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Alphys sat with an ice pack over her nose, watching as her former employer tightly hugged his son before her. It was a pretty heartfelt moment, at least until Papyrus interrupted.
"I left as soon as I got the message," he informed them, wiping rainwater from his skull and away from his eye patch and looking about the place. "Love the new doorless look, Doctor Alphys."
"Gee, thanks," Alphys's voice was slightly muffled behind the bag of ice, and Undyne rolled her eyes. "I have to give Sans most of the credit for that though."
"Aside from the rainwater all over the place it's kind of nice though," Papyrus was still trying to move past the kneeling king, and failing miserably.
"I appreciate the effort, Papyrus."
"I hate to be a bother," he started awkwardly, looking back out at the thunderstorm. "But would you happen to have a mop? Perhaps a few dozen rolls of paper towels?"
"Why do you need a dozen rolls of paper towels?" Undyne stared at him.
"Well, somebody's got to dry up the water out of my car."
"Um..." Frisk started awkwardly after checking outside, looking up to Papyrus. "Paps, you-you do know that there's a little button in the car that makes the roof go up, right?"
"My car has a roof?" he clapped a hand to his head. "Are you kidding me? And this whole time I've just been letting it fill up with rainwater!"
"Alphys."
She turned at the sound of Asgore's voice, surprised to suddenly see him standing before her.
"Y-yes, your h-highness?"
"I understand that you are the one responsible for bringing my son back to me," he knelt before her so that they were eye level. "I cannot begin to express my gratitude."
"O-oh," she began turning a bright shade of pink. "It-it really isn't that big of a d- hrrrk!"
Asgore laughed as he lifted her up in a positively bone crushing hug, her feet kicking a little as he swung her back and forth.
"This is a cause for great celebration!" Asgore's booming voice echoed throughout the house. Alphys patted him lightly on the shoulder, struggling in his grip.
"That's g-great and all," she wheezed. "But I c-can't breathe, your highness...!"
"Please," he beamed as he set her down. "Call me Asgore."
"Of-of course, your highness."
"Now," Asgore clapped his hands together loudly. "Can someone please explain to me what this 'end of the world' business is all about?"
"It's... complicated," Alphys dropped the ice pack on the table, frowning.
"So give me the uncomplicated version," Asgore said expressionlessly.
"Long story short?" Undyne grinned. "Follow me to the basement."
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"Where the hell is my boyfriend?"
"And that's my cue," Sans stood with a small smile, watching as Toriel blazed down the stairs.
"Sans!" Toriel scooped him up and swung him around, laughing. "Oh my god, I thought I'd lost y- there are two of you." she froze in place, staring back and forth between Sans and his doppelganger.
"So," Sans said as she slowly lowered him to the floor. "I've got good news, bad news and terrible news. Which one do you want first?"
"Surprise me," Toriel murmured as she glanced back and forth between the nearly identical skeletons. Chara had suddenly become very, very still as she stood directly behind Void Sans, utterly unmoving.
"So," Sans clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Good news is, we know what caused the spike and the world isn't ending. Bad news is, handsome and the kid here don't have a place to stay."
"So what's the terrible news?"
"They're kinda staying with us until we find out what to do with 'em."
Void Sans shrugged.
"If that's as bad as the news gets, I guess it's not so bad here," he grinned up at Toriel. "Nice t'meetcha, by the way," Void Sans held out a hand to her. "Have we met before?"
"Sans," Toriel gently took his hand to shake it, looking back and forth between them before narrowing her gaze on the battered child. "What exactly is going on here?"
"So..." Sans cleared his throat. "We sort of, uh... brought Void Sans here and his 'friend' out of the ether and into our world. They jumped ship on their own timeline, from what I'm guessing is a timeline where monsters never even left the Underground."
"Monsters leave the Underground?!" Void Sans balked at him, mouth hanging slightly open. "So-so all of those weird dreams – the ones where everything turns out okay, where everyone makes it out, that... that actually happened?"
"Well, you didn't think we were still beneath the surface, did you?" Toriel smiled at him kindly.
"I think I need a minute," Void Sans clapped a hand to his forehead, breathing heavily.
"Take two, we've got spares," Sans grinned.
"My child," Toriel beckoned the Frisk lookalike toward her. "Are you injured? You look as if you've been in a fight, are you alright?"
"... Mom?" Chara stood with shaking hands, red eyes watering as she looked up at Toriel.
"It's quite alright, child," she pulled them into a tight hug. "You don't have to worry anymore. I'm here."
Alarm bells suddenly went off in Sans's head and he reached deep for the magic the moment Toriel knelt to hug the child, but when she pulled away Chara's expression had changed to that of misery, tears falling freely.
"Mom," they choked as they buried their head against her. "M-Mom, it-it's me-"
"I know my own child," Toriel replied softly in a wavering voice, pulling her closer. "You don't have to say anything. I know. I know, Chara."
Chara felt silent as they clung to Toriel, shoulders silently shaking. They stayed like that in relative silence for a while, each Sans awkwardly rubbing the backs of their heads.
"Twice now," Toriel started slowly as she stood, hand firmly on Chara's shoulder. "Twice now you have brought my children back to me, Sans."
"It's not really a big deal," both Sanses spoke at once, grinning uneasily at each other.
"I don't know how I can ever repay you," her voice wavered but when she looked up she was beaming. "I can't begin to tell you what this means to me."
