In the next month and a half, Gaster goes between experimenting on Undyne and working with Sans on the machine. He has Undyne do hard physical labor to see if it's helping her physically and it CLEARLY is. She's getting much stronger and is able to take more weight and more strain with every passing day. It's miniscule, but it's enough for Gaster and the three followers to notice and jot down. Her missing eye from the accident doesn't hinder her. In fact, she gets an eye patch and often says how cool it is. Gaster wonders if she's fronting so that he won't feel bad. Which is ridiculous because he doesn't feel too bad about it anyway… but thinks it's very kind of her at the same time to consider his feelings. Ironic he thinks.
She's very loud. She yells and screams and gets overly "pumped up". It's a little annoying, but at the same time, she reminds him of Papyrus. So he deals with it.
Sans is very good are remaining hidden. He's caught on that Gaster is up to something behind his back. It's not hard to figure out when he's gone at weird hours in the morning and doesn't show up to work on the machine until 9 AM… He followed Gaster one morning and heard Undyne groaning in pain from the injections. Monster experimentation… Normally he would have busted in and asked what the hell was going on, it sounded like Undyne was more than happy to be doing it. "To get stronger" he hears. If that's what she wants then Sans isn't going to say anything he guesses… She's not dying or anything so it must be fine.
He can't help but think though. Did Gaster want to experiment on Sans too? But didn't because he thought Sans would become dust if he went too far? That would ne noble. He can't stop himself from feeling a little grateful that Undyne took this hit unknowingly for Sans, if that was indeed the case.
Papyrus insists on following Sans to the Lab now and again, and the older brother recalls doing the same thing with Gaster when he was young. Luckily though, when Sans DOES let him in, Papyrus gets bored easily at all the math and science he can't wrap his head around. It's too complicated and there are signs and symbols that he isn't learning in school obviously. Papyrus calls Sans and Gaster "NERDS!" before leaving every time and the two just snicker and wave good bye.
But the two are always mindful to hang out with Papyrus and teach him many things, play with him and read to him. Sans misses the days with Papyrus was clingy and laughed at all of his jokes. He sighs sometimes, fondly remembering. "YOU'RE TOO YOUNG TO BE SIGHING WITH NOSTALGIA, SANS." Gaster would often say to him playfully.
Today feels off to Sans.
He just has his feeling that today was going to be weird.
While the two walk to work after dropping Papyrus off at school, Sans stares at the ground a lot of the time, trying to figure out what could be wrong. Only a tentative hand on the back of his head snaps him out of it.
"SANS MY BOY ARE YOU ALRIGHT? YOU'VE BEEN EYEING THE GROUND LIKE IT STOLE YOUR MONEY."
"Huh? Oh no no, I'm fine. Today's just… off is all."
"OFF?" Gaster tilts his head a bit and takes his hand back away from Sans' head. "OFF HOW?"
"I dunno, that's what I'm trying to figure out! I probably just slept wrong or something is all."
Sans looks up at his taller dad and gives him a quick smile. A return smile quickly appears on Gaster's face. He nods.
"YOU KNOW, I THINK IF THAT IS THE CASE, IT'S BECAUSE YOU'RE EXCITED!"
"Excited…?"
"WHY YES. YOU DO KNOW WHAT TODAY IS DON'T YOU SANS? GOODNESS YOU /MUST/ HAVE SLEPT WRONG IF YOU'VE FORGOTTEN."
The doctor is clearly excited himself, and Sans has to count the calendar days in his head to figure out that today is…
"OH! Oh yeah! Oh man I can't believe I didn't realize! That must be it! We're finally gonna bring that machine to the CORE so we can power it and see if it works!" Sans' face lights up and a huge smile darn near splits his face in half. Gaster swears that the little whites of his eyes turn into stars. He pats Sans' shoulder and picks up the pace a bit.
