The emptiness consumed him. It was ever present. Sans got a laugh out of that, despite it all. Skeletons were, by their very natures, empty. But this emptiness was not physical. It was the crushing loneliness of being the only one who remembered. The pain of watching his brother die over and over, only for the human to reset and wreak their havoc all over again.

Whatever had once made the human consider kindness, consider mercy, it was gone now. Sans had lost count of the genocides he had witnessed, each one coming on the tails of the last. An endless cycle of death and rebirth and death and rebirth. A pointless chase, around and around again.

The final corridor, the judgement hall, felt different this time. Emptier. Higher. Like Sans had stepped into a place above all this mess and could finally see clearly what he'd become a part of. There was no pacifist route anymore. No neutrality. Only genocide, slaughter, mass destruction. If not for his place halfway in this world and halfway out, he would see nothing of it.

And one day, the human would get bored of it all. That'd been what'd happened to the last creature to hold the resets, after all.

They would be here soon. Frisk. The very name sent shivers rattling down Sans' spine, sent his hands shaking. Would this be the last time? Would this death be his last? Could he finally find some peace, scattered as dust on the tiles of a room no one would ever visit again?

Footsteps echoed in the hall. Fast, determined. Sans looked, and there they were. Blood dripping from their hands, their clothes, their knife. The stuff was dried across their face, where they'd been in such a hurry to kill the monsters that were once their friends that they hadn't even bothered to wipe it off.

'You look like a demon,' Sans wanted to say.

'Is this making you happy?' he wanted to ask.

'Do we really deserve this?' he wanted to scream.

But he didn't. Sans had given up on changing the rules a long time ago.

"That expression you're wearing…you're really kind of a freak, huh?"

The same line, the same dialogue. If the kid was hoping to find something different by going around again, Sans wouldn't give them that satisfaction. Frisk said nothing. They stepped closer, and Sans knew, they were going to fight. And he was going to lose.

"It's a beautiful day outside," Sans began his familiar spiel. "Birds are singing, flowers are blooming. On days like these, kids like you…" He paused, waiting until the human was about to launch their first attack. "…Should be burning in hell."

And so it continued. Sans spoke. The human attacked. Sans dodged. Over and over and over. He could feel the sweat gathering on his bones, the fatigue gathering through his body. His magic was growing weary; his soul was growing weary. This was going to end soon.

Just like last time. Just like every other time. Sans would die, and the human would reset. Then Papyrus would die, and Sans would die, and the human would reset.

But what if they didn't? What if this was it, the last chance? Sans could finally rest.

And Papyrus would still be dead, a red scarf in a pile of dust in the snow. Toriel would be dead, a pile of dust eternally guarding the entrance to the ruins. Undyne would still be dead, a pile of dust and a suit of armour.

And then, something happened. Maybe being lazy for so long just got old. Or maybe this was what determination felt like. But Sans was sick and tired of sitting back and letting the human do whatever they pleased.

"Take it from me, kid," he said, resolve growing stronger. "Someday, you gotta learn when to QUIT."

The human prepared for another attack. One that would never come. It had been a long time since Sans was truly a part of this world, of these timelines, longer than he would care to admit. He could manipulate things the others couldn't begin to comprehend.

It was over before it began. Sans extended his magic, reaching for the human's soul. And when he did, he didn't attack. Instead Sans wrapped his magic around the red soul and did the only thing he could think of.

He took the human's determination.

Frisk paled as their greatest power was drained from their body, but Sans didn't stop. He wouldn't, couldn't, stop. This was going to end, today. If the human wouldn't reset, someone else was going to have to do it.

"You should've just left us alone, kid," Sans said. He could feel the flow of determination slowing.

Frisk was shaking, their body going limp. This wouldn't kill them, but it would leave them as vulnerable as all the monsters they had so mercilessly killed.

He cut the connection between them, his magic retracting and taking every last drop of Frisk's determination with it. They collapsed to the floor, limbs thrashing as they attempted to drag themselves to their feet, to the exit, to something that wasn't death.

Sans watched them go, feeling the new power flowing through him. His own soul was glowing brighter now, its bright hue darkened to a purplish colour. Frisk ran from the hall.

And Sans was alone.

"Golly! That was really something!"

Or so he thought. Sans knew that voice. He loathed that voice.

The yellow flower was standing behind him, sprouting from the tiles in an impossible manner. He had no business being here. But then again, Sans had no business having determination running through him, or surviving a battle with the human.

"But you know, no monster can survive for long with those concentrations of determination!" Flowey said it all with a smile plastered on his face, but Sans knew the sinister nature behind that smile.

"Heh, guess you're right," the skeleton admitted. He shoved one hand in his pocket, bringing up the reset option with the other.

It was right there. All Sans had to do was press it, and they could go back. He could kill the human before all this began, Papyrus would be alive, they could all live. And with Frisk's soul, the barrier could still be broken.

Something changed the moment Flowey saw the reset button. The fake niceness was gone, replaced by the demon Sans knew the yellow monster to be.

"Really, you think you can save everyone if you reset?" Flowey's voice had grown cynical, his features twisted into a sick frown, but Sans didn't miss the edge of fear. The flower's eyes had widened; he was leaning back just slightly. He was scared.

"Yeah, that's why I'm doing this," Sans humoured him with a response.

"Not just anyone can reset. Your soul is weak, even with all that determination. You'll never be able to control it," Flowey said.

Sans chuckled, bony finger hovering over the reset button. "So what, I should give it to you?" Flowey reeled back in shock. "I know it was you resetting before the human came along. Took me a while to figure out, but I knew something wasn't right even back then."

Flowey seemed to recover, moulding their face back into the mask of happiness they had worn moments earlier. "You'll never last. The human's determination will melt your monster body just like Undyne's! Just like all those monsters in the true lab, and then you'll be dead, and there will be no more resets."

Sans shook his head. "You don't get it, do you?" he asked.

Flowey's eyes narrowed. "Get what? That you think you're stubborn enough to fight off death? That you think you're 'determined' enough?"

His tone was mocking, but Sans knew Flowey didn't have a clue what Sans was really alluding to, and it was bothering the small flower.

"Nah. Takes too much effort to be determined, and you know me. I'm the king of lazy." He moved his finger closer to the yellow text hovering in front of him, to the button that would start it all again.

"But you know, if I was really a monster, this much determination would've killed me already."

Another inch closer to the button, another inch that Flowey moved back.

"It's a good thing this body used to be human."

And Sans touched his finger to RESET.

And everything went black.