Monster Instinct

Sans was still fairly quiet. Papyrus hadn't let go of him, just hanging onto him for dear life. "Um." He still didn't know what to say as he looked at the picture. Frisky was still as short as him. The wedding dress was still the same. It was definitely him. That was definitely his bony fingers giving Papyrus bunny ears in the picture. He looked down from the picture to the flower sitting back in the pot. 

He just went back to the picture again.  

"I'm so, so, so, so, so, sorry Saaaaans!" Papyrus cried on him. 

"Yeah." Sans patted his back. "Just, it's alright. Um." He looked back at the flower again. "So. Yanked, huh? That's . . ." He. He didn't really know what to say. Normally, forgotten timelines didn't matter. FRISK taking all of the Monsters out. Watching Papyrus die. Going to the surface for a few minutes. But, none of it mattered. None of it. But. "Um." 

"Look at that? Look at that big smile on you, hardly any Skeleton has ever looked that happy!" Papyrus pulled him closer to his embrace, almost choking him. "You were supposed to be married!" 

"Am." 

"You were supposed to be a dad!" 

"Am." 

"Yeah, but, this is all . . . well, it's different!" Papyrus pulled him even closer. 

"Let's not break my bones," Sans warned him. "Papyrus, no! Not that!" He felt himself getting lifted off the ground up into his brother's arms. Usually he didn't do that. Papyrus was really hurting for him. "Papyrus, it's okay. Easy. You don't get it. I don't remember. Easy, easy." Sans scrambled more for the actual ground. "Papyrus, put me down. Come on, it's okay, really." 

"But you had your family stolen, Sans!" Papyrus squeezed him even harder. "That is the worsest of the worsest of the . . ." Papyrus gasped. "And-and-and they even tried to give her more children that were not yours?! That's the absolute worst thing! They tried to claim your family away from you!" 

"Pretty bad, I get it, come on, down." Sans struggled in his brother's embrace. "Pap, down!" 

"But they, but they, but they!" 

"Forgotten timeline. Forgotten is the keyword here. Let me down."  

"But you don't get it, Sans! This one is important!" 

"I understand that," Sans said, "but keeping me up in the air isn't going to change anything." 

Papyrus finally put him down. Sans brushed himself off as he looked toward the flower. "Boring story?" 

"Yeah. Your story," Flowey answered back. "Your boring life story." 

Sans shoved his hands in his coats. "That's weird to hear. I mean, she was almost my sister." Flowey actually snickered.  

Papyrus gasped. "That's right, we almost . . . you almost made a sister of your already wife." 

"Almost wife. They never married. They just kept getting killed over and over beforehand." 

Sans rubbed his jawbone. "You know. I, uh. I don't really know what to do with this." He shoved the picture in his coat. "A part of me wants to forget it. Just go on like I don't know. I mean, it's just another timeline. Another set of memories I'll never remember. And they don't matter-" 

"But Sans-" 

"But it did. I mean, even if I don't remember . . ." Sans looked toward Papyrus. "Um. What happened when they were yanked?" 

Flowey sighed. "Your kid wasn't . . . wanted. So, they did the same thing they always do with what they don't want. Turned it into a re-reset or Conduit. But, you know Frisky and her DETERMINATION. They noticed that too. And, considering she actually held a half-Monster Conduit abomination to term? They decided she would be an excellent candidate for a Soul Soldier. Plus, until she learned to fight, they got 'bonus' time to see what else she could handle." He bopped his head around. "Don't worry, Smiley Trashbag! It wasn't the same way you made Chance! No, humans and Balancers don't bother with a physical way anymore, it's all surgical and soul surgeries now. Makes better, stronger, soldiers." 

"And that's supposed to be cheery?!" Papyrus shouted. "They. Took. Sans'. Family!" 

"Sssh." Sans tried to soothe him while he looked back to the flower. "So. So." 

Flowey bopped his head around. "Sorry! Trying to stay warm, warm, warm!" Then he stopped. "I did not just apologize, did I?" 

"Kay. Uh. So. Heh, kay? Um. I've never even dated before." 

