This chapter will be for reviews, and Thanks for all the support! (Review Reviews at the end of the chapter!)
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Chapter 10: Bad Dreams
The walls shone with an orange tint, massive pillars gave structure to a room in a world that was falling apart. Glorious glass panes lined the walls, each representing the elegance that was the Royal Palace. Yet today, it was so much more than a walkway meant to shower visitors in shimmering glory, it was a warzone. A war zone that spanned only the most desperate of timelines.
Once again, it had come down to this. A time traveling demon and a skeleton who knew too much, a skeleton who had seen too much. The two stood facing towards each other with the same stare they always met with after the first few unsuccessful tries at passing.
"let's just get to the point." he stated, letting his eyes dark out as they always did on this line of dialogue. His hands sat inside his pockets, clenched in a calm rage. Not a single bone in his body signified fear or hatred, the only clue of his anger was how dark his smile had turned. It had a sour feel to it, yet it hadn't even changed. Perhaps it was just his style, "here we go."
His hand flew from his pocket as he flicked up a field of bones that ripped apart the floor in a zigzag race to be the first to hit Chara. They jumped out of the wa- no that was a different timeline. This was a smarter Chara, and they danced right through the bones without getting hit once, "our reports showed a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum. timelines jumping left and right, stopping and starting…"
The child jumped back in reflex, several Gaster Blasters materializing from the air around the Demon with the desire to kill in an instant, yet they had already moved out of the way. They knew if he skipped his first section of dialogue he was bound to attack with GB's next. They dashed forwards in an attempt to get an attack in, yet they knew he would dodge. He always did.
In the blink of an eye, the skeleton disappeared from their view and appeared somewhere else in the room just as Chara had predicted. His voice floated through the room as his Attack #3 dialogue came into earshot, "until suddenly, everything ends."
Another Gaster Blaster came into view, Chara jumped over it knowing it could only fire for three measly seconds. One… Two… They fell back to Earth as the Blaster dissipated, only to be slapped in the face with a wave of bones, plummeting their HP. Skin ripped from their jaw as bones made their own path through the facial flesh one damage at a time. Frisk's sins clawed the blood out of their mouth, "heh heh heh… that's your fault isn't it?"
Sending another GB in the kids direction, they were forced to turn and dodge, showing Sans their bloodied jaw and emotionless face. Their black raven hair was messy and it's blue eyes shown livid madness that matched their feminine grunt. Wait… that wasn't Chara's face.
It was Saten's face.
He didn't know when the change had happened, Sans had gotten so used to same thing happening he had stopped paying attention. He could only stare in agony as his friend, normally pure with innocence, looked onto him with bloodlust.
Sans refused to shoot another Gaster Blaster. No, not at her. Saten didn't deserve judgement, she had done nothing wrong. However the evil Saten twin to Chara only laughed at his false faith in friends.
"I'm gonna break you to PIECES, just like you were your Brother…" she told him, dashing forwards to attack in his moment of vulnerability. He ducked under the wild swing and slowed down time to allow the perfect timing for a bone to deliver a crushing blow to the back of Saten's skull.
Sans let out a chuckle as the body hit the floor. Blood poured out of the girls head coating her cute street attire with a crimson blanket. However, Sans wasn't laughing at a joke, he was laughing in agony, "Gonna kill you again... just like you killed your own mother." he replied to the bloodied demon on the floor, pretending as if it were just Frisk as it normally was.
It hurt so much more to hear Saten's last breath escaping her mouth. He never wanted to kill an innocent, and the only reason he did was because he knew it was a dream. Yet the pain felt real nonetheless.
Ariel clenched his fist to quell his emotions, wondering what deity he had pissed off to make this dream happen. He had fought Chara enough times, why was this time different? Why did it hurt so much to do the same motion as he had a thousand times before?
Who wanted to see him suffer?
The world began to glow a white light again as the world began to reset and wash away the reminders of the battle that had happened. Having no other choice, he let the white light embrace him and take him back to the start of the battle to do it all again. His only hope was that one of these resets there would be an end to his suffering.
Lucky for him, that was all the curveballs his dream had to offer this time.
