I thought about what the long dead —I guess— human soul had told me as I led us to the anomaly detecter here in the lab. A thank you, and a plea to stop a monster. What did they mean by it I wonder? And did they know my name? It was a bit creepy...
"Sans..." I heard Papyrus stop behind me.
I looked back and saw him poking his fingers together nervously. He was upset about something— oh, probably the soul, imma Right?
"Do you think we could-" he began to ask.
"Release the soul once we're done?" I finished his thought.
He nodded, happy to see I was thinking the same as he was, and I replied to him with a wink of assurance. He perked right back up after that, heh. Sure wish I could have positive mood swing like that, it would be nice to not constantly feel— never mind, it's not even effecting me now. This mystery has got me in an upbeat mood, and the possibilities of what the anomaly detector might reveal actually has me excited. The last time I had used it, it didn't tell me anything, and that was… I don't know how long ago.
Hidden away at the far end of the lab was the device, and once I got us there I got to work activating it. As soon as it came on it informed me it was in need of a reboot. It had been some time since anyone last turned it on, and knowing me, I probably shut it down wrong last I used it, heh, so it was understandable. I let it begin rebooting and patiently waited...
"So, Flowey!" Papyrus prompted Flowey in my hood. "Have you thought about my proposal?!" he asked in suspense.
"What pro-?" Flowey started to ask. "Oh, yeah. That." he then grumbled.
"So?!" Papyrus was determined to hear an answer from him.
"I—! I don't know yet." Flowey held back from shouting.
"You should come to the surface Flowey! What's there to lose but the creepy silence of the empty underground?!" Papyrus told him.
So Paps did mention that to him while I was out, heh. I heard Flowey take a deep breath, but he didn't say anything with it. I peeked over my shoulder and noticed his petals wilting down. Guess he still didn't feel up to facing everyone after everything he did to them, to all monsters... Dang, am I starting to feel sorry for this guy? Where did this come from— Frisk. Kid's rubbing off on me...
The detector's screen blinked back on, and it automatically began to scan the entire underground for any kind of anomalies.
"Oh! It's working! What does it say Sans?" Papyrus reacted, pressing against me to see the screen.
"Hold your horses bro..." I focused on remembering the passwords needed to access the information the device was collecting.
"But I don't have any horses to hold onto! What do I do?!" he panicked.
"Be quiet, that's what!" Flowey shouted at him.
I got the device unlocked, and it displayed all the currently detectable anomalies, and it was… quite the list. Seeing it reminded me of when I used this to try and track Flowey… and of when… I shock the memories and fears off and focused on the task at hand. Papyrus knelt down beside me as I scrolled through the list, making note of where each one had accorded. There we quite a few around New home, one in Home, the ruins, one in Waterfall, and the most recent one was detected in the lab here, the generator room exactly.
"So that flash we saw..." I thought aloud.
"An anomaly?" Papyrus asked.
"According to this, yes." I answered as my mind raced with theories. "But time hasn't reset so... What was it we saw exactly?" I asked.
"Someone must be using dimensional anomalies than." Flowey stated, getting my attention. "Or Save Points as me and Frisk called them." he continued.
"Save Points?" I glanced back at him.
"Points in space that you can return too when you reset, like a checkpoint. With enough DT, you can jump to any of them at anytime, without resetting." he explained. "I've noticed them slowly disappearing over the years from the underground, but in the past few weeks or so, they seem to be reappearing, in different places than I remember from before." he thoughtfully added.
"So there is some kind of massive anomaly happening!" Papyrus slammed a fist in his other hand.
"And now, of all times." I groaned, trying to hide my annoyance that this was happening again after everything that had happened with Flowey and Frisk. "What's causing them to reappear?" I decided to ask.
"NOT ME." Flowey made clear.
"Or Frisk." Papyrus added.
"So... who, or what?" I asked myself.
The room was silent as we all thought about it. I personally couldn't think of anyone other than Frisk and Flowey who had the DT to do something like this. So either there's a new DT holder in town, or we're dealing with an artificial means of dimensional travel. A real deal time machine, or something similar...?
"Hey! Flowey!" Papyrus called out. "Does this help fill those gaps you mentioned? That you promised to explain to us?" he leaned over Flowey, giving him a stern stare.
"O-Oh yeah." I felt Flowey shiver. "Not really, actually. It just tells me there is something going on around here, but I already figured that." he answered.
"What do you mean by that?" I asked him.
He was quiet for a moment.
"You didn't happen to see some strange, gray monsters when you walked through the underground, did you?" he asked us.
"Gray monsters?" I replied confused.
"Weird, all gray coloured monsters, that show up in random places around the underground. They're creepier than the amalgamates." he shivered in fear.
"I don't think we saw any monsters other than ourselves now that I think about it." I answered.
I never met anyone when I came to the underground entrance every evening either... Why was that not suspicious to me until now?
"I did find that strange." Papyrus began tapping his foot. "Didn't someone say they saw monsters living here still?" he asked with a look my way.
"That's what I heard from Undyne once." I recalled her telling about monsters being spotted on the mountain. "But, you'd think we would have run into some of them by now if that was true." I said puzzled.