"Aww, that's so surprising," Flowey teased him. "Who wouldn't want a stumpy Skeleton who made puns and fart jokes all day eating burgers?" 

"You're not being nice!" Papyrus warned it. 

"It's true though, Papyrus." Sans had to agree. "I mean, never tried anyhow. There's no one really . . . well, you didn't either." 

"Well, I tried once," Papyrus reminded him. "The human seemed like it liked me. I felt popular and cool." 

Flowey just groaned. "You two are hopeless." 

"Fine, okay, in some timeline I actually . . . dated?" Sans said with uncertainty. "And . . ." 

"And physically got involved with a human!" Flowey winked to drive the point home. "Chance was a happy accident. Happy. Accident. So you had to get married." 

"Oh. Ooh." Sans cringed slightly. "Same reason. Sort of." 

"It wasn't bad though," Flowey said. "The royal family was happy to have a union of a Monster and a human! It seemed like it would bring good things. So much so, you were invited to have your wedding at the Royal castle itself. And as you can see from the picture? You weren't sad about it either." 

"You were very, very, happy." Papyrus wiped his tears away. "Sans, I can't quit manifesting tears!" 

"Okay. So, Frisky and I, had Chance. And, I was marrying her. And then." He shook his skull. "I was marrying Frisky pregnant, and then she was taken and-and . . ." 

"Sans, it's okay." Papyrus insisted.  

"Um." Sans found himself with his problem from earlier, and his brother's new problem. Manifesting tears. He wiped them on his coat. "Um. So! Hey! My whole family was taken away, experimented on, forced to be soldiers, and I just got to keep on going and forget all about them. Well, that's . . . kay. Nothing new. I guess. From the other pictures. Just the same. Except for the soldier thing. Fine. So. Is there something I can kill? Anything I can kill?" He looked toward Papyrus. "Any bad humans around here I can kill? I just want to kill, I need to kill something. Now. I gotta kill something now. Anything. Now!" 

"Sans, calm down!" Papyrus held him tight again. "That's your Monster instinct taking hold, but you don't need to do that! Work through it. You have to work through it. You don't want to kill a Gyftrot or something. You'll feel bad later." 

This time, Sans held tightly to him. "I don't remember, but, but this one hurts!" He knew Frisky. He knew Chance. He didn't know them in that time, but he knew them now. It wasn't just random Skeletons and Monsters he'd never known in forgotten pictures, and to think of it hurt. It hurt!  

"I know. I've got you." Papyrus tried to work with him. "You have your son! He's up and about probably in the house even though he should be sleeping. You know him. And, you have your wife! She's upstairs, waiting for you. And, and they'll be here every day. Every day from now on!" 

"Yanked away. I reset, and they didn't. I reset, but they didn't. They were just . . .yanked . . ." Sans shook his skull. "I don't care, I'm finding something to kill!" 

"No, no! Sans, don't make me call Undyne!" Papyrus warned him. He tried to hold Sans back, but it wasn't going to matter.  

Nothing mattered. No one cared how anyone hurt. No one cared about what had been taken away. No one cared about his own kid, or taking away his body for others to control. No one cared about Frisky except to see what they could do with her DETERMINATION. No one cared to let him have years of his own life. Nothing mattered. No one cared. Nothing mattered. No one cared. 

"I called Undyne, she is coming quicky quick! Stop Sans!" 

Nothing mattered. No one cared. Nothing mattered No one cared. 

Nothing mattered. 

No one cared. 

It was pointless. 

It was all pointless. 

"What's going on?" Undyne asked as she arrived by Papyrus' side. 

"Oh, bad things!" Papyrus grabbed his head. "The worst offense ever has been committed, and Sans' Monster instinct is raging too hard for me to control!" 

"Worst offense?" Undyne didn't understand. "What do you mean?" 

"In the resets? You know, the thing that Sans and the brilliant Alphys pulled us out of?" Papyrus tried to explain in a hurry. "He was married with Frisky and she was pregnant with Chance, and they were taken away. Out of the Underground before the reset. Chance is truly his! His, his, and Frisky was his! Once upon a time, and then, they were hurt a lot. A lot. And, and he is-" 

"Frisky and Chance were his family and taken away?" Undyne held out her spear. "That offense. That offense is so great." 

