Chapter Text
In his mind, Trix had envisioned kicking down the bedroom doors with ruthless energy, breaking and splintering the wood with his rage.
The reality of it made him feel like some sort of… pervy thief. Or maybe just a pissy elder on room inspection back from The Facility.
Despite loudly going through the entire downstairs to the best of his ability, the idea of “oh shit what if I’m not alone?” had finally hit him rather hard. It really felt like something he should have thought of earlier but, like…
It was his first time being kidnapped to the surface through an exploding WD machine, and adjusting to a new place – world? Reality? Timeline? Fuck if he knew – well, sue him for getting emotional.
So, he crept down the hallway of doors, wondering if someone was actually here. This many doors… bedrooms. These had to be the bedrooms where the people who took him could be.
…. It was both motivating and a bit fear inducing.
If he was back in the underground, he’d summon a bone for each door, and knock on all of them at once and get the horrifying tension over with. Confront whomever was behind all of this and have some very firm words.
But he barely had enough magic to stay awake… And whomever these monsters were had already proven they were willing to kill harm other monsters with their explosives.
And damn if that wasn’t terrifying.
Trix wasn’t equipped to face anyone like that ever. Not even when he had the power to defend himself and both of his arms. He’d never been in a fight in his life.
It was like, the biggest law he could think of. Matron Toriel even forbid stripes from play-fighting for goodness’ sake.
The most violence he’d ever seen had been through human media that washed up in the dump! That stuff was all fictional though.
… right?
Fuck, he had no idea anymore.
Creeping forward now – much more hesitant than his angered charge up the stairs – Trix tried to steady himself.
“Stay Passionate, Sansy,” he encouraged himself the best he could. It felt silly to call himself that, but the familiar nickname brought him comfort. He could practically hear his stage sister Swirl cheering him on.
“They blew you the fuck up, Sansy!!! You should not feel bad about this!”
Trix pretended his hand wasn’t shaking while he slowly reached outward and opened the door.
It took him a moment to process what he was seeing.
“Oh wow.”
This room… It was kinda a lot… yet it also kinda fucked??
Trix stepped inside, surprised by how clean it was for the sheer amount of stuff tucked in every nook and cranny. He had thought he was into maximalism, but compared to this… organized mess, he was practically a minimalist.
The walls of the bedroom were blue, with what looked like hand-painted clouds added to the back wall. The walls that weren’t occupied by the dresser, the desk, and the bed with the sick galaxy comforter had shelves filled to the brim with a hoard of trinkets.
Figurines, sculptures, books, small instruments, more books, games, ornaments, needlework, plushies, CDs, sheet music, and numerous other smaller items. Each shelf was seemingly color-coded, giving them a bit of a rainbow effect…
Someone was either incredibly creative, or extremely OCD. Maybe both.
Trix cautiously walked further in, glancing at a mirror sat upon the dresser. It had the words “TODAY YOU’LL BE MAGNIFICENT!!!” written with a blue marker of some kind on it.
… okay, definitely not what he’d been expecting of any kidnappers.
He picked up the least colorful object in the room, a simple grey-painted mug that seemed to have a shelf space all to itself. Trix contemplated breaking it, but looked back to its empty spot clearly made for the object in the home of collected excess…
It felt wrong. Trix placed the mug down with a huff and turned away. Hopefully, he would find something to take his frustrations out on in the next one.
The moment he opened the door to the room over, Trix found his senses assaulted by the sheer stench of cigarettes.
Trix barely managed to get a glimpse of white walls which contained a complex computer set up, multiple full ash trays, an unmade bed, and a shit ton of pencil sketches scattered about the place before he turned away, sealing the foul odor back from whence it came. Trix pinched his nasal ridge in disgust.
Dear. Fucking. Stars.
He couldn’t taste anything in the food, but of course, his smell was just fine!!!
Stumbling backwards from that particular room, Trix fumbled blindly for another knob, tumbling into the next dwelling in a feeble attempt to escape the smell which seemed to be clinging to his bones.
Having shut himself in, he sighed in relief at the escape. Yeah, this room smelt much better. Trix turned to look at this next space only to feel his soul nearly jump from his chest.
Holy violence batman.
It was… at least it was clean. Very orderly too. Very… Criminally insane.
Various swords, chains, bear traps, morning stars, saws, axes, and whips were hung neatly on the wall like some sort of lavish house decor. The rest of the room was meticulously organized with no other outwardly visible personal touches besides a bright red comforter, and a framed painting of a pair of kitchen scissors with bold elegant cursive below it.
