"What the hell, Sans?"

"What?"

"You don't just ask someone if they're okay with something and then do it before they respond!"

"I figured-"

"Yeah, you've figured a lot of things, but are you usually right?"

"... no."

Nima didn't respond this time, opting to resume her glaring from earlier.

"What?"

Staring.

"I don't know what you want from me."

More staring.

"Sorry?"

She rolled her eyes, letting out an exasperated sigh. "Whatever, Sans. I would have said yes, anyways; I just wasn't ready for," she gestured lazily in the air - Sans wasn't exactly sure what the gesture was supposed to represent, if anything - and made a confused face, "that."

"Fair enough."

She looked up, fully taking in her surroundings for the first time. "Wow… it looks so… similar. I don't know why I expected it to look so different. I just…"

Sans eyed her carefully, weighing the possible offense she might take if he asked against the offense she might take if he didn't. "Are you okay? To be here, I mean."

"What? Oh, yeah, no, I'm fine. It's just kind of surreal, I guess. I spent the - well, I wouldn't call them the worst, even though, objectively, they probably were, and they certainly weren't the best… I don't know. The weirdest months of my life? Yeah, that sounds about right. I spent some of the weirdest months of my life here, and I guess it just looks so much more normal than I expected, even if I already knew what it looks like. I know that doesn't really make much sense, but, y'know."

"Hey, you're talking to an expert on familiar things looking unfamiliar."

"Right, um, should we go in? You said Alphys had cameras everywhere, so I'm guessing here is no exception, yeah?"

"Yeah, there's cameras here, and that's why we don't need to go inside just yet," he said, jerking his head in the direction of the lab.

Right on cue, the doors opened, and a wary Alphys peeked out, scanning the area for a second, before she strode up to them at a speed that surprised even Sans.

"Wh- what are you doing, Sans? Who i- is this?"

Sans, through his time at Gaster's side with Alphys, had learned that her stuttering was basically a code to her feelings. The less she stuttered, the more intense the feelings were, so he could easily guess that she was not as angry as she was before, but still angry enough to warrant some wariness around what he should say next.

Fortunately for him, what was to be said next was a decision taken from him by Nima, who extended her hand and said, "Nima, human, nice to meet you."

Alphys took her hand gingerly and shook it once before retracting her hand to its place in front of her, fiddling with the other hand. "A- Alphys, Royal Sc- scientist."

"We need your help, Alph," Sans interjected. "There's some crazy shit going on with time, and there's no one who knows more than you."

"Wouldn't Gast- ow!" Nima's remark was cut off by Sans' slippered foot crashing down on top of hers. "What'd you do that for?"

"Alphys has studied anything and everything - she loves the unknown. There's no one better than her." In a hushed hiss, he added, "Got it?"

"Yeah, geez, I got it," Nima replied, now balancing on one foot in order to rub the other. "No need to be so violent."

"W-well I do-on't know that I- that I'm the b-best. I- well, I sup-pose so."

"You're all we've got."

"But there's-" Nima started, cutting herself off before she could finish the statement. "Nevermind."

"Yup, that's right. There's no one else to worry about, so we can-"

"To w-worry about? What- what's that supposed t-to mean Sans?"

"It's nothing. I was just saying that you-"

"Sans, wouldn't it be better to tell her?"

"No, we don't-"

"T-tell me what?"

"No, no. We don't need to - no, it'll just - that's just more problems to-"

"What are you k-keeping from me? Do- do you not tr-trust me? Why would you-"

"For the love of God, Sans, just tell her, or I will!"

"Children."

The three bickering heads swiveled around to meet the new voice on the scene, upon which one grew panicked, one grew confused, and one grew exasperated.

"There is no need to argue. Sans, what did I always tell you about lying to your friends? It'll only cause you trouble."

"Wh-who are you?"

"I wasn't lying - no, I was, but she doesn't need to know you - I was just protecting her."