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Sans eyes opened a little bit, feeling the light of the room pour into his eyes. His head hurt. He felt a hand clench onto his arm, a small one by the feel of it. He could feel eyes set upon him. Possibly even two.
"You're okay…" a voice said to him. Sans rolled his head to the left and watched heads come into focus, and to his surprise found a male with dark black hair sitting there. A little girl, no not just any little girl but the little girl from the mall, stood in front of him and clenched his arm. At least that puzzle was solved. The male then spoke up again, "Uh… jeeze I don't really know if I should wait a bit or do it now… but uh...thank you for saving my sister. Like seriously you have no idea how grateful I am for your help."
An awkward silence then fell over the three of them as Sans wasn't one to take praise and couldn't think of any non-skeletal puns. It was almost ironic. "Y-you should also know they caught the Graviton Bomber shortly after you passed out." the boy added in, awkwardly rubbing the back of his head.
Sans rolled his head back to it's previous position, letting a smile creep to his previously emotionless face. At least no one else would be hurt by the bomber anymore. However, he would need to be much more careful in the future. He was careless in using the time slow ability like that, the Graviton Bomb being a miniature black hole and all, it had sucked the magic right out of him. If only he had been a bit smarter he could have been up and running by now.
Sans let the room fall silent again, staring off into the distance. He was a master conversationalist, but it just so happened right now he wasn't in the mood for talking. The ex-skeleton was far too occupied thinking about his dreams of the demonic Saten and of the throbbing headache that sat at the forefront of his mind. A constant reminder of the repercussions of overusing his magic pool.
Suddenly, Sans spoke.
"how long was i out?" Sans asked, eyes finishing their adjustments to the white walls of the sterile hospital curtains and walls. Looking to his left, past the two strangers, he could see a window and the bright, warm sunlight pouring through. After all of his years in the underground a part of him yearned to get up and touch it.
Looking to the other side of the room, he could make out various vials of differing colors on a sink in the corner of the room. It was a little difficult, but he could make out the names on some of the vials, 'Benzodiazepine' and 'triazolam' being two that he could see. To the normal person, those would just be names, but Sans used to be a scientist and he knew a thing or two. Those were the names of sleeping drugs.
"Two days." the boy told Sans, causing the ex-skeleton to snap his head to the black haired boy in surprise. It had never taken more than six hours to regain all of his magical energy… Upon seeing Sans expression though the boy began to shake his head frantically in defense, "I-I-I mean t-the doctors gave you some stuff and it almost put you into a coma. They s-said it was a miracle that you had even woken up!"
Ariel looked over to the vials, seeing them in a new light. Something told him those were meant to put him asleep. It wasn't the first time this city had tried something fishy… In fact he was almost positive putting patients into comas were the purpose of those vials. Why else would they pump chemicals like that into a person who passed out?
Suddenly a knock could be heard on the door, which was swiftly answered by the boy next to him, "Oy! Come on in!" the boy called, beckoning the new visitors. At least Sans knew these people, as it was none other than Railgun and the Level 4 Judgement member. Oh, and it seemed they had brought food with them too.
"Oh! You're up!" Misaka called to Sans, putting her bag down on the table and making her way over to the prone blue eyed boy. Her expression was one of… curiosity. She seemed to be debating something. Sadly though, his judgement ability was meant to tell if someone was pure or evil, so checking to see what a person was planning to do wasn't an option.
"I brought you three some food as well. Good morning Sans!" Kuroko called as she also set her bag filled with food onto the table and made her way towards Sans. However Sans noticed something about Shirai, she refused to take her eyes away from him. A move he remembered all too well from a certain child from the Underground.
Gasters words echoed through his mind, "People are scared of what they cannot understand." Maybe Gasters theories on monsters applicable to Humans too? In fact, why did he use the word 'people' in the first place? More questions from the man named Gaster…
Sans heart skipped a beat when he saw the second sign appear. The mask of emotion. He had put together this puzzle piece when he saw Frisk murder his brother for the hundredth or so time. If they were going to kill him, they would never laugh at his jokes. They would don a face that shown no emotion, and here Kuroko was with the same one. Now that he noticed it, Misaka was wearing one too though it was less obvious.
Something was about to happen, and he had to make the choice right here and now if he was going to do anything about whatever 'it' was. He could trust them and let them do whatever they had planned, or expose them and foil their plans. Sans glanced up at the two Espers one more time before making his decision.
