Sans gets back to Toriel’s place, where it seems like people are finally starting to believe him…although perhaps it’s too little, too late.

Yes, am going with a mid-week update! This is going to be the last written part. The rest is comic from here on out!

–Dogs of Future Past–

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Sans stopped by Toriel’s house again, as he had been doing almost hourly now. He just had to keep checking that everyone was still safe. He knew Papyrus at least was at his work for a few more hours. The others, however…well, that’s what he was here for.

Sans was already nervous when he knocked on the door and didn’t receive an answer. Still, that didn’t stop him from walking in anyway, as he sometimes did. He stepped into the house, and was greeted with another eerie quiet…at least until Alphys spotted him from the hall and came running up, an empty dog food bowl in hand. She looked even more anxious and sweaty than normal.

“Sans! I-I’m glad you’re here…I n-need to talk to someone.”

Sans was immediately on edge. “What’s happening?”

“I-I was just over here to feed Endogeny, t-try and get them calmer, you know…but s-something’s going on with Toriel and I don’t know what!”

Sans closed the door behind him and leaned in a little closer. He suddenly hoped that no one else was listening in on Alphys. “Something going on?”

Alphys gripped the empty dog food bowl closer to her. “Frisk I guess said something to Toriel, it made her really upset, and Asgore got it out from her and he…I don’t know, he was a mess and he j-just left! They were arguing about something and he just ran up and left Flowey and all his equipment outside, and now Toriel hasn’t left her room and I think she’s crying…a-and I just d-don’t know what to do!”

Truth be told, Sans didn’t know what to do about that either. He stayed silent, trying to figure out what Frisk could have done, but Alphys continued on.

“Sans, I…I think you might be r-right. About Frisk. They’ve…they’ve just been acting strange! A-and I just…I hate saying it, b-but they promised me that they wouldn’t hurt Endogeny. I d-don’t think that Frisk would’ve even come back without Endogeny’s soul.” Alphys’ voice dropped into a hushed, frightened tone. “What if…y-you’re right and…it’s not really Frisk?”

Sans just about collapsed into an exhausted pile of bones at having someone in the house finally believe him. “That’s what I’ve been saying! It’s not them!”

Alphys’ eyes darted about, and her claws started putting scratches into the dog food bowl. “But…if it’s not Frisk…who is it?”

To this, Sans had no answers. His own knowledge was already severely limited to just what he felt could happen rather than what did happen. At least, what happened in the timeline they were in now. And considering his previous encounters, he didn’t think he’d ever get a solid answer out of the Frisk imposter. But there was at least one thing he knew about.

“I…dunno. All I know is that when they show up…everything goes wrong.” Sans suddenly felt very heavy, and he looked towards the floor. “Everything goes wrong for everyone, and I become powerless to stop it.”

Alphys looked too desperate to be entertaining Sans’ refusal to act right now. “There’s g-gotta be something we can do!”

“Like what? I don’t think Toriel’s in a state to hear this from me again right now!”

“Sans…”

Both Alphys and Sans nearly jumped out of their skin and bones respectively at a new voice. The two turned, and saw Toriel approaching them from the stairwell…she looked bedraggled and exhausted, her fur unkempt and her eyes tired. She seemed to be looking through the two of them, and for a moment Sans wondered if she actually was aware they were there or not. He and Alphys exchanged a panicked look, and neither of them responded for a moment.

“Um…we were…”

But Toriel didn’t need to wait for a reply from them. “It is about Frisk, is it not? It is not really them. It seems more like…” Toriel trailed off, her breath catching in her throat.

She suddenly seemed unsteady on her feet, and she put a paw against the nearby wall to try and keep herself upright. It didn’t seem to last long before she slid back down to the floor, her head in her paws.

“I do not understand…I do not understand! Why is this happening?! Why, every time…do they keep slipping through my fingers?” Toriel choked back a sob. “I thought we were safe, that we were free. I just want Frisk back. I just want my child back. I do not want to do this again!”

Sans and Alphys stared at each other with equal looks of terror. Both were used to Toriel being in charge, of reassuring them all when things went wrong. And now Sans knew they were both wondering…how were they supposed to reassure the former queen when she was practically having a breakdown?

Alphys was the first to speak up, although quietly so, as she tried to build on the encouragement that Undyne had given her. “Toriel…it’s…it’s n-not your fault.”

That just seemed to make Toriel sob even harder. Alphys made a few panicked motions between herself and Toriel, eyes locked on Sans. Sans was starting to feel pretty anxious himself, but tried to think of some way they could handle this. He mimed using a phone with one hand to Alphys. “Get Undyne and Paps over here!” he told her under his breath. Whatever they could do to try and help Toriel, he had a feeling that they would need the boundless optimism of those two more than ever.

As for himself, Sans swallowed and moved over to try and help Toriel up. It took her a little while, but she finally accepted his hand and he was able to get her back on her feet…while he still supported much of her weight by himself. “We’re gonna get this worked out! Just…you gotta hang in there while we figure out what to do, okay?”

Toriel didn’t respond, but just nodded as Sans led her into the living room. There was only one thing he could think of to do in a crisis of this sort…and that was to tell jokes. “So…I got some new knock-knock jokes off the internet. Wanna hear ‘em?”

Toriel nodded again, and gave a quiet and strained “yes.”

Meanwhile, Alphys made her way to the kitchen and pulled out her cell phone. She barely managed to dial the right number, her claws were shaking so much. Finally, however, she got the number down and heard the line pick up.

“P-Papyrus, it’s Alphys! I know you’re at work, but w-we really need your help here at Toriel’s…”