PATCHWORK SOUL - NEW MEDIUM

by TakaiWolf

DIRECT SEQUEL TO "PATCHWORK SOUL" — A few months later. A family of monsters and their little human kid try to start life anew beyond the confines of a giant mountain. Maybe they find something. Maybe they lose something. Time flows ever onwards, but sometimes it goes sideways, and it's heavier than they thought.

95. determination calculated by the phalange

so is determination calculated by the phalange or what? chapter 95

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It was a beautiful day from Mount Ebott's plateau. After the night's rain, the green of the forest was vibrant, gleaming in the sunshine as far as the eye could see. A cool, fresh breeze carried the toasty scent of campfires and songs of birds up towards the craggy peak, playfully pursuing the monsters as they made their ascent.

.

Despite only minor disruption of the stone around the path into the mountain, it looked more constricted, stifling; darker than it had just a day ago. Would've been nice to be able to do this whole operation in the daylight, Sans thought. Even with Undyne's magic coursing through him, he was still feeling the strain of the great dog escape from the previous evening.

.

"Sans, dear," Toriel said, "I know this may be a little late in the climb to be asking, but, are you feeling up to this?"

.

Preparations had been made and, though she was staying back to act as a bulwark in case of emergency, the old queen had accompanied the group to the plateau. Nothing would stop her from seeing her sons off, she assured them. Her demeanour was light and comfortable but her eyes remained fixed on Sans for most of the way, save for when he'd teleported ahead to check the safety of the portion of the path that had changed from elevator and back several times.

.

Now, as Asgore, Gaster, Alphys, and Kio took a moment to confer, Toriel slid in close to the short skeleton, lifting her brows and shooting him a sympathetic smile. Sans snorted and rubbed the back of his skull.

"Well, uh, I'm not exactly jumpin', but…" He shot a glance towards Papyrus and Suzy, who were looking out across the woods towards the blurry silhouette of the ancient mountain castle near Anthelion. "Y'know, if we could get things to start lookin' up, that'd be great."

"Mhm. Though… You're still looking fairly grey, here." She pointed out the area beneath her own, tired eyes.

Sans gave a lopsided smile. "Yeah, bet I am."

"Is anything ailing you?"

Sans shrugged. "Bit of a headache, I guess."

.

Toriel hummed quietly. She put her hand on the top of his skull, magic gleaming through her palm and deep into through his bones. It took the edge off, but the fact that the pain still lingered didn't bode well.

"How is your soul doing?" Toriel asked. "Have you been keeping track?"

"Eh. Every once in a while, I guess."

"Perhaps you should," she said. "Just in case."

"Heh. In case of what?" Sans winked. "If the whole thing blows up, it blows up."

"Tsk. You mustn't think like that. It will work." She sighed and tilted her head, a fond smile on her face. "Though, I admit, you still worry me sometimes."

"Don't waste your energy on that," he said.

"Hmph! It is certainly not a waste," she said. "Don't you dare trash my feelings of concern!" She did her best to suppress a teasing smile.

Sans chuckled and gave a wide shrug. "Yeah. I know. Attitude's garbage. Sorry. Don't mean to be so down in the dumps."

Toriel snorted a laugh into her hand. She patted Sans on the head and drew back with a questioning look on her face. The headache simply settled back in the moment her touch was gone, but the skeleton stuck his thumb up nonetheless.

.

"I am serious, though," Toriel said. "It may be smart to see a baseline, at least, in case something goes wrong or starts to effect you in there."

Sans shrugged and pulled up his phone. Didn't mind setting her mind at ease. "Guess so, but I just did one." He booted up the app and clunked the device against his chest.

.

However, when Sans looked at the analysis, he froze. The health number attached to him, despite Undyne's buffer, had plummeted compared to last time he checked. His soul twisted and his mind raced. Didn't make sense. Had he shifted somewhere in time without feeling it? That had never happened before, each instance was a pretty dramatic ordeal, so that didn't seem right, and yet—

"Sans? What is it?" Toriel asked, her brow softly furrowing.

Sans cursed his dark eyes. "Nothin', it's still fine," he said. "No worries."

Toriel tsked at him and plucked his phone from his fingers— he probably could have stopped her, but she already knew something was up. He rubbed the side of his head. She frowned, befuddled, at his screen and pressed her large thumb against it. Her mouth pulled into a thin line as her eyes widened and she looked between him and the phone.

"Is this accurate?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Sure. It's fine," he said. "Plenty of magic left."

"No, Sans, this drop," she said. "The last snapshot was not even two hours ago."

"…Ah."

.

"What's going on?" Gaster approached with a worried frown, drawing the attention of the other monsters as well. "Did something happen?"

"Is everything alright?" Asgore said, edging closer. "You all look very concerned."

Standing beneath their questioning eyes, Sans's shoulders dropped. He hadn't felt so small in a long time. Toriel leaned over to Gaster and showed him the SOULSCN screen, whispering sharply against his head.

.

"You didn't answer: did something happen?" Papyrus asked worriedly.

"Crap, is Sans sick again?" Suzy asked.

"GASP! Are you?!"

Sans grinned awkwardly. "Uh."

"Oh, no, did something go wrong?" Kio asked. "Is there something I can do to help? Some healing, or—?"

"D-Do you need more, um, opera cakes or something?" Alphys asked as she patted down her pockets. "Oh, um, wait, I… Where did I l-leave that machine?"

"Alph, it's fine," Sans said.

"No offence, but you d-don't exactly look fine." She pushed in and smooshed her hands against his cheekbones, staring at him in the eyes. "A-And your eyes a-are completely dark!"

"Yeah, I figured, but—"

She turned his face towards the others. "D-Did he look this bad earlier?"

"I always look bad, Doc—"

"Hmmmnooo, she's right, you do look a bit, uh… off?" Papyrus grabbed Sans under his arms and hefted him off the ground, staring at him sceptically. "Did something happen, did you do the time jumpy thing?" His eyes bugged out and he put his brother down again, poking and prodding him all over. "Or don't tell me you took damage from an alternate timeline again?!"

"Bro, I think I'm good," Sans said.

"Not until I say you are!"

.

"Hang on, hang on," Asgore said, holding his hands out as if to calm everyone. "What happened?"

"These steep drops don't make sense," Gaster interjected, handing the phone back to Sans. "Again."

"Did you do anything out of the usual?" Kio asked gently.

"Did you eat any wild moss?" Suzy asked.

"Not yet," Sans said. He put the phone against his chest again and held it for a few seconds before handing it back to his father.

Gaster frowned at it and the taller monsters all leaned in to get a look. The old skeleton tapped his teeth thoughtfully.

"Still lower," Toriel said quietly.

"If that's the typical rate the health is draining," the skeleton, "there's no way that's all that went on between the two prior snapshots."

"What does that mean, exactly?" Asgore asked as he slid closer to look.

"That something is still effecting him pretty badly, your Highness," Kio said. "But, what that something is…?"

Gaster fixed his gaze on his son. "Keep an eye on it, alright?"

"Guess I'm gonna have to," Sans said. He shoved his hands into his pockets and strolled towards the path back into the mountain. "Forget it, we got the baseline, that's good enough until I pass out or somethin'. Lessgo."

.

"Sans, wait," Asgore said quickly.

The skeleton turned, brows raised, but the big King couldn't seem to think of a reason to stay. Asgore looked to Gaster for help. The old skeleton puffed himself up.

"Let's do a final check before we go in," he said. "Everyone should be stocked up. Are there any other concerns right off the bat?"

"Yeah, what if the spooky other guy comes back when we start doing time stuff?" Suzy said.

"What spooky guy?" Asgore asked at a whisper.

"I… doubt that'll be the case," Gaster said, "but if it is, I trust we can rely on you to bite him as hard as possible until one of us deals with him."

Suzy saluted.

.

"Now, all of us should be able to enter the inner chamber with the exception of Alphys," Gaster continued. "Asgore— and you, too, Paps— I would like you to be cautious, though. Everyone be extra alert for any seismic activity. I have a feeling it'll be mild, if anything, until we disrupt the time loop in the chamber, but there's always a possibility something else will shift on its own. And…" He looked around. "Anything else? If not, we can start to make our way down."

