Time went on, Flowey didn't kill anyone. Sans knew he was looking for Gaster and he was afraid of what he might do. Sans once again started looking but he couldn't even open his father's journals, it was feeling rather hopeless. Papyrus began to help as well when he wasn't training and trying to capture a human. The brothers both began to feel depressed, everything seemed hopeless, there was no way to save their father, a human hadn't fallen in years and a flower was tormenting them.
Flowey had befriended Papyrus, he'd praise him and tell him predictions. Sans didn't trust the weed at all, he was afraid he was trying to manipulate his brother into telling him about their father. Flowey wasn't trying to help them, if anything he was trying to help himself, there was a lot of power to be had in the Void. He could already travel through time to a certain extent and Sans dreaded to think of what would happen if he got to his father and got even more power from him or the Void. He also feared what the weed already knew, for him to be going after the skelebros, he must know there was a connection. Then there was the fact he knew about him in the first place.
Sans didn't know that he was Prince Asriel. That he had all his memories from before his death, unaltered. He didn't know about Flowey's time in the lab, that he knew what Gaster had done. Sans didn't know that the constant resets were weakening the Void.
A year passed. This reset lasting much longer than ever before. Sans woke up every day, half expecting it to be Papyrus's eighteenth birthday again but he woke with all his memories from the past year so he knew it was a new day. Part of him hoped that the resets were finally over and he could move on with life, get even further past his twenty sixth birthday for once.
And he did. He got past it, he got past Papyrus's nineteenth. Two weeks after Papyrus's birthday, a human fell.
"NO!" Sans yelled as soon as he saw Papyrus's dust on the ground, he feel to his knees, he didn't even feel sad or angry anymore, he just felt empty. It was all so pointless. There had been so many genocides, according to the notebook. The kid just kept on coming back. He just wanted it to end...
"... ... ... so... guess that's it, huh? ... just... don't say i didn't warn you. welp. i'm going to grillby's. papyrus, do you want anything?"
Sans felt his body crumbling away, he wondered if this was going to be it, if he'd die for good this time. He hoped so, he just wanted it to be over, even if it meant death...
"NO! PLEASE! NOT AGAIN! DON'T MAKE ME WATCH THIS AGAIN!"
Sans flinched, that was his father's voice. How was that even possible? Sans looked in the direction it came from; he saw a shadowy figure, hunched and goopy. Sans's vision was blurring but he could clearly see his father's scarred face.
"dad...?" Sans's voice was weak, he didn't have a lot of time but he still stumbled forward.
Gaster seemed shocked that his son could see him. He knew the void he was trapped in had weakened slightly from the constant resets, allowing him to pull himself back together for a brief moment but he'd only been able to do that in the hidden room in Waterfall. He didn't have time to question it, he was too late to save Sans but he was at least going to try to comfort his son as he turned to dust.
Gaster reached forward as Sans stumbled towards him and fell into his arms.
"you're... here..." Sans breathed out, he briefly wondered were the human was and why he wasn't dead yet. It was as if time had slowed or even stopped completely.
"OH, SANS, MY PRECIOUS LITTLE BABYBONES... I'M SO SORRY."
"it's ok..."
"IT'S NOT, I SHOULD'VE PROTECTED YOU. I'M SORRY, I'M A TERRIBLE FATHER..."
Sans shook his head, "you're not... you're the best... you and papyrus are the best... i'm the terrible one, i wish i could save you."
"SANS... I MAY NOT APPROVE OF YOUR CHOICE IN CAREER BUT I AM VERY PROUD OF YOU. YOU DID YOUR BEST."
"i could'a tried harder..."
Gaster hugged his son close to him, he didn't want to leave, he didn't want Sans to die but he could feel himself begin to shatter again and he knew Sans was dying. He felt happy that he at least got this moment with at least one of his children... No, he'd just done something similar with Papyrus... Was that in this timeline? How long ago did he do that? He couldn't remember, he didn't even know if this was real.
"SANS, MY BOY, YOU CAN SAVE ME. PLEASE DON'T FORGET... I'M ALWAYS WITH YOU." Gaster placed his hand over Sans's breaking soul and turned it blue, he began to give Sans some of his magic, like he did when he first made the little soul. It wouldn't save him but giving him magic from the Void would cause him to remember everything when the human reset. It would be painful to remember but maybe his boys could do something with the knowledge and the extra power.
