You think about running, but decide against that quickly. As nervous as you are, you don't want to make him even more suspicious. And fleeing from him would only give him all the more reason to believe that your motives for this timeline are cruel.

So you take in a breath and slowly turn around, trying to look up at him but failing miserably. You keep staring at the snow, pressing your arms tightly against your chest and chipping away nervously at the bark on the stick with your fingernails. It's not death you're scared of - you've killed Sans so many times that it's hard to be as terrified of his power as you used to be. But he's left the script behind, just like you. And it's the fear of the unknown that makes you tremble. You can't face an attacker that you can't predict.

"look me in the eye." Sans says calmly, putting a finger under your chin and forcing your gaze up. His eye sockets are pitch black, but his grin is as wide and friendly as ever, "And tell me exactly what it is ya think you're doin' here."

Now that you've made eye contact, you can't break your stare away. There's an anxious feeling of being trapped when you can't seem to turn your head left or right. You drop the stick you've been clinging to like a lifeline and raise your shaking hands, 'I'm not going to hurt anyone.'

Sans laughs. Worst of all, it sounds completely genuine and cheerful. The void in his stare is the only thing there is that shows his true emotions. You swallow and hug yourself tightly, clenching your fists and feeling your nails dig into your palms. You wish he would just openly hate you - it would make things a lot more straightforward.

"sure, kid. just like every other time you weren't gonna hurt anybody, right? gotta admit, you tricked me the first couplea times." The skeleton puts both hands back in his pockets, winking one eye at you, "i mean, you played nice enough. ya didn't lift a finger to hurt anybody. ya even brought us all to the surface. i've got a lotta good memories from those runs." His voice turns cold, and your very SOUL shudders in fear. "it's too bad that you murdered us all anyways."

You wince in pain and take a step back, ducking your head down further as the force of his glare pushes you further away. Of course Sans thinks that those killings are your fault, too. You've never told anybody about Chara. As if Sans would even believe such a 'devil made me do it' excuse. It was your hand that swung the knife, even if it wasn't you moving it.

'It may as well have been me.' You think to yourself, your misery growing steadily worse. 'I killed them first.'

Weakly you lift your hands again, 'I promise. This time no one will be hurt.'

The skeleton gives a cheery chuckle, "heh. forgive me if i don't believe ya, kid. kinda hard to have any faith in you at this point." He pulls out one hand, and you bite down on your lip to keep back a panicked gasp as you feel the all-too-familiar grip on your SOUL. "i'm just gonna tell you now, buddy. so long as i'm standin', you're not going past that bridge. you'll have to kill me, first." His grin stretched, "heh. Not that that's ever stopped you before."

No, no no no this can't happen! You won't be able to help anyone if Sans keeps you trapped here! You have to make him listen! You have to get him to believe you!

His eye flares blue, and you immediately grow tense, shutting your own eyes and preparing for death or something even worse-

"SANS! WHERE ARE YOU?!"

The both of you freeze, and Sans quickly releases your SOUL, putting his hands back in his pockets and reverting to his usual relaxed slouch. In spite of how tired and frustrated he is with this game, he always, always sticks to his script for Papyrus. No matter what is happening in reality, Sans fights to keep his brother feeling safe and happy.

'He loves him so much…' Your gut is wrenched by another sharp stab of guilt. How many times have you separated them..?

Sans tries to push you away, out of his line of sight, which you're more than willing to let happen, but the younger skeleton is too energetic and quick for both of you. You turn around, and already Papyrus is standing behind you, his eyes wide in shock.

He points a gloved finger at you, "IS THAT A HUMAN?!"

Well...it's far too late now. Sans is silent for a second, undoubtedly contemplating just killing you right now and trying again, to avoid getting his brother involved at all. But in the end, he decides he can't murder while Papyrus is watching.

"yeah, bro. pretty cool, huh?" Sans observes you curiously, like he only has a mild interest in your intentions.

Papyrus claps his hands to the sides of his face, "OH MY GOD!"

You can't help but smile. You wave at him slightly, admittedly happy to see your friend again. Even if he doesn't remember you, at least he's always excited to see you. Only because he plans to capture you, but still…

"SANS! I FINALLY DID IT! UNDYNE WILL...I'M GONNA...I'LL BE SO…"

While Papyrus is distracted by saying his lines, you can feel Sans's gaze shift back to you. You shut your eyes and shiver, flashing back through every time you've ever killed the innocent monster. Your sins burn as they crawl up your back. You'll never be able to repent for that. Never.

You hear the younger brother clear his throat and quickly look back up at him as he begins his usual 'threat', "HUMAN! YOU SHALL NOT PASS THIS AREA! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL STOP YOU!"

Yes, he would.

"I WILL THEN CAPTURE YOU!"

Yes. You decide that you can let that happen. It would make him happy. Somehow, you're sure that Undyne will keep him ignorant, so he can retain his innocence.

