Sans looked down the table, looking at everyone gathered at the table. After his revelation with Papyrus and Mettaton, he called for a meeting. It was the usual gang, Papyrus and Mettaton, Undyne and the Monster child, Frisk and Flowey.
"So why the meeting Sans?" Undyne was the first to speak after everyone was gathered around and seated.
"I think I know what we have to do next, but it's almost definitely a suicide mission." The gathered monsters mumbled fearfully.
"Brother what is your plan?" Sans gave a weak smile and cleared his throat nervously.
"I think I know who messed with the timeline, and there's only one person I can think of that might know anything about him." Undyne grinned and stood, planting a foot on the table.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go get them and force them to tell us that they know!" Sans flinched at her enthusiasm.
"A-about that…" Undyne seemed to deflate a little at his tone. "That monster is… Dr. Alphys."
Instantly the room erupted. Undyne sat with a dead look on her face, but Papyrus stood, yelling at Sans. Frisk and the monster child began babbling in fear and nervousness. Mettaton was trying to get to Papyrus, and ended up speaking over most of the noise.
"Brother what the hell do you think you are implying? Alphys is almost as bad as-"
"Me, I know." Sans didn't let the volume of Papyrus' voice get to him. "I know she did some awful things… which is why I'm going alone."
The room was wrapped in silence for a heartbeat. Then all hell broke loose. Papyrus tried to lunge for Sans, Mettaton using all four arms to hold him back. Frisk had jumped up and ran towards Sans, gently punching his chest. Undyne jumped onto the table and was threatening to beat some sense into Sans.
The shorter skeleton was starting to get a headache but knew he wouldn't be able to talk over everyone. With a glow of the eye and a flick of the wrist, everyone found themselves back in their chairs, unable to stand up.
"Alright can I finish? Anyway, I'll be going alone because hopefully she'll think I'm the other Sans long enough for me to trap her, and if she saw you" He pointed at Undyne, "Or you." He pointed at Mettaton, "She would instantly know something was up."
"Sans you can't seriously think-"
"Besides… I can't risk any of you." Papyrus made a noise but Sans knew if he looked over he would lose what little cool he had.
"You seem pretty calm about this." Mettaton sounded as calm as Sans wished he felt.
"As of now, this is the only option." Sans let his magic up, and everyone shuffled in their chairs. Frisk was the only one who stood. They ran right as Sans and wrapped their arms around his waist.
"Don't want Sansy to go…" Sans ruffled the kid's hair and gave them a reassuring smile.
"Don't worry about me Kiddo. I'm strong." Mettaton whispered something to Papyrus.
"Come along Human, Undyne, Flower monster and Child monster. I do believe it is time to head to the mess hall. Please follow me." Papyrus led the parade of allies out of the room, leaving Mettaton and Sans alone.
"Look Mettaton. I'm not going to change my mind." Mettaton held a hand up.
"I'm not going to try to make you change your mind. I'm just going to…. Prepare you for what you might face." He stood and held out all four arms. "Do you know the full story about what happened to me?"
"N-no. Papyrus gave us a brief overview but…" Mettaton gave a sad smile and gestured for the skeleton to sit.
"The Underlord gave me very strict guidelines to follow… but I refused to follow them. I wanted to perform my way, not his way. I thought I was being… sneaky, but he found out. I was performing for a large crowd, the last crowd I performed for. His… royal guard came up to me after the show and electrocuted me, frying my circuits.
"I woke up on a cold lab table. My wrists and ankles were strapped down, as was my head. I could not… see anything other than the light directly above me. I heard her from the other side of the room… muttering to herself and chuckling.
"I tried calling out to her, but my vocal box was not working. She saw I was… awake and came over. She changed since building my body. She looked crazed, crazed and broken. She said something to me, but I couldn't… understand anything. She jabbed something into my chest and it jumped my circuits. I could hear rumbling and whirling from all around me.
"She stood over me, but someone else started talking. The whole table moved and I saw him. The Underlord stood before me, grinning sadistically. He held up a ripped painting to show me. It showed two masks of sorts, one happy and… the other sad.
"If you want to perform so badly, he said to me, so I decided to let you be the ultimate performer. Alphys moved closer and started welding, pulling me apart piece by piece. They never turned me off, so I was awake for it all.
"To this day I have no clue how long she worked on me, but I know it must have been weeks. She had made me into an abomination, two within one. They found irony in turning me into two robots in one body. The top eyes and arms were to represent the grinning mask, while the bottom arms and eyes were the grimacing mask.
"Somehow, they split my soul in half. They removed it from my body, trapping my ghost inside the metal prison… I could not escape. They put one half… towards the first set. The second half to the second set. Every couple of days Alphys would… pull me back to rearrange my parts again. It was excruciating…. She wouldn't let me sleep at all so I was constantly awake and … experiencing everything…
"Eventually, I managed to subdue the other set, but not before… tangling myself up in the process. The Underlord must have… gotten bored with me. For the first time in months I was switched off… and when my automatic restart booted me back up, I was on the stage, in the dark.
"I tried… radioing for Papyrus, but they removed my radio. There was nothing for me to do… but wait until I expired completely. I had maybe a month or so left when… you found me. I am in your debt for saving me, which is why I am telling you this.
