It's a Beautiful Day Outside, an undertale fanfic

A/N: My first attempt at an Undertale fanfic. I've never played a genocide run of this game myself, but I watched a couple playthroughs after I finished my true pacifist run. The ending boss fight gives me a lot of feelings and I was inspired to try to translate that into a fic, so… here it is! For most of this I'm not really trying to take the dialogue word-for-word from the game, because I felt like that would be kind of boring to write and to read. I'm mostly just trying to get across the spirit of everything, while hopefully staying in character. :)

Inspired a bit by the Sans parody of Stronger than You because that is really awesome.

LV 19.

Tip, tap

The sound of light footsteps on the tiled floor echoed through the pillars lining the hall and caused him to raise his head slightly, his glowing white pupils flickering in their sockets. Bright golden light glared in through the wide, arched windows from some source outside, making it difficult to see the approaching figure well. It wasn't until they stood almost directly in front of him that he was able to make out anything other than a shadowy silhouette.

Not that he needed to. He knew exactly who it was.

Childish striped shirt, squinty eyes, messy brown hair, a short stature measuring no taller than himself. Just a kid. Just an empty kid. They didn't look like much now. They hadn't back then, either, when he'd first laid his eye sockets on them in the woods outside of Snowdin—what felt like several lifetimes ago.

Maybe it had been several lifetimes ago.

"Heya," he said. His arms were crossed over each other but otherwise he stood in more or less a relaxed stance. "I see you've been busy."

They didn't quite meet his eyes—not in an ashamed or guilty way, though. They'd heard his spiel before. They stared straight ahead, silent, looking right through him as if he wasn't even there. Of course, he wasn't the end goal. He was just a stone in their path, destined to be swept aside just like all the others.

Just like Undyne. Like the old lady behind the door. Like everyone else…

Neither of them moved for a moment. When the human's gaze finally did latch onto his own, he saw nothing behind those eyes. Their face was empty of everything but a quiet loathing, directed at him.

"Whoa, hey." He slipped out of his nonchalant posture and stood up just a fraction straighter. The corners of his mouth tugged upward slightly. "Something's got you worked up a bit. What, did I getcha?"

No response. Well, no response other than a noticeable tightening of the wickedly-sharp knife that they clutched in their hand.

"Heh. Yeah." He closed his eyes for a moment and rocked on his heels. "Thought so. And you came back for more. You really want to see how long we can drag this thing out for, don't you? Fine, buddy." His pupils flickered again when he opened his eyes and stood still. The tips of his fingers buzzed with magical energy as he prepared the first of his attacks. "Why not? After all, it's a beautiful day outside…"

He started with the blue attack. The fallen human slammed to the floor, where he raised a row of ethereal bones that they only narrowly avoided by jumping in the air. The wave pattern of bones that he sent next they managed to skirt through too, as if they'd seen it before, only nicking themselves a bit.

But the gaster blasters he summoned got them. Huge, ghostly, dog-like skulls that spat powerful lasers and obeyed his every command. The human avoided their attacks for the most part, but then got caught in a crossfire and was blasted square in the chest.

Panting only slightly, he watched them crumple to the floor.

He almost took a step forward and had to remind himself that this wasn't the first time.

His old friend, if he'd ever had one, wasn't here anymore. And because of them, neither was his brother.

He'd always wondered why people never used their strongest attack first—

Tip, tap

He glanced up. Someone was approaching, and it wasn't difficult to figure out who.

"Heya," he greeted when they stopped just a few feet in front of him.

They glared straight into his eyes. Gosh, their face. They were livid.

"Glad to see you're enjoying this as much as I probably am," he said. "How many times has it been now? Three? Four? You keeping count? You'll be quizzed on it later."

They didn't laugh, and they didn't seem to want to talk. Fair enough—frankly, he didn't either. "Ready? There's no better time for it. It's a beautiful day outside. Listen, you can hear birds singing."

His first attack. They dodged quickly—jumping up, slipping through waves of bones, ducking to the middle, the left, rolling on the ground to avoid a gaster blaster's beam, all as though they knew exactly when and where an attack would happen, and then rose to meet him again with barely a scratch.

He gritted his teeth. Of course they were a fast learner.

When his turn ended, they were quick to try their own attack, which he evaded with a hasty step to the side. They had no magic of their own, just a knife, which didn't offer much range. What, did they think he was just going to stand there and take it?

And then it was his turn again.

He was the last thing standing between this human and the end of the world, and this time… this time he couldn't afford to take the easy road out. He'd do it for all of them: for the woman behind the door, who hadn't made a sound since the kid had stepped out of the ruins; for Undyne, the only one he'd ever known to survive the attack of a human, if only for a little while; for Shyren, who'd just wanted to sing; for Papyrus, who… for Papyrus.

Here we go.

