Sickly blurry green walls flashed by as a short skeleton ran down a long hallway in top speed. Everything in this timeline became an obscure mess of confusion, anger, and sadness. Not completely aware as to what to do. Alphys had pleaded for him to find Arial and bring her home safe, but why? The girl had stabbed Undyne without blinking an eye and left the water monster to bleed out. Nothing seemed like the same human-skeleton girl; even the way she talked and treated Frisk was off-putting. Maybe the sweet and shy girl had all been an act. Ten years seemed like a long time to put on an act, why break it now?
Sans yelled in frustration stopping as a hand slammed against the wall causing a few bones to rattle. All these unanswered questions about her were starting to piss him off as much as the resets. The only thing he was sure of was that Arial shared the same skeleton DNA as the brothers and was willing to risk her life to save his soul. Why? It seemed like she had experience with the medical field. He never took her as a scientist; she seemed more like a bookworm, who loved drawing and puns. The rage in his soul softened a bit as he remembered all the bad puns they shared together. Compared to Sans, she was still a novice, a kid. A scared teenager who was suffering from the memories of the past timelines and not knowing how to cope, just like him. Maybe the pressure was finally getting to her. If she kept this up she was going end up just like...
There was no time to waste. The short skeleton had to hurry as pink slippers slid across the floor. The skid noise echo across the tile floor as the body came to halt. White orbs were darting from side to side in his eye sockets as Sans found himself standing in the main lobby of the Royal lab. The blue soul raced in a panic within the rib cage trying to remember which exit lead to MMT Resort and which one to Waterfall. He couldn't just take a shortcut to the Judgment Hall in New Home. What if something terrible happens while he waited there for Frisk and Arial? Shaking the thought away from his mind, the skeleton decides to head towards the left exit. He was determined to stop them before they could get to the MMT building. Those feeling came to a halt when he stopped in front of a shiny metal door. Bones rattling a bit, from a mysterious aura coming from inside. Next to the door was a blue aqua plastic sign on the wall. Printed on the plate was a white silhouette of a dinosaur with words "bathroom" etched under it. There was a burning nagging feeling pulling at his soul as Sans looked back at the door. Both hands placed on the door as he leans in and pushed with all his strength to open it. Nothing happens and there were no doorknobs to pull it open. So what was the point to have a door? His attention went back to the sign hanging on the wall. All the other doors in the laboratory had keypads to get into a room. What if the sign was a ruse? Both hands grab the side of the plastic sign, hearing the sound of velcro ripping apart while slowly pulling the sign off the wall. The surprised skeleton's eyes widened while staring at a small keypad. Without thinking, he started to press in numbers: Seven…Two…Six….Seven. The metal door slid open, revealing a room with orange-yellow checkboard flooring. No, that was not right it was not a room, but a large elevator. It was the same one from his father's memory when his mother…he quickly covered his mouth starting to feel sick to the soul, falling to his knees, and grasping the doorway trying not to curl up into a sobbing mess of blue tears from the shock. The entryway to the secret laboratory was only a fingertip away, but his body wouldn't move an inch. Looking down to find a tiny purple ball of light dancing in his palm before fading away into nothingness. "Ariel…I need to find her," he said wiping away the tears while pulling himself to his feet.
This was not the time to let his father's emotions of the past drench his soul again. Sadly, the True Laboratory had to wait until he could get the anxiety of the past under control. Right now he needed to stop his little sister before she could commit an act of LOVE. With a deep sigh, the doors slide open letting Sans walk outside into the heat of Hotland. The red-orange glow of lava lit up the path as Sans raced down it, hoping with each step he was not too late. The fear strengthen, his feet stopped in front smeared dry red spots on the ground. He touched it with his hand to discover it was dried up already due to the heat, making it hard to tell if it had been blood or paint. Whatever it was, there was a trail that looks like it had no end as the skeleton began to follow it. The smooth ground turned into a rocky path which took him to fork in the road.
