break the rules

By: Ghost Captain Murasa

A/N: This opening part was inspired by a lovely comic I found depicting this scene. It prompted me to write this fic.

888888888888

He awoke with a startled gasp, fingers clutching desperately at a wound that seemed to no longer exist. He shifted, rolled to the side, flexing his grip about the long white t-shirt in crumpled bunches. No cut, no blood. It was gone.

Sans let out a low shuddering exhale, smile dropping in uncharacteristic fashion, memories ping ponging in his mind. It was merely seconds before that everything happened. Everything had come to an end.

How many times must he lose?

The sound of ceramic tinkling met his ears, the wafting smell of marinara and pasta filling his nose. Unwittingly, tears sprung to his eyes, streaming quickly down white cheekbones.

His brother...

He got up, shuffling the green comforter off his body and exited the dark interior of his room. He made a slow path down the stairs into the kitchen being mindful to wipe stray tears lest his brother see them.

"Ah Sans, you are finally awake! Another night wasted napping. You are so fortunate to have a brother as great as I to-" Papyrus had been cut off as his normally grinning brother fell forward into a warm hug. The shorter skeleton had to stand on tip toes, socked feet raising to meet his brother's middle. Papyrus looked down, one hand holding a wooden spoon and the other tentatively arched in confusion. "Sans, are you alright?" He asked.

Said brother leaned back, normal grin back in its place. He waved groggily and shuffled out of the room.

Papyrus followed his brother's retreating back with a confused stare.

"What was that all about?"

8888888888888888888

'Thirty six. This is the thirty-sixth time. What is wrong with this kid?'

Sans waited, leaning against her door anticipating the request. The routine dulled his senses, filled his life with monotony. No matter how many times it happens, it never stayed. The happiness was always short lived. Even worse, when the happiness is not enough, not what they want, everything gets destroyed. Every time it happens, Sans tries to stop it.

But they cheat.

The sound of quickened steps reached his ears. A body thuds against the door just behind the reclining man. 'If I close my eyes, I can almost imagine her warmth...'

"Please... please, promise me something?"

His smile droops. There is no one here to see it anyway.

"what is it?"

A sniffle, shuddering breath. She's crying.

"Please promise me... if a human comes through here, take care of them, will you not?"

'i hate this. i hate this so much. dammit toriel, don't you understand? there is nothing i can do...'

"heh...i don't normally make promises, but for you, i'll do it," He replied, feeling the routine take his body on auto-pilot. It was like a ride he could never get off of. He will always be stuck playing this role until they, that human, gets bored.

"Thank you..."

After the heart wrenching request, Sans waits. He has it down to a science at this point. Arms raised in a comfortable fashion behind his head, the young man waits to see what will exit the ruins.

If it's the human, he may be able to proceed in a more light hearted fashion. Invite them to eat at Grillby's, date his brother, make friends with Undyne. But if it's not...

Once again, he'll have to wait and watch. And die.

It's too bad a skeleton cannot feel cold for he's quite certain his fingers would be frozen right now. The clothes he's wearing don't actually provide any support. No skin, no problem. Despite the absence of sense, even he can tell gazing up into the abyss of the cavern ceiling that this prison might as well be a coffin. Chuckling lightly, he shook the thoughts from his head, trying in vain to keep that smile going. No thoughts, no problem.

Finally, the door began to creak. With a start, Sans jumped up, activating his latent ability and teleported out of view.

He watched anxiously as the large violet door creaked open revealing his fate.

The human.

They wore that same blue long sleeved shirt with violet stripes and jean shorts. Their shaggy brown locks shielded closed eyes, hung in a heavy curtain around their young face. Sans never knew what gender the child was and never really cared either way. They were who they were.

As the human stepped out of the hallway, he could see the glimmer of something clutched in their small fist.

'please please don't be that knife...' Sans begged internally, feeling a cold sweat break out along his forehead.

The human, whoever it was, turned toward the forest where Sans was waiting. And then he could see it.

The knife.

If he had any blood it would have run cold. If he had any hair it would have stood on end. If he had any skin he would have had goosebumps. He lacked all these normal indications of tension except for one. He had the emotional capacity to soar into a fit of rage.

Blue fire ignited from his left eye, flashing murderously, watching the human begin walking down the snow covered path. He could see it now, the distinct red dripping liquid slide off the toy knife.

Toriel's blood.

