Toby Fox presents "Ambrosia!"

[Isabelle]

The trip through Costa Del Sol was a nostalgia trip for Frisk. Because of her adventures in Rando, her last visit felt like ages ago. Seems forever since she first showed up to get a bomb defused.

The Nexus wasn't too much different from the first two times she travelled through it, except the fountain changed again, too far away to make out what it was, just seemed much taller this time. The group just transversed the empty white void by a car that Alphys remembered from some OVA she saw once.

Stepping through the Tangled gate, they're immediately greeted with a long expanse of forests as far at the eye could see. For Alphys and Toriel, this was quite a sight as they were used to the wide oceans of the Vasty. Frisk was just reminded of Camelot, the memory gave her chills.

Not far from the gate was a sign pointing towards a dirt road, it read "Ambrosia."

"That makes things easier!" Said Alphys, gleeful the trip was going smoothly so far.

[Sans]

shouldn’t an anime-obsessed, tall, lean, blue fish be EASY to track and follow?

Normally, that answer would be an absolute, resounding “Yes.” After all, it made sense. Undyne was usually either training Papyrus, or otherwise hunting humans somewhere in Waterfall where she was stationed at. She rarely deviated from that location-based routine, and whenever she did, it was for a pretty good reason. But now, in an entirely different world, entirely different universe, with entirely different people, there was no way to predict where she was or where she could be. The sudden lack of information on her was just as much an annoyance as it was the most nightmarish thing in the world.

Of course, he could probably solve his little conundrum by just calling her, but he had already ruled out that action long ago. Undyne was as stubborn as she was hammy, so even if he gave all the reasons in the world for her not to go after the flower, chances were likely she’d go after it anyway. She probably wouldn’t even believe him if he told her how he watched her get killed by a friend of the flower’s, especially if he went into detail as to who that person was and what their name was. She’d think him crazy for certain.

So the only thing he could do was keep moving and, hopefully, catch up to her. Perhaps she’d get tired and rest, and then he could talk to her and convince her not to throw her life away like that.

So he walked. He walked for hours on end, the day sky above the massive trees slowly turning into a thin, purplish sunset during his travels. The wind grew chilly, rustling the leaves, whistling. He considered making a torch out of a stick and gauze, but abandoned the idea. It was too much work.

The topic of torch-making brought his mind back to the day previous, when he met Raal and Alice. He hadn’t seen Alice when he walked back into Ambrosia, and similarly hadn't before leaving. Hopefully, she was doing okay, especially with that damn rune-covered cloak on her back serving as a form of bargaining chip for Raal to use over her. He pondered how the situation could have changed if he had done anything more than sit there and tell jokes. Maybe if he had intervened more physically, she wouldn’t be a slave to some undead wizard dude who was way too narcissistic for his own good. Sure, he’d probably be dead instead, but that would keep at least one person from being taken advantage of by someone more powerful, right?

He sighed. It was out of his bony hands now. Her actions, whatever they were, were her decisions. He hoped she chose wisely; he didn't want to read about someone finding her dead body in the woods somewhere.

After a little while longer of walking, he eventually stumbled upon the Tangled Green gate. A large, leafy-green swirl of magical energy that stood almost as tall as the trees surrounding it. Pillars laid strewn around the portal, some crumbled, others intact, a select few standing erect and proud, and all casting long, unusually-shaped shadows from the added light provided by the massive portal. He stood a fair distance away, slightly farther than the sign on the dirt road he was on that was pointing his way. Despite that, though, he did not increase his pace. After all, if Undyne was already outside the gate, he had basically lost her anyway, so what was the point in trying to be fast about it?

It was then that he stopped. Three figures had just popped out of the portal and were looking around. As still as a statue, his glowing eyes piercing the darkness from just a few feet away from the sign, he stared at the trio. A purple-garbed goat, no taller than Papyrus, stood a few feet away from a short, pudgy, yellow drake. Both of them were carrying suitcases and bags of various colors and accessories on them. He squinted, their names popping up in his head after a short amount of time.

alphys… toriel?

Yes, those was their names. Alphys was obvious; he had talked to her many times in the past. Toriel was just a guess, though.

But that left one question: why were they here? Neither seemed like individuals to go out on their own. Someone made them go.

It was then his eyes were drawn to the small figure directly in front of both Toriel and Alphys. Striped shirt, brown hair, expressionless face…

His chest nearly exploded with pain, but he did not falter. He instead froze to the spot, staring right at the small human child. He could never forget that child. Its name was something he could always remember, no matter what; it was the one memory he always had, even during his worst moments.

Frisk… It’s you...

So he stood, silent, stunned, in the middle of that dirt road. He didn't know whether to plead, flee, speak, or fight. So he did what he did best: he waited.

[Isabelle]

Frisk was the first one to notice the skeleton. Her dull expression turns into a tooth filled smile of joy as she immediately starts running up to him with the intent of hugging him.

She only took a few steps before she stopped dead in her tracks.

In a flinch, the San's bony hand was raised in the air threateningly. The glow in his eyes had dispersed, leaving behind and empty void. The hair on the back of Frisk's head stood on end. She recognized that face.

'You'd be dead where you stood.' Those words rung in her head.

Confusion wrought her mind, she knew the Sans of this world was of a different timeline, but what kind of relationship did this Sans have to get this immediate reaction?

"Sans?" Alphys voice called out.

The skeleton immediately dropped his hand, his eyes returned to a normal. Toriel finally noticed herself. The scientist drake and the goat lady run up to the bone man, leaving a puzzled child alone. The pair of ladies crowd the skull dude.

"I was told you were around, but it's just a relief to see your familiar face!" Said Toriel, a smile a mile wide on her mug.

"I wasn't told!" Said Alphys, offended at The goat's non-disclosure.

[Sans]

She made the first move: a facial expression. A shift from her neutral tone to that of a joyous smile. She ran forward, arms stretched out for a hug, her mouth opening to call to him; a person reuniting with a long lost friend.

As she ran, though, her form melted, transformed, into something else. He was suddenly back in the golden hall. The light of the outside courtyard blinded him; the smell of freshly watered flowers was in the air; he could hear the bluebirds chirping their sweet melody; he could see the dust, the monster’s life essence, floating in the breeze, the handiwork of a demon. Her smile widened as her eyes flickered a bloody red, staring into his soul as she rushed forward, knife in hand; a killer about to claim its next victim. He stood, steadfast, hands in his pockets, before he lifted one, sending her to the floor; a desperate being, hellbent on vengeance.

Then, in a split second, everything went back to normal. In the killer’s place stood Frisk, confused; a former friend in the facade of a confused child. His hand froze in midair, gritting his teeth to restrain the gamma energy exiting his skeletal body. Logic dictated he attack. This human had ruined everything. She had destroyed his home, his friends, and his brother. The only place she belonged was deep, deep underground, where her body could never be recovered, if there was even a body left to be recovered.

So why did he hesitate?

He couldn’t answer.

A new voice, a familiar one, snapped him out of his stance. He lowered his hand, blinking. His glowing white eyes returned; his shoulders slumped; he grew lax by the time Toriel and Alphys sprinted up to him.

“hehe, good to see you too, alphys, tori,” he said, “sorry i couldn’t give you a call or anything. i was a bit hung up by some real characters, ya know what im saying?”

Perhaps he could distract everyone from his off-base, impulsive action through a few jokes. That always seemed to work.

[Isabelle]

Frisk kept her distance, she avoided eye contact with the skeleton, keeping her gaze on the back of Toriel's head instead. She had no idea what THAT was, she knew it was a problem that desperately needed to be ironed out. That was a look that could cause problems down the line. However, now wasn't the time for that, now it was time to have a nice happy reunion. She didn't want to ruin this for the other two.


