"Do it. Please."
"No. No way," Sans refused. "It is not happening, I am not taking out your arm, Farrah!"
He absolutely refused to do it. "If you are confident it would work, then I want to. I have to open that barrier, and I don't want to . . ." To.
It sounded cruel, but Sans understood. "Your freed from the gag. You just turned into an adult. Motherhood is not appealing right now. I get that," he said. "I do. Hey, I would probably take the slice my arm off choice too if I was told that when I just turned 18."
Farrah felt too young. She wasn't ready and this was no way to bring a baby into the world. Telling them they were only there to break a barrier. Sure, it was an honor, but that would not matter to them.
"When it gets older, it'll care and you can explain," Sans said. He always knew.
"Explain that I was too scared to have my arm taken, so I chose for it to live?"
Sans paused and stared at her. To anyone else, they couldn't tell. She had lived long enough with him to notice when he was observing her. "This isn't going to be a perfect play, Pretty Little Pacifist. There is no perfect ending to make this work like some dream. So you are going to have a kid that only exists to break us out of prison? That isn't exactly a bad thing. It isn't perfect, but there ya go."
Farrah still did not give up. "I am not ready. It is not ready. This isn't the right way."
"Chopping off your arm is not the right way either!" Farrah didn't know a skeleton could get so huffy. "It was great that you saved us all in the past before. You brought us to the surface and somehow everybody lived. Yay. Awesome. Life does not always work out like that though."
Sans stuck his hands in his pockets. "Sometimes you deal with the imperfect just to get on with life. This is how it has got to go."
Farrah stared at him as he came closer.
"I'm far from perfect," he admitted. "There are a lot of things I wish I could change. I am not gonna-"
Farrah didn't see it. Sans saw it, but not quick enough.
Papyrus had thrown his own weapon, at Farrah.
"Farrraaaaaahhhhh!" Sans shouted all over the place looking desperately for her. Papyrus had aimed for her soul and her arm at the same time.
"I had to. You wouldn't," Papyrus insisted. "What is with that look?"
Sans ignored him now. People were messing with Papyrus again, he knew it.
He looked all over. When her soul and bone got pierced, he had expected huge screams.
Instead? She was gone. Completely gone. Except?
Sans spotted something on the ground. A staple like object. He picked it up. Fumbled with it.
Then stayed completely still. "Papyrus. Wait at home. I'll find her."
"But where did she go?" Papyrus asked. "I do not understand."
"Just go home and wait." Okay. Sans paced himself as he held the small staple. He knew what it had been.
It was the microchip that had been embedded in Farrah's soul. It was shaped like a staple. He was sure if he took it home, he could see it.
But right now? He was not moving. In that world, Gaster had once fell into the core, but pieces of him remained here and there. Like he hadn't perished, just wasn't all together.
Sans had aligned his mind with Farrah's so no one heard her mixed up thoughts. That connection. If he could hold that connection.
Maybe Gaster didn't fall into the core. Maybe something else happened. Sans remembered the Gaster from his own world, Deltarune. He never really seemed . . . That put together. His face was almost melted in parts like? "Farrah."
Like an amalgamate.
Maybe that was his undoing.
Sans called out to Farrah, hoping something of her was attached to the world. Enough to help bring her back.
He got the softest of whispers. Simple whisper. Strange whisper of the mind.
Butterscotch pie.
Farrah. He gripped the microchip in his hand. This wasn't over.
‐-
Fun level 1
Frisk moved around the trees, holding onto her little knife tightly. Why that jerk! That thing pretending to be her father pushed her into a deep hole!
She jumped as one of the skeletons she met earlier startled her.
"Jumpy," he said across a stand. "You're a strange one."
Frisk just backed away. She had killed some frog monsters that had frightened her, but she was trying not to arouse suspicion. This skeleton knew who she had been though.
It knew she was human. Frisk didn't say anything, and continued to solve the puzzle instead.
Chara pulled her knife out, looking around. She was in front of some weird puzzle. Monsters liked puzzles. She walked around and saw a skeleton. "Who are you?"
He didn't make any gesture. He just said, "Yep. Weird."
Chara would sometimes be in charge. At other times, Frisk would be in charge.
Eventually they ended up somehow freeing the Underground. Then it all started over.
Again and again.
And again.
Frisk or Chara. Either way, they kept repeating. If they died, they came back. If they made it out of the Underground, they found themselves right back in it.
It wouldn't quit. It wouldn't stop. The only thing that changed?
Was them.
Original world
Sans kept trying to triangulate a position of Farrah in his lab. Her microchip had held a .025% remnant of her soul. He might be able to use that to signal the rest of her back. A beacon.
As he ran his experiment though.
Fun level 34
Sans lost his balance as he stopped throwing his bones. For some reason, he was fighting Farrah? In the old Judgment hall?
Then, he heard a scream. He looked toward Farrah. She looked mortified and dropped a knife to the floor. "Farrah?"
As he said that, he started to remember new things. A girl coming through, and killing everyone. Even Papyrus. That girl? Looked like Farrah, but it wasn't her.
The one that was in front of him right now, breaking down. That was Farrah.
