Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
Iterations
Disobedient
Sans stayed. For the next few days, he expended more magic that he used in most of the longer runs. He would blink through shortcuts up to Alphys' lab and check the monitors just enough to know where the demon was located. Then he would flit around, gathering supplies. He became a one man scavenger crew. Sometimes, he would stumble upon a monster that had been left behind and he would transport them to the Outskirts. While it helped, a single monster could only do so much. Conditions were improved slightly and unequally. Their plastic-wrapped cardboard home was the most luxurious thing there, with the exception of the Royal Scientist's tent with all of Alphys' equipment. Others scrambled to follow their example with varying degrees of success.
Papyrus had been clingy since he had returned. Each time he left his sight or took a trip topside, he would return to his brother's embrace. He knew Papyrus did not like that he was going up alone. Though his brother was proud he was doing so much for the community, the worry in his eye-sockets made him feel guilty. He tried to make all of his trips quick, for his sake. He was about to take another trip for water. Even with the pipes providing water, the aquatic monsters were drying up. Though last time he checked, Woshua was breathing, the poor thing had not woken in days. His bird friend had not made a peep since he had fallen asleep. His magic flared and he prepared to jump.
"SANS!"
He had not realized he was nearby. His magic died down. "yeah, pap?"
His brother looked concerned. "ARE YOU TAKING ANOTHER TRIP?"
"yup. don't worry. i'll be back soon."
"MAYBE... I SHOULD GO WITH YOU! AS BACK-UP!"
Sans immediately tensed. "nah, i'm cool. undyne ordered you to stay down here, didn't she?"
"YEAH, SHE DID," Papyrus responded, twiddling his thumbs. "AND SHE WOULD PROBABLY BE MAD AT ME IF I WENT..."
"see? so just do what you gotta do, bro. i'm just gonna go up, grab a quick drink for the wet folks, and be right back. nice and easy."
Papyrus continued his thought. "BUT AS I HAVE NOT YET BECOME A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD, SHE HAS NO REAL AUTHORITY TO ORDER ME AROUND. IT WOULD BE BETTER IF I WENT UP TO PROTECT YOU!"
Sans forced a light-hearted chuckle. "thanks, bro. but i'm sure you're needed to protect everyone down here."
Papyrus opened his mouth to argue but was cut off by a knock on the side of their home (the structure was not advanced enough to have a door). Undyne slipped in.
"Hey guys. Sans, Alphys said she needed to see you right now."
Sans nodded. He glanced at his brother who was looking at him in confusion. He did not know he had been working with Alphys. Instead of teleporting immediately, he stepped passed Undyne so he could whisper to her. "induct pap into the royal guard and order him to stay."
She nodded, big enough for him to see it but slight enough that Papyrus did not catch it. Sans teleported right into Alphys' tent. The dinosaur-like creature jumped at his sudden appearance.
"you got something for me?"
"Y-yeah. C'mon." She led him to a monitor. Displayed on it was the video he had given her, paused during the battle. She sat down at a computer set near it. He watched he mouse pop up on the monitor.
"I converted it to a digital file so I could mess with it." She rewound the scene just a few frames before the battle began and played it. As the soul was pulled from its body and the battle scene began to fall into place around them, she paused it again. "I've been watching the human's soul, trying to figure out what was so off about it."
"and?"
"It's different from the other humans souls that we have."
"how so?"
She reshaped the window so it only took half of the monitor. Another video popped up beside it. "This video I took down with me when we evacuated. It's of one of the previous humans. I used it for comparison."
She muted both and played them side by side. She showed the sequence of their souls being pulled from their body and entering battle and then froze them. "I compared it with the tapes of the other previous humans too but the results are the same."
He watched critically as she opened the files in a video editor, zoomed in on the souls themselves, and increased the contrast. She began running through the sequence, frame by frame. Then, she paused it.
"Right there! There's an echo!" She went on to compare it with the yellow soul in the other video but he was not listening anymore.
Sans felt a weight form in his chest. Sure enough, there was the tiniest sliver of red that was not keeping up with the dodging soul. It was a slightly darker shade of red. Frisk. This was good and bad. She was still there, which was a relief. But this went against what she had told him before. She had said that when the demon took control, everything was its own. The stats, the soul pulled into the battles, every single motion of the body. If Frisk's soul was showing up, if it was moving along with the demon's, it meant she had even less control than usual. The kid he knew would have forced it into the attacks to force another reset. This was not just the demon scrambling her memories during the run or blocking useful information, this was it having control of her soul. He shuddered at the implications. The kid definitely needed his help.
"thanks. i've got all the information i need for now." He turned to leave.
"W-wait! Do you know s-something I don't? I've still got q-questions!"
"don't worry about it. i got it from here."
"But–"
Undyne burst into the tent. "Sans! Papyrus is gone!"
Sans stopped cold. "what do you mean he's gone?"
"I ordered him to stay but he just insisted he needed to do something. He said he wanted to prove to you that he could help."
His voice deepened in anger. "why didn't you keep him there?"
