Welp, looks like I had to split the chapter...again. I didn't realize just how big this part is. So it's a shorter chapter this time. Next one should be a bit longer, and the chapter after that will probably be huge. In the meantime, enjoy!

Oh yeah, Undertale has been announced for the Switch! That's pretty cool.

"The last refuge of the insomniac is a sense of superiority to the sleeping world." -Leonard Cohen

File 10: Small World of Color

It took a couple of weeks, or maybe a couple of months, for everything to be moved into place. Sans didn't pay much attention to the illusion of time anymore.

Regardless, it took some preparation. Forming black magic connections with all the amalgamates in the Lab, training them to take orders, perfecting their forms, voices and behavior.

There was an ever-present hunger to absorb them outright, but Sans delighted in this method too. They were helping these monsters think again, and take on new identities. They had been so isolated in their perpetual puzzlement. Now they were so happy and eager to enjoy everything. Sans wondered if this was what raising children was like. It was a sentiment, ironically, that none of the current collective knew about, not even Gaster. It made Sans oddly fervent to take Toriel's soul. She would know.

However, Sans would worry about that later. Right now, it was time to make Alphys happy.

Alphys was upstairs napping after an all-night anime binge, oblivious to the party being prepared for her downstairs. Everyone in the True Lab hummed the same serene tune as they cleaned up. Mother Snowdrake made ice cones with her magic. Greatest Dog helped whoever wanted his assistance, and obediently waited for orders when idle. Shyren's sister kept everyone's melody in sync with her perfect singing. Reaper Bird commanded the other lesser amalgamates while it preened itself in the mirror.

Though each of these amalgamates were still composed of many beings, Gaster had been able to help the strongest personalities within them lead. They still highly depended on Gaster for reasoning and orders, but arranging a central personality helped them become more competent and lucid. It was just like how Gaster was the ruling personality of Sans's own amalgamation, the anchor that kept them rooted to rationality.

The elevator whirred. Alphys was coming down to feed them. The cleaning wasn't finished, but everything up to the TV room was done. It was good enough for now.

Alphys gaped into the well-lit and spotless room before her. She was so baffled that she was afraid to step out of the elevator to investigate. Yet she did anyway, with light, hesitant steps. The bag of dog food lay slumped in the elevator, forgotten. "H-H-Hello?" Alphys squeaked.

Greatest Dog bounded in on all fours. He wasn't limited by his armor because it was only another fluid part of his body. His head was just like Greater Dog's except with some black patches. "Hi Alphys! Wanna talk? Wanna walk? Wanna play?" His body writhed wildly with excitement, distorting his practiced form.

"W-W-What?" Alphys said, frozen in place. "You…Y-You can t-talk now?"

Greatest Dog only grew more excited. "Yep yep yip yip yip!" He spun around in circles, as if chasing his tail.

Calm down, Gaster ordered gently but firmly. Don't scare her.

Greatest Dog immediately relaxed, sitting down on the floor. "Okay."

"…Okay what?" asked Alphys, only hearing one half of a conversation.

Soon the other amalgamates came in as well, once Greatest Dog walked away from the door. They formed a wide circle around the dinosaur scientist, each offering their own smiles and greetings as directed.

Alphys hugged herself as she studied her patients with shock and worry. "W-W-What's…What are you…uh…w-w-what's happening…?"

"We're better now, dear," said the Snowdrake mother. "It's all thanks to you and them."

"…B-Better?" Alphys asked almost hopefully, before she grew scared again. "N-No, I thought everyone was better when…W-W-What if it's just…that again? I couldn't have…Hey, w-whose them? Has…Has someone else been down here?" The thought seemed to make her panic. "Does s-s-someone else know?"

"It's alright Alphys," Shyren's sister reassured. Even without trying her words had a melody. "It's not your fault, and they know it. They aren't mad at you. They understand, and only want to help."

"B-B-But w-whose they?" Alphys repeated, little soothed by the siren's lilt.

"Gaster, Sans, Suzy…" Reaper Bird began in a rasp whistle, as if reading from a list. "…Doge, Cheddar, Roman, Fang Song…"

"Do you recognize these names?" asked Mother Snowdrake, as Reaper Bird continued the long string of names. "Because you should."

