Sans was blasted backward into the wall of the laboratory. His vision was hazy, as he had hit the back of his head into the wall. All he could see was Chara standing over him, menacingly.

"Boy! It feels great to be alive again. I forgot what it felt like to breathe." Chara stretched out his arms, filling out Frisk's blue and purple sweater. "You know, I couldn't have done it without you, Sans. Frisk's final outburst of emotion was all she needed to let me take full control of her." Sans didn't understand. He tried to speak, but the blow to his head was too strong. He was starting to fade out. "Oh, that's right. Frisk never told you. Her possession trigger… it was jealousy. Luckily for me, I had the perfect pool of jealousy to work with. Isn't Juniper such a wonderful girl?" Chara laughed maniacally. "Good night, Sans." Everything turned to black.

Sans didn't dream much after the Gaster incident, but as he fainted, he found himself in one of the most vivid dreams he had ever had. In this dream, he saw Frisk wandering out of the ruins, like she had when she first met him. This time, however, Sans had not approached her with the intent to prank. He approached her with the intent to kill. He must not have made the promise in this dream. Was this another timeline he was seeing? Was it just all in his head? He didn't know. All he knew is that the promise he made to Frisk had to be fulfilled soon.

He jolted awake. The carnage of the laboratory was before him. The dust had cleared, leaving the destroyed DT extractor. Alphys was nowhere to be found.

How long had it been since Chara broke free? He couldn't tell. It could have been 5 minutes or 5 days; he had no idea. Sans got up to his feet. He didn't have any time to waste. Chara was out there in the Underground wreaking havoc, and he was the only one that could stop him. He dusted himself off and ran out of the laboratory, frantically trying to figure out where Chara had gone. He picked up his phone and tried to call Papyrus and Undyne, but nobody picked up. He kept trying again and again as he ran back from Hotland.

All he could see lining the roads toward Snowdin were piles of white dust. Chara had been out for blood. Sans ran as fast as he could towards home. As he reached Snowdin, the dust piles were blending into the white snow. At some point, he couldn't tell which was which. He panicked. Papyrus and Undyne had to be okay, right?

He reached Snowdin. It was eerily quiet. No one was in town. The shops were empty. Even Grillby's was deserted. No sign of Grillby or any of the regulars. He had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach. He wanted to see someone, anyone; he just needed a sign that someone was alive.

A sense of immense fear hit Sans as he reached his house. As soon as he linked up with Undyne and Papyrus, they could figure out how to reverse this awful situation, maybe even try and figure out where Mettaton and Alphys had gone. He called out their names.

But nobody came.

Sans's bones started shaking. He crashed to the floor, tears in his eyes, realizing what had happened. No one was there, so there was only one logical explanation. Everyone was gone. He looked up from the floor and saw two piles of white dust, next to a spear and Papyrus's red scarf.

He was too late.

Sans screamed. For years, he had cared for nothing else except his own brother. Depressed by the lack of control over his life, he drifted along for the past few years, only being interested in things for a short while, and then leaving whenever it got boring. Once Frisk had entered his life, he felt as if he cared about his own life again. It seemed like he finally could control his own destiny, and that Frisk was the one he was existing on this Earth for. Now that his friends, family, and the love of his life were stripped away from him. He felt himself going back into that apathetic state of mind he had been familiar with for so many years.

No, he thought. I can't do this anymore. This isn't just about me. This is about Frisk. I can't let Chara control her. I have to do it. He draped Papyrus's red scarf over his hoodie and set out.


Sans waited in the Judgement Hall. The last time he was there, Frisk had told him she would stay in the Underground with him for a long time. Now, he had to commit the one act he had been dreading all this time. He wasn't ready; perhaps he would never be fully ready to do what he was about to do. He leaned against the golden pillar, hands in his pockets. His hood was fully over his head. There was a pain in his heart he couldn't explain. He wanted to vomit.

