Chapter Text
Some time later after Sans' revelation, everyone returned back to the throne room. With Frisk's body still laying in the chair.
Asgore: Is everyone here?
Alphys: Everyone... except Sans.
Ceroba: Are we fully sure it's safe to leave him out there?
Undyne: No one wants to talk to him right now, Ms. Ketsukane.
Papyrus: INDEED, I KNOW THAT LOOK ON HIS FACE. HE WON'T SAY A THING WHEN HE LOOKS LIKE THAT.
Asgore: Well then, he should be alright for the moment. For now, we must discuss on how to prepare for the future...
...
Asgore: But first, Tori'... you have a request?
Toriel: Funeral arrangements. You will be giving me the children, all of them. So they may be rightly laid to rest.
Asgore: Hm... as you wish.
...
Back in the surface, Sans watches as the sun falls while the moon rises.
However, he wasn't alone.
"Wow.... I mean, just wow!"
Turning back, the voice belongs to... the weed.
Flowey: I'm gonna be honest, I never thought you had it within you! That drive to save everyone, despite the fact that Frisk didn't do anything drastic. Yet you did it!
Flowey: Congratulations! You saved everyone, with the cost of having blood on your hands! Also revealing some information with RESETs.
Flowey: Plus, your relationships with everyone you know are rocky! Your brother's shaken, the fish's pretty pissed, the fox's whatever, and oh boy! Don't get me started on her! You sure left a "killer" impression atleast.
...
Sans: if you're here to convince me to reset, i'm not.
This certainly caught Flowey by surprise.
Flowey: W-what? But everyone hates you-
Sans: no.
...
Flowey: Huh... and I thought sending her would work.
Their conversation briefly stops, as they see and watch the starry dark blue night sky.
...
Flowey: Are you... satisfied with all this? Because of your stunt, you're about to enter into the unknown.
Sans: that's okay, what matters is everyone's alive.
Flowey: Uh, almost everyone.
Sans: ...right, but don't think i didn't include you in the list.
Flowey: Okay, enough with the patronizing! First you somehow have that "amplified RESET remembrance" or whatever you call it, and now you steal my thunder by absorbing those SOULs?!
Flowey: I should be angry, I want to be angry! But... at the same time, I'm not. I don't know why! I think... I think...
Sans: you're thinking about them? the souls? marine? clover?
...
Flowey: Y-yeah, despite my time with them... it wasn't exactly enough. My uh, half-companionship with Marine was in vain. And Clover... they were a means to an end.
Sans: it's okay bud, they'll understand. i just need to think how...
Flowey: Hey, don't drag me into your shenanigans.
...
Flowey: Though... I have to ask. Is there... someone who missed me? Even a little bit?
Flowey's face changed to something recognizable. And with a pleading look...
Flowey: Is... Chara there?
For a moment, time stopped for the world. And all Sans' mind could see is a vision, not a memory. The vision showed him a kitchen knife, stabbed on the ground with a buttercup flower torn into pieces in the middle of enveloping darkness.
Suddenly, there's laughter. Sinister yet childish laughter. And in split second... the kitchen knife was covered in blood. The last thing Sans' mind saw before the vision disappeared, was a smile with red eyes in the darkness.
Back into the reality while time is still frozen, Sans felt an awful weight on his chest. Related with Frisk's SOUL, it's beating so fast. But Sans couldn't register of what was happening, as a voice within his mind spoke... a child's voice. One that's may or may not be familiar to him.
"We don't have to play this game, Chara."
...
...
...
"Quit. Quit. Quit."
"quitquitquitQuitQuitQuitQUITQUITQUIT-"
"GO BACK-"
...
...
...
To Sans... it all felt disturbing... mildly in his own opinion that is. In a matter of seconds, an recognizable voice inside of mind repeating the same word in sync with the Red SOUL's rapid beating. With Sans still feeling that awful weight, which quickly shifted into stress and panic.
But now... he's presented with... a choice.
Continue - Reset
...
...
...
Sans picked the former before the latter would be picked by a third party.
...
...
...
Flowey: Uh, hello? Smiley trashbag?
Sans: oh, uh... sorry. just...
It seems he's back into the reality, and time continues as normal for everyone else.
Sans: i don't think i know that name, you seem to know them.
Flowey: Oh... just an old friend...
...
Flowey: The SOULs, do you feel them?
Sans: hm... names, memories, feelings, bunch of other stuff.
Flowey: Wow... I would kill to have that such thing. But, I think you already know what happens in other timelines. Right?
Sans: yep, but don't sweat it. you continued to live for another day, even if you think it's pointless... atleast in this current period we're on.
Flowey: I... what do you expect me to do? Now that you've taken the spotlight, now that the game's over, now that... I'm... obsolete.
Sans: simple, live. atleast, until i figure out what to do...
...
Sans: but for now... live on, for your old friend's sake.
Flowey: ...O-okay. Fine... still hate you though.
Sans: no probs'.
...
Flowey: Ah heck, your golden brother is coming. I guess I'll see you in the lab?
Sans: yeah.
Flowey burrows under the ground, just before Papyrus arrives.
Papyrus: SANS! IT'S GOOD TO SEE YOU!
Sans: hey bro.
Papyrus: ALRIGHT, EVERYONE IS HEADING THEIR HOMES FOR THE NIGHT. IT TOOK A LONG TIME TO DECIDE THINGS AND I HAVE GOOD NEWS! I AM NOW A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD! AND I START MY JOB TONIGHT...
Sans: that's good bro... and your station is looking after me?
