Just Cause
An Undertale Fanfiction
Chapter 4: Fatal Mistakes
Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Looking For a Bad Time
Chapter 2: What The Killer Gave Up
Chapter 3: A Dangerous Path
Chapter 4: Fatal Mistakes (you are here)
Chapter 5: Surrendered Memories
Chapter 6: Revenge?
Chapter 7: The Person I Was
Chapter 8: Leaving Hope Behind
Chapter 9: Seeking the Source
Chapter 10: Uncertain Friendship
Chapter 11: Dating WTF?!
Chapter 12: I Don’t Know How to Feel
Chapter 13: Mutual Protection
Chapter 14: Spear of Torment
Chapter 15: Saved by Fire
Chapter 16: Welcome to the Show
Chapter 17: Nostalgia
Chapter 18: The Only Two I Thought I Had
Chapter 1: Looking For a Bad Time
Chapter 2: What The Killer Gave Up
Chapter 3: A Dangerous Path
Chapter 4: Fatal Mistakes (you are here)
Chapter 5: Surrendered Memories
Chapter 6: Revenge?
Chapter 7: The Person I Was
Chapter 8: Leaving Hope Behind
Chapter 9: Seeking the Source
Chapter 10: Uncertain Friendship
Chapter 11: Dating WTF?!
Chapter 12: I Don’t Know How to Feel
Chapter 13: Mutual Protection
Chapter 14: Spear of Torment
Chapter 15: Saved by Fire
Chapter 16: Welcome to the Show
Chapter 17: Nostalgia
Chapter 18: The Only Two I Thought I Had
Timeline 4
The human was bleeding from their nose, the result of a misstep during his opening volley. He’d managed to catch them off guard with the timing of his first blue attack, and in the wake of their face’s collision with the floor, a thin trail of crimson traced a livid path across their lips and chin.
The sight struck Sans as ironic. Earlier that day, before he’d realized how bad things were, he’d been thinking of taking them to Grillby’s. Pranking them with ketchup, buying them food, earning their trust.
Changing their mind, with something other than violence.
And then, that plan had turned into a grimly humorous decision to stuff a ketchup-filled whoopee cushion into his rib cage, in case they attacked him with enough force to crack the fragile, faltering magic that held his bones together.
Who knew… maybe the sight of him covered with something resembling blood would bother them.
Or maybe the person who had killed Papyrus while he offered them mercy, and who’d slain the human-shaped Mettaton in one brutal strike, would be immune to carnage that resembled the death of a member of their own species.
Like so many other things he did, he doubted the action would have any meaningful consequences, so he’d done it just for the heck of it.
Now, as the child ignored the blood on their face in favor of attacking him, Sans found himself wondering how a person so young had ended up like this.
How did a child who’s probably not even a teenager yet get this used to killing and being killed?
~*~*~*~
Timeline 2
The mountain ledge was covered in dust.
Coils of smoke rose slowly from the ruins of a broken oven, and the half-burnt pot of spaghetti lay splattered across the uncaring stone.
The dust was starting to congeal, gathered into grimy lumps by the blood that flowed into the nearest mound. Sharp, labored gasps raked their way through Frisk’s heaving chest, and the spasm that sent blood spraying from their mouth was more a sob than a cough.
Their small, quivering hand rose to press itself against the wound in their torso, and with a desperate effort, they began to push themselves upright, swaying drunkenly to their knees before staggering to their feet.
Stop… stop. I have to… I… I have to stop…
~*~*~*~
Timeline 4
“Hm. That expression…”
Sans made a show of studying the look on the human’s weary face, but the timeline charts had already done his analysis work for him. “That’s the expression of someone who’s died seven times in a row.
“Hey, that’s good. Seven’s supposed to be a lucky number. Maybe you’ll hit the jackpot…”
His own words send dread coursing through his soul, but he forced himself to smile wider as he spoke. “And that number will increase a hundredfold.”
~*~*~*~
Timeline 2
“We got lucky that time.”
