"Hehe, always sleeping on the job. Sooo predictable."
…
He was in an all too familiar surrounding, judgment hall. There was a kid, a familiar face, but he could tell he held a lot of resentment to this human. He stayed quiet behind the pillar, observing, something had urged him to not make his presence known. "I've seen this before, haven't I?" Sans asked, it was an intense case of deja vu. Suddenly the room "glitched" out, each blip forming another child version. It wasn't long before the room was in complete chaos as several hundreds of the same human child was fighting simultaneously. He would crouch to his knees to protect himself from the debri that flew past him; but this particular scene, he knew he seen this before. So instead of following his instincts he remained standing and observed quietly. One child fell in front of him, seeming to acknowledge his existence, her eyes widen in confusion before being impaled by several bones, the life leaving the child's eyes. Sans crouched down to the kid moving his hand across their eyes to close them. He held mixed emotions, were they supposed to die? He hid from most of the battle, lights were blaring everywhere and the pillars strained to continue on their responsibilities from the abuse. Many of them met terrible endings just within minutes of the battle. Whoever their opponent was, meant business. Soon the room went quiet, and he dared to take a peak. The onslaught paused, he could hear a voice, his voice, speaking to what few kids remained. All but one of the many had expected foul-play. One child was moved by the other's word and began to sob, dropping the knife and seemed to be welcomed for an embrace. He thought it heart-jerking but that moment was short-lived, to his confusion, the child met the same fate as the others, murdered by the figure, who held onto her whispering something.
The war raged on fiercer than ever. Only when the battle became more meticulous with the remaining few did he finally felt safe enough to get a better view of their formidable opponent. He had a sneaking suspicion on who it was the mass was fighting against. Moving closer and peering behind the pillar he felt a lump form in his would-be throat as he saw much darker version of himself killing off the human children. His version increasingly enjoying the murders with each death. "T-that cannot be me…" He pleaded, not wanting to believe he was capable of getting off from such thrills. Then two were left, both mimicking each other's movements. 6 Gaster Blasters simultaneously appeared surrounding the two, for a final and all out flashy end. He was almost rooting for the kids, believing that for-sure both would meet the same fate as the mass from such an attack; one defied his thought and he sighed in relief. She was nearly dead but had enough determination to deliver the final blow. It was over. The kid was about to strike and Sans looked on in disappointment as she slashed twice, the other Sans finally slain. As if remembering the pain on his chest, he pulled his shirt away from his chest and saw the indented markings that moved eerily similar to her attack across his ribs. He gave a slight chuckle, having always pinned it on some strange birthmark. "Well that explains a lot...is that where this scar comes from? No...no this is some twisted dream I'm having. R-right?" The would-be dead Sans pauses, and looks directly at Sans, which really unnerved him. Sans quickly wanted out of there and he shook his head as if trying to wake himself up.
"Wait before you go...get a load of this kid!"
A crackled voice spoke behind him. Sans nearly jumped out of his bones and twists around to see who spoke but saw nobody. The room began to crumble, as if saying he had intruded here long enough. The kid fell to her knees and began to cry he couldn't make out all of what she said, only until plaining hearing 'What have I done!?'.
"Hehehe classic...Welp really we should get out of here. Not much left from this timeline and you really don't want to stick it out to the end" Sans felt something wrap its arms around his shoulders before squeezing tight, then both disappeared.
…
"Sans...please don't die! Sans wake up!" A distant voice called out.
…
"Wh-where am I?"
He was surrounded by a grove of trees. This place, it seemed unreal, like someone who's going throughout the day like a machine; their minds preoccupied but life demanded for more attention; no matter the issue. He took a moment to gain his groundings confused as to why he was here or even how he got here. Whoever grabbed him held on tight, not giving Sans the chance to get a good luck at his capturer. Looking on, he could see a skeleton standing out in the open, standing still until they dropped to their knees. This one was whimpering quietly out beyond the grove of trees near a river. Sans could feel an old wound open up in his heart but why and from what he couldn't pin it on. When he finally grasp the situation ahead he could see them on knees silently crying, holding onto a scarlet-red scarf. "I-is that me?" Sans clenched his chest wanting for a better view, but was pinned in place by the other. The vision-Sans got up conjuring up a Gastor Blaster; sweat and tears stream down their face. "You'll pay for this...You dirty brother killer!" Sans froze still, was it being pointed at him? He felt himself being torn away from the dream before the Gaster Blaster fired. The world went white.
