The Cutting Edge

An Undertale Fanfiction!

By Tashhhh


pi pi pi... pi pi pi... pi pi pi...

"Hrrnggh. Wruf!" A dog monster's snout pulled out of the snow it was buried in. Pointed ears twitched.

pi pi pi... pi pi pi...

He peeled himself off of the ground in front of Grillby's and turned off the alarm on his device. Caked snow fell away from the chest of his pink tank top, revealing a design of a smiling dog face.

"What happened last night… I was hanging out at Grillby's, playing cards with G-Dog…" He remembered when Sans had walked into the bar. "Oh yeah! The other skeleton came back!" His tail slapped against the snow excitedly as he imagined all of the bones he would soon be fetching.

He sat up and habitually pulled a dog treat and a lighter out of the pocket of his yellow lounge pants. He was scratching his ankle with his toe paws when he froze. His nostrils flared. He squinted at the ground in front of him. Had he not been visually impaired, he would have noticed the reddish and brownish stains in it. But, even without seeing them, his nose told him all he needed to know.

Frisk pulled herself and Sans further away from the ledge and sat back against the wall. The bridge ahead led to a large section of boardwalks suspended above the lake. As far as she could see there were several huts and sheds built into the winding grid of wooden paths. Vertical beams kept the whole area suspended one or two stories above another section of docks. She saw tiny figures busying about in the distance.

"Huh, could that be the Waterfall fish market?!" She smiled at the thought. "It's too far away to tell though." She leaned back against the wall again. Her fingers idly rotated the cell phone around and around.

"Well… all I was really supposed to do was alert some authorities to our incident, and now I've done that. It's not like I came here to be a big hero or anything. It doesn't really matter who takes care of it as long as everyone will be alright…" Sans sighed in his sleep and tilted his head to the left. Frisk pulled his shoulder to the right and made him lean against her instead.

"Still, waiting here doing nothing sucks!" She puffed up her cheeks and pouted at the ground in front of her. The ground didn't care.

Frisk heard the faint sound of footsteps smacking against muddy grass. She jumped and grabbed Sans's hand. The footsteps were getting closer. She carefully crawled up on her belly and peaked over the ledge. She caught a brief glimpse of a dog monster tossing an umbrella back into the bucket. She heard it go plunk as she flattened herself against the grass.

The dog stopped moving and sniffed the air suspiciously. "Did something move? Was it my imagination?"

Frisk snuck back over to Sans and leaned him over her shoulder, ready to pick him up and move. I thought Papyrus said no one would come here. But… maybe he's nice!?

"I can only see moving things," the dog explained. "If something WAS moving… For example, a human…"

Frisk hugged Sans closer to herself.

"I'll make sure it NEVER moves again!"

Ok, maybe not! She silently scrambled into a tiny cave in the wall. She peeked around the corner and heard some ledge noises coming from the ledge.

He's climbing up here! He's following me by scent so he's sure to catch me. But he's got some kind of visual problem so maybe if I keep my distance, he won't be able to confirm—her thoughts cut off and her eyes widened in fear as a white paw holding a sword appeared over the ledge and pounded down against the grass.

She pulled the brim of her hat down and stood up, preparing to run. Wait, it's easier to run if I carry him like this! She took an extra couple of seconds to adjust to carrying Sans princess-style and then took off running to the wooden bridge just as Doggo's head appeared above the cliff.

"Wruf! Wruf!" Doggo barked and chased after her. Frisk peaked back over her shoulder. He's catching up to me!

Just as they were coming up to the maze-like section of the boardwalks, Frisk paused and briefly pivoted in a circle. From Doggo's point of view, he saw Sans briefly flash in front of his eyes. He stopped running for a moment and looked surprised and confused. Frisk used this moment to jump over a small gap between the wooden platforms and continue running.

Not bothering to see how close Doggo was, she kept running, taking lots of turns and using the huts and sheds to put distance between them. She had stopped running for a second to consider if there was any point in hiding in one of the huts. As she was looking at a barrel against the hut, she heard Doggo's paws pounding around the corner.

She gasped and stepped backwards. Her foot fell through thin air.

"Aaaah!" she screamed. She had just enough time to register that she was in free-fall, and so hugged Sans's head and ribcage against her chest and shut her eyes tight.

Her back slammed against a wooden crate, cushioned only slightly by the pile of soft, slippery, oblong objects which launched into the air as the wide container cracked in half. She gasped in the scent of fresh seafood. She pulled down her hat again, ignoring the surprised squeals of the onlookers and the green waders and brightly burning yellow hand in front of her. Plump, tasty fish fell off of hers and Sans's bodies as she sprung to her feet and shoved past the stunned fishermen.