Undyne couldn't have lied, and others had reported seeing monsters up here too, so... what were they actually seeing if not everyday monsters?
"That's because thereare nomonsters living up here." Flowey sternly told us.
"Except you." I brought out.
"Yes, except me." he replied.
"And these gray monsters apparently." I added.
"I don't know who or what they are!" he said with fear in his voice. "I would sometimes see them after I reset, but not every time, it was like they were not effected by like everyone else was." he explained.
"Sounds like we have some suspects!" Papyrus declared as he whipped out a notebook and pen and began writing.
"I still see them around the underground once in a good while." Flowey stated, eyeing Papyrus with a confused expression.
"Doing what?" I asked.
"I don't know! Stalking me? It sure feels like they're stalking me when they see me looking at them!" he replied almost in a panic. "If they're the ones using the Save Points, there's no telling why!" he said fearful.
"We've definitely got some suspects." I rubbed my chin.
"Do you know how many?" Papyrus questioned Flowey.
"I've only ever seen a snake, a feline with glasses, and a short one." Flowey told him.
"What color was their shirt?"
"They're all completely gray you doofus! They have no color on them!"
"I will put it down as gray than..."
"You haven't seen Semi again I guess?" I asked out of curiosity.
"Semi?" Flowey replied confused. "Oh right, no, I haven't seen anything like him again. I wish I had, be a lot less creepy I'm sure." he told me.
"But he's been here, that's obvious..." I put my hand in my pocket, feeling the piece of his coat we now had. "So is he outside the effects of time like these other monsters? How would that even be possible…?" I asked myself, trying to find some kind of answer.
"So, we have strange gray monsters wondering the underground, anomalies reappearing without explanation, and possibly a living Semi!" Papyrus stated from his notepad.
"Add 'strange doors and rooms' to that list; things I had hoped this machine might help explain." Flowey told him.
Papyrus quickly flipped to the next page and started to write it down.
"Strange doors and rooms now?" I asked.
"Kinda like those monsters; randomly appearing and disappearing with each new timeline. I haven't seen them since the Barrier was destroyed, and I've always wondered what they were and where they came from when they happened to appear." he explained.
"Got it!" Papyrus exclaimed.
"I can't help but feel like these anomalies might be connected to the rooms and monsters somehow." Flowey looked around my head back at the screen. "This detector of yours didn't tell me as much as I was hoping it would though, so I'm no closer to figuring them out." he said annoyed. "Now I just know they can warp around the place at any time." he shivered in fear.
It didn't tell us anything about our parents either. If they were even trapped in some time space anomaly in the first place. But —and this is some wishful thinkin' right here— if they are, maybe they will come out of one of these anomalies.
"It's possible..." I whispered to myself, hoping for the possibility.
"Nm? What is?" Papyrus caught my words.
"Our folks. If they DID get caught in some anomaly during Flowey's exploits, maybe they will come out on this end of time and space." I suggested.
"Really?! That would be nice!" his eyes lit up. "They could help us find out what these other monsters are doing!" he added.
"I don't think we WANT to know what they're doing." Flowey said.
"Well I for one do, because the last thing we need is for time and space to get torn up again by overused anomolies. I don't think this world can take much more of that." I glanced over the list of anomalies again.
The detector suddenly picked up on a new anomaly in New Home, and Waterfall. They both appeared at the same time, which was weird, seeing as the ones that happened simultaneously before were close to each other, according to the detector's logs. These happened at the same time, but in completely different locations.
"I got you a hot lead here Paps." I informed him.
"A lead? Where?!" he pressed against me again to see the screen.
"Waterfall and New Home." I told him.
"J-Just now? What the heck are they doing?!" Flowey reacted.
"Let's go find out." I said in eagerness of the mystery, which would hopefully not become another Flowey event.
I pinpointed the one in New Home, finding it close to the Palace, and looked up the one in Waterfall for Papyrus to write down so we could check it out later. As he logged it, I pulled out the fragment that was likely from Semi's coat, very likely now I thought. Before our parents suddenly disappeared without explanation years ago, HE had disappeared without explanation, well, I had been told he was away on a secret mission for the Royal Guard, but, I know a lie when I hear one, especially now. He disappeared long before Flowey came along though, so whatever happened to him didn't involve Flowey's resetting like it did our parents. If he really is here, how? And why? Was it related to these gray monsters? Was he unaffected by time like they were? Or did he actually time travel somehow?
"Alright! I got it!" Papyrus proclaimed.
"Awesome sauce, let's go than." I said eager to investigate.
"Let the investigation begin! The Great Papyrus will not fail in his duty in solving this mystery!" he declared as he struck a pose.
"I need to start investigating how you're so cool Paps." I told him.
"That's easy Sans. I'm strong, brave, kind, smart, and incredibly good-looking! Nyeh heh heh!" he laughed.
"And you're my bro." I winked.
"That too, yes." he smiled down to me. "Having a brother is a great responsibility! I must look after you, and protect you, and keep you on the straight and narrow! A job, that is never done!" he stated, striking another pose.
"Good thing you're what the humans call a 'night owl'." I replied.
