12 years...back in Atlas...
A young Cinder Fall is scrubbing a floor, intercut with flashes of other children bullying her and the approaching feet of Madame.
Madame: "I'll take her."
Cinder is in front of the Glass Unicorn hotel. She peers up at the building and looks around at bystanders down the street.
Madame: "Come now."
Madame opens the front door of the hotel, and Cinder follows her through the crowded, ornate lobby. A blushing woman takes a swig of beer. Two women talk on a landing. Madame leads Cinder through a door behind the front desk, into an employee room, where she clears her throat to get Cinder's attention. Nearby stand the Madame's daughters. Cinder is distracted by a basket of steaming rolls.
Madame: "You're to make sure the laundry is folded, the dishes are spotless, and the floors are clean enough to eat off of."
Madame begins walking away, and Cinder reaches toward her.
Cinder: "F-food?"
Madame's daughters gasp. The straight-haired one raised an eyebrow at her, and the curly-haired one giggles. Madame picks up a roll and tosses it onto the floor in front of Cinder.
Madame: "Now hurry and get to your chores. The floor looks filthy."
Madame exits the room with a smirk as Cinder drops to her knees and picks up the roll. The step sisters follow their mother, laughing to each other.
Cinder puts on her hotel uniform, one component of which is a necklace with a yellow crystal. She delivers food to a guest and decorates a cake with strawberries. She moves to take a strawberry, but the curly-haired stepsister slaps her hand away. The curly-haired stepsister takes the cake away, and the straight-haired stepsister takes a strawberry from it unimpeded.
Cinder eats the crust of a piece toast from a tray on the floor in the hall. She unclogs a toilet, dusts a glass Grimm statue, and carries towels.
Cinder trips in the lobby, breaking several dishes. The stepsisters laugh and Madame looks on angrily as Rhodes looks on.
Cinder scrubs the carpet of one of the second floor walkways. In the lobby, Rhodes shows off his sword. Cinder watches through gaps in the railing until a squishing sound distracts her. She sees that the step sisters have approached her with muddy shoes, leaving large clumps of mud in their wake. The straight-haired step sister stomps her left foot onto the floor and grinds the mud into the carpet.
Step Sister: "You missed a spot."
The step sisters begin laughing, and Cinder grips the wet scrub brush. Steam comes from the brush as her palm glows.
This is the moment when Cinder first activated her Semblance from the torture, Scorching Caress.
Cinder throws down the brush, creating a cloud of steam that draws everyone's attention. A sign at the check-in desk reading "WE DO NOT SERVE FAUNUS" is clearly legible for the first time.
In a storeroom, Cinder cries out as her necklace delivers an electric shock. Madame holds a remote control.
Madame: "Now that wasn't very ladylike, was it? I suggest you remember your place."
Cinder falls on her hands and knees, panting.
Madame: "Say it!"
Madame presses the button, shocking Cinder again. Cinder hangs her head.
Cinder: "Without you, I am nothing."
Cut to black. Cinder opens a vent.
Rhodes: "Alright, what gives? Someone took my damn sword."
Step Sister: "I apologize for the inconvenience. We'll help you look for it."
Cinder crawls out of a vent carrying a bundle of fabric. She lays the bundle onto a sleeping mat and then unwraps Rhodes' sword. She picks up the sword, smiling.
Rhodes: "Now that's not yours, is it?"
Cinder turns and throws the sword at Rhodes, who deflects it into a wooden beam with his dual maces.
Rhodes: "I'm not here to hurt you."
He rolls his maces over to Cinder, who picks one of them up. She runs forward and swings the mace at him, but he catches it in his hand, using his Semblance to coat his hand in metal.
Rhodes: "I've seen you around, and I think it's safe to say you're not getting the most fair treatment. Yeah? I can't really blame you for what you're thinking."
Cinder: "You don't know what I'm--"
Rhodes: "But hurting them isn't going to make your life any better. You can run, but you're going to be running for the rest of your life. Or you could find another way to handle it."