The human was swept up in his blue attack again and stumbled over the tiny bones that streamed across the floor in rows. One after another the attacks hit their mark despite the human's doing its best to avoid them, but the damage was still minimal. He'd known already, of course, but with a horrifying wrench it hit home exactly how much HP this person had. Their towering EXP. Their… LV. How much pain they had caused to achieve that, and how much more they would cause if they made it past him.

But it only took a few more attacks and they were down on the ground, an empty shell of an empty person lying sprawled on the ground, the knife falling from their lifeless fingers.

Sans: 4, Chara: 0

If they weren't keeping track, he certainly was—

Tip, tap

"Heya," he said, casting his pupils up and giving a slight nod.

The figure stopped a few feet away. Something silver glittered in their right hand.

His gaze lingered on them for a moment, then he glanced away. "It's a beautiful day outside, isn't it? Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. Heh, funny that you'd rather spend time messing around in here…" His eye sockets faded to a deep, dark black. "With me."

They took everything he threw at them without batting an eyelash. When he offered mercy, they denied it, and seemed hardly affected when he started teleporting them into various traps around the arena. With every attack they avoided, he could feel a flurry of panic where his heart should be, his skull feeling hot and slick with sweat and the frail bones in his arms and legs starting to shake with exhaustion.

How long had it been? How many of his attacks had this kid seen? He'd stopped counting resets somewhere around eleven, focusing his concentration on his magic instead.

How many times had he watched this kid die? Seen the small, heart-shaped soul, still pulsing a bright red as if still full of life, rise from the tiny body and hang in the air before shattering?

Oh. Well, now it was one more…

Tip, tap

He started to say something, but as the human approached him the look on their face dissuaded any attempts at conversation.

Instead, he shrugged. They'd been at this far, far longer than he had, anyway. Might as well give them a break from his great speeches.

"Let's just get to the point."

They weren't going to quit.

He could see it in their face, their movements, everything. Every death, every reset, only made them more determined to see this through to the end, no matter the consequences.

Didn't they realize there was nothing at the end of all this? Didn't they realize that continuing on would lead to nothing but the absolute destruction of this world, and endless poisoned timelines?

Maybe. But he had a funny feeling that even if they did, they didn't care.

Now here was something new. Maybe they were getting tired of this after all.

When he closed his eyes and meekly offered up the possibility of mercy, they hesitated only for a second before taking it. Surprise rendered him silent for a moment. He opened his eyes again, staring at the human, and was met with a sight that sickened him to his very core.

They were trying to smile at him.

He feigned the act of swallowing hard, for all the good that did him, before speaking again. "You're sparing me?"

They nodded, holding out their hands in a welcoming gesture.

"Finally." He took a deep breath. It was an effort to choke out his next words. Good thing he was a skilled liar. "Buddy. Pal. I know how hard it was to make that choice. To go back on everything you've worked for. Don't worry, I won't let it go to waste."

They were chuckling softly to themselves, relieved to have found a way out. He couldn't bring himself to feel any sympathy for them. They had made their choice long ago.

"C'mere, pal," he said, extending an arm toward the human for the second time since he'd met them. They walked right into the embrace and hugged him tightly as if to thank him for letting them go.

Heh, letting them go. Papyrus would have done just that in a heartbeat (or whatever the skeleton equivalent was).

Funnily enough, Papyrus wasn't exactly around at the moment to express his opinions on the matter. And technically the human's turn was over.

Ethereal bones jutted out diagonally from the floor on all three sides of the human, spiking into them and draining their HP in less than a second. Their arms slid out of his grasp. They slumped forward, unable to make a sound—their eyes went wide for the first time, the pupils pointed directly at his face but unfocused and unseeing, and he watched as the light left them and the child went limp.

No dodging this time. No escape. That hadn't been an act of mercy on their part, just giving into frustration. And if it had been mercy… well. He didn't have time for that. Not when they could have spared the others too.

"Get dunked on," he said, his voice low, and turned away. "If you're really my friend, you won't come back."

He stumbled toward the other end of the hall, forcing himself to keep his back to the small body and trying not to look down at the dark red stain on the front of his hoody.

His hands were shaking.

Tiptaptiptaptiptap

A figure materialized from the brightness and ran at him from down the hall, slinging a knife at his face without giving him the chance to say a word. He ducked and sidestepped the attack easily.

"Aw gee. You fell for it, didn't you?" he asked, though it wasn't really a question since he already knew the answer. "I guess I was pretty convincing. Any chance of you wanting to take up the offer again? It's always available."

The expression they were wearing was answer enough.

"If that's what you want." He shrugged. His left eye flickered blue for a moment. "I guess you just like doing things the hard way."

Bones. Platforms. Blue attacks. Gaster blasters.

This kid had tenacity, he'd give them that. It was almost enviable in a way.

Determination was a powerful thing. Maybe in another time, they could have used the trait for something better than this.

As he looked at them, though, he found he couldn't see what that something might be. His imagination didn't stretch that far.

He doubted that even they had any idea exactly how long this had been going on at this point.

