Ha ha...oh my god. If anyone's been following me on tumblr, you'll have seen excerpts of this fic posted until I reached the place of SPOILERS. And it's finally done! This is a lot longer than anything I expected when I started, and I didn't think I'd ever add something this long to the Undertale fandom... But I don't regret it? Like...this was fun to write!

So, this was prompted by Yeziel Moore, and their concept was...well...you'll see once you start reading. It really struck me, and I knew I could get a great plot out of it.

To get to specifics on the characters, Sans is left-handed and his usual lackadaisical self (hands in pockets, punning left and right, depressed). Frisk is referred to with their canonical pronouns, but they're also selectively mute and prefer to communicate in ASL. To better illustrate this, I've done what is called "glossing," transcribing what ASL would look like on paper before you actually sign it. So it's not my grammar, it's just that ASL is really different from English and has a different grammatical structure and everything. It should still be understandable. I just wanted to give you guys the experience of actually "seeing" what ASL is like, not actual full sentences.

I'm not fluent in ASL; I've taken some classes, but I'm sure there are probably mistakes. If there's anyone who is fluent who wants to correct it, please feel free to do so. It'll help me learn as well.

kurohi91 was kind enough to act as a sounding board and help feed me ideas and puns. So many puns. They were a great help with those. They also read this over and pointed out some little typos. They ALSO helped me come up with the summary!

I may have tweaked and bent canon in this story, but...not in a bad way, I think?

I think that's it for housekeeping notes, so I'll let you guys get to the reading! Please enjoy!

WARNING: There is assisted suicide and mercy killing at the end of this. But there IS a happy ending.

Summary: There was a little something called "determination." Sans had never been one for it, but as it turned out... It looked like that was all that was left to end this. The only question was..would his determination be enough?

The Power of DETERMINATION

"i know you didn't answer me before, but… somewhere in there. i can feel it. there's a glimmer of a good person inside of you. the memory of someone who once wanted to do the right thing. someone who, in another time, might have even been…a friend? 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."

Maybe they'd accept it, maybe they wouldn't… Sans was hoping they would, if only so he could end it. Keeping up this pace was exhausting, but he couldn't stop.

He couldn't let himself stop.

The kid hadn't reacted to Sans's offer besides trembling a little, their dusty – and sharp – knife glistening in the light. They were bruised and battered, scratches and scrapes littering their visible skin, shoulders heaving as they panted.

But that eerily blank expression on their face…it was shifting?

Sans shifted uneasily, hands flexing in his pockets.

With a metallic clatter, the knife hit the floor.

Sans stopped breathing, unwilling to hope but not quite able to stop himself. "…you're sparing me? finally." Thank God. "buddy. pal." The words were sour in his mouth, but he couldn't stop. "i know how hard it must be…to make that choice. to go back on everything you've worked up to. i want you to know… i won't let it go to waste." He wouldn't let the deaths of everyone he knew and loved go to waste.

Forcing himself to hold out his arms, Sans kept his stance relaxed. "c'mere, pal."

The kid's shoulders shook, something wet hitting the floor that wasn't blood.

Tears?

The kid…was crying?

This was a first for Sans.

"I-I'm sorry," the kid said, voice wavering. "S-Sans…" They shuffled forwards, face wet. "C-can you…be determined?"

Sans's arms dropped slightly in surprise. "what?"

"Y-you want to change t-things, right?" The kid was crying too hard to speak clearly, the dust on their face smearing with the liquid. "S-stop this?"

"kid, what are you—"

"P-please…" The kid was only a foot away from Sans, hiccupping and wiping messily at their face with a dirty sleeve. It only smeared the dust more, dark gray splatters on their face that had Sans feeling queasy. "B-b-be d-d-determined…o-okay?"

The kid had something called "determination," but Sans? Sans wasn't like Undyne, who could literally fuel herself on determination for another, even more devastating round of fighting.

"you're asking me?" Sans asked finally, quiet.

"Please…" The kid reached out, fingers curling into Sans's jacket. "D-do it."

Sans froze for an instant before remembering what he was supposed to do, arms folding around the shuddering form of the kid. They were softer than he'd expected from a merciless killer, and he could hear their sniffles and the hiccups they were trying to stifle.

Eyes closing, Sans didn't watch as he pierced the kid's body with his bones, creating an inescapable cage. There was a pained gasp, the kid's body arching reflexively with the attack, before they fell limply to the floor, Sans letting go. The shattered remnants of their red soul fluttered to the floor, the final sign that it was over.

Sans didn't have the energy to say what he'd originally wanted to, staring down at their lifeless form. "if we're really friends…then you won't come back." There was no response from the skewered body at his feet, but he hadn't really expected one.

Shoulders slumping, Sans let his head drop, exhaustion hitting him like a sledgehammer. At any moment now, they'd reset and he'd have to do this whole song and dance all over again. And again. And again.

Until they got tired of it and quit or managed to beat him.

But if they beat him…

Everything would end.

Sans shivered, clutching at the front of his jacket in half-remembered pain, something from a dream…

But it hadn't been a dream?

Had—

"but that's ridiculous, right? yeah, you're the type of person who won't EVER be happy."

"you'll keep consuming timelines over and over, until... well. hey. take it from me, kid. someday...you gotta learn when to QUIT. …and that day's TODAY."

"'cause, you see… all this fighting is really tiring me out."

"it's time for my special attack. are you ready? here goes nothing."

"heh. didja really think you would be able to—" There was a horrible pain across his chest, slashing through his bones and directly into his SOUL. He couldn't breathe, the attack knocking him back as his HP dropped directly to zero.

Something sticky dripped down. He touched it, struggling not to show his pain to the kid. "…so… guess that's it, huh?" He fought to keep his voice even. "…just…don't say i didn't warn you."

Minutes later, he felt himself dissolving into dust—

With a jolt, Sans jerked back to himself, finding himself on the floor of the judgment hall, back against a pillar. There was no ketchup against his jacket, no knife slash through his ribs. His HP was still normal, he wasn't turning to dust, and the kid was dead on the floor, blood pooled underneath their body.

"what the hell was that?" Sans glared accusingly at the kid.

He'd felt himself die. But he wasn't dead. He was alive and the kid was dead. At least until they reset.

"Not you again!"

"what…can't beleaf it's me?"

Shit, he remembered that. He'd remembered that before, but it was so much clearer now. That damn flower that Papyrus had always gone on about. Sans had known it hadn't been an echo flower, but during other resets, that kid hadn't revealed anything and Sans wasn't going to either.

Sans huddled into a ball, clutching at his skull as memories bounced around his head. They'd been vague before, more like déjà vu than anything concrete, but they were so clear now.

This had been happening for such a long time… Sans had known that, had realized how futile it all was when it would just be reset, but now it was even worse. The weight of those timelines – lost now – weighed down on his shoulders.

"SANS! I'VE MADE A FRIEND!"

Sans stifled a sob, remembering a happier timeline when the kid had actually spared Papyrus.

Wouldn't the kid reset now? Either to fight Sans again or start over? So Sans could try…could try one more time at not being a failure?

He wasn't entirely sure how long he'd been sitting there, huddled into a ball several feet away from the cooling body of the kid. He only knew abstractly that time was passing, but he didn't know what he should do.

There was no more reason to do anything… Alphys had managed to evacuate who she could, but almost everyone was…dead. Everyone in Snowdin except for a lucky few, and practically everyone in Waterfall until Undyne had officially given the order during her fight.

"Y-you shouldn't! Don't go!" That voice…

There was a heavy tread that Sans recognized as Asgore's, and he was talking softly to someone. "It will be all right, little one. I simply…" He stopped dead, a palpable shock radiating from him. "Sans?"

Needing something to hold onto, Sans's fingers clenched in the fabric of his pants. Then, slowly, he looked up to see Asgore and the accursed flower that had been the cause of so many resets.

The flower looked stunned, staring at the kid's body with a mixture of sadness and relief. "You did it? You actually…"

"…yeah." Sans didn't look at the kid.

"And we're still here?" The flower looked disbelieving. "How long has it been?"

Sans didn't actually know, but for once he shared the flower's sentiments. "few hours?"

"Then it is over," Asgore said quietly, a heavy grief settling on him. "And everything…"

Sans said nothing, returning his eyes to his feet, fingers tightening their grip on his pants.

"I will tell Alphys," Asgore said eventually. "I will let them know that it is over."

It wasn't until Asgore walked off that the flower approached Sans, though it was careful not to get too close. "But you and I know that's not true," it said liltingly, only a slight quiver of fear at the edges of its voice. "They can come back."

"So can you."

The flower flinched at the tone of Sans's voice, stem quivering. "Who me? Ha ha…" It tittered nervously. "I can't. Not anymore. Their determination…it was more than mine."

That word…determination. The same one the kid had used before willingly letting themselves be killed. They'd asked if Sans had the determination to go back…

But determination let human SOULS subsist after death and last, unlike monster souls. It wasn't as if humans could turn back time itself through determination alone. None of the other humans had been able to.

"you saying…your determination's what gave you that power? gave them that power?"

The flower might not have answered. Sans wouldn't have if he'd been in the same position of having power over an enemy. But the flower was actually afraid of Sans.

Maybe all those timelines of Sans wrecking the flower had actually done something for once.

"The determination not to die," the flower said eventually, head bowing. It chuckled weakly. "I guess you...beat it out of them. You're good for something after all, smiley trashbag."

Sans would have laughed at the nickname in another life – timeline – but there wasn't anything left. He didn't think he'd beaten it out of them.

That kid had been nothing but DETERMINED all the way until the end. And it hadn't been the same kid who'd murdered everyone. Something had happened – had changed.

And Sans needed to find out what. What had that kid been talking about? Be determined?

When was the last time Sans had really been…determined? About anything?

Ducking his head, Sans tried to remember. Right before the kid had ever stepped foot into this hall, Sans had been focused on doing his job, getting them to be so frustrated that they'd quit and stop the genocide.

He'd been…DETERMINED.

Abruptly, Sans found himself standing, hands in his pockets, frame quivering with nervous anticipation. He was at the end of the hall, staring at the other side in a sense of growing disbelief and numb shock.

They'd reset?

The kid didn't shamble immediately into view, but Sans could sense that they were just out of sight. They were here, and for some reason they weren't rushing at him to finish it.

When they did enter his sight, they were hesitant, body stiff and jerky in a way that Sans hadn't seen before.

"you look frustrated about something," Sans managed, amusement flickering through him at the look on their face.

The kid never said anything, but they actually attacked. Sans found himself dodging, then reflexively blasting them into pieces, their SOUL shattering like glass.

Stunned, Sans stood there, left hand out in preparation for an attack that he wouldn't need again.

Were they…going to reset again?

…Nothing happened.

He heard a rustle besides him and turned to see the flower, staring at him in incredulous disbelief and what looked like disgust. "You have it?"

"what?"

"You, the lazy idiot, have it? How? You're the least determined monster in this place!" The flower was twisting in agitation.

Sans stared, the words registering but their meaning not making any sense. Was that flower saying what Sans thought it was?

"they reset," Sans said, turning to face the flower.

"They didn't," the flower insisted. "Because they would have reset again after you killed them now. We're still standing here."

It was true. Other times after Sans had killed them, the resets had happened practically instantly afterwards, the kid getting more and more frustrated and more determined.

But he had been the one to reset?

"What are you going to do?" The flower looked at him nervously, head tilting.

What…was he going to do?

The kid had – the kid had practically begged him to be determined enough to fix it. They hadn't done it themselves – they'd asked him. And Sans didn't understand why.

His determination didn't outrank the kid's. Sans was pretty sure about that. He was also a monster, with a weaker SOUL than a human's.

So how?

Had the kid given the ability to him?

And if he really had it – the ability to reset and start over – could he do it? Could he go back?

Papyrus…

Sans dropped his chin, shoulders shuddering with the memory of his brother. He could save Papyrus and stop this.

Papyrus would be alive and happy.

"You're going back, then?" The flower tilted its head, face twisting into something hideously ugly. "And will you kill them?"

"If a human ever comes through this door…could you please, please promise something? Watch over them, and protect them, will you not?"

Sans hadn't broken that promise until he'd had to. Even though he should have done something earlier.

But the kid wasn't all bad. The kid – Frisk.

They'd made it to the surface before. Sans had remembered it before and tried his best to forget, but it was crystal clear now. That had been a good run.

The kid's name was Frisk, and Frisk was gentle and kind and adored Papyrus and giggled at Sans's jokes and didn't hurt anyone. But then they'd reset.

Still…there had been other routes where Frisk hadn't hurt anyone except for a lone monster, hadn't looked like they'd bathed in dust and then rolled around in it for good measure. Sans would have to see what happened and take it from there.

He'd never been one to act impulsively.

The question was…had he ever been determined enough back then? How far back could he go?

It had to be before Papyrus. There wasn't a choice there. It had to be before that point.

Closing his eyes, Sans focused, trying to think of a point that he could go back to.

Was there…?

With a jolt, Sans remembered a point where he could go back to. It didn't even matter that he hadn't been as determined then as he was now; it was still determination.

"You're doing—" The flower's voice clipped out as if someone had torn out its voice, replaced by bitterly cold wind and the crunching of snow beneath his feet.

Sans opened his eyes, drawing in a sharp breath as he saw the closed doors he was standing in front of. He was – he was…

"Thank you. Thank you so much…" He recognized that voice.

The last time he'd felt even a little determined had been after making that damn promise. It had been one of the few times that someone had actually trusted him to do something, even if they didn't exactly know him like Papyrus did. So Sans had made the promise, and he'd been a little determined to do it.

And that little determination…had pulled him back.

Trembling, Sans leaned against the large doors, shoulders hunching as he struggled to keep himself calm.

He was back before it had all started, meaning everyone was alive.

…Papyrus!

With a jolt, Sans stepped sideways and into his room. Stray flakes of snow clinging to his slippers dripped off onto the floor, and more was shaken out of his clothes as he darted out of his room.

It wasn't a certainty that Papyrus was in the house, but for once Sans was lucky and Papyrus was watching one of Mettaton's shows. And he looked more startled to see Sans than he should have been.

Of course, that could largely have to do with the fact that Sans was covered in melting snow and probably looked a bit panicked.

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE WORKING," Papyrus said accusingly a moment later. "WHEN DID YOU COME BACK?"

"i was," Sans managed, thankful his voice was even. But his voice broke on the next word. "p-papyrus—"

Papyrus's indignation turned to worry in a split-second. "WHAT IS IT? DID A HUMAN SHOW—?" He cut himself off when Sans moved to hug him, going stiff in surprise. "SANS?" he asked tentatively.

Sans found he couldn't say anything, voice locked up in his throat. He didn't need to breathe beyond using oxygen to talk, but it was getting difficult to pull in air.

Papyrus wrapped an arm around Sans, patting him on the back. "I SEE. YOU SIMPLY DESIRED A HUG FROM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, IS THAT IT? NYEH HEH HEH. I WILL GLADLY GIVE YOU ALL THE HUGS YOU DESIRE, BROTHER!"

"y-y-yeah…" Sans choked out, utterly relieved to feel Papyrus alive and whole against him. Not turned to dust by a merciless killer, his favorite scarf gray with his remains… "heh… you boned me out."

Papyrus didn't comment on Sans's weak attempt at a pun, continuing to pat at his back reassuringly.

Sans shivered lightly, squeezing his eyes shut. He hadn't been there personally to see the fight but for some reason—

"ARE YOU OFFERING A HUG OF ACCEPTANCE? WOWIE! MY LESSONS ARE ALREADY WORKING! I, PAPYRUS, WELCOME YOU WITH OPEN ARMS!"

"SANS?" Papyrus sounded concerned again, his arm squeezing Sans.

"snow problem, bro… heh." Sans stifled a sob, shaking his head in an effort at dislodging the memory of his brother's dust. "just wanted to see the coolest bro in the world."

Something strange flickered across Papyrus's face before it vanished in favor of a beaming grin. "I AM INDEED VERY COOL." He stopped, frowning. "I HAVE BEEN SPENDING TOO MUCH TIME WITH YOU."

Sans's laugh sounded a bit too hysterical to be genuine, and he cut it off before he could worry Papyrus further. "ski ya later, ok?"

"LET'S RECALIBRATE OUR PUZZLES!" Papyrus suggested, a gleam in his eye. "WE MUST BE PREPARED FOR WHEN A HUMAN COMES! THEN I CAN CAPTURE THE HUMAN AND FINALLY BE A MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD!"

Sans's perpetual grin twisted into something more genuine, feeling his SOUL twisting happily. "ok."

He wouldn't let the kid do anything else to Papyrus, even if he did have to break his promise.

And, with something like shock, Sans felt DETERMINATION fill him, the air fizzling around him strangely and seeming to turn sharply into focus for one second before it switched back to normal.

Despite his trepidation at the strange event, Sans took a moment longer to leave Papyrus in the house, stepping out into the snow and letting the door fall shut. There was no other sign of his surroundings changing unexpectedly, so Sans let himself slip through the cracks of space and time to reach his sentry station.

He wasn't at all surprised to see the flower there.

"you made it back, too, huh?" Sans kicked away some of his empty ketchup and mustard bottles to sit down, leaning forward to look down at the flower.

"Where else should I go?" the flower grumbled, shaking off some of the snow that dropped on its petals.

"to see your buddy?" Sans suggested idly, wry amusement curling through him.

The flower shot Sans a glare, smile twitching at the edges. "You're in power now. What are you going to do with it…lazy as you are? Are you going to sit here and wait until they come back and do it all over again?"

There had been tears and a willing sacrifice… Along with sunshine and a whole new world accompanied by laughter and smiles.

Sans wasn't entirely sure what had gone wrong last time (and the other times he could remember), but he was going to do his damn best to make sure that it went well this time. Even if he had to keep the kid alive himself through sheer determination, he was going to do it.

It had to be manageable somehow.

"Kill them first," the flower continued when Sans didn't say anything. "Or they'll kill you. And no one will be safe. Your brother will die again."

"nah, i'll reset." Sans gave the flower a sidelong glance, grin sharp. "'cause isn't that what you've been doing all this time? and them?"