"YES! I AM QUITE EXCITED MYSELF TO SEE HOW EVERYTHING GOES. WE'LL HAVE TO TEST MANY THINGS WITH IT IF IT WORKS."
"Ah wouldn't it be cool if it could transport MONSTERS around? Maybe we could even transport monsters to the surface so we don't have to mess with that stupid barrier anymore! We could even let the human souls go if that happened right?"
Sans quickly looks up at Gaster who has a neutral thinking expression on.
"HM. WELL IT WOULD CERTAINLY HELP IF WE COULD SIMPLY TRANSPORT MONSTERS TO THE SURFACE, YES… LETTING THE HUMAN SOULS GO THOUGH… I'M NOT REALLY SURE ABOUT THAT. IT'S NOT MY DECISION ANYWAY. ASGORE WOULD HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT. I'D RATHER HIM NOT GET RID OF THEM, JUST IN CASE. BUT PERHAPS SOMEDAY WHEN THEY'VE RUN OUT OF USES WE COULD LET THEM GO."
"Jeez, lighten up dad. You're killin' the vibe. Humor me for five seconds wouldjya?" Sans laughs a little and shoulders Gaster's arm a bit.
"I THINK THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE. I'M NOT VERY…. HUMEROUS IN THE FIRST PLACE.~" He says with a grin, flicking Sans' elbow.
"Gah! Your puns are so old! Just like you I guess." The two chuckle and make more horrible and hilarious puns and jokes all the way to Hotland's Lab. Sans is honestly really proud of his dad. For the jokes of course.
At the lab, Gaster has the three followers move the heavy machine all the way to the CORE. After a while, Gaster had decided to allow Sans to see the three followers. If Sans never saw them again at the lab, he might become suspicious of the "new trainees" and call Gaster out on being fishy. The poor old Doctor still has no idea that Sans knows about his experiments with Undyne. Sans still isn't POSITIVE they're involved, but he figures that's how it is.
"So dad, if this thing actually turns on and works and stuff, what's the first thing you wanna test it on?"
"HM. WELL I THINK WE SHOULD START SMALL. WE DON'T REALLY HAVE ANY IDEA IF IT CAN TRANSPORT MUCH. OF COURSE WE HAVE OUR THEORIES AND EQUATIONS THAT TELL US IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO MOVE SOMETHING RATHER LARGE, BUT SMALLER FIRST IS BETTER. PERHAPS A PEBBLE. OR A PIECE OF PAPER."
"Paper sounds like a good idea. We should draw on it or something and see if it burns the paper up or something." Sans snickers a bit but Gaster can't hold back a concerned noise.
"I THINK IF THE PAPER CATCHES FIRE THEN IT WOULD NOT BE WISE FOR ANYTHING BIGGER TO GO IN IT. WE'D HAVE TO BRING IT BACK AND TWEEK MANY THINGS. IT WOULD BE A REAL SHAME IF—"
"Remember that 'lighten up' thing I said earlier? Jeez, once a scientist always a scientist I guess. Too serious!"
The two use the steam vents to travel to the CORE. Gaster still remembers this path. He followed the yellow souled human this way. And this particular pipe area is where they slipped and fell, nearly dying. Luckily he caught them.
Gaster finds himself taking Sans' hand and carefully leading them both across safely. Sans almost protests and whines "I'm a big boy you know, I don't need you holding my hand." But he guesses it's just his dad's fatherly instincts kicking in. It's kinda nice actually. Although, he can't let it "slide" without saying SOMETHING.
"Hehe. You afraid of heights, pops?"
"I SUPPOSE YOU COULD SAY THAT." Gaster eyes the fall warily. But when he and Sans get to the other side safely, he lets go.
"I REALLY SHOULD PUT IN A REQUEST TO THE KING TO HAVE THIS AREA FIXED FOR EASIER TRAVEL… THIS IS RIDICULOUS."
Eventually the group of scientists get to the hotel and they all take a break in the cooler concrete area.
