Normally Sans found the shortcuts soothing. For a few moments, the world just slipped away and he felt like he was flying through a great empty void. It was those strange moments of weightlessness that Sans craved. Sometimes, if he was lucky, his dreams took him back there for hours.
Now, however, Sans found himself alert to the point of paranoia. Still holding Frisk's hand, Sans looked around the streams of color for signs of the one who attacked him and Glen. Part of him dreaded seeing that skull, his skull staring back in all it's black-boned glitchy horror.
He was so absorbed by looking for trouble that the sudden transition out of the shortcut caught him completely by surprise. They were all sitting at his usual table in the resort just outside of the core. It too was quite different in that reality, so much so that Sans found himself standing up and quickly leading Frisk out of the room as far from the stage (and the scantily clad cat and alligator ladies dancing there) as possible.
"Sorry about that, kid." Sans said, his cheekbones burning. "Nothing like that on the stage in my universe. Usually just me and a few other comics."
"Their dresses were pretty." Frisk said, her cheeks red. "Though I'm not sure why they were getting dressed in front of everyone."
"Er, yeah. Let's go with that."
The lobby of what was Mettaton Resort in his dimension was dimly lit and had a decidedly sleazy look to it. More monsters whose virtue had a decidedly monetary value filled the lobby, some even waving at Sans as he passed. One, a bunny woman who reeked of alcohol, threw her arms around him.
"Aww, Sansy, it's been forever!" She crooned, swaying unsteadily from one foot to the other. "I've been hopin' you'd drop by soon."
"Oh, uh, sorry 'bout that." Sans said, flashing her a smile. "I'm actually just passin' through on the moment. Royal Guard business and all that."
"Oh, Sansy, don't be like that." She said, hugging against his arm. "Stay with me a little while."
"I would if I could." Sans said, pulling away as gently as he could. "But Pap already wants my skull. He catches me slacking off again, and he's gonna smack me one."
The bunny lady looked put out for a moment, but her eyes soon fell on someone else in the lobby. Sans watched as she departed, her voice audible over the din of the seedy hotel as she said, "Ohh, Nacarat! There you are, you sweet thing! Where have you been hiding?"
Sans wiped his skull as he led Frisk and Flowey out the hotel's back door.
"This place is really starting to get to me." He said. "The sooner we get out of here, the better."
"Are we going to the surface?" Frisk asked.
The fear in Frisk's tone gave Sans pause. "Do you want to go back to the surface?"
"I ... I don't know." Frisk said, staring down at the ground. "There's nothing up there for me anymore. I'm ... I'm all alone."
"Frisk." Flowey said, looking at her with sad eyes. "Aren't you forgetting something? I'm here!"
"So am I, kiddo." Sans said, rubbing the kids shoulder. "Don't worry; I won't leave you behind. As to where we're going ... well, with any luck, we'll end up back with Glen and Jake. From there, maybe we can go home with them."
"And where is that?" Flowey asked. "And don't think I forgot that you just saved us from you. What was that about?"
Sighing, Sans said, "Look, I'll tell ya, but we gotta move. All right?"
Flowey bobbed his 'head'. Sans returned the gesture and motioned for Frisk to follow him into the core facility.
Sans explained the situation as best as he could in brief. The core concept was fairly simple; there were an infinite number of universes all based on the decisions people made. Some were nice, others were bad; Sans came from a bad one (though he didn't elaborate as to the cause for obvious reasons), and their current reality was not a good one either. Glen, however, came from a good one, and Sans hoped that by getting back to her and showing her the partial rune imprint that perhaps they could get back to Glen's reality.
"So he really was you." Flowey said, "I had to wonder; every other time I bumped into him, I ..."
"Flowey." Frisk said, "We weren't gonna talk about that."
"About the resets and saving?" Sans asked, enjoying the look of shock it brought on their faces. "I know all about it, kid. Outta curiosity, how many times you been through the Underground?"
"I-I've never been here before." Frisk said, looking a little panicked. "I swear, Sans; this is the first time!"
"She's telling the truth." Flowey said. "I used to be able to do it too, but haven't been able to since Frisk came down here."
"And how many times did you reset?"
"Lost count." Flowey admitted.
"Flowey?" Frisk said, looking at her boot-inhabiting friend.
"I tried to make things better." Flowey said defensively. "Tried bringing my parents back together, tried to save the other humans who fell. Even tried working with Doctor Alphys to take down the barrier. That didn't last long; she's not exactly a fun person to work with."
"I'll bet." Sans said, thinking of the monsters he'd met thus far.
"Well, none of it worked. The more I tried to fix things, the worse they seemed to get. In the end, I just reset and let things run their course." Flowey shook his head. "About the nicest thing I can say is that it could be worse. It could be a lot worse."
Leylines in the metal walls of the core facility pulsed with energy as they passed. It was impressive to think that the massive facility powered the entire underground. The area looked identical to that of Sans's dimension, a strange fact that gave him some comfort. He supposed that no matter how bad that dimension was, they still needed power.
