From Kind to Cold

Chapter 17

"what is it bro?" Sans asked. He saw that Papyrus looked more sad than usual. Ever since that incident, Papyrus always had an empty look on his face, and Sans had no idea how to fix it. "WE CAN'T BE BROTHERS ANYMORE." Papyrus said, looking down. Sans's eyes went wide. "i'm sorry, what did you just say??"

Papyrus looked away. "SINCE I'M SECOND IN THE GUARD, PEOPLE WILL WANT TO HURT YOU BECAUSE THEY KNOW I CARE ABOUT YOU, SO I CAN'T SHOW THAT I CARE ABOUT YOU ANYMORE." Sans looked incredibly hurt. "so what? you're strong. you can handle some stupid monsters." Papyrus was holding tears in. He didn't want to cry in front of people anymore. Crying was weak. "I AM STRONG, BUT YOU ONLY HAVE 1 HP. IF THEY GOT TO YOU, THEY COULD KILL YOU, AND I CAN'T LOSE YOU. YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON I REALLY HAVE." Sans was also trying to hold in tears, covering them up with anger. "you're the only person i have too! and now i can't even act like i love you??" Papyrus turned away. "PLEASE, SANS. THIS IS ALREADY DIFFICULT. I HATE THIS TOO, BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE. YOU KNOW HOW THE WORLD IS. YOU SAID YOURSELF, SOMETIMES WE NEED TO ADAPT TO SURVIVE."" Sans looked up into Papyrus's eyes. "yeah. i know. i just can't believe how bad the world messed you up." 

Sans sighed, and continued. "you were the only bright thing down here. the only thing which could make me truly happy, and now the world has ruined you too." Papyrus looked down, eyebrows sinking. Sans looked away. "alright. if this is how it has to be, then this is how it has to be bro-" Sans stopped himself from saying bro. "uh, how would you like me to address you?" Papyrus turned away to hide the sad, defeated expression on his face. "WELL, I'M SECOND IN THE GUARD, AND THE GUARD IS ABOVE THE SENTRIES, SO TECHNICALLY, I AM KINDA LIKE YOUR BOSS." Sans replied, also feeling defeated. "ok. guess i'll just call you boss now."

Whenever they were out in public, Papyrus made sure to make it seem like he couldn't care less about Sans. While at home, he constantly tried to get Sans to exercise or train, anything that would make it so Sans was less likely to die, but Sans refused. He didn't want to really do anything. There was no point in really doing anything anyway.

One day, Sans walked down to the secret room behind the house. Inside, sat that machine he brought from the lab all those years ago. He sat down next to it and sighed. "hey dad. it's been a while. listen, i know you're not here, but i really need you. i don't know what to do. i can't raise a kid. i messed up so bad with paps. he was the brightest, sweetest monster in the whole underground, he was my everything, but now he's messed up too, just like the rest of the underground. i don't know how to fix it. i don't think i can fix it. i really need you. maybe you could find a way to break the barrier without another human soul, and we could live on the surface and he wouldn't have to change. i just need you, dad. i need your help."

Sans waited in the silence, tears slowly falling down his face.

But nobody came.

Years later, Papyrus was 21 and Sans was 26 when a human came. At first the human gave him hope, after all, maybe if they could get that soul and get to the Surface, everything would be better, but whenever they were killed, they would just come back. They came, they reset, they came again, they reset again. Sans could remember each time they came through and reset. Over and over.

At first it was fine. He didn't let the human bother him. His life was pointless anyway, but one time, the human decided to kill everyone. Kill Papyrus. He didn't think things could be worse than they already were, but he was wrong. Even though Papyrus was changed, he still loved him, and watching a human take his life was the worst pain he had ever felt.

Eventually, he stood and fought the human. After many resets, he was slain. He hoped this was the end, that all his suffering was finally over.

But then he woke up again, and the world had reset yet again. There was nothing he could do to change anything. Nothing he could do to stop the human from hurting his brother, there was nothing he could do. He was trapped, in a world full of hatred, death, and resets.

There was only one way out. He needed to escape the way his dad escaped. He couldn't just die, because the human would just reset and bring him back. The only way out, was falling into the core, like his father did. He needed a way out, after all, there was nothing left for him here. His brother was long gone.

He left a small note for his boss. "hey boss. i'm sorry. i really messed up. i should have been better for you. i shouldn't have let the world and all these terrible people change you. i'm sorry." Sans left the note on a table in his house and headed for Hotland.

He stepped out towards the core. "no one will even remember me anyway." He said, as he stepped closer. He let out a breath he seemed to be holding in. "it'll all be over soon." He stuck his foot over the ledge, and leaned over.

Papyrus was doing his rounds, when he stopped at home to get some leftover spaghetti for lunch, when he saw Sans's note. He picked it up, thinking Sans was just being sloppy and leaving random pieces of paper on the table, when he read it. His eyes quickly went wide, and he sprinted out the door. He didn't know where he was running, but he had to go somewhere. He had to find Sans.

Papyrus ran as fast as he could. He knew how to use shortcuts, just like Sans, but never used them since they were pretty lazy. However, he needed to get to Sans fast, so he quickly used a shortcut to teleport to his brother. 

Sans began to lean over, when suddenly something grabbed the back of his jacket and pulled him backwards into a hug. He looked up to see his boss.... bro. Papyrus was hugging him tight, his eyes filled with a look of love Sans hadn't seen in years. "PLEASE DON'T JUMP SANS." Papyrus said. Sans looked over, then back at his brother. how could i even consider leaving papyrus? Sans thought to himself. He closed his eyes and hugged his brother back. "i'm just so tired boss."

Sans was brought home. Papyrus stayed home from work to spend the day with Sans. Sans didn't talk much. He knew that even though the resets kept happening, he could never leave Papyrus forever. He guessed he just let the empty feeling get to him too much. Eventually, the human reset again. Papyrus had no memory of this event, and Sans was glad. He wanted to forget it too. 

Sans knew he couldn't leave his brother for real, he hated himself for even considering it. But that event stayed on his mind. That look in Papyrus's eyes, it wasn't his boss. It was his brother, meaning his brother had to still be in there. Sans smiled. He really hoped so. Until then, the world kept resetting.