missing data chapter 77
More than just a chunk of stone piercing through the roof, little bits of debris and small rocks fell from the far heights of Snowdin's cavern and plunked into the ever-flowing river. Sans squinted upwards from a spot on top of the house. He racked his memory for a similar situation, and though the house had been swept away in a flood before and Undyne had certainly chucked a rock or two through it, he couldn't recall this type of thing ever happening. On the road or into the water, sure, but not through the roof.
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"What's going on?!" Suzy called from an open window somewhere.
"Uh. Still dunno," Sans replied.
"I think the ghost is back!"
"…D'you want me to do somethin'?" he asked.
"Umm…" A pause— she'd ducked back into the house. "No?!"
"Kay," he said. "Just you and the, uh, ghost, stay outta the livin' room, got it?"
"Yeah, got it!"
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Sans jumped down onto the lower section roof where the rock was stuck and used deep blue magic to wrap the crashed stalactite. His left eye flared in tandem and he cautiously took hold of it. This was pretty stupid, wasn't it? He grinned to himself. Maybe, but if Undyne could do it, stood to reason that he could, too. He dug his fingers in, braced his feet in the snow, and then gave it a heave.
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The huge stone popped out like a cork from a bottle and the short skeleton found himself hefting the thing above his head and holding it there. It weighed next to nothing to him, but he felt the roof beneath him groan.
"Okay. Oookay. Uhhh…" He shifted cautiously and peeked out onto the path before the house.
Though it was submerged in feet of snow, it was otherwise empty. With a grunt and the help of the gravity magic he bent backwards and chucked the stalactite off the roof and into the path, where it landed with a low, resounding boom as it formed a craggy island in the deep snow. He let out a disbelieving huff and rubbed the back of his skull. He leaned over to peek down into the living room from above and caught a little flicker of purple.
"Suz, c'mon, outta there," he said.
"I tried to tell it that!" Suzy protested. "But it…! …Uhhh."
"What?"
"I think it left?!"
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Sans frowned thoughtfully. Not a dream. But not that inexplicable Gaster, either. "You scared?" he asked.
"What?! No!" she protested.
He leaned farther into the hole. "Seriously."
She looked up at him from the side of the room, fists clenched. "I am serious! It's not…! It's just small," Suzy said. "It didn't really do much."
"Uh. Okay."
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Sans pulled back and frowned to himself. He wondered if it could be someone else who'd been lost in the CORE's eruption in the past, like Flora or Suzy herself had been. But then, wouldn't they all be out and back in reality? They were mostly immune to the shifting of time, right? Then again, time was an incomprehensible mess, so he guessed ruling anything out wasn't really possible.
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The cavern rattled; a low, rumbling growl like some beast deep in the dark. Sans peered off into the town and a mild disaster painted itself in his mind's eye. He sighed and cracked a tired smile. Would've been better if Papyrus was home for this. But, as it stood, he was probably the closest thing to the Guard that could get out of their house in this town.
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He took a breath and shifted just in time for the next crack of stone above. He couldn't see, but his slippers skid on smooth, frozen snow and he knew something was about to smash through some other roof. He reached out with his magic and felt it latch; felt the weight press down through it for only a moment before he chucked it out towards the river. The crunch of ice and a splash told him he got it right.
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Another incoming, above Flambé's. A jump through space and he was there, standing on top of the snow beside the place. The air here was distorted by time's changes, so he opted for a less precise approach just in case. He drew up his blaster, a halo of bone spears circling it without even trying. The crack of rock sounded and another large chunk of the ceiling was plummeting down. He aimed with his forefinger, his bright eye flickering gold, and then fired.
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The beam seared the air, vaporizing much of the stone, and the spears shredded the leftovers. What remained scattered harmlessly into the snow. Sans casually sidestepped as a baseball sized chunk that whizzed by his head and then focused his senses, just in case. After a moment— nothing. Crisis averted. For now, at least.
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His vision began to solidify and he squinted through shards of time and up at the ceiling. He didn't trust it.
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He warped up as high as he could and called a blaster up beneath him to catch him. He dropped through cold air and landed solidly on its brow, then let it drift upwards as he waited for his eyes to work again. Once they did, he stuck his arm into the air. Long, solid bones materialized above him. Energy leaked out through his chest and he took a deep breath. He could probably cover main street and not much else, but it was better than nothing.
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With a burst of magic and an unusual trumpet of his hum, a latticework of bones spread at a flick of his wrist, plastering themselves up against the vast, rocky cavern above. His brow furrowed as a little sweat beaded at his temple. He wiped it on the back of his hand and he braced himself, shooting out another layer below in blue magic beneath the support structure. It stretched from around the welcome sign to just before the way to Waterfall. He concentrated hard and felt the magic lock into place. His shoulders slumped and he let out a quiet breath.
"Okay. Alright. That's not… bad." He plopped down to sit on his blaster and absently patted its side. He wondered how long Undyne's sustain was— maybe, combined with his, it would at least be enough until Gaster got back from the lab.
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The magic he cast felt weird, even as the echo of it buzzed around his soul. Solid, though. Maybe he could do more, but he didn't know the limits. Didn't want to push too far and have the whole thing fall apart on top of the town.
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He carried himself home and let his blaster tip him through the hole in the roof where he landed in a mound of snow that had accumulated on the carpet. Suzy sat on the stairs in a blanket, her cheek rested on her fist.
