gitdunkd (gitdunkd) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-09-28 19:32:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, hank mccoy (beast), sans |
Who: Sans and Hank
What: The Jungle Temple, or, Nickelodeon made this look a lot more fun
When: 9/28
Where: The Jungle Temple
Rating/Warnings: Low / some blood
Status: Complete when posted
Sans and Hank didn't get to hang out too often - given that he was in school and Hank was working and also the world kept trying to end, their social interactions suffered a bit. But when they could get time they hung out and it was nice. Sans loved Nico and Will but he tried to limit the science jabber around them since he was pretty sure they didn't care about it as much as he did, so it was nice to have someone to talk shop with.
Shop talked, lunch gotten, and working up an appetite for a snack or two later (there was a very tempting looking hot dog cart not too far away), they’d elected to go take some samples from around the spooky looking Temple of Doom thing. Nothing could go wrong here, right?
Of course not. This was Orange County. They probably should have known better. Granted, Sans wasn’t anticipating “getting teleported into a temple” as an option when they went to go check it out, so he felt a little vindicated there.
“I think I can get us out…” he said, examining the walls. There didn’t seem to be any kind of door or crack or anything, and it was hard to tell where in the temple they were. But no big, he was pretty sure he could shortcut them on out of there. “It’s templeting to get some readings first, though. Whaddya say?”
A delicious lunch with more to come - the promise of a hot dog cart was one Hank would fully give into, a hot dog with all the fixings, and he’d be sure to tell Sans all about the best chardogs in Chicago too - followed by some scientific observation was a dream come true for Hank. Or, actually. Given the nature of his actual dreams, that was somewhat inaccurate - but the utopia of the phrase still applied. His beastly appetite meant that shoveling food into his face at any hour of the day was more than acceptable.
And if they were going to get teleported into a temple while gathering readings and samples to analyze in the lab later, he was glad he was with someone who tended to make teleporting a thing anyway. An easy exit, or so he assumed. That was his first mistake right there.
“Well, when templetation strikes!” he responded gleefully, shouldering his bag chock-full of both instruments to gather data and medical supplies (one could never be too careful). “We may as well answer. In this case, anyway. It looks...relatively empty?”
Taking out his ultrasonic thickness gage, he flipped it on and ran it along the wall to see if he could pick up some assessments of the material they were working with. “A well-fortified structure,” he murmured. “But yes, together we go.” He wouldn’t zoom ahead and leave Sans behind. It was against scientist code.
Science bro code was an excellent code, especially in suspiciously-empty suddenly appearing probably magic temples. Sans summoned a Larry just to make himself feel better (and how weird was it that a ghostly floating skull that shot lasers out of its mouth was comforting? The OC man, it was a hell of a drug) and followed Hank down the hallway. It definitely was very...empty. And creepy, with dark tunnels branching off. But it felt like they were being watched in a way...a way that felt almost familiar, somehow. It made Sans’ skin crawl.
Down a hallway - there was a flash of color. Purple? Blue? Sans couldn’t tell. He stopped Hank with a hand on his shoulder. “Did you see that?” he asked. “Get readings down that hallway, maybe. There was...I think I saw someone.”
Hank paused, his keen vision spotting that flicker of light. It didn’t look natural; his senses were on high alert as well, those animal instincts feeling quite prickly at the moment. “I saw it,” he confirmed, just so Sans would know it wasn’t just him. He wasn’t imagining things. “Let’s see - “
It was time for the electrodiagnostic device - he could pick up on certain types of energy, and also some biofeedback if there was any of that happening. Taking a few steps forward, he went further down the hall where he’d seen the light - and in such an odd shade too. Violet? What could it be?
“It’s a type of energy I’ve never encountered before,” he observed. “The device isn’t really registering it as...anything. Do you recognize the someone?”
Another flash, and Sans was quicker this time, turning abruptly towards it. This time he caught sight of a sweater - blue and violet striped - and sallow skin, a dangerous glint of a smirk. His blood froze, as did he. He felt like he couldn’t move.
