#monstermascot

“…Why?” For once in his life, Papyrus’ voice was quiet, so quiet that it didn’t echo even in the slightest in the massive corridor he was in. “Sans, why?”

The smaller skeleton was standing mere feet in front of his brother, posture slouched eerily as though he was forcing it to happen. His signature blue jacket was filthy, coated with the dust of all other monsters he had killed: Undyne, Alphys, even Toriel, along with countless lesser monsters that had tried fleeing from him, but failed.

It was difficult to run when your pursuer could rend space itself apart to hunt you down.

Upon hearing his brother’s voice, Sans lifted his head slightly to better meet his gaze, white eyes flickering into existence in his previously-blank eye sockets. What did you tell your hopelessly naive brother when he asked why you had systematically slaughtered everyone that you both knew and loved? “...You wouldn’t understand.”

Papyrus took a step towards him, though the way he was trembling slightly betrayed just how uncertain he was in doing so, as though he was fighting the instinct to flee just like the others had. He reached shaking arms out in front of him, a wordless plea to accept his help. “Sans, I can’t understand it if you outright refuse to tell me. Please... tell me and I’ll try my very best to understand.”

It was so very tempting to just say, “You can’t.” and leave it at that, to keep his dear brother in the dark up to his very final moments. But, seeing how he sincerely still wanted to help him after all of the murders he had committed, how the brotherly ties between the two of them hadn’t frayed in the slightest despite him becoming a true monster... it warmed his nonexistent heart and made him remember simpler times. Times when they would tease and scold one another while setting up puzzles for the next human to show up. When they would relax after their shifts by curling up on the couch together with a couple of plates of spaghetti and a bad movie. When he didn’t have to worry about everything being reset constantly. Now shaking badly enough himself to send his bones clacking against one another, he stepped towards Papyrus.

He deserved to know.

“Papyrus, I... I’ve just been through so much. We’ve been through so much, even if you don’t know about it. We’re stuck in a loop, every one of us. We live out our lives over and over again. Sometimes they’re happy, sometimes they’re sad, but every single time, we get taken back to the point where the kid falls into the underground. It’s happened countless times so far and I’m the only one who remembers any of it. Everyone else keeps saying and doing the same things from reset to reset, so I wanted to make them do something new, then maybe I would start caring about them and everything else again.” His shoulders slumped and he closed his eyes, tears beginning to leak out from under his eyelids as his voice cracked. “Pap... I’m just so tired from it all...”

There was the sound of boots scuffing against tile and he felt himself be lifted up, strong arms wrapping him up in a tight hug as Papyrus held him.

“Sans, I-I’m so sorry... I had no idea about all that, but... I’m here to help you now, okay? We-We’ll find a way to fix this. You don’t have to kill anyone anymore.”

Slowly, Sans nodded, wrapping his arms loosely around his brother’s neck and burying his face into his shoulder. “S’not your fault you didn’t know. You just couldn’t keep the knowledge is all.” He grabbed fistfuls of his scarf, desperately holding onto him as though he might disappear at any moment. “But, god, I missed these hugs. Missed ‘em so much.” He mumbled before falling quiet, just enjoying the physical contact.

After a few moments like that, he relinquished his grip on the fabric and languidly straightened himself up. Once he was back in a position to meet eye-to-eye with his brother, the blue glow from his newly-flared left eye highlighted the dawning realization and horror on his face so deliciously.

“But I won’t miss you.”

Leveraging his slippered feet between himself and Papyrus, he kicked off his chest as bones shot up from the ground below him. He easily landed just in time to see him begin to turn to dust, bones piercing through his “armor” to impale him as though it was made of paper mache, his jaw contorting to create a horrible scream that echoed his betrayal across the hallway.

It was music to the shorter skeleton’s ear holes.

Eventually, the noise died down as his brother did, his body steadily disintegrating until all that remained was a pile of dust and his scarf laying forlornly on top of it. Chuckling darkly, Sans vanished the bones and waltzed over to the remains of his brother, plucking the scarf from the ashes. He wrapped it around his own neck and his grin turned twisted as he admired the trophy he had taken for himself.