A Tale of Consequences
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Chapter 3
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Sans sat with his back to the glass. It was cold even through the bulk of his hoodie. It seemed to settle deep in his bones, threatening to rattle them from the chill alone.
Was it really the glass though? Could it be the thing inside?
Hey…my brother's always wanted to catch a human… could you…you know…pretend to be one?
He'd known something was off even back then-why hadn't he done something then?-but…he'd hoped…
Papyrus' belief was infectious. He'd been convinced they just had to show to human another way. He'd had to try. To give them a chance. Give that future a chance, even as some part of his mind recoiled at the number of chances he must have given.
Alphys had it easy. She could look at the terrors of the now. She could point at the recordings of Pap—Undyne's battle and Mettaton's sacrifice and feel nothing but fear and loathing for the thing trapped behind the glass. She rightly didn't want them here. This lab held enough ghosts for her, and that wasn't counting the amalgamations that stalked the halls.
I feel like we could have been really good friends kiddo. Once.
Facing him across from the judgement hall. Bloodshot eyes and a manic smile, and the distinct feeling that he knew exactly how many times they'd done this before.
His internal counter was up to 28. Damn kid must have saved after his failed mercy attack. Couldn't even let him live down one little mistake.
He'd felt like he'd been there before. Standing there with the kid's glassy brown eyes staring up at him. It was the expression of someone who wanted to die. Fingers of bone as well as magic had closed around the faded red soul for the moment before teleporting, a shock shooting through him.
That was different.
It was an ache in his bones that still hadn't gone away. It pulsed like a beacon, stirring at his magic. A warmth to his back. One he wasn't quite sure if it was a comforting candle or a dangerous inferno. Probably both.
The monitor blipped. Sans didn't need the indication, but his eyes followed it anyway toward the wavering heart shape on the screen. It was a bright red that he knew didn't reflect reality. If he turned and looked, if he pulled the soul from the human's chest, it would be the same off-colored pink ever since he'd knocked out-wait...they'd fainted hadn't they? It got fuzzy there. Frowning, Sans checked the monitor again. The human's vitals seemed stable, at least he'd managed to remember the half dozen commands Alphys had used to activate the healing aura. He had a sneaking suspicion if he'd been much slower they'd be back in the judgement hall again.
Despite the weak numbers, he could feel it. The soul's presence was a cold burn at his back. It shouldn't be possible. He shouldn't have been able to reach it.
Sans was used to weird things happening around him. He would take it and roll with it like he always did.
Sans raised a hand. The magic burned in his left eye, his vision darkening as the other eyelight winked out. He reached for the soul he could feel behind him.
"Time to get up."
He dragged the soul forward, watching the red take on a blue tinge on the square monitor. He kept his hold on the human's soul, barely even noticing a struggle. Where before, they'd been able to shake off his grip after a turn through sheer force of will, now he held them there with ease.
Sans slowly stood up, turning to face the human, one hand still raised, directing the magic tethers holding the human in place. He saw them flinch. Turning their head away. Sans couldn't help the wry laughter. "What? Don't have the guts to look at me? Even after I got you all healed up and everything?"
Not that it had been easy to convince Alphys to show him how it all worked...
They flinched again. Fists clenched at their side. Out of the corner of his eye Sans noticed the monitor blip. The soul gaining a red tint. It warred with the blue, before his hold snapped and the human slumped to the floor. Sans whistled, shaking his hand as if it stung, "Gotta hand it to you kid, I didn't think you had it in you. Guess there's some fight left to you, huh?"
The human said nothing.
"What? Cat got your tongue?" Sans eased both hands into his hoodie. Slouching. "C'mon. Talk to me kid. Don't you know how to greet an old pal?"
That got their attention. He could feel it by the way their soul wavered. Positively bone-chilling. It sent a shiver up his spine. The magic had been broken, but he could still feel it. Close enough if he just wanted to...
"I guess we aren't really pals now, are we?" Sans mused aloud, "Too much bad blood between us for that. I'm not my bro."
Silence. Sans let out a sigh. Withdrawing a hand and snapping his thumb and forefinger again. The human's soul materialized, a light pink ghostly heart hovering above their limp body.
Ping!