"SANS, LISTEN TO ME, IN MY OLD OFFICE THERE IS A SAFE. IT'S HIDDEN IN THE WALL, BEHIND THE BOOKCASE. I HAD IT INSTALLED AFTER THE HUMAN ATTACK. WHAT YOU NEED TO FINISH THE MACHINE IS IN THERE..." Gaster couldn't finish what he was going to say, Sans was too far gone.
Tears fell as his son turned to dust in his arms.
Sans woke up. He didn't have time to think, he didn't need to, he remembered everything. He remembered every reset, he remembered his father holding him as he died.
Sans had to do something, he wasn't going to let the human do another genocide. He'd make sure they did a pacifist or he'd kill them, right there at the door, promise be damned, he wouldn't let them hurt his brother or friends again.
He pulled on his clothes, inside out and back to front but he didn't really care. He had to go before they came out, before they hurt anyone.
But just as he was about to leave his door flew open and Papyrus came running inside and threw himself at Sans causing both brothers to fall with a clatter.
"hey, bro, what the fu-"
"SANS! YOU'RE ALIVE!" Papyrus was crying and he held onto Sans as tightly as he could.
"of course i'm alive, why wouldn't i be? did you have some kind of nightmare?" Sans didn't know if Papyrus had also remembered the resets but even if he did, he died before Sans so he shouldn't know he had also died but then again the human was killing everyone, maybe he just assumed...
The younger skeleton sobbed loudly and held on tighter. "SANS!"
As much as Sans wanted to return the hug and comfort his brother, he was being squeezed so tightly he was worried a rib might crack. "bro, you're crushing me..."
At that Papyrus let go and backed up, "OH, SORRY!" Papyrus tried to wipe away his tears only for more to fall.
"hey, hey, it's ok, paps. i'm here, we're both ok." Sans tried to comfort his brother and hugged him.
"ARE WE?" Papyrus asked. "DON'T YOU REMEMBER THE RESETS TO?"
Sans pulled away, the two brothers sat on the floor of Sans's room in silence before Sans decided there was no point in lying since Papyrus already knew. "i remember. knew about 'em before, i had a notebook full of details about 'em, but i never remembered, only a bit of deja vu..."
Papyrus nodded, "I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG BUT... SANS... WHAT IF THEY KILL US ALL AGAIN? I KNOW THEY CAN BE GOOD, THEY HAVE BEEN MANY TIMES BEFORE BUT..."
"yeah... the last what? ten, twenty times? have all been genocide..."
"I CAN'T. NOT AGAIN! I CAN'T WATCH YOU DIE AGAIN!"
Sans frowned, how was that even possible? "what do you mean? you died before me, every time."
"I KNOW BUT... I DON'T KNOW HOW BUT I REMEMBER EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENED AFTER I DIED TOO!"
"... you think dad did that?"
"HUH?"
"made us remember? 'cause now that you mention it i remember the kid killing asgore and flowey but that happened after i died and we really shouldn't remember the resets at all... you think dad did it?"
Papyrus thought for a moment before he nodded. "HE WAS THERE. HE HELD ME WHEN I DIED AND GAVE ME SOME OF HIS MAGIC... I THOUGHT I DREAMT IT BUT THAT HAPPENED, DIDN'T IT...?"
"yeah..." Sans sighed and stood up... "i think i might be able to free him... but first we need to end the resets."
Papyrus shot up as well, "WAIT, SANS DON'T KILL THEM! I KNOW THEY CAN BE GOOD! THEY JUST NEED TO TRY HARDER."
"relax, i'm not going to kill them, that doesn't work anyway, they'll keep coming back. i'll try talking first, keep 'em busy. you get the DT extractor prototype from the labs, it's smaller than the current one."
"SANS..."
"they can do this because they are determined, we might as well try getting rid of their determination. they'll survive as long as we don't take too much. then we find the weed and do the same so he doesn't get the powers back."
Papyrus didn't seem to like that idea, the plan make sense, sure, and it definitely had them meet in the middle, but... "BUT SANS WHAT IF THEY ARE GENOCIDAL? THEY'LL KILL YOU! BESIDES YOU KNOW YOUR WAY AROUND THE LABS BETTER THAN I DO! I'LL DISTRACT THEM, YOU GET THE EXTRACTOR!"
Sans shook his head, "doesn't matter that you're stronger, they still kill you in one hit and i know you won't be trying. i'm at least fast enough to dodge for a while."
Papyrus was going to argue but he knew Sans was right, despite the younger being stronger, Sans was more likely to survive long enough... "ALRIGHT THEN, BROTHER. JUST BE CAREFUL, IF YOU GET TIRED JUST RUN AWAY, OR SHORTCUT AWAY. DON'T DIE AGAIN!"
