The Beast within the Monster

The Beast within the Monster



Sans leaned back against the wall as he sat on his bed, staring at his phone as he read the daily monster news blogs. He liked to keep up on current events ever since they had escaped the Underground almost ten years ago. It seemed hard to believe so much had changed in that time, but every day that he woke up on the surface was a blessing that he didn't dare take for granted.

Monsters had slowly begun to work their way into human society. Surprisingly, there were quite a few more humans willing to accept them than he had thought. But there was still a lot who didn't care for them, though human-monster hate crimes were few and far between since new interspecies laws gave out harsh punishments for offenders.

Though the most obvious changes for Sans were closer to home. Toriel and Asgore had gotten back together around three years back. Undyne and Alphys had moved in together, though the house was almost literally divided down the middle to avoid any issues with their different tastes and personal needs. Papyrus, after working at the human-monster school with Toriel, had begun dating a human woman who was another teacher, the two had hit it off well and were starting to get serious.

But perhaps the biggest change to his life involved Frisk. The human had grown and was now slightly above Papyrus's shoulder level. Her hair had grown out a little, but she never let it go too far past her shoulders. Over the years, her face had lost its childish features, as had her figure, and that was part of the reason she had had some persistent young boys poking their nose in where they shouldn't.

If Asgore didn't get wind of it first and set things straight by talking to the kids' parents, Sans himself stepped in to scare the hell out of them. He chuckled to himself as he thought about the last guy he had run off for Frisk. Half shaved head, piercings all over his face, tattoos, and reeking of cigarette smoke. Frisk wasn't into that whole 'bad boy' type, and had made it clear, but the punk didn't listen, so Sans had said something.

Needless to say she never heard from him after that.

Despite all of that, however, the biggest change with Frisk was her place of residence. After Asgore had moved Toriel in with him, Frisk had asked to live with a couple friends. Toriel had been reluctant to let her 'baby' go, but Asgore, feeling almost as reluctant, convinced her that Frisk was old enough to make her own choices, and that she was still free to come back if things didn't work out. As for the friends, they had gotten a stern lecture on being good roommates to Frisk, and were encouraged to make her feel welcomed.

"I love this new shampoo!" Sans looked up as Frisk stepped into his room-or should he say their room?-wrapped in nothing but a pair of towels. "It smells so good, and wait until my hair dries-bet it's gonna be so soft!"

He smirked. "glad you like it-figured you'd go for the strawberry kind when I seen it. i'll be sure to get it from now on instead of the other stuff," he said, watching her rub her messy wet hair dry as she headed into the closet, closing the door slightly to block the view as she reached around to hang the towels on the handle.

"Thanks for doing the shopping, Sans. I know you don't like it, but all those annoying meetings with the other ambassadors....." She sighed, opening a few of the small storage drawers tucked in the back of the closet before pulling on her night clothes. A pair of soft navy blue pants and a grey t-shirt that read 'Eat At Upper Grillby's'. The shirt was actually one of Sans's, but his baggy shirts were always comfortable to sleep in, so it had become an unspoken rule that Frisk was allowed to snatch whatever shirt of the skeleton's she wanted, so long as it made its way back into his laundry rotation.

As she stepped out, she moved over to the dresser and grabbed a brush, working the tangles out of her hair, and watching Sans in the mirror. He kept glancing at her as he attempted to keep his attention somewhat on the news on his phone. But it was hard, harder than it should have been.

He had watched Frisk grow and change, and for nearly eight years he hadn't really paid much attention to it. Until one day two years back when it had suddenly smacked him in the face. Frisk wasn't a kid anymore, she was a young woman, and an attractive one at that. He must have been blind for those years not to notices her new curvy hip bones, high cheekbones, strong jaw, and he even found her warm mocha skin to be beautiful despite his kind not having any. He had often wondered how different species of monsters found something from another kind to be attractive, as he'd never seen anything physically alluring about another monster type before himself. But now, her skin, while not particularly dark for a human yet was so tanned compared to his own white bones, was one of things he liked the most about her appearance.

