"PAPYRUS!" Sans screeched, flailing and attempting to pull away from his captor with the best of his efforts, but the glowing blue strings wrapped around his SOUL kept him from moving all that far. That didn't stop him from wriggling around, reaching out with a hand to the rapidly shrinking world before him.
"PAPYRUS, HELP ME!" The skeleton he was calling out to could do nothing but stare in shock as his older brother was taken from him, just looking up in frozen fear, sat on the floor. He may have been a role model to many who had come across him, but now all Papyrus Fontaine was was a trembling mess on the floor of the Last Corridor, too weak to save his own damned brother. Sure, he had called for help and screamed to take him instead, but that did nothing, and so there was no point. Sans could screech and sob and plead, but Papyrus would not come to save him.
The gap to the material world closed, Sans' last glimpse of the outside world finally fading away. This was all that was left for him. An empty white space to inhabit for all eternity with the thing that had tried to kill him and his brother.
Well, no. 'Thing' was a bit harsh, wasn't it? This Sans was the type of person to believe that there was good in everyone. That's what made him unique, aside from the obvious reasons. All the others would have tried to kill Error at this point, or at least sit there solemnly accepting their fate.
Speaking of solemnly accepting their fate, Sans was staring at the now closed gap, which was practically a wall now. He had pounded his fists over and over again, attempting to somehow open up and get back to the castle and this would all be a bad dream. But sadly, that wouldn't happen. His body was drained, emotionally and physically. He wouldn't ever hit or talk back to Error, he simply didn't have the energy. And it's not like he would; Error was an obvious authority figure that Sans was not prepared to deal with.
"Don't look so GLUM, bLUEBERRY." Speaking of Error, he had picked Sans up by the strings still holding his SOUL. Sans made a weak attempt at struggling, but obviously it didn't do anything aside from add a slight strain on his SOUL, making him gag at the sudden sharp pain.
He winced, looking Error in the eye. Wide and scared eyesockets with deep blue pupils met off-color yellow ones, the sclera (surprisingly, Error had sclera) around the pupils bloodshot and swollen. Paired with the darkened blue bone, the air turning grayscale and fuzzy around him, and the rotting yellow teeth that had dug to the point of making his black gums bleed, Error was quite scary to look at. It was like he sapped all love and compassion from the area and replaced it with distorted unreality.
Sans still believed in him, but it didn't mean he was any less terrifying.
"You have ME." Error grinned darkly, and that certainly didn't improve Sans' opinion on him. He gave a tug on the strings holding the brittle skeleton up; not enough to physically injure, but surely enough to cause some casual agony. Sans held back a scream, but did wince with pain. He trembled in fear, sweat beading on his skull and his eyes filled with tears he had been holding back for whoever knows how long.
He hiccuped and began to cry, the futility of the situation finally reaching him. He let out a long drawn out moan of despair as Error dropped him to the floor. "LET ME GO HOME..." He sobbed, his quiet weeping quickly turning to loud blubbering. He hugged himself and sniffled, although that didn't stop his nasal concha from leaking mucus. Don't ask me how a skeleton produces snot.
"LET ME GO HOME..." He repeated, suddenly grabbing onto the sleeves of Error's black and blue hoodie, making him jump back in surprise and attempt to pull away. Sans didn't seem to notice, still noisily crying like a child. His voice was incoherent from the blubbering in his speech and tears streaming freely from his eyesockets.
"I JUST WANNA GO HOME..." He looked up at Error, the dark blue lights in his eyes serving as pupils now shimmering and losing form like disturbed water. "I JUST WANNA SEE P-P-PAPYRUS...A-AND ALPHYS...AND ALEXI-ALEXIBLOOK...AND-AND..." He cut himself off with another sob.
"WE NEVER DID ANYTHING TO YOU..."
Error cracked a smile at that, and his eyes widened in an unsettling manner. He grabbed Sans' chin with his free hand, forcing the crying skeleton to look up at him. His face shifted in a terrifying way, head tilted in a way that was incredibly unnatural. His grin widened, and his eyes lit up with presumably excitement. His hands clenched into fists with gross cracking noises, shaking his head.
"The very EXISTENCE of your universe is a crime." His grip on Sans grew tighter as he spoke. "A mistake. A glitch. FAULTY wiring that could BURN A HOUSE DOWN." Sans didn't necessarily understand the metaphor, but kept mum. He didn't want to make Error angrier than he already was. Error continued with his speech.
