Chapter Text
A crackling noise echoes down the dark corridor, followed by a distant bang. 2-P jumps, not expecting so much noise before the lights came on. His brother stirs, having been asleep in his arms as they both sat on the bench in their cell. “what is it, bro?” 1-S asks around a yawn. “have a bad dream?”
“NO, I HEARD SOMETHING,” 2-P whispers, as quietly as his resonant voice can manage.
1-S rubs at his eye sockets. “is it him? sometimes he comes in early.”
“I DON’T KNOW...I’VE NEVER HEARD THIS SOUND BEFORE,” 2-P says, unable to keep the nervousness out of his voice. “IT’S GETTING CLOSER…”
After a few seconds of silence, 1-S hears it too. They’re like...footsteps, but different. Not like his. They’re faster, but softer and more irregular. And is that muttering? He squints at the dark entrance of their cell and grips his brother tighter. Neither says a word as the steps come nearer and nearer to them.
The laser grid that closes off their cell lights up as a figure passes in front of it, and the two jump in alarm. At the same time, they hear a sharp gasp and then a yelp from the other side. The figure scurries away and the lasers fade again. The brothers are shaking loud enough for their bones to rattle. Seconds pass, maybe minutes.
Long enough for 2-P’s fear to give way to curiosity. “UM...HELLO?” he calls. His brother elbows him in the chest. “WHAT?!” he whispers. “MAYBE THEY’RE FRIENDLY!”
“and maybe they’re not!” 1-S hisses back. “what if it’s some trick of his?!”
“H-hello…?” a third voice answers. The brothers still. “I-is...someone in ...t-there?”
The voice is so gentle and meek that 2-P takes the response as encouragement. He climbs off the cell bench. “Y-YES ACTUALLY, UH...WE’RE HERE.”
A pause. “W-who’s...we?”
2-P opens his mouth, but nothing comes out. He looks to his brother for help, but 1-S just shrugs. “UM...WE’RE...US? MY BROTHER AND I...THAT’S WHO WE ARE. WHO...ARE YOU?” 2-P slowly approaches the cell entrance, his brother only a step behind him.
The voice doesn’t answer. 2-P gets close enough for the beams to reactivate, but only dimly. He thinks he can hear more muttering, but can’t make out any of the words. He looks back at his brother, who shakes his head and gently tugs on his arm.
“bro, we don’t know what it is,” 1-S says.
“NO, AND THERE’S ONLY ONE WAY WE’LL FIND OUT,” 2-P responds, then addresses the beams again. “HELLO? CAN YOU COME A BIT CLOSER? WE CAN’T SEE YOU OVER THERE.”
His brother’s grip on his arm tightens, and there are several more seconds of muttering. At last, the beams brighten again, and a short monster—for that’s what it must be—appears on the other side. It’s a little taller than 1-S, but much shorter than 2-P. It’s wearing a white coat and glasses like him, but other than that it looks nothing like him. The parts of it that aren’t covered by the white coat are a color they don’t see very often...yellow, wasn’t it? It has strange broad hands, and it’s holding some kind of small box with exposed wires sticking out from the top.
After several seconds of staring, 2-P gives a weak wave. “UH, H-HELLO! ARE YOU FROM THE OUTSIDE?”
The monster nods slowly.
“REALLY?! OH THAT’S WONDERFUL! MY BROTHER AND I WOULD LOVE TO GO OUTSIDE! CAN YOU LET US OUT, PLEASE?”
1-S steps in front of his brother. “wait, i don’t think you should—”
“WHAT’S IT LIKE OUTSIDE, IS IT BIG?” 2-P moves forward, gently brushing his brother aside. “IS IT WHITE? ARE THERE LOTS OF COLORS? OH, ARE THERE LOTS OF PEOPLE LIKE YOU? ARE THEY NICE?”
1-S jumps in front of his brother again, arms outstretched. “bro, STOP, we don’t know who they are. for all we know they could be with him.”
“DON’T BE SILLY, I KNOW THEY WON’T HURT US!”
“and how do you know that?”
“BECAUSE I DO!” 2-P addresses the monster again. “YOU AREN’T GOING TO HURT US, RIGHT?” The two stare at the figure, at last waiting for it to answer.
“B...b-brothers?” it squeaks.
“SORRY, WHAT WAS THAT?”
“Y-you two...a-are brothers?”
2-P nods vigorously. “YES! YES WE ARE!”
