On the very first page of the ancient tome, these were the words written:

‘A day shall come when the Crimson Sun and the Bloodstained Moon will rise. Beware, for they bring forth unnatural darkness.’

‘Under the veil, the spirits of the dead, the damned, and the hollow shall invade the land. Whole kingdoms have already fallen to their might. Such is the dreadful doom of The Celestial Calamity.’

‘Most will hide in their holes and beg for mercy. But not thou, reader. Knowledge is power, and power I shall share. May thou master this art before the next calamity, lest thou be too late.’

‘Above all, remain ever determined, no matter the time and place.’

* * *

February 10, 2016.

Sans woke up to a flood of ominous energies. The sense of danger was so great, it stirred even the most slothful guy into action.

The first thing he noticed was the unnatural gleam of red. Emerging from the tent, Sans looked upwards. The ink-black skies themselves confirmed his grimmest suspicions.

High on the East rose the Crimson Sun, a shining twisted vortex.

High on the West rose the Bloodstained Moon, perpetually in its fullest phase.

The mere presence of the baneful celestial bodies blotted out the stars, while its dreadful light dyed the white snow in the shade of blood.

This was none other than the foretold doomsday. The Celestial Calamity had begun, and Sans didn’t think he would ever be truly prepared to face it.

He knew enough astronomy to recognise that the current lunar phase should be a waxing crescent with five percent visibility. But the Bloodstained Moon defied that expectation. Nevermind the presence of the sun at the dead of night. This hinted to him that this phenomenon doesn’t correlate with the laws of nature. What if it was a type of dark magic, attempting to override reality?

Whatever it was, the campsite would no longer be safe. He hurried back into his tent to grab his backpack. By now, he had already replaced the one he lost in his investigation. It contained rations, survival tools, and the Necromancy 101 tome.

Just when he slung it on his back, his feet sensed a deep rumbling beneath the snowy earth. ‘The dead, the damned, and the hollow’, the book warned. Only the heavens know what deadly fate threatened to break through.

Where could he flee? North? South? East? West? He didn’t even know what lay ahead and in which direction. Everything happened too quickly.

An idea flashed in his mind. If he couldn’t move sideways, why not go up? Sans focused his thoughts towards the sky, as far as he could muster.

One blink and he emerged high in the air. Looking down, he saw the black briars shred his tent and topple the windmill generator. Sparks flew before they fizzled into nothingness.

Sans quickly turned his own SOUL Blue to slow his descent. No point fleeing upwards only to be smashed by gravity.

While airborne, he scouted the area in hopes to find safe ground. Instead, he saw nothing but a writhing sea of thorns. A grim reality then dawned upon him; the briars had consumed the whole of Mount Ebott and beyond, stretching from horizon to horizon.

‘Safe ground’ had ceased to exist.

The thorns soon started to stir again. They’re trying to merge together so that they can form a tower.

Sans summoned his Gasterblaster. After what happened at the town ruins, he made sure to imbue everything he owned with the glyph of draining. He was certain that the briars would come after him again.

The beam tore through the vines, but they were regrowing faster than he could destroy. Slowly but surely, with great resistance, it climbed towards him.

Worse yet, he’s losing altitude fast. The strain from the upkeep of his Blue magic caused him to sweat bullets. He would float down into harm’s way sooner or later.

Sans knew his limits, but he can’t give up yet. He still had Plan B. And for that, he needed to get back to solid ground.

Max power! Max Karma! Seven Blasters at once!

Vast destructive magic ground down the tower. The lasers drained the vines into dust, while KR delayed its regrowth. The additional boosts helped to maintain his stamina. Before he knew it, he had formed a large clearing beneath his feet.

The moment he landed, the whole bush aimed for Sans, determined to obliterate him on the spot.

Sans dodged every swipe, stab, and slash. In the meantime, he did his best to visualize Stephan’s farm. It’s a considerable distance from Ebott itself. Hopefully, the thorns had yet to reach there.

What did the front porch look like? Landmarks? Coordinates? It’s been a while since he visited there. He would have escaped with confidence if he had a fresher memory of that place.

Mess this up, and he’d be dead where he stands.

He can’t wait anymore. The clearing steadily shrunk. Vines were now flying past the edges of his skull and grazing his clothes with their sharp thorns. Clear or not, Sans had no choice but to initiate the teleport.