"Evil never sleeps, so ne'er shall I!" he said proudly.
"Ne'er or far, you will come running to help." I joked.
"Ne'er will you stop telling puns!" he replied.
"Methinks I ne'er shall mine brother of mine." I said with an accent to match my old wording.
"Oh brother.." he sighed.
"You two do realize we are WASTING TIME, RIGHT?" Flowey complained.
"No need to shout sunshine," I told him with a wink and wide smile. "we're ne'er done." I chuckled.
"You're going to milk that one word aren't you?" Flowey grumbled.
"'till it's ne'er dead!" I laughed.
"OKAY! Let's go!" Papyrus pulled me with his magic behind him towards the door.
"You'll ne'er appreciate the joke 'till it's told bro." I snickered as I was dragged along.
"I prefer the silence of the underground..." Flowey groaned.
"Oh, Wait!" Papyrus gasped, letting go of me as we came out into the hall. "The human soul!" he looked back towards the generator.
"Oh yeah, almost forgot." I replied, making my way there.
"You're seriously just going to let it go?!" Flowey shouted angrily. "What if we're about to be facing something big?! Don't you think it would be a good idea—"
"To let it go so that big something can't use it itself?" I interjected. "The poor soul barely has enough left of itself to really be useful, trust me." I told him.
After me and Alphys had discovered the blueprints for the DT Extractor, we realized pretty quick why this soul seemed weaker than the others Asgore had collected at the time, it had been sapped dry of its DT, barely having enough to keep existing as a viable power source for the lab. I'm surprised it's still here really, but, that goes to show you the power of a human's determination.
"Alright you little power source, time for you to go free." I walked into the room, summoning a bone in my hand to break it free with.
"Careful Sans! Don't accidentally hurt it!" Papyrus sternly warned me.
"I got this bro, chillax." I assured him, looking up at the little red soul behind the glass.
Sans...
I aimed at the glass and threw the bone, recalling it just as it shattered the glass so it wouldn't hit the soul.
"You're welcome, thank you, and goodbye." I quickly told it as I turned to leave.
The soul instantly showed up right in front of me, stopping me from leaving. I flinched back from it, and began to see the outline of a figure around the soul. I shook my head to make sure I wasn't seeing things, but it was still there, and coming into focus.
You must be careful Sans...
The soul's voice echoed in my mind, becoming clearer the more it spoke. The figure came into full focus, revealing… a young girl? This soul came from a kid…? She wore a red striped dress, with some sturdy looking boots, and a white flower hair pin. I could sense her concern and fear as she walked up to me.
"You are in great danger." she warned, holding her hands together as she looked towards the floor.
"Who- What are you doing?" I tried to keep calm as I spoke to this long dead human.
She smiled up at me, but I could tell it was forced, behind her smile was… sadness. A feeling I could relate to.
"I'm sorry to do this Sans, but, I refuse to lose anyone else to that monster!" she shook her head upset, a few tears falling from her face. "I refuse to give up…" she hung her head low. "I won't give up on them!" she said with intensity as she looked back up at me.
"Who and what are you talking about kid?" I put my hands in my pockets.
She forced another smile and hugged me without warning. How long has a kid been caught in the lab's generator? Does she even count as a kid anymore?
"Thank you for visiting me all those times Sans. I may have given up if you hadn't..." she thanked me, hugging me tighter.
That's right, I would always chat it up with the soul when I did maintenance on the power station. I had no idea my jokes were being heard all this time. I wonder if she laughed at them very often?
"Hey, uh, no problem kid." I pat her head. "Do you mind telling me what's going on now? And what you're talking about?" I asked her, wishing for her to let me go.
She let go and stepped back, wiping her tears.
"Find him Sans, save him if you can, and then save the others before it's too late!" she pleaded with me.
"Your friend? Others?" I asked, somehow knowing she was speaking about a friend.
"Don't let that monster take your soul either! Don't ever be scared!" she quickly added.
Before I could question her further, I heard someone shouting my name in the distance; it was Papyrus. I looked around and realized I wasn't in the lab anymore, I was in some white space, or was this the inside of my empty skull, heh. I looked back at the girl and saw she was gone, leaving me with Papyrus' echoing voice. I focused on it, and the bright white around me faded to black...
"Sans! Sans wake up!" Papyrus shouted as he held me up on my feet.
I woke up, feeling dizzier than Mettaton after a ballet performance...
"What happened Sans?! Are you alright?" Papyrus stared at me with an intense gaze.
"I... I don't know..." I tried to remember what had just happened. "What happened to the soul?" I looked around for it.
"That's what I'm asking you! It— well, I think it absorbed into you!" he told me.
"Absorbed...?" I wondered.
I suddenly didn't feel dizzy anymore, and felt a surge of power go through me. I stared at me hand, noticing a slight magical glow around it begin to fade. It was soon gone, and I felt… I don't know how I felt. My head was spinning with thoughts that… were not mine…?
Don't be afraid Sans...
I winced in fear at the realization.
"I know you said it wasn't a strong soul, but, I bet it still feels awesome, right?" Flowey whispered from my hood.
"W-Wait, I didn't mean to—!" I began to panic.