"How long does this junk go on for?" she asked.
"Dunno." Sans stepped back out of the snow and brushed a little off the top of his skull. "Not the right day; not the right time."
"Great." She sighed. "And now there's a snow ghost."
"Did it say anythin' to you?" he asked.
She shook her head.
"Still here?"
"No, I looked away before and now I dunno where the heck it went." She scratched her head. "So, uh, should I be… battling it, or something?"
"Eh. Not if it ain't botherin' you," Sans said. He eyed the hole and tilted his head. "Uh. Hang on."
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He wandered to their strange basement and, amongst the dog stuff and the glimmering shrine, he found that round, green card table that Toriel had chucked at one point. It was propped on its side against the wall, with a bunch of cards scattered on the floor around it. He grabbed it and stashed it away in his wonky phone. A quick warp outside to the roof again — he yanked the table from his item box and thunked it upside-down across the opening.
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Back in the living room, Sans flopped heavily on the couch. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his messed up eyes. The teleport was worth it. It made him feel a little more like himself, despite every other bit of nonsense that was happening to him.
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Suzy heaved her blanket up into her arms. She eyed the snow on the carpet suspiciously, then looked up at the green blocking the hole above. She tiptoed around the frosty mound and clambered up on the couch to curl up against the arm of it.
"Why don'tcha go upstairs?" Sans asked.
"No way," the kid grumbled. "Not unless you do."
"…What, you gonna make me get up?"
Suzy grinned smugly. "Then can I watch TV?"
Sans handed her the remote. She grinned and turned the TV on as he slumped low against the back of the couch, sticking his hands deep in the pockets of his hoodie.
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The screen still wasn't comprehensible visually, but it sounded a lot like an MTT cooking show. After only a few minutes, crocodaur snoring was added to the soundtrack. Took him a couple minutes more, but eventually, the skeleton peeled himself from the cushions and scooped the snoozing kid up. He took her back to Papyrus's room and tucked her into the kids' bed.
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He watched the little monster curiously, wondering about the thing she was calling a ghost. He rolled his fingertips and then rested his hand in the air above her. He didn't feel any unusual magic bound to her soul or settled around her. He frowned thoughtfully. His phone may not be working as a phone, but he didn't see a reason why it couldn't still be a camera. He set it up to record and propped it up near Papyrus's computer, just in case, before slipping back to the hallway.
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Sans tried checking the time but every clock in the house said something different. That made him laugh, at least.
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He was just about to get settled on the couch again when something told him it wasn't a good idea. He stood up on the cushion and their loose door gave way under a torrent of water that rushed into the house.
"Oh. Alright. New," Sans said. He got up on the arm of the sofa and tapped his teeth thoughtfully as the water raised up over the seat cushions. "Heh. There goes my books. Uh…"
Something cold drummed in his head, a solid, confident thought. Like the word ice repeating over and over again. Why did he keep thinking of that? He looked down at the water. Wasn't much of a risk except for soggy slippers. He let his soul light brightly in his ribcage and stepped down onto the cushion that was only barely submerged.
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Ice. Spreading outwards like giant snow crystals from his foot. His eye brightened blue and his grin widened. He fully stepped down and the water beneath him became as solid as the ground should have been.
"Cool." He tapped his foot and the ice spread. "Cool, cool."
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He wondered if Undyne had ice magic, hidden away somewhere in her. He'd never seen her use anything like that, but it wasn't out of the question. He was pretty sure she could control water if she was pushed to it, so ice wasn't too big of a stretch.
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He strolled to the door and peeked out into the street— or, what was a street just a minute ago. It was a river, now, flowing down towards the centre of town along the path of least resistance. But, more than that, Snowdin was in a state he'd never seen before, something he'd all but missed except from within his sister's memories. The start of spring.
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It was warm out. The evergreen trees were shimmering and bright green without a layer of white overtop of them, and what ran beneath swift but clear water was not snow, but grass. There was daylight beaming down from above in a way that didn't make sense. Sans stepped outside and looked up, shielding his eyes with his hand.
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All his work up on the cavern's roof from the cave at the end of the road until about the centre of town was already gone, banished through time. Instead, large holes in the stone opened up into sky, with sunlight pouring through. Sans stared, wide-eyed. They'd had the literal top blown off the mountain before, but, just like the plummeting stalactites, this was new.
"Welp. Okay," he said quietly. He peered down the road and saw that, strangely, snow still lingered a long way down the street, unchanged but for the water.
A ruckus of hollering and the baying of hounds erupted from beyond the large Gyftmas tree. Calling for help? Probably.
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Sans cast a swath of ice before him and slid down the river, past where the town changed abruptly from greenery to snow again, to find a group of the dog guards stuck in the flow precariously close to the painted stone bridge out of town. As the new river flowed out over the edge of the cliffs, Greater Dog held tight to the town's welcome sign, big, gauntleted fingers cracking the wood. The married dogs hung from his sides, Doggo latched to Dogamy's leg with his teeth, and the smallest dog guard dangled from the former's tail. Sans quickly seized Lesser Dog up in blue magic and plucked him out of the water while offering a hand to Doggo.
"Gimme your paw," he said.
The black and white dog stared up at him with bafflement, but grabbed him quickly and was hoisted up onto the solid ice, coughing and spluttering.