"......so what do you think?" Frisk asked, setting her brush down as she pushed the hair behind her ears. "Do you wanna go?"

Sans blinked. "huh?"

She sighed, sitting down on the bed beside him, the faint scent of strawberries swirling in the air around them. "You weren't even listening to me," she stated.

"sorry, sweetheart," he replied, shrugging it off. "i was trying to read the reports." He had stopped calling Frisk 'kid', 'kiddo', 'pal', and only rarely used 'buddy' anymore. The skeleton had switched over to 'sweetheart', 'princess', 'bright eyes', and 'sunshine', and when questioned why, he made the excuse that Frisk was too grown for child nicknames. It was a bit of an inside joke sort of thing that he also called her 'Frisky' after the Greater Dog cell fluid incident that had transformed Frisk into a half dog monster for a little over a week when she was a kid.

She shook her head, wiggling under the covers. "I said its Dad's birthday this weekend and I want to get him something special," she repeated. "I wanted to go hunt down a Snowflake Daisy in the Underground, and since you and Papyrus know the area better than I do, I was hoping you'd have an idea of where in Snowdin they'd be."

The skeleton perked. "i dunno, sunshine. snowflake daisies grow way back in the woods. that's some pretty rough territory." He rubbed the back of his skull. "it's not safe to go into the woods. no one's seen one of them for years, but that doesn't mean they're gone."

She frowned. "Them? Them who?"

"oh, that's right. you wouldn't know about them," he murmured. "it's sort of a taboo to talk about them."

"But who are they?"

".......the Beast monsters."

Frisk blinked, looking confused. "Beast monsters......?"

Sans nodded. "we don't like to talk about it. Beasts are.....monsters, like us......but corrupted. monsters are made of magic and kindness, and negative emotions are deadly-like you already know. but what you don't know is that when monsters become bitter, angry, or hopeless......they become Beasts, their souls twisted into something you can't even recognize."

Frisk paled, her tanned skin looking ashen. "W-what.....?"

The skeleton sighed. "it's been years since we've seen any, but they could still be some out there. they can't eat us since monsters turn to dust, but they kill anything in their territory."

"You mean.....monsters, like you and Mom and Dad and Papyrus.......you all could....."

"yeah, but it's not likely-especially now that we're free. and we don't talk about it, so don't go bringing it up, alright?" She nodded, and Sans's eye flashed, the light turning off as he set his phone aside. "then let's get some sleep. i'll go with you tomorrow, just promise to stay close, okay?"

Frisk nodded, wrapping her arms around him as she snuggled against him, sighing softly against his collarbone. "Kind of a heavy topic to go to sleep on."

He chuckled, stroking her hair. "does it weigh a skele-ton on your mind?" She snorted, and buried her face into his ribs as she snickered.


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Snow glittered as it swirled down through the trees, falling to the already thick blanket on the ground. Frisk's bright red boots crunched in the white powder, the wind whipping her dark purple scarf around her shoulders. She wore a thick forest green sweater she'd gotten from Asgore, with black snow pants and a pair of red mittens.

She looked up as the snow drifting through the air, her chocolate brown eyes filled with a child-like sense of wonder. The human sighed, tossing her head back as she spun on her toes with a giggle, feeling the snowflakes on her cheeks like cold kisses. Snowdin would always be her favorite zone in the Underground.

Sans chuckled, watching the human dance in the light flurry. For a trek back into the woods, he had opted to wear his white and blue sneakers instead of his slippers, and just for fun he wore the shirt Frisk had gotten him last year for his birthday-black with a skeleton design. He liked it because it looked liked he was topless, and it made people do a double-take.

He tucked his hands into his pockets. "having fun there, bright eyes?" he teased, secretly admiring the way the snowflakes dusted her mahogany locks.

The human giggled, running a hand over her hair, and he was disappointed that it brushed the snow away. "It's been a while since I've been down here," she confessed, a slight blush coloring her cheeks, drawing his gaze to the hint of cherry spreading over those lovely cheekbones, highlighting her eyes. "I just love Snowdin!"