"I think the soul wanted you to absorb it." Papyrus stopped me.
He then winced in disgust at me and started to dust off my jacket.
"You... think so?" I asked.
Of course. We can help each other now...!
"As soon as you broke the glass, the soul shot right into you. A-and then you fell..." he said a bit afraid. "So I'm glad you seem to be okay!" he fretted.
"I feel fine, just, a little super charged." I tried to relax.
"You're not lying to me again are you?" he looked at me suspiciously.
"I never lied to you before Paps, just... stretched the truth." I tried to excuse myself.
"A lot."
"A lot."
"Well, at least the soul is in your hands, so we don't have to worry about it being used by any potential bad guys." he stood up over me sighing.
"Let's hope things only get better from here." I winked up to him.
"Good to see you in high spirits!" he smiled. "Let's get going to New Home!" he then grabbed me and ran out of the lab.
"How come the soul wanted YOU, of all monsters, to absorb it?" Flowey complained.
"We go way back." I told him.
"I bet." he replied.
We are... friends?
Sure. Why not? You want to help me, I can help you, right?
Yes... Thank you...
We'll find your friend kid, and whoever else you were talking about, even that monster. Which, does any of this—
Have to do with what you have discovered? Most likely...
Well this is weird. I know what you know now, and you...
If Semi is here... We will have to be careful...
Was he really like that last you saw him?
That is how he was last you saw him...
I'd rather not relive that memory of him, or that memory period. I got in a lot of trouble trying to take the law into my own hands.
But you laughed about it later...
That was before I, just now, remembered Semi's reaction. He was MAD, and disappointed in me because—
"He was Captain of the Guard!" I shouted out as it hit me.
Papyrus skid to a stop in the hallway.
"Who was?" he asked.
"Gramps! I remember now! He was the Royal Guard Captain before Undyne!" I told him.
"Oh." he replied, looking sort of confused. Then his eyes widened as the fact no doubt hit him as well. "OH! That's right! I remember that! He kept you in the dungeon overnight when you tried to beat up those mean teenagers from school!" he recalled.
I felt like I was reliving a nightmare as the memory forced itself to appear in my mind. It was not a pleasant experience to go through as a kid, spending an entire night in a dark damp dungeon next to the teens you just tried to clobber. Not to mention they knew I was related to the guy who put them in there, so that didn't help in future situations with them.
Your brother was very brave to help you...
Heh, yeah. He helped keep me out of trouble after that incident, standing up and defending me when I got pushed around because I refused to fight again, always reminding me of the promise I made to him and telling me how proud he was of me for keeping it.
But I—
"How come we only just now remembered that?" Papyrus broke my thoughts.
"It is weird." I snapped back to reality. "You would think we would have remembered something like that about him." I looked up at him.
"Unless he's died a couple hundred times..." I heard Flowey whisper.
"What was that Poppy Seed?" I gave a hard glance over my shoulder.
"Just theorizing on time and space realities and consequential wave effects on other timelines!" he answered.
"Okay..."
"Say, Sans." Papyrus called.
"Yeah, bro?" I responded.
"You almost broke the promise you made after that vigilante incident when you threatened Flowey you know." he told me with a hint of disappointment. "But you did not." he laid his hand on my head. "So I'm still proud of you!" he said with a big smile and a tear of joy.
"Thanks bro..." I muffled a laugh.
He then picked me up under his arm and held me close as he pointed forward.
"NOW ONWARD TO ANSWERS!" he loudly proclaimed as he began to run down the hallway valiantly.
"This guy..." I heard Flowey comment.
That's my bro...
We reached the CORE soon enough, and started to make our way down the path through it to the elevator to New Home, but... The path was… changed? The rooms had been moved. I grabbed Papyrus' legs to stop him before he got too far in.
"What the-!? Sans!" he shouted at me.
"This isn't right Paps, look around." I informed him, both of us noticing now.
Isn't it suppose to always be different?
Not anymore. It was set up to have a clear path through it to the elevator to New Home, which was somewhere else now. Where did it go? I didn't know that elevator could even be moved.
"You're right, someone must have moved the rooms around!" Papyrus realized.
"Those monsters!" Flowey growled.
"But what's the point? There's no one else down here but us." I stated.
"EXACTLY MORON! They KNEW we were going to come this way and trapped us in the CORE!" he said emphatically.
"Clever..." Papyrus rubbed his chin in thought.
This is a bad sign. Do you know anything about these gray monsters kid?
Gray monsters...? By how Flowey described them to you, they sound familiar...
Could they be the scientists that worked here? H-How do you know them so well by the way?
Through my friend...
Who was... The Royal Scientist?
Yes! Hehe!
Yeesh kid, you got some high level clearance.
We suddenly felt the entire CORE vibrate as it started to activate. Someone had turned it back on, but, why? I thought of the startup process, and what it took to generate power in the CORE. Water has to flow in first, then lava is pumped through, this created the steam that generated energy via the turbines, which was converted into magical electricity by way of magnetic forces. It wasn't long before the CORE made its usual sounds as it began generating power, but something seemed odd to me about it. There was a noise missing, and one I didn't know. I wonder… The river. Was the river flowing into the CORE or not? Surely whoever started this place knew better than to turn it on without reactivating the water flow. Without that, there was no power and… no way to cool the systems. The ice needed to cool this place wasn't being produced, obviously with no one here to make it and get it in the river, so this place was running hot, and about to be boiling hot!