The trip wasn’t as smooth as he’d like. His head was dizzy, his balance unsteady, and his vision went blurry. In his stumbling, he bumped his shoulder against a wooden fence pole.

That physical shock was the last straw. He leaned against the pole and vomited his guts out, despite not having any real intestines to speak of. There went his late night snack of hot dog and ketchup.

“Uuughhh…” He grumbled. “This is why I hate blurry teleports. Talk about a bad case of teleportation sickness.”

When his vision cleared up, Sans found himself standing at the front gates of the humble farm. The lights were off. There were no vehicles to be seen either, be it Papyrus’ car or Stephan’s pickup truck.

He breathed a huge sigh of relief. “…They’ve evacuated. Thank heavens. I can focus on my own safety--”

Before he could finish his sentence, Sans saw a laser beam fire in the distance. The light illuminated the snow and smashed through the briars.

Another Gasterblaster?

There was only one person with similar magic… and that was his brother, Papyrus.

“No…” Sans shook his head. “No, no, no, no!”

The more Papyrus used his normal, unimbued magic, the more the enemy would absorb, and thus the stronger the menace would grow.

The younger brother couldn’t have known about the dangers. He wasn’t there when Sans investigated the town. Plus, he had yet to tell him that fighting was the worst option to take.

The elder brother rushed across the snow. Teleport, run, run, teleport. It was too dark to properly track his brother’s exact location.

Questions burned in his mind. Why would Papyrus have fought back? He could have easily fled to safety if he had just kept driving.

Closer and closer Sans got to the scene. There, against the red light, he witnessed a dazzling flurry of bone magic and lasers. Papyrus dodged the vines with the grace of a dancer. Upon every opportunity for a counter, his magnificent barrage of beams and bones shredded through the evil thorns.

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The ever great one always had been the stronger of the two in terms of strength, but seemed to hold back out of consideration. Such was especially true when it came to duelling against children.

“Papyrus!” yelled Sans, “Stop! Stop fighting! You’ll only make it stronger!!! Run!!!”

Alas, he was too late. A thorny briar impaled The Great Papyrus right through the center of his chest.

He couldn’t believe what he had just witnessed. His awe inspiring, powerhouse of a brother failed to evade a fatal blow.

An uncharacteristic flood of grief pushed Sans into a ballistic fury. He pulled out all the stops, ripping and tearing through the invasive weeds.

He can’t count on time to rewind anymore. He can’t count on a mere anomaly.

Anything that happened on the Surface… remains final.

In his rampage, Sans had managed to free Papyrus from the briars. He caught his brother before he hit the earth.

Dust from the shattered vines floated down upon them.

Still conscious, Papyrus spoke with laboured breathing. “Sans…?”

“Yup. It’s me bro,” he said. “Stay with me. Please.”

“Did… Did Stephan escape…?”

Looking at the road, Stephan’s pickup truck and Papyrus’ red car had both become pieces of scrap metal: flipped over and torn apart. Apparently the ferocious vines outsped modern wheels.

“I don’t know. All I see is the wreckage.”

There’s no time to ask about the finer details. The briar regrew, surrounding the brothers.

Sans gulped. The situation turned more dire than he'd like. He couldn’t whisk the wounded Papyrus to safety, nor could he perpetually defend him either. Nonetheless, he prepared himself to make a proper last stand.

He'd never, ever leave Papyrus behind. No matter what!

The briars stopped moving. Although confused, Sans maintained his guard.

Echo flowers sprouted from the briars and bloomed all around, their blue petals contrasting against the red night. A wicked, childish laughter echoed throughout the land…

“You…” Sans grit his teeth. “You’re that flower. Weren’t you supposed to be Papyrus’ friend! Turns out you’re a rotten brat after all. I should have killed you sooner…”

Regret filled his heart. Sans wanted to trust that Papyrus had grown into a fine adult, so he let him have freedom in making friends. Yet, why didn’t he share his own knowledge? Maybe, just maybe, Papyrus would have made a better decision if Sans had the bravery to voice his thoughts.

