a/n: sorry for the late update, been in a bad place lately but I've finished this chapter finally. it's angst heavy, and trigger warning for panic attacks.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this…"
"and if either of us die due to this, that's just the way it is. the world will go on."
Frisk blinked harshly, trying to keep back the onslaught of emotion threatening to pour out. "That's why I have to do this."
Sans didn't even have time to turn his eyes black again before he quickly said, "don't you dare. DON'T YOU DARE—!"

But they had already disappeared.

Sans teleported back into the CORE, making a beeline straight for the timeline observation screens. Gaster was already there, a look of mild surprise on his face.

"Sans, have you seen—"

"the kid's screwing with the timeline again," Sans interrupted him urgently, jabbing a finger towards the screens and ignoring Gaster's stunned expression, "keep an eye socket on it."

Gaster cleared his throat and rectified his posture, "I have. There has been huge fluctuations in our timeline, I'm unsure of what at this moment."

"is it in danger of corrupting?"

"No, the changes seem to be logical to the timeline. Or at least, the human apparently knows what they're doing."

Sans forced his rigid limbs to relax. "one wrong move and this entire timeline is corrupt," he fiddled with his fingers in anxiety, "they'll reset, everyone gets stuck down here again. and you…"

Gaster turned his attention towards him, narrowing his eyes in interest.

"you'll go back to being non-existent. or go back to your own timeline, at least."

There was a long staring contest between the two skeletons. "Indeed."

don't screw this up, kid. don't screw this up. please.

Gaster watched Sans carefully and raised his chin in curiosity, "And why has the human done this?"

Sans slumped his shoulders, "their burns are still coming back. had to heal 'em. they didn't want to keep going like this, i guess."

Gaster exhaled harshly, but approached the smaller skeleton, "And does your wound require healing?" his right eye glowed orange in preparation. Sans turned away.

"nah, not right now. need to keep an eye on the timeline."

The orange glow dissipated, but Gaster watched him wearily. "You require healing daily to avoid your condition deteriorating."

"not now, G," Sans insisted, keeping a firm eye on the screen. The readings were fluctuating rapidly. Almost the same as they always were minutes before the timeline was reset—except nothing was happening. It was odd situation to experience.

Suddenly, to his right, there was a hissing sound. Sans spun around to face the sound urgently, a white glow emitting from the corner of the room. It was growing rapidly, encompassing more and more of the room every second.

"oh boy."

Gaster was apparently unalarmed by the growing fog and remained at his post, "The changes are becoming out of control. Distortions left and right. I haven't seen anything like it."

Sans kept his eye on the white light, wary of how it was beginning to catch up to the other scientist. "you had better back off now, G, we don't know what that'll do to you."

Gaster turned his attention towards the light and glared at it as if it was his worst enemy. The light surrounded the majority of the room, beginning to encompass his feet.

"Gaster! get the hell away from there!" while Gaster seemingly wanted to challenge it, Sans stepped forward and grabbed his arm, only for it to encompass both of them rapidly.

Everything went white.

…

…

"huh."

Either he was staring into the light, or it was the ceiling. And it couldn't be the ceiling because Gaster's lab didn't have a white ceiling, and he was just inside aforementioned lab, so…

Sans scrunched his eyes shut, groaning through tired teeth. Perhaps going back to sleep was a better idea. This blackness felt much better than the white light he had been staring into the past 10 years. It was so…bright…so…so…light…and…

"Sans?"

He opened his eyes unwillingly, seeing Gaster's face looming over him. Shutting his eyes again, he smirked. "so you ain't dead yet. cool."

…silence…

"I am surprised too. I had accepted my fate when the light began surrounding me."

Sans grunted in response, remaining half-asleep on what he assumed was the floor.

"The timeline is intact, at least."

…oh.

"where's the kid?" his eyes shot open in realisation, "how long have i been out?"

"The human?"

At that moment, a melodic ringing was coming from Sans' coat. From the floor, he grunted and pulled the phone out his pocket. "yeah, hold on a sec." he checked the screen, "huh, it's tori,"

Gaster raised his eyebrows at him but gestured for him to answer it.

"hey tori," Sans mumbled, making no effort to move despite Gaster still staring disappointedly at him, and eventually walking off, "what's—what—" he was cut off by loud panicked babbling on the phone.