"Alphys has no empathy anymore. She willingly ripped me apart time and time again without remorse. You must be… careful Sans. If anything were to happen to you, Papyrus would be destroyed. He never had… someone to care for him before."
Sans sat in silence, his eyes wide and his jaw hanging low. Out of everything that he could have expected, this was not it. A chill went down his spine. He never knew just how sadistic this other version of himself was.
"Mettaton…" The robot gave him a small smile.
"Do not pity me, Sans the Skeleton. I did not tell you this… for pity."
"Mettaton do you love Papyrus?" That was the last thing the robot was expecting to be asked. His arms moved around a little like snakes before stilling. Both sets of eyes were wide and a faint blush on his cheeks.
"S-sans I do not t-think that is relevant…"
"To me it is. Do you love my brother?" Mettaton looked at the ground sheepishly.
"Yes… yes I do love Papyrus." Sans felt a weight lifted from his chest. He moved to stand in front of Mettaton and took one of his hands.
"Please… if anything happens to me, please take care of him. He needs someone to show him love." Sans gave a small smile and went to leave. Mettaton caught his sleeve and forced the skeleton to look at him.
"Sans, what do you mean? Are you expecting to…?"
"I honestly don't know what to expect. I might be dusted in an instant, I might fix everything and won't come back here… Please just take care of him." It looked like Mettaton wanted to say more, but Sans turned and left, gently pushing the doors open.
He stopped dead, seeing Papyrus standing on the other side, arm outstretched as if to knock. His eyes were wide and his jaw slightly open in shock. Sans could have sworn his brother's skull was a shade or two whiter than usual. How much did his brother hear?
"B-brother…" This was the last thing Sans wanted to face right now. He was planning on leaving in the night, when Papyrus couldn't be there to see him go. Sans sighed and closed his eyes. Reaching out, he brought his brother into a hug. It was a little awkward, Papyrus being a good foot taller than Sans, but neither complained.
"Pap… remember that you're a good kid. You're amazing and loved. Please don't think you're anything else, even if something happens to me."
"But Sans-"
"Promise me Bro!" Papyrus sagged a little, defeated.
"I…I promise brother." Sans dry sobbed once into his brother's chest before pulling himself together. He pulled away and straightened his jacket.
"Hey bro, do me another solid?" Papyrus gave him a sad look, not responding. "Don't let the kid know what happens to me. They shouldn't have to deal with that."
The taller skeleton just nods slowly and places a gloved hand on Sans' shoulder
"I wish you would allow me to accompany you." Sans chuckled and walked out the door. He paused for a second and tossed a last comment over his shoulder.
"And tear you away from your lover boy? I'm not that heartless." He winked and used his magic close the door behind him. Papyrus looked at the closed door, not moving. Mettaton went over to the skeleton and wrapped his arms around his waist.
"Are you okay hun?"
"I finally got the brother I always wanted, and now he's walking right out of my life. I'm just letting him leave me… and there's nothing I can do to make him stay." Tears welled up in his eyes, the dark blue dripping from both eyes, dripping quickly from his good eye, squeezing through the crack in his bad one.
"Oh darling, he's doing this to save you." Papyrus broke away from Mettaton and stalked over to the table. He placed both hands on the surface and rested his weight on them, hanging his head and trembling. "I've never seen you this worked up before…"
"I always loved my brother… even before he cracked my skull. He was never bad. He just lost control sometimes. The real Sans in still in there, I know it…"
"Is that why you stay around him, even though Undyne tries to convince you to leave?" Papyrus' hands clenched into fists on top of the table.
"I know there's still good left in him… Oh Mettaton I feel like I have lost two brothers…" A sob wracks Papyrus' body and Mettaton wraps his arms around him again.
"Don't worry dear. That Sans is quite resourceful. He'll be back by morning, no doubt about it." The robot tried to keep the doubt from his voice.
"I know you are only lying to me in order to bring me comfort, and I appreciate it. Thank you Mettaton." Papyrus sighed and straightened.
"Anything for you darling." Mettaton placed a soft kiss to the side of Papyrus' skull. The skeleton turned into the robot's embrace and cried himself dry for the first time since his brother cracked his skull all those years ago.
So another shorted chapter, but I thought this was a good place to end off. Next chapter will pick up with Sans at the Lab!
Do you like how I'm writing the Underfell characters? I tried to make it all link, and I can explain a little bit of it now. I'll explain the rest as the story continues.
So Underfell Sans has the same powers as regular Sans, but was unable to contain it. The magic took over and caused him to lash out at his brother, causing Papyrus to become bitter and grow up scared of his Sans. Undyne is more subdued because of how Alphys treated her when she tried to fake her death. Mettaton is also more subdued because of his past trauma. Flowey is nice because… well we'll get to that in the next soliloquy, same with Alphys. I have reasons, but I don't want to spoil anything.
If you're confused about anything, shoot me a message and I'll try to clear things up the best I can! I'll also be explaining it more as the chapters progress. I really am enjoying how all of this is turning out!
Thank you for all the love you guys have given me! I'm beyond overjoyed that you guys actually like my writing!
If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, don't hesitate to tell me. My main goal is to improve myself as a writer, and I can only do that though practice and feedback. I have the first part going strong, but I need your help to get the second part rolling!
Until next time!
~Starlight