"…I should?" asked Alphys. She paused, listening to the names. "Um…I d-don't know…any of them…S-Sorry."

Sans wasn't surprised, but was disappointed nonetheless.

"B-But I still don't understand…How did they, uh, find out?" Alphys went on. She waited for Reaper Bird to stop listening names, but lost patience. "How did so many people get in here without me, um, noticing? Or, uh, even one person? Y-Yeah, I guess that makes more sense, since…" She listened to Reaper Bird some more. "…H-How many of them are there?"

Reaper Bird abruptly stopped. "255."

"Whoa," said Alphys. "Are they…some kind of, uh, syndicate or something? I don't recognize any of those names though, and, um, the Underground isn't that big…" Her face lit up. "Oh! Are they, like, codenames? Yeah, that's gotta be it!"

It was good to see Alphys finally starting to relax, even if her theory was incorrect. Still, how would they describe their true existence? It would be best to keep it simple for now.

Gaster took direct control of Reaper Bird. It landed and stood straight and regal, as opposed to floating listlessly in the air. When it next opened its beak, Gaster's deep voice came out. "Think of us as spirits long past."

Alphys gaped at Reaper Bird, not saying anything for a few moments. "…Oh," she squeaked. "So, um…you're…ghosts? M-Mettaton's never mentioned, uh, any of you before though." She was taking this surprisingly well. Then again, she tended to amalgamates on a daily basis.

"We are a different sort of wraith," Gaster answered. "Ghosts like Mettaton and Napstablook still have a desire for the physical world. We do not."

"Uh…okay?" said Alphys. "But then w-why are you helping us?"

"It is because, while we have no personal craving for the world itself, we still care about those still trapped within it," explained Gaster.

"Trapped?" asked Alphys. "You make that sound like being alive's a bad thing."

"Ah, let us reword that," said Gaster. "Though we are not part of this world anymore, we want the ones still here to be happy. We see everything, and cannot ignore unjust suffering."

"Ah, so…so that's why," said Alphys, looking a little sad. "Everyone here…they've had it pretty bad, huh?" More sorrow sunk into her face. "But…B-But I…made them that way, so…why me? Why help me?"

It was anger as much as pity that made Sans take over Reaper Bird. Gaster didn't mind and let it happen. "Alphys, none of this was your fault. You had no one here to tell you how anything worked. They just assumed you would know what to do, and didn't give you time to ask questions. It's no wonder than things went less than smoothly."

Alphys lifted her head up at the new voice. "Ehehe…B-But I didn't know anything since…since I, well, you probably already know, right?"

Sans knew, of course. Alphys had pretended to have created a soul when it was just a ghost in a robot. That was how she became the Royal Scientist. It was a poor, stupid move on Alphys's part, but that wasn't what Alphys needed to hear right now. "They were desperate for a Royal Scientist, right? They would have elected someone one way or another. And you know what? You followed the notes perfectly, right?"

Alphys nodded.

So would have anyone else, and the same thing would've happened," Sans went on. " 'Cause the person who made those notes didn't know what he was doing either."

"My apologies," said Gaster, abruptly taking over again.

"Oh…Oh, so you're…uh, one of you was…the previous Royal Scientist?" asked Alphys. "Uh…n-nice to meet you! Though, uh…probably should've said that…earlier, and to…uh, who was the other guy?"

"Sans," said Gaster, before putting said skeleton back in charge again.

"Um…well, nice to meet ya too. Sorry if this is all been a bit…bone-chilling." Sans realized a second too late that the pun made no sense here, because he was speaking through Reaper Bird. "Uh…so, anyway, we just wanna fix up what we've started. And since that caused you to…get hurt as well, we wanna help you too." Why were his words coming out so awkwardly? "So, welp, just trust us! We ain't no featherweight!" There, that was better…wait, no it wasn't, because Reaper Bird didn't have feathers. Dammit!

Gaster and the others were, quite rightfully, amused by his consecutive pun fails.

Alphys seemed to feel better at least. "W-Well, so we can do this, right? We can fix everyone here?"

"Yup," said Sans. "We just gotta pull ourselves together." Damn, he didn't even mean to pun right there. Whatever, he would take it.

IIIIII

Already you've had a significant impact, said Gaster. Look.

