Wander and Sylvia stepped into the HOTLANDS and like when they entered SNOWDIN, the change in temperature was instant, they had only been in the actual HOTLANDS for three seconds and they were already covered in sweat. Wander hopped off Sylvia's back and moved over to the edge of the path, only to see lava over its edge. Wander let out a whistle, before noticing another stand up ahead. He rushed for it, and stopped to see that it was deserted. Wander frowned, but his smile quickly returned as he saw a building not too far away. In big letters it read out "LAB".
"'LAB'? What would these monsters be experimenting on?" Sylvia asked, and Wander waved a hand in her face.
"Remember what Flowey said? The barrier keeps monsters trapped under here, but folks like us can come and go as we please. So maybe they were trying to find a way to break it." Wander suggested, and Sylvia grinned.
"Yeah, maybe… Still, we should be careful… Never know what's gonna be ahead… Maybe we'll finally meet someone else…" Sylvia muttered, she seemed concerned and was unsure of what to do, but she didn't tell Wander that, the last thing she needed was for him to be worried. Instead, she began to move towards the LAB just hoping that they would meet someone other than Sans.
The door to the LAB slid open, with a loud creak and they slowly entered, hoping not to disturb anyone, but just as they reached the center of the room…
"Heya."
Sylvia whirled around and threw a punch at the source of the voice, nearly hitting Sans in the process. Luckily for him, he was able to dodge the move before it could hit. "Geez! Is that how you greet your pals!?" Sans asked, scowling at them.
"Well, maybe someone shouldn't just sneak up on people and scare them!" Sylvia shouted, while the two glared at each other.
Wander was quick to speak up however. "Hey, you two! We need to be nice to each other, how else will we stay great pals? So, Sans, what brings you here?" Wander asked, and Sylvia narrowed her eyes.
"Yeah, why are you here…? It seems like you've been following us around this place…" Sylvia added, and Sans frowned.
He scratched at the back of his head and suddenly a large goofy grin spread across his face. "Seems like you've been going to places before I have… How do I know you're not just waiting for me to show up?" Sans asked, and Sylvia rolled her eyes.
"Really? That's what you're going with? Look, I want to be able to trust you Sans, but with the way it seems that you're always on our heels, makes it kind of difficult." Sylvia said, rubbing at her temples.
Sans chuckled, and moved towards a wall, before flicking on a light switch, brightening the room. Wander and Sylvia could now see everything, what appeared to be a giant T.V., which was broadcasting them, a computer nearly completely covered with sticky notes, pieces of paper, and a tiny figurine of a strange cat person. Along with that they could see what appeared to be a large hole in the wall, and a wide open bathroom.
"Welcome, to the LAB of Dr. Alphys. She's a good friend of mine. I… I haven't spoken to her for a while, and I wanted to see if she was all right… Then I noticed you two here and thought that maybe I could introduce you." Sans explained, his grin had calmed down into his (fake) smile.
"Well, did you find her?" Sylvia asked, and Sans shook his head.
"I was going to look deeper into the LAB, that bathroom is just a cover up to keep regular monsters from wandering around her important facility. Don't go down there… Never know what might have happened. So how about we…" Sans began, but Wander said something that made him pause.
"Aren't you going to introduce us to your big friend here?" Wander asked, and Sans gave him a confused glance.
"Big… Friend…?" Sans turned and there was a tall creature, it was almost gooey, with hands that seemed to float from its body, its face was almost make like, with cracks moving up the right eye across its forehead, and a crack connecting the left eye with its mouth.
"Oh… That big friend… Wander, Sylvia… I'd like to introduce you to W.D. Gaster." Sans said, suddenly looking nervous, with beads of sweat running down his face.
"Howdy! My name is Wander, and this is my bestest friend in the whole wide universe, Sylvia!" Wander shouted.
"HlE fQrT dLwA… NrUs AlIcS dSh Ol XdAhGeL…" (1)
"P-Pardon…?" Wander asked, clearly confused by Gaster's strange ways of speaking.
"He said that it's nice to meet you." Sans said, glaring at the tall figure.
"K-Kl! HiUnS hAv KIwE r…!" (2) Gaster seemed angry, his smile turning into a frown, while his eyes narrowed, glaring at the small skeleton.
"He thinks that you should get started along your way… After all, you're almost out of here." Sans said, while Gaster slammed his hands into his own face.
"OkL wUfG jSlDnAsUzN! kSh AoDn Je MwUrH sdn…!" (3)
"Well, it was nice to meet you Mr. Gaster! You're right! We've come so far, and now I can almost see the stars again! Goodbye you two!" Wander shouted, as a suspicious Sylvia began to walk off.
"Don't worry! I won't wait up… Actually, I run a hot dog stand not too far from here… Why don't you stop by, and I'll fix you both up a couple of 'dogs… That's right. Apostrophe Dogs!" Sans called out, while Wander nodded. Sans turned to face Gaster, who continued to glare at him. "What?" Sans asked, and Gaster didn't waste any time in his response.
