Work Text
Everything was so loud. Alarms were blaring, people were shouting and screaming, and above it all was an almost inhuman screech. It didn't hurt Sans ears - not that he had ears to hurt anymore -, not to mention he was far too used to hearing it during his time in the facility. However, it made the humans around him double over, hands clamping over their ears and blood dripping between their fingers. The people with helmets on, though, weren't affected by it other than a slight falter in their steps. They were closing in, and fast."͢b̛rot͟he͠r͜! u͝ndyn̡e!"̵One of the two creatures making the awful, high pitched noise stopped, turning to look at him. None of them resembled humans like they once did, when they first awoke in this strange new world. This fact was prevalent in his brother. Half of his face seemed to be decayed, revealing blackened bone and yellowed teeth. The visible eye socket was purple and melting into itself, a yellow dot in the center acting as both pupil and iris; strands of white liquid fell from it in a never ending fountain, not unlike tears. (But that was impossible because they were told their kind could not cry, could not show genuine emotion.)"̛th͘e̵ ̕e̴xit!͢ ̴ ͝i ̨s͠ee it!"The other inhuman being growled something – as her screeching ended, the helmeted humans rushed to close the distance between them. Webbed ears of red and black extended from the sides of her head and her skin was as black as yours. Her lips were nonexistent, leaving a void as white as her eyes, ringed by fangs that burst directly from the skin around it. Her hair, long and blue, whipped around her, blown by a breeze that wasn't there. The process of transformation from humanoid to something very much not happened fastest for her, and had become complete in time for their escape."G̛o̶͢,͝ ̡̕Ş̷̕a̵͜n͏͠ş̧͞. ̷W̛e'͞l̵͢ļ̢ ̡͝B͏͜e̕͏̨ ̵R̢͠i̴͟g̸͠h͏t̷͢ ̴͡B̸e̸h̢͟͠i̕n̵͏d̷͝ Y̧ơu̢.҉"̵͞Sans hesitated as the haunting noises picked back up, his brother turning back to help Undyne, but then he turned and fled. He slammed into the closed and supposedly locked doors, breaking them open easily. He took his first breath of fresh air. He wanted to stop and savor the feeling, but he knew he couldn't stop just yet, so he kept running. He’d never had to run so much in his life – his legs burned, the surface layer of skin sloughing off, and his lungs heaved, but he didn't give in to the new feeling of exhaustion until he was atop a hill overlooking the facility. He stumbled to a stop, almost giving in to the desire to bend over and heave deep breaths, but the sky stopped him. He’d caught glimpses of it through the windows before, but looking at the stars against the night sky without glass and bars separating him from it was a whole new experience. This was something he never imagined he’d be able to experience – standing barefoot on prickly grass, feeling the cool dirt between his toes and a slight chill in the air, looking up at the heavens."͘we̶ d̢i͏d it̕, b͠r͜ot̷h͢er̵.̧.."̨ he whispered.He didn't hear a reply. Figuring Papyrus was just as speechless by their newfound freedom as Sans were, he turned to see his expression, only to not find him at all. He looked around wildly until he set his sights on the facility in the distance. The sirens were no longer disrupting the silent night, there were no screams or shouts or screeches. Maybe Undyne and Papyrus were just being thorough – or maybe they needed help. That thought sent an electric jolt through Sans; they could be dying or worse, recaptured, and there he was, staring at the sky like it was all that mattered. He took a single step back towards the facility when he registered a high-pitched ringing growing in volume. Then the facility went up in flames, its walls shattering like glass, the pieces scattering in all directions as it collapsed. The very air trembled along with the ground at the force of the explosion and Sans was sent sprawling, debris scraping against him in passing and leaving long, thin scratches on his exposed skin. He slowly sat up, head pounding, and stared wild-eyed at the smoldering remains."u͢n̶dyne̵...͟?̢ ̴ p- ̵pap̵y͜r͟uş?"̵No, no, this wasn't supposed to happen!
"̡b͞r͠͡͡-͝ ̴̸b͟͟r̸oth͟͞e̛͘͜r̨!̧"̧̛҉
Nothing stirred in the darkness as he got to his feet. Nothing moved in the flames. No one was left alive after that act of destruction. No one… except him.
"n̵̡o̵̴͘.̵.̸̛.̸͞͏ ̵̕͡ n͢-̸͡n͜͢o͜͞,͢ ̴̢n̛o̴͠, n̕o͞͠no-͏o͢͠n͝on̶̕-̨n͟on̢͟o̴̧-͏o͟͝! ҉͘ p̨a̴p̵-͘p͠y̶͜r̡u̴̕s͟͜͝-̴̨s̛͟!̛͡ ͏ ̶P̛͠a͝P̨yR̸u̵͠S͘҉!"̛
It was hours before Sans finally left the area, and even then it was only because he heard sirens in the distance, and with the pre-explosion ringing looping in his head, he didn't know how far away it was and how long it'd take until it reached him. He had spent the whole night digging through the burning remains. The sinew and muscles of his hands and feet had eroded away into nothing due to the heat of the still-smoldering wreck, leaving behind exposed bone, most of it crispened to a tar black. Sans had found nothing – burnt husks of humans and empty helmets, but if the dust of his only family and friend had been in the remains, it was lost in the ash. The pain, both physical and emotional, didn't even register until he began to leave. Sans’ soul hurt so much that he just wanted to lay down and give up.
*̶̵̧̕Ȩ̸R̴͟R̕̕͜͢͡O̴̷̸̧͜Ŗ̛͝ ̷̢L͡҉̸V̶̢͟ ̡̡̛͘͝2͜ ̶̧͘͝H̢͟͏̸P̨̨ ̶͘͟4͟͜0̕͠҉͜4̧͜/̧͜͡͞0̷͜͞.͟͝͝1̢͘͡͡͝
Sans just left them to die, and now he was alone. It was all his fault. He had stronger magic than the both of them combined, but his emotional and mental composition was weak - according to the humans who made and experimented on them. Sans should’ve helped them, even when Papyrus insisted that his soul wasn't healthy enough for the endeavor. Or better yet, he should've been the one to die. Papyrus and Undyne had been a lot more excited about leaving the facility than Sans had been, and they didn't even get to experience the outside world before their souls were destroyed. The humans that did this would pay, even if Sans had to tear the whole world apart to find them. As he trekked further and further from the only “home” he’d ever known, he felt something warm and wet trickling down his face in a way that resembled tears – but that was impossible. After all...
...his kind didn't feel genuine emotion.