Chapter Text
There's a sharp hum buzzing painfully through your skull when you wake up. It takes a few moments to gather yourself enough to sit up and when you do, you send out a pulse of your magic to get a feel of the surrounding area.
You're in a strange room. Not one you've been in before- you always mark where you've been. You can feel the hum of electricity in the air- unusual considering to your knowledge, the labs are the only place to have it. And the magic in the air is so thick, you can hardly make out that you're not the only one in this strange room. With a start, you realize that you can barely feel Papyrus's magic.
You feel his magic weakly humming a fair bit away from you. And you'd be more relieved if there wasn't also unfamiliar magic surrounding him. You can't see who it is, but you can tell by the magic itself that there are 2 of them. Not good. Not good at all. You don't know these monsters and unfamiliar people carry the risk of infection. You stagger to your feet and you thank the stars that the strangers seem to have no idea you're there yet.
Your magic latches onto your brother's soul and the next thing you know he's right behind you. Still unconscious, but within reach.
“tha hell?” the stranger that spoke sounds bewildered.
You send out another pulse of magic, but you can't make out anything new. The ambient magic in the air is still too thick to get an accurate read on. The strangers notice your second pulse, though, if the anxious spike in their magic is anything to go by. You can feel their eyes on you, even if you can't see them. Still facing them, you reach behind yourself and firmly grip your brother's neck. It's not ideal, but it's the easiest way to funnel your magic into his body to wake him up.
“papyrus, wake up,” you hiss under your breath. One of the strangers gets closer and you bare your teeth in a growl, “stay. back.”
It seems your aggression was the final push your brother needed to wake up. He yanks you back as he stumbles to his feet. You feel his magic quietly brush against you in a silent question of your wellbeing. Yours responds with no hesitation. You’re okay. Confused and anxious, sure, but okay.
Papyrus summons one of his spiked maces and you can feel him point it at the strangers, “Where Are We And How Did We Get Here?”
You can hear the stress in his voice as you lower into a crouch beside him- ready to leap onto either of the strangers if they prove to be aggressive.
“woah, easy there pal,” the other monster speaks up. He sounds similar to the one that spoke first, but the voice is smoother. Less rough.
“Do Not Approach!” The air shifts as Papyrus waves his mace in a threat. He lowers his voice slightly, “Sans, Are They Safe?”
“i can't tell,” your frustration bleeds into your voice. “void magic’s too thick in here-can practically taste it. i can't even tell what monsters they are.”
You and your brother take a synchronized step back, “They Are Skeletons. Similar Body Structure To Gaster, But Shorter With Rounder Features.”
“so possibly immune, but unlikely. quarantine until i can check ‘em?”
“Agreed,” Papyrus grabs the scruff of your poncho and bolts. Two startled shouts echo in the room as you and your brother run.
As Papyrus hauls ass, you're subtly sending out magic to map the area. You go up a set of stairs- so you assume you woke up in a basement. The farther you get, the less void magic is in the air, so it's easier for you to read your surroundings. There's still a large amount of ambient magic in the air though and it raises your hackles. On the plus side, it's not void magic so you can actually ‘see’ more of what's around you. On the negative side, the magic is from many different sources. Which means you're in an unfamiliar area surrounded by potentially infected enemies. You swear under your breath and Papyrus's grip tightens.
There's an oddly familiar swell in unfamiliar magic coming from different locations in the room you run into, “shit, they got shortcuts, paps. not good.”
“Dammit. Can You Tell How Many There Are?”
“at least 4. can't tell exactly how many people it's coming from- still way too much magic in the environment.”
“Do They Have No Survival Instincts?” Your brother mutters and you shrug as whoever was shortcutting appears.
“they got electricity," you mutter back. “they probably ain't gotta worry about it. what do they look like, bro?”
“It's The Same Two From The Basement. But There Are Two Taller Ones As Well. None Of Them Are Wearing Protective Gear.”
“i don't like that,” you gesture for Papyrus to set you down. He does so begrudgingly. One of the skeletons starts to approach again, causing you to growl, “stay back! what's wrong with you? you're not wearing any protection and the magic in here is so thick it's practically a beacon. even in the lab they were smart enough to not flaunt their power.”
The one that tried approaching (one of the two from the basement) speaks up, sounding confused, “what're you talking about there, bud?”
Papyrus scoffs at the monster, “Have You Been Under A Rock? They Feast On Magic. Even I Can Feel There's A Lot Of It Here. What's Worse, None Of You Have Any Protection On. You're Practically A Buffet.”
“now, how did you get us here and what do you want?” You just want to go back to your shitty cot and go to sleep.