Toriel howled with laughter at Sans' pun, Alphys awkwardly chuckled, unclear if from the pun or social anxiety.

"Well, you should really keep us in touch, we don't want you to be bonely." Toriel said chuckling.

After a brief round of chortles between the two, Toriel spoke up again.

"Anyways, we're heading for Ambrosia! Have you heard of it?"

"Just came from there, actually." Sans replied honestly.

"Yeah, Frisk told you about the Avengers? We're going to discuss peace with the Ambrosians on their behalf."

"And Undyne." Chimed in Alphys. "I've been told she lives there now. I mean, apparently she's on a mission but I hope to surprise her when she gets back..."

[Sans]

Well, if there was anything he could say, it was that Toriel hasn’t lost her luster in terms of her ability to make awful, awful puns.

The two exchanged joke after joke, each providing each other’s loving audience and fueling each other with laughter and clapping. It was enough to take his mind off of what he had experienced mere moments prior. It didn’t seem like either Toriel or Alphys had paid any mind to what he had done, or if they did, they were hiding it really damn well. However, he was certain the latter was unlikely. As smart as the both of them were, especially in Alphys’ case, neither of them knew enough to call attention to that sort of thing, so their lack of reaction was more than likely based off of a lack of attentiveness than a polite attempt to ignore his threatening reaction to Frisk's friendship.

He sighed in relief.

During a particularly funny joke that Toriel had made that caused the entire group to start laughing, he took the moment to glance in Frisk’s general direction. It didn’t take him long to realize she wasn’t even looking at him. Rather, she was instead trying her hardest to look at the back of Toriel’s head. She had hardly moved from her stopping point since the joke contest began, too.

She noticed, hadn't she?

The scar that lined his chest flashed with pain for a brief moment. He squinted, grunting. He took a deep breath and mentally counted to ten. The pain went away. He prayed no one noticed.

It was then that Toriel asked about Ambrosia. He saw no reason to lie, so he told them where he had been mere hours prior. They rattled a series of news to him: their diplomatic intentions and Alphys’ surprise. The thought of Frisk as a diplomat made him chuckle.

“frisk? a diplomat? i find that hard to believe,” he said with the tone of a jester and a sarcastic wink, “i mean, she’s a kid, after all. that why you both are with her?”

Alphys seemed to sweat a bit. "Well... more like we dragged her along..."

"She did pretty well as ambassador, so who knows?" Toriel said.

He shrugged. “anyways, undyne’s not here, as you might have already figured out. she’s off in some place called coruscant trying to kill a flower or something. i got her number right here for you, alph.”

He fished out a post-it note, taking care to process that he did not grab his grocery list before he took her phone to dial it in. Alphys frowned, a bit peeved by his hand-holding but nonetheless did not protest as he inputted it into her phone.

[Isabelle]

Frisk's heart dropped at the mention of a flower.

At first, she been hit with a tidal wave of disbelief and uncertainty, but it was clear.

'If that demon was here, then he must be here as well.' She thought

It was now that she became very worried about Undyne.

But what she had forgotten, another person here had grounds to be worried, too.

"A... yellow flower?" Asked Alphys as Sans punched in the number into her phone, her voice shaky.

"A yellow flower you fight... why does that sound familiar?" Said Toriel, a hand on her chin.

"Hold on a second, I got to make a text real quick!" Alphys said, snatching her phone from Sans and waddling off to the side. She feverishly starts tapping away.

Frisk, concerned, finally walked up to the skeleton, taking Alphys' place in the line up.

"You sure she'll be okay? Maybe I should come wi-"

"Hey, don't worry about it!" Said Sans, almost nonchalantly at Frisk's concerns. "If Undyne can fight a human, she can kill some stupid weed!"

'It's more than just a weed...' Thought Frisk, concern weighing heavy on her heart. She almost wanted to go, at least see if she can help out in some way. However, she didn't want to be alone with Sans, and she'd have to explain the situation to Toriel, which she didn't really have the heart to do.

Alphys returned, shakily sliding her phone back into her pocket.

"Yeah! She can handle anything!" She said, he voice inexplicably horse.

Toriel looked between Frisk and Alphys puzzled at their over-the-top reactions to what ammounted to a weedwacking job.

[Sans]

If there was any lingering thoughts about him almost obliterating Frisk the moment they met, they had all but disappeared in the blink of an eye.

His single offhand comment about the flower more or less sent everyone except him and Toriel into full-blown panic. Alphys had ran off to the side of the road to contact Undyne and make sure she was alright,-- though how it would make any difference was beyond him. He wasn’t even certain someone like Alphys could make the Captain of the Royal Guard stand down for anything-- and Frisk was visibly shaken. He supposed he should have been a lot less light-hearted in his handling of the situation; after all, this was a friggin killer FLOWER they were talking about here, but he just couldn’t muster up the ability to be all that concerned or even take it all that seriously. As dangerous, sadistic, and arrogant as that flower was, a part of his gut told him that it really wasn’t anything to worry about. Perhaps it was just appearances, or maybe it was because there was someone far more dangerous standing just a few feet away from him, but the flower, to him, wasn't a threat. Besides, the last time he saw it, it was crying, positively bawling its eyes out, and begging him to save it from the human chasing it. If this was the same flower-- and he had no reason to believe it wasn’t-- then it would probably crap sunflower seeds once Undyne got a hold of it. Anything that can fear is bound to have a vulnerability.

“anyways,” he said, “i’m sure undyne will call us if she needs our help. you guys said you were headed to ambrosia?”

He glanced up towards the sign above him.

“well, all roads lead to rome, ya know? how about I take you guys there? give you the old college tour, you know what i’m sayin’?”

[Isabelle]

Toriel perked up at the offer.

"Well, we'd enjoy the company!" Frisk and Alphys gave her looks, both still concerned about Undyne. Toriel just gave them a sideways glance. "Hey, we're going to a new town, it'd be great to have a personal guide!"

"Sounds great! Follow me!"

Sans starts leading the way down the path, with Toriel following closely. Alphys and Frisk give each other a glance before following suit, not wanting to be left behind.

They walked for a while, until a passing fact made it clear that it was a 3 hour hike to Ambrosia. Frisk called a break as she summoned a dog drawn carriage.

20 minutes and the hills along the way made the group happy that they thought to get a ride. At least Alphys was spared her feet. Sans took the front, holding the reigns, Toriel chose to sit next to him. She would spend the next half hour talking his ear off, sharing all the knock knock jokes she's written in the past month she's been in the Omniverse.

Frisk and Alphys stayed om the back, slowly regaining their wits about them. One lingering question stuck in the scientist's mind though, one that became more prevelent as she got her sense back, but she didn't have the spine to ask.

'Why did Frisk know about the flower?' She thought. She began to worry what else Frisk saw in the true lab...


Eventually, they overtook the hill and climbed over the bend in the world. The valley ahead revealed itself. The coach came to a stop.

Toriel and Sans climbed off the front seats, Alphys and Frisk followed out. What greeted them was a giant city, sprawling for miles in front of them. The three of them recognized it as the location the photo from earlier was taken, but the tiny photo hid all the details. Amongst the rustic old stone cobbled buildings was crazy houses that could only be born from the imaginations of a mad children's book author. They could see a fish tank house, a house shaped like mouse ears, several houses made of clouds that float in the sky, even one house that was blatantly a giant nest. It was insanity incarnate, but it looked so peaceful at the same time.

"Woah, even the capitol wasn't like this!" Spoke out Toriel, remembering the sprawling city of New Home.

"Who builds this stuff? How do they build this stuff?" Questioned the doctor.

While the group admired the city, Frisk's attention was split. She thought she could hear voices coming from the trees not far from their cart. Suspicious, and curious, she snuck away from the other girls and made her way into the brush towards the sound, trying to be as stealthy as she can.

