AN: Yes, this chapter title is a reference to a Pokemon move. Deal with it.
Upon entering the room, you saw Sans hunched over at the workbench, neat line of tools next to him, seemingly hard at work. Slowly, you crept up to him and cleared your throat. "So," you muttered, "What are you doing?"
"We're making a poisonous concoction to put Flowey to sleep. That way, we can get out of here." he replied, not facing you. You gasped, causing him to chuckle and turn around. "I'm joking," he continued. You relaxed your stance, relieved, but at the same time you weren't entirely convinced he wasn't telling the truth. You watched as the elder skeleton took a syringe and extracted a small amount of the green liquid (what did he call it, currengy?) and placed a drop of it onto a petri dish.
"What are you actually doing?" you asked, tiptoeing at the edge of the counter.
"Step back," he ordered, extending an arm and doing the same before he answered, "Creating a higher dose of determination so that Flowey's save abilities can overpower yours. It should enable him the same ability as someone with a soul."
"Don't you think he's tried that already?" A screech echoed from the corridors. You tensed, assuming it was another one of the abominations. Sans ignored the voice, continuing his work.
"Sans?" you whispered.
"Shush," he said gently. "I know what I'm doing. Flowey probably didn't think to calibrate the DT machine to the same frequency as the barrier."
You didn't bother questioning him, since you had no idea what that meant.
After a few more minutes of him tinkering (of which you paid no attention, opting instead to keep an eye out for the abominations), he produced a thin, purple tinted liquid in another syringe. Carefully, he slid it in his pocket and removed the core. "Frisk," he called, turning to you. "Go to the DT Extraction Machine and insert this into the mouth. It should whirr for a few minutes and then boot up."
It took only a moment for the anxiety to set in.
"But what about the abominations?"
"Flowey needs me to get to the surface, and he knows I won't work for him if he kills you," Sans reassured you. "You'll be fine, kid. Trust me."
"You said should. Why would I risk my life with those… if it might not even work?"
Sans knelt in front of you, slipping the core back in his pocket and holding your arms. "Look, I know you're scared, but I promise I won't let anything happen to you. I know what I'm doing, and I'm a stronger monster than you think. I'll keep an eye on you with my magic and if the slightest thing goes wrong, I'll teleport to you immediately. I know what I'm doing. Okay?" Taking a deep breath, you nodded, visibly calming Sans. "Good." He handed you the crystal.
Still nervous but now a bit more confident, you took the shard from him with shaky hands. Cradling it to your chest, you made quick strides down various halls. Somehow, you remembered where the large frame lay in the midst of your trepidation. You approached the impetus with slow steps, looking for an opening. Suddenly, the gem flew from your hands into what you assumed Sans meant as the mouth. Intrigued rather than surprised, you noticed a blue aura around the ball as it moved. "Sans," you thought to yourself, smiling.
The machine did, in fact, whirr to life in a matter of minutes. You grinned, satisfied, and began to tread back when a smell wafted into your nose and stopped you dead in your tracks. Scrunching up your nose, you looked around only to catch a glimpse of orange out of the corner of your eye. You panicked. "SANS!"
In an instant, the skeleton was by your side, arms and knees bent in a defensive stance. "What happened?" he asked, calm but alert.
"I saw something, and-" cutting you off, a deep rumble sounded through the lab. It was bloodcurdling, and you both tensed. "And that." you whispered, pointing to the doorway with trembling hands.
Approaching you was the mad dummy. He didn't look enraged, just sad. His orange body was tattered and his midsection was no longer floating, but his torso was now connected with several sharp, thick, spear like needles. A large knife slashed through his face, lodged in the top of his head with the point jutting out through his eye. He was dripping with something red, resembling blood but thicker and with a much more rancid stench. "Help," it gurgled over and over again in a mumble.
"Flowey, we have your solution! Call off your goons!" Sans yelled.
He appeared instantly. "I don't think you're in a position to be telling me what to do," he sassed, "Especially not with that attitude." You rolled your eyes, trying to joke to hide your fear. The flower continued. "But so soon? Shouldn't you run some more tests on it first?"
"Do you doubt my abilities?" Sans challenged.
"I doubt your intentions," Flowey snapped.
"Our intentions are to get Papyrus back, nothing more." You said firmly. "And to be frank, I don't think you've got a better option. Not that it would be easy to kill you if we tried."
Flowey glared, but resigned nonetheless. "Alright, let's get this over with."
"Stand over here." Sans motioned to the DT Extraction Machine.
"What will this do to me?" The flower interrogated as he moved to stand under the device.
Removing the syringe from his pocket, Sans explained: "It is designed to remove the determination from your body, but with this injection of a hyperconcentrated dose of determination and a reversal spell put on the machine, it will up your determination levels to the amount that a soul like Frisk's would while still maintaining your physical shape, thus allowing you to pass through the barrier. Your body would definitely be able to withstand the amount of energy considering that you're basically made of determination, making it completely safe- for you. If you don't believe me and force me to try it on myself, my body would not be able to withstand the procedure. There's no telling what would happen to Frisk. You, however, will be just fine.