The flower tensed, quivering lightly. "Are you determined enough for that, smiley trashbag? Or are you all talk?" Its face twisted into something horribly menacing for a few seconds before the flower pulled itself into the depths of the snow.

Really, Sans wondered why that didn't mean freezing all its leaves off… It wasn't like Snowdin was a friendly temperature to plants or anything with blood and skin.

Sighing, Sans folded his arms over the wooden desk, sliding backwards into his seat. He laid his head down, letting his jacket blot out the light.

His head was fuzzy, thoughts moving through something like molasses. His bones ached even as his magic prickled uncomfortably at his SOUL, agitated at the mere memory of all the times he'd had to fight the kid.

With a heavy sigh, Sans let his eyes close, slipping under easily.

Sans's grasp of time was awful at the best of times, too many resets having utterly messed up his perception of it to the point where he would be going to Grillby's in the middle of the night and then be standing around wondering where everyone was. And then there was the night where Papyrus had found him trying to bake a pie and been completely baffled at the sight of Sans doing something at night.

While he knew that the promise he'd made to the queen had been before the kid showed up, he wasn't sure how much time had passed between that and the kid appearing. Which meant he was forced to stay alert and make sure that he didn't miss anything.

It might have been a few days before anything changed.

As per his schedule now, Sans was lingering outside the door to the ruins, keeping just out of sight of Alphys's cameras. She'd see the human entering the underground, but if Sans had to do anything bad, then he'd disable the cameras.

Right now, though…

The door had cracked open, a small figure tentatively walking out, puffs of air escaping their mouth rhythmically. They flinched slightly as the door closed behind them, shoulders hunching under what seemed to be a backpack.

Which they had never actually carried before…

There was also no dust on their hands and no sign of the plastic knife that they usually came out with. The only weapon Sans saw was a flimsy looking stick sticking out of their pants.

The kid gave their surroundings a furtive, nervous look, fingers twitching nervously at the backpack's straps.

Sans didn't move, too curious to see what they would do now. They had to have some idea of what had happened, but why weren't they covered in dust?

What else had changed?

Hesitantly, the kid started moving, staying on the path. They gave Alphys's camera a furtive glance, eyes skittering away from it and into the woods, missing where Sans was standing by several feet. They kept glancing over their shoulder as if expecting to see him walking behind them.

Joke was on them. Sans was stalking them through the forest now.

But then the kid reached the gate that Papyrus had built and stopped, ignoring the wide gaps between the wooden bars. They turned, setting their feet apart.

"S-Sans?" The kid's voice was a quiet croak, their hands trembling in the air. "A-are you…?" They pulled their hands into their chest, fingers twisting nervously.

Watching them fidget anxiously for another minute, Sans finally heaved a sigh, shoulders shifting with the action. He stepped out of the trees, not reacting to the kid's visible flinch. "you called?"

The kid stared at him, eyes wide and mouth open. Then, frantically, they signed, YOU SUCCEED!

"oh?" Sans lifted his shoulders in a lazy shrug. "did i?"

The kid nodded emphatically, making the sign Sans recognized as rewinding time. Then, YOU DETERMINED.

Sans didn't respond immediately, what little amusement he had managed to scrounge up fading. "you remember then…"

His response was a shaky nod, the kid's mouth twisting. A second later, they created a fist and moved it in small circles over their chest. SORRY. Their face twisted into something awful, eyes crinkling shut tightly, a choked sob escaping them. SORRY!

"are you, kid…" Sans didn't move to reassure them, but he could remember a time he would have.

"Y-yes…" the kid whispered, head dropping. "S-Sans…I am."

"and this was your idea of fixing it?" Sans gave them a long look.

"I-I c-couldn't." The kid trembled, wiping at their face. "T-they…" They shakily spelled out a name: C-H-A-R-A. ALWAYS BEGIN AGAIN. CANNOT STOP THEM. WANT STOP. WANT STOP. CANNOT… They fumbled the next sign, hands coming up to cover their mouth in barely disguised shock and horror.

So it had been someone else. "that was you at the end, then."

D-D-D-U-S-T. MUCH D-U-S-T. The kid looked sick, looking down at their hands.

"you've not got any now," Sans pointed out, slowly stepping closer. Once he was close enough, he reached out to take hold of their wrist. "and you won't get it again…will you?"

The kid shook their head frantically, hand flexing in Sans's grip. "T-they're g-g-gone. B-b-but I…I can still feel th-them."

Sans let go, giving the kid a sharp look. "and you won't reset again, will you?"

CANNOT. NOW YOU HAVE POWER.

Like the flower had said, even if it didn't make any sense. "so i'm more determined than you, that it?"

The kid touched their chest, giving Sans such a hopeful smile that he was speechless. Their voice was crystal clear as they said, "I gave it to you."

"ha. heh heh…" Sans closed his eyes. "guess that worked out alright."

The kid clearly signed every word, that same smile on their face. I TRUST YOU.

Surprise fizzled through Sans, accompanied by an unfamiliar feeling. For a split-second, the world seemed to switch into razor sharp clarity – much like it had with Papyrus – but then it blurred back out into its usual tones.

The kid didn't seem to have noticed anything different, still looking at Sans steadily.

Sighing lightly, Sans slipped his hand back into his pocket, his grin turning into something a little more genuine. "c'mon, kid. let's do this."

F-R-I-S-K. The kid curled their hand into a ball after the last letter. MY NAME F-R-I-S-K.

Sans dipped his head in a small nod, voice quiet as he said, "i know."

The implications behind the statement weren't lost on the kid – Frisk. They ducked their head, shoulders coming up to their ears, silently following Sans through the gate and into the clearing where Sans's sentry station was. They seemed rather surprised not to see the conveniently shaped lamp that Sans had always kept there.

"you'll have to light up someone else's world, buddy. papyrus isn't here." Sans wasn't entirely sure where Papyrus was at this point, but he doubted he'd show up like he had in previous timelines. Sans had spent yesterday evening recalibrating puzzles after all, even if he'd just lain around and done absolutely nothing aside from crack bad puns.

WHERE?

Sans just shrugged, the image of Papyrus's dust and his red scarf in the snow too vivid for him to feel comfortable answering just yet. If anything happened to him, at least he could reset the way the flower and Frisk had been able to.

Frisk signed another apology, one that Sans pretended he didn't see, hunching down in his jacket.

They kept moving, both of them moving through the puzzles easily. Frisk took a small detour to talk to a snowman, coming away with a small piece of snow so that the snowman could experience the world.

Sans found himself staring longer than he should have at the sight of Frisk interacting with the snowman, their voice quiet and cracking in places. When they glanced back at him, he quickly turned away, walking back down the path to Snowdin.

Catching up, Frisk tugged on Sans's jacket, getting his attention long enough to ask if he knew what was going to happen now.

Sans didn't stop walking. "you want to get to asgore, don't you?"

Frisk made it emphatically clear that they didn't want to kill the king to get through the barrier.

"then, frisk? d'you wanna stay down here?"

Frisk bit their lower lip, slowly signing, WHY-NOT?

Sans stopped, turning to give them a hard look. They…were actually serious. But for once, Sans actually didn't want to settle.

"i remember the surface," he said eventually, not looking away from them. "i can't forget it anymore. we got up there before without asgore's soul, so there's a way to do it."

YOU NEED SEVEN HUMAN SOUL. HAVE SIX. Frisk's hands shook slightly as they signed the next two words. ME SEVEN.

Honestly, Sans was kind of tempted. Considering what had happened last time… But… "i don't intend on breaking that promise, kid. you remember, don't'cha?"

Frisk nodded stiffly, eyes on their feet. IF MURDER ME FINISH, they signed slowly. NOT DIFFICULT.

Sans sighed, a white cloud billowing out before him. "nothing's that simple, frisk. i'm not…that's a cheap solution." He wasn't that lazy.

WHY? I…HURT YOU. MURDER BROTHER. TRY MURDER YOU.

Sans looked at them. "was that really you?"

Frisk didn't respond, eyes skittering away from Sans's. I R-E-S-E-T. EVERYONE HAPPY BUT I… They trailed off, looking down at their hands.

It was Sans's turn to look away, continuing to trudge forward, eyes dark. "…i know."

He'd always known, even before this. Even if he'd wanted to brush it off as a dream, that photo in his lab had been all too incriminating.

And he didn't understand why Frisk had reset after that – that perfect happy ending. Curiosity? Nostalgia? A power high?

If Frisk had anything else to say, Sans didn't know. He refused to look back at them, continuing to walk through the snow. He warned off any approaching monsters with a grin that had them skittering away and giving the two of them a wide berth. The Canine Brigade was easily enough distracted with some bones and Sans shooing Frisk on ahead.

Even Snowdrake, who Sans usually got along like a house on fire with due to their mutual love of bad puns, ran off when Sans gave him a look.

Frisk didn't say anything, keeping their head down and sticking close to Sans, arms wrapped around their small frame in an effort at keeping themselves warm.

Reaching Snowdin Town was bizarre, since the last time Sans had seen it, it had been a ghost town. Frisk lingered a little around the store and inn, almost as if considering going inside, but they quickly caught up to Sans.

"S-Sans…" Frisk tugged on his arm as they approached his house. "I-if you want a-a happy ending…"

Sans half-turned to look at them. "there's no 'if' about it."

DIFFICULT. Frisk chewed their lower lip, fingers flexing. FRIEND IMPORTANT. NEED FRIEND. The "need" sign was emphatic. P-A-P-Y-R-U-S. U-N-D-Y-N-E. A-L-P-H-Y-S. ALL.

Sans had to let Frisk near Papyrus? "you saying that you need to make friends to get it?"

Frisk nodded, shrugging sheepishly. What they added next had Sans wanting to hide in his room and not come out again.

"that flower told you? and it's the only way it worked?"

SORRY.

Groaning, Sans reached for his hood, tugging it over his head to give him some semblance of privacy. There went his plan of simply lugging Frisk across the entirety of the Underground and to Asgore. He could've even used a shortcut, but this complicated things.

…Well, he wanted the happy ending, didn't he? He wanted the surface. He wanted Papyrus to see the surface.

He was so close to getting there. This was just another little hurdle to hop over, and it'd be easy enough to do it.

"ok, kiddo." Sans let his hood fall back, tilting his head in the direction of his house. "ready to meet papyrus? i should warn you…" One eye closed in a wink. "he's a human-hunting fanatic."

The giggle Frisk let out was startled, and they looked surprised to hear it coming from them.

Sans's grin turned more genuine. "no worries. i'll keep an eye-socket out for you."

THANK YOU. Frisk beamed at him, grinning toothily.

That settled, Sans let Frisk into their house, unsurprised to see Papyrus in the kitchen enthusiastically punching a tomato into bits. "hey, bro…you're looking kinda red."

"SANS!" Papyrus turned to him, dripping with tomato juice. "AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE WORKING?"

"i am, bro… i'm just taking my legally sanctioned break."

Papyrus stilled, eyes fixed on the kid nervously fidgeting behind Sans. "SANS, IS THAT…?"

"is what?"

Papyrus pointed directly at Frisk. "IS THAT A HUMAN?"

"what, them?" Sans gave Frisk a lazy glance, winking slowly. "nah. just a skeleton in a meat bag who got real chilly. decided i'd give 'em a hand and all out of bonely solidarity."

"THEY DON'T LOOK LIKE A SKELETON." Papyrus squinted at Frisk suspiciously.

"'cause they're in a meat bag. trust me, the skeleton's there. inside. like a human."

Frisk face-palmed, shoulders shaking.

"THEY ARE A HUMAN?" Papyrus's eyes grew wide with excitement. He overturned the pot on the stove in his eagerness. "SANS, YOU CAPTURED A HUMAN! YOU…" He blinked, seeming to register this. "CAPTURED A HUMAN?"

Sans kept his face impassive. "that's my job, bro. y'know, sentry?"

"YESSS, BUT…" Papyrus gave Sans a scrutinizing look for an uncomfortably long moment before switching his focus to Frisk. "YOU THERE, HUMAN! YOU…HAVE BEEN CAPTURED!"

Frisk nodded slowly, giving Papyrus a shy smile.

"YOU HAVE BEEN CAPTURED!" Papyrus repeated. "WHICH MEANS…WHICH MEANS…GOLLY! I HAVE TO TELL UNDYNE!"

"hold onto that for a sec," Sans said, putting up a hand to forestall anything else. "i've been roped into guiding this kid across the underground and to the castle. undyne's a little…tough for their tastes. i'll talk to her 'bout it once we reach waterfall."

"YOU MEAN…YOU'RE GOING TO WORK?" Papyrus sounded simultaneously disbelieving and proud. "GOLLY, ALL MY HARD WORK'S PAYING OFF!"

Watching his exuberant brother dance around excitedly, Sans felt warm. This was what he was working to save. It was everything he wanted to keep and nurture, and he never wanted to lose it again. He remembered that time that Papyrus had been the only ruler left for the Underground, how the responsibility had worn even his exuberance and happiness down.

That wouldn't happen again. Sans refused to let it.

When the world fizzed into sharp focus again for a split-second before fading back out, Sans wasn't even that surprised anymore. It still alarmed him that it was happening, but nothing else seemed to be going wrong…

"C-can I have your n-n-number?" Frisk asked quietly, edging out slightly from behind Sans. "S-Sans's t-t-told me a l-l-lot about y-you. You seem really c-c-cool."

"he's the coolest," Sans agreed easily.

"OF COURSE I AM COOL. I AM THE GREAT PAPYRUS, FUTURE MEMBER OF THE ROYAL GUARD! NYEH HEH HEH HEH!" Papyrus rubbed his hands together, looking suspiciously teary-eyed for a moment. "I HAVE LOTS OF FRIENDS. ADMIRERS. PEOPLE WHO WANT TO BE WITH ME. FRIENDS."

"Me, t-t-too!" Frisk bounced on their feet, grinning now. "I w-want t-to be your friend!"

"WOWIE! A HUMAN WANTS TO BE MY FRIEND!" Papyrus rummaged around his body for a few seconds before seeming to realize that he didn't have any pockets. Then he grabbed hold of a tomato-splattered piece of paper to write on. "HERE IS MY NUMBER, HUMAN! FEEL FREE TO CALL ME ANYTIME WHEN MY BROTHER IS ANNOYING YOU."

Sans closed his eyes as the kid took the slip of paper. "that hurts me, bro…down to the bone."

Papyrus groaned in annoyance. "YOUR SKELETON PUNS ARE THE WORST!"

Sans leapt on the opportunity. "but they're so humerus, with a skeleton of material."

Frisk snickered, promptly covering their mouth with a hand when Papyrus shot them a look of betrayal.

"it'll be alright, bro…" Sans winked. "we'll stop skullking around and leave. got a long way to walk; i won't be by until tomarrow at least."

Papyrus looked long-suffering. "GOOD! MAYBE THEN IT'LL BE QUIET! I CAN GET DOWN TO THE BARE BONES HERE!" He promptly started grinning and snickering to himself.

"see ya, then." Sans gave Papyrus one last look before leaving the house, Frisk on their heels.

He felt only moderately bad for hurrying Frisk along. They still had a long way to go yet.

Once they reached Waterfall, Frisk took some time to investigate each of the echo flowers and listen to what they had to say. It usually wasn't anything special, but for once Sans couldn't resist and let off a whoopie cushion next to one. When Frisk reached that one, the unexpected sound had them startling and jumping a foot in the air.

Sans had been unable to stop himself from laughing at the expression on their face, so different from anything he'd seen in ages. "whoops. looks like you've got an issue there, kiddo."

FUNNY. Matched with Frisk's deadpan expression, the sign was even funnier.

"you're smiling."

The corner of their lips twitching, Frisk looked away. NO.

"heh heh heh." Shrugging, Sans turned and kept walking, sloshing through the water. After a moment, he could hear Frisk doing the same, though they still stopped to listen to the echo flowers.

Although no other monsters bothered Frisk again thanks to Sans's presence, Frisk wanted to make a stop to get some Nice Cream, only to look rather crestfallen upon realizing they didn't have any money. Taking pity on them, Sans fished out some of his own to get a package.

Rather than eat it immediately like he expected, Frisk stuffed it into their pocket, gave the Nice Cream guy a happy wave, and tugged Sans out of the room. He remembered having a telescope here on good runs, but there was no need to prank Frisk this time.

Once they reached the end of the corridor, they were met with the sight of the determined little bird that offered monsters rides to the other side of the gap.

Sans didn't give Frisk any warning as he lifted them up, moving his hand with the motion.

"Sans!" Frisk's voice cracked painfully, frightened.

"faster than winging it, buddy." Sans let them down at the other side before taking the shortest shortcut and appearing next to them.

NOT-WANT! Frisk signed emphatically, glaring at Sans. FUTURE YOU-AND-ME TOGETHER!

"shortcuts, then? alright." Sans shrugged, not too bothered either way. "c'mon, kid. undyne's just up ahead."

Rather than pick up the pace like he'd expected, Frisk slowed down, something haunted crossing their face.

"…you nervous about seeing her? no need to be. she's a tuna fun." If she liked you, that was… But Frisk hadn't killed anyone this timeline, so there shouldn't be an issue.

NO FIGHT? Frisk shook their head while signing "fight."

"no one's fighting anyone."

Frisk looked doubtful about this. SHE WANT FIGHT. ALWAYS.

As this was true, Sans didn't have anything to offer other than a shrug. "can't avoid her forever. let's go."

Frisk did follow after him this time, but rather than head up the trail to Undyne's house, they tugged on his sleeve and pointed to the path next to it. VISIT N-A-P-S-T-A-B-L-O-O-K?

Sans took a moment to quietly appreciate the fact that the kid could spell Napstablook's name without stumbling.

The kid took his silence as hesitation. PLEASE?

Giving the path to Undyne's one last look, Sans simply nodded once before letting Frisk lead the way to the ghost's house. As encounters went, Napstablook was peaceful, and Sans could take a little time to relax.

Maybe even catch some shuteye? He was usually napping around this time anyway.

There shouldn't be any nightmares then…

"ohhhh… you want to come in?" Napstablook caught sight of Sans. "hi, sans."

"hey, naps…what's spookin'?"