He rolled his head once again to the black haired boy and smiled. "you mind giving the three of us a moment? i've got a question and it's a little bit of a… sans-ative topic I wanna talk about.." he joked, causing the little girl to giggle a little bit in response. The black haired boy quickly nodded and made his way out of the room, his dear little sister whom he'd abandoned back in the mall, follwing in tail.
With those two gone, Ariel was free to clear his name and discover what these girls were giving him looks about. To show his seriousness, he even hit the button on the side of the bed that let him sit up. Classy right? "Alright. Go ahead and spill the beans, you two have been in here for literally less than three minutes and I can tell something's off."
Kuroko looked over to Misaka, a look of surprise in her eyes. She looked to her sissy, then back to Sans. Sissy, then Sans. Then finally, she spoke, "We...We have reason to believe you used the Level Upper. I-I mean, at the time it wasn't a crime like it is now if that's what you're concerned about… but Saten told us she found the music player containing the Level Upper... in your apartment." she finished, dropping the accusation bomb on Sans.
Sans only chuckled at her attempt at an acusation, "nah, some girl on the street was using it and her growing esper field freaked me out, so when I went to ask about it she ran off. I took it home to see what it was, but I never used it. Glad I could level with you guys on that though." he threw in the last part as a joke instead of elaborating, making sure to put on an extra big smile as he said it. After all, execution was half of the joke.
It worked too, even with the serious air Misaka and Shirai couldn't help but crack a smile, "Oh alright then. Glad we could clear that up then." Misaka told him, Kuroko walking over to grab the food from the table and bring it over. She opened up the plastic bag and passed out three styrofoam boxes. Dinner was served.
"Sorry about that by the way-" Kuroko started, grabbing chopsticks and flipping the lid open. A thick smell of delicious and succulent food entered the air, making Sans stomach grumble a little bit. "-Several people have been passing out into a coma a few days after using the Level Upper. The bomber at the mall you stopped, Kaitabi Hatsuya?" she stopped to put a clump of rice into her mouth, "He used one and passed out a day later." Shirai finished explaining to him.
Sans popped the box open to find an almost identical meal to the other girls, but he didn't really care. He could eat this, but it just wouldn't be as flavorful as ketchup was. Actually… after his most recent dream he might be staving off the ketchup for a while. At least until he could see Saten safe and sane again. Ketchup and blood were a little too similar looking for his tastes.
"I do have a question. Unrelated as it may be though." Sans stated, choosing to eat his food with hands instead of chopsticks. It was just easier overall that way, "It's a uh.. Stupid question, but what would you do if you were faced with an enemy you just couldn't beat?" he asked while simultaneously trying not to let either of the girls put together the pieces of his past.
After a short pause for chewing, Misaka was the first to answer, "You can always beat someone if you try hard enough." she paused to open her drink, the can opening with a satisfying 'Chink!', "It might require some time to train, but anyone could be beat if you gave it your all." Kuroko shrugged at the answer, her opinion clearly differing from her sissys.
"No, I think some people can't be beat, and if that's the case then you need friends to back you up! If my time in Judgement has taught me anything, it's that you need backup no matter how strong you think you are." Kuroko said triumphantly, thinking back to her first days in Public Judgement work. Back when her and Uiharu had made their promise… She looked up to Sans who had just popped a sliver of meat into his mouth. She wondered if this question had something to do with that Frisk character Misaka had mentioned..
"Well, what if… what if that enemy.. was your friend?" Ariel asked, trying his best to keep his emotions hidden from his two friends. He had always hidden his emotions, always. Why would now be any different? How would they even react to knowing he had murdered a child at least one hundred fold?
Misaka and Shirai exchanged worried glances to each other, but Sans was too busy throwing handfuls of rice into his maw to notice. This time Shirai was the one to reply, "The enemy is your friend? Then they weren't your friend to begin with right? They were just using you." Her words rang with a spell of truth, and it eased Sans worries he gained on the girls arrival.
Yet he still just had a feeling the two were plotting something.
