Of course simple people wouldn't get why he did what he did. They hadn't seen the full extent of the war. He had. He had documented the huge weapons the humans built and tested, while eliminating a few important humans along the way, along with slaughtering their more disposable soldiers. Sans leaned up against the wall of the Core, watching Frisk and Monster Kid leave with a slight smirk underneath his scarf. Oh, he admitted it. His year of time serving had changed him, and Sans knew it well. He had promised to keep it a secret, just like Toriel and Asgore had told him to do, and he had broken that promise. What could he be expected to do? After all, he was just some lowlife who made money off of killing humans... Some of them looked too young to be in the army. Just like the monster's army... Sans gritted his teeth, his eye glowing purple as he realized what he had done. He didn't care if Papyrus knew. After all, he despised his brother. But Alphys was his best friend next to Toriel, and he had just... And after Toriel found that he had broken his promise to her... He slid to the floor, sitting against the wall, feeling nothing but guilt. He thought he was a god of death and judgement, bringing justice to humans who murdered monsters.
But he had judged all humans except the only one that mattered to him the same way. Heartless, cruel bastards that wanted nothing more than to kill monsters. He bet the humans thought the monsters were savages as well. Sans sighed heavily, staring at the ceiling. Of course... He embodied the savage monster stereotype the humans put on the monsters. It didn't help that he was infamous to anyone who had seem him and survived to tell the tale. Everyone with a brain and ears had heard the tale of a skeleton who came armed with lasers and heavy artillery, disintegrating everything that came near him. Soldiers lived in fear of him. But he wasn't a god. Far from it. Gods were unstoppable, gods shouldn't care about anything. But he had been felled by suddenly realizing just how weak he was. One hit, and he was down a quarter of his health. He didn't have one HP only, which he had been used to during waiting for Frisk in Hotlands, but he had zero defense. He had even killed... Undyne. He hadn't told Alphys that. He was glad he didn't, but he needed to. Sans stood, taking a hand out his pocket to open up the door, before coming face to face with someone he had openly defied and never listened to. His eye glowed purple and yellow as he faced them, a nervous smile on his face. "wow. you sure look pissed. hello there commander."
Undyne reached forwards, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt. "Hello yourself, you traitor. Do you know how long it took me to get back here?"
"i can see what you left behind. dropping your armor, only keeping your regular clothes and your eyepatch?" He raised his hands in a shrug, looking at Undyne fearlessly. The rest of the purple left the glow of his eye, turning to green and yellow. "that's some dedication." Sans laughed. "so, how was the trip?"
"I spent DAYS barely making progress swimming up that damn waterfall! I slept in a clump of trash to rest!" Undyne snarled, and Sans laughed.
"well, you'll be glad to hear that that human I was protecting is safe and sound!" He said, and Undyne's scowl turned into a sneer.
"Listen, you bastard. I've no idea why Asgore and Toriel want to keep you around, especially after what you've done to me." She said, dropping Sans and dusting off her hands. "But you're to stay alive, unless I get orders otherwise. But we caught two monsters running around in the Core helping a human and thinking they could get away from the law! Three people in total. I mean, I think it was three. Guards told me it was three-" Undyne shook her head. "I haven't seen them yet, alright? Anyways, bring 'em forward!" She commanded the guards, and six guards came forward, each one holding an arm of their respective prisoners. Sans' eyes immediately turned black, but he shook his head, staring at Frisk. "Human and two monsters! That look on your face is priceless!" Undyne turned to see their prisoners, and she took a step back, her eyes widening in shock. "Alphys?!" She ran up to the Royal Scientist, who turned her face away from Undyne, shaking in her boots. Even her tail was wrapped around her legs. "What are you doing? You were helping a human?"
'W-... Un... U-Undyne, I. I just. They're a kid, o-okay? They haven't killed or hurt anything! S-Sans... He... He's just trying to get the h-human through safely. M-Monster Kid here is, um, innocent. He's like a little brother to me, please d-don't hurt him!" Alphys blurted out, unable to face Sans after what had happened. She had burst out saying that he wasn't her friend, that he never was, before storming out. Unbeknownst to her, Monster Kid and Frisk followed to get her. When she was caught by Mettaton, who was now posing in the front of Undyne's group of guards, she was appalled to see both Frisk and Monster Kid rounding the corner and rushing bravely in to try and fight Mettaton. He simply caught them as well, shackling them up just as easily as someone would tie their shoes. Alphys needed help from Sans, and she couldn't bear to get it from him. She still felt that Sans wasn't the Sans she was friends with a year ago, and wondered exactly why he did it, other than: It was his job, and, the monsters are trapped down here by the humans. But, she could save this for later. Right now, she was facing against one of the strongest monsters in the Underground, her very own killing machine, and many, many guards. What could she do? The look on Sans' face was completely and totally deadpan, contrasting heavily to when he was smiling and laughing mere moments before. He stared at Alphys, his eye beginning to glow red, before glancing up at Undyne and gritting his teeth.
