Chapter Text
“En guarde, filth.” He spat out and hoisted his bone sword into the air, before swiftly pointing it at them.
Frisk was frozen in fear at the sight of that blaster and couldn't dodge in time for the beam, so it hit them and rendered them to nothing but dark stains in the snow and what's left of their footprints.
He grinned.
He had done it.
He had avenged Undyne!
That evil human was finally dead!
He let out a burst of maddening laughter, one that was hardly sane sounding, but he didn't care.
He was a hero.
Or, he was, until he heard the familiar sound of a knife striking raw fish skin.
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked down to see him holding a mixture of snow and dust.
Looking up, he saw Frisk smiling innocently at him.
What?
Had he fantasized so hard about how he would kill that human that he thought it was real?
How had he lost himself in the moment like that?
He roughly shook his head to clear his mind and spilled a few tears before looking up at Frisk with newfound confidence.
He slowly got up on his feet, the scarf that he had wrapped on his wrist now resting in its rightful place wrapped around his neck, billowing in the misty wind. It made him look more epic than he felt that he was, so he decided to say a few words to that pest before he obliterated them.
“Now, I may not know who you are or why you are doing this, but I swear to you, that I, Papyrus, will strike you down so that you may not hurt another being! For I, am the newest captain of the royal guard!” And just like in his daydream, a blinding light engulfed him and filled him with a sensation he had never felt before.
One that made him feel powerful and confident. Like he could do anything he set his mind to.
DETERMINATION.
And with this new power and cool looking armor, he decided to summon his giant Gasterblaster and charged it up for the final moment of that creature's life.
“This is how your journey ends, human. Prepare yourself.” Instead of the fear that he had anticipated crossing their face, they looked confident. Even arrogant.
“Oh? Well, why don't you try?” Papyrus tsked and released the beam that had been powering up inside his enormous weaponized skullhead, instantly rendering Frisk to dust.
Or that was what he thought would happen, but instead, he catches the glint of a knife after the smoke cleared and narrowly dodged what would be been a fatal hit.
He heard the ripping of fabric and looked down to see the end of his scarf torn and sighed in relief.
Then he used his bone sword to impale through their back and directly into their SOUL.
Frisk fell unceremoniously onto the snow, coughing and sputtering as the pure white snow turned red because of the blood.
What an exhilarating feeling it was to see his opponent slowly die in front of him, dragging on the suffering they should feel.
This is karma.
And he loved it.
He risked a smile and even a small chuckle before turning around and closing his eyes.
“Perhaps…. This is all just a bad dream…” He mumbled to himself and waited a few seconds before opening his eyes.
He was hit with a wave of Deja Vu after seeing Frisk for the third time, but they looked angry.
He was confused.
What in the world was happening?
Was he having a daydream within a daydream?
Frisk used the moment of confusion to try to stab him with their knife, but he easily dodged and sent a few bone attacks their way.
It was odd since he didn't have Undyne's dust in his hands, but the new and improved cool looking armor already.
He dodged a few more times before he felt vines creep up his leg and to his arm, halting his hand from stabbing Frisk.
“Don't kill them!” a familiar voice whispered into his skull.
“Why not?” He whispered back.
“Watch out!” Cried Flowey as he saw Frisk swing their weapon once more.
Papyrus snapped out of it and jumped back, knife only slightly gracing his armor.
That was a close call.
“Listen, don't kill them,” Flowey begged. Papyrus still didn't understand. He thought that the entire point of getting the Temmie armor was so that he could stand a chance in a fight with them.
“They can RESET the world.” Flowey finally whispered after moments of Papyrus dodging.
“What?”
“Their death triggers a RESET. You weren't imagining things, they were real.” Papyrus frowned as he shot blue bones up from the ground and underneath their feet, trapping them in it.
“I don't understand.” He confessed and calculated his next move.
“I guess there really is no other way then, huh?” Flowey said as he sighed sadly.
Why was he so upset looking?
Flowey summoned pellets, but instead of the usual white, they were red.
Papyrus' eyesockets widened when the pellets grazed his skull.
Images of a million timelines and alternate realities flew past in his mind's eye, stunning him temporarily.
Frisk took the chance to lodge their knife straight into his chest, which knocked the wind out of him and sent him into a snowpoff a few feet away.
He slightly coughed as he wiped his mouth, trying to process everything at once.
He was feeling even more determined, which made him feel slightly off balance as his skull was pulsating with the feeling.
“There, that should do it. You ok?” Flowey asked.
Papyrus shook his head.
How did that human get out of that bone trap?
He looked down at their legs and saw torn pantlegs and bloodstains and grimaced at the sight.
He had a real lunatic at his hands, that's for sure.
“What did you do?” Papyrus asked.
“I gave you my DETERMINATION.” This surprised him.