"Phew. We don't have skin or anything but that place is still hot. I feel bad for monsters with flesh honestly." Sans chuckles and fans himself with his bony hand. Gaster sighs and nods.
"I MUST AGREE."
"You know dad, I always wondered this. Papyrus and I are CLEARLY skeletons. But you look a little more filled in."
"HM. I'M SURPRISED YOU NEVER BROUGHT THIS UP SOONER…" Gaster dares to peek at his son who is very obviously staring at him. He looks forward and then down at his hand. It has a large hole in the center. It's always been like that. Sans watches his dad seem to mull things over in his head…. Did he hit a sore subject? He must have.
"I never cared. No matter what you looked like or what you were, you were always just my dad." He shrugs and pulls his legs up to his chest. "Were you ever sad that Papyrus and I didn't look like you?"
Gaster lets out a bark of laughter suddenly, startling Sans. He looks up at his dad who is now doing his best to keep himself composed.
"YOU SILLY SILLY BOY. NO MATTER WHAT /YOU/ TWO LOOKED LIKE, YOU WERE BOTH MY SONS. I STILL REMEMBER THE FIRST DAYS I HELD EACH OF YOU. YOU WERE VERY SMALL SANS. I ALWAYS WORRIED THAT YOU WOULD BE FRAGILE. PAPYRUS WAS THIN AND TALLER THAN YOU AND I WORRIED HE WOULD HAVE LEG PROBLEMS. I WAS TOO BUSY WORRYING ABOUT MORE IMPORTANT THINGS THAN IF YOU LOOKED LIKE ME. BUT IF SUCH AN ANSWER IS WHAT YOU WANT THEN HERE'S THIS. PAPYRUS GETS HIS HEIGHT AND LONGER FACE FROM ME. YOU LOOK MORE LIKE YOUR M... MOTHER."
Sans can't stop a gulp. Oh he SUPER messed up. But Gaster is still smiling. Fondly, at that. Sans thinks that maybe Gaster isn't looking at HIM really…
"Hey Doc!" One of the scientists calls. Gaster and Sans looks over at the slim cat monster, who nudges his head in the "let's get moving" way.
"I'M AS EAGER AS THE NEXT PERSON TO GET TO THE CORE BUT GOODNESS WE JUST SAT DOWN. I'M GETTING TOO OLD FOR THIS."
"Uhm… I—"
A hand pat and a kiss to the head stops Sans from talking. Sans looks up at his dad worriedly, but Gaster is still smiling with reassurance. He already knows that Sans was going to apologize. But he doesn't want him to. Sometimes memory lane is nice to walk down.
The rest of the way to the CORE through the small boring hotel is taken in mostly silence. Awkward silence for Sans anyway. But along the way through the blue metal walkways, Gaster hangs back away from the other three who are wheeling the machine to their destination.
"DID YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS?"
"Huh? About what?" Sans fiddles with the pen he has in his lab coat pocket nervously.
"ABOUT YOUR MOTHER."
"Dad, I… I mean if it bugs you or anything then I really don't think—"
"OH SANS… I APPRECIATE YOUR THOUGHTFULLNESS. BUT IT'S OKAY. AND I KNOW YOU MUST HAVE A HUNDRED QUESTIONS. TRUTHFULLY IT'S MY FAULT FOR NOT SAYING ANYTHING IN THE FIRST PLACE, MEAKLY WAITING FOR YOU TO ASK. A FOOLISH MISTAKE AS A FATHER." Gaster nods to himself.
They all finally make it to the spot where they're going to power the machine and Sans is quick to change the subject.
"I don't think it's your fault at all. But uh… either way I think that maybe we should hold off on this conversation. I know Papyrus will be all over it. I'd feel like a shitty brother for not having him be there. I say we mess with this thing for a bit and then when we get home, Pap and I can bombard you with personal and probably prying questions."