"Alphys, you don't understand." Undyne started to explain to Alphys, as Sans glanced around. So. Which way to... Oh. Yes, he knew where to go now. He tapped his foot, sighing as his eye began to glow red and blue at the same time. Without warning, he snapped, clapping his hands. Bones appeared out of the ground, pinning everyone except Alphys, Monster Kid, and Frisk to the walls. He only added more and more, until they were bound in his magic, stuck to the wall. Undyne was busy yelling curses, and when Frisk ran over to Sans, he put his hands over their ears, smiling down at them before turning back to Undyne.
"i don't care if you don't believe me, but the queen herself told me to bring this human to safety. so, here i am. either run all the way down to the Bunker at the edge of Snowdin to get her word yourself, or trust me and let us go." He said, for once, his tone completely and totally serious, without smiling or laughing like a maniac like he normally would. He narrowed his eyes, staring at Mettaton and Undyne, who he had pinned side by side. "but, let's be honest. you're not getting out of there anytime soon. hey, doc. mind if i put your robot out of commish for a while?" He asked Alphys, his eye turning more blue than red. She nodded slowly, and he walked up to Mettaton. "welp, you heard her. sorry. but you were defective in the first place." With that, he pierced even Mettaton's head to the wall, before walking up to the board on his chest. "let's see. up up down down left-... doc, this is the worst password for your robot ever." He said, before sighing and giving up on trying to hack Mettaton, deciding to just destroy his battery via many, many more bones. When he was done, Mettaton left in a smoldering, sparking wreck, he turned back to Undyne. "if you try anything, you'll be next." He said, his eye returning to a perfect balance of red and blue. With that, he led everyone off, with Monster Kid telling him how awesome he thought he was. Alphys, however, merely had questions.
"... Why did... W-why did you help us? Me? I just..." She said, trembling as they walked. Sans sighed, looking down at her tail, which wrapped around her legs above her knees. With a simple magic spell, he made her tail unwrap, before shrugging.
"i make too many promises lately, y'know? once, i told someone... i told someone that i promised to protect any friend i had. no matter what the cost was. and i realized something. war's a hellhole, doc. but that doesn't mean that i should act like... you know." He went over to Monster Kid and Frisk, putting his hands on their ears. But since he didn't have four hands, he merely smashed their faces together. Same difference. "an asshole. i'm going to admit something to you, doc. i love my job. really, i do. there's nothing better to me than slaughtering humans for the good of monsters. i mean, i did think that. but i realized somethin'. here we've got our own little human friend. they haven't hurt anything. no, not even when they were mad, or scared. i protected them, and they did the right thing in return. so i know that all humans aren't horrible. maybe they can change. even the most terrible person. even i can change." Sans explained to Alphys, his tone hiding nothing about how he felt about what he was talking about. "even the most horrible person i..." His eyes widened, and he took his hands off of Monster Kid and Frisk, who thankfully separated, and walked apart from each other. Far apart from each other. "the most horrible person i know. p... papyrus. i know... i know what he did." He whispered.
Alphys was going to comment on his speech, but the last thing he said grabbed her attention. "Papyrus? H-He's the most horrible person you know?" She exclaimed, and Sans looked like he was about to snap back into insanity again.
"Alphys. I know what he did! I knew. I knew there was some reason why I hated him. But I always forgot. I could never quite get it, until... Until now! listen. i'm sure you guys need to take a rest after this... so... go ahead and crash in my spare place in new home. i swear, it's clean. wait for me there until i get back. do not leave, no matter what. keep walking down... that hallway." He pointed, his eye glowing green and blue now, all traces of red gone. "you'll be there in a second. i'll be there quick. don't worry. keep yourselves safe. 'specially you, kid." Sans said, patting Frisk's head, before turning around and beginning to walk.
"B-But, Sans! Wait, Undyne is b-back th-" When she leaned past the corner he had rounded... He was gone. Like he was never even there. Alphys stared back at him for a few moments, before shaking her head and picking up Monster Kid, running with Frisk. Maybe Sans wasn't quite as bad as she initially thought he was...
Sans sighed, walking through Snowdin. He had, of course, stopped off by Grillby's. He had gotten, not only a few bottles of ketchup for himself, but had dropped off some food for everyone at his place in New Home. They were probably there by now anyways. Sans rubbed his eyes, before opening up the door to his old house, instantly breaking the doorknob with a slight bit of magic. It was late at night by now on the surface, so his brother was home. Instantly, the tall skeleton burst through the door to his room, looking around. "Who goes there?" He yelled, his bone-sword in his hands. He glanced around, before noticing Sans, staring down at him. "... What are you doing back here." He hissed, and Sans gave him a huge smile, waving at him.