"Oh, Sans!" Toriel's strained worried voice came through the speaker, "Frisk has just ran into our house in tears! They ran up into their room and won't speak to me, but I can hear them crying! What has happened? Is it something to do with you—? I mean, do you know why—"

damn it, kid. what have you done now?

"yeah, I know what you meant. i'll be right there,"

"Alright, but perhaps you should wait another—"

Whoosh.

"so, where are they?"

Toriel jumped in surprise, "Sans! Don't do that!" the small skeleton simply grinned sheepishly at her; using his powers was probably gonna cause a problem in the future, "We already talked about this!"

He shrugged, "seemed important. so, where's the kid?"

Toriel sighed in resignation, "They're in their room still…but I don't think they're in a state to-"

"nah, it's fine," Sans shrugged her off and made his way up the stairs. Whatever the kid had done to the timeline, must've been pretty bad considering the all-encompassing white light.

Knock knock knock.

There was a subtle sniff, but then a voice that tried to be stern, "Go away mom, I said I didn't want to talk."

Sans ran a hand over his face, "yeah, no, it's me. lemme in."

There was a deafening silence, and for a moment Sans was beginning to think the kid was just gonna leave him standing there. Well, at least he wasn't on the floor anymore.

To his surprise, the door opened slightly with no further argument, the gap small enough so that only the kid's flushed face peaked through.

"What is it?"

He clenched his jaw, "you know why I'm here." The kid looked crestfallen.

"I…" they took a deep breath, "I don't want to talk about it. Just leave me alone."

Sans snorted, "either you tell me now or i come in there by force. i know you've done something and you're not getting away with 'i don't feel up to it'."

Frisk's eyes widened slightly in panic, "Okay, okay! Don't blow the door off its hinges, jeez," they opened the door wider so Sans could walk in, then immediately closed it.

Turning around, Frisk swallowed hard when turning to face Sans, who was just standing against the wall with his arms crossed.

"Um…"

"so? start talking."

Frisk took a moment to prepare herself for an explanation, eyes dropping to the ground and refusing to meet Sans' eerie gaze.

"Okay, well, firstly, just know I was trying to fix things, okay?"

"go on."

Frisk bit at their lips and tried to think of how to explain, "Well…I…tried to…improve it...so…I just...changed some things…and…well…I tried…but…"

"but?"

"I wanted to fix the wound things first, but…I was worried I would mess it up and make it worse or corrupt the timeline and…I don't know…I needed to find out why it happened…but…"

"just get to the point, kid."

"I…made a backup…a clone…but…I…I saw…" Frisk froze, eyes wide as if reliving a traumatic memory.

Sans unfolded his arms in tension. "kid? Frisk?"

Frisk burst into tears again, "I tried to fix it! Really! I wasn't going to do anything bad but, once I copied it, I saw…well…now the old one is gone…and…and…I can't…I lost…I can't do it anymore."

Sans sighed patiently, "well, you don't have to finish the story right now—"

"No! No, that's not what I meant, I mean…I can't…don't have control anymore," they took a deep breath after getting the confession out, "I can't save or reload or edit anything. I'm…stuck here now. I can't do anything. I can't fix it anymore."

Inwardly, Sans was trying to hold back the overwhelming sensation of relief that the kid lost their powers.

Did this mean…they can't reset anymore?

No more resets…no more timelines?

So…

"this is it?"

Frisk nodded, thankful that Sans bypassed the mentioned of what they saw, "This is it…"

There was a sour expression on Sans' face, "so, this is a new timeline, huh?"

Frisk nodded sadly, "Sorry…it was only meant to be backup in case I corrupted it but someo—but the original was destroyed and this is the new one."

Sans forced a shaky exhale, but was also somewhat relieved, "well, it wasn't a reset. we're still here, aren't we?" he gestured towards the window, and the view of the garden and blue sky that complimented it, "we're still on the surface. just picking up where we've left off. or at least I hope," the pupils in his eyes disappeared to emphasize his point.

Frisk gulped and looked away.

Another long-stretching silence passed the moments by, before the sound of Sans' sighing heavily broke the tension.

"look, kid, i guess this is kinda positive in a way. don't have to worry 'bout you resetting anymore, right?"

