Content Warnings: There is adult language, minor depictions of blood, alcohol use, and sight allusions to self destructive behavior of more than one kind ahead. Nothing really bad, but still present. I'd give this a 14+ rating. You've been warned.
Golden light filled the hall where Sans stood. 52. This was the 52nd consecutive battle with the human. It approached him with those same soulless, red eyes. The heart locket on its chest swung with each step against its tattered, bloody sweat shirt. Its knife, bloody and dusty, monsters didn't bleed where did that blood come from, sat clutched in its hand. And its smile, its awful smile that stretched across its sadistic face, glowed up at Sans. Its body was covered in dust that followed the thing in a trail like it was some antique, untended, doll that had crawled off a shelf with a vengeance.
"Let's just get to the point." Sans smirked, the battle began, his eye burned blue, the dusty scarf around his neck felt heavy. The things SOUL floated from its body and then...the golden hall was gone. He was gone. For a fraction there was only void, and silence, the birds stopped their mournful songs. There was nothing. Had he died? Just like that?
And then, there was light. The light was blinding, unknown, terrifying. Under his slippers, which were now...cold and wet? Was grass. Green grass that swayed in the wind and glistened with dew. The air was clean, and it moved and flowed in a breeze that smelled of pine trees and blackberries and freshly fallen rain. And that light, that blinding glowing light...he looked up, shielding his eye sockets. Was that...the sun?
"Sans?" The scarred voice piped up. The skeleton, bewildered, starred in front of him. It was the creature, the non-human. It had a frisbee in it's hand, its hair was wind blown, its cheeks were flushed from the crisp morning cool. "Are...you..o-kay?" The child said the words slowly, like they were struggling with them. "Is that.." the frowned and sighed and began making motions with its hands, sign language. Sans only caught a couple of the words, "Dust...you...okay?" It asked.
Sans recovered from his frozen shock and called upon his full magic.
The thing screamed as a blaster appeared.
Sans was about to blast the demon when, "down boy!" The voice rang from behind him, the voice of...himself.
Confused, the blaster, like a puppy, backed away and whimpered, passing a glance between the speaker and Sans.
Sans turned to the speaker, and his mind whirled. It was another version of him.
"frisk," The other Sans said steadily, keeping eye contact with his double, "i think we have another jumper. get inside, now. find...your friend and take them with you. understood?"
The thing nodded and ran off, towards a house in the distance. Sans followed it with his eyes, glaring.
The other Sans put a hand on his double's shoulder, "welcome to the pacifist timeline, and the surface. you look like you could use a drink." From his jacket pocket he grabbed a flask, along with little poucheis of ketchup, "choose your poison."
Sans grabbed the flask and began drinking. His shining blue eye dimmed to a light glow, the blaster disappeared. The other Sans sighed and opened a ketchup packet. He sat on the dewed grass and patted the spot next to him. "you can relax." He said, "this frisk isn't a threat to anyone but themself. promise."
Sans collapsed on the grass, not sure if he was angry, or scared, or vengeful. He couldn't tell. He felt mostly numb.
"frisk?" He demanded, anger and pain in his voice.
"that's their name." The other Sans informed. "they're not a bad kid."
"then why did they kill everyone?" Sans spat.
"they didn't, not in this timeline."
"what about the timeline where they did?" Sans practically yelled, clutching at the scarf of his dead brother. He took an angry sip from the flask.
"what about the timeline where hitler cured cancer?" The other Sans chuckled, quoting a TV show he had taken a liking to, "the answer is don't think about it."
Sans, who had lived in the Underground all his life and wasn't familiar with Hitler, or the referenced TV show, didn't respond.
The two sat there. In silence except for the sound of the wind, and the birds, and a passing airplane overhead. It was the other Sans who broke the quiet.
"you can stay here as long as you like. usually, when people fall through a crack in time, and it happens a lot with frisk around, they're returned pretty quickly, the universe doesn't like to be out of order. but you seem to have the determination needed to control where you land a little, if you put your mind to it."
Sans flinched at that, rubbing at his arms which ached still from his recent injections. DETERMINATION was a hell of a drug. He was trying to process what his double was telling him.