Cinder hangs her head and lowers the mace, letting it rest on the floor. She begins to cry.
Cinder: "Like you? You can do whatever you want, go wherever you want."
Rhodes: "Ah, how old are you?"
Cinder: "Ten."
Rhodes: "An"d you want to be like us? You want to be a Huntress?
Cinder nods.
Rhodes: "Then we've got about seven years."
Rhodes walks over to the sword still stuck in a beam.
Cinder: "For what?"
He pulls the sword from the beam and tosses it to her.
Rhodes: "To train you for the Huntsman exam."
Montage of Cinder and Rhodes sparring at night, the moon changing phase. Rhodes tousles Cinder's hair. Cinder is shocked in the storeroom again. Cinder watches Rhodes leave the hotel and reenter it. Cinder and Rhodes spar. Cinder dusts a Grimm statue. Madame uses the remote to shock Cinder in the hotel lobby. Cinder carries dishes to a room off the landing and leaves it with towels. Rhodes gives Cinder a sword.
Rhodes: "Just a few more years and you won't need your guardian's permission. You'll be free."
The stepsisters rush to their mother in the hotel lobby. The straight-haired one speaks while the curly-haired one grins.
Step Sister: Mom, come quick, we found something. It's Cinder! She has a weapon!
Madame: "Hmm."
A clock shows 11:38. Madame follows the stepsisters to Cinder's room. The clock jumps to 11:57. Rhodes enters the hotel to find no one at the front desk.
Rhodes: "Hello? Anyone?"
A crash is heard. Rhodes runs through an open door. He opens the door to Cinder's room to find the stepsisters dead on the floor, just as the 12:00 bell begins to ring. Cinder holds Madame in the air by her throat, as Madame continuously presses the button on the remote, electric sparks emanating from Cinder's necklace.
Cinder: "You're right. Without you I am nothing."
Madame tried to press the button on the remote. But it was not doing anything. Madame, for the first time of her life...now fear the very child that she has pushed and thrown down for such a very long time. And now...she is trying very desperately to shock Cinder to stop her. But Cinder is ignoring the shocks
"But because of you...
"I am everything."
A crunch is heard, and Madame goes limp. Cinder drops her on the floor.
Rhodes: "Cinder."
Cinder looks at Rhodes with a wide-eyed broken smile.
Cinder: "I won't have to run now."
He looks at her sadly.
Rhodes: "That's all you'll ever do."
Rhodes draws his dual maces. Cinder's smile turns to anger.
The two trade blows. Cinder hops onto Rhodes' back and tries to bring the sword to his throat, only for him to block it with his mace.
He uses his Semblance to turn his neck to metal, but Cinder uses her own Semblance to super heat the metal, causing him pain.
He pulls her off his back and throws her at a shelf, knocking down a small bag, which she picks up.
While Rhodes uses his maces to shoot at her, Cinder runs toward him, dodging and blocking the shots. She then throws the bag at him, creating a cloud of powder, which allows her to steal his other sword from him. Both now dual wielding, the two continue fighting. Cinder breaks Rhodes' Aura, and he breaks hers.
Rhodes drops his maces, walks over to Cinder, and reaches his hand out. She picks the swords back up and stabs them straight through him.
He touches her hair again and looks at her sadly. She pulls the swords from him and he falls. Cinder breaks her necklace off, looks up at the moon, and sheds a tear with a small smile.
Back In the present...
Sans was horrified. He took a step back...as he looked down. He couldn't believe it...and yet...he does believe it...and he whispered.
Sans: "Cinder...I...I never knew..."
Sans went on his knees, and looked down around the ground. He always believed that Cinder was evil from the start...but...he never took into account that Cinder had been abused herself, just like Sans was abused by the Rose Family back in the past, when he was 9. Eve than spoke out to Sans.
Eve: "That is not the worse part of it all...Sans. When Salem came to Cinder, Salem had taken advantage of Cinder's shattered mind to manipulate her into Salem's cause. And it was because of that, Cinder became the very monster she had become when you had fought against her."
