deathrattlebeat

[deathrattlebeat]

By Shade of Night: Chapter Three

Written by: DeathRattleBeat

Written for: Zeragii, because she likes angsty stories with Sans and Undyne interacting (as do i) and, like, none exist dammit! Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, Descriptions of Severe Injuries, Blood, Angst, Necessary Nudity, Hurt/Comfort, Talk of Attempted Murder, Abuse, Undyne POV

The moment Sans’s bloody, beaten little body touched the water, the skeleton gave an aborted shriek. Undyne and Alphys both winced, souls pained by the sound, and rushed to shush and sooth him, knowing that further agony was necessary in order to help him recover.

Sans shivered and shuddered in Undyne’s grasp as she lowered him the rest of the way into the tub. The water instantly clouded with a mix of blood and dust. Alphys had been careful to make the water warm but not hot, in an effort to be easier on Sans. It did little good however, as Sans’s bruised and battered spine arched slightly, his head tossing back in a strange sort of convulsion. Alphys managed to catch the back of his skull before he could crack it against the tub’s ceramic side.

Eventually, Sans stopped moving, falling limp out of exhaustion and pain. He looked up at them with hazy eyes, pleading for them to stop hurting him, pleading for them to help him, not realizing that the two went hand in hand.

Undyne carefully shifted her hold until she was able to keep him upright (with Alphys assistance) while also having one hand free. “Okay, Sans, listen...This is going to hurt, but we gotta do it, okay? Alphys and I are right here, and Papyrus is on the way. But we gotta take care of these injuries now. Do I have your consent?”

Though, in all honesty, consent or no this needed to be done. But Undyne was only thinking of her training; on the importance of ensuring another monster’s trust and safety.

Sans whimpered out something unintelligible, before he sobbed out. “y-yes, y-yes! j-just make i-it s-st-stop-hnn!”

That was all the two female monsters needed. Undyne grabbed a washcloth that Alphys had already thoughtfully prepared with soap, wincing in sympathy as she reached forward to start gently scrubbing at Sans’s injuries.

There were a lot of them. Several of the skeleton’s ribs appeared to be badly cracked, the sight most unsettling. It even went so far as to splinter up toward his sternum and collarbone. His wrists and ankles were scratched, extra brusing suggesting he had been struggling while being held down. The bruises seemed to cover every inch of him, heaviest around his spine, shoulders, and skull. And the of course there was that angry red line dragged over the top edge of his pelvis.

Sans whimpered and gritted his teeth in agony as Undyne began washing away the blood and dust. Every few minutes she had to pause, afraid that he would pass out.

Alphys did her best to keep him distracted, asking him simple questions, silly ones really, but ones that kept him conscious and talking, however faintly in between groans of pain.

They were almost finished when Papyrus, still dressed in a tux from his night out with his friends, came skidding around the corner and into the bathroom. His eyes were wide in guilty horror, and Undyne immediately stood up and hustled him out into the livingroom before he could upset Sans any further. He struggled halfheartedly the whole way, craning his neck, trying to regain his view of his poor brother.

“Undyne, I’m so sorry, my phone wasn’t on and I didn’t check my messages until I was leaving the restaurant and then I had to get gas in order to make it here and-”

“Pap, BREATHE,” Undyne commanded in her best captain’s voice. The skeleton automatically followed her words, taking one deep breath and then another, continuing until Undyne deemed it safe to speak. “I don’t want you getting Sans anymore worked up than he already is. He’s in bad shape, I won’t lie, and if he’s going to make it we’re going to all have to keep calm and keep our heads. Got it?”

Papyrus nodded harshly, tears leaking from the corners of his sockets. “Who did this?” he murmured in a much more even tone. His gaze had settled on the spot Sans’s body had been found, at the stains on the rug. “Who would-”

“I can’t be sure for certain, but I think it’s safe to say it’s one of the hate groups from the other side of town. I thought I had a handle on their activities, but...Guess I was wrong, and Sans paid for it.”

Papyrus swallowed. “How bad is he?”

Undyne shook her head sadly. “From what I can see, at least four cracked ribs, a cracked sternum, and what sort of looks like a fracture in his collarbone. He’s covered in bruises, almost from head to toe, his wrists and ankles are fucked up, and...Well, it looks like someone was fooling around with his pelvis.”

