"oh…."
Undyne's house was on fire.
It's the smell of smoke that wakes him.
It lulls him back to reality. At first its soft and pleasant, then it grows. And grows. It's suffocating. When Sans coughs himself awake, opens his eye sockets and looks up at the house he's leaning against.. There's smoke pouring out everywhere-
In hindsight, Sans should have seen something like this coming. It was Undyne, 'The Human' Demon, and Papyrus in a house together, 'cooking'. It would have been more of a surprise if the house hadn't caught fire, but that doesn't curb Sans' panic any.
"paps-"
Sans teleported quickly to towards the entrance, his eyes darting around looking for the three of them, but Undyne's loud shout told him exactly where they were.
They're in the house, still inside the house-!
Sans rushed over to the door but it's locked from the inside, he ran over to the side window- only to find the glass had already been busted out- He dared to look inside, the flames hot and uncomfortable as he managed to keep a safe distance-
"papyrus! undyne!" Sans called. The flames were too high. They had to get out of there, it couldn't be safe-!
"SANS!" The feeling in Sans' gut hollowed out at the sound of Undyne's scream. It was shrill, serious-
Sans caught sight of movement amongst the flames and he heard coughing. Sans took a deep breath... and teleported through the raging inferno-
He landed nearly on top of them.
"Sans..." Undyne coughed. She had The Human draped over her shoulder but she was struggling to stand. She was too hot and sweating miserably. And that cough- But-
"where's paps?!" Sans demanded as he grabbed her free shoulder. She was shaking her head.
"Left." Relieved, Sans teleported the three of them out of there as quick as he could-
Undyne's coughs were violent as Sans released her. She let 'The Human' fall to the ground, limp, and she fell back onto her elbows, taking in large gulps.
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THEM?!" She finally screamed. Sans leaned in over them.
"besides the fact they're unconscious?" He asked through his own coughs, but then he lifted his head quick- "wait, did they try to hurt you?" His sockets flashed dangerously at the thought. He'd left them alone for half an hour and-!
"HURT ME?!" Undyne raged as she tried to lean forward. "THEY TRIED TO KILL THEMSELF!"
Sans...
"w-what..?" He managed finally. Undyne didn't respond, only kept coughing. "are you sure that's..." Since the beginning, they'd been doing everything in their power Not to die. That was the point of all of this. What Undyne was saying made no sense- "you sure you didn't misinterpret-"
"THEY ASKED ME TO TAKE THEIR SOUL!" Undyne raged. She was staring at the unconscious 'Human' now. Sans could see in her eye that she was genuinely shaken. Sans had to stare, too. It made no sense. No sense at all! But he had never seen Undyne like this before- "They... They said..."
Undyne closed her eye and coughed again, collapsing farther towards the ground. The smoke was everywhere around them in the air-
"alright, alright, let's just get you outta here.." Sans said, wrapping his arm around her shoulder again and reaching for 'The Human's' shirt. Undyne's eye widened and she opened her mouth to protest but it was too late-
They were already gone-
"UGH!" Undyne complained as they reached the other side of the shortcut a millisecond later. The protest doesn't last though as her scales touch the cool, tiled floor. She melts into it gladly, eye closing. At another time, Sans would have chuckled, but all of this had everything upside down.
"O-O-Oh my! U-Undyne! H-Human!" Alphys was immediately on top of them, a ball of jitters as she danced back and forth. "Thank goodness! I was s-so afraid! I'll g-get water!" Undyne was breathing out heavily as she continued to relax on the ground.
"What... the hell..." She repeated hoarsely as she let the cold tiles comfort her aching scales.
Sans turned his attention back to the kid who lay limply against his arms. They were definitely breathing, but it was coming out with a funny noise. No noticeable burns that he could tell, just an ashy, dirty face, but other than that... and a goose-egg forming on their forehead... they appeared relatively uninjured.
"H-Here!" Alphys said rushing back, a recycled milk jug full of water in her hands. Undyne was sitting up, her eyes drooping tiredly as she accepted the just. "I'll get a g-glass."
Undyne was already gulping it down.
"O-Oh.." Alphys laughed, for real this time. "I g-guess that works."
Alphys turned to Sans, to 'The Human', worry returning to her expression, but before she could say anything Undyne was bursting out again-
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" She demanded now, nearly choking on water. Alphys jumped and turned back, only to turn again, following the warrior's furious, upward gaze. Alphys yelped.
