UnderRevolution

5 ~ Just a Bundle of Nerves

"Okay Sans. If you'll just step over here..."

Evra led him to a small white X in the center of the training room floor before stepping into a small room surrounded by protective glass. Once inside, she picked up a small microphone and began speaking to him through the intercom.

"What we're going to be testing here is your technique. Basically, how well you dodge attacks and how advanced your attacks are. After this, you'll head with Ronin who will check your stats. Clear?"

Sans nodded, feeling a nervous sensation in the pit of his stomach. He had never performed a battle in front of an audience before and had never even thought to practice technique. It was always... survival. He had only ever engaged in a battle when it was a life-or-death situation.

A small training dummy slumped pathetically against a wall on the far side of the room with a large target surrounding it in bright white paint. Sans glanced over at Evra, wondering what exactly she wanted him to do.

"Just a basic attack, please," She said nodding.

Sans took a deep breath, trying to focus his energy. His hands felt cold and clammy, his soul beat almost twice as fast, and he felt his skull fill with a weird buzzing sensation that made it all but impossible to concentrate. He lifted a shaky hand and sent a simple bone attack at the dummy. To his horror, the attack appeared malformed and weak, and fizzled out barely halfway to its target.

"Why don't you try again, Sans?" Evra called from her room. "You can take a minute to breathe if you need to."

Sans shook his head at her a little too fast. No, he did not need a break. He had done this hundreds of times before and had always succeeded. He just had to try a little harder.

He lifted a hand again. Same result.

What was wrong with him?

Another misshapen attack. Another failed blue magic attempt. Blasters? Forget it. The only thing Sans seemed to be able to do was mess up. Was it just him or did Evra seem to be bored? What if he couldn't show her that he could fight? Maybe he and Papyrus would have to go back to the streets. Maybe someone would know he had been here and they'd be sent to prison. Maybe...

"Alright. I think that's enough for today."

Sans looked up as Evra walked out of her room. She glanced around at the piles of broken magic attacks and grimaced slightly. Sans felt his soul sink. This had probably been his only chance to do something about his and Papyrus' life and he had just blown it.

At that moment, Ronin stuck his head through the door and into the room.

"You two done here? 'Cuz if we're going to start initiation, I'd like to records his stats as fast as possible."

Evra nodded and motioned for Sans to follow Ronin out the door. Once the two of them were outside and out of Evra's earshot, he chuckled quietly.

"Rough time, huh?"

Sans let out a sigh of frustration. "yeah. i didn't know it would be that hard to fight under pressure. i guess i just don't think about it normally, y'know?"

Ronin squinted his eyes at him. "How old are you, anyway?"

"seventeen,"

He nodded. "I was sixteen when I joined. It was... what... 12 years ago? Yeah. This war's been going on a lot longer than they tell you in your history books. Anyways, I was a lot like you. Short, skinny, probably would've been better had there been better things to eat, huh?"

Sans let out a small laugh. It was true.

"Like you said, it was always just a survival thing," Ronin continued, "you don't really pay much attention to how powerful you are, as long as you successfully achieve your ends. I can say it's the same story here. Long as you got guts, you probably have what it takes."

A moment of silence passed between them as they continued their way down the tiled hall. Most of the training areas had been closed up by now, and the remaining few with lights on and recruits still sparring became less and less frequent as they continued on their way. It was all Sans could do to hope that maybe he'd still be able to join and give him and Papyrus a better life here than on the streets of New Home.

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"What is he still doing here?"

Muffet slammed a cup full of what looked like spiders floating in apple juice down on the table and scowled at both Sans and Ronin. The three of them had just sat down at a table in the middle of the lunchroom. The room wasn't very big and was crammed tightly with monsters all on their lunch break. As they passed, many gave Sans strange looks and a few even started whispering when they caught sight of him. Ronin didn't seem to pay them any attention and instead he had brought Sans straight to Muffet.

"I need you to introduce Sans to some of the major generals and other monsters in the facility," Ronin said, unfazed by Muffet's apparent dislike of the situation before her. "Take him to the lab, show him around the facility, whatever you want. He needs to be familiar with the people here."

Muffet slumped back in her seat and folded one set of her arms while stirring her drink in another. She glanced back and forth between the two of them and sighed deeply.

"I'm guessing he's staying then?"

Ronin nodded. "If he wants to."

"Alright," she stood up abruptly, shaking the table a little bit as she began a brisk walk towards the exit. Sans hesitated a little, not really wanting to have Muffet (who already seemed to hate his guts) be the one to give him a tour. If anybody was going to show him around he had hoped it would have been Evra or even Ronin.

"Better go follow her if you're wanting a look around the place," Ronin said, slightly nudging him towards the door. Sans nodded and finally set off to wherever Muffet was going to take him.

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I have been sitting with this draft for like a month and it just is not working for me the way I want it to. I figures I might as well publish it now and go back later to edit? That way I can actually keep this story moving. So bear with me while I try to salvage this book from the depths of writer's block. :)