Undyne glared. "He teleported. I thought only you could do that!"
Sans anger shifted into worry. He cursed. "He's never done that before."
He remembered moving through time and space his first time. It was extremely disorienting. He had passed out after his first successful attempt and felt woozy for hours after. His sweet, oblivious brother alone and weakened topside was a sobering thought.
"i gotta go."
"I'll come with you."
"no, stay here. if it finds this place the others will need someone who can really fight. take care of everyone else. i'll take care of my brother." He blinked into the original Underground. Then, he focused. That innate radar that he had for Frisk? He had one for his brother too. He stepped into another shortcut...
and found Papyrus laying on the ground. And just his luck, the demon was a few scant feet away, knife in hand. He triggered a battle. Participants in battles were decided by proximity. The battle was two on one, his brother in his party.
It aimed right at his unconscious brother. "Looks like free EXP!" it singsonged.
Chara → [Fight] Miss
It looked annoyed as he yanked him out of the path of its knife.
Sans → [Fight] Miss
A wall of bone emerged from the ground. It barely sidestepped it. It laughed. "I told you, didn't I? I've been practicing!"
Chara → [Fight] Miss
He could hear it huff in annoyance as it hacked at his wall. He hoped it would buy him at least a couple turns.
Sans → [Act] → [Papyrus] → [Give] → [Cinnamon Bunny]
His brother groaned. He hoped that it would wake him enough to be able to flee. He did not have any other food with him.
Chara → [Fight] Miss
It had almost gotten through his defensive wall. He could see its triumphant grin.
Sans → [Act] → [Papyrus] → [Shake]
He shook his brother. He shifted slightly.
Chara → [Fight] Miss
It switched to its toy knife and threw it towards him. A single miss-shapen bone materialized in front of him, blocking it. It was not his own. Papyrus had woken up.
Sans → [Fight]
Bone ripped through the flesh of its right arm. It screamed. Papyrus was still too disoriented to use magic effectively so soon after waking up.
Chara → [Mercy] → [Flee]
It had not seemed to have noticed that Papyrus was worse for the wear. It chose not to go against two of the stronger fighters at once.
Sans took the opportunity to lunge forward at it, the battle scene still fading. Its soul had not yet completely returned to its body. He grabbed it and, finding what felt like a seam, tore it. The two pieces grew hot, burning his hands, and he let go. One piece returned to the body. The other fell to the ground below.
Chara escaped.
Sans glanced behind him to see that Papyrus was, though confused, fine. He reached down to pick up the heart-shaped soul on the ground. Warmth flooded through him and he sighed in relief.
"geez kid. you worried me."
The red heart pulsated slightly and he felt the sensation of waking up.
"morning."
A feeling of confusion, then alarm. Sans frowned. "looks like you won't be able to talk as effectively either."
The alarm ebbed a bit but the confusion grew.
"boy, do i have a lot to catch you up on."
"SANS?"
He turned to his brother. Papyrus had made it onto his feet. "yo. feeling better?"
"I SUPPOSE SO. I DO NOT THINK I LIKE BLINKING FROM PLACE TO PLACE." he replied, swaying on his feet.
"yeah, takes some getting used to."
Papyrus gaze went down to the soul in his hands. "SANS, WHAT'S THAT?"
"it's frisk." he answered.
"WHAT IS A 'FRISK'?"
"not a frisk, pap. just frisk. that's her name."
He sidled up closer and squinted down at her. "Her?"
He nodded. "she's a human soul."
"HUMAN?" His gaze understandably turned wary.
"don't worry. she's a good one. she's actually a friend of mine."
Papyrus goggled. "A FRIEND?"
The red soul pulsated once, sending him a wave of fondness, and he chuckled. "she said she wants to be your friend too."
Papyrus flushed, immediately all smiles again. "WOWIE! HELLO THERE NEW FRIEND GOOD HUMAN SOUL FRISK!"
She glowed before returning to her neutral color. Papyrus rightly took it as a greeting.
"welp, now that the introductions are over, we've got work to do. since you're out already, you might as well help me haul water."
"OF COURSE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, SHALL BE THE GREATEST SCAVENGER ON THIS SCAVENGER UNIT! ARE YOU ASSISTING TOO, FRIENDLY HUMAN SOUL FRISK?"
Sans felt her warm up with determination and grinned. "you don't got a body right now, kid. leave it to us corporeal creatures."
A feeling that vaguely reminded him of a pout.
"DO NOT DISTRESS FRIENDLY HUMAN SOUL FRISK! I AM SURE WE WILL FIND SOMETHING YOU CAN DO TO HELP!"
She floated up to the taller skeleton and nudged her soul against him sweetly. He blushed.
Sans snatched her out of the air and tucked her into the pocket of his hoodie. "behave." Then he look up at his brother and said, "let's go."
He would explain to his brother why Frisk needed to be kept a secret from the others while they retrieved supplies.
A/N: What's this? Another chapter so soon after the last? Indeed, it is! And look! Frisk is (kinda) back! Like I promised. Hope you enjoyed it.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time friendlies,
Dfsemina