Me: Warning. Somewhat dark drabble for deadly serious Sans.

Sans: not all of em' are gonna be sunshine and rainbows, kiddos. because some of us haven't forgotten what happened.

Drabble...Start.

"Pretty sure that shouldn't be there."

"How would you know?! You've always skipped these puzzles!"

Asriel pouted childishly at Chara while folding his arms. They were in the area of Waterfall, around the place that had the flower puzzles that formed into bridges. Chara was telling Asriel where the flowers should and shouldn't be going. Asriel was complaining that Chara being too cocky about knowing where and how to place the flowers in certain places. The puzzles were always done for him, so he never had to wrack his brain in order to figure them out.

"You just don't appreciate the hard work put into quality puzzles!" Asriel shouted at him childishly, yet Chara was completely unfazed by it.

"Did Papyrus tell you something like that along those lines? His puzzles are too easy to even be bothered with."

"But it makes him happy! You should at least try to act like the puzzles are challenging. It helps with his self-esteem, then he'll be able to make more difficult puzzles for real! Frisk understood this and managed to encourage him." Asriel said with puffed cheeks.

Chara rolled his eyes and pushed the flower away. "Whatever. I have no doubt that Papyrus will make a puzzle that actually challenges our wits, but it'll be a long time before that happens. He wants it to be difficult, yet at the same time not be too difficult as to hurt our minds. Good luck finding a middle ground for that." Asriel's cheeks were still puffed, and Chara shrugged awkwardly. "I'm just keeping it real. One of us has to, and it won't be you or Frisk."

"What about me?" Frisk said while coming around from a corner. "Hey, what's going on?"

Asriel pointed towards Chara. "He doesn't appreciate the hard work that's out into a quality puzzle!"

Frisk gasped in shock. "Chara...how do you not appreciate the quality of an outstanding puzzle?!"

Chara looked at the two of them as if they were crazy. "Are you serious?! You're gonna complain about me complain about puzzles too, Frisk?!" Before they could continue, he could answer, thus comes an interruption.

"heya, kiddos."

Asriel and Frisk caught sight of Sans and actually looked happy to see him. "Hey, Sans! What's going on? What are you doing here?"

"eh. i was just in the watery neighborhood and just happened to run into ya."

Frisk folded his arms. "You were sleep-walking again, weren't you?"

"i dunno what you're talkin' about." Sans shrugged casually. "anyhoo, i was just thinkin' i would talk to, uh...chara about somethin'. somethin'...private."

Damn. I knew he would a one-on-one conversation with me eventually. Chara thought to himself as he looked at Sans out the corner of his eye, though Sans didn't seem to notice. Or maybe he did, but just ignored it.

Asriel and Frisk looked at one another for a couple moments, then at Sans with considerably concerned faces. "Sans...you're...you're not gonna hurt him, are you?" The former said while casting a worried glance towards Chara, while Frisk began gently petting Asriel's floppy ears to comfort him as best as he could.

"oh, no! of course not!" Sans waved his arms downward to calm the boys down. "i'm not gonna hurt the kid. just gonna have a friendly chat. me and him. one-on-one. mono y mono. skeleton to flesh. monster to human. ketchup lover to chocolate lover. pun master to-"

"We get it." Chara rolled his eyes in annoyance to the comparisons he was making. "Sans, if you wanna chat, then let's get it over with. I don't need my brothers having a major freak out because I was alone with you for too long. Look! Asriel already looks ready to cry because he's so scared for me!"

"No I'm not!" Asriel sniffed, rubbing his eyes clear of any tears.

Sans sighed. "look. kiddos. i'm not gonna hurt him. i give you my word that i'm not gonna hurt him. your mom won't take kindly to that at all."

"You're scared of Mom?" Chara raised a skepticsl eyebrow.

Sans turned towards Chara. "kid...i don't want my head to be set on fire, okay? i don't wanna look like a skeleton from hell that might look pretty badass on a motorcycle. even without skin, it's magic. it's gonna hurt a lot." He huffed as he nodded towards one direction. "c'mon, let's go to grillby's. we can talk there. i know a shortcut."

"Of course you do." Chara rolled his eyes at the declaration. "Just take us there. Like I said, the sooner we get this over with, the better off we'll be." Sans nodded as he turned and began walking away from them, waiting for Chara to follow. Before he could, Chara was hugged by Asriel and Frisk from both sides. He groaned. "Will you two relax?! I'll be fine!"

"Y-You can't blame us for worrying. You and Sans still don't like each other very much...we just don't want you two getting into a fight." Asriel said quietly and worriedly, nuzzling Chara's cheek. Frisk nodded in agreement, nuzzling his other cheek.

