Sans was standing in a dark room. Looking around, it reminded him of the in-between where he would watch the timelines reset, but it wasn't quite the same. The shadows danced along the invisible walls. They danced and writhed, almost as if they were alive.

He reached out a hand to touch the shadow, afraid that it'll be real but just as afraid that it won't be. His fingers dipped into the darkness, just barely. The darkness reared back and plopped onto the ground, like oil dripping from a pipe.

The shadow solidified into not a person, but a shape. A shape with a timid smile and cracked eyes.

"Gaster?" Sans didn't speak out loud, but his words danced through the air, as if he could speak aloud with his mind. The shadow man perked up, his timid smile growing a little. The shadow – Gaster – bounced up and down in excitement, like a toddler.

"What do you want me to do?" Sans' thoughts spoke aloud again. Gaster's dripping shadow form pulled itself up, as if straightening his back from a slouch.

"Sans. I'm glad I can talk to you this way." His smile never moved, but a mature voice flowed through the area.

"What's going on?"

"How is your soul doing Sans?" Gaster spoke to him, blatantly ignoring his question. The short skeleton looked at the figure in shock. He hadn't thought of it. He pulled the small heart from his chest and held it out for Gaster to see.

A white hand appeared from the shadows and cradled the heart. The face never changed, but the air around them did.

"You need rest, Sans. I did all I could do when you were awake, but I cannot keep patching you up from the void." Gaster made the soul glow bright, and Sans had to glance away. When the glow faded, it looked good as new.

Sans had to take a closer took to see the faint cracked lines spreading through it. It reminded him more of scars than actual cracks. When he let the heart sink back into his chest, Sans felt better. His shoulders felt lighter and the weight on his chest seemed lighter.

"Now Sans. We must talk about what to do in this world of yours." Gaster's form was starting to liquefy again.

"What do you want me to do? How am I supposed to save this other me?" Sans felt his desperation bleed into his words, but he felt he was trapped with no escape. Gaster looked at him with empty eyes, no expression.

"I know I messed up Sans. I know what I did was wrong, but that's why I need you. I need you to right my wrongs."

"But how?" Sans needed some guidance.

"I… am unsure."

"What?"

"I do have one idea, but it is not ideal."

"It's better than what I have. Tell me what you're thinking Gaster."

"You have to kill him." Gaster's words were remorseful.

"Kill him? What about saving him?" Sans was horrified.

"Kill him and take the hate from him and then reset. Everything will be fixed. Everyone will be set free." Gaster's form was melting more and more. "I don't have much longer here. Please Sans. Fix my mistakes."

"I can't kill him! I'd be killing myself. I can't do that to his Papyrus…"

"Please Sans…" The shadows collapsed into a puddle before dispersing, leaving Sans alone in the room.

With a gasp, Sans woke up and almost fell out of bed. That dream… Was that really Gaster? He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts.

"Brother? Breakfast is being served, and I thought you would like to eat something. I… honestly don't remember seeing you eat anything since we found each other, which is worrying." Papyrus poked his head into the room. Sans was pleasantly surprised to see the concern on his scarred skull.

"Thanks Pap. I'll be right out."

"Did you have a nightmare too?" Papyrus spoke softly from the door, causing Sans to jerk his head in shock. The shorter skeleton hopped off the bed and laced up his sneakers before meeting the taller by the door.

"Yeah, um, sort of." Sans smiled guiltily and chuckled.

"Do you wish to talk about it?" Papyrus placed a hand on Sans' shoulder, his black glove standing out against the ratty fabric of the jacket. The thought of telling Papyrus about what he had to do to his real brother made Sans feel sick.

"NO!" He snapped, and instantly realized his mistake when Papyrus made the sound of a kick child. "I m-mean, I'm not really in the mood to talk Pappy…"

Papyrus didn't respond, instead just started walking to the lower levels. Sans followed guiltily. They made their way to a room Sans had never seen before. It was on the bottom level, hear the training pit, and was twice the size of the meeting room.

It looked like a standard cafeteria, with rows of tables and a kitchen of sorts. Various monsters were scattered at various tables, talking quietly to each other. Papyrus walked right to the kitchen, and Sans almost ran to keep up with Pap's long strides.

"G-grillby?" Sans almost choked when he got up to the counter. There he was, but it wasn't him. Instead of a soft orange, his flames were violently crackling blue. He turned to look at the shorter skeleton and snarled.