...
"SAN! Please wake up! Can you hear? Sans I got you, everything is going to be okay! I-I'm calling A-Alphys right now! Please….S-"
…
He reappeared in a dark and familiar space with the other still holding on to him. Sans tried to struggle out but soon blue magic seeped out and began to entwine around his entire body. "L-let go of me!" He hissed out trying to break free, but the other paid no attention, rubbing their head against Sans's shoulder before finally speaking.
"Ahh sorry it's been so long since I have had any contact. Feels good, y-ya know?" The other confessed.
Sans began to squirm more, but the harder he tried to break free the tighter the other's embrace was. It was extremely uncomfortable, the other's magic was seeping out and engulfing them both, non-threatening, but he didn't much care for the idea of being completely entrapped by someone else's magic. After a few more half-hearted attempts to break free he relaxed and let out an exasperated sigh.
"Look, how bout this, ya let me go? I'll give you company. Won't run away. Deal?" This seemed to make the other loosen his grip, a pause later and Sans was pushed to the ground. He let out a grunt when he hit the ground but quickly got to his knees, the blue streams still holding his arms to his sides. "Alright, good...now. I'm going to turn around nice n' easy, alright?" Sans moved to his feet and turned his head to see the character before him. Boy...was he a character.
He was looking at himself, albeit one that had seen better days. There was a fresh scar across their entire chest, starting from the top left shoulder and down to the right hip and dripping red. Many of his clothing had been torn and stained red. Parts of him were missing, like a broken chalk that decayed with time this Sans had lost half of his head to dust.
"Yup! It's me! You! You're the first to even acknowledge me! Yay-congrats!"
Sans could tell the other wasn't all that right in the head and was beginning to feel like he was going insane too. "Hehe I think I got to lay off on the ketchup. Some pretty strange dreams I'm having. Is this a fever-dream...can skeletons even have fevers?" There was a panic in the other's eyes. The magic entrapping around Sans tightens up, as the other frantically began pulling them closer, closing the distance between them. Sans knew not to struggle; in an attempt to not spur on more of this Sans erratic behavior he allowed himself to be pulled in. "Woah hey buddy! Already told ya I ain't going nowhere. Don't worry!"
"You promise?" The other Sans asked, reluctant to believe him but then glitched his suspicious expression into one that was smiling. "I've been watching you. Strange isn't it? Your dreams, they notice you! Kinda like how you notice me!? But that's insane right? I mean. They are only memories after all, they can't really see you. Right?" He seemed like he was going to explain further on the subject, but then became very distracted, with the expression of someone who was being scolded at. The other quickly broke out a laugh, switching onto mundane topics, things of unimportance, like the weather. Sans was really unsettled and confused, this other him was all over the place. But he pitied the monster, seemed like the other him just wanted someone to talk to. Sans also wasn't one to judge, this other him must have been through hell. Finally after the other indulged himself on his one-sided small talk, he glitched back and forth from smiling to stern.
