Frisk fell through the darkness again, hand grasping for the only other tangible thing in the void; Sans. The skeleton, obscured by the darkness that surrounded them, reached out in turn.
Frisk gratefully latched onto Sans's arm, eyes squeezing shut as they tumbled head over heels and landed with a thump on top of the ground.
"you okay, kid?" Sans asked, glancing down at Frisk and helping them back up to their feet. His blue hoodie was flipped up over his head, and he studied Frisk in concern as they stumbled when their feet sent pines and needles shot up their body.
"'m fine." Frisk murmured. They shifted their gaze to the surroundings, and blinked in surprise when they realized they were in the main area of the Hotlands. Steam hissed around them, and Frisk could feel sweat drip down their neck. The necklace felt hot against their throat, humming with electricity as it started performing its job. "Why are we in the Hotlands?"
"i added the coordinates so we wouldn't have to walk too far. i'm not sure if, uh, my shortcuts work here." Sans's eyes skimmed over every detail, and Frisk could tell from his stiff shoulders that Sans was nervous. "c'mon, we've only got thirty minutes. the core's going to explode in twenty-five."
Frisk released their grip on Sans's jacket and quietly followed him as he slipped up to the laboratory that loomed overhead. It didn't look overly different to Alphys's lab, but as Sans pulled out the badge he had snagged from his personal lab and slipped it into the door's slot, Frisk could tell the inside was anything but the lab they knew.
Equipment hung in all of the corners of the room, arranged in neat piles in stark contrast to Alphys's usual mess. Papers were placed in neat piles, and Frisk could see no personal items present in the room. Everything looked perfectly organized and synthetic.
Sans drew in a deep breath, and started forwards, Frisk following at his heels. Their footsteps sounded loud in the eerily quiet lab, and Sans didn't look around as he made a beeline for the exit door. "we have to get to the core."
A soft cry echoed from the door to the left, and Sans froze for a moment before he forced himself to keep moving. Frisk, curious, lingered by the door, but Sans motioned them forwards. "we can't afford to dawdle, kiddo. trust me, you don't want to see what's down there anyways."
"…? Okay, if you say so." Frisk followed Sans as the skeleton, for one of the first times Frisk had seen, briskly walked through Hotland's corridors.
The MTT Resort was absent, not yet built, although the elevator remained. Sans and Frisk ducked inside, and Frisk was surprised when Sans once again swiped his card and the elevator lurched downwards. A rumble groaned throughout the elevator, and Frisk's teeth vibrated in their head as the elevator shakily descended.
Ding. The doors slipped back open, and Frisk raced forwards, eager to see what the Core looked like up close. A large cavern stretched out before them, and boiling lava and machinery hissed and whined in the glowing red hues. "Oh wow," Frisk breathed, sweat already dripping down their face. "Sans, is this-" Frisk turned, and looked around in confusion. "Sans?"
The skeleton was staring down below them, eye sockets pure black. Frisk could see his grip tightening on the rail, and another tremor went through the earth.
Frisk's gaze followed Sans's, and they blinked in surprise. There was… another Sans. Dressed in a white lab coat and working quickly, he was being yelled at by another skeleton. Although tall and lean, it wasn't Papyrus. Although a far cry from the ghostly remnants Frisk had met, they knew that this must be Gaster prior to his accident.
"How long do we have?" Frisk asked softly.
Sans twitched, and turned away from the scene below. "about fifteen minutes… i- the past me- should leave in about two. i can't be seen until then."
Shrill beeping erupted from the machinery, and Gaster turned and pointed at another door. The other Sans ran off, and Frisk and Sans both stiffened. "Show time, huh?" Frisk asked nervously.
"yup. i'll try and fix the machinery, frisk, go grab gaster and get him out of here. if he gives you any trouble, yell."
Frisk nodded, and the two split. Frisk descended the stairs two at a time and raced towards the tall scientist, fear and anxiousness bubbling in their throat like butterflies had escaped from their stomach and flown free. Frisk reached out, leaping towards Gaster. "You have to leave here!" Frisk yelled over the wailing of machinery.
Gaster turned and spotted Frisk, brow furrowing as he spotted the child. [Who the hell- who permitted you to enter here?!] Gaster hissed in shock as he backed towards the Core.
"No- wait, please! You're in danger!" Frisk begged. "You'll fall if you're not careful!"
[What level of clearance do you have? This is a danger zone, this is no place for a child! Even one that's…] Gaster's eyes narrowed, and Frisk skidded to a stop as Gaster's shadow fell over them. [Even one that's a human child.]
The ivory white hand reached towards them like a claw, and Frisk started to retreat, backing up until they tripped over their own feet and tumbled backwards. Their red SOUL, pulsing gently on top of their chest, turned black with a ding. They started to float, and Frisk scrabbled for the ground in desperation but failed to prevent themself from floating up and bobbing five feet off the ground.