A small chuckle from Gaster.
"I THINK I'D LIKE THAT. BUT YOU'RE RIGHT. YET ANOTHER FOOLISH THING DONE BY ME. WHAT WOULD I DO WITHOUT YOU SANS?"
"Hehe. Well I can think of a few things."
The two smile at each other and then head over to the machine. They take the plug and stuff it into an outlet.
A loud creaking noise catches Sans' ear. It only lasts a second, but when he looks around he doesn't see anything weird. Huh… must just be how things sound around here. No one else is reacting.
The machine is plugged in and everyone stands back.
"Hm… Alright so we're starting with a paper right? Let me just…" Sans takes the test paper from one of the scientists clip boards and draws a very awful picture. It's supposed to be Gaster Sans and Papyrus. But even Sans hardly recognizes who they all are when he's done.
"HUH… DON'T QUIT YOUR DAYJOB." Gaster jokes. Sans laughs a bit and shrugs.
"What can I say, I'm just DRAWFUL at art." He walks over to the machine and sets the paper down.
"Alright, ready to go." Walking back several feet with the others, he and Gaster hold a string that has a button pushing mechanism on the machine and they pull it.
A whirring noise starts up and everyone's eyes slowly get larger. It's working?
Behind all of the buzzing noises Sans can hear another metallic creak. But he thinks nothing of it, too excited about the teleportation/time/space travel machine. They really should have come up with a name for the thing…
There's a flash and everyone covers their eyes. When they open them again, the paper… Isn't gone. It sits there just the way it was before. Sans deflates. He knew that it probably wouldn't work on their first try, but he really got his hopes up.
"Aw, come on… Nothing at all?"
"IT'S NOT TOO SURPRISING. LET'S GIVE IT A FEW EXTRA TWEEKS, MAYBE IT'LL WORK THEN."
"Guess so…."
Gaster sends the three followers off to gather a few tools. In the meantime, Gaster picks up the paper and gives it a once over.
"IT STAYED IN PLACE. DIDN'T EVEN MOVE. THE COLOR IS THE SAME, NO FRAYING OR BURNING… THAT'S A PLUS AT LEAST, ISN'T IT SANS?" He looks back at his son who just has his arms folded, a very clear "I'm thinking" face on.
"You know pops, remember that one screw I found a while ago? Did we ever fix it?"
"SCREW?... OH! AH I CAN'T REMEMBER, LET'S SEE." He searches for the screw and Sans takes a few steps forward to look at the machine better up close. Maybe there was something else that was hindering progress.
"I DOUBT SOMETHING SO SMALL COULD HAVE SUCH AN IMPACT ON THE TEST… OF COURSE IT NEEDS FIXING, BUT I WOULDN'T UNDERSTAND HOW SOMETHING SO TINY COULD STOP THE MACHINE FROM WORKING. IT'S INSIGNIFICANT AND REALLY IS ONLY HOLDING A SMALL PART OF THE MACHINE TOGETHER… AH HERE IT IS. IT LOOKS LIKE WE DIDN'T FIX IT."
"Welp, better do it. Just in case."
The followers return with many tools and Sans fixes the one screw. Gaster walks around the machine a few more times and hums to himself.
"SHALL WE TRY AGAIN?"
"I guess. We should start testing it on smaller and bigger things after this. Maybe it's the size, like we talked about before."
Creeeaaaakkkk.
"Jeez that's annoying. Sounds like a few screws are loose here in the CORE."
"INDEED. I HEARD THE NOISES EARLIER BUT PAID NO MIND. IT SOUNDS LIKE IT'S GETTING LOUDER TOO." Gaster looks around, which in hindsight he thinks was foolish. It's probably just echoes from a different part of the CORE
"It's a big structure. Probably just groaning, like the wood of the house does sometimes."
"PRECISELY WHAT I WAS THINKING. ANYWAY, LET'S TRY THIS AGAIN."