"i've noticed," he chortled as he moved past her. "c'mon, Frisky, we still got a ways to go before we find those flowers."

"Are we getting close?" she asked as she followed after him. "We've been walking a while now."

Sans stepped on a thick branch, it snapped in two under his shoe, but he didn't seem to notice. Yet Frisk instantly remembered her first encounter with the skeleton. She'd seen a heavy branch in the middle on the path on her way out of the Ruins, and heard a loud crack shortly after passing it. Going back she had discovered it broken to bits, and remembered how afraid she'd been. Now she wondered just how much power Sans really had-she remembered plenty from her battles with him in other timelines, but his attacks had been him using magic, not physical.

'If he can break such a thick branch just by stepping on it, then how powerful is he really.....?'

"we should be coming up to a ridge in a little bit," he replied, jerking her out of her thoughts. "the flowers-if there are any still-should be up at the top. you might wanna take a few, since these things don't grow easy in captivity." He scoffed. "ironic, ain't it?"

"A little," she replied, glancing up at the trees. "It's still amazing that plants grow down here away from the sun."

Sans shrugged. "the wonders of magic, sweetheart."

She giggled. "You say magic is the answer to almost everything."

"well, it is," he stated. "magic is magic, there's not really an explanation besides that."

The conversation carried on for almost a half hour, the subject changing from magic in general, to the magic Sans and Papyrus possessed. "so you see, i got Blue, Light-Blue, Yellow, and Purple magic, and Pap has Blue, Light-Blue, and Orange. together, we can be a pretty hard to beat team." He shrugged, stepping on a large stone as he waited for Frisk to finish climbing over a log. "but, Papyrus doesn't like to hurt people, and me? well i'm just too lazy."

She snorted in amusement, and looked up as she reached him. "This the ridge?"

"you bet, sunshine. now we just gotta climb up there, and you'll have your chilly lilies."

"Snowflake Daisies," she laughed, hurrying up the slope of the ridge despite already being out of breath. She was a bit jealous that despite how lazy he was, Sans made the trip look so easy and effortless. He walked over or around everything in his way, and trekked through the snow like it wasn't even there.

Once at the top, Frisk looked about, so focused on finding the flowers she didn't noticed the freshly trampled and disturbed snow. Nor did she see broken tree limbs and scraped bark. Her eyes were only looking for the plants that would make her Dad happy.

She ducked under a low branch, peering around the tree trunks as she rushed about. Sans reached the top of the slope, his hands tucked in his pockets, his gaze instantly finding Frisk. But mere seconds later, he saw the snow, and the branches, and the trees. The icy grip of fear seized his very soul, and for a moment, he couldn't move.

"F-Frisk....." He tried to call out to the human as she moved deeper into the trees, but his voice seemed to freeze inside his bones. His feet suddenly remembered they could move, and the skeleton sprinted through the trees just as he heard a scream and a deafening roar. "FRISK!"

The human dodged around a tree, a huge monster barreling past, barely missing her place of shelter. She looked back at the creature, not sure what she was even looking at. All the monsters she had ever fought had attacked with their 'bullets', but this one had just charged and almost impaled her on the wickedly sharp horns sprouting from its head.

"Sans!" Frisk shouted, rushing to put more trees between herself and the monster.

"don't look back-keep running!" She heard Sans shout, and she heard the frightening sound of one of his Gasterblasters firing and the creature screaming.

The human rushed through the trees, ducking behind one. She panted heavily, her heart racing as she glanced back, barely able to see Sans through the trees. Frisk glanced around, trying to come up with some sort plan to help him. Sans wouldn't be able to last long, and if she didn't think of something-!

A loud snort made her freeze. Shivers raced down her spine as she slowly turned. Another creature stood behind her, mere feet away, it's face covered in bleeding cuts around the massive maw of jagged fangs. It stared straight back at her, and despite the glow of red, she saw no spark of intelligence in its eyes.