The cursive read: “GET OUT” and Trix listened to the painting immediately. Upon gingerly making his exit, the “DO NOT ENTER” sign he’d missed on the outside of it felt a bit tardy in its warning.
Welp. If that person was the one who stole them, they might actually be incredibly fucked.
Trix moved a few more doors away from that particular nightmare with a shiver running down his spine. “Please just be fucking normal,” he begged as he dared to enter another abode with a weary sigh.
… huh.
Normal.
A clean floor, a closed closet next to a simple dresser, a twin bed, a tall lamp, a bookshelf, and grey curtains framing a wide outer window.
… yeah, he could work with this.
Trix beelined for the closet, opening it to reveal a lineup of different jackets and hoodies in a surprising variety of colors. They all looked new and in great condition, except for a rather worn looking winter jacket shoved in the very back.
The bottom of the closet held a trombone shoved in the corner and a pile of whoopee cushions.
Okay, closet was a bust.
Trix began rifling through the bookshelf, only to see an odd mix of familiar books. He could swear he had at least five of the same joke books himself, though this person’s taste in learning material wasn’t half bad.
“Interesting stuff, but nothing helpful huh?” Trix chided the room. He moved for the dresser, determined to check under the bed after.
“Now I really do feel like a creep,” he muttered to himself, thinking of how often he’d had his own possessions rifled through while living in The Facility. He opened a random drawer, only to feel his entire body freeze.
A pile of neatly folded striped shirts filled the drawer to the brim.
… Striped?? STRIPED?!
Recoiling back from the sight, Trix blinked his sockets, then rubbed at them in case he was mistaken.
Slowly, he turned his gaze back to the open closet. The jackets were all so small… he’d just figured that it had been a small monster but-
He turned and his mind fixated on the smaller bed. None of the other rooms had held a bed this small…
Looking back to the drawer, Trix moved to touch one of the shirts and struggled to wrap his mind around the fact that this belonged to a child.
Not a baby like he’d occasionally gotten glimpses of from new parents, just a… a child.
A foggy memory from his own distant childhood had him reaching out for the shirt, flipping over the tag with his distal phalanx.
The name “Sans” was written in marker, causing Trix to furrow his bone ridge in even deeper confusion.
“I… no?” Picking up the top shirt, Trix gripped the blue and white fabric to his chest as he exited the room uncertainly.
Sans… Why was his name on the shirt? Was… no he needed more information before jumping to a crazy conclusion like… well anything.
Trix moved next door. The door his brother would have chosen if they lived here. If there was a “Sans” then maybe…
A race car bed, action figures, and a flaming carpet greeted Trix like a punch to the soul.
It was a room that any child of The Facility would have dreamed of having. Photos and medals of some kind were hung all over the walls, causing Trix to pause and stare.
There… there was a lot to take in. Photos of monsters, of humans, of the surface, of himself and his brother but younger than they’d been in a very long time.
Trix had to tear his gaze away from one photo that held him nearly entirely captive. Other skeletons were in it. Ones that looked like… family??? Did… was this house, and the other horrible rooms… Did it belong to some kind of skeleton family that maybe just had an uncanny resemblance to them?
Maybe all skeletons just looked like them. It’s not his ancestors ever bothered sitting for a portrait. He didn’t know what they looked like.
Only… Trix ran his hand along the tag that read “Sans” again. Maybe…
Sweetpea had once said he had kept a diary in The Facility that he’d hide against the wall and his mattress.
Checking their hiding spot against the race car bed, Trix stared at the golden journal now in his grasp.
“Dear most precious journal,” Trix read, his voice hushed yet hurried as he spoke. “Today marks our first two years of having been on the surface, and the start of a new page, and journal, in the life of The Great Papyrus…. I have a lot to share with you and expect we shall live through much together. I can’t wait to tell you everything…”
Trix gave himself only a moment to question the morals of reading a child’s diary… Then with wary reluctance… he flipped to the next entry, and began to read.
——— Sans
“WHAT HAPPENED IN THE UNDERGROUND?”
Oh. Oh shit. Not good. Very uh… very not good.
This hadn’t exactly been on his “boat day” bingo card.
The silence lingered just a bit too long for Sans to pretend like he hadn’t heard Papyrus, as their canoe continued to shift ever so slightly on the water.