"I have one thing," Toriel said. "Asgore?"

"Yes, dea—doooo you need something?" Asgore said, his cheeks flushing.

She beckoned him to her. "A trade," she said. "I will lend you some of my healing magic, just in case. In return, you lend me some Fortitude. What do you think?"

"A-Ah!" The King smiled. "An excellent idea, Tori. Thank you."

.

She cupped her hand to her chest and a little pulse of magic flared up along her fur, dyeing the tips with a faint violet before a jolt of her energy fizzed in the air. Asgore drew in a sharp breath and held out a hand, a glimmer of green motes sparking around his fingers. He let out a sigh of relief, then closed his eyes tight. Another thrum of magic ebbed from him in a low, comfortable hum. Toriel's ears pinned back a little and she nodded resolutely.

"It's done," she said. She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly, then clapped her hands together. A warm, fond smile spread on her face as she directed her attention on the others. "Now, I… don't know if you will have time to return," she said, "or if the next time I see all of you will be when the world is right again. I will not wish you luck, because I have no doubt in my mind that you will succeed." She smile grew and her eyes glimmered. "Go bring our children home, alright?"

.

Papyrus was the first to receive a tight embrace from Toriel as she moved between each of the monsters, lingering on Suzy with some whispered, reassuring words. When she came to Sans, she held him tight and warm, her touch steeped with magic, especially when she pressed her snout against his head. She even took a moment to grab Asgore by the shoulders and give him a reassuring squeeze.

.

The King lead the way into the mountain, with Gaster and Kio close behind. Papyrus took charge of Suzy, and Sans trailed along at a leisurely pace. Alphys lagged a little, her focus lingering on her phone for a little while longer before Sans gave her a nudge to watch her step going down the broken stairs and into the barrier chamber that was still littered with rocks and huge chunks of debris. She squeaked quietly and shuffled a little closer to him, grabbing onto his arm.

"S-Sans," she said under her breath, pushing her snout in close to the side of his head. "Could I, um…? Feel your soul for a second?"

"Uh. Sure?" He soul gleamed with a faint light and Alphys leaned in closer, listening intently.

Though she hesitated, she stuck her hand into the glow. She squinted thoughtfully and then let out a sharp little noise, drawing Papyrus's eyes instantly.

"Is everything okay, Doctor?" he asked.

"Oh! Um! Y-Yeah, uh… I have the chat up, by the way, there's… um. A-Audio, too, if you prefer that. O-Or, um, audio-to-text, t-too."

"Thank you, Alphys," Gaster called back.

"N-No problem!" she said shrilly. She leaned in towards Sans again. "I… I think I… might know what's wrong?" she whispered.

He raised his brows. "Kay."

"…You s-said… Before, when we were talking, that y-you feel fine, except… Except when you teleport." She grimaced. "A-And… And you teleported up the mountain for us, r-right?"

"I, uh…" It was true— aside from seeing the time fragments, the teleporting was the only thing that was blatantly off with him at the moment. Sans winced. "Shit, I think you're right."

Alphys let out a little breath of relief and took him by the hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Just, um, try not to risk it so much, okay?"

.

Now, Sans wanted to throw himself into the lake. He was an absolute idiot. Of course something that wrecked his eyes with visions and slammed him to the ground oozing tar from the void was doing damage. How much time had he cost himself for next to no reason?

.

As a dark cold seeped from his soul, he rubbed the back of his skull and puffed out a little sigh. "Aah, damn."

"It's o-okay," Alphys said quickly. "I-It'll be fine, but…" She pouted. "Ugh, I'm sorry, i-if we'd just had more time to monitor you—"

"Nope," he said. "My bad."

"Sans, you—"

"Nnnope."

"Seriously, are you two okay back there?" Papyrus said, turning to walk backwards through the rubble.

Sans stuck his thumb up and Alphys nodded quickly. Papyrus squinted at them suspiciously and pointed to his eyes and then back at Sans. Suzy looked up at him, looked at Sans, and then mimicked Papyrus. The short skeleton snorted and grinned, gesturing for his brother to turn around to watch his step. Papyrus snickered and did as he suggested, deftly hopping over a large lump of stone that interfered with the pathway. However, he all but screeched to a halt as he hit the doorway and turned sharply back towards his brother.

"The gold room," he said, eyes wide.

.

Sans stalled and Suzy looked between the two with puzzlement.

"…I-Is there something wrong with it?" Alphys asked.

"Oh, nothing other than that heeee sometimes gets stabbed in there," Papyrus said.

Alphys let out a shrill, spluttering noise and turned on Sans with wide eyes. "W-W-WHAT?!"

Sans rubbed the back of his skull. "Uh. Yeah, 'bout that—"

"Do you want to zip around it and meet us on the other end?" Papyrus said. "For safety!"

"Sans!" Alphys yelped. "W-Wait, don't—!"

"Wait, what stabbed you?!" Suzy demanded. "I'll get 'em! Show me!"

Sans burst out laughing and rubbed his face. "Okay, okay okay, wait. Hang on." He took a deep breath and looked at his brother. "Issue one: teleport's actually what bit a chunk outta me, probably."

"WHAT?!" Papyrus squawked. "Really?!"

"I-I'm… pretty sure," Alphys said sheepishly.

"Hmmmm. And I guess that means that issue two is that sometimes, if you line up with yourself at a certain moment and time shifts, you may find yourself wearing a different jacket or getting stabbed and dissolving into dust on the floor."

"Nailed it," Sans said.

Papyrus cupped his chin thoughtfully. "Then… Haaaave you ever been stabbed while being held up in the air by me?!"

Sans blinked. "Uh, don't think so, but—"

Papyrus slung Suzy up onto his shoulders and grabbed his brother in just a few, swift movements, and then took off at a sprint, leaving the other monsters in his wake.

.

The flower garden wasn't much worse for wear, and neither was the golden hall. Papyrus raced right through, carrying Sans high above the ground, and stopped just beyond to wait for the others. The first elevator connected to the intricate tunnel system— one used for emergencies only— was just a little ways away, but the metal door was bashed and mostly blocked with rubble that had been pushed out of the main path. It was no great loss, though. There were two more entrances just beyond Asgore's home. Backups on backups, one of their designers' hallmarks.

.

"You three alright?" Gaster called as he ran to catch up.

"Absolutely we are!" Papyrus assured him as he placed Sans back on the ground. "Just stabbing avoidance strategies, it's not a big deal."

"Usually it's a cut, not a stab," Sans said. "Been stabbed a few times, though."

"Do they ever get you with their claws?" Suzy asked worriedly.

"Nah, humans don't usually have those."

"You shouldda bit 'em."

"My teeth ain't that sharp," Sans said with a laugh.

Suzy crossed her arms and pouted. "Do it anyway."

Gaster's expression softened with relief and he turned back to the golden hallway. "They're fine! Nothing to worry about!"

.

Just a few steps out of the room, Asgore froze and most of the the group couldn't help but stall along with him. From the pathways overlooking New Home, it was clear that the city was still a mess, but much of the rubble was glistening with natural overgrowth. Beams of sunshine poured in through the holes above, cutting the shadows and casting spotlights on each section of vibrant foliage.

.

Asgore grabbed tight to Gaster's arm. His mismatched eyes darted over his city and he gulped heavily. "S-Surely that didn't all happen just from the rain last night," he said quietly.

"Maybe that's what made all those soldiers wander around," Papyrus mused.

Just about every eye in the group— save for his brother's— turned on him worriedly. He laughed bashfully and waved a hand as if to chase their concerns away.

"Don't worry, it was from hundreds of years ago, probably! Right, Sans?"

"Most likely," Sans said. He tapped the side of his head. "Just seein' some weird crap 'cause of all the time screw ups, no worries."

"It hasn't become too much, has it?" Gaster asked.

"Nope," Sans said while his brother shook his head quickly "Not recently, anyway."

