"sounds strange, but before all this i was secretly hoping we could be friends. i always thought the anomaly was doing this cause they were unhappy. and when they got what they wanted, they would stop all this."

Same lines, same attacks...give the occasional grin, like he isn't as tired as he feels, give a casual wink, left eye open, like he doesn't just want to quit.

"and maybe all they needed was... i dunno. some good food, some bad laughs, some nice friends."

Keep dodging. Keep pretending like it doesn't break his heart to see that fucked up smile on the face of the kid he'd spent three years with on the surface.

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

They look the opposite of unhappy, though, and Sans knows it. He could comment on that, but that would be going off script. And he doesn't want to do that. Doesn't want them to know that he can…

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

"Should I take a page from your book, Sans?" The child asks, stepping back and running their finger over the blade of their knife, smirking.

Sans freezes. Frisk doesn't talk. And they don't sound like that, either. The look in their eyes...that expression they're wearing...it's not Frisk.

"..a...a-and that day's TODAY.." Sans stammers and winces, continuing on like he can't do anything else.

"Is all this fighting tiring you out, Sans?" They interrupt him before he can say his next line, laughing at the bewildered expression on his face, "I've killed you hundreds of times already, you know. Why keep trying?"

"...i..i-if you keep pushing me... then i'll be forced to use my special attack.." Sans falters, taking a step back and narrowly missing the swipe of their knife.

They look irritated, "Honestly, Sans? Give it up - I know you're more than just a mouthpiece for lines. C'mon. Talk to me."

Sans feels himself start to tremble, and for more reasons than just exhaustion. They might be bluffing. He can't risk assuming otherwise. "yeah, my special attack. sound familiar?"

"Of course, Sans." The child (not Frisk) dodges the next sweep of bone attacks sent their way with practised ease, "It's a shame Papyrus kept losing his to that dog - maybe he would have been more of a challenge. As it were, it's always so easy to just dust him…"

His eyes narrow and his fists clench, "w-well...get ready. cause after the next move, i'm going to use it."

"No...it wouldn't happen to be you just standing around and waiting for me to quit, would it?" They smirk, hopping and ducking under his attacks, "Only for you to fall asleep like the lazybones you are, making it easy for me to kill you again…"

"if you don't want to see it, now would be a good time to die." Sans delivers the line with much more venom than usual, shoulders tensing as he prepares to hit them with everything he has left. The child sees the sweat pouring down his forehead and laughs at him. They know they're going to win, but they keep humoring him.

He doesn't manage to hit them even once. They giggle like an innocent kid at play as they dodge each attack perfectly, smiling at him all the while with a grin that grows wider and wider as he gets close to the end. Sans closes his eyes a moment, taking in a shaky breath as he drops his hand back to his pocket, shaking with exhaustion as he steps back, panting.

"huff... puff... all right. that's it…" He heaves in a breath, bracing his hands on his knees, "it's time for my special attack. are you ready?"

They laugh again,

"Here goes nothing!" "here goes nothing."

At the exact same time...they know. They know he's about to fail, again…

He goes through the rest of his script in a monotone, doing his best to ignore them when they speak his lines with him, inching closer all the while even as he continues to push them back.

"but now, you've reached the end…" Again. "there is nothing left for you now." Except there must be, why else would they keep coming back? "so, uh, in my personal opinion... the most "determined" thing you can do here?"

The child tilts their head with mock interest, as if they won't be hearing his idea for the god-knows-how-manyth time. "is to, uh, completely give up. and…" Sans yawns, eyes half-closing, "...do literally anything else…"

'almost over, pal…' Sans assures himself as he begins to drift off, keeping them away by pushing back their SOUL for as long as he can keep himself awake, 'they'll RESET and you'll see him again soon…'

His eyes close completely, and he senses them stepping forward. He doesn't care. The sooner he dies the sooner he can rest.

"Sansy~" The child whispers.

