Screen 1 – The Day Before Final Selection
Only one day remains before Tanjiro, Sans, and Papyrus descend into Final Selection—the place where most hopefuls never return.
The three sit outside Urokodaki's silent house as the sun bleeds into the horizon. The air is cold enough to sting the lungs.
Tanjiro sharpens his blade with slow, measured strokes.
Each scrape echoes like a whisper of the dead.
Papyrus slurps noodles loudly, but even he eats faster than usual—like he senses something waiting in the dark.
Sans floats lazily a few inches above the porch, hoodie shadows hiding his expression.
Tanjiro finally breaks the silence.
"Tomorrow… everything changes."
Sans lets out a low sigh. "Yeah. Urokodaki said sharing our past makes your resolve stronger. Suppose we should get the heavy stuff out."
Papyrus straightens—and for once, his voice isn't booming.
"I came from another world," he begins. "A world where monsters like us lived peacefully… or tried to. I dreamed of being a hero. Someone who saves everyone. Someone who protects Sans."
His eye sockets darken at the edges.
Then Sans speaks, voice quieter than Tanjiro has ever heard.
"Kid… our world broke. Too many timelines collapsing. Too many resets. Some souls twisted. Some disappeared. When a portal ripped open, we ended up here. Can't even say we escaped… just fell into another mess."
Before Tanjiro can respond, the forest trembles—branches snapping, birds fleeing.
Something is coming.
A demon tears out of the shadows, snarling, claws dripping blood from some unlucky student it must've found earlier. Its eyes glow with hunger.
Papyrus lunges forward. "A foul creature! Face the GREAT PAPYRUS!"
Sans cracks his fingers, a sharp click echoing like bones snapping.
"Don't strain yourself," Sans mutters.
His eye ignites blue.
He disappears.
The demon jerks—lifted helplessly into the air by invisible force.
A Gaster Blaster materializes behind its skull.
One flash.
One roar of energy.
The demon is obliterated, dust scattering on the wind.
Urokodaki appears silently between the trees, mask splattered with demon blood—he's been dealing with others too.
"Sakonji," Tanjiro says, voice unsteady. "You saw?"
Urokodaki nods slowly.
"I did. You will take Sans. His power… will reshape the battlefield."
Sans shrugs. "Guess I'm drafted."
Papyrus pumps a fist. "THEN FINAL SELECTION SHALL TREMBLE BEFORE US!"
Tanjiro forces a smile, but his hands tremble around his blade.
"This is going to be… intense."
The sun finally disappears, leaving only darkness.
And tomorrow… they walk into something darker still.
---
Screen 2 – Enter Final Selection (Darker Version)
They step into the wisteria-lined gate.
The flowers sway gently… like they're warning the living not to enter.
The gate slams shut behind them.
Seven days.
No rescue.
No mercy.
At first, the forest is deathly silent.
Then—movement.
Tanjiro hears it before he sees it:
scratching, crawling, snarling.
Demons spill from the trees—one dropping from above, another crawling out of the soil like a corpse rising, more shapes slithering through the dark.
Tanjiro grips his sword tighter. "They're surrounding us."
Papyrus spreads his arms. "Then let them come!"
Sans floats forward.
"These guys… aren't even appetizers."
The demons charge.
---
First Wave
One demon lunges at Tanjiro with jagged, broken fingers.
Tanjiro slips under the strike, slicing through its throat in one clean line.
The head lands before the body realizes it's dead.
Another demon leaps at Papyrus.
He summons a wall of bones—
CRACK!
The impact sends the demon pinwheeling across the clearing, limbs bending wrong.
"BEHOLD! BONE BARRAGE!"
---
Second Wave
Three demons swarm Sans at once, drooling black saliva.
Sans sighs.
"You really don't value your lives, huh?"
He vanishes.
Reappears behind them.
A gravity field collapses around the demons, snapping their bodies inward with wet crunches.
A Gaster Blaster fires a thin beam—precise, cold, merciless.
The three turn to ash.
Papyrus claps. "STUPENDOUS, BROTHER!"
Tanjiro watches the ashes fall.
Their teamwork is terrifying… and beautiful.
---
Third Wave
A massive demon charges through the brush, ripping apart trees with raw brute strength. Its muscles bulge, veins pulsing like worms under its skin.
It rushes Tanjiro.
Tanjiro strikes—but the blade barely scars the demon's body.
Papyrus slams into it from the side, bone armor materializing over his arms.
The demon staggers, then roars and swings at Papyrus, claws shredding bark behind him.
Sans steps forward.
"Nope."
The demon freezes, lifted off the ground like a puppet.
"Kid. Slice."
Tanjiro crouches, breath steadying.
"Water Breathing… Second Form!"
His blade arcs through the neck.
Blood sprays in a wide fan.
The demon collapses.
Silence returns.
But it's not peaceful.
It's the silence before a storm.
---
Tanjiro breathes heavily.
Papyrus stands tall despite blood dripping from his bones.
Sans yawns like he just woke up.
"Hope the rest of this week isn't boring," Sans mutters.
Tanjiro shivers.
"It won't be."
They continue into the forest's darker depths.
Six days left.
---
Screen 3 – The Hand Demon (Darker Version)
Hours crawl by.
The forest rots around them—trees twisted, some claw-marked, some blood-smeared.
Dead students' scents linger.
Bones poke up from the soil.
Clothing scraps hang from branches like warnings.
Tanjiro freezes.
"There's… something ahead," he whispers.
"Something old. Furious."
Sans' smile fades. "Yeah. This one's carrying decades of hate."
