Inspired by both the video Kagerou Days by JubyPhonic, as well as the Undertale version by Sansloid. Both can be found on Youtube at the following links:
watch?v=MU-rdG-M5Ho – original version
watch?v=aazocVw3fh4 – Undertale version
The ending was inspired by a comment in the Sansloid video. Thanks for that, dude…
Undertale: Repeat
Chapter 1: Beginning
Dust… So much dust…
Papyrus…
Why?
Why couldn't I—
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
Sans jolted, sockets snapping open in shock. The dream was cast into oblivion as the beeping of his cell phone alarm dragged him to wakefulness.
The skeleton groaned, arm over his skull, trying to ignore the sound.
…Nope, there was no ignoring it…
Sans rose and grabbed the phone, shutting off the alarm. It was 12:30, past noon. Not his greatest sleep record ever but hey, it was pretty good.
"SANS! GET UP! YOU HAVE SENTRY DUTY TODAY!"
And there was Papyrus, shouting up a storm again. Sans eyed the trash tornado in his room with humor. Storms. Heh.
"SANS!"
"i'm coming, bro," Sans called, rolling out of bed to pull on his coat and slippers.
"THEN COME FASTER!"
…There were so many awful things he could joke about with that, but they'd all go over Papyrus' skull.
Sans filed those away and left his room to join his taller sibling downstairs. Papyrus, decked out in his battle body and scarf, was ready for his daily patrol. Funny how that uniform was originally just a costume. It fit, though. Papyrus wouldn't look like himself if he wasn't wearing it.
"okay, i'm up, bro," Sans said, yawning for effect.
"GOOD! WE HAVE PATROLLING AND HUMAN SEARCHING AND ROYAL GUARDING TO DO! AND I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL NOT BE MADE LATE BECAUSE YOU WANTED TO SLEEP IN!"
Sans snickered at Papyrus, strutting about and posing. The daily routine for "the great Papyrus". His bro was funny, amusing as hell, even if Papyrus hated it. The other wanted to be taken seriously so badly.
They left the house and trudged across Snowdin and the surrounding forest, the newly-fallen snow leaving clear footprints behind them as they walked. The breeze was chilly—how was there even a breeze underground?—but Sans didn't mind it. It went right through him, after all.
…Heh. Get it? 'Cause he was a skeleton.
"HUMAN! YOU ARE UP BRIGHT AND EARLY! JUST WHAT I EXPECT!"
Sans snapped back to awareness. Oh yeah, there was a human here.
No, the human. The one from yesterday, that ignored or went around all of Papyrus' puzzles. A little kid with brown hair and a blue and pink striped shirt.
The one with murder in its eyes. The one that sent shivers through Sans' bones. The one that looked too familiar for words but Sans couldn't put his phalange on why.
Sans slipped behind his sentry station, leaning on the counter to stare at the dark sky…ceiling. Kinda hard to see the ceiling during the day. Was it really day?
Underground physics were strange.
"OKAY, HUMAN! YOU'D BEST HIDE! I'LL TALK TO YOU LATER!"
The human gave no wave, no kind of goodbye at all, as it headed toward Snowdin. Papyrus smiled widely, laughing. Sans couldn't help but tiredly smile too. If his bro was happy, so was he.
Even if the reason was rather creepy. Sans certainly noticed the lack of life in the forest on their way over. It put him on edge. It was like in his dreams. Everyone always said humans were dangerous but…it was so tiny, just a child.
"BROTHER!"
"huh?" Sans snapped to attention instantly. "yeah, bro?"
"I'VE DECIDED TO MAKE FRIENDS WITH THE HUMAN!"
"you have? why, bro?"
"BECAUSE…THE HUMAN LOOKS SO LONELY. IT WON'T DO PUZZLES OR SMILE AT ME. SO I'VE DECIDED! IF I SHOW IT KINDNESS RATHER THAN VIOLENCE, AS I MUST IF WE FOUGHT, PERHAPS WE CAN BE FRIENDS! AFTER ALL, I THINK EVERYONE DESERVES A FRIEND. PERHAPS THEN THE HUMAN WILL BE MORE FRIENDLY TOWARD US."
Sans smiled. "that's a great plan, bro. never would've thought of it myself."
If anyone could get that human to stop being so cold, it was his bro. Papyrus could make friends with anyone, even Undyne. Sans couldn't help but be proud of his little bro for his persistence.
"THEN MAYBE YOU SHOULD DO MORE THINKING, BROTHER."
"hey, I put a skele-ton of time into thinking."
"SANS!"
Sans just grinned. He knew Papyrus was smiling. Papyrus always smiled at his jokes and puns. Always.
"I'VE HAD ENOUGH! I'M GOING TO BEFRIEND THE HUMAN!"
"good luck, bro."
Papyrus turned, racing away across the snow with a loud cackle of "NEY HEH HEH!" trailing after him.
Sans smiled, resting his skull on the counter of his station. Maybe he could catch some sleep now while his bro was away.
Papyrus was persistent. He could definitely get the kid to change, no doubts. There was nobody in the whole Underground that was immune to Papyrus' friendly demeanor. There would be nothing to worry about.
…
Right?
…
Wouldn't hurt to go watch. Just in case.
Besides, what if Undyne turned up? Didn't want a bloodbath happening with his bro so close.
Sans sat up, stretching his bones, before taking a shortcut. Turning the corner near Grillby's, he took a second shortcut and ended up just outside of Snowdin. He scanned the snow as he crunched along. They couldn't be too far away.
Oh, there they were!
Papyrus was standing in the open, arms outstretched, exclaiming about friendship. Typical Papyrus. Sans smiled. Why had he been so…wor…ried…?
…
Why did the human have a knife?
…
Did the kid have a knife earlier? Sans didn't see it before. Had it just picked it up? From where? Nobody the short skeleton knew just left knives lying around.
The kid was smiling, but it wasn't friendly. Papyrus stepped closer, looking nervous but determined. He would win over this human. He had to!
"pap!" Sans cried, dashing toward them.
The human slashed their knife, cut through Papyrus' armor. A second slash disconnected the taller skeleton's head, sending it crashing in the snow.
"PAP!" Sans howled, his voice—along with his hope—lost in a sudden roar of wind.
Papyrus turned to dust, leaving his red scarf and a pile of fine dust behind. The dust scattered in the wind. Sans stumbled forward, sockets dark except for tiny pinpricks of light. He crashed to his knees by the tattered scarf.
"papyrus."
Words—promises, compliments, encouragements—flooded his head. They all came crashing down on him as he stared at the remains of his sibling. Just like in his dreams.
…But they weren't dreams…were they?
"don't worry, bro. you'll be fine, nobody will hurt you."
"you can befriend anyone. who wouldn't want a cool friend like you, bro?"
"that's a great plan, bro. never would've thought of it myself."
"there's nothing a super cool guy like yourself can't do, bro."
A giggle reached his ears. The child stood there, dust-coated knife in hand. Their smile was twisted, eyes the color of blood.
"In this cruel world, there are only two choices—kill or be killed."
Snow was falling again, covering the scene up. Like nothing had happened. As if Papyrus hadn't just died.
That isn't fair! You can't just forget him like this! Sans wanted to scream those words to the sky.
The child was laughing. Sans glared, left eye turning blue. Magic licked at his soul, screaming for release.
That's when the next RESET happened.
Sans wasn't sure whether to call it a miracle or a curse, considering what was to come.
