Chapter Text
Papryus was nervous, strange as that could seem. Afterall, he was very great! Which means being nervous did not come naturally to him! And yet...
Perhaps he was allowed just a bit of nervousness. Afterall, this was going to be the one. The route where he and his brother would finally- FINALLY! - put an end to all of it. A final Reset to separate the human from whatever great power was making them do awful things. Papyrus had hope that they’d be friends once they fixed everything. He only wished he understood how it went a bit more. Sans was taking care of all the scientific aspects of it, and he HAD explained it to Papyrus a few times, but it alls escaped him. He’d always been better at puzzle solving than strict academics.
He took an unnecessary breath to calm himself down. His bones rattled lightly underneath his Battle Body. He hoped it passed once he crossed paths with the human again.
Sans said they’d be at century station #1, he reminded himself. I do hope I arrive at the right time. Afterall! Nothing must be out of place!
Papyrus sometimes wished he could remember more, but it did not matter. He would just have to do his best! As he was very great!
Hidden behind this particular snow bank as he was, he could not see his brother or the human, and Sans always spoke in a low tone.
come out when it feels like the right time , Sans had told him. that’s usually how i go about these things.
Well, it must be now then! As it felt JUST RIGHT!
Papyrus burst out from behind the snow bank and made his way to the sentry station’s clearing, taking long dramatic strides.
He sincerely hoped this worked! IT WOULD BE DISAPPOINTING IF IT DIDN’T. EVEN IF he wouldn’t have any real way of knowing. Afterall, neither of the brothers knew everything.
They just had to do their best with what they had!
-
Papyrus couldn’t help but fidget with his gloves and scarf as he waited for the human. So far, Sans hadn’t reacted to anything out of place. The human was acting just as un-human as expected, although it still unnerved Papyrus. There was no surprise in his soul, but still. To see someone feel nothing, say nothing, skipping his puzzles… It was unnerving. And although Papyrus hoped beyond compare that the powder on their clothes and in their hair was just snow, he knew better.
This was turning out to be just as crummy as expected, indeed.
Well, his only job for now was wait for them to arrive. He always met them here, he was sure of it. It was one of those things that never changed- like how Sans met them right on the other side of the barred bridge for the first time, or how Papyrus would arrive right on time for banter in front of sentry station #1. Like those things, Papyrus always met the human right here, on the misty border between Snowdin and Waterfall.
He wondered if he’d always felt this anxious at the prospect. He supposed that yes, he must have, but on the first few runs, there must not have been that sense of dread and anticipation. Not until he caught on, anyway. How many times had the human emptied the Underground in this way? How many times had they killed its residents? Did they try any other alternatives? They must have. Afterall, no one was bad all the way through! There was always SOME good. So they must’ve done good in at least one timeline or another. Besides, Papyrus knew this wasn’t JUST the human. There were two other beings attached to them, one who- if Sans’ theory was right- didn’t have much of a choice either. Maybe the human could do better once free to be whatever they wanted to be, away from the influence of whatever third entity plagued them and the second person.
Papyrus had to hope.
A small figure could be seen emerging through the mist. Papyrus stopped fidgeting, determined to make this work. He couldn’t let anything go off-script until the time was right.
“HALT, HUMAN!” They did not halt.
“HEY, QUIT MOVING WHILE I'M TALKING TO YOU! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, HAVE SOME THINGS TO SAY.”
They stopped. It was hard to see them, their silhouette darkened and blurred by the mist and snow.
“FIRST: You're a FREAKING WEIRDO! NOT ONLY DO YOU NOT LIKE PUZZLES. BUT THE WAY YOU SHAMBLE ABOUT FROM PLACE TO PLACE…”
He could do this. The dialogue came out of him easily, as if it was part of the ste he practiced everyday in front of the mirror.
“The way your hands are ALWAYS COVERED IN DUSTY POWDER. It feels… LIKE YOUR LIFE IS GOING DOWN A DANGEROUS PATH.”
They took a step forward. Papyrus silently thanked his surroundings for hiding the sweat at his skull.
