Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The glow emanating from the moon caused the shadows of the hallways to warp into something sinister, becoming bent and unrecognisable. Frisk shuddered as they slowly trudged down the stairs leading to the living room where everyone currently resided with a soft, blue cotton blanket held tightly in their hands. It would be terribly wrinkled from the way Frisk’s hands are gripping it but it doesn’t matter if it helped them steady their beating heart and the bitter dread that coiled around their soul. 

Frisk made their way to Uncle Gaster who gave them a wry but kind smile as they passed the blanket to him. The skeleton summoned his magic and made the blanket float and finally covered Sans, wrapping the blanket around him like a cocoon. Frisk glanced around the occupants of the room who seemed to sigh in relief as Sans’ magical aura dimmed and its essence changed into something calmer. They too feel the dread slowly releasing its hold on their soul. They sat down beside their siblings. After all, Sans was the reason why all of them were huddled in the living in the dead of this chilling night. 

It was another nightmare - a horrible one at that, vicious in its nature.

There was still a hole in Sans and Papyrus’ room, left by the gaster blaster that still gave them Chara and Asriel quite the scare even after all this time. It was only recently that everyone else became aware of Sans and Papyrus’ lethal magic but Frisk is aware that the others were still bothered by it, especially Sans’s abilities that only Asgore seemed to be aware of.

“I think that’s enough, Toriel. The crack on his frontal bone is healed perfectly”, Gaster’s wingdings filled the empty air as he carefully adjusted Sans in his embrace. 

Mom’s green magic stopped, making the room lose its green glow. She seemed relieved that Sans was healed but from the hand her paws hovered over his head and the tight expression on her face - it seemed that she was still unsettled. “Are you sure, Gaster?”, She asked.

“I’m sure, thank you for your assistance Toriel”

“But-”

“The bonehead’s fine, Toriel”, Undyne chimed in but there was still a worried timber in her voice. 

Toriel let out a heavy sigh. “ I know but still...It very much worries me that Sans had such a low HP his entire life and to think that we were so close to losing him tonight”

Papyrus let out a faint whimper from the reminder. Toriel noticed and took his once ungloved, skeletal hands in hers. “ Oh, I’m sorry Papyrus dear but your brother is alright now”

“I KNOW MISS TORIEL BUT IT JUST..WORRIES ME THAT HIS NIGHTLY TERRORS ARE HAPPENING SO FREQUENTLY”. Only Papyrus could make such a whisper-shout, Frisk noted. They glanced at Chara and Asriel who seemed amused too. It’s good to try to find good things during hard times. Frisk felt a little more determined.  

“I JUST WISHED THAT WE COULD DO SOMETHING TO HELP”

Chara grumbled. “It’s not like he wants help”

“Chara-”

“It’s true, Azzy!” Chara shoved their head in their hands in a show of frustration. “We’ve tried everything! He’s been avoiding everyone and just keeps joking about everything like none of us are worried at all”

“Well, Sans is quite stubborn when he wants to be. As Papyrus had said, I just wish that there was indeed something we could do to help if he doesn’t want to confide in us” Asgore said, dragging his large paw across his face.

“W-what if there was something that we could do”

Alphys’ voice cut through the night air, even with its unimpressive volume. She squeaked when all gazes turned to her but there was something resolute and dangerous in her posture. Frisk could see the same monster who experimented on determination just for the sake of the underground - this thought brought them discomfort.

Undyne pulled Alphys close to her. “You know something, babe?”

“S-sans will d-definitely not like this”. Alphys shifted in her spot, wriggling her hands together. Toriel’s face scrunched up at the mention but after taking a glance at Sans, she looked more convinced. “We’re running out of options so it seems. I think it's best that we continue with whatever you are planning, Dr. Alphys” 

She held out her paw to Asgore and he took it with ease. It’s nice to see them back together after everything.

“Tell us, Dr. Alphys”, Asgore spoke with a solemn regalness fit for a king.

“I feel like I know what it is”, Gaster contributed.

“Y-you do, Dr. G-GAster”

And so Alphys told everyone of her latest invention - a passion project that was made in hopes of helping those suffering from the likes of amnesia or dementia. A memory machine that can carve into the deep crevices of one’s mind and project memories, both lone forgotten and deeply remembered. Frisk vaguely remembered Alphys had been invited to a TV show to explain it and they remembered feeling proud that such an invention was helping countless families. Now, now they only felt the cold, numbing apprehension of their past sins being dug and exposed to the likes of their family because surely Sans’ night terrors stemmed from all those resets. 

The once vibrant area that was once filled with various sounds of excitement and love now crumbled, becoming as dull as the dust that covered them. The remnants of dust coated their sweater, painting a very gruesome imitation of the blanket, of the warmth Toriel had wrapped them in. The freezing air of Snowdin made them crave for the same loving warmth.

But you were the reason for the loss of warmth, weren’t you? 

The human child’s musings were brought to a halt when they noticed a monster standing in their way.

It was a bird-like creature.

“W-wait, no! Please! I haven’t - my mom -”

The monster’s pleas were lost to the wind, flying away in the form of silver dust.

A firm hand on their shoulder brought Frisk back to reality with a jolt. Chara looked back at them and they both shared a look with Asriel. Asriel looked as terrified as them but Chara’s blood-red eyes were gleaming. This reminded Frisk that there was a reason why Chara’s determination overpowered all of them. Their sibling’s mouth was set to a thin line and with that grim look on their face, Chara reminded them of a prisoner walking to their death sentence. “We can’t hide forever. All of the underground sees us as heroes because we brought them to the sun and brought Dr. Gaster and his assistants back to reality but it’s unfair that the weight of our crimes just disappeared like that when Sans was the reason the player finally went away”.

Chara’s fists were clenched, hard enough that their hands became white. “The sins that were clawing on our backs…we need to face them”. Using Sans’ line like that made them feel braver to face what they had done, knowing that it would help their skeleton friend in the end. From the way Asriel’s back straightened, Frisk could see that he shared the same thoughts as them.

“BUT ISN’T THAT AN INVASION OF PRIVACY?”. Papyrus’ voice brought the three of them back to the conversation.

Undyne patted Papyrus on the back with a rueful smile on her face.”You’re too nice, Paps”

“I’m afraid that we don’t have that much of a choice, my son. This farce has been going on for far too long. We must take action no matter how against Sans will be”. Uncle Gaster’s gaze turned towards Sans and Frisk could feel the loving warmth in his eye lights right in their soul. “Even after all this time, he still thinks that he could carry the burden of the world on his shoulder if only to spare us from his heartache”

“What a numbskull..” Undyne muttered. Only to be elbowed by Alphys. 

“We should tell him tomorrow”, Asriel said hesitantly.

“DON’T WORRY, LITTLE ASRIEL! AS LONG AS WE STICK TOGETHER AS A FAMILY, EVERYTHING IS SURE TO BE ALRIGHT” Papyrus flicked his scarf, somehow it looked like it was bellowing in the wind despite the static in the air. “ESPECIALLY WITH THE GREAT PAPYRUS BY OUR SIDE. NYEH HEH HEH!!”

The atmosphere in the room brightened considerably as the mood shifted. Their family united to help their resident funny bone. Despite that, Frisk cannot help but feel like their family is truly unprepared for the horrors of their actions. They took in a deep breath and forced a smile when their mother guided them and their siblings to the bedroom, allowing determination to fill their soul in hopes that this would help them face the unknown tomorrow.

“SANSSSSS, RISE AND SHINE!! THE GREAT PAPYRUS AND MISS TORIEL HAVE MADE BREAKFAST!!’’

Ah, his favourite alarm clock has just woken him up. 

Not unlike a cat, Sans stretched, sighing in relief as some of his bones ‘popped’ - that's how you know it’s a good morning stretch. The room he shared with his brother was lit in an ethereal shade of golden hue, the colour as warm as the heat he felt from the morning sun invading the room now that Papyrus has opened the curtains of their window. It was still a surprise to him to be greeted by warmth when he was so used to having his hopes dashed as the cold air of Snowdin reminded him of the cruel reality he lived in. In truth, he still couldn’t quite believe that it was all over. That they finally got their happily ever after. 

His heart sank though as he remembered the worried faces of his loved ones.  Sans’ sudden anger when their questioning became too much for him to bear and their solemn faces as he teleports away. He’s always ruining something….isn’t he? 

The golden warmth suddenly felt like it burnt. He took a deep breath, feeling his HP lessen as Sans sank his bony fingers into the cracks present on his carpal, doubling the size of the cracks. Shuddering, he pulled his hand away. In truth, his bones had already begun to decay, it seems that his cracked soul can barely retain his physical skeletal body as it is. If his family were to find out, they would obviously try to help him but honestly to him, this was the only logical and inevitable conclusion to the horrendous route his life has taken.

There was only so much someone could take after all and it was a miracle enough that he was still breathing now. 

“SANS!!!” 

Papyrus slammed the door open with a look of righteous fury, eyes somehow bulging out in anger despite him being a skeleton. His brother continued to stomp to him, his ire increased as Sans seemed to have found joy in him losing his shit, the morning air becoming warmer with his soft chuckles. 

(In his soul, Papyrus is absolutely overjoyed by his big brother’s quiet but sincere joy in the morning, especially after that haunted look of pure, unadulterated resign sort of terror present in the intense glow of Sans’ eye lights)

Papyrus continued to wrestle Sans from his pyjamas into his usual outfit as the taller skeleton ranted about his laziness. Sans, as per usual, let himself be manhandled by his darling baby brother with barely concealed fondness.

Even if his time in this ephemeral world is truly running out then he will gladly savour and cherish his time spent with the one true beacon of light present in his world - his brother whose radiance shone far more brighter than the sun so effortlessly. 

And maybe with him out of the equation soon enough, Papyrus won’t hold himself back.

After Papyrus helped his bone-tired bones to dress up, he carried Sans down the stairs to the dining table like a floppy pillow. The brothers were greeted by the cheerful faces of their family as Toriel urged them to sit down. In front of him, Toriel placed his pancakes that had ketchup spread over the food instead of honey.

Sans gave a hum of appreciation. “thanks tori. you sure know how to please a skeleton”.

The look on Toriel’s face screamed mischief .“Well, I sure have ketchup to your preferences Sans”.

There were a series of groans from around the dining table, an incredulous scream from Papyrus, Frisk’s exasperated smile and the shared joy of Sans, Gaster and Toriel’s giggles. Oddly enough, Chara stayed quiet and they were picking at their food with a serious expression on the child’s face. They looked agitated from what Sans could see, sitting in front of Chara from across the table.

“yo chara, you ok? usually you’re my partner in crime when it comes to puns”. 

The sounds from around the room came to a halt.