Papyrus’s eyes widened in horror, to which Undyne quickly added, “N-Not like THAT! I mean, there’s a cut at the top, like someone was threatening him. Threatening to do...THAT. Or worse. But it looks like they stopped before they had the chance. I’m thinking maybe Toriel and Frisk...interrupted them.”

Papyrus nodded solemnly. “But why Sans? He never hurt anyone, Why Sans?”

“I don’t know. But I’m going to find the hell out.” Her anger dropped after a moment, and she reached forward to place a hand on Papyrus’s shoulder. “Now. If you think you can keep it quiet, you can come help me and Alphys get Sans fixed up. And then I want both of you to come stay with me and Alphys. Like hell are we leaving the two of you here alone tonight.”

Papyrus merely nodded weakly, following as Undyne led the way back to the bathroom.

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[deathrattlebeat]

STORY ARCHIVE

[deathrattlebeat]

By Shade of Night: Chapter Two

Written by: DeathRattleBeat Written for: Zeragii, because she likes angsty stories with Sans and Undyne interacting (as do i) and, like, none exist dammit! Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, Severe Injuries, Blood, Angst, Necessary Nudity, Hurt/Comfort, Undyne POV

Undyne didn’t waste any time, moving forward and dropping down to her knees beside Toriel. She tried to pretend the landing wasn’t so hard because her legs had given out, feeling tough as jelly. Her one eye widened, taking in the full extent of Sans’s injuries.

He had obviously been beaten, and quite brutally at that. Cracks, bruises, cuts, and painful looking micro-fractures littered his too-still frame, making him seem more like a broken little puppet than a living monster. And he was living. He’d be dust if he wasn’t.

His eyes were closed, terrible dark blotches -bruises- dotting the surface of smooth bone. His clothes were torn, his signature jacket, the one Papyrus couldn’t get him to throw away, was viciously torn at one shoulder. His t-shirt was in shambles, glimpses of red, smeared blood peering back at Undyne as she swallowed.

“What happened?” she asked weakly.

Toriel was silently crying, hands still pressed to the skeleton’s chest as she pumped him full of healing. “Frisk and I were planning t-to stop in on Sans before going to bed. His brother was out late with his friends from t-the restaurant, and we knew that Sans might be feeling lonely.” Tears trailed down her cheeks. “When we got here, the door was already open. And when we came in, calling him, Sans did not answer. We...We found him. In the corner just behind the sofa.”

“Like this?”

“No. No, not like this.” Toriel blanched just at the memory. “He...H-He was not breathing before now.”

Undyne felt a combination of rage and unwellness sweep over her, flushing her hot and cold at the same time. “Shit.”

“You think it might have been...?”

Undyne nodded, teeth gritted and knowing it could be no one else. “It had to be. The same hate group that tried getting in a week ago. Fucking dammit! I should have hunted them down! Then none of this would have ever happened if I had-”

“d-don’t...b-bla-ame yersel-f...”

Both women jolted, looking down at the small monster beneath them. His eyes had opened, though one was swollen nearly shut. His expression was a tight grimace, but Sans still managed to reach out with trembling, blood-slippery fingers, just barely grazing them against Undyne’s arm.

“n’t ya-ye-your f-faul...lt...”

Toriel gasped. “Sans!”

Undyne immediately took over. She scooted forward, gently nudging Toriel a bit to the side to gain better access. Sans was still trembling, the movement causing his bones to rattle slightly. He tried to speak again, but ended up falling into a string of painful, wet coughs.

“Hey, hey, hey! None of that,” Undyne hissed. She framed one hand against the skeleton’s face, trying to steady him as she ran a CHECK over him. Sans flinched at the intrusion, but relaxed, limp, a moment later; too exhausted to fight.

Alphys and Frisk rushed in then, Alphys cradling the med kit against her chest. She released a tight cry at the sight of Sans lying there in a small circle of his own blood and powder, panting weakly for breath. The scientist rushed forward, kneeling down beside Undyne and fumbling with the medical supplies. She managed to extract disinfectant, gauze, and bandages from the casing, but then looked down at her soon-to-be- patient sadly.

“U-undyne, we c-can’t-I c-can’t...There’s t-too much b-blood. He n-needs to be clean b-before we wrap these, a-and the w-wounds need to be c-cleaned too.”