Chara's heart soften at his brother's concern for him, and he sighed. "Look...he already said he would not to hurt me. I'll be fine. I'll be back with you two soon." Chara patted Frisk's head and lightly petted the fur on Asriel's in an attempt to comfort them. He then released the both of them and went to the spot where Sans was waiting. When he caught up, Sans nodded, and the both of them disappeared in a cyan flash of light.

Asriel and Frisk still couldn't help but be worried...

(Snowdin)

The bright cyan flash ended without a hitch, and Chara found himself standing next to Sans right in front of Grillby's. Sans walked inside first, with Chara cautiously following him. They pushed the doors open and find that the place was packed as usual. Doggo was still smoking dog biscuits(Chara still gets confused over that). Dogamy and Dogressa we're muzzling noses. Endogeny was just sitting around looking adorable despite it's somewhat horrifying appearance. And Greater Dog and Lesser Dog...well...they we're as standing around looking adorable, constantly panting and looking for someone to pet them.

Eventually, Sans reached the stools and sat on the one right in front of grillby, while Chara sits right next to him. "heya grills. wondering if ya offer drinks and spare me a bit of ketchup." he jabbed his thumb towards Chara. "and whip up some hot chocolate for the kid." Grillby nodded quietly and got to work. Chara raised a suspiciois eyebrow at him.

What game are you playing, Sans...?

Grillby eventually came back with a bottle of ketchup for Sans, and a cup of hot chocolate for Chara. He then stares at Sans for a couppe moments. The skeleton blinks. "what? relax, grills. i plan on paying that tab! ...someday." Grillby just sighed and shook his head, returning to cleaning his glass. Sans simply shrugged and turned towards Chara. "how's the hot chocolate, kid? meets your chocolate standards?"

Chara sipped the warm liquid and felt the coldness that Snowdin briefly placed on him disappear, and he sets it back down on the counter. "All chocolate meets my standards, Sans."

"really? heh. you strike me as a person who would spend all of their money on chocolate if no one was there to stop you."

"True."

Sans smiled. "heh...what kind of chocolate is never on time?" Chara groaned quietly, he knew this was coming at some point." chocolate."

"Ugh..."

"what's a monkey's favorite cookie?" Sans chuckled. "chocolate chimp!"

"Seriously?"

"what do you call a womanising chocolate?" He lightly tapped the counter while grinning widely. "a cad-bury! ha! i gotta write these down! tori's gonna love them!"

Chara sighed in exhaustion of Sans' pun making, and simply turned towards him. "I know what you're trying to do, Sans."

"eh?"

"You're trying to soften the mood as much as you possibly can with jokes, friendly gestures, and that wide grin of yours gets wider. You do all of those before you get down to a serious subject. So just skip to that part, will you?"

The short skeleton paused at the child's accusation, turning back towards the counter while scratching the back of his skull. The kid managed to memorize his complicated tell. Yet he had a feeling he would still be a champ at poker. "wanna just get it over with, eh kid? alright, i'm game." He said while turning once again towards him. "anyway. life in the underground. third time's the charm. so, uh...how's that workin' out for ya?"

Chara blinked at the question. He had expected something along those lines, but not that Sans would directly ask for it. "It's...fine. I'm doing well."

"doin' well, huh?"

"Yes."

"good, good." Sans nodded. "and...how's the fam treatin' ya?"

"As if I were some sacred treasure that needs to be kept safe at all times, except that actually genuinely love me. I still don't understand how they can just brush off everything that's happened the way that they did."

"the dreemurr's can be optimistic like that, when they're in the right mood. their lives have been hell, but they managed to survive it for the most part."

"I've noticed." Chara sighed, sipping more of the hot chocolate, setting down the glass and facing Sans with a slightly more serious face. "Sans, just stop stalling. I have a pretty good idea of what you truly want to ask me. So stop beating around the bush and get it over with already."

Sans paused the conversation again in order to take a couple chugs of his ketchup. Chara still finds it weird how he could possible do that and his mouth almost never opens. He chooses not to press the lack of logic, to spare himself a serious headache. Sans places the bottle down and scratches the back of his skull again, a tired sigh escaping him.

"ha...i wanted ta lighten the mood. wanted to show ya that i really do don't mean any harm."

"You don't have to restrain your thoughts. We both know that you hated my guts, and we both know that you most certainly still do. Just say what you have to say."

Sans paused again, as if contemplating what to do next in order to not come out as unreasonable. Finally he decided to just get it over with like the child says, and turn towards him, his grin lessening. "alright kid. we both know that out of all of us who knows what you've done, i would doubt your little turn-around the most."

"I don't blame you."

"yeah. the thing is, i know you've done this up to us, befriendin' us. each time we actually make it to the surface and try to live happy lives. then you take that all away from us by possessing geno frisk, then literally and figuratively stabbing us in the back. so yeah, forgive me if i'm a bit skeptical of this whole 'genuine redemption' thing."