Sans smiled and winked, "don't worry, there's no way i'm dying now."
Sans was filled with hope. His father had given him hope, he'd given up long ago but now he couldn't lose. He wanted a happy life, he wanted time to flow normally, he wanted his father back and he was going to get it.
"...FINE," Papyrus left it at that and changed the subject. "NOW THAT'S AGREED UPON, YOU ARE NOT GOING OUT LIKE THAT!" Papyrus gestured to Sans's clothes.
Sans looked down at himself and back at Papyrus. "why?"
"WHY? WHY!? BROTHER, YOUR SHIRT IS ON BACKWARDS AND YOUR HOODIE'S INSIDE OUT! I THINK YOUR PANTS ARE BOTH INSIDE OUT AND BACK TO FRONT!"
Sans shrugged, "seems fine to me. too much effort to change."
"OH MY GOD! YOU ARE SO LAZY! CHANGE! NOW!"
Sans stood outside the door to the ruins, waiting and nervous, he hoped Papyrus would be back quickly. Maybe he should've gone, he could teleport after all... but the extractor would still take time to find, the human might kill Papyrus in the time it took to get it and Sans wasn't sure if he'd still remember if there was another reset. He had to end this now.
The door opened, Sans stayed hidden, watching to see if the human was covered in dust or not. They weren't.
This wasn't a genocide, it was either a neutral run and only some would die or it was finally a true pacifist again. Sans wasn't going to wait around, he stepped in their path, blocking the way.
Frisk jumped and looked up at Sans in surprise. They didn't know why he was in front of them, he always came up behind them and asked them to turn around and to shake his hand and then there'd be a loud fart sound, something was different this run and Frisk didn't like it.
"human," Sans was looking at them without his eye lights. Frisk was scared, had they gone too far? Were they going to have a bad time before they even killed anyone?
"Sans, I-"
"don't. you don't get to say anything," Sans stepped forward, "this ends now. one way or another. i'm done with the resets, i won't let you hurt my brother anymore."
Sans's left eye began to glow, flashing blue and yellow. Frisk didn't want this but it was what they deserved, they'd done so many horrible things but they didn't want to anymore, whatever force that was making them reset was gone. Something or someone had messed with the code, they got rid of the player, they got rid of Chara. Frisk didn't know how or why but they were finally free to have their own life. They wanted a true pacifist, they wanted to live on the surface with their friends. If that wasn't possible then so be it. They'd show Sans mercy and he'd kill them and they wouldn't come back.
Frisk ran forwards with open arms. Sans froze, they weren't carrying a weapon, they weren't attacking him, he didn't try to dodge...
Frisk hugged him and cried and held on as tight as they could, "I'm sorry, Sans, I'm so sorry!"
Sans was left stunned, he was so sure it would be another genocide but... "kid..."
"I'm sorry! Give me a bad time if you want, I deserve it! I want to make things right, I'm so, so sorry!"
Sans hesitantly returned the hug, "you haven't gained any LOVE, this time, huh?"
"I want this to be the last! I want to live on the surface with all of you! I want to be friends again! I didn't think you'd remember..."
"yeah, i didn't think i'd remember either... kid, i want to believe you, that this'll be the last but..."
"I know you can't trust me but I swear it will be! I know this is no excuse but there was some... force... controlling me, but it's gone now... Someone got rid of it, someone dark, and goopy, I think. I promise, no more resets."
Sans sighed, he didn't know if he could really trust them or not, he backed away slightly. He wanted to. He liked the kid, they'd been good friends in the past resets, he didn't want to hurt them. "you know i hate promises kid but i want to believe you. papyrus will, he remembers to, you know. for him i'll trust you but if you harm anyone or if you reset again, well, you know the drill by now."
"Thank you, Sans!"
"BROTHER, I HAVE THE THING! ...EXTRACTOR!" Papyrus came running up to them, Frisk looked confused but could only assume the skelebros had a plan to stop them should they still be dangerous.
Sans looked at the huge bag Papyrus was dragging and called out to him, "actually bro, i don't think we need it."
Papyrus wasn't pleased by that, "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T NEED IT!? DO YOU KNOW HOW HEAVY IT WAS!? AND HOW HARD IT WAS TO EXPLAIN TO ALPHYS!?"
"heh heh, sorry bro but the kid's decided to be good and i've decided to give them one more chance, less work that way!"