Sans walks the twenty feet back to the machine and puts the paper back down and runs back.
The two pull the string. Nothing. Sans curses under his breath… until he sees the paper disappear!?
It disappeared AFTER the machine was finished… charging?
"Dad! DAD! IT DID IT!" Sans smiles hugely and looks up at Gaster with stars in his eyes.
"It really actually did it! That's what was wrong, we weren't actually charging the machine! It just needs a little more power! But where did the paper GO?"
"FUNNY YOU SHOULD ASK MY BOY. I'VE SET A POINT B. POINT A IS WHEREVER THE MACHINE IS. MY PLAN ORIGINALLY WAS TO JUST MOVE THIS BEAST INTO THAT ROOM BEHIND OUR HOUSE. ONE LESS THING CLOGGING UP THE LAB SPACE. AND WE COULD JUST WORK ON IT THERE. BUT I SEE THAT IT'LL HAVE TO STAY HERE IN HOTLAND IF IT NEEDS THAT MUCH POWER TO OPERATE IN THE FIRST PLACE."
"Wait so what you're saying is that the paper is at HOME? It's at the house? How did you set a point B?"
"WELL WITH MAGIC OF COURSE. I LINKED MY MAGIC TO THE MACHINE AND TO THAT SPOT IN THE CORNER OF THAT ROOM AT HOME. I PROBABLY SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT THAT THROUGH A BIT MORE. I COULD HAVE STAYED HERE WHILE YOU WENT HOME TO SEE IF IT WORKED AND THEN WE WOULD HAVE TALKED OVER THE PHONE… OH WELL." Gaster shrugs and pats Sans on the shoulder a few times.
"BUT EITHER WAY, YOU'RE RIGHT, THE MACHINE WORKED. THE PAPER IS GONE AND AT HOME. OF THIS, I AM CONFIDENT." He smiles down at Sans and puts his arm around his shoulders, giving him a hug.
Sans beams up at his dad, proud of both of them for pulling off this amazing feat of science and possibly space and time travel as they know it.
"Well let's put something else in it! Let's test out more things! There's no way we're gonna stop at just a piece of paper right?" Sans walks over quickly to the machine, pulling out his pen from his lab pocket and—
Crreeeeaaakkkk.
The noise is so loud that everyone stops talking and moving and they all hold completely still… It was disturbingly close. And loud… The tension in the room rises, because it's clear that something is… HORRIBLY wrong right now. NOTHING makes that sound normally…
"I THINK… THAT PERHAPS WE SHOULD—" The metal grate walkway buckles under everyone's feet.
"Oh shit!"
Before anything else can be said a huge section of the walkway, several hundred feet long begins to collapse. If they were to run, they would not make it.
The welded and screwed ends of each section start to fall apart, chunks of metal now falling into the CORE. Everything around them shakes and the sound of metal scraping is ear piercing. The whole area groans and screams under its own weight.
"SANS!" Gaster shouts, getting ready to rush over to his son. Before he can finish his first step, the platform buckles again, tipping and knocking everyone off their feet. The machine tips over and nearly falls on top of Sans.
A final section of walkway falls and throws everything else off balance. The three followers slide off of the metal grate chunk they were standing on before…. They scream as they disappear into the glowing white heat of the CORE…
Gaster is on a slightly less slanted part of the destroyed walkway. He stares down at his followers who disintegrate into nothing… But his thoughts immediately switch to his son. Where is he? There!
Sans holds on with both hands to the grate floor that is just barely attached in its original position.
"SANS! HOLD ON!"
"Well I sure as hell ain't letting GO! Are you okay?"
Curse his son's kindness! Even in this situation…
"I'M ALRIGHT! ARE YOU ABLE TO GET UP AT ALL? SOMEHOW?"
"Uuuuhhhh…" Sans looks around… Nothing. He shakes his head and looks back at Gaster.
