Prologue

journal entry #436:

kill the kid as soon as you can. do not wait. wait and you'll regret it, buddy.

looking at the past entries, i can tell i was naïve. papyrus is once again dead and i know the kid is probably going to reset again soon.

don't make the same mistake again, okay?

…i'm going to go try and stop this once and for all. but if you're reading this then i guess i failed.

just… strike first, got it? you can't trust them. that monster will make you regret it.

.

Sans slipped the journal back into the drawer, taking a shuddering breath. He rubbed a skeletal hand over his face, his perpetual exhaustion weighing heavily down on his soul.

It was the same routine everyday.

If he was up for it, Sans would heave himself out of bed at noon, walk downstairs and eat whatever Papyrus left out for him. Then he would go check his notebook for any entries dated for today.

Sometimes there weren't any. Those were good days.

Today, however, there was enough to fill a novel. Black, ugly marks, scratched onto the page that told of the ordeal everyone Sans knew and cared for were going to go through soon.

Today was definitely a terrible day.

After flipping through the numerous pages his alternate selves had scribbled instructions and notes on, Sans decided to go to Grillby's and stock up on ketchup before he went out to his guard duty. If his journal entries told him anything, he was probably going to need a good, long drink after today.

.

Sans leaned against the tree, one eye open as he flipped through the car magazine.

The forest was uneasily silent, and Sans suppressed a yawn as he came to the dog-eared page that had a big red circle on it. On this page was a red convertible car, exactly like Papyrus' current bed. Sans had found this magazine about four weeks ago in the garbage piles, and it was fairly new, so he figured that the car was still being sold on the surface.

Maybe one day he could buy it. Not for himself, of course- Sans had no materialistic aspirations past his next nap- but he knew somebody who would love it, at least. Sans could only imagine the look of elation that would swell on his brother's face, and his grin grew slightly just thinking about it.

There was a soft creak as a door somewhere swung open, and Sans opened his other eye, rolling the magazine up and sticking it into his back pocket as his grin gained its fake posture once again.

Time to see what kind of creature hell had spat out of its belly.

.

The creature- human, perhaps, but Sans wasn't sure humans could be as heartless as his journal entries described- had red eyes, and a smug grin that widened whenever they looked at Sans. Taunting him.

Maybe he should do as his alternate self said. But the kid hadn't actually hurt anyone yet. His journal had detailed notes on the path of destruction the kid had wrecked, and Sans… Sans wasn't seeing any of that.

Hell, the kid was borderline friendly to monsters. The only time Sans felt uneasy was whenever the kid looked directly at him.

The strange kid looked like they knew something that Sans didn't.

What it could possibly be about, though, Sans was clueless.

All he knew was that whatever it was, Sans didn't like it one bit.

.

Papyrus and the kid went on a date.

Strange.

Sans, of course, had been waiting in the closet- sorry bro, this time there actually was a skeleton in the closet despite your assurances else wise- just in case, but after the easy and peaceful conclusion to the battle between the two, Sans was officially miffed.

This couldn't be the same creature his journal entries were talking about.

It couldn't be.

.

"I want to talk to you. Alone."

Sans grinned, leaning across the counter. "sure, kid, but why don't we go get some lunch first while we talk it over? good thing about having multiple jobs- there's twice as much required break time."

The kid's eyes narrowed, the brilliant red orbs drilling into Sans' own for a moment before they giggled. "Oh, but this is a very private conversation. I want no one else to overhear it by accident."

They shot a quick glance at the monster always standing besides the echo tower and at the Monster Kid, who both stared quizzically back before getting the idea.

"Yo, I think I can catch a glimpse of Undyne if I head off now," the yellow monster said. "Catch ya later, maybe?"

"Me too. I'll, uh, just tell people back at Snowdin about the echo flowers for a while," the other monster said quickly, wandering off.

The two were left in silence, and Sans propped his chin up with his hand, wondering what the kid wanted.

"well?" He asked, feigning boredom. "what's so important? you better not try to be pulling my leg here, kiddo."

"Heh. Hardly," the human said cheerfully. Their grin spread back over their face in full, brilliant force, and they leaned against the counter so Sans had to look up a bit to meet their gaze from where he sat. "I know you're aware of my resets, Sans," they giggled. "I know that you know I've killed everyone dozens of times."

Sans felt his smile go brittle, felt sweat start to bead. He rolled his shoulders once, trying to shake off the chill that was shooting down his spine. "erm. kiddo…? where are ya goin' with this, exactly?"

He didn't deny it. Why didn't he deny it?

"Wellllll." The kid shrugged, nonchalant and unconcerned with the possibility of Sans attacking them. "You're always the one to off me, you know? And I mean, that was awesome the first dozen times, but. I'm kind of bored with you getting in my way."

Sans' white pupils flickered out of existence, and he slowly sat up. "so…what? are you going to kill me early on? you're still level one buddy, don't get quite so cocky."

The kid…human…creature laughed again. "Still getting it wrong, as always. I've seen you at your worst, you know. Crying over your brother's dust, overcome with rage, broken with sadness. You've never been able to stop me completely- just prevent me from moving forwards. And recently, I've been moving forwards quite a bit. But I came to realize something important: this is all really pointless."

"what…?"

"I never wanted to kill monsters. It's humans I hate, Sans!" The creature giggled, red eyes flashing. "So I came up with a deal, just for you."

"…a deal? i'm not sure if i can trust anything you offer to me."

