"Sans, what is wrong?" Toriel asked, walking over to her panicking friend and putting a paw on his trembling shoulder.
"I need to go." Sans said suddenly, brushing her paw off. "Papyrus is in trouble- I need to get to him."
"I'll go too." Frisk volunteered, clambering off of the bed and running over, taking Sans's hand in their own.
Sans shook his head "Kiddo, it's too dangerous-" a small hand was placed on his teeth in a sign to stop talking. Frisk smiled up at him.
"Too bad. I'm going." They said. Sans saw the all-too-familiar determined look on the kid's face. He sighed.
"alright. i see i can't stop ya." He looked to Toriel, desperation darkening his blue eyes "but toriel, you should stay behind-"
"If Frisk is going with you, I shall as well." Toriel interrupted him and smashed down his argument. Her red eyes gleamed with the fire of her resolve. Sans sighed and decided not to waste time carrying this argument on any longer.
"okay. let's go." He held out his other hand to Toriel, who took it quickly and without hesitation. In a flash of scenery they were suddenly in front of the entrance of the True Lab. Frisk blinked their confusion and Toriel looked around the room, eyes narrowed and nostrils flaring, as she searched for any potential danger. Sans swayed a moment, then collapsed onto his knees.
"Sans!" Frisk yelped, trying to pull Sans over their shoulder.
"Sans, what is wrong?" Toriel asked, kneeling down to gently support Sans by wrapping an arm around his back.
Sans's mittened hand rubbed against his skull as small beads of sweat trailed down his face.
"i… tried to warp where i saw 'em last…" he explained in between deep breathes "something is keepin' me from actually getting there…."
Frisk swallowed "Flowey?" they asked nervously.
Sans's eyes blazed brighter "I don't think so." He stumbled to his feet and took a look around. Toriel straightened up and protectively hugged Frisk close to her body. The child shook, burrowing into the safety of her embrace, their eyes wide and afraid.
There was only one force that can make the kid shake like that.
"Not too late to turn back." Sans told them. Frisk shook their head and in turn, Toriel wrapped her arm tighter around them.
"I believe we have both made up our minds." She said. It was clear she saw the kid's determination and perhaps some lingering memory of past timelines stayed with her, as she decided to simply protect them instead of stop them.
Sans shrugged, trying to stay the level-headed monster the two of them knew and were comfortable with. Then the four went into the basement. The elevator ride down seemed longer than usual. Toriel was practically growling through her bared teeth. Frisk was breathing deeply and slowly, trying to calm their racing heart and still their trembling body.
They left the elevator and stepped into a dark hall carpeted and curtained with ill-colored vines. Toriel, with a wave of her paw, set them aflame and allowed them to pass without incident. Sans didn't put his hands in his pockets as he walked down, in fact he took off his mittens and pocketed them instead. Frisk decided not to question the ominous blue glow on his phalanges. There was a better time for it, a better place. For now, they listened to the sound of their footsteps and the racing of their heart.
And Sans's eyes blazed brighter and brighter, eventually bathing the majority of the hall in their blue shine. The only exception to this were the dark, almost black, shadows that traced the group's features and the edges of the vines. When they came across the room before the lab's generator, they saw a familiar eerie face.
"Howdy!" chirped the flower. Sans lifted his arm up, shielding Frisk with his arm as Toriel crouched over them, eyes narrowing and snout furrowing. Teeth baring and nostrils flaring. One arm wrapped around the child's body and the other hand flexed, lighting up into orange flames that joined in and mixed its chaos with the calm of Sans's blue light.
The flower's eyes darted to Frisk.
"Oh, you got loose." He muttered "Oh well. I guess I can deal with you too."
"YOU'RE A FART FACE!" Frisk screamed, ripping themselves from Toriel's hold and running up next to Sans, pointing to accent their statement. Toriel pulled them back and returned them to the safety of her shielding. Both Sans and Flowey made a similar face of part annoyance, part confusion.
