((Ittt'sss krimnas eva, so y'all know what that means..))

Their group was wandering aimlessly through the dripping caverns, most in awe of the dreamy place as well as searching for a certain skeleton. A few awkwardly called out his name, following a fish woman as she marched through the marsh, girlfriend under arm. Papyrus was at the back, watching the group as they all hunted through the watery grounds dotted with pools and scattered streams all over the place, glowing their iconic cyan.
Then from the brother himself: "Look! I see him!"

Everyone turned around, before quickly facing where he pointed.
"Papyrus, what are you talking about? There's nothing but.. what is that thing?" Undyne paused. Papyrus beamed, already heading over. "It's his pet attack! He loves spoiling himself with them when he thinks no one is looking, but I see him!"

Undyne hesitated, confused. She shared a look with Alphys, surprised at how everyone else was racing ahead. Candara was the first to arrive at the odd floating creature skull, the thing turning to face him even as he bent over, muttering angrily as he tugged off one shoe.

The rest were close behind. "Is there anything he doesn't have?!" Bodoni exclaimed in disbelief.
"Dude, what is that." Undyne deadpanned.
"Sans's special, special attack." Papyrus explained patiently, frowning at the floating thing as it regarded them all with an odd intelligence and fear- no.. a timidness.

"What does it do, bite lazily? It looks cool as hell though." Undyne muttered, impressed. "Why have we never seen this thing?"
"Well of course, Sans is too lazy to ever use them. Not even once! He just brings them out to pet them!"
"Youcanpetit-" Constantia burst, eyelights stars.

"Hey, you're skeletons. Is this normal?" Undyne asked them. Papyrus seemed slightly insulted by that statement, but the expression was gone as quickly as it came, Bodoni speaking up in a slightly awed face.
"I don't know any easy way to say this, but.. it means you two are related to the old dragons. Back when they weren't really monsters!"
"WHAT!" Papyrus screeched.
"DRAGONS?!" Undyne roared in equal disbelief- as well as amazement.

"Yeah! That's the biggest skullsummon I've ever seen!"
"It's huge and I want to ride it!" Spade hopped up and down.
Candara just careened to one side before collapsing, Papyrus catching him with blue magic just before he hit the ground.
"Is he okay?" Constantia asked.
"I'm sure he's fine, I'd faint too if I found out all this stuff and being related to dragons!" Cabana gestured wildly.

"Papyrus, have you two been holding out on me?!" Undyne shouted despite being beside him. Papyrus suddenly underwent a complete attitude swing. He went silent, unnervingly so, before switching back to normal unnaturally quickly.
"I doubt Sans is even capable of using them properly."
"𝙷𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗."

Everyone yelped at the voice that emanated from the skull, several of them hopping away.
"It talks?!" Undyne yelled.
"IT SHOULDN'T!" Papyrus hollered, still in some weird karate position.

"𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝.." It drifted backwards, eyelights staring to the side.
"Wait.. Napstablook?" Undyne questioned in disbelief.
"𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢, 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚍.."
"Wait, how did you- you're possessing an attack?" She pressed, relaxing from her stance.
"𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍.. 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚗 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸'𝚟𝚎 𝚛𝚞𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠…"

"Hey, you haven't ruined a damn thing! You're actually pretty badass right now." She bent over and scooped up a rock. "Would you let me wake the lazy ass?"
Napstablook blinked the skull with a faint scraping sound, lowering as close to the ground as he could manage. Undyne proceeded to hurl the stone, to which it struck bone with a simultaneously satisfying and concerning crack.

Sans jolted awake with a yelp, holding his face.
"Owww.... What the hell?" He peered up, squinting with a hand on his face where it had hit.
"Dyne? What?" He asked, still dazed as he regarded them sleepily. "Wwwazzup."

"You've been holding out on everyone, for one! And two, YOU DISAPPEARED FOR TWO HOURS!"
He blinked a couple times, processing. "Only two? Man, you know me." He started falling back again, already halfway asleep again. Undyne scowled, Alphys squeaking as she bent down to snatch another rock.

She was about to wind up and throw when Sans lunged forward again, fully awake with sockets wide. "Wait!" He stared at them, as though some realization was setting in. He glanced down at the massive skull beneath him and back at everyone else. "Uh.."
"Yeah, you better explain this one." The captain growled.

"You.. weren't supposed to know yet?" He offered.
"And when, exactly, was I supposed to know about this! I'm your damn captain!"
"Yyyyeeaaahhh, but this isn't a sentry level kind of weapon…"
"What, does it breathe a lot of fire?" Perpetua offered, genuinely intrigued.

Sans scoffed, but before he could say anything, Papyrus interrupted in a surprisingly serious tone. "They do not breathe fire."
The elder brother blinked in surprise, then regarded him with concern like the rest of them- except his concern carried understanding unlike everyone else.
"Paps, you good?"
"I am perfectly well, Brother. Would you please get down from there? Your attack is currently inhabited by a ghost!"
"I know that bro, Nappy doesn't mind." He patted the skull.
"It's still rude!"

Sans peered over at the enormous sockets below him. "You don't mind it, right?"
"𝙽𝚘.. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎...." Napstablook murmured quietly. Sans studied him with an odd look, then abruptly slid off, tripping slightly when he landed. He patted the side of it's muzzle above the imposing teeth as he straightened.

Undyne marched over after setting Alphys down and smacked Sans's skull from behind, nearly knocking him over. "Ow. What was that for?" He asked, rubbing the sore spot.
"You've been holding out on me because you think you're overqualified?! Damnit, with weapons like this, you could qualify for the Guard!"

She immediately flinched after saying that, Sans proceeding to give her a lethal glare before it passed, shrugging nonchalantly. Papyrus had a betrayed look on his face.
"But Undyne, he can hardly use them- and they are much too dangerous for use in the Guard!"

"Papyrus, if you think he can barely use them and they're still too dangerous for the Guard.." She explained patiently.
"Captain, I say that because I have never seen him use them once in my life, and he is my brother."
"Paps.." Sans muttered as the skull moved to hide behind him, despite his small frame doing nothing to conceal it.

"Papyrus, you mean you have them too? Why'd you never use them?"
"Because they are incredibly dangerous! They- they hurt people!" Papyrus seemed close to begging. Undyne hesitated, shocked by the behavior. She seemed to be weighing her options, then quietly asked.
"What do these attacks do?"
"Cause great harm no matter how you use them." Papyrus stated, still freakishly serious.

It was clear that Undyne was far from satisfied with that answer. "Sans." She faced said skeleton with arms crossed. "Think you can explain in greater detail?"
Sans sighed in frustration. "I'd really prefer not to. Can you just let it slide? Really not up to this right now."

"Because you're refusing to answer questions directly? What the hell is going on with you, Sans? You've been acting weird as hell for- since the Barrier was broken! What is up with you?!"
"You keep demanding answers I can't fucking give you!" He snapped, Napstablook flinching violently as the Blaster's left socket blazed blue and yellow.

"Can't or won't, Sans?!" Undyne barked back, furious.
"Both!" Sans all but screamed. "Something is fucking wrong and you keep on insisting you know every damn part of my life!" His eyelights were a blood red and unsettling yellow and blue orb, a mysterious faint red glow emanating from his shirt as the blue-yellow light burst into flame. Undyne took a wide step back, defensive.
"Sans, what the hell?"
"Sans!" Papyrus called out- not just in desperate worry but fear. "Please! Tell me what is wrong!"

Everyone backed up behind the trained ones, Undyne checking on them impulsively- lingering somewhat on Alphys- before facing Sans, Papyrus daring to come within five feet of him, even as the elder brother abruptly collapsed on his kneecaps. Napstablook was still right behind him, twitching and whining in both pain and so much confused fear.
"Sans! Tell me! Please!"

"It- burns again- I don't- wh-" He choked on air, Papyrus lunging forward- yet still too late as jaws closed around hood and lifted the small one into the air. "Napstablook! Put my brother down!" Papyrus cried out, voice shrill.
"𝙱𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚜, 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘- 𝚐𝚎𝚝- 𝚑𝚑𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚙-" The ghost stammered frantically, almost incoherent- electricity began visibly sparking off the skull as it zoomed away.