[Sans]

Soon, the yapping of the hounds and the conversation of her monster friends grew distant. Frisk pushed through the ever increasing jungle as she worked her way deep into the forest. Her ears guided her through the leafy brush, as her eyes alone could no longer see her through the approaching darkness. Her ears picked up the rustling of leaves belonging to several wild animals, primarily deer, galloping away from the direction she was headed. They were making haste and, in their panic, they did not much care for the noises they made or the attention they drew.

The voices grew louder, the dirt beneath her shifting, the ground rumbling with a low, thunderous boom. She steeled her heart and moved forward, keeping silent and low to the ground. Eventually, a combination of colors flashed before her eyes. Parting a bush, she squinted in a desperate attempt to see through the flames.

Before her was a massive, reddish-purplish bonfire almost the size of a tower. The tips of the flames only barely jutted out over the top of the forest, rendering it almost invisible to anyone outside it. That must have been why she hadn’t seen it while she and her friends were approaching Ambrosia. Indeed, the glow of the coals within the base of the bonfire, contained only by a minute selection of ashened stones, were of an indigo color, and sparked every time the flames tried to exit its boundaries. Each attempt forced the fire into a cylindrical shape more in line with a tornado than a fire, which only increased its fury and its stubborn urge to escape and consume everything around it. Frisk moved her shirt up to her mouth to shield herself from the smoke-filled air and brimstone stench. She tried to focus on everything but the cylindrical bonfire. She had to know what was going on.

Her eyes eventually settled on the conglomerate of huge, muscular figures surrounding the fire in a massive circle. They sat, motionless, except for a select few. Many of those few stood, stick in hand, pounding away at a set of drums a distance away. She heard the drumbeats over the winds zipping around her and sucking the branches and leaves towards the inferno in front of her; they matched the rapid reverberations of her heartbeat, of the quaking of the ground beneath her. She sucked in what breath she could to force down the thoughts urging her to flee.

Then, the flames parted, forming a two-pronged, horn-like shape from the earth to the darkened sky. In the middle, she saw their leader.

He was obviously their leader. Whereas every other orc in the vicinity was fairly minimalist and “cavemany” in terms of ashion design, with the vast majority having only a modest loincloth to cover their waist and a spare few having something resembling a shirt to wear over their chests, their leader wore a massive, purple cloak covering him from shoulder to feet. On his head was a massive ram skull, its horns chopped off and its maw wide open as if screaming, allowing his face to be viewed past the teeth. Dozens of ginormous, razor-sharp teeth jutted out from beneath his lips, gnashed in a picture of rage only lessened by the thousand-yard stare the orc shaman sported. He was looking right at her, but he didn’t seem to know she was even there. It was as if he was lost in his own little world, imagining the chaos and destruction the purple flames he concocted could unleash.

The question was, to whom were the flames intended for?

“well, what do we have here?”

Her fucking heart almost fucking leaped out of her fucking chest.

[Isabelle]

Frisk felt large beefy paws grab hard onto her shoulders, a sharp pain piercing in the tips of his fingers as he applied way more pressure than he needed. The child winced at the pain as she started to be lifted in the air.

The first thing that was apparent was the smell, her captor had a musk that seemed reserved for a locker room for the damned. She would have been surprised she hadn't picked up on it sooner if the ever present smoke wasn't so close by. She eventually saw her captor's face, a large, stone fast man with green skin and two tusks sticking out of his mouth. He gives her a malicous serrated grin as he starts to walk towards his comrads with his capture. She struggled against his grip the entire way.

'I found one of those pink skins!" He said, almost jovially. "It was spying on us!"

The leader of the group, never took his eyes off her, even as she was carried through the group, he kept looking with those dark whiteless eyes, but now a grin has spread across his face.

"Bring her to me."

The loyal orc moved towards the leader, effortlessly holding on against her flails. From close up, Frisk could see that the man decorated in bones, many of them looked nothing like animal bones. The little one got a shiver down her spine, the thought of her own bones joining the set was far from a favorable one. Amongst her flails, she started to kick back, trying to press against the orc's chest.

"Such a scrawny little thing, isn't she? An orc child of the same age would easily beat her up." The orcs around the shaman began to chuckle in unison, but fading out seconds before the man spoke again, as if it was practiced, or they somehow just knew. "You've seen too much of our operation though. You've probably pieced together what we are doing here."

"I haven't pieced together anything!" Cried out Frisk.

"Don't lie to me!" Yelled the man as he moved in to press his face against her's.

She knew, from this high up she could see the whole group, an army big enough to be a genuine threat just outside Ambrosia. It didn't take much to figure it out.

The man chuckled at the expression on Frisk's face before peeling away and returning to his place in the chair.

"Throw her in the fire."

Her captor started to walk towards the bonfire as the entire group started to chant together, the rhythm getting faster and faster as they approached Frisk's imminent doom.

But as they got closer, the hands holding her started to dip. Now lower down the orc's body, she was able to press her feet again his belly. Bending her body almost painfully in her lower back, she step backwards to reach his lower chest. From here, she started to press hard against him, shoving the opposite direction of the Orc's pressure.

This leverage was just enough to slip out of the orc's fingers and plop hard against the ground less than a foot from the fire. The orc moved in the stomp her, but she rolled out of the way and onto her feet, dashing for the trees.

"Stop her! Do not let her escape!" Yelled the man.

She tumbled out of the way of another Orc's swiping hand, she leaped over the swing of an axe.

'I must get to Ambrosia, I must warn them!' She desperately thought.

She barely rolled out of the way of a clenched fist. The treeline was in sight. She made a beeline for it when...

A familar Skeleton appeared out of the brush.

Frisk froze in place, so did the orcs chasing her. In their defense, it's not everyday a skeleton appears in front of you.

[Sans]

Sans was the first to break the awkward silence.

“frisk, what did I tell you about interrupting demon-summoning rituals without permission?” he said in a complete mockery of a parental tone. It nailed him a few chuckles from the crowd of orcs around him and bought him enough time for him to get between Frisk and the army surrounding them.

Their leader stepped forward, his pupiless eyes widening in recognition.

“Sans.”

“do i know you?”

“Ulak’thuul,” the shaman said, his voice low and guttural, “it’s been a while.”

He felt an arm wrap around his own. He glanced towards Frisk, who was hiding behind his rotund frame to shield herself from the murderous glares piercing her soul. She didn’t speak, but he saw her lips move, mouthing a single sentence.

“You know him?”

He nodded; he could remember the name. It was a long time ago, and he had only talked to the orc for a minute for directions to Ambrosia; to see the same orc become something like this was strangely marvelous despite his malevolent intentions.

He looked back at Ulak’thuul. “i see you’ve been rather busy.”

The shaman nodded, smiling. “Yes. I had to curry a few favors, but in the end, I’ve got what I want.”

“Now,” he said, staring into the bonfire, “all we need is a sacrifice. A delicious sacrifice to appease the gods and give us good fortune in the coming battle at Ambrosia.” He stopped and pointed a finger at the child behind Sans.

“That child will do nicely.”

The skeleton looked around. The orcs were converging around the both of them, their tongues hanging out like dogs thirsty for water. The earth shook with the beat of the timpani’s, increasing in speed as the orcs drew closer. Sans strained to keep his smile wide through it all as his bones rattled and the dirt beneath him slid around and through his feet.

“i’m afraid this human is my sacrifice, ulak,” he said.

The orcs stopped in their tracks, confused. Ulak’thuul remained silent, glaring down at the skeleton.

“so, if you’ll excuse us,” Sans said as he turned around and pushed Frisk towards the treeline, “we’ll just get going and pretend we never saw anyth-”

The bushes directly in front of them exploded in a ball of fire. His eyes widened for the briefest of moments as the child he guarded nearly hopped into the air from shock.