Sans slid the tray away from him, placing it onto the table to his right which had been next to him the entire time. He hit the button and let the bed fall back down from its sitting-up setting. He always took a nap after a meal, well unless he was going somewhere directly afterwards. Besides he was in a bed afterall, does that not warrant nap time?
Letting his eyes fell heavy over his eyes, the world faded to black. Just like a light… he was out. If there was a competition for fastest napper, Sans would have won it. It astounded the two teenage girls how quickly he could accomplish that feat. It was sometimes impossible to wake him up. However today, that was a good thing for them. Misaka and Kuroko's plan required him to be sleeping to begin with.
The plan was simple enough. With all of the indirect answers Sans had been giving, it was obvious he was hiding something. So as of last night, Kuroko and Misaka had made the decision it was high time they found out more about him. Asking him would do no good, they had no way of telling if he were lying or not. Yeah he was their friend… but what did they actually know about him?
The original idea was just to walk in while Sans was asleep and use Railgun's ability to get in his head again. They knew it was possible from last time. However, the plan had almost been ruined by him waking up… yet now they had another chance to go through with it, and it wasn't going to be another missed opportunity.
"Ready?" Kuroko asked, walking over to and then standing in front of the entrance to prevent anyone from walking in on them, especially the boy and his sister waiting outside. She held a stopwatch in her hand, the time set to five minutes, "You've got five minutes before I disconnect you. Good luck."
Misaka stood to her full height and looked down at the boy who laid asleep in front of her. Was this wrong? Well… it wasn't like he would notice.. too late to back out now.
Laying her left palm onto his shoulder she stared into her right. 'Was this really the right idea? He may be a Level 5 but his power is like a Level 2's…' Misaka thought to herself. Perhaps she shouldn't do it after all….
'SCREW IT!' she screamed internally, somewhat knowing she'd regret her actions in the future. As soon as her other hand made contact and she let the electricity flow, she knew it had worked. Her vision suddenly became hazy and the world began to darken.
Then she passed out.
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"?￢ﾘﾜ ?￢ﾚﾐ?￢ﾘﾜ ?￢ﾜﾌ? ﾟﾘﾐ?" came the mysterious symbols as she opened her eyes. It was the only thing she could actually see, as it was a void this time. The symbols trembled in front of her, weather they had personality or if they were just unstable…. That was unclear.
She stared up at the symbols. Were they warnings? If so the whole bomb thing had already happened… but what of the hands? Nothing made much sense, but what she did know what that this dream was a lot different than the last.
"Ahem, Excuse me." A voice called from the darkness, "I forget that you... humans are incapable of comprehending my speech without your fancy technologies." a voice said to Misaka's left, if you could call it that. In the void.. Ups and downs could be confusing. Without anything to base yourself off of, movement was more relative than realistic.
She could see a lot of black, that much was obvious. However there was one difference in the voices location. The white blob in a lighter shade of black then the rest of… everything. She could sort of see how the blob could be sorta seen as a body… sorta, "Uh.. hi? I'm looking for Sans…" she asked him, sitting up and then standing from her position on what could be interpreted as the ground.
"I told you not to come back." the thing said, some semblance of a hand could be seen clenched from the beast. It sort of looked like the man outside of Sans house last time she was here. Actually, it might not be that long of a shot. But before she could jump to any conclusions, it spoke again, "Do you even know the problems you almost caused?! If Sans cannot fix his Personal Reality soon enough, this world will perish!"
"Perish? What d- Alright start over." she said, getting frustrated with the cryptic talk, "What's your name?" Misaka asked, looking down the white and black beast.
"They call me Doctor W.D. Gaster. I am what you could call Sans.. father? I believe that is roughly the same translation you desire." he answered her, walking (or was he flying?) closer, his image becoming more refined and more human like. She could actually make out individual legs now, "and by you being here… you threaten the very life of the city in which you desire to protect."
An electric pulse jumped from her hair and arched through until it hit the nearly split ends, "What do you mean? Are you saying…"
"If Sans cannot overcome his… problem, the place you know as Academy City will be destroyed by the disease that runs rampant through its streets." He explained, Misaka just noticing he wasn't pale… but instead he was a skeleton. Not only that, his head was cracked and missing his right eye.