In the center of the road was Arial on her knees hunched over in pain as both hands covered the mouth from view. Blood was dripping off her shoulder while her human hand gripped onto a red scarf dangling around the neck. Orange-purple magic swirled around the body.
"Princess?" Sans called out in anguish running towards the girl but stopped in his tracks feeling a dark coldness coming from that direction. The blue soul began to panic behind his ribcage, pleading the body to leave at once. All he could do was to take a few steps back before stopping at the sound of a tiny crunch under his feet. Slowly lifting a slipper up to find a cracked skeleton mask with spots of blood mixed with odd gray dirt.
"Wow, you're late Comedian." A small voice snickered as a child appeared from behind Arial, gripping tightly onto the girl's black hair covered in gray powder. Their rosy cheeks lit up with excitement watching the human-skeleton curl up in pain and cry as purple-orange tears pour down his cheeks. A wicked smile spread across demon child's face, holding up a knife covered in blood. Sans watched in disgust as their tongue licked it cleaned. They know perfectly well the stupid skeleton wouldn't use his magic as long as they were standing next to his sibling. Not when she appeared to be an innocent girl. A high pitch laugh filled the air as a yellow-gray flower poked out from under demon child's striped shirt. Flowey rubbed against their face, as a dark aura beamed from their deep red eyes. "You missed the opening act," the demon child laughed. "But you're on time for the main event." A green vine tossed an object into the air, landing a few inches in front of Sans' slippers.
The skeleton stared down in confusion at a white plastic object that appeared broken. It was covered in light gray dirt. He wiped it with tip of his slipper, but stopped in horror at the sight of a painted red triangle. There was no need for words to explain what he was looking at. He could never forget the one of a kind custom chest armor that he helped make for his little brother. The sweet goofball barely ever took it off even while attending school. Sans groaned in anger as white lights disappeared from his eyes as blue orb burned in the left eye. So why was it here? Looking up he could see wicked smiles spread across the two demon's faces as they head towards him. The only assumption was that the weed had tricked Papyrus to come to Hotland somehow. Why did his young brother have to be so trusting of others? He was such a warm loving monster that didn't deserve….was? Sans pictured the worst "Why?!" He screamed turning the demon child's soul blue.
The child only laughed as they looked over their shoulder at Arial screaming in pain. Sans watched in horror as the raven hair falls from her skull and orange magic peeled away the human flesh leaving nothing, but bone. The short skeleton was speechless, not sure what he was seeing as he pulled the demon child towards him by their soul before looking back at Arial to see large lumps growing on her back under the clothing, twisting under the fabric of the cloth until ripping its way through. The back arched in pain as black feathers darted out, ripping her clothing, forming into a set of black raven colored wings. "What did you do to my siblings?!" He yelled at the wicked child.
"Just ruffed their feathers up a bit," cackling at his own pun "Maybe you should be a good little test subject and check the Witch's power level."
Darkness filled Sans' eye socket as blue fire disappeared from his left eye replaced by rings of blue and yellow. Looking down at the child he could see their hands were covered in blood, but there was no dust on them. Hanging above their head in transparent ghostly letters spelling out the name "Chara-Frisk" with the number one beside it. It's a normal power level for a human soul who never killed anyone. The number should have been higher for someone, who killed and lived hundreds of genocide timelines, but every reset meant a fresh start. His attention slowly drifted over to the tall skeleton creature that was once Arial, who was slowly standing up to her feet. The thing above their head was purple-orange glow displaying the number three, but the name was missing. There was only one conclusion, the girl, no that thing had harmed more than one living creature. Draped around its neck like a trophy, was the same red scarf that belonged to his beloved brother. In a blue flash of a heartbeat, the demon child was dropped onto the ground as Sans flashed in front of the winged skeleton. The blue fire flared out of his eye, glaring at the creature's skull. It was similar to Papyrus' vertical and geometric shaped head, but it had a thinner jawline and smaller teeth. In a strange way, it was almost like Sans was looking at a young version of his mother. This was not his mother; this was a heartless monstrous murder. It may have been wearing dark clothing, but Sans could see a hint of light gray dust on edges of the purple sleeves.