"Frisk," Sans said to you. "Go over to the machine and press the button on the control panel when I tell you to."
You quickly stepped over to panel on the side and readied your hand over the round, red button.
Looking to Flowey for approval, Sans held up the needle once more. Satisfied, the flower allowed Sans to inject the serum into one of his leaves. You watched as he shuddered, shaking both from the magic in the solution and excitement at his chance to finally escape. You too found yourself almost giddy with anticipation.
"Now!" He yelled at you. Wondering why he was so on edge, you tentatively tapped the button in. Coming to life, it let out a loud buzzing, before a man's voice of which you couldn't place followed, saying "Determination extraction initiated."
"What?" Flowey yelled over the loud hum filling the room. "You said you reversed the process!"
"I lied," Sans growled. "Good riddance."
You gasped as Flowey elicited an angry howl that quickly morphed into a shriek of pain when the machine behind him released a blinding burst of energy similar to the one Flowey had used on you when he killed you. It was so excruciatingly bright that you had to turn away, shielding your eyes from the blast. Your breath came out in short spurts. You were shocked; what was Sans thinking?
Drawing you out of your thoughts, a hot hand rested itself on your shoulder. You whipped your head around to see Sans staring at you, eyes sparkling with glee.
"It's go time. He should no longer have the ability to make save points. We have to go before he wakes up."
You slapped his hand away. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?"
Immediately, the same hand clapped over your mouth. "Shush! There's no time." With his magic, Sans brought you to your feet and rushed you along. His other hand was planted firmly on your back to steady you as he began to charge through the halls, towing you along.
You were outraged. Tiny fingers pried his hand away, but you kept running with him. "What are we doing? What happens when he wakes up?"
"One step at a time." Sans whispered. You could hear how exhilarated he was in his breaths.
Winding halls quickly morphed into elevator doors that the two of you darted into, panting like wild dogs. Your stomach spun in circles as the elevator rushed you both to ground level. You wouldn't be surprised if Sans was using his magic to make the ride faster. Your insides cursed him silently.
Not a second after the lift stopped Sans had pulled you out and started running again.
"Hold on a minute!" You screamed at Sans who had already run out the door. You remained in the doorway, hunched over and out of breath. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Finding us a way out! Did you actually think I would give Flowey the utmost power to do whatever he pleases?"
"No, but how does this help us? Do you really think that he won't find us?" You gestured to the underground around you. "He can see everything down here! We can't hide! Soon enough he'll wake up and-"
"I have no intention of running from him," Sans stopped your driveling. "I'm out of ideas, kid. I came here to get some help. I know what I'm doing but I don't know how to push him through the barrier. Also I don't want Flowey to know where we're going or how we're getting there. He doesn't need to talk to these monsters." He waved you along and you sighed, but followed him nonetheless.
Sans moved on through Hotland. Just as he was about to make a left turn, something caught your eye. You could've sworn you spotted something shimmering in the distance. Eyes widening, you shouted to Sans to wait for you and ran over to the place.
"What?" He asked you as you crouched by the ground.
"This is a save point," you said, remembering. You knew Sans wouldn't make anything of the area, but you could. You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, thinking hard about how far you had come, how much of a chance the two of you really had against Flowey, and how hopeful you were then Sans, of all monsters, would have the right connections to monsters who knew something. Stay determined, you told yourself before taking another large intake of air and standing up. "Alright, let's go."
Beads of sweat pooled in your clothes, back drenched, forehead drooling nonstop. Before you had a chance to debate how any place could be so excruciatingly hot with no sun in sight, you saw a stream of flowing water up ahead in the distance. Recognizing it as the place where the boat arrived, you watched as Sans lead you to the edge of the water. Sure enough, the form of a mysterious figure in a cloak floating on a raft appeared before you.
"Greetings," said an airy voice. "I am the Riverperson."
"Good day, Ma'am." Sans said, giving a friendly bow of his head and tipping at the waist. You felt almost jealous at the respect and attention he seemed to give her without any necessity.
"It's been a long time, Sans!" She seemed genuinely happy to see him.
"Any chance you could take us to the other side?"
"Of course, any day for heroes like you two! But that's not all you want, is it?" For some reason, her omnipotent-like knowledge didn't surprise you, but it did make you wary.
"It never is, m'lady. You know me all too well." Sans said with a chuckle. You couldn't help but smirk.
The hooded figure nodded and extended a hand to Sans, who accepted it and entered the boat. You climbed the edge after him and settled down next to him as the Riverperson began to paddle away from the steamy shore.
Floating along, the silence of voices calmed you more than you thought it would. Gentle ripples surrounded you, and you allowed yourself to get lost in the melody of nature, pulling your legs up to your chest and leaning against the skeleton. He chuckled and wrapped an arm around you.
The moment ended all too soon. The ship's captain turned away from the helm, resting her paddle on the edge of the boat where it floated, miraculously without floating away. She turned to face you both and knelt to meet your eyes.