"O-Oh, no, that's n-nothing-"
"THE HUMAN'S ON THE SCREEN!"
"I-"
"guys."
The two women turned their attention back to Sans with a start. While his voice hadn't exactly risen, it had still been... different. An authority that didn't fit.
"let's get the kid into bed or something before we start any info dumps, 'kay?" Alphys was nodding frantically, not daring to look back at Undyne who still looked enraged.
"R-Right. Right." Alphys headed towards the escalators. "Up here!"
Undyne watched Sans, her expression turning more somber as he began to lift 'The Human' up into his arms, and disappeared up the loft.
They aren't heavy.. not at all... Their head rested against Sans' chest, those red eyes closed- The pang is there, it hurts, and Sans can't look at them anymore.
Alphys dashed over to the box-like object and in an instant a bed was being pulled out.
"H-Here." She called, waving a hand for him to come over. Sans lowered the kid as gently as possible onto the bed and took a step back. With that new angle, Sans forced himself to look over them again one more time, just in case there was anything he missed but came up with nothing... nothing but that hurt in his chest.
They just looked... particularly small and broken on the bed with their breathing coming out still sounding strange... He hoped that wasn't serious. And hopefully when they woke up, hopefully soon, any food found heal them. Those Nice Creams were good for the throat, after all- But they weren't awake to cough... wasn't coughing important when you've breathed in something nasty like smoke? Undyne had been coughing up a storm- Even skeletons coughed when it got bad-
"I-I don't know wh-what more I c-can do!" Alphys chimed in, as if having the same line of thoughts he was, but probably more frantic. "I-I'm not that k-kind of d-doctor! E-Especially not a.. a hu-human d-doctor!" Sans gave her a sympathetic smile.
"it's okay, alphs." He assured. "i'm sure they just need some rest."
"B-But.." Sans put his hand on her shoulder.
"let's get back to undyne, okay?"
"I... O-Okay." Alphys finally agreed, but she still looked down at 'The Human' nervously. "Sh-Should we tuck- put-put the blanket over them?"
"uuuuhh." Alphys began to pull the covers out from beneath them, fumbling all the way, and Sans sighed. He leaned over the human and began to help with more success, draping the warm fabric over them. 'The Human' moaned and coughed, making Sans jerk his fingers back as their head turned to the side on the pillow though their eyes remained closed. They coughed, and then coughed again, a few more times. Then it was over, their eyes still closed and their breathing still coming out peculiar but sounding at least a bit better than it had. Sans relaxed and stood up straight. "there. all tucked in and cozy."
Alphys was still fidgeting with her fingers and biting her lip. Sans sighed again.
"come on." Sans said gently. "she won't stay upset."
Alphys obeyed his guiding hands but Sans could tell she was still scared, both for 'The Human' but also herself- Sans rode the escalator down with her.
Undyne had finished the jug of water and was breathing a lot better, too, but still staring fiercely at the sight of the kid sleeping motionlessly on the bed being displayed on the huge monitor.
Sans and Alphys were next to her again and he could feel the nervousness physically radiating off of Alphys.
"What is this?" Undyne asked lowly.
"U-Undyne.."
"You were watching that punk the whole time and didn't even contact me?!" The Captain demanded, a sound of betrayal in her voice as she looked at Alphys.
"T-They had-hadn't hurt a-any- anyone. I w-would have.. I would have called! I-If they h-had done s-something. Besides! S-Sans h-had been th-there the whole time! Watching! H-He would h-have st-stopped them! If actually g-got to that." Alphys stuttered out quickly, her face red in shame. "I-I'm sorry. You, you're right! I sh-should have…" She was stumbling over herself despite standing in place. But Undyne seemed to have softened a bit.
"It's okay now, Alphys." She said, seeming defeated. But then- "Wait, what do you MEAN Sans was watching the whole time?!"
Sans pretended to stand back casually and shrugged.
On the inside, though, he was feeling guiltier than Alphys was. And a bit surprised as well. Because while Alphys had believed in him to stop them if it had come down to it, he knew that he wouldn't have in the beginning. He knew that in times gone by, times that had no longer happened but also very much had... Sans knew that he hadn't stopped them. The only reason this time was any different was because 'The Human' had been loosing power, and he had noticed. It was different because what he did actually meant something this time around.