"Oh great. I heard there was a copy running around here." His sharp mouth curled into a sneer. Sans was frozen in shock, not used to being spoken to by the fire monster, let alone such bitter words. Grillby just sneered again at his silence and threw some food on a plate before unceremoniously tossing it in front of Sans.

Even Papyrus seemed shocked, but didn't mention it until they got to an empty table.

"He usually doesn't talk to us…" Papyrus muttered into a forkful of food. Sans just sat there, staring at his plate. He didn't respond, or acknowledge that his brother said anything. "Brother, are you alright?"

Sans opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. A tear worked his way down his cheek as he stared blankly at his plate.

"Brother! Are you hurt?" Papyrus was starting to really worry about this Sans. Sans just shook his head.

"Grillby was my best friend, next to Pap. He always listened to me, and always teased me about my tab but never really cared if I paid it back or not. He would… w-walk me home if I got drunk at the bar, a-and…" The tears kept falling, but he didn't want to talk about the nights he and Grillby spent together. Seeing such a monster with the face of his friend… it hurt.

"He wasn't always like this. He used to run a respectable business. Had a lot of friends. Had a family. But… it was all destroyed. He hardened, and became bitter. You cannot blame him." Papyrus put down his fork. Sans looked at his plate some more, not sure how to feel about this all.

"Papyrus… If I had to do something awful, but it fixed everything… would you hate me?" Sans was afraid of his answer. The taller skeleton stared at the smaller.

"Brother, what is this about?"

"Please don't hate me…" Sans whispered to himself more than to Papyrus, but the taller skeleton heard anyway.

"Sans please. What is going on?"

"It's nothing bro." Sans' eyes were blank, dark. He stood, forgetting to eat. He could feel the fatigue in his bones from the lack of food, but he knew deep down this would all be over soon. He left the cafeteria, his feet moving on their own. He ignored the calls after him and made a bee line to the conference room.

Papyrus followed behind, afraid something was about to go seriously wrong.

Other Sans was just waking up, the scent of his brother and the warmth of his kindness gently surrounding him. He couldn't remember the last time he was this happy. He sat up with one of the first genuine smiles in a long time and rubbed a sleepy eye.

The door creaked open. Thinking it was Papyrus, Sans sat up and looked over, but the figure was hidden by shadows. Sans stood up and stretched, cracking his back and letting his smile grow a little. He hadn't gotten a good night's sleep in many years.

Realizing he still had all the blankets around his feet, Sans guiltily began gathering them up, trying to fold them.

"I'm sorry Papyrus. I'll get this cleaned up before anyone sees."

"I'm sorry Sans." It wasn't Papyrus. It was the other Sans, the one in the blue. Sans felt something in his soul, but he didn't know what. Apprehension maybe?

"Oh, s-sorry. I thought you were… wait, why are you sorry?" Sans was still trying to fold the blankets, but it wasn't working out. A blue aura picked the fabric from his fingers and folded them perfectly. Shocked, Sans smiled and turned to the Other Sans to thank him.

His smile faded when he saw the grin look partially hidden behind a blue hood.

"You gotta understand." He walked closed to his double.

"You're scaring me…"

"I don't have any other ideas."

"Listen, I don't know what you're planning but-"

"Gaster told me this was the best way." Sans, the original Sans, took a final step towards Other, who realized this wasn't some friendly visit. Other Sans took a fearful step back, sweat beading up on his forehead.

Other Sans was wrapped in the same aura as the blankets, freezing him in place. Neither skeletons noticed the door creak open and close again. Papyrus sneaked in, unnoticed by either of the Sans'. His plan was only to interfere if things looked grim. He was taught to let others deal with their own problems, but this was his brother…

"I don't want to do this." Original Sans said with a slight tremor.

"D-do what? Please… what are you doing?" Other Sans tried to struggle, but he was stuck in place.

"I… Please don't make this any harder than it has to be." The magic around Other Sans tightened, causing him to struggle more. Sans relaxed his wrist and was about to give it a final flick when another aura filled the room.

Other Sans' wasn't red anymore, but it was a darker blue than original Sans. The darker blue surrounded the Other Sans, somehow breaking the Original Sans' magic.

Sans summoned his blasters and let them charge with a single point. Other dodged, just barely. It was obvious his teleporting powers were rocky at the moment. Sans teleported directly behind Other and aimed a bone at the back of his skull, but Other must have sensed him and dropped to this knees, knocking Sans' feet out from under him.

Falling hard, Sans felt his bones jar, but he didn't have time to call out because a bone dug into the ground right next to his face an instant later. He rolled over and teleported away from Other, who was getting more and more confident with his magic attacks.