"nothing, really…" Napstablook drifted backwards. "you can come in…if you want…"

Once they were inside, Sans took stock of the fact that there was absolutely nowhere to sit aside from the floor and promptly claimed the area by the spider web with the flyer sticking in it. Then, flipping his hood over his head, he tucked his hands into his pockets and did his best to catch some Zs.

What had to be a few minutes later, Sans was pretty sure he'd fallen asleep, only to be jolted awake by some of the most horrendous music he'd ever had the misfortune to hear. The fact that it was catchy didn't really help.

Frisk shot him an apologetic look when they noticed he was awake, mouthing "sorry" and quickly turning the record off.

Exhaling, Sans closed his eyes again, letting himself relax and drift off.

It felt like seconds later that Frisk was shaking him awake, giving him a tentative smile.

"…whassit?" Sans rubbed over his hood, shaking off the remnants of sleep. "time to ghost out?"

YES. Frisk looked back at Napstablook, giving them a broad smile and a wave.

"'k." Pushing himself to his feet, Sans let his hood fall back to its usual space, giving Napstablook a lazy wave. "nice haunting you, naps. spook you around?"

"if you want…" Napstablook followed them to the door. "thanks for coming by…" The ghost faded away, the door closing softly behind the two.

When Sans turned to Frisk, he saw them staring at him blandly. "what?"

NOTHING. It was clearly a lie, but Frisk wasn't signing anything else.

Sans eyed them suspiciously for a moment before dismissing it. "c'mon…let's go fish out undyne."

Having seemingly been cheered up by the visit to Napstablook, Frisk kept pace with Sans as they approached the fish house. Sans didn't hesitate before knocking on the door, tucking his hand back into his pocket.

Within seconds, Undyne opened the door, stopping dead upon seeing Sans standing there. "Aren't you supposed to be at your station?"

"supposed to be keeping a line out for humans…" Sans shrugged, nudging Frisk gently in the side. "i fished one out."

"You—" Undyne blinked upon registering Frisk's presence. "A HUMAN!" A spear flashed into appearance before Sans could blink.

"rude," Sans drawled, not budging even as Frisk darted behind him. "no shooting lines at my buddy, undyne. this is my catch."

"They're still alive!" Undyne wisely didn't poke Sans with her spear, though that didn't stop her from waving it menacingly. "And walking!"

Sans stared impassively back at her. "…yeah… d'you think i can really carry them around? i'm small fry. 'sides, they're harmless."

"Harmless? Them?" Undyne's laugh was disbelieving. "That's just a front!"

Sans's grin flattened just a smidge. "y'think i'd miss something like that?" Maybe he had once upon a time, hoping that they'd get better, see the error of their ways, but not anymore.

"H-hi," Frisk managed, peeking out from behind Sans's shoulder. "P-Papyrus t-t-told me about you… S-says…y-you're really n-nice? A-a-and that we'd be g-good friends?" They gave her a nervous smile, fingers plucking anxiously at the fabric of Sans's jacket.

Undyne's eye narrowed. "Did he?"

Frisk nodded vigorously, pulling out their phone and dialing Papyrus's number. He picked up after exactly two rings. "HELLO?"

Seeing Frisk's throat struggling to make a sound, Sans leaned over. "hey, bro, mind fishing us out here?"

"SANS? AH, THIS MUST BE THE HUMAN'S NUMBER! WAIT…ARE YOU AT UNDYNE'S?" He didn't wait for answer. "HELLO, UNDYNE! THIS IS PAPYRUS!"

"You met the human and didn't tell me?" Undyne demanded.

"SANS WAS GOING TO TELL YOU. YOU'VE MET THEM NOW!" Papyrus answered cheerfully. "YOU TWO ARE GOING TO BE GREAT FRIENDS! I CAN TELL!" Without further adieu, he hung up with a resolute click.

Undyne just stood there, eye twitching as she stared at the phone.

"you gonna leave us dangling out here?" Sans asked, unflinching as the spear in Undyne's hand flickered with energy. "or you gonna invite us in? i don't think naps's place had anything for the kid to eat."

Frisk shook their head, shuffling their shoes against the welcome mat.

Undyne's aggressive stance relaxed a smidge. "You were at Napstablook's?"

"haunted the place for a while, yeah."

Undyne's eyebrow twitched. "Are you going to keep doing that?"

Sans couldn't resist a wink. "am i stringing you out?"

"Will you stop if I let you inside?"

If it would get them to the end of these damn resets, Sans would swear off puns for the foreseeable future. "you got it."

With one last angry huff, Undyne retreated, her spear vanishing as she withdrew.

Giving Frisk one last glance, Sans let them in before him, closing the door behind him, making sure to leave it open just a crack. He had a suspicion that they might need to make an quick escape.

One suspiciously timed phone call from Papyrus, a disastrous cooking session, and an exploding stove later, the three of them lingered outside of Undyne's unfortunately fiery house. This wasn't even the first time this had happened, but it was the first time Sans had been present for it.

He could do without a repeat.

But it did seem to have done the trick, as Undyne told Frisk to call Papyrus – and by extension her – whenever they wanted help or an escape from Sans.

Sans gave her a blank stare at that statement, not appreciating the insinuation that he wasn't fun to be around.

That done, Undyne ran off to Snowdin to surprise Papyrus. She would also be staying on their couch until her house was repaired or they got to the surface. Sans knew which he personally preferred.

"ok, frisk?" Sans asked quietly, glancing askance at them.

Nodding, Frisk gave him a content smile. They indicated that they should leave now, gesturing towards the intersection.

"yeah, let's go. still got hotland to smoke through." And Alphys… Sans hadn't seen her in a while.

They were so close…

The world spun into sharp focus for a split-second, then fizzled out again. Sans exhaled, closing his eyes.

Easy enough. It would all be worth it.

Thankfully, Frisk hadn't any issues with Sans taking a shortcut to Alphys's lab. Two Royal Guards stood guard at the path to the elevator, though neither did anything beyond wave at Sans, disregarding Frisk as a weird looking monster.

THEY WANT KISS. Frisk made kissy faces, giving him a squinty-eyed grin. DATE.

Heh… That certainly put things in a new light. Sans hadn't seen them before, though Undyne had talked about the bunny wanting to be assigned to the dragon's route. But they clearly knew him, and Sans had no doubt that Papyrus had been talking to them.

Alphys's lab hadn't changed a bit since the last Sans had been here. Which…had been far too long ago. Sans wasn't even sure how long ago, the resets messing up his sense of time.

The doors slid open smoothly as Frisk skipped ahead, Sans following at a more leisurely pace. It was dark inside, but Frisk moved forward confidently, using the illumination from the giant monitor that was currently displaying the image of…Frisk and Sans walking in the laboratory.

The fact that Alphys had cameras right here shouldn't even surprise Sans, let alone that they were all programmed to focus on Frisk.

It was still kind of creepy.

Without warning, the lights clicked on, blindingly bright for anyone with non-magical pupils that needed to adjust to the sudden difference.

Sans couldn't help but snicker at the way Frisk stumbled over a stray noodle carton, earning a glare for the noise.

"Oh. My God! I didn't expect you to show up so soon! You're here! I haven't showered, I'm barely dressed, it's all – er." Alphys cut off, eyes widening when she saw Sans standing there. "S-Sans! You're…still here?"

Sans resisted glancing pointedly at the monitor. "where else would i be?"

"I thought you'd have – er – gone off and…taken a nap? Undyne thought so…" Alphys scratched her nose, cheeks darkening.

"there're too many pastabilities lying around here for me to swirl off like that." Sans kicked the empty noodle carton that Frisk had tripped over under the computer desk. "how's it going, alphys?"

"Ahhh, great!" Alphys's eyes skittered to the "bathroom" door and back to Sans and Frisk. "H-hiya! I'm Dr. Alphys! Asgore's royal scientist! I'm – er – a friend of Sans's! I-I've been – ah…'observing' you! The human, I-I mean… Since you left the Ruins! A-at first I was going to stop you, but there was Sans, so…" She gave him a bemused glance. "Stopping you turned out to be unnecessary?"

Sans didn't react as Frisk glanced at him, keeping his nonchalant pose.

"I-I was going to help guide you through Hotland's puzzles and to Asgore's castle, but…" Alphys glanced at Sans again, clicking her talons together nervously. "You've got Sans."

YOU HELP! Frisk insisted, giving her a fierce look. HE LAZY.

"eh…" Sans couldn't be bothered to muster up the indignation for a retort. "i wouldn't let you roast, kid."

NOT APPROPRIATE!

"you're gonna melt me out here, buddy."

"So…you want my help?" Alphys sounded slightly disbelieving, only to be pacified at Frisk's exuberant YES! "O-okay! T-then…um…I should let you know there's a small issue…"

"this 'bout that robot you made with those 'anti-human combat features'?" Sans asked, remembering all too clearly how well that had worked out for Mettaton.

"That was only recently!" Alphys yelped, shaking her head. "I built him as an entertainment robot first! Like a robotic TV star, you know?" She squinted at him. "How'd you even know?"

Sans winked. "got my ways."

"Er…" Alphys seemed to remember something, her nose pinching. "A-anyway! After I saw you, I figured those features were unnecessary! So I tried to remove them! Unfortunately, I may have made a teensy mistake while doing so. Now, um…he's an unstoppable killing machine with a thirst for human blood?" She shuffled anxiously, chuckling. "Heh… But, um…hopefully we won't run into him!"

A few seconds after she said that, there was a loud noise behind the wall to their left.

Sans gave Alphys a blank stare, which she tried to ignore. The twitch of her tail betrayed her.

There was another loud pounding noise, the floor shaking beneath their feet. And again. And again, each one worse than the one before. Soon enough, the lights went out. Plaster flew everywhere, one piece bouncing off Sans's forehead before he could be bothered to move. He sidestepped the rest of the debris, taking a step backwards.

"OHHHH, YES. WELCOME, BEAUTIES…" A spotlight came on over a rectangular-shaped robot standing in front of a hole in the wall. He was holding a mic in his hand. "…TO TODAY'S QUIZ SHOW!" The other lights came on, albeit dimly, illuminating Frisk and Alphys. "OH BOY! I CAN ALREADY TELL IT'S GONNA BE A GREAT SHOW! EVERYONE GIVE A BIG HAND TO OUR WONDERFUL CONTESTANT!"

Confetti rained down on Frisk's head as Mettaton clapped.

Sans couldn't be bothered to pay attention to the rest, shuffling around to the side to get into Alphys's line of sight to give her a look. She gave him a nervous grin, her shrug barely visible under her lab coat.

Taking another look at Mettaton, who was starting the quiz show, Sans caught sight of Frisk frantically signing SAFE and FINE, as if Sans couldn't read the situation clearly enough to see that Alphys was pulling the strings and Mettaton was kind enough to play along. It was almost insulting.

Besides, if Mettaton had wanted Frisk dead, he'd have done it before and in a much faster but still showy fashion. This was…well…amusing.

And left Sans some time to chill out and relax.

Which he happily took, because watching Frisk answer questions like whether they'd want to kiss a ghost and only have HELL YEAH as an option was just hilarious.

"we can skip ahead to the core," Sans said once they were outside of Alphys's lab.

Frisk looked up from fiddling with their phone settings, giving Sans an accusing look.

"…no?" Sans glanced back at the lab. "you telling me you want to deal with a 'killer robot'?"

The face Frisk made now clearly said no, but they quickly explained that Alphys could help out due to Mettaton's shenanigans, which would in turn make it easier to make friends with her, and—

Jeez, this was complicated.

"making friends isn't this difficult," Sans grumbled, beginning to trudge up the path. "d'you know where his next stage is? we could take a shortcut—"

NO. A-L-P-H-Y-S HELP SOLVE PUZZLE. Frisk shrugged, their grin just as sheepish as their body language.

They had to get through all of Hotland's puzzles? Sans could hear his bed calling him from the other side of the Underground, but this was no time to take a nap. He had to make sure no other monsters held them up. "ugh, fine, kid. let's do this."

Frisk was far too cheerful for a kid who had to walk through a boiling hot environment just to make friends with Alphys and play with a narcissistic ghost in a robot. They didn't even seem to mind the constant alerts they got from Alphys's excited posts.

After the third, Sans turned the alerts off on his phone, thinking that if Papyrus really needed him, he could just call Frisk. It wasn't like anything else would threaten his brother. No, Sans was with the biggest threat to the Underground right now, and he wasn't leaving them.

Not even…because of these stupid puzzles. Sans didn't even warn Frisk before he took a shortcut to the other side. Hot air blowing through bones didn't exactly feel good, no matter how many clothes you wore. It somehow managed to get through the cloth and tickle…everything.

By the time they reached him, Frisk gave him an angry look that lost all effectiveness thanks to how flushed they looked, cheeks red and sweat dotting their skin.

"okay, buddy? you look just a little…hot."

Frisk made a disgusted noise, marching off without waiting for Sans. Then they had to stop for Alphys's next phone call as she explained the laser puzzle, though Sans didn't bother to listen in and instead took the next shortcut and then another one to bypass the vents and take a seat in front of the metal doors. He gave Frisk a lazy wave when they came into sight before settling back to relax and wait for them to solve the puzzles.

LAZY! Frisk accused him when they landed in front of him, panting.

"never said i wasn't," Sans said affably, standing as the doors opened. "'sides, this is your plan."

YOU WANT HAPPY ENDING! THIS GET HAPPY ENDING! Frisk shot him a look filled with determination, then walked through the doors and to the next vents. STOP, they signed before Sans could teleport over. M-E-T-T-A-T-O-N THERE. COOK SHOW.

"oh, you don't say? sounds toasty." Sans's grin stretched at the strangled cough from Frisk. "have fun."

He moved, stopping just on the other side of the force fields that Mettaton had in place. It was pitch black on the stage, but the lights flared on a minute later as Frisk came in, Mettaton popping up by the counter to announce COOKING WITH A KILLER ROBOT.

Ah…so it was that show. Papyrus was probably watching it right now with Undyne. Sans briefly considered making a cameo just for shits and giggles, then brushed it off as too much effort.

He had better things to do with his time.

Like nap.

Hotland was boring and hot. The monsters here weren't familiar with Sans beyond having seen him man his hot dog station, but they still left Frisk alone.

Until the Royal Guards pulled them to a halt, sounding apologetic. "Well, just stay chill. We'll bring you someplace safe, ok?"

Sans nudged his foot in front of Frisk's to stop them from moving. "relax, guys. the kiddo's with me. we're safe enough."

The bunny guard glanced at his partner, ears flopping. "But, like, the human's wandering around here. You'd be safer away from here."

"uh-huh… who gave you the tip, anyway?"

"It was anonymous!" the Royal Guard fretted. "Come on!"

Frisk tugged on the back of Sans's jacket, whispering, "T-they like each other…"

Oh, right. Sans remembered Frisk saying something like that before. So what were they suggesting? Getting the two guards together as a distraction tactic?

The dragon guard was saying something meaningful with his silent body language that only his partner understood.

"What? They're…wearing a striped shirt?" The bunny guard looked more closely at Frisk. "Oh my God! This is, like, mega embarrassing. We, like, totally actually have to kill you and stuff."

"c'mon, coal down here!" Sans protested, stepping nonchalantly in front of Frisk. "no one's killing anyone here, alright? the human's with me; i'm taking them to asgore. orders of the king, y'know?"

"Undyne said we're supposed to kill the human on sight," the bunny guard protested.

"man, undyne gets way too heated 'bout these things… why not just take a step back and coal down?" He inwardly winced at the double use of the pun, though the guards didn't seem to notice. "get too hasty and you'll burn out. …if you get my meaning." He winked.

"Burn out for what?" the bunny guard asked after a moment, confused.

"burn out with passion! 'cause passion's where it's at, and you two are heating up with the love." He felt a bit like he was putting on a routine in Mettaton's hotel. All he needed was a mic.

The bunny guard was sweating. "What – what love? Bro, I don't know what he's talking about!"

The dragon guard said nothing, though there was a palpable twinge of curiosity from him.

"aw, come on, be honest with your flames! you're just on fire with your burning passion." Sans bounced up and down, pleased to hear Frisk snickering slightly. "really… i can see it and i'm not even a regular."

"B-be honest about your feelings!" Frisk encouraged the bunny guard, grinning toothily. They struck a pose, giving him a thumbs up. "W-we b-b-believe in you!"

After a little more stuttering, what followed was one of the most heartfelt confessions that Sans had ever had the privilege of witnessing. That he hadn't ever seen it before was a bonus.

Once the guards left on their first date, Sans turned to Frisk, unable and unwilling to curtail the amusement bubbling in his chest. "…heh. good one, kid."

RIGHT? Frisk gave him a big grin. COME ON!

Unfortunately, matchmaking the Royal Guards was the last interesting thing to happen. Thankfully, since he was a skeleton, the heat didn't bother him as much as it did Frisk. But now that they were on the third level, that wasn't as big an issue as it had been on the first.

The spiders didn't make any sense, and he couldn't help but wonder why they didn't roast in the heat. Of course, they weren't on the lowest level, which might have helped with that whole overheating thing… Frisk definitely looked happier to no longer be right by the lava.

"Fancy a spider pastry, deary?" Muffet asked Sans, tittering as she waved to her goods.

Sans eyed the rather rubbery looking pastry, then looked at the sign proclaiming it to be 9,999 G. His wallet didn't even hold half of that. "sorry. fresh out of dough."

Much to his dismay, Frisk didn't even hear the pun, darting ahead to the next vent puzzle.

Sighing, Sans popped himself to the metal doors. They were almost at the end, weren't they? This was the third level, and there were only three until they got to Mettaton's Resort and the Core.

Without warning, the doors slid open with a heavy metal creak. Frisk bounded in front of him a second later, grinning.

ALMOST FINISH! They beamed at him as they walked to a dark doorway.

"what, really?" Sans couldn't help but perk up a little.

YES. M-E-T-T-A-T-O-N AGAIN THEN RESTAURANT. Frisk gave him a squinty-eyed grin.

They were almost there?

They were almost there. Almost finished.

Sans closed his eyes, the sensation of the world fizzling into focus sharp against his bones before it faded back out again. He still hadn't figured out what that was yet, but nothing bad had happened since Undyne's, which had been where it had last happened.