Sans looked back. A prism of purple flames wavered and flickered between the fingertips of Ulak’thuul’s ring-covered hand. He closed his fist, extinguishing the flames, absorbing the fiery tendrils into his body with a snake-like hiss.

“That child knows too much. If we let her go, our plan is ruined.” Ulak’thuul raised his hand as an orc tossed a great-axe his way. He caught it with one hand.

“Give her to us.” He slammed the blunt-end of the axe down onto the ground; a quake erupted from the point of impact and almost caused the skeleton to stumble.

“Now.”

Sans did not move. He did not speak, or raise a hand, or even chuckle. He was motionless, like a statue, only infinitely quieter. His smile never wavered for a moment as he looked around for an opening in their forces. To his dismay, him and Frisk were effectively cut off from help. And he had walked a fair distance in order to find Frisk once he and Toriel had realized she had run off somewhere, so even if they shouted, it wasn’t likely they would hear them nor show up in time. And it wasn’t like there was anyone else within a few yards radius to see what was going on either.

For a moment, he considered throwing her to the wolves. It wasn’t like it would matter. Even if she died, she could always go back and start an entirely new timeline and warn everyone about what was going on beforehand. It would be weird for certain, but it was a better alternative than the outright annihilation of a city that would arise from her doing effectively nothing to stop it. That is, of course, if she wanted to stop it in the first place.

It would be so easy. Just say “okay,” turn around, walk away, and don’t look back when the screaming inevitably starts. He could probably do it without cracking. Probably.

Frisk tugged on his coat sleeve, forcing him to look at her face. Expressionless, but her rapid breathing and the strength of her grip on his arm gave away her true feelings of the situation.  

It was the tug that reminded him of something he had entirely forgotten about since he entered the Omniverse: the promise.

He made a promise with Toriel to protect Frisk. He had broken it back then, but now, he was in a new timeline.

The promise wasn’t broken anymore.

With this new revelation, his mind cranked out solution after solution to the conundrum they were in. He was going to have to fight, that much was clear, but all he needed was a quick, 360-degree scope around their rapidly decreasing diameter between them and the encircling bloodthirsty orcs for him to process just how outnumbered they were. Not even Frisk could fight more than four monsters at a time. It would be suicidal to attack the whole army without an army of his own to match.

That meant he had to kill not their soldiers, but their will to keep fighting. But how?

“You are testing my patience, skeleton. Answer my question.” Ulak’thuul smashed his axe against the ground in emphasis, urging his orcs to go faster in an attempt to swipe Frisk out from under the skeleton. Sans pushed Frisk back, holding his arms out to shield her from the prying arms of the orcs.

That was it. He had to kill the head honcho.

He did his best to suppress the urge to widen his grin.

He still didn’t have a plan fully thought out yet by the time he responded. A part of him screamed for more time to think, to gain more facts, to observe more in order to obtain a better analysis of the situation and respond accordingly. Time was not on his side, however; it never had been. He was going to have to think it over as he went along.

“perhaps…” he said, halting the orcs, “we can come to an agreement?”

Ulak’thuul rubbed his chin, pondering. “And what is it that you want?” he said after a long pause.

“look, we’re at an impasse. i can tell that. sooooooooooooooooo…” he said. He took a deep breath; he hoped he wasn’t wrong in his assumptions of orc culture.

“why don’t we settle this with a traditional orc duel, you know? i stand on one end, you stand on the other, and we try to kill each other until one of us dies from heat stroke or something?”

He let the question hang in the air for a few moments. The orcs surrounding them collectively raised their eyebrows, yet within the confusion were murmurs of agreement, of excitement. Ulak’thuul glanced around at his fellow orc soldiers as the murmurs increased in volume to open discussion. He lifted his hand, silencing the crowd.

“What… are your stipulations, skeleton?”

Good, he’s in agreement. Sans sighed. “it’s just a simple duel, really. you win, you get to take frisk as your sacrifice and go have fun pillaging candy Town. i win, everyone here has to leave and never think about doing this kind of thing again, you know what I’m saying?”

The shaman smirked. “And you’re the one who will challenge me to this duel?” His words earned a fit of laughter from the orcs around him. The skeleton rolled his eyes.

“yeah. if you don’t want to cuz your scared, you can back out now and, you know,  leave us alone. it’ll save us both a lot of trouble that way.”

“Never.”

The orcs cheered, the timpani’s banging away in a victory cry. Soon, the circle had reformed, only with Sans and Frisk on one end and Ulak’thuul on the other.

Sans stared ahead at nothing in particular, unblinking, unmoving. He steeled himself for the fight to come.

[Sans]

The bonfire flared in anticipation of the coming duel. It cackled, its fiery maw widening, ready for the sacrifice, whether orc, skeleton, or human, to relieve its starvation.

Ulak’thuul lifted his great-axe, drawing massive cheers from the crowd. Smiling, he punched upwards, igniting his fist. Purple fire danced around his fingers as he gestured to the orc audience. The orcs whooped, hollered, and chanted his name as the shaman turned around to face his pudgy opponent.

Sans did not move. Even as an orc came up behind him and pulled Frisk back to prevent interference, despite her protests to the manhandling, his only reaction was to glance back and watch her disappear into the crowd.

He sighed. It was too late to back out now. He had to hold himself to his word.

He looked back at Ulak’thuul. Their eyes met, and they stared at each other for what felt like an eternity. The shaman’s muscles pulsated, his grip around his weapon tightening as both awaited the ringing of the arena bell. The shaman shifted his stance, bringing one foot back and the other forward as he lowered his form; he held his weapon close to his chest as one hand slid towards the blade of the axe; his eyes never left the skeleton’s as he readied himself for the approaching battle.

Sans, on the other hand, didn’t do any pre-battle prep work, too lost in introspection to even consider it. Outmatched on a physical level against Ulak, a straight up “fight” would be suicidal, and he was more than certain that most of his own attacks would do next to nothing against the orc leader. All except for one, anyway, but to use it at the very start would not mesh well with the honor duel. There was only one way he could win this.

He had to break their leader.

The dull, metallic roar of the bell reverberated around him before the excitement of the orcs drowned it out. No sooner had the sound reached his ear holes did he look up. Several feet in the air, barreling down at him with a flaming great-axe, was Ulak’thuul, grinning from ear to ear.

Motionless, Sans stared up at his approaching doom. The crowd steeled their nerves as the shaman descended upon him, ready to hop up once the killing blow had landed. For several moments, silence reigned.

The axe sliced down.

Sans saw a vision of chopped bones flashed before his eyes.

He took a single step to the side.

The axe hacked apart the dirt as Ulak’thuul landed. Groans of disappointment surged all around them both as the shaman glanced up at the skeleton. Sans couldn’t help but widen his smile at the orc’s completely incredulous look.

“what,” he said, digging his foot underneath a rock, “you think i was just gonna stand there and take it?”

For emphasis, he kicked the rock towards the shaman. It bounced harmlessly off of his face, but it still drew a series of boos from the audience.

“Why, you!” Ulak’thuul shouted, pulling his weapon out of the ground.

He rushed forward, swinging his axe around in swift, but imprecise, cuts. Sans sidestepped each and every attack the orc threw at him, always remaining close to bait the leader into swinging the axe again. Between moments of reprieve from Ulak’s relentless assault, the skeleton tossed pebbles and sticks in Ulak’s general direction. Each throw did about as much damage as a feather, but the more he threw, the wilder and more inaccurate the shaman’s attacks became. The fire surrounding the blade of the orc leader’s axe nearly engulfed the entire weapon, so desperate were the flames for some kind of sadistic satisfaction. Sans could feel the boiling heat with each pass of the axe, but despite the risk, he did not distance himself from the orc. In fact, he made it a point to be as close as possible at all times.