"Can we…?" Asgore was still staring off at the city. "Is there any way to keep a photo or two of this?"

"Oh. Uh. Gotcha covered," Sans said as he pulled out his phone.

"Thank you. Um…" He turned to the group with a bashful smile. "I'm sorry. This is all a bit overwhelming."

"Of course it is, don't apologize," Gaster said.

"It's hard," Kio said with a nod, grasping her wings together. "We were trapped here, but it was still our home. It's… strange to see it like this."

Asgore put a hand on her shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze.

"Don't worry, Auntie, my sister's going to put everything right back where it belongs," Papyrus said. "Personally, I can't wait! And, I'm not going to!" He and Suzy headed off briskly. "Meet you all at the elevator!"

.

The monsters only lingered a few moments longer than Papyrus had before moving on. Asgore's home had taken a couple blows in the earthquakes, too. Chunks of ceiling that had collapsed inwards and let in the light were draped with strings of vines and greenery, and even small, purple and yellow blossoms. Just like the city itself, it was as if they'd been given years of time on their own rather than the single day that they'd been afforded.

.

There were two elevator shafts built into the structures a little ways in front of Asgore's home, one right around the corner from the other, mostly in case one suffered some kind of damage. The closest one had experience exactly that, looking as if it had taken a blow from some kind of MTT-brand battering ram. Just in case, they headed onwards to the final set of metal doors. Thankfully, those were perfectly intact.

.

Gaster made a noise as if he were clearing his throat. "Alright. This… is it. So, I'll head straight for the CORE, I suppose."

"I'll join you," Kio said. "We can start to reinforce whatever spots you need."

"Then, Sans and I will head for the lab?" Asgore suggested. He smiled at the short skeleton. "I know… I'm sure you can carry the machine, but it may just be awkward since your, um, arms aren't very long."

"Fair," Sans said.

"I-I'll come, too," Alphys said. "I'd like to, um, just check a couple things before we get started but, um…" She looked up at Papyrus. "Maybe, um, if I…? If I, um, g-gave you a list, could you and Suzy just turn on some m-machines for me? It'd save m-me some time."

"Sounds easy enough, I don't see why not," Papyrus said.

"We got it," Suzy assured her.

"I know y-you do," Alphys said with a fond smile. "O-Okay, just a second."

.

Alphys wrote her notes as quickly as she could while still having them legible, and then the CORE group were on their way. The three left waiting were quiet in their absence, a little prickle of nervous energy in the air.

.

It wasn't long at all before they received notice from Gaster via the chat group that they'd made it to the CORE.

.

When the elevator returned, Asgore gestured for the other two to enter first. Sans immediately took a back corner and sat down, rubbing his brow. Alphys went for the buttons to enter a code and Asgore squeezed in, making the substantial space within seem small and cozy. With a pleasant beeping, the doors slid closed and they were on their way.

.

"Um. Sans," Alphys said. "H-Have you, um, thought much about m-moving the machine?"

"Uh. Can probably chuck it in here," he said. "I'll chill inside so I can drag it into the CORE or somethin'."

"I'm starting to feel very relieved that all of these backend transports were even made," Asgore said. "Who would have thought we'd one day be bringing a time machine around so we could take back a missing child and my own son from somewhere in another universe?" He chuckled. "Golly. What a story we'll have to tell them."

Sans couldn't help a quiet groan. He could already picture how guilty his kid would look no matter how he tried to couch it. "Yup."

"W-Well, I mean, e-even from my end, it's, um, pretty interesting," Alphys said. "Even though it's scary."

"Yeah, but it's not like they're gonna be too happy to hear the world almost crapped out," Sans said. He rubbed his fingers over the scar in the side of his hand. "S'kinda a mess."

.

"You've heard from them briefly, haven't you?" Asgore asked.

"Not Az. Dad did. Paps got somethin' like a… a vision, I guess?" Sans shrugged. "I saw my kid in a dream a little while back but communicatin' was a bit of a pain." He tapped the side of his head. "That's a thing, by the way. When stuff's normal, we can just hang out in dreams like it's nothin'."

"Really?" Alphys asked, wide-eyed. "Th-That's really cool, h-how did that happen?"

Sans simply smiled and shrugged. "Dunno," he lied.

.

"That sounds like a lovely gift," Asgore said, "especially if your sister is prone to nightmares." He stared blankly at the wall for a moment and his ears perked a little. "Oh! I'm sorry, is that…? Am I remembering something?"

"Don't worry 'bout it," Sans said. "But, uh… Yeah. It was useful."

The King nodded. "Do you know anything about how they're doing out there?"

"Kiddo said they're fine. Got help, wherever they are."

"…Help? From who?"

"Dunno."

"…W-Wait, from, like… S-Somebody in another dimension?" Alphys said shrilly. Her breath hitched in her throat and she put a hand to the side of her head. "Ohmigod, that's…! Th-That… That kinda freaks m-me out."

"There's no reason to be afraid," Asgore said.

"It's j-just…! Just the idea that… there's really s-some other world out there, and… And someone from here is out there, t-talking with them right now!" She squeezed her hands together. "It m-makes me feel sort of e-existential." She shook her head. "But, that's g-good that… they have help, from whoever i-it is."

Sans nodded. "They're just waitin' on us, far as I know." He rubbed his headachey skull again. "But, uh, who knows if things changed or not. What I do know is that they're together. So, that's good."

Asgore smiled. "Any child of mine would not let their sibling do something like this alone. I'm sure they're taking good care of each other, wherever they are."

"…I-I can't wait to meet your kid, too, I bet h-he's adorable," Alphys said quietly.

"Oh, he's absolutely the cutest little boss monster in the world," Asgore said with a laugh. "Hopefully he takes more after his mother instead of this silly old goat, but…" He clammed up, smiling sheepishly, only for his expression to droop with worry. "Son, are you alright?"

.

"Hm?" Sans looked up at him. "Oh, uh. Yeah. Fine."

Asgore turned and shuffled carefully, squatting down. "Your eyes have gone dark again."

"Yeah, that happens," the skeleton said with a tired laugh. "S'fine."

"A-Are you feeling okay?" Alphys said.

"Sure."

The lizard pouted and looked to Asgore for help. The huge King frowned resolutely. He held out a large hand and, though he hesitated for just a moment, he rested his palm against the top of Sans's skull. The magic Toriel had shared with him flared through his fur and set a rumbling warmth through the skeleton's bones. He couldn't help his shoulders from dropping.

"There you go," Asgore said gently. "Let me know when the pain clears up."

"Probably isn't gonna," Sans said apologetically. "I, uh, appreciate the effort, though."

"Then at least let me heal you until we arrive." The huge monster smiled. "I'm a little rusty, though, forgive me."

"Nothin' to forgive," the skeleton assured him.

.

Upon arriving at the lab, Alphys made a beeline for her large computer setup in the main room, while Sans and Asgore headed up to the second level. The time machine sat exactly where it had been left, not a speck out of place on the hull. As Asgore wandered around curiously, Sans grasped the door and pushed it upwards, and then opened up some of the panels that had been tinkered with. Everything was still in order, even the makeshift soup solution gleaming golden in some of the tubes.

.

Once he was satisfied, Sans popped into the seat and poked around the control console. Everything was as he'd left it, except the capsule and socket that processed the DT, which was left uncovered. He flipped it closed, then took a moment to check through all the junk he'd stashed there and on the floor. The stuff was undisturbed, though he wasn't quite sure where that scarf with the moons on it had ended up after Papyrus had brought it out for him. Wasn't a big loss if it was missing though, he thought. He stashed Mettaton's tiny hard drive in the pocket of the mostly white hoodie and then checked his jacket— itself a good candidate— for anything else.

.

"Golly, this is really something," Asgore said as he peeked inside.

"Got anythin' you wanna hold onto?" Sans said, straightening up and giving the pile of clothes beside him a pat. "Hopefully this stuff sticks around past the reset."

"Oh?" The huge monster's floppy ears perked a little. "Well, actually, now that you mention it…" He reached into his cloak and pulled out a few carefully folded sheets of paper and passed them over. "Thank you very much."