Papyrus took off at full speed, throwing himself into the air and flying off before anyone could fully understand what the hell just happened. Undyne glanced back at those behind her. "Just- get them to your lab, babe. You can tell us where they fly off to if they disappear on us. Something's up and it's serious." She burst into an all out sprint after them, even though they were already long out of sight.

Alphys stammered, then turned around. "I g-g-gu- I guess let- let- let's go?"
"Just show us the way." Bodoni explained gently.
"And if you can tell us about anything, that'd be really great." Cabana sighed. Candara was just rubbing his sockets to hide tears as he kept glancing back the way the others had gone.

"I'm act- ac- actually j-just as confused a-as y-y-you a-a-are." She stuttered, shaking so hard.
"Okay, I hope we can all find out, then." Constantia sighed uneasily.
"Y-y-yeah.." Alphys agreed, despite the only thing on her mind being that face, that agonized yet terrifying expression. It didn't look anything like the Sans she knew.

. • ° . • °

It hurts! Why does it hurt?! Make it stop, make it stop, make it stop, stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop stop make it stop-

Everything was burning from within, almost like molten lead was all that was inside, an inexplicable agony that sent them careening in any direction if only to flee from it. Unable to scream out loud with how breathless they were, they could only howl in the depths of consciousness, sobbing, wild, feral.

Something sharp jabbed from outside, jabbing deep into unyielding bone, causing one to cry out, still lost in the pain of connected consciousness. It caused them to jerk to one side, throwing an attached weight off, pain somewhat relieved. The agony was inescapable, unable to run, unable to flee, flee, can't flee, can't escape, fight it, make it stop-

A violent charge built up in one maw, about to burst with pure heat and light as electricity flooded the air with the scent of ozone, only for something to suddenly bind the jaw shut, a vaguely familiar voice begging.. no. Saying no. Don't fight? Can't run, not allowed to fight? Why? Why? Hurts, hurts, terrified, full of terrible pain, bone-melting, bone burning, acid in marrow, acid in Soul, it wouldn't stop- make it stop-

The energy flashed back the way it came and further back, more bones forming, desperate to make the pain stop, giving burning blood something else to burn, crying out and stumbling on four limbs, second body curled on the ground- TOUCHED! TOUCH HURT! SOMETHING HURT!

Blind with pain, writhing until oriented properly, aiming burning hotter-than-fire light, flinching at spiky pain and missing, yowling becoming metallic roar ending in agonized screech, twitching violently and picking up most hurt body, full of Soul-splitting melting pain, vision still clouded and red-
Asgore! Find Asgore, he has to help!

What was an Asgore, can't remember, need help, where help, everything burned, why burn, make it stop, stop stop stop-
No, listen to me! Please! I know it burns, but please, you have to move or Undyne will kill us!
Kill? Something causing pain, kill it, hurts hurts hurts-
No! Just- the light! Close to outside! There will be help!
The bright, yes, the bright, it would stop the burn, bone-melting heat blazing inside, stop evil sharp pain.

They spun in a suddenly slower form, struggling to coordinate four limbs to churn the earth and escape to the bright open, where it would be safe. They hissed as sharp needles jabbed at talons and forefeet, continually yowling at pain through tight jaws, screaming form swinging beneath, crying through clenched teeth, unable to think but would be capable of thinking if pain stopped, only screaming voice raw as larger self ran.

Ran and ran, until it was hot outside too, full of warm orange and noise, noise, so much noise, shaking skull to clear noise, but only became dizzy, boiling heat pulsing viciously within, forcing low whine/groan from both selves.

The pain was so aggravating, forcing large self to growl, scared, vision clearing enough to see dull orange surrounded by brighter red-orange. In fit of rage, set small self down and exploded hotter-than-fire light into brighter red-orange, letting some of the tension release from mind, letting it clear a little.

...Fuck, it hurts- it hurts, have- have to get to- Maybe the kid knows what to do- FUCK it burns! Determination, it's that damn DT isn't it-
Sans, I'm so sorry, I don't know why it hurts, but we have to hurry before you can't focus anymore!
The hell.. is going.. on… The words strained into a whimper as the mind pain came back again, harder to fight.

All that was still possible was to suddenly- they were closer to the outside, the orange behind them. Mind faded away, collapsing and crying out in pain. Bigger self hunched up and whined, clawing at skull from the hurt- but remembered- something soft, something white, something gentle, find it- hurts, hurts, burning, won't stop burning- it will stop the pain.

Soft white thing would be near the bright. Must get to bright- but not outside. It wasn't outside. Was it? What thoughts- who's thoughts- thinking stops, blood burned, must make it stop. They leapt up towards light, yowling miserably.

Crashing over purple, tripping, weaving through maze, hopping and stumbling as sharp noises assaulted them, painful against pulsing skull pain. Wanted to bite, make it stop, but it wouldn't stop the rest of the pain, sight stained with red.

They stumbled over a ledge onto a weird surface, talons clacking and scraping on it as they tottered, left only to whimper and crash into ground closer to the bright, where the soft would take away the hurt. Where was the soft one, everything burned, they whined, cried, tears pouring as they gave a violent twitch.

Then it was there, an alarmed noise, several of them, becoming loud before quieting. They lay on their sides, small curled up and large splayed out.
Soft points rested on big face, pain pulling away and replaced with coolness. Sighed, going limp with a whine. Relief, relief after mind-melting pain.

"Sans? Can you hear me? Sans? Please? T- Mom is kind of freaking out, you.. Sans?"
Thoughts were slow to return, but they were coming back.
"Hnnngh.. kid?" Sans blinked, mind still scattered and reeling, trying to understand the words thrown at him.

He noticed Asriel, fur slightly disheveled with one paw on the muzzle of his Blaster.. it took a minute to remember what that was even doing there. The prince reached his free hand over. "Can you take my hand? Please?"

Still struggling to recall recent events, Sans hesitantly complied, wincing at pain in his skull. "I don't even know how I got here." He finally dared admit, rubbing his face tiredly.

"Uh.. what's the last thing you do remember?" Asriel suggested cautiously. Sans felt his spirits drop.
"... Undyne keeps pestering me to explain how your back, kid."
"H- .. oh."
"I'm not gonna try and explain that, it's your choice. I can't, not with.. something's just off. Something snapped and it was like I was melting from the inside and that's the last I can remember."

He cringed, still not wanting to dump such things on a child, but knowing this child was the only one that could help. "Got any ideas?"

Asriel sighed, tucking in his chin. "It.. sounds like Determination."
"I don't feel melty." He snarked, still hissing in pain.
"Well, I don't know a lot about how the Amalgamates felt, but I guess it wasn't that far from it. I was talking about how Determination felt to Flowey." His voice dropped at the name.
Sans blinked, sobered. "It burned?"
"..Yeah. Especially if he was smaller. I think it's because it was more concentrated then- but it was never unbearable, just.. hurt. A little."

"Kid.. does it still burn?"
"No. I mean, right now, kinda, but that's because I'm taking yours."
"You're what-" He flinched despite himself, glancing at his hand. It was shocking to see a faint red seeping away. "How.." Part of him understood, but he couldn't quite grasp what was happening.

"I think.. I think your Soul was holding it back and the snap you mentioned was that containment failing? It's a guess."
"An educated one." Sans muttered. "I'm still having a hard time focusing."
"I'm not really surprised."
"Really?"
"Well, it was a small dose that always burned Flowey and a much bigger one that made the Amalgamates, and you were stuck with an entire human Soul. A Determined human Soul. I don't know how it didn't melt you. I don't know how monsters survived taking human Souls either, though."

"You technically survived that event."
"For an afternoon." Asriel sighed, staring out into the sunlight. "You've had days."
"Kid, you're alive because you have a human Soul." Sans explained.
"The shell of one." Chara suddenly spoke up in a scathing voice. Sans flinched slightly before Asriel continued.
"It's not full like a human Soul should be."
"Nor is it empty."
"...I guess not."

The goat boy finally moved his hands to his lap, and Sans noticed with startling clarity that those hands were green with red claws.
"I don't think I can take any more." He explained softly, though there was a faint tremble in his voice.
Sans hesitated. "How did you even know how to take it in the first place? Let alone that it was what you needed to do."

