Chapter 9 The Void
Flowey had grown bored of Asgore's stupidity, and decided to go and see what tubby was doing.
*He's held up well against Chara...maybe if we work together we can both stop them? It sure beats dealing with the 'King' all day, and If Tubby remembers this he might just help me get the leverage I need to convince the king to give me those souls! Or at least one of them... I've never been able to get Sans to trust me before, he would always watch me with those...judging eyes...But no longer! After this we will be Best Friends!
"*Ha HAA! Don't fear! Flowey will soon-*cough cough*" Flowey coughed and spat out the dirt he accidentally breathed in.
*Note to self...Don't talk while underground.
Of course Flowey was scared, he could die! But somehow the idea that Sans would be there comforted him. Maybe Sans would protect him from Chara?...Or act as a human shield..
"*Pfft."
*He's survived this long, surely he will realise that I am his only hope of defeating Chara.
Flowey didn't feel as confident as his thoughts sounded but he still pressed on.
Flowey could hear Sans and Chara talking just above him.
*Look out Chara, here I come!
Flowey squeezed in between the tiles just behind Sans.
"*HEY I'VE COME TO HELP!" Flowey shouted and then did a little dance by wiggling his leaves, and bobbing his head up and down.
Sans whirled around and stared down at Flowey with cold eye's.
Flowey slowed his dance..
*Maybe this was a bad idea..
Sans seemed to snarl at Flowey, then turned back to face Chara. Flowey felt his face go red from anger.
*How dare he brush me off like that! He should be relieved! Praising me even, Ive decided to help him and this is the treatment I get!
Flowey opened his mouth to protest when suddenly Sans flew backwards into the air? Flowey ducked just in time as San's body sailed over his head and landed with a loud, *Clunk* that echoed throughout the hall.
*...what?..
Flowey stared on in confusion.
Chara giggled behind him, something Flowey knew all too well. He turned back to face Chara as they began to laugh. They were clutching a dagger tightly in their right hand, their heart shaped necklace bounced with their chest as they laughed.
Flowey looked back at Sans who had now sat up.
*Maybe...m-maybe he's okay..
"*Quick! GET UP! SANS! COME ON I KNOW YOU CAN DO IT! YOU CAN BEAT CHARA! LIKE YOU BEAT ME! I KNOW-"Flowey noticed a crimson substance was forming on San's shirt and escaped in between his fingers. His eyes went cloudy and it looked like he hadn't even heard Flowey.
*..H-He's not gonna make it...
Flowey started trembling, this was not his plan at all.
*I-I...got him killed...A-And now...I-I'm going to die too..
Flowey looked back up at Sans, he knew he was crying, it didn't matter.
"*...I-I..didn't m-mean to...I-I'm sorry.." Flowey said softly and then left.
*This is it...I'm going to die..
Flowey popped up next to Asgore who was still watering his flowers, and humming softly.
"*DAD!" Flowey screamed in a shrill voice, making Asgore drop his watering can from fright.
"*YOU'VE GOTTA USE THE SOULS! ABSORB THEM! ANYTHING!" Flowey was all out crying now, he didn't want to die, not here, not now, not by...'Them.'
"*Now now, why dont you tell me what is wrong and I-"
"*NO! YOU'VE GOTTA DO IT NOW OR THEY WILL KILL US!-"
*Tap,Tap,Tap.*
*They're coming!
"*P-P-PLeeAse...JuSt, DO IT." Flowey begged.
"*Come come, there's no need to cry.."
*Tap,Tap,Tap.*
Flowey looked up and saw Chara's shadow creep out from the darknend doorway.
*There's no more time...
Flowey quickly went back under ground leaving Asgore alone.
*I can run away! Chara will never find me! I'll join the lizard and and...
Flowey heard Asgore's voice above him.
*And, Chara...I have to get them to realise that i'm useful..I-I have to at least try...if it doesn't work I can run away! Yeah...They are my best friend...Surely they wouldn't actually kill me...M-Maybe they are just trying to scare me! Ha, Chara always used to play pranks on me...I should try.. Maybe if I kill Asgore...they will realise that i'm on their side!..