Ulak’thuul hacked and chopped away at Sans’ legs and waist, his control over the demonic fire loosening with each near-hit; while Sans never retaliated with an attack that could hurt him, the constant harassment was all too much. The orcs that were once cheering his name stood confused, and the few that weren’t were shouting insults at him! They demanded blood; they wished for death of some kind, and Ulak’thuul could not give it to them.

He decided to try something else. He spun around, twisting his axe. Then, with all the strength in his body, he completed his spin with a chop to the skeleton’s legs.

Sans saw the move all too soon and stepped backwards. Ulak stumbled as his weapon hit air. Chuckling, Sans hopped forward, removing his hands from his pockets for the first time since the battle began. The crowd stirred, its interest returning. Some actual fighting at last!

The skeleton jumped onto Ulak’s arms and gave him a boop on his ring-covered snout. He then leaped backwards, flipping around in mid-air before landing on his legs a few feet away. He shoved his hands back into his pockets to return to his casual stance. The audience groaned from the sudden anticlimax.

His cheeks red and his face contorted into a pained snarl, Ulak spoke.

“What is this… this… this TOMFOOLERY?!” Spittle shot out of his mouth as his hate-filled eyes stared into the skeleton’s comically cartoonish ones.

Sans shrugged. “i dunno, but i think I can say that i’m on fire right now, so you better turn up the heat if you wanna beat me.”

The skeleton turned around, snapped his fingers, and winked to the audience. Within the pained cries begging him to stop was a high-pitched giggle.

heh, she got it.

With his back turned, however, he did not notice Ulak’thuul charging towards him. The orcs surrounding the fighters smiled in anticipation of the surprise the skeleton was in for.

Then, with a roar so loud and ferocious it made the orcs watching the battle shiver, the shaman slammed his axe downwards, jumping to give the attack some extra force.

Chopped bone filled Sans’ vision.

He hopped forward like a frog, barely avoiding the incoming blade as it smashed into the earth. He twisted around and ran underneath Ulak’thuul’s legs just as he freed his weapon. They faced each other, panting and sweating from the fight. Both remained in silence for a long time.

“You aren’t even fighting,” the shaman said in between gasps for breath, “you’re just wasting my time!”

“that is correct. i am wasting your time.”

“Why? Because you cannot fight?”

“well,” the skeleton said, shrugging, “i don’t have a weapon.”

“Doesn’t matter. You must have magic or something to use to fight with, yet you don’t even bother to use it.” Ulak’thuul advanced, holding his axe low to the ground to catch the skeleton if he tried to run. “Or is this truly the best you got? Show me your real magic!”

“you don’t wanna see that, man. no one here does.”

The orc snorted. “If your only skill is running, then you’ll never win the fights that matter! Show me your magic!”

“i’m serious, man. it won’t look good.”

“SHOW ME!”

Ulak’thuul stretched out his arms, leaving every bit of his body exposed. He pounded his chest and roared again; the crowd urged the skeleton to attack.

Sans sighed. He closed his eyes. He raised his hand. The orcs gasped.

He pointed his hand at a rock. The coloring of the rock turned into a deep shade of blue. He flicked his wrist in Ulak’thuul’s direction.

The rock smacked into the skull on top of the shaman’s head. The skull shattered into hundreds of pieces, each one landing next to the rock. The audience did not even make an attempt to express their disapproval, with the notable exception of a very loud slap that could only come from the legendary facepalm maneuver.

“did i get ya?” Sans said, opening his right eye to look at his opponent. The shaman’s jaw agape, his cheeks completely blood-red from rage, the orc raised his own free hand. Three purple dots materialized in the middle of his palm.

“You are a waste, and I will ensure you suffer for your incompetence!”

Three small, purple darts zapped towards the skeleton. Shrugging, he jumped forward, sailing over them.

He saw a flash of purple for a split second.

A single dart sliced past his right arm.

He forced back a scream as he fell to the earth. He tried to stop his freefall with his arms, but the sudden impact only made the pain even more agonizing. He bonked his head against the ground, blurring his vision for a brief moment. His eyes the size of pinpricks, he glanced down at the newly-formed gash on his arm. Ketchup spilled out from the wound; he covered it with his hand to slow the bleeding and hide it from view. The crowd jumped and cheered and shouted, giving their leader all the praise in the world. They yelled words of encouragement, urging him to finish the job as Sans laid there, seemingly lifeless on the ground.

Sans heard the footsteps. The deep, booming vibrations in the ground signalling the orc leader’s approach. Despite the pain, his grin expanded.

“I knew it. You ARE weak,” the shaman said, “you aren’t even fit for a sacrifice.”

The orc leader waited a few moments for the skeleton to respond. Sans couldn’t even look at him, preferring instead to keep his eyes lowered. The shaman grunted; there was no more fight left in the worthless comedian after all.

Ulak’thuul raised his axe, poised to lop the skeleton’s head clean off. “Any last words, you bumbling fool?”

Never looking up, the skeleton lifted his left hand off of his right arm. He placed it on Ulak’thuul’s leg, staining it with his ketchup blood. Ulak couldn’t help but chuckle at the sight.

“What? Are you begging for mercy now?”

The shaman expected tears; he expected pleading. A plead to spare his life, or the child’s, or the lives of those in Ambrosia. A last ditch effort to save something, anything, from the inevitable destruction his fire would bring about to the Tangled Greens.

He did not expect the skeleton’s grip to tighten around his leg, nor did he expect to hear him laughing.

The skeleton looked up. Black eyeholes pierced the orc’s very soul; a quiet, disembodied voice overwhelmed his ears and rocked him to the core.

“Y o u  f o o l .”

The shaman’s eyes widened. Sans was right.

He had been played the fool.

Ulak’thuul’s entire body turned a dark shade of blue.

Sans thrust his bloodied hand towards the bonfire.

The orc shaman could do nothing but scream in terror as he flew into the fire, the purple flames tasting his skin before devouring it entirely. Once it finished his skin, it gnawed on his muscles. Once it ate his muscles, it tore apart his organs, charring it, burning his body, morphing it into a thick black crisp. For a long, long while, Ulak’thuul’s bloodcurdling screams echoed around the forest.

Sans telekinetically held him inside the fire for a long time, his bloodied hand carved as if to choke an invisible enemy. Eventually, the blue shade surrounding the orc shaman flickered.

The skeleton blinked before thrusting his hand towards him.

The corpse of Ulak’thuul shot out. Sans slashed his hand downwards in a deadly arc. The body slammed into the ground. A sickening crack erupted from the corpse as the leader’s head crashed into the ground. The bonfire, satisfied, dissipated into the air, bathing the area in darkness.

The battle over, the audience slowly got over its shock at the turn of events. Once the shock settled, the protests began.

Sans turned around to face the audience, his right eye glowing a bright, neon orange as he shoved his hand in his pocket. He let out a long sigh as he spoke.

“as i’m sure many of you know, i’m sans. sans the skeleton, and i do believe i have given new meaning to the phrase ‘dropping sick burns,’ you know what i’m saying?” He winked his left eye and chuckled to himself to the displeasure of the crowd. “anyways, this guy, ulak’thuul, was your leader, and we agreed that, if i won, then everyone here must go home and leave ambrosia alone, ya follow me?”

He looked around. Already a few of the more vocal dissenters were taking up arms.

His eyeholes turned black.

“to those of you who do not like this outcome... first of all, tough. second of all, i gave your leader every opportunity to back down, and he continued in spite of that. he could have let me and frisk go, but he did not. as a result, he died. i could have killed him a long time ago and the only reason i didn't is because i assumed you guys were smart enough to know your own limits.”