"alright." Sans winked at them. "let's do this."

Nodding, Frisk fell into step with him as they entered the dark room. There was an odd, musty smell in here, something that Sans wasn't familiar with. The floor was also rather sticky and squished oddly in places. He regretted deciding to traverse the Underground in nothing but his slippers.

Faint, twittering laughter sounded, barely discernible.

As Sans stepped into something else sticky and squishy, he thought that his rarely worn sneakers would have been a better option.

There were voices now. "Did you hear what they just said?"

"Oh no," Frisk breathed, fear suddenly in their voice.

"They said a human wearing a striped shirt will come through."

Considering they couldn't really see each other here, Sans wasn't surprised Frisk had opted to speak. But why were they afraid? "what?"

"I heard that they hate spiders."

Were they hearing spiders?

As Sans strained his hearing, he could make out what was probably a bunch of spiders twitching about in the dark. He could probably make a guess as to how many there were, but…no. That would be too much even for him.

"S-Sans," Frisk whispered, fingers curling in his jacket. They flinched when they stepped into something soft and gooey.

Sans found himself too busy trying to digest the fact that he had essentially just walked into a giant spider web. A skeleton and a spider meet in a haunted house…

There had to be a punch line for that joke.

"I heard that they love to stomp on them."

They managed to inch forwards a few more feet, Frisk gripping tightly to Sans.

"I heard that they like to tear their legs off."

"that sounds like humans," Sans muttered, ignoring how tightly Frisk squeezed his arm.

The voice was different now, louder and more familiar. "I heard…" There was a whooshing noise to their left, and then something illuminated an eight-legged figure hanging in her web. "…that they're awfully stingy with their money."

Aw, Muffet… Damn it.

"your stuff is kinda on the expensive side, y'know," Sans pointed out, remembering exactly how expensive it had been. He'd heard the monster standing there muttering about being all out of cash.

Muffet had the audacity to ignore him. "You think your taste is too refined our pastries, don't you, deary? Ahuhuhu… I disagree with that notion."

Sans didn't need Frisk tightening their grip to know that they were being surrounded by spiders. "'cause we love pastries."

Muffet ignored him again, all her eyes on Frisk. "I think your taste…is exactly what this next batch needs!"

As in…putting a human into the pastries?

There was little time to react, especially since there was a string of web shooting for them, intent to kill written all over it. Instinctively, Sans dodged, stepping sideways and reappearing ten feet away. But since practically all of his recent experience in dodging had been while trying to evade the attacks of the human SOUL attached to him, he hadn't taken Frisk with him.

Frisk…who was now clinging for life in an intricately woven web that had been created by magic.

"Don't look so blue, my deary~," Muffet told Frisk, teacups twirling on her legs. What – that was horrible – Frisk wasn't even blue. "…I think purple is a much better look on you!" She tittered, winking with multiple eyes.

But they were purple now, and although they could move freely along the web, the purple magic stuck them fast to the strings.

Sans ran forward, tension coiling tightly. "let them go!"

And now Muffet acknowledged him. "Ahuhuhu… Why should I?"

His hands flexed in his pockets, panic stirring in him at the sight of multiple spiders rushing at Frisk. That Frisk was able to dodge most of them didn't help. "they haven't hurt anyone!"

"Oh?" Muffet seemed to consider this, even as more spiders and what looked like boomerangs attacked Frisk. "We were warned about you… The person who did…offered us a lot of money for the human's SOUL."

Offered…? Someone had hired Muffet to do this?

Sans grimaced as Frisk slung themselves up the web, their purple SOUL pulsing visibly in their chest. They looked pale. "how much?"

"They had such a sweet smile~," Muffet glanced up at Frisk, mouth stretching into a grin. "Oh, how rude of me! I almost forgot to introduce you to my pet. It's breakfast time, isn't it? Have fun, you two~."

The pet in question ended up being a spider muffin, and it was quickly chomping up the web towards Frisk, who also had to dodge the oncoming spiders.

"frisk isn't food," Sans said sharply, a low growl underlying the words.

"I swore I saw them in the shadows…changing shape…?"

That effectively bumped Sans's list of suspects down to zero. It could have been Mettaton, but why would the robot want to kill Frisk now? It didn't make sense.

Sans didn't look away from Frisk, even as his eyes went dark. "how much did they offer you?"

"With that money, the spider clans can finally be reunited~. Those trapped in the Ruins can be transported safely through the cold." Muffet turned back to Sans, winking cheerily. "Too much for one such as you. Ahuhuhu…"

"Muffet—"

Muffet was back to ignoring him, even with his magic coming to the surface. "I haven't forgotten you, deary… It's time for lunch now, my pet. Ahuhuhu~."

"D o n ' t." Bones spun into form around Sans, his left hand out to control their path.

She wasn't going to risk this – their happy ending—

"Sans!"

Sans's head jerked up towards Frisk, eyes widening in horror when he saw Frisk's last HP whittle down to zero as a bouncing ball hit them. Their purple SOUL slowly faded back to red as their body went limp, coming free from the web and falling to the floor.

He couldn't move even as Frisk's body hit the floor with a sickening thump, the sound of their bones shattering with the impact sending minute flinches through him. His eyes were on their SOUL, which wasn't shattering into pieces like it had every other time their HP had dropped to zero.

Muffet reached for it, twittering happily about her blasted spiders and giving them a ride in a heated limo from the Ruins.

Hell. No.

Sans snagged hold of the SOUL with his blue magic, pulling it towards him until it nested in his left hand. He could still feel Frisk as their SOUL pulsed warmly in his hand, their lingering terror and pain resonating through his own SOUL.

Muffet loomed before him. "That isn't yours, deary."

"it isn't yours either." Sans didn't look up, his left eye blazing blue and yellow, his blasters materializing in front of him.

With a fierce howl, the blasters incinerated Muffet, leaving nothing but a pile of dust and the silence of countless stunned spiders.

There was a pulse of shock from Frisk, who beat anxiously against his hand.

Sans pulled them close. "i'm sorry."

What was he supposed to do now? Reset and start over? They were so close to the end…

Sans didn't want to do it all over again, retracing their steps from Point A to get to Point Z. The very thought exhausted him, had him wanting to climb into his bed and huddle under the covers.

This shouldn't have happened. It shouldn't have happened this way. Frisk had gotten through this point before, but that had been when they could reset and do it again, learning from their mistakes. They'd clearly forgotten about this place and how bad it was if it had taken them this off guard, and now they couldn't reset.

Because Sans had the ability.

And he didn't want to use it to reset from the beginning.

All he wanted…was to fix this so Frisk was alive again.

So they could finish this for once and for all.

With a seamless transition, Sans found himself standing in front of the dark doorway, Frisk next to him. Warm. Breathing. Alive.

And apparently panicking judging from the flailing and wide eyes. They tipped over backwards, landing heavily on their back with a groan.

"…what?" Sans looked down at his hands, which weren't holding Frisk's SOUL anymore because Frisk was alive and groaning on the floor. There were no spiders around them. Muffet wasn't a pile of dust on the floor because Sans had lost his temper.

They were…right before everything had gone wrong.

Sans's confusion must have been clearly visible because the next thing he heard was Frisk say, "It's c-c-called saving. You…make a save file… I-it's what F-Flowey always c-called them. I-I d-didn't know y-you'd made one here."

Sans hadn't either. He hadn't even known that saving was a thing. He'd thought that it stopped at resetting, but the ability to save? Make a point that you could go back to in case things went wrong?

No wonder the kid had always come back so full of determination in their fights, if they only had a few feet to travel between every death.

Those instances of the world feeling strange…Sans had been making saves the entire time. …How?

"I-I always h-heard s-someone – A-Asgore – t-telling me t-t-to be d-d-d-determined when I d-died." Frisk swallowed audibly.

Sans looked up from his hands to meet Frisk's eyes. "determination's really something, huh…"

Frisk bit their lower lip, studying their legs. They had yet to stand up, and for some reason…they looked just as tired as Sans felt. SORRY.

"what you saying sorry for, frisk?" Sans sighed, joining Frisk on the ground. "i should've reacted faster."

NO. I…FORGET FOOD. Frisk made a face, taking off their backpack to open it, rummaging around until they fished out a rather beaten-up looking donut. SPIDER FOOD.

Sans failed to see the point unless it was a certain poetic irony Frisk was trying to make. "which she wanted to turn you into."

EAT SPIDER FOOD THEN M-U-F-F-E-T STOP. NOT FIGHT. Frisk made an apologetic face. I FORGET. SORRY. IF PAST REMEMBER THEN FIGHT NOT HAPPEN.

"so if you'd just eaten the freaking donut in front of muffet…then that wouldn't have happened?" Sans glared at the donut. "how about…we do-nut do that."

Frisk's face twisted into a mixture of amusement and confusion, clearly torn as to how they should react. They tilted their head to the side, face twisted in a silent question.

"yeah, no. i'm vetoing this plan. plan's vetoed before it bakes. how 'bout we take the shortcut and get to the next part, 'k?"

REALLY?

"really, really." Sans didn't waste more time on arguing, reaching over to pull Frisk to their feet and then drag them in the opposite direction of the accursed spider hallway before stepping over the edge. Frisk had enough time to let out a startled squeak before they stepped onto solid ground in front of a poster of Mettaton.

"there. ta-da. have fun with mettaton, kiddo. i'll see you in the usual spot."

And before Frisk could say anything else, Sans was gone, reappearing in a dark alley right by Mettaton's expensive hotel. There, he let himself sink into a small ball, letting the tremors run through him.

So close to losing it. That had been too close. Sans couldn't deal with it happening again.

He wouldn't let that happen again. No…

And this frightening power that he barely understood in his control…the ability to not only reset completely from the beginning but also save and go back to specific points in time… It terrified him that he had it in his grasp.

That damn flower didn't have it. Frisk didn't have it anymore.

He had it.

And he had to use it.

…He would use it to make sure things worked out this time. And then he would lock it away, not to be used again. He refused to let it be used again to torture all of them like this.

And the thought…it filled him with DETERMINATION.

When Frisk met up with him outside the resort, they were smelling just a little bit of fire and the edges of their clothes were a tad singed.

"you look all fired up."

FINISH. Their face was solemn as they signed the word, but a few seconds later it broke into a grin. NOW SHORTCUT?

"oh, you wanna take it now?" Sans leaned back against the wall, digging his heels into the ground. "where to?"

C-O-R-E ELEVATOR.

"ok. this way, buddy." Leading them back up the alley, Sans whisked them both to the Core elevator that was right before the entrance to Asgore's castle.

M-E-T-T-A-T-O-N FIGHT. Frisk glanced at the door, chewing their lip. NOW WANT MURDER ME. AFTER A-L-P-H-Y-S ARRIVE.

So it wasn't done yet? Sans resisted the urge to groan, instead opting to blink slowly. "and the show has to go on?"

THEN U-N-D-Y-N-E PLUS A-L-P-H-Y-S DATE. Frisk's grin was cheeky. I DATE A-L-P-H-Y-S THEN U-N-D-Y-N-E. THEN… Frisk paused, grin sliding off. I SEE L-A-B. GHOST.

"you mean…the amalgamates?" Sans swallowed, ducking his head as he remembered those horrific failures… He hadn't been as deeply embroiled as Alphys, but he'd given her a hand now and then, keeping dog food on hand when she needed it and such. "geez, frisk…you really don't make this easy."

HAPPY END. Frisk let their hands drop, nodding reassuringly at Sans. PROMISE.

"not like you'd lie to me…" Sans grinned darkly, letting his left eye flicker blue for a split-second.

There was a flash of fear on Frisk's face, but it disappeared quickly, Frisk swallowing. NOT LIE.

He let his grin soften. "yeah, frisk… i'll let you handle mettaton now. got everything you need? i don't want to risk you dying like that again."

Frisk turned their pockets and pulled out the cell phone, cramming as many food items as they could into their clothes. They also jiggled their backpack. GOOD.

"if it does get bad…i'm gonna yank you out, alright?" Sans could technically jump back to his last save, but he wasn't 100% sure how that all worked yet. If it ended up being a flop…he'd rather not risk it.

Frisk nodded, giving Sans a small smile. Then, with one last breath, they squared their shoulders and headed into the room.

Sans remained standing there for a moment longer, letting his eyes close and his shoulders slump.

Almost, he told himself. They had a few other errands to run, but they were almost done with this song and dance.

He could hang on for a little longer.

Five minutes later, Sans was hearing something that sounded like robotic cackling, and Alphys puffed into view, looking distinctly frazzled.

"How did they get up here so fast – ohh, Sans!" She seemed surprised to see him standing there. "Were you, uh…helping them? For, uh…how long?"

"never left," Sans said easily, seeing her hands twitch nervously at her lab coat pockets. "just didn't bother to join the show. wasn't like mettaton was going to hurt the kid…right?"

"R-right!" Alphys grinned sheepishly. "Err…did they go in already, or…?"

Sans shrugged in lieu of a verbal answer, watching Alphys step through the doorway.

"H-hey!" Alphys sounded alarmed. "Wh-wh-what's going on? Th-th-the door's locked!" After some loud pounding, she shouted for Sans.

Sans took a moment to respond, sighing. He didn't bother to move. "…what?"

"C-can you open this? M-Mettaton's going to hurt them!"

"thought he wasn't going to hurt them. wasn't that the whole plan you two cooked up?"

Sans didn't have to see Alphys to know that she had flinched. "You – you knew?"

"you weren't subtle, alphys."

"O-oh…" Alphys sounded defeated. "I…I just…I wanted to help them…be a part of their adventure… But it all went wrong… Now Mettaton's going to kill them…" There was the distinct sound of Alphys hitting the floor. "And it's all my fault."

Sans slowly slipped around the corner to see Alphys sitting on the floor against the door, looking at her hands. "he's not the first to try and kill them. you didn't really do anything," he said a moment later. "frisk liked it, actually. playing along like that."

"Frisk, huh?" Alphys looked up at Sans. "You know their name…"

"it'd be a little weird if i didn't, seeing as how i've been their traveling buddy." Sans kept the recrimination out of his voice, letting it fall into a teasing lilt.

"You were more help than me… I can't do anything right, even this…" Alphys looked down again, crestfallen. "They must think I'm so stupid…"

"a little weird, maybe…" Sans crouched in front of her. "but they're used to weird."

Alphys glanced up, frowning. "W-why aren't you in there? You're supposed to be protecting them, right?"

"i'm going…just wanted to say hi to an old friend first." Sans gave her a slow wink before straightening. "show biz's something else, after all. and for a scientist like you…what's a locked door?" Within an eye-blink, Sans teleported into the room, on the opposite side of the stage and behind Mettaton.

The two were in full on dance mode, Frisk moving smoothly through Mettaton's attacks and posing dramatically and boasting whenever possible. It was going a lot smoother than what had happened earlier with Muffet, none of the panic or fear on Frisk's face that had been there before.

Their easy confidence was enough to set Sans more at ease, so he let himself sink back into the shadows, only half as alert as before. Frisk had it handled so far, and Sans wasn't going to interfere.

Not even when Mettaton's limbs went flying off. Frisk didn't bat an eye, so he assumed this was a thing that happened normally. He had watched this fight during one of their runs, but it was so jumbled up with all the rest that it was difficult to remember the exact details.

And then…it was over.

Alphys managed to jimmy open the lock on the door after Mettaton shut down completely, and her look of utter dismay and horror at seeing Mettaton lying there senselessly had pity twinge through Sans.

HE FINE, Frisk signed to Sans.

Sans knew that. Alphys didn't, though.

And once Alphys ascertained that Mettaton was indeed fine beyond being out of batteries, she followed them to the elevator.

"Y-you're going now, huh?" Her talons clicked together nervously. "I guess you're excited about it…"

Frisk nodded in agreement, bouncing slightly on their toes.

"Then…I guess…this is goodbye?" Alphys shot Sans a helpless look, which he returned with a blank stare.

THANK YOU. Frisk gave her a broad smile.

"Yeeahhh…" Alphys's shoulders drew in tightly, her eyes dropping to the floor. "So…good luck…" She turned, taking several steps down the hallway. Then… "I can't do this. I'm sorry." She half-turned back to Frisk, not meeting their eyes. "I don't think Sans told you…did he?"

WHAT?

Alphys gave Sans a mildly accusing look, as if to ask why he hadn't told the kid how to get through the barrier. "The barrier…I told you a human SOUL could get through it… I lied. I'm sorry."

LIE? The kid was a rather terrible actor, but thankfully Alphys wasn't looking too closely at them.

"It takes a human SOUL…and a monster SOUL. You'll…have to kill him. That's the only way you can get through." Alphys turned her back to them. "I'm sorry." She ran off without another word.

Sans slowly looked at Frisk. "is it always that awkward?"

Frisk nodded in response. They signed the equivalent of an "um," fingers twisting. NOW DATE?

Giving the elevator a last look, Sans dipped his head in a nod. "let's go snag undyne and alphys a date. how should we do this?"

The date was one of the most hysterical things Sans had the privilege of seeing, down to the role-playing Frisk suggested that had Alphys shrieking to the heavens and Undyne rather flabbergasted. Of course, Sans hadn't actually been visible during it, but he'd snuck around behind the piles of garbage and kept a discreet eye on the proceedings.

Just because.

And it meant he could get Frisk directly to Alphys's lab after Papyrus called them about going to see her.

"last bit, yeah?" Sans murmured, lingering outside the door of the lab.

Nodding, Frisk led the way into the building, stopping at the letter Alphys had left on the floor. They let Sans skim it before going through the door that was not so innocuously labeled as a bathroom. As monsters didn't even need to use the bathroom, Sans hadn't ever understood why Alphys had opted for such a disguise.

YOU STAY? Frisk asked him, hovering by the elevator buttons.

"you think i'm gonna let you down there alone?" Sans shot them a look, jabbing the right button before Frisk could. "those amalgamates aren't the friendliest, as you know. we're not gonna risk another muffet scenario."

THEY OK.

Sans side-eyed them skeptically, bracing himself against the side of the elevator as it startled rattling ominously, lights flashing warningly.