Something told Flowey not to go back up and just run, but he ignored it.
Flowey popped back up just in time to see Chara slash Asgore. He started crumbling and finally burst into a cloud of dust, leaving only his soul behind. Flowey took this chance and flung a few seeds at the soul, shattering it.
Chara's smile soured when they noticed Flowey.
Flowey gulped and gave a nervous grin.
"*See? I never betrayed you! It was all a trick, see?"
Chara stared down at Flowey with cold eye's.
"*I was waiting to kill him for you!" Flowey continued.
*Maybe they dont believe its really me?
Flowey morphed his face so that Chara could see that it was him.
"*After all it's me your best friend!"
Chara took a step forward.
"*I'm helpful, I can be useful to you..."
It didn't look like that they were listening to him.
"*I promise I won't get in your way...I can help...I can...I can..."
Chara yawned.
"*Please...dont kill me..."
*This isn't working...I should just run.
"*You know what? You actually did help me today."
Flowey looked up at Chara with hope in his eye's.
"*Who knows how long I would've had to wait if you didn't distract Sans..Ha..The funny thing is, I was just about to give up too. Then you came along."
"*D-Does that mean..you wont k-kill me?" Flowey felt more tears running from his eye's, he knew Chara would spare him! He just knew it!
"*No..But I will just make it quick."
"*Wha-!" Chara lifted their foot and stomped on Flowey's head.
*-999999999999999*
"*ughhh..." Sans groaned as he regained consciousness. His bones felt stiff as if he had been sleeping for a very long time.
*...it's cold...
Sans tried to roll onto his side but there was nothing there, it was if he was floating.
*what the?..
Sans slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times. Darkness...
*have i...have i gone blind!?
Sans quickly looked down at himself and was relieved to see his body and feet. A long gash ran in a diagonal line through his shirt, and a red substance had coated the edges of it.
*..oh right..that's where Frisk cut me...wasn't my jacket blue?
Sans stared at his now white hoodie, for some reason he couldn't quite remember if it was blue or not...
*maybe it was black, yeah with a yellow stripe running down its arms!...no. did i even wear a jacket? didn't i used to wear some sort of armor?
As Sans tried to make sense of these scattered memories, he looked down at his feet in hope to gain some kind of clue to his question.
*my slipper is missing..
Sans wiggled his toes through the hole in his right sock.
*wasn't my jacket longer? like a lab coat...am i a scientist?..
A white object appeared in San's peripheral vision, it was his other slipper. As he was about to reach out and grab it, he realised that he was it in fact, already holding something...something red. He decided to grab his slipper with his right hand instead and return it to it's place on his foot. As he inspected the red thing in his left hand, he was stuck with a strong wave of guilt, it felt like a punch to the face. Tears started forming in his eyes, and he didn't know why.
To him, it was just a dusty red scarf, Sans found himself wrapping it around his neck. He didn't know why, but it just felt right.
Sans went back to surveying his surroundings, it seemed like he was floating in some sort of black void.
*...where am I...
The feeling of loneliness slowly crept up in the back of his mind; he tried to move by kicking his feet as if he was in water, so he could escape the feeling. Although he couldn't tell if he was moving or not, sans kept kicking.
*i have to get out of here..
That's when he saw it! A small white speck glinting in the distance. Sans tried to maneuver himself over to it.
As he got closer he realised it was another monster, he was tall and lanky and was wearing some sort of armor.
*Battle Body...
Sans knew this monster...
He finally reached him and grabbed his arm with both hands. He was another skeleton, the armour on his chest had a long gash in it.
*like me...
He seemed unconscious.
Sans opened his mouth to try and call out to the skeleton but found that no sound came out.
He tried again.
Nothing.
*what! how is this possible!?...
Sans froze when a chilling thought popped into his mind. Maybe he had forgotten how to speak! Sans desperately searched his memories, trying to remember how to speak.
*maybe i never could speak?...
The idea made him relax a bit.
*yeah that must be it..there's no way i'd forget something like that.
Sans looked back at the skeleton, something was missing, something that used to be around his neck..
*but i've never met this monster before...why does he feel so familiar?