"I can't keep you here...I know this. It's not easy ya know? Being alone-T-trying to find you! You! Never stay long enough in the code for me to get to you. Word of advice, that kid." Suddenly what remained of his left blue-eye turned more vibrant, the strings around Sans tightening, threatening to injure and undoubtedly take out his 1 hp. "Frisk..and that Chara-brat, keep an eye socket out for them would you?" Sans twinged in pain, before sighing of relief when the magic laxed and dispersed. The other seemed to 'power-off' as his eyes was devoid of life before quickly glitching out then reappearing and hugging Sans tight once more. He was startled and resisted a bit when the other glitched right next to him. "Wowsy! I must look pretty crazy to you hu!? Don't let my appearance fool ya...please...You should get back to your world. Looks like you're in a world of hurt right now out there! But if you want to find me! Take the day off, and go out on one of your 'short-cuts'. Try hunting for me in there! Sure makes my job easier. See ya!" The other seemed extremely reluctant to let go but eventually pried himself away and smiled a fake smile before finally glitching out of existence. Sans turned around to look at his environment, there was a rip in the dream that opened to a window, Papyrus was on the other side standing over him. They were at what was presumably the post near the RUINS. He began walking towards that direction, before turning around and seeing the scene behind him. He watched another Sans kill the same child, though his jacket was covering up the little girl's body. "Hmm...I gather that I'm suppose to know Frisk. So, who is this Chara kid that he mentioned…Welp, better leave and find out what's happening out there. Gather myself more information. Think it's time I pay Alphys a visit…"
…
…
Frisk was at the exit side of the RUINS. She blinked, confused, it seemed warmer than usual. She looked down to her arms, realizing that Sans jacket had followed her to the new reset, it was no longer tattered from her previous death. "This...is new?" She was confused, on one hand, it made sense, considering she was never naked in other resets, on the other, it seemed wrong to have this with her. "I shouldn't keep this." She spoke bundling herself in the comfort of Sans jacket. It did a wonderful job at insulating the heat, and kept her from trembling in the otherwise bitter cold. She walked on allowing the doors to announce her presence. She expected Sans to meet her before passing the stick 'checkpoint'.
But no one came.
Frisk began to feel more alone than ever, he didn't snap the stick? "Really Sans I know your stealthy but this is not like you?" She continued walking and paused at the bridge. The silence killing her worse than Sans ever could. "H-hey Sans...Come out already!"
No one greeted her at the bridge.
Frisk lingered for what seemed to be an hour. Why had Sans not showed up? Surely it wasn't like she had a chance to move him with words in the last timeline. Even if she did, he would or should have shown up regardless! 'Chara, can you hear me?' She asked internally, suspecting that that girl had something to do with it. A cold chill went up her spine as she felt a presence invade her body. 'Nope! Not me.' Was all the predicted response gave before the invasion hastily disappeared. She walked pass the bridge and began to suspect that Papyrus was not going to be there. To her displeasure, her suspicion proved to be correct. Her reluctant-walk soon paced out into a full sprint as she wasted no time to make her way to Snowdin.
Frisk quickly found her way blocked off by two large demon skulls on pillars, in between them an iron gate. The demons on top of the pillars lied there, devoid of life, as if they had been there for centuries. The pillars were etched with a strange writings, and depictions of what the Demons would looked like wrapping their one dimensional skeletal-bodies in a spiral down the columns. A horse drawn black carriage emerged from the blizzard on the other side of the gate. In this a hooded driver and 6 human souls, some children, some adults were the carriage's passengers. The one driving was startled by Frisk's presence, as if having not expected this encounter. Frisk could see that these horses were skeletons, black magic seeped between their bones giving them a more whole and complete appearance. Silence filled in between each howling blizzard wind. Frisk had a chance to examine the carriage's passengers. 6 human-like souls sat obediently, all giving different magnitudes of shock, annoyance or concern at Frisk's presence. Each soul having it's own color and distinct characteristics. Soon the driver opened a small door at his side and jumped to the ground, the snow breaking from his weight. He walked to the gate and halted.
"?￢ﾘﾟ✌❄ ✌ ?￢ﾘﾠ ✠?￢ﾘﾜ?￢ﾝﾄ ? ?￢ﾘﾹ ✌? ﾟﾕﾆ ? ❄ ✡ ? ✌ ? ?￢ﾜﾡ ?￢ﾘﾟ✋ ? ﾟﾓﾪ ?￢ﾚﾐ?￢ﾘﾜ ."
His voice was cool and collected, demanding attention. But he paused, as if expecting a response. Frisk felt the loss of control over her body; Chara was possessing Frisk. "No! I refuse! I like it here, I refuse to go back to that thing!" Frisk involuntarily spoke while pointing at the skull to the left. As if reacting to the presence of Chara's soul, the demon-head statue whom Chara had been pointing at began to animate into existence as the the slender skeleton disappeared back into the blizzard. The skeleton released one of the souls from his carriage. A small girl, clad in purple, in her right arm held a notebook and her eyes were covered, glared by the large round glasses that clinged at the very tip of her nose. The purple soul quietly walked forward looking somewhat forlorned, she looked up, transforming into a purple heart which rises up and settles onto the skull that was not animating to life. The Gaster-Blaster began staining purple from the soul and lifted itself up, hovering for a moment before opening it's mouth to speak. His voice vibrated Frisk's very bones as it spoke.