'this again? how many times until you're satisfied?' He thought to himself, feeling every bone in his body positively quaking with rage. Soon he would need to approach this human and ask for a handshake. How many times must he beg this human for friendship? How many times must he wait and wait while everyone is slaughtered?

Why?

'that's it. i can't take it anymore,'

Trembling fingers twitched into a white knuckled fist, glowing orb flickering dangerously in a blackened eye socket. This ends now.

Sans teleported out of the forest behind the human, approaching them with slow, precise steps. The emptiness of the hollowed forest echoed with the heavy clumps of his footfalls, the crunching of snow beneath his slippered feet.

It was foreboding. Ominous.

He would give the human one chance. He still owed them that much.

Slowly, deliberately, he approached the human willing his anger to subside at least for the moment. With trembling force, the power in his eye depleted, fading into the normal white iris.

Crunch crunch crunch.

" human"

The child before him stopped, but he could see no signs of hesitation. They didn't seem afraid. Sans clenched his teeth, willing his body to continue with the charade until he knew for sure.

"don't you know how to greet a new pal?"

He waited, the anticipation chilling him deeply. Slowly, without prompting, they turned around, their childish face sliding into his view.

It was Chara.

Left eye flashed, blue eye searing a clarity into San's mind. He teleported back, hands clenched tightly into fists within the pockets of his jacket. He scanned the human, CHARA, analyzing the situation quickly. They wore Frisk's face, but he could see the red in the child's irises. Hidden behind closed lids, the killer believed his identity was a secret, safe from the prying eyes of the people who would try and stop him.

Even if this was a reset meant for good this child was no longer Frisk. He was no longer his friend.

"i see... you made the deal, didn't you?"

The question rang out, hung heavily in the air between combatants. Though a safer distance from Chara, Sans could still feel his whole body shake in fear. The child had held his position, analyzing Sans as he had done, gauging whether to continue the story as planned, or act against the narrative.

They both knew their story had certain points that must happen for everything to stay consistent.

"..." Chara seemed to ask what Sans was talking about.

Eyes closed, grin widened, the skeleton chuckled to himself.

"are you kidding me right now? you can't play innocent here, kid. not with me," He laughed out loud, shrugging.

Suddenly, his eyes flashed open, blue scorching fire activated. Right hand snaked out, reaching across the void between dimensions, clutching that cold red heart in a vice. Up Chara went before flinging to the ground. He slammed the child into the snow, the young one crying out in pain. Chara got up shakily, wiping the blood from a broken nose. He looked up then, eyes wide open, red irises, winking brightly in the crystalline moonlight. The child frowned angrily.

"oh, i'm sorry. was that not supposed to happen?" Sans shrugged, grinning maliciously. Once again, he grabbed the fallen child's now blue heart and slammed him several times against the floor, walls and ceiling of the box he was now trapped in.

"you see, kid, i don't care about the rules anymore," He clarified, watching the child's health drop slowly. The kid was LOVE 5. He knew for sure now that he had killed Toriel. The sound of the ageless woman's happy laughter filled his mind fueling his hate further.

"you don't play by the rules, so why should i?" He continued, dropping the child in order to summon several Gaster Blasters. They circled into view, white bones gleaming brightly in the crystalline moonlight. Chara looked at them anxiously, childlike eyes wide with fear. He was only LOVE 5. One hit from anything would kill him instantly.

"now, i would ask you why i shouldn't kill you where you stand. or rather, kneel," Sans said darkly, white fingers splayed, ready for another attack. 'but frankly, i don't give a damn."

The blasters charged, the distinct crackling filling the combatants ears. Sans gazed at the ground before raising his expression to meet the pained confused one of the killer child. His eyes scorched blue, grin winking white in the dim light.

"do you wanna have a bad time?"

Chara froze at the words, the familiarity hitting him like a truck. He had done this so many times already. Shakily, the child stood, teeth clenched tightly in anger, red irises flashing dangerously.

"in this place, the sun isn't shining. birds aren't singing. we're in the ground, a perpetual grave. and for you, chara," The blasters grew hot with energy. "this is as far as you go."

A searing light burst, 4 crisscrossing lasers lighting the night, torching their target with painful precision. Health dropped in the blink of an eye, blue heart returning to red in time to break in half.

"you should know this will always be your fate, kid. don't come back,"

888888888888888

AN: The idea behind this story came from my intense analyzation of Sans's suffering when dealing with the Genocide route. I wanted him to finally have a definitive win. One that no one could combat. It made me feel better at least.

R/R!