Chapter Text
Sans sighed as he glanced out the window and noticed that the sun was starting to set. It was almost time to go greet the newest group that would soon be arriving. He briefly wondered what kind of au would come out this time. He shrugged and hopped off the couch, heading for the kitchen to go let Papyrus know that he would be back in a couple hours. The taller skeleton was humming his song while he was making a lasagna, a dish he had found on the surface and was eager to try.
“Hey bro, I’m going to roll out the welcome wagon, I’ll be back in a couple hours” Sans called to him and the taller brother turned his head to look at him.
“Oh shoot, I wanted to go too but then I started making this lasagna” Papyrus pouted as he glanced down at his dish.
“Well hey, when the meet and greet is over how bout I bring the brothers that are gonna come out with me, they can taste your lasagna and you can get to know them” Sans offered and Papyrus perked up at hearing that.
“Oh would you Sans? That is fantastic! Now I must make this lasagna doubly special!” Papyrus proclaimed as he returned to working on the dish.
Sans chuckled and shook his head as he turned to leave. The world around him warped and he vanished from their home, reappearing at the exit of Mt. Ebott.
The sight of the sun setting from here never got tiring to see. While he waited he let himself drift in the memories of the day that they had escaped the mountain. To be honest when they left the mountain he had never expected to come back here… that was until another group of monsters showed up. Somehow alternate versions of everyone had left the mountain at almost the exact time the next day that his own people had.
Everyone was stunned and confused over this development, even now they still weren’t certain what was going on. There were theories that some of the more scientifically inclined monsters were tossing around like the mountain holding many different pocket dimensions or how the exit of the mountain had become something like a portal that different worlds exited into.
Whatever the case was there were now a lot more monsters than there had been. Tests had been done on that too. Even though monsters shared the same name and face they weren’t the same monsters, each one had a unique makeup so no two monsters were “biologically similar”. It was fascinating and confusing but they were learning to roll with it. Sans heard movement from the cave exit and he moved off to the side, it would be unfair of him to confuse monsters before they even got a chance to see the sun again.
He watched them as they exited the cave and the state of how they were dressed caused a flush to cover nearly his whole face. This was a whole new group of alternates which was surprising because for a while they had been getting groups from similar worlds with only minor differences. There were a handful of classic, fell, and swap groups, some shifts had come out sporadically, a few dances, a surprising amount of gender swaps and human swaps, hell there were even a couple that still didn’t have a name for their realities.
“Oh wow” he heard their Papyrus gasp as he stared at the sun in wonder “Brother dear, what is that?”.
“That is what we call the sun, sweetheart” He heard this version of himself say in amused wonder.
“Oh Metta isn’t the sun so pretty!” Papyrus nearly squealed as he hugged the bot beside him.
“It is indeed Papy dear” Mettaton said as he patted the top of Papyrus' skull.
It was an interaction he had seen many times, sometimes with the position reversed or all together between two different monsters but same nonetheless… though the thing with Mettaton was a new development. Sans gave them a few more moments before he decided to speak up.
“Hello everyone, welcome to the surface” He called as he took a step toward them. All heads turned to look at him and there were many surprised and confused gasps.
“Sans? How did you get over there…. And what are you wearing?” Papyrus asked in confusion.
“Papyrus, I’m right here, that is not me” their Sans spoke up, drawing his brother’s attention and making the poor skeleton even more confused.
Classic chuckled and said “don’t worry, I know it’s a bit confusing. Things will get explained in time, for now I’m just here to roll out the welcome wagon and extend a dinner invitation from my brother to you two”. He pointed at the two skeletons who were looking at him curiously.
“Can Mettaton come too?” Papyrus asked curiously, causing classic to blink in confusion.
“I uh… don’t see why not?” Classic said as he scratched his skull “For now though I have to lead everyone to the visitation center, it’s a place we set up for new monsters to stay temporarily until we can get them somewhere more permanent to stay. You’ll also get more information on what we know about the situation thus far”.
The Frisk of this group stepped forward, a rose riding on their shoulder. Unlike most of the Frisks who were between 8 and 11, this Frisk was obviously an adult which didn’t happen often. He noticed that their sweater had the colors of the ace flag across it. They gave him a smile and held out their hand for a shake, Sans grinned back and held out his hand to accept the shake. Just as their hands closed around each other the sound of a whoopee cushion rang out, startling almost everyone but Sans.
“Heh, the old whoopee cushion in the hand trick, it’s always funny” He told them as he showed the whoopee cushion. This caused their Frisk to let out a laugh along with their Sans, Toriel, and Asgore. Papyrus gave a groan of annoyance, Alphys let out a long suffering sigh, and Undyne let out a snort.
“Now that we’ve cleared the air I think we should get going, It’s a long walk and I want to get there before night” Sans told them as he tucked his hand away.