Anything else Frisk might have said was promptly cut off as the elevator plunged into darkness, an alarm wailing briefly about a power outage before that also cut off with a screech. The elevator didn't feel like it was plunging to a fiery death, and Frisk wasn't panicking, so Sans assumed this was a normal thing.

When the doors eventually opened, letting light into the pitch black space, Sans was greeted with the dreary sight of Alphys's laboratory. The atmosphere was just as dark and awful as the last time he'd been down here.

There was a lot more dust, Sans noted, trailing his fingers against the wall. And the entire place just stank of despair and horrible grief.

Frisk paused briefly to read some of the entries that Alphys had scattered through the lab, not even giving the locked door leading the power room a second glance. Sans did give it a look, only to see which keys they needed. Then he followed after Frisk, since they knew where they were going.

They walked by the medical beds, heading directly to the sinks on the other end of the room. Sans didn't follow, giving the beds a lingering look. Breathing in, he could smell how musty the place had become, along with the heaviness.

There was a horrible crackling noise that sounded like the worst type of static and a high-pitched screeching and ringing sound all mashed together. It rang inside Sans's head, giving him a horrible headache.

What the hell—

Sans snapped his head up to see Frisk facing down the strangest amalgamates he'd seen, something that looked like shapeless blobs and nothing like he'd seen before.

"frisk—" Sans couldn't keep the panic out of his voice.

Frisk didn't turn to him, holding their cell phone out towards the amalgamates. Sans didn't know what they were doing until a distorted, mechanical voice came through the receiver.

"Come join the fun."

Frisk sidestepped the swipes the amalgamates made, shaking their head. Their answer seemed to do the trick, since the amalgamates disappeared into a faint mist, leaving behind a red key in the sink.

Sans rushed over, snatching hold of Frisk by the arm. "jeez, kid, warn a guy, will you?"

Frisk shot him a curious look, clearly not as freaked out as Sans. YOU DON'T-KNOW?

"i know the amalgamates, frisk. those…weren't one." Sans closed his eyes, remembering how they had looked. Lost, twisted things that weren't understandable unless you used a cell phone…

WHAT? Frisk asked once Sans was looking at them again.

"i'll figure it out. you gonna use the key or not?" Sans let them go, putting his hand back in his pocket. He chanced a glance over at the offending sink, chills running down his spine.

It couldn't be him, could it? Why would it be?

There was no answer forthcoming aside from Sans's own voice. Frisk had no idea who Gaster was, let alone what had happened to him. No one did, since Gaster's fall into the Core had effectively erased him entirely from the Underground's memory.

It was utterly frightening even for Sans, since he was the only one who had any inkling Gaster had even existed.

Taking a calming breath, Sans forced himself to focus on Frisk and protecting them.

Gathering the other keys was easier than the first, since the amalgamates recognized Sans and left Frisk alone once he warned them off. There was practically nothing that could hurt the amalgamates as they were, but they were sane enough to realize when to back off and to recognize a friendly face.

WOW. THEY KNOW YOU. Frisk glanced at Sans as they slotted in the last key.

Sans offered a tired shrug, unwilling to elaborate further.

But Frisk didn't leave it alone. YOU HELP A-L-P-H-Y-S?

"…no. not like you're thinking. but i helped her manage them once things got bad."

Frisk mouthed a wordless "oh," looking down at the grimy floor.

Sighing softly, Sans walked ahead of them as they moved through the mirrored hall. He ignored the golden flowers set next to them, ignored the implications of the sight.

If Alphys hadn't messed with determination and decided to try injecting it into a flower…none of this would have happened with that damn flower.

YOU KNOW A-L-P-H-Y-S CREATE F-L-O-W-E-Y, Frisk told Sans once they were in the room with the beds.

Sans blinked at the unfamiliar name. "…flowey? you…that flower has a name?"

Frisk frowned now, tilting their head to the side. YOU DON'T-KNOW?

"now i do…" Sans snorted, shaking his head. "flowey, huh? original."

BUT YOU KNOW HIM.

"doesn't mean i asked for his name. he was just something i got rid of now and then. not exactly my job to get to know the damn flower's name, just how to prune the thing."

Frisk's brow scrunched together, their toes scuffing against the tiled floor. Then, slowly, they signed, PAST F-L-O-W-E-Y NAME A-S-R-I-E-L. HE PRINCE.

…What? Really?

Thinking back on what he knew of Asriel and the first fallen human, Sans remembered that Asriel's dust had been scattered across the king's garden. The garden from which Alphys had taken the first golden flower. Which…had probably been covered in Asriel's dust.

And Alphys had brought that to life.

So Sans had effectively killed the prince over and over again when the boy was being a little murderous maniac.

"wasn't expecting that," Sans admitted eventually. "puts a new spin on things…" He lifted his shoulders once before letting them fall, his face ducking down. "little murderous plant…"

SOUL MISSING, Frisk told him. COMPASSION MISSING. CANNOT LOVE. PAST STEAL HUMAN SOUL THEN BREAK BARRIER.

That bit of information had Sans staring at Frisk for a long moment. Then, he sat down on the nearest bed, heedless of the dust and the musty smell of the covers. "ok, buddy. from the top. what are we looking at once we get to asgore?"

Twiddling their fingers, Frisk sat down on the bed opposite Sans, folding one leg underneath them. Then, taking a breath, they explained.

An indeterminate amount of time later, Sans still wasn't entirely sure he really understood what Frisk had just told him.

Or, wait, he understood, but he didn't really know why. Everything Frisk told him made sense when put together with what he could remember from the multiple resets. It also filled in the blank space during that white gap he had in his memories from when the freaking flower – Flowey – had attacked them to the barrier breaking for the first time.

Sans wasn't sure what was going to happen this time around, but he didn't think he could deal with a souped up Asriel that was a self-proclaimed god.

YOU NOT ALONE, Frisk told him, reaching out to touch his arm. TWO-OF-US TOGETHER. They gave him a fierce look, jaw set determinedly. PROMISE.

Sans blinked at them, taken aback at the ferocity of their promise. Then, chuckling, he nodded. "…thanks, buddy. coming from you, that means a ton. let's finish this, alright?"

The power room was empty when they entered, and turning on the power was simple enough with the press of a button.

Then Sans turned and saw the amalgamates approaching, each of them emitting distinct waves of hunger. "knock it off, guys. alphys should be down here to feed you."

Right on cue, Alphys shouted from behind the amalgamates. "H-hey, stop it! I got you guys some food, okay?!"

The amalgamates stopped dead before retreating, looking much happier. Alphys, on the other hand, seemed surprised to see Sans and Frisk standing there.

"Oh, you…" Alphys cleared her throat, dropping her eyes. "I was trying to turn the power back on…but I guess you were ahead of me there." She darkened slightly. "This was probably just a big inconvenience for you… B-but I appreciate that you two came here to back me up."

Sans leaned back against the control panel, recognizing that look on Alphys's face. He'd seen it in the mirror too often to count.

"As I said, I was afraid I might…not come back…" She seemed to realize how that could be interpreted, rushing to say, "But that's not because of these guys or anything! I was just worried I would be too afraid…to tell the truth… That I might run away, or do something…cowardly."

Frisk jabbed their elbow into Sans's side when Alphys looked away, giving him a meaningful look.

Resisting the urge to return the look, Sans took a careful step away from Frisk. "we would've missed you," he settled on saying, unsure of what else would work. "you think undyne would've just let you go?"

"I lied," Alphys said. "I hurt so many people…" She didn't look over her shoulder to where the amalgamates were hovering around the doorway. "If she knew…"

"she wouldn't care, except that you did the right thing." Sans closed his eyes, feeling tired. "that's brave, y'know? to do it even when you're scared…and the alphys i know isn't a coward." Not when it counted.

Alphys looked at him in disbelief. "Y-you really think so?"

"'course. would i lie?" Sans winked at her, genuinely grinning.

"Th-then…" Determination filled Alphys's face. "I've decided. I'm going to tell everyone what I've done. I know…it isn't going to be easy…but I've got you guys behind me. Believing in me… I can believe in myself, too. And I can stand on my own, since I know…you'll be there for me."

Frisk nodded determinedly; Sans's nod was much slower but still just as sincere.

"Thank you." Giving the two of them one last smile, Alphys turned back to the amalgamates. "Come on, guys. It's time for everyone to go home."

The amalgamates looked even happier than before, each of them trailing after Alphys until it was just Sans and Frisk in the room.

"well…" Sans sighed, rolling his shoulders. "that go as planned?"

Frisk's response was a reassuring nod and smile.

Okay, then… They were…just about finished? Almost?

Sans could scarcely believe it, even as he walked after Frisk to get to the elevator that would lead directly to Asgore's castle. The only thing that made him nervous now was that Frisk had practically no idea what was going to happen now except for something involving Flowey.

The idea of facing Flowey or Asriel – either with six human souls or six human souls and the entirety of the Underground…it didn't really appeal to Sans. He remembered beating Flowey down multiple times before, but that had been regular old Flowey.

He hadn't ever seen Flowey's hyped up form, and Frisk's rather frazzled description had been rather hard to read given how many limbs they kept adding. There was no way any monster would have that many limbs unless they were Onionsan.

…Or a plant.

The elevator went up smoothly, though from the way Frisk tensed and clung to Sans's arm, he figured that it didn't usually happen like this. Once the doors opened, Sans found himself following after Frisk automatically, taking the path to the final corridor where he'd faced down the kid so many times.

The golden hall was too familiar by now. Sans could still see the kid's body lying on the floor, a puddle of red under them.

Frisk moved quickly through here, clearly uncomfortable.

But Sans…he took a moment to calm the anxious jitters in his stomach, reminding himself that he could do this.

Frisk had done it before, and they were still alive through sheer determination.

Sans was also still alive, and he'd stuck out through multiple timelines and resets through sheer willpower. There was no way he'd choke now.

No, he wouldn't.

The sensation of a save forming fizzled at his senses, giving Sans much needed reassurance. If anything went wrong, he would will himself right back to this point. The point where this chance had started for Sans.

"S-Sans?" Frisk glanced back at him, wavering uncertainly by the exit.

Sans followed after them. "right behind you, frisk."

They walked the rest of the way to the throne room in complete silence. There was no fidgeting from Frisk, just silence. Then, before stepping through the threshold and into Asgore's throne room, Frisk looked at him.

YOUR BROTHER?

"what about him?" Sans resisted the urge to look into the next room.

CALL HIM, Frisk said, pointing at Sans's pockets. NEED COME HERE. REMEMBER?

Yeah, Sans remembered. Everyone had to be here, exactly when they needed to be.

Stepping just off to the side, Sans pulled out his phone, dialing Papyrus's number from memory.

Papyrus picked up exactly after two rings. "SANS, IS THIS YOU?"

"hey, bro." He kept his voice casually relaxed. "thought i'd call, give an update… if you wanted to see the kid off…now'd be a good time to head over."

"WOWIE! HOW'D YOU KNOW, SANS?"

Something prickled at the back of Sans's skull. "…know what?"

"THAT WE'RE COMING! I CALLED THE OTHERS; THEY'RE COMING, TOO!"

Sans's mouth couldn't technically get dry, but it certainly felt like it. "be seeing you soon, then."

"OF COURSE! SAY HI TO THE HUMAN FOR ME!" Papyrus hung up after a cheerful "NYEH HEH."

Pulling the phone away, Sans looked down at it, anxiety brimming in him. Someone had told Papyrus to call the others, just like that one time…

Frisk tugged slowly at Sans's sleeve, getting his attention. They signed a small question mark, wiggling their index finger.

"already on their way…" Sans managed to inject some levity into his tone, tucking his phone away. "the little bud sure works fast."

Frowning, Frisk glanced at the entrance to the throne room. They didn't need to say anything to voice their confusion.

Flowey had been instrumental in breaking the barrier the last time it had happened, but it was different now. So why he was doing the same thing was difficult for Sans to say, especially without seeing him in person.

"we'll figure it out." Sans ruffled Frisk's hair before they could react. "c'mon."

Making a face at Sans, Frisk let him enter the throne room first, keeping close.

Asgore was watering the golden flowers, humming softly under his breath.

"asgore."

"Ah, Sans… One moment…" Asgore emptied out his water can, shaking it before turning to face Sans. "What brings you here?"

Sans didn't even have to say anything. The second Asgore saw Frisk standing there was all too clear: His eyes went wide with horror, and he took a step backwards.

"I see…" Asgore gave Sans a betrayed look. "You brought the human. Sans…why are you with them?"

"made a promise to them safe…" Sans glanced askance at Frisk, remembering Toriel's request.

"You brought them here."

"'cause they wanted to head to the barrier. so…here we are." Sans winked. "safe and sound."

Asgore seemed confused now. "Just to see the barrier?" There was a tinge of hope in his voice, at the possibility that he wouldn't have to kill another human child.

"nah… they want to get out, same as we do. which is, y'know, something i can get behind."

"But…" Asgore looked stricken, eyes flickering to Frisk. "Child…that is not how it works."

"they know." Sans offered a small shrug in response to Asgore's accusing glance. "no one's dying, asgore. not them, and not you."

"If they insist on leaving, Sans, I have no choice." Asgore gave Frisk a mournful look. "I so badly want to say…'Would you like a cup of tea?' but… You know how it is."

"not just them you're facing." Sans hoped the others were close. Asgore wasn't likely to instigate a fight here in this room, but Sans could only stall for so long. "i'm keeping them safe."

Asgore took several steps back, cape fluttering at his feet. "Then can you take them away?"

Sans glanced back at Frisk, saw them shake their head, and turned back to Asgore, grin turning apologetic. "sorry."

Asgore didn't meet his eyes. "You know what we must do, then. Follow me when you are ready." Without another word, Asgore left through the door at the far end.

Sans waited until he was entirely out of sight before sighing. "great. let's see if they show up on time." He'd never gone up against Asgore before, and he didn't really want to. Asgore was a freaking boss monster.

"They will," Frisk told him quietly, voice steady.

If Sans still had as much hope as the kid…life would be a lot better.

When they went after Asgore, he looked even more distressed. But he didn't say anything, simply giving Sans a look and heading to the archway that led to the barrier.

Sans managed to sneak a look at the clock on his phone, saw it had been about ten minutes since he'd called Papyrus, and hoped that things would work out again this time.

FINE, Frisk reassured him, patting his arm as they signed the word with the other. TRUST ME.

The problem was…Sans didn't. Not to the point where he believed everything would work out.

"This is the barrier," Asgore said once they joined him. "This is what keeps us trapped underground. You have seen it before, Sans."

Sans didn't say anything, though he could feel Frisk fidget nervously next to him.

"If you would like to leave to prepare…you can do so." Asgore glanced at Sans before returning his attention to Frisk. "I am not ready either."

"you don't need to do this," Sans said after a moment. "you don't want to. and neither of us wants to fight either."

Something shifted beneath Asgore's cape, red glinting briefly in the dim light coming through the barrier. "Then what would you suggest, Sans? Why are you here?"

Sans exhaled through his teeth, the air whistling faintly. "'cause…despite everything…guess i've got a little determination in me…enough to do the right thing."

Enough to get them all out of this place. Enough to break the cycle of resets.

"And this…is the right thing?"

Sans paused, considering his answer. "well…it sure ain't—" He cut off, blinking as a ball of fire appeared between them. It hovered for a second, then slammed into Asgore, throwing him off his feet.

"…huh…not quite what i expected." Sans half-turned, unsurprised to see the queen standing there.

"What a miserable creature, torturing such a poor, innocent youth… Do not be afraid, my child." She smiled at Frisk. "It is I, Toriel, your friend and guardian. Are you all right? He did not hurt you, did he?"

Mouth stretching into a wide grin, Frisk shook their head. They shot Sans a happy look, pointing to Toriel.

He nodded at them, half an eye on Toriel, and the other on the door where his brother should be coming through.

"I had intended on letting you make your journey alone," Toriel continued. "But I could not stop worrying about you. Your adventure must have been so treacherous…but I am glad to see that you have made a friend."

"just keeping a promise," Sans said when Toriel looked at him.

"Oh!" Toriel's hand flew to her mouth. "That voice! We may know each other, do we not?"

The words came to him easily, ones that he'd spoken before. "i recognize your voice, too. the name's sans." He winked at her. "you already introduced yourself."

"NGAAAAAHHH!" Undyne bolted into the room, looking only a little flushed for having apparently sprinted from Waterfall all the way to the castle. "No one's fighting anyone, you hear me?! Everyone's going to make friends, or—" She stopped dead upon seeing the current state of affairs: Asgore still on the floor and Toriel, Sans, and Frisk all milling together.

Toriel recovered quickly, smiling at Undyne. "Oh, hello! I am Toriel. Are you the human's friend?"

"Uh…yeah?" Undyne shot Sans an incredulous look before looking back at Asgore and putting two and two together. "Nice to meet you!" She sidled over to Sans, voice dropping to a whisper. "What the hell's going on?"

Sans simply shrugged, which got a growl from Undyne. She went over to Asgore, helping him up and whispering something to him while glancing over to Toriel.

Alphys darted in, looking visibly nervous but still determined. "H-hey! Nobody hurt each other! You – ahh…" Wilting upon seeing that absolutely no one was fighting, she quickly rallied again, grinning at Frisk. "H-hey! You're okay!"

Toriel beamed at her. "Are you another friend? I am Toriel!"

Alphys took one look at her and promptly blushed. "H-hi!" She glanced at Sans, hissing, "There's two of them?"

Sans gave her the sign for "queen," winking. It was worth it for the way Alphys stumbled over her feet as she rushed to Undyne's side, giving Asgore a quick wave.

Almost everyone was here now. There was just…

"HEY!" Papyrus strode through the archway, scarf billowing behind him. "NOBODY FIGHT ANYONE. IF ANYONE FIGHTS ANYONE…! THEN I'LL! BE FORCED!" He was pointing at Asgore, situating himself in front of Frisk protectively, at which point he realized that no one was fighting. His next words were cheerful. "TO ASK UNDYNE FOR HELP!"

"Oh, hello! I am Toriel. It is nice to meet you."