Expressions in general were difficult to make out on Gaster's face, and the shift that occurred only added to this difficulty, so it wasn't until Gaster spoke that Sans could detect any hint of his thoughts.

"Hm. You sound just like her, you know."

He was taken aback by the gentleness in Gaster's voice; until now, the monster had only been, well, a monster - in the humans' sense of the word - but now? Now he could sense something further, something deeper than the facade. And he wasn't sure he could hate it as he had hated Gaster before.

"Who?"

"My cousin - your mother. Back when we were young, whenever we got caught lying or in trouble, she'd claim it was to protect someone - sometimes someone who didn't even exist. She'd do anything to try and make things less complicated for others. It wasn't even self-preservation… I never understood it, but it was just part of her, I suppose."

Sans paused before speaking. It was a brief pause, but so much happened within it. He sounds… sad,Sans realized. When has he ever showed anything like regard for other people?

"Sans, come out from there! It's just your Uncle Wing Ding - he's not going to hurt you, silly!"

"Uncu?"

"Mm-hm. He finally came to visit - to meet you!"

"Come on now Xixi, don't say it like that. It's not like it's been that long."

"It's been years! Sans doesn't even remember you - I think it's been pretty long."

"Kids don't remember much anyways."

"Not Sans - he's special. He's already learned so much - he's very smart. Come on out, Sans. Wing Ding's a scientist; he'd love to hear about all the cool stuff you know."

"Ah, I, um, really can't stay for long-"

"Years, Wing Ding."

"Ah, yes, okay. I'll just… stay, then."

"Great! I don't know why Sans is being so difficult - I'll go get him."

"What about… the other one?"

"Hm? Oh! Honestly Wing Ding, do you even read the letters I send you? The other one is still taking their sweet time - though I do kind of wish they'd chosen Solas instead; having them around this long is making my soul is soo tired!"

"How tired? Have you been checked? Does Solas know?"

"Don't be a worrywart, Wing Ding! I'm fine - we're all fine. These things just take longer sometimes. Sans was ready quite quickly, so I should have expected the second to take more time. Ah, here we are. C'mere, Sans. Don't make me pick you up."

"Nono!"

"Yeah, you don't want to be picked up, huh? Well, come here, then! Wing Ding's been waiting years to meet you."

"Xixi."

"Sorry, Dingy."

"Ah, don't call me that ridiculous nickname, Xixi."

"What, do you prefer Wingy?"

"Sometimes it amazes me that you're the older of us."

"Oh, fine, Wing Ding. When did you become so not-fun? Isn't that right, Sans? Isn't Uncle WingDing being a spoilsport?"

"Uncu Wig Dig."

"Yes, that's right! Look how smart he is, Wig Dig. "

"Xixi."

"If I only had a gold piece for every time you said my name in a condescending tone."

"Xi- I see your point."

"Wing Ding, you act as though I'm torturing you! I'm just trying to get you to interact with your family! You stay holed up in that lab all hours of the day - when was the last time you went home?"

"I have a bed at-"

"That's not your home, is it? Don't tell me you sold the apartment."

"Not yet."

"Wing Ding! You can't make your life all about the science! You have to make it about you!"

"Uh- um, is anyo-one going t-to tell me wha-at's g-going on?"

"You don't remember? This doesn't trigger any memory in the back of your mind, Alphys? Nothing at all?" Sans questioned, grasping the scientist by the shoulders.

"O-oh, I don't know? I- I don't think s-so."

"Just me then," Sans muttered. "Um, this is W.D. Gaster. The short answer is: he's my uncle. The long answer, um, well-"

"It's a long story," Nima interrupted. "Why don't we go inside, though? Alphys, you can lead the way."

The two began to walk toward the lab, but Sans and Gaster stayed put.

"So, you're not my uncle, then? We're just cousins?"

"Ah, yes. Technically. I grew up in your mother's family, so she was like a sister to me. We find - found - it simpler to say it this way."