"The world is an UNSAFE PLACE with YOU around. Do you understand? Do you still think I'm WRONG?" His voice suddenly rose to a shout, but he quickly regained his composure. Sans was silent. His crying had stopped, and now it seemed all his give had left along with it. He slowly shook his head, not entirely sure how to interpret this.
Error gave Sans a satisfied look, patting him on the skull. "Good. You're the first sANS to actually AGREE with me, did you know?" Sans shook his head, rubbing his tear-filled eyesockets with his bandana. Error hummed. "#13, uNDERFELL." Sans stared in confusion, but didn't want to question it just yet.
"I brought that sANS here, and boy..." Error let out a breath. "He screamed and screamed. All these BAD BAD things. He was SUCH a BADMOUTH, I had to take his TONGUE out." Oh. Sans wasn't exactly sure where that story would have gone, but certainly not there.
He shivered, imagining in his mind's eye what this 'Underfell' version of him was like. Probably not the nicest, but he probably didn't deserve that. But what did he know? He wasn't sure what his other selves were like. Maybe some were laidback like his brother, maybe others were mean like Temmie, or some were just plain off their rockers like Grillby.
"Bad LANGUAGE makes for bad FEELINGS, I hope you know that, bLUEBERRY." Error smiled, opening up a gap quite similar to the one he had dragged Sans from. Sans was so, so tempted to book it into there, but held himself when he saw what was being shown.
"Let go of me, ya fuckin' bepis! I'll fucking kill you!" A skeleton the same size and stature as Sans was being dragged, kicking and screaming, out of his universe the same way Sans had. Sans assumed this was the 'Underfell' version of him, at least by appearance.
"I'll rip your heart out! I swear it! I swear ta fuckin' /Asgore/ I'll rip out your fucking entrails! Who the hell do you think I am? You can't do this! You can't!" He continued to screech, flailing wildly as Error just amusedly watched on as if this happened every day. It probably did, as Sans thought more on it.
The captured skeleton pulled a makeshift pocket knife out of his pocket, flailing and slinging it at Error, landing it in his stomach. Error wasn't bothered in the least, simply yanking it out and letting it clatter to the floor. He knelt to his new puppet's height, ignoring the numerous obscenities that were spat at him. He conjured up more blue strings, gesturing slightly so that they wrapped around his victim's red tongue.
"Hghhey, hgwha..." Underfell Sans' nervous laughter was cut off by his own screech of agony as the strings tightened around his tongue and were forced back, tearing out about half of his tongue. He reeled back in pain, skittering back as thick blood flowed from his mouth. His red eyes were bulged in terror, every warning signal in his brain bombarding him to say that this was not right. He coughed up blood, splattering it all over his front and Error's slippers. He looked up in fear to see the one in question approaching with that signature terrifying grin.
Error smiled uncharacteristically sweetly, lifting Fell's chin the same way one would their lover to be flirty. Sans wasn't entirely sure he liked where this was going. Error said something incoherent, and then did something rather unexpected.
He kissed Fell, seemingly relishing the taste of his mutilated victim's blood. Fell weakly shoved Error away, but that didn't seem to stop him. They stayed like that for a while. Fell just started to look like he was getting used to this, until Error's jaw audibly popped, and Fell's eyes widened and his face paled. If skeletons could pale, that is.
When Error pulled away, he was holding the remnants of Fell's tongue in his teeth. Fell coughed up blood again once and then twice. The third time he emptied his stomach all over himself, the floor, and Error's slippers. Error frowned, removing his slippers and rubbing the vomit and various other bodily fluids off on Fell's sleeve.
"Aren't you HAPPY? You can NEVER say BAD THINGS ever again." Error smiled, holding Fell's tongue in his hands as its owner started to choke and drown.
Sans had to sit down to comprehend what the everloving fuck he had just witnessed. He looked like he was going to throw up, and didn't feel that different from Fell emotionally. He hadn't even met this Fell person, hadn't even known of his existence until now. But that image, the image of him looking so vulnerable with the entire front of his black and yellow jacket covered in bloody vomit with tears streaming from his eyesockets, was one Sans would never ever forget for as long as he lived. Why did Error do these things to people...? Sure, he sees them as threats, but that's no excuse for... that.
Error laughed. "It's a shame, he was a WONDERFUL kisser." He closed the makeshift screen, leaving nothing but another white wall behind. Sans let out a shaking breath, attempting to calm down.