She didn't know if she moved first, or if it did, but it suddenly roared, and charged. The human spun on the heels of her red boots, and ran. It didn't matter where she was going-so long as it was away from that thing behind her!

But in her mad dash, she didn't realize she was running for the edge of the ridge, until it was too late. Her foot met open air, and she fell with a scream. She hit a tree branch, the limb snapping under her weight, dropping her the rest of the way down into the snow. She gasped as she landed, feeling something snap, ripping a cry from her lips.

Frisk gasped for air, trying to breathe through the pain slicing through her. A shadow passed over her, followed quickly by a heavy thud that shook the ground. The human turned her head, and felt her heart stop. The monster had jumped down after her.

She let out a scream of terror as she clawed at the snow, trying to get to her feet, but her right leg refused to move. The creature seemed to have the same issue, one of its legs bent awkwardly. Frisk gasped in pain as she pushed herself up, managing to get to her feet, or rather, onto one foot as her other one screamed in protest at any weight she put on it.

The human was able to stumble to a tree, clinging to it for support as she looked back, watching helplessly as the creature lumbered towards her, snarling. She squeezed her eyes shut. "SANS!"

A roar sliced through the chaos, everything growing still in its wake, as if the forest itself was holding its breath. There was a series of thunderous crashes. Looking up, Frisk saw several trees up on the ridge collapse and crash to the ground.

Frisk felt her breath catch in her throat, her eyes growing wide. It burst through the trees and snow like an explosion, leaping off the ridge and slamming into the ground as if it were a living avalanche. It even roared like one, with all the fury of a mountain.

As the snow cleared, Frisk finally got a good look at the thing, and felt as if the ground had dropped out from under her feet. It was a skeleton of sorts, but it wasn't even vaguely humanoid. If anything, it looked like a dragon, with clawed feet and sharp spikes sticking out of its spine and the near the tip of its tail. But the head looked far too familiar, and the blue glow in its eyes.....

Her gaze looked to its shoulders. Blue fabric and off-white fur, and  black shorts stretched taunt over its hip bones, and blue cloth and white shoestrings caught between its back toes. Her mind tried to piece everything together, to make sense of what she was seeing, but all she could focus on was the blood and dust coating its jaws and claws as it roared at the other monster.

Frisk flinched at the noise, her ears ringing as she watched the two square off. Heads lowered, their bodies crouched, ready to spring as they paced slowly back and forth, as if there were an invisible wall between them. They snarled and snapped their jaws, their teeth clacking loudly, hissing clear threats to one another.

The tension in the air was palpable. It seemed like anything would set off a chain reaction, that at the slightest provocation, they would clash. She swallowed hard, clutching the tree tighter, her nails digging into the bark through her mittens.

The first monster suddenly lunged, its teeth pointing straight out of its mouth like spears as it tried to charge on only three legs. The skeleton creature met it head on, opening its own jaws to lock their teeth together like deer hooking antlers. The charge instantly turned into a battle of strength. From its size alone, it didn't appear that the bone creature was all that powerful when it came to brute force, but to Frisk's surprise, as it violently swung its head, it flipped the other monster over onto its side, sending it sliding across the snow.

A fierce blue glow formed between its jaws, the hum of magical energy made Frisk's skin tingle. The jaws split in two, a blue beam of raw magic blasting forth like a laser, cutting through the other creature, and turning it to dust. It was just like Sans's Gasterblaster attack.

Frisk's remaining leg gave out, forcing her to sink into the snow. The movement jarred her right foot, snatching a sharp gasp from her throat. Instantly, the skeleton whipped around with a snarl, tail lashing like that of an angry cat. It's gaze landed on her, and Frisk felt the blood drain from her face.

She was next.

But its eyes left her to scan their surroundings, a soft growl constantly pouring from between its teeth. It suddenly froze, staring off into the distance, the growl growing slightly before it swung its skull back to Frisk. The human gulped, heart slamming against her ribs as it stomped over to her, its eyes fixed upon her.