Sans rouse from the peace of mixed murmurings, but didn't bother materializing. He just didn't feel like it. Gaster's perceptions would be enough.

Gaster's gaze turned toward Snowdin, where Papyrus and Undyne were arguing at a table at Grillby's, Their huge hamburgers were untouched.

"But he didn't want to hurt us!" said Papyrus. "So Flowey had no right to attack him!"

"Papyrus, that dude would've chased us to the ends of the Underground if Flowey didn't take him out," said Undyne through gritted teeth,

"But I think Flowey hurt him really bad," said Papyrus, looking worried. "He already wasn't feeling good. We need to go back and check on him."

See how much he cares for you already, and he barely even knows you, said Gaster.

Welp, that's Papyrus for you, said Sans. He never gives up on anyone. A lot has changed about him since that first reset, but that never has.

True, said Gaster. We should give him more credit.

"We are not going back," growled Undyne. "Especially not for a glitch. Look, I'm all for monster equality, but those things mess people up. I mean, really mess people up."

"He's not a glitch!" protested Papyrus

"He said he was a glitch, numskull!" Undyne spat.

"I know, but…" Papyrus began. "Well, he's too nice to be a glitch."

"Have you ever encountered a glitch before? How would you know?" growled Undyne

"Well about you? You wouldn't know either!" Papyrus spat back.

Bones and spears started darting about, not to attack, but because their creators' emotions were running high. Therefore they spun around aimlessly, and were more of a hazard to the other customers. That didn't stop said customers from staying to watch the squabble though. Sans didn't blame them: Papyrus and Undyne rarely got mad at each other, even before the world warped.

"Well I still know better than you!" shouted Undyne, standing up.

"And what's that supposed to mean?" asked Papyrus, also standing up. "You've always told me to follow my heart, Undyne, and right now my heart tells me that Sans is someone who needs help!"

"Yeah, well my heart's telling we need to stay far far away from that thing!"

"Stop call him a thing!" shouted Papyrus. "He's Sans! I'm going to save him!" Both eyes shone bright orange for a moment.

Oh here we go, thought Sans with anticipation.

Undyne noticed it too. "Uh, Papyrus?"

"I have to save him!" repeated Papyrus, this time with a more anxious ring. The brief unexplained sadness soon evaporated into anger as his eyes blazed like suns. "Why can't you understand that?" He stomped the ground in his fury.

A giant orange spine ripped through the restaurant, and everyone in the restaurant fled in panic. Undyne gaped, for once speechless.. Papyrus was just as shocked as everyone else, as his eyes quickly returned to normal. The huge spine disintegrated.

"…I did that?" murmured Papyrus in disbelief, before his eyes sparkled with glee. "I did that! Wowie! That was so cool! I really am the great Papyrus!"

"…Okay, we are getting you to Alphys now," said Undyne, grabbing Papyrus's hand and yanking him out of the restaurant. "Gotta show that, uh, new awesome thing!" Her fanged smile looked a little strained.

"Oh boy! Can we watch Mew Mew Kissy Cutie too?" asked Papyrus as he was dragged through town.

Sans couldn't stop laughing, not just because it was so funny, but out of giddy excitement. His brother was waking up very quickly now. At this rate he would be theirs in no time, if only because of his inevitable sense of courage and curiosity.

Old Master is coming back! said Doge. And when Old Master comes back, he can get everyone else! Everyone loves the hero of the Underground! Who wouldn't come?

Yeah, that's right. said Sans eagerly. It wasn't just his own selfishness at wanting his brother. If they could get Papyrus, they could get anyone, and the Underground could finally be rendered empty much faster. This was for everyone's sake.

IIIIII

Gaster and the others could speak through any of the amalgamates, but Reaper Bird was usually the most convenient. Its was especially easy to take over, with the least amount of strain on the amalgamate itself. Though the amalgamates were more stable now, their minds were still fragile, especially the main egos. Since Reaper Bird looked like it was never going to form a strong personality, it made it the ideal puppet.

Reaper Bird wasn't just a preferred voice piece, though. It was also the easiest to mold into another likeness. Poor Alphys panicked when Reaper Bird first turned into Gaster's humanoid form. It wasn't the runny, goopy body though, but how he was supposed to look: a tall skeleton with effeminate features and a white lab coat. He mostly took on this form when he needed to physically demonstrate something to Alphys,

As Alphys got used to the sudden changes in voice and forms, she grew less scared and more curious. She asked everyone all kinds of questions: Who were they before? Was this their true form? How did they become like this? Did they like anime?

