The Life of The Skelebros - Chapter 1 - lili_bugg (original) (raw)

Chapter Text

It was around mid morning when red lights and loud alarms around the lab started to go off. Sans was quietly rattling in a chair waiting for Gaster to inject yet another syringe filled with bright red liquid. No point in trying to leave with Gaster so close.

“Ugh now is not the time for this. Sans, it appears I am going to be needed. Do not try to leave this room until I get back, is that clear?” Gaster said annoyed. He looked up at the flashing red lights.

“y-yes i understand,” Sans answered, relaxing slightly since he wouldn't have to go through the searing pain of the Determination yet.

With that Gaster left the room locking the door behind him using the touchpad. The alarms were loud and the usually bright room was lit by red.

Gradually, the ground began to shake until it caused a few books to fall off the nearby shelves. Sans began to worry if Papyrus was safe in the cell, even if there was pretty much nothing in there. Papyrus could still get hurt by falling over as the ground continued to shake and hit the walls.

Suddenly the power turned off, plunging the room into darkness with the only light coming from the machines around him that ran on their own power. Looking around nervously, Sans’ eyes lights landed on the door. He knew the door was connected to the lab's power so perhaps it was affected?

Getting off the chair he walked to the door as quietly as he could and reached up to try the handle. It was slightly stuck but with enough force he was able to slide the door open. The rest of the lab didn’t have any of those machines with their own power so that meant the hallway was completely dark.

“h-hello. is anyone there?” Sans called out looking down the dark hall.

When no one answered he quickly headed to where he knew his and Papyrus’ cell was, bare feet clacking on the hard floor. Gaster had taken them to and from their cell to the examination room so many times Sans had the path memorized.

“hey paps, can you hear me? m’gonna see if the door will open.”

“SANS, WHAT’S GOING ON?” Papyrus quickly answered.

Sans worked the handle like before until it opened. The cell was completely dark like the rest of the lab but he could hear Papyrus’ faint rattling in the corner. Relieved, Sans ran over and knelt down in front of him.

“hey it’s ok, i’m right here. are you hurt?”

“I’M OK BUT WHY IS IT SO DARK ALL OF A SUDDEN? AND THE GROUND IS SHAKING TOO. I DON’T LIKE IT.”

“the whole lab is dark,” Sans said and crouched down in front of Papyrus to look him over for any injury. “the power must’ve gone out or somethin’. i don’t know why the ground is shaking but gaster left in a hurry before all this happened. maybe he’s doin’ another experiment.”

Sans sighed in relief when he didn’t find any injuries from what he could tell in the darkness. He had no idea how long Gaster would be gone and an opportunity like this probably won't happen again.

“DO YOU THINK HE WILL BE OK?” Papyrus asked as Sans stood.

“i don’t know. probably. let’s just get outta here before he comes back.”

Before Papyrus could say anything more Sans picked him up and started to run down the hallways of the lab. The ground was no longer shaking as hard so it was easy to move fast. Although Gaster never took them many places in the lab Sans knew where the exit was. While Gaster was distracted one time by an assistant, Sans looked through his papers and found a map; he snuck it into their cell to study.

“SANS, WHERE ARE WE GOING?” Papyrus asked after a few seconds of running.

Sans was sticking close to the wall to guide him in the dark and imagining the map in his head.

“i’m gonna get us outta here. then gaster won’t be able to hurt us.”

“BUT GASTER ALWAYS SAID THAT THIS WOULD HELP EVERYONE GET OUT OF A MOUNTAIN. IF IT WILL HELP OTHERS THEN I CAN TAKE IT.”

“…no paps, that’s not…” Sans changed the subject. ”let’s just get outside.”

He didn’t want to argue about this right now knowing that Papyrus always saw good in everyone, even if he’s only met Sans, Gaster, and Gaster’s assistants. Papyrus also hasn’t had to sit through injections of DT yet and Sans was not going to let that happen to his little brother. So, he continued running until he found the elevator he had seen on the map that said it would take them to the top floor.

Luckily some backup power had come back on some time ago while Sans was running. However, in the elevator he was faced with various buttons next to the door and he had no idea what they meant.

Looking closer at the buttons he recognized seeing this set of numbers on the map. They had shown the multiple floors and each one was labeled by a number, a couple of letters or both. The floor they were at was called TL2 and there were three more that said TL1, 1, and NH. He never saw the floor for NH but it wasn’t important. He pressed the button with the one.

“AHH WHY IS THE FLOOR M-MOVING AGAIN?!” Papyrus said, looking around with wide eye sockets and starting to shake again.

“it’s ok paps. this is just gonna take us up to the top floor,” Sans reassured

“OH…OK. BUT LAST TIME I DIDN’T SEE ANOTHER FLOOR.”

“this time is different. just trust me.”