[I'll deal with you later, after I repair the injured fuse. It appears it was too early to implement the new features.] Gaster stated, turning away disinterestedly.
"Sans!" Frisk yelped.
A rumble echoed through the cavern again, and Frisk covered their head as gravel started to fall and clatter onto the ground around them.
A small blue blur appeared below, and Frisk watched in surprised shock as Sans barreled into Gaster, knocking him down. Gaster staggered backwards, his back pressed against the railing, and his wide eyes turned to Sans in incomprehensive shock. [Sans? What is the meaning of this-]
The railing behind Gaster gave way with another heave of the cavern's walls, and Gaster tumbled backwards, falling into the abyss below.
.
Frisk's yell brought Sans back to his senses, and he dove forwards to peer over the edge, yanking his hand forwards. Just before Gaster got out of range, his SOUL turned blue with a dinging noise, and Sans dragged his body back up to where he was standing.
Sans glanced up at Frisk, who gave him a thumbs up as they watched from their vantage point.
"release them." Sans ordered Gaster.
[I-I… That's ludicrous! We've caught a human, Sans! Do you have any idea what a vital source of DETERMINATION this is? What's gotten into you, Sans?] Gaster stammered, disoriented from his close call.
The rumbling was getting louder, and Sans grabbed Gaster's jacket and yanked the scientist until their faces were inches apart. "let. them. down. NOW."
Sans heard a thump from behind him, and he relaxed. "welp, kid, it's not safe in here. we've got eight minutes, so i'll take gaster outside and be right back to see if i can't just fix this thing. i suppose it's dangerous for you to be with gaster alone as well, though, so you can go where you want."
"I'll see if I can find anything important in here," Frisk offered. "I might not be able to fix the machine but maybe some notes on DETERMINATION were left in here that could help us in the future."
"ok, but be careful, got it?" Sans decided. He turned to Gaster and glowered down at him. He knew he should feel slightly pleased when it was him that had the power and not Gaster, but at the moment his attention was focused on somehow getting both Frisk and himself through this ordeal in one piece. "come on, buddy, we need to get you out of here."
[Sans! How dare you-]
Sans shrugged and turned Gaster's SOUL blue again and forcefully moved him towards the door. "how dare i? buddy. you've done far worse to me."
Sans and Gaster exited the cavern despite the scientist's protests, and Sans pushed him out. "go back to the lab, gaster. today you shouldn't be here."
[Sans, the machine will overheat! All my work, all of my research- do you have any idea what you'll cost us?] Gaster pleaded.
Sans opened his mouth, but at the same moment the necklace around his neck beeped once while the lab simultaneously exploded.
.
"frisk!" Sans left Gaster where he was and raced back to the lab, his SOUL hammering in his chest. "no, no, no, no!"
The Core was covered in smoke, and Sans covered his mouth with a sleeve as he looked around in the sweltering heat. "frisk? come on, kid! where are you?"
Without Gaster working on the Core until the last moment, the Core must have exploded ahead of schedule.
Piles of rubble lay around, pieces of equipment laying in smoking heaps. The ground shuddered and heaved once more under Sans's feet as the Core started to calm down. If Frisk had been too close to the Core and somehow fallen in, then Sans knew he wouldn't find the kid no mater how long he looked. But if the kid had been farther away…
"frisk! answer me!" Sans's hand wandered up to his necklace, and he shuddered as he realized he only had a few minutes left to find Frisk before he had to leave them here. Frisk wouldn't survive here alone.
Near one of the machine piles closer to the door, the rocks shifted and a few came tumbling down to create a soft clicking sound. Sans's head swiveled towards the sound, and he froze as he saw Frisk's hand sticking out from underneath the debris.
Sans had never run this much before in his life, but he threw himself at the pile and started yanking at the debris and pawing at it to clear it away from Frisk. He managed to slowly uncover their wounded body, and sank down to his knees beside them.
An iron bar, part of the machine, had dug its end into Frisk's throat. As Sans watched, blood dripped down the kid's throat and stained their sweater, and their breaths came in short, panicked breaths as their eyes gazed unseeingly at Sans. Sans still didn't know as much about human anatomy as he wished he did, but he could guess he didn't have long until the blood filled Frisk's lungs and they didn't make it.
"oh, frisk…" Sans took a deep breath and leaned forwards. If he sent them back now with the necklace, chances were they could RESET and everything would be fixed. It wasn't the ideal solution because of differing risks, but Sans knew it was the only chance he had… until he saw that the locket he had carefully created had been slightly cracked by the rubble's impact before the kid's blood had dripped onto the necklace and short-circuited it.
