Sans was walking alone through the snow-covered woods near Snowdin along his usual route. He walked slowly, in no real hurry. After all, he'd walked the path hundreds … no, thousands of times before. As he walked, however, Sans realized that there was something different this time. He felt … cold. He pulled his coat tighter around him, but it wasn't the cold of the snow he was feeling. This coldness ignored clothing and bone, and seemed to freeze his very soul.
He collapsed to the ground, hand over his chest as the permeating coldness grew overwhelming. He tried to use his magic to block out the horrible frigidness, but no matter how he tried, he could feel his soul slowly freezing over.
A distant shadow shifted. Sans was unable to do anything as it approached, eventually stepping from the shadows to reveal itself as Papyrus.
"Paps," Sans moaned, reaching for his brother with his remaining hand.
"Sans? Sans! Don't worry! I will rescue you!" Papyrus declared. He stepped toward Sans, but as he did so, Sans saw frost spreading across Papyrus's breastplate. The strange coldness was affecting him as well. Sans tried to warn him, but it was too late; ice crystals formed along Papyrus's long leg and arm bones, slowing his stride. Unperturbed, he continued to approach his brother, only for one of his legs to snap off with a deafening crack.
"B-brother!" Papyrus said, still reaching for Sans. Sans fought to rise to his feet, to catch Papyrus and carry him away from the damning cold, but his bones refused to respond. All he could do was watch as Papyrus fell over, hit the ground and shattered into thousands of tiny pieces.
"PAPS!" Sans shouted, sitting up abruptly. He dug into the snow for a few moments before realizing that the dream was over, and he was once again with Fuku and Eliza in the Snowdin Woods. Sweat forming on his skull despite the cold, Sans sat back down beside Fuku and let out a deep breath.
Feeling her shift behind him, Sans said, "Sorry, Fu. I just had a bad Dream, that's all. I used to get 'em all the time back when I was stuck in the loop. It's been a while, but-"
Sans stopped, realizing that the movement he'd felt from Fuku was her trembling. He put his hand on her shoulder, asking concernedly, "Fuku? Babe, are you okay?"
She rolled to face him, her flames strangely dim. Her arms crossed her chest as she continued to tremble, eyes firmly shut.
"Fuku! Hey!" he said, shaking her slightly, "It's okay, it's just a dream."
"No, it's not," She said, still trembling. "Sans … I don't … I don't feel okay."
True worry flooded through the skeleton now. "What's wrong?" He asked. "What can I do?"
"Left pocket," she managed to say, "Blue container."
Sans slipped his hand into her pocket and pulled out a small blue vial. Popping the top revealed a number of purple crystals similar in appearance to amethysts.
"Got it!" Sans said.
"Give me a quarter…"
Fuku opened her mouth for him to pour in the crystals. The effect was almost immediate; her flames brightened and grew, filling out her clothes again. She stopped trembling after a few moments, though occasionally she would shudder.
"Thank you," She whispered, leaning heavily against him. "There's barely any flux here."
"But you used to live in Snowdin."
"There was plenty of flux in my Snowdin," she said, "Here, the air's just … dead."
He held her in silence for a few moments, still concerned about her well-being.
"Is Eliza okay?" Fuku asked, her voice sounding stronger.
Sans glanced at the human child to find her huddled by the remains of the fire. From the dark bags under her eyes, it looked as though she hadn't got much sleep.
"Given a certain value of okay, yeah." Sans nodded at the girl. "You okay there, kid?"
Eliza nodded, a rather strained smile crossing her face. Sans started to ask her what was wrong when the girl's stomach let out a loud growl.
"Yeah, I'm hungry too, kid," Sans said, thinking of the breakfast he'd shared with Fuku the previous morning. "Tell ya what; before we stop by my place, we'll hit Grillby's and get some grub, eh? Gotta get some food in you, or you'll be skinnier than I am."
Eliza let out a small giggle at that. She smiled at Sans and nodded.
"All right."
"Dad …" Fuku whispered, looking at her vial of magic crystals, now less than three-fourths full. "I hope you're okay."
Sans was worried too, but also knew that this was definitely a time for confidence. "I'm sure he's fine, Fuku. Grillby's a smart guy, no matter what the universe."
