A/N: Warning: Spoilers for the Genocide run. Fem!Chara! This fic is going to have concepts from the Silent Hill series ('other world monsters', overall theme, etc.)

Disclaimer: Undertale belongs to Toby Fox and Konami owns the rights to the Silent Hill series. I do not own any character/concept/game from either game(s).

Broken Reality

One

"Shattered"

He remembered the warning he gave her. "be nice to my brother, kid," he paused, his pupils shrinking eerily. "or you're gonna have a bad time." He remembered her reaction; the way she stared at him blankly, not a hint of fear in her eyes. Instead, he could have sworn he saw a gleam of something else. Something… dangerous. It had vanished as soon as he noticed. Sans smiled, his pupils returning. "hey, kid. can't you take a joke?" The skeleton turned and followed after Papyrus.

Sans spent the rest of the afternoon with his brother and the human child. Watching his delighted brother attempt to capture the child with his puzzles. And watching her disinterestedly brush off his attempts to trap her. By the final puzzle he had set up, Papyrus was noticeably less excited. It hurt his SOUL to see him like that. When the taller skeleton took off toward Snowdin Town, saying something about Undyne, Sans eyed the human as she continued down the bridge, hot on his trail. She passed the skeleton, not even sparing him a glance, and suddenly Sans felt something… off about this child. There was something wrong.

He dismissed the thought immediately. Maybe he was being overly-protective; he had a tendency to be when it concerned his younger brother. In retrospect, he should've taken that feeling more seriously.

Sans watched the human in the distance. Despite trying to convince himself otherwise, he still couldn't shake that feeling from his mind. that human is in for a bad time. He decided then to take a shortcut back to Snowdin. He had promised his brother that they would hang out at Grillby's today. He certainly didn't want to disappoint Papyrus even more.

The first thing Sans was aware of when he arrived back in town was the blatant absence of… well, everyone. No one was outside, and even when he stopped by the shops to greet the owners, the buildings were empty. Save for a single monster child, the town was deserted.

"heh, wonder where the party is?" Sans mused to himself. He didn't want to admit it, but there was a slightly darker atmosphere upon the town.

The closer he got to his house, the thicker the fog became. Sans could hardly see the overstuffed mailbox in front of him. That's when he saw it; in the distance, he could just barely make out the faint silhouette of a small figure. that's the kid, isn't it?

Only moments later, Sans heard the familiar voice of his brother, laughing happily and offering the child friendship.

"ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE?" The human stepped steadily closer. She spread her arms wide, taking a single step forward and vanishing into the haze. Sans could no longer see the child's shape.

And then there was silence. The older skeleton had half-expected Papyrus to run to him and excitedly tell him about the new friend he made. The quiet drew on for a little too long, and Sans began to wonder. He started forward into the foggy distance.

The silence was only broken by the sound of snow crunching under his slippers and his shallow breathing. Sans started to wonder if he was going anywhere at all, and joked with the idea that he had fallen into a time loop. His train of thought stopped abruptly as he was aware of the tall figure standing a few feet in front of him. He was still hidden by fog and had his back turned to him. Sans felt a wave of relief pass over him.

"hey, bro," he waited for him to respond. Papyrus didn't offer one. "c'mon, pap. let's go to grillby's." Sans turned, expecting him to follow. He remained static. The short skeleton glanced back at his brother. "papyrus?" Suddenly, Sans felt uneasy.

The fog finally dispersed. Papyrus stood there, almost in a sort of trance. "hey, bro," Sans tried again. "are you feeling okay?" That seemed to elicit a reaction from him. His brother turned slowly. Sans knew then that something was wrong.

Papyrus' left leg bone was fractured, the bone shattered and splintered, sticking out at a slight angle. His right shoulder was cracked and dislocated, making it appear asymmetric. There was a gaping hole in his lower chest, a strange black smog-like substance oozing out of the wound. His jaw bone was only half-attached, and he looked to be slack-jawed. His teeth had vanished, and he appeared to be breathing out that same black smog from his mouth. The skeleton's empty right eye socket had a slight yellow glow around it.

Sans should have felt fear, for that was not his brother, but instead, he was overwhelmed with sorrow. He laughed nervously. "h-hey… papyrus," his smiled faltered. "don't do this to me…" His voice sounded uneasy and it only caused Papyrus' yellow magic to flare up briefly. Sans suddenly felt weak on his feet. "i'm your brother…" He had hoped that would somehow convince one of them of a broken reality.

The tall skeleton started forward slowly, limping slightly. Sans stood, doing nothing, letting his gaze fall to the ground as a horrible realization dawned on him. no, no. this can't be- He was jerked back to the present when he was nearly knocked to the ground; a yellow bone flying past his skull dangerously. Sans could only hope he missed on purpose.

Papyrus approached ever closer, four glowing bones materializing out of thin air. The short skeleton backed up wearily, sweat forming on his forehead. His hands in his jacket pockets curled into fists and he felt himself tense. One bone was sent at him violently, but Sans dodged to the side reflexively. His left eye sparked with magic, and a light blue flame ignited.

"don't make me do this…" it came out as a quiet whisper. His SOUL filled with intense hesitation and regret. Another bone flew at him at a high velocity. Then another. And a third, all in a row. Luckily, Sans had the speed and agility to move out of the way. He was starting to breathe heavily now, losing too much breath at once. He knew he couldn't keep evading forever.

He pulled his trembling left hand out of his jacket, jerking it to the right. Papyrus was pushed to the side with an invisible force, but it wasn't strong enough to knock him down. Before the taller skeleton could attempt another attack, Sans quickly jerked his arm to the right again, violently this time. His arm whipped down, then. Again. Again. Until the monster was forced from kneeling and was laying face down in the snow.

Sans didn't stop there, though. Fueled by his anger and guilt and sorrow, he continuously forced his brother down, blue magic burning brightly. Each time his hand flew downwards, there would be less and less effort. Even when the force was nearly non-existent, Papyrus made no attempt to get up.

Sans had his eyes closed, grimacing desperately. He was starting to visibly shake on his feet. His other hand flew out of his pocket as he suddenly lost his balance and fell forward onto his hands and knees. The flame around his eye socket slowly died out.

"papyrus…" Sans choked out. "i'm… i'm sorry." He looked up, tears streaming down his face. Directly in front of him, his brother's dust was spread on the snow, his clothes waving uselessly in the breeze. Another sickening burst of grief overtook him for a moment.

Finally, Sans pushed past the sorrow and the tears stopped. He reached out to grab Papyrus' red scarf. And he felt a sharp stab of guilt in his chest. He felt like his SOUL had shattered into pieces. Oh, how that kid was going to pay.