"I could feel it around you a bit? Like it was leaking out as much as it could, like water evaporating? That, and there was a lot of red. And uh.. Flowey did a lot of experiments in the past in his Resets.. you know?"
"...I take it I don't wanna know?"
"I kind of wish I didn't."

"It's fine." He placed a hand on the other's shoulder, glancing to the side. "You did good, kid- oh what the fuck?!" He scooted backwards at the sight of gigantic ribs just right beside him.

It took a second to realize that it was a full skeletal beast that was attached to his Blaster, faintly glowing with energy. "It- what- How?"
"You didn't do that on purpose?"
"Do what on purpose- the thing doesn't have a body. Why does it have a body."

"I guess it just did that to dilute the DT?" Asriel offered awkwardly. "I mean, it looks cool."
"Okay, sure, coolness points- but-" He stopped short as he remembered something.
"Nappy was in it."
"What?"

He struggled to his feet, a little woozy as he shambled to its face, taking in the previously unnoticed additional length and form in his mind as he patted it. "Uh.. friend. Napstablook, he got himself stuck in the thing and we meant to try and get him out of it before.. all that." He waved dismissively to indicate the recent mess while trying to wake the other.

"You mean it's basically alive alive? Just temporarily?" Asriel stood as well, intrigued. Sans hesitated, not looking away from the large skull. "That can be one way to put it."

He then scowled and jammed his fist into the nasal crevice, wincing as it's sockets flew open and jolted, a terrific sneeze bursting from it.
It then sat in that awkward position as though thoroughly confused.

"...𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜?"
"Nappy, you good?" 
A sizzling volt traveled down it's spine as it squinted, tilting it's skull to one side as one leg pushed outward hesitantly.
"... 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝.. 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚍?"
"There's been a bit of a development." The skeleton sighed.
"𝙸𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚋𝚒𝚐𝚐𝚎𝚛.."

Sans was about to reply, then stopped. He watched as Napstablook turned slowly, at first using odd angles before figuring out what worked, finally peering down the length of the.. attack turned creature. Sockets widened in shock.

"...It kind of looks like a really big dragon." Asriel murmured. Napstablook seemed to notice him then visibly panicked as he tried to scoot backwards on limbs without knowing how to operate them. He somehow ended up falling on his side. He looked to Sans for help, pleading with his face… well, not really his face.

Asriel giggled slightly as the sound of footsteps approached, padding like bare paws. Sans was too busy studying the new form to glance over, though he recognized Toriel's gasp as she arrived.

He focused solely on Napstablook. "Why don't I give it a shot?" The ghost seemed grateful as he imposed a will on what was definitely still an extension of himself.. just.. more complete. Eyelights turned blue as it hesitantly righted itself, standing somewhat uneasily on four legs.
"It's kind of like a dog." He admitted, letting go as soon as it was stable, facing the queen. "Hey Tori."
Goat Mom. A familiar voice breathed in relief.

"What on earth is that?" She all but demanded, more out of motherly concern than anger- thankfully.
Sans hesitated.
"Long story short.. ghost friend got stuck in one of my weirder attacks and it suddenly gained a body."
"Stuck?"
"Stuck. Unintentionally possessing without knowing how to leave stuck."
"...Oh."

She glanced up at the creature that was standing so very shakily in place behind Sans.
"On your part, this is quite remarkable, I will admit, but you." She was clearly addressing the ghost.
"What is your name, dear?"
"𝙽.. 𝙽𝚊𝚙𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔.. 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝙼𝚊𝚓𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚢... 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢...."
"Nothing to apologize for." Sans sighed, not bothering to argue further with the insecure one.

"Well." Toriel hesitated, then glanced behind her. "Did you think to come here for advice on this issue? I am afraid I do not have any."
"No Mom, they just needed my help."
"..I actually don't remember how I got here." Sans explained with a wide, unnerved expression.
"𝙾𝚑.. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛.. 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝.." Napstablook seemed disappointed.

"Meh, Alphys has cameras all over the place, we'll figure it out." He waved, an odd sinking feeling accompanying the statement. Something told him Frisk remembered, and was choosing silence.
…. Something bad enough that the memory gap would likely cause regret.

"Why don't we come inside, then?" Toriel offered, already bringing her son under her arms. "It seems improper to be forced to stand outside like this. Especially for a family friend and his own friend." She smiled at them both, though Sans was glancing back at the very large, ungainly creature that carried his Blaster as a face while being nervously possessed by an unwilling ghost.
What a sentence.

"Hey Tori, even if he could fit, Nappy doesn't really know how to walk in this thing."
"Don't you?" Asriel replied without skipping a beat. Sans tensed. Admittedly, part of him knew sort of what to do in terms of the creature's movements, but knowing internally was still quite different from knowing physically.

Toriel was softly admonishing her boy for suggesting controlling the ghost by proxy without permission, as it was no better than a ghost possessing an unwilling host- but Sans interrupted. He addressed Napstablook, but with the intention for them to listen as well.
"Hey Naps, you wouldn't mind me helping you figure it out for a bit, do you?"
"𝙿𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚎." The ghost all but begged, trembling slightly.

So Sans went about figuring how to control the form of a creature he'd never dealt with before while giving the ghost enough control to blink and look around. "It's all about permission." He murmured to the Dreemurs as he trudged into the wide hallway leading into the castle.

The Blaster was right behind the pair, moving cautiously on confused feet. They started forward, both watching in curiosity, even Sans looked over his shoulder in intrigue. He flinched when it lost balance, swinging a long tail the wrong way as it walked, stumbling to right itself and hitting a wall with a wince.
Both ghost and skeleton muttered ow.

"Wait, you can both feel it?" Asriel asked, surprised.
"Yeah, it's still my attack. I've always been more sensitive with those than when compared to the bones." Sans muttered the last half while falling into step on Toriel's free side.
"𝙸.. 𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚢 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗.." Napstablook explained softly.

"... That's how you knew how to wake him up." The child realized.
Sans shrugged. "Hurts, but it definitely works…. May have used it once or twice before to wake myself up all the way. Heh."

"It is unique." Toriel noted as they slowly rounded a corner, distant voices echoing down the corridors as Napstablook blinked, still moving unsteadily. "I have never seen an attack quite so large and.. well, full-bodied."
"For your information, it's supposed to be just a skull."
"I know.."

Sans paused, wanting to turn around. Instead, he could see her study the Blaster's face behind him, his own shoulders visibly tense.
"What do you mean, you know?" He asked cautiously, forcing himself to relax as he faced her. She glanced at him, a faraway look of sadness in her eyes.

"It was a rare trait I had witnessed in the war." She explained simply. "I cannot imagine what it must have been like growing up without knowing what it was. I am sorry you had to deal with that."

Normally, he'd let such a statement slide, content to never ask about such a painful subject, but.. his thoughts drifted to Candara and the others. Had anyone even told the poor old lady about the new development? Did Asriel know?

"How rare was it?" He prompted.
"Oh, it was.." He noted her confusion at his query- it really was expected of him not to ask.
"I had seen a few dozen or so who had similar attacks. It was related to bloodlines."
"Bloodlines." He breathed, intrigued.
He wasn't so freakishly weird after all.

"I didn't know it was a skeleton thing. I thought it was a Sans thing." Asriel murmured.
"No, no." She patted Sans's skull beside her own son's with a smile. "It is not so new as it may seem. There is nothing wrong with it."
"Mom, you're basically stealing his uniqueness!"

Sans abruptly snorted. "Nah, kid. I got recent sources stating I still have a few specialties up my sleeve."
"Like your shortcuts?" The kid asked drily.
"Bingo."
They all paused at a loud shout ringing from up ahead.

"Someone doesn't sound too happy." Sans muttered, noting the feminine tones to likely be Undyne.
"We should hurry." Asriel suggested, darting ahead.

Sans paused, possessed Blaster stopping short behind him as Toriel made to follow. "Uh, yeah. We'll catch up."
"Are you sure?" The queen asked in concern.
"Yeah, just still getting the hang of.. this." He glanced up at the beast. Napstablook peered at him nervously, even as Toriel disappeared around the corner.

"𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜.."
"I know, buddy. Are you at least getting used to it?"
"...𝙽𝚘... 𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢.."
"Don't be, you've never been in a situation like this before. I haven't, either." He glanced back the way they were headed. "Sounds like it's picking up, too. Think you can handle it?"
"𝙸.. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗'𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠…" Napstablook whimpered, skull low. Sans patted it. "You'll be fine. I've got the feeling that the focus is gonna be on me anyway."

The ghost nodded weakly as Sans started forward again, the Blaster's left eyelight flickering blue as he almost unconsciously helped the other along. For him at least, it seemed to be getting easier the longer they walked. The ghost was probably overthinking all the movements in fear- a fear that would hopefully pass.

The yelling got louder and louder as they approached- the voice was definitely the captain of the Guard- the other side a deep rumbling that was the king struggling to handle a very much antagonized party with reason.

He finally just put on an inpatient burst of speed and swung into the room with the source of the argument, to which everything stopped as he took in Asgore facing away, Undyne looking slightly around him and silent as she spotted Sans…
And she looked very, very angry.

He immediately wanted to leave, his anxiety rising- it didn't help that he could sense Napstablook's fear as well, his own jumping further as he saw Papyrus gazing at him in so much.. hurt. What happened that his mind forgot? What the hell was Candara doing under his brother's arm and struggling to stare at him?
"... What is going on."

Asgore turned around with a slight wince as Undyne pointed a spear. "You."
"Oh no." He whispered under his breath as she started marching over. He took a step back, noting that the Blaster's hackles were raised. A sharp, crackling spear lowered and poked his sternum, barely controlled in fury.
"You almost killed Alphys."

He blinked. "What? The hell are you talking about?"
"You're little 'attack' almost stepped on my damn girlfriend-" She swung to point at the king. "and his Royal Scientist! What the fuck is going on with you?! Give me ONE good reason why I shouldn't pummel your ass into the dirt right now!"

Sans felt cold, trying to remember when that could have possibly happened, pulse speeding up when he simply couldn't remember, how could he have endangered anyone- he was so careful, always so careful and tired-
"Sans!" Undyne pressured, spearpoint beginning to dig into the bone under his shirt. "I'm beginning to lose my patience here!"

There was a stinging warmth beginning to flow outward from his core, carrying a terrible weight of tense familiarity with it. No, no, not again it only just stopped-
"Undyne, can you please calm down and stop antagonizing him?" Toriel insisted, peeved at the amount of foul language around her son. "He does not look well."

She was about to speak when Asriel piped up. "He's not! It's my fault! Please!"
Undyne turned, slightly disarmed by the statement as her face settled into more confusion than unbridled rage, finally lifted off of the skeleton.
"What?"

"It's my fault, I accidentally.. poisoned him with a thing and I had to fix it."
"Kid," He started, but the spear aimed back at him, fish lady never taking her eye off of the child, even as Toriel hovered defensively around him.
"Shut up." She told him before indicating for the kid to continue.

Asriel looked down, tucking his chin as he wrung his hands- no longer green, but a hint of red claws remained. "I, uh.. when he brought me back, he kind of.. got poisoned, and it was getting worse and worse without removing it. I think it was contained in his Soul until whatever stopped it from seriously poisoning the rest of him broke. And I think he kind of knew I could fix it? I mostly did.. mostly."

There was a long pause, Undyne slowly letting her arm fall.
"You were poisoned?" Candara made his presence known to those not aware with the question.
"What the heck?!" Asriel jumped at the sight of him as Papyrus reluctantly let him go.

"Um. Yeah. We have a cousin, apparently." Sans explained awkwardly, still tense with the current situation.
"But- where?"
"Explain in a bit." Sans all but stumbled over his words, still buzzing.

Undyne was speaking before anything else could be said.
"What kind of poison does.. that?" She gestured to the Blaster behind Sans while staring at the increasingly guilty Asriel. He looked everywhere but her, briefly glancing at Sans. They held each other's gazes before he sighed. The kid had to tell the truth.
".... Determination."

"WHAT?!" Alphys practically screamed, apparently unnoticed before in her corner. Everyone winced as she began apologizing frantically.
"But but h-h-how d-d-did you ef-f-f-f- even get access to DT i-in the f-f-f-first place? She asked, readjusting her glasses.

"...Chara was possessing the human because the human was already their version of Fallen Down, and for some reason his Soul woke up Chara."
".. Woke up?" Undyne muttered while Toriel crouched down to her boy's height. "Asriel, what do you mean?"

"I mean that Chara did a lot of things with Frisk, but couldn't keep using Frisk because his body was dead, and we didn't want Frisk to leave yet!" He sobbed slightly. "I didn't mean to, I just acted, I couldn't take it because I have Chara but Sans was right there and I-" "Stop."
Sans spoke almost coldly, before calming down.

"Just stop, kid. They've heard enough. I don't want to think about it." His voice was quiet, almost too quiet as he stepped away. "I wanted you to tell your parents if you wanted, not everyone else." He dared to glance at Papyrus, wincing at the sight of his brother with tears in his sockets and hands at his teeth. A part of him died right then and there.

"Sans, you-" Undyne started, all anger gone as he held a hand up. "I just need a minute." Something dripped behind him.. Napstablook was crying. He wasn't surprised.

He turned and stalked off, feeling as though he'd lost everything.
For once, part of him wanted a Reset. Just to escape the pain.
What a price to pay.

He could sense Napstablook looking to follow, still terrified of falling over. With hardly anything but a thought, he had the quadruped following without any mistakes. Just one foot after the other, the rest would fall in line.

Not a word passed between them as they slowly made their way back to the room where the Barrier once stood, nothing but afternoon light flooding the chamber.
Sans went outside, sat on the cliff and sighed.
"....𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜?"

"No Nap, I am not okay." He whispered before the ghost could ask. He sobbed involuntarily, grimacing at the ridiculous turn events had taken.
It was supposed to be better. Things were supposed to be.. not this. Papyrus…

What were they going to think of him? This broken, confused mess that had nothing but secrets, guilty of.. such horrific atrocities. Papyrus would be broken.
It was his fault.

...Sans..
Not now.
..Please.
...What. A few stray tears escaped him as he glanced over the edge of the cliff, bluish drops falling endlessly to the distant trees below.
It really isn't your fault. Flowey did all those Resets before me, then it was me who.. It's not your fault.

You wanted to fix things.
And you wanted to be free! You wanted to protect your brother! You wanted to be happy. You deserve to be happy.
And you deserve to live a life, kid!
Sans, I threw away my life when I first arrived in the Underground. I'm okay with this one. It is what it is.
That's not fair to you, you're just a kid-
I came here to die, Sans.

He sat up, suddenly cold.
"Wh.. what." The word shivered past his teeth, softer than a whisper.
Humans don't hate monsters when they don't even believe they're real. Humans look for things to hate that aren't exactly like them, so they hated me. I could never win. I did everything. Everything. And it never amounted to anything. No one would adopt a mute kid. I couldn't. I just.. I can't talk to people I don't know. It's not a pretend, or a pity thing, or an attention thing, I just can't. So I'm stupid short shit. I can't do anything that fits standards, and all I was ever good for was shutting up in a corner! So yeah, I came here to fucking die! I'm not even that little, I'm 17!

The rant gave him a slight skullache and a wave of tears, horror rising from the depths of his Soul.
You want to die..?
Frisk hesitated. I did. It felt like they were staring down to the faraway treetops below, interrupted by the jagged steep slope of the mountain. But not anymore. I already gave up twice. The last time.. it was a mistake. I want to continue, because you deserve to continue. You and Napstablook, you just.. you get it. And you don't give up because of that, you actually try. And that makes your life more than worth saving.

A breath on his shoulder drew his attention to the enormous face behind him. Napstablook had managed to curl the creature around him, skull resting behind his arm with trademark tears glistening on its face.
"𝙸'𝚖 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢."

I care about everyone in the Underground. You all did so much for each other and even someone who was supposed to be your enemy… I don't think any of them will hate you. So please.. don't hate yourself.

Something felt lighter with that last part, a faint click into place as he finally realized what Frisk was saying.
He hadn't figured out that he hated himself, yet the k- Frisk was right. He did.
It was an odd revelation to have, especially with how glaringly obvious it was the more he thought about it, but..
It felt better to identify it.
A footstep crunched on the gravel.