Usually Alphys wanted to see Sans though. Maybe it was some subtle recollection, but most likely it was because Sans was the one she felt the most comfortable with. They both liked similar kinds of anime, for one. Gaster and other geeky monsters were content just watching from Sans's eyes.

Like Gaster, Sans was able to more or less take on his true form. His features looked the same, except for the white lab coat he wore. His eyes were always bright and blue, like they were supposed to be.

In this world, doing casual lab work in-between anime with Alphys…This was almost how it used to be…how it was supposed to be…

"S-Something wrong, Sans?" asked Alphys while they were reclined back in their chairs.

"Oh, nothing," said Sans, ashamed that any of his sadness seeped through. "Just thinking about lots of stuff."

"Want to, um, take a break?" Their "work" was binge-watching RahXephon. "I'll fix us up some instant noodles!" Alphys dashed off before Sans could have a say.

Sans sighed and sat down, silently gazing down the hallway Alphys disappeared to.

Back when the world was right, Gaster had four other assistants: Roman the fungi-man, Fang Song the basilisk, Cheddar the cat, and Alphys. Though Sans got along with everyone easily, Alphys was his favorite. It was probably because she was so proud to be a geek, something that was so foreign to warrior Sans. He was always hiding his unwarriorlike passions, and even Dr. Gaster concealed his mania with a coat of dignity. Alphys on the other hand kept cat-girl figurines at her work desk and always babbled about whatever anime she was watching. The others teased her good-naturedly about it, but Sans found it fascinating and strangely admirable. She wasn't leagues above him like Dr. Gaster, or even the other assistants who had been there longer.

Alphys was so much more confident back then. No stutters and no shame about anything. She beheld everything from human shows to magic science with peerless wonder and joy. Sans knew it wasn't an act because of the black magic connecting him to all the other scientists. Losing that closeness was the first thing he missed when going back to Snowdin. Back then. Dr. Gaster's magic had a range. That sudden empty feeling was a big reason Sans decided to return to the scientists, and ultimately become one of them.

She accepted both his geeky and warrior sides, something even Dr. Gaster had trouble doing. He was too much of a pacifist to ever appreciate violence. But while Sans hated being in battles, he did like watching them. Anime was perfect for that, whether the combatants were mechs, aliens, humans with giant swords, or even a duel between magical girls. As a warrior, Sans could point good and bad fighting techniques to Alphys, who was enraptured by it. Sometimes they brainstormed better battle scenarios during bad anime, and even acted them out in mock ferocity. Sans's gravity powers made flying fights much easier to emulate.

To ultimately return to her like this, who once understood him like no one else did…Who he had mostly forgotten for so long…and she had mostly forgotten him…

What should Sans say to Alphys? He didn't want to scare her away. At the same time he wanted to tell her how they used to know each other, that they used to be close before everything became corrupted. Even if it would make no sense to her. Even if they were both different people now, until he could convince her to trust him enough for black magic.

You miss her, said some of the other souls.

We miss her, Sans agreed. Even though she's right here. Part of it was the desire to take her soul, but she was needed here in this world right now. Sans doubted she would be ready for black magic either way.

IIIIII

Oh, how interesting. Look at this.

Gaster's gaze went to the Ruins, where Toriel stood before a destroyed Ruins door. Fireballs were dying in her palms. Her expression was resolute as she studied the burning wreckage.

Whoa. Tori actually destroyed the door? said Sans in disbelief. He remembered her talking about doing it, but it never happened before this. Why?

A certain sadness crept into her eyes, though her face remained stern. She clasped her hands together, extinguishing the last of the fire, and closed her eyes like she was praying. Maybe she was. Embers still danced around her hands like lonesome fireflies.

Perhaps she is finally obeying her instincts, mused Gaster. So many times the human has left her behind, or reduced her to dust…though, the human isn't here yet.

Sans's concerned confusion was replaced with joy. But that means that even if the human does come back, they can't go past the Ruins! They can't complete the game!