He closed his eyes, imagining that he was back at home, watching Napstabot's show on the small TV in the living room with Papyrus. Papyrus would be watching Napstabot with starry heart eyes, and Sans'd be in his brother's lap with a half-eaten plate of tacos in one hand and a pillow in the other. Things would be good, and there would be no cares in the world. Maybe Alexiblook or Alphys could come over and join them. That would be nice.
...but it was just a fantasy, wasn't it? Already, his old life seemed so distant. Especially when Error yanked on the strings holding Sans' SOUL to both jolt him out of his imagination and cause him major discomfort. His breathing hitched as Error shifted the strings around him physically rather than his weak SOUL. Magic blue thread wrapped around his body, head to toe. It felt tight, but not to the point of choking or breaking bones, oh no.
Sans looked at Error for a few seconds, confused. Error smiled, clenching his fist tightly. Suddenly, Sans dropped, and a loud and disgusting crack could be heard as his right arm was pulled straight out of its socket. He screamed, gaping up at his now dislocated limb. It was only held to his body by his muscle tendons and Error's strings. He foamed at the mouth from the pain, blood spurting from the wound and coating his side. His mind was throwing warning signals left and right, and all the stress and hysteria made him vomit.
Error sidestepped out of the way, and Sans' restraints made him unable to turn his head and point elsewhere, so most of his spew ended up all over his front. "Have some MANNERS, bLUEBERRY." Error huffed. "I bring you over to SPEND TIME with me, and you GET SICK." He sighed and shook his head. "How RUDE."
Sans didn't hear him, at least not coherently. He was still focused on the whole 'dangling in the air by his near-severed arm' thing. His face was twisted into a mask of agony. His signature blue tattered bandanna was covered in blood, as was his side and face, alongside the mangled stump of meat his arm had detached from. He was surprised he wasn't dead, considering he only had 1HP, but then he considered darkly that maybe Error was keeping him alive throughout this. That thought alone made him want to throw up again.
He didn't seem to notice he was falling unconscious until Error yanked on his leg and shouted "Don't BLACK OUT already! You're STRONGER than that!" Sans didn't respond, looking dazedly at his almost entirely gone arm and twitching like a mess. Error glanced over, floating up to Sans' height held up by strings. He looked the skeleton that had been so excitable and charismatic just recently over, and then his face lit up with an idea.
"Hey, bLUEBERRY."
"...HUH?"
"Think FAST!"
"WH-"
RRRRRRIP!
Error had grabbed onto Sans' dangling arm, yanking hard on it so it was fully torn off. A chunk of Sans' ribs got removed with it, the sound of bones shattering becoming regular to Error at this point. Sans screeched loudly, his side feeling like it was on fire. His blue organs were now exposed, and it looked like a few of them had been cut by their owner's ribs when they were dislodged. As he dropped, more strings appeared to hold him up again.
Sans gurgled, blood reaching his mouth and bubbling out. "P-PGHHHR... PHREASE..." He coughed again, managing to get some of the gloopy irony-tasting red liquid out of his mouth. Any other day, he would've complained to Papyrus about his battle body being ruined, but that certainly wasn't top priority now.
"JGH..JUST LET ME GO..." He whimpered, looking at Error with wide and scared eyes welling with tears. His mouth trembled, and if he wasn't already weeping, he probably would have started now. His pupils had that same shimmering water look to them, and it was no doubt this was his equivalent of puppy dog eyes. His heart was pounding and, due to his organs being exposed, could be seen contracting and retracting.
Error raised an eyebrow, looking Sans in the eye. "Do you still believe that there's GOOD in everybody?" His expression was neutral as he tilted Sans' head down to look at him. "WELL?"
Sans gulped, but regretted it when it only made him swallow more blood. He coughed a few times, finally hacking the sticky red fluid up. "Y-YE-YEAH..." He finally stammered out. "YEAH, I DO!" A glint of bravery flashed in the skeleton's eye, and he confidently nodded. "E-EVEN IN YOU..!"
A flicker of benevolence could be seen in Error's face, and for a second, the strings holding Sans up loosened. But it didn't last long, and he shook his head and was back to normal in no time. "Stupid little bLUEBERRY," he sneered, "thinking you could GUILT YOUR WAY out of this."
"I'M NOT TRYING TO-" Sans was cut off when a tangle of strings wrapped around his femur and pulled, easily cracking the bone in half. He sucked in air and clenched his teeth, but didn't scream. Error conjured strings to wrap around Sans' remaining leg. "IT'S NOT TOO LATE! YOU CAN STILL CHANGE! I REALLY REALLY THINK SO!" He nodded out of desperation, wincing in pain.