As Flowey had expected, Frisk instantly rounded on him. “Lucky?!” they half-yelled, baffled rage mingling with fear in the shaking voice of a soul on the verge of snapping. “I almost lost my save file! How is that lucky?!”
The flower’s face remained calm, but somewhere amid the gray mush of his own half-felt emotions, dread and regret coiled themselves around his answering words. “Lucky you DIDN’T lose your save file. Look…”
His eyes turned down and away, subconsciously avoiding a reaction he wasn’t looking forward to. “This situation is getting desperate. We might need to take drastic measures.”
~*~*~*~
Timeline 4
“To be blunt, it makes it kind of hard to give it my all. Or is that just a poor excuse for being lazy? Hell if I know.”
The human’s dodging was worse than he’d expected. He’d thought they could do better than this.
Was their victory against Undyne, narrow though it had been, really that dependent on getting to know her attack patterns?
Or was the trembling in their hands, and the way their feet faltered as his words washed over them, a sign that he was getting through?
If nothing else, it made him think this was the first time they’d heard him utter that phrase. The first time they’d connected his laziness with its source, and realized that source was them.
As if you care.
Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you do, but not enough.
His weary eye sockets fell closed, and his hands rose in a shrug.
Hell if I know.
“All I know is… seeing what comes next…” Hopeless dread forced his eyes open, yet even as he probed his tormentor’s expression, his mouth insisted on concealing his pain behind that wide, indelible grin. “I can’t afford not to care anymore.”
~*~*~*~
Timeline 2
I can’t believe it.
The darkness of the save screen hovered around them, enveloping senses that just seconds ago had been filled with unfathomable pain.
Pain that had all been for nothing. Even after they’d gone so far, and sacrificed so much…
I can’t believe even that power wasn’t enough. We were supposed to be invincible! But it didn’t even…
Wait...
There was no sound behind Frisk, yet every part of their soul screamed that something was coming. Like footsteps sensed rather than heard, or unfelt hands closing around their back and shoulders.
Their head whipped around in a swirl of fear, but even as they tried to turn, it was too late.
Pain exploded through their soul, ripping through the ghostly form that they wore in the space between life and death. Even as a scream rose in their mind, an all-too-familiar form strode into view.
No. Not you. Please, not here…
The intruder was smiling now, the thrill of victory shining in those dreadful eyes, and as Frisk’s consciousness began to dissolve, the last thing they felt was their soul sending the command to continue.
I have to reload my save. I have to go back to before this happened.
And next time, I…
Even as their soul reentered their body, Frisk felt their whole being shudder.
This time, I’ll have to try something even more insane.
The human was bleeding from their nose, the result of a misstep during his opening volley. He’d managed to catch them off guard with the timing of his first blue attack, and in the wake of their face’s collision with the floor, a thin trail of crimson traced a livid path across their lips and chin.
The sight struck Sans as ironic. Earlier that day, before he’d realized how bad things were, he’d been thinking of taking them to Grillby’s. Pranking them with ketchup, buying them food, earning their trust.
Changing their mind, with something other than violence.
And then, that plan had turned into a grimly humorous decision to stuff a ketchup-filled whoopee cushion into his rib cage, in case they attacked him with enough force to crack the fragile, faltering magic that held his bones together.
Who knew… maybe the sight of him covered with something resembling blood would bother them.
Or maybe the person who had killed Papyrus while he offered them mercy, and who’d slain the human-shaped Mettaton in one brutal strike, would be immune to carnage that resembled the death of a member of their own species.
Like so many other things he did, he doubted the action would have any meaningful consequences, so he’d done it just for the heck of it.
Now, as the child ignored the blood on their face in favor of attacking him, Sans found himself wondering how a person so young had ended up like this.
How did a child who’s probably not even a teenager yet get this used to killing and being killed?
~*~*~*~
Timeline 2
The mountain ledge was covered in dust.
Coils of smoke rose slowly from the ruins of a broken oven, and the half-burnt pot of spaghetti lay splattered across the uncaring stone.