Undyne and Alphys can't know any of that though. Undyne is having a hard enough time dealing with the fact that he had been watching at all. She didn't really know him compared to how well she knew Papyrus. Honestly, 'lazybones' and 'jokester' was probably the only impression he had ever made on her besides 'loves his brother more than anything' but that was the impression he tended to give everybody. They didn't need to know anything else.
Undyne was still eyeing him when something clicked inside her head.
"BUT THAT MEANS YOU ACTUALLY DID INTERFERE WITH OUR FIGHT ON PURPOSE!" She raged from her place on the ground. Sans just shrugged again.
"eh." He offered as if it was nothing. There was a brief moment where he was sure Undyne was going to explode again but then she let out a loud sigh as she relaxed and lowered her head.
"But I guess in the long run that it all worked out for the best." She conceded. "They're not that bad of a kid." Sans' brow furrowed now and his expression grew serious. Now that Undyne seemed calmer:
"what happened between the two of you exactly?" The question seemed to rile Undyne back up and she gave out a frustrated, bitter huff as she stared spears into the floor, appearing unsettled once again. "okay." Sans said, cutting her off before she could say anything, already knowing he wouldn't get it all if she started from the middle. "i know paps and the kid came over for a hang out. what happened? before the flames started."
"Well. Papyrus left and I was determined to show him I could be friends with the brat, that it would be easy. I was certain they had just come to mock me, and they even said so. But there was no WAY I was getting shown up by some punk like them! So I made them tea…."
Undyne had sat down on the opposite side of the table after placing the tea down in front of them. The human had hesitated a moment after Undyne had warned them about the temperature. To her surprise, they had then pulled out the same Nice Cream they had offered her earlier and handed it her way before pulling one out for themself.
"… I thought it was going pretty good at first… But as I talked to them they just kept getting quieter and quieter. They wouldn't look me in the eyes!"
"what were you talking to them about?" Sans asked.
"Huh? Oh. Asgore." Undyne continued. Sans' eyes flickered momentarily even as his face remained unmoving.
Asgore…
"what about Asgore?" Sans prodded, suspicious.
"You kind of remind me of him." Undyne had told them. The human had lowered their head as they had placed the cup of tea back down onto the spilt table. "You're both TOTAL weenies!" Undyne exclaimed, trying to get a response from them. Their face was masked over in darkness and it was putting Undyne off. They didn't react. "… sort of." Undyne conceded.
"you told them they reminded you of asgore?"
"Once, to prove I was the strongest, I tried to fight Asgore. Emphasis on the TRIED! I couldn't land a single blow on him! And worse, the whole time, he refused to fight back!"
"YOU SAW OUR FIGHT!" Undyne yelled at him. "THEY JUST KEPT JUMPING AROUND! TAUNTING ME YET REFUSING TO ACTUALLY HIT ME!" Sans nodded. Yeah, he guessed he saw it. But he also knew that had been them acting like Frisk, well, mostly like Frisk, he was pretty sure the insults were all them. And they had admitted the spaghetti was their idea… An idea that had almost gotten them killed, but still…
"I was so humiliated…"
"did you talk about anything else?"
"… like, uh, Papyrus." The human had grown tense, teeth digging into the inside of their bottom lip.
"and how did that go?"
"I mean, it's not that he's weak. He's actually pretty freaking tough! It's just that…"
"He's too good." They finished for her and she looked up in surprise. It was the first thing they had said since they'd declared they would never be her friend. "He's too trusting. Too innocent and nice…. He would have done better to capture me from the beginning." Undyne was staring, somewhat sweating at how their tone continued to be hollow, and their bangs covered their eyes. "He's lucky I didn't rip him into smiling shreds." It was like they had taken the words straight out of Undyne's mouth. It sent a shiver down Undyne's spine.
"and?"
"And then I realized Papyrus had gotten out of his cooking lesson!" Undyne shouted. "So THEY had to have it instead!"
"and then you caught everything on fire."
"AND THEN WE CAUGHT EVERYTHING ON FIRE! FUHUHU!" Her enjoyment fell away instantly. "But I… I knew I had screwed up. Even before that."
"Envision these vegetables as your greatest enemy!" Undyne had ordered. The human had stepped over to the counter, a serious snarl on their face. "Now! Pound them to dust with your fists!" The human had cupped their hands together and had lifted their hands over their head. They smashed down violently onto one of the tomatoes. Their red eyes were ablaze… "YEAH! YEAH! Our hearts are uniting against these healthy ingredients!" They had glanced over towards Undyne, their gaze still hard and dangerous before turning to the other ingredients and continued with growing force. Undyne hesitated, as if she could feel the genuine murderous intent coming off of her cooking partner. "HEY! IT'S MY TURN!"