Only on a thought, he shifted the Blaster to look at the intruder, sensing Napstablook's alarm at the sudden noise just as well as his own.
Candara froze as the large eyelights settled on him. Sans sighed, face falling into his hands.

"What do you want, kid."
He left the skull back under the ghost's control as the younger scoffed slightly. "First of all, I'm still not a kid."
He then moved to sit beside one of the creature's forelimbs, staring at it in amazement.
Sans dared to look at him directly. "..Second?"

Candara coughed into his sleeve, suddenly tense.
"Um.. do you?.. Really? Have.." He gestured vaguely at him. Sans looked away.
"...I guess so."
The other cringed, tugging on his sleeves. "What's it like?"

Sans glanced up at the horizon, the skyscrapers in the distance glinting in the sun. "I don't know, buddy." He started, the beginnings of sarcasm seeping through. "Based on recent events, I'd say it really sucks."

A small bark of laughter escaped Candara before he could stop himself, staring at the surroundings in both wonder and amusement. "I guess that's right."
"Believe me, I wish I didn't have this… Frisk didn't deserve what he got."
"A human?"
"Some of them really aren't that different from us. You heard about Chara. That was the first human to ever end up in the Underground. They became Asriel's sibling."
"...Wow."

Sans quietly occupied himself by kicking off a slipper, letting it fall a dozen feet, then catching it with blue magic and starting over again. Candara just took in the scenery.
".. It's freaking bright out here."
Sans snorted, not expecting that for some reason.

"Yeah. Just wait until sunset. It's a great view. The sky up there? It tur-" He cut short as Candara almost impulsively grabbing ahold of the Blaster's humerus, breathing hard.
"..You okay, buddy?" Sans asked, surprised as Candara blinked in fear.

"Uh.. looking up felt weird. There's just.. nothing up there?"
"Just air."
"Gah, it's- I don't like it."
"Sounds like vertigo."
"I hate that." Candara laughed nervously.
Sans chuckled. "It happens. Takes a while to go away, but it stops eventually."
"How long?"
"Eh, I'm not a doctor. A month or two. Something like that."
"A month?! You're screwing with me!"
"Nope."
"It's a prank."

"Candara, pal, do I look like I'm in the mood to pull off a prank right now?" Sans asked, regarding the other seriously. Candara's face fell. "..Not really, I guess."

They fell back to silence, though it wasn't quite so awkward… for Sans, at least. Candara was clearly fidgeting, looking for a topic to continue.
"... Seriously. What is it like?"

Sans bit back a long sigh, thinking. He peered at his own hand- briefly, his mind went back to the moment he decided to show Toriel and Asriel his flame, how it had a hint of red that he'd never seen before.
"Some things are just a bit red."
"Red?"
"Yeah."
"And it's only a little? Like.. a secondary color. Or a new one."

"No, I still have yellow." He fwipped his hand and displayed a heatless cyan flame, the base a greenish yellow.
"Damn, you really are related to dragons." Candara muttered.
".. What?" Sans blinked in confusion.
"You're like some kind of true Dragonblood or something! Or supernatural. You're a porter, you can make not only make the biggest skullsummon in the Underground but it has a body?! And you just- you just don't know!"

Sans stared, processing what he heard.
"...Dragons." He repeated.
"Yeah!"
He regarded his own hand again.
"Ssssoooooo.. is it rare or something?"
"It's like one in every twenty in the Underground. Though I heard before the War, it was actually almost common or something."
"Well, given the population of the Underground not being all that huge- yours included- it sounds like it still is."
"You clearly don't know how many of us there are."
"You're right, I don't."
That shut up the younger for a moment.

Sans then cautiously continued, transferring the flame to his other hand. "Just having fire magic is a dragon thing?"
"Pfft-" Candara shook his skull, scooting over. Napstablook shifted back to let him sit beside Sans.
"Anyone can make a spirit-flame, it's bicolor that means dragonblood. Or phoenix, but phoenixfire is a lot different? I have no idea."

"And skull attacks and bicolor flames are a.. dragon related thing?" Sans asked, still not quite believing it.
"Yep." Candara confirmed with a grin.
"So you can make a flame, too, huh?"
Candara hesitated. "..Make one, yeah, but a hot one I still suck at."

He cupped his hands, focusing before a brief pale flame wisped to life, like a large candlelight. "It sucks that it even looks like regular fire too. Everyone always thinks I'm about to burn someone or myself."
"Not really. It's too broad and unaffected by movement and wind to be a real one."
"... You're really familiar with fire."
"Helps that my oldest friend's a fire."
"Oh."

Both their flames vanished as Candara snorted, bringing a smile to the older one's face.
"How did you even give a body, anyway? No offense to.. uh.. Napstablook?"
The ghost nodded softly, glancing down the length of the skeletal beast.

"Honestly? I have no idea. The last thing I even remember was something in me snapping and just this feeling of.. melting from the inside out." He shuddered. "I'd prefer to never experience something like that ever again."
"Amen." Candara whispered, aghast.

Sans shrugged it off. "It's over now, anyway. I'm sorry about that. It probably looked scary as hell without any context."
"It did. You had one light a red dot and the other was this huge blue and yellow circle while your shirt was glowing like you stuck a red light in your ribcage and it-" Candara shuddered as well. "It didn't look right."

"....Yeesh." Sans absently reached for his left socket. "It never does that."
"Never does what?"
"Light up. I don't know about the red- well no, I think I do actually- but the other? That never lights up."
"Why?" Candara almost sounded affronted.

"Just doesn't…. Since you're familiar with it all, is it even a normal thing to have that?"
"I mean.. different eyelight shapes are normal, it's an emotion thing." Candara explained hesitantly. "And it helps to see in pitch black places. But yours looked.. creepy. What happened to them? Does only one work right or something?"

Sans hesitated. "..I.. it was an accident a long time ago. Took my right side and nearly my left, too." He glanced off to one side, peering at Napstablook while debating whether or not to tell them.
"It's been a real long time since I talked about me." He admitted softly.
"Oh. I mean, you don't have to if it really bothers you-" "Nah, I think I'm sick of being the mysterious type, you know?"
"Heh."

He fell silent, thoughtful.
"...My dad died horribly."
"... I'm sorry."
"It was a long time ago, but.. it was a complicated death. Theoretically, he didn't die."
"Uh.. what now?"
Sans sighed deeply. "You know enough to know that Alphys is the current Royal Scientist, right?"
"Yeah, it's like some really honorable position for prodigy scientists. You said she brought back the freaking dead."

"Well, yeah, but she got the position because she created an incredibly complicated and intricate living robot- at the bluntest she just built a really cool body for this guy's cousin." He pointed at Napstablook, who looked away.

"That's awesome." Candara grinned at him.
"Not really. Mettaton treated you like shit." Sans regarded the ghost who let a tear fall.
Sans patted the Blaster skull, moving to rub behind the closest horn. Napstablook stiffened and leaned into it impulsively. Candara stared in shock, grinning at the sight.

He took over the scratching, Napstablook resting the enormous skull beside him with still wide and surprised sockets. Sans looked on with a faint relaxed smile.

A minute or so, and Candara faced him again, idly scratching.
"But seriously, I thought you said your dad died by falling into lava."
"Magma. And kinda sorta he did? Near the center of the Core, it's not really magma. The Core messes with quantum physics and magic to create the energy it does. He fell in near the center, hell, I tried to save him and I just couldn't reach him in time.." Now he had to take his phalanges out of his right socket.

He wiped his hand on his clothes, noting it was wet with yet to fall tears. "I would be dead too if my shoelace wasn't untied."
"...What do you mean?" Candara whispered.

"I was interning with him and the team, at the time Alphys was in another division with just three people, and that day they were transporting a highly reactive substance across the walkways. We were almost at the Core itself when I tripped cause my damn shoe was untied, so you know, just stop and tie it."

"...It blew up while you were tying it." Candara realized in horror. "It blew up." Sans agreed softly.
"𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎.." Napstablook murmured. Sans blinked, staring. "..How did you know that?"

The ghost cringed, looking away. "𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎.. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚕𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚕𝚙, 𝚋𝚞𝚝.. 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘.."
Candara glanced between the two of them in shock as Sans continued to stare, connecting dots in his mind.
"It was because of the Core." He murmured.
"What?" Candara questioned, lost.