Sans looked down...and closed his eyes. Now he feels very bad of condemning Cinder for who she is, not even bothering to discover of why she had became what she is. Sans than stood up from the ground...and spoke out to Eve.
Sans: "But...how can I do anything about this? Cinder is already dead. I can't just recruit her when she is deceased!"
Eve, however, shook her head...as she spoke out.
"There is a way, Sans. Think. What is the only thing that can allow you to see a different part of time? The only item that you have that can help you in this?"
Sans looks down...confused with what she has said. But than...an idea clicked in his mind.
"The Relic of Choice."
Eve nodded, and spoke out.
"Very good, Sans. Yes, the Relic of Choice can help you in this. When I am around...I can make the crown more powerful than ever, and it should give you the power to transfer your soul back in time, in order to bring Cinder to your side."
Eve held out her hand, and the Relic of Choice appeared in her hand, which is floating above.
The Relic than began to float towards Sans, who than extended his hands out, and it floated safely above it.
"But...won't this change the time stream's history badly? After all...it was Cinder who brought down the fall of Beacon."
Eve shook her head.
"When you alter the time stream...you don't erase the past and change the future. The future will remain the same. Instead, like a branch, the time stream will split into 2 separate histories. But it will reconnect when a certain point in history matches the same outcome that it has. The only difference, is the change that you have made. Everyone will have their memories be replaced by the current ones, with the exception of You, Nightmare, Dream, Gaia, Ozma, and Salem, along with her 2 still living daughters. In fact they'll rennet both the original and the new past that you are about to make for Cinder Fall. The 4 Maidens will only have some limited awareness of what is going on, but it will not effect them that much, unless they began to focus more on the memories and piece the differences together by themselves. Other than that, however...it will not change anything, Sans."
Sans sighed...as he was worried of what would happen if he had done any of that. But than...Sans looked down at the Relic of Choice...and he had to admit...he is a little bit worried of what would happen if he does this. Would he return? Would he stay in the past? He does not know. But...whatever the case...he is going to do it.
So...turning the crown so that it can face forward, he raised it up on his head, and than puts it down...before suddenly...his eyes turned red...as he is now going in what seems to be a whirlpool of energy.
"One last thing, Sans. When you take off the crown...it will send you back to the Abyss. So you don't have to worry about being trapped in the past."
Sans sighed in relief, as he than seems an opening at the end of the vortex. Opening his wings, he goes in, and enters through the white entrance, and than...a very bright light.
In the past...12 years back...
Sans than opened his eyes...and looked around where he is in. He is...back in Atlas...but...it just feels...different. Everyone around him, some people he knew...he looks more...younger. He than looks around...and saw that...there was his older brother...Papyrus...and himself...12 years back, and with them...was Gaster...their father.
Sans looks sad, as he had missed his father for so long, than he was so desperate to feel his father's own face...and tried to touch him...but...his hand went through, like it is made of air.
Sans: "Huh?"
Sans looked at his hand...and saw that...he looks transparent. Gaster seemed to react, as he touched his cheek, and spoke out.
William Gaster: "What was that chill?"
Sans realized that...Gaster can't see him. He can, however, make his presence known, by phasing his hand through his own father. Sans than looked, and saw that...they are just passing the hotel...the same one that Cinder is in. Sans went inside...and saw that...Cinder is scrubbing the floor as usual, and than...he noticed that Rhodes is coming. So...not wanting to let Cinder go through that...he than used his telekinesis to take the weapon, and send it and Rhodes as far away as possible.
Rhodes: "Wha-hey!!"
Rhodes noticed, and tried to grab the weapon, but Sans was a little bit faster, and tries all that he can to get the weapon very far away. He does this for 10 minutes...until he is finally done, and decided that...it was far away enough.
He than was able to locate where his past self is at...and he is just ready to sleep. So, he got close...and touched his shoulder.
