Everything had happened so fast for Papyrus, so fast that he could barely process it. The machine powering up, time breaking, hell ending up on earth, darkness, and finally, him using his soul to help someone who wanted to save the world. He could feel Addy's soul asking for help, and he gave everything he could.

Then, he was real. 

Somewhat. He could feel things again. Papyrus could feel his hands, his shaking, but real hands. The skeleton dragged them up to pat his face, soul humming in his chest. He was real, he was alive.

The void was still around it, but it wasn't pressing in like before. The void wasn't consuming the world, it was holding back. The ground, even though Papyrus could see nothing but black, felt real. 

So... where was he then?

"You're in the void, Uncle-a-boy."

Papyrus turned to find Bean standing there, her usual grin lost to a more serious expression. A lollipop dangled from between her teeth, the stick having teeth marks on it. 

"But the good void, the one that's supposed to exist." Bean walked towards him, hands swinging as her smile returned. "Not the one that doesn't exist, the one that exists. We exist now, but we didn't before."

"I..." Papyrus' voice felt weak.

"You just came into existence, your voice may be... like a feeble childs," Bean giggled, sticking out her hands and waving them. "I warned you, didn't I? Or I didn't, since technically that never happened. It will, soon, or it never will. Isn't that funny?"

"Where are we?" Papyrus managed to say, looking around slightly. "I mean, more as, what's going on. You already answered that..."

"The universe is rebuilding itself," Bean said, clapping her hands excitedly. "Little cutie patruby Addy used everyone's souls and determination to perform the biggest reset known to history!"

Papyrus nodded, trying to get ahold of the idea of a reset. It had been explained to him before, but the concept was still a bit hard to grasp. After all, he had everything else to stress about, and a reset at the time was too much to handle. 

"The universe is going to take awhile, rebuilding. Everything has to go back to where Addy wanted it to." Bean tilted her pelvis, crossing her arms as she looked over the vast void around them. "The dimensional layers, the souls, the world... everything has to be recreated and reset. Addy reset back to before the machine was activated, and her reset will cause the machine to malfunction and not work. Funny thing, the universe doesn't like being destroyed. You try to kill it, it fights back. It's like a virus. The machine hurt it once, but now the universe has experienced the machine and knows how to fight it. Any machine like that built again with never work, and we'll be sent back to our fight with that old geezer, which we were winning. I'll admit, a worthy opponent, even for the great and powerful tyrant Beanie, but he doesn't have his machine to back him up, and the universe is going to be mad at the very man who just killed it. If we don't kill him, it will."

"The universe is... alive?" Papyrus asked.

"What, silly, of course not!" Bean cackled, "If it was alive, I'd be the one to kill it. It's like the fire I had used to burn down that one... location. It burns, and it can be put out and 'die', but it doesn't live. If it was alive, it'd be the one to kill it, not some old man in hell who's a little snot nosed patruzy. It's more of a self defense to keep everything from dying, like how Zalgo just killed everyone!"

"I don't understand fully why he'd want to kill everyone just to see the surface for a brief moment," Papyrus sighed.

"Oh, no, he thought the universe would last much longer than what it did," Bean giggled, "But the universe already was broken, it was weak, he just dented it more so it broke the moment he activated it."

"What do you mean the universe was broken?"

"Well..."

Bean twirled a piece of her blue and grey hair between her digits, glancing over at Papyrus with a smile. 

"I may be a... tinsy bit guilty."

Papyrus blinked. He knew Bean was... special, if that was the right word, but he wasn't sure how she could even break the universe. Was that even possible?

"I'm the daughter of a guardian angel turned fallen, and the daughter of a powerful judge skeleton that's part demon who has void. I'm not supposed to exist," Bean giggled, outstretching her arms to show herself off like a prize. "My existence alone screws with the universe, like Slendy-Father, but I'm much worse. I'm able to see things you'd never understand, little skeleton. You know, I was there when you died."

"What?"

Papyrus unconsciously reached up and touched his neck, feeling the bare bones against his fingers. A flash of his red scarf flashed through his mind, Papyrus confused on why he was thinking about it.

