CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

Sans opened his eyes slowly. Everything around him was blurry for a moment as his head spun. There was a strange tug somewhere in his chest, like he wanted to expel everything he'd eaten for the last few days. That was new; he'd never actually felt nauseous before. If he wasn't feeling it now, he'd say that skeletons couldn't get that way.

He swallowed hard and lifted a hand to rub his skull. His phalanges hit something hard, and he nearly jumped out of his own bones when a loud thunk reverberated around him.

He realized then that he was in a small, enclosed space. The thick glass that surrounded him was slanted so he was almost upright, but he was still laying down on some kind of hard table. He reached out and touched the glass. Although it was clear, he had a hard time making out any details.

Had he been drugged?

He closed his eyes tightly and tried to remember how he'd gotten here. He remembered being in his dad's lab, the men that came for his research, the one that tried to kill him…using his magic. He'd tried to protect his father, but in doing so he'd practically killed himself.

Nice job, numbskull, he thought to himself.

After he'd been taken, he didn't remember much. It wouldn't surprise him if they had figured out some way of dosing him so he'd go unconscious. Better not risk getting their asses evaporated by the magic-wielding monster.

Just as he was about to try to figure out a way to open the glass whatever he was in, he heard muffled voices. He strained to hear them.

"And you're sure he uses magic?" a gruff voice asked.

"One hundred percent," a familiar voice answered. "A bone wall appeared out of nowhere, and this monster's eye was glowing. That's no coincidence."

Sans' soul began beating faster as he recognized Dr. Krall's voice. Well, shit. He was in deep trouble; he could feel it.

"Ah, he's awake. Good. Maybe he'll just tell us how to access it."

Laughter followed the comment.

A loud hiss startled him. The table moved slightly so he was a little more reclined, then the glass opened up.

Three men stood around him. He recognized Dr. Krall and another man from his dad's lab, but the third—the one in the middle—was unfamiliar.

"Where am I?" he asked. It hurt to talk. He felt dry.

"Exactly where you belong, Monster," the unfamiliar man said. He smiled. "We're going to find out how you use that magic of yours. My boys here are very good at what they do." He patted both men's shoulders.

Sans didn't like the sound of that.

Without another word, the man walked away, leaving Sans with the men he knew were going to kill him. He could feel it in his soul. He was as good as dead.

~LM~

"This is something I've been working on," Alphys said softly the next day as she pulled out a small container. "I don't think any of us monsters can use it, but Frisk will."

Frisk's interest was piqued. She noticed two things: one, that Alphys' stutter was gone when she was in scientist mode; and two, that whatever this was she was going to be useful. "What is it?"

"It's a recording device that fits on your eye like a contact."

Okay, that didn't sound so awesome. "Will it hurt?" She asked with a grimace.

Undyne laughed. "Of course it will! It goes on your eye!"

Alphys shot her a look. "Actually, no. Have you ever worn contacts?"

Frisk shook her head. "I've been cursed with perfect vision my whole life."

Alphys smiled. "That's good." She opened the case and pulled out what looked like a ring box. "So, this box actually contains the recording device and it's Bluetooth remote. The remote will act like the storage for what you record. Basically, it will see what you see. Try to keep your eyes open."

That didn't sound too bad, Frisk thought. It was better than what she had imagined, anyway.

"I can do that."

Undyne groaned. "Man, it would be so much better if you had to attach the whole thing to her eye. That would have looked cool."

Alphys giggled. "I bet you would have liked that."

Frisk took the box and decided to let them flirt alone. She went into the bathroom and opened the box. Inside was a small switch—currently in the 'off' position—an even smaller box, and what looked like a USB port. She pulled out the smaller box and opened it to find the contact lens waiting for her. She shuddered a little before she pulled it out.

The knock on the door startled her. She squeaked and looked up, not sure what she was expecting. Undyne chortled and held out a small bottle.

"You might want the solution to your problem, punk."

She took the bottle and smirked when she realized it was contact solution. "Thanks, Undyne."

She looked the monster over for a moment. She looked ready for another war in her armor. Alphys was wearing her lab coat to hopefully blend in. Nobody could convince Undyne to do the same.

Frisk was wearing a camouflage outfit she'd gotten at a thrift store. She wanted to try to get in and out as stealthily as they could. She knew Gaster and Undyne both were hoping to kill as many people as possible, but Frisk had tried to talk some sense into them. Their mission was to save Sans, not to start another war.

She took a deep breath before she opened the bottle Undyne had given her, coated the contact lens in the solution, then decided it was going in her left eye. She wasn't going to admit she chose that eye because of Sans, but she doubted anyone would ask.

She was surprised by how easily it went in. She blinked a few times and looked around. Nothing seemed different at all.

"Huh. That's cool."

She could practically feel Undyne's disappointment beside her. "It would have been better if it jammed in there like a corkscrew or something."