In surprise he opens his eyes to look at them. They've never done this befo-

Their knife suddenly drives itself into his left socket, and he screams out in pain, dropping to his knees before suddenly blacking out.

"Wake up, Sansy."

Sans groans as he feels himself being yanked up from the floor to his knees, wincing and shutting his blinded eye against the pain. He stares up at the kid, finding his hands tied behind his back with his own jacket.

"There you aareee~" They giggle, "You're always so busy talking during our fight that I never get a chance to introduce myself. My name is Chara." They hold out their hand, winking and snickering at his inability to reciprocate.

"...not nice to meet ya." Sans mumbles. He tries to teleport, but all this does is cause a searing burn to flare up in his magic eye, "gh…"

"Not so cocky without your magic, are you?" Chara questions with an unnervingly wide smile.

He glares at them, "what do you want, kid…?"

"I just wanted to say something." They step closer, running their hand back over his skull and giggling as he yanks his head away, "Don't you want to know why I keep doing this? Killing everyone again and again and again? Aren't you curious, Sansy? Go ahead, admit it."

"...guess it's something i've wondered about." He mumbles.

They pat his head and step back, "It's because of you, Sans."

His shoulders draw in as he looks up at them, saying nothing.

"All those fights I go through? All those hours spent hunting down every last monster too stupid to evacuate? I do it all for you, Sans!" They lean down so their hands are resting on their knees, and they stare at him eye to eye, "Every time you're always here, waiting for me. Your fights are the best, Sans! I look forward to it every time! Why, if not for you, I might have gotten bored and given up on Genocide ages ago. But no...in spite of knowing that you'll lose, you're always here for me."

Sans feels his gut twist and he looks away, only for Chara to grab his chin and force his head back, "wh...what else was i supposed to do, huh?"

They giggle, "You could at least try and stop me from killing Papyrus. From killing everyone. But you're such a lazybones, Sans...I always have to murder the entire Underground for you to be bothered to fight. You don't even avenge your brother unless I've slaughtered everyone else, too." Chara grins widely, too widely, "Are you bored too, Sans? Are you so bored of your brother that you don't even bother trying to protect him?"

His tied hands tighten into fists behind his back, and he glares at them, "shut up!"

Chara laughs hysterically, backing up and leaning over their stomach, "Is that all you have to say in your defense? 'Shut up'? Oh, Sansy...I can see the guilt on your face. Why do you keep trying to hide your knowledge of the RESETS? Do you think you can fool me?" They step in closer, too close, and smile at him, "Are you scared of me, Sans? Do you keep letting me kill your brother because you're scared of what might happen to you if I knew?"

Sans swallows, struggling to keep holding their gaze.

They chuckle, "I'll take that as a yes...I've known from the beginning that you're more than special, Sans. So all the time you've spent hiding in the background and watching as I dust Papyrus? It's been a selfish waste - you could have been defending him all this time. It's a good thing he doesn't know about the RESETS, isn't it? How do you think he'd feel, knowing his older brother won't help him because he's scared? Because he'd rather watch him die over and over than risk getting found out?"

"stop it.."

"You take my RESETS for granted, don't you, Sans? You just assume that he'll always come back, so why bother worrying? You're selfish, Sans - you only ever think about yourself. You don't even really love Papyrus, do you?"

"stop it-!"

Chara slaps him harshly, "You don't get it, do you? You're powerless to ever stop me, Sans!"

The skeleton pants, shutting his eyes and tensing his shoulders to try and stop his shaking. At least he's not crying.

"But I appreciate that you try." Chara coos, patting his sore cheek and snickering at the hateful glare they receive in return, "I just wanted to let you know. Well...moving on." They brace the knife over his chest, and Sans closes his eyes, more than happy to embrace death.

"...actually.." Chara says after a moment of thought, pulling back, "I'm tired of the same old thing...I'm going to try something different. You want a break from all the death, don't you, Sans?"

He looks back up at them, "wh..what do you m-"

Chara hits him sharply over the back of the head with the hilt of their knife, and his vision goes black.