Chapter Text
With Frisk to defend him, Sans knew they couldn’t lose. All it took was sneaking into UnderFell while this version of Alphys was sleeping, slipping through the portal as quiet as they could. Frisk had Chara’s knife drawn close.
On the other side of the portal, their version of Alphys sat at her computer, cut off from speaking to them, but somehow able to watch through a button on Frisk’s shirt. They just needed to find Papyrus and get him back to the labs before their three-hour limit was up and the deadlock that Edge had put on the portal machine was reactivated, destroying their way home.
Frisk found a save point outside of the labs. Just in time, too.
Edge had already found them. He stood at the bottom of the stairs that lead towards the elevators, arms crossed and looking extremely irritated.
Frisk took a step in-front of Sans, knife pointedly drawn.
Sans spoke first. “heh, now don’t get all hot-headed, kid. i’m sure our friend here didn’t mean to lock us out. edge… where is my brother? it’s been a couple of weeks and…”
“Did you really think you could activate the portal without me noticing? Leave. NOW.” Edge conjured several sharpened bones, one clutched in his clawed hands as he glared down at the intruders. “He’s fucking mine and I’m tired of you taking him back. Just take a deep breath and turn around, you cheap copy of a brother.” Edge was snarling, a broken and pointed bone clutched in his fist as he towered over the other two. “Don’t make me kill you.”
Frisk didn’t flinch, they looked as determined as ever. Almost… too ready to fight. Sans set a hand on their shoulder and pulled them back a little. They looked over at him, concern written on their brow. “ ‘s alright kiddo. i can protect myself.”
“If that’s how you want to play, then so be it. Prepare to die. I’ll be hailed as a hero for collecting the last human soul. Then my darling pet and I will live on the surface together.” Edge seemed to get distracted by his thoughts. “We’ll get a home and have children. He’ll be protected and happy and mine.”
Sans activated his battle magic and before Edge could react, Frisk ran forward and struck him hard with the knife, cutting his HP in half from the get go. He screamed and stumbled backwards as they retreated to stand by Sans’ side once more. Edge fell to his knees, still clutching the bone in his hand as he panted.
“Very… clever… You wretched, rotten abomination! I’ll have your head on a pike… right after I choke you with his dust!” Several red bones flew through the air, straight towards Sans. He teleported and Frisk jumped out of the way, scowling until Sans was in their line of sight again. “Fucking. Sit. Still!!” He shot more bones at the two friends, attacks becoming faster and faster.
Frisk could only dodge so much, but their HP was completely restored by a bag of popato chisps Alphys had given them. Edge howled and sent a well-timed attack straight through Frisk’s leg. They screamed, but didn’t falter. Knife at the ready, they nearly charged Edge again.
Sans held them back once more. “hold on kiddo, let me try again.” He turned to Edge, speaking calmly. But Frisk could tell his patience was running thin. “listen buddy, i get that you’re in love with my brother. he’s pretty cool, it’s hard to resist.” Edge growled, forced to listen to him, by the rules of Sans’ battle magic. “but you can’t take him from his universe. especially for one as repulsive as this.”
Frisk raised an eyebrow at Sans’, but didn’t make to move.
“I can protect him. I am ENOUGH for him. He deserves the best and I am the best. You’re pathetic, you know that? Leaving him to suffer as you go and get drunk off your ass. If you loved him properly, he wouldn’t have come here at all!!”
The words seemed to have a profound effect on Sans, who had no reply other than to close his eyes. Just as Frisk thought that they might have to be the next to act in the battle, Sans’ eyes opened and his eye lights were replaced by one glowing blue eye, sparking with yellow magic as a Blaster appeared and hit the unsuspecting Edge with everything it had.
Frisk remembered this part well. The thought that Sans had just taken a single HP. Edge looked shocked, then victorious. But it only lasted a second as his HP started to drain on its own. When it was over, he would only have one.
They wondered if Edge had thought to bring a healing item, or if he had been so confident in his ability to defeat Sans that he didn’t think it would take anything more than a bone to end him.
Sans and Frisk dodged every sharpened bone thrown their way.
When the attack ended, Sans shrugged and lifted his hands in the air. “last chance. please, just give me my brother back and we’ll leave you and your universe alone.”
Edge was panting, bleeding marrow from the knife wound through his chest and looking as though he had been set on fire. They were only a few moves in and he was already nearly defeated? Frisk almost felt bad. Apparently, the Fell brother was more bark than bite. Well, he was a Papyrus after all.
The sharp Papyrus double shook his head, lifting his hand to flip them off, before it fell back to his side. “Go fuck yourself.” He growled, his voice exhausted already, as a red tear trailed down his cheek to mix with the marrow on his chest. “One of two things are going to happen here. Either you kill me and my darling sees that your LV has gone up or you fuck right back off to your own universe and let me keep my pet, where he’ll truly be cared for and loved.”
It was the last straw, Sans summoned a circle of blasters, but the delay in their attack gave Edge the time he needed to dodge their attacks, in much the same way Chara had. Frisk’s heart dropped and the second it was their turn to attack again, they bolted forward. Stopped when a bone hit exactly the same spot on their leg, breaking it quickly. They screamed and fell back onto their butt, grabbing their leg and looking up just in time to see Edge send a bone through Sans’ back.
The small skeleton fell to his knees, looking up to Edge as he trembled, on his last bits of life. “p-please… don’t h-hurt…. my brother…. he’s… all i… have…”
Sans’ dusted and before Frisk could reset, a splitting scream sent a jolt of terror down their spine.
They turned to see Papyrus, their Papyrus, wearing Edge’s clothing, run up to his brother’s dust, clawing at it as though he’d find Sans hidden within it.
Frisk held off the reset, just for a minute, to see what would happen. It was very Flowey of them, but… Sans had never been killed first.