You manage to drift off again for a while, before you force yourself to get moving. Having a rest is nice and all but you're eager to fight Sans again. You won't get any better at dodging his attacks by lying on the floor.

You relish the ease in which you can stand up. Whenever you get seriously injured, you always appreciate your unharmed body in the next loop. Not enough to make much effort in keeping from getting hurt again, but you still enjoy having a full range of movement.

You were pretty useless with so many of your bones shattered. Hopefully that isn't an attack Sans can use often. Otherwise, you're screwed.

"How long was I asleep?" you murmur, rolling your shoulders and grimacing at the cracks your spine makes. It turns out that lying on the floor against a door didn't make for the comfiest sleeping position. Still, you feel better for it. You needed some time to just sort everything out in your head. Now, you need to get going.

"Not long," Flowey says. "Five hours at most. You sleep like the dead, by the way. Do you have any sense of self-preservation?"

"Judging by my past actions…I'd have to say no."

"Figures," he says quietly.

You consider the door you've opened so many times, eyes tracing the delta rune. "Hey, Flowey. Why does Chara call you Asriel? Is that your real name?"

He glares at you. "No, it's not. Drop it."

"Okay." You turn back to the door and push. You stop, surprised, when you encounter resistance. It's like something is pressed up against it on the other side. Has Sans blocked it? That'd probably be more effective in keeping Chara in than just killing you again and again.

Bracing your shoulder against the door, you shove at it with a grunt. Gradually, it starts to open, the gap getting just large enough for you to slip through. You stumble when your foot somehow gets caught, twisting around and hopping awkwardly on one leg before you manage to release it. You give an amused Flowey a triumphant thumbs up.

"Now, what's-"

You blink, bemused, at the sight before you. Sans is sat on the ground, leaning against the door, with his eyes closed (eyelids made of bone? Okay). He's breathing slowly and looks more relaxed than you've seen him, head tilted forward to rest on his scarf. He fell asleep? If he's really been killing Chara for as long as you've guessed, and then you for all the runs afterwards, is this the first time he's slept in all that time? You can't think of any other reason for why he'd let his guard down here.

"Flowey? You mind keeping an eye on Chara and letting me know if they head back here?" you ask.

Flowey appears beside you in the snow and eyes you curiously. "Why? You could kill him right now - he only has one HP. A strong breeze could probably take him out."

When you raise your eyebrows at him he sighs heavily. "I know, I know. Fine."

"Thanks."

"No problem," he says mockingly, before he sinks back under the ground. You can only assume he's going off to find Chara. He's smart enough to keep out of their sight, you're sure. If they do something to him…well, you won't react well.

You drop into a crouch near Sans. He doesn't seem to notice you at all. You scratch the back of your neck, wondering what to do next. Now would really be the perfect moment to sneak Chara past him, but you can guess that Chara wouldn't be happy with leaving him alone. They'd kill him. And you don't want him dead.

You're not capable of judging people for killing or hurting others. You're not a good enough person for that. At the same time, if you can stop it from happening, why wouldn't you? Your own life is as expendable as it gets.

Before it might not have mattered so much, because the world would just loop and everything would be back the way it was before. But now that you have a way to finally put an end to it, every loop – reset – could be your last. Whoever dies this run might not come back. If everyone dies…the world would be so empty. You wouldn't be able to stand it. Especially not this world, already so much more vibrant than anything has been for decades. You can't remember the last time you felt so much. Maybe that's why you can't bring yourself to kill.

"Frigging emotions," you grumble with a smile. "So inconvenient."

With a huff you straighten up. You need to distract yourself. You look from Sans slumbering body to the snow surrounding you, and your lips curl into a mischievous grin.

By the time Sans starts to wake up you're nearly done with your masterpiece.

"Wha-what are you…" he says groggily, blinking at you. You grin proudly. Then he looks down at himself. He snorts. "Is that…a skeletail?"

You snigger as you smooth down the edges of the fish tail you've crafted to his body. "Yup. Though, it's not quite finished." You beam at his obvious amusement before returning to your work. You hum as you add more scales into the lower portion of the tail, and make the fins a bit longer by packing on snow.

By the time you're done you're pretty proud of it. "Ta da!" you exclaim. "What do you think?"

His grin widens. "Seems a bit fishy to me."

You pout and chuck a clump of snow at his chest. "I'll have you know that this is Art. You don't just insult Art."

He raises his hands in surrender. "Sorry, sorry."

You nod imperiously. "You are forgiven. Now," you leap to your feet and extend a hand. "Want some help getting up? I, uh." you smile sheepishly. "It's a bit thick."

He shakes his head. "That's-" You think he must try to move, because he cuts himself off and gives the snow covering him a frustrated look. When he meets your gaze again you wiggle your fingers. He grimaces. "That'd be great."

You pull him to his feet, snow falling in thick lumps. He's surprisingly light and even though his hand is made of bone, it's almost as warm as yours are normally (sticking them in snow has cooled them down a bit). He quickly lets go and stuffs his hands in his pockets. You eye his thick jacket enviously. Whilst your sweater is comfy and all, it's not really made for this kind of weather. Oh well, you can deal.

The pinpricks of his eyes dart around the area warily. "So. Chara gonna show up?" He tenses. "Or did they already get past?"

"Nah, they're still in the Ruins. Flowey's keeping an eye on them."

He raises a brow. "Flowey? That's not too reassuring. Last I checked, those two were buddies."

You frown. "Not anymore. At least, I don't think so."

"Okay." He shrugs. "S'good, I guess. Not sure if I'd be able to hold of the both of 'em." He shifts on his feet, smiling becoming forced. "Barely managing as it is, and you're not even trying to kill me."

