The tall skeleton growled under his breath, in—frustration? His dark frayed cloak whooshed off to the side before completely vanishing in a flurry of thick black smoke. It was apparent he knew what was happening.

Alphys put her head in her hands, fearing the worst, "Oh no, not again…"

…..

Papyrus, against all odds, had just been doing nothing.

Nothing.

He hadn't moved from the coach, he hadn't gone back to work, attempted to cook something or socialised with anyone.

The house was completely silent, and knowing Sans was in a bad mood and didn't want to be disturbed, Papyrus was…afraid.

It wasn't something that was new to him; he had spent his whole life living with anxieties and troubling thoughts; however, Sans was the opposite, and he was always the rock that would help him. But now, left alone, he wasn't sure what to do with himself.

And that was the thing, Sans was always there for him; but when he was the one in trouble, Papyrus just…left him to his own anguish and ignored him…?

Finally, he arose from the sofa and headed to Sans' room, deciding he would do something now, whether his brother liked it or not.

Besides, the house was so quiet that his brother was probably asleep. In fact, he was certain that's what happened. And all this worrying would be for nothing.

"Sans?" he called out to his brother, pausing behind closed doors, "Are you awake brother?"

…No reply.

Probably asleep?

"Saaans?" he tried again, knocking quietly on the wood, "Wake up…..?"

Unable to push aside his worry, silence was the only thing he met when the door creaked open, a gush of warm air seeping through. As Papyrus pushed the door open further, he cringed at the sound of broken wood scraping across the floor, reminding him of his probable tantrum earlier in the day.

There was a motionless blue heap on the floor, and if it wasn't for the pink slipper halfway across the room and exposing a foot, the heap could've been confused for discarded clothes.

Immediately, the lively skeleton barged into the room and tossed his smaller brother onto his back. "What have you done this time, Sans!?" his voice cracked as he shouted, desperate to get a response. "Sans!"

Aside from the broken objects discarded around the room, a blue substance was also dotted around the area, splattering various objects.

Papyrus took a second to try to piece things together—but he couldn't. "Agh! Why am I so stupid!" he yelled into thin air, knowing there was a correlation between the mysterious substance and his once again unconscious brother.

"mmmh…paps?" spluttered a gravelly voice, two eye sockets trying to open but failing.

"Sans!" Papyrus declared in relief—at least he wasn't dead.

"can't ge' m' powerz t' work," Sans mumbled, slurring his words as if drunk.

Papyrus peered around the room with the obliterated pieces of furniture displaced everywhere, "Erm…I think you are wrong about that," he suggested sheepishly, assuming the chaos was all thanks to his powers but the delusional state caused him to forget, "What is the matter with you? And what's all this mess?"

"can't…get…t'work…" Sans garbled incoherently; it was at this moment Papyrus noticed the same blue substance beginning to roll down from his eye. He warily poked a finger at it, the material felt like something he'd never experienced before, like dirt trickling down his face.

"m' not cryin' pap, who'd ya think i am…"

Apparently he wasn't aware of it either.

"Sans! I'm not thinking that!" he wailed, noticing his brother's eyes rolling back again, "Sans! Sans!"

At that instant, a puff of black fog encompassed the room, sending Papyrus coughing and glaring scornfully at the offending mist in question, before it faded and revealed none other than Gaster.

His eyes immediately locked onto the blue dust painted around the room, before falling with alarm onto the motionless skeleton in front of him. Without sparing a thought towards Papyrus, he knelt to the floor and clutched the lifeless skeleton's head firmly in his large hands.

"Sans, what have you done," He murmured to himself in an accusatory tone, voice fierce but lacking any emotion. He inspected his face intensely, perhaps identifying the link between him and the blue dust. "Again."

The room lay in silence for a few moments before Papyrus asserted himself, "Um…Gaster? Do you have any idea what's going on?" anxiety pooled in his stomach for a reply, knowing the situation was truly bleak, so much so that Gaster didn't even offer him an explanation.

Papyrus watched mournfully as Gaster mumbled unintelligible words down at Sans, his tight grasp refusing to let up.

"Why has he done this," he finally said, a statement for than a question, tense and white knuckled.

"Well…he was talking about his powers, he couldn't get a hold of them," Papyrus slowly explained, running a hand behind his head, "He destroyed everything in here… in frustration"

Gaster watched Papyrus carefully, taking note of how his enthusiastic nature had all but gone, before peering back down at Sans. "It appears to me that he strained against the block and the essence went absolutely out of control," ultimately deciding to offer his theory, "He regained control over the power, if only temporarily, only for it to be destroying him on the inside."

"It makes sense…? It definitely isn't like my brother to be throwing furniture around in anger," thought Papyrus, his mood lifted but immediately dampened when he looked at his lifeless brother again. He swallowed hard, wanting to ask the question that had been sitting in the back of his brain for the past 10 minutes but fearing the answer. He made a vague gestured towards his brother's motionless body.

"…Is…he…?"

"No."

Papyrus blew out a long sigh of relief. For a second he really thought that…no. Not Sans. Not ever.

Where was his optimism? His hopes? They had all but vanished in light of recent trauma.

"Oh thank goodness! I really thought…wait," Papyrus remembered something Gaster said before, "What do you mean…by…block?"

Gaster's shoulders visibly slumped, obviously hoping that the question wouldn't be brought up. "I put a block on his powers to stop him using them; a temporary measure."

Papyrus gawped at him dumbfoundedly, "You…put…why? He was going crazy!"

The old skeleton sighed resignedly, "I had to insert a block to stabilize him. He was affected by the timelines merging, and this was affecting his powers, which was affecting him," then he gently released Sans' head onto the floor, "If I am correct, then…" he pulled back his now ruffled shirt, to reveal the wound on his ribcage had completely reopened, but was now discharging the same blue substance, which disintegrated at the softest of touches.