"HELLO, YOUR MAJESTY!" Papyrus turned to Frisk. "PSST! HUMAN…DID ASGORE SHAVE…? AND…CLONE HIMSELF?"

"nah, bro…" Sans matched Papyrus's grin with his own. "you're looking at his ex."

"Oh! Is this your brother?" Toriel turned back to Papyrus. "You must be Papyrus! It is so nice to finally meet you! Your brother has told me so much about you."

"WOWIE." A faint pink blush suffused Papyrus's cheeks. "I CAN'T BELIEVE ASGORE'S EX KNOWS WHO I AM! THIS IS THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE!"

"Hey, Papyrus…what does a skeleton tile his roof with?"

The words echoed through Sans's head, exactly word for word for what had happened that other time. Down to Papyrus's guess and his subsequent outrage at Toriel's punch line.

He reached up to rub his face, hoping they'd think he was just trying not to lose it.

No one seemed to suspect anything, especially once they were distracted by Mettaton urging Alphys and Undyne to kiss. They also didn't seem to notice Frisk edging closer to Sans to curl their fingers into his sleeve, holding tightly onto the fabric.

SOON, they signed, the movement half-hidden with how they ducked their head.

Toriel interrupted Alphys and Undyne, scolding them. "Not in front of the human!"

Alphys shuffled away, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "Uhh, right! S-sorry, I got a little carried away there." She glanced up at Papyrus as he took his stance next to her.

Toriel gave Alphys a gentle smile, laughing softly. Then she turned back to Frisk. "My child, it seems as if you must stay here for a while. But looking at all the great friends you have made…I think…I think you will be happy here."

Sans was still standing next to Frisk, which was the only reason he could feel the way they were trembling faintly. That, and the fact that they were still clinging to his sleeve, fingers shaking. He didn't really feel like moving, not with what he knew was about to happen.

"H-hey, that reminds me." Alphys looked up at Papyrus. "Papyrus…you called everyone here, right? Well, besides, uh, her. Uh, anyway… If I got here before you…how did you know how to call everybody?"

Sans's breathing slowed as Papyrus started to answer, hands tightening into fists in their pockets.

"A TINY FLOWER HELPED ME."

Alphys's eyes went wide, voice trembling slightly as she squeaked, "A tiny…flower?"

Sans sensed the malevolent intent first before it even showed, his entire body tensing. A green vine whipped around the others, curling around them tightly and pulling them into the air.

Frisk's eyes widened. "Sans!"

For the record, Sans hated using a shortcut from a standing position. It made his manipulation of time and space a lot more obvious than usual, since to everyone else who wasn't him, it would seem like the world had just blinked out for a brief second while Sans jumped to a different position. Moving into a shortcut made his life a lot easier, since he could effectively just step from one place to the next.

But standing?

It resulted in scenarios like this, where he forced both him and Frisk into the nearest shortcut and then out the other end, which was directly underneath the other monsters.

"SANS?!" Papyrus sounded panicked.

The vine that Frisk had seen twisted through the space where Sans and Frisk had been a second ago.

That flower – Flowey – popped up from the ground in front of them, a sickly smile on his face. "Howdy!" he said cheerfully. "Remember me, Sans?"

Sans's grin went flat, eyes darkening. "bit difficult to forget a little thorn like you."

"Why?" Frisk burst out. "F-Flowey…"

"Oh, you're asking me why I'm doing this?" Flowey's head tilted to the side, grin twisting. "I thought it'd be obvious, Chara! You messed it all up! You were going to empty this miserable world of everything, but you gave it up! And now…" His face twisted into something ugly. "Now it's mine. Because while you were all having your little pow-wow…I took the human SOULs!"

"you were singing a different tune a little while ago." Sans let his eye glint blue when Flowey looked his way, vindictively pleased at the little flinch he managed to get. "you think your little friend would've let you go after you warned the king? you weren't subtle about it. didn't think i read you this badly, but you must really want to die."

There was another twitch of malevolent intent.

Still keeping hold of Frisk, Sans flicked both of them behind Flowey, his tone deadly quiet as he spoke again. "figured you might've wanted a happy ending, too, since you were playing along and all… but that's wrong, huh?"

"You think I'll let you all go?" Flowey didn't move, but there were pained groans from above him as his vines visibly tightened around them. "Leave the Underground? But then who would I play with? You'd win the game, and I'd be left here… Alone. I thought you might have done something differently now that you have the power, smiley trashbag, but I was wrong."

"heh…" Sans closed his right eye, magic flaring around his left. "not murderous enough for you?"

"It doesn't even matter that I can't take it from you. Soon enough…I'll be more powerful than you. For all the resets you caused me…this is. Going to. Be. So. Much. Fun."

"so you remember those, too?" Sans's grin turned mirthless, both eyes going dark. "you think this is going to turn out any differently?"

"Have you forgotten, smiley trashbag? I've got the human SOULs – all six of them! And not only that, I have all your friends' SOULs, too! And what are you?" Flowey laughed, voice twisting darkly. "Just a little monster with barely anything to his SOUL but a stolen power."

"hm…" Sans looked up, seeing his brother watching him worriedly, fear and a little confusion evident on his face. "you sure about that, buddy?"

Sans's nonchalant tone did the trick, throwing Flowey off guard. "Huh?"

"i mean…after all…what's one do with a weed but…prune them?" Sans didn't move beyond his grin turning amused.

Then Frisk yelped, flinching backwards at the multitude of bones that sheared through the vines holding the monsters captive. Sans didn't react, simply winking at Flowey.

"aw, don't look so wilted, bud. all you need is a little bit of water…" Sans pulled his left hand out, flicking his fingers and materializing dozens of blue bones around Flowey. "and you should be good to go."

Flowey trembled minutely in the cage of blue bones, fury written all over his face. There was no other reaction, but something twitched under Sans's feet.

Repressing a sigh, Sans ducked into another shortcut, pulling Frisk in after him, stepping back into existence in front of their friends and Papyrus, just in time to see a thick vine burst out of the ground. "rude."

"SANS!" Papyrus pushed himself to his feet, hovering behind Sans. "FLOWEY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"What does it look like I'm doing, you idiot?!" Flowey snarled, petals quivering slightly. He winced a second later, reminded of the blue bones still around him. "I'm going to kill your brother. And then I'm going to kill every single one of you."

"Just try it, you overgrown weed!" Undyne snapped, a spear appearing in her hands.

Sans didn't react, unmoving as the others moved to stand behind him. He didn't even move as Toriel pulled Frisk behind her protectively. "that's not going to work out too well for you. if you do…i'll just come back. giving you…a really bad time."

"You think so, do you?" Flowey's face twisted into a horrible grin. "Did you already forget?" Six multicolored lights floated into position around Flowey, rotating around him in increasingly smaller circles. "The human SOULs…are mine."

Sans's eyes flickered, his own SOUL twisting inside him. He didn't think Flowey was going to evolve into that other form Frisk had mentioned – the one where he turned back into Asriel – but if he turned into that abomination with too many limbs… "…fuck," he breathed, hands clenching in his pockets.

Flowey's voice crackled, distorted as his face seemed to melt. "You're all dead."

The SOULs converged on Flowey's form before anyone could move, and then there was a blindingly white flash of light

There was no transition, but Sans abruptly found himself lying on something solid. But it was nothing but a shapeless gray mass that seemed to go on forever beneath him. It was kinda disconcerting, to the point where he managed to muster the energy to roll onto his back and look up.

Which was also a shapeless gray mass.

Urghhh…

Where was Papyrus? Frisk?

Maneuvering himself into a sitting position, Sans found himself to be the only living being in the area. It wasn't the first time in his life he'd found himself alone, but this was an empty sort of loneliness that was really discomfiting.

"this is new." His voice seemed to lose itself in the void around him, disappearing almost before he could hear himself speak. The experience was so freaking weird he immediately resolved to avoid speaking until he could get out of here.

Standing now, Sans tucked his hands into his pockets, the familiar movement reassuring. His SOUL was still in one piece, and he could still feel his magic. But if he tried to take a shortcut…nothing happened beyond the shapeless gray mass around him seeming to swirl.

If Sans had been anyone else, he would've started walking. But since there wasn't any point to walking in the middle of this void…he just remained standing there, cataloguing his environment and everything he could sense.

Eventually, he wasn't sure how long it was, something black seemed to converge before him, pulling itself together out of the void. He stiffened slightly, right eye going dark, but otherwise didn't react.

The mass of black coalesced into a tall, slim figure robed in black. The face was misshapen, one eye rounder than the other, and the smile was fixed.

It took only a second for Sans to recognize the figure. "...gaster?" He almost didn't notice how his voice faded away from him.

Sans could tell Gaster was smiling at him. And then he spoke, telling Sans he was glad Sans hadn't forgotten him.

"forget you?" Sans remembered a poorly drawn picture in his lab. "no way. what are you doing here?"

Gaster told him this was the void, the nothingness outside of time and space. This was where Gaster was relegated to now after having fallen into the Core and been wiped from almost everyone's memories.

"and i'm here because…" Sans's eyes closed as he pictured white light. "that flower… and where's everyone else?"

He was informed that due to his new ability to load into specific points of the timeline and reset it entirely, he could go outside of it if absolutely necessary. That what Flowey had done had necessitated Sans coming here as a self-preservation method.

Sans looked down at his feet, absorbing this information. "…neat. i'm guessing i can go back when i want."

Gaster was smiling at him again. He came closer, not quite touching Sans but seeming like he wanted to. He told Sans that he was close to the end, that he had to hold on a little more, no matter what happened. That it would work out so long as he stayed determined.

"can do, gaster." Sans would have reached out to Gaster, but he could tell that the other wasn't quite as corporeal as he was trying to make himself seem like. "since you're out of time and all…can you tell me if this is really it? if it stops here?"

If this was the last time Sans had to go through this. If Sans didn't have to worry about waking up in Snowdin and doing it all over again. If he didn't have to see his brother's dust scattered on a red scarf buried in the snow. If he didn't have to face down a genocidal maniac in a golden hall and hope that his own tenacity and determination outlasted theirs.

Gaster dipped his head, the black mass of his body shifting strangely with the movement. He said Sans should stay determined, shouldn't lose hope.

Sans stared at him for a second. Then, chuckling, he dropped his chin. "hope, huh? funnily enough…that's something i actually have now. thanks, gaster. " He met Gaster's eyes. "take care, alright?"

Gaster smiled at him, wished him good luck, and slowly faded out, disappearing back into the shapeless void.

Sans waited until the last bit of black disappeared entirely before closing his eyes. He needed to go back, right to—

The world around him suddenly felt a lot more solid. And he could feel the reassuring pulse of Papyrus's magic again, along with several other unfamiliar signatures.

This was it. So close to the end, and he was filled with enough DETERMINATION to make a save—

Something cold ripped through him. Sans stumbled, prickling with the sensation of utter wrongness. He might have hit the ground if it wasn't for Papyrus suddenly grabbing hold of his shoulder, keeping him upright.

"SANS—"

A loud cackle reverberated around them. It seemed like even the barrier shook with the sound. It was just about the only thing Sans recognized in the place, because everything else was dark and unrecognizable.

"S-Sans…" Frisk was there at Sans's other side, worried.

"hey, kiddo…" Sans gave them a reassuring grin, hoping they could see the difference from his usual one. "as per the plan, huh?"

"Plan, Sans?" Undyne demanded, looking both pale and angry, a magical spear still clutched in her hand. "What the hell is this?"

"The flower has taken the human SOULs," Asgore said before Sans could. "All of them…"

Flowey's face popped into being before all of them, larger than life and smirking. His eyes narrowed in on Sans. "That's riiight!" he sang. "It's been so long since I've had a SOUL, I'd forgotten what it felt like to not be empty! Mmm, I can feel them wriggling." He winked, licking his lips. "Don't even think about going back to your old save file, Sansy… It's gone forever."

"S-save file?" Alphys sounded confused and half-terrified. "S-Sans…what's he talking about?"

"The power of resetting, going back and doing it aaalll over again." Flowey didn't even flinch at the dark look on Sans's face. "You stole it from Chara, and now…I've got it back! And I'll know exactly what I'll do for you, Sans… I'll SAVE over your own death. So you can feel me kill you over, and over, and over again… How about we do two for every time you killed me?"

There was no time for Sans to react before something seemed to punch through his chest, tearing through his SOUL and shredding it like paper.

It was only the blink of an eye and he was back in the void that he'd just left behind, shaking in numb shock.

That…shit.

It wasn't going to be the end. Sans wouldn't let it be the end. Frisk had managed to defeat Flowey. Sans sure as hell wasn't going to be beaten by some overgrown weed.

And Flowey was in front of him again. Sans didn't even think, throwing himself into a shortcut and back out on the other side, blasters forming around him. He could feel the ghost of the vine that had killed him echo through his chest, his SOUL shivering with the memory.

"Sans!" Frisk sounded horrified, eyes wide. They looked as white as a sheet, shaking where Toriel was holding them back.

"Back so soon?" Flowey grinned at Sans. "Guess you can't wait to get killed again, huh?"

Sans didn't respond, firing the blasters directly into the stupid flower's face.

They hit the mark directly, although Flowey didn't react beyond a mocking "ow!"

"Ooh. Want to try that again, Sans? How about…like this?"

The ground rumbled, shaking beneath their feet. Sans moved backwards, senses on high alert. He sidestepped a growing crack that ripped the ground apart, taking several more steps back until he was with the others.

"Sans!" Frisk clutched at his arm the moment he was within reach, pale-faced.

Something green and large ripped out of the ground, sending rubble and dirt flying. Some of it bounced harmlessly off the barrier, and the rest was blocked by Undyne's spears.

The whole transformation took maybe a minute, but it was the longest minute of Sans's life. When it finally finished, he found himself gaping at the sight.

Sans found his voice a few seconds later. "your description makes a lot more sense now, buddy."

There was what seemed like a giant TV at the top of the grotesque monster Flowey had become. It flickered briefly with something like static before two eyes came into view, followed by a grinning mouth.

Flowey laughed, the sound shaking the air around them.

The flower had never had a soul before, not like other monsters. That didn't means Sans couldn't turn him blue, just that he had to be a little more creative. But now…Flowey had six souls, all of them burning brightly in Sans's vision with their own life stories on display. He reached out, turning them all blue with a thought.

Flowey grunted comically, shifting slightly with the sudden change in gravity. But nothing else happened.

Sans moved his hand down, magic pulsing around it. Aside from some resistance, he couldn't tell that anything was happening.

"Nice try, smiley trashbag! But that trick won't work on me anymore… No…" The pronged mouth opened wide. "It's my turn now to give you a bad time!"

There was no thinking, just reacting. Sans stepped out of reality and back into it a dozen feet away as Flowey let loose his attack, a burning white beam that erupted from his mouth. He retaliated with his own attack, feeling flares of magic from the other monsters as they either defended or attacked as well.

Undyne was at the front, hacking away at Flowey's vines with her spears and firing others directly at him.

Sans wanted to look for Papyrus, but Flowey turned towards him, releasing a torrent of white pellets. He jumped, landing on the other side of Flowey and firing several blasters at his misshapen back, briefly regretting the fact that he'd even seen the thing.

A vine lashed out at him, Sans dodging reflexively and sidestepping until he was elsewhere. Only to be blindsided by another vine.

He abruptly found himself back in the void. Huffing, Sans focused on going back.

This time, he dodged both vines and ended up standing next to Papyrus.

"SANS! BE CAREFUL!" Papyrus gave him a worried glance, sending torrents of bones in Flowey's direction with a wave of a hand.

"i'm always up for some gardening, bro," Sans managed, waving a line of blasters into life that fired a split-second later, incinerating the next wave of attack Flowey sent his way. "just not used to the weeds fighting back…"

Something like a bunch of bombs materialized in front of Flowey, all of them seeming to home in on Sans.

Who was still standing next to Papyrus, who wouldn't dodge.

Reaching into his lesser known bag of tricks, Sans twisted space and distorted time, moving to a safer spot with no one around. Slipping back into the normal continuum of time, he simultaneously sent a deluge of bones – both blue and normal – at Flowey. It knocked his HP down another couple thousand, but it didn't seem to phase him.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Undyne shrieked, her spears going ten feet off the mark when before they had been on target.

"You dirty cheater," Flowey snarled, vines lashing out at Sans.

Well, if Sans had suddenly found his attack going completely haywire after the world blinking out, he'd also be a little pissed. Winking at Flowey, he nonchalantly shrugged. "i prefer the term 'creative.'"

There was no response from Flowey, but the TV "face" he had distorted into static, something like a face screaming appearing. Then a ring of pellets formed around Sans, malevolent intent embedded in every single one of them.

He barely heard Papyrus scream out a warning, followed by Toriel and Undyne, before he teleported to another place. Only for another ring of pellets to surround him.

And again. And again. Each time closer than before as Flowey grew better at predicting where Sans would go.

Until Sans found himself suddenly back where he'd been a minute ago, the sensation of a save having loaded ringing all around him. He didn't have time to consider it, since the pellets were still an issue.

He dodged again, repeating the steps until Flowey loaded the damn save again. And a second time.

Until finally Sans dove into a different shortcut and promptly found himself dropping into reality directly above Flowey, his hastiness having led him to pick the wrong direction.

It did give him the rare opportunity to fire his blasters directly into Flowey's head. The ensuing shriek of anger was utterly satisfying.

And then Sans dropped down into another shortcut to land directly in front of Asgore, Undyne several feet to the side.

"Are you doing that?!" Undyne demanded angrily.

Sans heaved in a gulp of air, managing to keep the shakiness out of his voice as he responded, "what?"

"That blinking out thing! It's annoying!"

"It is rather disconcerting," Asgore admitted politely.

Sans might have apologized on a better day, but all bets were off when it came to a homicidal flower monster that wanted his head on a silver platter. As it was, he ended up having to again resort to his more advanced trick of distorting time when Flowey aimed a barrage of bombs, white pellets, and what looked like fire in their direction.

He only abstractly knew what happened to the world when he did it, but judging from the way everyone was stumbling and even Flowey seemed off balance when he popped back into reality next to Alphys…it was pretty wild.