Undyne bit her lip. “Like a bath?”

Alphys nodded.

Hesitating for only a moment, Undyne then carefully scooped the injured skeleton into her arms and lifted him as she stood to her feet. Sans remained limp, though he twitched slightly and released a groan of pain at the movement.

“It’s okay, Sans. I got you.” 

Toriel followed them up, a hand still resting on Sans’s back as she continued to pump magic into his body. Undyne wasn’t sure how helpful it was at this point, but there was a possibility that it might be taking the edge off of the pain. Still, they couldn’t all fit in the skeleton brothers’ bathroom, and Toriel was a rather impressive size.

“I want to help,” Toriel informed Undyne, eyes stubborn.

“You can help best by helping your kid.” Undyne nodded toward Frisk, who was still clutching their chest and shivering, obviously in some kind of shock. “Take them outside and find somewhere quiet. Don’t go outside outside, obviously, maybe go back to your apartment? Call Papyrus. Tell him what’s happened and to get his bony ass home.”

Toriel faltered, looking down at her injured friend. Sans was no longer conscious, having slipped out mentally the moment he was being held. “But, he might-”

“He’ll be fine,” Undyne assured. “Alphys and I are gonna take good care of him. We promise. I’m not going to let anything else happen to him.”

That seemed to ease Toriel’s worry some, and after only a few more moments of uncertainty, she removed the hand from Sans’s back and rushed to take Frisk’s hand in hers and lead them out.

Undyne looked back down at Sans, heart heavy and mind full of curses. She was going to find the bastards that had done this, and she was going to repay each mark they had made on Sans tenfold. Their screams would be music to her fins.

“U-Undyne?”

She looked up, Alphys standing just inside the bathroom doorway. The sound of rushing water was loud in the small space. “I’ve already started running the bath. W-We...We n-need to get him undressed.” 

She blushed furiously, and Undyne would be lying if she didn’t admit she was too.

“...Right.”

Undyne asked Alphys for a sheet, blanket, or towel, and moved with a towel to the couch. She laid the towel down, and placed Sans upon it, wincing in sympathy when he shuddered in pain.

“It’s alright, Sans. Just...let us handle everything, okay? Your brother will be here soon.” She felt awful about what she was about to do. Sans was a very private monster. Were he more conscious, Undyne knew he’d be protesting. “Sorry, punk.”

Undyne began undressing the skeleton as slowly and as carefully as possible. It was hard, there was blood drying his clothes to his bones, sweat and dust coating everything, making him stink. Undyne vaguely wondered how long Sans had been lying there, wounded, before Toriel and Frisk had found him.

Finally, the shirt and coat had been removed, showing off Sans’s bruised and battered ribs and spine in all their glory. Undyne wasn’t sure just what he had been abused with, but it must have been blunt and hard, swung with vicious force, to bruise his bones so badly. Sans grunted, coming out of his stupor enough to dislike what Undyne was doing to him. He tried to squirm away, the pain almost making him pass out again, before Undyne whispered comforting words of encouragement and apologies.

After his shirt and jacket came Sans’s slippers, socks, and then his shorts. Undyne could tell from his expression that he didn’t appreciate her view of him at all, his small bones completely bare and vulnerable to the open air. Undyne didn’t stare of course, she wasn’t pervert, but she did look his pelvis over with a firm expression. There were bruises there too, along with what looked like a cut all along the top rim of his pelvic girdle. Like someone had dragged a knife tip there, just to make him squirm.

“B-Bath’s ready,” Alphys called.

“Sorry, buddy.” Undyne moved to carefully scoop Sans up again, only this time she pressed him right up against her, for maximum comfort. Almost every inch of him was messed up, it didn’t matter much how she held him. She ignored his nakedness, carrying him swiftly into the bathroom.

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[deathrattlebeat]

By Shade of Night: Chapter One

Written by: DeathRattleBeat Written for: Zeragii, because she likes angsty stories with Sans and Undyne interacting (as do i)  and, like, none exist dammit! Warnings for this chapter: Swearing, Blood, Injury, Undyne POV

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.

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Undyne should have known it would happen eventually.