He paced around, never taking his eyes off of any orc for more than a few seconds. As he did this, he scanned the crowd for Frisk.

“so, uh, leave. Unless, of course, you think you can beat me. in which case, friends, you’re going to have a VERY bad time.”

[Isabelle]

The crowd of orc displayed a wide wave of confusion, anger, frustration, and a wide spectrum of emotions in between as they are threatened by what in many of their eyes were a literal demon. Several of the orcs dropped their weapons and took off as soon the ultimatum was made, while the others slowly joined them after considering their options for a while.

As soon as 99% of the crowd was on the run, the sound of several fighter jets zoomed by from above. Several from the crowd crooked their head up to see the commotion, while most just kept looking forward towards the eventual safety of the coming brush.

A loud bang shook the Earth, which sent the remaining 1% of orcs running. In front of Sans was a tiny pegasus, her body covered in armor, while what little of her fur showing was colored in purple pastel.

“Chase them, make sure they keep running!” Called the mare, her voice booming into the sky. Two other pegasi darted ahead, leaving a line of cloud in their wake.

The winged horse turned her stern eyes towards the skeleton.

“So what’s your story?”

Sans tried not to react, his adrenaline still pumping, he was prepared to fight if he needed to, but a familiar goat woman parted her way through the brush, an arm outstretched in front of her.

“He’s with us!” She called out. “The skeleton and the human child are with us!”

It was this moment he remembered Frisk. The commotion of having flying technicolor horses suddenly pop up in front of him had given him a momentary distraction from his promised task. He scanned around for the child, and saw her a mere 30 feet away, standing around, her mouth still agape, her eyes transfixed where the fire left only smoldering coals and a fried corpse.

The mare discovered the fried body and moved in to inspect.

“Looks like an orc fell into a sacrificial fire. Never a pretty death.” She said. She tried to lift it up with a hoof, but dropped it with a wince when some juices splattered the ground. She started to walk back to the group. “We’ll have someone here to clean this mess up, make sure no residual dark magic isn’t lingering about.”

“How did you know to find us?” Asked Sans, his brain finally working properly under the absurdity.

“Oh, that was because of me!” Cried out Alphys, who finally parted through the forest, huffing hard from the work out. “I-huff huff I huff after you left I sent a scouter drone-huff I saw the orcs and told Toriel to get help.”

Toriel fell down to her knees and gave the child a hug from behind, which startled her a bit, finally got her to look away from the fire.

“Please don’t run off again like that! If you spot something tell us!” Cried out the goat mother as Frisk turned around in her arms to hug her back.

“Funny the orcs were already on the run before our forces arrived. Must have spooked them to see their leader get fried like that.” Said the pegasus soldier. She turned towards Sans once again. “I see you were injured in the conflict, we should get you medical attention.”

“Well,” the bone man said, rubbing his chin, “okay, but only if the kid can come.”



The pegasus, who introduced herself as Metal Clad on the way, leads the group through the woods and into the start of the city. The marvel of first experiencing the wackiness and creativity of Ambrosia first hand was mired a bit by the mad experience the group just encountered. It appeared even in a place like this there was danger lurking by.

Frisk was silent the entire way.

Sans was put in a hospital bed. At first, he was given a normal doctor who up and noped out of the room with one look, and they eventually had to settle with a magic healer instead. Before the fairy could cast her healing magic on the splintered bleeding bones, Toriel leaned in close to what would be his ears.

“Thank you for protecting Frisk.” She whispered.

The group left the room to leave the fairy in a scantily clad dress to do her magic.

As soon as they are out of sight of the skeleton, Toriel takes Frisk’s hand.

“Alphys, stay here with Sans, Frisk and I will go get us checked in.”

“O-Okay.” Said the doc, no complaints there.


Holding her girl’s hand, she guides her down the street. She was careful earlier to look up it’s location before leaving on this trip.

The historical Rags and Riches hotel. At a time, this was the only hotel in Ambrosia, back before the city even had that name. It was where Princess Guu stayed while she recovered from the battle that decided the fate of this city. Of course it was refurbished since then, but it still looked like something that had survived wars.

Toriel approached the receptionist who was a honey badger lady.

“Excuse me, I have two rooms reserved under the name Toriel Dreemur”

“Ah yes, we’ve been expecting you.” She types away at her computer at whirring speeds, before swivelling around in her chair, snagging a pair of hotel keys and handing them over. “Your rooms are on completely separate floors, is that okay?”

“Yes, this was intentional.” She responded. If Alphys reunites with Undyne, she didn’t want Frisk hearing the aftermath through the walls.

“Well, enjoy your stay Mrs. Dreemur! No need to pay, your rooms have been covered by the city of Ambrosia.”

Toriel had forgotten she was there as an ambassador.

Frisk expected them to turn and go back to the hospital, but the goat woman guided the child into one of the elevators and rided all the way up to the flight that contained her room, the one she and Toriel were going to share together.

Upon reaching their floor, she lead her down the hall and immediately inserted the key card into their room’s door.

As soon as they were inside and the door shut behind them, she dropped to her knees and embraced Frisk. The child was taken aback for a moment.

“I know when you are in distress. You saw something horrible amongst the orcs. Please.” She pulls away to look Frisk in the eyes. “Tell me, don’t let it bottle up. I know when you’re trying to be tough, please, tell me what’s on your mind.”

Frisk was a silent for a moment as she worked up the courage to speak again. She hadn’t said a word since the hostage situation, she was hesitant to say anything now. Eventually, Toriel’s big looming eyes won her over.

“It was the orc shaman. He was in the fire. I watched him...” She sniffed, a tear welled in the corner of her eye. “I watched him and - I watched Sans and-”

“It’s okay.” Said Toriel. She pulled her into another hug, this time, Frisk takes this chance to weep openly into her chest. “What you saw was horrible, unfortunately, I can’t change that for you.

“But please don’t hold it in. If you need to cry, I’m always here for you. Frisk.”

The little one didn’t say anything, she continue to cry into the front of her dress. Toriel picked her up and walked over to the bed. She took a seat and cradled the child in her arms, and waited patiently for the little one to empty all her tears.

[Isabelle]

Frisk shook awake after hearing something outside. Dazed, she didn’t know how long she had been out. Her vision blurred, she rubbed the dust out of her eyes to get a better view, which turned out to be the front of her mom’s dress. Her phone was still clutched in her hand. She didn’t want to think about the text conversation she had with Sans, she didn’t want another bout of tears again.

She looked up to Toriel, who was sound asleep, snoring lightly next to her. Careful not to wake her, Frisk sat up and slid off the bed, walked up to the window and looked down at the streets.

The people, they were celebrating about something. Just random people calling out, excited, cheering, whooping, hollering. Did she sleep so long that she woke up on a holiday?

Still kind of dazed, she looked at her phone. It took a few seconds for the numbers on the screen to process.

And then she flipped.


Moments later, she was shaking her mom awake.

“Mom! Wake up!” Cried Frisk.

“Wha, wha, in a moment, my child.”

“We’ve been asleep for five hours!”

Toriel opened her eyes, blinking.

“Five hours?”

“Yes! We left Alphys and Sans at the hospital remember?”

A silent pause fell on the room as the information processed in the goat woman’s head.

“Right, yes, we should get going.”


Frisk pulled Toriel along by the hand towards the elevator, making their way down to the lobby and hurrying out the front door. Once they made it outside, they both saw the celebration first hand. The cheering was deafening, some were even dancing in the street. Toriel got right up next to one of the citizens and yelled.

“What is going on?”

It was a small frog like creature, it looked at Frisk and Toriel, and suddenly the words just played in their minds.

“Our glorious leader, Princess Guu has returned victorious from her grand quest! It has been forever since she last graced the city!”