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The married dogi were next, and Greater Dog managed to climb out on his own with enough frozen water within his reach. He sat down, panting, and wiped a big hand over his doggy brow. Dogamy and Dogaressa huddled against each other on the ice, sniffling from cold. Lesser Dog clung to Sans with strong little paws.
"How'd you do that?!" Doggo demanded. "Did you get buff?!"
"Nah," Sans said.
"Wh-Where's th-the Captain?" Dogamy asked. "She's usually here if there's a b-big emergency like th-this!"
"Uh." The skeleton kept his face blank effortlessly. "She, uh, caught a cold. Needs rest."
"W-Wait, who's in ch-ch-charge, then?!" Dogaressa asked. "Who d-do we call about s-something like this?"
Sans shrugged. Doggo pushed in close, nearly slipping. He latched onto Sans's shoulders to steady himself.
"Why do you smell like her?" he asked.
"Just saw 'er."
"Oh." The pooch looked suspicious, but only for a moment before his paws lost their grip and he had to lean forward, propping himself up against the skeleton. "Oomf. Which of us is the highest rank again? Is it you?"
"Nope. Bottom of the pack," Sans said. "I'm just a part-time sentry, remember?"
"Oh right."
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"I-It doesn't m-matter." Dogaressa sniffled and carefully got to her feet. "W-We should, um…! W-We shoooould…"
"E-Evacuate!" Dogamy said. "I mean, e-everyone, not just…" He sneezed and Dogaressa cooed and hugged him close. His white fur flushed faintly pink in the cheeks and his tail wagged. "E-Everyone, not just us."
Lesser Dog let out a little woof.
"He's right," Sans said. "Ruins should be safe."
"Oh! And the riverperson has a boat! I know! I've seen it drifting around," Doggo said.
"Sounds like a plan." Sans flicked finger guns their way and then slid out of the grip of the dogs to leave them clinging to each other. "I'll, uh, clear out my place."
"S-Since you c-can freeze stuff now," Dogaressa called to him, "c-can you st-stall the river from up that way?"
He winked. "No idea. I'll, uh, see what I can do. Maybe give the ice wolves a howl, huh?"
"Graetsif?" Doggo asked.
Both married dogs nodded. "Graetsif," they agreed.
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Sans skated back up the street as the dogs recombobulated, but he headed straight home before anything else. Inside, the water had seeped up the first few steps and there were some post-its floating around the room.
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Suzy still slept soundly upstairs, unbothered and snoring loudly. Sans reached over and took her shoulder, giving her a gentle shake.
"Hey. Kid," he said. "We gotta go."
"Mmnnh, don't wanna," she grumbled.
"Same, but the house is floodin'," he said.
"…I can swim."
Sans snickered. "I know. C'mon."
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As the crocodaur grumbled and rolled out of bed, Sans grabbed his phone and a shoulder bag from the closet. He packed up some of Papyrus's favourite stuff, just in case. Suzy rubbed her eyes with both palms and smacked her lips.
"Is it even morning yet?" she asked.
"Welp. It's sunny, at least," Sans said.
"Sunny?" Suzy frowned. "That's weird. I mean, that's weird, right?"
"Yup."
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Clutching her plush lizard close, Suzy groggily followed the skeleton out, only to freeze with surprise at the sight of the water and ice below, and the sunlight above . She whipped around quickly to give Sans a baffled look.
"Sans! Where the heck are we?!"
"Still Snowdin." He stepped back onto the ice and the frosted surface grew.
"Seriously?!"
"Yup."
The kid gulped, but she quickly shoved her plush into her hoodie and jumped out onto the water to follow him towards Waterfall.
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"Why is this happening?" she asked. "Time stuff?"
"Think so," he said. "The floodin' ain't actually that unusual, it just, uh, doesn't usually come out of the cave."
"S-So…? So what do we do?" She looked down at the ice beneath her feet, eyes tracing the faint lines of air bubbles caught beneath it.
"Get to the lab. It's got all kinds o' safety stuff in case of crap like this," Sans said. "But first, figure I'll, uh…" He was tired already. "I'll head into the lake and see if the guy in charge of the water can turn it off for a bit."
"You think that'll work?"
Sans grinned and shrugged. "I'll give it a Whorl."
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They reached the entrance of the cavern; it was still spewing water. Sans rolled up his sleeves. He knelt down and reached into the river up to his elbows, magic gleaming as he tried to freeze as far down as he could. A frosty aura swirled around him and he felt hardened ice touch his fingertips. As he drew back out of the water, the solid section expanded to follow his hands until a short, frozen wall formed. Water still sloshed up over the top of it but, at least for now, the flow was slowed.
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He stepped over the edge to freeze enough surface to stand on, then grabbed Suzy in blue to hoist her up with him. She followed along behind him, her eyes skimming the ice suspiciously as it began to faintly glow with the water. Deeper into the cave, shapes moved below the surface. She shivered, though she knew it was probably just other monsters swimming around.
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They walked through the caverns until the water turned black before them and the tiniest tips of the high grass could be seen poking up a ways away, barely breaking the surface. Sans stopped and grabbed her shoulders, then shifted her a few steps backwards.
"Hang on." He paced back and forth beside her to make a large swath of ice, then gave it as hard a stomp as he could — it didn't budge. "Hate to leave ya, but d'you mind for a minute?" he asked. "If you, uh, stay right about here, if the water goes down you should end up on the dock."