Footsteps were heard from the distance. At first, they were soft, but then they became louder and louder. Sans started to get dizzy. The footsteps filled his ears, a sense of death and destruction loomed over him as Chara's shadow came into view.

Chara was still wearing Frisk's sweater, but one look at his face and he knew that Chara had completely taken control of Frisk. His hands were covered in white dust. The gleam of a knife obstructed Sans's eyes for a split second. A dark and mysterious aura surrounded Chara. Sans knew he was in for the battle of his life.

"Oh Sans," Chara said. "I figured I would save you for last. Frisk tried so hard to pull me away from you earlier when you collapsed. I was ready to take you out immediately, but she still had some hold on me. No matter. Her influence is gone now. I have enough EXP and LOVE to take control of this timeline."

"So," Sans responded, emerging from the pillar. "You know about timelines too." He was taken aback. Were the resets he had seen on his timewave monitor all Chara's resets?

"Let's just say I heard it from a little flower. Now, Sans, I don't know if Frisk ever told you, but my intention was always to break free and kill all the humans and release the monsters to the surface. But then I realized… Killing everyone was much more fun."

"You're horrid."

"Me? Horrid? Sans, I thought you understood what it felt like to be bored with everything around you. What it feels like to use other people for your own entertainment. Dear Frisk was bored too, and that's what got her into this mess in the first place, isn't it?" Sans thought back to the time he and Frisk had one of their first conversations. She indeed had been bored with her life on the surface, and thus she climbed mount Ebbott. He thought of all the women he had used and tossed aside just to save himself from boredom. Now, he had met the one woman that made him want to change, and she had to be taken away from him. "That's right… Her last memory is of you kissing another girl. She's trapped inside her own head, reliving her last conscious moment over, and over. Isn't that wonderful? Doesn't that spice up the narrative?"

"You're not fucking leaving here alive." Sans's eye started to glow, and he was ready to fight off Chara with all his might. He had to save the rest of the world, for Frisk's sake. He had to make sure he honored her last wishes.

Chara lunged at him with the knife. Sans dodged and moved out of the way, reading Chara's movements almost as instantly as he made them. He summoned the Gaster Blasters that he had salvaged from Gaster's belongings after he had disappeared and threw everything he had at Chara. Both of them kept dodging each other's attacks. Whenever Sans had hit Chara, he would heal himself using food and treats Frisk had kept with her. It was going to be a long battle.

Hours passed. The two of them were still attacking each other. Sans began to sweat, and Chara was nearing his limit as well. Despite this, both of them were equally motivated by their desires and kept pushing forward. Sans was about to lunge toward Chara, but something made him stop dead in his tracks.

"Sans…" Frisk's voice cut through the empty void of the Judgement Hall. Sans immediately paused.

"Frisk… Oh my God… Frisk, you're in there… Can you hear me?" He put down his bones and blasters and ran towards his girlfriend. "Frisk, I'm sorry. This is all my fault. I got too carried away with my anger. None of this would have happened had I not lost my temper."

"No… This is my fault. I should have listened to you." Frisk spoke through tears. Sans could barely understand her, but he could hear her anyway. He didn't want to stop hearing her voice. He wanted to hug her and hold her close one last time. "I'm just a boring human being. I should have never thought that I was enough for you."

"Frisk, listen to me… That wasn't what it looked like. I swear. I wasn't cheating on you. She did that herself. I know you won't believe me, but please. Let me tell you what really happened. I love you. I always have and I always will."

"Sans… you know what you have to do."

"I know." He held her tightly. There was no knowing when Chara would take control of Frisk again. He had to do it quickly before it escalated again. He didn't have a choice.

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Sans shot out three bones through Frisk's heart. Her bloodcurdling scream pierced the Hall and echoed throughout the entire stretch of the hallway. It was the worst sound he had ever heard in his life. It seemed like the scream lasted for a million years. When she finally stopped, he pulled her lifeless body off of him and watched her slough to the ground. Frisk's soul rose from the ground and appeared in front of him, shaking. After a few seconds, it split in half.

Frisk was gone.