Papyrus: ERR, YES. BUT IT'S NOT ALL BAD! I AM TO WATCH OVER YOU UNTIL DOCTOR ALPHYS REMOVES THOSE SOULS. AND I ALMOST FORGOT! THE KING SUGGESTED AN ALIAS FOR YOU WHILE IN PUBLIC. SANS IS IN VACATION, WHILE MY COUSIN...
...
Sans: how about... wing ding? sans is in vacation, while my cousin wing ding visits.
Papyrus: OH! THAT'S A VERY GOOD ALIAS!
To head for their household, the skeleton brothers suggest that they take a ride with River Person's boat at Hotland. But...
River Person: Ah... my sincerest apologies. But due to Wing Ding's size, this raft would be crushed... theoretically speaking.
Sans: it's cool, i'll take a shortcut.
Papyrus: ARE YOU SURE?
Sans: don't worry, i'll meet you at home.
Papyrus: VERY WELL, BUT DON'T DAWDLE!
So instead, Papyrus takes the boat ride while Sans will use his shortcut. And in preparation, Sans stands up, spreads his multi-wings, and cracks his knuckles.
Sans: not sure if it's amplified by unpredictable amount, but i sure hope it's still the same.
The shortcut usage was a success, now that Sans is in the middle of the Snowdin Town. His house is nearby, though he realized that due to of his enormous size, he'll need to use his shortcut again to enter.
But suddenly, he felt... a headache? Then, more visions appear right in his mind. A gray area of nowhere with seven doors, each colored after the SOULs.
After these visions, Sans is left pondering and processing them in his thoughts...
...
"that was... weird. what were those doors? and why are they colored like the souls?"
"and that gray room... or not a room but, probably a mindscape of mine."
...
"wait a second, where are the kids-"
"WOAH!"
Uh oh, dawdle time. And Sans's first admirer of his form is... Monster Kid!
MK: What... who are you?!
Sans: ...wing ding?
MK: Holy crap! You look AWESOME!
Sans: which part? the multi-wings? the scarf? the thing hovering on my head or-
MK: Can I touch your tail?!
Sans: my what?
It appears Sans never noticed that his form features... a suspiciously knife-shaped tail.
Sans: oh, sure... just be careful.
A few minutes later....
Papyrus: SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG, I WAS LEAVING A TIP AND... OH MY GOD?
Papyrus: WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!
The scene laid before Papyrus is just a skeleton god dawdling with bunch of kids, there's Monster Kid, a pair of bunny old and young siblings named Judy and Peter respectively, Sadie and Byte from the Dunes, and a brown cat monster holding a comically large lightbulb called Niko.
Sans: nothin'.
Papyrus: I TOLD YOU NOT TO DAWDLE!
Sans: sorry cousin, the children started it.
Papyrus: HMPH, WELL COUSIN I THINK IT IS TIME TO HEAD HOME.
The children were let down, so to speak.
"Awww man!"
"C'mon, we were having fun!"
"You're a fun hater!"
"Shhh! Don't say that to a Royal Guardsman!"
"Are we gonna see you again?"
...
Sans: MK, Judy, Peter, Sadie, Byte, Niko, this may be the first and last time we'll meet. But don't be sad that you won't get to see me again, be happy that atleast you got to meet me. So head to your families, and spread smiles and love throughout the Underground. Do it for me would you?
The children are beamed, motivated by his speech. So they hugged him in return and left.
MK: Bye dude!
Peter: Byeeeee!
Judy: Have a good sleep!
Sadie: Stay safe!
Byte: You're still carrying that bulb?
Niko: I wanted to show him, that's all!
...
Papyrus: NOW... ABOUT THE HOUSE.
Another few minutes later...
Papyrus: I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HAD TO USE YOUR "SHORTCUT" AGAIN TO GET INSIDE THE HOUSE.
Sans: you could call it consequences of my actions, and i payed the price by being big.
Papyrus: OH NO WORRIES SILLY BROTHER! I'LL ASK MY FRIEND MARTLET TO EXPAND OUR HOUSE FOR YOU LIKING... OR MAKE A NEW ONE.
Sans: i guess you could say i have no more room for mistakes.
Papyrus: NYEH HEH HEH...
...
Papyrus: CAN I ASK YOU SOMETHING? IT... MAY BE PERSONAL FOR YOU-
Sans: go ahead, it's alright. remember a quote about being brothers?
Papyrus: OF COURSE! YOU KNOW WHAT THEY SAY ABOUT BIRDS OF A FEATHER, THEY STICK TOGETHER!
...
Papyrus: EHM... WHERE DID THIS... FORESIGHT ISSUE COME FROM? I-I MEAN, HOW DID YOU INHERITED IT? OR WAS IT SOMETHING ELSE? AND WHAT ELSE CAN IT DO?
...
Sans: it's... still universally unknown to me, like why am i the one to inherit it or how it happened. but for the last question... this issue is also related with an... experimental power, lies within our universe.
Papyrus: DO YOU THINK YOU CAN STILL RESEARCH IT?
Sans: ...probably not. but for now... maybe later... or never.
Papyrus: AH, I SEE...
...
Papyrus: BUT, DESPITE EVERYTHING... I STILL CARE AND LOVE YOU BROTHER. AND I HOPE WE COULD PLAN SOME VACATIONS ON THE SURFACE!
Sans: heh, thanks pap'. genuinely appreciate it. now should we get some sleep? this couch is about to melt me.
Papyrus: ABSOLUTELY! IT'S LATE.