Frisk looked at her, a little horrified. "That would not have been better. Did you want me to end up with an eye patch like yours?"

Undyne lifted the eye patch. Frisk was a little surprised by the action. She had been curious about the injury since she first met Undyne.

Her eye was milky white in color and surrounded by scarred blue tissue that was darker than her normal aquamarine skin tone. Frisk noted that the scarred tissue looked like a little like a star. She wasn't sure what to think when the milky white of her injured eye began to glow.

Undyne looked up. A bolt of light flew out of her eye and crashed into the ceiling above Frisk. She laughed as Frisk coughed and tried to get the dust out of her hair.

"You couldn't have an eye patch like mine if you tried. This wasn't some ordinary accident."

"What's going on in there?" Papyrus shouted. "You better not be destroying my house!"

Undyne smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, Paps."

"What did happen?" Frisk asked, gesturing to Undyne's eye. "If you don't mind me asking?"

"It was during the last war. Not the Great War, although that would have been awesome! So, there I am, killing my way through the humans trying to slaughter a family of Moldsmols." She hunched down and spread her arms as though she were preparing to throw a spear. "When all of a sudden some douche fires a fucking cannon into my face! I mean, it wasn't really a cannon, but it wasn't an ordinary gun either. I was out for a long time. That was actually when I met Sans. All I remember is being surrounded by this blue shit and thinking I was on my way to heaven. Turns out, he teleported me to his dad who healed me up as best as he could."

Frisk smiled sadly. She remembered the feel of being surrounded by Sans' magic. She wrapped her arms around herself and reminded herself that they were going to save him. She cleared her throat and looked up.

"How come you can shoot lightning out of it?"

Undyne laughed. "That's not lightning, you nerd. It's pure magic directly from my soul. The wound didn't heal right because it was so bad, but it was enough to live." She shrugged like it wasn't anything serious.

Alphys squeezed in past Undyne.

"Let's have a look at you," She said softly.

After Alphys inspected the contact lens and how it fit, she took the box and flipped the switch. She assured Frisk that it should be completely painless, and also that it should not interfere with her normal vision. Frisk confirmed both, and they all left the bathroom.

"Will this pick up sounds?" Frisk asked.

"Actually yes," Alphys answered. "The sounds are picked up by this device," she held up the box, "rather than the lens, but we will be able to hear what goes on around you. Now let's turn this off for now and check on the boys." She flipped the switch, closed the box, and handed it to Frisk.

Frisk put the box in her pocket.

"Are we finally ready to leave?" Papyrus asked as the women walked into the living room. He was anxious to find his brother. He had never in his life gone a day without Sans, and he wasn't sure how to start. He didn't know what he would do if he couldn't ever see him again. The thought was so terrifying he had to push as much emotion down as he could and just be cold. He had to focus on facts and just getting this done before he could let himself feel anything again.

Frisk was a little surprised at what Papyrus was wearing. She had only ever seen him in nice, tailored outfits, and once a costume he called a 'battle body'. But now, he was in a large red hoodie and black pants. It almost seemed to Frisk that he was trying to mimic his brother. The thought made her sad.

Gaster wore his traditional dark pants but had changed into a black sweater and wore a long black trench coat over everything. Frisk thought the clothing with his scars made him look even more threatening than he had in his lab coat.

"Let's get this show on the road!" Undyne shouted.

They all agreed. They piled into Undyne's Jeep and were finally on their way.

~LM~

Tears fell down his face as Sans tried so hard to just hold on. He was stronger than they were, no matter what they wanted.

After Dr. Krall and Dr. Masen had cut all of his clothes away and sprayed him down with something that smelled like sterilizer and made him cough, they started poking and prodding all over his body with various instruments. Some hurt, some just felt weird. Every attempt he made at protest was met with a sharper jab. He learned quickly to keep his mouth shut.

The most tender spot they found was his sternum.

"Here," Dr. Krall said.

Dr. Masen agreed. "I'll get the others."

"What's there?" Sans asked.

Dr. Krall acted as if he hadn't heard the question. Sans asked again, louder.

After realizing that he wasn't going to get an answer, he looked around. He was terrified at all the dust he saw within his own chamber. He knew his would soon join the rest, but he was determined to last as long as possible.

Across the large, gray room was another pod with another monster inside. Large and furry, the monster signed to him to stay calm and don't make any sudden movements.

"They're going to hurt you," the monster signed discreetly.

Sans nodded in understanding. "Why?" He signed back.

"They're looking for your soul."

He swallowed. This wasn't good. They wanted to steal his magic from him. They were probably stupid enough to not realize that his soul and his magic were one and the same. If he died, so did his magic.

"Do they know?"

The monster shook his head in the negative. "Just lie back and relax. Don't fight them or they'll make the pain worse."

Sans had a feeling the other monster had been here a while. "Do you have magic?"

The monster nodded.

Before their signed conversation could continue, Dr. Masen came back with three other men in white lab coats. Sans decided that, if he ever got out of this, his own lab coat was going to change color. Maybe blue.