They had been above ground for nearly four years now, four wonderful, beautiful years. The sun was a god-sent, a presence that warmed the very air they breathed. It had been fantastic when they were first freed, and it hadn’t lost its wonder since. Frisk was a teen by now, wrapped up in the legal mumbo-jumbo that was supposed to make all their lives easier. They were doing a fairly good job too, all things considered, and life had fallen into a gentle shamble of experience and self discovery.

But with every bit of good the surface world above had to offer, there had been just as much bad. Humans were arrogant assholes who prided themselves on being racially enlightened, but were just as accepting as they had been all those years ago, when their mages had sealed monster-kind beneath the mountain. Groups had formed, hate groups that stalked the night and threw threatening messages tied to bricks through windows. They left piles of dust on porches and steps - imitations of death meant to scare and frightened.

They were the main reason Undyne had refused to disband the Royal Guard. Humanity couldn’t take away their only source of law enforcement, their only source of safety and comfort. Dudes who could show up at the scene and encourage and protect, where no human piss-ant would.

Undyne was fueled by rage and fear. Rage brought on by the times she had been too late; when she had arrived at a scene and found only dust and children crying over thier lost parent in wails. Fear brought on by the unimaginable circumstance that someone Undyne knew and cared for might end up hurt, or worse. It drove her like a fire in her soul, and for those four years she nearly worked herself into the ground over it all.

But her hard work had always paid off. Her closest friends, her family - they had always stayed safe by her efforts.

She should have known it wouldn’t last.

Undyne should have known it would happen eventually.

It was a Thursday night, a full orange-ish moon casting light through the livingroom window of their apartment complex. Undyne and Alphys had retired for the evening, inasmuch as they had huddled down to watch anime, clothed in soft, fuzzy pants and spaghetti strap shirts. Alphys had a blanket spread over the two of them, snuggled deep into Undyne’s side. Despite the exciting thrill of warrior women in scanty outfits warring on their screen, the lure of sleep was taking its toll, the two female monsters slowly slipping into unconsciousness.

It was then that everything went to hell.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Undyne’s eye shot open at the sound of a fist slamming against the wood of their apartment door. It was sharp and violent, the kind of knocking she was prone to, but this seemed more urgent. Desperate.

Alphys sat up straighter, rubbing at an eye beneath the rim of her glasses. “W-Who could that b-be?” she murmured sleepily.

“I don’t know,” Undyne replied, bouncing herself out of the sinkhole in the sofa she had sunk into. “But I’m about to find the hell out.”

Undyne moved her way stiffly through the rest of the livingroom and into the kitchenette, where the door to the hall was located. This close, she could now make out the muffled voice coming from the other side.

BANG! BANG! “Undyne! Undyne, please!”

“Frisk?!” Undyne grabbed the doorknob and yanked the door open.

It was indeed Frisk. The teen looked haggard, eyes wide and hair unkempt and wild. They were breathing hard, panic in their gaze.They were dressed in their pajamas, shorts and a blue top, too big for them but cozy.

The shirt was splattered in something that looked like blood.

“Frisk what the HELL-”

“It’s not mine,” Frisk gasped, and Undyne could only assume they meant the blood. “You have to hurry, he’s hurt and-”

“W-Who’s hurt?” Alphys cut in. She had wandered in behind Undyne, her eyes widening to three times their size when she saw the thirteen-year-old beyond the doorway. “F-Frisk?! What’s-”

“Please, we need you! Hurry, please-!” 

Frisk lurched forward, grabbing Undyne’s hand and pulling. On any normal day, Undyne would have been as firm and steadfast as solid stone, but her head was reeling. She half stumbled out the door, Frisk’s words just barely registering before she shouted back to Alphys.

“Get the med kit!”

Undyne witnessed the yellow blur of Alphys racing off toward the bathroom cabinet, and then the rush of air was in her long red hair as Frisk led her down the long, dimly lit hall of the complex, fourth floor.

There were monster apartments dotted all over Ebott City, most of them closer to the mountain, but a fair number were scattered further east. Undyne’s apartment complex was in the very center, and housed many of the more...important monsters. Those involved closest to Frisk’s work as ambassador. Which, had grown to be quite a numerous crew. Frisk lived with Toriel on the top floor, safer because it was so high - even the fire escapes didn’t reach that high on the old building. Asgore shared the same floor, though Toriel had ensured he was on the furthest hall from her own apartment.