Suzy scrunched up her face, but she nodded. "I'm not a baby, I can stay by myself."
Sans grinned. "Oh, perfect." He took off his sweatshirt and plopped it over her head like a hooded cloak, then put the shoulder bag down beside her and kicked off his slippers. "Be right back."
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Sans's aim was for somewhere deep in the lake, near the leviathan Whorl's home. He wasn't sure if that's where the old monster did his work, but he figured it wasn't a bad guess.
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He sank, blind in the dark, his skull spinning and aching as water flowed through him. He put his arms behind his head, kicked back, and waited. When the dizziness faded, it was still too dark to see anything but the faint light from his own, light blue soul. He could feel a current, though— the water rising up, from the depths, charged with refreshing magic.
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Sans snapped his fingers to conjure a blaster beneath him. He settled on its brow and drifted down against the flow, trying to follow it towards its origins. He turned the blaster's snout into the the current and his eye brightened as he urged it forwards. It took off like a rocket, almost sending the skeleton tumbling. He gripped hard onto it and tried not to laugh.
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Deeper and deeper he plunged until the darkness was cut by a faint orange glow that stencilled an outline between the black and some massive, hunched form. Whorl floated just above the lakebed, eyes closed, whiskers glowing with that same orange as his long, sharp fingers were held, tented in a triangle, over top of a large crystal that looked to be swirling with magma and iridescent magic.
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Sans drew forward, eyes wide and glimmering. It was an ancient MANA Node, structures that were created before the CORE was, made to help distribute magic throughout the kingdom. There were only a few left; he'd seen the one deep in the caverns in Snowdin's valley, but only a handful of times.
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The skeleton sat cross-legged on his blaster and watched for just a moment before he made a sound as if he was clearing his throat. One of Whorl's eyes slid open slowly.
"Oh. Tiny one. Hello," he said. "I'll be with you in a moment."
"Actually, I'm, uh, here to interrupt," Sans said. "It's kinda floodin' up there."
"That is the intention," Whorl said.
Sans snickered. "I know. But it's overflowin' into Snowdin. Seems like it's a lot more than normal."
"Oh?" Whorl's other eye opened and he blinked slowly, his ears flaring forward. He pulled away from the crystal and its light dimmed slightly. "That is unusual. Have I miscalculated?"
"Doubt it. Things are just wonky all over the place."
"Are they? How bizarre."
"Sure is. Mind holdin' off for a few days?"
The massive monster nodded. "Of course. I can delay by two, if that is helpful." He scooped up Sans and his blaster in his huge, long hands. "Let's see the up-there, shall we?"
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The leviathan swam straight up with smooth, relaxed movements, raising his long neck up to break the surface with the top of his head a little while before the body reached as well. He paused there for a moment, then raised Sans up out of the lake, too. The skeleton braced himself just before he hit the air. It was always a strange sensation to have water rush out of every hole in his head.
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Sans wiped his eyes on his hand. The huge monster gave him an apologetic smile, then looked upwards. They were right at the edge of the cavern, up against the stone wall that reached up beyond sight. Whorl put his other hand on the rock and ran his fingers down it.
"Hm. I see," he said. "Yes, far too high. How strange. I do apologize."
"Don't think it's you," Sans said. At least, it wasn't Whorl now, he thought. It might have been multiple, compounded Whorls, though.
The leviathan frowned thoughtfully. He looked along the wall, then twisted around to peer across the water. His eyes grew wide. "Is that a child out there?"
Sans squinted into the darkness. It was Suzy, of course, a little purple speck still out on the ice that made a platform where the dock should have been. She was hunched over, peering intently out into the water.
"Oh, yeah, she's with me," he said. "Takin' her somewhere a little more solid."
"That's good." He gently placed Sans's blaster back down in the lake like he releasing a fragile toy. "There you go, tiny one. It should recede soon." With that, the leviathan melted into the water, leaving hardly a ripple in his wake as he sunk back to the depths.
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Kicked back into action, the blaster skull skimmed the lake's surface with ease. As Sans got closer to Suzy, the kid jumped up and waved to him.
"The ghost c—!"
The water level plunged a few feet out of nowhere and the kid yelped and tumbled as the ice below her dropped, too. Sans ditched his blaster and blinked over to the dock, landing on his tailbone as he caught the kid's soul in blue just before she hit him. Shards of ice scattered around, crumbling into sparkling dust or disappearing back into the lake.
"C-Crap!" Suzy squeaked.
"Are you right-side up?" he asked.
"No!"
"Should I turn you, or—?"
"J-Just drop me!"
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He did, and she landed on him, knocking him flat. The kid grumbled and climbed off him and back onto the damp dock. She raked her claws through her hair.
"This is crazy," she growled.
"Sure is," Sans said as he stiffly propped himself up into a sitting position. "Y'okay?"
"Yeah. But the ghost came back."
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Sans rubbed the back of his skull. "Learn anythin'?"
"Nothing," the kid grumbled. She sniffed hard and wiped her snout. "Oh. It had red eyes this time."
"…Huh." Sans frowned. He tried to picture it— a little shadow ghost with horns and red eyes. It didn't ring a bell. "Stuff from the void usually doesn't have much colour, right?"