"Where is it?" One of the new doctors asked.

"Sternum."

Sans swallowed again and took a deep breath.

"Can we make it stop looking at us?" another doctor asked. "It's creepy."

His brow bones furrowed.

"We're not putting it out of its misery," the third new doctor said with a scary grin. "I like it when they scream." He held up a scalpel and took a step closer. "I get to go first."

~LM~

"Okay, Alphys, you know what you need to do?" Gaster asked with a quiet reassurance in his tone.

Alphys took a deep breath and nodded. "I know."

"I'm with you the whole way, babe," Undyne said. "I'll get you in there, then you work your magic. Or, well, your expertise. I guess."

Alphys smiled and stood on her toes. Undyne grinned and bent down to kiss her.

After the couple left, Frisk sat back and waited. She pulled the box out of her pocket and turned it on. They all had on communication earbuds to speak with one another. Their plan was to have Alphys turn them on once she was settled in the computer room and give them the green light.

"So, we're here to rescue my boyfriend," Frisk said, speaking into the box. Both Gaster and Papyrus gave her a look before realizing she was documenting. "We're going to try to do this with as little life lost as possible. I'd like to say I'm confident we can do this without hurting anyone, but I feel like that's unrealistic. I know humans a little too well." She dug out her mirror and looked at herself. She felt odd, but at the same time she knew this would all help them once they all got out.

"Sans is my boyfriend; he's a skeleton with magic. I'm here with Papyrus, his brother." She made a point to lean forward and look at Papyrus. He gave her a small wave. "And his dad, Gaster." She turned her head to Gaster. He scowled at her. She couldn't help but smile. "Needless to say, we're all very worried about Sans and hope he's okay. We're waiting for our computer team to get in and let us know it's safe to start heading in."

She sat back and looked at the building. She silently wondered where Sans was in the building and what he was doing. Or, rather, what was being done to him. She sucked in a deep breath and reminded herself that he was a lot stronger than he looked; he would be okay.

With each passing moment, Frisk was getting more and more eager. She could only imagine how much harder it was for Gaster and Papyrus. As much as she hated the words Gaster had spoken, she knew that the bond between father and son, and between brothers, was stronger than what she had with him. It hurt her heart worse to think of the pain they must be in.

A sudden, loud pop made her jump. A static screech followed the pop.

"H-hello?"

She touched her earbud. "Alphys?"

"We hear you," Gaster said.

"Loud and clear," Papyrus added.

Frisk was thrilled she could hear each voice through the comm.

"I'm in and settled. An alarm was triggered, but I managed to stop it and hopefully passed it off as a mistake. I'll do my best to unlock doors and guide you through, but I don't have access to the full building. Be careful, guys!"

"Will do," the three said in unison.

"Let's go get my son," Gaster all but growled.

Frisk waited outside for a moment while Papyrus and Gaster went to find her a weapon. She hated standing back, but she certainly hated the idea of going in without a way to protect herself even worse. Soon enough, however, the two came back with an arsenal.

"Do you think you can use any of these?" Papyrus asked as he dropped five guns, two knives, and a compass in front of her.

She smirked and picked up the compass. "I like this." She put it in her back pocket and then picked out two guns to carry. She made sure they were loaded, put the safety on, then strapped the handgun holster into place before lifting the shoulder strap of the rifle over her head.

"Okay, I'm ready," she said. She had never felt more powerful in her life.

They made it past the first several doors without much interference. Their goal was to allow Frisk to get past the human element, since there was no doubt that monsters would be out of place. As she passed people, Papyrus and Gaster snuck behind her.

They didn't have any trouble until they reached a door that Alphys couldn't open.

"I think they're on to us!" Alphys said with a groan. "I-I…Undyne, I think someone's coming!"

Gunshots fired.

"Is everything okay?" Frisk demanded.

"It is now," Undyne answered with a huff of excitement, "but they're definitely on to us!"

"This isn't supposed to be fun," Alphys reminded her girlfriend.

"I can't help it," Undyne whined. "Battle is in my blood!"

Frisk could hear a commotion on the other end of the door. Shouts and hollers of confusion and fear were evident among orders to stay calm. For a moment, she felt bad for them.

Papyrus threw a barrage of bones at the doors.

The screech of metal on metal and wood bursting open caused Frisk to cringe.

Papyrus stepped over the rubble and held up his hand, both eyes glowing with orange fire. Bones appeared in an attack position, pointed directly at the people standing sentry.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen," he said with a scowl. "I have one question, and I expect it to be answered quickly and accurately. If I am not satisfied with the honesty of your answer, you will be punished. Am I understood?"

Frisk wasn't even sure who this skeleton was, but she admired his bluntness. She waited for Papyrus to continue as she listened to the mumbled and scared assurances that his warning was understood.

"Good. Now for my question: Where the fuck is my brother?"