He headed over to her. "Farrah."
"I!" She could barely be heard through her emotions. "I don't. I couldn't." She covered her eyes. "I'm. F-Farrah. Sans?"
Sans went over to her and held her tight. "This wasn't your fault. Papyrus aimed at your soul and arm, and I didn't know this could happen."
"Please." He could feel her tears all over his coat. "I repeat the Underground over and over. I remember. I keep meeting you and different things happen. I cannot stop it though, I'm not all there. I'm more Chara or I'm more Frisk, but I'm never me. Only now have memories hit me, Sans! Please!"
"I don't know how to end it," Sans admitted. "I don't even know how I got here. I was trying to find you and pull you back. Instead, I got pulled here." He looked at her. Poor Farrah. Damn it. It wasn't good.
She 'd always believed in the best endings. Helping as much as possible. In that little bit of time, even her hair had grown longer. She was aging during the repeating, on a different timeline altogether from him. "I'll figure it out. I'll pull you out again somehow."
He stayed with her. Holding her. He tried to talk about the past, and he heard her tales of woe too. Sad and happy times. He spent every minute he could with her.
No matter how anyone looked at it though? Sans knew Farrah would never get a perfect ending. He would definitely settle for just safe and sound. He'd even settle for just not tortured by her other soul parts. Just let Farrah be Farrah.
About an hour later, and he found himself making small talk with her microchip again.
He was back, but she was still out there. Skipping through timelines. "I can't dwell on this forever." He looked at the time. Her time was moving faster.
Giving him a smaller amount of time to find the answer!
"Sans, Brother, flower!"
That dang flower is after Papyrus again. Kill it, I am going to kill it! That stupid flower would never win his brother! He was responsible for Papyrus taking that shot, he had to be.
Kill it and get back to work. No choice. No time to lose.
"You know, the whole you being afraid was fun," Flowey said from a sill as he ducked a bone coming at him, "but not anymore! I haven't done a thing to him Underground!"
Papyrus was curled up in the corner. "Sans, it is there!"
"I see it." Sans wouldn't miss this time. It would pay for torturing Papyrus.
"I haven't done anything and I'm not fighting!" Flowey warned him. "I came to help Farrah. I know she's not here, and that she is crossing timelines."
Sans held his bone weapons back. "How do you know?"
"Contrary to whatever you think, I like not having a soul," Flowey revealed. "It allows me to slip in and out of timelines. So? I saw the little hug you had with her. Actually long hug with drawn out talking for a couple of hours. Proof positive I can still move through timelines. That means I don't have even a small amount of your brother's soul, or I couldn't do that."
"If you don't have a soul, then why do you want to help?" Sans warned him.
"That's easy, I want out. I want your guarantee that you won't leave me behind," Flowey said. "Everyone left. All I have is repeating in other timelines, nothing more."
"Fine," Sans agreed. "If you stop messing with Papyrus and help me rescue Farrah, fine."
"I haven't done squat. If he's acting weird, maybe he got an old petal of mine or something," Flowey said. "I hate souls. They are just useless luggage. He was fun to tease, Smiley Trashbag, but that's it."
Hmm. Could it actually be those annoying humans were to blame again? Ugh! Humans. "What can I do for her?" Sans asked. "You better have a dang good answer."
"Give her a weapon. A new weapon." Flowey bent to the right. "Give her a bone weapon."
"She should have lost her arm and soul, and we would have all been freed. Thanks to me," Papyrus said. "It is not fair."
"Little more weird than usual," Flowey said of him. "Side affects? How many times did those humans mess with him? You should probably check that out." Flowey winked. "Scientist Sans."
Sans wouldn't even bother acting surprised that the flower knew he wasn't the lazy sap he appeared to be. "What can I do for Farrah? Every minute, her time is changing."
"You noticed, huh?" Flowey asked. "She is bouncing from timeline to timeline, from the moment she split. Except, she is splitting in different proportions. Change the proportions, change what she does. Sometimes it is good, and sometimes it isn't. Each time she bounces, time starts over, but she? She doesn't. She keeps aging throughout timelines."
"Yeah I know, so if you could speed it up, it'd be appreciated," Sans said, his patience wearing thin. Real thin.
"You got pulled to her, but you couldn't stay. Which is good anyhow, not a pleasant timeline," Flowey warned him. "You are normal. Normal soul in a different timeline. Timelines don't like that. So, to stay or to go? You're all going to need a little?" His face changed as he cackled. "Change."
Some time later, although how much later . . .?
"I helped too!" Papyrus announced. "I think? It is good to be back home." He looked at Farrah. "I think? We went somewhere? Hello again?"
Farrah was staring at him strangely. She looked toward Sans. "You rescued me?"
Sans had a blank stare toward her. She could not read it as well. "Barrier. Now."
He whisked Farrah to the barrier, along with Papyrus. He grabbed Farrah's hand, as well as Papyrus', and touched the barrier, with his hand in the middle.
It changed into a purple tint.
Farrah looked toward Sans. It was great to finally be back, but what did he do? Instead, he gestured . . .
toward her large tummy.