“well, to make a long story short,” the second monster from the basement speaks up from your right. “yer in a different universe. sans-or vanilla as we call ‘im-was working on a machine to bring someone back from the void. it didn't do that, though, just brought a bunch'a versions of himself and his brother from other universes.”
You feel the disbelief in your brother's magic as he glances at you, “why should we believe you?”
Another voice-this one more similar sounding to your brother-tiredly speaks up, “lookit us. we look way too much alike to be anything but alternates of each other.”
You cock your head to the side- have they not noticed the lack of eye holes on your mask?- and send another subtle pulse of magic out. The other monsters’ magic responds, answering your unspoken questions. The core of the magic in the air matches both yours and Papyrus's magic, though there's still subtle differences. It's the same magic, just born differently. But the best news, there’s no infection-no seed of disease in the air.
You turn towards your brother, “huh. paps, open a window.”
“Alright,” he sounds confused but begrudgingly does as you say. “It Definitely Looks Different Then Home.”
You lift your mask enough to uncover your nasal bone and lean out the window. Outside smells different than what you're used to. There's no dust or iron from dried blood. None of that sickeningly sweet scent of disease and rot. The magic outside is also different- bright and lively compared to the quiet and scared feeling you're used to.
Papyrus leans against your back, sticking his head out the window above you, “The Sky's So… Clear. And Blue. Sans, Are We Really…?”
You reach up and clumsily pat his half-covered face. You almost catch him in the eye socket, but he turns his head to where you catch the top of his cheekbone instead, “looks like it. they got our same magic and there's zero trace of disease in the magic outside. it's so vibrant.”
You pull your mask down as Papyrus tugs you back inside and the two of you turn once again towards the stranger skeletons. Thankfully, they didn't approach while your backs were turned.
“so, we're in a different universe. cool. the hell're your names?”
“that's it? y'all don't need anything else to convince you?” The same tired voice from before speaks up.
“Magic Doesn't Lie,” is what your brother says and you nod in agreement. “Now, Please Answer My Brother's Question.”
“okay, just let me get everyone in the house together.”
You and Papyrus stand near the window, backs to the wall, facing the small group. Not that it would change your view any- what with your lack of sight. Which you still don't think any of the alternates have noticed. Not the most observant of skeletons, but you give them the benefit of the doubt. It's been a busy hour.
“alright, so introductions are in order. i'm sans, my bro's papyrus,” one of the monsters from the basement- the one with the smoother voice -says.
“HELLO!” Another shouts. He sounds a bit like your brother, though much louder and with a higher pitch. “I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS! BUT EVERYONE ELSE CALLS ME CREAMPUFF, SO YOU MAY, TOO!”
“...Creampuff?” Papyrus- your Papyrus- is bewildered.
“yeah, creampuff,” the gruff one from the basement explains. “since they're tha sans and Papyrus from this universe, they get to keep their names. but tha rest ‘o us don't think it's fair they don't got nicknames so we came up with some. sans is vanilla, paps is creampuff. call me red, and my bro's edge. he ain't here right now- you'll see him at dinner.”
“OOO, OUR TURN!” Another voice shouts and you startle slightly at how close he suddenly is. He sounds similar to you, but much more excited. “I'M THE MAGNIFICENT BLUE AND MY BROTHER IS STRETCH! IT'S A PLEASURE TO MEET YOU BOTH.”
“heya,” says the tired voice from before. The one that sounds like your brother missed a good night's sleep.
You don't realize that Blue had his hand held out for you to shake until your brother grabs it.
“nice to meet you, too,” you say as he shakes Blue’s hand.
“ ‘m mutt. my bro's name is black. he'll be back soon,” you think the one talking is the last shortcutting skeleton from when you ran from the basement. He sounds more like Stretch than Papyrus, but with a rougher voice- like Red.
“heya,” another skeleton (of course) approaches you. When they wrap an arm around you, you tense. “the name's lust. my brother over there is passion. it's a pleasure,” They speak in a husky drawl, pleasant against your sensitive hearing.
“That Was Terrible, Brother. Hello,” Passion has the same drawl as Lust, but his tone is a bit higher- like a hum.
You go to brush Lust off, but the feeling of something soft catches your attention. It brushes gently against what little bone you have exposed between your mask and hood when you turn your head. You flick the tip of your mittens back, exposing your fingers, and reach towards whatever was tickling your skull. You can feel Lust tense, likely bracing himself to be shoved off, but you don't do that. Your hand finds his face first- it's smooth, and you didn't realize how close he was leaning- but you quickly feel the fluffiness surrounding his head.
“...so soft,” you're running your fingers through the- feathers? Fur? You can't tell exactly what it is, just that it's so soft- almost obsessively.
Your brother clears his throat, “Sans, You Shouldn't Just Touch Others Without Permission. Let Go Of Their Hood.”