“Ummm…” Sans struggled to find a response that would properly hide how much the question sent his soul into a panic just behind his rib cage.
Why did Papyrus just ask him that??? Had Sans done something wrong? Why would Papyrus ask that at all?? Maybe he was just reading too deep into this. There was no way Paps could mean the time loop. There was no way he could have-
Unless… When was the last time he’d seen that fucking weed??? Flowey should still be in the underground hiding from Frisk. There’s no damn way Flowey would risk getting caught just to tell Papyrus about the resets.
Not after Sans had put a stop to that shit in the underground. Every time Flowey had told Papyrus about the resets, it would only send Pap into a panic and make Sans have to work extra hard to convince his bro that Flowey had just been messing with him.
Papyrus… he didn’t look like he did whenever that overgrown dandelion tried to shatter his reality. No. His bro just looked… Stubborn, like he did when he was determined to do something nice for Sans. Albeit a lot more fixated and serious looking with his new scars…
Okay. He’d been silent for waaay too long now. Damn it. Sans was just gonna have to play it cool. It was probably just something small anyways.
“What exactly do yah mean, bro?” Sans asked with a purposefully confused tilt to his skull.
Papyrus’ brow ridge furrowed. “SANS, I LOVE YOU DEARLY, BUT PLEASE DO NOT PRETEND YOU ARE UNAWARE OF WHAT I AM REFERRING TO.”
Truly, he wasn’t pretending at all. Just kinda hoping it wasn’t the thing he dreaded from the deepest part of his soul.
“Can I have a hint?” Sans chuckled nervously; he was feeling oddly cornered in a way he wasn’t used to Papyrus making him feel.
Paps had never asked this kind of thing of him. He thought they had an understanding on the fact that… There wasn’t anything Sans wanted to bring up.
Papyrus sighed deeply, reaching over to hold his own arm uncertainly. “LOOK… I KNOW IT’S… I KNOW WE DON’T TALK ABOUT IT… BUT I JUST FIGURED, WITH EVERYTHING STARTING TO CHANGE, THAT MAYBE… MAYBE YOU COULD TELL ME??? OR MAYBE MORE LIKE…” Paps’ eye lights moved away from Sans, his tone uncharacteristically solemn. “I WANT SO DESPERATELY TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU, SANS. THE OTHERS, THEY WERE AWFUL TO YOU AND I DIDN’T KNOW UNTIL IT WAS TOO LATE. I DIDN’T EVEN KNOW THE FULL EXTENT OF JUST HOW MUCH YOU HAD SACRIFICED FOR ME UNTIL WE HAD ASGORE SITTING IN OUR LIVING ROOM.”
Paps’ glanced back to him, and it hurt to see small traces of orange gathering just slightly in his brother’s sockets. “I HAVE ALWAYS TRIED MY BEST TO RESPECT YOUR PRIVACY, AND I KNOW YOU DO NOT ASK MUCH OF ME BEYOND DOING JUST THAT… BUT I HATE SEEING YOU IN SO MUCH PAIN. I HATE IT MORE THAN I EVER KNEW MY SOUL WAS CAPABLE OF FEELING SUCH HATRED. OUT OF EVERYONE I HAVE EVER MET IN MY LIFE, NO ONE DESERVES TO BE HAPPY, OR FEEL LOVED, OR TO KNOW HOPE MORE THAN YOU DO, SANS.
“I’M….” Papyrus inhaled loudly, probably trying to hide the slight rattle to his bones. “I’M SO SORRY THAT I’M ASKING THIS OF YOU, BUT I’VE DECIDED THAT I CAN NO LONGER CONDONE MY OWN SILENCE IF IT IS AT THE RISK OF LOSING YOU, BROTHER.”
Oh stars no. Please don’t do it Pap.
Sans didn’t want to refuse Papyrus of anything, but this?? Stars, he wasn’t sure if he could give Papyrus this part of himself.
Blue’s words from a few nights ago echoed in his skull.
“IT BRINGS ME PEACE OF MIND TO KNOW THAT IT IS NOT SOMETHING THAT YOU HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT.”
It was like Blue had taken the words directly from Sans’ soul for this topic. He didn’t want Papyrus to ask because he’d tell him. He had always felt safe knowing Paps wouldn’t push him.
It was incredibly humbling and off-putting to realize he’d rather be in a boat with Blue right now. Blue had said he wouldn’t ask, and Sans could handle awkward small talk and mild bonding much better than this.