Sans nodded and put them aside carefully. "Mind if I ask?"

"Oh, not at all, they're some pictures the children drew while they were staying over," he said. "A few are for Toriel, as well."

"Nice." Sans leaned back and he couldn't help the tired smile that spread on his face. "That whole thing with Ellie is gonna require quite the explainer on the second go-round, huh?"

"I'm sure if you just tell Boyd you're going to get his daughter back, he won't need much more than that," Asgore said. "How did you normally deal with that sort of thing?"

"Power of suggestion." Sans leaned out of the pod. "Hey, Alph, how's it goin'?"

"G-Good!"

"Got anything you wanna stuff in the machine to keep?"

"Uhhhhh… N-No, I don't think sooooo, j-just make sure you keep that magic b-book you got from the humans, okay?" She made a little huffing noise from down below and the hum of her magic wafted into the air. "Oomf! O-Okay. I'm ready down here."

.

Sans slipped out of the chamber and closed it up. Asgore tilted his head as he eyed the machine. He pushed his cloak back over his shoulders, rubbed his hands together, and then grasped it tight. Once his fingers found purchase, he grunted and heaved the whole thing up and off the ground.

"Y'alright, your Highness?" Sans asked.

"It's fine," Asgore assured him. "It's not heavy, it's just a little awkward."

.

With cautious steps, the huge monster and the large machine made their way downstairs. Alphys, looking a little sweaty, guided him forward like she was directing a runway. She'd used some magic to widen the doorway, but Asgore still had to twist the machine a little to get it through.

.

Once Alphys had put in the proper security and transport codes and the time machine was safely situated in the elevator, Sans opened the pod up again and plunked himself inside.

"Alright, see ya there?" he said.

"Y-Yeah! Um." Alphys's cheeks flushed. "I'm going to, um, j-just check on the Captain really quick b-before I head over though, is that o-okay?"

"Yeah, no issue," Sans said. He looked to Asgore. "You guys take your time. I don't mind a little extra breathin' room."

"W-We won't be too long," Alphys said. She waved, as did Asgore, as she pressed a button outside to close the door and send the skeleton on his way.

.

Sans sat back as the elevator rumbled to life and wished the trip was long enough to take a proper nap. He sighed. His eyes passed over the console again and lingered on the compartment he'd shut. He drummed his fingers against the metal, then leaned forward again and booted up the internal computer.

.

All the components were showing up orange except for the main power system, which was to be expected. He connected into the processes that controlled the determination absorption through the slot inside the capsule and flicked up the cover. The computer alerted him that it was open and therefore unable to be used, but he quickly disabled that safety function and told the system to keep the little chamber powered on indefinitely. The computer warned him of potential danger, but he told it to ignore that.

.

Not that the others knew exactly how it all worked, but his father and Alphys were certainly smart enough to extrapolate that the machine was designed to run with that particular piece closed, mostly in case of anything bursting and sending sparks of DT all over the inside of the pod. However, with that failsafe disabled, Sans would be able to simply wound himself and drop some of his determination-charged magic into the slot as he had the first time, but now have it process and run instantly, rather than waiting. The worry that someone might try to stop him caused a little ache in his soul. He wasn't about to let enough time pass between the start of the operation and sending the machine off for the idea of Papyrus's magic being used instead of his own to spring up. Couldn't be up to his brother if he could help it, not unless it was the last resort.

.

He made sure his tools were close at hand, stashed just under the pile of jackets and hoodies, then closed his eyes and felt over the controls carefully in case he had to do it blind. Just as the elevator clunked to a halt, he snapped the lid of the determination capsule off and popped it in his pocket.

.

When the elevator doors opened onto one of the CORE's lower floors, Sans slipped out of the time machine and closed it up. He rolled his sleeves up, grabbed onto the hull, dug in his heels and pulled. The thing slid forward without a whole lot of resistance, which surprised him despite everything. However, part of the metal stuck against the sides of the door and he recalled that Asgore had given it a little tilt in the air before putting it in. He tapped his teeth; he should've thought of that.

.

As he squatted down to see if he could actually lift it up off the ground, he heard boots clunking up the hall towards him. "Hey, Paps," he said.

"How are you managing?" Papyrus said. "Nyeh! You didn't get that here on your own, did you?"

"Not quite, uh…" His eye flared with blue as he cast his magic to lift the opposite end of the machine up as he picked up the section closest to him with a grunt.

"HOLY CANNOLI!" Papyrus yelped.

"Think you could, uh, just grab the—"

"Absolutely I can!" The tall skeleton hopped over the machine to reach its other side and held it up, twisting it just a little so Sans could pull it all the way through.

.

"I still sort of can't believe you can do that," Papyrus said.

"Same," Sans said as he lowered it back to the ground.

"Is this going to even fit in the weird deep CORE elevator?"

"Eh, if not we can just chuck it down the shaft or somethin'," Sans said with a shrug and a smile.

"Right, let's avoid that as much as we possibly can," Papyrus said. "Should we get this moving?"

"Nah," Sans said, patting the machine on the side. "Leave it for Asgore. Makes him feel useful." He smiled a little wider as his brother frowned incredulously. "Plus I, uh, don't actually know where Alph wants it for the prep."

"Ah. I guess that's… fair," the tall skeleton said reluctantly. He stepped past his brother and beckoned him to follow. "Come on, I left Suzy spinning somewhere. We're almost done."

.

As the brothers headed off to one of the control rooms to meet up with Suzy, their father toiled down in the heat of the deepest reaches of the CORE. As he set to work on extra layers of time-locked barrier above the magma, Kio wove strands of deep blue magic and cast them about the walls and ceilings in a tight grid to shore up the cavern's integrity.

.

"Whew," the snakebird said, her voice a little hoarse. "I almost forgot why I didn't like working down here."

"I know. I'm sorry," Gaster said. He joined her, chilling his hand with cooling blue magic and putting it on her head. "Do you want to take a break?"

"Aah… No. No, I'm getting there," she assured him. She raised her wings high, strands of magic lifting up from her smooth feathers to bind with the others she'd already placed. "How're you holding up?"

"I'm…" He looked over at the glistening red in the air where his daughter's time loop held firm. "…Going to be very happy when this is all over."

"So, not so good then," she said with a sympathetic smile.

"Everything that went wrong is due to me," he said. "I've put everyone through too much. And now Sans has to take the brunt of… everything. So it's—"

"Bothering you a lot," Kio said gently, holding his blackened arm and giving it a reassuring squeeze. "Do you need a break, G?"

"There isn't time for it," he said.

"Not even five minutes?"

He shook his head. "Can I help with what you're doing?"

Kio tilted her head and clacked her beak thoughtfully as she looked up at her work. "Can you create indigo reservoirs like you were doing for the void magic?"

"I can."

.

Gaster cast his magic upwards to the high walls of the cavern, jamming a spur of bone into the stone. It leeched a little colour from Kio's threads to catch their rhythm, then Gaster placed his focus into lending it extra strength. Kio smiled as the bone's colour deepened and went back to work herself.

.

As Gaster began to craft a few more in different spots in the cave, his thoughts raced away to his children and his nephew. The end was so close it was making him ache. There was still so much riding on Sans and he wished desperately to take it from the boy's shoulders.

.

Just as he was about to finish up, Kio whistled to him and held up her phone.

"Toriel's reporting everything is all good on her end," she said, "and Alphys says things are started upstairs with Sans's machine. They'll be bringing it down soon."

Gaster's soul did a short, cold drop in his chest. "That's good."

"I'll tell them we're ready, too," she said, texting with one wing as she fanned herself with the other and slithered up the stoney path back to the door. "Whew! We don't happen to still have any snack stashes around here somewhere, do we?"

"I'm not sure, but Alphys'll definitely have some cold soda," Gaster said.

"I guess I'll tell that bunch in person, too." She twisted around and looked at him with raised brows. "Are you going to join us?"

When he hesitated, Kio shot him a sympathetic smile.

"Take a few deep breaths, at least," she said.

.

