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

[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.