He was running out of attacks.

What could they possibly think was worth all this?

They were lasting too long. Whatever round this was, his energy was all but gone, and he was low on reserves of magic. His limbs trembled with the exertion of keeping this up.

What had Papyrus always said to him about keeping in shape? Right…

He clung to the hope that he could at least delay the human just a bit longer with a special attack. Which would have been a great hope, except for the fact that he had no special attack.

They were too far. They knew too much, they had too many healing items, and they had reached almost the very end of the last of his attacks.

One hit was all it would take to bring him down. One lousy hit.

Unless he came up with a special attack, next reset it would all be over.

Okay, next reset it would all be over.

Maybe his final attacks were stronger than he thought.

It vaguely occurred to him that he might have been trying to think of a special attack to use if it ever came down to it. Hmm… well, cheating counted, right? It had brought him this far. No one had ever said he had to play by the rules. All he had to do was stall until the kid finally, finally gave up the attack.

Besides, even if there was someone out there who might try to enforce battle rules, this human would have made sure that they weren't around any longer. He figured he could do pretty much whatever he liked until his time officially ran out. Which, going by the way this fight was turning out, may not be long.

. . .

It was coming.

In the end, he almost had it.

But when all was said and done they straight-up out-cheated him. He just wasn't fast enough this time, and that knife was sharp.

And oh gosh, did it hurt.

Oh gosh.

It hurt.

For a brief moment, he felt them all with him, countless other monsters gathered around him with their souls broken and their bodies scattered to the winds, silently crying out from the same pain inflicted by the same person. It sent waves of agony through his entire body and his head spun. He had never fully realized what this would be like before.

Was this what everyone else had felt? Undyne, taking the blow meant for a child trying to defend their friends and family, and somehow finding the strength to continue fighting despite it? The woman behind the door, who must have unknowingly invited this creature right into her home, and to whom he'd been forced to break his promise? The hapless monsters that had dared to get in the human's way?

Papyrus, Papyrus, who had never harmed anyone, who had offered nothing but mercy, nothing but support, right up to the very end…?

He clutched at the front of his shirt and jacket where his gut should be, feeling only the fabric that had once been soft but was now warm and sticky. When he brought his hands away, the stark white bones were stained a deep red.

Heh. He hadn't even known he could bleed. If that was really blood. His brother would just say he made too much of a habit of drinking ketchup straight from the bottle.

The human was still in front of him, crouched on the ground, for all he knew as exhausted as he was. It was difficult to read their expression this time, maybe because the world was swimming. He blinked, rubbing at his eye sockets with his non-bloody hand, trying to chase away the darkness creeping in from the edges of his vision.

"…So…" he said, his voice gaining a raspy edge. "….Guess that's it, huh?"

The human just looked at him. Their face held no emotion. After all this, they didn't seem to feel one way or another about their victory.

He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Just… don't say I didn't warn you."

Getting to his feet was harder than he remembered. He bent over slightly, concentrating on his feet planted firmly on the ground; on the fabric clutched in his hand; on the outside light shining painfully into his eye sockets; on anything but the overwhelming feeling that he was falling apart at the very seams. "I think, uh, I think all that still pretty much went in my favor, though."

Sans: 98

Chara: 1

He coughed. Something sticky gathered up in the corner of his mouth and rolled down his chin.

"Welp," he said, and shrugged, "I'm going to Grillby's."

Yeah, that was enough for today. Half-blind, he turned away from the human and limped around them. He'd never realized how much concentration it took just to put one foot in front of the other. His frail body felt heavy—far, far too heavy, his bones suddenly weighing a thousand times more than they used to and dragging him to the ground.

This was exactly why he never put forth effort. He couldn't even gather enough strength to take a short cut. And, given the fact that he was suddenly back on the floor—kneeling with his knees splayed and his hands pressed flat against the cool tiles in an attempt to keep himself from falling down flat on his face—it looked like walking was out, too. Maybe he'd just rest for a minute.

Heh, he should have napped here more often. This floor was way more comfortable than their couch at home.

Tip, tap

The sound of footsteps approaching again made him cringe. But… as they got closer, he realized they didn't sound quite like the human's.

Clump, clomp, clump

The steps were heavier, with more time in between them as if the person had long legs. He couldn't see anyone at first, but when he blinked slowly and opened his eyes again, a tall figure was standing in front of him.

Sans smiled genuinely for the first time in a long while. "Papyrus, do you want anything?" he asked, his voice scarcely louder than the creak of his jawbone. Maybe he'd see about ordering a spaghetti burger. Grillby could whip something up.

His brother didn't answer, but knelt down and extended a gloved hand. Sans reached to take it.

Heh heh, he wasn't gonna make it to Grillby's.

"C'mon, bro," he said. "We're gonna go get spaghetti burgers, you and me."

There was a gentle whooshing sound, and the world quietly faded away.

LV 20.