"Universe 00121395 appears to have had an error.." A male voice echoed, it sounded familiar but Sans couldn't quite place it. He search for the source of the voice, but couldn't see anything.
"*yeah so?" Another male voice replied, this one had a deeper voice than the first.
"So, assistant One Nineteen...we are going to need to reboot it."
"*argh...am i safe to presume that when you say 'we', you mean me?"
"(Audible smirk)"
"*(grumbles followed by footsteps) what was it? universe 00121385?"
"No! It's Universe 00121395! Really One Nineteen! Do you honestly want a repeat of last time?"
"*(sigh) no..."
"I would like to think so...Now, hurry up. We have already wasted too much time."
"*hmm. (Rapid typing)."
*where are they? what are they talking about? what the hell is going on!?
Sans looked down at the lanky skeleton, his eyes were blocked out by a bunch of glitchy squares.
*weird...
"...um..hey.."
"Yes what is it now One Nineteen?"
"*i was just thinking...could...could i have a different name then 'One Nineteen'?"
"What do you mean?"
"*I mean...like a real name. i know who i'm cloned after...couldn't you call me his name instead?"
"ABSOLUTELY NOT!"
Sans jumped from the first voice's sudden outburst.
*i dont like this...first it's universe's and now clones? i want to go home..
Sans felt his shoulders slump, he couldn't even remember what, or where his home was.
"*..."
"(sigh...) I apologise for my outburst, just get it done."
"*...kay...(slow typing)"
Bright blue lines started appearing around Sans and the other skeleton. Some went straight past him, others would just stop a little bit past Sans or just before, and the rest seemed be continuously splitting apart or going in a different direction. One went past San's face, he squinted his eyes and could just make out and few images traveling within the line.
*is this...are these?
"*it looks like we dont have any corrupted ones this time!"
*Timelines!...no, couldn't be.
"Hmm, scan them just to be sure...he's hiding. I just know it."
"*chill man, you've been worrying about this for centuries now. Give it a break. There's now way that it will happen again."
"You dont know that! Do you know how many universe's have been lost because of 'It'!?"
"*i do, but your probably just gonna tell me anyways."
"I'm going to ask you, do you remember AsylamTale? Or what about SnapTale?"
"*(sigh) no..."
"Of course you wouldn't! Because of that thing the guy upstairs accidentally made, we have been losing universe's left and right!"
"*heh, some mistake. how long has it been now? a thousand years? and of course when we confront him about it he just shrugs and says "Oops, my bad." with that dopey expression of his."
"Time doesn't matter to us remember?.."
"*yeah yeah...hey what is up with his eyes? its like they change every time he-"
"Have you finished scanning for the error?"
"*huh? oh yeah, there's nothing."
"Good, at least one thing has gone right today.."
"*what happened earlier?"
"Uh...nothing One Eighteen.."
"*i do appreciate the change in name, but wasn't my name One Nineteen?"
"Oh..yes...One Nineteen.."
Sans looked down at blue lines, for some reason he had the strongest urge to touch one.
"*oh hey, looks like we have some debris here. should i just go ahead and clear it?"
"Hmm? Oh yes yes..Go right ahead."
"*umm hey boss? there's something alive down there.."
"Don't worry about it, just clear it. They will return to their proper universe."
"*if you say so."
*Beep
Sans stopped paying attention to the voice's and reached out his hand towards one of the blue streams.
"hey..i do remember things."
"*...Excuse me?"
"i mean...i dont remember much..but...I remember...that we-"
"*Work together? Yes, we make sure that there are no outside things are affected the universe's."
Sans hesitated just before his fingertips touched stream.
"no, not that we are-"
"*We work together. You are my assistant and nothing more!"
Sans took a deep breath and touched the stream.
"*but Pap-"
Everything went black and darkness engulfed Sans.
*maybe i should've just left it alone..
Everything was silent now...almost peaceful.
*if i wasn't stuck in a pitch black void.
"he..heh...h-w&(NUL DO3j -heh.."
Sans suddenly felt very Not alone.
*ok ok calm down...you're just imagining it..heh yeah..
