Summary: Sans is tired of following the script. So he decided to mix it up a bit. Not that it matters, it will always end the same way.

Notes: This was inspired by Mideater's Last Lullaby. post/133816409908/the-last-lullaby-its-4-am-here-and-i-dont-know

The very end is credited to them. The rest of this one-shot, are the events I would imagine happening before their comic.
Please Enjoy.

Fear engulfed Sans.

He saw the human. Covered in dust and shambling as if possessed. Heh, of course that thing was possessed. That wasn't Frisk. He learned that a long time ago.

There was a difference between the sweet and caring human that befriended Papyrus and went on various dates with monsters, and the thing that was taking uneven steps towards Snowdin. Someone that was sweet and caring as Frisk, couldn't turn dark and evil for no reason. So they must be possessed by something, something that was as evil as the acts that they made Frisk do.

It was sickening thinking about it now. Every time he saw this deformed amalgamation that possessed Frisk he would do nothing. Instead of running off to tell everyone to get out of town immediately, he just waited around. As if he needed more clues than what he already knew, he would play games with Papyrus and the human. The whole time praying that he was wrong and this was actually Frisk, or more likely that Papyrus was right and he could convince Frisk of their goodness once more. Neither of these hopes were very likely. The amount of times that either actually came true Sans could count on one hand, which didn't amount to much when he remembered the innumerable times it was not.

It seems almost silly to Sans now, waiting all the time, watching his brother die over and over. When this first started he might have bought what Asgore was selling. The strongest monsters would fight the human closer to New Home. This allowed for the human to encounter the possibility of killing a monster more frequently. The King's hope was that while a few might die the overwhelming guilt of killing a being that wished them no harm would turn them back to good, saving the whole of the Underground. Sans now knew that the whole story was bollocks.

When one thought of it the story made no sense. Why have the kid befriend monsters if the King was just going to kill them anyways? No, the King was just saving face. Hoping that the hopeful and less powerful monsters would lower the kids sense of danger. Then it would be either easier to kill the kid when they actually did reach New Home, or someone else would do the King's dirty work for him.

"... but Sansss
…. they won't listen to me
…. I'm not a sentry." Grillby said confused.

"just tell them it's under direct order of undyne. that should get their furry tails moving." He said before he left.

This move was preemptive, usually he waited until Papyrus was preparing to encounter the human and convince them of their 'own goodness' before he told Grillby to evacuate everyone. This time he went to him right after Papyrus and Sans' first encounter. He saw the deadness in the human's' eyes and knew that there was no time to wait. Not again.

Sans made it back to the kid just in time to watch them take down Lesser Dog. He didn't need more proof. That fluffy dog was as harmless as any other dog in the underground, everyone knew their bark was harsher than their bite. There is no reason to kill such an innocent creature when petting it would get you the same, if not better, results.

When the kid turned they saw Sans standing there. They looked at him confused. He knew, he was going against the norm. Well, since was life a script anyways.

"hey kid. noticed you decided to choose the route of mayhem and destruction this time." Sans said with his permanent smile on.

The kid looked even more confused before it laughed, like nails on a chalkboard. When it was done the kid gave him a creepy smile and waved.

"right, well i guess i should just ask. are you going to stop here? i mean the killing. it's not very becoming you know." Sans asked smile still in place, but his voice was more threatening.

The kid shrugged still smiling. This was new, Sans knew that, so the kid must have been interested. Sans thought that they looked to be more interested now than he's seen them in a long while. They must have been getting bored too.

"right, i'll take that as a no. one more question kid. what is it that you want? you got your happy ending, you got your worst ending, what makes you keep coming back?" Sans asked, his smile was getting strained, and his voice went monotone.

The kid simply pointed at him. Sans understood immediately.

"me huh? what you like me bashing you head in over and over again?" The kid laughed again and shook their head no. They started to sign but Sans waved them off. "or do you just like the challenge that i can give? even though i am considered the weakest monster you'll fight in the underground?" Sans clarified. The kids laughter went more maniacal than before, nodding their head enthusiastically.

"But you aren't the weakest. Are you, Sans?" The kid signed, their smile taking over half their face. "That title belongs to your brother."

Sans wasn't listening to this and blew the kid away. How dare they insult his brother while he was standing there.

-Reset-

"That wasn't very nice now was it-"

The kid was gone once more.

-Reset-

The kid didn't even stop this time coming at Sans with the toy knife. Which honestly was just as effective as the real one when it came to Sans.

Sans easily dodged.

He threw some bones at the kid and a few hit.

-Reset-

The fights were a lot faster in speed and shorter in time than if they were in Judgment Hall. One hit was all Sans needed to down the kid. So the kid tried relentlessly to dodge all his attacks and to get a strike in, but Sans was faster and his attacks were meant for a being that could take multiple hits at once. The kid had no chance. That's why he was one of the last boss monsters one could fight. The fight was unfair, skewed in his favor. But does that matter when you are trying to get rid of a pest?

Some more bones made contact with the kid.