"Wait…" Papyrus narrowed his eyes in realisation, "Is that—"

"His powers, yes. They are seeping from his wound, as he has broken the block, causing his powers to start obliterating him on the inside," at that, he reclaimed Sans' head in his hands, closing his eyes and concentrating. "I am attempting to establish another block."

Papyrus blinked dumbfoundedly. This man had a lot of power.

"I gave him this power, I can take it away again," Gaster reaffirmed his beliefs, clearly seeing the confusion in his eyes, "I am admittedly struggling to re-establish the block on this occ—"

Abruptly, Sans shot up from the floor, eyes burning blue and trickling down his bones like dust. Out the blue, Gaster was hauled up and thrown across the room before the eyes of anyone in the room could adjust to what was happening. Papyrus yelped and jumped back out of the way, while Gaster as always remained calm and composed.

A sinister smile was plastered on the small skeleton's face, an unrelenting force that seemingly even Gaster couldn't get out of.

"thought you had me trapped, didn't you," Sans murmured, harshly increasing the force Gaster was pushed against the wall with, "thought i didn't notice? you're a fake. you're not gaster."

Gaster stared at him in shock, "Sans, I—"

"tell me who you are," Sans unrelented, tightening the squeeze his power had, "tell me right now or i'll crush you to death against this wall."

Papyrus audibly gasped at his brother's sudden violent outburst, "Brother! What are you doing!? You must stop this!"

Gaster simply smirked, "I assume you think I am not real because in another timeline, you saw me die," he reasoned, trying to put some rational thought into the skeleton's head, "But I assure you, I am simply from a timeline where that did not happen, a timeline where…" he paused, coming across a realisation.

Perhaps the same timeline I am from is the one that is merging here. This is the most logical explanation I have come across.

"a timeline where what, buddy?" Sans hissed, his grip merciless.

I am the epicentre of all of this.

Gaster took a deep breath—or the best he could in his situation, and continued, "You and I can both sense changes in the timeline, correct?"

"yup"

"Theoretically we are both from different timelines which are merging with each other. My existence is one of the unique changes this timeline now has."

"ya can't be both dead and alive bucko. even if your 'theory' is correct, there can't be two of you,"

"Sans!" Papyrus tried getting his attention again, which only earned a quick side glance from his brother, "Please let him go!"

Sans snorted, "get out pap, i don't want you to see this."

Both Papyrus and Gaster exchanged looks, before Sans eyed them both. "what? you trying to tell me you're on his side? c'mon bro, he's playing us,"

Papyrus ran to Gaster and tried pulling him down himself.

"bro."

"Sans…let him…go!"

"papyrus, stop it."

"You can't do this! This isn't you!"

"get out"

Papyrus' breath caught in his throat at the rejection, a huge sinking feeling weighed into his stomach. There was a flash of remorse in his brother's eyes, but it quickly turned back into determination.

He turned his attention back to Gaster, "you're awfully quiet, buddy."

"I am waiting."

"for what."

"You'll see. Then you will understand."

Sans glared at him, before all at once, the pain suddenly hit; he dropped Gaster, gasping for breath and falling on his knees again, coughing up blue particles onto the floor. Gaster sighed, but took his chance immediately and manhandled him into his grasp, once again attempting to put another block in place.

"get the hell off me," Sans growled, struggling to use his powers again, but it only sent him immediately throwing up dust. This time, Papyrus had the courage to join and help Gaster with his efforts in restraining him; it was obvious to him now that Sans was not in a rational state of mind at all.

"Stop fighting me, Sans, I am only trying to help. Your action are further proof that you are unwell."

Sans sharply inhaled, choking on another wisp of the blue dust, his eyes shining a brighter blue than any of them had ever seen before. When his body begun to fail him, and his bones became weak and refused to continue fighting, he felt his grip on reality fading.

"let go of me, G," he pleaded, now beginning to worry about the possibility of his situation becoming fatal as his body failed him, "i can't lose my powers."

Gaster still had him in his grasp, but released the intensity of his hold slightly, "This will only be temporary. As you can see, if I let you go, you will surely die."

"everyone else will die if i lose my powers."

"No they won't, brother!" Papyrus chimed in, a well needed positive attitude bringing life to the dire situation again. It didn't matter that the optimism felt forced. "You have I, The Great Papyrus, and Undyne! The Royal Guards will protect everyone!"

Sans looked up wistfully at him, the two skelebros exchanging meaningful looks, before eventually he gave in and slumped into Gaster's hold.

Without further delay, the old man immediately reinstated the block within seconds without issue, before gently laying him on the floor again. The blue dust slowed down it's trickling descent from Sans' body, before stopping entirely.

Papyrus looked at Sans unhappily, then decided his brother was better off on his natural habitat, aka a bed. He hauled him up into his embrace, dropping him carefully onto his bed.

"He's had those powers since he was a baby bones," he acknowledged nostalgically, watching pensively as his brother slept looking peaceful for the first time in a long time, "Gaster…you should have told him what you were doing and maybe none of this would have happened!"

Gaster was taken aback by the young skeleton's complaint, not something he would do often. But alas. "I suppose, from this timeline he reacted differently to what I expected he would in mine. Here, he is a lot more…protective, of the underground and it's inhabitants. In my timeline, there has been several occasions over the years where he has suggested a life without his powers entirely."

Papyrus nodded eagerly, "Well you know now what he is like, so this won't happen again!"

Gaster shrugged, staring regretfully at Sans, wondering what the hell he was going to do with him.

"I can only hope so."

to be continued...

i hope you enjoyed! thanks so much for reading! i cant wait to write the next part and stay determined! :-)