TopSpeedOfSound

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

Sans' soul nearly leapt out of his chest when Frisk began to wake up, freezing completely until she sat up so he could move his foot. Luckily, she didn't seem to notice where its previous location had been, thank whatever god was looking down on him. However, as she tried to sit up, still somewhere between actually being awake and blissfully asleep, she was awkward and shaky, and he couldn't help but snicker quietly at it.

However, he was once more scared shitless(if such was even possible) when she realized what was going on. She almost seemed to shortcut across the couch before flinging herself at him in what was possibly the tightest hug he'd ever received, but he wasn't complaining. He just hugged her with equal enthusiasm, not minding that she was practically laying on top of him.

As Frisk voiced her worry, guilt crept up the stout skeleton's spine. He tried to chuckle it off, though it still sat in his metaphorical gut like a stone,"'m fine. fit as a fiddle. actually, i don't think i've ever felt better to tell the truth."

For the past who knows how long, Sans had never woken up refreshed and at peace, but aside from the feeling of guilt at his weakness, he was feeling it now for the first time. It almost scared him a bit how well rested he felt. Maybe he should work himself to exhaustion every day... Nah. Too much work.

However, the thought brought back the memory of his double.

He would really need to get on the ball in training with his magic. They didn't know when the glitch was coming back, but he'd made it clear that he would return, and until then Sans needed to make sure he was ready.

He looked down at the happy human in his arms, warmth spreading over his ribs as he did,"so, what all did i miss? anything exciting?"

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

Sans couldn't remember. He had no inkling of anything, except that he was Sans, Sans the skeleton. It was dark all around him, but it was pleasant, warm even. He liked this place, it felt safe and cozy, like something he knew he had experienced before, but just couldn't recall for the life of him.

And then he felt himself being pulled at, a gentle, coaxing tug that wasn't unbearable, but was far from comfortable. Exposure was his next sensation. He felt- no... He was exposed, he could feel it. The darkness began to grow cold, eerie, and he swore he just saw something move out there in the inky blackness. The cold was getting worse, he was shivering. He hated this! He just wanted to go back to his safe, warm darkness where he wouldn't be disturbed.

After what felt like an eternity, peace settled back into him, the warmth returned, he no longer felt exposed.

But the chill remained.

He felt violated on the deepest level.

But he couldn't voice this. Couldn't move to curl in on himself. And most terrifying, he didn't know what was next.

Suddenly, as if wherever he was just recalled his trauma, warmth enveloped him. It was strong, caring, and peaceful, but powerful. He relaxed at last and tried to connect with the warmth, let it consume him, but he couldn't. It was as if there was a thin, but very there barrier between himself and the warmth. Sadness struck him, but didn't consume him. He stayed with the warmth, comforted by its presence.

He couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be.

---

Sans woke, for once, not in a sweat, and no cry of terror on his maw, but warm, relaxed, and maybe just a tad uncomfortable. With a small groan, he stretched and raised his head, only to blush at what he saw.

Frisk's face was buried in the arm of the couch, and he was practically laying on her backside, one skeleton leg by her head, and the other somehow finding a way under her stomach. With dread he wiggled his toes and flushed completely cyan. He could feel the softness of her breasts on either side of his bony foot.

How could she even sleep like that? It couldn't be comfortable!

Then he tried to think back to how they'd even gotten in this position. The last thing he remembered was.... Coming home from Tori's, and then... Collapsing.

Guilt rang through his soul.

He'd worried her, and most definitely Papyrus too. Damn, he was supposed to be the strong one. The one who kept it together no matter what. And he just... Passed out.

Whatever, he could deal with that in a moment, right now he had a slightly more.... pressing matter to deal with. Slowly, he tried to pull his foot out from under Frisk, doing his best not to wiggle his toes or wake Frisk.

