About an hour later, we made it to the castle. Alphys had received notification on her mobile monitor that Mettaton was dead; the human was close on our tail. It was amazing how our entire world was being destroyed in the space of a few days… All the way to the castle, I pondered over what I knew was coming, over what I knew I was supposed to do. For once, I didn't want to fight it. It was my destiny. The curtain would soon close, and I wasn't going down without a fight.
We came to the hall. As the group of fugitives hurried across the golden tiles, I slowed and stopped where I stood. When Grillby noticed I was no longer trailing him, he too stopped and turned to look at me inquisitively.
"Sans?" he asked hesitantly. Now the whole group came to a halt, though most remained oblivious as to why.
"go," I said softly, my voice oddly calm and even.
"W-what are you d-doing, Sans?" Alphys stammered.
"staying," I answered simply. My two friends looked distressed; an argument was about to begin. But before it could start, I said—"if you're going to waste time trying to persuade me, at least send the others on their way. every second counts."
When I made no indication of budging, thus proving my sincerity, Alphys motioned the group to continue on. I stared down at my slipper scuffing the floor until the patter of feet died away. Looking up, I assessed my audience. Alphys, Grillby, and Fuku. I should have realized Fuku wouldn't want to leave Grillby. I wished she didn't have to see this, but… soon it wouldn't matter what she thought of me.
"there's not time to be anything but blunt: i'm going to make the human pay and buy you some time," I said flatly. Alarm filled the gaze of all present.
"Sans, you'll be killed!" Grillby exclaimed.
"perhaps," I lied, knowing full well I was going to die, and continued "but if i get dusted, maybe you won't." Grillby shook his head.
"You can only deal 1 damage and you only have 1 HP. The human has an immense amount of HP, AT, DF, and LV and EXP! To say it wouldn't be a fair fight would be a vast understatement. You'd only buy us a minute, best case scenario. It's not worth the sacrifice!"
"just trust me. go."
"N-no Sans! You're n-not thinking clearly about all this," Alphys tried to reason with me. "Come with us, we're all going to be f-f-fine!"
"you're right, everyone will be fine—but only if i do this. now; go," I ordered.
When no one moved an inch, I sighed. of course. i knew they wouldn't go. well, it was worth a try. After carefully adjusting Papyrus's scarf—which I had wrapped around my neck back at the lab—I glanced up and down each of the three monsters; my eyes came to rest on Fuku.
"fuku?" I asked. "you're not overly attached to that red bow on your uniform, are you?"
"No, not really," she answered, confused. "Why?" I took two steps back.
"throw it in the air between us," I replied. After a puzzled glance at her father—and a nod—Fuku untied the ribbon… balled it up… and tossed it.
In a flash, I snapped my hand up. The floor writhed as bone attacks, both white and blue, shot up from the ground, ripping the fabric to shreds. The onlookers leapt back in surprise. But I wasn't done yet. Hundreds of smaller, sharper splinters bombarded the scraps, tearing them even smaller. I grabbed at the remains with my magic, forcing them together in a little heap, and flung it higher; if I hadn't, the next attack might have taken our heads off. Summoning a ring of enormous Gaster Blasters, I watched as they unhinged their maws and the room flashed with blinding light. The onslaught only lasted a few seconds. But, in the end, all that was left of Fuku's bow was a tiny spot of ash on the tile at my feet.
There was a heavy, shocked silence when I was finished.
"go," I insisted once more. "if you get the chance, take the fugitives, backtrack, and run for the ruins. you all need to get as far away from the barrier as you can." Any opportunity for disagreement was cut off by a chime from Alphys' monitor. She didn't need to say for me to know what it meant. "the human's almost here," I announced. "now go." Another moment of stunned silence. "go!" I exclaimed.
I watched as, reluctantly, fearfully, they turned and ran. Once they were out of sight, I moved to the center of the hall, watching the entrance. This was it. This would be the death of me; but, perhaps the others would live. And I would give the human the torment they deserved.
Words filled my mind—the script for the coming drama. I felt a half smile tug at my face. i rather like some of these lines… think i'll keep 'em. After a moment of stillness, I remembered something. Smiling sadly, I raised my hand, summoned a blaster, and destroyed the camera hidden by one of the pillars. Neither Alphys nor anyone else needed to see what was going to happen next. Absolutely no one.