" ?￢ﾘﾠ?￢ﾀﾝ
The demon who had lacked a soul had its eyes filled up with white magic. Soon it began clicking and twitching; the one dimensional image on the column began morphing out. Each click warranted a spinal disk to sprout to life life from the image as it attaches itself to create the spinal cord. The formation stopped at the lumbar portion of the spine, as if not having the energy to complete the metamorphism. The previously detached skull now had half a spine, it's rib sprouted out from each spinal disk holding onto the column and acting as legs. This Gaster-Blaster came to, and adjusted their gaze to look directly at Frisk.
"Okay I get the picture. I'll just get out of your hair-and... Eh-he" Chara released her hold onto Frisk, who promptly takes a few steps backwards, then turns around and began running away. The demon behind them stayed quiet, before immediately moving to chase, its' body mimicking how a centipede would run. There was no competition, Frisk ran as hard as she could and did what no one should do in a chase; look backwards. The Gaster-Blaster easily closed their distance and when it was practically on top of her it arched it's back up. They striked true, sinking their fangs onto Frisk's shoulder to hold her in place. Before Frisk could even cry in pain she was already in the coil's of the Demon's body. She yelped writhing from the pain and fear. Once held in place they released their fangs from her body began speaking in a different dialect.
"?￢ﾘﾟ✌ ✌? ﾟﾓﾬ? ﾟﾒﾣ✡ ?￢ﾚﾐ? ﾟﾒﾧ ? ﾟﾒﾧ✋ ? ?￢ﾜﾡ ?￢ﾚﾐ?￢ﾘﾹ? ﾟﾓﾬ? ﾟﾏﾱ✌?￢ﾝﾄ ?￢ﾘﾼ ?￢ﾘﾜ ? ✋ ? ✌ ?￢ﾚﾐ?￢ﾘﾹ✏ ✋ ? ?￢ﾘﾜ❄ ?￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋ ? ✡ ? ﾟﾓﾬ? ﾟﾓﾬ✋ ?￢ﾘﾼ ? ﾟﾓﾫ ?￢ﾝﾄ ?￢ﾚﾐ?￢ﾘﾹ? ﾟﾓﾬ?￢ﾜﾡ ? ?￢ﾚﾐ? ﾟﾒﾧ ? ﾟﾒﾧ ?￢ﾘﾜ❄ ?￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋ ? ﾟﾓﾬ?￢ﾜﾋ❄ ?￢ﾜﾋ ?￢ﾚﾐ? ✋✞ ?￢ﾘﾜ ✡ ?￢ﾘﾼ ?￢ﾚﾐ?￢ﾘﾹ✏ ✋✞ ?￢ﾘﾜ ✡ ?￢ﾘﾼ ?￢ﾘﾜ❄ ?￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋ ."
It's smallest ribs poke and prod until it pierced into her chest. She screamed as she watched the sharp ends enter seeming to pierce her beating heart as it reappeared in front of her. Suddenly a blast of purple shot at the back of the head of her capturer. This Gaster-Blaster spoke to the other in a low but stern voice in the same dialect.
"?￢ﾘﾟ ✋? ❄ ?￢ﾚﾐ ❄ ✡✏ ✋❄ ✌? ?￢ﾚﾐ?￢ﾘﾹ ?￢ﾘﾼ ?￢ﾘﾜ ?￢ﾝﾄ ❄ ?￢ﾘﾜ❄ ?￢ﾜﾋ ✌❄✋ ? ?￢ﾜﾌ❄✋ ?￢ﾘﾜ ?￢ﾘﾼ ❄ ✏ ?￢ﾝﾄ ✡ ? ✋ ? ﾟﾕﾆ ❄ ?￢ﾘﾼ✌❄ ?￢ﾜﾋ ?￢ﾜﾋ ✏"
The demon seemed to ignore what the other was saying, attempting to reach out to Frisk's heart. Another warning shot and finally the other snarled losing interest on her heart but continued to prod and pierce Frisk's body, as if searching for something else. Frisk screamed and tried to struggle helpless to the relentless onslaught. Her vision began to blur, but before she passed out a blue light circled her, shielding her from the continued attacks.