“We need…” Sans heard himself say, and his voice sounded distant. “We need to leave. Right...right now, hold on.” He tried to find a shortcut out of there, tried to get them out to the outside, but he couldn’t - whether the panic rushing through him was making his powers fizzle out or the temple just wasn’t letting him, he couldn’t. They were trapped and Frisk - the Human - was here. So he ran. He grabbed Hank and he ran.
“That’s - from my Dreams, but they’re here, they’re here - “ he panted, terror making his tongue trip in his mouth. “They killed me. They killed my brother and everyone and they’re here, Hank!”
“Stars and garters, what?!” Hank was a bit flabbergasted - alright, more than a bit - but he would certainly take heed and not stick around to deal with whatever this happened to be. Admittedly, he was curious. Though how that something from Sans’ dreams got into the temple was anyone’s guess.
He followed, shoving the electrodiagnostic device back into his bag - he wouldn’t need it right now, not when they were frantically running for the exit. Wherever that happened to be. Hank reached out to touch the wall, staying to the right, but everything just looked the same and it seemed like they kept getting turned around rather than making any progress.
“It’s - there it is again!” he pointed, skidding to a stop once he encountered a dead end and he had a clearer view of what looked like a small boy. Wearing a striped sweater. Not a skeleton, or any other type of creature, just...human.
Yes, just a human - a kid, really, short and slight, with shaggy hair. They might have even looked normal, just another kid, nothing wrong, if not for the knife clenched in their hand and the glowing red of their eyes.
They didn’t say anything; they hadn’t in the dreams, either, at any point. They just stared, and a grin slowly spread across their face. It looked unnatural, terrifying. They started to advance, twirling the knife almost idly, posture all confidence and swagger. That was different. In the dreams they’d always seemed defeated, particularly after their death count climbed up into the double digits. How many times had Sans killed them? He’d lost count.
But I beat you in the end, their movements seemed to say. I beat you, just like I beat all the rest of them. And there’s nothing you can do.
“Hank,” Sans said, not taking his eyes off the Human. “Run. I’ll hold them off as long as I can but you have to find a way out of here.”
That small person looked like a vision straight out of a horror film - Hank couldn’t blame Sans for being terrified, because there was just something creepy about a possessed child. Or whatever the situation with this one happened to be.
Still, Hank knew one thing. “I’m not leaving you,” he insisted, shocked by the thought - it was a heroic thing to think, that Sans would stay behind and battle the monster, but Hank certainly wasn’t going to let him do it alone. That wasn’t who he was.
He also wasn’t human, at least not at the moment - because those fight or flight instincts kicked in, skyrocketing, and it was obvious he was going to go for ‘fight.’ It became apparent when he dropped his bag of supplies, clothes straining at the seams as flesh-colored changed into blue - and fur, fangs, claws extending from his large hands.
“We’ll hold it off.”
Well, on the one hand, a giant furry blue man could probably hold off a human, but on the other hand, this was the Human. They’d defeated Undyne, champion of the Underground. Hell, they’d eventually defeated Sans, the last line of defense, ultimate judge and jury. They were relentless and merciless and would keep coming. Sans knew how they worked, he could hold them off long enough for Hank to figure out how to get out of here and get help. He wasn’t quite sure who would be able to help them get rid of the Human, but there were probably much better fighters.
“Hank,” Sans said, stepping in front of his now furry friend. “You don’t understand, you gotta listen. Get out of here, get help. I’m not strong enough to beat them but I’m not sure that we’d be able to together, either. But they get out and this isn’t gonna end well for anyone. They could wreck this place like they wrecked the Underground. Get. Help.”
Throughout his entire speech, the Human looked incredibly bored, flipping the knife and shifting restlessly from foot to foot. Probably the best thing about his Dreams was that everyone had to wait their turn in fights, which meant that he was allowed to talk as much as he wanted.
The bad news was that now, it was the Human’s turn. And they weren’t going to chit chat. They moved, knife drawn and ready to strike, and Sans only barely managed to grab Hank and dodge out of the way. “Go!” he shouted at Hank, voice desperate and a little panicked.
