Wowie! Sans, I had no idea you were so strong! Papyrus thought as he watched Sans in admiration. All this time, he had never seen such power from his big brother. The patterns, the blasters, the blue magic, all combined into the strongest attacks he had ever seen. It was... beautiful and terrifying at the same time. He was also quite proud of himself for stopping that human, and saving Shyren! He was glad that the human didn't do a violence; talking it out was much easier. It had been hard enough hurting Frisk so badly back in Snowdin, but now that he didn't have to prove himself to Undyne, he could fight his own way.

He had noticed his brother join the commotion a minute or too earlier, and the purple smoke around him was a bit scary, but once Papyrus saw that he could fight, could help the monsters remain free on the Surface (and that the smoke wasn't hurting Sans), he relaxed and went back to saving the weaker monsters from the human's blades.

It was just after he had scooped up one of the many temmies and took them to safety that the human he'd spared came back to fight again.

His back was facing them when the battle initiated. The world turned black and white around him, and the setting felt darker than the night and much more sinister. He turned. This time, he could see their determination clear in every part of their battle ready body. This was one fight that Papyrus was unsure if he'd be able to stop with kind words. He was scared, and wasn't quite able to hide it. A rattle traversed through his frame, but was pushed away with his will. He SPARED the human, hoping for the same remorse he'd seen in them before. Why had they come back?

Oh. Papyrus noticed the human's brown eyes flicking back and forth between him and the battle behind him. They must've been called back to help fight Sans.

Papyrus chose his words carefully. "PLEASE STOP! DO NOT WORRY, MY BROTHER WILL NOT HURT YOU IF YOU LAY DOWN YOUR WEAPON AND RETURN MY FRIENDS! EVERYONE CAN BE A GOOD PERSON, IF THEY JUST TRY!" A part of him knew it was pointless, but he believed in those words regardless.

The human stepped forward.

Papyrus shivered. It was almost like he'd been here before... A flash of white and a shadowed face appeared before his eyes for a split second as he took a deep breath, putting on his 'GREATNESS FACE'. "...AH, YOU ARE APPROACHING! I SEE MY ARGUMENTS ARE CHANGING YOUR MIND!" He had to hang on to his last sliver of hope.

Another step. Papyrus couldn't move.

"UH, I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU BACK TO THE STRAIGHT AND NARROW WITH OPEN ARMS!" This was it. Papyrus hoped once more that they would choose mercy.

The human raised a dark eyebrow, stepping forward once more. Their blade jumped into their hands as though summoned by magic, and they readied a swing at Papyrus's neck.

The blade whistled downwards. Papyrus closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the end.

He heard the noise of slashing, and the blade made contact...? But nothing happened. Papyrus was unharmed. Had the human stopped? Reconsidered their cruelty?

He cracked open an eye. The other shot open of it's own accord. Time seemed to freeze as he beheld the horrifying sight in front of him.

Sans was standing in front of Papyrus, purple smoke dissipating and sweat rolling off his rounded skull. The blade that would've killed Papyrus was lodged in his rib cage, and his brother's dust was already drifting from the wound.

Sans smiled at Papyrus, a wrenching smile that conveyed a message only they could hear- I'm sorry, I love you. Sans's magic still functioned, and the two humans he'd been fighting were flung down the mountain with blue magic, much like the tent instruction manual from two days ago. Papyrus couldn't find it in him to feel badly for them as it felt like he was shutting down in every possible way.

"S-SANS?" Papyrus whimpered. He felt idiotic. Was that all he could muster? Was that all he could say in this frozen moment?

His brother seemed to be stronger than him. He was able to force out a whole two words. "Hey, bro." Sans's eye lights flickered, and he seemed to sag for a second before turning around, somehow still upright. His eye flashed once more once he engaged the same human who'd just landed a blow on him.

One HP he only has one how is he standing oh god Sans no-

Papyrus wondered what he was doing, completely motionless while his brother fought off a human and the certain excruciating pain that is turning into dust. Who's the lazy one now, Papyrus?

The human fell in a few short moments. Sans fell soon after. Papyrus came to his senses, the numbness rushed away all at once to be replaced by panic.

"BROTHER! BROTHER, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?" Stupid. Stupid. Of course he wasn't. "SANS! SANS?!" Said older brother's hand was disintegrating into the dust it was technically made of in the first place. Monsterkind had been first born with dust and a magic spell, after all.

His brother smiled once again, kneeling on the ground in an effort to stay somewhat upright. "Paps, you g-gotta get out of here. There are still two humans left, and th-they don't like us very much now," he choked.

Papyrus felt hot orange tears well up in his eyesockets. He dropped down beside Sans, puling his dying brother towards himself.

"Please, g-go."

Sans's white eye lights focused on a spot behind Papyrus, and his smile became a bit more real. The younger brother turned despite himself. He could make out a pair of humans running towards them being chased by... Undyne's spears?

Maybe Undyne could heal Sans! Make him better, keep him alive, save him from that Death person Papyrus had heard so much about. Papyrus wanted to believe. He wanted to believe so, so bad. It was getting very, very hard. "SANS, BROTHER, STAY AWAKE, UNDYNE WILL BE HERE SOON. STAY HERE. STAY HERE WITH ME, SANS," he whispered, hoping Sans could hear him.

He shuddered when Sans's arm transformed into grey powder. In a desperate attempt to keep his brother together, he pulled his torso close, wrapping his arms around his brother's blue, stained hoodie. The numbness was back with a vengeance and it brought despair with it hand in hand.

He didn't notice Undyne there, holding him, until she started crying. All that remained of his brother was his torso and head, eye sockets creased in pain. He looked like he was trying to say something, but nothing came out.

Asgore arrived. Papyrus, normally, would be very proud that he could tell the difference between the king and the clone. He stood for a second in front of Papyrus, clearly shocked by the scene. Papyrus didn't blame him. How could Sans be dying? Sans was apparently the most powerful of them all. He was always there, no matter what. He may not have always done something, couldn't always do something, but he was always there when Papyrus needed him most.

You did this. You made him come, made him save you.

"NO! NO! NO. NO NO NO NO. NO. NO!" Papyrus cried, pressing his orange streaked skull into Sans's sweater. The last of him had just dissipated, leaving only a stained blue hoodie and a pile of white dust that was slowly disappearing into the night, the only thing to ever signify that the one constant in Papyrus' life had ever been there in the first place. Papyrus couldn't remember a time in his life when Sans wasn't there. And now he'd never be there again.

Sans was dead, dust, GONE, and it was all Papyrus's fault.


A/N-

Hooray! Chapter 4 is OUT! I know this seems pretty much exactly what happened in Chapter 3, but I felt that we needed to know what was going on in Papyrus's head during everything. I'd really like your opinion on how this will affect Papyrus's overall personality!

Next chapter coming sooooooooon! I hope to see you again then!