But what of a disease did he speak of? Or what about the Frisk kid she saw in the last dream? She had come here for answers, yet here she was with more than she entered with. People who spoke in riddles… they were annoying to say the least, "Disease?" she asked him, "What exactly do you mean? And do you know someone named Frisk? How is Sans yo-"
"S?ILECE YO? C!HLD!" Gaster screamed, half of his words coming out as symbols and some as actual words, making it almost seem like a glitch. This statement was only enforced by the way the void literally rippled at the raw force in his voice. Either he was ridiculously strong or the void was actually quite feeble.
The doctor cleared his throat into a clenched hand, then continued, "No more questions for you. We haven't the time. All I have time to say is that you must trust Sans, his situation with Frisk couldn't be avoided. Yes, the child you desire is dead, but you would have done the same much sooner given the circumstances he was faced with. Sometimes, you cannot avoid fate."
Misaka was going to question more, but she was hit with a jarring feeling and everything went blurry, almost like static on a TV screen. At first she became worried, but then realized what had happened. Had it already been five minutes already?
"You've be✡ ?Een /? W arN e?d,." Gaster called to Misaka, but his message getting lost in translation as the void dream began to break down. Ripples began forming all over the place.
She reached out to the Doctor, desperate for more answers. She had doubted her friend once, but if it was true that Sans was faced with odds bad enough that he killed Frisk… she had to know what was going on.
The ripples got worse and worse before she could ask though, the roof and the ceiling almost touching now. She couldn't even see Doctor Gaster anymore.
Then leaving the same way she entered, she passed out.
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Saten sat on her bed, knees pulled up to her chest and her chin resting upon them. It had been two days since the whole breakdown at the Seventh Mist where Sans saved three people lives, including her own. She hadn't stopped thinking of it sense, and to be honest it was driving her nuts.
Today had been a nice day, yet she still had to wonder… what would have happened if she could have done something? Maybe Sans could have been there and seen all the happy people who celebrated the reopening of the Seventh Mist?
If only she were stronger.
Her toes grabbed at the bed sheet under them. It helped to make her feel better, just doing something in general did usually. Sometimes if things got bad enough she would pull out her lucky charm given to her by her mother and remember the good times. Back when she thought she could still be an Esper and save the day. Be the hero and not the damsel who visits the hospital wondering if her friend will wake up.
If only she were stronger.
Tears welled in her eyes. God, why did it have to be this way? All of her friends were espers, even someone who didn't deserve it like Sans. He was so lazy and never cared, if only he knew how terrible things were for a Level 0 in Academy City. The only reason she cared so much about folklore and urban myths is because it gave her hope. False hopes like the Level Upper.
If only she were stronger.
Letting go of her knees and falling onto her back, Saten let her eyes close. This world was so cruel. What she would do for powers like Misaka or Kuroko.. It was times like these she felt like putting everything on the line for one no matter the dangers. Actually… she still had Sans copy of the Level Upper right? Maybe listening to it wouldn't be such a bad idea. There had to be a reason she had kept it right?
Saten opened her eyes and rolled across her bed. Upon reaching the edge, she gingerly felt around the floor the object of her desire. The stolen music player containing the highly illegal copy of the song known as 'The Level Upper'.
Saten popped in her headphones and plugged the slender cord into the base of the black box. The screen came to life and it showed the dreaded item. A square black box with a musical note inside of it above three buttons. Rewind, pause, and play. Closing her eyes and taking in a deep breath, Saten pushed the 'play' button and the music began.
If only she had been stronger.
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So Misaka met the Doctor huh? The real question is… was it the real one? Or just a memory? On another note, we see Saten use the Level Upper. This story still follows the canon of both items, so don't expect Saten to suddenly become a full fledged Esper.
I've been getting a lot of questions about Sans being more powerful now that he's human. Let me explain. In game we see a monster is able to absorb a soul, correct? Yet they do not devour them one at a time, they do them all at once. This leaves me to believe that since Asgore didn't consume each one to begin with, or Flowey for that matter, a monster must absorb all seven souls at once. Why else would losing your battle with Flowey not turn him into a god? (Sure you could argue that the game shuts down, but as a god he would be able to alter the game files to give an alternate ending or change it.)