"I dunno, I guess not," Suzy said. "Or, at least, that freak who tried to pick you up and his weird power didn't. Like what your dad did to Captain Undyne." She leaned closer to him. "So, uh, what do you think?"
Sans tapped his teeth. "Welp…" He had the nagging feeling it might be something void related anyway, but he couldn't place it. "Might just be a normal ghost outta its normal time, y'know?"
"…Okay." She didn't sound convinced. "Why's it keep comin' to me?"
"No clue, kid. Did you ask it?"
"Yeah, but it doesn't say anything," she said.
Sans pushed himself to his feet as his vision began to flicker out of darkness. "Maybe you're pals in the future or somethin'."
Suzy rolled her eyes. "Pff, yeah right," she said.
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Once Sans's vision was as normal as it was going to get, he grabbed his stuff, Suzy passed him his black hoodie, and the two crossed the lake on his blaster, setting out again on the way to the lab. The path they travelled was damp and more water than usual dribbled down the walls and dripped from the ceiling. Otherwise, things were mostly back to normal, save for some extra water accumulated at low points in the stone. They peeked into the cave beside Gerson's to see if Papyrus was still there, but they found it completely empty of everything.
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Just as they reached the sign announcing the entrance to Hotland, Sans's phone beep-booped. The screen had a big alert message on it, directed to the whole underground. It apologized for the phone disruptions, then explained that they may be ongoing. If problems happened again, there were instructions to use an emergency voice mail system that he included a code for at the end of the note. It was signed off from Gaster, former Royal Scientist and backup plan enthusiast.
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An uncomfortable familiarity struck the skeleton. They'd had to do something similar not long before the CORE had erupted ten years ago. He was sure that bit of history wasn't lost on his father.
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The way into the lab was unlocked, and inside, only half the lights were on. The second they closed the door, boots thumped from the second floor and Papyrus vaulted over the railing. He ran to greet them with a big, relieved smile on his face.
"Hello, brother and my excellent assistant! I was trying to call you! But I kept just getting nightmare sounds. I did get an awful lot of unreadable texts, though." He looked Sans up and down. "You're a mess."
"Ended up in the lake again," he said with a shrug.
"Ah. Well! Understandable, we almost did, too," he said. "But! Don't worry! I'm prepared, as always." He whisked a new set of clothes out of his phone and handed them over to Sans. "I feel like we juuuust did this."
"Same," Sans said with a laugh. "And I was just here, too."
"Were you?!" Papyrus said shrilly. "Huh."
"Yup." He winked. "Gotta stop makin' my own personal time loops, huh? Be right back." He vanished.
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Papyrus's brow furrowed lightly, but then he turned to Suzy and knelt down. "I'm glad to see you! Did you sleep well?"
"Not really," she said. "Rocks fell through the roof and the town flooded."
"It… WHAT?!" Papyrus said shrilly. "Was everything okay?! Nyeh, what a disaster! Should I head back there?!"
"I dunno, if you want, I guess? I think your brother mostly handled it?"
"Did he?!"
Suzy shrugged. "Like, he froze the stuff and stuck a table over the hole in the roof."
Papyrus's eyes went wide and he put a hand to his brow. "He…!? What?!"
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"Papyrus?" The large, fluffy form of Toriel peeked down from the second floor as well, a concerned look on her face. Her expression softened when she saw Suzy and she hurried down the escalator to join them. "Hello, little one. You did not come here on your own, did you?"
"Sans brought her," Papyrus said. "But I doooon't quite understand what's going on. It sounds like back home is a mess!"
"With that volume of water pouring so suddenly from everywhere, I'm not the least bit surprised," Toriel said, folding her arms. "I hope everyone is safe…"
"Guess you guys got caught in it, huh?" Sans reappeared at the door in a clean white tee and black shorts that looked almost the same as before.
Toriel couldn't help a smile. "Hello, sweetheart. Yes, we did," she said. "We were heading home this morning but we were forced to come back this way not long after we began."
"This morning?" Suzy looked confused. "What even day is it? Is it the same day?"
Toriel cocked her head to the side. Papyrus scratched his chin, brow furrowing.
"We ended up staying overnight at King Uncle Asgore's by accident," he said. "Why, is…? Wait, are we not lining up?!"
"Got literally no clue what time it was back home," Sans said. "Every clock said somethin' different."
"Well that's not helpful at all!" He whipped out his phone and tapped on the screen a few times, then shot a disapproving frown at his brother. "You haven't been updating the app!"
"Uh. Oops?"
"Ugh, but you're the one who notices the most! Give me your phone I'll do it for you, tell me everything that changed." He snatched up his brother's phone, then gave him a quizzical look. "Wait. I had a weird thought."
"Okay," Sans said.
"Could it be that different parts of the underground are divided into different times?" he said. "I mean, Minerva's was…" His cheekbones flushed faintly. "Minerva's house and even Uncle Asgore's seems like its own little spot, so maybe there's more? Does that make sense?"
"Bro, you okay?" Sans asked.
"Yes, of course!" Papyrus said quickly. "Anyway, what do you think? That's possible, right?"
"Seems like it." the short skeleton folded his arms. "…CORE's still too much of a mess to plug my machine in, yeah?"
"YES it is, according to Alphys!" Papyrus said shrilly. "And have you rested?!"
"Uh."
