Chapter Text
“you betrayed me, frisk. you betrayed everyone.”
They said nothing. They kept that unmerciful glare on their face.
“i really…really, thought that we could be friends, frisk. it seems i was wrong about you.”
Still, they were silent, but their smile turned into a grin. they’ll come back to their senses any minute now, he tried to convince himself. Frisk’s current actions aren’t doing any good to help him validate his thoughts though. Sans was about to talk, to buy some time, trying to buy Frisk some time to stop being insane but they started to attack. He dodged just by a hair.
Well, if he had hair that is. Heh. But enough jokes! The things that are happening to him at the moment aren’t funny. It seems to him like they were doing this on purpose. It seems to him, right now, that they were hell bent on killing everyone, including him.
“just when i thought you were going to prove to me that i was wrong about the world.”
just when i thought there was hope.
As he was dodging their attacks, he says, “you are sooo going to have a bad time… welp. sorry, old lady. this is why i never make promises.”
Sans began attacking relentlessly, bone projectiles never stopped moving and chasing Frisk around. Frisk had a counter for all of Sans’ moves, even his blasters were anticipated and dodged. It was as if they had practiced every attack. Had they gone through this timeline before? Was there a reset just like this that they had already experienced? They probably had done this hundreds of times now, judging by the look of frustration plastered on their face.
that explains the readings of timelines winding and unwinding. Sans felt defeated and lost as his mind lingered at this single, awful thought.
His ever-calculating brain was out of options on how to end this fight. He resorts to using underhanded methods. Frisk was still receiving minimal damage. He no longer had bright ideas on how to handle this situation, but retained some rationality that this can not go on forever. However, it can not be denied that he was getting exhausted. His magic reserves are depleting fast. well, shit. It doesn’t help knowing that there isn’t any hope left, either. His HP was back to 1 since Frisk killed Papyrus. Papyrus, his light, a beacon of hope… It sucked the determination out of him. The thought of killing Frisk for what they did…for killing his brother…it did cross his mind but…he doubted he could do it. They were human; they had a powerful soul compared to his, that had one, measly, HP. All he could hope for now was that, he had bought the monsters of the underground more time to say goodbye to their loved ones. Something he did not have with his brother. Also, a swift and painless death would be nice, as well.
Poor, pure, innocent Frisk, hands full of the dust of fallen friends and family. He will die there and then, by Frisk’s hand, he was sure of it. Thinking about them in that light caused an uneasy feeling in Sans’ gut. He tried to remember the memories of Frisk from before this RESET--the moments that never happened in this iteration--that his mind could grab before they disappeared into the void forever. The puzzle-loving Frisk, pun-making Frisk, the Frisk who befriended him and his brother, the Frisk he knew and loved…
In one last ditch attempt, he said, “c’mon, buddy. do you remember me? please, if you’re listening… let’s forget all of this, ok? just lay down your weapon, and… well, my job will be a lot easier.”
Surprisingly, Frisk lowered their weapon.
He sighed, partly in relief, mostly just to catch his breath. “...you’re sparing me? why?”
This was the first time he heard their voice in this RESET, and they said, “I just need to know what happens, what’s at the end of this…I need something new to happen…something different…”
…And in that moment…
“buddy. pal. i know it must be hard to make that choice, with the risk you’ll go back on everything you’ve worked up to. i want you to know, i won’t let it go to waste. something new will happen.”
…he knew…
“c’mere, pal,” he walked closer, arms wide open and pulled them into him.
Frisk’s eyes widened, the most expression they have shown in this iteration. They were eager to return the hug. “I’m--”
…he had to kill them…
“get dunked on!” He plunged a sharp, jagged bone on their back, the sharp edge poked out of Frisk’s chest. The bone pierced their body right through. All the red on his white inner shirt reminded Sans of paint splattered on canvas. What once was a happy association in Sans’ mind was tainted by this moment.
“haha, geddit? ‘coz i plunged a bone right in ‘ya?”
The knife they held slid off of their grasp, and made a clattering noise when it hit the golden floor. “I thought…we were… friends…again…” Frisk wheezed. Their knees buckled underneath them, desperately trying to hold on to Sans for support.
“just ‘coz you could RESET, go back in time and reverse what you have done everything will be okay?! i think you forgot that i’ll remember the next time you RESET, and mark my words, i’ll never forgive you for what you did today! tell you what, if we’re really friends…you won’t come back.”
Realization dawned on Frisk and their face scrunched up in a frown. They scrambled to hold on to Sans. “It…was wrong…I was…wrong…this…is all wrong…something’s supposed to happen differently…to stop…the cycle…”
“this is as different of an outcome as it gets, frisk,” he spat out their name…the name that will forever leave a bitter taste in his mouth. “deal with it.”
He remained stock still, letting them fall to the ground. He looked down at them as if they were the scum of the earth. A barrage of ‘I’m sorry’s escaped Frisk’s mouth in between wheezes and sobs.
“that was for my brother…”
They stretched out their arms as far as it could go, reaching out for Sans. In their final whispers that Sans could barely hear, they said, “I’m sorry…I…ruined our…happy ending…”
The glow of Frisk’s red, incredibly determined soul faded, and that was that.
Sans honestly did not know how much time passed. He just stared at their crumpled up body, expecting them to get back up again, but…they were not moving, and a river of red formed from their wound, flowing onto the gold tiles of the corridor. As reality sank in, his knees buckled in physical and emotional exhaustion.
He lost a lot more than magic energy today. He lost Papyrus, his sweet brother, who only saw the good in people. He lost Frisk. They might be the reason for a lot of death and destruction, but he couldn’t help but feel that he lost them, too. They were not the only one at fault; his inaction contributed to this. He collected Frisk’s lifeless body in his arms. They were so small, so fragile in this state. The tear stains were still fresh on their cheeks. They looked more like the Frisk he knew from his memories of events that never happened. He held on to them tight.
He slowly got up off the floor, carrying Frisk with him, pulling them closer to his chest. He walked right into a shortcut through waterfall, leading to the garbage dump.
Everyone he knew lost someone today. He began to cry. For everyone left behind in the aftermath of the storm named Frisk. For the monsters who had fallen by their hands. For Frisk themselves. For Papyrus. For himself. His shoulders heaved as he poured every fiber of his being into crying, sobbing, howling in grief… just one more moment of weakness, before he shows his face to the rest of monsterkind. If he was allowed this, he swore that he would turn things around, and no longer watch from the sidelines. He will act, whether it was needed or not. He vowed to no longer be a spectator in his own life. He wondered, what if he had done something to stop Frisk from killing Papyrus? Would that have changed anything?--
He shook his head, willing the thoughts away. No, these should no longer be relevant questions to him. He had to live with his choices. but could i really? He asked himself.
The howls turned into sobs, and sobs into sniffles. He was spent now, all the grief that he had to pour out left him. He was pretty sure there was more that was left, but that was it for him today. He felt numb from all this crying.
He looked at Frisk, as he stretched his arms out into the void, and dropped their body in it, to be one with all the lost items that fell down below. He waited a few minutes, expecting the thud of Frisk’s body hitting the end of the hole. The sound didn’t come, he could only hear the steady, hissing flow of water instead. He sat near the edge, letting the water flow through his garments and his hollow, skeletal body, washing away the red stains that Frisk left behind.
“if you’re not planning on coming back, i guess, this really is goodbye, huh?”