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

Papyrus had been ready for the shut down, but, not this. This was.... not what he'd been expecting. And Frisk, she was so strong and confident normally, sometimes she'd have the same look that Sans did when he was having a particularly bad day, but other than that, she was... not like this. She sounded hollow and heartbroken as she spoke of having done himself, Sans, and everyone else wrong, and followed it up with how she would spend the rest of her life trying to make it up to them.

But he could recall no wrong she'd done to him.

When they'd first met, the child had seemed a bit nervous, closed off, and not willing to talk much to the tall skeleton. Papyrus had been deeply wounded by her actions, but he'd always felt that perhaps it wasn't just as simple as her refusing his spaghetti, or her not really wanting to be around him or Sans. He hadn't dwelled on the thought too long though, instead he gave being her friend his all. He even talked Sans into doing the same! Though, he had refused at first, muttering about how "now might not be a good time" or "she's been through a lot, just let her be", but Papyrus would have none of that. It was only through both his and Sans' persistence(and perhaps some encouragement from Toriel) that she'd finally come out of her shell and became a real friend to them all.

And now his dear friend was distressed over not only Sans and his wellbeing, but some evil she was convinced she'd committed and was determined to mend. Paps' soul tightened uncomfortably in his ribs and a strange sensation slithered across his cervical vertebrae. It was like a sensation he remembered from a dream, or perhaps the kind of nightmare that you forget as soon as you wake up. But something else filled him as well.

All of a sudden, a knock tore Papyrus' attention from Frisk and the skeleton all but ran to the door and threw it open to see none other than Alphys with a halfhearted smile and a bag of tools in hand. He quickly ushered her in, following almost right on her heels as she made her way over to the couch and looked at the shorter skeleton. "E-excuse me," she nearly whispered as she pulled Sans' jacket off of him and his shirt as well. She looked over his ribcage intently, searching for wounds or cracks or fractures before opening her bag and pulling out a strange machine that she sat on the floor before hovering a shaky hand over his chest. "Y-y-you two m-might w-w-w-want to l-look away,"she said softly. After all, it was rude to look at another monster's soul without permission, but they needed to find out what was wrong and if her was alright.

Papyrus gently tapped Frisk on the shoulder and began walking to the kitchen, hoping she would follow. They had their fair share of things to talk about, it seemed.

But as he finally reached the kitchen, he couldn't find the words to say.

What could he say?

He was lost as to what deed Frisk had ever done that deserved her self condemned punishment. She was so kind and sweet. She'd never hurt a fly, much less say or do something to hurt anyone. But she was convinced she'd done something.

Pushing the thought away, he walked over to the cabinet and pulled out the hot chocolate mix before moving around to find a pot, fill it with water, and set it on the stove to boil. He kept unnaturally quiet the entire time, not sure where to begin, or better yet, where to start. Usually it as Sans and Frisk having these talks, but it typically started with some sort of argument, and Papyrus did not like to argue with anyone, especially not Sans or Frisk.

As the water came to a boil, he moved the pot off of the burner and pulled two mugs down to fill them, putting two scoops of the cocoa mix in each before stirring them and bringing them to the table.

The air felt tense and he couldn't look at the human. He felt awkward, and the lack of talking wasn't helping in the least.

Finally, after a few more agonizing moments of silence, Alphys walked in with a relieved smile on her maw,"S-sans is perfectly f-f-fine! He's just s-super exhausted. Let h-him sleep for a few hours and he'll be r-right as rain!" Papayrus rushed over to the lizard monster, relief clear on his bony features, and walked her to the door with many thanks for her coming out to check on Sans.

Once she'd left, he walked back over to Sans, noticing his shirt and jacket had both been put back on. He smiled fondly at his older brother, glad that there had been nothing wrong.

He didn't know what he would have done if anything had happened to him.

But he didn't forget the problem at hand.

