A/N: Hey guys! I'm super sorry for this! I am reuploading this fic because some of the chapters seemed rushed and there were so many errors I got aggravated and scrapped the whole thing! I'm trying out a whole new concept here so please bear with me and I hope you all enjoy it!
Chapter 1 - The Reset
Today Asgore's palace was eerily quiet, and it wouldn't usually be a bad thing except that this time the palace was quiet for a very dark reason. Sans took a deep breath and continued to wrap some torn cloth around his injured arm. How he was bleeding was a phenomenon he himself couldn't explain, but he recognized he could do it, and at the same time knew that wasn't exactly a plus in this situation. Time was never on his side. A hard lesson he learned many years ago. She would be spawning back from the save point shortly. So he didn't even have much time to really treat his wounds. All he could do was manage the severe ones and control the bleeding. He growled under his breath. This was incredibly aggravating. He had killed her about 15 times already, and yet she continued to come back to finish him off. This time around he had been careless and she had gotten way too close for comfort. Hence why he was bandaging his arm. That was the worst part of it all. Every time she came back and they fought she would nick him in a few places, or finally land a blow that severely handicapped him for a brief moment before he finally got the kill shot, and yet even with that she still had the determination to continue to keep coming back every time. At this point all he was really doing was stalling her and making himself more vulnerable every time. Without any warning a stray tear slid out of his eye socket and he quickly shook his head and wiped it away. It was too late for regrets. This was his fault after all. He hadn't paid attention to her enough before she got possessed by the evil creature known as Chara. 'Oh Frisk... What have I done?' He thought quietly. Sans sighed and faltered a bit as he tried to stand up properly and prepare for her next attack. All he could think about was how his sweet Frisk had become this. How did the Frisk he had come to know become this warped killer that destroyed his friends and his poor brother Papyrus? Again, that was his fault.
Over the years he and Frisk had become very close, but she still never was vocal about anything she felt or thought. So it came as a severe shock when he found out too late that she had been fighting against the evil human soul trapped in her body. Chara, the first human that was the bane of every monster existence in the underground. He remembered very clearly the night Alphys had texted him a warning that there was a very worrisome shift in this timeline. One that if left unchecked could be the end of this world. Sans already knew how this worked. He and Alphys had researched the other worlds and timelines that were out there. Yet no matter what they found they realized sadly that it wasn't possible for them to reach the shifts on their own. Someone else had the power. Someone they never expected to have the capability of doing it. The human Frisk.
In this timeline everything was a stalemate. Asgore was actually still waiting for Frisk to approach him at the castle to have the final showdown with her. Yet she never made a move to go up there. She claimed she was waiting till she was prepared. That was 10 years ago... She was 19 and was a grown woman now trapped down here like the rest of them. It was very peculiar behavior for sure. Wouldn't she want to leave? To go home and live her life and set them free? Sans asked himself this many times but he never got the answer he was looking for. He didn't want to. He would never tell Alphys, or anyone else his dark secret, but he had fallen for the quiet little human. He felt a strange bond begin to develop between them as she hesitated to complete her destiny, and she grew on him. Literally. He couldn't explain why he was feeling that way about her, but she had stayed by his side since he found her in the woods. She was quiet and sweet and never spoke but always smiled. The only thing about her that was strange was that she had no desire to go anywhere or do anything. She didnt want to see Asgore or talk to any other monsters besides him, and she didn't even speak, she just wrote stuff down. He was immediatley charmed by her. She was not a normal Frisk he had ever seen or known ever, and he was intrigued by that. Because he knew things that no one knew, and he knew this Frisk was fighting against a curse he longed to have broken. Being free from the strictness of a timeline. And having waited ten years Alphys had begun to suspect what was going on, and she had warned him of the consequences.
"Sans we have been through this every time. You know what happens when we don't follow the rules of the shift. Something bad happens and then we are Reset and have no recollection of what happens to us."
Sans sighed. "I know that Alphys, but im telling you if the kid doesn't want to face Asgore then nothing bad can come of it. She doesn't want to make a clear choice yet, and I don't believe in forcing her to."
Alphys growled under her breath. Sans was acting totally off from his normal self, and she knew why.
"Sans don't do this to yourself. Don't do this to us. She has to face Asgore or the timeline will try to repair itself. She has to be the one to free us, and that's what you're hindering her from doing."
Sans looked up at her. Repair itself? That was new information to him.
"Timelines repair themselves?" He questioned.
Alphys looked away nervously. "I was going to tell you... Later when this ordeal was over, but maybe if I tell you it will convince you to take better measures. When something happens in a timeline that isn't normal or not apart of the set sequence the timeline will create its own climax to finish the story out, and we can't predict what it will do."