"This is not good." I stated in fear, my mind recalling all the test scenarios Alphys had run me through to be able to handle this kind of situation.
We had… 5 hours at best, before this place blew its top, or melted.
"What? What's not good?" Flowey asked.
"Oh hey! Look!" Papyrus exclaimed, pointing down the path.
I looked down the hallway and saw—
"THE HE-" I stopped myself from cursing.
Flowey stretched around my head and had the same reaction. Papyrus was completely unfazed by what we were facing.
"Hello! Do you happen to know who rearranged these rooms?" Papyrus asked... whatever that was down the path, looking our way.
I inched closer to Papyrus and got ready to defend us both at a moment's notice.
"Ever seen one like that?" I whispered to Flowey.
"N-no..." he replied, shrinking down into my hood.
Could that be him...? Is he alive?
Looks similar to your memory of him, except, ya'know, he's kinda melting away now.
Lillian's memories —that's her name?— were beginning to overwhelm me. This was once a friend of the Royal Scientist it seemed, and Lillian had spoken to him herself once. He didn't have the same kind demeanor he had in her memory of him though, he was like an Amalgamate, except way, WAY worse off than the ones I knew.
"My name is Papyrus by the way!" Papyrus greeted the melting monster. "And this is Sans!" he leaned on top of my head.
Papyrus' weight pressing down didn't bother me as I stared at the melting black and white monster. His soulless eyes stared in our direction as his smile melted away and reformed continuously, along with the rest of his nearly liquefied body. What had happened to this guy for him to be this bad off? Was this being caused by DT? How much did he have in him if that was the case?
"Not much of a talker? H-Huh?" Papyrus struggled to say calmly.
A feeling of dread came over me all of a sudden, making me uneasy. It was coming from that monster.
The Dark Soul—!
I stepped in front of Papyrus and prepared for the worst, my action brought on by Lillian's memory of some... some kind of terrifying monster, she had seen before, the monster she had warned me about.
"Sans wait!" Papyrus snapped at me.
"I don't trust this guy Papyrus, we need to be careful." I sternly told him.
"Seriously Sans?! We don't even know them yet!" he informed me.
"The human does."
"Oh, the human soul knows them?"
If it is him... You won't win in a fight against him...
"I say we run back and escape!" Flowey suggested.
"So you are Sans..." the monster spoke in a deep voice. "Your soul... Give it to me!" he demanded, summoning black magical diamonds in attack formation.
"Black magic?" I reacted.
"The same as in the lab!" Papyrus pointed out.
The monster launched his magic at us, but we dodged it easily with a quick sidestep in either direction from each other. I countered with blue bones to stop his movements, but he phased out of space itself and reappeared outside the attack. Papyrus pulled me over to him with gravity magic as the monster's black magic came out of the wall in the form of spikes next to me. I could clearly sense this monster's intentions, it was here to...
Take your soul…! Don't let it Sans!
"We need to go." I told Papyrus as I skid towards him from his pull.
"Okay, but, like, which way?!" he asked.
Black magic blocked the way we had come from, leaving us with only two other options. We decided not to take the one that led towards the monster. We took off together down the path, getting as much distance as we could away from him.
"Why does that monster want your soul Sans? Monsters can't absorb other monster's souls!" Papyrus panted as we ran.
"No clue!" I gasped.
I skid around a corner and came to a dead stop with Papyrus right behind me. Wait. Behind me? Did I just outrun Papyrus? It didn't matter, because the monster had somehow got ahead of us both and was blocking all the paths ahead with his magic.
"Backtrack?" Papyrus suggested.
"Backtrack!" I answered.
We ran back, taking every turn we were met with, and soon found ourselves at a dead end, the fire exhaust room of the CORE where excess heat was released. Fire rose from the steel pipes below the ledge we were on, leaving only one way out of the room; back the way we came. We turned back to leave the room, but, of course, the monster had caught up with us again and had us trapped in this fire filled dead end room.
"Well that's. Just. GREAT. Fantastic job you two." Flowey said sarcastically.
"Shut up and start helping!" I shouted back at him.
"What do you want me to do Sans?! Give him allergies?! I'm not as all powerful as I used to be you know!" he replied angrily.
Don't give up!
Maybe we can get past him...
"You will not escape your fears..." the monster moved in on us, his gaze slowly moving towards Papyrus.
I got beside Papyrus and smiled at this all too happy monster.
"Hey, we never got your name pal, mind cluing us in on that?" I asked him.
He just kept drawing closer, the sense of dread he was giving off growing stronger by the second, along with my fear for both me and Papyrus.
"There's no need to chase us down if you just want to be friends! We can be friends if you want! No chasing required!" Papyrus told him, struggling to stay positive I could tell.