"Oh yes, and, they um. They tried to give her even more kids. But, it didn't work. But. Um. His Monster blood is boiling!" 

"Mine would be too!" Undyne squeezed her hand together in a tight fist. "It already is thinking about this injustice." 

"But I can't calm him down, Undyne! He wants to kill something to ease the pain!" 

Undyne nodded and headed after him. He was leaving Snowdin which was good, but his power really was raging. She could see ground underneath the snow, and traces of his blue magic on the snow glittering around the area. Right now, it sounded like he was running on complete Monster instinct. He wasn't himself, and he would barely even remember what he did when he was done. 

She found him heading into Waterfall and held him up. Before she spoke a word, she saw his eye sockets. There was an eye. An eye flashing between flames of blue and yellow. "Sans! I understand the rage burning inside from this injustice," she announced, "but, you are going to hurt something. You do not want to hurt an innocent Monster, do you? We will help you get your justice. This will NOT go unpunished, but you need to pull yourself together long enough!" 

"No one." His voice was deep. Cold. Almost cruel. "No one can get justice but me. It's mine." 

"Okay. But your justice is not out here," Undyne tried again.  

"Yes it is." 

"It might be, but, you will hurt others through the process. I cannot allow that." Undyne held her spear up high. "Calm the boiling blood long enough for us to see our King." She wanted to say more, but found herself pulled into an encounter. 

With Sans. 

He was so out of control, he didn't even understand what he was doing anymore. 

"Undyne!" Papyrus shouted carrying something over to them. A kid. Sans' kid. "Stop!" He moved over toward Sans. "Looky, look! It is your boy! He has an extremely confused look on his face, but he's here!" He stepped toward Sans. "Stop the encounter, Brother. Undyne isn't who you want to fight. Come on, Looky!" 

Undyne: ACT: Talk. "I don't know if he has that kind of attachment to it, Papyrus. Sans hasn't gotten very close to it. That is risky, don't!" 

"But we have to try," Papyrus protested. "You can't fight him because he'll-" 

Sans started to raise his arm up. 

"No time. Chance!" Papyrus flipped him to look at him. "Sans said you learned magic with a ball?" Chance nodded. "Good. Try and 'move' Sans like the ball, okay?"  

Undyne wanted to yell for him to stop. There was no guarantee Sans wouldn't hurt his own boy, his fury was boiling! But, it was not her turn on the board. Instead she just tapped her spear hard on the ground. Papyrus was holding Chance toward Sans with blue flames licking at him. She squeezed her eyes shut. 

When she opened them, she saw Papyrus right next to Sans, with Sans' little human boy in his arms. The blue flames were still licking all over him, but he wasn't fighting anymore. 

He walked away from the counter, not even bothering with the flee button. 

"Uh, Sans?" Papyrus called after him, but he was just leaving. Just walking away with Chance back into the snow. "Um?" 

Chance just watched behind Sans. He had no idea what was going on. After Sans and Papyrus went out with the flower, he just went back downstairs to figure out the crossword puzzle again. After just a few minutes, Papyrus just fled into the house and grabbed him. He didn't say anything just took a shortcut into Waterfalls border.  

Sans was on fire. Like, an evil blue fire he'd never seen before. He had a pulsating color to his eye and he looked like he was about to fight. Then, Papyrus told him to move Sans and pushed him into Sans like luggage. 

Then Sans walked off with him. He was still glowing with all the blue though. He didn't know if his eye socket still had the scary eye, but he didn't exactly want to look. He just kept his arms wrapped around Sans and continued to keep his magic on him like he used to do with the ball. They walked out further into the snow. Chance kept his magic on Sans like Papyrus said to, but he was getting really cold too. The weather was supposed to be unsafe soon. And, the flames coming from Sans weren't warm. They were cold. Icy cold. He started to shiver.  