"Sansy!" the creature whispered in a soft female voice as a soft orange light glow from the left eye socket while the right one was bright purple.
Sans groaned in anger at hearing his childhood nickname spoken so casually by this creature that dared call herself family. It was clear to him the orange orb in the eye was proof that Arial had stolen Papyrus' soul. Could it have been her plan all along to take it to become a complete skeleton? With a snap of his bony fingers, two Gaster Blasters were summoned on each side of Sans. Bright lights of blue shined between the teeth waiting patiently for their master to give the order to fire. Deep hatred burned through the blue soul, but he couldn't move to give the order. He could hear soft humming noises as the skeleton girl slowly opened her mouth to sing.
"Nian zhi nian na xiang yu de yi shun jian…Wei ni ba shi kong chuan yue ."
Sans' knees give out under him. There was calm aura drifting around him, urging the skeleton to rest and sleep. He couldn't explain it, but he was starting to feel tired. The Gaster Blasters slowly disappearing as their master's eyes became pitch black sockets. The skeleton could feel his magic depleting as fuzzy warmth whispered to the blue soul. It was the same song that his mother sang to him as a child, but something was odd about it. Between the lyrics, it was like he was hearing other voices enchanting him to go to sleep. Sans quickly summoned an ecto tongue as he opened his mouth. The skeleton groaned in pain as he chopped down hard on the tip of blue tongue few times. Jolting himself awake. His hand reaching up, tip fingers jammed into the female monster's mouth while pressing down on the lower teeth. He could see purple-orange orbs shrinking in sizes, as siren's song was replaced with muffled out cries of pain. Sans wouldn't stop as hatred flooded his remembering all the times he watched Papyrus softly cry in pain as his bones were snapped into two by his murder before having a knife jabbed into a weak point on the back of the neck. Even when the younger brother was dying and turning to dust he believed that his murderer could become a better person. Unlike him, Sans was not so kind-hearted as he ripped the creature's lower jaw clean off, tossing it to the side. He watched as the winged skeleton tossed her head back, silently screaming in pain. Sans took this as his chance to teleport a yard away from her while he tries to collect himself. The dizzy tiredness still loomed in his soul but quickly vanishing. Could that have been a spell? Monsters were able to use magic, but not cast spells; wizards are the only ones able to…Arial, no she didn't deserve a font name after what she did. What did the demon-human child call her…? A witch. That would mean she had a human soul. No wonder he could never completely trusted her. A backstabbing human just like rest of them. The blue fire flared out of Sans' left eye as he summoned two Gaster Blasters again.
"It's a hot day outside. Lava flowing brightly, ice cream is melting... on days like these, freaks like you... Should be freezing in hell."
Those words sent chills down the Witch's spine. Leaning the body over as the black wings on her back flapped a bit, lifting the body off a few inches of the ground. It was useless to escape by air as she was blinded by a bright beam of white light coming from Sans' blasters. A scream within the skull as her body crumbled to the ground. Her bones trembled in pain as purple-orange tears rolled down the cheekbone. Leaning on the palms of her hands she could see shattered black feathers floating to the ground around her. The true horror was the two giant ghosts shaped like skulls glaring down at her as they recharge for another blast. Far away she could hear tiny little footsteps coming closer and closer skipping merrily towards her.
"Sansy is never going to forgive you now! How about you just give up and give me your soul again…You want a happy ending for Princess, right?" A wicked child whispered to the female skeleton while holding their hands out. They giggled as they noticing the black stubs flapping on her back before looking at a light beam forming inside the Gaster Blaster's mouth. "Hurry up…Tick…Tock." The smile disappears as a bony hand pushed the child to the side. "DIE THEN, FREAK!"