“HOWEVER! I, PAPYRUS, see GREAT POTENTIAL within you!”
He truly did. There was a small feeling in his soul, every now and then, when it came to the person in front of him.
“EVERYONE CAN BE A GREAT PERSON IF THEY TRY!”
A feeling that this human could be capable of incredible good.
“And ME, I HARDLY HAVE TO TRY AT ALL!!! NYEH HEH HEH HEH HEH HEH!!!”
The human took another step forward.
“HEY, QUIT MOVING! THIS is EXACTLY what I am TALKING ABOUT!” He pointed at them dramatically, trying to sell it to them. Just a bit longer.
“HUMAN! I THINK you are in need of GUIDANCE!”
Maybe, if they stopped now…
“SOMEONE needs to keep you on the STRAIGHT AND NARROW!”
Papyrus and Sans wouldn’t even NEED the plan.
“BUT WORRY NOT! I, PAPYRUS…”
Maybe, just this once…
“Will GLADLY be your FRIEND AND TUTOR!”
They would QUIT and accept his offer.
“I WILL TURN YOUR LIFE RIGHT AROUND!!!”
They stepped forward once more. They were maybe a meter away. It was hard to see their eyes, even at this short distance.
“I SEE YOU ARE APPROACHING.”
He felt a FIGHT being engaged. The human didn’t do anything- they just patiently waited for him to finish.
“ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE? WOWIE!! My lessons are ALREADY WORKING!! WE WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!”
The human looked up at this, a hint of surprise in the widening of their eyes. He must’ve said something off script- they’ve heard this so often, small differences must jump out incredibly well.
One moment there was no one except the two of them. The next, Sans was there, grabbing their shoulder and Papyrus’ hand. Just as quickly as he came, he left, taking the human and his brother with him.
Papyrus had never visited the Void before. Or perhaps he had, once, but couldn’t remember. You couldn’t really know these things for certain.
The human lurched out of Sans’ grip, stumbling away. Sans looked a little too comfortable in this endless darkness- no, not darkness, nothingness. The dark could never be compared to this place.
It worked! Papyrus thought triumphantly. Sans had been unsure if they’d be able to access this place at all- he’d hardly ever tried on purpose, afterall. But he’d done it!
“you’re probably wonderin what i just did,” Sans said calmly. “this is where you get access to the uh, what was it, Main Menu?”
As if on cue, glowing white words appeared from the nothing, floating. First was the human’s stats, including LV high enough to make Papyrus feel sick, even with the lack of a stomach. Then followed four familiar titles.
SNOWDIN - THE BORDER
CONTINUE RESET
The human was looking between the glowing words and the brothers, silently asking what they were up to. Something about their frown.
“HUMAN,” Papyrus said, “We have decided to put a STOP to your ACTIONS! WE BELIEVE WE CAN HELP YOU. Evidently, THERE IS SOMETHING PLAGE-ING YOU,. PERHAPS MULTIPLE SOMETHINGS! WE HOPE YOU WILL ACCEPT OUR OFFER IN SEPARATING YOU FROM THESE INFLUENCES SO ALL OF YOU MAY BE FREE FROM ONE ANOTHER.”
“...how?” Their voice was raspy, barely even a whisper, shaky from disuse.
“if we go off script, it gets noticed, right?” Sans asked retorically. His hand was out of his pocket, and although his posture was relaxed, Papyrus could tell he was ready to react at any hint of hostility from the human “it- happened, once. things went off script and broke. chances are, if both me n’ papyrus do somethin’ we aren’t supposed to do, well, things might- crash , on one side. the side that’s got the big being that’s been attached to you for a while now. but there’s still two of ya left, yeah?”
“How do you know all this?” the human demanded, voice a little clearer than before.
“WE GET AROUND. A LOT.” If you considered what they did and knew as “getting around”.
“good way of putin it, bro. so, kid , you feelin like changin things up? come outta your shell a bit.”
The human was quiet for a moment. They weren’t quite looking at either of the brothers, gaze far away.