“YOU USED TO BE SO HAPPY, SANS,” Papyrus pressed onward. “AT LEAST, I THOUGHT YOU WERE… YOU WERE STILL TIRED FROM WORK, BUT AT LEAST YOU WENT OUTSIDE MORE. YOU PERFORMED COMEDY, PLAYED MUSIC, LOOKED FOR BOOKS WITH EXCITED ENERGY, AND JOKED WITH JUST ABOUT ANYONE YOU COULD ABOUT THE SURFACE AND SPACE. YOU WERE POPULAR AND HOPEFUL AND THEN YOU JUST… YOU CHANGED.”
Papyrus turned his skull to the side and swiftly wiped at his face. “ONE MORNING YOU JUST DIDN’T GET OUT OF BED. I THOUGHT YOU MIGHT HAVE BEEN SICK SO I WENT TO GET YOU MYSELF AND YOU WERE… YOU SAID EVERYTHING LIKE YOU NORMALLY WOULD BUT I COULD JUST TELL SOMETHING WAS DIFFERENT. ONLY… THE HUMAN SHOWED UP NOT LONG AFTER AND SUDDENLY THERE WAS NO TIME TO TALK ABOUT IT.”
“I MAY BE A STRIPES, BUT I AM NO BABY BONES AND I KNOW SOMETHING HAPPENED TO MAKE YOU LOSE HOPE, AND FOR A VERY LONG TIME I FEARED- NO, I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, AM STILL FEARFUL THAT WHATEVER IT WAS STILL HURTS YOU MORE THAN I AM ABLE TO HELP HEAL… SO PLEASE… I AM NOT ASKING YOU TO TELL ME BECAUSE I SIMPLY WANT TO KNOW, BUT BECAUSE IF WHATEVER IT WAS HAS LEFT A WOUND, AND ME NOT ASKING HAS LEFT IT UNTREATED TO THE POINT OF YOUR DEMISE, I SHALL NEVER RECOVER FROM YOUR LOSS.”
Papyrus paused to steady himself, and Sans took the moment to let his words sink in. Mostly because… Sans could barely remember what it felt like to be the guy Paps described.
Yeah, he knew he’d done all of what Paps said and more. Sans even remembered it too. Yet it felt so far from important by the time they had made it to this timeline. He hadn’t thought he’d changed that much in the moment. It was, after all, still him.
Just… a version of Sans more prepared to play his part in a never-ending nightmare.
“YOU ARE MY BIG BROTHER AND ALL I WANT IS FOR YOU TO BE OKAY AGAIN, SANS.” Papyrus finished softly. “SO PLEASE, AT LEAST CONSIDER TELLING ME WHEN I ASK… WHAT HAPPENED?”
… how would he even begin going about telling Papyrus if he did tell him? Oh wait. He remembered. He remembered telling Papyrus in several timelines before he had given up. It always ended in tears, and it had never stopped Papyrus from trying to face Frisk.
It had never stopped Papyrus from facing Chara, either.
If anyone else had asked him this, he’d probably give them a peace sign and dive straight into the lake to chill with the fish. Yet this was his bro, and he’d have to tell him something. Something close to the truth that could still leave them both intact.
He couldn’t tell him everything… but he wouldn’t leave him with nothing.
“Look Pap, you’re right.” Sans spoke aloud, while mentally trying to find what exactly he could say to ease his brother’s concern. “You deserve the truth, and the truth is…”
Glancing towards the shore trying to find some sort of answer Sans could actively feel his thoughts slowly grind to a halt at the sight of blue fins and long red hair.
Is… Is that…? “The truth is…” he repeated automatically as he squinted towards the shore.
Sure as hell, a familiar fish monster was quickly Naruto-running her way closer to the lake, making a beeline straight for the currently beached canoe of the oblivious Fox and Blue. “Is that Undyne?”
Papyrus blinked, then sighed long and disappointed. “REALLY SANS? I THOUGHT YOU WERE ACTUALLY GOING TO TELL ME-”
oh shit.
The canoe shifted and sloshed against the water as Sans stood and pointed toward the shore at the sight of Undyne having reached the fossils and Lifting their canoe over her head with the pair of skeletons still inside it. “N- No Pap, it’s Undyne!!!”
Papyrus crossed his arm bones with a pout turning to glance towards the commotion, “LOOK, I’M TOO OLD FOR THE ‘I MADE YOU LOOK’ J- OH FUCK.”