Papyrus was doing what he always did, believing and looking for the good in others, but I could sense his fear of this monster. I wasn't seeing any good in this guy so far, and neither was Papyrus I'm sure, but he wasn't going to give up quickly on them. The hate radiating from this monster... I wonder how much EXP and LV he has for me to be sensing this much power coming off of him...
"You... You will help us..." the monster told me as he kept his sights on Papyrus.
Sans be careful...! It knows...!
He's not hurting him.
"Sure, what'cha need help with?" I asked to make conversation.
"Why are you asking?!" Flowey shouted out.
"Hey, this kind of talk worked for Frisk didn't it? That kid could get out of any situation with a little friendly chit-chat." I stated.
Flowey grumbled something in complaint as I stepped back from the monster. Papyrus nearly slipped off the ledge as I pushed him back each step, so he got beside me, and we stood side by side on the ledge. We were now caught between the monster and super heated pipes...
"Your soul is needed..." the monster reached out to me.
"When I said I would help, I didn't mean like that." I replied nervous.
"Your fear... your... Sadness..." it wheezed the last word.
If I could just get him talking, I might discover something. Think, Sans, you're suppose to be good at this under pressure.
"I need some ice breakers here." I volunteered help.
"I dunno! The weather? Family? Job?!" Flowey spouted off.
"Ou! How about we cook something real quick?" Papyrus suggested. "Everyone's always happier after a superbly prepared meal!" he stated confidently.
The monster muffled a growl at us, and I didn't like the emotions it was stirring up.
"Do you just stalk the CORE for a living? What kinda job you got exactly?" I asked the monster. "I'm a happily unemployed skeleton myself right now." I winked.
"And I'm on the police force!" Papyrus stated proudly.
"HER soul..." it summoned black magical diamonds around itself in attack.
It knows I'm here...!
Fear hit me like a truck suddenly, it must have been form Lillian. Focus past it Sans, this is getting too close to a bad ending, I REALLY don't want to fight this guy... What would Frisk do? What would they say at this point?
"I have to say, that black outfit..." I said with a snap of my fingers at him. "makes you look hotter than all the fire in Hotland, I might start melting myself from the heat comin' off of'ya!" I flirted.
"OH MY GOD ARE YOU SERIOUS?" Flowey reacted, about how I expected.
"I'm running out of ideas okay?!" I replied.
"You haven't tried a joke yet!" Papyrus told me.
"Oh yeah, duh, heh, let's see, what's a good one..." I raced to come up with something. "Oh, hey, why did the dark monster eat a mini flash light?" I set it up.
"You can eat those?" Papyrus asked in surprise.
"Because he wanted a light snack!" I said with a wide smile at the monster.
The monster stopped and stared at me...
"No one, and I mean no one, likes your jokes Sans." Flowey whispered behind me.
"You don't know that." I replied annoyed.
"Semi...?" the monster asked, looking at me a bit shocked.
Semi? Why would he— that's right, they knew each other too didn't they?
They were good friends...
"You know Semi?" Papyrus asked him.
The monster reached its hand out toward me. I took a step back and nearly fell off the ledge as my foot slipped.
"Just so you know, I-I'm Sans, Semi's my grandpa." I nervously informed the monster.
The monster flinched back in fear, and his body flickered in and out of reality, only for a moment, then stabilized as the monster leaned back our way. For a split-second there, the feeling of dread was gone, and I sensed who he originally was past the hate and dread. This wasn't him, and he wasn't in control of himself.
"Semi's my grandfather too!" Papyrus told him.
"Can he be mine too?" Flowey asked.
"Quiet." I snapped at him under my breath.
"Semi..." the monster moaned. "I am... sorry..." he stated in a remorseful tone.
The feeling of dread was back, more intense than before. The monster rushed up and grabbed me by my jacket, then swung me into Papyrus, knocking him aside to the far side of the ledge we were on. I saw him slide off, but he quickly grabbed the edge before he fell off completely, saving himself from a nasty fall.
"Paps-!" I still gasped in fear for him.
The monster's grip tightened on me, reaching around my neck now. For someone melting apart he was surprisingly solid under the melting layer of his body.
"We will be free... Your soul... is the final piece..." the monster breathed heavily.
"You put my brother down you-" Papyrus came running at us, ready to attack, but cut off by an attack from this monster.
Papyrus dodged the attacks, being forced away from me, while the monster kept his attention on me.
"What the hay do you need my soul for?" I asked, trying to get free.
"It is the last piece needed... to restore the rightful power of this world..." he answered.
No… No, no—! He doesn't understand what he's doing! He's STILL confused!
The human's will overpower mine, and they tried to break free from the monster's grasp, we both did, or just her— I had no idea. Neither of us could manage to get free regradless.
"Please! This isn't you!" I— she said, through me. "You're confused! Please! Let us go!" she cried out.
"Sans!" I heard Papyrus shout.
I saw him get thrown out of the room with a blast of black magic, which quickly morphed into a wall of black to block the entrance to keep him out. If it weren't for the fire below the ledge, it would be pitch black in this room now.
"Paps-!" I yelped as I took back control of myself from Lillian.
It was getting harder to keep myself from panicking… The fear was...
