Disclaimer: I do not own Undertale.
Iterations
Promise
Sans knew he was back at the beginning when he woke. After so many resets, it had become something ingrained within him. He listened to Papyrus call out the same goodbye that he always did on the first day of the cycle. At the slamming of the door, he rolled out of bed. He was, once again, glad that memories he retrieved – that is, the ones from previous iterations that he triggered to come back – seemed to stay permanently. If he had to trigger all of them every time, he was sure he would have gone insane long ago. He pulled out the black box and took stock of what seemed new.
A black hoodie and a tape. He knew he always updated the notebook.
"tape then notebook," he decided. He left the hoodie with the post-it note labeled "Frisk" inside the box.
He opted to go into his lab to watch it, not wanting to risk Papyrus seeing it if he returned early. Sliding the tape into the player, he could feel dread settling in his bones. This would not be pleasant.
Death by electric chair.
He had watched her die before. Multiple times, in fact. Repeated iterations made it unavoidable. But this immediately became his least favorite way to see her die. The way she convulsed, the erratic motion so wrong when contrasted with the abrupt stillness that followed. He hated the panic that widened her eyes when the straps snapped on, keeping her in place. He hated that she knew what was going to happen immediately, even if she had never gotten this ending before. The way her face went blank with resignation. How she knew that he was watching. The apologetic look in her eyes as she looked straight at the camera and mouthed 'Sorry.'
The rest of the MTT episode was nothing but a screen that read: 'Technical Difficulties, Please Stand By."
He did not need to read the notebook to know how he had reacted. He knew himself well enough. But even knowing that he had taken care of it last time around, he was still angry.
He threw the TV across the room instead of hurting friends who had done nothing wrong this time.
Then, he left.
He had a promise to keep.
Sans stood leaning against a tree, hands in pockets. His eye-sockets were dark, a skeleton's way of shutting their eyes. It was always quiet near the door. No monsters ever went this far. But he was waiting. Listening.
The door to the Ruins opened.
He did not turn, did not lift a finger, did not even look.
Magic flared. A cry of outrage and agony. Then silence.
There were no shortcuts this run. He took the long way home. He did not skip a single step on their stairs. He made his bed and plopped face-down onto it.
The world reset.
The only guarantee that she had been able to give him was that it would not be her the first loop after her death. He was not optimistic this run either.
Watching the door open, he was right.
Things were not right in this one either.
Or this one.
It was like being in a loop inside of the normal loop.
Wake up to Papyrus yelling at him from downstairs. Get out of bed. Wait in front of the door to the Ruins. The door opens. Dust on clothes. Magic. Red blood on white snow. Over and over again.
His journal entries had always been succinct, but he had not needed to turn the page in a while now. He had not needed to write a single word. The current page read 'Bad Run.' The rest of the page was tally marks, groups of twenty circled to make them easier to count at a glance.
Eighty.
He had never felt so tired. His skull was pounding and his whole body trembled. Even though he 'woke up' at the beginning of each reset, he had not actually slept. Marathoning all these iterations was starting to get to him. He glanced at the clock. He really needed to get up. Papyrus had left about an hour ago. He was wasting time. At this point he was not sure what took more out of him, the magic of using a shortcut or walking the whole way over.
He had barely been there a full minute when the door opened. It came at him immediately with a knife.
It never reached him.
Ninety-seven.
The second he found himself looking up at his bedroom ceiling again he teleported, wasting no time. Everything was sore. He had some time before its arrival. It took time to exterminate all the monsters in an area, no matter how many times it had done it before. He waited.
Sans fell asleep. Right in his defensive position in front of the door.
The door opened.
Sans did not wake up.
Ninety-eight.
Apparently, being dead was about as restful as actual sleep. Physically, at least. Emotionally, he was absolutely furious. It did not escape him that his being dead from the onset meant bad times for everyone else. And it still reset. It was playing with him.
Whatever. He was ready to go this time.
By the time he reached the door, it was already there. It was leaning against the door, causally twirling a knife in its hands. Though there was no visible dust upon its figure, it was obvious that it was not Frisk. The wide smile and happy flushed face as it looked down at the knife was evidence enough. It was striking how easy it was to tell them apart though they used the same body. It stood tall, confident in a way that Frisk was not. There was an inherent grace in its movements, like the predator it was. The cruel smile it gave as it turned to look at him looked wrong on her face. It only made him angrier.
"Sans," it greeted with a nod.
"demon," he greeted back.
The corners of its lips curled up more. "How rude. You know my name."
"the kid said not to use it. i'm inclined to follow her advice."
It laughed. "But I'm already here."
His left eye went blue and its red soul was pulled from its body as the battle scene settled around them. "well, i'm not giving you a reason to stay."
Chara → [Fight] Miss
"She's not coming back, you know?"
Sans → [Fight] Miss
It had dodged his initial attack almost easily. He hated that he was predictable.
Chara → [Fight] Miss
"You've noticed it, haven't you? She's never been gone this long."
It giggled as his gaze turned furious.
Sans → [Fight]
A bone ripped through its left wrist. Black vein-like marks spread throughout its arm as the poison took effect. It hissed in pain.
"y'know, i like it much better when i kill you straight outta the gate. this turn-based stuff takes so much time."
He was gratified to see the flash of anger in its eyes before its cheery disposition returned.
Chara → [Item] → [Monster Candy]
It watched with satisfaction as the wound closed up.
"I'm innocent this time around, too. At this point, anyway. Pure as the snow we're standing on."
It twirled around, showcasing the lack of dust.
"I didn't kill a single monster in the Ruins. I even made sure to slip past the old woman without her noticing. I wanted you to be the first to die."
Sans → [Fight]
It dodged the first three GasterBlasters but the fourth did not miss. It burned through its shirt sleeve and the side of its pants, the skin underneath bubbling.
"speaking of killing me, don't you know it's rude to kill a guy when he's sleeping?"
Chara → [Act] [Spider Donut]
Its smile wavered for a moment. "Forget rude. It's unsatisfying. So I came back just for you. Of course, I finished everything properly first. Or should I say that I finished everyone off properly first?"
Sans → [Fight] Miss
He clenched his fist impatiently as his turn ended.
Chara → [Fight] Miss
"Your brother was the best though. I didn't even try to hide my knife. But he stood there, trembling in fear, arms outstretched to offer me a hug. A hug of all things! Too dumb to live."
Sans → [Fight]
He sent it flying into the trees. The sound of bones breaking was immensely satisfying.
Chara → [Item] → [Monster Candy]
"He kept insisting that I could be a better person. He told me that he would teach me how. He talked about you too, before he died. Said that you would both be my friends. I wonder what he would have said if I told him you were dead. Maybe I should have told him that I killed you. I would have like to wipe the smile off his face just once."
He pulled his hands out of his pockets. He was ending this during his next turn.
Ninety-nine.
Sans woke up again and sighed. Killing it repeatedly was not enough and waiting did not seem to be a viable strategy anymore either. It had been right. She had never been away so long before. Something had to have gone wrong. He needed to get more information.
He would need to break his promise to Frisk.
He would make this iteration count.
A/N: Just a few bad runs. Mostly a transition chapter. The next one will have more substance. Hope you're all still with me.
Thanks for reading.
Until next time friendlies,
Dfsemina