As Frisk rushed her into the elevator and slammed a hand on the third floor button, Undyne’s stomach turned cold. That was the floor Papyrus and Sans lived.

Frisk had hunched into themself, their hands clenched tight over their chest as they trembled, tears in their eyes.

The punk was a good kid, a kind soul; the kind that would cry over anyone being hurt. But the harrowed, haunted in their eyes told Undyne all. This was someone close to Frisk. Close to Undyne.

Papyrus?

Or...

“Frisk.” Undyne’s voice was hoarse, and she didn’t know why. “Frisk, who’s hurt?”

The teen shuddered, the tears falling down their cheeks. “I-It’s Sans, Undyne. He’s...Someone hurt h-him...really bad.”

“Shit. Shit shit shit!” The elevator was going way too slow. Undyne glared up at the floor indicator. It was just one floor between them! Why the hell was it taking so long! Undyne felt herself shift into full captain mode. “Who’s with him?”

“M-Mom. She’s trying to help him.”

Undyne’s eye trailed down to the blood on Frisk’s shirt. “Injuries?”

Frisk shook their head, overwhelmed.

“Shit. Okay, alright.” She remembered that she had asked Alphys to get the med kit, but hadn’t told her where to meet them. “Dammit. Frisk, listen. Once we get to the brothers’ apartment, go fetch Alphys. Got that, punk?”

Frisk nodded, sniffling.

The elevator slid to a halt, the doors opening. Undyne didn’t even wait for them to open all the way, slipping through and hitting the fourth floor button on her way out. The last glance of Frisk she got before the doors re-closed was of their pale, frightened face.

The skelebro’s apartment was only around the corner from the elevator, and Undyne took it at a speed worthy of a monster with wings. As she neared, she almost ran into a crowd of monsters huddled around the brothers’ door, onlookers silent and anxious.

“Stand back!” Undyne barked, and they all jumped out of her way. “Give us room! Go back to your apartments unless you can help!”

She shouldered her way into the living room of Sans and Papyrus’s abode...

And froze.

Toriel was kneeling just left of the brothers’ old, mottled couch, between the furiture and the small space before the wall, where the glass coffee table usually stood. Though, now it was little more than crystalline shards scattered across the carpet. The apartment was in shambles, things knocked over and papers and dishes thrown around like a tornado had come through. A distinctly copper-ish smell lingered in the air, hot and humid, like the AC had been turned off for a while now. In fact, on closer inspection, Undyne might have noticed that the machine was gone from the nearby window entirely. But as startling as all that was, it was nothing compared to the small, crumpled form Toriel was leaning over, her hands aglow with desperate attempt to heal.

Swallowing back some unfamiliar emotion, Undyne stepped forward, slowly. “...Toriel?”

The boss monster lifted her head, and there were tears streaming down her furred cheeks. Even then she didn’t stop trying to heal the bloodied, mangled body beneath her hands.

Sans had been attacked.

And while he wasn’t dust, he was the closest to it Undyne had ever seen anyone in her life.

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[deathrattlebeat]

Lying There Dying, Alone Yet Unafraid

He lay there, limp, useless, his fingers weakly scrabbling against the dusty tiles. Pseudo sunlight cascaded in through the tall arch windows, gold-orange beams casting all around, lengthening shadows. The hall smelled of sweat and dust, it choked in the very air, thick and distasteful. 

But he didn’t mind.

It would all be over soon.

The kid had already moved on, their task nearly completed, leaving him to die alone and in silence. His breaths were ragged, the frightening sounds of his bones slowly weakening...weakening...cracking...turning to dust. It was agonizing. An seemingly endless torture, too slow to be a mercy, and too fast to give him some hope to cling to. The underground was as empty as the void he would soon be joining.

But Sans was not afraid.

Beyond the pain and loneliness that overtook his soul, he reached for the familiar embrace of the already lost. Beyond that barrier between life and death stretched the arms of the brother the human had already stolen from him. Just a few more moments and they would be together again. Just a few more moments and the pain and fear would come to a close, like a noose jolting a criminal to their end. Sans knew he was far from innocent. But, at least, here he could find a respite...until the kid decided to begin again.

But until then he would accept his fate.

Until then he would bask in the relief death would bring him.

Even if he knew it wouldn’t last.