His magic flared and the heart tinged blue. He could feel the human's will rise. The red bleeding in as they fought back, but Sans didn't give them a chance. He crooked his finger and the human slammed into the glass, letting out an unintentional cry of pain.
"Pap believed in you until the end, you know. He always did, even as you stabbed your little knife into his chest." Sans continued conversationally, stunning the human against the glass with a flick of his hand every time they looked like they were trying to break his hold. "I wanted to believe in him, if nothing else. You have no idea how hard I wanted to believe that you could be a good person. Or at the very least make a good decision. I have dreams of following him out into the snow. Of watching it. Of kneeling down and finding his dust covered scarf that you left behind without even a backwards glance. I couldn't find it this time, you know. The snow had buried it."
Nothing. But he could feel the fight bleeding out of them again. He didn't know what he was expecting. Maybe he wasn't expecting anything. Numb. Maybe manic laughter. Pitiful pleading. To break down into tears... Not this…stony silence. Not the blackness of despair building in those eyes.
With a rattling breath to steady himself he pushed forwards.
"You're wondering why I don't just kill you, eh? Alphys asked me the same thing." Sans relaxed his grip, settling the human's feet on the floor, but just that. He kept his tethers on the soul, keeping the human from collapsing inward on themselves again. "By all rights I should just take your soul to the king. Yeah the underground is devastated thanks to your little killing spree, but Alphys and I managed to get enough people into hiding that we aren't entirely wiped out. 7 human souls. That's what's needed to open the barrier. Even with your little hopeless act, you still have a stronger soul than a monster. You could break my magic if you really wanted to. It would work." Sans slipped his hand back into his hoodie jacket, the human wobbling, but staying on their feet.
"Wanna know why, kid?"
The human, who had been staring at the floor this entire time, looked up. Waiting. And then closed their eyes fully.
"You could end this all by going back. But you don't. You won't. I'm dead tired of you screwing with timelines, but this world you created isn't one I want to be the last, capice?"
The human took a shaking breath. And then another. And another.
Sans sighed, shrugging, "What d'ya say you do your thing, and we get on with our lives?"
"I wouldn't be able to…stop… next time…"
"You mentioned that before." Sans drawled lazily, he couldn't remember it, but it felt right. Just like the human's voice. Something shivered in their soul, trembling in his magic's grasp, but not fighting. Not yet.. He glanced down at his hand, flexing and cracking the delicate bones. He hadn't done this much magic...well...since…
Since…
A yawning pit opened in his memories, grasping at memories that weren't there.
Sans suddenly felt tired. He wouldn't even get to sleep for a week to fix it either. One way or another, he'd be thrown back into this hell.
"I tried...to stop. Many times." The human didn't seem to mind when Sans sank to the floor, arranging his legs into a cross-legged position. They were still staring at their...hands? Small fists were shaking. Opening. Closing.
Lost in the blinding snow, shivering not from the wind cutting through his hoodie, but from the dread that resonated in his soul. Papyrus had gone out to face the human.
"I...reset. Again. And Again. And again." They were trembling. "And again...and again...and again…"
"Breathe kid."
The human froze, shaking themselves.
"Dust…" They said at last. Voice croaking. "A-always...d-dust…A-and I'd be further. S-someone else d-dead."
Sans was looking for it now. He noticed the second it changed. The human threw their head back to laugh, eyes glittering with a demonic glee. The soul suddenly burned a dark red, shading to black, itching to start a fight despite the thick glass between them. Even without a weapon.
Sans used the last seconds before his grip broke and slammed the body into the ground. Stunning the human and holding them there. He steeled himself-sometimes he was thankful for his smile. It made it easier to bluff. "Well, well. Looks like the megalomaniac decided to come out to play. Man, I was starting to enjoy the sane human."
"I know what you want~" The words were almost sing songed amidst the giggles. The human rolled onto their back, staring up at him through the tinted glass. Thier smile was wide, slitting the formerly melancholic face in a manic grin. Almost as if someone had taken a knife and drawn it jaggedly across it.
"I'm not surprised. I haven't been particularly vague about it." Magic burned in his left eye, even as beads of sweat began to tickle his skull. He seriously needed a nap. Or twelve.