"OH MY GOD, SANS WILL THERE EVER BE A DAY WHERE YOU ARE NOT LAZY? ...WAIT, DID YOU JUST SAY FRISK IS GOING TO BE GOOD THIS TIME?"
"I want this to be the last," Frisk said again, "I'm really sorry for everything, Papyrus." Frisk was still confused about how the skelebros remembered it all but they figured with so many resets things were bound to slip through and glitch. They payed it no mind, they were just happy to have their friends back.
Papyrus ran forward and picked up the human, pulling them in for a hug and spinning them around, "OH I KNEW YOU COULD BE GOOD! I JUST KNEW IT!"
Frisk giggled and hugged Papyrus as well, "I'm sorry. I'll free you all and we can live in peace on the surface."
"i still don't trust you fully, you'll have to earn that," Sans added, "but for now maybe we should get on with things, you still need to do the true pacifist route. i'll see you guys up ahead." Sans walked off going the wrong way...
"OH YES!" Papyrus called happily, "NOW THAT YOU'RE GOOD AGAIN, PUZZLES AWAIT! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL HELP YOU WITH THEM!"
Frisk giggled again as Papyrus put them onto his shoulders and ran off towards the first puzzle. Leaving the extractor behind.
They got to the surface. Humans accepted monsters and they lived happily and in peace. Everything was going so well and Frisk had kept their promise, there were no more resets. Life went on, time flowing the way it should and after a few months of living on the surface things settled. Sans got a job at a hot-dog stand and worked some nights as a security guard, where he just slept through his shifts. Papyrus helped Frisk with their job as a monster-human ambassador but once everything settled he decided to go to college to learn to cook.
Sans was still lost on how to save his father. He had no clues and he felt like his father had tried to tell him something important before Sans had died but he couldn't remember what it was, he'd been too far gone. Sans was getting rather frustrated with himself for not remembering but he kept it all hidden, he could deal with it himself, there was no point in dragging Papyrus into it when he was so happy.
Frisk, to, was happy, they wished they could've saved Asriel as well but it seemed impossible, he was stuck as a flower and there was nothing Frisk could do but bring him to the surface in a pot but he didn't seem very happy about that so Frisk eventually let him go. He did show up from time to time but didn't stick around for long.
There was something bothering Frisk, however. They had the feeling there was someone else that needed saving, other than Asriel and Frisk had a good idea of who that was; the man who had messed with the code, the man who saved them from the control of others... Gaster.
They didn't know a lot about him, only that he was the Royal Scientist before Alphys, he'd built The Core and that he was shattered across time and space. They also knew there was some connection to Sans since his weapons were called "Gaster Blasters" and he had that strange machine and blueprints in the room behind his house in Snowdin. They wanted to know more about him but they couldn't find any information in any books and they were too scared to ask anyone. It was weird to them that there was no information anywhere, only what they got from the Followers. If he was such a great man surely he'd be written about somewhere. Frisk began to think they'd hit a dead end, they couldn't find out anything about him, that was until they saw Papyrus's drivers licence.
They didn't mean to snoop around, they had been at the skelebros house for a sleepover since Toriel had some meetings at the school and Papyrus had come up with the idea of a sleepover. Frisk and the skelebros had been playing hid and seek at Frisk's request and they had been searching for Sans, the little cheater kept teleporting away as soon as Frisk got close. They had gone to look in Papyrus's room and just happened to see his licence on his desk, Papyrus had been very proud when he got it but Frisk hadn't seen it yet and got curious. Papyrus looked very happy in the picture but that wasn't what caught their eye, what did was the name on it; Papyrus Gaster.
Frisk knew that there was some connection between Gaster and the skelebros but for them to be related... Frisk wanted to know more, Papyrus must know something about the missing Royal Scientist if he shared a name with him. They wondered how they were related, was W.D. Gaster another brother? Their father? Grandfather? Uncle? Cousin?Frisk was determined to find out. They knew asking Sans wouldn't get them anywhere, he was too secretive, besides they couldn't even find him. They'd ask Papyrus.
Frisk returned to the living room, Papyrus had decided to help Frisk look for Sans but wasn't having much luck either and was ranting about how much of a cheater his brother was.
"Hey, Papyrus," Frisk called to him as they entered the room.
"AH, FRISK! NO LUCK IN FINDING MY CHEATING BROTHER?"
Frisk shook their head.
"WE SHOULD THINK OF A WAY TO TRAP HIM!" Papyrus sat down on the sofa, "I'M SURE WITH SOMEONE AS GREAT AS ME HELPING YOU, WE'LL MAKE THE BEST SANS TRAP!"