He looked to the human. "FRISK... I DO NOT KNOW WHAT IT IS YOU THINK YOU HAVE DONE TO ME OR SANS, BUT...." Papyrus walked over to her and pulled her into a gentle hug,"I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW, THAT WHATEVER IT IS, I FORGIVE YOU. AND I STILL BELIEVE IN YOU. WE ARE FAMILY, AND I TRUST BOTH YOU AND SANS WITH ALL OF MY SOUL. PLEASE DO NOT TORTURE YOURSELF WITH THIS, BECAUSE YOU DO NOT DESERVE IT. YOU ARE GOOD AND KIND AND DESERVE TO ONLY SMILE."

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

Papyrus had been busy fixing a delicious serving of spaghetti(complete with an extra helping of love just for Sans) when he heard the front door open. Figuring it was just Sans and Frisk coming home, he didn't pay mind to the minor disturbance and continued his vigorous cooking. And then he heard a muffled stumbling sound followed by Frisk calling out for him.

The tall skeleton felt his soul twist sickeningly as he dropped everything and dashed into the front room to see Frisk laying an unconscious Sans on the couch.

He jaw worked wordlessly as he moved to his brothers' side and hovered over him. He picked the smaller skeleton up and placed him down more comfortably before turning to the human,"W-WE..! WHAT H-HAPPENED?! I-I-I...!" The poor skeleton had no idea what to make of the situation, much less what to do. He'd never seen Sans like this before, so frail and exhausted. He was strong, no matter how sad he was on the inside, but now... Now he looked so weak and small. Like anything, any simple touch would break him.

He stuttered out a dry sob before dashing back into the kitchen to grab his phone off the counter and immediately dialed Alphys' number.

He reentered the living room as he waited with bated breath for her to answer, his free hand resting on his brothers' skull. He knew something had been wrong earlier! Why hadn't he just begged Sans to stay at Undyne's with him?

"P-p-p-papyrus! You d-d-don't have to call every t-time y-y-y-you want to b-borrow a movie!"

At the pick up, the tall skeleton clutched the phone like a life line and sputtered out hysterically,"A-ALPHYS! PLEASE! YOU HAVE TO COME QUICKLY! S-SANS, H-H-HE-! HE PASSED OUT, AND I DO NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO! PLEASE! THIS HAS NEVER HAPPENED BEFORE! OH, PLEASE, ALPHYS! I AM SCARED!" "Wha-?! Papyrus! S-slow down! J-j-just keep calm, o-ok? C-can you see a-a-anything physically wrong with him? Any b-broken bones or c-c-cuts?"

Papyrus rubbed the gathering tears from his eye sockets with a sniff and he looked his brother over, shaking as he did,"N-NO. HE DOES NOT HAVE A F-FEVER EITHER."

"A-alright! I'll b-b-be over faster than you can b-blink, ok? J-j-just stay w-with him and call m-m-me if anything changes!"

The younger skeleton nodded, not trusting his voice as he gently hung up and sunk to his knees beside the couch. Carefully, he took one of Sans' hands in his own, praying to whatever higher power was listening that the shorter would be alright. He closed his eyes a moment, taking a shaky breath to somewhat compose himself before looking over to Frisk. Knowing Sans, if Frisk knew what was wrong, he'd probably asked her not to say anything, but even so, Papyrus still gave her the best smile he could manage,"ALPHYS IS ON HER WAY. SHE SHOULD BE HERE SOON."

He looked back down at Sans, taking in just how tired the other appeared, even when he was resting. Why hadn't he noticed anything before it came to this? Why didn't Sans tell him anything?

Grinding his teeth softly, Papyrus debated on asking Frisk, though he was positive she wouldn't give an answer. Still, he had to say something, otherwise he'd burst right back into hysterics all over again. Quietly, Paps took a deep breath,"F-FRISK... I KNOW THAT YOU ARE PROBABLY IN ON WHATEVER IT IS THAT SANS DOES NOT WANT THE REST OF US TO KNOW, BUT..... CAN YOU AT LEAST TELL ME IF THERE IS SOMETHING I CAN DO TO HELP? I... I DO NOT WANT TO LOSE HIM, NOR DO I WANT HIM TO CARRY EVERYTHING BY HIMSELF, SO...", Papyrus cut himself off with a shrill sob.