Past Sans: "Huh?"
His 6 year old self spoke out, as he saw Present Sans' shadow. The 6-year old Sans looked confused, as Sans gestured the younger Sans to follow him.
Past Sans: "What do you want to show me?"
Sans than ran, and the past self spread his wings and took flight. Both Sans went to the hotel as fast as they could...until they have reached it...and the Shadow went towards a window. The Past Sans...was confused...as to where the Shadow of the present Sans is...but this is what his present self wanted. A cold breeze was now on his left cheek, and Sans turned...but than...he saw something through the window.
It was Cinder...getting shocked by Madame. Past Sans was shocked, as he covered his mouth, horrified to see the terrible sight that is before him.
Past: "By the gods..."
He whispered...as he can hear the voices inside of the storeroom very clearly.
In a storeroom, Cinder cries out as her necklace delivers an electric shock. Madame holds a remote control.
Madame: "Now that wasn't very ladylike, was it? I suggest you remember your place."
Cinder falls on her hands and knees, panting.
Madame: "Say it!"
Madame presses the button, shocking Cinder again. Cinder hangs her head.
Cinder: "Without you, I am nothing."
Madame smiled cruelly, and drops bread on the floor...before walking away...and Cinder was on the floor, crying, and it almost looks silently... hit the truth is...the crying is very loud, and even Sans could hear it...rather faintly. His present self hears it way more clearer...and it is almost unbearable to hear. The 6-year old Sans looked down...as he spoke out.
Past Sans: "What...what do I do?"
Sans than took the initiative, and spoke through the ear of his Past Self.
Sans: "Help her. There is a vent to the storeroom. You are next to it."
The 6-Year Old Sans' eyes widened...as he hears a voice that is similar to his own...but much more older...and is very...very compelling...so much...it is almost as though his voice is a magical spell of blond obedience.
Sans: "Bring her into the family. Ease her wounds. Give her the life that she deserves, Sans. Give her what she needs."
The past sans looks...and true enough...there is a storeroom beside the child version of Sans. He turns to see where the voice is...but...there is no one there. Child Sans looks...and sees that the vent is being ripped open...and the Child Sans went in.
He crawled and crawled...and he can hear the crying of Cinder Fall, more clearer...and more saddening to hear.
Using telekinesis...the 6-Year Old Sans ripped the front vent open...which popped off. Cinder noticed...and saw Sans coming out.
Cinder panicked...her hands began to glow...as she began to activate her Scorching Caress. But Sans spoke out.
Past Sans: "I'm not here to hurt you."
The 6-year old version of Sans held out his hand, and Cinder slowly...but hesitantly, took it, while also deactivating her Semblance. Sans gripped it tightly, as he spoke out to Cinder.
Past Sans: "I saw what happened to you today...and...I feel bad for you. It must have been a tormenting experience for you...is it not?"
Cinder feels frustrated, as she began to speak out.
Cinder: "You don't know what I'm--"
Sans, however, spoke this out.
Past Sans: "Forced to go through? Believe me...I know that feeling too. I have also been hurt by people in the home I was in. The people where I was living with could hurt me, considered me a freak, they did all kinds of bad stuff to me. They even asked my father to put an end to me...even though...I had done nothing that is bad.
Cinder looks up...and spoke out to Sans.
"Really? You...you went through the same thing that I did?"
Sans nodded...as he spoke out.
Past Sans: "I did...and I thought that...I would be all on my own. But...I had also found people that are very kind to me and accepting to me. And more importantly...they can accept you too."
Cinder's eyes widened...as she turns to look at Sans.
"R-Really?"
The 6-Year Old Sans nodded, as he spoke.
Past Sans: "I do. They are the most loyal and most accepting friends I have. And most certainly...they will accept you. I can promise you that."
He than made a crystal knife of some sorts, before he cuts the necklace away from the neck, and steps on it, as the yellow dust cracked, shattered, and completely sparked on the hard ground that is under the dust. There is a scar on her neck...where the necklace was at.