Other swung an arm, dark blue bones following in his wake. Sans barely managed to dodge, the pace of the fight starting to pick up.

Dodge, roll, dodge. Throw, shoot, dodge again.

Sans felt himself start to slip up. Who knew it would be this hard to fight himself. He shot his blaster again, but Other rolled to the side, sliding on his side as he shot another bone. Sans summoned a wall of bones, right where Other was about to land.

Just as Other was about to slam into the bone wall, he blipped out of the air, landing several feet to the left. Other blinked, shocked he managed to teleport.

Sans felt his soul shutter at the effort of fighting, but he knew this was what needed to be done. He couldn't initiate a fight sequence, because a monster soul can't be taken out of the host like a human's.

Sans felt his leg freeze in place and looked down, his foot surrounded by dark blue. Since it was such a small, concentrated area, the magic was a thousand times stronger. Sans threw his own magic at it, but he couldn't budge it. He tried teleporting, but the magic held him in place.

A bone came hurling at his face, and Sans simply closed his eyes, waiting for the impact. When none came, he hesitantly looked. The bone was surrounded by an even darker blue magic. Both Sans' turned to see Papyrus standing by the door, one hand outstretched and a devastated look on his face.

The magic holding Sans' foot in place disappeared, causing him to fall backwards. In his desperation to stay upright, Sans shot a blaster with an accidental wave of the hand. Both Sans' cried out.

The magic blast went straight for the skeleton, incinerating him in an instant. Sans started at the pile of ash in shock and horror. His emotions drained from his bodies, the blasters disappearing slowly. Staring at the pile of ash that used to be a living, breathing monster.

Other Sans stared at shock at the pile of ash that used to be his brother. The rage he had been fighting against for so many years reared its ugly head, but he felt dead. There was no use fighting when his brother was gone. Other Sans turned to look at his double, who was staring with complete horror at the monstrosity he just committed.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, NO. NO. NO! NO! NO! PAPYRUS NO! PLEASE OH GOD PAPYRUS!" He rushed to the pile of dust, sobbing. Other Sans watched shocked, as his brother's killed sobbed into the blood red cape covered in ash. "Not again… oh god please not again…"

Other Sans wanted to fight. Wanted to avenge his brother, but…

"What were you trying to do?" He spoke softly, tears threatening to spill over.

"I needed to kill you. If I killed you, I could absorbed whatever screwed you over, and reset. Everything was going to be fine…" he was babbling, sobbing hysterically.

"Do it." Other Sans was almost silent. Original Sans blinked in shock.

"W-what?"

"Do it. Kill me. Let me be with my brother… please." Other Sans dropped his head, waiting for the fatal hit.

"I'm so sorry…" Original Sans stood, eye sockets blank and emotionless. The door slammed open, startling the two skeletons. Undyne barreled through the door frame, only stopping when she kick the pile. Looking down at her shoe, her one eye opened wide.

"W-what?" She looked up and saw both Sans', sweating and crying.

"I'm sorry Undyne." Original Sans placed a hand on his own jaw bone, or rather, his double's jaw bone. His other hand reached around and rested on the back of Other's skull. With a soft look and a whispered goodbye, Sans snapped his neck, separating the skull from the spine.

Undyne gave a roar of fury and rushed at him, but with a single deft motion, Sans froze her. Sans stared down at the sad smile on his double's face as his body fell to its knees. Other's head went first, the dust sifting through Sans' fingers. His shoulders went next, slowly falling onto the ground.

Sans fell to his own knees, ignoring Undyne's struggling. As the Other turned to dust, inch by inch, his soul appeared. Sans reached a trembling hand out to hold the dying soul, its dark blue greying quickly.

As the blue faded, an inky blackness began to seep from the bottom. It pooled in Sans' palm, burning the bones painfully. As the last of the blue faded, the heart shattered, leaving the pool in his hand, swirling on its own.

Sans wasn't sure what to do, now that he could feel his LOVE increase. His health expand, his EXP growing. It made him feel sick, because it means he became the real monster. He didn't bother hiding the tears as they flowed from his eye sockets.

A sob ripped through his body, shaking him violently. A blue tear dripped into the shadows pooled into his palm. It was instantly absorbed into the darkness. Remembering what Gaster said, Sans had an idea.

He summoned his own soul, the scarred thing that it was. He held the little heart in one hand and the shadows in the other.

Absorb the hatred Gaster had said. Sans brought the soul to the shadows, and let the blackness seep into the blue. Pain was the first thing Sans noticed. The more the black etched into his soul, the more he wished for it to end.

