Every fairytale needs a villain, right?

[buttercup_eater]

[[Closed to dustless and sansational, sorry!]]

What

the hell

was that?

It's this thought that echoes above all else in Chara's mind, even after waking up in a chilly stone chamber that definitely isn't anywhere in the Underground.

What the hell was that- why SPARE Sans, why throw away everything they'd worked for, did the other kid somehow get through to them, what kind of stupid, pointless decision was that?

They mull over the subject for a while, glaring at the ceiling, before realizing their partner has yet to direct them the way they normally would. That... complicates matters.

The first thing Chara does is sit up, and in the process their gaze drifts over their chest, and they can see green and gold. They're wearing a sweater much like the ones they used to wear, Chara realizes. And when they look at their hands they can see that the skin tone and the shape of them has changed. These are their old hands. Except they can't be because their original hands would have rotted away a long time ago.

Right, first priorities first: Chara can still feel the locket beating away, and a cursory glance around the room reveals the real knife resting nearby. There isn't much else in the chamber of interest, so they grasp the handle and get to their feet.

Now appropriately equipped, Chara heads to the door and strolls silently out into the empty hallways.

They can still fulfill their purpose. There's always a way- they just have to find it.

Comments

[sansational]

The castle has been kind, and that almost dooms him. Children with striped shirts have become a curiosity at least and his friends at best. His brother is here, in a way. There's even another him that Sans can maybe help avoid make all the mistakes he made. Days go by in order. He's gotten used to the sight of the sky.

There are good days where that golden hallway seems very far away. Where he can forget the child he killed so many times that he lost count.

Right now, all Sans is thinking about is varying his nap spots. Variety is important in life, after all. He's been here long enough to know that, at this precise time of day, the way the sun falls in through the high windows makes the sills quite pleasantly warm. If he tucks himself into a corner just so, he can look out on the gardens as he drifts off.

A small skeleton in a reasonably large hallway, he might not be immediately seen at first.

But he feels the child's approach, enough that his eyesockets suddenly fly open wide and dark even before Sans realizes why.

quick w for mentions of murder and violence.

[buttercup_eater]

Chara would not notice the presence of Sans at first, as they were still absorbed in their own thoughts. (Not that it would be easy to tell from their wooden expression. Their face was never the best indicator of their mood.)

Instead they walk, slowly and methodically, down the hallway, occasionally holding up a locket in their left hand and staring at it. The chain is broken, the metal smeared with the same blood that is coating their hands, the front of their shirt, and that had sprayed a little across their face.

The other child is dead now, Chara was sure of that. They'd stayed by their body, prodding at their chest and wrist and mouth several times just to make sure. But something must have gone wrong, because their EXP hadn't gone up at all. Chara was still stuck at LV 19, still not quite as strong as they had to be.

Was it only monsters that gave out EXP? It seemed possible; since monsters had purer SOULs than humans, perhaps killing them had more of an effect.

They let their left hand drop, the heart-shaped locket dangling by the broken chain, and glance absently about the hallway. Slowly, their gaze settles on the small skeleton waiting just down the hall.

Hope this is okay to start us off?

[sansational]

Slowly, Sans' gaze settles on the human waiting just up the hall. And with the last vestiges of sleep still clinging to his mind, with the way the sunbeams streaming in leave colors muted and blurred, the first name that comes to his mouth is: "frisk...?"

It's the smell of blood that alerts him. Sans is more familiar with that smell than most monsters, and this child is most of the reason why. His first thought is that that's his blood, but...no, he didn't bleed that much. Asgore or Flowey wouldn't have bled at all. Did they finally start in on the humans, before they arrived here?

And yet, any of that would be preferable to the cold fear in his marrow of what might have really happened. There are a lot of people who could bleed, here in this castle (Lucas, Sophie, Tauriel, Frisk...). A lot of them are his friends, and this wasn't supposed to happen (except he always knew it could), this has to be another dream (and he's never waking up)...

All these thoughts pass through Sans' head in a second or two, and he gives no outward sign of them. He's had practice at that, or maybe it's just that this child has left him dead inside too and he's only just remembering as much. Instead, the skeleton just takes a deep breath, and lets it out in a long sigh. Slowly, he slides off the windowsill and touches down on the ground. He looks up at the child, and the look on his face is only a smile by the most generous definition of the word.

"well, well, well..."

He holds up both hands, and it's like he never left the hallway. Two gasterblasters spin into existence out of the air, mouths gaping open, blue fire already blooming between their teeth.

"Let's just get to the point."

No speeches, no hesitation, no other warning. No mercy. More than anything, Sans doesn't want to make the same mistakes this time. So he launches right into his strongest attack.

Seems fine! And lemme know if this doesn't work for you.

[buttercup_eater]

The word "Frisk" drifts through Chara's mind for a second- it sounds vaguely important, but without any context they decide it's probably just the meaningless mumbling of a lazybones who only just woke up. They still have their purpose to consider, after all, and if their partner still isn't giving them any input, well... that's fine. It just means there'll be no backing out.

The broken locket is stuffed into their pocket and they stand there silently, waiting for Sans to make his first move. They know where this is going, even before the Gaster Blasters spin into existence.