Chara’s crimson eyes flicked towards Sans and he could barely hold back a flinch.

“Just thinking, bonehead. Go and eat your horrible food already”

Huh, always a tough crowd that kid. Chara wasn’t always like that. He noticed Asriel shifting awkwardly in his seat besides Chara, looking at her with those unreadable eyes that were unfit for a child.

The sudden tense air around them seemed to lessen as he dug into his plate with the others joining along. During the whole course of his meal, Sans noticed the quick but hesitant glances his family seemed to send him. What was going on?

Was it his nightmare? Were they going to press him about it again? They’re so so good. Monsters are naturally kind, willing to put anything down to lend a hand to someone they hold dear. The others were so so fucking good to him it hurts. Always so patient. Sometimes he wished that they would scorn him like he deserved when he was being his difficult, selfish self. 

So so awfully kind, good and benevolent, evident in the rather quick forgiveness of Frisk, Asriel and Chara for their abuse of power. So so good to someone as rotten as him who would never compare for their never-ending compassion - not when he was born cruel. 

Or was it something else?

“They've had enough of your uselessness”, a voice whispered. 

“They know. They know the extent of your sins”

“They’re going to-”

Liar. Liar. How dare you pretend to be something you are not?

“SANS?”

Oh shit. He got too lost in his head.

“yeah paps?”

He finally noticed the others staring at you with the kind of concern and care that never faded in their eyes. 

Sans felt panic stir his invisible stomach. He hasn't talked at all, hasn’t he? How could he be so careless as to let the facade he has carefully curated fall apart?

His father’s gaze was seering him.

“W-Well, there was s-something that w-we wanted to tell you-”. Alphys had that nervous but firm expression on her face - the face she had when she was convinced that something must be done, no matter the consequences. Even today, he still hates it. “I-I wanted to give our family a full tour of the memory machine I have built b-because I c-couldn’t have done it without y-your support. S-so I-”.

“AWW, BABE!! You’re awesome so you would have probably figured something out!”

“UNDYNE IS RIGHT, ALPHYS!”

Alphys; face grew more pink, embarrassed yet pleased by the compliments she was getting. “T-Thank you but anyways S-Sans, I would r-really appreciate it if you could come too!”

“Ah, alphys buddy. you know i’d love to but-”

“I-I know you f-feel un-uncomfortable in l-labs but Sans!”. Alphys, who has always been timid, made direct eye contact with him and he could see the heartfelt gratitude in her adamant stare. “Without your intelligence and never-ending help, I could never have finished it and I wanted to show you the real thing to you and everyone. I-I feel really proud and I w-want you to feel proud too”.

“i mean it was still mostly you, alphys. i barely did anything”. There were protests around him, the loudest was of course from his scientist father.

Alphys took a deep breath.

“It would make m-me happy”.

That was overkill. He was growing too soft.

“fine. finee. since you insisted, i don’t wanna ruin your jam ”, he said while pulling out a jam from his pocket.

Another set of groans, screams and giggles came through and soon after, everyone cheered, happy with his response.

"Then, it's settled! We're going now, numbskull!”

Sans stared at Undyne, eye sockets widening in surprise. “wait, now?”

“YEAH! Everyone has finished eating right? And it’s not like we have any plans”. Undyne banged her fists on the table, smiling sheepishly at Toriel’s glare.

Everyone looked like they agreed. Oh no.

There was no time for him to object as he was lifted by his father’s magic straight away. Sans settled in his Gaster’s arms with a blue hue rapidly spreading on his face. Seriously, he was not that small to be carried by his own dad - Papyrus was an exception as he always was. Well, at least he was not alone in his embarrassment since Alphys already looked as red as a tomato from being bridal carried by Undyne. Papyrus strode along with a jolly ‘NYEH HEH HEH’ alongside Toriel and Asgore who trailed behind while holding their children with their hands clasped together. 

As soon as he saw the large van in his view, Sans knew that his fate was sealed.

Goddammit. He is going to regret this.

Chapter Text

The world passes by in fleeting seconds, merging in a blur of colours - far more brighter than what the underground could ever hope to achieve. Sans started at the view outside the view, categorising the few happy faces of both monster and human alike that were spending their days strolling under the warmth of the morning sun. Once upon a thousand times, he too once strolled around these very same roads in awe of how bright the sun shone and marveled at the wonderful architecture that humankind has built.

Now though, everything felt dull and the brightness of the sun sometimes became an eyesore to someone like him who was born to embrace the dark. 

He was then caught off guard by Papyrus’ laughter that was as sudden and as loud, booming in the closed space of their van alongside Undyne’s rowdy guffaw. 

Well, at least one of them was born to embrace the light.

On the other side, Frisk’s hands were a different kind of warmth though, even if they did belong to once a murderer’s, the warmth in Frisk’s hands was grounding, nice even as the child continued to gently rub circles with their thumb on his gloved hands. Sans turned his gaze to the child who changed everything and saw the tightness of the posture and their face marred with anxiety. He sighed, bringing the child closer and putting his arm around him, smiling as best as he could when confronted with Frisk’s confused head tilt. 

“what’s wrong?”, Sans whispered.

Frisk seemed to deflate, burying themselves closer to Sans’s embrace - he gives nice hugs after all. “I don’t like labs too, I guess”, they signed.

“alphys?”

Frisk nodded. Ah, that made sense honestly. Even after everything, Frisk was still a kid and the horrors of the true lab were not made for anyone’s eyes honestly.

Frisk poked him on his pelvis bone. “What about you? Are you okay? You have your thinking face again, Dunkle”

“ But Sans, shouldn’t you at least try- ”

“no”, he hissed. 

His breaths came in short, shaking puffs as his whole frame shook - either from the lack of oxygen or the horrid memories that had plagued his mind like an incurable disease. His father was disappointed in him, he knew but never again. Never again will he work in labs for every step he took in such places only led to so many horrifyingly bad events that cost so many precious lives.

This was better.

Gaster withdrew his hand, eyes wide with the same look on his face that made Sans feel like he was being analysed to the very core of his soul - the same look he had over the time raising someone like him. Then, something like grief overtook the warmth of his eyelights and Sans held his breath.

“ Alright ”, Gaster sighed.

This was better. After all, he was used to this. He was used to disappointing the people he cared about.

“Sans?”, He heard Frisk whisper. 

Ah, he must have worried them too much if they started using their voice.

“nah, it’s nothing”, Sans smiled. “just thinking why my chemistry jokes always have no reaction”

“SANSSSSS”

It seemed Papyrus had overheard his pun.

The rest of the ride was spent with Sans, Gaster, Toriel, Chara, and Frisk exchanging puns much to the detriment of their other family members. Coincidentally, the journey to the lab was also filled with Papyrus and Undyne’s enraged screams which drew the attention of the drivers nearby who could hear them from their own car - baffled as to what was happening.

Alphys and Gaster’s workplace - Ebott City’s lab was located in the most influential university of their new home. A skyscraper, standing tall and proud with a modern and sleek design that shows the amazing advancement in today’s society. A building with solar panels built in that makes it glimmer under the sunlight. All and all, an irrevocably beautiful place that offers the grandest work environment for the underground’s intelligent scientists who are working with humans who appreciate an innovative mind- no matter what form they take.

A dream that was once shared by colleagues has now become a reality. 

‘you could’ve joined them’, a traitorous voice in his head whispered.

‘no’, he shut it down just as quickly. There was a reason things had to be this way and look, his old colleagues had just invented a brand new invention that has truly caused some waves.

But still, he was wanted here, he knew that alphys had always asked for help during the whole time it took to build such a contraption. As Gaster would slip some equations he knew were for the invention and yet, he still helped. He could never turn them away when it mattered.

Shaking his head slightly, he tuned it back to the conversation his family was having as Alphys led them to the main room. Just as he was about to comment on Asriel’s question, a voice called his name from behind.

“Sans?”.

He turned around to see Goner, Monster Kid’s big sister. It was quite strange to see her in the full glory of her warm gold-coloured skin in contrast to the haunting grey he was so used to seeing the rare glitches of the underground.

“hey, it’s been a while”.

He watched as her feet shuffled in place, she was nervous but the smile she gave to him was as warm as ever.

“Yeah, it has”, she said. 

An awkward silence fell between them as they both trailed after the others. It may be quite uncomfortable as time has stretched their friendship as far as it could go but it was somewhat bittersweet and nostalgic at the same time for once upon a forever they used to take long walks together along the glowy roads of the waterfall back during their teenage years.

It seemed as though Goner wanted to say something but it was interrupted but the gasps of awe coming from everyone else. Sans turned his head towards the machine and felt his soul stutter in wonder. 

He had seen sketches of it from when he had reluctantly assisted Gaster and Alphys during the earlier stages of the machine’s creation but seeing the actual finished work right in front of his very eyes was something alright.

It was a massive thing, the shape of the machine’s center was reminiscent of a 3 layered cake but with a bunch of wires and gears involved. He could make out a large computer placed on the side facing them, looking eerily similar to the same machine that malfunctioned and sentence his father and former colleagues to a fate worse than death. This made his metaphorical stomach turn but oh well, he could stomach it, he supposed. Chairs were lined up around the thing with a strange-looking helmet sitting on the head of the chairs that was connected to the larger machine.

‘WOWIE, DR. ALPHYS!! THAT MACHINE IS OUTSTANDINGLY SPLENDIFEROUS! SO COOL!!”.

“Hell yeah! That’s my girlfriend we’re talking about!”.

“And Dr.Gaster with the help of everyone else involved”, Toriel reminded.

Smiling sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head, Undyne obliged. “Yeah, that”.

“Yeah, it’s cool I guess”, Chara muttered. Asriel’s head snapped to Chara, exasperated. 

“It’s not just cool, Chara! It’s SUPER cool”, the little prince exclaimed with Frisk nodding excessively beside him as Asgore laughed, clearly endeared by their behavior.

Sans whistled appreciatively. “the team has clearly outdone themselves this time, good job”.

“Well, we couldn’t have done it without you, Little Sansy!”, Hetra said, suddenly appearing as she patted him on the back. Ah, it’s Alphys’ mom. He internally grimaced at the old nickname.

“please, hetra. just helped alphys and my dad with a few sketches and equations, nothing more. also, i’m not little anymore, you know?”. He knew it had been a while since she last saw him because of the lab incident but still.

A sound of surprise came from his right. A human who was busy sorting through notes came to look at him with something like admiration in the glint of his glasses. “Wait, you were the one who solved that damn equation? We were stuck on that for at least a month, man. Really helped us on that one”.

Both Gaster and Papyrus took this as a chance to boast about his intelligence apparently as both of their loud voices filled the large room. He cringed at this. Both of them, honestly.