"Hey, don't think Frisk here likes that much. You know better, you dirty devil!" A voice spoke out. Frisk was swooped up by what seemed to be Sans, but white powder softly fell from his skull and onto her chest. Sans reached his free hand out touching the riled-up Demon who stared down onto him as if contemplating their next move. Blue magic drained from Sans into the skull, subduing the Gaster-Blaster as its body parts fell to dust, leaving the iconic image of one of Sans's own. "Better now? Good, now get outta here!" Both demons obeyed retreating back as Sans falls down on one knee. "Phew! Should get outta here ourselves, elsewise this Sans going to bite the dust." They glitched out from the location.
...
Frisk woke up, unsure where she was. It took her a moment to finally realize that she was in the code. She was shown this once, when she took one Sans's so called 'short-cuts'.
"Oh good, you finally woke up! Here I thought I was going to be alone in my own thoughts. Would seem to be my lot in life." Sans was fixing her injuries with green magic he seemed strain to complete the task and in the end was disappointed with his work. "Sorry, I know it's rudimentary, it's the best I could do, you won't die! B-but I'm afraid I'm not fluent in this form of magic." He confessed looking over her. Frisk eyes swelled up having immediately recognized who was actually before her. She casts her eyes down curling up into a ball away from his grasps.
"You're alive after all...not easy to get rid of, are you? It's good I mean. I am glad to see you" She brought herself to look the Sans before her, noticing half of his head was gone to dust. Sans picked up on her disturbance and glitched out half of his face so she didn't have to continue looking at it.
"Hey no worry little Frisk-besides-should look at yourself! We've both seen better days." He laughed half-heartedly before going silent. "I ugh...can't stay long, got other arrangements. You lucky I found you before anything bad happened. Somehow stealing my jacket brought you places where you don't belong. Saw you making small talk with my ol' Dub-G! I knew that wasn't going to end well. He's not the best with complicated situations."
Frisk was dizzy from confusion. Many questions flooded her head at once. How was he alive? Where was she? Who was the man in the horse-drawn carriage and the souls that accompanied him? Why were Sans's Gaster-Blasters after her? Most importantly, why did Sans save her?
"Sans…! How can you talk to me like that? I've been nothing but a monster to you. You saved me. Why? I don't understand, it's like you've said, kids like me should be burning in hell. So why go through the trouble of removing me from hell?" She casts her glance downward, eyes puffy and strained red. Sans looked uncomfortable, his eye sockets lifeless as he struggles to say anything.
"Nope! That's where you're wrong, see, cuz, that was not a beautiful day to be burning in hell." That invited a laugh from Frisk, but she lowered her head onto her knees. "Phew not doing too swell are ya? Well Frisk some more bad news, your little friend...Chara I think I heard he say. She took over your body and is now roaming free. There's things I have to do, don't go die now. Specially after all the hard work I put into healing your heart." This caused her to get up onto her feet worried about what Chara's plans were. Sans placed his hand onto her shoulder, she recoiled. He looked down and sighed taking a couple steps back from Frisk. "No point going after her yet. At this moment, Chara can't find you, which I thinks gotten her into a sort of panic. As far as she's concerned, she just lost your soul to Gaster boy back at the entrance. Let her have her fun, we have to get a hold of Sans. Speaking of which time for me to go pay a visit too."
Frisk gave Sans a confused look, was he not Sans? Sans swiped his arm to the right, opening up a window to Judgement hall. A battle, their battle, was in full swing as she notices a Sans-like figure hiding behind a pillar. She looked away, feeling her sins crawl up her back. "Every time you reset, I remember parts. Figure you know that bit by now. I won't ask why, why you took my happiest memories of us away. The sun, I forgotten anymore how that felt on my bones." He sighed, Frisk was trembling and avoided any eye contact with Sans. "My brother always believed you could be good. For his sake, I want to believe that too. If you really want to change our fate. There is away…" His face began to glitch and he gave out a few weak chuckles. "I'm dying. Frisk. This code won't hold me much longer. There's a way we can fix this, but it won't be easy." He began walking his body phasing out from the code.
"But you need to be strong. Frisk. Stay determined."