"No… D-Dad I… I'm…"
"DON'T BE. I'LL MAKE SURE IT'S ALL ALRIGHT. JUST DON'T MOVE!"
Sans nods and dares a peek down. It's a white abyss, waiting to swallow him up. He quickly looks away and can't stop himself from panicking. Papyrus. His baby brother. Papyrus needs him. He needs their dad. They HAVE to get out of this!
Sans' platform buckles again, nearly catapulting him into the air. His fingers slip out of the grate holes and he flails all of his limbs around, screaming. He only manages to grab onto a thin piece of pipe guard railing. But with no skin to actually GRIP the damn thing, he starts to slip again.
"NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" Gaster throws out his hand and a purple glowing copy of his hand floats over. But before his hand can reach and grab for his son, the machine the two worked so hard to build tips forward and sends the entire platform falling. It sends vibrations that also send Gaster's platform careening into the whiteness.
Everything slows down. Gaster watches Sans stare death in the face, waiting for what must be a painful death.
If they both die, then Papyrus will be all alone…
He absolutely will NOT let his children suffer when they're so young… Gaster thrusts his hand out again and he grabs Sans around the waist.
Things start getting hotter and hotter.
"DAD?" Sans yells. The hand around him moves up towards the falling machine and he stuffs Sans inside of it.
"DAD NO WAIT!" He screams again. But the look in his father's eyes… He knows.
"DON'T WORRY SON, YOU'LL BE SAFE! I ALREADY KNEW THAT THE MACHINE COULD TRANSPORT LARGER OBJECTS." A second magic hand quickly presses and holds the button. The machine glows with purple magic and Sans stares in utter shock at his dad.
The doctor's face begins to melt on his right side, drooping into his eye.
"BE GOOD." He says with a smile.
"DAD PLEASE NO—"
Sans is cut off. The machine and Sans both disappear. He's safe… His sons are safe.
The only regret Doctor Wingdings Gaster has… is that he wasn't able to watch his sons become adults.
And yet, even as his body melts and his memory starts to fade, the wind and heat whipping and burning his clothes and flesh away… he can smile knowing that he was able to save his child.
The doctor disappears into the CORE.
()
CLANK! GRRRREEEEHHHH—CUNK BUMNT!...
It's dark…. Ugh, he hurts all over…
Sans slowly opens his eyes and stares up at the ceiling of the small lab room behind his home…. The machine took him home. With a gasp, he sits up quickly and looks around. No! His dad isn't here!
"Dad?" He stands up shakily and realizes that the machine is on its back.
"No… No! Take me back! Take me back, I have to save him!" Sans screams at the machine. He presses and holds the button down, but there's no power connected to it.
"No way! No fucking way! No no no!" Sans jumps out of the machine and stares at it. He panics and runs out of the little hidden room into the snow behind his house. Without a second thought he darts as fast as he can to the river person. They're already stationed there.
"Hey! Take me to Hotland RIGHT NOW!" He yells before he even makes it to the boat. The River person looks over at him… and then they look forward. Sans jumps in the boat and the River person goes.
Unfortunately, they go at their normal pace.
"Come on hurry up this is the most important thing in the whole world PLEASE hurry!" In Sans' frustration, he can't feel the energy of the River person… They already know the outcome. Rushing will not help…
FINALLY, an eternity later, they reach Hotland and Sans jumps out of the boat and runs up to the lab faster than he ever has before. He swipes his card and completely ignores the owl secretary as he rushes through to the other side of the lab and out into the second half of Hotland. Some monsters nearby watch the small skeleton run and they wonder if something's happened.
Sans reaches the CORE and sees several monsters gathering around the spot where he and Gaster were standing just minutes ago… He slows down and sees the scene.
A huge area is just gone. The walkways fell and took much of the surrounding support beams with them.
Sans scans the crowd but he doesn't see his dad…
"Oh Sans!" One monster says.