Nightmare joined in, jumping from the second floor like the cat-like monster he is. He has to stop him before he spills the story of little babybones him hanging around in the office.

“alright, alright, that’s enough”, Sans groaned. He turned to alphys in hopes of a distraction. “alphys, let’s just get on with the tour already. what else do you wanna show us?”.

Oddly, enough. This seemed to stop the flow of conversation as a heavy silence befell the lab. Sans looked around, gobsmacked by the uneasy expressions that everyone wore plainly on their faces. Even the fellow human scientist among them. 

The smile on Sans’ face became strained, breathing, he tried to calm the simmers of panic and anger stirring within his soul.

His eyelights disappeared into oblivion.

“this wasn’t just a normal family outing…was it? alphys?”.

Alphys started to tremble and god, he tried not to feel too bad but it was all too easy for him to slip into his judge persona.

“N-no, it wasn’t”, Alphys said with her head bowed but her words had steel imbued in them - she won’t back down. “It’s a m-memory machine, Sans. You’re a genius. S-surely you know w-what this means”.

Sans’ eye sockets narrowed.

“Y-you keep having n-nightmares and you keep hurting. You s-somehow remember stuff that everyone else has forgotten. Dr. Gaster and our old c-colleagues seemed to have memories that differ from ours and I just-”. Alphys shoved her head in her hands, her mother walked to her, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder while Undyne stood on her right, looking defiant and ready to attack if he so much as attempted to harm her.

“you promised you would wait”, he mumbled as he turned to Papyrus who flinched slightly. 

“YES, I DID BUT SANS! YOU WEREN’T GETTING BETTER AND I’M WORRIED!”. Papyrus’ voice wavered in the middle, shaking slightly with emotion.

“Sans, let us help you”, Gaster pleaded.

Sans looked around, taking in the faces of the people who were standing in this room, be they human or monster, family or stranger - they all had a similar expression on their faces that he had learned to dread, determination.

Cursing, he began gathering magic around his soul, enveloping his entire body with blue magic.

“OH NO, YOU DON’T!”, Undyne yelled before manifesting a spear in her hand to throw it at him. He dogged easily, grinning as he felt his body weight begin to lighten. Any moment now and-

A sound like the cracking of glass filled the room.

Sans fell down, hitting the ground with a loud ‘thud’. Breathing heavily, he struggled to push his body up until he lifted his head enough so he could lock eyes with the horrified ones of his father.

He heard Papyrus choke on a sob.

Engulfed in the purple magic of his father’s, his soul was floating in the middle of the room, bared for everyone to see. They’re going to know, to see all the parts of him that he has hidden away. They’ll never see him the same way again.

His soul has always been a fragile thing, ever since he was born but looking at the state of it now, it’s a miracle that he’s still breathing as it is. It was covered in so many cracks that it looked like a child had dropped it and tried to haphazardly mend the pieces with glue. Determination dripped from the center of his soul, where a small hole was dusting away, fluttering to the ground. Huh, that wasn’t there before.

His father must have used too much force when he tried to stop him from teleporting.

Sans felt the last of his consciousness fade away as the world around him seemed to darken. His brother’s voice was loud and clear to him though as he called his name. 

It’s funny how things were now for it used to be him, calling out Papyrus’ name in that desperate tone he was all too familiar with.

He embraced the darkness that crawled into his mind and fainted.

Chapter Text

His chest was tight, where his weary soul pounded against it, loud and hurtful. You could see a bright glow that was leaking out from even his dark shirt. Magic was pouring out of it, and Gaster's soul was working overtime to send waves of comforting aura to soothe both of his sons. His breathing was laboured, getting heavier with each passing minute but he could take it. He mustn't falter when his eldest was being treated by Toriel and Alphys, wounded by his own careless hands. 

Just like before. 

“Dad..”, Papyrus croaked out and oh, hearing his usually boisterous son sound so small made his soul ache more, causing his breath to hitch. Gaster brought him closer into his arms, embracing him like he would when Papyrus was still a child even if his youngest did grow to tower over both him and Sans. 

Gaster felt a paw settle on his shoulder, warm and large. “Gaster”, Asgore said, the warmth of his voice has never faltered even after all these millennia. “You need to rest my friend. All this magic flowing out of you is not good for your soul. Sans has stopped thrashing around and is now resting peacefully.”.

“It’s fine. I can handle it”. He has been through war, has been sentenced to a liminal existence, and has had a hold carved out of his soul - a mark of the void. He could take this. He could handle this just fine. To offer even a little bit of comfort for his sons, he would do anything. 

Papyrus shifted in his hold, releasing himself and wiping his eye sockets off the tears. He sniffled before looking at him with a rather stern face. 

“DAD, I’M FINE NOW! THANK YOU FOR COMFORTING THE GREAT PAPYRUS BUT I WANT YOU TO BE OKAY TOO..”

Ah, his son has grown into a fine young man. 

Undyne moved to Papyrus’ side, throwing an arm around his shoulders with that confident grin of hers, bright and sure, even now when uncertainty is prevalent. “Yeah, take care of yourself. I’ve got Papyrus here. The twerps are here too”. The kids are quick to nod their heads with Chara a bit reluctantly but everybody knows that they were soft for Papyrus and honestly, who wasn’t? A bit of warmth blossomed in his sternum, seeing as Papyrus brightened, that wonderful smile returning to where it belonged on his face despite the sadness lingering around his soul.

“Alright, Papyrus. I’m sorry for worrying you. I’ll leave him to you, Undyne, and the kids”, He signed. 

The unyielding hold on his chest began to lighten as his soul was free from the strain of his magic. His soul’s condition made it harder for him to use his magic, and to breathe sometimes even as his soul was less compact than others.  For Sans to live with his soul though, even moving must have been such a chore as his soul would be struggling to retain his physical form. It must've been draining his energy all this time. Was this the cause for his usual lazy disposition?

Oh Sans, why didn’t you tell anyone?

He turned to Toriel who let out a tired sigh as her green magic dimmed and faded into the air. She was trembling slightly, tired from pouring the majority of her magic to heal Sans. He has never been more grateful and he told her as such with Papyrus chiming in. She brushed them with a wave of her paw and a gentle smile on her face.

“We are family”, she said, desperate yet firm. “We help each other”. 

But as soon as those words left her mouth, she suddenly looked severe as her gaze traveled to Sans, lying on the floor. with Papyrus’ scarf serving as a make-shift pillow. There was no smile on his face, only a single tight line, and his eye-sockets closed in pain. His soul was hovering in the air, being checked over by Alphys with the rest of his assistants. 

He understood Toriel’s expression. Families help each other yet Sans had turned away, choosing to brave the world alone as he was used to. It was a special kind of pain - being so close yet so far out of reach.

*SANS 1 ATK 1 DEF
*0.5/0.5 HP
*Barely hanging on.

“Dr. Gaster-”

“I know, Alphys”. He knew. The statistics were not good. “Is he stable now?”

Goner walked towards him, eyes darting nervously to Sans, and said in a soft voice. “He is. Sans should be fine. He has to be”.

Silence ranged in the room.

“Are you gonna fire up the machine now?”, Hetra asked. 

“We are, Mom. Right, Dr. Gaster?”. Alphys, for once made eye contact with him with something desolate reflecting in her glasses - a painful kind of hope. It's not like he could refuse her - there was no other way, they were running out of time. 

He went to pick Sans up, carefully cradling him. Time has passed by so painfully but still, he fits perfectly in his arms. The majority of his son’s life was robbed by so many horrible tragedies. However, monsters now saunter under the warmth of the sun and stroll in the company of the moon alongside humankind. Things could change. Things have changed. They could do better now.

“It’s time for them to know”.

Frisk, Chara, and Asriel all turned their heads to him, eyes wide with shock. Chara balled their hands into a fist, glaring at him with those striking red eyes of theirs but their stance was that of a scared prey - not a vicious predator. Asriel and Frisk both clung to Chara, trembling slightly with Asriel blinking back the tears in his eyes.

He heard Undyne voice out a question but was quickly shushed by Alphys. Toriel and Asgore had their eyes focused on their children but seemed unsurprised by the admission that they had been keeping secrets from their parents. Papyrus was oddly silent. 

Time was crawling.

Then, Chara’s shoulders sagged as they lowered their head, expression resigned. Reminiscent of the way his comrades looked when they were sent to the battlefield, knowing that they would not return back during those awful times of the war with humankind. It was unfitting for a child and although there was still some lingering animosity for Chara in his heart (because how could he forget watching Sans, his precious son bearing all that hurt from beyond the void), Gaster still felt a pang in his soul looking at the first fallen child now. 

“Yeah.. you’re right. They need to know”, Chara exhaled. They sounded tired.

“They’ll forgive you. They will be mad but they’ll forgive you - all of you”.

There was a pointed silence but then his words seemed to have sunk in. Chara hunched in on themself, wrapping a hand around their stomach, giggling madly with tears running down their face. There were shouts of concern coming from their family but it didn’t seem to reach them. Asriel looked solemn, unfazed by his sibling’s reaction while Frisk’s face became more miserable, hesitantly reaching their arms out to Chara before pulling back instantly- as if they had just remembered something.

Soon, Chara calmed down, looking up at him with despairing eyes. “I know. That makes it worse”.

He breathed, his son’s weight in his arms has never felt so heavy even though Sans was as light as a feather. He breathed and tried to navigate through the hurt he felt from understanding Chara’s reaction. Sometimes, the pain is greater when you’re forgiven despite knowing full well that you’re undeserving of it.

They were all strapped to the chair with a weird-looking helmet with wire attached to them, leading towards the main machine. The Great Papyrus may be great, but the technicalities of sciency-stuff always baffled him, even when he was a little babybones, unlike his brilliantly cool big brother who always acted like he wasn’t as smart as he seemed which Papyrus never understood.

Maybe now, he could understand and offer him some help and hugs. Lots of hugs. 

His brother was on the seat next to him and with all of their souls required for the machine to work, Papyrus could observe his brother’s soul. Ah, how uncool! He could already feel tears welling in his eyes again. He couldn’t help it, there was barely any light coming out of his brother’s soul. 

His big brother was so so good yet Sans has always kept his wounds so closely tight in his ribcage while he lended the world smiles and laughter without a second thought. Papyrus understood that Sans wanted to protect him, that he and the rest of the royal children and even his own father had secrets buried in the back of their minds. He understood but still, he wanted to help. 

From behind him, a loud whirring sound began to fill the room accompanied by billows of smoke as the machine lit up, casting the room in an eerie green glow.

It was starting. He could help now.

“UHH, IS THIS NORMAL?? ALPHYS?? DR. GASTER??”, Undyne yelled in the midst of all the noise.

