"hmm, that expression. That's the expression of someone who's died ten times in a row!" Your expression darkened. You gripped the knife in your hands even tighter. The blood red blade glinted in the light that filtered into this golden corridor. You weren't going to die again. Not to this... comedian.

The skeleton closed his eyes somehow. He always confused you like that. "congrats! that's the big one-oh." You stared at him, eyes unblinking. "we can invite all you friends over, and have pie and hot dogs and-" He paused. "wait, something's not right… oh yeah," All of a sudden, the lights that made up his eye sockets disappeared. Even now, it was jarring. His voice seemed to echo in your head. "you don't have any friends."

At once, you felt the familiar feeling of entering a FIGHT. The world around you faded into black and white. Your SOUL became visible in your chest, its red light shining bright in this darkness. You could feel it swelling with all of the LOVE you had gained. Just a bit more, and you'd be free.

You couldn't hide the smile on your face. You loved to FIGHT.

"it's a beautiful day outside. birds are singing, the flowers are blooming. on days like these, kids like you..."

You realized what was happening at once. Before you could even cry out, a crushing feeling overtook your SOUL. It became blue, and with a wave of the skeleton's arm, you were sent crashing down into the void. Just as you hit the white "ground", you jumped up out of instinct. A row of bones that sprouted up below you, just below your feet. It was amazing how like his brother this skeleton was, right down to their magic. Just not how they used it.

At once, you felt the weight leave your body and possessed free movement again. Just in time to see the path of bones coming from the left. The first one crashed your SOUL, sending astounding pain ripping through your mind. Getting hit in the SOUL always hurt more, but you were used to the pain by now. From there, you flew through the things, avoiding each one nimbly. And from there came the blasters.

That was one thing that was different between Sans and Papyrus.

You went back and forth in the space allotted to you, narrowly dodging the white beams emitted by the skull-like weapons. The heat from floating right by them was searing, but nowhere near as bad as actually being struck by them. Even with your high HP, it was enough to stun and bring it down. But this time, not one landed a single hit. You dodged each and every one with a practiced finesse.

"should be burning in hell."

Your array of options appeared in front of you, the orange light a familiar sight. You immediately pressed your palm against FIGHT, and ran forward. You brought down your knife, as you had done thousands of times. And just like every time before, Sans stepped cleanly out of the way.

He shrugged, that stupid grin still on his face. "What? You thought I was just going to stand there and take it?" No, not at all.

In hindsight, he really was too much like his brother. Despite their difference in work ethic, they both had that same idiotic sense of knowing they could win. It was only a matter of time before they failed. Papyrus (was that his name?) was easy. Even Jerry was more of a challenge than that idiot, if only because the loser had annoyed you more than every other monster.

"our reports showed a massive anomaly in the timespace continuum. timelines stopping and starting left and right…" You tuned him out. You'd heard this speech ten times before. Or was it more? You lost count.

You jumped through the bones Sans sent at you. They were just like his brother's attacks. Only faster. With more rage. That was one thing you liked about Sans. He wasn't too weak to kill when he had to, like almost every other monster here. Even Toriel, your mother tried to keep from hitting you with her flames that first time. She couldn't kill you if she tried. You knew you should have felt something from knowing that, but you felt nothing. So, you went back and tried a different approach to getting some sense of feeling.

You killed her.

Still, you felt nothing. No sadness. No regret. You remembered dying in front of her so well, but you still couldn't summon a single emotion when it came to killing her yourself. But when your LV rose… that got a rise out of the empty void you called a SOUL. It was like being bathed in a warm glow. And Frisk cared less and less, or maybe they got pushed further back. You liked raising your LV. You liked the power that came from it. Nothing could stand against your DETERMINATION. Not Toriel. Not Papyrus. Not Undyne. Not Mettaton. And most of all, not Sans. You could kill them all. You were determined to end them all.

You attacked again. He dodged.

"look, I gave up trying to go back a long time ago," Sans said. When he said that, somehow, you sensed a twinge of sadness. You smiled. Good. He was distracted with his emotions.

He attacked again, sending the bones flying across your vision. You dodged with practiced precision, but even then, a few were bound to hit their mark. More bones tore through your skin. Some even struck your SOUL. When his turn was over, you ripped open the packet of instant noodles you had brought and chomped into the block. They were better dry.

The rest of the attacks faded into a monotony, despite the danger you were in. He continued to speak, and you couldn't help but listen. Why couldn't he just shut up and let you kill him?

"getting to the surface doesn't really appeal to me at all anymore. 'cuz even if we do, we'll just end up right back here, without any memory of it, right? kind of makes it hard to give it my all, you know?"

That stupid grin came back. "or is that just an excuse to be lazy? hell if I know."

Did he know about your power? You didn't have time to consider it before you had to dodge another blast from his weapons. So much for him being the weakest enemy. "But seeing what comes next? I can't afford not to care anymore." Not caring was better in your opinion. The less you cared, the more power you could get. It was easier to kill this way.