"Mister Sans," Frisk said as they walked through the hallways. "Was there a Frisk in your world?"
"Yeah." Sans said, glancing down the adjoining corridors. "She didn't do so well; got possessed by something bad."
"Something bad?"
"Yeah. When my friend Glen picked her up, this black stuff leaked from her eyes and mouth. Ichor, we called it; it was corrosive, and spread quickly. We lost a few monsters to it after an accident in Alphys's lab."
Frisk brought her hands to her mouth. In a small voice, she said, "I'm sorry."
"For what, kiddo? Wasn't your universe."
"Yes, but it was still kinda me."
Chuckling, Sans stopped and crouched down so he could look Frisk in the eye.
"That skeleton who attacked us near Snowdin was kinda me too. Would you say we're the same?"
Frisk gave him a timid smile. Before Sans could respond, she threw her arms around his neck.
"I'm still sorry." She whispered.
Sans was struck speechless. To think that a child with such a kind soul was in any way connected to the corrupted child who killed so many was simply mind-boggling. The force that corrupted her ... the one Asgore called Chara ... just what kind of thing was she to corrupt something to pure?
Sans gave her a pat on the back and his best smile. "Thanks, kiddo. With any luck, we'll both end up somewhere better."
Frisk nodded, still smiling. She kept a hold on his hand as they walked, the other holding firmly onto Flowey's boot.
In Sans's universe, people generally avoided the Core. It supplied power to the entire Underground, and no one wanted to have an accident and be responsible for everyone's lights going out. The fact that it was just as shiny and clean in this dimension as it was in Sans's home dimension struck him as odd. Given the State of the rest of the Underground, Sans expected to find the place in shambles, barely working. If anything, the core looked in even better shape.
The reason why skittered into view along a side corridor. It was a metal robot about the size of a dog, its six metal legs moving in a very spider-like pattern. It seemed to check the wiring integrated into the wall for a few moments before continuing down the corridor. Sans froze, holding Frisk back as it slowly walked across the corridor without paying them any attention.
"W-what was that?" Frisk asked, clutching Sans's arm.
"Dunno. Didn't have those back home." Sans said. "Better leave it be."
"Don't have to tell me twice." Flowey said, his eyes still on the robot. It sported a pair of front pincers that did not look friendly.
Sans suspected the machines were from that universe's Alphys. The design was efficient, but very basic, much that that of Mettaton Mark 1. That worried him a little; did they have cameras? Sensors? Were they transmitting that data to Alphys? He was close to his goal, but if she was as paranoid as everyone else, she likely had a failsafe in the core to shut it down at a moments notice.
Unfortunately, there just wasn't anything to do about it. Maybe Alphys wasn't watching their feeds (assuming they had them of course), but she would definitely have an alarm programmed into them if they should be destroyed. Leaving them be was the smart choice, even if they gave Sans the creeps.
Eventually, they reached the room Sans was looking for. It contained one of several power transfer circuits accessible through the console in the back of the room. There, he hoped he could patch into the power network and draw power without drawing undue attention.
"All right." He said, hurrying to the console. "This'll take a minute to set up. Keep an eye on the door and let me know if anyone's coming, okay?"
"Okay." Frisk set Flower near one side of the door frame before taking up a position beside the other side.
Sans worked quickly, pulling apart the console and rigging up connections to the chunk of crystal with the rune imprint. It was tricky work, but Sans still remembered his way around machinery enough to get it together in a few minutes.
"There." He said, setting the crystal in the makeshift tray. "All right. I don't know exactly what's gonna happen, so everyone get ready."
Frisk picked up Flowey and nodded at Sans. "Ready!"
Nodding in reply, Sans put one hand on the crystal and one hand on the exposed conduit. The jolt of energy pouring into him made him shudder a little, but after so many last stands, he was used to the sensation of energy flooding his system. He took that energy and channeled it through his magic into the crystal, willing it to fill the runes. It only took seconds for the dimensional awareness to hit him. As the power increased, however, he began to percieve the true immensity of it all. So many realities coursed through his mind, each offering a glimpse of what lay beyond. It was far too much to take in at once, but he tried his best to focus his thoughts on his mysterious landlady.
For a while, he thought it wouldn't work. There were too many realities passing over him, around him, through him ... far too many to possibly single any one out. Perhaps it required the full rune to work properly; perhaps magical energy was causing interference.
His eyes widened; there she was! Same tall human woman, strong build, wearing a green-and-gray striped shirt! She was walking upstairs with a tall armless monster.
Eagerly, Sans mentally reached forward to bridge the gap between both universes to allow them passage.
Power suddenly coursed through him; the imprint of the rune was drawing unprecedented amount of energy to create the gateway, far more than Sans anticipated. He tried to pull away, but found himself unable to move.