Even from the middle of the lake, Undyne’s roar of fury echoed across the water to meet them clear as crystal.
“NRGGHHH!!! WHERE THE FUCK ARE MY DORKS?!?”
Paps blinked. “CONVERSATION PAUSED?”
Sans was already passing Paps the oar. “Yep.”
“BROTHER, YOU MIGHT WANT TO-”
“Good thinking bro,” Sans agreed, already summoning a blaster firmly against the back of the canoe.
“WAIT, NO, I MEANT YOU SHOULD SHORTC”-
Sans fired the blaster like a rocket, propelling the boat forward towards the shore with a blast of magic that nearly lifted the vessel completely airborne, and sent him crashing into Paps. He held onto his bro and the boat for dear life.
They skipped like a stone across the lake’s surface at frightening speed, skidding to a mercifully wreck-free halt as the canoe beached firmly in the sand.
“-UT… I WAS GONNA SAY SHORTCUT, SANS.”
Yeah, but maybe the spectacle bought him some time from any of the others doing anything especially stupid.
“My bad,” Sans replied, jumping out of the canoe and shortcutting closer to the preoccupied Undyne.
Up above, still in the hoisted canoe, Fox calmly stood with his hands covering a frustrated Blue’s sockets as he yelled downward. “Ma’am, You Are Causing A Ruckus that I Can Assure You Will Not End Favorably.”
“The heck you just say to me punk?!” Undyne yelled back up, looking ready to throw the two.
Blue crossed his arms irritably, “YOU SAID STRETCH DIDN’T TELL YOU ANYTHING.” He huffed while pouting at Fox.
Fox blinked, turning away from the edge of the canoe as if they weren’t about to be thrown into the lake. “He Didn’t, I Merely Have My Own Theories And Figured Blocking Line Of Sight To A Perceived Threat Might Make The Situation Less Overwhelming.”
“I’M NOT TEN, FOX.” Blue huffed.
“Remove My Hands Then. You Are More Than Capable.”
“…NO.”
Fox sighed, “Then Cease Your Senseless Bitching.”
Blues outraged cry of “I AM NOT-” was cut off as Sans’ attention was stolen rather quickly by both Stretch and Mutt shortcutting behind Undyne.
Mutt shifted defensively while Stretch grinned with a lazy roll of his shoulders. “Look Sweetheart, I don’t know who you are bu-”
Undyne turned to face them both, growling with her teeth bared, her pupils slits in the sun, and her fins flaring wide and displaying more of the red markings against her blue scales. It was a rather clear threat display, “Who the hell yah calling sweetheart, bone-bag! I can and will go Platinum Star on both of your assess!!!”
Stretch and Mutt stared, open and aghast.
Undyne snarled, but her ear fins slowly lowered as the two stayed silent in mild horror and blatant disbelief. Apparently, she was obviously taking their stunned silence as a win, and not two monsters looking at an alternate version of someone they knew in another universe.
Out of the two of them, Mutt seemed to recover first. “’kay, was definitely not ‘xpectin’ the doc,” he muttered before shifting his stance in front of the still processing Stretch.
“You’re telling me,” Stretch muttered.
Undyne shifted her weight, now looking ready to throw the boat at Stretch and Mutt if needed, causing Sans to blink as he remembered why exactly he had rushed here in the first place.
Shit, yeah, uh… Undyne plus ANY of the others was a recipe for disaster. Let alone if the Fells got to her first. Red had thankfully been showing Honey the finishing touches he’d done on one of the cabins, and judging from the sounds of distant cussing, Stretch had ditched Edge on the lake when he had shortcut, but with all the commotion it was only a matter of time before the two got involved.
“I’m only going to say this one more time,” Undyne spoke lowly to Mutt and Stretch. “Where. Are. My. Friends.”
Ah shit, ‘dyne was fighting with the power of friendship AND anime on her side. … Was it wrong that he was mildly tempted to cheer her on?
Right before Sans could call out to her, said fish monster turned her head and locked her gaze with his.
Undyne's hostile posture melted away instantly as a familiar toothy grin overtook her face.
For a moment, Sans felt ten. Ten years old and sighing down at the half-frozen fish monster in stripes that had chased Asgore all the way to Snowden with wary disbelief.
Twelve years later she was taller, out of stripes, and the old captain of their royal guard, yet her toothy grin remained the same and just as joy filled as she echoed the very first words of their initial meeting.
"Sup Nerd."