The monster shakes its strange spiked head and backs away. 2-P quickly follows and steps as close to the beams as he can. “WAIT! DON’T GO!” It stops. This close, 2-P can see it shaking. “PLEASE! TAKE US OUTSIDE. I PROMISE WE’LL BE GOOD! I-I CAN DO PUZZLES! I’M REALLY GOOD AT THEM! A-AND MY BROTHER IS SMART TOO! JUST...PLEASE, DON’T LEAVE US HERE.”
Then the monster stops shaking. It looks from one skeleton to the other, and approaches the beams again. It looks up to meet 2-P’s eyes, and speaks slowly and quietly. “How...long have y-you two been down here?”
2-P glances at his brother, who once again shrugs. “UM, AS LONG AS WE CAN REMEMBER?”
“And...have you ever been out of this room?”
“OH YES, WE, UM...HAVE…” 2-P trails off, wringing his hands together. “HE...TAKES US OUT SOMETIMES AND...A-AND...” His eyes go unfocused and he begins to shake. 1-S walks up to take his hand. The monster’s eyes fall to their hands, peering at something it sees in the darkness.
“he hurts us,” 1-S says firmly. “he takes us to other rooms, hurts us, then dumps us back in here.”
The monster shudders. “A-and by ‘he,’ you mean...Dr. Gaster?”
The two look at each other, then back. “WHO?” 2-P asks.
“he never told us his name,” 1-S says. “he’s a skeleton, like us. tall, one eye, glasses, big holes in his hands. ever seen him?”
“Y-yes, that is Dr. Gaster.”
“DOCTOR...GASTER?” 2-P tilts his head.
The monster nods. “A-and I’m Dr. Alphys. What are...y-your names?”
The two glance down at their hands. “WELL…HE USUALLY CALLS ME SUBJECT 2, BUT SOMETIMES 2-P. HE CALLS MY BROTHER SUBJECT 1, OR...1-S.”
1-S balls his right hand into a fist and holds it up, plate side facing Dr. Alphys. “he didn’t start calling us 1-S or 2-P until he put these on us.”
Dr. Alphys squints at it for a moment, then nearly drops the box they’re holding. “O-oh my god, t-that’s…” They look at 2-P. “And you…?”
2-P sheepishly holds his right hand up to the bars. “W.D. G...no...it can’t be!” Dr. Alphys holds up a hand to their head. “But it must...but I can’t! I can’t!” They turn and pace in frantic circles, muttering to themself.
“N-NOW NOW, IT’S ALRIGHT!” 2-P says placatingly. “WE DON’T HAVE TO TALK ABOUT HIM IF IT MAKES YOU UPSET.”
“I-if...m-me...?”
“YES, HOW ABOUT WE TALK ABOUT SOMETHING ELSE, SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOU HAPPY. LIKE...OH! TELL US HOW THE OUTSIDE IS! HOW BIG IS IT? WHAT COLOR IS THE GROUND?”
Dr. Alphys stares at him, incredulous. Then, they shake their head, and look back up at 2-P square in the eye. “H-how about...I s-show you?”
A wide grin spreads on 2-P’s face, and he looks at his brother and back at Dr. Alphys with twinkling eyes. “OH, YES PLEASE!”
The edges of Dr. Alphys’s mouth quirk up a bit, and they hold up the device in their hand. “I just...n-need to make a call first. Give me a few minutes, o-okay? But I promise I will get you out of here.”
2-P nods eagerly, and Dr. Alphys walks backward in the direction they came from, only turning around and walking forward when out of range of the beams. As soon as they’re out of sight, 2-P scoops his brother up into an enormous hug and spins him around.
“BROTHER! IT’S FINALLY HAPPENING! I KNEW IT WOULD! WE’RE GETTING OUT! I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT, I KNEW IT!”
1-S didn’t return the hug so much as cling on for dear life. “yeah, bro, that’s what it looks like.”
“OF COURSE IT DOES! WHAT ELSE WOULD IT LOOK LIKE?”
“i dunno...guess i’m havin’ some trouble believing it.”
2-P gently set his brother down, holding him steady by his shoulders. “WELL WORRY NOT BROTHER, BECAUSE I PROMISE YOU THIS IS NOT A DREAM!”
“yeah...i hope so.”
The cell grows silent. Time passes, but Dr. Alphys does not return. 2-P hovers near the beams, bouncing with anticipation. 1-S hangs back, glaring at the opening as though the power of his thoughts would bring their mysterious benefactor back.
