and-red dust under the shirt and hoodie he left behind.