no. god, please, no, not him. Sans felt his legs give out from under him, falling to the ground with a hard thunk as he gazed down at the pile of dust with hollow eyes. "h-hey… paps? come on, this isn't funny… you always say that i'm the lazy bone but look, here you are slacking off…" Sans reached out with shaking fingers, brushing against the only thing left on the ground besides the grey dust.
It was Papyrus's red scarf.
"THIS ISN'T A CAPE, SANS, I TOLD YOU WE HAD TO MAKE A CAPE! A CAPE LOOKS COOLER! THIS IS WAY TOO SHORT TO BE A CAPE… IT'S MORE LIKE A SCARF!"
"exactly paps, you'd look way too cool with that cape on, hehe. come on, this looks awesome too! And you look even more fashionable since it fits the snowy environment like uh, a noble knight traveling through the woods."
"YOU ARE JUST SAYING THAT BECAUSE YOU DON'T WANT TO HAVE TO MAKE ANOTHER CAPE."
"maybe."
"SANS!"
"come on, bro, the party starts in half an hour, you look great."
"….I DO?"
"yeah. you're my super cool brother, after all. since we uh, live in the snow area and not hotlands."
"SANS!"
"oh, come on paps, you're still smiling."
"YOU'RE UNBELIEVABLE."
"no… no... you can't be gone… papyrus…" Sans carefully picked up the red scarf, hating himself as his hands shook and he looked in the direction of the waterfall caves. This was all his fault. The human had been attacking everything, and Sans had seen the signs he knew all too well. So where the hell had he been when that… that monster had killed his brother? Sans had thought, maybe, that since the human knew how he felt, how Sans would not forget this, that that would be a good enough deterrent on its own. Besides, Papyrus was so kind… nobody could hate him. Nobody could hurt him.
but they did.
"it's okay… they'll RESET… papyrus, it'll be okay…" Sans whispered. "i won't let this happen again, okay? j-just.. wait a little bit for me."
But if this monster no longer cared about Sans's opinion… maybe they wouldn't RESET. Maybe this was truly the end. Maybe Sans would never see Papyrus again…
No.
If this filthy brother killer wasn't planning on RESETTING… then Sans would make them RESET. Even if it was the last thing he did.
A blazing blue eye turned in the direction Frisk had gone, eyes narrowing with hatred. They would pay for this. Sans would make sure of it. He would give them one chance to RESET, like Papyrus would have wanted, but that was it. There would be no more MERCY from Sans.
.
"H-hey. S-stay away from me, yo!" The Monster Kid cried out in terror. Frisk shuddered as they heard the terror in the kid's voice, and guilt washed over them.
"You can't let anyone live, Frisk." Chara whispered. "He's in our way. Don't you want a happy ending? Don't you want your freedom back?"
And Frisk knew. They knew all too well, and they were starting to realize that maybe it would have been better to just keep trying to talk to Sans, no matter how many RESETS it took. But it was too late. I'm sorry, Papyrus…
And Frisk swung at the other kid with all of their might, hoping it would be a quick death. They would make sure to treat everyone like they were the most important people in the world after this run, even if that didn't quite atone for what Frisk was doing.
But a flash of blue entered Frisk's vision, and Undyne was suddenly just there, hands outstretched wide as she took the brunt of Frisk's attack.
"Next time, kid… listen to me when I tell you to get out of here, okay?" Undyne said gently, and Frisk could see her struggling to stay standing.
"U-Undyne… you're hurt…because of me…"
"Hurt? It's noting. Get out of here! Go! I'll hold them off," Undyne pressed, struggling to smile. Frisk watched in silence, forcing their face to remain neutral. They knew, just as well as Undyne did, that this battle was already over before it even started. Only Frisk heard the giggle from Chara, and only Frisk knew that once, long ago, Undyne and Frisk had been best friends. That… that was hard to think about now, Frisk thought bitterly.
The Monster Kid, struggling not to cry, turned and fled, and Undyne coughed as her legs started to transform into dust. "Heh… it's nothing, huh? No. Somehow, with j-just one hit… D-damn it… I'm already…" Undyne closed her eyes, her body giving out on her. "Papyrus… Alphys… Asgore… Just like that, I've failed you…."
