Chapter 6: Stay Strong

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“Please, help me end this timeline!” The Sans shouts out in pain.

That was…unexpected…Why does he…?

“Why would you-?”

“I’ve grown tired.” He interrupts me. “I’ve grown tired of the human resetting over and over again. I’ve grown tired from waking up in pain due to crashing and memory overload. I’ve grown tired of reliving the same day over and over again. And I’ve grown tired of living with the fear that everyone will be killed again. I don’t want to live like this anymore. I don’t want to live with the fear that everyone will forget what the human did. They think they’re above consequences. They should never be!”

I blink at that declaration. And I can’t help but to check this au’s name. When I read it, everything makes sense. This au is a copy of Undertale, but it seems it has changed to Aftertale. Which means, what I am destroying right now is not a copy, but an original. I pale at that.

“I understand that you want me to end this timeline of yours, but how did you know I could do that?” I can’t help but ask, wishing to redo my mistake.

“You’re the first new thing that has happened in this endless cycle of Genocide. Which means you must have a way to help me in my dilemma. Please! Tell me how you did it! How did you break the cycle?!” He asks, something sparked in his eye socket. Determination I believe?

“I…well…you see…” I glitch out, not sure what to say. But he just stares at me, waiting for my answer. I clutch the toy bunny, as if it’s my only line of defense. And, as softly as I can speak, I whisper. “…I kill…”

Everything becomes silent. The air around us stills. And if one would look closely, they’d see dust falling from my clothes like little snowflakes. I dare not look up at this Sans. Because what I just suggested for him to do was to also kill.

“…What do you mean…” He asks. His voice sounds so…empty.

I gulp, bringing my hat lower to cover my eyesight. I begin to stutter badly. “W-well…You s-see. In order to end a t-timeline…A-all monsters m-must be killed. T-then I’d take the h-human’s soul to my anti-void w-where it can no longer reset. T-then the au collapses into the void.”

I can feel his stare, whether it’s a good or bad stare, I’m unsure.

“…Why not just remove the human from the au?” He asks, still in his same tone.

I lower my head a little, sadden. “…I tried that before…When a human is removed from an au for 5 months, that au collapses into the void. And all the monsters who I didn’t kill died very painful and gruesome deaths as a result.”

“…Is that why you kill the monsters as well?” He asks. No, more like, states.

I nod, pushing my glasses up since they’re slipping. What I didn’t tell him is that I also kill them since it collapses the au much more quickly. Once again, everything is silent. I stay still, unsure of what to do now. I can’t kill an original since that would mean killing all the copies as well. But I can’t leave him here in a glitchy world. I already came here and messed up the au by killing monsters who weren’t scripted to be killed. So, even if the human resets, there are going to be complications anyways…

“…Are you here to kill me?” The Sans asks, making me jolt. I look up to stare at him. His eye lights returned, but I can still see traces of tears from him.

I rub my scarf. Thinking if I should be truthful or not. I mean, what’s done is done. But in the end, I decided to be truthful.  “…I was…”

“Was?” He repeats.

“I was going to kill you. But I can’t now, since you’re an original. See, if I kill an original, all the other copies will also die.”

“Then why not just remove me from my au?” He asks suddenly. And I jolted up, surprised.

“But your au would collapse into the void!” I hurriedly explained.

“That’s the point.”

I freeze up. Confused and startled. “Why would you-.”

“I still wish for my au to be destroyed.” The Sans interrupts me. I blink twice, unsure of why.

“But that would mean your friends and family will be forever gone. You’ll never see them again. Do you still wish for this to happen?” I carefully state the consequences.

The Sans’s eye lights shut off. He sinks back into his thoughts. I don’t rush him, because I understand that it’s a difficult decision to make. He blinks and gives me a small smile.

“…Yes. They’ve suffered enough from that human already.”

I stare at him; he’s so much like me. We both suffered and left behind our old worlds. I reach out for his hand. He looks down at it and stares for a moment. He mumbles something, but I couldn’t make it out. The Sans grabs my hand, and I teleport to where I left the human.

The human quickly looks up at us. They glare at me. I can feel the Sans’s hand tighten in my palm. I squeeze his hand, a small comfort from me. I put down the toy bunny and raise my other hand towards them. My strings quickly fly out and warp around the human’s soul. I watch as their expression changes rapidly.

And, without warning, I pull out their soul. Their body slumps onto the floor, but not without giving me one last look of fear. I can feel the Sans staring at the soul. He shakes, ever so slightly. And this time, I am sure it’s because he’s relieved.

I open a portal leading to my anti-void. We enter it. And as expected, as soon as the Sans stepped into my anti-void, his au started to collapse. I asked him if he wishes to watch his world slowly sink into the void. He shakes his head for a no. I nod and close the portal.

We have a moment of silence. He still clutches my hand, shaking. I look up and stare at him. His eye lights are gone again.

“…You know…” I softly open. He snaps out from his trance and glances at me. “…It’s okay to cry.” And with that, he snaps.

The Sans slumps onto the floor, crying his heart out. I watch on, feeling his pain immensely. He clutches his chest, as if trying to make his heartache stop. His cries echo throughout the anti-void. And I find myself also shedding tears.

I walk up and hug him, patting his head. I smile, unable to hold back my tears anymore. “It’s okay. It’s okay. I am here for you. Stay strong. Stay strong.” He hugs me back tightly. As if scared that I, to, will leave him one day.

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