“...You think you’re so smart , huh?” they asked, but there was no real bite behind it. They lurched, as if about to cough up something, and then went still. Papyrus took a hesitant step forward towards them, slightly worried.
They abruptly looked up, eyes wide and awfully wet. Something about them changed, like an invisible weight had been lifted from their shoulders.
“Ch… oh.” They looked to the side, though there was nothing there except what Papyrus thought could be a scrap of yellow and green static. Strange- perhaps this was the second one!
“I’m- we’re-” the child- because without the strange offness about them, Papyrus could see that this was but a small human child, young and afraid- started to cry. “We didn’t- the- the one o-on the other s-side of the- we’re- I’m so sorry -”
Papyrus walked to them, movements slow and gentle.
“Would you like a hug of acceptance?” he asked as quietly as his voice would allow. They looked up at him abruptly, surprise in their open-mouth expression.
“I-I don’t d-deserve… i-it.”
“no you don’t,” Sans said.
“ SANS,” Papyrus said reproachfully.
“sorry, but uh, it’s true. But uh, i- i don’t think acceptance- MERCY, i guess- is about… deservin it.”
“TRULY,” Papyrus said resolutely. “Human. I KNOW you can co A LITTLE BIT BETTER if you just TRY. Even ff you don’t think so… I- WE BELIEVE IN YOU.”
The human hiccuped. Papyrus extended his arms towards them and they fell into his hug, shaking and sobbing. From the corner of his eye socket, Papyrus thought he saw a flash of yellow and green static again and the sweet smell of buttercups before it faded.
“I-I didn’t… I… I’m s-sorry,” the child muttered. “I- you g-guys knew. Both of y-you kn-knew and I- I didn’t stop , I c-couldn’t stop …”
“TO BE HONEST,” Papyrus said, “I was a little afraid… BUT YOU'RE ALREADY BECOMING A GREAT PERSON! JUST BY SAYING SORRY AND SHOWING THAT YOU REGRET! I'M SO PROUD I COULD CRY!!!”
The small human made a sound that could’ve been a giggle under the tears.
“We simply want you to be the BEST PERSON YOU CAN BE.” He paused for a moment before looking up at the Void, hoping that the static-thing was still there. “BOTH OF YOU.”
The smell of buttercups and the crackle of static echoed faintly for a moment.
Papyrus and the human stayed on the void-ground for another little while- Papyrus didn’t know how long, as, according to Sans, time didn’t work the same in the Void as it did in the real world.
The human finally sniffed and straightened up, rubbing at their eyes.
“We’re sorry,” they said.
“I know.”
“I messed up.”
“YES, VERY MUCH SO. HOWEVER! THIS! IS THE START OF SOMETHING NEW!”
“at least until the eldritch mind controlling being comes back once they fix the malfunction,” Sans said. “kiddo, got any idea how to get rid of that RESET option?”
“Um, I think t-that I’d n-need something for it,” they said quietly. “I- I can’t just get rid of it. We- tried. Once. It won’t work.”
“figures.”
“Well,” Papyrus said slowly, a thought forming in his skull, “If they RESET NOW, SURELY whatever third party was giving them A BAD TIME won’t be able to follow!”
“i think that’d only work if we keep the- i guess whatever uh, window keeps them anchored to our world malfunctionin, bro,” Sans said. “that’d be the only way to really stop ‘em from accessing this place, and, y’know, the kid and our world by extent.”
“AND HOW WOULD WE ACCOMPLISH THIS?”
“i guess we should… do somethin that permanently alters the script.”
Papyrus frowned thoughtfully. How would they go about this? It seemed nearly impossible. NEARLY. Because Papyrus, while being very great, also had a very great brother and a hopefully soon-to-be-very-great-friend!
“We can m-make it so… none of it ever happens,” the human said. “I- I can stay here! So they- the being on th-the other side- can’t have a vessel.”
“no way.”
“ABSOLUTELY NOT.” Papyrus would NOT let a small human child stay in this nothingness forever. It was cruel and awful and unnecessary.
“But it’s the only way!” the human cried. “How else can we make it s-so the story’s different from the start!”