When the elevator doors opened Sans quickly glanced around to check for Gaster or anyone else. After confirming the place was empty he went straight to the door that led outside. The door slid open easily. Sans figured that Gaster was in such a hurry he didn’t bother to lock the door so when the power turned on the doors remained unlocked.

Once outside Sans stopped in his tracks as he was hit by a wave of heat and light that he had never felt or seen before. It was a very different heat than the type he felt after a DT injection. This heat didn’t hurt at all; it was just hot in temperature. The light was not those cold bright white lights like in the lab. Instead, it was a warm orange light coming from below the cliff they were on.

“WOWIE! IT IS SO WARM AND BRIGHT OUT HERE,” Papyrus exclaimed with wide eyes.

“yeah it’s…nice,” Sans said, taking a moment to catch his breath.

Sans then began to look for a place to hide. Sneaking around unnoticed, he eventually found a small cave that was well hidden from any passing monsters. He put Papyrus down against the far wall and sat down next to him to think about what to do now.

He knew that he had to find a way to get rid of Gaster for good because otherwise he would just come looking for them. They had never been able to hide from Gaster for long no matter how well they hid. Even if they went far away, Gaster wouldn’t stop until he found them. So he decided to find Gaster first and go from there.

“papyrus, i’m gonna leave you here while i go uh find somethin’ important. can you please stay here while m’gone? don’t come out for anything or anyone,” Sans instructed, hoping Papyrus understood his seriousness.

“OKAY BUT WHAT IF SOMEONE IS HURT?”

“please papyrus you can’t even go out for that. if you leave this cave i might not be able to find you.”

“OKAY...” Papyrus pouted.

“good. i’ll be back before ya know it,” Sans said, then took off out of the cave.

Sans didn’t know where Gaster went but he had always been able to notice small details. He noticed all the monsters traveling away from a huge metal machine in the distance. Alone that would not mean much but that metal machine was flashing those red lights like back at the lab. It was also probably shaking more than it was supposed to just like in the lab. He knew Gaster would be called by one of his assistants if there was ever a problem in the lab. So, going off of all that he started heading towards the big machine.

While sneaking around the crowds he could hear them constantly mentioning some sort of Core and that it was malfunctioning. He guessed that this “Core” was that huge shaking machine that was apparently malfunctioning. He eventually found the entrance and could feel the ground slightly shaking beneath his feet again.

Going deeper inside the Core he began to hear shouting in a voice he was all too familiar with. Gaster was out on a platform above the lava that was violently bubbling. He was looking down at a huge control panel, angrily yelling at it.

Sans entered the room from a door behind Gaster. He glanced around at the shaking walls and bright lava below. He didn’t have much time to think of what to do next when the ground shook so hard he lost his footing and fell down on the platform with a loud metallic clank. Gaster, clutching the control panel to steady himself, swiftly turned around at the noise.

“What are YOU doing here?! I thought I told you to not leave the room. Plus, I remember locking it,” Gaster said, angrily glaring at Sans.

“well maybe i was tired of listening to everything you say. besides, whatever you’re doin’ here made the power go out,” Sans retorted, getting back on his feet. “also, how about i actually do something about it for once!”

With that Sans ran towards Gaster raising his hand to summon some bone bullets and carefully aimed them. Gaster, however, was no beginner when fighting and easily blocked Sans’ attack with his own bullets while shooting a few at Sans’ general location. Sans easily jumped out of the way of the few bones Gaster summoned.

“Sans, stop this nonsense and let me get back to work. The Core is overheating with too much magic. If I don't do something it will explode, swallowing the whole underground. Also, everything I said to do is for your own good,” Gaster said, turning back to the control panel. “Go back to the lab. I will deal with you later.”

“no! i will not let you boss us around anymore!” Sans yelled, charging at Gaster again with more bones.

Gaster blocked all of Sans’ bones and used blue magic to push him back, not even looking up from the panel. Sans slid back halfway between Gaster and the door. He knew Gaster was much more powerful and way more experienced so that means he had to think of a way to get the upper hand.

The ground was still shaking lightly so that meant Gaster wouldn’t have the same stability he would usually have. If he could somehow find a way to make Gaster lose his balance then he could have a better chance to hit him.

Sans hadn’t practiced blue gravity magic much but with enough concentration he was able to latch onto Gaster’s soul and tilt its gravity to the side a bit before his hold slipped. Gaster stumbled a bit but it was not enough to get a good shot.

“Sans, that is enough. I do not have time for this!” Gaster shouted, turning around to face Sans. “This isn’t just about you and me. The whole underground is in danger. If you won’t leave then I’ll just have to make you stop.”

He reached out to grab Sans’ soul and sent him flying into the door behind Sans then turned back to what he was doing. Sans hit the door hard with a loud cracking sound and fell to the ground, unconscious.

