'What's wrong, little sister?' Kira asked Light through their mental link. 'You've been awfully quiet, lately.'
Light stayed silent, trying to ignore him as her soul was pulled along like some twisted, helium filled, balloon. She had cried so much that she no longer had any left to shed. With her back to Kira she could easily see the trail of dust that was left behind with each step. How many more had to die before he was satisfied?
'Ah.' He said in mocking realisation. 'Did watching all those monsters die upset you? Well… there's still at least one more.'
Light felt a chill run down her spine and turned to see what, or who, he was talking about. Standing in the middle of the large, cathedral like, hall they were now in, Light could see a skeleton, wearing a baggy blue hoodie, a pair of black sport shorts and a tattered orange scarf. His ever present smile now carried an edge to it as he stared down the 'girl' in front of him.
"Heya," His voice was calm, but like his smile, there was an edge to it. "You've been busy, huh?"
Light bit her lip as her eyes darted between Kira and Sans. Her form trembled as she silently pleaded for him to run. He couldn't fight Kira, no one could. His only chance was to hide. Her eyes locked on the skeleton as he spoke again.
"I've got a question for ya." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Do you thing even the worst person can change…? That everyone can be a good person, if they just try?"
Light flinched. That question hit a little too close to home. She glanced at Kira out of the corner of her eye. She'd thought he was a good person. She looked down at her hands. The sight she saw was a double image, one where her hands were clean and another where they were caked in blood and dust. She wanted to be a good person. But, that option was long gone. Even if she got her RESET power back, it wouldn't erase what she'd done.
The thought of her power made her shudder. Kira used it like a toy, jumping back to the start just to make her watch him kill again and again. He seemed to take pleaser in finding more sadistic ways to kill. She couldn't tell if she hated RESET or not because of it.
She was brought out of her head as Sans spoke again.
"Alright… Well, here's a better question." The glowing white dots in his eyes went out as he stared at them. "Do you want to have a bad time? 'Cause, if you take one more step forward, you're really not going to like what happens next."
Light's stomach dropped as Kira grinned. He was going to fight. Light set frantic, pleading eyes between the two males, silently begging one of them to back down, to stop, to not let any more bloodshed happen. Her gaze fully fixed on Sans as Kira took a confident step forward. She knew he wouldn't hear her if she spoke, not like this, so she desperately prayed to any deity listening that he would just run.
No one could stop Kira. No one. Not Toriel, not Papyrus, not the Royal Guard… Undyne had gotten the closest, but even she had fallen eventually. With RESET there was nothing anyone could do. It didn't matter how many times he died, he'd eventually win.
Sans sighed. "Welp. Sorry, old lady. This is why I never make promises."
Light's head fell as the last glimmer of hope she had evaporated. That was it. There was nothing else now. Dully, she listened to the rest of Sans' speech. Even the surprise of Sans' glowing blue eye was a dull echo in her mind.
"It's a beautiful day outside. Birds are singing. Flowers are blooming. On days like these, kids like you, should be burning in hell."
Light waited for the 'MENU BUTTONS' to appear, only of her eyes to widen in shock as Sans launched an attack at Kira. Kira, equally shocked, had zero time to react. Within seconds, the two found themselves at the RESET WINDOW. The chain connecting her soul to Kira's hand clinked as Light looked around them stunned.
She couldn't believe it. Had that just happened? Sans had moved first… He took down Kira in seconds… Something warm began stir in her chest, only to stop as Kira gave a dark chuckle.
"Oh, now that is interesting." He laughed, grinning manically. "But… a little trick like that, only works once."
Cold enveloped her again. He was right. Surprise attacks only work once, and Kira had an unlimited number of times to learn a trick.
In the blink of an eye, they were back in that hall, Sans standing in front of them. Kira stepped forward and waited for Sans to start his speech. But, it didn't come. Instead, Sans raised an eye ridge at him.
"Heya. You look frustrated about something." He smirked. "Guess I'm pretty good at my job, huh?"
The world dulled again, and Kira got ready for what came next. Sans began his speech, and Kira almost smirked. Only to be taken off guard as the skeleton launched into an attack halfway through his sentence. Being somewhat prepared this time, he managed to move out of the way of most of the attacks, managing to avoid death, though only barely.
"Anyway, as I was saying." Sans chuckled with a shrug. "It's a nice day out. Why not relax and take a load off?"
Light turned away from the fight as the MENU BUTTONS materialised around Kira. One death… that was all Sans had been able to do… Now, it was Kira's turn, and she knew what came next. She didn't want to watch.
"What? You think I'm just going to stand there and take it?"
Light's head whipped around to stare at the scene before her. Sans was slightly to the left of his previous position, while Kira was slightly behind him. His right hand, which was holding a knife, was outstretched, as though he'd tried thrusting it at something or someone. Her eyes widened and her mouth fell open in wonder as she quickly put together what had just happened.
Sans had dodged.
Before she even had the time to fully register the revelation, she and Kira were, once again, back at the RESET WINDOW. Kira was growling in anger, but she paid it no mind, still trying to wrap her head around what had just happened. He'd dodged. He'd killed Kira for a second time, while avoiding any damage. Could he…
Could he keep Kira here indefinitely?
She didn't voice that thought out loud, and only watched as Kira reloaded the SAVE. A small smile twitched her lips as Sans pointed out the number of times Kira had died. She wondered how he was able to tell that just be looking at his face… or, well, her face…
This time, Kira decided to check Sans' stats. He grinned manically as he saw that he only had one HP.
"He can't dodge forever." He told her, though Sans probably assumed he was talking to himself.