Sans mumbled a bit of nonsense to himself while collecting his thoughts, taking a shaky breath. "Listen, kid. When my dad built the Core, it.. did something. Altered time and space in the Underground. This.. happened to work out in the favor of things with something called Determination. We didn't know it did that at the time, but we knew it screwed with things. Made some things possible that simply shouldn't be and a whole other bit of nonsense. The point is.. there are actually several points in this, but the first one is that it made it possible to 'see' into the future."
"How?! What kind of sci-fi stuff is that!"

"Sci-fi is somewhat based on sci." Sans smirked slightly before scratching the back of his skull. "Lowering instruments closer to the danger zone of the rip… the Core formed a rip in spacetime… well, measurements came back with interesting results."
"You just casually admitted to your dad creating a black hole."

"Heh, it's not a black hole. It does affect everything around it in weird ways, though. If anything, the readings it gives off are more like a theoretical white hole, despite it not actually forcing any new matter into existence like one should. Time near it splits and flows differently. It proved the existence of timelines and how they behaved. There were many that clearly ended in different energy signatures in the near future and indications of.. they had terrifying implications. The most terrifying one was where one timeline just.. stopped. Everything ended."

Candara had a frightful expression.
"Relax, bud. It isn't our timeline. We're already past the point where that one just ends."
"What does this have to do with your dad?" Candara whispered loudly.
"Well, it doesn't really. At this point I'm explaining more than that."
"Sure is a lot." The youth muttered.
"..No kidding." Sans agreed.

"Anyway, I was telling you that because when my dad and his team fell into the Core, yes, I tried to at least save Dad, and it just backfired. They still fell, and the magic conducted the electricity and mana right into my face."
"...Shit, that sounds painful."
"It wasn't really, I was knocked out as soon as it hit."
"Oh. Still, sounds like it sucks. You lost most of your right side."
"Only in lights. Heh." He sighed, smile fading.

"It was after that really sucked."
"Yeah, you didn't really have a dad or anything.."
"At all. I was his intern when I was still in stripes, kid. And I was still in stripes, without a dad, and stuck with a little bro who wasn't able to help. And to make matters worse, the accident revealed another abnormality of the Core."
"What?"

"They were gone. Not just dead, they had all just disappeared. They were somehow almost completely wiped from existence. No one remembered them but me. And maybe Paps a little too- he sometimes has moments- but other than that, it was almost like none of them ever were in the first place. Almost."

"Are you serious? You're not making this up?"
"I'm not. There's only traces, but no one remembers them, pictures they had taken of them suddenly didn't have them present anymore, stuff they made turned grey or just vanished, and when Alphys finally built Mettaton his body? She got the job because it was open and for some reason the king didn't know why."

"...Sans, are you okay?"
"It was a long time ago." He sighed, reaching into the air and teleporting something into his hand. "There was one thing." He admitted, handing over an old, greyed photo.
"I think the only reason it survived was because it was in my pocket. It was taken earlier that day."

"Wow.." Candara studied the group of monsters in the image. "Papyrus got his height from his dad." He snorted. Sans snatched it back, scowling a little. "Laugh it up, buddy. You're not much taller." "I don't look like a babybones."
"Har har." He set it down as though putting it up on an invisible shelf, yet the paper just disappeared. Candara blinked at the casual teleportation of objects in shock as Sans just sighed yet again.

"And you know another thing?"
"There's even more to this hero's backstory?"
"PBFFT-" Sans abruptly cackled, caught off guard.
"Holy shit, I'm- I'm anything but a hero-" He gasped, tears leaking from his sockets.
Candara leaned close. "Well I mean, I guess you're not one yet, but you literally do have a hero backstory."

Sans recovered, giving him a long look. He sighed, shaking his skull. "No. Just no." He muttered, thinking. "I'm just a guy who got fucked over in life."
"Your dad built something that broke reality."
"It more than broke it, kid.."
"Still not a kid. What else did it do?"

He scratched the back of his skull, debating how to put his thoughts into words. "I mean, when it hit me, it dosed me full of energy that just doesn't belong in any living thing." He held up one hand, trembling slightly in preparation for what he was about to do.
"Look at me and explain this."
He snapped, the click echoing as everything went still.

Candara blinked, glancing out at the sea of trees beyond the mountain. "What.." His sockets widened as it became obvious.
Nothing was moving. At all. Everything was grey as it seemed light itself had slowed down just beyond a small sphere of influence.
"Did you-" He went mute. Napstablook, just barely sitting on the inside of their bubble, shifted closer in sudden fear. "𝚂𝚊𝚗𝚜?"

"Relax." Sans reassured them in a strained voice. "You just- you can stop time!" Candara squeaked in a mix of fear and amazement, scooting away.
Sans then fell backwards, everything snapping back to normal with a telltale click as he collapsed against the ribs of the creature behind him.

Candara blinked in concern, still glancing out at everything present to check that it was definitely unpaused.
"Didn't stop." Sans spoke up, lifting one hand. "No one and nothing can just stop the flow of time. What I can do is slow the flow of it. It's a hell of a lot easier when the Barrier's up, cause then it's just the Underground."

He coughed, sitting up again. "I can also technically speed myself up for seconds at a time. Both still take it out of me."
"You still stopped everything. You actually stopped everything." There was a faint note of panic in his voice.
"That's what quantum mana-energy can do to a person. And no, don't get any ideas."

He turned his now-fading blue and yellow eyelight upon the younger skeleton. "This stuff does things that can make your life hell."
"Well, I mean every good thing comes at a cost?" Candara chuckled nervously.

"You have a bit of a point." Sans muttered, stretching. "But the Core altered reality and specifically, the Underground. I honestly don't know if it had the same effect on your side as it did ours, but if it did.." He hesitated.
"I really hope no one on your side was aware of it."
"Aware of what?" Candara leaned in to ask.
"Resets." Sans said simply, sockets empty.

Candara edged away, unnerved by the expression as Sans took a deep breath and continued.
"The Core gave humans that fell into the Underground a power nothing should ever have. It breaks physics itself as far as it's theoretically known and gives me nightmares."
"What? What was it?" Candara begged before he could go on.

Sans gave him a look, no amusement left in that moment. "It gave humans- and anything that held enough of the element called Determination that comes from humans- the power to reverse time."

Candara hesitated, seemingly disappointed. "What does that really do?" He asked, not quite understanding.
"No one remembers what they experienced before it was Reset back to a specific point except the one responsible. And me. And sure, it sounds like that's not much, but to hold time in your grasp like that- like a toy- it. Can be. Abused. And I had to fucking watch. Can you imagine living the same day over and over again? What about the same hour? What about being able to tell anyone about this, because as soon as time snaps back again, you're back to square one?"

Napstablook suddenly sobbed faintly. Sans turned, immediately concerned as Candara continued to stare while considering the thought.
"Nappy?"

"𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜.. 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍.. 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚎𝚠.. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝙽𝚊𝚙𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗.... 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞.. 𝙸.. 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍.. 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎.."

"What..? Human killed.. what?" Candara looked as though his world was crashing down around him.
Sans just sighed, petting the Blaster as Napstablook kept crying softly.
"I.."

He regarded Candara sadly, worried. "Are you sure you really want to know? I realize that this is a bit much."
"No, I have to know now."
"..Yeah."

Sans studied the ground for a long moment before speaking.
"It only became clear when the first human to fall since the Asriel and Chara died. It was honestly confusing at first. I'd be doing one thing, then suddenly I'm stopping and trying to remember what I was doing back to a moment hours or just minutes before. It kept happening, until a human was discovered exiting the Ruins and.. was soon contained. At the time, I couldn't figure out what happened, just that it stopped when the human was captured."

Candara was starting to understand, but said nothing. Sans shrugged, mostly to himself.
"The next one that fell, I started suspecting the connection. And what do you know, not long after the jumps in time started, a human walked through the Ruins' door. Kid barely made it to Snowdin when the Guard got them and contained the Soul."
He didn't speak for a long time.

Then he glanced at Candara. "This strange little connection made me curious about humans and how they could possibly be connected to the jumps backward in time. I had already guessed that I was aware of them because of the Core. But still, me and Paps moved to Snowdin."
"What does that have to do with anything?"