“I’m not going,” Hank insisted, and besides, where would he even run to? Who would he find? Would this temple even let him out in the first place? The odds did not seem likely, and he didn’t even have to do the calculations in his head to come up with a probability conclusion. “It’s not going to let me leave, Sans, not until we face it! I’d just be running in circles!” Yes, he would be, running in circles and leaving a friend all by himself - Hank didn’t see any point in that.
The words came out in a growl, a snarl, and his instincts had him dodging as well - but using the wall to bounce off of and leap, because if he could tackle this whatever it was, you could bet he was going to try. Even if he ended up with a knife blade slashing at him.
A knife blade wielded by a possessed psychopathic kidlet. Ooooohkay. Take your turn then, child, big blue beast mutant would see what you got.
‘What they got’ was a lot of Determination. A terrifying amount of it. Plus, power to alter timelines. And a knife. Thankfully their turn was over so now Sans and Hank could take care of them. Maybe they’d be able to knock them out in one go. It might give them time to get out of here before the Human could reset. Sans just hoped that they were confined to the temple somehow, trapped in here just like Sans and Hank were.
Sans set up an attack, bones flying at the Human, Larrys popping in and out of existence to fire off some lasers, all while Sans kept them held down with blue magic so they couldn’t dodge well enough. Sure enough, they looked haggard and damaged, but they were still standing, and Sans was already getting tired just from that.
Hank realized he had never actually seen Sans with the bones before, like that, had never seen him try to hurt anyone or anything - he was about as passive as they came, but had some fight in him when required. Hank understood that well. Because he was going to fight too, he would fight for them.
Though when he did go for a hit, one that was meant to launch the small creature like it was a football using super strength - it was still there. How, why? “What even is it?” Hank spluttered.
The child was indeed still standing, and now it had to take its turn. Sans looked tired from exerting the energy to launch a counter-attack - and now Hank was worried that he would fall, that he would be too fatigued to go on.
Sans was indeed the passive sort, decidedly uninterested in fighting, and it showed. “They’re a human,” Sans answered, voice tired. “The worst monster of all.”
Normally he’d laugh at the cheese of a pronouncement like that, but in the moment, it was true. Humans, and this human in particular, were filled with Determination. They knew how to survive, and could withstand things that would knock out the average monster. So, broken and bloodied but still standing, the human made their attack. The knife arced through the air, almost in slow motion, and it was like his Dreams all over again. The knife slashed across Sans’ chest, the Human’s glowing red eyes gleeful as they happily cut him down. Blood welled up and Sans put his hands over the cut, almost in shock.
And just like that, the Human was gone. Sans stared down at his bloody hands for a moment.
“I, uh,” he said, turning to Hank with glassy eyes. “I don’t think I won that one.”
Oh, stars and garters. “Sans,” he sounded surprised, also shocked at what had just happened - Hank could hardly believe it. But he reacted quickly, moving to grab the bag of his medical supplies that he’d dropped while those words rang in his head. They’re human. The worst monster of all.
It was true. In Hank’s own dreams, it was also true - humans hurt mutants just because they were different, humans even hurt each other. They hurt the planet they lived on and they weren’t going to stop. They would destroy each other, and take everything else down with them. A depressing view to take, but Hank didn’t have it in him to recognize the good in humanity right now.
“Come on, let’s - I’ll help fix that.” Hank opened the bag and retrieved a towel, something to use to stop the bleeding before he put a disinfectant on.
Sans wasn’t sure what the extent of the injury was but he was pretty sure it wasn’t good. He took the towel and pressed it against the wound, feeling numb; there was no pain, there was just fear and terror and confusion.
The walls of the temple flickered around them and then disappeared, and Sans blinked up at the sky. It had gotten dark while they were in the temple, it seemed.
“Are we actually outside or am I hallucinating? ‘Cause I don’t wanna think that I’ve lost that much blood.”