"👇👈 ️p...m👈..."
Something brushed by San's arm and he lashed out at. Sans was surprised when his fist hit something gooey, he tried to bring his arm back but it was quite stuck.
*-0.1
"*argh!" It burned...A Lot...
*-0.1
Sans started to freak out, not only was his fist lodged in what Sans imagined was some sort of green blob of acid, but he couldn't see anything.
"👇👈 ️P...M👈..."
The blob latched onto San's other hand and started pulling him into it. Sans Instinctively summoned a few bones and sent them blindly at it.
"Heh heh...youyouyouyouyouyouoyuoyuoyuouyou-your gonna d-d-d-d-d-d-die..." Another voice said, this one sounded far away.
*-0.1
*this is it...im going to die here...
*-0.1
Memories started flooding into San's mind, Papyrus, Undyne, the flower...
*where is papyrus...
*-0.1
"👆0..👇0M👈.."
Sans gave up fighting and focused on his thoughts. He remembered his brother dieing, Undyne dieing and the feeling of his own death..
*-0.1
"S✌️nS..."
*wait...Frisk killed me...is this place...the afterlife!?
"✋ ✌️m.."
*-0.1
*heh...that sucks...i wish i got to see Pap again..
*-0.1
*...hey...i'm wearing his scarf...did i bring it with me?...and who was that other skeleton..
*-0.1
*that was..That Was..
"sorry.."
*-0.09
"*Papyrus!"
*Beep
*Beep
*Beep
Sans groaned and rolled over so he could shut off that damned alarm clock.
"SANS! SANS! GET OUT OF BED ALREADY!"
"*(groan) just a femur minutes." Sans froze.
"REALLY SANS, THIS EARLY? AT LEAST LET ME EAT MY BREAKFAST FIRST."
Sans sat up and looked down at his chest. There was a few red splotches on his T-shirt, but that could just be ketchup. Sans lifted his shirt to his nose.
*yep, definitely ketchup...was...was it all a dream?
*Soft knock
*it was all a horrible dream! i-i'm back! Papyrus is alive! Everyone...they are all still alive!
The door to San's bedroom door gave a small creek as opened slowly, Sans didn't even notice it. He was just too happy.
"Sans?"
"*heh..heh..heh."
Sans looked down at his hands and chuckled again; he never killed the human, he never got their blood on his hands.
*i can make it up to Pap now!...but my dream...it felt so real! it...could it be?...no no, get your mind off it. everything is fine now..
Something inside Sans told him otherwise, but he pushed the feeling away and stood up.
*ok what was today again?...yesterday...it feels like such a long time ago...what if...what if it wasn't a dream? and, and i just jumped to a different timeline!...that would mean that..that kid will come..and..
*TAP TAP
Sans gave a small squeak from fright as something touched his shoulder, he instantly teleported to the other side of the room so he could face his enemy.
It was just Papyrus.
Sans gave a sigh of relief, he thought it might of been...well...he didn't know anymore, he didn't need to. All of that was behind him...he hoped.
Sans looked up at his brother and grinned widely, all the while trying to think up some sort of joke or pun.
"*knif-Nice morn-ahgh...good morning! heh."
*well that could'a gone better...i-huh?
San's grin faded when he noticed Papyrus's worried expression, he also held his right hand close to his chest, as if he had been stung.
"S-Sans? A-Are you alright?...I'm sorry if I upset you..." Papyrus spoke softly.
"*huh? nono i'm fine see." Sans gestured to his whole body, hoping that Pap wouldn't see through his ploy.
"Sans...Y-You're crying..."
"*what! i am!?" Sans quickly wiped his eyes with his shirt, blue magic seeped into it and gave off a faint aqua glow.
"*Pap, i-i i'm fine pap i er..."
*i can't tell him about this, he's got enough things on his mind...
"*i um..just had...a bad dream.." Sans gave a small laugh out of embarrassment.
"...It must of been really bad...Y-Your expression just now...It was, Really scary...I...I was scared." Papyrus's voice cracked.
"*i...i'm sorry that i scared you...i guess it just...really got to me.." Sans replied apologetically.