Chara shrugged. "What do you want me to say, Sans? I already know that no amount of apologies is gonna make you forgive me, so I won't even bother to try. I'm just baffled that you still let me roam around unscathed, you should remember how well that turned out for you when I was in control."

"don't remind me." Sans muttered bitterly.

"You would think that after so many times, you would learn your lesson. But false hope kept building up within you, and that's what prevented you from stopping me almost every time. I eventually memorized your every move. Though now that your monster soul, and therefore magical prowess, has been enhanced by Asriel, you might have an entirely new playbook in your hands."

"ya got that right, kid. so...you better hope that i never open it when it comes to you."

"I wouldn't want to."

Sans turned towards the ceiling. "tori's incredibly happy right now. she has all three of her kids back. she has her husband back after some apologies and forgiveness, therefore restoring her love life, and now she's gotta pun partner to bounce ideas off of. seein' her smile...makes all of the crap she unknowingly and regrettably put me through, very much worth it."

"You really care about Mom, huh?"

"tori's company and papyrus's unfailing optimism were the only two things keepin' me from utterly losin' it. and now they're even happier than ever. that's all i wanted." Sans took a deep sigh. Chara narrowed his eyes in cautious expectation. Finally, the heart of the issue. "let's get somethin' straight. the only...i repeat, only reasons i haven't made a direct confrontation towards you until now is because i trust the dreemurr's. i trust tori, i trust asgore, i trust asriel, and i trust frisk. but not you. HELL no. after what you've pulled, i'm makin' sure my guard never drops around you when we're alone. but i ain't worried about me. i'm worried about everyone else."

Chara lightly held up his head with the palms of his hands, initially unintimidated by Sans' tone. "So, is this the part where you give me a warning?"

"nah. this ain't a warnin'. this is a promise. and you know how i don't like makin' those. the dreemurr's are too good to you, but i'm not gonna call them out on it because i trust that they know what they're doin'. but lemme tell ya somethin'...if you ever...i repeat...ever...pull something that'll break their hearts all over again, and neither Frisk or Asriel can fix the damage...let's just say...you won't like how i'll retaliate."

Chara scoffed. "I'm not gonna do anything. And even if I did, what could you possibly do that I haven't seen already?"

Sans chuckled for a couple moments at the question, his eye sockets closing. After a moment, he opened them, they were completely devoid of light, and his grin widens.

"...d...o...n...t...b...l...i...n...k..."

Chara was initially caught off guard by the words Sans chose...then he made the mistake of blinking. That was how fast it was to notice that there was a bony tail that completely penetrated through his back and out through his ribcage. The pain was blinding, and he coughed a bit of blood from his mouth, droplets of it spilling onto the floor. He weakly looked behind him to see that a Gaster Dragon stabbed him through the back and out his chest, it's eyes also hollowed and it was letting out a menacing and static growl. Chara once again coughed blood as he weakly turned towards Sans, who's eyes were still hollowed and he was holding up his head with his bont palm, his grin turning sadistic.

"Y-You...you said...that...you wouldn't..."

"hurt ya? course i did. as you can see, my hands are right here." Sans raised his hands. "they're not touching ya, so i'm not hurtin' ya."

"That's...a...crappy loophole...and you know...it...!" He growled.

Sans shrugged. "meh. tis' your fault for blinkin'."

Chara wondered what that was supposed to mean, when the Gaster Dragon forced him to face him. Growling menacingly, the creature lurched forward to take a lethal bite out of the chile, and Chara shut his eyes for the searing pain...

...only to open his eyes and see that he was completely fine. No hole in his chest, no blood, no Gaster Dragon, not even pain...nothing. Sans was still casually drinking his ketchup, and Chara had already finished his chocolate milk. Though the shock of what just happened took over him, and he fell out of his seat when it caught up all at once, falling onto the floor. Sans looked at him, looking like nothing happened.

What terrifies Chara was that was NOT a LOAD.

"looks like you took quite a tumble. heh."

"An...an illusion... illusion magic?!" Chara's eyes widened. "But how?!"

"you'd like to know, wouldn't ya?" Sans shrugged as he stepped off the stool. "welp. this was a good talk. see ya." Sans waved casually as he walked out of the restaurant, leaving a somewhat terrified Chara trying to catch his breath. Sans said he wouldn't hurt Chara...so he didn't. He scared him, instead. And Chara realized just how quickly and easily the skeleton can and WILL put him down if he intentionally and maliciously does damage that cannot be fixed.

Sans may not be the strongest monster...but he's definitely reasserted himself as the most dangerous.

Sans: anyone who doubts chara's redemption path...you're not the only ones. i'm keeping a close eye-socket on him. the dreemurr's better hope it sticks...i don't wanna see their hearts broken again.

Frisk and Asriel: *concerned and saddened frowns*

Until the next drabble...