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Sans landed with an oomf on Alphys's front lawn out of the nothingness from his teleport, flat on his stomach. The wind was knocked from him like he'd just taken a punch to the gut, and he had to take a minute just to breathe. He could feel a light drizzle bouncing off his head and jacket, and he pushed himself up with one hand clutched to his aching chest as he stood.

It's getting worse...

A humongous crackle of energy rippled, so enormous that he could feel it in his bones. The odd assortment of lightning rods atop Alphys's house buzzed and rattled with some unseen force, but Sans could hear the familiar hum of rising energy, felt it right down to his core.

"Al," he wheezed, banging on the locked front door. "Al! Alphys!" Sans struggled to kick in the front door, once, twice, three times before eventually giving up altogether and backing away.

Then the door was blasted right off its hinges by the floating device behind Sans, which he was quick to disperse with a snap of his fingers.

"Come on, Alphys," he pleaded with no one as he raced through Undyne's and Alphys's home, the rattling and shaking of the house already having knocked off several of the pictures from the wall. He stepped right on one and heard a crunch, sending spiderweb cracks right down the middle of the picture of the pair at the beach. "Come on, come on, please god...!"

The basement door was flung open as he sprinted full speed down the stairs, nearly losing his footing several times in his slippers. An eerie periwinkle glow was casting long shadows over the laboratory, dancing wildly back and forth. The hum that he heard grew louder and louder as he approached, and Alphys stood with her back to him desperately making adjustments to the generator.

"Alphys!" he screamed over the roar of the engine. Undyne tapped her on the shoulder, and when she turned around he saw that her nose was bleeding profusely and her glasses were cracked.

"Sans!" Alphys bellowed over the sound of the generator, pointing up to the screen which displayed a large variation of scrolling numbers. "The spike-!"

"I know, I know!" he shouted as he skidded to a stop next to her. "We've got to shut it down!"

"That's what I've been trying to do!" Alphys yelled back. Undyne was nearly pulling her hair out in distress looking back and forth between them. "The particle accelerator powered the phase distortion generator; it just kicked on! I d-don't know what happened, I-I can't shut it off!"

The roaring of the machine was slowly growing louder and louder, and Sans had to resist the urge to clap his hands to the side of his head to make it stop. The dancing lights from within phase distorter flickered from black to blue again and again, almost in a cycle.

"Alphys," Sans put his hands on her shoulders, throwing one last glance back to the device. "I just want you to know... it's been one hell of a ride."

"Thanks, Sans," she ran a hand over her head sheepishly before looking to Undyne. "Undyne, I-I never really got to tell you-"

"Something's happening," Undyne grabbed her and pulled her close, making her blush. "Tell me after we're dead!"

The buzz of crackling energy would have made his hair stand up on end, if he had hair. It grew louder and louder, like standing beneath a rock slide, so loud that he could feel the pounding between his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and snagged both Alphys's and Undyne's hands, half a step away from attempting a last ditch teleport.

And then, just like that, it was over.

There was no grand explosion. No rushing sensation or exhaustion of teleporting. It was just... quiet. Sans blinked, looking about and saw only darkness. He could still feel Alphys and Undyne's hands in his, and he briefly wondered if they had simply been wiped out of existence.

Then the lights flickered back on, and they saw that they were still in the basement. Alphys let out a soft, shaky breath, her eyes wide.

Sans laughed once, then again from shock and surprise and relief all at once, running a hand over his head.

"... We're alive?" Undyne coughed awkwardly, pulling at her ponytail.

"No resets," Sans breathed, his hands rattling as he stuck them into the pockets of his jacket. "The spike-"

"But-but...!" Alphys watched the screen as the rolling numbers went by. "I-I don't understand. The phase distorter... everything lined up, it-it was so obvious. I mean I-I thought so... If-if we didn't cause the spike with the phase distorter, then... what did?"

"That would be... me," said Sans as he stepped out of the phase distorter, closely followed by none other than Frisk. It was dead silent in the laboratory as they all stared at the identical skeleton, who stuck his hands in his pockets and leaned wearily against the metal device."Nice to see you again, by the way."

Alphys fainted on the spot.

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"Ho~ly shit," Undyne breathed through her teeth, staring down at the identical twin.