Undyne seemed to be growing more and more fidgety as she continued to tell the story, her brow continuously furrowed as she scowled.
"I knew I couldn't keep it up after that, there wasn't any point. There was only one thing left to do."
"I can't force you to like me, human. Some people just don't get along with each other. I understand if you feel that way about me. And if we can't be friends… That's okay. Because… If we're not friends… THEN IT MEANS I CAN DESTROY YOU WITHOUT REGRET!"
"um, i have noticed that the human failed to actually be destroyed."
"NOT FOR A LACK OF TRYING!" Undyne shouted.
"NOW COME ON! HIT ME WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT! NGAHHHHH!" Undyne was letting them make the first attack. The human had pulled out a notebook and something dark was falling over them, and it wasn't from the odd shapes the flames were making across the floor in flickering shadows. They brought the notebook down hard. Undyne was forced to stagger, the wind knocked out of her as the murderous intent pushed through her defense and she felt her HP drop. They were really serious! Good… It gave Undyne all the excuse she needed to bring them down. "IS THAT THE BEST YOU CAN MANAGE?!" Undyne had taunted loudly, bringing up more spears. The human had hunched downward, a fierce and deadly expression on their face as they prepared to keep up their attack.
"so you fought?"
"Sort of… They…"
"U-Undyne, a-are y-you okay?" Alphys asked, having remained awkwardly silent throughout the tale.
"NO!" Undyne shouted. "They… I SHOULD HAVE NOTICED RIGHT AWAY!"
"noticed what?"
The HP she had lost was not as much as she had first thought… It was definitely going down but it was no way near the amount it should have been with that much intent behind it. After three hits, she really should have been near dust. It made no sense. Both fighters were panting now, unwilling to give it up and go outside. It was too hot. Too intense. They were both starting to cough. The human swung again and this time Undyne stood still, letting her defense fall, confused but suspicious. The intent threatened to rip through her HP, but just as Undyne had thought, it was muted. It was distant… Undyne's good eye flashed in realization.
"HEY!" She called as they stepped back. This was just like before! When they had taunted her to get her to attack. They were trying to rile her up into a fight. But unlike last time it wasn't to just wear Undyne down quickly. There was true intent behind it. It just wasn't towards Undyne.
Sans was staring at Undyne in complete disbelief.
"what… what did you do next?" He managed to ask.
"I CALLED THEM OUT ON IT, THAT'S WHAT!" Undyne continued.
"You need to take my Soul to Asgore." They said, not denying her accusations that they were getting her riled up on purpose, but confirming them. And even worse…
"They… They wanted me to kill them." Undyne said, starting to shake slightly again. "All that murderous intent towards themself, and they wanted me to take their Soul to Asgore. As long as…"
"Just spare the rest of humanity! If there is another war, both humans and monsters will get hurt…"
"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU GETTING AT, PUNK?!"
"Just take my Soul to Asgore!" They shouted back. Undyne was shaking her head. This was so messed up! "You said earlier that was the only way to redeem myself! Now take it!" They screamed as they swung their notebook once again. This time Undyne grabbed their wrist, knowing exactly what they were up to.
"YOU DON'T HAV-" They yanked back, but then tried to hit her with their other fist. "LISTEN HERE, YOU-"
"NO YOU LISTEN!" They screamed back just as hotly, their face snapping up to glare at her. "You were right all along! My goody-two-shoes thing was just an act!" They were in her face, their teeth snarled. "I could kill everyone here!" They hit her again with their right fist, but Undyne refused to strike back, she knew what they were doing. They couldn't even take her HP down anymore, despite how they kept trying to hit her harder. They were so determined to die…! Determined to die there surrounded by flames that were growing way too hot and their skin sticky and the smoke too thick that it was hurting their eyes.
Undyne was scared…
"If you really were that bad, you wouldn't be offering up your Soul like that!" Undyne countered. The human only screamed and shook their head as they tried to get the hand with the notebook free. Not that it would do them any good.
"YOU STUPID FISH!" They called. Undyne's anger spiked.
"YOU STUPID HUMAN!"