The ground trembles.
A hulking demon emerges, arms layered grotesquely across its body—like a pile of limbs stitched together by rage itself.
"The Hand Demon," Tanjiro whispers, throat dry.
The demon sees Urokodaki's mask on him—and snarls with ancient hatred.
"Another child of the fox mask…
I WILL CRUSH YOU LIKE THE REST!"
It charges, earth ripping under its bulk.
---
The Fight Begins
Tanjiro dodges as a massive arm sweeps the ground—trees uprooted like twigs.
Papyrus summons a bone shield—
WHAM!
He slides back several meters, cracking earth beneath his feet.
"ITS STRENGTH IS UNREAL!"
Sans teleports beside Tanjiro.
"Stay sharp. This guy isn't playing."
The Hand Demon hurls a fist the size of a boulder at Sans.
Sans slips away in a blink of blue light.
Papyrus charges in with a bone spear—
It sinks into the flesh… barely.
Just a shallow wound.
The demon grabs Papyrus by the skull and slams him into a tree—
the wood splits from the impact.
"PAPYRUS!" Tanjiro shouts.
Papyrus staggers up, bones trembling.
"I-I AM STILL STANDING! A TRUE HERO NEVER FALLS!"
---
Tanjiro's Strike
Tanjiro circles the demon.
"Water Breathing… Sixth Form!"
He leaps—
slashes—
but the demon's layered arms shield the neck.
"You cannot harm me!" the demon roars.
Tanjiro falters—just for a second.
Sans places a hand on his shoulder.
"Kid… use us."
Tanjiro nods.
Sans' eye glows blue, lifting the demon off balance.
Papyrus summons two colossal bone pillars—
SLAM!
They pin the demon's arms wide open.
"BONE RESTRAINT!" Papyrus shouts, straining.
The demon howls, flesh tearing as it struggles.
Sans smirks.
"Your kill, Tanjiro."
---
Finishing Blow
Tanjiro inhales.
The world narrows to one point.
"Water Breathing… Fourth Form…"
He cuts.
The blade severs flesh, bone, sinew—
The demon's head falls, eyes wide with something like… relief.
Its body collapses, dissolving slowly, hatred fading into the earth.
---
Aftermath
Tanjiro shakes, lowering his blade.
"We… we did it."
Papyrus pats his back with a bone hand.
"AN EXCELLENT TEAM EFFORT!"
Sans adjusts his hood.
"You swung good, kid."
Tanjiro looks at Sans. "You planned that… didn't you?"
Sans shrugs.
"Maybe."
They stand in silence over the fading remains—
victors…
but not untouched.
Final Selection is far from over.
---
Screen 4 – Final Selection Ends (Darker Version)
Seven days pass like a nightmare.
The wisteria trees reappear—a soft, glowing contrast to the hell behind them.
Tanjiro, Sans, and Papyrus stagger through the gate, covered in dried blood, demon dust, and exhaustion.
Only three others survive:
Zenitsu, shaking violently, clothes torn, eyes hollow.
Genya, bleeding from multiple wounds, jaw clenched in fury.
Kanao, expression unreadable, but her clothes splattered with demon blood.
Papyrus raises his arms.
"WE SURVIVED A WEEK OF RELENTLESS DARKNESS! HUZZAH!"
Sans yawns.
"Could've slept through it… if the demons didn't scream so much."
Zenitsu turns—sees Sans and Papyrus—
and shrills like someone stabbed him.
"W-WHAT—WHAT ARE THOSE THINGS!?
ARE THEY DEMONS!?
DID I DIE!?"
Papyrus waves quickly.
"WE ARE FRIENDLY MONSTERS! PLEASE DO NOT FAINT!"
Zenitsu backs away, sobbing.
"This exam was cursed…"
---
Genya's Outburst
When the attendants give uniforms, Genya snaps the moment a hand brushes him.
"DON'T TOUCH ME!"
He swings at the girl—
but before his fist lands, a blue flash blinds everyone.
Sans is suddenly there, gripping Genya's wrist.
His eye glows cold.
"Don't," Sans says softly.
"You don't hit someone who didn't harm you."
Genya snarls—then hesitates.
A shiver runs through him.
Tanjiro steps in.
"Genya… please. Let it go."
Genya rips his arm free and storms off, trembling with anger and shame.
Sans watches him.
"Guy's breaking from the inside."
---
Kanao's Reaction
Papyrus approaches Kanao.
"HELLO, SILENT WARRIOR! YOU FOUGHT BRAVELY!"
Kanao just tilts her head, coin spinning between fingers.
Sans nods.
"She talks with actions, not words."
Papyrus whispers, "She must be stunned by our magnificence!"
Kanao's lips twitch—almost a smile.
---
Ceremony End
Nichirin ore is handed out.
Zenitsu keeps glancing fearfully at the skeleton brothers.
Genya avoids Sans' gaze.
Kanao lingers near Tanjiro, watching him quietly.
Papyrus lifts his ore high.
"MY LEGENDARY BLADE AWAITS CREATION!"
Sans pockets his ore.
"Hope it's not too shiny."
Tanjiro finally breathes in relief.
"We survived. Somehow."
A crow lands on Sans' head and screams orders.
Sans doesn't even flinch.
"Guess I'm officially in the corps."
Papyrus pumps his fist.
"WE SHALL BRING JUSTICE TO DEMONS EVERYWHERE!"
Tanjiro smiles.
"Let's go home to Urokodaki."
They walk back toward the mountain—
survivors shaped by darkness…
and heading toward a future drenched in even more blood.
To be continued.
.