She leaned back as it slowly lowered its skull, the growl reduced to a soft rumble, practically a deep purr. Frisk stared up at it, unable to stop the shaking of her limbs. "S-S-Sans......?" she breathed uncertainly.

The monster grunted, bobbing his skull, and slowly lowered his muzzle to touch his teeth carefully to her shoulder. She hesitantly raised a hand, and set it on the side of his jaw, stroking the smooth bone with her thumb, smudging the blood. "Y-you......I-I don't....."

Sans groaned, the sound mournful as he closed his eyes, pressing his muzzle against her torso. Instinctively, she wrapped her arms around it, holding him as best as she could, wanting to comfort her friends. "Sans......."

The skeleton stiffened, and abruptly wiggled free, lifting his skull. His pupils dilated with a snarl before he leaned down, and grabbed the human in his massive jaws. Frisk gasped in surprise, her hands grabbing hold of his teeth, even as she felt the sharp points softly pressing against her flesh. He was barely holding her, but one twitch of his jaw, and he'd easily bite her into thirds.

He growled softly, the sound vibrating through her very bones as he turned, seemingly running off in a random direction.


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Sans carefully ducked into a small cavern nearly hidden by bushes, his massive frame barely fitting inside as he gently set the human down. She wrapped her arms around herself, shivering hard enough to make her teeth chatter. The monster softly nudged her arm, then moved out of the cave.

"W-w-wait!" Frisk called as he disappeared. She tried to stand, only to gasp in pain at the slightest movement of her right leg. "S-Sans!"

A sudden roar made her jump, the noise echoing off the cave walls as she clapped her hands over her ears, trying to block it out. The sound slowly died, replaced by a series of loud crackling pops and snaps and noises of pain. A string of curses reached her ears as she pulled her hands away, along with the crunching of snow underfoot.

A skeleton hand grabbed a branch of the tall bush, and pushed it aside, revealing a worn and tired Sans. He smiling softly at her even as his canines slowly shrank from pointed fangs to his normal teeth, stained slightly from the blood that he must have cleaned off with snow. His shirt was nothing but tattered ribbons, the back of his hoodie shredded, and the scraps of his shoes were gone. Only his shorts seemed intact aside from a few snags in the stretchy fabric. "hey.....sunshine," he panted, and slowly stumbled over to her, dropping to his knees beside her, sweat dripping from his skull. "w-where....you hurt?"

He slowly reached over, setting his hand gently on her knee, sliding it down towards her foot, applying a bit of pressure. As he reached her ankle, she jerked with a sharp inhale, grabbing his shoulder. He glanced at her, a blue aura covering his hand as he skimmed his fingertips over the area. "snapped your ankle, princess," he said, already seemed to get his breath back, having only to breathe in order to speak, but it was also a habit for Sans. "you'll be okay once we get home. Pap can fix you right up with a splint-he's good at first aid. Undyne taught him si-"

"Sans?" The skeleton flinched, and slowly turned to her, mentally preparing himself for the fear he'd surely see in her eyes, and for the rejection that was to follow. She had tears on her lashes, her hands reached out to shove him away-

Her fingers slipped between his ribs, and jerked him forwards, dragging him to her as she wrapped one arm around his neck. He could only stare ahead blankly as his arms robotically slipped around her, holding her lovingly. "I-I-I was-so-scared!" she hiccuped, her words coming out choppy and broken. "I-thought-you were-one-of them! I thought-you-were-g-gone!"

He blinked, and slowly tightened his embrace on her. "oh, sweetheart, you......you thought i turned into a Beast that fast? it takes years to fully change."

"Then.....what h-happened-to you?"

He sighed, resting his skull against her head. "i.....have this power, to change into that form. it was a bit of an accident, really. when i was still working on trying to break the barrier, i thought i could increase my magic to get through. so i experimented on myself-long story short, one day-boom! i transform into this.....thing, and got stuck like that for a few days before i managed to turn back. not a lot of people know about it-just Papyrus, Alphys, Undyne, and Asgore. and now you, sunshine."