Papyrus took a few cautious steps towards Sans.
"..what was it about...your dream I mean..." Pap seemed to relax, but not by much.
"*i er...i ran out of ketchup?" Sans stared down at his feet.
He didn't like lying to Pap, even if it was a white lie. He half expected Papyrus to get angry and shout at him, or scold him for being so addicted to ketchup...But instead he felt arms wrap around him in a gentle hug.
"..If that's all then, I guess, we should make sure you don't run out of it." Papyrus whispered.
Sans felt more tears well up in his eyes and returned Pap's hug. He clung to him tightly and tried to fight back his sobs.
"*i-i thought i would never see you again.."
Papyrus gently patted San's back.
"I'm not going anywhere brother." Papyrus leaned back so he could face Sans.
"No matter how hard you try to get rid of me." Pap smiled warmly.
"*heh heh ha..yeah.." Sans wiped his eyes and smiled back.
Papyrus stood up and gave Sans a pat on the head before heading towards the bedroom door.
*i didn't expect him to take that so well...wait...just he just pet me?
"*...i'm not a dog.."
"YOU'RE CERTAINLY HUSKY ENOUGH." Papyrus retorted over his shoulder.
"*heh, speak for yourself."
"(FAKE GASP) I BELIEVE I'M QUITE FETCHING."
"*you sure? you look like you're having a ruff time."
"DID YOUR LABRADOR REPORTS TELL YOU THAT?
"*good try but...that was a jurassic bark of a failure."
"NYEH HEH HEH, ALRIGHT. LET'S GO DOWNSTAIRS AND HAVE SOME BREAKFAST."
"*ooh ooh, are we having woofles?."
"HA HA, OF COURSE NOT, I HAVE PREPARED SOME SPAGHETTI FOR YOU AND UNDYNE!...COME ON SANS, BEFORE IT GETS COLD." Papyrus started heading for the door again.
"*ok, just lemme retriever my jacket."
"SANS..."
"*Come on, throw me a bone." (OOOoooh! double pun!)
"SANS STOP."
"*hmm, maybe i should see a dentist, i think one of my canines is loose."
"OH WELL I'VE NEVER SEEN A DENTIST HERE MAYBE MISS- WAIT! SAANS, STOP IT!." Papyrus whined.
"*hmm, i feel like having some woofles now."
"You've already used that one.."
"*hmm i'm running out of these doggone puns.."
"SAAANS! ENOUGH!" Papyrus shouted.
"*..."
"..."
"*hey Pap?..."
"YES?"
"*i ruv you.."
"(SIGH) I LOVE YOU TOO BROTHER, I'LL SEE YOU DOWNSTAIRS." Papyrus smiled and then exited the room.
Sans went downstairs to find a very grumpy Undyne.
*oh yeah..heh heh..
Sans was about to jump onto the couch to wake her up, when the memory of being stabbed by the couch made him hesitate. Instead he decided to just say good morning.
"*good-morning fish-breath."
"*Yeh well, er..." Undyne mumbled and started nodding off again.
"AH UNDYNE, YOUR AWAKE! I HOPE YOU SLEPT WELL." Papyrus called from the kitchen.
"*I'M UNDYNE!...neyh nn mmm.."
Sans crossed his legs and sat on the floor, and began to watch tv.
"IT'S READY!~" Papyrus called out and successfully woke up Undyne.
"*I think they are finished fixing my house, tHanK...you Papyrus for letting mE stay for the NigHt!" Undyne gave a really forced smile, her eye's were wide and her left eyelid was twitching.
"ANYTIME, IT WAS FUN...SEE YOU LATER." Papyrus replied as he entered the room, his eyes landed on Sans."
"AH, GOOD MORNING BROTHER."
"*same to you."
"...HOW COME YOU'RE SITTING ON THE FLOOR?" Papyrus narrowed his eyes at him.
"*just...feeling it today..bro..heh"
"Hmm, or is it because you did something to the couch?." Papyrus whispered.
"*gulp* noooooo..."
"..."
"*..."
Undyne glanced back and forth from the brothers, utterly confused.
"*...Okay...W-Who died?" She asked jokingly.