"Thank God you're here. You alright there? Did you see what happened?"
"I….."
"Boy it's a good thing you weren't here when it happened. It looks like everyone's okay, no one got hurt."
"My…..dad…." He says, voice shaking quietly. The monster takes another look back at Sans.
"What'd you say?"
"W.D. Gaster… He fell in. He fell in!"
"Who is that?"
A slow and painful wave creeps up Sans' entire body. Who? What is this moron saying?
"The Royal Scientist you idiot! Doctor Wingdings Gaster? The one who MADE the CORE? He fell in!"
"U-Uh… The name sounds familiar, but I can't put my finger on who he is." The monster backs away from Sans a little, a bit freaked out at the sudden outburst.
"But he fell in you said?... No way. Hey," they whisper to the monster next to them. "Ever heard of W.D. Gaster?"
"I think so? Not sure though. Maybe. Why?"
Sans listens in awe. They don't remember Gaster? That's impossible, he's worked with these exact people on other projects before. EVERYONE knows who Gaster is! He made the thing that gives everyone power and EVERYTHING! How could they not remember him?
He smushes through the other monsters to get closer to see if anything remains. But when he gets up front, the Royal Guards are there to keep everyone away.
"Hey! Did you find anything?! Anything at all from this incident?"
"No…? Are you looking for some research papers? I'm afraid if there were any they would have fallen in."
"No clothing or… anything?" Sans talks quieter and quieter, the wave of terror and fear and sadness slowly overtaking him. The guard shakes their head.
"I'm afraid not. Uhm… are you okay?"
"Do you… know who Gaster is?"
"Gaster? I can't say that I do."
Now the skeleton is quiet. He looks down, his sockets going blank… "I see." Is all he can say. He walks out, bumping into other monsters until he exits the crowd. He walks and walks, through Hotland, through the lobby of the lab, through the first half of Hotland and he walks all the way to waterfall.
This cannot be real. His dad. His dad is gone. He's gone, and the last thing he did was save Sans. Why didn't he notice? Why didn't he take the noises of the CORE more seriously? He had a bad feeling all day and it was because inside he KNEW something horrible was going to happen.
What is he going to do?... What are he and his kid brother going to do without him?
The grief finally crashes into him. Every bone that makes up his body quivers and tingles. He manages to find a small dead end with a bench in Waterfall. But he hardly makes it to the bench before falling to his hands and knees and slowly starts to lose it.
He pants and breathes hard, still unable to accept this BULLSHIT, trying to keep the tears in... But the tears come and he wails. He screams and cries hard, remembering his entire life, every bit that he can with his dad in it.
Every smile and every encouraging word. Every early morning with a yawning Gaster drinking a cup of coffee. As a child, Sans didn't think his prim and proper dad could look so tired and… normal. Just like everyone else with his tired eyes and slight irritation, not being a morning person and all. He'd stretch and pull his turtleneck and black coat on just like everyone else. He'd brush his teeth and trudge his way out of the house.
The times he would scold Sans for not being careful, or to stop rough housing with Papyrus. He always had a very obvious worried face at times like those. But he also had times where he'd relax and flop on the couch. He'd watch tv and occasionally snicker at the ridiculous show.
Everything. Every last bit of it plays in his head.
An hour ago he was having a heart to heart with his dad. Talking to him and joking with him.
And now he was gone. Just like that. In an instant things had changed so drastically…
()
It takes hours for Sans to even get up off of the grass and stand up. Papyrus. He has to get Papyrus. His brother has to know…
So Sans walks to the little school in Snowdin. The rock family lives near it. He walks inside and gets to the person behind the counter where the little sign in/out sheet is.
"Oh my, are you alright?" They ask.
"Yeah uh… I just need to see my brother… Papyrus. It's an… emergency."
"A…Ah. Alright."
Minutes later, Papyrus walks out and sees his big brother sitting on one of the oldest shittiest chairs he's ever seen in the little waiting area. He doesn't look good at all… what on earth could have happened.
