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“SANS!?”

Frisk lunged forward, her eyes flashing open as she jerked her head around to look behind her - but nothing was there. Nothing but the familiar stone wall of the Ruins corridor that she was leaning against. She clutched her sweater, gasping for breath as her heart pounded against her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on taking deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself down.

“...Just…just another…stupid nightmare…”

Breathe in…breathe out…

“Just another nightmare…”

Until she heard it again. The birdsong-like whistle. But this time it came from the other side of the door. She gasped, her head snapping up, her heart picking up its pace again.

“Sans!”

She didn’t even think to whistle back. She was in such shock that it didn’t cross her mind and she could already feel the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

“Sans I’ve been worried sick! I’m so sorry! M-My mom she…she wouldn’t let me come back! I kept trying to come back but…I-I told her about you…I…I was so scared after what you said last time that I panicked and…it…it was so stupid…I shouldn’t have told her…I’ve regretted it ever since and I’ve been losing my mind not being able to talk to you! I only got a chance now because she’s not feeling well and is asleep so I don’t know how much time I have to talk…”

She was rambling, talking a mile a minute and trying to explain her absence as quickly as possible.

“P-Please, Sans…I hope you haven’t been thinking I’ve abandoned you. I’ve been so worried about you. I’ve barely been able to sleep. W-What’s going on out there?? What’s happening with the Royal Guard?? Are they still coming after me?? I didn’t tell my mom about that…I didn’t want to worry her...”

She did wonder if Sans had done something considering no one had barged in to kill her in the month that had passed since he told her the Royal Guard knew of her existence.

“Did…did you fix things somehow?”

There was silence for a moment, but Frisk knew Sans was definitely out there. Not only did he do the secret whistle that only they knew, but she could hear him…breathing and shuffling around slightly. She opened her mouth to say something else, but stopped when Sans finally spoke - or rather…he started to chuckle.

It was a low chuckle, barely audible at first, but it steadily grew in volume. There was something…off about it. It didn’t quite sit right with Frisk. She hadn’t said anything funny…why was he laughing? Then, he did finally speak.

“Yeah. I fixed things.”

He chuckled again.

“You don’t have to worry about them anymore, Frisk.”

Frisk just stared blankly at the door, blinking a couple times. She wasn’t sure if she should feel relieved or not…on one hand, she was relieved…immensely so. Not having that fear of the Royal Guard coming to kill her at any moment hanging over head anymore was a huge weight off her shoulders. But…something still felt…wrong. Sans was acting weird. Why was he laughing? Why did he sound so…unsettling? It was making the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.

She quickly tried to brush off the feeling. It was absurd…this was Sans she was talking to, after all. Her best friend. She had known him since they were children and she literally trusted him with her life - why would she have any reason to feel this way about him all of a sudden. Surely this was all just because it had been so long since they had spoken…and perhaps Sans had been going through a lot all on his own, especially after losing his brother…

Her heart sank a bit at the thought of Sans grieving all alone. She gently placed her hand on the door, leaning into it.

“Sans…how are you doing? We…we never got to properly talk about…about Papyrus…”

She paused for a moment, seeing if Sans would respond. There was silence, so she continued.

“Do…do you want to tell me what happened?”

Frisk rested her forehead on the door, waiting for an answer. She was patient. She knew this was probably a heavy question to ask, so she didn’t push - but Sans did seem hesitant to say anything. She wondered if maybe it was too hard for him to answer. She was about to say something else, tell him it was ok if he didn’t want to talk about it, but then she heard him mumbling something. She slowly turned her head to put her ear against the door to try and hear better.

“No…No…Shut up…She’s not talking to you…”
Sans was barely audible, but Frisk could make it out. He definitely seemed to be talking to someone else out there.

Frisk let out a soft gasp in surprise, leaning away from the door.

“...S-Sans? Is…Someone out there with you?”

He wouldn’t bring someone to the door with him…would he?? He wouldn’t! He promised!

Sans mumbled some more, a little louder this time.

“Great…Thanks a lot, Pap…Now she’s freaking out.”

He sighed, then chuckled once more before raising his voice to a more audible level, speaking directly to Frisk again.

“No one’s here, Frisk. I’m great. Never been better.”

Did Frisk hear him right? Did he say “Pap?” She must’ve misheard…Sans definitely told her that Papyrus was dead…right? Not only that, but he just said no one was there when he was clearly talking to someone. Was he lying to her now? Her confusion was quickly turning into frustration.

“Sans, what is going on!?”

He chuckled again, somehow finding something amusing about her reaction.

“Don’t worry a hair on your little human head, Frisk. Everything is peachy keen.”

There was a hint of sarcasm to his voice and Frisk could practically hear the grin Sans likely had plastered on his face. His tone was unsettling.

“In fact…I’m glad you showed up this time. Means I won’t have to…go looking for you.”

He suddenly burst into laughter, before slowing down to catch his breath - trying to speak in between chuckles.

“Oh, the irony! T-That sure would’ve been something, ey, Pap?”

As Sans recovered from his own joke that Frisk did not understand at all, she slowly stood herself up from the ground, her hand still lingering on the door. She was utterly confused and her concern for her friend skyrocketed through the roof. Something was wrong with him…REALLY wrong with him…What had happened in the past month?