Alphys blinked at him through her glasses, seeming utterly calm as she directed some robot bombs and electricity bolts at Flowey. "That is a neat trick."

"thanks." Sans reconsidered attacking Flowey when a horde of flies started zooming around the area. He dove into the next shortcut, coming back out only to stare death in the eye in the form of a menacing looking fly.

He did die that time. Next time he avoided it entirely by diving into another shortcut, Flowey's cackling echoing in his head.

Dying only three times so far was actually pretty good compared to how many times he'd killed Flowey. Judging from Flowey's increasing frustration, he'd been supposed to die a lot more.

It was a good thing Sans was an expert at dodging.

By now, though, the only thing Sans could do was dodge. Manipulating space took energy, enough that he couldn't waste any of it on attacks that would only irritate Flowey. He could deal a lot more damage than Undyne, but it also wasted magic that he could use on – well – dodging.

"Hold still," Flowey growled, batting aside Undyne to try and stomp on Sans.

Sans jumped back from a flame thrower, shrugging. "don't particularly feel like becoming fertilizer today."

Somewhere behind Sans, Toriel was shouting. "Child, stay back!"

Reading a giant monster's body language was difficult, but a lot could be seen in the eyes. And Flowey's weren't looking at Sans anymore; his next attack wasn't directed at Sans either.

No.

Sans turned, just in time to see a giant vine whip Toriel out of the way before a barrage of white pellets hit the area where Frisk was standing. They managed to dodge most of them, but they were fumbling, fear on their face.

He moved, intending on snatching them away, but he'd only taken a step when a giant vine whipped over his head, directly into Frisk's blind spot.

"frisk!" Sans wasn't even aware he'd screamed until after the vine pierced through Frisk's chest and out the other side, punching a hole directly through them.

Flowey cackled, withdrawing the vine with a sickly squelching noise. Without the support, Frisk's body collapsed in a boneless heap on the ground, blood—

…the kid was dead on the floor, blood pooled underneath their body.

Sans blinked himself back into the present, in time to see Frisk's red SOUL fluttering into life above their lifeless body. It wasn't shattering, since Flowey hadn't aimed to destroy their SOUL, just their body.

"NO!" Toriel cried, stricken. She turned towards Flowey, screaming as she flung fire towards him, tears streaming down her face.

Flowey shook a little with the attack, but otherwise didn't react. "Aw, buddy…look at you…feeling all left out, aren't you? Don't worry…I can take care of that for you!"

Flowey would absorb Frisk, Sans realized with a sickening sense of finality. And then…seven human SOULs…

Like hell was Sans going to let the overgrown weed get his way. They were so close to the end.

But he couldn't load his earlier save. All he could do was move forward.

Eye flashing with his magic, Sans turned Frisk's soul blue, pulling it towards him even as Flowey reached for it. He snatched Frisk out of the air seconds before Flowey's vine whipped through the space it had been occupying, and he was gone in the next second, avoiding his death by a hair.

Sans stepped back into space behind Flowey, using the fluctuating energy of the barrier to hide his presence for a brief moment. Frisk's SOUL pulsed in his hand, winking red at him as he opened it. "i'm sorry, buddy. this… it wasn't supposed to be like this."

The ground shook violently, nearly knocking him over.

"They're my friend, you idiot," Flowey seethed from above Sans. "And we're going to be together forever."

Flowey looked really pissed, the TV that was his face flickering in and out with different images, most of which looked like pixilated screaming faces.

"Back off!" Undyne screamed from behind Flowey. "Leave them alone!"

Frisk was vibrating fiercely in Sans's hand, pure determination surging off them in a way that was difficult to mistake for anything else. If they could speak, Sans had no doubt that they would be telling Flowey off.

But it was making it difficult to think with their energy so close to him. "kid, calm down."

Frisk wasn't calming down. If anything, they were even more determined.

"frisk—" Sans cut off as Frisk moved down his arm, heading directly towards his chest. "no, stop—" He tried to get hold of them, panic flaring.

Deftly avoiding his fingers, Frisk dove under Sans's jacket…directly into his SOUL.

There was screaming from around him. It wasn't him. No, Sans was finding it difficult to do much of anything other than stay standing as Frisk's SOUL merged into his, their energy and his combining into something utterly alien.

…And he wasn't standing after all, he realized dazedly what seemed like an eternity later. He was on his knees, hands on the vibrating ground. It felt like his bones were shaking apart, like he was going to fly into pieces with the energy coursing through him.

"This can't be happening!" Flowey was shrieking from far away.

Within a few seconds, Sans's hearing normalized, Flowey's incoherent screams of rage a lot closer than before. There was also a heavy thudding noise that was completely unexpected.

When he looked up, all Sans saw was the interior of a gigantic blaster that was shielding him from Flowey's attacks.

Ugh… Staggering slightly, Sans got to his feet. Once he'd established that he was entirely in one piece and with no extra limbs, he stepped backwards into a shortcut…and out besides Papyrus, who was shouting for Sans.

"papyrus, hey…" There was a strange echo to his voice, like someone else was speaking with him in unison.

"SANS, ARE YOU—?!" Papyrus cut himself off, eyes narrowing. "YOU LOOK DIFFERENT."

"oh?" Hopefully not too different. Sans didn't feel too different aside from the unfamiliar rush of energy coursing through him.

"DIE!" Flowey screamed.

The white laser ray of death hurtled towards them, promising destruction for any who got caught in its heat. Sans didn't move beyond raising his left hand, materializing a large blaster that fired its own attack.

The two rays hit violently, exploding in a burst of bright light that sent offshoots of painful energy in various directions. One bounced off Sans's hand, prickling him for a second before the sensation faded.

Papyrus made a sound suspiciously like a yelp, reaching out for Sans. "SANS!"

Sans didn't respond, focusing on Flowey's stolen SOULs. They turned blue, and this time Flowey seemed to buckle under the unnatural gravity. Eye flashing, Sans thrust his hand down. Flowey hit the ground with a thundering crash, screaming all the while.

Everyone turned to look at him, eyes wide.

"aw, buddy…" Sans moved forward, resuming his usual pose. "what's wrong? thought you were all about having a good time." His grin turned ruthless as Flowey squirmed uselessly, the blue magic keeping him pinned.

An incoherent scream of rage later, Flowey shot waves of white pellets at Sans, followed shortly after by flamethrowers, bombs, and buzzing flies.

Huffing lightly, Sans plucked at the fabric of space, twisting it backwards. When the world cleared, Flowey's attacks hit their owner.

"wanna try again?" Sans lifted his shoulders in a lazy shrug, right eye closing as magic swirled in his left. Twin blasters formed besides him, firing seconds later directly into Flowey's face. "or maybe not."

"Sans, what the hell?" Undyne was at his side, confusion radiating off her. "What did you do?"

Frisk's SOUL pulsed inside Sans, their energy and determination radiating through him. Eyes closing, Sans dismissed the blasters. "nothing."

"You think your lone SOUL can stop me?" Flowey shouted, struggling to his feet despite Sans's magic. "I have six. And I can just load my SAVE and undo all of this!"

…Crap.

Sans took an instinctive step back, bracing himself for the sudden displacement that came with time being unwound.

But…Frisk's soul acted, calling out for help. It was like his SOUL tripped in his chest, beating painfully against his sternum, red light fading in and out underneath his shirt.

"SINCE WHEN DO YOU HAVE A HEART?" Papyrus demanded.

"That isn't a heart, Papyrus!" Alphys was taking several steps away from Sans. "That's the human's SOUL!"

And the human was acting weirdly, their thoughts bent only on calling for help. It was really fricking weird, since their thoughts had been the same before, and now there was this dissonance in Sans's head that had him wanting to hold it in his hands. But he couldn't, since his body was essentially frozen.

It did let him see the grey tubes in Flowey's body pulse in different colors, which was then followed by the unexpected sight of six SOULs popping into life.

"What?" Flowey sounded panicked. "The human SOULs? What are you doing?" The SOULs were beginning to circle around Flowey, slowing gaining in speed with each circuit. "No, you're supposed to obey me!"

The SOULs seemed to disagree, spinning faster and faster until they were nothing but a colorful blur.

Papyrus was motionless by Sans. "ARE YOU DOING THIS?"

Sans would have answered, but the dissonance between his SOUL and Frisk's had his voice captive as well. It was uncomfortable as hell, and he wanted to it to stop.

"STOP! STOP IT!" Flowey was writhing within the circle of the SOULs, his TV face fixed on a screaming pixilated face. "STOOOOPPPP!"

Sans wasn't entirely sure what happened next, only that the multi-colored blur seemed to be getting larger and larger in his vision before it surrounded him. And then it slowed, the six human SOULs becoming visible again, rotating slowly around him.

He didn't realize what was going to happen until they drew even closer, actually touching him.

A determination not his own suffused him, giving him the strength to finally close his eyes and shield his chest, wrapping his arms around himself.

If there was noise, he couldn't hear it beyond the roaring in his head. All he was aware of was the burning warmth in his body and SOUL, feeling vaguely like he was coming apart at the seams as he was filled from within with patience, bravery, integrity, perseverance, kindness, and justice.

Then it was over, the disparate feelings consolidating into pure determination, merging with his own until his thoughts were his again.

And he wanted the barrier gone.

Raising his left hand, Sans summoned a large blaster, aiming it directly to where he could sense the barrier's magic focused. One earth-shattering roar later, he felt something that he'd never felt before.

The barrier was destroyed.

Letting his magic settle back in himself, Sans lowered his hand, staring at the sight of sunlight streaming into the cavernous room. It was…

Was it really over?

The SOULs in him all answered with an unanimous yes, the belief resonating in him. Frisk's voice was loudest, their SOUL closest to his own.

"I-it's broken," Alphys said disbelievingly.

"God, Sans! I can't believe you just did that!" Undyne let the last remnants of her magic fizzle out, throwing her hands into the air. "And by that I mean I really can't believe it."

"SANS!" Papyrus swept him into a bone-breaking hug, squeezing him tightly. "YOU DID IT! YOU—" He blinked once, staring at Sans. "YOU LOOK DIFFERENT AGAIN."

"No shit," Undyne said, giving Sans an assessing look. "His eyes are all colorful." She broke into an ear-splitting grin. "…Like a rainbow!"

If that was the only thing different about Sans, he'd take it. Especially after seeing Flowey's monstrous form and hearing about how Asriel had looked.

Of course, the question also was why he wasn't looking any different…

Because he didn't want to look different?

Asgore spoke from behind him, distracting him. "Sans…thank you." He looked simultaneously happy and afraid, as if this was all a dream.

Sans knew all too well how that felt. "really…none of this was intended." He brought a hand up to his chest, Frisk's SOUL glinting red momentarily through his white shirt. "it was all them."

And Frisk was…

Sans turned to look to where he had last seen Frisk's body. Somehow, he wasn't at all surprised to see Toriel sitting with Frisk's head in her lap, bent over until nothing could be seen of her face.

"it wasn't supposed to be like this," Sans murmured. Frisk's SOUL simply pulsed in simple acknowledgement, absolutely no hint of regret in them.

"You said something like that before," Undyne said, eye narrowing. "Like you two had planned this."

Sans didn't respond, walking over to Toriel until he came to a stop by her side. Up close, he could more easily see the single ragged hole in Frisk's chest, tinged with a garish red and splotches of white where the bones were showing.

"You took their SOUL," Toriel said after a long moment, breathing ragged. "Why?"

"you might've noticed, but…it's a little hard to argue with a determined human." Sans sat next to her with a small huff, keeping his eyes on Frisk's body. "i'd let it go…"

But Frisk was dead.

And it wasn't supposed to be like this. They were supposed to have made it through this, seen the surface again and had their own happy ending. No more resetting, no more killing…

It wasn't fair that it had ended like this, so quickly and cruelly.

If only there was a way to fix it…

The SOULs in him seemed to say something, but it was no different from Sans's own thoughts. The image of turning back the clock like Flowey had done was fixed in his head.

But that was literally rewinding time. Sans didn't have the desire to go back and try again, especially since there was no guarantee of things working out properly again.

What if it was done in isolation?

…Isolation?

As much as Flowey had liked to brag, he'd been right about possessing seven human SOULs turning him into the equivalent of a god. And right now…Sans had those SOULs.

"hey, toriel…" Sans shifted until he was on his knees, hand touching Frisk's chest directly above the fatal wound. "let me try something? give me some space."

He didn't wait for Toriel's response, since she would ask too many questions, instead simply shifting her backwards with a gentle push of magic.

"Sans!"

Once she was safely out of the way, Sans turned his attention to Frisk's body and the determination brimming inside him. The determination that would give him the ability to wind back the clock, if only to a certain point…

It was difficult, more difficult than most anything else he'd done in his life. But it was also something that came intuitively, went hand in hand with his native abilities.

The memory of Frisk's final moments – both before and after their death – were clear in his mind. He wanted to go before it had happened, turning back time enough that their body was in pristine condition.

He could do it, bend reality like this to his whims. He had the ability. All he had to do was reach out and twist—

Frisk's body was breathing beneath his hand, their heart pumping solidly in their intact chest. They were warm and alive, but still without a SOUL.

He could let go of their SOUL. They also wanted to go back. Their thoughts were one on this matter, so it was easy enough to push Frisk's SOUL out into his hand. It was even easier from there to push it back into their body, making sure it was back where it belonged.

The drop from seven SOULs to six was barely noticeable except for a slight decrease in determination. But the other SOULs had their own determination, and right now there was also a shared joy that was shared by all of them, the feedback between them all amplifying the emotion until it filled Sans to the brim.

Which…was really bizarre.

"S-Sans?" Frisk's voice wavered uncertainly. They rested a careful hand on Sans's, which was still on their chest.

He met their eyes, his grin genuine. "hey, buddy… how you doing?"

Frisk looked around, eyes flickering from monster to monster and back to the sunlight painting the walls. They looked back at Sans, hope slowly filling their face along with a small, disbelieving grin.

"we did it," Sans said softly, pulling his hand out from underneath Frisk's. "we—" Frisk lunged at him, wrapping their arms around him in a hug, body shaking.

Their body was warmer than he'd expected from a genocidal murderer and also softer. But dust wafted off them, filled the air around them, clung to their clothes and skin. They shook in his arms, completely trusting and utterly defenseless.

Jolting, Sans registered that this Frisk was clean of dust. This Frisk didn't smell of pain and violence. This Frisk's LOVE was at the lowest level.

He didn't have to kill this Frisk.

Slowly, Sans returned the hug, resting a hand on the back of their head like he had done for Papyrus when his brother was much smaller. "it's over," he said, for both of them. Relief rushed through him; he didn't know if it was his or the other SOULs'.

"T-thank you," Frisk said directly into Sans's ear. "Y-you were d-d-determined."

There was nothing he could say to that, so he didn't. He let them go as they pulled away, rubbing at their face with a sleeve. Their arm dropping, Frisk gave him a big grin, their cheeks still rather damp.

"C-child?" Toriel sounded tentative.

Frisk turned to her, face lighting up. "Mom!" They leapt to their feet, running into her arms.

Sans looked away from the sight, busying himself with getting to his feet. He could do with a long nap, but he desperately wanted to see the sun and sky.

"SANS, YOU…" For once Papyrus was at a loss for words.

"c'mon, bro…" Sans held out his hand for Papyrus. "don't you want to see the surface?"

Papyrus's face changed into one of pure, unadulterated joy, something that Sans always wanted to see. But the moment they turned towards the exit, Sans's own joy disappeared at the figure rooted in the ground.

It was Flowey, utterly beaten up and glaring resentfully at Alphys, who was fluttering rather nervously around him.

"I thought it was a failure!" she was saying regretfully.

"Do I look like a failure to you, idiot?" Flowey sneered.

Sans came up next to Alphys, eyes on Flowey. "Little weeds like you shouldn't be calling others names."

Alphys gave a small squeak at the dangerous tone of Sans's voice, though it might also have been the magic he wasn't able to restrain.

Flowey's attention snapped to Sans, his face twisting into disgust and something like resignation. "Here to finish the job, smiley trashbag? Do it."

"D-don't!" Alphys grabbed hold of Sans's arm before he could do anything. "We don't know what that'll do."

"it'll kill him," Sans said evenly, not budging an inch. "and this time…he won't come back."

"Hey, usually I'm all for killing the bad guys, but this seems a little…extreme," Undyne protested from behind Sans. "And if Alphys thinks it's a bad idea—"

"this isn't a bad idea." Sans's voice was flat.

"This flower…" Asgore sounded tentative, standing off to the side.

"Tell him, Alphys," Flowey snarled, wilted petals quivering angrily. "Tell him what you did."

"I…I…" Alphys looked down nervously, claws clicking together as she fidgeted. "Back when I was l-looking into d-determination…I took the first golden flower from your garden. I-I wanted to see…what would happen if something without a soul gained the will to live. And…" She trailed off, staring at Flowey.

"And there was me!" Flowey's cheerful tone didn't match his face. "I woke up, all alone…without a SOUL. I called for help…but nobody came." His face twisted briefly before an ugly grin stretched across it. "Oh boy! I had so much fun! Don't you remember, Sans? All those times I just killed Papyrus? Those times I killed everyone?"

Papyrus flinched next to Sans. "SANS? WHAT'S HE TALKING ABOUT?"

"You were sooo interesting, Papyrus! I had so much fun with you, seeing what you would do differently each reset… But even you became boring…" Flowey's face turned into a maniacal grin. "And then the real fun started."

Sans was distantly aware that he was shaking, but he didn't know how to stop it. Timeline after timeline flashed through his mind, images of when he'd beaten Flowey down and killed him over and over. Bones, blasters, brute force, trickery…

Until suddenly Flowey didn't show up anymore except in the shadows where Sans couldn't do anything because he hadn't done anything.

"And if you don't finish me off now…I'll do it all over again. Until you're forced to reset."

There were no words, just the appearance of a regular sized blaster, its maw crackling with energy.

"Sans, no!" Frisk wrapped their hands around his arm, pulling him back. "Don't kill him!"

Sans stared at them, magic still crackling around his eye. "really, frisk? after everything he's done?"

"No k-killing anyone!" Frisk begged. "P-please!"