“Thank you for guiding us” Frisk told him then lowered their voice so that only he could hear “and if they happen to behave… inappropriately please don’t hold it against them, they can’t help it”.
“I’ve seen a lot on this job but I will keep that in mind, thanks kid” Sans said with a wink. The rest of the trip was spent with the group talking amongst themselves. They weren’t a bad group, just odd and he wasn’t sure what to make of them. There was a lot of flirting that was for sure and more than a few intimate touches between them.
A few of the group seemed uncomfortable by the interactions, the biggest one being Mettaton. He made mental notes about what he saw, it would make housing them easier later on if he knew how to best accommodate them. Just as he had said it took a while but they soon arrived at the center. This place was run by a few different monsters from different realities, mainly anyone with a nonthreatening personality; it was something they had found settled the more volatile monsters who came from less than stellar conditions. He stepped through the door and gave the swap Sans sitting at the desk a wave which was returned very cheerfully.
“Heya Blue, I see they have you on front desk duty today” Classic said as he stepped up to talk to the other Sans.
“Hi Classic, yeah I volunteered” Blue chirped happily then looked at the group behind Classic with big starry eyelights “oh wow I’ve never seen a group like this before!”
“Neither have I Blue, I’m sure this will get many science motors running” Classic chuckled and shook his skull “we need to get them settled and have someone explain things to them, I’ll be taking the Sans, Papyrus, and Mettaton with me though cause Pap’s is making lasagna so he didn’t get to go”.
“Oh okay” Blue nodded and came out from behind his desk then greeted the new monsters “Greetings new friends! You can call me Blue! I’ll be showing you to where you will be staying for the time being. There are still others staying here so if you have any questions and can’t find one of the staff just ask one of them for help… the ones in red may not be the most friendly but some are still willing to help”.
Classic stepped over to the brothers while Blue was talking and he gave them a smile “ready to go?”.
“Mmm well I’m not my best dressed but I suppose it will do” this Sans chuckled as he teased the teal fluff on the collar of his vest.
“Brother you’re always fabulously dressed” Papyrus huffed and rolled his eyelights.
“But Papy, you know I have different standards of how dressed each occasion calls for” Sans told him and if a skeleton could pout then he would have.
“I think you’re all just… fine” Sans said as he looked them over, unsure of what else to call it; he rarely saw himself without some form of long sleeves for one reason or another… or his midsection for that matter “my bro should be done cooking by now, we should go before he blames me for us being late; just hold onto me and I’ll have us there in a second”.
He held out his arms and the other three took hold of his jacket. In the blink of an eye they were in front of the house that Sans and Papyrus shared. The hands let him go and he stepped forward to open the door. “Pap I’m home and I brought guests!” Sans called out as he led the way inside.
There was a sound from the kitchen and a moment later Papyrus was standing in the doorway, spatula in hand “Perfect timing! The food just finished cooking!”. Papyrus stepped into the living room and gave the new occupants a big smile “Greetings! Welcome to the outside world and my magnificent home, I’m sure my lazy brother hasn’t explained a thing to you so while we eat I will be informing you of everything you need to know!”.
“Classic why didn’t you tell us how adorable your brother is!” the new Sans gushed as he stepped forward, his eyelights turning into purple hearts “oh you are so cute! Isn’t he cute Papy!”.
New Papyrus smiled in amusement at his brother “Yes brother, he’s very cute but not cuter than me I hope”.
“Oh you know you’ll always be my adorable baby but this guy is like a puppy! I just wanna pet him and love on him” new Sans cooed.
Classic Papyrus blinked in surprise and confusion, unsure of what to make of the interaction. His Sans was by his side after a moment and gestured for Papyrus to lower himself so they could speak softly while the others were busy talking about cute Papyrus. “Don’t let it get to you, their Frisk told me they’d be a little odd” Sans told Papyrus and the taller skeleton nodded in understanding.
He straightened back up and cleared his non-existent throat to gain the attention back to him “Well then, I believe we have lasagna to eat! If you would all step this way the Great Papyrus will show you to your seats”.
The group followed Papyrus into the dining room and once everyone had a seat he went to fetch the lasagna.
“Some time soon you should show me around~” the new Sans said with a wink at Classic “I want to know where all the good spots are to go drinking and dancing”.
“I don’t think I’m the kind of guy for that tour, Steps would be the skeleton you want if you want to know where to dance but I suppose I can take you to Grillby’s bar some time” Classic told him with a shrug.
“Really? So then what do you do for fun?” other Sans asked curiously, his skull propped on his hand while his other hand toyed with his silverware.
“I don’t really do much, no energy for it” Classic chuckled with a shrug as he lazed back in his chair.
“I would think it would be boring to do nothing all the time” other Sans hummed, the tip of his pinky bone tapping against his teeth.
“Eh I’m so used to it I could do it with my eyes closed” Classic chuckled and heard a distant Nyeh! from the kitchen.