"If it's any consolation it was mostly by accident," Sans shrugged awkwardly, moving to place a hand on his copy's shoulder as the sound of multiple people coming down the stairs alarmed him. "I've got a few things to ask Void Sans here in private. I'm... gonna take gorgeous here to Grillby's before it gets cluttered down here."
"Oh god I forgot about Asgore," Toriel groaned, but they were already gone.
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Sans and Void landed out of the teleport at the entrance to Grillby's pub, with the former clutching his chest and wheezing in the chill night air.
"You, uh... alright there, buddy?" Void asked him with his hand on the door.
"Fine," Sans waved him off, straightening his aching back as he pulled out his cellphone and began texting a quick message to Papyrus.
Hey, Papyrus. Are you with Tori?
OF COURSE! WHERE DID YOU RUN OFF TO, BROTHER?
Paps, I need you to keep a close eye on the kid.
OKAY SANS! WHICH ONE?
The new one.
… YOU BROUGHT BACK ANOTHER ONE? SANS, I FEEL WE NEED TO DISCUSS YOUR APPARENT ISSUES WITH DEAD CHILDREN.
Sans slipped his phone back into his pocket, following his doppelganger inside the bar and grill. Grillby had obviously had some work done to the place since the last time he'd been there, as there were a row of neat gaslight lamps along the walls and high ceiling fans slowly circling above. There were a surprising number of customers both monster and human alike there despite the hour of the night, and they both made their way to a couple of seats. Sans's phone buzzed in hi pocket, but he ignored it.
Void Sans whistled lowly, hands in his pocket as they approached the bar.
"Swanky," Void nodded with a grin to Grillby.
"Double order of burg and some cold ones, Grillbz," Sans sat down wearily. "One for me and one for my incredibly handsome friend here."
"Where?" Grillby tilted his glasses, pulling out a pair of bottles from behind the counter. "Behind this other Sans?"
"Oh, ha ha," Sans rolled his eyes, but couldn't help but smile.
"I always said you could eat twice your weight," Grillby grinned back. "At least now you're filling in the extra seat."
"My god I've missed you Grillby." Void was positively beaming back at him.
"You don't seem all that surprised to see two of me..." Sans shifted awkwardly in his seat, and Grillby set his gaze on him.
"Sans, I am a bartender by choice and by trade," he explained with a wry smile. "I have seen far stranger."
And with that he left the odd pair in relative silence, listening to the buzz of the atmosphere. He could feel his cellphone vibrating in his pocket once again, but he pushed it to the back of his mind.
"So," Sans said after a few minutes of quiet contemplation. "I got a few answers out of the kid. Your turn."
"Man, am I really that blunt when I turn all business?" Void gave him an odd look from the corner of his eyesocket.
"Yes," Sans answered humorlessly. "I wanna talk to you about the resets."
"Kinda figured that's what all the pomp and circumstance was about," Void admitted, taking a swig from his bottle. "At least you're smart enough to take me out to dinner first."
"That, and... I don't exactly trust that kid of yours."
"My kid?" Void Sans balked.
"Yes, your kid," Sans felt a pressure in the side of his head building. "You made the decision to jump headfirst into the void with them, they're your responsibility."
"Okay, wow," Void's skeletal eyebrows rose. "You used the 'r' word, you must really be serious."
"I am," he retorted. "Could you please at least pretend to be?"
"Alright, alright," Void pulled at the collar of his shirt. "Yeesh."
Sans took in a deep breath through his teeth as their food arrived, and he let his duplicate get in a few bites before interrupting.
"First question," Sans hadn't even touched his own food. "What's your last memory before you two jumped ship on your timeline?"
"Last thing I remember?" Void swallowed, thinking. "We were in the Judgment Hall."
"Fighting?"
"Nah," Void Sans shrugged. "That was before that. It was after they took over the kid."
"Frisk."
"I try not to use the 'f' word around the kid," Void said utterly without emotion.
"Alright, alright," Sans ran a hand over his head. "Next question. How long were you in the void?"
"No idea..." Void Sans paused, staring through the bar. "It must have been quite a while, if you had time to get the whole Underground out."
"Again, thanks to the kid."
"... Seriously?" Void stared at him, burger dripping juice onto his plate. "Your-your kid saved monsterkind?"
"Why do you sound so surprised?"
"It's just..." Void pulled his jacket a little closer. "It's just weird is all. To see Grillby again. To see anyone again. And you're telling me that your version of the kid actually saves monsters from an eternity underground..."
They both fell silent for a while, Sans watching his duplicate hungrily chowing down.
"You gonna eat that?" Void asked, pointing at his burger. Sans shrugged and passed the plate to him, and he tore into it with passion.
"Alright," Sans coughed into one hand to no avail. "Next question. Have you, at any point in time, seen Gaster after the incident?"
"Nope," he answered immediately.
"Not-not even in the void?"
"Nope," he answered again.
Sans let out a quiet sigh, feeling a weight in his stomach despite not eating anything.
"I've got a few questions of my own..." Void asked between bites.
"Shoot," Sans said, reclining with his hands behind his head.
"How long have we been out?"
"Out as in how long have you been in the void, or how long have monsters been out of the Underground?"
"Either one."
"Frisk got everyone out a little over a year ago," Sans said without looking at him. Void seemed to absorb this information silently, poring over his drink for a long few minutes. Sans's phone began shaking in his pocket once again, and he groaned as he pulled it out of his pocket.
"Come on, Paps, you had one job-"
He froze when he saw how many missed calls that he had, along with a single message.
THE CHILD IS GONE.
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