Cinder has a small tear leaking from her right eye, but has a smile on her youthful face, like she can finally rid of herself, many centuries of torment.
"Thank you..."
The Present Sans looks...and for once...he smiled at Cinder...because now...there is a chance to finally prevent her from becoming the person that she will soon become.
The small 6-Year Old Sans smiled kindly...but than noticed a machine, as Cinder spoke out.
"One last thing..."
She than went to the mechanical boiler, and heated up badly, before turning to Sans, and opened the door.
"Let's go."
Cinder smiled, and wiped a tear away, before grabbing Sans, and Sans opened his wings, before the both of them fly away. The hotel...well...let's say...
BOOM!!!!
The Present Sans looked shocked...and he shook his head and pinched his nose.
"Was Cinder that skilled in demolition as a kid or something?"
He spoke out...before he saw a flash of light...and he is expecting to see his 6-Year Old self again...only to see that he is not here. Cinder, her past self is here, and she is with his father...who was now taking face to face with Cinder at what seems to be a dinner table.
Gaster: "You're Serious?"
Sans clenched his fist, and tries his best to keep himself calm, as he does not want to think about the death of his own father. Sans shakes his head as fast as he could...before he looked back, and tries to pay all of his attention to Cinder, who is wearing far more better clothing than she did when she was seen back at hotel.
William: "So...what you are saying is...that the family that took you in...they've done all of this to you?"
William Gaster spoke out, as Cinder nodded.
Cinder: "Yes. They...they forced me to clean up the messes that they purposely made, and force me to eat food that they put on the ground. And if...if I did something that is accidental, or if I did something that I never did...I would be shocked by the necklace that Sans had cut off my neck."
Gaster looks down...as he spoke out.
William: "I...I see."
He than put his hand on Cinder's shoulder...Cinder sort of flinched...like it is now beginning to hurt her, but than calms down...slowly. Clearly...she has never felt a kind and gentle touch of someone that can truly give a damn and a care about her well-being.
William: "Now...you do not have to worry about it anymore. Cinder Fall...you no longer have to be bound by their torment and by the agony that they are giving you. Now...you can be free. We'll welcome you to the family...so we can try and ease the wounds that you have been given."
Cinder Fall's eyes widened..before she began to sob quietly, and Gaster goes to Cinder Fall, and hugs her, as Cinder began to sob happily on Gaster's chest.
Cinder: "I...I don't know h-how I can rep-pay you!"
Cinder spoke out, as William smiled, and he spoke back.
William: "You don't need to repay me. I don't desire to be repaid. I desire to help people, and that is enough for all of us, Cinder Fall."
Cinder Fall smiled, tears are leaking out of her eyes, but now...the crying is not as saddening. In fact...it is coming down her face, like a gentle stream of river.
The Present Sans smiled...and than...there is one last scene that he is now in. The scene now takes place inside of Sans' own bedroom. Sans' is now sleeping...or at least...is about to sleep...until the door opens...and Cinder...back in her worker outfit from the hotel...was walking towards the past version of Sans, and he looks up to Cinder...before speaking out.
"Is something wrong?"
Cinder looks down, and spoke out.
"I...I can't stop thinking about the treatment I had at that hotel when I am asleep. It's now in my nightmares. Can I...sleep with you?"
Sans looks and smiled.
"Sure thing. I don't mind."
Cinder make a little bit of a broken smile...before going onto Sans' bed...and hugging him as tightly as possibles, like she is worried that he'll slip out of her fingers and leave her be, and Sans hugs back. He is a little shorter compared to Cinder...so much that it looks as though Cinder is hugging a teddy bear. Clearly...this is the best day of Cinder's life...as she is now free from the hands of Madame...who the Past version of Cinder had blown up by messing up with the furnace from inside of the hotel.