“Sans I can hear you punning from in here!” Papyrus called out from the kitchen in annoyance.
“I’m sorry bro, you know i can’t help being humorous” Classic called back, getting another annoyed Nyeh! from the other. The Sans next to him was snickering into his hand while the Papyrus across the table was giving him an unimpressed look.
“I will only forgive you if there are no more puns” Classic’s brother told him as he finally brought the food out. He set the pan on the table and started passing out plates filled with the noodle dish. Each monster accepted the plate with a thank you and when everyone was served Papyrus sat down and everyone dug into their food.
“Hey this is pretty good bro” Classic told his brother. A moment later there was a moan beside him that startled him and he glanced at the Sans beside him with a flush at the lewd sound.
“Oh hell I think I just had an orgasm, this is so good it should be a sin” the Sans said as he licked his fork with a purple tongue then used said fork to grab a second bite of the lasagna. Across from them his brother gave a similar sentiment about the dish that had Classic Sans very uncomfortable, he didn’t want to hear anything like that from a Papyrus, his brother or otherwise.
Classic Papyrus just looked on in confused pleasure, he wasn’t sure what they were talking about but it seemed they liked his dish so he would let it slide for now; instead he talked about how he had made it and that it was so great because he himself was so great. Listening to his Papyrus talk, Classic Sans relaxed a bit; he thanked every star above that Papyrus wouldn’t question things the new brothers were saying.
He noticed that their Mettaton also seemed uncomfortable with the conversation but since he knew them for longer Sans assumed it for a different reason entirely. The group of five continued to eat, thankfully not many more incidents like that occured again. Mostly they spent the meal filling the three monsters in about what was going on and what they knew about why there were so many versions of everyone.
The new Sans seemed to have a scientific background just like Classic used to have so it took him no trouble to follow along with what was being told to them, even throwing out a few hypotheses of his own. Classic enjoyed the talk, being able to talk science with someone who could keep up was always a breath of fresh air. He loved his bro but the only science the other cared about was the science behind his traps that allowed them to work.
When the food was gone they moved their group to the living room. Classic Papyrus offered drinks, Mettaton turning him down while the two Sans had ketchup and the other Papyrus had a glass of water. The three new monsters sat on the couch and the two Classic monsters took the armchair, Papyrus in the seat and Sans sitting on the arm.
“I think that now since we have covered everything we should start to come up with nicknames for you” Classic Papyrus told them “Since there are so many monsters with the same names if we ever enter a situation with us all together we have a way to distinguish each other apart”.
“How do we know if a name isn’t taken?” new Papyrus asked curiously.
“Well we know pretty much everyone, we were the first monsters out of the mountain so if you come up with something not taken we will let you know” Classic Sans told them.
“How did you come up with Classic?” new Sans asked from his reclined position on the couch.
“Eh it’s kind of an inside joke really” Classic Sans shrugged and shook his skull. He summoned a couple pens and pieces of paper and gave them to the monsters “here, write what you like down and we’ll help you”.
They each took a pen and paper then sat thinking for a moment before beginning to write.
“Yer friends back in the center have probably already done this” Classic Sans told them as he sat back and waited for them to finish.
“I can’t wait to meet the rest of these monsters, do you think I should make more lasagna and bring it as a gift?” Classic Papyrus asked his brother.
“I don’t see why not but do you have enough pans for that many monsters?” Classic Sans asked his brother curiously.
“Why of course I do! Always be prepared for any eventuality!” Classic Papyrus proclaimed, causing his brother to chuckle in amusement.
For a few minutes after that it was silent except for the sound of pen scritching against paper. Mettaton was the first one done since he didn’t really have all that many good nicknames in mind. Classic Papyrus helped him go through the list, telling him what was taken. Eventually they settled on Bow since he was the only Mettaton that wore a bowtie. He thought it was cute so he accepted the nickname as his.
The next one done was Papyrus, his list slightly longer than Mettaton’s but most of them he had crossed out after second guessing them. In the end he just decided to settle on going with Pink after thinking about the Sans they had run into at the center being named Blue, if a color worked for them then why not him?
Sans worked a little longer, his list slightly more filled out. Unlike the other two he had plenty of very good nicknames he liked that he was sure hadn’t been taken. Once he showed the list to Classic Sans though most of the names were vetoed on the count of them being too inappropriate for everyday use in public. He pouted at how short his list was now, some of those he had really liked; weapon of ass destruction had been a particular favorite since it was also a pun. Oh well, beggars can’t be choosers and at least that helped him narrow down a name.
In the end he just went with Bunny cause it was cute and frankly a better nickname than plum and sweetpea sounded like something he would use for a term of endearment. He just hoped that in the future no rabbit versions of them popped up. Once names were chosen and drinks were drank the three of them decided it was probably time to head back to the center so they bid Classic Papyrus farewell with a promise to visit again.