"Your Blasters numskull! Use'm!" Flowey threw magic bullets at the monster.
The monster absorbed the magic and no damage was done to him. I closed my eyes to focus on summoning... but all I could see was my worst fears... I couldn't get them out of my head. Why was all of this bringing that back up...? The amalgamates, my parents, the—
"Sans!" Flowey shouted.
"I can't—!" I yelled out, struggling to get free.
"Why not?!" Flowey grabbed the monsters arms with thorn covered vines. "What's the problem?!" he shouted.
"I can't focus!" I struggled to say, feeling something dark, and cold, begin to cover me.
Sans! Fight it! He's trying to corrupt your soul!
The monster moaned a loud roar and threw us to the ground behind him, then prepared magic attacks, which I could barely see against the darkness in the room. I staggered to my feet and tried to summon any kind of magic. But the moment I looked back at the monster—
FEAR
I was paralyzed with fear. Something felt familiar to me about this monster suddenly. I wasn't sure if it was one of Lillian's memories... or one of my own... But the feeling of fear that came with the subconscious memory...
"Sans!"
I heard the sound of Gaster Blasters from the entrance behind me. As the monster threw its attacks at me, Papyrus appeared in front of me and blocked the shots with a blaster, which began to fall apart as it took the damage from the attacks.
"Sans you—! Move it!" Flowey shook me with his vines.
Before the blaster was completely gone, I got by Papyrus and funneled my magic along with his to hold it together. Each hit it took sent shock waves through me and Papyrus both.
"We need a plan—!" I struggled to keep focus.
"I got a good one!" Papyrus replied.
"Oh yeah? What is it?" I asked, my hope building.
He quickly snatched me up and threw me over his shoulder as he ran out of the room.
"RUN!" he yelled out like a battle cry.
The monster phased into reality right in front of him and swung an attack at us, but Papyrus reacted quick enough to dodged it, skirting around the monster and running out of the room with ease. I looked back and saw the monster phasing out of space, before Flowey fell over my face along with all the dirt that had been in my hood.
"This isn't working anymore!" he shouted, jumping out of my hood and burrowing through the metal floor with his thorns.
"Flowey get back here!" I yelled after him.
"This way Papyrus!" Flowey shouted up ahead of us.
Papyrus followed his direction and made a hard right turn down another path. I saw Flowey looking at me with a smug smile of pride as he sat in the intersection, before black magic shots from down the hall narrowly missed him, prompting him to burrow away as he left magical bullets behind to fire down the hall at the monster. Papyrus came to a halt and I sensed it was because of the monster. The dread... The fear... Not even Flowey ever gave me chills like this before. I quickly climbed onto Papyrus' back and saw the monster standing ahead of us. As we both prepared our magic, vines came crashing through the floor and wrapped around the monster.
"Go! I'll try to hold'm back!" Flowey popped up in front of us.
Papyrus didn't move, he was just as scared as I was now.
"Now you dummy! GO!" he told Papyrus.
I kicked Papyrus' sides to get him to move. He got the message and ran around past the entangled monster, dashing down the path without let up past the monster.
"Flowey—"
"Will be fine Paps." I interjected. "He's got some experience with this sort of thing I'm sure." I added, hoping I was right for our sakes.
This isn't right... Why does he only need one more...? What has happened?
One more soul?
One more corrupted soul... He only had 2 last I was aware...
And you believe 7 are needed for... whatever?
Hate... Callousness... Confusion... That would leave Sadness, Pride—
And Fear. I could think of someone who might fit... that… Hold on, why am I suddenly remembering… These memories… How could I have forgotten I thought I—
Sans...!
"Which way?" Papyrus broke my torrent of lost memories.
I looked around and saw we were at a four way intersection. It didn't look familiar, so I told him to just keep going straight. The moment he started running again, I heard a voice from one of the other paths. I quickly glanced that way, but didn't see anything for the one second the path was in sight.
Am I hearing things now?
POSSIBLY... HAHAHAA...
Who—?!
Black magic hit us from behind, throwing us across the floor. I got up in time to block another attack with a wall of bones, which were destroyed instantly, knocking me back to the floor. The monster crept towards us through the magical energy debris left in the air from the impact, his focus on me.
"Give... UP!" he struggled to shout out.
"Never!" Papyrus replied valiantly.
"Second that!" I stood with him.
The monster tilted its head at us, as if confused by our bravery, then roared loudly as it summoned a good amount of attacks.
"Paps, I know what I promised you, b-but I think-" I stuttered in fear.
"You promised me you wouldn't hurt anyone innocent." Papyrus interrupted. "If this guy is unwilling to back down, we will be forced to use force!" he told the monster.
The monster threw its attacks at us. I attempted to summon a blaster ahead of us, and managed to do it, but it fell apart instantly against the black magic. The two magics erupted into an explosion of raw magic on impact and knocked both me and Papyrus back, sending a painful feedback through my mind and body that nearly knocked me out cold as I hit the floor. Papyrus quickly recovered and picked me up by my hood to get me on my feet. I staggered a bit, bracing myself on his leg for a moment.