Kira lasted a little longer this time, though not by much, and Light couldn't help taking a little satisfaction from that. She continued to watch silently as the skeleton and killer fought, each time Kira lasted a little longer, but Sans didn't looked anywhere near done. She giggled a little when he complained about being too lazy to keep count after the twelfth death, so she decided to keep counting for him.
It was at the twentieth when Kira threw a tantrum in the RESET WINDOW. Light watched with a grin. Before she could stop herself, or think better of the idea, she snickered and called over to him.
"Karma's a real bitch, isn't she?"
She hissed in pain as he yanked the chain connected to her soul. But, the look of pure frustration on his face was completely worth it.
It was at attempt number fifty, when Sans asked Kira to put the knife down. The echo of Papyrus' own attempt to give the two of them a second chance was painful to witness. Though, the skeleton wasn't at all surprised when Kira attacked him instead.
Light wished that she could have taken that deal. If she were just in control of her body, she could stop this. But, Kira had a tight hold over that.
It was after the eightieth death, that she began to have trouble keeping count. She didn't have any paper or anything to help her. It was actually beginning to bother her that she couldn't tell exactly how many times Sans had kicked Kira on his sorry arse.
While Kira continued to say that he couldn't keep dodging forever, Light had come up with her own version. That Kira couldn't keep trying forever. He had to give up sooner or later. He was already frustrated to the point of throwing a fit every other death.
That was probably what Sans was counting on.
Light watched in anticipation as Sans got ready to use his special attack. The death count was somewhere between one hundred thirty and one hundred eighty and she hadn't seen him use this to obliterate Kira. She was very curious as to what it was.
"Well, here goes nothing."
There was a long stretch of silence as the two humans waited to see what this attack was.
"No, seriously, it's nothing." Sans said with a shrug, causing both Light and Kira's mouths to drop open. "Cause nothing's going to happen now. On your next turn you'll kill me. So… I'm not going to let it be your turn."
Light blinked several times, before she burst out in laughter. That was an unbelievably brilliant plan and it was just so… Sans. His final move was to do literally nothing. She couldn't believe no one else had ever thought of it.
When she finally got her laughter under control, Sans had fallen asleep from exhaustion. She smiled softly, before turning to mock Kira on the situation he was in. But, just as she was about to open her mouth, her words stuck in her throat. The FIGHT button was slowly beginning to materialise, while the white of Kira's eyes turned black. Was he… willing it into existence?
The realisation hit her like a bucket of ice water. He was going to make it his turn. He was going to attack Sans while he was asleep. He was going to force a win.
No.
The moment Kira moved, Light was also moving. She didn't think, she didn't question, she didn't fear. She just acted. This wasn't what she wanted. She didn't want him to win. She didn't want whatever Sans had seen to come to pass. Sans, the laziest bag of bones in the Underground, had been working himself to the bone to stop him. But, he was her brother, so shouldn't it be her job? She wouldn't let Kira win.
She was DETERMINED to make sure he wouldn't.
The sound of steel meeting flesh and bone echoed throughout the hall, while blood slpattered the floor. Sans stared, wide eyed, at the teenaged human girl in front of him. Not two seconds ago, she had been poised to slash at him with the knife in her hand. Now she stood on shaky legs, that very same knife now plunged into her chest. Her head was lowered in a way that hid her eyes beneath her hair, and her hands were covered in her own blood. But, he could see a small, relieved smile on her lips.
Slowly, she lifted her head to look at him. Her eyes were different, instead of the blood red of a few moments ago, they were now a soft golden brown. She coughed, red blood poured from her mouth, dripping down her chin, but her smile didn't falter. She tipped forward and Sans lurched to catch her. Looking down at her, he could only come up with one explanation.
"You're not the kid I was fighting earlier… are you?"
Her smile grew. "No. Sorry about him… He's a dick."
'Him'… did that mean that… this was the real human, and the other one was… something else?
"Well… Seems to me, he won't be bothering anyone anymore," He tried to joke.
She tried to laugh only to cough up more blood. Sans frowned, looking down at her. He wondered how things would have gone if this girl had been the one calling the shots. She seemed sweet…
"Hey, I don't suppose you have that power the other one was using, do you?"
She raised a curious and confused eyebrow at him.
He smiled. "Well… I think it might be worth using it… just this once. I think I'd like to get to know this kid, rather than the dick."
Her eyes widened in surprise, before she gave a teary smile. Giving a small nod, her SOUL lifted up into the air above her chest, emitting a bright red glow that spread to envelop the entire hall.
"See you soon… kid."
White snow crunched under foot as Light walked down the path away from the Ruins. What remained of her old school jacket had been shoved into her shoulder bag, and she was now wearing a woollen jumper that she'd found in the wardrobe in Toriel's house. It was blue with two hot pink stripes. Not exactly her pick for colours, but it was the only one that fit and her jacket was a write off.
Chara hovered along beside her grinning from ear to ear. Light had been very surprised to find out that Kira wasn't the only ghost that had been attached to her. But, she wasn't complaining, she'd take Chara's compony over Kira's any day.
She stopped walking as she reached the wooden bridge and gate. Small smile on her face, she counted down silently in her head.
"Hey, human… Don't you know how to greet a new pall?"
"As a matter of fact," Light retorted, smiling. "I do."
Turning around, she grasped Sans' hand in her own, allowing the sound of the small whoopy-cushion to echo around them. They grinned at each other.
"I'm Light."
"'Light', huh?" Sans grinned. "Well, it's nice to finally meet you, Light."