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

The short skeleton, though knowing that Frisk couldn't possibly win against the other him, felt reassurance at her claim, and even let himself relax a bit. Though it quickly dissipated into stressful tension in his bones as she began to describe her time in another universe. One where he was cruel and heartless. One where he knew no mercy.

His hand tightened in hers, sockets going black now, both from exhaustion and the horrible feelings of guilt swirling in his soul.

Back then, in those last few resets, had he not been exactly the same as the Sans she'd described? There were times when Frisk had begged for mercy before the last strike, but he'd refused. And he killed her. And never once had he felt an ounce of guilt for it, at least not until now. Now he felt like a true monster for what he'd done, and he wished every single day that he could take it back. Not just his actions, but his hurtful words as well.

He shuddered at her last words.

He couldn't imagine living in a world like that, though he'd be lying if he said he hadn't thought bitterly about his life. Before this timeline, he'd lost all hope and motivation for striving for a better future.

He'd been depressed and tired, and sometimes thought about how there was no point in fighting. And every time it reset, he felt that hole in his soul grow bigger and bigger. And so he'd decided that, maybe, that just might be the answer.

Damn, all of this thinking was hurting his head.

Up ahead he could see the blurred colors of what he knew was home and held Frisk's hand tighter as he all but dragged her towards the house. He could feel his strength failing, his bones and magic shutting down slowly. He didn't want to scare Frisk, but he desperately needed to rest, they both did.

He didn't say a word as he rushed to the door, opening it, and stumbling over the threshold.

Sans stood there a moment, listening to the house for any signs of life. And then he heard the comforting sound of Papyrus clashing around in the kitchen. Without any warning, the short skeleton collapsed in relief, his mind succumbing easily to the foggy darkness that had been looming over him for some time.

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

He followed her wordlessly out into the cold, mostly on autopilot at this point. It was almost dreamlike, surreal even. He couldn't really feel the biting nip of the chilled breeze, couldn't really hear her walking beside him. Maybe if he just closed his eyes he would wake up in his bed....

"So.... That was... Another you, right? Someone from an alternate universe?"

Sans had to take a moment to focus on the question, almost sure that he'd imagined it. White pin pricks very duly glowing now, he debated internally whether they should start this conversation now or wait until they'd both recovered. Frisk would probably be easier to brush off if her questions got too deep now rather than later. "Yeah..... I've never met any of 'em before, but... Knew they were out there, ya know,"he spoke a bit slow and slurred. Maybe he should just teleport them the rest of the way home? They were exhausted after all, and the thought of snuggling down with a soft, warm human was incredibly appealing.

But instead of his body listening to his head, his mouth continued on rambling,"But... Wonder why he came here. Could'a gone to any universe, and he came here. And now.... When everything's settlin' down, he wants to destroy it..."

He stayed silent for some time, his hazy mind trying to comprehend what the universe had against him finally being happy. Why did every timeline end at his expense? Did he really deserve all of this? Did he deserve happiness? Probably not. Maybe all of those times he'd heartlessly murdered Frisk were catching up with him in the form of his corrupt doppelganger.

"I don't want this to end."

He hardly even registered the words had left his mouth, but didn't say anything more as he slid his cold bony hand into Frisk's. He couldn't fathom the thought of starting over again, much less having everything just end.

No.

He wouldn't allow it.

He was finally happy, everyone was. He wouldn't let it be ripped away like that. He would fight until he was dust if he had to, but everyone's joy, his joy, it would have to be pried from his cold, dead fingers. And if he died by that other Sans' hands from his efforts, then at least he died trying.

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

Even as he could feel Frisk shaking when Tori opened the door, Sans didn't let himself speak a word, just nodded along with Frisk. The things they knew would be too much for the queen, hell, it was almost too much for him.