"This is your last warning!" Papyrus warned him, taking a battle stance. "I know you can be a nice guy if you just try! Anybody can! Whatever it is you need, we can help if you stop fighting!" he said with a hopeful smile on his face.
He's going to get himself killed dang it...
Careful Sans! This is what he wants you to feel!
"Nothing..." the monster moaned. "No one will come..." he told us.
The monster's magic covered the path, enveloping us in darkness. I fought back my fears and summoned a blaster at him. I wasn't going to let him hurt either one of us. I wasn't going to lose my brother, not when I could still do something!
PRIDE
The monster came up out of the darkness behind us and lunged to grab me. Papyrus was quicker and pulled me out of reach, jumping back to dodge the monster as it lunged our way in attack multiple times.
"What is this all about?! Who are you?" I asked the monster in hopes of getting some kind of answer.
"Give up and… Answer... ME..." its voice began to change and echo in my mind.
It was the same voice I had just heard a moment ago.
OF COURSE... YOUR SOUL IS SO CORRUPTED NOW... WEAKENED BY EMOTIONS THAT TEAR AT YOUR VERY BEING. DOUBTS. FEARS. REGRETS!
W-what? How? What are you trying to do by taking corrupted souls? How do you know I—
Sans...! No...!
CONFUSION
Nothing was making any sense…!
Thorn covered vines tore through the monster, whose melted body reformed after the attack instantly. It turned back to see Flowey as he shot as many bullets as possible at him.
Flowey... You brave little golden rod.
As the monster lunged for Flowey, I shot blue bones into him to stop his movement and summoned a blaster between the two of them, firing on the monster. Papyrus followed up with sharp bones that attacked the monster from all sides. We both side stepped out of the line of fire from my blaster as I fired it.
"No...!" the monster shouted, quickly phasing out of space to dodge the attacks. "Your soul...!" it looked right at me as it reappeared.
"It's not yours!" Papyrus held me away.
"Yeah! Back off buddy!" Flowey popped up nearby. "Whatever it is you're plannin', It ends here!" he told the monster.
The monster continued to stare right at me, making all the hate I had turn on him. All the built-up rage from earlier with Flowey, from every timeline I had to live through—
HATE
Sans! Don't...! You will lose yourself!
I'm not losing to this guy. I can be stronger than him, I can beat him. He won't stand in our way! I just have to focus and I can end this quick! I just have to overwhelm him.
VIOLENCE
Sans don't...!
SANS! SURRENDER!
Just as I built my magic up to blast this guy into another dimension, magic tugged at my soul and me and Papyrus both were pulled backwards. The monster threw itself forward frantically and snatched me from Papyrus' grip. As soon as it touched me, I felt cold. And fear... The growing, gnawing, fear—!
"Let him go you sorry monster—!" someone yelled.
I knew the voice...
A Gaster Blaster chomped down on me and yanked me from the monster's grasp, throwing me back from where it had been summoned. I was caught by someone as the blaster dropped me into their arms.
"Papyrus now!" the same voice shouted.
"Sans?! Are you alright?" the one holding me asked frantically over the sound of Gaster Blasters.
Sans...!
"I'm—!" I stopped when I saw who was holding me. Everything stopped. "D... Dad?!" I reacted.
Blasters fired again and I heard the monster shriek as the hallway lit up.
"Let's go!" the other voice called.
"Where? We're, like, as lost as they are!" Dad replied to them. To her...
A flash of periwinkle went past me as Dad turned to follow her and Papyrus with me in hand. I looked up her way and saw... A very familiar face.
"This way!" Mom ordered, leading us down the path.
"Are you alright?" Dad asked Papyrus, who was now running beside him.
"I'm more worried about Sans!" Papyrus responded.
"I'm sure he's fine." Dad adjusted his hold on me.
"I am." I stated angrily.
This anger! Why won't it leave?
Calm down Sans! It's a side effect from the Black Soul Monster... you were so close...
We came to a stop and Mom rushed over to me, laying her hand on my head casting healing magic.
"We need to get to the center of the CORE." she panted. "It's the safest place for us right now." she told Dad.
"But which way?" Dad asked.
"We already went this way earlier," Papyrus began as he looked around. "so this must be the way!" he told them.
"It's a start." Dad said.
"Keep us from going in circles here Papyrus." Mom told him.
Papyrus nodded to her and we were off again.
"W-Wait! What's—"
"Later Sans!" Mom stopped me.
I winced in fear from her stern tone. Heh, she kinda sounded like Papyrus actually, and like Toriel when she-
Oh heck here comes some more missing memories. Why are they surfacing now? And when did they happen?
Might it be because of me?
Your DT, even though small, might be doing it, yeah. But these memories are not from when Flowey was resetting the underground... This was... before?
You have to be careful Sans... If you let your emotions get the better of you...
I know. I think I get it now thanks to your memories. This... Dark Soul Monster needs 7 corrupted souls, and only needs one more now, and my soul is capable of making it.
It had Hate and Callousness already... Confusion is from that monster, but, where did it get Pride and Fear? Who could have—
I may know which one is fear, especially now that I remember them...
The human?
A friend... once upon a time...
Chara...
How could I have forgotten them...?