Actions

Work Header

Rating:
Archive Warning:
Category:
Fandom:
Relationship:
Additional Tags:
Language:
English
Stats:
Published:
2021-09-27
Updated:
2025-07-02
Words:
16,266
Chapters:
6/?
Comments:
90
Kudos:
937
Bookmarks:
121
Hits:
15,390

"if you're me, how come you're not a beta like me?"

Summary:

or alternatively, five versions of the same person, all of them completely different, accidentally making a pack.

 

(a non-conventional Bad Sans poly A/B/O(/X) AU)

Notes:

hi, me and ali (@reclawedcat on twitter) made an abo au
its my new sandbox and im gonna make little sand castles or whatever ♥

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Chapter 1: introduction

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The fact that Nightmare was removed almost completely from what a ‘Sans’ was had become more and more obvious with each stray he took in (because he couldn’t call them packmates, not if they hadn’t explicitly agreed to such).

He’d asked them all their inclination, because he had to know what to look out for, what to do to make it all as seamless as he could. Killer, a beta with a tongue made of silver that didn’t know how to stay still behind his teeth from the moment Nightmare made it obvious he wasn’t opposed to the dry humor and witty quips; Horror, who’d shrugged and muttered a quiet, ‘xi,’ which made sense given… everything; Dust, who had proclaimed an immediate, ‘alpha,’ even if it made Nightmare raise a browbone in surprise, for he would’ve put a hand in fire on a bet of him not being one. But it wasn’t like he could claim to know someone better than they knew themselves, and he wouldn’t. And Cross, little lost Cross, who hadn’t even known what any of that meant, who made Nightmare wish to know where the ruler of his ruined world was, so he could rip him apart into a million little pieces. Little Cross, who was made a xi, simply because anything else had been thought unpalatable. Unsightly.

Nightmare himself had long wished to be one, because Nim’s flippant decision to create them in the first place, and to make them alphas for the sole reason of, ‘this way, protection will be ingrained in you,’ made his nonexistent skin crawl.

(But really, wasn’t that what he was doing? He was protecting his little boys, unwanted and tortured by life itself, had given them his house and life and protection and love. Thinking of it that way made it more bearable. Protection might be ingrained in him, but only he gets to choose what he protects.)

Notes:

hiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii definitions;

 

Alphas

 

Instinctively protective, alphas ensure that omegas and betas in heat are provided for and taken care of. They’re usually more rational, to persuade (and sometimes force) others to take care of themselves, eat and such.
Traditionally, they build nests for omegas and betas in heat as an offer of protection.
-
Omegas

Omegas are naturally more inclined to hot-headedness, and are very receptive to being taken care of. Their heats happen, on average, 3-4 times a year, and are apparent in increased libido, pains and aches, moodiness and snappishness.
These symptoms pass on their own within 1-2 weeks, but can be rapidly shortened up by coupling.
-
Betas

Betas, much more common than either omegas or alphas, are the balance between the two. Depending on the pack and its formation, they’ll lean more towards the minority in the pack, to balance it out. They’re more susceptible to others’ pheromones, and they usually trigger heats and ruts, dependent on the given situation.
Proximity to an alpha or omega with particularly strong magic, as well as emotional/mental shifts (though much less common) can lead to betas skewing towards any end of the spectrum and stay there, though it is a rare occurrence.
-
Xis

Rare, but not unheard of in birth, xis are most commonly caused by extensive bodily or mental trauma. Xi monsters do not present as either omegas, betas, or alphas, do not have any pheromones, and do not enter heats nor ruts.

---

Nightmare
alpha
 
Nightmare had been ‘born’ (created by Nim) as an alpha along with his brother. An alpha’s innate protective nature would be perfect for what were supposed to be guardians. As such, Nightmare doesn’t particularly appreciate it, and goes to great lengths to suppress his instincts (and needs).
However, he unknowingly creates a pack and takes care of them, though it only becomes more apparent during a heat, when he’ll begrudgingly do anything to make them more comfortable. His specialty is building nests and holding his partner(s) through the pain, should they wish not to fuck it out of their system.
-
Killer
beta

Killer, just like every base (classic) Sans, is a beta. He gladly takes up the alpha role for any heats or the omega role for any ruts. A true jack of all trades.
-
Horror
(formerly) beta > (formerly) xi > beta

The events in Horrortale had caused Horror’s dwindling magic to go into a full survival mode, shutting down any non-essential functions, such as heats and ruts, which burn through extensive amounts of it. After moving into the castle and having a steady diet to stabilize his magic, his beta traits slowly return, starting with occasional ruts and, later, when his magic accumulates enough, heats as well.
He’s very pleasantly surprised by the development.
-
Cross
(formerly) xi > beta

During XGaster’s creation of X-tale, he’d found any and all natural differences in the ABOX system to be unnecessary and unsightly, and had opted to overwrite them, causing every monster in X-tale, including Cross, to be a xi.
He knows nothing about the ABOX system, and when his traits start to show after being an outcode for long enough, he has to be taught everything. He’s excited, though, and relieved he isn’t ‘broken,’ (in his own words), and is, in fact, like the others.
-
Dust
“”alpha-passing, omega-leaning beta”” ((formerly) beta > (formerly) pseudo-omega > (formerly) pseudo-alpha > omega)

Classic Papyruses being alphas, the constant presence of phantom Papyrus, despite only being a figment of Dust’s psyche, had an effect on Dust’s magic, identical to how a prolonged proximity to a powerful alpha would, and made Dust present more omega-like.
The apparition had then needled and berated Dust for being a ‘bitch,’ and eventually, Dust had learned to act like an alpha to counteract that and the more omega-like traits, and he introduces himself as such.
After growing closer to the others and with Nightmare’s nudging, he tells them that he’s more of an omega, and their acceptance makes him more comfortable with himself. The alpha-like tendencies still show, maybe even a bit more than before, especially in battles.