“I-IT IS, DON’T W-WORRY U-UNDYNE!”

From the distance, he saw Aunt Herta push a large lever down with the help of Uncle Nightmore and several human’s help. “WE’RE READY. TRANSFERRING YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS IN 3 SECONDS”, she shouted.

Wait what? He turned to his dad who sat to his left. “TRANSFERRING OUR WHAT???!!”.

Gaster just smiled apologetically.

There was a reason why Papyrus never got into science and opted for engineering instead.

“3!”.

“LET’S HELP THE NUMBSKULL!”, Undyne screamed. 

“OF COURSE!!!”, he joined in.

“2!”.

For his big brother.

“1!”.

His vision was engulfed in white before everything faded to black.

Ow, what the hell?

There was an insistent pounding reverberating inside his head. It felt like he was having a massive hangover after passing out from drinking bottles of ketchup spiked by alcohol. No wonder he stopped drinking (it was mostly because it made Papy sad but that's beside the point). 

Groaning, Sans brought his hand to his head to hit his head in hopes to get rid of the horrible headache he had. He only managed to get a single hit on his head before someone grasped his arm and covered his hand in a gentle hold. A thumb caressed his hand, tracing circular patterns on his metacarpal bones. 

It was nice.

“Sans, that’s not how you’re supposed to treat a headache”, a voice chuckled, his laughter echoing in his mind. It sounded garbled but somehow he could recognize the warmth behind it. 

Slowly, he opened his eyes and was awoken to a sky of inky-black darkness. How strange, he thought. The sight almost reminded him of the void.

“SANS, CAN YOU HEAR ME?”.

Yes, he could. The voice was very loud.

Sans sluggishly turned his gaze toward the direction of the voice. Blurry images began to become clearer and he was met with a lot of white and red. 

He could recognize that colour combo anywhere.

“...papyrus?”, he slurred.

Papyrus looked relieved as he finally noticed the red-gloved hands covering his. Oh, no wonder it felt nice. It was Papyrus, Papyrus was always nice. 

A small figure was curled over his ribcage, it took a few blinks for him to recognise that it was Frisk with their arms resting on his chest and staring at him intently. Chara and Asriel were behind them, looking at him as well, standing out in this canvas pitch black. It was almost like-

…

Where were they?

Alarmed, he moved to stand up, moving away from the rest of his family to stand in front of them. Mortified, he realised that he was resting his head on Gaster’s lap. As if he needed enough embarrassment as it is. Even more mortifying, the events of earlier started to sink in. 

Goddammit.

And judging by the looks of everyone. They were ready for an argument. 

He just wanted to sleep. Why were they wasting their time with this?

Just as he was about to open his mouth, a clicking sound was heard from their side and they all turned to see a screen about the size of what you would typically find at the cinema suddenly appearing out of thin air.

This setup looked oddly familiar, he hadn’t realised it before as he didn’t want to be part of the front lines but now, he recognized it.

“did you build this machine based on a fanfic you’ve read, alphys?”, Sans asked, incredulous. His anger was momentarily forgotten.

Everyone turned to Alphys who had her head buried in her hands, the white light from the screen made her blush all the more prominent.

“H-hey, it was a g-good fanfic, o-okay! And the m-machine turned out great!”, she defended.

Undyne stood up with vigour, pulling Alphys up in an unprompted bear hug. “HELL YEAH, my girlfriend’s awesome!”. Alphys melted in Undyne’s arms when all of a sudden, anger painted her features. She pushed herself out of Undyne’s arms and stomped towards him before pointing a finger at his chest. 

“You!”, she snarled.

“yes, me?”, he deadpanned.

She growled this time as her hands gripped his shirt, bringing his face closer to hers. Gone was the hesitation that wrapped around her like a blanket, composed even as the others (except Undyne) began to voice out their protest with her handling of him. “Don’t get smart with me, Sans! How can you act like this when you’re-”. And to his horror, Alphys choked on a sob as her eyes glistened with tears. 

“alphys-”.

“You’re dying”.

Alphys rested her head against his ribcage, he could feel every shudder as she took deep, harsh breaths. “Y-you’re dying”, she cried.

There was a sharp intake of breath and footsteps hurried to his side. Papyrus was kneeled by his side. His eyes were at the same level as him now, they bore into him, stripping him bare the way only Papyrus ever could manage. 

“YOU’RE DYING?”, he asked. Sans had lied to Papyrus countless of times before, had resigned himself to being a filthy liar - to embrace the thing that he hated the most due to those god-forsaken reset but now with Alphys’s tears wetting his shirt, with Toriel’s own sobs that could be heard even when muffled by Asgore’s embrace, with his father’s grave eye light shining in the darkness - willing to brave darkness so similar to the void just for him, with the kid's guilt-stricken faces, he found that he couldn’t bring himself to lie.

He stayed silent and that was the answer itself.

Tears leaked out of his little brother’s eye-sockets and it hurt seeing as he was the one who made sweet Papyrus look like that. ‘As if he has never hurt him before’, a voice in his head hissed at him. He didn’t argue with that. There was no need to refute the truth, after all.

“WHY?”, Papyrus croaked. “WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ANYONE? WHY DIDN’T YOU TELL ME ?”.

And that was always the question, wasn’t it? Why? 

Seeing as Sans wouldn’t answer, Papyrus grew more desperate. He latched onto his shoulder, digging the distal of his phalanges into his scapula. “SANS, PLEASE, YOU CAN’T JUST-”.

“He’s not the Sans that I remembered", Chara said, voice sullen with grief colouring their words.

Surprised, Papyrus released the grip he had on his shoulders and turned to Chara, confused that they would cut him off like that. 

Seeing as everyone’s gaze was centered on her, Chara shook their head, aghast. “It wasn’t me!”, she said. “It was..”. 

The screen. The screen was on, showcasing Frisk, sitting by one of the many cliff sides of Snowdin and a dimmed, almost see-through Chara floating beside them.

Sans groaned. After the mess that this whole debacle will undoubtedly create, he was going to hibernate for the rest of his fucking lifetime.

Chapter Text

“He’s not the Sans that I remembered", Chara said, voice sullen with grief colouring their words. They held a golden heart-shaped locket in their hands, letting their finger trace over the engravings of the symbol of the monster kingdom as if remembering something before turning to Frisk with a rueful smile, the weight of it making their eyes squint. Frisk had always loved Chara’s smile, especially these ones. 

Chara turned to Frisk with an eyebrow raised but Frisk only smiled sweetly as they slipped their hand into Chara’s. Asriel held Chara’s other hand and said with a warm smile, “I preferred that smile too”. Chara glared at them both but the slight curve on their lips showed how pleased they were.

Toriel, Asgore, and Papyrus joined it, singing praises to the child. Undyne joined it but was still disgruntled at the new revelations. “I can’t believe you two knew each other! That’s wild, man”. 

“It makes sense”, Alphys chimed in. “Chara was the first fallen human, after all, and a monster’s lifespan is long”.

“Believe it or not, he never used to smile that much. Always so shy, hiding behind me and Azzy or one of our friend’s backs if Dr. Gaster wasn’t around but I guess his love for practical jokes hasn’t changed much”. With that, Frisk giggled, remembering the handshake they shared with Sans when they first met.

Papyrus groaned. “I WISH THAT HAD CHANGED”. Next to him, Gaster chuckled as he pat Papyrus on the back. “Nonsense, you appreciate the jokes too Papyrus”.

The tall skeleton only grumbled but looking at Sans whose eyelights glow turned softer made him happy. Papyrus pulled him closer, trying to not take it to heart that Sans flinched and kept his gaze straight to the screen, refusing to look at any of them.

The scene changed, morphing to the luminescent blow glow of Waterfall as the laughter of children filled the air. The blurry images cleared and there were five children - three monsters and a human playing in the river, splashing each other with glee. The fifth and smallest child sat on the ground, gently kicking his legs in the water. He looked entranced at how his movements seemed to cause the water to react, watching intently at the mini waves formed. The large and cozy blue hoodie covered his small frame and there was a small but sincerely warm smile on his skeletal face - a smile only possible on a skeleton monster - when he saw how Chara chased the rest in revenge after they pushed them into the water. 

Chara then waded to him before turning their back towards him, slightly bowing down. “Come on, Sans. Let’s show these traitors our high tide”. The rest of their friends groaned as Sans let out a small giggle while moving to climb on Chara’s back. “i like going with the flow”, Sans laughed. The memory began to fade as Chara rushed to their friends with Sans on her back.

Chara's eyes had turned soft. Their usually cutting crimson eyes were glazed with affection but Frisk saw grief in them. “He used to be so sickly so he couldn’t join us when we played as much but he always seemed so happy, so content just being here with us. We were all very protective of him since some monsters weren’t good to him”. Frisk looked stricken. “But why?”, the child signed. “Sans is so nice”.

There was this glint in Chara’s eyes that made Frisk shiver, it was as if all the bleakness of the world seemed to collide in their pupils. “People will always try to harm what they’re too lazy to understand, assholes all of them”, they muttered. 

“Chara”.

“Yeah, sorry mom”.

A cold, snowy wind blew past them and the grim look was gone, replaced with Chara’s usual poker face. “Azzy and I were siblings, he was the one I loved the most but I’ve always had a soft spot for Sans. I’m sure that Azzy, Undyne and Alphys would have said the same”.

“But then…if all of you were friends, why can’t they remember you. The story never mentioned this”. 

Chara closed her eyes, looking pained. “That’s because part of the story has been erased, forgotten”.

The screen went dark, leaving everyone to ponder what they had seen in silence.

The tense stillness was broken by Alphys’s gasp. “W-we were friends..childhood friends ', Alphys whispered, sounding both awed and sorrowful as she brought her clawed hand to her mouth.

“Holy shit..”.

Toriel looked at Undyne sharply at the curse but it seemed that she too was too shocked to say anything. 

 “Where was Papyrus though?”, Undyne asked. 

They all turned to Sans for answers. He sighed but relented, there was nothing in the world that could stop him from talking about Papyrus. “he wasn’t born yet”.

Papyrus seemed relieved at that and Sans’s soul constricted. “everyone waited for you, Paps. Everyone in the entire underground was excited to meet you, we’ve all loved you and still do. and when you did, everyone wanted to be your friend”.

At that, Papyrus wrapped him in a hug but still, his smile wasn’t bright. “COULD IT BE THAT THE REASON THAT THE GREAT PAPYRUS USED TO NOT HAVE A LOT OF FRIENDS WAS THE SAME REASON WHY OUR MEMORIES DIFFER, BROTHER?”.

“Yes, Papyrus.”, Gaster had answered instead, seeing as Sans stiffened at Papyrus’s question.