The three of them left their clearing and continued on their way to Snowdin. It was a somber journey, despite Sans's multiple attempts to break the silence with some tree puns he'd been workin' on since the previous night: "It'll be oak-ay", "man, I'm really pine-ing for some ketchup", "Not to go out on a limb, but maple we should branch out our efforts". He got a few weak chuckles, but it was clear the girls' hearts weren't in it.
Reaching Snowdin was a relief, but for Sans it quickly turned to surprise as they saw a very familiar tall skeleton working on the town sign. He hammered away at one of the fallen letters as the group approached, Sans quickly taking the lead.
"Paps?" Sans asked, knowing that even though it couldn't be his Papyus, any Papyrus would probably be willing to give them a hand.
"Sans? I thought you were on patrol. Did you find something?" Papyrus turned to look at them.
Sans took a reflexive step back. It was Papyrus, all right, still wearing his 'battle body' armor and everything, but his teeth were a mangled blood-stained mess.
Sans's shock was soon mirrored by Papyrus, though in Papyrus's case, it was mixed with joy. "Brother! You've been healed! This is wonderful news, but where's your arm? Don't tell me you lost it again!"
Sans flinched as Papyrus felt at the side of Sans's skull, as though checking for cracks. Beaming despite his disturbing dentistry, Papyrus turned to Fuku. "And Young Miss Grillby! Out and about and everything! Don't tell my my brother's been dragging you along on his tomfoolery."
"It's okay," Fuku said, recomposing herself with admirable speed. "I like helping him."
"Hmm. Yes; maybe you'll be a good influence on him." Papyrus's eyes fell on Eliza. "Oh my! It's the human child! Don't tell me you've passed my puzzles already?"
Eliza nodded, surprisingly relaxed considering the ghastly visage of Papyrus was grinning at her.
"Well, I'll simply have to devise some more! Nyeh-heh-heh!" Papyrus let out a cackle before running off. He paused only briefly before shouting, "I'll meet you at the edge of Waterfall! Prepare yourself, human … to be dazzled and amazed by my greatest puzzle yet!"
Sans forced a smile (an act not all that difficult, to be honest) as he waved at the departing Papyrus. Once the alternate universe version of his brother was gone, however, he said, "Never thought Seeing Papyrus smile would make me nervous."
"Same here," Fuku said, shivering slightly. "Just what kind of reality is this?"
"One where we aren't sticking around. Look, Fuku, why don't you take Frisk to Grillby's for a quick bite while I go grab the crystal imprint from my secret lab? Shouldn't be too difficult to find."
"Okay." She gave him a peck on the cheek. "Be careful, okay?"
"You too." Sans said, rubbing the side of her arm before hurrying toward his house. In truth, he hated leaving them, but seeing Papyrus had awoken a deep sense of unease in him. He didn't know why, but he knew they needed to get out of that reality as quickly as possible.
The lab behind the house he and Papyrus used as their own in Snowden (and presumably still did in that reality) was identical to his own, eerily so. A dusty sheet covered the machine in the far corner of the room, a constant reminder of Sans's failure. Shaking his head, he grabbed the sheet and pulled it free with one hand, only to freeze.
The shard wasn't there.
He looked over the machine several times before moving to every cardboard box and drawer the room contained, but there was no sign of the shard bearing the imprint of the Inverse Harmonius. He considered searching the house, but dismissed it immediately; he'd never keep something important in there, especially in the disaster that was his room.
"Okay, Sans," Sans said, clutching his skull, "Don't panic; if I didn't keep it here, I probably left it in Gaster's old lab. We'll just have to go a little farther to pick it up, that's all."
It was a logical possibility, and highly likely seeing as Alphys left most of Gaster's stuff alone. On some level, she must've remembered being his assistant, which was more than most seemed to remember of the Sans's former mentor. Feeling somewhat reassured, Sans left the hidden lab and hurried to the familiar sight of Grillby's.
On the outside, it was just as he remembered the old place, though maybe a bit more worn. There was laughter coming from inside, along with what sounded like cheering, so it was with high spirits that Sans walked into his old haunt.