"We've been busy with stupid stuff," Suzy said. She rubbed her head. "Is the world melting or something?"
"Oh, it's just having a minor collapse because some mysterious time kids were rude and-or extremely aggressive around an impressionable ghost who burned a bunch of souls in space or something," Papyrus said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Anyway! Maybe we should—
"What, my ghost?" Suzy said.
"You have a ghost?!"
"Dear, you don't mean Chara, do you?" Toriel asked quietly, her hands clasped tightly together.
"No matter what she was doin', she didn't know this was gonna happen," Sans said. No, he thought, Chara's endgame had been far worse, but at the very least, he knew she'd never intended for the world to writhe and twist like this.
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Toriel smiled faintly and she nodded.
"Who's Chara?" Suzy asked.
Some words stalled on Toriel's tongue. Before she could answer, the door from the back room and the elevator opened up. Alphys came out first, then Asgore squeezed himself through the doorway. He stalled upon seeing everyone, his puffy eyes widening. He cracked a smile and dipped his head.
"Howdy," he said. "Looks like a bit of a crowd here. I hope nothing's wrong?" His ears drooped after a moment of scanning their faces. "Oh my. Something is wrong. Can I help?"
"I doubt it," Toriel said with an apologetic bend to her brow. "We simply have to find an opportunity for Sans to use his time machine."
"Ah. True." The King looked at Sans and tilted his head to the side. "Did you not wish to come back downstairs?"
"S-Sorry, Sans, I thought you left," Alphys said.
"Uh. I did. Hours ago," he said.
Asgore blinked. Alphys frowned and put her hand to her mouth.
"W-Wait, did…? Did you? When…? B-But I—"
"Could have sworn it wasn't very long ago at all," the huge monster finished.
.
"Okay, hang on one second!" Papyrus announced. "Time check!" He pointed to Sans and Suzy. "When are you?!"
Suzy shrugged. "Dunno."
"Saw sun back home but it's not like that means much," Sans said. "Let's say mid-mornin'?"
"OKAY! And you!" The tall skeleton whirled on Alphys and Asgore. "What time is it?"
"…I'm not sure," Asgore said. "Maybe… past midnight?"
"Can't be m-much later than that," the lizard agreed.
"Hmmmmm." Papyrus stroked his chin.
.
Behind them, the door to the lower floors opened again. Gaster strode out, pulling off a set of gloves and looking quite satisfied with himself.
"Guess who fixed the— Oh, is everyone here? Did something else get banjaxed?"
"DAD! Excellent timing!" Papyrus said. "What time is it?!"
"Uh." Gaster counted on his fingers. "It should be exactly 3:09 in the morning, why?"
"That late?!" Asgore said. "Goodness."
"You stayed out 'til three?" Sans teased, making his father smile sheepishly.
"For mom and I, I'd say about six-something in the morning, right?" Papyrus announced.
Toriel nodded. "I would wager that is a good guess."
"So! That means!" Papyrus shrugged. "We are all messed up."
Sans snorted out a laugh. "Yeah."
.
Alphys's snout crinkled and she hurried to her computer and scrolled backwards on the seismic timeline. There were a few straight, vertical lines in short succession, and she hovered her mouse over them with a thoughtful frown on her face.
"I-It does look like there are, um, a c-couple jumps here that go back to the exact same datapoint," she said. "I guess th-that might account for it?" She rubbed her head. "I w-wonder if…?" She wandered to her hotplate and gently hovered her hand around the kettle that was sitting on it. "Ah! God, th-that's… so cold. I could've sworn I… just p-put it on, but it's—"
"A mess," Papyrus said.
"A big mess," Sans added.
"A big damn mess!" Suzy said decisively.
Most of the adults tried not to laugh, except Sans, who snorted loudly.
"W-Well, that's o-okay, I can just boil it again, I…" Alphys's eyes brightened and she looked at Suzy. "Oh! If it's… y-your morning, you must be hungry, right?"
"Uh." The kid hesitated. "Maybe?"
"D-Don't be shy!" Alphys assured her.
Suzy's mouth twisted to the side. She tapped her claws against each other. "…You, um, got any chalk?"
"Um… N-No, I don't… think so," Alphys said. "But I have a-all kinds of cute candies and sn-snacks from New Home and…! Come with me upstairs, and you can pick some things out!" She waved Suzy along and the two reptilians headed for the escalator. "And we can choose some teas or something, too! Anyone else is w-welcome to join, too!"
.
Papyrus was about to follow along, but Sans grabbed his arm lightly.
"Sure you're alright?" he asked.
The tall skeleton's face flushed a little. "I'll be okay. Don't worry. We can talk about it later." He shot a look at Toriel and dipped his head, then hurried away to follow Alphys and Suzy. "I'll be back in a second so you can tell me everything that happened back home, though!"
.
Gaster stared after him with a puzzled frown. "…Did I miss something?" he asked quietly.
Toriel dropped her voice to a whisper. "Minerva's home seems to have become lost in time. He wasn't able to find her again."
"Oh no," he said softly.
"Ah, crap," Sans said. "Nah, ain't waitin' on that." He disappeared.
.
"Minerva?" Asgore repeated, eyes wide.
Toriel's eyes grew cold and she straightened her shoulders. "Yes, Asgore. Does the name ring a bell?"