Next review target: To be released on the Sunday Upload
If you try to translate the WingDings, I cannot promise you will get all the letters. Using fonts like WingDings is a gamble on this site, as it deletes random characters for no reason.
Thank you all for reading! And as promised… here's the review… reviews.
Jack Whitters: It could be Gaster in the world, or perhaps someone else? (I've responded to most of your question via PM)
Hold the door for Hodor: Sans doesn't fight so people don't expect him to be a fighter. So he could indeed kill Rensa, probably quite fast as long as she couldn't memorize his moves on the fly.
JarOfIdeas, HaveYouSeenThis: Here you go, Longer chapter!
The Man, Onishin Tsukitenshi, Fabreezing through life, JarOf Ideas, Ciaran Hughes, Beth Fergusson, Damien Hughs, Guest, Fandango12345, Hellfire1996, reviewer, newreader, Goldenclaw, Harrison Riley, infadinityfollower, KZReviewer, Sakamae Hisamatsu, Crafted Reality, Gerald Morgan, Shad7000, Shirosaki Kizuro, Lunarella01827, kadehex: Thank you all! All of your reviews at one point or another talked of updating. How about this one eh?!
Minxiboo, XxOmNiPoTent PriMorDial GodxX, Lunarella01827: What ever happened to you? You still reading or dj'a fall off the face of the Earth? (And nice poem Primordial)
Firehedgehog, Bary Douglass: Indeed!
The Gravrobber: I have no idea how Misaka's electrical connection works, but it's canon so I don't ask questions!
Barry Douglass: You're the dude who reviewed like 8 times in a row. I mentioned you like two chapters ago.
*Gerard Morgan: Gerard asks a really good question. Is Gaster dead or just scattered through space time? Simple answer? Both.
HaveYouSeenThis: I won't drop the story if it hits low reviewers. I watch the view chart to decide if a story is or isn't worth writing anymore, and I'll send out VERY clear warnings about three chapters prior before I do anything that drastic.
Goldenclaw: Good eye, many forget that is a thing. Shhh, let's keep that between us alright? I'd hate to spoil ARK 2? Or possibly 3?
Guest: Thank goodness I chose the short monster right? And Misaka's sight was altered, as everyone she saw she perceived as humans. You could assume the same for their heights.
Guest: Yes, I drew some inspiration from Handplates. Great comic series!
Sorry if I didn't call you out in the reviews, there was a lot to go through! Many of you commented, but my reaction wasn't too interesting or great for you guys to read so I left it out. Well, unless seeing me say "Yeah I agree." or "Thanks!" is your thing, to which case you can just re-read this sentence a few times and you'll get the jist.
Thank you all for reading! Have a nice day!
Catalog of Discovered Abilities:
Gaster Blaster (Ability): Summons a skull imbued with magical ability. The jaws can be seen popping apart as they prepare to discharge the magic within. Powerful enough to cut through even the thickest of steels. Point of origin unknown. Further research required.
Judgement (Passive): The ability to read a person's LOVE and EXP.
Judgement Eye (Ability): By focusing on a person's mind the user can see shards of a person's past. Not enough to know their past, but useful when needing small bits of information or threatening. You can tell when this skill is used when the user's speech seems to… lower. That's typically the case.
Shadow Eye (Ability): They say the eyes are the window to the SOUL. The user knows differently, as they can make theirs disappear on command. No side effects or physical effects, good for threatening. DeveLopeD bY ERRoR/?
Shortcut (Ability): Sans is able to teleport up to 500 Miles away if the known X and Y coordinates are present. However, without a picture of the location he cannot choose the altitude of his teleport. Without a picture he will ALWAYS land upon the highest land mass he can physically enter. (Ex. Rooftop) MUST be created in a shadow.
Time Slow (S Ability): A move not to be taken lightly. It can slow, or even freeze time. However, great power comes with great responsibility. It is a MAJOR (as marked by the "S") ability, and saps immense amounts of magical energy. The more energy that is prohibited by this ability, the more magical energy sapped. Not recommended for battle, especially one with high energy weaponry.
Voice Distortion (Ability): Much like the Shadow Eye ability, this is a way to intimidate your opponent. It gives Sans the ability to make his voice gain an echo and produce a hollow sound. Perfect for declaring the state of the world from a hallway.