So many old faces were there from the old days that it was like a knife in Sans's gut. It was like stepping into the past, even if there was something slightly disconcerting in the smiles of his old mates. There weren't many survivors from Snowdin back in Sans's reality; they'd tried to organize an evacuation, but when Sans returned to the rendevous point after finding what was left of Papyrus, there was only ash remaining.
Many faces turned to him, their smiles becoming, for a moment, friendly as opposed to unsettling. A rousing cry of "Sans!" rang through the diner, prompting him to wave with his good hand.
"Heya, guys," Sans said, "What's been happening?"
"Grillby was just about to cook us dinner, wasn't ya, Grillby?" Asked the fish-man at the counter.
The crowd parted, revealing a grisly tableau; Behind the bar was the grill Grillby had always used, but instead of burgers or hotdogs, the grill was covered with bones … human bones. They were still stained red with blood, the jaws of their skulls stretched open in what must've been their final agonizing screams as they were cooked alive.
Grillby stood at one end, struggling with Fuku over Eliza. Realizing what Grillby meant to do, Sans shouted, "Hey! Grillby, what the heck are you-"
Grillby turned to face Sans, stopping the skeleton dead in his tracks. The looks of agony on the human remains was nothing compared to the absolute anguish wracking Grillby's face. He stared at Sans with eyes unseeing, mouth open in a scream that had likely died long ago.
Fortunately, Sans proved a timely distraction. Fuku managed to wrest the child from her alternate father's grasp. When Grillby turned, Fuku tackled him to the floor. She pulled out the blue vial only for Grillby to knock it from her hands …
… right into Sans's. Popping the top with some difficulty, Sans knelt by his old friend and poured a large measure of the crystals into his open mouth. The effect was immediate; flux energy flooded through the fire elemental, surrounding him with the same magical miasma that had reinvigorated Fuku earlier that day. His mouth and eyes slowly closed, though he continued shuddering for a good minute before finally opening his eyes.
"S-sans?" Grillby asked before his eyes moved to Fuku and went wide. "Fuku?"
"Yes, but not exactly your Fuku. It's … it's a long story, dad." Fuku said, looking to Sans for guidance.
Sans leaned over his old friend's head. "All right, Grillby, we're gonna let you up, but before we do, this kid's off-limits, understood?"
There was a chorus of dissent from the other monsters in the diner, but it was quickly silenced by a sharp glare and a flash of blue light from Sans's eye. Grillby nodded, so Sans and Fuku helped the bartender to his feet.
"I'm sorry," Grillby said as they helped him to a chair. "But you've been bringing us humans for months, Sans."
Sans stared at him, horrified. "You've been eating humans? Why? Just what the hell happened here?"
"You are the one who passed down Queen Undyne's edict."
"Queen Undyne?!" Fuku exclaimed, but Sans held up his hand.
"Look, I know we look like your Fuku and Sans, but we aren't from here," Sans explained. "Long story short, and yes, I know how crazy it sounds, we came here from an alternate universe … one were things went very different. We came here by accident, though believe me, we'd like to find a way back pronto."
Alarm entered Grillby's eyes. "Then my Fuku … please, do you have anymore of those crystals?"
"Yeah, there's still some left," Sans said, rattling the pill bottle.
"Give them to me!" The demand was so sudden that Sans found himself obeying immediately. Cradling the bottle in his hands as though it were precious gold, Grillby looked at the other bar patrons. "We're closing!"
Ugly looks and angry muttering were his reply. One of the patrons, a large bear of a fellow, stepped forward. "We gotta eat, Grillby. We ain't leaving as long as there's still a juicy morsel just waiting here."
Eliza grabbed Sans's good arm and hid behind him, trembling. "Easy, kid," Sans said, "We ain't lettin' that happen."
"Then you're gonna have a-" the bear stopped abruptly as the massive skeletal head of Sans's Gaster Blaster materialized in the air directly in front of him.
"Look," Sans said, "I'm sorry about what's happened here, and if I can find a way to help out, I will … but you ain't hurtin' this kid, and I ain't afraid of dustin' a few of you if it makes my point."
The crowd opted for departure, though the bear shot Sans a very dirty look before leaving the door. Sans dismissed the Blaster with a sigh.