"But... you two were fighting."

"Hm?"

"In my memory. You came to visit, and she kept getting angry with you."

"You remember that? Perhaps she was right, you are something."

"You didn't answer my question."

"You didn't ask a question. Clarity, Sans, is the most important thing if-"

"If I want to be a scientist, yeah. Why was she angry with you?"

"Xixi was never angry with me. When you love someone, you don't get angry with them, you get frustrated."

"I'm not six years old. I know that's not true. Quit talking to me like I'm a child."

"Oh, Sans, don't ruin it. Were we not just 'having a moment'?"

"Answer. The damn. Question."

"Temper, Sans."

"You aren't my father!"

"I think that has been made quite clear."

"Why was she angry with you?"

"I occasionally failed to keep in contact because of work."

"Occasionally?"

"Now you truly sound like her. I suppose that's fair enough. I was quite absorbed in the work, and sometimes she would have to drag me away from it so I could 'live a full life', in her words. Perhaps she was right, as well. I spent weeks in that lab if she didn't force me out - it was her way of caring."

"She cared so much about you living a real life, and you turned your back on that after she died?" Sans could hear the angry note in his voice escalating out of control, and fought to bring it back to a level at which Gaster might take him seriously.

"I-"

"Did you care that little?!"

"What?"

"You only took me and Paps in because she wanted you to! She wanted you to learn how to interact with people. She wanted you to be responsible for someone other than yourself. She thought we could help you, but instead you dragged me into it. She mentioned something about an apartment - was that where Paps and I lived? Did you ever even go back there like she wanted? Did you ever once think about what she would have wanted?"

"You don't get to talk about that!" Gaster snapped. " You don't get to talk about her like you knew her - you were nine. I don't care how good your memory is - you don't get to pretend you know what she wanted."

Sans took a small step back, physically startled by Gaster's sudden outburst. He had heard him angry before, but not like this. This wasn't frustration - it wasn't even anger. It was exactly what he had felt when he yelled at Gaster back in the corridor - it was seething hatred.

Sans, however, did not back down entirely. Chin raised, he spat back, "And what gives you the right?"

It was at this point that Nima and Alphys had noticed the commotion and lack of following on the bickering monsters' parts.

"That's it!" Nima's voice rang through the cavern. "I am sick and tired of you two fighting, and you've only been around each other for a total of like ten minutes! Both of you. Inside. Now!"

"O-ooh, um, maybe we should j-just give them a-a little t-time?"

"We haven't got time, and they do this every time they get within each other's sight! Sans, come on. You know we need both of you to figure this out, and we can't figure it out if all you do is fight. Get in there before… before… oh heck - I don't even know! Just get in there before I figure out what I'll do if you don't!"

The two monsters shared a momentary glance, both seeming to attempt an evaluation of the threat. A few more seconds of silence were followed by a footstep, crunching against the packed earth. Sans' gaze lingered on his slipper for a moment more before he took another step. "Fine," he said, shifting his gaze to where Nima and Alphys stood. "But only because we have a bigger problem to solve."

Gaster hummed as he, too, began toward the lab. "Finally, you've managed to put some sense in that skull of his."

"You're no coin purse either, mister."

Three faces turned to regard Nima with confusion, and Sans asked, "What?"

"A coin purse, like he doesn't have cents… like sense… it's… it's a pun on… nevermind. Oh, I miss human puns…"

Sans shrugged at the still-confused Alphys. "C'mon. We'd better get to work."

As the group walked into the lab, Alphys asked, "Uh-um, is anyone go-oing to tell me wh-what exactly we're working o-on?"

No one seemed to hear, so Alphys punctuated the doors' shutting woosh with a sigh.

When Sans stepped into the lab, it felt like everything was rushing back at once. It was strange, for sure, to have a place feel so different than every other time he had been there. It wasn't like he hadn't come to the lab at all after moving to Snowdin, especially after he managed to somewhat befriend Alphys again. But never before had the lab seemed so empty.