The King's mouth drew back into a thin line. The woman's smooth, white fur bristled. Gaster stepped forward and put his hands out as if to shove the current in the air downwards.
"Tori, he didn't—"
"She was so sick," she said sharply. "And she couldn't even r—!"
"I know. It's… my fault she had to hide," Asgore said quietly.
"Nobody who was around is without blame," Gaster said. "Myself included. But we wouldn't have been able to help her regardless, not without years of study and experiments that would have caused more suffering than not." He flinched. "The same as with Chara, in the end. I'm so sorry."
Toriel let out a little huff and some of the rigidity left her posture. "You… You're right, Gaster. I apologize." Her ears drooped. "Seeing her again and st… Spending all that time." She shook her head. "I know I made so many mistakes, as well." She gritted her teeth. "If only I'd known she was… there. But she couldn't…" She clammed up and stared at the floor.
"Tori, you…?" Asgore's voice warbled and he gulped, pushing forward a little. He clamped his hands together. "Um. So, she appeared? Like Makena did?" he said, his eyes brightening despite himself. "…I'm very glad you got to see her, Tori."
Nodding curtly, Toriel bit back a sigh and folded her arms to her chest.
.
Gaster's face softened and he patted Asgore on the shoulder. He turned his gaze up at the second floor and, in their silence, they could hear Alphys listing candy names and the skeleton brothers mumbling off on their own. He rubbed the back of his skull.
"I really did miss something, didn't I?"
"Things only seem to be accelerating," Toriel said. "Apparently Snowdin is a disaster."
"Cromadh cnámh, do I have to go back there?" Gaster asked.
"I don't believe so, but—"
"Should I?" Asgore butted in. "I am the King, after all, if they need help, I—!"
"The dogi got it handled," Sans called from upstairs.
"Sans, are you certain?!"
"Dad?!" Papyrus leaned over the second floor and looked down at the others with wide eyes. "Or, Uncle King?! Could Undyne do ice magic?!"
"Ice? Not yet, I don't think," Asgore said. He looked to Gaster with puzzlement. "Mer could do ice, couldn't they?"
"Usually water, then evolve the ability into ice with further study," the skeleton said. "Why?"
"Sans can do ice now!"
"You WHAT?!" Gaster asked.
"Wh—?! That's amazing!" Asgore said. "Congratulations, son!"
"Let me see that right now," the skeleton said, rushing up the stairs.
.
Asgore chuckled. He looked at Toriel with a smile, but was given pause by her grim expression. "What is it?"
"His soul must be going through such changes. This feels…" She sighed and lowered her voice. "It feels so wrong, to have everything on Sans's shoulders. He is young, and he is weak, and has hardly even been able to rest since he fell down."
The big goat's brows fell. He reached out with a trepidatious hand and, when she didn't recoil, he held her shoulder with a strong, sturdy grip. "Look how much support he has. He won't be on his own."
She didn't look terribly consoled, but she nodded nonetheless. "It's true, but Gaster's been… having a hard time, and now even Papyrus… Without Captain Undyne, I am even more worried about him. Even Alphys seems to have been going non-stopped, and with this problem with the CORE, I can't imagine she will be in any state to deal with much more than that."
Asgore drew back and clasped his hands together. His ears perked and his eyes glimmered. "I know," he said.
"…You know," she echoed.
"Yes! Exactly!" He headed towards the door to go farther back in the lab, then doubled back quickly. "Bring everyone to my home soon. Give me, perhaps, half an hour."
"Asgore, what on earth—?"
"I have an idea," he said. "We can all take a little rest to prepare for the next step, and I'm sure…! Well! You'll see." He smiled brightly and walked away swiftly with a little bounce in his step.
.
Toriel stared. She rubbed her head and slumped into the nearest chair that could hold her.
.
Upstairs, Gaster rushed to where Sans and Papyrus sat off in a corner. He carried a glass of water filled almost to the brim carefully in both hands, using his magic to drag a chair over to join them. He sat down and offered it to his son, eyes shining. Sans snickered and, with a flicker of magic in his finger, tapped the top of the liquid. Pale blue ice frosted the top, then spread farther into the cup, frost crystals spiralling along the edges. Papyrus's eyes bugged out and Gaster beamed.
"Now that's something, isn't it?"
"Remind me not to get used to it, huh?" Sans said.
"You never know, you might be able to learn it in normal time if you actually put some effort in!" Papyrus said.
"Nah, think it's probably Cap's."
"You never know," Gaster said. "Skeletons with an element weren't unheard of, back in the day."
Sans raised a brow. "Huh."
.
Papyrus smiled proudly, giving Sans's shoulder a squeeze, but there was a hint of worry in his eyes. He straightened up, his thumb running over the back of his opposite hand. "Hang on just a minute."
"What's wrong, Paps?" Gaster asked as Papyrus slid out between them and headed for the way down.
"What?! Nothing! Nothing at all, I just…! Need a minute, I'll be riiiiight back!" He bounded away and vanished to the first floor.
Sans and Gaster shared a look.
"Is… it better to let him go, or…?" the old skeleton wondered quietly.
"I'll go," Sans said, getting to his feet.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"Just, uh… Make him feel useful."
.
As Sans got downstairs, he cast a glance around for his brother. Toriel, looking exhausted in her slightly-too-small chair, caught his eye and pointed him towards the door that led to the elevator. Sans nodded and went there, too. He didn't have to look far for his brother, as the tall skeleton was now curled up with his head down, arms around his knees.