"TWO?" Flowey snapped at her from under the human child's blue and purple striped shirt. The black oval eyes watched as the skeleton witch wobbled, raised a hand in the air. Orange magic swirled in the air above her head slowly taking on a white ghostly shape, but then suddenly vanish. She clutched tightly onto the purple fabric shirt and bones of the left ribcage. A bit of orange light shined from under her clothing, casting a glow up the neck bone. The flower's eyes drifted away from the female skeleton, black ovals widen at sight of the male skeleton as a beam of light blasted from within the two Gaster Baster's mouth, aimed towards the three of them.
The rocky ground smashed into a rumble, leaving clouds of smoke and dust in the air. Sans was trapped in the dust fog as his head darted around, looking for a surprise attack. The only thing he could hear was a creepy laugh as the dust cloud died down. In front of him was a large green-white wall made up of bone and vines sticking out the ground.
Sans was speechless as he looked at the sight before him. Nuzzled in one the Witch's arms was the demon child with a devilish smirk spread across their face. The evil golden weed, Flowey was wrapped around her neck. The female didn't seem to mind as a death scythe appeared in her bony hand. The sight of the weapon caused Sans to groan as past ghostly memory of a timeline where a blade painfully cracked the center of his skull. His vision became blurry, only making out a silhouette of a figure that appeared to be tiny Death. The phantom image disappeared in time to see the Witch was on her feet rushing towards the rocky steps leading down to the river port. It was perfectly clear now how the demon was able to use skeleton magic in their last battle and why the flower needed the Witch in the last timeline. The little bitch sold her soul to the demon just like Frisk. All this time, they worked together and playing everyone for fools. No wonder it's so easy for the tiny human child to defeat the monster race over and over. They had help. "Come back here you dirty, brother killer!" he screamed.
Sharp bones covered in blue magic burst through the ground turning the rocky smooth steps into a sharply broken mess. The purple-orange lights in the Witch Skeleton's eyes widen, looking over at the dark blue aura surrounding the male monster behind her, she placed the demon child on the ground.
"Stay here, Chara." Flowey gulped looking down at the child before looking up at the monster he was wrapped around. This was so unlike Flowey to stick around in deadly situation he was not in control of. The purple-orange soul beating in the Witch's chest was in pain. He couldn't stand it. The only one allowed to hurt Experiment Two was him. "This is going be fun." He laughed, masking the fear in his voice. The smile disappeared as he noticed the Witch shake her head 'no' and letting the scythe in her hand disappear. "Al…." the flower's voice was cut short, as a bony finger placed on his mouth then unwrapped him from around her neck.
She ruffled the child's brunette hair before placing the flower on the ground. She could see red eyes beamed with anger as their usually wicked smile turned into a frown. If she had any remorse, she would be laughing at their childish behavior. She was not going stoop to their level, not again. Even if she couldn't speak there was nothing she could do to turn back time and erase what she had done. Papyrus' soul was fused into the purple soul and no way to unbind it and never bring herself to play a hand in Sans' death, not again. The only hope now was another reset to bring back the youngest brother. Even if it meant giving up the chase to destroy the demon child for good. The purple-orange lights disappeared from the eyes as the Witch head towards Sans. Magical blue bones flew through the air, scraping against her bones and shredding her dress to rags. No matter how much damage was inflicted on her, she kept on walking forward without using an ounce of magic. The Witch bowed her head, lowing herself down until she was sitting on her knees. Her damaged hands placed against her chest as purple-orange illuminated between the fingers. The witch pulled away presenting a purple-orange soul in her hands as if it was a peace offering.