Frisk turned away, starting to walk forwards as they heard the last of Undyne's breaths, but then Chara suddenly spoke up. "We're not done here, yet, Frisk… make sure she stays dead before you leave!"
"What…?" And Frisk turned, and watched in mute horror as their old best friend rose up again, and faced them, DETERMINATION glinting in her eyes.
And suddenly, she attacked.
.
The battle was long, and harsh, and as Frisk stood looking down at the cup of water in their hand, their dusty face reflecting back up at them, they dropped it, not moving as the water splashed all of their shoes. After a moment they rushed back to the water dispenser, splashing water on their face, on their hands, on their clothes. But the gritty feeling of dust remained even as water ran down their forehead and their clothes became soaking wet.
"Hey." Chara's voice echoed around them, curious. "What's the point of getting wet? You're just going to kill more monsters lately, this won't help."
"They all called me a monster," Frisk whispered. "Undyne was so happy that she saved a few people… they don't know that I'll RESET all of this, Chara. It's… it's awful."
"You're more than halfway done, Frisk. I made sure you survived even those awful attacks, didn't I? You're doing great! You're so strong now, and doesn't it feel amazing?!" Chara laughed, their shrill voice drilling into Frisk's head. "We're unstoppable, Frisk. Nothing can stop us at this point. It's just you and me, and we're going to be able to do whatever we want by the end of this, okay? So just keep going. You can mope all you want later."
"…" And Frisk walked onwards.
It hadn't escaped their attention that they hadn't seen Sans a single time since they had fought Papyrus, though.
.
Frisk wondered about their morals when they arrived to find everyone had once again evacuated. As they scanned the empty corridors, all they felt was a twinge of annoyance that it made it harder to gain Levels among the hollow feelings of regret and sadness that remained with Frisk. Even after this, Frisk was sure that these feelings of regret would never go away.
Chara spoke almost constantly now, laughing at Mettaton's futile sacrifice and the slaughter of the guards, all powerless to stand in Frisk's- in Chara's- in their way. The scariest part of this was Chara's voice wove in and out of Frisk's mind now, responding to their every thought, that Frisk was starting to wonder where Frisk began and Chara ended by now.
And Frisk hated how they had started to depend on Chara for everything. With no one else even talking to them, Chara's compliments whenever Frisk gained another Level was the only kind words Frisk had received in a while. How disgusting, Frisk thought bitterly. To only gain kindness when I kill someone.
"It's not disgusting, Frisk." Chara butted in, and Frisk paused as they stared up at the elevator to Asgore's castle. "This is what you had to do to gain your happy ending. You're already Level 19- no one could stop you now, even if they tried. Not even that stupid flower."
"I thought you and Flowey were friends." Frisk said sadly, and Chara laughed.
"Him? No. He's just a hollow reminder of my failure. He's now in our way, Frisk. If we see him, you know what to do. If we can't rescue him as Asriel this run, then what's the purpose of him, after all? Nothing except EXP. That's it."
Frisk shuddered, and paused before asking the question that had grown in their mind since Toriel's death that Chara had yet to address. "Chara… after this, what do we do after we RESET? Where will you go?"
"You'll see."
"But Chara-"
"You'll see, Frisk. All in good time. Now, I believe that we have one last Level to gain." Chara brushed Frisk's question off, and as Frisk's body started forwards, Frisk grew to realize that their awareness of each of their movements had started to go numb. Frisk could still move their body, but they no longer felt the ground under their feet, no longer were aware of the feeling of dust caked on their clothes.
And as Frisk and Chara donned the beating heart necklace and the sharp knife, and as Frisk's face twisted into a cold smile as Flowey cried out for them to stop, Frisk realized that their body was no longer completely Frisk's anymore.
.
.
.
Determination.
((Thanks for reading! Next chapter, the return of Sans... I've actually already written the aftereffects of the battle, believe it or not, so hopefully I can finish the next chapter quickly! Until next time, please leave a review and follow this story for more content!))