“W-when you fell into the void, that c-caused a d-displacement in the space-time c-continuum..”.

Gaster nodded. “That’s correct, Alphys. When I fell into the void, my existence as well as the existence of my other colleagues was erased. In order to restore the balance caused by my disruption, this world carved out new stories, altering memories to those living in this timeline”.

“Woah, that’s fu-messed up”, Undyne commented.

Asgore came to Gaster’s side. “Gaster, when you say timeline…does that mean that there are others?”.

“You are wise, your majesty. Indeed, they are ”.

The king opened his mouth but Asriel placed a paw on his father’s arm. “Not now, Dad. If we are truly seeing everything, you’ll know everything eventually”.

“You know, my son”.

Frisk stepped forward, looking resilient despite the trembles that shook their hand as they signed. “Azzy, me, Dr. Gaster, Sans and Chara all know, Dad. I’m sorry about what you’re going to see, I’m sorry”. 

Toriel reached and hugged Frisk, bringing Asgore and the rest of her children in the hug. “Whatever happens next, all three of you will always be my children. Nothing will change that”. Toriel wiped the tears that began to fall on Frisk’s face with her paw before she turned to Sans, who looked anxious.

“Sans, you are much younger than I expected. I would like to apologise for putting the burden of such a promise on you and would like to thank you for taking care of Frisk”.

Sans grimaced at that. He wondered how she would react after finding out the truth.

Chara snapped her fingers. “So that’s why that memory was included. You were spying on Frisk because of Mom’s promise. That doesn’t explain the flashback though”.

“T-this machine was m-made possible because o-of the a-access we ha-had to the void. It could access m-memories from a third person viewpoint and p-present them i-in far more detailed w-ways as w-well as add other people’s memories to provide f-further inside”.

Before the conversation could derail further, Papyrus cleared his throat. There were more pressing matters he wanted to address.

“THERE IS SOMETHING THAT IS STILL BOTHERING THE GREAT PAPYRUS”. 

“What is it, my son?”.

Papyrus hesitant, sending a glance at his big brother who had long since pulled away from his hug, curling into himself and looking sullen. He fiddled with the stray threads present on his gloves. 

“GHOST CHARA HAS SAID SOME MONSTERS WERE NOT KIND TO MY BROTHER BUT WHY? ALTHOUGH MY BROTHER IS A LAZYBUM, HE IS GOOD”.

The confidence in Papyrus was a profound thing, bringing Sans out of his stupor. He looked at him, wide-eyed. 

“papyrus…”.

“SANS IS GOOD”.

Papyrus had looked at Sans as he said, face set in the most defiant look his brother had seen since he convinced him that he wanted to join the royal guards and Sans could only look away. His brother had always been so stubborn and this was one of the things they could never agree on. From the corner of his vision, Sans saw his father begin to sign.

“don’t”, he snarled. The others were taken aback by the sheer sharpness in his voice but Gaster only sighed.

“Sans, they deserve to know. This has been going on for long enough. This knowledge has burdened you for all your life”.

Sans felt his left eye light flicker, the yellow and cyan magic swirling with white, flaring uncontrollably in the darkness of the void. He pressed a hand to his eye socket, willing for his magic to stabilise as he bowed his head. Taking deep wavering breaths, he tried to wheeze through the stirring in his soul, sending cold pinpricks slithering up to his spine. 

“Sans”, Gaster's warbled, distorted voice spoken in his wing dings dialect would strike fear in those who knew him as the cold, genius scientist who single-handedly innovated technology for the underground’s survival but hearing his voice, feeling his skeletal hand rubbing his back the same way he did when he was a baby bones made him feel safe.

“They would not hate you. You are so loved. We all love you very much”.

His eyelights returned to normal as he drew in a heavy breath. 

“Did we know back then? Why do some assh-jerks treat you differently?”, Undyne asked. Sans lifted his head and directed his gaze at her, stunned by her serious disposition. Both of them maintained eye contact, Undyne letting Sans search for whatever he wanted. The same way he did when he came to her to discuss Papyrus’s inclusion in the royal guards. The captain kept her cool but her fist remained clenched. 

Sans exhaled but nodded. “you did”. 

Undyne breathed, letting her hands unclench and resting both of her hands on her hips. She gave him a wide, bright smile that showed all of her fangs in glory as Sans stared at her confident stance. “Then what are you so afraid of, punk! We were besties then, we’ll be MORE than besties now!!”.

Sans’ soul glowed brighter, glowing so vividly that his soul can be seen through the white turtle-neck shirt that he wore. Everyone saw this, face beaming with a smile as they each reassured him of their love. Frisk instead turned to both Asriel and Chara, confused. Asriel had a nostalgic smile on his face, evident in the way his eyebrows furrowed despite the warm expression on his face. “Magic in skeleton monsters is especially strong so when they’re extremely happy, their souls will glow”, the crown prince explained. Frisk gasped in awe, a grin on their face as they looked back at Sans whose face was turning blue - his equivalent of a blush - as he buried his face in Papyrus’ scarf when his brother wrapped him in another hug.

“okay, okay…that’s enough. i..i get it”.

Toriel huffed. “I sure hope you do, young man. You’re one in a melon, after all”.

As expected, a good (bad) pun could lift Sans’ spirit anytime as he snickered into his hands but quickly his smile turned solemn, the glow emanating from his soul dimmed and Papyrus called his name out sadly when he saw that. “....it’s alright for you to change your mind about me after we watch the next scene and after everything”, Sans started. Seeing his family ready to argue, he shook his head. “you don’t understand how freaking messed up everything is”.

“OF COURSE BROTHER BUT THAT’S WHY WE’RE HERE!! AS MISS TORIEL HAD SAID, WHATEVER HAPPENS NEXT, WE’LL STILL BE FAMILY”.

Sans didn’t look convinced but he nodded regardless.

Undyne then plopped down on the floor, dragging Alphys and Papyrus to sit down. Everyone turned to her with wide eyes and she only shrugged. “We came here to learn the truth, right? Well, better get comfy”. They all looked at each other before joining Undyne on the ground with Gaster pulling a reluctant Sans down. “well, i still don’t remember consenting to any of this”, Sans grumbled, crossing his arms.

“Y-you were d-dying, Sans”, Alphys glared. “J-just because y-you a-are alright with it, t-that doesn’t mean we are”. The said skeleton looked abashed and Alphys’s expression softened with guilt. “A-At least, l-little you is s-so much m-more cuter”.

Oh no.

Sans groaned, burying his face into his hands as Gaster began excitedly pulling out a wallet and inside, spilled out were pictures of him and Papyrus growing up. “My sons were the absolute cutest! Not even science could prove this fact wrong!!”. Of course, his father was ecstatic about this, since now that the secret’s almost out, he could finally share their baby pictures without worrying about any unwanted questions.

Everyone began crowding, itching to see the pictures. Undyne suddenly went to him just to aggressively pat his back as she hollered. “Holy shit, I’m older than you!!”, she realised.

“UNDYNE, UNHAND MY BROTHER AT ONCE!! BE GENTLE”, Papyrus yelled and Undyne cackled.

Thankfully, the screen glowed as a loud whirring sound filled the void. Looks like the next scene is starting.

Quickly, everyone settled on the ground next to each other as if they were just watching a late-night movie together. Secretly, Sans relished being surrounded by his loved ones since maybe things will change and they’ll come to find themselves horrified at the very nature of his existence. Even if they’ve accepted him, surely his inaction and failure during Monsterkind’s underground genocide would surely, surely sow some resentment in their heart towards him.

Though that’s alright. After all, Sans’ time here was not long because, by the time they finished this, death would finally greet him and with the reset button destroyed, there would be no going back. His family and this world would finally be free of the anomaly that was him.

A sense of peace washed over him in waves as a smile formed on his face, unbidden. Everything would be over after this.

The white screen began to change, showing Gaster trudging through the judgment hall with his shoulders tense and his head bowed. His entire countenance is that of a person who had lost their entire world and now wanders this world, standing like he was propped by a single, fraying thread. He stopped in front of a massive, grand door with his sight set on the royal emblem carved onto the door before, taking a deep breath as the royal scientist knocked, the sound reverberating in the hollowed hall. 

“Ah..this memory”, Gaster muttered. He raised one hand, bringing it closer to his face, staring at the circular hole in the middle of his palm. 

“dad?”, Sans called out.

Gaster turned his gaze to him and everyone in the room, looking at him with curiosity. Gently, he placed a hand on his eldest son's cheek. “Sans, I get to re-experience the day you were brought into my life”, he smiled.

Chapter Text

The white screen began to change, showing Gaster trudging through the judgment hall with his shoulders tense and his head bowed. His entire countenance is that of a person who had lost their entire world and now wanders this world, standing like he was propped by a single, fraying thread. He stopped in front of a massive, grand door with his sight set on the royal emblem carved onto the door before, taking a deep breath as the royal scientist knocked, the sound reverberating in the hollowed hall. 

The large door creaked open, its sound reverberating heavily as it revealed the throne room, filled to the brim with golden flowers, where in the middle, a round table was placed with the king of the monsters seated as he enjoyed a cup of tea. Judging from its smell, he was probably drinking Golden Flower Tea again. Already, Gaster felt like sighing. It seems that even after surviving a gruesome war, King Asgore’s obsession with those buttercups still remained. Another cup of the same tea it is then.

“Gaster, I didn’t know you had such distaste for my tea! I would’ve served you something else”. 

The scientist sighed. “It is not distaste, your majesty. There’s only so much of the same tea that one can consume. Besides, do you even have any other tea, Asgore?”.

“You know, dear. Gaster has a point”, Toriel agreed. With both his closest friend and beloved wife ganging up on him, the king in question could only splutter as his whole face turned slightly red when the rest joined in with snickers and low giggles.

“Don’t worry, Asgore! Golden Flower Tea tastes super freaking good!!”. Undyne, as usual, came to her beloved king’s defense.

Placing his cup of tea gently on the coaster, Asgore beamed at him while pulling a chair beside him to sit. “Gaster, you’ve finally arrived! Come, sit, sit. It’s been a while since we’ve last talked, my friend”. Hearing this, Gaster frowned. He huffed, settling down on his seat as he took a quick sip of his tea for the sake of politeness. “ Well, I’ve been busy trying to make sure that the underground can be a sustainable place to live, your majesty ”.

“And of course, the royal family and the rest of the underground thanks you, Gaster-”

“ It’s Dr. Gaster, your majesty. I doubt that you call me here just to have a nice chat”, he sneered.

Asgore's smile dropped, his figure wilting.

Chara whistled. “ Sheesh, that was cold, Dr. Gaster”. Beside them, Asriel nodded with his eyes wide. “Wowey, I’ve almost forgotten what you were like back before Sans was born”.