Frisk forced a fake smile and nodded, "Yeah…right."

He narrowed his eyes, "there something you ain't telling me?"

Frisk shook their head rapidly. Too rapidly. Their stomach was tied up in knots, clutching at it and sweating profusely. Anxiety was crippling them.

"hmm," he stared at them, noting the vacant expression in their eyes, hands trembling… "you're a real bad liar."

In return Frisk could only offer a nervous smile and hope it was enough to convince Sans to leave them alone. They didn't want to press into it.

Frisk pressed their palms into the trousers to expel some of the nervous tension building up and starting edging away. "I need to go now," they said with as much certainty as they could muster. "I'll come back later, I swear," and with that they turned and ran, hurling open the door and sprinting down the stairs.

Sans could only watch with a deep frown on his face.

"welp," he pulled out his phone and swiftly called Papyrus' number with ease, practically having memorized it. Of course, it didn't take long to get a reply.

"Sans! Brother! I just had the weirdest dream!" it was like his bro was watching his phone, waiting for it to ring. He probably was.

"yea, i think we all had the same 'dream'. just checking to make sure you're ok."

"Of course I'm okay! I'm always okay! I was just watching the television with Undyne! They have a show about brutally destroying people with large bouncy apparatus! Humans are savage!"

Sans snorted, "i think you mean an obstacle course, bro. humans like shows like that. competition and prizes or something. they're not broadcasting a mass murder."

"It's very interesting! Undyne and I were thinking of making our own human destroying course like on TV!"

"got bored of the royal guard already?"

"No! I am a multitasking skeleton! And my priorities! Are! With! Guarding…?"

He grinned, "…that's great, pap…anyways gotta go, have fun."

"Goodbye brother!"

Sans hung up the phone and sighed. He thanked whatever deity was out there that he didn't have to live through another reset. Everyone was happy, and everyone was here.

Frisk vacantly stared off into space, sagging back in Toriel's armchair away from everyone else.

"We should totally have our own television show, I would be the perfect fitness instructor! NGAHH!" Undyne jumped down into a crouched pose and showed off her scaly non-existent muscles with an arm flex.

"Well…that sounds great, but what would I do? The great Papyrus needs screen time too!"

"Uh…" Undyne rose up straight again, "You can be my…uh…cooking…assistant…yeah."

"Yes! Then everyone around the world will know how great my skills are! I will be world renowned! All thanks to your fitness television show!"

Frisk blinked nonchalantly at the 2 figures running around in front of the telly. They completely forgot what they were even watching, their eyes lost in a gaze loosely focused on the edge of the screen.

I really don't want to be here right now. But if I go upstairs, I'll be forced to talk to Sans.

He's probably standing there, waiting for me. Well too bad, I'm staying here.

"What'ya think, kid?"

Frisk startled and gaped up at Undyne, not listening to what she was saying, "Uh…" uneasily, they offered two thumbs up and a fake smile.

"Nice! So then we can…."

Frisk stopped listening again. Their eyelids felt heavy, body fatigued and feeling hollowed out, unwilling to move. They were quite comfortable to just sit there and do nothing.

Time seemed to slow down as their eyes began drifting.

Before they could shut, Frisk's eyes shot open at the image they thought they saw on the TV. Heart pounding, Frisk inhaled sharply and tried to focus on the telly again.

But it was nothing. Just another stupid reality show Papyrus was watching.

Their shoulders dropped in relief, although now they were tense and their guard was up. The voices of their friends became drowned out in comparison to the intense focus Frisk had on the TV, not daring to look away.

After a solid five minutes of staring, Frisk quickly looked towards the porch door and back again.

No scary image on the TV.

Then, for good measure, they tried again.

It was still just three people having an interview.

So…it was safe then. Just my imagination.

Now Frisk definitely wasn't planning to go back to their room, fearing being alone with their thoughts.

Why the hell am I so jumpy?

Nothing ever scares me.

I'm supposed to be fearless.

So why…?

Lost in their thoughts for a few seconds—the television flashed vividly among black and white static before going back to video again. Frisk jumped frightened out of the armchair and backed away from the TV, leaving the other two to look at the child perplexed.

Undyne laughed in bemusement, "You look like you've seen a ghost, Frisk!"