You reluctantly remove your hand and sheepishly say, “sorry.”
Lust pulls away with a bemused, “s'ok. i kind of started it by getting in your space first.”
“To Get Back On Track, Is There Anyone Else To Be Introduced To?”
After a few seconds, Passion responds, “Just The Space Brothers Are Left- Cosmic And Orion. But They're Not Here At The Moment.”
“so, what's with the masks?” Vanilla- you're going to take after the others and refuse to call him Sans -asks.
You cock your head to the side, deadpan, “protection. why else would we wear masks?”
“PROTECTION AGAINST WHAT?” Blue sounds genuinely confused.
“Disease, Of Course,” your brother crosses his arms with a scoff. “Why Else Would We Be Wearing So Many Layers. Having Any Body Part Uncovered Is A Death Sentence.”
“speaking of,” you mutter, “we gotta sterilize.”
“STERILIZE?” Creampuff asks.
Neither you nor Papyrus respond. Instead, each of you pull out your modified bully clubs and begin to funnel your magic into them. The other skeletons tense when you pull them out- likely thinking they might be weapons with the smokey magic they're spilling out. You easily retrace every step you and Papyrus have taken- following you and your brother's magic is second nature by now. The gaggle of skeletons curiously (and suspiciously) follow the pair of you throughout the house.
“What Are You Doing?” Passion asks, baffled, as you and Papyrus wave your clubs around. Your magic briefly coats the ground in a shimmery mist before being absorbed into the ground.
“sterilizing.”
“It Is Better Safe Than Sorry," Papyrus clarifies. “While Sans And I Are Both Immune By Design, The Disease Can Survive A Limited Time Without A Host.”
“on plants, on clothes, in the air.”
“Indeed. So, We Are Cleaning The Area To Ensure There Is No Chance It Came With Us.”
“yer saying we could get some universal disease?!” Red sounded disgusted.
You turn in his direction, “it's very unlikely. paps and i are immune. more than immune, actually. our magic actively targets and destroys it both on ourselves and in our immediate surroundings. but there’s always a chance.”
Papyrus nods, “We Are Just Being Very Thorough. Besides, Even If Any Of You Manage To Catch It Right Now, It's Early Enough That We'd Be Able To Cure It With No Issues.”
“that's not concerning at all,” Stretch mutters.
You shrug in response as you descend into the basement. The void magic is still too strong to make out any other signatures, though it feels like it's centralized on something at the back wall.
Curious, you point in the general direction of the wall and ask, “what's that?”
“It Looks Like One Of The Machines In The Lab,” Papyrus muses. “The One The Doctor Stopped Working On Last Year.”
“it's tha machine that brought all ‘o us here,” Red scoffs.
You nod in thanks and finish sterilizing the basement. You want to get out of there as fast as possible, it's disorienting being so surrounded by the void while not actually being in it.
You all make your way back upstairs and Vanilla asks, “y'all didn't seem too surprised to see the sky. are you not underground in your universe?”
“no…?” You're confused. “what does that even mean?”
“in most universes we've seen so far,” Stretch explains, “there was a war between monsters and humans. the humans win and seal all of monsterkind beneath mt. ebbot. aside from the space brothers- they were stuck in an asteroid belt.”
“Oh,” your brother oh-so eloquently says. “Well, We Were Never Forced Beneath A Mountain. Or Space.”
Red scoffs, “lucky.”
“Not Really, No. We Are In The Midst Of A Conflict In Our Universe. That's Actually How The Virus Came About. It Was Engineered By…” Papyrus pauses, debating how much he shares with these strangers. “Someone To Thin Out Enemy Ranks. But It Quickly Mutated To Affect Most Living Things.”
“HOW DOES THAT WORK?” Creampuff sounds fascinated.
“Magic Used To Be A Lot More Abundant In Our Universe, Like Here. We Think The Virus Was Originally Engineered To Latch Onto Very Specific Magic Signatures.”
“to thin out enemy ranks,” you elaborate. “but it adapted and mutated to where it would target pretty much everything. it's attracted to any and all magic- whether it's attached to a living someone or hanging in the environment.”
“Hence Why We Were So Concerned About Your Lack Of PPE Combined With Your Magic Saturating Everything. It’s A Beacon And Had You Been In Our Universe, Any And All Of The Poor Infected Souls In The Area Would Have Overrun You Before The Sun Could Set.”
“sounds kinda like zombies,” Mutt mutters to himself before addressing you and Papyrus. “y'all think of whatcha gonna call yourselves?”
You pause for a moment, thinking, “...call me camo.”
“That's Ridiculous, Brother,” Papyrus scoffs at you and hums to himself, “I Can Be Spade.”
You snort, “like that's any better.”
“Shut Up.”