"Haven't heard the end of that." Sans said, shaking his head.
"Don't worry; he won't tell the Queen. Everyone here's too afraid of her." Grillby said before heading for the door in the back of the diner. Sans moved to follow, but Fuku held him back.
"Listen," she whispered.
Sans listened. With the crowd gone, he could hear it; a very muffled sound that reminded him of a tea-kettle whistling. It wasn't until they heard a door open that they heard the sound for what it was; a long, sustained scream.
Fuku hugged Sans as the screaming slowly died down.
"Fuku," Sans asked, "Tell me ya got more of that stuff."
She pulled two small vials from her dress pockets, both half the size of the first. "Crystallic," she explained, "Human mages use it as a magical pick-me-up. For elementals like dad and me, it infuses us with magical energy, even if the air around us is dead."
"And what happens if it wears off?" Sans asked. Fuku rested her head on his skull, trembling slightly. "Our fire is sustained by magic. When the magic wears off, it eats at our souls … never enough to kill, but enough to …"
"To stay in horrible pain," Sans murmured. "How long you think that stuff'll last?"
"All three of us? Maybe a day or two, three if we're careful. If it was just me, I could probably stretch it a week if necessary, but … Sans, we can't leave them like this. You saw dad's face."
"Yeah, I did." Sans said just as Grillby rejoined them, empty pill bottle in hand.
"She's sleeping now," Grillby said, his fiery features tired. "Probably the first sleep she's had in years."
With a glance at Sans, Fuku pressed one of the bottles into Grillby's hand. "Here … it won't last forever, but-"
Grillby stared at the bottle for a long moment before closing his flaming fingers around it firmly. "Thank you. We both appreciate your generosity. Even a temporary reprieve from this suffering is a godsend."
"All right," Sans said as Grillby put away the bottle, "What the heck happened here, Grillby? Why is everyone eating humans, and why the heck am I helping capture them?"
Grillby let out a long sigh. "It's a long story."
And so it was. It began shortly after Frisk passed through the Underground. Their Frisk had been merciful, making friends with many and sparing all in her path. No one knew the truth of what happened when she confronted Asgore, though it wasn't hard to guess; their great king was nothing but dust, and Frisk was gone, along with the other six human souls.
Life went on for a time as always; Undyne stepped up as Queen and gave people hope while Alphys continued trying to find a way past the barrier. Things were crowded, and while for some gloom was unavoidable, everyone was making it through the tough time.
That's when the Core died. The massive machine that provided what was thought to be an inexhaustible amount of energy suddenly stopped working, and try as they might, no one could get it working again. Given that the Core provided magic both for food production and for the air for monsters like Grillby and Fuku, this made the situation most dire indeed.
Eventually, they determined that the machine was fine; it just required something to serve as a massive catalyst to restart. Many things were tried, but nothing provided enough power to start the reaction. As the days passed, depression settled in among the now-starving monsters. Some turned on their own, consuming the weak so that a few could survive. Others simply lay down and died, either from their own hands or simply from lack of desire to live. Every day, the Underground grew a little more empty, a little more hopeless.
Then, one day, Sans was called to see the queen. What happened that day was anyone's guess, but when Sans returned, his skull was cracked, and his eye glowed red. That day, he brought an edict from the queen; humans arriving in the Underground were not to be killed for their souls, but for food. Even stranger was the edict forbidding anyone to mention this to the Queen herself, which Sans claimed would simply rub in the fact that she'd failed them, and probably execute the offending monster on the spot.
"Since that day, you … I mean, our Sans, he and Papyrus would bring any humans who fell to me to … to cook." Grillby bowed his head. "When their souls broke … it was the only thing that brought me any reprieve. Now that you've stopped the pain, I am … I am ashamed of what I've done."
"Easy there, Grillby," Sans said, patting his friend on the shoulder. "Pain like that could make a monster do most anything. Besides, you aren't the one who brought them here."
The barest hint of a smile appeared on Grillby's face. "Thanks, Sans. I'd forgotten how kind you could be. Your other self handed over children without a hint of shame."