He wasn't met with a response, only getting his other femur shattered. He fell to the ground, landing on his stumps and howling in pain. As luck would have it, he fell onto the side with his organs exposed, landing directly onto his sharp shattered femur. He screeched again, attempting desperately with his one remaining hand to tear it out.
"sUMMERTALE sANS didn't scream this much when I shoved his brother's ribs down his throat." Error sighed and shook his head, watching Sans fumble around.
"J-JUST..." Sans wheezed, weakly looking up at Error. "TRY... YOU GOTTA JUST...TRY." It seemed like every word out of his mouth took his breath away. "Y-YOU CAN DO IT!..." He forced a smile, but it quickly faded when he saw Error conjure up more strings.
He attempted to crawl away from them, but obviously a 3/4 limbless skeleton could not outrun reality distorting magic. The strings went into his side, wrapping around his exposed blue organs. "P-PLEASE...STOP AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU'RE..." Sans was cut short by one of the bundles of strings tightening. Tighter and tighter, until something inside of him burst. His pancreas, if we're being specific here.
"I-I DON'T KNOW WHAT HAPPENED IN YOUR UNIVERSE, BUT..." He swallowed, wincing in agony when his pancreas burst. "YOU HAD PEOPLE WHO- PEOPLE WHO LOVED YOU..." Error moved on to Sans's stomach, wrapping more strings around it. He didn't tighten them, a slight gesture for Sans to continue.
"YOUR BROTHER LOVED YOU, YOUR FRIENDS LOVED YOU, THE HUMAN LOVED Y-" "Shut UP!" Error yelled, punching Sans directly in his eye. "Shut UP, shut UP, shut UP, SHUT UP!" He continued, hitting Sans over and over again in the skull. Cracks quickly formed, and the poor skeleton's skull was busted upon in no time flat. Sans' brain was exposed, and his life seemed to flash before his very eyes as Error beat his gray (or blue, rather) matter into a pulp too.
"THEY ALL-... CARED..." Sans looked up at Error with quickly fading eyes. His hand reached out, to what he didn't know. He saw Error staring down with no empathy, and as familiar blue strings appeared, he realized he wouldn't be seeing anything ever, ever again.
A dull crack rang out, and as Sans' head separated from his body, everything felt so new. It happened too fast, and for a split second Sans could feel his head fly in the air before Error caught it in his hands in one fell swoop.
"I wish you could have lasted LONGER, bLUEBERRY." Error frowned, looking into Sans' lifeless eyes. He brushed some of the pounded brain away from Sans' face when it started to seep down towards his eyes. Out of the corner of Error's eye, Sans' detached body turned to dust. His severed limbs soon followed, and finally the head of the formerly hyperactive and confident skeleton was blown away by unseen winds. All that was left of the victim was his clothing and a large splotch of blood, both covered in powder.
Error shook his head. Why wasn't he satisfied? He had gotten quite the rush from this, of course, but he didn't feel... complete. Something felt undone, overlooked. He looked over at Sans' bloody and powdery blue bandana on the floor, and it hit him. He slowly walked over and picked it up with a disturbed grin.
In the castle's Last Corridor, a trembling figure was sobbing on the floor, rocking slowly back and forth. Lost all motivation, lost the only thing in life that kept him going. Not human or monster anymore. He just was. Pronoun, adverb, verb. Simple as that. That's all that was left of him. A hollow husk filled with nothing but tears and grief.
He wasn't sure how long he had been sat here. Maybe a few minutes, maybe a day. He wasn't sure. It didn't matter, as far as he was concerned. Nothing really mattered. To point a blaster at his head and fire. Would that matter? Probably not. Not like he had the courage to bring himself to suicide anyway.
So now all he could do is rot. Maybe he could go home, or to Muffet's. He could have all the honey and chocolate syrup he wanted! That would be nice. Muffet never let him have more than half the container. The thought made him chuckle, the only sound coming out of him that wasn't pitiful weeping or self deprecation in Toriel knows how long.
He didn't want to move or stand. Getting home was not worth seeing the carnage Error had caused. He didn't want to see Napstabot shattered into pieces, didn't want to see Alexiblook hiding in his home shedding tears over his dead cousin, didn't want to see the huge locked door in Snowdin Forest with no voice to respond to his dumb puns, didn't want to see Alphys' axe melted into the ground, and certainly didn't want to see his house empty, devoid of Sans. Or sans Sans, rather. Hahahaha, jokes.
He was taken out of his practically vegetative state by an almost tender tap on the shoulder.
"I'm BACK, pAPYRUS."