Back before Frisk had finally settled down in this timeline, when he and Tori had.... A thing... He'd tried to explain the resets to her, and she'd nearly lost her mind. He couldn't do that to her again. And that was part of the reason he didn't pursue her this timeline or the few before. He didn't want to put anyone in that position. So as the old queen led them inside and looked to him for the answers Frisk wouldn't give, he simply shrugged and stuffed his mouth with another bite of pie.

Honestly, with how stressed out he was, the skeleton felt sick with each bite he took. But he couldn't bring himself to stop, it was the only way he knew how to cope.

About halfway through his piece, he set his plate down on the table and excused himself, feeling he'd rested long enough. He needed to get to Undyne's and make sure all was well. And if it wasn't? Everyone would have a bad time. Especially that not-quite imposter Sans.

All to eager to leave, Sans didn't even walk down the stairs before teleporting away, appearing outside of Undyne's house. He looked himself over a moment before setting to tidying himself up. Sadly there was little he could do about the dirt stains on his face and clothes, but hopefully neither Undyne nor Paps would pay too much attention to it. Maybe he could just pass it off as him finally training? As if. Papyrus would know that was a sad lie at best. Still, he wouldn't let that stop him.

With a long sigh, he concentrated and teleported to the other side of the door, watching the chaos of spaghetti ingredients flying all over the quaint home. Undyne was at the counter pounding tomatoes, while Papyrus stood over the stove shoving dry pasta into a pot roughly, adding other smashed ingredients afterwards.

The scene was almost enough of a distraction to make the stout skeleton forget his initial mission.

"C'mon, Papyrus! Beat those ingredients down like you would an intruder!" "NYEH! NO INTRUDER SHALL PASS THE GREAT AND MIGHTY PAPYRUS",the tall skeleton bellowed as he began beating the ingredients down into the pot with a conjured bone.

Neither noticed Sans until he let out a chuckle and smoothly spoke,"Looks like you two are havin' a smashing good time."

Taken by surprise, Undyne threw a spear in his direction without missing a beat. Sans easily teleported out of the way, though immediately regretted it as he staggered a bit on landing. And it didn't missed either monster's notice.

Instantly, both Undyne and Papyrus were huddling over him, his brother's face a worried mess,"SANS! WHAT IS THE MATTER, BROTHER? ARE YOU HURT?! UNDYNE, DID YOU HIT HIM WITH YOUR SPEAR?!! "N-no! It missed! I swear!"

Righting himself, Sans looked up at them and forced his grin back on his maw. He didn't want them to worry.

"Heh, don't worry, bro. She's pretty good at spearing me," man, that one was cringe worthy, even to his own ears(or would be if he had any),"Seriously, I'm good."

Neither looked convinced.

"BROTHER, WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? AND WHERE IS FRISK? I THOUGHT YOU TWO WERE GOING TO REST TODAY," Papyrus questioned as he looked around like she would suddenly appear. Then his worried and innocent gaze rested back on Sans. Something was definitely wrong,"BROTHER, YOUR CLOTHES.... WHAT HAPPENED?"

" 's nothing, Paps, really. I just-"

"Sans! You look terrible! It wasn't 'just nothing'! You look like you just had your ass handed to you," Undyne spoke harshly, her gaze hard, though it softened just a fraction at the glare he gave her for the curse.

"I just need to get some sleep, but I wanted to check up on you guys first, alright? End of story," he growled to the fish monster.

He should leave now before they worried any more. Or worse, if Undyne tried to beat it out of him.

Any other day he could take her, but not here. Not like this.

" SANS, PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS WRONG. YOU ARE EVEN MORE DISHEVELED THAN YOU NORMALLY ARE! PLEASE," at Papyrus' pleading, Sans felt guilt bloom in his ribcage and wished he could honestly say it was nothing. But it wasn't. And he hated lying to Paps. Even if it was for his own good.