"…All right." Flowey muttered. "Anyway." The plant grinned sinisterly, his eyes going dark. "So Sans, where's Papyrus?"
"You tell me." Sans said. Frisk shuddered from the tone as Toriel's grip on them tightened. Flowey suppressed a shudder.
"Well." He chirped, bending his stem to the side. "He's just hanging around."At this phrase, vines from the ceiling dropped down, and it's weights with them. Undyne, Papyrus, and Alphys framed the small flower's as they were wrapped in vines and thorns. Undyne kicked and thrashed, and probably would've been screaming too was it not for the vines wedged in her teeth. Alphys struggled, kicking frantically and putting her hands between the vines and her neck to allow her precious room to breathe. Papyrus was thrown to his knees on the floor, vines tying his hands in front of him and weaving into his skull, locking his jaw into place so he couldn't utter a word. The plant might have made a point to make sure the small scar under his eye was visible.
"Usually I'd say 'good one'." Sans said slowly.
"Guys!" Frisk howled, trying to tear themself from Toriel.
"Release them this instant!" she snapped.
"Nah." Flowey chirped. His eyes were as black as Sans's own "So buddy, here's the deal. You DIE and they" He shook them for emphasis "Get to live."
"D-don't do it, Sans!" Alphys howled, being the only one of the three who could speak. This command was met by a harsh snap of the vine, causing her to shriek out in pain. Sans's eyes darted over to her a moment, and then back to Flowey.
"Or you can just let them go and YOU get to live." He threatened.
"Oh, scary." Flowey grinned "Come on Sansy, we both know you'll just come back. So why not?" Vines wrapped around the bottom of Papyrus's jaw and yanked down cruelly. A muffled noise that may have been a scream rang out from the younger skeleton's form. Sans tensed up. The Flower chuckled a bit and said pleasantly "Or does he just not matter to you?"
Sans stared at the plant a moment. Then he cast a quick glance up to Papyrus. God knows what the damn plant would do to provoke him. Sans sighed.
"eh. guess i'll just come back." Sans said with a shrug. He took a step forward.
"Sans!" Toriel yelped, sounding appalled.
"Don't." Frisk whispered, tears pricking their eyes, shimmering with blue light.
"D-don't do it-" Alphys stammered, tears already streaking down her face "He-he won't let us g-go even if you d-do-" . A vine interrupted her by slapping around her mouth. Undyne and Papyrus both let out a muffled screech of protest as they helplessly watched Sans walk up to the flower. Papyrus had magic tears flowing down from his sockets, and he dropped his head, ashamed and useless.
Sans's eyes darted to Alphys. She tried to stop crying but found she couldn't. In fact, the look he gave her made her sob even more. That was a look she has never seen on Sans yet knew. That was a look she had hoped were never be given to her again, but at the same time she longed for.
That was a look that said 'I Trust You To Fix This'.
She sobbed, sniveling, and ducked her head away from the skeleton's gaze. Sans was placing his faith in a very bad monster, she was sure.
"Good." Flowey chirped. A vine shot down from the ceiling and stabbed through Sans from the back. And the flower's expression turned sinister "Now I'll kill 'em anyway just to piss you off."
"NOPE!" Sans grinned as what was maybe blood or ketchup leaked out of the corner of his mouth. He took a hold of the vine that was stabbed through him and set it aflame with magic. Quickly it set off a chain reaction, following the vines and going to their source where it crackled into an azure flame.
"WHAT!?" Flowey screeched as the blue magic overtook him. The vines holding the three monsters shriveled up, blackened and died.
"SANS!" Papyrus yelped instantly, darting forward to assist his brother. Sans was swaying on his feet, his eyes flickering with their now unsteady light. The vine that had killed him turned to charred dust and fluttered to the ground. But his grin seemed genuine. With a noticeable effort, he rocked onto the heel of one foot and motioned to the dying plant in an arc.
"gggggggggggeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetttttttt dunked on!"
Then he fell and turned to dust.