"so...your frisk has never killed anyone…"
"oh no, don't get me wrong, they had their timelines of destruction. but trust me, there's a reason for it. the kid has been through a lot. i can guarantee to you that they've served their time for anything wrong they did." The other Sans said, emptying a ketchup packet into his mouth.
"and you're defending them?" Sans spat, accusatory.
The other Sans shrugged, "if you're gonna play judge, then someone needs to play lawyer. I wager i'm older than you, know more, can make a good case, so it may as well be my job."
Sans took another sip, the drink was awful, really revolting, but he didn't care. "older than me huh...now i know how pappy felt when i pulled that reasoning on him…" He tried for a laugh and failed, downing the last of the flask in a mighty gulp, "how's papyrus?" he asked, his words slightly slurred now.
The other Sans frowned and snatched the flask, he hadn't expected his other self to flat out down the stuff, it wasn't exactly light, or easy to down for that matter, it was moonshine, basically rubbing alcohol with a slight flavor of lemon, something Undye had given him as a gift, but also something he couldn't stand. It had been in his jacket pocket for ages, too lazy to move it. "happy, thanks to frisk." The other Sans responded, pocketing the flask and cursing himself for offering a drink in the first place "he has the race car he's always wanted, tours the globe giving peace conferences with asgore and tori."
"Mmm" Sans buzzed, thinking hard "so, you say the 'kid' had a reason for pulling all this shit?" He muttered, "i...i want to talk to it then." he slurred, feeling the drink buzzing through him, "i want to know why it killed everyone."
The other Sans shook his head, "how about we wait til you're sober? the kiddo hates it when i'm drunk. or anyone for that matter. they have bad experiences with drunk adults, you wouldn't really be able to talk with them."
"wh-a-t?" Sans asked, lying down on the grass, "that fucking demon can't have bad experiences with nothin."
The other Sans nodded in understanding, then replied somberly, "bad experiences is all they have." He looked off to the home in the distance, worriedly. "we have a guest room you can sleep in, until the effects of the determination and the moonshine die down. you can rest. i need to keep an eye on frisk well tori's out. they shouldn't be left alone for too long."
"whyyy?" Sans slurred suspiciously, "so they don't fucking murder anyone with a plastic knife."
The other Sans sighed, "something like that." He muttered. "come on." the skeleton stood and offered a hand to Sans. When Sans didn't take it, the other Sans reached down and dragged his double to his feet.
"s-ooo," Sans barely took notice as the other Sans helped him to stand, "how many timelines has it been for ya?"
The other Sans shrugged, leading their double down the hill. "i think we're around reset number 60."
"ha, and the little bastard still won't die." Sans barked. The world was spinning around him. 52 battles of it not dying.
The other Sans would have rolled his eyes if he had them to roll. "it's not like they haven't tried. they literally can't die, or at least, stay dead. when they die, their powers refuse to let them go, dragging them back to their last save point over and over. they hold onto life as long as they can, but, when they die for good, get up to 80, 90, 100 years old, they just find themself living their last few dying days again and again until they can't take it, they reset."
Hearing this, Sans froze, "that's fucked up." he hiccuped. "so their stupid powers keep time from moving? destroy memories? destroy lives?"
"ya…" The other Sans trailed. "but i try not to hold it against them, they do that themself."
They were at the house now. The Sanses opened up the door, and were greeted, not with a quiet and serene home, but a blast of water to the face and a chorus of giggles.
"Ha, prank king, take that!" A taunting voice cheered.
Behind the attack was a child with a super soaker. They had a green and yellow striped sweater, an all too familiar locket, and glowing red eyes that sparkled with triumph.
Sans's eye lit bright blue once more.
A/N
Surprise! It's a resurrection timeline! (in the Undertale RP community, a resurrection timeline refers to lines where Frisk successfully SAVEs Chara, and Chara is human.)
I hope you wonderful readers liked this chapter! I know how popular cliffhangers are, they are 'hip' with the 'kidz' in 'da hizzhouse' (am I cool yet Fresh?!).
Anyway, I'll maybe update this at some point, I dunno. Tell me what you thought below!