Sans crossed his arms. "What if it's something that can be dealt with? Something we can have control over ourselves?"
Alphys shook her head. "Sans it's not possible...You know that better than anybody. None of us have the power to do it. Look I know you like her.. I know you want to protect her, and the fact that she's unnatrual and not making a normal decision means she's rebelling against this timeline and that's what you are drawn to."
Sans rubbed the back of his skull nervously. She had him pegged. This Frisk was not following any laws, or instincts of this world and it made him feel like she could be different. She could be an anomaly. Like him. The thought that she was like him made his soul pulse in his ribcage. He wouldn't be alone anymore. He wouldn't have to survive every time line while everyone else was oblivious to the changes that happened while he had to keep playing ignorant around them. It was exciting she could be apart of it. Yet he did know better than anyone that it was a curse to be like this, and if Frisk was the one who influenced the timelines then she could not be taken from them. As Alphys said it was she alone who could alter the future of any one here. She need only to make the decision and it would be done.
Before the two of them could initiate another conversation there was a loud hurried knock on the metal front door of Alphys's home. Alphys got up and motioned for Sans to follow her.
"It would appear I have a guest. I wonder who it is?" She asked curiously as she and Sans walked to the door.
Sans grinned widely. "Maybe it's Undyne coming to declare her undying love for you."
Alphys whirled around with a blush on her face. "Don't joke about things like that! It isn't funny!"
Sans chuckled. He had known about Alphys's feelings for Undyne for a long time. Every timeline he went to that never changed. She was always madly in love with her, but she could never work up the nerve to tell her that herself.
Alphys got to the door and opened it. On the other side was a breathless Black Knight who guarded the Hotlands looking at them in shock.
"Sans! Thank goodness you were here! I've come to deliver awful news to you and Alphys from Undyne!"
Alphys gasped, and Sans cringed. Please don't let it be...
"It's your brother Sans.. Undyne says.. He is dead."
Alphys covered her mouth to hide a sharp gasp as she looked over at Sans worriedly. Sure enough his magic eye glowed a flaming bright blue as his face contorted with pain and anger.
"Who did it?" He growled.
The knight shrank back in fear. "Witnesses say it was... Miss Frisk."
Alphys didn't hide her gasp this time as Sans eye dulled out to a shocking gray. The girl he fancied had killed his brother, and for no reason at that. Papyrus would never really harm anyone. He just wasn't capable of it. So the fact that she had just killed him... Sans choked down his tears as he thought about his dear little brother trying to talk sense into Frisk as she butchered him, and looked at Alphys.
"Alphys please don't tell me..."
She nodded slowly. "I think your anomaly has made her choice..." The minute the sentence left her lips he had teleported away. She shook her head sadly. If only he had listened. Now the timeline would choose the outcome for them, and all she could do was wait it out.
And there he was. The only thing standing between her and Asgore. Injured, hurt and mourning the loss of everyone he loved. His eye began glowing blue. He could hear her footsteps, and within seconds she was standing before him again. No cuts or scars to show that she had ever fought him in the first place. The 19 year old stood tall with a knife curled in her hand, grinning at him evily with her red crimson eyes staring him down. He growled under his breath again.
"I gotta say kid, I'm getting bone tired of you repeatedly coming back again and again. When does your free respawn card expire?"
She chuckled darkly. "Dear Sans, I'm surprised you can joke at a time like this. Your life is at stake after all, and I'm sure you can't keep it up for much longer."
Sans was very aware of the predicamant he was in now. This woman was no longer his Frisk. His Frisk was already gone, and was consumed by the evil soul that haunted every timeline. This was Chara. She was the true villain who was responsible for their imprisonment, for the murdering of his friends, and for taking away the Frisk he had wanted in his life. This monster had taken over Frisk's body until there no longer was a Frisk left. He remembered Alphys's last words as he saw her crying over the destroyed fragments of her creation Mettaton.
"Sans that's not Frisk anymore. That monster is Chara the first fallen human who caused all this pain for us. Frisk is gone.. You HAVE to stop her... We don't have a choice now. You have to make sure you don't let her get to Asgore."
Sans eye glowed blue as Chara started advancing closer.
"She will destory everything we have left if she gets too far. Sans... It's up to you now. You have to do it. You have to kill her.."
Sans let out an angry shout and summoned his gaster blasters. "You are going to get dunked on ya damn brat!"
Chara smiled and finally lunged for him as Sans fired his blasters. The battle had started again.