Frisk was trapped here.
…No.
Sans had promised he would get the kid back safe. And he intended to keep that promise.
Sans took a deep breath, and gently grabbed Frisk's shoulders to get their attention. "kiddo. i'm going to get this out of you, so stay still, ok?" The child weakly shook their head, fear flickering in their dazed eyes, but Sans carefully restrained them with one hand as he grasped the piece of metal and gently tugged it free from their throat.
Blood immediately started to bubble up from the wound and pool around Frisk's throat, and the human gasped for breath as the blood started to prevent their ability to breath. Sans leaned over and pressed his hands to Frisk's throat, releasing his magic in a steady stream as he concentrated. If the wound had been larger or multiple stab wounds, Sans's weak healing magic wouldn't have helped, but because the wound was fairly clean and small, he managed to at least close it up into an angry red scab instead of an open bleeding wound.
Sans wiped at the sweat from his face, and his locket gave a louder beep as it warned Sans he had one minute left.
Surveying his handiwork, Sans nodded, satisfied Frisk would be all right until they managed to RESET or get healed by someone else. "hey, kiddo? i need you to listen to me for a bit here."
Frisk's eyes fluttered open again, and the human looked small and pale as they weakly sat up, swaying slightly as their hand wandered up to feel their wound.
"frisk… the device i built for you to get home with. it, uh, broke when you got hurt." Sans swallowed as he took another breath, forcing his ringing mind to be quiet and focused on the task at hand. "only one of us can get home, ok? and, uh, whoever stays… they won't make it, frisk. i didn't tell you this because i didn't want to scare ya but when i said my machine would overheat? the entire thing will be irreparable. it took me several years to create the machine in the first place, frisk; i don't have the time or the confidence to make another one."
Sans refused to look at Frisk, certain the kid didn't want to hear it. But this had to be said now. "i'm tired, frisk. i grew to see that my actions just don't matter to anyone, they don't accomplish anything, and i… sometimes, i just wanted it all to end, y'know? to just… stop existing. this isn't something that'll just go away. you're young, frisk. i know it's been rough on you as well, kiddo, but… of the two of us, i want it to be you who gets out of this one, okay? even if you stayed here, your DETERMINATION wouldn't last forever. gaster wouldn't let you go, either. so... just… just take care of paps for me, will ya?"
Sans reached up and unclasped the locket, ignoring the shrieking alarm that it started to emit as soon as he unclasped it. He could immediately feel the pressure on his SOUL, and Sans turned and smiled at Frisk as wide as he could manage. "you'll do great things, kiddo. remember that."
Frisk tried to scramble back from Sans, shaking their head and making pleading motions, their throat still too sore to protest in the way Sans knew they wanted to. But the blood loss and possible concussion had taken its toll, and the kid wasn't strong enough to push Sans away as he looped his locket around Frisk's neck. Frisk gazed with wide, scared eyes at Sans, and Sans grinned as he reached out and hit the button on the locket.
The last thing Sans saw of Frisk was their hand desperately reaching for him.
They managed to grab onto his jacket, a weak and desperate attempt to hold on to him, and then they were gone.
Suddenly alone, Sans sighed, slumping on the ground as he gazed at his hands. He had more DETERMINATION than most monsters, but he could feel himself weakening already. This wasn't his time, and his SOUL knew that he shouldn't exist here.
"…heh. guess it's finally time for me to rest." Sans gazed up at the ceiling, and wondered if everyone would remember him. Probably. To them, it would seem like he just vanished one day. At least this way meant he wouldn't end up like Gaster; distorted and forgotten, scattered across the void.
His eyes slowly closed, and Sans wondered if Papyrus would miss his puns.
.
Frisk landed on the floor of Sans's lab and scrambled to their feet, shocked. Their throat burned like it was on fire, and the scratches and bruises stung, but Frisk's eyes were locked on the smoking remains of the machine that was their only connection to Sans now.
The machine in question was destroyed, as Sans had said it would be. Smoke poured out of it in waves, and parts of the metal had actually melted in on itself from the stress, ruining any parts that might have otherwise been salvageable.
No no no. It can't be, Sans...you... why did you... how could you leave me alone?! Frisk desperately hit the button on the locket, trying to go back, but nothing happened.
They raced towards the machine and tried to make it do something, anything, but nothing happened.
When Papyrus found them, they were curled into a ball besides the ruined machine, too tired to cry at that point.
.
.
.
DETERMINATION is unneeded.
((You guys were 100% right. Nothing ever goes flawlessly. In fact, this chapter went smashingly wrong. But hey, I recall a lot of you guys wanted Sans to get what he deserved in the beginning~?
...I can feel the weight of the sins of this chapter crawling on my back.))