Papyrus hummed, sounding a bit upset. “WERE YOU SAD, DAD?”, he asked. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS HAS SEEN THAT GRIEF OFTEN MAKES MONSTERS AND HUMAN BITTER”.

“Yes, I was very sad, Papyrus. Your father has lost his entire family to the war with humankind. You and your brother were the best thing that ever happened to me”, Gaster said while patting both Papyrus and Sans’ head. Papyrus smiled brightly as he nuzzled into his father’s touch but Sans looked conflicted. 

“There was no one who lost more during the war than the skeleton monsters”, Asgore explained, voice grim and sullen. 

“I’m sorry”, Chara apologised, their head bowed and Frisk joined it, though their voice was but a whisper.

“The sins of your forefathers were never yours to bear, children. Lift your head up and don’t apologise”.

Chara shook her head. “We’re no better than them”.

“...you’re wrong”, Sans croaked. Chara and Frisk stared at him but his gaze was set on the wide screen in front of them.

Gaster looked at Asgore, something like guilt swirling in his eye lights but that vanished in a heartbeat, leaving a cold, almost lifeless stare back. “ Speak, your majesty. What do you need me for? I doubt that it’s anything pleasant, seeing that you feel the need to placate with your tea when you could’ve just sent me an email ”.

“..You’re correct, Gaster”. The pleading face that Asgore wore was shed, he straightened his back, slightly raising his head, eyes narrowed as the king once again resumed his regal gait. Gaster squinted at the quick change of demeanour but he looked rather pleased to finally be getting into business.  

“If you recall during the war, Dr. Gaster, the probability for victory for monsterkind was almost impossible because the humans possess the one thing that we monster lack - the ability to hold Determination in their bodies”, the king recalled. “ With determination, they were unstoppable. In a moment of desperation, we injected some members of our royal guards with the D.T when retrieved from dead human bodies but it backfired horribly”.

“ Instead of turning to dust, their bodies melted - turning into these horrible magma-like substances with the subject in mind fully aware of what was happening to their bodies. They could only scream in pain ”.

Asgore took a deep, shuddering breath. “The only monster who actually had the chance to fight even for a short moment after being injected were the skeletons”.

The sound of a teacup shattering filled the empty room. 

Alphys gasped, whipping her towards Asgore, utterly bewildered. “K-king A-Asgore…”, she whispered. Asgore lowered his head in shame as Toriel placed a comforting hand on his arm. Gaster closed his eyes, dragging his sons closer to him.

“Why? What’s wrong?”, Undyne asked.

Gaster’s hands were still trembling. Never in a thousand years, could he have foreseen that the ever kind Asgore would dare to suggest such a thing to him. 

“Dr. Gaster-”.

“ What do you need me to do, Asgore?! ”, he scowled.

The lines marring Asgore’s face were harsh. He looked like every bit of the solemn monarch he was groomed to be. The guilt he felt was made rather obvious with how his shoulders drooped but his paws were steady and his eyes stony. Here he was, being so put together when he was about to destroy Gaster’s life.

“We need a weapon, Gaster.”, the king had decreed. 

The atmosphere in the room grew cold.

Papyrus clenched his hands, grip tight and tense. The darkness of the void made the shadows on his face seem more malicious. “...MY BROTHER IS NOT A MERE WEAPON”. The usual chipper fervour in his voice was nowhere to be found. The rest turned to him in shock, surprised by the first genuine display of anger present in his voice and his demeanour. 

“Sans is so much more”, Gaster easily agreed. Everyone else besides Sans voiced their agreement. 

Sans, on the hand, rolled his eye lights, feeling both amused and slightly embarrassed by his father and brother’s quick defence of him. He placed a hand on Papyrus’ gloved ones, patting it gently. “pipe down, paps”.

They were so convinced of whatever inherent goodness he had in his already fractured soul. 

Gaster’s eyelights grew brighter, morphing into a violent shade of purple. Asgore continued on, undeterred. “I need you to create a vessel, Dr. Gaster. Something that will absorb all the 7 human souls that we will collect and with its immense power, we will reclaim our place under the warmth of the sun. A weapon that will remain superior over the humans - a monster that could withstand and wield DETERMINATION”. 

If looks could kill, even death by a Gaster Blaster would be a mercy compared to the ruthless glare Gaster was sending him. “ You need me to create life, masquerading as one of my own yet you call the creation an it ”.

“I need you to create a weapon, not a new life Dr. Gaster. As you know, after absorbing all 7 human souls, the body will soon wither away because not even a human is strong enough to handle such potent magic - giving it emotions would be cruel. I’m not so savage as to ask you to create a living monster just to condemn it to a short existence.”, Asgore explained. “And as for the other issue, skeletons have the closest relation to humans out of all monsters. The creation will have a higher chance of success to be injected with D.T and avoid all side-effects”.

Oh, how Gaster hated that Asgore’s explanation made sense. How he hated that his mind was already running various calculations and methods to ensure his success in this new experiment.

Asgore let out a long sigh. There was sympathy in those disgustingly soft eyes of his and Gaster felt so very exposed and vulnerable under such kindness. He growled when Asgore reached out a hand to him, probably to pat him on the back - to try to comfort him. 

“I’m sorry, Gaster. I’m so sorry but Toriel, I, and the rest of the royal council agreed that this was the best way for us to return to the surface with minimal loss. We can’t afford to lose more”.

“ ..This was the queen’s idea, wasn’t it? Something as soft-hearted as you would never have come up with such a mad idea”.

Unable to argue, the king nodded. 

Toriel winced, troubled by such an easy conclusion her friend had come to. “I would dare suggest that, even knowing now how you witnessed firsthand the genocide of your kind?”.

“We were all grieving, Toriel. You’ve changed too. Your parents were slain right in front of your eyes ”. Toriel’s breath hitched at the reminder, it’s been so very long since she thought of such events. Her children snuggled closer to her and her husband wrapped his arm around her waist. Gaster continued. “ Asriel was just born a few decades and you grew more worried for the safety of his future”.

The Royal Scientist rose from his chair, striding towards the entrance with his face blank. His eye lights were flickering out and eventually faded, leaving behind an eerie blackness. The sound of his footfalls echoed through the empty room, cutting through the tense silence. If he were to stay here any longer, he might be executed for regicide.

“Gaster”, Asgore called out.

He stopped.

“Forgive me and my wife for being selfish but I must ask this of you ...for the longevity of monsterkind”.

Gaster breathed in and out. “ I will try my best ”, he muttered.

Thank you, Dr. Gaster. Your efforts will be greatly rewarded”.

With that being said, he shut the enormous door close, leaving the king alone. Whatever reward the king could procure will never amount to what he has lost and what he will lose in making this ‘weapon’.

The scene once again changed, showcasing the underground part of the lab that was in a far better condition than the one during Alphys’s time as the Royal Scientist. Ever since receiving the king's orders, Gaster had all but locked himself in his private office that was spacious enough to act as his own research facility. His colleagues were worried but Gaster brushed them off, adamant about keeping this new project of his a secret. If word somehow reached the rest of the underground, there would be an uproar. A monster capable of the same power that massacred many monsters in the war? How despicable.

Sans let out a low sardonic laugh. How utterly despicable indeed. 

“SANS”.

“Sans”.

The skeleton in question stiffened, taking turns to look at both Gaster, who had a regretful but exasperated frown, and Papyrus with his oddly solemn face. He gave them a wry grin but unapologetically shrugged.

Gaster stood in front of the towering tube filled with a clear liquid, watching intently as the artificial monster soul mixed in with the liquid soul substance of PATIENCE, JUSTICE, and DETERMINATION that the king had given him. The few priceless leftovers obtained from the war. He observed the soul that was glowing brighter and brighter every minute. Even though the body of this soul wasn’t formed yet, he could already feel the sheer intensity of the future weapon’s magic that was projected to the surrounding area in waves.

The hole he carved out from his left palm stung. 

There was a different kind of sting coming from another part of his body - his own soul. A storm was brewing in his heart, crashing and swirling within its confines. These feelings of longing that he was experiencing...Was it right of him to allow such thoughts to come to the surface? As much as he wanted to ignore it, these echoes from his soul came crawling back into his mind like an endless itching buzz.

Though it was faint, there was an idea embedding itself into the core of his mind. A chance for a new future. A chance for family.

But that was impossible. As the sole descendant of the skeletons, his duty was to the royal family and the underground. That was what his noble family had taught him.

“Our duty may be for the monarch but remember Gaster, the matters of your heart take utmost priority”, his mother’s voice traitorously resounded in his mind. “To live a humerus life is the way of the skeletons”.

“I-IS THAT ACTUALLY A SKELETON THING?? ARE HORRIBLE PUNS A SKELETON THING?!”. Papyrus was quite sad that his super cool (but not as cool as him) dad was missing his family and the fact that he could never meet his grandmother made his ribcage feel tight but puns and bad jokes were a staple in his lineage??

Everyone in his family was cackling, Sans especially. Traitors all of them. Hmph!

On the other hand, Sans, Gaster, and Chara all thought that Papyrus was truly the embodiment of the sun with how quickly he changed the mood.

Eventually, the lab grew dark and Gaster was asleep on his desk, head pillowed on his arms though it wasn’t a peaceful rest as seen from the fluttering of his closed eye sockets and the minor movement of his body, trapped in a horrible dream.

Then, Gaster jolted awake, panting heavily as violent shivers racked his body with a single tear trailing down his face. He buried his face in his hands, muffling the screams he let out in frustration. Even if he were to yell his non-existent lungs out, nobody would hear him.

No one was there besides himself in the lab, after all.

All his colleagues had already gone home to their families. Something he no longer had. He had lost that to the cruel humans up above. The nightmare he had reminded him of the earlier days of the war where every skeleton was hunted down by humans, feared for being one of the strongest monsters to live. A kind that had served the royal family for generations, one that always stood by the king’s side. He removed his shaky hands from his face, removing the bandage wrapped around his left. He stared at the empty hole on his palm - the same hands that held the dust from his dear mother, father, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and countless other relatives. 

“P-please, brother…. Hold onto it until you can pass it on to someone else. Please…be s-safe”, his older brother had said, transferring every last of his magic into his soul before he turned to dust. The breeze then blew him away, leaving him stranded alone on the battlefield when help finally came. If he had only held on a little longer, he would have made it.

He had held onto it and given it to the weapon who would truly be an unbiased judge and fit to carry the Karmic Retribution that he couldn’t. Gaster had completed it, the final wish of his brother. Despite the misery he felt, He had stayed alive long enough to pass on the power.