Gaster nodded stiffly and he gave it a try. As he took deep breaths of the stingingly hot air, he was keenly aware of the strange resonance of the chamber's magic passing through his bones. That red sheen in the air, locking the magic pillar into its loop, carried the hints of a melody just like the one Alphys had decoded.

.

After a quick check over his shoulder, Gaster walked back towards the faint bubble of time and cautiously reached out to touch it. His normal hand was repelled but his blackened one could rest gently against the magic in the air as if it were made of glass. It was hot to the touch, even to a skeleton's senses, and the warmth that blazed up his arm took him by surprise. He closed his eyes and tried to set his mind to focus, but all he could think of was those two missing kids and his desperate hope that Sans would not join them.

.

He frowned at himself, willing his mind to stabilize. There was only one goal. Everything had to push towards that, no matter what.

.

When the others didn't join him after a few minutes, Gaster reluctantly pulled himself away from the chamber and headed up to the area he knew Alphys would be operating out of. As he walked the halls, he could hear lively voices from within one of the computer work rooms and, if he hadn't known better, he would have thought it was a party of some kind.

.

As the skeleton slipped in through a widened doorframe, he was met with controlled chaos. Some upbeat music was playing, a little tinny through a cellphone's speakers and against the top of a long desk. The back wall, a layout of monitors, was lit up with an array of different CORE processes, as well as one with a laggy, low resolution live-feed peeking into the chamber. There were seismographs and the line monitoring the CORE's fluctuations, and, as Gaster watched, another screen flickered and began to display a simplified diagram of the time machine, which was on the far left of the room, where some old shelves and machines had been shoved aside.

.

Alphys and Asgore were crowded around the time machine. The huge monster had ditched his cape, crown, and golden pauldrons, all of which were on the floor, and leaned in close to the hull, clamping some metal to it by hand as Alphys carefully welded it into place. Closer to the door, Papyrus was having a noisy argument with an inexplicable little white dog, while Sans watched with a big grin on his face. He was slumped in one of the office chairs and was simultaneously using a little shock of blue magic to slowly spin Suzy around in a seat across from him. Kio, too, was in an office chair, fanning herself and sipping on a can of soda. She caught Gaster's eye and waved.

.

"How are things going in here?" Gaster asked.

"Alllllmost there!" Alphys said. "W-We're just, um, installing a tracer and thennnnn…"

"Rehearsals!" Papyrus asserted.

The dog barked.

"Of course we do!" the skeleton said swiftly. "We get one shot and Sans needs to get it going in three minutes or—!"

"Technically might have a couple more, no guarantee things'll just fall apart right away after the loop ends," Sans said.

"That. Is. True! But I don't want to risk it, do you?!"

The dog fluffed up and yipped.

"Now you're making more sense," Papyrus said with an approving nod. "Just run through it at least once?"

Sans put a hand to his brow and leaned back in his seat. "Rather just get goin'."

"Do you think you can make it in three minutes?" Gaster asked. "There's no guarantee things won't fall apart, either. And you may be incapacitated if the shifts come back too quickly, don't forget."

.

Sans grimaced. He stopped spinning Suzy and sunk a little deeper into the chair. "…Right."

"I'll watch stuff for you," Suzy said. "I'm good at that."

"Who knows, whole mountain might flip upside down," Sans said.

"It better not!" Papyrus said.

"Now now, don't worry too much," Asgore said. "You might just throw yourselves off. Every one of you here is incredibly good at what you do, and what's more, you're doing this for love. There's no better cause." He smiled warmly. "Be confident in yourself. I am. In you all, I mean."

Gaster's shoulders relaxed a little despite himself. "…You're right."

"I am, sometimes, aren't I?" Asgore said, chuckling.

"Thanks, King Uncle," Papyrus said, clenching his fists. "We're going to be extremely confident and good at this! I know it! And then Asriel and Crabapple Kid can come home."

.

One of the computers made a satisfying blip and Alphys let out a small whoop of triumph. The screen below the one with the schematic on it lit up with a map of the underground and a blinking light on the CORE, along with text that said the same thing.

"I-It's a go!" she said brightly.

"Look at you go, hun," Kio said with a smile. "So you can see where he ends up?"

"Yep, e-exactly," Alphys said. "We should be able to see a s-successful connection with the void from right here." She smiled sheepishly. "I… w-won't be able to join you guys d-down there, but, um… Keep me on voice chat?"

"You should probably all be on that," Gaster said. "Or, at least several of you." He looked to Sans. "Do you have everything you need?"

"Think so." Sans slowly got to his feet and stretched. "We can, uh, attach the big cable downstairs, but otherwise, I think we're good."

"W-Walk me through it," Alphys said.

Sans raised his brows.

"Please?" she said. "M-Maybe we can shave off some seconds."

The little dog barked his agreement.

.

Sans scoffed in jest. He gathered up the items he needed— the crimson dog artefact and the strange cube that housed a sliver of his sister's hum— and brought them to the time machine. He shoved the door up to open it.

"Guess we'll do that before we start," he said. "Don't wanna actually stick this stuff in there with the power on and me not in it, but, uh…" He slid into the seat and opened up the compartment he'd once stashed a letter from his kid in. "Orb goes here, cube goes, uh…" He reached across the console and opened up a similar compartment behind the first one. "Here, in the backup. Boot it up, make it go, and we're good."

"What about the determination?" Gaster asked.

"Hm?" Sans leaned back. "What about it?"

"You need some to run the machine, don't you?"

Sans grinned sideways. "I got it handled."

"That better not be a joke because you broke your hand last time," Papyrus said sternly.

The short skeleton laughed loudly. "I mean…"

"You did?!" Alphys bleated..

"It was fine," Sans said.

"Please be careful, son," Asgore said. "That kind of thing can be dangerous, even for a powerful monster."

"Sans," Gaster said sternly. "Your health is low as it is—"

"Yup." Sans shrugged and winked. "Ain't changin' that now. But, uh, don't worry." He patted the artefact before scooping it up and pocketing it. "Think this'll cover it."

"What, really?!" Papyrus asked shrilly. "That'd be okay?!"

"It's real powerful, we know that," Sans said. "Plus, uh, it's bright red, yeah? And the kiddo left her mark on it. It'll help guide the thing, and the power should be enough that I don't gotta hack into myself."

.

Sans scanned all the faces in the room. His father still looked a little skeptical, but the rest of them seemed to have bought it— except Suzy, who looked flummoxed regardless. The short skeleton smiled and got up out of the pod again and tilted his head back towards it.

"Anyway," he said, "anyone else got somethin' they wanna keep past reset? Best chance is stashin' it in there."

"You've got it," Asgore said.

"Nothing for me," Kio said. "Just tell me stories, if I happen to forget."

"Well…" Alphys scrunched up her face. "N-No, I don't think… Oh!" She blushed bright red and reached for her phone. "H-H-Hang on."

Sans looked to Papyrus and Suzy. The crocodaur looked a little confused and she put her hand to her chest.

"The instrument Miss Toriel gave me, can I keep that?"

"That's in your soul, bud," Sans said. "Can't take it. But, it might last on it's own 'cause of the void stuff."

"Oh yeah?" Suzy perked up. "That'd be cool."

"If not, I'm positive Toriel will help you get it once more," Asgore assured her.

.

"I think, for me, just this," Papyrus said, unwinding his scarf-poncho from his body. He handed it to his brother, simultaneously eliciting some quiet, alarmed sounds from those that hadn't seen the gap in his chest yet. He snickered. "Don't worry, everyone, it's fine!"

"Are you sure?" Kio asked worriedly.

"Absolutely a hundred percent sure!" The tall skeleton took the jacket with the orange detailing he brought from the human world from his phone— the one the soul had blown part of the front off of. He put it on, even though the front could no longer be zipped. "And that's it from me."

Sans nodded. He turned to his father. "Anythin'?"

"I… Hm." Gaster folded his arms and frowned thoughtfully. "The… magic book, would be my choice. Just in case I threw the other into the void forever like a bloody idiot."