"But plenty of Love, I bet," Sans shook his head. His eyes turned to Eliza; the little girl had fallen asleep sitting at the counter, her head cushioned on thin arms. "Poor kid. Looks like there's not much to eat up on the surface either, if she's any indication."
"Most of the humans we caught were malnourished," Grillby said, nodding. "Perhaps things are bad everywhere. Perhaps this whole wretched planet's cursed."
"Hmm. We've certainly seen better." Sans shook his head. "Grillby, we need to get to Hotland."
"Hotland?" Grillby said, "But … so close to Home …"
Something in his tone made Sans pause. "What about Home?"
"Snowdin was isolated, and you see what happened to us," Grillby said, "But Home had thousands of monsters. Those few of us who've been there since the death of the Core tell stories of street gangs hunting for any monster with even the slightest sign of weakness. It won't just be your human friend in danger."
"Huh?" Sans looked down at the stub of his arm. "Oh, right. Don't worry about me, Grillby; I can put up a fight."
"That's what Sans said before the Queen called him," Grillby said grimly. He turned to the ghastly grill, recoiled at the display for a few moments, then reached down and tore an arm off one of the skeletons.
"It's not that easy," Sans said as Grillby washed the arm in the sink.
"I know." Satisfied with the more-or-less white bone, Grilly tied it to Sans's stump. Then, to Sans's surprise, he reached under the counter and pulled out one of Sans's coats.
"You've left a dozen of these here over the year," Grillby explained as Fuku helped Sans put on the coat.
"Thanks, Grillby," Sans said, shaking Grillby's hand. "I just wish we could do somethin' a bit more permanent to help ya."
Grillby paused. "Perhaps there is. The crystals you gave me, the crystallic; is it a simple matter to get more in your universe?"
Fuku nodded. "The universe we live in imports it from a world called Vinta, but it's known to form anywhere with a lot of magic in the air. I'm surprised there isn't more Underground, given how long the Core ran. Even with it dead now, the crystallic would remain."
"Perhaps there is," Grillby said, "Maybe we didn't know what we were looking for. If you find more, do you think it might be enough to restart the Core?"
Fuku looked to Sans, who shrugged. "Maybe, if we found a big enough chunk, and the Core's still in good condition. Even if we find some, though, I doubt Undyne's gonna let us just walk into the core."
"No," Grillby admitted, "Probably not. You're right; it's a fool's errand."
"Hey!" Sans grabbed Grillby's shoulder before the fire elemental could fully turn away. Grinning at him, Sans said, "I'll do it."
Hope appeared like a tiny flicker in Grillby's flaming eyes. "You … you will?"
"Can't ignore a request from my father—in-law, can I?" Sans said as Fuku stood beside him. "Besides, you said it's a fool's errand, and while I ain't a fool-"
"A joker's still pretty close, right?" Fuku said, smiling at her fiance.
Grillby looked at the two of them in surprise for a long moment before bowing. "Thank you … both of you. I wish you all the luck in the world."
"Thanks, Grillby," Sans said.
They left via the back, little Eliza huddled between them. The crowd of monsters was still out front, so Sans, Fuku, and Eliza did their best to move quietly. Eliza now sported one of Sans's jackets as well, albeit one bearing what Sans hoped was an old ketchup stain.
Soon, the town was behind them, and the caverns of Waterfall ahead. Papyrus stood at the edge of the bridge, stomping his foot impatiently as they approached.
"Human!" he exclaimed, annoyance vanishing in an instant. "You've come to face your final puzzle! Excellent!"
"Sorry, Paps," Sans said stepping in front of her, "we're just passing through. I promised the kid to give her a proper tour."
"Tour? Sans, are you completely out of your skull? If the queen finds out-"
"Oh, I think we can settle this without her royal failness."
Sans stared as his alternate stepped from the cave to Waterfall. The two could've been twins (fake arm withstanding) save for a massive crack that radiated from the top of the other Sans's skull, and the eerie red light shining from his left eye.
"Well, will you look at that?" The other Sans said, a sinister smile on his face (though with a red eye, Sans realized that pretty much every smile his alternate self could give would look sinister on some level). "My fortune cookie told me I'd find myself today if I looked hard enough … and here we are."
ns 15.158.61.48da2