Looking up towards the sky, Sans saw that The Crimson Sun and the Bloodstained Moon were on the verge of merging into an eclipse. The moon turned black as the sun’s swirling rays embraced it. Dark energy pressed down upon Sans’ shoulders, suffocating and oppressive.

In turn, shadowy berries started to grow from the briars. Soon they formed into familiar shapes.

The first to drop was a fish woman with fins beside her head. She summoned a spear made out of water.

“Undyne…?” Sans muttered.

More and more fruit ripened into the residents of Ebott.

Alphys.

Mettaton.

Asgore.

Grillby.

The Dog Clan.

The ice chucking wolf.

The Cinnabun baking bunny.

Politics bear.

Gerson.

Everyone was here: from the youngest to the oldest. And yet in the midst of all those people… Toriel was nowhere to be seen.

The shade of Undyne brandished her spear at Sans, speaking in a slightly distorted voice: “Who the hell are you? What did you do to Papyrus?!?”

Sans asked: “Don’t you recognize me, Undyne?”

The mention was not taken lightly. The tip of her spear almost hit his face.

Growling, she questioned: “How do you know my name? Speak!”

“I’m Papyrus’ big brother. Of course I know you.”

“Liar! Papyrus doesn’t have a brother! We’ve been BEST FRIENDS since we’re kids and I know EVERYTHING about him. Hand him over now or else I’ll skewer YOU!”

The echo flowers laughed again. And then, they talked.

“Howdy, you idiot Smiley Trashbag! Looks like you’re such a lazy piece of garbage, nobody bothered remembering you. And yet Papyrus was the one who’s afraid of being forgotten. Isn’t that sad, Sans?”

He tried his best not to lash out. Stay level headed. Maybe get information.

“...What did you do?”

“Aww, it’s nothing. I just took their souls and stored them in a safe place, far away from the humans, this stupid calamity, and all the other possible apocalypses that could rip this planet apart. Everyone is gonna live in my perfect little dream.”

“A dream?…”

“Ahuh. Imagine a world where I get to be with my best friends as my true self. No tragedy. No flower body. I will become the Asriel I always should have been! Now all I need to do is to fetch Papyrus. And discard you, of course. Then we will live happily ever after!”

It made sense now. The destruction of the town, the swift murder of every resident, and the briars stretching as far as they did… it was all to create a child’s ideal world.

One by one, the shades of the dead stepped forward.

“Papyrus?” said Asgore’s ghost. “Everything will be alright. We will rescue you from your predicament. Once you are better, we can have a cup of tea together.”

Grillby added, “…Hand him over… And nobody gets hurt…”

Mettaton. “Goodness darling, a hostage situation? My, my, my that just won’t do! If you know better, you don’t want me to transform.”

Alphys. “Um… uh… H-he looks so shady. Is he weak or strong? I-I can’t tell at all. So scary…”

Gerson. “Don’t worry, missy! I’ll give that whippersnapper a good whack o’ the hammer if he tries anything. Wa ha ha! We’ll get Papyrus back no matter what.”

“Damn right!” Undyne took another step forward. “With all of us together, we will NEVER LOSE!!!”

The flower child mocked again. “See? The whole world is against you now! You’re powerless to stop me! How does it feel to be the bad guy, huh?”

By luck or fate, Sans heard multiple jet planes roar overhead. Was that the human world’s legendary ‘air force’? This would be the first time he’d see them in action.

The fleet flew towards the ruins of the monster town. Once they were over their destination, they dropped their payload. A number of small flashing lights landed between the buildings, before erupting into a massive cluster of dust, smoke, and fire.

An ethereal shriek of pain echoed into the land. The thorns receded and the ghosts vanished. It seemed that the humans had managed to hurt the heart of the calamity.

Soon after a second fleet arrived, followed by a third. More and more bombs dropped on where the monsters once lived and died. By the time they were done, nothing remained.

Just like that, all traces of monster society got wiped off the map.

Did they win? Perhaps. The book didn’t take into account the possibility of modern humans exploiting the laws of physics to frightening ends.

“S-Sans…” Papyrus clutched his coat. “…Help them… you have to…”

“What do you mean? The humans? They’ve got this covered.”

Just when he said that, every bone in his being felt the tingle of monster magic in the air. Great fireballs began to rain down from the sky not long after. Spears of water impaled those who tried to evade.