She sniffled, shivering as the tear streaks on her cheeks made her skin colder. "So you're okay? You're not gonna be like-"

"no," he cut in, his hand fisting in her hair. "i got too much that i care about to lose my mind like that. can't leave you all alone-took my eye sockets off you for two minutes and look at all the trouble you got into, Frisky."

Frisk shuddered, holding him tighter for a moment. He sighed, and shifted to sit behind her, pulling his jacket forward to wrap around her, zipping it up. "should have dressed warmer, sweetheart."

"I didn't expect to be out here long enough to need a jacket," she complained, snuggling comfortably into him. "Can you teleport us home?"

"not quite yet," he muttered. "i used up a lot of magic. it'll be a while before i'll be strong enough for that. i'm a bit of a slow recharger." He pulled his arms out of his sleeves to wrap around her torso, running his hands gently over her ribs and spine. "is anything else hurt?"

She cringed slightly. "I hit a branch when I fell, I think my side is bruised. Y-your hands are freezing!"

He chuckled, gently wrapping his arms around her. "sorry, princess. but i'm no good at keeping my hands to myself." The skeleton sighed again, resting his head on her shoulder. "i'll get you home soon, though. then we can go take a lot nap together. i'll even break out that fuzzy purple blanket you love so much."

She nodded slowly. "That sounds nice. But I won't make you sleep under the blanket. I know you don't like it, though I don't understand why...."

"it's overstimulating on my bones-takes away from feeling your skin," he murmured, stroking a hand down her arm. "flesh is so weird. it's soft and warm, pulsing in time with your heart. so cool."

Frisk blinked. "You......can feel my heartbeat?"

He nodded drowsily. "sometimes, when i'm still awake at night, i like to do this-" He placed his hand on her chest, his palm over her heart. "and count your heartbeats. makes it easier to sleep."

"By treating my heart like sheep?"

"by telling me you're alive and okay."

The human felt her cheeks warm slightly. She shifted a bit to cover her cheeks under the jacket, but he chuckled, the sound in his chest vibrating against her back. "i like the way it speeds up like that, too. bet your face is turning red, ain't it?"

"Sh-shut up about it," she mumbled, even as she snuggled her head against his skull. She was quiet for a moment, listening to the sound of Sans's breathing growing sluggish. She turned her head slightly, and kissed his cool cheekbone. "Thanks for saving me, by the way."

He chuckled softly, turning to touch his teeth to her forehead, the skeleton's version of a kiss. "nobody messes with my girl." The skeleton froze, silently cursing his tired mind for letting that slip out. He just had to hope she wouldn't understand what he really meant.

Frisk smiled, slipping her fingers between his inside the jacket, her heartbeat speeding up under his hand. "Glad to know you care so much."

He huffed, lightly shaking his head. "more than you know, sweetheart."

She closed her eyes with a sigh. "I was scared you were gonna get hurt." Her fingers tightened around his. "Sans......I can't lose you. Ever."

The skeleton buried his face in her hair, the locks like silk against his bones. "you got me wrapped around your finger, sunshine. you'll never get rid of me. ya' get what i'm saying?"

".....that you love me?"

Sans froze. "y-yeah, 'course i do. we all love-"

"No," she cut him off, turning her head more to look at him the best she could. "You love me like everyone else does. But.....is there.....is there more, Sans?" she asked, a hopeful tone in her voice.

He didn't answer, his face still buried in her hair. She looked away with a blush, embarrassment sweeping over her. Of course she'd been wrong. It was stupid to think the crush she'd had on him since she was a kid would have eventually turned into something more. Determination and wishful thinking only got one so far.

She had suddenly realized she was infatuated with him when she was about twelve. As part of a birthday present, he had taken her out to dinner, just the two of them, then took a shortcut to the top of the mountain to stargaze. He had wrapped his jacket around her as they had laid back on a blanket while he pointed out constellations and rambled off facts about stars. She remembered feeling like his 'special somebody' like in the anime movie she had recently watched with Alphys and Undyne-the person that made someone the happiest in the world by just being there.