She made it away from the docks and onto the shore and kept running without looking back. She turned around the left corner of a wall, and ran over a short bridge across a stream. There were many patches of tall seaweed surrounding this patch of ground.

She paused to catch her breath and stared at Sans in disbelief. "Hah… hah… how are you still asleep?!"

He didn't wake up, but smiled blissfully as he curled up and grabbed the fabric of Frisk's hoodie. She pulled a fish out of his shirt. "Seriously…"

From a path opposite to the direction she had come, she heard a set of frighteningly familiar paw-steps. Already?! She grabbed Sans and rolled into a muddy patch of seaweed. The cool sludge soaked into their clothing and coated their skin and bones.

Doggo sniffed the air. "It must be around here somewhere… I'm not giving up now. I picked up a human's scent outside of Grillby's and came all this way to find it!"

M-maybe if I distract him!? Frisk thought desperately. She threw her boots into the air. Mud trailed after them in two arcs before a splash was heard.

"Wruf! What was that?!" Doggo ran over to the boots. "No no no, this is all wrong! I smelled the human's blood."

My blood?! She began to panic as Doggo approached her patch of seaweed. She glanced towards the crotch of her pants. I guess I could throw my... NO THAT'S TOO DISGUSTING! Another tasteless period joke like that would make us lose followers for sure! Looks like I can't avoid this encounter!

Doggo squinted at the seaweed. "Don't move an inch!" Frisk saw a bright, light-blue glow shine through the seaweed. She hugged Sans and turned her back to it. It passed through them both and nothing happened. R-right, that was a light-blue attack.

Doggo said, "I am still suspicious of your movements! A few minutes ago, I thought I saw Sans, the guy who mans the sentry station down the road from my own! I sure like that guy! Wruf! So, if you are a human, move! And if you are Sans, don't move!"

It's really helpful how he explains everything! Frisk thought. Sans started to squirm due to something he was dreaming about. Frisk felt her stomach drop. She folded up his arms and hugged him tightly to keep him still as the light-blue attack passed over them once more.

THAT WAS CLOSE! She let out her breath as she stared at Sans's sleeping face. I have to Act right now! I can't take the chance that he'll use a normal attack!

"So, you are Sans!? That's good because I was just about to use a normal attack! Oh-hoh man, you sure got me good! I told you I hate it when you appear without moving, didn't I?" He chuckled nervously.

Shff. Doggo blinked and stared. Sans had appeared in front of the seaweed. "There you are!"

"'sup dawg?"

"Hey man, long time no see! Listen, I think I'm onto something. There's a human around here somewhere! I've got their scent, so maybe you could go alert the Guard about it and I'll keep on looking?"

"uh… actually buddy, i've… already captured the human."

"Wruf! What?!"

"yea." His head bobbed in confirmation as the seaweed behind him shifted a little. "i turned 'em over and they're already on the way to the capital right now. so, undyne said that all us guards and sentries have the rest of the day off for today!"

"WHAT?! Really? Undyne never gives us a day off! Wohoo!" His tail wagged rapidly and he grinned. "Aw man I can't wait to get home and spend the day relaxing and smoking dog treats!"

"smoking's bad for ya."

Doggo turned back to look at Sans. "Hey man… what's up with that? You've never said anything about my smoking before… It's usually Papyrus who nags me about it."

Sans's elbows bent up, his wrists hanging limply as he shrugged. Doggo's eyes narrowed.

"Why are you staring at the ground all the time?" He took a few steps closer and stared at Sans's face as his head tilted to the other side but kept staring at the ground. "And why are your eyes so dark?"

He saw Sans's muddy left arm raise, and noticed the brief flash of white and red colors behind it. But before he could process this visual information, he felt Sans's hand land on the top of his head and rub back and forth behind his ears.

"WHAT? I've bet pet! Pat! Pot?! Sans pet me! Yay!"

* Doggo has been pet.

He barked happily the whole way home.

ring ring ring.

"Hello! This is Papyrus!"

"Papyrus!" Frisk exclaimed, happy to hear his voice after that close call. She brought her hand up to her face to rub her eye, but her hand was coated in too much mud to touch her eyes with.

"Are you still on the ledge where I left you?!"

She lowered her hand and said, "N-no… I had to move. I'm sorry."

"Hey! That's ok! People have to move sometimes! It's happened to me before too… Oh, Undyne wants to talk to you, here!"