"Gotcha, that one's kinda a given," Sans said with a wink. "We goin'?"

"J-Just one run-through first?" Alphys pleaded. "I j-just want to be sure!"

"Okay, okay, fine," Sans said, and he winked. "But I'm not runnin' anywhere."

xXxXx

After being convinced into at least four run-throughs while Alphys imagined different hazards, Sans packed all the items he was saving away into various places inside his machine. The little lizard blushingly snuck him a letter to stash as well. He could guess what it was, but he didn't check it. She also hugged him so tight that his spine popped, and made Papyrus duck down so she could do the same to him.

.

The elevator to the lowest reaches of the CORE was a tight fit for the machine, but the twist-it-sideways method worked pretty well. Sans couldn't actually ride inside it this time, but sitting on top of it with his brother was no great trouble either. As the heat rose, Papyrus tapped his foot against the door absently.

"Hey. Sans?" he said.

"Sup?"

"When we came down here one time," Papyrus said, "wasn't that how we got our little brother?"

"Sorta, yeah," Sans said.

"I think I remember… being in here. And so was Undyne, and Alphys. And our sister," he said. "She passed out for a few days after that, right?"

"Yeah," Sans said.

"…Don't pass out after this, okay?"

Sans snorted. He was sure it'd be worse than that if something actually happened. "Do my best."

"And, um. You don't think it'll be too weird if I happen to have these little antler horns after the reset, do you? As in, our siblings, they won't think it's too weird, right?"

"It'll be fine, whatever happens," he said.

"Right." Papyrus held his hands together and ran his thumb across the top of his opposite hand. "Right right right."

.

When they hit the ground, they brought the machine out and carried it to the double doors that opened into the central chamber. Papyrus hooked up some earphones to his phone and made sure the chat group was working, then put one end in an auditory hole in his skull and pinned the other to the collar of his jacket.

"Test test, is it working? It's the great Papyrus, here!"

His words appeared in text on the app.

"I c-can hear you loud and clear," Alphys answered.

"Same for me," Kio answered. "Hi, hun!"

"Hi, Auntie! Okay, that's great!" he said. "We're at the door, should we go in?"

"I… Oh! …Gaster says to wait, just in case," Alphys said. "They're heading down in just a minute."

A little smiley face with horns popped up in the chat, along with a wish of good luck.

"Mom, if you have some headphones, you can listen in, too!" Papyrus said.

A shocked emoji and a thumbs up was the reply.

"Probably shouldda tried to set that up for her before we left," Sans said.

"You set yours up, too," Papyrus said.

The short skeleton shrugged. "It's probably gonna mess up when we start, t'be honest."

"Just do it, lazybones."

Sans snorted out a quiet laugh, but he did as his brother asked.

.

When the others got there, Asgore and Papyrus brought the time machine across the stone walkway, putting it down as close to the time magic and console as they could get it while still leaving enough room to get up close to it. They all worked quickly to attach the cable that would connect into the NOCTURNE, Kio using her deep blue magic to shore up the connection to stay as secure as it could be.

.

Suzy was just standing back, watching intently, but she was bouncing and steely-eyed, as if waiting at the start of a race. Sans gave her a reassuring pat on the head, but before he could say much, Gaster grabbed him, quickly switching off the earphones and guiding him away towards the door.

"The DT," he said at a whisper.

"What about it?" Sans said.

"Are you sure about the artefact?"

"Sure."

"Sans." Gaster's gaze hardened. "It's untested. You're not that reckless." He shifted uncomfortably and checked over his shoulder. "Use mine."

"Nope."

"Sans—"

"Can't," Sans said. "Too weird. Way more dangerous."

"And the human's?"

"Can't have his energy interfere with the beacon crap. C'mon."

Gaster winced. "Then what? You can't—"

"It'll be fine."

"Can your health take that hit?" Gaster insisted. "Isn't there anythin—?"

"Dad. Look. I get it," Sans said. "You're freakin' out. Don't blame you. But it's this or Paps, and I ain't cuttin' into my baby brother, alright?"

The old skeleton frowned at the floor. He sighed heavily and rubbed his skull. "Fine."

"Thanks."

"I'm sorry."

"Eh, forget it." He turned the earphones back on and stretched. "Hey, how we doin'?"

.

"I-It's still looking good from my end," Alphys said.

"I… I think we're ready, actually," Kio said. She waved to the skeletons across the room. "Final checks?"

"Guess that's my cue," Sans said. He was about to step away, but he stalled as his father grabbed him tight and crushed him into a hug. The short skeleton went stiff for an instant before he wilted and patted him on the back. "Chill, alright?"

"…Go n-eirí an t-ádh leat," Gaster said. "Neart i do chnámha, eagna i d'anam."

Sans's cheekbones flushed a little blue. He grinned sideways, especially as he heard Alphys hiding a coo . "Slán go fóill." He pulled away and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Hey, Suz, you ready?"

.

Suzy whipped around to look at him and hurried to his side as they walked up to the time machine. "Y-Yeah!" the kid said. "So if void stuff happens, I just, like, push it down, right?"

"Whatever feels like it works," Sans said as he popped into the capsule to switch a couple things on.

"I'll stay with her," Kio said, looking down at the kid with a fond smile. "But you'll have to lead, Suzy. You're the expert, after all."

"I…? O-Okay!" Suzy said. She clenched her little fists. "We're not gonna let Ghost down."

"No we are not!" Papyrus said.

"Where would you like me to stand?" Asgore asked. "And what would you like me to do?"

"Protection," Gaster said as he hurried up to join them. "If you could just stand back a little— Papyrus, you too." He gestured to the flicker of red embers in the air. "This is concentrated time magic. When it bursts, I don't know how it'll effect either of you. Everyone needs to brace themselves." He took a deep breath. "Sans? Are you ready?"

The skeleton pulled the iridescent bloom from his pocket, took off his jacket, and stepped out of the seat. "Yeah."

"A-Alright," Alphys said. "A loop just started, s-so, um, just wait a couple minutes? I'll let you know."

"Thanks, Alph," Sans said.

.

As the skeleton slipped around the machine towards the magic his sister had placed, Asgore grounded himself in the stone. His magic spread though his feet, causing a faint glimmer like emerald dust set amongst the crags, a steadying force tapping into each of them as if the mountain itself was cradling them with reassurance.

"Come to me, if the heat is too much," the King said.

"And me, if anything hits you!" Papyrus said.

.

An uneasy silence settled upon the monsters, each one counting down seconds in their head. Papyrus began to pace near the Asgore. Gaster was keeping himself from doing the same. Kio carefully positioned herself just a little in front of Suzy, holding the anxious kid by the shoulder. Alphys's voice came through in the earpieces of those that had them.

"O-Okay, there's a-about thirty seconds left, countdown or—?"

"Just say go," Sans said.

"Okay. Um. G-Good luck," she said. "G-Ganbatte." She was silent for a few moments more. "O-Okay. Go."

.

Sans raised the flower blossom up to the aura of embers that flitted in the air. He caught the same pulse of energy he'd seen when he'd first brought it there, one copying the other in exact sync. Just as he'd thought, it was immune to the repelling force the red magic projected. He pushed the iridescent bloom inwards and, as it made contact, it flashed over crimson. The embers rippled and gleamed, and the shield revealed itself for all to see, a circle of flame enrobing the pillar of magic that loomed up from the magma. It twisted and cracked, splintering into shards of glass that twirled like a cyclone, each one becoming a tendril of flame again. The flower was caught up in it; dissolved into ash and magic the second the blazing energy touched it.

.

The flower wasn't the only thing shredded as the time loop broke— the whirling magic swept the chamber with a low melody caught in a windstorm, cutting short swaths from Kio's netting and erasing Gaster's void shields in an instant, reservoirs or not. The heat and light of the magma below beamed upwards and the old skeleton cursed, rushing to the edge of the path to try to recast it. Black magic came out at his fingertips, but the swirling crimson flames melted through it like a blowtorch through a thin sheet of ice.

"It's not going to work!" he called.