"hello brother of mine!" Sans greeted him, sitting down on the couch, his eye glowing red. Papyrus stepped back, staring at Sans suspiciously.
"... Your eye is glowing red, Sans... What the hell are you pissed about?" Papyrus said, his eyes beginning to glow orange. Sans shrugged, laughing .
"oh. you know exactly what i'm mad about, papyrus. you thought i would have forgotten, wouldn't you?" Sans said, his right eye managing to spark. "My eye. You remember what happened to my eye. You remember well, because you're the one who injured me. You nearly killed me, that day, Papyrus. Just because I was tired. Just because I was overworked." He said, keeping his smile and staring at Papyrus, who walked toward Sans, his bone sword ready to strike his brother.
"How... How would you remember that. I knocked you out..." Papyrus whispered, and Sans shrugged.
"Oh, how would I remember? It's only my EYE, Papyrus." Sans said, getting up. "If you're so against laziness, then why not be out training all the time? Besides, I'm too weak, I'm too stupid to do anything. You said it yourself, brother of mine." Sans said, seemingly completely unconcerned by being faced with Papyrus' sword. "Well... Want to see how weak I am, Papyrus?"
"It... It would be a waste of my time. Get out." Papyrus growled, staring at his brother, his own eyes starting to glow red. Sans' right eye, the one Papyrus had injured, gave off another spark of light, and Sans laughed. "What's so funny?"
"I'm going to take that as a yes, actually, and ignore everything you just said." Sans said, and a blaster appeared out of nowhere, shooting Papyrus, who rolled out of the way, facing Sans, contempt in his eyes. "Ooh, you're quick. Even quicker than me." Sans said, staring back at him. "Impressive. Well, Papyrus..." Sans muttered. "What do you have to admit? To, you know. Everyone." Sans broke a wall.
"... You're milking it, Sans. You know exactly what happened. You were sleeping at your post, I caught you, and I reprimanded you, nearly killing you on the way. I wouldn't have cared if you crawled off and died in the forests, or found help. Which, well, you did. I was honestly kind of disappointed. At least you forgot it for a while." Papyrus said, his voice devoid of any sympathy for his brother. Sans looked bored, and held up a box, pressing a red button on the top of it, and a black button right next to it. "You know exactly what happened. You were sleeping at your post, I caught you, and I reprimanded you, nearly killing you on the way. I wouldn't have cared if you crawled off and died in the forests, or found help." Papyrus' words played back to him, and he leaped forward, swinging at the recorder, which Sans held out of his reach.
"thanks for admitting it, brother of mine. now, i would never kill you, oh no no. no matter how much i may despise you, i have something more important to do than blast you to pieces. what do you think the king or the queen would think if they found that one of their top soldiers had nearly killed, again, another important asset in the war?" Sans taunted his brother, walking around him casually, replaying the recording again as he put his hand on the door. "better run to new home, brother of mine. time's running out." Sans whispered, before closing the door. Papyrus threw open the door to his house, deciding to chase after Sans and take back the recording, but he was long gone, with only a single pair of footsteps in the snow. Papyrus nearly slipped as he ran, his armor clanking as he sprinted. New Home. He needed to get to New Home before Sans could destroy both his career and his reputation.
"hello team!" Sans said cheerily, stepping through the door of his place in New Home. "how are you doing?" Alphys, Frisk, and Monster Kid had gotten there safely, and Sans would have let out a sigh of relief if he hadn't made his entrance the way he did. Frisk jumped up, hugging him. "okay, okay, you're alright ki-" The recording that he had made began to play, and Frisk let go of him, and Monster Kid and Alphys ran up to him to listen as Sans frantically tried to pause it. But after a few moments, of him trying, it was too late.
"... Was... W-was that Papyrus?" Alphys asked, and Sans' eye began to glow blue as he stuffed the recording back into his pocket.
"maybe. okay, fine, yes. my right eye doesn't glow, and now you know why. don't worry about it, alright? i'm fine now. we don't have to worry about that right now. we're nearly to the end, kiddo! get excited!" Sans said, before handing out his bags of food to everyone and taking a seat on the couch, popping open the cap on his ketchup bottle and drinking it.
"If you want m-me to forget about that, um, m-message, I will, but... Sans. Don't... D-Don't you get drunk from drinking ketchup somehow?" Alphys said, and Sans shrugged.
"lay off... there's some ways that i need to forget this stuff." Sans sighed, and Frisk and Monster Kid ran over to the table, and after a few moments, Alphys followed them.