Hours. It had been hours. She had dodged every attack, every blow, and finally gotten a good shot on him. He was bleeding out. He could feel it trickling down into his bones. He was dying. Again he wondered why he even bled at all. It didn't make sense to him since he was a skeleton, but then again none of it did. The timelines, the shifts, his powers, and especially Frisk. If it could all just make sense to him he could finally find the key to breaking this horrible cycle and never have to go through this torment again... but alas it wouldn't come to that. He was lying on his back breathing heavily as the long knife wound across his ribs began oozing blood. He could hear her stepping close to him, and then she was leaning over him, her red eyes gleaming down at him giddily as his blood began to pool onto the floor. He wanted to scream curses at her, to say all kinds of awful things to her face, but doing so would be useless. He was in no condition to fight it anymore. He had lost. She giggled at him.
"Well I did try to tell you... What did you think you could do against me? I've killed all the people you love. I have all of Frisk's abilities and determination. I was unbeatable in the first place. Yet you still blindly charged in like the bad ass hero you think you are and tried to stop me. Tell me Sans, what were you hoping to gain from it all?"
Sans coughed and glared at her. "I only wanted one thing... I got sick and tired of riding around on this carousel of timelines. I got tired of the repeats. I just wanted... I just wanted to keep this one. I wanted to keep this world. I wanted to keep this Frisk. I wanted her here more than anything.." He coughed again and the tears flowed down his cheekbones. He was so pitiful right now. He knew this was so unlike him, but ever since that Frisk had shown herself to him he could feel it. She was supposed to be here with him. She was supposed to be his. He just knew.
"There I said it. Ya happy now? Why not end it? You've already taken it all away from me." He grimaced in pain. She giggled at him again.
"How cute. You were in love with her? Then why didn't you do a better job of saving her? All you had to do was tell her where to go, and what to do. You would have solved everything. You got careless Sans. You are the cause of this timelines hell this time."
He shook his head. "Yeah you're right. I did get careless this time, only because I didn't want to believe this Frisk was trapped by this world's fate, but I didn't cause this. You are and always will be the cause of everything bad that happens in these worlds... and next time I see you Chara... I will get rid of you.. permanently." he coughed again, and blood was now trickling down his jaw bone. She laughed at him holding the knife above her head.
"Get rid of me? I'm inside of Frisk you bonehead. You'll only ever be rid of me when there's a Frisk who's not weak and stupid enough to fall for my tricks, and since you won't be around to help her see that. This game is now over."
Sans closed his eyes. "Only in this timeline Chara... Only in this one.."
She growled and went to plunge the knife into his chest, and he waited for the end. He waited but... it didn't come. He opened an eye socket and gasped in shock. Frisk had one hand gripping the wrist that was holding the knife, and one of her eyes had turned to their original hazel color, the other still remained red. From the looks of it, Frisk was actually fighting for control again. She looked down at Sans sadly.
"I'm sorry." She said softly.
Sans's sockets widened. That was definitley Frisk's voice. She was fighting it! He KNEW she was different! He had always known.
"I shouldn't have waited.." She continued. "I should have done something instead of just hoping something would change on it's own. I was careless too you know... but I won't let this mistake cost me anymore than it already has. With what's left of my control I'm going to help you get out of this."
Sans shook his head. "Frisk don't! There's no guarantee that the next reset will fix any of this! It could repeat it all again!"
He didn't want her to do it. He couldn't bear to see her go. To see her get put right back into time's clutches. He wanted her to stay the way she was, and fight against it with him. He didn't want to be alone... She could go to new timelines with him. She could ride the curse out with him. It was something he truly would have given anything to have. She was his anomaly. His alone, but he was helpless this time to stop it. He hadn't been prepared. He hadn't expected her to be different. He had lost her this time..
Frisk smiled at him. "Trust me. You knew. You always knew I wasn't like the other Frisks' in the other worlds. This was all a mistake on both our parts. I will send you into a completely different timeline. You will get a new do over. So please Sans... When you meet the next Frisk, treat her well ok? Help her with whatever problem she has.. Be there for her. That's all I ask ok?" tears trickled down her face.
Sans tried to reach out for her, to comfort her, and tell her it would all be ok, but the big yellow words labeled RESET? were already in front of her, and she quickly reached out and touched it. Suddenly the world around them became twisted and warped. Everything was changing. She was altering the world using a Reset.
"Frisk no! Don't go!" Sans called out to her, but she only smiled sadly as everything around Sans turned black and the Frisk he had just seen disappeared from his vision. Sans tried to stay alert, to not give into the pull of the shift, but once everything was gone and all he saw was the blackness of it all he passed out completely.