Eyes wide, Frisk stared at her, as Undyne's face dropped when she realised the kid was being serious.

Papyrus began searching over the intimidating chair, "Did you see a spider? Is the human afraid of spiders?"

Frisk shook their head and pointed at the television apprehensively, too stunned to speak again.

"What, you're scared of the telly?" Undyne snorted and shoved a spear metres away from the screen, "Didn't Sans just say this is a gameshow? You're a scaredy-cat Frisk!"

Papyrus discovered a grand total of nothing from his chair search party, "I couldn't find any spiders! Were you hallucinating?!"

It was meant as a playful joke, but Frisk felt their eyes suddenly well up and they made a beeline for the door before anyone noticed. Flinging the door open, Frisk ran out but bumped into something hard. And blue. And Sans.

All of a sudden their legs started trembling. They hated themselves for how weak they were being. They spun back around, tears threatening to escape while clenching their fists. But a strong bony hand pulled on their shoulder. "nope. sit down."

Frisk's eyes wasn't sure whether to be looking at the television, looking at Sans, looking for an escape or looking at Undyne and Papyrus. But they sure knew their eyes were rapidly trying to avoid all of them at once. It was getting too much now.

"Human? What's the matter?" Frisk could vaguely hear Papyrus calling out to them but it was too late. Too damn late. Again. This was happening again. The one thing that couldn't be fixed.

Frisk sharply inhaled and stumbled mindlessly over to something solid—a sofa, collapsing onto the seat and hugging pillow cushion, wheezing rapidly into the soft velvet. The sound of the television was no longer exciting music, but now just a high-pitched ringing in their ear. They sobbed into the cushion, no will inside them wanting to control the trembling from their numb arms.

After what felt like minutes of strained whimpering into the pillow, Frisk felt the seat dip.

Don't kill me don't kill me don't kill me don't kill me don't kill me don't kill me don't kill me…

An estranged, separate voice entered their head. Wow, Frisk. I'm disappointed with how weak you really are.

Frisk gagged and threw the pillow across the room, their entire vision a blurry mess, blinking rapidly at the stinging tears in their eyes.

Here you go again. See you on the other side, idiot – a detached but deranged voice chortled in their head.

Their vision became obstructed by two legs that were too close for comfort, blocking view of the television which made them sick with worry more. What if the vision is on TV now and I can't see?

Frisk frantically kicked and screamed relentlessly on the sofa, all rational thought gone from the buzzing and their own heartbeat thrashing in their ears. Frisk vaguely realised the buzzing was actually someone trying to talk to them, but they couldn't make out the words. They were too busy suffocating.

I've never had it this bad before. What the hell is wrong with me!? I'm going crazy! I've finally done it. I've lost it and I've gone crazy. I'm totally getting killed for this.

Suddenly, the world started tipping against their will, the legs disappearing and now all they could see was the ceiling. There was a soft blue light coming from the corner of their eye, forming into tiny wisps that disappeared into the white ceiling. Frisk managed to focus on that, focus on the blue wisps. They focused on it with all their will as they didn't want to focus on anything else.

Soon, Frisk slowly became more aware of their breathing, the ability to control each breath was coming back to them. As the numbness in their extremities faded, they began to feel a hand on their chest that was holding them down, and the buzzing noise in their ears soon formed back into reality. Frisk exhaled a long shaky sigh for the first time in a long time.

"there ya go, buddy," they heard Sans' voice say from the left of them, "there ya go."

Swallowing hard, Frisk pulled their head to the side, noticing Sans and his eye lit up blue, still glowing and forming wisps. Their mind still latched onto it like a lifeline.

"Damn, kid…" Undyne's voice worriedly appeared from the right, "That was one hell of a panic attack. Those becoming more frequent now?"

Frisk wanted to nod yes, but they couldn't find the strength within themselves to do it.

"someone call tori and get her home," Sans said, lifting his hand away now Frisk wasn't violently thrashing around screaming incoherent nonsense.

"I'll do it!" Papyrus piped up, presumably walking away to get his phone.

Frisk forced an exhale again and closed their eyes, glad to hell that episode was over.

To be continued...

:-) oh dear. Frisk is pretty unwell. if onlyyy i didnt keep making them go through hell. oh weellll