Sans woke up dizzy and with a sharp pain in his head. Gaster was still at the control panel still trying to stabilize it. He struggled to get back up but the shaking ground had worsened and wasn't helping. Gaster wasn’t listening to him and he was tired of being ignored.

Sans pushed through the pain with Determination and faced Gaster again. “listen gaster,” Gaster spun around with surprise, “i won’t let this continue. i…I won’t let you hurt Papyrus anymore! Do whatever you want with me just never touch brother again!”

He called on his magic making both his eye sockets glow a cyan color and let his magic burst out towards Gaster. Not caring about where they landed, he shot bones at him in waves with blazing speed. Gaster froze with alarm for a second then tried to block as many bones as he could. He successfully intersected a few but there were too many, too fast.

They struck Gaster all along his body, knocking the wind out of him and making him double over in pain. Many more of them missed and flew past him, sinking into the control panel behind him and making it spark with magic and electricity. The core began to shake violently making the metal platform they were on rattle.

“WHAT DID YOU DO!?” Gaster roared, standing up and whirling around to look at the damage.

“What did I do?! You weren’t listening and don’t actions speak louder than words? You have ruined mine and Papyrus’ life so how about I ruin yours!” Sans shouted.

“Do you not realize what you have done!? Now the Core will consume the underground because of your reckless behavior! This isn’t just about my life, or your life, or even Papyrus’. This is about the lives of the entire underground that you just doomed to die.”

“I don’t care who dies and who doesn’t! As long as I stop you from ever hurting Papyrus ever again I. Don’t. Care!”

“You aren’t thinking straight Sans. Everyone, including Papyrus will die and it’ll be all your fault.”

“Just shut up!”

Sans, no longer in the mood for talking, shot out his hand letting his magic shoot out towards Gaster’s soul. Clenching his fist he flung his arm out to the left. Gaster’s soul turned blue and he was whipped off his feet and yanked in the same direction. He hit the railing head first with a loud crack.

Sans strode up in front of him with a determined expression. Gaster had dust falling away from his face as two lines split up and down from his eye sockets. One ran up from his right and the other Rand down into his mouth on the left.

Sans barely looked at the cracks before speaking one last time. “I will not let you hurt my brother ever again,” he growled.

His already glowing eye sockets flashed yellow as he let his magic explode from him, no longer trying to control it. The magic culminated above him with a flash of cyan magic. A huge dragon-like skull came into existence as the light disappeared.

Gaster looked up at it with surprise and fear as it charged up with a sound like nothing he’d heard before. The jaw split open and the skull let out a beam of white hot magic and blasted Gaster right off the platform.

The laser of magic hit the lava below and created an explosion that engulfed Gaster. The wave of magic and heat expanded in front of Sans, sending him flying back to the control panel. Sans tried to get his feet underneath him to stand but the shaking had only worsened as pressure built in the room.

Suddenly, the control panel bursted from the combination of the earlier attack and now the increased pressure. Sans didn’t have time to react when pieces of metal infused with the Core’s magic and glowing red with DT out in every direction. A piece of metal flew straight at Sans and cut into the bottom of his right eye socket. Crying out in pain, he put a hand to his eye and collapsed on the platform.

“hhh…i need to get…back to papyrus.”

Getting back on his feet was almost impossible. He still felt dizzy from being thrown into the door and now he could barely see. He could hear explosions below him and knew the platform wouldn’t hold up much longer.

With great efforts he was finally able to get his feet underneath himself. Still holding a hand to his eye, he could hear the exploding magic of the core behind him. He took off towards the exit door as fast as he could despite everything that made it near impossible. He went back through the core, ignoring everything in his path. He had to get back to Papyrus and leave this place far behind. Suddenly the world around Sans went completely dark and he was hit by vertigo.

“AHHHHHHH!!!”

Darkness suddenly filled the small cave Papyrus was hiding in. Papyrus knew his eye sockets were open but now everything went pitch black.

Just as fast as it came the darkness went away only to reveal Sans collapsed on the cave’s floor.

Sans was disoriented with no idea of where he was and was barely hanging onto consciousness.

“OH! SANS! HOW DID YOU DO- WAIT YOUR HURT! WHAT HAPPENED!?” Papyrus questioned, noticing the red liquid pouring from his brother's eye socket through his fingers.

With Papyrus’ voice Sans managed to figure out where he was. “nngh…paps…? wha…? a-are you ok?”

He forced himself to his hands and knees, determined to keep going to keep Papyrus safe.

“SANS…YOU DON'T LOOK SO GOOD AND YOUR EYE IS LEAKING SOME RED LIQUID STUFF.”

Sans stood up unsteadily. “ghh…’m fine. we need to leave…ugh…now.”

He picked Papyrus up and clutched him tight. Then, he ran out of their cave and went the opposite way of the Core, not stopping for anything. Closing his wounded eye socket tight, he ignored the feeling of strange magic leaking into his own.