"Well, who knows? I've kept part of my side of the deal already, after all." The kid summoned their soul, gazing down at the red heart with a twisted expression of joy. "So, anyways, here's my deal: give me your soul here. And I won't hurt a single other monster as I leave."

Sans almost fell off of his chair. His eyes narrowed, and he quirked an eyebrow at the kid. "uh… what? buddy, i'm not stupid. i'm not just gonna sit here and let you kill me."

"I only need one boss monster soul to leave. Whether that's yours, or your brother's, or someone else's, you can decide." The human winked at Sans, and Sans' eyes narrowed. "But you're really tired by now, aren't you? If you just do this one little favor for me, then it's all over. I'm gone for good, and the Underground is no worse for the wear. It's not like you do anything other than sleep and get drunk all day, so it's a win-win, right? You're not important to anyone here."

Sans stared at the creature, his eyes narrowing into black orbs of cold rage, fingers drummed against the counter, a menacing click-click noise that drew the human's eyes for a split-second.

"no deal, buddy."

The creature didn't seem unnerved, still grinning as their eyes drilled holes into Sans' head. "Oh? Are you sure?"

"absolutely. if you manage to kill me, after all, uh, what's to stop you from killing everyone else anyways?"

The human's smile faded, and they pulled out a knife, examining it with cold, calculating interest. "Fine. Then how about this? You fight me here. If you win, I won't harm anyone. If you lose, I get your soul and still don't hurt anyone. It's to your advantage, right? After all, I'm just level one," the human sighed. "...And if you refuse me again, I'll go track down everyone you care about and cut them into little shreds, okay? I can do this all day, Sans."

Sans stared back at them, and his eye flared blue as he slid off of his seat. If the kid was going to be stubborn about it, then fine. He might as well just do as his journal entry suggested then. "fine. but it's your funeral, buddy."

And yet.

.

Chara giggled again, gently taking hold of the small white soul. "How pretty," they murmured cheerfully, pulling it in close.

They paused for a moment to glance around one more time. Sans' dust had scattered everywhere, coating the sentry station, the ground, and the echo flower in a soft gray powder.

It was kind of beautiful, Chara supposed. Like the ashes after a fire had burned everything down.

They had gotten what they had come for. Now, all that remained was to get out of this god-awful place for good.

Chara had places to go, people to kill after all.

Sans was normally strong, but his feelings were his biggest weakness. It wasn't that hard to kill him once Chara knew that, after all. Chara had already killed Sans once before all of this. After hundreds of practices, Chara had memorized and perfected their attacks against Sans to bring him to his knees. Even after all of Sans' whining, Chara was stronger in the end. Sure, Sans had been easily stronger than they were attack-wise this round. But he hadn't counted on them using a tactic like shouting out his brother's name and making him turn to look just as they sank their knife deep into his chest. No matter Chara's level, Sans only had the base stat of one HP. It was over immediately.

Feelings like care and love were useless, after all. Only LOVE was important to Chara.

The human child turned and skipped off, humming cheerfully to themself.

They would keep their promise… this time. Maybe if they didn't like how this went they would reset a month from now and just redo this.

Chara had already killed every single living creature in the Underground at least once before, after all. That was now boring, and the outside world's appeal was far stronger.

The whole world was in Chara's grasp now that Sans was out of the picture.

.

The figure ran past the darkened hallway, lab coat flapping as she ran. Her footsteps echoed off of the empty walls, and several figures of white watched from afar as the figure had dashed for her notes lying abandoned on the table in the mirror room.

The entries on the wall lit up as she passed by, an eerie green glow that made the monster's frantic expression seem even more apprehensive and agitated.

LAB ENTRY -:

Papyrus came by and begged me to try something, but I refused.

I'm not experimenting on monsters anymore.

Besides, his brother... he's already turned to dust weeks ago.

I couldn't do anything for him even if I tried.

LAB ENTRY -:

I don't know what to do. He keeps asking, and now the king also wants to know if there will be any way out of the Underground any time soon. I can't return any of their phone calls or letters. I can't face them now that the old pressures are coming back.

What do I do?

LAB ENTRY -:

I decided to retest the determination experiment after all.

The last vessel I used vanished, so there was no evidence on its failure or success.

Maybe I'll learn something to fix this. Maybe I'll learn something to make up for my mistakes.

LAB ENTRY -:

I was tired of the seeds sticking to me from the last attempt, so I threw the old control groups out and decided to use another type of vessel.

These will do nicely; the soft light they give off feels like an indication of something good.

LAB ENTRY -:

Nothing is happening. I've waited even longer for this plant and given it even more determination, but maybe this was all just a wild goose chase. Maybe the king just picked the flower to keep in one of the vases inside of his house…

LAB ENTRY-:

The sentry station looked lonely, so I replanted the flower.

This was a stupid idea.

LAB ENTRY -:

The flower is gone again.

A/N: And my Undertale angst continues. If you're new to my work, welcome! If not, then flower and skeleton angst might have meant the same person... whoops.

I swear I don't have some kind of vendetta against Sans, he's actually my favorite character.

This takes place after a No Mercy route and then a Neutral route, just so we're clear!

But seriously, I have had a need for more flower!characters for ages and yet I haven't found any quite like this. But hey, that's why I started writing!

And lastly, if you want to see any art of this I doodle and have any questions, then you can follow my account on tumblr. I go by the username eternalglitch and tag all of my stuff for this echoesofblue. Also, this round I might get a beta reader starting next chapter! So if it all works out, I'm super excited to have a bit better quality to my work. We'll see how it goes!