He blinked. "Oh. Yeah. Snowdin's closest to the Ruins, where humans fall into the Underground."
"Oh. Why would you move closer to humans?"
"Because I'm a curious guy. I wanted to know more, and the only way to do that is to get as close as possible to them, for the chance to witness one firsthand before the Guard got to them."
"And did you get what you asked for?"

"I got much more than that." Sans sighed. "I accidentally got Paps into thinking that he would get popular if he joined the Guard, but you know him. He's harmless. He's too good for that kind of work."
"You still let him."
"Of course. He's my brother, I'm not going to just deny him his dream. Hell, that outfit he's wearing, he hasn't taken it off since I made it. It was for a costume party." He snorted. "I don't deserve him."

Candara was about to argue, but Sans interrupted before he could get his words in order.
"I took all the sentry jobs available that weren't taken already- and managed to get the closest to the Ruins. I did meet humans."

He scowled somewhat. "Not that it mattered. The next time those leaps back in time happened, it had nothing to do with a human." He hesitated. "Well, no, it technically did. They were caused by something created by using a human trait, Determination. Some experiment Alphys did on golden flowers and Determination."
"How? How do you even know this?"
"Easy. The experiment told me." Sans growled.
Candara fell confusedly silent.

"She didn't know. No one could have. But one of the flowers she injected Determination into had been harvested from the flower patch Asriel had died on."
"Oh fuck that- she-" "Didn't know. She didn't know he'd died and been scattered there."
"But he's alive-"
"I know. You heard he died and is alive anyway. I'm getting there."
The younger sat back, consigned to patience.

"Turns out, the human ability to jump back in time was connected to their most powerful magic called Determination, and the flower that contained Asriel's remnants was full of it. Problem was, it was still Soulless."
"It-" Candara went mute, baffled.

"As it also turns out, when something is Soulless, it has no emotion. No empathy. Nothing. Just empty. It was essentially just something stuck with the poor kid's memories and maybe a leftover echo of personality, but it quickly warped. I mean it went sour fast. Flowey, as he called himself, started looking to feel something again. Anything. And it turns out that there was something left, it was just something that should have never, never existed."

His voice shook. "He got a hint of emotion when he killed. And I don't know why, I don't think even the weed knew. All I know is he started killing off the entire Underground. He had time under his control. He could just will it, and everything would return to before in just a blink, without a single consequence."
"Oh shit, are you.. okay? At all?"

"No. I watched him tear my brother apart hundreds of times. Most of the time he made me watch." His voice cracked, shaking. "And right back again, as if nothing ever happened." He buried his face in his hands for a long moment, regaining composure as Candara hesitantly wrapped his arms around him.

"It's fine, I'm fine, just needed a second."
"How do you even deal with that?"
"I killed Flowey." Sans started flatly. Candara flinched. "You did?"
"The Core gave me a few advantages he didn't have. When you can alter the flow of time, you can do a lot of things. All he could do was Reset back to a specific time. He could kill me- he did. He killed me so many times, but he would always Reset again and I'd be there waiting."

There were wisps of flame dancing around his left hand as he continued. "And you know what? Maybe I am overcharged. Does it matter? Maybe, maybe not. It doesn't matter. He learned to stop. He never Reset again."

"... Because you killed him?"
"No, because I kept killing him. Because I was supposed to be the last skeleton other than my harmless bro, and he had no idea what I could do, and he never found out. Because I put the fear of God into that fucking sadist."

Candara inched away. "Is he still..?" "No, he's gone now, and he's not coming back. And whatever you do, do not compare that thing to Asriel. It's not him. At all."
"Okay, I won't. The kid doesn't even look like he could hurt anybody- but seriously, a flower?"
"Yes."
"...Cool, I guess. Was there ever another human..?"
"Well of course there was. Barrier's gone, isn't it?"
"..Right. Did you ever.. kill them too?"

"I.. no. Not really. I.. I did hate humans with a passion, but that was biased on a Soulless flower full of their trait and power- a power that fucked my life over dozens of times. Just.. I only killed the next human, and that was really because they had that gun and Undyne was down. That was just self-defense."

"... I feel like there's more."
"..Yeah. There's more. At that point, I made a promise to someone to not.. protect the humans. I don't break promises. I hated humans, but I wasn't going to break a promise because of it."
"Who did you even promise?"

"...Toriel. She protected them in the Ruins until eventually letting them go to try to go back home. As you can guess, they never made it. Killed her inside, and I couldn't deny.... She's my friend."
"You're friends.. with the Queen."
"Ex. She broke up with Asgore because of how he dealt with their kids' death. Kinda decided to hate humans."
"How? How did they even die?"

"Chara decided they wanted to free monsters, so they killed themself and had Asriel take their Soul to go through the Barrier and take enough to break it.. Asriel couldn't go through. He wasn't a killer. So, they got attacked, and made it back in time to die of the flowers. It was.. really, really sad."
"...Oh."

The conversation lapsed for a long moment before Candara murmured. "What else?"
"I started trying to protect humans while hating them. Ironic when your job is to catch them to be more or less executed."
"..Oh.."
"I managed to sympathize sometimes, it hurt a bit, but I guess I was already broken at that point. Tibia honest, I regret that now. They were human, but not all humans are the same.. it was wrong."

"I'm sorry.."
"Not your fault. I was still there to understand how things were connected. I never quite got there until a few months ago, actually. And when Frisk fell.." He hesitated, a look of profound loss on his face.
"I.."

He coughed. "He had clearly figured out from the start how Resets worked, and happened to care about monsters. He cared.. too much. He never hurt anyone at first. Even when everyone, I mean everyone, confronted him at some point. He didn't just make it through the Underground, he used Reset to take the time and just be a friend to everyone he could. He got Undyne and Alphys to start dating when they'd been so obviously crushing on each other for literally years, he didn't even.. he even cared about Flowey! And Asgore, when the big guy was the one to order humans be brought to him in the first place despite it starting to kill him inside."

He chuckled ruefully. "That kid.. well.. he was something special. I never told him what I knew about those Resets, but it didn't seem to matter when one moment every damn monster in the Underground.. our side anyway, it's just, one second everyone is showing up at the Barrier to support his utter pacifism and kindness, and the next.." His face fell.
"..Next thing I know, everyone is pinned by vines."

"Oh shit, what?" Candara blinked, enthralled and shocked. Sans coughed awkwardly. "Flowey was there, and apparently since everyone was in one place, he stole the previous humans' Souls, and also because we were all there, and he was neither human nor monster, he could take ours too. That was the first time I found out he could put a pause on things too."

"Wait, he took your-"
"Apparently. I don't remember any of it. He did pause me. All I know is that it was enough to bring back Asriel for a short time, and he broke the Barrier himself. I know that wasn't Flowey's plan, but it happened."

"If you never saw any of this, how did you even know?"
"Oh, put it together with little bits I picked up here and there. That, and.. it turned out that wouldn't be the first time Frisk got the Barrier broken. He Reset."
"No.."

"He did it for a good reason."
"What reason?"
"He was trying to use his ability to save everyone, which included Asriel. The kid only had a few hours after being brought back temporarily, before Flowey was back again and he's dead and gone. Seriously, we would spend months on the Surface with Frisk living with us. Then he Reset again, all the way back to when he first feel down here. Why would he worry about harming anyone when he was supposed to be the only one who remembered the Resets, after all? I was too scared to tell a human child I knew what they were doing. I remembered how it got Flowey curious back when he did it."

Candara blinked in shock. "You just.. you had everything and let a human take it without saying anything?"
"..I really believed he could do it. Frisk was so Determined.. more than anything else."
"You said you-" "Hated humans. Past tense. Frisk taught me otherwise."
"Wow. How many times did he do it?"

"...He changed after several Resets."
"Huh?"
"He turned around and started killing. A little at first, but I could always tell. His eyes.. were red. When before they had been brown, kind of hazel. He looked.. terrified. I couldn't figure it out, but he had this look that was so.. so unsettling. No one else knew the difference because they couldn't remember what he was before, but it was starting to scare me. I noticed Flowey following him, smiling those first few times, which had me freaking the hell out. Then he went and killed everyone. Explicitly hunted down every last monster. Papyrus-" His voice cracked.