He doesn't disappoint. They have to leap in order to avoid one row of bones (92/92), but then they're slightly off balance when they need to slide through another, causing them to knock into several in a row (78/92) and the KARMA coursing through their veins means the pain continues to throb even after the initial blows.

The blasters fire this way and that way and Chara has to dash around and around in order to avoid the full brunt of the flames, but the sheer size and heat of the blasts scorches their limbs regardless of where they run. (58/92)

Still, they determinedly twist their way down the hallway between everything that Sans is throwing at them, the real knife held primed for swinging the moment they're within range.

Looks great!

[sansational]

If he hadn't been certain before, the feel of KARMA taking its first big bite out of this kid's soul would have taken care of that. Not only that, they dodge like they know what to expect from him. This attack should have killed them on the spot if they hadn't gotten as far as him, or maybe even if they had. It had taken them a few resets to learn the rhythm of how to get past it, after all.

Even if he'd just woken up, Sans is still awake enough to dodge. He had been last time, too, of course, but by then they'd learned to cheat. There's still a bad moment where he almost doesn't, because he's gotten soft and let old instincts get dull, but then time skips and slows and Sans simply slides out of danger. The knife cuts a glittering but harmless arc through the air, close enough for him to feel the displaced air but not close enough to count. There's a breathless moment where he's waiting for the next attack, but...

(1/1)

Sans retaliates by turning their soul blue and flinging them up hard at the ceiling, where a wall of bones will stab down a scant second later to meet them. Whether they dodge that, he skips time so that they're back down on the ground for another wall to stab up, and then he picks them up and tosses them at the nearest window. But he pulls them back in before they might fall out, though. No escape. No mercy.

[buttercup_eater]

Keep attacking, Chara had advised their partner, and that's what they need to do here if they're going to survive: though they rather think that outcome's unlikely, as time stutters the moment they get within slicing range of Sans, and they distantly observe their shining red blade pass him by.

The next instant they're flying upwards and they slam, hard, against the ceiling. Their knees buckle under the impact, slowing their reaction time when the bones stab upward (37/92), and then everything flickers and they're on the ground and another wall of bones is piercing through them (25/92) before suddenly they're lifted into the air once more and slammed into one of the high windows lining the hallway. (13/92) They feel the glass splintering around them and hear a loud crack when their head slams into the window- or is the crack from their skull instead?

Laughter bubbles out of Chara without their being aware of it, growing rapidly from light giggling into chuckling into full on laughter. When they slam into the ground and scramble onto their feet, they swing their knife towards Sans once more, but their shoulders are shaking too hard from laughter and the arc of the blade is wobbly.

(05/92)

[sansational]

He's going to win. They're going to die. He's going to get it right this time, he won't have to watch his brother die again, it's going to be okay...

The visceral, bloody sounds of Chara being taken apart leave Sans sick to the marrow but it's coupled with a rush of something like elation at the prospect of safety, close enough to reach out and take at last - safety for his brother, for his friends. Even if they RESET, Frisk could RESET, too. He doesn't want to do this. He never wanted to do this but he hesitated last time and everyone died and he's not hesitating now and everyone will be safe it's worth it worth it worth it...

He watches them fall, and as the sound of their laughter echoes through the hallway, Sans has to fight the urge to laugh with them. He manages to hold himself in check, only because he's not sure he wouldn't wind up sobbing instead.

As they come stumbling towards him, limping along on their last dregs of HP, Sans almost pities them.

Then he starts off the list again in his head (Snowdrake, Chilldrake, Ice Cap, Lesser Dog...) and hardens his soul to finish this dance one more time. He isn't even sure if he has to skip time in order to dodge their attack, wobbling as it is. He does so anyway, just in case.

To finish the job, he sends two lines of bones arrowing at them from either direction, throwing in a few blue ones just to make sure, and just for his own bitter sense of dark satisfaction. If they'd only bothered to stop and learn about blue stop signs...

He's already exhausted, but his hands move steadily. His gaze never wavers from Chara's face once as he delivers the killing blow. This time, Sans wants to be sure.

[buttercup_eater]

There's that stuttering of time again. They miss. Of course. Well, what does it matter? Either they'll RESET and try it again, or...

Chara lands- collapses, really- onto the floor and rolls inelegantly away from Sans. They come to a stop with a soft thunk against the far wall, where they claw their way into an upright position, even though it feels like their limbs are about to fall off. But it's a distant sort of pain, as if they're not really feeling it, but somehow observing someone else's. They still laugh, a little, but it's wheezy and quiet.

Time seems to slow as the bones arrow towards them. They actually manage to dodge between the first few, possibly out of an ingrained sense of determination. It doesn't do any good. An enormous blue bone flies towards them, too big for them to dodge, and it sinks right through them.

(00/92)

They can feel their soul S H A T T E R.

And then they're falling down again, and it feels as if they're drifting through something soft and deep and black, the hallway and the pain and the magic bullets surrounding them an indistinct impression compared to the sensation.

They've stopped laughing, and Sans will be able to see that their expression is rather like that of someone sleeping: a little serene, and mostly distant.