Chapter Text
The time was ticking. He could feel it slipping like grains of sand in an hourglass. It was only a matter of time and he needed to get this done before the next reset. His soul pounded in his ribcage as the adrenaline of the whole situation pushed him forward, he couldn’t stop now. Not for anything.
He was currently rushing through Waterfall, he needed to know if it was here this time. He’d seen it before only once or twice out of the hundreds of ‘runs’ he was forced to endure despite not having the determination in him like it does. He had no idea the origin of it but he knew it had something to do with the key to getting out of this.
It was draining this world of everything, everything was becoming more dull and not in the metaphorical sense. He didn’t know how or why but It was affecting the levels of magic emissions from the core… his ‘short-cuts’ had stopped being so short a while ago. So recently he’d ditched the slippers for sneakers he had tucked away in his closet. He never really had a need to but he’d realized recently how difficult it was to run in slippers.
Something that has been weighing down on him is that It is aware that he knows what's going on, which is concerning by itself, but also that It is catching on to his plans…
The mysterious waterfall door. Sometimes it was there, sometimes it wasn’t, he hadn’t really looked into it before because it was always locked, wouldn’t budge. He honestly wasn’t even sure if it had hinges at the time. Despite this, while looking through the code on his computer system, in his house's basement, he’d noticed that not only was this door an actual functioning door, but if the fun value on a reset was 66 then it was unlocked, and what are the odds that it also said that reset happened to be this reset. One out of a hundred apparently, but he still wasn’t sure if it’d actually work.
He wasn’t the type to cling to hope but damn was he clinging.
So he had to keep running because it was the only way he and maybe everyone else could get out of this. He didn’t know how much more he could take but he had to persevere for the sake of his brother-
THERE!- He stopped as he was finally at his destination. Doubling over panting… this definitely wasn’t getting easier anytime soon. Wheezing, he leans up against the wall sliding his way down to the damp mosses of Waterfall’s ground. “Oh Toby please have mercy-” he whispers in between his panting breaths. ‘Suck it up, Sans. You’ve had worse.’ he thought to himself.
After collecting himself and calming down, he pushes himself back up, his bones creaking like the rusty hinges of the door he was about to attempt to open. He stands in front of the door, as if it’s a mysterious figure looming over him, cowering under it’s gaze. His skeletal hand shakily reaches for the hopefully unlocked door to his freedom- this was for his brother and him- they needed this- they all needed this-. His hand grips the doorknob and he twists, attempting to open the door.
It doesn’t budge- maybe it’s rusty- He tries to force it open, twisting harder. Nothing. But it can’t be nothing! NO! He kicks and bangs on the door, tears pricking his sockets. This couldn’t be it!
His chest constricts and there’s sharp twinge in his soul. Suddenly the doorknob feels as if it’s burning his hand, melting his bones. He pulls away, cradling his supposedly burned hand. He dares to break eye contact with the door to glance at his hand, but it’s perfectly fine. He was definitely losing it, he chuckles, his deep rumbly voice making his rib cage hurt worse. One thing was for sure, something was definitely very wrong.
The short skeleton falls to his knees. Arms no longer cradling his uninjured hand but instead his body, curling in on himself as a way of comforting. He shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up, he’d been way too in over his head anyway. He lays down on his side, still cradling his shaking body. He really did a great job at acting like he was fine didn’t he, he’d even fooled himself. He was dying. They all were. Everyone was dying, dusting, and melting. Wait melting-
His vision blurs, as he realizes he was gripping his skull like his life depended on it. He pulls his hand away as the calcium making up his skull starts to feel too soft- it doesn’t leave his hand- white strings of his magic cling to his hand. Globs of his form dripping of-
He was falling down.
His blurring sockets widen at the realization that he'd lost all hope. Do people that fall down even survive resets?!?
He would have began to panic more at the thought of leaving his brother alone in this hellhole... if it weren't for the fact that his consciousness was failing him. His thoughts slipping and tumbling out of their train, forever lost with the rest of the finer details of the player's current run.
Everything went dark.
Darker.
Yet Darker.