-Reset-

Sans' had no real idea how many times they went through this song and dance. If he had to hazard a guess he would say it took them about 100 turns to figure out his first five attacks, and another 50 to get through to his ninth, now they were approaching his tenth. Talk about determination. It's a good thing he can't remember every timeline, otherwise he's sure he would have given up by now.

Not the kid though, they never gave up. They were going to get past him. He could see it on their face. The determination. The thing that made a human soul so strong. It was a powerful force to recon with.

Sans knew that he could hold them back for a while but he also knew that they would get a strike in. Just one, that's all it would take. He tried not to think about that though. Instead he tried to think of Grillby, of Undyne, of Alphys, and most of all of Papyrus. He couldn't watch them all die again. He couldn't bare it if he had to sit on the sidelines once more. If the kid wanted to fight Sans, then why make them wait. He'll give the kid the best fight they've ever had, maybe the frustration of not getting past him will make them leave. Hopefully.

He summoned a Gaster Blaster. He hit the kid.

-Reset-

The kid made it through his first fifteen attacks in less than 200 turns. The kid is either getting better or Sans is becoming predicable. Both options aren't good.

'it might be time to change things up, soon.' Sans thought, he was getting tired. Damned kid and his damn determination.

A few bones hit the kid and they went down.

"Please don't -"

-Reset-

Attack number seventeen. About now is when Sans would usually offer them to give up. Not this time though, what's the point in that. The kid knows it's a trick, they've fought him before. They know there is no mercy from Sans, this time he won't even pretend.

'lets try messing with time and space ourself this turn. see how they deal with that.'

The look of confusion on the kid's face was priceless before it was no more.

-Reset-

There is no way to tell how many resets they've been through since they've started. Sans stopped counting. He was probably off anyways. So there was no point. He was getting frustrated. Why wouldn't the kid give up?

"do you like dyeing?" Sans asked. God he was so tired. "are you a masochist? is that it?"

The kid just snickered before taking their turn.

Sans dodged and used a blue attack slamming them against a tree. He was just so frustrated. "why. won't. you. just. give. UP!" Sans threw up a wall of bones.

-Reset-

Sans decided that he should just resign himself to his fate. He was either going to continue to fight the kid to the end of eternity or he was going to die at their hand. Then everyone else would die.

That gave Sans a moment of contemplation. It was true wasn't it? Even if he died, that's not going to stop the kid from killing his friends, from killing Papyrus. It just stalled the inevitable. What he was doing now was useless, everything is useless. He was hoping that the kid would have gotten aggravated by now and have given up. But no. They're still at it.

This reset was half hearted on Sans part, due to all his depressing thoughts, he should just stop thinking. The kid could tell that he wasn't giving his all, they grew cocky. They didn't make it past Sans fourteenth attack. Stupid kid should have really payed attention to where the Gaster Blasters were shooting.

-Reset-

The kid was mad this time. Which just made them that much more determined and that much more dangerous.

"hah, so kid what happened to make you so furious? did i say something?"
Frisk: Slash
Sans: Dodge

"did i do something?"
Frisk: Angry Slash
Sans: Dodge

"oh? is that so? did it have anything to do with one of these?"
Sans: Gaster Blaster
Frisk: Dodge
Frisk: Vicious Slash
Sans: Dodge

"i can't believe that worked. you've been getting so good at dodging."
Frisk: Enraged Slash
Sans: Dodge

"gotta say kid, i'm getting pretty tired of this game."
Frisk: Happy Slash
Sans: Dodge

"i'm thinking about doing my special attack soon. what do you say?"
Frisk: Tense Slash
Sans: Dodge

"ah, so you know it? ya, seems like a good time to get that done."
Frisk: Determined Slash
Sans: Dodge

"right."
Sans: Nothing
Frisk: Furious Stare

"what?"
Frisk: Enraged Hand Motions

"hehehe! sticks and stones kid."
Frisk: Tantrum

"god kid calm down. it's not like we don't know what's going to happen." Sans said with a yawn.

"SANS!" Sans looked behind him startled. "SANS WHERE ARE YOU!" Papyrus. What was he doing? He hadn't found them yet, but he was close. Shoot, this wasn't good.

Sans looked back at the kid just in time to fling them away from the fight button. "don't even think about it kid."

"BROTHER! COME OUT! THE GREAT PAPYRUS DEMANDS YOUR PRESENCE!" Papyrus sounded frightened. Sans wondered momentarily how long Papyrus had been looking for him, before he thought of where to hide. They were out in the open. Papyrus was sure to find them. The kid was making their way back to fight, but Sans caught them once more and flung them back.

'think sans, think.'

"BROTHER! There you are! I've been looking for you everywhere! Grillby told me you said to evacuate everyone and then just disappeared. What are -" Papyrus noticed the destruction around his brother and the being desperately trying to get to a floating fight button only to be flung away from it by his brother.

"SANS! What are you doing!" Papyrus exclaimed as he saw what his brother just did. Sans was in a state of shock. He hardly ever showed that much power in front of his brother, and never with malicious intent. "Is that a human?" Papyrus asked with a bit of trepidation.