"Purgatory is like a wanna-be me," Bean hummed, "I can see different timelines and universes, I can go in and out of the void whenever I want, along with my own universe. If I wanted to create my own disease, I can and will. I've seen you die so many times."

Suddenly, the void in front of Bean was flashing with magic and colors, the different shades of grey and blue swirling together. Papyrus found himself watching, listening to everything she said.

"You know about resets, we told you," Bean said, "And I've seen all of them. Dad has remembered all of them."

Images suddenly started to flash throughout the void. Sans underground, with a red scarf around his neck, standing in the judgement hall. Frisk was in front of them, the child covered in dust with a knife grasped in their hand. Sans was breathing heavily, debris from the wrecked room scattered around them.

"And every reset, Dad always fought for you," Bean pointed out, "I've watched it so many times. Frisk falls underground, kills everyone, and Dad fights them. He fights them when he knows they can destroy the world, when they can destroy you. He's protected you for centuries and you never knew. Silly, silly skeleton... And yet you treated him that way."

Papyrus choked on his breath as he watched the images flash through. Reset after reset, time after time. Every single time Frisk started to hurt people, Sans was warning them. Telling them to back off Papyrus, to keep his brother happy. Over and over and over again.

"No wonder Dad was so mad when you did those things to him. His entire life he had protected you, and yet you turned around and hurt him. Even I wouldn't do that," Bean said, looking over at him with a smile. "That's a real sh*t thing to do."

"I know," Papyrus nodded.

"Then again..."

New images flashed through the void. Papyrus standing in front of his house, talking calmly to Addy while she ducked behind a street pole. Papyrus pulling Cole by his scarf out of the way. Papyrus driving to and from constantly just to help reunite a family. Leonie, looking at Papyrus from the back of the store and judging him as a redeemed man, unsummoning the bone from her hands. He hadn't even known she did that.

"I'd say you're a better man," Bean giggled, "It's a shame to lose an evil soul, but you were never really evil. Just an idiot who didn't know when to hold his tongue. Don't worry, I think I have enough evil and insanity for the both of us."

Sans was fighting so many people throughout his life, and now it was time for Papyrus to return the favor. He had gone to heaven and hell just for Sans, and he'd do it all over again.

"The government is a threat, too, and I do plan to eliminate them one day, when I rule the world of course," Bean said, "But they were never really evil, either. Such as you were. Enemies, yes, but not exactly evil."

Papyrus could see more images pass through. Noelle, when was the last time Papyrus even saw her? It was so long ago, yet Bean knew about it. She knew about everything.

"But Zalgo, I'd say, is evil. A man of my own goals," Bean giggled, "He was strong and threatening, but his plan was feeble at best. Being trapped somewhere would drag one to insanity, and he sure was there. Then again, so would the yearning for something out of reach. Such as the surface, yes, but maybe something more..."

"Like knowledge," Papyrus finished.

"Like a deal to the devil."

Bean flicked her hand, effectively putting out the images, transforming their surroundings back to the dark void. 

"Zalgo may have wanted to kill everyone but his family, and destroy the world, and we will be killing him," Bean said, "But there is another man who has done worse to Sans."

"But wasn't the guy thrown into the void? The scientist?" Papyrus asked.

"Exact-o."

Just then, Papyrus realized the stupidity of his question. The scientists had been thrown into the void by Sans, and they were in the void. Which meant...

His Father was here. With him, in the void. He was here.

Papyrus wasn't exactly sure how Bean managed to do it, but the ground under them started to move, as if they were standing on a conveyor belt. Papyrus jerked under the movements, but Bean stood still, facing him with her wide smile of utter confidence and insanity. The area around them soon started to slow down when something, or someone, came into view.

That was him?

He looked so different than Papyrus expected. The man looked like he was melting, his black coat hunched and seeping onto the floor. His pristine white skull was melting, hands scratching at the floor. His voice was so distant and glitched, and he was hunched into a ball on the floor. 

This was the man who created them, who hurt Sans in those videos... the man who built the core, the first Royal Scientist. This was him?