Why did Flowey, a monster, have DETERMINATION in the first place? A memory that wasn't his own answered that question.
He wasn't a monster.
He used to be one but isn't anymore.
“Then why did you give me it?” He asked quietly as he began to stand up.
“So that you may have answers to your questions. Besides, you have better use with this than me.” Papyrus frowned.
“So this isn't their first rodeo in the underground?” Flowey shook his head.
“But you have to be careful, they may not have that high LV or EXP, but that knife, coupled with their intent, can leave a permanent mark. You might survive a few more hits, but it's best to avoid them at all costs.”
“I thought so.” He summoned two smaller Gaster blasters, one with orange accents and one with blue.
He didn't even know he could do that, but it was time to explore his newfound powers anyways.
For the safety of everyone.
“Let's dance, Frisk.”
~☆~
Meanwhile, Sans was feeling sick to his stomach with nausea and anxiety, no less because of the overbearing sense of Deja Vu.
Sometimes he wished he could remember, but right now, he's kinda glad that he doesn't.
He had been right next to the king when this feeling overpowered him and sent him to his knees.
If it weren't for him being a skeleton, he was sure that he would be puking right now.
But maybe that would get the gross feeling out of his chest.
“Sans, are you alright?” Sans shook his head.
How could he be?
“Can't you feel it too? I can't be the only one.” Asgore looked confused for a moment, which caused Sans to clutch tighter at his chest.
“I'm so sorry… God, will you forgive me?” As much as it concerned Asgore that Sans was acting this way, he felt that maybe the judge needed to confess a few things himself.
“Then speak. Lighten the load in your heart.”
Sans’ shoulders shook as he took a deep breath, casting quick glances at the entrance and the barrier room.
“I think… that a human has come to kill us all. My king, you have to leave and get to safety. Who knows what that human could do.” A wave of dread and familiarity washed over Asgore and he too knelt down to rest a comforting hand on Sans’ back.
“So you remember too, huh?” Surprised, he looked up at Asgore with a new sense of grief.
“I thought I was the only one. I-I've tried my best to prepare for this moment, but I just can't. I don't want to face my nightmares once more. What should I do?” He felt something well up inside his eyesockets, blurring his vision.
He reached to rub it off and felt surprised that it was tears.
He heard the rustling of armor and the king’s heavy robe his the ground before he felt the soft fur press against his skull.
Asgore was hugging him.
Sans didn't say anything, but let the tears fall onto the ground and smear his glasses, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
The end of the world was approaching after all and there was nothing he could do to stop it.
He felt weak, stupid and hopeless.
He had so many regrets and it weighed down on him like a boulder, taunting, and whispering in the back of his mind, never letting him forget.
“I wish… I could've done something differently.” Asgore's hand was softly petting Sans’ head, slightly calming him down.
Of course, the king would treat him this way, he used to be a father.
And then…
“Asgore, I'm asking you this as both your judge and your subject, if the human comes in here, I want you to fight them. For the future of our kingdom. Begin the evacuation of the monsters that live in Waterfall and Hotland. It will take ages for the human to get to the capital. Promise me you will do this.” Sans pleaded, wanting Asgore to understand him.
“Of course. But what about you?”
“If they come here, I will have to do my job.” At that, Sans stood up and wiped his tears away and slightly frowned at Asgore.
“Judgement will be passed on today.”
~☆~
Orange, blue, orange, blue, dodge, strike, dodge, dodge.
There was no rhythm or predictability in their moves, it seemed more like they just struck at random.
Papyrus tried his hardest not to be predictable either as he shifted between using his blasters, his bone attacks and his makeshift sword.
But Flowey's nervous shifting and wriggling vines that moved across his arm and neck were a tad bit distracting.
“What are you doing?” He finally whispered out.
“I don't like this. Maybe kill them a few times. They might think they're making progress.” Papyrus grimaced at the thought of feeling that nauseating Deja Vu again, but he simply had to suck it up.
So he surrounded them with a wall of white bones and used his giant and completely white blaster to finish them off.
Just like he predicted, the world reset and he shook his head to clear the feeling.
“Wait, what?” He looked around himself and then down to see him sitting in the snow again, wiping his mouth.
“You're probably wondering why you're in the snow and not freshly fused with Undyne. That's because of this little thing!” Frisk said all of a sudden and pointed towards their hair.
There were two hairpins in it, one with a star on it, and one with a flower.
“This star right here? A manual save point. I created it so that I can save wherever and whenever I want. Neat, right?” Flowey growled slightly at their words, but Papyrus remained calm.
“I think you forgot that monologuing in battle leaves room for sneak attacks. Goodbye.” Frisk looked behind them too late and was once again obliterated by Papyrus’ giant blaster.
He sighed.
This was gonna be a long battle.