"I'll see you at home, Paps," and without another word, he teleported back to Tori's, falling to the ground as vertigo engulfed him. Had he really used that much magic today? Or maybe it was a combination of that and his meager few minutes of sleep? Either way he silently agreed with himself that he wouldn't be teleporting again any time soon.

Slowly he stood back up, only to see that the house was empty and untouched from when he'd left. Even his half eaten pie was still sitting on the table where he'd left it.

Fear instantly replaced his exhaustion.

He slowly walked around the house, checking every nook and cranny before making his way to the bedrooms. First he checked Frisk's old room, only to be met with emptiness. Next he tried to check Toriel's room, but it was locked.

"Tori," he called with a knock, but received no answer.

He knocked again and heard a faint shuffling inside before a note was slid under the door.

'<i>Frisk is waiting for you in the hall.</I>'

The skeleton frowned at the message and turned to make his way to Frisk. Why was she out in the hall and not inside? This wasn't like her and Tori. Regardless, he descended the stairs and made his way through the hall until he found her leaned against the door.

She looked miserable. He was sure he didn't look much better.

Just from how Toriel was acting, Sans could guess that they'd had some kind of falling out. And it was practically his fault. Maybe... Maybe he could talk to Tori in private about it. He wouldn't tell her everything, just as much as he thought she could handle.

He desperately wracked his skull for some lame pun, but nothing came to mind. So instead he just silently walked over to Frisk and brought her into a tight hug, rasping softly in her ear,"Come on, kiddo. Let's go home."

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

Sans didn't even notice Frisk's presence until he felt something being draped over his shoulders and a gentle weight leaning against him. He looked to see her nuzzling against him and let out a gentle huff, placing a bony hand over hers.

He didn't know when the other Sans would be back, but he guessed they'd seen the last of him for today. At least he hoped so.

But now what? He needed to go check on Papyrus, but he didn't want to bring Frisk with him(she had to be exhausted), and he wasn't about to leave her by herself. Tori. He could take her to Toriel's and she would be safe.

He knew that Frisk had been capable of ending her, but against a foreign monster, the old goat wouldn't hold back. And as much as that damned flower hated everyone, even he would keep an ear out for her.

"We're heading to Tori's,"he said plainly, wrapping an arm around Frisk's waist before he teleported to the doors of the ruins.

He looked up at the doors, contemplating his words before he spoke softly, still a bit dazed,"Don't tell anyone about..... Him. I don't want anybody to worry. Tori's gonna know something is wrong as soon as she sees us, just say we had a rough night. I know she's like your mom, but you can't say a word about it to her. Lie if you have to."

Calmly he knocked on the door and put on his best fake smile. It was pretty convincing, if he might say so, even if his face was in a perpetual state of a grin.

He'd rest a moment with Frisk and Tori, then be off. He didn't want to even think about what might happen to Paps if the other Sans found him. After all, he had no qualms full force attacking his double, so what would stop him from hurting Papyrus? And sure Undyne was strong, but she couldn't defeat him, and she sure as he'll couldn't fend off that corrupt version of himself. No, he had to protect them all. He had to.

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

"Runnin' off fumes," he answered with another huff. The other Sans' took his sweet time getting back on his feet, his face an absolute work of rage. Now Sans knew why Frisk always looked so fearful when they fought in the past. He could look pretty scary when he wanted to.

Sans stood as well, keeping his stance defensive and summoning a barrage of bones at the ready.

The other growled, sending a shudder through the timeline native skeleton, and readied two gasters,"Y O U T W O A R E M O R E T R O U B L E T H A N Y O U ' R E W O R T H."

As he prepared for an attack, the foreign Sans launched himself at the pair, dragging his gasters with him, though when he was but a few feet away, he suddenly stopped and looked intently behind him. He didn't move for some time, and it was beginning to make his counterpart antsy, his fingers twitching in apprehension. But it came to an end soon enough as the other Sans let his hands fall to his sides.