It didn't take long for them to finish, and Sans had grudgingly stopped drinking his ketchup, before getting ready to leave. Frisk was tired, worn out from the run in with Undyne, Mettaton, and the guards, but they had decided it was best to not mention it. Monster Kid was more than ready, following Sans and watching him closely to see what he did. Looked like Monster Kid had a new idol other than Alphys. Alphys had found a huge stash of ketchup, but she decided not to mention that. She was, once again, ready. With that, they left in a group, with Sans leading them through New Home, using what they could to disguise themselves and move through New Home without being seen.
Soon, they were at the foot of the white palace that was where Asgore, the king of all monsters lived. Not to mention that it was crawling with the most advanced guards available to the monsters. Sans, instead of going around the side, entered straight through the front door, cutting straight through the rooms, on his way to Asgore's Throne Room. Frisk decided it was better than to question it, and soon, they were at the door, with zero troubles from... Well. Anyone. Nobody seemed to be there, for some reason. Sans knocked on the door with a lazy yawn, and after a few moments, it opened just a crack, before opening fully.
"Ah! Sans! Hello there!" A tall, huge goat man that reminded Frisk of Toriel appeared. He wore armor and a cape just like Toriel, along with a crown in his nest of tidy yellow hair. His purple eyes shone down kindly at them, and Frisk bit their lip, staring back at him nervously.
"he-ey there asgore!" Sans said, and struggled out of Asgore's crushing grip on his shoulders. Asgore let him go, and Sans pushed Frisk in front of him. Frisk raised a hand nervously to wave. "I suppose Toriel has told you about my mission, right? About this kid?" Sans asked him seriously. Asgore nodded and sighed.
"Thank you, by the way. I'm sure it's been very hard. I'm sorry about any troubles you might have had." Asgore said, and beckoned for Frisk to follow him. "I've cleared out all of the soldiers from the building, so you wouldn't get any trouble." He said. "We're close to the exit, so don't worry... It feels nice to have a child to take care of again. Reminds me of my own two children." Asgore said, and swept Frisk up in his arms. "Any troubles you might have caused getting here, I promise I will clear up. Don't worry about it." He reassured the child, and their travelling party. Monster Kid, Sans, and Alphys followed close behind the king and Frisk. After a few minutes of walking through winding tunnels and halls, Frisk swore they could smell fresh air. Asgore set Frisk down, before falling to his knees, as Sans slipped his phone back into his pocket. "Good luck, little one. I, once again, apologize for anything that might have happened to you..." He said, and gave Frisk a smile. "You will always be welcome in my ho-" Clods of dirt and stone slammed into the monsters, and Frisk yelped, backing away from the king.
Vines, laced with blood red thorns, horribly familiar to the innocent child, were pierced straight through Asgore. His eyes were wide, and a stream of blood leaked out of his mouth. The vines ripped out of him, and Asgore fell to the ground, blood spilling out of him. Frisk could only let out a whimper, as a laugh rang through the tunnels. Alphys ran over to the king, turning him over with the help of Monster Kid and Sans, as a flower rose out of the ground, a huge smile on its face. It's petals were yellow and orange, laced with veins of blood red... "Howdy there, everyone! Wow, what a nice day to be nearly dead? Hello there, king of monsters! Hello there, human! And smiley trashbag!" Flowey said, and Frisk was shivering in fear. "Oh, you can't forget the nerdy scientist and the armless kid!" He said, and his vines retracted into the earth, before reappearing around him as he began to howl with laughter again. Sans ran over to Frisk, placing them on their feet and taking them farther away from Flowey. "Man, those were aimed to hit the human, not the king! Oh well!" Flowey giggled to himself, raising his vines into the air again, staring down at his enemies with a toothy grin, before it contorted into a look of surprise.
"Asgore!" A painfully familiar voice was heard, and Toriel, the queen, ran to Asgore's side, along with Undyne and Papyrus, following the queen's lead. Mettaton rolled in after them, staring up at the abomination of a monster in front of them. "You..." Toriel stood up slowly, taking her sword hilt out and using her fire magic to create her firey blade. A spider woman, who had been running after Toriel quickly put her hand on Toriel's shoulder, gritting her pointed fangs and hissing something to Toriel. "Stay out of this Muffet! We... We're going to finish this! You did this! Now... Now you're going to pay! Rally here and attack!" A cheer went through the group of monsters, now having a leader in Toriel, and all at once, everyone rushed at Flowey.
United by a common enemy, they attacked. Maybe if they lived, Frisk could finally leave. But did they really want to leave the few people who genuinely cared about them? They couldn't think about now. The thought of being able to defeat Flowey, to get back onto the surface...
It filled Frisk with...
Determination!