It pushed the blueness back, turning it grey first, then fully taking over. Sans' felt his magic rebel at the intrusion of the darkness, but he held strong. He needed to right this wrong.

Sans dropped his hands, both empty. The black soul found its way back into Sans' chest, burying itself deep in his being. He chuckled humorlessly and slipped off his jacket, pulling on the black jacket instead. A tribute to the souls he destroyed.

He began to sway, and finally collapsed.

It was a creature he had never seen before. Tall, so many arms with so many claws. It tried to capture him, but he refused to be held down. Sans fought back, refusing to give up.

It grabbed at him, wrapping its inky fingers around his waist. Sans felt overwhelmed. His instincts screamed at him to give in. Let the darkness take over.

It would be okay, the darkness whispered to him. Give in, and I'll make the pain stop.

Sans fought back. The creature reared back, not used to this. The last one gave in so easily.

Sans fought back. He made the creature retreat just a step. He thought of his Papyrus.

Sans fought back. The creature keened loudly. He thought of the other Papyrus, dusted.

Sans fought back. The creature tried in vain to get a hold of him. He thought of the other him.

Sans fought back, and the creature shrunk until it was the size of a snail. It tried to run away, but Sans was done fighting. He walked over to the dark blob.

And stepped on it.

"…? Brother? Please wake up! Oh gee… Undyne nothing is working!"

Sans came back to his senses very slowly. The first sense to come back was sound, a loud and distressed voice boomed through his skull. The second, touch. He was in a bed, with scratchy covers and no sheets. The third sense was smell, of dirty socks and cooking spices.

His vision came back last. He saw a bare ceiling first. Turning his head to the side used almost all his strength, but what he saw shocked him.

A dresser with a lamp. A treadmill. A pile of socks. A tornado.

He was home. He was finally home, and that means…

"P-PAPYRUS!" He hadn't meant to scream, but he couldn't help it. Footsteps came pounding up the stairs and to the end of the hallway. His door was thrown open by a bedraggled looking skeleton. As soon as the brothers made eye contact, they threw themselves at each other.

Well, Papyrus threw himself at Sans. It took all of the smaller skeleton's strength just to sit up.

"Brother, it's been days! I was so worried you would never wake up." Papyrus cried out, a happy grin across his whole face. Sans didn't say anything. He just took in the sight of his happy, alive brother. A shaking hand reached out, stroking the bone beneath his eye, the intact bone.

Sans traced Papyrus' face, every bone, every angle, as if trying to memorize it. Sans finally realized he was crying.

"Oh Pap… Papyrus." Sans threw his arms around his brother, holding on tightly. "I thought you were gone… I killed you… you- you're back though. It's fine. Everything is going to be fine now." Sans started laughing through his tears.

"You what? Sans, you never did anything to me, other than give me quite the fright! Imagine how I felt, trying to wake you up but getting no response. You'll never guess what happened, brother. I met a human! And they wanted to be my friend! Someone out there really must be looking after me." He grinned wide.

"You met the kid?" Sans asked, almost trance like.

"Yes! The Great Papyrus was going to capture them at first, but I just couldn't! They were too nice! They met all of my standards!" Papyrus posed, almost falling off the edge of the bed. Sans couldn't help but grin.

Everything was back to normal. Papyrus was okay, the human was back. He was back. Everything was perfect.

"Oh, why don't I go and get them! I've been telling them all about you brother!" Papyrus dashed from the room. Sans pushed himself off the bed and swung his legs over the edge. He looked down at his hands and felt his head spin.

He was wearing the black jacket still. That means…

The room grew dark, the shadows all coming together to block out any light. No figure formed, but a voice rang thought the darkness.

"Thank you…"

Just as quickly as it came, everything went back to normal. Sans was left sitting on his bed, staring at his hands and crying, a large smile on his face. Papyrus came bumbling into the room with a small figure following behind him.

"See brother! It's-" Papyrus stopped and noticed the predicament his brother was in. "Um, Sans? Are you alright?" Sans just chuckled and looked at him.

"I had a bad dream bro, but everything's fine now." He turned to greet the kid, who ran and gave him a huge hug. Pulling away, Sans saw recognition in their eyes. "Yeah, everything's fine now."

That is the end of Purify the Timelines! Although I do love the dictator Papyrus and emotionally unstable Sans idea, I wanted to shake things up a bit.

Thank you everyone who supported this! It's a sad occasion, wrapping up a story you worked so hard on, but also a happy one.

So until next time!

~Starlight