And so the fleet had their mighty wings broken.

The living dead of monsterkind, empowered by their master, had struck back against all who stood against their dreams.

Sans asked, “How did you know?”

Weakly smiling, Papyrus answered: “…I did my own research… This calamity… it happened before… ngh… two centuries ago…”

“C’mon, Papyrus, let’s get you to a hospital. Any hospital. You’ll be alright. We’ll survive this.”

The younger brother shook his head. “…Sans… I know I’m dying…”

“You’re not. You’re absolutely not! I’ll do anything to keep you alive, anything!!!” Sans clutched his brother close. “What’s the point of living if you’re not with me???”

Both of them knew that there’s no hope. The wound was too grievous, even by skeleton monster standards. Still, he refused to give up. He couldn’t. Imagining a life without Papyrus was too frightening to bear.

His younger brother began to whisper the following words. “…If thou needest strength… Seek out thy sacrifice… Reap their life in full…”

Sans was shocked to hear Papyrus quote pieces from the Necromancy 101.

“Papyrus? What are you talking about?”

“…Sans… I don’t want to join them… I don’t want to live in a world… where you don’t exist…”

The younger brother’s bones began to flake into dust. It wouldn’t be long before he completely crumbled.

“…My strength… my life… I’ll give them to you… Protect this world… Love this world… And save the humans… Do it… in my stead…”

A sadistic crossroad lay before him.

Should he let nature take its course and let his brother pass on?

Should he remain determined to search for a hospital?

Or should he honour his brother’s final wishes?

There wasn’t much time left to consider. In the end, he had to make the most logical choice for himself and Papyrus. If he couldn't do that, the opportunity would be lost forever.

Sans summoned a bone engraved with the glyph of draining. He made the end a needle-thin point. Getting pricked was the least violent and painful way to go. Plus, he knew exactly where the softest part of a skeleton lay.

He hovered the tip of the needle over the gaps of Papyrus’ neck, ready to execute the deed.

Gazing at his beloved sibling for one last time, Sans asked: “Any last words, bro?”

“…I’m sorry, and… brother…” Tears rolled down the young one’s face. “…I love you.”

Sans took a deep breath, trying his damndest to not cry. Instead, he kept his trademark cheeky grin for a sweet send off.

“I love you too, Papyrus. Farewell.”

In one swift motion, he struck into Papyrus’ neck. The glyphs shone, and the body glowed along with it.

Ribbons of life magic collapsed unto the elder brother. Papyrus’ strength, stamina, and skills were transferred straight toward Sans’ being.

It was intense. Too intense. His head started to hurt. His eyes hurt even more.

“AAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHH!!!”

Did those screams come from burning pain or from the searing sorrow? Sans didn’t care; they’re one and the same to him.

When the process was over and done, Papyrus had become dust. His trademark red tattered scarf draped over Sans’ hands.

Under the veil of the apocalyptic eclipse, Sans broke into an unrestrained, bitter laughter.

“Heh… heh… heheheheheheh! AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAAAA!!!!!”

He threw his head towards the starless sky, yelling at it.

“The laziest piece of shit in the whole kingdom is the sole survivor? And I’m supposed to be humanity’s saviour?! What an absolute joke! The worst divine comedy I’ve ever seen!!!”

Truthfully, in his heart, two people died that day. Not one.

The first was The Great Papyrus.

The second was Sans the Comedian.

Sans pulled up his hood. Then, he wrapped his brother’s dusty scarf around his neck.

He had yet to realise it, but his eye colours had permanently changed. They were no longer white. His right eye had turned pure crimson, while his left eye had become a hybrid. A red outer layer surrounded his remaining cyan.

Grieving can wait. Getting back on his feet, he turned his attention towards the fires of Mount Ebott. The mastermind of this disaster was there somewhere. In that case, all Sans needed to do was to dive straight into the heart of the calamity and eliminate the problem.

Should he fail to find that damn flower, he’d try again the next time. And again, and again, and again. For as long as he lives.

“Hey brat,” he taunted. “Wanna have a mad time?”

Sans lunged straight into the distant warzone. Out of the ashes of calamity rose a new legend: a twisted phoenix, driven by a single-minded purpose.

He shall one day be known as Dust, The Lone Defender.