"papyrus, go home." Sans said trying to be as calm and collected as he possibly could. This couldn't be happening right now. He was just too tired. Too tired to not only prevent the kid from killing him while Papyrus stood right there, but to also try and have a quasi reasonable conversation with said brother at the same time.

"What? NO! Sans, what is going on? Are you and the human fighting?" Papyrus asked in wonder. The human laughed before getting up and charging once more for the fight button. Sans picked them up and slammed them into a tree, hoping that it would at least knock out the kid for a little while, at best kill them this turn.

No reset, oh well.

"BROTHER!" Papyrus exclaimed horrified. Grabbing his arm and spinning him around Papyrus broke Sans sight of the human. Shocked Sans tried to turn back around.

"Papyrus. what are you doing? let me go." Sans exclaimed, turning his head to get a glimpse of the human. Still down, good.

Papyrus grabbed Sans' chin and made Sans look back at him. This only made Sans struggle harder. "Sans, what do you think you are doing? You could have seriously hurt the human." Papyrus said dismayed.

"papyrus, bro, this really isn't the time to explain. i have to prevent that kid from touching the fight button." Sans said trying desperately to get out of Papyrus' grasp.

"Bother don't be silly. The human doesn't want to fight you," Papyrus said as if Sans was a simpleton, "The human only wants to be your friend."

Sans only stared at his brother in shock. "wha … what?" Sans finally asked dumbfounded.

"Oh Sans, I know this might be hard to believe but I have seen this human many times," Papyrus said stroking his brothers bald head in comfort. Sans couldn't think anything more than, 'he knows?'

"Every time I see this human there is nothing but joy and happiness. They bring us to the surface, all of us, the whole underground." Papyrus said. "There's no reason to be afraid."

"what about when they don't bring us to the surface." Sans asked confused. "do you remember those timelines?"

"Sans that has never happened, they always bring us to the surface." Papyrus looks over Sans' head to see the human getting up. "I'll show you." Papyrus made his way in the direction of the human before Sans grabbed his arm.

"papyrus, no. you don't know what you're talking about," Sans said. His brother looked insulted. "not every timeline is good. some are bad, rotten. some happen in which you, undyne, alphys, everyone ... everyone dies."

Papyrus extracted his arm from Sans hold and took another step towards the human making Sans follow him in fear trying to grab Papyrus back. "Sans, those must have been nightmares. The human has never hurt anyone." Papyrus said. They turned back to the human to see them up and charging. "See brother, they want a hug." Papyrus said opening his arms.

"Pupyrus! No!" Sans said pushing his brother out of the way. He felt the knife enter his soul. It was always quite an odd feeling. Sans knelt clutching his chest. The human followed him down and pulled out the knife.

"See. Told you. Your brother is the weakest." The kid signed in Sans eyesight. Sans swatted their hands away weakly. The kid laughed before standing. They made their way to Papyrus who was looking at his brother in unbridled shock. The kid found the look unimaginably delightful. They gave Papyrus a bow before signing, "Thank you, Papyrus. Couldn't have done it without you."Then they walked away. What they wanted was done. There was nothing more of interest here. The sound of Papyrus' grief was a delightful farewell gift.

"Brother?" Papyrus called after the human left. Sans looked over at his brother with a smile.

"ya, pap?"

"Are you -" Papyrus let out a small sob as he notice that red blood covered some of Sans' side. "NO!" Papyrus called rushing to his brother. "no, No, NO! Sans hold on, please." Papyrus cried as he gathered his brother to his chest.

Sans lifted his hand to his brother's cheek. "oh, pap, i'm sorry." Sans started only to be hushed by his brother. Sans noticed that he left a small stain of red on Papyrus' cheekbone so refrained from touching him more than needed.

"No, please no." Papyrus cried. "Stay with me, please Sans." He noticed that now Sans left leg was starting to turn to dust.

Sans looked at his brother and then to his own body. He was turning to dust slowly. He couldn't help chuckling lightly, he always turned to dust slowly. Nothing he ever did was fast, he couldn't even die quickly. "hey, pap?" Sans asked quietly.

"Yes, Sans?" Papyrus looked at his brother with a bit of hope. What was Papyrus expecting him to say, Sans wondered.

"could you sing to me, pap?" Sans asked quietly. After the words left his mouth Sans noticed how selfish such a request was. His poor brother was holding him while he died. To ask him to sing was just a bit thoughtless. But Papyrus smiled at him, like he just had the best idea ever. This made Sans smile back.

"What do you want me to sing?" Papyrus asked.

"Anything." Sans sighed. Sans loved Papyrus' singing, he could sing him the ABCs and 123s and Sans would be happy.

"Um, well," Papyrus stampered. He looked at Sans body once more noticing that his left hand's fingertips were starting to turn to dust as well.

"You are my Sans-Shine.
My only Sans-Shine."

Papyrus started, Sans gave a genuine smile.

"You're very Punny,
Even if I hate it."

Papyrus held his brother close as he gave a small chuckle.

"You always know dear,
How much I love you."

Papyrus stood and started to walk back to Snowdin. Not that he expected any help. No one was there even if there was anything anyone could do.

"Please…" Papyrus choked.
"Don't take my Sans-Shine away."

End