.
Unable to stop his eye from flaring worriedly, Sans bent down and pulled Papyrus into a hug. His brother let out a rattling breath and grabbed him in return. They sat like that for a little while, until Papyrus unlatched himself and sat back against the wall, wiping dry eyes on the back of his hand.
"Wanna talk?" Sans asked.
"I just miss everyone, that's all," he said quietly. "I'm… I'm okay."
Sans suppressed the intense scepticism from his face. Instead, he just nodded and squeezed his brother's shoulder. "You're doin' good. Take your time."
"Thanks, Sans." He leaned his head back and took a deep breath, then puffed it out. "But I… wish I hadn't taken so long."
"Blame me for that," Sans said.
"No. Don't even start. I—"
.
A sudden commotion back in the other room jolted the brothers upright. Papyrus rushed out first. Suzy was in front of the big monitor now, with Toriel holding her shoulders gently. Alphys looked as if she had just joined her, and Gaster was rushing downstairs, too.
"Didn't you see it?!" Suzy demanded. "You guys were all here, right?! You didn't—?!"
"Relax, dear, relax," Toriel said gently.
"But it was right here!"
"Ghost again?" Sans asked.
"YEAH!" Suzy barked. "It was here looking at stuff and then—!"
.
The ground shook violently and the overhead lights flickered. Sans grabbed Papyrus and yanked him back to stand beneath the doorframe. Toriel pulled Suzy and Alphys to her chest and Gaster crouched and plastered himself against the escalator's railing as the moving staircase suddenly jolted to a halt. The lab darkened entirely for a few seconds until the emergency lights flickered on.
.
Suzy's jaw dropped and she let out a wheeze. "A-Are you kidding me right now?!"
"O-Oh no, oooh n-no no no," Alphys whined.
"Alright, let's all just relax," Gaster said quickly, straightening up. "Is everyone alright?"
"Wh-Where's the King?" the little lizard squeaked.
"He is fine, he left on his own," Toriel assured her. She shot a look at Sans and Papyrus. "Nobody is injured."
"I'm not okay, this is freaky!" Suzy yelled. "Was this stupid ghost doing this the whole time?!"
"What ghost?" Alphys asked shrilly.
"I dunno, but it's dark with horns and red eyes and I've been seeing it since I woke up," she insisted. "You guys gotta believe me, I—!"
.
The lab rattled again. Gaster bounded to the ground floor. He held out his hands and obsidian bones shot from them, rushing to support the walls and ceiling in large X-shapes. The sound dulled. He turned to look at Suzy.
"We do believe you, little one, but this has been going on longer than you've been seeing this shade."
"O-Oh." Her cheeks flushed. "…Fine."
"This feels like a lot! Did this place used to rattle like this all the time or something?" Papyrus asked.
"Not particularly," Gaster said. "I believe the constant, localized changes are starting to be too much for the mountain itself. But we're going to be fine. This is one of the most structurally sound buildings in the underground."
"What about the magma?" Toriel said in a low voice. "Is being close to any overflow point a poor idea right now?"
"The lab is built to withstand that," Gaster said. He frowned thoughtfully. "However, it might be better to get the kids out."
"Who counts as kids here?" Sans joked.
"All of you," Gaster said.
"Wh-What, me too?!" Alphys demanded. "I have to help—!"
"The time machine is as safe for use as it's going to get," he said. "All that's left is to give us an opening to hook it up to the CORE." His brow furrowed. "We cannot stop the earthquakes, but I may be able to stabilize the tower for long enough to get everything up and running. If we're lucky, we can have that coincide with a time shift to a less destructive interval. In the meanwhile…" He turned his gaze on Sans. "You cannot be anywhere close to danger."
Sans scoffed. "Don't worry 'bout—"
"I'm serious, Sans," he said. "I want you as far away from this as possible until the last second. Evacuate to the surface if you have to."
"Sheesh, serious, huh?"
"Very."
.
"What about you?!" Papyrus asked.
Gaster shook his head. "I'm not worried about that at all. As long as I can maintain a stasis shield around myself, I doubt even the CORE can harm me again."
"B-But you can't just do everything from down in the chamber!" Alphys protested. "There's a-all kinds of stuff that has to be done in the upper levels! L-Let me at least help with that."
"Alphys—"
"She's right," Sans said. "Me or her; gotta be one of us."
"Or Scath or Kio," Gaster said.
"They've already been d-dealing with the Hotland evacuation," Alphys said, clenching her fists. "Come on, G-Gaster, I'm th-the most up to date, and I know h-how to use almost all the systems, let me—"
"It's not about your qualifications," the skeleton said.
Alphys frowned. "I t-told you I'm not letting you do this alone. They'll…! They'll have to stick m-me in a b-bag and d-drag me out of here t-to make me stop."
Sans shifted his shoulder bag. "Mine's way too small."
"I do not have one and I'm not going to get one," Papyrus said.
Gaster's shoulders drooped. He sighed, but there was a little relief in his eyes. "Fine. Fine."
.
The ease of tension in the room was palpable. Alphys even let out a little cheer. Gaster let out a hoarse laugh.
"Alright. Alright, I'll keep the rest of you updated. Stay safe out there."