Her arm extended once more to Sans, hands draped with cloth flowing over Sans shoulders. "Those who allow themselves to act on their emotions do not hold the solution." He nodded, bowing his head ever so slightly. You were reminded of how a churchgoer might behave when being granted wisdom by a prophet. However, the funny image of Sans kneeling by a pew faded fast as said prophet then turned to you. "Frisk," she gestured to you before continuing, "You know what is right. In here." She pointed to your soul and you felt a strong pulse of magic hit you. It could be described only as enlightening. "Trust your instincts. Be daring, and as always, stay determined." You nodded and smiled at her, feelings of wariness now dissolved under her kind and knowing gaze. "And Frisk, one last thing." She leaned in close to you, so close you could feel the immense heat of her magic body and the intense emotions her soul resonated. "I know you love, and even lust. Do not allow this to sway your judgment, for you hold the answers and you alone."
A chill spread down your spine. She was right. You too bowed your head before nodding.
Satisfied, the Riverperson pulled away and patted you both on the top of the head. She turned to the helm, and it was then you noticed that ahead, there seemed to be a dark mass, jagged and immersed in clouds of dark blue smoke.
"This is our stop, Frisk!" Sans said, seemingly jittery. The boat docked at the navy blue shore, crumbling with specks of shiny bright minerals among the fields of deep royal cerulean rock.
"Be safe, young monsters. Tread carefully." Your guide to the island announced, reaching for you to help you off first. Once your feet were planted on the ground, the went to Sans, who grasped her hand, but instead of accepting her offer of assistance, he stooped to plant a kiss on her still robed hand. In return, she curtsied to land a mirroring kiss upon his bony head. A sharp spike of jealousy shot up from your toes, simultaneously surprising you. She paddled her little boat away, waving back to you as she disappeared into the mist, a soft tra la la echoing in the distance as she vanished.
Shoving your hands into your pockets and turning to hide your burning red cheeks, you drew your attention to the strip of land, resembling a hall. Curiosity drowned your envy.
Before you could ask Sans what was going on, he motioned for you to be silent and trekked forwards. At the end of the short passageway was a door, large and imposing. Sans reached in his sweatshirt pocket and pulled out the core. You gasped; you hadn't seen him remove it from the DT Extraction Machine. The moment he raised it up to the door, the crystal glowed orange and the gray barricade receded into the doorway to reveal a pitch black, unlit room behind it. Sans stepped in slowly and you followed suit.
"We meet again, Gaster." The skeleton announced.
All of a sudden, the room brightened to show that before you was a monster. Tall and man-like, he donned a black robe and a white, sunken in face with a deep gash across it. Looking at the scar-like structure, you felt like you were looking at the end of the universe, the epitome of nothingness.
*Hello Sans,* he signed with his hands that seemed to float in the air whilst creating a sound similar to a voice changer.
You were dumbfounded. "What is he saying?" you asked. Sans merely shushed you.
*We need your help.* He spoke back in this strange language. You could only assume he was asking for help.
*I know. Do you have my inventions?* Gaster responded.
*Yes.*
"What the fuck is he saying?" you asked again, this time more demandingly.
He spoke again and again, you stared stupidly.
"He said 'Frisk, I presume.' I'm asking what we should do with the help of his inventions." Sans finally answered you. "He can understand you, by the way."
You blushed. "Sorry, and hello, Mr. Gaster."
To your chagrin, he laughed before speaking again. *It's Doctor Gaster to you, young lady.*
"It's doctor. He's the old royal scientist." Sans whispered, biting back a chortle of his own.
"Sorry, Dr. Gaster."
Addressing Sans again, Gaster continued, saying, *The one foolproof way to rid yourself of a time traveling entity is to use just that against them. Look what happened to me. Recruit his minions against him and use his own tactics against him. Then I will take care of him. Even he must know to fear me, for I control everything in the underground.*
Sans nodded. "He said to give him a taste of his own medicine," he whispered to you. *But if we do that, what will you become of the underground? Of you?*
*The underground will be safe. I have power in this realm. You forget I do not have a soul either. It too was shattered with my body across space and time. In fact, the core you hold is a sliver of my soul, the embodiment of my determination. Use it wisely.*
Sans nodded at his words, staring down at the precious gem in his hand, thinking. You noticed Gaster begin to fade out, but before you could say anything, the monster himself spoke up.
*It is time you left. I cannot stay any longer, and Flowey will soon discover you. Good luck, Frisk.* He sent you off with a wave. You smiled and returned the gesture as Sans lazily smiled back at him.
*And Sans!* Gaster called out one last time, fizzling in and out of existence. The skeleton twisted to face him. "Take care, my boy." Sans' breath hitched and he nodded, watching Gaster fade away. The room grew dark and empty once more as the two of you walked out, door sliding closed behind you.
AN: There are slight references to a more-that-platonic relationship between Sans and Frisk from here on out. Deal with it. Also sorry I haven't updated in forever. I hope people still care.