"I will—! Ah!" Asgore bent down, sinking his claws into the stone. His hackles raised and so too did some of the rock connected to the path close to the wall. "I may be able to cover it!"

"Try!"

.

The others rushed into action despite the storm of magic. Sans grabbed the cable and passed it off to Kio, who waved him back towards the time machine as she slithered for the CORE's control panel. Gaster raced to join her, prying up the cover on the base with his sharp fingers to reveal the gleaming key that was the NOCTURNE. They shoved the cable in over top of it and screwed it in tight until it gleamed with red and Kio's deep blue to steady it.

"Connected!" the snakebird called.

.

"Alright." Sans blew out a hoarse breath and brought up the power input function on the inside of pod. He booted it and told everything to draw from the CORE directly.

The machine wasn't sure how safe that was, but the skeleton allowed it. It brought up a display of the frame of the hull on the screen with a filter of white ebbing up into it.

"Power's on," he said. "Chargin'."

"Y-You have about a minute and a half before the t-time loop ends for g-good," Alphys said.

"Gotcha," he said.

.

"Guys, why isn't Ghost's stuff calming down?" Suzy asked loudly.

"Can you hear the hum?" Papyrus asked.

"Yeah! I think it's confused?! Can it be confused?!"

"I don't know!"

"Relax, everyone," Gaster instructed. "Concentrate on the task at hand and—"

"Charge is definitely gonna take over the time," Sans said. "It's workin', though."

"Do what you can."

.

Sans hurried between each panel of the processes, making sure the power was properly routing through each one. It looked like it was, and he could feel the vibrations through the metal. It made his soul roil a little with an ache of anticipation. He hadn't done the process like this in a long time, and never with the NOCTURNE. He tapped his foot and—

"Time loop's endiiiiiinnnnng now," Alphys said.

"Time loop's done!" Papyrus repeated.

.

Everyone braced. Waited. Looked around. Nothing seemed to have changed. Sans let out a little breath and took a moment to activate the console inputs as well, to speed things up for later.

"Still goin'," he said.

"Good!" Alphys chirped. "No big fluctuations in the CORE yet! H-How's the time machine doing?"

"Still chargin', but it seems to be alr…" Sans cut himself short. His vision scrambled and he felt something cold on his cheek. He reached up for it and found a smear of black that vanished in an instant. "Oh. Shit."

"What?!" Alphys squeaked.

"What's wrong?!" Papyrus echoed, running up to meet him. "Oh—!"

"I, uh…" Sans choked. His soul pulsed hard in his ribs and he lurched forwards.

"S-Spike! Spike!" Alphys cried.

.

The ground rumbled, low and strong as if a massive beast slept beneath them. The time machine vibrated, its unusual resonance joining the one caught in the whirlwind. Papyrus squawked and yanked Sans out of his seat, only to stumble as an array of time shards altered his vision, too.

"NYEH!" He shook his head. "It feels bad all of a sudden!"

"How do we fix it?" Suzy asked, racing up to them.

"C-Calm down," Sans said through a cough. "Let it charge, we're still good."

"Toriel's saying they f-felt a rumble outside!" Alphys said.

Gaster swore under his breath. He hurried to the machine and peeked inside. "It's still going."

.

The crack of stone was audible above, but when they looked up, Kio's fortification had caught the chunk that had aimed to fall. She looked relieved and she rushed to join the others.

"Does anyone know why the red magic hasn't dissipated yet?"

"No, but—" Papyrus gasped sharply and pulled Suzy and Sans into his arms quickly as another rumble of the world cracked stone and sent time shards scattering across his eyes.

Sans wheezed and void ooze seeped down his face. "Aaah, crap."

"Deep breaths, brother," Papyrus said.

"Another spike!" Alphys said. "O-Oh, god, um… Okay. Okay, okay, uh, i-is everyone—?"

"I'm, uh, kinda the spike detector at the moment," Sans said, wiping his face pointlessly.

"Oh n-n-no…"

.

Sans forced himself to his feet to get his bearings. Just behind them, Asgore was growling quietly as he raised the rock around them to expand the path into a platform to shield them from magma. Somehow, his horn had returned, but his red eye was scarred and gone. Gaster drew in a breath sharply and rushed to his side.

"Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, old friend, don't fret," Asgore said. "Oof, thank goodness for that sunlight earlier, hm?"

"Right, but…" The skeleton shook his head. "Thank you."

.

The sound in the chamber whipped up suddenly, the red magic's hum clashing with that of the CORE itself and the vibration of the time machine. The pillar of magic, twirling in place, bent suddenly as if had been struck. The whole cave shuddered violently and a splash of magma shot up just beyond the rocks Asgore had moved. The metal vibrated so hard it sounded like hornets.

.

Sans tried to get up to go to it. Kio was already there. She drew up steadying indigo into her wings and put them on the sides of the machine, but as soon as she touched it, she crumpled backwards, holding her head. Gaster raced to her to pull her up into his arms.

.

Before anyone could do anything more, a dot of pure darkness seeped like a spot of ink just at the side of the machine. It ripped and split into a rough four points and, in the blink of an eye, the whole time machine was gone, the cable trailing behind it into a pitch black gap in the world.

.

Sans froze, eyes wide as they oozed. "Wh… What."

Papyrus shrieked. Chaos erupted again around Sans— Gaster scrambling with his friend, Suzy asking questions at a million miles a minute— but he could hardly compute what he'd just seen. He stared blankly at the rip in the world even as Alphys yelled into his ear.

"GUYS! GUYS! S-Someone?! Answer?!" she said.

"It…" Sans croaked. "I-It just—"

"The time machine w-went to Snowdin somehow?!" she spluttered. "Sans, were you in there?!"

"N… Nah." His knees felt weak. His soul trembled but he forced himself steady. "You know where?"

"…Looks like it went back to your house?! Why would it do that?! Why would it—?!" Her words were cut off with a yelp and a whole lot of crashing and sharp static.

"Alph?" Sans's vision scattered into a mess of black and magma, save for the red in the wind slicing through it.

.

The ground shuddered and metal groaned. Rocks slammed heavily and Asgore roared. Sans felt himself plummet. His head spun; he couldn't see and, before he was certain if he was falling or not, he teleported back towards the doorway.

.

He hit solid stone hard and collapsed into a heaving mess. The cold ooze of the void overwhelmed every sense he had and he coughed, retching some out onto the ground in a distinctly freezing and uncomfortable feeling. A hand settling on his back reassured him; the feel of the magic made him certain it was his brother, but he could hear nothing except the rush of his sister's magic whipping around the chamber. He guessed that probably meant he was oozing out of every hole he had in his head.

.

He was abruptly crushed into a hug and sunshine magic poured through him. There was a question in there, desperately wanting an answer. Sans raised a hand and stiffly pointed to the side of his skull. Relief was his brother's reply and Sans found himself hefted up, Papyrus's hands quickly trying to wipe the ooze from under his eyes. Sans laughed hoarsely and tried to wipe it himself, but he still couldn't see a thing.

.

"…n you hear me now? How about now? Ooooor now? What about n—?"

"I gotcha, bro," Sans managed to say, his voice croaking. "Ah. Shit. Offkeys comin' back."

"Can you see?"

"Nope."

"I can't see much either," Papyrus admitted. "I mean, I can, but I can see way too much at the same time."

"Is Sans conscious?!" Gaster called from somewhere.

"He's okay! Sort of!" Papyrus replied.

"What the hell happened?" Sans grunted.

"Time shift," Gaster said. "Rock slide from nowhere. You slipped off the edge."

"Where's Suz? Kio? Asgore?"

"Asgore went to see Alphys, something happened," Papyrus said.

"I'm here," Suzy said. "The bird lady passed out."

.

"We, uh…" Sans grunted and got to his feet. "Gotta get to Snowdin."

"Right! Yes. Um. But there's… a teeny tiny maybe problem," Papyrus said. "I know you can't see it but the CORE is… Well. It looks mad, let's just say that."

"Sounds mad, too," Sans said.

"But what about Ghost's thing?" Suzy demanded.

"What about it?" Sans asked.