The dust was starting to congeal, gathered into grimy lumps by the blood that flowed into the nearest mound. Sharp, labored gasps raked their way through Frisk’s heaving chest, and the spasm that sent blood spraying from their mouth was more a sob than a cough.
Their small, quivering hand rose to press itself against the wound in their torso, and with a desperate effort, they began to push themselves upright, swaying drunkenly to their knees before staggering to their feet.
Stop… stop. I have to… I… I have to stop…
~*~*~*~
Timeline 4
“Hm. That expression…”
Sans made a show of studying the look on the human’s weary face, but the timeline charts had already done his analysis work for him. “That’s the expression of someone who’s died seven times in a row.
“Hey, that’s good. Seven’s supposed to be a lucky number. Maybe you’ll hit the jackpot…”
His own words send dread coursing through his soul, but he forced himself to smile wider as he spoke. “And that number will increase a hundredfold.”
~*~*~*~
Timeline 2
“We got lucky that time.”
As Flowey had expected, Frisk instantly rounded on him. “Lucky?!” they half-yelled, baffled rage mingling with fear in the shaking voice of a soul on the verge of snapping. “I almost lost my save file! How is that lucky?!”
The flower’s face remained calm, but somewhere amid the gray mush of his own half-felt emotions, dread and regret coiled themselves around his answering words. “Lucky you DIDN’T lose your save file. Look…”
His eyes turned down and away, subconsciously avoiding a reaction he wasn’t looking forward to. “This situation is getting desperate. We might need to take drastic measures.”
~*~*~*~
Timeline 4
“To be blunt, it makes it kind of hard to give it my all. Or is that just a poor excuse for being lazy? Hell if I know.”
The human’s dodging was worse than he’d expected. He’d thought they could do better than this.
Was their victory against Undyne, narrow though it had been, really that dependent on getting to know her attack patterns?
Or was the trembling in their hands, and the way their feet faltered as his words washed over them, a sign that he was getting through?
If nothing else, it made him think this was the first time they’d heard him utter that phrase. The first time they’d connected his laziness with its source, and realized that source was them.
As if you care.
Maybe you do. Maybe you don’t. Maybe you do, but not enough.
His weary eye sockets fell closed, and his hands rose in a shrug.
Hell if I know.
“All I know is… seeing what comes next…” Hopeless dread forced his eyes open, yet even as he probed his tormentor’s expression, his mouth insisted on concealing his pain behind that wide, indelible grin. “I can’t afford not to care anymore.”
~*~*~*~
Timeline 2
I can’t believe it.
The darkness of the save screen hovered around them, enveloping senses that just seconds ago had been filled with unfathomable pain.
Pain that had all been for nothing. Even after they’d gone so far, and sacrificed so much…
I can’t believe even that power wasn’t enough. We were supposed to be invincible! But it didn’t even…
Wait...
There was no sound behind Frisk, yet every part of their soul screamed that something was coming. Like footsteps sensed rather than heard, or unfelt hands closing around their back and shoulders.
Their head whipped around in a swirl of fear, but even as they tried to turn, it was too late.
Pain exploded through their soul, ripping through the ghostly form that they wore in the space between life and death. Even as a scream rose in their mind, an all-too-familiar form strode into view.
No. Not you. Please, not here…
The intruder was smiling now, the thrill of victory shining in those dreadful eyes, and as Frisk’s consciousness began to dissolve, the last thing they felt was their soul sending the command to continue.
I have to reload my save. I have to go back to before this happened.
And next time, I…
Even as their soul reentered their body, Frisk felt their whole being shudder.
This time, I’ll have to try something even more insane.
Author's note:
If you want to read my original novels, you can find them here.
If you'd like to help me publish new chapters faster, please consider supporting me on Patreon or Ko-fi so I can spend more time writing stories and less time doing other things to make money.
Author's note:
If you want to read my original novels, you can find them here.
If you'd like to help me publish new chapters faster, please consider supporting me on Patreon or Ko-fi so I can spend more time writing stories and less time doing other things to make money.