“well, definitely not that, ” Sans insisted, hunching over himself. “there’s gotta be another way.”
“Why are you against it?” the human asked him. “You h-hate me.”
“i- i don’t hate you, kid.”
“Of course you do! I- I messed everything up over and over , I- I’m the one to blame- the first time, it- I- I was the reason for so many of them, w-when the thing on the oth-other side wasn’t there. And you knew. hOw could you not hate me?”
Sans sighed. “hate’s too- too tirin. ‘s drainin. I… i can’t hate you. don’t have the energy for it. and… yer just a kid, in the end. a kid with crazy time travel powers, but a kid anyway.”
“NEITHER OF US HATE YOU,” Papyrus said. “You made a MISTAKE. MANY MISTAKES. BUT! That does not mean you are IRREDEEMABLE! It ALSO does not mean that you must STAY IN THIS AWFUL VOID FOR ETERNITY! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NOT ALLOW IT!”
“Th-then h-h-how do we stop- it.”
How to permanently alter the script…
“I will stay,” Papyrus decided.
The humans and his brother were silent for a moment before erupting in refusal.
“paps, no way are you stayin here, that’s as bad as the kid stayin here forever-
“You can’t do that! You can’t say no to me st-staying here and then say y-you’ll stay t-too!”
“i’ll stay, i’m- the world need papyrus, yeah?”
“No, I’ll stay! Everyone who can be SAVED have t-to be there at the end. So that the ending’s good.”
“NEITHER OF YOU IS STAYING!” Papyrus exclaimed. “I WILL NOT ALLOW IT.”
“papyrus,” Sans said. He walked closer to his brother, grabbing his gloved hand. “I’m- i’ll stay, the world needs papyrus, it doesn’t need me. It needs you too, kiddo, so you can get everyone outta the mountain. so you can get them to the surface.”
That statement should’ve surprised Papyrus more than it did. This child was to bring monsterkind to the surface? Yes, that made sense. But it certainly did not make sense for them to be stuck here. Papyrus was young, he knew this, but this human was much younger.
“If the only way to alter everything SO THAT THERE IS A CHANCE OF HOPE,” Papyrus said, “is to have one of us STAY HERE, then… then should we…” Give up? Papyrus had never given up in his whole life. It just wasn’t something he ever did.
But CERTAINLY what they’d managed to do so far wasn’t for nothing? One of them HAD to stay, so that even if a RESET occurred, the human’s travel would always be changed, no matter what. And if the story couldn’t be fixed, then their world- from the mind controlling super being’s perspective- would forever be malfunctioning. It could never be fixed for them- they could never access it again. The human would be free and monsterkind would have a chance at the Surface.
“we’ll both stay,” Sans said eventually.
“W-what?”
“SANS, NO-”
“i’m not leavin you alone here,” the shorter brother insisted. “even if we get sick of each other's company, it’s better than bein alone in the void. kid, RESET and get everyone to the surface.”
“But- I can’t- you two a-are important to the ending- I need to SAVE everyone, and if y-you aren;t there-”
“we aren’t part of the narrative anymore,” Sans said, as if it was that simple. And it was, wasn’t it? “if we aren’t part of the narrative, well, ‘s not like we affect it. you’ll, uh, you’ll get everyone through it. Even without our help, i know you will. geeze, listen to me, soundin all hopeful n’ sh- stuff.”
“WE BELIEVE IN YOU, HUMAN.”
“Yeah.”
The human wrung their hands together. They got up from their kneeling on the void-ground, and Papyrus got up with them. Fists at their sides, they looked up at the two skeleton brothers, DETERMINATION in their eyes.
“Frisk,” they said after a moment. “My name is- Frisk.
Sans and Papyrus grinned, although both were a bit wobblier than usual.
“we’re rootin for ya, frisk.”
“YES! WE ARE ROOTING FOR YOU.”
They nodded. They turned to the still floating words, lifting their hand up to hover over RESET.
“I really am sorry,” they said. “Bye, guys.”
They touched the button and then vanished, leaving the two brothers in the Void.
That’s when reality started to shatter.