"Are you showing me mercy?" Sans laughed as white orbs appeared in each eye socket. Reaching a hand out as the soul floated over to him. Fear and sad auras swept out of the heart-shaped soul. "Ariel…Sis… I know how hard it must be..." He spoke in an endearing voice as his thumb gently brushed the side of the soul. "To make that choice. To go back on everything you've worked hard on…" he placed his left hand into the blue winter jacket. The white orbs shined brightly watching the mixed soul colors dances in the pam on his hand. It was such a tiny fragile little thing. "I want you to know…I remember each timeline too..." head slowly lifting up to show off his permeant smile. "If we're really family…" The eye sockets become completely dark as he pressed his fingertip hard into the heart soul. The witch skeleton clutched her chest, leaning over in pain "You wouldn't have…" Blue flame fire busted out the left eye. The ground rumbled and shakes as large bone exposed under the Witch pushing into the rib cage. Stretching the body outwards, crushing and snapping ribs into pieces. The sharp end of blue bone pressed deep into the skull, impaling her to the spot. "Killed Papyrus," Sans spoke coldly watching the girl's bones pulse in pain as his hand slowly crushed the soul. He watched as the witch's bones turned to dust. She was making a fist and rubbed it in a circular motion across her chest. Sans was lost for words watching the girl repeat the gesture motions over and over. The dark anger aura disappeared as remorse took hold of his blue soul.
"Alice?" Sans called realizing it was a hand gesture for sorry. A bony hand reached out, but it was too late. Gray dust floated around him as a hand caught the red scarf. No, it was not possible his older sister had died eighteen years ago. Blue tears streamed down the face as the skeleton fell to his knees. Tears soaked into the scarf as the skull was buried in the red fabric. A fade out blue-orange glow could be seen beaming from under his white cotton shirt, absorbing the new power level of magic into the body. Tensed up as he felt something hard and sharp press against his neck bone.
"I know it hurts right now… Sansy," a chilling child voice whispered into his skull. Chara giggled watching San look up, the white light in eyes sockets widened in horror. It was so easy and fun to mess with the skeleton siblings. "That rush of power so thrilling…Don't you get tired of playing the tragic hero?…" the hot ground shook a bit under their feet as they noticed a blue flame blaring out of Sans' left eye. Now that Papyrus was dead, there was no reason for the older brother to keep on living in this timeline. "I wouldn't do that…Unless you never want to see your sibling again" the knife slid across the neck bone, causing his bones to tremble. The cut was not deep enough to kill the monster but did fill the air with his cry of pain as the weapon grind back and forward on the bone. Chara tossed their head back laughing. Why didn't they think about doing this a long ass time ago? The fool would do anything to see his brother again. "That's a good bone boy." A wicked smile spread across the face, feeling the ground under them settled down. "Who should I have you ki…" those words cut off as the demon child's body slumped heavily on the San's back. Blood soaked through their clothing into the back of San's winter jacket. The hand holding the knife went limp as the arm draped across his shoulder dropping the weapon onto the ground.
Quickly looking over his shoulder, Sans could see red bloodshot eyes glaring at him behind the dead child. A dark laughter chilled the air as gray-yellow flower bobbed its head up and down happily. Glowing white petals hovered over their head. "Howdy…Trash can…" Flowey snickered as vines wrapped around the demon child, before tossing the dead body off of the skeleton. "Let me make this quick and clear…Subject Two…" he snarled as vines busted out the ground, grabbing the back of San's jacket, flinging him down to the ground."Arial is…my fri…TOY! I'm the only one who has the right to break the Freak." The redness grew dark in his eyes. "If you ever touch her again…Chara killing your idiot brother would be the least of your worries." More vines busted out the ground wrapping around his prey's limbs. "Do we have an understanding?" he asked as Sans cried in pain feeling his bones snap one by one as the demon flower pressed hard onto the limbs.
The sound of screaming washed out as buzzing noise hummed in the air. A bright red-orange glow of Hotland colors was washed out only leaving black and white tones. The pain in Sans' body had disappeared, but his body was trapped to the spot. The only thing he could see was a wicked weed looking down at him. It was time for another reset, but nothing in the world could erase the unsettling feeling of anger and remorse. All He could do was watch as black spots appeared over him and the flower, swallowing everything around them. Wondering if the agony in the soul would ever go away. Sans felt like a lost child in the woods not sure what path to take next. Orange-blue glowed around his chest as movement returned to his bones. Looking up quickly to see transparent orange-blue glowing skeleton hand grasped his coat. It was time to return to the darkness and find his long-lost father; good timing, because he had few bones to pick with the mad scientist.