Papyrus groaned and headed back to the kitchen.
"*heh, nobody...Yet."
Undyne stared down at Sans, it looked like she was trying to determine whether or not he was serious.
"*Okay..I think I'll let myself out. Thanks again Papyrus and...Sans..."
Undyne hurriedly got up and left, making sure to close the front door and quietly and possible.
"*too easy." Sans stretched and laid back on the carpet.
"HMM, UNDYNE LOOKED A BIT TROUBLED, I HOPE SHE'S ALRIGHT." Papyrus said as he returned into the lounge carrying a plate of spaghetti, and a bowl of cereal.
"*it's probably because a human might come today."
"..."
"*i mean, they might come today, i just have a feeling you know?"
"WE SHOULD PROBABLY TO GET BACK TO OUR POSTS THEN."
"*but what about breakfast?"
"FEAR NOT, WE'RE GOING TO EAT IT NOW...UNLESS, YOU WOULD RATHER GO TO GRILLBY'S."
"*...nah i'm cool, besides, i want to see how your cooking has improved."
Papyrus's face lit up.
"RE-REALLY?"
"*yeah, gimmie here." Sans reached up and took the plate of spaghetti from Pap.
Papyrus plopped himself down next to Sans and watched him with wide eyes.
*..oh man, he's actually gonna watch me..
Sans nervously smiled back, then stared down at his plate. With a shaky hand, he picked up the fork and nudged the side of his food.
Half of it turned to ash by the touch.
*oh my god...
Papyrus leaned back on his haunches.
"IT'S ALRIGHT SANS, YOU DON'T HAVE TO EAT IT."
"*huh? no! i want to eat it!"
"NO IT'S FINE. SOME PEOPLE JUST CAN'T HANDLE THE AWESOMENESS THAT MY SPAGHETTI GIVES...I KNOW YOU WERE JUST TRYING TO SPARE MY FEELINGS."
"*..."
"AS I THOUGHT, IT'S ALRIGHT SANS. I THINK THERE ARE STILL SOME CHIPS IN THE-"
With a deep breath, Sans stuck his fork into the spaghetti and shoveled it into his mouth, then chewed. Papyrus watched in silence as Sans swallowed.
"*..."
"..."
"*...that was actually, pretty good!"
"WHA-REALLY! ER..I MEAN..OF COURSE IT IS! IT WAS MADE BY THE GREAT PAPYRUS!"
"*haha yeah!"
"(TOTALLY WASN'T WORRIED THAT MY COOKING WAS ACTUALLY BAD...)"
"*wha-?"
"NYEH HEH HEH HEEEEH! THIS MOMENT MUST BE REMEMBERED!"
Papyrus took the plate of half eaten/dusted, spaghetti from Sans,
"*hey!"
and sprinted off into the kitchen with it.
"NYEH HEH HEH HEH!"
"*heh.." Sans reached into his breast pocket and pulled out his handkerchief, so he could wipe his face.
*i can't believe i pulled that off.
"I AM OPENING THE FRIDGE."
*i almost choked on the meatball..
"I AM NOW LOOKING FOR A SAFE PLACE TO PUT THIS PLATE OF SPAGHETTI."
Sans inspected the now sause covered cloth and shuddered.
"(RUSTLING NOISES)"
*i am never going to be able to wash that taste out now, am i?
"(MORE RUSTLING NOISES)"
As Sans was returning the cloth to his pocket he felt something else there, and pulled it out.
*...no..
It was the photograph he kept in his wallet, it was stained red.
*nonononono...why...i just..
Sans felt tears forming in his eyes again but fought them back.
*no. nows not the time to be feeling sorry for myself. i know what's going to happen next and i can change it. Papyrus won't die this time.
"*i promise..."
"I'VE FOUND A SAFE PLACE FOR THE SPAGHETTI!"
sorry for being so late with this, aaaannd it not being as long as i normally make these...i've been trying to catch up with school work. anyway, this story has really strayed from my original idea, and i think when i do finish it, i might have to change the name/description and or genre i've listed ^^;
idk, tell me what you guys think.
Anyways, Thanks for reading =D