He was so...

Sad.

"Here's our other dear Grandpa, who also screwed us over!" Bean giggled, walking behind him and gripping his shoulders. "Say hi, Dings!"

The man let out a glitched sound that was a mix between a scream and a sob. Papyrus wasn't sure how to react, taking a step back. 

"Look at this poor, eternally suffering man," Bean said, pushing Gaster back and forth between her hands. "He's constantly melting, constantly in pain, stuck in the void where he can never meet another person again. Except for me, and now you, but he's already been driven insane from the pain and loneliness. All he does is cry and scream anymore. Pitiful, isn't he? A great and powerful scientist, your Dad, nothing but a crying pile of goop on the floor."

It was. Stuck in the void, never able to talk to other people again? This is how Bean started to break the universe, by seeing Gaster in the void? Or was this just the tip of the iceberg of her hand in breaking down the universe to make it unstable?

"Then again, think about what he's done to us. He created you guys for experiments, made a deal with the devil expecting him to kidnap innocent monsters. All little Dings ever cared about was his own knowledge, he hated everyone and wanted them all to die. He tortured Sans, and planned to torture you, only for his own selfish ideals. He's the reason why any of this happened. Why Sans was depressed, why you two never could have a truly normal childhood, why Zalgo targeted Sans and his children. He had nothing to do with the world being destroyed, Zalgo would have done that anyway, but he still hurt you both so much."

"I know, I saw the videos," Papyrus said, "Why are you telling me this?"

"Because," Bean said.

She pulled something out of thin air, holding the object out for Papyrus to grab. Her Uncle did, his eye sockets widening when he looked up from the gun back to her.

"You get to choose if he dies or not."

Papyrus was caught off guard, looking at the pistol in his hands. It was a normal looking gun, with a single bullet loaded inside. 

"Me?" Papyrus asked. "Haven't you had the chance to kill him before?"

"I have, yes," Bean said, squeezing the scientists shoulders. "But it's much more fun to watch him suffer in his eternal hell. If you kill him here, his soul would be destroyed. But if you don't, he'll continue his eternal existence of pain and torment."

"I... I don't see your motive behind having me decide," Papyrus said, looking at her.

"My motives are undefined and incomprehensible, as if your silly little mind would truly understand," Bean giggled, "But I don't have any real goals behind this."

"Everyone has goals behind things..." Papyrus said, looking down at the gun. "If I shot him or not, either decision would have a motive on my part."

"I'm not everyone, silly," Bean cackled, "I'm Bean f*cking Font, motives are nothing to me. I do what I want, when I want. And I wanted to let you decide his fate. After all, he's done wrong to you, more than he's done to me. If anyone had the choice to kill him or let him suffer, it should be you. Sans got his own revenge, but you never did. Now's your chance, skele-boy."

Papyrus looked down at the scientist. There were so many reasons to shoot him, but so many not to. The man hurt them, but then again, so had Papyrus. Could Papyrus even judge, after everything he's done to Sans?

Both choices had their own merits. Shoot him, and get revenge on the man by killing him. Yet that would also effectively put him out of his misery and ultimately kill him, which is what Gaster might want. Did he even have a mind to comprehend this, though? All he could do is scream and cry, shooting him may get rid of him for good, but it might help Gaster.

If Papyrus left him, it would really let Gaster suffer. His personal hell, for eternity. But why should Papyrus be the one to destine him to such a fate? He had hurt Sans far more than he had Papyrus, Papyrus couldn't even remember him. But this would get revenge for Sans, for those experiments the scientist had forced upon his brother. Then again, Gaster might not even have the mental capability to process the punishment, so would it even be effective?

Gaster was a bad man, and he deserved to be punished. But what option would be the best not only for his punishment, but for Sans? Would Sans rather him suffer for eternity, or be killed and not exist?

The memories of Papyrus' life popped up in his mind. The underground, the surface, everything. Papyrus had been a bad man before, focused on himself, but now he had changed. And he was going to protect his family, no matter what.

A gunshot sounded through the void.