“We’re outside,” Hank confirmed, and he was glad that the temple - whatever forces were at play - actually deposited them on a grassy area outside and not in a volcano or something. He felt a bit dizzy from the experience and would have to use one of the serum injections he brought with him (he also carried them, just in case) to allow him to be able to walk about freely, not looking like Beast. “Try not to move too much. I’ll patch you up.”
He worked quickly, staunching the flow of blood and adding the isopropyl alcohol - which probably hurt a little, but that was a good thing, those germs needed to be massacred. “Well, that was not how I was expecting things to go - but ‘expect the unexpected’ seems to be the mantra to live by in Orange County.”
Sans didn’t much notice the sting, too numb to really feel anything but terror and shame. He shouldn’t have panicked like that. He could have put Hank in danger, could have put the entire of Orange County in danger if the Human hadn’t been some...what, figment of temple-imagination? God he hoped that’s what it was, and that they weren’t actually here…
“You ever see them again,” he said, reaching down to still Hank’s hands, “promise me you’re gonna run. Get help, go back and fight them, but if you’re on your own then you run. You can’t...they can’t be stopped by just one person. I’m not sure they can be stopped at all. But don’t try by yourself. Okay?”
Hank nodded, giving Sans’ hand a pat - with his own rather large hand, claws retracted for now. “Yes, I promise,” he assured. He didn’t blame Sans for being scared, didn’t blame him if that was his biggest fear - it was some kind of test (clearly, given the booming proclamation that he hadn’t passed) that the temple administered, so hopefully it wouldn’t be the case where Hank would be running into small, child-like humans wielding knives and wearing striped sweaters anytime soon.
“Why is he so angry at you?” Hank couldn’t help but ask. “But then again, humans...are complicated.” The gauze now applied, and the bandage over the wound, he proclaimed Sans fixed up. At least on the outside. “Do you think you can walk?”
Humans indeed were complicated, but Sans got the feeling that the Human wasn’t quite as complex as the rest of them; they just wanted to destroy. He wasn’t sure why they were that way when Frisk was...good. “I don’t know,” he said. “Probably ‘cause I dunked on them like twenty times. They didn’t like that they had to work to kill me.” He chuckled, and then winced; the cuts weren’t life-threateningly deep but they were definitely there and painful. “Lemme lean on you? If I can find us a shortcut home then it won’t be so bad.”
He wouldn’t worry about his appearance now - stars and unholy garters, the OC was going completely crazy. It was crawling with mercenaries sporting that Charon Industries logo, so Hank felt fine with just focusing on getting Sans someplace safe.
“Of course, lean away,” he tried to sound somewhat upbeat - they were both okay, that was what mattered. He helped Sans to his feet and slid an arm across his shoulders, to let his friend use his side as a crutch if need be. “A shortcut will be helpful, but don’t overextend yourself.” They both could use a break after all that brouhaha. And if they had to Uber, of all things, then so be it.
Sans somehow doubted that an Uber driver, even an Uber driver in California and especially one in the OC, would let a bleeding guy and his blue, hairy friend into their backseat. He laughed and pressed a hand to his chest to try and stave off the pain. “I’m not so lazy that I can’t manage to open a door, dude. It’ll only take half a sec.” And indeed, with a little bit of searching, he found a shortcut not too far away for them to head through, back to his apartment. Thankfully Will and Nico seemed to both be out so the awkward questions could be held off for the moment at least. He collapsed onto the couch with a groan, but turned to give Hank a weak approximtion of a grin. “Well. That sucked. Thanks for your help, Blue-Man Group.”
Hank was fussing, of course, a mother hen type. He got Sans settled on the sofa and found a blanket for him and also a pillow - it was important that he was comfortable! “Well, I don’t know if I helped much, but you’re welcome either way,” he flashed those sharp canines in a relieved smile.
“Just rest here, I’ll make sure you don’t start bleeding again.” It was the least he could do - and besides, he didn’t have any other plans besides sticking around to provide patient care. Even if he couldn’t defeat a small child in a striped sweater, he could at least do that.