"Couldn't have said it better myself," the other Sans said as he took a wide sweeping look about the room, grinning slightly as he helped the child behind him down from the phase distortion generator. She stepped nimbly down from the standing metal bullet, arms crossed tightly across her chest. She wore what appeared to be a tattered green sweater nearly identical to ones that Sans had seen her wear hundreds of times and ripped jeans, though for a split second he could have sworn that she was a little bit shorter. Her hair hung limply over her face concealing her eyes, and she showed no expression whatsoever about the current events.

The other Sans, on the other hand, was the polar opposite.

"Nice place, Al," he whistled as he gazed about, and Sans noted that his doppelganger appeared to be rather worse for the wear. His jacket was cut and torn in multiple places and there were what he hoped were ketchup stains on his coat, and one of his slippers appeared to have been set on fire at some point or another.

"Al. Alphys," Undyne held a vial of smelling salts beneath her friend's nose, and she shot up with a raspy cough. "You a'ight?"

"What happened?" Alphys hacked and sneezed, pushing the vial away.

"You fainted," the other Sans said with a small grin. "It's cool. I have that effect on the ladies."

"There's two of you..." Undyne looked back and forth between the identical skeletons. "How... how is this even possible?"

"The phase distortion generator," the Sans closest to her explained quietly, not taking his eyes off of his copy and the girl behind him, who was still silent. "The device must have brought them here."

"Pretty swanky digs ya got here, Al," the alternate Sans leaned against one of the gurneys, his eyes locked onto the scientist. "Must have done some redecorating since we've been gone."

"O-oh, y-you know," Alphys shifted awkwardly, uncertain of how to address him. "J-just a little homely touch here and there. I had a lot of help, it's r-really no big deal."

"What do you mean, since you've been gone?" the original Sans asked, the shock of the situation wearing off and his curiosity growing. "How are you even here?"

The other Sans merely shrugged, sticking his hands back into his pockets.

"Beats me, me," he cocked a skeletal eyebrow. "I figured our story was over."

"What are you talking about?" Sans asked him, desperate for information and simultaneously wishing that his currently stewing theory was wrong.

The other Sans and the Frisk lookalike both shared a single glance, one of the 'blink and you'll miss it' types of looks, and Sans tucked the information tightly away in his mind.

"We... we really didn't expect to ever come back..." the other Sans quietly pulled a comb from his jacket pocket and began running it over his head, earning an odd stare from the child behind him, who was nearly hiding behind him at this point. "It's... it's kind of a long story."

Sans looked back to the shaken Undyne and Alphys before looking back to him.

"We've got time," he responded flatly, kicking a rolling swivel chair over to his duplicate. "Plant your ass and start talking."

"Yeesh," the alternate version of himself grimaced. "And here I thought I was getting to be a little cranky. Guess that makes me right, nyeh?"

The slightly shorter Frisk never took her eyes off of any of them, resuming her place beside the giant standing bullet with her arms crossed. Sans still couldn't see her eyes, but he could feel her gaze locked onto him.

"First question," Sans started before he was interrupted.

"Ooh, I love twenty questions," his duplicate spoke up with a grin. "Is the answer Carl Sagan?"

"No," he deadpanned. "I want simple, easy yes or no answers. Any questions?"

"Yes!" the other Sans clapped his hands together. "Was that one of the 'yes or no' questions?"

Sans pinched the sides his head, groaning.

"Look," he emphasized with his hands as he heard Undyne and Alphys moving behind him. "I really don't have time for any smart-assery here..." the alternate Sans frowned slightly. "Things have been kinda stressful and you aren't helping matters."

"Yikes," the other Sans held up his hands defensively. "Alright, alright, I'll play nice."

"Finally, we're getting somewhere!" Sans let out a relieved breath. "The phase distortion generator was designed specifically for one purpose and one purpose alone, so I'm going to ask you one time and one time only. Do – you know – the location – of Gaster?"

The other Sans stared at him for nearly half a minute before replying.

"No," he stated. "What kind of a dumb question is tha- oh. Oh. Oh my god. You-you can't be serious."

"Where – is – Gaster?" Sans asked again through his teeth.

"Look man, you're getting in way over your head," the other Sans said uncomfortably.

"Where is he?!" Sans didn't even realize just how loud his voice was growing as he drew closer to the sitting Sans. "I know you know where he is," he jabbed a finger at him. "Tell me what you know!"

"Sans..." Alphys put a hand on his shoulder firmly, but it looked like she was barely able to stand. "Maybe... maybe he doesn't even k-know..."