Gaster chuckled. How true. No amount of LV or determination will be restoring that door. Not even a reset will do it, because this has happened before the human arrived. Therefore, it will always happen in this new cycle.

In other words, the human couldn't do anything past the Ruins anymore. The threat was contained. The worst they could do was kill the monsters in the Ruins, which would still be horrible, but not nearly as tragic as watching everyone die.

Still, a new fear coiled up in Sans. What if the human got frustrated, killed everyone in the Ruins…and then never came back? Toriel and the others would remain dead. Not even Gaster could reach them in that state. Sans was so used to the human's meddling and the constant revivals that he never thought about anythingbeing permanent in the world.

Toriel silently walked away from the destroyed door.

Will it…be okay like this? asked Sans.

Are you afraid?

Sans stayed quiet.

Why are you afraid?

…What if someone dies? asked Sans. What if anyone dies? If the human never comes, and Flowey can't reset anymore either…

Hmm…mused Gaster. Perhaps we can learn how to trigger a reset ourselves? If determination is key, then we certainly have plenty of that. But it seems to be controlled by whoever has the most determination. So someone still has more determination than us…

But who? wondered Sans. Flowey's lost all determination, even if he gained a soul. Who else is there? Undyne? Papyrus?

We would have seen resets already if it was either of them, said Gaster. If it was any monster, for that matter. Even if they didn't know what power they had, something would have triggered it by accident. Which means we're looking at someone who knows what they have, and how to not ise it.

Chara, said Sans. We still don't know where Chara is, but if anything's going to inherit the human's determination, it's gonna be him.

That is assuming that the human doesn't still have it themselves, Gaster added. Although if the human does still have it, then they are still limited to the Ruins. However, if Chara has it…

Then everyone is in danger, said Sans. Chara was already ridiculously powerful. If Chara had the power to reset too…

We can't know for sure yet, but we must keep our guard up, said Gaster. We must prepare a new plan. If that is the case…then perhaps we could even consider Chara or the human's arrival fortunate.

IIIIII

"We sense a great calamity coming to that world, one that will cause neverending suffering for all dwellers," Gaster told Alphys. He had shaped Reaper Bird's body into his true scientist form. His face was grave, with his hands behind his back.

"C-C-Calamity? W-What's going on? What's gonna happen?" asked Alphys.

Sans found something funny about all this. Maybe because it seemed like Gaster was hamming it up even more than usual. Then again, ir was kind of like those cheesy anime Alphys watched, which was probably why he was doing it. Might as well make it as anime as possible for her. Alphys might not have thought anime was real like Undyne did, but she sure wished it was real, and if there was even the slightest chance that something like that could happen in real life…

Still, Sans couldn't help but feel a little bad about it too. She knew nothing about their true goal.

"We cannot be sure of the calamity's true nature," said Gaster, and that was true. Not even Gaster knew how this new cycle was going to play out, or even if Chara or the human would arrive. "But we intend to stop it before any damage can be done. However, for that we need three things: you, the amalgamates, and Undyne."

"U-Undyne?" asked Alphys, even more nervous now. "W-Why Undyne? What do you w-w-want with her?"

"

"She is the chosen one," Gaster said plainly. "The one with the potential power to drive off the calamity once and for all."

"We tried to stop it before." added Sans, briefly raking over. "Didn't work."

"I-It's happened before?" asked Alphys.

"It's happened a lot," said Sans. "We've never been able to stop it before, though. We…we tried to stop it last time. But we were alone then, fragmented and distorted, and…and we may have made things worse. We had no idea what we were doing…" Sans felt reassurances from Gaster and the others, saying his attempt was the key to ending it all this time. Yet, Sans had been so close to doing it right then…

Alphys was silent for awhile.

"However, we know what needs to be done now," Gaster reassured. "Undyne must be the one to do it, and she will need the help of all of us to reach her full potential. That includes you and the amalgamates."

"B-But what can we do?" asked Alphys. "None of us can fight, least of all me."

"Battling isn't the only way to be powerful," said Gaster. "You have own skills as a scientist, and you have made more progress than you realize. We only need to guide you the rest of the way."

"Um…guide in doing what?" asked Alphys.

"In creating a hero of justice that will never perish," said Gaster.

IIIIII

Any guesses as to what Gaster's plan is?