Toriel had been quick to guess about it, and even sat her down to talk about it. Frisk had never been so embarrassed to talk with her mom in all her life! But the Boss monster had persisted, and she was forced to reveal her thoughts of the skeleton.

The goat-like monster had listened patiently, nodding occasionally. Then when Frisk had finished, she warned her that Sans was likely to never return her feelings, and that it was certainly just a little girl's crush that would go away over time. Frisk remembered feeling horrible after that, and promised herself not to ruin her friendship with Sans over something that wouldn't ever matter.

Over the years, she had kept her mouth shut, foolishly telling herself she was satisfied with his brotherly love and company, that she didn't really love him that way. She pretended she didn't want to call and text him all the time to tell him about the littlest and silliest things. She pretended not to hate every woman who flirted with him, that she wasn't angry and bitter when he playfully flirted back, that she couldn't speak to him for hours afterwards because it was all she could do not to scream or cry.

She pretended for years as a kid. But playing pretend ended when someone grew up. If her feelings hadn't faded, then didn't that mean they were real? After all, after the first time Sans had called her 'Sweetheart' she'd felt overjoyed, her heart wanting the simple nickname to mean so much more than what it had likely been intended to.

He sighed. "Frisk, i-" The skeleton jerks upright, then swiftly ducked out of the hoodie, rushing to the entrance. He froze, seemingly listening for something, then cursed under his breath. "it followed us!"

The human perked. "I-it? What followed us?!"

"another Beast! i hoped after moving and that territory roar it'd leave us alone." A distant roar echoed through the forest, finally reaching Frisk's ears. Sans clenched a hand. "i don't have enough magic to transform or teleport....."

The sound of cracked wood in the forest was quickly followed by a loud crash as a tree fell to the Beast's might. Frisk's pulse began to race, her hands trembling from something other than the cold. "What do we do?"

He shook his head, backing away from the entrance. "i can't carry you far or fast enough to get away, and you can't run, so even if i led it away, it'd just come back for you." The skeleton looked at her with a strange mixture of sadness and regret, but his eyes held no fear. He knelt beside her, gently cupping her face as he rested his forehead against hers. "the gods are punishing me for not saying something i should have said a long time ago."

"About your Beast form?" she guessed, feeling her cheeks grow warm and her heart race for a different reason.

He looked at her for a moment, their faces so close that all they could see was each other. It was like the universe outside of their little bubble no longer mattered, and if it was to suddenly end for them, then Frisk could be content with her last moment of peace being with him.

Sans slowly leaned forward, hesitating for a moment, then pushed on with a look of Determination. Frisk only saw it for a second, because then, Sans kissed her, bare teeth to chilled lips. But it didn't matter, the gesture itself was the greatest thing Frisk had ever felt. "i love you, Frisk."

He felt a weight being lifted from his very soul, replaced by a swelling joy and warmth that flooded through his bones. The skeleton became vaguely aware of the Beast drawing closer, tracking their scent through the woods, but all he could focus on was Frisk and the wonderful feeling inside of him. Despite the cold, he felt warm......he felt hot.

The realization dawned on him. His magic was literally blazing, pouring off of him and spreading across the cave floor like blue fire. He pulled out of the kiss, her eyes reflecting the light of his power, and the pieces of the strange puzzle connected.

Monsters were mostly magic and kindness, and their emotions held great sway over their powers. By letting his fear of rejection go, and relieving the stress of holding back his feelings, his magic found more than enough energy to burn like the sun itself.

Frisk stared in awe, her eyes wide. "S-Sans?"

He smirked, and pulled her into another kiss, ignoring the roar of the creature tearing across the snow towards their shelter. The skeleton's magic swirled around them like an iridescent whirlwind as the Beast's clawed foreleg reached inside, and slammed down. It's claws found only stone, the magic dispelling like azure smoke.