"DgAu MkDi LkY iUwNgLkI!? HsH mEdSkE jU lSaS kMjD oWnAu MpAkW! dQx WlP'e PkEsKaYl Pk MuFg LdEm, MnE'fH mIxYp AwD'q lnIlAy MeY XpAf, QaDwRClZr FmP'a CzPmQ dIpHa Og LsQv PkQa PxAsDc 'QxVz' Kn SwA jKpO!" (4)
"Relax Dings. She isn't going to lay a finger on them… She won't be able to."
"YzA dFtCzPlG lQxNk AfQ'pI cKoY qCbZ kLqA mYlQ...?" (5)
"No, but it seems like it's taking her longer and longer to come back… Hopefully, it'll buy us enough time to use two of the Human Souls to get them out of here."
"FpLq... JoI mA dJqE kLe, Pa'Q mZ xAuN qDaVs... PkQ gZhD." (6)
"… I know…"
It hadn't taken Wander and Sylvia long to find the stand that Sans was referring to, and much to their confusion he was waiting there for them. "Take your time?" Sans asked, and Wander jumped off Sylvia's back and excitedly rushed up towards the skeleton.
"Sans! You really do own a Hot Dog stand! Did you own the ones in SNOWDIN and WATERFALL too?" Wander asked, while Sans worked under the counter.
"Well, the one in SNOWDIN yes, but the stand in WATERFALL was just a Sentry point. That's my job. I'm a sentry… For Asgore…" Sans said, before lifting up three hot dogs. They appeared normal upon a first glance, but Sylvia quickly pointed out something.
"What the heck is this? It's not a Hot Dog? It's some weird plant? You trying to poision us?" Sylvia asked, and Sans rolled his eyes.
"It's just a Water Sausage buddy… You know… A Cattail… As in the aquatic plant… Look, Wander's already eaten half of his." Sans said, motioning towards the small furry alien, who was taking large bites of his.
"It's really good Sylvia, you ought to try it…" Wander it said, but noticed that Sylvia was glaring at Sans. "Sylvia, it isn't polite to stare at folks like that."
"Look, 'Sans' if that even is your real name… We're trapped underground, with only one route of escape, and you've been following us almost the entire time. Doesn't that sound just the tiniest bit suspicious? You've been appearing out of nowhere, and I'm pretty sure that you arriving here before us should have been impossible! I don't know what kind of dangerous freak you are, but I'm just going to make a point here… Leave us alone." Sylvia continued to glare at the skeleton, who had somehow shut his eyes.
"Sylvia! Sans here has helped us through and given us his company, and you just yelled at him for a crazy feelin' you've got? Tsk, tsk, tsk, Sylvia… Tsk, tsk, tsk…" Wander said, shaking his head.
"Wander! He's dangerous, can't you see that he's just some freak!? When Sans was 'translating' for 'ol blobby back there, didn't he seem kind of upset at what Sans was saying…? Didn't he seem angry, like he was trying to tell us something different? So I don't want that… That… Monster anywhere near us!" Sylvia shouted, but Sans began to speak.
"Is that what you want?" Sans asked, and Sylvia nodded her head. "Well then…" Sans opened his eyes, only to reveal a pair of empty sockets, not a light could be seen. "…Maybe I should just let you have a bad time…" Then everything flashed back, it was quick and once everything had returned to normal, Sans was gone.
"See what I mean Wander… He never told us he could do that… Just imagine all the other crazy things that he could do… I'm just trying to look out for you." Sylvia said, and Wander avoided her gaze. "C'mon Wander… I can't stand to see you like this…" Sylvia sighed and began to speak again. "All right Wander… Maybe I was overreacting… The next time we see Sans, I'll apologize…" Sylvia hadn't even finished speaking, when Wander wrapped his arms around the back of her neck.
"Thanks Sylvia. I know that Sans is just doin' us good by followin' us around." Wander replied, before the duo began to move through the HOTLANDS again. They stopped at the sound of another ghostly voice.
"Gh... GuEsS yOu DoN't WaNt To JoIn My FaN cLuB...?"
Wander and Sylvia didn't even comment on this voice, they had heard so many by now that they couldn't even be bothered to care right now.
Sans continued moving through the JUDGMENT HALL, he had calmed down considerably since the incident with Sylvia, and was trying to think of a way to make it up to them, after all, their survival depended on their trust in him. He was pulled away from his thoughts by the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Wander? Sylvia? Is that you two?" Sans asked, but a pair of blood red eyes opened in the darkness, and Sans scowled. "Oh, it's just you. Look, let's get this over with quickly… I've got a couple of friends coming over soon, and I don't want you killing them." Sans said, preparing to fight, while the owner of the red eyes began to laugh. It was almost as if Sans heard a voice move through the HALL.
"Knowing that you will protect your new friends, despite the hurtful things one of them said… Fills you with DETERMINATION."
Gaster Translations:
(1) You must flee... Your lives are in danger.
(2) N-No! That's not what I...!
(3) You must understand! You have to hurry and...!
(4) WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!? YOU NEEDED TO TELL THEM ABOUT FRISK! SHE WON'T HESITATE TO KILL THEM, YOU'RE LUCKY SHE'S TAKING HER TIME, OTHERWISE SHE'D WALTZ RIGHT ON PAST YOUR LITTLE 'POST' IN THE HALL!
(5) You actually think she'll stay dead this time...?
(6) Fine... But if they die, it's on your hands... Not mine.