As anyone else - with, perhaps the exception of Gaster - looked at the lab, they might have been appalled by the state of the place. With stacks of paper strewn about the desk and floor, a garbage can overflowing with empty packets of noodles, and everything else in a general state of disarray - presumably from the panic at impending doom - the lab hardly looked like a place of professional work. But the lab that Sans now remembered was far worse. Forget papers and packaging - Gaster's lab had been a mess of several simultaneous experiments, stored wherever there was space. Compared to that, Alphy's lab looked like their house after Papyrus would go on a cleaning spree.

Gaster spoke again as he proceeded across the lab. "Much different from when it was mine, isn't it, Sans?"

Sans looked up, surprised. "How did you know I was thinking about that?"

Turning back toward Sans, Gaster set down a flask in response to some hand-flailing and sputtering by Alphys. "Sans, no matter how much you hate me, we are more alike than you know. Perhaps more alike than you would care for, even, but that's not something we can change."

Sans bit back the urge to scoff, though not before darting his eyes to the right and catching a glimpse of Nima's death glare. "Yeah, sure," he opted to say instead.

"S-so… uhm… what are we doing h- here a-anyways?"

"Right," Sans said, snapping back to reality. "We might have more luck when Frisk and the others get here, but-

"F- frisk? Who's that?"

Sans froze, realizing the weight of the situation. This didn't start as a nice and happy timeline. They weren't friends - Alphys never helped Frisk. Frisk killed Undyne - killed Papyrus - for surface's sake, they killed everyone. "They're, um, the human."

A look of clarity fell across Alphys' face, but her next words confirmed Sans' fears. "I thought you said your name was Nima," she said, turning toward the girl. Sans groaned inwardly at the lack of stuttering. He had to silently remind himself not to be too mad at her. Of course she'd be angry and want to deny what's happening.

Nima looked back with a pained expression on her face - a mixture of sympathy and discomfort. "Yeah, um, it is."

"Then Frisk…"

Sans cringed slightly before bursting out, "Killed Paps and Undyne and nearly everyone else in the Underground, yeah."

Seeing a monster pale was a rare occurrence, as their physical appearance wasn't necessarily tied so strongly to their nerves and emotions, so he sighed when he saw Alphys' face fill with terror and drain of color.

"Y- you're bringing them here? They're coming here? Sans, are you insane?"

"At this point, probably." As he saw Alphys open her mouth to speak again, he continued. "Look, it's a complicated story, and you're probably going to have to hear it to help us, but it's okay. They aren't like that anymore."

"There's footage of them killing on my cameras from an hour ago! Do you expect me to believe they've turned good in that time?"

"I know it's hard to believe, but I've seen it. It's like a switch, Alph, really. It's not easy, but they can almost always do it."

"Do what?"

"Like we said before, Alphys, it's quite the long story," Nima interjected. "But… it's going to get a whole lot easier if we just tell you now."

Sans groaned, not looking forward to having to explain the situation all over again, but complied anyways.

"... So basically the kid is good now, Gaster and Nima come from an inaccessible timeline, and apparently time is falling apart or something."

"The divisions between timelines are breaking down," Nima corrected. "Images and memories from other timelines are seeping into this one. You probably don't have many here, because it seems to travel somewhat slowly, and I don't think it's reached here yet."

Alphys didn't reply to Nima's clarifications, instead keeping her eyes trained on Sans. "You knew?" she finally asked.

"Knew what?"

"You s- said that Frisk has done this hun- hundreds of times. S- so that means you- you knew Undyne w- would."

Sans grimaced again. "Um, yes."

"Why didn't you stop it?! Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Hey," Sans said, taking a step towards the yellow monster. "Why didn't I stop Undyne from dying? I didn't even stop Papyrus from dying! I stood by and watched over and over as they did whatever they wanted because it was my job . I have done everything anyone has ever asked of me - you don't get to lay more blame on me."