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Frisk sighed as she laid on the couch, waiting for Papyrus to come back from the store with milk, claiming it was the last thing she needed to be 'utterly cured from bone-breakage'. She had tried to tell him that drinking milk wasn't actually going to repair her ankle, but he had already been out the door. Now she was left stuck on the couch with her ankle wrapped and propped up, and the remote was out of reach on the coffee table.

She looked up at the ceiling, running over the blur of activity that had happened. One minute she was on a cave floor, Sans leaning over her in a kiss, then they were falling into a snowbank a few yards away from the house. Sans hadn't explained any of it, and once he handed her over to Papyrus, he'd suddenly disappeared.

The human felt her stomach twist into a knot. Had he finally recharged the magic needed for a teleportation, then regretted his confession? Or worse, had he decided in their thought to be lasts moments to make her feel wonderful by saying what she wanted to hear? Neither one was a good option to think about.

Curse that remote for being too far away.

The TV suddenly clicked on, making her jump. Sans grinned down at her, the remote in his hand. He had another shirt on, and surprisingly his hoodie looked like new, even the old stains on the elbows were gone. "thought you might want a little background noise," he said as he sat down by the couch, resting an arm on it beside her. "how you feelin', princess? Pap's treatin' you like royalty now."

She looked at him, and folded her arms as she glared at the back of the couch. "You left."

He sighed. "yeah, i did," he agreed. "i needed a few minutes-had to rein myself in."

Frisk glanced at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"well you saw all that magic i was spoutin'," he stated. "i haven't ever had that much at once.....kinda scary how strong it was. i tore that Beast up like an angry crowd on a bad comedian. i still got a good amount leftover."

She perked, turning slightly as she tried to keep her leg still. "You killed that Beast?"

He chuckled darkly, his left eye blazing. "i told you-nobody messes with my Frisk."

The human blushed, her throat suddenly dry as she swallowed a lump. "So then......what you said in the cave-?"

The skeleton grabbed her hand, squeezing it gently. "i meant every word of it, princess. i......i don't know when exactly it happened but......geez, Frisk. you knocked me out and i didn't even notice." He winked. "guess it must have been a sucker punch."

She giggled, stroking her thumb over his boney fingers. "I feel the same way."

He nodded. "i know, my magic is proof of that."

The human frowned. "How?"

"monsters are greatly effected by their emotions, and to us, love is permanent-engraved into our very souls. no matter if we stop caring about somebody, we'll always have that love within us. so when we gain love, we become a lot stronger, because it......well, fuels us." He looked away, rubbing the back of his skull. "i suppose it's like nature's way of giving us the strength to defend those that are the most important."

Frisk reached out, turning his gaze back to her. "Speaking of strength to defend. Can I......I mean, could I......see it again?"

He blinked, then looked down bashfully. "w-well.....would you settle for a partial change? don't wanna break anything or rip my clothes up again."

"How did you fix your jacket?"

He grinned, his eye burning brighter, flames seeping from his socket as his skull began to change. "magic."

She watched the transformation, taking in the details. His fingers grew longer, the tips becoming claws as he seemed to get taller. A tail sprouted from his lower back as his feet became most animal-like. But his skull changed the most, looking identical to his Gasterblasters.

He sighed as his bones stopped creaking and crackling, closing his eyes for a moment. Frisk slowly sat up, mindful of her sore side, and placed her hand on the side of his new muzzle. "You look....really cool," she admitted. "Does it still hurt?"

"not after it stops," he chortled, and rested his head on the couch as he let her fingers explore his new face. A rumble escaped him, enjoying the softness of her skin. "you're gonna put me to sleep, princess."

She giggled, and leaned down, kissing his forehead. "Well, I don't exactly fit the part, but since you call me 'princess' a lot, does that make us......Beauty and the Beast~?"

Sans chuckled, and gave her a wink. "beauty is in the eye socket of the beholder, and to be frank with you-" He pulled a hotdog out of his pocket, and set it on top of her head. "you look perfect to me."