“W-What are you talking about, Sans? Please…You’re really starting to worry me!”

Sans’ laughter stopped as abruptly as it started. He was quiet for a moment, then spoke. His voice low and rigid, all humor seemed to have vanished from his tone instantaneously.

“I told you not to worry, Frisk.”

He paused, there was a sound like crunching snow on the other side of the door - as if Sans had taken a couple steps away. Then there was a new sound…something Frisk had never heard before.

SHOOF CRRSHHH

It was loud, and Frisk could only guess it had something to do with magic. She instinctively jerked her hand away from the door and took a step backwards, feeling the hair raise on the back of her neck again.

“Wh…what was that?”

“Step away from the door.”

He wasn’t asking.

Frisk didn’t know what he was doing, but Sans’ voice sounded so malignant now that her legs simply forced her to move before she could decide for herself if she wanted to listen to him or not. It was like there was a voice in her head that was screaming at her to run, while her heart was telling her that she needed to stay. Before she knew it, she was several feet away from the door, fighting the urge to run even further away.

At this distance, all she could do was shout, desperately trying to get through to her friend. 

“What are you doing, Sans!?”

There was another loud sound, one that sounded like something was charging up.

BWOOOOO

Sans’ voice was cold and mirthless.

“Something I should have done a long time ago.”

What did that mean?? Frisk’s hands trembled and her eyes shifted around the dark corridor aimlessly, desperately thinking, grasping for any kind of answer on what she should do. This wasn’t Sans…not the Sans she knew... What happened to him? Why is he acting like this?? There had to be something she could do…something she could say…something she-

She jerked her head around as soon as she saw her in her peripherals. She must not have heard her over all the noise, but she was there…her mother. Toriel was standing at the end of the corridor. All the noise must have woken her up and brought her down here to investigate. Her mouth opened to say something, her eyes filled with a mixture of confusion, worry and obvious disapproval for having found Frisk where she was explicitly prohibited from being, and then -

SHPOW!

There was a bright flash of white light - the most light Frisk had ever seen in her entire life. The ground shook and a loud, explosive noise of the Ruins door being blown to bits along with the sound of falling rubble from every direction filled the air. Frisk instinctively threw her arms up to cover her head, and her soul suddenly pinged in front of her chest - turning a deep blue color. Before she could really process what was going on, she was already flying forward in the direction of the door, or rather, where the door was. She kept a firm hold on her head, squeezing her eyes shut tightly and trying to keep her knees and elbows tucked inwards to avoid getting hit by any falling debris - and while she could feel herself get struck by a stray pebble or small rock here and there, she remained virtually unscathed as she felt herself be whisked away through the corridor of the Ruins.

As the wind rushed past her ears, her mind lingered on her mother - wondering if she was ok. But she dared not open her eyes or try to look back. She simply tried to keep her head down and body stable, trying not to think about the world crashing down around her - until she suddenly felt the brisk cold air of the outside blow through her hair and the light frozen speckles of snowflakes fall on her skin.

She slowly began to open her eyes again, but before she could fully do so, she collided into someone - almost knocking the wind out of her. They immediately wrapped their arms around her, gripping her by her sweater to secure her in place to stop her momentum - causing them both to slide backwards in the snow a few inches before coming to a halt entirely. Frisk let out a small gasp as she felt her feet touch the ground again and tried once more to open her eyes to see who had caught her, though she already had no doubt in her mind who it was.

The first thing she noticed was the smell of dusty iron, and upon opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was the chestplate of dark gray and gold trimmed armor that looked like it had seen better days. She hoped the iron smell was coming from the metal of the armor, but a sinking feeling in her gut was telling her she was wrong. Her eyes slowly moved up, landing on a tattered blue scarf that draped over his shoulders and looked like it turned into a cloak. She paused at this briefly, her breath catching, because she noticed it…the source of the iron smell. Blood. There was definitely dried blood on the scarf. And not just dried blood either, but dust as well. And a lot of it. She gulped, and anxiously continued her ascent upwards towards his face. 

This would be the first time she would ever see him face-to-face. She had wondered a few times before - what it would be like when she could finally put a face to the door she had been talking to all these years - but this…this scenario never crossed her mind. She always imagined it would be…happier. Exciting, maybe. But this? This felt almost like one of her nightmares.

Her gaze moved upwards until it finally landed on Sans’ face. His tattered blue cloak was hooded and was concealing half his face in shadow. Nevertheless, one ominous feature cut through the darkness cast by his hood, boring into Frisk’s very soul and sending shivers down her spine - his eyes. They burned with an eerie bright crimson glow, only his left eye had an additional thin light blue ring that ran along the inner edge.

This…was him…

This was…

“...S-Sans…”

Frisk spoke meekly, her voice trembling slightly, much like her entire body. She felt…frightened. Actually frightened. But also…complete despair for feeling this way and seeing Sans this way. This was supposed to be her best friend…she didn’t want to be scared of him.

Sans slowly tilted his head to the side, looking down at Frisk, almost as if he could perceive her fear.

“Don’t worry.”

A sinister smile gradually spread across the visible portion of his face, a slightly unhinged tone to his voice.

“I got you.”