The human was starting to hack up a lung and Undyne was starting to feel weighed down, she hadn't exactly recovered fully from their earlier fight to begin with. They had to get out of there.
But the human kept refusing to spare and Undyne refused to leave without them.
It was two stubborn people too stubborn for their own good.
"So I head-butted them!" Undyne declared. That explained the red bump on their forehead… and them being unconscious. He wondered for a second it he had to worry about them having a concussion on top of everything, but once he caught himself thinking about it, Sans was shaking his head again in disbelief. "But I was already too worn out, I couldn't really carry them through the flames, we're lucky you showed up when you did... You saved our lives!" She realized loudly.
"welp. had to make up for all those years of being useless." He told her. Somehow that didn't seem to sit well with Undyne as a response. She kept eying him uncertainly, as if she was struggling with rearranging her entire worldview. It had certainly been an eventful day for everyone. "i just... can't believe they would actually do that." He finished.
"That can't be t-true, Sans." Alphys said, her fingers together as she shook, surprised by her own voice as she stared at him. He stared at her in shock. "I-I-I mean... Y-you were always w-with them. W-watching..." She stuttered out. "E-even I saw... I mean... They were a-always so s-sad when n-nobody was looking. And h-hurt. Going against an im-impossible task, and you were always there hovering over them like some sort of villain or s-something-"
"wait. wait!" Sans jumped in, his hand raising as he gave her an expression of both shock and outrage. "i'm the villain? i'mthe villain here?"
"No! N-no! Not like that! J-Just... it s-sort of l-looked that w-way, without d-dialogue! I-I'm sure y-you had g-good reasons t-to be angry at times! And y-you had b-been looking out for them, but, m-my p-point w-was... You had to have seen how d-down they are!" She stuttered endlessly. "R-right?" Sans had hunched back a bit into his hood, a grimace forming on his face.
Because, yes... He had. And he had been constantly on the verge of taking advantage of it.
But nobody would understand. Alphys and Undyne couldn't understand.
The human was the villain here, not Sans. The hu- That Demon had killed everyone, but how could anyone else know that? Understand that? Sans was alone in this.
But he couldn't deny that their actions right now had him confused...
... No... No, that wasn't true, Alphys was...
No, no. It couldn't be right though! It was an act! All an act! What Sans had seen, heard, felt, it's just forgotten memories or straight out lies, or... Or... But if... If they had done what Undyne said they had... If their intentions had been true, and she had felt it, like she said she did then...
If anyone was going to see through the lie besides Sans it would be Undyne..
And it was true, then... Actions spoke louder than words... didn't they?
But their actions..
They've killed everyone! They killed Fris-
Sans locked up, but he didn't get any more time to think it over, though, because it seemed that Undyne was trying to pick herself off of the ground. Undyne wavered for a second and both Sans and Alphys stepped closer, arms held out to her just in case. She cringed but then succeeded in keeping her balance.
"Man, I feel completely wiped out."
"you've looked worse." Sans offered. Undyne glared at him. "here, how bout you sit down in an actual chair and Alphys can get you more water while i go shopping for you and the kid?"
"Sounds like a plan." Alphys was bright red as Undyne draped her arm over her shoulder for support. "Hey," Undyne called to him before he could leave, "Get them some hot chocolate. Or... Just something chocolate, if you can find it." Sans raised a curious brow but didn't ask as he teleported towards Gerson's. He had a pretty good idea who the chocolate was really for, if three things of chocolate Nice Creams were anything to say about The Human's preferences...
Sans left the store with a pile of goodies and a smug look from Gerson when Sans told him ho the items were for. At least it'd gotten him a rare discount... There had been no chocolate... but Sans had asked.
Sans didn't teleport back to the lab, he hesitated as he stood in the shop doorway, the items making his hoodie a lot more weighted down than usual as his shoulders slumped.
The next thing Sans knew he was in his workshop...
He flicked on the light, his gaze immediately roaming past the covered machine and the scattered blue prints and towards... the drawers...
Sans set down his bag of bought goodies and made his way over, taking his sweet time but he wouldn't admit his hesitation to anyone out loud, he's barely admitting it to himself.. He wasn't hesitating... He's bracing himself.
Before there was confusion and hurt and betrayal.. This time he knows the truth of the pictures. Of the human; the red eyes and Frisk... Or at least.. part of the truth.. At least the grief..
The grief...