"YOU WILL BE DELIVERED TO THE CAPITAL!"

You swallow, fighting bravely to keep a polite smile on your face as your stomach drops to your feet.

"THEN! THEN!" Papyrus pauses, as always, and looks to the side, as clueless as ever about Asgore's intentions towards your SOUL, "...I'M NOT SURE WHAT'S NEXT."

You are. You are very, very sure.

"IN ANY CASE!" Luckily the skeleton is too excited to notice your expression slipping into one of dread, "CONTINUE...ONLY IF YOU DARE!" Cackling like the excited child he is, Papyrus turns and rushes off, most likely to immediately stand guard at the first puzzle.

The silence between you and Sans is chilling. You don't wait to let him decide whether or not to kill you. Instead you rush off after Papyrus, not wanting to risk the danger of being alone with the older brother. You touch your hand to the next SAVE point as you pass, ensuring that Sans won't send you back. There's no time to waste with death and reloads.

If you take too long, then you might change your mind. And you can't afford to let that happen.

Of course the puzzles are even more simple to you than they were the first time around. Usually you breeze right through, delighting in how Papyrus would marvel at your 'skill'. But this time around, you pretend to struggle a bit, letting the skeleton believe that he has presented you with a real challenge. You even let yourself get shocked a few times at the first puzzle. Not too much, though. Again, you can't just let yourself loiter - if your thoughts are left unoccupied, you'll begin to reconsider your plan.

To make up for the time you spend 'solving' Papyrus's puzzles, you constantly tag at his heels like a lost puppy, even managing to keep up with his long strides in spite of your much shorter legs. It winds you, but you push through it in spite of your breathless panting and the sting of cold air in your throat. For a few moments you even manage to have fun. Papyrus can always put a smile on your face, no matter how down you are feeling. It's his special gift. You hope he'll be able to use it for a long, long time to help a lot of other people.

At last you reach Snowdin. You're a bit wounded from brief skirmishes with other monsters, but you don't stop to buy anything from the store. Not that you have any gold. Fleeing from fights doesn't exactly pay. You don't want to try and beat Papyrus, anyway. He's so excited to capture you, you may as well let him.

You put up a good fight, though. You dodge a fair amount of his attacks, letting him believe that you aren't just letting him take you. If he suspected that at all, then he'd become worried. And you can't let that happen.

And so you lose, and pass out from the effects of his attacks. As always, he heals you up after putting you in the garage, and so you're not at all left to suffer. You're woken up prematurely, though, when he excitedly rushes out to go and fetch Undyne immediately, slamming the door a bit too loudly behind him.

Sighing, you move yourself so you're at least lying on the dog bed instead of concrete. You're exhausted from...well, everything. You've never rushed through the path so quickly before. You didn't take a nap at Toriel's house, and you haven't really given yourself a chance to rest since you woke up amidst the flowers. Even though it's cold in here, you curl up and pull your oversized sweater up so it's covering your nose. With your knees tucked against your chin and your arms wrapped around your legs, you eventually feel warm enough to fall asleep. Hopefully, when you wake up, Undyne will already be there.

If not...well, then being left alone here, with such an easy way out, will be your biggest challenge.

You don't wake up to Undyne. You wake up to your back suddenly slamming against a stone wall. You're still too dazed to give much of a cry, and so merely murmur something along the lines of 'ow' as you slowly pick yourself up.

Only to be abruptly jerked back, your shoulders and arms pinned to the concrete as you blink and shift your feet. You jolt when you realize you're staring at Sans. His eye is burning with blue energy, and his hand is held out, keeping you restrained by your SOUL.

"even i can get sick of jokes, kid." Sans says through his teeth, "so how about you just go ahead and tell me the punchline of this little act of yours? cause, to be honest, i'm gettin' reaaal tired of your guessing games."

At least he's finally giving you time to explain yourself.

Swallowing, you give a nod, stumbling a bit when you're allowed to drop back to your feet but otherwise staying upright. 'I don't want to hurt anyone anymore, Sans. I know I did awful things, to you and everyone else. I know you won't forgive me, because I don't deserve forgiveness. That's okay.' You try to smile, but the impatient look on the skeleton's face you hurriedly continue, 'It took a while but...I've figured out how I can save all of you. Forever.'

Taking in a deep breath, you close your eyes and turn the palms of your hands towards your chest, cupping in your fingers as you concentrate. You wince at the sickening but tolerable feeling of invisible strings slowly tightening between your hands and your heart. A few times you give a stuttered, pained gasp through your teeth, but you've practiced this enough, now. When you open your eyes, you can see your SOUL sitting on your palms.

It's glowing a gentle red, pulsating along with your heartbeat. Having it outside your body feels...wrong. Seeing your SOUL so...raw and exposed and vulnerable...it isn't right. Survival instinct tells you that more than enough.

You hold your SOUL against yourself and resume signing with the other, 'I'm going to give my SOUL to Asgore.'