So why? Why did he have to be the only one to live? Why was he still here? The core has already been built and his fellow scientists were all so very gifted. They could figure something out for the underground.

A loud sniffle was heard.

Gaster smiled fondly as he easily caught the sudden hug Papyrus was giving him. He had almost forgotten how anguished he was back then but here he was, living with a big family, surrounded. Gaster thought, watching as Sans subtly leaned against him, that this was worth the many lonely nights. 

Suddenly, Gaster felt a calming wave of magic radiating from the tube that held the monster's soul. He raised his head and saw the soul glowing in the darkness with such intense magic. Feeling like the soul was calling for him, Gaster stumbled towards the tube in a daze. He gently placed his hands on the surface of the tube and the magic coursed through his body in waves, ridding him of the crippling loneliness he had felt but was replaced with a feeling of melancholic longing. 

There was a thought looming in his mind - a horribly selfish idea coming to light. 

To ensure that the weapon will not stray from its intended purpose, Gaster had reworked the soul to answer to a wish intertwined by a boss monster’s strong magic - like a written computer code on a program. The king was meant to make that wish as the head of Monsterkind.

He fell to his knees, his head resting against the cold surface of the tube. “ I wish for a family to soothe these aching cracks in this soul of mine. Would it be wrong for you to grant my selfish wish, instead of the same wish for everyone else to return to the surface? ”, he whispered with a soul beating loudly he could hear it in his head.  “ I don’t wish to return to the surface again. It’s much safer down here ”.

They had wiped out so many species of monsters, after all. 

He could be sentenced to death for this, for choosing himself over the few hundred monsters they managed to save - kept alive by humankind’s mercy. This was the textbook definition of treason.

“ Would you want to become my son? ”.

The soul’s glow became much brighter, illuminating the entire room with a blinding white light. 

Chapter Text

Toriel lightly dabbed the moisture of her eyes with a handkerchief. “Such a wonderful story”. She then passed the cloth to Asgore who aggressively blew his nose and sheepishly kept it in his pocket after seeing his wife’s aggravated expression.

“Oh, we l-love a found f-family trope”, Alphys smiled, sharing a fond look with Undyne. “Hell yeah!!”, She agreed.

Frisk was entranced by the memory, still keeping their gaze fixed on the screen with a dopey smile on her face even after the screen had already faded. The skeleton family has remained mysterious and the child barely found anything even after countless resets. The backstory they wanted to know for so long started with such a wholesome memory too! Found family trope is indeed the best!

Chara and Asriel looked at Frisk, amused by the palpable excitement as their youngest sibling joyfully swayed their body. Though they understand, both of them are excited to see Sans as a baby.

Papyrus had caught Gaster and Sans in a bear hug, shouting his love for them with more fervor than usual with Gaster stroking his head. That was nice, 

Sans thought but he could barely focus on that. He swatted his father’s hand away, ignoring his concerned hum as he cataloged each one of his loved ones' expressions and grew more and more confused.

Sans looked at them. “is that it?”, he asked, incredulous.

This snapped everyone out of their stupor and they stared at him before sharing a look as if he was the one acting out of line.

Toriel offered him a pleasant smile. “Whatsoever do you mean, Sans?”.

“Yeah, what do you mean ‘that’s it’?”, Undyne questioned, crossing her arms across her chest like she always did whenever she felt like an interrogation was necessary.

Sans let out a nervous chuckle. Honestly, he felt like he was only a second away from a mental breakdown. So many things had happened and so many revelations – this one, in particular, was his most damning secret. Why was everybody so chill about this?

“Sans”. He heard Chara call out but no, no this was not the time.

Sans pulled back from both his brother and father. He did not need the comfort right now. What he needed was confirmation. He balled the front of his shirt in a tight grip, where his soul was located. “look at me!”, Sans demanded. “i am not a real monster”.

The rest appeared to be stricken by his words with Toriel, Alphys, Frisk and his brother starting to shed a few tears. Papyrus got up, walking towards him with his hands up in the air – like how you would approach a feral animal. Now this, this was more like it but not like how he had imagined it. Papyrus still looked at him as if nothing had changed. Why?

“SANS, DON’T SAY THAT BROTHER! IF YOU’RE NOT A REAL MONSTER AND THE GREAT PAPYRUS IS NOT A REAL MONSTER TOO!”.

Sans shook his head vehemently at that. “you weren’t made with DETERMINATION, paps. i made sure that dad and everyone else wouldn’t do that to you”. He took a deep breath, trying to stall the tears forming from his eye sockets. This was fine. It wasn’t the first time his life had fallen apart. “don’t you get it?! monsters were born to be kind”, he continued.

This was an undeniable truth.

“i was born to kill”.

This was also an undeniable truth. He could act like the funny guy all he wanted but nothing would set him free of his pre-determined fate.

Sans hung his head low, unable to muster the courage to see the expression on their faces even though he knew that this day would come. He heard Papyrus choke on a sob and he lowered his head even more, ignoring the pain coursing through his bones from the exertion.

He stiffened as he heard soft footsteps coming towards him at a steady pace, hesitant yet brave – Alphys.

His first official friend stood in front of him and he watched as her feet shuffled about before hearing her take a deep breath. “Y-you said that monsters were born to b-be kind y-yet we h-heard Chara mention that there w-were monsters who treated you wrongly because of s-something you could not c-control”.

Sans looked up, meeting Alphys’ watery gaze. How many times has he made her cry today?

“i-i don’t blame them. i was made from the same thing that dusted their loved ones, al”.

Her eyes narrowed but remained compassionate. “Maybe so but they were c-cruel to you even though monsters were supposed to be kind. T-that doesn’t make them less of a real monster, r-right?”.

Sans took a step back, shaking his head. He knew where Alphys was going with this.

He jolted slightly when he felt warm, small hands slipping into his bigger ones. Frisk rested their head against his arm and mumbled. “…Just because you were born to be something, that doesn’t mean that you have to be”.

He had said that back then to the kid. He wondered how Frisk still remembered that brisk talk they had when that was during the first time monsters were brought to the surface. When so many horrible things happened after.

Papyrus then wrapped him in another hug, Sans weakly pawed at him but the long arms around him only embraced him tighter. “THE GREAT PAPYRUS KNOWS THAT THERE ARE SOME THINGS THAT HE DOESN’T YET UNDERSTAND BUT NOTHING WILL CHANGE THE FACT THAT MY BIG BROTHER HAS ALWAYS TRIED TO BE GOOD”.

His father joined in the hug from his left. “Weren’t you listening, Sans? You were born to be my son, and even so, you are still more than that”.

“...have you never regretted it, dad…? creating me”, he found himself asking as tears finally began to trail down his face.

“Never”, Gaster answered swiftly, as if the thought never even crossed his mind. As if he had not witnessed the horrid things Sans had done and all that Sans failed to do from beyond reality itself. He buried his face in his father’s clothes, muffling the sounds of his hitched breaths.

Undyne crashed into them, rocking all of them slightly as she too inserted herself in the hug. “You’re still the same knucklehead to me”. Alphys yelped as her girlfriend dragged her into the love pile but she leaned into Sans regardless. “Y-you’re so s-silly, Sans. I thought I-I was t-the o-one with self-esteem issues”.

“shut up, alphys…”, Sans muttered as Alphys giggled with tears trailing from her face and to the ground.

Asgore and Toriel flanked them from both the front and back, with their large arms covering all of them in warmth. The two children then burrowed into the hug and found their way to the center to directly hug Sans. “You’re not alone”,  Asriel and Chara said with Frisk nodding beside them.

With those words of affirmation and the warmth and love from his family, Sans’ soul began to glow brighter and brighter, breaking everyone out of the family hug as they all watched in awe as the small, fracturing soul began to illuminate the dark.

Eventually, the glow dimmed and Sans patted his chest as he wiped the remaining tears lingering on his eye sockets. That was embarrassing. “huh, that was sure some soul-crushing stuff, huh?”. Hearing this both Undyne and Papyrus groaned.

“I’M SURE YOU ARE FEELING BETTER TO ALREADY INDULGE YOURSELF IN HORRIBLE PUNS, BROTHER”.

“yeah…”, Sans smiled. It was a different kind of smile, small and hesitant yet soft and pure. Chara, Asriel, and Gaster all shared a look of awe and excitement – that was the same smile he used to wear when he was a child.

“thanks, everyone. you really rattled me to my bones”.

Another series of groans resounded. Papyrus opened his mouth, probably to start ranting but Gaster then gasped, kneeling in front of his son as he urgently checked his soul.

“…dad?”.

His father beamed at him, cradling his face in his hands. “Sans! Your hp had increased!”.

There were excited and disbelief shouts coming from his family. Gaster pulled out Sans’ soul, gently this time and showed everyone.

*SANS 1 ATK 1 DEF
*0.6/0.6 HP
*Feeling surprised yet loved.

Everyone cheered with Papyrus shouting in joy the loudest but Sans only stared at them, bewildered. “guys, i appreciate it but it’s just 0.1 more”. Papyrus stomped his feet in righteous fury. “NYEH!! PROGRESS IS PROGRESS, SANS”.

“Do you believe us now, my dear?”, Toriel asked, eyes bright with joy. No matter what we may learn, we’ll still love you all the same”. Sans’ grin turned solemn as he turned away and kept his gaze on the ground. The mood became somber as everyone fell silent, trying to understand the magnitude of the hurt their beloved skeleton had carried.

The screen suddenly flashed to life, drawing everyone’s attention.

Gaster was sitting on a chair, placed directly in front of the tube. Now, instead of only just a soul, a skeleton infant was floating in the liquid as its soul’s glow flickered regularly as if responding to Gaster’s joyful cadence as he gestured animatedly along with his exuberant chatter.

Alphys, Papyrus, Toriel, Frisk, and Gaster squealed. Sans pulled his hood up, pulling the strings to hide his face. Forget his own cracked soul, embarrassment was going to kill him first.

“ Oh, my sweet precious son. There’s so much that I want to teach you. I’ll have to bring you to the ruins so you can see the night sky. Monsters all rave about the greatness of the sun but I for one, have always longed for the moon and the millions of stars surrounding it ”. Then Gaster stopped, his hands falling to his lap, suddenly remembering something. He stared at his son with a worried smile on his face. “ Though I suppose I have to take you there in secret…The king and everyone else are still unaware of your existence. I am…unsure of how they will react to you ”. His son’s soul dimmed, sensing his sadness. Such a smart and considerate son that he had.

Asgore and Toriel, knowing the mental wounds they opened by asking him to partake in this project, made sure to steer clear of his way, barely asking for any new report on his success. That only made it easier for him to keep his son a secret but for how long? It has been a few months and sooner or later, his sweet little treasure would finally be ready to come out to the world. 