The smile on the past version of Cinder was different from the Present. The Present Version of Cinder, who Kyo had killed when he had taken over Sans, was of malice and power for hunger, and will kill anyone that will try anything to deny her of what she wants. But the past Cinder's smile, while broke...is of pure happiness, and one that Sans seemed to se as being way more beautiful than the smile of the present Cinder.
Sans takes off the crown...and he is back in the Abyss...where Eve is waiting for him.
"It worked...Sans. You have changed the future. You can realize it, can you now, Sans Gaster?"
Sans closed his eyes. He does see it right now. His memories...he still remembers what the previous Cinder was like, Ruthless and Sadistic, with little regard to innocent life, and would threaten even her allies to get the job done, and the fact that she had nearly tried to take away the powers of the Fall Maiden from Amber, when she was with her master, Salem, who she had served. The current one, the New, Different Cinder Fall...while similar...is only like this to the people that hurt Sans, and extended to those that Sans cares for. With Sans...she is completely devoted to him, as he saved her life, and...instead of Sans saving himself from the Rose Family's abusive treatment towards Sans, it was Cinder who saved him from the Abusive Treatment, and made the Rose family pay for what they have done to the person that has saved her life from the exact thing she despises. And Cinder...she is now at her final year of Beacon, which she attended, which she had later graduated, became a teacher's assistant to help deal with everyone's problems, but only Sans' at the age of only 20 years, the same year where he's enrolled at 16 year old, and Sans followed her, with Cinder Fall being aggressive towards the Rose family for their abusive treatment to Sans, and still is aggressive towards them, even though Sans has forgiven them. But the person that had tried to take Amber's power, and the one that had taken down, Beacon...it is now someone Sans does not recognize or know, and looks very different. And more importantly...Cinder never met Salem...and only met his father, Gaster...who helped ease the pain that she's forced to feel in her life forever. She Devote, Helps, and Loves Sans, and no one else can love her, because she wants to be with Sans, who was the one person that has helped her through the Traumatic experience she's escaped. Sans even feel something all over his body...as in the past...Cinder has been hugging him so many times.
Sans looks down at the water below him, before looking up...and speaking out to Eve.
"I do. The memories...the new memories...I can feel them...and yet...I still remember the previous version of Cinder Fall. Now what?"
Eve smiled.
"Now...you are given a second chance to escape from the desolate place that you are in. Cinder will start coming for you. Now...it is time to wake up...and be free."
A small glowing orb is now floating above Sans' hands...as light began to gather around him.
Sans looks...as a bright light appeared out of nowhere...and now...it was darkness.
Back in the real world...
Sans' eyes now opened...and he is shown to be wrapped in Nightmare's tendril again...and Nightmare is looking a little frustrated right now.
"There!! I have been waiting for a long time for you to wake up!! It has gotten me so annoyed that I have to wait until you are finally conscious to be awake."
But than, Nightmare seems to smile.
"But...I guess it can't be helped...now that I need to know something...are you going to join me...or are you-"
"Heheheheheheheh..."
Nightmare heard something...laughter...coming from...Sans?"
"What?"
"Heheheheheheheh...Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!!!"
Sans now began to full on laugh, and this is making Nightmare frustrated.
"Oooohhhh...Nightmare. You obviously don't get it...do you?"
Nightmare looked confused...until he feels heat coming from the door.
"You are so focused on my physical body...that you neglected to know what I was doing behind the scenes. Nor have you bothered...I have now brought a new friend of mine."
Nightmare, now very frustrated...shouted out.
"What do you mean?! Answer me, you sniveling cur!!"
Sans than smiled.
"Is it not obvious? Don't you feel it yet?"
Than...a arrow struck the tentacle of Nightmare...freeing Sans, as he collapsed down to the ground.
"Gaaaaahhh!!!"
Nightmare shouted, as he felt the pain of the action, and he was able to regenerate it. Than...he hears a voice that he never thought that he would hear
"I am only going to say this exactly once, Nightmare..."
Nightmare turns...and he saw someone that he never thought he would see...and now...understood what Sans meant.
"Get your tentacles off of my beloved Sans."