"Bullshit," he rolled off her hand, but fought to keep his anger under control.

"The... phase distortion generator here," the duplicate pointed back at the machine without taking his eyes off of them. "You're... You built this? And... and you're trying to bring back, of all monsters, Gaster?"

"Which begs the question..." Sans crossed his arms. "How, exactly, did we manage to get you instead?"

The other Sans did not speak.

"That wasn't a yes or no question," Sans deadpanned again, and his copy nodded once.

"I kinda figured you'd be asking about that sooner or later..." his duplicate said quietly, almost so softly that he was barely heard.

"The phase distorter reaches into the void..." Sans said as he paced back and forth in front of him. "Normally, I'd shrug it off as an odd coincidence, but I stopped believing in coincidences a long, long time ago," Sans slowly came to a stop before him, never once taking his gaze away from him. "We were supposed to get the one monster with the knowledge to stabilize the timeline once and for all, and instead we get two of the three stooges."

"Was that a crack at me and the kid, or the three stooges?" his doppelganger asked with a small smirk.

Sans opened his mouth and closed it before giving in and letting a small smile show.

"Whaddya know, he does have a sense of humor after all," the sitting Sans wiped his forehead with his arm. "I was kinda starting to worry that maybe we've got more differences than I thought."

"Still didn't answer my question."

"We..." the other Sans glanced back to the child behind him, pausing for thought. "We jumped."

"You teleported." It was a statement more than a question.

"Yeah," he nodded once, looking away. "Like I said, it's-it's kind of a long story."

Sans looked over to Undyne and Alphys, who was holding a hand to her still bleeding nose.

"I've got it handled down here, guys," he motioned to them.

"C'mon, Allie," Undyne helped the slightly woozy Alphys to stand straight, letting her lean on her.

"I'm fine..." Alphys responded uncertainly.

"Seriously?" Undyne scoffed. "You look like you were just hit in the face with a car door. Come on, Al. Let me at least make sure that you didn't get a concussion or something."

Alphys unwillingly agreed, following Undyne up the stairs by the hand and leaving them in relative silence for a while.

The other Sans was the first to speak, hands folded together as he sat in contemplation.

"... So," he said at last. "Can't say it's every day that somebody gets brought back from the dead."

"You'd be surprised," Sans crossed his arms again, leaning against the wall opposite him. He froze, the words finally sinking in. "Wait, 'back from the dead'?"

"Again, kind of a long story."

"So give me the abridged version," Sans said humorlessly.

The other Sans let out a long, heavy breath through his teeth, straightening his back and rubbing his tired eyes before speaking.

"We tried something stupid," the doppelganger answered quietly without looking up at him.

"I assume you mean the whole 'teleporting into the void' kind of thing," Sans asked.

"Yeah. That."

"So why?" he pried. "To what end?"

Again, the other Sans didn't answer for the longest time.

"We... got tired," he looked up at him with an almost pleading expression. "Tired of the resets. Tired of doing the exact same thing over and over and over again. Tired of the pointlessness."

"So then what was the point?" Sans asked. "Teleporting into the void? What are you, suicidal?"

His copy didn't answer.

"... Oh my god."

"It's not as bad as it sounds," the alternate Sans held up his hands.

"Oh my god," Sans ran a hand over his head. "And you tried to take Frisk with you?"

"It was more of a mutual agreement between me and the kid."

Sans let it sink in for a minute.

"You made a goddamn suicide pact."

"Well, when you put it that way," the other version of himself rolled his eyes.

"No!" Sans shook his head. "No, no, there is no 'good' spin of that! What the hell were you thinking?"

"Look, 'buddy," Void Sans drew himself up as he stood. "Do not think that you can judge me. I've been through things that would make your hair curl."

"So, what?" the original balked. "You want me to just accept the fact that you tried to kill yourself and Frisk?"

"That's... not Frisk," Void Sans frowned, looking back and forth between them. Sans blinked, realizing that during the entire event the child had not actually spoken up once, nor had he even looked directly into her eyes.

The child that looked so much like Frisk slowly, gradually swiveled her head upward, her eyes shining from behind her bangs as she stared unblinkingly up at Sans. He felt a shivering chill rustling from the base of his spine as her bright red eyes met his.

"Greetings," she said at last. "... My name is Chara."

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