"SANS?..." Papyrus says meekly. Sans looks up and over to Papyrus. He manages a small smile. But it's quick and halfhearted.
"Pap… we're goin' home."
"WHAT? WHY? SANS WHAT'S WRONG?"
"…It's dad… He's gone."
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? WE DON'T HAVE A DAD, SANS. YOU BROUGHT ME OUT OF CLASS TO PLAY A JOKE ON ME?"
Sans' eyes widen and he stares at his now angry younger brother. Papyrus doesn't remember Gaster… Papyrus doesn't remember Gaster?
"SANS SAY SOMETHING ALREADY, YOU'RE SCARING ME! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"
"You don't… know…" This is wrong. This is so wrong and fucked up! Why is he the only one who remembers? Why has everyone forgotten? Especially PAPYRUS! How can this be? How can this be?!
A million thoughts go through Sans' head. Papyrus doesn't remember. He has no idea what Sans is talking about. So if that's how it is, this must all sound insane to his poor baby brother.
"Uh… Right uh, pop quiz squirt. Who raised you?"
"WHAT IS /WRONG/ WITH YOU? I THINK YOU'RE THE ONE THAT NEEDS TO GO HOME. AND GET SOME SLEEP! /YOU/ RAISED ME YOU NUMBSKULL! I DON'T LIKE THIS QUIZ SANS…"
That's how it is then…
"Heh. Yeah you're probably right bro. Sorry. I musta bumped my head at work or something."
"I'LL SAY…" Papyrus fiddles with his orange stripped sweater, staring warily at his brother who appears to have gone insane in the last couple hours.
Sans stands up from the creaky chair and walks over to Papyrus.
"Sorry if I scared you bro. Can I get a hug before I leave to sleep for a thousand years at home?"
He flashes a bright smile, one that Papyrus' recognizes mostly as regular Sans… But he's acting so strangely. Even HE can see that something is off… He hugs his big brother tightly and gets an equally tight hug back. Sans holds on for what would normally be considered an awkward amount of time, but Papyrus is used to the occasional drawn out hug from his brother. Eventually, Sans lets go and rubs Papyrus' skull.
"Sorry to take you outta class. Hurry back and go learn some stuff. If you don't come back knowing the quadratic formula then I'm lockin' you out." He chuckles and Papyrus flails his arms.
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THAT IS!"
"Better get to it then huh?"
"GAAAH YOU'RE IMPOSSIBLE!" Papyrus rushes off to class, determined to learn this 'quackdrack formuoli' or whatever it was.
Sans on the other hand stands there for several long moments… before finally leaving the school.
So this is really it then. Gaster is gone. Everyone has forgotten him. It all happened so fast…
He gets home and goes inside the room behind the house, just standing there staring at the machine still on its back.
What if HE forgets…? He can't do that.
At the corner of the room he sees a piece of paper. THE piece of paper. With the awful drawing on it. He walks over to it and picks it up, staring at it blankly… Sans can't stop another wave of sadness from crushing him. He holds himself and cries. Harder than he's ever cried in his whole life.
While he cries, he grabs the pen from his pocket and stares at it. Gaster gave him that pen to borrow one day and Sans just never gave it back… He writes on the picture and then cries some more.
And so seventeen year old Sans is left alone with the knowledge that he is the ONLY monster in the entire Underground who knows and remembers Wingdings Gaster, and the responsibility to take care of his younger brother. To make money and provide. To make double his own income to match his dads. To give Papyrus all the love he and his dad gave him combined. Maybe it's best if Papyrus DOESN'T remember… So he doesn't have to share this anguish with Sans.
Part of Sans selfishly wants someone to feel his pain. Someone to talk to. But he can't now… He's utterly alone in this… And he has no choice but to step it up.
The paper with the drawing on it reads…
"*don't forget"