But then, he felt something warm beneath him, and then all over him. Sans was warming him up? "Sans? Are you okay?" 

"Yeah." It was weak, but Chance understood it. "Yep." 

"Um. Where are we going?" Chance asked, feeling more comfortable with him again. 

"Oh. I don't know." Sans stopped. He pulled Chance off of his arm. "You're a good kid, my kid." He pulled him in closer for a hug as he turned around. "Do me a favor? Um. Don't tell your mom about this, okay?" 

"Like a secret?" Chance asked. 

"Yeah. Kind of like a secret."  

Sans came back toward Undyne and Papyrus. "Uh. Think I was about to fight. Sorry about that." 

"Doesn't matter." Undyne grabbed his bony hand and pushed her other hand over it. "This offense will not go unpunished. I assure you, we will find the ones who hurt you, and you may have the honors of the blows. If we have to march out of this barrier, every Monster far and wide to find them, we will!" 

"Could we not concentrate on that?" Papyrus offered.  

"Yeah. Um. Not right now. What's done is done." Sans looked toward Chance. "You really shouldn't be out here like this. It's way too cold, my kid." 

Chance just pointed toward Papyrus. 

"Well, I had to try something," Papyrus reminded him. "You were about to kill Undyne." 

"Fight," Undyne corrected him.  

"You were about to fight Undyne," Papyrus corrected himself. "I couldn't calm you down. So." 

His son's own magic. A familiar bond magic. The same reason Chance could absorb his in the first place in Judgment Hall. It must have called him back to his senses along with Papyrus'. That's why his brother was the greatest. He always kept control. "Thanks, Papyrus. Come on, Chance. Let's go home." 

----------------------------- 

"There we go. He is safely back in bed. At least for now," Papyrus said as he came back over toward Sans. The evil but poor flower had been cold, but Sans was actually using his magic to keep it a little warmer.  

Papyrus patted his shoulder. "He is down. Everything is fine. Okay?" 

"Okay," Sans agreed. "I'm alright. It's just that I knew them. I even created one of them. So. Tougher." 

"Okay. Yes. Yes, yes," Papyrus agreed. "They are safe now. No more of those disgusting resetty things. So, I guess. What's next?" 

"Just go on like usual," Sans said. "But, this doesn't leave here. No one tells Frisky. It'll make her feel weird."  

"Faith by the way," Flowey said. "She was called Faith back then." 

"You mean, the name that Sans came up with for a loving name? The one he was belting puns out with left and right?" Papyrus looked at him. "You came up with that on your own." 

"He did last time too. She had amnesia, and he thought 'it fit'," Flowey said. 

"Just. Felt right." Sans closed his eye sockets. "This is big and weird." 

"Right. But, tomorrow I will talk to Undyne more and she can talk to King Asgore," Papyrus said. "This is a very big deal! If the humans responsible for hurting her is here-" 

"Balancers." Sans voice grew cold. "They run the show too." 

"Don't let your Monster instinct take control again," Papyrus warned him. "Um. Just go upstairs to Frisky. Faith. Whatever you want to call her, and do your own thing." 

"Okay. That stuff. What happened to them, it's important. It happened. I can't change that. The fact that they are my family, that's important. Chance is mine, always has been mine, I was engaged to Frisky, and now were married. Just. The feelings. Um. I don't know." He shrugged. "I mean. Do I . . . do I still like her that way?" 

"Oh, I have a book to help!" Papyrus exclaimed as he pointed up with his bony index finger. "It's called How to Know You Should Try a Date, First Edition!" 

"Yeah, 'cause the human wanting to date because it didn't fight you made real sense," Flowey teased him. Then Papyrus got the book, brought it back and showed it to him. "If an opponent resists fighting you over and over, they might want a date. If an opponent flirts with you, they might want a date. If an opponent keeps getting captured and recaptured they might want a date. What is this?!" 

"I don't think I need that," Sans interrupted. "I already got the marriage and family." 

"Yeah, you just need a little thing called love!" Flowey said happily. "And I don't have the right kind of friendliness pellets for that." He snickered. "But you might."

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