Undyne's voice came on the line and said, "Yo what's up punk! I got some good news and some bad news. The good news is: I found a whole block of farmers who are willing to donate to your food drive to help the Ruins! Everyone on this street is all on-board with it!"

"Yay! What's the bad news?"

"Well…" Undyne sucked in an breath. "The crop that they grow is water sausages."

"Yuck!" Frisk replied instinctively. "Ah, I mean…"

"Is that not good? I thought they fulfill most of the requirements you described before."

"You're right, they do…" she agreed hesitantly. "But, water sausages, really?" she muttered. "I'm going to send everyone in the Ruins this… cattle feed?"

Frisk swallowed her pride and said, "W-well… they say beggars can't be choosers. And I'm the beggar now. We don't have all day to look for something else, so… if you've found someone willing to help us then. I guess. We'll… accept!" She nodded into the phone with an empty smile.

"Ok," Undyne agreed awkwardly as a pair of sweatdrops ran down her forehead. She shook them away and said, "So now that that's decided, the farmers need instructions on how to transport them back to the Ruins."

"Instructions?"

"Didn't you say you have some special transportation method or something?"

"Oh! Yeah, I do!" She glanced at Sans. "I can work out the proper weight of the boxes, but I'll need a bit of time, and I don't have any scratch paper on me…"

"Why don't you just ask Sa… Papyrus's brother? Dude can do that nerd stuff in his head, it's amazing! I mean, when he's not being a freakin' weirdo," she quickly added.

"Yeah, I know but Sans is, um…" Say something that will piss her off.

"What?"

"Sleeping." Whoops.

"What?! Are you serious, he's… sleeping?!" she replied furiously.

"U-uh…"

"And leaving a kid like you to do everything all by yourself?! Ugh, that idiot!" She huffed. "Ok." Undyne rubbed her forehead. "So… you said you just need some scratch paper and then you can figure it out?"

"Yeah."

"In that case, stay where you are and I'll come pick you up and take you to Gerson's shop. He sells school supplies and stuff."

"Thanks! But, you don't have to come all the way over here. I can work out the math pretty quickly, but your farmer friends could probably use a strong person like you to help with harvesting!"

"NGAHAHAHA!" Undyne laughed boldly at the compliment. "Huh, you sure though? This is your first time in Waterfall, isn't it?"

"I…" Frisk blanked out, but Undyne filled in an excuse for her.

"Actually, you're right. You're already pretty close to Gerson's anyways! You're a pretty awesome kid, so you'll be fine on your own!" For some reason, Frisk felt a pang of guilt as Undyne began to explain to her how to get to the shop. "So, from the seaweed fields, all you have to do is cross the north bridge and then take the second right at the pond near the dump, and then…"

After Frisk had received the directions she hung up. Her arm fell limp at her side, still clutching the phone. "I told her that Sans is asleep. That means I can't use his voice anymore on her. I could still use him to trick other people though." She recalled Doggo. "What should I say the next time she asks to meet me?" She listlessly tried to think of some new and hilarious ways to divert Undyne. She looked down over herself and Sans.

"God, we're so dirty…"

A monster shaped like a bucket with a flushing lever bobbed his circular green head and hummed as his body vibrated. A rubber ducky floated atop the waves of soap foam. A stray bubble floated through the air and softly clung to the skull of Sans, who was slumped over on the ground, still caked in mud.

The bucket squashed and stretched, before spitting out a human girl who flew out and landed on the soft grass. Her heart-patterned hoodie and cool fedora were restored to their pristine white, red, and black colors.

"Wow, your cleaning magic is amazing!" She clapped as if he had performed a concerto for her. "Thank-you so much Woshua!" She was so grateful she hugged his head to express her happiness. Pink lines appeared on the bucket monster's cheeks.

"Th-thanks. Do you think it's safe enough for your friend now?"

"Yes, I think it should be fine."

Frisk held Sans by his ankle, dangling him over Woshua's bucket and gently dropping him inside. After another short wash cycle, a squeaky-clean skeleton in a dry-cleaned black hoodie was ejected onto the grass.

A pair of glove-covered human hands squished Sans's cheeks, causing his mouth to move as if it were talking.

"you really put me through the wringer there, kid."

"Hey, your brother told me to not ruin your image. I can't carry you around covered in filth!"

"he didn't say anything about you though."

Woshua stared strangely at Frisk who was acting out this dialogue of her own accord. "Are you… sure you don't need to be cleaned again?"