You laugh. "You're kidding, right? Man, you're decimating me. That last one was brutal – I couldn't feel anything but pain!" you say admiringly.

Sans flinches and looks away. "Yeah. Didn't mean- I didn't mean to go that far. Sorry."

You wave your hands frantically. "H-hey, it's fine! These are my favourite deaths! Really, you knocked the man-eating shark and the faulty roller coaster out of the park!"

"Uh. Thanks?" he says unsurely.

"And those laser dragons of yours? Coolest murder weapons ever!" you enthuse.

He snorts. "They're called Gaster blasters. And, yeah, I guess they're pretty cool."

You freeze. "Gaster…blasters? As in, Doctor W. D. Gaster?"

The lights in his eyes disappear abruptly. "How'd you know that name?"

"How do you know that name?" you exclaim. "He told me he was erased from existence!"

His brows scrunch together. "He told you?"

You scratch your cheek. "Oh, wow, how to explain this? Um, you know about the resets and all that, right? Well, when Chara reset I ended up in this weird place-" You make finger quotes "-outside time and space, and Gaster showed up."

"You saw him? And spoke to him?" he asks, eyes wide in disbelief.

"Yeah, nice guy. Told me I was a "glitch", only evidence of how corrupt this timeline is." You frown. "Which, if I think about it, is kind of worrying. Luckily we have a plan!"

"A plan?" Sans echoes. He still looks rather stunned.

You nod. "A way to end the resets, permanently. That's why I've been trying to get past you – well, now that I've remembered." You continue solemnly, "I need to get Chara to something called the Determination Extractor. It's in Alphys' lab. Do you know where that is?"

"You could say that." He gives a short laugh, pressing a hand to his forehead. "S'just like him, ain't it? I'm scrabbling 'round with a thousand deaths rattling in my skull, doing my best to stop even more, and he's suddenly got all the answers. Typical."

You eye him in concern. "Not all. I need to actually get Chara there for this to work, and it's not like I even know what to do once arrive."

He meets your gaze resolutely. "Let me handle that. If there's even a chance this could put an end to the resets, I'm all for it. I'd take you through a shortcut but…" He glances over at the door, before smiling ruefully. "Something tells me Chara wouldn't be all that compliant. I've gotten good at killing them, but containing them's a whole other game. They'd just reset."

You think for a moment. What does Chara want?

To destroy everything. To kill. To leave the Ruins. And once they kill everything in this snowy place, they'll move onto the next.

Okay, but what if it were you? What do you crave most (after a final death)?

"Something new," you mutter. Your head snaps up. "Has Chara ever been to this lab?"

His eyes close for a few seconds. "No, not that I remember." His eyes open and narrow on you. "Why? What's that matter?"

"They've got to be bored." You grin. "What's more fun than an adventure?"

He considers you. "That…could work. But what's to stop 'em from killing every monster in their way? I can't let that happen. Not again."

You put a hand to your collar bone. "I think you'll find I can be very persuasive."

He doesn't look convinced.

"Aww, c'mon." You pout. "What've you got to lose?"

"Not much. Too much." Sans breathes out heavily. "Sure, pal. I'll give it a shot."

"Awesome." You clap your hands together. "Now, I'll just go get our little murder machine and we'll head off."

"You do that. I've got a few things to take care of," he says, turning his back to you and heading down the path.

"Oh. Okay, see you later."

He waves lazily over his shoulder. Then, in between one blink and the next, he's gone. Cool. You wish you could mysteriously teleport like a badass.

You're just walking towards the door when the world dissolves around you.

Y o u fallflymovestillwaitrunScREam

And then you're surrounded by darkness. You blink harshly, rubbing the side of your head. Wow, that's trippy.

Then you realise where you are.

"Ha!" you yell gleefully. "I told you I'd remember!"

Gaster appears before you in all his turtleneck and gloopy jacket glory. "So you did. Eventually."

You flinch dramatically. "Ouch. I'm gonna need some ice for that burn."

You think he might be laughing at you. Hard to tell when his facial expression barely changes. His shoulders do seem to be shaking a bit, though, so you're going to go with yes, he's laughing at you.

You made a non-existent person laugh. That's brilliant.

He sobers. "Your meeting with Sans did not go…quite as I had predicted. I knew he was strongly effected by his remembrance of previous resets, but to continuously kill a human who means no harm is unlike him. I must apologise for his behaviour."

You shake your head. "What-what is with everyone and saying sorry? I had the time of my life!" You run a hand roughly through your hair. "Everything's so easy nowadays, but fighting him." You beam. "It was almost impossible. And hey, it helped me remember you, so it all worked out."

"I…I suppose you are correct."

You set your hands on your hips sternly. "There's no 'supposing' about it. We can actually do something about Chara now, keep those timelines from imploding. Or whatever."

"Corruption," he says. "When the fallen child erased the previous iteration of this world, they created an imperfect version in its place. It cannot remain stable beneath repeated resets. The code that holds it together has been subject to corruption – minor, initially, but it will worsen unless the child is stopped."

"Is that why Sans can remember? Because of this corruption?"

Gaster looks away. "Our machines picked up evidence of an anomaly. Timelines fluctuating unnaturally, coming to a halt entirely in some cases. We never assumed that time could be manipulated with such ease…but Sans became aware of what was happening to him. Or the memories being erased with each reset. This knowledge made him susceptible."

You frown. "But what can the corruption actually do, other than give people memories?"

His eyes close. "The best case scenario? The lines between dimensions will grow so thin that travel across them is a very real possibility. And there are entities out there whose sole purpose is to consume broken timelines such as this – that delicate line is the only thing keeping them out."

"And…the worst case?"

"The total destruction of our timeline."

A/N: Plot thickening! Stuff happening! (Hopefully characters are in character-ing?)