Alphys backed down, clearly intimidated by Sans' outburst. She took a few steps backward and stumbled into Nima, who had, at some point, borrowed one of Alphys' lab coats to wear. -

"Sorry about him," Nima said, steadying the scientist. "He's having a little trouble with this whole thing."

Sans didn't bother to justify her remark with a response, so he recaptured himself and continued with his explanation. "There's also this flower." Sans didn't notice Alphys paling this time. "I still don't know exactly how it fits into all of this, but apparently it was resetting before Frisk came along, and apparently it killed all the same monsters Frisk did and I killed it. I guess it sort of started this whole thing - after Nima of course."

"Thanks for the credit, Sans," Nima said, her voice sickly sweet and mocking.

"O-oh, uhm, r-right. Th- the flower."

Sans glanced at Alphys, surprised. "What do you know about the flower?"

"I- I kind of… uhm… created it?"

Gaster, who had been silently inspecting every inch of the lab and its experiments, turned toward Alphys. "You did?"

Sans, however, turned toward Nima, whose face went from surprised to sheepish in the span of a second. "Ah, did I, um, forget to mention that?"

"You knew?"

"Okay, yes, sort of… not really, Sans. It was kind of a guess. I didn't really pay much attention to other parts of the timelines until the flower's first reset - I just kind of watched how you were getting on without Gaster - so I never actually saw Alphys create the flower, but I just assumed that she did after I looked at her experiments. I was new to the whole omniscient being thing, so because I only focused on one part of the timeline instead of expanding my vision, I couldn't really see what was happening everywhere else. I'm sorry..."

Sans composed himself, and then responded. "No. No, you don't need to be sorry."

"I don't?"

The pure shock in her voice gave Sans a strange feeling. "What's that supposed to mean? Of course you don't."

"But… you've been so… harsh since this all…"

Sans straightened up, catharsis overtaking him. "Yeah," he said. "I, uh, I know. It's… I've taken so much blame, so I just wanted to, y'know, push it onto someone else, I guess."

"Okay, well, sure. I mean, it's not exactly… immediately forgivable, but, it's progress, I suppose. Does this mean you'll stop butting heads with Gaster, now?"

Sans paused, briefly glancing away.

"Sans," Gaster's voice cut in, pulling the conversation from between the two. "As fascinating as your exchange is, perhaps a more scientific approach could benefit the issue."

"Gaster," Sans retorted, a sarcastic bite cutting into his voice. "As fascinating as your science is, perhaps you could keep your opinions to yourself."

Nima's familiar sigh was now joined by Alphys'. "They've been like this the whole time?" Alphys asked.

"Unfortunately, yes," she replied. "It seems to be mostly Sans - he's not exactly the best at maturity."

"Clearly," Alphys commented, eyeing the again bickering pair.

"You know, it's unfortunate," Nima said, her voice becoming gentler. "They're family . I know blood doesn't always mean they're someone you should tolerate, but Gaster isn't… so bad."

"I- I thought…" Alphys interjected, surprise filling her voice.

"Well, yeah, Gaster isn't a great person - monster, whatever - he's pretty screwed up, but so is Sans. You'd just think they'd get along a little… that maybe they'd understand each other. They were pretty much all the other had."

She, wrapped up in her thoughts, hadn't noticed the two monsters break from their latest quarrel to listen to her.

Sans voice broke into her thoughts first. "That isn't true. I had Papyrus - I only needed Papyrus."

Hardly recognizing the situation, Nima replied, her focus diminished from its usual intensity. "Then why was it so different for you and Papyrus after Gaster and I disappeared?"

Sans didn't recognize the distant nuance to her voice, and replied angrily, "I didn't have a job! We didn't have a place to live - that's pretty different."