Even after a considerable amount of time, 2-P’s excitement never wavers. But 1-S gives a small sigh. “bro…i think—”
He’s cut off by the sound of footsteps. 2-P makes a giddy noise. “YOU’RE BACK! I KNEW YOU WOULD COME BACK!”
The footsteps pause, and a new voice echoes down the hall. It’s a loud, deep rumble unlike anything the boys have heard before. 2-P stops his celebrating, and looks back at his brother. The two remain silent, not even daring to breathe.
A smaller and familiar voice responds to the rumble, and the footsteps begin again, steadily getting louder. 2-P backs away from the force field, returning to take his brother’s hand.
The huge, resonant steps become so loud they can feel their bones rattle, and the beams light up to reveal an enormous figure in the opening. The skeletons’ eyes flash purple, but they don’t make a sound.
The monster filling the doorway looks nothing like Dr. Alphys. They're enormous, exceeding the width of the opening, with thick arms longer than either of them are tall. They have a massive head covered in soft, fluffy waves of...something, with two harder looking things curving out the top.
But the expression on the face of this monster is not at all intimidating. The eyes are huge, but not cold or scary. They look...sad.
Dr. Alphys squeezes in front of the hulking monster, and holds up a hand in greeting. 2-P’s grip on his brother relaxes.
“Oh, Alphys. You were right to call me,” the big monster says, the whole room humming for seconds after they speak.
“I-I mean, its unmistakable, isn't it? A-And they definitely know what they are, they said they were—”
“Please, Alphys, later. Can you open this?”
“Y-yessir, give me just a minute…”
Dr. Alphys holds the device they’ve been carrying up to the pad on the wall, and the wires latch on with a sudden crackle of electricity.
The large monster addresses the skeletons. “You...boys?” he says. Realizing it's a question, 1-S nods. “You boys were...created by Dr. Gaster, were you not?” They both nod. He sighs and covers his face with one of his great hands. “Oh my...Gaster, what have you done?”
“W...WELL,” 2-P starts, finding his voice again, “U-USUALLY HE TAKES ONE OF US AND DOES SOME, UM, HE CALLS THEM ‘EXPERIMENTS’ O-OR ‘TESTS,’ AND THEN…”
“he hurts us,” 1-S says, finishing for his brother. “we told...dr. alphys that he hurts us. and it's true.”
“I know, child, and I...I believe you. It's just that—”
“Got it!” Dr. Alphys calls. The beams of the force field vanish, plunging the room into darkness.
1-S and 2-P gasp and embrace one another. “O-oh dear...just a sec…” Dr. Alphys mutters. The box in their hand lights up illuminating their face, and after tapping a few buttons the lights above flicker. After several tries the lights never stay on for more than a few seconds, and finally Dr. Alphys sighs. “Okay, u-um, let’s do this instead…” They disconnect the box from the wall, and a bright light appears near the top of it. Dr. Alphys shines the light on the children and gestures for them to follow. “Come on, l-let’s get you out of here.”
The boys search each other’s faces, suddenly apprehensive at this chance of escape. Was this real? Could these monsters be trusted? What if he found out? What was outside of this place? Finally, 2-P’s eyes glow orange and he nods. 1-S flashes his left eye blue and nods back. They approach the cell entrance hand-in-hand, hesitating as they meet the threshold. The beams don’t reappear. The big monster backs up to make room for them.
They slowly step out. 2-P approaches Dr. Alphys, his brother half a step behind. He looks at Dr. Alphys very closely. They look back, nervous and a bit confused. “U-um, t-this way, 2...y-you two,” Dr. Alphys says, gesturing down the dark corridor in the direction he usually came from, but they’d never been.
“Yes, let’s get you home,” the big monster says behind them.
The light from Dr. Alphys’s box leads the way. It provides enough light to see the floor just in front of them, but nothing else beyond. The brothers hear and feel everything around them. The clicking of their feet beneath them. The soft sounds of Dr. Alphys’s nervous breathing and shuffling gait in front of them. The loud, infrequent thuds of the big monster’s colossal feet behind them. They grip each other’s hands tighter as they go for what feels like hours. They expect at any moment for the lights to come on; for him to appear and end it all.
But he doesn’t appear. Instead, they can see something ahead. A light that isn’t from Dr. Alphys’s strange box. It gets closer, and they see it’s another doorway. It’s out.
Dr. Alphys walks through first. They turn off the light on their device and look back at them. The two have stopped just short of the threshold. Dr. Alphys smiles and waves them forward. “C-come on, i-it’s this way.”
1-S and 2-P look at each other one more time, and then together step into the light.