Sans took a deep breath and opened the drawer quickly just to get it over with. He's immediately assaulted with their bright, smiling face. The picture of them, Paps, and himself with that graduation cap. Sans... in a gradutation-
Sans pushed that picture away and picked up another; the kid with Papyrus and Undyne holding a large spoon over a dangerously boiling pot...
Another- the kid, The Old Lady.. just like she had been in...
Sans pulled out the picture from his pocket. The worn one he'd torn in two with the whole group together, the kid in the middle.
None of this is helping... It only hurts. That grief is back in full force... because it really is just like before.. He's never going to see them again. He doesn't have a single memory and neither does anyone else and they're just... gone... They're just gone and all he has is the feeling.. the chunk that is missing.
The tears in his sockets are building up and it's hard to breathe...
He just wished... He wished he could remember them, not just miss them. It's the worst of pains and all too familiar and he just wished!
His fingers were shaking as he held the two pieces of torn picture together, desperately wishing he could fix it. There was always the second, identical photo but he just wished-
The Demon had warned him... If he only knew what he was saying, doing, he wouldn't want...
And The Demon...
Sans wiped at his tears with his sleeve, trying to put himself back together even if he can't do that with the picture..
He just... doesn't know what he's doing..
The torn pieces of note are still there in the drawer and Sans had almost forgotten about it.
"even the worst person can change." Sans read to himself. A different Sans had wrote it, had believed it, this Sans isn't so sure...
After all, they were the reason monsters were down here again, after all, they were the reason Frisk wasn't!
But...
But...
This was why it had been a mistake... To give them that single inch was a mistake!
Because if he believes them, that Frisk dying had been a mistake, then he has to accept them destroying their lives on the surface had been a mistake! That they've meant everything they've said about trying to get them there, about wanting to work with Sans and everything they've been trying to do, he has to accept-
"no!" Sans said firmly, tightening his grip on the note, on the picture. "they still killed everyone."
Everyone.
Paps.
Even after everything, after all they had together, they had still chosen to kill everyone! Again!
But...
Alphys' words were creeping up his back...
None of this had a simple answer... because he has seen it, just like she said... They aren't Frisk but he can't just say, welp, the other kid was just pure evil and needed dunked on.. He's seen it...
They're determination is breaking... but that's just their guilt..
They were sick... but not in the way Sans had always thought it... at least... not all the way Sans had thought...
They were desperate and grief stricken...
Sans knew just how far that could drive someone over the edge.
He glanced quickly over to the broken machine he had once nearly driven himself into oblivion trying to fix despite knowing the risk... Despite knowing it was a lost cause... That he'd never see them again...
Sans sighed heavily as he went to shut the drawer again but stopped when a splash of yellow caught his attention.
The picture was in the far back of the drawer, almost hidden beneath everything else, as if a previous him hadn't been sure he should have put the picture in the drawer to begin with but then had decided to anyways besides his better judgement. Hesitantly, Sans' fingers pulled the picture out and immediately froze solid, the lights in his sockets disappearing as he stared.
It was the kid, it was always the kid, and Sans was there too. The kid was beaming, as bright as they could be as they seemed to be laughing loudly, but the warmth their expression should have been giving off was destroyed by what they were holding tightly in their arms.
The yellow flower's head was tilted back, as if it was giving out the loudest groan, as the kid hugged it's flowerpot closer. It's expression was one of pure frustration as Sans stood to the side, offering an innocent shrug, but genuine smile, proud of himself at having gotten those reactions from the two of them.
The flower...
The flower...
The flower that was manipulating Papyrus, the flower that Sans was pretty sure had been in control of the RESETs before the kid had come around-
The flower-
There is a soul-crushing feeling, every single feeling he's had since the start of this- the hope, the sense of control and power- No... No, he should have known! Because of course... Of course!
It's like his world is imploding around him, as if every hope and dream just erupted on fire.
He's so stupid. Oh so very stupid!
This isn't over.
It's never going to be over!
The flower!
The kid is losing determination and he'd just stupidly assumed that would be it! They died, the RESETs would go along with them, but the flower... He's been so focused on the kid, so consumed in his hatred of them and the thought of stopping them, he had forgotten the fact that he's never had all the pieces- Because Sans had never known how all of this actually worked- How the flower could RESET one day and then the kid the next! But if the kid was gone! Lost the ability to LOAD, to SAVE... The ability to RESET-