Snapping back to reality, Nima sat up, her face taking on an innocent look. "It wasn't about that."

"What do you know?"

"Everything."

"You only saw everything - you can't know what we were feeling."

"That's true, but that doesn't mean I can't take a guess."

"A guess? You're basing all this on a guess?"

"Technically, yes, but it's an educated guess - a hypothesis, you could say."

"You can test a hypothesis. How do you plan to test this?"

"Oh look who's Mr. Scientist now," Nima teased.

"Don't."

"Sans." She returned to her normal tone, leaning forward slightly. "I know you like to be right, but think about it. You and Gaster are family - I know that doesn't mean much, but it doesn't mean nothing. I had a brother back up on the surface, and I thought I hated him. He made my life miserable and I thought I'd be so happy when he moved out. But when he did, it felt like something was missing. His teasing was such an integral part of my life and I realized that maybe it was an important one, and that maybe deep down I really did enjoy it. Family isn't about people you necessarily like - it's people you need."

"Teasing isn't the same as performing dangerous experiments."

"Ah" Gaster interjected, rejoining the conversation. "In reality, it was only one experiment."

"And it broke me! How is that okay?"

"No one is saying it's okay, Sans, but I'm just saying that maybe the good of having Gaster around could outweigh the bad."

"What good? Having him around literally killed you!"

"Do I look dead to you?"

"You know what I meant! He may have done good things for monsters, but never for his own family! He-"

Sans' tirade was cut short by a wisp of jet black snaking its way around his face. His pupils shrinking to pinpricks, he tried to turn around to look at Gaster.

"Enough, Sans. I cannot imagine anyone in this room is eager to hear more of your accusations and complaints, no matter how valid they may or may not be. You brought us here to find a solution, so let us find one."

"Uh, yeah," Nima agreed, a new note of worry in her voice. "We should really hurry." Her eyes were wide and her body trembling slightly, and Alphys reached out to put a hand on her shoulder.

"A- are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah, it's just, as a part of being outside time, every timeline that exists would play across my vision at once while I was in the void. I called it - ah - multi-vision, and it seems to grow worse the closer I am to the void. It was fine, but now it's, uh, starting again. I think that means the void is spreading and coming closer."

"C-coming closer?"

With Gaster's restraint slackening a little, Sans looked at Nima, shocked, and said, "You mean the whole time we were in the corridor? The whole time we were with Asgore?"

"Yeah, sort of. I was a lot more used to it, having just come out of the void, so it wasn't as-" she paused to shake her head and grunt softly, "as jarring. I'm fine, really, but we need to hurry."

As if on a cue with Nima's words, a loud banging sound rumbled from the lab doors. Hurrying over to the panel on the wall, Alphys unlocked them, and they opened to a frantic Frisk and Asgore (and the flower, of course, but Sans hoped that if he didn't acknowledge it, he wouldn't have to deal with it).

"O- oh, hello," Alphys stammered out, but her greetings went unanswered, as Asgore's eyes locked onto Sans.

"Care to explain the expanding darkness we just had to outrun?"

Alphys ushered them inside, locking the doors again behind them.

That's not going to stop anything, Sans thought, but decided not to tell Alphys. If she at least felt secure, she would probably be able to work better. "That's, uh," he glanced at Nima, "a long story?"

This time, Asgore wasn't so forgiving, "Shorten it," the king said, his voice deepening to a growl. Before the last syllable was all the way out of his mouth, however, he looked up and seemed, for the first time, to notice the others standing in the room - particularly one tall, dark figure. He blinked several times, and then a look of recognition seemed to wash over his features.

"Wing Ding?"

Gaster, in return, flinched at the mention of his first name, but regained his overall composure - albeit a possibly stiffer one - quickly. "Asgore," he said, as though it were more a statement or fact than a greeting.

Still absorbed in the presence of the monster, Asgore said quietly, "Perhaps this story is quite long after all."