"That sounds like a great idea Papyrus, but I wanted to ask you something?" Frisk sat next to the tall skeleton and looked up at him.
"SURE! WHAT IS IT?"
Frisk was a little nervous asking about it, after all there must be a reason why Gaster was never mentioned anywhere but Papyrus was nice, he wouldn't blow up at them for asking a question. "Do you know someone called W.D. Gaster?"
Papyrus flinched at the name, he knew something. "NO, SORRY, NEVER HEARD OF THEM."
Frisk was surprised, they never thought Papyrus would lie but the fact he did just made Frisk all the more curious. "Really? I thought you might know, I just happened to see your drivers license and saw your full name."
"SO?" Papyrus was nervous.
"Your last name's Gaster."
"THAT DOESN'T MEAN MUCH, HUMAN. LOTS OF PEOPLE HAVE THE SAME LAST NAME BUT AREN'T RELATED. IT'S JUST A COMMON LAST NAME FOR SKELETONS LIKE HOW SMITH IS FOR HUMANS."
Frisk wasn't buying it for a moment. "What about Sans's lab? And the blasters? Papyrus, I can tell you're lying."
Papyrus sighed, he looked sad. That made Frisk feel a little bad, they didn't want to upset their friend but before they could apologise Papyrus spoke again. "YOU REALLY WANT TO KNOW? I TRUST YOU HUMAN, AND I WANT TO TELL YOU... IT'S JUST THAT SANS GETS KIND OF SECRETIVE ESPECIALLY ABOUT THAT."
"Sorry, Papyrus. I was just curious. There were some weird monsters that I saw some resets and they told me about the old Royal Scientist and that he made The Core and he 'fell into his creation' and was shattered across time and space. It always seemed like there should be more but I could never find anything."
Papyrus seemed to think for a while, "YOU SAW HIS FOLLOWERS... BUT THEY FELL TO... WHAT'S GOING ON?"
Frisk decided to ask again, "who is W.D. Gaster?"
With a sigh Papyrus answered, "HIS NAME'S WINGDINGS GASTER, HE'S... OUR FATHER."
Frisk gasped, they were happy now that Papyrus was telling them and they were excited to know more. "Your father?"
Papyrus nodded, "HE WAS REALLY GREAT! OF COURSE THE FATHER OF THE GREAT PAPYRUS MUST BE EQUALLY AS GREAT! HE WAS THE BEST FATHER, HE REALLY SPOILT US BUT... WELL, HE WAS TROUBLED, HE FOUGHT IN THE WAR. HE WANTED TO FREE MONSTERS, FREE SANS AND I. HE WENT A LITTLE MAD. I WISH I COULD REMEMBER MORE ABOUT HIM, I WAS ONLY FIVE WHEN IT HAPPENED. SANS COULD PROBABLY TELL YOU MORE."
"What happened?"
Papyrus told them everything, he trusted the young human even if his brother did not. There was something that told him he would need them to free his father so he told them everything from the events leading up to the accident to the accident itself. He even told them about how it was impossible for them to speak his name or introduce themselves as Gasters until recently. He told them about how he'd seen his father as he died and how after that he could somehow use his full name again.
Frisk listened carefully to his story, they wanted to help the brothers and their father and they had an idea of how to do that. Papyrus's description of his father matched the appearance of the mystery man they had once seen in a hidden room in Waterfall. If they could somehow get back there...
"heya guys, give up? does that mean i win?" Sans appeared in the room and lazily wandered to the sofa and sat between the two, forcing them to move out of his way as they where seated in the centre and rather close together.
"YOU DO NOT WIN BECAUSE YOU CHEATED!" Papyrus lightly slapped Sans on the back of his skull.
"aww come on, bro. you never said no powers~"
"IT'S OBVIOUS THAT YOU DON'T USE POWERS OTHERS DON'T HAVE! ANYWAY THAT'S NOT IMPORTANT RIGHT NOW! FRISK ASKED ME ABOUT DAD!"
Sans expression changed quickly from happy and carefree to serious, "what? papyrus, i thought we agreed not to talk about that."
"NO IT'S OKAY! FRISK CAN HELP US! THEY SAW HIM IN WATERFALL, SANS! I THINK WE'LL NEED THEM!"
Sans eyed Frisk suspiciously, before sighing. "you better not betray us, kiddo. if i wasn't so desperate for a lead i wouldn't involve you. what happened? what do you know?"