At first, you didn't know what to do. You woke up in the ruins again. You thought dying with Asriel was just a bad dream. But the patch of golden flowers under you was new. And so was your body. You were sharing again, but not with Asriel. With Frisk. At first, you had about equal control. But Frisk wanted nothing more than to be peaceful. You wanted to lash out again, especially when that stupid flower showed up. You killed a froggit that time, the first one you saw.

And then you realized killing felt great. Kill or be killed… that was the best philosophy in your opinion. That was something Flowey got right. You'd hve to be sure to kill him when you saw him again. That sab story he told you a few minutes/hours ago just annoyed you all the more.

Suddenly, the tension faded from the room. You looked up at Sans, eyes narrowed. Why had he stopped? This… hadn't happened before. He was sweating, as far as you could tell. He looked nervous. Good.

"ugh... that said, you, uh, really like swinging that thing around, don't you?" You kept your expression blank, as if that was hard. "i know you didn't answer me before, but… somewhere in there, there's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. of someone who would do the right thing." Him uttering that brought Frisk's consciousness back a bit. You were stronger. You could push them back down again. So deep they'd never wake up again.

"someone who, in another timeline, might have even been… a friend?" Sans dropped his defensive stance, becoming more relaxed outwardly. But his face was still dripping with sweat. "c'mon buddy? do you remember me? if you're listening, just lay down your weapon, and… well, my job will be a lot easier." The black void faded away. You were back in the real world.

Sans was sparing you. You flinched.

Frisk was fighting back now. Their consciousness strained against your mental barriers. You grit your teeth and pushed back. "Just stop already! You've lost! You let me kill so much, and now you can't fight back!"

"No! I'm not going to let you kill anyone! Not anymore!" A feeling rose up in your chest, like something was trying to force itself out of your heart itself. Frisk's DETERMINATION to stop you, to save their friends. It was overpowering yours! You pushed back, but it was a futile effort. They were… stronger than you expected.

Your mind, no, theirs. was filled with memories of past runs where you hadn't gained total control, but made them RESET until you could. All the time they spent with their friends, the times they had fun. For the first time, you felt something.

Anger.

"Shut up already! JUST LET ME WIN!"

"Not this time." All of a sudden, you were shoved out of power. Your consciousness fell back and your senses dulled. But no matter how much you fought, Frisk refused to let you back in. Their hand gingerly touched the MERCY button, gone unused for so long. It practically hurt you to see it used.

Sans flinched, taken aback. Frisk dropped the knife, your favorite thing. It clattered against the marble floor loudly in the silence of the corridor. Sans smiled. "... you're sparing me? i know how hard it must be to make that choice. to go back on everything you worked for." Frisk stepped forward, tears in their eyes and a wide smile on their face. "i just want you to know, i won't let it go to waste." He opened his arms for a hug.

"c'mere, pal."

Frisk ran forward, slamming into Sans with a hug. You could feel his large coat brushing up against your skin. It was so puffy. So warm. Just like Asgore and Toriel. Back when they actually loved you. And Asriel too. Maybe… you were wrong to do this?

"Now do the right thing, kid." At once, you felt a sudden pain rip through every part of your body. You hadn't even gone back into the FIGHT and he had summoned bones everywhere. There was nowhere to go. Your body was ripped to shreds. Bones bleached red with your blood filled your fading vision. Everything hurt. Your HP was fading.

You looked up at Sans. His face was covered in sweat, but even more pressing was the fact that his body was fading. Fading into dust. He killed himself to stop you. "hehe. get dunked on."

And right before you, your SOUL shattered.

You were back in what you called the Game Over void. Just like those video games you were never allowed to play. You had died in this game, and you just had to reload to try again. But this time, you hesitated.

For the longest time, you stood in that void, contemplating your options. Frisk stood there and watched. Their DETERMINATION had faded. You had the total control of this situation now. All it took was one thought, and you'd never make that mistake again.

So why were you hesitating? It was so easy! Just one thought and you could RESET. Finish what you started! Why couldn't you? Sans had betrayed you, killed Frisk. You had to get your revenge!

But what did Frisk want? You stared back at them. They were just like you before you died. Quiet, unassuming. But where you were violent from the start, they were peaceful and kind to a fault. You just couldn't understand it. They were better than you in every way. The kind of person the Underground deserved.

You remembered why you had died in the first place. To give everyone a chance to see the sun again. To make up for your every sin. To make some use out of your miserable life. What did killing every monster accomplish? Nothing. Your lack of emotion proved that.

Maybe it was time you let Frisk do things their way.

You reached out to RESET. Frisk smiled.

Okay, so probably not the ending everyone was expecting, but I couldn't help but show a little of the future here. But at least the story didn't end on that last one, right? Man, that would have been depressing. Well, more depressing.

Anyway, keep an eye out for the sequel to this. Consider it the harrowing journey of Chara trying to not explode from the frustration of letting Frisk do their pacifist run. We're in for a good time.