"Sans!" Frisk called out, moving toward him. Before she could reach him, however, everything went dead. The console, the lights ... the entire core just shut down.
Sans fell to the floor, barely able to stand. Frisk hurried over to him and helped him up.
"Are you okay?" She asked.
"Yeah, I'm good." He said, voice shaking a little. "A little shocked at this turn of events, that's all."
"I saw it ... for just a second, I saw something in the air." Frisk said, sounding hopeful. "Was that what you were trying to do?"
"Yeah." He said, "I guess breakin' through takes more power than the core produces."
Emergency lighting came back online. To Sans's surprise, the machinery only showed slight damage; apparently the sudden draw in power triggered a failsafe. Still, that meant there was no way to use the core to power the Inverse Harmonius, not without finding and disabling Alphys's fail-safe first. That rather limited their options.
"Uh, we got company." Flowey said, peeking his head out the door. "More bugbots heading this way."
"Right." Sans said, stumbling to the door with Frisk's help. "We'll head up to New Home. The lift's not to far from here, and it's just a little ways from Castle Dreemurr."
"Castle Dreemurr?" Flowey said, as Frisk picked up his boot. "Are you crazy? Asgore will kill Frisk on sight!"
"I know." Sans said, "But we need power. The Core's out, but I think there's somethin' hidden in Castle Dreemurr that might fit the bill. For now, we need to lie low."
They reached the lift. Sans was still a bit shakey, but managed to reach the controls and get the lift moving before he sat down on the floor.
Frisk sat beside him, Flowey's boot in her hands.
"Are you really okay?" She asked, concern in her eyes.
Sans ruffled the kids hair. "Don't worry about me, kiddo. Just a bit tired, that's all. Might take a bit of a nap."
"It's okay." She said, nestling beside him. "I'm tired too."
"Really?" Flowey said, giving them both a dirty look. "You wanna sleep here?"
"Just a few minutes." Sans said, consciousness already fading. "Wake us up ... when we get to the top."
Sans closed his eyes. It seemed like it had been forever since he had a nice rest. Unfortunately, his dreams were anything but nice.
He dreamt he was running through a forest with trees made of brass. Something was chasing him, a bunch of somethings that skittered after him on multiple legs. The sound of their feet hitting the metal ground filled him with dread, pushing him to run further and further to no avail. The woods grew thicker and thicker until it was a struggle just to make a little headway. Just as Sans turned to face whatever was chasing him, he was jerked back to the waking world as something lifted him up in the air by his feet.
"Sans!" Frisk cried out. She too was held up in the air by a mechanical hand.
"Oh, my." Said an artificial voice filled with sadistic delight. "Someone's been very naughty."
"Mettaton." Sans said, recognizing the robot from their encounter in Snowdin.
"Hello, Darling." Mettaton said, a satisfied smile on his metal face. "Miss me?"
"Not really. I've always found you a bit cold."
"Ooh, and funny too." Mettaton said, pulling Sans closer. "A shame you're a filthy traitor. What will your brother think?"
"He ain't gonna think nothin'." Said a voice Sans didn't want to hear. NegaSans stepped into the lift and approached Sans. Sans flinched as NegaSans grabbed him, but NegaSans simply pulled the neck of his coat and pulled it off Sans. Sans didn't resist, but the moment NegaSans's back was turned, Sans dug into the pockets of his coat for the crystal with the imprint only to find it gone. A quick glance around didn't turn it up in Mettaton's hands either. For that matter, Flowey seemed to be missing; his boot still lay by the door, but there was no sign of the flower himself.
"Thank you." NegaSans said as he re-donned his coat. "Alphys wants a word with you, whoever the hell you really are."
"Sans!" Frisk said, desperately reaching for him.
NegaSans raised an eyebrow at her. "Right; the human. She's comin' with me."
"You'll leave her alone if you know what's good for you." Sans said, focusing his blue eye on NegaSans.
A look of fear crossed NegaSans face for a moment ... but only for a moment. He quickly met Sans's gaze with a red-eyed gaze of his own. "I think I'll take my chances ... and if I even see an outline of a Gaster Blaster, I'll make sure your little friend here pays for it. Got it?"
Sans met Frisk''s terrified gaze for a moment before letting out a sigh. "Got it."
"Good." NegaSans nodded at Mettaton, who promptly dropped Frisk.
"Run for it, kid!" Sans shouted. Frisk took his advice to heart; the moment her feet touched the ground she was off like a shot. Mettaton made a grab for her with all three hands, but Frisk was already out of the lift.
"Dammit!" NegaSans said, eyes narrowing. "Great. Now I gotta go chase her."
"I could assist." Mettaton said, sounding strangely eager.
"Nah, Alphys wants our friend here right away." To Sans, NegaSans said, "This ain't goodbye. I'll see you in the Labs, punk. Once Alphys is through with you, you and I are gonna have a nice long chat."
"Great." Sans said as Mettaton's arms bound his arms and legs to his body. "There's that to look forward to then."