The frog ran off to join the celebration, while the pair look confused at their first experience with telepathy. Frisk was the first to regain her senses and tugged at Toriels hand, pulling her towards the hospital.


The pair walk through the sliding glass doors which shut behind them, cutting off the sounds of cheering outside. Within seconds, Frisk spots Alphys, still in the same spot she was when they left her, looking at her phone, her face tear soaked.

The child ran up to her.

“I’m soo sorry!” Cried out the kid.

Alphys shot up, surprised that she was being spoken to. She shoved her phone away in her pocket.

“Oh! Don’t worry uh-” She wiped the tears from her eyes, “I’m fine.”

“I’m sorry we left you here for 5 hours. We didn’t mean to!”

The doctor cocked her head at her.

“It’s been that long already?”

“You didn’t notice?” Toriel, finally speaking up.

“Well, I was rewatching Koala Princess. I just got to the scene where she-”

“Uh, I’ll just go see Sans now.” Said Frisk, as she made her way to his hospital room.

[Sans]

The first person Frisk ran into on her way to Sans’ hospital room was the fairy doctor, who was adamant on not letting her into the room, saying it was for “family members only.” It took a bit of convincing and a fair amount of time, but she eventually got her to relent on her strictness and allow Frisk inside his room. She wasn’t totally certain if that really was a hospital regulation, or if Sans had deliberately asked for only a family member to be let into the room. She hoped it was the former; the latter would just add to the numerous questions that were only piling up the more she interacted with the skeleton.

Ever since they had exchanged words over email, and especially ever since they first reunited in person, Sans had been acting odd. She remembered him as the wisecracker, as someone who took nothing seriously, not even his own job of hunting her, despite how clear it was that he could make do on his threat back in MTT Hotel. She could only assume he had his reasons for doing that, but she couldn’t fathom why he would do it again now, after she had saved everyone from the Underground. Then there was what he did to the orc shaman…

She had to get to the bottom of this. She saw the look he had given her back on the dirt path, and she had seen it again when he killed the shaman. The blackened void within his sockets did not portray an air of seriousness unbecoming of a skeletal comedian anymore. If it was anyone else, she could swear it was maniacal, malicious, maybe even insane. The look of a killer, or someone who’s used to killing. Of someone unhinged enough to snap and slaughter everyone around him.

Whatever this was, she had to nip it the bud now.

After what felt like an eternity of walking around and trying to find the right room number, she stumbled onto it out of what could best be described as sheer luck. She didn’t remember it taking THIS long to get to his room. Maybe her sheer shock over what she had seen made her forget all about it. The numbers 101, plated with gold, glinted with a red glare as the light of the candle right next to it reflected off the metallic surface.

It would be very easy to just let him sleep or rest or whatever the heck he did behind closed doors. As weird as he had been acting, the Sans she knew was still her friend, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt him.

Unless she had already done that to him.

Maybe, just maybe, that little, maniacal voice in head that had plagued her all those times, with every reset and SAVE and LOAD, had seeped into her brain and took complete control over her, and this Sans was the unfortunate one that had to experience it.

Her fist froze in midair, dangerously close to rapping on the door. She didn’t want it to be true. There was just no way that that voice could have beaten her like that. She would never do that, would she? Yet it made so much sense…

Shaking, her mind urging her away but her body pushing her forward, she knocked.

She waited. Then, a familiar voice rang out from behind the door.

“come in.”

She didn’t know whether to feel relieved or scared at the fact that he was awake, but it was already too late to change course. Without further hesitation, she pushed the door open.

The room was more or less completely empty with the exception of the cot in the middle of the room and the skeleton that laid in it. He was facing her direction, the side of his head resting against the pillow and the rest of his body covered by white sheets. His smile, once pleasant and comforting, sent cold shivers down her spine as she approached him. It never went away as she grabbed a chair and sat down in front of him.

They were both silent for a few moments before Sans spoke up.

“heya, kid, you get a good sleep last night?”
 
“Not the greatest, to be honest.” She said, trying to shake off the feeling down her spine.
 
“really? what kept ya up?”
 
“Well…” She thought over her words carefully. It’s not everyday you asked about this sort of thing, so it was best to be diplomatic about it. “It’s just the things you said on the phone last night. It had me worried.”

“you mean the ‘kill or be killed’ thing?” he said, glancing up to the ceiling as if he had discovered a very interesting looking fly. “ah, yeah. that part was my bad. i apologize. i was kinda loopy at the time and didn’t exactly have full control of my words, if ya get what i’m saying.”

He winked, staring back at her. “medicine, ya know? craaaaaazy stuff.”
 
Frisk chuckled at his little joke, but it was more of an awkward chuckle. The kind you let off when you crack a bad fart in the room and don't want to let people know it was you.
 
“Yeah, it’s okay. It’s just I used to know someone who’d say that a lot. A talking flower, to be exact.”

“talking… flower…” he said, closing his eyes to contemplate. “ah, yeah, that thing. i know him.”
 
“Kind of figured you did. I mean, you mentioned him when we hung at Grillbys. You were being coy about it, but hey, you tend to know everyone.”

He didn’t respond for a few seconds, as if composing his next sentence in his brain before putting it into words. “heh. i guess I was. but hey, i get some ‘surprises’ every once in a while.”

He glanced back up towards the invisible bug, now very interested in it. “not everyone is as they seem, ya know?”
 
“Heh, yeah...” she said, her mind at a loss as to where to go next.
 
She went silent for a while, just mulling over how to approach the next part. She decided to be direct.
 
“You know, I understand we may have had completely different experiences in the Underground. I’ve picked up on this since we met earlier. You just seem so much colder than how I knew you before the Omniverse.”

His smile didn't falter. He didn’t even seem to react to her statement. Yet, despite his outward stoicism, the gears were very clearly turning in his head, preparing his speech and perfecting the words chosen.

“well, i mean, i’ve lived in snowdin my whole life, so…”
 
“I came from a world where everyone lived, Sans. I came from a world where I refused to lay a finger on a single soul, and even broke the barrier. Before Omni took me, everyone had been living on the surface peacefully for months.” She said, bluntly and forwardly. “I know that’s not the world you came from, Sans.”

He sighed, closing his eyes. “kid, im a scifi nerd as much as the next guy, but even i gotta tell ya that you’re imagining things. we’re kinda, ya know, from the same world, ya know.”
 
“You don’t have to pretend, I must have done something terrible in your world to get you react the way you did at the gate.”

“...you noticed that, huh?” he said, adjusting himself so that he laid his back against the cot. “sorry bout that. i was… on edge, is all. worried about undyne running off, ya know? hehehe…” He chuckled at a joke that only he got the punchline to.
 
Frisk did not laugh.
 
“I remember when I was in the Underground, there was a drive, an urge to go collect gold, execution points, levels of violence. It was a prevalent force in me. In my world, I did fight it off, but what if...”

Her eyes widened in fear.

“Oh god, did the version of myself in your world... hurt Papyrus...?”

Sans did not respond. He just glanced back and forth between Frisk and the ceiling, his smile never wavering for an instant. And then, his eyes seemed to flicker, his bones seemed to shiver, and he closed his eyes. He took a deep, long breath, and exhaled in resignation.

“Yes. You did that, and more.” Gone was the goofy tone of voice befitting a comedian, and in its stead, the colder, disembodied voice came back.
 
Frisk felt the shivers down her spine, but didn’t save the Underground by letting those stop her.
 
“Sans, tell me everything. Say it to my face. I need to know, you need to get it out and in the open. We can’t let this go on like this, so just tell me!” She demanded, dreading what he may say next.

His skeletal face visibly scrunched up. Then, he sat up, turned to face her, and removed the blanket that covered his chest. His torso bare for all to see, the long, diagonal, scar-like chink that ran along his ribcage and up to his collarbone was all too obvious to Frisk. A small line of ketchup dripped down from the chink, with each drop earning a pained grunt from the comedian.
 
