A MINI Adventure

Same but different

It was exactly 365 days since Sans killed everyone. That number seemed important, but they just couldn't remember why. Sans hoped that Papy will be back soon. They have to make new memories with him! The old ones are starting to fade and it scared Sans. They don't want to forget Papyrus. He's the only thing left!

A small pulse from their soul startled Sans briefly. Right, they weren't quite alone. Para, as they decided to call their accomplice, was also there. It confused Sans a little. They thought they could remember that parasites need food on a regular basis. Was the human soul that good, or did Para feed on them and Sans just didn't notice?

If Sans thought about it, it didn't matter that much anyway. All they wanted was Papyrus back. The rest of the Underground was no longer important. So, like every day, they sat in front of the machine and hoped, waiting for Papyrus to come back. With what little Sans could read from the blueprints, the machine didn't seem broken, so Sans just waited. They couldn't do more, even if they wished they were able to. Sans wouldn't even eat if Para didn't force them. At least they no longer have to worry about the food when all the food belongs to them now.

Sans had been probably sitting in front of the machine for a few hours when Para gave the impulse to eat. Sans wasn't even hungry.. But they'd rather eat by themselves than let Para take care of it. They still panic when Para is controlling their body. But hey, in those 365 days Sans has at least learned to tolerate Para. They still remember trying to kill Para, and with it themself, when they woke up from a particularly bad nightmare.

Closing the door to the basement behind them, Sans turned and looked down into the hallway, confused. What were they doing here? Shouldn't they be down by the machine in case P̸̨̖͚͖̻̖̾̈́̄̓͊̈́̇̈́̈́͠͠ạ̸̧̣͈̬̫͖̹͓̋͐p̷̘̭̘̞̹͘ẏ̶̧̛̗̝̙̈̈̽̈́̏̉̊̃̑̉̐ŗ̶̜͖̤̠̯̤͈̦̥̘̌̃͗̾͆ư̴̠̹̯͎̱̝̫̌̌̔̓̂̊͊̎͝s̴̻̬̤͉̣̫̯͚̲̙͇̋̋͜ͅͅ comes back? Should... who come back? Is someone missing? Wasn't it always Para and they?

An impulse from Para brought the memories of Papyrus back to the front of their mind and it brought tears to Sans eyes. They had almost forgotten Papyrus again! Hopefully their big brother will be back soon... They didn't want to forget him.

So Sans tried to refresh their memories of him by cooking papyrus favorite dish. But the more Sans tried to focus on memories with Papyrus, the more they seemed to slip away from them. In a panic, they not only let the food burn but also almost missed the distinctive bang of the machine.

Forgetting the burnt food, Sans ran back into the cellar, their soul pounding violently in their chest. Papyrus had finally returned! Sans had their brother back! Finally they could-

"You are not my Papy.", Sans said meekly as they looked at the Papyrus in front of them. He looked like their brother, but Sans could painfully see the differences, they were too obvious.

"WELL, NOT THE ONE WHO YOU KNOW, YES. YOU CAN CALL ME CINNAMON.” This other fake Papyrus imagined before tilting his head curiously. "BUT HOW DID YOU KNOW THAT I AM NOT YOUR PAPYRUS?"

"You are three feet too short.", Sans said simply and couldn't even enjoy the surprised face. Now they had a Papyrus here, but not the Papyrus they wanted. So.. nothing has changed.

“WHY… DO YOU LOOK SO DISAPPOINTED THAT I AM NOT YOUR PAPYRUS? WHERE'S YOUR BROTHER ANYWAYS? "

"He's gone." Sans said simply bluntly and simply looked at Cinnamon. "He went through the portal of this machine and never came back... I've been so alone ever since..."

Cinnamon actually looked uncomfortable with Sans words. Maybe it was strange for him to imagine a world without his sans? Sans definitely knew that they didn't enjoy being in a world without Papyrus. It was all so.. dreary and colorless, one day fades into the next. And... if Sans was being honest, they were tired of waiting for Papyrus too. Their brother had probably long since forgotten them and lived happily ever after somewhere else, without having to worry about the burden that Sans was.

“If… if you want you could live with me and my brother. There is enough food and you would not be alone anymore. It's not good for someone as young as you to be all alone.” Cinnamon asked in a calm tone and Sans found themself actually considering the offer. If their brother could move on, why couldn't they too?

"Okay. One condition though..”, said Sans, surprising Cinnamon. “Catch me if you can!" And before Cinnamon had time to react, Sans ran up the stairs and out of the house.

For a long time their soul was beating again with excitement and Sans could also sense the excitement of Para. Guess their roommate was just as excited about this chase as Sans. Luckily Sans was still big enough for this fox tunnel.

This would actually be fun!