"This isn't going to solve anything, idiot!" Flowey shouted at Frisk. "You think I've learned anything from this? No! Killing me is the only way to stop this."

"D-doesn't solve anything," Frisk insisted, looking down at the pathetic looking flower. "J-just…hurts."

Teeth gnashing, Flowey looked back at Sans. "You and I, Sans…we're the same… You know what I'll do. Kill me now. What's one more time?"

Frisk's hands tightened on Sans's arm, teeth gritted together and eyes watery. They didn't say anything else, but Sans could still hear them pleading for him not to do it.

He looked back at Flowey, feeling the weight of the others' stares on his back. Flowey stared back at him, fury and hatred and pain radiating off his tiny body. He didn't have a SOUL, couldn't feel love or compassion, and yet Frisk wanted to spare him.

The kid really was too soft.

Sighing, Sans closed his eyes, letting the blaster wink out of existence. "get out of here, flowey."

Flowey reeled back in shock. "No?"

"no." Sans shrugged, head tilting in Frisk's direction. "they're sparing you, so…"

"Why?" Flowey demanded, petals twisting in agitation. He looked between Sans and Frisk. "Why are you doing this?"

"B-because…" Frisk let go of Sans, dropping to their knees so they were level with Flowey. "E-everyone d-deserves happiness…" They extended a hand towards Flowey. "You c-can c-come with us… You don't have to be alone…down here."

Flowey didn't return the gesture, his face utterly confused. Something like grief appeared. "Why?" he repeated. "Why…are you being so…nice to me?"

Frisk didn't answer, still holding their hand out. Sans didn't react as Flowey glanced helplessly at him, keeping his face clear.

"I can't understand." Flowey's eyes moved from between Frisk's hand to their face. "I can't understand!" He glanced again at Sans in one last ditch attempt at pleading for death, but upon finding no response, his head bowed. "I just can't understand!"

Without another word, Flowey vanished underneath the ground, all sign of his presence gone.

A pained noise escaped Frisk, like it had been punched out of them. Their hand slowly dropped to their lap, curling into a fist.

Finally, sighing, Sans let his shoulders drop, stepping past Frisk. "take it from me, kid…you can't save everyone."

He didn't wait for a response, heading towards the exit and sunlight.

The others followed shortly afterwards, Papyrus only seconds after him, each of them trailing out of the darkness and into the light of the surface.

Sans barely noticed their amazed reactions, all his focus on the sun directly before them, painting the entire land in beautiful hues of orange and pink. It was evening again…

Hadn't it been evening every other time, too?

"SANS, WHAT'S THAT GIANT BALL?" Papyrus sounded so suspicious.

Sans barely restrained an inappropriate laugh. "we call it the sun."

Papyrus brightened, all suspicion vanishing. "THAT'S THE SUN? WOWIE! I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M FINALLY MEETING THE SUN!"

"heh…" Sans closed his eyes, letting the warmth sink through his bones.

There were other exclamations of wonder and amazement, everyone expressing their awe at the sheer beauty of the surface.

It was so unbelievably peaceful, finally being at the end of their journey.

"All right, Sans." Undyne's brisk tone had him snapping to attention. "You going to explain what that was back there? What the hell was the flower going on about with resets and you killing him? And don't give us one of those blasted puns and disappear!"

Sans turned, eyes flicking from Undyne's furious face to each of the others. Papyrus looked concerned, Alphys nervous, and Toriel and Asgore both looked like they weren't sure whether to be upset or encouraging. Only Frisk looked encouraging, giving him a nod and signing TELL THEM.

"tell them?" Sans looked down at his feet, hands tightening in his pockets. "heh… easier said than done…" He looked back out at the land, deliberately not meeting anyone's eyes. "imagine a nightmare, one you can't wake up from… one that comes every day until you can't even remember what it was like before. until now…it's stopped."

"You trying to tell us it was all a nightmare?" Undyne sounded disbelieving.

It had felt like one… One that he couldn't wake up from no matter how hard he tried.

"one you can't get out of," Sans said eventually. "you wake up, and it starts all over again, and you don't know when it's going to end…" Sighing, his shoulders slouched. "what do you know of timelines?"

"But you didn't see any of those reports!" Alphys blurted out. She paused, then continued tentatively, "Did you?"

Sans glanced at her. "so those still happened? huh…" He looked up at the sky. "back at the beginning, we compiled those together. saw the anomaly that was stopping and starting timelines, messing with the flow of time. the flower was one anomaly; the other..." Sans shot Frisk a glance. "we thought we could do something about it, but… every reset, you'd forget, we'd be back at point zero, and… it just didn't seem worth it anymore. it was this endless loop, and it didn't matter what i did."

"…That flower said he killed us," Undyne said slowly.

"yeah… more than once. don't know why; he was probably just bored. it happened once, and then it reset, and i thought it was a fluke, but… it happened again, and again… and finally i found out it was because of him." His eyes went dark. "let's just say…he didn't have a whole lot of fun after that."

It had been a stroke of luck that Sans had been looking for Papyrus when he'd seen Flowey kill his brother. His blasters had wiped the little bastard out pretty quickly after that. And multiple times afterwards until Flowey had gotten sick of losing and reset entirely.

But Sans hadn't forgotten, and he hadn't left the flower alone. Every time he'd even dared show his face in a remote area…

There'd been a lot of resets during that period, until the flower had finally given up and kept out of Sans's reach.

Papyrus looked rather like someone had taken a brick and hit him over the head with it. Uncharacteristically, he didn't say anything, simply resting a hand on Sans's shoulder.

"And you remember that?" Undyne sounded horrified. "All of it?"

"…it started to run together after a point. the same script, the same routine… again and again; there's only so much a guy can remember, y'know?" His grin turned dark. "but, yeah. there's only one timeline that i'd forgotten, but i remember it now. d'you remember it, frisk?" Judging from how they flinched when he turned to them, they hadn't expected the sudden shift. "when you managed to kill me. gotta give you props for that, considering how many times i got you before that. but since we're still here, i'm guessing you didn't follow through with ending it all."

Frisk looked stricken at the reminder, face paling and eyes widening. Their hands fluttered nonsensically for a few seconds.

"Child?" Toriel gave them a concerned look. "What is he talking about?"

"we've reached the surface before," Sans continued when Frisk didn't say anything. "those resets were always a little fuzzy, but… it's difficult to forget what the sun feels like or the sight of the stars. and then it was reset. over and over again. and then…" He trailed off, grief hitting him. The SOULs whispered encouragement, giving him the strength to continue. "and then they started killing. like the flower, but worse. our reports showed that timelines were stopping and starting, but they also showed that everything ended. so i stepped in. i couldn't afford not to care anymore."

There was another flinch from Frisk, their eyes dropping. This time they signed a large SORRY, shoulders hunched.

"Human…" Asgore knelt in front of Frisk, cape fluttering around him. "That flower called you 'Chara.'"

They shook their head, hand coming up to press against their mouth. When they spoke, it was quiet. "N-not m-my name. I'm F-Frisk. Fl-Flowey c-confused me with th-them."

But Frisk had mentioned Chara before, saying that they had been responsible for so many of the resets. Sans gave them a pointed look.

Looking away from Sans, Frisk pushed their fingers together. "B-but…C-Chara…th-they were with me. W-when th-they k-k-killed S-S-Sans…I m-managed to reset after… B-but they started again." They were hugging themselves. "I c-couldn't stop…not until…Sans. I g-gave it to him, th-that ability. S-s-so it c-c-c-could stop." They met Sans's eyes, smiling tearfully. "And he stopped it."

Sans shifted uncomfortably under the weight of everyone's stares, avoiding their eyes.

"So all that…" Undyne seemed like she wanted to hit Sans but didn't know if it was safe to do so. "You guys planned it?"

Sans snorted, winking. "a little less dying was involved, but yeah."

"I AM VERY GLAD THAT YOU ARE ALIVE, SANS!" Papyrus looked up to Frisk. "AND YOU AS WELL, HUMAN!"

"B-but…I…" Frisk made the sign for "murder."

"YOU DID NOT DO SO NOW, DID YOU?" Papyrus paused for a moment. "AND YOU SEEM TO REGRET WHAT YOU DID DO. YOU ARE MY FRIEND! FRIENDS FORGIVE EACH OTHER!"

Papyrus had always been too forgiving, no matter what happened.

"AND, SANS…" Papyrus gave him a long look. "I DON'T THINK I CAN UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU WENT THROUGH. AND…IT PAINS ME THAT YOU COULDN'T TALK TO ME, YOUR BROTHER. BUT NOW…I AM VERY GLAD THAT YOU DID, THAT YOU ARE ALL RIGHT, AND…THAT YOU ARE FINALLY SMILING."

"what are you talking about, bro… i'm always smiling."

"BUT NOW YOU ARE REALLY SMILING!"

Sans hadn't been aware that there was that much of a distinction between his smile(s). But clearly Papyrus had noticed something, even though Sans had done his best to shield him from it all.

"I understand now," Asgore said quietly, looking between Sans and Frisk. "Why you did what you did, Sans…"

Sans simply shrugged, nothing else to be said. He could have done so much more, but…why had he needed to bother when every time it would just be reset? Only now it wouldn't happen anymore.

It was over.

And nothing else had ever felt so good before.

"What now?" Undyne glanced at Asgore. "We going to destroy humanity or what?"

"…No." Asgore's answer was simple. "I have no desire for a war with the humans. All I want is peace. All I want is for everyone to have hope. And now…we have that."

"cool. wasn't gonna fight anyway." Sans stared impassively back at Undyne.

"You've got the SOULs now," Alphys pointed out tentatively. "What are you going to do with them?"

Do? Sans hadn't even wanted the SOULs in the first place. He still didn't.

Why did he need to be almost a god? It was just a hassle. Besides…these SOULs deserved their own rest.

Exhaling slowly, Sans closed his eyes, focusing inward to where he could sense the SOULs. They didn't want to leave now that they'd tasted the sensation of being alive again. They asked to stay, to be with him and experience living again. They wouldn't do anything bad.

But didn't they want to move on?

None of them seemed to have an answer to this, having never considered the possibility before.

With a palpable reluctance, the SOULs agreed that it might be a good idea to move on, see what else was there.

That agreement was all Sans needed to begin the process of detangling himself from them, separating his SOUL from theirs. They slowly drew out of his body, circling anxiously around him.

Feeling utterly himself for the first time since Frisk had joined their SOULs, Sans extended his hand, wishing the six humans farewell. Then with a flick, he sent them soaring into the sky.

"who wants to be a god?" Sans said finally when no one else spoke. "not me."

After a moment, there was disbelieving muttering from Undyne, though Frisk giggled rather hysterically and Alphys just gawped.

Unconcerned, Sans turned back to the sunset, catching the last rays that still peeked over the horizon. There was nothing that could really compare to feeling the sun's warmth again…

But Papyrus's hugs were right up there.

TWO YEARS LATER

Since moving to the surface, this was the first time Sans had come back to the underground. It wasn't the first time for Frisk, since they had made repeated trips to see if they could find Flowey and convince him to join them on the surface. But every other time, they'd been accompanied by Toriel.

This time Sans had tagged along, if only because he was feeling just a little nostalgic for his old home. It wasn't necessarily the fond sort of nostalgia, since too much had happened down here, but…it was nostalgia.

He didn't accompany Frisk and Toriel through the underground, letting them move ahead as Frisk searched high and low for Flowey.

Sans couldn't care less what happened to the little weed, but he respected that Frisk had some sort of weird attachment to him. Even though the flower had killed all of them multiple times…

Giving his old home in Snowdin one last look, Sans took a shortcut to the last corridor. He was probably a little bit of a masochist for coming here, but…he had his reasons.

Everything had turned around here.

It was probably weird that he could point to the exact spot where he'd murdered the kid for the last time. He could also point to the other spots where he'd killed them.

And…

He deliberately avoided looking at where they'd killed him the first and only time they'd succeeded.

It didn't help with the ghostly sensation of a knife slashing across his ribs.

"You took your time, smiley trashbag."

Stiffening, Sans whirled, seeing Flowey five feet away. The flower…didn't look good. Granted, he looked better than the last time Sans had seen him, but that didn't mean much.

Relaxing now that he could tell Flowey wasn't a threat, Sans rocked back on his heels. "...heh. should i be flattered that you showed up? frisk's been looking for you."

Flowey quivered slightly. "I know."

"it's rude to keep someone waiting, y'know."

"You kept me waiting," Flowey hissed.

That was surprising. "oh? didn't know you wanted to see me that badly."

"I remember," Flowey spat out, visibly trembling. "What it feels like to have a SOUL. To feel compassion, to feel love. The first time it happened…I remember now."

He hadn't before?

"And I can't feel it anymore," Flowey continued tightly, petals twisting. "I'm…empty. Do you know how that feels, Sans? Having felt that again…and then lost it?"

There was nothing Sans could say to that, so he didn't.

Flowey met his eyes, a fierce desperation burning in his. "So I'm asking you again…kill me."

"…what makes you think i'll do it now? the kid spared you. i'll be the first to say they're kinda soft, but they don't want you dead."

"But you do." Flowey's face turned back to normal, his stem drooping. "Don't deny it. I can see it."

"well…" Sans closed his left eye. "can't say i'd lose any sleep over it."

"Then do it."

Under normal circumstances, Sans wouldn't hesitate. But this was anything but normal. Flowey couldn't do anything anymore. Sans still had a grip on the timelines, and he wasn't going to let it go anytime soon. Frisk had insisted on it.

HEAR C-H-A-R-A. WHISPER. WANT R-E-S-E-T. PLEASE…KEEP.

There was no way Sans was risking another genocidal reset.

"can't do, sorry," Sans said eventually. "the kid wants to bring you to the surface. they want to give you a happy ending. who am i to stop them?"

"The judge."

Sans stilled, eyes darkening. "…that's not my job anymore."

"Isn't it? You never stop seeing others' LOVE and EXP, do you? It's in your nature; it's who you are." Flowey's face was menacing. "You can see mine."

He could. "doesn't mean anything."

"I'll kill your brother. It doesn't matter if you reset. I'll kill him over and over again. I'll kill Alphys and Undyne. I'll kill Toriel. I'll kill Frisk. I'll kill everyone you love." Flowey bristled menacingly, face dark.

Sans stiffened, the light in his eyes winking out entirely. "you would've done it already if you were serious about it."

"But you wouldn't have known why. But I'll do it now, and you'll have to live with the knowledge that it's because you wouldn't kill me. That you were too soft-hearted. That you let me live because of some idiot."

Sans twitched minutely, his hands curling into fists in his pockets. "you really want to die, huh. bit of a change from before. lose your determination, bud?"

"I don't…" Flowey's voice lost its edge. He looked…downtrodden. Like he couldn't take another step. "I can't stand it anymore. Being empty…cold… Even Chara…they abandoned me. You were right. They would've killed me, purged everything." He shook, head bowing to the floor.

"not gonna argue with that."

"You could have stopped them the moment you saw them, every time. But you didn't." Flowey stared at him accusingly. "And so many times before. You refused to do your job, judge."

"think it would've mattered? they'd have reset, tried again. look at what you did." Every time Sans had destroyed him, the weed had grown back.

"But I can't anymore," Flowey said. "And I'm asking you, Sans. Do your job. Please…grant me mercy."

Sans stared at him, at the LOVE and EXP that clung to Flowey despite the lack of a SOUL. Flowey was empty, a void in the world where there should be a SOUL. And he looked…utterly exhausted and miserable.

Flowey said nothing else, but Sans could read his thoughts on his face. He would willingly kill Papyrus again if it got him what he wanted. And Sans…couldn't go through that again.

The first time had been hard enough already. And every subsequent time…

Sans was only just starting to feel a little normal again. Feel something other than constant apathy and exhaustion at being in a world that continually looped back to the beginning. If he was thrust back into that world…

"Judge me, Sans." The words dripped from Flowey's mouth like acid onto a page, piercing through Sans.

Sans didn't look away as he pulled two blasters into existence, feeling his magic tug at him. "alright, kid." If he really looked…Sans thought he could see the monster Flowey had been before. The little prince that had once been the pride and joy of Asgore and Toriel.

Flowey said nothing else, his eyes closing. He looked…peaceful.

And, seconds later, all that was left of him was dust.

Sans was left staring at it, the remnants of the monster that had caused him so much grief. It was all that was left of Prince Asriel, and for a second, he half-expected him to load a save and be right back to taunting Sans.

…But nothing happened.

It was just him and Frisk now.

Which reminded him…he'd better clean this up. Explaining what he'd done would be too much energy, and it would also lead to more questions and people disapproving of him.

Sans didn't need to be disapproved of. He'd been through enough crap that he could skip getting judged by other people.

Several hours later, when Frisk and Toriel returned, there wasn't a speck of dust left in the hallway or any sign at all that Flowey had ever been there. Frisk looked a bit upset at having been unable to find Flowey again, but they said they'd try again, that next time they would find him.

Sans said nothing, and he continued to not say nothing until he was back home with Papyrus, who had moved from cooking spaghetti to trying his hand at soups.

"SANS! HOW DID IT GO?" Once out of the kitchen, Papyrus stopped upon seeing Sans. "ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?"

Sans locked the door, letting his hand rest against the knob as he considered the question.

Surprisingly enough… "yeah, papyrus… i'm great."

He could rest.

So, uh...if you liked this, please let me know what you thought! I'd love to hear your thoughts and feedback on this. Thanks!

Admittedly, I was torn between Sans keeping the SOULs and letting them go. I opted for the latter, buuuttt...personally I kind of see the SOULs as still hanging around discreetly and keeping an eye on things...and checking up on Sans in case he needs them again.

As for Chara, in case it wasn't clear with Frisk's explanation, they killed Sans, but Frisk reset before they could get to Asgore. That meant no one sold their soul, but it also meant that Chara instigated another genocide route immediately afterwards, which is the one where Frisk gave Sans the ability to reset.

For this story, I was operating under the premise that Chara is effectively the flavor text of the game, and they can be corrupted with the wrong choices. In this story, they're still corrupted, and Frisk can still hear them whispering, and Sans keeps them away from any pointy objects. He's never going to trust them, but their relationship's amicable enough.