"H-heh.... Fo-for-fortunately for yo-ou, I have.... O-other mat-t-ters to attend t-t-to-o,"he turned his leer towards the pair,"b-but don't wor-ry. I'll be b-b-ba-ck."

With that, the other Sans turned back towards the opposite wall and the same crackling sound from earlier echoed loudly as reality seemed to tear and welcome him into stark whiteness.

Sans stared at the scene in awe. Never before had he seen anything like this, and he might not ever again. As fast as he could, Sans ran after his double as he stepped inside the void and it began to close. "Wait," he shouted, but it was too late as the last seal disappeared with a strange vacuum sound.

Sans just stared at the spot for a moment, trying to process what had just happened.

He'd been right about the other universes, but never had he expected to actually meet another version of himself, much less fight him. Did that mean there were others like that Sans? Was there a Papyrus like that? Would they both come next time?

No, he didn't have time to think about this!

Frisk! He had to take care of her first. And Paps. And help Alphys' with her research. And finished his own immortality research. And attend his sentry over the Underground. And actually start training. And act like all of this stress wasn't going to kill him. Then he could worry about them.

He could handle it. Right?

Completely forgetting about everything as he lost himself in thought, Sans began to mutter to himself. His words were just a jumble of partially formed thoughts, nothing that really made any sense, but he couldn't help it. He absently reached to shove a hand in his pocket and only then snapped out of his trance, noticing he didn't have it on.

Determination[TopSpeedOfSound & MurderVictim] HIATUS

The other Sans went rigid as Frisk shielded her Sans. His bone stopped centimeters from the top of her head as he listened to her pleas. It was touching, really. Seeing a kid who actually cared about what happened to the monsters in this timeline.

But it didn't change the fact that she'd killed them all in cold blood before.

He let out a chuckle that slowly morphed into a maniacal laughter. And then he stopped and stared at her.

"H A H A H A H A H A H A A A A A!!!! You two-wo-o are p-p-per-perfect! You think I'd s-sh-ow you some k-kind-a merrrrrcy ju-ust cause yo-you beg? I D I O T S,"he growled as the bone in his hand dissipated. With a snap of his fingers, threads fell down around her and wrapped themselves around her arms, legs and neck, not tight enough to hurt, but snug enough they couldn't be shaken off.

Sans struggled at the sight, clawing desperately at the bone still pinning him. He could see the magic coursing through the threads and knew that whatever the other was doing, it wasn't good.

Horror crossed his features as he watched the other Sans wiggle his fingers, making Frisk's body move awkwardly in turn. "Frisk," he hissed out, voice on the edge of a shout, and getting his counterpart's attention. "H-h-heh, didn't thi-ink we'd leave y-y-ya out diiid ya? No-ow le-le-let's have soooome real fun," he grinned and moved his hand to send the human flying at the other skeleton.

Using his gravity magic, Sans pinned Frisk's body to the ground, hoping he hadn't hurt her as he muttered a quick apology. And then he noticed the gaster hovering right above her. It shot a beam at him, and he quickly teleported out of sight, taking cover behind another boulder as he panted for breath. All of this teleporting and fighting was taking a lot out of him. But he had to help Frisk. Somehow he had to break those threads and get her out of there.

The other Sans huffed in disappointment, bringing his human puppet to his side,"How doooo ya li-li-like that? Cow-ow-oward raaaaan away. Heh, weeeell at le-le-least I still have yo-ou."

Just as the foreign skeleton raised his free hand towards Frisk, Sans teleported behind him and swept his feet out from under him, almost comically knocking him onto his face. But instead of taking the time to laugh at the scene, he quickly summoned a gaster and let it blast through the middle of the threads before taking Frisk's hand and teleporting a good distance away. He fell to his knees, exhausted, but didn't take his eyes off the other version of himself,"You ok, kiddo?"