She gasped in horror at the clear and obvious wounds on his chest, still bleeding.
 
“I caused that? How did I even have the strength to… oh my god.” She said, her hands over her mouth as she recoiled back.

“i’m sure you know the whole idea of LOVE and XP by now. the whole spiel about how easy it is to hurt and kill others when you hate them enough? He said, placing his hands on his knees as more blood spilled out from his wounds. “well, you must have really hated me… and everyone else, for that matter.”

He chuckled a low, guttural, bitter chuckle. He spoke his words as if he was describing the weather outside. “not a single monster spared… i gotta tell ya, that’s impressive. not even the flower could do that.”
 
She was on her knees at this point, hyperventilating. Everyone, not even one was spared. She killed everyone. Part of her didn’t want to believe it, but part of her couldn’t even deny it.

He opened one eye, his targeting eye, and looked at her. It was impossible to determine how he felt from how dead his eye truly looked.

“ya see, i was kinda fearing i was gonna see ya again.” He turned his head away from the human, no longer able to bear the sight, “I was kinda fearing i was gonna see everyone again, actually. and whaddya know, here we are, ready to play the game again. yay.”
 
She climbed back into her seat next to the bed, her face soaked with tears.
 
“I understand. This is my fault.” She said, her voice pained. “The Omniverse is nothing but greys. I thought that was just the nature of this place, but no. My perfect world where everyone lived... it just created a world where everyone suffered.”
 
She began to sob again, despite every attempt against it.
 
“I just wanted to save everyone. I just didn’t want to hurt anyone. Why is that so much to ask?!”

He opened his eyes, silent. He didn’t know how to feel, or what to say. Eventually, he settled on the obvious.

“ya know, ya could just reset. make the whole world better. try again next time. ya actually HAVE that ability, ya know.” He said, before adding an additional “Lucky you, right?” Done.
 
Frisk slowly stopped her sobbing, a momentary reprieve from her grief, to have a moment of frustration
 
“You honestly still think I have that power? You think a god like Omni would let me have such an ability in his world?” She wiped away some of her tears. “Time travel goes to the most determined. A god is certainly more determined than a child.”

This time, he frowned. “...hold on, but you ARE a god, essentially. you’re telling me… you aren’t?”
 
“I never was, Sans. That power was never mine to keep.”

He just stared, his smile plastered to his unnervingly happy face. It wasn’t even like he was staring at anything. He was somehow staring at everything and nothing at the same time, his eyes glazed, tired, defeated. A soldier coming back from a war.

Then, he snorted, teeth clenched to mask the sound. Then he chuckled. Then he laughed a good, hearty laugh that came right from the belly. Eventually, he was sprawled on the bed, laughing harder than anyone had ever laughed in their lives, his laughter mixed with choked gasps for breath as he tried to contain the tears welling up in his eyes.
 
Frisk, her cheeks still drying from the tears, simply stared at him, baffled at his sudden elation.
 
“Sans?” She asked, nervously.

“K-kid…” he said after a minute or so of recovering, “either i need to start taking notes on comedy from you, or you ain’t pulling my leg here. you’re… you’re actually telling the truth…”
 
“Yes, I am.” She said, sort of relieved that he’s finally understanding though kind of afraid her friend may have gone fucking insane from the revelation.

It took all of his willpower to stop him from flying into hysterical laughter again. Instead, he settled for a long string of giggles. His smiled widened, filled with an energy he never had before.

“H-human… f-frisk… you… you REALLY don’t know what that means to me… not one bit…”  
 
She really didn’t, but she didn’t dare say that out loud. Instead, she just smiled and listened.

“I m-mean… i just assumed that, ya know… i went from one timeline to another, ya follow me?” He winced in pain for a brief second as his wounds bled once more. “When you killed me, I thought the world was over. All the data pointed to one thing: destruction of the entire world as soon as you entered the throne room. And I was more than certain that you were gonna do it again here. That’s why I almost attacked you at the gate. When I saw you, I… lept for the chance…”
 
Frisk reached for Sans’ hand. Her arm wasn’t long enough to reach, but she hoped it came off as comforting nonetheless.
 
“Considering what you’ve been through, I don’t blame you.” She chuckled awkwardly.

He laughed alongside her, and then stopped. “Can… can i be sure? That you won’t, ya know…” He winked. “Give me another one of these?”
 
Frisk laughed. It was kind of twisted to laugh at this, but what wasn't twisted anymore?
 
“Considering I have a hard time lifting a newspaper at 0 LoVE, you wouldn’t have to worry about that.” She said, chuckling.

His eyes seemed to glow the extra bit wider, bringing forth an extra bit of life to him. “Well… that’s that, then…”

He sighed, glancing to the door. “Now all we need to do is, well… find the others…”
 
“Yeah, they seem to find their way to the Omniverse somehow.” She said, still chuckling. “Gotta stick together, ya know?”

“what pals are for, yeah…” he said before closing his eyes, going completely silent.

“frisk… i’m trusting ya here, but if you’re lying to me…”

They then reopened, the black void in his eyeholes replacing the glowing dots that were once inside them. His smile turned unhinged.

“Well… I won’t grace it with a description.”

[Isabelle]

These events occur here in the timeline Birthday Party timeline: http://omniverse-rpg.com/showthread.php?...#pid101464

After reuniting, Frisk, Toriel, Alphys, and Sans head for the palace. They transverse the jungle sanctuary and headed through the big doors the heralded folks into it’s welcoming maw.

The guards ushered the group into a large room, finely decorated with rich tapestries. At the end of the room, sat Princes Guu herself, seated in a throne specifically designed to fit her butt. She sat there, watching them as they chugged their way through the room. Her face was fixed up into a great big smile, and her eyes were shimmering and red.

“Greetings, Avengers!” She said in her most cheeful voice to date. ”Please, do make yourselves comfortable… when you eventually get here.”

Took a while for Alphys to make it. She was used to long walks thanks to Undyne living in waterfall, but she wasn’t used to people waiting on her. By the time she reached the throne she was gasping for breath.

“I apologize gasp, your highness. I’m the scientist of the group gasp I’m not generally expected to do the leg work.”

“It’s okay!” She said with a welcoming smile. Please tell me about your group!

Since Alphys was still regaining her composure, Toriel and Frisk did much of the talking. They told Guu about their purpose of helping people and saving lives around the Omniverse. The child was upfront about how they were still a new group, but they’ve already do so much. She even mentioned her incident with the bomb.

“Oh my, Berry Blitzkrieg has always been a problem around here!” She exclaimed, understatement of the century.

“So, would you like to ally with us?” Spoke up Toriel. “Your city it quite wonderful from what we’ve seen, and you seem to share similar values.”

“Honestly, you had be sold when you walked in.” She chuckled. “While I’d like to have future meetings with your group, meet the rest of the gang before we make it official, I’d say this is a good foot in towards a friendship!”

“We’re honored.” Said Alphys, finally getting a word in.

“For now, I grant you access to our recall station, medical centre, and dataverse uplink station. Please use them when you are in need of them.” She said pleasantly. “And do stay for my daughter’s birthday party tomorrow, it’s slowly because the party of the century!”



The group headed out of the palace, somewhat in disbelief that of everything that went wrong this journey, the actual diplomatic mission was a resounding success.

As the group traveled back to the hotel, Frisk excused herself, saying she should go back to Avengers Tower to report their success. Despite Toriel’s insistence of coming with her, she manage to convince her to let her leave alone. After everything, she was glad to be the one to go file the report. With a possible friendship with Ambrosia in the future, and most of the issues with Sans ironed out, she was content the world was a little less greyer.

She was happy.