"He believed that they could change. He believed it was just a lonely, scared human that could change, but it wasn't. What that was, it wasn't Frisk. He had his arms open, he was trying to hug them and they fucking cut his skull off! He was willing to- he-" He choked, abruptly falling apart as he reached for something around his neck vertebrae that wasn't there. Candara hugged him, not knowing what to do as Napstablook shifted closer in equal cluelessness.

"Did you kill him.. them, too?"
"I-I did. Hundreds of times. I was so scared, I didn't know what was going on, I was scared they would just leave the Underground after killing us all and nothing would mean anything- I hate that hall now, I hate it so much- every time I killed them, they were back again, even better, they just didn't care. And when I begged, believe me, I begged them to stop and go back, they told me their name was Chara."

Candara stiffened. "The.. Asriel's?"
"I didn't think it could have been the same! That was our martyr, the one who tried to save us all, who hated humans despite being one- so it made no sense!"
He gasped, clinging to his sweatshirt above his ribs.

"And they killed me. I did everything, even made sure they shouldn't be able to kill me, but of course, they had the most Determined human Soul out there, they just broke the rules and hit me when I couldn't-" He sobbed. "And then I'm awake all over again, everyone's back and hours later that human is walking out of the Ruins covered in dust again."
"Oh.. God."

"Chara killed everyone over and over again, and I couldn't do anything. They killed, and killed, and killed, and went back again. I counted. They committed genocide ten times before out of nowhere, they just.. saved everyone again."
"What the fuck?" Candara spluttered, bewildered.

"And almost immediately Reset again, just to play savior again, when I just.. maybe everyone else could get wiped, but I can't. I can't forget how.. blankly they killed him. How they cut down Undyne who believed so much in stopping them she popped right back up and they treated it like a chore to kill her? I can't forget fighting that demon, the only time I ever say them smile was when I tried to stop them, like I was some kind of fucking game to them. You just.. can't." He whispered.

"But.. how did.. is it even over?" Candara whispered back.
"Y.. yes. It should be. I lost count of it, they.. killed us all so many more times than saved.. hundreds. It happened over and over again. Over, and over, and over, and over, and over.. I was fucking losing it."
"..You didn't. How did it stop? Seriously? How?"
"I.. Chara did something knew that started a chain of events."
"They did?"

He glanced over, a broken expression. "They admitted that they knew I knew, and they were trying to break me. Because they really were having fun doing it, that I was just.. watching me going insane was entertaining."
"I.. I am so sorry."
"That was just the second to last Reset."
"It was- what?"

He slowly lolled his skull around to peer at Napstablook, who was perking up.
"Napstablook showed up the next time. And you, you of all people in all the thousands of Resets, remembered. And you never said anything. Until then."
"...𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘.. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚍…"
"You still managed to come out in time." Sans sighed shakily, partly in relief, partly in exhaustion.

"It actually presented a chance. Last ditch and desperate, but it worked. You know ghosts can't be injured if they decide not to be, right?"
"..No way."
"Yes. We just shared the same space and waited." He started to smirk, but it died quickly.
"It.. wasn't.. didn't turn out how I expected."
"It didn't work??"
"No, it did, it was more than effective- it scared the hell out of Chara when they realized I wasn't just dying. It.. they cried…. They believed the world deserved to suffer and die, and decided they wanted to rain their judgement upon monsters before moving on to the rest of the world."

"That's.. messed up."
"It is. Would you believe that it ended by fucking talking, of all things?"
"You literally talked it out?!"
"Not really, I just.. heh. I.. heh." He started laughing through his tears, hints of hysteria hidden behind it.
"I guess I went 'mom-mode' on them." He snickered pathetically, leaning his face in his hand.

"That's insane." Candara stated flatly.
"The world is crazy." Sans agreed, still amused and aching.
"I think you need a therapist."
He laughed louder.

Candara cringed at the near hysteria happening beside him. "Isn't it over now?" He asked despite knowing full well his relative was unbelievably scarred.
"It.. it should be. It's done…. Time should never be toyed with. Never."
"It's over. Sans, you just said it yourself, it's done."

He took a sharp breath through gritted teeth, a weight lifting away. "Yeah… yeah. It's.. hard. It's so hard, kid. Everything.. none of it is the same- hell, you're here when-" He hiccuped. "Shit, I always thought- I-" He cut off, silent as he slowly gathered his wits again.
"I'm sorry."

"Heck, man, you had a ton to get off your mind. I don't even know how you're alive and not Fallen Down from that crap. Say whatever you need."
And don't stop talking. The unspoken words still hung in the air.

Sans sighed, vigorously rubbing his face to clear his mind before huffing and blinking. "Chara Reset one last time and got the Barrier open as I had them promise." He explained in a clearer voice.

"And it turned out Asriel knew all about the Resets, remembering everything Flowey did too and it became clear that Chara really missed him. One thing led to another, and we found an agreement where I'd help them leave Frisk and take the apparent remains of their Soul to Asriel, who was still there for a few more hours due to the remnants of the human traits and magic, and.. well, he's back for good, with a voice that happens to be Chara in his fuzzy head." He sighed harshly.

"That doesn't really sound good." Candara noted cautiously, tense.
"What can they do? Chara could only do anything because they controlled Frisk's Determination."
"How did you even end up with his Soul?"

Sans hesitated. "He- .. You heard what Asriel said."
"...Humans can really Fall Down?"
"Not really, it's just something similar. But more or less no recovery all the same… I think he called it braindead?"
"That sounds.. bad."
"It was. Every time I tried to put his Soul back it started cracking- and I just didn't know what to do."
"How does it work?"

Sans frowned, shivering. "I don't know. Asriel actually forced it on me. I didn't want to. Far from it… And to answer your question, it hurts. It burns like being melted from the inside out. It started so quickly I just passed out."
"..Ouch."

They sat in silence for another minute before Sans sighed again, for what felt like the 30th time. "I'm getting tired of talking so much." He admitted.
"You don't really have to." Candara offered.
"Technically I know that. For some reason I feel like I gotta explain everything. I just wish there wasn't so damn much to explain. Hell-" He threw up his hands. "I wish it wasn't so Soul-wrenching to say it, either! It's so complicated, I'm not sure if even I fully understand it."
Candara didn't respond for a moment.

"...Can I just say that you're a freaking legend, though?"
"The hell you mean, kid?"
"Still not a kid- but you literally have.. so much trauma.. and, I mean, I think you literally saved everyone. Like, superhero type stuff. And you're modest about it, dude! How do you not see that? It sounds so crazy and made up, but you can't make up stopping time!"
"Slowing."

"Slowing, whatever! I mean, even without the insane past, backstory, whateve's, you're already epic as hell. You-!" He waved at the full-bodied Blaster around them. "This! And a porter! And I actually have anything to do with you is just- I can't- it's just normal for you!!"

Sans chuckled weakly despite himself, glancing at the sun approaching the horizon, sky colored shades of wheat gold and maize, the clouds coming over the back of the mountain colored in vivid magenta and hazy purple, dashes of grey-blue peeking through.
"I guess that is one way to look at it.."
"Just one way of looking at it?!"

"Candara." He sighed. Again. "I can definitely assure you that living something like this will most definitely give you a different opinion than just hearing about it. And on top of that, I also just found out that I'm not an almost extinct race! It's.. I can't really wrap my skull around it yet, okay?"

The younger recoiled slightly, somewhat crestfallen as he nodded in understanding. Sans stood up with a slight grunt, rubbing at his sockets. "Think my good hoodie is dry now, so I'll be getting out of these old rags. Okay?"
"Yeah."

Napstablook had managed to stand as Sans trudged back into the mountain, leaving Candara sitting on the ledge before he paused.
He turned slightly, almost looking back when he spoke softly.
"Don't mention this to Papyrus, okay?"
"I won't. Not a word." Candara replied quickly.

Sans smiled faintly. "My bro's my world, y'know? I can't bear to do that to him."
"Shouldn't he know at some point?"
He tensed. "I.. I can't. I just can't. Okay? I'll get there when I get there, which I won't lie, hopefully never."

With that, he vanished in a flash of blue, Napstablook tensing before the possessed Blaster was gone as well.
Candara let out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
"Do you even know how cool you are without trying?" He asked thin air.

He was pretty sure the answer was no.