He stood up, placing a hand on the glass surface of the tube, directly in front of his son’s soul. “ I swear to you, my son. I’ll keep you safe and happy ”. 

The room was soon drenched in striking red lights and the emergency alarm blared. Gaster cursed, watching as his boy began to squirm in the tube, face scrunching up in distress. “ I’m sorry. I’ll be right back ”, he promised. He rushed out of his office, while taking his jacket with him and let himself be enveloped in purple light, teleporting to the main lab where the heart of the core resided. 

He was greeted with a loud, shrill scream (probably Nightmore, he was a scaredy cat, both literally and metaphorically) and went straight to Hetra, who was furiously smashing on the keys of the keyboard attached to the dozens of monitors that they had stationed. 

“H-hey, that’s my mom! Wow, she looked so young”, Alphys exclaimed.

Undyne swooned. “And pretty too! At least we know where you get your looks from, babe”. 

“U-undyne!!”, Alphys yelled, scandalised.

 Quickly, Undyne stole a kiss from a blushing Alphys before she could hide her face. The rest, used to this level of PDA, let the couple be in their bliss.

“What’s the situation?”, he asked.

“System failure, Dr. Gaster. The power source we currently have is malfunctioning. Flo and the rest are thinking of changing the power source to the prototype we had built. They are already in position – permission to proceed, sir?”.

The prototype they had built was just that – a prototype. A new generator his colleagues had mostly been building for the past few months. He lent an extra hand or two where it mattered but ultimately, everybody knew he was busy with the king’s latest assignment (his son). 

He sighed. “Tell them to proceed. We can’t risk losing electricity now. The underground may not survive a shortage a second time”.

Hetra immediately informed the rest through the headpiece she had worn. “Now, we wait”. While disabling the alarms, she took a glance at Gaster and snorted. Gaster gave her a look. 

“What is it, Hetra?”.

The dinosaur snickered. “Nice jacket, Dr. Gaster”.

Ah, in his haste to make it here. He seemed to have grabbed his blue jacket by accident. He glared at Hetra but that if anything, only amused her more. Most of his colleagues were too used to being subjected to his glares to be intimidated by him. 

"It’s been a while since we last saw you wear that”, Nightmore commented. Gaster hummed. He had all but hauled himself into his own office since his son began to take form. Speaking of his son…

Seeing that all was well, Gaster was about to excuse himself when the lights on the ceiling shattered as Nightmore once again screamed. The entire room was plunged into sudden darkness as even the monitors they had went black. Save for the glow of his eyelights, there was no other light source. 

“W-what’s happening?”, the cat monster shrieked.

Hetra took a second to listen to the headpiece. “The voltage on that thing is too high – it cut off all the power supply in the lab, probably the whole underground too. It’s gonna take a while to stabilize. The rest are fixing it and have already notified the monsters of the underground. We should be fine in about half an hour.”

The room was suddenly lit in striking purple light. Gaster wore a look of pure desperation, like a man about to lose everything he had ever cared for. 

“Dr. Gaster?”, both of his assistants asked with worry.

Gaster teleported back to where his son was, barely acknowledging their calls of his name. He landed in his private office, stumbling towards the tube which already had cracks decorating the surface with liquid seeping out and dripping down to the floor. His son’s soul flickered in and out, magic pouring in waves of pure, unadulterated fear. The whirring sounds of the machine started to fade - the backup power source he had installed to the tube wouldn’t last long.

His precious child was still too young to be in this unforgiving world but what choice does he have?

As the machine began to shut down, he climbed to the top of the tube using a nearby ladder. With trembling hands Gaster removed the lid, dipping his arms into the liquid, and cradled his fragile son, wrapping him in his worn blue hoodie. Gaster tucked his son into his chest, flopping down to the ground as his legs failed him.

Though his son was still only a newborn, his small soul glowed so brilliantly that the entire room was almost fully illuminated. He gazed deeply at his son, unable to fathom the warm (so light!) weight in his arms - this miracle, this blessing that was just gifted to him. The little one was so cute, so small, so fragile yet still so strong. Tears of happiness flowed from his eye sockets, trailing down to his chin, and dripping onto his newborn son. In contact with the tears, the little skeleton barely managed to open his eyes as blurry eye lights looked at Gaster with curiosity even if those eye lights looked very tired.

Toriel squealed, clasping her hands together. “Oh my, how precious”. She turned to Sans with stars in her eyes and a faint blush on her cheeks. “Sans, you were so adorable”.

“He was. He was so so precious”, Gaster sighed wistfully.

“tori…dad..”, Sans sighed, burrowing himself further into his hoodie, leaning into Papyrus who was literally vibrating with joy. Everyone else wasn’t faring any better either since the birth of a new monster was such a rare occasion for monsters could live for thousands and thousands of years.

He could hear sounds coming from outside, there was chaos beyond these walls but Gaster remained entranced to the new life he had created. “ Hello, little one ”, Gaster whispered. Gently, he lifted a tiny hand with one finger. “ I’m your father ”. He planted a soft, featherlight kiss on his son’s head. 

“ I’m your dad ”, Gaster repeated reverently. 

The baby skeleton cooed but then abruptly choked on his breath before letting out a loud and painful wail, accompanied by the sound of shattering glass. “ No! ”, Gaster shouted, withdrawing his child’s soul only to see fine cracks already decorating its surface.

He embraced his child tighter, enveloping them both in green healing magic. “ Shhhh, don't cry...Your dad is here. I’ll make all the pain go away ”. The walls of his office began to shake from the sudden pounding on his door, the beat in tandem with the thumping of his soul. Various voices pierced through the walls, demanding him to open the door. The sounds of their screaming mixing with his frightened son’s cries resulted in a cacophony of noises, assaulting him with a very harsh migraine. Though the agony swirling in his head felt like it was splitting his mind, he could afford to stop. His magic was the only thing keeping his son’s soul from fracturing apart.

The door burst open, its hinges broken from the combined force exuded by Asgore and Toriel’s magical prowess. 

“Gaster…is that a baby skeleton in your arms?”, Asgore asked with his eyes wide open. 

Ignoring Asgore, Gaster turned to Toriel, begging. “ LADY TORIEL, PLEASE HELP. MY HEALING MAGIC’S ISN’T ENOUGH! ”.

The queen hurried to his side, tears forming on her eyes, kneeling beside him as she held the fragile soul with her paws. A blast of powerful green healing magic filled the room until it finally subsided, the soul mostly healed except the tiny crack at the very middle. The little skeleton’s cries also softened, leaving the infant only sniffling before quickly closing his eyes to rest, evidently exhausted. Gaster tenderly pressed his face against his son’s chest, relishing in the feeling of his ribcage expanding with every soft breath. “ Thank you, Lady Toriel. Thank you, thank you ”.

The queen hummed, watching attentively at the now father-son duo in front of her. Her chest felt so utterly warm with joy and relief, watching Gaster nuzzling with the baby monster. One of her oldest of friends, now a parent himself but there were more pressing matters. "This child is very lucky to not have dusted. Usually, a newborn monster would have died by the very first crack of the soul, no matter how small it is", Toriel said. She felt a pang in her soul, seeing Gaster stiffen at her words. The head scientist raised his head, observing her and Asgore suspiciously while adjusting the hoodie so that it would cover the infant, keeping his newborn son away from sight.

Asgore kneeled beside Toriel, keeping his stance mild in order not to alert Gaster. “But that is not a normal monster infant. Is it Dr. Gaster?”, he pressed gently.

Gaster snarled, left eye light burning with purple magic as two large Gaster Blasters spawned to life, already opening both of their mouths. Extremely powerful magic began gathering, forming a sphere-like shape of pure energy. The rest of the scientists gathered gasped. Though it was common knowledge that Gaster was at the frontlines during that hopeless war, hearing and seeing for themselves the power that the noble skeleton monsters hold is a different story. 

“ You will not take him ”, he spat. 

Asgore sighed, raising himself from the ground, and stood tall alongside Toriel. The king didn’t bother to summon his trident, he ambled towards Gaster with warm eyes gazing at his closest confidant whose breathing was so ragged it hurt to look at him. The closer he is, the more agitated Gaster becomes but the monarch of the entire monster kind remains unflinching even as those deadly Gaster Blasters unhinged its jaws wider, getting ready to aim at him.

Gaster stared at the scene in front of him, turning to look at Asgore with a disgruntled expression. “I could have killed you, Asgore”, he said carefully. Asgore chuckled. “You could have injured me severely, yes but you need to have actual killing intent to dust me”. He looked at Gaster fondly. “I trust you, my friend”. 

The royal scientist huffed, the corner of his mouth curling upwards slightly.

Undyne crossed her arms. “I still can’t believe you skeleton brothers were just hiding those super rad Gaster Blasters. Though...". She snickered. "I understand why you hid yours, Paps". The fish monster cackled as Papyrus let out an offended squawk, remembering the googly-eyed Gaster Blaser that chewed on his summoner's scarf. "NYEHH! I'LL HAVE YOU KNOW UNDYNE THAT WITH THE RIGHT MOTIVATION, MY BLASTER COULD PACK A PUNCH!".

"i'm sure they could bro", Sans acquiesced easily. Frisk and Asriel nodded beside him, shivering slightly as Chara grimaced. "They really could...", the fallen child mumbled.

The goat monster placed a comforting paw on Gaster's shoulder while giving the scientist a sincere smile, keeping his paw on his shoulder firmly as Gaster flinched. "Rest assured, my dear friend. We have no intention of separating you from your son. Toriel and I also have a child whom we'll do anything to keep him safe and happy in our arms".

Gaster’s shoulders sagged slightly, gaping at Asgore as his arms lowered, letting Asgore once again catch a glimpse of the miracle Gaster had created. Something unfurled in his chest, something warm and precious - a new beginning. Maybe one unmarred by bloodshed and revenge.

"We were just curious about how this child came to be. To be so small, it must have been born premature", Toriel said, gently patting his face. Seeing him now, wide-eyed with an eyebrow raised, reminded her of the young and dorky, arrogant little skeleton whom she had grown up with. "And I think all of us wants to know, if it’s alright with you", she continued, gesturing at the doorway filled all with Gaster's colleagues who gathered during the commotion. All of them wore a tender smile on their faces except for Silas, a large brooding wolf monster who was glowering at him with eyes so full of contempt.

Gaster managed a small smile. Although it was rather obvious that his actions had sown discord and would breed disdain and scorn amongst monster kind, he was merely relieved that his son was brought into this world and this breathing, sleeping soundly, snuggled within his arms.  He nuzzled the little bundled-up skeleton who snored softly, wrapped around his old hoodie - one of the gifts from his mother that survived the war. "Of course, your majesties".