"They can't help you." Sans was sure that was supposed to be a sweet smile. It was just chilling. "Even if they give up their game, it won't stop. They've had their ending. I could give you what you want. But why would I?" They giggled. "It's my turn. It's only fair, isn't it? "
"Hey, I've got a question for ya."
The confusion on the not-child's face was hysterical. They'd obviously expected something different.
"Do you think even the worst person can change?"
"You've asked me that already."
"Did I?" Sans shrugged, "Did you ever give me an answer?"
With a chilling scream the child smashed into the glass before him, small fists pounding again and again into the steadily weakening glass. The part of him that had once been a scientist was fascinated, such strength from such a small body. The rest of him scoffed at that and snagged the human by the soul and smashed them against the ground. And then the ceiling. And the ground again.
"Point taken."
The soul cracked. Sans felt it this time, a sharp pain knifing through his ribcage.
"If we're really friends…Don't…"
He trailed off. Blinking at the golden light spilling through the stained windows, coloring the tiles red and hiding the stain spreading before him.
The translucent soul floated above the human's chest, pulsing erratically. Dark red, almost black. Shading down to light pink, almost grey. And back. And forth. Black. Pink.
A heartbeat rattled his bones, echoing in his skull. It pulsed in time with the erratic soul.
Skeletons didn't have hearts.
29. The thought drifted to him. 29 times.
He reached down grabbed the child's arm, flinching as his fingerbones came away red with blood.
"Kid. C'mon. I've got a bone to pick with you."
Pained brown eyes creaked open. Good, he hadn't lost them yet. Somehow he knew he didn't have much time before they passed out.
"Why now?" The scene almost seemed routine now. They'd done THIS before. He knew it. This very moment. "Of all the places to reload...why here?"
Their breathing was harsh. They didn't respond, and Sans almost worried that they'd faint from bloodloss.
"...game over…"
He went rigid, his fingers digging into the blood-covered sleeve. They flinched.
"...is this just a game to you?" The gold and red light filling the judgement hall dimmed as his eye-lights darkened. "Was it all just a game?"
"No…" they were struggling to speak. The arm in his grip trembled. "but it's a rule. Game over is my choice."
Suddenly their expression shifted, and they doubled over. Curling up. Sans was reaching for a shortcut before he noticed the black cracks spreading through the lighter soul. The now familiar cold fire shuddered, stuttering. Sans didn't need a monitor to know their already depleted HP was steadily draining away like the sluggish blood on the tile floor.
"...c-continue…"
"Don't talk." He snapped, calculating the map values for the intensive care unit instead of the containment cell. Both had some measure of green magic to sustain the occupant, but soul damage was beyond the specs for the latter. Something nagged at him. This was wrong. Too soon. Normally he had more time.
"Or r-res-t."
It splintered with a gasp. The cracks burning bright as it tried to hold together. The kid's mouth tried to move, but they hacked instead, words and intention caught and garbled as if something else had a hand to their throat.
"S-s-st-p-" The kid didn't listen. Were those even words? "P-pr-om-i-s-"
Cyan light engulfed them both, and Sans stepped into the void.
The soul shattered, red shards crumbling in his palm.
"If we're really…"
30.
He didn't even continue the thought.
This time, Sans remembered.
He stared down at the dying child. Their expression wasn't worth describing.
...he was just so tired. His limbs felt like lead, weighing him down even as he mechanically reached for the human. The child was out cold, the stress of the reload completely knocking them out.
Was this how they felt every time?
He didn't waste time trying to talk this time, taking them straight to the containment cell and getting them under the observation of the monitoring equipment. His hands mechanically navigated the unfamiliar-familiar machine, activating the magical aura and monitoring systems like he had seen Alphys do. Like he'd done. Every other time. Routine.
Just the same.
He kept an eyesocket on the soul. No sign of those black cracks. The sense of the fire was weak, but steady.
Something had been different.
Something had tried to stop the kid from talking.
A brilliant red soul, flashing between pink and black.
Black cracks.
My choice.
...This time…
Cracked glass spiderwebbed through his mind.
Was there any way to break the loop?
Was it even worth it to try?
Were they doomed to end up back in the judgement hall forever?
Maybe he should have let them kill him. At least then he wouldn't have to deal with this.