"Well, listen," she insisted. "It's trying to sing but it keeps getting interrupted. Kinda wanna help it."

"We need to stabilize the CORE somehow," Gaster called. "I… I don't know if it'll just keep causing the time machine to overload or—"

"We gotta go," Sans said, looking to his brother. "Grab Alph, maybe she can see better than us."

"That's not bad," Papyrus said, "but what about—!"

"HEY!" Suzy blurted. "Ghost's song did it the first time, right?! Maybe if I help it, it can do it again?!"

.

The skeletons all stared at the kid. Sans finally saw her in his blackened vision, dyed in purple. He smiled tiredly.

"Suz—"

"Let me do something, Ghost trusted me to!" she said.

"…Yeah. Do it," he said. "What's the plan?"

The kid's eyes bugged out. "I…! I thought, maybe…" She whisked out her axe and gave it a strum and the magic pulsed from the sound. Though the ground rumbled below her feet, she grounded herself as she'd seen Asgore do and took a deep breath. With careful fingers, she found the notes that matched those swirling in the air and began to play.

A wisp crimson magic whirled around her, buffeting her hair, and she grinned.

"It likes it!"

.

Suzy's magic burst around her, black and purple like fire and electricity. She was playing the song of the universe, and despite the quaking and the lava, the pillar of magic began to smooth ever so slightly. It seemed as if the universe was listening.

.

Sans let out a tired laugh and Papyrus grinned so bright that he began to glow, too. He reached out and gave Suzy a tight hug around her shoulders so as not to interrupt her, bonking his brow against her head before he jumped back to his feet, pulling Sans up with him.

"We'll go!" he said.

"Go!" Suzy said, playing along as the magic twisted to follow her.

"I'll protect her," Gaster said.

"Try to get to the lab if it gets real bad," Sans said.

"We will," Gaster assured them.

Papyrus saluted. "I believe in you!" he announced before racing off with his brother along the thick stone path.

.

The magma was rising— glowing in the cracks of Asgore's stones, but as Suzy played, cast in a fiery orange hue, somehow, the roiling chamber seemed to follow her lead.

.

The brothers scrambled up to where Alphys had been working— only outside of the CORE's chamber could Sans see again, though his and Papyrus's vision were still both smattered with fragments of different times and places. What was very real, though, was that pieces of the ceiling had come down all over the halls.

.

They found Alphys and Asgore in the computer room. Several of the devices were offline— broken when chunks had fallen onto them. Alphys looked a little dazed, nursing the side of her head and a watery-eyed Asgore healed her as best he could.

"Oh my god, are you two okay?!" Papyrus demanded.

"Y-Yeah. Sorry, I… I'm okay now," Alphys said.

"She's going to be just fine," Asgore said with a little warble in his voice.

"Can you come with us, Doctor?" Papyrus asked.

"We, uh, need someone with normal eyes," Sans said.

"Oh! Um… Y-Yeah, I can—"

"Perfect!" Papyrus scooped her up, too. "On our way!" He sprinted out of the room and away.

"Wait!" Asgore called. "What should I do?!"

"Help our dad, please and thanks!" Papyrus shouted back. "We're going to Snowdin!"

.

After an incredibly anxious elevator ride, Papyrus took off at breakneck speed with Alphys as his seeing-eye-lizard. The mountain was still shaking— crumbling in places, but it was almost as if it wished to help them. New tunnels opened up, crashing through winding paths to forge straight lines through them. They even managed to take the river while Sans could still muster the magic to freeze part of it. All the while, they heard Suzy playing the song of the universe faintly in their ears through Kio's connection to the app.

.

Sans felt like he was falling apart. The ooze running down his face had slowed and his eyes had cleared a little, his soul was a buzzing, roiling mess, freezing him deep to the core of his bones. By the time they hit the snow of Snowdin, the offkeys had fully set in again and he was doing his best to suppress his shivering.

.

The group didn't have to look far for the time machine. It had shot itself back to the place it had sat the longest— Sans's small, hidden lab. Alphys wanted him to explain, but he couldn't, so he simply smiled and shrugged.

.

A hole in time had been ripped straight through the wall, but they didn't have time to worry about that now. Alphys rushed around, checking the machine— synching the tracker program on her app with the one they'd fused to the hull. The world was still rattling; the magic in the air aching. Sans just wanted to get going, but Papyrus held him back.

"Just let me check that it's safe, first, brother," he said, peeking inside the cockpit. "It's still running at least!"

Sans huffed. He appreciated the concern, but he didn't have time for this. Probably didn't have time for the drill, either, now that he thought of it. He drew back to his counter and checked the drawers for something sharp.

"S-Sans, check your health before you go again, okay?" Alphys said.

The skeleton stuck his thumb up, though he had no intention of doing it. He found some tools in one of the drawers— a screwdriver would probably work well enough. He grabbed it and held it in his trembling fingers. He was sure he'd slip again, but, whatever it took.

.

He strolled up to the time machine and watched as Papyrus shuffled around in there, and would have been content to wait until his brother was done if not for the building around them starting to shake. Alphys yelped and covered her head with an arm and Papyrus rushed to safely socket the red artefact into one slot and the cube into the other. The machine whirred and hummed at the successful input, and a little white dog poked up over his shoulder, barking anxiously.

.

"And where the heck were you?!" Papyrus said, grabbing the dog under its little front legs to hold him up. "This is all dangerous, you need to be careful. And what about—?!" The skeleton turned, his eyes wide as he saw Sans lining up the end of a screwdriver to the gash in the side of his hand. "Uuuuhhh… Sans? What are you doing?"

Sans froze for just an instant. He pointed to the time machine.

"Wait, what were you…?" Papyrus frowned, putting the dog down on the floor. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

Sans shrugged. He twirled the tool between this fingers and pointed to the console.

"Nothing's loose, I'm sure of it," Papyrus said. "Wait. Wait. Were you…?" His eyes widened. "Were you going to chip your hand again for the DT?!"

Sans tapped his wrist as if he had a watch and he tried to head in past his brother, but Papyrus grabbed him and held him tight.

"Wait, you can't…! You're not supposed to, look how sick you are! And didn't you say the red orb would work for it?!

His brother shrugged. Papyrus gasped.

"Wait, you lied?! Why?!"

Sans sighed. He poked Papyrus on the forehead and the tall skeleton grimaced and wilted.

"B-But… Ugh. Okay, I understand, but… No. No, I'm not letting you."

.

Sans sighed and tried to push past again, but Alphys squeaked and shoved in close and grabbing him by the hands.

"S-Sans, you can't! You can't do that, you can't risk it!"

Sans tried to sidestep her, but she kept a tight hold on him.

"Please, w-wait, what else can we do?"

"I'll do it," Papyrus said, snatching the screwdriver.

Sans's eyes widened. He shook his head. The world shuddered again and he winced, his soul flipping with nausea. Papyrus grimaced, but he perked up. He tossed the screwdriver off over his shoulder and the dog jumped up and ate it in one chomp.

"Something sharper," he said. "Aaaand maybe some Frosti-Gel." He stepped away and pointed at Alphys. "Hang onto him, okay?"

.

Sans wasn't having it. He shoved his shoulder lightly against his friend, but she stubbornly hung on, even as he tried to reach behind her into the console.

"S-Sans, please!"

"Just let me do it, brother!" Papyrus called.

He very badly did not want to. Even as Alphys tried to hold him back, he stuck his hand out into cockpit and, to her audible alarm, popped off his ring finger and let it drop into the DT slot. The machine flashed. Sans braced himself and teleported into the cockpit. Blinded again, he gave a little salute and yanked the door closed.

.

Everything fired up, iridescent lights cutting through his broken vision. The faint sound of Papyrus and Alphys shouting made him cringe, and he apologized in his head.

.

He felt around for the controls and pressed the buttons in the sequence he'd practiced. Three slider switches upwards, throttle back; final locking mechanism. He was dizzy and his head hurt, and he felt like he might faint, but he held down a D4 chord on the repurposed keyboard. A dog barked, he swooned, and with that, he was gone.